#i’ve only ever saw s1 to s3? i think

[pillwebb]

Predictions/Things I’d like to happen in S4 of TUA

• In every season, there’s a main villain, such as the apocalypse in S1, the Commission in S2, and the Sparrows in S3. It’s kinda obvious that Reggie is the villain in this upcoming season, but I’m curious if Abigail(Reginald’s wife) will be a big deal. Like, will she be as bad as Reggie or a sweeter version?

• Like I said above, there are different villains, but there are also different locations. The Academy in S1, Elliott’s house in S2, and Hotel Obsidian in S3. My guess is that the main location will be an apartment. Like, I know that sounds basic and obvious, but in every season, the main location is always a homelike place. (Mansion, House, Hotel, Apartment?) It doesn’t seem super far off, and it could maybe be one of the Brellies apartment.

• Their powers!!!!! I’m so curious about their powers and stuff. So, at the end of S4, we see that the universe is reset(I think???) and so are their bodies. They have no tattoos, powers, and Luther’s body isn’t that of an ape anymore. I think that they’ll maybe find their powers somehow. Maybe there will be a fight, or Reginald has their powers with him? Idrk.

• Ever since I first watched the show, I’ve been super curious about the 43 children with powers. Like, we’ve seen 14 of them (The Umbrellas and Sparrows) but that still leaves 29 of them. It’d be so cool if they involved them. Like, maybe they get important in the timeline bc the Hargreeves seek them out for help? We don’t know if other super powered people are there, but it’d be really interesting if there was.

• I’ve seen a fee people on here say that there is a 6 year time jump in S4, and if it is true, how will they explain what happened to everyone? Will Luther be looking for Sloane all the time? How has he adapted to have a regular body? Diego and Lila’s kid will be born and 6 years old and they’ll be together(I hope, I love them so much). Allison has Ray and Claire, but how will she react to this? We know that she was an actor/celebrity, so maybe she’ll be in the spotlight. I have ZERO clue what Klaus will be doing. He’s so unpredictable, he started a CULT in S2, for gods sake. I’m genuine curious what Five will be doing bc he’s an actual genius. I feel like he’ll have gone to some bigwig college and will be actually successful in life. I’ve seen some sources say that the Ben we saw at the end of S3 was Sparrow Ben, and I love that idea. Sparrow Ben is such an asshole, but he’s so hilarious I can’t be mad at him. I feel like he’ll try and live a normal life, but it’d be hard since well…he’s Ben. I NEED Viktor to lead a nice life, poor boy. I think everyone collectively agrees that we need Viktor to play violin this season without blowing the moon up.

• That paragraph was… a lot, but here’s the final one. It is official that S4 will have only 6 episodes, which is so sad, but that just means that things will happen quicker. I really hope that we’ll have longer episodes. Regularly, the TUA episodes are 40-45 minutes long, but I’d love if we could get episodes that are an hour or more long.

[incorrectsibunaquotes]

I have a theory that the reason we as an audience feel like Sibuna in Season 3b are making monumentally stupid choices is because the show doesn’t actually spell out for us that the kids don’t have all the information we have. In fact, they are operating with less than half of our knowledge. (This is gonna be a longgggg post, so read under the cut if you dare)

On my latest rewatch of S3 for fanfic purposes, i found myself really struggling to justify why the hell Eddie couldn’t put two and two together with his vision of Patricia and the “traitor” in Sibuna. I was frustrated with him because to me it was incredibly obvious! Like who else could it possibly be?? But then, I rewatched it again with a closer eye and everything suddenly clicked:

We, the audience, are watching the action from a completely zoomed out angle. We’re not just following Sibuna, but we’re also following Team Evil. We know Robert is capturing Sinners and what a Sinner actually is, before Sibuna is even fully aware that they failed to stop the eclipse ceremony. The kids metaphorically tripped at the starting line.

Furthermore, this is the first time in the show that the Sibunas have not had either the upper hand or were even on equal playing field with the adults. In Season 1, the Society was wholly unprepared for a bunch of adolescents to start foiling in their plans (bc why would they be prepared for that??), and Sibuna basically destroyed them due to adults underestimating their willingness to fuck around and find out. In Season 2, Victor/Vera and Sibuna were on equal ground; no one knew how to solve the tasks and it was a matter of a bunch of separate parties trying to figure it out before each other. They were all just throwing shit at the wall and hoping it stuck.

At the top of Season 3, we play a lot with both the S1 and S2 dynamics. At first, Sibuna is leagues and bounds ahead of the adults, and then they pretty quickly end up on the same footing. Then, in the second half of the season, that entire dynamic is flipped on its head, and it’s Sibuna who are wholly unprepared for the adults. I’ve talked about how the kids, especially our Sibuna veterans, got a little too comfortable with Victor and co’s ineptitude and cocky with their own intelligence… but that’s not even why they were so slow on the uptake.

None of the Sibunas even hear the word “Sinner” until they find that book in the secret room and read it while sitting on the stage. And the book does not explain at all what a Sinner actually is. It tells them that Ammut needs “the souls of five human sinners who embody the greatest flaws of mankind” and once she has five of them she can enter the human realm and cause lots of problems. Absolutely nowhere in the book does it ever say “Also, much like Robert, the soulless body of the Sinner is reawakened in service to the underworld.” The only other hint that could have possibly clued anyone in is “when your friends are not your friends”. But like, that clue was ages ago! Why would they even be thinking about that, when it had absolutely no bearing on their hunt for the secret room/answers up to that point? I cannot stress this enough, THEY HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE WHAT A SINNER IS! (I’m gonna repeat this sentence about 400 times in case you don’t get it now lol) Mind you, that atp in the timeline, this is approximately fifteen or so minutes before Denby captures Patricia.

But let’s rewind all the way back to when Team Evil devises a plan to kidnap Eddie. He’s in the crypt, right? It’s pretty evident to him that it was probably Denby, Victor, and/or Robert who trapped him here, but he’s got no real clue as to why. Of course, we all know that they’re planning on turning him into a Sinner, because we saw Victor get turned. But as far as Sibuna knows, Victor has never really been on their side, so all they think is that he’s being meaner than usual but of course he’s opposing them. That’s not strange.

Okay, so Eddie is stuck and distressed, but he’s not as panicked as he needs to be because nowhere in his mind does he think this could potentially end in what is essentially his death. Now, throw in the horrifying vision he has of Patricia getting dragged into a glowing sarcophagus. He still doesn’t know what a Sinner is, but he knows that whatever he just saw was really bad; it’s an incentive from the Osirian spirit (or the house, or the gods, or literally whatever) to actually try to get the hell out of there.

So we’re all sitting here watching going “Oh my god they’re gonna nab Patricia and make her evil! 😰” because we have context; Eddie has absolutely none. It’s also really important for later on that his vision ends when the sarcophagus door shuts. It’s framed as incredibly final, and for all Eddie knows, they’ve just stuffed Patricia in what he knows is a tiny cramped space and locked the door behind her. He thinks that at best they are going to kidnap her or, at worst, straight up kill her. Nothing in that vision indicates she’s walking out of there at all.

When Patricia ran off after the fake messages, Eddie is concerned for a lot of different reasons, but the two primary ones are the obvious “oh my god my girlfriend thinks I cheated on her what do I do???” and the other is “if she’s run off on her own, the adults could fulfill my vision!” But then she turns back up, which should be clear to us by now means that he thinks she’s safe. He’s waiting for her (for any of them) to disappear. But when none of them do, they think it’s fine. It’s not that Eddie doesn’t think Patricia is in danger of becoming a Sinner, he just doesn’t realize what that would actually look like.

Even when they’re all in the hallway morbidly joking about having to give up sinning, the language KT uses is telling of what they think being a Sinner means: “We don’t want to accidentally help out Team Evil [by sinning].” Of course, this statement works with the knowledge the audience has of everything, but if Sibuna actually knew what they were dealing with, KT would have said something more like “We don’t want to get captured/turned by Team Evil.” The jokes they’re making are still morbid, but because they think you just get put in the sarcophagus and that’s the end of it.

Let’s flash forward again to the phonograph getting smashed and Eddie’s second vision that prompts the witch hunt panic in the first place. The vision can be separated into three parts: 1) Eddie sees a hooded figure smash the phonograph (okay Sibuna already knows someone did it on purpose, not too crazy); 2) Robert approaches him creepily and has the mic-drop moment of “it was one of your little friends; you have a viper in your nest” (seriously what a raw line of dialogue… but also now Eddie is being told that there is a traitor. Pretty cut and dry); 3) he turns around and sees every other member of Sibuna mockingly throw up the Sibuna sign (uh oh!)

So here is where people (including me!) always got a little annoyed with Eddie for not doing the math. But upon several rewatches and actually listening to what everyone was saying, never once do any of the kids ever bring up the word “Sinner” during the entirety of this whodunnit arc. And that’s simply because it’s not even a thought that crosses their minds. The language they use is very telling: “traitor” and “betrayal” being the heavy hitters. If any of them actually had context for what was actually going on, the language they would be using would be more like “victim” or literally just “Sinner” as a noun. But they don’t, which is why they’re so hostile toward one another… and why KT was screwed from the moment Eddie had that vision.

Because the fact that they don’t know that a Sinner is an evil version of themselves (not just someone whose soul is being used as a power generator), means that on a subconscious level Fabian, Alfie, and even Eddie already assumed KT was guilty. And Sinner!Patricia knew that, and that’s why she was so easily able to pivot and pin it on her. KT was directly linked to Frobisher, and Fabian and Alfie had already been suspicious of her at the start of the season for other reasons. It’s why Fabian let Patricia help him with the finger printing in the first place: because he doesn’t believe it’s her. And Eddie would have no real reason to suspect Patricia for three reasons: 1) Because he’s in love with her; 2) Because he knows just how long Patricia (and Fabian, and Alfie) have been loyal to Sibuna and to each other; 3) Because he, like everyone else, was looking at this betrayal as a willing capitulation to the Team Evil.

The first time Sibuna becomes aware that a Sinner is an entity that they have to actually watch out for walking about (as opposed to just having to watch out becoming), is after KT and Harriet manage to escape Patricia in the Gatehouse. Harriet clearly knows what a Sinner is bc she has the presence of mind to actually explain (vaguely, of course, because she’s drugged to kingdom come) to KT what she’d just narrowly escaped.

And then when she confronts Sibuna and Patricia in the hallway after Miss Crocodile Tears is telling tales about KT trying to kidnap her, KT drops the bomb on the boys: “She was trying to make me a Sinner just like her!” Pause. Record scratch. Okay. Now everything they thought they knew about the situation is completely recontextualized as something much more sinister than what they initially thought. Because I’d always struggled with how cruel they were being to KT, especially if they thought it wasn’t her fault. But everything up until this point deeply suggests or rather expects us to understand that Sibuna only had two pieces of an 100 piece puzzle, and that them being mean to KT was because they thought she actually betrayed them.

With all of this in mind, Eddie is not stupid for not figuring it out right away. In fact, without knowing what a Sinner actually is, it would be an insane leap to assume Patricia had anything to do with the phonograph.

I’ve basically talked myself and all of you in several circles, but the bottom line is the show didn’t do a fabulous job of telling us that Sibuna had no clue what they were up against. It’s easy for us to sit back and go “what the hell is wrong with them are they stupid?” because we have all the knowledge of what’s going on eons before they do. This is a far more charitable read of the characters’ choices and thought process, and the only way any of their actions make any sense. In fact, this is less of a theory and more of what is… literally canon, I guess

[wibble-wobbegong]

thesis— if it’s something mike thinks will hurt el, he would never do it.

