#god queer mike would mean so much to me

[maddy-ferguson]

one of the reasons why i was upset after volume 2 wasn't even because i wanted will to come out or thought it would've made more sense for him than what we got it was because i wanted it to be clearer that he's gay because now people are still saying he isn't actually gay in the show which i knew was gonna happen and is just...so upsetting to me...

[glisten-inthedark]

I don't know if I'm more chill about Byler endgame because I have the intel that people didn't have during volume 2 or what, but to any other ending that doesn't involve Byler becoming canon would just make the Duffer brothers the worst writers in the history of ever.

Because what do you mean you have a gay character that doesn't believe he'll get a happy ending only to prove that you know, he's right? How would that make any sense?!

I've said it before and I'll say how many times I have to: They could've made Will in love with literally anyone else. I don't know, some boy from Lenora, some other guy from Hawkings, hell, even Dustin was an option. But noooo, they instead chose to make him in love with his best friend.

They could've presented another male character with Argyle, instead they spent God knows how much money of their budget getting every Byler scene just right. Who would give this much dedication to a sinking ship? Like, they literally talked about how they had to wait during the day just so the lightning was just right during the van scene.

And also, the lighting during the cabin scene as well? Because that must have taken them ages to get it right. For the line to poor down only on Will, and that's not an artificial light, is literally the sun. So you're telling the Duffers were going to waste precious time getting these scenes just right but you know what? They don't mean anything at all, forget about it.

And to further drive the point home, the storyline makes no actual sense from a logical standpoint. Remove Byler. Let's all pretend we don't ship for one second.

Why in the world would they make Will in love with Mike of all people? He could've been gay without having to be that in love with someone. I know I'm repeating myself but I have to because I don't think you guys understand how senseless this plot is if they're not going to do anything about it.

And I mean senseless in the sense that it literally has no use to the plot (that we know of which is why I made that post about how Will's love will be fundamental to the story).

And not only that, not having Mike go with El to the Nina project thingy literally stalled their progression which is a huge deal. I know some people don't like that Byler was removed from the supernatural plot, but I for one think it was a necessary evil to allow Will to explore his feelings and for Mike to miss him.

And to honest, even if the writers are the most douchebags to ever douchebag, it still wouldn't explain the amount of care they took in every Byler scene. It wouldn't explain how whenever we are in Mike's POV, is like he literally sees Will like this shinning beacon of light.

Because if they wanted a quick cash grab on the expense of the queer community, I can assure you there are easier ways of doing it. I remember when I was at the Sterek fandom and J*ff Davis was an ass about the ship during interviews. I remember how Tyl*r P*sey made terrible comments all the while they were clearly using the shippers in the series. And yeah, while I do agree Teen Wolf wasn't necessarily queerbait because there were actual queer couples, it still left a bitter taste on my mouth.

The way they built this, they didn't give themselves an easy way out. It would be one thing if Will was gay but not in love with Mike, it's a completely different thing for him to love Mike so deeply that he's willing to sacrifice his own happiness for him.

The writers made him to me irrevocably in love with Mike. (You don't make her (him) feel like a mistake at all), El (Will) needs you and she (him) always Will. These aren't the words of someone that has a crush or whose feelings are fleeting, these are the words of someone who would rip his heart out just so that the man he loves can be happy.

These aren't the words of someone that can be just be: yeah, I moving on from this. Mike is Will's heart.

So sure, Will needs to discover self acceptance and self love. He needs to recognize that he can be happy and deserves to have happiness, but if that was the entire point all along, he literally could have figured that without having to be in love with his best friend whom he believes will never love him back.

If the sole point of his arc was: Needs to learn how to accept himself for who he is, there are other - less cruel - ways of going about.

Because at the end of the day, making Will to be this deeply in love with Mike only to be rejected is just that: pointless and cruel.

And again. Pointless.

The GA already believes that to be the case, the Mil*evns too, Will also believes that. So why would it be a conflict at all if it was actually the case?

Why would they make a slowburn reaction? Will already thinks he was rejected, that's the thing. He already thinks it's hopeless.

So why would they use the painting? Why would they frame everything as a love triangle? Why not get this shit over already?

Why pair them together with the already canon couples?

At this point I'm just rambling and repeating myself. I'm gonna sleep, but I hope I was coherent enough.

You guys are welcomed to chime in, I love to hear your thoughts on that because I feel like I wrote all of this before but I'll say however many times I have to.

[the-cookie-of-doom]

Preliminary: Everything We Know About He/She/It

The Cast

Mike: is a garbage person. He’s cheating on his girlfriend with his best friend, then (accidentally) kills him. 

Peem: is also Not A Great Person, because he’s knowingly helping Mike cheat. (He does not deserve to die over this.)

Pear: Mike’s girlfriend, did not deserve All Of That, hands down the best person in the entire series. Seriously. 

Meen: gossipy little bitch, acts like he was looking out for Pear, but was really just there for the drama. Does deserve All Of That. 

Drama Teacher: got way too into making these guys make out with each other. That’s all I’m gonna say. 

The Setting

This happens in the backdrop of a university drama class, because of course it does. All of these characters are messy, except Pear, who notably isn’t part of the class. 

The living situation confuses me. First I thought Mike and Peem were roommates, but I think they’re all living in dorms/apartments close to each other. (Which is convenient bc it means Mike has easy access to Peem and Pear, without the need for many excuses about where he is.) 

The Events 

Mike truly didn’t mean to kill Peem. He was angry, but he wasn’t murderous. He made a devastating mistake.

Mike does have feelings for Peem, and I think he did love him. Whether I think it’s genuine love or he just loves how Peem makes him feel… depends on how generous I’m feeling at any given time. It could really go either way. 

Peem is possessive. He’s vindictive. He knows he’s the other woman; he doesn’t like it, but he knows tolerating it is the only way he can be with Mike, but he’s going to make Pear's problem. He rubs it in her face without her even knowing, and I love that for him. 

BTS/Interview Extras 

Jeff talks about how he was playing Mike from the angle that he has an abusive and homophobic father, which is the source of his own internalized homophobia and his Thing with Peem, and the reason why he can’t let himself break up with Pear, which could have solved all of their problems. He needs to be the perfect picture of heteronormativity and masculinity. Which, word of God and all, but when viewed under that lens, does make Mike a more sympathetic character! Of course he’s terrified of anyone finding out about him. Of course he can’t love Peem. Of course he can’t even face his own sexuality. It’s very telling that in all but one of their intimate scenes, Peem is the one initiating it. Mike is always holding back, where Peem is reaching out, pushing for more. 

About working out the backstory for the character (unclear if the writer/director were involved or if this is just personal interpretation): “for family issues, given the reason that Mike’s dad hates queers, so much that he’d even physically assault them, it creates a mold that Mike needs to fit into, that he has to love a girl. And when that mold’s shaken, he loses control."

There’s a funny/cute part where they’re asking about the kissing scenes and it’s adorable, he gets so flustered xD He said he thought they would be able to do it in one take and uh… that’s not what happened. 

Another fun quote: “The hard part of playing Mike is that Mike is flirtatious, which I’m not personally. I just can’t.” Uhh… I think that’s definitely changed lol

Finally, the most important line in the series, coming from the drama teacher at the start of episode 1:

“In the real world, we don’t know who is acting. Sometimes, in the world of performing, we don’t know who’s real. Sometimes we can’t tell them apart at all.” 

This sets the stage for everything that happens moving forward. Peem and Pear don’t know if Mike’s feelings are real (and neither does he), and Mike doesn’t know if Peem is really drowning, ultimately leading to his death.

