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psychagoguedigitalmusical · 4 months ago

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Epic: The Musical - Lyric Textual Analysis 1 - The Infant and the Horse

(Skip to the end if you want to just see my analysis of The Infant and the Horse.)

I hope you like Epic: The Musical (if so, you're in good company here), because we're gonna be talking about it here. We're gonna be talking about it in depth, and we're gonna be talking about it a lot. And we're gonna be talking about it for quite a while.

As I mentioned in yesterday's blogpost, one of primary approaches in the development of Psychagogue: A Digital Musical is through a close and thorough analysis of Epic. Eventually, I plan to analyze other seminal works of musical theatre and miscellaneous other specific relevant works. In a sense, I know I like the body of Epic, but in order to create something, I need to understand its bones, its sinews, its nerves and muscles. By surgically extracting key information, I can study the specimen to build up a foundation to understand why I like it and use that framework to reverse-engineer them to create something of my own.

Like any good house, I am building on a solid foundation of bones. In this case, the bones are the basic storytelling elements of the narrative. Specifically, the text itself. And if you haven't done a lot of literary analysis before, that's okay, but I will say now that whenever I use the word "text" in this blog, I am being deliberate with its meaning. I mean "text" in this case to mean the explicitly written words that compose the work. If that seems obvious, then consider what text isn't. Text is not subtext. Text is not an implication (even a really strong one). Text is incontrovertible, an undeniable fact of the narrative. You can have implications and interpretations that are supported by the text, but I am making that distinction here early on. If we use the show-tell dichotomy, text is the explicit tell. Subtext is the implicit show.

With that out of the way, let's take a look at this S✨P✨R✨E✨A✨D✨S✨H✨E✨E✨T

I might change the format for later entries, but for now, the spreadsheet is divided into 5 main sections:

Song info - Basic information about the song including its title, a link to listen to it, and a link to the full lyrics.

Core elements - I have a running theory that every narrative-driven song (that should be like all of them in a Musical Theatre context I think?) has a core conflict, a resolution of some sort, and the central philosophy, tension, or question can be identified within a single quote. This often, but not always, is the title of the song itself.

The Narrative situation - In what ways does this song actually move the plot forward. Like, what literally happens in this song? Unfortunately, 40 songs in a row about some people in a blank white room singing about their feelings wouldn't make for much of a story. In the context of a musical, I will be working under the idea that they are purely told in song, without any non-song connective tissue. If you go see buy some tickets to your local theatre's staged production of Legally Blonde: The Musical or something similar, you'll likely see a hybrid approach, but I'm going to take Epic's approach on this one and keep everything song-only. (That's right, that means no ARG either. Probably.)

Factual Character information - What do we learn about these characters? Factually, demographically? What contextual information do we actually have about this person singing about his feelings? Odysseus is a soldier from Ithaca. Zeus is a god from Ithaca. Morvic is an adolescent from a small coastal town.

Character relationships/philosophies/perspectives - Similar to factual information, but more about how each character interacts with the world around them. What do they believe in? How do they feel about the situations and characters around them?

With the preamble out of the way, here's the actual results I came up with. Note that this phase of analysis focuses purely on the lyrics of the songs in Epic: The Musical. (This also means that yes, at this phase, the information here will be obvious. You might look at these results and think "duh". That's intentional. This analysis is important as part of the overarching effort of understanding the writing techniques Jorge Rivera-Herrans is using to make information obvious.) For now I am not touching on any musical motifs (yes, Penelope's leitmotif can be heard in the pause between lyrics, yes Odysseus is definitely thinking of her in that moment, no that is not directly stated or implied by the text of the lyrics. Implied by the text of the music itself maybe, but that's a conversation for another day.)

Without further ado:

Epic: The Musical - Lyric Textual Analysis 1 - The Infant and the Horse

Central Conflict:

Odysseus is faced with a difficult choice. He either has to kill a defenseless baby or allow his home and family to be completely destroyed once the baby grows up. He loves his family dearly but is distraught at the idea of committing such an act.

Resolution:

Odysseus must make this difficult decision right now.

Thesis Quote (Fundamental question or philosophy):

"It's just an infant, it's just a boy"

What factual information do we explicitly learn about the situation?

Odysseus and his men have been at war against the Trojans for 10 years

Right now, Odysseus and his crew are beginning to execute a decisive counterattack.

Odysseus and his crew are planning to enter and take the city.

Odysseus' attack becomes interrupted by some unknown force

Odysseus gets a vision of the future from the gods. This future is certain, but can be changed if Odysseus takes action right now.

Odysseus must kill Prince Hector's son in order to avoid the future that the vision shows.

Prince Hector's son is a baby

If Odysseus does not kill Prince Hector's son right now, the boy will grow up and enact vengeance upon Odysseus. Specific consequences include, but are not limited to destroying his home and killing Penelope.

If Odysseus attempts to circumvent this fate another way, he will fail. The gods themselves will ensure that if the boy lives, that this fate will come to pass.

What factual information do we implicitly learn about the situation?

Troy has had a slight upper hand in the war up to now.

The crew's attack on Troy is successful.

What factual information do we explicitly learn about a character?

Odysseus is a soldier in a war who has been fighting against Troy for at least 10 years.

Odysseus is a noble of some sort.

Odysseus has never been in a situation where he has had to consider killing a defenseless baby.

Many of the men in the crew have families at home.

What factual information do we implicitly learn about a character?

Odysseus is the commander of a group of soldiers.

Penelope and Telemachus are Odysseus' family members.

Zeus is a god, but not the only god. He has powers including knowing information about people's lives and the ability to give people visions of the future. The gods interfere in people's lives.

What information do we explicitly learn about a character's relationships, perspectives, or philosophies?

Odysseus considers the soldiers under his command his brothers.

Odysseus is motivated by his connection to Penelope and Telemachus.

Zeus doubts Odysseus' ability to make the difficult decision in choosing who must die.

What information do we implicitly learn about a character's relationships, perspectives, or philosophies?

Odysseus is an effective commander who has the trust of his men.

Odysseus has and values inner strength.

Odysseus has and values pride.

Odysseus values the ability to fight through pain.

Odysseus understands that it is important to have a motivation in order to keep yourself going.

Odysseus is highly confident of his own ability as a fighter.

Odysseus does not want to kill a defenseless baby. He wants to follow his sense of morality and does not have an inherent bloodlust. He would rather take on some amount of sacrifice than go against his morality in this way.

Odysseus is skilled at finding alternative solutions that do not involve killing.

Zeus is stubborn.

One thing I noticed was that the highest density categories for this piece were Explicit Narrative info and Implicit Character Perspective info. Makes I suppose for the first song, especially when the audience can reasonably be expected to come into the experience with some pre-existing knowledge. For establishing Odysseus, it was interesting to see what information was stated outright vs implied. I'll be curious to see how this proportion shifts from song to song.

If you're interested in ever viewing my analysis in depth, including the concrete lyrics backing each of these bullet points, as well as additional notes, I'll be keeping this spreadsheet link publicly available in View-only mode. Over time I will be adding more tabs for each song. My next post will be either another one of these analyses for "Just a Man", some Psychagogue world-building info I've been putting together over time that is almost ready to compile, or some musical ideas I was able to scrounge together.

Until then, that's all I've got for now.

#PsychagogueDigitalMusical #epic the musical #epic the musical analysis #epic analysis #lyrical analysis #spreadsheets #literary analysis #text #subtext #media analysis #media literacy #odysseus #ody #zeus #penelope #telemachus #The infant and the horse #epic the ithaca saga

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yamayuandadu · 2 months ago

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hi! absolutely love your work but havent read all of it yet, if youve already covered this feel free to ignore this, but I was wondering if you knew anything about Hushbisha? she is mentioned in the epic of gilgamesh as part of enkidus funeral rights and a search on google only gives gilgamesh pdfs or "the tablet of destinys" which idk. ill keep doing research on my own but just wanted to ask in case you knew anything. thank you for your time!!

Hushbisha (literally “its horror is good”; Irene Sibbing-Plantholt, Visible Death and Audible Distress: The Personification of Death (Mūtu) and Associated Emotions as Inherent Conditions of Life in Akkadian Sources, p. 339) does not physically appear as a character in the Epic, but she is indeed mentioned when Gilgamesh mourns Enkidu’s death and makes offerings to various deities to guarantee he’ll be welcomed warmly in the underworld (tablet VIII, lines 159-161; translation via Andrew R. George, The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic: Introduction, Critical Edition and Cuneiform Texts, p. 661):

The full list of invoked deities shows some similarities with similar passages in Death of Ur-Nammu and Death of Gilgamesh (an earlier “standalone” Gilgamesh myth, I will cover it in more detail soon-ish) but the minor underworld deities invoked don’t overlap fully; Hushbisha appears in the Death of Ur-Nammu as well, though (The Babylonian Gilgamesh…, p. 489). In both cases, she is placed directly after Namtar, which is presumed to reflect the view they were spouses (The Babylonian Gilgamesh…, p. 859). This is presumed to be a fairly old tradition, going back to the Ur III period at least (Jacob Klein, Namtar in RlA vol. 9, p. 143). The only exception from it I’m aware of is the Underworld Vision of an Assyrian Prince, where Namtar’s spouse is Namtartu, literally the feminine form of his own name (The Babylonian Gilgamesh…, p. 859).

Hushbisha’s title from the Epic of Gilgamesh is also attested in the exorcistic incantation Gattung III, line 65 (Ḫušbiša by Wilfred G. Lambert in RlA vol. 4, p. 522). Other attestations are not very numerous, and most provide no information about her beyond establishing she is Namtar’s wife. A brief survey of these I dug up in sources I have access to under the cut.

