#and like these thoughts are not even coherent I’m just rambling rn

[quarantineddreamer]

Something I failed to appreciate on my first watch of Andor was just how much Karn and his corps just never stood a fucking chance and flounder every single step of the way in ‘Reckoning’. I feel like it’s obvious to see in the finale of course, but dang I mean I just didn’t catch a lot of it in this particular episode first time round.

Karn gives the most awkward speech before the corps land. You can tell he and Mosk really think they’ve got Cassian, in their minds there is just no way that he could possibly have any idea. They’re going to catch him by surprise with all their men and easy as that they walk away. (But of course it’s the absolute opposite of what they are expecting, Cassian knows and is like two steps ahead of them minimum).

Then they land on Ferrix and the entire time we watch Mosk screaming into his comlink like a fool “east team east team where are you?” Over and over. Meanwhile, the people of Ferrix are seamlessly communicating, signaling using scraps of metal (which Mosk of course doesn’t even give a second thought to, calls it an “intimidation” tactic.)

It’s just pure poetry and I love it.

[bibellebibuck]

Finale Thoughts

This is a long ramble that I’ve attempted to categorise and form into something coherent - but bear with me if there’s any mistakes, I’m working rn and didn’t have time to proofread🙏🏻

HENREN & MADNEY

I adore Madney and how inherently GOOD they are all the damn time. My favourite straights ever.

I know there’s differing opinions on this plot line but honestly I am glad that Madney are fostering Mara, for Maras sake. It’s a safe space her for where she’ll be loved and can keep in contact with Henren.

I do agree, though, that the constant struggles they put Henren through as they try to build their family is getting old and tired now, let them off the struggle bus, it’s time for a breather.

It’s a testament to how rushed this episode was that we didn’t even SEE the councilwoman at all. She just drops this bomb on the Henren family last episode and then disappears? No follow up? Okay.

My thoughts/hopes on these guys for S8 are; Madney will be left as they are once the Mara storyline is resolved (which I think won’t take long after the whole Gerrard situation is sorted) as they’ve had a lot going on with their wedding etc. I think they’ll be put aside for a while while other characters stories are expanded this season. I think it’s a possibility we’ll get another Buckley-Han baby after they see the sibling dynamic between Mara and Jee. Afterall, it was Maddie who commented on Denny and Mara “getting along so well” “like siblings”.

Henren specifically id like to see more of, I want Karen and DENNY! to have more screentime. Karen’s job is fucking interesting, SHOW US MORE SOMEHOW!! And Denny, what’s going on with his relationship with his dad now? This kids a great actor, give him a little more screen time.

BATHENA & AMIR

Now, Athena was bad ASS this episode. I love BAMF Athena with all my heart, that’s literally my mother. Her talk with Amir was emotional and I think well written (one of the few well written moments in this episode..) but it all went downhill from there. Amir’s rescue was rushed as fuck, I wasn’t tense at all, Athena basically showed up, burnt the place down and sauntered out with Amir like it was nothing. Ofc my girl is capable of this no problem… but it wouldn’t have hurt to have had more of a fight scene, maybe Amir being a little more proactive, then show them struggling to get out of the fire? Idk. Just SOMETHING to expand on the scene a little. I did like “I’m Mrs Bobby Nash” though, hell yeah you are <3

Oh also Yay! May sighted!! Love my girl, wanna see more of her in S8 I miss her sooo much :(

For S8, I think Bathenas marriage issues should be gently explored a little more, i feel this plot line wasn’t properly resolved during the cruise eps? Idk maybe I’m just a nervous child of divorce but I’d like to see some of their trust issues put to rest. I mean, just an episode ago Athena was terrified Bobby was going to off himself, and Bobby literally retired without telling her. It’s not healthy, I wanna see them work it out and get stronger together. I don’t want more conflict between them to cause this though, maybe they just start up a conversation when things have calmed down and agree to talk it out or go to couples therapy or something. Leaving them where they are right now will feel like a dropped plot line.

I want to see more of Amir but I sincerely doubt we will, I have a feeling he won’t even be seen in S8 at all to be honest. It’s a shame, he’s an interesting character that I’d totally love the see explored more. Someone suggested he could be a connection opportunity for the hospital? I like that. Tim, take notes !!

I also want them to stop murdering Angela Bassets hair. Let her slay, please.

BUDDIE

I wish I had more to say here, but sadly… I don’t. My heart is telling me we’ve been gently queer baited once again, but I think that’s just old scars hurting (Destiel and johnlock survivor ✊🏻), my head is telling me a lot of the hype was stirred up by us as fans giving journalists and actors comments a little too much credit.

This isn’t to say I don’t think Buddie is happening, i still have my naive little belief that if WILL be canon eventually. They’re just going to drag it out as long as possible for the drama and possibly to appease Those fans, and the older viewer base who won’t be pleased by buddie canon.

I was very disappointed by the scene after Chris left, where Buck just put his hand on Eddies shoulder. We can say all we like that the shoulder touch is Their Thing™️ but in that situation a hug was absolutely goddamn necessary. Idc about shipping, that man needed a hug from his best friend in that moment. I think Buck needed it too. They just said goodbye to their son for an indefinite amount of time ffs why are we standing here like absolute mugs.

S8 - I want gay Eddie this season. I want it.

I want gay Eddie and then I want them both to be single for a while and Then I want buddie. If they can fit this into season 8 while keeping a nice steady pace (I have little faith after this insanely rushed finale, but let’s give them the benefit of the short season doubt) then I want Buddie feelings realisation towards the end of S8.. possibly setting up canon for S9 or even ending S8 with canon and a cliffhanger.. maybe a good one this time though!

As much as I’d like to see Buck supporting Eddie as he navigates life without Christopher, I don’t think we’ll get many scenes between them at first. I think this is where Ryan is talking about Eddies isolation. He’s going to go to work, be with his family, then go home and be without his family, and it’s at this time that he’s going to be working on himself. To get better for Chris, and for his own mental health. This journey is his alone, and I think it (although a little painful) makes sense that Buck isn’t involved in this too much.

EDDIE & CHRIS

To sum it up.. OUCH!

Eddie is an amazing father, and if you think otherwise just block me. He made a mistake with Kim, that does not make him a bad father. Him respecting Christopher’s space and choices in this ep was soooo healing and lovely to see, he called Buck because he knows Chris trusts and loves him and needed somebody to talk to, and knew he wasn’t the person for that right now.

I’ve seen some people bothered about how it’s unrealistic for the Diaz parents to have gotten to eddies so fast after the incident. To this I say, how are you not used to 911s complete disregard for timelines/timeline realism at this point? Just let it happen and move on, like it’s a fantasy land where time isn’t real. Now, I’m not American so maybe I don’t get the extent of the distance between LA/Texas - but still, I enjoy the show more I think, because I don’t overanalyse the timeline 😅

What I DO find unrealistic is that Chris would call his grandparents and not Buck. I’m not looking at this through shipping lenses either, I’m saying that when Eddie had his breakdown, Chris’s first instinct was to call Buck. When Chris was upset and scared at the Ana situation, he went straight to Buck. And now this, he doesn’t talk to Buck at all before calling his grandparents?

It makes sense that he wanted to go to Texas as if he stayed with Buck he wouldn’t really be getting much space from his dad, and maybe he’d be thinking that Buck/Eddie would be on his case trying to force forgiveness on him while he’s there. But I think he first instinct would still have been to Call Buck to discuss the situation first, to confide in him, ask for help. Then he’d call his grandparents.

For S8 - I hate to be a downer but I don’t think we’ll see Chris this season. At LEAST the entirely of 8a, anyways.

As I mentioned earlier, I think this season will show Eddie growing and healing from this situation and becoming the person he wants to be, for himself and for Chris.

I think there is a lot of potential for us to finally get some Eddie & Maddie scenes, she could open a conversation with Eddie about her own struggles with feeling like an unfit parent for Jee - maybe Buck initiates this conversation, asking Maddie to speak to him?

I hope he will finally be able to put his insecurities about his parenting aside and stop trying to find Chris a mother figure, and accept that they’re a fine (wonderful, even) family unit as they are.

BUMMY / BT

Ooooohhh lord let’s get into it then.

It’s no secret that I hate this relationship. I do NOT hate it because I am a Buddie shipper, or because I’m homophobic (the fact that I have to clarify this is stupid, but the anon hate in my inbox means it’s necessary). When BiBuck became canon, I was OVERJOYED! I was excited to see Buck exploring his identity and enjoying a relationship with a new partner (I did want him to be single for a while originally, but it wasn’t a big deal, the Natalia relationship was barely a relationship anyways).

I initially had a bit of an ick from the way Tk kissed Buck to ~shut him up~ but I’m a bit of a hypocrite here because I don’t entirely hate this trope usually, but only when it’s between two well established characters who know each other well. At this point, Tk is still new to Buck so it did bother me a little. But, we move.

Then… the first date. I fucking hated this date, Tk almost outed Buck and then left him on the pavement like an a class ASS. I lost all interest in this relationship at this exact moment.

In this episode, on this date, we see Buck opening up about his relationship with Bobby as a father figure (WIN!! Let’s appreciate our small victories!!). Tk then gives us “but your fathers alive” which ?? What’s your point?? Why aren’t you comforting your partner right now?

