#that it at minimum 1/3 dedicated to her

[venomgender]

im not a joondok hater. im not a joondok hater. im not a joondok hater. IM NOT. A JOONDOK. HATER

[vandal-flower]

The Type of Boyfriend that Will...

Blue Lock boys that will...

Characters: Various.

Notes: Go ahead, interrogate me in my inbox.

Go to war for you

Had it not been for his soccer career, he'll enlist himself in the army just so he can go to war for you.

Other moments are where there is a cockroach in the room and decides to kill it for you. He might be the type to complain about it, but that doesn't stop him from getting the job done.

If you ever have an argument with a girl that might get physical, be prepared to see him put on a cheap wig just to brawl her for you. Or in some cases, there is no wig.

Annoying neighbours next door that won't shut up when you want to go to sleep. Don't worry, he's got you.

He kisses you goodbye as his battle on the pitch is soon to set, and reminds you to take care of the kids while he's gone. Said kids are the house plants and/or pets.

So, yes. He'll go to war for you.

Seishiro Nagi, Shouei Barou, Rensuke Kunigami, Itoshi Bros, Ryusei Shidou, Oliver Aiku... + your favourites.

Sacrifice himself for you

When I mean sacrifice, I mean sacrifice.

When mosquito season rolls in, he'll stay up all night just to prevent them from stinging you. You have to remind him that you bought the latest mosquito repellent, but that won't stop him.

He'll give you his charger, even if his phone is on the verge of dying. He'll give you the warmest blanket, even if he's freezing cold. He's willing to watch the scary scenes, so you don't have to.

You remind him that he does not have to do all these things for you, but he's too stubborn to even listen to you.

His teammates often tease him for his behaviour, but he takes it with the widest smile known to man.

If it means he has to jump in the pool, in winter, fully clothed, just to get your hair tie, he'll do it in a heart beat.

Yoichi Isagi, Meguru Bachira, Rensuke Kunigami, Reo Mikage, Alexis Ness, Oliver Aiku... + your favourites.

Put his all for you

This man, could be the tiredest man on Earth, but he'll give his all to you.

He's too tired to cook, but you're hungry. Expect dinner in a few minutes. The store is closing in 3 minutes, give him 1 minute minimum. Nothing is stopping him.

You wonder how far he'll go to such lengths in order to satisfy your needs. Do remind him that he too should take a break. But do remember, there is a 50% he'll listen.

If you have not noticed, his love language is acts of service. He is your royal knight, your right hand man, the fanfic secretary you'll definitely get with. You know the drill.

He dedicates his goals to you as a way to say "I love you" on the pitch. And also as a way to say he's better than anyone else.

Yoichi Isagi, Hyoma Chigiri, Reo Mikage, Shouei Barou, Rensuke Kunigami, Itoshi Bros, Michael Kaiser... + your favourites.

Stay with you

When times are tough, he's here with you.

If you wish to be held, he'll hold you. If you wish to have space, he'll give you space. If you want someone to rant to, his ears are wide open. You want a shoulder to cry on, have his it's dry.

He may or may not understand what you are going through, but the fact that he stays with you, shows that he cares.

There were times in his life where there was no one for him to run to. An experience he does not wish upon you, his lover.

If it means just gently rubbing your back, giving you something to eat, listening to your soft or loud cries. He'll do it.

As long as it means he's staying with you, so don't have to be alone like he was.

All of them. (For our peace of mind)

Hi.

My inbox is open. Check out my Rules.

[fandomfucker]

Rhea x singer reader and they're fans just being completely obsessed with them especially if the reader released songs about rhea

I have so many headcannons about this exactly especially when I'm listening to music so pretend some of these actual artists didnt make these songs

You are a huge music artist, like somewhere around Sabrina Carpenter level (who you're also friends with ofc)

You and Rhea are like the gay communities celebrity IT couple

Most (if not all) of the albums you've released since dating Rhea have at minimum, 1/3 of the songs are love songs written about her

You're #1 love song about her though is If Not For You (originally by Maneskin)

Not only is it your personal favorite song, and Rheas, but fans go absolutely nuts for it

There's merch for it, signs, friendship bracelets, you name it and it's been made to the lyrics of this song

One of your favorite songs to perform though is The Death of Peace of Mind (Bad Omens) bc you like to drag Rhea up on stage to dance with you

You have her sit in a chair and when it gets to “the way you fuck the way you taste” you straddle her hips and lick a strip up her cheek, which sends the fans into an absolute frenzy

It's a sexy song and you like to have fun with it, especially with your very very hot girlfriend

The biggest crossover ever though was when you did a collab with Motionless in White

It was charted #1 worldwide for almost a month straight

Fans saw her at some of your concerts and have a meltdown

Also have a meltdown when you show up at one of her WWE shows

Rhea was even able to get you the opportunity for one of your songs to be the like featured song for a ppv

Honorable mention, pop/country songs that remind me of Rhea cause of the lyrics; Nothin Like You & Save Me the Trouble, both by Dan&Shay

If you have any kind of concert/performance on the same night as Raw or a PPV, you will wear either Rhea or TJD merch OR you wear some of her old gear or heavily inspired clothes of your own based off her current gear

Rhea constantly wearing your merch backstage and vice versa

She even forced the boys to wear your merch and attend one of your concerts with her

Don't worry though they all loved it and had fun

And there was a clip or two of Dom screaming the lyrics to one of your songs that went viral on Twitter the next day

Unlike Jojo Siwa, you actually added to the improvement and development of gay pop

I picture you as part of a kind of Halestorm-esc band

Sexy rock singing about your girlfriend

Do Not Disturb (Halestorm) is definitely one of your most popular songs

You have that rockstar girlfriend look, complete with the makeup that Rhea taught you how to do

You dedicated an album to her right after yall got engaged and fans freaked out

Trending worldwide on Twitter for two days

[yuwuta]

so we know that nanami, thee standard, doesn't accept fwb and has to take you out for a proper time after a while.. curious about what you think about gojo? he strikes me as the type to enjoy fwb, but also not? also, hear me out, yuwuta... megumi? fwb with megumi... sighs dreamily

my likeliness to engage in fwb behavior scale goes like this: most gojo = yuuta > toge = yuuji > maki > nanami > nobara = megumi least

satoru and yuuta say yes if you ask them but it’s only because they already like you or already in love with you… and they know that it’s not the best idea in the world, but through their powers of delusion, they think they can make you like them back. because clearly whatever they’re doing now isn’t enough, so maybe sex will help?? who’s ever turned down bomb dick yk… besides, sex with boys who think they’ve got something to prove >> that being said, it’s never really been fwb in their head, their plan was never noncommittal sex, they have all their strings attached to you and they want to be yours forever, so good luck <3

toge and yuuji are also pretty likely to do it, because, again, who are they to turn down their best friend asking them for sex? they both go into it very naively, they go along with whatever rules and boundaries you set, and are genuinely in it to have fun with you and please you, but they get very confused very quickly. it feels like a relationship to them, so shouldn’t it be a relationship? they don’t think much of it until you bring up exclusivity and/or mention going on a date with someone else, then all the feelings come forth and jealousy rears it’s ugly head and the next time you sleep together something shifts, it’s more possessive, more desperate, more mine mine mine… think they’re the ones to either confess or just… assume you’re dating and/or tell you you’re dating now lol. like toge just throws his shirt at you when you try to get up and leave him the next day and tells you you aren’t exhibiting much girlfriend like behavior, and yuuji either says something sappy or does something sweet and you tell him he doesn’t have to and he just goes “but you’re my girlfriend! ofc i’m gonna be nice to you!… you are my girlfriend, in case you didn’t know!” 

maki debates it for a bit, and then reasons that the convenience of it would be nice. she doesn’t expect to get attached, and it really annoys her when you invade her thoughts when she’s supposed to be busy with things not involving you. but she doesn’t really say anything about it. honestly, you would either have to call it off, or express interest in someone else before she realizes that the way to solve her intrusive thoughts of you isn’t to go back to being friends, it’s to go to being something more than friends. 

nanami also agrees for the convenience of it, but even so, he debates it for a while after you bring it up to him. ultimately, he decides that if it’s something you truly want, he will do his best to ensure it’s beneficial for the both of you. he seems like he actually tries to develop some kind of schedule—not just for convenience, but also because he wants to make sure he has time to treat you properly. quickies on his lunch break probably aren’t what you signed up for, so he makes sure he has the time and energy to devote himself to you. the problem becomes two fold: (1) kento starts to want you all the time, not just the times you’ve set aside to have sex, and (2) the longer your arrangement goes on, the more kento believes that you deserve to have someone who can dedicate all their time to you. he doesn’t think that you should settle for convenient, arranged sex with a partner who has no attachment or loyalty to you, you deserve to be taken care of wholly. and so, he steps up and becomes that person, even if it’s not something you were striving for. you will gain a boyfriend and a committed relationship, that is the very bare minimum from him!! 

nobara and megumi seem the least likely to want any kind of fwb situation. nobara thinks they too frequently develop into situationships, and she doesn’t have space or time in her life to be in a situationship with anybody—much less somebody like you who’s already wormed your way into her life against her will. you’ve unfolded your chair, now sit in it. if you want nobara, you get all of her, all the time. it’s similar with megumi; even if he isn’t the most upfront with his feelings, megumi is a romantic at heart, he does things according his beliefs, he’s moved by his own motives, he needs to be moved to do anything really—and friends with benefits does not move him. if you want megumi, then simply be obsessed with him or die tbh, like he’s not ever one to engage in anything half-way; you want sex with him, then you’re gonna learn to put up with his cold fingers and surly attitude and unwillingness to get out of bed before 11am, you are going to be his if he’s gonna give anything to you

[fullcoffeemoon-nem]

Timeline Theory

First update: 09-21-23

Second update: 11-14-23

Third update: 05-01-24 (+ S2 Theory link)

Last update: 06-03-24 (+ S2 Theory upload)

——————————————

Hi there!