An = Anum tablet V, line 196, directly described as Namtar’s wife and placed with him in the court of Ereshkigal (Wilfred G. Lambert, Ryan D. Winters, An = Anum and Related Lists, p. 196); while this not explicitly stated, since (He)Dim(me)ku is described as Namtar’s daughter in the same source it is presumed she was her mother (idem, p. 339)

Old Babylonian An = Anum forerunner (aka “Genouillac list”), line 409, directly after Namtar (idem, p. 50)

the incantation series Udug-hul, in sequence with Bitu (the doorkeeper of the underworld) and Dimku (who is, puzzlingly, explicitly not the daughter of Namtar in this case); once again, directly identified as Namtar’s wife (Markham J. Geller, Healing Magic and Evil Demons. Canonical Udug-hul Incantations, p. 189)

the exorcistic incantation Gattung II, as one of the numerous invoked underworld deities - the full sequence consists of Lugal-irra, Meslamtaea, Nergal, Ereshkigal, Ninazu, Ningirida, Ningishzida, Azimua, Geshtinanna, Namtar, Hushbisha, Hedimku, Nirda (deified punishment), Bitu, Sharsharbid (the “butcher of the underworld”), Etana, Gilgamesh, Lugalamashpae (some sort of disease demon) and Ugur (Babylonian Gilgamesh…, p. 129).

The only other tidbit worth bringing up is that Irene Sibbing-Plantholt suggested that the fact Namtar acquired a family consisting of a wife, daughter and mother (Mardulanki) reflected the development of the idea that he can be countered with incantations or even reasoned with; she contrasts that with functionally similar Mūtu (“Death”; the name is a cognate of more famous Ugaritic Mot), who didn’t undergo similar humanization (Visible Death…, p. 338-339).

#mesopotamian miscellanea #mesopotamian mythology

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ultrvmonogamy · 2 years ago

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might be obv who this is but do you like chubby girls? :3

def is not obvs to me, so don't worry abt that (or, alternatively, if u were hoping to reveal ur interest without having to explicitly identify urself, then sry but it didn't work).

ummm, that's not how liking someone works for me. i'm somewhere in the realm of demisexual n although i can aesthetically appreciate bodies n do enjoy sexual imagery in a hypothetical capacity, it doesn't actually translate to me wanting to have those experiences w the ppl i might be looking at. on the flip side, if i feel the right kind of connection n rapport w someone, i'm attracted to them in a real way regardless of what they look like. does that make sense?

i do have some pragmatic-ish considerations tho. like, i def have at least a bit of a size kink, so if a prospective partner is bigger than me then that's not gonna be ideal. also, i don't wanna need to eat like a pound of salmon every day n hit the gym to do 400 pound deadlifts or wtv just to be able to toss my partner around w ease, especially not w my 4 decades old body that i've already abused the shit out of.

i'm noticing that the more i try to accurately answer ur question, the less i wanna be answering it at all tbh. i'm not saying u fit into this generalization (i do, tho, fwiw), but as i think abt it nearly everyone i've engaged w here enough to know this sort of thing abt has suffered from some degree of body dysmorphia, n i'm not sure trying to articulate these details--details abt smth i largely just do not care abt--is likely to help anyone's cause.

in any case, i'm flattered that ur interested in my preferences, n if ur healthy n happy enough w urself n ur body or r moving towards that, that's rly all that matters n i'm p certain that alone already exceeds the requirements for finding mutual physical attraction on a fuck-each-other's-brains-out kinda level.

for me it just rly comes down to rapport (which includes things like trust n understanding n shared sense of humor n respect n whatnot).

thank u for the ask, n i hope ur day has been at least pleasant 🫶

#mail #anon #abt #oc

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mr-aftons-rotting-pussy · 7 months ago

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Hi I'm a new follower here! There's something I'm curious about and wanted to ask you if you don't mind. Can you tell me a little about your Fnaf au story and how you interpret the characters (especially William Afton), is there anything that inspires you?

HELLO !! :3 i dont mind at all. okay so. i have multiple fnaf aus actually jghkhcgj, ive started just tagging certain stuff vaguely cause i have a very fuck around until i find smth i like kinda process to making aus n such lol 🙈 so its more like. a collection of scenarios and storylines and themes...... etc........ teehee<3

ANYWAYS most of my more circulated ideas n stuff rn tho r more focused on moments and such we DONT see in canon but still within like the Known timeline somewhat. even if the lines get blurred severely, and ofc adding my own flair in certain places as well i giggle<3

some of the more concrete concepts i have tho r the Rabbit Demon, sort of inspired by ITP and also im a SUCKER for tangible representations of characters inner conflicts and what have you 🙏 the demon in this case follows william as hes haunted by it, its not a one to one of any particular ghost its more of like an entity manifested by his Evil Deeds lol. it doesnt just haunt william tho Vanessa has her own(also should be known my Vanessa is more movie leaning than games leaning, movie vanessa is more interesting to ponder for me personally:3c) as well as it hangs over the aftons in general. and in a way The Rabbit as seen in ITP explicitly is also technically a part of this but shes also like. her own phenomenon too lol as she operates a little differently.......

the entity doesnt hurt any of them physically its more psychological, kind of like a divine punishment. and the way it hangs over the family is representative of how williams misdeeds seeps over into others and how his actions effect people even in subtler ways other than just his victims. Vanessa and Michael are the Most affected by the haunting other than William himself, as they are the people most directly influenced by his actions with them carrying out his will in some way(see sister location for Michael and fnaf movie for Vanessa) the Bunny Call if you will 😏 *i am promptly booed offstage*

theres also a bit more i could say about it but its mostly like Visual Representation kinda stuff, like the specifics of the haunting r supposed to be seen rather than explained :3c (coughs in guy who draws LMAO) BUT ANYWAYS, i really really do enjoy personifying Concepts like thia ESPECIALLYYYY in horror settings<333 monsters who r embodiments of themes n shit my beloveddddd teehee i giggle and kick my paws<33333 a lot of my insp for this tho visually comes from @/scope_wad's Family Comes First <333 it had such a profound effect on me i still think about it on the daily. as well as sum other more vague/general inspirations(i am also a huge fan of abstract and meaningful visuals, which manifest themselves greatly in the... hallucination episodes william n the others have<3) but i digress🥹,,,

Another big one is the weird Industrial Horror Pit<333 its supposed to be like sort of... limbo-ish place. if UCN is purgatory then this place is something much more.... barren. a place Between the in-between. William usually resides here when his soul isnt being tormented in UCN but also isnt tethered to something in the real world(ie springtrap r smth). visually this place takes a LOT of inspiration from tsutomu nihei's work, specifically his architectural/environmental landscapes in Blame!

but obv with a more..... general fnaf look yknow lol..... think of sister location specifically again too teehee<33 🤭 very nonsensical..... otherworldly place, this is not where living beings reside.... this place was not made with Humanity in mind.....etc etc... i giggle and blush all cute like😁😁😁

ik theres more but i cant think of anything else Of Note at the moment.... :P you can literally ask me anything tho if you have more questions/smth more specific ill gladly talk about it i think about Everything all of the time always forever okayyyy okay<33 heart<33

How in interpret williammmmm ermmm!!! my Will actually sticks pretty closely to the games canon(specifically the first. however many games pizzeria simulator is LOL) hes sillayyyy 2 me, the games will always come first in my mind ive been a fan since the first came out<33

you can peruse my William Afton tag tho #willie fnafton for more of my mini-essays n thoughts n whatever about him i CANNOT relay everything properly in this little ask im sorry😭

i typically dont stray too far from his canon characterization, i do like to put him in situations tho Obv so like..... any changes made to his character via character growth moments n the likes r very much informed by the text<33 im Not a fanon liker guy in the slightest LOL 👎👎👎👎 i loveeee canon and. informed character analysis and Evidence<33333 😁💖 HVFjbefbfv

and lastly my general inspirations vary greatly, im always inspired by the things i like<33 typically im into darker, gritty, bloody n gorey, and just plain Weird art :3c ive already mentioned Blame! and tsutomu nihei, im a HUGE HUGE MASSIVE FAN OF SCOTT CAWTHONS ARTWORKS naturally(🥹) and manyyy many more that i cannot possibly name all of em rn hsjsbjd, im constantly looking at new(relative to me lol) and interesting arte so rest assured my internal catalogue is Vast💖💖

#asks #anon #fnaf au #fnaf #hope this sheds light on. Something. lol.

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kittynugg · 2 years ago

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New Main Post.. Thingy Because the old one is Outdated and not Pretty Enough

Hey!!! It is I, Connor, and I'm choosing to write with perfect grammar despite never talking like this anywhere anymore! Just wanted to write out some general blog info and who I don't want to interact with my posts.

GENERAL Pronouns: he/him Sexuality: Aroace Age: MINOR 👹👹 What You'll see on this blog: Writing, art, rambling Current Fandom: Gravity Falls! Current.. General Obsession: Stanford. Fucking love that guy. Requests: Currently closed!

DO NOT INTERACT (okay so I don't really mean that in the case of ships but for -cest ships I'm dead fucking serious otherwise eh you're fine as long as you dont shove it in my face) Billf*rd Billd*p Anyone who ships Bill with anyone actually just please. Please go away. If I follow you and see that you post any Bill ships I WILL blatantly unfollow. ZA*R (D or G, IZ shippers you are strange) Zionists, free 🍉 Homophobes Transphobes TERFs Problematic shippers (child/adult, animal/human, etc.) (previously thought "prosh*p (censoring just in case) meant this but was told in an ask that i was wrong so sorry 😭😭) (IF YOU SHIP ST*C*ST OR P*NEC*ST YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE. I WILL BLOCK YOU THE SECOND I FIND OUT. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED AND I WILL NOT TAKE SHIT FOR THIS.) Anyone who calls themselves a "shipper" probably (/lh, but if you like.. have to ship everyone and will get mad if I ask you to remove a ship tag from my post don't bother looking through my blog) I don't mind adults interacting, just don't be weird! :>

PLEASE INTERACT Aroace headcanoners! I'm that! I'm aroace!! I love seeing people point at random motherfuckers in media and say "yeah. that guy. aroace." (Ford fr) People who I spam like/reblog! Or if I send you an ask talking about making animal sacrifices to you. That means I like you./p Fellow Ford enjoyers! Just.. not the weird ones who ship him with a triangle!

Kindly, don't tag my posts with any ships unless explicitly said! I don't like making ship content anymore and would much rather not have my posts interpreted as such.

I don't mind spam-liking, but reblogs are highly appreciated especially on art and writing! :>

Heads up to new tumblr users-- I might mistake you for a bot and block you if your blog's empty without a pfp or banner so maybe do some personalization first lmao.

I DONT DO F*TISH ART DONT ASK.

