#but the fandom lives on because people love these shows

[glitterspaghettiketchup]

MY VERY ELABORATE THOUGHTS ON [SPOILER COLD CHARACTER]:

So in my other post i said "i hate Noelle's mom" and barely elaborated. So here's the elaboration.

i don't think it's as simple as that. I think Carol is an effective antagonist, and she only has a total of a single minute of screentime. She's an incredibly dislikable character, who has every single chance of being expanded upon and rendered more interesting that way.

i'll adress it now: this is most likely going to be THE thing the fandom hates her for (and on some level already disliked her for). Her parenting of Noelle.

...I don't think this is healthy.

Yeah, based on the one scene AND prior context it's not that much of a stretch to say that she's at best, an overly strict mother who's emotional distance since the death of her oldest and illness of her spouse is getting in the way of having any kind of healthy relationship with her youngest, and is using work as a way to avoid adressing those issues.

At worst, she's a woman with abusive tendencies who's lost the one check she had in her personal life and is now free to do whatever she wants, while she's surrounded herself with people who will enable her actions. I don't think this is the case! At least not fully! We just... Can't definitively know unless we see more of her. (we also can't know if she was always like this, but based on a Chapter 2 scene she might've already been strict before Dess disapeared. More on this later)

Granted, this isn't the best first impression of her, but the way the atmosphere shifts the second she's present, how intimidated she makes Noelle, the way she apologises for the scene TO KRIS later and the context from Chapter 2 especially... Yeah i don't think Carol's a great parent!

TO BE PERFECTLY CLEAR: We have no evidence of Carol being abusive to Rudy. We have no concrete evidence of Carol being abusive to Dess, nothing outside of Dess wanting to run away and take Noelle with her at the very least. We don't know what happened after Noelle went in the Kitchen, only that Carol left to say goodbye to Kris. We have no evidence of Carol being abusive to anyone outside of her family and if i see anyone saying otherwise in the replies without any proof i will fucking delete your comment. Let's not make things up to dislike her for, there's already enough here, trust me.

I do at least want to remind people that (i believe) she's implied to own the Flower Shop and be the one that gave Asgore a place to live and didn't kick him out when he hasn't payed rent in a while. She lets him in her house and is only kind of hostile to him for eating the snack tray inside. Granted. Kind of the minimum for an old family friend, but this is also the man who failed to find your missing daughter when you counted on him to do that, so im surprised she's still giving him the time of day. She's not a flat character, that's why i said her getting a more sympathetic motive later was likely or even for sure happening.

and hell, even if she was, i don't think that makes her a bad character, not at all! I love how well her brief appereance followed up on her build-up! When she's near a place, the entire atmosphere is tense. Her entire color palette is cold, her hands are icy, her haircut and horns are much sharper than both Noelle's and Rudy's, she's intimadating, uninviting... and scary. and not the good kind of scary, like Susie is. It's excecuted really well.

Now, i will also briefly adress something. The Voice-On-The-Phone character. I've seen alot of people run with the idea that it's Carol, most obviously because she unexpectedly shows up right after Kris calls a mysterious person on the phone who says they're coming over. Based on the lines that play when you hover in the kitchen vents, this person:

has seemingly been told about Susie being in the Mayor's house

needs to know about Dess's guitar and have a reason why Susie shouldn't get it

knows about the Church Dark World before it's been made

Talks about a "Dark Fountain... next" which could just be "next Dark Fountain in Church"

has at least some knowledge on how Kris's soul works in Dark Worlds

Possibly knows about Undyne's disappearance and talked about a POLICE SACRIFICE NEXT WEEK?

Considering all this knowledge. And that line. There's a good chance that voice is Carol. But i do have an issue with that and that is the voice text noise. It's completely different from when you call other characters in this very game. The speech pattern is also weird, but that's maybe a gameplay thing?

That, and i don't get why she would've made the Closet Fountain or the Librarby Fountain. Why make a Dark World where your daughter learns to get her own agency and stand up to you, hmm?

I also have a couple questions:

When was the Promise mentionned in the end scene made? Why did Kris make it, and why does it make Kris hesitate from climbing out their window? Is Carol watching them or something

Why is Kris working with Carol against finding the code for the Bunker?

Why does Carol know so much about Dark Worlds, and so keen on not letting Susie get Dess's guitar?

WHY IS CAROL SACRIFICING THE POLICE NEXT WEEK. IS SHE IN A FAUSTIAN DEAL WITH THE DEVIL TYPE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE KNIGHT

Oh yeah, speaking of which, Does She Know about the Knight?

Does Carol have an interest in Dark Worlds due to her husband's mystery illness? We've seen now that Dark Worlds can revive the dead if their dust and maybe a treasured item of theirs on top of that are present at the place the Dark Fountain is made in. Maybe it's a last resort?

Does Carol know Kris is possesed. Is that why when she says "You are welcome here", the text is red?

Why does the Knight have deer horns. And also why does their sword look like a baseball bat and have. Mystery Man Sprite hand holes. Also i've seen some people compare their body shape to Papyrus's and im annoyed by the fact i see their point

...We're definitely not getting an answer to any of these questions before 2026. For sure we aren't.

I've mentionned her already, but i'll just adress it here: I do see the Roaring Knight being related to Dess, or even being a Dess corrupted by pure darkness or whatever the fuck.

Dess has been connected to the character lost in the code, in a Dark World so Dark they can't see anyone or anything. The Bunker, a sealed up, mysterious area is implied to have a dark fountain inside considering how the RK manages to slip inside it with Undyne at the end of Chapter 3; that's a good candidate for where Dess ended up! And who do we think know anything about it's code?

The Police Force (the people tasked with finding Dess) and the Mayor (literally her mom).

There's also the horns, looking similar to the horns the Holidays sport on their heads, and there's been a pattern of monsters who seem to be from similar species that ended up being related, with the notable exception of Ralsei, but even then he's a Darkner, so it's debatable if he counts.

And there's also it's weapon: While in the sprite i picked it looks like a sword, the way it summons it...

Yeah no that's a fucking bat. That's just a bat. There's one in Dess's room. There's also some projectiles that look similar to snowflakes, but that one's a little more debatable? But it would fit with this theory, the Holidays have been repeatedly associated with snow after all.

Finally... The Knight can make fountains. Only Lightners so far have been said to create Fountains. the RK being connected to Dess, or being a manifestation of Dess while she's stuck in the Dark Worlds, could make sense to explain that (and especially explain how the hell it carried Undyne IN THE LIGHT WORLD BTW. THE DREEMUR HOUSE ISN'T EXACTLY NEXT TO THE DAMN BUNKER.) Oh, yeah, and the CODE to the BUNKER is in DESS'S ROOM? In her guitar too. extra connection i just realised.

If Dess is the Knight, Carol being the VOTP makes a bit more sense. Because the impossibly powerful being made of darkness isn't just some shmuck trying to end the world for some fuckass reason... That's a lead to her lost daughter. A daughter i don't think she's ever let herself grieve and move on from.

Maybe, like some Mayor Knight theories stated, she's working with the RK to open fountains in a desperate hope to locate her daughter, while neglecting her family and throwing herself into work outside of that.

Look, im not an expert on how to handle loosing a child. Im a teenager barely out of highschool that can barely keep track of their University's schedule. But im pretty sure keeping your kid's room in the exact state it was in when they died/disappeared, and cleaning it enough that it's not dusty is uh. Not a healthy way to deal with loss.

Carol strikes me then, with this information, as a woman who has diffculty handling change. A woman who, to avoid this, needs control on things, so much so that she's the Mayor of the whole town and can only bring herself out of her work for absolute emergencies or catastrophes. A woman who, prompted by loss and uncertainty, choose to burry herself in her work and force her daughter into a position where she won't ever create any change. No uncertainties, no surprises, she'll know what to expect when it comes to her. Because it's the only family member she can be sure won't change.

