#Stranger Things Salt

[flushed-for-the-trolls]

Byler Is Toxic As Fuck And Sucks

Honestly, as of S4 Vol. 2 Byler is this toxic relationship of Will's codependency and obsession of Mike and Mike's staunch refusal to grow as a person unless led by the fucking hand (presumably by Will).

And the only other self evident fact worse than the one I just laid out is that no matter what, fans of the show will NEVER acknowledge any of this.

The fact of the matter is: If these sort of events transpired between friends, like:

(Being talked down to after your friends ignored your whole ass D&D campaign ((I don't play D&D but from what I've heard, that shit doesn't just happen on a whim and they typically take several hours to see through, so double ouchies there)).

Having your lack of a romantic/sexual desire being thrown in your face and treated as the problem when it's absolutely not,

Giving up D&D in honor of your party disbanding... Only to have them join a D&D club the second they get into High School,

Being ignored for a whole ass year,

Having your supposed best friend FORGET YOUR BIRTHDAY, then blow up at YOU at it when you're ((understandably)) upset and moody,

Having to carry the emotional burden OF said friend on 2 separate occasions, including ((and I CANNOT believe I am saying this)) giving your friend a pep-talk and painting to convince him that HIS OWN GIRLFRIEND STILL LOVES HIM

and

... Ugh... What I can only describe as the BIGGEST slap to the face. the monologue.)

You would ABSOLUTELY cut off a shitty excuse for a friend. At this point this ship is just romanticized toxicity and I've just stopped loving it.

When I see Will still simping for his deadbeat excuse of a friend I just roll my eyes. It's not cute, it's disturbing and pathetic. This isn't love, it's romanticized Stockholm Syndrome.

Will doesn't need Mike, he needs a firm sit-down on how to cut ties and move on with his life.

Will deserves someone better, and so does El, for that matter.

Anyways, this was supposed to be 100x more coherent and structured, but I switched off the tab and when I switched back to the one I was writing this on, it refreshed without my input and I lost it all, so fuck it, this is all you're getting.

Just about every ship's fandom sucks, but by God does the cake go to Byler fans, sorry but not really tbh.

I will say tho: Kinda sucks going through the Anti Byler tag, cuz it's either shipping discourse (Hell) or people being straight up homophobic (mega hell)

[queen-of-hawkins-why-ler]

You can’t convince me that milkvans, the GA, or Stranger Things Redditors actually like or care about Mike Wheeler. Not the ACTUAL Mike Wheeler at least, with all his nuances and complexity. The Mike Wheeler they love is generic adventure story protagonist #176 who doesn’t have any defining traits and whose job is to just exist and be heroic and also have a girlfriend.

Think about it, like, they remain unconvinced that anything truly interesting or revolutionary is going on with the direction of Mike’s character, and they want that and they’re okay with that. They don’t want to see Mike do anything especially subversive or different and actually rely on him to ground the show in normalcy and maintain the status quo. “Mike can’t love Will, he’s always loved Eleven.” “Mike can’t be queer, he’s the (obviously straight) main character.” They entrust that his job is to love El and that he’ll be taking a backseat to El in the narrative. They want him to be a stereotypical generic traitless pasty mc so bad. But he isn’t lol.

They specifically think that Mike is incapable of being queer BECAUSE he’s the main boy character and the main female character’s love interest. What a depressing and hateful thing to think that just bc of the long history of homophobia and exclusion of queer stories in mainstream media that it means we are incapable of ever getting a main character/story that represents us??? They are banking on Mike being the straight white male lead to hold down the fort whose only distinguishing feature is that he’s “nerdy” or an “outcast.” Well, they’re in for a rude awakening because the “Mike Wheeler” they love and are rooting for doesn’t fucking exist lmao Mike Wheeler is queeeeeeer bitch and they’re gonna have to deal with that!!! 😇😇😇

[gayofthefae]

Extrapolating the full Mike and Nancy scene from that one screenshot: cinematography analysis

Just posted this then realized I have not lived up to it so let's go. We have one and only one to my memory actual camera shot of a potential Byler scene as opposed to a leak (though I could try to decipher from camera position itself for pics from afar).

And I haven't done my job to its fullest. So here we go.