After another re-watch and the head to pay attention to the small details, perhaps I have reconstructed a possible

Timeline of Helluva Boss

It would be better to define them as hypotheses. First of all, here is an outline of the episodes and their release dates.

I know, I also included the one whose title we know, just for the sake of general overview. The theory for the moment covers 2 seasons out of 4 announced.

Here the synthetic timeline. From the estimate version I have removed the year here, we'll get to the reason.

Here I also report some of my thoughts:

Already from the first episodes there's a strong focus on clocks and time, it is much more striking in Oops, where Asmodeus' clock marks the whole day.

I'm not sure about the year, but also from the analyzes carried out later, 2021 could be the year of the narrative arc that goes from Murder Family to Ozzie's.

(*) The Verosika's tour t-shirt was official and linked to the episode, at the moment I'm undecided on its validity at the year level, althought the date could be very possible.

However, my research started with Seeing Stars because it's the first episode to feature an almost specific date: the 20th of a 30-day month.

In my opinion it could be April chronologically and it's agreed with the information in the subsequent episodes.

The only problem is that the full moon would't coincide with what was marked by Blitz.

Noteworthy:

Blitz's calendar suggests that the full moon that month is the 14th.

Stolas wrote in the Western Energy chat that Blitz was supposed to come that evening and that therefore the full moon was the 20th.

We are certainly either in 2021 or beyond given Moxxie's coin in Seeing Stars.

From the chat we can understand that:

About a month passes between the trio Ozzie's - Queen Bee - The Circus (1 moon)

About 3 months (3 moons) pass between Seeing Stars and Western Energy

Western Energy is placed a week before Oops and among these the week told in Unhappy Campers

From Millie's flyer we know that her and Moxxie's mission ends on Friday July 17th. We know from Blitz that this lasted a week, so it started on Monday 13th July.

According to what Striker says to Crisom, Western Energy should be set around July 11th and Oops around July 18th.

We should be in 2022 though, but in that case July 17th was a Sunday.

In Mammon's magnificent concert Blitz says on the call with Ozzie that it's a weekend.

There are two options:

It could be set on the week parallel (July 21-22th or 28-29th) to the events of Western-Unhappy-Oops.

It could be set on the following month (August).

Here we come to the gap:

(*) The Mammon's official t-shirt is clearly linked to the episode, but the date (2023) and month (October) cause the information to conflict.

So, at this point we have this options:

The official t-shirts are tied exclusively to the release date of the episode.

They are official or at the date level, or at the year level.

They're official and we're actually 2 years removed from Murder Family.

I think it is more canonical to consider a connection with the month of July shown in the episode and maintain the hypothesis.

Seeing Stars -> April

Wester Energy to Oops -> July

Full Moon → September 29th

I'm pretty sure about the Apology Tour

A month of crisis for Blitz seems like the minimum to me and it's also enough for Stolas to enter a phase of rejection.

——————————————

With the LVL UP on April 29th we got a new trailer for the second part of the second season. In addition, we also have a preview of the Stolas and Blitz duet from the next episode.

I dedicated a post for analysis, opinions and spoilers here.

I'm going to integrate the episodes and data into the theory as they come out.

——————————————

In the end, I report here some of the most interesting posts from Blitz and Stolas' Sinstagrams, due to that they're the only two accounts that hide canonical information.

(Thanks @timkontheunsure for the source)

I underlined my opinion, they certainly respect real events but I don't think that in terms of dating they are canonical.

What a mess...

What do you think about it?

Have you noticed any other details that could clarify the mystery? Make me know it and let's solve the mystery together :}

Bye~

[extasiswings]

Also idk if it’s a timing and scheduling thing or they just didn’t have the room for it but I find it odd that Eddie has been with Marisol for how long now? And we’ve had no significant scenes with them two at all. Like Tommy showed up swept Buck off his feet and smooched his ass in like an ep or 2. But like we’ve seen crickets from Eddie and Marisol. the story has to be that they’re gonna eventually break up because truly and honestly what has there been that would even have us remotely root for them lol. And she’s definitely showing up next episode but I sincerely doubt that they’ll be able to get people on that train. Which brings me back to the point that we are not supposed to think that they last because genuinely why would they

Yeah, not to put too fine a point on it, but regardless of how compressed a timeframe they're working with, if they wanted us to care then they would be trying to make us care, and they just aren't. If her coming back in 7x05 was intended to be anything other than the beginning of the end for them (and if this was intended to actually be a relationship instead of a plot device for Eddie's development), they would have made at least a bare minimum of effort to reintroduce her and their relationship. They could have given her more than a one line drive-by appearance in 7x01, but they didn't. And that's not because they didn't have the time, no, it's just that they made a choice to dedicate a solid 1/3 of the episode instead to Buck/Eddie/Christopher and Shannon, which basically tells the audience "this woman doesn't matter, but these relationships over here, those are the ones that are important." Eddie mentions that Marisol watched Chris twice while he was out with Tommy, but similarly, Buck finds that entirely nonthreatening - Chris spending time with Tommy and thinking he's cool though? That sent Buck into a whole spiral. Also similarly, Eddie's relationship with Tommy has had more screentime and development than his relationship with Marisol. And yes, that's partly because it was key to Buck's bisexuality arc, but still - it's signaling what they care about and what the audience is supposed to care about. And right now, Eddie's new friendship with Tommy - shown through both screentime and discussions of their shared interests - is substantially more believable than his relationship with Marisol who we don't know anything about as a person let alone anything about their relationship. Which...considering the title of 7x05 is "You Don't Know Me," I have an inkling we're going to find out that Eddie knows about as much about his own girlfriend of several months as the audience does. A whole lot of nothing meaningful. And if it seems at all like Eddie's just going through the motions or has doubts? There's no coming back from that when the audience doesn't care about her in the first place. So, yeah, even if it takes a few more episodes, they're donezo.

[sharkinthetoilet]

The main 4 + Butters with a gn s/o that is more on the richer side of things and usually buys them like 1 new thing a week 😭

The main 4 + butters with a wealthy s/o who buy them stuff

Gender: neutral

Warnings: none

☆-stan:

He would feel bad

Like he has the money to buy that stuff himself

And honestly, some of the stuff you get, he doesn't even want

But it's from you, so he appreciates it deeply

he would try to convince you to not buy him so much, but you will still do it

Would try to go on a lot of dates with you, as payback

Nothing big, just a picnic at starks pond or a sleepover at his house, including a movie marathon of your favourite movies

Expect BIG gifts for your birthday

as a payback for the 'smaller' stuff you buy him every week

I'm talking expensive brands, a lot of stuff at once etc

probably used his pocket money of the last 4 months to buy it

☆-cartman:

he wouldn't outright say it, but he enjoys being spoiled by you

big surprise I know

would flex about you to everyone

"well yeah? my partner is super duper rich"

insists that you pay for dates 💀

you do it anyways after all

get all emotional if you buy him the small he had been dreaming about

man what else is there to say about cartman, he's spoiled af anyways

☆-kyle:

kyle is also pretty wealthy ( I mean his father is a lawyer so ya)

if you buy him stuff, he'll buy you stuff back

despite being wealthy though, sheila does set a monthly allowance

so he'll buy you stuff until he uses all his monthly allowance up, therefore you have to buy lunch for him

also tries to pay back with affection (physical touch, acts of service, etc)

also tries to give you big birthday gifts

as soon as his money runs out he tries giving you self made gifts

like muffins or love letters (the muffins taste pretty awful at the start, my man doesn't know how to bake)

☆-kenny:

definitely the most appreciative

he does feel bad, but man he can't complain

does compromise to stuff like snacks and toys (for karen), as he thinks this is the smartest way for you to spend money on him

will work 3 minimum wage jobs to get you some more expensive gifts once a year

also karen adores you for getting her all the cool toys she wants

kenny will try to pay back with whatever he can, be it gifts, acts of service, dates, it doesn't matter

he does find it important to remind you, that he loves you for you, not your money

☆-butters:

nah he's so emotional, whenever you get him something

gives you small kisses all over your face as a thanks

a part of his room is dedicated to all the stuff you get him

makes the most adorable paper crafts for you

expect the best gift basket you could ever receive for your birthday (filled with your favourite sweets, baked goods, a super cute letter and a lot of plushies)

will cry if you get him something, he offhandedly mentioned he liked

if he finds something you really like, he'll do whatever to get it for you

[buckybarnesevents]

IT'S HERE!!!! ShrinkyClinks Double Bang is here with sign ups starting next week!

We've put together an event FAQ/breakdown for you here and also under the cut. This will look very familiar to any Bang participants, but in case this is your first time, we have tried to make the below information as clear and as detailed as possible so you know what to expect.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW/FAQs:

1. What is ShrinkyClinks? 

“ShrinkyClinks” is defined generally as Winter Soldier Bucky with pre-serum Steve. For the purposes of this Bang, it can also be a “Beefy Bucky”/a Bucky with similar attributes and a “Small Steve”/a Steve with similar attributes. This means it can be canon, canon-adjacent or -divergent, or an AU. 

