#bc it's just how it works

[chirpsythismorning]

I am going to be honest, I want a quick Mlvn breakup and a quicker Byler buildup/it going canon BUT I also think it is very fitting for Mlvn's breakup to take place in the later episodes. E1 is literally into action, El's focus seems to be on Max and she doesn't break up her relationship issues with Mike for that reason. I just cannot really see El coming at Mike and bringing up her relationship issues or breaking up with him with everything else going on in these first episodes. It seems very likely that she'd just ignore the topic and would want to focus on Max and the fight that is coming to Hawkins. Her breaking up with Mike could potentially happen in EP3 or E4 when she feels ready to talk or when Mike finally brings up the argument when the time comes. Ofc they will have to focus on relationship issues too but I just think it doesn't fit in the early episodes to go for a Mlvn breakup.

It really does depend on how the first two episodes go down I feel like.

I doubt they're saving the time jump for smack dab halfway through the season. I just don't think mid-point would be enough time to have left to finally jump into the time difference. And I also doubt they'll devote up to 5 episodes to directly post s4, bc in all reality, they probably want to have the aged up cast be doing as much footage post-time jump as possible.

Along with that, they did say that early s5 would be fast paced. They revealed that s5 opener was pretty much set in stone, and that the first 2-3ish hours are pretty fast paced and they have a plan.

And for those reasons I do think we're in for an early s5 time jump.

Which means if we're looking at them having a plan and getting to work within like 1-3 hours, i'm going to guess that whatever happens at that 3 hour mark is going to be massive, leading to the time jump, into a setting where Mike and El are most certainly broke up.

This doesn't even have to do with byler purposes.

Mike AND El deserve closure on their relationship as soon as possible. Fans that love Mike and El don't need to be wasting their time watching s5 El scenes thinking she's holding out hope for Mike or this or that. She did not like his monologue, as it was quite literally the opposite of what she wanted to hear. So why leave that truth up to interpretation for half the last season? Why not let El speak for herself, allow the audience to digest it and accept it, so they too can focus on El focusing on Max.

I think if they were going to do a whole other half season of them being together along with them still being together post-time jump, it would make their point of having El distance herself from Mike at the end of s4 sort of moot?

I do truly think the next time they hang out or talk, she's not going to want there to be this present assumption they are still together because of what he said at Surfer Boy. I think that after what happened at the hospital, Mike might have started to convince himself that she did feel all those things for him and that his love for her saved max and it's miracle worthy. But then she's ignoring him at the cabin and that's not exactly great for that interpretation of things...

Being in a relationship means there is going to be an expectation that they want moments of privacy to be alone together and they're going to be gravitating towards each other in group settings and stuff... and that's just not happening, s4's ending made that more clear than anything else arguably.

So while I do think that El is going to be focused on Max, having this ambiguity most of the season that Mike is like in the back of her mind and stuff would take away focus from El finally having an arc compeleltely seperate from Mike and with the audience finally being able to let go of Mike and El. Because arguably, a big part of the reason fans can't let go of it is because they are convinced El wants and needs Mike romantically, irrefutably, and she still feels this way at the end of s4. But that is not the case. And with this being the very last season, the whole season needs to feel cohesive and not like a back and forth fake out for love triangle reasons.

This is why I think they've always made a point to have conflict between couples early in the season, because then it allows you to give the other part of the love triangle a chance without feeling guilty about it.

For example, Steve and Nancy technically never broke up. They went through almost an identical situation as Mike and El did, where Steve asked her to tell him that she loved him and she couldn't, followed by them just not seeing each other for the rest of the season and her showing up at the end with Jonathan by her side. They had a talk about it and Steve seemed to understand. They didn't need to say out loud I break up with you, for both of them to know it was pretty much over. Arguably it was even more over in Mike and El's case, because El actually sent Mike a letter without the word love, making it pretty obvious where she stood in their relationship.

