#as im trying to balance getting the whole plot of this damn game down while also adding new stuff

[thisiseditsandstuff]

thinking im finally getting close to finishing the mg2 chapters of this fic vs. realising I didnt actually properly introduce the whole nr 1 fan thing- back to the document i go.

[danhumphrey]

your dustin opinions are impeccable. also, would you mind elaborating on what your problems with the scoops troop plot? something about it has never sat completely right with me but i'm not sure how to put it into words

yeah for sure! to start out i’ll say that the scoops troop plotline was probably my favorite of the season, as in i had the most fun watching it. obv im biased because whichever group steve is in will probably be the most entertaining to me, i adore him, but it was also due largely to robin’s presence and the chemistry that i think joe maya gaten and priah all had as a group. that being said though i think the plotline was handled in a really weird, lowkey eerie way that all comes down to tone. 

stranger things started out as a drama. like, when it’s recognized in awards shows it’s in the drama category, which puts it up against shows like game of thrones, the handmaid’s tale, shows that tend to have really serious, oftentimes dark content. it fits because stranger things IS dark. it draws inspiration from classic horror movies, characters die, usually in pretty horrible ways, children are traumatized, etc. that’s not to say that there hasn’t ever been humor in the show before scoops troop, obviously there has been, but on the whole the show had a pretty dark premise and a lot of dramatic moments that are written 100% to be dramatic. there tended to be a really good balance of knowing when to keep the tone serious and when to lighten it up a bit. in season three, i personally felt like the duffers decided to try to make the show both a drama and a comedy in equal measure, and their way of doing that was to keep the dark content matter but to make the lighthearted tone more frequent, and that manifested mostly in the scoops troop. it’s made a little worse by the fact that steve, dustin, and erica are undoubtedly comic relief characters. steve’s entire character since season one has pretty much been delegated to being laughed at, dustin has always been the kid with the most jokes and the least emotional arcs, and erica was literally made a season regular based on the fact that people thought she was funny in season two. also, i think the duffers lowkey realized how ridiculous the russian plotline is so they figured adding humor and making the russian general so cartoonish would relieve some of the audiences disbelief that this would ever happen. the result you get is really fucking weird, though. 

right away it’s strange how casual they are about everything. i think the duffers were going for like “these clueless children were just having fun and they accidentally stumbled into a dark deadly secret” but it doesn’t really work when they see men with giant guns and think “okay anyways, how are we gonna get past them?” you can argue that steve and dustin have been desensitized, but robin and erica haven’t. once the elevator drops, they become reasonably freaked out and for the first time you get the since that they’re genuinely scared, but even then it’s treated as a joke. again, this isn’t the first instance of this happening in stranger things. steve has a meltdown every single season and it’s always been used for humor during a serious moment, but in seasons one and two it was just a momentary break from the intensity of whatever was happening. in season three, the jokes are consecutive. steve has his meltdown, then there’s a conversation about him liking robin, then there’s a piss joke (??) like there’s never a moment where they stop and really consider that like damn we’re trapped underground with no food or water and no hope at anyone figuring out where we are. that would all be okay if that was the extent of it, because characters on stranger things have had much worse fates than being slightly dehydrated, but then it takes a super sharp turn and becomes irredeemably dark. when i was watching the season for the first time i found it insanely jarring how fast it goes from steve being completely fine to steve being covered in blood. the duffers clearly want to keep up the routine of him getting beaten up, and they go a little harder on him every time, so this being the third time means he’s like pretty seriously injured. i would say the only scene the scoops troop gets that’s 100% serious is the one where they bring steve back to the room and robin is like “what did you do to him” and all that. that was good! that was realistic! but as soon as he’s awake again they switch back to banter and ahaha steve confuses his left and right bc he’s dumb. the thing that Really gets me is that the season 3 trailer used the shot of him getting jabbed with the needle in a very deliberate way to get people to theorize and be like “season 3 steve harrington DIES???” so like obviously they knew how dark it looked out of context. the thing is like......even WITH context it’s dark!! like the duffers were like “so at this point steve and robin, the oldest of whom just graduated high school like a month ago, are going to be tied up and drugged against their consent (after physical violence didn’t work) to get them to confess information that they literally don’t know. and it’s gonna be fuckin hilarious :) one of them is gonna almost get his fingernails removed by pliers haha” and it’s batshit crazy. 

