#(this is a real thing i experienced as a kid. people were so evil to me about not being 90 lb that they brought gender into it its CRAZY)

[abimee]

ruyan wont admit she has a type but she does which is either short fat guys with facial hair (short is relative to her, any guy whos head sits below her nose is short) and high sex drive women with soft hair. this is why haurchefant is the best of both worlds

[redstarwriting]

protected

hobie brown x o’hara!reader

request?: yes

request: “I know you’re probably busy 🙏🏽 but can I request a hobie x reader Where reader is miguels kid but from another universe and we were known as “dangerous” to the multiverse and miguel had to watch over us and we find out while hanging out with hobie and hobie has to comfort us as we try to process the fact that Miguel wasn’t our real dad and just someone keeping the mutliverse safe?

I really hope this makes sense i just don’t know how to make is make sense uk? 😭 💀”

requested by: @millerworld​

word count: 1.7k

genre: angst with some fluff

Warnings: language, mentions of childbirth death, big feelings of betrayal, probably horrible spanish, honestly a lot of angst

A/N: apologies for the wait for this one! i love writing angst though so i was rubbing my hands together like an evil lil bitch writing this. i apologize if the spanish is wrong/not how it would actually be said/worded. been a minute since i took a spanish course, so i am a little rusty. please enjoy, and thank you so much for requesting, love! :)

───────────────────────────────────

Ever since you remembered your dad, Miguel O’Hara, was there. Of course, there are certain moments of your childhood you don’t remember, as every child has, but your earliest memory is your dad picking you up and soothing you as you cried at two years old. And ever since then, he was always there. Your friends at school would always say you were so lucky that you had a dad that was so devoted to you, and you agreed. To an extent. See, he was very particular about what he allowed you to do. It wasn’t in a negative way, necessarily, he was just protective. His favorite saying and your least favorite saying in your house was ‘I just want what’s best for you, cariño.’

It resulted in you staying home from school events, friend events, and generally any type of event where your safety could have been compromised. It caused you to be a bit of a loner, always hearing about the parties, the gossip, all of it instead of actually experiencing it for yourself.

Of course, it annoyed you.

It still does.

He’s loosened up a bit eventually, though, allowing you to go to work with him. Which also meant you got to meet many spiders. Quite a few of the spider-people quickly became your closest friends, as it was simpler and easier for your dad to keep tabs on you in Spider Society. Much to his chagrin, you quickly became best friends with Hobie Brown. The two of you were around the same age, and since you were annoyed at your dad and in your rebellious era, you got along swimmingly. A little too swimmingly, actually, which Miguel purposefully chose to ignore for the most part. Until he saw Hobie sucking his little one’s face off. Regardless, Hobie was always quick to validate all your conflicted, annoyed, and even positive feelings about your father. He even helped you come out of your shell and rebel against Miguel occasionally.

Miguel didn’t like this very much, but he also knew that Hobie was still a good influence on you. No matter how many times both of you tried to convince him that he wasn’t. But sometimes, Hobie would talk you into doing things that he very much disliked. Hated, even. And this time was one of those times. While he was out, containing a particularly difficult anomaly, Hobie convinced you to search through Miguel’s personal files on his supercomputer because he bet if your birth certificate would be anywhere, it would be there. When you found a folder with your name, you expected to open it to see some family pictures, hoping for your birth certificate with the name of your mom. Your dad never really talked about your mom, just that she passed away during childbirth. You stopped asking because every time you did, he would get very quiet and a guilty look would appear on his face. But you’d be lying if you said you weren’t curious. So you went into this endeavor excited to see what you might find out. Unfortunately, that excitement didn’t last for very long. See when you opened your file expecting these mundane things, that wasn’t what you were met with.

In fact, that was nowhere near what you found.

You found detailed notes all about you.

“What the hell,” you mumble, scrolling through the various pictures of you as an infant, with two adult strangers. Hobie said nothing, looking at all the pictures and skimming the important parts of all the files you were pulling up with a frown on his face. You stop on a specific picture of a woman holding you in a hospital bed. She was smiling.

And she was very much alive.

Tears immediately start to well up in your eyes as Hobie gently pulls your hands away from the computer. “Think that’s enough a’ that, love,” he says softly. You yank your arms away from him. “No.” You scroll to the next photo, seeing a man you’ve never met before holding you in the same hospital room, with the same strange woman right next to him. The next time you scroll, it’s a detailed account from Miguel about who you are. Notes from your dad declaring you a ‘danger’ and that you ‘must be contained somehow.’ Talk of your biological parents, their names, and how you had to be separated from them before ‘irreversible damage was done to the multiverse.’

You stare at the screen, and Hobie pulls your hands away again, successfully this time. He steps between you and the screens, blocking your view and slowly walking you backward and away from the files. You’re too shocked to say anything, the only thing you can do is quietly cry. Hobie opens his mouth to say something when Miguel’s voice rings out. “What do the two of you think you’re doing?”

The two of you turn your heads toward Miguel, and his annoyed frown turns to one of concern as soon as he sees the look on your face. “¿Qué tienes, mi corazón?” Miguel asks, his voice much softer as he approaches you. Hobie moves, positioning himself between you and your ‘father,’ and scoffs. “Think you got some explainin’ to do ‘ere, mate,” Hobie says, and Miguel looks at him confused. Then he sees what’s on the screen. A look of horrified realization spreads across his face, and he looks at you. “(Y/n), cariño, I can explain.”

“Don’t call me that,” your voice, albeit shaky, finally comes back to you. Hobie turns his attention to you, squeezing the hand you’ve been holding onto for dear life ever since he pulled you away from the computer. “(Y/n)—”

“Who am I? Who are you to me?”

“…Please, let me—”

“WHO ARE THOSE PEOPLE?!” you shout, desperately yearning for your dad to say they weren’t what was said in his reports. But all he does is frown. “They’re… they are your biological parents,” he confesses, and you make a choked noise. Hobie subtly begins turning his watch to his universe, ready to make an escape from your dad at any point. “If you just let me explain—”

“I’m a threat to the multiverse?” you choke out through your tears, “What the fuck does that mean, papá?! If I can even call you that.” Miguel’s jaw clenches. “Don’t forget who raised you.”

“How could I?! How could you?! Is this why you never let me do anything?! Too worried your querido bebecito would destroy the fucking multiverse?!”

“(Y/n). I did it to protect everyone.”

“What about me?! Did you ever plan on telling me?! How is separating me from my family protecting me?!” Hobie places an arm around your shoulder, pulling you closer and keeping you shielded by him as Miguel tries to step closer to you. Miguel glares at him, and Hobie glares back. Miguel holds out his hand in a surrendering way. “It was to protect you just as much, if not more, as it was to protect everyone else. If you would just listen—“

“No. No, I’m done listening to you.”

“Cariño—”

“I am not tú cariño. I am not tú corazoón. You are not mi papá,” you say, venom behind your words. You can practically see Miguel’s heart shatter into tiny little pieces.

That was the worst thing you could have ever said to him.

Before he can say anything else, Hobie opens the portal, pulling you through and closing it almost immediately. You find yourself in the familiar atmosphere of his flat. “C’mere, love,” he mumbles, pulling you into his arms. You grip his shirt, sobbing into his chest as he rocks you back and forth, softly shushing you occasionally and rubbing your back. After what feels like hours, but was really maybe a minute, he swiftly picks you up, carrying you bridal style to his bed as you continue to cry into his shirt. He sits down, placing a soft kiss to the top of your head and rubbing up and down your arm. He can’t help but feel guilty for this. If he didn’t convince you to look at the computer…

“Don’t blame yourself, Hobie… please,” you whimper, and he sighs. “Love, you needa stop bein’ so good at knowin’ what i’m thinkin’,” he mumbles, and you look up at him with a soft smile. “Can’t help it. Even your thoughts are loud,” you say, and he snorts. “Chuffed to see the cryin’ made ya feel better,” he says and you shake your head. “I still feel like shit, Hobie,” you whisper, and he frowns. He gently wipes some tears away from your cheeks. “Reckon all ‘at cryin’ has you knackered?” he mumbles, and you nod softly. He lays backwards, maneuvering the two of you to be laying down. The two of you face each other, one of his hands cradling the side of your face while the other soothingly rubs up and down your side. You grip onto his shirt, and he places a soft peck on your nose. “‘m sorry, love,” he says, and you sniffle. “I already told you it isn’t your fault.”

“‘Kay, still feel like it was,” he says, and you sigh. “That’s not important right now,” he mumbles, gently pulling you closer. “What’s important is that I make you feel better.” You look at him, your eyes are still glossy from tears. “Never met someone who looked so stunnin’ when they cry,” he says, gently stroking your cheek. You smile softly, and he does too. “There’s my favorite smile,” he whispers before softly placing his lips on yours. It’s only for a second, but it makes all the pain go away. And you’re grateful for that. Even if it is just for a second. “Get some sleep, love.” He kisses your forehead, tangling his legs with yours and pulling your head into his chest. You relax into him. He was right. The crying was exhausting. Before you know it, you’re asleep as Hobie gently traces shapes into your skin, whispering anything and everything he loves about you to you so softly that if you weren’t really listening, you wouldn’t hear any of it. No one makes you feel protected quite like Hobie does.

And even if it’s just for a moment, thanks to Hobie, you feel like everything will be okay.