...Which is probably why she reacted so badly to Susie's general presence.

Im also deeply curious as to what her relationship with Dess was like before she disapeared. Because she VERY MUCH was NOT the kind of daughter she'd want today; while Dess most likely tried meeting her mother's expectations (the Violin and Flute being on the floor in her room), She also seems to be the rebellious type, the cool older sister, the one with all the cool games you aren't supposed to play and the sporty hobbies.

I think Dess would've gotten along great with Susie, or at least would've shared interests with the girl. I don't even think Carol was mad about only the code in Dess's guitar, considering that burrial with Dust and an item cherished in life seems to be the usual custom for Monsters in Hometown.

Maybe the big reason why she wants Noelle to not talk to Susie ever again is because Dess didn't want to stay; she openly told Noelle as such, and had army rations under her bed (most likely for that reason). Maybe whatever incident that caused Dess to disapear was blamed on that misbehaving? Maybe Susie's reputation as the "Bad Kid" extends so much farther than just school? Did people bother the Mayor about her?? Or maybe Carol just saw a complete stranger she didn't approve of dressed in ripped jeans with their shoes on her couch playing her missing (?) daughter's guitar badly in front of Noelle and she was just incredibly pissed off.

...You think im done with this post now. But you'd be WRONG, because it's

CRACKPOT THEORY TIME!!!

So if we assume that Voice-On-The-Phone is Carol, and that RK is Dess in some way. And that Carol is indeed using the RK to bring Dess back or something. Would that mean that Noelle and Queen's relationship doesn't reflect Noelle and Carol's dynamic... But Dess and Carol's dynamic?

Think about it. Carol doesn't need anything from her daughter. she only needs her to be a picture perfect innocent daughter with good grades who participates in the church choir and 0 skeletons in her closet. I don't think she's even trying to make Noelle happy or make her life particularly better outside of her own idea of better, outside maybe that pushing her to get better grades could let her get better universities later down the line?

That doesn't fully map onto Queen, who, while she is controlling and manipulative and uses the teenagers around her for her own ends, those ends are to help Noelle; she says she saw "her [Noelle's] sad searches", and thinks making a second fountain, a different Dark World, would help Noelle be happy. Once Noelle stands up to Queen and makes her agency known, Queen relents. She admits she was wrong. She lets Noelle choose her own world.

I think, with the theories and possibilities i've expressed in this post, that Carol working with the RK or being on the same side is possible, especially with the Dess connection you can make. In this, RK (or Dess) would be the willing peon of Carol, opening up more Dark Worlds to bring about either The Roaring, or finding more information on Dess's whereabouts, and the Knight messing with any of the Darkners before the Fuck Gang reaches them would be prehemptive attempts to stop them, or at least slow them down.

The main difference would end up being that... Contrary to what happens at the end of Chapter 2, RK wouldn't stand up to Carol. In this framework, it's willingly being used for this purpose and seemingly doesn't mind that at all (Maybe like how Queen thought Noelle didn't mind being ordered around all Chapter). Although, we still have 3 chapters left and a roaring to cause, so perhaps the RK will betray Carol, and she'll have to face her loss head on.

...This post was supposed to be a footnote in my dumping info post from earlier, why did this balloon so much in length Oh my god

[username0204]

It's either Byler or just shitty writing - viewing the show as GA

At first I want to point something that I think is not talked about enough... The fact that Maya makes fun of how absurd it would be to have a canonically queer character fall in love and then sacrifice themself so their crush can live happily ever after in a het relationship is soooo funny to me, I literally couldn't believe she got away with it xd bc that's EXACTLY what anti-bylers think Will's arc is set up to be...

I'll get back to that later but first I'd like to share my journey with Byler as I was watching the show without interacting with the fandom... I started out probably similar to most people believing that Will is most likely gay and assuming Mike is straight and the writers are just handling Mike's and El's relationship very poorly since the beginning of S3 and I simply couldn't root for them ever since.

It's not a deep dive analysis of the subtext/parallels/queercoding, there are already plenty of it and you probably already know as much or more about it than I do rn. It's simply my experience as a member of GA (at first ofc, I'm here now after all, right? xd) and my thoughts on El<-Mike->Will dynamic as I was watching casually and how the only thing keeping me from being a Byler-truther was my general lack of trust in media when it comes to queer stories.

So if you're feeling some Byler-doubt and think that maybe you're overthinking Max's rainbow sleeves and it all might mean nothing then give it a read :) Maybe I can convince you that it's actually much simpler.

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Ok, here we go, that was my thoughts on the spot while watching:

S1 & S2

Nothing much to say here tbh... I just thought that both Mike/El and Mike/Will relationships are cute. I liked Mike, he seemed like a true "heart" when it comes to his friends. I liked how caring and protective he is of Will and kind to El (despite the few lash-outs but they are totally understandable in his situation). The cliff-jumping scene still haunts me though... what was that about and why they just never discuss it after?? It's true that when it comes to Will (both S1 and S2 plots were about Will tbh), Mike is always the first one to care or the one that the narrative focuses on, but back then I just assumed it's because he's the protagonist not because it's about Will specifically.

His admiration for El is totally understandable - she comes out of nowhere and helps with rescuing Will and "dies" protecting them - how can you not fall for that? Their "romance" seemed a little forced tbh, but they're cute so it's fine... it's TV, they need to sail the "ship" after all I guess. I just hoped it wouldn't outshine the friendships later on and... well jokes on me

S3

Although Mike's and El's relationship in the beginning of S3 is pretty realistic (given their age etc) and this season heavily leaned on the comedy part (not the best decision for some of the plots but that's just my opinion), the break-up part was really off... It's not how you handle "the break" in an endgame couple, not even in sitcoms!! The most famous being Rachel and Ross (not that they should have been the endgame but that's not the point) - their break-up is sad and emotional and they even had to introduce a comedic subplot of the rest of the gang bc without that it wouldn't be a sitcom episode. It was just really off how they portrayed Mike's and El's break-up as comedic... And I'm happy they broke up and the show itself seems to be happy about it too, I guess? Weird choice for an endgame couple... At the beginning of S3 I thought to myself "God, I really wouldn't like to be in a relationship with someone like Mike if that's how he is to his girlfriend" and that thought stayed with me till the very end of S4.

In contrast I really liked how serious they were about Will's and Mike's fight. The "it's not my fault you don't like girls" was a shocker - if he knows about Will being gay that's just homophobic (from S1 we know he stands up to homophobes so WTF writers?) and if he doesn't know... well that's just sus to me... overcompensating/projecting much? Maybe that scene was suppose to be more about hinting at Will's sexuality but it's still a weird choice for Mike's character... Both that scene and the Castle Byers scene broke me... But overall at that point I was just glad that they decided to put so much value on that in contrast to (what seemed to me as) "girl/boy crazy" phase of teenagehood. Let's be real, we all lost friends to that disease xd

But then they ended the season with Mike and El supposedly getting back together??? At that point I was sooo over it already and relieved that Mike at least didn't seem too into that idea, despite the fact that Byler as a possible canon romantic ship haven't crossed my mind yet.

S4

And then comes S4 and oh boy... At that point I still believed that the writers want Mike and El to be the endgame and are just horribly shitty with writing it. They are fake with each other, lie to each other, have nothing in common (except for fighting the evil from another dimension) and have the most ridiculous "obstacle" possible of Mike not being able to say "I love you" and gaslighting El about it. It just seemed to me like they couldn't come up with an arc for Mike and settled for the worst option possible. I remember thinking - if that's your endgame couple, you really fucked it up... how am I suppose to root for them if the obstacle is not some miscommunication (Mike and Will), trauma (Lucas and Max) or external factors (Nancy and Jonathan) but the very core of a relationship - to love and to feel loved? If they at least introduced some type of reason as to why Mike is not able to say that, I would be happy not to immediately assume that he just doesn't love her that way. But they didn't. Same thing happened between Nancy and Steve but we all know that already.