We ask that you do your best to stick with these attributes, keeping in mind that there are loads of other events for other Bucky/Steve variations and this event is intended to specifically bring more ShrinkyClinks content to the world. If you’re unsure if your idea fits or want to discuss anything, please reach out to a mod.

2. How does a Double Bang work?

In a Bang, a writer submits their fic idea to be claimed by an artist. A Reverse Bang is when the artist submits their work to be claimed by a writer. For the purpose of this event, a Double Bang, we will be accepting submissions for both. 

All submissions are kept ANONYMOUS so in the spirit of the event, please do not post your work anywhere or announce which piece(s) is/are yours. This is a great opportunity to meet new people in the fandom, work with someone new, etc. We will not have a dedicated space for writers vs. artists to discuss prior to claims since this event allows for you to sign up for both roles. 

After claims (August 19th), you are allowed to chat, post snips, and promote your WIPs all you want. You can go nuts in the event channel on Discord or in the creator’s lounge channels. 

3. What criteria do I need to participate in this event? 

Most importantly is that you understand we are a safe space for creators – there is absolutely NO shaming (kink shaming, character bashing, criticism of works, etc.). Respect your fellow creators and do your best to encourage each other! 

Furthermore, this is a collaboration. Please read the Wants and DNW’s of each slide before committing to claim it, and keep an open line of communication with your partner(s) to ensure that all of your interests and hard work are represented in your final creation. 

The bang will be broken up into NSFW and SFW sections, however, this is an 18+ event due to the nature of some of these works and we cannot moderate/block/control what you may or may not accidentally see. We will, however, make it as clear as possible between these ratings.

4. What can I sign up as? What are the different roles?

Writer: you will either (1) submit a slide/piece to be claimed or (2) intend to claim a piece during claims period and provide writing

Artist: you will either (1) submit a slide/piece to be claimed or (2) intend to claim a piece during claims period and provide art

Pinch Hitter: you are essentially an “on-call” writer or artist. By selecting this role, you agree to be included in future emails throughout the event if a fic or art piece needs to be claimed due to unforeseen circumstances

Beta & Support: you would like to specifically offer beta-reading services, cheerleading, brainstorming, characterization help or sensitivity reading. Please provide what you are willing to provide from this list, or anything else we have missed. 

SUBMISSION MINIMUMS

Art:

Original Art 

Manips - (must be skillfully and heavily edited so they are unrecognizable from the source material, we’re not trying to get sued her)

Podfic - at least 2,000 words recorded 

Fanvid - at least 2 minutes

A craft that can be photographed or scanned

*Moodboards or playlists can be included in the final submission but not as standalone art for claims. There is no maximum for this event. 

Kam (@mxaether) is your lead mod for art concerns. 

Fic:

There is a 3,000 word minimum for the ShrinkyClinks Double Bang 2023. There is no maximum for this event.

HR (@buckyismybicycle) is your lead mod for writing concerns.

HOW DOES IT WORK? 

On July 2, you will sign up for the event using this form. Please read through both the sign up form and the FAQs/rules above thoroughly.

On August 5, you will SUBMIT your Slide(s) for previews here. Please use this template. If you are submitting more than one work, you can put all your slides on the same slideshow and we will review each slide. While we do not require the completed work, please have enough information/enough of the art done for this to help match you up. 

On August 12, you will be emailed a preview of all the works submitted (so please ensure you enter your correct/active email). This preview will include both fic and art submissions, and both SFW and NSFW. These will be marked accordingly. It is suggested that you think about which slides you want to claim and in what order. On the claims form, you will be asked to enter in your first, second, third and optional additional choices. 

It is recommended you give some variety in case your first choice(s) are already claimed. If all of your choices are already taken, you will receive an email immediately telling you to re-submit your choices. 

On August 19, CLAIMS WILL OPEN! Claims open at 6:30pm EST. For your local time, please see here or see the converter at end of the Word document. Claims will be made through this form.

Claims go on a first come, first serve basis. If you are not around for claims, you can have a proxy - this is someone who will claim on your behalf. They will enter in their own email address and own name and advise us they are just a proxy assisting you with claiming.

There will be two check-in dates at 1 month intervals: September 23 and October 21. Check-ins are very easy and both can be done here. We essentially want to know (1) how’s it going? (2) do you need help? Check-ins are a good time for your team to assess where you’re at, if you think any help might be needed, etc. 

You should aim to have your collaboration done by November 5, 2023 and more or less ready to post. Check with your partner who will be posting the work to which platform - Tumblr, AO3, etc. We recommend that you embed your artwork(s) in your posts. While having a “banner” or “title card”. This will be the final check in before posting week to ensure you’re ready to go or if you need a mod to help with something. 

Between November 12 - 18, you will post your completed collaboration! Please submit your masterpost/completed work using this form. We will be using this, and our “@” mentions to compile our final masterlist.

AO3: AO3 Collection

Tumblr: tag us at @buckybarnesevents 

STILL WORRIED?

What if I sign up, and then need to drop out or don’t want to claim something? 

If you sign up and do not claim anything because you don’t vibe with it, not a problem, it happens! 

If you sign up and do claim something but then need to drop out, just let us know as soon as possible. This is a key point of our monthly check-ins, to ensure you’re on track or if you’re feeling like you can’t meet the deadline. This is also where our lovely pinch-hitters can step in and claim the piece you’ve been working on so that your partner(s) can continue in the event. 

If you sign up and you’re running behind but still think you can complete your work(s) with a few additional days, please speak to a mod about an extension, within reasonable limits. 

We are open to hearing any concerns at any time and there is almost always a solution, so do not fret. With that being said, we do ask that you sign up only if you are fairly confident or certain that you can commit to the event. 

I’m an event junkie – can I use this piece as a fill for another event? 

Yes, if your other event allows this as well, you are welcome to cross-post to any and all other events. The only caveat is that you cannot post your work before our posting date (ie: you cannot post your finished product before our posting period of Nov 12 - 18 or without your team’s consent. If you really want to post before Nov 12th in order to make another deadline, please speak with a mod for an exception.)

I don’t have Tumblr or AO3

Not to worry - these are just where Bucky Barnes Events operates out of so it’s easiest for us to reblog on Tumblr or have a Collection on  AO3. If you are posting your fic elsewhere, that’s perfectly fine! Just submit the link through our submission form so we can still include you within our masterlist and do a simple Tumblr post for you. 

4. Does this have to be Bucky/Steve?

For the purposes of this Bang and in the spirit of ShrinkyClinks, yes, your work should focus on the relation between Beefy Bucky and Smol Steve, whether it’s platonic, romantic, or even if they’re rivals!! Their relationships and interactions should be front and centre. You can, however, include side pairings, previous relationships, or even polyamorous relationships so long as your spotlight remains on Bucky and Steve.

CONCLUSION:

The most important thing is to have fun! As always, please let a mod know if you have any questions, concerns, or need some clarification! 

Happy Creating,

Your Mods,

HR & Kam

[artbyfinnbrown]

Screenshots of my favourite moments from Re:Zero Arc 7 (Part 1):

Todd, it’s chapter 7. You don’t even hate Subaru yet. Why are you already talking about things that could potentially act as parallels to Return by Death?

This death (and the subsequent loops that follow) is probably my favourite sequence of Subaru deaths. I had to do a double take reading this when I realized that the words had started repeating. It starts so suddenly.

I love the O’Connell siblings. Nothing bad better happen to these to or I will be very upset.

“No trust me, I have to keep using the girl voice, it’s about staying in character” Sure buddy, whatever you need to say to feel better about yourself.

So I know this is meant to be screenshots of my favourite arc 7 moments, I guess this is also screenshots arc 7 moments that just make be feel sad and go “Aw, Man”

Wow, Subaru, you’re weirdly into making sure your boobs seem real. I wonder if that means anything.

Priscilla is weirdly one of the characters that seems to be most okay with Subaru’s crossdressing. She’s still mocking him, but she’s not mocking him for crossdressing, she’ll mocking him for being Subaru. She basically says “Yeah you’re a pretty hot woman. Unfortunately, I know your true cringe nature, so your good looks have no effect on me”.

Al. How many times did you die Al.

HA.

“I’ll fill you in on the correct information about Natsumi next time”. This implies that Subaru has Natsumi Schwarz lore that he actively maintains, which is incredibly funny (and also shows just how much dedicated he is to the Natsumi Schwartz persona)

Abel: Good that you’re here Priscilla. I assume you brought troopS with you to help support my cause? Priscilla: Nope! Just me and these 3 useless men I got to follow me around. Abel: Abel: Girl I am trying to retake a nation here-

I really like what arc 7 does with Priscilla’s character. Because arc 3 really just sets her up as an arrogant asshole. And arc 7 never disproves that, she’s still an arrogant asshole. But she’s an arrogant asshole who cares some very specific people.

On my first readthrough, this just seems like another instance of Subaru and Abel’s banter. However knowing everything there is to know now about Vincent and China’s relationship… yeah, it makes sense why Abel might not want people to talk about Chisa betraying him.

“Either is fine” She says. Okay sure thing buddy (Googles “What is Bigender” on a separate tab)

Damn Rem, I’m pretty sure killing him would have inflicted less psychological damage at this point. I do think it is interesting that despite being unfriendly towards Subaru for most of the arc so far, Rem does try to help him by trying to make him feel less guilty about not being able to save everyone. Unfortunately, she had no way of knowing that Subaru was basing a large amount if his self-worth off the belief that Rem thinks of him as a hero, leading this to backfire.

