#like troy or his dad say bc when he looks at will he sees a reflection of himself. someone who goes by unseen someone that's alone

[bylertruther]

bad boy mike fics are always good fun yeah but have you all ever considered writing something where will is the mischievous little rascal from the wrong side of the tracks that listens to loud music and always has little rogue paint splatters on his hand-me-downs or charcoal smudges on his cheek n says the most out of pocket shit under his breath that no one ever hears except for eleven and mike and yet no one believes him when he repeats what will said bc will jus looks so sweet tht obviously he would never say tht mike and mike is the more strait-laced kid that lives in a three story house at the end of the cul-de-sac with his purposely and perfectly disheveled and brand new get-up that gets flustered whenever will suggests they do something they maybe shouldn't but ultimately agrees without question because hello in what world could he ever look into those big hazel eyes of will's and somehow say no? it's literally impossible and he never regrets it even if they do get home late which of course makes hop chew him out when he catches them even though it was will's idea to begin with but again no one ever believes him n it's not like he'd rat him out anyway and coming from such different backgrounds they really shouldn't fit but they do and they're inseparable and even if it's messy cozy and all too lived-in mike feels more at home at the byers-hopper house than he ever does in his castle filled with ghosts and honestly probably for the first time ever actually and obviously they'd make their own adventures for when life gets to be too much bc will feels like he's drowning and mike feels like he's invisible and it's just will with his sketchbook and mike with his leather journal and they talk about anything and everything and share things they've never ever said to anyone else before and ofc when they talk about the future it's always about where they'll go to college together and how they're obviously going to dorm together and get an apartment afterward bc they're undoubtedly going to escape this shitty little town one day and they're clearly Something but also maybe too scared to Be something and . and. is anyone gonna write this or am i gonna have to be a big boy and do it myself 🙄

[minimoefoe]

ftwd 8.08 thoughts

the vibe here is basically 'i thought i'd hate it but actualy for the most part i stan'

- charlie shoulda been the character image for this ep, not luciana (love her tho and it's good to see her again)

- charlie surviving was something i felt was kinda unnecessary when I found out about it bc like, they got rid of so many characters in kinda meh ways but charlie had an easy death explanation right there that they coulda used but I actually love that she was brought back and only for a small amount of time tbh

like we get to see some great stuff with her - madison finding out she killed nick, troy talking to her about nick - but don't have to have her around for the rest of the season when we only have 4 eps left and an already large cast to give screen time

- I think charlie basically killing herself for the cause makes sense. like I dont feel like they had her kill herself bc they didn't know what else to do with her (tho I'm sure if she stayed alive they wouldn't have known what to do with her lmao)

- charlie defo looked too young and her hair was shit but I can forgive it for the good content

- the nick flashbacks :( I miss him

- was some drama on twt bc some ppl said kim dickens isn't the best actor and my two cents is they're kinda right sorry. she's not bad all the time but she's rarely absolutely incredible. she's probs the weakest actor of all our main characters and has been since the early days. I will say tho that the sometimes the meh dialogue doesn't do her any favours

- daniel saying how he's gonna strangle troy with his bare hands... ily king but plz don't do that 😭

- I love that charlie and luciana are basically daniel's daughters, love them all a lot

- already knew about nick's ashes from leaks and it was another thing I was a bit ??? about bc I felt like they were doing that for the sake of having a bunch of references in the final eps but I think they explained why they have his remains pretty well actually and it being part of why madison didn't stay pissed at charlie was good

- troy going around chopping off walker arms to make madison think she's seeing alicia everywhere is so 😭 like first of all I'm a genius bc I called it and second of all I said in that post that I thought it would be a bit silly but it kinda works actually. I hope the reason he's doing that is bc he lied about killing her (tho I can defo see him cutting arms even if he has actually killed her)

- the tracy stuff was the stuff I was most iffy on bc the idea of troy having a daughter and a significant other is crazy to me and I do still feel that way a little but I also loved the scenes about it a lot so.. I'm optimistic.

- something about seeing troy be genuinely worried about someone is great. I loved madison and troy both being out there while he was running around worried for his kid idk like something about him kinda dropping that 'I'm tough and in charge' thing for a moment while he was worried about tracy and while madison was literally right there with him is the shit I'm SO in this for like AHHH. need more of it

- troy's daughter being called tracy is still dumb as fuck and I don't think they're gonna be able to give an explanation for her being called that that makes it less dumb. (like even troy being the kid's adoptive dad and not biological dad and the kid was already born before he met the kid's mother would still be a stupid explanation bc what are the odds)

- I know troy said that tracy's mum is the woman who saved him but I really hope there's more to it than 'troy was saved by a woman, they fell in love and had a kid and then madison killed the mum at some point' like.. the madison killing the mum part is really interesting and I'm excited to know more (my initial thought a while ago was that she killed the mum when her and tracy were out somewhere and took tracy to padre but clearly tracy isn't with padre so now idk) but the other stuff feels very fanfic-y and not in a good way idkkkk

so far everything I thought I'd be meh has actually been pretty good so it's very possible if that IS what's happened I'll still like it a lot but I want there to be more to it than that i think

- I feel like I'm at such a weird point right now where I loved the tracy stuff we got in this ep and I'm very intrigued by who the mum and is and what happened to her but at the same time I'm like troy having a wife(?) and kid still doesn't fully track in my mind so I keep going back and forth on how I feel avout it 😭 I basically just can't wrap my mind around him being a shagger sorry idk how else to say that

actually seeing it play out will probs warm me up to it a lot more bc that's what's been happening so far. I think the main reason I still find it odd is just that it's hard to take the 12yr time gap into consideration like he's not s3 troy anymore yknow A LOT has happened since then and he's obviously older and has experienced shit (that I would kill for a ton more information on)

- looking forward to the next ep but currently it's screaming that troy won't be in it much/at all which is Sad but if that is the case I'd rather get that out the way sooner than later

[noemitenshi]

Ok so. There's several questions in here, I'll try to address them all @marrecarandgi

Maybe let's do the "Can this man ever move on and find a new relationship after he and Tracy ride into sunset" first (which is also fully my HC, he didn't die, Tracy just had guilt-fueled nightmares that seemed so real she really believes she shot her walker!dad).

Anyway, yes, he was pretty hung up on his wife, it seems.

(Though honestly, parking her in this swamp type thing was weird to me? Like, wouldn't he want her closer by? It's almost like they don't really get Troy's character - like they present us a distorted version of him, we recognize enough of Troy in him to say 'it's him' but then there's just... something that isn't right)

Ok, lets ignore the things that don't quite fit and go with, he was super hung up on her. Though maybe not only her but also the way he lost her and how he put all of that on alicia and madison. so it seems to get closure he needed to get his revenge

(though that's again not super fitting with what they show us in ep11 - the first heart to heart he has with madison where she is about to kill him with her hammer. he says "you want her people to believe the same thing she did - when this is exactly what got her killed" warns her, really. and the way he looks at her, the way his voice sounds... it's almost like he cares. but then, why would he, if he hates her so much. It's almost like he's trying to connect to her, but then, why would he. If he hates her so much. Or maybe he wants her to stop believing in this thing that killed his wife. If so, then why save her in the end when he saw she didn't believe? It just doesn't fit together. Individually those things are fine but taken together it's very headscratchy. Sorry, I said I'll stay away from these things that don't quite fit but guess I can't stop myself ^^0)

Ok so, again ignoring all that and going with the 'he needed revenge/her killing Madison to move on... I think the fact that Madison ended zombie!serena and the fact that he buried her helped him a lot in the 'moving on from her'.

If we take this bullshit on face value with him regretting not letting alicia's idea die with serena, then even getting to *live it* (once he gets Tracy back from madison) may help him, too. A way to honor his wife and think on her but not with so much bitterness and ... well he clung to her in a way, right. Clung to revenge so he could cling to her maybe. Or the other way around. And if that is now broken (again taken the bullshit he said before he died at face value) he'll have a much easier time moving on now.

Now what happens between him and madison and alicia once they meet up - I have no idea. It could be that by this time Madison already started to regret killing him. I mean she's still not happy to see him - given that she expects him to still want to kill her. So their places could be somewhat switched now, mirroring the end of ep11. Her now full of regret and hm compassion even towards him and him... well that's the question isn't it? I think, if we go the route of 'what he said at the end of ep11 is the truth' then he should let her live. He's not gonna tell her this of course from the beginning since he doesn't trust her and still thinks she thinks like at the end of ep11 (no second chances, troy is irredeemable). So it'll be a bit of a dance I guess, with both of them misinterpreting the other's actions. But not for long bc once Tracy sees her dad no one can stop her from going to him. And that's all he wants, his daughter back. And they should leave madison and alicia and go out on their own.

Now if you'd rather not believe he had a change of heart end of ep 11 (which I get haha it kinda came out of nowhere), he's still gonna want revenge. And I think he will, once he finds them. He won't be convulted about it either, I don't think so. Now that he doesn't have his zombie!wife anymore. Now that he even lost his kid, I think he's gonna be methodical. Wouldn't mind him just creeping into their camp and shooting them point blank. Sure, they wont 'rot on their feet' but I think the need for them to be dead may at this point be greater than anything else. Especially since they have tracy. I think them having tracy is a pretty strong motivator for him to end things quickly and get her away from there. Tracy, who probably has her head screwed with a lot (I mean her going to madison after she believes she killed her dad is.. uh a choice and speaks not well of the kid's mental health... so that could lead to some interesting tension between them though I think they'd work through it soon enough. it's her *dad* after all). And yes once he's got her back and the other two lie dead, his wife buried, I think he *can* move on from her.

Probably entering into a new relationship won't be easy though (in either case, both the 'he took revenge' and the 'he just wanted his daughter back'), he feels like he wants to be single for a while now haha, which. Understandable. He was first married to his wife and then to the idea of revenge. And they say getting out of a relationship takes half the time the relationship lasted so uhm. Make of that what you will ;)

Maybe if he meets up with someone he knows it's easier for him to form a relationship than if it's someone completely new... just an idea though (maybe bc then it doesn't remind him so much of serena...?).

Also in my somewhat improbable HC (of course I have several contradicting HCs - as one does...) which I haven't quite let go off even though it turned out not to have any canon support (though also not really something that contradicts it so uhh (except for the part where I thought serena seems like a cutie and I don't want her to be a bad guy), I imagine serena as abusive towards troy.

Again no textual support of this - that whole idea was born out of the fear that they'd made troy be actually the one responsible for his wife's death (thank GOD that fear was unfounded haha). But yeah I was really anxious about this once it was revealed that alicia's idea killed tracy's mom but we had no further inforomation on it. So this fear, and the fact that he went 'it's not pretty to look at, I know' about his eye had me thinking that it could be possible. That sentence 'it's not pretty to look at, I know' gave me pause since... it doesn't sound like Troy to be concerned with how he looks. That was never him (yes even though he's well dressed now :P). So I thought, that almost sounds like he's quoting someone, omg what if he's quoting his wife?! What if his wife was at least verbally abusive towards him..(if not more)?? (Then the tracy thing kindaaaa makes sense too haha, he's subconsciously thinking back to that, is reminded of how his mom treated him and it's def a cry for help, calling his kid tracy... not that anyone heard him. as usual). Anyway if we go that route then a new relationship would be undoubtedly good for him (unless this one, too, is abusive haha...). Not sure if this makes him more or less likely to seek one out though. I think an argument could be made either way. Maybe more, just because he's still searching for what he'd searched for all his life: someone to love and appreciate him. Even while he's convinced it never could be different, didn't serena show him that, he's still searching...

-----

Now the dad thing... I think I said it somewhere before, to me it didn't feel out of character at all(if this is even what you're getting at? If not, feel free to correct me :) ). In fact I was superglad to hear him say he didn't give a fuck about Jeremiah. I maintain he had a complicated relationship with his dad (just like he had with his mom). He loved his parents probably the same way a kicked dog loves his master. Beyond reason and self-preservation. But he hates his parents, too. And I think he's ashamed of that, of feeling *wrong things*. I think he also thinks the fault that they don't love him lies with himself. That he is wrong, that he can't do what they want (a quiet child, best seen not heard etc). So he puts all that on himself, the hate he has for them and the fact that they don't love him. Both bc there's just something not right with him. So he buries it, buries it deep down.

Of course he was sad when his dad died, of course he grieved him. He probably also grieved that now he never could get from him what he wanted: being told he did good. Being told his dad is proud of him. All these things. I also think he was... relieved. And that horrified him. Showed him again, in his mind, that see, he is wrong. Who is relieved their dad is dead. And then he's also angry of course, angry at his dad for killing himself. Doing something that seems so out of character for him. Leaving Troy and Jake to pick up the pieces (probably like always... I imagine when he was drunk and destroyed things or made a mess, it was on the kids to clean up. Same with his mom btw). Anyway. very very complicated feelings, contradicting feelings even. No wonder he lost his mind in exile. And I think the fact that he destroyed this place, even though it pained him in the end, it also freed him. It was the beginning of letting go. Of his mom, his dad. Even Jake. A cleansing as he said, but for himself. And I think over the years those feelings became clearer to himself, he started to understand himself better, started to understand where his uncontrollable anger came from and could accept this. So yeah "fuck that old man" (paraphrased haha) isn't a weird thing for s8 troy to say at all. He's right. Fuck him.

