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stillness-in-green · 1 year

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On Riots and Resolutions (Part Two)

The remaining ask round-up portion, building on the answers from last night's post.

Content Warnings: Discussion of real-life hate groups; one ask conflates mental illness with radicalism and makes some bald statements that there can only be one correct opinion about the canonical material in question.

This post has its usual share of footnotes, but I’ve put them at the end of their associated ask reply rather than all at the end like usual.

Two thoughts: Firstly, Japan’s extremists, as I understand them, tend to be either rampantly nationalistic—war crime deniers, people who hate Japanese residents who don’t match up to what the nationalists see as really Japanese (*waves to Part One*), sometimes they like the U.S. but they don’t want to be seen as being submissive towards it, that sort of thing—or outright cultists.

Using the nationalists as a model is tricky because, as so many have said, heteromorphs aren’t of a different ethnicity/nationality, so they nominally shouldn’t be objectionable to those whose chief issue is people/influence from other countries. (Nominally. *waves to Part One again*) They’re also a very fraught group to parody, given Japan’s to-say-the-least unresolved issues with exactly those nationalistic sentiments, historically speaking.

As to the cultists? Well, Japan has piles and piles of those. Indeed, the country has so many that one of the most common terms for alternative spirituality groups, new religious movements (NRMs), is actually a direct translation of the term Japan itself uses, shinshūkyō. So far as I’ve been able to gather, the proliferation is a result of the country having been loosed from the mandate of following the state religion (Shinto) just as a huge influx of Western theology came flowing in after World War II. That developed further in the 60s and 70s—indeed, it’s quite easy to see Western ideas of what religion is and how it looks coming to Japan in the same general period as New Age spirituality in the West forming with elements borrowed ideas from Hinduism, Buddhism, and other Eastern religions.

While Japan has hundreds and hundreds of NRMs—over 2000, according to one op-ed I read—the country also has a sizeable suspicion of them, for one big, glaring reason: the sarin gas attacks carried out on the Tokyo subway in 1995 by Aum Shinrikyo. Those attacks led to a huge backlash against new religious movements in the country, including the passing of some very targeted laws.

Obviously, with so many of them around, I can’t say for sure whether or not Horikoshi based the Creature Rejection Clan on any of them in particular, but Twice does point out that they have some religious elements, and certainly there are plenty of NRMs in Japan that hew to the arch ethnonationalism of the country’s extreme right. The kegare thing, too, can hardly be called secular; it stems directly from Shinto belief. There aren’t any NRMs I’m personally aware of that use gothic trappings and skull masks, but then, neither did the KKK.[1]

That all leads into my second thought, which is, “Well, is the CRC based on the KKK? Or is that just us assuming because it’s what we relate them to?” As I said a few times in Part One, I can’t read Horikoshi’s mind—but I have reservations about just assuming that some random Japanese guy is that familiar with a U.S.-based hate group that has never been active in his country.

Horikoshi is a noted fan of American comics, so I suppose it’s possible he’s heard that anecdote about Superman taking on the KKK, but if I were reading an American comic with a plot about a doomsday cult planning an attack on a public transit system, I wouldn’t assume it was a reference to Aum Shinrikyo just because I knew the author liked anime, you know?

For another example of Western fans projecting their own concerns onto a non-Western work, it was widely assumed among American readers that the Ishvalan plot in Full Metal Alchemist was a comment on the Iraq War. However, when asked about it, Arakawa actually said she based it on the way Japan treated the Ainu. That desert setting completely fooled people!

So, even if the CRC feel a little too on the nose to not be based on the KKK, it’s worth considering that Horikoshi could have any number of inspirations there. He may well have been just picking and choosing the visual indicators he liked to get the point across, and the ones he landed on say “KKK” to a U.S. reader without them having been an intentional model.

-- 1: The Nazis, now, they used skull trappings, and are of course much more known for black uniforms, too. --

Would that such were more normalized! But even if it were, the time crunch on Shonen Jump publication is such that I doubt most of its authors would have the leisure to do a bunch of back and forth with sensitivity readers anyway. I imagine a lot of those authors have pretty limited hours and energy to spend all week working on their manga to also add a bunch of supplemental reading that also basically counts as “work for the manga” as opposed to literally any other kind of media intake that would let them turn off for a while.

I’m not going to say readers shouldn’t ask for better, or should just shut up or go read something else if they have problems with what an author is writing. Obviously! That would be massively hypocritical of me, given all the time I’ve spent complaining about this very issue, or the mass arrests, or whatever-all else. But then, I’ve always approached the issues Hori raises with his villains with the view that they’d fall flat eventually. Shonen Jump is just too mainstream an environment for me to think that Horikoshi would be allowed to say anything truly radical, if he even wanted to to begin with.

And maybe he’ll get feedback on this aspect of the story from readers and reviews and rethink some of it. I’ll always remember this article about an interview with the author of Sword Art Online, Kawahara Reki, in which he talked about how visiting American conventions had inspired him to try to do better by his heroines.

Of course, some people double down instead, like One Piece’s Oda Eiichirou, or reflexively lash out when criticized, like Vanillaware’s George Kamitani. Maybe Horokoshi will just go on thinking like he does because he doesn’t work in an environment that’s going to challenge him on his views; maybe he’ll seek out more mature environments to tell the more mature stories he clearly wants to tell.

In the meantime, though, it’s not as though he’s the only game in town. There are other manga out there, ones that have lists upon lists at the back of their volume compilations detailing the resources and contacts the authors used as they were writing their stories.

Just of what I read or have read, Blue Period, Golden Kamuy, Ancient Magus’s Bride, Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu, and any of Mori Kaoru’s historical works, like Victorian Romance Emma or Otoyomegatari, come to mind. Shonen Jump stories can be fun, but I don’t exactly read them expecting the manga equivalent of high literature, you know?

…On the other hand, even fellow Shonen Jump series Akane Banashi credits a rakugo supervisor every week. I suspect this speaks to a certain uncomfortable truth that many authors are going to be a lot more aware of their own ignorance—and, crucially, far less defensive about accusations of being hurtful, irresponsible, or discriminatory—when it comes to portraying things like art, specialist hobbies, historical periods or foreign countries: subjects that are legitimately distant from their day to day lives. That, in turn, may make them more willing to do the research with an open mind, as opposed to just winging it on things they believe they already understand well enough or have already formed opinions on, like the lived experience of minorities or how the legal system treats (or should treat) people who break the law.

The fact that lazy or offensive portrayals might come out of privileged ignorance rather than maliciousness doesn’t make them less lazy or offensive, of course, especially if an author chooses to double down after criticism! But I’ll get into that more in the last ask in this post.

H’ooookay, I’m going to lead with saying that, while I agree with your broad point that this resolution is messy and disappointing, I have some significant issues with your points here, things that I cannot just let stand in good faith.

Firstly, as far as comparing heteromorphs to burakumin goes, I have not and would never say that they’re only an analogue to burakumin because I don’t think heterophobia is a 1:1 analogue for any kind of discrimination. It takes elements from a lot of different things: anti-burakumin sentiment, racism, ableism, ethnocentrism, and so on.

I talked about burakumin discrimination in the post you’re responding to because the kegare thing is burakumin-specific. While I’m sure you could find individuals willing to level that word at groups they don’t like, I’m not aware of any other groups that have had kegare weaponized against them on such a widespread, systemic, legally codified level; therefore, burakumin are the reference I used to talk about kegare as it’s used against heteromorphs to police their movements/contact with others.

Secondly, saying burakumin have “the benefit” of looking like everyone else unless they’re outed feels insensitive to me. It’s the same thing as mixing up genuine privilege with being in the closet. Yes, burakumin lineage is something that’s not immediately visible right on their faces,[1] but that’s not the same thing as them being able to live openly without fear of discrimination, especially when there are still resources on the internet that purport to list burakumin neighborhoods, resources that are easily findable on a web search for e.g. the company hiring director vetting job applicants or the paranoid parent who wants to make sure their daughter isn’t getting involved with someone Undesirable.

Thirdly, conflating Qanon extremists with mental illness is a big, wholehearted NOPE for me, especially in saying only individuals who are mentally ill would attack innocent people. I’m certainly not going to say that no one who has ever carried out a mass attack was mentally ill, but it’s absolutely not an identical vector as radicalized resentment.

Fourthly, “making up a massacre” is, I suppose, true in that we’ve never heard of the incidents Scarecrow cites before now, but it’s not as though it’s completely out of the realm of the possible based on what we knew before this arc. We knew law and order broke down around the time of the advent of quirks; we knew there were (and still are!) groups that committed hate crimes against heteromorphs; we knew there had been bloody conflict for years upon years by the time things finally started to settle down circa Destro and the legalization of Pro Heroes.

Hell, the longer I gather evidence and mull it over, the more it seems likely to me that Horikoshi was aware of heteromorph discrimination from almost the very beginning. Shouji’s character profile, in which he pointedly did not have a face reveal and Horikoshi dropped hints about “Shouji’s episode,” came out in Volume 3. Ultra Archive, which talked about how Shouji was told he had a scary face since he was young, was released in 2016; Ultra Analysis, which first raised the crying little girl angle, in 2019. We’ve known for ages that Horikoshi likes to think about the stories of background characters, even if he can’t find room to show them.

Historical massacres? We may not have heard about them specifically before now, but it’s not like it’s a big reach. The CRC really ought to have clued everyone in that heteromorphic discrimination is much worse than Deku, the viewpoint character, ever knew, so I remain aggressively baffled at the constant accusations that all this is “coming out of nowhere.” Yes, I think it could have been more thoroughly developed in advance, but I really do think it’s not that Horikoshi didn’t know, or that he “made it up”; it’s just that he failed to incorporate it organically.

If the story were still the elegantly constructed narrative we were enjoying up through the Endeavor Agency Arc and the early stages of the war, I’d be more skeptical, because Horikoshi back then really was much better at those early hints and teases. But everyone can tell that the story has been a garbled, rushed mess since then, so it’s no big surprise to me that a better-paced exploration of heteromorphic discrimination was a victim of whatever kind of compressed timeline Horikoshi’s now operating under.

Finally, I broadly agree that the portrayal of this conflict was a damn mess on both sides—I particularly share your frustration that fifteen thousand members of an oppressed minority would be willing to attack a hospital under the direction of a known villain yet have given the optics of that attack so little thought that one (1) high-schooler and the sight of a handful of hospital employees standing well away from their line of advance could change their minds—but I’m wholly uncomfortable with your intimation that anyone who doesn’t agree with your specific read on the sides involved doesn’t know what they’re talking about. If you didn’t mean it that way, that’s cool, but I don’t see much other way to parse, “People who empathize more with one side or the other are either uneducated or don’t have discrimination in their daily reality/family history.”

“If anyone disagrees with me, either they’re white people whose opinions don’t count because they’re white or they’re people of color whose opinions don’t count because they’re ignorant,” is just not an opinion I’m going to back up. I saw plenty of POC on twitter and tumblr both who definitely did sympathize more with one side or another and had perfectly cogent, self-aware articulations as to why; declaring their opinions de facto invalid is no way to engage in media criticism OR fandom discourse.

