#please guys just let me have this

[marvel-starwarsfangirl]

Why Crosshair Will Live

(aka an essay by a Crosshair girlie who loves her clone husband too much)

So, I've been thinking long and hard about the final season and how it could end. Obviously, it's gonna be an emotional rollercoaster and all that. However, there's always going to be discourse about who's gonna bite it, especially since our main characters don't have plot armor and this show is allowed to go way darker than Rebels. Crosshair is my favorite character and I don't hide that at all. He's all over my page. But looking at his character, there's a part of me that believes he actually might make it out in one piece. Let's get started!

"Redemption Equals Death"- Out of all the tropes, this is the one Crosshair embodies the most. He was the villain for a season, but now he's changing his ways. In past seasons, I would've said this is how his story ends. His brothers find him and Omega on Tantiss and he goes out protecting them, proving he deep down he still loved them. But after season 3, I don't think that's the case anymore. I think he's passed the point. Crosshair in season 3 is actively redeeming himself through his actions and words with his family and the other clones. We don't need to see him go out in some big self-sacrifice because we already see the person he truly is inside. More importantly, his family sees the person he's become. He's already proven it in so many ways. Crosshair openly admitted his mistakes, saved Hunter from the wyrm, is very protective of Omega, and saved his brothers, Omega, and Rex + Howzer from CX-2. At this point, Crosshair has passed the "redemption equals death" marker. His redemption is playing out and the people around him are seeing the changes.

His Character Arc- Crosshair's character arc has always been about loyalty and identity. Go all the way back to season 1 with the infamous "this is who I am" line and his whole spiel about the Batch not being loyal to him. "Aftermath" shows us this poor man already beginning to struggle. In season 2, Crosshair is going through every hurt no comfort fic trope in the book. This man was pushed to the brink, with every sense of his being questioned. And he almost didn't make it. Crosshair in "The Outpost" was so close to dying after trekking through the blizzard and shooting Nolan. He's suffered through so much already from being severely burnt to freezing, and now almost drowning. Pretty much half way through season 3 and Crosshair's trials aren't over. His hand is still bothering him and he's still trying to find himself.

Although Crosshair has made peace with his family, I believe he still needs to make peace with himself. He's been humbled sure, but there's more to go. Who is he if he isn't a soldier or sharpshooter? Crosshair's arc will probably finish with him realizing being a soldier isn't entirely who he is. His hand tremor still could be related to his internal conflict, we don't know. So far, he's doing a great job. We've seen Crosshair begin to find peace on Pabu and comfort with Omega. It would be so satisfying to see him make it out of this mess alive. My best BB ending would be him (and his brothers) alongside Omega retired somewhere. They have each other and that is enough.

His Poster and Theme- Crosshair is the only character as of right now in the Batch who has a separate poster for season 3. Not even Omega has a separate one (although I can see her getting one later). In fact, Omega shares her with Crosshair. Both are wearing their prison outfits, showing their shared situation and stand against a white/grey backdrop. We also see Cross gripping his right hand, referring to the issue he's having with it. However, he also has one of himself in the same golden lighting as his brothers. Crosshair stares at his helmet with a calm look on his face and appears to be contemplating. That has to mean something. From my POV, I get the sense he's wondering about who he is. Wouldn't it be a great ending if Cross finds himself and lives to see that self be happy?

He is also the only member of the Batch (Omega aside) to have his own theme/leitmotif. He has two actually: his Imperial one and his heroic one. His heroic theme aka the "Mayday" theme is stunning and highlights his struggle perfectly. You can actually hear it in season 1 fun fact but it's faint. The fact that he does have a separate poster and theme from the others does give me hope that he will make it. Not to say that the others aren't important, but something about Crosshair and his journey is very meaningful to have warranted this. You can argue that he shares the title of "heart of the show" to some degree because his arc is the most dynamic of all the Batch. His struggles and fight back towards the light truly raise this show to greatness.

Crosshair is also season 3's "Batcher of Year" award and so far, they're doing everything we wanted and more. For two whole seasons, his character has been building and building towards this season. And they better give us a great payoff. Crosshair's character going to continue to soar as the season progresses. I can definitely see him making it through to the end because of the focus on him.