---

"I'd do it all again" Right, that one. Haha, those fateful words. I hope you forgive me for just quoting my own work, since I very much explored this:

Troy felt relieved when he heard Madison asked, “Why would Daniel want to kill Troy?” This was it, he was sure of it. This was the missing piece to get back into step with Madison. Because even though she’d just told him “we’re good” he knew they weren’t. He had sensed her trepidation in her ingenious smile, in the hesitation in her voice. And now he was sure it was because he was still keeping a secret from her. A secret that only became one because of Nick, because he had followed Nick’s lead on this. And he hadn’t minded, understood that Nick rather not tell his sister Jake died partly because of him… But now he couldn’t keep quiet anymore. Not if it talking could mean that it would bring Madison and him close together again. Not if it meant it could again be as it was, before, between Madison and him. And yes, their conversation got heated once he admitted what he’d done. He should’ve expected that but he was too caught up in it. In trying to explain himself, in trying to rush to go where they’d been before. He should’ve given her more time to process… he knew she would’ve, eventually. She understood him. They were the same – and that was what he was trying to tell her, remind her of, however clumsily. “I’d do it all again,” he implored her, trying to make her see, “All of it, Madison.”

(Bolded part is the most important one). Right so I think he's wanting for Madison to see his side, for her to well maybe not forgive him but definitely accept what he'd done, accept him) and her continued refusal got him agitated, angry, and so he blurted that out - unfortunately not at all doing what he set out to do but the complete opposite. That is why he says 'hed do it all again'. He wants acceptance for who he is, he's not gonna APOLOGIZE for it and he resents her for insinuating differently. All his life he's made to feel he was wrong and in madison he thought he'd finally found someone who got him. Understood him like no other. And now she stands before him having the gall to judge him too. It's too much and so he spits this into her face, forces her to confront all the bad things in himself. Sadly for him she answers not by acceptance as he thought, especially when he said "and you would too you know you would", this callback to how similar they are, but by killing him. And I think him calling out their similarities played def a role in her decision to strike him down.

(As an aside, I don't see Troy as someone who apologizes or appreciates an apology or even... gets what it is about. Esp. s3 Troy. He's thinking is along the lines: "If I did it, I did it, so there's no use in wishing things went differently, no use in lamenting. It happened and with the information I had at that time I couldn't have made another choice. I would do things again like this. So what use is an apology? Isn't it even cheapening things? Because then I could've just NOT DONE IN in the first place. But clearly I did" It's a bit of a circular reasoning. He's a bit naive in that haha.

---

I'm not sure he raised Tracy to see zombie!serena as her mom. Yes, Tracy does call her "mom" but I didn't get the feeling that she things it really is *her*. Like I think she's very much aware and never had confusion over the fact that her mom is dead and this is her reanimated corpse. Is that much better? Not sure haha.

[baambastic]

Thoughts on Battle of the Super Sons (major spoilers for the entire plot):

Grazer is great as Jon

Laura Bailey’s Lois is great

I don’t particularly care for Travis Willingham’s Clark. His Superman is fine, but his voice sounds wrong coming out of mild-mannered journalist Clark Kent.

Love the whole opening. Especially love the old comics-style (complete with benday dots) montage of Clark’s life up until Jon’s birth

Glad to see we’re skipping the complicated multiverse stuff

Jon immediately jumping to “cosplay” as the reason for the Superman costume under the bed has made my day

But also Clark why was it just under your bed. Presumably while you were on a League mission for two weeks.

“I don’t care that you’re sorry! I just want you to be here!” OOF

The child is very sad, but at least the cat’s alive!

Jon feels like an actual kid, constantly excited by all the superhero stuff

They mentioned Kon!

Oh wow this movie has blood in it. I’m a bit surprised, even with the age rating

Tom Kenny Penguin! Haven’t heard that since 2004

Troy Baker doesn’t really sound like he wants to be here

It’s not Super Sons if Damian doesn’t make me want to punt him out the nearest window at first

Damian continues his bad habit of pushing kids to their deaths in the Batcave.

They did not make Jon an uwu soft bean, and for that I am grateful. He dishes out sass equal to or greater than Damian’s.

Also Griffo really sold how Damian felt about being rejected by the Titans. Really solid

Griffo’s Damian voice sounds like Damian’s trying to copy Batman’s gruff voice. I like it

Why is Damian the only person in this movie who says Jon and not Jonathan?

BAT-COW!!!!

Using two members of each main young hero team (Teen Titans, TT2003, YJ Animated (not the ‘98 version bc of overlap with TT2003)) for the Teen Titans is an interesting idea

Kind of surprising that Ollie and J’onn are the only other League members we get to see on the Watchtower

Blue Beetle and Hawkman (and I think the Atom?) were also shown on Starro’s hitlist, so it’s weird that they’re nowhere to be seen

I still need to get my hands on a hoodie like Jon’s

Those students have really low standards for insults

Bruce Don’t Beat Up Your Son Challenge (success on technicality of mind control)

Also, really effective body horror for something so bloodless

Damian you big softy

More body horror. yay

I dunno why i’m surprised Damian suggested killing Lois

Yo they made Krypto scary. Nice

Jor-El why did you send them to the watchtower if you thought they were probably gonna die

Lois continues to be awesome

Nice to see you, J’onn. Too bad you don’t get to do anything.

The dynamic between Lois and Lex is always fun to watch

Interesting Starro design. A bit too spiky for my tastes tho

“I’ve eliminated all human-based problems on your planet.” “You’re going to eat the planet!” “Correct.” Love that

Aw, poor baby demon brat

Oh, I never thought I’d see the day that Lois Lane used a DIY flamethrower on Lex Luthor. Incredible

I question the decision to include two green-skinned shapeshifters in the same fight scene

Speaking of, that’s a really cool effect they’ve got on J’onn when he’s burning

Jesus. No punches pulled on the sons v dads fight

Batman got punched out by an 11-year-old farmboy. He’ll never live that down

Man, this evacuation scene is wholesome

“I don’t know” *pushes all the buttons*

This whole Starro burning scene is very visceral, I gotta say

Jon and Dami are adorable, even when they think they’re about to die

Superdad to the rescue, with Jon looking like he’s about to cry with relief

Bathug! (they’re so awkward lol)

Starro covered in charred flesh? No thanks, I’m good

I think that lake water might be one of the few 2D animated things in this movie

Even with the character development, Damian’s still a demon brat (positive)

Aw, he’s so excited to go to Jon’s game

“Gotham’s Billionaire Prince Bruce Wayne Spotted With Son Damian at Middle School Baseball Game in Smallville, Kansas”

“Still can’t fly” *pained groans can be heard from the ground below*

They really didn’t mention any of the other Bats, huh? That’s surprising.

I’m guessing, since Jon can actually control his powers, all that stuff with Kathy and the milk hasn’t happened here

Battle of the Super Sons was a ton of fun! It has good writing, good humor, good emotional moments, and is consistently nice to look at. Shame it’s only got a 6.7 on imdb. I honestly might prefer this over the original Super Sons comics run

[stilldancewithyou]

Everyone is so focused on EJ being jealous of Ricky because of everything with Nini in S1 and Gina in S2 and it makes me sad that his character has been reduced to that. yes, Ricky "stealing" the girls from EJ (or however you look at it) is an important part of EJ's character build up and it plays into his insecurities but I don't think that's the biggest/only reason for the tension between them, there's a big chunk of the show's storyline for EJ that I feel like everyone is overlooking: It was EJ's senior year, the last high school musical productions he'd ever get to be in, and Ricky got the leading male parts in all three shows (also EJ didn't really get to audition for Frozen bc he has to direct it).

In season 1, he was soooo excited for HSM and he had spent a lot of time preparing to audition for Troy, his heart was set on that part and he even talked about how he thought he was the perfect Troy, and he was so confident about it. And then Ricky swoops in, not knowing anything about musicals, having never even seen the movie and having no understanding of the character, only auditioning to impress Nini, and he gets the part EJ wanted so badly. EJ has to be content with being the understudy and then he ended up reading Miss Jenn's casting paper to see why she didn't think he was good enough to play Troy and it was kinda mean tbh (and remember, after he read it he started really trying to be better) and I feel like everyone kind of put him down that season. He was so happy when he got the chance to go out as Troy on opening night but then he ended up supporting Ricky, building him up and telling him he was "the better Troy" and that he deserved the part. In season 2, it's the spring musical and the last musical of EJ's high school career! and we know from season 1 he really wants the lead part, and we find out about his dad's expectations so I think it's fair to say he also wanted to impress his dad and show him how talented he is, but at the same time, I feel like he just wants his moment in the spotlight that the others have gotten, he wants that validation that he is capable of playing the leading man and get it right and just that validation and confidence....but again, Ricky gets the lead, and EJ has to play the villain (don't get me wrong he was the perfect Gaston and I am not mad about that). In season 3, he's so excited to have all his Wildcats at camp with him, and have a great last summer; he and Gina talk about how they hope to be the leads together and it's EJ's last chance to have that spotlight leading role moment bc this is the last theater production for him to be in unless he gets onto Broadway or goes to a performing arts college. And EJ can't even properly audition for it bc he's been forced into directing it, and Ricky got the lead again, as Gina's love interest no less- and Ricky doesn't know the show well again and he casually jokes about it to EJ. And throughout all the seasons, EJ just puts on a happy face and supports everyone else and lifts them all up and helps them out; he's happy for Ashlyn when she got the lead, he's happy for Gina when she got it, he's even happy for Ricky. Even though the girls get to be upset when they don't get the parts they wanted, EJ is expected to just accept that he's not a leading man.

I mean...just think about it. EJ puts in all of this effort into being his best, he spends so much time understanding the character and rehearsing and preparing to be the best he can possibly be and Ricky, who puts in very little effort, doesn't know the character or even story/what the damn show is about, and doesn't really know that much about theater or acting just waltzes in and gets the lead three times in a row. (this also applies to the love triangles as sort of a metaphor in a way) Nini, Ashlyn and now Gina and Kourtney all get their time to shine in the lead roles they always dreamed of but didn't think they'd ever be good enough for but EJ has to suck it up and be happy for them and cope with the fact that this is his last show and he never got that big moment he wanted (despite the fact that he's basically a cookie cutter of the perfect leading man).

edited to add: yes, I do realize season 2 EJ chose not to pursue being the Beast bc he felt he was too busy with preparing for college and pls excuse my mistakes in this post/incorrect facts, it's been sooo long since I've watched the first two seasons so I went off what I thought I remembered when I was writing this post (so yeah, I'm a clown & I'll be the first to admit it but everyone who follows my blog already knows that lol). My mistake aside, my point is still the same. EJ has put in a lot of effort throughout all three seasons- with Nini, with Gina, with auditions, with all the shows, and he also went out of his way to atone for his past selfish actions (even tho he stepped back in s2 and worked on himself) and Ricky swooped in having no idea what he's doing and has effortlessly (if you're looking at it from EJ's POV- not trying to villainize Ricky cause I actually adore him) gotten everything EJ has been working hard for handed to him. In the present season it's not just that EJ is noticing the clear romantic tension between Rina, it's that Ricky is having the summer that EJ wanted to have- having fun, spending quality time with Gina and the other Wildcats, playing the leading male part alongside Gina in the show, enjoying EJ's camp friends (and becoming friends with all of them), participating fully in all the fun traditional camp activities and doing all of this with a carefree, Hakuna Matata attitude while EJ is literally about to combust from stress. It's as if Ricky has replaced him. (again, looking at this from EJ's POV). this is just a thought I had that I wanted to share bc I have seen so many posts about the love triangle and nothing about the other stuff so I apologize if I haven't articulated it in a way that makes sense but hopefully this clears some things up. I still think he should get his time to shine though bc he hasn't really gotten that in the show yet.

Also even though EJ was initially presented as being overly confident and kind of cocky, I always personally thought they've made it obvious he, like the other characters, has a lot of insecurities about himself and the cocky attitude is kind of a façade to hide that from everyone else. And considering how hard his dad is on him with all of his high expectations, I think EJ has probably spent his whole life putting in maximum effort to be the best at everything and acting confident and cocky bc it's how his dad wants him to be.

