#and s5 starts off right where s4 left off

[chirpsythismorning]

tbh. birthdaygate makes no fucking sense

There’s a lot of foreshadowing hinting at it, even a couple hints going back to earlier seasons.

If you hate birthdaygate, you can just say that 🤣

[mlchaelwheeler]

Is the end scene of S4 actually Will's "Vecna vision"?

I just want to quick point out that this possibility was first pointed out by @heroesbyler in this post. I'll be adding some of my own evidence to Stav's original idea, as well as doing some theorizing.

So we know S5 is going to pick up right where S4 left off. We also know that S5 is action-packed from the start. Let's take a look at the final scene of S4, starting from when Will feels Vecna outside Hopper's cabin.

Look how warm the lighting is in this scene! It has warm hues, particularly yellow and orange. However, the minute Will feels Vecna in the back of his neck, the lighting immediately changes.

The scene becomes much darker, the lighting turning towards a blue/grey hue. This is the moment I believe Will entered his trance from Vecna. Let's take a look at the lighting in the scene where Max entered her Vecna vision.

Look familiar? The scene starts out in very bright lighting then quickly shifts to darkness. Why isn't the lighting for Will's vision so starkly different? It's because this is a plot device to throw off the audience's suspicions after S4. No one expected Will to get tranced right at the end. No one would expect the scenes they believe to be real to actually be fabricated by Vecna. It's called suspense! It's a stunning plot twist!

This isn't my only evidence though. Another strange thing about the final scene is that the grass/flowers are decaying right in front of the characters' eyes. El picks up a flower and it disentegrates to pieces. That seems weird, given how far they're standing from a gate.

The nearest gate is way in the distance, perhaps even a mile away. Why is only the grass by the characters rotting? The ground by other gates we've seen looks perfectly normal.

I believe this is because where Vecna goes, things rot. Think back to Chrissy's vision. The table of food she runs across is rotted and decaying. The pit Fred falls into also is rotting and greyish. It's hard to tell with Max's vision, since the entire ground is covered by fog. Yet we can probably assume that where Vecna walks (or around him) is where the ground rots, just like what we see only near the characters in the final scene of S4.

Extra Byler theory about Will's vision:

The final scene makes a big show of Jopper and Jancy holding hands, with Mike and Will standing close to each other, but not touching. There is even a zoom shot on Hopper grabbing Joyce's hand for extra emphasis.

What if Will's vision in S5 starts out with Mike grabbing his hand? Will is startled, but smiles. The camera pans down to their hands linked, only for Mike's hand to fade, replaced by Vecna's. "This is what you've always wanted, right William?" This would be a great parallel to Vecna posing as both Susan and Billy to inflict maximal trauma on Max. Imagine if Vecna is in that final scene, but disguised as Mike.

[mamahersh]

Mamahersh’s Post-MAG-200 Fanfic Recommendation Mega Thread

@a-mag-a-day

In celebration of us finishing The Magnus Archives (even if I admittedly fell off around S2 and have been mostly lurking since then), I have compiled all of my fave post series fics for your enjoyment! I will be grouping them in some big, general categories, which I’ll list above the read more here. Depending on the size of this post, it might start looking a bit like that “Do you like the sky?” post But I can assure you that I have read all of these and can give them my stamp of approval!

If you finished the series and were wishing for your best boys to finally be happy, then boy howdy do I have some fanfiction for you!

Time Travel

Somewhere Else

AUs

Uncategorized JonMartin Fluff

By these categories, we should hopefully cover all the recommendations I have, and I hope you all find some new fics! (or enjoy rereading fics you haven’t enjoyed in awhile)

TIME TRAVEL

where there’s a will, we make a way by bubonickitten

"So, what does happen if an Eye learns to See within itself?

What happens is this: the Archive Beholds the Watcher – and the Watcher blinks first."

________________________

Jon goes back to before the world ended and tries to forge a different path.

Probably my fave time travel fic in this fandom hands down; it is also currently the longest whilst still unfinished. While I try not to recommend unfinished fics that I am uncertain of their return to activity, this is a big exception and personally I love everything about it! It’s got Jon dealing with trauma through the lens of his speaking only in Statements, Martin being saved from his downward spiral into the Lonely way earlier in S4, Georgie actually sticking around, Basira having a better grasp of the situation and being more understanding about it, and everyone generally sticking close to character while managing to buck parts of the narrative. I cannot recommend this fic enough, and I very likely already did back near the start of S5.

Something’s Different About You Lately by thesnadger

Jonathan Sims has been head archivist for just a few months, but he has memories of holding the position for years. He remembers monsters, and darkness, and the end of the world. Somehow, he'll have to keep everyone safe from what's coming. Meanwhile, his assistants can't understand why their prickly jerk of a boss has gone sappy all of a sudden.

So TMA time travel fics that focus on Jon going back tend to come in two varieties. There’s the “Jon’s mind goes back and replaces himself/inhabits his past self’s body” and then there’s the “Jon physically goes back so there’s two Jons”. The first two on this list are of the first variety, and if I remember right this was one of the first I ever read. However, I recommend this one specifically because this has an amazing ending. Like, it might just be me, but many of the endings in these feel relatively unsatisfying because there’s magically a third option where Jon comes out unscathed while saving his S1 archives crew from the Horrors. For whatever reason, it was incredibly satisfying having a fic that didn’t shy away from the options presented in S4 and S5 and I love how they characterize everyone in this one as well.

100 Seconds to Midnight by starspangledbread

Jon and Martin find themselves back in 2011 after attempting to release the fears from their reality. The world is the same one they left behind, but now something has come back with them. They have a chance to destroy the fears once and for all, but it proves harder than expected. Who knew that the best laid plans could be thwarted by nosy co-workers, office romance, the inevitable learning curve of being a time traveler turned grifter, and the refusal to believe in subtlety?

Did someone say Extinction!Jon? This also is a part of a series, though the true sequel to this one is currently unfinished (though it should eventually be completed and only has one chapter to go). An excellent romp, I definitely recommend if you’re looking for something kinda dark, some comedy, a little OOC, and Martin being able to embrace his crime side in the name of saving the world.

Yesterday is Here by CirrusGrey

"Who the hell are you?" Jon could feel his hands shaking. The man laughed, taking a step forward and raising a hand to point at him. "I'm you, from the future!" he said, then swayed, eyes going unfocused, and collapsed to the floor in a dead faint. -------- Post-season-four Jon and Martin time travel back to the season one Archives.

Written by my fave (and most prolific) JMart author, we have a perfect example of the other kind of time travel fix it fic in the form of Jon physically travelling to the past to try and save the world. As expected by someone I am calling my fave JMart author, we’re going to be getting double dose on the JMart. I highly recommend if you’re looking for something that starts a little bittersweet, but then ends in copious amounts of fluff.

Reverb (Series) by Wolftraps

Undoing the apocalypse would have been enough for Jon, if all his people survived. Without them, Jon's only recourse is making it so it never happened in the first place. He's going to do better this time.

Summary from the first fic in the Reverb series, I highly recommend the first two fics in this series for different reasons. “The Reverb in These Holy Halls” is a great time travel fic that takes some really interesting turns by the end and unlike most fics actually has Jon try to keep Tim safe by keeping him out of the Archives pre-S1. However “Gossip” I recommend if you enjoy those fics formatted to look like official communication of some kind. It’s got people outside the Archives trying to figure out what’s wrong with them during the events of the first fic, and while it would be very confusing to read without the first fic, I’d almost say it’s worth it if you aren’t feeling the tags on the first one. Really fun and entertaining, you can’t go wrong with either one.

The Triumph of Galatea (for Acis is transformed) by TheOestofOCs

Statement of Hazel Rutter.

Jon couldn’t stop reading.

The Fears, however, are a bit more powerful than Jonah gave them credit for. Jon opens the door, but the world can’t hold what’s on the other side.

Time falls through, instead. Past becomes present, and the future is undone.

Statement begins.

Another fic I definitely recommended back at episode 160, but is well worth the second recommendation and/or re-read. Time Travel, but what if Jon could control as well as go into the dreams of the assistants/other Eye aligned people instead of just his victims’ dreams? Very good, even if unfinished, though the author seems likely to finish someday. Check out their other work as well, it’s all very good and has my fave Circus themed fic written to date.

a map of what matters most by gruhukens

“Is that a body,” Tim blurts before he can stop himself, rising to his feet. Martin looks, if possible, even more scared.

“He’s alive!” he hisses, almost defensively. “It’s not - it’s not Gertrude again, I didn’t kill him, he just – I don’t know what happened to him, I just found him in the stacks like this.”

“And you dragged him up here?” Tim says, and then registers several things at once – the build, the hair texture; the little round scars peppering a pair of thin hands and an awfully familiar face. “Wait, is that Jon?”

----

Jon stumbles back into an earlier Archive, looking for a way to fix the world. (Or, mom says it's my turn for the obligatory time travel au)

Directly inspired by CirrusGrey’s fic that I recommended earlier, this is another: Jon travels physically into the past fic. This one though is far more bittersweet than “Yesterday is Here”, but still an excellent read and does a great job at fleshing out the relationships between all the characters.

Saving the Universe: For Dummies by GhostChoir

Finding a man bleeding out in the alleyway was not what Elias wanted to do today. And he certainly didn’t mean to befriend him. But things never did go how he expected.

****** A Post-MAG200 Jon meets a 1970s Elias, an Elias from before he was corrupted by Jonah. Together, the two of them learn to cope with grief, drink more tea than any two people should be able to consume, and commiserate over shitty bosses. Oh, and just for the hell of it, they stop an apocalypse along the way.

Now for a change of pace: What if Jon time travels to the time of early Gertrude and Elias pre-Jonafying? A very good fic is what! While it’s been awhile since I read this, I do remember it’s quite good and deserves a chance. Note: this is NOT Jonathan/Elias, so my apologies if you were looking for that, but it is two very lonely men getting to just have a reliable friend in times of trouble.

A Little Game of Cat and Mouse by Paptato

“Jonah Magnus.” The cloudy silhouette snarled as it’s hand clamped tightly around Jonah's ascot. That was indeed his name, but Jonah couldn’t begin to fathom what he did to have it spat out with such hatred.

But nonetheless, Jonah was a gentleman and he would kindly address the angry figure as politely as possible, “Yes, and you are?”

“What?” The form spluttered as it slowly came into focus. Ah, yes. That probably wasn’t the proper response to being held at gunpoint by a random stranger. Must have been the blow to his head.

(Or in which Jonathan Sims goes back in time and tries to pull a Terminator, but fails and Jonah Magnus finds a new mystery to solve.)

