#These three are definitely queer coded

[thenightshadowqueen]

To anyone making a Clamanda playlist: you need to go listen to Xana (no actual pressure, obviously).

Seriously, though; she has so many sapphic pining songs that are very Amanda-coded. Specifically, I’m thinking of “i did this all for you!”, “The Kicker”, “Alibi”, and “My Therapist Told Me”, but to a lesser extent “Kitchen Light”, “the blue room interlude”, and “12 missed calls”.

[miwimuffins]

Every Definitive Byler Proof Broken Down

starting with - season one

1) “Will’s homophobia”

it’s said a few times here and there throughout season one that Will is often treated as “the gay one” in the party. His own dad called him “queer” and a “f*g” and bullies at school call him “gay” and a “fairy”

2) “Mike treats Will going missing differently to everyone else” :

we see from the very start of the season that Mike treats Will differently to all his other friends. It’s established that their bond is different from the others. Will, unlike Dustin and Lucas, tells Mike immediately that the roll was a 7. it’s already set in stone that their bond is built on trust and that they’re closer. Mike also has every drawing Will’s ever made for him in a binder and on his wall.

even when Will was missing, it’s still brought up that Mike’s feelings towards Will are different than his feelings towards his other friends. He’s the only one in his friend group much more focused on finding Will, he even went as far as keeping a strange bald girl with powers just because she could help (aside from the fact he also kept el because she was on the run from bad men). His feelings towards Will aren’t hidden to everyone else, even his own mom sees it.

(also that cute scene from Mike seeing Will in hospital for the first time since he went missing and he rests his head on his heart)

season two

1) “Mike notices things about Will that others don’t”:

despite Mike being more sensitive and aware of Will since he went missing, we see Mike picking up on small things about Will.

2) “Mike is more affectionate and protective over Will than any of his other friends”:

whilst Will going missing has a role to play in this, it goes without saying that Mike is worlds more affectionate and protective of Will than any of his other friends. Such as holding his hand, wrapping his shoulder around him and making efforts to be closer to him in group scenarios.

3) “Crazy Together”:

after suffering another episode Mike take’s Will home (which actually ends up being Mike’s home). In a sweet little conversation where they both open up to each other (Will talks about his episodes and Mike talks about how he keeps seeing eleven) Mike turns to Will and says “I don’t know I feel like I’m going crazy” Will then responds “yeah, me too.” Mike smirks in a caring way and says “Well, if we’re both going crazy we’ll go crazy together, right?” Will turns his head, smiling “yeah. Crazy together.”

This is one of the most famous byler proofs to date.

4) “Will remembers who Mike is even when he is possessed”:

when Will is in hospital after suffering internal burning from being connected to the shadow monster, and the vines related to it being burned underground. He is asked by Owen’s if he remembers who Mike is as Will is suffering amnesia type symptoms. And he does! (Mike also gets really giddy after this lol)

5) “It was the best thing I’ve ever done”:

in an attempt to bring Will back to his normal state and keep him occupied whilst he taps away at morse code, Mike digs deep down and truly opens up about how he feels and his first memory of Will. He tells Will every intricate detailing of the first day that they met and tells him becoming his friend was the best thing he’d ever done.

6) “Mike is lonely without Will at the snowball”:

this is one of the smaller byler proofs but a proof nonetheless. In the last episode of season two, the whole party goes to the school winter dance called “the snowball”. In which a girl comes up to Will and asks him to dance, initially it seems Mike doesn’t care as he encourages Will to dance with the girl. But when Will is actually gone, Mike looks at him in parallel to Dustin looking at Max with Lucas. Part of him wishing he maybe didn’t encourage Will to go dance at all.

season three

1) “Mike is always with Will when he’s not with Eleven”:

in season three of stranger things, it kicks off (unfortunately) with Mike and El making out to some music. this seems to be one of the only things they ever do together. When they’re apart and when they break up due to Mike lying (because of hopper). Mike and Will are often the main pair, even when El and Mike were together, Will is usually standing next to them or next to Mike.

2 & 3) “Mike reacts differently to his break up with El and his fight with Will” & “It’s not my fault you don’t like girls”:

this is a two in one because they’re linked:

in season three after El had enough with Mike’s bullshit and lies, she “dumps his ass”. Mike responds to this with the goofiest look on his face and spends all his time moping around, eating chips and being sexist.

Meanwhile after Mike’s fight with Will, he looks at Will leaving with a really emotional look on his face and bike’s to his house in the rain to apologise and then to Castle Byers when he wasn’t at home.

It’s important to note that Max said “he’ll come crawling back to you in no time begging for forgiveness” which is exactly what Mike did with Will, not with El.

Also Mike and El’s breakup was completely unserious. It was sunny, ice cream, people around, friends witnessing and Max and El laughing afterwards.

Mike and Will’s fight was private, in the rain, blue colours all around, heated and sad.

Speaking of their fight…

When Mike and Lucas make fun of Will’s campaign because they think turning 13 makes them too old for that stuff now. Will storms off (rightfully so) and starts to head home. Mike follows him, apologising and trying to reassure him that it’s a cool campaign but they’re just not in the mood right now. He then gets offended when Will says Mike is ruining their party, he says he’s destroying everything just so he can swap spit with some “stupid girl”. Mike then snaps in what people assume is internalised homophobia and projection and gives us the infamous line (this is also a hint into will being gay)

“El’s not stupid. It’s not my fault you don’t like girls”.

ouch.

4) “Mike and Will’s goodbye was much more intimate than Mike and El’s”:

at the end of season three, the Byers and El prepare to move to California after the “death” of El’s dad hopper.

When packing away a dnd set into the donation box, Mike stops Will and tells him as such. Will then tells him “I know, I’ll just use yours when I come back. I mean, if we still wanna play.” Mike then responds “yeah but, what if you wanna join another party” (oh poor Will has no idea how ironic this is) Will then responds with “not possible.” While smirking at Mike, Mike smiles back (of course) and then they have a very deep hug out front before Will leaves.

on the other hand…

Mike and El’s goodbye is very… awkward. It starts of sweet, Mike comes in and tells El that he’ll be calling her so much on Dustin’s cerebro and then they kinda talk about how much they both like gifts? ok. then El tells Mike she heard what he said about her and Mike pretends like he has no idea what she’s talking about. El then reminds Mike by telling him that she loves him too. Quick! Take a guess how Mike responds.

1) smiles

2) kisses her

3) “you do?” In a smiley way

4) stands awkwardly whilst she kisses him in front of an open closet (basic foreshadowing lmfao) and he doesn’t even kiss back. Then when she walks away, he stands there confused and staring at the ground.

…….

the answer is…. 4!! A totally normal way to respond to your feelings getting reciprocated. right?

Mike and El share a hug out front as well, and then Mike passionately looks at the Byers house whilst hoppers letter starts talking about not wanting things to change and that change is scary and then he rides his bike off into the distance. Well that totally wasn’t gay as fuck. Moving on.

season four (the gayest of them all)

1) “Will is painting a lot […] I’m sure there’s someone he likes”:

the season in present time, kicks off with El’s letter to Mike about life in California. It goes through things like Joyce having a new job, Jonathan smoking smelly plants 🍃 and… oh! what’s that? Will painting something for a girl, and he’s… been acting weird? there might be someone he likes? Oh this is terrifying news for Michael Queerler. anyways, the actual point of this letter is to give a hint to the audience that Will has a crush on someone, he’s making a painting for them and it’s supposed to be a girl but if you have basic media comprehension it’s for a boy. and that boy is Mike wheeler.

2) “Will gets his leg felt up by a girl’s foot and he gay panics”:

a very common and easy to spot hint of Will being gay is when Will is sitting in class and a girl pushes her foot over to Will’s leg and starts brushing it. She gives him a flirty look, but Will being gay, shuts her down and brings his leg further into himself and away from her.

3) “Mike’s airport “hug” with Will”:

I think this is one of the biggest proof for bylers. Mike’s awkward as fuck airport hug. When Mike arrives in California, dressed as a totally different version of himself. He kisses el, gives her some flowers and pretends to pay no attention to Will or that he even exists. Then when Will steps into the frame, Mike goes “oh. hey.” and….. shoulder taps him? your best friends of like 10 years and you shoulder tap him? okay Mike.

4) “Mike is jealous of Will and makes it a whole scene”:

following the awkward hug at the airport, Mike asks immediately after it what the rolled up painting in Will’s hand is. (As if he doesn’t know lmfao) Will tells him “nothing, it’s just this painting I’ve been working on” Mike then pretending to not give a single shit goes “cool.” And assumes Will has brung this painting for the girl he likes and that she might be meeting them here today. Mike then thinks his assumption becomes reality when El mentions the name Angela. Will then repeats “Angela?” Back to her and Mike gives Will a look. He thinks Angela is the girl Will must’ve made his painting for and he gets clingy with El after this, pretending to ignore Will.

speaking of…

5) “Mike pretends to ignore Will but actually proves he’s been paying attention the whole time”:

after the whole commotion of El getting bullied, Mike finding out the truth and trying to look for her. Mike doesn’t decide to get angry with El for lying.. no no he decided to turn his anger towards Will. He then accuses him of “sabotaging the whole day” as if his girlfriend didn’t just get bullied but ok. He then lists everything Will has been doing such as moping and barely talking.

6) “Mike’s gay ass taking everything Will says romantically in their rinkomania fight”:

After Mike gets angry with Will for being miserable and Will gets angry with Mike for being a third wheel, Mike then walks away and Will stops him in his tracks by asking about their friendship “well, what about us?”

Mike then turns around with a look of despair and says “what?”

Will then gets angry at Mike and basically says it’s ridiculous that Mike is mad Will didn’t talk to him as Mike made it super clear he isn’t interested in anything he has to say. It’s been a year (it’s barely been six months lol) and Mike has only called him a couple times, meanwhile El has a book of letters from him. Mike then snaps with “that’s because she’s my girlfriend Will” and Will responds, once again only talking about their friendship “and us?” Then Mike taking things romantically again says “we’re friends. WE’RE FRIENDS.” ….. who said you weren’t Micheal?

7) “Mike stuck by Will’s side as opposed to El’s even though they were in a fight and him and El weren’t (yet)”:

after their intensely gay fight where “in the closet” an original made song for the sound track starts playing. Mike and Will hear a scream, they turn around and see El standing over her bully now covered in blood. They run over to see more of what’s happened, and they are shocked to say the least. El stands there stunned at what she’s done, and Mike starts exclaiming “what did you do? What did you do?” Which triggers a lab flashback for El (what a healthy relationship). Mike is mad with El for some reason even though he’s literally seen her snap his bullies arm and snap people’s necks. And throughout this, he sticks with Will at Rinkomania while joining the turning heads that stare at El in fear and disgust as he stands next to Will, he leans next to and looks at Will in the van on the way home and he even suffers in silence during breakfast with Will. Even though… they’re in a fight? Ok.

8) “From, Mike”:

a day has passed since the incident at rinkomania and Mike has entered El’s room to clear things up. He tells El that she didn’t have to lie to him as he understands what it’s like to be bullied. El tells him he doesn’t understand that, she doesn’t belong and that he thinks she’s a monster. Mike argues he doesn’t and that he cares for her so much. El then argues that that’s all he does. “Care” for her, but he doesn’t love her anymore. Mike argues against this and says “who said that I didn’t” El says “you never say it” Mike argues “I say it.” And then El pulls up the receipts. She starts throwing each letter Mike has written whilst crying “From Mike, From Mike, From Mike” … and so on. Instead of Mike reassuring El that he does love her, he instead GASLIGHTS her and says that she’s being “ridiculous” and that she knows how he feels about her and that she shouldn’t allow these “mouth breathers” (El’s bullies which have nothing to do with this) to ruin their relationship. He then goes onto tell her everything he likes about her… which is…. Well, her powers. which she doesn’t even have anymore. He calls her a superhero and she says “not anymore.” Mike doesn’t even come up with a response for this.

