#absolutely mute

[doorajar]

@absolutebl will like this:

A BL "singer" from whom we hear ... nothing at all !

Not a peep !

To Be Continued, Episode 2

...

...

Not a sound comes from his lips to our ear.

Nada. Zip. Silence. Crickets. Weird ...

and wonderful !!

[brianskangs]

"Among all of the possibilities, Thank you for choosing me" — Welcome to the Show (DAY6)

[galaghiel]

what remnant does to a mf

[hoodiemanic]

The power of the calm-calm fruit

[moeblob]

I think the only other time I have drawn Stelle has been seen by like two people. Because it was part of something really stupid I put on hold. And never finished.

SO YEAH! Have the Blazers.

[robynrocksforbrains]

Mike Wheeler is important and there's nothing wrong with analyzing him

Since y'all wanna be insufferable bitches about it I'm gonna explain to you why he's important, why Will loves him, why his struggles should be acknowledged, and why his character depth is pivotal to byler endgame being a satisfying conclusion for both Mike AND Will. Deal with it!

We are not seeing smoke where there isn't a flame. We are seeing smoke where there is a literal fucking forest fire.

Starting off with something a lot of people aren't ready for but I've seen more people talking about: Mike is the main character of s1 at the very least. He is the character that brings us into the world of stranger things. He is the character that the writers chose for this. Mike is the main character of s1 and it was an instant hit. The writers love Mike. Contrary to popular belief, giving a character an arc where they are struggling and their behavior changes from what is normal for the character we know and love does NOT mean the writers hate that character. It means they deliberately chose to give that character complexity and depth. Your inability to like characters that do anything wrong ever is not the fault of the writers. Your decision to act as if a character is not important is not reflective of the actual narrative because it in fact is in direct opposition to the narrative. So just to be clear, if you genuinely believe that Mike isn't important, or that the writers hate him, or don't care about him, or that his story "takes away" from any other character's - ESPECIALLY WILL'S - you are simply wrong.

In s1 and s2 Mike is established as an extremely caring person. He's loving, loyal, brave, intelligent, and trying his best. He is also established to be hot headed, someone who speaks without thinking quite often, someone who is capable of hurting his friends despite that being the last thing he wants to do. He is all of these things and more. He is a human. He is a kid. So in s3, when suddenly he is entirely different, it is completely logical to assume that there is a reason for that. He did not just wake up one day and decide he wanted to be an asshole, push Will away, make his friends feel abandoned, and echo the same sentiments their bullies held. Something is happening with him. He has so much going on in his head and it is painfully obvious. He's holding something in, he's hiding from everyone and from himself. We see glimpses of what he's trying to hide after Will calls him out on his behavior. Will gets through to him. Mike is usually unresponsive to tough love, except for when it's coming from Will. After their fight, it is obvious that he's trying to be better. But he still doesn't wanna face certain things, and he doesn't know how to navigate that. Because he's 13 years old.

There is a reason for all of that internal conflict. There is a reason it comes pouring out of him at certain times. He's crumbling. He is quite literally falling apart because he's holding on to too much. It's not a stretch to assume that, it just takes basic media literacy. Why would the writers have Mike act this way if he was just supposed to be a one dimensional character? Why would Finn be directed to portray Mike the way he does if there was nothing more going on? There are times where Mike looks like he's in physical pain because of his internal conflict. There is a reason for that. And acknowledging that DOES NOT mean people are taking away from Will. That's the most idiotic thing I have ever heard. Do y'all seriously not understand that more than one character can have emotionally complex storylines? Genuinely asking, is this a new concept for you?

Will's love for Mike

Will is head over heels in love with Mike. That is very much established. So when you're dismissing the emotional depth of Mike's individual arc because you think acknowledging it "takes away from Will" you are actually diminishing the significance of a huge aspect of Will's emotional arc. By taking away the significance of Mike, you take away from the significance of Will.

Let's do a quick recap of the very significant role Mike has played in Will's entire life:

Mike is Will's first friend.

They have grown up together and it can be assumed that they've reached important milestones together.

Mike has always been a safe person for Will. He's been a constant in Will's very chaotic and unfair life. Until the summer of '85, Mike had always been something good in Will's life. (That's not to say he is no longer something good, but it can be assumed that the summer of '85 is the first time Mike has been a causal factor in Will's unhappiness)

When Will went missing, Mike did not hesitate to search for him. It wasn't even a question of if. The moment he knew Will was missing he knew exactly what he'd be doing that night. He spearheaded the search amongst the party. He was the leader.