Mike's interactions with Will were super weird as well all season and didn't make much sense to me at that point. He's distant and I guess it can be explained by the fact that they didn't stay in touch... but even with that the whole airport hug and "we're friends!" seemed very harsh - similar to the "it's not my fault you don't like girls" from S3. Again I assumed that maybe Mike knows about Will being gay and (as most "I'm not homophobic but..." kind of people) just tries to make the "no homo" between them very clear. But once El is out of the picture Mike starts to act very different with Will (all of their heart-to-hearts, being open and vulnerable, the stares etc) and that theory just doesn't make sense anymore... if he was so "no homo" before, what changed?

And then the real kicker... unlike most here (I'd assume) I wasn't happy with how they handled Will's sexuality making itself undeniably canon with the van scene. It broke me and I hated that. Till that point I could just be misinterpreting his crush on Mike but the van scene??? They could have confirmed his sexuality in many different ways... TV has done it many times in many ways! And it's not just in media targeted towards queer audience... Shameless confirms Ian being gay in the very first episode with his brother finding gay magazine clippings! Or they could have introduce a new love interest as they did with Robin but nooooo - Will is confirmed gay by being in love with his best friend while trying to repair said best friend's relationship with his girlfriend. At that point I was really like "damn, those writers must really hate Will". I don't know about the GA but I really don't find the "gay-boy-heartbreak-suffering" that entertaining... If they really need to tick off the "gay-boy-character" box it's the worst way to do that... it's not giving depth - it's just torture at his point, he's been though enough to throw an "unrequited queer love for a bestie of 10yrs" on him as well.

And Mike's "confession" to El? Tbh I was over them long before that... I didn't even care. It was cheesy and off and forced and didn't make any sense whatsoever, I actually cringed the whole time - but I wasn't surprised at all, I just assumed once again that they just can't write them properly... whatever. But then the cabin scene... similar to S3 ending I was just glad that El was distant bc she had every right to be, I'm glad that me and El seem to finally be on the same page here. Funny that the love confession that apparently was the direct solution to "you don't say you love me" conflict didn't fix things and seemed to only make it worse. But on the other hand if I had to go though the same arc all over again in the next season I'll just loose it xd

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So that was my initial thoughts while watching the show...

I didn't read too much into it. All I took from it was "the endgame couple is horribly written", "Mike is weird to both Will and El", "apparently the writers decided that Will hasn't suffered enough already". With how queer or queercoded characters are treated in media that are not specifically targeted towards queer audience I really don't have much hope usually... I logically knew that Byler just would make more sense narratively and for the characters but I thought it's too good to be true.

But then I stumbled upon some edits and people pointing out all of Mike's queer coding throughout the series... Most of the "plot/narrative evidence" I was able to pick on myself but just blamed the writers. It's the soundtrack and the set/costume design that really sold it for me. There is no way that the "you're the heart", "in the closet", "one-way" sign and that ridiculous triangle pocket and many more are just a coincidence when you put it next to the writing. There is no way that the show can be so detail-oriented and fuck-up the writing so bad at the same time.

So what if all the stuff I interpreted as simply "bad writing" and my thoughts and feelings towards El<-Mike->Will are actually exactly what the writers intended? Funny thing that in S4 we see Mike from Will's perspective so it wouldn't be so crazy that the GA interprets Mike the same way Will does... the only exception being that the audience knows exactly what the fight between El and Mike was about.

If the rest of the crew is so talented maybe the writers are as well? Damn we already saw that with Robin and Steve in S3 - how they masterfully subverted every expectation and made it so much better than anyone imagined! They not only subverted expectations, they subverted queerbaiting and turned it into "straightbaiting". That's a true skill right there. And all the other relationships (not just romantic) are well written as well... only the El<-Mike->Will dynamic is so weirdly written... or is it on purpose? There is no way that a skilled team of writers could fuck up the "main couple" so bad and make you feel bad for the third-wheel for being so hopelessly and selflessly in love on accident.

It's true that some authors can accidentally make things seem not exactly how they intended... or simply just queerbait the shit out of it. But that's not the case here - it's not just the writers team, it's every other team that works for the show as well... so they just collectively misinterpreted the plot? It happened before with HP3: PoA where the director and actors assumed two besties to be gay for each other upon reading the source material - but that was a book adaptation and the story was not written by the people creating the adaptation (unlike the Duffer Brothers). It doesn't seem like queerbaiting as well... there is too much attention to detail here in subtext + they already subverted this with Steve and Robin, while usually the classic "queerbait" relies on 2 characters just having good chemistry and some sus dialogue or scenes that are usually also acknowledged by other characters (Sherlock I'm looking at you) but are usually portrayed as "straight" outside of their dynamic - and definitely it's not common for one of the party to be canonically in love with the other! (Supernatural was the worst about it and everyone knows it)

Also the social-media/PR part... that's where we come full circle to the interview from the beginning of this waaaay too long post xd There are a lot of sus posts from the official accounts that lean into Byler as well as some quotes from interviews... I won't go into that bc this is too long already. The point being, they know what they're doing... it's subtle enough not to be a spoiler but it's there, so it's not an accident. Also it's hard to believe that out of all people we will be queerbaited by an actual queer person (Noah being THE Byler shipper xd).

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Overall there are "theoretically" 4 ways Will's romantic arc can end in S5:

Will comes-out and learns that he is accepted and loved either way Well duh obviously but I don't think that will be all there is to it, he already knows that his family is accepting and Finn said in one of the interviews that Mike will probably accept Will... if that's the whole arc then it's already spoiled and they wouldn't let it slide in an interview, so there has to be more to it...

Will dies (aka bury your gays) Well... no xd Multiple people of the cast said that Will's ending will be happy + that would just mean that Maya's crazy idea applies to Will (which again, like with Finn, they wouldn't let it slide if that was the plot even if it applies to a different character - the only 2 canonically queer, mind you - so it's not hard to connect the dots) and it just shows how ridiculous and out of "the show's spirit" it would be. The fact that the cast makes fun of that arc should be proof enough that it just won't happen.

Will has a new love interest Unlikely... they said that there won't be any new crucial characters introduced in S5 (ofc they could be lying) but that just makes the whole "Will is in love with Mike" absolutely pointless plot-vise. Seriously what was the point then? And there's simply not enough time for the "painting shenanigans" resolution, rejection, getting over Mike, meeting someone else and falling for them. Especially since Mike and Will will be most likely teamed up in S5

Will's feelings are reciprocated by Mike This narratively makes most sense. Will is already canonically in love, Mike and El are not ok and she seems to be sooo done with his bullshit (me too sis), Will's confession makes Mike feel loved and he looks at Will the way I'm not sure I've looked at anyone ever tbh. Mike reciprocating the feelings would also explain all of his weird behavior in the previous seasons. El is finally out of a relationship that makes her feel like a "monster/garbage/someone's pet" and free to define herself for herself and not some "random nerd" - just like Max taught her (the first one to see El as her own person and encouraged her to find and be herself mind you... god I love this duo <3)

So out of all of these 4 ways only the last one actually addresses the "writing issues" and makes sense plot-vise and arc-vise. Any other solution will just prove that the writing is actually shit when it comes to this trio, especially if they keep El and Mike together as a couple.