And shared his own experience with having a shitty dad. We then get the daddy issues joke.

To detour for a moment; we all remember when Buck went to therapy and opened up about his sex addiction, right? How he was being vulnerable about his trauma/mental health, to the point that he was in actual tears… and then his therapist came onto him and slept with him. The show brushes this under the rug and even later makes a joke about it. We’ve all expressed our distaste for this in the past and rightly so. Aside from how morally wrong it was, it was also incredibly distasteful in a very real way.

We’re given a very close repeat of this situation in the finale. Tommy sexualising Bucks trauma is not only unfair on bucks character, but also a shitty slap in the face to real people in the real world too. How many times have we been sexualised for having “daddy issues”? The answer is a lot. This scene was Downright Offensive.

It’s so disappointing because in some ways this show is so progressive, and has handled some sensitive topics in such a great way in the past. But it’s really fumbled the bag with this one.

A large and hopeful part of me thinks all these tense/awkward/unhappy/unsatisfying BT scenes are a setup for BT bones in S8. If they wanted us to like Tk and be invested in this relationship, SURELY they’d make him more likeable & more supportive of Buck?

The awfulness of his character and the stilted scenes between him and Buck do feel intentional. And I reaaallly hope this is the case.

S8 - preferably, BT Bones off screen before the season even begins, Natalia style.

More likely, BT bones within 8a, due to Gerard’s return and the tension this will cause between him and Tk.

Most likely, BT bones by the end of 8b. I truly truly truly, with all my heart and head and hands, do not believe BT is surviving to season 9.

BUCK

just wanted to put in a little paragraph here about Buck specially, piggybacking off of what I’ve said about his trauma being sexualised etc.

They have consistently missed opportunities to flesh out Bucks trauma, and he has MANY to choose from. If they continue to ignore this aspect of Buck, it will be a great disservice to his character. I know we all joke about wanting Buck to go through more shit situations for the angst, and how we want him to have a big breakdown at some point but honestly - it really is overdue. I don’t just want him to suffer for funsies, I want his character to make sense, I want him to continue to be massively relatable, I want him to address his trauma and work through it and move on etc. etc. etc.

Here’s hoping we get the single Eddie and Buck arcs in S8/maybe 9 and both of them get therapy, properly.

RAVI

My boooyyy!!! The framing of that last shot, I do reckon Ravi will main soon. They didn’t drop his insane childhood lore, and built on him as a character (while Chim was at the academy with him) for no reason.

I am personally really looking forward to seeing him get a lot more screentime in S8. It’s what the people want!!!!!!

GERRARD

Why did they act like this was such a major twist?? Like why else would they have shown him last episode..

I don’t really understand how he can have been made captain of the same firehouse he was removed from for bullying a crew that is literally still there.. but for the plot I guess we’ll go with it!

I look forward to him finally getting his comeuppance in season 8, but the asshole he’s going to be to everyone sounds less fun.

Let’s look at what we might have in store, hm?

-Racist to Chim, Hen and now probably Ravi too.

-Homophobic to Buck.

-If Bobby is around, no doubt he’ll be demeaning to him.

-And, i fear, if he somehow knows about Eddies current situation, will he make snide remarks about him as a father? Idk, I wouldn’t put anything past the bastard.

I’d really like to see the team take a stand against him though, I know he’s their captain for now and they will, to an extent, respect him (or at least do as he says). But it would be nice to see some firefam crew solidarity the face of his bigotry and bullying. It won’t be realistic if any of them just stand by and listen/watch while he makes shitty racism/homophobic jokes to their family.

Going to be a fun (🫠) few episodes!

FINAL THOUGHTS

As an episode, this wasn’t horrendous, but certainly not great. As a finale, it was terrible. Underwhelming sums it up, disappointing emphasises it nicely.

I look forward to getting back to a full length season that has hopefully will be written a little more in advance than this one was. Let’s be optimistic, or this hiatus won’t be too enjoyable.

Can’t wait to spend the next few months binging Buddie fics and reading all your theories!! And don’t forget we get S8 BTS pics in just a few weeks 😭🫶🏻

Feel free to send me any asks if there’s something I’ve forgotten to mention that you’d like my thoughts on - or if you have any theories etc. I love to get asks from your guys 💛

[emmie-writes-stuff]

Part two of Emmie rambles about Blue Lock chapters

HES STILL THERE!!!

I think that Kunigami is definitely different after Wild Card, but that his original personality is there, hiding below the exterior that he currently has

I might to a whole ramble post on Kunigami himself and how I feel about the WC cyborg persona, but I like this small slip in the front that we got to see this chapter

Just the smallest itty bitty sliver of a break in the armour to the Kunigami that we all knew from the first and second selection

I have way too many thought about Kunigami and WC that I need to organize before I can have a coherent ramble about it, but this is what I was thinkin while reading the chapter

GET HIM KUNIGAMI

I may like Shidou, but I’m still so pissed off that because of him, Kunigami had to go through Wild Card and lose himself in the process

And for Shidou to have the nerve to not even remember Kunigami at first?

Smh, he deserves all the shit that’s been talked to him these past few chapters

I wanna kick him in the face lmao

ISAGI SHUT UP THIS ISNT ABOUT YOU RN

I’m with Kunigami here, what do you want?

To be relevant this chapter?

When you were just continually fouling Rin for the past two?

Smh go find somewhere else to be relevant, this is Kunigami’s revenge time

LITERALLY SCREAMING

Ugh, I can’t wait for the next chapter, I need to see these three pop off against their respective rivals of the game

Except, I don’t want Isagi to win

He beat Rin the last time, in the U-20 game, and took away the chance he had to earn Sae’s respect (even though I doubt Sae would’ve given it to Rin, Rin still thinks that he would’ve gotten the respect)

So yeah, Rin deserves to beat Isagi this match, he deserves his petty revenge too

What I want in the next coming chapters is for Hiori to figure out how Charles operates, Kunigami to score against Shidou, and for Rin to absolutely destroy Isagi

We’ll see how many of my desires are met, but this has been Emmie rambling about stuff

Go check out the previous post for my other rambles about this chapter

Hopefully all this was coherent-

I had too many thoughts for this one

Part one of this ramble

[ixiot-ghostrebel]

(ummm hello. you don’t actually have to respond/answer these i’m just rambling)

but!!! irminsul in an imposter au is a really neat idea. ummm assuming (correct me if i’m wrong???) that reader can access the information like kusanali, that’s actually a really useful tool

even if it’s only after they desperately think of a way to get out of danger, thinking of places and thinking of irminsul by chance, if they figure it out, that’s such a good escape??? especially at the beginning when whoever’s hunting them just sees them disappear and nobody has a clue where they are (unless kusanali comes to look at some point??? but i’d assume at that point reader would’ve found those hiding places you mentioned)

and depending on how much time reader is willing to spend in irminsul collecting information, weaknesses that they might’ve not known before could be used and leave their pursuers wondering how did they know?

(and maybe, just maybe, leave them questioning if they’re really an imposter)

but i’m really curious if irminsul would have records of the reader.

because? technically, reader, as “creator”, would not be from teyvat, right?

in some versions of sagau imposter au, i’ve seen kusanali as the only archon (that’s out rn) who knows that the reader is actually the creator, but without records in irminsul, she would have no way of telling, so it could go either way probably depending on the severity of worship you decide on

irminsul branches are connected to the leylines (which are in every nation) which could be used as a method to get around maybe? if reader can’t use the teleport waypoints/if traveler is also against them

ooooh dainslief. because he’s the bough keeper, and he’s always talking about knowing what he should or whatever, how would he react to someone he knows nothing about? (traveler’s sibling is recorded, and some people think that the player’s username is traveler’s alias in teyvat, but uhh that’s a little complicated.)

but yeah, if he knew you were the imposter, he was probably subconsciously (or however he gets the information) look for it, and if he found nothing???

eee idk my thoughts are not being coherent right now but this was just a very cool idea :D

Thank you, Anon! I love your ramble tbh lol- I legit could not have thought of this myself :')

Yes, technically, Reader wouldn't exactly be recorded into irminsul. They are the Creator of Teyvat, yes, but that doesn't mean they're rooted into the vast, on-going archive that is the big ol' tree we see. Even though some AUs like to have Kusanali as the only archon that knows who they truly are, I honestly don't see how it's possible. Reader's basically a "descender" that hasn't exactly interacted with the people of Teyvat face to face for them to really know how the Reader is like and all that. In Imposter!Sagau, however, the Imposter would most likely be written down in the vast ley lines.

I would personally believe that Reader should be able to gain access to the knowledge stored within the ley line energy, considering who they are to this very world.

In some Sagau Aus that I've read, Teyvat favors the Reader a lot and would side with them even if the characters wouldn't. If this is the case to these AUs, then irminsul could also give Kusanali herself false signals whenever Reader visits or teleports to the tree. They don't want anyone knowing their present location. It's the least Teyvat could do to let the Reader rest for a bit.

Reader being able to get around the place by using the ley lines would be a very awesome concept! Imagine if Reader basically just becomes the ley line energy and travels throughout Teyvat to get to places. That would be so cool.

