#me in the one scene where they're in the same room: but why aren't they kissing??? denis!!!!!!

[blackstarising]

concept: gurneyirulan

[northwestcomixcollective]

post epilogue au bill jerry mandi schizoposting delirium whatever hte fuck Context here im quoting comic books and literature no one on tumblrs ever heard of its mostly for archive purposes and the people that care at least a little bit

i sort of picture bills homosexuality as sort of like a thing he would never admit to or act upon and especially with jerry being the only guy who's ever tried to reach out to him and be kind to him to touch him to reach out etc etc being deprived of human touch for 10 years i definitely think they're gay i picture him as a bukowski or crumb bu,t in the way they objectify and degrade women and not the sort of intellectual type and at the same time bwing q repressed homosexual virgin in his late twenties is something i really want to explore

sex isnt everythinf but seeing how important it is for them and how significative and how women are sexual objects and all i think it definitely affects his view on himselg

i think there's this underlying animalistic urge to be close and be together theyve been around eachother since they were kids they really have no one else that's been through what they've been through and even though jerry wants to let go bill is still stuck on it which is why he's so clingy to jerry he's the only thing he has left really the only person that reached out the only guy that somewhat cares i wouldnt be talking about bill clinging on like a koala ofherwise he really does """"love"""" jerry jn the sense he let him stay he touches his shoulder he gave him a change of clothes despite everything that hapoened see gif below

i definitely want there to be a scene of bill breaking down and being liek Jerry....... i like men.......... and just like crying geeking and jerry holding him close and putting his cold nose on his neck and telling him it's all finewhile holding him he caresses him blalallaa whatever for the first time in like 30 something years he feels appreciated loved and held jerry doesnt even know what he's doing holding this piece of shit garbage scum that said the most obscene garbage to his girlfriend who is in the next room ten years ago i think for jerry its also nice to hold him because his parents never really did it which is sort of shown in the pilot where he holds himself when he's excited or nervous as a self soothing method and he feels like hes giving the love he never really received as a child See picture below

in his mind bill really could change. Because he really could change he just needed the right people around him. the resentment he feels towards bill fluctuates he resents him for everything that happened at comic-con he resents him for never treating him well when they were younger he resents him for waltzing into his house drenched in snot rain and tears and taking up space in what was supposed to be a place he could be comfortable and at peace in

billjer i wanted to compare it to ralf könig's "swiss bliss" but bills friends aren't nearly as tolerant of gays as the guys friends who tell him he isnt gay and he's not like that and they dont believe it theyd straigjt up just exile him i think it's more like "maybe ... maybe not" again by ralf könig picture attached below jerry would never make a move first i think bills vulnerable situation and lack of human contact and sort of praise and appreciation he has for jerry for housing him would sort of bring him to do it i think if they ever got to kiss or make out like this styleit would be during a heated argument or while they're drunk they wouldnt be able to stop thems3lves but if it ever escalates i think jerry could easily let bill go and let him slam his head against something and just go into another room and start pacing fucking freaking out see picture below,

if anyone wants to jump me for shipping bill and mandi its3now or never SCREAM ID YOU LOVE BILL AND MANDI

although i asked dorkin and he already told me it isnt true i still want to explore mandi being the same girl that walked into joe's comic book store in "this monster, this fan" because of the character dynamics i could explore and thoughts and interpretations i dont givea fuck im schizoposting about bill blowing jerry im basically doing whatever i wajt with the already existing comic thog dont care i think they both remember the day really clearly but since bill is so so focused on jerry he barely even glances at her because she was basically violated by like. what 15 men in a comic book store including grown men taking a picture of her like thats vile bill doesnt want to think about it he doesn't want to confront her or say anything ever because the humiliation of already being in someone else's house eating their food taking up space is too much

see earlier mention of crumb

the way crumb depicts women as something divine unachievable incomprehensible and as sex objects and puts them in the strangest most violent situations where is definitely something i see bill in especially in the epilogue where he and the rest just start babbling about how the female cosplayers are too ugly fat or arent white and dont fit their standards the way they're always depicted reading smut pornography or just looking at pinups of women (sometimes in violent situations as well) and the interaction he had at joe's all formed and turned his mindset into something utterly vile negative and disgustifn

see previous mention of bukowski

in this book the narrator is always pointing out faults in women i definitely see him as bill in the sense of being so negative hateful and even when in love he still manages to criticize his potential lover it could be bill and mandi but their relationship is much more complex to me since neither of them actually love eqchpther they just carnally need one another the way he's just really pathetic drunk and all just reminds me of bill as well mandi hates bill for being a man she's attracted to him because he's so fucking pathetic and gross it's exciting bill is attracted to mandi because she's a woman he detests her for being a stupid cunt who speaks her mind and is independent theyre both secretly having an affair one is slightly homoerotic the other one is just straight up abusive bill doesnt like to talk to anyone in the house he's extremely embarrassed and ashamed not only because he's in his friends house living there with his girlfriend who he hates but because he had the balls to reach out for help especially from a guy who beat the shit out of him last time they ever saw eachother mandi tries to talk it out but bill is so unbelievably childish he doesn't speak to anyone or do anything he's just silent i love them because they beat the shit out of eachofher and bill is a sexist pig and mandi is a woman they're all having an affair with eachother if any of them find out the other one is dating everything will go down genuinely but it wont since they're all too busyv hiding something from the other

i definitely think he would crash out on her but in the most like. formal way possible because he doesnt want to get kicked out and its shown he sort of knows when it's appropriate to shut up unlike josh who just starts geeking

+ jerry & mandi sketch im not finishing to get a glimpse into what i picture them both to be. healthy happy and everything good

[cutebat]

I don't know why Tumblr keeps forbidding me from editing requests! Why do you hate me, Tumblr?! 😭

Request: Hi! I love your one shots, and I was wondering if you could maybe do a clingy!yandere!batfamily (with all the family members) please and thank you!

Warning: Clingy behavior, forced cuddling, mentions of manipulation, they were cudding with her so much that batgirl reader was suffocating

The reader is going to be referred to as 'Batgirl'

~~~~~

In those nights of Gotham, the night where there aren't a lot of crimes. People would wonder what Batman and his small family are up to.

Watching a movie is what they're doing.

While cuddling with their little batgirl at the same time.

"Guys, can you stop talking? I can't hear," she tells them as she munch on her popcorn.

Currently, Batgirl was being held by her siblings at the point where she was going to be breathless. She was trying to focus on the screen, but she couldn't because of the weight on her siblings onto her.

"Shhhh... Just focus, my dear baby sister," Stephanie reassures her as she strokes her sister's head.

"Don't touch her, Brown!" Damian scolds her as he swats her hand away.

"Be careful with her head!" Tim said as he tries to make one of them hold the back of her head.

"Calm down, Tim. I got her," Duke reassures him as Cassandra is just hugging her sister's small body.

"All of you are touching her," Barbara corrects him as she munched onto her candy.

"We have to make sure that she's safe, Babs!" Dick said as he clutched onto Batgirl tightly in his arms.

"Stop pulling her so close to you, bastard," Jason said in a harsh tone that made her jolt.

Then, the two oldest children began to argue. That's when the others joined in as well, which made the movie audio unheard. Meanwhile, Batgirl is just munching on her popcorn as she tries to focus on the movie.

As she was watching, she was suddenly picked up out of her seat by someone. She looks up to see Bruce lifting her up.

"Hey, the movie is not done," she said as she pointed at the big screen as she watched Bruce pick up his bowl of popcorn.

"I couldn't hear. Well, you may now why," he said as he glanced at the rest of his children.

With that, he walks out of the theater, leaving the arguing batsiblings behind.

~~~~~

After a long argument, the others saw that their little sister is gone.

They were silent before gave each other glances before they quickly departed ways.

As they were looking around the mansion, they heard Jason make a signal that made everyone quickly run upstairs where they see him next to the smiling Alfred.

They were wondering what was happening before they saw the scene in front of them.

Bruce was holding onto Batgirl as she was underneath his covers, asleep while holding onto her stuffed animal, Batsie. The TV in his room was playing the same movie and the parts that they couldn't watch because of the other children's arguing in the theater.

They were just exchanging looks as they stared at their father and mentor cuddling with their sister. A pit of jealously rose inside them, but at the same time, they knew who won.

Bruce then gets up and turns off the TV before he walks out of his bedroom and gently closes the door.