“she didn’t look fine.”

that was when he felt lost, powerless, frustrated, and resentful about his relationship, and caught up in those emotions. all things he could very well be when kissing will in a heat of a moment, especially if he’d just found out his real feelings are requited.

okay so this is actually a very interesting point to make because rink-o-mania is pretty much our only example of el trying to start conflict with el (other than the body scene in s1 but that wasnt really about el so i dont count it)

rink-o-mania’s events are very interesting because, in terms of mike, i think two major things are going down in his head regarding el:

1. one thing mike holds to himself is that violence should only be used in defense of others.

we never see him use it for himself, and the only time he ever instigates violence is in the gym with troy after watching will get made fun of (which is a great example of how his will isn’t absolute and it has bent for will in the past, so i won’t deny that the cheating scenario is possible because of stuff like this). later on, what we see from mike is that he recognizes el’s situation in rink-o-mania, and in general, as something he understands and has experiences but he never went so far as to hurt someone

here’s the thing though: mike didn’t hear angela’s comment about hopper. with fighting for will, we see that there’s some leniency to this internal rule he has and he’d probably be a lot more understanding of what happened if he knew that what caused her to snap wasn’t the being pushed down and teased but rather having her dead father made fun of. i’ve talked about it before, but mike’s route to understanding others is through connecting their experiences to his own. mike saw himself in el at rink-o-mania but he doesn’t understand how she’d resort to violence, but if he knew about what they’d said afterwards he’d be able to recognize much more clearly why she snapped the way she did

2. el had broken this preconceived image mike has of her.

a lot of mike’s admiration and dedication to el comes from the way she was able to protect him and his friends in s1 and that her sense of justice seemed to match up with his own but she was a superhero who could do the things he found himself unable to. in doing everything i just said above, she broke that image of herself in mike’s mind because mike doesn’t really know her. he’s living in an image of her, which may have some truth to it, but he also internally holds her to very high standards as a result.

when he goes to make amends with her (before it turns into a fight) he’s not really asking about rink-o-mania. it sorta seems like he’s brushing that part of the day under the rug, but he does ask why she felt like she had to hide her genuine situation from him. i think he tries to move past it because he eventually gets over his own initial reaction

what all that means is that a certain part of mike’s morality took the forefront when he saw what el did because she also broke his internal concept of who she is and why she does things the way she does. the extremes she went to with angela were not even things he would go to with troy, but in el’s world the scale of violence looks so incredibly different that their interpretations of such a thing aren’t even comparable.

because all of this lines up for mike to be willing to be bitchy with el, i don’t really see a situation like you described where cheating would work. a different type of morality took the forefront at rink-o-mania alongside his image of el being cracked, but that wouldn’t be the case in a situation with will

i did say earlier, however, that we have seen mike break his own code over his love for will. that, imo, is a better example of him falling into the hands of emotion. so it’s definitely possible, but we have seen mike choose el’s happiness over a potential relationship with will before at the end of s3. he’s had chances to be with will before when he thought his feelings were requited but when el kissed him that possibility flew out of the window (and i know this doesn’t make sense if you don’t follow my posts but it’s an entirely separate analysis that i’ll gladly make if you’d like). i just don’t think we’ve been built in the direction of canon cheating and i think mike’s internal pressure to make el happy has been around so intensely and constantly for so long it would be sort of strange for it to just break because of his own desires when we know that isn’t something that motivates his actions

BUT again i could see it as a possibility if the writers did things a little differently

[stilldancewithyou]

I really think they’re not gonna do J cheating in s3 which on one hand I’m fine with since they made him bi and as a bi person myself I don’t want to see that awful stereotype on screen for the billionth time (granted I also feel like it was so tokenized because it was such a blip and I don’t think they’ll ever mention his attraction to men ever again or explore that in a meaningful way but hey maybe they’ll surprise me since I have low expectations when it comes to TV and bi representation; personally I think Gavin has great chemistry with Sean but I’m not sure they’d ever explore j/s since people may find it weird he’d bounce between the Conklin siblings and as of now Steven is straight in the show iirc) but also I read that s2 follows the book very closely according to some extras on set and it would make me mad if they show Conrad’s very human mistakes and then sugar coat j’s so he still looks like the “nice” guy…

I can’t say j is my favorite but I also liked that the books kinda went beyond his nice guy persona and showed how this behavior can be a red flag (bc there’s too many shows that romanticize the guy who definitely sees the girl as the prize and let them end up together and like sorry to Jere who I know loved belly in his own way but his romantic intentions with her started off wrong since deep down it was about getting back and stealing something from Conrad and that just turned me off to them romantically (I do like their friendship)) but then also show him overcome it (I.e. letting belly go at their wedding day and presumably finding happiness since he was mentioned to have a plus one at the b/c wedding) I think this would be nice to see on tv but idk

granted I feel like they have shown in s1 the darker sides of J already and people ignore it (ex. The firework scene like no jeremiah physical violence is not the answer to your problems😒 and him yelling and projecting at Conrad saying he only sees belly as a competition and then scheming to separate them) but idk I don’t know what other problem aside from the cheating that they could throw between b/j to have them on the brink of a breakup that leads to their sham engagement happen for s3 (my worst fear is they’ll make belly the cheater to take the heat off of J since many of his Stans always say belly was projecting when she claimed him to cheat bc “technically” they were broken up and she was still in love with C and this would will further villanize her relationship with Conrad and thus prop up j… and that would remind me of how dirty the second to all the boys movie did LJ by not showing the very real mistakes Peter made in their relationship and making it look like she just freely bounced between John and Peter for no reason)… anyways this is a ramble but I’ve just been thinking about it since s2 is nearing (and in my heart I need it to be s3 already lol)

okay I have thought long and hard about this specific topic and I hear what you're saying. but I still firmly believe the cheating thing is going to happen in the show. I just...idk. there's just no way around it tbh. It's kind of like having Susannah miraculously live...the story wouldn't be the same. I think the cheating went a lot deeper than the surface level people are stuck at, at least in my interpretation of the book. The whole thing about it is that Jeremiah found out that Belly saw Conrad in Cousins in December and she never told him, and Jere spent months secretly brooding about that and being angry (somewhat rightfully) and the way he says things in the books I feel like Jeremiah thought/assumed that something happened between Conrad and Belly (cause they were alone at the beach house!) and he thinks that's why she never told him she saw Conrad. So I feel like after the whole fight about Cabo and Belly not wanting to go (bc she wanted to be in Cousins instead!) Jere went to Cabo pissed and jealous and slept with what's her face out of spite, to get back at Belly. at least that's my interpretation. But he obviously ended up realizing it was messed up and tried to make it better with the engagement. And then as a double whammy to Jeremiah, because of the engagement, Belly ends up spending the summer alone in Cousins with Conrad planning the wedding which probably made Jere even more angry (it's just so ironic lol).

I'm also with you on the point about Jeremiah being portrayed as the nice, perfect guy up until the 3rd book, and I really hope the show captures what the book did. Because they have worked overtime showing how perfect Jeremiah is and how he's the better option and trying to sell him as the best person. I think the way you get to see his flaws and mistakes (which are very human but also he was a jerk for a lot of the 3rd book outside of the cheating thing and ppl are blind to that I feel, like everyone is stuck on just the cheating). I also think it was super important for Belly to see Jere's flaws. She never truly appreciated what she had with Conrad and the person he is because she couldn't see past his very human mistakes (which all happened when his mother was dying and immediately after her death!!!) and she got so stuck on what Conrad did wrong she looked over and felt like Jeremiah was perfect and seemed so much better, funnier, happier, etc, etc, it was very much a "the grass is always greener on the other side" type of situation. The show definitely did show a lot more darker, more flawed sides of Jeremiah pretty early, but I still think they also worked really hard making him look perfect like in the books (up until book 3). I also think that's partly intentional, part of the point is that Belly had very idealized and romanticized ideas of both boys and what dating them and being around them all the time would be like and her bubble needed to be burst by reality.

anyway, all of that is to say that I still firmly believe the cheating thing is going to happen in the show. So prepare yourself while you have time. There's just nothing else that could compare to that to create not just the sham engagement but the angst, the jealousy, the anger and everything and then the way Conrad finds out about the cheating and immediately runs to Belly, all pissed off at Jere...I don't think anything else could get us there.

also as a side note: Jere and Steven did have good chemistry, but also I LOVE THEIR FRIENDSHIP TOO MUCH TO GO THERE. The friendship between Steven, Jere, and Conrad is so important and special and I feel like in the books they're presented as being like brothers. I don't think I could handle another lifelong friendship being ruined tbh (cause Belly and Jeremiah also had a great friendship and I loved it in the books but the show kinda fastforwarded over it). And I don't think it's something that could ever be explored because it gets too close the whole premise/storyline of Belly dating the Fisher brothers. But there's no harm in shipping! I personally thought Jeremiah and Taylor had really great chemistry as well (Taylor and Steven were also good together and I do love them) and I wanted to see more moments with Jere and Taylor. I am also still salty that the show basically erased Jere and Taylor's whole brief dating thing and some of the best flashbacks from the first book. But they're clearly going in the Steven/Taylor direction for now so I'm not getting my hopes up.

[hiyyihrts]

Just as many of us are thrilled to see rep in s3, many, many women were thrilled at the idea of representation for themselves in s2. It isn’t unreasonable for them to notice the discrepancy in how one actress was treated in comparison to the s1 and s3 white female leads, and it takes nothing away from your love of Nicola / Polin to allow them to express their feelings about that without trying to gaslight them.

It wasn’t the pandemic that made Netflix not do a couple’s poster, or one for Simone alone, or deny requests for joint Johnny and Simone interviews. It wasn’t the pandemic that had Netflix do that and give the EW article to other characters, rather than Simone, Simone and Johnny, or heck, Simone, Johnny, and Charithra. No, y’all essentially got a Polin shoot for s2. Which, yay for you, but think how you’d feel if this season it was all Benedict or Francesca promo instead of Penelope. Wouldn’t you think Netflix was wrong? That it was fatphobic? I would. I therefore think what they did for s2 reeks of racism.

It wasn’t the pandemic that had the writers compare the Sharma sisters to horses, literally, horses in a horse race in s2, and pit them against each other for a white man.

I could go on, people post receipts of this all the time, and you don’t need to take it as personally as many have, but don’t gaslight fans who saw it. Don’t encourage white fans to dismiss the people who are deeply hurt by it. No one is saying not to celebrate what y’all are getting, but there is a discrepancy and pointing it out and demanding better is a good thing that in no way detracts from the fact that Nicola / Polin / s3 is getting everything and more than y’all could ever ask. It’s gross to tell woc to shut the fuck up and be grateful when they got so much less than what the selling point of the show (diversity) promised.

I normally don’t get involved in this kind of stuff but your post was in the Kanthony tag, so I felt it merited a response, knowing how much it would hurt people. People who have already been deeply hurt by Bridgerton and the fandom. This isn’t some kind of shipping war, it’s so much more important, and I’m dismayed at how callous the fandom is being about all this.

I haven’t and will never say that people can’t be upset by the blatant differences in how the seasons have been promoted. Nor have I said anyone shouldn’t talk about it or to be quiet about it. I see now that it was wrong to say the pandemic influenced what went on, bc people have sent me things since indicating that there very much is a lot of racial differences and unfair treatment for both of the leads the last season. It’s true Simone and Johnny both were paid dust, and to have the sister’s stories altered and changed is not something I agree with. I’m not trying to encourage anyone to do anything. The only thing I don’t agree with and I’ve said before is making it seem like any of these actors chose things that production did. I wish Simone and Johnny were featured more in this season and got more than what they did in the last! It’s Netflix and Shonda that are the ones pushing these things and deciding what does or doesn’t happen. Blaming the actors for it doesn’t do anything because they don’t have a say in what is or isn’t done, that’s all Netflix and Shonda. I don’t understand throwing vitriol over couples and actors who don’t decide things. I don’t agree with anyone doing that. And I’ll make it clear now that I don’t agree with Netflix or Shonda or condone anything they’ve done that has hindered Johnny and Simone in any way, shape, or form, or has caused fans to come after them for starring in a show and playing characters that people connect with and love dearly. I wish there would’ve been better representation than what we were given, and I hope the future seasons have even better representation and they take the criticism over racist descriptions and lack of promotion to their heads and it actually clicks that what they did wasn’t fair or right.

[inkedkoi]

Bingo Card: Part Four

Continuation of "Hold On To “What If”: Overanalyzing and Rewriting Sonic Prime" essay

[Once Again, spoilers for Sonic Prime, all media here belong to their respective creators.]

✨//🌻//✨

Sonic Listens

[PARALLEL TIME!!] Back in S1 EP1, Sonic didn’t listen to Tails about Eggman’s trick, and it was complete foreshadowing of what happened in the S2 finale and what is about to come.

Sonic: “How about a little break from the big brain stuff?”