The ask that inspired this

Stay tuned for the rest, I've got 3 more posts about this nonsense!

[findafight]

It is tiring to be regarded as a 'homophobe' when you claim to not like a queer ship or say you do not think a queer ship is going to be canon & should not go canon. ST fandom has this type of fans especially Bylers and recently Ronancers. Sorry that I do not think Byler has a chance of being wrapped up in a nice way when the writers actively refused to even breakup Mileven in this season and intentionally added a confession scene on the show from Mike to El. We literally have 1 season left with everything else going on in a limited time frame but I am expected to be okay with the possible resolution of this whole thing, and should expect a nice wrap up where we supposedly will see Mileven break up, Mike and El moving on from each other, there will be a time for them to adjust to that, for Mike to consider dating Will HECK even for Will to consider confessing and dating Mike, for the writers to make that all believable to the audience in a nice way within the narrative.... and I am expected to like Ronance when Stobin is one of the most important platonic relationships on the show and we canonically know Nancy and Steve's break up was bad, and that Steve still has feelings for Nancy. I want to see representation, I really do but it feels like the fandom itself is bending any logic and sensibility to make a ship seem reasonable and make sense within the narrative... when it really does not.

God. Yeah. Like sure queer people can have internalized homophobia or intra community basis (like bi/a/trans phobia) etc but to say someone's a bigot just because they don't like the a fictional ship, or even that they just don't think it will be canon, is just silly and causing problems on purpose.

The intense blr shippers have really turned me off the ship, honestly. I have a few asks from them saved as drafts just to get them out of my inbox, and they're saying the same as others "we're fighting homophobia" "you're just as bad as people saying why don't we shut up about blr and ship mlvn if you don't think this has been part of a grand and epic master plan for the greatest romance ever" as well as just not understanding what the very specific phenomena of queerbaiting is, all telling me I don't belong in the ship because I don't ship it correctly. So. Makes me feel bad and really disappointed. People who ship mlvn (which my original post was also tagged, because it discusses them too) DIDNT come to my inbox and call me names or a fake shipper when I said I thought they should break up. Make of that what you will.

As much as Will and Mike getting together would mean to people, putting that much emotional weight and expectation and emphasis on a single aspect of a show, a single ship, is not healthy. It also, if it does happen, will not be the epic romance planned from the start they think it is. (We remember tjlc, right?? RIGHT??) If it happens it will possibly be slap dash and rushed, because you're right. There's a lot happening, the show struggles with ending/starting romances, and they are NOT the only characters that matter. The breathing room required for both Mike and El AND the audience to make the breakup feel real and that enough time has passed to not make Mike look like an asshole for immediately dating his ex's brother (and for Will not to look like an ass for dating his sister's ex?!?) Is now insufficient given how short the seasons are, and as you said, they should've broken up in S4 to pull that off.

And then the fandom would likely feel a bit cheated after building it up so much in their heads, only for it to be a bit of a flop. But I guess a lot of people don't mind how Nancy and Jonathan got together, so with the way some of the people in my inbox were talking about El then it could be like that too. Just. Not giving a shit if someone, a character I personally love, was really hurt and betrayed by her recently ex boyfriend and her BROTHER.

Pretending it was all fine because romantic love is the most important thing ever to them I guess. When it's not, especially in the show! Non romantic bonds are so important to these characters! It would just ruin it for me, because what I was originally saying was that Will, Mike, and El all mean so much to each other and actively try to not hurt one another (even if the do accidentally or end up hurting themselves) and that, because Will and El are siblings now, Will might think twice about dating Mike so soon after he broke up with El. It would make them look cold hearted and selfish tbh. That's why a good ending would be Will feeling comfortable enough to come out, and being accepted by his friends. (All of them not just Mike) and that final emphasis on the Party as a whole rather than individual Romo relationships.

It's actually very important to consider other people's feelings in everyday life, I think. Sure, ultimately they shouldn't dictate all your actions, but there will be consequences for some of them. They can lose friendships, or other relationships. It can also make a character look REALLY BAD.

For rnce, people go on about how Robin absolutely does not need to consider Steve's feelings in pursuing a girl. (Ignoring other issues people have with the ship that have nothing to do with Steve, lol) And sure. Okay. For every girl but the one that broke his heart, cheated on him, and who he still has feelings for that Robin herself encouraged. People are out here saying they could be endgame without completely ruining stobin's friendship like huh??? Do they understand Robin "what if we just combined" Buckley? Do they not care about the most important relationship in her life? Do they not care about her beyond how she can hype up Nancy instead of one of those icky boys?

A problem I have with rnce is that a lot of the writing saying it could be canon (which, lbr, it won't be. While I think blr may be canon just in a kind of disappointing way, I don't think there's any chance of rnce happening, especially with Vickie right there blushing and flirting with Robin) only focuses on how it would be good for Nancy, or if it's trying to make it seem good for Robin ignores their personalities and other relationships. Like Nancy isn't annoyed by Robin until Robin's speech gets them into Penherst, or that Nancy wasn't dismissive of Robin's ideas, and Robin wasn't clearly nervous and apologizing for being annoying in order to get Nancy to like her (tbh I think Nancy should have been the one pursuing a friendship with Robin instead of the other way around but alas). Tbh I could go on about how Nancy and her relationships and her needs/wants inside those are often misdirected? Misidentified? By fandom, and how that feeds into Robin being reduced to someone who supports Nancy (which, if people complain about Robin considering her bffs feelings about her dating someone, shouldn't they complain about her becoming a glorified cheerleader for Nancy...oh. it's because it's romantic. And some parts of this fandom value that most.) In rnce, which strips Robin of her personality and makes it boring. But this is already long haha (Not to mention it'd be super weird for Nancy to be dating her ex she cheated on and never actually told she cheated on him's best friend. Awkward!!)

I used to not mind rnce that much, tbh. I didn't get it and did think it was weird but the art was cute! And now it's sort of an alarm bells for people being weird about stobin.

Steve and Robin's relationship, like so many platonic relationships but more glaring with just how obsessed with each other they are, is often devalued by the fandom by virtue of the idea that a romantic partner needs/should be someone's number 1. Even though those two want to combine, and are seen taking active roles in trying to get them a romantic relationship, and are really the first person the other felt they could be completely themself around. They're the most important person to the other, regardless of their romantic relationship status.

[booksandpaperss]

So, This may be depressing but.

I’m counting up moments in Stranger Things across the seasons where Mike has shown next to no regard (or simply none at all) for his own life… yall it’s concerning.

There are (so far) at least 3 glaringly loud instances where Mike has canonically not cared about his own life at all. We have:

-The cliff scene (s1)

-the scene where Mike hits flayed Billy on the head and is literally almost killed (s3)

-the shoot out scene where Mike throws himself in front of Will several times and even tries to do the same for Jonathan like one or two times (s4)

And ofc an argument can be made for *all of season 2* when Mike was willingly right by Will fully knowing that he was literally possessed by an otherworldly entity that wanted to kill everyone and yet Mike did not care at all, he was just focused on keeping Will safe hmmm

And these are just the biggest instances where it’s really clear, I’m sure if I actually got around to doing my ST rewatch I would notice subtler moments where Mike maybe wasn’t considering his own life as a primary or even secondary cause for concern.

