#but yeah it's like. these two love triangles are DIFFERENT just because i think mike is gay and thus was never really into el like that

[maddy-ferguson]

the way the script/shows prove that nancy likes steve to an extent and is attracted to him again but people deny stncy has no chance of happening and nancy has never loved steve or never has been attracted to him at all...... like girlie i understand stncy does suck but being delusional wont erase canon lol. also the falling relationship of jncy. like i dont even think stncy is going to be canon again but lets not act like they do not like each other when they blatantly do... and that they feel attraction toward one another. this is a serious case of denial.

not you sending this to me, someone who thinks there was and is no feelings from nancy to steve💔 kidding. that's just what i said when i answered a similar ask two months ago. i think there's no point in denying that there's attraction there and that that's what we're seeing in season 4, she thinks he's hot, big deal, they were together and having sex for a year of course she would still find him attractive 18 months later lol. he looks the same. but yeah like i was saying in march i do think she liked him but i don't think she was ever IN LOVE with him. which, semantics i guess? but also not really. and i don't see her leaving jonathan because of the five days she spent hanging out with her ex who was the only person who knew anything of what she'd been through with the upside down and barb you know? but that doesn't necessarily translate to jncy endgame. agreed # not in denial tbh

the only reason i’m confident stncy isn’t gonna happen isn’t because i’m sure jncy is endgame because as i just said i’m not, it’s because it makes no sense thematically. and i know that doesn’t sound like much when you get scenes of nancy staring at a shirtless steve, but i really just still don’t see her checking him out as a deep (meaningful) attraction. if they’d shown us steve and nancy having deep personal talks maybe but what do we get all season really? sexual tension? nancy checking him out? an act of “unambiguous true love” that’s just nancy trying not to let someone close to her die on her watch again?

the thing with jncy though is it's not exactly like byler and mlvn where you can go "mlvn isn't endgame for these reasons therefore byler is" because jncy have Been in a relationship. mike not ending up with either wouldn't make sense because we've only seen one relationship play out, with nancy though...she's been with both. stncy is dead in the water and makes no sense with the rejecting comformity theme of the show. but jncy are no longer in that s1-2 love triangle territory that ensures they're gonna be together, they're in an actual relationship now and are having trouble, that's just the objective truth. maybe they'll fix everything and go to emerson or nyu or lenora community together. but i also think saying they're fine just because stncy isn't happening again is a little presumptuous.

#they're definitely not going to emerson nyu or lenora community together ijbol. if they don't break up i will genuinely be shocked #ngl i have not read that script. i mean i think i've seen the stncy bit you're talking about? and yeah i've thought this for a while so #my second paragraph is a copy paste of a longer ask i answered in march that was my anti jncy month #kidding. i just don't know if i would bring up every point i brought up then. but anon if you want it it's under #single nancy truther 4 life #and you agree with me you said you don't think stncy's gonna happen again you didn't ask for that second paragraph but i like it #my last paragraph is my tags from march 20th in real sentences. inspiration: me #me admitting that nancy is attracted to steve without a gun to my head. brave of me in march brave of me today #but yeah it's like. these two love triangles are DIFFERENT just because i think mike is gay and thus was never really into el like that #doesn't mean that nancy wasn't attracted to steve. i just think she was not in love with him and his vision of the future and him being the #local jock would still make ending up with him her version of comforming. and you know what she said. screw that #i do think she stayed with him between season 1 and season 2 in part bc of barb guilt though ive said that but yeah. still attracted to him #ask

[fraudulent-cheese]

Think you would change any of the finalists of any of the seasons? Think you mentioned a Pahkitew redo or something, would that be a part of it?

OH BOY THAT IS. A QUESTION IN A HALF

I'll start off by giving my opinion on all the finalists of each season!

TDI: Honestly, i wouldn't change it. Both Gwen and Owen are pretty relevant characters, they're fun as the finalists and it makes sense they'd make it that far tbh. I wouldn't swap them out for anyone else this season outside of maybe Leshawna if her elimination wasn't so cheap? That or change it to be like "oh yeah we should make them stay in this nice resort instead of that shitty summer camp" as motivation for nominating someone during Haute-Campture. Idk. Id be more in favor of finalist Leshawna if Fresh TV, you know, gave her more relevance outside of being Gwen's bestie towards the end? And just gave her character depth? Or an arc on her own? But she's the only other candidate in my eyes

TDA: I'VE SAID THIS BEFORE AND I'LL SAY IT AGAIN: THE FINALISTS SHOULD'VE BEEN LINDSAY AND HAROLD. why was Duncan a finalist. Literally why. What does he do that's interesting enough to justify keeping him for the ENTIRE SEASON. If you wanted to do the Courtney list plotthread, just introduce it earlier on in the season and kick Duncan then! Or better yet, make one of the early rejoins be Courtney instead and have Duncan get eliminated pre-merge and Izzy come back post-merge! Im less against finalist Beth, but her character's plotlines aren't compelling to me at all this season :/

Lindsay on the other hand has a full character arc this season of coming into her own and trying her hand at leadership, has a rivalry with Courtney, and she still keeps her character throughout! And honestly i just think Harold's an entertaining character and him making it further than Duncan for at least one season would've been great!

TDWT: As the season is written? I wouldn't change the finalists at all. Heather and Alejandro are the most important characters of the season outside of the Love Triangle and Cody + Sierra and if you want my opinion, none of them should've been finalists. Now, if you do rewrite the season, i'd say Courtney (or even Eva if you make her rejoin mid season) deserved at least to reach the final three. Don't have much to say here.

ROTI: JO. OMG JO. JO SHOULD'VE BEEN A FINALIST. Again, i've made a post about this earlier (which i CANNOT FIND. WHY) But Jo should've been a finalist! They didn't need to give Lightning a vilain arc in the last two episodes just because! Im not super against Cameron being a finalist, but i don't like Lightning being one. Granted you could argue for different characters making for good finalists if you're going to rewrite the entire season (Anne Maria maybe? Or Zoey)

TDAS: Oh boy, TDAS. Sweet, sweet TDAS. Listen. Listen. In an alternate universe where Total Drama is a good show, Mike and Zoey could be good finalists. Unfortunately for them there is a large, looming Courtney-shaped shadow over that idea, made even worse by how both Zoey and Mike were used throughout the season.

Yeah if you couldn't tell by now, Courtney 101% SHOULD have been a finalist! TDAS should've been her season! It's the only season where she makes it past Duncan! She's a strong competitor, a compeling character, she's been put through shit the entire series, hell she could have interesting interactions with all the cast members! But no, Sundae Muddy Sunday happened instead.

As for possible finalists? Lindsay. And Jo. Yeah look if they're not gonna be finalists in earlier seasons you may as well make them finalists here. You could still make an argument for Zoey if the season were rewritten, but otherwise yeah this is probably the worst season for canon finalists :(

TDPI: Honestly with the direction they took, im... fine, with Sky and Shawn being the finalists. They're relevant characters, they have the more important arcs and outside of Scarlett and Jasmine, some of the most competent characters, enough to get here.

I'll take this as an opportunity to say i haven't landed yet on finalists for my PI rewrite? I know for a fact i want Sammy to be one, but im unsure about the other. All i know is that i don't think it'll be Shawn or Sky.

TD2023 S1: Nothing wrong with Bowie and Priya as finalists i'll be real! Priya might be a bit predictable, but it opened up alot of avenues for different things to be explored within her character (that the show never took rip), and she honestly deserved to get far for this cast's first season. As for Bowie, he's pretty relevant all throughout the season and seeing a more antagonistic character make it to final two is really nice to see! No complaints!

TD2023 S2: ALL OF THE COMPLAINTS! ALL OF THEM! The final 3 kind of sucks this season because every option has at least one gapping flaw in it due to the writing over the season: Wayne is barely a character for half the season and only gets interesting moments before the finale, Caleb has the most dragged out and annoying romance subplot in all of TD (not just because it was boring and artificial but because it dragged down and arguably ruined one of the most interestin characters of it's cast) and Julia's just magically gotten amazing at everything, INCLUDING playing the game because these teenagers just keep! beliving her! and telling her things! for some reason! Urghhh

If i had to rewrite the season entirely i'd have an MK vs Raj final 2. You'd get the antag/vilain rep for a finalist position, and hopefully a more interesting character than Wayne (fuck you Raj's more interesting of the two by default.) Maybe Scary Girl could be a 3rd curveball option. Nichelle or Axel if they were given actual arcs. And characters. Whatever.

Sorry for ending this post on such a sour note! i just really don't like reboot season 2 everytime i think about anything outside of the Finale or Mkulia!

#Mozzaskrella #tdpi rewrite #i am saving the scary girl final 3 idea for my Scariya S2 rewrite AU btw. Love the idea #tdi #tda #tdwt #roti #tdas #tdpi #td 2023 #td gwen #td owen #td lindsay #td harold #td jo #td bowie #td priya #td mk #td raj #only tagging the characters i talk about positively #string cheesing

[littledarlingone]

Steddie and Byler are so closely tied in my mind.

Somebody plz tell me if I’m completely late to the party here but like…

As much as Mike hates the guy, him and Steve are fundamentally the same. Of course, Mike is much nerdier and prone to bullying than Steve ever was, but at their core, they’re both just rich kids who don’t know how to be their own person. They’re both following in their parents footsteps—the polos, the button ups, the khakis…the American dream with a house and kids—and a girl. A nice girl.

And honestly Mike’s distain for Steve is even more compelling to me. Mike sees himself in Steve and he hates it.

Will and Eddie are of course different too, as far as mannerisms and interests go. BUT they share the same core character archetype—the freak. Not to mention the creative streak and the DND and the queer coding (or in Wills case, just blatant queerness.)

I also feel it’s important to point out just how similar Will and Eddie’s disappearances actually are, and the way the public talks about them when they’re gone. Think about it.

So. They’re alike, so what?

Well, let’s break down what happened in S4.

Mike reunites with El and Will in Lenora, and tries to patch things up with El, but ends up spending all of his time with Will and reconciling their relationship instead.

And all the while? El is spending her time in the memories of the lab with 001.

THEN. ALLLLL the way back in Hawkins, Steve is unraveling Vecna’s curse with Nancy and Eddie, and shows signs of wanting Nancy back (which is completely out of the blue, right? How weird!) Except he ends up spending alllll of his time!!!! With!!! Eddie!!! TALKING about Nancy!! The SAME way that Mike and Will are talking about El! And it serves to reconcile each of their misconceptions of who the other was in high school, under a safety blanket of heteronormativity. It’s a direct parallel to the van scene!

(And don’t even get me started on the failures to say I love you in both Mileven and Stancy!!)

Also what else do we remember happening in Hawkins? Nancy being pulled by Henry (001) into the memories of the lab…where Eleven has been the entire season. El and Nancy are the only two people to walk in Vecna’s mindscape without being under his curse…and why? Why connect them? And not just now.

Why dress El up in Nancy’s old clothes?

Why provide strikingly similar shots of them crawling out of the Upside Down?

Why make them both the girl that no one believes?

They are inherently tied (and tied with Joyce, but I seriously can’t get into that too this is getting so long) the way that Steve and Mike are, and Eddie and Will. It’s the love triangles, not just Steddie and Byler.

So now we’ve come to the last bit of this ramble, which is Eddie’s death.

There’s a lot of anxiety and controversy about what will happen between El, Mike and Will in S5, but we’ve already seen what is (supposedly) the older trios end—Eddie dies, and it ends because it cannot continue. There is no closure.

Wouldn’t it follow, then, that Will would die?

It’s scary, right? Eddie, much as we love him, was a fast-tracked version of what we have with Will. He was only a fraction and we got that upset. Imagine what losing Will would be like!

But here’s what I think. I think that Eddie dying—whether he remains dead or not—served as almost an extreme hypothetical. An ‘if your friends jumped off a cliff, would you do it too?’ Because Eddie jumped. Eddie chose his friends over himself. Eddie saw himself as a selfish coward, and decided that the only thing he was good for was helping others along. And it killed him.

And Will? He gave all of his love and work over to make El happy. Because he sees himself as a selfish coward, and decided that the only thing he’s good for is helping others along. Will jumped.

So yeah, Will could die. The self-sacrificing tendencies are there.

Except. Mike jumped off the cliff, too. Literally.

So. When two people are willing to die for each other, is it a weakness or a strength?

#if you read all of this thank you #absolute nonsense #i’m delusional #i’ve connected the dots #i’ve connected them #ramblings #byler brainrot #stranger things #stranger things season 4 #st s4 #steddie #st s5 theory #st s5 speculations #nancy wheeler #eddie munson #steve harrington #mike wheeler #will byers #byler analysis #byler nation #anti mileven #anti stancy

[deathon1leg]

it’s frustrating when people (mainly GA—and, surprise! homophobes!) act like byler is in the same vein as background ships that hardly even interact with each other—i.e fanonical ones with a loose basis in the actual show...

if you think byler is just some far-fetched fan theory you might wanna rewatch the show. i mean, it’s been several years since the first three seasons, a refresher could be good to remind you that mike and will’s relationship is sewn into the very fabric of the show. there’s always been special, very deliberate emphasis on the two of them in comparison to any other platonic pair in the show. there’s always been romantic framing, tropes, subtext, and parallels with them.

st*ddie and r*nance, for example, aren’t as deeply based in the show. they have real chemistry, understand each other and are very cute—i don’t mean that in a belittling or sarcastic way, they’d both make good couples and i’m a casual shipper /gen. the difference between ships like them and byler is that the show literally would not function the same without mike and will’s unique dynamic, and not going through with making them canon would be a huge storytelling failure and (yeah i’m gonna use the word) queerbait.

people treating byler like some made up impossibility isn’t just a way to demean us, specifically, though. the root of it is (unsurprisingly) homophobia. their rhetoric isn’t really about it being unrealistic, even if that’s what they’ll claim—it’s about us believing two well-established, likable, and not especially stereotypical MALE characters in a super popular tv show could actually get together. because as you know, all queer people look/act the same, never have comphet, and never get happy endings, etc etc /s.