Sonic trying to stop Nine’s plan to start fresh in the Grim.

Tails: “I can’t. Something's not right. I gotta figure out what Eggman is up to.”

Nine doesn’t want to or he can’t or it’s too late.

Sonic: “I’m sorry Tails. I didn’t mean to upset you. In fact, I’ve never seen you so upset.”

Sonic regretted hurting Nine’s feelings, it wasn’t his intention, and was surprised how Nine reacted to the truth of rebuilding Green Hill, finally seeing that Nine isn’t Tails.

Sonic: “I just kinda got in the moment and…”

Sonic was so focused on saving his friends that he didn’t think what would happen if all the Shards were put together. For all they knew, all the other Shatterspaces could be destroyed completely. Too focused on fixing the past and didn’t think about what could happen in the future.

Tails: "Sonic, it's cool. Really. But thanks, I appreciate it."

Now the uncertain part, it would be up to Nine whether or not he believes in Sonic’s sincerity and, if he can forgive just as Tails does.

Tails defends Sonic for being late to the Fight before the Shattering because Sonic’s Sonic.

Sonic defends Nine (from Shadow, Renegade Rouge) because he believes that Nine is Tails.

Tails telling Sonic to stop from breaking the Prism.

Either 1) Sonic stopping Nine from using the Shards, or 2) Sonic would have to make the ultimate sacrifice while knowing the consequences.

Label “X”: As I expected, Sonic attempts to stop Nine from using the Shards and makes the ultimate sacrifice. However, I do have my issues with Nine, a child dealing with unresolved trauma, being left alone in the Grim, and the group is okay with that. Look, I know this is what Nine wants and Sonic is trying to make up for it, but this is still a child! I wish there was a sort of build-up of Nine being conflicted about Sonic and the group being sympathetic or at least learning about Nine's intentions in building a new world he could call "home". I'll talk about it more in my rewrite.

Nine's Conflicted Feelings

(Refer back to Sonic's Old Friends vs. Nine's "Look-Alikes" Argument in the Connections section of this essay, if needed)

Just as it states, I want to see Nine being conflicted about Sonic. Sure, he was upset that the fact that Sonic never saw him as Nine, that Sonic didn't even consider what would happen once they rebuilt the Prism. He's justified for that. But again, he still cares. Sonic was the first friend he made in a while. Self-preservation was no longer an absolute priority. He wanted Sonic to be part of "home" in the Grim. He cared. So, I can only imagine that somewhere deep inside Nine, he is conflicted about his choice to trust Sonic or not. Again, Nine values ACTIONS over WORDS, it will be up to Sonic to prove he cares for Nine back.

Label “—”: I was techniically right. Nine has definetley shown signs of internal conflict, though not explicit. The most we got out of it was at the end of EP3, after Sonic gives himself up to protect the others. In context of protecting the group, Sonic tells Nine that he would've done the same for him if that were to ever happen. Nine claims that Sonic was lying again, only wanted to protect the "Tails" Sonic imagines him as. Notice how his robotic tails are on guard, again Nine trying to protect himself emotionally. Sonic meanwhile doesn't blame him but does tell him that he wasn't lying.

Transcript:

Sonic: "Think whatever you want. But it's true. Even after everything you've done, everything we've been through, together, against each other, you're still my friend, Nine."

[S3 EP3]

Notice how his tails settled down, showing his vulnerability. Through Sonic's words, it made a crack in Nine's defenses. For the first time, Sonic expressed to him as Nine, not as Tails. But it wasn't the words that made him conflicted. Sonic could've attacked him, just as many have done to Nine, but instead Sonic got down to his level and, in his own way, Sonic apologized. Could it just be that Sonic's giving himself willingly? Sure, but he also acted like an older brother talking to his younger sibling, not as a threat. I can't exactly label it as an "X" because they kind of brushed passed it, have Nine going insane for the Prism, and not have another moment of hesitation like this.

SA2 Final Battle Parallels

(You can skip ahead to "Prism Form 3" and "Chaos Emeralds" for reference.)

If we ever do get Prismatic Sonic (final form) and Shadow somehow having all the Chaos Emeralds, it would've been so cool if we get a parallel scene and reference to Final Hazard from Sonic Adventure 2. Just them working together to save the world (well, in this case, the universe) is peak.

Label “N/A”: We're just not allowed to have fun, huh.

Prism Sonic Form 3

Transcript:

Sonic: “’Cause unless I can be more, y’know, me, we lose.”

[S2 EP8]

We had Sonic in two forms: the 1st phase powered by 3 shards, 2nd phase with 4 shards.

Remember when I said that he has “pieces” of every shard, we sort of saw that in Prism Form 1, when he was able to make still copies of himself. It could be more than a bit, it could actually be interacting with every “piece”, it’s more of him. It would explain his speed boost because his “look-alikes” would have the same ability and act simultaneously as Sonic does.

A 3rd is teased to happen in S3 with all 5 shards, likely in the final fight against 9. In the Prime Trailer (12/16), we have a few seconds of Sonic running around the rock where Nine stands, using hexagonal platforms (which I assume is the Grim Shard’s power), so this could be simply Sonic confronting Nine face-to-face.

Or it also be Sonic trying to get to the Shards to activate Form 3. Either way, for just including this line, there might be some consequences for having Form 3:

Transcript:

Nine: “It’s dangerous. Too little energy, I’ll lose. Too much…” Sonic: “And I pop like a firework. I get it, but this is it. It’s the only option.”

[S2 EP8]

This got my attention the most. This isn’t new in the Sonic franchise: Sonic gaining a completely new ability through a change in his physical form but there would be setbacks anytime he goes all out. The most recent example was in Frontiers with him and the corruption. I imagine it being that he NEEDS the power of all five Shards at the final battle or to restore the Shatterverse, of course, the likely price of using all five is Sonic ending up incredibly weak or dead. A bonus if while in prismatic form, he’s able to use the power-up abilities he had in the other worlds (walking on water from No Place, wolverine claws from Boscage). I would literally lose my mind to see his final form.

Label “N/A”: FUCK [flips table] WE COULD’VE HAD IT ALL!

Shadow Appears in the Finale

In the Sneak Peak (Sep. 27) and Trailer (Dec. 16), I went frame by frame and I found it interesting that Shadow wasn’t much in the trailer, The only times he appeared were in the “Escape from Ghost Hill” scene, “the Void” scene, “fight against Chaos Sonic 2.0” scene, “saving Sonic” scene, and this scene. He isn’t in the other worlds or the charge for the final fight. It’s possible that they didn’t include a lot of his scenes, but if it was a fact that those were the only scenes we see him in, then we have to ask why.

Then, how come he is allowed into the Grim but not the other worlds?

A plot-based answer would be that since Nine has the yellow Shard, Shadow will be able to get through. The logic being: why on Earth was Shadow allowed into Ghost Hill? The show has yet to give us one, so the only thing I could come up with was because of the Shard.

A writing-based answer, the most likely to be correct, was that the writers didn't know how to include Shadow in Sonic's trips across the Shatterverse. If that’s true, we won’t get a Sonic-Shadow buddy cop duo traveling between worlds and Shadow would only appear again at the finale.

Label “•”: [sigh] Well, I wasn't totally wrong. Shadow did get through the Grim but it wasn't because of the Ghost Hill but through the cracks of the Grim gateway. I suppose that makes sense, Shadow isn't affected by the Shard because of Chaos Control. (They still didn't explain why he was only allowed into Ghost Hill though...) He did come back in EP5 when Sonic found Shadow in the trench. I find it lucky that we get to see him for the rest of S3. Not a lot, but still.

Chaos Emeralds

In S2 EP 1, Shadow said that he dropped the Green Emerald into the dark abyss, but no one said that it was completely lost. He also said that it sucks all of life. As a non-living object, the emerald will be fine (unless it also means draining the magic out of it). Regardless, it’ll be risky to get it back.

As for the other Emeralds, that’s complicated, because in the Trailer (Dec. 16), Ghost Hill collapses likely in the first EP so Sonic and Shadow won’t be able to use the Chaos Emeralds of Green Hill. HOWEVER, Shadow did say that each Shatterspace is a “distorted version of our reality” (S2 EP 1), so it’s possible for there to be Chaos Emeralds in the other worlds. Not likely but still a possibility.

Transcript:

Shadow: "Every Shatterspace contains a shard, creates a distorted version of our reality."

[S2 EP1]

The only reason Sonic has a Prism form is because he has Shard Energy in him. Shadow doesn’t, that’s why if there was that possibility, I see Shadow being able to use the Emeralds, to turn into Super Shadow for the final fight (pull off a SA2).

If that’s not a possibility, the moment when Shadow has to save Sonic, (not likely but IF) the portal only lets Sonic through, Shadow will have to retrieve the Green Emerald from the Darkness to Chaos Control.

Label “—”: Yeah, uh, so apparently the writers must've took some notes from the games because Shadow pulled out the Emerald out of his ass or something. (This is a joke, please don't kill me...)

"Ultimate Sacrifice"

Sonic has a “piece” of every Shard = he has a physical form in every Shatterspace, therefore there is no Sonic “look-alike”. They are all in him.

[CONFIRMED] Nine needs Sonic for the Shards’ full potential.

[THEORY] From the trailer, it seems that every Shatterspace would collapse with Grim being the last one. Each Shard is the heart of each Shatterspace, so to have them back, Sonic will have to give his “pieces” willingly, which gives us two things to think about: 1) He wouldn’t be able to visit the other Shatterspaces anymore since it was the one thing that allowed him through. 2) His current physical form would slowly be destroyed, not until he gets back to his Shatterspace, Green Hill.

Label: “X”: Yes, Sonic did have to make the “ultimate sacrifice” to save the Shatterverse and was close to fading away out of existence. Definitely not confirmed about the “piece” theory, lol.

To be continued...

Previous Part || Next Part || Masterpost

[blindmagdalena]

First timer yet again! I have so many thoughts and half of them aren’t even coherent bc I haven’t quite??? Grasped what’s a choice vs what might just be a weird coincidence but it’s slowly driving me mad, happy to report! One thing that’s a choice tho for sure is homelander takes his gloves off MORE during s2 than we ever saw in s1. I’ll have to go back and rewatch it ad nauseam when I’m done, develop more concrete ideas about why and when he does it (do you have any thoughts?) But one of them is definitely when he’s just??? Trying to connect with Ryan and him opening up becoming a physical act we can witness does something to my brain!!! Especially because it seems to crop up any time he wants honesty (the Elena scene on 99th with Maeve springs to mind) not necessarily JUST intimacy under any circumstances. And that is sooooo good, it makes me nuts. Makes me abnormal. So far I’ve only seen him trapped in a suit or naked, those are his two options so seeing him willingly trying to shed what was his second skin during s1 in a small way (even if it only shows he’s more and more comfortable with actually associating his bare hands with the violence) I don’t think it’s exclusively an evil thing.

ohhhhh my friend, you are in the CORRECT fandom!

i'm going to have to point you towards @xieyaohuan, who runs hands down the most impressive homelander meta blog out there. specifically, this analysis on when homelander takes off his gloves!

i really don't think i can offer better than that. it's a STELLAR analysis. very in depth, and i think it shows that you're right on the money to have taken note of it. it definitely feels very intentional!

fair warning the analysis goes into s3 as well, so you maaayyy want to hold off until you catch up fully. i would hate for you to get spoiled!

it makes me so happy to hear you're having fun, and that all of homelander's little isms are imbedding themselves in your brain already. with the show currently on seasonal break, we're all chewing through the foundation rewatching and analyzing back on what content we do have, so you're in excellent company in that regard.

[homemade-ghosts]

I know this is a kind of weird question, but why do you think you never got into EJ and Gina?

I saw a comment saying was season 3 was backtracking, "how their relationship was so genuine and supportive in the first two seasons then suddenly all the development was gone in s3 with EJ back to being inconciderate and Gina is back to having feelings for Ricky'

Not a weird question at all! 