───────────────────────────────────

[opinated-user]

friendly reminder that LO has faked to have cancer "coincidentally" right after her sibling Courtney came out alleging that LO essentially molested her when they were kids

we know that LO faked it for the following reasons: -first she claimed that it was skin cancer on the first stage and the only treatment she ever had was chemotherapy. first stage skin cancer is going to be treated normally with a minor surgery. -when more people started questioning her about it, suddenly LO claimed she never said what cancer that it was. -despite being in chemotherapy, LO claims that the expenses were "minimal", which is hard to believe even living in Canada. people go into debt paying for their treatment while still living on the exact same province as LO. -a normal chemotherapy treatment would last at least 6 months. we're talking about half a year of someone's lives in which your body basically is being destroyed in order to hopefully kill the cancer. not only LO hasn't shown literally no symptom related to chemotherapy during the entire period in which she should have it, but she also never told anyone about it during this process. including her own wife and her immediate family. not a single one of her closest friends ever knew or suspected she was going through this experience. she only mentioned some mild symptoms after some of her critics (including this blog) pointed them out at all. -not really proof, but the way that LO decided to announce she ever went through any of this was through a comic page on pokemadhouse to announce she was in "complete remission" already. to give an idea of how truly evil this is, her wife would have received the news that her wife had been lying to her for six months right before being asked to draw for free a comic to announce it to everyone else. regardless if you even believe that LO is lying or not, i think it's pretty clear we should be able to agree that this is just vile behavior and a total show of disrespect towards her own spouse. -complete and total lack of any real evidence. never a mention of visit to the doctor (only some "asks" teasing about getting "funny results" and nothing else), never a word about the kind of meds that she was taking, never saying a word even about what kind of chemotherapy she went through. this is not to say that she or anyone should owe it to the world to reveal every details of their lives in order to be believed, but we're talking about a experienced liar that has lied about so many things so many times before despite the clear and obvious evidence that still exist so the skepticism, plus the absolute lack of any evidence at all, is completely warranted in this case. to this day LO still claims that Stockholm does not exist. there's both audio, video and text evidence that she was the author and she fully intended to include every disgusting thing on it, that she wanted them there. lie about a fanfic and lie about cancer are two completely different things, but not to a liar who is used to lie for attention. -once again, this narrative of "i had cancer the whole time, but i was also in therapy and now i'm better so i don't really have to talk about any details about it ever again" started out really only shortly after Courtney came out speaking out. when you talk about youtuber or other influencers lying about having cancer for any nefarious reason possible, do not forget to include LO.

[xenosagaepisodeone]

For the last 2 weeks I've been transfixed on a strain of lost media I've come to call "bad memory induced media", where the supposed media in question does not (or at least more than likely does not) exist, but there are swaths of people convinced that they have definitely seen it at some point. There is rarely anything more to go off of for the hunt than a vague summary outlined in a post on some forum, but the lack of specificity allows people to fill in the blanks with similar types of media that they've seen, giving them the impression that they've already experienced it. I've found that this is extremely common for alleged lost shock media in particular, which isn't surprising. I talked a little about this on my LOL SUPERMAN post, and I get the impression that a similar strain of logic applies on a smaller scale.

Anyway, 2 major cases I have been looking at for a while are Saki Sanobashi/Go For A Punch and Evil Farm Game. Saki Sanobashi in particular fascinates me because an urban legend like this should have crumbled to the wayside by like 2018 at the latest, since that's when anime more or less became demystified to normal people. The basic premise is that it is an 80s/90s horror anime about anywhere from 4-8 girls trapped in a bathroom. The girls talk about their lives, hopes, dreams and philosophies before slowly going insane and dying one by one. If you like horror stuff you probably are already getting the vague impression that it sounds familiar- which could be influenced by any swath of media artifacts from Saw to the Russian Sleep Experiment creepypasta to the Ikea SCP to ClockUp's Euphoria to snippets of Battle Royale to that one Grisaia no Kajitsu arc. OP insisted he found it fully subbed on the deep web (omegalul) and hasn't found a trace of it since, implying some kind of murky origin or legal status (the OVA is not pornographic btw). As you can probably tell, I think this is silly. Like, so much goes into anime production that it would be difficult to hide any traces of this thing's existence. Someone had to voice act those girls. Someone had to sit hunched over a desk and draw that settei. OVAs were such a new thing in the 80s and 90s that both sfw and nsfw series were advertised in magazines. The only way that this could be so lost that not even a MAL entry remains is if it had been a student/indie production or something made for a single comiket event...but even at that....you're telling me that someone still managed to rip this from a vhs and subtitle it? And then chose to upload it to the deep web instead of youtube? even the title sounds like something google translated but didnt format correctly ("Saki Sanobashi" being gibberish while "Saki-san no Bashi" translates to "Saki-san's Bridge").

And yet there are people who will say "I definitely saw this at some point" because they saw a reaction image similar to the alleged scene where the protagonist smashes someone's head into a mirror. "The neck scratching death sounds familiar...." because you watched a higurashi amv! And OP did too, and thought it was so creepy that he involved it in his fake story. It's almost grating how much you have to suspend your disbelief to embrace that something like this exists in the exact way that stories like this insist. While many people have accepted that the series is likely not real in the last 4 or so years, there still persists a cohort of people hunting for Saki Sanobashi, likely because they are kids who are now too old to believe in Squidward's Suicide.

Evil Farm Game gives me a chuckle because it goes like this: a redditor posts to r/tipofmytongue about an old flash game where you play as a farmer who kills his wife and then has to hide her body while going about his farm tasks. The setup is completely fine and actually kind of reminiscent of a few story driven flash games I played on newgrounds as a kid. Many people came forward insisting that they had played this as well, one person even producing a link to a file from their hard drive that they couldn't open, but strongly believed that the game was there. A subreddit was even created to support the search. The twist is that it was a misremembered joke from a vinesauce stream.

Everyone knows that memory is an extremely fallable thing; people can be coaxed into believing that they did or saw things that they didn't with the correct prompts. What gets me is that a lot of people on the hunt for "bad memory induced media" seem to largely be hyping themselves up. They want to believe there is something that exists against all reason no matter what. It's chuuni in nature. Do not get me wrong- the interest in finding a cool, mysterious, haunting piece of media isn't lost on me, but dog, the dopamine hit of finding a previously lost 1985 commercial for almonds in a box of vhs tapes you got from eBay is the same.

[electricbathsalt]

I saw a recent post on r/bokunoheroacademia about “how can you possibly feel bad for Chisaki” and like…it’s not the “how can you feel bad for child abuser” itself that boggs me, but rather how people in comments repeat over and over “oh boss was so kind to him tried to guide him but he still became a poss he was evil from birth” and I’m like where are people who can look above the “what text says” level of understanding

Oh my lords, that’s my least favorite type of Chisaki hater. Like fuck dude you can dislike a character, but 1: do you have to police everyone who does like them, and 2: you clearly didn’t care enough to actually understand his character and story before you decided that there’s no reason to like him/have empathy for him.

What I hate most is not people disliking Chisaki. I don’t really care about that. I hate people who clearly don’t understand the character they’re slandering. If you’re going to publicly complain about a character, please do it while having an actual clue of what the fuck you’re talking about.

“Pops was so kind to him and constantly tried to steer him down the right path!!” Pops was a fucking Yakuza leader who never called Chisaki by his given name once in his life. Meanwhile, we don’t even know Pops’ real name because Chisaki never failed to call him either “Pops” or “Boss”. The “constant steering down the right path” was just “hey, don’t do that violence, only the violence I want you to. Im gonna scold you”. Idk man, but if I had a kid who I picked up off the streets, I’d probably get them into therapy literally as soon as they’d had a drink of water, a good meal, and a full night’s rest. But Pops decided that wasn’t worthwhile even when the child started exhibiting blatantly concerning behavior. He decided slapping Chisaki on the wrist was the most effective method to get him mentally stable. Ah, yes, reprimanding; the best way to get rid of violent tendencies, self-worth issues, and attachment/abandonment issues in your traumatized child, who you are raising in the mafia. Flawless.

Saying Chisaki was “born evil” is actually so absurd that it kinda makes me wanna laugh. It goes completely against what the entire point of MHA is, or supposedly is. Just because his entire childhood wasn’t spoon-fed to you does not mean it was a good one that didn’t at all influence him into being the way he is. Even the absolute crumbs we get from canon don’t imply he had a “good” childhood. “Pops was so good to him, though—“ he was a yakuza leader who integrated the child he took off the streets into his gang, without ever doing anything to help resolve any of the trauma he went through (and inherently gave him more via being in the yakuza). He was disowned by his daughter, who he called a fool for having a rash reaction to her child killing her husband, and never bothered to reach out further to her. He put Eri in Chisaki’s care, knowing of Chisaki’s violent behavior. The only “positive” flashback we ever get of Chisaki & Pops’ relationship is when Chisaki got scolded, and then told “thank you for protecting the Hassaikai’s honor”. And something tells me that any “praise” Chisaki ever got from Pops was to do with the Hassaikai, esp considering Chisaki’s unnaturally-strong dedication to it. I’m tired of people pretending that Chisaki’s pure evil that prevailed over a sweet, innocent man. Chisaki wasn’t even the only one who experienced ill-treatment from Pops—his entire fucking family did.

The other thing is—Chisaki was literally doomed from the start. The only two people we get to know he was ever in the care of were both people who would inevitably turn Chisaki into a criminal/villain. Him being anything else was something that was never even allowed to grace his mind.

[yourlegacysnotyourstosee]

I took notes on my thoughts while watching Nerdy Prudes Must Die because I did the same for Black Friday

DAMN Jon said “I am a TENOR”

I literally can’t get over how good he sounds

AHHHHHH LAUREN!!!!!

Bro these songs SLAP

Damn Mariahs hair is so long

Pete is such a mood

I’m literally terrified of being pantsed so bad

BRUH NOT MICRO-PETER

Omg hey Kim

When Cory enthusiastically agrees I’m dying

Omg Max likes Grace???????

Wait that’s so cute

Wait why’s he kinda fine

“His name is Jesus Christ” HELP 💀💀💀💀💀

It’s giving Apex Predator (from Mean Girls)

Damn these HARMONIES THO

My jaw is on the floor the way Cory is talking to her

“How am I supposed to study without listening to Spotify?” ME LMFAO

I KNOW HE DID NOT JUST MAKE AN ISSAC NEWTON JOKE

The way hes like “this is about thermodynamics” me me me. I hate when people make jokes about the things we’re not even talking about.

“NANI” NO WAY HE SAID THAT HELP💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀I LITERALLY CANNOT BREATHE 💀💀💀💀💀💀

Study date????????

Joey Richter my beloved ❤️❤️❤️

When Max enters and the crowd cheers

“Rondevuch”

Max literally has a God complex

Why is Kim everyones mom?

“Walen place”?????

“Mom will you pass the butt stuff????” HELP SHES BEEN CORRUPTED

NO WAY SHES FANTASIZING ABOUT MAX JAGERMAN

LITERALLY WHAT

Awwww Grace is experiencing Catholic Guilt™ ❤️❤️❤️

Girl wdym “he’s gotta go”???

Laurens character is bisexual???????