Which brings me to my point: I’m REALLY worried for Mike in season 5. There are way too many hints that Vecna is gonna target him, and even some hints that vecna is ALREADY watching him in season 4. And with how his mental state has been lately, I really don’t think he would be able to emotionally handle dealing with vecna and fighting him off. I can say with 100% certainty that if vecna went for Mike RIGHT NOW, with where he’s mentally at as of the end of season 4, Mike would not make it out on his own; it doesn’t matter what song they would manage to find to play him, or what Will would be able say, because as of right now there is a part of Mike that wants to die. And as long as that’s the case, Mike will not be able to find it in himself to to choose to live despite vecna “persuading” him to die (that’s pretty much what he does), he just won’t. If he IS the one (ha 💀) that’s gonna get vecna’d on the flower field at the start of s5 instead of Will, El would HAVE to pull him out with her powers bc otherwise we’d lose Mike right at the start of the season and I really don’t think that’s gonna happen, the Mike angst is gonna be dragged tf outttt.

Most likely though, its gonna be Will in a Vecna trance at the start of the season, which is good (angsty as hell ofc but Yk, that’s gonna be the season 🥲) bc that gives Mike time to get to a better place mentally before it’s his turn. I’m thinking that by the time Vecna tries to kill Mike, he’ll be in a place to believe that he deserves to live, which means Will’s words WOULD be enough to save him.

This would also be such a beautiful message for people struggling with depression, it would be the same message as the running up that hill scene in s4 and let me tell u that scene had me SOBBING, and with Mike there would be the added layer of his mental health struggles being made worse by being queer and I just know that’s gonna hit home for a lot of ppl… god 😭😭

[wuffgang-ameowdeus-moozart]

And once again, a day at Family Video:

"So? How did it go this time?"

"Oh yeah, I've totally got a date."

"Do you really, though?"

Steve sighs. Sometimes knowing each other inside out is more of a curse than a blessing.

"That's what I thought. Get the You-Suck-Board out of the back"

"Sure thing Your Majesty"

"Excuse me? If anything I would be elected by the people, King Steve"

Whenever she hears anyone else say one of his old shameful nicknames at school, she will make sure to "accidentally" hit them very hard in the face during football practice. Or PE. Or sometimes just in the hallway, if they have no classes that overlap. Or the balls, if he is a real buttface. "With my luck I would rearrange his features into something less hideous" is her justification when Steve winces in second-hand sympathy. He truly adores her with everything he has.

Whenever he hears someone else use "dyke" or "fairy" or "queer" as an insult, he will glare at them so hard they never dare wear their current outfit again. Ever. If there is one thing years of being a jackass taught him, it is to give the most judgmental stare you can imagine.

They are also not above inventing a bullshit excuse to demand extra fees if it happens in the shop. He and Robin consider it compensation for having to listen to such bullshit with their own two poor queer little ears. Somehow Keith hasn't caught up yet.

Steve sighs. Again. It is truly impressive how much of an effect Robin can have on him without even physically being there.

" Alright-y, Dyke-y."

But Steve isn't anyone else, and neither is Robin. They are Steve and Robin and they are soulmates. It is almost like exposure therapy, in a way. Hearing it so often from someone they know will never really mean it takes away some of the sting when others use it maliciously. Steve didn't even have the designated-self-loathing-hour that normally follows the last time Mike sneered one of his old nicknames at him. (Didn't stop Robin from "accidentally" spilling her milkshake on him later. Steve only felt a little bit bad for laughing.)

"I can still hear you breathing on the phone. Dingus."

"So sorry. I was just waxing poetry about how meaningful our friendship-"

"Well I am about to start waxing poetry about what a loser you are. Loser."

Steve gives her a middle-finger she cannot see but is satisfactory either way, and places the phone back on the table. For a second he considers hanging up for a few moments if only to save a few cents. But it isn't he who is going to have to pay the phonebill and the job sucks anyway, so he doesn't. That's what Keith gets for his blatant favoritism.

He goes back to the phone after giving himself a point in the Gay-Jokes-Board. If she truly wanted him to play fair, she should've come to work instead of blowing him off because of "sickness" or some bullshit. Karma, bitch.

Another customer enters. He takes a short look at the door and braces himself. To be honest, flirting with girls isn't nearly as fun without Robin's silent running commentary. By now he doesn't even expect a second date, he does it mostly to have something to do while everyone he knows is at school. But he knows that Robin truly is at home feeling miserable right now (she even skipped band practice yesterday. And nothing comes between Robin and band practice), so when he sees the flowing dress entering through the door he is already mentally preparing himself for another conversation that will make him cringe at 2 AM and steal his sleep for the next week. The things he does for Robin.

He is not above admitting how he visibly deflates when he recognizes the bright red hair entering through the door. Thank God.

"Hey Dorothy!"

"VICKIE IS THERE?! FUCK"

Steve laughs at her outrage. By now he does actually know her name (hard not to, with how often she coincidentally comes to browse the store whenever Robin has a shift), but he has called her "Friend of Dorothy" so much that it has stuck. He is just very bad with names, okay?! Besides, in his humble and correct opinion, Dorothy is simply the superior name. It suits her way better. One day he will be able to convince Vickie of his correct opinion, and when that day comes, he will be ready to immortalize the moment she tells Robin with his camera.

Vicky comes towards the counter and Steve makes the executive decision that torturing Robin is more important than costing Family Video money. Robin realizes what he is about to do, but her cries of protest only encourage him further. Will he pay for that? Probably. Is it still worth it? Abso-fucking-lutely. The click when he hangs up sounds like music to his ears.

He smirks when he sees how her eyes immediately search out something behind him. When she sees his expression, her cheeks flush as bright as her hair. Every time that happens he has to think about Robin's hour-long monologue about how adorable Vickie looks when she blushes. He realizes that for once there isn't anyone here to stop him from saying that. He may not be good at mantaining relationships, but no one can deny that he is an expert at getting a date. And if Robin refuses to make a move? Well, he always has wanted to play matchmaker.

He leans forward and gives her his most charming smile. "So...do you come here often?"

She blinks at him. "Are you...flirting with me?!?!"

"Pretend that I'm Robin, alright?" He brushes one of her red locks behind her ear.

"Jesus Christ"

"Superstar. So, when are you free? Lucky for you, I have Robin's entire schedule memorized."

They stare at each other for a time, at an impasse. And then-

"LISTEN TO THAT HOWLING MOB OF BLOCKHEADS IN THE STREET-!"

(Steve vaguely notes that they scare a few potential customers away with their musical numbers. (Yes. Plural. Obviously.) To say that Vickie isn't a great singer is a bit of an understatement. He thinks it is only fair, considering he already saved Family Video's phone bill by hanging up on Robin. ROBIN. If they wanted him to care they should pay him better.)

It is only once they have gone through the entire "Jesus Christ Superstar" Discography and Vickie is already stepping into her car that he realizes he never actually arranged the Robin and Vickie date. Rockie date? Wait......

He basically throws himself onto the the phone

"ROBIN!"

A very confused Mrs. Buckley calls for her daughter. Steve is practically vibrating on his feet.

"ROBIN! IF YOU COMBINE YOUR AND VICKIES NAME TOGETHER YOU GET ROCKIE!!!!"

"OH MY GOD, LIKE IN THE ICONIC AND VERY QUEER ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW?!"