"We have to go and patrol for tonight. Duke, Tim, Stephanie. You three will come with me. Alfred, prepare the guest room for me when I get back."

He orders with his Batman demeanor before he walks off. When he walked off, the others turned to each other.

"Looks like we know the winner of this whole thing, but not for long," Dick said as some of the others groaned out of defeat.

However, at the same time, they couldn't help but adore the sleeping Batgirl on the bed.

~~~~~

Please do NOT steal my art!

[conflictofthemind]

holly wheeler - who/what are you? an informal post about all of the holly oddities I've discovered so far.

where do I even begin with this one? I'm just going to jump into it and show you all the weird connections I've found that mostly relate to holly-el/jane, holly-alice and holly-sarah. I have no real conclusions so far so I invite everyone to take a look and share their thoughts.

oddity one: the hair

All four are blonde girls, and three have pigtails or twin braids, reminiscent of rabbit ears.

oddity two: the rabbits

terry ives' home, inside what should have been jane ives' room:

holly wheeler and her rabbit lite-brite:

alice creel and the dead rabbit:

And why the rabbits? Well, they're all a reference to Alice in Wonderland. The first rabbit in the painting in Jane's room is just literally the rabbit from AIW, fitted with a pocketwatch.

Alice in Wonderland:

Just check out #whiterabbitgate for more on the two above, the song 'White Rabbit' is also connected to El and just general HNL activities.

The Rainbows:

(above is the Terry Ives flashback from season two)

Holly's outfit in Season 5 is incredibly colourful and there are at least 3 different rainbow items inside her room.

The Flowers:

^ Holly even has yellow red and blue flowers on her bicycle basket.

My questions have already been: why is Vecna/Henry seemingly interested in her enough to not only lure her but continue 'playing' with her for multiple scenes? Why is Holly suddenly relevant?

I'm also a BTVS fan, and the idea of a younger sister suddenly introduced had me thinking of Dawn. Dawn was Buffy's younger sister introduced suddenly in Season 5 (literally out of nowhere) - until it turned out that she wasn't a fully real person, but a powerful energy turned into a human that was sent to the Summers' house where they would protect her. She never existed until she was fourteen, but they all believed she had with false memories. Furthermore, she becomes the target of that season's villain which Buffy has to protect.

So then we get to Holly's room:

Most notably for this post are ALF and the 'A Royal Pain' book. Let me just show you the plot summaries for both, starting with ALF:

I initially thought the ALF reference was just a reference to El (and it very much could be a dual thing). But considering the strangeness.... and the parallels that are coming to light between them.

A Royal Pain:

There has already been baby-switch precedent in the show. In fact it's a major theory about Jane Ives and El - that they aren't the same child. But when it's been specifically brought up, it's been in relation to the Wheelers. Karen, was your other daughter swapped in the hospital? Or something even crazier?

I'll get to more when my ideas are less of a mess. But there's also something interesting @bylerposting has brought up - the way that Mike has this whole interesting out of place dialogue with El.

But what if it wasn't about El - what if it was also subtext for Holly? She came into the family even though she wasn't a biological daughter. The Wheelers were like her new parents, and Nancy was like her new sister.

And there's so much more I'm thinking of but can't get to right now, like Holly with the lights and her perception of the supernatural before others sense it. I just want to get this ball rolling for real.

[xo-cod]

You know what I think would be cute? If one of the 141 were watching Beauty and the Beast with his child and during the scenes where they're bonding and dancing, the child gasps and says, "That's you and Mommy!" And they're all excited because it shows that their parents are truly in love and they just find it adorable 🥰

141 men being all soft and cute dads makes my heart melt omg <33 this is so cute babe :(( 🤍

price: "is that right, honey?" he chuckles softly, an eyebrow raised in amusement. he actually hadn't given much thought to it, he didn't really think children were even for him. but then there you came, tilting his world on its axis. how you managed to fall in love with him, he hadn't the faintest clue. he couldn't ever fathom why you'd choose him but he's so incredibly grateful nonetheless. he didn't know what good thing he had done to receive either one but he counted his blessings every day for it. he holds his little girl in the crook of his arm as they both cuddle close on the sofa, his deep chuckle echoing in the room everytime his little kiddo eagerly pointed out the scene on the tv. his heart was practically swimming in his chest as he cuddles her close pressing gentle kisses all over her cheeks to make her giggle <3

simon: "me an' mama, huh?" he chuckles fondly, his heart fluttering inside his chest. he didn't much care for disney movies but since having his daughter, he'd been forced to watch them all back to back with her. not that he minded so much, he would've done anything to keep that grin on her little face. it makes his heart ache with so much joy when his little girl had said that, after all he grew up in a world of pain. some days, he was so scared of ever accidentally inflicting the same scars his father had left behind on his baby and you. and so it almost makes him teary eyed when his child points out the tenderness between belle and beast to you and him. he was the best dad anyone could ever ask for, it was just taking him a little longer in believing that <3

gaz: "shall we dance then, my love?" he humours them, raising his hand out for them to take. his heart was practically bursting at the seams when his baby pointed it out, he didn't think he could ever have this privilege in his life. and he cherished every single moment with you and his bundle of joy, both of you meaning more to him than life itself. and as the dancing scene takes place with belle and the beast, gaz and his baby also dance along to the music, with the exaggerated hum from gaz just to hear his little one giggle madly. his small girl dancing happily in his arms and gaz wrapping a strong arm around her, keeping her safe and close was a sight he could never tire from <3

soap: "and you're our little teacup, aren't you sunshine?" the scot laughs heartily as he scoops his baby in his warm arm, blowing soft raspberries on their stomach. johnny really didn't think he would ever be in this beautiful position of finally being a dad to his baby, a baby that you had gifted him. everyday he makes sure to let you know how thankful he is to have you and his child in his life, he would never be able to find the words to express it. so he chooses actions instead. as he tickles his little baby their shrieks of delight and giggles makes him all warm inside, he truly was the luckiest person ever. <3

[thoughtlessthinkythoughts]

I think the key to understanding show!Aziraphale is in some lines that are in the book but not the show. Because these lines represent a place that our show Aziraphale hasn't hit yet.

Before I get into this, let me explain why I think things that aren't in the show can be so important to understanding where the show will go.

For another example, let's look at the ending of the book/s1. In the book, Adam is not impressed with Aziraphale and Crowley. There is no pep talk. He actually has a pretty stern message to them about "not messing people around."

A lot of s2 might not have worked the same way if they had gotten that message. It would have cut off room for growth. The whole plotline with Nina and Maggie for one would have been much less likely. So by holding off the stop messing with people message to the end of s2 (and then only giving it to Crowley), it provides more room for the characters to change at a pace befitting a multi-season show.

So what else do I think will end up working this way?

Well, there's a scene I love in the book that hasn't made it into the show yet. It happens after Aziraphale is discorporated. In the show, he goes to heaven, then to Madame Tracy. In the book, he bounces around possible hosts first, including a televangelist. The televangelist is going on about the rapture and such, and Aziraphale cuts in with this:

"Well, nice try...only it won't be like that at all. Not really.

"I mean, you're right about the fire and war, all that. but that Rapture stuff well, if you could see them all in Heaven - serried ranks of them as far as the mind can follow and beyond, league after league of us, flaming swords, all that, well, what I'm trying to say is who has time to go round picking people out and popping them up in the air to sneer at the people dying of radiation sickness on the parched and burning earth below them? If that's your idea of a morally acceptable time, I might add.

"And as for that stuff about Heaven inevitably winning...Well, to be honest, if it were that cut and dried, there wouldn't be a Celestial War in the first place, would there? It's propaganda. Pure and simple. We've got no more than a fifty percent chance of coming out on top. You might as well send money to a Satanist hotline to cover your bets, although to be frank when the fire falls and the seas of blood rise you lot are all going to be civilian casualties either way. Between our war and your war, they're going to kill everyone and let God sort it out-right?

"Anyway, sorry to stand here wittering, I've just a quick question-where am I?"

Because even this more cynical version of Aziraphale is adorable, the scene ends with "Gosh," he said, "am I on television?"