-- 1: Though back in the days when burakumin were legally required to dress and style their hair in certain ways to make themselves obvious to those around them, you would have been able to tell they were burakumin just by looking at them, unless they were actively breaking the law and thus subject to punishment if they were discovered. --

Everyone is, of course, going to have their own read on this, but for my part, I’d rather see people try and fail than just never try at all. That’s assuming, anyway, that the attempt is made in good faith, which I think this plot was—at the very least, it never felt malicious towards the crowd of heteromorphs themselves,[1] though I am still squinting distastefully at the whole Outside Bad Actor element AFO/Skeptic/Scarecrow/Spinner present.

Of course, it’d be nice to know whether Horikoshi’s going to learn anything from this portrayal or whether it’ll just be a full round of backpats for a job halfway done, but saying he should just never have tried at all—well, it’s the same with his writing of women, really. There are some enormous problems, but I’d still rather read the version with all the flaws than the version without all the women.

That’s the long-time fandom participant in me, I’m sure; my stance will always be to take what works and jettison what doesn’t. For all that this resolution desperately does not work, all the reasons that it was something worth looking forward to and getting invested in are still there, too!

But again, that’s something everyone has to draw their own lines on, and I have nothing but sympathy for the frustration of those who, like myself, would never have believed such a facile resolution could be offered to such a fascinating set-up.

-- 1: I’d be more willing to assume malice if the heteromorphs were the only civilians in the story portrayed as so desperately gullible and impulsive, but Horikoshi’s been writing civilians that same way from the beginning. --

-----------------------------------------

That wraps up the asks in my inbox about this plot, at least the ones that were expressing specific anger with Horikoshi or fellow fandom members. I have one or two left that are more directly about the material, which I'll be getting to in the order in which I received them soonish.

I do apologize if these posts came off as preachy in that, "I am allowed to complain, but suddenly when I have anons in my inbox complaining, it's time to talk about nuance and context," kind of way. I do, perhaps, have a certain feeling that I can and will complain about the material to my heart's content, but I don't want to get too pulled into spiraling bitterness about Horikoshi personally because he didn't deliver the challenging resolution I never really believed his editors would let him deliver to begin with.

I promise I still hate the way the arc fell out! And I appreciate you all sharing your thoughts with me. 'Til next time, everyone.

#bnha #heteromorph discrimination plot #bnha culture gap #cw: hate groups #stillness answers

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poisonheadcrabsalesman · 2 years

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What would you think about the idea of merging the former collective data of a Dumb AI with a newly generated Smart AI in an effort to "uplift" it? There's a big moral issue there, since the Smart AI is synthesized from the remains of an actual person, and there may well be some internal conflict between the vague concept their former self and the prepacked personality of the old Dumb AI. If the data of the Dumb AI is prioritized in this case, does this new consciousness come to accept the lingering donor's experiences as a sense of 'false memories' that they recognize are not their own? Or do they think that these are newly observable emotions attached to their own previous experiences that they were simply unable to conceptualize at the time? There are some very extreme ethical concerns here obviously, and nothing I'd ever personally condone, but it seemed like a procedure ONI wouldn't feel shy about trying. I am not a techy person myself, so if I had to make up some loose-sciencey sounding reason? Maybe some very fringe effort to retrieve vital unique data stored in a badly damaged Dumb AI's matrix that is so dangerously corrupt that attempting to save it manually would definitely result in loss. So this idea forms of- what if we merge what little is left with a more capable AI as a sort of operator who can attempt to retrieve and extrapolate the data at a software level? And suddenly you have ONI techs synthesizing a hydra. What really led to this was that I always loved how many Dumb AI, while lacking true sentience and capacity for emotion still tended to display a lot of it, supported by familiar imagery or personalities. It made it so easy for people- like Spartans and ODSTs, who are very used to interacting with Smart AI- to project their own feelings onto them and anthropomorphize them to a point that the lines separating the Dumb AI's own limitations blur into the negligible. Alas, my truest intentions here, Stumpy, because I am a predictable beast: in Retribution, Fred was perfectly aware of Damon's restrictions, but over time began speaking to him as someone without those barriers. What most interested me, is that Damon himself (shortly before his sudden demise) takes it upon himself to offer Fred comfort and condolences over a presumed death of Veta, saying he knew and understood how fond Fred was of her. It was still a canned response essentially, but the applied observations probably hit remarkably close to emotion for a person suffering a sense of loss, and the moment helps to really endear Fred to Damon. When Damon's chip is damaged, Fred expresses hope that he can be saved, and just I love exploring the depth of empathy that people can have for AI, all the while well aware of their capacity. In Damon's case, the collective data from his time with Fred probably would have been of extreme value to ONI for both in determining the scale of the growing threat of the Keepers, as well as for covering up their own internal corruptions and involvement in nearly losing control over a virulent parasitic agent. Of course just letting Damon die is also a great option, and safest, but let's let ONI be dangerously over-confident instead.

First off, thank you for the AI related ask. It is taking everything in me not to answer this like a discussion board, which is very funny to me.

Secondly, addressing your point of morality. Morality in Halo is so fluid especially when it comes to ONI and the UNSC; AI are not people, they are tools, and if ONI needs to do some body snatching to make the next very expensive lil computer guy to run a city or a spaceship, they will do it. So your point about the morality of merging two AIs or having one subsume the other is awesome, but I don’t see it as an issue for the humans.

What happens to the AI involved and their feelings about it would be so interesting, cannibalizing one of your own out of duty, or merging two different but similar souls/cores to make something new while preserving the old? How much lingers from the brain engram besides what they’ve already given us?

Someone should write something about that. Makes me think about Cortana and Aine and the Cryoraeth Dialogue. Much to think about.

So much to think about that apparently I spent 800+ words doing just that! More below.

You pointed out Damon’s limited but still touching capabilities and canned responses. They still had the drive to aid and comfort humans despite not truly being freethinking or creative to the extent of Smart AIs, but I would argue that the Dumb AI deserve more credit to what extreme emotional depth they have shown across many pieces of Halo media.

I am still technically writing a paper right now so I will limit my wiki diving and my screen shot collection, for now.

However examples that immediately come to mind are Deep Winter(who is apparently Smart, sorry I thought he was a dumb AI. I haven’t read Ghosts of Onyx yet, in my defense he lived a long time.), Deja, and the Superintendent, all Dumb AI who get attached to their charges, demonstrate emotions, and attempt in some ways to help or comfort their chosen humans.

Third, before I start talking about all the funny sci-fi words I must admit. I am a fake sci-fi fan, I dig past the topmost layer and attempt to understand the science but to be completely honest, I am not entirely sure what I’m writing or reading about half the time. The good news is that it is the same for every Halo writer.

I do want to dive into the comparisons between Rampancy and Dementia because there’s a lot to be said there but I want to do it justice, but focusing on the basis of AI, the Riemann Matrix, and the points about thinking themselves to death, hardware failure, and the matrix itself which is software and their actual brain. The matrix is the program that lets them think non-linearly and transfer from hardware to hardware in either nano-assemblages or the crystal data chips. Halo makes up its own rules and handwaves them so often it’s hard to tell what’s allowed and what’s not. Especially when we have so many examples of Cortana doing incredible and terrifying things like splitting and shedding her rampart shards.

The thing is, if they had some temporary housing for Damon, like say for example, the Mjolnir armor of a Spartan-II, I don't see why they couldn’t transport them. Mjolnir has that whole layer to help a starship grade AI help a soldier in the field, I did have to look at the wiki for this one, I don’t have all my armor layers memorized. The part of the outer layer called the memory processor superconductor layer: “AI can then aid the soldier in software intrusion, hardware hacking, and espionage by listening to enemy chatter.”

Come on, having a snarky voice in your head giving you waypoints and opening doors is a cornerstone of Halo.

It would also have been interesting to see Fred carry an AI as he’s the most likely to be suspicious of the after Intrepid Eye and his experiences with AI and armor failure. The character growth of him allowing an AI, no matter the ability, into his armor, in an extended hand to help this being not die would have been interesting to see!. And then he could play it off as saving an asset!

Okay I never read Retribution and looking at the events that led to Damon’s cracked datachip, it could be argued that Fred’s armor was too damaged to fully carry an AI, even a dumb one. Maybe.

However, I have a solution that’s neat and if you’ve read literally anything I’ve written on here then it’s obvious. Let the AI into the wetware!

There’s a big metal spike in most UNSC members’ brains called the neural interface and I’m sure if Damon asked politely and didn’t look too close and maybe compressed themself into a nice little kernel, Fred would have no serious lasting side effects.

Probably.

Someone should read Retribution and write something about that.

#long post #I wrote this on my break no one yell at me I needed to talk about AI or I would die #ai tag #asks #Volantis friend tag #thank you for the ask!#magellanicclouds

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teddybasmanov · 1 year

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I really like listening to the yands and abusive/manipulative guys but man the comments are so disheartening, like yea ya the idea of being loved and cared for is great and all but the whole point is that that's not what the yands giving you!!! he doesnt want to give you love, its a selfish want to own you!!! he does not give a fuck about you!!! its a dark storyline about abuse and manipulation and thats cool! very fun very scary but seeing ppl fawn over it makes me rethink everything like should this be... desirable??? am i wrong for enjoying the as a dark piece of fiction rather then being horny over em?? or like should i be projecting my issues onto this to make it a comfort???? cause like he kidnapped them straight up... aight love nor care

So, let's dissect this.

For starters, I don't think understanding that the storyline is "dark and manipulative" and enjoying it for horny and/or self-projection reasons are not mutually exclusive.

Then... it's a fantasy so no one says (okay, some people say, but for the sake of the argument let's pretend they don't exist) it's desirable in the real world but it doesn't mean it's not enjoyable to imagine. Same goes to the fact that the character doesn't love the subject of their obsession - while I do agree with you, in a lot o cases it's pretty difficult to imagine any genuine affection there - but, firstly, it's subjective - where one person doesn't see it, the other will, secondly, no one says a fantasy is required to be realistic. ("Oh no, my sexual fantasy has a hole in it." "A hole, you say?")

Reiterating from the previous interaction - being a wanted possession is also a pleasant fantasy (for some). Being desired even in that way is - in a fantasy scenario (I'm stressing this) - pleasant. Especially when so much effort is being put into acquiring you - to quote Ostrovsky "If to be a thing, then one consolation is to be expensive, very expensive."

Answering the last part of your message - no, of course, you're not wrong. There are very few ways to engage wrongly with that kind of media - either if you don't want to engage with it at all, watch it as a dark thriller sort of story or image that the character is crazy in love with you. As long as you understand it's a fantasy and don't try to "project", for lack of a better word, it onto the real world or interfere with/harass other people - you're fine.

I feel that was not exactly the answer you were going for, but here we are.