"I TOLD YOU THAT SHE'S INTO YOU BITCH!"

btw. people. please tell me your Vickie headcanons. <3

Hey look the WIP game actually works lol

-> tramp-stamp

-> gatekeeping 101

-> anti-heteronormativity

-> jancy appreciation hours

[hessolivagant]

God, this scene tells me a lot about how mike is feeling. Mikes micro expressions from el to will, is so??? Mike seems to have some conflict going on but we don’t exactly know what it is yet, which i 100% think is going to be addressed in s5. All of the looks, heart eyes and speeches are all going to add up to mike being a gay man. I know that Will isn’t going to be used for his queerness to help a straight relationship. This will ruin all three characters arcs, it would not make sense and it would also be harmful to the queer community:(

Mikes arc: this is based off my interpretation of mike and what i think his conflict and how he’s going to end up in s5. His conflicts are his queerness and his internalized homophobia that causes him to push everyone away while also watering himself down to the standards of “normal” mike is actually a gay man who loves to play dnd with his friends, he also loves star wars and writing :) but his father makes fun of him a lot, he was bullied in middle school, and he is associated with the “occultists”(dnd group💀) at school, he’s pretty much been outcasted his whole life for being different, so of course the poor boy is gonna have internalized homophobia and he going to repress who he actually is to impress el and to seem straight. He even pretended to not gaf about dnd but immediately after s3 he joins a dnd group, clearly he’s pretending to be someone he is not. At the airport he’s wearing his silly little outfit, and argyle points out that it’s a shitty knockoff, which is a double meaning. The clothes are knockoffs of ocean pacific and mike is a knockoff of himself. He was pretending the entire day. So his conflict is pretending he’s normal. Even though he stated in the first episode(with his gay montage) that he doesn’t want to be normal but then he turns around and does this? Interesting.

Mike and eleven: why i think mike and el won’t be endgame, mike won’t have his arc of being himself again and he’s gonna repeat the same thing his parents did(nuclear family) which is boring as hell and also ew? Why are we romanticizing this possibility?? Mike changed for el, mike changed to impress el. He also feels inferior to el and he’s said “i love you” twice to her for the past?? 4(?) years(I don’t remember I don’t pay attention to milkvan) mikes arc would be useless if he was just pushed into this other than, accepting himself and being who he was in s1 and s2 where he didn’t feel the need to pretend.

Mike and will: will, doesn’t pretend to be someone he is not. He’s still in the closet but he’s still himself. He doesn’t want to pretend to be anything else whilst mike is pretending. Mike needs will to fulfill his interests and accept who he is. They need each other to be themselves and they need each other in general because they love each other. If mike ends up with will, we will see our beloved s2 mike. And we will see a more interesting version of mike than mike with el.

Mikes s5 ending: none of us know but one thing i do know is that he’s gonna have his gay little moments, and i want it to be NOTICEABLE. I want people to be like “ohhh, okay that makes sense” LMAO YK?? Also byler kiss!! I’ll take anything, as long as they kiss and confess to each other. I don’t think theyll pull a reddie or all of us bylers are going to riot💀 so i want mike and will alive, they deserve a happy ending.

Also in s5 i want mike to be with another queer character where they open up, like robin orr vickie(?🤨) or maybe even just a conversation with will. OR SUPPORT, ANYTHING FOR THE POOR BOY😭😭 el could be like “mike, ik what you are” and it would work. Please, he needs comfort 😢

(Im in class and my teacher has been showing us monkey photos for like 30 minutes, so um😭???)

[will80sbyers]

Dear diary,

I guess Lenora is not that bad.

There is something good about this place, at least I am not "zombie boy" anymore.

It's been three months since we moved to this new place and I have not been bullied at school... yet. I'm trying to blend in the background because I don't need anyone paying too much attention to me. I don't feel safe in this place and I don't feel at home but I'm glad I can rest for a bit. I sometimes think they are laughing at me when I hear someone laugh in the corridor but it always ends up being my imagination... no one really knows who I am here. I'm just the new quiet kid to them, not the nerd or the queer kid or the kid that died and came back to life. I like it better this way, I mean, obviously I like better being invisible than being constantly ridiculed... who wouldn't? Well, actually, I'm not really invisible, some kids are trying to talk to me in class even if they are not succeeding much at getting close to me because I don't really know what to say most of the time... I'm starting to think some of them may be like me. They dress in a very particular way, I really like it but I know that's exactly what I can't start doing if I want to stay safe... and I can't be their friend either. I'm not brave like them and I just care about surviving and ending high school in one piece at this point. El is the one having problems at school, I feel bad for not having the courage to protect her in a better way, but in my experience talking back to the assholes only makes it worse. I don't really know how to help her, I'm just trying to be there for her and give her support when I think she needs it. I know she's strong. I think she was always stronger than me.

So, yeah, except for El's problems this place has been very uneventful for now, at least compared to the last year... and I hope it stays like this for me. I hope the stuff with the Upside Down is over for good. I have not felt the Mindflayer since the battle at the mall and I would like for that to be my new reality.

Things are not terrible but they are definitely not perfect.

I really miss my Party.

I really miss joking around with Lucas and talking about experiments with Dustin, I really miss listening to what Max thinks about the new issue of Wonder Woman. I miss them all and I really, really miss Mike most of all. Thinking about him makes me want to start screaming at the moment because he hasn't called me much and we haven't talked about anything important and I really miss his voice.

I don't know how to stop feeling like this for him. I don't think I remember a time when I didn't feel like this for Mike.

He is sending a lot of letters to El but ignoring me and I'm so angry at him because I thought we would be fine even if I had to move... I thought he did want to stay my friend at least, but I'm starting to think he doesn't.

I should have known that, since that fight we had last summer... things have been different between us.

I'm not sure if he knows about me... God, I really hope he doesn't. I don't want him to think that I'm weird too... I mean, I don't think he would? I hope he wouldn't feel like that, but I'm not sure. I can't even imagine what he would think if he knew how I felt about him. Would he be surprised? feel awkward? feel like I'm disgusting for having those thoughts about him?

I don't know.

I miss him so much and I'm going insane because I really try to avoid thinking about him when I can, but I'm constantly dreaming about him and it's like I can't escape my feelings.

I dream about us... I dream about things that make me feel really ashamed when I wake up in the morning.

The worst thing is that I don't really want to stop dreaming about him, about us. I dream about kissing him sometimes and I never even kissed anyone... I really wanted him to be my first kiss.

Sometimes I think it would have happened if things stayed how they were when I came back from the Upside down and El wasn't back yet... when he was focused on me instead of always thinking about girls, well, one girl.

The girl he loves.

I should feel bitter about knowing that he loves her, but I can't blame him. El is everything good in this world, and I want her to be happy. I want them to be happy. I really do want him to be happy even if he doesn't care about me anymore.

I think love is making me a fool, but I guess that's the only option for people like me, we can only be fools... dreaming about things that will never happen

[shipperssafehaven]

my season five dream team ups bc i'm bored and have too much time on my hands

1. will/mike/robin/nancy

this group is literally what dreams are made of. first, you get a continuation with the ultimate slow burn that is byler. second, you get ronance which is always a plus & possibly a jealous nancy when vickie is added into the mix. third, you get nancy/mike sibling bonding for the first time in what feels like forever. and fourth, you get a will/robin "you're like me" moment. the power this group holds would be magical.

Give me a frightened & an adorably idiotic Will who is seeing visions and clocks but doesn't want to worry anyone so he keeps it to himself because everybody else already has so much going on. Let him space out at the Wheeler house only to be caught by Nancy.

Then it proceeds with Will begging her not to tell anybody but Nancy snitches to Mike because she knows the drill and is not letting another kid die on her watch. And since she's avoiding both Jonathan and Steve because she wants to know who she is outside of them, she ropes Robin in to help instead, leading to a limitless amount of gayness <3 (bc as much as i am excited to learn about vickie, i don't really have the desire to see robin with her clone).