MY AO3 IF YOU'RE INTERESTED BTW I WRITE VERY INCONSISTENTLY BUT YK I TRY FKGKGBGJ

MY ART TAG

WRITING TAG

#i really appreciate it when people like this post #lets me know that yall are reading it

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x-exo-l · 3 years ago

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Wait, does Pete get r*ped multiple times by Vegas in the novel? Sorry if I misunderstood something it's just that I haven't read it and I always thought he 'only' punishes him.

Yep, he gets r*ped maybe 2 or 3 times. That's his "punishment". He doesn't get punished as one would think, he gets treated roughly (punched, slapped, manhandled. etc., and not in a sexy way...) but that's to be expected since he's a hostage, not a tourist at a resort hotel.

To be honest, their relationship isn't even BDSM since Pete remains fearful of Vegas and most of the stuff that happens between them (if not, all) is nonconsensual. It's just straight up mistreatment/abuse since he's being used as a plaything (sexually) and punching bag (physically) for Vegas. Vegas uses physical violence as a way to subdue and control him, so (again, not in a sexy way).

As for the Stockholm Syndrome thing people keep talking about, it actually really isn't. Like I said, Pete understands where Vegas is coming from, but never excuses him of his atrocities (explicitly stated by him and to Vegas) and given the chance to run, he does (even if he does comes back for some reason).

You can read their story and come to your own conclusions, of course, but it really isn't BDSM or Stockholm Syndrome, in my opinion. Already the show is attempting to make it more or less "consensual" (like they did in ep 4 w/ K & P wherein the book it's more brutal and violent and still sexual assault/r*pe but worse and without the emotional undertones the show attempted to add to the scene) by making Pete laugh and smile and making it seem like it doesn't bother him, which wasn't the case at all in the books, he actually cries and begs Vegas to stop.

So, the series is doing the best it can with its source material while still trying to retaining it's integrity, so to speak, but not make it so atrocious.

You can read the VegasPete chapters on wattpad called "KinnPorsche Sidestory (VegasPete)"

I really didn't know about that and now I wonder in how far they're going to keep up that part of their story in the series. If there's one thing I'm sure about it's that the series will definitely do better than the novel when it comes to such moments but we'll see in a week!

I think it won't be consensual (yet) in the next episode either, I'm sure the series' Pete will only start to realise his 'actual' feelings once he has escaped. Yes Pete laughed at first but I think it was mostly because he found out that Vegas' plan was ruined thanks to him. He was happy/relieved to hear Vegas himself say that he succeeded in fulfilling his mission, to me it looked like Pete was even ready to die in peace there once he knew he carried out his duty well.

Regarding your last part anon.. you're SO right I mean I didn't read the novel but I always see novel readers commenting on how awful some of the plot actually is so it's good to see the series doing a way better job especially when it comes to these controversial scenes. Also, thanks for telling me about their story on wattpad, if the wait for next Saturday becomes too unbearable I will start reading it hehe.

#I actually wanted to watch the whole series first and then read the novel #but I might start earlier ehehe #kinnporsche #vegaspete #thai bl #anon answered

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yurtletheturtlehenderson · 3 years ago

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COSMIC - S3:E6; Chapter Six, E Pluribus Unum - [Pt. 3]

A Will Byers x Fem!Reader Series

𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘦𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘴. 𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺/𝘯 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴. 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦, 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘹 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘨𝘰, 𝘮𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺/𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭'𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴.

⚠️: angst?? unrealistic bird behavior & likely inaccurate descriptions (bird enthusiasts & experts, please don't come for me, it's a metaphor. Same with all the baseball stuff :p), horrible cringy attempt at me writing comedy, and a long but necessary authors note

📝: nothing is explicitly confirmed so that anyone may interpret this however they want—gender & sexuality is different for everyone. R is not ending up with anyone but Will since you as a reader chose this book, but that doesn't mean I haven't gone out of my way to create instances that invoke possibility/interpretation. Like, if you think Y/n and Max or El or whatever have some flirtationship going on, they do! If you think they are strictly friends, correct! It's up to you and despite my previous a.ns, in the end, it's really up to you. This is meant to be an extension of you—a character you play in the show that I hope you feel you can fit into and relate to as much as possible. Everything here is for your enjoyment. All I ask, is you respect others' interpretations. Thank you for reading, I know I have long a.n's. I hope you enjoy it! (EDIT: Sorry, I genuinely meant this when I wrote it and then I realized, "hey actually things can be wholesome and gay in a harmless little fic without people bursting into flames" also I've been writing in will's sexuality anyway and we never see comphet represented in fics and I know that if I had exposure to such questions to ask myself at that age, it would have been extremely beneficial for me and I wouldn't have dealt with so much internalized homophobia probably (hence the once deeply closeted lesbian subconsciously picking the gay character for the LI) so let's put this fem!reader copy to good use, shall we?!)(and no, the he/him and they/them copies will be sticking to Will byers LI. Fem reader will be moving away 🎉🥳)

||𝟑𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

- 𝐉𝐔𝐋𝐘 𝟏𝐒𝐓, 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟏 -

"You're such a jerk, Mike!"

"Yeah, well, at least I'm not a cheater!"

"--Guys!"

"Screw you! If anyone's cheating, it's you! You keep changing the rules anytime it's convenient for you,"

"--Guys, please!"

"Do not!"

"--Just stop!"

"Do too!"

The Henderson residence had played host to many of the Party's adventures in its day, but none in recent had been quite so tense as this summer evening. The sun was setting behind the tallest wall of timber and a curtain of clouds that set the shockingly secluded property aglow in a soft but vibrant lilac. The air was still very much hot though perhaps that felt the case to the young Y/n Henderson, all but absent of smoke blowing from her ears as she charged after her friend in a rage, baseball mitt chucked to the ground and forgotten.

Behind her on the sidelines, her brother, and two best friends desperately trying to put out the stoking fire between her and a young Mike Wheeler. The Wheeler boy in question stopped his angry pacing just steps from the extended porch to whirl on his feet, completely red in the face.

He threw his arms out in anger. "Guess what, Y/n?! Pointing out you can't play favorites as pitcher and actually have to pitch well to everyone isn't cheating or," he angrily got in her fuming face as he threw up air quotes. "'bending the rules'. It's enforcing them,"

"--Mike, lay off," Lucas eased. But Like Y/n, Mike wasn't listening. Both children were blinded by their anger.

Y/n let out a very loud, very obvious fake laugh. She was bitter and angry and at this point, didn't care. Mirroring Mike's exact actions from before she threw her arms out at her side before her hands landed on her hips. "Yeah?! I'm playing favorites? That's what you think, that I'm intentionally setting you up for failure-? 'Kay, and have you ever considered that—I don't know, maybe, I might still be learning how to pitch, jackass?! Our mom just got us this equipment cause she could spare to afford it with the extra hours she's been working—we've never had an opportunity to practice before,"

Off to the side, Dustin went quiet. His eyes curiously watched Mike as he dropped his angry stance a little in realization. The air had changed. The golden and lilac skies deepened and the hot summer air lingered, but a small breeze had settled in; sneaking in through the trees in this sudden silence.

It was often easy for Mike to forget the life his parents gave him differed in many ways from some if not all of his friends. He could feel the heat in his cheeks burning brighter as the anger fizzled into embarrassment.

"That's what I thought," Y/n glowered, turning away in a huff to retrieve the long-forgotten roll-away ball that lay nestled against the forest floor. "Go home, Mike. I don't need this,"

"Y/n," Mike sighed. He sounded more tired than sorry, still whirling in the aftermath of his dwindling anger. Off to the side, Will, Lucas, and Dustin shared anxious looks. "Come on, I didn't think about it like that--"

"--I said go home! I don't want you here!"

Mike stiffened, his chest thundering with a storm of conflicting emotions that were threatening to get the best of him. He could feel his fists tightening at his sides and the urge to apologize drowning in his urge to deflect his embarrassment was winning.

"Yeah?!" He practically stutters, completely pink in the face and his hands balled up at his sides. "Well, maybe I don't wanna be here! Like you're gonna hear me out anyway-!"

Y/n scoffed, crossing her arms. "Like you're capable of real apologies!"

"--You guys, please," Came Will's small and pleading voice. The young boy felt a sympathetic hand fall on his left shoulder, stopping him from going any further and getting caught in the crosshairs. He looked over his shoulder to see an equally worried Lucas. The two shared silent words before watching what the three worried would be the end of their Party.

"You know what?! Fine!" Mike hollers. "As always, it's what Y/n wants!" He stops only to look around at the others, his voice lowering in volume before he says what he is certain is his final goodbye to Y/n. "I'm leaving."

The small audience watched as Mike yanked his backpack off the back patio and stormed off around the side of the house. Y/n, despite the searing anger practically pulsing off of her skin in waves, was almost shocked to see he called her bluff. Mike, though she hadn't been part of the group long, had quickly become one of her best friends. And though they had a special knack for getting under one another's skin, they always had each other's back when it really mattered.

Was she really about to let that go? Was Mike?

Dustin, Lucas, and Will seemed to be wondering the same question based on their reaction; one by one their tiny slack-jawed faces trailed from the side of the house where Mike had disappeared over to where she stood. Still cross-armed and fuming, but relinquishing muscle by muscle as reality settled in.

Her brother and friends were the first on Mike's heels, snapping themselves from their stupor and calling after their friend. If they could just convince him to stay long enough for both of them to cool down and work something out. They feared just what might happen if he left now; that what was broken just might stay broken.

Y/n didn't quite understand what she wanted to do or say—or even if she had any intention of doing or saying anything at all—when she found herself reluctantly following after Dustin, Lucas, and Will. Maybe she was just curious to see if Mike truly had the guts to leave. Maybe some part of her was scared to know the answer, no matter how furious she still was with him.

When she finally rounded the corner, she had little time to wonder why her friends had snapped into action and joined Mike on the empty driveway in worried tones.

She had caught him just as he was pushing himself off his hands and knees and onto his backside, grinding his teeth in pain from where he now sat on the dirtied-up driveway. Blood was already seeping through the abrasions on his right knee, a mixture of pebbles and dirt wedged into his bloodied skin around the wound could be seen even in the dying evening light. The lip of the concrete driveway peeking out of the dirt just a foot behind him suggested he hadn't had such luck in the darkness.

