#but it was chrissy centric so we saved it

[formosusiniquis]

Role Swap AU where Chrissy Cunningham is the queen bee of Hawkins High. She’s bitchy and a little cruel and she runs around town with Tammy Thompson and Tammy’s boyfriend Jason. Everyone hates her, they love her, they want her, they want to be her. And Chrissy has set her sights on Jonathan Byers, the only guy in school who seemingly does not even remotely care about who she is or what she’s doing, she’s obsessed. She’s not used to having to make the first move, usually boys come to her and she decides who is worth her time, it’s a process this change in dynamic. So when Jonathan’s friend Nancy’s little brother goes missing she has her opening. She invites Jonathan and Nancy and Nancy’s friend Barb -- that she never goes anywhere without -- to a party, just to get their mind off of things. It’ll be fun.

Nancy doesn’t go, “She just doesn’t know how to let loose and have a little fun Jonny,” is Chrissy’s answer, “it’s so sweet that you brought Barb though I bet she never gets invited to parties like this.” Cause mean girl shit is always just a little different than mean boy shit. Barb still goes missing. Chrissy and Jonathan don’t sleep together but he does stay the night.

Meanwhile Will Byers has a lot going on. His best friend is missing, his mom just got remarried and now he has a sister that people keep calling his twin, and Max found a boy in the woods with a number tattooed on his arm. He likes Jane, they were friends long before Mom started dating her Dad but he doesn’t like that all of a sudden he’s supposed to act like they’re some big happy family. Luckily his Mom is still adjusting to housing and feeding two more people and Dus(ten) can hide out in the attic and Will can sneak food up to him without it being too suspicious. Dustin has weird powers, keeps tapping into the radio his Mom leaves on or accidentally making his walkie talkie pick up Hopper’s police radio.

Karen Wheeler is on her last fucking leg. Her son is missing, her baby boy, and Ted’s only suggestion for help is to keep plying her with uppers so she can stay awake longer wondering when her son is going to be home. Things come to a head when she faints in the grocery store, she’d been light headed all day and something about reaching for Mike’s favorite cereal had her giving way completely. When she comes to, she's staring up at Claudia Henderson, such a lovely woman, a nurse at Hawkins General she set Mike’s arm after he’d had an accident playing with Ted. She asks if she can go with Karen to search the woods again for Mike. Rounded curves, rounded smile, Karen can’t believe that someone believes her that something has taken her boy.

Nancy Wheeler just won’t stay out of Chrissy’s fucking way. She’s asking questions and poking her button fucking nose into everything. And what’s worse now she’s stealing her fucking boyfriend. Maybe it’s wrong. Maybe she’s let Tammy get too far into her head, but it’s a little satisfying ripping up her stupid little notebook.

Dustin can feel Mike Wheeler. Can feel that boy in the bad place who loves his friends and his dragons and his Mom. Dustin keeps trying to get to him, and his new friend Will keeps telling him to stop making all the radios in the house scream and fuzz.

Her head aches. She’s tired. Coffee is safer than those little pills that Ted keeps giving her. A new bottle every time he finds something he doesn’t like in the house. Dinner is late, more pills. The pillows in his chair are flat, more pills. They stare at her but they leave her unfocused and jittery. She has to be focused. Mike is so close, she can feel him. Claudia doesn’t judge her, but Karen can see the way she looks at those little bottles. So different from the way she looks at the lite-brites that are spread across the basement.

It’s not a smear campaign. Not when perfect little Nancy Wheeler is cornering her boyfriend in the dark room. It’s just the truth, Chrissy knows the kind of stuff she’s gotten up to in the dark room, or the kind of things she wanted to get up to if she weren’t worried about getting called a slut. Maybe Nancy should have worried a little bit more about optics and a little bit less about getting to the bottom of things, she’s a reporter shouldn’t she know how vicious the rumor mill can be. The sight of a pistol tucked into a pocket book, the feeling of well manicured nails against her cheek make her think for the first time that maybe she shouldn’t have let Tammy convince her to write rumors on the bathroom wall. 

Dustin says he can get Mike back. That the body they saw in the quarry wasn’t real. Will believes even if Jane and Max are skeptical.

Chrissy goes to the Wheeler house, she’s turned the tides of the rumor mill. Tammy has become a tonedeaf, jealous bitch -- and one of those things is true -- and Nancy has become the victim. Jonathan is there, and she tries to convince herself that there was nothing to worry about until he’s shoving her out the door telling her to run to get out. She does. She doesn’t. There’s a monster in the Wheeler house, it crawls from the basement.

And so it goes.

Then Claudia finds a rain soaked boy in the woods. He’s so small. She takes him home.

Then the Sinclairs move in down the road from Chrissy. A sweet family, it’s hard though to see a family with two small children moving in when she knows there are monsters in the world now. She tries to pretend that everything is normal, but the strain is there, and whether it’s her or Jon things are going bad. It’s hard to blame Nancy Wheeler for it this time.

There’s something wrong with Mike. Something is wrong with her baby. It’s so fortunate that Claudia is a nurse. She’s been cutting back on her shifts at the hospital, but she had told Karen that she could call anytime.

The shoe drops. Jonathan is sweet when he ends things, but Chrissy has never been one to let things go without a fight. She’s prepared to apologize. To ask for one more shot. When a red head with an attitude grabs her. She’s pretty sure her dog ate her step brother and Chrissy seems more capable than Hopper. Next thing she knows she’s got the Byers-Hopper kids, Max, and the neighbor kid from up the road hiding in the back of a bus while she tries her best to backhand spring her way into knowing how to swing a softball bat. Max’s dog looks an awful lot like the monster from the Wheeler basement.

And so it goes.

The summer comes and Chrissy needs to get away from her mom. She gets a job at the mall, but she’s waited so long the only places hiring are in the food court, absolutely not happening, and the record store. The record store where she ends up working with Eddie ‘the Freak’ Munson.