This shot is MIKE'S POV. It is a dirty OTS. I have established that when he turns he looks a bit sad. He is aware of her eyes on him. She looks sad for him, obviously, so we can gather that he is feeling sad about something but trying to hide it from her. In this shot, he is hyper-aware of her being able to see him, which explains him turning away and supports that it is to hide his face and not just for whatever task he is performing off screen.

It is also an OTS shot, but a lingering and silent one. We know that something provoked this is her so it is clearly not the beginning of the scene. New information is gained at the end and withheld or coded to start and she has clearly just learned or realized something. The OTS is pertinent, though, because a shot for non-casual dialogue. Less intimate dialogue is often shot wider - think Steve and Robin in 4x08 talking about Nancy before it shifts to Robin's fears of dying, think Mike and Will between talking about Mike and El's fight and talking about the party's heroism.

There is also something called a "reverse shot" which refers to doing the same shot you just did on person A on their scene partner when you cut to them. Because of how it lingers on her here, I would assume the scene itself is in her POV and it being a dirty OTS shot may speak to Mike's awareness but not his perspective in the overall scene and is more likely just a reverse shot of her previous dirty OTS. I would also assume that based on this visibly being a point of gained knowledge - the value having changed in the scene (this means if you start feeling/knowing one way it's gotta end up something different or you should cut the scene) - this is the end of the scene, this scene for being for the purpose of gained knowledge setting UP a future scene with the purpose of a conversation on it, but those are two separate scenes. If she immediate said what she noticed, there would be no need to focus on her while he's looking away here any more than Will needs to silently pine for Mike in the van scene like he did in the junkyard - a shot you'll notice IS absent in that scene as I just noted because the same information is provided in other ways. THIS seems to be the sole source of the information here. So it is likely the end of the scene.

From that, we can gather that they were already in OTS's and not wide shots, which are the shots most used for one on one dialogue that is meaningful to the characters. They are having a dialogue that is already intimate or important to them, unlikely a simple strategy brainstorm. I didn't feel the need to mention but will anyway as this reminded me: this seems to be only a dialogue with no other participants or witnesses present. Back to the dialogue, though, this actually is different than what I previously thought because looking down makes it look like he's working on something, which would bring a more casual tone to their conversation. But he could have also just now resumed that activity, having stopped to talk seriously. I also might be simply wrong and he's just looking down, not at anything specific.

We also know, though, from my earlier point of Nancy not yet acting on this information that, though Mike is aware of being witnessed, there is no confirmation that he knows she knows etc. The information she gained is unspoken. For example, he didn't slip up and confess his feelings for Will. That would be undeniable. Here, he is able to at least pretend she doesn't know and turn away, continuing with something else, rather than trying to correct the situation in any way. Most importantly in defining this: whatever Nancy just learned - to Mike's awareness (whether he noticed her realization or not), he is still safe. Notable by the fact that his reaction is avoidance, not desperation. At best he is oblivious, at worst he is anxious, but he is not desperate. This is not as high stakes to him as we have seen before when it comes to personal information.

All this information helps us start to put together a scene:

In a scene in Nancy's POV, Mike and Nancy are alone together. They have a serious conversation. In it, Nancy learns something about Mike, but the information is unspoken. She looks at Mike thoughtfully. He seems to be aware she is looking at him. The scene ends without further action on the topic.

[saltnsugarbear]

Happy 200 my angel, I love you sm and you deserve it<3

“There’s no reason to be nervous.” from inexperienced smut prompts with Steve pretty please please please 🙏 -🐁

this feels wildly out of character but I love loser boy Steve Harrington

word count: 0.5k

content warnings: mostly just suggestive! they kiss <3

"I'm sorry, what?" You choke out, holding your hand under your chin to catch any stray drops falling from your mouth.

"Don't make me say it again." Steve groans, falling back against the couch cushion and hiding his face with his hands.

"No, I need you to say it again, cause I don't think I heard you the first time," you say, sitting up and putting your drink down on the coffee table. Steve whines as he drags his hands down his face.

What comes out of his mouth is smothered by his palm, words blending together and unintelligent.

"Didn't catch that," you shake your head, leaning forward and resting your elbows on your knees.

Steve groans again before moving his hand but still mumbling, "IwanttohavesexwithNancybutI'veneverhadsexandIdon'twanttobebadatit..."

"Okay slower this time." Your words make Steve sigh dramatically.

"I want to have sex with Nancy, but I've never had sex and I don't want to be bad at it." He says in a low voice, like he's embarrassed.