This is that Jonah Magnus/Jonathan Sims enemies to lovers fic your friends warn you about in a good way. It’s not done, but I think it’s still being updated very slowly. Even if all I ever read is the currently released 11 chapters, I will consider it my one exception to my dislike of Jonah/Jon. As you can probably guess by the description, it’s a time travel fix it where Jon gets shunted back in time to when Jonah was still very human and still trying to figure out the Fears. The Web keeps Jon from explaining his circumstances or anything to do with Jonah’s future in particular, but this is a good thing and they both get to learn how to be more human in a world that previously was very antagonistic to those goals. It’s got a heavy dose of comedy, plenty of romantic tension, and lots of both surprising and unsurprising cameos. If you enjoy Dracula Daily, you’ll probably enjoy this imho.

Déjà Vu by CirrusGrey

Sasha remembers being unmade. Tim remembers being Unknown. Jon and Martin remember being unwound. All of them think they're the only one. -------- The S1 crew wakes up in the past with memories up till the moment they died.

So, here’s another one that’s got quite the spin on it. As you can see from the description, this one is where S1 crew all get their minds sent back in time to the time right around Jon’s first statement if I remember right. Another CirrusGrey fic, so it heavily leans on JonMartin, but otherwise it’s a wonderful exploration of the four S1 characters and ends on a very hopeful note!

oh my darling, just a moment of your time by IceEckos12

The Institute is visited by a pair of time travelers, and Jon has an important question for Tim.

Have you ever had a oneshot that just kinda guts you unexpectedly? While this might not do this for everyone, this is an amazing oneshot that gets right the point. I love it a lot, because of all of the fics where future and past meet each other, it very rarely if ever is addressed that past Jon was a douche. Or well it is but past Jon doesn’t necessarily have a character moment from it. Here he does, and despite the briefness of the fic, the author does an amazing job of giving Jon and Tim a moment while making an almost critique of the TMA time travel genre. Highly, highly recommend, and it won’t overstay it’s welcome if it doesn’t end up being your thing.

The Severing of Webs by chlodobird

After Jon kills the world, he travels back in time. Once there, he gets ready to change the future, to save his Assistants, and to watch as everyone learns to hate him again.

Unfortunately, the tapes wrap around him like a fly caught in a Web—he can't move. He's trapped reliving the original timeline, stuck acting out his past actions like an actor rehearsing his lines.

Sasha will die. Tim will die. Martin—

(Jon screams inside his mind, and someone hears him. Fate is not as immutable as he fears.)

This one is a brand new one! While basically all of the others on the list have been out/updating for over a year at this point; this lengthy oneshot just released this month. tbh, very excellent, which is why it has made the list. Also, quite the twist on the usual premise, where being sent back into his head is actually a bad thing this time. Ends with a giant pile of fluff, but who would I be if all my time travel recommendations were not also fix-its?

-

Somewhere Else

it will be this, always by bluejayblueskies

Jon coughed again, and blood stained his lips and blood stained Martin’s hands where they pressed against Jon’s back and blood stained the floor beneath them and help, they needed help.

Martin doesn’t remember shouting. He barely remembers the faces that had surrounded them, wide-eyed and terrified, all utterly unfamiliar.

.

Jon and Martin wake up somewhere else. Jon begins a slow path toward physical recovery, and several important, long-put-off conversations are had as they begin to navigate a new world that they hadn’t thought they’d be alive to see.

So, I’m sure you all have gathered that I have qualms with how much disparity there is between canon and fanon Jmart. This fic is painful, but is the most in character depiction of post 200 JMart fallout I have ever read. The ending is very cathartic, and takes a “realistic” approach to what happens to Jon and Martin as they begin to navigate their relationship after they both had betrayed each other so thoroughly in the leadup and culmination of MAG 200. If you don’t want them immediately making up, this is the fic for you. They get there, but by all that is good do they take their sweet time getting there.

Out There, Somewhere by Artyphex

"I'm sorry, you were found alone."

Jon survived the apocalypse and now will go to the end of this new, unfamiliar world to find Martin again.

So I think I’m just getting all the angsty ones out of the way first lol. Another slow burn, this fic is Jon’s recovery in the new reality while he also searches for what happened to Martin. Since I don’t post the tags, I will say this ones does feature “Eventual Happy Ending”, and I do promise that both Jon and Martin made it to the new reality and lived. But Jon and Martin both get to pine and cope for a while before that happy ending tag comes into play. It’s incredibly well done and explores their characters really well. Personally, I kinda enjoyed the Reddit saga because people mistaking Jon’s pleas for Martin as an ARG is very typical internet and 100% I would have bought into that at age 13.

Of course I need a therapist. I need ten therapists, working round the clock building me a bionic coping mechanism. We have the technology. by MartinKBlackwoodESQ

A story set somewhere else.

I’mma be real with you all, if I believed that characters could write and publish their own fanfiction, I would be halfway convinced the name is accurate. All joking aside however, this is a “crack treated seriously” fic but with characterization so on point I can consistently hear the voice actors when I read this. Admittedly, it’s made easier by it being written in transcript formatting, but if you’re looking for a hilarious time where TMA is suddenly is turned into a buddy cop adventure where Jon and Martin go to a universe where the Fears hadn’t been till their arrival, and they have doubles that already exist there who are living fairly normal lives till the TMA Jon and Martin crash land into their reality... Well this fic is one I cannot recommend highly enough. It also has a sequel, and it is also well worth the read, even if it appears to be on a bit of a break in it’s updates.

Worlds like phyllo pastry by neworld

After episode 200 Jon finds himself alone in a world very much like the one he left but fractionally different. It's so similar he finds versions of his former friends existing happily in the world. Unfortunately they have never met him in this universe and have no idea who he is.

This one’s unfinished, but personally it’s well worth the read as is. Not sure how I feel about the most recent chapter, but the story up till that point is a really fun spin on “Jon and Martin get shunted to a new reality” where Jon learns how to feed in a way that doesn’t cause problems facilitated by the new reality, and re-meets all the people who he lost till this point and has a very silly antagonistic relationship with his alternate self. While fic might be more of a guilty pleasure, it still is written in such a way that I would rank it high enough for this disorganized list.

Death Is The Easy Way Out by traveller19

After having killed Jonah Magnus and ended the Change, Jon and Martin should finally be able to rest. Rest, however, proves impossible when Jon falls ill. What's more, he begins having vivid dreams of their dead friends - Tim, trapped in the destroyed Archives, and Sasha, trapped outside of them. As Jon's condition quickly worsens and the line between dream and reality begins to blur, love is all he and Martin have to hold on to, because hope is a dangerous thing.

Did someone say sickfic??? But for real, this fic has an amazing balance between an A plot and a B plot, and keeps both at the right level of tension throughout. While this is a sickfic heavy one, it also features Tim and Sasha as ghosts trying desperately not to be. There’s also a lovely sequel and plenty of fluff by the end, but this is a rough ride. ALSO, if you or a loved one had covid / any respiratory illness that caused them to be hospitalized with pneumonia and it could be trigging to read incredibly on the nose descriptions of that experience, this fic is not for you. Or very cathartic. :/

Castaways by CirrusGrey

Welcome to the Castaway Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing a safe and secure landing to those lost souls banished from their home worlds by the influence of Fear.

If you wanted saccharine JMart in a new reality where they get therapy and meet old friends from different realities, this series of (mostly) one shots is for you! As you’ve probably come to expect when I suggest CirrusGrey, the writing is fantastic, the ship dynamics are exemplary, and the character are on point. There is so much to say about this series, but mostly, if you want Jon and Martin healing and then settling together and becoming the stereotypical married couple, then this is it. It’s not done, but it is wrapping up, and I hope you all if you haven’t seen this yet enjoy it as much as I do. And for those long time readers who have been reading it longer than I’ve been in the fandom, here’s your friendly reminder that it exists.

Do Before I Die by SupposedToBeWriting

Somewhere Else, Jon can't seem to shake the strange apathy that now plagues his life. Everything reminds Martin of the end of the world. For a change of pace, he and Martin rent a campervan and go on a road trip. Their mission? To fulfill the 'bucket list' Martin made when he was eighteen and lonely. Jon's looking forward to the beach.

Jon and Martin go on a Road Trip accross Britain. It’s just a wholesome and hurt/comfort as it describes. An excellent romp, and the character studies are wonderful. The Planetarium still sticks with me.

ours is a distant shore (series) by pantsoflobster

“If they ever found out about us, we could make things really complicated for them," Jon said. Martin gave a thoughtful hum and then a loaded pause before he said, “Or simpler.” “What?” “We could, you know…” Martin then made mischievous eyes at him in lieu of expanding. “What?” Jon said, thoroughly lost. “Wouldn’t it be a bit fun to sort of... nudge them in the right direction?”

Months after they arrive Somewhere Else, Jon sees himself in the shop.

Summary is from the first fic in the series, this is a fun little romp for those who hated Martin’s defeatism over his and Jon’s relationship in MAG199 and want to see what would happen if instead he accidentally kick started an alternate version and his and Jon’s relationship Somewhere Else. It’s all very silly, tho the last fic does lean more into the hurt/comfort tag than the previous two. Over all though, if you’re looking for a little crack, a lot of fluff, and Jon and Martin being silly this is a good time.

Written in the Stars Will Have to Do by GentlemanCrow

“Yeah well, god knows why, but he thinks you hung the moon, so you might try treating him at the very least like a human being once in a while.”

It was such a small thing. Small words for a small feeling cloaked in a chintzy veneer of idiomatic dismissal. A trembling little bird cupped in his scarred and battered hands and smothered. Or so he thought. Sometimes trembling little birds turn out to be phoenixes, and those who looked to someone else to hang the comfort of a wise, silvery moon in the sky already have the hammer and the picture wire at the ready.

As far as Jon was concerned, the moon only rose on their Somewhere Else because Martin deigned to pull the strings every night, not him.

This is another one of those JMart Somewhere Else fics masquerading as a Safehouse fic that made me want to cry. It’s just, so wonderful, and once again we have themes of healing, but this time through getting a hobby and sharing it with your significant other. The writing is lovely and really gives off the stuffy academic musings I would expect being in Jon’s head (which we are for the duration of this fic) but adds a layer that I didn’t realized I needed till I read it.

On Errantry by ZaliaChimera

Somewhere Else, Jon and Martin discover that their new home has a very special sort of guardian, and Jon seeks judgement from an unexpected source.

They do say that cats purring can heal...

A cute one shot that deals with Jon’s lingering guilt from S5; this is a wonderful tale from Somewhere Else featuring a giant Cat, Martin being supportive, and Jon trying to reconcile his second chance. Very sweet and fluffy, guaranteed!