It would also be very interesting to see what the Reader would do if the ley line energy were to spill out—like, would other people think that the Reader was a part of the memory the ley lines are showing or something? Or would they attack the Reader on sight and wonder how the heck they managed to pop out of nowhere?

Meeting Dainslief would be so awkward lol—the Reader, branded as the imposter, somehow has no information existent in the ley line energy, but the supposed "Creator" does?

I honestly think that, from the moment the Reader was deemed as the Imposter, Dainsleif would see take this chance to see what information there is to the Reader. In other words, I suspect even before we met the dude, the guy's already know we were the actual creator.

But still let's be honest—it'd still be awkward to just pop out of the ley lines and just run into the dude who supposedly tried to research everything there is to know about you, only to result in nothing but the current, existing rumors that go about the place.

And, let's be honest, I don't think Dainslief would join us to travel the world or protect us from the world. The Reader might solely be on their own until they prove themselves as the actual Creator.

Well, that's all I got! Thanks for brainroting in my mailbox, Anon—it was fun to add on to your ideas!

See you around! :D

Ghost Rebel Side Notes: Feel free to come by into my mailbox again when it's free, anon :) And holy cow—this was longer than I suspected it would be LOL

Check The Ghost Rebel's Blog Description to See if Their Mailbox is Open!

[crguang]

ahajsksbywpqp sat guess who has 2 tests in the same week in the same class next week. Not very fun for me. anyway I was think abt Kafka (honestly when am I not is the real question). See if it wasn’t Kafka in ur au and I was r I would definitely turn her in for the money, but I unfortunately think I might like Kafka just like a little bit ig so I don’t think k would be able to do that .

Reread part 3 today is her fingers twitching bc she wants to shoot something or is it just bc Kafka and her fingers. Ok thats not what I meant but also…what I meant was that she works with her fingers a lot I wish she used them on me instrument, guns, etc. we still haven’t gotten an in game Kafka appearance w an actual violin, it probably won’t happen but I’m still holding out. And she’s the highest threat level possible for a criminal but she STILL commits petty theft. She is so I saw someone say that the stellaron hunters were all siblings, Kafka and blade are like the older siblings that have to drive/pay for everything, silver wolf is the gamer (so original) and firefly is the youngest. Wish they had more in game interactions, or like they had synergy, meta wise, since canonically they’re one of the most tight knit groups.

oh also your inbox must be full as fuck so it’s fine if you don’t reply to everything, esp bc you answer a lot of stuff, and even tho someone already said this ur rlly great to talk to ur thoughts are always more coherent than mine. And we all get to simp over hot fictional women together.

ngl I might start playing ptn, like I’ve been seeing screenshots and…wow, I don’t think I have enough storage tho. I think the two types of characters I usually like are tiny mentally ill ones and hot evil women, so…

im so sorry my messages are always so long btw, I keep rambling 😭

-🌠

aaaa study well and good luck for your tests!!! hope you get a good grade and if u dint i will hack i to your prof’s computer and change it for you

im with you entirely, if it was anyone else in that story i wouldve already called the cops LMFAOOO kafka gets privileges because shes hot and my fav unfortunately… for the finger thing, i think its just one of her quirks! in her idle she mimics playing the violin and like you said she has very dexterous hands (even mentions it in a voice line) so i think she’d absentmindedly move them around when her mind is elsewhere. this is the kind of overthinking i was talking about, when i map out a character in my head i think about the most irrelevant stuff that dont matter😭 but imo they add to her charm a little and make her a rounder character, idk. AND YES i love that her crimes go from suicide inducement to petty theft shes so ridiculous hfjfhdhfj that time in her character story where she just walked in a store and took clothes off the rack then left in front of everyone… shes funny as hell😭

i see the SH as family too! silver wolf and firefly are sisters to me, and both of them are def kafka’s little sisters. i think silver wolf is the youngest though, she even gives off sassy youngest child vibes. i wish they could work together too, having them all in one team would be so nice. but it’s also cool that each of them has a speciality, it makes sense for the work they do

my inbox is full i think i have around 70 asks rn…😭 but to be fair a lot of them are veryyy old i just havent gotten around to cleaning up my blog yet, i’ll do it at the same time i change my masterlist and actually make it pretty to look at. i usually try to click on notifs as soon as i see them but like i said, i just forget to type my answers </3

and omg. anon. if your type is mentally ill and hot evil women ptn is literally the game for you. there is an abundance of mentally ill women in there, trust me… like there’s every kind of character you could want in that game— you could give me a specific type and i could find you a character that matches it, you should definitely play. and if you do, do it before the second anniversary ends (starts around mid/late-october) bc trust me you are gonna be upset if you miss shalom :/

dont worry abt ramblingggg i love talking to u and answering every point it’s really nice!!

[voidsuites]

RAHHHHH I LOVE YOU MORE

i wasnt even gonna come on here rn bc there’s no way i’m fully coherent but then i did and i saw that u WERE WONDERING WHERE I WAS????? ooh girl i’m about to cry so i gotta change the subject-

my friend and i only had single park tickets but i fear im too much of a dca slut we had to add on a park hopper because WHEW. like not to geek out this late but avengers campus opening was one of the greatest things to ever happen she says as she lays down in her new stark industries sweatshirt like ugh. i’m lowk such a spiderman girl.

anyways ugh i’m jelly of ur princess and the frog ears i THOUGHT the ride was open this month but i guess it’s november and i was so sad like that’s been one of my absolute favorite movies since it came out god it makes me sob every time (dig a little deeper is the song of all time)

back to art… imagine his face when you finally say you’ll go with him to make a lightsaber. his face lighting up as he picks out each little detail god i love seeing people’s inner child shine through it’s so beautiful

i fear i need to stop right here or ill start talking about the human experience and the multitudes of joy we’re bound to witness and feel every single day and yada yada yada should’ve applied as a philosophy major

goodnight lovey ugh us rambling back and forth makes me so happy

- 🧸

no yeah bc i think about all of you all the time. you’re all my little friends in my phone and i do miss you when you dip off the face of the earth for a sec. like 🍿 anon was missing for a bit and i was like omg where are they but they’ve been popping in again (lol hi pookie <3) but yeah i love you all sm and i love yapping with you guys <333333

i usually when i go to disney we just do one-park and disney bc 1) it’s so fucking expensive now for a park-hopper and 2) i personally think it’s easier to spend the whole day at just disney than just DCA but i LOVE DCA sm. stepping into avengers campus in 2021 for the first time was life-changing like i got chills 😭 also their shawarma? so yum considering it’s disneyland. but yeah i’m a spidey girl + nat girl + steve girl + t’challa girl + literally everyone bc i watched marvel stuff all the time as a kid (i really need to catch up on mcu stuff thunderbolts looks so so good. bucky… yelena…)

plus my other friend who works attractions at disney is going to work on the princess and the frog ride (she worked splash before it shut down) and she’s SO excited so i am too. i think i got my ears last nov in the newer shops towards the back of new orleans square but yeah seeing that movie in 2009 and feeling so seen/represented at like age 6 was crazy. that was my encanto fr. coLOMbiAAaaA… mi encanto… mi encanto

omg art would geek tf out building a lightsaber you know his ass would be taking everything seriously. i would like 2 see it.

AND OMG LOVE YOU TOO. talking with all of you is so much fun whether or not you’re anon i just love hearing about other people’s days n stuff. so glad u had a blast but i am still mad jealous LMAO 😭 love u

[k3uuu]

coming here first and foremost to ascertain my loyal, loving, and devoted allyship to lesbians (per the last AN on chap 11 of LS)

okay the new chapter was amazing my brain is fried rn bc i just mobilized all of my existing neurons to type out a semi-coherent comment with all of my thoughts, but here:

will cedric die? when will cedric die? if not, would you consider killing cedric? (please)

are our characters (mainly harry) spiralling out of control in the lead up to something truly big? like, are we revving up to a big action that will completely upend their lives? (i feel like this question will go ignored bc i know u don't like to divulge things that could end up spoiling anything)

also what was the porn category harry was really into in chap 10? i didn't even know where to start guessing but i'm so curious and it wasn't mentioned again in this update

and finally, I can't fucking wait to get to see what Tom's fantasies actually consist of, in detail. that dream at the end was very enlightening (and delicious) but also....not. i need to know what he wants!!

anyway the fic is still as amazing as ever your minds are beautiful and brilliant. you have my eternal gratitude etc. etc. etc.

<3

first thank you for your allyship to lesbians and our lesbianism 🫡 very few people can say they love me like you do (sending me an ask)

second YOUR QUESTIONS LMAO

1. you’d fit in so well on the fagette forums, like … are you gonna drop a doxx on cedric? 🤭

2. legally i’m not allowed to comment one way or another because i ramble and don’t want to overshare

3. ohhhhh i think it’ll be obvious next chapter but @pinktom did drop some hints imo in harry’s pov ^_^

4. hey, what’s more real than a weird ass somewhat lucid sex dream? what do you think he wants? 🤭

okay love you bye

[neyxmessi]

Love your thoughts on neymessi relationship and I would love to know more on Neymar side ( I think he can be subtle in a different way ) but anyways the more you can say the better lol

Neymar has literally been infatuated with Leo since forever. I think the tweets back in 2011 capture that really well lol 😭😭 (what a fanboy).