Omega- how can we forget about the kid who never gave up on our grumpy sniper? Omega (and we can argue Cross to a lesser degree) is the heart of the show. She gives the Batch a new outlook on life and it is through her that they grow and change. Omega brings out the paternal and softer side in each of her brothers. Crosshair, however, takes a bit longer to get there. He's the only character whose main development happens away from Omega. When he finally gets home, he becomes Crossdad. But Omega is still a kid, despite her capabilities. If the other Batchers die, who will take care of her? Omega being on her own just doesn't feel right. We also know going off with Rex wouldn't feel satisfying either even though he would take really good care of her.

Now that Crosshair is back, it feels like the show is propping him up to take over Hunter's role. Hunter parented for 2 whole seasons. As the mentor figure, he might bite it. But wait! Crosshair is still here. There is no way the writers would just let Omega finish alone or get killed off. She will have someone with her. Crosshair, having spent the majority of the show away, will probably be the best candidate narratively speaking. As mentioned above, he gets two posters showing just how integral he is this season. He's also been getting a lot of screen time with Omega. So, I can definitely see the show ending with just the two of them left. It would be bittersweet, but still satisfying.

Disney- let's ask the question: would Disney kill off an entire family aside from their child? My best guess is no (this isn't a Disney movie with a prince to save the day). Tying into my last point, I can't see this family-friendly company letting a literal child lose her entire family and end up all alone in the end. We all saw Rogue One and we know that this is a plausible option. However, I'm beginning to think that they aren't gonna do that because again, Omega is a child. She's gonna hopefully have one, if not all, her brothers alongside her. And I swear, if they give her to someone else not named Crosshair, Hunter, Wrecker, or Echo, I will blow a gasket. She needs her family. Disney and Star Wars is all about hope and it's not very hopeful to me if all of the BB but Omega dies.

Rebuttal- let's get this out of the way: if Cross dies, it will be with his brothers, protecting Omega, and defeating Hemlock. There is literally no other way he could go out that would be satisfying. He's redeemed and fought the Ghost of Crosshair's Future (aka CX-2). Backpedaling on his character arc would suck. If he dies, it will be as a Bad Batcher, a loving brother, and the best sniper the galaxy has ever seen.

But I don't think that will happen. I do genuinely think Crosshair has a chance to survive. But what do you guys think? Obviously, I'll still be nervous about the whole thing, but I'm trying here.

#star wars #the bad batch #tbb crosshair #please guys just let me have this #crosshair will live #im manifesting this right now #he will be ok #he and omega will be together #and all will be well #jennifer do you hear me #let's get our prayer circle and hold hands #tbb omega #tbb meta #tbb analysis

[gremnda]

Hello Ethubs nation :]

no text version

#gremnda art #this is the silliest thing i've drawn in a while and i am so happy w it #i just read a heavy angst fic with etho and bdubs #this is my way of coping guys let me have this #ethubs #hermitshipping #trafficshipping #ethoslab #bdoubleo100 #oo look at me go making ship art #guys im from dsmp fandom i feel like im committing an actual crime by drawing ship art #please be nice i will cry

[aroaceleovaldez]

we should make Nico more fucked up, actually. enough woobifying him. that boy should be covered in blood and viscera

#pjo #riordanverse #nico di angelo #we've done ''nico ships where his partner coddles and takes care of him while he heals from the innumerable trauma'' #now let's do more ''nico ships where his partner helps him move past his trauma and enables him to be gay do crime'' #more nico ships where nico is having his big 3 kid force-of-nature moments and his boyfriend goes ''HOT'' #whatever happened to ''Will and Nico's first date was killing a man together. also Michael was there'' #even stuff like. [tsats spoilers] getting all your negative attributes physically ripped out of you and turned into immortal creatures #that perhaps could leave you Changed! give me Nico who had the darkness taken from him #and it leaves him just a little unsettlingly bright and empty like a partial husk of himself #give me Nico whose cacodaemons can reabsorb back into him like he's their walking nest to hide in and emerge from whenever they please #he's just left an unsettling host for shadow monsters of pain and trauma #that's just one avenue. Nico's the spooky guy let him be spooky! #im constantly rotating just normal Nico operating on underworld laws/logic/mortality in my brain #make him WEIRDER

