āIām just a little worried that Mike has to have a whole gay realization arc all in the last seasonā- YALL. PAY ATTENTION THATS WHAT HES BEEN DOING THIS WHOLE TIME:
Season 2: Mike is unaware of what his feelings mean but knows how much he cares about Will, legit spends the whole season being in love with him. By the end at the showball he realizes that somethings up, he doesnāt rlly understand what but he can tell something feels different and he doesnāt like it. Cue part 1 of his realization arc; subconscious denial
Season 3: Subconscious denial is rapidly turning to conscious denial, and at the start of the season we see Mike is in part 2 of his realization arc; a severe case of internalized homophobia. He cycles through it all the way to his absolute lowest point in part 2 (rain fight) and then he slowly comes back from it just a little bit. Then, at the end of the season, we see Mike shift onscreen from part 2 to part 2.5; conscious realization and fear. At this point Mike is halfway through his internalized homophobia arc. He KNOWS how he feels, but it still terrifies him. He grapples with this in the time period between s3 and 4.
Season 4: Ah yes, the penultimate season. The season that sets up endgame. The season that has an *entire gay road-trip plot line dedicated to byler*. This season is part 3 for Mike; acceptance. At first glance you miss it if youāre not looking, since s4 byler was almost entirely from Willās lovely but very biased POV as he was also going through his own gayangstTM arc at the same time, but all it takes is a second glance to see that itās there. At the start of the season Mike is on the very last, very flimsy legs of denial, and reuniting with Will again after not speaking for months is what catapults him into the acceptance chunk of his arc. In almost every cali crew scene, we see Mike slowly get closer and closer to total acceptance. We see him accept that he doesnāt love El the way heād originally thought, he accepts that he loves Will the way he thought he was supposed to love El, and by the van scene, Mike is soso close to accepting that both of these things are okay.
Close being the key word here. Will accidentally throws him off again in volume 2, so Mikeās realization arc isnāt fully concluded yet, things are still very messy and season 5 has a lottt to address. But thatās the THING; season 5, as far as byler goes, actually only needs (for the most part ofc) to address development and realizations that have already happened. A lot of the fandom is really underestimating how much Mike suspects and has realized, at least about himself, and thatās where I think most of the remaining byler doubt is coming from (not including Twitter, we donāt count byler Twitter they do not know shit abt whatās going on š).
But that worry is unnecessary! Some of you guys donāt realize how perfect of a plot device Vecna is. Iām saying this as a writer: Heās like a writers dream bc you can basically tell viewers whatās happening in a characterās psyche while still maintaining āshow donāt tell.ā Bc now? All the writers rlly have to do to start canonifying Mikeās gay realization that has, once again, already happened, is have vecna target him! And theyāve clearly been planning that if that several billion hints in s4 and 3 and EVEN 2 AND 1 are anything to go by šš
Guys, Mikeās *realization* arc is practically FINISHED. The duffers and writers have just been hiding it this whole time by not giving us any Mike POV in s3 or 4 bc they couldnāt confirm Mike before confirming Will, that would make byler endgame wayy too obvious they had to sneak it in there.
But itās there, and itās happened. The only thing WE have to worry about now is preparing ourselves for the sheer level of angst that is going to be Mikeās internalized homophobia plot line getting confirmedā¦ I rlly donāt think weāre ready for that. I know IM not š
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Who's excited for the family gathering?
Transcript:
Marco: Petrahā¦why do I have to come to your family gathering?
Petrah: Hey! I was practically forced to come here, so I am making you too [all smug]
Marco: [sulks then fake smiles] But you are wasting my precious sleeping time.
Petrah: Honey [even faker smile] you'll get your precious beauty sleep once we're back.
[Casper toddles behind with no idea where they are going]
Petrah: We'll stay for a bit then leave secretly. Sound good to you?
[They arrive and are greeted by Connie, who we know has an estranged relationship with her twin]
Connie: Petrah. You actually made it, what a surprise to see you in person and not on the big screen.
Petrah: [clears throat] And it's nice to see you tooā¦Connie. You've met Mar-
[Before Marco even has a chance to speak, Connie goes and picks up Casper from his arms]
Connie: Ahh my baby Caspeeeeeer! Look how big you are!
[Both look at then ignore Marco who just stands there. Casper giggles]
Noah: Welcome welcome! Wow I finally get to meet you two, come on in everyone's waiting!
Petrah: [in her head] God he's so loud. Ugh of course Connie knows someone like him [smiles and shakes his
hand pretending to make a good impression] Hi Noah! Oh yes, we meet at last! Can't wait to see Briar!