TLDR: Byler is endgame... ...or the whole ST crew really fucked up - writers hate Will and all of the sudden can't write characters when it comes to Mike and also can't write romance when it comes to Mike and El but by some magical coincidence the set/costume designers, editors, PR, music composers and cast didn't get the memo about the plot from the writers while the directors are nowhere to be found to make it all make sense xd

[dancingafterdark]

@viktorarcanedeservesbetter ME! ME! I WANT TO HEAR ABOUT THAT!

like, okay, to be straight with people: i love a good ship dynamic, a good trope, as much as anyone, but i feel like ship dynamics have taken on a dilution similar to that of “found family”, “team dad”, etc. where, because us goofy goobers LOVE to classify things and put them into neat little categories, anything that bears even a superficial resemblance to a trope is kinda just shoved into that square hole without a second thought: jayce is a beefcake with a cute smile and puppy dog eyes for days, so he’s the designated Sunshine Golden Retriever Himbo Boyfriend™, and of course, the pale, broody, soft-spoken loner is our snarky genius black cat character — and of course, there is nothing wrong with exploring this dynamic using these characters in a fanon space because (in an ideal world, anyhow) the line between canon and fanon is clearly defined, and we still have the source material to go back to (whether or not people DO is another story, because by god, do some of the takes i’ve seen throughout these past six months have me questioning that-) — but i feel like trying to portray jayvik as, say, a purely sunshine/grumpy dynamic neglects a lot of the nuance of both characters that personally really drew me in. Viktor, in particular, appears to be yet another case of fandom overcorrection as well, if you’ll allow me to put on my tinfoil cap: he was VERY easy to woobify, especially in the season 1-pre season 2 era where his default expression when he’s not brooding over the whole. y’know, dying thing is “🥺”, and that subsequently led to this insistence of him being this fiercely independent, takes-no-shit portrayal as a kind of counteract of sorts against the dreaded woobification, as well as a fear against potentially falling into ableist tropes: disabled characters, even now, are rarely allowed to exist beyond being pitiable props or even a slightly more cynical and insidious take on the MPDG, or just a huge ball of self loathing and internalized ableism, so i can 100% see the appeal of taking a canonically disabled character a LOT of people see themselves in and giving him a bit more spunky, dare i say more “modern” sensibilities, then he expresses in the show: i have no problem with this on paper.

My issue is that in making Viktor this openly mean and snarky, “strong and independent Zaunite” type character — beyond the knee-jerk “he would not say that” reaction and the uncomfortable flashbacks to the writing of 2010s fictional “insufferable genius” type characters that have haunted me since the era BBC Sherlock reigned supreme — is that it’s ignoring not just the nuance in his character, but the nuance in the show’s well, initial anyway class conflict as well. Viktor is a character who had to assimilate into Piltover if he had any hope of getting anywhere, and if we take his dubiously canon backstory into account of him having to have been literally snuck into the academy, his quiet and unassuming demeanor is just as much a survival tactic as it is a reflection of his personality, and just like in real life politics, one can easily assume that he had the motto that “badly behaved Zaunites rarely make history” drilled into him from a young age onward (no thanks in part to his relationship with Singed, who is a disgraced scientist and Mr. “I Thought You’d Understand” likely spilled all the tea on THAT matter while they were working together), and for good reason since standing out too much could prove detrimental to his greater goals of a) helping his people, and b) showing that Zaunites can make a difference, despite being “lesser”. and then he meets Jayce, this anomaly who, at first glance, appears to be just another spoiled Academy student who will get nothing but a slap on the wrist with a stern warning for reckless destruction of property and Janna knows how many endangered lives — all things that would get someone like Viktor thrown in Stillwater without question — only for it to turn out that Jayce is probably the biggest rulebreaker of all; and this subsequently emboldens Viktor to start finally taking initiative himself. “If you’re going to change the world, don’t ask permission”, you know the drill: all this to say, while Viktor isn’t this 100% passive damsel who’s incapable of making basic decisions without Jayce, he is also painfully aware that his voice matters significantly less in the public eye while his very existence is simultaneously under constant scrutiny, which is why the highest he was even able to climb in terms of power was as an assistant, and even then, he likely wouldn’t have even gotten that high without Heimerdinger’s influence and he says it plainly that he didn’t even want to be stuck with the job in the first place. An often unspoken part of his and Jayce’s dynamic that i adore so much is that they enable the SHIT out of each other, for better or worse: Jayce breaks the rules, Viktor follows suit, Viktor starts experimenting with the Hexcore, Jayce uses it to bring him back to life, Viktor sees the results of Jayce nonconsensually resurrecting him ultimately “healed” him, he rationalizes that it’s a-okay to use it at a greater scale, and so on: all great stuff imo that sadly gets lost in the shuffle when you water both characters down into easily marketable tropes or, worse, begin insisting that that’s always how they’ve acted in canon, which [LOUD INCORRECT BUZZER SOUNDS]. But I think i’ve rambled about this topic long enough :skull:

personally speaking, zaunite AUs are, tbh, hit or miss with me: conceptually, they’re really fun to imagine as is any other kind of swap AU, but execution wise, i think some fic writers do lean a bit hard into grime and violence of it all and not as much the action pacifist route a la the fireflies. regarding zaunite Viktor, the idea of him becoming “mean, controlling, and evil” if he never went to Piltover is laughable considering he didn’t even act like that when he actually did go back to Zaun and made a name for himself as the herald :skull: the man is only mildly sassy to the woman who literally, albeit indirectly, killed him, and it’s only when she starts shooting first, like girlfriend stand UUUUP 😭 i personally think viktor would thrive as a medic, either independently or with a group like the firelights, as opposed to, say, a freedom fighter or Janna forbid, a chem baron — but that’s just MY opinion, lmaoo

if anyone noticed this is a copy+paste from an accidentally unrelated reblogged post i mixed up w/ this one...no it isn’t :D you can’t perceive me

I still find very funny that people make Viktor's character very aggressive and direct in fanworks, when in the show Viktor is a sweetheart and the only time it could be considered that he "raised his voice" was when he was talking with Mel about hextech weapons and was like "Absolutely not!"

Meanwhile everyone makes fanon Jayce a very kind and puppy like guy, when in the show he's the one who snaps at people and very directly tells them to fuck off

I find it funny because it matches my headcanon that Viktor goes out of his way to be kind and soft because he knows very well that people will interpret him as mean and overly direct just for being from Zaun and disabled. And Jayce is a lot meaner and people let him get away with it because he's conventionally attractive and from Piltover lmao

[firstaidemoi]

Can we stop making everything about Batman/Batfam? Especially to the point that the other character and their part in the media, is pushed aside to make room for (a/the) Batfamily. ((Long post under cut))

If the profile picture didn't already give it away, yes, I have Shazam/Captain Marvel in mind while writing this.

His entire collection is flooded with Batfam works. I’m not against writing him interacting with the Batfamily, but all of the works are about him being used as someone who is basically going to or needing to become a part of Batman’s gaggle of orphans. Not him as a separate character with his own lore and really anything more than a plot point. Billy has siblings, a talking tiger, a magical city, a job, a superhero life and SO much more. But none of that is really expanded on (let alone added), unless it’s convenient in “Billy becomes a Batfam” fic. They don’t demonstrate his character on its own, he has to be portrayed in a way that makes him seem inevitably a part of the Batfamily, never just his regular self. (or with his own media or fine on his own.)

I would understand, but I’ve seen so many cases where a Batfamily member just straight up replaces a Shazam/Captain Marvel character. It just seems like a Billy fic can’t not be about the Batfamily in an essential way. To the point he’s treated like a random character they can just drop in to a Batfam centric work and not include much of anything about him and still treat it like a Shazam fanwork. There were so many times where Billy’s media could have been used or included and just wasn’t in place of Batman media.

My opinion may be very biased, but to me it just feels like they’re taking over all of his fan portrayals in the fandom without even including his lore, other characters, and correct depiction.

(No, I am not asking you to write him 100% accurate, but at least try to show that he’s his own character and not some drag-and-drop black hair orphan that needs to be saved, because that is not his character.)

I will admit I am upset, it seems like the only time his character is used is to be added into a work about Batman and his potential as a Bat. But he has his own media too, which goes unused or pushed aside to make him helpless in Gotham and in need of Batman to take him and protect him or show him “the true meaning of family” when:

A) Billy is self reliant, he’s got a job, an apartment in some cannons, and his own family. He is not helpless, he does not need to be saved by someone. He is a powerhouse of a superhero for one, the golden age comics tell a lot for two, and he’s been homeless or living alone managing himself in every cannon that has him without a foster family for three.