(and it’s funny, because a lot of them are willing to accept that will’s in love with mike but only under the condition that will gets his heart broken. reeks of homophobia, methinks)

this is probably hypocritical considering this post but, to bylers: don’t let them succeed in demeaning you. please don’t let them make you doubt yourself. st*ddie and r*nance shippers too: their stories may not be as fully-fledged (partly because they’re more minor characters than the main party) but everything you see is intentional. you’re not making up the chemistry and dynamic you see, even the actors and actresses agree with you.

in conclusion (kinda), people think we’re seeing things that aren’t there because they can’t fathom a queer tv couple developing with the same tropes as tons of straight tv couples do: slowburn, several seasons in, love triangle, childhood friends to lovers, etc. the only queer couples they’ve ever seen in media are with characters that are established as queer from the get-go, and usually get with their s/o’s pretty early on. (also, there’s the large amount of people who cry that mike can’t love will back bc he has a girlfriend and is therefore straight—as if comphet and bisexuality don’t exist)

i don’t wanna be that guy but... it really does just come down to the fact if one of them were female, nobody would deny byler’s existence and that it’s endgame. it’s so stupid, but that’s actually what it comes down to. when you look past it all, the main anti-byler argument is “umm actually they’re both boys so :P”

so yeah. that’s what i wanted to say. thank you if you read it all <3 love u

#this is not meant to be critical of st*ddie or r*nance at all—i’m just using them as examples to get to my main point #censored the ships bc this post is byler-centric and not really about them #these are all conversations we’ve had before but i wanted to give my thoughts #byler #byler analysis #byler meta #byler endgame #byler tumblr #stranger things #will byers #mike wheeler #gay mike wheeler #bi mike wheeler #gay will byers

[strangerfigs]

the fact that in response to el saying mike does not tell her he loves her, he says “you know what I think of you” ✋🚩 the fact that he uses the word feel when talking to will hand ✋🚩

“I feel like l was worrying too much about el and I don’t know, maybe I feel like I lost you, or something”

then, literally when talking to will, he can’t even bring himself to say the word, makes zero reference to his feelings or having trouble expressing them, instead saying that if he just said the thing he needed to say, then he could be with eleven now. in this, i also think it goes back around to the whole “maybe i was worrying too much about el” like that has been a majority of his relationship with el, looking after her, and her being in trouble, and trying to help her. it’s almost the nature of their relationship. there has not been a single point where he wasn’t worrying about el in some way since she came into his life which is not only unhealthy! (their relationship is honestly so unhealthy on both sides but let’s focus on mike rn) but it pretty much takes up all the space in his brain to feel anything else, which hey, that’s what he said to will, right? yeah, it was. while mike might not fully realize it, or have agreed with eleven, on some level, he knows she is different. he knows that she does not get to have a normal life. he worries about her because on some capacity, he knows that she needs help, and he thinks he can be the one to give it to her, or maybe even feels like he owes that to her (she has entrusted him more than anyone else and she has helped him so many times!) but honestly, I know I said this was about mike, but he needs to let her go. when eleven was able to remove herself from mike and get other help, she was able to conquer her trauma. mike is not the answer, and their relationship tends to hang on that promise of “everything is going to be okay” kind of thing. but like, mike is just some kid in indiana, he’s not a professional, and i really hope, that on some capacity at least, mike realizes that he needs to take care of himself for once. because ya, he can be a little bit of an ass at times, but finn was correct, especially if you rewatch. he is always focused on other people. it’s never about himself. his arc in seasons 1&2 were both about will/el (el being second priority in both to will) and in season 3, it’s obviously eleven, along with season 4, thus far; but will isn’t in trouble in these seasons. but el is, but she was also in trouble in 1&2 and even though we did see mike worrying about her and trying to help her, his focus was will when he was in trouble because truly, truly i think he really cares for them both and loves them both (in different ways) but when it comes down to it; he would choose will. but since season 2, it’s only been eleven, who had to worry about. will has his mom, jonathon, their other friends, while hopper “died” and el moved in with a family, of which, she really did not have much connection to? other than joyce? so I guess what I’m saying, is, I’d be so interested in seeing what mikes feelings are outside of worry; like if he didn’t have to worry about el, how would he feel about her? how would he feel about will? because truly he has had no time to not worry about these two people, one of which he says is the most important thing in his life and the other, who he said was the best decision of his life to become friends with. I think it’s a triangle, and at the very least, he is bisexual (but I rly think he is gay.) And to completely deny that or say fans are delusional to see this, is actually, just homophobic. sorry

literally I can’t wrap my head around it. mike - honey - thinking does not equal feeling. I feel like these two conversations truly confirm the differences of feeling v thinking. mike doesn’t have a problem with words of affirmation. someone with issues with words of affirmation doesn’t say shit like, “I think you’re the most incredible person in the world,” they don’t say, “you look beautiful”, they don’t say, “I called you every night for 363 days,” they don’t say, “I can’t lose you again,” they don’t say, “you’re the most important thing to me in the world” (this is honestly the biggest thing ever and I promise you, someone with words of affirmation is not capable, or at least not as easy to say it as mike was), people who struggle with words of affirmation cannot say, “I’ve never felt, you know, this way with anyone before”, they don’t say things like “a friend is someone you’d do anything for,” or “I’m happy you’re home,” and they don’t say things like, “that was the best thing I’ve ever done,” in reference to becoming friends with someone. like, maybe on a few occasions, Mike would be able to express how he feels if he truly struggled w this, but he doesn’t, and neither did nancy when she did not tell steve that she loves him; it was not even like she hadn’t told steve before, like that we know of. steve says, “you don’t love me?” as if he is surprised, as if she has said it in the past. it’s so valid that people do struggle to open up, people like hopper, for example, but mike has never been that way. he openly sobs in his mothers arms upon wills “death” and seeks her out for comfort again when el and the byers leave. as someone with actual issues of expressing fondness and affection and love, it’s just so obvious to me that that is not the case with mike, and if it is, the development of that makes zero sense. it’s just not his character. like to credit myself, i study human behavior and that’s just… not how it works. nor has it ever been insinuated further than, maybe the scene where he first tries to tell her but that scene made sense: he does not know if she will say it back, but that clearly is not the case anymore.

#byler #stranger things

[will80sbyers]

Mike calling the breakfast burritos weird really showed how incompatible Melvin are. El was trying to think of nice things to do with Mike, and he shoots her down pretty much instantly. And we've seen this before several times, just off the top of my head:

In s1, when Mike is excitedly showing El his toys, she walks away from him mid-sentence.

In S3, Mike goes to a big shopping mall, yet can't think of a SINGLE thing he could buy El. He can't even get her a candy bar, because he knows nothing about her or what she likes.

At the end of S3, Mike gets excited while talking about Christmas presents, then becomes self conscious that El will think he sounds childish.

Mike also stops playing D&D, because he thinks that since he's getting older he needs to focus on having a girlfriend and he can't do things he used to like.

Mike and El don't enjoy the same things. They don't have shared interests, and they feel the need to lie to each other and hide who they are constantly.

yeah definitely!!! This is partly why I think they started to date just because they had a crush and wanted to have that first relationship experience but they both put the other in the girlfriend / boyfriend category instead of being themselves simply as they are, El spent all of season two daydreaming about love as presented in tv and Mike had bad examples of love around him, with his parents that don't love each other but stay together for the kids... so at the first crush they decided they wanted to date and be boyfriend & girlfriend when they were definitely too young to be, even Lucas and Max were at that point and that's exactly why they broke up continuously too, with the difference that Max and Lucas were more mature than El and Mike and both grew and their relationship grew with them into real true love... Mike and El's crush transformed only towards infatuation during puberty but stayed pretty stagnant otherwise, even with Mike saying the ily the writers decided to not show them being a team and decided to show that they had trust issues and boundaries issues and that they often didn't understood each other... then the love triangle with Will started and the feelings of all of them got all tangled up and confused...

I think both Mike and El feel a very strong platonic love for each other and Mike didn't know how to let go of the relationship without losing El in the process, El knows how but was in the process of understanding that she wasn't a monster and I think what made her want to stay attached to Mike was mostly her trauma from losing Hopper & Max (when she moved)... at the start of s4 El thought she needed someone like Mike to love her to make sure she wasn't a monster and she was lovable but he just didn't and she grew up and decided to get her validation from herself mainly (+ Max with the flashbacks)

I think El understands that the relationship with Mike is not working as it should and Mike is still believing the lie about the painting even if his heart is telling him that he would rather be with Will in that way

anyway, yeah they just aren't it as a relationship for me lol

sorry for the long rambling 👁️👄👁️

#byler #will byers #mike wheeler #ask

[paintingformike]

Bc, some people think those moments were meant to draw a contrast rather than a direct parallel.

People think that Will being in between Mike and El's scenes is not necessarily there to imply that Mike likes Will but rather is there to show Will's unrequited feelings, because Will was blurred whereas Robin was at the center of the scene where we watched her visibly being sad but Will was not sad, he was blurred in the background and when Mike and El have a forehead touch moment, he is entirely out of the picture.

Also, people do not exactly notice which music plays at which scenes. Only if they are interested in analyzing or searching, then they can find. Another example is, we know about the 'tender emotional music' because we focused on that and then made an analysis, but even then that wouldn't necessarily look like byler proof to the other parts of the audience, esp when that same music also plays for a melvin scene in one of the scenes where they talk.

It's also that Dan and Vickie broke up but Dan is just some random character, whereas El is a main character and we have been following Mike and El's relationship for seasons (that's how the audience thinks), and they gave Mike a huge monologue, whether or not we argue that it happened due to Will, it still happened. Even if Mike and El do not exactly talk, it does not look like a byler proof for some people but it rather looks like a casual relationship drama which will be resolved in S5 like Jonathan and Nancy's underaddressed situations.

I am saying this bc while I am a byler shipper and I think the narrative has a chance to make Byler fully canon, I also have many queer friends or in general friends who belong to GA, and I can also understand their points when they say that they do not see byler happening because majority of the proof that we have seem far-fetched, random or delusional to them.... or just not enough of proofs in general.

yes i literally just said i know people find it harder to believe in byler because main characters are involved in the love triangle whereas dan and vickie are side characters, and that’s as far as i’ll get their sentiments.

about all your other points, yeah i know that these are all reasons why people from the GA think most byler proofs are farfetched...but it doesnt mean their arguments are valid and understandable though lmao. the rovickie/byler parallels aren't even that hard to pick up on, and if it was only meant to contrast the two relationships then will being out of focus while robin isn’t wouldn’t be the ONLY thing different about their scenes cause everything else is pretty much identical to each other, mike and vickie even have similar conflicted expressions when they look at will and robin (and its ON THEM for not noticing that). also even if will is blurred out he still stands out the most cause he’s dead in the middle of mike and el’s faces and his figure immediately draws your attention (heck he was the first thing i noticed as a casual viewer while watching vol 2), which makes no sense for someone who’s supposed to be just “entirely out of the picture”...and about the monologue. something tells me its just double standards against a queer ship cause this isn’t exactly the first time a character seemingly professes their undying love for another character but still ends up with someone else 🤔

what im trying to say is yeah its true that they have all these reasons for not believing in byler endgame but at the end of the day...how am i just supposed to understand the points they have when they’re the ones who cant read into things that aren’t supposed to be very complicated when you have common sense, and i dont really think their thought process/reasonings are particularly strong anyway. also in this context...the rovickie/byler parallel is literally one of our least “random” byler proofs that just came out of thin air, its very much in your face so 😭 i guess i’d understand if you were talking about other more tiny background hints in relation to this topic but this one is pretty blatant...sorry for going into a tangent

#if i started sounding mean sorry anon im just tired of seeing these same arguments all the time #esp the one about the focus in the rovickie scene vs the mlvn reunion bc...its rlly not that hard to understand why they filmed it that way #all that aside...its on them for being narrow minded while watching the show and immediately dismissive of byler proof #byler

[bylerforall]

Bit of a long one today.

There are two possibilities of what could happen in season 5. The two famous ships Mileven and Byler. In my opinion the most understandable option that would make sense with the story is Byler.

Eleven only knew Mike for a week and they loved eachother. I guess it does kind of make sense but come on, she literally just escaped from a lab where she was abused and traumatised. She was definitely not ready for a relationship, she didn’t even know what a relationship was!

I feel like this love triangle (can I call it that? idk) is a tricky one to figure out, so let’s dive into the depths of the characters more.

1. Will

Will is a sweet and caring character who has been bullied a lot in his life, people even saying he’s queer or calling him the f-slur. After the upside down incident and the possession, Will changed. He was still kind and quiet, but something inside of him is different. Even Jonathan points it out when he’s talking to Nancy; “yeah, but he’s not the same.”

In season 3, we all know he had quite a big fight with Mike and Lucas (mostly Mike) and they were yelling at eachother in Mike’s garage before Will left with his bike in the pouring rain.

As soon as he got home he immediately went to Castle Byers, looking at all of his memories with his friends before ripping it all up and smashing down his childhood creation. The fight was obviously a massive impact on him, as Castle Byers took him forever to make with his brother but he never gave up on building it, even though he was very bad dealing with a hammer.

In season 4, his feelings for Mike are way more obvious. They do share quite a few moments in vol. 1 and they all had a lot of sentimental value. Hearing Mike say; “friends. best friends.” probably made his whole world.

In my opinion, they wouldn’t kill Will off Stranger Things. Not while he’s barely ever been happy once in the entire show. I feel like they would at least let him be happy before killing him. That would just be cruel. Will is stronger than most people think, and he’s smart too.

He needs his main character status back.

2. Mike

Now, Mike is a tricky one. There are lots of theories about his feelings towards Will and Eleven but the one that made the most sense to me was internalised homophobia.

It is quite clear how he avoided Will’s hug at the airport, and he acts totally different with Will when El’s around. When they’re alone together, it’s all heart eyes and smiles. I feel like Mike is struggling a lot but he’s just not showing it or telling anybody. He can’t even tell El that he loves her. He does struggle with expressing his feelings, but when it comes to Will he’s very open.

Even back in season 3 in the last episode where the Byers and El were packing for California. (I have made a post about this but I don’t care I’m saying it again). Mike and El shared a kiss but his eyes were open and he was unusually framed outside an open closet.

On the other hand with Will, they talk about him joining another party when he moves. Will replies with “not possible” with Mike smiling before walking off down the corridor. Once the car drives off, he looks back at the Byers house. Now, most Mileven shippers are probably like “oh it’s because he misses El and wants her back.” Honey, no. You got it all wrong. Why would he think that when looking back at Will’s house? The one that Will has literally lived in all of his life? That’s not coincidence. He’s obviously thinking about Will.

Mike in season 4 continuously reminds Will that they’re friends. “We’re friends. We’re friends.” Like boy, we know. Why are you reminding us? Will obviously knows that you’re friends too so why do you keep continuously saying it? It’s almost like he’s trying to convince himself more than Will, trying to keep up the perfect, straight boyfriend act for El. Don’t lie, Mike. We know what you are. You’ve made it pretty clear now.

3. Eleven

Now, Eleven. Eleven has struggled her entire life in a lab where she’s been experimented on, and only learnt like 5 words. She’s been traumatised, we know. She doesn’t really know anything about the outside world, she didn’t know what relationships were either. Yet, she got into one a week after she escaped. A literal week. Like bae, you’re moving too fast. Please slow down.

Eleven has made a lot of connections since she left, but Mike and Hopper were always her closest ones.

I feel like in season 4, she really accomplished a lot on her own. She manages to accomplish a lot on her own as well. Finding her mother, the lost sister episode in season 2, escaping the lab, closing the gate, and finally regaining her powers that she had lost, fighting Vecna without the help of Mike. She’s better when she’s doing things on her own. She’s more free, and she doesn’t have anybody relying on her or slowing her down.

