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nadia-zahra · 2 years

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Deeper Dive on Mike and his Gay Feelings

To give context to Mike’s s3 behavior first:

Like I said in my first deep dive on Mike, at the snowball he realizes he feels romantically towards Will and begins his “I don’t like like Will, I’m normal 😃” phase. Normal for him means being heteronormative. Mike thinks acting like a smartass, only spending time making out with your girlfriend, and not wanting to play d&d is what normal teenagers do. This is because of the influence both Ted and Steve had on him in s1. Y’all forget that Steve did literally everything I just listed when he was with Nancy and Ted makes subtle, but homophobic comments ab Will and Mike throughout the show. It makes sense that Mike thinks acting like a douchebag is what’s normal people do because that’s literally all he’s ever learned.

MAJOR MF EDIT OMG: I'm so angry with myself. After this has been up for a few weeks now AND I have reread this post at least three dozen times to make sure my message came across exactly how I wanted it to, I've just realized I didn't clarify Mike didn't know he wasn't romantically into El. Mike doesn't realize he's not romantically in love with El until 3x6. Before, he was confusing his platonic feelings for romantic ones. pls future readers know that whenever I discuss his feelings ab El before the cabin scene he isn't aware that his feelings for her are not romantic. He's not completely using El as a way to repress his gay feelings for Will, he genuinely thinks he like likes her because of his desire to be heteronormal/like girls. This post disproves the bi mike theory and mileven--just casually killing two birds with one stone lol (except bi mike is a national treasure)

Alright, *cracks neck and knuckles* let’s get into s3.

3x1 right off the bat lets us know mileven isn’t healthy. The first scene of these two is them making out, El puts her hands on him, he takes them off, he starts being goofy and sings the song that’s playing, and El doesn’t like it so she shuts him up by kissing him. Ok so Mike doesn’t like getting touched by El romantically…cool cool. This also gives us our first hint at how Mike and El are not compatible— he likes being silly and singing along to songs and she doesn’t. Just one of the ways we’re shown they don’t have similar interests.

After Hop busts them making out, Mike leaves and mileven has a brief lil convo over walkies. This talk shows us they are not equally emotionally invested in their relationship. El lovingly says “I miss you”, he replies “yeah. Me too”. He has annoyance in his voice--like he just wants to get off the walkie. El doesn’t pick up on it, but it’s clear as day from our pov. What’s really odd, though, is Mike not telling El about going to the movies with lumax and Will. Does this mean he’s never mentioned all the other times too?? Why doesn’t he tell her if it’s just the four of them hanging out?? Well...if he’s not telling El now its safe to assume he hasn’t before. Mike never telling her ab the hangouts implies he feels guilty for having more fun at the movies with Will than making out with her. He doesn’t want El to know he dislikes spending all their time together kissing, so he just lets her assume he’s sadly going home. El is clearly more emotionally invested with this relationship and genuinely has lovey feelings for Mike, but he only feels platonically towards El, even after they start dating.

Mike arrives at the mall where he meets lumax and Will to go to the movies. Lucas says three things that are important: 1) Mike’s late again 2) makes fun of mileven for only making out 3) calls these hangouts romantic time with Max. First gonna dissect the last thing I listed because Lucas basically calling it a double date lets us know the tone of these hangouts. They’re romantic in nature, it’s not just four friends hanging out. If lumax thinks it’s a double date...and Will wants it to be a double date...then Mike also senses it’s a double date. Another reason why he doesn’t tell El about them. Second, Lucas (and later Robin) mentions this isn’t the first one. The four of them have done this MULTIPLE TIMES. Mike hasn’t been on a romantic date with El btw, he’s literally only ever shown on one with Will. Like if the writers wanted us to believe mileven is emotionally connected and romantic, then they would’ve made a different opening milkvan scene. Lastly, Lucas makes fun of him for only making out with El. This is really important because it tells us that the characters in stranger things notice this relationship isn’t healthy!!!

*milkvans speaking* But El is his first gf ofc they’re going to make out all the time! no. incorrect. wrong answer. lumax and duzie (idk is that what they’re callied lol) are great examples of how that ain’t true. Max is Lucas’s first gf and even he gets that it’s weird to want to ONLY make out. Suzie is also Dustin’s first girlfriend and they bond over The Never-Ending Story, not swapping spit.

When Mike replies with “Yeah it’s so funny I want to spend romantic time with my girlfriend” it got me thinking…does Mike think this is how dating is supposed to be?? And yeah, he does!!! He doesn’t understand how to build a deeper romantic relationship with El because he doesn't know his feelings for her are platonic. Mike’s just doing what he thinks he’s supposed to do. It proves to himself and others that he’s normal by forcing himself and El to make out (yes I said he’s forcing el I’ll discuss that later). Hopper is the second person to talk ab how mileven only making out is weird. It doesn’t help that Mike acts like an ass towards him, but he acts like that towards Hop because it’s a part of his new douchebag facade. Just gonna throw byler moments here: Mike gets defensive when Will agrees with Lucas, byler hardcore blushing at the movies, Mike staring at Will for roughly 24s while Will is having his war flashbacks, and both of them looking at each other’s lips multiple times in less than 6s.

3x2 Mike lies to El ab his nana and their very fragile relationship begins to untwine. Now I have to say this, Mike 100% wasn’t forced to lie and make up an excuse on why they couldn’t hang out. Hopper threatened to not let him see El again, but he covered the lie up by telling her Mike’s nana was fine. We never did get to hear what hop told mike, but Hopper doing this means he would’ve been ok with Mike coming over the next day as long as he didn’t act like a smartass and kept the door open three inches. Mike chose to add to the nana lie. Even after El asks him straight up if he’s lying he says no. Why would he continue to lie to her when he clearly had a way out?? To put it frankly: Mike didn’t want to spend his afternoon making out with El when he doesn’t even enjoy doing it. Ik…crazy…but Mike knows he’s shit at lying, so he heads to the mall with Lucas and Will to buy her an apology gift.

The whole present/mall situation is the biggest clue to how Mike and El just aren’t compatible from s3. He knows he needs to apologize, but he doesn’t know what she would like because he doesn’t know literally anything ab her interests. The only present he could find for her was too expensive (and Will coded), so he just ended up not buying anything for her. Dude what?! She would’ve been happy with literally anything. Ffs she says in this episode “how do I know if I like something”. The elmax scenes just further prove milkvan doesn’t work because it is quite literally “El being really happy because there’s more to life than stupid boys”.

I’m trying not to add the subtext byler clues to this but I just think this one’s funny: Lucas sprays a purple (mileven color) perfume on Mike, and he makes a super disgusted face lol

El breaks up with mike when her and max see the guys at the mall. I love this for her honestly because this was her first step into being independent and finally living the way she wants to live!!! Back to Mike and his gay feelings— from this point moving forward, Mike thinks they’re broken up. Ik you might think this is a weird thing to say cause like…no dipshit sherlock…but trust me you have to keep this in mind.

THE MOTHERF**KING RAIN SCENE

I was going to do a whole other post on the rain scene because it’s so much, but I figured I should just keep it in here because this is a deep dive on ALL of s3 mike and his gay feelings. You have been warned 😶‍🌫️

This scene and what we’ve seen leading up from Mike’s pov is A LOT different than Will’s.

At the snowball Mike realized he like likes Will due to his jealous insecurity that someday Will’s going to replace him. His new personality is the result of this realization. And Mike’s personality change leads to him pushing Will away emotionally. Him making excuses on why they can’t play (Lucas is down to, Mike is the one that’s making all the excuses) and openly making fun of Will during the game (Lucas actually never makes fun of Will, he just laughs at mikes joke) are all a part of the facade.

Here’s the thing: Mike doesn’t know a) Will’s gay and doesn’t want to be normal b) Will like likes him back. He genuinely believes that their special friendship, the extremely deep and emotional bond they share, is all in his head— all just a childish, one-sided crush. Mike literally couldn’t tell Will was upset all summer because of his own insecurities in their friendship blinding him, not because he was so invested in menthol cigarettes.

Will snapping (rightfully so) and leaving the basement finally gets Mike to pay attention to the other’s feelings. He thinks Will’s just upset over him not wanting to play d&d, but getting called out for being flakey and not caring ab the party makes Mike realize he’s noticed everything. You can see in Mike’s face he’s gonna defend his shitty behavior (he always plays defense in fights). But when Will throws in the “you’re destroying everything and for what? So you can swap spit with some stupid girl?!” Mike loses it.

Now the miscommunication comes in clutch. Both of them interpret the bolded sentence in different ways. Mike’s version: You’re destroying everything because you like making out with a girl who’s literally dumb. Will’s version: Your destroying everything because you like girls.

And Mikes response, “El’s not stupid! It’s not my fault you don’t like girls”, was also interpreted two different ways. Mike’s: El is smart, and it’s not my fault you haven’t grown up yet. Will’s: El is smart, and it’s not my fault you’re gay.

Yeahhhh the duffers were lying their asses off back when they said it’s not supposed to be interpreted as calling Will out. Everyone INCLUDING WILL heard it that way. It was written deliberately as “you don’t like girls” for a reason. Why else would Will get so upset when he’s canonically gay? We can all safely assume they lied because they didn’t want Will’s sexuality to be known yet.

OMG I JUST HAD A REALIZATION OF MY OWN. Idk where to put it so here it is: Mike’s whole thought processing with his crush on Will being childish is because he thinks Will is straight and still in the prepubescent mindset of “no romantic feelings exist I’m pure of mind girls have cooties 😇”. And at the snowball he sees a glimpse of Will being out of the child mindset, hence Mike begins wanting to grow-up. Anyways…

Mike can tell from the expression on Will’s face he’s gone too far. Now he’s not defensive because he can now see that he was unintentionally hurting Will all summer, and that his remark was below the belt (he doesn’t actually get the real reason why Will is upset, he just thinks he does because of miscommunication).

Mike’s rationalization for his shitty behavior is what he realized he’s afraid of back at the snowball. That Will is going to get a gf someday, and the two of them aren’t going to play d&d in his basement forever. He truly believes emotionally pulling away is saving him from a hell-reality where Will loves someone else more than him. Since he thinks all his questions are just facts, he thinks Will also believes this. Up until Will responds with “Yeah, I guess I did. I really did”. That completely shatters Mike’s false reality. Now knows literally every single word he’s said just made things ten times worse. All he’s thinking now is “if I don’t apologize for everything I just said, I’m actually going to lose Will”.

I’m ignoring Mike + Lucas going to the byers house and apologizing.

Wait! Before you scrutinize me for acting like this cute scene doesn’t exist, let me explain!

The fight scene takes place in the day and the boys going to the byers happens at night. Why? Idk. If you just watch it once you don’t think ab the time difference, but when you do, you unconsciously write it off as Mike waiting for the rain to stop…except it never did. The show doesn’t explain the time jump and instead acts like it didn’t happen. I’ve really tried to think of a plausible answer to Mike + Lucas waiting and this is the only one I could find: when rewatching the show for my notes on this analysis, I noticed time is nonexistent s3. Almost every scene in s3 has a clock, but time in scenes and the order of sequence don’t match up. The time inconsistency within s3 is a whole other can of worms I am not smart enough to tackle, and I’m not going to act like I understand why the duffers chose to make the destruction of caste byers + this byler scene at night. Also ignoring it because if you take it out nothing changes in their dynamic from mike’s pov. He still wants to properly apologize, but he doesn’t because a) mind flayer is back and b) last byler scene happens but we’ll get to that later.

Other things from 3x3: El can’t tell if Mike’s a good kisser. This means she doesn’t really enjoy making out with him (she def thinks his kissing is a 3/10), but doesn’t want to admit it because she thinks Mike enjoys it. Like I get her not knowing what types of clothes she wants to wear, but her body is telling her she’s not that into it. Also means that Mike is the one in control of their relationship if she’s just kissing him because she thinks that’s what he wants. The sexist convo between Lucas and Mike highlights Mike’s internalized homophobia and inner turmoil ab not being normal. He claims, “women act on emotion, no logic”, but it’s just him projecting-- he obviously doesn’t believe this. Mike saying this means he’s bullied himself for having a very emotional friendship with Will (being girly/emotional=gay=not normal). And Mike is definitely lying ab not knowing why El is mad at him, and him acting clueless is just a part of the persona. Ffs the whole reason she caught him is because they couldn’t find an apology gift for lying to her.

This is something I haven’t touched yet (I probably should’ve by now whoops): Mike is not against El gaining independence, he’s against El not needing him in her life anymore. He sees himself as kind of her yoda; he was the first one to gain her trust and to teach her ab life outside the lab. He thinks she needs him as a friendly mentor figure, not as a loving boyfriend. He doesn’t understand that he can’t tell her how life is supposed to be like anymore because that was their dynamic before dating. S3 she’s not fresh out the lab or new to this world; she knows enough ab life now and wants to figure out her own opinions/interests with a supportive boyfriend.

Anyways back to Mike’s internalized homophobia...

3x4 is the beginning of Mike looking at Will in a different light than he has been all summer. Will admitting he thought it was gonna be them together forever made Mike feel less insecure ab believing this too. He still thinks their friendship is on the rocks, but at least he knows now Will wanted to play d&d together forever before the fight. This episode introduces Mike’s “new” body language of subtly (not subtly) sitting/ standing weirdly close to him and way more secret glances. Sadly, he’s still trying to cling to milkvan instead of facing his insecurities.

Mike and El meet for the first time post-breakup. If you take his playful joking at face value, it’s weird and insensitive towards her. But really he just forgot for a sec that they were on bad terms. Why? idk maybe because byler got into their biggest fight ever the day before, he’s scared and stressed ab the mind flayer being back, and the party is literally grabbing stuff to capture Billy (the scariest person in the show besides Vecna). Personally, I don’t blame him for joking with El ab the dummy to kinda lighten the mood.

Mike thinks he’s gonna reel El back into a relationship by doing the exact thing that made her break up with him: by lying his ass off. Says Hopper told him to lie (no he didn’t Hopper cleared it up), she’s the most important person to him in the world (again a lie seeing as he never even apologized for the nana lie), and that Hop’s just some crazy, old man who thinks they spend too much time together (only true thing he says but weirdly enough it sounds like the weakest point). In the past El has just gone with everything Mike’s told her, so he’s shocked when she agrees with Hop on them spending too much time together. Interesting how out of all the things he says, El outwardly agrees with only the true one.....

Mike doesn’t still get that their relationship wasn’t healthy; that they can’t actually be a good couple if all they do is make out every day and don’t get to know each other. El basically saying “we’re done. I don’t want to get back together because I spied on you, heard some awful shit, and want to make my own opinions” destroys his idea of their dynamic. Before this, Mike felt in control of it (cause he was), but now she doesn’t just go along with everything he says. Now he knows El truly meant it when she dumped his ass. And ofc instead of admitting to himself she came to this conclusion on her own before the spying situation, he chooses this delusional ass mindset: he’s been spied on by elmax, meaning El trusts Max more than Mike, meaning Max somehow brainwashed El into dumping him and are now conspiring against him.

I feel like I shouldn’t have to add this, but I will just so that Ik me and whoever is reading this are on the same page: Mike cares for El--platonically, like a sister. Ofc he didn’t think twice ab grabbing the metal pipe and whacking Billy with it. It wasn’t a romantic gesture it was literally him saving El from murder.

3x5 begins the “conspiring against me” ordeal. To be blunt, Mike gaslit himself into believing Max and El are conspiring against him and is unsuccessfully trying to gaslight everyone else too. For Mike, admitting to anyone (including himself) that their relationship wasn’t working confirms his insecurity ab not being normal. He’s fully choosing to believe two of his best friends are plotting against him rather than face the reality of mileven being over because it wasn’t good for either of them.

THE HOSPITAL SCENES

Mike thinks mileven is done. El has clearly said multiple times now she’s done and he’s accepted it. If Lucas didn’t tell him it was an olive branch then Mike wouldn’t have even thought twice ab the vending machine exchange. And even after Lucas explains it’s a sign El wants him back without explicitly saying “she wants you back”, Mike still thinks it’s an olive branch to get back on good terms and to go back as besties!! Mike offering her m&m’s wasn’t a way to show her he’s still boyfriend material, it was to show he’s still best friend material!! And because Mike is oblivious, he doesn’t notice El blushing and smiling like a freaking idiot!! Rewatch the scene, he literally blinks in her direction twice he ain’t noticing shit!!

3x6 is the climax of Mike’s s3 arc. He’s still desperately trying to convince everyone he’s being conspired against by elmax, but now Max is done with his bullshit and calls him out for being controlling. He knows they aren’t getting together, but he wants everyone to believe the breakup’s not his fault (he’s normal he liked dating El) it’s because of Max. He doesn’t see his behavior as controlling because he views himself as El’s life guru who makes decisions for her; it’s why he thinks the evil, conspiring Max is framing him to be sexist. He’s already getting defensive (he’s so shit at explaining himself omg) but Nancy joining in just makes it worse. He knows what Nancy and Max are telling him is true-- that El isn’t stupid and knows her limits. But Mike literally just got back into her good graces, they’re friends again and he doesn’t want El to kill herself looking for a monster they aren’t prepared for.

His whole speech is literally what I’ve just explained except he did a worse job at explaining himself lmfaoooo.

Every single person heard him loud and clear say he loves El, and every single one of them thinks Mike is in love with her now. Mike looks stunned that he even said that out loud and he knows no one interpreted it as a platonic Ily. This is the moment Mike is done wanting to date El and is done ACTING NORMAL!!!! Hearing himself say that made him realize he can’t continue dating her and that he doesn’t even want to; Mike doesn’t want to be in a relationship where he's not in love!!! He’s accepted that he doesn’t want to date El (and probably all girls)!!! HE’S OKAY WITH BEING NOT NORMAL!!!!

