#I think he fights a person like he fights monsters post s4

[grandwretch]

a scene with absolutely no context just hit me v intensely out of nowhere but. imagine a world where Steve's dad is just a little more powerful, a little darker, than in canon. and this mr. harrington doesn't know his son has spent the last five years fighting for survival, so when he finds out steve has been running around with the munson boy, he thinks it'll be an easy fix. steve has always been a soft sell.

he gets a call from steve, his son's voice giving him no time to even answer: "you pull that shit again, I'm sending the next one home in a body bag."

before he can even put down the phone, dial tone already ringing on the other side, he gets the message that the heavy he sent to intimidate eddie munson is in their medic's office with two spiral fractures and a shattered kneecap.

maybe steve could have gone into the family business after all.

[quitealotofsodapop]

Actually, i think it's closer to a year or more for how long Bai He was possessed. Which is honestly terrifying because why the hell did nobody notice or set up any missing child posters!?

Also, LBD probably didn't know Wukong was, well, a Spiritual Stone Monkey. So she ended up with the most interesting bit of fortune by picking a child to possess, not only because Bai He was the easy target, but because she had inadvertently managed to give herself and inate advantage against Sun Wukong by using the body of a child. As she had said Wukong,

"You're plan is to... fist fight a child!?"

No... not that's not what Wukong's plan was. But it was the only plan he had left. And with LBD piloting a child's body and openly admitting she's a child, she gave herself the advantage with that line alone. Because Wukong may have been going strong it with everything he had, not holding back, but when it came down to it, he hesitated. And it's entirely because his instincts were screaming at him not to do it.

I have no doubt Wukong was pretty messed up mentally and emotionally after being freed from the LBD, notvjyst from the actions he performed while possessed (Grievously wounding his mate, attacking his little big brother Nez Ha and nephew Red Son, kidnapping Mei snd imprisoning her in ice, almost killing MK), but also for his actions right before being possessed. I think, before Macaque has dragged Bai He into the nest, Wukong may have actively avoiding the child he had tried to kill. But then his silly mate bad to go and force the two into the same spot.

Oh Bai He has been under LBD's control since before New Years, and I feel like S2 & 3 is extended over a few weeks to account for Wukong's "vacation".

One subtle detail I noticed at the end of S1 is that the Little Girl's hair is shorter before she's possessed, suggesting that LBD has been possessing her long enough for it to grow out.

And since Wukong describes "still feeling her [LBD] under my skin", I imagine being possesed felt like Bai He's very skeleton was being puppeted by an icy hand.

For months.

And there was no sign of missing persons posters anywhere around town post-S1 finale. Even though Metropolis is a big city on par with Shanghai or similar, and demon/monster attacks have become commonplace; there would still have been something mentioned about a child going missing in the area. Unless no one was looking out for her...

Bai He would Not Be Fine in the aftermath of S3. She was possessed by a demon for nearly a year - that has to leave lasting effects on the body and soul. I'm shocked that she didn't return in S4 as a full character, even just to provide an outsiders view of all the nonsense going on. She isn't anyone's reincarnation or anyone important, but she will help her new friends by anymeans nessesary!

Wukong def feels awkward being around the little girl seeing how his nemesis was wearing her face for the last while. Bai He on the otherhand is screaming internally cus "Doesn't this guy kill demons for a living!? I'm a demon now!"

She oddly bonds quicker with Macaque, as they both see each other as victims/tools of LBD at the end of the day. Macaque thinks it's oddly cute annoying to have the pipsqueak at his heels, but he at least owes her someone who can related to the pain she's feeling.

[aengelren]

hi, in the tags of the post about others ignoring eren's depression you said that you feel like in ch 125 he cried out for help a lot--i wonder if you meant a different chapter? 125 is the one with annie's backstory and eren isn't in it.

i'm super curious about this part of aot, to me it seems about equally as likely that someone did try to talk with him, and eren just wasn't honest, and that noone did

talking about this post

hey! you’re right, it’s chapter 123. excuse me for the long reply but here we go

I think Eren’s depression was emphasized in this chapter and how far along the line he was to the point of not being able to enjoy the sights they previously dreamt of

at this point, Eren knew the people he would kill people, innocent people, like he once was. said himself that he’s no be better than Reiner. an absolute hypocrite, which is proven when he saves Ramzi from the bullies, knowing he’d kill him later. he’s a walking contradiction, and hates himself for it. the feeling when you’re doing something wrong, while being aware of your wrongdoings yet you can’t stop, he self destructs and is unable to deal with the guilt that follows

nobody hates Eren more than himself, there’s no reason to love a monster like him, so why does she never leave his side?

he believed he couldn’t be loved, because he doesn’t love himself. The concept of somcone loving him was unfathomable. We see it throughout the series, he's constantly refered to as a monster, hits deep depression in season 3 where he thinks the world would be in a better place if he was dead, felt like a burden because everyone kept blaming the scouts deaths on him. Even in s4 when he's universally referred to as a devil but no longer fights to prove otherwise. so the fact that Mikasa always wants to be close to him isn't something he understands. He needs confirmation, why does she protect him all the time? Is it because she lost her family? Since Eren himself felt undeserving

Eren wasn’t being honest with them, but what depressed person is?

that doesn’t mean anyone else is to blame, Eren is fully responsible for his actions and we don’t know if talking out the mess in his head would help. personally, I don’t think it would. Eren craved an empty world(that’s up for another discussion) but i still feel emphasize with his self hatred, and the fact that he self destructed to the point of (rightfully) losing the life he could’ve lived and even regretting it in his final moments. (i can go into specifics if anyone feels confused)

so, did his friends ignore the visible changes in him after kissing Historias hand? yes. it’s like Hanji said, they were too naive and Eren felt he had to act on his own, (but then again, he chose to start hiding the truth from them even before kissing her hand, in court when he realized Dina was of royal blood.) HOWEVER, i don’t think that’s relevant to the eventual outcome as i believe Eren would do the rumbling regardless, but i do think it made his sendoff a lot more heartbreaking, knowing he spent his last years, trapped in a bundle of past and ‘future’ memories, a load on his shoulders that he never burdened anyone else with and no one bothered to do something about (Mikasa tried) and yes, i am fully aware they all had their own stuff to think about. i’m not trying to blame the rumbling on them

Mikasa reflected on the outcome if she had given him another answer that day, and we saw that they would’ve ran away from it all. in the cabin Eren says he couldn’t bring himself to commit genocide, that’s how we know it’s an impossible future. a desire he has but Eren wasn’t born to live a normal life. “because Eren and death, are inextricably inbound” -lost girls

he’s generally a very tragic character, which makes it hard not to feel for his humanity but there’s no ignoring the destructive part of him. sorry for reeling off but to get back to the point, i think he was very lost and that his friends ignored it until it blew he became someone that couldn’t be saved, but in the end it might’ve not mattered. “you can’t save someone who doesn’t want to be saved”

thanks for reading!

(since i can’t add any more panels i’ll reblog with the ones i want to share)

[emblazons]

So this started as a post in response to this by @mel-hyperfixates but turned into a whole thing so. I'm gonna quote them & then go into...what has turned into an analysis of El's S4 narrative through episodes 1-3 in regards to Mike lol.

The basic premise was this:

i don’t think i’ll ever be over the fact that mike literally jumped off a cliff at 12 years old because of bullies, el saw it and literally saved him, and then 3 years later she’s like “you don’t know what it’s like” when mike tried to open up to her about being bullied as well

—and I wanted to expand on why that might be, so here we are.

forewarning: this is a very anti-mileven post. Also...YES. Its much more complex than just this. I'm just talking about a side of this breakup subtext we gloss over a lot lmao

In regards to El not having any thought of how Mike was trying to relate / how it seems as though she "forgot" he was also bullied...I feel like that's the thing. If you've ever been ready to break up with someone, you know exactly what El was going through, because when you're checked out of your relationship, all you focus on is the negative—even at the expense of the other person, and regardless if there is evidence to prove the person isn't as bad as your mind is making them (at least historically).

From the second we see her this season, El had stopped being vulnerable or honest with Mike entirely (see: her lying in all her letters) and had probably emotionally distanced herself before he even got there. The entirety of the first three episodes of S4 we are watching her care very little for Mike or his feelings because she is already distancing / distanced from him in her own mind—their relationship was on its last legs in El's mind even before we got to see the events of the season, but you need to look at the context clues surrounding her words and actions to see it.