But even when he encountered Leo for the first time in 2010x idk there was a certain look in his eyes. Amazement. Adoration. Idolization. And then even more clearly during that Santos game. He was literally just staring in awe of him as they gave him the Golden Ball and Xavi was trying to push Ney along the stage LOLLLL.

As with Leo, I feel like every subtlety with Neymar is in the eyes. I mean of course, it’s impossible to not see Neymar’s beaming smile whenever he’s around Leo. But it’s really the eyes you need to look at when he’s just around him. Idk the look of love is hard describe. It’s something you just see. And literally it’s always in Neymar’s eyes when Leo is around. I have two vivid memories in my head where Neymar was simply just staring at Leo when he wasn’t looking and he just had that look (until he’d quickly look away when Leo turned back to him LMAO).

There’s also something so special about Leo to Ney. Idk I’ve never heard anyone speak about Leo the way Neymar has about him. His eyes light up whenever someone mentions Leo’s name (literally in the 2019 interview where he cried about Leo his eyebrows slightly raised at the mention of his name. Ohhhh the heartbreak).

In Neymar’s farewell Barcelona post, HE LITERALLY SINGLED OUT LEO. he like solemnly sighed when he said “Leo Messi” and then proceeded to list all the qualities about Leo he would miss when he left. Like he really broke my heart with that. He mentioned Suarez too, but not for nearly as long and idk a different sentiment behind it. You’ll have to watch to discern it lol.

I mean other subtleties would include rare clips during free kicks where Neymar will lightly tap on Leo’s leg before he goes to shoot. Or there have been countless times where Neymar will try and give Leo a comforting high five or something after he’d miss a goal or something. Like agh they make me go insane for real. EL DIA DE DESPUES I MISS YOU FOR THOSE BTS MOMENTS 💔💔 psg “inside” is nothing in comparison.

After goals, especially like back then (14/15 era was peak neymessi) he would always look to Leo after he scored a goal, and would always try to have a special celebration between both of them. There are also several instances where teammates congratulate him and he doesn’t smile until Leo shows up, or he pushes people out of the way just so he can hug Leo. (<— once again kinda obvious but also not?? Idk different moments you really need to pay attention to see the differences lol. Luckily I’m a crazy psychoanalyst who over-observes every interaction they have).

Also Neymar always looks over to see if he’s made Leo laugh. Even in the training session today. Like when he made a joke or something he immediately looked over to Leo to see if he was laughing too. LIKE NEYMARRRRR YOURE KILLING ME.

Omg I’m rambling sm but literally this is my whole neymessi brain pouring out lol.

Also I have so many other videos/photos I still have to post of these subtle moments. Maybe I’ll over-explain my vision when I post them to really point out the subtleties to you guys. Idk. Once again sorry I sound lowkey crazy rn.

Anyways this literally isn’t even everything (but it’s a LOT. Sorry if it’s hard to follow. Once again I’m literally just typing all the thoughts that come to my head and there is no looking over this lol. Apologizes for any coherency problems <333)

[spirallingstarcases]

Okay but no I actually love listening to eowyg and tttygs calm before the storm back to back. Like you can just hear the growth and how much more complete they are in the updated version. Like to me it’s the clearest example of how essential Andy’s drumming is to their sound bc you hear the version without him and it’s so much less alive, it’s not nearly as interesting or full or just. Idk the og drummer isn’t bad but it’s certainly lacking Andy’s presence. Joes guitar parts are so much more developed and prominent and it feels like he got to be more front and center esp at in the bridge. The bridge itself is miles better in the tttyg version like eowyg it’s almost like they just decided to take a break mid song it’s very minimal. But the newer one is gorgeous and it’s simple but it’s so well composed and layered with all of them. The bass line is mostly the same from what I can tell but we all know that’s not Pete’s real impact. Pete’s changes to the lyrics for the new one! Or at least I’m assuming he was responsible for the verse updates. It feels like him. it makes me think more than anything of how often Patrick talks about how Pete’s words have such a unique rhythm inherent to them, bc the way Patrick sings the new one is so melodic and it fits so well where the eowyg version is just a little clunkier. And Patrick’s VOICE. I remember being younger and listening to cbts specifically in tttyg and the bridge through the end and being like?? This kid?? This is the kid who thought he wasn’t a singer? Because he’s sustaining ridiculous notes and vocal runs and it’s insanely good for his age and where they were and back then I just thought like it’s wild that he was so nervous back then about singing but on songs like that he’s just going all in. And then I found the eowyg one and went ohhhhhh okay because he didn’t start there. He didn’t have the capability or the confidence or the consistency yet. He did start out very rough and had to work his way up to belting out those high notes and the smoothness of his voice etc. So yeah going to tttygs version right after it’s just so satisfying because everything that’s good about it is showing off the core of what makes each of them so necessary to their sound, and what unique parts of the music each of them bring to the table that would make it incomplete without the whole band. Rambling but eowyg is. Eh. But I’m glad we have it if for nothing else than I love the comparison between those versions of the song

anon i don’t have nearly HALF the coherency for good song analysis like you do but it’s like as i read ur ask i found myself going “hey yeah i DID notice that” or “that’s actually a really good point”

but one part i can say is that eowyg is really lacking in terms of like. everything? knowing what fob can actually do might be tainting my opinion on this but listening to it makes me wonder how their actual songwriting processes in and of itself had changed in the time between evening out and tttyg because the guitar sounds wildly different and in tttyg it sounds like there’s actually more then two guitars playing when evening out relied on two guitar lines presumably between joe and trick

and patrick’s VOICE the stark difference between the overstrained eowyg vocals vs tttyg where patrick sounds much fuller and let’s his actual throaty deep voice out, in eowyg it feels like he was focused on sounding pop punk and hitting notes that he didn’t even think he could hit when in tttyg he was more focused on the melody and keeping his runs even

i just woke up so that’s pretty much all i have to say rn LMAO but anon just know ur explanation of it is sooooo real and true

[vacantgodling]

I've been keeping up with your stuff but I gotta know... how many stories do you have planned out? Your creativity is astonishing & I'm curious what all irons you have in the fire rn

aww well, firstly thank you for keeping up with them bc i know it’s a lot and it probably seems like i’m just pulling ideas out of a hat at this point 😭 however i will offer you some insight to my madness:

tl;dr i’m an idea hoarder

planned however isn’t like always the case with all my stories. i generally separate my ideas into 3 camps:

stories where i have the characters + plot thought out or planned out (most developed and ones i usually write for and ramble about)

stories where i have a half baked idea—so it’s usually either a bare bones plot, bare bones characters, or a little bit of both

stories that are mostly vibes. even if i have certain aspects thought out there’s like entirely too many holes to make anything coherent & i need to think on them more lol.

so with that in mind here’s the (technical) list of all my ideas, ig with a lil summary for the ones i haven’t really mentioned before, as a treat! my goal is to make proper wip intro posts for all of this shit at some point LOL but it’ll take a bit 😅

PARAMOUR (including requiem for the monochrome, prim and provocative, and empire)

VAMPIRES DON’T TAKE ROAD TRIPS / vdtrt (including laurent and the one human he fell in love with)

THE LIMINAL SPACE SERIES (including donut wip, noi alone, jenna the reaper pts 1&2, jenna the witch king, and mason at the airport)

DEAD RITES

THE CHRONICLES OF LATHSBURY / tcol (including historical shit, the evondra conflict & the labyrinth collapse)

LUKEWARM REJECTION

THE GRAVES WE DUG

NAD (one day this will get a good title) — what do a forcibly turned psychic nurse (nyseah), a college student who works as a secretary of a large conglomerate (alona), and a jaded detective investigating the murder of a up and coming pop singer have in common (donte)? more than you’d think lmao. these three intersecting storylines take center stage in the corrupt city of new mananza, leading to the exposure of a horrific plot that’s been in motion for near as long as the city’s been around.