Eddie didn’t plan to work at the mall, he didn’t want to work at this neon colored capitalist hellscape, but if he gets busted for possession one more time he’s not sure that Hopper is going to look the other way. The record store is hiring at least, he plans on taking full advantage of the employee discount this summer. Then Queen Chrissy walks in in all of her Ralph Lauren Gap glory.

Chrissy was not a good person in high school, she knows that, but she put her head so far down last year that she managed to graduate early. The hostility coming off of her new coworker is a lot more than she expected. He’s started a board to count the number of times a guy comes in to hit on her and critiques each one ruthlessly. Nerd, jock, and tragic each category has several tallies in it. Maybe it’s the popular kid solidarity or maybe she is becoming a bigger person through the power of babysitting, she feels bad that Steve Harrington is the only one who ends up getting included in the Tragic category. He comes in a lot in his tiny blue Scoops uniform but he hasn’t tried to talk to her once.

Unexpected as it seems, Queen Chrissy is apparently the founding member of the Hawkins chapter of the babysitters club. It’s a never ending parade of children marching through the door and demanding to see her. The Byers boy is his favorite, but the Wheeler kid that had gone missing a couple years ago always has a haunted look on his face. The little curly haired one with the gap teeth seemed to startle her when he came running by, he’s loud and has no sense of what should be an inside thought and not an outside thought, but once he assures her that his mom knows where he is she’s letting him and the oldest Sinclair in through the back to sneak into the movies.

Something weird is coming in through the radio Dustin tricked out with his powers for her. It’s picking up a lot more than the rock station from Indianapolis. Max knows Chrissy will be able to help, she doesn’t expect her new neighbor to be working with her babysitter but she’s heard the shit he gets into at night he should at least be able to figure out if she’s just picking up a radio station all the way in Russia. She brings Erica with her, Lucas has been weird lately hanging out with Dustin a lot lately and ignoring her. She’s not jealous but if he’s gonna hang out with other people she can gossip with his younger sister.

And so it goes.

She’s got no right to be jealous. She is though. Who the hell does Robin Buckley think she is, stealing her kids. All Max can talk about is how cool Robin is. How she doesn’t care what anyone thinks of her. How she’s in the band. How she’s going to teach Max how to play the drums. Oh Chrissy, did you know that Robin speaks three languages? Chrissy, Robin’s gonna teach us how to say Italian curse words. Robin stood up to Jason for us. Robin, Robin, Robin. Who the fuck is this girl who can just swoop in an make her kids fall all over themselves to sing her praises. They don’t even like Eddie this much and he’s a DnD playing rocker with an unlimited stash of weed. But somehow a band nerd whose only friend is second year senior Steve Harrington has her kids wrapped around her stupid finger.

The last thing Eddie Munson ever expected was to stumble on Steve Harrington lurking at skull rock. Or at least not lurking alone. He startles when he sees Eddie, not fear, just surprise. There’s something desperate and haunted in his eyes when he looks up at Eddie. And then the captain of every team of Hawkins high is begging, begging for Eddie to hand over anything he’s got that will make him forget he’s even a person. He doesn’t deal anymore, not really. He’s promised Wayne and Chrissy and Red and even Karen fucking Wheeler that he would stop. Sticking to stuff that nature provides doesn’t feel like lying. Eddie really doesn’t want to leave someone as fucked up as Steve here alone. It doesn’t hurt that he’s pretty and that shaky little laugh that Eddie manages to pull from him. It’s only a little lie when he tells Steve Harrington to meet him at the trailer park after the game.

One more thing Chrissy can’t stand about Robin, she’s somehow got Eddie attending a basketball game. They’re all there to support Lucas but normally it’s a fight to get the nerdiest of them in the stands. Sure he’s spending more time looking at Steve Harrington, warming the stands with the rest of them now, than he is at Buckley but she knows the band geek is at fault here somehow. She’s really trying to not be a bitch about it but maybe jealousy like her hair and her eyes is just one more wretched thing she got from her mother.

Steve Harrington is floating, and not in the way people usually claim to when they come to Eddie. His eyes are blank and unseeing and Eddie is sure that he’s about to watch the once captain of the basketball team die right in front of him. Then Robin Buckley, screaming and inconsolable and inexplicably in the passenger seat, bumps the radio in her frantic rush to get to her best friend. Bowie starts blaring from the speakers, the neighbors dog starts barking, Max comes out of her trailer and screams. Then Steve Harrington falls out of the sky.

If she could get one thing out of life it would be to finally be free of the Upside Down. But instead she’s in a fiery red hellscape with her ex boyfriend, her platonic soulmate, her arch nemesis, and the human embodiment of a golden retriever. Insult to injury, injury being the giant fucking chunk missing from her side -- maybe now her mom will lay off for a bit, surely now she’s at goal weight -- and the insult being how hot Robin looks covered in the barest hints of demo blood. Even if she won’t shut up about rabies.

Steve is handling this much better than Eddie did the first time. Bouncing around literal hell, sticking very close to his side. It makes him feel a little braver, this beautiful boy looking at him like he’s an action star. He just hopes they all make it out this time. He’s got a bad feeling.

And so it goes.

Steve Harrington is probably going to be hard of hearing for the rest of his life, blood leaking from his ears and left arm broken in two places by the time they take care of Vecna. Robin lost a chunk of her large intestine -- and half a tit, let’s really focus on the important things here Cunningham, I was already only a B cup. But they’re both alive. They’re all alive. Eddie’s been posted up by Steve’s bedside, slowly and patiently teaching a prep sign language, something he wouldn’t have even thought about doing a couple months ago.