[anastacialy]

tracked down this clip just because of this post! have jokes from skizz and scar

#i spent way longer than id like to admit doing these captions. autocaptions was completely busted so i did em manually #please let me know if i missed / should change anything! #i am a person who needs captions trying to make captions for others lmfao. are the colors ok? too subtle? i wanted them legible still but #anyways sdkjhg here have this #txtly described #(bc i made the captions) #though i will probably also add a video descrip later just. not rn sorry guys #also blease if you can find the post LINK ME i have been searching the tag for ages #hermitcraft #skizzleman #goodtimeswithscar #grian #edit: thank you to the person who linked the post!! :D #second edit: yall ive been trying to swap the video out for the corrected one and it wont swap help

[gabe-lovebot]

councilor 3D model

i learnt 3d modelling from the ground up to bring him to life. he's yours now. do whatever you want with him

[link]

please credit me if you make something using the model (or even ping/link me to it, i would love to see what you made!)

currently available as a .blend, .fbx and an SFM port.

#hello councilnation i'm finally releasing him to the wild #have fun playing toys with him #ultrakill #councilor #councilor ultrakill #3d stuff #obviously with the councilor having just 1 full body image of him means that some stuff i had to improvise on #so you get to enjoy my headcanons on how he looks #(like obviously the wings & halo) #(but also the chestplate design) #but did you know that the councilor's canon design has subtle engravings on his forearm armor pieces? #i only barely noticed them when painting textures and i was floored #i had to add them #to the sfm anon and whoever else wants to use this for sfm stuff- #i did my best with a port for sfm and i'm quite proud of the result #but please be aware i have never used it before so if you find that something doesn't work as it should please please let me know!! #gonna pour my heart out in tags as always so close your eyes if you don't wanna see me being sentimental but #i'm not kidding when i say i learnt 3d modelling from the ground up for this #i have meddled with blender before but never actually came close to finishing a project #and i don't know how i did it and how i kept going #(i do know) (it was my friend encouraging me every time i showed him progress) #this was like 1 entire month in the making #but i'm so fucking proud of this and how it turned out and people's tags in my act 2 render genuinely were such a huge confidence boost #so thank you guys for liking it <3 #i'm still very much thinking of doing a version with just his bloodied head #but it might take a while because i want a break and i want to play warframe

[neometalsilver]

say what you will about ian flynn but him saying that shadow isnt facing "gay allegations" hes facing "gay observations" was fucking real as shit. god bless you mr flynn

#i knowwww bumblekast is just some guys opinons and not endorsed by sega i KNOWWW BUT LET ME HAVE THIS #please #to me. gay shadow is canon. #anyway #sonic #sonic the hedgehog #sth #shadow the hedgehog #shth

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

MDZS Height Poll: Who is (technically) the tallest character. Please remember that these polls are for fun!

#mdzs #poll #Please remember that I WILL see notes and comments and reblogs. Let's have fun with this clearly very silly poll! #I am begging everyone to be nice. We can get icecream afterwards if we all behave. #Propaganda is welcome if you dare take up the bat to swing at the hornet's nest. #As always - I will have a little comic at the end of this poll based on the results!!! #I'm so tempted to sway votes but the beauty is in the community response. You guys always surprise me! #Will the winner be based on technicality? WHO'S technicality? So many choices! #NHS and JGY are a big mood for being 'tall' but labeled short due to being surrounded by 'very tall' people. #Shout out to my little cousin who's a natural 6'1"and STILL wears the 6 inch heels. That's feminism. #I wanted to have the next poll be 'who's in the middle of the bed in the 3zun relationship' but I need to draw for that one. #it's been a rough week for me. Comic resumes tomorrow though - I just have not been home to upload anything via scanner. #I'm alright I promise B'*) Just a chaotic lifestyle. Hope you have all been well <3

[slavhew]

you win. try again?