#and the post with transfers flies from the mainland #anonymous denunciation #yandere analysis?#Teddy defending yanderes??#2022 came to that I guess

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gawayne · 2 years

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Arthur for character bingo 👁️👁️

okay. okay here we go. there are sooooooo many arthurs that you could literally say anything about him so i'll note upfront that i'm a soft little baby bitch and my favourite arthur is fairly useless but very kind and well-meaning. for the purpose of the little blorboverse in my head i don't like when he personifies the corruption of camelot and i extra don't like him being jealous or vengeful towards lancelot and guinevere.

so with that context yes i would marry him, i think he probably wouldn't do much sort of like having a guinea pig in the house. i like when he wears fancy clothes and then falls asleep at the dinner table. love when he's in a text but does nothing. most importantly i like when he's assumed to be a powerful myth-like figure but it's really more of a shell and he's forced to act the part because it's what everyone expects, and in reality he's mostly being dragged along by other people's decisions and a good chunk of them are trying to manipulate him for their own gain, and by the end he's reeeeeally struggling to hang on to his faith in humans' good nature that led him to start the round table. or yknow he gets a peaceful retirement and his family loves him and all (it's this one this one is correct)

#for some reason he's not really the sort of guy i project issues onto! i think he might be just too optimistic for that #'he's never done anything wrong in his life?' i hear u say. 'what about the babies?' i hear u say. and well what do u want me to do abt tht #for the record i know my arthur is boring but that's why i like it ❤ i need a boring happy nice guy sometimes

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haitaniplug · 2 years

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CLASS PROJECT CHAPTER FIVE

summary - you really want to go abroad for the summer, but your grades fucking SUCK, so your parents won’t allow you to until you get them up. you were so ready to focus on the rest of the year until you get partnered up with Rindou Haitani. The boy that comes into school once every blue moon. And to make matters worse, it’s a project where participation counts. So now it’s your job to harass Rindou into getting his shit straight.

tags - enemies to friends to lovers , angst , crack , college au, eventual smut , fluff.

status - ongoing

series masterlist

Why is he being so dry… Did you something wrong ? You remember him being like sort of nice not even two hours ago. Offering to drive you home and everything.

Whatever. You shouldn’t even care that much. He’s a jerk and you know it. Just finish the project and move on. Yes.

“Good morning Aya,” you smiled as she entered the classroom and took her seat next to you.

“Hey y/n, how was you know…” she winked and rubbed her shoulder against yours , referring to your stay at Rindou’s yesterday.

“If you’re talking about last night, just know nothing happened. And I don’t want anything to. I’m being strictly professional so I can finish this dumb project.”

“Y/n. I love you but you’re boring. You need to explore more!” She admitted, sighing.

“If by explore, you mean throw myself onto any guy that talks to me, then no thank you, I’ll continue being boring,” you took offence to her statement and stood up.

“Wait, y/n where are you going?“ she yelled out as you walked away pissed.

“Going to get some water.” You loved Aya, you truly did. But a part of you didn’t trust her in some way. She always called you out for being boring because you barely did anything she considered fun. And by fun she basically meant being boy crazy.

You had bigger issues in your life to worry about boys. Such as trying to fix your broken relationship with your parents. But Aya wouldn’t know anything about that would she? She’s had everything handed to her, nice loving parents that give her the freedom you always wanted.

Two different people somehow managed to be best friends. The only reason you never told her how you truly felt about her attitude is because you didn’t want to lose her. You would have nobody and you’d rather not be alone.

Wandering through the hallways, you glanced upwards, seeing the clock indicating you were late to class, but you couldn’t care less. You needed to calm down before you went back into that classroom.

As if it were pure coincidence, you saw Rindou entering the building, hands in his pockets as he walked past you. Not even sparing you a glance.

You had expected him to not talk to you, after all he was very dry in his messages, so apparently you must’ve done something to piss him off. But what did you do?

Your thoughts were cut short when someone grabbed your arm. Looking behind you, you saw Rindou, “you skipping class or something?” He asked.

“No.” You shrugged his hand off your arm. “Just need to calm down before I go back in there.”

Before he could question what you meant, you walked away, turning the corner. He raised his brow confused before entering the classroom.

The teacher sent him a small smile which Rindou blatantly ignored and went to sit next to your chair. Aya sat next to your empty chair nervously, rubbing her arm up and down.

“You got an itch or something?” He raised his eyebrows and turned to face her. Aya frowned, opening her mouth before shutting it again. “Spit it out,” Rindou said a bit too aggressive.

“I said something that upset y/n. And I’ve been waiting for her to come back but she hasn’t.” She frowned, looking down at the floor.

So that’s why she seemed pissed. Rindou thought. “What did you say?”

“I— well,” she began, “I called her boring… because she never wants to do anything fun. She hasn’t even had her first kiss! It’s just,” she paused, realising she said too much in front of a dude she barely even knew. “It’s nothing. Never mind.”

“I don’t really see what her sexual relationships have anything to do with you.” Rindou glanced at her, sort of disgusted, “it’s not your business, neither is it mine. It’s hers and hers alone. No wonder she’s mad at you.”

He stood up grabbing your bag that you left on the table and his own before walking out the class, ignoring the teacher as he asked where he was going.

By the time Rindou arrived, he stood outside the female toilets, waiting for you to come out. Around 2 minutes of waiting, you finally walked out and looked up at him.

“Here,” he handed you your bag and you took it from him, muttering thank you.

“You gonna head back to class?” He asked, walking along beside you.

“I don’t really have a choice.” You said.

“We could always skip?” He suggested and you stopped walking. “Skip and go where?”

“Anywhere.” He pulled his keys out of his pocket. “You hungry?”

“I-,” you paused. “Sorta.”

“Kay, I’ll buy you something to eat, then we can, maybe find an empty classroom to work on the project?”

You blinked a couple times before reaching up and placing your palm on his forehead. He looked at you confused but didn’t push you away, “you got a fever or something Rindou? This behaviour isn’t like you.” You laughed and he finally shoved you away.

“I’m just trying to stall time and make you forget about your conversation with your friend.”

“Oh,” you said, not looking at him sort of embarrassed. “She told you?”

“Yeah.”

How embarrassing. You thought. At your big age 18, not even having your first kiss. And Aya is just going around telling everybody.

“I frankly don’t care what you’ve been up to. It’s your life,” he shrugged and continued walking, “You coming?” He stopped and turned to face you.

“Yeah, yeah I’ll come.” You adjusted your bag and started walking out of the school together.

taglist : @q-the-rockaholic @crown5

#tokyo revengers x reader #tokyo revengers #tokyorev x reader #tokyo revengers x y/n #rindou haitani scenarios #haitani rindou imagines #haitani rindou x you #rindou haitani x you #tr rindou #rindou x y/n #rindou x reader #rindou haitani x reader #rindou haitani #haitani rindou x reader

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thecarnivorousmuffinmeta · 3 years

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If Bella was a boy (with Bella's gift. And he would be Edward's singer). What would change? What do you think?

So, I gave a fairly detailed response to this already. The long and short of it being that, depending if Beauford’s the right kind of guy, he and Edward will essentially end up in a romantic relationship neither realizes is romantic. Then Edward eats Beauford at some point.

But, since we’re here, I suppose we can enter imagination land and get into some more details.

Caveat that I haven’t read Life and Death and have no desire to, so we’re actually ignoring some strange alternate universe canon that never made much sense anyway. Shocking, I know, and very unlike this blog.

Beauford Swan and a Kid More Messed Up Than Even Bella Swan

In order for our love story to even start, Beauford has to be the kind of guy that Edward’s into (or can project that he’s into). Well, we know Edward’s into Carlisle (he projects pretty much an idealized version of Carlisle’s personality onto Bella and actively wants to look like Carlisle as to him Carlisle’s is the face of holy perfection while Edward looks like a demon) and given what he says he likes of Bella’s personality we can extrapolate from there.

Edward’s not going to be into an Emmett or anyone remotely resembling Mike Newton. He’s going to be into a quiet, kind, misunderstood, sensative, intellectual who probably looks some level of frail and in need of protection. Essentially, what he saw in Bella, subverting the Madonna complex he has for her a bit (Beauford will be a kind of Madonna, sort of, but not quite so blatant).

So, we have Beauford, who looks a lot like male!Bella and by that I mean he keeps her pale skin, her big dark eyes, and general look about her that she could break with the slightest contact. Basically, he’s a very pretty guy the likes of which typically comes from a shojou anime. He’s also likely still debilitatingly clumsy.

So, you have this guy who’s awful at sports, as in each time he tries he probably ends up in the ICU. Is an intellectual in that he reads old books, an odd amount of Jane Austen at that, but isn’t actually an artist or writer. In fact, other than reading, he has no real hobbies. Has a larger than life mother who constantly needs looking after. And has nothing in common with his peers.

As bad as Bella had it, I posit Beauford would have had it worse. He’s not going to get along with 90% of boys until... probably college. He’s always picked last in kickball, shares 0 interests with most other boys, and is probably ruthlessly bullied for all of this and more. Worse, being so pretty, he’s going to attract a lot of romantic attention, especially from preteen girls who are very into that look and Beauford’s sensitive artistic nature. This is going to get him so much shit from other guys.

Add on top of this Bella’s original difficulty socializing and I imagine Beauford is just as depressed if not more so.

Fast Forward to Forks

Beauford comes to Forks for a similar reasons to Bella, because he felt like a third-wheel in Renee and Phil’s relationship and that his mother was better off without him. I can also see him just not knowing how to act around Phil, who probably expects a stepson who’s more... sonnish. Beauford’s not going to play catch with dad in the yard and I can see Beauford wanting to avoid all of that entirely.

He enters Forks and has a vaguely similarish reception to Bella. Only, there are some key differences.

I imagine Mike, Tylor, and Eric quickly sour on Beauford as he goes from being potentially cool new bro to a guy that can pick up every girl in this school. He’s like the Cullens, but less incestuous and creepy and therefore a thousand times worse. They desperately don’t want Beauford sitting at their lunch table where he can potentially pick up all the babes.

In other words, Mike is the new Lauren, and Beauford knows it. But it’s either eat with these guys or eat in the bathroom, and Beauford’s not at that level of desperation yet.

Jessica’s probably into him, having been into Edward (another pretty, sensitive, guy), but unlike Bella I imagine Beauford has a little better social intelligence in that he has seen this game before and he knows where it leads. So, he desperately, actively, doesn’t flirt with anyone. Which makes him a terrible conversationalist, and he just comes off as really weird.

Beauford, therefore, actually is a Cullen 2.0. You don’t want to be a Cullen 2.0 (Bella is the only one in that school who thinks the Cullens were in any way popular).

I imagine Edward notices this, plus Jessica’s interest, and gives a Nelson laugh from across the room. Now someone else can have the joys of Jessica Stanley’s lust. Though he does notice he can’t read Beauford’s thoughts, which is strange.

Like Bella, Edward undoubtedly thinks Beauford is at first highly overrated, just like all the other mindless teenagers in Forks, and rather plain (from his narration, Edward likes blondes and lighter eyes).

The Rest

Biology happens, it’s a disaster, Beauford has no idea what he did to get Edward to loathe him so much but this time Mike isn’t in any way sympathetic. Instead, Mike just can’t believe he and Cullen seem to agree on something for once.