We didn't get this in the show, but I can't help feeling that it might be in season 3, assuming we get a season 3. It might even fit in better there, assuming we are going with a "second coming" plot. In the show, Aziraphale hasn't reached this level of cynicism (yet). I can't picture s1 or s2 Aziraphale giving this speech. Sure, he's seen what a mess the archangels are, he was willing to go against heaven to stop them from starting the end of the world, but I'm pretty sure show Aziraphale still believes in the goodness of God if not the goodness of the way heaven is run. It makes sense that show Aziraphale sees heaven as a fixable mess, an organization that isn't living up to what it should be. Because the show is taking Aziraphale's struggle with morally complex situations and questioning God and making it a longer arc.

My guess it that, as his tenure as archangel is likely to go terribly and not give him any more answers (or at least not answers he likes), he will get to the point where he could give this speech in season 3. My guess is that he's likely to also end up in a horrendous mental state once he reaches these conclusions (a perfect opportunity for some hurt/comfort). He's likely to build himself back up after that, but with a clearer look at the world.

End conclusion: if you are telling a longer story, sometimes you need to hold some things back to give your characters room to grow. So, it isn't a sign something is wrong with a story when partway through a character hasn't hit upon an obvious point.

"

[sofixt0k]

OPINION ABOUT THE NEW MILEVEN DEFENCE VIDEO ( 5 )

Part Five Her comments / My comments

"Let's go to Season 4, after Eleven is taken by the police and Mike goes to talk to Will. It's actually funny that for Mike to approach Will, Eleven had to be taken away. It's a scene that people see as romantic because of the way Mike looks at Will.

We find it amusing too, like when Eleven is not around, Mike is more genuine and doesn't act like a jerk or dress weird—he's more himself, you know?

But literally, Mike smiles at Will because in that scene, Mike recounts having an argument with Eleven, saying he wanted to tell her he loved her but couldn't, and regrets not doing so. And literally, Mike smiles when Will says, "No, but you'll see her again and you'll be able to tell her what you want to say." And Mike smiles as if to say, "He's right about what he's saying."

We completely skipped the scene where he apologizes for being an idiot because Will didn't deserve that, and that “Hawkins isn't the same without you,” mhm… We had to skip that scene, right?, because it destabilizes your arguments quite a bit, mhm…

Do you understand? I mean, he's not smiling as if to say, "Oh, I really like you." No, he's smiling as if to say, "Oh, it's true, Will, I can tell my girlfriend that I love her." I mean, it's right in front of your eyes.

He can, he did, of wanting to...

So, you need to analyze the scene a bit more.

What this girl has been doing throughout the whole video that I've endured is analyzing the series????, oh, oh—

-take out the romantic aspect and analyze it as good friends. I mean, it makes me so mad that they ship Will, because I swear, the friendship between Mike and Will is so beautiful, they are such good friends, they understand and know each other so well, that making everything they do romantic ruins it.

It ruins it?, tell me why, you piece of homophobe. In any case, the writers already ruined it by making Will in love with Mike, unless, you know… The idea was to ruin this friendship to make it something more.

Because, I mean, I see a scene between Mike and Will and I say, "Oh, what good friends they are, it's a shame they're shipped as a couple when they're such good friends."

If yes, they are such good friends that they look at each other's lips and one is super protective of the other and the other loves being protected by the other and when they talk about people in general they don't mention it because they know things are different between them and bla bla, you know.

In summary, Mike smiles at Will because Will says good things about Eleven, not because he likes him.

In summary, this girl watches the series with her feet, goodnight.

Also in Season 4, there's a scene where they're about to leave with Argyle to escape the house just before the shootout, and Mike enters Will's room to thank him for making him realize everything that's surprising about Eleven. Literally, it's just Mike apologizing to Will for not being such a good friend, again, not because he likes him.

Oh, you mentioned the scene, well, not very well mentioned, but let's continue.

And literally, in that scene, Mike admits to being friends. During all this time when Will and Eleven were away because they went to California, he worried a lot about Eleven, I'll say it again, he worried about Eleven, Mike about Eleven, and he didn't pay much attention to Will. And it's like Mike apologizes to Will for not paying much attention to him.

As if it hadn't been implicitly shown that Mike tried to call Will numerous times and as if this is a series, cinema, that tries to convey a message, and things aren't there just because, like it doesn't make sense to spend 1 season looking for her, 1 season protecting him, 1 season kind of ignoring him to later show that he's insecure about him joining another group, to then show how he's not able to hug him (we already know why) and all the time he was glancing at Will.

When Will could also have paid attention to Mike, I mean, Will could have called just like Mike could have called Will.

Do I explain myself? I mean, those are separate things, but it's like Mike apologized for something he necessarily didn't have to apologize for, but oh well. Basically, he's addressing the situation very maturely, which is to accept his mistake and apologize, and being a good friend.

And literally, in that scene, Mike tells him to be friends. Best friends.

Best friends. Another part of this scene is where Will loves that Mike told him to be best friends. I mean, Will gets excited because what Will wants is not for Mike to pay attention to him.

Will gets excited because he just wants to have a good relationship with one of his best friends, you know? Since he feels weird about his sexuality because he likes Mike, it's like all he wants or is content with is just being best friends with Mike.

That to justify your hatred towards Byler you throw in Will's feelings as if he literally didn't feel his heart being torn apart in the van when he let go of his feelings seems very shitty on your part. Because yes, Will is happy with Mike as a friend, but content? Nah, we all know deep down it's not like that, no one who's in love is 100% happy being best friends forever with the person they're in love with.

Because he doesn't want to be alone and feel like a freak. Do I explain myself? I mean, Will isn't sad because Mike doesn't like him."

Again, because this girl is an intimate friend not only of Mike but also of Will, and well, yesterday when they went out for coffee, Will told her this, that he doesn't care if Mike loves him or not.

[the-blossica-fan]

Jiu and Yenisei get divorced, but

1. Yenisei doesn't know they're getting divorced

2. Jiu misheard something Yenisei said which is why this is happening

3. They're not even married

4. Mesmer Jr. isn't a divorce lawyer. Please let her have her coffee with Vertin in peace she is fucking BEGGING at this point

5. Happy ending???

Or: The most crack thing I have sent you yet. I am sorry in advance 😭

Why do I have the feeling Yenisei wasn't even speaking English when Jiu overheard things 😭

This all starts in Mesmer Jr's room, against her will because if she had a choice this would NOT be happening. One day, while she tried to get some alone time, Jiu barged, sobbing, into her room with some papers smeared in ink. She had written something, that's for sure, and that something was in Chinese which Mesmer does not know.

Of course Mesmer spent some time trying to kick Jiu out but the sobbing girl clung onto her until she had no choice but to hear her out.

Turns out she's getting divorced from Yenisei, who is not even in the room at the moment, because of some weird thing she said?

"But you aren't married, Jiu Niangzi"

"I--"

And then, to Mesmer's relief, the girl left running.

You would think that ends there, right? Nah

Jiu Niangzi kicks down the door again, this time with a clueless and breathless Yenisei, and stands in front of Mesmer. Right then and there, she asked for marriage, and then, for a divorce

"Erm, Mesmer, what exactly is going on? Why is she marrying me and divorcing me in the same breath?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"...Yes, that's why I asked"

And then it's just a back and forth discussion between a clueless and confused Yenisei and an intoxicated and sleepless Jiu Niangzi over marriage and divorce. "But what about the children?" "What children?! Jiu Niangzi what are you talking about??" "You don't remember our children!?"

And now joins the wooden dolls, and it's just a mess. It's three in the morning, Mesmer Jr is tired and she has to play divorce lawyer for two idiots?

She's not even a lawyer. She hasn't even drunk coffee to handle this situation.

There is even a heart touching scene where Jiu proposes to Yenisei just so they can properly divorce with these fake divorce papers Jiu made five minutes before all of this began.

And this nightmare all ends when Mesmer stands up, walks to the kitchen followed by the happy brides or whatever they are now, and sets the divorce papers on fire.

With no divorce papers, there is no divorce, therefore no divorce lawyer or whatever she's playing is needed. And since they are "married", they're now just some happy married couple with no divorce incoming. Happy ending for everyone.

"And that is what happened" Mesmer tells Vertin next morning over some well deserved coffee.

"That certainly explains the broken door, but why didn't you tell me about it before?"

"I didn't feel like it"

[jennelikejennay]

In my watchthrough of second-tier TOS episodes (having watched the good ones first) I think a few loathed ones maybe aren't so bad?

Well, they're still bad. But they have more redeeming qualities than I thought.

Gonna talk about The Omega Glory, just in passing about Bread and Circuses (because that was pretty good), and about The Paradise Syndrome.

The Omega Glory