Lost, Unfound, But Not Forgotten by Elynn

They didn’t find bodies. Or anything pointing to where they may have gone. In the center of the rubble, what Georgie assumed to have once been the top of the tower, was a puddle of dried, crusted blood, and the outline of bodies in the dust and scorch marks. And she knew that wherever the Fears had gone, Jon and Martin had gone with them. The last victims, snuffed and dragged away with them. --- In the weeks after the Eye-pocolypse, Georgie Barker begins the painful process of mourning her best friend.

So, I know I’m very focused on Jon, but I have one fic of Georgie here that’s 10/10. Post 200, Georgie and Melanie eventually goes to clean out Daisy’s cabin of Jon and Martin’s things for Basira (or something like that) and Georgie finds a journal of Jon’s that he kept whilst there. It’s just as bittersweet as you’d imagine, but it’s fantastically cathartic to read and in our MAG 200 feels, this is a good one for closure.

Not Quite Somewhere Else by hawkfurze

Or you can find it on Tumblr HERE

A special entry to finish out this section, I have a long running comic from Tumblr user @hawkfurze who made a TMA x Infinity Train crossover. While I had not watched the show previously (only seen the trailer/pilot from back before it got picked up by CN), the comic is still easy to understand and explains the Infinity Train parts in such a way as to not need any prior knowledge. I highly recommend this comic for anyone who wants a visual treat delving into the relationship and psyches of Jon and Martin as they try to escape into the next reality.

-

AUs

Two Graves by SupposedToBeWriting

Jon sends the fears far from Earth and flees London, leaving the others to assume the worst. He settles in a small village and opts to live there quietly until he dies, a self-imposed penance. This plan is foiled when the first former Avatar shows up - and Jon realizes that every domain-keeper in the apocalypse still has some faint connection to him.

After a year of being a shoulder to cry on for confused and distraught former Avatars, Jon leads a moderately happy life. He has a flourishing garden, a cat, and some company. All of that comes crashing around his ears (or his head) when a familiar face shows up to his cabin, demanding answers.

This fic is in my top 5 fics of TMA fandom. No contest. It has some of the best healing from MAG 200 for Jon and Martin and tbh the world I’ve seen. It’s got that incredible hurt/comfort and the ending makes me cry tears of joy every time I read it. If you read any JMart fic on this list, please read this one if you can only read one. While I was tempted to put this in a different category, this seemed like the best place to put it.

What Comes After by Mornrandir

More than a year after the apocalypse, the world is starting to move on. Georgie, Melanie, and Basira have learned to move on and get back to living their lives. Then Martin reappears- without Jon- and they have to learn to begin again.

A series based around the initial above description, each entry in the series follows the healing of first Martin, then Jon, then both of them together. While I am a Jon-centric woman, if you are of a more Martin-centric leaning, this first fic in the series should scratch that itch. The final entry is very sweet, and the second definitely has a unique reason as to why Jon shows up so late to the after-Fears party.

The Watcher’s Cows by lenioia

He still remembers the first cup of tea Martin brought him. That’s where it began, not with the dog incident. A sweet and strong blend, reasons for appearance unknown, how could it taste so good, also unknown. Jon stares at what will be the last cup between them. His miserable parting gift. Where it’ll end.

Alt Mag 200, or in a slightly kinder universe which differs by exactly one cup of tea, Martin is the one who switches plan last minute, and Jon’s last half-backed scheme, for once, works.

An AU splitting off MAG 199/200, where Jon’s plan actually happens, but instead of it being quite so bleak he finds a new path with the help of Martin. I know the original ending of the series is probably the most hopeful one realistically, but we all enjoy our fixits here, so this is a really sappy “by the power of love” Jon and Martin save the universe and still get to live in it AU. Highly highly recommend, and it finished within the last 8 months, so it’s “on the newer side” as it were. If you haven’t read it, give it a shot, and if you’ve read it and it’s been awhile now’s a good time to read it again.

The Eyespot Chronicles (series) by SupposedToBeWriting

To Martin Blackwood's surprise, he wakes up in the ruins of the Magnus Institute. He thought he would be dead. The world is back to normal, the Entities are gone, and everyone realizes that it's finally over. The only sticking point is that Jon isn't exactly the Jon that went into the apocalypse. Never one to give up, Martin is determined to make a life for himself and his boyfriend. Even if he is a giant moth.

Summary taken from the first in the series, this trilogy of fics covers Jon and Martin’s attempts at healing in a world that remembers what happened. The first fic focuses entirely on Martin’s struggles, the second on Jon’s, and the 3rd (as you might guess) focuses on them both. The series is excellent, and if you’ve got the fortitude for canon-typical emotional constipation after having just experienced MAG-200 it’s well worth the read.

Another Guest for Mr. Spider by Dribbledscribbles

Jon isn't eating his statements like he should.

Mr. Spider doesn't like it.

Written in transcript format, this AU considers the idea of what if the Web was more hands on it it’s approach to getting Jon to Become more monstrous; or at least not starve himself out. Incredible read, you need an AO3 account though. But I have never been that spooked by a Statement or encounter before I read this fic. If you DO NOT like spiders on you or in your mouth and you don’t like reading about it either, potentially hold off on this fic, or at least skip from where Mr. Spider says “Open your mouth. Do not move.” to when he says “Wash it down with this. Now.” But yeah if you didn’t get enough spider trauma from canon, this fic gives it in spades! (And if you want Mr. Spider getting his comeuppance, you get that too ;) )

Illicio by ThatOneGirlBehindYou

As the new Archivist debates between life and death, the Eye ponders on what to offer him in order to avoid an encore of the unfortunate situation with his predecessor.

-----

Gerard Keay opens his eyes at what feels like fuck-ass in the morning, inside a room with far too little space and far too much dust.

A long form AU of what if Gerry Keay was brought back by the Eye to convince Jon to stay on team Monster if you will. Goes all the way through MAG-200, has some great twists and turns, and manages to turn into an “Everyone Lives AU” as well. While it is currently updating, it’s updating every week on Saturday till it finishes, and she only has 2 chapters left. If you’ve managed to never read this, now is certainly the time for it! It is Jon/Gerry/Martin, so if that’s not your exact cup of tea I’d still say give it a shot.

we should ride this wave to shore by ClarionGlass

“archives research & statement envestigation” Timothy Stoker renamed the group “drinks drinks drinks” Timothy Stoker changed Sasha James’s nickname to saucy sash Timothy Stoker changed Martin Blackwood’s nickname to martini kart Timothy Stoker changed his nickname to stonked stonked: so how bout it lads saucy sash: oh god. A TMA group chat fic where the worst problems they have to deal with start with "h" and end with "angovers"

Right, I don’t tend to read chat fics, I’m going to be honest with you all. I have two exceptions and this is one of them. It goes interesting places, the characters are not completely OOC, if it they are at least it’s consistent OOC and not in a grating way. But in all seriousness, I recommend this because of how it ties in with MAG 160 and 200; as well as how the sequel deals with canon S5. The sequel isn’t finished and is slow to update, but I am still recommending at the very least the first one. It’s a good romp and I highly recommend.

Ask an Exec: How to Navigate Cultish Colleagues, Soul-Stealing Bosses, and the End of the World at Work by shinyopals

I've recently been unexpectedly promoted to lead a department in my organisation, wrote the anonymous emailer.

As there was no one working here when I arrived, my manager, who is head of the organisation, had promised me the choice of my own assistants. However, without warning, he simply presented me with an additional assistant. This new assistant’s first act on his first day was to let a dog into the office. It took several hours to catch and clean up after this dog and it has only been downhill from there. I admit I'm not entirely sure what to do with this assistant now I'm stuck with him. I'm hoping you have some advice?

Kind regards, New Manager

Abigail Bailey runs a successful management advice blog. One frequent contributor is from a workplace with some... issues.

While this isn’t quite an AU and is basically canon compliant, I’m putting it here because it’s a “what if Jon was an avid seeker of advice on a management advice blog?” AU. It’s beautifully formatted, and features very in character interactions. If you are a sucker for the TMA trope: how do normal people react to the weirdness at the Institute, then this is a great fic for you. I know it’s probably one of the most popular things to have hit the Jonathan Sims tag on AO3 in recent months, but this is just me reminding you all it exists and well worth the re-read.

JMart Fluff

Author CirrusGrey

Literally anything by them. I think I probably recommend them every time I talk about JMart, but I think on AO3 they are both the most prolific and one of the best writers for the tag. Pick almost any fic they’ve written for TMA and it’s probably JMart. There’s too many fics of their’s to recommend, so I’ll just link you straight to their profile and you can go swimming from there lol.

Jon’s Moving Castle by IceEckos12

Martin Blackwood may not have a perfect life, but he does have a good one. That is, until a series of magical encounters leave him with an unfortunate curse. Out of other options, he goes to the wizard who lives in the moving castle for aid.

Life never goes how he intends it to, though.

Basically Howl’s Moving Castle, but with a TMA spin. You don’t need to have seen the movie to understand what’s going on, and honestly while it sticks fairly close to the movie, it doesn’t stick so close that it feels constrained by it in places where it wouldn’t make sense in the AU they’ve set up. It’s a very sweet JMart fic with a satisfying conclusion.

The 101 Kidnappings of Jonathan Sims (and Other Inconveniences) by beetlejoos

Martin Blackwood never applies for a job at the Magnus Institute. The universe seems determined that he meets Jonathan Sims anyway. But is it Fate, or something more sinister, that keeps bringing the two of them together?

Right, this mostly crack treated seriously. It’s got hurt/comfort, but it’s fairly light hearted throughout. As one could guess by the title and description, Jon is repeatedly kidnapped and brought to wherever Martin is living/working at the time. While it’s not done yet, and not on a schedule, the chapters that are out thus far are well worth the read. That and there’s some cute fan art for it that’s linked to in the end notes. But I recommend this because it’s got that vibe of S1 Jon meets S1 Martin outside of the Institute and romance (eventually) happens. Very fun read if you haven’t read it yet.

i think we’re alone now + alone-verse (series) by milliganopen

Just a couple of guys breaking into a basement. What could go wrong?

Getting trapped in your apartment with your boss, that's what.

Season 1 re-imagined if Jon and Martin had been trapped by Jane Prentiss together.

Initially I recommended this back when we had hit MAG039/022 because it was a great AU to Martin’s Statement where Jon also gets trapped in Martin’s apartment during Martin’s no good very bad 2 weeks of worm siege. HOWEVER, the author has since continued this series and is slowly working their way through canon one season/fic at a time. They’re currently on S3, and I am definitely keeping an eye on it for whenever the next update happens. If you haven’t had the time to check it out, it’s got some very good JMart moments, and their relationship manages to move faster than a glacier.

Fate, or Something by HermaeusMora

"You can't be serious." Jonathan Sims raises his eyes at last to properly look at Georgie, expecting her to laugh and make some quip about finally getting him to put the damn book down, at least.