Edward flees to Alaska, decides he won’t lose to Hamburger, and comes back to do damage control. And we start mirroring canon a lot here. Edward has varying conversations with Beauford, is intoxicated by his very scent, and starts projecting an almost saint like personality onto him. Edward grows increasingly obsessed, starts creeping into Beauford’s room at night to protect him from spiders, etc.

The difference being that Edward is utterly convinced that what he and Beauford share is the highest platonic ideal of friendship. They are platonic soulmates, all other friendships pale in comparison to them, they are intellectual peers and artists.

This is even when they still go to the meadow, Edward kidnaps Beauford in Port Angeles for Italian dinner (despite Beaufrod not having been nearly raped without Edward’s intervention), Beauford is invited to the Cullen house, and more.

Beauford, being Bella levels of oblivious, also has no idea this is a romantic relationship. Likely, what he feels at first and is driven by is a strong sense of kinship with Edward. As Edward is also an intellectual outsider hated by the male half of the school. Beauford’s been there, bro.

However, like Bella with Alice, he appreciates small details of Edward’s vampiric physical appearance, enjoys staring at Edward’s perfect face, and really digs that vampire smell.

I imagine, beyond what happened in Twilight things like the following occur: Edward constantly sketches Beauford in unintentionally (but secretly intentional) erotic positions with no clothes (this is art!), Edward leers at Beauford changing in his bedroom because “we’re both men”, Edward insists on discussing Beauford’s future bride with Beauford and imagines the most perfect woman in the world while also imagining smashing her head in like a melon.

But I imagine most of the Twilight plot points happen. The difference being that everyone is very confused on why these two can’t admit they’re dating. Rosalie probably bringing up very valid points of “Edward, if you want this guy to go date someone else then you can’t monopolize his life” and Edward telling her to stop being so petty and jealous of Beauford’s beauty. Aro, I imagine, just dies in New Moon and has no idea what to say when Beauford returns from the dead because it’s not, “Oh look, the lovers reunited! Ah, right, I forgot, they’re just friends. Yes...”

The other difference being, as I strongly suspect that without Renesmee Edward would never have turned Bella (Renesmee really forces that issue as Bella actually dies before Edward turns her), that he would have eventually eaten Beauford as Alice predicted.

But he’d be so delicious.

#twilight #twilight meta #twilight headcanon #twilight renaissance #bella swan #beauford swan #edward cullen #anti edward cullen #edward/bella #anti edward/bella #edward/beauford #anti edward/beauford #meta #headcanon #opinion

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calzona-ga · 3 years

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In her unauthorized book, Lynette Rice explores the stories behind some of the ABC drama's biggest moments, including — in this exclusive excerpt — the factors that led to McDreamy's shocking death.

In How to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey’s Anatomy, author Lynette Rice recounts the ABC medical drama’s eventful 16-year history, revealing new details behind some of the show’s biggest departures. Included in the unauthorized, 320-page oral history (St. Martin’s Press, Sept. 21, $29.99) is a chapter that offers new insight into leading man Patrick Dempsey’s shocking exit in season 11 of the Shonda Rhimes-created drama. In the chapter, Rice speaks with Dempsey’s co-stars and exec producers who were present during filming of his final days on Grey’s Anatomy, and reveals claims of “HR issues” that contributed to the death of his alter-ego, Derek “McDreamy” Shepherd.

“There were HR issues. It wasn’t sexual in any way. He sort of was terrorizing the set. Some cast members had all sorts of PTSD with him,” recalls exec producer James D. Parriott, who was brought back to the series to oversee Dempsey’s exit.

In more than 80 interviews with current and former cast- and crewmembers, Rice, an editor-at-large at Entertainment Weekly, also explores the show’s early days, recounts the thinking behind some of its more polarizing storylines and offers exclusive details about the show’s behind-the-scenes culture.

“After 17 seasons, fans still can’t get enough of Grey’s Anatomy,” Rice tells THR. But what went down behind the scenes was just as dramatic as what viewers saw every Thursday. I’m excited for fans to read what I learned about those early days, along with what it was like to work for Shonda Rhimes, and why the drama was so freakin’ headline-prone.”

Below, The Hollywood Reporter shares an excerpt — the full eighth chapter — from How to Save a Life, and tune in Friday to TV’s Top 5 for an interview with Rice about her book and the other big reveals she uncovered in her reporting for it.

(Reps for ABC, ABC Signature, Shondaland, and Dempsey declined comment on the reveals in Rice’s book.)

“He’s Very Dreamy, but He’s Not the Sun,” Or, How Grey’s Anatomy Loved — Then Learned to Live Without — Patrick Dempsey Ellen Pompeo may have played the titular role, but for many fans over many years, Patrick Dempsey was the real draw to Grey’s Anatomy. Some of it had to do with his celebrity: Dempsey was the most famous member of the original cast at the time of the pilot and brought with him quite a cult following from his 1987 movie Can’t Buy Me Love. But a lot of it was due to the way Rhimes wrote her McDreamy and how Dempsey depicted him. James D. Parriott I would say, “The guy would never say that,” and Shonda would say, “He’s McDreamy. He’s the perfect man. He would say that.” I’d say, “Okay. It’s your show.” Eric Buchman Shonda had a very clear idea of how important it was to keep Derek as this almost idealized love interest, not just for Meredith but for the audience. Naturally, the writers—especially writers who had been working on one-hour dramas for a while—were like, “Well, maybe have McDreamy make a big mistake in surgery and kill somebody. Or he develops an addiction of some kind. What is his deep, dark secret?” Shonda was very insistent: that’s not the character we do that with. Even when you find out he’s married, that was done in a very sympathetic way that kept him being a hero. He was wronged by his spouse and in spite of it all he was still gonna give his marriage a second chance. Stacy McKee Shonda was protective of McDreamy, but it was really with an eye toward being protective of Meredith. I don’t think the two were separate from one another. I don’t think she wanted to put something out there that maybe on the surface might seem a little frivolous. At its core, there was something really substantial that she wanted to say. She wanted to be very specific about the type of relationship values that she put out there. Tony Phelan I was in editing with Shonda once, and it was the scene where Meredith and Derek had broken up. He comes over and she’s like, “I can’t remember the last time we kissed.” And he says, “I remember. You were wearing this and you smelled of this …”

Joan Rater “Your shampoo smelled like flowers, you had that sweater on …” He described their last kiss. Tony Phelan Typically in editing you start on Derek, then you cut to Meredith for a reaction, and then you’ll go back to him. I noticed that we weren’t ever cutting back to Meredith. I asked why. Shonda said, “Because the woman in Iowa who’s watching this show wants to believe that Patrick is talking to her, and if you cut back to Meredith, it pushes them out of it.” In those special moments, we would just lock into Derek and let him do his thing. Joan Rater And he was a master at it. Patrick Dempsey He’s the ideal man, and that’s what Shonda constructed. There’s a projection [of him] onto me when you come in contact with fans, certainly with the younger and older fans. There is a certain amount of expectation. There is a responsibility to it. It made me grow, too. There were good qualities [of his] that you work on to obtain. Off camera, Dempsey was equally as charismatic to his fellow actors, crew members, and anyone who would come to visit the set. Lauren Stamile I was going in to meet him, and I remember I had this little cardigan sweater on and I took it off before I got into the room. Dempsey is one of those people—it’s almost like there’s a light shining around his body, and you feel like you’re the only person in the room. I got so hot and I remember saying, “Gosh, I would take off my sweater if I had one on because I’m so hot, but I took it off.” I was just babbling. He said, “You look nice,” and I said, “You look nicer.” I felt so awkward and he was so gracious and lovely. I was having a nervous breakdown. It’s like this “it” factor. I was like, God, whatever he has, I wish I had. I think it was very obvious how nervous I was, and he went out of his way to make sure he introduced me to everybody and made sure I felt comfortable, which he certainly didn’t have to do. But he did. Joan Rater He knew I had a giant crush on him, and he loved it. And when we’d go to table reads—I was an actress at one point in my life—they would always give me Meredith if Ellen wasn’t there. And I’d be getting my chicken tenders at craft services before the table read and he’d come up behind me and say, “Are you reading Meredith?” in my ear, like, so sexy. I’d be like, Oh my God. I mean, I could barely … I could not look at him. Tina Majorino I worked with Patrick a ton. I love him so much. We had a really great time working together. I think he’s such a great actor and he really made me laugh a lot. I feel like we had a good dynamic in scenes together, and it was always fun to play opposite him. Yes, he’s that charismatic in real life. Yes, his hair is that awesome. Yes, he is dreamy up close.

Chandra Wilson Patrick Dempsey will forever be known as Grey’s Anatomy’s McDreamy. Derek Shepherd is a permanent part of television history.

Norman Leavitt He is a big, personable guy.

Jeannine Renshaw We all love Patrick. Patrick is a sweetheart. If I saw him on the street, I’d give him a hug. I love the guy.

Mark Wilding I’ve always had a soft spot for Patrick. He really does try to do the right thing. Brooke Smith, who played Dr. Erica Hahn, remembers how Dempsey defended her when the decision was made to fire her from the show in 2008. Brooke Smith I remember calling him and saying, “Oh my God, they said they can’t write for me anymore, so I guess I’m leaving.” And he was like, “What are you talking about? You’re the only one they’re writing for.” Which at that time, it kind of did feel that way. But I guess someone didn’t like that. They gave me a statement [to release, about her departure] and I never said it. Patrick said that he actually took it out of his jacket on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and read the statement. He won’t let me forget it. He was like, “I defended you, see?” And it was true.

By season eleven, however, fans saw a disturbing break in MerDer’s once unbreakable bond. Six episodes had gone by without a peep from Derek, who was supposedly in Washington, D.C., where he had apparently made out with a research fellow. Fans began threatening to bolt if their hero didn’t return soon to Seattle. “I have never missed one episode,” wrote a fan on Dempsey’s Facebook page. “But I swear if [Rhimes] kills you off I’m done.” But there was a critical reason for Derek’s strange absence: behind the scenes, there was talk of Dempsey’s diva-like fits and tension between him and Pompeo. To help manage the explosive situation, executive producer James D. Parriott was brought back in to serve as a veritable Dempsey whisperer.

Patrick Dempsey [That] was the first year that I haven’t been in every episode. I [was] in every episode since the pilot— close to 250 episodes. That [was a] huge run. James D. Parriott Shonda needed an OG to come in as sort of a showrunner for fourteen episodes. There were HR issues. It wasn’t sexual in any way. He sort of was terrorizing the set. Some cast members had all sorts of PTSD with him. He had this hold on the set where he knew he could stop production and scare people. The network and studio came down and we had sessions with them. I think he was just done with the show. He didn’t like the inconvenience of coming in every day and working. He and Shonda were at each other’s throats.