the best way to really realize how insane it is is to rewatch the older seasons. i rewatched season one recently and when the scene where hopper is interrogated came on, i was like wait hold the fucking phone. he’s just getting tased. and it was treated SO SERIOUSLY in comparison to when steve who is at most 19 years old gets knocked unconscious during an interrogation and later says his ears are ringing and he cant breathe. the scene where nancy and jonathan are surrounded by all the lab employees at the park is super unsettling and eerie and you’re like oh shit these two teenagers just walked right into a government secret. when there are russians surrounding steve and robin with guns, they put in a joke about dustin quoting a movie at them. 

im not saying that this is Problematic or Immoral or anything like that. this isnt like a duffer brothers call out post. like i said, this was still my favorite storyline in the season. i actually think it’s weirdly fascinating. like you know when they take trailers for like, high school musical and just add scary sound effects and editing to make it look like a horror movie? it’s the same premise as the scoops troop. it’s a super dark premise but with jokes and writing that makes it seem like a fun goofy coming of age story. if the duffers were Intentionally trying to do a subversion where they’re like “look we tricked you into laughing while these children were traumatized and nearly killed” i think that wouldve been brilliant. i don’t really think that’s what they were going for, though. i think they accidentally put all their comic relief characters into one group and wanted as many laughs as they could get to break up the drama of the other groups. it just so happened that they also almost tore steve’s fingernails out with pliers :///

[plinys]

wednesday fic recs, coldwave edition [1.11.17]

so  for the first half of last year i was putting out 8 random recs a week (as i cleaned out my bookmarks) with the occasional themed rec list. well - my 2017 tumblr resolution is to get more active and into the swing of things now that my life is semi back to normal 

i was going to do a random rec but the first 10 pages of my history were legends of tomorrow fic (most of which were coldwave) so this one gets to be themed oops:

A Whole Lotta Money (That’s Ready to Burn) by violentcrumbles

“Why not?”

“Because…” Len was at a loss for words. This was not a conversation he’d expected to have ever, and certainly not while drunk on a street corner in Las Vegas at three in the fucking morning. He said the first thing that came to mind. “Because weddings take planning.”

my comments: because these boys are basically married in canon anyways, but one of the first things i wanted upon finished season one and being dead of feels (other than a fix it) was fic where they got married and low and behold this fic exists. vegas weddings are the best sort of weddings, and i just adore this fic so much its so good and so true to them and also a wedding fic which makes me weak af like treat yourself to some pre-canon fluff

In Scorched Places by nirejseki

Jefferson Jackson gets railroaded into the Jaeger Program and meets Mick Rory. It's the best thing that's ever happened to him.

my comments: this is all from jax’s pov but it still technically counts as a coldwave fic, so i am going to rec it because oh my god, like the whole plot other than you know - fighting aliens inside giant robots (CAUSE HELLO THIS IS A PACIFIC RIM AU) - is about getting the two of them together. and i just !! so blessed to have this in my life !! a most wonderful mick! a most grouchy len! and an amazing jax to tell the whole story and just make it?? so fucking good !!

In the End by TheAutotheist

It was said that the words that appear on your forearm are the last sentence your soulmate ever says to you.

my comments: you all know how i feel about soul mate aus, and angsty soul mate aus are right up my alley. this one is technically non canon compliant cause i guess it got joss’d or whatever the dc equivalent is but its so good and hurts me so much - so uh if you are a fan of pain and soul mate aus, then you need to go read this right now 

Measuring Up by violentcrumbles

“How was it?” Mick called out behind him.

Len turned. Mick nodded toward the croissant balanced carefully on top of the pastry box, a noticeable chunk missing. “Best in the state?”