Give me a terrified Mike who's scared to lose Will and is angry because Will actually wanted to keep him in the dark about this. Give me the most queer fight in tv history:

"i can't believe you weren't going to tell me this. this isn't a game-- you could die, will! just because you got out once, doesn't mean you'll make it out alive this time around!"

"you aren't even trying to see my side of things! if I have a connection to vecna then that gives me the perfect opening to end this once and for all!"

"there is no ending this, will! he's going to kill you!"

"that's a risk i'm willing to take."

"well, i'm not!"

2. el/lucas/dustin/erica

i really want to see el outside of mike and pairing her up with lucas/dustin/erica would do just that. dustin teaching her things and erica teaching her how to properly put her bullies in their place >>>

plus we'd get the best sibling duo that is erica and lucas. if i don't get a protective lucas who's going through it and afraid of losing his little sister (since he technically already lost someone he loved) then i'll riot

and don't forget the lucas/el bonding we'd get that would also feed into my elumax delusions. them teaming up to get max back and slowly bringing each other back to themselves & just being so vulnerable and happy in one another's company is a need

oh and as a treat, if dustin and erica stumble across kas in the upside down and it looks too much like a certain metal head so they have no choice but to get to the bottom of things on whether eddie's death truly meant the end... then i'd be down for that

3. jonathan/steve

i've been waiting for this one since season one. i want them to be forced to work together and go from reluctant allies to i'd lay my life down for you without hesitation

let them have development outside of nancy! let jonathan accidentally meet steve's neglectful parents and have him understand steve. let steve have the absolute displeasure of meeting lonnie and calling him out when he talks down to jonathan & say "you didn't want him as a son? no, you didn't deserve him as a son!" let jonathan be on the verge of tears bc nobody has ever stood up for him like that before.

these two could learn so much from each other. let steve teach jonathan how to work his damn way around a tie. and let jonathan teach steve what it's like to have a family and that it is in fact not normal to be so brushed to the side and disregarded by your own parents.

let them be BEST FRIENDS. the potential has literally been there from the start!

and for the love of god give me this moment:

"i never thanked you for the camera you got me for christmas back in '83."

"i told nancy not to tell you it was from me."

"she didn't."

oh and if argyle is not tagging along and bringing up the mood and smoking pot with the both of them, then i don't want it. they'd be a trio for the ages.

4. joyce/hopper/enzo/murray/wayne

probably my most basic answer but i am in desperate need for established jopper fluff with their besties tagging along for the ride. and i have been a bring wayne munson into the gang truther since volume one so i am DYING to see this.

hopper and wayne bonding over losing a kid.

enzo, murray, and joyce being a comedic trio.

them all being badass and saving their kids. murray giving byler a much needed moment of clarity. jopper having moments with el, will, & jonathan. enzo introducing to the gang his son (who possibly becomes a member of the party.) wayne completely crumbling when he sees kas for the first time.

the potential of it all... 🥂

[runninguplenorahills]

if you want to talk to asks, not to drop my haterism here (just came across a horrible post), to each their own hcs, but i feel like you'll get me; i'm SO confused by the popular "Ted thinks Mike and Will are already dating, he doesn't know about El", "Ted will be revealed as an ally" ideas because they just directly contradict canon? as a headcanon i would just ignore it but i know a lot of people Genuinely believe it fits the show canon which is crazy to me

Ted's whole deal is that he's a proud patriot republican and doesn't really care about Mike or Nancy at all. and the only interactions we ever get of him with Mike are not only passive aggressive but also both carry homophobic connotations "see what happens", "our son with a girl"

i know a lot of people have that hc but i Really don't get where it even came from and this is one of these cases where hcs get framed to be feasible in canon, despite there being actual canon material directly disproving them (and meanwhile "you can talk to me" Karen is right there, but nooo Ted's Reagan conservatism is just his casual hobby he's secretly a queer ally parent)

those canon twister hcs bothers me every time lmao. i know you have some Opinions on canon getting conflated with fanon so i'm curious if you have thoughts on this specific canon butchering or if you've not seen much of it

much love and guten abend(nacht) 💖

OH. MY. GOD! Of course I have thoughts on this! How can I not?

It is one thing to not pick up on the queer coding for Mike through Ted at all, but it’s a whole other thing to not recognize/acknowledge that Ted’s remarks are said derogatorily! “Our son with a girl?” is ridicule. “See what happens?” is a warning.

Even the “Ted doesn’t care at all” headcanon is already not a possibility in canon because of the simple existence of his remarks.

If people wanna headcanon Ted to be like that that’s fine but I just wish those people would acknowledge that this is not how Ted is in canon. And it’s just so bizarre to me that people actually believe that it is a possibility in canon, because, as you said, it does directly contradict with what we see on screen. Ted makes derogatory remarks about Mike’s lack of interest in girls, he’s being insensitive towards Mike/almost entirely lacks empathy for his son, he belongs to the majority of people who overlook Mike’s struggles, in s4 he asks Karen if she can remind him when their children will become reasonable human beings, in s1 he tells Karen to trust the government because they’re on their side, he’s a Reagan supporter and he also didn’t care at all about Will’s disappearance even though Will disappeared on his way home from Ted’s house!

Ted being an ally makes zero sense.

I also don’t think that Ted actually assumes that Mike is gay. He does of course pick up on the fact that Mike does not show interest in girls but I do also very much believe that Ted just thinks that Mike is a loser whom no girl shows interest in either. Because that’s something that gets brought up in the story as well. But with the rumors regarding Will and Mike being so close to Will I do think Ted tries to get Mike away from “becoming gay”. I think his remarks are his way of making Mike “not want to be gay”. But his remarks also kind of strike me as his way of coping with the idea that Mike might not like girls which absolutely does not mean that Ted is open for it, nor that he has any kind of suspicion about Mike’s sexuality.

It’s kind of difficult to explain but I personally think that no matter how much fun Ted pokes at his son for not being interested in girls, at the end of the day he still expects Mike to like girls.

Moving on, I do agree that when it comes to Ted and Karen people should definitely focus more on Karen’s ally potential (as that’s the one that does exist) but I also think that we shouldn’t forget that Karen did not join the search party for Will either even though it was just as much her house that Will went missing from.

And no, I have not forgotten that Karen brought Joyce a casserole to comfort her, but that is something she did because she cares about Joyce, not because he cares about Will. And my point is not that Karen doesn’t like Will, I do think she actually does like him, but my point is that due to the gay rumors Karen didn’t find it necessary to go look for him. That he isn’t really worth the effort. Mike’s statement: “I’m the only one that cares about Will” was kinda very true regarding his family.

And while Mike thinks that being gay is only a bad thing if it’s him who’s gay, I can imagine that Karen thinks the other way around. Being gay is only okay because it’s her son who’s gay. And while Karen is obviously lacking in her role as mother she does love her children. She does love her son, and I don’t think that finding out that Mike is gay (if she does) would change that. To me it seems like Karen’s ally-ship will be very selective though, and she’ll have a whole lot of unlearning to do.

Thank you for the ask and much love to you as well and guten abend hahah🩷

[andiwriteordie]

I love sending you asks (hope it doesn't bother you) (I might have angst Mike thoughts when I'm more coherent) : you are INCREDIBLE thank you so much for the food !!! I absolutely live for the way you put Mike and his relationship with his firebending ! I am absolutely loving everything you said so far!!!

NICOOOOOOOO <33333

my fellow angst lover!!!! thank you, i'm so glad you've enjoyed the little mess of thoughts that i have about all this au lol!!!

ok *cracks knuckles* i will try my best to give you some good ole fashioned mike wheeler angst. if i've rambled about some of this already, no i haven't, just ignore me <3

let's talk about this universe's rain fight.