"There y'go." You tell him, watching his face flush at your words. "What are you gonna do about it?"

You lean back against the chair cushion, resting your hand against your cheek.

"I don't know..." Steve sighs again, leaning his head back to look at the ceiling.

You can't help but study him was he mulls over his own thoughts. You have had sex, technically, albeit not very good sex. So you could.... No, that would be wrong.

Well.... Would it be?

"Well..." You start, Steve's head snapping up in attention at your words. Too late to back down. "I mean.... I mean we could.. like..."

Your voice trails off as you gesture with your free hand. Steve's eyes widen at your words, like you're crazy for suggesting this.

"But we don't have to-" You quickly backpedal. "It was just like... An idea.."

Steve sits in silence as you trail off, now immediately regretting your words.

"Actually just forget-" Steve cuts you off with his mouth, both hands on either side of your face and holding you close. In his eagerness, your teeth clash causing both of you to groan at the impact, the sound muffled by your mouths.

"No, I-I want to," Steve mutters when he pulls back to catch his breath. Now it's your turn to look at him bewildered.

"In like a uh.... Uh learning way," he clears his throat quickly. "I want to learn with you."

His words make you nod, already agreeing to whatever he says.

"Upstairs?" You ask him.

"Upstairs." He agrees, standing up quickly and dragging you upstairs to his room. Out of habit, Steve locks the door behind you both, letting you sit down on the edge of his bed.

He's awkward when he turns to face you, frowning softly.

"What's wrong?" You ask him, feeling a pit begin to form in your stomach.

"Nothing," Steve starts than backpedals. "I just think... I think I'm nervous..."

His words make you huff, reaching out for him. "There's no reason to be nervous.."

Steve whines before he takes your hand, letting you guide him in between your legs.

"Take things slow..." You tell him, tugging gently at his belt loops. "Everything at your own pace.."

Steve nods, bringing a hand to hold your face gently. After a moment he leans down, making you both bend at an awkward angle as you kiss.

"My own pace... Okay..." Steve hums against your lips.

"Where do we start?"

[0nsyu-archive]

3 hints for Project Century's setting Japanese fans spotted

[greenfiend]

On the topic of Band-Aids…

Sure Will “ripp[ed] off [the] Band-Aid”, but where did it leave us? It left us with an enormous wound, spreading all across Hawkins.

A heart shaped lake ripped apart in the centre.

Obviously, that wound needs to heal, and somehow I doubt Mike and El’s “love” for each other will help matters. Especially since Mike’s “love” speech to El occurred right before this wound opened up.

People who simply study scripts and script writing only know a portion of what’s going on. A lot of clues come from the visuals and subtleties that are not written on a page.

[byler-alarmist]

Why did I think of this scene.....

[swiftiesdestiel]

Regarding to the little noah schnapp interview on the red carpet at the First Shadow premiere:

1. I don’t think they’re gonna pull a reddie with byler, seeing as leaks confirmed Will as well as Mike to be at the bar in the epilogue and I just don’t think they’re gonna queerbait in this show.

2. I also don’t really think they’re killing of Jonathan. Sure, it could be the case and I could be completely wrong, but it wouldn’t really make sense as the one big death scene yk? I feel like Jonathan is more of a fan favourite than a GA favourite, so it would have a much bigger impact if they killed off one of the kids. I personally think they’re killing off Eleven, which could explain the Mike and Hop graveyard leaks and would be devastating (as Noah said) to the GA as well as the fandom. El also wasn’t confirmed to be at the bar in the epilogue, while Jonathan was.

I saw a lot of people worrying about these two possible scenarios, but I just simply don’t really think that is what’s gonna happen. (Unless the bar leaks aren’t real & they’re killing off both Jonathan AND El, but obviously I don’t know how the show is going to end so who am I to say that)

Sorry for rambling🙃

[suzieloveships]

Don't get me wrong, grumpy old man with a sad backstory being force to take care of a child which leads to him opening out and healing from his past trauma and the two of them developing a parent-child relationship is the best trope, but you what is also amazing and needs more love?

An irresponsible and/or immature teen boy/very young adult man being force to take care of a kid(s) which leads to him having a character development and redemption and the two, or more, of them developing a siblings relationship.

I need more stories like this

Edit HOW COULD I FORGOT!!!

Feel free to add more if you know any

[starry-sophrosyne]

... @toadettely @sopping-wet-cat-wizard y'know, april fools is over, BUT...