When he sees El walk out of the bathroom, he looks scared. He didn’t want El to hear him say it. Mike can act as straight as he wants but saying I Love You is too far. He knows it’s really really hurtful to lie to her about this and that if she heard the accidental ily he wouldn’t be able to back out of it. That’s why he acts like nothing happened afterward.

3x7 reaffirms Mike doesn’t want to date El anymore with the grocery store scene. When he says, “I’ve been meaning to tell you something”, he’s not going to say “I love you”. We all know that because he didn’t say it back at the cabin, can’t even say “Love Makes You Crazy” and ffs s4 happens. What he’s been meaning to tell her is an apology for his shitty behavior towards elmax, that he’s okay with them not dating, and that he’s happy for El’s new friendship.

Mike says he was jealous of El and Max hanging out all the time. Now I don’t think he realizes this, but he wasn’t jealous of them spending time together—he was jealous that El wasn’t listening to Mike anymore and was using Max as her life yoda now. You may think I’m putting words into his mouth, but if you rewatch the first episode you’ll remember he was in a hurry to leave El’s and half-heartedly said he missed her... not very clingy of him is it. And elmax was essentially Max telling her she doesn’t have to listen to anyone and to explore herself, something Mike never did for El.

Mike saying “I just, like, I’ve never felt like this, you know, with anyone before” isn’t about romantic love it’s about platonic love! He hasn’t gone through losing any of his friends like he has with El. He’s never had to mentor or guide any of his friends except El. Will is someone he romantically loves, and Mike’s unique love for him is very different from his unique love for her. His love for her is special and only something he’s ever felt for specifically her. And Mike understands his feelings for her, hence bringing up love makes you crazy. And once again, Mike wants to slap himself for speaking without thinking. There’s not a doubt in my mind he 150% didn’t think about who he was talking ab love with when he said that. He doesn’t want her to get the wrong idea, like worst case scenario for Mike is El thinking he is in love with her and wants to get back together. That’s why he goes out of his way to NOT say the L word.

I just wanna say thank you to every person that read this entire post I’ve spent days working on this and it means a lot <33333

3x8 THE BIG KAHUNA MOVING DAYYYYYY

By this point in the show, Mike has grown a hell of a lot. He’s done wanting to be in a relationship with El, he’s done acting like a douchebag, and he’s finally comfortable admitting to himself he’s not normal. Byler has been on the back burner since 3x3, but Mike has felt distant from Will and insecure in their friendship since the fight. He never really got a chance to apologize with everything going on, and now that Will’s leaving for Lenora it seems like their friendship is never going to be the same...

until...

“Yeah, but, what if you wanna join another party?”

This is the moment. THE MF MOMENT Mike knows he’s in love with Will!! His confident “not possible” confirms to Mike that even after all the shit they’d been through-- Mike being left behind at the snowball, pushing Will away all summer, the rain fight, and not speaking to each other after the mind flayer’s return--they are still their own separate team. It basically takes away the insecurities he had about their relationship. This simple “not possible” tells him Will still wants to play d&d together forever, and that the fight they had was just a fight... one they could come back from. It lets Mike know he’s never been crazy or stupid for thinking their bond was different, and it lets Mike think he has a chance with Will.

Mike sees El struggling for the teddy bear and decides to help. He’s still definitely thinking about Will, you can tell because of his body language. He’s super smiley, he’s fidgeting out all his excess happy adrenaline (I bet he wanted to take a victory lap after talking with Will), and even though he’s talking to El he can’t help but bring up Will in the conversation. He is so happy and care-free that he starts talking about how excited he is to open presents with Will and El on Christmas Day; this brings Mike back down to earth because he gets embarrassed for sounding like a kid and thinks he just weirded El out with his awkward ass.

He thinks El is leaving the room as he silently cringes at himself, but then she turns around and starts talking about the cabin scene. Mike knows where this is going, so he immediately starts acting clueless and like he didn’t say ily super loud. He asks “What did I say exactly” because he wants to make sure she didn’t hear ily...because that’s what he assumed when it originally happened (rewatch the cabin scene it was meant to look that way). He’s super fucking confused on why El’s walking fast towards him and suddenly in his face and--

“I love you too” *aggressively starts kissing him*

He’s in shock BIG TIME. What you all are witnessing is Mike’s worst-case scenario come true and his reaction to what was possibly the worst thing that could happen in that moment. He’s not going to kiss back, he’s still processing what the hell just happened. He’s looking at El, just standing there with her suctioned on his face, with eyes wide and a face silently screaming “What the HELL just happened?!”

After the kiss and El leaves is when it sets in.

Mike is screwed. He doesn’t have a good excuse to break up with her. He can’t say he doesn’t love her because El just said she heard him say it back at the cabin. And he couldn’t possibly explain he’s in love with Will, there’s just no way (even though she doesn’t know anything about society’s problem with queer folk)! So, he promises himself this, he’s not going to lead her on. He’s not going to say ily and he’s just going to treat her like a friend until she breaks up with him again.

The time finally comes for the Byers to leave and Mike’s really fucking sad. His bff of 5 years old/crush is going away--possibly forever. He can’t play with Will in his basement like they used to, he can’t see or talk to Will everyday like he has his whole life. Mike was just reassured by Will that their relationship will never change, after having lost him this whole season, but now it hits him he doesn’t know that for sure. He’s losing Will and El again, but this time he can’t save them.

Then we get literally the most heartbreaking montage of Hopper’s letter fitting into each character’s emotions, and ofc he says “I don’t want things to change” as Mike leaves the Byer’s empty home and “maybe that’s why I came here, to stop the change. To turn back the clock. To make things go back to how they were.” as he cries in his mom’s arms.

Mike begins his “I’m in love with Will, but I have to act like I’m not because El loves me and he doesn’t 😃” phase that plays throughout s4. But it takes a turn when he starts noticing some sus behavior from Will and realizes maybe Will does like like him. but that’s for another byler analysis.

#byler #byler proof #byler theory #everything points to byler #byler nation #byler brainrot #byler for the win #byler is real #will byers #mike wheeler #mike wheeler is gay #mike wheeler is queer #mike wheeler i know what you are #mike x will #will x mike #stranger things #st3 rewatch

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esxvspy · 1 year

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Just something that I’ve noticed, but why is it that whenever I look at the anti byler or anti mileven page (they both make me giggle tbh) that people don’t seem to care about mikes feelings in these relationships?? Like usually it’s like “oh but if byler happens El will be sad” or “if mileven stays together will would be miserable” but what about what mike thinks? That’s bc we don’t know what he thinks. The duffers have been purposely ambiguous as to what mike is feeling towards both of them. The way he couldnt say ily to el during their fight? I mean she was basically begging. I mean he couldn’t even say ily to her through a store bought card. A STORE BOUGHT CARD

BRO WENT OUT OF HIS EAY TO GET ONE THAT SAYS “I LIKE YOU” ON IT. Also literally the whole monologue was so easily debunkable. He didn’t fall in love with her when he first met her, he let her stay in his house for one night and then was planning on sending her back to, and I quote, “pennhurst or wherever she comes from.” That doesn’t sound like love. Plus everything in season 3?? With the “I dump ur ass”?? Not doing anything about it?? El kissing him in front of an open closet?? Like from this standpoint it seems fairly obvious that he’s NOT in love with el, at least not anymore. However, on the other hand, everyone on the cast has been super hush hush about byler as well. No serious talk ab it in interviews, just casual “wait and see”s. Like we know will is in love with mike but mike might not feel the same?? It’s definitely plausible with all the theories I see (and btw I’m all for these theories I eat them up) but even with all the heart to hearts we rarely see mikes perspective. The only time I think we do get his pov is on the upside down couch in the finale. In which mike is seeing will bathed in light. And the blocking for the finale with will and mike paired together?? Plus the lighting, they really play with lighting. Overall mileven is based on hard canon and byler is more up to subtext. Both are fairly obvious though. The only thing we rarely see in both of these ships is MIKES PERSPECTIVE. It’s always from wills or els, it’s almost never mikes. And the duffers have to be doing it for a reason, like it’ll make one more obvious then the other. So that could be why people who are so anti mileven/byler could be using so little of mike in their arguments, bc there’s nothing to work with. We DONT know what he wants. Hell he’s still figuring that out himself. Give Mike wheeler a break and let him figure out what he wants! (I hope this was coherent bc I am tired and it is 11pm and I was mostly just rambling)

#mike wheeler i know what you are #byler #mileven #gay people #will byers #eleven #el hopper #mike wheeler #i love mike wheeler #let this poor baby figure himself out

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redshoes-blues · 2 years

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Stranger Things S4 Byler scenes are from Will’s POV, but at the end of ep 9, the POV switches to Mike. Let’s discuss.

Starting off, Mike is our major POV character out of the kids during both S1 and S2 (aside from El, who is often doing her own thing). I’ve said it before, so have others, but Mike Wheeler represents the audience in the show. We’re meant to react alongside him as he learns about the Upside Down, about what is happening to Will, etc.

POV shots for Mike include moments like:

ST1: Will’s “body” is found in the quarry. The Party are all there, but the camera focuses most on Mike. We see Mike reacting, and we see Mike crying when he arrives home [note: we also know a certain Mike biking and crying scene was filmed but not included]. The entire Party is upset, of course, but it’s Mike’s emotions who we focus on and empathize with.

ST2: It’s Mike who the camera focuses on when Will is taken to Dr. Owens. We see the other boys in the background, but Mike is in focus, at the center of the screen. It’s Mike who finds Will in the field, and he’s the Party member who we see interacting with Will throughout the entire season, including the show’s climax when Will lis exorcised of the Mind Flayer.

We see a bit of Will’s POV in S1 and especially S2, although to a lesser extent than Mike (mostly because he’s gone during S1). The S2 POV scenes include Will’s “episodes” where he visits the Upside Down and he’s literally the only character we’re following.

S3 is a bit of a weird one for both characters, and it’s where we begin to see a shift in the POVs that are in focus. This is the season where El becomes the main character, not Mike (I would argue that out of the kids, El and Mike are equally important in S1; in S2, this becomes El, Mike, and Will). There’s a lot to be said about the reduction of Will to the neck-touching sad boy, but Mike is noticeably reduced as well. Instead of being our main audience POV character, he’s reduced to El’s love interest and a shitty friend to Will.

Why? There are two options which could be at play.

1. Incredibly poor writing. As I said, Mike is kind of our main character in S1 and (to a lesser extent) S2. He’s the eyes through which we’re introduced to the world of Stranger Things, and decreasing a dimensional and loyal character to El’s boyfriend and Will’s shitty best friend is a terrible writing choice. It not only weakens his character, but makes the entire Party dynamic fall flat. In S1 and S2, Mike is very much the heart of the show. He loses all heart in S3, which is ironic given that his supposed love for El is the one thing he seems to have going for him.

I do think a lot of S3 and S4 vol 2′s writing is lacklustre, but I still think it’s crazy that the Duffer brothers would mess up so badly that their main POV character was reduced to love interest / shitty friend without a reason. Maybe it really is just poor writing (which I think it is if Byler doesn’t happen), but what if Mike’s character is reduced for a reason?

2. Deliberate hiding of Mike’s internal thoughts. We already know this is true from the scripts for S4 showing scenes from Will’s POV. The bedroom scene is a big one. We don’t really see much of Mike’s internal monologue in S3, aside from a few outlying moments (”it’s not my fault you don’t like girls!” being one of those moments is certainly . . . a choice. Projection of self-hatred and internalized homophobia, much?).

We see even less of this in S4, and one of the “Mike internal monologue” moments is literally a love confession crafted on the spot by Will, for Mike. Even the “Mike monologue” is from Will’s perspective (and El’s, of course). We don’t see Mike and El discuss the monologue afterwards. They don’t have any moments alone at the end of S4, which is incredibly odd.

For many people, the last scene of S3 is cited as crucial Byler evidence. The Mike and Will vs. Mike and El (open-eyed kiss in front of an open closet) scenes are starkly different in their tone. There’s also the fact that the Mike and El breakup is comedic, where the Mike and Will fight is one of the saddest moments in the show.

It’s my “theory” that by the end of S3, Mike is coming to realize that he’s gay, and that his feelings for El aren’t what she wants: this brings on a Mike in S4 who is even more closed off than S3 Mike, intentionally hiding his emotions from Will and El (and probably everyone else in his life). This Mike knows he’s not straight, and he’s terrified of this. There’s a reason he’s isolating himself from Will. There’s a reason for the rain fight, and for his #1 playlist song being Smalltown Boy by Bronski Beat.

If it isn’t bad writing that reduced Mike’s character in S3 and S4, it’s definitely a deliberate choice by the Duffer brothers to hide his internal thoughts from the audience. This is because, if we’re right about Byler, S5 will reintroduce Mike’s POV to the show: finally revealing the way he has felt inside for the last two-ish seasons.

It’s important to point out here that Will’s POV is central in S4.

In every scene where Mike and Will are together (except for the couch scene, more on that later), the POV is strictly Will’s. Similarly, in every scene where Mike and El are together, the POV is strictly El’s. We won’t know for sure how much of Mike’s internal monologue/POV is written into the scripts until they’re all released, but as a viewer there are very few moments where we get Mike’s POV: and even then, we don’t really see what he’s thinking and feeling.

Despite Will being a criminally minor character in S4, we do see his POV. We saw this in the script as well, where his thoughts are written directly onto the page. We’ve yet to see any thoughts from Mike no-thoughts-head-empty Wheeler.

If Mike is gay and the Duffers want the big S5 reveal to happen, they have every reason in the world to keep Mike’s thoughts hidden. And yeah, they probably could’ve done a better job at ensuring that Mike isn’t just love interest / shitty friend, but ah well, this is what we have to deal with. The point I'm trying to make is that there’s a very good reason why we haven’t heard much from Mike’s brain: and that reason is a gay one.

I would like to note that this is pretty much exactly what happened to Will from S3 to S4. Even though he’s a minor character in both seasons (boo! give us main character Will, cowards!), we see way more Will POV scenes in S4. If this whole hiding internal feelings thing is right, then general non-subtext-reading audiences are meant to be aware of Will’s feelings for Mike in S4, and he’s allowed POV scenes because we are meant to understand his internal thoughts. With Mike, general audiences aren’t meant to understand his internal thoughts until S5 (and the very end of S4).

Okay, so Mike is gay and that’s why his POV is hidden from the audience after his S3 realization of his own queerness, why did I mention episode 9?

Let’s break down the couch scene.

We start with Will engulfed in sunlight. Take note of the blue and yellow lighting in the room. Will is surrounded in yellow-tinged light, while Mike’s side of the room features a cooler tone with a blueish appearance. This also matches the yellow vs. blue of their clothes.

We get a shot where Mike is talking to Will, and he is in focus, not Will. Since Will is usually our POV character in the Mike and Will S4 scenes, he’s normally in focus unless Mike is the one talking (or staring at Will).

We get this close-up shot that continues to zoom in and focus on Mike’s face while Will is talking. There are also brief cut-aways that show Will talking, but the perspective has clearly shifted to Mike. Mike is scared and worried about what’s going to happen with Vecna. We see this on his face as Will speaks. Like many of the S1 and S2 scenes where we follow Mike’s POV, the audience is meant to be reacting with Mike here. We’re also worried about Vecna and what Will is saying. We understand how Mike is feeling.

At the end of the scene, Mike leans into the light. In fact, he’s moving closer into the warmth and yellow hues as the scene goes on. At first he’s surrounded by cold and blue. In the end, he leans towards Will, reaching through the light that engulfs Will. This lighting is important: we know this because the Duffers have said so. Lighting in filmmaking is always intentional, and that’s certainly the case here. To me, this final scene of Mike and Will is our reintroduction to Mike’s POV in the show.

The best choice Mike ever made was when he decided to befriend Will on the swingset. That’s his happiest moment: not when he saw El in the forest (if the Duffers are half-decent writers they should know that’s a lie given that Mike felt zero fondness towards El until much later in S1). Mike looks at Will through rose-tinted glasses. Since the scene is mostly from his POV, we’re to understand that Mike sees Will bathed in sunlight, and what’s more romantic than that?

Note: I am very interested to see the script breakdown of the couch scene, because if we see any of Mike’s POV/thoughts in there, then I see that as a massive win. If not, I’m still interested — and more than a little suspicious of whether Finn was given a “secret script” OR told on set what Mike was feeling if the script never said (this is last bit is definitely a conspiracy theory, but not unheard of in film, it happens with the Marvel movies all the time).

In summary, S1 and S2 of Stranger Things heavily feature Mike as a firsthand POV character for the audiences to relate to. His POV is lessened in S3 and S4 until the final couch scene to hide his internal (gay) feelings from the audience until a S5 reveal.

#this is kinda all over the place but I hope it makes sense!#byler #mike wheeler #mike wheeler analysis #byler analysis #stranger things meta #byler brainrot #byler theory #stranger things #stranger things season 5 theory #strange things theory #stranger things analysis #will byers #mike wheeler i know what you are #mike wheeler is gay #byler script #wake up duffers #stranger things 4

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schrijverr · 2 years

Text

Your Name in Every Corner

Eddie’s perspective on Steve as he first learns about his good side from the Freshman he takes under his wing and then witnesses it when he gets dragged into the whole Upside Down business, learning that King Steve is no more and Steve is actually a good dude.

On AO3.