With Mike, I feel like they’re just not meant to be together. I feel like they’re both better off with somebody else.

I hope we see more of Byler in s5. I’m really looking forward to it. If we don’t, well I guess it’s just bad luck. We can’t really change it and that’s okay. All we can do is hope.

#byler #stranger things #byler evidence #byler is real #byler s4 #byler tumblr #lgbtq #mike wheeler #will byers #mike wheeler is gay #stranger things 4 #byler theory #theory #eleven #mileven

[quinnmorgendorffer]

okay but on the topic of glee fandom, since we seemed to be in different parts of that fandom (I was more on the femslash side) what was the craziest glee fandom drama that you personally witnessed

Part of me just wanted to say "Canniblaine" as a one word answer. But like the real answer is that it was never NOT crazy, honestly. But if I had to answer......well, let's talk about s2 in a nutshell.

(Don't worry, Canniblaine will be explained).

So, in summer of 2010, Puckurt (my beloved) was the most popular Kurt ship on ff.net, the fics then were all sweet and fun and normally had a lot of just pure Glee bonding. And Kurt fans were excited since Ryan Murphy promised repeatedly that Kurt would get a jock boyfriend and the two of them would be crowned Prom King and King. Eventually, Jane Lynch said in some interview that they casted a blond boy to play a kid named Sam who would be Kurt's love interest. I can't remember for sure if she was also the one who confirmed that there would be a love triangle with him, Kurt, and Quinn.

But RIB—Ryan, Ian, and Brad, the original and only screenwriters until s3—were NOT fans of their cast leaking spoilers. And eventually they say, no, that's not happening, Chord and Dianna have too much chemistry!!! We're not doing that plot anymore.

But they had been known to lie about certain plots happening when people guessed things correctly. When Idina Menzel was cast in s1, everyone was like "oh she's playing Rachel's mom". They denied it and, wouldn't you know it, she was cast to play Rachel's mom. So, keep that in mind.

Anyway, s2 premieres, we meet Sam. He seems fun, he's cute, there's even a gay joke in his very first scene where he gets actual lines. In the third episode, he gets injured at the football game, whatever.

Then the glorious episode 2x04 "Duets" happens. Truly a magnificent piece of television with some of the best performances. Santana and Mercedes doing "River Deep/Mountain High"? THE MOST FUCKING ICONIC THING. Kurt doing "Le Jazz Hot"? PERFECTION. Tina and Mike doing "Sing!" from A Chorus Line? THE BEST FIRST SONG MIKE COULD'VE BEEN GIVEN AND SO CUTE! Ending with Rachel and Kurt doing "Happy Days Are Here Again/Get Happy"? BEAUTIFUL. And, yeah, the Finchel verison of "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart" is cute and I guess Sam and Quinn doing "Lucky", while not making sense in terms of their relationship, was sweet.

But, despite what RIB said, it was clear that "Duets" was meant to introduce this love triangle with Kurt, Sam, and Quinn. You canNOT tell me that this was NOT both of them flirting with each other. They have amazing chemistry, I'm sorry, you can't deny that. So, that means either RIB were lying about changing the plot, or they waited to change the plot after 2x04.

Then 2x05 happens and that's "The Rocky Horror Glee Show" and we don't talk about that mess.

Anyway, I joined tumblr for Glee fandom literally the day before episode 2x06 came out. And season 2, episode 6 was..... "Never Been Kissed".

And that's when all hell broke loose.

Because NBK, as fans called it, introduced us to Blaine fucking Anderson played by, of course, Darren Criss.

The. Heaviest. Of Sighs.

I remember I was so excited for that, though. I was a Klainer before the ep even aired because I lOVED him. It was only a 3 episode guest arc, but I was sure they'd keep him, and I believed RIB was telling the truth and they were really done with the Kurt/Sam plot. And, evne looking back at it, while I say "Duets" is the last GOOD episode of Glee…NBK is honestly a good episode. And in 2011 especially, it was kind of a big fucking deal.

But the thing about NBK was that, not only did it propel Klaine into existence, it also created Kurtofsky with one kiss in the locker room.

So, now there were THREE ship possibilities arguing all over the place. Klaine shippers who rejoiced as Darren got offered more episodes as a guest actor (his original version of "Teenage Dream" was and I think still IS their best selling single on iTunes, so of COURSE they wanted him around); Kurtofsky shippers who wanted to see this scared, tortured jock redeemed (some of these shippers I know for sure were Puckurt fans, since, yeah, some dynamics were similar enough); and Kurt/Sam shippers who believed RIB was lying as they had in the past (the whole Idina thing).

Btw, there were already arguments over the fucking name for Kurt/Sam because fuckyeahgleesecrets wouldn't let people submit secrets that said "Kum" because it was "obscene"—but having "fuck" in their blog url was fine. I can't find it but once someone sent in a weirdly worded secret that supported Klaine, but then you looked at the first letter of every sentence and it said like "Kum At Me" or something, which was hilarious and got deleted.

Anyway, there was a SHIT TON of fighting. Klainers would say it was the "Klaine Train" but Kummers, as they called themselves, would call it the Klaintanic, like Titanic, saying the ship would fail, and they'd be safe on the Kum canoe. I'll admit I was on that canoe eventually because I hated Klaine by the time it became canon lmao. And I also believed, like other Kummers, that it would still be canon. After all, Dianna and Chord having "too much chemistry" was obviously a lie and they even broke up Sam and Quinn a few episodes into the second half of the season! Oh, and Kurtofsky became pirates based off the sea/ocean thing. I accidentally created the Puckurt centaur, it's a long story.

Anyway, so s2 was wild, with those three mentioned ships constantly fighting. Klainers saying they'd be canon (we all been knew, honestly), Kurtofsky shippers excited over the "Prom Queen" episode being spoiled by an extra, and Kummers holding onto the hope that it would still happen. They'd say something I can't remember like.... "Kum quick on our tittsana faithfully" or something, basically the idea that the endgames were Kum, Quick (Quinn/Puck), Brittana, Finchel, and they'd also often mention Tartie.

Also, did I mention that b3achd3ath aka peyton, who wrote that terrible YA novel everyone was roasting recently, was one of the loudest Kum canoe members?

Did I mention that gr@ceebooks was, like, the Kummers' leader? As in the person who eventually created The JohnLock Conspiracy???? Also led people into believing that another slash ship would become canon????!!!! THOSE WHO DON'T LEARN HISTORY ARE DOOMED TO FUCKING REPEAT IT!

The funny part was that Grace admitted it wasn't going to happen before the s2 finale that was like everyone's final hope that Kum could possibly happen.

The not so funny part is that it's clear, imo, that Chord WAS hired to be Kurt's love interest and they cut it off since Darren made them a shit ton of money with "Teenage Dream" and the whole Warblers thing (I will NOT get into that, this post is long enough), and they clearly didn't know what to do with him after that. Hence why they got rid of him after s2 only to bring him back after enough backlash I guess idk why, and that's also why there's a gifset of Chord kissing every single original Glee girl because they LITERALLY did nOT know what to do with him once they took away the Kurt love interest thing. And it's a shame because the idea of Quinn and Kurt both going after the same guy sounds like SUCH a good plot. Dianna and Chris were two of the strongest actors, and Chord is actually really underrated as an actor, too—good on him for being the leading male against Lindsay Lohan in her comeback movie, I want him to have success after all the shit he went through on Glee. I want all of them to have good things, really (well, not L3a but lmao ya know, and obviously not fucking Bl@ke Jenner, I'm so mad he's still in that Merrily We Roll Along movie adaptation), since they all went through so much.

Oh, and many Klainers started to ship "Criss Colfer" (Darren and Chris, obvi), and claimed PR was keeping them from being openly a couple. As if they WOULDN'T WANT that PR????? Of their same sex couple falling in love on set like wtf PR would want that more than anything??? And, in classic fashion, that led to people sending death threats and harrassing Darren's then gf, now wife, on social media and them stalking any guy who got close to Chris. Chris has been dating the same guy since like at least 2012 I think, and, as said, Darren got married, and some people are still convinced they aren't real relationships, like they're more insane than the fake baby 1ders.

Oh, and of course, Canniblaine.

The Glee Kink Meme—gkm—is a place I wish I never went to, honestly. Like, I was 18 when I first found it, and it fucked me UP. I have said it before and I'll say it again, I'm so concerned for anyone hwo found it under 18. Not in a clutching pearls way, because, yeah, read smut, idc, but this stuff was FUCKED UP. People MADE UP TWINS just to write tw*ncest. Like, literally, there was a trend of Kurt having a twin named Cameron, and eventually people would use like, Chris' character in Struck By Lightning (the movie he wrote and starred in), as one. I remember finding another kink meme for another fandom and like braced myself only to find like…normal fucking smut prompts. No beastality, no gore, no mpreg, no boypussies—and, no, it wasn't that Kurt was a transman, it was that he just had a vagina for some reason, sometimes he WOULD have a cock, too, though, so…Idk.

And I definitely didn't see vore prompts.

And definitely not FILLED vore prompts.

But before Klaine had even sung "Baby It's Cold Outside", someone filled a vore prompt. Wherein Blaine ate Kurt alive.

…This was supposed to be a show the whole family could watch…

There were various memes of the 2010 variety, the best being, of course, the one of him saying, directly from their first duet, "Gosh, you lips ARE delicious". People were daring others to read it.

I made it about a sentence in, realized I was eating a pizza hot pocket (say you were a freshman in college without saying you're a freshman in college, am i right?), and put it down, closed that tab, and I have yet to eat a hot pocket since.

I have to admit this gif still cracks me up though:

So.....long answer, but I hope an enjoyable read on some fandom drama on the Kurt/slash side of fandom.

#long post #thanks for asking this was so long i'm sorry a;slkdfj #glee fandom #kurt fandom #lol klaine #canniblaine #bite me in the ask #cardassiangoodreads

[pluviophile-bookworm]

HSMTMTS 2x11: Let us pull up a chair as the dining room proudly presents... the reason for my next mental breakdown

I can't believe myself, honestly. Oversleeping on the one day of the week that I've got something exciting to wake up for? Oh well, I'm up now and I'd better go ahead and do this before my dashboard has showered me with spoilers. I mean, I have never really minded spoilers, but when it comes to this, somehow I do. Though I do wish something had forewarned me about last week's snap ending (get it, 'snap'... I'll see myself out). I'd better dive in already.

Yes, Mr Mazzara, that's what I've been saying for a while! Ok, maybe I haven't been very vocal about it, but it was in the foreground of my mind that they should have asked for Mr Mazzara's help re: transformation! I'm just glad he pointed it out. Not that he could have done much while he was busy playing therapist for his beloved Miss Jenn. Oh well.

Were those Ash and Ricky doing actual paired-up warmups? That is what they should have been doing for weeks now. That and having actual off-stage interactions, too. But I still subscribe to the theory that the gang had some good rehearsals off-screen — otherwise there's no way they could have been this good on stage as we saw in the previews. I said it last time and I'll say it again — not everything is for us to see.

Wow. The one time our leads are in unison, and it is about both being injured. The East High drama club must be cursed — they can't have one production run smoothly and without what can only be described as pure unbridled chaos.

They don't have any understudies? That explains some things... but also how? But also, I'm so happy Ashlyn is going on. No way she would have missed her first (first of many, right?) chance of being the lead because of some 'minor' injury.

Ricky and Nini still can't talk to each other properly. Oh well. Take your time. It's not like I care about this pairing anymore.

Did EJ just use the word 'dig'? Boy, the boy's got it baaaaaad. Also, what is it going to take for these two to realise they're in love? For all we know, they might have that big kiss we're all dreaming of and still be like 'nah, it's nothing, we're buddies'... give me a break! But I mean, at this point they might just be turning into Redlyn 2.0, where even a kiss doesn't define things. But hey, if they do follow in Redlyn's footsteps, that only means good things in their future, right?

What did that fake French git do to my boy Carlos? He's not supposed to look this inanimate until right before the climax of the play! Well, I mean, at least Seb serving as his interpreter means that Seb gets more lines for a bit. Too bad he can't go on for someone with more lines in the play.

Miss Jenn's 'words of inspiration' were less than inspired... yeah, this show's going down. Or it would, if it depended solely on her. Let's hope the kids do better. I mean, I know for a fact they will... at least for about 5 minutes of the thing. There is still room for things to go wrong and I'm scared.

Oh, my sweet boy... I wish I could jump in there and do something to help him feel less nervous. Thing is, if I were there, I'd probably be the most nervous of them all, even if I were playing Townsfolk #3 or something, and everyone's nervousness would rub off on me, and I would be making things worse instead of helping. So yeah, I'm kind of glad I'm not there.

Ahhhh who called it? @redlyncentral was it you? Ash got flowers for her Biggie! And there's a card whose contents we've yet to see. But that doesn't seem to be helping either. My sweet, sweet Reddy... I hope and pray he'll be alright.

Well this is awkward! Who told Mike to show up and shake everything up right now? Miss Jenn is literally on the brink of exploding, and now she's stuck in this completely unnecessary love triangle. She needs some space. And a quiet place to breathe, thanks Mr M for suggesting it.

'Did we forget to build a mote around the school or...' Yeah, you tell her, Rick! That girl whose name I never want to pronounce (because it makes me think of much nicer people and she's making me hate it) has no business being there. She's not... being given a redemption arc, is she now? Some people just don't deserve it. And if hating her is an unpopular opinion now, well, I never did care much about having popular opinions. I can live with that.

'Lily, scram!' Yes, thank you, Natalie! I've always wanted someone who would voice my thoughts in a way that the characters can hear them. Make this girl a main next season, won't you? (Just so we're crystal clear, I mean Natalie, not the other one.)

OMG Mr M is in the play! In a way... I love that!

I love, love, love the way they did the prologue. 'Repulsed [the prince makes an over-the-top gesture of repulsion] by her haggard appearance [the witch shows off her face to the audience]...' I love this. I would pay a lot for a chance to see their entire play, you know?

Oh dear, somebody give my boy Reddy some sort of... medical aid against all the throwing up! I've got a nice pill that helps me with my bad cases of motion sickness. Hey, so maybe I could have helped if I were there after all. Great, now I feel bad. But also, is all the throwing up an excuse on the writers' part to keep my boy off-screen for the majority of this episode? Because it's a really lame excuse.

Gina's 'Many questions' continues to be a mood. What exactly is Miss Jenn expecting from the kids? Last-minute adjustments? No way. This spells disaster.

Was Carlos on vocal rest or something? Because he shines like the star he is... despite all the very obvious nervousness backstage. I mean, I wouldn't have it any other way, but... oh well, I wouldn't say it's unrealistic. In my personal performing experience, the most nervous ones perform the best. (So... what is that saying for my boy Reddy? Good things only.)

I've already had the opportunity to geek out about Be Our Guest yesterday, but... I mean, just look at them! Carlos doesn't need actual candles to be on fire, Ashlyn is stealing the scene without any lines in it, Gina is absolutely gorgeous, and don't even get me started on EJ and Big Red looking at their girls in absolute awe! This is everything!