CELESTIAL WEDDINGS — dagmar of dattenmaow from a young age is one of the eight hopefuls chosen to have a shot at becoming the next celestial ruler, as the previous one, rava, died extremely prematurely. in order to have a chance, he and the other hopefuls must travel to each of the eight spheres (or lands) to woo a member of the royal family for their hand in marriage, discovering what lead to rava’s death along the way. this is a poly story so dag ends up with 8 partners & everyone is nb with rotating pronouns so it’s fun :)

PURPLE HAZE (including the sequel blue jeans) — calvin and jake have been best friends since they were 5, next door neighbors always attached at the hip. at the end of their hs years everything that they had going for them suddenly comes crashing down, between jake’s suicide attempt and calvin’s long time gf hailey breaking up with him suddenly and without warning. 2 years later the two of them are on complete opposite sides of the world trying to pick up the pieces and get out of these dark spots. purple haze is a super personal story to me cuz it does take some direct inspo from my life and i’ve had cal & jake as ocs since i was 8 lmaooo. the sequel blue jeans follows their younger sisters; the twins penny and jenny (cal’s sisters) and katia (jake’s sister) and how they slowly enter adulthood. there’s a bit more emphasis on penny and katia bc the two of them have some romance to sort out, meanwhile jenny is the most well adjusted of all of them 💀

AZAB AND THE HERO’S SHADE — this is a story en progress but tldr i have a self insert oc for legend of zelda (and a side blog for it here: @breath-of-reincarnation ) however i thought it’d be cool to make an original story with some of the concepts. i haven’t gotten too far into worldbuilding but the chosen one character is azab, his love interest/the stand in for my oc is jas & zelda is princess narindi

SHROUDED IN DARKNESS— alessandra of the kingdom of darkness has always felt as though she’s been denied her people’s birthright; the ritual blinding of oneself under the light of the moon (their goddess), this is bc of a vision her mother saw when she had her. alessi doesn’t understand why she must stay sighted until she is proposed to by their sworn enemies the empire of light to end their endless war through political marriage. it seems unfair all things considered, as the empire of light has been carrying on a genocidal crusade against the kingdom of darkness for as long as anyone can remember. but it is with this proposal that alessandra realizes her purpose: she must keep her sight until she brings the empire of light to its knees by killing the entire royal family. this is very much a vengeance story and touches on a lot of dark themes and it’s pretty gory but i’m excited to write it one day

NOBLE — a heavy scifi story this is. noh bell wakes up adrift in space, with no knowledge of himself (apart from his name) and where he is. he’s found and taken in where his name suddenly flashes across a news reel as being a wanted fugitive but he can’t remember why. so he has to figure out why he’s wanted, who he is, and how to stay alive. while i don’t know everything 100% i do know that noh was a former member of the space governments police special ops super soldier program thing called the JACK&JILL project, where basically super soldiers are taken as babies, enhanced, and then assigned in groups of two to deal with shit. jacks are the brains of the operation and jills are the brawn. noh is also mute (from these experiments) & he uses sign language :)

GOD EATER — this story is mostly vibes but from what i’m understanding basically the life force of the cyber world that exists has been stolen and heaven has to descend into the underbelly to catch the culprit who stole it. in their descent, they become nevaeh and among the many cast of divine concepts and characters they meet, they find an ally in thei, the god eater, the last in a race of terrifying beings who can literally snuff out the light of gods (by eating them LMAO). this confirms the suspicion that a god is responsible for the theft of “the sun” (which is what ig we’re calling it) and so nevaeh, their guardian little bear, thei, and thei’s keeper taj along with others possibly set off to do the thing. cuz basically if the sun isn’t returned the whole world will collapse into a singularity or black hole LMAOOOO

TRAIN MASTER CHIDORI — vibes for my boy chidori!! still trying to work out the actual plot and happenings but it’s cyberpunk and fun pfff

THE VIRGIN OF MOUNT HEREDOSA — nyoka has been a ward of “the temple” (can u tell i’m great with names 🙄 this will get a better name eventually) since they were young, with the express purpose of one day fulfilling their duty of becoming a sacrifice to the gods. but nyoka REALLY does not want any part of that shit. after trying to sneak out for the millionth time, nyoka is pulled before the council of elders and is told they are next in line to be sacrificed. the only way nyoka can void this situation is if they lose their virginity basically lmao. so they start on a quest to do that & end up meeting an outcasted god who offers some “help” ahem. this story is gonna be pretty explicit and monster fucking is gonna happen tm.

THE WHITE SHIRTS — a couple of decades removed from ww3, twins prosper and jane live out their day to day lives in a small town. their life is disrupted when out of the blue men in convertibles wearing white button up shirts and black shades show up and start slaughtering people—but prop and jane are able to escape. being hunted by the white shirts (since that’s what they start calling them) leads the two of them to meeting a slightly older teen, marin, who has had a run in with these white shirts before and is making his way to the east coast. there are rumors that there’s a boat there that can take you away from the ruins of america and obvs away from the white shirts. while jane is more trusting, prop is wary of this stranger suddenly helping them but he has no choice. so the three of them start heading east and yknow. fight to survive all that.

BOYS UNDER FLOWERS — this is based off of the k drama boys over flowers bc i HATE IT. i don’t have ocs yet but basically instead of the actual storyline when that rich guy starts being shitty towards the mc, they’re just gonna plot to kill him lmaoooo

MARVIN & LINDA (or the spy story) — marvin and linda (code names obvs) are two secret agents who have just completed a job together and are waiting for extraction. they however get blindsided by a notice from marvin’s company that they won’t be extracted for two months and now they’re suddenly stuck in this hotel room together until then. it’s less about them being spies and more about two private people opening up to each other A LOT due to the close proximity with a bittersweet ending lol.

SACRIFICE — mostly just vibes. i know edgar and naja are step siblings and i think they’re on the run from a cult???? but what else is going on i have no clue lmaooo

and this doesn’t include all the ocs that i have kind of… lounging about with no real purpose yet, or any of the stories i have with my partner either lol

[djservo]

this is so late of me oopsie got a bit carried away almost forgot the date. well here we are, december 31st 2022. already touched on your top books of the year, so for this months wrapped lets also get into: books that let you down, books you're anticipating in 2023, and your reading goals! <3

REPORTING TO YOU LIVE FROM THE FINAL HOURS, THE VERY DREGS OF 2022!!! 🎤 i answered this in spurts throughout the day bc I didn’t want to have any hungover 2022 obligations/thoughts seep into 2023 so Apologies if things sound tonally discombobulated (as if I’ve ever been coherent in one of these before) 🫗 i read 9 this month and i willed myself to ramble about them all as a treat HERE WE GO

december reads

Cruising the Movies: A Sexual Guide to "Oldies" on TV by Boyd McDonald

so fun, funny, and unapologetically horny - the perfect trifecta! we need more horny writing/critiques like this! sometimes I’ll write reviews (for my eyes only ofc) for movies that really affect me, but this made me want to get better into the habit of writing them more consistently, even if just glib observations. fine tune my thoughts (horny or not) rather than let them scramble and dissipate into nothingness 💭 starting next year (tomorrow) 🤞

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot by Stephen Adly Guirgis

I feel like most of this play’s clout is attributed to the “Why didn’t you make me good enough so that you could’ve loved me” line alone (deserved!) but this is also just so funny and creative as a philosophical unpacking of by-the-book religion/christianity + the conundrums/hypocrisies that sustain it

My Life in France by Julia Child

I read this on a train that ended up at a standstill for hours & they handed out these puny bags of chex mix as consolation (I texted my friend “it’s like I’m living Triangle of Sadness rn” lmfao) and had I not been so charmed by Julia’s rosy outlook and dreamy accounts of food and travel and Love, I likely wouldn’t have appreciated the irony of munching on stale pretzels whilst reading indulgent paragraphs of food porn. luckily her charm radiates from her words so my heart was full the entire time and the fact that she didn’t properly learn how to cook (nor had she found True Love™️) until her 30s makes me want to cry/throw up/etc!! moral of the story: it’s literally never too late for anything!!! also PACK SNACKS ON THE TRAIN ALWAYS!!!

Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

I wanted to be more annoyed with this bc the most annoying people are like THIS IS A MASTERCLASS IN STORYTELLING.... GENIUS.... but ugh fine this was really enthralling, I unfortunately do get the hype!! in between each chapter/issue were extra tidbits of like (fictional/story-related) police files, news articles, etc that made the world-building that much richer blah blah blah I Appreciate the Details -_- I’m also so fucking glad I read this before watching the movie bc Zack Snyder wouldn’t know subtlety if it spit in his face so all the meticulous detail and backstory from the novel would’ve been completely lost on me </3 big win for the book-before-movie purists

Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head by Warsan Shire

The gift and curse of being an emotionally evolved adult actively processing/grappling with your childhood trauma(s)! so much weight in sentences that don’t rely on pumped-up purple prose or weighty cliché phrases, both of which I wouldn’t have found surprising for a poet of the instagram age. there’s this casual wave-of-the-hand/and-so-it-goes quality, which I think makes it the reckoning that much more heartbreaking

From Drowning in Dawson’s Creek: “When I was twelve or thirteen and mad / with loneliness, I dreamt of white boys and / ladders leading to bedroom windows. / I dreamt all night of their scurrying, climbing in and out of me. / For Pacey Witter I would hitchhike Capeside. / For his plaid embrace, / I was willing to disown myself.”

My Wicked Wicked Ways by Sandra Cisneros

despite my 4 years of public school spanish language classes, I’ve somehow evaded reading The House on Mango Street (which I feel like was a staple in my school district’s curriculum), but I’m kinda glad since this was a treat of an intro to her style. I love how she keeps this kind of youthful, almost childishly petulant tone even when talking about adult things, walking this fine line of bouncy charm and heartbreak

From Drought: “Because of pride / I do not phone. / Not me. / On the contrary / I place the telephone / over there. / Against the wall. / At the far end of the room. / And stare at it for days like cigarettes.”