Ships: Steve x Eddie

Warnings: mentions of period typical homophobia

King Steve Dethroned: Jonathan's POV, Robin's POV & Eddie's POV.

~~~~~~~~~~

Eddie knows Steve Harrington. Of course, he does. He was only a year above him during his rise to popularity and douchbaggery, then shared his second time doing Senior Year with the man, before he was finally free of King Steve in every corner of the school.

Sure, he wasn’t terrible when they shared Senior Year, but Eddie knows his kind. Has watched him all the years before. He knows how to avoid, how not to engage.

Most likely, his survival avoidance tactics just worked well. Steve walked the podium, Eddie didn’t, but was glad to see him gone.

However, Steve isn’t gone.

He is physically, but somehow he surrounds Eddie more than ever now that he isn’t here. And all that is because of one kid only. Dustin Henderson. The kid worships Steve for some odd reason and while Eddie loves the kid, he is stuck with him, thus so with his talk about Steve.

Eddie spots them on the first day back at school. He’s in the cafeteria eating his lunch as usual when they enter. A group of nerds, obviously Freshmen, looking way out of their depths. So, Eddie saunters over and saves them.

They eagerly join their table and inquire after the shirts, soon signing up for the Hellfire Club. Yeah, this year is good. Eddie can feel it.

With three new members, their legacy as Hellfire will be secured as he finally walks that goddamn stage. So, he’s in a pretty good mood as they set up the campaign for this year. Eddie is naturally running it and he wonders how those kids will fit into the party dynamic.

Excitedly, he sits on his throne, looking over his victims, uhm, troops, and grins: “Everyone ready for the start of the most epic campaign known to man?”

“Hell yeah,” Jeff says and the new recruits nod.

Dustin then says: “But we do have to be done by ten, because Steve’s picking us up and he hates it if we make him wait.”

“He doesn’t hate us,” Mike rolls his eyes. “He just doesn’t let you pick the music until he breaks under your eyes, because he’s a massive looser.”

“Don’t say that, Mike,” Lucas buds in. “You literally based your character off him.”

“Wait, Steve Harrington?” Eddie asks, realizing who they’re talking about and wondering why the hell the human fighter with a spiked club and a heart of gold that Mike plays is in any way based on his sister’s ex boyfriend.

“Yeah?” Dustin confirms, like it’s weird that Eddie is asking, while the other members look at the three of them like they have extra heads. “He’s cool,” Dustin shrugs.

“Exactly,” Gareth says. “He’s cool. Why the fuck is he picking you up from school after your DnD night?”

“Oh,” Dustin says like that explanation makes more sense. Before showing he didn’t understand the comment at all as he explains: “He doesn’t want us biking out when it’s so late and he has a car and the time. So, he offered.”

“Steve. King Steve. Offered to drive you home, because he was what? Worried about you?” Eddie laughs disbelievingly.

“Yeah,” Lucas shrugs like that’s an explanation.

The four original Hellfire Club members share a look that tells each other that they’re all not buying it. But Eddie isn’t about to let his first DnD night of the year be ruined by Steve Harrington of all people, so he claps his hands to get the attention of everyone, deciding to drop it.

Maybe Nancy asked Steve, because she was worried about her brother. The rumor is that Steve is trying to get back into her pants now that her boyfriend moved to California and Eddie wouldn't think him above driving her little brother and his friends home to do it.

If those kids have a bit of a hero worship of the cooler older kid that they saw in passing, then that will fade quickly. Douchbags will always be revealed in time.

Soon, he forgets about Steve and gets into the story, leading the party to the first obstacle. He is impressed with the kids. They have a good strategic mind and play well together. A perfect addition to his campaign.

Still, when the night is over, he can’t help, but remember that King Steve is picking them up. He tries to tell himself he wants to see to make sure Steve isn’t a total dick to his Freshmen, but a part of him knows he’s just too curious not to go look.

As they said, Steve’s car is in the parking lot, the man in question leaning against the hood, wearing a strange vest.

“What the hell are you wearing,” Dustin calls out to Steve when he sees and Eddie raises his brows at the fact that Dustin dares to speak to Steve like that.

He half expects Steve to get angry, to snap back, but instead he looks on in surprise as Steve rolls his eyes and calls back: “It’s called a work uniform. You know, since I have a job, Henderson. Someone has to pay for all the gas I use up driving you lot around. Now get in the car, or I’m not driving you to the arcade this weekend.”

Quickly, the three of them scramble into the car and Eddie watches as Dustin puts a tape into the player like he’s done it a million times before. ABBA loudly blares from the speakers as the car pulls out of the lot, faintly Eddie thinks he hears Steve yell something about seat belts, but the whole picture is already too absurd, so Eddie pretends he imagines it.

Steve truly came to pick them up.

King Steve came out of work to pick up three nerdy Freshmen like it was a totally normal thing for him to do. Acting like he drove them around often. Often enough to have them all act comfortably in his car.

It just doesn’t seem like a thing Steve would do, Eddie thinks as he gets into his own van. Internally he tries to rationalize it. Maybe Steve is getting paid. The word is that his parents cut him off and he’s lucky he was allowed to stay in the house and keep his car. Maybe the kids’ parent pay him for it and he thinks it’s easy money.

The reason sounds a bit far fetched for Eddie’s taste, but it’s plausible (and he hasn’t forgotten about the getting into Nancy’s pants theory). Much more plausible than Steve wanting to do this, so he accepts it into his worldview and speeds off as he lets the whole interaction go.

And Eddie is sure he wouldn't have though twice about the whole thing if Steve didn’t become a frequent topic of conversation at his table.

Apparently, his newly adopted Freshmen adore Steve and think he is the coolest person to ever grace the earth. Even Mike thinks so, though he denies it vehemently. So, each session Eddie has to listen to how cool Steve is.

“Oh, this is like when Steve faced off against Dart and his friends!” Lucas says and Eddie wants to yell: ‘How is my cool monsters surrounding you from all sides unexpectedly anything like something Steve has done? And who the hell is Dart?’

He makes an awesome hidden base under this town and Dustin tells Mike next to him: “It’s kind of like what happened this summer. Is your Steve throwing himself in front of danger to save me?” and Mike says: “My character is not based off Steve!” while Eddie desperately wants to ask: ‘What the hell did you do this summer? And why the fuck were you hanging out with Steve?’

At some point Mike’s fighter dies so that the rest of the party can escape and Eddie feels great about the moment. It’s a beautiful end for the character and they’re all basking in it when Dustin comments: “Steve never did win a fight, did he?”

“He wasn’t based off Steve,” Mike complains, but he’s smiling at the comment.

“Oh, he so was, Mike,” Lucas pipes up.

“Uh-huh,” Dustin nods vigorously. “That self-sacrificing move you just pulled that got your character killed? Total Steve move.”

And Eddie is about to rip his hair out, because even his beautifully crafted moment in his story is tainted by fucking King Steve. So, he finally explodes: “In what way does this remind you of Steve? Like, for real. How?”

The three look surprised at his outburst, then share the look they sometimes share. Before they all shrug and Dustin says: “Uhm, last year Billy came after Max when Steve was watching us over at the Byers’ house. Billy was about to beat up Lucas, so Steve went out there to stop him.”

“Yeah, and he got the shit kicked out of him,” Mike rolls his eyes.

“But it was cool,” Lucas protests.

“Billy smashed a plate on his head and everything,” Dustin adds. “Come on. Even Max thought it was cool. She never thinks anything is cool.”

And Eddie wouldn't have believed them if he hadn’t watched Steve come in with his face all bruised up, ignoring Billy sending him smug looks. It just sounds absurd. Though, he does think the plate is an exaggeration, one doesn’t just walk away from that.

“Alright, alright,” he cuts in, before the discussion can get out of hand. “I get it. Whatever. Lets focus back on the game.”

Luckily that works and they all get back to it. Mike doesn’t have a new character yet, but he delight in meddling anyway, calling out suggestions.

Once they’re done. Dustin wants to ask a few more questions about the campaign. So, he hangs around while Eddie packs up and walks with Eddie when he locks up.

Outside, he can hear Mike’s voice going: “I died. We were fleeing and we couldn't get out on time, so I was a distraction, but my character died.”

“That sucks, man.” And is that Steve’s voice? “You were excited about playing a fighter for once, right? Making another one?”

“Nah, I’m better at playing magic users. Guess, I never was a fighter type,” Mike answers, though he sounds normal it seems like there’s more to that statement that Eddie is privy to.

“You are. You can make a sorcerer based of El, I’m sure she’d love that. And you can’t deny she’s a fighter,” Steve suggests and Eddie is still reeling over the fact that not only is Steve still picking the kids up, he is also talking DnD with them, like he actually cares about their game.

Dustin calls out a greeting and Eddie looks away like he wasn’t interested. Quickly waving goodbye to Dustin as he hurries to his car. He doesn’t want to interact with this Steve. This strange Steve, who is just not Steve-like at all.

Eddie is focusing on finally graduating, he doesn’t need to be thinking about weird Steve. A Steve, who dresses in comfortable soft looking clothes and talks about DnD. A Steve who is good with kids. Not mean.

And he is almost glad when Lucas joins the basketball team later, telling them how Steve is helping him run drills. Because, he can say to himself, see, Steve is pushing this kids towards being sheep jocks. He wants a little posse to carry along his name and found the perfect targets to do that for him.

Even if it makes no sense that Steve is being nice to a few Freshmen to keep his name in high school of all places, especially since all the Senior girls still giggle as they whisper his name. It fits in his views and he’s holding onto that.

In hindsight, it’s embarrassing how much he clings to the douche King Steve image.

Because he doesn’t let it go, the distaste at Steve growing when he sees him pull up into the trailer park a few weeks later, frowning. At first he thinks Steve must have a date here, however unlikely it is that he would want to come close to any of the girls here, but then Lucas gets out of the car and calls out: “Thanks, Steve.”

“No problem,” Steve smiles gently, that smile turning into a grin as he yells: “Don’t do anything I wouldn't do, Sinclair. And don’t do some of the thing I did do.”

“Shove off,” Lucas grimaces like it’s an older brother teasing him instead of the king of Hawkins High.

Max, the girl who lives across from Eddie, has come out of the trailer in time to catch the words Steve yelled. She flips him off, even if she’s smiling. She yells: “Fuck off, old man. We’re not doing anything. Not everyone is a pervert in high school.”

“I wasn’t a pervert,” Steve protest, through the opened window.

“Slut then,” Max shrugs, before dragging a laughing Lucas through the door.

Eddie watches as Steve pouts for a second. Yeah, he also can barely believe that he just watched King Steve drop off Lucas to hang out with his girlfriend, teasing the kids like an embarrassing brother. Not only that, but said girlfriend jokingly called him a slut and he let her. Hell, he’s only pouting in his car about it.

Then Steve drives off and Eddie tries to muster irritation at the peppy radio music he hears floating over, even if he never thought he’d hear Steve sing along to Madonna, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.

And then again he ignores what his brain could put together, but refuses, because the notion is fucking ridiculous. He’s out in the city, having driven his van out there, because it’s where they have stores that actually sell stuff for DnD. He has some extra money left, and he needs a few more figurines for the next battle he’s planning.

Something that seems almost impossible is the fact that he hears Steve Harrington’s voice. “Yeah, uhm, it’s the dice, but not with six sides. I’m looking for sets? Dice sets, I think?”

The clerk must say something, because the Steve-soundalike laughs: “It’s not my thing, no. It’s a present for my kids, they love this nerd shit.”

Eddie relaxes at the sound. Whoever this guy is, he has kids and Steve decidedly doesn’t have kids (that anyone knows off, because honestly Eddie wouldn't be surprised if Steve had knocked up a girl at some point, but those wouldn’t be old enough to be playing DnD yet). The man at the counter just sounds like Steve, that’s all, and it’s weird to go looking at him just because he sounds like someone Eddie dislikes.

Still, he can’t help but think of the man when Dustin, Lucas and Mike show off their new dice sets at the next session (all picked to fit perfectly with them).

Like he said, it’s ridiculous to think Steve would drive all the way to the closest big city to buy dice sets for a few Freshmen he doesn’t like so that they can play a nerdy game. It’s just stupid coincidence. King Steve buying DnD dice just doesn’t happen.

Eddie doesn’t ask how they got the dice, however.

After that, it slips his mind. Sure, he still has to listen loudly proclaim that Steve is a badass whenever he can, but he manages to avoid the man himself. If he is still picking up the kids after DnD nights, Eddie is too busy packing away the stuff. If he drives them to the arcade, Eddie doesn’t know. And with Lucas and Max breaking up, he doesn’t see Steve at the trailer park much, except the few times he brought Max home (something Eddie ignores).

If asked, he will laugh about why he should be interested what Steve is doing. He’s too busy trying to finally graduate to be busy with the former Mister Popular. He has never cared about that sort of thing, why start?

Why would he want to know what Steve is doing? Why should his brain wonder about this new Steve that gives rides, buys dice and is actually nice? It’s stupid. Those kids just have a very bad case of hero worship and Eddie is desperate to not make it his problem.

Naturally, the universe has a funny way of turning against him, because a girl dies right in front of his eyes and before he knows it, he’s on the run.

He’s in hiding, but found.

He’s scared, feeling trapped.

He’s holding a broken glass bottle to the throat of Steve Harrington.

Because of fucking course Steve has decided to- to what? To help Dustin in his attempt to help Eddie? To believe that Eddie is innocent? To be nice?

Though, at the moment, he looks more scared than anything else. He flinches away from the sharp edge of the glasses and softly but frantically swears on Dustin’s mother, his hands raised in a deescalating and placating manner.

And no matter how unbelievable it is, it can’t be stranger than what he saw in his trailer. So, despite all his instincts he lets Steve go, believing that they’re truly there to help, and sinks to the floor, still clutching the broken bottle to his chest.

They ask him what happened. What happened is that a girl, Chrissy, kind Chrissy, suddenly levitated and broken all her bones right in front of him. Something that should not be able to happen. Something that no one would believe if they could also blame him.

“You wouldn't believe me,” he says.

But they assure him they will and then they actually do. They listen to him talk about a floating girl that broke right in front of his eyes and instead of calling him a freak or insane, they nod their heads. They share looks. Then explain the wildest shit to him, dragging him into a world that he would have loved to never know.

Yet here he is, learning more and more crazy facts about what has happened in Hawkins since ‘83 and how this group was involved every single time. And suddenly Steve and the hero worship the kids have of him makes a lot more sense.

Because, Steve is there for them. He’s not there to solve the mystery or get the glory, he’s just there to make sure none of the dipshits die. Eddie can see it in how he hovers behind them, ushering them through doors, backing up their stories in his own way and how he rests assuring hands on their shoulders.

It’s incredibly obvious that Steve is there for the kids and the kids only. Sure, he is protective over Nancy and Robin as well, but it’s nothing like how he is about the kids.

Eddie can hardly believe his eyes as he watches Steve, Steve Harrington, King Steve, that Steve, put his hands on his hips as he sternly tells the group: “No, those snacks are for Eddie. We can get you snacks on the drive back, he can’t. I asked if you wanted something when we bought them and you all said no.”

“You were eating chips on the way here,” Dustin protests.

“Yes, I bought those for myself,” Steve replies, raising a brow daring Dustin to say more about it, to which the kid wilts as he gives in. When he does, Steve nods satisfied as if he was waiting for that reaction, like the mom-tone (because there’s no use calling it anything else) usually works. Like this happens often.

Then he smiles at Eddie and his heart skips a beat. It’s a gentle, assuring smile, the kind that says ‘don’t worry, I have your back,’ and the weirdest part is that Eddie believes that smile, that it makes him feel safe and cared for.

So, he eats his snacks as they walk towards… a portal apparently, because a compass is wonky. This is his life now.

There Eddie witnesses that stubborn protectively self-sacrificing streak he has heard Dustin and Lucas mention during their game, always followed by Mike complaining his character wasn’t based off Steve (which Eddie was side-eyeing a lot more, having heard of the nail bat).

Because Steve offers to jump in the water, without taking no for an answer, like it’s obvious that he’s the one that is going to be put in danger. And with the way Robin and Nancy let him, maybe it is obvious to everyone that Steve is going to stand between them and danger. However, they also value him enough to follow him without hesitation after they’ve all watched in horror as he is dragged down into the deeps by god knows what.

And then Eddie confirms to himself once again that he is very, very gay as he watches Steve rip a bat in two.

Fucking hell, those kids just had to be right about Steve being a badass, didn’t they?

Thus, all that Eddie has clung to during this year comes crashing down. He has to confront that the reason he didn’t want to think that Steve is different – has become nice and caring – is because then he would have to face that not only is Steve very fucking hot, he also cares. Truly the full package.

Eddie isn’t ready for Steve to be the full package. Yet, here they are, and the aesthetic admiration of the boy he’s always had is turning into a full blown crush. And the last thing Eddie needs on top of an alternate dimension and murder charges is another crush on a straight boy.

So, he pushes it all down, telling Steve about how Nancy jumped after him in the hopes that them getting together would break his heart enough to snap him out of his crush.

However, as this week has already shown him, the universe hates him, so that doesn’t happen. No, instead Steve walks around in nothing but his vest for a long while, letting Eddie make comments he can’t keep behind his teeth even if they are bound to get them punched out at some point if he keeps this up.

But that doesn’t happen. Steve takes the teasing flirty remarks Eddie can’t keep contained with only mild confusion, which seems close to his normal state. It appears that Steve is there to do a job and nothing is throwing him off, not other dimensions, a gaggle of loud kids, the cops on their tail, Robin’s rambling or Eddie’s joking flirting that is close to not-joking.

Luckily (if you want to call it that), Eddie is stopped by the universe before he can make an embarrassing mistake. Albeit in the worst way possible, because Eddie is waking up in a hospital before he knows it.

Oh, no, the universe is not done with him.

Steve is sitting there next to his uncle, Dustin leaning against him, both asleep in an uncomfortable hospital chair when he wakes up.

So, it takes his uncle a moment to realize Eddie is awake, he’s so stunned by the sight. Logically, he knows that Steve is probably there to support Dustin, because if there’s one thing he has learned about Steve, it’s that he’ll do anything – anything – for those kids. Yet, for a few moments he tries to kid himself into thinking Steve is there for him.

Then he locks eyes with his uncle, who shoots out of his seat, hurrying to his bedside. Eddie has never been more happy to see his uncle. He’s missed Wayne so so much. Nancy told him how his uncle didn’t doubt his innocence for a moment and he has never been more happy with living with the man.

“Hey,” he croaks. “How long was I out for?”

“A week,” his uncle says. “Sorry, I wasn’t here the whole time, but I’m glad you made some good friends, kid. That one hasn’t left once.”

“Dustin?” Eddie asks, not sure who Wayne is indicating.

Wayne shakes his head and points to Steve. “No, the other one. Read you The Hobbit. Apologized to me for not keeping you safe. Bit of an idiot if he thinks I care about that when he brought you home to me.”

Eddie can’t believe what he’s hearing. He has already come to terms with the fact that Steve is actually a good dude, but it’s a bit surreal to learn that he’d do that for Eddie. He’s pretty sure he’s heard Dustin complain about how Steve never reads the books he recommends. Yet, Steve sat by Eddie’s sickbed and read him his favorite book.

In hindsight, Eddie isn’t sure if it’s lucky that Steve and Dustin wake to find him awake, before he can think about too much, or not.

However, there is something that makes his heart flip as he sees the subconscious blinding smile Steve gives him once he sees Eddie awake. A smile that is gone by the time Dustin stops hugging him, having jumped Eddie the moment he noticed.

They don’t have the time to talk much, because soon, the room is filled with nurses and a doctor that check him over and inform Eddie of his condition. With the amount of blood he has lost, he’s lucky to be alive. The bites will take time to heal and then he will have to rebuilt the muscle tissue that was shredded by the bats. It will be quite the recovery, but he’s going to be okay.

After the nurses leave, his uncle has to say goodbye, since he still has to go to work. Eddie is sad to see him gone, but he is glad Wayne managed to be there when he woke up.

Once his uncle is gone, Dustin fills him in about what has happened since he went under. How El came and stopped Venca, before Max could get seriously hurt (though she does have a broken leg and arm), how Nancy, Robin and Steve flambeed the shit out of Vecna, killing him, and how Steve carried Eddie out of the Upside Down like a damsel.

At the last one Eddie blushes and Steve looks away, not meeting his eyes as he mutters: “It was nothing, man. He’s overreacting.”

“No, I’m not,” Dustin protests. “He came running when he saw you, sliding down to his knees and feeling for your pulse. He gave you CPR and mouth to mouth, before sweeping you up in a bridal carry. Then he carried you up the new rope, like slung you over his shoulder and just climbed out of there. It was so cool!”