B) He has trust issues against adults and is also against the foster system. He is a consistent runaway from foster homes as well. But still, he found a way to love his own family. He does not need a new one to show him that or to adopt him.

C) He has his own family. He has Mary Batson/Broomfield, his sister; Freddy Freeman, his brother; and more if we include the Vasquez: Darla, Pedro, Eugene, Rosa and Victor. (We could also include Uncle Dudley, his Fawcett-based relative.) Billy already knows the true meaning of family and he has one. Even if we don’t count the Vasquez, we still have Mary, Freddy and Dudley; who are all major parts of his lore/character consistently. To get rid of all of them, is to remove large parts of his lore. It also, to me, is very odd to cut out his own family to give him a new one to show him love.

Anyways, what I mean is that he’s really only been written recently as someone a part of the Batman franchise, but he isn’t. That trope is fine, BUT, it’s almost the only time he is written and that is not the only part of his character or media. It makes it feel like that his only role is to be a part of the Batfamily when in reality that’s kinda getting rid of his character.

I hate to put it like this because I don’t want to make people feel bad about what they’re writing and enjoying, but it’s like those fics are taking over the Shazam fandom, and not even making it about Billy while doing it.

—> Feel free to discuss in replies I will try to answer.

[maoisarap]

hey. enstarries? more so specifically: enstarries who are selfshippers/yume's/riako's/ficto's/oc×canon/etcetera? i have something for thee under the cut if you like creating things. i think we deserve this, in this fandom right now. <3

please spread the word to other enstarries who selfships and co.!

(sorry non-enstarries. sjsjs my mind can only think of stuff to do with this franchise because it has such a tight hold on me (blame mao)!)

(#) Enstars Selfship Week 2025

YOU ARE ALLOWED TO CREATE:

art!

edits!

short stories/oneshots/drabbles!

headcanons!

moodboards/stimboards!

collages (like the messy sticker ones)!

ETCETERA!

go hecking wild with your creativity, you beautiful people!! we need this week of love!

RULES:

– the dates are from the 15th of june to the 22nd of june! (yes, upto subaru's birthday because he is the literal face of this franchise.)

– this is for any and all f/o's as long as they're a part of the ensemble stars!! cast! romantic, platonic, familial and etcetera! ~including polyam and groups~!

– please don't stress yourselves with any of these ideas if you are struggling. you're allowed to skip a day and come back to the said day you're struggling with at any time.

– if you feel as though you can't follow the days that the week is set in, then take your time!! your health matters more!

– no sending negativity towards other selfshippers and co. in this! we support each other no matter the creation we come up with and who we ship with! (please, support more than just fanart. i mean it...) if you're a double, then block and ignore!

– you can make these for yourself and/or for other enstarries you know who selfship and co.!

– JUST HAVE FUN, YOU DUMDUMS!! (i love you. you are not a dummy. <3)

HERE'S THE WEEK:

Day 1 | Uniform Steals! – you steal your enstars f/o('s) outfit! can be the ordinary unit outfit, the es idol outfit, an exclusive outfit, or even the series (on globalstars) or anniversary outfits, as long as your guy(s/girlie) owns it, you take it! or~ you can do vice versa: have your f/o steal YOUR outfit!

Day 2 | Shine on the Stage! – doesn't matter if you're a producer or just an ordinary person around ensemble square, you're being invited onto the stage with your enstars f/o's to sing! or~ if not a stage, then you're singing with your f/o's in the dorms common area with whoever you like to be in the crowd!

Day 3 | Tour Day! – this one is a bit~ of a wild card. what are you and your f/o's like when going on tour for their or your song lives/"concerts" either around the country or across the globe? are you exploring new foods? tirelessly getting ready for a live? perhaps you're both/all trying to figure out what it's like to be in a tour bus for a certain amount of days, how small or big is the bus and who gets which bunk of the bunk beds?

Day 4 | Dorm Situations! – what is life like in the dorms for you both/all? are you chaotic and loud? or quiet and peaceful? has something gone wrong in the dorms and it's upto you two/lot to fix it? let's find out!

Day 5 | 「Focus!」 | it's photoshoot time! are you taking it in the usual room where these photos are taken, or are you out and about with your f/o's having it all done? what outfits are either of you wearing? or are you or your f/o's the one taking the photos~! and is there a reason behind the photos, or is it just the usual idol work business?

Day 6 | BREAKTHROUGH! | it's time for a break away from ensemble square, and you're both/all taking a day or few off from work and getting away from the area for a while. where are you going? home? to a park? anywhere! show what life is like outside of the idol/producer and etcetera area!

Day 7 | Nui Noon! – what if in ensemble square, there's a shop in the town area where you can go and request the people who own the shop to make nuis/teddies of anyone you like, and you and your f/o's go in there to ask for a nui of each other/all one another to each of your fittings? make it as silly or as adorable as you like~

[srldesigns6277]

👋 Hi

Just curious. Has there been one specific event this year that has kept your faith in H&L still going strong? As a veteran you have seen it all..and since we only get mainly possible coding. Assumptions..and just our hopefulness.... love your blog!!

Hiya Lovely,

I apologize for not answering sooner, but this took some thought and reflection. And not because I suddenly don't think they are together or something. But because of other things outside of them have kept me believing this year.

Short answer: The Zouis Reunion

Long answer: Lol, it's me of course there is a long answer. I don't really ever have doubts about them anymore if that makes sense, I know what I have seen both through computers and the naked eye during the band. I remember watching livestreams of concerts from Iphone 8's in 2015, to watching videos of Louis at Harry's concerts during Live on Tour. So knowing they are them has never been the issue. For me it was always when is the narrative going to change.

When I left the fandom in 2019, things were fracturing. Louis had yet to release anything other than a few singles, Harry was still on hiatus after LOT the original. We hadn't heard anything but whispers from Zayn. Liam was starting to ramp up promo, but at the time I was pulled away from the fandom, and Niall had really just finished The Flicker Tour, and the Narrative hadn't changed, they weren't allowed to be even friends beyond the constructed divide from years previous, Narry and Lilo.

But in coming back, while the narrative hadn't really changed, there were changes to it. The reforming of the Zouis friendship over the past 4 years has really showed me exactly what the narrative of 2014-2015 was supposed to do, fracture the fandom to fuck with the boys, and it worked for a while. But seeing Zayn and Louis hang out, seeing Liam go to Niall's concert, Seeing Narry go to each other's concerts, Louis talking about being nervous if he has one of the other boys in the audience, especially Harry. Those things tell me the narrative is changing. That the media perception of the boys was always bullshit, and not just something that took a few years to see through, for me that was mostly not being mad at Zayn, but I realized that in 2017, thankfully.

Seeing the Zouis friendship rebuild tells me the narrative we were fed for years, is changing. Yes, slowly, but it tells me that things are happening and would have happened more if not for Liam's passing too, something no one expected, ever. I think we will continue to see changes after this stunt is over and after the band anniversary in July.

For me, it's always been the subtle things. The way Louis used to gently put his hands on Harry's back during group hugs on stage, while basically pulling Liam's neck down with his other arm. Or how as social media grew, the gentle way you could sometimes hear Louis talking to Harry, or Harry softly rubbing his knuckles against Louis's tattoos in 2012 and 2015. Its getting to see the dicklace for the first day of Pride, this year, or them color coordinating their outfits on the first day of Pride while on tour. Its Louis making a subtle rainbow with his close over the course of FITFWT.

When it comes to Larry now I always think of a song by J-Hope and Jungkook of BTS called "I wonder..." where JK sings about a long standing love between people with the lyrics:

This love, right now (It's) all we got, all we need We're happy right now (So) why don't we ride this feelin'?