Sensing the extra pair of eyes on him, Mike looked up with a small huff only to meet eyes with the very friend he was trying to escape. Both were far too stubborn to relinquish an apology, and Mike's sudden vulnerable state only made his humiliation double down. He thought for sure he'd seen the last of Y/n, or at the very least, she'd laugh and say something about him deserving it. But instead, she turned tail and stomped inside the house without another word.

Nobody said anything at first. And Mike made quick but clumsy work of dabbing at the blood with his hands as carefully as possible. The sooner he got up the sooner he was out of here.

"You okay--?"

Will barely had time to finish the words before the slam of the front door returned and Y/n's frighteningly stern voice rung out (unintentionally and unknowingly) cutting off Will.

"Don't be an idiot, Mike. Your hands are filthy," everyone turned to see Y/n marching down the brick steps, her trusty Crystal-and-Lockjaw-lunchbox-turned-first-aid-kit in hand. "Let me see,"

"I'm fine," he snaps, growing self-conscious and throwing himself on his feet. He fails to hide a wince at the sudden bend of his knee and Y/n pins him under a tired glare. "I said I'm leaving, so I'm leaving."

"Stop being a baby and just sit down, Wheeler," Y/n pressed, her voice climbing again as she subconsciously began backing him up and around to the front steps of their front door.

"No, alright?!" He tried again, looking over her shoulder like he was getting ready to sprint. "I'm fine! I'm fine!"

"Just shut up and let me help you!" She bellowed, jabbing a finger behind him on the front steps.

His eyes blew open wide in fear as he collapses on the front steps and did his best to ignore the slight sizzle in the air that carried along with the breeze. Thankfully he knew better than to say anything, and judging by the looks on their faces from where they stood behind her so did the trio of boys who had watched the scene unfold with slight shock. Y/n heaved a tired (almost regretful?) sigh as she rubbed at her temples. All before kneeling at Mike's feet and unlocking the tin lunchbox and sorting through to find the correct supplies.

"I thought you wanted me to leave?" Mike finally asked after a minute or two. The rest of the Party, having realized they had intruded enough, was promptly led inside by Dustin to grab their coats and things and call it a night. They were currently inside, getting ready to leave. Perhaps this is why Mike had the sudden courage to mumble out the first words he had spoken to Y/n in minutes. "Thought you hated me,"

She rolled her eyes in great annoyance as she discarded the last of the cleaning supplies off to the side where she would eventually dispose of them properly. As she fished for a big enough band-aid, she didn't bother looking up at her friend to grumble her answer.

"I don't hate you, Mike," she admits much to his surprise. "I'm not happy with you, and I don't exactly want you here right now, either."

There was a small pause as she plucked a square strip from the tin, her attention focused on peeling back the paper to get to the bandage.

"But I don't hate you."

Mike would be lying, even to himself, if he said he wasn't relieved to hear that.

"You're lucky I even bothered to waste my supplies on you--" she nods to her lunchbox, her first and favorite first aid kit from a lunchbox she loved so much she was too afraid to take to school at the risk of ruin. "Just because you fell doesn't mean I don't think you deserve it,"

He frowned at that. But any instinct to bite back died out when he remembered the guilt he felt minutes ago for his thoughtless remark on her pitching. And as he sat here now, watching as the seething glare she had him trapped in all evening had effortlessly turned to a laser-focused gaze, making sure she applied his bandage just right, he couldn't help but feel a change. The remorse he felt from earlier was growing heavier and heavier, bringing his shoulders down in a slump and turning his frown genuine.

He tried thinking back earlier on in the day, asking himself why they had even started fighting in the first place. But he didn't have one right answer. Not one that justified losing a best friend over. It was all silly, selfish, and ridiculous. He had been all those things.

"I'm sorry, Y/n," Mike admitted, his heart pounding a little in his chest. She looked up from her lunchbox, where she had been tucking any loose items away, and paused as she searched his eyes in return. "I shouldn't have said those things."

That pounding in his chest was turning into hard and thunderous booms. Mike wanted to ignore it but it was the only distraction he had as Y/n studied him for any sign of false meaning. She found none.

The question of whether or not Mike had lost one of his best friends—a question he had been dreading to ask—was finally answered when Y/n's lips slowly stretched into a thin smile of relief.

||𝐌𝐈𝐊𝐄'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

- 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐃𝐀𝐘 -

"...you're jealous of me?"

Okay. Yeah, it was definitely time to leave the country. Leaving the country is a good plan. A great plan.

I don't know how long it actually takes me to answer. I just sorta... stand there. Trying to will my heart to start pumping again—it actually feels like all the blood has stopped pumping and my entire body is turning cold. Shit!

My eyes dart back over my shoulder through the screen door, but nobody—not even Will—seems to have noticed. I don't bother asking this time before I manage to bring myself to sit across from her on the steps without my knees buckling. My palms are clammy, my throat is dry and I can't even bring myself to meet her eye line.

This is totally ridiculous! I have to think about what I told Will that day—what she did for us. I know who she is. I have to remind myself who I'm talking to... But this is also the person I've screwed over for the past year and a half.

"Are you mad?"

Out of everything I could have said, I ask that?

Y/n scoffs, and my heart skips a few beats in fear. From the corner of my eye, I can see she's looking down at her lap and picking at the plastic seams of the comms as she thinks. She looks tired. Emotionally.

"I'm not mad, Mike," she admits. There's a small, sad smile fighting to stay on her face. It reminded me of that week we were looking for Will. "At least-- well, not about that, anyway,"

She chuckles a little, but I can tell even through her joking tone there's some layer of truth. Y/n sighs again, setting the comm on the steps at her feet, and glazing over the breeze in the trees before catching my eye for the first time.

"To be honest, I-- I'm not exactly surprised. Either."

The urge to get angry again creeps up but thankfully I'm just enough in my right mind to recognize I'm getting defensive. I'm embarrassed. 'How long have you known?' I'm not even sure the words left my mouth but she still answers me anyway.

"I've known you since the fourth grade, Mike," Y/n says. "Don't forget I spent a year on the sidelines. I saw how you two were—how you can be—around each other. Stuff other people might have missed... and I heard what you told him that night in the shed, about how you guys met."

My head is pulled over my shoulder without thought. Immediately, I catch sight of Will through one of the cabin's windows. He's standing in the kitchen, finishing off his stupid bowl of Lucky Charms by shoveling the last spoonfuls into his mouth like he always does. A few pieces fall from his spoon and his head falls with it, watching it slip away regretfully. He doesn't think anyone's watching him-- he's just Will, being himself.

The sight brings a similar, sad smile to my face when I recall the things I said to him that night. The moment Y/n is talking about.

'It was the best thing I've ever done,'

I'm broken from the memory when Y/n continues. Her tone suggests she knows what I'm thinking.

"What's between you and Will is something... I don't know," Y/n admits after a moment, shrugging and dropping her hands on her knees, unable to find the proper word. "But it's not nothing."

Y/n can tell I haven't said anything in a while. And she's smart enough to guess I'm not jumping to reply. I feel her gaze on me when my eyes fall to my shoes. I'm not sure whether to be relieved, embarrassed, horrified, or what... But despite what she's saying, I notice there's something still bothering her: I know this because her hands haven't stopped fidgeting, and they only got worse when she weakly—but playfully—nudged my knee with hers.

"Look, I-- " maybe I'm looking for things, but I swear she's trying to spit the words out. I swear the look she throws over our shoulders at the window and into the living room where Max, stood with Lucas and the others—not far outside El's door—lingered just a little longer than normal. But maybe I'm looking for things. "I get it. Believe me..." something somebody says inside has the pair laughing, and Y/n bows her head into her hands, rubbing exasperatedly at her temples. But maybe I'm not. "I get it."

The fidgeting got worse as she laid her eyes back on the forest. Two birds were meeting on a branch, cautious of one another, but neither of them willing to budge. I felt yet another small, playful nudge on my leg, and I nearly laughed upon recognizing her go-to weak attempt at lightening the mood.

It took me a moment to process her words, and when I finally registered I'm meeting her eyes I can tell she was waiting for a reaction of some sort. But really, there's nothing I can say that does justice to how I feel. But one look and I know—every suspicion I've ever had is gone. Y/n feels it too.

"But you know," she shakes her head thoughtfully, going back to those birds on the branch. They're scoping each other out. I'm surprised they haven't started fighting—gotten territorial or anything. It's almost like they're getting used to each other again. "I really don't think there's anything wrong with that. I mean, the connections we make with people, whatever they look like, are up to us. It's scary but it's true. But the feelings—not so much. Feelings just happen, and they can happen with anyone, and when they do they just... take hold of you."

The darker bird snapped its beak at the red one when it got too close. It cocked its head but didn't budge, only snapping back at it before hopping closer on the branch. In a lightning-fast motion, it plucked a twig from the feathers on its back, not without lecturing the black one for yelling at it as it did so. The red bird promptly hopped back several spaces, and the black bird quieted in guilt.

"I think you just gotta be brave enough to stick it out if you're willing," she shakes her head at the ground. "I don't think that makes anyone bad. And I don't know about you, but I'm pretty happy with how things turned out." I found myself chuckling noiselessly as I nod along. The road here was definitely long and winding and far beyond complicated. But there were some things I just wouldn't change.

As they always were, the army of trees was a tempting sight to turn back to in such a heavy realization, but I was too preoccupied with the flustered haze Y/n was beginning to fall into. It was curious to see.

"I'm..." a genuine smile I hadn't seen on anyone in days flashed over her face as she looked wistfully over her shoulder. "so happy with Will." She admitted. But that smile eventually fell a little. "And I know how happy you are with El—I have a pretty good idea of what she means to you."

We both hear chirping in the branches, and we pull our sights back on the birds. The black-feathered bird—who had flown off before—had returned. He seemed almost shy. But he had food. And he was offering some of it to the other. She didn't look like she believed him at first, but she must have been hungry. Or needed a friend. Cause she cautiously hopped closer and took some of the food with a thankful chirp.

Y/n turns back to me, reluctant to take her eyes off the sight. "But that doesn't mean you haven't hurt people,"

I'm pretty sure the look on my face said it all.

"I never meant it, you know. That stuff I said. At the mall. You know, about you being locked away."

Her head sunk a little lower and I swore I could feel the air grow hotter around me. Almost as much as it did when she cornered me in the storage room.

"I was just... I was just--"

"Jealous?"