"Well, I am," she shoots back.

He sets his book aside and turns fully towards her, betrayal clear on his face. "A blind date, really?"

Jon makes the frankly terrible decision to go on a blind date with one Martin Blackwood. Fate ensues. AU where Jon and Georgie are still friends, Georgie likes finding dates for her friends, Martin doesn't work at the institute, and everyone is just a bit happier while canon spooky stuff goes on in the background. Takes place juuust barely pre-canon in the beginning but catches up quickly. Inspired as usual by the wonderful conversations with my friend RavenXavier/somuchbetterthanthat.

A fun AU that challenges the idea that Jon and Martin are incompatible a la MAG199. Excellently done and well worth the time to check it out.

Diary by luftballoons99

Not for the first time since they ran away together, a camera reel of all the things they don't know about one another whirs behind Martin's eyes, and he can't help but look at all the sprawling magnetic tape and wonder if they’re going to wind up a romance or a tragedy.

or: Office parties, garage bands, and the joy of being known.

A bit of a bittersweet mostly fluff oneshot focused on Jon and Martin having a night in at the Safehouse and talking about good things from their pasts. (Warning, the sequel is rated E(xplicit) for a reason, so I am only recommending Diary. Both are stand alone however.)

Weaving My Heartstrings by arms_full_of_hyacinths

At least he was someone. Someone who could deal with the spiders. That was probably the source of the nerves unspooling like magnetic tape to fill Jon’s stomach with buzzing static butterflies.

Yes, Martin was much bigger than a spider. He was probably the kind of person who cupped them in his hands and talked to them as he walked them out into the garden, which shouldn’t be giving Jon a burst of warm feeling at all, since his preferred method of spider disposal was simply to squash them on sight.

Martin likes Jon almost as much as Jon hates spiders. When a statement from an institute employee sends them spiraling into the center of a complicated web, they'll need to rely on each other if they want to make it out alive.

Bit of an odd suggestion to close us out, but this one is a fun almost episodic plot about an original Statement and the shenanigans Jon and Martin get into trying to research it. It’s very good, features some very on point S1 Jon and Martin along with a bit of a fast forward on their relationship throughout.

And with that, I’ve probably overstayed my welcome lol. I hope you found something new to read! If not, I at least hope that you had fun rereading some old faves. This has taken me a day or two to compile and format, so I hope you all enjoy in whatever capacity that ends up being! Happy end of A Mag A Day, and it was a joy walking alongside you all. Congrats to A MAG A Day blog owners on all your hard work for the last ~210 days and with this post I wish you all a very fond farewell.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

The show made such a big deal about Ladybug leaving Paris for a week-end in Hack-San without informing Cat Noir beforehand and yet it never said anything about Cat Noir never telling Ladybug that he's gonna leave Paris for a week-end in Backwarder ... or that he's supposed to leave Paris for a few weeks in the S4 finale ... or that he's supposed to move out of Paris permanently in S5. The hypocrisy seems palpable.

In my opinion, it's actually not hypocrisy. At least, it's not hypocrisy in the grand scheme of things. When you look at the series as a whole, it turns out that this is just another case of inconsistent writing because the show does punish Chat Noir for leaving without warning Ladybug, but only when the plot needs to punish him. Let's go over the facts in chronological order!

In the Shanghai special, Ladybug and Chat Noir both leave Paris without warning each other or Master Fu and it's not just fine, it's the right move as they're magically where they need to be for the fight of the day. Neither one of them gets mad at the other for their actions. The issue isn't even brought up.

In Backwarder, Chat Noir leaves Paris without warning Ladybug and it's treated as a non-issue.

In Startrain, Ladybug and Chat Noir both leave Paris without warning each other, but Marinette visits Fu first and gets the horse miraculous so that she's okay to leave. When she learns that Chat Noir left without warning her, she doesn't seem even remotely phased.

In the New York special, Chat Noir leaves Paris without warning Ladybug. This is Very Bad as Paris was left undefended and he knew that was going to be the case. This is a fair critique at face value, but Ladybug is the guardian at this point and has instant access to the horse miraculous, thereby negating the issue, a fact that is never discussed. Fun fact: this is the only instance in the entire series where one of them bothers to tell the other when they're leaving Paris.

In Hack-San, Ladybug leaves Paris without warning Chat Noir and it understandably causes tension, but Chat Noir ends the episode absolving her of any guilt even though she could have transformed and left him a message to warn him that she's assigned a temp hero her Miraculous. A thing we know they can do since this season literally starts with Ladybug playing messages from Chat Noir on her bug phone. She's also the guardian at this point, so she could have taken the horse with her and teleported back or even just taken the horse in case Alya ran into trouble. (Do you see how the lack of consistency just builds and builds the more they ignore established logic?)

The last few episodes of season five see Chat Noir fully aware that he's being shipped off to London and then actually getting shipped off to London, a change that he never informs Ladybug of even though she will now be truly alone. The show never addresses this and treats it as a non issue.

As far as I can recall, those are all of the instances where this issue could have potentially come up along with the various ways the writing handled the issue. As you can see, both Ladybug and Chat Noir behave recklessly when it comes to leaving Paris. They pretty much never let each other know when it's happening, but whether or not that's a bad thing is entirely dependent on what plot the writers want to tell. So hypocrisy on the writer's part, sure, but I'm not gonna give Chat Noir that label when Ladybug is arguably equally deserving.

This isn't as egregious as lore inconsistencies like the way split up amoks and akumas work, but it's still a very clear case of establishing rules and then ignoring them because the writers do what they want! Who needs narrative consistency and good world building?

[bugsbenefit]

i know we talk about Mike and Will and how important they are for the plot of s5 here all the time. but can we talk about how Insanely set apart the two of them are from everyone else by the end of s4? because yes, we already know they'll be important, s5 is going to be Will's coming of age and the kids have Always been the main focus of the show. hell they're literally the center of the ending shot of the entire season can't get more obvious than that:

everyone else had their shot at ending things already and failed, s5 would just be a repeat of s4 if it weren't for Will, Mike, Jonathan, Hopper, and Joyce being back in town for the rodeo this time around. this will be what makes s5 have a different outcome than s4 did.

but what really fucking gets me is that it's not just visually or thematically made clear how central Will and Mike will be to taking down Vecna. it's in the way the last moments of the season were written from a fundamental writing perspective because:

Mike and Will are the only central characters to never get confronted with Vecna for the entirety of the season. however. s4 ends with Mike and Will being the ONLY characters to know Vecna is still alive.

literally the only fucking ones.

i think that aspect gets lost sometimes. We know Vecna is still there because we just watched them have this conversation. the other characters DON'T know that. on that hill and in the entire town, right now, Mike and Will are the only one's with a concrete idea of why spores could suddenly start falling from the sky despite them having 'won'. they're not questioning what's going wrong because they already Know. they already came to the conclusion that they would have to kill Vecna for real. they're already over the initial shock and horror at finding out it was all in vein. they're literally ahead of everyone else.

from a character perspective this doesn't make much of a difference. s5 is supposed to pick up right where s4 left off and it's obvious that they'll fill everyone in on that immediately. they're not keeping that info from everyone they just didn't get the chance to share it yet. BUT. that is a conscious writing decision. it would have been a 30 second extension to have them quickly tell this crucial information to everyone outside the cabin or have maybe El overhear the end of their conversation in the cabin, she was only a room over after all. but they didn't do that. so we end the season with Mike and Will being the only one's on the same page as the audience.

Mike and Will being back in town is going to be pivotal to Vecna's end and we're being told on a thematic, visual, and writing choice level

[kaypeace21]

In s4, the Byers siblings lie to the wheeler siblings (who they have romantically feelings for) .And both boys incorrectly think lying to mike and nancy - will make the 2 Wheelers happier in the long run (when it does the opposite).And while in Lenora, jonathan & Will lie/distance themselves from the wheelers- which has both Wheelers inadvertently drawn to other love interests because of it. It's alot to unpack😬

Like ...that's a tra*ma response (for the boys). Lonnie would lie for selfish reasons. And now the boys are lying for "selfless" and borderline self-sacrificial reasons. Don't believe me ? ok- let me explain...

For Jonathan

In S1, lonnie claims he wants to help jonathan with college. Joyce calls out the fact lonnie is lying, yelling "dont LIE to me!' And she mentions how she knows he's lying- since he doesn't even know that jonathan's dream school has been NYU (since he was 6). S4 : jonathan lies to nancy, so nancy won't sacrifice her college dreams. And jonathan goes on a rant about how if he doesn't lie- they'd end up like his parents and he'd eventually become just like lonnie. Jonathan: "what was I supposed to do?" Argyle: "Not lie!" Jonathan: "Not lie? Argyle: "yeah! " Jonathan: Not lie?!" He also doesn't even contemplate nyu as an option (despite wanting to go there since he was 6 years old). The only options that were on the table for him were Emerson (for nancy) or lenora (to take care of joyce and Will... since he's been taking care of them ever since lonnie left). Jonathan to argyle: "I can't just leave my mom and brother" (cough like lonnie) . He never thought about himself once. Bruh...

We also see jonathan's lie to nancy - makes him distance himself from her to keep the lie up. Which made her insecure about their relationship and start eyeing steve again .

For Will:

In s1 it's mentioned lonnie used to call Will h*mophobic slurs, and that despite living near by- he hadn't visited Will for at least a year. He also insulted Will when jonathan first mentioned he'd went missing. Lonnie only visits Hawkins , so he can lie and pretend he cared about Will (because he wanted to profit off of Will's de*th- for his "debts" ). He lies saying the money from Will's de*th -could be used to help jonathan with college (a lie). Joyce in the same convo , where she says lonnie is lying about jonathan/college, says : " you were here for the money... you never cared about Will! You never did!" . Will in s4: "to say how you really feel to the people you care about the most... what if they don't like the truth." Lonnie lies because he doesn't care. Will lies to mike beacause he does care (despite knowing mike isn't a fan of lying). Will lies to mike about the painting,saying it's from El - because he thinks it'll benefit the people he "cares about most" (his sister El & best friend mike). He lies to fix mike/el's relationship,because he cares for both of them . And because he's "scared" of mike's reaction to the truth.

Will is going against his own moral compass, because he incorrectly believes it'll benefit the people he cares about most. But frankly, I think the lie will back fire,and upset both El and mike when they find out. Because neither El nor mike like lying (but ironically mike lied to el in s3 , and el lied -for months-to mike in s4. And Will's lie may have been the only thing keeping the couple together. )Similar to how jonathan's lie -indirectly brought steve and nancy closer together,again .

so yeah in s5, it could backfire on Will, who usually is honest. Cough foreshadowing-

Will to mike,at the skaterink: "she lied to you- right to your face " (so did you Will, about the painting & your feelings. But also El's feelings as well)

Will to El,at the skaterink: "why do you keep lying to Mike? I just don't think mike's going to like the fact your lying to him. When he finds out he's going to be mad."