And this is sort of how I understand the break-up in s5 to go down, where it's not even really a break up? Like are they even technically back together? Following the approach they went with jancy in s2, arguably, all that needs to happen is Mike and El having a moment alone, with Mike struggling to try to be who she wants him to be (bc he still probably assumes she wants him that way) and her just confronting him that they both cut the bs... I'm praying PRAYING for an I'm not stupid final parallel from El to Mike.

Basically, it can be argued El already broke up with him, or at least wanted a break and so her acknowledging her side of things and how she felt, now after years of not being able to really speak for herself (like literally), she finally can, and addressing how she feels about everything is something that needs to be done sooner than later.

El doesn't need to be in silence with the audience assuming her thoughts for her, any longer than necessary at this point. And she can focus on Max before during and after all of that, with the audience being forced to accept that there is no room for ambiguity in where she stands in the situation.

And I think Mike is obviously going to be confused.

And I think Will is probably going to be trying to give them their space assuming they want privacy.

And it's all going to be very tragic and epic basically.

But with the time jump likely happening earlier in the season than later, I think that we're due for an early milkvan breakup for the obvious reasons, but also because both of those characters deserve closure instead of living in uncertainty any longer.

Not to mention, byler getting together after like a few days or a week after mike and el broke up, would be uncomfy. It's just not ideal when they have the affordance of a time jump right there that they can take advantage of, give Mike and Will a little more slow-burn (depending on where they're even at I'm scared someones going to get stuck in the UD or something like JESUS).

To me it all just makes sense when you consider a bunch of other factors beyond just El needs to focus on Max. Bc... Yeah no shit and she doesn't need the audience thinking she's focused on Mike when she's not...

Like let's give El her independence arc and have it be for real and not with this cloud of she needs romantic love to feel fulfilled dragging her along. Romantic love is wonderful and beautiful, but for women it is always always framed as peak endgame for us, when we are more than that and we deserve some stories that focus on those other aspects of ourselves as being enough to make us whole, especially when the person we want to love doesn't love us the way we want to be loved, and so we're just settling for a love for the sake of an idea, and not how it actually makes us feel.

And I also think it's likely that we're looking at byler being stuck together at least 2+ episodes by themselves, and that's likely to be middle season, and Mike and El will definitely need to be broken up at that point to appreciate those scenes...

For now I think it's very likely that the break up will happen either in 5x01 or 5x02. If it happens later than that, then I think it's likely that we'll get a flashback revealing they've been broken up for a while and it'll make us rethink their previous scenes a little bit differently.

I also think it's likely that no matter what happens, there's a big possibility Will and maybe even the others won't be clued in on the break up right away, but especially Will. And that will cause him to distance himself and lead to a convo where he's basically confronted by Mike frustrated over Will avoiding him, with Will revealing that he'd thought that's what Mike wanted, for Will to give him and El space... And Mike, already broken up with El at this point's reaction to that... would be interesting. Because obviously that's not true. Maybe that could lead up to their 3rd and final boss fight?

I do believe we're getting a s5 fight (Will packed a blue shirt for himself in his backpack, which he has in Hawkins), but I also think it's going to end differently than the previous two..

On that note, when it comes to the byler aspect of it, it really is crunch time. Each season has to make you feel a certain way about things. I don't think it would make sense to have s5 be exactly like s4 for half of the running time, and then switch up halfway through, to like okay NOW it's obvious Mike and El aren't in love and Mike and Will are on their way. The WHOLE season needs to make us feel that way, so that we can appreciate it as like a whole experience.

Like I said, they could get away with it being 5x02, maybe 5x03, but I do think that they need to give off a vibe of 'we want you to be rooting for Mike and Will' as early as possible, so people can register it, agknowledge it and then have the capacity to appreciate it the way they intend, all in time for them actually getting together. And 1-2 episodes near the end isn't enough time for that. And having too much ambiguity for Mike and El simultaneously as they're building up Mike and Will's obvious endgame, would be just unfair to all of them, but especially El.

Please give us an I dump your ass part II and have them laugh crying bc it's something Max said...