"Yeah," I laugh bitterly along with her. It's the first time either one of us has successfully been alone in a long time, I realize. "Yeah, I was. I was also scared. But mostly, Y/n, I was really mad. I don't know what for exactly, but I was panicking, and jealous and of course I don't want you locked up-- and I should never have said that. Maybe I said it cause I wanted to make you mad. Like I was mad... But I shouldn't have."

I'm too embarrassed to fully realize the heat in the air cooling. All I know is I feel a bit more relaxed. But maybe that's cause she's finally meeting my eye again.

"So, Y/n, I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry. For everything."

Maybe it's because all of this feels familiar.

"No, alright?! I'm fine! Just leave me alone!"

Something in the way Y/n's looking at me tells me she's thinking the same thing.

"Just shut up and let me help you!"

Something like we've been down this road before. But that oddly puts me at ease...

Y/n's lips slowly stretched into a thin but familiar smile.

"I miss being your friend, Mike,"

Something about those words felt just as familiar: everything about this moment, including the birds, but I couldn't quite call it deja vu.

- 𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗛𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 -

"I'm sorry, Y/n. I shouldn't have said those things."

I don't think I've ever been so relieved to see someone laugh at me. It was just a small chuckle, I'm pretty sure out of relief. But a laugh. "Thank you," Y/n says. She winced as she stood first, then offered me a hand to my feet. "And me too. And I'm sorry I said, you know, that you were a jerk and, all that stuff about you being stupid. I was just angry, but that wasn't cool,"

"What?"

The look on her face didn't change, but she took a moment to gulp. "...did I not say that stuff out loud?"

I felt my eyes narrow at her. "You said I was a jerk, but you didn't call me stupid,"

"..."

"--truce?"

We both laughed a little, and I knew I wasn't the only one feeling the last of the tension disappearing. Together, the two of us walked to the pile of bikes at the edge of the empty garage. I could barely make out the sound of Dustin hushing Lucas and Will from inside and I rolled my eyes at the thought of them all listening. I wouldn't put it past them. Knowing those three, if we both turned around to look we'd probably find them with their noses glued to the window.

"Hey, Mike?" Y/n asked, pulling my bike off the wall and offering it to me. I think she could tell despite our resolution, I was eager to make it home.

"Yeah?"

It had been a long day. A long week or so really. We hadn't been getting along since she's been spending more time with Will. The two of them had been running late working on building and leveling up her character, Y/C/N. And honestly, it's been hard without either of them.

Y/n opened and closed her mouth, suddenly embarrassed. She shakes her head finally. "...I don't know, I guess I just--"

I take the handle of my bike and she released her grip, looking over at me and offering a crooked smile in the process.

"I've missed being your friend,"

-𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗛𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞-

Something lifts in my chest and off my heart and lungs—something that's been weighing heavily for years. I actually feel myself smiling a little, and inhaling what feels like the first fresh breath of air I've had in a long time.

"I miss being your friend, too,"

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

Asian American's Advancing Justice:

"Fighting for civil rights and empowering Asian Americans to create a more just America for all."

AAPI Equity Alliance:

"AAPI Equity Alliance (formerly, A3PCON) is a coalition of community-based organizations that advocates for the rights and needs of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community in Los Angeles County and beyond."

Asian American Advocacy Fund:

"The Asian American Advocacy Fund's mission is to advocate for the civil and human rights of Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Native Hawaiians in Georgia. Through a combination of policy advocacy at local, state, and federal levels, and by supporting candidates that believe in our values, we fight to create a better Georgia for us all."

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

Tag List:

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#you'll float queue #cosmic #cosmic 3 #f!cosmic #stranger things #stranger things 3 #will byers x reader #will byers x fem!reader #reader insert #y/n henderson #will byers #dustin henderson #mike wheeler #lucas sinclair #el hopper #nancy wheeler #jonathan byers #e pluribus unum

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daimonhalos · 4 years ago

Text

Appreciation post for the eggpire and more during the red banquet cause I'm not seeing enough love for how well they organized and delivered and because I'm so proud of cc!Bad for how far the Bloodvines arc has gone ♥ (this stuff is from Bad's vod btw)

Also something to cheer people up a bit in case the lore got u hard like it got me cause I'm still not okay bestie <3

The starting soon screen being an animation (with glitches to show another frame!!) plus the jazzy electro-swing soundtrack underneath. Just such a good intro, I felt like I was actually in the waiting line for an event, just awesome.

Ponk. Just Ponk, dapper man, handsome Ponk just standing there. Gorgeous, thank you, standing ovation, I love him.

Just everything Bad and Ant did with the building of the room, the stairs!! The coat room!!! The statues right in front of the table, everything looked SO pretty.

ANT MY BELOVED LOOKING HANDSOME AS ALWAYS I just loved all their outfits. The banquet's skins just SLAPPED HARD.

The little moment where Bad changed view of his character and we could see him, Ant and Ponk cwc

Bad singing >>>>>>>>>>

Everyone getting lost despite the oak signs

THE ARC ABOVE THE DANCEFLOOR, WHAT THE HELL YOO

Bad complimenting everyone on their outfits and giving out some gapples here and there

Bad also always repeating the same catchphrases

Sam just drinking copiously and the dumpy situation

People actually dancing + HBomb being the dj

Puffy walking around Bad to see his outfit and complimenting him, just felt like their old friendship cwc

FOOLISH GAVE BAD A FLOWER <3

Bad scolding George for not wearing an outfit (Sam's "his name is Gogy and he is beautiful")

"It's almost time for the feast. It's gonna be delicious." the foreshadowing

Everyone dancing together cwc

"minecraft dancing is speed squats" eret ilu

Bad and Ant complimenting moment ♥

The eggpire all on the same side of the table. Them

Ponk's little "Hello!" after Bad said he made the soup, plus everyone going "good job!!" just twt

When Bad started asking if anyone wanted to give a toast, I realized eventually that this was more of a disguised "Want to say your last words before death?" and it now sounds s o freaking cool. ye s

P O N K 'S S P E E C H

"you look beautiful right now" sam i will cry

When in the middle of his speech, Bad turns to Ant who's already looking at him, nods, Ant nods back, and as Bad turns around again we can see Ant walking away from his seat. I am OBSESSED with this scene, like you already know something is about to go down and oh gosh it was delivered so good

THE LAVA COMING DOWN FROM THE CEILING AS BAD KEPT TALKING, NONE NOTICING, HIM TALKING ABOUT HOW THE BANQUET WILL BE UNFORGETTABLE. SO HOT

"And yeah! Thank you for coming everybody" the little mischievous giggles right after "And prepare uh ... yep. Prepare to die." AND THEN HE FUCKIGN DRINKS FROM HIS GLASS LIKE COME ON YOU CANT BE ANY COOLER THAN THAT YOOO

"The leaf is staying the way it is" you can hear the laughter in his voice like HAH GOTTEM that's so good

Bad still giving Hbomb gapples cwc

"Where you looking for this perchance?" AND THEN EQUIPS THE ENTIRE ARMOR AND WEAPONS E Y E when the twists started dude. this si where the twists started and never ended

HANNAH CROSSING SIDES AND SIDING WITH THE EGGPIRE. QUEEN SHIT that was such a cool moment for her i'm so glad she's getting her moment

The eggpire laughing, just pure villainy, love them

"Time to get on the main event" the nonchalance. The way they equipped the crossbows and readied the arrows at the same time. B r u h fucking awesome they are

The eggpire faking being afraid when Sam was talking about blowing the egg up. Sad that we already knew about the obsidian thing, but still made it a very cool scene. Especially right after when they started laughing at them again. I don't know what it is about it but I love them being so sassy.

FREAKING EXECUTIONS THEY WORKED FOR MASS EXECUTIONS they were able to trap all those freaking people!! And trick them and counter attack all the time! what the fuck, I'm so impressed

Thank you Fundy for sounding super terrified /gen ♥

Wait ahah they really said EGGSECUTION-

THE EGG HATCHES THE EGG HATCHES THE EGG HATCHES im not saying IT but im saing Velvet

"Follow me! Follow me!" HANNAH SOUNDED SO ENTHUSIASTIC i love

"We trusted you!" "Well, that was your first mistake-" THE WAY BAD WAS ABOUT TO LAUGH. DUDE they definitely had so much fucking fun making this

sassyboyhalo

Foolish acting thank u ily. Also the thunder not working what the heck i wanna know what was going on inside his mind right then he sounded so lost. THE ACTING

"Sacrifice!" Hannah idk how to say this but I love you

ANT MOMENTTTT

When puffy called them selfish i was expecting bad to just do a huge double take. I wanted him to snap immediately PLEASE SNAP-

BAD DELIVERING AGAIN WITH THE AMAZING ACTING

"Not just for the egg but for what the egg is going to give us" he's so desperately trying to make them udnerstand it promised him his friend back he literally mentions it every single time but everyone calls him selfish because they think he wants power when he just wants skeppy's friendship back in this essay I will- Anyway yes I love that he never explicitly says it because it kills us viewers with pain cause we KNOW and then the reveal will be 100 times more powerful. This is so awesome

"I can't stop Quackity and you know why I can't stop. If I stop I can't get what I need." his voice grew so much lower like he's just holding back MAN I HH IT WAS SO GOOD

SECRET RETREAT ROOM YOOO

Ponk giving Bad some food and telling him to stay safe, Bad telling both Hannah and Ponk to stay safe too. My tears

And now the solo Bad lore part, where we actually see the true part of him that's absolutely devastated and makes me cry, the way he acted all confident and then saw everything crumble in a few seconds and now he's destroyed again because what if they find a way to destroy the egg what then? what if he never gets skeppy back? dude, you can just read his emotions it's so sad and i love how it was portrayed

"I know where I can go. I know who I can see!" BDI REF BDI REF FOR SURE I have a feeling that's going to be explained in the next lore stream with Skeppy and I'm so hype. I love the little crumbs of references here and there.

