#because they only care about el

[thranduel]

i just spent so long leaving tags on a mike post but i'm on pc and it didn't tell me the tag limit so i kept typing and then when i queued the post it cut off and i lost most of what i wrote UGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[greenfiend]

Keeping El safe is the most important thing, right Mike?

…Mike?

[chirpsythismorning]

This just hit me

"With selfless hearts--" !?!?!?!?

Mike is literally being framed as the heart here, and while that is up to debate for a lot of people, it doesn't change the fact that within the story he is narratively given this role by Will and it is even reinforced at this very moment before his monologue to El.

While I do fully believe this line is meant to hold dual meaning spanning multiple characters in the finale, who are capable of being the heart, having hearts, and having been through similar anguish that revolved around them being selfless i.e. Max, Eddie, etc., it already exists as a verbalized concept for Mike. It's who he is (in Will's eyes), and in this moment, they are choosing to highlight that.

And so does that mean this is a 'selfless heart' moment for Mike? Is Mike here caring more about others wants and needs than his own? Why would telling his girlfriend he loves her be selfless? Unless it's what he thinks she wants and needs, but not what he wants and needs?...

[caluette]

the truth

[artiststarme]

The Gift of Not Dying Part 14

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13

It's been awhile but hopefully this will get me back in the groove of things. I hope you like it and please leave your thoughts in the comments!

~*~*~*~ Steve watched as the dazzling smile on Eddie’s face dropped to reveal absolute, unadulterated horror. He clearly wasn’t expecting his best friend/tomorrow’s date/future boyfriend to show up at fuck past two in the morning with a bruised face and blood covered sailor’s uniform. Steve could only imagine how he would respond if Eddie had shown up to Hopper's cabin looking like death the way Steve must right now.

“Oh my god, Steve?! What the fuck happened? Are you alright?” Eddie ushered him into the trailer and gently pushed him to a seat on the couch. 

Steve didn't know how to respond to him. On the one hand, he didn't want Eddie to worry. On the other hand, nothing would ever be alright again. Hop was dead, his body still stuck in the Russian base under Starcourt where he himself had died multiple times. Steve could feel the throbbing of his broken heart's beats pulsating in his face still. He definitely had a concussion if the double vision and underwater hearing were indicative of anything. Worst of all, it was all Steve's fault. This entire situation never would have happened had he not tempted the universe. He was too happy, he knew everything would fall into catastrophe eventually and he hadn't warned anyone.

So instead of answering his best friend, he pulled at Eddie's shoulders until the man got the message and wrapped him in a warm embrace that smelled of Honeybunches, motor oil, and marijuana. All of Steve's favorite smells that usually calmed him down. But not this time.

He sobbed into Eddie's chest, tears and blood mixing together on his face and soaking into the thin black fabric of Eddie's shirt. Steve just couldn't stop. He cried for the pain he'd gone through in the Russian base and the incessant battery he'd endured at the hands of sadists. He cried for the loss of Robin's normal life and the fact that she would probably hate him now since he'd dragged her into the absolute shit-show that was his life. Most of all though, he cried for Hopper. He cried for his dad that adopted him into his little family and gave him a little sister, the dad that dropped everything to help Steve whenever he needed it.

Poor Eddie just hugged him through it all. He didn't know why Steve had woken him up from a dead sleep at an ungodly hour in the morning only to unveil a face more recognizable as ground beef. He didn't know who had beaten him up or why Hopper wasn't behind him in his truck ready to drag him back to the overprotected cabin in the woods. He didn't need to understand because his best friend was in need of help and a good hug which Eddie could provide.

After what felt like hours of crying, Steve rasped, “Eds, Hop is gone. He died tonight.”

Eddie’s hands stopped their soothing circles on his back and he pulled back to look him in the eyes. There was no joking there, just complete and utter dread and hopelessness in the eye that wasn't swollen shut.

“Chief Hopper died tonight? Are you okay, where are you going to go?” He backtracked for a moment and pulled Steve’s battered body to his gently once more. “I’m sorry for your loss, man. I know the Chief was like a father to you. What’s going to happen now?”

Steve wanted to cry, to scream at the world for being so unfair as to take one of the only people that had ever cared for him. But his eyes were dry and his heart was bone tired after such an arduous night. So instead of sobbing some more or breaking down, Steve shrugged. “I’m going to have to go back to my parent’s house. I can’t stay in Hop’s cabin without him there. And El is going to live with Mrs. Byers. I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

Eddie shook his head and placed a weary hand on Steve's face. He wanted to give him comfort but with all the blood and bruises on his face, he didn't know where to touch without causing more pain. “You can stay here. Wayne won’t mind as long as we don’t mess with his mug or cap collections. He’s got a habit for taking in strays. Hell, just look at me. You’ll always have a place here.”