Aww, look at them! Gina and Ashlyn dancing together, I mean. They're sisters and it really shows. And I love them both so much.

Kourtney is an absolute show-stealer! I'm still upset about some casting choices (one of them is in this scene, doing his absolute best with the crumbs he has been given), but she is absolutely perfect. I think I'll rewind and watch this entire scene again before moving on with the rest of the episode.

I'd just like to point out that Frankie's voice in his lower register is everything!

'You absolutely dusted that stage'... Not EJ making a pun so punny even I could not have thought of it... boy is absolutely smitten!

Not me tearing up when Jordan Fisher appeared as Gina's brother... like, I knew it was happening — I knew it even before it was announced. And I still teared up because, well, it's emotional in-universe and out.

Awww, my boy Reddy is so in love with Ashlyn... I mean, who wouldn't be... but — not Ricky saying Lily might not be as mean as they thought. Especially not to Big Red of all people. To him, she was just as mean as they thought.

'Side hustle project in the south hallway'? Ooh, what is it, I want to know now!

Why do I feel like things are a bit too awkward between Kourtney and Howie? Not that I'm too invested in their relationship, but if it bothered me, imagine how it must feel for the stans.

No, Ash, you absolutely do not need to add any fancy riffs to the song! Especially not just because L... well, that girl did it. You're unique and lovely and a literal Disney princess inside and out. That girl? She's just a wolf in a sparkling golden dress.

Awww... Big Red literally lowers Ash's blood pressure! Those two are such an amazing couple! (Full disclosure, though, he kind of does the same for me too; the other night I had this horrible nightmare, and I woke up in cold sweat in the middle of the night, and then... ok, getting too personal there.) The point is, if even the fantasy of a Big Red hug makes me feel better, imagine what his actual presence would do for Ash at that moment. Where is my boy? Everyone seems to be looking for him.

Oh... guess they took my advice to give the poor boy something for his vomiting issue. Good for whoever thought of it.

And we're back to the Porter siblings... forgive me if I still can't wrap my head around calling Gina's brother Jamie. I don't know about you guys, but thanks to my lovely new friend Paz he will always be Theodore to me. I guess we can headcanon that as his middle name. Anyway, I love it that they made a joke about the hilarious height difference between him and Gina because, well, it's the only thing I can think about when I look at the two of them. It reminds me of me and my little cousin who has been taller than me since she was 10, and is still growing taller now at 13. But, I mean, it's not very hard to be taller than me, since I'm so, so short... ok, this is not about me. Moving on.

Was I the only one who actually laughed out loud at Ricky drinking from the bowl as the Beast? I mean, that part has always made me laugh in the original movie, but something about Ricky's take on it makes it even funnier.

Meanwhile, my girl Ash is absolutely killing it as Belle. Not me having the very same expression as Big Red while watching her... gosh, I love both of them so much! Also, no offence to the rest of the cast, but Julia really is the best vocalist out there. Out of all of them. I said what I said.

My apologies to Ricky, but his voice is just not it when it comes to playing the Beast. Still, with the other option being him putting on that fake deep voice from the audition, I'm glad he didn't.

Ahhhh Portwell nation you ok guys? Since we didn't get them singing Something There, this is very much the next best thing... and boy, is it good!

Those glances between Kourtney and Howie, on the other hand... what on Earth is happening there?

Ok, so you all know just how strongly I feel about Seb's casting as Chip, and yet... boy had one line and absolutely ate it up! Give him an actual singing role next time, Miss Jenn!

EJ being starstruck by Jamie not because he's a big music producer, but because he's Gina's brother... excuse me while I sob!

Excuse me, what!!!! 'A big brother figure'? Boy, this didn't turn out the way I thought it would... now I'm scared.

Way to ruin things, Jamie! And I don't even mean the fact that his name is not Theodore. It doesn't matter what his name is anymore. He might just have put a spanner in the works of Portwell, and they were just doing so well! Ugh, I'm so frustrated. I wish I'd never boarded — what did I call it — 'the majestic S.S. Portwell'. What if it doesn't set sail now?

And there goes another disappointment... Carlos' 'the orchestra hasn't vamped this much since Bop to the Top' line had nothing to do with Seblos, and everything to do with what might still be the downfall of this show. I am not ready.

No. Miss Jenn did not just say that. She did not just tell Ricky — who, may I remind you, not that anyone's forgotten, just fell off of a high place last episode — to 'jump off of something high'. I realise she's under all the pressure, but that is not an excuse. Well, at least she heard herself.

Oh my gods... Nini — well, Nina, actually — did not just call him 'Richard', did she? That's it, that's the point of no return. And well, I kind of wanted them to reach it.

Told you, didn't I? I told you that-girl-who-must-not-be-named was evil! I always follow my intuition and it has not once deceived me. Redeem that, if you can! Guess what? You can't. We've just reached another point of no return.

Wait, a bloody cliffhanger? I cannot handle this. I physically cannot handle this. If you need me, I'll be sitting on my bed in shock, trying to process everything that happened. I'll need a while to get a grip on myself.

#hsmtmts #hsmtmts s2 #ricky bowen #nini salazar-roberts #gina porter #ej caswell #ashlyn moon caswell #big red redonovich #carlos rodriguez #seb matthew-smith #kourtney greene #hsmtmts miss jenn #hsmtmts mr mazzara #hsmtmts howie #jnk

[wisdomssdaughterr]

Okay yes with what you said about the distraction stuff!! Like the whole of the last couple seasons is the government doing things under people’s noses without others realizing it. But now in the third season they’re giving presents or bribing the citizens of Hawkins and no one even knows it. Like the whole gang is blindsided by it until the dangerous events start to actually happen. Not until the gate is open and the rats and Billy acts weirdly do the gang that is in the know fully comprehend that it is happening… again. Like I think there’s more to analyze about it but also idk what else to say about it right now.

Also I’ve been in love with the whole concept of the full war between them ever since I’ve thought about it. Because like you said the upside down and the monsters there is not going to be happy with the fact that the governments are interacting with it. You even see that in season 2 where the lab is specifically targeted. Because it’s interesting to me that the ‘trap’ wasn’t fully a trap until Mike, Joyce, bob, Will, and hopper where in the actual lab. It wasn’t until Will was in the lab that the monsters actually decided to strike. Because like I think it had a couple days to hit everyone and actually cause destruction. However, like I’ve been saying it didn’t fully actually cause destruction until the lab. Like yeah you had dart but it was also just becoming it’s own species so that doesn’t really count. And you didn’t have the others/army of demodogs until the mindflayer actually caused a scene. And also another interesting thing that you said was the gang understands the complexities of the upside down. Because yes!! That is such an interesting point!! Like the gang has only learned about the upside down because of survival. It’s such an interesting thing that I think makes them such interesting protagonists. Their whole thing is that they want to protect their friends and just survive. Meanwhile, everyone doesn’t realize how well they actually understand the upside down. They have the analogies or metaphors to dnd but because they just think it’s just metaphors from dnd, they don’t think about the fact that they have this insight/understanding to the upside down. Their motivations are completely different from brenner and the other scientists. It’s also why I think the upside down just likes them in a sense. To the gang: it’s just survival and we’re going to save our friends no matter what.

okay yes I agree and believe Steve is a predictable character to die. Especially when we know throughout the show the writers have never actually shyed away from a challenge or using a somewhat reversible trope. Like with how Steve and Nancy were having sex while Barb was the one who died. Which by the way I actually love that choice so much and it was such a unique way to go. And how they did with the love triangle (even though it ended up a mess with how the writers did; they also allowed the complicated stuff mean something. Nancy went back to Steve at the end of season 1. Even though I hated how everything ended with the love triangle the writers weren’t afraid of allowing that complicated mess). And the whole complicated mess in season 3 with Will feeling left out and even though this was somewhat predictable Dustin was mainly with Steve.

I hope we see that kind of divide between the lab/government and the hawkins gang. like if something happens and they are like forced to work together to take out the bigger threat that is the upside down, like you said, everything that the party has witnessed they tied back to a board game. and like, that's not exactly how the government is going to view it. like in season two when they're at the byers and hopper tries to call about the horrors that just happened in the lab, mike says something like "you can't just shoot this with guns." but that's exactly what the american government would try to do. if things get out of hand, which we can assume they will, they're gonna wanna shoot first ask questions later. where as the party and company know how to strategize their attacks based on their previous knowledge of the upside down and their dnd knowledge.

like, the party holds the upper hand in the sense and if something does happen where they team up with the government to stop the upside down from destroying everything, I don't think they'll be listened to. which will probably lead to more rogue operations. and like with that, even if they do save the world, I wonder what the consequences of that will be? like they haven't really had to pay any repercussions from the government aside from not being able to tell anyone what happened/what they saw. I'm just really excited to have the us government like play a larger role as the bad guy/good guy.

ah yes! I love how more in season 1 & 2 a lot of like horror movie tropes were flipped on their heads. nancy especially. like usually when a female character has sex that's basically a death sentence while the virgin girl is portrayed as a final girl or something along those lines. but it was barb who died that night. and like nancy walks all the way home, in the dark, after having sex, and she survives. same with like steve's character and his character arc. and if the series rounds out with mike and will together (which I'm not saying it will or it won't) that would be a major shift from what typically happens in a lot these movies/TV shows. like if the main couple (mike and el) aren't a couple at the end of series, I think it would be really interesting. and with all these different couples and such, having them change around and people realize feelings for other people is all a part of growing up. and like at the core, besides the monsters and shit, that's a what a large part of this show is like about.

#answered ask #stranger things

[kafka-ish]

the act of being a boy-friend | r.t.

y/n’s plan to make her crush, or ex crush, jealous backfires when she realizes she’s been the jealous one all along.

word count: 6.7k

warnings/included: fluff, losers aren’t friends anymore, fem!reader

a/n: i just rlly love writing love triangles hgeoigso also fake dating tropes ftw🥳

-

“What’s ruh-ruh-wrong? Juh-juh-hust tell me what I can do, and I’ll ff-fix it.” Bill sat next to y/n on his worn sofa. The two were watching a movie but he couldn’t put a pin on what was wrong until he noticed y/n wasn’t making her usual commentary. y/n always talked whenever they got together to watch a movie—either letting her petty remarks be known to the rest of the viewers or judging the style choice. And if she wasn’t talking, her face was stuffed full of popcorn or sour candy.

But y/n wasn’t doing either of those things.

She sat in a ball—her bare feet on his couch and her kneecaps digging into her stomach. Her eyes were wide and focused on the screen ahead of them that blared ET. Her nails that were in tip-top condition when she first showed up to Bill’s house, neatly trimmed and polished with a layer of topcoat were now bitten to the bed, ragged and raw.

“Why would you think something’s wrong?” y/n said, surprised that she was able to even squeak out the words after zoning out for so long. Something was wrong. But it wasn’t like y/n would tell him. This is what she wanted, right? Just the two of them—Bill’s arm wrapped around her while she pressed into his side while the only light in the room came from his television set.

So why did everything feel so wrong?

Richie and y/n had dated two months prior. Well… ‘dated’. The relationship wasn’t real, but the butterflies whenever Richie called her a dumb pet name or kissed her on the cheek (because kissing on the lips was too far) certainly felt real. And the heartbreak that came from him talking about other girls felt more real than the time y/n got stood up at the eighth-grade dance.

“I don’t wanna be your fuckin’ boyfriend,” Richie protested. His mouth was full of the turkey club sandwich he snagged from a detention buddy and his perfectly straight nose was now scrunched in disgust at the absurd idea his friend had to offer.

“I don’t get why you’re being so pissy about this.” y/n took the sandwich from him, taking a bite of her own and cringing at the taste of mustard that was hidden under the lettuce.

“Grow up.” Richie laughed at y/n who was using a napkin to wipe the tangy aftertaste off her tongue. “You know.” He took another bite. “This sorta shit never ends well.”

“What shit?” y/n prodded. She was still hooked on the idea of getting Richie to play house with her.

“The game where you and I pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend and eventually one of us falls for each other.” Richie was taking an oddly rational approach to y/n’s suggestion. But Richie was logical in a sense where he just knew.

“Who says I’d fall for you?” y/n poked at his shoulder. One of her eyebrows raised because in what world would she let herself catch feelings for Richie Tozier?

In this world. In this lifetime, y/n would let herself fall for one of her best friends, only to be dating her longtime crush.

“How could you not?” Richie smirked but y/n could tell he was just joking. “I’m irresistible, love.” His stupid British-man Voice made yet another appearance and y/n had to refrain from hitting him.

“What about me?” y/n didn’t care whether or not Richie found her attractive, but to say his response never left her mind after that day would be an understatement.

“Well, just look at you.” Richie put the sandwich down. “If it’s anyone, I’ll be having a harder time.”

“So does that mean you’ll go through with it?” A new light hit y/n’s eyes; the sparkle almost blinding Richie who was shaking his head.

“I don’t get why you’re so hung up about this.” He sighed. y/n could tell he was getting annoyed, but y/n was also persistent. If she wanted something, she’d get it; careless about the lengths she’d have to go through for her fantasies to become a truth. Her truth.

“I’m just saying there are benefits for both of us.” y/n’s head tilted to the side, trying to get a better glimpse at Richie now gnawing at his lunch like an animal.

“Benefits?” Richie asked mid-bite.

“Yeah. I can make Bill Denbrough jealous and he’ll fall madly in love with me. Same for you and your ex.”

“Bill Denbrough?” Richie ignored the mention of his ex-girlfriend. He was fifty-percent sure he was already over her, but the other fifty percent of him still stole glances in her direction and kept a copy of her school picture in his wallet. But Bill Denbrough? y/n had a crush on the Bill Denbrough? Richie had to take a moment for his ears to adjust to this staggering news.

Bill Denbrough was a baseball player and Richie’s old childhood friend. Him, Bill, Stan Uris (who was coincidentally also on Derry’s baseball team), Mike Hanlon (who didn’t play baseball but football), Ben Hanscom (he was on the track team), Eddie Kaspbrak, and Beverly Marsh were all a group back in middle school. And Bill and Richie went way back—back to elementary school. It was until the end of freshman year when Stan tried out for baseball (Bill tagged along but made the team anyway) and Mike brought up how he wanted to go out for football next year.

Everyone’s interests started to diverge. Everyone started to diverge. They still went to Mike’s games at the beginning of their sophomore year, but their lunches together only seemed to happen on Wednesday and their afternoon hangouts at the quarry turned into just Richie smoking puffs on the edge; the only company being his portable radio.

Richie befriended y/n sophomore year, around the same time he and his friends fizzed out in January’s crisp air. He met her in his new art class when Derry High released students’ new schedules for the second semester. They’d stayed friends ever since; sharing their lunches and staying after school to finish up on a Social Studies project that wasn’t worth the grade they received. y/n was the one to comfort Richie after his breakup with Vanessa Jennings, but this was the first Richie had ever heard of y/n’s crush on Bill. He didn’t even know she knew Bill.