I’ll start with things I think I’ve mentioned in previous PW-related asks (just to get the repetition out of the way lol). They share no common ground beyond both initially being seen as the scheming antagonists when the series began. They don’t understand each other — nor does EJ ever make a concerted effort to understand Gina, beyond asking her (literally one time) what it feels like to be constantly moving. They don’t communicate well; EJ put no effort into maintaining their relationship. + EJ essentially refuses to support Gina the second it becomes inconvenient for him (sure, he’ll pick her flowers to congratulate her on landing the lead, but then he’ll negate that by immediately talking about himself and his failings without giving Gina a moment to celebrate her own success). 

& on top of EJ & Gina being, on paper, not compatible — regardless of who they are being played by — there’s also the fact that I have never once felt an ounce of romantic chemistry watching Sofia & Matt on screen together. Chemistry is, in part, something that just is. You either have it with your scene partner(s) or you don’t. They don’t. (IMO) That’s problem #1. & even actors who establish that natural onscreen chemistry can’t coast on that alone, to really get the audience (in this case, me lol) invested, they both have to have the emotional range to back it up. 

Which brings me to problem #2: I don’t think Matt has the kind of depth, as an actor, that it takes to be a good scene partner to someone as incredible an actor as Sofia. I don’t want it to sound like I’m just trying to dunk on Matt, he seems like a nice guy and I by no means think he’s a bad actor (I don’t think anyone on the show is a bad actor) but, in my opinion, he doesn’t bring much, if any, nuance to his performance. It’s always very…shallow — meaning that Sofia, too often, has to carry (most? all?) the emotional weight in their scenes together. Josh, in contrast, is a much stronger actor who can hold his own in a scene with Sofia because he’s capable of giving a layered performance. Like Sofia, there’s so much going on behind his eyes, so much in the slight change of a facial expression. She doesn’t have to do all the heavy lifting in their scenes together, it’s more of an equal partnership.

I should probably also mention that I have never exactly loved EJ as a character, for reasons completely unrelated to Matt’s portrayal of him. Even when s1 was airing and he was in everyone’s “Big Three” edits on Twitter, I didn’t really get the appeal. I thought he was funny sometimes and a necessary part of the show’s narrative, but I had a hard time rooting for him because his problems were often so trivial compared to other characters’. Like, Ricky’s parents were in the midst of a divorce and his mom was miles away, seemingly starting a new life with a new relationship, without him. Gina had finally found a home and friends and somewhere to belong, only to have all of that ripped away from her, out of nowhere, the instant her mom gets a call from work. Meanwhile, EJ…lied and lost Instagram followers because of it ?? & I’m expected to sympathize with him? Then, in s2, Gina is heartbroken, without her mom to comfort her, Ricky is forced to move out of his childhood home & Nini is finally embracing her independence and learning not to see herself through the eyes of others and EJ just…doesn’t get into one Ivy League school until his dad effectively buys his way in and again, I’m supposed to feel for him because he's sad he couldn't earn that spot on his own? The only thing I feel is that he’s incredibly privileged. & when he was desperate to please his dad in s3, I tried to care (because it's the closest he's ever come to genuine struggle on the series) but I couldn’t because he was doing it at the expense of Gina & her feelings — something he never took responsibility or apologized for, by the way. Ricky makes a mistake, learns from it and does his best to make up for it. EJ makes a mistake and…well, that’s it. He keeps making it, but it’s supposed to be okay because he’s a good guy who’s always trying to do the right thing, even if he doesn’t succeed. & I’m tired of it, honestly.

TLDR: In order for me to root for a couple, they need to have chemistry, the actors need to have comparable acting abilities & I need to sympathize with both characters, to like both of them &/or to find them both interesting (I specified the “&/or” for that last part because I do have a couple ships where I don’t necessarily like one of the characters, but I do feel for them at times & find them interesting/compelling). PW has none of that.

As for the second part of your ask, the old “EJ & Gina’s relationship was great in s2, but the writers ruined everything in s3 by having EJ go back to being selfish and Gina go back to being in love with Ricky.” Ugh. Here’s the issue with that: neither of these factors ever changed. EJ has always been an inconsiderate & insecure boyfriend and Gina has been in love with Ricky this whole time. Neither of them went “back” to being anything, they just never left. EJ had all the same negative qualities in his relationship with Gina that he displayed in his relationship with Nini in s1 — jealous, insecure & secretive, with an inability to own up to his own actions & a tendency to blame Ricky for something that was entirely his own doing. That isn’t a sign of character regression. You can't regress if you never learned, never changed, in the first place. PWs only convinced themselves that EJ had changed because he was single for nearly all of s2 and that allowed them to completely forget what he was like in a relationship. Out of sight, out of mind.

 & I don’t know where PWs get the idea that Gina was completely over Ricky once her & EJ got together. She only accepted EJ’s offer of a date after making it clear (at the sleepover) that she thought Ricky was no longer an option, not that she didn’t still harbor feelings for him. There was no closure between them, they never talked about Opening Night and, in order for EJ & Gina to get together, she had to literally not be on speaking terms with Ricky.

Also, about the whole “EJ was so supportive in s2” thing: I’m guessing their idea of “support” is 1. EJ asking how she was one time — even though he didn’t ask because he noticed she was emotional and wanted to check in, he asked as in, “how do you feel about everything you’ve pulled off tonight?” because she had helped plan the entire party and performed that musical number for Carlos in front of everyone. Gina, feeling alone & dejected, took it for more than it was. & 2. EJ bringing Gina that ass granola bar from his back pocket at the airport. Both of these aren’t so much expressions of support as they are the absolute bare minimum, which required little effort on EJ’s part. Like, wow, in the entire time they’ve know each other, he’s asked her about herself twice and picked her up from the airport once — boyfriend goals, am I right?

[thepeakygirl]

I love your love for Lizzie, personally she's not my favourite but people love to bash female characters espcially ones who have relationships with men. Also the writers seem to do it too it's the one thing I hate about peaky blinders their treatment of the women characters they could be doing so much better.

I also so how you loved how tall Lizzie is and I love that. I'm the same height as lizzie and I hate to see her dragged for it. Like she can control her height? People just hate to see women taller than men don't they.

Thank you my lovely 🥰I’ve loved Lizzie since s1, ever since we saw that scene with her and Tommy (sorry John) ☺️ I couldn’t agree more with you, the peaky blinders women are overly hated. I understand people having dislike for characters it’s normal but with the women they seem to dislike them for silly reasons. The writers do not help, they give the women these big stories and personalities and seem to dim them down as the show goes on. Out of all the women I think there’s only really Ada who started off weak and became this incredibly strong character.

Both Lizzie and Grace ended up suffering from housewife syndrome. Both were strong and had good solid stories but then just became housewives. Although she’s not my favourite, Grace died too soon. They did a real poor job in s3 with Grace and I think more could have been done with her. Lizzie fell off for a little bit for me in s5, I still loved her but it wasn’t my favourite series of hers. In s6 she was flawless, the acting was flawless. A lot of haters complain about her crying all the time and being upset in s6 but her fear, her grief was perfectly executed for me. May was completely discarded bless her. The writers create these characters and then don’t really know what to do with them 😬

Lizzie’s height is everything! What a goddess 😍 I love that she’s the perfect height to kick anyone in the face. Haters do like to drag her for her height but that just shows how cruel and sad some people can be because tall women are beautiful, you’re beautiful ❤️ I’m a short woman and while I have no issues with it I would enjoy a few more inches 😋

I always say dislike whatever character you want but coming after someone’s appearance is gross because when you do it’s no longer the character you’re insulting but an actual person and let’s be honest people who do this look silly because the peaky women are all perfection appearance wise.

[lupon]

I don’t think Mike knows he likes Will.

First reason being that it’s just too subtle. The general audience wouldn’t be able to see it, in fact, I don’t see it myself. It has to be something you can see if you’ve only watch the show once or twice, or else the message won’t land right with people. There really wasn’t a big moment when he realized, not one that was clear to the audience. I’ve seen a lot of people say Mike realized at the end of s3, but I don’t think he did. Because of course he’s upset, he feels like he’s losing both of the most important people in his life. That moment wasn’t portrayed as a realization, but rather disbelief and grief. He hugged his mom, a parallel to the time he thought Will was dead, and the time he thought El was dead. He was losing them again. He wanted to “turn back the clock” and “make things go back to the way they were” because he missed them and wished things could just stay the same. It wasn’t about him having a moment of self-realization, it was to show how much El and Will leaving was hurting Mike, more so than the other party members. It was meant to build up the love triangle, not give a solution to it. 

Second reason being that the moment Mike realizes he’s in love with Will has to be the moment the audience realizes, or else it won’t have as big of an impact on the people watching. The audience needs to feel the shock with Mike in order to sympathize with him and understand how he’s feeling. Having a reveal in s5 of Mike knowing he’s liked Will the whole time will just confuse the general audience because, as we know, the majority of them still don’t think he’s gay. Because (tying into the first point) there hasn’t been a moment showing where Mike understands he’s in love with Will. Having it so that both Mike and the audience can finally see the truth at the same time will lead people into being more open to the possibility that he’s been queer the entire time. That the reason they didn’t see it before was because Mike himself didn’t know. Yet when you rewatch, all the signs are there. Mike being shown to care more for Will than the other party members, Mike opening up to Will when he’s typically closed off, “it was the best thing I’ve ever done”, falling into forced conformity when he was with El, the association between the lines “never going to get girlfriends” and “play games for the rest of our lives”, El saying he wasn’t in love with her, and just the general way he looked and acted around Will in s4. The groundwork is there, all he and the audience need to do is piece it together. 

There’s been a lot of hints that he does have feelings for him, sure, but they’re just too subtle for people to believe Mike was currently going through a sexuality crisis in the 80′s. Because that’s a huge moment in a teenager’s life, especially during the AIDs crisis, and it deserves the proper attention. We saw one of Will’s struggles in s3 was him denying how he felt and trying to avoid and repress a lot of his feelings by playing D&D, his feelings towards Mike being a part of it. But there’s a big difference between Mike and Will’s story, that being that most people have assumed Will was gay since s1. We didn’t need to see Will’s realization because we’ve had it literally yelled in our faces. Mike on the other hand has a girlfriend, and the seeds they’ve planted about him being queer aren’t as in-your-face like Will’s. You aren’t supposed to know he’s gay yet, you’re supposed to rewatch and be amazed at how much you missed. Mike’s story is supposed to feel like someone has been yelling it in your face the whole time, but you just didn’t realize it. Which is exactly how Mike is going to feel when he realizes. He’s going to see just how much he’s loved Will the whole time and didn’t even know it. The audience is going to share that moment of shock, confusion, uncertainty, and fear with him. That’s what sets Mike’s queer journey apart from Will’s.

Third reason being that there’s been nothing hinting that he’s aware of his feelings. With Will, we saw him do a project on Alan Turing, a famous computer scientist who was openly gay. He also has a Boys Don’t Cry poster in his room, which is a song about how men aren’t allowed to be themselves in society and are forced to keep quiet about how they feel. Same as him saying it’s scary to open up because what if people don’t like the truth. These are all signs of Will being self-aware of his own feelings, which Mike hasn’t had a moment like that specifically about his feelings towards Will. The argument that him refusing to hug Will and saying “we’re friends” are romantic tropes, but they aren’t signs of him understanding himself, in fact it’s actually quite the opposite. Every other time the “we’re just friends” quote was used was when characters were still in denial about their feelings (Jancy and Jopper being prime examples), which is the stage Mike is in. Mike is getting defensive because he’s convincing himself that what he’s saying is true. 

I’d also argue the reason he didn’t hug Will was because he felt like Will didn’t care about him since he had never reached out. We know from Dustin that Mike called fairly regularly, and we also know from their argument that Will never reached out to Mike. He likely felt like Will was “pushing him away”, as Will himself said he was doing. He felt like Will had been the one not talking to him for months, so it does make sense that he felt awkward hugging him. He thought he cared a lot more about Will than Will cared about him. His refusal to hug Will wasn’t because he knows he’s gay, but rather because this was the first time in their friendship that he felt like Will didn’t care about him. He thought he was acting in a way that would match Will, he didn’t want to feel the disappointment when Will inevitably didn’t reciprocate, which is exactly what happened to Will. Mike was trying to prevent himself from feeling how Will ended up feeling, and didn’t even realize that Will felt the same way. Big time miscommunication trope. 

There’s also a number of hints of him still being in denial. 