Now that I think about it. Max being in the hospital could make Mike feel a little bit in agreement with how Max felt about his actions in s3... Like it's not like he would be resentful or arguing with a person in a coma right? If anything he'll be thinking even more critically of his behavior with El when he doesn't have Max there to call him out for it...

Thinking thoughts...

[redstonedust]

ok ive realised my main issue when it comes to talking about work is that sometimes i say "i dont want a job, i want to make art" and inevitably people will respond with "you can make art your job!" and like. theyre not wrong! that is my goal currently. but its not the same thing, you know? art as a job isn't just about making art, it's about networking and finding jobs and building a portfolio and promoting yourself and staying on top of trends and communicating with clients and market appeal and scheduling. and sometimes u just sit there and go man. i dont wanna do all that. i just wanna make art.

[noodles-and-tea]

twins in time continuation of that blue doodle comic thingy, but fidd is forced to take care of stan when Ford gets into the portal stuff, leaving him behind.

I reckon he teaches him math…

[wanologic]

always good to keep a screamhole handy

[000bun]

[deanpinterester]

i cannot stress this enough: if your reasoning for clowning on the mcu is "they overwork their cg artists and animators" i 1000% guarantee that a show or movie you have been stanning for years also abused their artists and you just haven't heard about it because the production companies aren't in the spotlight like mcu productions are. that cartoon for kids? that incredibly animated movie? that non-marvel superhero movie? i've seen people declare their hatred for the way the mcu treats their workers and then turn around and gush about a show that i know for a fact was hell for the artists attached

and no this is NOT me saying "this means you should stop hating on the mcu uwu" it's me saying you gotta be aware that this shit is an INDUSTRY WIDE PROBLEM. you CANNOT "fix" it by refusing to watch mcu movies and feeling good about it. you have to be aware that it's EVERYWHERE. why do you think so many animation and vfx productions are sourced in canada? in india and the phillipines? we are not unionized.

i know it's hard to face the idea that your favourite show might have been made unethically especially when you've spent so much time hating the mcu for doing the same thing. you don't have to start hating your favourite show. just like...be aware. don't be smarmy about it. don't claim without research that a beautifully animated movie Must mean the animators were not working 16 hour days and weekends. i do think we can fix this 👍 but we can't fix it if 90% of us don't even realize what the problem really is

[araneapeixes]

silly comic idea I've been chipping away at :) welcome tomy shadowheart poly shipping propaganda show

[inkskinned]

at some point it's just like. do they even fucking like the thing they're asking AI to make? "oh we'll just use AI for all the scripts" "we'll just use AI for art" "no worries AI can write this book" "oh, AI could easily design this"

like... it's so clear they've never stood in the middle of an art museum and felt like crying, looking at a piece that somehow cuts into your marrow even though the artist and you are separated by space and time. they've never looked at a poem - once, twice, three times - just because the words feel like a fired gun, something too-close, clanging behind your eyes. they've never gotten to the end of the movie and had to arrive, blinking, back into their body, laughing a little because they were holding their breath without realizing.

"oh AI can mimic style" "AI can mimic emotion" "AI can mimic you and your job is almost gone, kid."

... how do i explain to you - you can make AI that does a perfect job of imitating me. you could disseminate it through the entire world and make so much money, using my works and my ideas and my everything.

and i'd still keep writing.

i don't know there's a word for it. in high school, we become aware that the way we feel about our artform is a cliche - it's like breathing. over and over, artists all feel the same thing. "i write because i need to" and "my music is how i speak" and "i make art because it's either that or i stop existing." it is such a common experience, the violence and immediacy we mean behind it is like breathing to me - comes out like a useless understatement. it's a cliche because we all feel it, not because the experience isn't actually persistent. so many of us have this ... fluttering urgency behind our ribs.