When Will came back, Mike was the only person that didn't treat him like he was gonna break. He cared for him, and he was there for him, but he didn't treat him differently; Will tells us as much. Which means we can infer that the way Mike was with Will in s2 - how gentle and loving he was - was nothing new. He had just always been like that.

When Will was possessed, Mike stayed by his side. Even when it was scary, even when it could've gotten him killed, he stayed. Because once again, for him, it wasn't even a question. That's just where he knew he needed to be. He was in the shed when they were trying to get through to Will. He was set apart from Lucas and Dustin, but he also wasn't equated to family. And his retelling of the story of the day they first met was the final push Will needed to find a way to communicate.

After a year of things being "weird" between them, Mike tells Will that he didn't deserve to be treated the way he had been. Mike tells him that he wants them to be okay again, and for the rest of the season he puts in the work.

Things get rough in s3, and at the beginning of s4, and despite all of that, Will confesses his love (albeit veiled). In a moment where Mike is feeling awful about himself, he tells him that he loves him and needs him, and he tells him why. And to him it doesn't matter that he's breaking his own heart to do it, because it's Mike. Mike, who makes him feel like he's not a mistake at all, and that he's better for being different. For Will, there was no other option. The person he loves was hurting and he knew how to help, and so he did.

Mike is the first person Will tells about Vecna still being alive. Because they're back to being a team. He knows he can trust Mike, and Mike seems to be very determined to prove him right.

SO.

These are all real and canon aspects of Mike's presence in Will's life. Will falling in love with Mike isn't something that just happened for no reason. Will fell in love with Mike because of who Mike is. When you acknowledge that, and when you acknowledge the reasons they've set out for why Will loves him - the reasons Will literally told us - you can better understand Will. But when you dismiss all of these things about Mike, you are dismissing a large portion of Will's emotional and romantic arc. You aren't being a Will Warrior. You are erasing so much of him and his feelings and his lived experience. That is not the hill you wanna die on.

Will loves a person. Not a feeling. Yes, he says that Mike makes him feel like he's not a mistake and that he's better for being different. But that's not why he loves him. He feels that way because he loves him.

Mike is a fully fleshed out character with his own feelings and struggles and fears and traumas and motivations. He's not a plot device. He's not just an accessory to Will's arc. He's not a character that was written only to be Will's love interest. He's Will's love interest because he's Mike.

If Mike didn't matter, and if Mike didn't play a significant role in byler, then they would be able to write in a love interest for Will in s5 and have it be somewhat satisfying. But they can't do that. Will's love for Mike has so much depth because Mike has so much depth. It is genuinely crazy that this has to be stated and that I have to back up this claim because it is simply a canon fact.

So yes, the rain fight affects Mike's character development and his involvement in it is important. Yes, the van scene literally could not exist without Mike and therefore his involvement in it is incredibly important. Yes, every single byler moment has an impact on Mike, and Mike has an impact on it because they are BYLER moments. Yes, Mike will have a lot of significant moments - with Will AND on his own - in s5 because his arc deserves and needs as much attention as Will's in order to execute byler endgame in a satisfying way.

No, none of these facts negate Will's importance or take away from his story. If anything, they add to it because Mike and Will's arcs are corresponding and intertwined.

Mike's struggles

To name a few

Dysfunctional family

Has been bullied his entire life

Extreme self worth issues

Inferiority complex

Hero complex

Lack of self preservation

Suicidal ideation (has been on display since SEASON ONE)

Internalized homophobia

To get this out of the way: Mike's internalized homophobia is allowed to be discussed. Discussion of it is not the dismissal of Will's internalized homophobia. Surprise surprise, two queer kids in the 80s have internalized homophobia! Who'd'a thunk it?! Their internalized homophobia presents in different ways but it is there for both of them. I personally relate to the way Mike's is portrayed way more than I relate to Will's. So why is it that we can't discuss it without being accused of erasing Will's experience? Or without people saying that we're "copy and pasting" Will's story? Because quite frankly, that feels dismissive of my - and likely many others' - real and lived experience. So please for the love of all things that are good just stop with this talking point because it will never hold up.

Moving on

I'm not gonna do a full breakdown of all of Mike's issues. Because contrary to popular belief, there are a lot. And that would be exhausting and I'd get carried away and it's not the point of this post. The point of this post is to defend the acknowledgement and mere existence of them.