The Omega Glory is about 3/4 of a good episode. Basically, it's the plot of Insurrection: rogue Starfleet officer wants to break the Prime Directive because he thinks a primitive planet has the secret of immortality. And we get some good points about interfering with things we don't understand and the purpose of the prime directive. (Which, by season 2, exists a lot more than it did in season 1.) Plus, our heroes get the chance to show their worth by their resistance to this guy.

And then it takes a sharp left turn into absurdity. It's not enough for it to be a gentle Cold War metaphor. No, we need to write HI THIS IS ABOUT THE COLD WAR on its forehead and play the Star-Spangled Banner. The point being that you can't say "our side is better than their side because of our cherished founding principles" and then completely ignore the cherished founding principles to be a bigot. Which isn't a bad point but we don't need to be kicked in the face with it.

There's been a recurring theme (I'm not sure it's the first time it turned up, but this was the most pointed occasion) that development of other planets mirrors the development of Earth. Apparently it's a known scientific law: Hodgkins's law of Parallel Planet Development.

I thought this was pretty stupid. Why would planets all develop the same way? Why not jump between parallel universes if what you wanted to talk about was planets going in different directions from the same starting point? It's one thing to have themed planets, that's just a clever way to reuse whatever costumes they had lying around. But couldn't they just have an Earth-like planet, without having them actually have the paper Declaration of Independence lying around? It strains credibility and makes it look like history is some kind of inevitability instead of relying on thousands of factors and choices.

However, I'm not entirely sure I was right.

Bread and Circuses

This is a much better-appreciated episode, for good reason. It has some great Spock and Bones moments, Kirk showing his stubbornness strength of character, the crew loyally standing by to follow orders even though they know their captain is in trouble.

One brief off-topic moment: this guy is queer-coded, right? Extremely?

When he asks for Kirk to be sent to his room, Kirk gives a look that suggests to me he very much worries what this obviously gay Roman wants with him. But actually, he's given a nice meal and a female slave to obey his every whim. Which I think I will write a different post about sometime because it may be Kirk's most problematic moment. OR IS IT?

But anyway, it's another parallel Earth, Earth from a single point in history with one specific difference (the Roman empire never fell. No this does not make historical sense especially given they speak modern English). Yet again there is a twist ending where we realize an important parallel to Earth history and get a 2x4 sized moral lesson. But as this one is more of an afterthought, it didn't ruin the episode the way Omega Glory's ending did.

The Paradise Syndrome

Commonly reviled as one of the worst episodes, and yet....I kind of liked it?

I mean, yes, the stereotyped portrayal of Native Americans is a problem. It's positive, but in that weird idealizing way that media tends to be about Native Americans. The Chakotay problem, we could call it.

But all of the scenes that take place off the planet, between Spock and Bones, are great. Spock won't eat and won't sleep because he wants to save Kirk and all the people on the planet. Bones at first thinks he's being heartless, but he soon recognizes that Spock cares very deeply and made all of correct decisions. So let no one ever say Bones doesn't know how to be nice to Spock. He just usually does it when Kirk isn't in the scene, because Kirk isn't there to do it. He knows he's the guy on the spot and it's time to put the banter away.

This episode also has the first mind meld between Kirk and Spock! Spock struggles with it, saying Kirk's mind is "extremely dynamic." Okay, Spock, keep your fra'als in your pants.

But it was interesting, near the end, when Spock said that the Native Americans down on the planet weren't a perfect parallel of Earth development, they were actual Earth people taken from Earth by a species called "the Preservers," who scattered various human people all over the galaxy.

Bones says, "I'd wondered why there were so many humans around," and that's it, that's all we get on the Preservers. But if we assume this explains the other two episodes, I'm not so mad about it after all. A retcon when they realized they were doing it too much, or a trace of a long arc? Who knows. But I'm adopting it now: that old paper Constitution was stolen from Earth along with a bunch of Americans and Soviets and planted on the planet in The Omega Glory. Some Romans got planted on the planet in Bread and Circuses. It's not parallel development—it's branching development from a common source.

Why does this matter to me so much? I guess I just like things to make some amount of sense. It's always nice when they do. It doesn't redeem that obnoxious lecture on the Constitution or a planet of Native Americans thinking Kirk is a god, but it redeems a little bit the stupidity of those cultures existing at all.

[mdhwrites]

Thoughts on this analysis of Odalia possibly being physically abusive to her kids?

https://old.reddit.com/r/TheOwlHouse/comments/1b8cxqf/the_case_that_odalia_was_physically_abusive_to/

One of the easiest ways to spot bad character analysis is when someone won't talk about context. Literally NONE of these scenes are actually gotten into depth with. It's entirely body language... Without why that body language might be provoked. They gloss over it much of the time.

Their second example with Luz is a really easy one for this. They talk about her acting scared, upset and bracing for the worst... When she literally just erased someone's mind. They acknowledge Amity knows she fucked up but then don't act like that has any bearing on her behavior. She's FOURTEEN. The main reactions to being outed for a fuck up at that age is extreme denial or panic. This is where you get teenagers who have perfectly reasonable parents losing their minds when they make a major fuck up, or a minor one because HEY! getting into trouble sucks. I still remember some dumbass hitting the side of my car in the school parking lot and hating having to call my dad and tell him it had happened when it wasn't my fault even because I knew it was still a problem and my parents have never physically hurt me.

Literally all of these are exactly like this. She's already stressed out with Willow and someone getting in your face while acting aggressive is, I dunno, maybe enough to trigger a bit of fight or flight because by all means, they seem ready to fight. Amity was not happy with Luz in the Adventure in the Elements and is still a very guarded person mostly at that point so is probably not comfortable with Luz getting into her personal bubble (which btw, they fail to mention that Luz leans in at the point they're mentioning, which makes Amity backing away actually just a natural back and forth for this sort of exchange). The fucking Hunter fight has them ignoring how calm and collected Amity was as she smoothly punches Hunter in the face and then they act like bracing for a blow, in a FIGHT, is unreasonable? Like there's a difference between "I have these barriers to protect me" and "Something is coming straight for my face and I can't stop it." That's going to garner a different reaction but they don't give a shit.

They're looking to prove a hypothesis, not using the hypothesis as a question. This is most bad analysis and a LOT of analysis I see in the TOH fandom. It only proves their point, not the whole picture. I mean, this person fucks that up in their FIRST POINT. Amity doesn't normally do the presentations after all. Explicitly in that episode, it's a deal she's made because she's been fucking up. The punishment wasn't getting physically abused... It was you need to work a night helping out at the family business because we need an extra body. There's no sign of pain in anything that she is presented to be doing and the attempt to go "Yeah, she would have totally put her daughter in the same sort of harm as someone she actively wants DEAD" is pretty laughable. But again: They aren't including context for a reason.

Context should reinforce your point. For the point they're making specifically, it should make these reactions appear entirely egregious. It should not provide a reasonable explanation every single god damn time. The only one I can't explain is Edric ending up more hurt but even they admit that Edric has a penchant for that. Not only that but he has dirt on him. Literal dirt which isn't there at the factory, making me think he tried to get out and potentially face planted before the scout and abomaton guarding the house escorted him back to his room. That's about as reasonable a situation as they present and also helps explain why ONLY Edric is hurt because if him being hurt was a punishment from Odalia for this, why is it ONLY Edric?

This sort of very simple, obvious sort of contradiction that makes clear how much of their argument is conjecture is why I decided to respond. This wants to look like good analysis. It has a lot of evidence after all, or at least looks like it does. However, it's evidence that only works as presented and doesn't hold up to scrutiny at all. It only works if you already agree with the conclusion and are just looking for something that makes your version of reality appear more reasonable. If you have a conclusion and are trying to make it fact.

Unfortunately for them, analysis starts with a question so this hardly qualifies because it screwed up step one and you can see the cracks from that flow all the way through.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[scoobydoodean]

BOBBY He's gonna find out, you know. One way or another, someone'll tell him, or he'll figure it out on his own. He's not dumb. He should it hear it from us. DEAN Can we just leave it alone for the moment, please? BOBBY Okay. But you better prep for the B side, 'cause when Sam realizes we're shining him, it ain't gonna be cute.