#homestuck #home2t4ck #hom3stuck #dave strider #bro strider #beta bro #abuse #blood #admin draws #fanart #uhh i dont usually say this but please dont tag as ship lmao #i usually live and let live but this is a domestic abuse situation. i wouldnt really be cool with that. #that out of the way. so many thoughts about these 2 #its like. bro is a bad guardian right. hes just more than shit at it. #but it never felt to me like it was malicious. hes doing irreparable damage but its something he thinks is necessary #or is unaware of the extent of it. either way. #i feel like in this situation he'd be proud of his little bro. lil guy did something impressive after all. #who cares that he himself got hurt for it. like even tho he might realize this is upsetting for dave. he might hope that its vindicating #but its not. dave is just horrified. because its just violence #defeating the villain and being the hero doesnt feel good. it never has #OUGHGHG anyways i drew more. today it felt like pulling teeth but i have too many ideas and theyre getting otu on the canvas one way #or another

[ironunderstands]

ACHERON AND DR. RATIO HAVE THE EXACT SAME PHILOSOPHY IM GONNA BITE SOMEONE

‼️2.2 spoilers‼️

If you are like me, when you got to Acheron’s conversation with the trailblazer in front of the manifestation of IX, you tried to resist over tables BECAUSE AAAAAAAUGHH WHAT DO YOU MEAN

Look, LIKE JUST LOOK

This is part of Ratios conversation with Screwllum in the 1.6 questline:

PAY ATTENTION TO THE LAST ONE BECAUSE

GUESS WHO ECHOES IT WHEN WE TALK TO HER IN 2.2:

IS THIS NOT THE SAME? ARE THEY NOT SAYING THE EXACT SAME THING? THAT YOU SHOULD GIVE PEOPLE THE TOOLS TO HELP THEMSELVES, THEN LEAVE THEM ALONE SO THEY CAN SAVE THEMSELVES AND FORGE THEIR OWN FUTURE? THAT THEY BOTH BELIEVE THAT WHEN PEOPLE ARE LEFT ALONE TO FEND FOR THEMSELVES DO THEY SHOW THEIR TRUE STRENGTH?!?

Like this lines especially are just AAAAGHH literal bar for bar repeating one another

SERIOUSLY, SERIOUSLY WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD DOCTOR AS THE SAME OUTLOOK ON HUMANITY AS A LITERAL EMANATOR OF NIHILITY?!?!

An emanator of Nihility WHO SHOULD’NT EXIST

An emanator of Nihility looking to kill IX and find the Existence on the other side of them.

AND HIS VIEWS ARE CREEPILY SIMILAR TO HERS?

Fuck it, Ratio isn’t just accidentally striding the path of Nihility.

He’s accidentally striding the path of Existence.

Nous be damned the reason why this man was never acknowledged by the Erudition is because he’s striding a Path so starkly different to it that the person who resembles him the most shouldn’t even be there either.

No wonder his in game path is Hunt instead of Erudtion, if he’s this similar to Acheron than her singleminded drive to end IX mirrors that of his to spread knowledge (following how Hunt works in gameplay, a lot more like Vengance in lore).

Please please please Hoyo I’m begging on hands and knees for this to be intentional, and for you to do SOMETHING, SOMETHING WITH THIS PLOTPOINT.

Ratio figured out Dormancy somehow, all of his character stories are told from the POV of other people, so we barely know anything about his past, he’s from a planet we don’t know of yet, AND NOW WE HAVE TO CONTEND WITH THIS??

I NEED ANSWERS I NEED EXPLANATIONS I NEED SOMETHING PLEASE DON’T LEAVE ME HANGING. LET HIS LORE AND FUTURE OUT OF THE BOX PLEASE

“I bet they are going to pull an Alhaitham with him”

NO, NO THEY AREN’T. PLEASE TELL ME THEY AREN’T. I know it’s coping, but the mystery around Alhaitham got cleared away when we got his character stories, but Ratio’s character stories only make him more confusing. We have more questions instead of answers and with the 2.2 update I will spontaneously combust if we never get them BECAUSE WHAT DO YOU MEAN AAAAAAA

TLDR: let the Ratio lore out of the box and Hoyoverse pls pls PLEASE let him meet Acheron 

#dr ratio #honkai star rail #hsr spoilers #2.2 spoilers #dr ratio hsr #hsr dr ratio #Dr ratio #acheron #acheron hsr #Please don’t “he’s just some guy” him please #I’m cool with him having an ordinary past but please let him have a nuts future #Let him find the Existence #As a treat #aventurine and his relationship to Ena theories already cause me to tweak out so don’t do this to me #Also his only voicelines in 2.2 being fake dream Ratio was funny but it also made me mad #free my man please

[soullessjack]