“Alright, alright, Dustin,” Steve stops him and Eddie is glad for it, because he sure can’t in his flustered state. “Eddie just woke up, I don’t think he wants to be annoyed with all that shit.”

Dustin pouts, but listens, switching topics to his now proven innocence in the media and how the government made sure to paint him as a hero, getting injured saving a few kids (Dustin, Erica, Max and Lucas) from serial killer Henry Creel.

Steve adds: “You’re probably going to get approached by men in suits soon now that you’re finally awake. They’ll make you sign a bunch on NDAs. Don’t worry too much about it. Happens every time.”

“Jesus, how many times did you sign those?” Eddie asks.

“This was the fourth time,” Steve shrugs. “Not as bad as last time when me and Robin were questioned about that Russian base for hours, before they let us go.”

“You’re gonna have to tell me that story in full sometime,” Eddie says.

“Course,” Steve promises with a small smile, which makes Eddie feel things.

God, he should really try to get over that stupid crush, because that shy smile and soft assurance is very comforting. And Eddie really wants to tell him that he looks beautiful like that.

Before he can embarrass himself, however, Dustin checks his watch and curses. He ignores Steve’s soft warning about language as he says: “I have to go home or my mom will freak.” He adds an explanation, “Nearly got murdered according to the news and all that.”

Eddie nods, expecting Steve to get up, jingling his car keys and saying goodbye, but that doesn’t happen. Instead, Dustin gives Steve a hug, before dragging out his goodbye to Eddie, then bounces out of the room.

Once he has left the room, Eddie gives Steve an inquiring look, raising a questioning brow.

Suddenly Steve seems to remember that Eddie is awake and he blushes brightly. Eddie didn’t even know that King Steve could blush. But this isn’t really King Steve, this is Steve, the babysitter and hero.

“I’m sorry,” Steve says. “I- uhm, I didn’t want you to be alone, so I stayed. Kinda habit now, but I can go if you want to be alone. No problem.”

His head is filled with the memory of being alone with Chrissy’s corpse, alone hiding out in the shed, alone and being swarmed by bats. Quickly he shakes his head, reaching out to Steve before he can get up as he says: “No. Stay.”

Steve lowers himself back into the chair without question and Eddie can almost kid himself into thinking he looks relieved about Eddie’s (highly embarrassing) request to stay.

It’s awkward for a second, then Steve says: “The Hobbit is actually a better book than I expected.”

Eddie lights up at the mention of his favorite book and launches into a rant about it, practically interrogating Steve about where he is and what part he likes best. Until they’re talking, conversation flowing easily between them.

Over the next few weeks, Eddie recovers. During the day Dustin often joins him and his uncle is there whenever he can. However, Steve is the constant. He only went home once to get more clothes and pick up some things for Eddie, but he is mostly there.

The two boys talk about everything and nothing, Steve continues reading The Hobbit and they listen to music together, Eddie claiming Steve needs to be educated and Steve letting him with only an eyeroll.

Slowly Eddie gets better. He sleeps less, walks more and every day his infatuation with Steve grows bigger.

It’s really fucking embarrassing if Eddie is honest with himself. For all his protests about not becoming a sheep, it only took a few weeks of hanging around Steve to feel like all the girls he has always seen buzzing around the man. To lay and think about Steve’s hair, charming smile, muscled arms etc.

But it’s also different, because he knows Steve. He knows that he is nothing like the guy Eddie used to see in the halls of Hawkins High.

This Steve read The Hobbit, talks to Eddie about DnD, trying to understand it for the kids and asking questions about the campaign Eddie is planning. He listens to Eddie’s music, not always liking it, but enough to bop his head and sing along from time to time. He worries for Eddie when he twinges in pain, makes sure he is okay, herds the kids away when they’re too loud and Eddie is tired.

All in all, he’s a great guy and Eddie blushes around him, trying to play it off by playfully flirting with the man more. Something Steve doesn’t seem to mind. Even like, if Eddie wants to fool himself into thinking the flush is about more than embarrassment from Eddie’s comments.

Then, a month and a half after waking up, Eddie walks out of the hospital on his own two legs (though he’s supported by Steve’s muscular arms, his brain busy with replaying Dustin’s recount of his saving).

His uncle couldn't be there, so Steve has offered to drive him home.

He helps Eddie into the car, buckling him in, before flushing and saying: “I’m so sorry that was a total mom-move. I mean, the kids already tease me about it, no need to around proving them right even more and-”

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” Eddie cuts off the apologetic rambles, before they can continue.

“Ah, oh, uhm, okay,” Steve splutters, quickly retreating and closing the door, before hurrying to the other side of the car and sliding in. He takes a deep breath, turning to Eddie, then bites his lip, before shaking his head and pointing to the dashboard. “I have tapes in there, pick whatever you like.”

Eddie feels a weird tension and wonders what happened. He opens the dashboard and laughs, pulling out tapes: “Really, Stevie? Madonna? Wham!? Whitney Houston? Cyndi Lauper? ABBA? No wonder those kids call you a mom.”

“Oh shut up,” Steve grins. “If I want to be a dancing queen, I can be, Munson.”

“Is that so, princess?” Eddie teases, wanting to hit himself when he does. Sure, sweetheart hasn’t been much better, but if he is going to get his ass kicked by Steve ‘princess’ would be the pet name to do it.

However, Steve doesn’t punch him, he just blushes again and grips the steering wheel tightly, not looking at Eddie.

The silence drags out.

It’s awkward. Eddie may not have gotten his teeth punched out, but he’s pretty sure he has finally made Steve uncomfortable. Because he’s a fucking idiot, who can’t keep words to himself and Steve doesn’t have to take that from Eddie. It’s likely harder to ignore without a huge threat hanging over them. So he has to fix this, before he ruins this friendship, which is already more than he could have hoped for.

“Steve…” he starts uncertainly, wanting to reach out.

“No, it’s fine,” Steve says tersely.

“It’s obviously not fine,” Eddie protests. “I made you uncomfortable, sorry.”

Steve gives him a shocked look. “What? No, you- you didn’t make me uncomfortable,” he objects, like it’s a given. Then he looks away, flush still coloring his cheeks and mutters: “You just keep giving me hope.”

“Hope?” Eddie repeats softly, not really able to believe what he’s hearing.

The blush brightens impossibly even more and Steve huffs: “I know. It’s stupid. Believe me, Robin has already made fun of my unrequited crush on you at lengths.”

At those words Eddie’s brain short-circuits. Steve- Steve has a crush. On him? Holy fuck, Steve Harrington just confessed to having a crush on him. Eddie Munson. He is sitting there blushing because Eddie called him princess and that apparently makes him flustered. Because he has a crush. On Eddie.

Then the words unrequited hit him and his brain catches up to the fact that Steve is still gripping the steering wheel tightly, obviously waiting for rejection. And Eddie is just sitting there, staring at him without saying a word.

Before he can rectify the mistake, Steve says: “If you’re going to call me slurs, please just do so, Eds.”

“What? No!” Eddie exclaims quickly. “No, no, no, of course not. Fuck, of course not, Steve. Gods, no, I wouldn't do that.”

“You won’t?” Steve asks tentatively, risking a glance at Eddie.

And fuck, his eyes are really fucking pretty. Eddie looks for a moment, then shakes his head, softly replying: “No, would be pretty hypocritical of me. You know, making fun of your sexuality and crush when I also have a crush on you.”

Steve was about to look away, but at the confession he whips his head around, eyes growing wide as he breathes: “You do?”

Eddie smiles, a giddy feeling taking over his body. He nods and confirms: “I do.”

At that Steve smiles back, his face splitting in two, eyes sparkling. He looks absolutely beautiful and Eddie now gets to say that without having to make a joke about it. So he does. And enjoys how Steve blushes, deciding it’s much prettier in combination with that soft smile.

In a moment of boldness, Eddie says: “So, does this mean you’ll say yes, if I ask you on a date with me, pretty boy?”

And Steve is nodding, before agreeing, an equally giddy smile on his face as he starts the car.

In that second, Eddie feels on top of the world. He has been cleared of murder charges, he has lived to tell the tale and now he has an amazing man on his side that has agreed to go on a date with him, along with many friends by their sides. ‘86 is truly shaping up to be his year.

So, yeah, Eddie knows Steve Harrington. Of course, he does. He is the best babysitter he has ever known with more mom-tendencies than a twenty-year-old should, along with the prettiest blush he has seen. He has taken up space in every corner of Eddie’s life and he can’t be happier that he’s there.

Eddie has witnessed his princess in every way and he has to say, he likes Steve Harrington a whole lot more than King Steve.

#rr writing #tw: homophobia mention #stranger things fic #stranger things #st the party #st season 4 #steddie #steve x eddie #steve harrington #eddie lives au #eddie munson #steve harrington x eddie munson #dustin henderson #uncle wayne #wayne munson #King Steve Dethroned #King Steve Dethroned Eddie's POV

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iamnmbr3 · 3 years

Text

Another day. Another questionable interview from someone involved with the production. This time the Director (who to her credit at least is better than Mike Waldron in that she is able to say she likes Loki’s character whereas his interviews drip with open disdain and disrespect and he can’t even pretend otherwise). (x)

Kate Herron: But Loki doesn't have many friends, you know? He builds this friendship with Mobius across the second episode.

Here again we get out-of-universe confirmation that the narrative framing of Mobius in a positive light is intentional. Mobius is not Loki’s friend. He’s his captor and his torturer. Loki isn’t on equal footing with Mobius. They don’t even have a boss-employee relationship. LOKI WAS MOBIUS’S SLAVE until he escaped. He was being held against his will and coerced under threat of death to work for Mobius and his organization without compensation. That is slavery. And it’s not ok.

Mobius also berated him by telling him that he is inherently evil and monstrous - the very things that drove him to suicide. Mobius is complicit in acts of torture, genocide, murder, privacy violation, and police brutality and shows no signs of having any problem with it. He’s no more Loki’s friend than Thanos or the Black Order are.

When has he ever treated Loki with dignity or respect? Even if we ignore all the horrific stuff, he’s just plain not nice to Loki. He constantly mocks and belittles him and never takes his side. That’s not a how a friend behaves! That’s how a bully behaves! Where is the basis for this friendship??!!

Kate Herron: “And obviously, we're seeing it through Loki and Sylvie's POV. You know, neither of them are good or bad. A complete, pure good hero would probably join the queue and be like, "Well, hopefully we'll get on the train." But they're not those characters. They're going to try and get on it.”

They snuck onto a train??? That’s what she thinks a grey character is? That’s so dull! Loki was a complex and grey character. Larry (as I call the tv show character) and Sylvie...got on a train without a ticket. That’s laughable! That doesn’t make me think about complex morality or issues. And c’mon. All the heroic Avengers have done that level of rule breaking MANY times and they don’t lose their “pure good hero status.” Tony Stark constantly does things like that! I want Loki back. HE is a grey character. But I haven’t seen him in the show so far. Instead I get Larry the watered down clown.

Kate Herron: “When Loki and Mobius are at Pompeii, for example, that's shown through Loki's POV, right? He's joyous and he cracked the case. Pompeii was horrific, but we're seeing it through his perspective and he's in a completely different headspace.”

You know a scene can have more than one emotion right? Like he could be happy about solving the case but also horrified at the destruction of Pompeii? Instead he is laughing at the people who are about to die horrifically and seems to have no compassion for them whatsoever. Sure people can headcanon reasons why he behaved that way (and more power to them. Fixing dumb canon is what fandom is all about!) but the narrative framing is to me pretty clearly lighthearted and the director confirms that intent. There seems to be no awareness that by having Loki behave so callously it makes him come across as incredibly cruel. Far more than he ever was in canon.

In Thor 2011 Thor is laughing while slaughtering Jotnar (as is considered appropriate in his culture) but Loki isn’t. He kills when he has to but he doesn’t enjoy it, something that’s unusual for the culture he was raised in. This Pompeii scene could’ve been a great time to see Loki’s more compassionate side as he looks at the people who are going to die. We could’ve seen some real conflict from him. And it would’ve been a great moment to start introducing the concept that he’s more than just a simple villain to more casual viewers. Instead, although they think they’re “redeeming” Larry over the course of the show they’ve made him far worse and more villainous. I wish they had hired an experienced Director who also understands Loki - like Kenneth Brannaugh!!! - rather than a Director who has never headed up a major project before. Though even the best Director couldn’t fix the abysmal and ooc script and story Mike Waldron came up with.

Kate Herron: “I think that's the thing that's really key for her is that she's a completely original character, completely born out of our writers, and that, for me, was exciting.”

Remember when I said Sylvie is the favored OC? Called it.

Kate Herron: “The train scene I love because Loki doesn't get many wins and it's nice to see him having a nice sing-song. He's just enjoying himself. Because I think that's such a funny way, as well, to show the difference between him and Sylvie is that she's on a mission. She's like, "We're going to get off this moon." And when she's offered a drink, she's like, "No, thank you."

WOW. I hate this SO much. So suddenly Sylvie gets to act more like Loki and Loki suddenly doesn’t know how to be subtle and is just a dumb clown messing everything up. C’mon! This is absolutely ridiculous. This is not Loki silvertongue. This is not the Loki who tried to diffuse the situation on Jotunheim and almost succeeded. This is not the Loki who was always a restraining voice in Thor’s ear. They’ve turned Sylvie into discount Loki without any depth or complexity or vulnerability and they’ve turned Loki into discount Thor ft. dumb clown! Absolutely outrageous.

Kate Herron: “everything is not what it seems and even in our design, people have picked up on certain things. Like the way that they dress, or the posters and that there's something a bit more going on there.”

If the TVA actually turn out to be twist villains I will laugh SO hard; I’d say that twist is too dumb even for Marvel but...it’s really not! Like. Guys. If they’re gonna be TWIST villains you have to not have them do obviously villainous things on screen!!!! BECAUSE THEN IT’S NOT A TWIST!!!!

From the moment we meet them we see them commit acts of police brutality, murder, genocide, trial without due process, enslavement, privacy violation, and torture IN ORDER TO ELIMINATE FREE WILL. Like. They are literally the most evil organization in the MCU. Even Thanos can’t compare. So having them be revealed as villains will fall flat. Because the twist isn’t the audience learning new information or the main character learning it. It’s just the narrative suddenly acknowledging it and treating their atrocities seriously. So the twist is in the real world not the show. And it’ll make Larry look like an even bigger idiot than he already does if he’s suddenly like “Wait the people who tortured and enslaved me are evil?! What?!??!” (I stg if he has to fight miss minutes in the end like I joked about I will lose it).

Also. Why make it a twist?! When you treat the villains as a joke it robs the narrative of tension. Their acts of evil should’ve been acknowledged from the beginning in order to create sympathy for the protagonist and tension in the narrative as we watch him try to escape this situation! Smh. The only funny joke in this series is how badly the writing fails.

#Loki tv series #random musings #Marvel #MCU #loki show #loki series #loki 2021 #loki tv show #Loki Series critical #loki tv series interviews #my post

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hopefullystillatheatrestudent · 3 years

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this might be a weird thought but the way jensen performs masculinity (and i KNOW it’s a performance cause like, have you SEEN the mockumentary?) is just.... so inherently queer to me lmao

ok. okokokokokok. you asked for this. i have a LOT of thoughts on this. it’s gonna be under a cut because i’m gonna be annoying and psychoanalyse a celebrity i’ve never met(and hope i never do) but trust and believe when i tell you i know what i’m talking about so

you want my opinion? here goes. there is absolutely no way jensen ackles is straight. i hear you, ‘how do you know that he’s bi? that’s invasive and creepy’ but may i counter that point by saying how do you know he’s straight???? why is the default for everyone heterosexual? that’s a toxic mentality to have; ‘oh you don’t know for sure so just treat him like he’s 100% straight just in case’ like....what? heteronormativity drives me wild i’m sorry

and also, um, just to, um, prove my point that this man is decidedly not straight™(i really don’t want to do this but like it has to be said) we KNOW he’s not straight because his d*ck has spoken for itself around misha, like, four times. I HATE SAYING IT!!!!!!! but, um, straight men don’t get aroused by men. ...do i really need to explain myself further???? that’s what i thought(and don’t give me the ‘it could have been for unrelated reasons’ or ‘that wasn’t a boner!’ crap because um good lord yes it was and misha caused every single one so no it wasn’t a coincidence i’m gonna move on before i collapse into myself like a dying star)

anyway, on to the topic at hand which is jensen and his performative masculinity. and it’s a juicy one.

after the unconscious amount of hours i’ve put into watching and subconsciously judging jackles, i have come to the conclusion that like, 90% of how he presents himself and talks and even moves is an act. it’s a facade. it’s a shield. he is not that person. it actually seems exhausting, because he tries to compose himself in this macho, manly, confident and effortlessly cool way, but he’s not that person he desperately wishes he was and wants to be perceived as. he’s on guard every second, even the slightest tilt of his head is like, pre-meditated in some way? if i’m going FULL body language analyst mode, i’ve noticed he has a certain posture he always shifts himself into, and it’s very ‘pursed lips, stoic faced, gruff voiced, square-shoulder, broad and manly’ but, not to be rude jensen, it kind of reads as a little kid imitating the adults he thinks are cool? oof i am going IN huh(it’s out of love though i promise)

he is trying to be this person at every second:

because that’s who he wishes he was, because that’s how he gets validation from the people around him that he looks up to; straight white guys. but to me, who he presents himself to be at conventions is just as much of a performance as this whole eye of the tiger bit is.

oh i should mention i know his body language isn’t naturally like that because how he naturally carries himself is actually pretty flamboyant? like he seriously must be toning himself down HARD

examples:

there’s no tension in his body here as opposed to the eye of the tiger gif. i’d describe it as...generally loose and free? he’s at ease when he moves like that and you can see it.

oh and dude!!! DUDE!!!! how could i not mention the fucking SPECTACLE that is his voice??? jensen. i watched season one. i know where your voice naturally sits. THAT IS NOT WHAT YOU SOUND LIKE. and there have been so many accounts of fans visiting jensen in his trailer and being surprised that his real voice is two octaves higher. again, his performance of masculinity is all encompassing. he can’t even talk normally because, in his mind, that’s a chink in his armour.

and, like you said, anon, this whole smokes-and-mirrors gong show of ‘i am the cool texan man’ is inherently queer. who are you trying to impress??? guys??? that’s pretty gay dude.(btw: gay[honorary])

i feel like i’ve already read this man for filth but i have to keep going bc i have so much to say

ok next thing i’m gonna talk about is how jensen says one thing but everything else about him tells us the exact opposite. another HUGE element of performative masculinity, ONE THAT DEAN WINCHESTER IS A MASTER OF. have i mentioned how dean and jensen are like mirrors of each other when it comes to their sexuality and queer identity??? because it is fascinating how everything i say about jensen also directly applies to dean.

allow me to introduce the grumpy face™. as in, the face he glues on when he’s enjoying doing something but doesn’t want to let anyone know it. and it’s ALWAYS when he’s doing something that could be seen as unmanly in any way. (and when i say manly i mean the ‘ideal’ version of manhood that doesn’t really exist but that jensen seems to be striving for[and dean too])

prime example is this video he did with daneel. the grumpy face™ doesn’t budge the whole time as he’s like,,,,playing an instrument and acting like he doesn’t want to bc i guess that’s too girly??? but i also find this video fascinating because the joke IN it is kind of that they’re both poking fun at him for being so insecure about playing a freaking flute. because, i mean, he gets into it, but he wants you to think he is not.

also this picture.

what is this. i hate them. jensen is smushing himself into misha’s forehead but noooo his face is telling us ‘i hate this’ because CLEARLY he does. also misha’s so happy ew gross

he does that face in photo ops with misha ALL THE TIME but how many times has he also literally asked the con goers if he can also have those photos on his phone too? because of course he actually loves touching misha and is actually a sentimental fool but he tries so hard to hide it and fails so spectacularly.

oh and this. and of COURSE this. actually let’s talk about the hitch kiss for a hot minute because it’s a perfect example of exactly what i’m talking about

(he is so transparent guys. he tries so hard but he’s so obvious.)

1. misha was never supposed to be onstage with him. so it’s a boldface LIE and OBVIOUS PLOY TO GET MISHA TO KISS HIM when he says ‘they’d like us to make out now’. but of course the way he says it is ‘oh my god can you believe what these crazy panel people are making us do haha but i mean what they say goes amirite’. same energy as ‘oh my god did you just dare us to kiss rn???’ ‘....no i didn’t’ ‘oh my god i can’t believe you’d ask that haha but i can’t say no to a dare lol’ it’s the SAME THING