[dotingdevil]

hi kitty ^_^ do you have any headcanons for ur ship with moralism? - @capitalistbf (i love seeing other centricide/realicide shippers :3)

HIIII OMG I HAVE SO MANY TY FOR ASKING

Moralist is totally a goody two shoes, and I’m a terrible influence on him 😭 my horrible manners got him to cuss

He likes to go out and I’m super indoorsy so he has to drag me out of the house to go anywhere

He and I are both super affectionate but I initiate all the pda<333 he has a kissable face

He’s taller than me so he has to get things for me and I hate it! Grr I appreciate it tho

I attempt to be the “man” of the house but my arms are as strong as uncooked spaghetti so I can’t open jars for shit

I make him watch Star Trek with me because I’m a NERD and he and I talk about it forever <3 (William Riker is his favorite and mine’s data <3333) (I’m the riker to his Diana Troi <3) (if you don’t get it uhh look it up I thinkies)

He’s the only one who laughs at my terrible jokes

Neither of us can cook but we try via freezer dinners

He takes care of the bugs bc I’m too scared of them. I try to get him to kill them but he doesn’t because “everything deserves to live!” And I think that’s total bs DEATH TO FLIES

I’m a night owl and he’s a morning person so he lays in bed for at LEAST an hour with me before he gets up

On topic of the bed, I take up 90% of the bed and he just squeezes in and takes the remaining 10%

I keep trying to convince him to get a pet, and the only issue is I want a cat and he wants a dog (we will eventually compromise and get both. The dog is gonna like me most much to my displeasure) (it’s like when dads say they don’t want a dog and then the two become inseparable)

He always gets perfect gifts somehow?????? But I’m total shit at gift giving so I give him a card and some money every year for his birthday

I got him to dye his hair once but it was cursed so never again

I got him to actually take care of his hair and it’s so pretty now <3

I tell him kinda creepy shit and he hasn’t called the police yet, I think he should

I do make up on him. He’s very pretty

Animals always seem to like him and it makes me jealous! He’s a Disney princess and it’s unfair

He has gorgeous nails and I love to paint them pretty colors!!! <333

I have to do the clothes shopping because he’s super simple and won’t get anything fashionable unless I’m there

(We’re not married yet but I have plans!!! This is under the cut bc it’s secretttt) (all my mooties are invited<3)

[moon-ursidae]

ALRIGHT YA’LL KNOW THE DRILL HERE

there will be spoilers for all of the last of us part 1 and all of the last of us part 2 under the cut!!

i’ll be sharing my notes and thoughts as i play each session!!

again SPOILERS ARE UNDER THE CUT SO IF YOU DO NOT WANT SPOILERS DO NOT SELECT READ MORE

PLAY SESSION 1 (i am horrified)

i just want to start by saying that i already know a decent amount about this game. i never thought that i, myself, would be playing these games, so i watched playthroughs when they first came out. since then, spoilers have been plastered all over the internet. so. yknow. i’m aware of what i’m getting myself into. ANYWAY to the session log!

total play time: 6 and a half hours

HERE WE GO YA’LL

i haven’t opened the game yet AHH

i know the music is gonna ruin me

my heart is beating so fast

i’m configuring settings and i hear water oh god

FUCK IT’S THE BOAT

AHHHH

OKAY THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING

I HIT START AHHHHH

C H I L L S down my body just seeing the neck of the fucking guitar

i’m already tearing up from joel telling the story to tommy

THAT’S PEDRO PASCAL

THAT IS PEDRO PASCAL BITCH

IN THE CAR WHEN HE LOOKS TO THE SIDE BC ELLIE STARTED STIRRING AWAKE??

THAT IS JUST AN OLDER PEDRO BRO

ANYWAY sorry i just understand very much why they offered him this role

STOP THE CUT TO THE LAST CUTSCENE WHEN THE FIRST GAME ENDS I’M CRYING

AND THE MUSIC

FUCK YOU

this looks fucking amazing.

the fucking music. GUSTAVO. GENIUS BRO.

this is fucking gorgeous. i am taking my fuckin T I M E

STARRING ASHLEY JOHNSON TROY BAKER AND LAURA BAILEY I KNOW THAT’S RIGHT

WOOOO

THAT SHOT?? HIM WALKIN INTO TOWN?? JESUS F U C K

ARE WE ALREADY AT THE FUTURE DAYS CUTSCENE????

omg omg she’s listening to the song she sings in the trailer i think A H H

and the bandages on her arm where her scar is 🥺

the way that joel tucks his shirt in now omg such a dad

THE SAVAGE STARLIGHT POSTER🥹

THE STANCE™️

THE WAY THAT MY DAD DOES THIS SAME FUCKING THING WHERE HE’LL GO TO TELL ME A JOKE HE HEARD AND FORGOT IT

I’M GONNA C R Y LATER

HIS AWKWARD LIL STEPS TO THE DOOR TO GET THE GUITAR STOP

“you wanna hear sumn” JOEL PLEASE I’M GONNA SOB

troy has such a nice voice! and also to voice act while singing simultaneously?? crazy

THEY ARE SO-

UUGGGHHHHHH🥺🥺🥺

it’s always in the prologue that they showcase Joel being a dad and i’m like damn this is how me and my dad are and they’re like “would be a shame if something bad happened” and i SOB

“you kissed dina?” TEA

THE WAY SHE’S LIKE 😶

okay i already very much like jesse he seems like such a nice guy!

again i know what happens just let me have this goddamnit

ELLIE HAS A PS3 THAT’S WHAT’S UP BRO WHAT GAMES YOU GOT??

JAK AND DAXTER SLAY

UNCHARTED 1 & 2 SLAY

this taylor guitar is gorgeous bro AH

the pictures on her corkboard above the bed🥺

i wish we got to see and know more about cat she looks like a cool ass character

is that the toy she stole for sam?? i thought she left that at his grave? so it may be a new one to remember him by? i dunno

DINNER BREAK BEFORE I CONTINUE

okayyyy to the outside… where it’s snowing…. and ellie is wearing this outfit…

and joel and tommy are out scouting…

FUCK

i love how slowly through the environment it tells you how jackson survives. through community. it’s gorgeous worldbuilding.

FIRST CARD HELL YEA

IS THAT BUCKLEY??? AHHHH

AND GUSTAVO!!!!!!! OH MY GOD!!!!!!!

HE’S PLAYING A VERSION OF THE LAST OF US THEME AHHHHHHH

I HEAR MARISHA RAY AND MATT MERCER?? AHHHHHHH CRITICAL ROLE CAST COME THROOUUUGGGHHHH

it’s also really wonderful to see kids being kids during this. especially for their age. they’re too young to deal with the bullshit that comes along with an apocalypse world

PEOPLE ARE SHIT TALKING ELLIE BRO THEY LITERALLY STARTING HUSHING EACH OTHER AS I APPROACHED LMAOOOOO

there are so many people at the bar at fucking 6:30am ya’ll

“i don’t wanna hear what that bigot has to say” as you fucking should ellie

also maria is so pretty!!!!

and dina is patroling w ellie?

sooooo many great signs here 🥲

“bigot sandwiches” SHE’S SO FUNNY

CARD #2 BRO YEEEAAAA

“we’re fine” BC THEY HAD THE TALK ON THE PORCH AND 😭😭😭😭😭😭

DIIIINNNNAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!

“i’m not even playing!” THERE SHE IS FERAL ELLIE

“i hate this kid so much” okay and i love ellie

“you wanna fuck em up?” THEY’RE SO MADE FOR EACH OTHER YOU’RE JOKING

THE SNOWBALL FIGHT WAS SO FUCKING CUTE AHHHHH

DINA IS SO GOOD W KIDS 🥹

THE SPARKLES IN THE SNOW?? GODDAMN

DO I HEAR KHARY PAYTON AT THESE STABLES??

they even included the detail of farriers dude there is someone cleaning this horse’s hoof

AND YURI LOWENTHAL WOOOOOO

shimmer acquired ✅

I DON’T WANNA LEAVE JACKSON DUDE

and the music seems so ominous like HSKAHSKAHSOS

FUCK IT’S THE CABIN

I SAW MEL

I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT IS HAPPENING

THIS EARLY?????

PLAYING AS HER?? THIS EARLY???

THE FABRIC ANIMATION ON HER SLEEPING BAG??? INSANE

listen i have nothing but raging and wholesome love for laura bailey but this one is gonna be difficult

her performance is phenomenal don’t get me wrong. this is just gonna be hard

THIS EARLY??

also they all start exiting a garage

joel rode the horse out of the garage

ellie lives in a remodeled garage/shed

and abby walks out of the garage w owen

idk if that’s a connection at all but just something i noticed i guess

owen also gives me weird vibes idk

this feels wrong being on the stick as abby

yooooooo that’s a really cool camera trick to convey her perception of heights and her fear

the snow and scenery look fucking gorgeous oh my god

FUCK of course he wanted to show her JACKSON

FUCKIN HELL

AND OF COURSE HE SAW JOEL AND TOMMY GO ON PATROL

MOTHERFUCKERRRRRRR

“assuming he’s in there, how do we get to him?”

I KNOW WHO THE FUCK THEY’RE TALKING ABOUT AND I’M SICK TO MY FUCKING STOMACH

AND NOW I HAVE TO LEAD HER TO JOEL???

F U C K DUDE I’M KAVSKABSKSH

i genuinely am so fucking anxious dude

like my hands are sweating and my stomach is turning over and i’m gonna vom bro

this is ALOT of dead folks oh my god

DODGE?? fuck yea

OH MY GOD THE WAY SHE STOMPED ITS HEAD AHHHH

this game is definitely more brutal damn

GOD THE INFECTED ARE SO MUCH SCARIER

“where’s the patrol?” NO WHERE. LONG GONE. SOOOOOOOOO GONE.

ellie and dina are so cute together

THE BONG💀

honestly eugene sounded pretty fuckin awesome i would wanna go out like him too

GOD I LOVE SNOWY ENVIRONMENTS

“i was thinking of inviting joel over for a movie” i- wh- 😭😭😭😭😭

cheesy 80s action movies??? MY KIND OF GUY BRO!

ALSO PLEASE NAUGHTY DOG STOP GIVING HIM MORE HUMANITYYYY AND GRAVITAS IT HUURTS

“you wanna meet up after?” “uhh.. okay. i’ll play guitar for you.” ELLIEEEEEEEEEE I SEE YOU

ANUTHA CARD BABYYYYY

i was wondering when we would see infected

dina worried about ellie dying bc of infection and ellie’s like “deal.” 😶

oh shit this storm is picking up HELLA

EUGENE WAS A FIREFLY

i wish so badly for them to go more into joel and tommy’s time after outbreak day jfc

ANUTHA CARD

ANUTHA PS3

damn i wish we had a ps3 in the library

i love the new weapons upgrade system

like you physically see the gun change and add shit onto it

so dope

DAMN! eugene had WEED bro

but this also means….

it’s super close now..

“smash bradi’s cooch” BRO NOT THE PLAY ON NAUGHTY DOG GAME TITLES

omg plz the way she breaks the joint jar

THERE WAS SOMETHING ELSE I MEANT TO LOOK AT BEFORE THIS CUTSCENE GODDAMNIT

their chemistry is CRAZZYYYYY dude i feel like i’m intruding on their time

THE WAY ELLIE LOOKS AT HEEERRRRRRR

THE WAY THEY LOOK AT EACH OTHERRRRRRRR

THE WAY SHE FLICKS THE JOINT AND GRABS HER FACE WAS SMOOOOOOTH AS FUCK

oh no. ohhhhh no. i am now abby. oh fuck.

fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck

A HORDE???? THIS IS HORRIFYING OH MY GOD

THE FENCE IS GONNA CRUSH MEEEEEEEEE

i have to pause. it’s joel. i-

FUUUUUCK

FUCK. HER REACTION WHEN TOMMY TELLS HER ITS JOEL. FUCK.

LAURA BAILEY IS SO GOOD

AND THE WAY HER VOICE GETS SHAKY?

LAUUURRRRAAAAAAAAAA

TELLING THEM WHERE HER FRIENDS ARE AND THAT’S GONNA LEAD THEM TO THE CABIN AND FUUUUUUUUUUUCK MAN.

GOOODDD LAURA’S ACTING. JESUS.

AND THEN CUT TO ELLIE AND DINA AHHH

WAIT I THOUGHT SHE TOLD DINA SHE WAS IMMUNE LATER???? IS SHE GOING TO RN??

SHE IS. OH MY GOD.

i’m lowkey glad she doesn’t believe it

“tommy and joel didn’t show up”

NOT PREPARED

FUCK FUCK FUCK THEY’RE INSIDE THE HOUSE NOW

i literally feel sick to my stomach i’m so worried for him and tommy and ellie bro

tommy’s being so nice to them offering them supplies and everything too GOOOOODDDDDD

FUUUUUCK THE WAY THEY ALL LOOK UP AT HIM WHEN HE INTRODUCES HIMSELF AS JOEL

FUUUUUCK THE SHOTGUN

when i tell you that i am so close to losing my dinner i am not joking

THE EMOTION IN HIS EYES WHEN HE LOOKED AT ELLIE

HE LOOKED SO TIRED BUT SO SCARED FOR ELLIE

i am pausing. jesus fucking christ. (stopped for a good while here bc obvious reasons)

it hurts me knowing that ellie didn’t even have the strength to even stand up when dina found her and joel and tommy.

tommy coming to check on her😭

she looks about as bad as i do rn

my poor sweet ellie🥺

tommy’s so awkward bc he’s probably like “does joel want me to treat her like a daughter? do i carry on what he started? do i try to forge this relationship with her?” and struggling to tell ellie that they may not be able to afford going to seattle if it means that ALL of jackson would be vulnerable. bc he doesn’t like it either. he wants to go for abby too.

FUCK man.

THE HUG.

F U C K

THE HEADSTONE STOP

the lil chair and wind chimes outside🥹

all the flowers out front??????

he really had an impact on jackson🥺

her hand shaking at the door FUCK

HE HAD A COWBOY HAAATTTT😭😭😭😭

HIS OWL MUG 😭

IS THIS PAGE OF HER JOURNAL WET WITH TEARS?? AND/ OR TEAR STAINED???

THE MUSEUM PAMPHLET A H H

her drawing of him oh my god i’m C R Y I N G

you can tell he loved her so much. there’s pieces of her all over the house.