“I never really unpacked”

“Okay keep going straight... straight... straight...” “See? Right on the money, as I said” “It just doesn’t make sense”

“Fruit of pizza? That’s blasphemous!” “Try it!” “No! Stop, I’m not a dog! Ah!” “Actually... It’s good” 

And one other thing I’ve seen people say that just hasn’t sat quite right with me is the argument that Mike probably knows how he feels because of the way he looks at Will. You know, the whole lip glancing and checking him out thing. Granted, not a lot of people say this, and they could just be joking around, but I kinda want to address it. Because I am gay, and I had dreams about kissing people of the same gender years before I even considered the possibility that I was queer. I wasn’t exposed to lgbt+ topics much when I was younger, so it just never occurred to me that I could be attracted to the same sex. It’s laughable now looking back, but it’s incredible how much people can deny their feelings when they don’t know anything about what those feelings could mean. My whole life I was told things like “boys are mean to you because they liked you” and “aww you two are going to get married one day!” and “find a boyfriend that treats you right” The possibility of getting a girlfriend was just never an option. Never even crossed my mind once. I don’t want to self-project too much, but it seems pretty realistic that Mike could be struggling with the same mentality, especially considering the time period. 

Anyway, I’d like to hear people’s thoughts! You can believe whatever you want, if you think he does know how he feels, that’s great! Don’t let me stop you. Personally, I just don’t think that’s going to be how this all pans out. 

[purgatorical]

Obey Me Character Info: Miyuno

I’ve done one of these in the past but I saw one I’ve never seen before so Im doing a refresher for Night Bringer

This is from the template that EveningStar1516 made with the template HERE

Again I’m gonna make one for Miyuno, Kie, and Taxike with Miyuno starting under the cut uwu

PERSONAL INFO 

Name: Miyuno

Nickname: Miyu (thanks ace :D )

 Age: 26

 Height: 6′5

Weight: Heavy set with a tummy and muscles

Race: Human/ Half Jamaican Half Japanese

Religion: Agnostic

Gender: Transmasc

Pronouns: They/He

Birthday: 5/13

 Star Sign: Taurus

Hair: Medium-Curly black hair pushed back by a headband with ram horns attached, a curl sticking out by each ear

Eye Colour: Light blue, white, and pink eyes 

Skin Tone: Warm-toned dark skin

 DEMONS 

Demons Pacted with: All of the brothers

Sin Order: Assuming this means favorite order for the brothers: Miyuno likes all of them so much so he won’t pick favorites. If it means what order they got all of their pacts, they got them in canon order.

Nicknames for the Boys 

Miyuno calls everyone by their first name for the most part or uses common nicknames that others have said so this might be a little boring.

Lucifer: Luci

Mammon: Mams

Leviathan:  Levi

Satan: Satan, Satnyan

Asmodeus: Asmo

Beelzebub: Beel

Belphegor: Belphie

Diavolo: Dia

Barbatos: Barbatos. No nicknames.

Simeon: Sim

Luke: Luke :)

Solomon: Solomon 

PERSONALITY 

Personality Traits: Kind, Gentle, Caring, Easily Persuaded, not gullible per se but believes in the best in others. 

Background: An office worker who is thankful for the chance to get out of his job (and to never go back :) ) 

Why were they chosen for the program: Miyuno doesn’t quite know. They were just some person at some desk in some building when they were dropped into the devildom

Hobbies: Miyuno likes working out and doing yoga, reading fantasy novels, trying out new foods, and watching shows. They like creating cosplays but haven’t cosplayed much themselves

Likes: History, beaches, swimming, stuffed animals, teasing, fun pranks, and tea

Dislikes: Salty food, language classes, mean spirited pranks

APPEARANCE 

Casual Clothes 

S1: A large jacket with puffy wool around the collar and baggy sweatpants with a ram horn headband

S2: they’re a creature of habit and it takes them a long time to change clothes. They transitioned out of the headband around this time.

S3: A dark maroon Turtleneck with a green tweed sweater-vest on top

Uniform 

They wear their uniform perfectly, a bit of a stickler for the rules.

RELATIONSHIPS

Family

 Mother and Father: Although their parents were never hostile, things got very tense when they came out as trans. Ever since transitioning they have only spoken with their parents out of politeness during the holidays. They wonder if their parents even noticed they were gone.

Siblings: none

Pets: Miyuno was planning on getting a cat before getting taken to the devildom.

Friends: Outside of the Devildom Miyuno had a few friends in their office and a few friends in the local cosplay community. They would often make accessories for their cosplays

Past Lover: Miyuno has dated many people of all genders as they’ve grown up, but never really had a long term relationship. The longest they had was 18 months, but that was back in high school.

Been in Love: Miyuno felt like they were in love back in high school, they were dating their best friend and life was good. But when they graduated the went in opposite directions and Miyuno wonders if they just liked the idea of being in love

Have Crushes: Miyuno gets crushes easily, all it takes is spending time with Miyuno and matching up with their energy. They usually assume it to be a *friend crush* like wanting someone to be their friend. With the brothers it was different, he genuinely fell in love with each of them.

Believe in Love: Miyuno believes in love. Believes in caring for another and trusting and thinking about others. They believe you can love as many people as your heart can hold and each love can be different forms or different types. Variety of love and relationships is what Miyuno adores most about their partners. They love them each on their own way.

Type: Miyuno’s type varies based on the person. What he hates in one person he might adore in another. It’s more about the experience and friendship they have with people that makes them their type.

 Sexuality: Bisexual/Biromantic

Brother They Like the Most: Miyuno likes all of the brothers in their own way and cannot choose who they like more

Why: Miyuno has had such different experiences with the brothers that it wouldn’t be fair to try and rank them. They love them so so much that to even think of ranking them stresses Miyuno out to no end.

 Traits Looked for in Partner: someone to laugh with, someone to cry with, someone to help and someone to be helped. Someone to hold hands and hug and smile. Someone who gives love even if it’s in their own way.

Past Crush: Miyuno’s best friend from high school still comes up sometimes in phone calls and messages, to see how they’re doing. And Miyuno reminisces on their years of friendship and their attempt at romance. Perhaps to young to really try hard enough for each other.

GENERAL 

Favourite Food: Anything spicy, Parfaits, and unfortunately the Lunatic pudding :(. Solomon smuggled some back to the human world when they were first sent home.

Least Favourite: Salty foods, anchovies, tangerines, poison princess apples

Favourite School Topic: Potions, Devildom history

Least Favourite: Language Arts

Introvert/Extrovert/Ambivert: Ambivert

Favourite Movie Genre: Fantasy

Least Favourite: gritty action movies

Reads a Lot: Fantasy, loves the Lord of the Rings series

Favourite Animal: Guess :) (it’s sheep)

Least Favourite: Honestly loves most animals, but the least liked but still liked would be crawfish, too many legs makes them uncomfortable.

Favourite Music Genre: Classical but like Beethovens 7th and Flight of the Bumblebees, fast pace songs

 Least Favourite: I hate my wife and fuck my truck Country music

Do they Like Sweets: They don’t hate them but don’t have an overly sweet tooth. Prefer fruit parfaits and flan/cinnamon puddings over chocolate

 Do they Like Spicy Food: they LOVE spicy food. The hotter the better, they can’t feel the spice and it’s all just extra flavor for them

Do they Like School: They have had bad experiences at school but being in the devildom has renewed their love for learning. They like THIS school.

Pet Peeves: They don’t like people who are mean just to be mean. Having anger, feeling betrayed, or teasing is okay, but specifically being mean just to make someone feel worse about themselves when they’ve done nothing to you is the worst.

 Additional Headcanons:

Too many to put here honestly. But welcome to Miyuno again :)

[feuqueerfire]

March 2023 BL/GL Wrap-Up

A little monthly (spoilery!) wrap-up of all the shows I’ve watched or am watching in March 2023, general thoughts, and ranking of them all.

Recommendation of the month:

So Long, See You Tomorrow is only available in film festivals I think? So I had to watch it on a bootleg site but it's worth it, especially for people who like this sort of movie where young men are friends and also possibly boyfriends but are separated for reasons and then the story takes place a decade or two later a la His (2020), Your Name Engraved Herein, Life: Love On The Line, etc. This one has a fun parallel universes thing to it though but it's still got the slow, slice-of-life vibe to it rather than any hard sci-fi

Ranking

Moonlight Chicken = Derry Girls S1

Happiness = Derry Girls S2 = Derry Girls S3 = A Shoulder To Cry On = So Long, See You Tomorrow

Island Part 1

Island Part 2

The New Employee - Dropped

Average Rating: 6.4/10

MDL Updates - Added to Watchlist:

A section because I’m curious about how many shows I decide to add to my Watch List a month and also the ratio of watching them:adding them.

Island Part 1

Island Part 2

Koi Desu: Yankee-kun to Hakujou Garu: Certified Noonas recommended it and I thought it was funny that she's a blind so she's like what he's a nice guy when everybody warns her against him

Circle: The Certified Noona Natalia's favourite show and apparently it's a good sci-fi. Also a Yeo Jin-goo show

The Crowned Clown: another Yeo Jin-goo show and I've heard good things

Kingdom (2019): I liked Happiness enough and am curious about a historical zombie drama

A Shoulder to Cry On

So Long, See You Tomorrow (2021): saw a clip last month from this tweet (twitter.com/beansxooo/status/1630016040473178119) and got around to finally adding it to MDL

Our Dating Sim

Tomorrow (2022): The Certified Noona recommendation I think. Grim reapers :>

To Watch List At Start Of Month: 56

To Watch List At End Of Month: 56 (heh, it stayed the same)

Removed from To Watch List:

Self (2022) - unlikely I'll ever watch it

Our Beloved Summer (2022) - I do like exes-to-lovers which is why I originally added it but I think I'd get really frustrated with them breaking up multiple times over 16 eps (as somebody said). I saw a tiktok of them in high school years teasing each other and that was really cute though

Once Again (2022) - unlikely I'll ever watch it

Watching On-Air

Nothing

Completely Watched

Moonlight Chicken

Country: Thailand

Release Dates: Feb 8, 2023 - Mar 2, 2023

Watch Via: GMMTV Youtube (free)

Watch Dates: Mar 1 - 6, 2023

Rating: 7/10

Overall Impression: It's a good one! High quality with good acting and interesting storylines that are unique in BL. It didn't hit me as hard as it seemed to hit some other people though and I'm not thinking about it much at all since finishing. I think Jim/Wen's relationship was one of the weakest aspects of the show to me because I didn't care nor did I really feel anything. I loved Heart and Li Ming, I enjoyed getting to see Jim grow and also how his relationship with Li Ming changed, I liked getting to see Wen and Alan's flashbacks and to present tense relationship, I like Gaipa showing up once in a while to be bright, I thought Gaipa and Leng's interactions were funny, I loved Li Ming as a character so much, I wished to be him so badly.

tags: moonlight chicken

Also Appears In: Moonlight Chicken Live Blogging

Island Part 1

Country: South Korean

Release Dates: Dec 30, 2022 - Jan 13, 2023

Watch Via: Amazon Prime :>

Watch Dates: Mar 14 - 15, 2023

Rating: 6/10

Overall Impression: The main female lead was whatever, wish she was just good at something. Whether it be fighting demons, fighting back via kindness and empathy, or actual power due to her status/wealth/connections. She's not the worst ever because she can still stand up for herself and she has personality but I mourn that they've written her like this. Van is just fucking boring and I don't care. My beloved Johan <3333 I liked his charming, cocky, beautiful character who was so intrigued by everything going on as if he really was 20 and curious about everything but also I liked his apprehension when it came down to it. The storyline with his brother was so T.T Also curious to see the evil brother half-demon Guntan and his sidekick niece Yeom-ji. They're both pretty cool compared to our 2 main characters. I wish the show flowed better in terms of the sequence of scenes and pacing and the main characters were more intriguing.

tags: island

Also Appears In: Island Part 1 Live Blogging

Island Part 2

Country: South Korea

Release Dates: Dec 30, 2022 - Jan 13, 2023

Watch Via: Amazon Prime :>

Watch Dates: Mar 16 - 17, 2023

Rating: 5.5/10

Overall Impression: Literally how was it worse than part 1? Especially when we focused more on Guntan and Yeom-ji than fuckass Miho and Van? Maybe because of less focus on Johan (I wanna know his backstoryyyyyy) and also just incomprehensible writing/plot direction. Yeomji and Johan my beloveds + Guntan being cool were the highlights. Hated the dumbass cliffhanger ending. such a forgettable show.