Steve couldn’t move in though. Everywhere he went, misfortune followed. He was like a plague, sucking the life out of everything he touched. It started with his parents and he sucked the joy right out of their lives leaving nothing but bitterness and sorrow, certainly not enough love for the disappointment he became. It broke Nancy by killing her best friend and tainting their relationship. Steve should’ve kept his distance from Hop and El but his selfishness won out in the end. And now Hopper was gone. Steve’s plague had struck once again and had stolen his happiness with it. He couldn’t do that to Eddie and Wayne, they’d been through far too much already. They didn’t deserve to deal with him on top of it all. 

“Thanks but I don’t want you guys to get sick of me. I’ll just stay at my parent’s house and crash here when they come home. If that’s okay with you and Wayne.”

Eddie shook his head before entwining his fingers with Steve’s. “Of course it is. We’ll worry about that tomorrow. For now, let’s deal with your face. Did you go to the hospital? I can literally see the bruises swelling in front of my eyes. There’s no way you don’t have a concussion right now, why would they let you drive like this?”

“They didn’t, I walked,” Steve corrected distractedly. His mind was reeling over grief and pain, too distracted to abide by the story he was supposed to use. 

“Walked from where?”

“Starcourt,” his mouth just kept talking despite his eyes seeing the alarm on Eddie’s face. “The Russians stole my car keys so I couldn’t drive. It’s fine though, I have an extra set in the kitchen of my parent’s house. It was only four miles or so, not too bad in the grand scheme of things. I’ve had worse.”

Eddie just looked at him blankly, too indecisive to decide on concern, horror, or anger at whoever had done this to his friend. He was pretty positive he loved this weirdo, who the fuck had the audacity to keep beating him to a pulp? Couldn't these monsters see how lovable he was?!

“Um, I don’t know how to respond to that. I’m getting my keys and we’re going to the hospital. I don’t need to know what happened, especially since I’m pretty positive that you’re concussed and not making sense. I just need to know you’re okay so we’re going to the ER. Let me just call Wayne and we can go.” Eddie motioned with both hands for Steve to stay still and he did. Even when he heard crashing in Eddie’s room while he looked for his keys and panicked whispers when he finally reached Wayne on the phone, Steve remained in his seat on the old couch.  

He knew he didn’t have to go to the hospital, the worst that could happen already had, but he couldn’t reveal that to Eddie. So, he’d bite his tongue and go through the motions. That was his specialty after all. For now, he’d let Eddie take care of him. He would ignore the grief that blackened his soul and the pain that accompanied the thought of his found family breaking apart. He'd deal with the trauma of loss and pain and death sometime later when he could handle a breakdown alone. At this very moment, Steve would hold himself together and lie to his friend and the doctors he was forced to see to keep the Party's secret. He had already dragged Robin into this mess and had probably lost her in the process, he didn't think he could survive losing Eddie too.

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[im-not-buying-it-ether]

Writing my Marvelous Kon idea

Have some misunderstandings as to why Billy and Co. care about Kon from Kon’s perspective

Thinking about miscomunicating until Clark thinks he’s an incidental father to 4 different clone kids

[karaspal]

i don’t want to say my takes on supergirl are better than most people’s, but i did read most of new 52 supergirl without my only takeaway being “kara is angry and hates humans” so perhaps my takes are better than most people’s.

guys. friends. pals. i’m begging you. stop. kara cares about people. and anger is a normal part of grief. it was there. but it wasn’t her only personality trait. learn some literary understanding. the difference between her and clark isn’t that he cares and she doesn’t. enough with that!!! kara zor-el might be a lot of things, but one things she’ll never be is indifferent when it came to people’s suffering. humans included.

“kara doesn’t care about humans because they aren’t kryptonian” reads as elitism to me. and i know she grew up in the house of el where elitism was sometimes the case (depending on the era). BUT. she is better than this. that’s the point. she cares about everyone. kara and kal are the better future of the house of el. the difference between them isn’t that he cares and she doesn’t. so enough with that. the equivalent of “kara hates humans” is john byrne’s superman btw where clark didn’t care about krypton and only earth.

kara can miss krypton, her people and her culture without hating another. she can feel like an outsider on earth without hating its people. i mean, kara spent her entire new 52 run meeting and bonding with other people, most of them humans. so idk why people are so adamant she hated humans. i know people want to be a difference between kara and clark, but taking away kara’s compassion will never be the correct way to establish that difference.