If you're a byler that for some reason thinks Mike only exists to be Will's love interest and his trophy as compensation for his trauma, let me ask you this: Have you considered how awful it would be to have a queer character's individuality and emotional depth completely ignored for the sake of focusing on the queer character that "really matters"?

If Mike's own issues, with his queer identity and otherwise, aren't thoroughly explored... What's the point of all this? If Mike really is insignificant in this storyline and his individuality has no effect on it.. where's the emotional payoff? If his perspective doesn't matter... Why have the writers gone to such great lengths to ensure we don't have that piece of the puzzle yet?

Analyzing Mike and understanding Mike is very important to understanding byler. Once again, I think it's crazy that this needs to be said.

I also think it's important to note that characters can have similar struggles. There's no rule against that. Just like real life. Characters having similar struggles is not a bad thing, and acknowledging that their struggles are similar is not dismissive of either character. We're talking about STRANGER THINGS. Jonathan and Nancy's thing is "we've got shared trauma". They have literal matching scars. Shared experiences are some of the main building blocks for this show's romances. Byler has a TON of shared experience, basically their entire lives. We already know that. So wouldn't it be so beautiful for them to learn that they've been struggling with the same thing this whole time? That the entire time they felt alone in what they were going through when really they had each other and they never even knew it? Wouldn't it be so beautiful for Mike's acceptance of Will and Will's love for him was also a step toward accepting himself? Wouldn't it be beautiful for Will to learn that his love makes Mike feel like he's not a mistake? None of that would be in the realm of possibility if Mike didn't have emotional depth and if his individuality wasn't important.

And that leads me to my concluding point...

A satisfying execution of byler endgame hinges on Mike's individual emotional arc being handled well

God I hope this isn't controversial to say. I sincerely hope most people haven't forgotten that.

Here's a hypothetical:

Imagine season five has been released. You're watching it, and you notice that Mike has been relegated to just a supporting character for Will. We don't get any of his perspective. We don't get any explanation for his s3 and early s4 behavior. His breakup with El doesn't have any real tangible effect on him, it's really just used for El's character development. We never see him pining for Will like we saw Will pining for him. And then suddenly Mike is learning about the painting and then suddenly he's confessing his love and then suddenly byler is canon and official.

Now wouldn't that just be awful? Wouldn't that be unfair to the audience, to Mike, and to Will? For us to never learn just how much Mike had to go through to even be able to say it out loud? For Mike to never get the chance to prove to himself through word and action that he is the heart? For Will to never get an explanation for why things did get so "weird" between them? It would leave us with one big, nagging question: What was the point of everything Mike has said and done throughout the entire show if his conclusion is that lackluster?

Disregarding Mike for a moment (I know that's incredibly ironic given what the entire point of this is but just bear with me) - how would that be a satisfying conclusion for Will? I mean, Will's s4 arc was basically dedicated to showcasing his struggle with his sexuality and with his love for Mike. We were shown just how deep that love is. We were shown how patient, unselfish, unwavering, and beautiful that love is. So how would it be satisfying for Mike's love for him to not be shown with just as much depth? How would it be satisfying for Mike to just be a one dimensional character whose s5 arc is essentially "break up with girlfriend, wait to find out best friend is in love with him, say he loves him back, then they live happily ever after"? I think Will deserves for his love to be returned with the same intensity at which he gives it. And I think it should be clear to the audience and to Will himself.

Back to Mike!

Mike has been through so much shit. I don't think anyone that is denying that actually believes he hasn't been through shit. Because you'd actually have to watch the show on mute and with your eyes closed to think this kid hasn't had just the worst time. It's so ignorant to act as if this stuff hasn't affected him. There's stuff we've seen but there's stuff we also haven't seen. There are issues he has that date back to his childhood pre-canon. Just like Will, Mike has been a queer kid growing up in 80s smalltown conservative america. Acknowledging the pain he 100% carries because of that is so important. His perspective has been withheld from us, not because it's unimportant, but because it's the final puzzle piece. If we had Mike's perspective in s4, byler wouldn't be a "will they won't they" (even though we all know they will). If we got his perspective in s4, byler would be a "100% certain without a doubt they will". But the thing about his perspective is that it's so much more than just loving Will. It's fear. It's pain. It's insecurity. It's doubt. It's the belief that his happiness just doesn't matter all that much. All of that has to be explored. All of that has to be laid out in the open for us in order for byler endgame to feel earned. Mike's emotional payoff will lead to byler's emotional payoff.