"No, what am I saying- That's too mean, I can't do that-" "Fufufu~ But I can~"  (｀▽ ´) // "YOU-" (/｀ᗣ ´ )/

(also for reference bc GUESS WHO CAN PEN- XD /hj /lh /silly):

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(TW: blood/gore, death, car crash incident, graphic imagery)

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S&S: There is a world where Brent never meets Eevee. There is a world where he wakes up one morning, yawning as he rubs his eyes. He'd been somewhat exhausted by his gaming session with "Sofist" last night, not that it was unenjoyable. He gets ready for the day as per usual, nothing out of the ordinary. It's all regular, for now, that is. Walking out of his apartment, he raises an eyebrow at the suspicious amount of cars stuck on the local road. Oh well, a crash of some kind? He shrugs and continues walking down the road. Ducking under some construction, he carefully avoids all the prying eyes and workers, taking his shortcut to the cafe. What he sees when he turns the corner, however? Well..

It's graphical, distraught to say the least. He can see the limb of somebody, splayed across the road in a pool of blood. He winces. Damn? They'd been sloppy setting up the perimeter apparently, blocking it from normal eye-witness view, but not from here. Either way, he couldn't make out too much between the ambulance and the police cars stationed in the intersection.

As for the authorities, he can make out them questioning certain people and speaking into their walkie talkies. Their faces are far away but filled with concern as they discuss with each other. Meanwhile, the paramedics tending to the body on the ground, and.. For some reason, he pauses. It's not in any of his good interests to watch this, to get involved with some random traffic incident of an unfortunate civilian, and yet? Something tugs at him, opposing his normal desire to stay out of conflict and general indifference/apathy. He doesn't know why, why this moment specifically?, but it doesn't.. feel.. weird. It's weirdly urging, instead bringing him to stop in his tracks. As he choicely watches the paramedics ready the body bag, he catches a glimpse of the poor man who had faced the consequences.

His hair was curly, coifs of coffee brown tinged with blood. His facial hair was the same color, and his gaze relaxed. His eyes were partially closed in a stereotypical thought of sleeping, with a glint from the sun revealing his hazed over green eyes, devoid of any brightness. What catches Brent's eye immediately, however, is his bright purple coat. Most of it is soaked with crimson gore, now a dark maroon, but even still. It's such a stand out, he can't help but wonder how the man even got hit in the first place.

After a few more seconds, the guided feeling seems to go away, and he turns his head away from the scene. (Unbeknownst to him, he'd been watching for, comparatively, far longer than a few seconds.) Best to move on, for whatever reason he felt compelled to watch EMTs deal with the body, almost as if he was making sure they would properly take care of him. It was weird, but whatever. He didn't have enough time to stay around and see him get sent off, realizing he was late for his shift. Despite his sudden spike of empathy, it was just another day, just with an unfortunate incident. He prayed for the man though, as he finally set foot onto regular sidewalk. May his soul, and whoever he is, rest in peace, for meeting such an untimely end.

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Walking into the cafe, the door closed behind him with the bell's signature jingle. Vern's head shot up, his face twisted with a hint of concern as he rushed over to Brent, who'd barely placed his bag on the desk before Vern grabbed his shoulders, gripping them firmly and causing Brent to jolt a bit out of surprise.

"Brent! Oh my god, you scared me-" "?" "-I saw the crash nearby, and you- came in a few minutes later than you normally do, and- oh god I'd just thought the worst!" Vern could hardly control himself from his ramble, spilling out his emotions, but he paused when he noticed the rather amused look on Brent's face. Brent only chuckled at him, despite the severity of the situation/his anxiety. Vern gave him a dirty look, but let out a sigh of both relief and annoyance relief, glad to know his friend was okay.

As Vern let go of his shoulders, Brent starting unpacking stuff from his bag. Placing his log sheet and charger down in the little table within the break room, Vern asked:

"Why were you late anyways? You normally show up before I even get here. Did something.. actually happen while you were getting here?" He added tentatively.