[rotisseries]

the way elmike had the possibility of a very close and real and intimate friendship stolen out from under them because of heteronormativity telling them the only way they were meant to fit in each other's lives was romantically, even though neither of them truly wanted that... pushing them further apart... tragic. literally so tragic

[whentherewerebicycles]

i have a very stupid problem that is causing me a very stupid amount of distress. my aunts are planning my baby shower which will be in my home city (a place where none of my friends live). we are inviting a bunch of family and tbh it's solely so i can get stuff from my registry. i feel okay about that part because i've bought gifts for all the extended family baby showers and weddings over the years and it seems fine to be like 'ok now it's my turn i really need the help.' the part that is making me feel weird is that my aunts feel strongly that i should ALSO send invites to all of my out of town friends, including college and grad school friends, because those people might send me gifts too. i think that a lot of my friends WILL end up buying something from my registry or sending something (a lot of them have asked already!) and that's very nice of them!!! and i do think i might want to send a birth announcement or something later just as a "hey! a big thing happened in my life!" kinda thing. but i feel super uncomfortable sending out invites to an event i know they can't attend (and would never expect them to fly to a random city for!!) because then it just feels obvious that i'm asking for a gift instead, and that makes me feel bad!!! but also idk my brother and SIL just had a MASSIVE shower where like 50+ of their friends came (because they went to college in our hometown and all their friends still live there) and my cousin just had a big shower too (she lives and works in our hometown) so i also just feel dumb for like. having a very small kinda lame shower where my extended family is gonna be like oh... does she not have any friends?

[kilfeur]

Je trouve la phrase sur le fait que Kara dit qu'il a dû cacher sa vraie nature est assez intéressante. Dans la saison 2, Clark a un dévellopement d'appartenance, pour Metropolis enfin ceux d'en haut, Superman n'appartient pas à la planète, il est pas humain c'est un alien. Et malgré ses bonnes actions en tant que super héros, ça a ramené des conséquences indirectes plongeant Metropolis dans le chaos. Avec Kara en revanche, elle pense que la terre l'a ramolli, lui rappelant plusieurs fois que c'est un Kryptonian et non un humain. La manière dont elle insiste là dessus ça me fait penser à la mentalité "Tu n'es pas suffisamment [insérer minorité ci dessous]." Et d'une manière assez ironique, Clark avait justement essayé de comprendre ses origines quand il était enfant mais comme ça a mit ses propres parents en danger. Ça l'a terrifié et n'a plus voulu renouveler l'expérience, ce ne sont pas ses parents qui lui ont dit de cacher sa nature. Mais Clark lui même, dans la première saison en essayant juste d'être quelqu'un de normal.

Après je pense pas qu'elle le fait intentionnellement, elle veut juste retrouver son cousin et qu'elle comprenne sa vision des choses et essaie de le faire de manière assez maladroite. Et quand elle demande qui connait le vrai lui, la scène montrant Lois est juste bien trop douloureux pour continuer. Vous savez, le plus triste dans cette scène, c'est que dans l'épisode précédent, aux yeux des humains, il n'est justement pas humain pour eux. Et maintenant il est pas assez Kryptonian. Le fait qu'il puisse même pas trouver sa place auprès des siens est juste tragique !

I find the line about Kara saying he had to hide his true nature quite interesting. In season 2, Clark has a devellopement of belonging, to Metropolis at least those above, Superman doesn't belong to Earth, he's not human he's an alien. And despite his good deeds as a superhero, it's brought indirect consequences, plunging Metropolis into chaos. With Kara, on the other hand, she thinks Earth has softened him, reminding him several times that he's a Kryptonian, not a human. The way she insists on this makes me think of the mentality "You're not enough [insert minority below]." And ironically enough, Clark had tried to understand his origins when he was a child, but it put his own parents in danger. It terrified him and he didn't want to repeat the experience; it wasn't his parents who told him to hide his nature. But Clark himself, in the first season when he was trying to be a normal person.

But then, I don't think she's doing it intentionally, she just wants to reconnect with her cousin and for her to understand her vision of things and tries to do so in a rather clumsy way. And when she asks who knows the real him, the scene showing Lois is just too painful for him to continue. You know, the saddest thing about this scene is that in the previous episode, in the eyes of the humans, he's not human for them. And now he's not Kryptonian enough. The fact that he can't even find his place among his own kind is just tragic!