I must have seen this and the scene where Cas scolds Dean for putting Sam's soul back in giffed 10 times at least while looking for 6.12 gifsets in various archives and I think it's obvious why, given how rancid soulless Sam disk horse can get. It suits a narrative certain fans want to sell to take this out of context and make it look like Dean is being controlling—is babying Sam, trying to keep something from Sam that Sam deserves to know—and Sam is going to be rightfully mad at Dean treating him like a kid. That's such a narrow view that omits so much obvious context and Bobby ends up being completely wrong about Sam's reaction.

For one, Bobby says all this because he's struggling with being around Sam after soulless Sam tried to murder him the previous episode. Bobby's motivation for saying this is that he wishes he could clear the air. Unable to do so, he isn't sure how to explain why he doesn't really want to be in the same room with Sam (and boy is that a reversal from 6.06 where Bobby did not understand Dean's discomfort with soulless Sam and told him to stop being a baby).

For another, Dean's pleading "Can we just leave it alone for the moment, please?" really reveals his motivations for hiding the truth aren't about Sam as much as they're about DEAN needing space to process what soulless Sam did to him. What soulless Sam did to Dean and the way he behaved around him was fucking creepy. Telling Sam everything that happened while he was soulless won't just reveal information to Sam about himself—it requires Dean to reveal painful, personal details of some extremely uncomfortable experiences of his own that he doesn't really want to talk about. As a victim of that behavior, Dean deserves space to work through it. And the way he words it here, it's a request for TIME before they tell Sam the truth, so that Dean can BREATHE and PROCESS.

Bobby is right that Sam figures out he was soulless pretty quickly, but after figuring out Dean didn't tell him the truth, Sam isn't full of anger. He immediately understands Dean's hesitation to tell him the truth and understands it isn't about him.

It's about Dean not wanting to talk about the parts of Sam's soulless escapades where Dean was his victim.

SAM: Dean... DEAN: Yeah? SAM: I am so...so sorry. I can't even begin to say. DEAN: For what? SAM: You know what. DEAN: Did Bobby... SAM: Cas. DEAN: Cas. Friggin' child. SAM: You should have told me, Dean. DEAN: You weren't supposed to know. SAM: What I did? To Bobby? To you? Of course I should know.

Sam says "You should have told me," but notably, it isn't in an angry, accusatory tone. He's gentle. His focus is actually on DEAN and BOBBY and how Sam should know what he did so he can adjust his behavior accordingly for THEIR comfort.

Unlike the fans who love to harp on this moment as some proof of SAM being victimized by Dean (which bothers me for several reasons) Sam understands Dean's hesitancy wasn't just about keeping Sam safe, but was also about Dean being HURT by soulless Sam and deserving to have space to process that—the same way Bobby takes his space by deciding not to go on the hunt when Sam wants to join them.

Arguably, nobody should have been pushing for Dean to be the one to tell Sam everything to begin with. It's really for the best that Cas was able to share the details of what happened with Sam (however unwitting he was when doing so) because I don't know that Dean could have really talked about it. The moment in the car before Sam figures out how much time he's missing is bad enough:

SAM: So you never even tried, huh? DEAN: Tried? SAM: To go live a life...after. You do remember you promised that, right? DEAN: Yeah, I remember. SAM: So, why didn't you try? DEAN: What makes you think I didn't? SAM: 'Cause look at you. Look at this. You're exactly the same. DEAN: Yeah, you're probably right. A long pause. DEAN: I was with them for a year—Lisa and Ben. SAM: A year? DEAN nods. SAM: So then what? DEAN: Didn't work out. DEAN turns up the music.

Absolutely brutal. Sam's assumption that Dean didn't try stings all on its own, but it's especially hurtful (without Sam knowing that obviously) given soulless Sam was part of guilting Dean into leaving them in 6.02, and his actions with the vampire in 6.05 were what put such an upsetting end to Dean and Lisa's attempts at long distance. Regardless of whether you as a viewer thought Lisa and Dean could make things work in the absence of Sam's actions, that relationship ended in a particularly painful way riddled with fear and guilt because of Sam's actions in 6.05, instead of being allowed to end in a more amicable manner that could have provided more closure and mutual understanding. Dean can't say "Lisa and I had a terrible breakup because you let me get turned into a vampire on purpose and then I hurt Ben and I could have killed them and it was all because you didn't care about me or them and I was just a disposable piece of meat to you and now you're accusing me of not even trying to have a home like I wanted for so long because I'm a failure and that hurts like hell." All he can do is turn up the music.

[kpopsexstories]

🥶 don't worry take your time I'm excited to read your a amazing you can write straight and gay stories very well and I'm always happy to read them I hope you have a amazing day and/or night 💓

I'm happy to tell you that I just finished the last of the first drafts for the remaining gay NCT Dream 'Dating Ban' stories 😄 You've got a lot to look forward to if you're into this series!

For anyone who's finding this post at random, I'm a straight k-pop smut blog who is publishing a gay NCT Dream side series, in part thanks to the anonymous person above. Their 🥶 emoji lets me know they're the same person who has continuously inspired me to turn an originally requested gay Jisung story into a full-blown series, but because they're anonymous I can only reply with a public post :)

If you too are interested in gay k-pop/NCT smut, here's where we're at with the series right now...

Already published:

Jisung 'Dating Ban' Part 1 and Part 2 – You're Jisung's best friend, and on the first night when you come for a week-long visit you help him out with his sexual frustrations that stem from the "dating ban" the company has put on the boys.

Haechan 'Dating Ban' – Haechan has found out that you and Jisung has had sex. He wants in on the action and ends up fucking you from behind against a couch when the others are out.

Mark 'Dating Ban' – Rumors about your sexual exploits are beginning to spread among the boys. Mark sees his chance when you go to the bathroom for a shower, and he forces his way in with you.

Renjun 'Dating Ban' Part 1 and Part 2 – Renjun comes to find you by the community pool of the NCT Dream apartment complex. He reveals that he's gay – the only one to come out to you. In part 1 he gives you a blowjob in the pool, and in part 2 he rides you in the community showers.

Still to be published:

Jeno 'Dating Ban' Part 1 and Part 2 – October 8 & 9 – When Jeno comes naked to Jisung's room, in which you're sleeping for the week, it's obvious why he's there. What ensues is some incredibly hot and wild sex which makes you question if Renjun is really the only one among the members who is gay.

Chenle ' Dating Ban' – TBD – Frustrated both sexually and by the fact that he's almost the only one who hasn't gotten to have sex with you yet, Chenle comes to your bed while you're taking a nap. He's so persistent you finally give in, and end up giving him a most sensational blowjob. It ends in the most excessive eruption of cum any of my stories have ever seen 🤪😏🍆💦

Jaemin 'Dating Ban' – TBD – Second to Jisung, Jaemin is actually your best friend among the boys. Throughout the week of this particular visit, you've unwittingly neglected him. You finally go on your traditional bike trip to a secluded lake outside the city, where nostalgia and new sexual exploits take your friendship to the next level.

All 7 Members Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 – TBD – It's your last day with the boys and naturally they want to make the most of it. They've all had a taste of you and aren't ready to see you go. Your regular morning sex with Jisung is interrupted when Renjun comes to join you, and before you know it a full-blown orgie is taking place. Yes, all seven members are involved, and this scene became so long it warranted no less than 3 incredibly hot parts 🤤

I know gay sex is not everyone's cup of tea, and if it's not yours I'd direct you to my straight-sex Most Memorable Sexual Experiences of NCT & WayV series (which has already been concluded and can be read in full right now), as well as my currently on-going Most Memorable Sexual Experiences of TXT series.

But if you are into my gay series – which I know from the requests coming in that many of you are 😉 – you have a lot to look forward to! While for now I'm focusing on the Dream Dating Ban series over other gay requests, the remianing parts are packing a lot.

I still need to edit and proofread all the remaining parts. I'll probably re-write some of them and can't commit to any schedule. But I can promise that the next story – Jeno's part 1 and 2 – will be out on October 8 and 9.

Psst! Besides everything mentioned above, a requested straight smut "Yangyang fucking is best friend's sister" will be published on Thursday this week (October 3rd, 2024). And if you want more gay sex, you can already now read a muscular hunk Jeno topping a gay male reader story, as someone requested my most-loved straight Jeno story to be turned into a gay version. It was published two weeks ago but isn't part of the 'Dating Ban' series.

[thatfeelinwhenyou]

HANDS ON YOU — 026

IN WHICH; ILAND 2 happened and you debuted first place as the leader of LUMIÉRE. Having been told that your group is involved in a lore crossover with ENHYPEN, you navigate work, friendship, and love while trying to make it in an industry filled with animosity and condemnation. When life throws you lemons, you gotta make lemonades chuck it right back!

smau + written (0.3k words)

❥･• chapter 26 — way back home

"Lee Heeseung." He freezes in his tracks upon hearing his full name, a name that come to think about, had never left your lips before.

"Yes?" He turns around sheepishly to face you. The two of you are standing in front of his dorm, and he nervously fidgets with the number pad behind him. "You're hiding something." You squint, and Heeseung mentally curses at your keen leader instincts.