“WAIFU MATERIAL”?????? I literally can’t get over Jons character

Wait Grace is a little fucked up actually

Wait since the Waylons built hatchetfield high and the starlight theater, could they have cursed the town somehow? Like I know about the evil brothers or whatever, but I’m not super familiar with the lore

Wait I kind of love Grace now

Mariah slays

“Am I reading as Ghost, or Lin Manuel Miranda?” AWWWWWW❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

“Your fucking useless Pete.” Tgwdlm???? In MY npmd???? It’s more likely than you think

I’m very suspicious about how fast they seemed to put the plan together…

I know the plan wont work and Im so nervous I’m getting secondhand embarrassment so bad rn

“Skele-ens”

I need Max Jagerman actually

Awwww Max is a Theater Kid ❤️❤️❤️

AW FUCK HE DIED

HOLY FUCK HE DIED

GIRL WTF IS WRONG WITH GRACE

I love how upbeat this song is

WHYD SHE CUT HIS NIPPLES OFF WTF

Omg Dan and Donna!

Slay Mayor Lauter

His reaction to being asked to the game is giving- “she asked me for the time” “no way” “way :D”

THE NIGHTHAWKS MASCOT 💀💀💀💀

FUCK CLIVESDALE

DAMN THEYRE IN THE SPLITS GOOD FOR THEM

I like that the football team has only 2 players

I love when actors walk through the audience, but ESPECIALLY here when hes stalking Richie bro looks so good

Listen I know he’s about to kill Richie but HES SO FINE HELP

Im literally so Gay bro

THE SMOKE CLUB!!!!!!

THE NIGHTMARE TIME THEME

When she says hes not hot anymore girl speak for yoursef

Please let Grace swear

Oh fuck they’re giving themselves away

Grace Chastity said “acab”

Cory needs more songs

MAN IN A HURRY RETURNS!!!!!

Damn who is this girl in a trenchcoat 😍😍😍

GERALD OH MY GOD

Random side note but what happened to Robert? I was just thinking about how I wish we could see Hidgens again but is Robert still a part of Starkid anymore? Is he on to Bigger and Better things? Does anyone know what those are? I’d love to continue to support him.

Edit: NVM NVM I TAKE IT BACK I DO NOT WANT TO SUPPORT ROBERT MANION NO NO NO SIR

The invisible bird. Literally high school theater

“Heahs the thang about ah bahbecue”

“Ah wawna remember who ah ayum”

Ruth is so real for not know when to do the lights bc the cue lines were wrong

Ugh Laurens voice is so good and I know ive said that about pretty much everyone but it’s true

I know shes about to die rn

The red lighting gave it away

THE WAY HE LOOKS INTO CAMERA AFTER HE KILLS HER I NEED HIM SO BAD

Why did Kim scream like that

Awww Grace has religious trauma now ❤️❤️❤️

THE COPS THEME

OH MY GOD PAUL AND EMMA!!!!!!!!!

He gave her his number❤️❤️❤️

Hot chocolate boy!!!!!!!! I knew Peter was the hot chocolate boy but still

This duet is EVERYTHING

Obsessed with the fact he called MARIAH ROSE FAITH a MEAN GIRL

“Axe wielding maniacs?”

The Waylons did not dig that shit very deep…

OH FUCK THEY HAVE TO SUMMIN THE LORDS IN BLACK

I KNEW THE WAYLONS BUILT LAKESIDE MALL

im so sorry Zombie Max is So Fine

WIGGLY

THEY HAVE HUMAN FORMS??????

“Let me check my Christmas list”

“What do you want steph?” MORE tgwdlm? In MY npmd?

I feel bad for not knowing all their names

Max says bitch a lot

Damn this show is long

Omg this is so sad im tearing up a lil

Max is so fucking funny

Damn Grace is seducing Max this is hilarious

Fuck Grace Chastity or kill some nerds? One of the many difficult decisions in life

He decides to fuck Grace Chastity

OH MY GOD THATS SO SMART

Thats some fuckin Macbeth level shit

Kims teacher character is so cute awwwww

Paul and Bill dance Chaperones??????

Oh nvm that’s Jason

I don’t think I ever mentioned it but the dancing is really good

It’s very clean and crisp

In the last 2 hours I very quickly developed a massive crush on Will Branner

OH FUCK

WHATS GOING ON

WHAT

[msfcatlover]

Every Monster Can’t Be Your Kid, Bruce.

Inspired really heavily by You, Me, and the Humanity in Between by JUBE514, which I misunderstood the first time I read it and thought they were all going to be different types of monsters. So Dick & Jason are very close to that story in their origins here. You should absolutely read that fic, because it’s fantastic, but the major take away for my AU is that if you pour enough love into something, it can come to life, and the more life & love it carries the more “real” that life becomes.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Dick is an antique doll, handed down through generations of Graysons, becoming gradually more alive & aware as time went on. It was John Grayson and eventually his wife Mary who managed to tip Dick over into being animate even when people were watching him. Dick only became more & more real from there, as John & Mary shared their love of flying with him, and eventually shared the spotlight & love of their audience. The circus as a whole saw Dick as a blessing, being fully aware of his inhuman nature but accepting him as a source of good luck… until John & Mary fell, leaving their doll-son behind. Dick could actually see his place in the family he’d been part of turn towards superstitious whispers, as his movements stiffened and his joints became more visible. He wasn’t anyone’s good luck charm anymore.

Bruce also saw how everyone turned on that poor little boy, and rushed to give Dick a place to stay, haunted by the whispers of his own childhood that found ways to blame Bruce for what happened to Thomas & Martha Wayne. Bruce isn’t exactly great at expressing his love, but Dick never needs to doubt it when he can see & feel the evidence right there in his own body. And when Robin met the rest of the hero community, they loved him too, giving Dick the chance to actually grow up for the first time in almost 150yrs.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The first thing Jason ever experienced was love, as the city itself brought him to life. The second thing was freedom, as Jason slipped from the rooftop he’d been carved for and for the first time experienced flight. The third was agony, as Jason struck the ground and his wings snapped right off.

Jason’s not technically a gargoyle. Gargoyles are structurally important, directing water away from the building, and basically never come to life. Jason is a grotesque, carved for decoration & to ward off evil spirits. Without any family to go to, Jason stuck to that second job, protecting the people of his neighborhood as best he could. Batman investigated what he thought was a new vigilante, and found a boy carved from solid stone who could almost pass for human if he stayed out of the light. Bruce worried Jason would suffer the same rejection Dick had, and offered Jason a home; it took some convincing to tempt Jason away from his territory, as it is in Jason’s nature to stay in place in order to protect, but eventually Jason agreed in exchange for training.

(The new Robin doesn’t bend or jerk the way the last one did, but he hits the ground like a meteor strike, and rakes gouges in brick with his claws. He doesn’t shatter & grin through any injury, because most weapons glance off or shatter themselves against his stony skin.)

(Joker submerged a boy carved from centuries-old limestone in an acid bath, and by the time it was drained there wasn’t enough left to animate. Bruce still called every magician he knew, hoping to hear someone say Jason was still alive despite that.)

(Talia had a marble sculpture carved, and had what was retrieved from Jason’s coffin sealed at its core. It still took one hell of a ritual to bring him back, now with a tail that lashed & wings that swept the ground behind him to go with the fangs & claws he’d always had. The new body was perfect in the way only sculptures can be, and Jason just kept himself covered up rather than bother painting & repainting color onto his skin every time he went out in public, lacking the love to lock it in.)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Tim was the opposite of his brothers. If you love something, anything, you can bring it to life; if something goes unloved & ignored, on the other hand… Tim just slowly faded into the background of his own life. Nobody talked to him at galas. His parents overlooked him at dinner. Other kids avoided him, while staff wouldn’t look him in the eye. Until one day Tim’s teacher was calling attendance and called Tim’s name three times before Tim abruptly stood up, chair screeching across the floor, and snapped, “I said, I’m right here!” The whole class stared wide-eyed, as though Tim has appeared from nowhere.

Tim learned to take advantage of it. He learned what he could do, as something reality itself sometimes ignored (if Tim closes his eyes and has no one else observing him, he can even bypass laws of physics to move through walls or take a few steps out on open air.) Tim tried to convince himself it was just meta-powers manifesting, and it was pure coincidence how closely his condition mirrored mythical Echo (at least people always hear her voice.)

The only time it doesn’t work is if someone wants to notice Tim. A paradox, as first they need to know the true Tim well enough to want to notice him, rather than their own preconceived notion of Tim or one of the masks that Tim puts on. On the plus side, once Tim became Robin that meant he had people he could reach out to who would answer the phone & talk him through it when reality felt especially swimmy or Tim’s own sense of self might waver. Being overlooked is also just one hell of a superpower, and Tim puts it to good use.

(Tim is eternally annoyed once he starts getting close to people and can no longer slip past them. He demands to know why they can see him, and they’re like, “Because we want to? Because we care about you?” and Tim’s like, “Well that’s inconvenient!”)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Finding a decapitated teenage girl caught under one of the docks was just an especially depressing day for the Gotham PD. Finding a corpse that grabbed back when the coroner went to move it meant it was time to call in the Batman. Steph didn’t know Morse code and her eyes & ears were currently stuck somewhere in muffled darkness far away from the rest of her, so communication was rough but they eventually got her story out of her. Revenants come back for specific reasons, so it was expected she would be there when her father was apprehended; the words he screamed when he saw her corpse, and the beeline Steph made for the box under his workbench put any remaining doubts to rest. Steph picked the lock by touch, and retrieved her head with a huff of relief.

Then Robin said, “Did you find it?” and Steph jumped, throwing her head at him on instinct. It was very embarrassing for both of them, and when Robin handed Steph her head back and she balanced it back on her neck, she immediately started blushing.

(Bruce buys Steph a whole lot of beautiful “necklaces” to help keep her head balanced. Spoiler is the Headless Horseman of Gotham, and Steph finds it hilarious to play into the image. She no longer experiences true pain, just deep discomfort, and gets very good at lobbing her head like a grisly dodgeball at anyone she dislikes.)

(Steph’s a lot more lively than most people expect of the undead, eating & chattering, even getting sick sometimes. She loudly proclaims that the best part of losing her head is that she no longer has to taste it when she throws up, as long as she’s quick enough removing it—when Steph does puke, it’s mostly bilge-water, no matter what she put in her stomach ahead of time.)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Cass is a homunculus, but I have no details. Damian’s got his “mixed DNA clone” origin going on. That’s where I’m at with this one.

[kevin-the-bruyne]

Well something kind of funny just happened but I think it actually proves my point even more so here goes: I was trying to construct an argument about how the discourse around Thai branded pairs being 'real' or 'fake' is so short sighted and insular because what fans are trying to ask is "do you love and fuck each other within this rigid heteronormative lens" but what they ask is more along the lines of "are your feelings for each other real" and when people answer with a resounding 'YES!' it suddenly turns into lying when the answer to the implicit question turns out to be no.