-

From the very start, El was doing + saying things that were her last ditch attempts to throw herself into being invested in Mike by lying to him and herself ("I want this day to be about me and you, all her over-affectionate behavior, on top of how enthusiastic she sounded in her letters), but from minute one of them together we already see her honest emotions about their dying romantic relationship show up in her expressions (a theme with all characters this season)—

—and the SECOND things start getting real (see: Angela bullying her at Rink-O-Mania) the facade El was trying to maintain (in regards to her investment in her relationship, among other things) breaks down.

Even after her lies about enjoying Lenora + being friends with Angela are exposed, El isn't interested in being genuine with Mike at all, and doesn't ask Mike to protect her or even be present with her after she is bullied—she only comes out from hiding to demand Angela help her put her facade back up, because she doesn't want to be vulnerable with Mike even after he finds out she was lying.

People like to focus on how Mike wasn't paying attention to El / call him a bad boyfriend (and lets be real, he is lmao) but...in doing so we are glossing over how El is contributing absolutely nothing to sustaining her perceived closeness with Mike, or meeting Mike in their relationship in all his attempts to reconnect either.

Like, sure...we get Mike not looking at her in the van + being petty at the dinner table yes. But we also get El stonewalling him by not talking to him at all before their fight in The Monster and the Superhero, when she storms off at dinner, not sad, but angry—

—only to go to her room to mull over how she feels about herself...while making comparisons to Mike saying "what have you done" to Brenner, thinking back to several things that happened in the lab that she (at that point) thinks she did (because she had no memory of One)...aka her struggling with thinking she's a monster.

No matter how deeply you think she loves him at this point (highly debatable, no matter who you are) this is hardly the stuff of the surface level interpretation of it being at all about Mike specifically for her, never mind as shallow as something like "My main issue is I'm sad my boyfriend can't say he loves me." In fact, all of these things point not to Mike even being her primary concern at this point...even before they get into a fight about how he isn't saying I love you.

By the time the fight in her room happens, she's shutting down even his most genuine attempts to relate (see: admitting he was bullied too) because what El is actually struggling with wasn't (and never was) about him.

What starts the actual argument is her trying to say "I'm thinking I'm a monster" and him not understanding that its not about Angela, the roller rink, or even him being a shitty boyfriend, but her identity crisis over something that happened before she even met Mike, and that Mike has no experience with or even knowledge of—

—only she is unwilling to let Mike into her headspace about any of that, because (as I said before) she's already checked out of both honesty and emotional intimacy their relationship.

By the time we get to the "care" and "you don't love me anymore" part of the argument with those those letters (the secondary part of her concern), El has already put Mike on the defensive by 1) moving the conversation away from his perception of the issue without clarifying the real problem and 2) latching onto him saying he cares & putting him on the defensive by undermining his attempt to connect with her—going back to that idea that she's not been invested in telling him the truth or being close to him since the very start of the season.

Now, I don't absolve Mike of any of his wrongdoings in regards to their relationship(of which we all know there are many), but...the irony is that El isn't saying anything that would show she is invested, trusts or loves Mike either, to the point that her accusing him of not caring is borderline projection.

By the time we get to him calling her a superhero, we see that she's even more displeased than she was at the start—not even necessarily because Mike is saying something, but because 1) she doesn't feel like a superhero, and 2) he's not hearing her...because she's not communicating what's going on in her world anymore.

Mike doesn't understand what's going on with El because she's not telling him...and she's not telling him because she doesn't view their relationship as worthy of either her honesty or vulnerability anymore which is especially ironic, considering she's always cared a lot about the idea that friends don't lie.

(Maybe I'll follow this up with a "this is how El transformed when she was gone" + "why Mike saying You're My Superhero after what happened with Brenner / Vecna was literally the nail in the coffin post-Nina," but. For now, we can just stick with how the breakup / distance context was build into their relationship from minute one...and not only because Mike was trying to be "normal." In truth, El has been checked out from her relationship, emotional closeness and honesty since the first seconds of the season...and nothing Mike could have said would have brought her back into it).

[grey-sides]

Hi! Not sure if you’re still taking prompts, but I’d love to read about billy and steve post-starcourt, but with the pretext of them having broken up for some reason before the whole mindflayer business, and how they deal with the aftermath! (Or post-s4 too! Up to you!)

Hi! Another ancient anon, I am so sorry. I hope this satisfies you. Billy is present physically, but not speaking because we're just not there yet. Enjoy!

(Post S3, Billy survives)

They had broken up at the beginning of the summer, after only a couple of months of whirlwind romance. Steve had waffled about meeting a girl to settle down with, and Billy had insisted that he was California bound as soon as possible.

So the best thing and the worst thing had ended. And Steve was okay to see it go.

Of course, it's not easy breaking up with someone. Even when you feel justified, Steve still thinks of him. Of nights slowly warming up and potential just beginning. Of what going to California together might have looked like.

But there was also the arguments, the fights back and forth about something or someone else. So he doesn't miss that part.

But he does miss Billy. A lot. Often. It makes flirting with girls hard. It makes planning for a future hard. It makes it all...hard.

And despite a month and a handful of change of days in between their breakup and now, it's not easier. Steve finds himself wondering if it will ever get any easier.

It is easier to forget in the basement of Starcourt. Kind of. Not as easy when he's waiting for the end to come and he's thinking about how he never told Billy that he was just waiting for permission to make it into something more.

That girls were nice and marriage was a dream, but his dreams could change, they had before. He would have followed. Or he would have lead. He just wanted Billy's permission.

It's a damn miracle they make it out of the basement and back to society. Another miracle that he and Robin survive whatever the hell they were stabbed with.

Steve's feeling good, confident, ready to take on world when they get onto the second floor. Lucas has firecrackers and whoever is controlling the flesh monster he's heard bits and pieces about is going to be blown to bits when he gets through with them.

It's less of a miracle when Steve sees who it is. Wearing a tank top and jeans, looking like hell warmed over.

Billy.

The thought of his dreams. The person Steve would have taken to his grave, a piece of his heart, nestled up towards his soul.

Steve can't get his feet under him to look down at Billy on the first floor, carrying El. She's saying something to him which Steve can't hear over the roar of his heart and the roar of the people and the roar of the words he's never going to have the chance to say.

Billy does what he does best. He holds back the tide. Like the emotion Steve swore was swimming in his eyes, an ocean of feeling he could never really let go.

He falls and Steve watches. And the monster falls too and the world rights itself but it will never be right again.

The words he's never said are choking him up and Robin is ushering him away so they can be seen.

The ceiling is coming down, or maybe the floor is falling, Steve can't tell. And the parking lot doesn't feel stable when he steps out into it.

His chest is a cavernous hole, the size of the monster Billy controlled and held back.

Steve goes to the hospital and Robin holds his hand. Their group, all of them, are given a section in the emergency department to be looked over.

And while Steve's holding ice to his eye, he hears snatches of conversation between Joyce and a singed Hopper.

Something about a stretcher, emergency surgery, he was still breathing when they picked him up.

Steve remembers hearing that JFK was still breathing when he arrived at the hospital, but it didn't matter. He can't let himself hope.

When he gets discharged with a prescription for painkillers that he won't touch and a quiet house because his dad is away again. Steve waits to hear something.

It's Max who calls him. He doesn't know what she knows or if she's just making calls because she's Billy's closest family member.

"Unconscious, still, but...I guess they think he might wake up," Max says, voice raw from probably the twenty phonecalls she's made. "Fourth floor, trauma ward, room 421."

Steve almost snorts because Billy would probably find that funny. But he suppresses it, writes down the information on a half sheet of paper.

"Thank you," Steve says, clears his throat. "Thanks, Max."

"He can have two visitors at a time and there's no one there right now, so..." Max trails off and Steve knows what she wants.

"I'll head over soon."

When they hang up, Steve doesn't even change. He's wearing sweatpants, but he doesn't care when he grabs his car keys.

He drives just at the limit to the hospital and he's sure Hopper would give him a pass now after all that happened. But he stays safe, as safe as he can. So Billy is the only one who has to lay in a hospital bed.

He's not ghostly pale when Steve sees him. Maybe a little pale, but he looks alive and warm. Steve lingers in the doorway for a moment.

He knows they broke up. For a hundred reasons and Steve thinks all of them were stupid.

And he doesn't want to take Billy's choice from him, but he doesn't know what he would choose either. He doesn't even know if Billy is going to wake up.

So Steve takes a breath and picks up a chair. His face is still fucked up and his ribs hurt a bit when he does breathe deeply. But he's standing.

He takes a seat and reaches for one of Billy's hands. It's still warm and he brushes his thumb against the callouses on it.