tags: island (Search s2)

Also Appears In: Island Part 2 Live Blogging

Happiness 

Country: South Korea

Release Dates: Nov 5, 2021 - Dec 11, 2021

Watch Via: Viki (free)

Watch Dates: Mar 18 - 23, 2023

Rating: 6.5/10

Overall Impression: Good but not great. I liked the first quarter and last quarter most because there was more action whereas the middle half was slower and was more people-based. There were different characters who had distinct personalities/circumstances and I like the fucked-in-the-head neighbours trope but most of the side characters were pretty one-dimensional. I wish we got to see some actual proper satisfying murder. The romance was barely there but it was still cute. I liked how comfortable they were with each other and I liked the platonic/non-romantic moments as well.

tags: happiness

Also Appears In: Happiness Live Blogging

Derry Girls S1

Country: UK

Release Dates: Jan 4, 2018 - Feb 8, 2018

Watch Via: :>

Watch Dates: Mar 24, 2023

Rating: 7/10

Overall Impression: This was pretty fun overall since I haven't watched much Irish television nor do I know many Irish people, so it was fun to get to peek into the culture and vibe of the 1990s Ireland through this. Also, the girls are all so different and also terrible in many ways; I do love it when characters are people I'd hate it real life and I don't think I'd be able to stand any of these people (maybe Clare, maybe James), so it's fun to see them go around wreaking havoc.

tags: derry girls

Also Appears In: Derry Girls Live Blogging

Derry Girls S2

Country: UK

Release Dates: Mar 5, 2019 - Arp 9, 2019

Watch Via: :>

Watch Dates: Mar 25, 2023

Rating: 6.5/10

Overall Impression: Still very fun, though there were some that weren't as good/funny in the middle. Liked the little emotional moment with James at the end. Love Orla being a girl who's a boy and James being a boy who's a girl (and this time he agrees to being a Derry Girl rather than them slagging him for being a girl/gay).

tags: derry girls

Also Appears In: Derry Girls Live Blogging

Derry Girls S3

Country: UK

Release Dates: Apr 12, 2023 - May 18, 2023

Watch Via: :>

Watch Dates: Mar 26, 2023

Rating: 6.5/10

Overall Impression: I don't know how to feel about the ending - it was touching but certainly a different tone than the other episodes, but it still had enough of the same vibes. It was good season but I'm not yearning for more.

tags: derry girls

Also Appears In: Derry Girls Live Blogging

The New Employee - DROPPED

Country: South Korea

Release Dates: Dec 21, 2022 - Feb 1, 2023

Watch Via: Viki (free)

Watch Dates: Mar 27 - 28, 2023

Rating: --/10

Overall Impression: It's sad that I've watched worse kBLs but since I had some expectations while going into this, it's more disappointing. I don’t really care for boss/employee romances in general and i think the fact that it’s positioned as wholesome/cute here so far isn’t working for me. if you’re gonna have the boss kiss the intern out of the blue while said intern is drunk, it needs to be framed in more of a rancid way for it to still be fun; dabble more with the weird power dynamics and lean into the bad vibes lol

tags: the new employee

Also Appears In: The New Employee Live Blogging

A Shoulder to Cry On

Country: South Korea

Release Dates: Mar 15, 2023 - Mar 29, 2023

Watch Via: Viki (free)

Watch Dates: Mar 28 - 29, 2023

Rating: 6.5/10

Overall Impression: I really liked the first 5 episodes when there was so much contempt but Taehyun couldn't stop himself from terrorizing or goading Da Yeol and Da Yeol couldn't stop noticing how beautiful Taehyun was, and then the friendship that bloomed in that but still with an edge. I didn't quite get the reason for separation in episode 6 and think the last episode was cutesy but out-of-character sort of. Still, overall a pretty good one; reminds me of a mix of Blueming and Utsukushii Kare. I was giddy so many times while watching this, especially the first half and was clutching my head and curling my toes despite it not being romantic, just full of tension.

tags: a shoulder to cry on

Also Appears In: A Shoulder To Cry On Live Blogging

So Long, See You Tomorrow

Country: South Korea

Release Dates: Nov 4, 2021

Watch Via: :> (it's only shown in film festivals or something)

Watch Dates: Mar 31, 2023

Rating: 6.5/10

Overall Impression: No matter what I think about the story/character/acting in these types of movies like this, along with His (2020), Life: Love On The Line, Your Name Engraved Herein, they make me feel a certain way. Even if I don't cry, some parts make have slightly glassy eyes and my chest constricts with the emotions. These feel human in a specific way and I can't take it always, but these drawn-out, slice-of-life movies where young men are separated and then reunite to be friends/lovers decades later is so good. Also I thought it was funny that I kept waiting for the parallel universes to come into it without realizing when we'd slipped into a different universe lol Also, this whole movie we got to see how Kang Hyun affected Dongjoon but Dongjoon affected Kang Hyun enough for him to write about parallel universes in his novel

Also Appears In: So Long, See You Tomorrow Live Blogging

[tea-earl-grey]

Weapon of Choice "live"blog

yeah sorry it's really long so i'm putting it under a cut.

also obviously spoilers for this episode but also spoilers for the whole Gallifrey series as i mention a few future plot points.

i swear to god i can recite this entire episode from memory. it’s so engrained in me.

Nepenthe’s description of the bondspeople (slaves) is such a good parallel to Leela’s role in Gallifrey. she is tied to this planet forever whether she wants to or not and when she leaves, she will be condemned to death.

also. thinky thoughts on why the Warpsmiths changed to Warpwrights and why the element of their being non-corporeal was almost entirely dropped. i mean. i think the human slavery thing was maybe not the right tone for future Gallifrey releases & i think there were copyright issues with the term “Warpsmiths” but i like to imagine that sometime in the gap between season 6 & Enemy Lines, there was some sort of civil conflict that led to two factions – Warpsmiths vs Warpwrights. maybe the Warpwrights advocated an end to the bondspeople/slavery aspect of their existence and advocated for a permanent corporeal existence (maybe through synthetic bodies or something?) rather than temporarily inhabiting various humans for 80 years at a time. idk. i’m desperate for more worldbuilding around the temporal powers.

forever really want to study Andred’s weird political opinions. he obviously isn’t as xenophobic as other Time Lords (not a high bar to clear btw) and he does genuinely see aliens as people but the weird pretense of xenophobia he’s had to maintain in his disguise as Torvald (if it was ever a pretense) has just warped his view & moral compass so much… he’s fascinating to me.

i'll never love anyone as much as I love the s1-3 theme song.

NARVIN. BRAX. I MISSED THEM SO MUCH.

i genuinely don’t think I’ve listened to any Brax audios since I finished my novel-length character study about him so uh. this will be interesting.

i love Narvin & Brax’s shitty workplace relationship so much. they are such good foils to each other (i’ll expand on this in a future post i’m sure)

ROMANA. MY WIFE. I’VE MISSED HER.

Seán Carlsen is simply so good at playing Narvin. he’s always so earnest when he could have just portrayed Narvin as another sleazy Time Lord. but Narvin cares so much! even if before his character development it's for the wrong things!

Narvin saying that Project Alpha is “hardly relevant” after knowing the events of The Inquiry is SO FUCKING FUNNY. man really lost a version of the device they’re looking for, literally saw it vanish in front of him, and then thought this has absolutely no bearing on the fact that someone now claiming to have this device. i know you were trying to cover your ass here but... c'mon.

WHAT DOES BRAX MEAN WHEN HE SAYS THAT NARVIN & HIM ARE THE LAST SURVIVING TIME LORDS TO KNOW ABOUT PROJECT ALPHA??? like Time Lords live for thousands of years and Narvin & Brax are both implied to be pretty young during Project Alpha and were the most junior members involved. like did the CIA really kill everyone else associated with the project? why spare Brax? why was no one else recruited to the CIA like Narvin? (it is a recurring minor problem i have with the show that the entire span of events from here to the Time War could only cover a couple of hundred years which. is not that long for Time Lords. and yet anyone else who worked in the government or CIA before Romana’s presidency is entirely gone after s3. sure a lot of them probably died in the Civil War but all of them? did they all see the mess that was happening and just nope out? i mean i know in a novel i think it was stated that there was a big overhaul of the government after Trial of a Time Lord due to general corruption (which is how Romana got so high up in politics so quickly) but… i need more answers y’all)

LEELA.

i really wish we got to see her and the Outsiders together more (on Gallifrey Prime at least). like she ostensibly had contact with them since before the series (and i headcanon that she often went to stay with them on trips away from the Capitol) so she never really talks about them. could she feel herself growing more distant from them over time as she became more engrained in the fabric of Gallifreyan politics? as she became more and more of a Time Lord without her even noticing?

still so fucked up that we never actually get to see Andred & Leela happy (in the audios at least, they are in Lungbarrow together!)

lots of feelings about how the Outsiders are so removed from Time Lord society that they can’t tell the difference between a Cardinal & a Guard because presumably they associate any uniformed Time Lord with the Chancellery Guard as that’s the only body of Time Lord society they have contact with

"Many of these arrivals claim they cannot return to their own time. Apparently. Oh you wouldn’t believe the excuses. ‘Oh the Daleks will get us!’" Obviously Narvin at this point is just hideously xenophobic but god the fact that he’s making fun of refugees from the Dalek wars when that will eventually become himself is so wonderfully prophetic. Especially as when this was written, the Dalek version of the Time War didn’t exist yet.

obsessed with how Narvin rolls the r in Gryben in this scene. hello? i don’t remember him every rolling his rs again.

it’s been said a million times but Romana’s hypocrisy in being extremely moderate in her compassion for refugees as a whole but entirely compassionate to Leela (albeit in a patronizing way) is so delicious and is never really something that she makes an effort to fix over the course of the series. like. again she’s less xenophobic than other Time Lords but the amount she cares and is willing to make exceptions is so deeply attached to her personal feelings. (which is perhaps the reason why she’s always making exceptions for herself both out of egotism & self-hatred)

again it’s been said before but Narvin’s character development from here to being the leader of a resistance movement against Gallifrey is so fucking delicious

“If I knew anymore, I would tell you.” says the woman who allegedly has access to all of the information recorded in the universe

my Andred/Leela & Romana thoughts deserve a separate post. stay tuned.

i don’t normally outright headcanon a lot of characters with specific disabilities/neurodivergencies but Leela is autistic and i will die on this hill

i’ll never be over how absolutely horrible all of these characters are at intelligence work despite all of them, at one point or another, working for supposedly the most powerful intelligence organization in the universe

“Lapdog of Rassilon” is such a loaded insult considering the future of this show

Leela’s monologue about how she hates the Time Lords will never not be so good. and her criticisms of them are so well followed through the rest of the show

Leela threatening to kill “Torvald” from Andred’s perspective is so wonderfully fucked up and tragic

“That’s so CIA. All intervention, no intelligence.” has to be one of the funniest lines in the show tbh.

the true eventual role reversal in this show is that in ep 1, Braxiatel is the only character talking sense and being reasonable and by the end of the show he’ll be threatening to destroy most of the universe to save a single planet (i have complicated feelings about Beyond but. i love that he got so much Worse)

“Torvald” insulting Andred to Leela’s face by calling him liberal will never not be funny

“We are all of us willing to die to defend our beliefs.” GOD THIS LINE!!!!! it’s really one of my favorites in the whole series because it’s such wonderful foreshadowing because 1) as we’ve all pointed out numerous times, Romana reallllly can’t stop martyring herself. as in. she tries to kill herself “for the greater good” at least 20 times in this series (literally in half of the episodes she appears in). 2) though her self sacrificing nature remains consistent, over time and especially in the Time War series, she tries to self sacrifice more and more for her friends, not for Gallifrey or for lofty ideals (this can probably best be seen in Unity where Romana’s supposed last words to a Dalek she knows will kill her is “I will never betray those I love”). 3) aside from Romana specifically, it’s also just kind of the main thesis of the show. Wynter dies in an effort to stop Pandora/save Gallifrey. Andred dies because he finally decided his loyalties to genuine compassion for people means more than politics. Braxiatel sacrifices himself to Pandora to save Romana. even villains like Darkel die because she so adamantly won’t budge from her traditionalist/conservative views. as the Doctor would say – "Who I am is where I stand and where I stand is where I fall."