But the truth is that the relationships between human beings are very complex and things can be intense, real and even be passionate without it falling under romance. I think this is especially true within queer friendships where being a little bit in love with your friends is at this point a widely accepted phenomenon. Anyone here whose job feels less like a job and more like a Trial By Fire knows that the bonds between you and your coworker are very, very real. And one of those jobs is acting - period. In the context of branded pairs that partnership suddenly amps up in intensity until you truly are having a very unique experience with only ONE other person in the entire world. This was of course all leading up to Krist and Singto, about how Krist really, genuinely likes Singto SO much, about that one (recent??) interview that I can no longer find where Singto said that he had to reassure KRIST that he wasn't leaving because of him - about how it's not always clear to the people experiencing the relationship itself what is truly happening between them. And part of that argument was going to include a small anecdote about a friendship breakup I had with a friend I used to do theatre with in middle-high school.

Well. This post is no longer focused on KristSingto so let's just get into the anecdote:

When I was in the 8th grade I started an unusual friendship with an 11th grader (Z) because we used to do theatre together. Many things made it unusual - we were of the opposite gender, a 4 year age gap at that age is HUGE, but also that he was a very reticent dude that almost never hung out with ANY juniors let alone female ones. But we became friends because:

1) We were scene partners, in fact, I was playing Zs secretary so every single one of my scenes was with him, I was almost never backstage without him because my entire role was following him around and saving him from the evil machinations of his adviser. We were backstage alone a lot because our entry and exit cues hugely overlap

2) I was nursing a horrible, terrible crush on a different 8th grader (B) also in the production and somehow this scary, reticent older dude was a HUGE gossip.

3) Z told me several years later that him befriending me during the production was part of a terrible matchmaking plot that the 11th graders had hatched to get me and B together because apparently our yearning for each other was difficult to witness. B had his own 11th grade buddy (the evil advisor in fact lol) coaching him. Spoiler: It didn't work b/c 11th grade boys make for TERRIBLE matchmakers.

But Z and I bonded in a way that was eye catching, part of that was because we were killing it on stage. We had amazing chemistry and we were kids so no one was coaching us to have chemistry. We just did because we trusted each other.

I cannot stress this enough that we were a comedy duo, our scenes were not even remotely romantic in nature. He was the King and I was his Jester but still people were buzzing from just watching our practices. I had unknown random girls come up to me to ask about my relationship with Z (people are always nosy about connection lol). Not only did the 11th graders FAIL but their very plot was one of the big reasons why B and I never got together because B would go on to believe for YEARS after that I was in love with Z 😭

Anyway, Z and I stayed great friends for long, long after that production and well into our adulthoods. A lot of our early years was me being sad over my unrequited love for B but I had more interests lol. We were basically ride or die and even had a marriage pact. We planned our honeymoon, we talked about what our married life would be like. We were completely platonic friends. We stayed good friends long distance for several years when I moved away for school. The friendship ended because I found out he was lying to his GF (now wife!!) about when he'd come to see me/hang out with me. And that was so disrespectful to both me and the girlfriend that I told him that we'll only hang out again if he introduced me to his GF. The reason why this never happened could have been because of a lack of opportunity since I live in a different country but we did completely stop talking after this.

Anyone who's actually managed to read all that is probably like girl your relationship was not COMPLETELY platonic. And like...yeah I'm realizing that now. Getting some clarity on a friendship breakup from 8 years ago that had caused me a lot of pain only because I started writing about it because KristSingto decided to simulate nasty fucking on stage.

Anyway, life is weird and KristSingto are about as real or fake as any other human relationship 🤷🏽‍♀️

[meirimerens]

absolutely gorgeous art. genuinely made me see the beauty in life.

and your writing? brother. (<- in tears)

one thing i want to ask you:

so we see Farkhad mainly through the Stamatin's view, i feel.

do you have any thoughts on Farkhad as a person? how he was as a kid? or a teenager? or is he for you only "existent" as an extension of the Stamatins? as this mysterious being... if you catch my drift.

THANK YOOUUU 🫶🫶🫶 very touched... the world is so beautiful and i can only try to approach its beauty. & more writing to come soon but this time it's evil.

and ok. ok. hehe. [1-frame glitch where i appear as an evil dog smiling] ok. hahaha héhéhé okay so basically.

farkhad's purposefully ambiguous to me, by me, through m(e/y telling of him). this is his design. this is paramount to his comprehension of him as a character to me. he is to me, but also to the real, lived and played, experienced narrative of the game, exclusively alive as an extension of the stamatins - it is them who give him (t)his game. there would be no farkhad without the twins, for it is them who named him this. he is nameless without them. however, and it is perhaps better articulated this way, more than being an extension of the stamatins... they are an extension of him. when i design him based on 18th-early 20th century persian portraiture it is because i anchor him, his physicality, in an art that predates the narrative, even his life as it is experienced by the twins. when i joke he was sculpted on the Achaemenid friezes, i mean it, when i joke he spoke(/speaks) ancient arameic by having been there when it was spoken, i mean it. and i don't. i'm fucking wit you and i'm not. this is what happened to the twins as well. this is something that i'm currently exploring in my current WIP but the way i conceptualize him is like..... a greek or roman myth. in the same way a character from greek & roman literature can have multiple stories of their births, multiple stories of who their parents are, multiple stories of what their symbols and associations are depending on the region, on the time period, on the people who worshipped and read (or despised and tried to burn out of the records); this is what he is happening to him.

i do believe he has a story, a place of birth, parents, even a sibling. I think he has a younger sister who resembles him a lot. where he is a sculptor and an architect and only incidentally is a musician, she is a musician by trade as well as a dancer. both of his parents were well-educated, relatively middle class. they also owned ancient art, which very young gave him his liking for creation. it was obvious he was gay as a child, in ways that translated in a great artistic potential, and his parents encouraged him in that path and kinda... pretended-to-not-see the gay thing, because they saw the artistic potential, and found himself having to accept that one influenced the other. i believe he is an Aquarius - this mysterious sign which appears to be of water, but is actually of air (this sign which is just before last: prelude of closing of the zodiac year, he is closing of everything around. he is the closing statement; everything comes after him).

and i don't.

you know what i mean?

[shuttershocky]

Whats the phillipine's most famous cryptid?

Alright so before we start let me reiterate that the creatures that get passed off as Filipino mythology are still living beliefs for many people, especially those that live away from the big cities. These are not mere scary stories to them, but real threats that you must take seriously, and specialists that deal with the supernatural are very much still a thing.

So the most famous creature would probably be the aswang, but what an aswang actually is depends on who you ask. They could be were-beasts, undead, evil sorcerors/witches, etc depending on the province, and it's come to be almost an umbrella term for monsters that don't already have a name. Every time someone strays too close to the woods and goes missing? Aswang attack. Wikipedia will tell you that stories of the aswang are mostly popular in the South of the Philippines, but my dad's family comes from the North and they're just as well-known there. Ask a grandfather or grandmother whose family came from Ilocos, and there's a decent chance they can tell you stories of how someone the family knew was taken by an aswang because they didn't hurry home when the sun was going down, or how they themselves had a close call when they ignored their parents' warnings about what was out there. When we would visit my grandmother's home province, she would tell me very seriously that if the night is too dark, I should never leave the indoors even if we're at a hotel at the beach, you could never tell how daring a monster might be.

The CIA even actually used the belief in aswang stories to crush a local communist guerilla movement called the Hukbalahap, where they would kidnap Huks and drain their blood then leave their corpses for their comrades to find, terrifying the people and killing public support for the movement.

I think the funniest story that I personally know though is technically not an aswang attack, but shares a lot of the same elements with the monster stories that involve dark magic. It's also particularly interesting because it was told to me by a mentor from the gamedev industry and who was not a superstitious person.

When I was a kid I already knew that no matter what, I wanted to work in video games. My friend and I would attend all the local dev meetups and talks and seminars trying to learn as much as we could about the industry before getting out foot in the door, and one of the developers we befriended was a very experienced artist with some international successes under his belt already. He's now working at a big name European studio, but before that he shared with us the story about his own dangerous encounter.

It started when my friend asked for advice on love, like many young adults would to a cool, older mentor. Rather than give wise sayings about patience and communication or whatever, he said "When they invite you over to your house, keep your eyes open in case they try to eat you."

See when he was our age he was dating this art scene girl who kept telling him that she was dangerous and a practitioner of curses, which he had brushed off as being a quirky art thing and kept seeing her despite her warnings. One time, the girl invited him over to her house saying she was going to eat him, and my mentor, thinking it was his lucky day, walked right in, went into her room, and then stood there when she pulled out a knife and suddenly declared that actually, she was possessed by an evil spirit and was going to kill and eat him now.

Despite the now very clear sign that eating him did not mean anything sexy, he said he was okay with this. She attacked him with the knife and only then did he finally realize that maybe he was not okay with this, but at that point she was making inhuman sounds and was also overpowering him with absurd strength. It's been years since I heard the story so I don't remember how exactly he survived. If I remember correctly, the girl's mom burst into the room and said that this happens often, then promptly pulled the girl off of him and began exorcising her on the spot while the girl began screeching, and the mom insisted while struggling that my mentor and her daughter shouldn't see each other anymore and so he escaped from that house, never to go back.

He ended that story there, insisting it was completely true and that he had already told this story to his peers in the gamedev industry (he actually did) while my friend and I stared at him completely dumbfounded.

"What the fuck" I said, "Why did you keep going when she clearly said she was cursed and was also going to eat you for real?"

To which my mentor just shrugged his shoulders and said "I mean, she was so hot. I just thought it would be okay anyway."

[willbyersabyss]

The Upside Down Represents Homophobia

This is mostly about how Will’s queerness intertwines with the supernatural plot. I included summaries in blue so please at least read those!

Time Period

It’s no coincidence that Stranger Things takes place in the 80s. This is when homophobia was at a high because of the AIDs crisis and the satanic panic. These events factor heavily into the mindsets of the antagonists in the show. Season one is where we see this most. Troy, Lonnie, and Steve all spew homophobic views throughout the season. Homophobia was half of the evil in season one so I don’t think it would be that far off to assume that the supernatural evil and the real world evil were stemming from the same place.