Those are some great questions about Al being brought up. Does he know about Return by Death? Does he have an ability like it? If He does, why wasn’t he able to prevent the loss of his arm? NOW IF ONLY HE WOULD GIVE US SOME ACTUAL ANSWERS-

I don’t know how to feel about the fact that horses exist in the Re:Zero world. I always assumed that Land Dragons just filled the role that horses did in this world. So that fact that there are actual horses feels kind of weird. I don’t like it . Unless horses have always been a thing in Re:Zero and I just somehow never noticed. Does anyone else think that horses existing in Re:Zero is weird? maybe it’s just me.

I mean, I could do an analysis on Natsumi Schwartz, but at this point I feel like Re:Zero tumblr has analyzed Natsumi to hell and back, so I don’t know if there’s really anything meaningful I could add at this point. I’ll leave it at this: At minimum he’s a Drag Queen, and at maximum she’s a trans woman, with the truth probably being somewhere in between those two extremes.

On its own this is nothing. The fact that Subaru says this right after the story refers to Natsumi Schwartz as Subaru’s “ideal self” is what really gives me the sad “Aw, man” feeling.

No Abel was right I don’t think that deserved a response.

AL GODDAMMIT HOW MANY TIMES DID YOU DIE THIS TIME YOU CRYPTIC MOTHER-

Anyway, expect part 2 of this post soon.

[the-l00ker]

Listen. I'm no My Hero Academia hater. It's very unique, very high quality, lots of good twists, great

BUT. Big butt

I would have to totally added 2-3 more Seasons because the ending is a bit unsatisfying/rushed

Like the seasons I would have added is:

After the hero exam/training arc: some people got power-ups and upgrades and they never addressed it. And some people who I personally think could have had great power-ups didn't get any.

Jiruo, Denki, Ochaco, Momo, Ida, Koji and Sero, being examples of characters that could have got an upgrade but didn't or characters that got an upgrade off main plot.

We know that Ida did have have a mini-arc with the whole "you killed my brother thing" but he's a very 1 dimensional guy for being a secondary main character/very important side character.

I feel like a season with one episode per student dedicated to how they got their power improvements could make the reader/ viewer, feel more sympathetic and connected to the characters because we get to see some of their struggles even if they're not on screen.

The plot of these episodes, idk but you're telling me that jiruo didn't stick her headphone-jack into a electric guitar to see if it would do something???

Season 2 added: a bit before the war

This could have been a season or at minimum 10 episodes, but we needed more slice of Life content. They're 16/17yr old. I understand that the sports Festival and the school fair were meant to be the slice of life and high school bits but it is kind of overshadowed by the fact that they go to one of the best schools in Japan and they all have superpowers. It makes them seem a bit more privileged then relate.

A small bit where characters have genuine high school level problems we would be nice. Like finding best place to study but getting distracted bc of something. Or HAVING AT LEAST 1 NON-MAIN SHIP BE TOUCHED. Or what I find needs to be explored a bit more clearly is that they bring up the racism in the world but it's never a big thing.

It's kinda a "oh yeah spinner is evil because blah blah blah" or so and so is insecure because of this.

Having it play out but the characters acknowledging that they're the bigger person could show just how far they've come in schooling and not just a one-off thing. Because it its that serious of a problem that a major villain is made of it then why isn't it show more?

And have the parallels of Spinner and Shoji, I'm having them inadvertently lead the build up to seeing all the villains be parallels of the heroes could strengthen the divide of people and could cause more conflict/more thinking.

And finally, a season detailing future explanations of how Deku actually became the number one hero like he said he would at the start of the series.

Because (spoilers) he does lose a lot of his powers by the end of the series, so does he gain them back through will power? Does Eri reverse the effects so that he's a hero but he has to relearn all the techniques because he was sent back to the time that he couldn't really control it? Having another season to clear up the aftermaths of the war and seeing everyones future would be the best to round out the series. Good or bad.

Also tf is Deku's farther??

[stillness-in-green]

On a happier note, according to the ninth popularity poll, Nimble actually won 32nd place! It was probably a joke vote, but I take it as a small Advisor win anyday!

(Or: a brief but salty comparison between the PLF Advisors and the Shie Hassaikai Eight Bullets)

I saw that!  In a paucity of great results (Monoma hitting #11, missing the color image by a single rank, is so MonomaCore I can't even be mad) and amidst some low-key scandal about uncounted votes, it was a small bright spot. Good for her!!  She deserved it, and so much more.

(Yes, I’m still annoyed that she was Spinner’s #1 and yet got so much less to do than his #2, who gets so much more in the way of personality and dialogue, and who is not-so-coincidentally male.  I love Scarecrow and have from the moment I attributed to him dialogue the anime wound up giving RD, but come on.)

Honestly, if you’ll forgive me for using your ask as a springboard for a rant, the general paucity on that front has lately had me thinking about the Shie Hassaikai arc, and how much better, comparatively speaking, Overhaul’s crew got treated.  All named, all with named and explained quirks, and all but one of them[1] have at least one factoid shared either within the story or in supplementary material about their backstories, their relationships, their motivations, or their roles within the gang!  We know Mimic is the gang’s accountant, for example, and we know Tengai is the newest member, specifically recruited to serve as a restraint on Rappa.

1: Sasaki Deidoro is, I think, the only one about whom we know nothing beyond his observable personality and quirks (both mundane and metahuman).  The closest we’ve got is the on-the-job drinking, and even with that, we don’t know for sure to what extent his quirk and his heavy drinking are entwined.  Does the strength of his quirk depend on the amount of alcohol in his system, similar to the prerequisites characters like Fat Gum, Suneater, Momo and Sato have, or does it work the same regardless and he simply prefers to be drunk?  His Ultra Anaylsis blurb says he loves alcohol and is always drunk—hardly a huge leap to make from what's in the manga itself—but is that because his quirk gives him a biological compulsion towards alcohol, making it difficult for him to live a normal life, which in turn led him to the yakuza?  Or is it more a factor of the sort of life he leads, difficulties in his personal history, the demands of his boss, etc? Would he still be an alcoholic either way?

On top of that, every single one has a minimum of one dedicated scene apart from their introductory spread in Chapter 138 and the group scene where Overhaul inducts Toga and Twice into the gang’s operations, and several, like Chrono, Mimic and Nemoto, get multiple such moments dedicated to them throughout the arc.  Even in defeat, we can account for them with relative confidence: the transports attacked by the League reported themselves as carrying 11 members of the Shie Hassaikai, presumably the Eight Bullets, Overhaul himself, Mimic, and Chrono.

Compare this to the advisors, who get exactly the same sort of introductory spread as the Eight Bullets do, but who are for the most part unnamed,[2] only Slidin’ Go getting his quirk officially named, the vast majority of them (17 out of 21) having no chance to even demonstrate what their quirk is, and many of whom not only never get dedicated scenes,[3] but are not even accounted for by the course of the story!  By my measure, only a third of them (7 of 21) can be earmarked as “definitely arrested”—one further, Hose Face, could be called definitely defeated, but given that Big Sis Bindi was in that first wave of people attacked by the Edgeshot+Midnight(+whichever students with ranged attacks they were in range of) combo and yet showed up later in a group shot of PLF remnants, even apparently decisive defeats may not necessarily result in a lieutenant being successfully captured if the Heroes on-scene have too much else to do.

2: And the handful we do get names for are not named in the course of their actual appearances as PLF members.  Slidin’ Go is named because he’s introduced as a Hero and gets a volume extra for that same chapter, several chapters before he’s explicitly identified as a member of the MLA and long before he appears in the roster of PLF advisors.  Sanctum’s identity as Twice’s #1 was just an educated guess based on Twice’s framing of the lecture he received and Hawks’s subsequent namedrop; it’s a guess the anime team made as well, adding a visual of Sanctum to the moment of Twice’s impression, but lord knows the anime does not always get everything right about the MLA!  Finally, Scarecrow might be named Disgustas, but that’s the thinnest guess of all, since it’s based on a scrawl of katakana under an artist sketch of the character included in a pile of other such sketches used as volume preview material.  It’s never used anywhere in the canon itself, and therefore, to me, is not specifically more reliable than any first-draft sketch of a character—it would be like basing your assumptions about Bakugou based on his discarded initial conception as an impossibly annoying prep!  Of the three, Slidin’ Go is the only one whose real name, as opposed to a code name, is known.

3: I would say only Galvanize, Scarecrow, Slidin’ Go and Hose Face rise to the level of having “dedicated scenes,” with Piercings Dude and Brand being the next-closest, the former getting a clear demonstration of his quirk and the latter getting one (1) characterful line of dialogue.  Nimble gets one or two lines of generic rabble rousing, but it lacks anything specific to grab onto as a characterization note, and in fact mostly serves to raise questions about how she’s talking when her face seems to utterly lack a mouth!  Giving her spoken dialogue actually undermines one of the most memorable aspects of her character design!

Three of the advisors are never seen again period after their introductory spread!  They aren’t shown in the opening rounds of the battle, they aren’t shown as escapees, they aren’t shown as arrested, and they appear nowhere in the second war.  They simply vanish entirely from the story; for all we know, Hawks could have guessed their identities wrong, or they could have gone back underground like the original MLA to make sure Liberation ideology survives!

And, of course, most glaringly, there’s the matter of their lack of characterization or defined motivation.