"Hey," he murmurs. "I don't know if you can hear me or if you even want me here, but I'm going to be here. Sometimes. And I just- I miss you. And I still love you. I hope you wake up so we can figure this out."

Steve doesn't know if there is anything to figure out. If Billy won't want to touch their relationship with a ten-foot pole or not.

But Steve has seen real monsters and survived. He's beaten a demigorgon with a baseball bat. And now he's survived fucking Russians.

So he lets a little hope in and he opens his mouth to speak over the roar of the words still unsaid.

[tiannasfanfic]

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I don’t really think Eddie Munson is a devoted fan of horror.

Wait! -holds up trashcan lid shield to ward off the rotten vegetables getting thrown- Hear me out!

I think it really depends on the sub-genre of horror it is, plus if we’re doing pre-S4 canon Eddie or post-S4 headcanon Eddie.

Here are my headcanons based on what we saw of his personality on the show and how that Spring Break may have affected his limits with horror movies.

Pre-season 4 Eddie:

Absolutely loves slasher movies.

The first Nightmare on Elm Street probably creeped him out and made him jump a few times. Theygot so ridiculous after that they became his favorite series.

The first Evil Dead probably creeped him out even more, but then they got ridiculous, so from Evil Dead 2 on he loves them. Would not have had the stomach for the reboot though, even back then.

Would not like the human on human torture porn sub-genre (like Hostel) probably for the same reasons I don’t. I watch movies to escape reality, not be reminded of how messed up humans already are.

Which is why things like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre that are billed as “based on a true story” even when they really aren’t get to him. It’s just close enough to real he doesn’t like it. While it didn’t bug me because by the time I saw it I knew it was only loosely inspired by serial killer Ed Gein, Eddie is from the time when everyone believed that 100% of the story was true.

With that being said, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 is actually one of his favorite movies. It has a ridiculous chainsaw fight, of course it’s one of his favorites.

Creature features are mostly okay. Vampires, werewolves, ghosts, monsters, that sort of thing.

Body horror is usually okay.

Despite his metal aesthetic and freak persona he leans heavily into, movies dealing in possession, demons or violent spirits creep him right the fuck out. He probably watched The Exorcist and Poltergeist one time each and didn’t get much sleep after either of them.

Zombie movies are totally okay.

Post-season 4 Eddie (human or vampire):

Absolutely cannot watch the Nightmare on Elm Street series and Evil Dead series. He tries to watch Jason vs Freddy because Jason is his favorite, but doesn’t make it through. Freddy reminds him too much of Vecna now.

At this point, I’m not sure how he would feel about body horror. Something like The Fly or Reanimator might be okay. Hellraiser I’m not too sure on.

Absolutely do not try to make this man watch movies about telepaths, like Carrie or Scanners. Especially Scanners. It will trigger every bit of PTSD he has.

What does everyone else think?

[thestrangestthing89]

I don't think any of the main characters will be dying next season. It's just never been the kind of show where people get killed off every other episode. It doesn't need to be. It's a show about inter-dimensional monsters I don't need it to be super realistic about the dangers of this situation. It's not a show like The Walking Dead or Game of Thrones and it shouldn't be.

That being said, I also don't think they will be going to any extremes with injuries. The show hasn't exactly shied away from violence but it's never gone to an extreme with it either. It's always served a purpose narratively and hasn't been done for shock value like a lot of shows. Which I personally like. It's a horror movie so there is going to be some violence in it, but I don't feel like it's necessary to constantly be brutalizing people. The only time I felt like they went too far with this was Lucas getting held at gunpoint and Erica getting pinned down by a white boy double her size but I will get to this more in a minute.

When it comes to the main group, we have seen Dustin sprain his ankle, Max get her bones broken, Hopper breaking his feet (and magically healing?), and Steve get bitten by demobats. Not to mention Will's kidnapping and possession and all the shit that happened to El in the lab. Those two have been through a lot more violence than anyone else. So I feel like they deserve a pass on any more of it but that's just me.

It has been foreshadowed that Mike may hurt his arm in S3 when him, Lucas, and Will are playing D&D. But there is also a reference to Mike being "out of the game" so to speak, during the D&D game in S4. I don't think this is a reference to anything extreme like him dying or losing an arm. I think it means he will likely get injured and possibly be out of the fight for a bit like Max. Which leads me to wonder if his arm injury will be a result of him getting Vecna'd but it not being all of his bones. Like they manage to stop it after his arm breaks or something. Or his arm just gets injured in another way and he isn't able to help out directly.

I also don't think Will is losing a hand. Not only has this kid been through enough it just doesn't add up. I saw a post a while back that mentioned that when Will draws himself as Will the Wise he always has a glowy orb coming from his left hand. And there are a couple scenes that have shown him with his left hand hidden. I think this is meant to be a reference to his powers being suppressed. I don't think it's anything so direct as "his hand is hidden therefore they are chopping it off". I think it's more symbolic than literal. I don't need to see this kid get tortured anymore. Not to mention the fact that they spent this past season writing Will in a way that makes people root for him. You are supposed to want him to win.

And along the same line of thought, Mike and Will's faces being in shadow sometimes aren't meant to convey they are losing an eye. This tends to happen when characters are saying things that aren't entirely true i.e. Mike's I love you monologue to El. Again, I think this is meant to mean something more metaphorical rather than literal.

With that being said, I think the show has a responsibility not to brutalize certain groups of people and the theories I see sometimes always focus on people who are constantly on the receiving end of violence both in media and IRL.

To be clear, I'm not referring to the story we have seen so far. With regard to Will and El I think their abuse has been handled well. Some of it, like the possibility of sexual assault, has been implied and not directly shown which is good for a lot of reasons (their ages being one of them). But now that the audience is aware that Will is gay there have been a lot more comments from people fully expecting this to mean he is meant to suffer even more. He will either be evil or physically or emotionally violated in some way (or both). Some of this comes from homophobic people but some of it is coming from people who just simply haven't seen any other type of story and this is the one that they expect.

Which is why I don't want to see him being on the receiving end of extreme violence in the name of "realistic storytelling". Because there are some people watching who will enjoy watching this and think that it's great. It is possible to show drama and angst without taking things too far.

And for the most part, I feel like they have been doing this. They have never shown any graphic scenes of sexual assault that are so, so common with this genre. Personally, I never want to see another scene like this again. It doesn't contribute anything to the story and all it does is desensitize people to violence in real life. The reasoning is always that it's just the way things are, but it doesn't have to be. It normalizes things that are already happening. So I am really glad the show has never shown any of the female characters getting sexually assaulted. They are capable of having other things be a part of their story and they certainly go through enough drama without that being necessary. And El possibly being sexually assaulted has been implied which makes sense within her story. We don't need to see it. But we do need to see her coping with it and recovering from it instead of brushing it off like it's nothing, like so many shows do. But again this show has never done this and I'm glad.

Which is partly why I think I was so bothered by the scene with Lucas and Erica. Because while the show has not been the most diverse, they at least seem to be aware of the way the violence is being perceived. I don't think it was necessary to show a scene that so many black people IRL face for the sake of drama. Lucas and Erica could have been stalled helping Max in a number of different ways, but they resorted to the default setting of showing what is expected.

Maybe it's unfair to hold the writers to a higher standard. But I feel like the fact that this show has such a huge audience makes it so important for them to not depict the same shit we are used to seeing in the name of realism. Brutalizing marginalized groups of people is so common that most people don't even bat an eye when they see it on screen. It's very rarely anyone else being on the receiving end of violence. So I would absolutely hate it if they fell back on the same things other shows do - harming the gay kids, women, and people of color. It's exhausting to watch.

[henrysglock]

I am kind of confused by your posts. What does ''LAST TIME MIKE SAID SMTH WAS GOING TO HAPPEN IN THIS CONTEXT, IT DIDN’T'' even mean? How does it tell anything about S5 exactly?

Sorry if I missed something but I would like to hear your explanation because I legit do not get it??

You’re right, I’m sorry, it’s not the best wording (it was late at night and I was so hyped that I didn’t explain super well)

In S4, Mike replies to Will’s “We have to kill him” with “And we will. We will.”

This is the exact same phrasing as “What if he spies back?” and Mike’s “He won’t. We won’t let him.”

But what happened? He spied back.

So logically, when Mike says “We will. We will”…that shit ain’t happening. Mike is referring to himself, Will, and the Party killing Henry, and since this is Will’s hero arc, Will’s justice arc…

We know this is Will’s fight. El and Lucas will be tied up with Max. Mike (?), Lucas (?), Dustin, and Erica will be tied up with the dragon, and if I’m right…Mike will be out of commission, either wounded, hostage, or in some state of death by the time Will and Henry have a confrontation.