THAT’S THE TROUBLE WITH BEING A MARTYR. WE DON’T BACK DOWN, DO WE?

the mention that one day Braxiatel will own a K9 is one of the things that I was never quite able to fit into atbm

“I only go forward.” ironic statement from a woman who was literally created to bring back an ancient line of dictators

the fact that Arkadian is only in three episodes is such a travesty. he’s the only character aware that of the genre that he’s in and he’s having a blast with that self-awareness

Romana’s last line here being “I’m planning on keeping this job for a very, very long time.” ends up being so sinister knowing what she does to keep her position, how she eventually keeps trying to escape the Presidency & Gallifrey and yet it always draws her back in…

hey

did you know that i really love this series?

[pineapplemcclean]

i barely use tumblr so im not sure how to use it but i hope this reaches the right audience

this is a post on why I think Mileven is unhealthy/toxic that probably no one is going to see 💀

Anyways I apologize in advance if this has any spelling or grammatical mistakes I'm not going to read all of this when I finish it I'll just post it right away

First off Mike doesn’t know/love El as a person. During his monologue he never mentioned a single personality trait. Nothing about El as a person. And not a single favorite memory- like for example his monologue to Will in s2 where he talks about how they met on the swings. In his monologue he says something along the lines of “I’ve loved you ever since I saw you” that, however, is a lie- he wanted to send her back wherever she came from until he found out she knew something about Will. And when he says “I love you” the vines tighten around her neck. I’m not sure exactly why yet but I have a theory I will delve into later on. “You can fly, you can move mountains” here Mike is appreciating El the Superhero again. Not El as a person. Mike talking about El's powers isn’t romantic. its here that I bring up Millie’s interview about her favorite scene. https://youtu.be/wAMjtRvRQIY

“Mike isn’t loving El like she wants him to” and “Does he truly love her or is she still the superwoman in his mind?” Which implies that Mike has only ever shown love towards El the Superhero. We don't really know if he loves El as a person BUT he called her a superhero during his monologue so….. Mike says he’s never been scared of El before- another lie. For example, when El threw Lucas in s1 using her powers, he was scared of her. Which is completely reasonable, but lying about it in his “love confession”… When he says he’s scared El isn't going to need him anymore he doesn't stutter and his voice is steady (unlike with the rest of his monologue) which means he isn't lying- because Mike and El truly are codependent on each other. And what happens after the monologue? We see El ignoring the topic of their relationship which most Mileven shippers think is simple- they think that now El knows that Mike truly loves her blah blah blah and that she isn't talking to him bc of Max. However, El talked to Mike about Brenner which is a heavy topic for her but she couldn't address the topic of their relationship? which should be obvious? They're going to have a big talk in s5 and its going to be very emotional- possibly a breakup and a talk about their feelings (about time)

Someone also pointed out that this scene contrasts with Max’s whole Vecna moment, because the memories that help Max escape are the memories that visually appear to us, during this scene, the only time we see a memory put to the words that Mike says is the “you were wearing a yellow t shirt in the woods” kind of thing, it gives her a push before the vines tighten more, I believe that this is because everything else that Mike is saying, she can’t put a memory to it, he’s basically just rambling ? nonsense…? her facial expressions, it’s almost as if she’s searching for any like PROOF or memories to go with his words.

To finish the first reason, we genuinely have never seen Mike appreciate El as a person, not just in his monologue but at any point.

Second I want to talk about the “Mike can't express his love bc of his parents” Yet Nancy can? Let me just talk about Stancy/Jancy a bit here and how they're paralleled to Byler Stancy was a toxic relationship because both Steve and Nancy pretended to be people they aren't. After the break up we see both of them get character development. Nancy also started acting like a jerk which is a parallel to how Mike starts treating his friends like shit in s3 while dating El. Mike pretends to be more mature around El. He stops playing d&d and all...and when the Byers move to Cali we see him joining a d&d club. Also, at the end of s3 he apologizes to El for being excited about presents. In s4 we see El lying to Mike about having friends and going to parties, so she can be seen as cool to him. They are both pretending to be someone they aren't. Nancy couldn't say "I love you" to Steve just like Mike couldn't say it to El. And back to the main point “Mike cant express his love bc of his parents” but when its Nancy its bc she loves Jonathan? And actually, Mike having parents who are in a loveless relationship is actually more proof that Mileven is loveless because loveless relationships are something Mike is familiar with so its easier for him to yk be in a loveless relationship. Same goes for El who is used to people appreciating her for her powers only because of the lab.

Something that's kind of similar to what I'm talking about, an example- if you've seen the IT movies then you know Bev and Eddie basically married their parents because bc of their trauma with them (not that Mike's parents' relationship is like traumatic but it obviously affected him)

Nancy has the same parents but why can she say ily to Jonathan without someone telling her to and why can she talk about his personality but Mike can't??

its because Mike doesn't love El and the "from, Mike" is proof enough. because he obviously wrote "from" subconsciously meaning he never thought of writing "I love you" to someone who apparently means the world to him and he loves very much. I mean, it might've not been subconsciously but El's point was good "you cant even write it" because you can easily fake something while writing it I think that's all for reason number 2 (on and also Jancy and Byler have parallels- talking while sitting on a car; Nancy/Mike and Jonathan/Will talking and Nancy/Mike glances at Jonathan's/Will's lips reason number 3 I don't think El is ready for a relationship a controversial take but let me explain "you say El isn't ready for a relationship but then go ahead and ship her with Max" I ship her w/ Max bc she'd treat El better but I don't think it should happen (or that it will) because El has unresolved trauma from the lab and Mike triggered her "what did you do?!". My point is not that you shouldn't ship Mileven, its that I think they shouldn't be canon. "Will is also traumatized" Will's trauma is different and he had more people help him cope with it. El was introduced to so many new things like friendship, love, school, etc. and reason number 5 is that Mike makes El feel like a monster, even if its not on purpose. Even if they love each other they don't make each other feel loved. I think that's all but I'd like to add a bit of a s4 Mileven analysis (with some Byler in it)

In the beginning we see Mike reading El's letter and we're shown how El is doing- we notice that she's lying to him about everyone being nice and about her grades. She ends her letter with "Love, El" when Mike finishes reading her letter he crumbles it, despite being a sentimental type of person- he has (had?) Will's art hung up in the basement.

When he arrives in Cali he looks ugly (sorry i just needed to express my opinion on his outfit) he looks very excited to meet El but when he gets to Will, his childhood best friend, he becomes very... weird. he bumps him on the shoulder instead of hugging him back. this is why the line "Will is acting weird" El wrote to Mike is so important- bc even though Will is the one who loves Mike, he's been acting normal. and everyone is saying its because Mike doesn't want to be friends with Will anymore- yet later on Mike apologized for his behavior and him and Will have been glued to the hip since. so its def not bc he doesn't want to be friends with Will...suspicious Anyways on to the rink-o-mania scene we see Mike and El being happy yk just your usual couple hanging out. However, as it zooms into Will's face we realize the scene is from his pov. And Will is actually an unreliable narrator, meaning this scene might not be as happy as it looks. (someone said that Will was confirmed to be an unreliable narrator but since no one provided a video or article I'm going to prove it in a bit) When Angela enters we see Mike and El skating from her pov but not looking as happy- in fact they look...bored? meaning that they aren't actually happy in the skate ring scene. And about Will being an unreliable narrator: in his pov Mike is ignoring him entirely. However later on Mike confronts Will about how he's been acting meaning Mike was actually paying attention to Will. Anyways you know how the rest of the skate ring scene unfolds. As I already mentioned, Mike makes El unintentionally feel like a monster (and in my opinion he was scared of her here) and he's paralleled to Brenner (which will become a bit important later on). An important thing to note here is that in season 1 El broke Troy's arm. Troy is Will and Mike's bully. He didn't show the same reaction then as he did in the skate ring scene. He was happy/pleased but in the skate ring scene he's angry/scared. ONWARDS the dinner where Mike makes El feel like shit yet again. "She didn't look fine" Jesus Michael that's your gf, why are you being annoying The next day Mike goes to apologize to El who then points out the "From, Mike" and how he was scared of her. The whole argument is about Mike only showing love towards El the Superhero (as MBB said in the interview I mentioned earlier on) and it's important to know he calls her superhero during their fight. Which just makes El feel worse. another important detail is that he blames this whole thing on the "mouth breathers" when Mike is the problem - he's pushing the blame away from himself again (same as in s3 when he asks what he did wrong when he literally lied to El. Meanwhile in both of his apologies with Will he fully takes the blame, saying how he was acting like a jerk. And Mike always knows what to say to Will, but with El he needs someone to motivate him or tell him what to say - Will's speech to him in s4 and Lucas dragging Mike to the mall in s3, meanwhile Mike dragged Lucas over to Will's). El feels like Mike doesn't love her anymore because she lost her powers/she isn't a superhero anymore. wattpad time skip to El's note:

"Dear, Mike I have gone to become a superhero again. From, El" 1. "I have gone to become a superhero again" is in a way saying she's gone to become someone he can love again. 2. "From, El" this screams breakup to me, idk about you guys. And Mike said this fight seemed more adult compared to the rest of the fights they've had (the s3 breakup included, which could possibly mean that this is a serious breakup). He also said it's "a fight you can't come back from". And imo Mike knew El was breaking up with him by the way he was staring at the note. And the word "adult" that Mike used, I think it's important because Caleb says they have a teenage relationship dynamic. teenage relationship. adult fight.

another reason why I think they had an implied breakup is this parallel: Vickie: "I am rambling about my dumb boyfriend when there are people out there suffering" talking about her breakup to Robin. Mike: "No, i..it's stupid, given everything that's going on" Talking about his fight with El to Will.

fast forward to the van scene

If you take Mike from a surface level standpoint some of his scenes flat out don't make sense. For instance, in episode 5, Mike and Will have their heart to heart. Mike says he regrets not being able to say what he wanted to El and that maybe things would be different if he had. Then Will talks about how scary it is to open up to people you care about because they might not like the truth. And Mike agrees. So let's say Mike is surface level. And he's only talking about El in this context. The truth Mike would be talking about in this scenario would be telling her that he loved her back in ep 3- But that doesn't make sense?? El was practically begging Mike to prove that he loved her back in the first few episodes. So in what universe would El not like that truth? Why would Mike think that El wouldn't want to hear that he loved her? And if Mike truly meant everything he said during the finale, why would he not tell her what she wanted to hear back in episode 3? If you love someone and you don't want to lose them, you'd want to get your feelings across and make her feel validated. Even if he can't say it, he could prove it through his actions. Hug her. Kiss her. Hold her hand. Anything to showcase that he loves her. But he doesn't do that. And then when the moment in the finale comes around, he starts contradicting himself. His actions just stop making any semblance of sense when you try looking at it that way. In fact, the script of the van scene released recently. Noah said they filmed it all day. But when he saw the scene play out, he noticed that it was edited to be more subtle in certain areas. Now, there are two important lines that are removed from the final product. One is Will talking about "El" and saying how losing Mike hurts too much. I'm supposing they were just trying to make Will's feelings more subtle here. But the second line removed is from Mike who says that the last time he looked in El's eyes, he saw that she didn't need him/love him anymore. Now, if they were trying to keep Will's feelings a secret, making it more subtle in that area might make sense. But them choosing to remove Mike's line and make him more subtle as a character doesn't make sense unless there's a deeper truth about Mike that they're intentionally keeping hidden from a lot of the audience. That Mike knows El isn't interested in him anymore and that maybe, S5 will have El break up with him again.

then the reunion

Mike and El...don't kiss. Even though they both almost died. Now, we all know El got character development concerning her lab trauma- she disobeys Brenner because she is more than just a girl with powers, she is a human being but he treated her like a monster. this is why I think the fact that Mike is paralleled to Brenner is so important- because he also appreciated her only for her powers. I think they didn't kiss then and there because El realized she won't be happy in the relationship if Mike only appreciates her for her powers.