Looking back at the Hassaikai, Katsukame Rikiya—the big energy-draining dude fought by Ryuukyuu and co.—strikes me as the most thinly characterized on his face, being primarily defined by his boorishness towards Nejire, and not helped by the full-coverage bird mask.  Even he, though, has a supplementary note about how he’s a long-time member of the gang who was a "younger brother" (in the yakuza sense, not the familial one) to Overhaul, which suggests a rather charming admiration pulled straight out of the standard book of yakuza relationships, which is noticeably not a dynamic Overhaul has with anyone else in the gang!  All of them are pretty distinct, as much as can be hoped for of characters with their limited screen time; they're bolstered by on-screen connections to other members of the group or quirks that hint at how they came to be criminals.

Compare this over to the PLF.  The named MLA characters introduced during My Villain Academia are all relatively clearly drawn people, with only Geten lacking a real full name and only Trumpet so much as a hint of personal backstory.  All of them have roles, personality, specific ways they engage pursuing the cause, differing shades of belief in what the cause even entails, all that great stuff. 

But the advisors? Aside from their fantastically varied and diverse designs, they're far thinner.  Other than the previously introduced Slidin’ Go, their personalities are virtually identical—militant zealots—with only the barest of discernible differences that trace mostly, again, to the expressiveness of their great designs.  Galvanize and “Red” come off as pretty chill; Sanctum seems more stern than fiery; Big Sis Bindi and Aster have a “cool” vibe.

But that’s the issue: they “come off” that way; that’s “the vibe” they have.  I’m having to guess that based mostly on isolated pictures with no dialogue and little action.  When they get dialogue, what we get is that same “militant zealot” tack, and worse, there’s a choking, overflowing infusion of overt supremacist rhetoric that previously Geten-whose-name-means-Apocrypha was the only character to openly espouse.  As for why those characters believe this—other than as a meta-narrative device to make them less sympathetic—and how they came to be members of the group, none of that gets explored.  The few who do get “dedicated” fight scenes with other characters still get stunningly little time to establish themselves.

Compare the three full chapters (plus bits around the edges of Kirishima's two-chapter flashback) we get with Rappa and Tengai with the single scene Galvanize gets that ends with him ignominiously wiping out against Kaminari.  Compare the two chapters—with space given to specifically showcase their bonds with each other, their individual backstories, and how they came under Overhaul’s dubious wing!—allotted to the Trash Trio before Suneater overcomes them, expressing sympathy and admiration in the moment he does so, with the incredibly cruel-minded showcase Scarecrow gets, his own internal monologue undermining any attempts to read him sympathetically, only the scar on his head even implying anything about his own experience with discrimination, before Koda angrily and summarily pushes him off the roof of a tall building.

And those are the two who do the best!  Hose Face is such a cartoon he has to be made to gloat out of nowhere about a random woman he killed on the battlefield months prior, doubtlessly not the only person he killed that day or in the time since, for no reason but that Horikoshi no longer had the time—or perhaps the freedom—to explain how Hose Face came to have the beliefs he does such that his opponents in the story and the readers of the story can regard him with the slightest trace of empathy or compassion.

It's just pretty fucking egregious all-round.  So, to circle back around to the actual content of the ask (sorry), I’m glad that at least 403 people probably a small handful of extremely dedicated fans with money to burn, be it as a joke or not, looked past the bullshit and voted for Nimble anyway.  The advisors all deserved the kind of attention and care that would have had a handful of dedicated fans voting for them, in the same way that members of the Hassaikai other than Overhaul still show up in the polls to this day.

Thanks for the ask, @shockersalvage! And I'm sorry for using your happier note mostly to complain orz.

P.S. I admit this is a bit unbalanced because a chunk of what we know about the Hassaikai cast does come from the databooks, and we hadn't even met the advisors yet back when Ultra Analysis was released! So maybe if we get a third and final databook once the series actually ends, the advisors will get some blurbs as well.

But cripes, given the quality of their writing in the endgame, do I even want them to? I think I'd prefer Horikoshi just give them canon names and then leave them alone.

[veliseraptor]

October Reading Recap

The Husky and His White Cat Shizun: vol. 3 by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou. Still in the territory of a part of this book I remember fairly well, and while the whole underworld arc is good it's not my favorite part of the book and mostly I come away from it going "Rong Jiu has rights." which is true! and I do think Meatbun knows it actually but it still hurts how his arc goes here. Me: continually getting too wound up in the fates of side characters and distracted from what's going on with the mains.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to moving into the next parts of the book, which I don't remember as well. Though I know it's a while before it gets really painful, aka what I'm most excited to reread.

Dark Carnivals: Modern Horrors and the Origins of American Empire by W. Scott Poole. I was so frustrated by this book. I wanted it to be an analysis of horror films and their relationship to American imperialism; what I got was a lot of overwrought prose and repetition of the titular metaphor that was very light on the analysis of the actual texts and heavy on the scathing opinions about what is "good" (politically) horror and what is "bad" (politically) horror. Which, fine, my politics are technically the same as his politics, but it was annoying to read in a book that I thought was going to be more analytical. I had high hopes for this book and it failed them; makes me more hesitant to read his other book about horror and World War I, which I have had on my list for a while. But I liked his book on Lovecraft, funnily enough, so not totally sure what went wrong here.

Paradise-1 by David Wellington. I did not realize that this book was first in a series and I'm a little bit annoyed about it. It was decent horror but it doesn't need to be a series and the lack of resolution bugs me, because now if I want resolution I have to read the next book and I don't think I really want to read the next book. Space horror seems like it would be such a rich land full of possibility and yet I keep being disappointed by space horror. (If, in this case, less disappointed than I was by Dead Silence.)

Remnants of Filth: vol. 1 by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou. She's done it again! It's a differently fucked up relationship, to be sure, but boy am I already here for it, despite feeling like I know very little about what's going on. Gu Mang is my jam as far as character type, and I really like the dynamic as its laid out as having been previously between him and Mo Xi, and also how it is now. Dedicated friends/lovers turned to bitter enemies turned to one of them fractured to a shadow of himself leaving the other bereft of resolution...mm, good stuff. Can't wait to find out more about what's going on under Gu Mang's surface. Looking forward to reading more of this one and glad that I already have the second volume to go to. (And the rest, technically, but I do like reading cnovels in print when I can more than reading on a computer.)

I, Robot by Isaac Asimov. Look at me! Reading classic sci-fi knowing only the bare minimum about it. I liked it more than I expected to, and was less bothered by the way the women were written than I expected to. I didn't realize that it was more a string of short stories tied together by a frame narrative than a novel, but it was really fine that I didn't know that going in - didn't affect my enjoyment, I don't think. And I did enjoy it! I might not have read it on my own, but I read it for a sci-fi book club and ended up liking both it and the book club. Not sure I'd give it, like, a strong recommendation, but I'm glad I finally read it. It'll be interesting seeing what echoes/traces of it I can now pick up in other robot/AI-related writing.

Monstress: vol. 5-7 by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda. This comic is so good you guys. So. Good. I don't really know what else to say here, except that she continues to step up her game even more with every volume, and I don't know how she's keeping all the balls in the air that she is with this story as deftly as she is. I have no idea where this story is going, either, and I can't wait to find out. I don't know. Themes of monstrosity and agency and lack of agency and how to be a good person (or try) in a terrible world. With a whole lot more than that. Also there's gay betrayal, if you're into that.

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint. Why do I continue to read Greek Mythology retellings when at best they end up making me go "eh, it was okay I guess"? Not sure. But this was okay, I guess. I liked the same author's Electra better.

Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues by Jonathan Kennedy. More of a "history of the western world categorized by periods of time in which there were various diseases" which...was not quite what I was hoping for, but it was still a good, solid book about epidemiology and the impact of disease on history. A lot of it was familiar to me (how disease enabled the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs and Incas, for instance, but also British colonization in North America), but I did learn some new things, particularly in the sections about Paleolithic/Neolithic diseases. All in all a book I read because I'm particularly interested in the subject but not probably one I'd recommend as the one book that they'd have to read about it.

The Hollow Kind by Andy Davidson. I made it a goal in October to read some spooky books and ended up only reading three, but this was easily my favorite of those - and my favorite non-Darcy Coates horror I've read in a while, too. I wasn't totally sure what to expect from this one, and the slow reveal in the first two thirds particularly was very well done. I found myself slightly more compelled by the portions set in the past than by the present storyline, but not so much as to ding the whole book for it. And I liked that the monster was left pretty vague and undefined, too; that's always my preference. Some very gross descriptions and body horror, as a caveat for those who might be interested but are sensitive about such things.

Die: vol. 1-3 by Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans. I'm finally rereading (and finishing) this series and...I forgot how much I like it. Not only because the art is gorgeous (and the art is gorgeous) but Kieron Gillen's writing remains as sharp as ever, and the way he is playing with fantasy as a genre is very fun for me as a fantasy nerd. My favorite issue remains the one about The Lord of the Rings, though. I don't know that this one is quite as good as The Wicked and the Divine as a whole, but I'll have to reread that one taken as a whole, too, before making that determination.

And the art really is gorgeous. Stephanie Hans remains a fave.

Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism by Jeffrey Toobin. A decent narrative about the Oklahoma City bombing, certainly competently written, but he interrupted himself a little too often drawing parallels to January 6th, in my opinion, and I don't feel like I took anything particularly new or fresh away from this. Which is maybe an artifact of the fact that I've read a number of better books about the rise of right-wing extremism in the 90s, and this one wasn't one of them, but I'm going to go ahead and damn with faint praise when I say "it was fine."

currently I'm rereading Banewreaker by Jacqueline Carey which is a fascinating text in ways that I'm going to need to chew on for a bit, so that I can finally read the sequel. but then a bunch of stuff came in for me at the library, so I'm next probably going to be reading Silver Nitrate by Sylvia Moreno-Garcia, and then Godslayer by Jacqueline Carey, and then The Art of Prophecy by Wesley Chu, and then Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky, and then Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez. or that's the plan, anyway. we'll see how fast it gets derailed.

also somewhere in there planning on reading more Female General and Eldest Princess and most likely the second volume of Remnants of Filth. I'm trying to spend less time on the internet in general (you absolutely could not tell I am sure) so let's make it a busy reading month instead.

[kentuckyanarchist]

Songs of 2023

Here we are, a bit late, not quite as late as last year. 2023 was a busy year but somehow an uncomplex one for me—there’ve been worse years, there’ve been better. If the songs spoke to the times, they did so in obscure ways. Nonetheless: 50 favourite songs, 50 fuzzy thoughts, I hope you like them too.

1. Fenne Lily, “Lights Light Up”

Just the right amount of confidence and the right amount of caveats; just the right amount of magic and the right amount of realism.

2. Boygenius, “True Blue”

I love the matter-of-factness of Lucy Dacus’ diction here, putting friendship to words like it’s the most obvious thing in the world: “I can’t hide from you like I hide from myself, duh.”

3. ANOHNI, “Sliver of Ice”

Somehow, amidst the wreckage, it’s the elegance of ANOHNI’s rhymes that get me: view/blue, tonight/light, more/before; if only death was so simple.

4. Caroline Polachek, “Billions”

All I can say here, and it’ll sound silly, is that what’s happening in this song is an attempt to block off the curve from hedonism to cynicism.

5. Ratboys, “Black Earth, WI”

How is it that, with the mushroom cloud above and the ground opening up before them, Ratboys seem to have all the time in the world?

6. Julie Byrne, “Portrait of a Clear Day”

There’s a particular vocal style, smooth and blue like a lake surface, that you find in some English folk music, and in 2023 Julie Byrne was its sharpest, wisest practitioner.

7. Feist, “Hiding Out in the Open”

Homespun, delicate; thrillingly, almost uncomfortably intimate.

8. Slaughter Beach, Dog, “Strange Weather”

One for cataloguing, inventorying, totting up, working out where you stand.

9. Yo La Tengo, “Aselestine”

“Aselestine”’s two songs: the instrumentals so serenely flowing, circling, generative; Georgia Hubley’s vocals so clipped, terse, holding back.

10. Billy Woods & Kenny Segal ft. Samuel T. Herring, “FaceTime”

Could Billy Woods be our foremost imagist? “In a Station of the Metro” but the train’s derailed, bones snapped, screaming kids, twisted metal? I’ve already said too much.

11. Doja Cat, “Agora Hills”

The year’s best pop song, a delicate dedication from (is it fair to say?) unexpected quarters, smut and bravado doing the bare minimum to conceal its softness.

12. Mitski, “Bug Like an Angel”

This song doesn’t have a chorus in the sense of a refrain but has a chorus in the Ancient Greek sense, a set of voices that interrupt in unison, sometimes using dramatic irony.

13. Big Thief, “Born for Loving You”

Sometimes we speak out of the sides of our mouths and sometimes we dissemble; Big Thief could never.

14. The Antlers, “I Was Not There”

The word sweep is a good one for songs by the Antlers: conveying breadth and inexorability, it’s cosy and domestic too; to sweep like they do is to upturn, to wreck, but to renovate, to welcome.

15. Lana Del Rey, “The Grants”

Philip Larkin said poetry was a matter of experiencing a vision then “attempt[ing] to express the whole of which the vision is a part.” For Lana there’s no whole or part, just vision.

16. The Pines of Rome, “I Am a Road”

Gnomic, wry, lamenting, ground-down but still kicking, a bit ornery but if you sit down at its feet you’ll learn something.

17. Bonnie “Prince” Billy, “Willow, Pine and Oak”

Stolid and unsappy, this tripartite scheme isn’t quite right, but it certainly is one way of looking at the world.

18. Lande Hekt, “Pottery Class”

This song says it’s about missing someone, but all those sighs, all those “again”s, all those “buts” make you wonder.

19. James Yorkston, Nina Persson and the Second Hand Orchestra, “A Forestful of Rogues”

“If I say so myself, and I damn well do”—when you start a line like that you can follow it up with almost anything.

20. M83, “Amnesia”

Big as stars and glistening like them; who, in 2023, does it better?

21. CMAT, “Vincent Kompany”

CMAT sometimes seems to want to be “relatable” but then snaps out of it and takes joy in being idiosyncratic, or a bit off, or, basically, really fucking odd.

22. Mannequin Pussy, “I Got Heaven”

Let it be known that in 2023 we snarled sometimes.

23. Shit Present, “More to Lose”

Shit Present, in the best of traditions, use monotone as a weapon: here Iona Cairns drags down what could be a soaring chorus in the most politically astute of ways.

24. Fever Ray, “Kandy”

The word could be skeletal: minimal, of course, but also spooky, schlocky, body-horror, prone to decomposition.

25. Girl Ray, “Hold Tight”

“Hold Tight” says it wants simple sedentary situations, “talking shit on the grass,” “get a Coke and sit on the wall,” all while it bounces and hops non-stop.

26. Charlotte Cornfield, “You and Me”

I’ll admit to preferring the more pensive Charlotte Cornfield, but no one’s surprised she can do affirmative too.

27. Shannon Lay, “From the Morning”

I love Shannon Lay’s confidence: there’s something ever-so-slightly irreverent in this Nick Drake cover, just the slightest smirk.

28. Jeff Rosenstock, “HEALMODE”

The sort of song you find under rotting wooden pallets in derelict parts of the city.

29. The Mountain Goats, “Fresh Tattoo”

The Mountain Goats grow old no worse for wear: still telling meandering parables, still making us feel right at home.

30. Samia, “Charm You”

“As You Are,” Samia’s paean to unconditional familial love, was my favourite song of 2021. “Charm You” works up the same giddiness about a new relationship but introduces a smidge of reticence.

31. Alex Lahey, “The Answer Is Always Yes”

A big year for affirmations in pop (see#4, #26, #46), but (1) this one’s so intricate too, and (2) this one knows what it’s up against too.

32. The Hold Steady, “Grand Junction”

Metronomic, “Grand Junction” declines to shift its swing, which is no problem as it keeps on hitting.

33. Arlo Parks, “Dog Rose”

Arlo Parks writes pop songs with an undercurrent, love songs that threaten to get a bit weird.

34. Holly Humberstone and MUNA, “Into Your Room”

A late entrant: one that toys with overstatement, knows it sounds a bit overblown, but wants to say what it has to say anyway and see how it goes.

35. Young Fathers, “Holy Moly”

This sounds like 2006 to me, a sticky floor and cigarette smoke.

36. Heather Woods Broderick, “Seemed a River”

This song’s weirdly verbose, maybe it’s indecisive? Maybe it’s keeping secrets?

37. Pearla, “Flicker”

Circularity like the seasons, like the sunrise-sunset, like fresh starts, like the worms.

38. Sparklehorse, “The Scull of Lucia”

A grandiose sort of lullaby, making short work of squally seas.

39. Joy Oladokun, “Changes”

I go back and forth on this one: it feels tailored for the Obama playlist, but it still charms me; sometimes it seems too smooth for the ugly world it describes, but there are more egregious sins.

40. Quinnie, “Security Question”

A missed connection that spirals from a whim into a crisis: the entire problem of other minds “at some party I wandered to.”

41. Black Country, New Road, “Laughing Song (Live at Bush Hall)”

On Live at Bush Hall BC,NR continued to be our best worriers, biters of nails, pickers of scabs.

42. Blink-182, “More Than You Know”

If there’s nostalgia here, and there may be, it’s for “Easy Target” or “Stockholm Syndrome,” the careful use of melancholy, the harmonies, Travis Barker drumming like a submachine gun.

43. Vagabon, “Lexicon”

Vagabon’s a rare songwriter who’ll admit to speechlessness, dumbstruckness, stagefright. But some things are unsayable, some thoughts do need to be expressed in deeds.

44. Subsonic Eye, “Machine”

Go on then, make it seem effortless!

45. The Milk Carton Kids, “Star Shine”

I suspect this one’s too hard on itself—there are big lies and little lies, gentle ones and harsh ones, after all.

46. Sufjan Stevens, “Shit Talk”

Somewhere in the ’10s Sufjan became a permanent presence: a waystation, a landmark, a totem, and on Javelin you feel he cautiously started embracing that.

47. Indigo De Souza, “Losing”

It’s one thing to say “less is more”, it’s another to model brevity like this, to just fill two minutes and nineteen seconds with five- or six-word lines that describe all the details of one thought.

48. Fred Again.., “Winnie (Rosslyn Crescent)”

I’m still captivated by Fred Again..’s soundscapes, his windows into London kitchen-sink scenes, and how much he leaves unsaid.

49. Sofia Kourtesis, “Moving Houses”

Fractured images, shards of life, but Sofia Kourtesis seems confident things can be put back together.