HE NEVER FINISHED HIS CARPENTRY PROJECT

THE MIRROR IN THE UPSTAIRS BATHROOM IS OFF THE WALL AND COVERED. JOEEELLLL.😭😭😭😭😭

it looks broken as well. maybe i’m reading too much into it. maybe not

THE PICTURE OF HIM AND SARAH IN A WHITE FUCKING FRAME I’M GONNA LOSE MY MIND

AND A PICTURE OF HIM AND ELLIE NEXT TO IT

no one look at me. no one talk to me. no one perceive me. oh my fucking god.

his jacket and how ellie just stays there. oh my god.

THE WATCH.

THE MUSIC.

I’M FUCKING DONE DUDE.

is that his fucking shirt from the night he lost sarah. i fuckin-

NAUGHTY DOOOOGGGGGGGG

the idiots guide to space book and readers on the bedside table😭😭 SO HE COULD TALK TO ELLIE ABOUT SPAAAACE

bless maria’s heart dude. i love her

SEATTLE DAY 1

omg she’s telling dina the story about the hunter that tried to drown joel in the hotel

alright i’m stopping here before going forward bc i’m fucking exhausted emotionally and physically haha

jesus fucking christ is how i would summarize that first session. jesus fucking christ.

[nochi-quinn]

legend of vox machina watch party episodes 7-9: kareawkward

EPISODE 7

ohGOD my headset clicked on just as they started yelling

they all spontaneously forget how to introduce themselves

"I play Pike! and that's it"

PLEASE HOLD THE WATCH PARTY ISN'T WORKING BC IT THINKS I'M IN A DIFFERENT REGION

jasper the fluff bunny luck dragon!

dagon ;-;

dagon was a conure

matt and marisha are going to kill you both

Please Forgive Me Percy

"think good thoughts. don't make eye contact."

"I have WONDERFUL sketches" "you also have many strange skills."

"I don't want to"

grog strongjaw: kind of a crackhead

Legend of Vox Machina: Put Down Cursed Weapons

cursed weapons: not even once

"FUCK THAT ROCK"

hey kurama check it out I'm a blood fountain

(I have resisted making that joke three times now, I am only so strong)

"if you wanna flirt with someone, stop being mean to her friends"

right, taliesin, a friend

keto grog

"what a DING-DONG"

"I fought for that butthole"

YES they also made me think of Stray

"how often are you gonna see a bear and a jackalope team up?"

"did they complain a lot about it, is what I'm asking"

and then cheech marin happens

"we've all been there before" "allegedy!"

augh tal's mic picking up his drinking noises

two emo boys being emo

"no, I'm alone" "no, I AM"

Dragon Zoom

"dad went out for a gold hoard"

I need the "bleh" noise from naruto abridged put over grog there

"she did [the reverb] herself, just with her voice"

flashbacks to early c1 when laura had to leave early for an audition and sam was making fun of her for where it was

"isn't this fun, watching tv with my frien - oh shit I have a job"

oh, fearne is on sam's shirt

travis how does the lavalier jabbing you in the neck like that not bother you. it's bothering me second-hand

"these are things people have told me about tripping out"

no I hate this

I'm so glad they didn't do this sdlkfjsl

bury it in the new mexico desert

"maybe we'll use it in the future!" "no, no I don't think we will"

I stepped away but I had my headset on so I got to hear "daddy garmelie" and I don't like it

The Nipples Are Implied

Bondage Keyleth

"vax in the knot" is an entirely different part of the fandom

ONE HUNDRED PERCENT thought she was gonna say "hey taliesin speaking of penises"

I was gonna say, taliesin that's you, you're the nerd who went to japan

The Criticalrole

"that's so much worse than in my head, I wanna do it again"

"see….seven characters is a lot to draw"

animators: pls kill someone

the little drama play that just went on in the back row

mica is gonna bully them into singing again

he's definitely never heard that one before

EPISODE 8

look I know he's friends with like two thirds of the cast but also: why

this entire operation is a shambles

oh I stand corrected, that's NOT sam. iphone brandon auman (?) sounds very much like sam

did this man just use "exotic" to describe a human person

edit from the future: a NIGERIAN human person, x2 Please Leave

lmao owlbear is still copyrighted

the fonz!

I also deeply enjoyed the backlight

"she's got issues! you got issues!"

mica saying all the shit I said in my liveblog like eight hours ago

a minor crisis happened in my house but honestly fuck it, I have not been enjoying any of this

imagine: we could have had liam in this watch party

"the scream I scrumpt" s a m e

I appreciate those leaf wipe transitions so much more now

troy baker also did not realize how long it takes to get to the cast, it gets me every time

no no let him leave

"we! are! professionals!"

that! that! that thing I said! god thank you for validating me cast of legend of vox machina

(check my individual episode liveblogs, true believers!)

"how much bernie sanders do we want?"

"EVERYONE in the trickfoot family" he said pointedly into the camera

"thanks for making everything feel worse" truer words

I love all of those

Phantom String

taliesin just casually creating character and world lore mid-game it's fine

EPISODE 9

oh thank god he's gone

matt's not here to sing with the intro, everybody else has to

PALETTE cleanser

I saw chris in the credits, did NOT catch him here

I am upset with myself

grog is canonically a swiftie

"vox machina muppet babies" PRINT IT

oh THAT'S what that was, I thought I was just not remembering something from campaign 1

SHE

Cute Cat Babies

kittenari

"everyone was fantastic this season" as opposed to last season

grgreagrandfather

I'm crying againnnn

animators cried over goop monster, confirmed

cries in digital artist

if a dragon wore pants how would he wear them

"if your skin peels back when you hear it, it's taliesin"

Evil Falcor

"DOES JET FUEL MELT STEEL BEAMS"

does dragon acid melt metal hands

"horrible father" "I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, LAURA"

"there were so many pigs!" "and now they're bacon"

I have appreciated all of the animation so much this season, the color and the light and the aaahhhh

I like pike's little turn on "wwwwhat do you mean"

someone confirm if the guy in the back is supposed to be pipsqueak from atla

"the saddest cannonball"

the toothpick barricades!!

oh shit that's right the last episodes are in like two days

"using blender" the overwatch porn program?

I have something bouncing around my head about how pike and wilhand let grog learn how to be silly but I haven't been able to words it

sketchy pike and groooog

sketchy grog's little hip jut

it's me I'm questions

"because it's cute" is a completely valid answer

I think I commented on matt's jaw dislocating in my original liveblog lmao

"is this gonna kill the animators??"

Grog For Scale

OH WAIT I JUST REMEMBERED THE BEAR TATTOO

…and what happened to the bear tattoo

I feel like sam needs a nap

like mood but also someone let this man sleep

oh no he broke arthur

mica's leaving. mica's just gonna walk out.

all the herdspeople wear collars to hide where the neck seam meets the body

"just say yes"

The Button Arc

wasn't that a veth thing

ashley trying desperately to keep up with sam

"I don't know what I just saw, it doesn't make much sense"

oh good lord

I've said this before but if I would love to hear Sam sing without being a goober

dflksdjfslk

laura breaks IMMEDIATELY

and made NO attempt to try to bring it back

"that's as close to top gun as life is ever gonna get"

"why am I getting southern. you guys have tainted me."

ooh, phil bourassa! there were ostensibly other names in there, I was just typing and didn't hear them.

[namimikan]

i do wish k'ehlyr had survived, mostly bc 2 eps wasn't enough, but also, honestly, i think she could have been the one to make worf less rigid in his klingon idealization tbh.

i mean, listen, one of the reasons i like worf with troi is bc he doesn't go on and on about the klingon way, and this has... awful consequences with ezri thanks to jadzia, and just ugh. he is unbearable in ds9. inheriting riker's curse in s7 ig!!!!!! but also: him and jadzia are terrible together, at least on first viewing.

so i'd have been curious to see k'ehlyr and worf be coparents -- tho i presume had k'ehlyr lived, they'd have gotten married. but k'ehlyr was much more easy going a parent to alexander, and wanted to let him find his own way, rather than worf getting upset for not knowing the klingon way. which i do think, to a degree, is a valid concern and he's right to voice them. it is something that needs to be discussed between them. but it only seemed that the klingon way was that mattered, rather than that 1/4 human heritage.

anyway, as it happens, worf is a deadbeat dad and i absolutely hate what happens to alexander, he deserved so much better, and i really really hate that star trek both tng and ds9 weren't consistent with how he grows up, bc he should have been like 2 or so in reunion and instead he looks 6ish, to say nothing of him becoming an adult in ds9, when he should have been... maybe 8? 10?

[awigglycultist]

Just rewatched TCBoB! Thoughts below cut

"Spotlight up on an actual teenage boy"

I love MC, he's trying so hard, he's so hyper and excited

And Honk

"we hooked up last summer but who didn't"

Love the small details of these characters, stuff that isn't super important the story but is still mentioned. Like ofc Cole being trans and Eric and Cole having divorced parents.

"and my estrogen pills"

"this is Bethanne, she's... This is Bethanne!"

MC's freak out is so great and and funny

Oh also love that anime maniacs is one of the groups in the song

"especially to be here with my fellow seniors!... Who are no longer listening to me..."

"we hooked up last summer but who didn't"

Eric looks at Max's ass

Wtf is Eric doing while Kris and Max are talking

The Vomsquad™

"any choice is better that no choice except a bad choice"

"don't try to blackmail the casting guy.. not that I've tried"

I fucking love Max bursting out into song ready to go not realizing he was supposed to go into the theatre

"heres the thing about acting Mark" "Max"

*comes in dancing* "biffed it! :)" *clapping*

Hngg poor Bethanne I love her so much and I relate to her so much too

"pretend your Magic Mike and let your dangler swim free"

I fucking love the dance call, watching everyone mess up in their own way

"ooww my ankle" "your fine."

"I don't wanna step on anyones toes but this is kinda borning now" I literally gasped the first time I saw that part, especially bc I had just been talking about the Starship rehearsal story early

Love, Eric always hiding his emotions, love Chill, love Chill going from "I stay chill when I'm nervous about theatre" to "I hide my emotions when my parents get divorced"

"Max I hope you learn to love yourself! :). Go goats!!"

"THAT'S ABSOLUTELY A FUCKING LIIEEE"

"I don't wanna be one of those characters that disappears and you don't see for the rest of the act" seriously 10/10 joke

Body Language > I Don't Dance

Body Language is a song that you really do just wanna get up and dance too

I love Max and Jean and I would love to see them get together and future version of tcbob

"huh that actor looks like my wife"

Also again so glad we got a Lauren and James dance number

"this Troy Bolton bitch"

Oh!! Also I love how they incorporate the actual tcbob scripts in the first act as the characters holding the Matrix the Musical script

Lovee Cole and Bethanne sm

"the kind only a highschooler could pull off"

Love MC coming out of nowhere

Also love MC being aware of the audience and winking at the camera

"Jean and Max were ready for you" "body language! :D" ".. Alright"

Garrett is the best I love him the sweetest guy he cares about Alex so much

"yeah... Yeah.. I was there with you. Who is this for?"

Max and Jean definitely messed up the scene together bc they were distracted by dancing

"I'M HAVING A HEART ATTACK" "no your not" I CAN'T BREAATTHH"

Love how Cole gets ready to leave not even realizing her name wasn't said

Kris is annoying and selfish af but I love him

"unprofessional." ">:0"

"I would give you standing O but I'd be out of frame"

Love Daniel's clapping after the songs, his face is literally :D but irl

How dare he not wait for his wife

But also how does it take so long to feed a meter or pee

Love Max just hugging and picking up MC. Max doesn't forget about who got him to where is he now

"I'm begging you. I need this.... I HATE YOU DAD I HATE YOU"

Kris is so mad

Eric is just so annoyed and feed up with everyone saying their show could be on broadway

"since this fantasy I'm 10 ft tall with a million dollars!"

"that dumptrack of an ass"

"wanna take a dip? 👀 :)" Max definitely likes Jean

Why is Eric just listing all the drinks so funny to me

Ugh Bethanne and Cole <3

"hey you can't wear that out of the theatre! Thats a rental" "oh I thought it was mine to keep. It had a peice of tape with my name on it"

"you had to be there Jean"

*puts sock on head* "what's the number for 911!?" *moving hands around wildly*"Well it's not pizza! Sorry sorry sorry!"

"INTO THE UNKNOOOWN!!"

"he does the most annoying thing someone could do at party. He begins to strum a guitar"

"I've never heard of them! That sounds amazing!"

"do I miss high school? Not one bit! Who even asked me that? So random.."

"if gain to much weight their not cool with that. They'll fire me"

"I will never forget that smell it was fucking awful"

"hAlarious"

Kris slowing walking up and then slowing backing up

How does everyone believe that Alex actually made a scavenger hunt like it was so obviously joke guys-

Love Alex <3 and Cueless is so beautiful

*Alex absolutely chugging the alcohol*

*camera zooms in on Joey's ass*

"I wish that Cole and I were twins and that I ate her in the womb"

"hot goss gimme gimme that goss gimme gimme that goss that's hot"

Love how everyone is spreading rumours about each other. It starts with Kris and Eric trying to spread rumours about Cole but instead everyone starts spreading rumors about everyone.

I love Alex's drunk breakdown

Max's warmup freak out is hilarious

"here is something the other kids out there aren't ready here: if you do something you love you'll never work another day in your life"

"that's not what I saw out there Beth" "anne" "and!"