So who tf is ‘we’? Will is just one person.

However…he’s up against Henry. That is to say, Henry (plus everyone he’s has absorbed) and the Shadow Monster.

We.

Something is going to give. I think it’s going to be Henry’s original self, trapped in the depths of his altered psyche. I think ‘we’ means Will and Original Henry. Will reaches original Henry, and Original Henry commits suicide in one way or another (could be the shadow monster finally taking him, could be self-immolation the same way El disintegrated him the first time…who knows) as his first and only act in true agency.

[strangeswift]

opinion on stonathan bc of your new blog title *hands you mic AGAIN* 🎤

Anon you're literally my favorite person thank you for handing me the mic AGAIN. I love rambling.

Stonathan my beloved!!

Okay so in reality, no I wouldn't want romantic Stonathan to be canon (not that there's even a chance it would be, I'm just speaking hypothetically). But I think it's a cute idea for fanon. (I don't even actually HC Steve as queer and I really love J4ncy, but you know... ✨️Stonathan✨️)

Really it's the best Steve ship lol. And we love an enemies to lovers! Plus like there's just so much there to build on with the relationship they've had to each other and the interactions they've had over the years. Also it's just funny to imagine like it would be such a strange relationship but I think it could work.

But in all reality, even though I think romantic Stonathan is a super fun ship and I like to post about it from time to time, what I am actually obsessed with and have been since I watched S1, is the idea of platonic Stonathan.

I'm not confident we'll get platonic Stonathan S5 with the love triangle and all, but GOD I would kill for it. Like the history is there!! (Also side note platonic St4ncy is something that I wanted SO BADLY S4 but they fucked it up. And they killed my Stoncy best trio besties dreams... unless?)

If they let me in the writers room for S5 Steve and Jonathan would get stuck together (forced proximity my beloved) in the Upside Down and they would bond and fight monsters together. And talk about Nancy, and Steve would realize he and Nancy aren't right for each other but she and Jonathan are.

[sparks-olivarpente]

is Mike under Vecna's influence?

I read @brionysea 's post about possessiongate just before going to bed, had some weird dreams and woke up with too many thoughts. The idea here is that Mike was already possessed/influenced by Vecna for some time and that it explains his change of attitude. I'm NOT convinced at this point but it caught my imagination. As brionysea said here:

it's a supernatural horror coming of age story. things like will's ptsd and max's depression are turned into grandiose supernatural threats, but mike dealing with his sexuality in a heavily homophobic era (…) isn't? that would be a colossal waste of potential

Out of brionysea analysis, the points that stood out to me are: the Mindflayer hovering over the ball at the end of season 2, and the idea of Mike being used as a way to distract El from the UD.

The second thing certainly worked. Both Mike and El have been distracted in s3 and s4, and they're two of Vecna's "main enemies". People on tumblr have pointed out the fact that Mike, El and Will (as well as Hopper and Joyce) were conveniently away in s4 and that it could have been intentional for Vecna to wait for Mike's departure. And everyone here seem to agree that Mike's monologue to El was more distraction than help. Also, it is a fun idea: turning the "they get together and are happy ever after" into the catastrophic thing that almost destroys everything… Vecna would approve.

As for the first thing, the Mindflayer hovering over the ball, I've been wondering since s2: why was the Mindflayer spying on them and how could he do that since the gates where closed (post lab, but before the russians)? But then the gates don't seem necessary for spying between dimensions (Vecna does cast his curse on Chrissy without any gate being opened, right?) I also used to think it has something to do with Will's link to the UD. Poor kid has been eating UD slugs and Mindflayer black matter after all. If someone has been acting like some kind of portable door to the UD, it's Will. But Vecna's focus being on Mike rather than Will (or El) would be an interesting plot twist.

I don't see him being possessed the way Will or Billy where, it would be something like Vecna's curse, something intangible. Vecna subtly influencing Mike, playing on his REAL doubts and fears (Vecna's curse is interesting because of the internal struggles, because his victims believe Vecna's truths on some level, because they don't see his influence before it's too late)

Here I'm having a thought for all the viewers who think Mike and El are a cute couple… Or that Mike is just an idiot teen… realising it was Vecna's doing all along…

If Vecna was somehow using and influencing Mike it would give a different weight to his confusion, his change of behavior after s2, his difficulties to put words on his feelings (I've never thought too much about that because people DO change and it IS difficult to put words on things for many people, but some here have pointed out how Mike was actually quite good at that on occasions)… It would mean Mike will have to fight back in s5 the way Max did. I'd love to see that.

I can't decide if it's a good idea, or if Mike's struggles are more meaningful if they happened out of Vecna's influence. Maybe the later because as Eddie said, forced conforming, "That's The Real Monster." My favorite theory at the moment is that Mike is not YET under Vecna's influence but that it will happen. That Mike trying to conform was first a choice he made, influenced by his family, his friends, society, guilt maybe… and that it will become a weapon Vecna uses second. That poor Mike sealed his fate during that dreadful monologue he was pushed to make by his own past choices and the person that loves him best ;____;

[magratmakethetea]

Sorting stranger things: part two

I'm stuck in an A&E waiting room at 4am dying of boredom (dw I'm completely fine), and stranger things is coming out in like 28 hours, so let's get this long buried draft hammered out. Forgive typos and other chaos pls, I don't usually stay up this early

I'll edit this post soonish to link part 1 here, for anyone who wants an explanation of the system and how I sorted the teens

The adults:

Joyce: snake - lion?

Joyce's primary is obviously snake, in that there is literally nothing she seems to really care about except her boys. It makes her a very lovable and solid-feeling character, though I do feel like she should maybe have an identity beyond being a mother: she's kind of an exploded snake. It's understandable given the traumas she and her sons have faced, though I get the impression that maybe the Duffers don't realize it's unhealthy for a woman to just be a mother and nothing else, which bothers me... Are they clapping themselves on the back for writing a strong female character who is a Good Mother? (Arguably the only consistently good and reliable parent figure who's a regular on the show, but still not a healthy one). She branches out a little with Bob, which felt like a really healthily supportive relationship, but then he dies and they pair her off with Hopper, and her S3 relationship is a shit show. She's subordinated to Hopper, who's suddenly an absolute bully, and spends the latter half of the season as Hopper's sidekick and emotional crutch. Please S4, I'm begging you to give us a Joyce with a sense of self, maybe even a hobby. Go wild.

Her secondary is probably lion. Joyce is honest and straightforward, even when lying would probably be more practical. She can be tactful, but she maintains integrity — her advice to Hopper about what to say to Mike and El is a masterclass in emotional honestly and trust. And this tiny woman will go to war with monsters from other dimensions — solo if she has to — and goes about punching mayors.

Bob: snake? — bird: What a sweetheart. Loud bird secondary (hero bob saves the day with his knowledge of brainteasers and BASIC), primary unclear but I'm thinking snake. He's in it for Joyce, and because of Joyce he's in it for her boys. I know this means I've sorted Bob the same as Billy, but sharing a sorting doesn't necessarily mean being similar people.

Hopper: snake-bird. I know he seems like a lion secondary because of his big blustery punch the mayor thing, but ultimately Hopper's methods are all about this or that guy he knows, this contact, this skill he developed at some mysterious point in the past. I think he's a bird who plays a lion character for convenience — or maybe even models lion. As for his primary, hopper has this way of being completely rudderless unless he has someone to care about and fight for (i.e. El and Joyce, mostly. In Joyce's case he basically ends up letting her tell him what to fight for. It's striking.)

Dr Owens: bird-badger. At the end of the day Owens is a scientist and he's focused on knowledge gathering above all, but he gets there by community building

Dr Brenner: I'm going with bird primary, maybe? Secondary is up in the air, I feel like we'll know more after S4

Quick fire round: the kids

El/Jane: Badger primary, probably, with lion secondary. "Friends don't lie" points at both of these, for me.

Mike: snake primary, he's definitely a loyalist character who bonds to specific individuals (El, Will... season 4 will probably be hard on him, I don't think he's nearly as close to the rest of the gang). No clue about his secondary, but it might be lion: he's aggressively uncompromising.