50. Oneohtrix Point Never, “Nightmare Paint”

Not an album where you can pick out one song, of course, but if I had to it’d be this pew-pew space opera, brightly lit and smoothly running, letting the unknown in through the airlock.

[maya-matlin]

Five ships: Jonnor, Morisol, Spaige, Bhandallas, Beckdam

Five characters: Ellie, Ashley, Liberty, Terri, Emma

Bonus: Name your five most seemingly unpopular Degrassi opinions :)

1.) Spaige

2.) Morisol

3.) Jonnor

4.) Beckdam

5.) Bhandallas

1.) Liberty

2.) Ellie

3.) Emma

4.) Ashley

5.) Terri

As for my opinions:

1.) I'm not sure how to phrase this without it coming across like I'm excusing Tristan's biphobia or trying to shut down fans' rightful and completely understandable criticisms re: Tristan's biphobic moments. But, I think Tristan sometimes gets scapegoated as the biphobic guy. Degrassi always had a massive biphobia problem, and it didn't begin and end with Tristan. It's present as early as Paige's time on the show. Like many shows at the time and even some present day shows, they refused to label any polysexual characters. It's always "I like people". "I'm not into labels." "I don't like this gender, but I like you." "I'm open minded." Anything that talks around the possibility that a character could be anything besides straight or gay/lesbian. Obviously, sexual orientation isn't limited to a specific label. Oftentimes, people choose to remain unlabeled, fall somewhere under the queer umbrella, or consider things like this very complex and therefore don't take on a label. It's the casual way Imogen goes from "I like people" to being referred to as a lesbian during her final season and expressing disgust when contemplating getting involved with her canonical ex boyfriend. The writers' Twitter "confirmed" Imogen as pansexual years later and that's also how I interpret the character's sexual orientation, but.. it doesn't change how they chose to portray Imogen's sexual orientation. However, it's also true that society is only now starting to catch up and has started writing their characters accordingly. Tristan's ignorance about Miles's sexual orientation and refusal to put his insecurities aside and accept that he's in love with a bisexual man until his final season has no excuse. There could have been an arc dedicated to Tristan unlearning this behavior and being a better partner and person in general. This never happened. Degrassi did the absolute bare minimum by having Lola be the one to validate Miles's identity presumably after enough people called them out on social media following the premiere of Next Class season 1. Tristan sort of halfway accepts that Miles is bi, but it's Miles who has the dialogue explaining while there's never acknowledgement that Tristan hadn't accepted Miles up to this point or made him feel any type of way. And on that note, Miles isn't shown reacting to any biphobia. We don't know what he thinks, whether he's mad, feels rejected, insecure, feels as though he needs to be "less" to be accepted by his boyfriend, etc. I don't think I made any sort of point, but basically I feel like everything gets reduced to "Tristan is trash," and that's the end of the conversation when I feel like it goes much deeper?

2.) Eli wasn't out of character during seasons 13 and 14. There's a precedent for Eli lashing out and blaming Clare when things don't go his way or she does something he perceives as wrong. Also, while the timeline was baffling, Eli's only human and it's not surprising that he'd struggle with loneliness once he and Clare were physically separated. As for season 14, Eli being possessive and saying inappropriate, vaguely misogynistic things to Clare 100% lines up with canon. Eli also seemed fully lucid to me when he was calling Clare a whore. He was clearly getting off on that and only changed his stance when he realized she was carrying his child.

3.) This is so minor, but I don't give a flying fuck that Alex Steele came back as Tori and not Angie. It's television. Actors play multiple roles all the time. It's kind of annoying that this overshadows Tori's whole character and existence. I don't think she was around long enough to be super complex or anything, but I liked that character for who she was and the monthly comments complaining about this since like 2011 have been annoying.

4.) As much as I love the idea of Spinner and Terri getting together and possibly becoming endgame in a scenario where Terri sticks around, in actuality I think Spinner would have dropped the ball hard. Considering how he behaved with Paige during season 4, I doubt he would have been the best boyfriend to Terri with or without Paige's interference. As shady as Paige was, Spinner's interest switched from Terri to Paige extremely quickly.

5.) Ashley was depressed throughout her time on the show barring the year she spent in London and everyone missed it, the writers included. I don't know that this is actually unpopular, but she's constantly misunderstood and accused of being "moody" and "dramatic" and it's just very obvious to me that she's unhappy a lot of the time and feels very stifled. She's desperate to find some sort of way to express herself whether it be by writing and performing songs or altering her physical appearance. And at the end of season 4, I genuinely think her mental health had taken its toll which forced her to cut contact with Craig and get the hell away from Degrassi. While she came back seemingly with a new lease on life and appeared happier during season 6, by season 7 she was back to feeling limited and suddenly, the plans she made with Jimmy that used to make sense felt all wrong. IDK.

[historyhermann]

Job creep among fictional librarians

In her 2018 In the Library with the Lead Pipe article, "Vocational Awe and Librarianship: The Lies We Tell Ourselves," Fobazi Ettarh writes about job creep. She defines it as subtle and slow expansion of job duties not recognized by the organization or their supervisors. Since librarians are often expected to place their duties and place the profession above their own interests, leading job creep to become common. This manifests itself in employees doing more but having less time to accomplish their tasks. As a result, employees who can't do more than what is in the job description are seen as not doing the minimum and their managed may believe they are not committed to the organization or its mission if the extra tasks aren't completed. This interconnects with the idea of librarianship as a religious calling, with some asked to do "dangerous emotional and physical labor" without getting the support or tools provided to other professions who do those duties.

Originally published on Pop Culture Library Review on August 3, 2023.

Job creep is more than employees being pressured to "deliver more than the normal requirements of their jobs" and tied to undercompensation, part of a twin phenomenon in librarianship. It is interconnected to vocational awe, meaning that assumptions, values, and ideas librarians have about the profession or themselves. This results in the beliefs that libraries, as institutions, are "inherently good and sacred, and therefore beyond critique" as Ettarh puts it. Such job creep is inherent in librarianship due to self-sacrificing and service-oriented workplaces, as noted by Ettarh.

In terms of libraries this means librarians are "undertaking jobs they might not have trained for" like giving tax help or even administering Narcan to people who have overdosed. In terms of fictional librarians, I struggled a little to find those who do more than what is expected. One example, could be, perhaps, Myne/Main in Ascendance of a Bookworm. Although she is dedicated to becoming a pioneer of the printing press in this world, she becomes a priest in order to work in the library, so she can be a librarian who helps people. It was much more than she "signed up for", just as it is with librarians who deliver Narcan but never signed up for such a task. [1]

On the other side are characters like Kaisa in Hilda. As she is a librarian first, and witch second, perhaps she believes as some librarians do, that librarians are responsible for the safety of "patrons who come inside your library doors". In the case of Kaisa, she takes this responsibility far through her magic. She makes sure Hilda and Frida are ok, and safe. At the same time, Hilda and Frida help her get out of the void and make sure all of them aren't lost for eternity. The Trolberg library probably doesn't have active-shooter response training, like some libraries, but that doesn't matter because there are witches, who work below the library, or in the library itself, like Kaisa. She undoubtedly recognizes that there are other ways to protect patrons "besides having a gun and going blasting" as some librarians have stated.

There are other librarians who do more than expected. Take Clara Rhone in Welcome to the Wayne. She provides the protagonists with "critical information" and recognizes there are "different pathways to attaining information." She also realizes, to some degree, the role of librarians to help people "meet their informational needs." [3] Without her help, Ansi, Olly, and Sarah would have never found the mysteries, and secrets, of the Wayne apartment building. If the library she works, the Stanza, had never been there, it could have never been a sanctuary from those who were chasing them. It would have never been a place to give them the information they needed for their journeys. Without Clara, the protagonists would have not succeeded in their goals, not for a second. There is no doubt in my mind about that.

Clara is not alone. One librarian who appears to do much more than they bargained for is the unnamed and uncredited librarian in an episode of We Bare Bears. Possibly voiced by Ashly Burch, [4] this librarian undoubtedly encountered homeless and semi-homeless library patrons. This is because she is working in a library somewhere in the San Francisco Bay Area, as I wrote about back in May. This librarian appears to let the protagonists sleep the night over at the library, which is unique, considering that some librarians, at least in anime, are shown sleeping at the information desk, which will be the subject of a post two weeks from now. This librarian likely believes that you have to, as some librarians argued, "do the job that’s actually there, not the one that exists in your head", realizing the importance of librarians in serving the community in whatever way possible.

On the other hand, this librarian likely is not being supported by any managers or mentors telling her that burnout, as is empathy fatigue, a big problem, and to not be so hard on herself. Even so, I hope that she believes that she can't "solve all the problems" and that it isn't her responsibility to leave "work at work." [5] Hopefully she is like those librarians who take vacations, if she has paid time off, which is hopefully provided by her library, when needed, and relax.

There were other stories of librarians having trauma from their experiences, even if they loved "providing a service to underserved people". Maybe they believed that society "needs an overhaul for how we treat people" like one librarian. [6] In the past, I've written about a papermaster (Anita) in R.O.D. the TV who was traumatized by the burning of books, which scarred her for life. Learning that one of the protagonists, Yomiko Readman, was behind the act (because her powers got out of control), ruined her. I've also noted that an action of a librarian, Wan Shi Tong (voiced by Héctor Elizondo), caused Korra, a protagonist of Legend of Korra to be even more traumatized that she already was previously in the series.