Mike has known he loves Will. In s5 we will see him make a deliberate and active effort to overcome the things keeping him from doing something about it. And then he will do something about it.

And so when it finally happens. When both Mike and Will finally know that their feelings are requited, and when their arcs end with us knowing that they will face whatever life has in store for them together, that will feel earned. That will feel like the logical conclusion for both of them. Not just for Mike. Not just for Will. For both.

And Mike is just as important to that conclusion as Will is.

And one last thing...

Some people are going to talk about Mike more. Some people are going to talk about Will more. Because newsflash, people have preferences. Some people just relate to Mike more, or they find his emotional arc extremely compelling, or they just like him. It isn't an attack on Will or any other character. No one is saying Mike is more important than any other character (I'm sure there are people that say that but they are a vocal minority and they are simply wrong). We are just saying that he is important. If you wanna engage in media analysis, please understand that "main character" or "central character" does not mean "only important character" and "only character that should be analyzed". If you wanna talk about Will and only Will, that's fine. But you don't get to act like people that talk about other characters are doing a disservice to your fave, because that's not how any of this works.

[silverskye13]

owo, 16 with doc?

Spotify Wrapped #16: Why by Derivakat

Look at what you've done, is this your happy ending? Look around and see, this is history repeating.

[Send me a character and a song # for spotify doodles!]

[mollysunder]

I recognize there would be a lot of emotional and narrative weight if Jinx ever puts on Silco's jacket.

But wouldn't it be DOPE as hell if Jinx stole Finn's wardrobe!!??!

For all of Finn's faults he had a killer sense of style. Finn's look makes a great contrast to Silco, because Silco's look balances elegance with simplicity and practicality (you can tell he restitches his pant seams), but with Finn you've got this brightly colored intricately detailed look to express this newer brasher generation in Zaun.

And you could argue Jinx is designed as a decent blend of these two different aesthetics, at least in Gilded series.

I've already talked about Gilded universe where Piltover never built the sun gates, Jinx suspiciously dresses like a chembaron.

But if you dive deeper into the concept arts you can see how flexible Riot's artists see Jinx's tastes and style is, especially when elevated with wealth.

You've got classic punk + eccentric cybergoth chemboss.

Then you've got Jinx as an ornate lady with chemtech business vibes. (Jinx with glasses, what a concept.)

I'm not sure what to call this, but it looks like more of a mix between a saboteur and a tinkerer.

The rest are more play around with trying to adapt Piltovan academia into Jinx's aesthetic with varying success.

Long story short, Jinx needs to raid Finn's closet next season. I see Jinx threatening what's left of Finn and Renni's gang into submission for the whole "attempting to kill Silco" thing. One of her demands is all of Finn's clothes for her to customize as she pleases. I'm sure Silco left all her all his coats, cloths, and furs for Jinx in his will (with a clause to ensure she still gets it in case of manslaughter).

[raillue]

Crow from Destiny 2 as Omori

/In the style of the game OMORI

hmmm, something something two amnesiac video game characters that have done a terrible act in their past and then have to regain their memories and forgive themselves

:]

I’m so normal about these two games, can’t you tell?

[millenniummmbop]

Yugi would spend his first Official Adult KaibaCorp Paycheck on some much needed basic repairs for the game shop and his second would go 100% entirely to dark magician girl waifu figures

[myork]

endearing ♡ | 13/50 days of ksj ☽

[blacephalo]

very silly idea about alastor

so i've been checking the show to have an opinion of myself. i don't like the creator and i'm not the type of person who likes super edgy ocs so i came to conclusion that this show is not for me but god damn i wanted to like alastor so bad. i love these silly tumblr sexyman esque designs and some of them are my favorites of their franchises (black hat, king dice, snatcher etc.) so alastor looks like one i would like but something is...off...he feels like a mess /neg to me. and i saw a tweet about how he has too many motifs, not showing the username so they don't get harassed.

i actually like the combination of radio, cannibal and deer (a demon would be cannibal so) but the voodoo deal is not only offensive, it just feels like it's just slapped in to make him spooky but he just looks...tacky. also the black tentacles my behated ugh, bro wants to be slenderman so bad. i'm just confused about why he has shadow powers when he could have:

nature powers (but spooky...think of poison ivy)

this sorta relates to my redesign but hear me out on this. in my redesign i made him not only more deer and added some poc elements but i also got the idea of making him kinda wooden? like he would move more blocky and he doesn't change expression, not even opening mouth to talk. but it also relates to the canon design since

he is a boomer when it comes to technology

deers are forest animals

old radios are made out of wood and he is the radio demon after all

also look at this!

the colors scream a rose to me. imagine he had thorny vines instead of slenderman ass tentacles. how cool would that be! i would remove the appropriating voodoo stuff and just make him a fucked up nature spirit or something. like you'd be fucked if you saw him in a forest.