Will, Lucas: sweet kids, but I can't seem to get a handle on their characters so no idea what's up with them. In Lucas' case I think I've just not personally seen enough of him, in Will's I think there may be a Billy like situation of a character being so traumatized that it's hard to tell what they enjoy/do naturally. @persefoneshalott reblogged my last stranger things sortinghatchats post and reckons Will is a Badger-bird, which I could see: he uses his art skills to communicate even when he's fighting mind control, and he's extremely invested in the integrity of the party as a social group.

Dustin: double bird or bird-snake. His primary could be a kind of extreme universal badger (in which demodogs can be people too) but he's just too delightfully thrilled at every chance to reassess his model of the universe to not be a young bird building his system, I think. Ethically speaking it's in many ways a badger-flavoured bird system that he's building, but his eudaimonia is all about satisfying his curiosity about how the world works, so: bird. And though at first I thought he was a double bird his secondary feels snakey to me: he's charming, he lies and misdirects fluently and improvisationally in series 1 and 2, and he enjoys it. When Lucas says Max didn't believe him about the demodogs, Dustin asks if he "told her right" — and picking and choosing what story he thinks people need to hear to do what he wants is pretty par for the course for him. Dustin's methods basically come down to "anything and everything I can come up with in order to pursue my (bird pri goal) Curiosity Voyage™." In S3 the snakeish behavior has more or less entirely disappeared in favor of an (also cool but quite different) gadget obsessed bird, but I'm going to give the Watsonian explanation that Dustin just got back from science camp, which encourages a bird secondary model. Also, it helps him bond with Robin, which is useful for establishing the scoops troupe plotline. Ok, Dustin's sorting wasn't quick. What can I say? He's fun.

Max: feels like a double lion, idk why but she just does? At least, she does in season 2. In S3 her character has suddenly become super manipulative (and abruptly girly and clothes/consumerism-obsessed) over the eight months that have passed, and she seems to think about very little but how to mess with boyfriends. Maybe she's a lion-snake who spent S2 in neutral, but I feel like it's just poor character development. (This is someone who in S2 was so aggressively characterized as "not like other girls" that getting her to wear a hairclip to a party was apparently a negotiation.)

I guess the Watsonian explanation would be that Max has no examples of healthy relationships to model hers on, and might be imitating her mother. I lean towards the Doyleist answer that the Duffers just think that's what young girls are like in friendships/relationships, which (if so) is misogynistic and a sad waste of a potentially good character. I gather Max has a major plotline coming up in S4, so I'm cautiously optimistic and reserve the right to reassess.

[suncaptor]

don't know if you've done this already, but do you have a list of sam-centric fic recs?

I do not myself! I think @godtrials has some really great fic recs! 

here are some though that I personally have enjoy! these should be destiel free, but some of the writers have also written destiel/are multi-shippers

Note some of these may be explicit, triggering, and dark! please check the tags and act accordingly! I don’t know your age, so I’m assuming you’re an adult and I would not recommend any of these rated E (and often M) to you if you are a minor!

@fromcenotaphy also has some amazing Sam fics too <3. I love this fic Purify (T) about what angel blood does to Sam. I’d had very similar ideas and am VERY interested in Sam drinking Cas’s blood, but this fic is gen 4x21 and more focused on Sam&Dean and I just. ADORE it. They also have this 11x23 coda (NR), this season 11 oneshot (GA) based around Sam finding Castiel when he is under the attack dog spell, or here (GA) him making Cas comfortable, and this absolutely iconic fic (T) regarding Sam and Magda Peterson.

the blood in your mouth (i wish it was mine) (M) by hellsrelectantheir is a preseries fic with a sambrady focus and it is astounding. the author is also very amazing  ( @theboykingscrown ), and I’d recommend checking out their other writing too! They also have gen and sastiel fics and the like. I should add because I adore this fic in which Sam has a panic attack and Lucifer calms him down.

Sunlight (Sapphire Ruby Red Blood) (E) is a samjess fic where Sam drinks Jessica’s blood and an exploration into their intimate relationship.

Nothing’s Safe (M) is a fic where in order to save Sam in the born again identity, Cas must possess him. Razor Edge of Terror (M) is a sastiel fic based in season 7 from Cas’s perspective, but it does also reference Sam’s cage trauma.

it’s not that i think i’m good, i know i’m evil (T) by redskyatmorning is a my bloody valentine coda I couldn’t stop thinking about for days. absolutely astounding. I’ve also enjoyed several of their other works.

also if you’re wanting darker lucifer inspired fic than lesbianbookworm, @lifbitch , and this rec list have some, and azazelsocks has some very dark fics as well. I haven’t read all because I also got to be wary of some triggers, but some are quite astounding and if you’re into dark fic I recommend!

Definition (T) is a really sweet oneshot sastiel fic, and while domesticadventures has a lot of destiel they do have some good Sam fics too that you can find!

the easy way out and the hardest part (T) is a season 5 Sam fic where he tries to back in time to kill himself before the seals were broken in order to not start the apocalypse since killing himself now won’t do anything.

then I also enjoy The Fight Was Fixed (M) which is just a voicemail follow up in post s4 just cause it’s very angsty and I really would love any gen voicemail fics always <3. 

Forgiveness is Sweet (GA) references the voicemail too as Sam tries to depart to Jack wisdom of how to handle Dean being angry at you and seeing you like a monster.

And Five Times Dean Doesn't Kill Sam and One Time Sam Begs Him to (Again) (T) is a longer exploration in s5 of Sam’s headspace referencing back to the voicemail too!

@arsonsamruby​ or peterspajamas is a wonderful talented writer, and she also has some amazing Sam fics. Some you might enjoy are contact deleted (T), fled the heart (T), and halfway through and going nowhere (samjess) (T).

[kaypeace21]

Idk if this is possible or not or if you've done it already but could you list all the rainbow references in the show?

Haha- talk about pandora’s box. Sure, personally i think the rainbows have multiple meanings -3 meanings to to be exact

1) Rainbows being associated with psychics + Will’s powers plot twist

*We see in the stranger thing novel 'suspicious minds' when overusing powers you may hallucinate rainbows (which are also associated with the void/ monsters in the series) .

Terry: “Spots bloomed behind her eyelids. Every color … as the sunlight turned to rainbows” ( p44-45), “streaks of rainbow appeared (p47)”,“The rainbow stayed with Terry for a long while, but eventually it faded and in its place: darkness. A pit.”(p. 48). 

Alice (who sees visions of the future) : “Snarling, snapping monsters,RAINBOW LIGHTS playing in the air around them” (p. 121).

cough Will being in the upsidedown/being chased by “monsters”. And Joyce communicating with Will  via “rainbow lights.”

The rainbow room (from s2) also has a rainbow on the door- according to the novel kali drew that rainbow. Similar to Will's rainbow drawing. Kali in the book also creates a rainbow allusion with sunflowers (Terry ref).

Kali: “field of yellow sunflowers  grew up around them. A rainbow arcing over the golden tops.” (p. 139).  “He noticed she’d drawn up there, a rainbow with her colored pencils. Maybe he’d suggest that for the playroom” (the rainbow room we see in s2) (p. 298)

I also already talked about how Terry saying "breath, sunflower, rainbow " is actually a reference to s1 Will- here (in link including pic of Will and Terry being told to “breath”.

*El in s3 also thinks of papa, her mother , and the rainbow room- cause she sees a cereal box with a rainbow (on it).

Dustin and susie sing a song from the film adaption of the book "never ending story". Which indicates how Will is subconsciously creating the supernatural creatures & people in the series . Before they sing, we also see  susie is next to a ‘wizard of oz’ posters & she reads & talks to Dustin about the book "wizard of earthsea'. 2 of the 3 examples have  rainbow-related songs (in their film adaptions) & all 3 hint at Will’s powers.

* wizard of earthsea:

It’s about a pre-teen wizard named Ged who has a bowl cut (Will) who casts a powerful spell, but the spell goes awry and instead he releases a shadow creature (by opening a portal between the living & dead- Will is a zombie boy remember?)! The new Archmage, Gensher, describes the shadow as an ancient evil that wishes to possess Ged. But the ‘shadow’ turns out  to be a representation of the darkest aspects of his personality. It’ only when he calls the shadow monster by his own name “Ged”(cough mf=will the wise) does the monster stop acting out. The only way to save the world is for ged to then  merge with the shadow(and for Ged to accept himself-and “become whole”).This also reminds me of the “Jungian shadow” 

* never ending story: 

Bastian ( who has a bowl cut- and is from single parent house hold) subconsciously creates a fantasy world being over run by darkness (symbolizing the loss of hope and dreams). One of the characters he creates is Atreyu (El). Atreyu ( was the child deemed the ‘chosen one). “Atreyu is knocked into the sea of possibilities. There he wakes on the shore of abandoned ruins. And Gmorick (mindflayer) then latches his jaws onto Atreyu’s (El’s) leg.”Pretty much what happened to El.”The Empress in the story later tells Atreyu, that despite being told he was the chosen one (he never was). And that it was always Bastian (Will) who was the chosen one-since his imagination created Fantasia (so he’s the only way to stop the darkness from over -running it).”