More than the aforementioned characters is Amity Blight (voiced by Mae Whitman). She is a lesbian who is in a relationship with another protagonist, and she directly experiences trauma, something which is at the core of The Owl House, as I noted in an article last year. As some reviewers have argued, Luz becomes a revelation that Luz needs, even if she has to confront trauma and "move away from those in her life who are only capable of hurt." This also involves going at trauma head-on and realizing it doesn't control her anymore. [7] At the same time, Amity gets fired from her job at the library, in the episode "Through the Looking Glass Ruins." Although she gets her job back, some have argued that getting fired can be an "extremely traumatic experience". It can also come with depression, anger, and resentment, although those feelings can fade over time. Some have even argued that getting fired is a form of "abandonment trauma" and can be tragic, especially for those who feel they are fired for no reason. It can also lead to self-defeating thoughts and distress of some kind. [8]

In the case of Amity, she undoubtedly feels distressed about the whole thing, considering she got the job and her own study room in the library. However she recognizes that her boss, Malphas (voiced by Fred Tatasicore) can be nice at times, but would also feed her, and Luz, to bookworms if they were caught in the forbidden section. Despite this, she endeavors to help Luz, even though this puts her job on the line!

This brings me to other librarians. Some have argued that although those in library school don't "ever teach everyone everything they might need to know" and it becomes impractical to believe that students can be taught "all the dimensions of their jobs." These same librarians argue that while certain things aren't included in library classes, "curriculum- and program-level changes are difficult." One person who would likely recognize this is Mo Testa in Dykes to Watch Out For. She is a graduate from library school dedicated to social justice, even rejecting a job because the previous librarian disagreed with the Patriot Act and left. She clearly sees the library as the "temple to the written word", connecting with what I have earlier about libraries as being like temples, in Japan and beyond.

She is also a lesbian and a feminist. At the same time, she is a reference librarian, is a White female who wears glasses, and is passionate about her beliefs. This undoubtedly translates into her work as a librarian and that stands against stereotypes in more ways than one.

There are librarians who describe job/mission creep as a big problem in librarianship, with "other duties as assigned" becoming a bigger part of your job. Then, you are seen as doing "less than" others when your colleagues do the extra work. These same librarians reject the idea librarians can solve community problems or be social workers when trauma counseling doesn't exist, and supplant the jobs of social workers or medical professionals. Such librarians would also argue against being "stretched thin" by trying to be librarians, social workers, mental health professionals, and more all at the same time, setting a bad precedent, instead of just being information specialists. [10]

I tend to sympathize with this view the most, as a person who once countered a now library consultant (then manager) who I called "Justin the librarian." I wrote, back in 2019, something I still agree with, that it is clearly ignorant to say that librarians do "everything" for every community member. Instead, librarians should do what they can, but never try to be "everything". That would, as I wrote at the time, undoubtedly stretch their personal capacities and the institutions themselves, weakening the profession, even as librarians work to serve patrons from all walks of life.

While characters like Doctor Oldham, who is an old "sage" and a medical doctor, on the Gargantia inter-locking fleet in Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet, would fulfill what the previous librarian I summarized would completely oppose, others are different. I would believe that Lydia Lovely in Horrid Henry, Mira and Sahil in Mira, Royal Detective, would not do more than what is assigned. Even Ms. Herrera, who is possibly Latine, in Archie's Weird Mysteries would likely not go beyond what was assigned to her. She does help Archie, an often patron. On the other hand, she may be a bit stretched thin, but that would only be because the library seems to be understaffed and she has a lot on her plate as a result. Hopefully she is well-compensated.

© 2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Notes

[1] Quoting/summarizing from the section by Chera Kowalski, Assistant to the Chief of Staff Free Library of Philadelphia in "Other Duties as Assigned: Front-line librarians on the constant pressure to do more," American Libraries, Jan. 2, 2019.

[2] Quoting/summarizing from the section by Tom Rink, Instructor of Library Services at Northeastern State University in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma in "Other Duties as Assigned: Front-line librarians on the constant pressure to do more," American Libraries, Jan. 2, 2019.

[3] Quoting/summarizing from the section by Homa Naficy, Chief Adult Learning Officer at Hartford (Conn.) Public Library in "Other Duties as Assigned: Front-line librarians on the constant pressure to do more," American Libraries, Jan. 2, 2019.

[4] After listening to various video clips of Ashly Burch, Demtri Martin, and Philece Sampler, all of whom were credited with "additional voices", I think the closest to this is Ashly Burch, but I could be completely wrong, and it could be Demtri Martin.

[5] Quoting/summarizing from the section by Graham Tedesco-Blair Adult Services Librarian at Newark (N.Y.) Public Library in "Other Duties as Assigned: Front-line librarians on the constant pressure to do more," American Libraries, Jan. 2, 2019.

[6] Quoting/summarizing from the section by Amanda Oliver, MFA Student at University of California–Riverside who formerly worked in libraries in the Washington, D.C. area and presumably D.C. Public Library in "Other Duties as Assigned: Front-line librarians on the constant pressure to do more," American Libraries, Jan. 2, 2019. Also see: Oliver, Amanda. "Working as a librarian gave me post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms," Los Angeles Times, Apr. 19, 2019.

[7] King, Jade. "The Owl House Is Showing Young Viewers The Necessity Of Queer Rebellion." TheGamer, Jun. 21, 2021.

[8] "Trauma From Being Fired: How to Get Over It and Move On." An Overviews Of Societal And Workplace Issues And their solution, Oct. 3, 2021; Anderson, Susan. "FIRED FROM A JOB: A Silent Form of Abandonment Trauma," AbandonmentRecovery.com, Sept. 12, 2014; Hamdi, Awatef. "How to Get Over from Trauma of Getting Fired for No Reason," fratres, 2021; Carmichael, Ava. "Can Being Fired from a Job Cause PTSD?" Ava Carmichael's website, accessed June 24, 2022; Carter, Sherri Bourg. "Seven Things to Avoid After Being Fired." Psychology Today, Aug. 18, 2011.

[9] Quoting/summarizing from the section by Nicole A. Cooke, Associate Professor and MS/LIS Program Director, School of Information Sciences, at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in "Other Duties as Assigned: Front-line librarians on the constant pressure to do more," American Libraries, Jan. 2, 2019.

[10] Quoting/summarizing from the section by Fobazi Ettarh, Undergraduate Success Librarian, Rutgers University–Newark (N.J.) in "Other Duties as Assigned: Front-line librarians on the constant pressure to do more," American Libraries, Jan. 2, 2019.

[milllies]

Good day or night everyone!

I really don't understand how people can think that Midleven can be canon when they lose on all fronts.

1. Love actors

Yes, actors do not always need to be listened to, because they are told that they must answer certain questions and it is very important for Duffers that unnecessary information does not leak into the network, but by their reaction you can see how they feel about certain pairings. I think you've all seen those interviews, but the conversation where they were talking about how the ending of Stranger Things was similar to the ending of Shitts Creek. Let me remind you that it ended with the wedding of a same-sex couple. I advise you to look at your leisure) The faces of David and Finn when they said that Will wants to spend his life with Mike in the basement playing D&D. Also, the serious attitude of other actors towards the byler, they don’t joke, they don’t condemn, they don’t laugh, but they say that their love is beautiful and all that. By the way, it’s very strange that they don’t talk about them a lot, that is, it would be it is logical to mention the other side of the triangle and say that Will's feelings are unrequited, but Mike will still be on his side and all that, instead we get Finn's words that Mike will accept this and understand (though he will understand himself too)).

2. Marketing

Things have recently been released with a picture logo on them, would they release a collection with a picture that is not needed and will not matter in the Mike and Will arc, and also if the feelings are unrequited and our boy is rejected. Seriously? This is very strange, given the type of thinking of the Duffers and their love of logic in everything.

3. The goals of the characters

For El, the goal of her entire journey was to find family and friends, she began dating someone before she knew what relationships and romantic love were. Her ideas about love are made up of soap operas that she watched on TV and thought that this is how love should look, and then she started projecting it onto Mike and nothing good came of it.

For Mike, acceptance was the goal. That is, starting from the end of season 2, Michael realized that he was in love with Will (his view of the ball and the state Dustin was also in because of Lucas and Max). Due to the homophobia that was developed in the 80s, Michael was unable to accept his feelings in season 3, but he had to do it at the very end, when El kissed him and it was clear that he did not feel anything and was in confusion.

Will's goal was to forgive himself. He was able to get used to and accept what he tried to reject all the time, but his arch in is not yet closed and will not be until Mike's confession.

4. Tips of the creators.

There are a lot of them, the entire twitter dedicated to the series consists of them, but I want to show my favorite tweet:

5. Lies and everything else

We all know about the lies in Michael's monologue, because El did not find any memories on any of his words, except for a T-shirt, and it was disgusting and painful for her to hear Mike's "confession", because it was Will who suggested this to him. She heard it. She's not stupid. You know, it hurts so much when you try to knock out a declaration of love for 3 years, and another person succeeds at the snap of his fingers. In an instant, he gets what was not available to you.

Will and Michael used the name El to talk about each other because, Mike, everyone knows she's special, you're not the first to discover this, but the first to see things in Will that you didn't see in anyone else. He's special to you, right? Some of his words were really about El, but such a lie is immediately visible, because it refutes what was in the series)

And this is the minimum that I can call, midlevel is not created to be canon, because they do not have the foundation that they gave to Will and Mike, they are the prototype of typical lovers who think that their feelings are not mutual.

Most likely it turned out to be confusion, but these are just my thoughts on this matter