"But now they have it.." he sounded so broken??? bad your acting please ill cry

"I didn't really want to hurt anybody" his true self trying to get back cwc especially because he's farther away from the egg. I just love the transition between the guy Bad portrays who's so sure about the egg when it's in front of others and the doubts and anxiety he actually has when he's alone. Just so cool

"Did I screw up?" im just pointing out everything that moves me emotionally cause these people's acting is so cool

Ending the stream with simple black background my beloved

Okay but really I'm so so so proud of the ccs for making this happen and it's only going upwards, I'm literally so in awe, they really said go big or go home

Free space for Ant's villain speech I wasn't able to hear yet, but they said it was v cool, so I'm trusting people on this

Thank you for listening, stan Bloodvines arc /hj

If I made typos no I didn't

#badboyhalo #antfrost #ponk #hannahxxrose #captain puffy #awesamdude #fundy #foolish gamers #hbomb94 #georgenotfound #velvetiscake #skeppy #quackity #dream smp #dream smp spoilers #purp pls stop #long post #red banquet

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kissofthespring · 4 years ago

Text

NSFW Alphabet - Iwaizumi Hajime

A = Aftercare (what they're like after sex)

The absolute king of aftercare! He catches on quickly to what you like and don't like and adapts to you. He's a cuddler, even though he doesn't want to admit to it. He has water and snacks, just in case. He gives the absolute best massages after sex and will help you to a bath if that's what you'd like.

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner's)

He's a big fan of his arms; he’s worked very hard on his body in general, so now that he's older, his arms are the feature that he's the proudest of.

On his partner, he's an ass man. If you happen to be wearing something short that barely covers your ass, expect him to be covering your ass the entire night. His other favorite thing is to turn it red with his hands.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

He'll ask where you want him to cum, but will probably cum inside of you because nothing sets him off more than that.

D = Dirty secret (pretty self-explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

Putting Shittykawa in his place is something he'd love to do. He'd gladly cuck Oikawa any day.

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they're doing?)

He knows what he's doing. He never got as much tail as Oikawa did in High School, but he still had some outstanding experiences. Iwaizumi certainly knows how the female anatomy works.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

Any position that allows him to show off his strength. So holding you up in his arms or slamming into your form from behind. It gets him every time. Your moans are usually what drives him over the edge. He's also a fan of car sex, to put it mildly. As long as he can maneuver your body out of sight from people if you are public, in the back of his car. He's down.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

Iwaizumi is usually serious in the moment. That doesn't mean he isn't able to find humor in situations. He loves to tease and especially loves how you blush when he brings up silly things that have happened through out the day.

H = Hair (how well-groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

He keeps himself well-groomed, for his sake and your own. Thank goodness for that. He also grooms his happy trail a little bit because it's a part of his body that he's into.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

Iwaizumi is a listener first and foremost. He's always taking into consideration what you like. He's romantic at heart, and even though no one gets to see it but you, he'll whisper how great you are into your neck.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

He will send videos of himself jacking off to tease you. He'll name the video something along the lines of "Open alone." If he can get you to come over maybe, he'll send multiple ones. Jacking off is how he gets his tension out.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

Dumbification, if he can see you made dumb by his cock, he's here for it. It's his favorite thing.

Degradation, you are his dumb sweet little slut, and he'll make you feel it.

Daddy Kink, plain and simple. He just wants to hear you crying out for daddy while he destroys you.

Cockwarming, during aftercare, he just wants to keep his cock inside of you when he's soft. It's just like cuddling in a way.

Overstimulation, if he can drive you to overstimulation, he'll go nuts.

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

His bed, his car, anywhere really, he's not picky.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

If you are bratty around him, he'll go strickly into brat tamer mode. He's also turned on by teasing, pulling his hair, and compliments. Oh, compliment how his body looks, and he'll go crazy.

N = No (something they wouldn't do, turn-offs)

Anything where he doesn't explicitly ask you if you are okay with it. He even asks if it's okay for him to kiss you.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

He loves receiving if he's honest with himself. Something about you on your knees gagging and choking on his cock. He loves to whisper dirty things to you while you have your lips wrapped around him.

"Oh, my little Tsubaki. My troublemaker. Gagging on my dick, is that the only thing you can think of? I'll make sure it's the only thing you think of, sweet baby."

As for his head game, one word, godly. He will kiss your sex. He will not stop until you are sobbing.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

RIP YOUR HEADBOARD! It's broken in a flash. It's as though his life depends on it; he’s rough and sometimes brutal.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often,

He's not the biggest fan of them, but if he's only got five minutes with you, he'll take it.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

He's game to experiment if you are up for it too. He will try anything once is his rule. If you are up for it, he is also.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

HE CAN GO FOREVER! He's got so much stamina it's not even funny.

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

He owns a vibrator for your pleasure. Realistically though, he'd prefer to make you cum on his cock.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

It really depends. If he's in a mood, he'll tease you until you break.

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

He's loud. So loud. He grunts, moans, growls, curses. He's got his dirty talk on lock.

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

Morning sex. He's enormous on foreplay, so fingering is one of his favorite things to do. The man has 20.5/21 cm long hands. His fingers are some of his favorite things.

X = X-ray (let's see what's going on under those clothes)

BIG COCK CITY! His cock is beautiful, girthy, with a very sensitive tip. Suck on the tip; he’ll cum on the spot

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

Slightly higher than average.

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

He could stay awake for hours holding your sleeping form in his arms.

#iwaizumi x reader #iwaizumi smut #my writing

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yamayuandadu · 4 months ago

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I'm assuming we basically don't have any art of Gazbaba and Kanisurra, so based on textual evidence, what would be the most authentic way to depict them in art?

Yeah, there are no known depictions of either of them. Due to their relatively minor position we also have no hints like kudurru symbols or astral association to go by (the latter obviously aren’t always indicative of a deity’s iconography, though). Therefore, everything under the cut is, out of necessity, an educated guess at the absolute best.

In theory, one could base their depiction on the famous reference to both of them as “hairdressers of Nanaya”, which lines up with a name of their shrine in Babylon, Eḫilisigga, “house of beautiful adornment”, with ḫili apparently referring to coiffure in this context (Andrew R. George, Four Temple Rituals from Babylon, p. 295). Probably the best way to indicate that would be to depict them with combs or other paraphernalia of that sort. However, Paul-Alain Beaulieu explicitly labels the characterization of the pair as hairdressers as “late theology” (The Pantheon of Uruk in the Neo-Babylonian Period, p. 318). As far as I am aware there’s no strong indication that their character had some intimate connection with hairdressing at any earlier point in time, even though beautician deities do occur here and there (ex. Ninkarnunna in Ninurta’s court). And there’s no shortage of earlier sources associating them with Nanaya - in fact, in love incantations they almost never appear without her (Gioele Zisa, The Loss of Male Sexual Desire in Ancient Mesopotamia. Nīš Libbi Therapies, p. 141; note Kanisurra being invoked with Ishara in a formula on p. 271 though) - so I’m not sure if it would be viable to attribute this to preservation bias. In Gazbaba’s case I’d say we have three different possible additional sources to draw from:

a) the incantation series Šurpu addresses Gazbaba as “the smiling one” (ṣayyaḫatu). I would argue we can effectively treat her expression as an attribute based on that - it is agreed the aforementioned title designates her as a deity linked to sexuality (her very name might be derived from kuzbu, which means something along the lines of “sex appeal”, so i’), since Akkadian love poetry emphasizes smiling quite often (he Loss…, p. 141). Given the fairly stoic expressions of most surviving statues, I think a wide smile would stand out as a unique characteristic.

b) it is possible that Gazbaba’s name was either cross contaminated with Nanaya’s or intentionally modified to resemble it, since the variant Kazbaya is also attested (Jeremiah Peterson, God lists from Old Babylonian Nippur in the University Museum, Philadelphia, p. 71-72). It might very well be just a hypocoristic, to be fair, but given the close association between the two this proposal seems plausible to me. On this basis, I would argue assuming she was also depicted similarly to Nanaya isn’t out of the realm of possibility. Granted, the pre-Seleucid depictions of Nanaya aren’t exactly distinct iconographically, so I’m not really sure if this helps much.

c) the third hint is VERY conjectural, and also only came to my attention so recently I didn’t include it in her wiki article yet: in An = Anum, she occurs on tablet IV, but in a somewhat puzzling position, between a list of steppe-related figures and Ishara’s and Manzat’s mini-sections (Wilfred G. Lambert, Ryan D. Winters, An = Anum and Related Lists, p. 22). It’s an open question if she was listed in Nanaya’s section too, since the latter is poorly preserved; we can only be certain that it encompassed Muati, Kanisurra and Bizilla in addition to Nanaya herself (An = Anum…, p. 177). Why Gazbaba would be separate from her peers is uncertain to me - unless some hitherto unknown characteristic made listing her next to nondescript steppe-related entities or Ishara more sensible to the compilers (granted, there might be no reason, and you could also easily question why is Manzat listed after Ishara and not with other astral deities - my personal guess is that due to both being worshiped on the eastern frontier but this is speculative). I’m not sure if this could translate into any tangible iconography, either - though Ishara does have tons of distinct symbols attested, and the steppe association could lend itself to something like Amurru’s stereotypically “western” iconography, I suppose.

As for Kanisurra: a) the association with love and eroticism, while attested, is not equally strong in her case as in that of Gazbaba (The Loss…, p. 142) - so I don’t think transferring what we know about the latter to her would work. Perhaps building upon the one off Ishara connection - so scorpion motifs of some sort - could work? But I’m not entirely sure if that’s warranted. b) her recurring epithet is “lady of the witches” (bēlet kaššāpāti); there is at least one incantation where the sole difference between copies is that some refer to Kanisurra by name and some simply invoke the bēlet kaššāpāti (The Loss…, p. 430). Per analogy with other more or less positively regarded figures invoked to prevent unwanted interference from beings regarded negatively, one is tempted to ask if perhaps Kanisurra was imagined as a witch par excellence, like how Pazuzu was both the scourge of the lil demons and himself a demonic winged figure, while Ninkilim, the lord of small animals invoked to protect crops from his “subjects”, was seemingly a deified mongoose. Daniel Schwemer appears to more or less go into that direction and notes that “imagery of singing witch-girls that descend from heaven and a young, enchanting and, at the same time, dangerous goddess as lady of the witches illustrates that the stereotype of the kaššāptu has little in common with that of the old hag in European folklore” (Mesopotamia in Guide to the Study of Ancient Magic, p. 52).