9) “Looks like it’s gonna be up to us again.”:

a day later since Mike and El’s big fight and El is now off to quote “become a superhero again”. She writes this in a letter to Mike that says “From, El” (oh I love her so much, get his ass). Mike sits there staring at it before Will buts in telling him that staring at it won’t make it change. Mike then crumples up what could be El’s last letter to him and throws it in the trash… alright.

Mike then opens up to Will about their fight, how it felt like one of those fights you can’t come back from. He says that there’s something he should’ve said and if he said it maybe El would want him there with her but he… *sigh* “didn’t know what to say” 🧍🏼‍♀️okay. Will then reassures him that he’s going to see her again and whatever he didn’t say, he can say to her then. Mike doesn’t seem too pleased about this, but the conversation then moves forward. Will then goes onto talk about how it was “you guys” (Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Max & El… more so Mike lol) who saved him. Mike then says really flirty “looks like it’s gonna be up to us again” and Will responds also really flirty “it always is, isn’t it?” Then they share a super flirty laugh where they both can’t even contain their gayness.

10) “it’s Hawkins, it’s not the same without you.”:

after developing a plan to go find El. Mike, Jonathan and Will start packing for a road trip. In the middle of packing, Mike comes into Will’s bedroom and starts to apologise to him. He starts off with saying “thanks by the way..” to which Will says “for what?” Then Mike says “for knocking some sense into me, I was being a total self pitying idiot” and then Will says “I didn’t say it” very flirty to which Mike says “you didn’t have to” also very flirty (this is also a very important parallel to Mike and El’s fight where she says “you never say it” and Mike goes “I say it.”) He then starts bringing up the past couple of days, to which Will responds with “you don’t have to say anything.. I was being a total jerk to El, I deserve it”. (My selfless shayla I love you Will) Mike cuts him off “no.. no you didn’t deserve anything.” Will turns around, looking at Mike now listening and paying attention to what he has to say, and what he has to say is very important.

“listen, the truth is the last year.. has been weird. you know? and I mean, you know, Max and Lucas and Dustin they’re - they’re great… they’re great it’s just - - it’s Hawkins. It’s not the same without you.”

so Mike thinks home isn’t the same without Will and once again proving he feels differently towards Will than his other friends.

“And I feel like maybe I was worrying too much about El and… I don’t know maybe I feel like I lost you or something. Does that make sense?”

okay, wrap it up. I’m gonna cry.

“I have no idea what’s gonna happen next. But… whatever it is, I think we should work together. I think it’ll be easier if we’re a team. Friends. Best friends.”

we all know what he really wanted to say… lol.

all this followed by a painfully flirty

“Cool.” By Will and another “Cool.” By Mike with a smiley up and down look. and…. *INTERRUPTION TROPE*

11) “The interruption trope”:

going back a couple proofs and forward some too, byler is constantly suffering from the interruption trope this season.

It happens during “looks like it’s gonna be up to us again” scene, the “it’s Hawkins it’s not the same without you” scene, the “what if they don’t like the truth” scene on the car and lastly at the end of the series during the “We will. We will.” Scene. WOW. that’s pretty gay. Why are you interrupting them duffers? What would they do if uninterrupted? Hm? Moving on…

12) “Mike protecting Will”:

this is a very quick byler proof, but during the shooting scene Mike immediately protects Will and puts his arm over him and makes sure to remain in front of him. cuties.

13) “The triple take”:

we all know the triple take, we all love the triple take. all you need is to see it and soak it all in.

well that wasn’t the least bit suspicious. lol.

14) “What if they don’t like the truth”:

after burying a dead man’s body together #couplegoals

Mike and Will take a second to rest on one of the cars with a couple of soda cans (this is a craaaazyyy parallel to jancy in season two by the way).

Mike starts yapping AGAIN about if he said something that he for some reason doesn’t know what it is that he should’ve said then he’d know where El is and he’d be there right now. Idk I’m bored of this too. Will (god bless his patient soul) starts comforting Mike AGAIN and starts opening up from his own emotions. He says “sometimes.. I think it’s just scary to open up like that. to say how you truly feel. Especially to people you care about the most. because what if- what if they don’t like the truth”. Mike nods (for some reason *wink*) even though he knows him saying “I love you” is the truth El wants to hear. but ok. Anyway, if you couldn’t tell this is one of many hints to Will being gay also.

15) “Mike holding the phone for Will”:

this isn’t necessarily a proof, but it’s cute that Mike was holding the phone for Will and allowed Will’s hand to hold his on top. I love them.

16) “The Van Scene”:

oh boy oh boy where to begin…

Not only does Mike use the good old Will voice (I was gonna put this in here as an official byler proof, but it’s more of just a fun detail) he is constantly staring at Will in ways you can’t get straight explanations for.

Obviously, in this scene Will gives his painting to Mike as a way to cheer him up after (yet again) talking about how shit his relationship with El is. yeah I bet even milevens were sick of it at this point.

Mike unravels the painting and Will stares, anxiously waiting for a positive response. Mike smiles widely and Will reciprocates proudly with a smile of his own. Mike looks up at him and asks “did you paint this” after exclaiming how amazing it is. Will responds “yeah- I mean.. El asked me to, she commissioned it basically she told me what to draw”. NO. NOOOOOO. this is where every byler in the world face palmed and cried for 10 days.

he then goes on to tell Mike about the painting and all his feelings for him while disguising them as El’s.

“anyway, my point is. See how you’re leading us here? You’re guiding the whole party. Inspiring us. That- that’s what you do. And see your coat of arms here? It’s a heart. And I know it’s sort of on the nose, but, that’s what holds this whole party together. Heart.” Will was so brave for this actually, what straight homie makes a painting for his friend and puts a whole heart on his person alone. okay.

he then goes on to describing his feelings, I changed them to what it would be like if he didn’t use El’s name.

“I mean, without heart we’d all fall apart. Even me, especially me. These past few months I’ve been so lost without you. It’s just I’m so different from other people and… when you’re - when you’re different. Sometimes… you feel like a mistake. but you make me feel like I’m not a mistake at all, like I’m better for being different and that gives me the courage to fight on. If I was mean to you or if I seemed like I was pushing you away it’s probably just because I’m scared of losing you just like you’re scared of losing her.” (I know that one hurt, but from Will’s pov he believes Mike feels nothing towards him.) “and - and if I was going to lose you I- I think I’d just rather get it over with quick, like ripping off a bandaid. So yeah, I need you Mike. And I always will.”

“yeah?” Mike responds.

“Yeah.” Will answers, and cries out the window. Holy fucking shit. The duffers need to be hunted with pitchforks for that one.

17) “Mike and El’s reunion”:

after finally finding El, Mike hops out the van and they share a (honestly I can’t even lie about this) very sweet reunion. Except…

Will is in the background, because apparently he just loves to linger in the background of every heartfelt mileven scene lmfao. Mike then looks at Will, looks at El, looks at Will and then looks at El again. It’s a very interesting scene to say the least and then El and Will have this adorable reunion #brothersistergoals

18) “El’s drawing”:

I have nothing to say other than how painfully set up this is lmfao.

19) “Will’s heart to heart with Jonathan”:

this is a nice little bonus of just proving to the painfully stupid general audience that Will is gay and that Jonathan will always be there to support him. Jonathan basically reassures him of that, and Will tells him he’ll always be there for him too.

it’s a really beautiful scene and it ends with a tearful hug from both ends. I’m gonna cry if Will comes out to him next season for real.

20) “Mike’s love confession to El��:

not only was Mike telling the biggest amount of horseshit in this “love confession” but it’s also one of the biggest byler proofs there is.

For some odd reason, Mike sat there telling El the exact opposite of what she wanted to hear by listing everything he loves about her… again… which is.. again.. her powers? Even though he loves her without her powers? He also proceeds to call her a superhero again but this time “my superhero”. Okay.

He also says his life started the day he found her in the woods (“that’s not will?” Lmfao) and he’s loved her ever since that day… even though he wanted to get rid of her that same night to focus on finding Will, only kept her because she was on the run from bad men and could help find Will, got mad and snapped when she couldn’t help find Will, forgave her again when she found him in the walkie talkie, stopped them from finding Will so their whole friend group fell out, Called her a weapon and then used her for finding Will again. But sure, yeah, you’ve loved her this whole time michael.

He also couldn’t spit out the words “I love you” until Will got his attention and told him “you’re the heart. You’re the heart!” (I also find it hilarious how neither Will or Jonathan knew that Mike couldn’t say “I love you” and they’re just sitting there watching Mike say all this shit as if it means something).

Will is also constantly in the background of this love confession, more specifically when Mike says “I love you”. Imagine if in every love confession the “third wheel” or the “other woman/man” in the love triangle was just casually in the background with another season to go and their feelings haven’t properly been brought to the table yet. that’s pretty suspicious if you ask me.

there’s also the fact it’s never brought up again, Mike and El don’t discuss it and they don’t have a heart to heart but you know who does….?

21) “We will. We will.”:

two days have passed since Mike’s ass love confession and the gang have arrived back in Hawkins. After visiting max in hospital (and Mike and Will sharing a hug through Lucas) they’re now helping El clean up hoppers cabin.

El walks past Will and Mike sassy-ly and slams the door behind her (well sort of, this cutie still leaves it open 3 inches I love her). Will asks if she’s spoken to Mike at all, but he says she hasn’t much. He did say that she was worried she wasn’t ready and that Dr. Brenner might have been right when he said that. He also proceeds to say he hopes 001 (vecna) is dead.

Will, being dramatic as always and forever the bearer of bad news says he’s not dead. He tells Mike that now that he’s here in Hawkins, he can feel him, that he’s still alive but he’s hurting. and that it’s strange knowing now who it was this whole time, and he still remembers what he thinks and how he thinks. and that he’s not going to stop. Ever. Not until he’s taken everything and everyone. He then tells Mike “we have to kill him.”

Mike then grabs his shoulder, gripping tightly

“And we will. We will.”

*skrrrttt* you guessed it. ANOTHER interruption trope.

22) “Mike and Will standing next to the canon couples of the show”:

we’ve reached the very last scene of stranger things season 4 and also the very last byler proof of this post. Mike, Will, Nancy, Jonathan, Hopper and Joyce are all standing on the hill while El stands in-front of them holding the flowers she loves decaying in her hands.

there’s A LOT of symbolism here. The fact the flowers El is holding are the ones Mike gave to her at the start of season 4 and now they’re crumbling away in her hands possibly symbolising her and Mike’s relationship.

And of course, the most obvious one, Jancy and Jopper standing next to Byler. You seriously cannot make this up, if this isn’t the most blatantly obvious and in your face foreshadowing I don’t know what is.

To not make byler canon after all THIS is insane.

Anyway, thank you for reading this whole yap session. I care for you… so much. lol but yeah please give this a like it took me FOREVER. and remember, byler is endgame.

[fratttymatty]

Update Complete

(All characters are 18+)

Eliot Raynes was everything you’d expect from a nerdy senior in high school. Scrawny build, thick glasses, an encyclopedic knowledge of comic book timelines, and a long-standing crush on the quiet barista at the corner café. He was 18, openly gay, and proudly spent his weekends coding mods for indie games and watching queer cinema on his tiny laptop.

Eliot didn’t care much for sports. In fact, he actively avoided anything that involved shouting, sweat, or "bro-ing out." His locker sat three rows down from the football team’s, and every time he heard them slamming their fists or belting out obnoxious chants, he rolled his eyes so hard it nearly gave him a headache.

But it all changed after one strange afternoon.

It started with a new phone.

He hadn’t ordered it. It just... showed up. Black box. No label. No return address. Inside was a sleek, matte-black smartphone. No logo. Just a post-it note stuck to the screen:

"Tap to update your reality."

Eliot chuckled. “Some weird ARG?” He loved that stuff. So he tapped.

The phone blinked. The screen flickered like static. Then a loading bar appeared:

"Reconfiguring: Nerd Mode -> Bro Mode... 5%..."

“What the—” he tried to turn it off, but his fingers didn’t seem to work. His hand stayed locked on the phone. The progress bar jumped.

20%... 45%... 78%...