Season One

In the first episode of the show, we are clued into Will’s queerness. Joyce expresses her concern over the homophobic bullying he has faced and how that might have had something to do with his disappearance. Hopper felt that Will being gay was important to the investigation as well. What if they were right? What if the Upside Down is the homophobe that took Will? Hopper tried to reassure that Will was likely with a parent but Joyce insisted otherwise. The parent would be Lonnie, an abusive homophobe.

It’s very clear that Lonnie is the person who spread rumors about Will being gay. As Joyce mentioned, he was the source of Will’s homophobic bullying. Will is referred to as “Lonnie’s kid” multiple times and people only gave their condolences to Lonnie at Will’s funeral. Troy’s dad mentioned Will being queer. Why would Troy’s dad know about that? Lonnie. Jonathan decided to look into Hopper’s theory that Lonnie, a known homophobe, took Will. He even looked in Lonnie’s trunk, alluding to Will possibly being killed by his homophobic dad. So the first suspect was notoriously homophobic and had power in the town of Hawkins.

Lets move into the town’s theory of Will’s disappearance. Joyce talked about Will experiencing homophobia to Hopper. This is implying that Will could have been killed in a hate crime. Troy says “He was probably killed by some other queer.” Once again, linking Will’s queerness to his kidnapping. The school has an assembly to grieve Will where Troy says “Will’s in fairyland now, right? All happy and gay!” And where was Will? The Upside Down. 

After being humiliated in front of the entire school, Troy tries to attack Mike and Dustin by recreating what the town assumed happened to Will. Hopper said that Will saw something, made his way over to the quarry, and fell off. When we link this with the town thought, Will may have been forced off the cliff by a homophobe. We as viewers know this isn’t what happened. Or do we? The events of the cliff scene align well with Will’s disappearance:

The similarities between the scenes could point to the town being right. Will and Mike were both sent to their deaths by homophobia and only made it out alive by a stroke of luck. Dustin would have been the last person to see both of them alive. Will was looking up while Mike was looking down which is upside down. They’re mirroring each other. (Will’s body was at the bottom of the quarry so it’s almost as if they are looking at each other?)

The scene just before Mike’s quarry scene is the aftermath of Steve and Jonathan’s fight. This is the fight where Steve says “I always took you for a queer but turns out you’re just a screw up like your father.” So Tommy H. thought that Jonathan killed Will, Steve thought Jonathan was queer but now he thinks he’s like Lonnie, and Troy thought Will was “killed by some other queer.” Jonathan is “the queer” that they think killed Will but that isn’t the case. It turns out what “killed” Will is like his father (a homophobe). Queerness and homophobia is constantly brought up when discussing Will’s disappearance. We are meant to link the two.

Both the cliff scene and the fight between Steve and Jonathan happen in the episode titled “The Monster.” This is also the only episode where Will doesn’t try to contact anyone from the Upside Down. Let that sink in. The episode where homophobia results in violence on multiple occasions is called “The Monster.” The real monster of this story is not the demogorgon.

In the scene above, Troy had just finished making homophobic statements about Will (which were directed at Mike). Mike tried to ignore the comments, but he was tripped. Dustin picked up the rock Mike fell on and they decided that it would be “the monster killer.” This rock is used in the final episode when they face the demogorgon. The demogorgon and homophobic bullying are linked in this scene. Using the rock shows that overcoming homophobia is how they win.

When they find Will’s “body” at the quarry, Mike runs home and cries in his mom’s arms. The lyrics that play over this scene are “We kissed as though nothing could fall and the shame was on the other side.” If the other side is the Upside Down, then it is equal to shame. Homophobia shames the existence of queer people just like the Upside Down. 

The only other established character that becomes a victim of the Upside Down is Barb. I genuinely believe Barb is queer. She was only in two episodes but there’s still quite a lot of queer coding in this short time. First, she noticed that Nancy had a new bra. How exactly would she know that? Anyways, Nancy is trying to fit in with her new friends and even tries to get Barb to participate. Barb reluctantly agrees and gets cut. Forced conformity. She later has a conversation with Nancy about how she isn’t being herself. Sound familiar? This is very similar to the argument Will and Mike have in season three. She has a parallel with a confirmed queer character! So yeah Barb is definitely queer. Her death cuts between Nancy and Steve hooking up. The injury Barb received from trying to be someone else attracted the demogorgon of homophobia. Nancy’s conformity killed Barb. 

We discover in season four that the Upside Down is stuck on the day Will went missing. It was a barren land of dust and rocks but once Will arrived, it changed to replicate Hawkins. Why would Will change this terrifying place to look like his home? Because the thing that makes these places evil is the same. Homophobia.

The song used to represent Will’s mindset is Should I Stay or Should I Go. “Should I stay or should I go? If I go, there will be trouble and if I stay it will be double.” Is a line I want to highlight. Will is debating whether he should stay in the Upside Down or return home. Why would Will consider staying in such a dangerous place? What trouble would he face back home that he would rather be killed by monsters? Homophobic abuse and bullying. Will’s biggest fear is his own home and this is why the Upside Down now replicates it. His fear of the Upside Down manifested into the everyday fears he faces. 

Will tries to save himself by contacting his mom through the lights and he even opens a gate in the wall. This all crumbles the second his father shows up. Lonnie patched up the hole and took down the lights which were Will’s only hope of escape. Will’s homophobic and abusive father is keeping him trapped in the land of homophobia. To make matters worse, Will doesn’t try to contact Joyce again after Lonnie does this. He’s reminded that the real world is not safer than this hellscape, not for someone like him at least. Will’s debate is finalized. He decides he will stay in the Upside Down and accept his fate. 

After Lonnie shattered Will’s chances of escaping the Upside Down, Will went to Castle Byers to wait for the monster to take him. Castle Byers was a place where he could be himself, sheltered from homophobic beliefs. This was the last place he felt safe. El visits him and assures him that his mom hasn’t given up on him. The monster then destroys the Upside Down version of Castle Byers and takes him to his deathbed at the library. This represents how homophobia will always find and destroy queer spaces. 

When Joyce and Hopper find Will, he has a vine down his throat that is killing him. Memories of Sara with medical tubes flash by. Those tubes were meant to be “healing” Sara but her fate did not change. Homophobes believe they’re healing gay people by trying to change them, but it only ends up killing them. As we now know, Vecna controls these vines. He says he “holds up a mirror” to people. It’s commonly said that gay people are “shoving their gayness down our throats.” Was the vine in Will’s throat a reflection of this belief?

Will's heart stops which is indicative of death. So Jonathan thought Will was killed by their homophobic father and the town thought Will was killed in a hate crime. Will was actually killed by the Upside Down. They were right, Will was killed by homophobia. What saved him? His mother who loves him no matter what. 

Summary: Every theory the town had about Will’s disappearance was related to him being gay and this is no coincidence. Their theories were right but instead of a homophobic person, it was the Upside Down that took him. 

Season Two

Will is plagued with visions after his time in the Upside Down. The times in which he gets these visions is indicative of internalized homophobia. Mike, the boy Will is developing feelings for, is almost always the person who is able to bring him out of these visions. How could gay love be so bad if it continues to save Will?

The first vision he gets in season two is at the arcade. Dustin was trying to win the hand of Princess Daphne in Dragon’s Lair but he loses and Lucas teases him. Keith interrupts and asks for a date with Nancy in exchange for information on Max. A seemingly meaningless conversation, right? Nope! Will’s vision of the Upside Down starts in the middle of this argument. People expressing their desire for a girlfriend set off Will’s internalized homophobia. He’s constantly reminded that he isn’t like his friends, he’s different. Mike takes Will out of this trance.

The second vision is similar to his first vision in season one. In both of these visions, he’s washing his hands in front of the mirror in the bathroom. Remember what Vecna said about holding up a mirror? When Will can see himself for who he truly is, he is pulled right back into the home of homophobia. 

The third vision occurs on Halloween night when Will and Mike are arguing about Max joining their party. Mike storms off after he complains that Dustin and Lucas are pining over Max. This leaves Will to be bullied and pulled back into the Upside Down. Yet again, he has visions after his friends fight over girls. Will doesn’t understand these dilemmas because he has no interest in girls. These constant reminders that he’s gay are very triggering after all the bullying he has faced. Mike comes to Will’s rescue for a second time. 

The fourth and final vision happens when Will is searching for Dart. He assures Dart (who represents homophobia) that he isn’t going to hurt him. This reminds me of queer people trying to assure homophobes that they’re not something to be feared. Dart scares Will and he’s back in the Upside Down yet again. This time, he doesn’t run or hide, he decides to confront the homophobia via Bob’s advice. He ends up in more danger because of this. Sounds very reflective of real life doesn’t it? (When Mike finally confronted Troy’s homophobia in season one, his life was put in danger later. Are these scenes connected?) Anyways, Mike is the person who finds Will in the field.

Speaking of Dart, remember this scene? Dart tries to attack Mike and Will only. Oh yeah and they happen to be standing in front of a rainbow here. Mike protects Will from homophobia yet again!

These visions later only show themselves as the tunnels taking over Hawkins. In the first picture, Will is drawing the tunnels. On the wall there’s a drawing of a spaceship with rainbows coming out of it. Is this the rainbow ship Joyce mentions later? Another tunnel vision happens when Will is left alone with Mike. For the fourth time so far, Mike is able to break Will out of his trance-like state. So Will has visions of the Upside Down when he’s next to a rainbow and the boy he has a crush on? Interesting. 

Now let's think about what the tunnels spreading throughout Hawkins could represent. I believe they represent how quickly homophobia makes its way through small towns. The vines diseased plants and animals. Many homophobes view queer people as “diseased” and this was especially common in the 80s. If we think about how Vecna holds up a mirror to people, the rotting could reflect on the town’s view of gay people. The only person who could warn them about the dangers of the vines was Will. This shows how queer people can see how harmful homophobia is while it flies under straight noses.

The hive mind reflects how homophobes all adopt the same narrow mindset. They cannot break free of their homophobic beliefs. Dart could be an example of the “love the sinner, hate the sin” idea. He did as he was told without second thought but made exceptions for one person that tried to show him a different mindset. I believe Dart seeing Will is what caused the Mind Flayer to try to possess him again. Though Dart seemed different from the others in the hive mind, he still upheld his beliefs when faced by someone he feared. This is very common among homophobes. 