If this assumption can be transferred from text to visual arts, perhaps it would be sensible for Kanisurra to be depicted with objects associated with witchcraft; these included just about anything that could be used to bind a person (Mesopotamia, p. 44); figurines or drawings representing people meant to be affected by a curse (ibidem, p. 44-45); water prepared as if it was for funerary offerings for rituals involving the symbolic killing of a person (ibidem, p. 46-47); miscellaneous “sorcererous devices” (upīšū/upšāšû) sent as omens (ibidem, p. 47-48; Schwemer cites an example involving a dead mouse - it required a mouse burial to break the curse). Slander was also associated with casting curses (ibidem, p. 48-49) but I don’t really think there’s an easy way to represent that visually. c) based on the possible derivation of her name from the mythical toponym Ganzer, ie. the entrance of the underworld, and some less certain evidence (presence in mourning rites for Shu-Sin might have more to do with the ceremony taking place in Uruk than with character of any deity involved) it is presumed that Kanissura was an underworld deity (The Pantheon…, p. 316-317).

Frans Wiggermann argues that members of this category were particularly commonly depicted wearing a type of flat cap in place of the usual more conical or cylindrical horned crowns (Nergal B. Archäologisch, p. 224). However, I’m not entirely sure if this is a consensus view; and I’m pretty sure there’s a fair share of depictions of Nanshe where her crown/cap is flat-ish. Still, it’s a pretty distinct article of clothing.

It would perhaps also be tempting to ask if the attendant deities accompany Nanaya in Sogdian art are a distant echo of Gazbaba and Kanisurra - one of the murals from Panjikent shows her with two smaller figures who are “nimbate, with shoulders aflame, carry spears and at least one of them wears armor” (Michael Shenkar, Intangible Spirits and Graven Images: The Iconography of Deities in the Pre-Islamic Iranian World, p. 123; line drawing on p. 307).

The relief from the funerary couch from the Miho Museum also shows Nanaya in the company of two female attendants, though they are not armed, let alone armored. However, while it does appear plausible that Gazbaba and Kanisurra were still worshiped with Nanaya at least in Borsippa and Babylon in the second half of the first millennium BCE (Four Temple…, p. 295-296; note also Usur-amassu with Kanisurra on p. 296), I am not aware of any evidence that they were transferred eastwards alongside her, so I’d be cautious.

#mesopotamian miscellanea #mesopotamian mythology #gazbaba #kanisurra

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kaleidoscopic-quiddity · 4 years ago

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okay so idk if sk8 is necessarily queerbaiting us because like queerbaiting means intentionally making shit look gay to drag in more views by appealing to lgbt+ ppl and allies (and fetishizers too technically) whilst never actually following through representation-wise which doesn’t feel like what’s going on in sk8 bc like,, idk the ‘fanservice’ if that’s what u want to call it (meaning the romantically charge scenes between reki n langa) actually fits into the flow of the show and suits the characters?? it doesn’t feel like it was just thrown in there to give fujoshis something to yell about (*coughs* free!) but rather that its just a natural progression of their relationship. i think if sk8 was actively queerbaiting people then the more recent episodes, especially episode 6, would have a far different vibe to them.

i also doubt its the whole thing of ‘oh well we had no idea it came across as gay’ seeing as the director utsumi hiroko also directed banana fish and the head writer okouchi ichiro did the screenplay for devilman crybaby, but like at the same time i also doubt we’re gonna get any actual canon confirmation? i know ppl love to use yuri on ice as an example but the truth is having two male characters in a sports anime be in an explicitly romantic relationship? esp when its an anime by a major shounen studio like bones?? its unlikely. i wish it wasn’t and i also think that things r getting better for same-sex rep in anime that doesn’t necessarily fall into the category of yaoi/yuri (see: carol & tuesday, hoshiai no sora, sarazanmai) and doesn’t have to declare itself as such from the get go, rather, depicting a romance that just so happens to be queer. but i also think its a very slow-going process.

even with yuri on ice whilst victor and yuuri are p obviously attracted to each other and in a romantic relationship to anyone w/ half a brain cell there’s still room left for plausible deniability their kiss was never actually shown bc yoi marketed itself as a sports anime, not a bl like no.6 or given, the director yamato sayo has literally said that she was censored in regards to ep 7, which is what happens when shows that don’t explicitly market themselves as GayTM from the get go try to clearly depict mlm/wlw relationships

i think if sk8 does actually end up being gay (and here’s to hoping it will, the groundwork certainly seems to be there) i think it’ll be something along the lines of ‘well its not not canon if yknow what we mean ;)’ or maybe a scene that implies romance but doesn’t outright confirm it a la korrasami holding hands at the end of tlok

or hell, maybe i’m playing myself and sk8 is actually baiting us and just trying to draw in more viewers and the only ‘representation’ my desperate mlm ass will get is fuckin adam. there’s the very real chance we’re all just ‘reading it wrong’ and reki n langa were only ever intended to be bros. But i’d like to think that’s not the case, sk8 obviously has a lot of love put into its characters and their dynamics and i genuinely do think there’s a possibility of some kind of confirmation (be it in canon or from the crew) of affection between reki and langa that isn’t strictly platonic, even if that possibility is small

#sk8 the infinity #kyan reki #hasegawa langa #renga #queerbaiting #fandom #og post //#feel free to add on w/ any opinions youve got abt this #im not an expert on japanese media production so i cant say for certain how things will go #but in the least case i dont think sk8 is actively queerbaiting us #or if they are then its more subtle than what im used to #/sigh/ idk i just rlly feel like sk8 cld go either way rn #at least the fandom agrees on the queer vibes

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knickynoo · 4 years ago

Note

I loved your recent post about Marty and his ADHD! It was soo spot on. And, I saw in the tags that you mentioned Alex Keaton and how you believe he’s not neurotypical either. Care to elaborate? Do you have any headcanons about neurodivergent™ Alex? I’d love to hear your thoughts! :)

Oh, hey, thank you! Marty having ADHD seems to be one of the most common headcanons in the fandom, so that post was a lot of fun to work on.

As far as Alex goes...yes, I will elaborate, BUT I'm putting it under a cut because ya girl is really going to E L A B O R A T E.

I've mentioned before that I think Alex's overall personality/demeanor comes from a variety of different places. Some parts of who he is are likely caused by all the pressure put on him to be a high achiever, due to being so academically gifted from a young age. Other parts are due to being overly coddled and spoiled by Elyse and Steven. Still, there's probably a part of Alex that genuinely enjoys being difficult and getting a rise out of people. Then, there's the obvious anxiety he struggles with, which even MJF has talked about in some interviews when discussing how he approached playing a guy like Alex.

"Giftedness" & anxiety are already included under the umbrella of neurodiversity but in Alex's case, I actually think there's even more to it than that. Yeah, Alex is a funny character whose actions/words are so often played for laughs. He can also be a really irksome character when he's dishing out the sarcasm and being selfish. But I also can't help but look at Alex and think, This guy is just so not NT and he is struggling, somebody Help Him. And since Alex P. Keaton is one of my favorite characters AND I love to analyze/ do deep dives AND the topic of neurodiversity is a particularly strong interest of mine... well, here you go....

Mans is autistic.

• Difficulty with social cues and "reading the room". Seriously, there are so many instances of everyone around him all being on the same page about something or dealing with something serious, and Alex walks in and just proceeds to miss every single cue people throw his way. Two scenes that pop into my head, in particular, are the Reflective Pajamas one and the Clam Puff one, lol.

• He frequently struggles with putting himself in other people's shoes: Alex is certainly shown to be a compassionate person. He can recognize when people are hurting and will do the right thing, but sometimes he needs some help to get there. It seems that a lot of the time, all he knows is how he feels or thinks about something, and it doesn't occur to him that another person could be experiencing it differently. Then, once Steven, Elyse, Ellen, etc, break the situation down for him and explicitly say things like, Hey, that person's feelings are hurt because... or Here is the exact reason this person is angry... Alex is finally able to connect the dots, which usually leads to him being like, I hadn't ever thought about that/ I didn't mean it. (Of course, there are also times where Alex is just purposely being a jerk, but I'm not focusing on those)

• Specific, intense interests: Politics & economics, obviously. It's made well-known that Alex has been completely fixated on these two areas since he was a toddler. He's prone to enthusiastic, overly detailed discourse on the topics and either doesn't care or can't pick up on when people are growing bored at listening to him.

• Also, can we talk about how it's established that Alex's favorite toy as a little kid was a box? Like, he carried it everywhere, played with it, slept with it, and was devastated when it fell apart. Idk, I know kids can be attached to random objects, but it's just interesting that Alex is noted as having been enamored with a box. I'm just picturing little Alex, ignoring all the toys he has in favor of just sitting and staring at a box, and his parents are like, Yeah, this is normal.

• Highly intelligent, bordering on genius/prodigy (He was doing long-division at like, 3 years old) but has difficulty connecting with peers & making friends: This is most prominently shown in "A, My Name is Alex," where we see glimpses of various events in his childhood. In the scene where Alex meets Greg, we learn that Alex spends recess inside, helping the teacher plan her lessons rather than going out to socialize with his classmates. He's bewildered at Greg's invitation to come play, meaning he likely spent the majority of his childhood on his own due to being considered an outcast by his peers and just generally relating more easily to adults. (He also mentions taking night classes at a local college at age SEVEN. So like. If the long-division story and night class thing are taken to be actual facts of Alex's childhood...we're looking at something similar to hyperlexia/hypernumeracy here. This kid must have been bored out his mind having to sit through elementary school if he was that advanced)

• Very literal at times/ misses sarcasm: Interestingly enough, APK is very fond of being sarcastic but doesn't do so well when he's on the receiving end of it. Someone will make a joke or spin the sarcasm towards him for once, and he'll either just stare blankly like ???? or smile/thank them and they're like, Yeah, that wasn't a compliment, or, I was kidding.

• Black and white/ inflexible thinking: This might be the biggest one. Alex is super concerned with rules and ensuring that everyone is following them correctly. There's right and there's wrong, with no gray areas or middle ground as far as he's concerned. My favorite instance of this is in the episode where the family goes to visit Steven's mother and Rob, Alex's uncle, is telling a story of how Steven got in trouble as a kid for refusing to put his name in the upper right corner of his test papers. Everyone around the table laughs...except for Alex, who is deeply troubled by the information.