Chrissy, the most oblivious bisexual that Eddie has ever had the misfortune of trauma bonding with, has fallen ass over tit for Robin Buckley and refuses to do anything about it. It’d be sweet if it weren’t so goddamn sad. They’re holding hands on Robin’s hospital bed, laughing at a soap that’s playing on the TV. Until Steve screws his face up into the most intimidating little jock scowl he can, a look that doesn’t work as well outside of the locker filled halls of Hawkins High, and demands she stop stringing along his best friend. Robin looks mortified but the challenge lights something up in the late Queen Cunningham. She sets her sights on Robin now. Chrissy Cunningham may not be queen anymore, but she’s still a little bitchy and she always gets what she wants.

[sarah-sandwich-writes]

Last Line Challenge

Rules: in a new post, show the last line you wrote (or drew) and tag as many people as there are words (or as many as you feel like).  @peanuttoffee it is finally later and I am doing it!! (I only forgot for like 2 days shhhh) This is from my harley-centric post nwh canon compliant fic that I call "Not SM4: Bring it on Home" but that's definitely the working title. I wrote like 2-3k today XD and now i need a nap.

“It’s from the Stark Foundation so you know it’s insured. So long as we grab it before FEAST receives it, it’ll be fine. We’re not stealing from the poor, we’re stealing from…” Chrissy looks at Harley with a wrinkle in her brow. “He wouldn’t mind, would he?”

“Who?”

“Iron Man? Tony Stark? The founder of the Stark Foundation?”

“How should I know?”

“Well… but I thought you met him that one time. Didn’t you?”

His heart thumps hard. That was a long time ago. He didn’t think anyone remembered. “I mean, yeah, but he didn’t exactly keep in touch.” He eyes her. “Since when do you believe that?”

Nobody at school believed him. No one at the bar believed him, and certainly no one at church believed him. Only Abbie, Mama, and Georgia and only them once they got eyes on what Tony did to the garage.

She tucks her hair behind her ears. “I dunno. At the time it seemed like a wild attention grab, but now…” She looks at him. “You actually met him, didn’t you? You saved his life just like you said.”

“I probably embellished a little,” especially when no one believed him, “but yeah, I met him and helped him fix his armor.”

“And that’s how you made yours.”

His lips quirk into a crooked grin. “There was definitely a ton of research between when I was twelve and now, but there’s where the itch started, yeah.”

IF YOU WROTE OR DREW THIS WEEKEND, CONSIDER YOURSELF TAGGED

[hawkyon-days]

Some fic recs from my bookmarks

(Max is my favourite character and blind!max is one of my favourite tropes, which is why it's mentioned fairly often here)

light will prevail by mreads22: max-centric, blind!max (the first st fic I read, even before watching the show itself)

Pull Myself Together, You Could Watch It Happen by UniversallyEcho: complete, max-centric, not vol2 compliant (very little plot, but great characterization and one of my all time favourites)

the kids aren't alright by MaryPSue: complete, gen (season 1 au where all the Hawkins born kids realise they have powers, one of the best st fics out there)

We Will Be (Invincible) by HaneleHaralue: SIOC, chrissy&oc, eddie&oc (WAIT before you go away bc this is self-insert, I promise it's really good. There's no romance so far, and the mc isn't obnoxious)

Scientifically Proven by Unproductive_Fangirl: complete, post s4, elumax, blind!max (YES. a complete, elumax-centric fic. It exists!)

if being afraid is a crime, we hang side by side by Claire10: complete, post s4, max&mike, blind!max (watch these two wrecks have four emotional breakdowns in like an hour)

the few things he thinks he knows by endlesslytea: complete, post s4, byler, blind!max (lighthearted, not focused on the supernatural stuff)

let our walls cave in by andiwriteordie, kidovna: complete, post s4, byler, blind!max (party go to college together)

(anything by andiwriteordie if you like byler)

falling like the stars (falling in love) by bookinit: complete, post s4, elmax, blind!max

do not cry by givehimthemedicine: complete, s4 au, pre elmax (despite what the title says, prepare to cry)

Be My Eyes by givehimthemedicine: complete, post s4, elmax, blind!max (bit of angst and then pure fluff at the end)

And Who Are We At The End Of It All? by Caseys_Crying: post s4, steddie, ronance (lots of stuff ongoing, only about 1/3 done, parents find out)

more recs under the cut:

(it's you and me) won't be unhappy by nnegan13: complete, post s4, not vol2 compliant, lumax

you can't lose me by providing_leverage: complete, s4 au, gen (there should be more 'the parents find out' fics)

we can see the flipside by maxmayfield: complete, post s3, written pre s4, max&mike, lumax

The Party (+ Others) Watches Stranger Things by BewitchingNotes: complete, mileven (an actual complete and well written 'characters watching the show fic')

All We Do Is Drive by ShadeNeverMadeAnyoneLessGay: complete, steve&robin&max, blind!max

Goodbye Rocketship by OrangeChickenPillow: complete, not vol2 compliant, max&eddie friendship

she glows for everyone but herself by BackyardOwl: complete, jonathan&max, blind!max

deserving and not deserving by vissers: complete, post s4, will&max, blind!max (part of a 'will comes out to the party' series)

years and years by inblue: complete, lucas&erica

find a new place to be from by burnthatbridgewhenwegetthere: complete, post s4, will&el&max

hellfire (save my soul) by pholilomendron: pre s4, steddie

windowsill by MissAntlers: complete, post s4, steddie, max-centric

did I drive you away? by blvewcters: complete, pre s4, during s4, max&everyone (pain and suffering and tears)

Max Watch by geckohead: complete, during s4, max&everyone

i can give you a heartbeat by soupbitchin: complete, post s4, steddie (one of those "eddie is not actually dead and needs to find his way back" fics)

there’s blood in my ears (and a fool in the mirror) by fastcardotmp3: complete, pre s4 and post s4, steddie, eddie&max, blind!max (one of those "eddie is not actually dead and needs to find his way back" fics)

The Upside by harpiaharpyja: complete, post s4, hellcheer, eddie&max (one of those "eddie is not actually dead and needs to find his way back" fics)