[wibble-wobbegong]

i’m always gonna be one of the first to talk about how mike and el’s relationship is genuinely horrific but god will have to strike me down before i ever believe that mike doesn’t see el as a person and that he doesn’t love her. he doesn’t know much about her but he still sees her as a human being. he was the first person to see her as a human being. benny was her first experience with the real world, but he didn’t even know her name. he fed and sheltered her, but there was no real connection that solidified el’s humanity

viewing her as a superhero isn’t meant to deny her status as a human being but to show that mike’s natural tendency to put the people he cares about on pedestals is something that is completely counterintuitive to what el needs in order to progress as a person. that doesn’t mean mike doesn’t see her as a person. he sees her as special and due to the circumstance of their relationship he doesn’t have anything else to view her as, but that doesn’t disregard that he was the first person to ever acknowledge her as a person with traits of strength and loyalty. he was the first person to recognize her as special because he was the first person to recognize her as human, as more than a kid who can be trained to fight and search. he saw the rare traits of kindness and determination in el and her abilities, how she used them to protect people, and realized she was special. a superhero. their potential as friends was evident in s1 before mike felt like viewing el as special had to mean he liked her because everyone told him to, even if he didn’t really understand why.

there is a lot of nuance in their relationship but mike viewing el as a human being and caring about her is undeniable. they are fundamentally different people who love in different ways and need different types of support that the other person cannot give. they’re both faced with immense societal pressures to conform (el’s through media like the romance movies and mike’s through his friends/family) and it’s led to a fear of communicating and some underlying resentment, which is an inevitable part of being forced to do something you don’t want to, but at the very core of their relationship is familial and protective love. they are bonded by their trauma and they also cared about each other, so even if they can’t function well together right now because they haven’t built a genuine relationship, they’re never gonna be able to stop caring and wanting to keep each other safe

[uselessnbee]

saw my favorite bylers talk about the relationship between Mike and Joyce again and now i just can't stop thinking about it

not just if she saw the airport fiasco but what if she saw the conflict between willelmike

or after they're all finally in hawkins again maybe she saw there's something going on and asked Jonathan and he told her some things he knew he could let her know

and then she comes to Mike and he expects it. he expects her to be angry to start criticising him cause he fucked up and hurts everyone and he knew this was coming but god does it hurt. this is the woman that feels like a second mother to him the woman that sometimes feels more like a mother to him then his actual mom and he knows being criticised by her is going to be the last straw and a part of him is dreading this but a part of him also thinks he deserves this. of course he does he fucked up he's the bad guy he hurt people he hurt her children she loves more than anything of course he deserves this

so he can take it. it will hurt. it will be like a punch in the face but he can take it it's what happens after that's the real question

but Joyce just smiles at him so gently and asks if he's doing okay. if everything is alright if something is going on. she tells him she cares about him and she knows he's been through a lot but if he needs her she's here for him. if he needs to talk she will listen if he just needs someone to be there for him she will be and she's just so caring and gentle and loving to Mike and Mike just. fucking. breaks.

he doesn't even remember when was the last time someone treated him this way like his feelings matter like he matters and he just can't help it. someone finally sees more than his snarkiness. someone finally sees more than him being a jerk. someone finally sees there's something more going on. someone finally sees the pain behind it and cares enough to actually ask him of he's okay and so he just lets himself cry in front of someone for the first time in years

[eightfifteen]

I think Mike already knows he’s in love with Will in s4, because there’s no other way for him to know he’s not in love with El

[bigboysteveharrington]

I got distracted working on part of a chapter later than the one I still need to finish and post and

Mike: Everyone’s afraid of Hopper, right?

Will, whose previous father figure was Lonnie and whose first memory of Hopper is him carrying him out of the Upside Down: 🤨

[ranger-kellyn]

can't believe people """only"""" (bc we all know you can only talk about one singular thing and care about one thing at a time) want to talk about taylor's album and not the ever present horrors of the world. can't believe that so long as there is something bad happening in the world, we're not allowed to enjoy anything else or seek solace and refuge to give us the motivation to continue whatever fights we're fighting

[bmpmp3]

I NEEED to go back to making art that makes it ABUNDANTLY clear that theres something wrong with my brain BUT NOT in a cool or stylishly interesting way. i need to do it in a way that makes people say "hm." and walk away