Will has mental health issues and  accidentally writes a “story” about the shadow monster (reflecting his tra*ma). Bastian is depressed (over his parent) and subconsciously creates a story about darkness over-running everything. Like how Hopper describes his depression- like a black hole.

song Dustin & Susie sing:

 “Written on the pages is the answer to a never ending story” (cough the books susie referenced - are explaining the answer to what’s causing the mindflayer/upsidedown/the lab...this story )

“DREAM a dream. And what you DREAM will be” ( Will’s imagination making his nightmares come true)

“Rhymes that keep their secrets Will unfold behind the clouds.And there upon a RAINBOW Is the answer to a never ending story.”

(the lyric “rhymes that keep their SECRETS” purposely pans to Will both times the song is sung). Because the ‘SECRET’ is -he’s causing everything. And thus he’s the only way to stop it- or they’ll all be stuck in a never-ending story. The only way to stop it is for Will to face his shadow/the mindflayer (aka the other Will) who is always shown within the STORM CLOUDS . Will needs to create a RAINBOW (out of those storm clouds). Like rainbows that show up AFTER a storm.He’d do this by accepting himself , his tra*ma/mental health relating to his dad, and or his gay identity- then the story will be able to end.Dustin even says “ defeat his RAINBOW of DARKNESS” (and later says a “rainbow is the answer ”(to the story). st book:”The RAINBOW stayed with Terry for a long while, but eventually it faded and in its place: DARKNESS. A pit.”AKA: Will has to face his symbolic darkness and the storm/and than create a rainbow from it- for the story to end...

When Dustin says ‘rainbow of darkness’ he talks about my little pony- where one of their friends became a dragon.  in d&d wizards can become dragons &Bastian also summons a dragon with his imagination powers in ‘never ending story’. And Will is associated with dragons: s1he  has dragon comic & drawing, s2 Will has dragon poster in his room + watches his friends play dragon game. And again... dungeons & dragons.

Also tw for s.a/parental ab*se (so skip to ‘wizard of oz’  if you prefer ). In the 4th book of wizard of Eathsea (20 years after the original, where ged was the protagonist). The new main  protagonist - was r*ped and burned by her father as a child (and in the sequel she became a dragon as a form of empowerment ). which goes with my lonnie theory-sadly.

*wizard of oz: 

it’s about a Dorothy creating a mythical world based on people she both likes and dislikes . Dorothy sings in the movie a song about a ‘RAINBOW’ and references ‘DREAMS’ coming true in a mythical land -much like the ‘never ending story’ song (referencing “rainbows”/”dreams” coming to life).

“There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby Somewhere over the RAINBOW, Skies are blue, And the DREAMS that you dare to dream, really do come true...”

We see in s1 Hopper cop-partner calls the lab “emerald city”. Murray in s2 says people “don’t want to look behind the curtain” (to see what’s causing the supernatural -in the film what was literally behind the curtain was a wizard-cough like Will). We also have -lion, tiger, and bear stuffed animals (as a ‘lion, and tigers, and bears-oh my!’ quote )from the film. And David harbor (Hopper) when referencing the s4 rainbow room (quotes the song)  and he also quotes a speech from Dorothy-when posting about the cabin the mindflayer destroyed.

2) Rainbow cups (hinting at Lonnie’s return) 

We see 2 rainbow cups in the series. 

in s2) when Mike & Will are sitting together & saying they’re “crazy together” . This cup next to them says “happy birthday” in rainbow. Later that season- they talk about Will’s birthday-rainbow drawing, Mike&Will meeting & Lonnie leaving. And in s2, we also see in Will’s room a card that says “sorry, I forgot your birthday”(most likely from Lonnie). So both Lonnie & Mike are associated with Will’s bday.

in s3) We see a woman yell “I don’t want her in my house!” (while she sits next to a rainbow cup). reminiscent of Joyce saying to Lonnie “get out of my house”. We also know there are rumors s4 takes place during Will’s birthday & Lonnie’s actor may have been spotted on set.  Along with the fact (it’s pretty much confirmed) Mike will be visiting the Byers in s4. However, the woman (next to the rainbow cup)  also says “2 visitor only. 2!″

THE 2 VISITORS ARE MIKE &LONNIE (for Will’s b day). 

Also, in s3, when El is drinking from cup- she sees a rainbow. And what’s the first word she thinks of? “Papa.”

so rainbow+cup= shitty dads (lonnie & brenner) probably returning

*And of course if that’s the case -Lonnie (the same guy who called Will h*mophobic sl*rs) will not be supportive of Mike & Will’s “friendship”. And will not be nice to Mike (to say the least). Like... imagine Hopper in s3 - but we know he’s not bluffing and the audience won’t have the option to take it as a joke... and yes the s4 movies hint at that...

3) gay symbolism

First we have Mike wheeler. He in s1 has rainbows sheets, rainbow bedroom blinds , and in his basement there’s a heart propelled by a rainbow. This is like how in s3 Mike kisses El and there is a drawing that says "Mike'. And on the drawing is a heart propelled by a rainbow. I already explained how its symbolic of him trying to be straight/fighting his feelings for Will, but wherever he goes a rainbow still follows (even when he tries being romantic with El). He’s trying to hide his “rainbow heart” by dating  El- why in s3 (the rainbow-heart in his basement) mysteriously disappeared from his room (but a similar symbol follows Mike even when he kisses El). 

Even in s2 when talking about Will (in the AV tech room): Mike is placed in the center of 2 objects : an object with 11 on it & on the right a rainbow apple (this apple is supposed to be an ode to the gay father of computers- but also about the forbidden apple). Hinting at the love triangle of Mike (with El/Will). PLUS, in the ST book ‘worlds turned upsidedown’ they literally show Mike in the AV room- and  put the caption “FALLING IN LOVE- with tech” (and placed rainbow flags next to the caption). And of course we have Mike & Will pose next to the rainbow apple- in the AV room.

 We also see when Mike and Will says they’re “crazy together” (aka LOVE-as Flo stated) and they’re next to a rainbow cup that says Happy birthday .

And later that season they ref the rainbow ship Will drew for his birthday-which Joyce was "proud" of.  And while dancing with a girl (Will according to the script was looking at Mike instead of her) . That girl is wearing a rainbow heart hair pin. This is essentially a parallel to Mike . Will (next to a rainbow heart) is dancing with a girl, but is secretly thinking of Mike. Mike (next to a rainbow heart) is kissing el but secretly thinking of Will (and immediately goes on a movie double date with Will after this). The lyrics of both these scenes indicate they're not happy pretending to be straight. The lyrics for Will are "every smile you fake". And Mike while kissing el is "just a little uncertainty can bring you down" (and during this lyric is when El puts her hands on him-and he removes her hands from him *aka he’s not as confident in the relationship as he pretends to be.

We see in s4 bts that the rainbow heart hair pin (worn by the girl Will dances with) is also worn by nancy while standing next to Robin (who is gay). So being near a  ‘rainbow-heart’ is prob a hint a character is gay. Aka robin & Will & Mike.

tumblr user “awhstrangerthings” pointed out the nancy -hair clip detail.

In s1 when troy is calling Will h*mophobic sl*rs (in front of Mike) he wears a rainbow shirt. And max while often critiquing m*leven (in s3) (to Mike) often wears rainbow shirts. I talked about how I thought Troy and max subconsciously remind Mike he isn't straight - so they're associated with the rainbow iconography-post here. Like we see Max with rainbow sheets (like Mike) and than she immediately talks to him on the phone. I mean she could be queer- but I lean to that theory at the moment. 

The whole being near rainbows when associating with a queer character makes sense (it’s like a ‘gay-dar”). Similar to Nancy’s hair clip when being near Robin/ that Girl having the same rainbow hair clip when dancing with Will. If we assume this theory than see a pattern with other characters (when speaking about/being near queer coded characters)....

it’s similar to how : When lucas (via subtext) criticizes m*leven- he is also next to a rainbow (in Erica's room). I explained here- why it’s about m*leven.

or when Jonathan says he’s going to hang out with Will (it’s near a rainbow).