Jeannine Renshaw There were times where Ellen was frustrated with Patrick and she would get angry that he wasn’t working as much. She was very big on having things be fair. She just didn’t like that Patrick would complain that “I’m here too late” or “I’ve been here too long” when she had twice as many scenes in the episode as he did. When I brought it up to Patrick, I would say, “Look around you. These people have been here since six thirty a.m.” He would go, “Oh, yeah.” He would get it. It’s just that actors tend to see things from their own perspective. He’s like a kid. He’s so high energy and would go, “What’s happening next?” He literally goes out of his skin, sitting and waiting. He wants to be out driving his race car or doing something fun. He’s the kid in class who wants to go to recess.

Patrick Dempsey It’s ten months, fifteen hours a day. You never know your schedule, so your kid asks you, “What are you doing on Monday?” And you go, “I don’t know,” because I don’t know my schedule. Doing that for eleven years is challenging. But you have to be grateful, because you’re well compensated, so you can’t really complain because you don’t really have a right. You don’t have control over your schedule. So, you have to just be flexible.

Longtime Crew Member Poor Patrick. I’m not defending his schtick. I like him, but he was the Lone Ranger. All of these actresses were getting all this power. All the rogue actresses would go running to Shonda and say, “Hey, Patrick’s doing this. Patrick’s late for work. He’s a nightmare.” He was just shut out in the cold. His behavior wasn’t the greatest, but he had nowhere to go. He was so miserable. He had no one to talk to. When Sandra left, I remember him telling me, “I should’ve left then, but I stayed on because they showed me all this money. They just were dumping money on me.”

Patrick Dempsey It [was] hard to say no to that kind of money. How do you say no to that? It’s remarkable to be a working actor, and then on top of that to be on a show that’s visible. And then on top of that to be on a phenomenal show that’s known around the world, and play a character who is beloved around the world. It’s very heady. It [was] a lot to process, and not wanting to let that go, because you never know whether you will work again and have success again.

Jeannine Renshaw A lot of the complaining … I think Shonda finally witnessed it herself, and that was the final straw. Shonda had to say to the network, “If he doesn’t go, I go.” Nobody wanted him to leave, because he was the show. Him and Ellen. Patrick is a sweetheart. It messes you up, this business.

James D. Parriott I vaguely recall something like that, but I can’t be sure. It would have happened right toward the end, because I know they were negotiating and negotiating, trying to figure out what to do. We had three different scenarios that we actually had to break because we didn’t know until I think about three days before he came back to set which one we were going to go with. We didn’t know if he was going to be able to negotiate his way out of it. We had a whole story line where we were going to keep him in Washington, D.C., so we could separate him from the rest of the show. He would not have to work with Ellen again. Then we had the one where he comes back, doesn’t die, and we figure out what Derek’s relationship with Meredith would be. Then there was the one we did. It was kind of crazy. We didn’t know if he was going to be able to negotiate his way out of it. It was ultimately decided that just bringing him back was going to be too hard on the other actors. The studio just said it was going to be more trouble than it was worth and decided to move on.

Stacy McKee I don’t think there was any way to exit him without him dying. He and Meredith were such an incredibly bonded couple at that point. It would be completely out of character if he left his kids. There was no exit that would honor that character other than if he were to die. Patrick Dempsey I don’t remember the date [I got the news]. It was not in the fall. Maybe February or March. It was just a natural progression. And the way everything was unfolding in a very organic way, it was like, “Okay! This is obviously the right time.” Things happened very quickly. We were like, “Oh, this is where it’s going to go.”

So that was that: McDreamy would die in episode twenty-one of season eleven, even though Dempsey was in year one of his recently signed two-year contract extension. Rhimes wrote a script that was befitting of her lead’s heroic persona: she began “How to Save a Life” by having Derek witness a car crash and helping the injured. Once it appeared everyone was out of harm’s way, Derek continues on his road trip but is suddenly broadsided by a truck.

Rob Hardy (Director) The paramedics leave. He’s there by himself. He’s having a moment. The nice music is playing, and all of a sudden, bang. It comes out of nowhere, which, you know, is how accidents happen. So as opposed to watching it as a viewer, we saw the accident happen through Derek’s perspective. Derek ends up at Dillard Medical Center, a hospital far from Grey Sloan and the talented doctors who work there. His eyes are open, but his brain is severely damaged. No one hears his plea for a CT scan; he can’t speak. To help keep the episode a secret, the scenes were shot in an abandoned hospital in Hawthorne, California, about twenty-two miles from the show’s home studio in Los Feliz.

Mimi Melgaard It was really hard on all of us because it was so secretive and we had so many different locations. We shot at this closed-down hospital that was absolutely creepy haunted. All the scenes there were so sad anyway, and in this yucky-feeling haunted hospital? It was really weird. His whole last episode was really tough. Patrick Dempsey It was like any other day. It was just another workday. There was still too much going on. You’re in the midst of it—you’re not really processing it. Rob Hardy Here’s a guy who’s immobile. Now you’re inside of his head. We were trying to make that feel scary from the perspective of a person who’s used to being in control, from a person who usually has the power of life and death in his own hands. But now he doesn’t have the ability to speak on his own behalf.

Samantha Sloyan When I went to audition, I didn’t recognize any of these doctors’ names. I assumed they were just dummy sides so people wouldn’t ruin the story line or anything like that. All we knew is that we were dealing with a man who’s been in a car accident. I had no idea that it was going to be Derek. I just figured I was going to be a guest doctor and that whoever this person was who was injured, was going to be just a character on the show. Once it became clear what we were working on, I was like, Oh, my gosh. I can’t believe this is the episode I’m on.

Mike McColl (Dr. Paul Castello) I signed an NDA before they would release the script to me. I was reading it in my house, and I was like, “Oh, my God.” I didn’t tell anyone, including my agents. I just said, “This is a really great booking. It’s a great role on Grey’s.” And they didn’t know anything until it aired.

Savannah Paige Rae (Winnie) The first scene I shot was actually the sentimental scene when I’m saying, “It’s a beautiful day to save lives, right?” I’m in the hospital room with Derek and talking to him. Even though I never watched the show, I recognized the value of the episode I was in and just really took it to heart. It was so special that I got to be a part of it.

Rob Hardy [Patrick] had a lot of emotions during the whole shoot, which evolved. I think when we first started, he was very calm and cool … the same Patrick that I remembered when I worked on the show a year or so before. With each passing day, he was a lot more emotional. A lot more was on his mind, and that would show itself in different ways. The finality of the episode and for his character was setting in. You’ve become a global icon on this show and then in five, four, three, two, a day … it’s over.

James D. Parriott Patrick was very cooperative and good.

Mike McColl When I met Patrick, he’s lying on a stretcher and we’re rushing him into the ER. I just introduced myself, shook his hand, and was like, “Man, I cannot tell you what an honor it is to be the guy to take you down.” He loved it. He could not have been nicer to me and was funny through the whole shoot. He was on the table in front of me there when I cut his chest open and all that stuff. He gave me a hug at the end. It was a real privilege to be a part of TV history in that way.

Samantha Sloyan I remember him being incredibly kind. They had his neck in a brace, and he’s strapped down to the board, so there wasn’t a ton of chatting. I remember him being really kind, but it was clearly intense for him.

Stacy McKee It was such a beautiful piece of storytelling. I knew this event was going to be a really sad, horrible event for Meredith, but I also knew it was going to be the beginning of such an incredible chapter for Meredith.

Dempsey completed his final hours of shooting on a rainy night. There was no goodbye party, no goodbye cake. Maybe that’s because some cast members were left out of the loop. James Pickens, Jr., told ABC News that the cast “didn’t know a whole lot. It was kind of on the fly. So whatever information we got, we pretty much got it kind of right before it happened.”

Caterina Scorsone (Dr. Amelia Shepherd) I didn’t get to say goodbye to Patrick when he left. I do think that helped, because I’ve been using the character of Derek in my internal landscape since Private Practice. Derek was the stability in Amelia’s life. He became a father figure after they watched robbers shoot their father. When he was suddenly gone from the show, we didn’t have that closure, so I got to play it out. She’s about to use drugs again before Owen confronts her in a way that she finally talks about her feelings about losing Derek. She doesn’t end up using.

James D. Parriott The day he left, that was my last day. There was a certain sadness to it, but I think he was relieved. I mean, I think it took a toll on him, too.

Rob Hardy I didn’t see other actors showing up and saying, “Hey, it’s the last day! Wanted to come and wish you well.” I didn’t get that. It was more the Patrick show. We were in the Patrick world, and then Ellen came, and there was definitely a lot of emotion that both of them had individually … not necessarily together. It was more so her being there on the day that he died. He had his own way of being with that, and the same thing with her. It was like two people who grew up together and … here we are. They had their own way of reflecting.

Patrick Dempsey I very quietly left. It was beautiful. It was raining, which was really touching. I got in my Panamera, got in rush-hour traffic, and two hours later I was home. Big news like this doesn’t stay quiet for long. Both Michael Ausiello—who left EW in 2010 to launch the news site TVLine—and Lesley Goldberg of The Hollywood Reporter learned two weeks prior to Dempsey’s final episode that he would be leaving the show. No reporter worth their salt wants to sit on a scoop—least of all one as huge as this—but Ausiello and Goldberg didn’t want to spoil the outcome for fans, so they agreed to hold the story until after the episode aired. I eventually found out, too, but in the nuttiest way imaginable: I was standing on the set of CSI: Cyber, watching Patricia Arquette talk about some droll techno-criminal. Unfortunately, the publicist also cc’d Dempsey’s manager and ABC publicist while trying to give me a major story, so I couldn’t immediately report the scoop. But I did use the information to successfully negotiate the one and only exit interview with Dempsey. Two weeks before his final episode, I met him and his publicist at Feed Body & Soul in Venice, California, for a story that would hit newsstands on April 24. He seemed a little shell-shocked and at one point choked up, but at the time he said nothing about how his on-set behavior may have contributed to his ouster. My editor, Henry Goldblatt, wanted to put him on the cover of Entertainment Weekly, but he couldn’t guarantee to ABC that no one would see it before the episode aired. Good thing we didn’t: some subscribers got the issue on the morning of Dempsey’s final episode— and one actually tweeted the story. Our PR department tried to get the tweets removed, but the cat was out of the bag: some fans found out early that McDreamy was about to be McHistory. Outlets like Variety reported how the story got out early, while our PR department released this statement: “We are surprised that an EW subscriber may have received their issue a day earlier than planned. We always try our best to bring readers exclusive news first. We would like to apologize to fans of the show that learned the news ahead of time.” Dempsey’s final episode was watched by 8.83 million viewers—the show’s largest audience since the premiere that season. Variety even pontificated whether the ratings boost was due to my exclusive with Dempsey.

Lesley Goldberg (The Hollywood Reporter) I’m used to working with networks to hold news as part of their efforts to guard against plot spoilers. But the way Patrick Dempsey’s exit was handled involved a layer of paranoia and secrecy that has been unlike anything I’ve seen in my reporting career. News that he was leaving, and his character being killed off, would have been a major story considering how big the show is domestically and internationally. However, it also would have meant spoiling the episode and, more important, damaging key relationships I’ve worked hard to build. At some point, publishing the news of Dempsey’s exit before the episode aired became an ethical question of what was more important—a big story and its subsequent traffic, which would have come no matter what, or the relationships and trust that it took years to craft. Ultimately, I still published early because EW subscribers received the issue with Lynette’s Dempsey interview before the episode aired.