2. the fact that he was in the worst mood before misha came onstage and FAKE KISSING HIM made him feel...SO?? much better? like not just a little better a lot better like, again, that says a lot, because if they weren’t dating he would not be in a better mood if misha kissed his cheek unprompted. bc that cheek kiss wasn’t a joke it was a genuine sign of affection and AHHHH

3. after the kiss happens. you know, the one that jensen actively leans into and is smiling like an idiot the whole time through and is quite clearly having the time of his life during....he says ‘well, that was uncomfortable’. .......my guy. um. i don’t know how to tell you that i do in fact have eyes and you are NOT pulling the fast one you think you are

like i’m so sorry jensen but i have you pegged. it’s literally no use.

god there’s so many instances of him doing this with misha specifically. the whole ‘ew gross lol’ but then everything about him tells us the exact opposite. like this(i hate this. how dare he say ‘he has though, hasn’t he?’ LIKE THAT?????)

so yeah my point with that is he really wants us to think he is one thing when he is the antithesis of what he’s trying to be. he really likes those things that he talks down about, and everything he’s loudly projecting is all to hide how he really feels. he went to a gay bar with daneel, for crying out loud. he wants to play a role in drag. he’s queer and he likes it. pov: you’re jensen ackles train of thought: ‘ok so i really like this thing that people might make fun of me for or call me gay for liking so if i just say ‘lol as if’ and make a grossed-out face they will be FOOLED. i am a genius. hey misha wanna blow on my ear lol i meAN GROSS EW’

i have two more things i want to talk about when it comes to this topic so PLEASE bear with me anon this is why you took so long to answer clearly lmao

ok so we’re now going to go over my favorite hot take of all time. which is ‘how do we know dean’s performing masculinity? because sam isn’t.’ only replace dean with jensen and sam with jared and oh my god do we ever have a case

jared is as STRAIGHT as they come. he is secure in that knowledge. and that’s why he is perfectly comfortable treating misha like this:

and not try to scream ‘i am not enjoying doing this!!!!!!’ at us. because he doesn’t care what we think of his sexuality like jensen does(because he has nothing to hide whereas jensen DOES)

something i found the other day that no one has brought up but i SCREAMED upon finding it is this one clip THAT I CAN’T FIND OH GOD but i promise i’m not making it up. i can’t believe i can’t find it guys it is gold. i need need NEED to talk about it. and if anyone knows what i’m referencing and can apply links in any way i will love you forever but here’s what happens off the top of my head:

ok so i’m a bit too braindead to explain it perfectly but um basically it’s a j2 panel and someone brings up magic mike and i think jared says ‘yeah i didn’t watch it’ and then jensen says ‘all the way through’. stupid joke. whatever. the joke is that jared is gay for watching magic mike.

and then i literally kid you not. jared gets this like ‘jesus christ ok dude? lol’ look on his face and then goes ‘projecting much, mr. ackles?’ and jensen gets a guilty look on his face and walks away. and jared did not say it as a joke. he was being dead pan and earnest. and jensen knew it too, he knew he was projecting. i wish i could show you guys the clip i promise if i ever find it i’ll link it but IS THAT NOT SO DAMNING FOR JENSEN????? like come ON. also proves my point that when you compare how they feel about watching magic mike. jared doesn’t care bc watching it just doesn’t interest him, but he also thinks that just watching it in itself doesn’t make you gay. jensen however.......has a different mindset, clearly.

‘projecting much, mr. ackles?’ is actually a great title for my next and FINAL section(we’re almost there folks) which is how jensen projects his insecurites about his own sexuality and relationship with misha onto misha.

i hope by now we’ve all seen this video of jensen impersonating cas. it is a blatant microaggression on his part. and like obviously homophobic. it’s like in his mind if he makes fun of them for being gay it makes them both less gay somehow??? it’s self-deprecation in a way??? let’s just tell it like it is: that impression was just jensen’s overt internalized homophobia rearing it’s ugly head. he does it a LOT too when it comes to misha.

i mean:

and that whole mess where he’s making fun of misha for being a bottom in their panel in 2016? ‘so you’re saying, like with football terms, there’s a handler and there’s a receiver heheheehe’ jensen you’re not exempt from being gay just because you know football terms lmao

oh and his OTHER impression of misha where he mocks him for...bicycling...because it’s not a manly enough sport??? jensen NO ONE else has ever thought this hard in their lives about what constitutes as masculine enough to be a sport before. that’s all you bud. we don’t find those jokes nearly as funny as you do. you are reaching, sir

the good news is that misha thinks it’s hilarious and knows it’s projecting on jensen’s part and will tease him endlessly for it. many stories come to mind, like that one photo op story where they’re literally dressed in rainbow banners and pride stickers but when misha goes to hold his hand jensen said something like ‘no way’ and then misha stepped back, put his hands on his hips and went ‘that’s the part that’s too gay for you???’ and jensen LOST it

or when that whole underwear thing happened(messy messY MESSY BTW) and then a fan asked a question about what dean and cas would do in rome and misha just said ‘when in rome’ and jensen makes a face like ‘are you serious’ and then misha says ‘you can’t look at me like that anymore, because of what you did!!!!!!’

OH and that whole story about when misha suggested they put jensen in the closet for that cat video....yeah um

and then when jensen was asked to do bisexual finger guns for a photo op and the con goer said ‘he looks bisexual here’ and misha literally said ‘oh he definitely looks bisexual here. i would say he’s actually closer to the gay side of the spectrum’ so..um...make with that as you will

OH MY GOD i’m finally done. wow. WOW. that was a lot. i hope i’ve blown your minds. ty anon i really wanted to talk about this and i hope you’re happy with the outcome!!!!!!

#cockles ask #sexuality spec #jensen is bi #anti rps for ts #cockles #liz answers #ok i have to admit it is crazy i have retained all this info #i hope someone appreciates it #my analysis #mine

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sayain-princess-vegenta · 3 years

Text

Arranged Marriages in ATLA

Right off the back i want it to be known that i don’t see the comics as Canon. BUT since everyone wants to use the argument that Ursa and Ozai had an arranged marriage i’ll do it for arguments sake.

I’d like to clear up. I know that Ozai is the villain and the big bad of the show. I know he abused Zuko and Azula. WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT THAT.

Today we are here to discuss the marriage between Ozai and Ursa. Most people when talking about this topic only focuses on Ursa because she is the “Victim” She was taken from her home, She was taken from her Lover Ikem. She was forced to marry into this crazy family, forced to marry Ozai and MANY people love to throw around the R-word. How can we make Ozai even more EVIL Oh i know he R*** Ursa, that's the only way she could have kids with him right????

First of all not only is this triggering to some people. But its entirely incorrect. People love to point out him being abusive because of this picture right here:

OH MY GOSH SHE BELONGS TO HIM HES SO EVIL!!!!

Ozai literally explains the reason for why he says this in the panel above. -_-

Hes not wrong at all. She is married to crown Why on earth would they travel back and forth to a run down part of the Firenation? Many women when given in marriage didn’t see their parents again! She married a prince! Why would they risk members of the royal family leaving the capital for this???

BuT sHe WaS FoRcEd!!!!

Ok? So was Ozai...

If you look at the first meeting between Ozai and Ursa, He looks happy.

Do you really think Ozai Second son of the Firelord 3rd to the throne really wanted to marry a commoner woman? I love Ursa but she had NOTHING SPEICAL ABOUT HER! Shes poor, she can’t firebend and the biggest sin of all SHES THE GRANDDAUGHTER OF THE TRAITOR TO THE FIRENATION!! Not just to the Firenation but Ozai’s own Grandafther his flesh and blood. Do you think he’d really be happy?

Commoners get to marry for love, Royal’s and Nobles DO NOT.

Like he’s actually wanting to give it a chance. Ozai grew up in royalty so he was probably used to Arranged marriages and most likely saw IROH have one as well.

IS IROH EVIL FOR HAVING AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE? IS IROH EVIL FOR HAVING LU-TEN?

an official interview with mike and bryan from 2007

HMMM WHO ELSE DO WE KNOW THATS A ROYAL WHO WAS FORCED IN AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE?!!

Still he grins and bears it. BUT HERE COMES THE BIG THING! HE’S THREATENED BY IKEM. A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL FAMILY IS THREATENED BY A RANDOM ACTOR WITH WOODEN SWORDS!!!

Look at it from Ozai’s POV. He finds out hes gonna have an arranged marriage, “ok fine.” Its gonna be to a common woman from Hira’a “Ok? normally it would be a Nobel woman but sure” Shes the granddaughter to Avatar Roku “Excuse me?”

So now he’s forced in this weird Eugenics project created by Azulon and the Fire sages

Oh its so RoMaNtIc putting all our lives in danger, SO CUTE right??

Ozai’s ready to handle this because ITS A THREAT to Him, and to Azulon (in all honestly Ikem should have been put to death for this) But Ursa begs, she begs for his life to be spared, and what does our EVIL RUTHLESS Ozai do? He listens. He lets her handle it.

But Ikem was her TRUE LOVE!!!

You don’t think Ozai had someone he was looking at? People love to make fun of him saying his daddy had to find someone to marry him to, but like Ozai was a prince. regardless of his personality he was 3rd from the throne. ANY noble woman with common sense would have been jumping his bones.

The biggest thing that people LOVE to forget LOVE to ignore is the one person who holds all the power.

AZULON

Do you really think that He would let it slide, if Ozai and Ursa didn’t have children? The entire Point of the marriage was for the bloodlines between Roku and Sozin to merge. HOW CAN THEY MERGE IF THEIR IS NO CHILDREN??

Ozai was just as much as an unwilling participant as Ursa was. if they didn’t have kids URSA COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED. What would her point be if she didn’t provided heirs? You guys keep throwing the R-word around without actually looking into whats going on. If in order to make a person super duper evil you have to put R*** or S*xual Assault ITS BAD WRITING

Moving on at least 5yrs at most URSA IS EMOTIONALLY CHEATING ON OZAI!!

Can we talk about this?! CAN WE PLEASE TALK ABOUT THIS!!! Ursa is still writing letters to her long-lost lover. at least 5yrs later!!! For at least 5yrs she was still writing letters to her old flame! THIS IS SO STUPID!!! But thats another post. The reason i bring this up, is because never was it said or stated that Ozai cheated on her. OZAI! OUR BIG BAD AND EVIL didn’t cheat.

Did you guys read what the letters said?

Ignoring Ursa making the royal family question the validity of Zuko’s bloodline (thats another post) Yes i know it was proven false. Still would have ended in Zuko’s death if Azulon found out.

But i wanna wrap up this long post. Ozai was also forced into a marriage he didn’t want. Forced to be a with a common woman, whos family is a traitor to his own. Then threatened by her ex-lover. Forced to create children with a woman he didn’t love, who didn’t love him. AND THEN BE CHEATED ON and have the thought that his first born might not be his.

I’m not saying Ozai is completely innocent, he’s not. I just want people to look at it from his POV. STOP CALLING HIM A R**** ITS ANNOYING AND FOUNDED NO EVIDENCE AT ALL!!

If we are going by comic logic, no one in his marriage is happy. The only person who benefits from this is FIRELORD AZULON and thats it.

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thewidowsghost · 3 years

Text

Chapter 3 - The Sky’s Tsunami

3rd Person POV

Skye had gotten to her feet and was walking back and forth in the interrogation room.

"Centipede - it was chatter on the web, and then, gone," Skye tells Ward and Coulson. "I traced the access-point mac address to that building."

"What were you after?" Ward asks.

"The truth," Skye tells him. "What are you after?"

"World peace," Ward tells her. "You pseudo-anarchist hacker types love to stir things up. But you're never around for the fallout. People keep secrets for a reason, Skye."

Ward steps forward, getting all up in Skye's face.

"Well, just because you're reasonable . . . and firm . . . Doesn't mean that you're not an evil, faceless, government tool bag," Skye says, making (Y/n) choke back a laugh.

"Just give us your guy's name," Ward sighs, staring down at her.

"He's not my guy!" Skye retorts and Coulson stares at Ward.

"You understand he's in danger," Coulson tells Skye, and a concerned expression spreads across her face.

"Then let me go! Let me talk to him! Not the T-1000 here!" Skye yells.

"You want to be alone with him. Of course," Ward rolls his eyes. "She's a groupie. All this hacking into SHIELD, tracking powers - She might as well be one of those sweaty cosplay girls crowding around Stark Tower."

Coulson clears his throat, opening the door, "Ward."

The two leave the room, Ward closing the door behind him.

"Is it the girl?" Coulson asks. "She getting under your skin?" he asks as (Y/n) emerges from the other end, staring at Ward.

"Let me say that was the worst interrogation I've ever seen." (Y/n) comments following Coulson down the passageway.

"Give me a minute alone with her, you'll have your answers," Ward says and (Y/n) rolls her eyes.

"Unless you kill her first," she says, an eyebrow raised.

"She's an asset," Coulson says.

"She is such a - an asset?" Ward asks and (Y/n) rolls her eyes again.

"We don't know anything about her," Coulson points out. "Do you appreciate how often that happens?" Coulson asks, sparing a glance at (Y/n) for a moment. "That's only ever happened once." Coulson opens a box. "We need . . . what she knows."

(Y/n) finally gets a bit of time to herself and calls her sister, leaving a pair of Bluetooth earphones in her ears.

"I'm fine Tasha," (Y/n) rolls her eyes; (Y/n) had attracted Skye's attention. "Come on, you stupid loveable redhead."

"Don't insult me," Natasha responds in a fond voice.

"Love, you literally asking for it! I'm not going to impale myself on my sword!" (Y/n) retorts, and by this point, Coulson had turned to the auburn-haired agent. "Right, sorry Nat, I've got to go. Love you."

"Love you, sis. Liho says she loves you too," Natasha returns, and (Y/n) can hear a little mew.

"Of course my child loves me," (Y/n) says with a laugh, walking into the debriefing room. "Bye!" (Y/n) ends the call. "Sorry, it was Nat," (Y/n) tells Coulson, pocketing her earbuds. A few strands of dark ginger hair had fallen out of (Y/n)'s bun, framing her face. "My older sister," (Y/n) tells Skye, who had been gazing at her.

"He says he wishes you'd stay in Tahiti," Skye says.

"It's a magical place," Coulson answers automatically, one of (Y/n)'s eyebrows raising.

"Ward doesn't like your style," Skye says, still studying (Y/n).

"I don't like Ward's style," (Y/n) comments halfheartedly.

"I think I do," Skye says. "Coulson's style, not Ward's."

"What about his?" Coulson asks, pulling up a news report.

". . . remains in critical condition. Employees could not identify the attacker, but security footage confirms that this man assaulted the factory foreman before damaging thousands of dollars' worth of equipment."

"Holy mother of Russia," (Y/n) comments, her slight Russian accent peeking out at her words as she watches the man rip a large metal tub out of the ground.

"This is wrong . . . The guy I met. He was . . . He just needs a break."

"Then we need to find a way to figure this out," (Y/n) says. "If only we knew what gives him his strength, maybe we could find out how to save him."

"What have you got?" Coulson asks Skye.

A few minutes later, everyone had arrived back on the Bus and Coulson begins to debrief everyone.

'Mike Peterson. Factory worker. One kid. Gets injured, gets laid off. Wife jumps ship."

"Good guy, bad breaks," (Y/n) comments from beside May as Skye steps around Coulson to stand at (Y/n)'s shoulder.

"Best guess is, somebody tells him they can make him strong again, make him super."

"Who has the tech to do that?" May asks.

"Not the obvious," (Y/n) comments, exchanging a look with both May and Coulson, the others looking slightly confused; even more so when Coulson nods at (Y/n)'s vague answer.

"What do you think then, (Y/n)?" Coulson asks and (Y/n) frowns.

"I don't know, to be honest," (Y/n) answers. "The only place that had that kind of technology was taken down a couple of years ago, and HYDRA was defeated in the late-forties, early fifties," the young woman rattles off.

Coulson nods, considering (Y/n)'s words. "Fitz, what do we have from the security footage from before the blast?"

"What are we seeing?" May asks, looking at the screen.

"Well, the man is angry at the other man," Fitz points out and (Y/n) giggles.

"The data is very corrupt," Simmons points out.

"Yeah, like Cold War Russia corrupt," Fitz says.

"Yeah," Simmons says.

"Russia sucks," (Y/n) says and Skye turns to her.

"Dissing a whole country?" Skye nods. "I like you."

"Anyway, I - I can't sync the timecode without -"

"What if you had the audio?" Skye and (Y/n) ask in unison.

"I was . . . running surveillance on the lab," Skye continues. "I had my shotgun mic pointed at the window before the blast. The digital file's in my van. There's too much background noise for me, but you could probably -"

"You can clean that up, can't you?" Simmons asks.

"Right, find a sync point and use cross-field validation to find -" (Y/n) begins.

She's cut off by Fitz arguing, "But I can't scrub for expression patterns."

"When the VIT-C is all," Simmons adds.

"Well, is there a chrominance subcarrier?" (Y/n) asks.

"Yeah," Fitz points to (Y/n). "Attached to the back porch. Brilliant."

"Um, that audio would be great. Thank you very, very much."

"We will take that audio please."

"Your van's her, but you were right," Coulson says.

"Fitz or I couldn't decrypt the files," (Y/n) adds.

"The encryption's coupled to the GPS," Skye tells them. "Get my van back to that alley, and then I'm in business."

"Agents May and Rushman will escort you," Coulson says and the two agents nod.

"And on your way out, wake up Ward," Coulson tells May.

May pauses, and Skye follows (Y/n) over to her office.

"I gotta change," (Y/n) says. "Wait here."

(Y/n) grabs her smoky gray mission suit and straps her sword to the back, sheathing a knife at her thigh, and stares at a pair of her sister's Widow's Bites gauntlets before leaving them on her weapons wall.

"Let's go," (Y/n) says raising an eyebrow at Skye's wide-eyed expression.

Word Count: 1194 words

#natasha romanoff x sister reader #daisy johnson x fem reader #skye x fem reader #skye x romanoff reader #fem reader #reader insert #mom melinda may x romanoff reader #dad coulson x romanoff reader

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theonetheycallhannah · 4 years

Text

The Treatment of Captain Syverson-Prologue: Onset of Injury (Sy)

Characters: Captain Syverson, various OMCs

Summary: Sy’s POV, the night and the mission that ended his military career and set him unknowingly on a path to true love.

Catch up on all chapters right here!

Word Count: 1.9k

Warnings: Language, violence, attempted military talk, feels…

Author’s Note: Okay friends, most of what I know about military ops I learned from watching movies…so, this may not all be accurate. But I think most of the terms and jargon are in line, even if this mission wouldn’t necessarily go down like this.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately for me, Henry is not mine, le sigh, and all mention of him, his characters, any characters from his films, or his precious doggy, Kal, are strictly for transformative and recreational use. I neither ask for, nor accept payment for the work I post on Tumblr or AO3. Unbeta’d because this is for fun and escapism.

Tags:

@onlyhenrys

@cavillryarchive

@summersong69

@titty-teetee

@bloodyinspiredfuck

@agniavateira

@oddsnendsfanfics

@omgkatinka

@thisismysecretthirstblog

@misslaland

@speakerforthedead0

@tumblnewby

@suavechops

@radkesgirl83

@wheretheriversrunintothesea

Hope I’m not forgetting anyone! If you want to be notified when I post a new chapter or work, I’ll be happy to add you to my tag list! Stricken blogs are getting personal messages from me when a new chapter is uploaded because Tumblr’s faulty tagging system will not stand in the way of me delivering what the people want!(?) lol! (Although…their lackadaisical notification system might…sorry for that. I have no control. lol!)

X@X@X@X@X@X@X@X@X@X@X@

Captain Logan “Sy” Syverson had done a hundred briefings like this one. They were going into a compound with some low level goons, mid-level players, and one big boss. Two teams. Two entrances. One exit. The roof. Air extraction. Minimal undesirable casualties. Five or six mid to high level prisoners.

“Alright ladies, here’s the plan. The compound is central city. Alpha team, we’ll get dropped off by transpo two blocks south of the front entrance, Bravo team, same for you, two blocks north of the back entrance. Bravo, you head east and down once inside, Alpha will go west and up. Standard flanking formation. Stay frosty in there. These guys aren’t cub scouts. They will shoot on sight. Do your best not to be seen. Once the lower levels are cleared, we work our way to the top where we should find the big Kahuna. Do your best not to kill anyone in a suit. Tac gear only, unless it’s your life or theirs. These guys have intel the brass wants. Supposedly.”

Heads were nodding. Lopez raised his hand. The other guys laughed, but Sy appreciated the respect.

“Ricky?” He pointed at him to accept the question.

“Sir, what about evac?” He stood tall and sharp. He was new to the team, but Sy liked him already.

“That’s a great question, and thank you for raising your hand. Take notes on teacher’s pet here, class.” Everyone including Lopez laughed.

“There’s a stairwell to the roof in the master bedroom. That’s the LZ for our helo. They should be less than five mikes out, so we shouldn’t have time to order pizzas or anything after we clear the compound. So once the call is made, you won’t have long to get up the stairs. The helo can’t stay grounded for too long without drawing attention. We will need to keep an eye out for unfriendlies off compound being warned about our presence, and for survivors. Listen, I can’t stress this enough. I know it’s not easy to kill. And I don’t encourage it if it’s not necessary. But these are bad people and they would kill you, the man next to ya, your sister, your parents, or your dog if they could.”

Aika, Sy’s German Shepherd whimpered in the corner but was ignored.

“Kill them for your brothers. For your neighbors. For the children you don’t even have yet. Because what do we do?”

“We embrace the darkness and the suffering.” His teammates that had been there for a while repeated the first part of the sin-eater credo.

“And why do we do it?”

“So that our fellow man is free to live in peace.” they finished the mantra as they had so many times before.

“Fuckin’ A. We roll in one hour.”