He gasped and doubled over as a shockwave of heat spread through his body. His hoodie tightened around swelling muscles. His arms cracked and bulked, gaining definition in seconds. His narrow chest ballooned outward with thick slabs of muscle and a sudden V-shaped torso. He yanked off his glasses — only to find his vision had gone perfect.

“Dude…” His voice came out lower. Deeper. Lazier. Confident. “What the hell is this?”

His thoughts scrambled. His brain, once sharp and meticulous, was being rewired. Long-form essays and art-house films were replaced with protein counts, fantasy football leagues, and bench press PRs. A sudden flood of aggression and cocky swagger bubbled to the surface like it had always been there.

He tried to fight it.

“I’m… Eliot… I like—uh, I like guys, I—”

99%... 100%

Transformation complete. New profile: Matthew ‘Matt’ Brody. 18. Hetero. Athlete. Confident. Alpha.

His phone chimed again. The screen now read:

Welcome, Matt. Let’s get you caught up, bro.

Matt blinked. His room wasn’t even his room anymore. The posters had been replaced with jerseys and flags of college football teams. His mirror now reflected a 6’2” muscular jock with a backwards cap, tight Nike tank, and a cocky smirk. His jaw was sharp, his skin tan, his eyebrows trimmed just so. He looked like the type of guy who said “no homo” before chest-bumping his friends.

He gasped as a weird tingle hit his scalp. A sudden heat surged through his hairline. His usual stringy, unwashed mess vanished strand by strand, replaced by clean, thick brown locks that shifted on their own, slicking into a perfectly careless middle part, with strands falling naturally in that casual, sporty way that made girls giggle and guys jealous. It screamed “I don’t try, I just look this good.”

He flexed one arm and nodded to himself. “Damn, I look shredded.”

No memory of Eliot remained. No coding. No crushes on baristas. No indie films. Just parties, protein, and pounding out reps at the gym.

His phone vibrated again. A group chat with names like "Chad 🔥," "Zack 💪," and "Tyler 🏈" popped up.

Tyler: Yo bro u hittin’ the house party tonight? Zack: Don’t ghost again, Matt. Rachel’s bringing her friend 👀🔥

Matt grinned, typing back:

Matt: Hell yeah, bros. Leg day first tho. Let’s get fkn jacked 💯

As he strutted out the door, he passed a shy, glasses-wearing kid standing by a locker—someone who looked familiar, but Matt didn’t think twice.

“Sup, nerd,” he muttered with a smirk, shoulder-checking the kid on his way out.

There was no Eliot.

There was only Matt Brody — jock, straight, confident, conservative, and loving every second of it.

And he never looked back.

The house was packed. Music thumped. The air was heavy with cologne, beer, and fake confidence.

Matt walked in like he owned the place, dapping up other jocks, throwing casual “yo’s” and flexing abs he didn’t even know he had this morning.

That’s when he saw Rachel — cheer captain, blonde bombshell — waving him over.

“Matt! Finally! This is my bestie, Cassie!”

Standing next to her was a cute brunette, dressed in a pink crop top and high ponytail. She blinked when she saw him. And then…

She changed.

Her eyes widened. Her lips parted in a giggle. Her posture shifted to something bubbly and air-headed. Her already-short skirt seemed to shimmy just a bit higher. She twirled a strand of hair around her finger and tilted her head with a dazed little smile.

“Ohmygod, like… hiiii!” Cassie said, voice high and sugary. “You’re Matt, right? Rachel said you were, like, super hot, but I didn’t think you’d be, like, this hot.”

She stepped closer, practically bouncing.

Matt smirked. “Haha, yeah, I guess I’m kinda shredded.”

Cassie gasped, placing a hand on his bicep like it was involuntary. “Ugh, totes! Like, I can feel the muscles, ohmygod. Do you, like, work out every day?”

“Duh,” he grinned, flexing casually. “Gotta stay alpha.”

Cassie giggled again, looping her arm through his. “That is, like, soooo hot.”

She was hooked. It was like the universe had rewritten her just to match him — the perfect bimbo cheerleader for the perfect bro.

As the music pumped and the crowd chanted for beer pong, Matt leaned back with one arm around Cassie, sipping a Solo cup of something cheap, not a single memory of who he used to be. No Eliot. No comic books. No shyness.

Just Matt Brody — confident, straight, conservative, jock legend. And he was loving his new reality.

[milanbyler]

The biggest byler proof to me is my mother's reaction to Mike and Will in s4 let me explain.

I was watching stranger things with my mom a few months ago and told her during s1 (I think) that Will was now confirmed to be gay. We continued watching til s4 and there comes the scene when the girl in Will and El's class touches Will's leg with her foot. I'm saying something like "yes make it even more obvious that he doesn't like girls !" (I'm trying to translate our conversation from french btw so that might not always be really understandable) my mom's reaction was.. interesting, to say the least.

She looked at me confused, looked at the screen again and finally opened her mouth and told me "It's not that obvious you know, are you even sure he is gay ??". She even looked like she was suspecting me of lying for some reason 😭. I told her that he was indeed really, fully and officially gay. And she was still not so sure about what I said.

That, I think, shows how oblivious she can be to queer coding, she isn't part of the LGBTQ+ community and isn't good at picking on hints of a romance starting. Keep in mind now that she still didn't believe that Will was not straight at the beginning of s4.

Now comes the scene in Will's room, Mike comes in when he "didn't really unpack" and sits on Will's bed, I'm starting to see a look of absolute confusion appearing on my mother's face. Her eyes still glued to the screen she opens her mouth to tell me "he is gay for him too 🤨". It didn't even come out as a question it was more like a confused affirmation.

So, she didn't believe Will was gay even after I told her and with all the hints during the first three seasons but just one look from Mike to Will in s4 was enough for her to believe byler was definitely an option and most likely happening.

Thanks to my oblivious mom I now finally forgot who byler doubt was 💙💛

[loulou-land]

Congrats on your milestone!!

I'm not good at giving prompts but here it is: Salbucktommy with possessive Sal and Buck over Tommy. I also want to see them head over heels for Tommy, who has them wrapped around his little finger!

Hope that inspires you to write something... and if it doesn't, that's more than ok!

🧡 🧡

Dani! Thank you so much 😭💚 You’re the sweetest and I’ll never forget you were one of the first lovely humans to welcome me into bucktommy nation and talk to me about Brilliant minds.

Thanks for sending a prompt! I swear I set out to write exactly what you wanted but uh…instead, it took a mind of its own, Sal grabbed the reins and well this happened. I really do hope you still enjoy this salbucktommy and keep an eye out because I loved exploring their dynamic and definitely plan to write some more of them.

💚💚💚

They’re at their usual Queer-friendly bar, having opted out of joining their respective teams at a Badge & Ladder. They’ve wanted a night to themselves for weeks now and after a streak of conflicting shifts and canceled plans, they’ve finally carved out a night just for the three of them.

Sal’s come straight from a shift, still smelling faintly of smoke, while Buck and Tommy are twenty-four hours into a rare shared off.

Tommy just went to the bathroom, leaving Buck mid-ramble about something—Sal had stopped tracking the topic ten minutes ago in favor of trying to keep up with the game’s score. Something about the history of…Sailors tattoos? Or was it fire codes in New York? He's not sure. Buck had a way of diving headfirst into topics like they were burning buildings and half the time Sal just lets him go. It’s distracting as hell, but also weirdly endearing.

Suddenly, Buck’s steady stream of words cuts off. Sal glances at him, concern building up in him when he follows his line of sight and ahh. Some stocky, overly confident guy has intercepted Tommy on his way back from the bathroom. The guy leans in closer and Tommy, to his credit, looks relaxed, even amused.

“Easy there, Cujo.” Sal murmurs, noting the way Buck is all tightly bound energy at the moment. “Don’t go off maiming any ankles. I like this bar, don’t wanna get blacklisted.”

Buck frowns, bouncing slightly on the barstool like he’s ready to launch. “You seriously okay with some random asshole flirting with Tommy? I mean, who does that? Just stops someone coming from the bathroom—”

Sal shoots him an unimpressed look, as he takes a long sip of his beer. “Tommy can handle himself. ‘Sides I know exactly who he’s gonna be under tonight and whose hands it’ll be on him. Don’t you?”

Buck startles as Sal’s boot hooks around his ankle under the table—slow and deliberate—and his cheeks flush red. He’s never known anyone so capable of undressing him with his eyes like Sal does. That look Sal’s giving him…makes him feel stripped bare in more ways than one. Seen in a way he never was before. Until them. Tommy and Sal.

“Y—yeah. I know that. Just…”

Buck’s eyes flick back to Tommy, tracking the way he tilts his head and nods at something the other guy’s saying. He doesn’t look uncomfortable. But Buck still bristles.

Sal watches him with something close to fondness and worry. Watching the way Buck slightly hunches in on himself, looking unsure. He sighs.

These two—emotional wreckage wrapped in muscle and good intentions—so in love with each other they lose their heads the majority of the time. They really did a number on one another. It’s a wonder Sal fits in at all with them. This whole thing working far better than they believed it would. But sometimes, adding a third to a relationship doesn’t complicate things. Sometimes, it completes them.

Besides, these two idiots need a lot of loving. And if that has to be up to him…well he ain’t exactly complaining.

He glances back at Tommy, and their eyes lock—something sparking between them, part challenge, part question. Tommy’s lips twitch, and Sal feels his own curve into a smile before he can stop it.

Bastard, he thinks, fond. Playing us like a damn fiddle.

He feels heat pool low in his gut and suddenly, he needs to be back home. With both of his men.

Time to move this along.

He reaches across the table, fingers curling under Buck’s chin, gently tilting his head until their eyes meet.

He smirks as Buck’s eyes widen and his mouth parts, pretty pink tongue darting out to wet his lips.

“Baby, go get our man,” Sal says, voice low. “Time to head home.”

Buck nods quickly. “Uh-huh. Yeah. On it.”

He doesn’t move.

Sal arches a brow.

Buck jumps. “Tommy. Right. Okay.”

He slides off the stool, nearly tripping in his rush, but stops when Sal calls, “Hey, sweetheart?”

Buck turns, cheeks flushed, eyes already dilated.

“No maiming,” Sal says with a wink.

Buck visibly shudders. “No promises,” he mutters, but grins and sticks out his tongue at Sal, savoring the low chuckle he gets in return before weaving through the crowd toward Tommy. His heart hammering with all the filthy possibilities the night promises.

[stagefoureddiediaz]

https://www.tumblr.com/stagefoureddiediaz/782760653117063168?source=share

What could the check pattern mean? 👀👀

(Also I swear if they end up cutting this scene 😐😐😐)

Hey Dru!!!

I’m truly fascinated by this shirt choice for Eddie for a scene with Hen! I’ve been expecting and waiting for an Eddie and hen conversation the entire season - since the plane disaster - and I’m finally finally getting my wish and it’s accompanied with a intriguing costume choice and in an episode that plays heavily into the juice theme surrounding Eddie this season!

Firstly I want to touch on the fact that no watch is visible - I think I can see the outline of it on his wrist, but it isn’t visible. Then there is also the black Henley - something we see Eddie wearing several times across the seasons - nearly always in scenes connected to eddies family in some way - and we have a clear split in when he wears a black Henley - we see him in one in 215, 217 and 218 and then we don’t see him wear one again until 605, followed by 609, 614 and 701. The 701 one is the most interesting one as it’s the scenes connected to Chris and his multiple girlfriends and his talk with Buck and the. Later when Eddie gives him the letter from Shannon. It’s a series of scenes that really highlights the place of Buck in the Diaz family, and the co-parentsl role Eddie is putting Buck in - is trusting Buck in. So I do think we’ll see some element of this hen-Eddie scene be about family - and most likely about Christopher and his return to LA (or even if he has returned to LA as we don’t know how it’s all going to play out at this point) but the scene will definitely feature some element of conversation about Chris.