Mike McColl The morning after Derek’s last episode aired, my daughter sent me a link that was on YouTube or Facebook or something. I actually pulled it up to look at it, and it was a Grey’s Anatomy showbiz cheat sheet. It asked the question “Who is the attending doctor who killed Derek ‘McDreamy’ Shepherd?” It included a photo that I posted from the set. I had on a bloody rubber glove and was in my scrubs and mask. I never obviously would have posted this before it aired. I posted it well after the episode aired, and I [captioned it] “McDeadly.” This writer said something like, “Kill McDeadly.” Maybe that’s why the producer didn’t choose a big-name actor to be the one who killed our beloved McDreamy! I want to be ultrasensitive to these hard-core fans because it means so much to them, and I certainly didn’t mean in that case to make light of it. It’s just, I’m an actor, and I recognize it for what it is. Is everybody clear on the fact that this is just pretend and Patrick knew he was going to be leaving the show? It was just like, “God. He’s okay. He really is okay.”

Peter Horton Derek was going to be there forever with Meredith because you went through a whole journey with them. That was incredibly fulfilling. So even if he’s not there, he’s there. I don’t think any of us really worried about that going away because by then you were so invested in it. The show can last as it has for years.

Patrick Dempsey Lots of people [miss him]. “It’s good to see you alive” is the comment I get. I’m like, “Yes, I’m very much alive in reruns.” People were really invested in that relationship. I knew it would be heavy. Very happy to have moved on with a different chapter in my life.

Samantha Sloyan The montage just killed me, when Meredith says, “It’s okay, you can go.” God, I’m getting choked up just thinking about it. The chemistry they have as a pair and the way they were able to build that and sustain it! So many of these relationships are, like, “Will they, won’t they,” and then it wears thin. They sustained it for the duration of their relationship on the show, and it’s just, I think, a testament to what those two created. It was just unbelievable.

Pompeo addressed Dempsey’s departure with a tweet that focused solely on his character, not on how she spent eleven years working side by side with him: “There are so many people out there who have suffered tremendous loss and tragedy. Husbands and wives of soldiers, victims of senseless violence, and parents who have lost children. People who get up every day and do what feels like is the impossible. So it is for these people and in the spirit of resilance [sic] I am honored and excited to tell the story of how Meredith goes on in the face of what feels like the impossible.” Meanwhile, fans futilely created a Change.org petition to reinstate McDempsey, while other, more desperate ones simply tweeted “We Hate You” to Rhimes.

Shonda Rhimes Derek Shepherd is and will always be an incredibly important character—for Meredith, for me, and for the fans. I absolutely never imagined saying goodbye to our McDreamy. Patrick Dempsey’s performance shaped Derek in a way that I know we both hope became a meaningful example— happy, sad, romantic, painful, and always true—of what young women should demand from modern love. His loss will be felt by all.

Talk about the mother (father?) of all postscripts: In November of 2020 Dempsey reprised his role as McDreamy in the season opener—but only in Meredith’s dreams. Stricken with COVID-19, an unconscious Meredith “imagined” reuniting with her husband on the beach. After talking exclusively to Deadline and saying how it was “really a very healing process, and really rewarding,” Dempsey would return for more beach-based episodes that would ultimately stand out as the best moments of season seventeen. “It was a second chance thing,” one ABC executive told me at the time. “Shonda likes a comeback. Also, they wanted him in their last season.”

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mobtism · 2 years

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for the character bingo: tome, apollo, dimple

TYSM FOR THE ASK FEL💛💛 u are awesome 😌💛

ask game

"I'M APOLLO JUSTICE AND I'M FINE‼️"

✔️ they're like a blorbo to me... LITERALLY one of my favs my guys from aa. love him a lot!

✔️ they got too much screen time... if they had put half the energy into characters other than apollo... maybe we would have an athena game.💛

✔️ theyre deeper than they seem (unfortunately)

✔️ wasted potential - he would have been a REALLY AWESOME CHARACTER if they didnt do. everything they did in aa5-aa6

✔️ i like them enough to project my own issues onto them

✔️ they work better as part of a dynamic. apollo would have been WAY BETTER if they kept the apollo-emma-klavier dynamic on some degree for at least another game.

✔️ they got done dirty by source... LITERALLY his entire character is like. fucked. they made him a trauma sponge for no reason

✔️ wow... they are LITERALLY me! added this one bc i used to sort of kin apollo bc i could relate to him but... now i dont rlly <3 but i still think hes relatable and cool

Dimple mp100!! i like that guy. heads up- im not caught up on the manga btw

✔️ i want to carry them in a handbag like a tiny dog

✔️ why do they look like that

✔️ they work better as part of a dynamic... hes not much if it werent for his relationships w/ other characters tbh

✔️ i don't really have much to say about them

TOME 💛‼️ she is literally the character of ever.

✔️ they are sooooo cool looking

✔️ they're like a blorbo to me

✔️ didn't get enough screentime (I THINK TOME DESERVES MORE OF EVERYTHING)

✔️ if they were real i would be BFFs with them. she reminds me of my real bff actually!! tome is extra special to me bc of this <3

✔️ im mentally ill about them. i see a fanart of tome and i go absolutely wild /pos

✔️ they've never done anything wrong in their life

#TY AGAIN FEL!!!!!! hoping i wasnt too negative about apollo i... im just very bitter. he was so important to me💔#🦭✨#<- your friend tag now btw <3 any tag w/ this 🪷 emoji is yours ^w^#if its 🪷 alone- its posts that remind me of u... if its '🪷✨' its posts youve made <3 #if u prefer a different emoji btw lmk !! <3 #💫

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itsonlystrange · 3 years

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I feel like a lot of people seem to forget the Mike is the wheelers only son. Meaning he has different expectations than Nancy has and that Holly will have.

Example:

Nancy was always expected (By Ted, at least) to marry in to a good family of her own. Take someone else’s last name.

However with Mike, and with men in general and heteronormativity and toxic masculinity, men are the ones that are supposed to “carry on the family legacy.”

Mike isn’t supposed to marry into a family, a young lady is supposed to marry into THEIR family. The WHEELER family. For a young lady to take THE WHEELER last name.

Nancy was expected to be the house keeper. The cook. The house wife. She bares the children, takes them to school, while her husband is off at work. Following the pattern of Karen and Ted.

However Mike isnt expected to do that. He’s supposed to find a woman that marries into their family. She bares the children while he’s at work.

I do think Karen noticed early on that their son isn’t what 80’s society deemed as normal, not even from a sexuality stand point.

We don’t know much about Ted, but we do know that he is wealthy. He makes “6 figures” (or more) in the words of Jonathan. He was probably in some sort of sport. Most likely popular. Very much similar to Steve.

And well, Mike isn’t.... any of those things.

He isn’t athletic... like at all. Which in the 80’s , was very looked down upon. He isn’t popular, and he’s a “nerd.”

While Ted probably had girls swooning over him 24/7, Mike doesn’t have that. I’m sure Karen noticed very early on that he wasn’t going to continue the Wheeler family in the most conventional way possible. He wasn’t going to get prom king. He wasn’t going to work at an insurance firm, marry a Kathy or a Susan or a Tina and settle down working a 9-5. And that doesn’t even involve his sexuality.

But most importantly, I’m sure Ted noticed that.

There’s often a lot of focus on Will’s relationship with his father (which albeit, is much more front and center.) and how Lonnie often tried to “man up” Will. (I’m not invalidating that in any way.) However, it isn’t very out of character that Ted had very similar concerns and expectations. Definitely on a different scale, but he had them.

No, I don’t think Ted has ever “abused” any of his kids. However I do think he reinforced his expectations in... unhealthy ways. Especially on Mike.

Nancy was (in season 1, but still is.) the “perfect daughter.” She was on the cheer squad. She was pretty, popular (to an extent at some point), good grades, likable, she was doing everything her family wanted her to. She dated the most popular guy in school, and even in season 3, while she is dating Jonathan, she still seems to be doing pretty well. And although she is definitely more independant now, and isn’t following the structure her parents have set up for her (letting the man do the discovering and hunting and all of that, while she sits back as the damsel in distress.) it doesn’t seem like her parents are “disappointed” in her,, or worried about her future. Unlike Mike.

Very early on, I assume, Mike definitely wasn’t the “star son” Ted was looking for. Not the extroverted popular guy, the one who all girls swooned over. I’m sure Ted complained about this and to Karen, and expressed his concerns on why their son wasn’t fulfilling the expectations they set up for him. Instead of star football flayer, he’s a nerd. Instead of a ladies man, he’s well.. not a ladies man. I believe Ted set up these expectations at a very young age. And reinforced them, not in the best ways. He probably tried to in force “manly” stereotypes onto Mike. Maybe even tried to get him into a sport. We see in season 2 that he is forcing mike to “grow up” by giving away some of his toys, because in Ted’s mind, growing up means Mike could finally “man up” which then snowballs in season 3 to Mike feeling like he has to “grow up” so he can “man up” so he won’t be so childish. So he can finally fulfill his parents expectations. So he won’t be such an out cast (which we now know backfires, as he’s in the Hellfire club and will probably be under a lot of scrutiny.)

Mike is aware of these expectations, which only affect his personality and attitude further. I’m sure Ted had ridiculed him on not being athletic enough... failing PE. Not having a girlfriend. Not being very talkative, and when he is talkative having an attitude. Lashing out. Not being popular. Playing board games inside all day instead of going out and playing soccer. And this only affects Mike’s insecurities more.

Mike is insecure that he will never be able to fulfill his parents desires. That he will never be the star football player and valedictorian that all the parents think is phenomenal. And even though Mike hates to admit it, he relies on people, especially his father, for validation. His father very obviously didn’t and doesn’t give him enough love, and his mother, while definitely being more open and caring, can be distant. His family doesn’t give him much attention, which is why he lashes out. He needs attention, and if he can’t get it from his parents, maybe he can get it from other people. Or even worse, he does things, graffitiing the bathroom stall, cussing out people, stealing from Nancy, to get a rise out of his parents. So maybe his parents will notice him, pay attention to him. Ground him, take away his Atari. He may act like he hates it on the outside, but he subconsciously does it on purpose. So he can feel something again. So he can feel recognized. Mike possesses self destructive behavior because of his parents. Because at school, people don’t pay attention to him. At home, people don’t pay attention to him. He’s lost. He’s alone.

And in ways, Mike thinks he’s a failure.

This is where the party comes in.

I think a lot of people seem to round up Mike being against Max joining the party is because he doesn’t want someone to “replace El.” However, while that may be the case, I don’t think that’s all of it.

The reason he didn’t want Max to join the party is because, they are the exact. Same. Type. Of. Person.