While in the hospital, Will was slowly losing himself. The doctors said “At this rate, he’ll be gone by the end of the day.” Because they wanted to focus on burning the vines again. Instead of trying to save the gay kid possessed by homophobic thoughts, they focused on trying to keep the homophobia a secret.  Will’s personality being lost as his mind is flooded with internalized homophobia symbolizes how gay people have to hide their true selves. The only way for Will to be safe is to perpetuate the thoughts being fed to him (ex. killing the soldiers). Staying in the closet protects him.

Speaking of closets, Bob had to hide in a closet when the demodogs took over the lab. He was safe from the homophobic creatures when he hid in the closet. The second he came out, the broom fell like an alarm. He was immediately a target for homophobia which is the reason for his death. 

Another small detail: While they were trying to reach Will in the shed, Max was worried about what would happen if Will figured out their location. Lucas says that it will be “judgment day” if that were to happen. Judgment day is a common religious belief that a day will come where people are punished for their sins before death. Being gay is seen as a sin by many religious people so could this be the “sin” the Upside Down would punish them for? 

Moving on to what I think is the most important scene in season two: the shed scene. Joyce, Jonathan, and Mike all share memories with Will to try and break his possession. The memories they initially focus on show their love and support for Will. Joyce talks about how proud she was of his drawing of a rainbow spaceship (as pictured earlier). Of course, rainbows are a huge queer symbol. Joyce was basically saying she loves him no matter what and even embraces his differences. Jonathan talks about the day they built Castle Byers aka the day their homophobic father left. Castle Byers was built as a safe space for Will because of the homophobic abuse and bullying he had faced. Will was able to start using morse code after this. His family expressing their love and support successfully broke through the homophobia racking his brain. Finally, Mike recalls the day they first met. Despite everything, Mike still believes that befriending Will was the best thing he’s ever done. We now know that Will not only has feelings for Mike, but that Mike makes him feel better for being different. All three memories relate to Will’s queerness in some way. The thing that saved Will was his loved ones assuring him that they love him for his differences. Homophobia can be destroyed through love and support.

The final time we see the Mind Flayer is at the Snow Ball. Will was pressured to dance with a girl by the person he really wanted to dance with. The Mind Flayer looms over the cafeteria to show that though Will thought he was saved, homophobia will always linger behind him. He can never escape heteronormative standards.

Summary: Will’s possession represents internalized homophobia. His visions of the Upside Down occur when he is forced to face his queerness. The vines and the hive mind reflect the way homophobes spread their own ideas while not considering viewpoints outside of their own.

Season Three

It was confirmed by the Duffers that the physical Mind Flayer represents puberty in this interview. Puberty and sexuality go hand in hand. Just like his visions in season two, Will feels the Mind Flayer in moments related to him being gay. Will continuing to have a connection to the Mind Flayer after his exorcism represents how homophobia will always haunt queer people. I wonder if he gets the chill on his neck because that’s where the homophobic vine attached itself in season one? Will’s connection to the Mind Flayer represents his PTSD from the Upside Down so if the Upside Down represents homophobia, the Mind Flayer’s appearance shows his ongoing struggle with his identity. 

The first time Will feels the Mind Flayer is in the movie theater when he’s basically on a double date with Mike. At this point, Will definitely knows that he has feelings for Mike. Sitting close in a dark theater would remind him of the homophobia that lingers around him. Just like season two, Mike breaks Will out of the moment.

The second time he felt it was in the field when they were going to try and contact Dustin’s girlfriend. Will was surrounded by straight couples, leaving him to be the only one without a significant other. Mike and El decide to run off and ditch them. Will looks back at Mike and El when he gets the chill. Will’s fear of homophobia creeps up when he is reminded that he won’t get to experience love. 

The third time he feels it is at Castle Byers after after he fought with Mike over girls again. This sparked the unforgettable “It’s not my fault you don’t like girls!” line. While Mike did not intend it to be a jab at Will’s sexuality, it was taken that way. Will ran off to Castle Byers, his safe space from his homophobic father. After destroying the only place he felt safe from homophobia, the Mind Flayer came right back. I believe he felt it at this moment to show that homophobia was winning against him. This scene wasn’t only about his sexuality, but it did contribute heavily to his inner turmoil. The homophobia inside him (the Mind Flayer) became too overwhelming so he finally told the group that he felt it again.  

The fourth time he feels the Mind Flayer is during the sauna test. Again, he is standing very close to Mike here. It could also be noted that they had the silly scene of the boys looking terrified at the men in the sauna earlier in the episode. 

The fifth time is at the hospital. Will was just sent away so Mike could make amends with El after their breakup. Will is staring at Mike a lot in the hospital lobby, silently pining behind him. The second Mike and El get close and cuddly while reading the M&M’s package, Will senses homophobia close by again. (Mike looking at Will here… okay)

Will feels it again at Hopper’s cabin. This one is a bit of a reach but the scene just before this is of Karen, Ted, and Holly on the ferris wheel. Karen is trying to keep up her image of a perfect family. While she is putting on this performance of conformity, Holly can see the trees move (from the Mind Flayer) but is ignored. This entire act is based on heteronormativity. 

The final time he senses it is in the mall. They had retreated back into the mall because Billy found them. Billy himself had not been blatantly homophobic but his father previously abused him and called him homophobic slurs. Billy is a representation of homophobia and bigotry being taught. Instead of breaking the cycle, he is perpetuating it. This is why Billy was chosen as the host as well. He doesn’t try to find a way out of possession the way Will did in season two. He doesn’t reject the control of the Mind Flayer, he goes along with it. Billy is an easier target to control because he doesn’t actively fight against conformity. 

The flayed are a hive mind. Each of them were asked by a higher being to get others to join their agenda. Sound familiar? This also represents how quickly propaganda against queer people attaches itself to small towns. They teamed up to take down anyone that disagrees with them. As I said before, Will is the only one who can see the danger coming because his queerness makes him vulnerable. 

Summary: Will feels the Mind Flayer when he is, yet again, forced to face his queerness. The flayed represent the cult-like behavior of homophobes (just like the hive mind). Will is the only one who can sense the Mind Flayer because homophobia usually isn’t seen as a danger to anyone that isn’t queer. 

Season Four

Eddie’s queer coding relates to him becoming the “town pariah” that Robin mentioned earlier in the season. He was hunted for being a freak. In Eddie’s introduction scene, he is listing reasons why DND is being targeted due to the satanic panic. One reason that stands out is sodomy. This belief is rooted in homophobia. So the Hellfire Club is already being linked to queerness in its introduction.

Another important line by Eddie in this scene: “It’s forced conforming. That’s what’s killing the kids. That’s the real monster.” This partly foreshadows his own death as he conforms to the idea of a hero, but it also gives us an idea of what the monsters in the show represent. Queer people experience forced conformity in heavy amounts for their own safety. We see this happen to both Will and Robin, our only (as of right now) confirmed queer characters. Will doesn’t really deny his queerness by trying to act straight but he does still have to hide from real and supernatural dangers. Going back to the vine that killed Will, that was forced conformity. Homophobia was shoving itself down Will’s throat and it killed him until his supportive family brought him back. 

The purpose of Eddie’s character was to show how people will focus on attacking those that are different while the real problem flies under their radar. They started targeting Eddie after Jason convinced them to at the church. This is very reflective of how religious people target queer people in real life. They don’t care about the actual thing that’s killing the kids (homophobia), they just want to make villains out of queer people. This is how the Upside Down was able to target children for so long. Hawkins was focusing on the wrong thing. Troy’s belief that Will was “killed by some other queer” is another example of the town villainizing gay people instead of tackling the real problem.

Eddie is a new addition to the deaths that occur inside the Upside Down. He is one of three established characters that died there. Just like Will and Barb, Eddie was queer coded. That means every single established character that died in the Upside Down was queer or queer coded. The Upside Down targets queer people.

This is a smaller detail but it’s interesting how Robin is framed in the middle with the light shining above her. It really brings attention to the keyhole on her back. So Will is seen as the light and Robin as the key. What do these two characters have in common? Gay. Gay is the key! Also the eye in the keyhole is green and Will has green eyes (this is a joke). Anyways, Vecna passes by Robin’s flashlight first and she’s the first to be strung up by vines later in the Upside Down (right after she held Nancy’s hand). Is it coincidental that the only gay character in the Hawkins crew was detected in the Upside Down first? I don’t think so!

Here comes Will’s rainbow spaceship again. A rainbow rocketship sitting outside of the Creel house is a detail I always think about. They didn’t only show this ship, they made it a significant meeting place in the Upside Down. This is where Erica relayed messages to the others during their mission to kill Vecna. Normally I wouldn’t think twice about a swing set at a playground but since it’s next to a rainbow ship, it made me raise an eyebrow. A swingset to remind us of how Mike and Will met? So two things here relate to the memories that saved Will in season two. All we’re missing is Castle Byers. When the Creels arrive at their new home, Alice says it’s like a fairytale. What aspect of a fairytale could she be referring to? A castle perhaps? This may be a stretch but is the Creel house representing Castle Byers here? It’s definitely possible but it may not be necessary to represent Castle Byers here. Why? Castle Byers was already destroyed by Will.

When Vecna takes his final victim, the gates rip through Hawkins. Max’s gate goes straight through the playground across from the Creel house. The rainbow ship and the swing set are (presumably) both destroyed. I believe these items were chosen to show how Will’s safety from homophobia is being taken from him as the Upside Down takes over Hawkins (this could also relate to birthdaygate). The memories that make Will feel safe and proud of his queerness were destroyed by the Upside Down aka homophobia. 

So what exactly opened the gates? It was just Max’s death, right? I don’t think it’s that simple. Remember what Eddie said about how forced conformity is killing the kids? Well that was definitely foreshadowing. Eddie and Jason were both participating in conformity right as they died. Max was the only one who didn’t do this. What was the conformity that killed her then? 

It was Mike’s speech. When Mike gives his monologue, everyone is dying. Literally everyone. His love was surrounded by death. Many of the things Mike said in his love confession were not the full truth. There’s no question about that. It’s clear that Mike did not want to give that speech, he felt like he had to because El was dying and Will urged him to. Will, in a way, was forcing conformity upon both himself and Mike in this scene. I believe this act is the reason why their plan ultimately failed. There’s another piece of evidence that Mike’s monologue contributed to Max’s death in this post I made. What better to open the gates of homophobia than two repressed gay kids? 

The gates all met at the library. This is where Will was found in the Upside Down. I think it should be noted that libraries are sources of knowledge while homophobia is based in ignorance. The Upside Down destroying the library is a perfect symbol of this. 