This Jonathan moment -Is similar to when Steve ( who has a rainbow bandaid-from the Byers’ house) calls Mike “Nancy” (which is slang for a gay guy)

*another addition: you see in the comments of this post ghostgirlsatin mentioned Dart has a rainbow blanket. But, I noticed a couple of other things. 

notice Dustin says "we have to talk- its about my friend ,Will". As Dustin is near rainbow lights and a rainbow bed sheet. Like how

A) rainbows are associated with the supernatural creatures + Will

B) rainbow lights associated with Will

C) rainbows near straight characters when talking about /near queer characters... similar to how Jonathan is near a rainbow when talking about Will

*also can’t tell if that is a ‘rainbow ship’ poster?

We also see Erica has a sunflower & rainbow drawing in her room... at the moment not sure if its just a random easteregg , foreshadowing something supernatural we're not aware of yet? or just for the m*leven diss?

(although given the fact i think some characters were created by Will- and given all the Max &Billy/Will & jonathan parallels ... the rainbow stuff may be a hint Will created them? I mean they even made a Troy comic just to show his dad is a bully.) But, at the moment, i still lean to (some) characters having rainbow iconography because they’re referring to/are near a queer character.

[beepboop358]

The Opera in the HNL Control Room Video Hints to S4

I don't know if this has been done before or not but I did this right after the tweets dropped, but I wasn't posting then so I'm posting it now LOL (better late than never right?)

On May 5th, 2021, one day before the May 6 release of the ""Eleven are you listening?" teaser (002/004), the Stranger writers tweeted this:

with the accompanying video:

The opera that's playing in the background is "Quand Le Bien-Aime Reviendra" which translates from French to English as "When The Beloved Will Return"

I’ve also seen it translated as "When My Sweetheart Returns To Me”. (any french speakers please correct me/google translate if it’s wrong)

Next I looked up what this opera's plot is about, because there has to be a reason they picked this specific thing to play in the background, nothing they do is random xD

At first when I saw father and daughter detail I thought of Hopper and El, but I reallllyyyy don't think it's referencing them. For one, El won't end up with Mike because he's gay and in love with Will, so El can't fulfill the "marrying her lover" part of this story. There's also no references to Hopper's death/reappearance in here if he is the father character.

It's the daughter's lover that disappears and returns after fighting his enemy, and the daughter goes "mad" thinking he has died. Germeuil (the lover) is "the beloved" the opera title refers too. The father is not a super important part of the picture here. This opera is more about a couple than a father/daughter or parent/child.

So that leave's us with two possibilities for who this opera could be referencing:

1. Joyce is Nina, and Hopper is Germeuil.

OR

2. Will is Nina, and Mike is Germeuil.

3. A third possibility is that the Opera references BOTH Jopper and Byler in s4, or just some aspects of the opera's storyline for each couple.

Possibility 1: The opera references Jopper

Germeuil (Hopper) fights his enemy and disappears:

Hopper has already disappeared in a fight with the enemy. He was fighting the Russians & the upside down during all of s3, and he disappears or during the final battle of s3, with Joyce literally watching the fight between Hopper and the Russian happen right as she's trying to close the gate.

Nina (Joyce) goes mad and forgets details of the traumatic event:

Just like I mentioned in my Victor Creel Theories post, there are several hints throughout the show to mental instability running in Joyce's family, and Nina is described as going "mad" when her lover (Germeuil/Hopper) disappears and she thinks he has died. Everyone thinks Hopper is dead, Joyce included. It's not out of the realm of possibilities that Hopper's death will send Joyce spiraling, and cause her to forget the details of the event due to psychological distress.

Possibility 2: The opera references Byler

Germeuil (Mike) fights his enemy and disappears:

Mike wasn’t seen in the recent st4 sneak peek teaser (but neither were Jonathan, Argyle, and Joyce (unknown if Will is the one in front of the burning car but I think it is), and Finn was the only person who posted a picture of the clock with the caption “In the upside down, meanwhile…” and not “Meanwhile, in the upside down…”, like all the other cast members and official ST accounts. He never fixed the caption, which leads me to believe it wasn’t a mistake, but rather a clue. I wonder what this means for Mike’s storyline this season - does he get stuck in the upside down somehow?

Germeuil (Mike) fighting the enemy probably refers to some upside down monster, and he gets taken to the upside down during a battle or something.

And Nina (Will) goes mad and forgets details of the traumatic event:

Nina is described as "forgetting aspects of the traumatic incident in a manner consistent with a diagnosis of psychogenic amnesia"

"Psychogenic amnesia or dissociative amnesia is a memory disorder characterized by sudden retrograde episodic memory loss, said to occur for a period of time ranging from hours to years. More recently, "dissociative amnesia" has been defined as a dissociative disorder" characterized by retrospectively reported memory gaps. These gaps involve an inability to recall personal information, usually of a traumatic or stressful nature"

There's a popular theory out there that Will has Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), and while DID is not the same thing as dissociative amnesia, there is the same dissociative aspect in both where the person represses/forgets memories that are traumatic to them. I recommend you read @kaypeace21's theory on this here and here.

If Mike was to disappear into the Upside down, it would certainly take a big toll on Will, which may cause him to go "Mad" (again hints of mental instability in Joyce's family, and Will is Joyce's son) This event may also bring out a more hardcore and powerful side of Will, and could trigger memories of his own life that he has forgotten. It could also be what makes Will face the lab/the monster this season.

Noah said this would be Will's darkest season, and my mind immediately goes "darker than getting possessed by an evil inter-dimensional monster who wants to kill everyone? How is that gonna work?"

But this theory is pretty dark, and it just might fit the description.

It also might fit in with the theory that Will may be one of the test subjects in the "Eleven are you listening?" teaser, which goes along with the theory that Will may have a connection to the lab beyond his relation to it in s2, which I discussed in my post about how Will, Sara, and El are all connected.

Anyways, this is all just speculation right now since nothing is confirmed, but it's interesting to think about how this opera might hint to s4 storylines.

[victorianpining]

The Inadmissible Footage Version

AKA What I think Actually Happened If We Have an Unreliable Narrator

This is a pretty rough sketch, and I very much doubt I’m the first person to say any of this, but here’s where I’ve gotten with this reading.

John starts s4 plotting revenge on Mary because of what he learned when he read the flash drive. 

John has at the very least tried to involve Mycroft in the plan, but he may or may not have refused to help.

Mary worked for Moriarty, there’s proof on the flash drive

Sherlock is focused(ish) on the Moriarty angle, John is more focused on Mary.

They fight about how to handle it. Possibly Sherlock’s concerns about the baby are the hangup on his end

Sherlock and John text quite a bit about plans, things they don’t want proof of (Sherlock deleting the texts immediately after he gets them)

The texts get flirty. John feels conflicted about it.

They also talk about the fallout of TRF and what it did to both of them.

The aquarium confrontation actually happens before Mary gives birth 

Sherlock may provoke Mary in some way. John kills her or thinks he does (we’ll circle back to this).

John is left with a burning need to confess to the murder.

At the same time he wants to confess to Sherlock, to get a confession from him. He feels like he’s smothering Sherlock. Turning him into an object of his desire rather than treating him as a person.

May or may not post something obvious about the murder on his blog, trying to hide in plain sight.

Is interrogated at some point. A police officer, a judge, and a media person are all in on the plan.

He and Sherlock grow more distant because John doesn’t trust himself to not bring the conversation to a head.

A version of the conversation about Mary and Irene does genuinely happen.

Here’s the fork in the road. One explanation is that Mary survived and comes back to threaten Sherlock. If this bit happens then John tries to save him, succeeds, then gets shot.

Alternatively John got shot at the aquarium, TLD is John feeling guilty before anything happens, dreading the confrontation and what it will mean for him to kill his wife, if that will make him a monster (similar concerns about wanting to confess to Sherlock here though)

Either way John is shot and badly injured. TFP is unconscious John trying to understand Sherlock the same way TAB is Sherlock trying to understand John and Mary. He lands on the idea that even thought Sherlock does have emotions and is a good man, the best he can hope for is returning to the way things were. Mary has permanently ruined their chances for anything more. 