(Not All) Those Who Wander Are Lost by Kedreeva: complete, post s4, eddie&max (one of those "eddie is not actually dead and needs to find his way back" fics, except it's more about the upside down as its own world)

standing up the dead by heartofwinterfell: complete, post s4, eddie&max (one of those "eddie is not actually dead and needs to find his way back" fics, but mostly max-centric)

The Fruity Four Beat 1983 To Death With A Nail Bat by TheKidReadingInTheCorner: complete, steddie, ronance (unserious time travel shenanigans)

took you for a working boy by pukner: complete, post s4, pre steddie (kinda humourly written)

[anonymousmoth43]

I hyper fixated on stranger things so here's my honest review/analyst of it. Honestly it is way too over-hyped. The writing is pretty sloppy and basically just made up of a few (2 or 3) really good double meanings that makes the entire audience think that everything has a meaning (I.E. vamp Eddie theory, billy and the ash, Will, the Hankey) so that's the main reason why people watch it and for their new favorite character that will 100% be dead by the end of the season. Also for a show centered around a female lead it's entirely male dominated/centric and she gets barely any screen time considering it's her show and when she does it mostly has to do with latest boy troubles or fighting with a girl or obsessing over boys with her only female friend who they basically wrote off the show. And yeah I know Nancy and Robin and Max (and Lucas's lil sister) exist and that's all cool except Nancy is a Mary Sue, Robin is really cool but mostly exists just to be a lesbian because everyone got tired of their queer baiting (because lesbians can exist but having actual gay characters is going to far), Max was first created for boy drama and then continue to only exist for more boy drama or to be the one who's saving the guys yet somehow she ends up needing saving. Chrissy was a five second plot point. The moms only exist to fetishized or to be a plot device that cleans up the plot holes. Mike's extremely narcissistic one second and then supposedly the best boyfriend ever the next. Will's character kinda falls flat but I'll admit at least he had an actual story line. It's really crappy writing to make everyone love a character and then kill them off for a girl, every single time that character dies for a girl (Nancy, Ms Byers, Ms Byers again, Chrissy) and then they just expect fans to be happy. Furthermore, could they not go five seconds without queer baiting? It's a near constant and people can act like it isn't but it definitely is. You can have your gay characters (Will & Robin) and make them have crushes on straight people and then give the lesbian a girl to flirt with but heaven forbid we have main characters be a gay or lesbian couple, you only get a main character with one side characters that gets 3 seconds of screen time and it's definitely not because"we'll relationship aren't what the show is about" because that's the majority of the plot. Plus Jonathan is disgusting, if a guy took naked photos of me and my boyfriend broke his camera, I'd be appreciative to my boyfriend and key the creeps car, not nearly cheat on my boyfriend and get with the creep. It's okay to like the show because same but it's still bad writing and a little sexist for the most part.

[mieczyhale]

steve harrington deserves love, support, and comforr so much and i love that there's so many fics now where he gets that, be they steddie fice or not.

but i gotta wonder why steve, especially in steddie fics, is the only one people seem to think needs and deserves love, support, and comfort.

almost every fic is about steve's suffering and eddie being there for steve, being steve's sunshine and all that, but the love / support / comfort should go both ways in a relationship so.. where is steve being there for eddie?? and not just 'helps eddie while he's hiding out'.

you're telling me that you think eddie has never suffered, never dealt with anything that would leave him with lasting damage physically, mentally, or emotionally until chrissy died?? really?? or does he not matter as much as steve - even when you think they should be together?? (maybe it’s just me but shipping two people but only caring about one of them feels like you only ship it bc they’re attractive) or are you (very incorrectly) assuming steve wouldn't be just as attentive and caring and protective??

steve has been beaten and mocked and hurt and neglected - all by people he cares about too - while all he does is love, protect, and defend and he DESERVES fics where all of that is acknowledged and where he is given the love no one else will give him. where he finally has someone around to believe in him. and i LOVE that we collectively decided the person best suited for that is eddie. bc we’re right.

look.

i get it.

eddie is the newer character,

we’ve had steve for years.

but that makes the reverse also true.

eddie has been beaten and bullied and hurt and neglected by just about everyone aside from his uncle up until we meet him in s4. even the other guys in hellfire don’t seem like they’re THAT close to eddie. like they obviously like him and admire him but that’s not the same as someone genuinely caring about you.

we don’t have a ton of canon information on eddie’s past, but we also don’t have a ton of canon information on steve’s either and we’ve come up with some really good believable theories. and i know people have done that for eddie as well. and even if you only want to stick to what we know is FACT you easily end up with eddie’s dad not being a good person, to a point that eddie now lives with his uncle. and there’s.. nothing potentially traumatizing or upsetting that could’ve happened in there??

and parents aside: he’s been bullied and judged by just about everyone bc he’s so obviously different. and while he wears the mantle of “freak” with as much pride as he can, we’re shown in a moment that it still hurts sometimes. like after robin tells eddie that “everyone and their shallow-minded mother is going to be after you” in s4e3 and eddie replies “hunt the freak, right?” and his /voice/. his face.

eddie deserves love and acceptance, he deserves to have someone stick up for him, defend him and protect him.

and if eddie is the person most suited to be there for steve, then steve is the person most suited to be there for eddie.

it would be nice if more people would show that, write that.

let eddie be loved. let eddie be saved from vecna and jason and the world. let steve use his nailbat to defend eddie from the physical horrors and his serious cuddle abilities to protect eddie from the mental and emotional ones. let steve soften the hurt of all the fuckin bullshit that has made eddie’s eyes cynical in the first place

i just want to read about steve and eddie without it feeling like the people writing them don’t give a shit about eddie, or think of him only as an attractive plot device. there’s nothing wrong with steve-centric hurt/comfort, it’s just so much more.. There (since s4 aired) and i read a lot of fics and fic summaries so it’s become painfully obvious which way steddie fics tend to lean. and it’s kinda sad

[saras-almanac]

I don’t know if i am getting to deep about this (probably) but i’m kinda sad that robert got to briefly talk about his feelings saying there’s stuff he’s done keeping him awake at night at the worst possible time. i just wish they explored more of this when he actually had a support network around him. and he probably meant trying to kill paddy and chas, but that’s not the point. i don’t know guess it just upsets me a bit that we got an insight into his feelings at a horrible time.