So back to the shirt Eddie is wearing - it is in his typical style - for the most part - we have breast pockets that are incredibly similar to the ones we’ve seen on other shirts he wears - shirts I would bill as his LA shirts or style, but the rest of the cut of the shirt is a mixture of Eddies LA and Texas styles - mostly his Texas style. The check is in keeping with his Texas look, so I’m not sure at this point if it’s going to be Eddie still in LA post funeral - before he leaves to return home to El Paso, or if it is Eddie newly returned to LA and the style is a hangover from him being in Texas - in a similar way to how we saw eddies style change over season 2 - moving away from El Paso style - less and less denim and a change in fit and less check and actually a more narrow colour palette!

My feeling at this moment is that it’s a scene shortly after Eddie has fully returned to LA - in part because of his hair and how happy and relaxed he looks in the still, and the fact that we have no reason to think that Eddie did more than fly in for the funeral before returning to El Paso (something I’m sure Tim will magically be expecting us to know even though it will have happened off screen!), but it it truly could be either option because a conversation with Hen in either context is going to work and is going to be important.

One of the reasons I’m so on the fence about it is the fact that it’s a pink shirt - and pink has been very intentionally been connected to eddies search for himself and for joy - his own joy - that is not connected to or about Christopher (directly). As you can see it’s a much more of a ‘dirty’ pink - a pink with brownish undertones - still in the same zone as the other pale pinks we’ve seen him in previously and in the same zone as bucks own forray into pale pink - with his cardigan.

It’s worth pointing out at this moment that all of the above uses of that pale pinks can be read as queer coded to a fairly big degree, and all three scenes are very buddie heavy as well - in different ways - showingn and highlighting different aspects of their relationship and its strength.

Now to me the check aspect of it is suggesting that this conversation is more than likely go somewhere Eddie isn’t either ‘ready for’ or isn’t going to like having pointed out to him - which for me is screaming that it’s about the Buck of it all because there isn’t a lot else it could be about and as I’ve just shown/ explained the use of the pale pink we’ve seen in the show in connection with Eddie and Buck is very buddie, especially buddie relationship coded. So the check is seemingly going to be about Eddie having his worldview changed in some way - because the check always means danger of some sort for the character - but danger isn’t always bad and invariably the person in check (especially when it’s a main) is having their plot moved forward in some way and the danger they face is the way that movement happens. My working theory is that the Eddie hen conversation will be connected to Bobbys ‘death’ and will come around to Buck in some way.

Then there is one last aspect to this new pink Eddie shirt - that is Buck unpacking his things in the Diaz house - finally moving himself in and letting himself accept his new reality. The shirt Buck is wearing is slightly more in the brown side of things than eddies new shirt - but it has very pink undertones and they are the same tonal shades. So we have a scene where Buck allows himself to accept and actually begin to exist in a space that he has struggled with because of its connection to Eddie, Chris, and all that Buck has ‘lost’ - a space that he’s never been a guest in because it’s Eddies house - a space that is still tied to Eddie because it’s eddies lease and Buck is subletting. Coming off the back of two scenes with two people pointing out the Eddie of it all and actively questioning bucks feelings - where eddies straightness is also brought up in both scenes. It’s very definitely an intentional costuming colour choice and it’s making me think that perhaps the reference to Buck that we might be getting is going to be about the roommates era we seem likely to be about to get - maybe hen questioning Eddie about his living arrangements if Buck is in eddies house - if Buck has found a new place now Eddie is back or something in that wheelhouse - about the idea of that connection and about existing in a space and of that space being a safe space.

This is of course all speculation on my part based on the colours and the way the show has previously used colour and even check patterning on Eddie or around Eddie - we’ll find out how close I was to the mark when the episode airs, but it isn’t a common colour and it’s not one the show has used much and the fact we’ve got so much of it in the last couple of seasons and in connection with one characters arc specifically is making me feel a certain level of confidence in my predictions - i really do hope I’m right!

[gnome-adjacent-vagabond]

Psst hey *pulls you closer* Canon middle-aged queer relationships and multiple canon queer/queer-coded characters. *lets you go* Go watch Venture Bros.

There are WAY more than these but I can't put em all up here because queer coding is up to interpretation. I say that everyone in Venture Bros is queer until proven straight but that's just me.

I wrote a whole-ass essay and then accidentally deleted it so the wording on this will probably be off, but it feels important so I'm gonna try be succinct.

Minor spoilers ahead! Skip paragraph three if you don't want those, then resume on paragraph four.

Full disclosure, this is a show that started in the early 2000s and has a LOT of issues in the first few seasons as well as a couple in the later seasons. There are transphobic and homophobic jokes, ableism, racism, and sexism. Sergeant Hatred is a walking trigger warning for about three seasons straight. It goes without saying but I'll say it anyway: DON'T watch this show if you have multiple triggers or are easily offended.

Having said that, these writers realized the problems with what they were writing and have worked to remedy those issues through commentary, retconning, and public acknowledgement of the early seasons' failings. Their opinions evolve and so does the show.

Shore Leave is a flamboyantly gay man who was initially intended to be a one-off joke about the G.I. Joe series and the Village People. Instead he has morphed into a three-dimensional character who presents comfortably as both masculine and feminine. He's in a loving relationship with another gay man, Al, who is flamboyant but tends to be a little less flashy. Steve Summers and Sasquatch have been a happy couple for years now--and all because the epitome of toxic masculinity, Brock Samson, helps them find a quiet cabin away from the government hunting them. Brock's mentor, Hunter Gathers, is a canonically detransitioned trans woman who struggles with her identity throughout the show (I'm still waiting for her to retransition despite the show's cancellation). Hank is perfectly at ease in a hyperfeminine strength suit, and Dean also goes through identity struggles that are never played for laughs and are heavily if not explicitly queer-coded. Vendata's queerness is understated and exists simply as a fact rather than being joked about. Sky Pilot is similar, though slightly more in Shore Leave's camp in terms of presentation. Sheila and the Monarch are self-proclaimed swingers and could be read to be in a poly relationship with Gary, their henchman. Debbie St. Simone has a rather homoerotic obsession with Sheila and is almost definitely bisexual.

The Venture Bros universe is full of queer rep, and the creators of the show write it in with intention. Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick talk about wanting it to be treated as fact rather than completely defining each of their characters--they talk about how few women are in the show and why (Johnny Quest and G.I. Joe, the inspirations for Venture Bros, are heavily malecentric and there's constant homoeroticism in them for that reason). They acknowledge the flaws and work to improve themselves and their writing. This has culminated in a surprisingly moving series about love, death, grief, trauma, and change that radiates queer subtext from any angle--especially Dean's journey.

Try the show at least up to season 4. The first three seasons are on Netflix and the rest are on Adult Swim. If you still don't like it, that's fine. Thank you for trying! Just know that it's out there and that it's an example of how human beings can change and become better people. Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick aren't perfect and neither is the Venture Bros, but for what it is it's a damn fun (shockingly so) show.

[delicateperspective]

Regarding The Observer (TO), I keep going back and forth about whether Louis is involved. Many of the posts are so Larry coded and in your face about L&H’s connections, so I wouldn’t think that L would risk it.

Then i started thinking more about it. There are only about 6K followers of TO on X and many of them are talking about how it’s someone playing with the fandom. Unless you are following this closely, you wouldn’t believe or understand the connections that TO is making. L could come right out and say that he and H are a couple with these clues and 99% of the public either wouldn’t care or wouldn’t believe it.

I will admit that when I first started looking into SBB and BBG, I thought the fandom was crazy. But when I really researched everything, I came to the conclusion that there is something to it all. Most of L and H’s fans won’t bother doing a deep dive. They’ll quickly glance at the posts from TO and come to the conclusion that it’s a scammer.

It could be a fan just playing with us all but I also think that Louis knows he can get away with posting a lot for the fandom without other people catching on.

Hey anon! I'm going to use your message to get some stuff out, so I hope you don't mind that this kind of flip flops and sommersaults from your main point.

I think its pretty much a right of passage to go from "nah these people are mad" to "okay maybe there is something here but not all that" to "yikes, they weren't off their rocker this stuff is pretty solid" as long as you keep researching.

Just like everything else in this, nothing is ever obvious. By definition it can't be. They did that when they were younger (my first real crush was louis tomlinson, it's confidential but we're already engaged, are you and louis dating? nods) and seemed to have paid dearly for it. They aren't that naive now. They know how to play the game.

These men are masterminds. They know how narratives work because they had to learn them from the inside out. They know that no matter how loud they get, there will always be people who pretend to be deaf.

Yesterday, a large number of people took a song Louis posted about loving someone for a long time despite all of the other changes in your life (on the three year anniversary of a song his ex-band member released about loving someone through all the other changes in your life) and made it about a girl he's known less than a month. If that isn't a prime example of people creating the narrative for him, I don't know what is.

I want to make it pretty clear that I don't think TO is necessarily L or H.

I don't even think it's someone with insider information necessarily. But I do think that L knows about it.

I don't take a coincidence like the guitar yesterday lightly.

I'm still operating, and will continue to operate, from the mindest that this is a fan as I follow along the journey. And if it gets toxic, I'll make sure that I share that information everywhere just like I am sharing the journey/connections/observations now.

But yes, I think the boys know they can be pretty loud and still get away with it now. Because antis and solos (not hating just putting a name to it) will do the rest of the work for them by twisting the narrative however they need to in order to make it fit their public perceptions of them.

I think that we sometimes are so deep in the fandom that its hard for us to see the perspective of the general population. Back in 1D the general population already assumed Louis (and most of them actually) was queer. Now, every "normal person" I talk to thinks Harry is queer. And as you said, even if I TRIED to explain TO to someone outside the fandom, they'd look at me like I grew a second head. 99% of people do not care about this.

I doubt it is a blip on the radar of anyone who hasn't been following these men closely already.

[theauthorkiwi]

i told myself i was gonna shut up about cdiyw but i decidedly cannot, so here’s pt2 (find pt1 here)

same cws and preface applies, but they’re more heavily discussed, along with topics of self-harm, and mentions of derealization/dissociation/depersonalization too

update: interlude/pt 2.5? here

okay first before we go back to the hcs/universe i talked about in part one, i’m gonna go on more of a tangent so bear with me

i truly do really love both clarissa x mark and clarissa x amanda (i’m a multishipper, sue me) which is why i tend to argue a lot for things like polyamory (plus polyamory can’t ever catch a break so i always love shooting characters with the poly beam) 

but someone in my reblogs made a really good point regarding the need for more unrequited love stories to stay unrequited love and absolutely +1 to everything they said

it’s personally an aspect to these characters i would love to see explored more because clarissa on first viewing of cdiyw struck me as extremely straight or at the very least heavily repressed in her queerness so as an angst lover i think making straight clarissa and lesbian amanda the dynamic is really interesting, and it’d let you explore that quintessential queer experience of an unreciprocated crush that’s rarely depicted in media

it’d also be a very interesting character study of how the two respond to these feelings and how their relationship evolves with that understanding, and depending on your direction there’s definitely ways to make a satisfactory happy ending that doesn’t involve the two getting together 

or you could just write pure yearning for 10k words and i’d read it, that works too 

also if you’re into the unrequited love angle, you could definitely write it in the sense that clarissa views amanda as her chosen sister, while amanda sees clarissa as her entire world, and play with how relationships can mean different things to each respective person in that relationship because of their lived experiences

continuing with the reblog they mentioned aro amanda and i absolutely need to talk about that because as someone who is arospec i see literally all three of them as arospec coded like amanda feels much more fully aromantic or grayromantic, mark i place more demiromantic, and clarissa i feel very mixed about but i really love playing around with cupioromantic for her (though the label isn’t a perfect match and would probably be compounded with a few others in the arospec umbrella)

like there is something very yummy to me about clarissa who like you could write as a standard one-note boy obsessed girl, being actually someone who has a very complicated and messy relationship to the idea of love itself thanks to her dad leaving (aka make my girl more jaded please and thank you) but has always aspirationally looked up and wanted to be in love yet she can’t escape this substantial feeling of being trapped that she gets from even the idea of a standard heterosexual marriage 

mix that all in with personal insecurity of not being someone easy to love, societal expectations regarding romance, the religious vibe that the setting of cdiyw seems to have, her guilt regarding her mother, personal fears over marriage and motherhood because of her father, and that like internalized without romance you’ll never be actually loved or enough so just conform belief and you’ve created the character ever