Watch mike gets mad in s5. And Will incorrectly assumes mike is mad about Will's romantic feelings. When mike's actually mad about Will lying - and how Will's lie caused mike to confess to El (under false pretenses).

The only way the conflict between the Byers/wheelers can be fixed is if there's honesty (aka jonathan & Will break the relationship pattern they saw from their parents). And nancy/mike stop mirroring their parent's romance with steve/el,but I digress . It's not a coincidence the 2 divorced couples (lonnie/joyce & neil/Billy's mom) literally fight about lying .

The single lie both jonathan & Will tell this season- isn't adressed at the end of s4. But we see how their lies negatively affect their relationships with the wheelers,because of it. We even see jonathan continue the lie,about college, once reuniting with Nancy. So what will s5 have in store (given all the various themes that touch upon lying,not even mentioned in this post)? I mean "friends don't lie...but boyfriends do".

[potahun]

help whenever mxdzt posts from you popped up on my dash i assumed it was another acronym for like, a webnovel or donghua or something but i only just looked it up and learned it's a cvariety?? anyways please go ahead and pitch it to me/ramble if you want because i am intrigued

THANK YOU FOR ASKING AAAA <3 sobs a little bc mxdzt/明星大侦探 is so niche here but to be honest, i think it is one of my top comfort shows if not The comfort show and i usually feel very alien to the term 'comfort show'. it feels fair to say mxdzt is one tho TT

Concept:

It IS a variety show, you're right. It's like a reality show but mostly a murder-mystery show, initially co-hosted by CCTV presenter Sa Beining and the He Jiong, the He laoshi himself that everyone and their mothers know ...except, for once, they're not there hosting as the top MCs they are. They, and the guests, 85% of which soon became regulars, are playing a murder-mystery game. Each episode, each of the guests embody a character within a story, and a murder (or several) happens, that the players have to solve together. Among them hides the murderer (or several), who is the only player allowed to lie, and whom the other players have to try and vote out at the end. Also among them, one player will be the Detective, who has an extra vote, and has to act as a leader of the good guys.

(Side note: From S4 onwards, there is also a Detective Assistant, who's basically a smart non-celebrity helping to take notes, sometimes having a minor role to move the plot along...In time, the team of Detective Assistants have gotten their own spin-off show called 名侦探学院, because they're a riot (Xiao Pu is my favorite))

It's almost jarring the 1st time you watch it if you know them as celebrities, because the show starts and they're in-character right off the bat. They break in and out of character, sometimes to laugh their heads off, but mostly, they act a role with different levels of seriousness throughout the episode, so it's a very different vibe from regular c-varieties where they're themselves :D At the same time, it's clearly a reality show in which those people are extremely familiar, casual and silly with each other. Players often refer to each other only by their last names in the show for this reason, so that it refers to both player and character.

So yeah, there is 开始推理吧 with Zhou Shen and Liu Yuning, and there is MXDZT, which is its still enduring predecessor. mxdzt is pure murder-mystery without the escape room element. But it does have a lot of times where the guests are really pulled into the story, and events happen in-game, moving the story along. And oh boy, those are intense stories sometimes...

General facts:

Each season has 12 episodes, and there are currently 9 seasons. Most episodes are stand alone, even when verses are recurring, it's fine to watch them out-of-order. S8 is the only exception where it introduced a central character and a story that tied half the season together (TT<3). Another exception is the season starters and finales (eps 1-2 and 11-12 of each season) which tend to be stories in two parts with a deeper mystery behind the setting.

From S1 to S6, Sa Beining and He Jiong were the main hosts, with regulars being the likes of Zhang Ruoyun, Da Zhangwei, Wei Daxun, Bai Jingting, Wang Ou, Yang Rong, Gui Gui, Wei Chen and Liu Haoran. After S6, Sa Beining left due to CCTV not allowing him to work in other channels' shows :( but more regulars returned or joined, like Wu Xin, Qi Wei...An array of people I didn't know much before watching but all grew to love.

The show functions using rounds of group discussions and evidence-searching time, and then final votes, to get to the murderer and reveal the story. Players will not speak about themselves unless triggered by the right evidence, but once evidence is found, they cannot lie about it...unless they're the murderer.

Charm points?

The stories...While S1 was still simple, MXDZT evolved rapidly over time and by S4-S5 became a mammoth of story-telling, creatively exploring a whole range of themes like smiling depression, societal obsession with beauty and its tragedies, toxic masculinity, generational conflicts and reconciliations in families, mob mentality, the danger of cults, and the individuality of thoughts vs collectivity etc etc...in more and more depth, through intricate stories with memorable characters and great delivery and wild plot twists. There are always clever ways in which something will trigger a character story, mixing story and gameplay, and it helps that most of the players are actors: sometimes, they do get invested in their own characters! The range of acting goes from exaggeratedly bad for laughs to heartwrenching and elegantly grave. You thought it was a donghua I was babbling about for that reason in part, bc it's as much variety as it is about stories TT The show reuses its verses sometimes, too, so it's always a pleasure to see the running gags or the expanding lore.

The laughs. As the seasons progress, the show did go from a simple game to building real poignant, and deep stories with a message, some of which have made me cry ;~; BUT all the while being an absolute laugh-riot full of Ace Attorney-style names (pianist called Zhen Huitan? sketchy doctors called You Maobing? a man called He Baodan?) and so many PUNS and jokes and a loving post-prod that is so good at putting the right captions and effects. Not only this, but the show is not afraid of swerving back-and-forth between outright crack and the most touching storyline. Emotional whiplash is a big thing in the show. But when it's funny, god, it's FUNNY. and it is So often funny...

Cast. As mentioned, most of the cast rapidly became regulars. The show requires a lot of IQ, focus, thinking and also relative eloquence, and just a set of skills that isn't for all celebrities tbh. So those who stayed did for a long time, and grew comfortable with each other. I rarely watch a variety in which the cast has so much chemistry and are so chill with each other. They casually ship each other (so many ships), poke fun, develop their inside jokes... He Jiong x Sa Beining alone was the epitome of a self-proclaimed married-and-divorced-and-remarried-and-re-divorced miracle. It's also difficult to explain before watching but it's a very refreshing feeling to watch them slip in and out of character, giving this seamless mix of players being themselves, and also a character within a story and a fictional universe.

Gameplay! You can solve murder too as you watch! You can figure it out along with the players. But if you don't want to, you can just watch and wait for it to unfold! Both are ok!

Freedom to cherry-pick: While 9 seasons can be daunting and the episodes are Long TM, the show also makes it incredibly easy to watch out of order... or just watch the ones that intrigute you.

Episodes Recs:

IF you are a looking for an episode to start with, my rec is always S5E1 and S5E2, called Pianists on The Sea. You can skip the piano competition at the start of Ep1 (it's so incredibly cringe and lasts 10 mins. i love those idiots but it's so cringe). S5E1 is a murder-mystery as we know it taking place on a cruise, but what's wrong with the boat...and then S5E2 is just. oohhhhh my god. so much is wrong with the boat. The reason I pick this one is that it illustrates very well the kind of breadth the show has ;W;

Also, S6E1 and S6E2 Midnight Hotel which packs an absolute PUNCH.

I would recommend watching S6 as a whole, every ep is fun. Same with S8, which punches me in the gut again and again.

I also have my other rec lists here (with some explanation on the premise of eps recced) and here (i believe this was before S8 broke my heart (positive)) if ever helpful.

Voilà, here is my rambling for MXDZT, thank you for giving me the opportunity to babble about it <3 I haven't encompassed everything that makes this show wild and incredible, but it has to be lived. One thing is for sure though:

MXDZT is a show in which anything, and i mean literally anything, can happen.

And it's beautiful <3

[rosewaterraindrops]

Nandermo Blocking and Season Finales

In past seasons, people more knowledgeable than me have written meta on the way Nandor and Guillermo are positioned at different levels in relation to one another, and I found it super interesting! Every previous season finale has left us with a very specific image of Nandermo that we've carried with us to speculate about what their relationship will be like in the next season. So I wanted to do an analysis on Nandermo's relative levels/blocking in the two-part finale of S5 and see how it compares to previous season finales.

Here’s a rundown of the previous season finales. 

S1 (top left): This one is sending mixed signals. Guillermo is looking down at Nandor, but it’s in an act of servitude. Nandor’s scolding Guillermo, thinking he’s the one in charge, and he has no idea that Guillermo is beginning to discover his vampire-killing powers. 

S2 (top right): Guillermo is elevated, looking down at all four vampires, and this time he’s very clearly the one in charge. Nandor is literally tied up and helpless and forced to confront how powerful Guillermo really is - and we know that Nandor defends him and respects his power in S3.

S3 (middle row): This time, Guillermo is looking down at Nandor, who’s kneeling on the ground, and they’re both happy about it. Guillermo has just passed Nandor’s “test” and they’re about to embark on their journey, which will end with Guillermo becoming a vampire. Nandor even happily agrees to take Guillermo’s bag to the train station. This is the most equal we’ve ever seen them be (up to that moment).

S4 (bottom right and left): They’re on the same level, both sitting down in chairs, and I don’t think either one of them is fully clear on where their relationship currently stands. Guillermo slips back into his familiar role after Freddie is gone, but something feels off. They don't even appear in a frame together, which is why I had to get two different screenshots. It’s not very companionable, it’s awkward, and it sets up a tense dynamic in S5.

By and large, these finale images have given us hope that Nandor and Guillermo will be on more even footing in the following season. The blocking never reinforces Guillermo as a servant, but rather elevates him in relation to Nandor and aligns with each finale’s sense of anticipation - how will the two of them respond to the latest change in their power dynamic? How will Guillermo assert himself further next season, and how will Nandor react?

That brings us to the end of S5. We get some really pivotal moments in which the dynamic is shifting yet again, starting with the scene in S5E9 in which Nandor has found out about Guillermo’s turning.

I think they made a deliberate choice to have the cages be elevated here. They could have made it so that the Guide and Guillermo are looking down at the prisoners somehow. But instead, even from his cage, Nandor is the one fully looking down at Guillermo. It’s emphasizing the emotion of the current moment: Nandor is angry and ready to enact his revenge on Guillermo for his “betrayal”, and Guillermo is full of regret. 

Then in S5E10, they reconcile, Nandor has Guillermo drink human blood, and we get this moment.