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(AC wip) The Savage Price of Piety
it's desmond's deathday and i wrote like. 9,000 more words to this wip (first two parts here) last week and i want to brag about it, so happy deathday you wet bastard
(mostly gen but with a surprise rarepair, time travel/reincarnation, found family, william milesā a+ parenting, accidental subterfuge, desmond goes by miles mostly, inspired by study of flight by @esamastation but with a twist!, only somewhat historically accurate swears by which i mean probably not at all but leonardo had some Opinions alright)
have some (three) chronological but scattered bits of scenes
Ā Ā āOh,ā Claudia says as soon as she opens the door, seeing Ezioās rather wretched expression, āyouāve figured it out, then.ā
Ā Ā āYou could have told me,ā he growls, following her into the entryway and closing the door behind himself.Ā
Ā Ā Claudia scoffs, spinning on heel to lead the way further into the building for the kitchens. āI had one conversation with the boy, brother, I was hardly sure of it myself. Wait,ā she halts and points a finger at him accusingly, āhow did you figure it out?ā
Ā Ā Ezio, quite graciously he thinks, ignores the subtle insult to his intelligence. Sighing, he pushes back his hood before their mother sees him with it on indoors, and runs a hand over his beard. āI had Leonardo visit.ā
Ā Ā Claudiaās face slackens, before twisting into a rage that has Ezio stepping away warily.
Ā Ā But she punches the wall instead of her brother, a shouted āGods damn it!ā echoing in the narrow space. Then she spins on her heel and hollers further into the residential part of the bordello, āMother! We forgot about Leonardo!ā
Ā Ā Horrified by his sister and concerned for his motherās current mental state, Ezio reaches out to put a hand on Claudiaās arm, but he doesnāt get the chance before Maria de' Auditore is shouting right back, āGod damn it!ā
Ā Ā Grumbling, Claudia stomps down the hall and leaves a very confused Ezio hurrying to follow; she ignores all his pleas for explanation until sheās stomped into the kitchen, where their mother is pouring two very large glasses of wine, with very little water to cut down the potency. She passes one to Claudia silently, and then they both drink, though luckily they arenāt attempting to down it all at once.
Ā Ā āI canāt believe we forgot the Maestro,ā their mother mutters to herself as she comes over to kiss Ezio on both cheeks, before shoving the still mostly-full glass into his hands.
Ā Ā āForgot him for what?ā Ezio wants to know, clutching the glass like a mother clutches a babe.
Ā Ā āTo test if Miles really is an Auditore.ā Itās said so flippantly, like it doesnāt affect Claudia at all, but she also collapses into one of two chairs at the little tea table under the largest window. Their mother takes the other, massaging her forehead and looking like sheās grieving their family all over again.
Ā Ā It occurs to Ezio, as he moves to stand next to the table, that she probably is.
--
āItās all up to you now, Seventeen.ā
Ā Ā Desmond opens his eyes to the dark of the dormitory, faint moonlight cutting over the floor between his bed and Ninoās, and he canāt bring himself to move ā even to roll off his arm that is very much still asleep.Ā
Ā Ā Clay still haunts him.
Ā Ā Five hundred fucking years, and his current twenty-four besides, and that fucker still wonāt leave him alone. If Desmond were not so familiar with what an actual Bleed feels like, heād almost think Clay is stuck in his brain the same way as his ancestors. Thank fuck he stopped Bleeding Ezioās memories and feelings, while still retaining much of the training.
Ā Ā Fuck, time travel is so weird.
Ā Ā Or, reincarnation? Heās not sure of much, but heās sure he was dead, heās sure he burned, and heās sure that though his 15th century mother had affectionately called him [redacted], his name is Desmond Miles.
Ā Ā Or just Miles, he supposes. Sue him, he panicked when Adele first approached him, and the best aliases are ones you know youāll respond to, right? If only heād have had the forethought to divorce himself from his... future familyās surname.
Ā Ā It sounds different enough with an Italian accent that it hasnāt caused any problems, yet. Like making him flinch. Or snapping that he hasnāt been a Miles since he was sixteen.
Ā Ā Granted, he still has no idea what he would go by instead. AltaĆÆr and Conner would feel weird, while Sef or Darim are just a bit on the nose, and does he look like an Edward? Malik, maybe. His grandmother here, now, is actually from the Levant, so his skin is certainly dark enough that people wouldnāt be surprised by the name.
Except that feels almost akin to naming himself Leonardo.
--
Ā Ā So instead, Leonardo spends every spare moment with his best friend, sometimes to brainstorm, sometimes to simply be there for him. Itās during one of these visits, he and Ezio once again observing the youngest assassins in the training ring, that he hears Miles laugh for the first time, and itās as if ice water has been poured directly into his veins.
Ā Ā Oh fuck. Oh Saints, oh Holy Father, oh fuck.
Ā Ā āLeonardo?ā Ezio asks quietly, head tilted towards him in concern, but Leonardo ignores him to stumble for the bannister to lean over it and stare down at Miles learning a little jig from Tullio, laughing all the while.
Ā Ā He had only heard it once, truth be told, and it had been SalaĆ that had caused it, but even three years later, Leonardo remembers the laugh of Rodrigo Borgiaās sinister little shadow.
Ā Ā Below, Miles doesnāt stop smiling, but his golden brown gaze yanks up towards Leonardo as if knowing his thoughts are about him. His eyes narrow, then widen slightly in realisation, and then he winces and looks away, which is all the confirmation Leonardo needs.
Ā Ā Turning around, Leonardo grabs a confused Ezio by the arm and drags him from the training room, ignoring his protests until they find the nearest empty room.
Ā Ā āLeonardo, whatā?ā
Ā Ā āRomulus.ā
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