No one:.. Theo: *trying to fucking hook up with everyone*

"wait.. Are you a scientologist?"

I Suck Reprise is something I needed to hear

"mind if I vape out here?" "you vape now?" "I saw a billboard telling me not to vape so naturally"

"ew what is that? Cotton candy crush or some shit are you five?"

"dreamcasting is actually very problematic and lot of people have told me it hurts their feelings" "your talking about yourself Joshua"

UGH BETHANNE AND COLE <33

"that was really fucking girlboss what you said" "ew don't call me girlboss"

"what do even a friend do? Am I alien? Am I a girlboss?"

*Alex still having a breakdown* Theo: "mm that's awesome" *attempts to hook up/suduce her*

"wow what the f is this mess"

The fact that Theo saying the jacuzzi is lukewarm is what makes Kris try to fight him

The school flag on the crutch is so funny

Poor MC

Love that Max takes MC with him. Like there was no need, he could've left him but he was like "you don't need to be here bud you have no idea what's going on let's go and leave these guys alone"

"yess! Bethanne we stan a decisive queen!"

"mm the alternative being you acting little bitch"

"these are undoubtedly the craziest times in our lives! Like literally life will never be as crazy as this semester!"

"And with you~~"

Love everyone being in character durning the curtain call

Anyway I absolutely love this characters and their interactions with each other. The soundtrack is absolutely amazing Clark did so good. And everyone really popped off singing!! And it's so cool to see how far Joey, Lauren and Brian have come since 2009. Despite not actually being in theater myself I find several of the characters very relatable to myself and I'm sure other even if not in theater can relate to any of these characters. TCBoB is just so great.

[tloujm]

Part XXVI: Giving Grief

Author’s Notes: This is the first chapter I’ve posted in months (literally since April). I don’t know if this is a full comeback. I have a few chapters in the drafts that need to be edited and formatted for posting but after that, I still plan on continuing the series bc my plan was always have a long fic. With no new content after part II of the game was released, my interest in the fandom waned but was always there. Now with HBO creating a show based off the game, as well as me being apart of the Pedro Pascal fandom, I think I will soon become more consistent in posting as new content gets released. I will say that at least half of what appeals to me for Joel is Troy Baker’s voice and while I love Pedro’s voice too, I know it won’t be the same. I still think Pedro will do the voice justice bc he can do a damn fine country accent as seen in the movie Prospect on Netflix. If you’re a fan of his and have Netflix, please go watch it!

Genre: Angst and Fluff

Summary: You and Joel reconcile and bond over Ellie and Sarah. 

Ship: Joel Miller x Fem!Reader

Joel waited for you to come home. He paced back and forth in the kitchen switching from holding the card and setting it down on the counter. He was eager to talk to you about this new revelation partly because he was nervous to have the other conversation with you. After a while of calming his nerves down, you still hadn’t come home. The sun had set an hour ago and Joel was ready to throw on his boots and go looking for you. 

Just as he laced them up, the front door opened. You walked in and immediately stopped because his body blocked you from walking in the house further. 

“Going somewhere?” You asked as you slid past him. He was a grown man and could do what he wanted, but the thought of him leaving to go do other things before the issue between you was resolved upset you. 

He reached back down to unlace his boots. “Not anymore. I was ‘bout to head out and find you.”

“Why?” You asked dryly.

“I’d been waiting on you to come home for a couple of hours. We gotta talk.”

“You’re right, we do. I was helping Wendy walk the kids home from the daycare; that’s what held me up. I’m here now, though.” You leaned against the back of the couch and crossed your arms. The stance you took reminded you of what Joel would do.

He walked into the kitchen and came back. “Kiddo made this for us.”

You took it in your hands. “When did she have time to make this?” He shrugged. Your fingers brushed across the drawing of the hat before finally opening it. “Oh my God.” She looked at you for a split second before looking back down at her signature. “Her name has been ‘Ellie’ the whole time.”

“I know.” He commented. 

“She never said anything. All of us have asked her.”

“Technically, she still hasn’t spoken her name, but I guess she wasn’t ready for that.”

“She wasn’t ready to let anybody in.” You said. He nodded in agreement.

“Until now.” He walked up to you and pointed to her name on the card. “She’s doing so good, this Ellie. I can only try to imagine the horrors that she’s seen out in the world before she came to Jackson, but whatever happened out there, it led her to us. I’m...It’s just nice to see her opening up to this place.”

You understood what he was trying to say. “Yeah, I’m proud of her too.” You walked past him and into the kitchen to hang the card on the refrigerator. Joel followed. This time, his arms were crossed.

“(Y/N), I meant it when I said I was sorry back there. I shouldn’t have said what I did.”

“If you didn’t mean it, you wouldn’t have said it.” You rebutted.

“I was upset with you because I expected you to react the same as me when Ellie climbed up that T-Rex, but I don’t want a carbon copy of myself. I love you and want to have a family with you because you are wise beyond your years, confident even if you don’t always think so, responsible even for things that aren’t your responsibility and most importantly, you’re level headedness. Where I have a tendency to lose my cool in certain situations, you are guided by this calm...patient sense of will that I envy.” He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, giving you the opportunity to say something. Seeing that you were still soaking in his words, he continued. “You’ll be a great mother. I saw it in the gentle way you juggled all those kids at the daycare. I saw it in the way you took care of Ellie the first day she came here. You’ll see though, if it’s meant for us to have a baby, how difficult it is to stop worrying. It didn’t stop when Sarah....even when I tried to push those feelings away. It doesn’t stop. I know she’s not her, but it’s hard for me to just stand by and watch her do something that could hurt her.”

“I wasn’t standing by, or at least that wasn’t my intention. I wanted to give her space. She’s so delicate, or maybe that’s my problem. I shouldn’t treat her like she’s some glass figurine. I just wanted her to grow comfortable with us by trusting her. Believe me, it wasn’t easy for me to do when there was nothing personally for me to go off of, but then I thought, she’s lived out there for God knows how long by herself. She’s not only seen things but has been able to survive things. It’s hard to see how clever someone is when they won’t let you in, but I knew she had to be to have made it this far. I get it though. I’ve never been a parent. I can only sympathize with your worries. I can not empathize with you until I’ve been where you have. I’m sorry too. I could have found a way to give her space without allowing her to be in such a dangerous spot. You must be disappointed in me.”

He moved up to you and placed his hands on your shoulder. “I’m not. Look at me. I’m not disappointed in you. She was both of our responsibilities earlier.” He brought you into a tight hug. “You’re right, she is smart. She felt comfortable enough to show a side of herself that no one else has seen. You know why? ‘Cause she felt safe around us. Despite the grief she put me through, it was nice to see her so happy.”

“I know it was, wasn’t it? I can’t believe she jumped though! I didn’t think she’d go that far.”

“At the end of the day, kids will be kids. It’s not an excuse to slack off on raising ‘em, but there's just a certain wild and carefree nature that every kid has. It’s instilled in their DNA or somethin’ and then it fades away as they get older, about the time their back starts to ache.” Joel chuckled as he explained. He kissed the top of your head before pulling away to get a good look at you. He made a face as if to ask if you were ok. You nodded. He took your hand and pulled you into the living room. You sat down next to him. “She reminds me of Sarah sometimes. Ellie’s about the same age as her. She ran me through the ringer, raising that one.” He chuckled at the memories. “I wouldn’t trade it in for the world, being her dad, but you shoulda seen the amount of grief she put me through. Especially being a single parent.” He wiped his hand across his face, letting it linger along the length of his neck. “One time, she snuck off to some skate park when I told her no. She was in this skateboarding phase. I bought her a customized skateboard for her birthday and she would practice using it up and down the driveway. She had barely learned that little flippy trick when she asked me to take her to the skate park. I told her no because it looked like it was for experienced skaters. I wanted her to practice more first. To say the least, she was mad at me. She told me she was staying after school for the science club, but she really went to the skate park with some friends. By the time I figured out where she was, I found her lying in the grass, holding her arm in pain. Turned out she had a hairline fracture in her...radius?” He pointed to the bone on his arm. You nodded that it was in fact called radius. “I grounded her for lying to me, but sometimes I wonder if I should have taken her to the park. I mean I’m no expert on skateboarding, but at least I could have been there to supervise; make sure she wasn’t on one of those tough looking ramps.”

“Did you ever take her skateboarding after she healed up?”

“After the cast came off, she switched interests to soccer. I installed a shelf on one of her walls to hang the skateboard on. Better that than being stuffed under her bed. Soccer was her life though. She made new friends from the team, won titles, learned tricks with the ball. Me and Tommy were regulars at her games. I was...am proud of her.”

You smiled as you envisioned his memories. “Did she give you grief with that as well?”

He nodded in an exaggerated way. “Oh yeah, but I’m sure I used to give her grief too.” You lifted your eyebrows with desire for him to elaborate. “I may or may not have argued with the coach and ref on a few occasions regarding plays.”

“You never dated any of the soccer moms?” You teased.

He scoffed. “Most of them were married and the ones who weren’t, I sent Tommy’s way instead. He wasn’t mad at it.” The two of you chuckled. “I did flirt with a few, married or not, so I could get my hands on some of their homemade baked goods.”

“I was under the assumption that soccer moms made food for everyone.”

“They did, but I still wanted a few more cupcakes for the ride home.” He admitted as you laughed. “Listen, I had a busy life. I didn’t have much time to hone my baking skills, so it was nice to be able to have homemade cakes and cookies for a change.

“Well, if you wanted cookies, that’s all you had to say! I can show you how to bake right now.”

“It’s late.” He reasoned.

“It’s never too late to feed your sweet tooth.” You rebutted as you pulled him back into the kitchen.

[epicene-humanoid]

some trans Jeff thoughts:

he realized he was trans in elementary school and just went fuck it I'll just start introducing myself as Jeffery and see if anyone decides to stop me (as we know, jeff winger can get away with almost anything)

he got top surgery the second he could afford it (around the same time he started at his law firm), and probably bribed someone to keep it a secret

"I'm jeff winger and i would rather look at myself naked than the women I sleep with" are the words of a man proud of his transition

he's really insecure about his fashion sense, which is why he mostly dresses like the douchey guys at his firm in the start of the show, he thought you can't go wrong with the sleazy lawyer look

he will never admit it but he feels super good about the dean hitting on him, because the dean is a (cis) guy, acknowledging that Jeff is more manly than him

i think he starts out stealth and comes out to everyone one by one, probably starting with abed because he knows abed won't judge him and will probably just see it as an interesting backstory.

abed just says it's cool and maybe worth a prequel exploring Jeff's transition, and jeff asks him to predict how all of the members of the group will react to him coming out.

abed's predictions:

britta will be over-the-top supportive and do a ton of research about trans history, probably put together a slideshow just to prove how progressive she is, and jeff will be a little bit weirded out, but also touched that she did all that for him, though he would never let her know that

shirley will be confused, because she doesn't know how someone she trusts and knows so well could be part of a group she was raised to hate, but ultimately realizes that there's nothing actually against the lgbtq people in the bible, and, as a cool character development arch, starts to advocate against use of the bible to justify bigotry

troy will just think it over and decide that Jeff's physique and coolness are even awesomer knowing how much work he'd had to put in to be like that, and respects Jeff's manliness even more

annie will give him a hug, say something sweet about how she'll always love him, and worry about his health, because even she read somewhere that taking testosterone makes you more likely to have a heart attack, jeff will explain that the risk is still only as high a cis guy, and she'll be the one to always remind him to take his shots

peirce will say at best say "jeff winger used to be a chick?" and at worst call him a slur, either way there's sure to be a lot of misgendering from him, and pestering to know Jeff's deadname (needless to say, Jeff just doesn't tell peirce)

the whole group goes out of their way to keep their beach trips a secret from pierce (the girls don't want him there anyways, he's too liable to be creepy) even though jeff knows that even if pierce saw his scars, all he would have to do is make up a story about some childhood accident and pierce would never question it

sorry this ended up being super long. can I hear some of your headcanons for him?

YES ALL THIS!!! yes yes i’m fully accepting this as canon oh my god

i’m about to type a whole ass ESSAY at midnight because i have been DYING to talk about this for months ajfdksljk,,, this is going to be obscenely long and i might end up adding even more to it as i continue to rewatch the show because there is truly no shortage of trans jeff content (especially when you’re trans and see transness in every little thing ajdkslfkjs)

spoiler warning for literally everything about this show under the cut <3

i 100% agree, i feel like he realized he was trans super young, especially since in the show we see him as a little kid a couple of times. 

like look at little jeff with the oversized sweatshirt and little ponytail!! that’s childhood trans fashion. not to be dramatic but part of me thinks that jeff’s dad left before he fully came out to his family (which gives him even more angst about it, because until that one Thanksgiving episode, he’s never able to prove to his dad that he’s a better man), but part of me thinks that his dad left after he came out (which adds that spicy i-should-have-stayed-in-the-closet guilt that he has to work through). 

either way, because his dad wasn’t there, he had to base his concept of masculinity on something else, which was becoming a lawyer!! there’s some line that’s like “after the dust and divorce papers were settled the only man i looked up to was [the lawyer guy]”. like, replacing your father figure in your mind with the concept of “a job where you can talk your way in and out of anything and distort other people’s concept of reality”? that’s trans.

 and the fucking THANKSGIVING EPISODE... i struggle to watch it without crying hehe <3 yeowch! the dichotomy of willy jr. being the “wrong” kind of man because he’s “too soft” but jeff also not being enough despite adhering to all the social standards of masculinity... fuck!! this whole scene of him telling his dad “i am Not well adjusted” and talking about how he gave himself an “appendix surgery scar” when he was a kid and he still keeps the get-well-soon letters from his classmates under his bed? oh my god. the implication of people loving him not despite his scars but because of them?? trans. i can’t think about this episode for too long or i’ll start yelling.