[tanoraqui]

okay I have to do this today because even I wouldn’t do it after the godforsaken finale airs, and it’s basically my specialty and I did spend like an hour thinking about it last night while washing dishes. Definitely partly inspired by @words-writ-in-starlight​‘s insightful post on everything Supernatural did wrong, and apologies in advance to all the characters for dragging them into anything related to Christian mythology:

Wei Wuxian’s parents die in a house fire when he’s 6(? I refuse to look anything up) months old

Jiangs are a hunter family I guess? That whole disaster of a family dynamic, except WWX dips out at some point to be idk an environmental activist bc at the time, that seems like the larger threat to the whole world. “Mom and Dad went on a hunting trip and they haven’t come back”, “bitch” “jerk”, 2 brothers in a beat-up old car, you know the drill

Jins are also an old hunting family, but more Men of Letters energy - they have a fancy bunker and do research and avoid getting their actual hands dirty. Jiang Yanli ducked out of the active hunting life a few years ago to be happily married to her peacock and settled down with a baby and she’s fine. We’re not going to bother Yanli. She’s safe and happy and doesn’t need to involved in any of this

so, WWX is the demon blood child developing exciting new abilities like telekinesis, mind control, exorcising demons by sheer force of will...etc, and Jiang Cheng is the Righteous Man. Lucifer, Michael, etc.

s1-3 probably proceeds more or less as spn canon...which I more or less remember...by the time they find their parents at the end of s1, Jiang Fengmian is...ugh, we probably shouldn’t kill him offscreen, I mean, we should probably meet him before he dies. I guess. Madam Yu lasts longer because I’m way more interested in her. But we do know that both Jiang parents are totally inclined to fling the boys into a metaphorical or literal escape boat and go hold the line for as long as possible, so...that’s spn energy...

Xue Yang is the one who’s like “fuck yeah, demon powers” and opens the gates of Hell, because I want him to have nice* things

*nice for Xue Yang

from characterization rather than memory, I’m 90% sure that Dean tried to hide his crossroads deal from Sam, but Jiang Cheng does it...better. I think it does come out, though. Right before the hellhounds do.

here’s where it starts to go farther off from spn canon. Jiang Cheng crawls his way out of the grave, gets stalked by a menacing presence that explodes windows for an episode, incidentally can’t find WWX...*Lan Wangji voice* “I’m the one who gripped you tight and raised you from Perdition” (a baller line then and a baller line now)...and then the next episode starts with them all awkwardly standing around, and JC is like, “ok well let’s go find my brother then”, and you think there’s going to be an mdzs-riffing JC+LWJ Roadtrip To Find WWX...and they’re immediately attacked by like a dozen demons

in fact, the first time we see WWX in s4 is here, wherein he goes toe to toe with an angel and...holds his own. that’s new and terrifying! also is leading a squad of demons??

because here’s the thing: for the last 3(?) months, there’s been war in hell

because unlike Some People Mooses, upon finding out that his brother’s soul was legally nearly-owned by a crossroads demon, heir-apparent-to-Satan!WWX went, “actually fuck that” and kicked open the door of Hell (metaphorically, not loosing any demons this time) and was like, “who do I have to beat the shit out of to get a specific crossroads contract around here”

this did not work, obv. He didn’t know until it was too late, Lilith had already snapped up the contract, etc. etc.

obviously he also tried to offer himself instead, and got rejected for some reason

Since Jiang Cheng died, however, there’s been a war for control of Hell. Leading one side, Lilith, the Original Babe, who wants to break all 666(?) seals keeping Lucifer bound and in the meantime, break the Righteous Man so Heaven won’t even have Michael’s destined host ready for the Final Battle. Leading the other side, Wei Wuxian, infamous upstart, who wants to rescue the Righteous Man and restore him to life, tear Lilith’s guts out through her nose, and also stop her from doing the Lucifer thing because Wen Qing explained that yes, that’s a Thing, and it’s Bad.

Wen Qing! I’ve decided to combine Bela and Ruby’s roles and let WQ be both the cool badass example of how demon deals can go Bad and the demon deliberately leading our heroes astray for most of s3-4. Wen Qing is a very new demon; she used to be some sort of herbalist/witch but then she sold her soul in a crossroads deal to cure her brother of some lingering illness. 10 years of happiness and then boom, hellhounds. WQ is so obviously competent, though, that they (Lilith, I guess?) immediately offers her a job, with the promise threat that gee, that’s a nice brother you’ve got there, even with his Designated Chronic Health Condition getting all relapse-y. It’d be such a shame if something were to...happen to him...

we find this out at some point in last s3 I guess? some Monster of the Week case involves WN as a witness or something, or possible next victim, and WQ shows up to be A Normal Amount Of Invested In This, while desperately trying to avoid actually interacting with her brother (who thinks she’s dead). YES, the truth comes out; YES there’s a tearful reunion

now in s4, Wen Ning is fine actually, health-wise, bc he maybe made a crossroads deal with Wei Wuxian personally, and Wen Qing may or may not have admitted that she’s supposed to be working for Lilith to get WWX ready to host Lucifer? Or potentially that comes out later, idk. Either way, she’s 100% his top lieutenant in this exciting Hell War they’re waging

[insert whatever the hell (ha) happened plot-wise in s4 of supernatural]

we obviously mix up the relationships, too, bc it’s like, *LWJ internal monologue* I’m too young to remember my brother Lucifer as he was before he Fell, but surely Wei Wuxian is his Heir and Destined Vessel in truth, for he is Charismatic and Charming and Makes Me Feel Things, with his Clearly Feigned Righteous Drive and Compassion for All God’s Creatures and - why does heat keep pooling in the lower abdomen of my vessel when I look at his lips, which I am definitely doing a Normal and Not-Weird Amount - I’m just keeping an eye out for the famed Silver Tongue, and not in any way wondering how it would feel in my own mouth -

it’s actually DEFINITELY plausible for Lucifer to still be released even if our designated Heir Apparent is using his demon powers to his full potential and no one’s lying to each other about their motives. You just need to let Lilith be more scary too, and especially bc by “no one” I mostly mean Wen Qing; the angels are still totally hiding the fact that they, too, want to jumpstart the shit out of this apocalypse.  LWJ decides at the last minute that that’s a bad idea actually, gets himself discorporated to send JC to intercept WWX because he accidentally releases Lucifer, etc. etc. Oh yeah, the boys were def fighting before this, bc JC has actually fairly reasonable concerns about the sort of things WWX is getting up to in his quest to become King of Hell...

SO

...I neither know nor care what happens in s5

it does end with both Lucifer and Michael locked in the cage probably, bc I rather liked that solution. Fuck both of ‘em, basically.

I was toying with the idea that WWX also found Madam Yu in whatever hellish torment she was suffering after making a deal so her idiot son(s) would survive, and she was leading forces for him in the war against Lilith as well. If she came back to life somehow, body and all, it’d probably be compelling if she offered her own body to Michael - bc it’s her lineage! - and we’re all led to believe that she’s, uh, being a bitch and actually wants to risk destroying the world in order to destroy all demons...but then she seizes back control and flings herself/Michael and Lucifer into the Pit, because she’s just That Hardcore?

which means we’d actually have had her around and having characterization for most of s4-5, too, which would be fun

More importantly, it ends with newly crowned King of Hell Wei Wuxian appointing Wen Qing as Queen-Regent and ditching to go on an indefinite honeymoon with his new angel boyfriend (they’re going to fuck for like three weeks straight, then roll up their sleeves and go conquer Heaven in the name of free will), and Jiang Cheng gets to live out his hitherto-unknown-to-himself life’s ambition to be the sugar baby of the Queen of Hell. It’s very Hades/Persephone, except he goes back down to the underworld at least once a month. He gets his own demon squad whom he trains up in all the hunting techniques and it’s gr9. Wen Qing is reforming the crossroads deal process to make it more fair to the humans.

the end

Addenda:

it should go without saying but Jiang Yanli is definitely a recurring character, like, at least once a season there’s a filler episode where they go to Jiang Yanli’s for dinner and have to get along as a family, and also do the much easier job of defeating some sort of terrible demon that gets loose in the bunker and turns the evening into a horror movie. She’s their main research/emotional check-in person, a la Bobby, more often appearing in later seasons when there’s, uhhh, more to emotionally check in about.

Jin Zixuan is actually a perfectly competent hunter; he’s just a priss and we don’t Like him

we like Mianmian, though. Oh, I guess the official Hunter’s Guild or w/e tries to declare WWX a public enemy on account of the whole “King of Hell” thing and she’s like “actually what if you’re morons and assholes?” and joins hte team in s4 or 5? Yeah.

idk how the 3zun disaster happens in this ‘verse but I do encourage it to be happening in slow motion as a recurring subplot for several seasons. NMJ is a hunter, LXC is obv an angel, and JGY is...I wanna say one of the more human monsters, like a vampire? Or, you know, something that could be born from JGS sleeping with someone/something he shouldn’t have