Summary: Hawkins targeted someone they perceived as queer which blinded them from the true evil spreading through their town (homophobia). Will and Mike’s suppression of their feelings is part of the reason why the Upside Down was able to merge with Hawkins.

How will this influence season five?

Dustin and Suzie said it best: “And there upon a rainbow is the answer to a neverending story.” Gay love will save the world! The meaning behind Stranger Things has always been about accepting differences. Our beloved queer characters using their differences to defeat evil completely aligns with the message of the show! 

Will’s journey through his queerness has been extremely important since the first season. It’s been confirmed many times that he’s going to be central to season five and they’re going back to season one dynamics. Homophobia was most literally present in the first season. It makes sense for the boy who started the story to finally overcome both literal and symbolic homophobia! Will’s acceptance of himself giving him strength to defeat the supernatural evil is a beautiful way to wrap up his role in the story. 

I am a firm believer that Will and Mike’s relationship is going to be a huge factor in saving the world in season five. Their relationship has been built since the beginning and was made most obvious in the penultimate season. With Will being central again, it’s inevitable that Mike will be as well! Mike’s love for Will already helped save the world in season two so I believe something similar will happen in the finale. Will said it himself that Mike gives him the courage to fight on, now he must use that strength to save the world. 

And here’s some obvious foreshadowing for Will and Mike having a big role in killing Vecna.

While Robin and Vickie are not as big of characters as Will and Mike, their relationship will also be established next season (hopefully with significant screen time). This further proves how the Upside Down represents homophobia. Both queer relationships were left for the final season because as long as homophobia is present, they cannot thrive. This gives a lot of room for queer love to be explored in the final season through the defeat of the Upside Down. 

In conclusion, queerness has been integral to the plot since season one. It’s quite obvious that a show like this would make their monsters symbolic of real world issues. We already know that Vecna represents depression, the lab is the abuse cycle, and the physical Mind Flayer is puberty! The Upside Down is meant to represent homophobia.

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

Well about the perception of Volo vs Kamado thing, and why more people don’t hate Volo, I have my own reflections (pretty privilege is absolutely a factor tho let’s be real 😂)

Everyone growing up has at least one story of an adult being super unfair to you, even though you were doing everything right. Their own biases and experiences could be understood later once you were older and calmer reflecting back on the incident, like a teacher who snapped at you maybe had a super long day of wrangling hundreds of children. But we never forget how it feels in that moment to have those who should be guiding us be unfair and seemingly unreasonable. So naturally that’s gonna hurt when you get kamado being paranoid.

Volo on the other hand is just absolutely delightful I’m sorry maybe if Kamado put on a silly outfit and hair for his boss battle instead of plate mail he’d have more art. Like you said Volos betrayal is one and done really, he acts like a theater kid and then dips. You have to keep seeing kamado being in charge in the game after his blunders for a while which can rub people the wrong way. (Also this is maybe just me but I never trusted Volo just like I never trusted Cynthia as a kid, and finding out he was evil was a great moment of vindication I CANT be the only one who experienced this)

TLDR we see unfairness way more than we see someone betray us while making their hair like a god horse

well, you heard them, kamado. time to go get the jester outfit. cmon chop chop it's to redeem your image

yeah, the point abt getting burned by adults in authority is also very fair. most of us were not scarred for life by theater kid antics lol. the other thing abt it is that often those same adults never really face any consequences. you were always just expected to move on, suck it up etc. cause that's life as a kid right. sometimes ppl will use their power over you just to flex their limited authority, or to vent whatever's going on in their home life, and this doesn't really stop when you grow up it's just that when you're a kid basically every adult has that authority position. so it's just expected that there's nothing you can do. i mean unless you decide to be the karmic force of justice in your own life by being the most stubborn bitch of a child to walk the earth. not that i would know anything about that cough

uh anyway. the thing is the thing btwn you and kamado isn't about about child vs adult. you're more or less considered an adult yourself by jubilife, albeit a rather young and more importantly low ranking one. like we've said (a million times already lol) kamado's not doing it just to grasp at a sense of control, he's reacting to what he perceives as a very real threat to his village (and also because the writers clocked him in the face with the idiot ball for plot advancement reasons lbr).

and the thing is kamado DOES, kind of, face consequences and own up to his mistakes by the end of the game. also after the red sky event he's like, REALLY nice to you lol. not just briefly either! imo you can tell that he sincerely respects you and regrets his actions in the red sky. go look at his late game quotes-

"Perhaps you are a divine being yourself, sent to bring us gifts from above... "I know I've no right to say this... But we are truly fortunate to have been able to count you among the Survey Corps' ranks. If you had not joined us, we would have fallen on Mount Coronet. We would have lost our home. We would have lost our future." "I'm grateful to you for showing me what a heartening presence Pokémon can be. We must spar again sometime!" "<player>, forgive me for taking so much of your time [telling you about the Galaxy name.] Please accept this as a sort of apology."

like he's trying to make up for the way they were treated earlier and give them the proper treatment they're owed for all their help.

idk i don't have a good way to conclude this i guess. i just think he's a cool character

[kara-knuckles]

The more I think about Ines's life before she ended up in Kazdel, the more horror-esque my headcanons get.

I don't have a set age for her, but I think she was somewhere in the 10-12 range when Hoederer found her. I also put their meeting to January-February of 1079, which aligns with her 19 years of battle experience and gives me over a year of her life in Leithanien after the Witch King's death.

I think her family were supporters of the Witch King (though not necessary relatives), so they were in trouble once his reign ended and the bloody purge followed. They probably moved around a lot within the next year, until they finally decided to leave the country.

And just imagine how it would feel from little Ines's perspective. The adults in her life probably wouldn't go into too much detail about what was going on, but she could tell something was very wrong thanks to her Arts. And then she started noticing that every time they moved there were more oddities. Perhaps the number of servants around her dwindled over the months. Maybe she brought up some family friend and got a really odd reaction from her parents. What if one night she was awoken and told to just run and to not ask any questions, and she could swear she saw some people in masks on her way to the next safe location.

And all this time she could sense emotions of people around her. She is no mind reader, and I don't think she has a flawless understanding of what she sees in the shadows (on the contrary, I think she would misinterpret some emotions due to her age and inexperience), but she could still tell that there is rising anxiety, that the people who are supposed to take care of her are angry and terrified, and that there is some vague, unseen something that chases them.

And the reason I put her Kazdel misadventures at the start of the year is because I want her last days in Leithanien to be during early December. There is a certain bit of real life Austrian folklore I want to include, namely, the figures of Krampus and Saint Nicholas. I think, on Terra they would be represented by a Sarkaz and a Sankta respectively, and may or may not be a part of pro-Sankta/anti-Sarkaz propaganda.

And, like, little Ines probably never believed in any of the popular childhood characters. She could feel that the people in costumes weren't who they say they were, that Krampus wasn't even played by a real Sarkaz, and that there was no malice when someone would chase the kids to "punish" them. But this was the closest a relatively sheltered child would have for a picture of who Sarkaz were, and this image would be strong due to being one of the last things she experienced in her homeland. And I think it would help her to deal with her attackers. After all, it is easier to hurt someone when they are some fairy tale monsters.

But in reverse it means that she had a harder time reconciling that Sarkaz were indeed people. Ines was likely very sick during her first weeks in Kazdel, and her feverish mind was probably going into different extremes as she was receiving help from the people she saw as inherently evil. One moment she would think "Hoederer is nice, maybe if he covers his ears and doesn't open his mouth he can kinda-sorta pass as a Leithanian", and the next would be "no, no, no he is one of these devils who hurt me, he is an enemy".

And as she would learn to accept the Sarkaz as people, it would strengthen her dysphoria towards her own race. After all, how is she any different from them? She lives under the same roof, eats the same food, shares the same troubles. Back in Leithanien she probably spent most of her time studying things that were mostly useless to her, but in Kazdel life is urgent and from the get-go she was more involved in everything than she ever was before. She was a part of Kazdel and one of its people, so she started trying to be Sarkaz, since this was who she saw herself as.

[princess-of-the-corner]

I wanna start by saying I'm not trying to start a fight, but you saying that Chloe had some kind of mental break or dissociative episode in Queen Wasp as a way to excuse the train incident has always felt like a bit of a reach

Idk if you've ever had a dissociative episode or mental breakdown or anything like that, and I'm not demanding you share if you have, but I have, and the way we see Chloe act in Queen Wasp is not how someone who is dissociating would act in my experience

She's too cognizant

After snapping, transforming, and running, Chloe has the presence of mind to stop on the closest vantage point she could find, look around for an idea of how to prove herself, focus on the subway, come up with the idea to stage a crash, dial Nadja Chamak's number to tell her about the train so there are cameras present, and stop and paralyze the driver before trying to stop the train

There was a time when I was dissociating after a massive fight with my parents and walking through my neighborhood, and I came to a cross light.

I remember seeing that I couldn't go straight across bc of the red light, and seeing that a car was coming down the street, but I kept walking straight.

The car was too far away to be dangerous to me, but they did slam their brakes and honk.

I didn't register any of that, I just kept walking. I didn't even realize what had happened until hours after I had gotten back home and calmed down.

That's not what happened to Chloé in Queen Wasp. She wasn't thinking clearly bc she was rightfully upset and hurt and acting impulsively, but it wasn't a mental break

BUDDY

Okay okay okay we're just gonna.

Firstly: Different experiences and different words for different things!

Yes, some people's breakdowns are the type of disassociation where they're not aware they're just in full zombie mode.

Other people's breakdowns are organized and focused and seemingly aware! They're still not quite in the right state of mind! But they do things that are a little off and they wouldn't usually because they think it'll make them feel better!

This isn't a disassociation state, this is more like a manic episode. Like, I'm not saying that this is genuinely a manic episode for Chloé because I am not an expert and I don't know if she hits more checks for that sort of disorder and it's a very short episode as far as we can tell while a proper episode would be a longer period of time. It's just the best word I can find to describe this type of breakdown But I have 100% seen and experienced both the 'zombie mode' and the 'oh let's do something about this!!' breakdown.

And yes, in the real world, an episode like this wouldn't result directly to 'fake a train accident', it does result in extremely poor decisionmaking as they ride it out. Things like impulsively chopping off hair, spending money they can't afford to, taking risks in sexual situations, etc. But in a kids show with superheroes, that is 100% on the table.

Again: I am not an expert, but Chloé was going through some hell and I've seen people snap in that sort of way where, were they a cartoon character, could end up in that situation.