~~~~~~~~~

The drop and the entry had gone off without a hitch. Sy's Alpha team were like shadows, the very finger of death for the unjust and evil in the compound. Everyone they encountered was quietly subdued, whether by strategically placed blades, silenced firearms, or in some cases, the literal snapping of necks. Bravo team was just as successful. But Alpha team wasn't finding many prisoners.

The real problem came, though, when they reached the top floor where the big kahuna was supposed to be. Everything had gone dark, even though it had been lit up like Christmas, the Fourth of July, and the Super Bowl all in one when they were making their approach to the compound. Someone had squawked. Raised a silent alarm. Something.

"This…this doesn't smell right, captain." Harztler voiced what was running silently through Sy's mind. "This level was like Times Square when we got here. Now nothing? It stinks."

"I can smell it, Jake. I don't like it." he activated his comms. "Bravo team, we are sitting ducks up here, what is your twenty? Over."

"Sir, we are wrapping up down here, and getting the targets ready for evac. We should be on route in less than ten mikes. Over."

"Push it to five if ya can, private. We don't like the look of this bedroom. Over."

"Is this the moment to be questioning someone's taste in interior design, captain? Over."

"Shitcan that disrespect, private, or you'll be digging latrines alone next time we have survival drills. Over."

"Understood, sir. Will try to push to five mikes. Over."

"That'd be best. Over and out." He signed off with Lopez, amused at the inferior officer’s joke, even though he couldn’t show it openly.

Hartzler has just started to suggest possible reasons for their unease when the sound of rapid automatic firepower rang out from one of the floors below them.

“Fuck.” Both men said in unison followed immediately by frantic shouts from Sy’s radio.

“*crackle crackle* we are taking heavy fire! Kominski is down! Lopez is hit! Alpha team! Captain, do you copy? Over!"

"I'm on my way, Fuller. Hang tight. Over and out." Sy said and looked at the men on his team, "Hartzler, you and Goldberg signal the Helo for evac ASAP and get to the roof. Schmidt, Freeman, you two come with me to back up Bravo team. We meet at the LZ in five. That's not a big window, gentlemen, we'll radio if we hit any snags. Clear?"

"Clear." a round of nods and affirmations came from the rest of the team. Sy turned for the exit to the room, checking his clip, and putting one in the chamber. Stakes were higher than ever.

The last three steps to the ground floor were half blocked by a slumped corpse. Kominski. Sy fought the emotion building in him as he remembered David showing him photos of his two young daughters, Charlotte, who was seven, and Renee who had just turned five. And his gorgeous wife Sasha. His high school sweetheart. He was distracted enough by thought of the soon to be grieving girls, that he missed the pool of blood, Kominski's blood, on the black tile steps. His knee twisted unnaturally. And he could almost feel the protest of his muscles and tendons.

"Fuck! Mind your footing on these last few, boys." he winced, limping on toward the firefight. He signaled the men behind him to stay against the wall and follow him quietly until he gave the signal to attack. There were three men in tactical gear firing from behind a bar in the corner, pinning what was left of Bravo team in their position behind an overturned dining table. It was just Fuller and Lopez now. Sy took the opportunity during a slow point in the enemy's fire to enter, managing to shoot all three immediately, single handedly ending things.

"Alpha team, secure the area. Fuller, Lopez, what is your status?" Sy asked the men.

"Lopez is hit pretty bad in the leg. We've got a tourniquet in place. I am…uninjured. But our prisoners have been…neutralized by friendly fire." Well, fuck. That was the mission blown.

"Ammo?" Sy asked, frustrated.

"Depleted, sir." they hadn't planned for this.

"Fuller, you and Schmidt get Kominski up the stairs, pronto. We ain't leavin' him in this hell hole. Freeman, you watch their backs. Keep 'em covered in case there are any more of these assholes lurkin' around the place. Lopez, I'm gonna help you up them stairs. Can you get up?"

"I'll try, sir."

"Okay, roll out." Sy went to help Lopez to his feet. The boy wasn't hardly 160 pounds soakin' wet.

It was slow going, with Kominski and Lopez in tow, but they made it back to the bedroom just as the sound of the helicopter began to grow, and the roof began to quiver from the wind kicked up by the blades.

Sy made Schmidt and Fuller go first, as they had the biggest burden. Then Freeman, in case they needed another hand getting Kominski's body into the hold. His knee burned after the four flights he'd already done supporting Lopez, but the private had lost so much blood. He thought he'd have to carry him up this last flight to the roof. The boy was pale as a…sheet. He didn't let himself think of an apparition.

When he felt safe enough, and ready, he told Lopez the plan and hoisted him over his shoulder on his uninjured side. His knee protested angrily, but he proceeded, ignoring the pain, forcing it down with those emotions about the Kominski family.

Relief washed over him as he made the last step and his boot crunched against the loose pea gravel of the roof top. They were almost out of the woods.

Until a massive explosion in the HVAC unit knocked him off balance and took him down to his knees, Lopez's added weight a contributing force in what he was certain was now a broken leg bone given a very clear and distinct pop he'd heard even over the noise of the fire and wind. He had heard it from the inside. He thought it would be the tibia, but his knowledge of anatomy wasn't anything to write home about. He dropped the boy with an agonized howl. The heat from the blast bit at his back as he tried to find the strength to stand. But he couldn't. His team was charging toward him and the private. And for once, he was overjoyed to receive help. Fuller and Freeman got Lopez under each arm and dragged him the few yards to the open hold. Schmidt helped Sy up as best he could, but the Captain was in excruciating pain.

"Captain, we gotta go. These assholes are gonna blow up their own property to get us. Come on. It's not far. You can make it." Schmidt let his CO lean on him all the way to the helo.

Sy noticed tied up in one of the bucket seats of the hold, a man in maroon silk pajamas and brown leather loafers without socks. An Iraqi, early sixties, hair and beard still dark black. Their primary target. Mostafa Kassab.

"Where'd he come from?" Sy shouted at Hartzler.

"He was hunkered down in that corner over there when we came up to signal the chopper." the sergeant lit up with pride. "Fuller told me their prisoners didn't make it. I'm glad we found Kassab up here, or the mission would have been a total waste.

As they took off, Sy looked from the covered body of Kominski to the prone form of Lopez, who was paler than ever and glassy-eyed. It was hard in that moment to think that even ten of Mostafa Kassab could be worth one of these men he was lucky enough to call friends.

As he examined his knee, beginning to swell and looking a much different shape than he ever remembered, he thought about what this could mean for him, as a captain, as a soldier…as a man. If he could even call himself a man if he had to take away the title of captain and soldier. This was his calling. He wasn’t sure how he’d go on if…but, he’d wait to think about that when he got back to base and the medic’s tent. After all, what was the worst that could happen? It wasn’t like he was hurt bad enough to earn a discharge letter…was he?

Up Next: Chapter One: Evaluation

#netflix sand castle #sand castle #captain syverson #captain syverson fanfic #sigh for sy #henry cavill #henry cavill fanfic

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cthomashoodstory · 3 years

Text

Best Years but Not in the Same Way (21)

Calum Hood x Reader

Previous Part

I don’t have any knowledge about anything i mention on this story i just search on google. And I’m sorry for my very bad english.

Masterlist

Calum Hood’s POV

I opened up Saara’s hotel room with extra keycard i got from the receptionist. As usual, it’s 2 A.M and I can’t sleep because i was too happy. Right after the show ends at Meadow Brook Amphitheater on Rochester Hill, Michigan, Saara and i kisses. Not a passion one, but it was a special moment with us. I know she still not ready to start a relationship or even labeled our relationship, but i was so happy, I’m such the happiest person on earth. We were on backstage room, just two of us, since my band mates are leaving early. We were talking casually about the show, the next thing happened we kissed. Damn, i really cursed Bieber for what happened to her.

I saw her sitting on the balcony floor, smoking, and talking with someone on the phone and she did it on speaker. The door was almost shut but i could hear every words she said. She hadn’t change her clothes since the show.

(Pictures as reference)

“Hahaha… what do you mean by that? You literally gave me that clothes because you care about me.” She laughed when she said it.