Also. Final brain worm of the night . I think jack should’ve either met the ghostfacers or another bunch of ghost hunting film students a la grave encounters 2

#I want a lot of things for him but at the forefront of it all I do think he deserved to have friends #cal.txt #spn #supernatural #jack kline #ghostfacers #grace encounters #spn headcanon #u can’t tell me he wouldn’t eat up a Hell House esque episode #this could also be fuel for my local-accidental-cryptid-jack agenda … perchance #Please just let the guy have friends and be silly and do cases #it’s all he wants

[bread-wizards]

I think a lot of the meta about Orym forgets that Orym isn't just an adventurer, he is a former bodyguard. His self worth is tied up in how well he can protect people and especially his loved ones. Thats why he sold his future to a hag, because its all he had left to give in order to be able to help.

Thats also why he seems so angry after FCG's death.

Otohan has killed his husband and father. Then him. Then he is brought back and told she also killed Fearne and Laudna. She killed Eshteross. She almost kills Keyleth. Now FCG has to sacrifice himself to save them all and kill Otohan and Orym was knocked out for it.

His job is to protect people and even with the added power from Nana Morri, it's still not enough. 6 years later and his loved ones are still dying and he can do nothing but watch.

#cr spoilers #critical role #orym #they have all lost people and are all grieving #but i have seen a lot of people saying he isnt acknowledging other people grief #give him a week to cool down #i see this like laudna when the groups rejoined and she was mad at the other team for having a nice trip #bor'dor was traumatic for all three of them for different reason #but her killing him and leaning into delilah specifically set her off in a way it didnt with the others and they got that #thats also whats happening here #otohan dying from a friend sacrificing themselves to save them all sets orym off #its not just grief this is tied into his everything #like i said #i will argue that a good 95% of his self worth is how well he can serve others #he has chosen to be their protector and everyone is dying #there is no closure to be found in otohans death because he failed even with the power from nana morri #and before anyone jumps on the 'orym fans cant take criticisms' #please just block me #i am being reactionary because people annoyed me #let me do that in peace #i wanna be sad about my little guy

[friendly-alien-fucker]

Imagine a Yautja who's mate is into taxidermy...

They don't skin their kills themselves and instead bring home the entire creature, letting their mate take care of it.

They start seeing the human's taxidermy as a new form of trophy and display it proudly to other yautja.

Eventually the human is asked to produce taxidermy for other yautja because it shows how truly gigantic some of their kills are... MAYBE THE YAUTJA ASK FOR TAXIDERMY OF THEMSELVES

#add onto this please #i love taxidermy and i think yautja would too :3 #💚original post💚 #of course they also have their own death rituals etc. #that im not entirely sure of tbh #but i just think the idea of ethical humanoid taxidermy is cool and I think yautja would be a little more open to that yk? #actually if you guys have headcanons on yautja regarding death please let me know #yautja #alien vs predator #alien #slasher #alien x human #monster fucker #predator yautja

[aroaceleovaldez]

Nico and Percy's dynamic through the series is eternally funny to me, because it's just. like.

Percy's having a constant mental struggle between his fatal flaw of loyalty with a promise he made to Bianca to protect Nico, versus his Big 3 kid desire to maim other Big 3 kids / Poseidon descendant urge to totally maim Nico specifically. He hates Nico so so much. He thinks Nico's annoying and weird at best, and creepy/sketchy when he's older. The only positive thoughts Percy has towards Nico are "He's Bianca's brother and Bianca was my friend and I owe her/He's Hazel's brother and Hazel is my friend and would kill me if I was mean to him," "He's a powerful asset and useful ally (if questionable)," and "He's kinda pathetic and I feel maybe a little bad about it." Percy has multiple occasions throughout the series where he strongly considers - and on one occasionally actually goes through with - throttling Nico.

Meanwhile, Nico is following around Percy like a lost puppy. He explicitly can never bring himself to even dislike anything about Percy no matter how hard he tries. He has a whole bit in BoO where he's mentally going "UGH he's so stupid BUT IT'S ENDEARING HOW DARE HE." He's totally smitten. He's making deals with his dad for Percy. He's making convoluted plans to help Percy stand a chance against Kronos. During the entirety of BoTL it's like he's playing tsundere - "I'm helping NOT PERCY SPECIFICALLY with this quest! Me helping Percy would be SILLY because I DEFINITELY HATE HIM." Then he proceeds to show up to Percy's birthday party to basically ask him on a weird date and spend the entire next book scrambling around trying to help him or protect him or impress him. And Percy could not give less of a shit.