Guillermo literally rises up to be above Nandor as he embraces his vampirism, and Nandor is looking on with wonder. It’s reminiscent of the S3 finale, in which Nandor was happy to be looking up at Guillermo - and that time, Nandor had just promised to make Guillermo a vampire. When it comes down to it, Nandor wants Guillermo to embrace power and vampirism, and when Guillermo takes joy in his power, Nandor does too. 

So what’s the last Nandermo image we’re left with until S6? It’s this:

We have never, not once, had a season finale that ended with Nandor looking down at Guillermo - until now. Their dynamic has been constantly shifting ever since S1, but the consistent thread has been that Guillermo gains power and confidence, while Nandor gains more respect for Guillermo as a companion and a warrior.

But now? Guillermo has just rejected power, rejected vampirism, in favor of being human, and seconds later he’s on his knees, looking up at Nandor, being ordered by Nandor to clean up Derek’s corpse. Nandor isn’t surprised or awed, he’s not happy, he’s not confused or pensive - he’s just sympathetic and probably very disappointed. He likes when Guillermo embraces power and Guillermo just did the exact opposite of that. This is a clear image of a servant and his master.

I’m sure this isn’t a full regression to their S1 dynamic, and I assume the show will find a way to make it new and interesting. But this is a striking last image of Nandermo that we’re left with until the next season, and when compared to the previous finale images of Nandermo, it really stands out in an unsettling way. Let’s hope that in S6, Guillermo doesn’t take too long to embrace power again - because we know that that’s what he and Nandor really want.

[starbylers]

That ring is a very small thing, but I feel like if that was a tiny Byler detail we wouldn’t think of it as meaningless. It could very well be that El just kept it on because she still loves him as a person and it’s sentimental to her, or that it’s not made important enough to symbolise anything storywise and was just a nice gift, but regardless I don’t think a post time skip break up is an impossibility. I understand why it might seem worrying or tedious but I think we have to remember that Mlvn has a track record of like…not ending things even when it’s demonstrated to them repeatedly why they don’t work together? I mean it starts with the lying & drama of s3 that they both forget about without addressing after El says ‘I love you’. It continues in s4 with El lying to Mike, their awful poorly communicated argument & Mike’s insecurities that he discussed with Will instead of El, which were again all unaddressed between Mlvn and painted over by Mike this time being the one to say ‘I love you’.

Mike ended s4 by basically regressing in his conformity arc. Maybe this is because I don’t think Mike consciously lied (at least not completely, I think he sensed something didn’t feel right) in the monologue, but where we left his arc in s4…the guy was fighting for his life to hold onto straightness and not lose El. El who also regressed in her independence arc when she relied on Mike to give her power (and ended up losing). Will also regressed, in deciding to lie to Mike instead of speak his truth. I know it might seem to us like ‘they are so clearly over what reason is there for them to stay together?’ but I think it’s possible we are further ahead in that realisation than the characters themselves. Them still being together is definitely tiring because we all know they are not going to work out, and we want to get to the part of the story we’ve been waiting for (aka Byler) as soon as possible. But that sense of inevitability/it being over to us doesn’t necessarily mean the characters themselves have reached their breaking point yet. We also know the painting plot is essentially the Benverly poem plot from IT, and Bev doesn’t find out that Ben wrote it until part 2 literally 27 years later lol.

There are so many paths they could take. Maybe they get into a Karen/Ted-esque dynamic where they’re just staying together and going through the motions. Maybe they fight, even more and worse than before. Maybe it has to get worse before they finally break it off and become friends, and then it gets better. Maybe they’re on-off during the skip. Maybe during that time Mike and Will get extremely close, closer than they’ve ever been. Maybe things between them start to feel like what Mike isn’t feeling with El, and that’s how he knows he has to end it. Maybe Will even dates someone else during the skip or temporarily ‘gets over’ Mike so it’s not like he’s spending years just pining. Maybe Mike and Will drift again, and then post skip they are brought back together and Mike gets hit with all the feelings he’s been missing and realises he needs to leave El. Or maybe he leaves her and the Will realisation comes after. Maybe it’s less clear cut than that. We have no clue. I think it has potential to be done well though.

For all we know they could literally break up as early as episode 2/3 right after the skip, which gives plenty of time for single Mike Byler build up. Remember we also don’t know the time span of the entire season.

I mean it could still be a pre-skip break up who knows, I just think it’s a possibility we should be somewhat prepared for and open to. I don’t think it should be written off entirely as either bad writing or it meaning Byler can’t/won’t happen. I’m personally going into s5 with no expectations except complete confidence in Byler being the endgame :)

[the-ninja-legacy-whip]

Is there going to ever be a point in your fics where Lloyd can power up the other ninja? I haven’t watched the first 7 seasons in forever, but I think in the show smth happened with their elements and they became connected to Lloyd, so he could like, power them up?? Idk. Anyways I think your fic maybe hinted at it, but is Lloyd capable of making the others stronger when touching them or using his element on them??

Probably not the answer you were looking for, but it’s soapbox time!!

Show-wise, the “connection” aspect goes like this -> in S1 the Core Four’s elemental abilities came purely from the Golden Weapons (save for True Potential/Spinjitzu), meaning they couldn’t tap into those powers come S2 when Garmadon stole the weapons. But when they go to the Temple of Light, they gain cool elemental blades to somehow put their essence into Lloyd, which allows him to unlock the Golden Power (as Lloyd had been using the Green Element just fine prior to this point), and allowing them to use their powers again…and then they ditch the swords and lose their powers again come S3??

So in S3 Lloyd divides his powers again (via putting a bit of the Golden Power in each of the Core Four), although this is phrased as “him returning what the ninja gave him”, (but The Ninja technically had nothing to give in the first place since they were relying on the elemental blades to hand over any power and the blades themselves ALSO had to be given to them??) but regardless this act “returns” their abilities (which they never innately had in the first place???) and all is well and good.

…Except in S4 suddenly elemental powers can be passed on hereditarily and that it’s somehow how the majority of the Core Four managed to get their powers in the first place, so now we’ve flopped back to their elements being an innate thing but then it doesn’t make sense why they couldn’t tap into any of this for themselves beforehand on top of why they’re suddenly efficient enough with their elements come the tournament when this is the first time they’re even using their elements without any outside aid but I digress—

Because in S5, somehow being possessed by Morro dampens Lloyd’s green powers??? Despite Morro happily using them anyway?? Which in turns cuts everyone else off from theirs??? Despite it now being clearly established that it’s a hereditary thing for the Core Four and something like this shouldn’t be happening even if Lloyd did put the Golden Power in all of them because that’s something the four also lost beforehand way back in S3 so any implied “connection” between Lloyd’s power and their powers would no longer be there anyway ESPECIALLY when Lloyd had been using his green power independently of the other since he got them so how is the world is it affecting them now and why wasn’t that a thing in S4 when powers were being lost left and right—???

*deep breath*

…So. Long story short, that whole thing is a funky mess, and I hate it. Not a secret to anybody.

HOWEVER, the way the movie approaches Lloyd’s connection with everyone is much easier to swallow, even if it is only implied as a metaphorical thing since Lloyd himself doesn’t have any powers. But he brings people together. He bridges the elements together. He can inspire hope when there isn’t any. And he is personally stronger when he has his bonds! Easy to interpret, easy to proceed, easy to believe. Just…maybe a bit bland when it comes to the fantastical state of the show.

…Soooo I kind of put both aspects into a blender and shook it all up:

From the start, all elements are either inherited or passed on willingly. After TP, full access to power is achieved, so no one has to rely on any sort of weapon (or another person??) to use and/or channel their abilities.

The “physical connection” between the Core Four and the Green Element still exists—just via what is represented by the Elemental Compass. The four Core Elements are the base that make up the Green Element, are of equivalent might together as the Green Element is alone, and each of their own aspects are derived from the Green Element itself. This manifests in Lloyd’s Derivative Abilities as well.

Going further-> it’s been stated in-story multiple times that the Core Four are still required to unlock Lloyd’s TP, which is going to relate to the scene in the Temple of Life(Light). (However, unlocking Lloyd’s green element TP also unlocks the full might of the Golden Power as well……which is the thing all the naysayers are ultimately trying to avoid, heyo)

In S3, I’ve also mentioned that Lloyd’s having a hard time when everyone starts getting heated with each other (mostly over romantic squabbling and disagreements), as it means their relationship with him is also taking a hit—especially during a time when he needs that support the most. And physically, without the support of the Core Four, he can’t keep his newfound powers in balance for himself yet…meaning the Golden Essence overtakes the Green Element and bad things happen, especially by an upset Lloyd :3 (I could go deeper here, but spoilersssss)

I also haven’t locked in if they go back to the Temple of Life in S3, but regardless, spoiler: Lloyd does not divide the Golden Power into the Core Four at any point. That’s not a thing he can do here, and even if he could…it’d have disastrous consequences *glances at anyone that tries to drain him of the Golden Essence*

In S4 the connection aspect b/w all the elements has a huuuuuuuuge impact on the plot, so *zips lips* (that’s where we really dig into the Elemental Compass too aaaaaa I’m so excited-)

In S5 when Lloyd is possessed by Morro, no one loses their powers (because why would they??), but they’re still able to feel the weakening of the Green Element.

Lloyd also can’t exactly “power people up” here (……with one very, very, very potentially significant exception, but it’s not a “power up” in the way you’re implying here aaaaa), but he does have the ability to use his “connections” with others to locate them from afar (similar to Skylor’s Elemental Ability, but ofc hers only works on EMs; Lloyd’s works on anyone he has a strong bond with) or read how they’re feeling (empath!!!), but that’s not a power he’s tapped into (yet)…although if you squint, it does relate to his ability to inexplicably know how to cheer people up despite lacking in life experience~

Anyway, for someone that can actually legitimately power people up/make the others stronger…*drags in Jesse* that’s what his Aftershock ability does :3

So, TL;DR, Lloyd cannot power people up/make them stronger with his powers

[chirpsythismorning]

I think what really puts into perspective the likelihood of ST5 premiering in 2025 (I’m gonna predict March 21st for fun), is that a year from now is just barely Summer 2024, and yet as of now, they have not even started filming.

Are fans really expecting them to have season 5 filmed, fully prepped with marketing and promo ready, with everything ready to be released within one year from now (roughly speaking, give or take a couple months)?

In all honesty it's very much the norm for Stranger Things' to have promo leading up to an upcoming season last for months. And I'm not talking like 3-5 months I'm talking a year+.

This isn't like s1 where they put out a trailer and a release date and some low budget marketing roll out on social media, which is something they do for every new Netflix show. This is a $35 million + budget per episode series and thats just to budget for the literal episodes... There are dozens of partnerships they have going on with merchandise and things like that which are discussed and planned for months/years. There are music rights negotiations which go on for months upon years. Shit, post-production has the capacity to take, at the very least half of the time it takes to film, and in some cases as much time or even more. This shit takes time!!!