OH and this scene? where he talks about how his mom got him a girl costume for halloween?? and everyone said “what a cute little girl” and after a few houses he stopped correcting them?? and “once the shame and the fear wore off, i was just glad they thought i was pretty”?? THAT’S TRANS... the man needs validation oh my god... and then in all the halloween episodes we see he has these ultra-masculine costumes (a cowboy, David Beckham, one of the fast and furious guys even though he never watched the movies, a boxer with his DAD’S boxing gloves... god) costumes are about becoming something else and he always chooses to be hypermasculine and that is trans.

THE PHYSICAL EDUCATION EPISODE!!!!!!! being uncomfortable during P.E. is a queer experience. period. but him being specifically uncomfortable in the clothes someone else is assigning to him? trans. “are we gonna talk about clothes like a girl? or use tapered sticks to hit balls around a cushioned mat like a man?” TRANS. and him eventually stripping in public? celebration of transness. and the fact that he eventually becomes comfortable in both the uniform and his own style!! trans!! god i love this episode. 

AND AND AND!!! the gay dean coming out episode!!! where it’s the three of them discussing the best way for the dean to come out as gay despite not entirely identifying with that label!! so we have both frankie and the dean who are sort of ambiguously queer, and jeff who’s a stealth trans man who’s probably only out to only the study group at this point. this scene where the dean and jeff have this like eyebrow communication while frankie is talking is just so cute. queer-to-queer communication. “I am so curious” “oh?” “intellectually.” “oh...” ajfdksljfk this scene just screams high school GSA to me and i love it so much.

and SPEAKING of the dean!! i totally see you on that. i feel like jeff has some internalized homophobia/biphobia (like he’d throw punches over someone else, but when it comes to himself he has a lot of shame). and also seeing the dean so confident in all his different outfits/costumes has a weird affect on him bc it’s like “okay, the dean, a cis guy, can do that, but i as a trans guy could Not because that’s Breaking the Rules”. which, like, throwback to the halloween thing. of course there’s no right way to be masculine, but mr. winger does not know that.

another thing!! the episode where their emails get leaked? that includes his emails with his therapist. fuck!! he was outed to the whole world in that episode!! no wonder he was so fucking angry!! this whole episode (and really any time he mentions his therapist) is so interesting when you think about them as a person he talks to about his transition. OH which adds to the thing with the dean!! “and you told your therapist you wanted to be alone this weekend” and “not you jeff, i know you’ll be visiting your dad” ”I told you to stop reading my emails”. luckily his study group has his back and just makes fun of him for emailing astronauts lmao

and WHO can forget “they’re giving out an award for most handsome young man!!!!” what else is there to say about this line besides: he’s trans. you know he didn’t get awarded enough for being a handsome young man when he was a kid, and no amount of compliments when he’s fully-grown can really make up for that. some people crash a kid’s bar mitzvah to cope with the fact that they struggled to be seen as themselves when they were a teenager <3

also his weird relationship with pierce? where he kind of hates him (understandably lmao) but at times has this almost-friends-almost-father-son relationship with him? especially in this episode where he’s forced to bond with him and ends up having a good time by accident (at a barber shop no less, the perfect place to Be A Man with your Man Friend). idk what to say about him besides the fact that pierce says his mom wanted a girl when he was born and made him dress like a girl (and his middle name is anastasia!) so if they’re gonna do any bonding over transness it’s gonna be that. 

okay one last thing and then i’ll shut up for the night. this episode kills me (and almost kills jeff hahahahelpi’mcrying). it’s a very Trans thing to not be able to visualize your future self, it just is. growing up trans at the time he did? i don’t know what kind of future he saw for himself, but i’m so happy that he ended up with a group of friends who became his family and love him the way they all do. i’m so emotional over this asshole it’s ridiculous. 

in conclusion:

they’re trans, your honor <3

[itonje]

i accidentally unfollowed you trying to send this ask... thats the anti anti song of achilles agenda trying to hijack me. anyway i dont know anything about greek stuff and ive never read song of achilles but i love drama, whats wrong with it?

HI also this has happened thrice with my mutuals once with claudio and once with ramon everyone unfollows me whilst trying to send asks anyways uhh i think the song of achilles is a poor iliad adaptation that kind of makes the characters either really milquetoast or really caricaturized beyond belief (the one character i think they did...relatively less awful with briseis just because for ONCE. for ONCE an adaptation didnt make her in love with achilles and actually leaned into her relationship with patroclus more which i really like as in the iliad the one time she speaks its not even about achilles lol. but she still only rlly exists to augment the achilles and patroclus relationship and also she dies in a really awful way which i HATE). like if a character is not made like wildly evil (agamemnon, thetis, neoptolemus and the latter i find funny cause hes just as bad as his dad is in the iliad and iliadic related content) theyre declawed to all HELL

and thetis being evil makes me so mad when she has a good relationship with achilles, maybe one of the most important relationships with achilles in the iliad, his best loved one other than patroclus, and its implied she cares for patroclus as well as shes the one to preserve his body and keep it from rotting but in here shes just. the homophobe mom who only exists to keep achilles and patroclus apart bc she hates patroclus which is SO stupid because it goes against one of her biggest character traits which is ‘she loves achilles so much and would do anything for him’ as well as so many of the women in this story only being a wedge between achilles and patroclus’ relationship (like deidamia) which is so misogynist and pisses me off SO much because theres so much more you could do with that! like i understand making the gods more distant and abstract and cold to humanity but there are canonically cruel ass gods in the iliad and thetis is not one of them!!! 

and going back to my declawed comment objectively the worst characterization here is patroclus. in the iliad patroclus is known to be very friendly and likeable among the greeks, he weeps when he hears of them being beaten by the trojans and one of his epithets is even ‘amicable’, as well as briseis saying he was the sweetest to her when she became a slave (because yes she was a slave she literally was a slave and no one acknowledges that because god forbid achilles and his men could be the the BAD guys here). 

 but hes not just nice lol! hes known to be a fantastic fighter and when he dons the armor of achilles and goes to fight the trojans he has the highest kill count of any iliad character! he tries to mount the walls of troy because he wants to destroy shit so bad he may be nice to the greeks but hes also an incredibly formidable and violent fighter (and he killed a guy at the age of 12 by the way hes just wild i love my crazy boyfriend soooo much) and tsoa just makes him. incompetent lol? so that achilles can like rescue him all the time which is so silly...lean into the warrior boyfriends dynamic you want to have warrior boyfriends who are crazy and kill people in your books SOOO bad 

also the song of achilles doesnt even lean into the kind aspect of him yeah hes nice to briseis and the women but where are his friendships w the greek men lol? what about him and menelaus?? theyre really good friends in the iliad, menelaus getting upset over patroclus’ death is heartbreaking too. 

but patroclus isnt an active character, everything that happens to him is just that-it happens to him. he makes NO active choices at all the only thing he does is ask achilles to let him fight for the greeks. hes just a witness to EVERYTHING he does NOTHING of genuine importance or active choice and i know that it was written like this so it could make achilles seem more important, (as well as leaning into the ‘oh we have no choice when it comes to how the gods play us’ but i would argue in the iliad whilst a theme of us being victims to our grander fate is there, the iliad also says that even though we cant control our ultimate futures we CAN control the choices we have in front of us, achilles giving back hectors body wont bring back pat or make him. not die eventually but he still does, and its still important. maybe the MOST important choice he makes. but thats... another thing lol) it is tsoa after all, but patroclus is also a main fucking character lol? and as important as achilles is to patroclus’ character so is patroclus’ to achilles! 

also even achilles seems like hes strung around first by his mother and then by the war and god it all seems like this is all here to absolve achilles of responsibility, to absolve him of wrong doing when in the iliad achilles does many many many things wrong as well as just being a bit of. an emotional hotcase (lol), and thats what makes him interesting! but no hes just whitewashed so that we dont have to feel bad for liking him and we wont find patroclus morally dubious for just going along with all of achilles’ shit out of love (when patroclus, like i said above, also does bad shit cause thats just how these characters are...most of the greeks do awful wretched shit in the iliad lol and they still are heroes with compelling characters cause like. moral ambiguity baybee) 

anyways this is all to say as an iliad adaptation it sucks. as a gay love story though. its fine lol? again. not my fav dynamic for these two but. this book isnt meant for people who are like hardcore achilles kinnies or whatever the fuck or have been reading and fixating on greek myth since they were baby like me lol. i know there are lgbt kids who read percy jackson or whatever or are vaguely familiar with greek myth who are going to read this book and see themselves in it and be happy and content with the rep and thats wonderful. i recognize this book isnt really supposed to be for readers like me who are hardasses about adaptation and its okay for people to enjoy it as less of a greek myth interpretation and as the romance it actually is. the writing is very beautiful and yes it inspired some (positive) emotions out of me regardless. 

however if youre looking for gay greek myth content that actually has pretty interesting and compelling characters, with various heartbreaking stories and fascinating themes about divinity, fate, humanity, and love well. just read the iliad. 

[hiimsociallyawkward]

Dear Lara Jean,

HI. so i watched TATBILB: A&F a few weeks ago, and I have some words. Before I begin, i'd like to preface that i'm literally 17 and have no film experience, and that I've read this book once maybe 4 years ago but here it is.

ps. if you haven't gotten it already: there will be spoilers. Heavy spoilers.

first of all, i'm sorry but i really didn't like the little edit things. Maybe I've reached that point in my life where I don't f with that anymore. Like when theres a drawn house and it slowly fades so it's real life?? no thanks

the music choice... I honestly didn't have that big of a problem with it, but my korean friend kept going "wtf is this music choice" so i'm quoting her on that.

the filming and editing. well maybe it's just me but I didn't really like it. yk when you're watching a youtuber and they do those zoom in things and it's sort of fast and funny? I think there were a few times the movie did that and i didn't like it.

literally, lara jean looking directly into the camera?? it feels like it's breaking the 4th wall and maybe they're doing it to be edgy but no thanks i didn't like that either.

WHY???? Her breaking the 4th wall added NOTHING to the movie. It just took me out of the experience. I especially didn’t like it when they did it in PS I still love you when they temporarily broke up.

THEY SET THE MOVIE IN OREGON. WHAT WAS THE REASON. THE BOOK WAS SET IN VA, AND I LIVE IN VA SO I FELT A CONNECTION TO THE BOOK. AND THEN THEY GO AND SET IT IN OREGON. WHAT. WAS. THE. REASON

OREGON DIDN’T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING WITH THE COLLEGES. THEY’RE STILL PRETTY FAR AWAY FROM STANFORD. IN THE BOOK, UVA WAS CLOSE BY SO LJ WOULDN’T HAVE TO BE TOO FAR AWAY FROM HOME. NO OFFENSE TO THE STATE BUT WHY OREGON. THEY COULD OF PUT THEM IN CALI AT LEAST

ONE OF THE REASONS WHY LJ WANTED TO GO TO UVA IS BECAUSE HER FAMILY WOULD BE CLOSE BY. BY PUTTING THEM IN OREGON, YOU TAKE AWAY THAT REASON. i just want to 👊 whoever’s idea this was

FURTHERMORE: THEY CHANGED UVA AND UNC TO STANFORD AND NYU. I AM INFURIATED. THE WHOLE POINT WAS THAT THEY WANTED TO GO TO UVA BECAUSE IT WAS LIKE 10 MINS FROM WHERE THEY LIVED AND IT'S A STATE SCHOOL. LARA JEAN FELT LIKE THE WAS GAURANTEED TO GO TO UVA AND WHEN SHE DOESNT, IT ACTUALLY HURTS THE READERS.

in the book, LJ was waitlisted from UNC, rejected from UVA, and accepted to W&M. I’m sure you can find like 40 people at our school who can relate to this situation. I doubt 40 people in our school can relate to being rejected from Stanford BUT accepted to NYU. dear writers, please give teens across the nation (your target audience) realistic expectations for college admissions.

YOU'RE GONNA TELL ME THAT PETER AND LARA JEAN WERE ACTUALLY QUALFIED ENOUGH FOR STANFORD. LEMME JUST SAY, I'VE APPLIED FOR COLLEGES THIS YEAR AND I FEEL LIKE I HAVE A PRETTY GOOD GRASP ON WHAT IT TAKES TO GET INTO CERTAIN COLLEGES. YOU'RE TELLING ME THE TWO OF THEM. REALLY. GOT. INTO. THOSE. SCHOOLS. pls.