"..." He paused, his hands tightening around his laptop, contemplating if it was worth it to tell Vern. About the man he'd seen, eyes hazed over in death, body dull and cold, hair stiff with dried blood. It was something in it of its own right, something that he wished he hadn't seen. But at the same time, the death of this random civilian weighed heavier than it should've in his heart. He didn't know why, but still, maybe it was the sight of his eyes; ones that pierced his soul, staring at him even after passing. They were so.. cold. Almost as if they were blaming, in hatred. His blood chilled, thinking about it all, and a heaviness set in the room. Oh. Man, he'd never felt this way before. He'd just witnessed death, hadn't he? How was he acting like this was all okay?

He held in a sigh, settling for a tight exhale as he shook his head, not looking up from his stuff. No, it was best not to trouble his more emotionally affected friend with his.. issues. Were he to tell Vern, he'd likely become more aggrieved than him. Even still, looking up and noticing Vern's still apprehensive gaze, he feigned a small smile; keeping it up even as he looked back down in the black expanses of his duffel bag, now empty. He couldn't bring himself to meet his eyes. "I'm serious dude, nothing happened. Don't worry about it."

"... Alright, if you say so." The air was thick with tension, the silence being left unbroken. Vern's footsteps were soft as they padded against the tiled floor, the door slowly creaking closed behind him. One last glance behind his shoulder, before he fully shut the door, putting on a smile to greet the guests that had entered the cafe. Meanwhile, the room had become dimmed sightly with the waning sunlight as the light from the cafe dissipated. Brent stared down once more, as if questioning the true morality behind what he'd seen. With a sigh, his shoulder slumped. Sitting down onto the rickety foldable chair, he put his head in his arms, on top of the table. He wasn't ready to go out. Not just yet. Not while the green eyes of someone haunted him. He couldn't just go and pretend everything was okay, even he had no damn idea why the death of some random stranger had messed him up so badly.

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Vern found him struggling to think of positive messages to write atop his orders for the rest of the afternoon. Brent did not come out of the break room for a long time, and even once he did, he was silent as he worked. Nick didn't come in for coffee that day.

[gryficowa]

Boycott!

People in the miracolous fandom piss me off, especially their approach to bullying (Because clearly, if a character is white and blonde, she is not a victim, if she were a boy, maybe they would feel sorry for her, but she is a girl? Lord, she is beyond repair and not at all she's not a victim of bullying, and she's 15, so she should know! that victims of groomers should also know? After all, if they have such an "educated brain" at this age, instead of attacking the grtoemer we should attack the victim, because at this age they should know… Sorry, but that's how I see this fandom)

Although what can you expect from a society that attacks Judo from "Bluey", because WARNING, SHE BEHAVIORS LIKE A CHILD OF HER AGE

Now that I have your attention:

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

There are just some things that piss me off, especially the fact that a child is expected to be 100% responsible, especially when he or she is a victim of neglect (Because yes, abandonment is neglect)

Yes, I'm a former scapegoat… But okay, don't forget about the rebounds, they're at the top

[queen-of-hawkins-why-ler]

Most laughable Milkvan argument is that “they’ve been building up Milkvan for four seasons” bc no the fuck they haven’t??? If anything they’ve been deliberately disassembling Milkvan for four seasons 💀💀 Mike and El entered into a romantic relationship when they like 12 after knowing each other for a week. They dated for like one summer and then broke up, and have been in a strained long distance relationship that’s hanging on by a thread for eight months. It’s “been built up” where and how??

Meanwhile, even had Mike and Will gotten together in s1, they still would have had seven years of best friendship as the foundation of their relationship, but (thankfully) they didn’t get together after just one season. They’ve spent several seasons growing up, becoming more important to each other, and their relationship has evolved many times over. Their love for each other has licherally not even metaphorically been carefully crafted together like a work of art, so much so that the length of this slowburn will have taken the totality of the show’s five seasons to be completed. Literally a ten year long slowburn for people who have been watching since the beginning. And they want to argue that Milkvan has been “built up”??? Don’t make me laugh lmao.

[arcandoria]

.

[elevenenthusiast]

If you’re someone who’s seeing Stranger Things 5 leaks on twitter i say take it with a grain of salt because i really feel like some of these people are just saying anything that aligns with their narrative

[rogueddie]

so anyway I think Steve would wear long skirts as pjs. just plain, ankle length skirts that are soft things like silk bc they're so comfortable and he kinda wishes he could wear them out but he can never find anything that fits well on his biceps that matches.

[lexyscross]

The Duffers explaining Stranger Things: The First Shadow: "Jim, Joyce, and Bob kind of forgot about all that shit that happened when they were teenagers."