“Honestly?” said Len as the door swung closed behind him. “It was a little dry.”

In which Mick owns a bakery, and Len is secretly a professional restaurant critic who loves Mick's pastries, but will never say that to his face.

my comments: this fic appeared like two days ago? and i just finished it at work during my prep hour today - cause life has been busy - but it was so good and i def put off planning tomorrows lesson in order to finish this fic so like if that isnt a quality recommendation idk what is. this was just?? so good. the pining. the miscommunication. the delicious baked goods. would def recommend this as a feel good long fic

No Matter What Happens Tomorrow by ajremix

Len felt his mouth go dry. "You remember that Bill Murray movie? Where he re-lives the same day over and over again? Is something like that possible?"

Mick looked more intensely serious than Len could recall in years. "You telling me you're going through a Groundhog Day Loop?"

"Is that the technical term?"

my comments: okay so technically this is the second in a series, but i love this one so much i have to spot light it (probably read the first one in the series so the ending of this makes more sense, but i dont think its 100% necessary) - but basically this is a TIME LOOP FIX IT and like if y’all know me at all its that i love time loops. like the second i saw the finale, i was like “if nobodys written a time loop fix it, i gotta” thankfully someone beat me to it (cause im months late to this fucking show) and it was the most wonderful of wonderfuls, im so pleased!!

Stitch In Time by nirejseki

After the Legends' quest goes bad, Mick reassumes his identity as Kronos and decides to take the task of fixing the timeline into his own hands. His targets: teenagers Leonard Snart, Mick Rory, and Barry Allen.

(It doesn't go as he expected)

my comments: ENDLESS SCREAMING ! this fic is so good - actually everything by this author is amazing like, i read almost all their fics for this ship which is so many, and i told myself i was only allowed to pick two to rec on this list, so this is the second one. i loved this fic!! i like spent 24 hours just like thinking about this fic after i had finished it like i couldnt start another because this story - and the universe created by it - had just consumed me momentarily. 

Therapy by dragonspell

“And you!” the man wearing Mick’s face shouts, pointing at Leonard. “I’m going to kill you, do you hear me?” Leonard keeps his head against the wall but tilts it slightly towards Mick’s voice, a loose acknowledgement of the threats being made against him. “But first I’m going to fuck you. I’m going to bend you over and fuck you so hard that my cock will be the only thing that you remember.” Mick pauses. “You tell them what a cockslut you are, Snart? You tell them how much you like being fucked?”

“Yeah,” Leonard drawls, “it was right in between the discussions about liking card games and single malt scotch.”

Mick steps closer to the edge of his cell. “Mmm, how about the first time we fucked? You couldn’t stop shaking. Sixteen and didn’t know shit besides the fact that you wanted me.” Well there’s a trip down memory lane. Yes, Leonard remembers that. And it’s not something that Mick gets to toss out because he’s pissed or Chronos gets to use because he’s gunning for some kind of fucked-up revenge.

(Or, after the team captures Chronos, Leonard gets creative trying to help him remember being Mick again.)

my comments: literally so much sin, like this is the kind of sin i wanted from this fandom. sin with mick recovering from being chronos. len curing him with the power of sex, like idk why i didnt know i wanted this originally and then i read it and was like “oh yes” this was something i def needed in my life very badly bless the world for having given it to me. like man !! this is so hot !! i cannot stress enough how hot this is !! oh damn okay HOT DAMN 

Vengeance is like fire by Thei

What if Chronos had gone back to Central City for Lisa, in order to hurt Len?

my comments: my bookmark note for this one said “technically gen, but mostly pain”. also here is where at the bottom of my list, i mentioned that the first thing i did after binging season one was search for all LoT fics with “chronos” tagged in it, because i am a sucker for pain and also because i have some very specific kinks for this ship that nobody has written yet and thats a shame. but beyond that this fic is probably the best chronos!mick & len interact fic i would find. and its gen. like the chronos!mick voice in this is on point, and i am weak for snart sibling dynamic so, this just hit all of my needs and wants as far as pain goes