And the reason why the vines tighten around El's neck when Mike says "I love you" is because she knows he can only say it because she got her powers back. that's my theory at least. Oh Jesus this is- a lot. I really hope I didn't miss anything. Bonus fact: Mike and El being referred to as Romeo and Juliet isn't romantic- Romeo and Juliet are star-crossed lovers doomed to fail. and Romeo actually loved Juliet's sister Rosaline.

also im going to tag this as byler so there's a smaller chance of milevens coming after me

[m1kedefendr]

okay since we’re all still waiting imma give you some of my thoughts on Mike this season.

That boy is TERRIFIED. Look at how he looks after El says she loves him and kisses him in s3. look at his entire face that whole scene. look AT THE BACKGROUND. THE CLOSETS.

something clicked in him that day. Then look at him in s4, the first look we see is a COMPLETELY different Mike. He’s dressed in darker clothes, his hair is longer and less kept. He’s in a d&d club that is led by the schools biggest known “freak” that was held back and has NO SHAME in standing up against the popular kids. Mike looks at Eddie with complete adoration. Mike IDOLIZES Eddie.

Flash forward to California, now wtf is he wearing? That isn’t the new Mike we saw, and it isn’t even the old Mike 💀 Mike is trying to look “normal” in order to impress his girlfriend (like he has been since s3)

Mike can’t even hug Will. This is important later.

The roller rink. Oh the FUCKING Roller Rink. God how i love the Roller Rink. Mike is shooting looks at Will a lot during the entire time they’re there, and after the first half of what happened with angela and el goes down they start to argue. Will felt like a third wheel, but was he?

Mike seems to be able to tell Will about every single facial expression he had, how much he rolled his eyes, how much attitude he was giving. Mike couldn’t pick up that his girlfriend was lying to him the whole time, even though she was clearly acting weird and Will wasn’t being shy about trying to call her out, but he notices everything about Wills mood? hmm.

Mike then goes on to tell Will that WILL RUINED THE DAY! After his girlfriend just got humiliated in front of EVERYBODY. She is literally crying in an employee room and what is Mike doing instead of looking for her? Telling Will how much he paid attention to him and how Will ruined his day. He is arguing with his best friend instead of finding his girlfriend.

Will, being the boy who accepted his best friend probably won’t love him back, asks “what about us?” in probably the most platonic way. Mike? Mike shoots back “we’re friends. WE’RE FRIENDS.” Who said you weren’t Mike? Who implied anything different. “We used to be best friends” seems to stop Mike in his tracks, his only response being “well maybe you should’ve reached out more, why am i the bad guy?”

flash forward to El and Mike arguing about him loving her. The girl is sobbing, she is begging this man to say he loves her, but he doesn’t say it. He insists he loves her but refuses to utter the words out of his mouth. She is ruffling through letters, emphasizing the “FROM” on every one of them, and this man will not say he loves her. She tells him (a nearly direct parallel to Joyce talking to Lonnie in s1) not to look at her like she’s a monster. When she leaves, she leaves a note saying “Dear Mike, i’ve gone to become a superhero again. From, El.” FROM

Byler packing scene, dear god. The way they look at each other?? Anyways, notice how different Mike is in this conversation than when he was talking to El. Essentially in both situations they were talking about Mike’s behavior towards the person he is talking to, whether it was El or Will. So why was Mike so defensive and distant in his conversation with his girlfriend, yet so open and apologetic in his conversation with his best friend? because his best friend gets him. they get each other. they always have. it’s easy to talk to Will.

It’s so easy to talk to Will because Will loves Mike for who he is. Mike is constantly pretending to be someone he isn’t when he is with El. He’s trying to be what he THINKS a normal boyfriend is. El doesn’t know any better, i mean, this is the first relationship she’s ever had. But she’s starting to really pick up on the clues that Mike isn’t being honest.

Mike tells Will that hawkins isn’t the same without him. That everything feels weird because he’s not there. That he was worrying too much about El that he thought he LOST WILL. He was worrying too much about impressing his girlfriend and making her believe he’s someone he’s not that he lost himself, and in turn thinks he lost Will. Because Will loves Mike for WHO HE IS.

Speaking of, El was in hawkins for awhile. Why wasn’t it different with her gone? you could say that it’s because Mike and Will have been best friends since they were in first grade, i guess.

skip awhile, there’s not much i can think of in between then and the van scene at this moment, im going to have to rewatch s4.

The Van Scene. ugh, the thing i’ve been WAITING to read all day. Will had hope from that talk with Mike. Will brought the painting with him when they left the house because he knew he was going to give it to Mike.

Mike admits it himself, that he’s not acting like himself. He compares El to superman and himself to Lois Lane. He even says El might realize he’s “a nerd who got lucky”

Will knows what Mike needs to hear, but Will can’t possibly confuse Mike, and Will has accepted he probably won’t ever be with his best friend. So Will gives him the painting, lying about how El commissioned it (which cmon Mike, you know your gf doesn’t know shit about d&d). Will confesses about just how much he loves mike, how much he needs mike, and how he loves him for who he truly is all under the veil of El’s name. Will cries. Mike holds onto the painting for dear life.

The Surfer Boys place. fruit on pizza? that’s blasphemous. blasphemous.

I saw a lot of people point out how queer coded it was to say “fruit on pizza” but how about it being followed by “that’s blasphemous”

you can argue that he was using it for emphasis, but in a scene about trying something new with a phrase “try before you deny” attached so strongly to it, it seems like it makes the situation a whole lot more queer.

Piggybacking, El is mind fighting and she’s trapped. Mike is basically helpless. Will tells him to talk to her. To confess. To be the heart. Mike pretty much takes Wills speech and tells El what she thinks she wants to hear. but it’s super contradictory. “i love you with or without your powers” you compared her to Superman, my guy. not to mention he then encourages her to fight and calls her a superhero again. He confesses that he loves her. He says his life started the day they found her in the woods.

Now with Max, and obviously previous seasons with other characters, we can tell the Duffer Brothers are super capable of putting cute and happy flashbacks or sad and scary flashbacks about characters/moments. Why did El only have one memory? Why was it when they found her in the woods? There’s more, i know there are. It could be Mike making up her nickname El. It could be Mike showing her how to use a La-Z-Boy, It could be Mike and her reuniting in s2, it could be mike and her at the snow ball, it could be mike and her at the beginning of s3. But no, there was nothing but the DAY they found her. She obviously knew his confession wasn’t truthful, and it didn’t even help her because nothing went right.

2 days later.. like seriously what was up with that?

This is where the nonexistent Byler hug comes in. Mike has NO problem hugging Lucas when they get to the hospital. He literally goes right in for it. You can argue it’s bc their friend nearly just died, she’s basically brain dead, but it’s still weird.

Will asks Mike if he and El had talked, and Mike said they hadn’t really. Right before this is a parallel to when El was mad at Mike in s3. She goes to her room and slams the door.

Mike and Will talk yet again, this time about Vecna and how now that Will is back in Hawkins he can still feel him. That he is hurt, but he’s alive. Mike just stares at him in complete concern. He is barely moving, barely blinking. He is solely focused on Will. The lighting in this scene is phenomenal as well, the way El walked out of the sun beams and Will sat in them. Mike is in the dark. The colors of the scene looking to be a warm tone.

Conclusion? Mike is in love with Will, and he realized it that day Will left to California. That’s why he rarely called, that’s why he didn’t want to hug him, that’s why he paid so much attention to him at the roller rink, that’s why he can talk to will so much easier. Mike cannot tell El he loves her because he doesn’t love her, and telling her that he does would be the biggest lie of all.

[munmunx5]

Thoughts on Sex Ed S3

It’s been over a week since Season 3 of Sex Education and here are some of my thoughts since it’s not considered as “spoilery” now.

I don’t think I’ve ever cried as much as I did on the show than when I was watching Episode 3x08. They hit the feels in all the right directions. I am not the biggest fan of Adam but bravo on the writers for making him so vulnerable this season that I couldn’t help but emphasize with him.

I’m all for seeing the Adam/Rahim dynamic developing more next season. Adam’s surprising Rahim time and time again this season, proving him wrong in his preconceived prejudices towards him. So much potential there. I also knew Adam/Eric weren’t going to work (sorry!). They were/are on different wavelengths. Let’s not forget that Adam bullied Eric for years... it’s just not a healthy set-up for a end-game relationship. I’ll talk more about that later.

The theme of this season? ACCEPTANCE.

- Hope’s lack of acceptance into her situation and narrow-mindedness worldview made her into an unhappy and ruthless Headmaster

- Moordale Secondary finally embracing and accepting their sexuality

- Eric finally completely accepting who he is and what he wants.

- Maureen and Aimee accepting that it is okay to be alone and that is what they need right now.

S3 was also about seeing these teenagers grow up and learn to accept the harsh realities of life.

I think people forget that these characters are only 17 years old (Maeve literally said it multiple times this season, the writers’ reminder to the viewers perhaps?!). I get so peeved when I see people saying anti-Otis, anti-Maeve sentiments. Teenagers make mistakes, they do stupid things, they regret doing these said stupid things, they break up with each other, they mend, and they fall IN LOVE (constantly). If you’ve been a teenager, you know... the angst is real. What makes this show so fun to watch is that we get to follow the lives of very flawed teenagers portrayed in a realistic and emotional way, without being overtly bashing, stereotypical or corny (like most teen dramas).

A big majority of the fandom are talking about Ruby/Otis being so amazing and end-game. That’s bullocks. It was clearly set up to be a one-time thing. It was a growing up moment for the both of them. Otis is finally embracing his own sexuality. Ruby is now finally learning how to love someone else besides her parents and herself. She was a complete arsehole and bully to everyone in Season 1 (even to her own friends). You can’t give her a free pass for all her misgivings just because she looks good with Otis or because she takes care of her sick father (btw, wouldn’t we all?). She was ashamed of her home life. She was ashamed of Otis. She was trying to control everything about Otis when they were together, to the point where he couldn’t chew his food in front of her. TOXIC relationship at it’s best. It’s real sad to me that people are obsessed with them. It just doesn’t make sense. Also, I didn’t see the chemistry. It was just teenage lust, and that was how Asa played it. There was no love on Otis’ part. Why ship a one-sided relationship?

Now, on to the foundation of the show: Otis and Maeve.

Everything falls back on them. Two words. SEX CLINIC.

They are the main reason Moordale turned into the “sex school” and the basis of the show (Eric clearly acknowledged this.) They have literally brought out the best in each other. Meave made Otis realize that he has a knack for talking to people and helping them (btw, his scene with Hope was beautiful, and I cried when I saw Jean listening on). Maeve brought him out of his shy “wallflower” bubble and into a person that people are drawn towards for advice. (Otis and Maeve both speaking up to everyone during the new SRE lectures and respectively getting kicked out was brilliant to see). Otis constantly encouraged Maeve to be the best that she could be academically and helped her to acknowledge her own brilliance (trophy from S1, anyone?). Yes, they have been selfish and have let jealously get the best of them (house party speech in S2, Maeve telling Ola that Otis is a virgin in S1...) . But that’s only human, isn’t it? Also, like most things in real life, they experienced a-many missed opportunities and bad timing with each other.

And their last scene with each other (fitting that it’s the final scene of S3):

“We have to see where we’re at when I get back.”

“So this is goodbye?”

“No, no... it’s see you soon.”

It’s left open-ended and there is no finality for the viewers. But we all know that they are meant to be. It is not yet the right timing yet for them to be together, but Maeve is emotionally strong enough to accept that, and now so is Otis.

Nothing screams endgame on the show than Otis and Maeve. The show revolves around them. I would’ve liked to see more scenes between Asa and Emma together because they have incredible chemistry but I think the writers wanted to focus on their other relationships more (and also a lot more time were spent with side characters this season). The writers also never forgot about them. We always saw the longing glances, the almost text messages/phone calls, and the conversations they have with other people about each other. Their romantic scenes were thoughtfully crafted. They made Eric (his speechlessness when Otis told him they kissed was PRICELESS) and Aimee their biggest shippers ever, which makes complete sense since they are the two people that know Otis and Maeve the best. 

Judging by Emma’s latest interview about wanting to have a scene with Gillian next season (if it happens), we know there’s a chance she’s coming back on for Season 4.

One final comment, I absolutely LOVE Miss Sands.