Just. That dynamic is so funny to me. Percy is the founder of the Nico Protection Club in that he's the one they're all protecting Nico from and meanwhile Nico is throwing himself at Percy to the point where the literal god of gay love calls him out on it.

#pjo #percy jackson #nico di angelo #Percy shows up at CJ and squints at Nico like ''hm. why do i feel like i hate you? like i just wanna punch you in the face?'' #and Nico just immediately goes ''huh no idea anyways i have to go-'' and jumps into Tartarus #but not before he gives Hazel essentially a detailed explanation of ''this is Percy i cant say much but please dont let him die <3'' #and Nico's whole Tartarus trip was basically a whole ''im doing this so no one else has to'' #only for Percy and Annabeth to fall in like one book later and Nico proceeds to spend the next book internally screaming about it #and then Cupid calls him out on it and the next book #Nico's just like ''at this point im hoping i keel over within the next week just so i can force this dumb crush to chill the fuck out'' #Nico staring pointedly at Will: ''For my own sake i need to form another crush RIGHT NOW so i can finally get over Percy.'' #''this has been so bad for my health'' #Nico's crush on Percy is just too funny to me. horrible pick my guy. terrible job. love that for you. he could not be less interested. #Percy LITERALLY TRIES TO KILL NICO and ditch him in the underworld and Nico is somehow STILL like ''but i love him'' #Percy basically chokes him. beats up his dad. tells him ''go get smited by your dad for me.'' and ditches him. #and Nico's opinions/crush on him DO NOT CHANGE #though also Nico's reaction to Percy beating up his dad + skeletons is SO funny. his jaw is on the floor. he's flustered about it. #he just witnessed Percy be incredibly hot and proceeded to go ''yea i'll do anything for this man. collect reinforcements of 3 gods? sure'' #nico you absolute DISASTER with HORRIBLE TASTE. you can do better. raise your standards. #which tbh is funnier when you factor in sun and the star. Nico just wont stop crushing on guys who dislike him and everything he stands for

[emile-hides]

The year is 2024, 8 years post release, and Pokemon Go not only finally gives trainers the ability to have more than just the default hair style and one of four eye and skin colors, but decided while they were there to completely blast every other Pokemon Game in the world out of existence by removing Gender entirely and giving the player customizable body types complete with separate sliders for Weight, Muscle, Shoulders, Chest, and Waist

#Pokemon #Pokemon Go #Me dressing up my fat little character in Pokemon Go; You are the enby king I will be some day #In him little shorts that were gender locked yesterday and his cute shoes #Pokemon Go just SKYROCKETED in quality to me oh my GOD #No more Fit basic Boy/Girl character #Do whatever you want forever my god it's time to be a fat little guy <3 #Pokemon Scarlet could NEVER. #God please PLEASE let this be a test for expanding the character customization in the main games #PLEASE #This is actually the greatest thing they've ever done in this game and I am not kidding #Fucking. #Eight years later they're like #'Huh. Do not all girls have ponytails? We should do something about that.'

[lochee]

me when i see bts fancams from the floor seats and people are NOT going batshit crazy during songs like dionysus, mic drop or baespae....

ME.... IT SHOULD BE ME TEARING IT UP ON THE FLOOR!!!!!!

#bts #army #I NEED A CONCERT #BUT I NEED EVERYONE TO BE GOING BATSHIT CRAZY WITH ME TOO #OR I'LL BE FINE WITH A SMALL CORNER OF CRAZY ARMYS LIKE ME #BUT PLEASE #I NEED YALL TO BE GOING CRAY #u guys let me have a spelling mistake (i fixed it) but so embarrassing yall #just found out i made ANOTHER fucking spelling mistake im ashamed of myself #not but srsly #u splashed the equivalent of nearly 100 quid to go to a bts concert AND YALL JUST STAND THERE....? bro i dont mean to complain #BUT I DESERVE THAT FLOOR SEAT