Is the Rectum a Grave? (and Other Essays) by Leo Bersani

I don’t read nearly as much theory as I wish to so it’s always a feat when I manage to finish a book in its entirety without rage quitting out of brain-fry self-consciousness LOL but this was amazing - strangely right on the nose for a few films I watched this month too (It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives (1971) - perfect companion piece) by no means was this an easy read. had to reread pages a few times, mull over sentences, look up words, etc, but when it did click, it was so rewarding and ultimately worth the brain farts and struggle, which I think is maybe just the theory experience™️

The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson

this was another book (along with I Love Dick) that I’ve had on my TBR list for ages, both of which I might’ve even heard of through the #ArtGirl side of tumblr years ago lmao but the difference is I adored this one Wow!! there’s a threshold I can stand before a book feels Too reliant on its outside references and thus a little pretentious/void, but everything mentioned here felt more like enriching supplementation rather than unnecessary padding. so honest and empathetic and refreshingly optimistic about motherhood and partnership and the inner-transformations/frames of thinking required for both.... real tears were shed, that’s how u know!

Liarmouth: A Feel-Bad Romance by John Waters

I just saw his live christmas show a couple weeks ago & snagged a signed copy so this was an especially special read! as I read it, I was trying to think of who - if anyone - I’d recommend this to aside from john waters fans. then I thought, would I even like this if I wasn’t a john waters fan, privy to his works and in on his jokes? if I wasn’t able to hear these chapters in his voice, or imagine these scenes shot in his style? but luckily we don’t live in that evil timeline so I had a twisted little blast with this, perfect book to end this chaotic year filled with so very many john-waters-like predicaments!

let downs

initially I had so many more titles but they were mostly just books I felt "meh" about which didn't seem fair so now I'm interpreting this as books I initially had high hopes for but ultimately didn't rise to my expectations

I Love Dick by Chris Kraus, The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay, Sigh, Gone by Phuc Tran, In the Miso Soup by Ryū Murakami, Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney

anticipations/goals

I'm a pretty bad #reader in that I don't really keep up with new/upcoming releases unless it's an author I adore/have read several books by there's not much in mind - maybe Elliot Page’s memoir? as for goals, you already know I just got a kindle which has opened this door of possibility as I mostly rely on my library BUT when my library doesn't have a title I’m looking for (which is often), I'll find a PDF/epub online and read either on my phone or laptop which isn't preferable for me SO!! LONG STORY SHORT!! this newfound ease has reignited my motivation to dig into meatier reads that’ve been collecting dust on my TBR list 🥩 I’ve already downloaded a few I’ve been unable to find at the library (& don’t wanna spend a small fortune on) so next year I anticipate reading more theory 📍 one of my movie-watching goals is to delve more thoroughly into filmographies of filmmakers I like, so ideally I’ll do something similar with reading and complete the written works of more authors I enjoy, but IDK I also think a lot my joy of reading comes from the rabbit holes I get led down/thru - this memoir leading me to that fiction leading me to that theory etc etc. we’ll see what kinda discipline I can conjure up 🧘 I'd also like to track down some vintage pulp/erotica, expand my horizons in that realm. last time I was at the used bookshop I came across this 2000s (not vintage ik) gay vampire parody of Fight Club called ‘Bite Club’ which I thought was amazing genius hilarious etc but I haven’t read Fight Club yet so those 2 are like top of my list LMAO

ok jesus christ this is stupid long but i figured i’d indulge for the end of the year, really brain-spew these final ‘22 inner-ramblings and opinions <3 AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

[rotessaboggs]

I posted 1,060 times in 2022

That's 1,025 more posts than 2021!

21 posts created (2%)

1,039 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@mlchaelwheeler

@andiwriteordie

@willel

@queerxqueen

@new-ronantics

I tagged 54 of my posts in 2022

#byler - 27 posts

#will byers - 16 posts

#stranger things - 15 posts

#theories - 6 posts

#analysis - 5 posts

#sorry this turns into a rant - 1 post

#y'all making me emotional - 1 post

#share this again - 1 post

#im crying rn - 1 post

#south-east asian - 1 post

Longest Tag: 133 characters

#but like i can't imagine how they are gonna defeat vecna in any other ways except for taking what he preys on and uses it against him

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

I'm so disappointed to the point that I can't feel anything but empty right now. Will, you don't deserve this treatment.

20 notes - Posted July 1, 2022

#4

79k!!! I remember when I first started to follow the tag, it was like 20k something or even less. And now we are 21k away from 100k??? Oh man that's crazy to think about.

22 notes - Posted August 4, 2022

#3

No matter what is gonna happen in vol 2, I just wanna say that I had a time of my life reading all the theories and analysis of you guys. Some people may say “it’s not that deep” but to me, what makes a work of fiction have a lasting impact is the fact that we can dive deep into the story, decipher the smaller details and see how it contributes to the larger picture. Arts continue to live on because we, as the audience, never cease to analyze and interpret it with different angles and layers.

In the months leading up to the release of reputation back in 2017, I read tons of amazing theories. Although many of them ended up not being accurate but looking back, I never regretted being invested in them because they gave me the thrills that only a well-done work of art can do: that there is always something more to what we see on the surface.

I’m not sure if what I’m saying makes sense or not because I’m so stressed out right now and English is not my native language. So in short, thank you so much for all the theories, analysis, and memes that you guys have posted in the last month. I will remember June 2022 for the rest of my life <3

37 notes - Posted July 1, 2022

#2

How realistic should a work of fiction be? ~aka this is me rambling~

Warning: This is going to be more like me getting all of my messy thoughts out of my head than a coherent in-depth analysis. So read it at your own expense lol. Still, I would really love to read you guys’ thoughts and opinions on this topic. This is something I have been pondering upon for quite some time but I didn’t have the urge to write it down until I saw people on Twitter “arguing” over what a therapist said about Mike.

Also, English is not my native language so sorry in advance for any spelling/ grammatical mistakes or ambiguous/ confusing word choices. I won’t mind if you guys point it out for me.

First of all, let me start off with some chit-chats (you guys can skip it if you like). I have no intention of “forcing” my opinions on others so I want to make it clear how I am like which can affect my viewpoint intrinsically.

A few years ago, I generally didn’t care much about films or TV shows, to be honest. I did watch movie analysis for fun but I have always been a book lover and I tend to gravitate towards classic literature because they usually make heavier impacts on me (I may use some examples of classic lit later on). I usually opt for classic lit because I feel more certain that it has the thing I love - a character-driven narrative in which we get to dive deep into a character’s inner self, explore all their turmoils in exquisite detail, and observe a natural progression in their thoughts and feelings. 

It was in late 2017 or early 2018 that I watched a video explaining the first two seasons of Stranger Things that I got interested in the show. It was specifically Noah’s acting and Will’s possession arc in season 2 that made me become a fan, not gonna lie. I was super excited to watch season 3 right when it came out. And … It made me so disappointed that I felt weirdly left out when other people all seemed to enjoy it. I thought maybe it was just me and I didn’t think of the show at all during the three-year period between season 3 and 4. I clearly didn’t know that Will is gay or pay any attention to the underlying problem in mlvn’s relationship. That kinda qualifies me as one of the general audience, right? Volume 1 blew me away and made me hooked on this show again. And then I came across posts and analyses about Will and Mike (in season 4 and other seasons) and I was even more blown away by all the subtexts and parallels (you guys are AMAZING!). In one way or another, I support byler because if it is really the direction the show is heading towards, it proves that the piece of entertainment I am consuming at the moment has so much depth, breadth, and width. And that has always been the thing that gives me an amazing sensation of blissfulness and satisfaction when I enjoy art. It makes me feel like a diver making her way down the mysterious depth of the ocean, being fascinated by all the questions and wonders.

Thank you for getting through that. Let me get to the main question now. 

How realistic should a work of fiction be?

I have seen a lot of people say things like “Stranger Things is a show about a girl who throws off a car with her mind and alternate dimensions with monsters but gay characters in the 80s is where you draw the line, really?” Although I agree with the overall sentiment here, there is always something irking in the back of my mind about this argument, about when things should be realistic and when the writers can just do anything they want.

In this case, I won’t bring all the supernatural things into this discussion because I think the matter is not whether things are realistic or not, it’s more about whether all the supernatural elements really align with each other in the grand scheme of things, whether later discoveries explain or disrupt the set of established rules and norms (which can be absurdly unrealistic) we have from earlier seasons. Although there have been quite a few inconsistencies, especially in regard to the Upside Down as people pointed out, there is still the last season 5 in which more will be explained so yeah … let’s wait and see how it will pan out.

What I do care though is the characters, their personal developments, and the dynamics they have with each other.

Back to the therapist I mentioned earlier, I don’t know exactly what she said but as far as I hear from other people, she explained Mike’s behaviors in a way that is favorable to mvln so undoubtedly, mlvn shippers use it as their proof. Meanwhile, they are pretty much against an analysis of a person with film degrees and experience in media literacy. On the side of byler, there is an opposite response: more in favor of the latter, of course.

In my opinion, this is pretty much a gray area. On the one hand, I can see why people cling to the analysis of the therapist because characters are humans and their behaviors and thought process can be explained through the lens of psychology just as normal human beings. On the other hand, they are also fictional entities who play a part in a story, directly engage the audience into a narrative, and are the means through which the emotional impacts are created. Rather than seeing this in a black-and-white manner like “it’s not realistic to do this or that” or “oh come on it’s fiction,” I would say the boundary between the realistic and creative aspects is pretty blurry, especially when people are just talking generally about the show without specifically focusing on a character, relationship, or plotline.