“You like Bill Denbrough?”

y/n nodded. “So, what do you say? Partner…”

Richie gave in. Although it wasn’t in his interest to get back with Vanessa, he’d still go along with y/n’s scheme.

He’d pick her up at her house before school at seven o’clock sharp—whether it was in his dad’s old Chevy or by foot in his red Converse.

y/n rushed to her front door as soon as she heard a ring. Her hair was half done, and she hadn’t had enough time to do her makeup yet. Luckily, she was already dressed in her school clothes—the denim of her jeans scuffing together when she walked, and her red blouse having to be pulled down every time she rose her arms.

“Morning, sugar.” Richie’s lazy grin and tired eyes never failed to bring a smile on her face even before they started ‘dating’. His hair wasn’t brushed at all, making y/n feel better about her appearance. His body leaned slanted against the doorframe while he waited for her and the white tip of his Converse made its attempt to dig into the porch.

“Sugar?” y/n asked, bemused. She grabbed her keys from the table next to the door, using them to lock the door behind her.

“You look different today.” y/n’s head raised from its once concentrated position from the lock on her door.

“Different how?” She inquired, mostly wondering if this difference was a good or bad thing.

“You look good.” y/n’s cheeks couldn’t help but heat at the compliment. Richie was always calling her cutesy names or saying shit like actually, now that my glasses are on, your ass does look good in those jeans. This should be no different, right?

It only felt different because they were… an item is what y/n convinced herself somewhere along the drive to school. Richie opened the door for her when she got in (and out), but in return, she’d have to let him play his favorite station.

“it’s only courtesy, babe.” Richie shrugged but his eyes kept on the road. “I scratch your back, you scratch mine.”

But two weeks in, y/n found out she liked what this rock ‘n roll guy had to offer. She liked the loud beat of the drum and how the guitar sang in her ears. She liked Richie’s voice that overpowered Elvis’s when he sang along to the lyrics, knowing every word by heart.

“I don’t get why you’re taking me anywhere,” y/n said. She sat in the passenger’s seat of his car like she usually did. “We don’t have to pretend unless we’re, like, in public.” Her voice became small, almost regretting the words that came out of her mouth. Secretly, she hoped Richie wouldn’t turn the 1965 Chevrolet Camaro around.

“It’s not like we aren’t friends.” Richie’s thumb made a tap, tap, tapping sound against the steering wheel. “Friends hang out, right?”

y/n smiled but didn’t answer. It never occurred to her that they weren’t dating. After a while, it just seemed so natural; the hand holding under lunch tables; the way he held her binder for her.

“Is that heavy, sweetheart?” Richie stood next to y/n, intently watching as she struggled with her books in one arm: her other hand turning the combination lock. His gaze never left her figure. He was thoughtful, caring…

“Kind of, but you don’t need to—”

Ignoring y/n, Richie took the books from her hold. He already had books of his own to carry, but he couldn’t let his girlfriend struggle with hers.

“Yeah… friends.” y/n couldn’t seem to face him while uttering the words. Friends. The declaration felt so distant. After all, they had been more than friends—or pretending to be more than friends. But at the end of the day, y/n didn’t know if she wanted to be just friends with Richie Tozier. That was new considering, she never saw Richie as something else. Something that greeted her with flowers before school and held open the door for her. Not until now, no. Richie was always… Richie.

Richie Tozier who was always caught doing his homework last minute in art—because that’s the easiest class, babe. Richie Tozier who liked detention because he could catch up on a few extra minutes of lost beauty sleep. Richie Tozier who stopped bringing his lunch to school because you’re the only sugar I need.

y/n rolled the window down, letting a breeze sweep through her hair and tickle her skin. She needed a distraction because the recent epiphany of the boy next to her being the reason for her heart palpitations was something to need a distraction from.

The sky bled orange and purple—the colors perfectly melted into one another—and y/n wondered if this wasn’t their world after all. Maybe they were being controlled and the puppeteer behind her was playing some sick joke by making her catch feelings for Richie Tozier. y/n didn’t even notice they came to a stop until the click of Richie’s seatbelt grabbed her ears from their trance.

“You comin’?” Richie asked from outside of her side of the car. He was hunched down, his forearm resting on the door to help prop him up.

“Yeah.” y/n swallowed but it hurt. It felt like acid ripped through her esophagus but the only thing she had to drink that day was water. She reached for the door handle, but Richie was faster, already opening the door himself. “Such a gentleman,” y/n snickered.

“Of course.” Richie stayed behind to lock the doors.

“So, you drove me, just a friend, all the way out to the best milkshakes in town?” y/n asked, eyeing the neon-lit sign that read

 Hwy 90

The highway to your stomach.

They served other things, but they specialized in milkshakes—something neither Richie nor y/n would care to pass up. But nothing y/n would drive thirty minutes for just for some glorified ice cream in a glass.

“It’s the least I could do.” Richie opened the door for y/n once again. The entrance door to the diner made a jingling sound as the top corner hit the bells which hung from the ceiling.

“The least you could do?” y/n wondered aloud, but Richie wasn’t given the chance to answer her question when a waitress scurried up to them, a stack of menus in one arm and a bundle of silverware in the other. She was taller than y/n but shorter than Richie and she wore black and white bowling shoes to match the wide-legged jeans and polo underneath her apron. “Is it just you two?” She asked sweetly, hiking the pile of menus up higher on her arm.

“Yeah,” Richie said. He stuffed his hands in his back pocket, not knowing where to put them.

The waitress showed them to a small booth that sat in the corner of the brightly lit restaurant. It was too bright for y/n’s eyes under the red, blue, and pink hues that reflected across the shiny white tile, But the corner table the girl had brought them to would do. There was a certain coziness to it, or maybe it was the thought of sitting so close to Richie in a public setting that settled y/n’s eyes.

“I’m Annie. I’ll be your server today,” the girl said as soon as Richie and y/n slid into their respective sides of the red pleather seats. She was fast-talking and all shades of nervousness as her left hand went to grab the number two pencil that fastened the blonde curls that were pinned in a knot on top of her head. “Can I get you anything?”

“A menu would be nice,” y/n said. In front of them sat a table, salt and pepper shakers, and a half-empty Heinz ketchup bottle. Annie had forgotten to give the two a menu.

“My apologies!” She exclaimed, bashful. She handed them each a menu to sift through.

“Don’t sweat it.” Richie winked in her direction and y/n felt herself grow… what was that? Anger? Annie’s pale skin blushed a bright red and y/n could tell it wasn’t the apron making her feel hot.

It took Richie a full-fledged thirty seconds and two skims through the laminated paper for him to decide what he wanted, and it took y/n at least two minutes. “I’ll have a Cookies n Cream. Extra sweet.” Just like you.

y/n was biting her thumb and still reading over the same three flavors that caught her eye while Annie stood patiently waiting for her response. Richie was messing with the saltshaker. His leg found hers under the table and gave it a quick kick.

“Ouch.” She looked up from the menu, averting her attention to the boy in front of her with a fix glare. “Can I have Vanilla? With a cherry on top?”

Annie scribbled down both of their orders in messy writing before making her way across the floor and to the kitchen.

“Vanilla?” Richie laughed and y/n didn’t know what was so funny. “’Cause you’re vanilla?” He covered his mouth with his hand before another fit of laughter would consume the table.

“Shut up.” Swiftly, y/n’s leg propelled into his which caused Richie’s laughs to die down, replaced by a single yelp.

“So…” Richie’s eyebrows wiggled. His nails, which were painted a shade of deep blue by y/n and already chipped, thumped against the surface of the table. y/n could tell whatever he was beginning to suggest wouldn’t be something she liked just from the tone of his voice.

“So?”

“Why Bill?” Oh.

“I don’t know what you mean.” She knew exactly what he meant.

“Why do you like ole Big Bill?” The nickname had slipped out unconsciously. The nickname Richie hadn’t heard in years. The nickname Richie hadn’t said in years. It felt exotic on his lips, but comforting, like a hug from his mom.

Why did she like Bill? y/n asked herself silently. She was gnawing on the inside of her cheek when the question popped up again and the sound of Bill’s voice startled her.

“What’s ruh-ruh-wrong? Juh-juh-hust tell me what I can do, and I’ll ff-fix it.” What was wrong? Seemingly, everything was perfect. The boy y/n had been crushing on for years was finally in her reach—her grasp, even. Bill’s head turned to face y/n, but his arm stayed tightly coiled around her side. It wasn’t the same as Richie’s possessive hold from two months ago. His hand that played with the fabric of her shirt felt cold. Bill felt cold.

It couldn’t be that she missed Richie, no. Richie was busy—probably swapping spit with one Vanessa Jennings. Vanessa with the light brown hair and curls that framed her not-too-big head ever so perfectly. Vanessa who never needed a tan. Vanessa with the long legs that were probably wrapped—

But it didn’t matter. y/n was busy, too. The Bill Denbrough was at her side and she couldn’t have asked for anything else. She didn’t need anything else. Not when his red flannel hugged her torso because are you could? My parents won’t let me turn up the heat, but I can offer you this. Like a gentleman, he proceeded to strip the flannel from his bodice, leaving him in a white baseball tee.

“Why would you think something’s wrong?” y/n looked at Bill then looked down to see the nails she had just painted were now ruined. She looked up again. “Nothing’s wrong,” she assured, not all convincingly.

“You just… yo-you ha-haven’t-t s-s-said anything since you cuh-cuh-walked in.”

“I haven’t?” y/n asked, now picking at the tip of her thumb, hoping what had taken two weeks to grow out would magically regrow in seconds. Saving his voice, Bill only shook his head.

“You nuh-know you can tuh-tell me. Ruh-right?” y/n nodded but what could she tell him?

Sorry I’ve been holding a massive crush on you for years like one holds a cleaver over their head but all of a sudden I’m into this guy I met in my art class who never brushes his hair and writes ‘smoking and smoking hot’ on his college resume.

“I think I’m just tired,” she lied while also feigning a yawn. She covered her mouth when it opened, pretending to be sleepy.

“Do-do you want me to tuh-take you home?” Bill asked. He was just as thoughtful as Richie. He was just as handsome as Richie, maybe even more. So why couldn’t y/n bring herself to like him as much as Richie? His arm left from her side and he used it to pick up the remote, turning the tv off. The worst part was, that when Bill’s hand stopped playing with the fabric of the flannel she wore and his arm left her frame, she didn’t feel a coldness that would usually wash over her when Richie’s arm left her. She felt free.

“I don’t want our afternoon to be spoiled,” y/n said. Her eyebrows furrowed and even though she knew she was lying through her teeth, she wanted to make this work. After all these years of pining for her study partner and favorite Derry High baseball player, she needed for this to work. To see the vision she’d created in her head, just a mere two years ago, collapse in front of her very eyes broke her. But at the same time, she was indifferent. Why should she care about the boy in front of her when the boy she actually wanted was a neighborhood away?

“Tr-trust me. It-it’s not.” Bill shrugged. He stood up and offered y/n his hand which she didn’t take. Instead, she sat there, planted in her same seat, waiting for him to continue. “I can tuh-take you home. And wuh-we can hang out to-tomorrow. You nuh-know when you’re well rested.” All of the sudden, this felt very real. Hanging out with Bill felt real. Being at his house felt real. And though his efforts were valiant, y/n couldn’t accept the offer.

A smile graced her lips and Bill mirrored that. “Yeah, okay. Uh, take me home—please.”

y/n stood up and Bill guided her to the door and to Zach Denbrough’s car as if she hadn’t had the place memorized from when she first came over for a History project they’d been assigned to do.

What did she ever see in him?

“I don’t know.” y/n’s shoulders bopped up and down and even though her figure was hunched, Richie still thought she looked graceful.

“Are you just sayin’ that or did you end up falling in love with little ole me and you can’t think of anything?” Just then, their milkshakes arrived. Both in frosted glass and both with a cherry on top. A feeling of relief swallowed the lump in her throat, or maybe that was the taste of vanilla ice cream now that she was given some time, and a reason, to stall. y/n hated how on-the-nose Richie could be. But she also loved that about him. He could be so, so unexpectedly smart about some things. Things that were right in front of her that she’d never even notice until Richie pointed it out. “Oh, come on.” Richie’s words would’ve sliced through the silence in the air if it weren’t for the chatter of other people and jukebox playing in the background. “Seriously, y/n/n, there’s gotta be something that drew you to him.”

“Well… he’s nice.”

“Okay cut the crap.”

“What?” y/n asked, finding herself annoyed that she not only had to reveal her feelings to a boy she may or may not like but also because he’s nice apparently wasn’t a sufficient enough answer.

“I need an actual answer. Not some bullshit response like he’s nice or he’s funny. Anyone can be nice or funny, y/n.”

“Well, whether you like it or not, Bill is nice. He’s genuine, and cares about the people around him… Selfless.”

Richie was upset at her response. Not because y/n countered his argument in a way he was left speechless but because she was right. Bill was the nice guy and Richie… wasn’t. Bill was the one who looked out for others, making sure they were okay. He was the one who made sure no one got left behind. He was the one everyone looked up to—not Richie, Bill. It was always Bill. Whereas Richie’s just the guy who stands in the background making funny noises only to be told to shut up.

“Yeah… Bill is nice.”

“Don’t tell me you’re my competition, Tozier.” y/n laughed at the oddity of fighting with Richie for the chance to be with Bill.

“Nah,” Richie shook his head, his hair flying in any direction possible. “You’re lucky I’m not, though. You wouldn’t have the chance, babe.”

y/n wanted to eat her heart out at the usage of babe in such an informal setting where they didn’t have to pretend, but the maraschino cherry resting on top of the pile of whipped cream would suffice. “Do you still like Vanessa?” The words tumbled from y/n’s mouth like they were nothing. But embarrassment replaced the blood flowing through her veins once she was aware of what she just said.

“It’s… complicated,” Richie said honestly, not caring that y/n might’ve crossed boundaries just then.

“What’s complicated?” y/n cocked her head like a puppy questioning why its master was making weird hand motions.

“You’ll understand when you’re older, kid.” Richie didn’t mean to come off as condescending, but he did.

“I’m the same age as you.” y/n crossed her arms after pushing away the half-empty, frosted glass in front of her.

Ignoring the red straw in his drink, Richie brought the edge of the glass to his lips and swallowed the thick shake. “Here’s the thing. Vanessa and I go way back.”

“How far is way back if you only dated her for four months?” y/n regretted even bringing her up. Maybe it was different back then, back when the two were actually dating. But now, y/n couldn’t remember a time when someone said the name ‘Richie Tozier’ and her heart didn’t feel like it would explode into a collision of fireworks.

“Four and a half,” Richie corrected with a grin breaking out on his lips. “But I dunno. She’s just special.”

“Special as in…?” y/n probed, and she hated herself for her big mouth that wouldn’t stop applying lemon juice to an obviously open wound.