“Whatever you said, Palvin.” Oh she’s talking to Mike Posner. “How was the show? Did you enjoy it? How’s your feeling now?” He asked her and he really cared about her. He was the one who asked us and the manager to add Saara as special guest on our tour. He really fought so she could have a better life. He was the person who took care of her when she was new to this industry and he provided her place until she could earned her own money.

I leaned on the wall near the door, standing here quietly eavesdropped their conversation.

“The show went great. I really love the vibe of people singing and jumping to the songs. I really enjoyed it. Thanks Mike. Thanks for always caring me, you always found a way to make me happy.” She burned another cigarette. “I think i have to tell you this. It’s about me and Calum.”

The way she mentioned my name make me shivers and nervous at the same time.

“What about you and him? Somethings happened? Are you guys dating? Or you guys fight? What?” He sounded so curious so was i.

She slightly smiled and i can see it even from afar. “So… after the show, which is two hours ago, we were talking about the show, and we sat together at the couch, we were so so close, and we kissed.”

“You what?” He shouted so loud and i almost laughed because his reaction was hilarious even i only listen to his voice. “Oh my… Saara… finally! After those years you and finally kissed.”

“Yeah finally. Actually this wasn’t our first kissed.” I smiled brightly when she said it. It means that she really loves me and take me seriously. And Mike was so shocked when Saara said that. “I think… we did it four times… please don’t freak out.”

“That’s a lot, Miss B.” He yelled. “But seriously, with amount of that you two been kissing, why haven’t you guys dated already? You love him and he loves you. He’s ready, Saar. I swear to God, I’m shipping you two since 2013, you know that? Even I’m friends with your ex, i always wanted you two ended up together and maybe this time is the time.”

Saara sighed. “Yes, i love him. I’m in love with him and i want to start a real relationship with him, but not now. I need more time to heal my feeling and i think the progress is 80 percent… i need to make sure that I’m 100 percent heal. And i really can’t wait for that moment to happen.”

Hearing what Saara said, i felt more confident because, us being a couple will be happened anytime soon.

You were at the venue at York Fair in York, Pennsylvania for the next show. It’s 8 PM and The Aces was performing as opening act. You were sitting on the backstage room with the band and some of crews. They were ready to go to the stage because The Aces is almost finished performing. You were standing beside Calum and he was holding his bass. He smiled at you and you smiled back to him.

You felt something strange since afternoon when the band was did rehearsal and sound check. Like the crew slightly looked at me pity. Like something was happening and you didn’t know what was it. His smile was pure but you knew he hid something from you, but you were too scared to know the truth. So you were just smiled and played along.

You never looked at your phone whenever the band went on the stage. But today, for today only, you really wanted to see your phone and checked something because your feeling sensing something suspicious.

And you finally checked your phone while you were standing beside Calum. You saw everything and you got nothing. Until you saw someone tagged you on Instagram.

What? What did you just saw? He’s married?

“Hey what happened?” Calum asked you and you startled.

You shook your head and really tried to held your tears.

“Lets go.” The crew implied the band to walk on stage.

And then Calum waved. “See you in an hour.” You smiled and he disappeared.

And now you were sitting on a couch alongside with some crews that you didn’t know. You keep your mind busy with playing games, listen to music, play guitar, or anything you could. But that picture is still lingers in your head and you couldn’t get rid of it.

After an hour, the crew told you to get ready because they just finished The Only Reason song and they singing Lie To Me now. You could hear Luke is playing his piano while talking to the audience. Today you just got a worse news and now you have to sing this damn song that you wrote for your ex at the day he got married? Amazing. You stood up at the corner of the stage waiting for your turned and you really tried to not to cry.

“I know that you don’t but if i ask you if you love me i hope you lie lie lie lie lie to me. You sound so beautiful out there lets give it out to Saara Palvin everyone.” The audience were yelling and you started to sing the second verse, your own verse.

“It’s three am and the moonlights testing me,oh oh,” you glanced at Calum and he smiled but seconds after he saw your expressions, he looked worried. “I know that you’ve been holding on to someone else and now i can’t sleep.”

Your tears slowly falling down and you wiped it before anyone could notice. “I aint happy… i aint too happy.” Your voice is cracking and you’re so ready to cry but you still holding it.

“Flashing back to ne-“ you couldn’t hold it so you cried and the mic fell off from your grip and Calum immediately hugged you and the rest of the band stop the song.

“Let’s go to backstage okay Bar.” He lead you back to backstage leaving his bass on the ground and the band. You knew they were also shocked but you knew they knew the reason what happened to you. You couldn’t think and just crying on Calum’s arm.

He guided you to sat on the couch and you keep sobbing. “Hey, Bar? Baby please stop crying I couldn’t see you like this.” He held your hand and you stop crying.

“Please get back to the stage,” you said it stammered. “The band needs you, your fans need you. I will be okay here. Don’t worry.” You gave him smile as best as you could.

He nodded and left you alone at this backstage room. Right after he left, you started to cry again. But why you have to cry? What is the reason you have to cry?

You called Mike immediately.

“Hey Miss Hood.” He answered your call happily.

“You knew what happened? Please don’t lie.” You told him with a tone.

He sighed. “Yes, and i told your friends for not bragging that things up to you. I don’t want it to ruin your performance.”

You laughed and cried at the same time. “And now i was the one who ruined my performance.” You cried again. “Mike, tell me why I’m crying right now? Please tell me why.”

There was no answer from him.

“Please help me Mike. I am moving on from him. I am happy with my life right now, but why I’m crying right now? Why? I’m not jealous that he’s married. I don’t care about him. Well i guess i still care? I guess deep down inside I’m hurt the way he’s happy with someone else and not me? I should’ve get back to him long time ago before he’s dating someone else right? But instead I’m sticking up with Calum, the one who always there for me. He maked me happy. Calum makes me happy, right? I’m not suicidal anymore, I’m not stressed around my friends. He’s the one that i need. And i don’t have to cry for a stupid thing.” Now you asked and answered by yourself. And now you walked to the bathroom and looked in the mirror and how messed your face was.

You wiped your face with wet tissues and put the phone on speaker. “Tell me jokes or whatever because I’m doing my make up right now.”

“Did you remember when the first time we met at the restaurant you held a drink and almost spill it on my clothes?” He laughed when he told you the story and you laughed alongside with him.

“No. No you’re the one who bumped into me. God if i never apologized to you, which I wouldn’t do it at the first place, i would never be here.”

You both laughed. 30 minutes later you finished your make up and you hung up the call.

And now you didn’t know what to do and you just sitting on the couch playing some music. You felt better now actually after you pulled out your heavy thought and cried it out. And now you’re tired and about to shut your eyes when the door slammed opened and you saw Calum rushing to you.

“Bar you okay?” He was so worried when he asked you and you saw the rest of the band walked in to the room.

You smiled brightly. “Of course.” You hugged him. “Thank you for always keeping me safe.”

To be continued

Next Part

#calum hood #calum thomas hood #calum hood imagine #calum hood fanfic #calum hood x reader #calum fanfic #calum imagine #calum fic #calum fanfiction #calum 5 seconds of summer #calum 5sos #5 seconds of summer #5sos #5sos imagine #5sos fanfic #ashton irwin #luke hemmings #michael clifford

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amandaklwrites · 3 years

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TV Series Review: The Haunting of Hill House (2018)

Genre: Horror/Psychological Thriller

Rating: 10/10

TV Show Review:

Is it possible for me to give a million stars to something? No? Okay, I guess I will anyway.

Let me start this review by saying that I am in no way a horror movie person. The “worst thing” I have ever seen was CRIMSON PEAK, and even that I didn’t finish because the ending was too gory for me (I do know what happened, though). When I was a kid, Disney’s HAUNTED MANSION movie scared the living hell out of me, and now, it’s one of my favorites. So, for me to say that THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE was one of the best things I have ever watched says A. LOT.

I don’t even read horror books. I have found a few that I love—I’m looking at you Cat Winters and Simone St. James—and I’ve noticed, for me, it’s a certain type of horror. I have no care for the movies that are all about the jump scares or gory bullshit or serial killers chasing people around. To me, those stories have no substance (sorry to those fans, but that’s my personal opinion from what I’ve heard). I like the eerie, the idea that something is peering over your shoulder, and the play with darkness. I also like when stories are extremely character driven. A plot can be pretty terrible, but if I love the characters, then I don’t care if it lacks.

Which leads me into why I love this series. I love the characters, I love the vibe, I love the layers of interpretations.

For me, the characters are the best. I love the kids (Steven, Shirley, Theo, Luke and Nell), and the parents (Hugh and Olivia), and everyone else, but especially the family. I feel that they were all created so uniquely, with their own personalities and flaws and they all felt real. Like I was watching something real instead of scripted. Even how they respond to these events in their life are different (I have learned that Mike Flanagan specifically did it so each sibling represented a different stage of grief, which is SO BRILLIANT). And the strong relationship between them all, and their family unit with Hugh and Olivia as a strong couple of parents.

I loved how the story was told. That everything was unfolding with each episode, that pieces were pulled together with each siblings’ POV, and as everything started to ramp up. I like storytelling like this personally, as I don’t think it has to be told in a linear line. Sometimes, that’s not how telling your past works. So I think it reflects that idea well.

The haunting and ghosts were amazing. I loved the different kinds there were, and ones that seemed so new and original. I will say my personal favorite was the bowler hat guy, because not only is he rad, but he makes me think. Why is he so huge, why is he floating, and if he can float, why is his cane touching the ground? He doesn’t make sense, he’s a mix-match of so many things, and that’s what I love the most. That he isn’t like other ghosts I’ve heard about.

For me, I love how Mike Flanagan made the story about both ghosts and the psychological aspects of humanity. Without spoiling too much in this section, I think he made it a balance. Which is what I believe in. That there can be ghosts in this world, trapped in a house, but there is so much psychology behind it. That a house can be alive with the past and its own ghosts, but how you respond to it is up to you.

From here, I’m going to talk about some spoilery thoughts I have. So, if you haven’t seen the show and don’t want to be spoiled, please don’t continue. But if you have, or you don’t care about being spoiled, please do click on the “keep reading!”

Okay, so more on what I was trying to say with the whole ghost and psychology thing. For me, I’ve always believed that ghosts are real (I’ve lost count of how many experiences I have had, and I see ghosts all the time, and they seem to love following me around), so the idea of all these ghosts living in a house doesn’t seem unreal to me. I’ve been in places that feel like absolute rotting hell and I have to get out of there. I do believe that ghosts have a lingering bad energy and can seem evil. But to me, I don’t think ghosts possess or attack people (like, to kill them). I think at that point, there’s a psychology to it. Have you ever watched a horror movie and can’t sleep because you’re convinced there’s a ghost staring at your back? That’s how I think of it with a creepy house full of ghosts, you can be convinced that something will drive you mad. Which, for me, Flanagan created a good balance of both for this show, at least in my opinion. Because, we see all these ghosts, and after only a couple of instances, none of them attack anyone. They don’t hurt anybody. They’re just there. To them, the Crain family are the ghosts and what the devil are they doing there??

Which brings me around to Olivia. We all knew she would be brought up sometime, and her demise and descent into madness. I knew there was something with her from the very beginning (unfortunately), but I didn’t realize that she attempted to kill her two youngest kids, and actually did kill a little girl. I never even guessed it. But I knew she was losing her mind as more and more time went along. But I can see it. I mean, it does make some sense to a degree. Who isn’t scared that the world will tear apart their children, especially ones like Luke and Nell who are clearly caring and empaths? I’m an empath and I care so much sometimes that I feel like I get disappointed and hurt all the time. And I have heard my own mom talk about her concerns of me growing up that I will fall apart (and actually, I did at one point). So I 100% understand Olivia’s mindset. But I have the thought process that I don’t think the ghost of Poppy Hill controlled and manipulated her into killing her children. I personally feel like Olivia had mental illness stuff long before the house (I mean, the weird headaches??), and Poppy was a projection of those feelings and thoughts she was already having. I mean, we hadn’t even seen Poppy until Olivia was really thinking like that. I’m not saying that the ghost had no part in it, not at all. I think if you are unstable in the first place, and then you go to a place that seems to have this bad, lingering energy, your mind can spin out of control. I briefly mentioned that I have been in places that feel so haunted. I was deep inside a ship with my grandparents at one point, and I stood in one spot and I literally felt someone shove me back and then I couldn’t breathe. For like five seconds, I felt like I was losing my mind. I felt like I was dying and I wanted it to stop. (Turns out, someone had been crushed to death right where that had happened, which I found out afterward). So, I know what I’m talking about. In my opinion, that was Olivia’s case, since that was what had happened to me. I’ve also fell into such deep depression that my thoughts were erratic. So, somewhere along her time in this house, with her mind already in tatters, and listening to a maniac ghost who had been in an asylum, she lost it, she cracked. And that makes her so fascinating, doesn’t it?

I loved the kids. I loved all of them. But I do have to say, my personal favorite was Luke. He was so quiet and sincere, and he grew up and became a junkie. He was haunted by what happened in that house—and somehow, I think, he knew what his mother was trying to do to him and Nell. I know they were little and didn’t fully understand, but I think as you get older, you have to look back and think about it. This little girl with you had died after drinking tea. He may not totally realize it, but I think deep in his subconscious, he knew what happened. And how does someone live with that? Not only is he traumatized because of ghosts and his mother killing herself, but that haunting feeling? To me, that’s why his mother shows up as a ghost to him. Because he knows. But why I also connect with him is because I feel like we share similar personalities. Now, I never got into drugs, but there was a reason for that. It took me my whole life to avoid drugs constantly. Because, especially when my depression was bad in high school, I knew, knew, knew that if I had started playing with drugs, I would become an addict. I just knew it deep down inside of myself, so I stayed away from them. I consciously made a choice to not let that happen to myself. So, I think when I look at Luke, I see a version of myself that could have been. And I also understand it, even if I hadn’t done the drugs myself, if that makes sense? He cared so much that it broke him and that made me cry so much because I get it. I get it.

I’m a literature major, and in my classes, we learned that houses in stories, especially haunted ones, are huge metaphors. They represent the psyche. That’s why we find haunting houses so interesting in stories. So, to me, this house is both a physical entity that can be seen as evil, but it’s also more than that. Like Olivia had said, a house is like a body. It has its own energy, it collects memories, it sees more than any of us have ever had. So I like the idea of a haunted house collecting all these ghosts, and they’re living amongst them. Because isn’t that what hauntings are? Lingering memories, the past clawing after you? And a house perfectly represents that—how many memories, how many people and pasts has it collected over the years? I don’t see the house itself as evil, but all that has happened inside of it. I know the house and ghosts played a huge part of what happened, but we have to give Olivia some responsibility of what happened—she killed a girl and attempted to murder her own kids. I know she was mentally ill, but we can’t blame the ghosts and house itself. I mean, the kids are grown up and living away from the house, and they’re still haunted. So, it’s not only the house. It’s us. It’s humans with our grief and guilt and horror, and we’re remembering it all. But this house is important to them, because it’s where the ghosts reside, it’s where their mom—and then Nell—killed themselves. That’s their ghost.

I think where Flanagan wins is his complex characters, his complex themes and ideas. And that he creates an idea that has so many layers that anyone can interpret things differently. Like for me, I wonder how much the house and ghosts influence the characters and their actions, and vice versa. I think they’re meeting in the middle. And is Olivia evil or good as a ghost? To me, it seems still a bit deranged, because she wants her son to die and be with them. You would think that she would have let go of all that once she had died. But she’s free to choose, and that could be monstrous. But maybe she’s still living in her own hell because of the lingering ghosts and pasts in the house. Maybe you can never quite shake off your past, it’s always there, hanging out in the background.

It’s a complicated show, and that’s what I love about it. I watched it almost a week ago, and I’m still thinking about it. I’m still talking about it to my mom (who has only seen bits) and talking about the different layers and thoughts I have. I loved the sixth episode and how it was filmed in only five shots (who the hell does that???). I think this show is a work of genius, and Mike Flanagan needs all that credit.

This show is such an experience that I loved every single second of it. I want to watch it over and over to catch every little detail, to see if I experience something differently.

It makes me look a little longer at the ghosts that I see pass by me at work all the time now.

#the haunting of hill house #the haunting series #tv series review

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mitchsmarners · 4 years

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why do you hate stranger things 3 so much?

Okay so it’s been a year but I’ll admit, I still don’t think I’ve ever been REALLY able to express what it is about the third season of Stranger Things that just made it so-bad but I’m gonna try. Like short answer? For a show that got it’s whole thing from the importance of family and friends, season 3 shoved all of that aside for poorly written romantic relationships. Long answer?

There’s many things but I think that the biggest thing is that even with a pretty decent “main plot” Stranger Things 3 started off almost immediately from the get out with no chance of actually being good, because right away none of these characters were still in character with who we fell in love with, you know?

Joyce Byers, who at a serious base of her character, was an amazing and extremely dedicated mother spending seven out of eight episodes seperated and unconcerned about her children even when she’s suspicious that something was going on. Her kids don’t reach out to her either, even when the literal world seems to be ending around them which is very weird for both Will and Jonathan who are super super aware of how vital and active Joyce has always been in this fight and they don’t even wonder out loud for second why she isn’t there.

And Mike- oh, Mike, sweeties, my dude, I am so sorry- has, sure, always been kind of a little prick. Very stubborn and kind of struggles to see things from other people’s point of view but there was so much more to Mike Wheeler than having a crush on El. Something just does not sit right with me that I’m supposed to believe that Mike threw down on sight for the entire first season for El’s right to be considered a friend to Lucas and Dustin and then apparently, basically, actively took part in the season three concept that she.... didn’t have any friends, and wasn’t friends with anybody except him, and that she never actually became friends with Dustin or Lucas after Mike fought them so goddamn hard about it. It doesn’t make sense! AND NOT TO MENTION, that Mike sent two seasons- two- with an obvious view that saving Will or protecting Will was the most important thing to him and it still took what like? Four episodes for Mike to realize that something was wrong with Will and even then he continuously undercut it and I don’t know who that was but it wasn’t my Mike Wheeler.