Just dance right now (But) don't you stop lookin' forward? Just enjoy it, this love (We) can keep forever fallin'

[bluespiritshonour]

okay. i had stopped engaging with this thread of my own accord and i apologise to everyone who's gonna get notifs again because i decided to wake this up. (I'm sorry to you too, swan. I said I was done with this post and I woke this up again. Sorry if you got a notif) now, i get called all sorts of things on twitter that i never feel the need to defend myself against because it's always zutara shippers doing it and i can't take any opinion, no matter how valid, by a ZK shipper seriously enough to warrant engagement. yes, i know it's wrong and just because someone ships ZK doesn't mean they can't have valid takes. but i have been in the fandom long enough not to give ZK shippers the benefit of doubt (i know it's wrong!) i just reserve the right to be a hater. there isn't even any deep reason behind it. ZKs on twitter call me stupid all the time. lmao. ZKs calling anyone stupid, the jokes write themselves.

but! since it's fellow zuko blog that assumed i lack media literacy, i feel the need to defend my honour ( was that a zuko pun? guess we'd never know!)

i am assuming the best intention here: i am not good with words and i was especially angry at avatar studios for their mistreatment of mai when i made the og post--so that meant i was even less eloquent than usual. it doesn't help that zuko is a fan favourite and overall more important so they don't even care to develop him as a better boyfriend (this was before ashes dropped and now i do think given how little zuko appeared, hicks did him much better than yang ever did. i'd never forgive yang for how he massacred my darling boy). so you'd find me using things that even i would argue are ooc against him--in certain cases--because other characters (especially mai) never get the kind of grace he does. yes, he's my fav. but he ain't a girl.

so, if i am not good at explaning something (i know i'm not) that's on me and not on people who might misunderstand. assuming that i didn't convey what i was trying to in that post, i am making this one. this time, with examples!!! yay!!! (i used to get bad grades in essays because i have difficulty putting abstract ideas into words and you know how i worked around it? comparisons and examples. it did help my grades)

list of shows/movies with chosen one/monarch leads (basically people with huge responsibilities to the world/their countries) prioritising their love interest

castlevania: nocturne

“No! You’ll kill her, Sehkmet. You’ll kill Annette. I don’t care about the world. I don’t care if we live in eternal fucking darkness. Leave her alone. Leave Annette alone!”

sekhmet is a goddess who has taken over annette's body to defeat the villain. because she needed a mortal vessel for it. but it was too much for annette's body to control all of her powers. annette was on fire and richter uses his ice magic to hold her and keep her temperature down.

jodhaa/akbar

"to all present and the mughal empire, i say this for the last time: queen jodhaa is a hindu rajput, she is my wife and the empress of india. any act against her is an act against the mughal empire."

this movie isn't hundred percent historically accurate but mughal emperor akbar did marry the hindu princess jodhaa for diplomatic reasons and he also has the reputation of being a tolerant ruler. but speaking of only the movie here: the mughal court was opposed to an inter-religious marriage but akbar stood steadfast in his support of jodhaa.

baahubali: the conclusion

a whole lot of plot here. the hero's evil brother (who wants the throne) manages to wheedle a promise out of their mother that he'd marry the princess the hero loves (the mother did not know of the love story until now) anyways, the hero goes against his mother and everyone in court and is ultimately stripped of his birthright. he chose her over the throne.

and finally, ATLA itself!

Why would I choose cosmic energy over Katara?

i made sure to pick all the heroes. because dracula of castlevania is the ultimate loverboy, but he was very much the villain (a great husband though). i don't want zuko to be dracula. although i think it's a fun little concept to play with in some dark au. that's why we love fanfiction, don't we? zuko would have to stay a villain for that though! which is why i don't blame him for leaving mai in a letter. it's one of the most forgivable things he has done with regards to her given she was a villain until this point and the narrative had the responsibility of supporting the right thing (and not only does mai forgive him immediately, but proceeds to put her life on the line for him). i find his behaviour in the beach deplorable! and of course, him not screaming, crying, throwing up after the boiling rock. which i do think is ooc! no matter how i twist it, it is simply too ooc for zuko, who's fatal flaw is that he cares too much, not to spare mai a single thought after she was willing to die for him. i know it can only be explained away by out-of-universe reasons: they didn't have screentime (could have cut out that useless ember island players ep), the narrative doesn't give a flying fuck about mai blah blah blah. ZKs love to ooh and aah and say he forgot her in prison... don't they realise how bad it makes zuko look? i thought they were supposed to be zuko fans and they can't even tell when something is ooc for him? and given how mai gets so much hate for not being a good girlfriend to zuko--remember how i say a lot of zuko hate tends to be reactionary?--so, think about it: zuko didn't care for the safety of the girl who saved his life. how's that for being an s-tier jerk? (for the nth time: i know it was ooc) but what if zuko wasn't granted so much wiggle room by the fandom?

now let's talk about consequences a little, shall we?

in castlevania: nocturne there aren't any because alucard steps in and tells richter "annette wouldn't want it" and that's what makes him let go of her.

when i watched that the first time i was immediately struck with the idea to draw a comic where zuko tries to jump off the gondola when he sees mai committing treason. it would be incredibly in-character. this guy thinks laws of physics don't apply to him and acting irrationally in stressful situations is kind of his brand. he'd probably have thought he'd bend the heat when he hits the water or something--he'll figure it out, fly by the seat of his pants--very zuko. only for sokka to tackle him and remind him he'd be throwing away mai's sacrifice if he gets caught or killed or both. the former would lead to the later anyways. and that's what would make him acquiesces. respect for mai's sacrifice. but we can't have good things i suppose (i'll draw it someday)

jodhaa/akbar: the religious leader in akbar's court teams up with his brother-in-law to try and overthrow him.

baahubali: he loses the throne, yes. but this event leads to a domino effect that gets him killed. ooops.

aang: much like richter, he lets go of katara for katara's sake. even then he's narratively punished for it. immediately.

this brings me to my point: these were all heroes, they managed to do their duties in the end. they managed to do the right thing. choosing their love interests is something the narrative supports them for doing. richter and aang were loverboy extraordinaire. for akbar and baahubali, they did the right thing too. hence why they were heroes. an alliance between the mughals and rajputs avoided a lot of bloodshed. and baahubali was right: his mother shouldn't have given word about devasena's marriage without her consent. here the forces around them/their duties require them to do something that is wrong (kinda like how what's legal isn't necessarily right).

baahubali's tyrant of a brother becomes king, but he goes and lives among the peasants and protects them. he gave up the throne for his wife but he managed to do his duty to the people in his country.

after the war, something similar could be done for maiko now that mai is not a villain anymore. there isn't going to be any moral quandaries.

showing zuko prioritising mai even though he is a monarch and has the responsibility of an entire country would not only make for good romance writing but also show zuko in a good light.

honestly, i find the "that's what loving a monarch is" argument tired and boring and not at all revolutionary. i find the writing in the above mentioned movies and shows (notice how few of them i was able to find!) so much more refreshing. given that we live in a society where let alone expect men to be good partners, it's actively discouraged! (simp is an insult for fuck's sake) a woman being loved and cherished by her partner above all else is refreshing.

and forget about romance, there's nothing interesting in the "that's what loving a monarch is like" and "mai would always come second" in terms of writing either. managing to balance duty and love both would make for much more interesting writing: aang's whole arc was about that!

even before i shipped maiko hardcore, i always loved atla. and the reason was the message it imparts through aang: he managed to neutralise ozai without sacrificing his air nomad values and/or katara. i still see people complaining that aang didn't sacrifice anything: first of all, he lost his entire people. what more do you want? secondly, there's nothing glorious in sacrifice. no one should have to do it! stop romanticising stuff like that! sacrifices have to be made, yes, respect the people who do that but always remember they shouldn't have had to do it! do not glorify it. systemic failure needs individuals to sacrifice themselves. treat the root of the cause.