(i will underscore that aro/arospec can be and is for a lot of people an extremely empowering label, and aromantic people deserve representation that lets them be totally comfortable in that identity, just as much as we deserve representation that also explores the more negative parts of finding yourself because diversity is always a strength more than it is a hindrance)

also, just as like a putting it out there, i really need someone to indulge me in a qpr dynamic between all three of them and as a big lover of emphasising friendships in media, i definitely want to argue for more amanda clarissa mark friendship exploration and the complicated found family dynamic i talked about in my first post 

okay now going back to the canon i created in pt1, i’m here with a way too long exploration of these characters (yes i’ve somehow found more to say about them)

mark 

first okay i’ve seen some talk regarding why mark likes diy and i have some thoughts 

mark, thanks to his shitty fucking home life, definitely grew up very independent and often left alone, plus i highly doubt that mark’s father is the type to welcome strangers into his house in order to repair stuff, or the type to put a lot of care towards house maintenance generally, or the type to use money that can be spent on alcohol for like responsible stuff

so with these two factors i can see like a young mark, on a day his father is out for work/drinking, who’s sick of a broken sink or something in the house, so he decides to take his father’s toolbox that probably hasn’t been touched in years, and just fucking fixes it himself, and it’s kinda like shitty but it works and it’s something he did with his own hands and like just that sensation of a kid constantly wanting love and external validation finding a way to be proud of himself intrinsically is something i think could be deeply beautiful to explore

plus there’s definitely a layer of paranoia and fear you could play with of mark worried the longer it takes to fix that his father will come home and find him like this and get pissy over it

but it doesn’t happen, and mark just looks over his handiwork and for once feels like he has some kind of place in the house, some sort of value to his existence, even if it’s something kinda small and simple

and then there’s the element of his father’s reaction, i can imagine like in the went out to drink version that his father doesn’t even notice it’s fix cause he had never really paid enough attention to the house to know it was broken in the first place

but i like the work angle almost better, of him having complained about the shitty sink once while hungover, and then coming home sober enough to notice the change, and for once, having some sort of approval towards mark, and it’s not quite being proud of him, or even respect, or some sort of twisted form of love, but it’s enough for his son who’s so desperate for some recognition, that even a silent quiet gleam in his father’s eyes is worth more than anything 

i think this hobby would continue from there as some sort of desperate chase for that look again, some acknowledgement that his father doesn’t just see him as a reminder of a dead woman, but it doesn’t happen, and overtime it slowly morphs into something more real, and for himself

like i can imagine mark spending his paycheck from his first job and putting the money into fixing stuff around the house and like bit by bit he’s reclaiming space for himself (if you’re into the hc of mark’s dad being a cop, the job being a more creative one and breaking away from his father’s field would be really interesting, and a fun contrast of like something his father disapproves of going towards the only action mark can do which isn’t to his father something worth being mocked)

there’s also the religious angle to it, of physically making something like you are your own god, and through creation he has something tangible and physical to believe in instead of just words and preaching 

plus like mark would definitely have a desire for control too, and there’s nothing quite like making something with your own hands that lets you be in control

also i think it’s probably one of his few healthy coping mechanisms, that sort of escapism into his work, but also like a way to remind himself he is still here because he can feel the tools in his hands moving against the materials and can hear the sounds of pieces being screwed together and like it’s just something incredibly grounding when he’s at risk of dissociating 

then there’s the aspect of his need to fix things extending to relationships and particularly with clarissa like both of them read to me as people with shit communication and bad anger issues/emotional management but like mark would hate to have these open conflicts because it feels like a raw scab itching on his skin, but the way he tries to resolve them is very like structured and almost mechanical, and the way he treats them like devoid of the emotional aspect to conflict resolution would absolutely rub clarissa the wrong way like he’s commanding this of her (she very much gives me like pathological demand avoidance lowkey) and it kinda only gets worse (this is kinda inspired by the scene where mark is like “so you can apologize” but also i didn’t rewatch the lf to write this lol so idk i might be misremembering) 

speaking of clarissa actually i can see her being the first person to be like unequivocally proud of him for his diys and like taking an interest in what he enjoys without any reservation or caveats or apprehension and it’s the first time mark realizes how easy it would be for his father to have done the same but he can’t let his mind linger on it too long like he just can’t 

but then amanda hears about it and i don’t even think they’re particularly close yet in the timeline when she learns about his passion but even like a person who doesn’t quite like him yet is able to muster pride at his work and he can’t help but wonder why his own father hadn’t been able to (and he can’t just say it’s his fault anymore, not when he has two people proving him wrong, who aren’t afraid to tell him he’s wrong when he blames himself) 

also i really like the idea that any wood related diys mark does gets painted by clarissa, and later on, amanda helps him plan out his designs instead of his usual jumping straight into them approach, and she also helps make those smaller choices for him when he’s not really sure, so things like where in their apartment it could go, what type of wood would be the best match, plus anything with fabric/sewing is all on her cause both clarissa and mark cannot string a needle to save their life and it’s just like so good to have people who care and love him and go so far as to join him in his hobbies (also i just have like a personal hc that amanda can sew and she’s like quite good at it)

another cute idea i think would be fun is that mark gets into drumming because of amanda who randomly suggested he try one day (clarissa i could see vocals or something more classic like guitar or piano, while amanda absolutely cannot sing but i could see being good at a string instrument whether that’s more classical or like electric) 

regarding his relationships, i think clarissa means something to mark that almost transcends language, like there is so much love and support he now has access to and he’s not sure quite where to put his hands without breaking something, and like there is a layer of like a worshipper who has been for so long denied prayer x sculptor crafting something lovingly to life that their relationship embodies in my brain (which, promoting myself a little, if you kinda want that energy (heavy on the kinda), this might be interesting idk, also mark and his father poem maybe eventually lol)

on mark’s end though he strikes me as a very self-destructive person in the ruining what good he has in his life sense cause he doesn’t feel like he deserves it, and this mixed with a tendency to lash out easily means that early him and clarissa fight like constantly (and i think clarissa is really shit at explaining these fights to amanda so amanda absolutely has a terrible impression of mark before they even properly meet, like clarissa is a mix of blaming herself really strongly while also describing mark’s actions more extremely, and amanda wouldn’t know mark’s home life enough to have better context for any outbursts) 

i think ultimately though they come out of their fights more close than ever, and over time the pattern recognition hits and clarissa can just tell when mark’s father is worse/drinking more than usual (or again, if you’re into the idea mark’s father has a cycle of saying he’ll quit, feeling like shit because trying to get sober is a pain in the ass, treating mark worse when he’s trying to get clean, before relapsing) 

and it’s like a lighter load on mark’s shoulders having someone who can see him so plainly (not that he really tried to hide it, people just don’t really give the angry guy in class a second look to wonder why he’s like that, except her, cause she’s always the exception in his life it seems) 

i think there’s a freeness in their relationship that they’re both not used to, like clarissa says shit that comes to her brain before she even knows what she’s thinking, but there is like worry and anxiety and concern that clarissa hasn’t ever shared (not even to amanda) about her mother that she tells mark, and this leads to a much deeper conversation about like mark’s own mother and all that complexity (beiyuanism and dawn-speckled have both made interesting posts regarding that so i recommend reading them if you haven’t already)

back on the self destructiveness, mark’s like antagonism with his father and like standing up to him i think is absolutely not talked about enough, like just the act of trying to goad someone dangerous because otherwise you’re sitting with your own thoughts and feelings and like you just need that adrenaline rush to feel alive and it helps take your mind off everything even if you’re scared fucking shitless rn at disagreeing but you also have long since stopped exactly believing everything your father says yet your brain can’t help but internalize it anyway and just all of that playing in mark’s head when he’s instigating a negative interaction with his dad 

(the dynamic of like i’ll take a bad interaction with my father even if it means i’ll end up hurt/angry because otherwise his voice will just become a strangers interacting against clarissa who doesn’t know her father and amanda who has like only ever had her father to rely on is also really fun to play with) 

i can also see like the self destructiveness meaning he doesn’t put much effort into school (cause why would he, when no one believes in him, and it’s not like he has a future anyway, and it’d have just been better if he had been the one to die that night rather than his mother) and getting into fights he doesn’t really have a chance at winning and going to parties even if he can’t really stand the cheap beer and alcohol and people and noise but it’s better than being at home even if it means standing around with no one who wants to talk to him 

(i don’t think mark would ever be a bully, like it’s just not who he is at all cause he’s more of a standoffish loner in my brain, but i could see him being the type of guy to get into fights by instigating like an assholes attention when he notices one of them picking on someone who like clearly wouldn’t be able to take a beating like he can) 

i think mark is actually kinda smart though, like it probably came as a result of the diy but he’s got a good grasp of math and physics and architecture, but he’s a much more hands-on learner so it’s not obvious to teachers and other adults in his life 

clarissa sees it, but she isn’t really academically inclined either (much more a creative, enjoys art and english and drama and music ykyk, though i could see her being maybe a history nerd) like her grades are just very average while his are like only good for a few subjects and kinda really shit otherwise, so like i could see them kinda just commiserating together about subjects they have no fucking clue about, and helping the other where they can on stuff they do know 

stepping back a little in the timeline of their relationship, i think they met in like a very almost stereotypical meet cute way, of like bumping into each other, and i think clarissa probably spilled something on him, and he’s a little too brash and rude in his response, and she absolutely calls him out on it, but she’s also not gonna let him be soaked, so she leads him away from the party and tries to help him dry off, and they’re both a little awkward about it, but he’s surprised she’s staying, and she’s surprised by how much more mellowed out he is the moment he’s gone from that loud environment, and i think further surprised when he apologies for what he said in that like bumbling unsure of himself way 

i think they fuck off from the party after that, taking a walk around outside, and clarissa probably feels weird about the silence so she just talks about whatever comes to mind, and mark is just looking at her against the sunset

they’re like that for a while until amanda finally finds clarissa, and lightly scolds her for walking off with a random man without talking to her, and clarissa reassures amanda that he didn’t do anything, and amanda beyond a look up and down doesn’t really pay much attention to mark after clarissa’s good word, and both of them are treating him like he’s not a danger, and there’s something nice about the idea of being harmless 

now, amanda and mark, my dearly beloveds, i think if clarissa is the first person in his life to really like believe in him, amanda is the first to kinda defend him and be like protective over him, like i keep on to the fact amanda did not like mark early on at all, but like still clarissa likes him and amanda doesn’t like clarissa sad, and she knows it makes clarissa upset when people talk badly about mark, and while she has her own less than pleasant thoughts towards him, there’s that like sibling energy of like only i get to be a little shit towards him, and she’d absolutely snark people when they say something mean about mark in her presence

mark doesn’t know she’s doing it for like months cause she’s absolutely hiding it from both him and clarissa, but i think he overhears someone mention it while whispering about him or he just sees her glaring at someone talking about him one day when he’s with clarissa and oh there’s something warm and soft blooming in his chest at that (he doesn’t really need the protection, it’s not like he really cares that people talk, or that people don’t like him with the “nice clarissa girl”, and it’s not like he’s wanted a savior at least not in a long time, but it’s still something, and it makes a little kid in his heart feel less like an open wound) 

i think where clarissa is kinda gentle and soft with him when he’s in a bad headspace about his father, amanda is much more like blunt about it, like that “you’re being ridiculous if you think you’re gonna get rid of us now” type energy, and like i don’t think she’s all that good at hiding her feelings about mark’s father, and it always pings around his head how much amanda and clarissa don’t like his father, but she’s still like kinder to him than he’s really all that used to with her, but like just the effort put in is something he holds on to, he’s not used to being treated like glass instead of a ticking time bomb, and it’s not perfect, far from it, but care still feels nice to hold even if it’s clumsily expressed

also she would absolutely not take his negative self-talk, like in the same way she treated clarissa when they were just friends instead of gfs, she kinda accidentally adopts talking to mark that way now and clarissa thinks it’s so funny and amanda will die to her grave denying treating him like he’s one of the girls (let mark join girls night) or like he’s her little brother