LUCAS WOULDN’T BE LIKE THAT. Aside from the whole weird thing where they set up Lucas and Max has been an actually great relationship and then they brought back that season with a showcase that Lucas and Max basically break up once a week and fight continuously to the point where they both think that’s the most normal thing in the world.I just think that- and I know I’m not the only one- is that I am glad that we got a call back to the season one throwaway line that Mike and Lucas are best friends because outside of Dustin saying that, we never really saw it. Lucas seemed to really have little to no patience for Mike at any given point, and I get that, I totally get that. Like, season one they had the same goal- save Will- but they both wanted to go about it in a completely different way (i.e Lucas didn’t really want to waste time on the girl with the superpowers they found in the woods, because he thought their time would be better spent actually looking for Will) and then in season two, Mike runs around being a total dick to the girl Lucas likes and fucks off in end of episode four without word about it and has progressively tried to keep Lucas and Dustin from what’s going on with Will for the most point (because he doesn't trust Max and he was right in believing that Dustin or Lucas would tell this total stranger about Will’s trauma.) and I totally digressed here, but because I was glad to see Lucas and Mike being friends in season three, the concept was highlight they just- went about it so so wrong. Because Lucas has never been shy about telling his friends- and especially Mike- that they’re being fucking idiots. I cannot imagine Lucas actually encouraging Mike to pursue this crack scheme of chasing after El post-break up. Especially not the way it went down, which Mike immediately accepts that El has dump him and it’s over and then Lucas convinces him that it’s not. It very much does hold roots in the poor writing of the Lu/Max relationship this season, but Lu/Max was written the way it was so that they could have Lucas in Mike’s corner and Max in El’s corner to validate and uplift the horrible Mi/leven relationship arc this season in which Lucas for sure would not be in that spot whatsoever if it wasn’t for the poor writing of Mi/leven since the second they left the Snowball. Lu/Max is very much a support piece in Mi/leven rather than its own relationship, and yet Max continues to get her own storyline this season (as... yeah... as that storyline was) but Lucas became a casualty to Mi/leven this year, and only slightly differently to the way Will has been a casualty to Mi/leven... and Mike has been a casualty to Mi/leven. If your main relationship continues to assassinate and rip dry the characters both inside and around it, then it’s really time to take a step away from that relationship and determine if its working or if you just suck at writing for no foreseeable reason.

And like, I guess it’s fair to talk about Max here since it’ll be any easy transition in the sense that- Max Mayfield a casualty to Mi/leven. Like that meme with the people holding hands and it says “my character survived the Mi/leven relationship of 1985” and its Max Mayfield and Dustin Henderson. NOT TO SAY that Max’s character isn’t all over the board, it is a lot harder to decide what Max would or wouldn’t do regarding Mike and El. Because.... we never saw anything with the Max/El relationship outside of Max wanted to know her, and El absolutely wanting nothing to do with that because Mike smiled at her one time and El saw it. Mike and Max is actually a different story, and the more complicated relationship I guess? El/Max was good, even if I didn’t agree with all of the advice that Max gives El (particularly the we make our own rules concept, I fucking hated that and I’ll get there. Oh, I’ll get there.) BECAUSE Mike and Max are just... the Sharpay and Gabriella of Stranger Things. They feud all season for whatever reason, they make up and find common ground at the end, and then it starts back up and they hate each other with no explanation to the understanding that they found. And it wasn’t funny, there wasn’t anything about their rivalry that was funny or amusing or even really served a purpose outside of the fact that they needed to showcase the whole Lu/Max and Mi/leven crap so Mike and Max could be friends because the couples needed to be against each other so Max already needed to hate Mike prior to El coming to her for advice, and therefore the rekindling of their potential friendship at the end of season two was re’cont for that purpose. And it really wasn’t necessary because Max would have had enough going on without being in the middle of the weird Mi/leven break up, and losing her boyfriend. I think a huge like, obvious issue with Max is that season two Max left a lot to be desired. Understandably, season two was a lot bigger than the Duffers had time for so they ended introducing characters (Billy and Max) that we didn’t get to develop in their introductory season enough that where they ended up in season 3 was logical or sensical at all because Billy did nothing except be an evil piece of shit two years until the end where he decides to stop himself from killing this little 13 year old white girl and dies and suddenly he’s a hero who sacrificed himself for the greater good when he really didn’t. And seeing Max horrified and traumatized to him does make sense to an extent, she has known him and lived with him for a large chunk of her life and seeing that happen to anybody would be traumatizing. And people don’t get to determine how someone would react to their abuser dying, because you are not that person and you are experiencing what they are experiencing. HOWEVER, Max did not receive enough explanation from a writer or viewers’ POV for her defending Billy or believing Billy could be good to make sense when she spent almost all of season two avoiding her relationship with Lucas because she knew that Billy was racist and violent and horrible. Max grieving and being traumatized over Billy’s death and quite literally seeing his body, but her actions up to that point didn’t make much sense because not enough writing went into Max as a character since the beginning because she is a victim of the classic Too Many Characters, Not Enough Screen Time to Share.

Ha. The relationship between El and Will really needs to be it’s own point before I even get into them as characters. It’s so... It doesn’t make any sense to me why Will and El are like that. And I guess it does or it can trace back to Mi/leven. The idea that Mike purposely kept El from having any friends and Will would have been a victim of that, and the fact that Will very obviously likes Mike and that showcases in him... not like El??? because they’re dating. But I’m not sure how I’m supposed to believe that Will and El don’t have a connection? El saved Will’s life t w i c e and I’m supposed to believe that he hates her because she’s dating Mike and therefore that doesn’t matter to him and he calls her by a number instead of a name and he overly just seems extremely indifferent towards her at best. But I actually do believe, the lack of an Will & El dynamic is (besides being a totally missed opportunity) was like... blank brained of the writers, I think they genuinely just didn’t think about it because they were really caught up in the relationship drama this season they just didn’t bother to develop El and Will. Which is dumb, because of the whole “we’re supposed to believe that Hopper & Joyce are a good ship” but also supposed to believe that Will and El have never spent any time together AND THEY KNEW THAT THEY WOULD BE L I V I N G TOGETHER at the end of the season and they still nothing to give them any relationship growth at all, and if anything took away what little potential hits of a dynamic they had from the first two seasons. For the sake of what does not sort of look like a queerbait of Mike/Will OR best case scenario (still bad!) a love triangle between the three characters.

For a show that had two seasons dedicated to the importance of Will Byers, it was kind of weird to see him so shoved aside this time around. And this isn’t to take away from El’s importance. It’s not an argument over her being the main character- although I think it’s important to note that they original plan for this show was for her to die in season one, and while I’m glad she’s alive and they changed that, we can’t deny how that decision itself would completely alter the path every single character (especially characters like Mike and Will in particular) would have made. BUT FACTS ARE, this entire show started because of Will. That is something that cannot be argued. The Vanishing of Will Byers was the kick off of this entire thing, and every single main character aside from possibly Steve Harrington, are in this fight because of Will Byers. Not because of El. And yes, El is most definitely the ~stranger thing~ and the titular character of the show, it’s fucking ludicris to try and imply that Will is not pretty much as just as important as El. And so for season three to undercut everything about that and use Will as detection device (that only gave you about 15 seconds warning) and have his actual emotional storyline dropped in the 4th episode and only come up again in the sense of refusing to even hear apologies from Lucas or Mike, is the epitome of bullshit.

I’m just going to start off here by saying, I like El, I do. BUT- I’m very aware that El is a victim of her surroundings. She doesn’t have much of her own personality, she has from the beginning allowed herself to simply accept what other people tell her and do that. Say that, repeat it. The Best Time for El as a character was with Kali and her deepest moment of like, personal reflection is when she said no to going with Kali because she needed to go back to Hawkins and save her friends. That really set up a lot of really good growth for El, the idea she was becoming her own person and that she could move forward as herself, who she is, who she wants to be. And I understand the trauma behind her and why she has such an unstable sense of self but it was still disappointing to watch her revert back to following by example in her personal life while continuously forced to be seen as leader in any situation. She follows Mike’s example in the beginning, with Hopper and being super obnoxious but she’s also very quick to jump back over to Hopper’s side when addressing Mike later and burshing off what he’s trying to tell her (i.e your father threatened my life and I didn’t know how to proceed from that point and I’m sorry I lied to you) and she also word for word quotes Max a lot. Including situations which the boy she’s supposedly in love with expresses his discomfort in her. When El reveals that she’s gone into the the void and watched the boys doing whatever, Mike quickly jumps to point out that those were “against the rules” aka personal boundaries that have obviously been set between Mike and El for a reason and she shoots back that she makes her own rules, like Max said about a pretty different situation nonetheless, and invalidates what Mike is trying to say in that moment again. It also doesn’t really sit right with me that she plays dumb with Mike in that grocery store will he is clearly having trouble declaring love for her (which says a lot about how Mike feels) and then bringing it back up three months later, and using it as a justification for kissing him and declaring love towards him after he has said he didnt even remember the conversation she’s referencing from three months earlier and she does not say “I love you” she says “I love you, too.” Which is so very different, because it is her literally acknowledging that she sat there and played dumb (not didn’t understand, which is totally different, but did understand and wanted and enjoyed him struggling to say something) and they threw it back at him as a validation of their relationship- yet it was something he was unable to say to her. I think a big issue with El, is that she has somehow become somebody above being criticized for her actions. What was wrong with Mi/leven this season is not 100% an issue with Mike Wheeler, El very much had a hand in that destruction and with how the season ended, I don’t doubt that she was will have an even larger hand in the problems going forward because El is smart, and she understands shit, but she pretends that she doesn’t when it’s works for her. Being around Hopper and to even greater extent, the things she lived through in the lab, El is very aware of how to manipulate people and it’s a behaviour she is going to have to unlearn. She might not even be completely aware of just how wrong it is but nobody is going to tell her what she’s doing because I don’t even think it’s realized that she’s doing it and fandom itself chooses to ignore that she’s done it.

And I don’t know how a show that could create the iconic character growth of Steve Harrington is also writing all these other character development blunders, full stop.

#stranger things #st meta #stranger things meta #this is like 2k im so fucking sorry #i dont know if this makes sense #also i didnt talk about hopper and there;'s a reason for that #Anonymous

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twi-sight2020 · 4 years

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Chapter 10: My liver, Midnight Sun, and other things I don’t know about

So, first of all, HOLY HELL THERE ARE NOW 230 of you. Like damn, I’ve been a DC RPer for years and it took me eons to get that many people across a couple of blogs. Meanwhile, i come back to one of my old fandoms and BAM open arms. Cleary, i was wrong for ever leaving. So, once again, I’ve been sort of ...slow. and I mean, TBH, I am a slow moving creature with these updates anyway, but considering I had to have yet another test ran, and found out that my liver is still showing up enlarged so I have to have ANOTHER test this upcoming week...ehhh, i figure I’m allowed to be a bit useless.(Sidenote: Never get an autoimmune disease, they suck more than Victoria ever could) But then, fuck I saw that SMeyer may finally be granting everyones hopes and dreams with some new Twilight material, and I had the urge to jump back here and immediately cry about it and throw hand sup in the air because...new content is A+. That being said, if you’re one of the five people i’ve seen who are hoping for a sequel to The Host or The Chemist...I still love you, but I will judge you....and blame you if this isn’t a full version of Midnight Sun or something in the verse....but i will blame with loooove and affection. Alright, on with the Interrogation of Bella Swan! First off, Edwards picks Bella up for school, and it’s...oddly adorable that he seems uncertain when asking if she wants a ride. Granted, Bella points out he hopes she’ll say no but...I find it adorable that he has these normal ,human fears, or rejection. He then tells her that he brought a jacket for her because he doesn’t want her getting sick. and this...this is the kinda overprotection that makes Edward loveable. Not the creepy shit he pulls in alter books, but things like this...it’s nice. He makes Jokes about her not doing 20 questions today, and we see how tongue tied Bella is. We also see that Edward finds Bella’s reactions almost..unnatural and too cool, something that I remarked on a lot in the last couple of chapters, though it seems that Edward is more disturbed by them because he is off balance not being able to read her, while I’m off balance because her mind is....rather unfathomable to me. Then again-and correct me cause I could be wrong- but isn’t Edward supposed to have a psych degree? Just saying.... They arrive at school and discover the other Cullen’s have take Rosalie’s super expensive convertible to school since Edward is “breaking all the rules” I also love that Bella calls him out that...no, they don’t blend in, even when trying. Like , come on guys, you’ve lived for a long ass time, you should know how people act by now. Jessica sees Edward and Bella come in together, and Edward let’s Bella know that Jessica will ambush her after class, wanting to know if they are dating...and how she feels about him. Edward tells Bella she can say yes to the first one if that’s ok because it’s the easiest explanation. JESUS EDWARD THAT’S SO DAMN UNROMANTIC. Like come on, at least a proper “Wanna go steady” would have been cute but...nooooooo. Idiot just lost one of the good points I gave him earlier. And...Jessica does just that, wanting to know if their meet up last night was planned, if they were going out again, and if he’d kissed her yet. And then She keeps pestering for details and Bella-being the exact opposite of me and my gossipy friends in every way- does not wanna go into it. Maybe it’s because Edward said he’d be listening, or maybe it’s just because she’s a very private person. Honestly, for a book told from her POV, she’s still...pretty damn hard to read at times. Anyway, she tells Jessica she likes Edward”too much, more than he likes me” and then evades more questions by brining up Jessica’s date with Mike from the other day.Since Jessica DOES like to gossip and be nosey and much as me and my friends, this distraction works perfectly, right up until after class when Edward is waiting for Bella. he seems both amused, and irritated, no doubt from listening in on the conversation. he and Bella go through the lunch line, he buys a ton of food for her -and some for him for show. Bella ask if he an eat human food, and he compares it to eating dirt...which apparently Bella has done-on a dare. Bella, honey, I don’t know who dared you to do this but...babe you need better friends. Edward sees Jessica watching him and gets pissy again, and reveals the source of his agitation is Bella’s belief that she likes him more than he does her. He wants to know why, and she has two main reasons, one being how “ordinary” she looks, and two being how sometimes it seems like he’s “trying to say goodbye. Edward quickly brushes past the “ordinary” comment with how he knew what the other guys were thinking on her first day. Bella....doesn’t believe it, which is..pretty damn stupid considering literally everyone kept trying to ask her to the dance. Like...Jesus, you may not be a supermodel, and you may be a super klutz, but you are definitely far from plain. The next bit, Edward admits is true, sometimes he does want to say goodbye...because he wants to protect her. He thinks this means he cares more, because he’d hurt himself to keep her safe. This feels like it could dovetail into a very very important convo, but then Edward breaks it up with jokes about how keeping her safe is a “full time occupation” and she...literally has the thought of how she could put herself in danger to keep him around. and just, fuck that. Like, listen up, if you ever EVER feel like you have to put yourself in danger to keep someone around, that’s...unhealthy, ok? It means you need to break ties with them, and maybe get a bit of therapy while your at it. Of course, Bella doesn’t have a Sassy Bi Bitch like me to tell her off for this so, you know, this will not be the last time she has some worrying thoughts.... Like about ten seconds later when Edward ask if-instead of going to Seattle- she’d like to spend the day alone with him. He tells her she should tell Charlie to give him some”incentive” to bring her back. Yea Bella, remember, he really wanted to kill you before? That danger is not completely gone. But Is Bella gonna tell her dad? Of course not. Edward is annoyed by this, but instead of, I dunno, dropping by their house and asking Bella to go with him in front of her dad or something he just.... acts pissy for a few minutes. Oh Edward.... She brings up the supposed camping trips they go on, and Edward informs her they are hunting bears. Which...goes over her head for a minute and she...literally sternly tells him bears are not in season. Wow, just.... Bella....honey...not only did that go waaaay over your head but also, you’re gonna be that person? God, this is why you didn’t have friends back home Bella, not the fact that you’re ordinary or clumsy...nope it’s definitely the fact you went beyond being mom friend to being Cop friend. Edward, meanwhile, earns a bonus point again for talking about how they are careful to hunt in over populated areas because they don’t wanna impact the environment. Damn, that alone makes my teenage crush come back...whoops. What can i say? I’m a sucker for the environmentally conscious. He tells Bella a ....minuscule amount about how they hunt, comparing how Emmet hunts like a bear(which is his favorite prayer) and how his on hunting mimics a lion(which he loves to hunt mountain lion). I dunno why Edward prefers that-except to make the Lion and Lamb analogy later, but considering what I know about Emmets life, I love that he just...kills angry grizzly for fun...even if my heart breaks for the bears because I’m a loser. Bella REAAAAALLLLY wants to see Edward hunt and he is like “hell no” She thinks it’s just because it would be “too scary” for her and Edward...blatantly points out that she really could use some fear and if that were the case he’d take her out hunting tonight. And then he...says he’ll tell her way she can’t later, but right now they are running late and lunch is over. Annnnd, that it. Pretty much an more filler chapter, we don’t get much info and it passes pretty quick. Kinda short for a Twilight chapter to. I do love that Bella- who fucking dies at the sight of blood- wants to watch Edward hunt, bless child, I worry about you. Anyway, lovelies, that it for tonight. Stay safe, AJ

#twilight #stephanie meyer #Bella Swan #edward cullen #twilight reread #twilight reread 2020 #twilight chapter 10

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