Just...Steven's delivery. The way he pauses and stares at Alex before replying with a ridiculous punishment that obviously didn't happen, but Alex shows no signs of being aware of or amused at the joke and is just glad his father faced the consequences of his actions. It's great, and a prime example of Alex's preoccupation with "the rules."

Another good example (& one that crosses into the empathy category as well) is "Big Brother is Watching", where Alex exposes a cheating scandal at school (that involves Mallory) and then can't wrap his mind around why everyone is angry at him when he gets the students who were involved suspended. He spends half the episode saying things like, But cheating is wrong. It's wrong and I told the truth about it. I did what's right. You (Steven) told me to always tell the truth, which I did. WHY PEOPLE ANGRY???

And so Steven has to basically spell it out and be like, You got those students suspended, Alex. They are upset with you because of this. They were exposed publically, which embarrassed them, and people tend to not like being embarrassed.

And Alex is like, Oh.

• Repetitive behavior/movements: Most often seen when Alex is distressed or scared, his mannerisms definitely stand out in many scenes. He paces, taps his foot/bounces his leg, rubs his hands together or over his lap, rocks back and forth, and avoids eye contact. I made a post about this a short while back because it really is interesting (and a testament to how well the character was played). There are moments where Alex is completely confident and "calm", and you can see that reflected in the way he carries himself. But whenever he's upset or anxious, you'll start to notice a variety of the things listed above.

So. Yeah. All these things considered...I headcanon Alex as possibly being autistic?? Which is not a take I've ever seen anyone else mention (and I seriously doubt anyone working on the show had this angle in mind at all) but watching through the series, my radar just goes off when it comes to APK.

I have no idea how this will be received. (If anyone even reads it because wow, this got away from me).

Thanks for the ask. As you may be able to tell, I enjoyed being able to spew out my thoughts.

#family ties #alex p keaton #apk #asks #do you see why it takes me so long to answer asks sometimes?#I'm out here writing an essay #I guess it's good that so few people I actually know watch/are fans of FT #because they would not have the option to keep scrolling and ignore me in situations like this #BUT! I was recently watching FT with someone who is new to the show #and I had said nothing about anything relating to this post or my thoughts here #after enough eps that they were able to get the full picture of Alex #they said ''You know...Alex could be autistic''#and I was like !!!!!!!! YOU SEE IT TOO

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floraone · 5 years ago

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So, September is coming up, and with it smutember, and we’re doing it again! (At least I hope you’re with me, lol).

Just like last year, it runs alongside to the official daily word prompts on the official smutember blog: Smutember is an event that runs all throughout September for all fandoms. The following is meant as an addition, not a replacement. If you want to do daily prompts, please use the official words prompts (linked above). However, since daily prompts can be a bit intimidating (especially for a fandom corner that’s 25+ years old like ours and people in it have busy lives), as the resident smut advocate in our fandom, I again customized an alternative that can still incorporate the official themes.

Just like last year, down below you have a list of TROPE AND THEME PROMPTS. They’re a remix of sorts of last year’s tropes, with some you’ve seen before and some new ones, meant to spark a variety of ideas. The idea is that with these you can post once (or twice) per week instead of daily.

Be it for fanart or fanfic or any other sort of fanwork, tropes can be combined, (and they can be combined with the daily themes too), whatever floats your boat. Also, specifically: This event isn’t Usamamo-centric only. I will reblog any Sailor Moon content of any pairing as long as it follows the rules! (See below)

The aim of this event is to create sex-positive content together that celebrates a healthy depiction of consentual sexuality. Erotic fanfiction is a beautiful art, especially in a fandom of ours so largely cultivated by women and for women, as well as a strong inclusive focus on queer and gender-queer content and their creators!

What’s new: I’m taking a page out of the mini-bang’s impressive book, and when smutember is over, I will compile all entries that followed the rules into an online-only e-zine! This also means that art that may be too explicit for tumblr can still be included in the e-zine!

Here are the weekly trope challenges:

Reinvent a trope!

WEEK 1 (September 1st - 7th): Pick 1 or 2

🍋 Reunion Sex 🍋 Sex Fails 🍋 Second Chance Sex 🍋 You Talk In Your Sleep 🍋 Unresolved Sexual Tension 🍋 New Old Flame 🍋 Go Seduce My Archnemesis 🍋 Bedsharing 🍋 Sex with the Ex/Break-Up Sex 🍋 In Public

WEEK 2 (September 8th - 14th): Pick 1 or 2

🍋 Make-Up Sex 🍋 Battle Couple 🍋 Mission Sex 🍋 Work-Out Sex 🍋 Accidental Pervert 🍋 Bathing/Shower 🍋 Pool/Onsen 🍋 Sexual Fantasies 🍋 Blind Date 🍋 Aroused By Your____ (pick a feature)

WEEK 3 (September 15th - 21st): Pick 1 or 2

🍋 Established Relationship 🍋 “Thank God We’re Alive” 🍋 Caught In The Act 🍋 First Times 🍋 Introduction By Hook-Up 🍋 Pining 🍋 Locked In Together In A Small Space/ Trapped Together 🍋 Huddling For Warmth 🍋 Socially Distanced Sex 🍋 Stupid Sexy Friend 🍋 Caught In The Rain 🍋 Living Food Platter/Eating Off You 🍋 Shunga

WEEK 4 (September 22nd - 30th): Pick 1 or 2

🍋 Mutual Masturbation 🍋 Awkward/Clumsy Sex 🍋 Oh Crap There’s Fanfic Of Us 🍋 Talking In Bed 🍋 Fidelity Test 🍋 Fake-NOT-Dating 🍋 Mindlink 🍋 Sex Games 🍋 Tinder 🍋 Blackout/Quarantine/Disaster Warning/Weathering The Storm

RULES

1. Rating: These fics don’t necessarily need to be M or, in the case of Ao3, E- rated. Obviously, they are very, very welcome to be explicit for this event, but you can also go T-rated and stay in lime or ‘blacked out’-territory if you’re uncomfortable with writing explicit scenes! Both is perfectly and absolutely welcome! This of course also goes for fanart - your fanart may depict sexy scenes, but does NOT have to be explicit! (It can, though! Be aware that for tumblr’s guidelines, when sharing your art first, you may have to clip your images as a sort of preview. The original can then be sent to me privately to include into the e-zine!) 2. Minimum Age of Characters: Since this is a community event, if you do go explicit M rated material: age them up where necessary! So that everyone can be comfortable writing and reading these, let them be 18 at the minimum if they’re going to openly and explicitly wohoo. (16-17 is the global average age of consent worldwide, and also the average age for first sex among girls in many western countries. However, since most fanfic readers are located in the US, where the age of consent is 18, we’re going with 18 so that everyone can be comfortable reading!) If you go for canon fics at a time they are below this age, where you do not want to age up (say you’re going for an episode fix!) please stay in T territory for this event. 3. Off limits: Depictions of sexual acts that contain harmful, violent and non-consenting behaviour with non-consenting individuals (or those that aren’t able to consent, for instance because of their age, or state of mind among else!). If it doesn’t fly by law or the ICD in real life, please refrain from depicting it in the context of this event. This means that dubcon and noncon will not be reblogged for the event, so that people can be safely consuming the content without being triggered. All content will be screened in this regard, and I may contact you regarding trigger warnings. This is not at all to censor content, or that this content is in any form less valid (as long as it is properly tagged and not including characters that aren’t of age), but simply to ensure a safe environment for everyone reading. 4. Tag your triggers. Except the aforementioned limitation of harmful content, nothing is off limits. Explore your kinks! But if you write something that might be offensive to your readers, please tag it. This is ALSO a good way for your readers to find exactly what they ARE looking for! On Ao3 this can be done directly on the fic tags, for FF fics and fic links you can do it here on Tumblr via the fic post tags or in ANs. This is in consideration of your readers. 5. You can obviously post art for this event too. All previous rules apply here, as well. Unfortunately, Tumblr is now against tasteful nudity. That doesn’t mean you can’t link to a deviant art or similar account though, should you want to. And, since this year will include an e-zine at the end of it, all art will still be included fully in it. Here too, please tag your triggers. If you still want to post art on Tumblr, choose a T rated image - clip them where needed, or keep them (semi-)clothed, show us a heated kiss, etc! (Obviously we would love ALL the art and the nude body is a beautiful, wonderful thing, but obviously Tumblr doesn’t agree with us anymore!) 6. Have fun! Celebrate sexuality in an open, sex-positive way with us, try to be unapologetic about your likes while you write this, and appreciate the beauty that comes in the form of content with a largely female-gazing creator-base and audience! Smut in fanfiction has been beautifully put as the subjectification of sexuality (as opposed to objectification). So let’s celebrate this art form together! 7. Reviews: No one is forced to review. It can be uncomfortable to review a fic that contains sexual acts for any number of always valid reasons. Keep in mind, however, that much like a Burlesque dancer on stage, putting out sexual content can also be very intimidating to an author, and nothing is more discouraging than silence when baring yourself to an audience like this. That being said: Both Ao3 and FF have the option to review in anon mode. That means you have the option to remain anonymous while cheering the author on all the same. Just like the Burlesque dancer, your resident smut authors prefer to go on stage to loud cheering - it makes it all less awkward for them, and feels a little more like a big celebration!

If you’re unsure what sex positivity entails and want to read up, I wrote a post about it here.

This event is not supposed to cause harm. This means that I will screen all content before I reblog it here, and include it in the e-zine. So that everyone of age can feel safe reading the fanworks in the event, dubcon and noncon will not be reblogged and included in the e-zine, and accurate tagging and content warning will be watched. This does NOT MEAN that you cannot post this material: your own desire to write it and someone else’s desire to explicitly read this material are valid. I do not entitle myself to censor. It just means it will not be reblogged and shared through the event so that everyone may feel safe to read to the best of my ability. (But, of course, remember that I, too, might be biased, and not discover subtle forms of it, either. We’re all, in the end, a product of our upbringing and society, and I cannot be completely unbiased.)

During the event, I will be posting all Sailor Moon Smutember contributions in this format on my blog if you @ me to the post.

The official hashtag for the event is #smutember2020 hosted by the official smutember blog. Using it helps people find the content who search for it as well as those who wish to block it!

#smutember2020 #smutember sailor moon fandom #smutember usamamo fandom corner #smutember2020 rules #Spread the word!

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