[butterflysonnets]

yes i'm rooting for m*leven breakup because byler is neat but mostly? i'm rooting for m*leven breakup for the sake of el and mike.

to me, their romance was always a puppy love born out of a combination of social pressures, naïve curiosity, and a lack of true understanding regarding intimacy and romantic love and what it really is. it was real in that they do truly, deeply care about each other and they are close friends, maybe even shared an attraction, but a maturing romance is so much more than that. they've grown up and out of being boyfriend/girlfriend, and that's okay! i think television/film needs to show more often that most of us don't have definite "soulmates" or first childhood loves that we spend our whole lives with. it doesn't mean these relationships meant nothing and didn't impact us, it just means they've run their course and that something else is in the cards, and this is part of life!

i've always felt el was at her best and most confident self when broken up with mike, discovering who she was and what she liked alongside another girl her age instead of just relying on mike for mentorship on how to live in the real world. she deserves more of an opportunity to find herself, her autonomy, and her independence, and to love who she is, and she's made it clear she's felt insecure in the relationship with mike because she isn't being loved and understood the way she wants, needs, and deserves from someone who is her partner.

also, it's okay if mike doesn't love her in "the way he should". he is not obligated to love her romantically and stay in a relationship with her just because she's a girl, because she "needed someone", or because he cares about her a lot. he shouldn't be pressured into a romance if it's not truly coming from his heart. he deserves freedom to find out and honour who he is, too, instead of just staying in his non-functional first relationship — one he got into as a child, essentially — and defining himself that way because it's what's expected when a boy and a girl are close. he loves her in some way, yes, but it's okay if he doesn't feel comfortable or secure being her boyfriend anymore, for whatever reason that is. he's felt insecure too, and that's valid and it matters.

they are their own people and are steadily growing and changing every day. they need time to figure out who those people are, and it's become clear (at least in my opinion) that those people aren't meant to be a couple at this stage.

they deserve freedom. they deserve to grow up and be authentic to themselves and not feel like they need to lie for the sake of a relationship. they deserve to move on from this version of their relationship that isn't making them happy and rekindle the best part of their bond: their strong, beautiful friendship. they don't have to be a couple if it doesn't make them stronger and better and happier people.

i think it would be healthy and wonderful for a show, especially one consumed frequently by young adults, to show a relationship starting, progressing, and ending on good terms in this way. sometimes things don't work out, and that is okay.

#eve text #elmike #stranger things #byler #only tagging byler because i feel like yall will like this take lol #tagging tagging tagging WHAT ARE EVERYONE ELSE'S THOUGHTS #god i can't believe i'm making a post about stranger things. this feels like poking a bear #i'm not particularly anti m*leven but like... they'd have to do something pretty special at this point for me to feel like it's viable #i'm seeing the bts of s5 and it's got me Having Thoughts #elmike friendship is something i am so passionate about #even before i ever liked byler (didn't ship at all until s4 even though i knew it was a thing before) i've felt this way about elmike #i always believed they were close friends at heart and needed to break up #the romance part of them felt very distinctly young and very much “he was a boy she was a girl” to me #and it hasn't deepened into anything more mature and i don't see how it could based on the current state of the writing... #the fact that lumax exists — a young relationship that is actively maturing and is healthy — makes that clear to me #and the “love confession” in s4 and how disingenuous and miserable it felt was just the nail in the coffin #also the fact that will (who is IN LOVE with mike) was instrumental in making it happen? ... uh... okay... interesting choice… #fucked up and reductive if they make it another queer unrequited love sacrifice for the sake of pushing the heterosexual agenda YUCK #so i really hope the speculation about a m*leven breakup is real!! i think it just makes sense for their characters but who knows #i don't believe in the notion of love at first sight or one true love and i think the writers don't too??? #love to me is an accumulation of experiences and we inevitably choose it at some point rather than fall into it... but idk #tv is so fixated on keeping couples together... sometimes it's just not reality guys especially with young people... LET IT GO... #like i said though i'm not 100% sold that they're going to give up their “golden couple” LMAO #stranger things hasn't historically subverted too many tropes if i'm being honest #anyway i seriously need this season to come out quickly... i'm so bored and getting my master's is crushing my soul #i need frivolity #ALSO btw i won't respond to hateful messages about this so please don't bother. it's not that serious. this is a netflix show