(she knows how she’s acting, she doesn’t care to actually stop it, plus it makes clarissa happy they’re getting along, and mark for all his brains is very emotionally unintelligent and has no idea what to make of their new dynamic besides just accepting it) 

i think both clarissa and amanda are able to read mark like really easily, like he’s not all that good at being a closed book, and they’re the first people in his life who truly see who he is anyway, so he kinda doesn’t want to hide from them 

i think they’re different in what they see easily about mark, like clarissa saw the goodness and light in him before he ever fucking found it himself, despite it always being there, but amanda sees the wounded animal clawing at his heart with such precision it’s like she’s prepared for a dissection, like very much the kind of person who can take one look at you and spit back your life story, and it’s like impossible to hide his thoughts from amanda, not when she can tell by just the look in his eyes what he’s reliving 

that skill probably comes in handy like after mark’s father passes away and he grows a little more quiet and distant and far away from them

i don’t have like the brain space currently to even begin unpacking mark’s reaction to his father’s death, but i absolutely need it messy and complicated and affecting all three of them in different ways and it’s only made worse when mark has to plan the funeral 

timeline wise i think it’d probably be like months after the poly relationship is formed, which is already months after like ms jenkins death which is a couple months after the wedding so in a fic perspective this death would be a much later narrative arc 

clarissa

ik i talked about it in the first part but like truly i think about clarissa and her mom constantly, like there is something to like how a city doesn’t wait for you to pick up the pieces, and how easy it is to get mad at how the world is still spinning after your loss, and like that coupled with a brain that already goes in like 3x speed, and also just how much time she would’ve had to process the diagnosis and the incoming meeting with death yet it still hits her like a fucking truck 

like there is something about that phone call she dreads having to pick up, just for it to tell her that the clock has finally ticked down, and all she has left is goodbye like clarissa to me is someone who cannot keep track of time at all but it feels like it’s fucking hunting her down and omnipresent constantly 

there is so much tragic material here to be explored, all wrapped up in a woman that like is everpresently bubbly and sweet and known as nice by practically everyone 

like i think about all the older church going women or like the hs/college acquaintances that try to give condolences and she just sits there and smiles and takes it, and it’s not even forever, because after a few days no one really cares anymore, but the pity is so raw on their faces it makes her want to carve a new expression out by force, and it’s the like implosion of no one understanding how she’s fucking feeling throughout her whole life coalesced into this event

to me clarissa in grieving is not a quiet affair at all like it’s very much like a turbulent whirlwind of emotions cause like she’s had to kinda prolong this fear and worry and anxiety towards her mother’s condition that it’s like a cannonball winding up for the explosion, and it kinda just hit her square in the chest with such force that like her head is spinning and the air is out of her lungs

complicated maternal relationships are my favorite to explore personally there is so many layers here depending on what flavor of projection you like lol 

shifting gears from that since i did touch on the topic already, i wanna go into like amanda and clarissa and their friendship to relationship

i think kid clarissa was much more lonely (extrovert, but too much for people to like her, etc etc) but searching for that missing connection in her life, where amanda was more loner who was kinda above it all but intimidating that no one messed with her and like she probably would’ve been fine all alone for her early schooling days but then clarissa came fucking crashing into her life and now she’s irrevocably ruined and clarissa’s smile is worth more to her than anything else

for like how complex and interesting their dynamic is to me, i feel like their friendship is one that is like very standard teen girlhood energy, and in that it’s also really beautiful to me like that picturesque getting into mischief and sharing clothes and the hours spent talking about nothing at all 

romance wise i think these two would have a very dysfunctional relationship if they had gotten together in the canon timeline of cdiyw, because i think both of them would really suck at establishing proper boundaries like amanda would be too lenient because this is like what she’s been yearning for and it feels like disagreeing would jeopardize everything, while clarissa is just very new to like her queerness and it’s like an avalanche of new experiences that she’s not entirely sure her feelings about and it’s just a fuck ton of delayed processing on her end 

in my canon, i don’t think they’d get together until like months after the death of ms jenkins at least, cause they’re reestablishing this friendship after a bit of distance, and it’s almost like watching two uncoordinated baby giraffes try dancing like it’s not pretty but it’s kinda a trainwreck you can’t take your eyes off of, but that distance probably would’ve helped them try to like establish lines that probably should’ve been talked about a long time ago (but it’s like that longer you know someone less easy it feels to bring something up energy)

i love like minor girlfailure clarissa like she gives me pathetic kicked puppy vibes (which might just be luke upon further thought, given that tom is wet cat energy and so is amanda) but like idk i need that girl more of a nerd and a constant adhd mess and without any coordination (and there’s definitely a lot of potential to be explored in clarissa having adhd, especially with my canon and specifically regarding ms jenkins) 

out of the three, clarissa feels like she’s been to church the most, and has the most faith among all of them, but like i think after her mother’s death and all the people trying to talk to her about how she’s doing and father petrova being yk him about the passing just leads to her avoiding the place and over time she kinda drifts away from it, but i do think later in her life when things settle down more and tim is the new father she flirts with the idea of religion again, though to a lesser extent than she used to

i think it would become a much more private and personal connection in clarissa’s life, and while like she doesn’t involve her partners in it (which is also like an interesting dynamic of how their views of religion clash and differ) i think the community aspect does really help someone like clarissa (plus i think volunteer stuff she’d get really excited about, and it’s something i could see mark or amanda joining her in doing because it makes her happy to have them there while also not being overtly religious that it’d affect either of them too negatively) 

mark and clarissa i did touch on already so i won’t repeat that stuff here but like from clarissa’s pov generally i think she saw mark as like a respite away from having to play a specific character, like with him she let herself drop that mask she’s had and whatnot (though i do genuinely think a lot of that like more bubbly energy is true to who she is, it’s just also like hard to keep that up constantly to please others) 

plus i think there is a lot of interesting ground to cover of like amanda’s jealousy towards this new relationship clarissa has formed, and not even in the explicitly romantic sense, but like initially as like a taking her best friend away from her sense, and there’s fun complexity to be had in like amanda seeing how well the two can be together, along with the bad

some silly stuff before we get into amanda’s section, clarissa feels like a stuffed animals type girl but in that sense of like a partner preferring your cat over you, and both mark and amanda have feelings about it, like unserious but spawning from more serious aspects of their personality (insecurity/jealousy) 

and that does mean the beginning of their poly relationship was an absolute clusterfuck and they all needed to do a lot of growth and have a lot of conversations and mr wilson definitely had to do so much unpaid emotional labor (to which the trio do treat him on father’s day for, and always joke he’s the reason their relationship lasted, even if he will always claim they got there by themselves) 

i think also after clarissa explores her queerness more her style goes through a bit of a transition too, like it’s a mix of like more masculine attire and hyperfem vibes and it doesn’t really stick to any sort of aesthetic but fluctuates constantly (i think she quite enjoys long flowy skirts though) 

amanda

i think, similar to clarissa, after finding out she’s a lesbian she experiments with her style a bit more, eventually settling on a more sharp and classic looks with distinctly feminine silhouettes (button ups, collared shirts, long pants/skirts, belts, blazers, etc) but like teen amanda would’ve had like a glorious edgy alt phase and i think she keeps a bit of that energy into her current style too (and when clarissa begins trying things out, amanda helps her pick stuff out, and they twin outfits some days) 

amanda came out to her dad on complete accident while loopy after getting her wisdom teeth removed, like she had known she was queer for months but did not feel brave enough telling anyone (she comes out to her father before clarissa, and mr wilson absolutely fucking knew cause she was not subtle at all, amanda does not learn this happened though until like a month later when she does a proper coming out and is mildly annoyed she was stressed for no reason, he makes pizza for her of course as an apology for not letting her know sooner, and it does get properly emotionally sappy from there) 

amanda coming out to clarissa i’m less sure about, like i think you could play with clarissa being totally supportive of it, or like have amanda’s coming out influence clarissa’s eventual coming out too, in the sense that like maybe clarissa hadn’t really ever considered being in love with women or play with like the not realizing that not everyone is just lowkey attracted to women kinda vibes but like regardless it takes her much longer to get there than amanda (who i’m placing around like late teen years when she realizes, and clarissa like in her 20s probably a bit after the wedding) 

before we even begin to touch the wedding, cause somehow i’ve barely mentioned it, i want to go into amanda and religion 

i think about what it means for amanda to have grown up in what used to be a church, like especially as a queer girl in a fairly religious part of town, and to me it feels like there is a lot of like haunting the narrative you could do with amanda and religion like her sitting with clarissa in a booth at the restaurant and she has all these feelings she’s not quite sure what to name yet but even then it’s like eyes are watching her every move and she’s not quite sure if it’s just the rest of the patrons there or if it’s something more holy than that 

like i don’t think mr wilson is all that precious about religion though i do think he has some belief in god, but like he has a restaurant to run and a daughter to care for, so his time is limited in when he could even be going to church, and as a result amanda probably grew up distant from religion but like it’s not all that easy to escape from considering where they live, and depending on how far you want to take the religious fanaticism there could be a layer of judgement from others at how unreligious the wilsons are, though there is some light pity too given that many kinda just assume amanda doesn’t interact with religion thanks to the death of her mother (and this sort of helps hide the more pressing reason of like her queer identity) 

i think she has very complicated and mixed feelings towards religion that she just doesn’t feel like exploring that much, like she’s not all that introspective about it personally, but there is like that general kinda unease about being in church, the kinda danger of being too public and out in a possibly unsafe environment, and a lowkey apathy towards the preaching and messaging like she never really connected to faith at all, at least not to any level clarissa and mark have

thanks to religion though i could see it definitely playing a part in why she like didn’t come out to clarissa or her father for like a while after realizing, and i think it’s a topic that her and mark are kinda like shared solidarity about even if they don’t talk that deeply about it (personally i place amanda more agnostic than full atheist, but out of the three she’s the most like non-believer 

now okay so the wedding i have a lot of thoughts about 

in a lot of cdiyw fics there is sort of that like stop the wedding or good luck babe energy, so like amanda’s emotions towards the wedding is ground that’s been covered but i honestly think people have not explored the angst value to the fullest potential yet 

it’s interesting to me that amanda is the one to suggest the wedding in the first place, and while in reality it’s cause the clamanda hair tuck moment hadn’t happened yet, but like ignoring the 4th wall, there is something to the sealing my own doom aspect of her character that does not get talked about enough like i need to know her entire thought process cause like on one hand you could be like maybe she thought it wouldn’t actually work out, and with that you’re playing with like a bit of foolish naive hope, as well as like a very soul crushing disappointment after, and on the other hand there is like that layer of sacrifice and giving up you could write too, like playing with prolonged finality and risking your own happiness for someone else’s

the relationship to sacrifice amanda and clarissa have is constantly in my head, like on a wider with the context of society there is just the blatant sexism of women being expected to be the one to give up their dreams for another person, and i think about the judgement both of them would get in their community cause amanda would stay unmarried and clarissa doesn’t strike me as someone willing to put up with being a housewife for the rest of her life, and that’s not even beginning to consider like people pushing kids and pregnancy on her before she’s ready, and it’s like near constant the societal expectation of these two having to push aside their own desires for like heteronormativity 

and in that i think is where the queerness of the two come into play and develop more, cause like the polyarmoy angle is just an absolute fuck you to all of that, but like early clamanda is more like in sharp contrast of these beliefs while still moulded and in relation to them (so like amanda and the wedding, or clarissa post-married and not sure how to approach also liking amanda, having to keep being gfs/poly a secret in their town, etc) like i think both of them through their relationship are undergoing an arc of breaking through like patriarchal standards and views on love 

amanda being prusemably maid of honor and helping her father plan out the wedding of her best friend cause she’d never fucking miss that but it’s also like absolutely destroying her and mr wilson is watching his daughter throw herself head first without checking her heart has a safe landing and in that there’s a lot of interesting conversations to be had between the father daughter pair of like love and probably the emotions mr wilson felt when he lost his wife and all of that being explored which ultimately results in the two getting even closer 