Thank you so much for this ask because I could talk about #JusticeforRobert centric storylines until I die. And to be honest, I probably will because… he just deserved one? And the fact that there is/was so much potential for things to explore with Robert and the show just sort of chose not to, is annoying. Especially because Ryan could have carried an intense storyline (he literally carried 2017) and Danny/Aaron could have been this supportive husband. It would have been great for the people around them to really see Aaron supporting Robert through something. They sort of did that with the reunion 2.0 and Seb storyline (and even Rebecca’s disappearance) but it wasn’t really enough. 

The biggest frustration, sort of like you said, is that we just didn’t spend a lot of time with Robert’s feelings on things. I’m not trying to say we got nothing, but the BIG storylines that should have put Robert front and center (his coming out, his shooting, his reluctance to fatherhood, his prison sentence) shove his feelings and Robert to the side in lieu of someone else, someone who might be “more important” or needing the focus more. Now I could say that it’s sort of Robert’s character to hide his feelings because he doesn’t like showing them and being vulnerable while also never wanting to be a burden to anyone, that’s not really an excuse for the show to choose that path. 

Under the cut because this became a monster on points I have literally no idea of whether or not you wanted to read about! 

Robert’s Coming Out – What we could have had. 

Now, as a bisexual, I wish we’d have gotten more of Robert’s POV as he was outed against his will and the fallout. Even if we didn’t get it right away, they wrote in multiple times where people call him gay or throw his sexuality in his face and Robert never really got a chance to fight back for that. He stands up the most with Aaron and while the other times might just be a matter of, It’s really not worth it to fight for this cause the other person clearly doesn’t care… It just shouldn’t have taken so long to get the reveal and backstory of how his sexuality (and suppression) has affected him. 

Again, I would never want to take that moment in the woods away because it was literally perfect: the context, the reveal, the desperation of just wanting to be himself with Aaron. But there’s no reason that we couldn’t have been privy to some of Robert’s thoughts about this before that point. Especially after his shooting. 

Robert’s Shooting – Was Robert even there for that? 

I’m gonna be honest and say that I’m probably the most annoyed about this lack of storyline for Robert. He was literally shot and it became all about Andy and Aaron. While their stories played a massive part in everything that happened, it came at the complete erasure of Robert. He was shot. His entire life was changed. He thought someone he loved, someone who loved him–all of him and even the awful parts–tried to kill him. That literally shook Robert down to his core. We see it in the two instances where Robert is faced with that reality. But then he realizes Andy’s behind it, gets Aaron out of prison, and it’s literally never brought up again. Don’t you think that might have caused a shift in Robert? A fear or an even bigger desperation to prove himself? Or that his fear that he wasn’t worth it and no one could ever really love him was back in full force? 

But the show decided to not give any time to that. 

They also didn’t give any time to Robert’s recovery any focus at all. There’s the comment with Adam and Andy when Vic first brings Robert back from the hospital where they comment on how he doesn’t look like himself. I think there’s a scene where Robert first goes to the pub, but all the Dingles are mad at him because Aaron’s in prison… Though that’s not Robert’s fault? He was the one who shot? He literally was in a coma for like a month… But sure? I guess, go off on him Dingles? It all makes sense that Aaron would be angry because, as much as he claimed to hate Robert, he’d never try to kill him. And I think, honestly, the fact that Robert thought so for even a little while probably cut Aaron. 

But other than those two scenes, Robert’s basically right as rain. Except for the moment his stitches tear after saving Andy from the car. 

This period of time is meant to be Robert’s metamorphosis. He’s changing from scheming, angry, bitter chancer to someone who actively wants to be better and is, ultimately, looking for love. The problem is, it’s not really present. Not really. He says to Lawrence in the hell plot that was 2017, that it took the bullet to the chest to come to terms with his sexuality and himself. But where was that? Why did we not see that? 

We saw the one, beautiful, shining moment that showed (a bit) that Robert was trying to be better, to do better as his shooting and realizing just how much he’s hurt people, people he did care about. Robert goes to court for Chrissie’s trial and speaks out in her defense, taking responsibility for upsetting Chrissie and giving her a defense. It was unexpected and beautiful… but then they did nothing with that? They sort of forgot it and, of course, they had to go back to be antagonist towards each other. Which fine. 

The only thing we really get after Robert’s shooting, is his determination to win Aaron back. Which is wonderful and I loved it, but it was about Robert trying to prove himself to Aaron, not really about showing us the changes. We did get them, his current ending storyline is proof of that, but it just sort of feels like a little bit of a wasted opportunity to really explore Robert’s character and the regrets he had. 

I think the biggest Robert-focused (if we can call it that) storyline that showcased his changes, would be the abuse era and how he literally put everything on hold to be there for Aaron, as much as he possibly could. And it was great, but I just feel like they could have done more with Robert before this point. So we as the viewer could know how much Robert changed and how badly he wanted Aaron back, how much he loved him. But they chose not to. 

And then after they got back together, there was no real storyline for Robert. Yes, he was present for Liv going to youth offenders, but that was clearly framed as Aaron’s “obstacle.” His seizure and running himself ragged, was more about what might be happening to Rebecca. It’s fine that he’s not front and center always because… it’s an ensemble show, but I really feel like any story he might have been the center for, they shifted the focus so it wasn’t on him. 