[fireheartwraith]

Red winning a second day in a row proves that they've made a comeback from day 1 and that day 2 wasn't fluke, so I hope green goes after blood 🩷

[moeblob]

Matheo giving up knowing that the chemist will just follow him wherever for whatever reason.

(I watched a gif for "no" in ASL and I apologize if I drew it wrong I don't know how I would draw a gesture in still art so uh.... please be lenient ?? I tried)

[spookylostboy]

Just finished Torchwood: Serenity and I am being so very normal rn

[mrspockify]

First off, I LOVE your Mute Mario AU it's amazing! Especially your recent post of Mario worrying about his girl going through the same things he went through.

I had some questions about Mute Papa Mario and his daughter actually (forgot her name if she has one yet). What do you think Mario's relationship with her daughter would be like? I imagine it would be very wholesome based on Mario's supporting her and she admires and loves him so much! (I also bet Luigi's the awesome uncle she blabs about while Mario looks at her pridefully and signs something like "That's my brother all right" while Luigi is sobbing tears of joy and laughing happily.)

What would be Mario and his daughters' favorite activities to do together? Sports? Drawing? Go-karting? Or something else?

Also, if her daughter gets picked on or attempted to be kidnapped by Bowser (or any villain really), how do you think Mario will react? No doubt he'll save her obviously, but I can imagine the villains feel this chill as they see Mario's face and NO mercy is shown.

Apologies if this is too much. Feel free to limit it to one question if it's too many questions for you. LOVE your AU once again and hope you continue this AU! Hope you're doing well!

Thank you so much!! 💕

Oh, Mario adores his daughter, more than pretty much anything else. She’s his everything! He takes Mia everywhere with him, showing her the world around them and fostering an explorative nature early on (she’s just like him after all—so curious!). He’s insanely attentive to her every need, and definitely has a tendency to spoil her a bit 🤭 (a very common sign in their household is placing a finger to his chin, then moving it away while shaking his head and gesturing to Peach—“don’t tell mom.”)

But she also loves him so much too! Peach and Luigi both make sure to regale her with tales of Mario’s heroic adventures, so she learns pretty quickly just how amazing her dad is. She looks up to him a lot, and wants to be just like him. She definitely takes after him, and they love spending time doing sports and art together (he’ll maybe take her karting someday, but he’s a little worried about her getting hurt from it).

And I think a lot about what would happen if she was kidnapped! I actually have a narrative for it I’ve been turning around a lot. I think it would only ever happen once, because the result was so bad, for everyone from each side. Bowser kidnapped her (maybe when she’s around 5 or so) without thinking much of it, seeing it as a simple political move. But it makes Mario absolutely lose it. That’s his world. That’s his everything. Peach and Luigi have never seen him so violently angry over anything before. He wants Bowser to understand, and to pay. He’s so overcome with grief that he does the unthinkable.

It’s bad, but I think he’d be sent into such a panic that Mario would seek out Bowser Jr. as collateral, maybe luring him into a trap or storming into the Darklands and just bringing him as a hostage into Bowser’s throne room. Peach would tell him not to, Luigi would tell him not to, he would know it’s a bad idea. But he’s furious and terrified and he doesn’t know what else to do, because what if Bowser hurts his baby? He can’t risk it. He has to make the king understand what he’s doing.

It culminates into a standoff between the two fathers, both unbelievably angry and scared and trying to assure their own children while they have another child in their grips. Nothing would happen. Mario knows he would never actually be able to hurt a child, and it even pains him seeing how scared he’s making Bowser Jr. (and his own daughter from across the room). It becomes evident pretty quickly that Bowser feels the same, and seeing his own child in Mario’s hands makes him realize how much he fucked up.

Bowser doesn’t apologize, but they trade the children, and Mia is never kidnapped again. Mario also holds a lot of guilt and regret over the incident, but he doesn’t apologize either (except to Junior).