the day of the wedding is a hot mess, and amanda cycles through like the stages of grief six times every hour, and like i can imagine her helping clarissa get ready and daydreaming of a different world where she was brave enough to have said something earlier, but all she does is smile and fix clarissa’s hair, and clarissa has no idea why her best friend’s smile doesn’t quite reach her eyes

i’ve said already i think after the wedding the two drift apart, and it’s fucking soul crushing for both of them, but also like life is so hectic sometimes it’s like you can’t even focus on the deterioration of your friendships as an adult, and both clarissa and amanda are like changing as people for the first time without each other, and when they do see each other again it’s like a divorce couple noticing the changes in the other’s face but still recognizing that same mole on their cheek (this analogy doesn’t work that well with amanda’s prosopagnosia but i’m trying folks words are hard) 

my last point on amanda is that i think she’s like genuinely the most inconsolable anyone has ever seen her when mr wilson eventually passes away (which out of the three’s parents he’d be the last and it happens like years later)

both mark and clarissa have never seen her in tears more in their whole life, and they’re both grieving him too, and it’s like just a lot of emotions in that household for like a long time before any of them feel at all ready to even begin to plan a funeral or figure out what’s going to happen to the pizzeria (i like to think eventually they reopen it together, and the apartment upstairs is their like permanent place of residence, though it is a little bit of a tight squeeze) 

i think the company in grief is nice though, and really what helps amanda the most is just time, and there’s definitely a cute moment like the first day they reopen the restaurant and a bunch of old customers are immediately back and supporting them, and while amanda may not have ever really felt like all that close to the other people in town, it’s working at the restaurant that brings her community and space she’s been missing after the passing of mr wilson, and i could see her the that night after closing being in tears again thinking about all the stories she heard from patrons about her father

it’s in hearing that so many people cared and remembered him that makes the loneliness less bitter, and it’s a good reminder that grief is not a sprint but a marathon, and the more people there are with his memory the more he does live on in a way and in this like particular death i think all three of them find their own personal closure too, like mark got a father he could call a good man without any mixed emotions, clarissa got a father who she knew and who loved her, and amanda doesn’t have to hold on to being just her and her dad anymore, because there’s so many more people in her life now 

now, unrelated to basically of this lol, i’m gonna very briefly talk about tim

that poor boy is absolutely gonna have a lot of stuff to process later in life, cause like he’s 14 and the main adult we know he has any form of relationship to besides an unnamed mom is father petrova and i can’t imagine that going very well

plus there’s that layer of being watched as the altar boy that i think could be interesting, given how much like father petrova has him do shit not in his job description at all, plus there’s the line of tim being unsure if this is what he wants to do in his life (which like he’s 14, that’s so fair love) and also probably a larger conversation of like religion with younger kids and growing up in that environment etc etc

and i think like mark and tim’s relationship is an interesting one, given like mark’s young age when his mother passed and that like youth in relation to his church/religious days being contrasted by tim 

there is also i think the hc tim is the sibling of amanda which i think is fun though not one i’m personally like extremely attached to, but i think there’s definitely a lot of ideas to play with there if you put it in context with like the bs i’ve been going on about 

also this is not important at all but it is funny to me tim saying my child to mark during the confession scene while being 14 when mark is presumably like in his 20s 

anyways, same endnote as last time, but let characters be complicated and nuanced and not always easy to root for, especially characters that are queer, disabled, or of any other marginalization because we deserve it :)

[cheezewhis]

Idk I'm definitely in the minority here but I just can't call Doctor Odyssey throuple bait because the whole season was about navigating the relationship between three people and they were never a full on triangle but there's no one way to be polyamourous and these things take time to develop. The show never shied away from the possibility of a throuple and just because it didn't end up that way doesn't really make it bait to me, it just makes that the road not taken...for now (cause I am still holding out for a season 2). I wouldn't really call it queerbait either since there's been a ton of queer characters on the show but getting into the nuances of queerbait vs coding on Tumblr is nightmarish.

Then again, I've been saying since the start of the show that I'd watch 10 seasons of this because its not just throuple coding, there's explicitly exploration. Idk I guess I'm just bummed because I actually like the show but most of the fandom is just people complaining that the show isnt....idk....not just giving us everything at once? Idk its just not fun to be here anymore. There's literally one season and the fandom already sucks.

[wintxrsbuck]

•Steve Harrington Fanfic•

I am a firm believer in religious trauma gay steve harrington. so i wrote this :3

| CW- religious trauma, homophobia, slurs |

so when he was growing up, like every family in the late 60’s to late 70’s, his family was the type of people to go to church every sunday and pray to god to have all straight and normal kids. “dear lord, don’t give me one of them fag or d*ke kids, so that they can make it into heaven, and make sure they’re protected and safe, but mostly normal. amen” his mom would pray often, undoubtedly in her thick indiana accent. this never became a problem for steve, he didn’t know what “one of them fags” meant. all he knew is he didn’t want to be anything like it.

until he got to middle school and started to learn about the world. he learned that “one of them fags” was two boys who did stuff with each other. he was grossed out, intrigued, but grossed out. he learned what a loser was and what a creep was. and he was a bully for most of his schooling career until one day, in senior year of high school, billy hargrove showed up.

after the traumatizing events of junior year he was glad to see a new, somewhat friendly but definitely cute, face around. his feelings towards billy continued to grow, however. very much against steve’s own permission. there was something about billy that just entranced him. maybe it was that he was feisty, or that feeling that if you said no there’s a chance he’d take it farther. he intimidated and enchanted him. but he remembered what he’d hammered into his head many years again, “don’t let them be one of them fags”. he didn’t want to go to hell, but he wasn’t so sure that there even was hell anymore. i mean after what he’d witnessed over the past year, what could possibly be worse. but he’d always been taught to believe in god, believe in heaven, believe in hell. he wasn’t so quick to forget all of that.

it wasn’t until he watched his (ex?) girlfriends boyfriends kid brother suffer through a horrendous possession. he thought “if god was real how could he let this happen? to a poor little boy?”. he jsut didn’t buy it. but if that part of his childhood was a lie, was anything else? was god even real? heaven?…. hell? it wasn’t until he saw billy, this fascinating specimen of the human form, get torn to shreds in front of his kid sister, that he decided god must not be real. heaven must not be real,, hell must not be real.

he decided this all too late. he couldn’t talk to billy about his feelings. he couldn’t talk to anybody. he was a terrible person, and he was a he. he knew robin was queer so he had some sense of community, but he had no sense of the reality of trying to date as “one of them fags”. he saw countless times, robin getting excited then broken when things with a girl wouldn’t work out. so finally he decided that love as “one of them fags” was impossible.

until he met eddie munson. well less met rather learned more about, eddie munson. all steve thought of him was that he was a creep who got held back. it wasn’t until he was framed for murder that steve got to know him, really know him. he began to enjoy his time with eddie, he basked in the glory of being by a man who gave his heart a flutter. then things got in the way, upside down things. he vowed to himself, with robin as witness, that he would talk to eddie after everything was settled. he’d approach it lightly, keeping things vague until he got a confirmation of interest. then he’d swoop in with the money move. but that day never came. he waited and waited and then when things were looking like they were finally over, when he finally got the courage. he hears dustin over the super-walkie “code red eddie is,, eddie is down. i repeat code red eddie is down.” in his tearful, broken voice.

all at once his world came shattering down. everything he was looking up to, gone with one simple sentence, three violent words “eddie is down”. in that moment, he decided queer love is possible, just not for him.

[seedoffaith]

fc5 pride headcanons.....

sexuality HC's for seeds + guns for hire + people i like. it's a whole bundle

Joseph Seed: i think this man is a little bit bisexual. not a lot. just a little. he's too hung up on his dead wife to give a fuck about it. i think he would go to a pride parade and wear one of those 'dad hugs' shirts and then try to convert people, because the hustle never ends. John Seed: i mean come on i don't have to spell it out for anyone. this is a bisexual pervert freak. before he got really into the cult you KNOW he was a pride party guy. every day was a new adventure Jacob Seed: i am biased because i like him. i think jacob seed has some complicated hyper-specific sexuality type shit going on but he has a job so he doesn't care. the closest approximation i can think of is like, aroace pan. he's like if playersexual was a thing you could be in real life. he doesn't like anyone enough to really have a drive for this sort of thing. and also he'd kill everyone and then himself if he had to go to a pride parade Faith Seed: she's got some crazy comphet shit going on. you KNOW im going to say she's a lesbian we don't even have to discuss it. her and tracey had some crazy yuri going on at the beginning of the cult. she still goes to pride parades but has a bad time because she wont put shoes on Hudson: LESBIAN. and in my mind i want her to give futchy realness. her and mary may are fucking nasty style in falls end. she had a short lived hey mamas phase in college, and never talks about it. loves a good pride parade

Pratt: i think he's bi with a masc preference. he fucks up the hope county tinder scene, it's a little bit ridiculous. chronic speed dater. much more fond of casual relationships than anything serious, but i think that stems from a fear of commitment or something else like that.

Mary May: cut and dry transgender pansexual. has most likely only been with men, but i see her with a nonbinary partner wrapped around her finger. pride week at the spread eagle is fucking insane.

Jerome: i cannot in good faith headcanon a godly man as anything other than bisexual. sorry, it's against my moral code. i think he has a very slight masc lean. he's super sentimental though, so i don't think he has much experience other than his actual canonical dead wife.

Tracey Lader: LESBIAN LESBIAN LESBIAN LESBIAN LESBIAN

Wheaty: bisexual in the way that all teenage boys are like a little bit bi. he's a radio host he can't be straight

Kim: straight, and unlike Nick she's a strong ally from the start. very outspoken, but would rather go to a smaller event than go to a pride parade. maybe host a pride barbecue, although i don't know what that entails. you KNOW she went to bat for the queer kids in college. she's my woke warrior

Nick: straight, tries his best to be an ally. he's not that good at it at first, but Carmina is definitely a little bisexual so he tries very hard for her. I think the power of both Kim and Carmina being forces of nature for the Woke Mind Virus definitely helps him pull through. he wears those 'dad hug' shirts at pride, and not in a weird way. he buys a lot of corny pride merch, and is also scared of saying gay. he always says shit like 'oh........she bats for the other team......if you know what i mean.'

Jess: bisexual with a fem preference easy. i also don't really see her as monogamous. she needs three weed smoking girlfriends. pride parades aren't for her.

Grace: grace is similar to Jacob, where i don't think she likes people enough to really give a shit. i think she's demi, there's literally no way in my mind she is into anyone before she really knows them. she's both paranoid and awkard, and that makes it hard to form bonds. she watches the pride parade from a distance.

Adelaide: she's straight unfortunately. i think she's experimented with women but she's very blatant about her love for stupid male walls of meat. in a perfect world she'd loveeeee butches but unfortunately the collapse is happening and we don't have time for that.

Sharky: GAAAAAAAAAAY.

Hurk: mostly straight, but he's an ally. it's hard with Hurk Sr, but he tries. I think he still calls people homos, but he has a good heart. he's my pretty princess. he could make a great bear if he really wanted to

[chevelleneech]

An unnecessary, yet slightly serious post about Wade being horny.

Wade was so horny for men in Deadpool & Wolverine, that after a third watch, I do not see where anyone is getting the idea that he’s dude-bro coded.

The first movie, I could see it, and it’s mainly because his visible discomfort with being pegged put a sort of buffer over any and all gay jokes Wade makes. Not all queer men like being penetrated, and I would assume Wade doesn’t like it in the comics either, but due to his pansexuality being so thinly alluded to in the first one, I can see why the takeaway would be “He’s a funny yet gross guy who likes making sex jokes no matter what it implies about his own sexuality.”

However, in the sequel, it is shown Wade is attracted to Colossus like three times. He grabs his ass twice, Vanessa (in his subconscious) tells him not to fuck him, and he mimes “scissoring” to him — although in the an extended deleted scene, he also mimes “sword fighting”.

In this third movie though, Wade is kind of like, very much so horny for multiple men.

He assumes the TVA agents are male strippers and says he will be kissing them. He moans, groans, and ogles Cavillerine before calling him, “the full package”. He then damn near creams himself over who he assumes to be Steve Rogers, and physically wraps his arms around him unprovoked. Another near-orgasmic moment for him was when Logan tells him to shut the fuck up. After that, he repeatedly calls Gambit attractive, and lastly, Wade is literally in the process of dying for what he thinks is the final time, and still he ogles a sweaty man.

