#boston went after top which threatened the monogamy couple

[chaos0pikachu]

#like you KNOWWWW if boston had undressed top and cuddled him when he was high/asleep#then we'd all be reading 10000 essays about what a predator he was#people just don't have that same perception of top and mew

Bringing this meta back (b/c I forgot and it was in my saved likes) now that we have the power of highsight and the narrative, did in fact, want us to view Top's actions as romantic NOT negatively. Which was a thing ppl said would happen in defense of the writing after the episode originally aired. But that's not what happened, because the narrative did frame that scene (from the direction, to the music, to the editing) as romantic in comparison to Boston pursuing Top.

Wonder what the difference could possibly be? Couldn't possibly be slut shaming could it?

I think the way Top's behaviour towards Mew is being framed by the show and also talked about by fans is really interesting, especially in comparison with how Boston and Nick's actions have been framed/talked about.

Mew has told Top to leave him alone multiple times. he's made it explicitly, abundantly clear that he does not want to see Top or talk to him, and that he doesn't want his help. but Top continues to force himself into Mew's life - cornering him in the bathroom, showing up to his party, 'taking care' of him when Mew was too high to argue.

but the show doesn't seem to be presenting this behaviour as creepy or weird or boundary breaking, and I haven't seen any fan discussion framing it as such. Top's continued pursuit of Mew against Mew's wishes is not seen as aggressive/'predatory' in the way that Boston's pursuit of Top was, or pathetic in the way that Nick's continued pursuit of Boston now is, despite the actions being relatively similar.

as always, this isn't a criticism of Top's character being 'problematic' or whatever - I love that this show is messy and that the characters are not good people. it's more of an observation about how very similar behaviour is treated incredibly differently, both within the narrative of the show itself and by the fandom, when it happens within an established/'endgame' pairing verses outside of those established pairings.