“I love her.” Richie took another drink of Cookies n Cream, which was more cream than cookies, and y/n sat there in shock. She would be silly to think that after all these weeks, Richie would feel the same way about her. After all, he had a life outside of the fake one they’d construed. Or maybe Richie was just less emotionally confined to these sorts of things. He knew better than to get caught up in a fake relationship. Of course he would.

But knowing Richie still loved his ex, struck something in y/n’s core. And the fact that he was able to say it in such a nonchalant manner—such casualty—only dug deeper at the pit in her stomach.

“You love her?” y/n asked, her mouth still full of the sweet treat he’d pay for later in the evening.

“Love. Loved.” Richie shrugged like this was nothing—well, maybe this was nothing. Maybe y/n was the speck of dust on his shirt and him shrugging was the last of her existence from his being leaving. “What’s the difference?”

“There’s a big difference.” y/n wanted to scream. Luckily, she had enough self-perseverance to keep her composure. She swallowed. “One is past tense, and one is present tense.”

“How ‘bout I put it this way.” Richie set aside his drink so now nothing was blocking his view of y/n. He leaned forward and rested his hands on the table. “I don’t like…” He paused. Revealing that he had no intention in getting back with his once first love would possibly wreck this whole thing. “If Vanessa asked, I’d probably get back with her,” Richie finally said, thinking that must’ve been a suitable way to word the jumble of letters floating around in his head like alphabet soup.

“You would?” y/n asked, feeling like a little kid all over again.

Richie didn’t say anything.

“Do you and her still…”

“Still what?”

“Talk, I guess is what I’m trying to say.” y/n messed with her fingers, pulling at a hangnail she’d know she’d regret doing when it got to later in the night.

“Nah. But don’t worry about it, sweets.” Richie took out his wallet only to be met with a picture of the dreaded girl they’d just been talking about. He gulped. His spit tasted like Oreos and he knew he’d have a stomachache later. Richie thumbed out a ten-dollar bill and five ones to keep Alexander Hamilton company. “Ole Vanessa could never get in the way of you if that’s what you’re wonderin’.”

It was what she was wondering.

But she’d never let Richie know that. y/n crossed her arms tighter around her torso because right now it felt like Richie could see right through her.

Richie drove her home in the same way Bill would a month from that night. But Richie had a better taste in music and y/n was actually sad to part from him when he left her at her doorstep.

“I’m really sorry I had to cut our time short,” y/n said. She was sorry.

“It’s ff-fine. I al-already sai—”

“Yeah, but I feel awful, Bill.” y/n finally mucked up the courage to look him in the eye. Those blue eyes that’d been searching for hers all afternoon. “This was probably like… the worst first date in the history of first dates.”

“Ih-it’s not so bad. But that duh-depends on how muh-many first dates you’ve been on.” Bill laughed and y/n was trying to figure out what was funny about what he said.

“You’ve been on worse ones?” y/n asked anxiously.

“Luh-let’s just say th-they duh-didn’t get a second date.”

y/n nodded while her hands started to search for the keys in her purse.

“I’ll ss-see you tuh-tomorrow?”

“Or at my funeral. Whichever comes first.” For a moment, the bad thoughts cleared from the surface of y/n’s head. Laughter was the only thing she was aware of for a moment.

“Bye, y/n/n.”

“Bye, Richie,” y/n said bashfully. Her hands were strewn behind her back because she didn’t know what they would do if they weren’t. He was about to walk off—off into the moonlight. And y/n would have to wait until Monday to see him again. It was one day too long because she knew even though the two of them had nothing better to do tomorrow, he’d see it as just friends whereas y/n would see it… differently. “Richie, wait!”

“What?” Richie turned around. His hands sat inside of his front pockets and his posture was slumped, as always.

“Thanks… for tonight.” Richie nodded, and validation from him served as a sick kind of ego booster that egged y/n to keep going. “They really are the best milkshakes in town.”

“Yeah.” Richie’s scratchy voice soothed y/n under the frosty air that came from winters in Maine. y/n stepped closer, her hands still behind her back.

“Did you have a good time?”

“You know I always have a good time when I’m with you.” Richie nudged y/n’s elbow with his but was taken aback by her hands that now gripped his shoulders and how suddenly close she was against him.

y/n kissed him on the cheek, not daring to go for his lips because who’s ever heard of a kiss goodbye on the cheek? Is probably what Stacy Howards would retort back to her after she’d spill the happenings of Saturday night to Derry High’s favorite cheerleader in study hall.

His cheek tasted like salt and Irish Spring—that is, if she knew what Irish Spring tasted like. Which she definitely didn’t.

She didn’t linger long. Richie wished she stayed longer. The kiss was short and sweet and the taste of vanilla on her lips replaced a fraction of his cheek that tasted like body wash and sodium chloride.

“Goodnight,” y/n said, now finally coming to her senses.

“Ye-yeah.” Richie blinked, an alternative to pinching himself in front of the girl he’d been pretending to date. “Night.” But after pretending for so long, Richie couldn’t help but notice the less it felt like pretending.

y/n closed the door behind her with a slam, making sure to lock it in case intruders were in the neighborhood. Now that Bill was gone, her first instinct was to call up Richie—tell him that the date went well, and how he was such a great friend, and thanks for the help. But there were only so many times she could lie to a boy she felt feelings so deeply for. The first, coincidentally, was when Richie had asked how things were going with Bill.

“Make any progress so far?” Richie asked with a face full of ham. They were eating lunch together, per usual. But this time, unlike the many times before, the hand that wasn’t holding his sandwich was rubbing circles on y/n’s small hand that Richie’s swallowed.

“Comme ci comme ça.” y/n smiled to herself at her basic understanding any French One student would master. “It’s going alright…” y/n had never been a natural liar. Whenever she told her parents she had cleaned her room when she, in fact, didn’t, the hairs on the back of her neck stood to attention and her forearm broke out in an itch she could never quite scratch. But her internal biological workings had given her a break today. There was no itch and her hairs stayed in place from when she styled her hair that morning.

“What’s alright?” Richie questioned, though it sounded more like an interrogation.

“He started talking to me more.”

“He didn’t already talk to you?” Richie’s eyebrow rose because how were you supposed to fall for a guy you barely talked to?

“Well, yeah, he talks to me.” The pad of Richie’s thumb that was drawing slow circles onto y/n’s knuckles turned into lines. Back and forth. Back and forth. “But he used to talk to me about classwork and… you know, like, school.” Richie smiled when she talked. He was happy for his friend. He truly was. But he couldn’t stand the fact that the guy she was talking about wasn’t him—let alone, his former best friend. “And in APUSH, instead of asking about my grade or whatever, he… asked about me.”

“What’d Mister Charming have to say?”

Mister Charming sat two seats away from y/n. But that didn’t stop him from talking to her. Every now and then, Bill would steal glances at the girl from his peripheral vision. Sometimes, if he were feeling bold, he’d turn to face her—but that action only occurred when she was speaking. Today, however, was different. Today he’d talk to her.

Lucky for Bill, the pencil sharpener sat in the back of class—close to where y/n’s seat was.

“Hey.”

y/n looked up from her textbook. She didn’t want to assume the hushed voice was for her—but she had to figure the tap on her shoulder was.

“Hi.” She set her pencil down and folded her arms flat on the desk. “What’s up?” y/n swore she sounded insane. Who says what’s up—

“Th-the sky.” Bill’s smile made cloudy days seem cloudless. “I was wuh-wondering ih—” He swallowed the trail of saliva that gathered in the back of his throat. “If… are yo-you and Ruh-Richie like…”

“No!” y/n said quickly and a little too loudly.

“Good.”

“Good?”

“Muh-maybe we cuh-could hang out… This Saturday work?” A stroke of nervousness flitted across his features for a second even though Bill didn’t have anything to be nervous about. The rest of y/n’s words got caught in her throat and she instinctively found herself writing down her number on the scratch piece of paper Mr. Ferguson passed out for notetaking.

“Call me.”

Bill did call. Which was precisely how y/n was stuck frozen in time; her back slanted against the door and her thoughts racing against one another.

She had two options at hand. Call Richie. Find Richie. Or wait it out for tomorrow when Bill’s same car would be in her driveway, waiting for her.

But a third option was already at y/n’s doorstep, contemplating ringing the doorbell.

Richie Tozier stood outside of y/n’s front door, palms sweaty and unusually anxious for confrontation. His pale fingers knotted together. It was their way of stalling from interacting with y/n for as long as possible—or as long as curfew would allow him to.

“Hey.” His stalling attempt was left unsuccessful when y/n opened the door. Ironically, he was just the person she had hoped to run into. “What are… what are you doing?”

“Me?” Richie’s eyebrows stitched together, and he pointed to himself with his index finger.

“You’re the only one here,” y/n deadpanned.

“I was just in the neighborhood, y’know. Doin’ neighborly things.”

“You don’t live in this neighborhood.” Richie feigned laughter but this time y/n didn’t laugh with him. “Seriously, Rich, why are you here? You knew I had my date with Bill and—”

“And what?” His tone grew firm, like it had grabbed her by the hand and urged whatever was eating at her insides out of her.

“And I don’t think you should be here, after I just got done with my date with somebody else!” y/n said with a shaky breath. She could feel her heartbeat almost burning through her chest that rose and fell harshly.

“How was it? Your date?” Richie had calmed down, but y/n didn’t.

“It went bad. Is that what you wanted to hear?” y/n muttered, but it could’ve been mistaken for a yell.

“No, why would you think—hold on. What’s up with you?” Richie’s hands stuffed themselves in his front pocket. His posture was hunched over, and his face now screwed together, trying to understand the girl standing before him.

“I don’t know.” The flame that had once ignited y/n’s lively spirits had died down. “I just. It didn’t go well, that’s all,” y/n said, unable to coax the words she actually wanted to say out of her lips.

“He wasn’t an asshole, was he?” Richie’s tone was protective—nothing y/n would expect from him two months ago when she’d gotten themselves into this mess.

“No! No.” y/n was complicated. First, she’d spew off about how her date was bad and now she was defending said date?

“God, y/n/n, can you just make up your mind?”

She could do that.

“You were right,” y/n declared.

“What?”

“Don’t make me say it again.” Her voice lowered to a whisper, but Richie could still make out what she was saying.

“Well, I’m always right, toots. I just need context—”

“About the fake dating thing. How eventually one person’s bound to fall for the other…” Her toes curled from under the white Converse she hadn’t had time to slip off. They were worn and the bottoms were yellowing from the number of times she’d matched them to an outfit. “And you don’t look like you’re on your knees, so.”

“So, what?” y/n didn’t notice the smirk edging on the corners of Richie’s lips.

“Tozier, don’t make me say it.”

“You have to, or God knows how long we’ll be standing on this fuckin’ porch,” Richie said patiently. Patient. Richie was never patient—always the one to urge his friends to hurry the fuck up, always the one to ask are we there yet? But this time he was. His figure stood still and ominous, like Santa on Christmas Eve. His breathing held steady in his lungs that had seen more smoke than his mother’s kitchen and his feet stood planted on the concrete stoop of y/n’s house and they’d stay there until she told him the very damned thing she didn’t want to.

“I like you, okay?” y/n knew if she blinked, the dam of tears in her eyes would finally burst and the last thing she wanted was having Richie Tozier see her cry. Well, second to last thing. The first thing on that list had already happened. “Look, I know you’re still in love with Van-Vanessa.” It hurt to say the girl’s name because she wasn’t just a girl, she was Richie’s ex. “But you asked me to say it and I did. So there.”

y/n was about to turn back. Back into her house and back out of this friendship. It was only because Richie laughed that y/n stopped. His chuckle was like music, not the kind that Richie blasted in his car with the windows down, but like a symphony. And if y/n were any less mortified right now, maybe she’d stop to admire it—him—for one second more.

She was about to ask why. Why are you mocking me when I’m so clearly in a vulnerable state right now? Why are you mocking me after I’d just shared something so deep and personal with the likes of you? About the likes of you? But y/n didn’t get the chance when Richie surged forward and pressed a kiss against her lips. She could feel her heart pick up even more at the taste of him: spearmint and tobacco. She thought it’d stabilize itself once his lips left hers, but it didn’t. His taste lingered and at the time it felt permanent, like a red stain on white furniture.

“Like I said. Ole Vanessa could never get in the way of you.” His breath hit her face, warm and intoxicating, and y/n could only think that kissing Richie on the lips was way better than kissing him on the cheek.

#richie tozier #richie tozier x reader #richie tozier x reader fluff #richie tozier x reader angst #richie tozier imagine #richie tozier fanfiction #richie tozier fic #richie tozier scenario #richie tozier angst #richie tozier fluff #it 2017 #it 2019 #it chapter 1 #it chapter 2 #it x reader #it imagine #it fanfic #it fic #losers x reader #losers club x reader

[princess-of-the-corner]

I never watched Winx as a kid, so I really hope I don't sound like an idiot for asking this. What exactly does the Netflix Winx series do wrong besides giving it the "dark and gritty" makeover?

So like. There are a lot of problems here and I’ll try to tackle them. I haven’t finished the reboot because I have difficulty getting through things I like, much less things I hate watch. But anyway, this gets long and is separated into parts. 

Let’s start with it’s issues on it’s own and not as an adaptation: 

It’s still pretty garbage. Not ‘the worst thing ever’. Interesting enough. But it does have problems. Some racist and homophobic and fatphobic writing. The characters range from ‘kind of a jerk’ to ‘straight up assholes who will cause physical harm for petty reasons’. The nicest one so far is Terra, but even she kinda snaps and strangles a guy with her plant powers. 

Now on to things it fails on as an adaptation!

First, the whitewashing!

Of the six main characters, 3/6 were poc-coded in the original cartoon(I say ‘coded’ because they’re not Humans from Earth but still). Aisha is black, Flora is Latina, and Musa is Chinese. 

Aisha is the only one who remains black. I’ve heard varying testimonies on Musa’s actor, but the ‘best’ I’ve heard is that she’s 1/4 Singaporean and white passing. I don’t have the authority to say if that’s in the clear or not so I’m leaving that to other fans. 

Flora gets the worst though. They cast a white woman to play her. Then backtracked and said ‘oh, this isn’t Flora. We replaced her with her white cousin Terra’. Yeah you can see the problem there. 

Characters they got rid of entirely! I’ll only discuss characters that showed up in the first two seasons of the original show since Fate only has one season. (I’d say just the first, but they included Aisha who is from Season 2). 

Let’s see. They got rid of Tecna, one of the main six girls. It’s likely because they’re going for a more ‘bootleg Hogwarts’ vibe, and Tecna’s magic being heavily technology based ruins that. So she’s just tossed altogether. 

The boys! Oh my god my boys! Sky and Riven are the only ones who were kept in, while Brandon, Timmy and Helia got scrapped and replaced as well. The other boys like Dane and Sam? Totally could’ve just given them those names and been done with it. 