(the song i was listening to while writing this in case you wanted the vibes)

i think i've alluded to some of the ideas nic and i have had with the rain fight and how it all fits into this crazy little world we've built! with queer couples being more prominent in the avatar world, we'd kinda decided not to have the homophobic society be as big of a focus, but rather to mike's insecurities with his bending be what begins to cause that distance.

@messrsbyler we should probably go back and revisit this... eventually because we had good ideas there but ANYWAYS. nic and i had started to discuss what book 2 (the equivalent of parts of st s2 into st s3) would look like and just how will's possession type of arc would come into play there. because, as we all know, will's freed from the mind flayer's control through... yep. his family literally burning it out of him, and nancy burning his side with that metal rod.

i'm not gonna get into too much of the specifics here (mostly because we uh. haven't entirely figured them out yet lmfao), but let's just all operate under the assumption that because mike is also a firebender, both he and nancy are there when will is getting essentially tortured to free him from whatever is happening with the spirits.

did somebody say mike having extreme guilt and a negative perception of his firebending?

so now we flash forward a few months into book 3 (st s3/st s4 combined), and we see mike and will aren't quite as close as they used to be. because mike... can't. he just can't. he looks at will and replays that moment over and over again in his mind—nancy's fire, will's scream, mike's delayed reaction. it's like a broken record in his mind, and we see mike begin to battle with those existential questions about his bending. his bending has been such a core part of his identity for his whole life, and he's tried everything he possibly can to just be good at it. to live up to nancy's standards and to his parents' expectations. firebending has been everything to him, and it makes up so much of who mike is and how mike perceives himself.

firebending is destructive though. mike has always known this in the back of his mind. it comes with the territory of being a firebender. you're warned to be careful—to keep control of your element, lest you hurt somebody else. fire is wild, and if you're not careful, it will harm and it will destroy.

and if so much of who mike is, is tied to his firebending... what does that say about mike too?

it all comes to blows one day when will confronts him about their distance. mike has been avoiding him, and will's not stupid. plus, will has his own shit that he's going through, and somebody talk about miscommunication trope, because god knows will is over here feeling something like a mistake or something broken after what has happened to him. and the one person who has always been there for him, to remind him that he isn't broken, and to hold him close and remind him how to breathe again... that person is pulling away.

neither of them are very healthy, and neither of them are very good at communicating. so when they fight, they fight, and they throw around harsh words and accusations. words are spilling out of mike's mouth that he doesn't mean. they're just reflections of how he sees himself. he's projecting his insecurities onto will. and his words? they're a fire—untamable, dangerous, and destructive.

it's in that fight that mike crosses the line, and he loses control of his words and of his bending.

his words: "it's not my fault you can't bend anymore!"

his fire: igniting sparks as he moves his hands about, the way he does when he gets angry like this.

and his best friend, left burnt and scarred, by both mike's words and by his fire.

for a moment, mike and will just stand there, because neither of them can quite process what's happening. will is stunned and obviously in pain—the gloves on his hands that cover the tattoos he's ashamed of burned right through, and his hands already beginning to blister.

and mike is just horrified. because this is exactly what he'd been so afraid of. he's never been that good at controlling his firebending. he's never been good at protecting his friends from the people who hurt him. and apparently, he's not so good at protecting his friends from himself either.

mike tries to reach out. it's second nature to make sure will is okay, and even though there are horrified, guilty, burning tears in mike's eyes, he moves past the shame and the guilt and tries in that moment to reach for will.

but will leaves. he's on his bike today, not his glider. he doesn't use his glider very much anymore. he hasn't since he was kidnapped. will leaves mike behind.

and mike doesn't follow him.

because now will's better off without his fire anyways.

(spoiler alert: mike follows will... eventually. *cue wheeler-byers-hopper roadtrip to find the twins*)

[ellaelsinore]

I am three Mike's Hard Lemonades deep in my own despair, and I'm going to watch Red White and Royal blue for the third time. I've been trying to put my thoughts together on the movie which is almost impossible because the book is such a HUGE part of my soul. Maybe I'll have a coherent thought.

Right off the bat, fuck Phillip. I need someone to call him Pip and kick his ass.

Why is Bea the younger sister? The dynamic is changed so much for that, she is supposed to be the older sister that Henry takes care of because of her addiction.

WHERE IN THE GOOD GOD IS JUNE?!!? Alex does not play well as an only child, it makes him seem even more entitled and idiotic, he has no one to ground him, no one to tell him when he is being a complete asshole. Nora is great but she's also not Nora. She's some weird amalgamation of June and Nora and it makes me miss both of them.

Alex is too tall.

ALEX IS TOO TALL AND THEYRE TOO OLD. Seeing these two MEN trying to act like they are 20-somethings trying to find themselves and their places in this queer world that they are newly apart of, is awkward. This is not what 22 yo men look like, all broad shouldered and confident. Both of these boys need something to grow into, to have room to grow into themselves and each other, and when they look like 31 yo models who work out every day and don't have a blemish or an awkward bone in their body, it is so much less believable. I understand that Alex is supposed to be super charming, but you can be super charming and ALSO insecure and anxious. They're so one-dimensional it actually painful.

I love Henry's face. Excellent face acting from him, he's like the best of both of them. Subtle and understated but brilliant.

The cake scene sucks. It's boring, there's not enough people and NO ONE would have been able to get that close to Henry for that long. Also, I hope that is fake cake.

Bad Reputation is a little on the nose, don't you think?

ALEX IS TOO TALL.

Zarha is too friendly. I want him to think that she's going to kill him, he needs the fear of Zahra put into him.

Uma Thurman is a wonderful actor, she is not right for Ellen Claremont. There is no softness to her, very little affection, she seems unfocused on everything, which Ellen is not. Ellen is laser focused on winning the election. Or laser focused on her kids. I also am not sure who did her blocking because Ellen seems high, like all the time.

Love the Mitch McConnell joke.

I miss Cash. Amy is wonderful, but I miss Cash. I need their little conspiritory moments.

We need more of the boys being mean to each other. This is how they fell in love, the little quips, the jokes, the thinly veiled flirting. They're not mean enough to each other, not as biting. The relationship evolves so fast, we don't really get to see where they came from. What they were like together before, when they "hated" each other.

Alex is too tall and too hot. Henry looks like a human, Alex looks like the statue of David. Taylor is a wonderful actor, don't get me wrong but there are moments when Henry is supposed to be larger, broader, stronger than Alex, be able to wrap Alex in his body and they lose their impact when Henry has to look up to Alex. Half of the book Alex is angry that Henry is taller than he is, its actually a time when height does matter!

I love Shaan. I need more of him. I need MORE of the relationship between Henry and Shaan, Henry trusts him so much and we never see it.

Why not the Rio Olympics?

The banter on these two idiots, this is what I want to see from them, I want more of these two morons insulting each other.

SUPPLY CLOSET. The acting in this scene is actually impeccable. I believe them as real people. As stupid, moronic young men with baggage and feelings and private lives and misunderstandings.

I love Amy.

Henry when no one is looking is my favorite Henry.

There's something overly confident about Alex that is almost off-putting. He ACTS older, he acts with more life experience and doesn't have any vulnerability in the beginning.

SOMEONE PLEASE SAY FUCK.

Why are his parents not divorced? Are we trying to make the relationships more palatable to heteronormative society? Why are we taking that stressor and pressure off of the situation? People get divorced, people learn to work together after divorce to support their children and each other. Let the Claremont-Diaz's have that victory together.