i'm not doing it for the money. for a star on the ground in some city i've never visited. i am doing it because when i was seven i started taking notebooks with me on walks. i am doing it because in second grade i wrote a poem and stood up in front of my whole class to read it out while i shook with nerves. i am doing it because i spent high school scribbling all my feelings down. i am doing it for the 16 year old me and the 18 year old me and the today-me, how we can never put the pen down. you can take me down to a subatomic layer, eviscerate me - and never find the source of it; it is of me. when i was 19 i named this blog inkskinned because i was dramatic and lonely and it felt like the only thing that was actually permanently-true about me was that this is what is inside of me, that the words come up over everything, coat everything, bloom their little twilight arias into every nook and corner and alley

"we're gonna replace you". that is okay. you think that i am writing to fill a space. that someone said JOB OPENING: Writer Needed, and i wrote to answer. you think one raindrop replaces another, and i think they're both just falling. you think art has a place, that is simply arrives on walls when it is needed, that is only ever on demand, perfect, easily requested. you see "audience spending" and "marketability" and "multi-line merch opportunity"

and i see a kid drowning. i am writing to make her a boat. i am writing because what used to be a river raft has long become a fully-rigged ship. i am writing because you can fucking rip this out of my cold dead clammy hands and i will still come back as a ghost and i will still be penning poems about it.

it isn't even love. the word we use the most i think is "passion". devotion, obsession, necessity. my favorite little fact about the magic of artists - "abracadabra" means i create as i speak. we make because it sluices out of us. because we look down and our hands are somehow already busy. because it was the first thing we knew and it is our backbone and heartbreak and everything. because we have given up well-paying jobs and a "real life" and the approval of our parents. we create because - the cliche again. it's like breathing. we create because we must.

you create because you're greedy.

[hinamie]

alongside someone like you

[thedreadvampy]

people seriously pretending EEAAO is overrated suddenly bc it swept awards? it swept awards largely because it is very very very good. I cried like someone who's just had a religious revelation BOTH times I watched it bc it touched something raw and real and beautiful but it was also just very, very funny. everyone's performance kills and the concept is creative and interesting and doesn't distract from the emotional core. you guys are just contrarian.

[wasabi-gumdrop]

Kabru has a secret admirer in the castle!

[aalghul]

once again thinking about jason as duke’s robin. he’s ~4 years younger than jason, and that puts him at 8-12 during Jason’s time as robin. that’s prime time to get attached to your local kid vigilante before your own life goes downhill.

and if we try to keep duke’s meeting with bruce in zero year + duke’s age (so he can remember the meeting and hold that conversation with bruce), he has to be around 8. if he starts following batman through the news at that time because of the mess that just happened, the robin he sees is probably jason. I’ve literally connected the dots

[stuckinapril]

I genuinely think that any change in behavior starts w telling yourself that your worst days, worst performances, just worst moments in general aren’t who you “truly are.” It’s all about unlearning any thought process that essentially chalks up traits you aren’t proud of to “this is who I really am” “in reality I’m lazy” “in reality I’m just a bad person” bc not only is that never true, but it impedes your efforts to try to do better as well. Anything we struggle with has roots in things like childhood trauma, thoughts you’ve been fed before, your upbringing…. but never that you’re inherently a bad person. What I’m learning this year is that a lot of us doing better & being better & improving really comes down to self-talk—to disavowing the very notion that deep down we’re simply bad.

[lotus-pear]

mourning black and the death of ideals

[ghostbsuter]

"Elle—" Danny turns around, finally taking his eyes off of the paperwork he's been reading while they were floating through the castle.

Only that wasn't Ellie behind him.

Definitely a teenager, older than his sister, whistling while looking around.

"Who are you? Where is Ellie?"

Pausing as he noticed Danny's stare at him, Kon grins. "Superboy, Dani and are in the same Clone Club, she needed someone to cover for her."

"Ah."

"But damn she didn't tell me you were loaded."

[synthsays]

Monster Falls girlies how we feeling about this one.

Happy Fiddleford Friday Y'all

(Bonus art under cut)

And one for the fiddauthor peeps