"No, I just want to show you my room!"

"What are you, twelve?"

"Don't ask so many questions." He hurriedly punches in the code to his dorm, opening the door to find the apartment completely pitch black. He gestures for you to enter first, and though suspicious, you don't refuse. "Aren't you off today? Where's the rest of your mem—"

"SURPRISE!" You jump as the lights flicker on, revealing the living room adorned with string lights and balloons spelling out "Sorry" on the wall. It takes a moment for the scene to register—the entirety of ENHYPEN is there, along with your own members, every single one of them.

You stand frozen in the doorway, speechless, as if the whole world has come to a standstill for a moment while you take in the sight before you—your members, who somehow made up while you were away, holding each other with open arms extended to you.

"My arm is starting to hurt. Are you going to bring it in or not?" Ray breaks the silence, flicking her wrist as a sign for you to quickly join in on the Lumière group hug. Just then, you feel two hands rest on your shoulders, relieving them from the tension that had built up over the past two days.

"Go on, they're waiting for you." Heeseung's gentle voice cuts through the white noise filling your ears. In an instant, tears well up in your eyes as you rush into the arms of the people you'd give everything for.

"But how did…?"

Realisation dawns on you, and you whirl around to face the culprit. "So that's why you were acting so strange! You were distracting me!" You point an accusing finger at Heeseung, who shrugs and pouts at the same time.

“I’m sorry Y/N, for being the whiny and childish bitch I am. I shouldn’t have taken out my anger on any of you like that, I hope you know I care about you too, truly.” Ray speaks out and you swear you almost burst into a fit of tears.

“Ray, you already know I’m basically immune to all the shit you say right?” You light-heartedly joke and you heave a sigh of relief when you notice Ray deflates into herself, relieved that she didn’t completely lose you. You’ve always knew that Ray has a soft spot for you and the members, she just never really knows how to express it. Realising maybe that’s why Ray finds confort in Sunghoon and vice versa. They see themselves in each other and no one can understand Ray better than the man who fought 1 vs 6 with his own members. You smile to yourself when you catch him smiling solemnly at the girl, proud of how far she’s come.

"Whose idea was this?" You point to the gigantic balloon-spelled "Sorry," and they all collectively point toward Aejeong, who scrunches her nose.

"I hate all of you."

"We love you too, AJ," Ray laughs, throwing an arm around Aejeong, who looks like she's about to cry.

"I mean it, Y/N. I am so, so sorry for what I did to you. I’m not even going to give you any excuses, I just hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me." You exchange glances with each and every one of your members, knowing deep down that no matter what happens, you’d go to hell and back with them over and over again.

"AJ, how can I forgive you when I never blamed you for anything in the first place?" You pull her into a hug, and the rest of the girls slowly join in, surrounding you with the love and affection that you had missed over the past few days.

“How did this happen?” You pull away, looking back and forth between Ray and Aejeong, their arms tightly wrapped around each other. “We kissed and made up. What about it?" Aejeong playfully pecks Ray's cheek, causing the later to pull away with a jerk.

"Ayo, back up," Sunghoon appears behind Ray, protectively pulling her away from Aejeong. His own members coo at him from the back, finding his protective gesture adorable.

The room erupts in laughter and playful banter as Sunghoon and Ray exchange teasing glances. "Oh, look who's getting all protective now," Jake teases, nudging Sunghoon's shoulder.

Sunghoon tries to maintain a serious expression but fails as a smile tugs at the corners of his lips. "Someone's got to keep this girl in line," he says, giving Ray a mock stern look.

"Hey, I can handle myself just fine," Ray retorts, but her playful tone gives away her amusement. She looks at Sunghoon with a fond smile, appreciating his protective nature.

The members continue to tease Sunghoon and Ray, adding to the lighthearted atmosphere in the room. You can't help but smile as you witness the playful interaction. Seeing your members and ENHYPEN getting along again brings you a sense of relief and happiness.

It's evident that the tension and misunderstandings have been resolved, and now the focus is on rebuilding their bond and enjoying each other's company. Amidst the chaos, you lock eyes with Heeseung who offers you a reassuring smile of his own.

Heeseung's presence in your life is a constant reminder of the importance of empathy, forgiveness, and growth. That no matter how chaotic your surroundings are, even in the middle of the most busiest street, that you’d still somehow find your way to him.

Having taught you that mistakes are opportunities for learning and that unity and understanding can mend even the deepest wounds. With Heeseung by your side, you felt supported and ready to face any challenges that lay ahead, whatever they may be…

prev | masterlist | next

♡。·˚˚· ·˚˚·。♡

authors note: stayc girls, it’s going down(2) btw i apologise for the increase in written chapters. istg i’m trying to avoid writing them but it’s so difficult 🥲

taglist! open. @softiehee @annoyingbitch83 @hoon0logy @aernx @lhees01 @flower0930 @harperwasstaken1 @haechansbbg @renjunoya @heeheesang @spilled-coffee-cup @jwnghyuns @ocyeanicc @neozon3nha @pshchives @casualzo @captivq @suvgs @iea-tsand @yohanabanana @wonyoungsvirus @shinsou-rii

[befuddledcinnamonroll]

15 Day Bl Challenge - Part 4

Day 48 - If you could switch a BL actor pairing to a different production company, who would you move and to which production company? 

This is such an intriguing question @pinkkop! You are really making me think with some of these.

I think I have to go with... moving AouBoom.

GMMTV has the advantage of being one of the biggest BL producers, and definitely has a lot of resources. There's a lot of potential money-making there. But unfortunately their tendency to collect a vast stable of actors means some people can get lost in the shuffle. There can only be so many series per year, and only so many lead roles.

Now to be clear, for all I know, AouBoom are happy with their side/ensemble roles, and I don't want to be one of those people who thinks they can speak on behalf of actors.

But speaking as a fan, AouBoom are ready to graduate to a lead role, skill and talent-wise. They have always been talented, but their growth, both individually, and as a pair, has been noticeable. They also absolutely have the charisma and chemistry to carry lead performances, and I know a lot of us were disappointed that it won't happen in 2025.

So where would I send them to get those lead roles?

I would send them to Idol Factory.

I will admit that I have not loved everything produced by Idol Factory. Some of their shows have been just ok for me. But they are still quite new, and I think as they grow and develop more, the potential is immense.

Because what I do love about Idol Factory, beyond the fact that our beloved Saint founded it, is that they are being innovative and creative. They aren't scared to try something new. They consistently put a lot of care into their productions, despite having very limited resources. And they are incredibly queer positive.

Why I think AouBoom would be a good fit:

Besides BillyBabe, they don't really have a lot of high profile BL pairings. Saint is about to pair with Poom, so there's one more potentially, but there feels like a lot of room for a pair like AouBoom to get some time in the spotlight.

AouBoom have an existing fan base that they can bring with them to Idol Factory, so it would be mutually beneficial and give a little boost to a smaller production company.

We often joke of GMMTV being gay Disney, but it rather fits. Besides the rare Not Me, there is often a sort of... focus on general palatability, for presumably young viewers, or family watching. Idol Factory isn't limited in that same way. And I genuinely think AouBoom could do an incredible job with something more unique and mature.

Along the mature side, no shade intended to the other pairings, but AouBoom were worlds above the others with the physical scenes in We Are. I think they can absolutely handle higher heat material (as long as they are comfortable, of course).

I don't speculate on actors' identities, but I will just say I do think AouBoom would do very well in a strong queer positive environment. (I think this for FirstKhaotung too, but they're not hurting for lead roles). Between Saint's outspoken advocacy for queer rights and BillyBabe doing whatever very gay things they are doing in the moment, I think there is space for AouBoom to be who they want to be by their own choice, rather than be so controlled by GMMTV's corporate model of pairings.

So... Saint - think about it! It'd get a ton of press, and you'd get a lot of interfans very excited. Just look at what happens whenever this gif makes the rounds...

[alexanderwales]

Book Review: Metropolitan Man

[content warning: sexual violence]

It's been 10 years since I wrote Metropolitan Man, and last night I read it for the first time in almost that long. Since writing it, I've written over 4 million words, and hopefully, grown as a writer. I've also forgotten parts of the story, so was looking at it with as fresh of eyes as possible. These are my overall thoughts.

I should say, before I start, that I've read tons of comments and discussion on this story over the years. I don't know how many of these thoughts are my own, or how much I've internalized things that people have said.

Writing Style