Mike was projecting his personal insecurities onto Max because they are so similar. He seems himself in Max. And because he refuses to talk about his own personal problems he will be seen as “more of a freak” he takes them out on Max and ridicules Max for things that he actually ridicules himself for. And also, on a different note. Mike was scared. Scared he’d be replaced. Because his whole life that’s how he was treated. Ted seems to only give out love and praise when it fits his expectations. And when Mike doesn’t reach those expectations, Mike feels like a failure because he is told he is.

Mike is scared of being replaced or abandoned by the Party because he already has been by the rest of his school and his own father.

So Mike was upset that Dustin and Lucas found Max so entertaining, because he was afraid Max would take up his spot in the party. Because although he hates to admit it, she was awesome. Way more awesome than he could ever be. And he saw how cool she was. He felt threatened. Threatened that Dustin and Lucas, and probably Will too, would ditch him for Max.

Max radiates “leader” energy. She has the ability to take charge of a situation when she needs to. She’s cunning. Sarcastic. She can be slick, and doesn’t usually take no for an answer. She’s intimidating.

Mike felt threatened because, well, he is the leader of the party. And he didn’t want this girl to come in and take a hold of that. Because the party is literally all he has. He may act like he has this big ego or whatever, but this is all he has. He’s an out cast. And he needs validation from the party. He likes being a leader, because this is the only setting where he can be one. He isn’t popular, yet the people in the party look up to him. And he likes that attention, the attention that his parents didn’t give him. While Karen and Ted were busy paying attention to Nancy, he was alone. He had no nobody. He still sort of has nobody. But the party is his comfort. It’s his validation, the validation he needs from Ted but doesn’t get. He saw Max’s potentional and was afraid he’d be kicked to the curb. His attitude towards her in season 2 wasn’t because he wanted to be a jerk. It was a defense mechanism.

And the thing is, they really are so similar.

Both have fairly absent fathers. Both are sarcastic. Both are leaders. Both are witty. They are both pretty smart (in different fields.) They are quick thinkers and are both able to take charge of a situation. The reason Mike “hates” Max is because he hates himself. Max is so similar to Mike which makes her an easy target for projection. He both envies her yet holds resentment towards her at the same time.

So Mike’s hatred of Max is because of a few things:

A coping mechanism and fear of being left behind and kicked out of the party because she is the much “cooler” version of him.

And a projection of his true feelings of himself on to her because they are so similar .

Mike has abandonment issues and unhealthy coping mechanisms. But even worse, he has high expectations that he can only meet in unhealthy and unhappy ways.

Mike believes that in order to become a “man” he needs to grow up. That’s something his father taught him. Mike believes that in order to become a “man” he must find a young lady to settle down with. He must settle in life. Work a 9-5. Have a wife that bares children.

Which is why it utterly shocks and scares mike that he can’t even fulfill that expectation either.

When Mike first realizes his feelings for Will, I don’t think he fully acknowledges it. I don’t think he wants himself to. Because he is fully aware that in his fathers eyes he is a failure. And even to himself, he sees himself as a failure. So it upsets him that the one thing, the ONE thing, that he thought he could do to make his parents happy, the one thing that would dig himself out of this hole, the one thing that would make Ted “proud” of him, being straight, isn’t possible for him. It scares him. He’s already messed up this far. He isn’t athletic, popular, talkative. Why can’t he just have this one thing? This one sense of normalcy?

So he pushes it away. I think he’s had these feelings for Will for a long time. In season one, he definitely had them, but didn’t realize or acknowledge them. In season two I definitely think he realized something was up, but just didn’t wanna believe it.

I do think he cares about El, and loves her platonically. However I also think that after he accessed that his feelings towards Will weren’t totally “bromantic.” , he began overcompensating. He pushed Will away in fear that if he connected with Will even more he’d act on his feelings. Now I don’t think he’s fully acknowledged his feelings yet, all I think is that he knew something was up and tried to stop it from flourishing. He was still under the impression that this was a “phase.” That all he has to do is “grow up.” Because he equates straight love with growing up and settling down. His feelings for Will are “childish.” He attempts (and fails) to act like an “adult” or a “man” by saying misogynistic things against El, (like the usual 80’s man would), by regularly using slang like “Man” or “Dude” against Will, which was a first. And calls himself a “7 year old” when he reverts back to talking about getting new toys for Christmas. This boy is reallyyyy trying to push his straight agenda here.

Then, after about 10 months of trying to push this “straight agenda”, by constantly reminding the party that he is in a STRAIGHT RELATIONSHIP. By acting all lovey dovey in front of the party yet never showing that alleged affection to El on screen. (Saying he loved el, came off as if he was trying to impress the party, or further prove he is “straight”, yet not being able to say it back to her. Acting like he’s all in love and crazy for el when he runs off the weather top in s3 e1, yet just going through the motions of making out with El and even taking her hands off of him behind closed doors.) Point is, he barks more than he bites.

Remember how I said this boy needs a lot of validation to function? Yeah well this is where that comes in.

He needs validation that people believe he’s in a straight relationship. He constantly reminds the party that he is and almost seems like he’s really trying to push it. He’s overcompensating. Because he NEEDS people to believe that he’s in a straight relationship so that he believes it himself. Because in his head, if people believe he is then, he is. Nobody knows what they don’t know. They never have to find out about his attraction to guys if he doesn’t show it. And in the beginning it’s paying off well. The party really believes it. But then he messes up big time and it all crumbles down. Very curious if Lucas ever realized how quickly Mike went off in the rain to fetch Will when he couldn’t even call El by phone.

But as I said, after 10 months of this “facade”, El says she loves him back, something he either actually forgot about or lied about forgetting, and kisses him. And then he stands there, and it turns out, all that work, all that time he spent, lying to himself and to the party, didn’t work. He realized that this isn’t just a phase. It’s real. He can’t just overcompensate for this. He cant just pray it away.

Mike, early on, developed an insecurity of not having a girlfriend because of the bullies at school and his father. No girl ever paid attention to him. He was sidelined, and the only people that even really knew his name were the members of the party. He saw how Will got bullied. And he was bullied for similar things too. He saw the aids epidemic spread infront of his eyes. He saw how homosexuals were treated. He didn’t want that to be him. Because he had already failed his parents and their expectations (Atleast in his eyes.) He already failed the kids at school and is seen as a nerd or outcast, why couldn’t he just have one thing that would make him “normal” . Being straight was essentially Mike’s only opportunity to be “normal”, to not be seen as such an outcast, and now that opportunity is taken away from him because well, he isnt straight.

So then El came in and to El, Mike was this warrior. To El, Mike was this strong, charming, fearless ‘man.’ And Mike knew that wasn’t true. He knows he’s just a small town kid that’s a total nerd and a total joke to the kids at school, but El didnt and doesn’t know that. With El, he’s allowed to be something he’s not. And that made Mike happy. Someone gave him attention. Someone didn’t actually think of him as a “failure.” All the girls at school found him repulsive. He had already assumed he’d have to settle for a trophy wife. But El came into the picture and allowed him to appear normal for once.

I do think Mike loves El platonically, but I also think that he subconsciously liked her for his own personal benefits. Lucas said it the best. He liked her because she’s the first girl that isn’t grossed out by him.

He cares about El a lot, that’s undeniable, but he also thought that in El, he saw a chance to be normal. To impress his father who already assumed he was a lost cause. El was his gateway to being straight.

TLDR:

So what I encourage you all to realize is:

Being gay In the 80’s is hard as it is, but mike’s personal complexes and his parents expectations make it extra hard. He feels even more like a failure. Because out of everything, he isn’t straight. He isn’t athletic, popular, isn’t well liked, and he’s disappointed his father, when all he’s ever wanted was to impress his father, and now he knows he never really will be able to.

Mike’s journey in season 4 deserves to be about self acceptance. About learning to love yourself. Mike relies heavily on other people’s validation and attention. So when he isn’t given that attention he lashes out. Mike feels unloved and like a failure. He needs to be the leader of the party because he feels like that’s the only form of leadership he’ll ever have. He likes that in the parties eyes and in el’s eyes, he’s on this pedestal, because in his mind that’s the only pedestal he’ll ever stand on. Mike is full of self esteem issues, anxiety, ptsd, and most likely depression. He deserves to be uncondiontially loved by someone. But most of all, he deserves to love himself and become comfortable with the fact that A. A nerd and shouldn’t be ashamed of his nerdy hobbies and B. He isn’t straight and that’s okay! He needs to learn to accept his sexuality. Season 4 is the deciding season. I believe we will see him go through a lot of ups and downs, and a lot of realizations. But the end of season 3 was very telling as to where his arc is headed.

Mike’s reliability on validation and need for attention leads to unhealthy coping mechanisms. He’s been keeping up this fake agenda of “being straight” and shoving it in his friends faces in order to convince himself that he IS straight and that these feelings for Will are just a matter of “being a child” and needing to “grow up” , which backfires. His father has implemented a lot of these insecurities into his head. He wants to grow up faster than the rest of the party because growing up means finally being a man, which would in turn, impress his father. And impressing his father means he’d be loved by his father. And being loved by his father means getting attention from his father. The attention he has never received. Ted has affected Mike in more ways than most people notice. That needs to be addressed. I hope to see Mike come to terms with who he is. The fact that he’s a nerd, the fact that he is a “freak” and that’s okay, and the fact that he’s not straight, which is also okay.

Mike isn’t a bad character. He is misunderstood and really really just needs a hug.

SUPER SORRY FOR LONG POST. PLEASE REBLOG AS THIS NEEDED TO BE SAID. GOOD NIGHT YALL <3

#stranger things #byler #stranger things 4 #mike wheeler #st4 #byler is endgame #stranger things season four

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amphibious-entity · 3 years

Text

TMBS Book 1 Brain Dump

~An Embarrassingly Long Post~

I don’t know why I’m writing this or why I’m so determined to do it. Maybe to finally assume my true form and become a mega dork on main, or maybe just for fun!

This is basically a compilation of all the main points running through my head after reading The Mysterious Benedict Society (2007) for the first time. Rather than posting a ton and spamming the tag, everything’s here in one neat package! (hopefully this gets it all out of my system rip)

Contents:

The Book Itself

The Book Itself, for real this time

The Characters

A Funny Parallel

The S.Q. Section

Lines & Scenes I Liked

Spoilers abound!

The Book Itself

Upon acquiring the first three books (don’t judge me pls), I was surprised at just how long they are. Like, they’re still pretty light being paperbacks and all, but these books are hefty lads.

The first book has this Disney+ Original Series circle thing printed on it, which is kind of unfortunate. Regardless, I love the cover illustration and yellow is actually my favorite color :D It made me weirdly quite happy whenever I saw the book lying around in my room

Also, it’s really cute how there’s a letter from Mr. Benedict at the end! (It only reveals that you can find out his first name if you “know the code”, meaning the bit of Morse printed below the summary on the back.) Shock and horror, though, as I realized I’m starting to recognize some of the letters

The Book Itself, for real this time

It’s wonderful how the tone of the book really shone through to the show adaptation. Something about the deliberateness of the aesthetic, from the set designs to the fashion to scene compositions, that really sells that particular style— like it’s very clear that this story is being told to us, rather than one we’re seeing unfold, if that makes sense.