Secondly:

You make it sound like I'm just excusing it like 'haha whatever it's chill'. Which, to be fair, Canon did that! The train thing is just never brought up again and she never faces any consequences for it so Canon thinks it's fine!

But even if she is in the most manic or dissassociative or whatever state? She is still responsible for what happens when she comes down from it. And yeah in a fictional world like this you can handwave that action when everyone ends up fine instead of having her go to jail or some shit.

Thirdly:

We aren't talking about how this incident should be ignored. We're talking about how this is considered the worst thing that Chloé has done, and proof that she's 'evil', but it was something done while not only not in the right state of mind, but something that never intended to harm anyone, didn't end up harming anyone, and also did in fact get brushed off by the rest of the cast.

[that-one-poison-trainer]

50 Fun Facts About Viper!!

"but wait wasn't this going to be 25 fun facts?"

Yes but I wasn't expecting this option to win the poll so I originally lowballed the amount of fun facts

NOW ON TO THE FACTS

1: When I first wanted to participate in Pokemon Roleplay I was originally going to play a different character. She would've been my player character OC from Brilliant Diamond and Legends Arceus. She was the former Sinnoh champion, had a connection with Dialga, was sent to and back from Hisui, and became a Pokemon groomer after experiencing all those horrors and coming back home. I scraped the idea because it felt too "mary sue" and I didn't know if people would be too critical of her or not.

2: Viper was originally an OC before she became a role play character, surprisingly I haven't made too many character changes when deciding to role play as her. Except for her connection with the Subway Bosses, which changed a lot. Originally they were her surrogate uncle figures, but I changed the relationship they had because I wasn't aware if there were any Ingo or Emmet roleplayers. Even after meeting [TAG INGO AND EMMET] I feel like the whole surrogate uncle thing wouldn't work with their current relationship 

3: earlier Viper character designs had a lot of Scene and Scenecore influence. However these were scrapped because they looked bad and I hope they never see the light of day

4: Viper has really sharp teeth, similar looking to Iono's. There's no real reason for why they are so sharp other then I thought it looked cool

5: I have never actually played any Gen 5 games. A lot of my knowledge comes from Bulbipedia, my experience with the Gen 5, anime, and my Submas hyperfixation

6: Viper is autistic, because the mod is also autistic 

7: Viper's current special interest is Poison types. But when she was a kid she had a train and Subway Masters special interest, and after that she had a botany special interest. 

8: Viper currently lives in Virbank, but she was born and raised in Nimbasa and spent some time living in Driftveil 

9: when Viper lived in Ninbasa she befriended a Trubbish who she would eventually reunite with. This Trubbish became Viper's ace Buttercup the Garbodor 

10: Viper's Mom is a Flouriest and her Dad was a mechanic at Gear Station but he has since retired

11: Viper was bullied a lot as a child 

12: Viper's parents divorced when she was in middle school. She chose to move with her mom in Driftveil

13: Viper is a Highschool drop out

14: Viper started her Pokemon Journey because of her Mom insisting that "if you're gonna drop out of school you might as well become a trainer". She even called Professor Juniper to send a Snivy as a starter. This was how she met Oleander the Serperior

15: Viper really likes camping, it makes her nostalgic for her times traveling Unova doing the gym challenge 

16: Viper had two pokemon on her gym challenge team that are she no longer owns, they're Stamp the Swoobat and Dribble the Vaporeon. They were donated to Professor Juniper a little after she started working at the Virbank Gym.

17: Dribble was caught in Castelia as an eevee roaming the streets

18: Stamp was caught as a woobat on Reversal Mountan

19: Viper never grew out of her admiration for the Subway Bosses, she's just better at hiding it now.

20: Viper only caught a Litwik and a Joltik because they're prominent pokemon on Ingo and Emmet's teams. They're even named after them

21: Emmey was caught in charge stone cave

22: Ingrid was caught in the celestial tower

23: Viper absolutely despises any and all evil teams, this stems from an incident during her travels. Viper was walking out of a pokemart late at night with Emmey out of her pokeball, when a team plasma grunt ran by and grabbed her. Viper started physically attacking this grunt out of fear to get Emmey back, which was successful. 

24: Viper was inspired by battling Roxie to become a Poison Type specialist

25: Viper completed the gym challenge and had the chance to fight the Elite Four, but decided against it because she had no desire to become champion 

26: Viper caught her Scolipede Belladonna as a Whirlipede in Lostlorn Forest after she finished the gym challenge bur before applying to work at the Virbank Gym. She remembers this day fondly.

27: Viper works part time at the Battle Subway, she just gets called in to battle trainers on the lines when no one else is available.

28: Viper has made a kid cry before after beating them in a pokemon battle at the Virbank Gym

29: Dripple the Vapoureon was eventually donated to a swimming school to help kids learn to swim. Viper visits her often.

30: Viper has a kitchen cabinet in her room dedicated to Ingo and Emmet merch, both official and unofficial. If you ask her about it she'll deny it's existence.

31: Two Ten the Arbok was found as an ekans in Floccesy Town. It was believed to be released by a trainer and was considered invasive in the area, so Viper decided to investigate it. 

32: Cyanide is Viper's most recent pokemon, they were originally an egg gifted from someone at the gym who acquired it in Galar. 

33: When is comes to @lostlornghost Viper originally started bickering with them as a way to prove her superiority after their altercation in the Subway tunnels. But now she fights with them as a way to show her affection.

34: Outside of team skull business, Viper wants to know @team skull unova better 

35: Viper would've probably participated in the Team Skull raid on the Plasma Castle regardless if she was a team skull member or not

36: Viper recently started to keep her personal life a secret from the people at the Virbank Gym. She doesn't want anyone to know about her wacky, cosmic horror filled RoTumblr adventures.

37: personally I believe that Viper putting on the @liminal-station head and getting possessed by Virus was really out of character her to do. I feel like she would've been more adverse to putting on an inter dimensional severed head. I only did it because of my love for the trope of characters getting possessed and evil shadow selfs, and I think I made it work.

38: from Viper's perspective, she was trapped in a room of static during the Virus arc. Viper still has nightmares of this place 

39: Viper was semi-aware during the Virus arc. She she had the energy for it she could sorta tap into her senses and see what Virus was doing in her body. 

40: despite everything, Virus doesn't blame the Liminal Subway bosses for what happened to her. They had no idea any of this would've happen, she knows it wasn't their fault.

41: Ever since the Virus arc Viper has been suffering from Post Eldritch Madness. That head flooded her 3rd dimensional brain with knowledge from a world without knowledge, indescribable things she does not fully understand. And despite everything she's expecting to return to her life as normal.

42: Viper gained some unintentional side effects after taking off the head. These include being able to understand and speak Binary Code and her voice sounding like it's on a bad discord call when stressed 

43: Viper also developed a fear of the Porygon line after the events of the Virus arc.

44: Viper is so confused about the Garbodor doll with a mohawk given to her by @doll-anon because she has never had a mohawk in her life

45: Viper keeps the Garbodor with a Mohawk plushy in a bin because she's a little convinced it's haunted.

46: if you were to ask Viper what type she would specialize in if she wasn't a poison specialist, she would say grass

47: If Viper was a monster, she would be a Mummy

48: If Viper was a card suite, she would be the club

49: Viper has a cabinet in her house dedicated to Subway boss memorabilia, both official and fan made. 

50: Virus never left（╹◡╹）

[super-hero-confessions]

This slander of The Boys comics from people who have not read them and know nothing about them needs to stop.

No, they're not 'jUsT GaRtH eNnIs BeInG aN eDgElOrD', you could not be more media illiterate with that statement if you tried.

This guy knew exactly what he was doing, everything that seems 'edgy' ends up tying up in a way that makes sense of the story and gives incredibly heart wrenching and satisfying conclusions. He's teaching lessons. And he gets it.

Yeah, there's humor and some of the stuff is a bit on the nose. But it's also a huge load of political statements and criticisms of the way society and people are in reality. Not just an exploration of the superhero genre in a more realistic setting.

Idiots that turn a blind eye to tragedy or crime because they 'don't want to see it' or have it disrupt their rose tinted privileged ass lives and would rather let those things pass by are exactly the type of people he is criticizing in The Boys.

Even the show does this. But it flies right over peoples' heads because they can't get past the gruesome reality of news flash, general reality!

Ennis KNEW. He knew exactly what he was doing and exactly why he made the comic the way it was, and it had nothing to do with 'edge'. Hell, even the people working with him knew it too. And he even knew how people were going to respond to it.

Even the way Homelander is presented vs. Billy. They have a reversed character development set up that slowly shows you who the true monsters of the story were. Billy even says it first hand that the job of The Boys and CIA is reinforcing the status quo. And Ennis understood exactly what he was criticizing and creating with Homelander.

He straight up has Annie say:

"All little kids are psychos!"

Which one, TRUE. HE GETS IT.

And two? Homelander IS presented in a way that shows his mental growth was stunted before he had the chance. He's not just some heartless monster who's running crimes left and right. It's a build up. And he has to convince himself after the fact that he CAN do these things, so he SHOULD, because he has (hasn't actually) before. But he's just pure evil and a monster in the comics. Right? Right??

Wrong! That's why he's having so much trouble with it!

But tell me one and two are meer coincidence, I dare you.

And it takes Homelander literal YEARS after being blackmailed by Billy to work up the courage to be a bad guy, AFTER being gaslit into believing he was one.

HE WASN'T.

And STILL. He is having horrible reactions like literally throwing up to actually trying to be bad and doing bad things, even when he's a smug asshole. Meanwhile Billy just does worse and worse remorselessly.

Ennis even has things go unnoticed or fly over the characters' heads to show just how much we might miss if we blink.

And while it is true that he has a style choice that may not be for everyone, the real reason people can't stand the idea of it, not even the work itself but the IDEA. Is that these same people can't stand bitter truths in reality, no matter how much they'd pretend to support victims or have the moral highroad. The reality is that when push comes to shove, no one wants to be the person who has to deal with gruesome reality.

Well guess what, some people don't get that choice. Some people don't get to live in a world of just rainbows and butterflies while denouncing everything else and the people who have to walk through mud.

You people are exactly like that woman asking A-Train to give her a 'tad more upbeat' story because they don't want to talk about the gang violence he experienced in his childhood. Or better yet, how bout those lawmakers that keep trying to change the educational system to paint awful things in positive lighting?

Put up. Or shut up.

Read the fucking comics or stop judging the books you know nothing about.