Then there’s Icy, Darcy and Stormy! I’m counting them together because that’s exactly what Fate did! The three Witches are villains in the series, and instead of keeping a trio, they combined her into a single character. Beatrix. 

I think Silva was also an amalgamation of the remaining Headmaster/Headmistresses and a few other staff members but considering they condensed it to just one school it kind of makes sense. 

Sometimes there’s just a name change like the Headmistress of Alfea was changed to Farah Dowling instead of Faragonda which is so pointless. 

Overall there’s other minor characters that don’t show up, like the rest of the school staff, Mirta and Lucy, so on and so forth. But I’m less upset about that. Still upset though because I love them. 

Personality changes! And romance drama!

Oh boy. Oh boy oh boy oh boy. 

I already mentioned how they made everyone an asshole in this reboot. In the original show, the only protagonist that was consistently a jerk was Riven, but he was more of the ‘grumpy but still a good guy’ type of asshole. 

Let’s compare just one character and her relationships to others!

Stella in the Original Cartoon: Preppy and sometimes a little vain, could be blunt to the point of insulting, but never malicious. Very sweet and loves her friends. She and Bloom are best friends, Stella having been the one to bring Bloom into the world of Magix and will do everything she can to make sure she’s safe. Stella’s love interest is Brandon, who is bffs with Bloom’s love interest Sky. Stella and Brandon are very cheesy and cute together. They aren’t usually jealous, and can even make a competition out of ‘how many phone numbers can I get?’. 

Stella in Fate: Total bitch to all her roommates. She’s getting the common ‘my mom’s a bitch who puts pressure on me so I’m going to be a bitch’ thing that’s become popular now. Since Brandon was deleted, they put her in a love triangle with Bloom and Sky, Sky being Stella’s ex bf. And despite breaking up with him, Stella sees him just talking to Bloom and decides ‘Hm. Let’s prey on her insecurities that she doesn’t belong here, and manipulate her into leaving!’ Which includes walking through a forest where there was recently a man attacked and viscously killed by some kind of monster, so I’m putting it up to attempted murder. 

Yeah. Everyone’s kind of like that. It’s awful. 

Bloom’s backstory and parents!

Okay, this can kind of fall under both ‘personality changes’ and ‘plot changes’ but it deserves it’s own section. 

In the Original Cartoon, Bloom’s home kingdom was attacked and destroyed by villains searching for something called the Dragon Flame. Bloom was a baby with said power, so her older sister sent her to Earth, a world without Magic, where she would be safe and hidden. Mike and Vanessa find her and adopt her, loving her and raising her very well. They are good parents. Bloom learns she has powers when she meets Stella, and instinctively uses Magic to protect her. 

In Fate, the only thing really the same is that Bloom was sent to Earth. I’m a little unclear on why, but instead of giving her loving adoptive parents, they made her a Changeling with emotionally abusive parents! Let me elaborate a little: Instead of adopting Bloom of their own free will, Mike and Vanessa’s real child died in the hospital and was secretly replaced with Bloom. Her parents are also, as mentioned, emotionally abusive. So much so that Fate!Bloom’s powers first manifested by setting them on fire in the middle of the night.

Fun. Ain’t it? 

Now onto plot points!

Again, pretty much the only thing the same is ‘Bloom discovers she has Magic, goes to another Dimension to learn at a school called Alfea. Gets into adventures with her Roomates while trying to figure out where she’s really from’. 

The whole ‘Burned ones’ were.... not a thing at all. There wasn’t any kind of ‘barrier’ to keep out ‘dangerous creatures’ or anything. 

I’m not going to go over every single subplot but that was just. No. They were easily allowed to go outside the school. 

The whole vibe

This is a big thing to talk about. While the reboot went for ‘dark and gritty’ over the bright colors and sparkles, it also went for ‘bootleg Hogwarts’ instead of anything interesting. 

In the reboot, the merging of Magic and Technloogy is mostly like. ‘Yeah we go to school in this old ass castle and we don’t use guns in weaponry class, but we have smartphones and social media and Harry Potter!”. 

In the Original??? The whole world was very Magitech. It was a combination of Magic and Scifi! Kinda Steven Universe style actually. 

The transformations!!!

Look. LOOK. Winx Club is a Magical Girl show! They have those beautiful transformation sequences that last a solid minute or so of screen time. And they also have like. At least one new Transformation a Season, which comes with an ungodly amount of different cool outfits. 

The reboot? One transformation sequence. And while the effects are nice, Bloom doesn’t even get a new outfit. Just a few flames coming off her that look vaguely like wings. 

SPEAKING OF! They are Faeries!!!! But they don’t have wings????? What????

Look idgaf about your effects budget you could’ve made the cheesiest shit like the live action Sailor Moon stuff and fans would’ve loved it!

Bonus: The fact that they didn’t have to change anything to make it ‘Dark’!

So like. Netflix decided to take all the color out of it, and make it ‘dark’ by having the characters smoke and drink and have sex and say swears. 

But they.... really didn’t have to! The original cartoon was plenty dark, despite it’s colorful aesthetic! If you wanted to do a more serious reboot, you could have easily done it by focusing more on those aspects. 

Hell, there are many fans who have done it. I’m one. I know a couple others as well. 

anyway it’s 2:30 am and this is long af so I’ll leave it at that. 

[irandomblogfulb]

FATE: What happens when you get a bunch of middle aged white guys to adapt a cartoon for girls

Well, I just went through 6 hours of fate and I have a lot of opinions on it. Yeah, this is going to be long (slightly under 3k words) so putting it under read more and obvious spoilers.

PSA before delving right in:

1) Yes, I will be comparing to the original. Any comparisons are not through rose-tinted nostalgia glasses. There are parts here and there that I genuinely think were done better in the cartoon on a writing standpoint.

2) This is purely my opinion and overall negative. Don't like it? Don't read. I'm all up for discussion but I don't want another person crying to me about how I “ruined” their experience of the show.

3) If you like Fate then good for you. This isn’t me bashing people who like it. 

I've spit it up into sub sections just for my own convince.

1. The problem with the 'I'm not like other girls' trope

This pertains to the entire Bloom-Sky-Stella love triangle. I wasn't as pressed about it compared to other winxers (and I loved Stella's and Brandon's relationship on my rewatch). In fact, I was okay with it. But then I sat down and watched the show and there's a lot of underlying problems with the love triangle. Particularly pitting Bloom and Stella against each other for Sky's affection.

Now this part of the love triangle I already didn't like. Correct me if I'm wrong, since I dropped the OG Winx after season 5 but the Winx while they did have their conflicts and arguments, never fought over a boy. I really appreciated that from the cartoon so seeing that live action would fall into that trap – I was mildly annoyed at that. Then it hit me. It's Bloom and Stella.

The seemingly ordinary girl vs the pristine princess of Solaria. If the title didn't give it away, you should get the point by now. Others have already called it by now but the "I'm not like other girl's" trope in itself, while seemingly feminist is actually misogynist. Saying the more masculine type of girl is better than the feminine is inherently misogynist. Stella, the prime princess, girly and feminine, is villainized by the love triangle. Sky's and Stella's relationship is toxic and Stella's overt co-dependence and jealousy are already big fat red signs - but Sky's and Bloom's relationship is built on how she's "different". Bloom isn't like Stella, she's "real".

2. Am I supposed to like Riven?

As the title puts it, wtf am I supposed to feel about Riven. Is he supposed to be a good guy? Do I root for him? Is he morally ambiguous? Because holy shit compared to OG!Riven, this guy is diabolical and much much worse! OG!Riven is an asshole and he teams up with the trix but his arc was very simple and easy to understand. He joins the bad guys, distances himself from the good guys, the trix betray his ass, he self-reflects in the dungeon - escapes and redeems himself. Net!Riven is so bad to the point where you can't redeem him and the writers don't even try. Freddie Thorp is good in his role. (however, he definitely doesn't pass for a 17-year-old. He's 26 and it shows) and he actually makes the cringe dialogue work. But he's way too diabolical and downright predatory. The scene where he forces Dane to gulp down his spiked drink - it’s worse seeing it than reading it. That grossed me out more than the gore.

What makes it worse, nobody properly calls him out. Beatrix kinda does on his homophobia – “Homophobic bashing by GIF” - and Sky does chastise him, but they still tolerate him. It is kinda funny in a way Sky has a whole ass arc about how he's enabling Stella's problematic behaviour by still dating her after she blinded her friend but doesn't realize he's doing the same for Riven.

The only person that really puts her foot down with Riven is Terra and nobody takes her seriously about anything she says.

Everyone is very laissez-faire around him and that's not how you respond to your friend being problematic. (Hey, kinda like the other girls sans Aisha are with Bloom!) Everyone surrounding Riven is so disgusting and the notion of him supposedly being a good guy is very hard to buy into. His whole relationship with Dane has a section of it’s own because there’s just a lot to unpack.

3. Stella I am so sorry

I'm also in the majority hating how they've tarnished Stella. Basically, they turned her into the stereotypical rich bully with mommy issues.

I get that Stella has an abusive mom but that’s no excuse to be a total bitch to her roommates. And no, her roommates shouldn't accept her back with open arms. And she doesn't even redeem herself - the girls just accept her back after her mom pulls her from Alfea.

And this is also another issue with the writing were the characters suddenly just change their opinions on a whim. Suddenly Stella likes the winx, suddenly Terra misses Stella even though having that girl literally gives her anxiety. Suddenly Aisha's on Bloom's side in the end.

This isn't me simping for the cartoon out of nostalgia. I was mostly okay with the idea of Stella and Sky hooking up. But Looking at it from a creative standpoint - looking at the source material, and the many paths you can take this character, the best thing Brian Young and co. can think of for her was turning her into the stereotypical rich bully that we've seen time and time again? No deconstruction no meta take, it's played out exactly how you’d expect it.

Again, this isn't me simping for the show. Purely from a creative standpoint Stella was such a major let down. There's so much to the character and Brian Young took the easiest, saturated path.

4. That one scene with Bloom's parents

You know the one. Mike unhinges Bloom's bedroom doors and Vanessa cusses out and insults her child like a petty teen bully. Forgetting how utterly cringey that scene was, you can't have her mom go batshit insane on her child, then act like she's this loving parent that cares so deeply about her daughter. Screw that! Vanessa deserved those 3rd degree burns! She invaded her daughter's privacy. Bloom didn't even do anything wrong!

I can't buy into this narrative of Vanessa and Mike being loving parents when they do something like that. Seriously who thought that was okay?

5. Pity Parties for everyone.

I already discussed this in Stella’s section but I don’t like the “it’s okay for me be a shitty person because my life sucks :)” narrative Fate tries to pull. They did it with Stella, Bloom, Riven.

What I liked about the first season of Winx Club is Bloom’s arc and her character as a whole. Because while she went through shit, from the Trix, to finding out she was adopted, her existential crisis, not feeling like she belonged, losing the dragon flame, she went through a lot. She didn’t throw a pity party. She didn’t whine, bitch and complain. She allowed herself to feel upset, took it as it is and tried to make lemonade out of lemons. And I respect that.

Net!Bloom is agrevating. She does some dumb, reckless stuff but it’s excused because she’s the protagonist? She let the war criminal out, the school gets taken over by the bad guys because of Bloom. Faragonda fucking dies because she let the war criminal out! The burned ones attacked the school because she let the war criminal out!!! But no, Aisha’s villainized for calling Bloom out because Bloom’s existential crisis is more important then anything else.

Getting to Sky, he isn’t as bad as the others. He doesn’t become a shitty person because of his problems. (Though lowkey flirting with Bloom while he hooks up with Stella is uh not good.) But he does come across incredibly whiny. Because of the cringey dialogue and the unnecessary swearing  I can’t take his speech on opening up to Bloom seriously. I laughed throughout the whole thing and Bloom leaving his unconscious body there was the icing on the cake.

One of the few characters that deserved a pity party is Terra. She’s very much like OG!Bloom in a way. She is bullied by Dane and Riven, has body insecurities, anxiety, nobody listens to her and at most only tolerates her. Despite all the crap that is thrown her way she still reminds humble, kind, and respectful. And she is one of the few characters that deserves more support than what she got out of the season.

5. Bloom, Aisha, Tokenism and their awful relationship

I’m going to be upfront, their relationship sucks. The core of their dynamic is what Aisha can do for Bloom. It’s very one-sided. Bloom only goes to Aisha to help solve her problems, which Aisha gladly does – but when Aisha disagrees with Bloom or says something Bloom doesn’t like, Bloom suddenly goes off and Aisha’s made to be the bad guy. Even though she’s right? And Aisha has her own problems as well, shown to also struggle with her powers. But nope, that’s pushed to the back burner because Bloom needs help.

I am all for creative freedom. I can stomach Stella x actual Sky. I can stomach turning Stella into a rich mean girl. I can stomach the dark academia aesthetic but what Brian Young and co. did to Aisha is just plain racist. Screw the “it’s an adaptation” excuse. Turning this character who had a rich storyline and was a princess into a white girl’s magical negro who fixes all her problems is racist and by definition tokenism. And by whitewashing the other two characters of color, making Aisha the only poc in the group – that’s the worst thing you can do to her.

And frankly we need more black princesses on screen.

6. Dane and the homophobia of the show

Towards the show’s climax it’s revealed Dane is helping Beatrix because she accepts he’s “different”. Not only does this go back to my pity party rant but like bruh,

1)      Beatrix never really did anything for Dane? She hung out and smoked with him a bit, but that’s all. You’re telling me Terra wouldn’t accept Dane? Beatrix never helped him and he never really opened up to her about his struggles.

2)      Nobody else, not even background characters bully or harass Dane for being “different”. It’s only Riven, the guy he’s crushing on. The whole falling in love with the bad boy/abuser trope is bad in a hetero relationship and that still stands for a gay one. And I know damn well if Dane was a woman half of the shit Riven did to Dane wouldn’t slide.

It makes no sense for Dane to side with the bad guys when Riven’s the one bullying him and Beatrix is complacent in the bullying. Oh, and having your second black* character who’s also lgbt+/potentially questioning be a villain? Not good.

I’m all for gay and poly rep, but not like this. If Stella and Sky’s toxic relationship is going to be called out for what it is, why not Dane’s?

*Idk if Theo Graham is light-skinned black or biracial so I’ll just refer to him as black.

7. The plot

It’s very predictable. Personally, wasn’t fond of the ‘twist of a twist of a twist’ style of writing. The story tries to be nuanced and deep but it’s not. Common sense is treated like a big revelation. Not trusting the war criminal you barely know isn’t as big of a take that the writers try to make it out to be.

8.  Everything else

·       Beatrix is fine. No Icy but did like the gothic bookworm aesthetic.

·       Sam is just there to be Musa’s love interest and provide some dumb drama between Musa and Terra. I thought they’d go the Edward/Bella root – Musa’s drawn to Sam because she can’t sense his emotions for some reason. Nope, they just get together for the obligatory make out sessions. Don’t care much for the relationship or the character.