The build up to a new season is so huge, that each month leading up to it, there are different things dropping, creating the hype that guarantees millions of fans engagement for a long time.

Like 1 year up to the 6 months before the release, promo starts heating up officially. The main accounts for the show will start posting stuff, initially it'll be cryptic using old footage to kind of recap the characters and get us refreshed on where we left off. This time could have some really awesome surprises, but it's mostly casual. If we're lucky we can count on Atlanta filming paparazzi bc those people are insufferable...

6 months up to the one month mark is when it starts to get more real. At this time we're likely to get an episode list announcement, along with sneak peeks and teasers that are quite short, being that they're still likely in the editing process when they are releasing these so it's very much in part them trying to tide us over and keep us interested.

The final 3 months leading up to it is when it gets REAL real. This is at the latest when we'll get a release date announcement, but that's a worst case scenario. I feel like it took so long for them to announce s4, and not until like Feb 2022 bc they wanted to be certain certain. And that could apply to s5 as well. The state of the world isn't like awesome I would say... Look what happened last time? Like it sucks to be the person to say that but I think also considering delays in general, for any reason are a possibility, is also what contributes to my open mindedness about an early 2025 release.

And so based on what we should be expecting for marketing, that means that assuming s5 would somehow premiere in summer 2024, means we are already close to the one year mark, which means promo should be ramping up right now, with literal content to share? And yet we have nothing filmed...?

A lot of people have this idea that s5 is going to take as much time to film as s1 took, which is just not the case. Not saying it will take as long as s4 took, however it's still going to take a while. One of the main factors for this is an in demand cast with conflicting schedules. In a perfect world, everyone would be available all the time throughout the entire production run. Instead what you have is certain actors not available at this time, and so you have to overlap those that need scenes together and schedule according to all of that. And so even if it wouldn't take more than 7 months to film literally, adding another 4+ months might be necessary to accommodate everyones schedules so that they can have these A/B list actors be able to film scenes together.

And then there’s editing and VFX to account for, happening during filming yes, but also with them needing months to focus on AFTER filming is complete. S5 is arguably going to have more VFX than any other season, as most of the season is expected to be surrounded by UD conditions and with the final battle being pretty epic with a 3 headed dragon potentially. Editing is more likely to be 7+ months post filming AT LEAST, vs. like the 4 or less, which is what I think everyone is imagining and telling themselves.

This is also the last season and so they obviously want to focus on the quality, not their ability to churn it out as fast as possible. Rushing for a quick release is just setting themselves up to flop.

The story is over forever after this (excluding spin-off prospects). It would make sense for them to give themselves the wiggle room to make it perfect (the stakes are so fucking high you guys), as opposed to rushing the entire time just to have it release as early as possible.

This also reminds me of what Noah said when asked about s5 premiering in 2024, where he basically just deflected and said that they want to focus on quality… essentially hinting at the fact that it’ll probably not be soon as we’re expecting, but we’re better off for it bc it gives them time to ensure it's the best that it can be and also is just realistic in terms of considering potential unplanned delays.

And then there are the strike implications. While I think the ST production is lucky in that they wouldn't be impacted as much as other productions, that doesn't mean the solidarity won't impact other parts of the production beyond just the writers. This is an industry where people are extremely overworked and underpaid, where a strike could be on the horizon at any moment. And we’re out here telling them hey i know the conditions are horse shit, but I'm gonna need you to step it up and experience even worse conditions bc I need s5 asap... which is just, it’s asking too much if I’m being honest.

Not trying to rain on anyone’s parade here. I know it sucks hearing that it could be another 1 year and 10 months. But lets be serious right now.

All the action that happens in the fandom, building up to the release is arguably just as exciting as the actual premiere and I think we overlook that. Again, once it premieres, it's over. So being so hellbent that it comes as soon as possible, is built on this idea that getting it is the only worthwhile part of this experience, which couldn't be further from the truth. Hiatus and all of the activity that happens during that time is what makes this experience so unique and without it, none of us would be here.

I think realistically, the timeline for s5 production is likely to look something like filming taking place from May 2023-Feb 2024 (giving them AT LEAST 10 months, but if you ask me srs i think it'll take 12...). We should get an announcement post from the official Netflix/ST social media accounts the very day filming starts.

As time passes and they're filming more and more, we will start to get teasers and sneak peaks from the little bit they have filmed from the earlier episodes in the season. Technically they can't spoil that later stuff too much in promotion, so it does work out for us in that sense.

But in all honesty, well planned out and detailed promo is likely to not start getting official until this fall when they’ll actually have at least (hopefully) over half of s5 filmed, and be planning ahead plenty in advance so all of the promo leading up to the release is well thought out.

I won’t rule out Fall 2024. But there are no Friday dates in fall 2024 that ring any bells to me as being the perfect day? Maybe Winter 2024? Or like January/Feb 2025?

The problem is Netflix loves ST for their summers... But summer 2024 is too soon and Summer 2025 is too late imo...

So what it will likely come down to is them trying to be realisitic about their options, and how to ideally get it to match with the setting of the show, which is something they have tried to do with s2-3, but couldn't in s4 (for obvious reasons), and so I definitely see them thinking ahead to try to bring back that approach for s5 if they are able to.

So filming, best case scenario, ends maybe Jan-Feb 2024. If we give them at least 7 months, which is still arguably rushing to me, that lands them in September 2024.

BUT if they were smart they would be realistic and just plan for late 2024/early 2025 so that they don't have to keep delaying... also why they haven't announced a date/year... if it was for certain going to be 2024, they would say it. But they aren't. That alone should tell us they are not willing to make that commitment bc it's not something that can be made when there are so many impromptu factors at play.

I imagine a scenario though honestly, where it takes them a year (12 months to film), so they won't be done until May 2024, which means that they would have until January 2025 to edit with 7 months for that strictly. And that just honestly feels realistic to me to look at instead of hoping that everything just is swift and fast as possible.

Not to mention ST5 2025 just fits.

However, I don't see anything wrong with hoping for late 2024, since as of now I think it is still possible.

But I also think, keeping all of the factors in mind, most notably a potential strike and also them ensuring quality over a speedy release, I think 2025 is something people should also be prepared for as a possibility.

The good news is that we'll know eventually as s5 starts filming and as time goes on.

If filming is complete in 2023 then we could definitely hope for a fall 2024 release. If filming isn't complete officially until early/mid 2024, then pack up your duffel bags bc we're going back to spring break...

[there-was-a-hole-here-itsgonenow]

[Split] Shades of Mike’s Heart

Adding onto THIS because for whatever reason I’m having trouble reblogging my initial post. The initial post:

The add-on with more Mike split-shading (left face uncovered - Will, right face uncovered - El):

(Not the best picture quality; sorry, but still serves its purpose)

This is right after Mike tells El he can’t lose her again, she almost kisses him, and then he watches both her AND Will get driven away to get the Mind Flayer out of Will and close the gate. For all Mike knew, this could be the moment he last sees either of them again. And resembles the way he watches them both leave at the end of season 3, just under less dire circumstances:

What these two shots have in common is Mike feeling like he’s losing both Will and El (just in varying ways). Both these shots also shade Mike’s face on the left side as it is during his monologue to El—on the side of the body where the heart is. He’s hiding the truth of his heart and feelings, but this shading directly involves Will in a way that is different to when the shading is Will-specific:

When Mike’s focus is on Will (Mike with Will), the shading may suggest he’s ‘hiding the truth of his real feelings for Will’ instead of being ‘torn between Will and El/ torn about how he should feel’ like in El-linked shading. In the shots where Mike is watching Will and El leave, it’s El-linked shading. This shows he’s torn in some way. In his monologue to her, he’s saying what he’s saying because he thinks it’s what El needs (while unknowingly piggybacking off Will’s feelings while also unknowingly responding to those feelings). We can clearly see just in his hesitating, voice, and facial expressions through this scene that Mike was battling himself the entire time.

Going back to when Mike says he ‘can’t lose [El] again,’ he says this in seasons 2 and 3, with the end of s2 being the start of their relationship and the end of s3 being this weird midway point toward the eventual end of their relationship judging by Mike’s response to El’s “I love you too” (along with what we get in s4 because there’s no evidence especially at the end of s4 that s5 will end with Midleven).

This is the shading on Mike’s face after he says he loves El and can’t lose her again:

Same side as when he says it the first time, indicating he’s torn and not being wholly truthful.

Additionally, a lot of scenes where it’s Byler-heavy/-indicative have the left side of Mike’s face uncovered (again, the left side of the body holds the heart) but I’ve noticed some complexity with Will-specific lighting too. Like in this scene:

The left side of his face is shaded, like in El-linked scenes, but, regardless, Mike has reached out into the light [on his left] and connected with Will. He’s mostly in the dark, but his body is positioned toward Will’s, leaned toward and partly into the light where Will is. This is the moment where we understand the shading on Mike goes from torn or hidden to known.

-

Posted this addition already but I must add here too because I’m just REALLY excited about it!

I remembered to go back and check out the “blank makes you crazy” scene. I had to see how Mike’s face was lit.

His face is not only split-shaded, but it’s the left side of his face that’s uncovered. The Will-specific lighting. During a scene Mike is trying to confess his ‘love’ to El (while it seems he’s just trying to get her to say the word so he doesn’t have to).

But it’s more than that. This scene is even more connected to “Crazy together” and “only love makes you that crazy.”

Mike has Will in mind—in heart—during this scene!

[gold-pavilion]

Okay, so, it's safe to say I'm pretty much back to tumblr, yeah!

Full disclosure, over the past... year and a half? I've been both swaaammmped with work (post-covid economic crisis, I work for myself so I had to adjust all sorts of things and work more) and also not feeling social for long periods. Took lots of social media breaks / fandom breaks to just enjoy my blorbos quietly, which felt super needed cause I was overall pretty overwhelmed, so it was nice.

I have actual free time on my hands again tho!! Free time!! And I'm recharged and feeling a ton more like myself + social + wanting to enjoy the blorbos out loud.

Oh, yeah, I'm following the anime releases of Tokyo Revengers + monthly BSD more closely these days, so that's what I'm gonna be on fandom-wise.

After the TR season is done airing I'm gonna catch up with all the BSD anime eps I haven't watched yet (I just watched the light novel adaptation at the start of S4 and that's where I left off, just kept following the manga and then the final S5 ep LMAO). I'm holding back REALLY HARD from just binging it right now, but I know if I let myself do that I'm gonna obsess so hard I won't do anything else haha.

Probably gonna post a couple of things I made while taking my breaks!!

But yeah, nice to be back and to be seeing a lot of friends here again!!