Okay so 2017… Yes, Robert and his breakdown was a focus… but like… It wasn’t that good? I get that the writers were like, he’s regressing cause of his breakup with Aaron and that’s true on one hand… but it also felt a bit… over-the-top? It wasn’t nuanced, but Robert was the focus so I guess, be careful what you wish for, Sara. (That’s on me). 

Basically, I completely understand your frustration that we got a small glimpse into Robert’s state of mind right before he’s leaving. I am taking that more as a way to prove to himself and Aaron that Robert deserves to be in prison. He’s messed up, hurt people, and done so many things that he’s ashamed of and/or regrets, so this is his penance. (It’s bullshit, babe. You don’t deserve any of this). So if they don’t try and use it as a way for Robert to push Aaron away which… will suck if that’s the route they’re choosing. Because… no. Literally, have Robert tell Aaron not to visit him because he gave himself up so Aaron could have a life. And Aaron could cry and argue that he doesn’t want a life that doesn’t include Robert in it. Then Robert, switching tactics, says that it’s killing him to only see Aaron once a week, talk every few days–it killed him when Aaron was inside and it’s going to kill him to do this for the next 20 years. So he tells Aaron to please, let him go because it’s just going to be too hard for Robert to see him in prison visiting rooms. (Of course, this means that Aaron can’t get Seb because… then Robert doesn’t get to see his son either? But whatever.) 

By having Robert frame it as what he needs–to be alone and not be constantly reminded of what he’s missing–it’s the only, only way I could see Aaron not fighting and pushing him. Because they would always and will always sacrifice their own happiness for their husband’s security and needs. (But I assume they won’t.)

Obviously, I want Aaron to fight to stay with Robert because why would he want to be without him? Why would he just give up on the love of his life, especially knowing how hard and lonely prison is? And it’s not like Robert’s family gives any sort of fuck about him. 

So after this week, I’ll probably live in my own canon of them staying together and Robert’s solicitor and new prison BFF DC Pierce working on an appeal to lessen Robert’s charge from murder to manslaughter because… it’s fiction and it can be done–and they love Robert as much as us. So he gets out in a much smaller sentence. And also… all the massive AUs and Canon divergents that I want to write that might actually address some of these storylines and making Robert if not a main player, at least an equal player. (If anyone’s interested in them in the future.) 

Thank you for giving me something to focus on and to write this massive essay for no reason but to procrastinate my Robert Week fics… (I don’t have tomorrow’s yet. Oops.) 

[sleepykittypaws]

Best and Worst of 2018

Well, it’s hard to believe another holiday season has come and gone. It feels like just yesterday (a.k.a. September) when I was filled with such hope and excitement for the ever-growing crop of holiday entertainment headed our way. With 83 original made-for-TV movies debuting on network/cable + Netflix/Hulu alone, I barely scratched the viewing surface, even while mostly watching new holiday content nightly from November through Christmas. For instance, this is the first year I didn’t get to a single ION or UP offering. Heck, I didn’t even get through all of Lifetime’s offerings, which I mostly really enjoyed, let alone do more than dip my toe into Hallmark’s daunting 38 new movies. But, of the more than 34 new movies and specials I did sample this season, here are my best and worst…

Best Made-for-TV Holiday Movie of 2018

Early on it became pretty clear that Hallmark’s ever-more homogenized offerings were unlikely to produce my seasonal favorite. Now, it’s possible I just missed that gem that was gonna win me over, since I stopped watching Hallmark altogether at some point, but for the second year in a row, it was Lifetime that offered up my favorite of the season, with one of their acquired titles, Every Other Holiday.

Every Other had both rom and (some) com, but wasn’t your standard made-for-TV Christmas fare. It was clearly just as low budget, but it was a lot more realistic and well-acted than average. It wasn’t light, fizzy fun, and it even had a strong faith element, which is usually not my favorite, but it was so well done, it was impossible not to like. 

The story of a an estranged family fulfilling their children’s wish of spending Christmas together with extended family, instead of only sharing “every other holiday” with each parent, was well-written, holiday-centric and ultimately touching. I just loved it, and really hope it becomes available on DVD or digital.

Hitting a completely different note, I also really liked the cheese-tastic Lifetime original A Very Nutty Christmas, starring Melissa Joan Hart, who is, for me, the Queen of Made-for-TV Christmas movies. Not only did she star in the classic Holiday in Handcuffs, this is her second-straight, sweet, funny Lifetime joint, after last year’s a A Very Merry Toy Store, and I hope she continues to make more. (Hart’s company also produced both Nutty and Toy Store.)

This story of a nutcracker come to life, and the baker who falls in love with him, was super silly Christmas fun, with all the elements of the classic ballet transposed onto a small town bakery in the lead up to the holiday. The cast was outstanding, and quite funny, and it was the perfect amount of crazy Christmas fun, that really hit my holiday movie sweet spot.

Honorable mentions also go to the quite funny The Truth About Christmas (Freeform) and wacky The Princess Switch (Netflix), both of which were light, fun holiday larks that I absolutely enjoyed.

My 2018 Made-for-TV Top 10

Every Other Holiday (Lifetime)

A Very Nutty Christmas (Lifetime)

The Truth About Christmas (Freeform)

The Princess Switch (Netflix)

The Christmas Chronicles (Netflix)

Christmas Lost and Found (Lifetime)

The Christmas Contract (Lifetime)

Poinsettias for Christmas (Lifetime)

A Christmas in Tennessee (Lifetime)

Return to Christmas Creek (Hallmark Movies and Mysteries)

Honestly, Return only made the cut because it was best of a bad batch I watched from Hallmark, and there were probably plenty I rated two paws that I actually enjoyed more. 

Clearly, I am hoping Lifetime stays in the Christmas movie fight, as I strongly feel they’re out Hallmark-ing Hallmark, on every level. Lifetime is bringing the cute Christmas romance, but also offering up greater diversity, better casts (with a heavy lean towards late ’80s/early ’90s nostalgia), and scripts that nail the formula, without seeming formulaic and boring. Family friendly and sweet doesn’t have to also equal absolutely boring and bland, and Lifetime is proving that year over year.