DON’T GET ME STARTED ON THE KISSING BOOTH. ELLE AND NOAH ARE POSSIBLY THE DUMBEST CHARACTERS I HAVE EVER WATCHED. I DON’T SEE THEM DO A PAGE OF HOMEWORK AND I DON’T EVEN THINK THEY ATTEND CLASS. LIKE MAKING A KISSING BOOTH FOR ONE FUNDRAISER FOR A CLUB THAT CONSISTS OF 2 PEOPLE DOES NOT COUNT AS ENOUGH TO GET INTO HARVARD. but that’s a different movie...

this is literally the idea that television and movies have in making it super easy to get into ivy leauges. as if some in state college isn't up to society's standards of where or where not it's ok to go to college. it's when gabriella montez goes to stanford, troy goes to berkely, ryan evan goes to julliard, teddy duncan goes to yale, cody martin is accepted to princeton, HANNAH MONTANA does to stanford.

and lara jean wants to study english lit. she never says “i want to go to stanford because of their great english lit program”. it’s only “i want to go to stanford because my boyfriend is going and i have no other life outside of him

fine. make your characters seem awesome by making them go to awesome colleges. but still. this is upseting.

you know how awesome it is to hear UVA, the college I've always wanted to go to, in a published book? and for them to just rip it away- espeically when UVA is so attainable?? Yea yea movie directors, i get it, UVA isn't good enough for you. whatever.

They had AT LEAST 5 MONTAGES. 5. FIVE. WHO NEEDS THAT MANY MONTAGES. To quote my friend "the movie is all montage and 30 mins of plot" AND I CAN'T FIND IT IN MYSELF TO DISAGREE WITH HER.

AND THE DANCES. I REALLY DIDN’T NEED TO SEE NOAH CENTINEO DO WHATEVER HE CALLS “DANCING” IN 2 MONTAGES. I know everyone fell in love with noah in the first movie, but i’m pretty sure everyone fell out of love with him in this one.

again, i know nothing about movies, but 5 montages?? it seems like you're just filling space and trying to make everything seem ✨awesome✨ and ✨amazing✨. SURE. everything might be awesome and amazing, but this movie was 1 HR AND 55 MINS. and you decided to add 1 HR of montages? WHy. AND. one of them was in slowmo. i can't

THEY HAD VOICE OVERS THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE MOVIE. sure. 1 at the begin and 1 at the end, I think that's cute. BUT THE WHOLE MOVIE?? WHY. like bruh- have a focus.

literally did anyone read the freaking book? Remember how- in the book right? Margot was actually really not ok with Trina bc she's sort of replacing their mom? and Margot is rlly not ok with it but gets over it?? see how that was summarized in like 5 seconds in the movie? Oh i'm sorry you used all your time for the movie making STUPID MONTAGES but can we get some actually emotionally beats next time?? thanks.

ok this is a big problem i have with the movie. in the 3rd book, peter tries to have a relationship with his dad who ran away from him years ago. He struggles with that relationship the whole book. This is good stuff. people can relate to this. the scene in the diner where peter “confronts” his dad was CRINGEY. It could be noah’s acting but i couldn’t take him seriously. AND HE FORGIVES HIS DAD AFTER 30 SECONDS. the movie tries to include these smaller storylines but can’t because of the time limit. i’m no screenwriter, but i’m sure there could have been a way to subtly move that plot line during the entire movie rather than that one conversation in the diner

and in the book, peter has to train for lacrosse so he has to eat healthy which stresses him out. i specifically remember him getting mad at someone (maybe it was john ambrose, i don’t remember fully) for EATING HIS CARROTS. this just shows that peter has a life too. he has to worry about lacrosse along with losing lj. but no, the movie makes him look like the perfect boyfriend who has no other worries in life except for the girl in front of him

remember how- in the book (right?? bc they had a book to go off of???) Stormy was a part of the 3rd book? like a BIG part?? They LITEALLY just used her as John Ambrose's grandmother (WHICH IM PRETTY SURE THEY DIDN'T EVEN DO IN THE MOVIES). literally, stormy and john ambrose were throw away characters in the second movie and i am infurriated. BUT ALSO I LOVE JOHN AMBROSE HOW COULD THEY DO THIS TO HIM??

and remember, how in the book, how the dog's name is "Jamie Fox-Pickle" and they changed it to HENRY??? where is the flavor. what was the reason. SERIOUSLY.

BUT ALSO. CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG BUT THERE WAS A POINT IN THE PLOT WHERE PETER'S MOM TOLD LARA JEAN TO BREAK UP WITH PETER. DOES NO ONE ELSE REMEBER THAT?? AND THEY CUT IT ALL OUT OF THE SCRIPT?? LIKE WHY. WHAT WAS THE REASON.

ok those are my biggest book grievances I think. but lemme just say, they NEVER went to NEW YORK. They literally wrote that in for the purposes of NYU. in the book, Chris and Lara Jean DRIVE to UNC because that's ATTAINABLE. BC THEY'RE STATE UNIVERSITIES. ANYWAYS

LJ’s and Chris’s spontaneous trip to unc showed their friendship in a good way. I never really liked chris as a friend to lj but during the trip, they are besties and it shows. the movie tries to do that in ny but peter is also in ny for some reason. she should have fell in love with ny WITHOUT peter at her side nagging her to sneak out and go on a date. she should have spent more time with chris rather than thinking about peter while she was watching the band.

the scene where Lara Jean is in New York and at the party and she sees the band? To all the boys I've loved before: Always and forever?? more like To all the boys I've loved before: gay awakening time.

when they moved the pink couch to the subway? WHy? They wanted snazzy pics.

when Lara Jean and Peter were making up and it was a really cute sequence AND THEN THEY MADE HER LOSE HER V CARD. FINE. I GET HOW THAT'S REALISTIC BUT IT WAS A CUTE SCENE. MY FRIEND ALMOST STARTED CRYING AND THEN LJ LOST HER V CARD AND WE COULDN'T STOP SCREAMING.

this is different from what was in the book (for the 100th time). In the book, they don’t do it and it shows that you can be in a high school relationship without being physical. I strongly appreciate that message. This darn movie had to have her lose her v card. WHY. IT ADDED NOTHING TO THEIR RELATIONSHIP. THE YEARBOOK SIGNING WAS SYMBOLIC ENOUGH

the montage where it's a montage of all of lara jean's and peter's cute moments?? ok fine. that was cute. but they literally just took scenes from past movies. imagine the impact if we like hidden moments from their relationships. maybe they're laughing in the car together. maybe they're watching they sunset. maybe peter is looking at her lovingly while she sleeps. WHAT IF. it WASN'T a montage of all the "bigger" moments of their relationship, and we got to see them just exist.

UGH. THE VOICE OVER AT THE END OF THE MOVIE IS SO CRINGEY I CAN'T

"WE AREN'T LIKE OTHER COUPLES. NOT US, LARA JEAN AND PETER KAVINSKY. BECAUSE WE HAVE SOMETHING BETWEEN US. WRITING LOVE LETTERS" please. b freaking s

Some redeemable qualities

while i didn't like most of the songs, "like me better" by lauv will always be loved. especially since it's a call back from the first movie?? I can ftw

WHY WASN’T “LIKE ME BETTER” THEIR SONG???? I really thought it was a good song to be their song and they referenced it in the beginning. No offense to the “beginning middle and end” people, but i felt no attachment to that song.

they customized her phone. it looked like it was a 7 (idk rlly, i don't know crap abt iphones) but they customized it. Granted, I KNOW lara jean would be the one with the aesthetic background with color coded folder, but still- they did give her relevant apps. some to note include; tiktok, spotify, instagram, netflix, notes, messages, facetime, maps, whatsapp and the STANFORD APP?? whatever- i'm chill.

they did make lara jean make choices so that was good.

the prom ask?? That was cute. with the pancakes??

at the end when Peter played the song even though earlier he didn't like it?? I liked that. i liked that a lot. ok fine i more than liked that a lot. There are multiple texts where my friends are screaming at each other. In fact, 26 separate messages.

chris in general. granted, she was more present in the books, but i'll take what i can get.

some notable quotes by her, the queen

"I'm dead inside"

not wanting to do a gigantic walk down from the stairs and asking the boys not to turn around

peter said he liked lara jean's forehead kisses and that reminded me of emma chamberlain so that's a positive only bc of emma

I remembered that they were the class of 2021, and I'M class of 2021 and it just hit for a second.

my friend cried over their graduation but i felt nothing bc we're literally living in a pandemic and chances of me getting a real graduation?? we'll see

again, these are all just my opinion. my friend doesn't like the movie bc she says she's sad and bitter and seeing these cute couples makes her feel lonely but i'm just diappointed. the books were GOOD. they were gold.

there was so much they could’ve done with the movies, and i just feel like they didn’t deliver on anything. Jenny Han, i’m sorry. The movie overall, ik someone who cried about it and someone else who gave it 7/10. props for them but jeez i just wish for more.

ok but that’s the show folk. i mean, obviously everything i said was opinion and literally don’t listen to anything i’ve said. BUT. feel free to add what you hated or loved abt the movie too. thanks. i love you guys. “always and forever” :,)

p.s- omg not them ripping off taylor swift. jk jk. ok bye

[jazzpurr-jay]

last part of my bnha ship headcanons, hero edition.

dekusquad, bakusquad, villains, heros

erasermic. arguably the best ship for aizawa, i can totally see this being canon. loud blond and his moody edge-lord bf for the win. they have three cats and a dog, all of which are named after various characters from high school musical and harry potter, except for the most edgy-looking one. the black cat is named fucking Bubbles, the ginger cat is named Ron Weasley, and the white shorthair is named Sharpay. the dog is named Troy Bolton, he's a golden retriever.

eraserjoke. the ship for aizawa that will probably become canon, sigh,,, but oh well, its not a bad ship or anything,,, its just really fucking predictable. but joke making a bunch of flirting advances as a half teasing half desperate ploy to get aizawa to realize her feelings for him, and then aizawa finally being like "if i take you out, will you finally stfu?" and she's like- "y u h😩" and then they get married two years later

erasermight. there's a really big age gap, but both of them are consenting adults that aren't in their early twenties, so this one isn't as uncomfortable to me  as some others (cough cough endeavorhawks). kinda cute, they'd be very good dads for deku, but that could also be a pretty good platonic friendship too.

erasermicmight. ok. here me out. mic and aizawa bullying toshinori in eating something, even if it is only a little bit. hizashi worrying over aizawa and toshi constantly because "why is it always them?". aizawa figuring out he has a type (loud blonds) and his whole world crumbling/j. toshinori having more motivation to get through the day and not to succumb to his worsening health or the villains he fights because he actually has something to come home to. all of them eating lunch in the teacher's lounge and mic going on and on about this new restaurant he wants to try, and aizawa texting all might from under the table and telling toshinori to reserve them seats at said restaurant for the next saturday night bc he's all might and he'll be able to pull it off. and hizashi and shouta calling toshinori "toshi" all the time.

and finally, inkomight. they meet through deku (obviously), but inko doesn't know that yagi is all might. she just knows that he's the sickly man that’s one of izuku’s teachers. during deku's second year at UA, Inko finally gets a divorce from izuku's father. there's no lost love between them, considering the two of them haven't seen each other in years. Izuku takes the news fine, barely even remembering his father at all, and carries on with his life. a few months after Inko finalizes the divorce, yagi asks her out on a date. she says yes, having been infatuated with the man for awhile. they go out, date for awhile, and then toshinori tells her that he's All Might. she takes it surprisingly well, and they eventually get married when Izuku is in his second year of hero work. All Might moves her to his house (mansion) and they live a nice, retired life, at age 50 and 55.

and that concludes my ship headcanons :))))) i hope you liked them~

[all-seeing-ifer]

Greek mythology references in Ulysses Dies at Dawn masterpost

I saw a post a while back by @spacetrashpile analysing all the arthurian references in High Noon Over Camelot, and since I know quite a bit about Greek mythology I figured “hey! I should do something like that for Ulysses Dies at Dawn!” I’m just going to go through each of the songs in order and analyse/explain the references in them - hopefully other people will find it interesting!

“The City”

Starting with the title - Ulysses is the Latin name of Odysseus, legendary king of Ithaca and hero of the epic poem The Odyssey. Interestingly, Ulysses is the only character in UDAD who is given a Latin name instead of a Greek one. There’s a couple of potential reasons for this but the most convincing to me is it’s meant to reflect Ulysses’ opposition to the Olympians, who are all based on the Greek gods.

Jonny calls the story a “labyrinthine task of a twisted tale”, referencing the Greek myth of the Minotaur, which was kept in a labyrinth to hide it from the world. This reference becomes even clearer when we later learn the City’s original name.

This one’s less a reference to Greek mythology and more to like, actual history, but the description of the City expanding to cover the whole planet is reminiscent of Greek expansion in ancient times. Ancient Greece was made up of many city-states, or poleis, which established colonies or “daughter-cities”, mostly in western Asia, or “Asia Minor” as the Greeks and Romans called it.

The story opens at a “run-down gin join” called Calypso’s - Calypso is a sea nymph who plays a fairly major role in The Odyssey, keeping Odysseus/Ulysses trapped on her island for seven years.

Fittingly enough, Calypso’s apparently pays money to Dionysus, whose mythological namesake is the Greek god of wine.

Broken Horses

Ilium is the Ancient Greek name for Troy, the city that Greece went to war against, according to myth,. Part of this war is described in the epic poem The Iliad, in which Odysseus is one of the soldiers laying siege to Troy.

Much like the Trojan War of Greek myth, the siege of Ilium is said to have lasted a decade.