There were lots of changes I thought about making while reading, but people hate change, and this story is about ten years past when I wanted to be making editing passes on it. In many places I kept thinking of little extras I would add, things that would make the dialogue pop a little more, or provide characterization. I had this idea for a line where I describe Lois typing out two letters like she was letting loose with both barrels of a shotgun. There's dialogue to clean just a bit more, a few places where words are repeated or something is just a bit awkward, and where it could have been tighter or more clear.

The biggest thing that stood out to me was how little time got spent on scene setting and how short some of the snippets were, just five paragraphs to get a scene across before we're onto the next thing. I might have webserial brainrot, but those are definitely places where today I would give a little more breathing room and maybe use the same amount of words to describe something in a more oblique and stronger way. One that stood out as a clear example was a private investigator going home with Jimmy Olsen even though she was done pumping him for information, which could have been twice as long and benefitted from it. Another was a brief little thing about a Superman spotter on the roof, where I'd now describe everything he was doing, and only get to the conclusion of "he was a Superman spotter" at the end of the section to let the reader have this mini mystery of what they're being shown and why.

I would describe things more if I was writing this today, trying to get those nicely tight and evocative descriptions and ditch the stuff like "she wore a white blouse", but I often feel that way about stuff that I'm revising from last week, so it's not surprising.

The plot is very tight, which is good. I tend to prefer my plots tight, but it takes work, and webserials aren't conducive to it because it's difficult to know when you're writing a scene whether it's really pulling its weight as far as moving things forward. The initial idea for MM was to move as cleanly as possible through a series of events: Superman -> Superman is invincible -> Superman is Clark Kent -> Clark Kent grew up in Smallville -> the ship is in Smallville -> the ship has a Kryptonite power source -> Kryptonite can kill Superman -> Superman is dead. The only thing that would make it any faster would be if we dropped the Lois Lane subplot, but that's like half the novel.

Superman is OOC

I've gotten tons and tons of comments on this story over the years. If I hated myself, I would go back through my email and count them up, but there are some death threats and "kill yourself"s in there, and I prefer not to reread them. The major thing that people hate is the ending, which I don't care to talk about, but the other major thing is that Superman isn't Superman.

In this, I largely agree, but then, I'm pretty sure I've always agreed. That said, Superman has had a ton of interpretations over the years, and there's a wide range of acceptable behavior from "a Superman", even if we're not counting the really out there variations like Red Son or some of the alternate timelines.

... but I still would probably make him more like a canon Superman if I had to do it all over.

There are a few things that raise red flags at the beginning, which is where I think they're inexpertly placed. Superman takes Lois off the roof and flies her around, making her very afraid, and this is fine, I think, a misunderstanding that might be stronger if we got his insight into what was happening before we got hers to help bridge some of the disconnect there and characterize them both better. But there's a little note after that, where Clark makes a joke about "Superman's girlfriend Lois Lane" that I think is a HUGE red flag, and which probably comes too early in the story. It would be better as a joke someone else made that Clark laughs along with, which raises the red flag to half mast.

The other major moment I would change is when the bombs start going off. Superman pulls back, unsure whether he's actually immune to mustard gas, and I think this is one of the moments that most goes against the character of Superman. Canon Superman would just say "welp, guess I gotta find out whether I'm immune to mustard gas in a hurry". Superman making the argument that he doesn't know the bounds of his powers and so should exercise caution reads as either cowardice or as him being way too bitten by the rationality bug.

This would then obviously have to change the plot of that section a bit, because in the novel as it stands right now, Superman is convinced by Lois Lane that he can't just sit on the sidelines for game theory reasons. Better to either scrap that section or have Lois convince Superman that for game theory reasons he should offer to have testing carried out against him in a way that doesn't harm civilians, which canon Superman might submit to if it saved lives. Then the rest of the plot can proceed as normal, because Superman is immune to everything and that's the whole plot beat anyway.

I'd definitely clean up some of Superman/Clark's dialogue to nail the character voice better, but I don't think it's that bad, and it's mostly a few places where the wording is off. I think in particular the points where he's feeling anger go too far, and are not how someone internally conflicted about the anger might talk.

And then, oh yeah, Superman punches a guy's head clean off, which I think is the biggest sticking point for most people.

I've thought about that scene a lot. I personally like it. But if I were ever trying to sell this story to DC, it's one of the things I would almost certainly change. Superman doesn't kill, except in that one movie that came out just before this story was published where Superman snapped a guy's neck.

The change I am most happy/comfortable with is that Whitman, the governor whose children were [REDACTED], is the one to kill Calhoun. This happens just outside the courthouse with Superman watching and not intervening in the slightest, or maybe catching the bullets as they go through Calhoun so no bypassers get hit.

I don't know, as I type it out, it doesn't have the same weight to it. It's not cool. It's not a watershed moment. Maybe there's a plot thread to pull there, where Superman has tacitly endorsed other vigilantes, and it would be a great time to pull in other mundane street-level heroes ... but that's an entirely different story at that point.

Another option is for Superman to simply fly off with Calhoun and put him away, but that lacks punch too, and gets talky, and ... it's about the rage, right? The feeling of injustice, not just at Calhoun, but at the entire world, and it's not just an unhappy side effect that there's blood everywhere, all over the clamoring press, that's part of the point.

Social Justice

I really enjoy how wide-ranging the novel is, and how many things it touches on. Good job me. There was a line I had completely forgotten about where Lois asks "Why doesn't Superman stop abortions?" that I had completely forgotten I had ever written, and which brought a big smile to my face (but no wonder some Superman fans hate this story).

There are a few other things that I raise my eyebrow at a little bit, at least sitting here in 2024. There's a particular line that Superman gives when talking about this whitewashed mural of the past they're walking by, and he says "It's easy to forget that slavery ever happened, you know?" Now, I will grant you that this is a part of a conversation where he's saying that maybe he should have been a better student of history, and is saying this as a white guy in 1934, but I wanted him or someone else to tear that statement apart. It never really happens.

"It's easy to forget that slavery ever happened [if you and your people have not been affected by slavery]". The novel takes place ~70 years after the end of the Civil War, which means that when Clark was growing up there would have been freed slaves who were in their fifties, probably many of them in Kansas, though Smallville is (notably) small. I don't know, it wouldn't have been historically accurate for them to have a discussion of privilege, but there's way more meat on that bone, and it's all left as subtext.

Also probably the case that if I were writing it now, I would pay more attention to race in general, but that I'm less sure on, because it would mean some major structural changes to be done well. There's a single black guy in the whole thing, who is barely a character and has no speaking lines: the farmhand Ma Kent has before he gets lured away with the promise of being an actor. I have never felt that any novel needs racial balance to it, but if you're going to be talking about slavery and whether Superman would have done anything about it, you start to make black people look like props, which is not a good look.

I mean look, I think it's fine for a given story to not actually take a stance on political issues or have a diverse cast, but this story goes from abortion to the Equal Rights Amendment to Prohibition to Nazis to the death penalty, and then despite being set in 1934 sort of talks around the subject of how shitty race relations were. As a white guy, I never feel comfortable talking about race, but I think it would have been appropriate to have here in more than the cursory way it was handled. But the cast is just not that large, and the way that modern Superman stories handle that is usually making Jimmy Olsen black and then not actually talking about the fact that he's black so it's just a palette swap, which I don't think would work here, especially since Jimmy is such a bit character, and also it's 1934.

Sexual Violence

Alright, I will say it: there's too much sexual violence.

Chapter 7 is when the two Whitman kids get kidnapped. Their driver gets his throat slit, the boy gets dismembered, and the girl gets raped. I knew it was coming and I was still horrified by it.

I would not remove this part. I would foreshadow it better with a few scenes with Calhoun, the brutes, etc., and I might change some of the details to be a bit less awful and gruesome, but I don't think I would remove it. There are a few core ideas here that I think all work:

The better class of criminal has left the city now, and all that are left are the worst of the worst, the people who will not respond to incentives or symbols or rational thought.