A basic opinion that I first had about this is that: the journey that a character goes through should make sense and make the audience feel like it’s relatable  to a certain extent (or at least understandable). But to adhere strictly to reality for the sake of being realistic isn’t it. That personal journey, with its progression, climax, resolution, and aftermath, has to serve a purpose, or in another word, it has to be purposeful and consequential. 

People argue that Will being gay, in love with Mike and potentially having his feeling reciprocated + having a happy ending isn’t realistic because it’s the 1980s - a really homophobic period. They believe that it would be more realistic and accurate for Will to be rejected or something along the line. But if it is the path his arc is heading towards, then I wonder for what purpose then?

(This thought came after I finished this whole writing so I don’t know where to put it except here. Consider it an irrelevant note if you like) So … When I think of the word “realistic” when talking about fiction, I recall a quote that one of my professors mentioned in our class: “Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.” I question if it can be applied in this case. Although the 1980s was not a great period of time for gay people, was there anyone who actually got to have a happy ending? If those people exist, is it “unrealistic” for us to tell their stories instead of the conventional one - the one with no joy and happy ending at all? OK maybe that’s not what realistic actually means and maybe I’m way off base.

To be as close as the reality of the time is an obvious answer that some people may cling to but is it enough to be the drive of the arc of a main character?

I am currently reading “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall'' by Anne Bronte and I am pleasantly surprised by how progressive the book’s ideology is considering that at the time it was published, women were devoid of any independence of their own and viewed as the properties of their husbands. To see a woman of that time (not only the heroine of the book but also the very author) deliberately going against that mindset is empowering indeed. The things happening in the book aren't necessarily “realistic” but sometimes we have to defy reality to get a message across and to create an emotional impact. Particularly when it comes to a progressive ideology like feminism or LGBT+ rights, by defying the reality, the writers are able to create a work that continues to be impactful decades or centuries later on. Or on a much more personal scale, we may say it’s a way of self-fulfillment for the authors who didn’t get a chance to live a better life (like Jane Austen with all of her books). Either way, there is a purpose.

On the other hand, there are also authors who don’t defy the rules and norms of the time and try to make their stories realistic. I always think about “Tess of the d’Urbervilles'' by Thomas Hardy in regard to this because that book hurts me like hell with its pessimistic progression and devastating ending. Spoiler alert, the main protagonist of the book doesn’t get a chance to escape the bleak reality of her life and the love story in the book doesn’t have a happy ending at all. Upsetting as it is, it makes sense when we learn more about Thomas Hardy. He is a person who is known for “his stoical pessimism and his sense of the inevitable tragedy of life.” Although one of his most popular books “Far from the madding crowd” has a happy ending, there are still a whole lot of pessimistic things and tragedies that plague nearly all the portions of the book. Also, sticking to a realistic portrayal of the society and having the characters suffer immensely can be a way of social critique, having the general audience confronted with unfairness and cruelty of this world, to encourage them to actually think about justice and equality instead of being indifferent towards those matters.

Now, based on what we know of the Duffer brothers (there are other writers as well, but overall, they created the whole thing in the first place so let’s just narrow it down to them), which side would you think they gravitate towards? 

Depressing as the show can get sometimes, it still offers us a message of hope and optimism, as well as emphasizing the power of self-esteem, friendship, and love. As someone who has always felt like an outcast, a second thought, and someone who tried to seek validation from other people to feel worthy in high school, I find the show relatable and inspiring, and I believe that it’s the effect the show creators want to bring about.

If Will’s feeling for Mike is not reciprocated and he somehow ends up sacrificing not only his heart but also himself in season 5, what message and effect do you think that would bring? Not just in the LGBT+ community but also people who find themselves resonate with Will in any certain ways.

Counter arguments

One may argue that well, if you want Mike and El to break up, it would still suck because she has suffered a lot and deserves love and happiness. Now I would support this if it were not for the things happening in episode 9 and her overall character arc. To be honest, I didn’t really care about El in earlier seasons because I tend to just hyper-fixate on one character at a time. But there are aspects of her arc this season that I find particularly relatable and touching. It’s her need to feel accepted, validated, and loved. 

At the beginning of the season, the foundation upon which she depends her self-esteem comes from the outside, which as we have all seen, causes even a lot more trouble to her mental health. All the bullies and harassment and then the lack of love received from Mike - all contribute to pushing her closer to the edge. At first, her coping mechanism is shrugging it off, putting it aside and pretending that all is good. It really doesn’t help that she can’t be honest with Mike about her struggles although hypothetically, they should be able to be so if their relationship is healthy and advantageous to both sides. I think all the lies are pretty much rooted in insecurity as she is an original person now without any superpower. She has been trying to find herself for several seasons but this is the first time there is no “superpower” - the main thing that many people see when they see El: a thing that they may depend upon in dire circumstances, or at worst weaponize for their own benefit. Her being left without it makes the issue of finding herself even more pressing because it seems now to her that she is no longer as helpful as before.

Despite the facade of happiness, all the distress is still there, waiting to surge up, breaking the dam when the time comes. That time being at the Rink-O-Mania. After that, we finally get the chance to see her true thoughts and feelings. We see that under the facade of happiness, those demeaning labels and names have really caught up to her and affected the way she defines her self-worth. It doesn’t just stop at “I’m different. I don’t fit in.” She literally sees herself in the worst light possible - a monster - something that brings destruction and death.

So the main character arc of El for the rest of the season (and I believe it will continue in season 5) revolves a lot around her defining her very self-worth (she alone knows herself best, not anyone around her; not Hopper, not Mike, her), making her own decisions despite the biggest authority figure in her life - Papa - saying “NO,” and most importantly, accepting herself (and her abilities) for what things are. If need be, she is going to use them in a violent way, like fighting against Vecna or the military, or use it to save Max - her dearest friend. When I first watched episode 9, I was a bit annoyed by the fact that they have El revive Max in such a way because it feels like they want to avoid a main character’s death. But when I ponder upon it a bit more, I see it as a beautiful contradiction with how her power has been used continuously in every season - something that causes damage and death vs. something that can revive life. There is no clear-cut definition like the monster or the superhero because these words imply certain qualities that completely contradict each other and cannot co-exist in one entity, that entity being El. She is Eleven and she is more complex than what those labels can ever describe.

Now this is exactly where I have issues with Mike’s monologue. Because he keeps going on and on about her power (a lot of which isn’t even accurate) and calls her a superhero. Many people have talked about this but let me put it down here just to make things clear: Mike is holding El back from her personal development. She cannot open up to Mike about her life in California, suppressing her negative feelings and thoughts all the way, because he has always looked up to her for her abilities and she can’t bear his pity if he knows the truth. She feels unloved because Mike cannot write the word “love” to her but once again she tries to put that aside. Mike’s words after she hits Angela triggers her traumatic experience at the lab - the one which makes her feel like a monster. And then when she finally gets to see that there is no such thing as a monster or hero, she being way more complicated than what others dictate her to be, Mike once again brings back the word “superhero.”

OK I didn’t intend to write that much about El, which is a bit funny considering that my favorite character is Will. I am feeling like I am driving at night without any headlight so let me end this part with a question: If she continues her relationship with Mike in season 5 without both resolving all the underlying problems in their relationship, it being the fact that they cannot really be themselves around each other and therefore, hindering their own personal development due to each being the main source of validation for the other, what purpose would it serve? What emotional impact and message can that bring about at the end of the day? What is potentially the climax of resolution of all these underlying issues that have lain around for seasons?

The psychological (realistic) and narrative (fictional) aspect of a character’s personal arc is so intricately interwoven to each other that to me, to erase one side from the argument (to completely cling to the analysis of a therapist) portrays a black-and-white way of looking at the show. I still love listening to character analysis of people who have knowledge of psychology though, because I love psychology a lot but I’m not going to forget that I’m watching a show in which everything has a sense of purpose and has to fit into a narrative. At the moment, we still have a whole season left and none of the characters have completed their arc yet, not to mention we are kept in the dark about some of the character’s actual thoughts and feelings and the only thing we can do now is deducing from what we see or hear from the show and other related sources of hint.

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42 notes - Posted August 3, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

PREACH!!!! OMG I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!!!

70 notes - Posted July 17, 2022

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[sapphosclown]

idk if y’all remember but i was writing a gini social media au that i officially put in pause in june but ANYWAYS i just reread it and TELL ME WHY i made me feel things. TELL ME WHY. i know why it’s because i was fully projecting onto the characters but still

[cartoons-babeyyyy]

I know we're all joking about Luz's line "Thats what friends do." In preface to a extremely romantic scene but let me remind everyone that in her pov Amity has a crush on someone,, someone that Luz doesn't think is her.

I mean, imagine your friend and/or crush said they were afraid to be rejected by someone who they wanted to ask out to a event,,, if you stepped in and were like "I can go with you instead." Wouldn't you want to assert it as a friend thing since like- you don't want to seem just like a replacement to whomever they wanted to go with or whatever. I would do that! I think thats what was happening here too.