Miguel is a fucking dick. The only out, gay character is a complete and utter slimy, smarmy, jackass who just wants to get into Alex's pants and get his story. He is gross and I for one do not like the implication of the only out and proud gay character being the one who fucks everything up. He is the only "role model" for Alex as a gay man and he is the fucking worst. He acts like all the straight men I have ever met in a bar. AND HE DOES NOT DESERVE TO SAY JACK SHIT ABOUT ALEX"S EYELASHES

I need all of the text messages. They are some of the best interactions in the entire book, the most honest, what is really going on in their heads, how they fell in love.

ITS ABOUT PATTERNS.

Turkey Gate. More desperation from Alex. A younger man's reaction. 30 yo men don't panic when a turkey gobbles. 22 yo men might, especially if they are drunk. I just want him to be younger. I feel terrible making those kinds of judgements because Taylor is a great actor. He does wonderfully for what he has been given and I can acknowledge that and enjoy his performance but I still want 22 yo vulnerable AGCD.

Who wears a polo to bed?

There's a softness to Henry's face that is missing from Alex's, a gentleness that makes you feel so sorry for him and the life he is forced into him.

Please don't sleep on top of your comforter.

This party is so much smaller than anticipated. I wonder if they couldn't get a large enough set or enough extras. There aren't enough bodies for 500 people, no one has taken off a jacket or their shoes. The couches are empty, the dance floor extends 10 feet.

I miss June.

Pez. Why are you not Pez.

Get Low brings back middle school dances. I do not care to elaborate.

The first time Alex looks young is drunk just after getting kissed by some girl and then realizing Henry is gone.

I cannot get past a 30 yo man acting stupid, drunk and oblivious. I'm 34, I have life experiences that make finding your friend outside in the snow less of a "did I do something wrong?" moment and more of a "get the fuck inside so we can talk about this" moment.

Thank you for the hair grab intimacy coordinator.

Nice touch with the text messages showing that Henry read them.

I think we need Liam to put some context into Alex's history with his sexuality.

Gay panic always sells.

"Shut up. Shut all the way the fuck up." Please someone say fuck.

That was not 5 minutes.

This interaction about Henry's erection and the 500 feet away instructions are the first time that their interactions feel human and like them, the two idiots in the first throes of love. (Probably because those instructions are right out of the book).

Henry literally just sucked Alex off and his hair isn't even messed up. His tie and shoes are still on. He's not even flushed or sweaty, what the fuck intimacy coordinator, I gave you credit for the hair pulling, lets get on this.

I appreciate Henry's nervous tick with his ring. I also think I just like his face.

(4th Mike's Hard, 1/2 a CBD gummie)

POLO POLO

Since I already watched the movie, I know what I am going to be mad about in this scene. The tack room sex scene in the book was the most awkward, rushed, messy, silly, glorious scene and they MONTAGED OVER IT. They took out all of the urgency, the time crunch the fact that Henry in leather boots does something for Alex. This is my favorite sex scene by far in the book. It's their first real, public tryst in the real world, outside the confines of the residence or the secret service. They could EASILY get caught. But they don't care, not enough to stop them from almost fucking on a table in a room that smells like horses and leather and sweat. This is the first time that the reader gets to see where we're headed, that we are looking down the barrel of two strong-willed idiots falling in love whether they want to or not. I think that is one of the things that the book really puts across that the movie is missing - the sheer urgency of everything that they have to do, the shortness of their time together, the lengths that have to be gone to for these morons to be together. It does not let up for a minute and it keeps you on the edge of your seat as they fall more in love and get more reckless and the world gets more complicated around them. Fuck, this movie is too clean.

Finally chinos.

They only look moderately fucked.

I miss the queen. I get that it might not be proper or whatever since she recently passed away but there's something taken away when it it not the queen mother, men are supposed to want to fix things and cover them up and make it all better. Having it be grandma, someone who stereotypically is nurturing and kind, makes it hurt all the more that she doesn't want to support her grandson, a man who is NOT in line for the throne, who is not using the crown's money, who just wants to live his life. It hurts so much.

The movie needs the pull of law school for Alex. He is so one dimensional, so focused on politics that there seem to be no other options for him, even though we know that Henry DOES NOT WANT THAT LIFE.

Again, there is a softness to Henry, to everything about him, that makes him more believable, more human. Why do I like his face?

Alex is so charming almost to the point of too much confidence. Like he can do anything. Without being nervous or anxious. I want to see the raw underside of that confidence.

Can Henry not wear a suit for a hot second? Him in sweatpants and soft pajamas is the sweetest part of getting to know Henry Fox, the man behind the royalty. I still feel like I know nothing about Henry and even less about Alex. We don't know his dreams, his fears, his aspirations, the LSAT scores in his desk, the constant running himself ragged to do everything and be everything. He's our main character and we get nothing.

The fact that Ellen doesn't get to make a PowerPoint means that we miss some of the BEST jokes in the slide titles.

Thank you for reiterating that the B is not silent in LGBTQ+.

You love him forever you stupid idiot.

Nice plug for Casey's most recent book, One Last Stop, which is INCREDIBLE.

Where are the kimonos? Why does Pez look normal?

I see them falling in love, but there is nothing like hearing it in Alex's own voice, in his own head.

The smile on Henry makes my heart melt.

If the only person in this whole movie who mentions Alex's eyelashes is MIGUEL, I will summarily LOSE MY COLLECTIVE SHIT again because I know that's what happens and I'm allowed to continue to be angry.

I can't watch Henry leave. There is so much pain in his eyes, it just breaks my goddamn heart. Except we don't need the view from Henry's side, Alex's mayhem is fueled by the not knowing and it is so much better when we find out right alongside Alex that Henry loves him, really and truly loves him in the way that might ruin his life.

Fuck you Pip.

A 30 yo man would not fly to London in the middle of the night. I'm sorry I want him to be younger.

I realize that I haven't said anything about Rafael Luna, BECAUSE HES NOT IN THE MOVIE, which is a damn travesty. Miguel being the gay role model and also the BBEG is not a good look for a movie about two boys falling in love.

There's my one fuck. Not in the most appropriate place but there it is.

The emotion from Henry for the first time, anger, almost despair, is probably the first raw thing I believe in this movie. The set of his jaw that matches Henry in the book. The pain in his eyes, raising his voice for the first time, in his silk bathrobe and no shoes, hits where it should. Potentially not as hard as it could have but it hits.

The idea of Henry not wanting that life, or trading the prison of royalty with the prison of politics is fascinating. For so long, the life he wanted was something he could never have. And now that he MIGHT be able to have a life, a real one, he has to struggle with the idea that he will still be in a prison of their own making. Still scrutinized at all turns, still trying to be what the world wants from him instead of who he is. He could no longer be a royal and he would still be under a microscope in the public eye.

"I would never call you a coward." Please kill me.

Collarbones and eyelashes.

Ugh, god, Alex making Henry tell him to leave is so romcom and I still love it.

I am not sold on the museum scene, it doesn't feel right. The weird choreography takes away from the reverence of the whole situation, the two of them being in the private world that Henry only wants to share with the person he loves, Alex. It feels scared in the book, the only thing in the world that Henry keeps to himself, the place where he can lay his heart bare. Its tropey in the movie. Its a set-piece not a secret.

Signet ring goes on the key chain "Two homes next to each other." And he gave him the key.

Gay people would not do this to each other, not for revenge, this is bullshit. I would much rather it be a political scandal than some gross bullshit to get revenge on the man who wouldn't sleep with him or give him a story. Give me the political scandal.