Best Theatrical Holiday Movie of 2018

This category is a bit of a cheat, since I didn’t actually go to the movies this Christmas season, but thanks to some quick video turn arounds, I was able to see some of the stuff that debuted, albeit in one case only briefly, in theaters this year.

My favorite is the not-exactly-Christmas, but very snowy and fun, Smallfoot. I did not expect to enjoy this Channing Tatum-voiced Yeti movie nearly as much as I did. It was smart, funny and great fun for the whole family. Much more savvy and sweet than expected, this story of a Yeti tribe who live isolated above the clouds for their own protection, find their belief in a series of wacky explanations is challenged when one of them sees the mythical “smallfoot,” a.k.a. a human being.

My other, much more holiday-centric pick, is Elliot: The Littlest Reindeer, which enjoyed a brief theatrical release before jumping directly to digital. This long-delayed movie about a miniature horse who wants to be one of Santa’s reindeer, boasts a talented voice cast and a charming story that went in ways I definitely didn’t expect. The animation isn’t totally up to par, but our entire family enjoyed this original take on Santa and his magic, and I definitely see us re-watching it in future seasons.

And, honestly, The Christmas Chronicles probably belongs in this list, rather than made-for-TV, since the Netflix original had a much more big screen budget. Kurt Russell’s cool Santa will be watched more than once in many households, and I can definitely see it becoming a bit of a Christmas classic over time.

Best Holiday Special of 2018

Disney Channel’s reboot of the classic Ducktales offered up its first Christmas special in 2018, and it was a doozy. Ducktales Last Christmas! got multiple watches in our household this season. 

This full-of-callbacks half hour managed to bring in Mickey’s Christmas Carol and Dr. Who, with a large nod to David Tennant, current voice of Scrooge McDuck, and a host of other meta-jokes that make it well worth watching more than once. 

The tale of Scrooge visiting great Christmas parties across time with a little help from these, “three ghosts he met once when they meant to visit another Scrooge,” was great, classic animation that was a just a ton of fun to watch, and I think I liked it even better the second time around. 

Honorable mentions go to NBC’s A Legendary Christmas with John and Chrissy, who’s throwback quirky style put a huge smile on my face, and Netflix, for finally blessing us with Great British Baking Show: Holidays.

Best New-to-Me Holiday Discovery of 2018

The 2017 theatrical The Man Who Invented Christmas was, I believe, considered a box office flop, but this somewhat ahistorical tale of how Dickens created his legendary A Christmas Carol was great holiday fun, with Dan Stevens ably channeling the Victorian-era author. I’m not sure it’s funny or schmaltzy enough to become a Christmas classic in the It’s a Wonderful Life or A Christmas Story vein, but I have no doubt it will become much better known as more people get a chance to experience it.

I also want to offer up two honorable mentions for made-for-TV movies of yore I saw for the first time this season, including the delightful 2013 Hallmark movie, Window Wonderland, which earned a spot on my all-time-favorites list and definitely made me wish Hallmark still made smartly written and less formulaic movies like this. 

I also really liked Melissa Joan Hart’s 2014, The Santa Con, which she directed herself and was her first holiday pairing with Barry Watson, also her co-star in A Very Nutty Christmas. Con was another definitely different movie not afraid to buck the formula, which I really enjoyed.

But it wasn’t all Christmas Eve snow and candy canes this season so on to what I didn’t like…

Worst Made-for-TV Holiday Movie of 2018

I was deeply torn between two Hallmark movies I spent the entire runtime hating more and more as the movie went on: Christmas in Evergreen: Letters to Santa and Mingle all the Way. Both contained actresses I’ve really enjoyed in other Hallmark projects, Ashley Williams and Jen Lilley, respectively, and in the case of Evergreen, the 2017 original actually made my best-of list last season.

Both were less “movies” than a checklist of Hallmark plot points so grimly adhered to and executed that you could almost see the script writer’s notes 

decorate Christmas tree ✔️

make gingerbread house ✔️

have snowball fight ✔️

save business ✔️

kiss under soap bubble snow ✔️

The End ✔️

These are the exact sort of competently produced (they look just fine), content-free, promo-filled (everything in the picture above, with the sole exception of actress Jill Wagner, can be purchased at a Hallmark store near you) faux-festive slogs that I find mind-numbing, and not in a good way. 

I totally want silly, cheesy and cozy in my Christmas fare. But I do not care for churned out, near-identical schlock. Basically, there’s good cheese, and there’s bad, and Hallmark’s brand this season seemed to be entirely of the “cheez” variety, a.k.a. we-can’t-legally-call-it-cheese-because-it-contains-no-dairy. 

Slick, but joy-free is how I sum up Hallmark’s 2018 slate. Don’t get me wrong, I know I’m in the minority here, as their ratings are going up and up and up. I fully expect to see even less interesting movies, and more of ’em, in 2019. I’m just not sure I’ll be bothering to watch.

Not that there weren’t bad fare to be found beyond Hallmark’s borders… 

Lifetime’s A Twist of Christmas was a boring promo for the weirdest product ever: an Oreo music box. Still baffled how they didn’t make the “twist” title into an Oreo pun, and I think its lack made me dislike the movie even more.

Freeform’s No Sleep ’Til Christmas had so much potential, but got so many things wrong, it kind of infuriated me more than any other movie this season, simply because it was so close to being really good. (I had a somewhat similar take on A Shoe Addict’s Christmas, but that one wasn’t tone deaf like No Sleep, just boring.)