If you cannot strike at Superman's physical self, you strike at his mind instead, and one of the ways to do that is psychic damage. In Calhoun's case, this is irrational, a pure desire to hurt Superman in any way possible while his empire collapses.

The amount of evil in the world is enormous. The pain and suffering cannot be comprehended. I love what Superman says, that this isn't really unique, that these things happen to children all the time. He's upset about not being able to save them, but they're a drop in the bucket.

I think you have to be careful with sexual violence, whether it's depicted or hinted at or just briefly mentioned. There are tons of people who are not on board with that in their media, and even of those who are on board, it has to be handled carefully and can feel very cheap, as though you're just going to the worst and most transgressive thing you can think of for the shock value. People will see it as lazy and trivializing and making entertainment out of this horrible thing.

I think the world is shit. I think terrible things happen. I have always felt both oppressed by the weight of evil in the world and powerless to stop it. I think that's the thing that I'm gesturing at here, and it feels weird to me that sexual violence would get put on a pedestal as the one thing too horrible to mention, even though we're mentioning all the most horrible things.

How do Superman comics and shows and movies deal with this? My impression is that they don't. Surely Superman must be stopping rapes from happening, but I cannot think of a single time I've seen it happen. I'm actually having trouble thinking of a time it was implied to happen. I think this is probably a good idea on the part of the people who make these bits of media, but it's absolutely not realistic if you're thinking about how Superman would operate in the "real world". Sexual violence happens, child abuse happens, and I guess we just sort of assume that these things are dealt with by Superman off-screen.

Though ... I mean it impacts the characters, right? Does Superman not have a trauma response? Does he have a superpower where he can bottle it all up? He's definitely too late to stop certain crimes, and he definitely can't make things better for some of the victims, and I guess in the comics when he shows up to a burning building he generally has a 100% success rate and people come out with only minor injuries, but ... alright, this is definitely the sort of thing that led me to write this fic in the first place.

It's a question that the fic doesn't have an answer for: how do you go on living when you know that there's so much evil in the world?

I think dialing that particular scene back is, maybe, fine. But it's the sort of thing that would feel like I was being less authentic in a way, as though I wanted to grapple with the big questions but not that one, wanted to consider ethics and morality but silo myself away from things that actually are on my mind. I see the point of blunting that scene, and I rebel against it because I don't want to be blunted, I want to be sharp.

I would, however, remove a lot of the earlier references, or blunt those, because they didn't need to be sharp. There are, before the Whitman stuff, about five references to sexual violence, and maybe even just using "sexual violence" would be enough, rather than "rape". One of these references is to what crimes Superman is statistically most likely to stop, another is to a plot to besmirch his name, both can be massaged or they can go.

I don't know if I think about these things differently because time has passed or I've had a bunch of discussions about these issues, or whether it's just having the outside view. It's weird to think about what a conversation with myself would look like, if we were working on the story together.

Retrospective

I understand why Superman fans sometimes hate this story. There's the Superman OOC stuff, sure, but there are also a lot of questions about Superman that apply to canon equally well, and people hate that. Superman is a fantasy, maybe the ultimate comic book fantasy. He stops crimes and bullets bounce off him! You're not supposed to think about his stance on abortion rights. You're not supposed to look at the Clark Kent mask and say 'huh, that's strange'. I mean it's media, you can do whatever the hell you want, but if Superman is a fantasy, then there are a lot of questions that are fantasy-ruining.

I stand by the story as written about 80%, which is higher than I thought it would be, though there are certain things that I stand by more than others. There are certain structural changes and many line-by-line changes, and I'm glad that I didn't have the story open in edit mode, because it would have taken me three times as long to read and when I hit "save changes" people would grumble about archives or bad changes or whatever, because you can't please people.

About five years ago, I started writing A Common Sense Guide to Doing the Most Good, which was meant as a companion piece to MM. It ended up being all mechanics, no plot, and the plot that I wanted it to have was divorced from the center questions it wanted to answer. It didn't feel as grand, I guess, and the cats were out of their bags a little too quickly.

One of the Answers that MM gives is that the thing you should do in the face of overwhelming evil is to grind relentlessly, grind until your bones are scraping the grindstone and there's nothing left of yourself. The story does not believe this answer, but it's one of the places I ended up ten years ago, and am still sort of at now. The other answer is to live as best you can, be aware of the evil and do what you can against it without letting the idea of it (or the battle against it) consume your soul.

When I was finished reading, I kind of wanted to write an uncritical Superman comic. Something where Superman can be as his most loyal fans see him, someone who is Good and doesn't often have to grapple with what Good means, where the thorny edges of moral quandaries never come to light and the hero is always there in the nick of time. Where Clark Kent is a bold and noble expression of humanity rather than a deception and a mask. Maybe I will go do that.

[gffa]

Character Ask Game: Obi-Wan Kenobi, 4 8 &12

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in? Obi-Wan is one of those characters that probably has been in all those other media and, of course, I always want more of him, but I think if you offered me the chance to have one new Obi-Wan project, it would be: A Star Wars Holiday Special: Obi-Wan & Anakin, where they get Ewan and Hayden to do a 45 minute special about their time as Force Ghosts, as they look on over Luke working to find Jedi artifacts, talking with him when they have the spiritual energy to pull together for it, while they look on over Ahsoka trying to process her feelings about Anakin even after all these years, while they watch over Grogu as best they can while he tries to find his path in this world without the Jedi. It would be half-serious, talking about Anakin's choices and how he had to learn to let go, that that's what it means to be a Force Ghost, you have to let go of all the hate and the rage and the fear and the guilt, that it's not about blame, but about delving into Anakin's mindset, about delving into Obi-Wan's mindset, how they both had to learn to let go of everything they were carrying around before they could move on. Obi-Wan had to do that during the series of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin had to do that during Return of the Jedi, and I'd love to see them have a conversation about how they want to help Ahsoka do the same thing. Bonus points for filming a scene of Obi-Wan watching as Vader threw Sidious down the reactor shaft and the light dawning on his face that, oh, his Padawan is coming back, that he can reach out his hand as Anakin dies, with a genuine smile and say, "Hello again, old friend. Let me help you over." But then it would be half-silly antics where they're basically Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo just roasting the hell out of all the dumbass shit they have to put up with in this galaxy. Bonus points for Anakin giving Obi-Wan the once over after they see Luke at the party on Endor's moon: "Wait, why do you look like that? Why aren't--" "I appear as the person remembers me, as they most need me to appear." "....so are you saying that everyone NEEDS me to look like the hottest holonet star on--" "[dryly] Apparently so." 8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise? Taking away his love for and belief in the Jedi ways. Obi-Wan's entire ultimate purpose is to be the contrast to Anakin's character, to be the wise Jedi mentor who doesn't have to be perfect, but is generally correct, that his purpose is to show the path that Anakin should have been on. But also, just straight up as a character, Obi-Wan loves the Jedi, that's his culture, his family, his people, he believes in the methods of the Jedi, he believes in the philosophy of the Jedi, he lives and breathes as a Jedi. And it's made him the person he is, he cherishes that, that he can regret that there isn't room for other paths in life, but that he doesn't regret the path he's on as a Jedi, that even when he considered other paths, it was with the full respect for what being a Jedi means. Obi-Wan Kenobi is a Jedi, and even if he might choose another path for himself, he always, always believes in what it means to be a Jedi, he believes that path is valuable and sacred. Taking that away from his character just fundamentally is not who he is imo.

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character? Obi-Wan Kenobi is an absolute monster when it comes to playing cards. He has perfected his bland, unreadable face and sleight of hand, so you can suspect he's a dirty rotten cheater at cards, but you can never prove it. He will absolutely murder anyone and everyone at sabacc and never give away the game, he'll just blandly look at you and pretend to be losing, all until he's lulled you into a false sense of security and then he'll rob you blind and probably leave the winnings in the pocket of someone asking for change on the street. He's an absolute bastard to play cards with and Quinlan and Anakin both straight up refuse to do it anymore because it's so infuriating.