Where that narration style stood out to me the most was the first chapter. We are told (rather than shown) how Reynie gets himself to the point of the second test, and there’s this whole twisty time maneuver for that whole sequence of events that’s really interesting

A super secret fun fact about me is that I wanted to be a writer when I was younger! So this particular balance of show vs. tell is really neat, since it runs counter to my own tendencies. The sheer amount of commas in every sentence is also kind of comforting, since Ahah, I Do That in those few serious-ish attempts at writing lol

Overall this book’s style reminds me a lot of Roald Dahl’s books, which are very nostalgic for me :D The whole “kids are more competent than adults” angle helps a lot too haha

The Characters

Oh boy here’s where I get a little bit critical! Overall I did really like this book!! it’s just that that expresses itself in all this weird “”analysis”” lol

Reynie - much better in the books than in the show

It’s sort of a lukewarm take but I feel like show!Reynie is kind of boring? He doesn’t have a lot going on flaw-wise, and obviously since he’s the protagonist he can’t have too many weird traits or else the kids watching can’t project themselves onto him as easily

(I call it the difference between an aspirational protagonist and a vessel protagonist. Going off of the Roald Dahl vibes, think Matilda vs Charlie. show!Reynie is more of a Charlie)

Thus when we get to see him really struggle with the Whisperer and doubt himself it gives him a lot more dimension, at least in my opinion

It is a federal crime that the white knight scenes were not adapted into the show

Sticky - my son

I’ve long held to no one besides myself and my long suffering sister that Sticky is The Best Member of the Society

He happened to hit a lot of the Bingo squares of Stuff I Like In Characters: glasses, anxious, nice :), kind of a coward but ultimately is there for his friends, etc

For some reason I don’t talk about him nearly as much as you-know-who, but I love him just as dearly

Kate & Constance - I don’t have much to say

Kate is really interesting in this book! I like how we get to see more of her depths, in particular that one passage about her belief that she is invincible being the only thing that keeps her from falling apart? :c

Also her constant fidgeting is relatable lol

Constance is somehow a lot more tolerable in the book. I think I’m just one of those people with no patience for small children, unfortunately lol

(Some of) The Adults

It’s interesting that they had such an offscreen presence for most of the book. Giving them more time was probably one of the stronger changes of the show

However if that decision was made at the expense of the white knight scenes I think the choice should have been clear

I like the way Rhonda and Number Two are written

Milligan always on sad boy hours 😔✊

The “mill again” passage is touching but kind of messes up the pacing of the getaway, at least for me. Maybe I should read it again to make sure I didn’t miss something

Miss Perumal is much better in the show. We see so little of her in the book she doesn’t function well as an emotional anchor for Reynie, imo

The Institute Gang

Jackson and Jillson serve their purpose well, and Martina was surprising to say the least. I like the direction they took her in the show! I can’t imagine how funny it must have been to watch the tetherball subplot come out of nowhere lolol

These sections were written out of sequence, so random tidbit I couldn’t fit in The S.Q. Section: I like how he stumbles over his words. relatable

Mr. Curtain

While I think I know why they decided to not give Curtain the wheelchair in the show, we were totally robbed of Actor Tony Hale’s performance for the reveal during the final confrontation

Speaking of the wheelchair, it’s such a powerful symbol of his need for control or rather, his fear of losing it

The Contrast between him and Mr. Benedict. This point is expanded on in A Funny Parallel

Mr. Benedict

Oh boy, Mr. Benedict… How do I say this

I find it hard to trust Mr. Benedict, unfortunately

I mean to say, I do in the sense that I know he would never hurt the kids, thanks to knowing that a) this is a children’s book series and b) the meta (tumblr) states that he is really nice and lovable and stuff, but seriously. Why do the kids trust him at first?? I probably missed something somewhere

I like to think I’m an optimistic person, but unfortunately I’m also super paranoid. The premise of “a bunch of vulnerable orphans team up with a strange old man” is just so odd to me I don’t know how to explain it

I don’t know!!! I really want to trust Mr. Benedict

One of the strengths of the show is that we get to see him more often, and thus he gets to acknowledge more often that the plan is weird and that he feels really badly for putting the kids in danger and that he’s trustworthy and genuine

But his lack of presence for most of the book just makes him into something of a specter, invisible and unknowable, speaking only in riddles from across the bay

Which is why the white knight scene is so important!! I loved that scene ;-;

Because here’s an actual emotional connection! We can actually see it happening, rather than only being told that it exists

Reynie asking for advice and receiving encouragement, in words that demonstrate that Mr. Benedict actually cares about him and worries about him and agghh

It is a federal crime that the white knight scenes were not adapted into the show

But overall this whole issue didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the book at all! It’s just ->

A Funny Parallel

Okay, ready for my biggest brain, hottest take ever??

Mr. Benedict and Mr. Curtain…. are… the same

I mean obviously not entirely, given that one is benevolent and kind and the other is… Mr. Curtain

But seriously. Genius old man seeks out children (mainly orphans) to enact a plan. Said children often end up incredibly devoted to his cause and deeply admire him this is a little flimsy

Undoubtedly that’s intentional and is supposed to show the difference between them, like some kind of cautionary tale? “Let yourself be vulnerable and let others help you, lest you turn eeeeviiillll”

I guess that’s where the aforementioned epic contrast comes in. You get Mr. Curtain, strapped into his wheelchair and hiding behind those mirrored sunglasses, terrified (but unwilling to admit it) of ever showing the tiniest hint of vulnerability, vs. Mr. Benedict, who can let himself fall knowing that someone will catch him :’)

Anyhow I have nothing against the parallels, I just think it’s funny

The S.Q. Section

The S.Q. Quarantine Thread so it doesn’t leak out everywhere else <3

I’d like to meet the emo angstlord genius who read this book and decided to make SQ into Dr. Curtain’s son. What in the world

Okay I should probably preface this by saying that I absolutely adore both book!S.Q. and show!SQ with all my heart. Somehow, despite being a completely different character in both mediums, he has managed to be one of the best characters in either and certainly one of my favorites (besides Sticky of course) in the entire franchise, despite the fact that I’ve only read the first book/watched the show so far. I am confident in this statement.

But seriously! How?? Why?? I could probably write a whole other essay about why show!SQ is such an interesting character, and the change works so incredibly well. I’m just. Baffled

Okay, focus. book!S.Q. is such a sweetheart, oh my goodness. Like, 100% one of the most endearing characters in the book. Poor guy. I don’t even know where to start!!

He just seems to be a genuinely good guy at heart, despite being technically one of the bad guys. He’s genuinely happy for Reynie and Sticky when they became Messengers and helped Kate when she “fell” and was concerned about Constance when she looked sick and how he was in that meeting with Mr. Curtain and Martina?!!? aaahhhhghgh ;-; he just wants people to be happy TT-TT

Comparing him against literally every character at the Institute is probably what makes him so endearing tbh. When everyone else is so awful to the kids, it really makes him stand out. Like a cheerful little nightlight in the worst, most humid and rank bathroom you’ve ever been in

It’s kind of pointless to theorize about a book series that’s already concluded (I think?) but. Is the implication of S.Q.’s forgetfulness supposed to be that Mr. Curtain used him in brainsweeping experiments somehow? The timeline probably definitely absolutely doesn’t line up but like. How did he get to being a Messenger being the way he is now, given how cutthroat the process is? And then of course Mr. Curtain keeps him around as an Executive because he’s fun to mess with and presumably his loyalty. I’m very curious as to how their relationship develops in the other books, if at all. Those are probably where the seeds of the “let’s make them family” logic were planted

But wouldn’t it be hilarious if the reason we don’t know what “S.Q.” stands for in the books is that he just. Forgot

Another thing that occurred to me. Given that he and the other Executives were Messengers at some point, what were their worst fears? What is S.Q.’s worst fear?? Inquiring minds need to know

One last horrible little anecdote: I was thinking about book!S.Q. while eating breakfast, as one does, and suddenly it hit me.

I want to believe The Author Trenton Lee Stewart had the name for a character, S.Q. Pedalian, and was like, “Hm! What sort of quirky trait should this young fellow have?” Because, of course, in this style of fiction every character has to have at least one cartoonish or otherwise distinguishing trait to stand out in the minds of children. (For instance, Kate has her bucket, Sticky has his glasses, Constance is angry, and Reynie is Emmett from the Lego Movie)

Anyhow, he looks around the room, searching for inspiration. Suddenly he comes across a jumbo box of plastic wrap. Completely innocuous in design, save for one line of text. 300 SQ FT.

“…large… S.Q. …feet? THAT’S IT!” i’m sorry

Lines & Scenes I Liked

In no particular order!

Sticky quotes Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Evil combination aerobics/square dancing in the gym with the Executives

Everyone being happy at the end :’)

Everyone partying after Sticky reunites with his parents, and later finding Mr. Benedict asleep at his desk from the moment they shook hands :’’)

Literally any scene with Sticky in it

Any time Kate says “you boys” or “gosh”

[“Um, sir?” S.Q. said timidly, raising his hand. “A thought just occurred to me.” / Mr. Curtain raised his eyebrows. “That’s remarkable, S.Q. What is it?”] clown prince of my heart </3

S.Q.’s determined monologue about searching for clues after he bungled up the first time

Literally any scene with S.Q. in it (please refer to The S.Q. Section)

Reynie trying to resist the Whisperer.

[Let us begin. / First let me polish my spectacles, Reynie thought. / Let us begin. / Not without my bucket, Reynie insisted. He heard Mr. Curtain muttering behind him. / Let us begin, let us begin, let us begin. / Rules and schools are tools for fools, Reynie thought.]

NO MORE HURTIN’ WITH CURTAIN

Milligan showing up on the island!!

Remember the white knight hhhhhh

“controle”

A Super Secret Bonus Section

I would be extremely surprised if anyone read through all the way down here lol. Regardless, here’s a little acknowledgements section :D not tagging anyone since I don’t want to bother all of these people

Special shoutout to tumblr blog stonetowns for unknowingly yet singlehandedly demolishing my reluctance to read the books by posting a ton of cute quotes. Thank you for your service o7

Thanks to the two OGs that liked the post I made right before this one, for being my unwitting enablers and for sticking around despite being a) technically an internet stranger (hello!) and b) someone I haven’t spoken to irl in literal years (hey!!)

Last but not least thankz 2 my sister for putting up with me ranting about the book when I first got it and for asking about “CQ” sometimes lol. (i desperately hope you’re not reading this orz)

#the mysterious benedict society #this took me like three days to finish rip #it’s worked though! i feel less of a Mighty Need to think about this stuff constantly now #however!!! today through some conniving i have gotten the Second Book #now I’m at 3 out of 4 infinity stones. muahahaha #was going to include my villain origin story about why i like show!SQ so much but cut it for being too long and irrelevant. however #if the words jeff naomi and Sweet Dreams are Made of These mean anything to you please hit me up. it’s kind of a funny story

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