kinda like how aang ended the war and ushered in a new era where no one would have to choose between their loved ones and doing the right thing.

that's the message of atla and it's freaking amazing.

i think the "that's what loving a monarch is like" argument is "aang didn't sacrifice anything!!! a hero should have to!!!" in another format. the sentiment behind the two is the same.

it's the kind of sentiment that is also behind the term "collateral damage".

besides, while watching the show i also noticed in the boiling rock, zuko's first instinct isn't to tell mai that it's for a greater cause and that it isn't about her (which he does tell her later, but we'd come to that in a bit) but it is to apologise to her for the hurt he's caused.

when he tells her it isn't about her, he's lashing out (much in the same way that led him to call iroh lazy and jealous of ozai and mai a big blag) when mai objects to it ("thanks, zuko. that makes me feel all better") he immediately goes back to apologising again. and explains to her, without trivialising the hurt he's caused her, why he had to do it. even in a lockup, in a difficult situation, he doesn't invalidate mai's hurt feelings (which much of the fandom does: "it isn't about you, girl! he has greater things to do". but zuko didn't act holier-than-thou with her). the "women don't understand larger obligations" is also a misogynistic pitfall atla managed to avoid with maiko. first with zuko acknowledging that leaving her in a letter was wrong and later by having mai switch sides. she protected him while he fulfilled his larger obligations.

it was clever writing. "that's what loving a monarch is like" is not.

mai does accept she would always come second, i have no doubt. that doesn't mean the audience--or zuko--should stand by that.

i want maiko to be an equal and healthy romance. as of now, zuko has yet to match mai's boiling rock level of devotion from a meta perspective--and i know avatar studios don't care enough to do it.

i can even give evidence that it would be completely in-character for zuko. idk why people have this reading of him that he cares for honour/duty above all else but that's a fundamental misunderstanding of his character.

pay attention to what a character does, not what a character says. zuko yells "honour" and "destiny" quite a lot but he isn't hesitant to throw honour out the window when the situation calls for it.

as for what zuko really cares about: it's people. above missions and duty and honour and causes. zuko cares for people.

he got his face burned for some recruits he had never seen. what's more, he didn't care about battle strategy, he cared about people.

he prioritises his crew's safety over his mission (capturing aang).

he almost got his cover blown when he witnessed bullying in the boiling rock and sokka had to hold him back.

he took lightning for katara (good thing katara was someone who was able to fight azula and heal him too) but i have no doubt he'd have done it for some random bystander too. and then what? he'd have died and azula would've been firelord. or maybe not given ozai was defeated but still. everything was up in the air. zuko wasn't thinking. His instinct is to put people above all else.

zuko cares about people above all else. the narrative supports him for it. it is never implied that it is something he needs to grow out of. zuko as firelord would not stand for "collateral damage." i want him to do something like the bullet points above for mai too.

ashes was good enough that it stopped me from dropping maiko like a hot potato. mai got to breathe outside of zuko and zuko acknowledged that "wouldn't [she] want to make sure other little girls don't go through what she did?" he granted her agency and he has her back. this was something i predicted on twitter months before ashes released btw.

anyways. all this when avatar studios are probably not even thinking about it this way. they only listen to mai-bad-girlfriend complains (which she wasn't, she was a great girlfriend) they are ready to shave down her unconventional personality to appeal to mai haters (it ain't gonna work. bloom @goldenchloris made an amazing post about it here.) (which the og cartoon was careful not to do, aaron ehasz got fanmail about it) but they really don't care to show zuko being a good boyfriend--he's improved in ashes but it's still not close to what mai did for him in tbr. and here i gave myself a cramp typing all that.

bye!

I never took maiko's bad writing seriously because it was so clearly a tertiary sub-plot

When Zuko goes "they let out you of prison?" I was like "wtf" but only for a moment

Because him simply forgetting her was THAT unthinkable for me. He doesn't move like that.

I shipped maiko because I found it interesting that someone gloomy and morose like Mai was paired up with Zuko instead of someone who could stereotypically fix all his problems. I loved seeing the side of him that only comes out when he's with her!

Maiko's a great ship when you love Zuko and don't care for Mai. It was like that for me until I joined the fandom and saw zutara wouldn't leave Mai alone.

Seeing them constantly mock her for the way Zuko treated her made me like her more and go "wow, Zuko's really a jerk huh?"

I started shipping Maiko because I liked Zuko and now I might stop shipping it because I like Mai.

Unless I find it tragically romantic that Mai gives it her all for a man who doesn't even think of her when she's not infront of him and doesn't love her as much as she loves him (which I don't) I can't ship Maiko

I'm pretty sure they'd get back together in Ashes of the Academy but if Zuko doesn't explicitly prove that he's going to value and cherish her going forward, then idc that it's canon, I'm done with this ship.

[naquey]

The shows may have ended but fandom is forever, even if its you and your friends writing about your blorbos

[folkloristico]

is it “fandom discourse” or is it people asking you to check your misogyny when discussing female characters. is it “fandom discourse” or is it people telling you to check your racism when discussing characters of colour. is it “censoring” or is it people telling you to fuck off with your insanely misogynistic and racist depictions. is it “homophobia” or are people pointing out the way fandoms will jump on any milk-toast white male x white male ship while degrading the very female characters that are canonically romantically involved with them. is it “these characters are so sibling coded!” or are you factually incapable of imagining your beloved white male with a dark-skinned black woman.

[sieglinde-freud]

i love lucisev in any flavor its given to me but in particular i really enjoy 1) lucisev thats been together since pre going back in time and dont even remember when they “happened” theyve just always been a forever constant and comfort without having to label it or eachother until they dont have it anymore (being separated post time jump) and 2) lucisev that has never happened and its been a pining disastrous mess for years on both ends but then selena leaves for nohr and when laslow and odin ask what she’s holding herself back for she doesnt answer but they already know. when they come back home, selena searches everywhere for her and sometimes, she’s too late. lucina’s already packed up and left the world behind, and for what? no one really knows. but sometimes, she finds her again, but it’s been so long and lucina’s not sure they can go back to being the same way they used to be, not after feeling hurt and betrayed by severa’s sudden departure. but things like this take time, and selena is finally at a place in her life where she can decidedly say she has all of the time in the world.

[etchif]

"I don't like Mel she's a bad person she totally manipulated Jayce in season one" uhm yeah and?? God forbid a woman has ambitions. God forbid a woman is dedicated to her cause

[hooked-on-elvis]

ELVIS' DEBUT ON TV — 📺 [CBS] The Dorsey Brothers 'Stage Show'

Elvis with Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey at CBS Studio 50, New York, March 17, 1956 [that would be Elvis' 5th appearance on their TV show, out of 6 total.].

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By December 1955 Elvis had still not made an appearance on national television. His manager Colonel Tom Parker negotiated a deal through Steve Yates with CBS's "Stage Show" for four appearances on the show in January 1956 at $1,250 each and an option for two more at $1,500 each.

On the January 28, 1956, Elvis was broadcast for the nation for the very first time, performing "Shake, Rattle and Roll", "Flip, Flop and Fly" and "I Got a Woman".

[ABOVE: the January 28th 1956 FULL PERFORMANCE]

On Elvis' first appearance on American television, Bill Randle, one of the most influential disc jockeys of the time, was the man who actually presented Elvis Presley to the nation. He said:

"We'd like at this time to introduce to you a young fellow, who like many performers, Johnnie Ray among them, come up out of nowhere to be overnight very big stars. This young fellow we met for the first time while making a movie short*. We think tonight that he's going to make television history for you. We'd like you to meet him now - Elvis Presley. And here he is!" — Bill Randle, Disc Jockey, the man presenting Elvis Presley to America for the first time. January 28, 1956.

After this, things would never be the same, specially the society. Such a good beginning for a year, that special day in a January month! ♥

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🎞️THE SHORT-FILM THAT NEVER SAW THE LIGHT OF DAY (for the general public... at least until now...)