·       Since the powers are all elemental shouldn’t there be classes purely for an elemental? Classes purely for fire fairies, etc?

·       Musa’s powers are confusing. If she has no control over them and they are “always on”, shouldn’t her eyes constantly be glowing purple?  Very wishy washy. Sometimes they overwhelm her and other times she has complete control. Her character is just there for plot stuff.

·       Terra is one of the better characters but can’t enjoy her knowing about the whitewashing. Why can’t we have a plus sized character just exist and not have body issues?

·       Sky doesn’t feel like a prince. Characters treat him like his dad is a war hero and not the King of Eraklyon. There was a point where I thought I misheard and thought his dad was just a war hero and not a king.

·       Why try to justify Rosalind’s war crime if she’s going to be the big bad anyways?

·       The way the characters treat death/act around death is very weird. Musa and Terra see a pile of dead bodies and they’re unreasonable calm. Especially Bloom an “ordinary teenage girl from earth”, reacts very nonchalant when death and war crimes are brought up. Doesn’t help the show tries to push this “they’re kids fighting a war” narrative.

·       Can’t buy into the girls’ friendship. The Aisha/Bloom dynamic is centred on what Aisha can do for Bloom. Bloom only cares about herself and only goes to her friends to help with her problems. Most of Musa’s and Terra’s interaction centre around Sam. Stella didn’t care for the girls until her mom showed up and pulled a 180. The girls were quick to turn on Aisha when she sided with the adults.

·       I have no problem with technology existing but why do they have Instagram, Tiktok and Tumblr? The otherworld is a completely separated from Earth, why do they have the same technology?  

9. Brian Young, what do you mean by mature?

I grew up on the 4kids dub before transitioning to the Nick dub for season 4 and 5 then dropping the cartoon for good. So naturally on my rewatch of the cartoon I decided to go watch the RAI dub since I heard it’s more accurate and 4Kids are infamous for their horrid localisations straying too much to the source material. Upon finishing season 1 and currently watching season 2, a few things took me by surprise. For one, the cartoon is surprisingly dark. The schools are at war with the Trix and their army of Darkness, Sky almost dies in Season 2, Riven almost dies and the Trix thinks he suicided, it’s heavily implied in Season 2 Darkar murdered some of the pixies, the paedophilic undertones of Bloom and Avalon’s relationship, the list goes on.

When the interview with Brian Young came out, he said Fate would be a mature take on the cartoon. And I wondered, what did he meant by mature? Was he going to delve deeper into the darker aspects of the show, or did he mean he was going to have the girls swear and have sex? Watching Fate, I found my answer.

If you take out the gore, swearing, drug and alcohol usage from the live action, the maturity is on par with the RAI dub. The difference is in the presentation. This is what sucks about the mentality surrounding live action remakes. Because the OG!Winx was colourful with glittery transformations , was super girly and overall had a positive upbeat tone (not forgetting 2D animated) - it can’t be taken seriously. You have to strip all that, the colour, the kindness, the femininity in order to be deemed mature.

10. Wrapping up

I went into Fate expecting the worst and honestly, it wasn’t that bad. There were things I liked about it. The show looks pretty, and I did like what they were trying to do with Sky’s arc. The actors did what they could with the material. Freddie Thorp made the cringe dialogue work and Abigail Cowen proves she can carry a show as the lead.

Fate is your generic, YA, dark academia show. It follows all the tropes of the YA genre to a T. If that’s your niche, then you’ll love Fate and I’m not bashing anyone who liked it.

For me, as a creative, it doesn’t capitalise on the strengths of the source material. I’m not asking for Winx Club again, as I’ve reiterated, I’m all for creative freedom. But Brian Young, Iginio Straffi, whoever worked on this – they could’ve created something new, innovative, something that stood out from the hordes of other YA shows. They had good material in their hands! But what I got -  I’ve seen before, and I’ve seen it done better. That’s a major disappointment.

As a winx club fan, don’t bother watching this. It’s a very diluted version of the Winx. In trying to capture the interest of the adult fans who grew up with the franchise – Iginio showed how out of touch he is if he thinks this is what they wanted.

#fate the winx saga #netwinx #back on my winx club bs #long post #this took me like 4 days to write

[mn0tes]

TATTLE GAMES🐮

⚠️May contain SPOILERS of The Promised Neverland (TPN) ⚠️

“Let’s run away together”

What is the “Identity V” mobile game?

Identity V is a survival horror multiplayer game designed for children 12 +. The story revolves around a detective who is solving a mystery behind a sinister game held within an abandoned manor. The game setup revolves around matches between 4 survivors and 1 hunter or 8 survivors and 2 hunters (depending on the mode). Basically to win, the hunter must kill 3 or 6 survivors or at least 3 or 6 survivors must escape before the game ends. The player can level up his/her characters by playing and winning matches. The rewards earned from the games can be used to upgrade the skill of the characters, receive items, obtain costumes, and many more.

Why I advice TPN fans to play this game and participate in the event?

If you are an avid TPN fan, I advice you to start playing this game before the “The Promised Neverland” crossover event takes place sometime in February or early Spring of 2021 but the exact date is yet to be announced. I just estimated those dates based on the deadline of the pre-registration. In my opinion, to fully enjoy this event, you’ve got to be familiar with the controls, mechanics, and intensity of the game before the awaited event so that it wouldn’t surprise you. 😉 Let me tell you, the game is intense especially for gamers who aren’t used to this genre. It’s an adrenaline pumping game that involves a lot of running around, hide and seek, and prompt decision making that will get new users addicted to it. All I can say is, a good battle strategy comes in handy in these games. Sounds familiar? Yeah! Just like in TPN, your practically playing tag with your enemy. Your strategy as a killer or a survivor matters a lot if you want to win and reap the rewards of your victory. For me, this game reminds me a lot of the Goldy Pond Battle Arc but unlike in the Manga, the number of players (hunters and survivors) are greater in TPN. Emma and the other survivor’s task is different compared to the game because they have to stay alive within the alloted killing time instead of just deciphering machines and activating exits to escape the game area. In Emma‘s case though, they are literally trapped and living in Goldy Pond, the bloody arena! They can’t escape! I’m excited to see how this plays out in the event because NetEase Inc. might alter the basic mechanics of the game to follow the main story of TPN so it’s something to look forward to. Another thing to look forward to are the costumes, items, and other rewards that are based on the TPN characters that you all love and cherish!!! 🥳 HOW COOL IS THAT! 🤩 Fans may get a chance to earn Grace Field costumes or maybe an Emma sleeve. 😭 I’m looking forward on seeing an Emma-looking survivor doll running away from a Leuvis-looking hunter doll or maybe a Norman-looking survivor doll rescuing an Emma-looking survivor doll. 😍 Heck, I think it’s the other way around but it’s still soooo CUTE. 🥲

How do I take part in this event?

It’s easy, just bind your game ID number in the pre-registration page. It’s totally free too!

How do I obtain a game ID number?

The game ID can be obtained if your already an Identity V player. The game ID number is shown underneath your user name in the settings menu. If your not a player, you need to download the mobile game first and start the game. Don’t worry, your not going to be thrown in the killing arena right off the bat.

What is the Manor IQ Test?

The Manor IQ Test is a teaser game for fans to enjoy while waiting for the crossover event. It’s a super hard, time pressured IQ Test that enables fans to experience the difficulty level of the test the premium cattle kids have to take every morning. I advice switching on the sound effects because it adds up to the creepy factor and the pressure of getting a perfect score. 😰

How to get a perfect score in the Manor IQ Test to avoid getting shipped out?

If your a fan of the series, you know the importance of getting a perfect score in every test. Perfect score = another day to live (in their case, it’s 3 months to live until the time when they turn 12 and their hard earn scores are deemed useless). 🤬

I feel you Ray 😣 so, I’m sharing the answer key to you guys. 🤫 Following this will ensure you to earn a “perfect scorer” title. 😬

Several Survivors stand in a line. If the Explorer is 15th in line counting from both left and right, how many Survivors are in the line? Answer: 29

Emily is older than Martha, and both of their ages contain the number "2". The sum of the two numbers in Martha's age is less than 4, Martha is two years younger than Emma, and the sum of these three ladies' ages is 74. How old are Emily, Martha, and Emma? Answer: 32, 20, and 22

What number completes the pattern? Answer: 16

There is a box in front of you that contains an abundance of perfume, syringes, and flashlights. You can only get one item from the box each time you open it. How many times do you need to open the box to guarantee two of the same item? Answer: 4

What number completes this pattern? Answer: 3

Figure 1 (front view) and Figure 2 (top-down view) are two views of a structure built with cubes of the same size. At least how many cubes are used to build this structure? Answer: 17

Mike the Acrobat has 6 juggling balls- 2 black, 2 white, 2 red. The Mind's Eye takes 4 random juggling balls out of his room each time and always puts one back before taking another. After four entries/exits, what are the chances of her getting 2 black juggling balls, 1 white juggling ball, and 1 red juggling ball? Answer: 4/27

Which figure completes the pattern? (circle, triangle, and square ver.) Answer: (the first option) square, triangle, and circle.

Fold Cowboy's lasso twice and cut it from the middle. How many sections are there? Answer: 5

Survivors A, B, and C have different professions; one is a lawyer, one is a magician, and one is a painter. The Hunters made guesses about who does what: Hell Ember: A is the painter, and B is the lawyer. Bloody Queen: A is the lawyer, and C is the painter. The Ripper: A is the magician, and B is the painter. It turns out that each of them was right about one of the survivors. Therefore, what is the correct profession for each Survivor? Answer: A. Magician, B. Lawyer, C. Painter

Which figure completes the pattern? (boxes and lines ver.) Answer: (the last option) square with a horizontal line in the middle

Each icon below represents a number. What is the sum of the three icons? Answer: 8

How many sides are there when a tetrahedron is attached to an equilateral square pyramid with the sides that share the same area? Answer: 5

Based on the information below, what is YY? Answer: 0

What figure completes the pattern? Answer: (the third option) The triangle with four triangles in the center

After getting your score, make sure to scroll down to unlock the special chapter.

Enjoy and Be creeped out!

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Because the reality is you’ve been shipped out!

Yes! That’s the hard truth the TPN characters faced. The scores didn’t matter! At the end of the day, their still meat, a merchandise that must be consumed. The demons and caretakers gave them false hope that there is a way out, a chance to have a future but holding on to that illusion and fake happiness will lead the kids to their doom. It’s such a cruel world! I hope that they will be able to capture that sad reality of deception in the upcoming event and I know they will. The other dilemma that’s been perfectly portrayed in this game is “Work together vs Betray your comrades to ensure your safety”. Have you ever wondered why it’s not required for all 4 survivors to escape the game? Well, it’s just practical and realistic that way, right? But it also mean that the three players can offer up their last teammate as sacrifice to distract the hunter while they escape. (Just like what Ray thought during the Jail break Arc, he was willing to be the bait to distract Mama while the others escape.)

I’m looking forward in seeing you in the game as my teammate or AS MY VICTIM!!! Don’t worry, I’m still learning the game so I’m usually a dumb hunter or an airhead teammate. 😓 (Sorry but I’m working on it!)

If you noticed my username “MN0tes” in the game, be kind enough and let me know maybe we can even create a group or something. 😎

#the promised neverland #identity v #identity v and the promised neverland crossover event #identity v crossover event #yakusoku no neverland #tpn manga #tpn anime #tpn norman #tpn ray #tpn emma #tpn demons #let’s run away together #shipped out #false hope #Manor IQ test #superhard #must escape #fake happiness #killing game #hide and seek #playing tag with your enemy #goldy pond #tpn lucas #betray your comrades to ensure your safety #it’s lit #Ray the bait #thepromisedisland

[juliagoddesswicker]

so here’s the thing about queliot and queer representation in media (alternatively, ella has been reading too many philosophy papers for class recently)

I know we as a community have talked this to death but I’m still angry and dissapointed and this most recent episode solved some of the issues I had re: Quentin’s death but brought up more

at this point, i don’t think we can say they were queerbaiting, because both the characters involved were canonically queer and canonically in love! incredible! I’m not nuts, the queer community watching was not nuts, Mike Moore is the crazy one for calling them friends after writing life in the day AND happy place. it is important and validating that eliot acknowledged that he and q were in love (for a really really long time, mind you) and that alice acknowledges that she knew and that she accepted this about q!! I love that! I live for that, I breathe for that.

but why couldn’t this conversation have happened, I don’t know, two seasons ago? between alice and q, for example? or eliot and margo? or eliot and quentin??? unfortunately the answer, my dear friends, as it so often is, is homophobia.

if quentin and eliot were a man and a woman, their storyline wouldn’t have gone like this. it simply wouldn’t have happened. can anyone think about a straight pair who clearly had feelings for each other, had a relationship that was far more than friendship, but it wasn’t ever textually acknowledged outside of two (2) episodes (three of you count the threesome) after four years? because I can’t. I’m a sucker for a slow burn but come the fuck on. if a life in the day happened with a straight pairing, the story would be completely different. at the very least, a *textual* love triangle would develop, and would be central to the story. if they were a straight couple, quentin would’ve been allowed to say that they couldn’t let eliot die because he was in love with him in season 4. and if they were a straight couple they would almost certainly have gotten a reunion before q died, even if q did still die.

the writers can say it has nothing to do with them both being dudes until they’re blue in the face - they’re wrong. if they weren’t, q kissing/sleeping with/living a life with eliot wouldnt be written off as confusion, or experimentation, or “a profound relationship that transcends romance” or whatever. Mike Moore himself said that when they kissed quentin was just experimenting with the boundaries of their relationship (and realizing that’s not what he wanted??? or something???). they’ve already had sex! are you fucking with me??? and don’t even get me started on hymen-type reddit bros. if they weren’t two dudes, it would be no question that they were in love OR AT LEAST romantic interests for each other. their relationship would’ve been discussed as often as alice and Quentin’s OR AT LEAST as often as Kady and penny or julia and penny, or Margo and josh. margo and josh fucked once and got more screentime and space to discuss their relationship than quentin and eliot did after living an entire life together. how can you say this has nothing to do with the fact that it’s a queer relationship?

now, quentin is dead. so now, it’s safe to acknowledge that he and eliot were in love. because them being together is no longer a viable option. eliot gets to be a grieving queer person to pity and dab at your eyes over and say “oh how sad, they never had a chance”, because their relationship is no longer a threat to straight viewers. they were (officially) not queerbaiting, so they have (officially) played into the bury your gays trope. I’m sick of queer characters only getting to say I love you after death. it’s boring, and it’s tired, and it’s exhausting. 

I loved this episode. I’m grateful for this episode. Hale and Olivia were both incredible, and it was amazing that eliot and Quentin’s relationship was finally held in parallel to alice and Quentin’s relationship. but it should’ve been since 3x05, at the latest. so yeah, I’m still angry.

#i promised ya'll a thesis lmao #the magicians #the magicians critical #queliot #season 5 spoilers