[henrysglock]

S4 Victims: Story by Proxy?

Okay so. In spitballing with Em...something stuck in my head.

So we all know how serial killers leave crumbs because deep down they want to be caught/want the truth to be revealed? Well what if the Duffers, or even current Henry, are doing the same thing. That is, leaving breadcrumbs.

This mainly has to do with the S4 victims, their stories, and the order in which they're chosen.

So, it goes like this:

Chrissy: Abusive mother who resembles Virginia

Fred: Eaten alive by the guilt of being responsible for the accidental death of an innocent.

Max: Suicidal over guilt about Billy's death and her response to it. Billy, who died saving her/while she was saving herself from the Fleshflayer, a regenerated form of the Mindflayer.

Patrick: Abusive father, not much else told.

Max (again): Suicidal Ideation, dies, soul taken, but was revived by El. She's now in some limbo-state, where her body lives but her identity/mind is elsewhere. She will likely be brought back entirely by El in S5.

It almost feels like a story by proxy if we piece it together.

So, let's piece it together:

Person with an abusive mother...feels responsible for the death of an innocent...a sibling who was killed while this person was trying to save themselves from a monster which came from Hawkins lab, which leaves them suicidal...and this person lives in a situation with an abusive father figure. This person becomes suicidal, and their suicide attempt was not entirely successful. They were revived by El, and end up in a limbo state. They may or may not be brought back by El later.

Now, let's collect details about our serial killer:

Abusive mother? Check. (No matter how we frame it, Virginia was not a good mother.)

Innocent died? Check. (Henry has nothing bad to say about Alice, which we know he would if she were not innocent, since he does this with every other victim.)

Sibling died as a result of saving oneself? Check. (The Creel massacre was a situation where Henry was, with whatever intentions we may assign for the other family members' deaths, trying to save himself from Virginia and by extension the lab.)

Ended up with an abusive father figure? Check. (Well...an abusive Papa, one might say.)

Brought back by El multiple times? Check. (El was the one who took Soteria out and brought Henry back from being powerless. El was the one who put Henry in the UD/limbo state. El was the one who opened the gate for his return to the RSU.)

IT ALL ALIGNS. So let's put it together with all the feelings involved:

Citations (I guess? Explanations?) are in the tags listed by number!

Henry had an abusive mother who was at least trying to have him shipped off to the lab, if not actually trying to kill him outright. This situation builds and builds, him wanting to be left alone (1), putting out subconscious and conscious cries for help (2), and her targeting him about it, until March 25th, 1959.

Virginia starts it, attacks, and this time she's out for blood (3). Henry defends himself (4). Virginia, being the parent with powers (5), doesn't actually die (6). Victor, Alice, and Henry go for the door (7). Virginia's on the stairs (8). She's got to finish what she started, since her original plan was botched (9). Henry puts his energy into trancing Victor (10), protecting him from Virginia, since logically two people can't occupy one person's mind.

This leaves good, innocent Alice to fend for herself, standing directly in front of the staircase. She's a loose end (11). Virginia kills her, but can't kill Henry or Victor while the trance is occurring. She figures Henry's going to run himself into the ground (12). She figures she can call Brenner in to collect Henry, like they planned (13). If she disappears, she figures it'll go into the news something like this:

"World War II veteran kills entire family in deranged fit of insanity. Wife missing, presumed dead. Son dies in hospital."

And on both counts, she's essentially right. It does basically go into the papers that way. Victor is taken in for murder, and Henry is taken by Brenner, but not before he sees that Alice was caught in the crossfire (14).

Henry ends up with Brenner, the abusive Papa. He's got the guilt about Alice's death, something that makes him sad and angry. Brenner, maybe, decides to push this in order to increase Henry's powers, but it backfires. Henry's powers increase, but he does...something. He lashes out, he snaps, maybe he even tries to kill himself. He's Brenner's prized pet, though, so Brenner can't let that happen. He seals Henry's powers away with Soteria. It's a death for Henry's entire identity, so far as to have him under the name Peter Ballard. Then comes along 011. She removes Soteria from Peter Ballard...and revives Henry Creel. She then exiles him to the Upside Down in 1979, only to eventually bring him back in 1983 when she opens the Mothergate.

All this to say: It could be his own story, told through the stories of his victims.

Breadcrumbs, or maybe...obvious things, which nobody by any chance ever observes.

Below the cut is where I speculate into motivations for his actions after Soteria's removal, so...not required reading for this particular analysis.

Years of MKUltra torture warp Henry's guilt about the situation into a bastardized, violent, brutal, unethical savior complex based in the notion that he's a predator by nature, but a predator for good. He "saves" the lab kids from a future like his own, filled with nothing but torture. He "saves" El from her ignorance about the lab and intended to have her join him, thereby attempting to "save" her, technically his little sister, from the lab entirely.

He "saves" his s4 victims from their guilt and suffering, which so closely mirror his own, which no one saved him from. I could even go so far as to say he was "saving" Will, who is set up to be so much like him, from a world of horrible people who (from Henry's viewpoint based on his lived experiences) would only serve to abuse and betray him.

This of course isn't to say any of it is right. None of it is right or good...but it makes sense. It follows a pattern. It coheres. The math...maths.

[ninadove]

Lukadrinette and Clemmy for the ship ask game !!!!

THANK YOU HEHE 💖

Lukadrinette ✅

1. What made you ship it?

Honestly? Migration! Pretty late to the party, I know. As someone who loves unconditional and overpowering devotion (romantic or platonic) between two characters, I don’t have many poly ships in general, and Wishmaker left a bad taste in my mouth. I did not want my boy Luka to constantly be the Love Square’s third wheel.

In that sense, Migration did the exact opposite of Perfection and Protection, which crushed the remnants of my interest in Adrigaminette beyond repair. It started off on the wrong (but admittedly hilarious) foot with the therapy session, and yet somehow by the end I could see Luka taking great care of these two idiots and being cared for in return. As far as I’m concerned, all three of them are in a long distance relationship by the end of the episode.

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

Lukadrien

Seriously though. I think @paracosmicat said it best when they called Luka the Love Square’s grounding force. They need his quiet strength and kindness to not explode the fucking moon.

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Okay okay. Do not stab me.

… I think Lukadrinette could have been pretty toxic in S4, given the dynamics between the characters then, but that it is leagues healthier than Adrigaminette as of S5.

And yeah, I’m biased, obviously. It doesn’t change the fact that I am absolutely right.

NOW THAT I’VE BEEN CONTROVERSIAL ON MAIN. Let’s move on to my obscure ship, my beloved rarepair, the OTP amongst my OTPs.

CLEMMY ✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅

1. What made you ship it?

The actual origin story is that I joined a Layton roleplay group wayyy back then, and picked up where their former Clive had left off. Keep in mind, I was just about to turn 14, which means Azran Legacy wasn’t even out yet.

AND THEN IT WAS. AND IT MADE EVERYTHING A BILLION TIMES BETTER.

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

I absolutely love the parallels and contrasts between Clive and Emmy. Both are twist antagonists, both are redeemable, both deeply care for Hershel despite having betrayed him. One is a manipulator, while the other has been used her entire life. Most importantly, one accepted the consequences of his actions, while the other ran away.

There’s just so much potential here, and the fandom has been sleeping on it for over a decade.

LIKE

AS MUCH AS I COMPLAIN ABOUT THE LACK OF FELIGAMI AND SENTICOUSINS CONTENT, THERE ARE 10+ TIMES MORE WORKS FOR THEM THAN FOR CLEMMY. I WROTE TWO OF THESE. I AM DYING SQUIRTLE.

Get on it, people. I’m saying that in your own interest. The Clemmy agenda will prevail anyway — you want to be on the right side of history when it does.

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Clive is bi, but doesn’t know it because he is also demi and as such did not have any crushes before meeting his future wife.

Emmy is pan. For some reason, non-lesbian Emmy seems to piss off fans beyond belief, even though there are no canon elements to hint either way. As a lesbian myself, I am perplexed.

Ask game here! 💙💛

[bugsbenefit]

do you have where the duffers said that there will be pre-time skip scenes? I thought it was all fan speculation

don't have that handy as a legit source rn sorry, i can only give you word of mouth that originally, right post s4 coming out, the Duffers mentioned in an interview that they would do a time skip again (to account for the actors ages and time lost with the pandemic filming delays) and that it would happen a few episodes into s5. they brought up the idea of it happening around episode 2. and that s5 would pick right back up where s4 ended. opposed to filming s4 and s5 back to back like what their original plan was. but they were also vague and things clearly weren't finalized yet

so the obvious conclusion at the time was that there would be pre time jump scenes (episode 1 and potentially 2) and that's all we had to go on for over a year and that's why a lot of people are so sure there will be a significant amount of time spent pre time skip

but that was all the way back in 2022 and wasn't repeated since

personally, i definitely think there's a possibility the time skip is going to happen right into s5. which would also help them avoid pacing nightmares like having to "re-start" the action/tension build up over an hour into the final season

but from where we are right now we just really don't know how they'll do the time skip. a lot of people are very adamantly sticking with what was said in that one initial interview, but, again, that was a single interview from autumn of 2022. so yk. what people also took to mean time spent pre time skip is the Duffers saying s5 will jump "right back into the action" since they don't need to establish motive for the characters anymore (actually Do have a link for one of those articles lmao). but the opening of s5 going fast could also easily be meant to be post time skip. there just won't be much introducing the characters or having them find the plot anymore, that's going to happen whether we pick back up where we left off or start up post time skip

but lacking confirmation by the Duffer's aside there is a few things suggesting they already filmed more than what we saw in s4, which would make sense as pre time skip scenes for s5 since the actors would still be the same age and they wouldn't have to rebook old locations, like:

bts of Rinkomania existing of things we never saw in the show. like Will wearing the outfit from the van trip and finale. despite the filming in that location happening in an incredibly short amount of time which would mean a packed filming schedule

bts existing of the cast sitting in the Sinclair's living room while in full costume (might add a link to that later but i don't have it handy right now)

also the script of the final episode we got by the official writers account not ending on the usual ending but on a literal "end season" cliffhanger, which a lot of people took as there potentially being more they filmed of that scene as an opening for the next season (that's purely speculative tho, not as solid as the other two things where we have image proof, i'm just mentioning it bc i've seen it discussed before, so just to cover Everything yk)

since we know so little, those could be scenes we see right away, but that could also be flashbacks we see later on, post time skip. so while there are things pointing to there being more 1986 scenes filmed that we haven't seen yet, that's not really indicative of when the time skip itself will happen

my Current personal guess is super early into e1 but that's not based on anything specific except what i think would make the most sense from a logistical and story telling pov (opinion up to change at any moment based on news we get tho)