The movie short Bill Randle referred to during his introduction to Elvis was "The Pied Piper Of Cleveland - A Day In The Life Of A Famous Disc Jockey" a short film made by Universal pictures about Bill Randle himself. Filmed on October 20th, 1955, at a concert in Brooklyn High School, Cleveland, it featured the stars Bill Haley & The Comets, The Four Lads, Pat Boone, plus the addition of a little-known Elvis Presley.

The original forty-eight-minute film was supposed to be cut down to a twenty-minute "short" for national distribution, but never made it that far. We're in 2024... 69 years went by since this shortcut was produced but the movie remains unreleased.

There is some dispute over whether or not this film actually exists, although it's said it was shown publicly, albeit only once in Cleveland, and excerpts were also aired on a Cleveland television station in 1956. Marshall Lytle, bass player for Bill Haley's Comets, corroborates the existence of the film in his memoir, "Still Rockin' Around the Clock", but he makes the unsubstantiated claim that Colonel Tom Parker, Presley's manager, bought the film and destroyed the existing copies. According to historians, tho, DJ Bill Randle, before his death in 2004, sold the rights to the film to PolyGram (it has been reported that Universal Studios has the negatives of the film in its vaults).

Much uncertainty about this short film, but can you imagine this film being release in Elvis' birthday centenary celebration? We watched, and listened, on Elvis' 89th birthday a few days earlier this year, to them playing during his birthday celebration at Graceland the original "That's All Right" record as it was cut at Sun Records studio in 1954, so who knows? There's always rare things surfacing here and there, so... we better keep our hopes this Bill Randle's 1955 movie, with some new 'baby Elvis' footage, will be release any day now [such as we know there's 'Elvis On Tour' and 'Elvis: That's the Way It Is' never seen before footage coming our way, as confirmed by the "Elvis" 2022 biopic's film director, Baz Luhrmann — finally! We hope it will be released soon].

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But enough daydreaming... Back to Elvis' 1st television appearances.

After the premiere on America's television on January 28th, 1956, Elvis would do five more appearances on 'The Dorsey Brothers Stage Show" for the next eight weeks. Those would take place on February 4, February 11, February 18, March 17 and March 24th, 1956.

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February 4th, 1956 | "Baby Let's Play House" and "Tutti Frutti"

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February 11th, 1956 | "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Heartbreak Hotel" *

* This is a special arrangement for 'Heartbreak Hotel', so good! Jazzy, dramatic, really rarity. I loved this! ♥

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February 18th, 1956 | "Tutti Frutti" and "I Was The One"

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March 17th, 1956 | "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Heartbreak Hotel" *

* This is the usual arrangement for the "Heartbreak Hotel" song. On February 11th, 1956, Elvis performed this same song onstage of 'The Dorsey Brothers Show' but it sounded something more… dramatic (I guess it matched the lyrics after all, but I love the usual arrangement better yet).

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And the last one... the 6th appearance on 'Dorsey Brothers Stage Show':

March 24th, 1956 | "Money Honey" and "Heartbreak Hotel" | [FULL PERFORMANCE]

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We can see how on those first TV shows Elvis still looks quite shy. Although he moves the usual lot, he doesn't flirt with his audience as much as he would on the upcoming TV appearances (and throughout his life, actually). It's funny how he grew comfortable with being in front of the cameras so fast tho. As his photographer Wiliam Speer said, "I guess you must really like being photographed."

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Elvis with Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey at CBS Studio 50 in New York, on March 17, 1956. That would be Elvis' 5th appearance on their TV show. 'The Dorsey Brothers Stage Show' (CBS) was the place Elvis debut in his TV appearances, on January 28th 1956. He would appear on the show for 6 times total, from January to March 1956. ♥

Performing on the 'Dorsey Brothers Stage Show' at the CBS Studio 50, New York City, on March 24th, 1956. His 6th and final appearance on the show.

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EDIT: THE BLUE MOON BOYS

I hate it when I forget to mention such important, trivial, facts — and this shouldn't be footnote info and I feel guilty it is now but I forgot mentioning — The Blue Moon Boys. I love them so much! I watch those footage looking at them as much as I look at Elvis.

Like, I love Bill Black's energy onstage! I love him hollering, vibing to their sound, as loud as Elvis (on occasion). I love how he seem to love chewing gum (Bill is chewing gum in some of those footage), because it makes me look at the Blue Moon Boys and Elvis as a unit, real close friend who look alike, just how it should be. We know although EP for obvious reasons can't chew gum while singing, he loooooved gum and kept this - should I say "habit?" - throughout his life. It's sounding silly what I'm saying, I know, but I think this Elvis habit in fact date from back when he was rocking onstage with Bill, Scotty and DJ Fontana and it makes my heart warm how close and similar they seem to be, as friends, real friends. Bill is actually said to be the one cheering the crowds onstage when they first begun performing, when Elvis was still learning how to be the great leading man he became. When EP was still learning how to act onstage, how to manipulate the audience, creating the mad passionate reactions he learned to create whenever he wanted, Bill was the one heating things up, joking with the audience, cheering, hollering. Bill is amazing! His energy is intoxicating, and we can see it clearly on those first TV appearances performances. ♥

--

I also love how hot Scotty Moore looks! I kinda laughed thinking 'Oh my goodness' ... So this thing about rock and roll bands always having hot vocalists and hot guitar players as a rule, it looks like it all started from the 50s with EP and Scotty! (really, at least the singer and guitar player in most rock bands are hot AF, am I lying? *lol*). I have a thing for Scotty... When he smiles at times on those footage, I'm like: 🤤🥹🥴🫠 And I also love how he's elegant but at the same time menacing looking holding and playing his guitar like the guitar hero he was. Really, if you haven't yet, do yourself a favor and read Scotty's book "THAT'S ALL RIGHT, ELVIS: The Untold Story of Elvis' First Guitarist and Manager, Scotty Moore", by Scotty as told to James Dickerson (1997). Scotty's life story is fascinating and as interesting as Elvis'. ♥

--

And last, but never least, I love how together, calm and concentrated DJ Fontana looks. Ok, unfortunately being the drummer has it's disadvantages. We can't see DJ Fontana as much as we see the other boys onstage, but I listen to the songs until the very last minute and it's amazing how the music always has the closing, the important and dramatic ending, done by DJ's talented hands. I love that guy. ♥

Elvis Presley and The Blue Moon Boys were the best rock and rollers! I love their energy together. As much as I adore 70s Elvis onstage, the TCB Band, the Sweets Inspirations and all, if I only had one performance of Elvis' I could attend, just one to choose, I would go for - undoubtedly - the 50s ones, when those guys, The Blue Moon Boys and Elvis, were playing together.

That's Rock and Roll royalty. ✨👑 ♥

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There you go. All the videos together so you can watch of them easily. ♥

[weregonnabecoolbeans]

Agatha All Along is so so SO much fun!

And so far I have yet to see any of the usual fandom negativity that has been pretty unavoidable the past few years..

Whether that’s because those usual negative people are actually allowing themselves to enjoy life for once (doubtful, but one can hope)

or the more likely option..

That I have become incredibly skilled at keeping that vibe away from all my feeds..

Whichever…if I’m being delusional or not, it doesn’t matter to me..

I’m just happy to sit in my little bubble of positivity..

and enjoy this series..

and continue to love my favourite franchise

no matter how many people love to complain about fun :)

[bi-panic-at-the-disco]

I like how whenever I watch AstralSpiff or Backseat play a new Poppy Chapter it’s pretty clear what game that they devs had been playing before hand lmao,, Chapter 4 being very clearly referencing to the Resident Evil 4 underground factory insect fights with how it was framed

[gods-favorite-autistic]

Good evening if you are spoiling the Percy Jackson series for people who haven’t read the books on purpose you’re an asshole

[benkaben]

Gggggaaaaaa