And, lastly, if I’d been able to make it all the way through the execrable Life-Size 2: A Christmas Eve, I’m pretty confident it would have topped my worst-of picks by a mile. This utterly unwatchable sequel to the quite charming 2000 Wonderful World of Disney film was an epic fail on every level. Not festive, incredibly dumb and not even accidentally funny. All in all, this wildly hyped outing was a disaster of Holiday Joy (my most-hated of 2016) proportions, but with a much bigger budget.

Worst Holiday Special of 2018

Nailed It! is a show that a lot of people, including my 11-year-old son, really enjoy, but I find tedious and kind of disgusting. Nailed It! Holiday! was my first, and frankly, last, experience with the show, and all I can really say is that it is very, very much Not. My. Thing.

Worst New-to-Me Holiday Discovery of 2018

For the second year in a row, Trolls figure into the worst category of my list, this time via this new-to-me 1981 HBO special, The Trolls and the Christmas Express, that I picked to show my kiddos.

Wow, this Canadian-made animated special was a slog. Not terribly festive, it makes Santa’s elves into idiots, and the entire premise of wearing out the reindeer seems … dumb. I mean, aren’t they magic? Do magic reindeer get tired? 

We try to watch a Christmas special every night between Thanksgiving and Christmas—kind of a TV advent calendar—and this was my YouTube pick, as I wanted to watch something we hadn’t seen before. Big mistake. Huge. My kids (justifiably) didn’t let me make a pick again all season.

So, that’s a wrap on Christmas TV 2018. I’ll be back with renewed hope and festive fantasies of TV movie greatness in 2019, mostly because, with each year, there is fresh hope that this time will, for sure, actually be the Best Christmas Ever. 😂

[secondsofhappiness]

This is the most Rob centric storyline we've ever had.

I made a post a while back about how this intense year has showcased The Worst of Robert Jacob Sugden and not only that, has reminded us of his past in VERY clever ways...

For example, he cheated. We're reminded of his long history with infidelity. He pretended to kill Tim, bringing back MANY parallels with Katie's accidental death and the part he played. There was the stuff with Chrissie and her hug that reminded us of how he treated her despite their connection. Then there's the Lawrence shenanigans reminding us that Larry has always had a thing for Rob, it's the reason he met Chrissie and giving us a throwback to their earlier and brutal scene together where Rob tells him this straight. There's the master being overpowered by the student aka Lachlan. Rob is definitely a factor in Lachlan's behaviour nowadays I think. We're constantly reminded of how he screwed up with Aaron. We get regular reminders of Liv and she brutally tells him how he has hurt her. Etc.

ALL OF THAT HAS BEEN FOR A REASON.

It's like a little tour of the life of RJS and a reminder that he has never really owned his shit.

He has tried. He has tried hard at times and I think the only person that got him close was Aaron but Aaron had his own things to focus on, had his own issues and they weren't strong enough to save each other. Why should they be?! They were so fractured and damaged as individuals that the thing that kept them together was the sheer force of their ridiculous love for each other and damned pig headedness. It's why their eventual break up was MESSY AS HELL because it needed to be something huge to break their ties. Neither would do it otherwise regardless of how much they were struggling together.

Robert always needed a storyline like this. A redemption of his character could never ever be about anything other than his core. Doing it for Aaron was never going to last because it's ingrained in him from his youth and it's why this storyline has been so bloody great, I think.

Yeah it had been soapy and OTT at times but it was a showcase of RJS and how he operates. It was presenting his mistakes to the audience, allowing them to survey them, to see his character in full but all the way through, be reminded in little ways of who he is underneath it all, who he can be, who human!Rob is and the only ones to do that have been Aaron and Liv. Their involvements have only ever been to bring out human!Rob. Sometimes Diane does it but it's more contrived when it's her as we know Rob isn't all that comfortable with some of her comments for good reason.

Tonight's episode and the introduction of Sebastian (and I hope tomorrow's scenes too) screamed loud as THE TURNING POINT.

- The result of his cheating was born - his son

- He faced a devastated Aaron and Rob was reminded of Aaron's love, goodness and the faith Aaron has in him

- He faced Liv's brutal words about how his actions impacted her when all he wanted was to help and love her and he tried so hard to support her

- He was reminded of his father, told he'd be proud and had to deal with that reality

- The Lawrence stuff came to a head with Rob, I think, actually feeling deeply moved in the end because he saw a man who believed in what he was saying and Rob knew he'd taken advantage of a tortured soul

All of that came to a head and then he was handed Sebastian and this innocent, helpless, clueless blank slate was HIS and Sebastian doesnt hate or doesn't have any preconceived ideas. Robert is his dad and that's all he is right now. Sebastian is a little being made to love him and need him.

So Robert leaves. Because he is faced in one day with the reality of his entire life and that's that he has done many many bad things but who does he go back to? His father. The person who is the root of many of his issues and despite this, Robert STILL craves his respect and validation. He's telling his father that he has ruined his own life and that by having his own son, he is faced with the reality of his lifetime, of the culmination of years of mistreatment of others, of coveting, of manipulation, of misguided focus, of making bad decisions and all of that has cost him the things that he holds dear.

There's a reason why we get the scenes we're getting tomorrow. There's a reason why we're getting a long ass Rob and Aaron scene because as I've been saying for weeks, Aaron is the route to Human!Rob. Aaron is the sole source of faith, unconditional love, openness, honesty he has and as he said last year, he can be himself with Aaron. Aaron will tell him straight and Robert will listen and the reason he'll stick around and NOT listen to those words of Jack Sugden is because Aaron has faith in him and would be disappointed in him if he left.

The decisions will be Robert's but Sebastian was the trigger and Aaron will be the one to make Rob realise that his past doesn't always have to shape his future.

It's the beginning of Robert becoming Human!Rob and I feel like it'll be bumpy as hell but I am kind of smitten with the way it has been framed and even despite some of the soapiness and OTT moments, it has felt grounded by Ryan's acting. Let it be known, I'm bloody fascinated by Rob as a character, I have grown to love him way more because of this storyline and I am so damn excited for the rest.