So even without the Honda Oddessy fight… Wade’s only exhibits of sexual desire were for men. He wanted Vanessa back, and he’s obviously attracted to her, but that wasn’t the focal point of this movie regarding their relationship this time around. He wanted her back on an emotional level more than anything else, and while I’m very well aware Disney is never going to actually buckle down on a version of Wade whom is expressly queer, I do think anyone who left this movie with the opinion that Wade Wilson only likes women for real, were not paying an ounce of attention.

There’s only so many times a man can call other men attractive, salivate over their bodies, and literally tells folks he’s not a natural bottom (a term not at all used in reference to cis het sex) or that he wants to kiss men, and have it not be because he’s into men. Wade is definitely into men in the movies as of this movie, it’s just also a fact that such truth will never be explicitly said on screen.

Sure, Ryan said Wade is fluid and has chemistry with everyone, but that’s really just a great cop-out answer. He’s not lying, but he’s also not being upfront. Because Wade isn’t somewhat fluid and easy to have chemistry with. He’s queer. Pansexual to be exact, and I think at the very least the movies should be allowed to say that. He doesn’t have to kiss a man or date one for that to be true.

[blackcatsandlockets]

I ranked the Marauders era characters

Regulus Black

Aquarius. Autistic. French. INTJ. Queer. The real Slytherin prince. Definitely, and undoubtedly, the best Black family member and best Marauders era character.

2. Narcissa Black

I used to just see her as Lucius Malfoy's enabling wife and preferred her second-older sister, but I started liking Narcissa more since I recently started getting into nobleflower and realizing how similar she is to me/Regulus. She's also blonde and gives off black swan vibes.

3. James Potter

Mexican. My favorite Marauder from day one. The Marauders' sun and everyday Ladybug. If my future husband isn't like James, then I don't want him.

4. Sirius Black

Gorgeous. Scorpio. Loved James more than anything. The brightest star.

5. Barty Crouch Jr.

His backstory gives off Félix Fathom and I love him for it. Also - his fancasts are all so gorgeous.

6. Pandora Rosier

I ranked Pandora higher than Evan only because it's almost half-canon in the Marauders fandom that the spell that caused her death was to bring back Regulus. Also, she gives off Alice in Wonderland vibes.

7. Evan Rosier

Regulus's friend and the blond Slytherin pretty boy of the Marauders era.

8. Andromeda Black

It's a crime that Andromeda is ranked so low on this list since she's the OG black (no pun intended) sheep in her generation of the Black family. I also think that she spent her Hogwarts years dismantling her family's ideologies and influenced Sirius to be pro-Muggle from a young age.

9. Dorcas Meadowes

INFJ. Mermaid-coded. Lost all of her Slytherin skittle friends (except for Pandora) because three of them became Death Eaters. Lost her girlfriend to the Death Eaters. Faced Voldemort alone because she had nothing to lose. Voldemort himself was terrified of her.

10. Alice Fortescue

Dark brown curls. Gryffindor. Italian. Quidditch player. Had a thing with Narcissa. Shares a name with one of my favorite literary characters.

11. Lily Evans

Anne of Green Gables and Little Women enthusiast. Cabin 6. Cottagecore. Jewish. Jolene-coded. Plus-size. As a Regulus kin, a part of me will always be jealous of Lily but I don't blame James for choosing her over Regulus (after all, who wouldn't?). If it weren't for her the Harry Potter story wouldn't exist.

Btw a friend of mine said I remind her of lilies (the flower) and I was so flattered. Ironically enough said friend was actually a Lily kin herself

12. Ted Tonks

Blond. Hufflepuff. Jewish. Virgo. Perseus-coded. "Let Me Be Your Wings"-coded.

13. Frank Longbottom

German. Gryffindor. He was kind of the Cedric Diggory/Charles Beckendorf of the Marauders era? Anyways if Augusta was always boasting about him then he must've been amazing.

14. Remus Lupin

I can't believe the fan-favorite of the fandom is ranked so low on my list. But he's never appealed to me as a Marauder the same way that James or Sirius do. I do love his backstory with his father and Fenrir Greyback, however. And I definitely prefer the old sweaters and tea Remus over the new mean Casanova one.

15. Marlene McKinnon

Aries. "Cherry Bomb"-coded. Rockstar girlfriend. Victoria De Angelis-coded.

16. Mary Macdonald

Cabin 10. "Dancing Queen"-coded. Girl's girl. Pink.

17. Bellatrix Black

I don't have as many HCs for Bellatrix as I do with her sisters or cousins. I feel like she was masculinized as a result of being the eldest daughter but also underestimated for being a woman. Very Jupiter-coded.

18. Any other Marauders era character that I might've left out

19. Peter Pettigrew

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Erin Reed for Kettering Foundation:

The months since Trump’s election have been brutal for transgender people like me. States are churning out laws that strip us of legal recognition, bar us from bathrooms, void our IDs, and more. That should be enough, but 2025 has delivered a different, more insidious threat—one we were unprepared to face. It isn’t just the executive orders banning our passports, blocking transgender visa seekers from entry, threatening teachers with investigations for using our names, or erasing us from federal websites—though those do play a role. The real danger has come from mass overcompliance: institutions, including well-meaning ones, rushing to carry out the administration’s anti-trans agenda without being asked. These attacks began with us, but the consequences won’t end there. The country needs to understand the lesson being written in real time: do not comply. 

An Explosion of Targeted Attacks 

The first of Trump’s executive orders targeting transgender people came with a loaded title: “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” The order declared that sex is binary and fixed at birth and uses rigid definitions of “man” and “woman” that fly in the face of established science. Without statutory authority, it then applied these definitions across all US code—resulting in sudden policy shifts like the revocation of gender marker updates on passports. The fallout has been immediate and destabilizing: some transgender people have had their passport renewals denied or even had documents confiscated, while others are left unsure whether they can safely travel at all. Compounding the damage, the administration has treated any contradiction to its definitions as justification for stripping federal grants—an abuse of executive power that sidesteps congressional authority. 

As executive orders continued to cascade from the Trump administration, an expanding list of policies became mandatory not just for federal agencies but for institutions across the country. One order barred transgender athletes from competing in everything from darts to disc golf to dance and threatened to strip funding from any school that adopted local or individualized policies. Another order targeted hospitals, warning that providing gender-affirming care to anyone under 19—including legal adults—could trigger federal investigations and funding cuts. Meanwhile, the cuts made by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have dominated headlines as organizations scramble to comply with vague and nebulous policies. Many organizations complied under the direct or implied threat of losing critical resources. 

The Danger of Pre-Compliance 

This last phase of reactionary compliance is where something more insidious began to unfold. Organizations, including those with long histories of supporting LGBTQ+ people, started erasing trans and queer communities from their websites, shuttering resources, and, whether out of fear or compliance, became willing enforcers of Trump’s anti-trans agenda.   The first signs came from government websites. Research papers on transgender health funded by federal grants were quietly removed or retracted. The National Park Service altered language at the Stonewall National Monument, stripping the TQ+ from LGBTQ+ and rewriting history to frame the uprising—led in large part by transgender people—as a fight solely for “LGB rights.” Even the biography for Sylvia Rivera, one of the most prominent transgender figures at Stonewall, was edited. Her section on the National Park Service’s Stonewall page now says she fought for “gay and rights”—a clumsy, ahistorical revision that manages to erase her identity while mangling the grammar. Such attempts to revise history and control language are designed to cleave away would-be allies, a common tactic of authoritarian regimes. 

[...] Many readers have likely noticed diversity, equity, and inclusion resources are quietly disappearing from their workplaces. Corporate donations to pride parades have dried up. Entire diversity departments and programs have been cut. In some cases, companies are scrubbing references to transgender and queer people altogether, fearful that even acknowledging our existence could jeopardize federal contracts or funding.  A chilling veil of silence has fallen over LGBTQ+ people in America—our existence is now considered too risky to even name. 

Fear and Uncertainty Breed Anticipatory Obedience 

A lesson can be found in all of this. The most devastating damage from these executive orders hasn’t come from their direct mandates but from their vagueness. The orders are deliberately opaque and create just enough uncertainty to push institutions into overcompliance. Risk-averse legal teams, fearful of losing federal funding or becoming political targets, preemptively erase transgender people from policies, programs, and public language. The cruelty lies in the ambiguity. These orders don’t explicitly bar specific conduct but deputize decision-makers to interpret them in ways that inflict the greatest harm on disfavored communities. 

[...] We are, in many ways, teaching those in power what they can get away with by complying with regulations that have no legal basis.  I understand the fear that organizations are responding to. Each individual decision that erases a mention here or cuts a program there can feel rational. Everyone wants to keep their head low, but fear calcifies into cowardice. And cowardice, when widespread, leads to the erosion of every value we claim to hold. 

Erin Reed wrote for the Kettering Foundation on the Trump Regime's war on trans people (and LGBTQ+ people in general). The overarching message: do not comply with Tyrant 47's demands.

[cowboylikeyouu]

why does everybody hate mcu clint so much??? i’ve read his comics but i still love jeremy renner’s portrayal of him and stuff :(

like i can understand being disappointed in some ways about how the character was changed for the movies, but i can’t understood all the hate for him

for me, personally, it's not that mcu clint is a bad character per se, it's really just the fact that he doesn't feel like clint barton. give him any other name and he's a fine character, but compare him to comic clint and they're in NO WAY the same person.

on one hand you have that responsible, serious husband and well adjusted father of three, who cracks a joke here and there but takes everything pretty serious most of the time, who has his life under control, while everyone else on the team is a mess. he doesn't have that much of a personality, no weird habits or (dis)likes, he really fades in comparison to other team members like tony, who's lines are always on point and who gets a back story and everything.

on the other hand there's this 6'3" disaster of a human being, who lives for coffee, dogs, tv shows and nothing else, is obsessed with purple for no reason at all, grew up in a circus after he escaped his abusive dad, can't take anything seriously and cracks the funniest joke all the fucking time, even makes fun of captain america on a regular basis (at least in the early avengers comics), runs away from himself and responsibility, fucks up nearly all of his relationships because he really sucks at emotions, but then forms those really precious bonds with people like kate, and who's just kind of an asshole really, but simultaneously a fucking ray of sunshine. plus he's deaf and we always love some representation. oh, and mcu clint is like the straightest guy ever, and then there's comic clint who is just so easy to headcanon as this bisexual disaster, and we all know how much fandom loves a queer coded character.

so, the mcu basically took away every fun part of the awesome character that is clint barton and it SUCKS. i really don't hate movie clint as his own character, i just hate hate HATE the fact that he's supposed to be THE clint barton because he IS NOT, and he'll never be. i'm sorry, but jeremy renner just can't pull it off, i'll never understand how they saw bigger-than-steve, blond-mess, purple-loving, coffee-addict comic clint and where like: "oh yeah, let's cast 5' 9" jeremy renner and give his character a huge, healthy family, and no mental health problems, that's just perfect😍"

it's just so sad to be aware of the awesomeness of comic clint and then watch the movies because you're constantly thinking "oh what could've been..." if they did comic accurate movie clint, he'd definitely be a fan-favourite and we'd have tons of edits, and ships, and merchandise, but NO, most mcu fans just forget about him or don't find him special or entertaining (bc his mcu version really really isn't) and he gets left out of all the casual merchandise you can find in random shops (i literally have an album on my phone that's dedicated to photos i took of cheap avengers merchandise with the "o6" avengers sans clint lmao)

you're obviously allowed to love movie clint and jeremy's portrayal, that's great!!! i was an mcu fan way before i even knew just how different comic clint was, and i loved mcu clint so much back then! but after reading the comics and thousands of fanfiction, i'm just really really angry that there isn't a good live action on screen representation of my all time favourite fictional character, and i think many people feel the same :(

okay, i think i'm done lmao.

anyways, shout out to avengers assemble clint, my one true love <3 the mcu should take notes.