In Luz's pov Amity has feelings for SOMEONE ELSE, so obviously shes not gonna try and ask Amity out romantically if she thinks Amitys sights are on someone else. Its a reasonable statement on her part imo, even if in the process she kinda friend zoned Amity (which, OOF, poor girl)

I do think Luz has a crush on Amity but just can't reconize it atm (I'm gonna assume this is just bc shes used to crushing on more unattainable older kids i.e. Emira and Edric, and her fantasy bf from that one episode,, whatever his name was??) but even with that in mind I think she only mentioned the friend part not bc she views herself and Amity as "just friends" rn but rather just bc of how the situation presented itself. Like. I don't think Luz has actively tried thinking about if she likes Amity as more then a friend or not,, so I don't think she said that specifically bc she decidedly views Amity as purely a friend- shes just oblivious af lmaooooo

Hopefully that ramble was coherent.. anyway, thats just my opinion on that. Any thoughts?

[retelling-of-ragnarok]

❆ ᴇᴠʏ ᴀɴᴅ ɢᴡᴇɴ ʀᴀᴍʙʟᴇꜱ #1 ❆

✰ tell me your character’s art school major and i’ll ramble about the kinds of interactions they could have with my character✰

@golden--requiem

❆ be warned: i have never had a coherent thought in my life but i think these two are NEAT ❆

❆ anyway hello yeah a college au with these two would be so fun. gwen definitely walked in on evy staying late after school, and caught a glimpse of a painting she was working on as was like?? blown away? like yeah sure they’re already appreciative and passionate abt art anyway? but seeing evy’s painting was like.

“oh damn i might shed a tear.”

i could be so wrong rn but i feel like evy really pours so much emotion into her paintings? like none of her paintings look too similar because its like?? idk some deep emotional shit brain doesnt work the point is that gwen LOVES her art.

so imagine being evy rn. you’re cleaning up from a hard day’s work. and probably not expecting to be BARGED IN ON by some random student— let alone the one people keep trying to crowd and pick fights with? and they’re staring so hard and her works too??

no ‘hellos’ no ‘how are yous’ gwen straight up goes “stay after school tomorrow too.” and leaves. NO SOCIAL SKILLS ASS MF. like yeah they’re all cool and suave but when they’re interested in something? they’re fr just. AWKWARD. no sense of making friends or anything bruh.

they def keep going on like that. and eventually gwen starts ACTUALLY talking instead of just watching. probably perched on one of the counters and looking all engaged. again making friends is still kinda hard for them— they’re normally so used to persuading people to either leave them alone or do things for them. but w evy its like “hmbmgn how long have you paint? why do you paint? OH WHAT COLOUR IS THAT—“

theyre friends. again since people in gwen’s class, and some of the other fine arts students, actively try to mess with them— gwen kinda has this permanent scowl on their face? or at least they’re not approachable. so imagine all the other students seeing them go from “>:|” to “:D” - LORD.

evy definitely helps gwen with their final, even though she’s probably stressing over HERS as well.

gwen: “bUT YOUR BRAIN SO LARGE? HELP? PLEASE?”

evy: “?!!?!!!!!?!”

gwen has so many ideas but sometimes they don’t come out the way they want them to and they def cry to evy when this happens. sobbing uncontrollably like. sniffling and sulking in the corner and shit.

gwen: “my brain is broken..”

evy: “i’m sure it isnt that bad ‘^^ “

gwen: “ofc its not bad its HORRIBLE.” fucking wailing and shit

evy: “oh dear!!!!!!!”

gwen loves loves loves evy’s colour usage. its so evocative and leaves them like “oh damn where those my feelings or the ones she wanted me to feel?” def took some notes from her. sure everyone considers gwen the top student in their respective class, but evy’s pieces?? have them in tears.

gwen doesn’t really hang out with her much outside of school?? bc theyre not familiar with all of that— but i feel like evy would invite them out and they’d be like. “okay.”

def holds her sleeve in public bc they hate being in a place w so many eyes. like boy how do you aspire to be a famous artist but hate attention 🤨 ANYWAYS BUT THEY ENDURE IT. bc time with evy turns out to be a ton of fun— even when art isn’t involved.

bestest of friendships blossoms i swear.

LITERALLY NONE OF THIS MAKES SENSE— but i think these two are so fun and cute. lil art school buddies. OFC IF YOU WANT MORE I CAN DEF RAMBLE MORE. its like 2:15 in the am and my brain is like “mfnm” so all i can provide are incoherent rambles.

IF YOU WANNA ADD OR CORRECT ANYTHING PLS FEEL FREE. ❆

[hyunjinspark]

SCREAMING RN HOW DO I EVEN BEGIN TO EXPRESS MY LOVE FOR YOUR WRITING!!??! THIS CHAPTER HAD ME FUCKING SOBBING OMG LEMME BREATHE FOR A SEC SO I CAN FORM A COHERENT THOUGHT

okay first of all: yeonjun ily so fucking much i love his friendship with yn and i’m excited to hopefully see more of them in the future. yn being able to comfortably talk to him about everything, and yeonjun not discrediting her feelings i’m :((( it’s literally like the bare fucking minimum but people have been using my girl yn as their punching bag lately and i’m so glad she can turn to yeonjun without fear of her feelings being invalidated or being told she’s being annoying/selfish pls someone hug yn 🥲

if i talk too much about the ynbokkie fights i’ll cry but holy shit THE TENSION??! the entire party sequence so intense my girl just wanted to draw stars on jinnie’s cheeks and hang out with him but lix was like nope. side note, but i’m in awe of how you wrote felix in this chapter. like??? we’re all so accustomed to seeing him as sunshine personified but you did an incredible job at describing his frustrations, and you could tell these feelings had been building up for a while. super excited and also nervous for their future confrontation and i hope they’ll be able to sort it all out 🥲 i’m just dreading felix’s reaction when yn tells him she’s moving to the city

AKDJJSKSKS THE PARALLELS HOLY FUCKING SHIT I NEEDED TO PUT MY PHONE DOWN TO STOP MYSELF FROM SCREAMING BC ITS LIKE 3AM BUT HOLY SHIT?!! okay okay so i don’t remember which chapter, but yn said that she wanted a first date at the chateau. but when she tried to organise this with her ex, he bailed which caused her to blame herself for choosing a “boring” date and not taking into consideration that he didn’t like art. it makes me so sad that yn constantly thinks she’s selfish for wanting to do something she likes (god forbid she even THINKS about putting herself first for a change) but hyunjin !!!! when he was talking to chan about wanting to take yn on the EXACT same date she wanted to go on 🥹🥹 the way they’re the definition of soulmates, why would you even raise my standards this high?? my sweet boy was so worried DON’T WORRY HYUN YOU’LL HAVE THE BEST TIME ON YOUR DATE (also “friends” my ass, they’re practically married at this point. super excited to witness hyunjin.exe to malfunction when yn is all dolled up for their date 😌)

also idk how you manage to make hyunjin even more cute and adorable every single chapter istg it’s giving me unrealistic expectations and it’s honestly ridiculous how much i love him 😭😭 my sweet baby was so confused and upset when yn said he didn’t “have to” sit with her, like it was some sort of obligation instead of him genuinely enjoying her company. and then we had a kkami cameo (kkameo?) pls kkami always choosing chaos and making hyunjin’s life so difficult but i just KNOW he was the embodiment of boyfriend material when they visited the store. also the contrast between him quickly managing to finish his painting (after gaining inspiration from what i presume was him having fun with yn at the party) and then getting art block when he’s confused about his feelings/where he and yn stand ?? that’s poetry right there yn is his muse. and CHAN !!! CHAN MY BELOVED HI !!!! pls he’s so funny and chaotic; i love that hyun is basically proclaiming his love in the group chat every other day and 3racha has a fucking bet going on to see how long it takes for him to realise his feelings 💀 i love them your honour. i think that a key reason why hyunjin didn’t kiss her (despite VERYYY obviously wanting to) is because he’s seen first hand the difficulties of dating an idol and he cares too much about her to put her though the constant scrutiny of the media. but i’m super happy that ynjinnie are slowly starting to finally realise and unpick their feelings for each other. anyways this was such an incredible chapter (as always 💖💖) and i’m so sorry for rambling lmao i just have a lot of thoughts about them akdjjsksks (also can i be 🎐 anon if it’s not taken)

hi!! thank you so much for sending such a detailed review. 🥺 had a long day and finally got the time to reply to everything !

i loved reading this so much. you’re so very right, yn has been a punching bag as of late and to hear her feelings are valid is so important to her, especially from yeonjun !! he’s doing the most right now. 😫

the party sequence was intense indeed and im so happy you liked the way i wrote his character 😓 clearly he’s been feeling this stuff for a while, he just was finally able to say it.

good catch ! yn mentioned she always wanted a date to be at the chateau in the first ever chapter, but nobody she knew would ever be interested in that,,,, so hyunyn soulmates confirmed 🔮

a trait of her character definitely is feeling that she may be selfish for wanting and doing the things she wants to do, taking into account her future plans for the city 🫥

i love that you love hyun’s character, sorry he can be too perfect 😪 kkameo indeed ! but he definitely was the epitome of boyfriend material then, and he will be more so in part 10 too 😗

his conversation with chan generally is pretty important to get an insight into his character. he does not want to be in love or in a serious relationship because of the way he’s seen things around him, and things with chan’s life, so it is kind of his fear and he’s holding back despite having feelings.

don’t apologise, i loved reading this ! and sure, but what emoji is that even ?? i finally found it but what is it 😭🎐