Ulysses’ gambit with the horse statue sending out a signal driving the people of Ilium mad is pretty obviously a reference to the Trojan Horse - the wooden horse the Greeks built as a “peace offering” to the Trojans that they used to sneak their soldiers into the City and that brought them victory in the war. Like in the UDAD version, Odysseus/Ulysses was apparently responsible for coming up with this plan.

“Olympians”

Ulysses’ wife is named Penelope, same as Odysseus’ wife in the myths

The Acheron is the name of one of the five rivers of Hades, along with Styx, Cocytus, Lethe, and Phlegethon

As a sidenote, in Greek mythology Hades is the name of the underworld as well as the name of the God of the dead - fittingly enough reimagined in UDAD as the controller of a vast network of half-dead minds (and also Ashes)

The most powerful families in the City are called the Olympians - the name given to the twelve most important deities in the Greek pantheon

Poseidon Industries is named for Poseidon, Greek god of the sea and one of the twelve Olympians. Jonny calls them “one of the architects of the Ilium War”, which seems like an odd reference since iirc Poseidon doesn’t have a whole lot to do with the Trojan War. I guess that’s just there to give Ulysses a reason to want to rob Poseidon Industries.

In the Odyssey, Poseidon hates Odysseus/Ulysses for attacking his son, a cyclops called Polyphemus. In UDAD this is changed to Ulysses stealing the diamond from Poseidon Industries’ laser, which is also called The Cyclops.

My Name is No One

The song’s title and chorus is a reference to Odysseus’ famous trick for escaping the Polyphemus’ cave. He tells the Polyphemus his name is “no one/nobody” (depending on the translation) so that when he attacks Polyphemus and the cyclops tries to call for help, he calls out “No one is attacking me” which obviously none of the other cyclopes take seriously. (There’s also a great pun in the original Greek based on the Greek words for “no one” and “cunning” being very similar, but it loses a lot in translation)

However, just like in UDAD, Odysseus messes up this plan badly by calling out his real name when he’s still too close to the island of the cyclops. (although in the Odyssey it’s motivated by him wanting Polyphemus to know his name so he can get glory, rather than just being drunk)

Odysseus bests the cyclops by taking out his eye (there’s debate around it but cyclopes are generally depicted as having only one eye). Obviously in UDAD the cyclops is a machine not a monster, so this is replaced with the diamond at the heart of the laser being called its “eye”.

Also, I’m not sure if this is an intentional reference, but there is a fun irony to the fact that in the Odyssey, Odysseus tricks Polyphemus by getting him drunk so he can then blind him, while in UDAD Ulysses steals the eye of the Cyclops while drunk themself.

“Trial By Wits”

As well as My Name is No One, the whole concept of no one knowing anything about Ulysses’ appearance, gender etc. could also be seen as a reference to the “My name is nobody” trick, or possibly just a spin on Odysseus being a kind of “archetypal hero” - they could be anyone!

Heracles is better known by his Latin name, Hercules (son of Zeus, demigod, inhumanly strong and all that jazz)!

Ariadne is the name of the Cretan princess who helped Theseus slay the minotaur

Orpheus is another of the most well-known Greek mythological figures - the main myth surrounding him says he went into the underworld to rescue his dead wife Eurydice

Oedipus is most famous as the main character of a famous tragedy. His parents are given a prophecy that he would kill his father and have sex with his mother, and so decided to abandon him. As is so often the case with Greek oracles, he ended up doing both things anyway, seeing as how he, y’know, didn’t know who his parents were. The mechs apparently chose to reference this in the most mature of ways by having Jonny call Oedipus a motherfucker. Kind of a lot.

Aside from committing both patricide and incest, Oedipus’ other achievements in myth included winning a battle of wits against the Sphinx, a monster that was killing anyone who couldn’t solve its riddle. This monster is reimagined in UDAD as a disease that Oedipus finds a cure for.

Riddle of the Sphinx

The chorus of the song is taken almost word-for-word from the riddle asked of Oedipus by the Sphinx: “What goes on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?” The answer to the riddle is “man” - crawls on all fours as a baby, walks on two legs as an adult, and walks with a cane (third leg) in old age. The Mechs being the Mechs, this is made completely literal in the world of UDAD.

“Ulysses’ Will”

Like the Oedipus of myth, UDAD Oedipus also ends up killing his father and marrying his mother without knowing. Since he’s replaced his eyes with data sockets by the time he helps kidnap Ulysses, it’s pretty strongly implied that he blinded himself like mythological Oedipus as well.

The “twenty years of sirens” could be a reference to the twenty years Odysseus spends away from Ithaca in the Iliad and Odyssey

Sirens

The sirens were half-bird half-human creatures that Odysseus encountered as part of the Odyssey and that tried to lure him to his death with promises of knowledge.

As well as referencing this story, the line “let the lotus set you free” references another episode of the Odyssey, where Odysseus and his crew arrive on the island of the Lotus-Eaters. Anyone who eats the Lotus fruits falls into a state of apathy and will never want to leave the island, so it’s a fitting episode to reference in a song about Ulysses drugging themself to escape their memories of war.

“Trial By Strength”

Heracles’ backstory is essentially the same in UDAD as in the original myths: one of the many children of Zeus’ many affairs, except in UDAD Zeus has affairs with women from “the lower levels”, instead of just mortal women.

Favoured Son

The tasks Heracles performs for Zeus are a reference to the most famous myth about Heracles - the twelve labours he performs to atone for killing his family.

The song references “the ferryman” who takes people into the Underworld. In Greek mythology the dead travel to the Underworld in a boat rowed by the ferryman Charon.

In both the myth and in UDAD there are...what you might you might call “extenuating circumstances” for Heracles killing his family - in the myth he’s driven mad by Zeus’ wife Hera (bc she’s very angy about Zeus having all those bastard children with mortal women) but since Hera doesn’t play a role in UDAD this is changed to him being framed by Zeus himself.

In addition to being king of the gods, Zeus is also the god of thunder - which is where Heracles’ nickname “The Thunderbolt of Zeus” comes from

“Loose Threads”

Heracles and Orpheus “Backing up Jason on the fleece job” is a reference to the myth of Jason’s quest for the Golden Fleece along with his crew (the Argonauts), which included Heracles and Orpheus.

Hylas was Heracles’ servant and another member of the Argonauts. While on the quest he was kidnapped by nymphs, and depending on which version of the myth you’re looking at, either fell in love with them and stayed there forever, or was murdered by them (Hylas is also the only character referenced I had to google to even know who they were lol)

Heracles telling Ariadne that “Your dad helped me out once” is presumably a reference to the seventh labour of Heracles: capturing the Cretan bull. Now the story of the Cretan bull is actually really long and ties into a bunch of other myths but essentially it was sent to Ariadne’s father, King Minos, as proof that he was the rightful ruler of Crete. However, Minos ended up helping Heracles by letting him take the bull with him to prove that he’d successfully caught it (which seeing as the bull was destroying Crete at that point doesn’t seem like a huge favour on Minos’ part, but ok)

Trial By Song

UDAD Orpheus shares the mythical Orpheus’ main defining trait: his skill at singing that he used to help him on his journey to the underworld.

Trial By Song is a lot more metaphorical than all the others so there’s not that many direct references to the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice in the lyrics - probably the most direct one is “But all the landmarks moved as I walked past/Now I can’t look back”, which references Orpheus’ deal with Hades that he can take Eurydice back to the world of the living as long as he doesn’t look back at her.

“The viper town that bled me dry” could also be a reference to Eurydice’s death from a snake bite.

“Hades”

UDAD Orpheus’ motivation is the same as mythical Orpheus - wanting to bring back their dead lover from Hades.

Ulysses, Heracles, and Orpheus all visiting the “underworld” is taken directly from mythology (although unlike in UDAD, Ulysses/Odysseus never actually speaks to Hades).

Underworld Blues

In Heracles’ confrontation with Hades, he says that “I was sent here your dog to seize/Of my tasks, of my tasks/This was to be the last”. There’s a couple of points here - the mythology reference is to the last of the twelve labours of Hercules: capturing Hades’ guard dog Cerberus. However, I do wonder whether this is meant to be literal (in which case guys, why are we not talking about the fact that Ashes obtained a pet dog while in The City?), or if this is a similar case to all the mentions of ‘horses’ in High Noon Over Camelot actually being about motorbikes.

Orpheus singing to Hades and trying to convince them to release Eurydice is also taken directly from Greek myth, except instead of being moved by Orpheus’ song and agreeing to release his love like in the myth, Ashes just tells him he’s poor for a bit and then says he should go commit some crimes.

“Trial By Love”:

The general concept of Ariadne’s backstory - her helping Theseus fight the minotaur only for him to abandon her - is the same basic idea as the myth of Ariadne and Theseus. Although UDAD Ariadne is at least a bit more fortunate in the sense that she wasn’t truly in love with her Theseus, and he also doesn’t straight up leave her on a deserted island.

Ariadne’s family creating the minotaur is also part of her character in the myth. The difference is that in UDAD the minotaur was created intentionally, while the mythological minotaur was the result of Poseidon making Ariadne’s mother fall in love with the Cretan Bull as punishment for King Minos not sacrificing it to him (I said the Cretan Bull story tied into a bunch of other myths!)

The presence of the minotaur in the City is yet another thing that makes even more sense when we learn about the City originally being called Labyrinth!

Ties That Bind

Ariadne’s family name is Minos, same as the name of her mythical father King Minos.

Ariadne describes her family’s actions as casting a “dark horned shadow” over her, which references the typical depiction of the minotaur as a man with a bull’s head and horns.

In the myth of the Minotaur, Ariadne helps Theseus by giving him a ball of string that he then unwinds as he walks through the Labyrinth, letting him find his way out again. In UDAD this is changed to “strings of code”, that shut down the minotaurs programming. (And if you think that pun’s bad, just wait until we get to Torn Suits!)

The song’s title also brings to mind string or thread, so it can be seen as a subtler reference to Ariadne’s gift to Theseus. Same for Ariadne’s line about “heartstrings long since cut”.

“The Daidala”

Daedalus, the leader of the Suits, shares a name with the mythical craftsman and father of Icarus

He is rumoured to “trade as an Olympian under the name Hephaestus” - a fitting alias as Hephaestus was the god of craftsmen and artisans like Daedalus

The rumour that he killed his son for “getting too ambitious” references the myth of Icarus, who famously died after literally flying too close to the sun using wings held together with wax. The heat of the sun caused the wax to melt and Icarus to fall into the sea. The story is often interpreted as a warning about the dangers of ambition.

Interestingly, it could also reference another myth surrounding Daedalus - one in which Daedalus kills his nephew Talos because he was jealous of his achievements.

Daedalus is also apparently the architect of The City, which was originally known as Labyrinth. This once again references the labyrinth which held the minotaur, and which Minos forced Daedalus to design. Considering the labyrinth’s purpose in myth, it seems like an appropriate name for a city that keeps all its inhabitants trapped with no way out.

Presumably the Daidala in the title refers to the City: Daedalus’ finest creation. In Homeric Greek, daidala is a word that refers to finely crafted objects such as armour.

This track also has another reference to the Orpheus and Eurydice myth when Orpehus offers to sacrifice himself to open the vault - “But he can’t see it through can he? Flinches, looks back. And it doesn’t work.”

Torn Suits

This song is notable for having quite possibly the worst pun in Mechanisms history - “Ulysses pulls out their snub-nosed laser and fires the last shot, splitting the beam across twelve axes”. This references one of the climactic scenes of the Odyssey, where Ulysses/Odysseus wins an archery competition against his wife’s suitors by shooting an arrow through twelve axe heads. (get it, axes as in the weapons becomes axes as in the plural of axis do you get it?????)

Another, marginally less bad pun is Heracles getting “the lion’s share” of the beams, referencing the popular image of Heracles wearing the skin of a lion he killed as one of his labours.

“Sunrise”

The code to Ulysses’ vault: Elysium, is another word for the Elysian Fields. In certain Greek religions, this was an afterlife separate from Hades’ world where heroes and those chosen by the gods would go after they died.

Ulysses’ vault is revealed to contain the “sole surviving oak tree”, under which Penelope is buried. While it’s not as direct a reference as some of the others, this is pretty clearly inspired by the way Odysseus proves his true identity to Penelope at the end of the Odyssey - by telling her that he carved their bed from a tree still rooted to the ground, something only the two of them know.

The track ends with an homage to Homer’s use of similes in the Odyssey: “And as the weary hound, once more at its master’s feet after so long, lays down with the sunlight warming its fur, breathing its last – even so did the eyes of Ulysses close forever.” Not only is this stylistically identical to Homer’s similes, it also doubles as a reference to Odysseus’ dog Argos, who waited for him for twenty years and finally died when he saw Odysseus again.

Elysian Fields

This is possibly a bit of a stretch but the image of Ulysses lying beneath the last tree, next to where Penelope is buried, especially with how they say they’re “with my beloved” and “beside my wife” really brings to mind the scene in the Odyssey where Odysseus and Penelope lie in their tree-bed together for the first time since Odysseus’ return. Which, incidentally, is theorised by some to be the “real” final scene of the Odyssey and everything after that was added on later, but that’s another story.

That’s everything I’ve picked up on but it’s possible there’s more I’ve missed so let me know if there’s any more! I’d like to thank the Mechs for giving me an opportunity to put my useless and extremely niche knowledge to good use!