I wish we saw more of the emails, of the words and the quotes and the honesty. The impact of the emails is not stated enough in the movie because we DONT SEE THEM.

Zahra and Shann. Zahra and Shaan!

Lovesick puppy, gross. I feel like Zahra, put those two lovesick homosexuals on the phone so we can move on.

I know this is nitpicky, but why is Henry literally looking to the side while collapsing into his love on the steps? Who coordinated that? Someone in his situation, would have their face buried in their partner's shoulder as close to them as the possibly could be for safety and comfort.

Henry wins best actor in this movie. He's so spot on, he's so believable. Even his hands.

Stephen Frye is the king. Fuck you Pip. Stand up for yourself Henry, you deserve to be yourself whoever that is. You do it!

Your love is vulgar but no one says FUCK.

Alex: It's me. hi, I'm the problem, its me.

If you haven't seen Stephen Frye say "homosexual", you are not living.

Bea, you are so boring.

Henry gets all the good lines. Alex mostly looks pretty which is like not how Alex is portrayed in the book. He's quick witted and snarky, a little mean and a fucking nerd.

I hate that this is where this ends. I hate that jacket.

Overall, the movie was not the worst, but it certainly didn't stomp on my heart like the book did. It tells the story, at the cost of the heart of the book. It tones down the insanity, the desperation, the joy that the book weaves into this story. It's like the story is on low volume in the other room because you don't want to wake your partner at 3 am, the words are there sometimes, but you are missing all of the nuance. It hits all of the big points, but misses the depth of these characters. It misses all the things that make them human and flawed and interesting, all the bits that we want them to overcome and makes the reader want to root for them. Was it fine? Yes. Objectively, a cute, gay, rom com where being gay isn't the twist but learning to be yourself regardless is. Subjectively, disappointing. A gay man being the BBEG is a bold/terrible choice. This was not written by a gay person. And I want to touch on that, there are so many things that just scream "I am not queer". There is no way that a queer person is outing another queer person, two other queer people, on the literal world stage. Coming out is a hugely private and personal choice that some of us get to make and some of us don't but I cannot suspend my disbelief long enough to believe that another queer person would out someone like that. That is some straight people bullshit and it is fucking disrespectful to the others of an already marginalized community. Let politics be the bad guy, not the one other gay man. I miss Raf.

I'm gonna go read the book again.

[light-lanterne]

hi Angel!! how about 1, 7, and 21 for the wip asks :D

hi percy !! sorry for taking a couple days to reply :S hope you're doing well !! :D

i'm actually working on two things at once (it's the only way i can push myself to write anything these days x.x) so i guess i'll do the thing for both,,,

- - - - - - - - - - - ♡ - - - - - - - - - - - ....................ask game - - - - - - - - - - - ♡ - - - - - - - - - - -

🌷 the darkest eyes || 🔪 but here is one

1. give a 5-word summary of this chapter.

🌷 incredibly overdue mike & hopper angst x.x 🔪 chaotic teens create trouble then leave

7. what is your favourite scene you’ve written so far?

🌷 there's a very brief part where hop and joyce return home, only to find that el has acquired "a puppy" for herself so the adults freak out for a moment thinking that el has kidnapped someone's doggie :] it's silly and short but i really wanted to add a few more interactions between hop and his family ~ 🔪 again another brief moment, but in this story ted is very mean and he comes home to find mike hanging out with will, so he says some ugly stuff and will (who doesn't even know mike all that much at this point) comforts mike and helps him soothe down and is just very sweet and caring ;-;

8. share 3 songs that would belong on a playlist for this chapter/fic

oh god, music is my kryptonite >.< i can't really pinpoint specific songs that fit "but here is one" (other than sleep token's entire discography), so for now i'll only do it for tde :O 🌷 'hurt' by nine inch nails, 'voices' by motionless in white, and 'drown' by bring me the horizon (bonus: 'drown' by kim dracula applies too) (putting the actual songs under the cut because it gets long x.x)

🌷 the song is from the perspective of someone who believes themselves to only hurt their loved ones. the entire album is an amazing representation of addiction :(

🌷 this song was written by the lead singer (chris) after many years of talking to queer fans about their struggles. the music video even makes a little pride flag with the light :]

🌷 this song is also about depression and addiction, but it's more of a cry for help :((

anyway, thank you for the questions percy !! hope you have a great day or night <3

[stranger-chichka]

what does byler mean to you?

Somebody already said everything? Well, to me too. And to be honest, I’ve never thought the fictional ship would mean so much to me, but it does, it hella does. They literally are one of the solid reasons I want to wake up in the morning and deal with my depression which I’ve been suffering from for a while.

I’m this weird person that prefers films over series, but god I’m so grateful to my lil sister that she made me watch ST with her back in 2017. I was looking forward to every season, but it was just one of the many cool shows I liked, and then s4 happened. That was the whole new experience. Why is Mike acting so weird with Will at the airport? What is happening? Byler is happening???? (I’ve heard of the ship but, as part of ga, never considered it seriously) I need answers. Byler was the reason I became so super-fixated on ST. Tumblr swallowed me whole. The show started making so much sense with Byler, I can’t even describe how excited I was having discovered every small detail, every piece of queer-coding, every parallel, all amazing analyses and takes here on tumblr (people here are GENIUSES!!!).

So, here I’m — on the curiosity voyage experiencing the whole xaleidoscope of emotions with Mike and Will, their love story (and f course the show in general, but they’re in the center of everything that’s happening there),so yeah, these two dorks are very precious to me and will be for a while, I’m sure of that. A HUGE thank you the Duffer Brothers who created the show and tysm for the ask!🫶🏼

[kurokoros]

As we are talking about Steve's character rn, I completely agree with anything you said so far. To add to the whole s3/s4 treatment, I just hate the whole "babygirlyfication" by the fandom because of how s3/s4 was written. Like if I hear the word babygirl one more time. I think what annoys me the most about it is that in Steve's case, babygirl=stupid himbo loser, and ughh, I just hate it so much. Yes he wore that dumb sailor outfit but he hated it every second he had to be in it, but the fandom overlooks that completely and decided yeah Steve loves to dress feminine and all (mostly to pair him up with other characters like Eddie and to subject him into weird ship dynamics where he's like the submissive partner). I swear, ever since s3 people think Steve is so helpless in everything, they also act like he's a super virgin who just can't get anyone, which contradicts s1/s2 Steve. I mean, okay, he could have had a funk in s3 bc of Nancy, but the show over exaggerated it to a point it was so ooc. I think the scene I hated the most in s3 is his last one, where he needed Robin to get him the job at FV because apparently he hadn't seen any movie prior to this day (despite being a huge Tom Cruise fan). It's so annoying really because they simplified him so much. He could be such a great character with depth, but nope. And the fandom perpetuates this by making him the dumb babygirl his entire personality. You're literally one of the few people trying to pick up after s2 and develop him in a way that makes more sense than what the show did.

Other characters the show did dirty after s2 are Hopper (bc what was up with him in s3 like it was actually scary), Joyce, Mike, Jonathan (well actually he got fucked over by being Nancy's accessory since s2) and partially Dustin esp in s4. The writers needed a department that overlooks character contingency because those are not the same ones we watched in s1/s2. I love Stranger Things, I do, but my god, the wasted character potential sometimes keeps me up at night. I'm not a talented writer, I try my best, but even I would have come up with better storylines or at least make sure they stay the same characters.

The whole "babygirl Steve" thing makes me want to eat glass. Like, I get mad when I think about how they went the himbo route with Steve instead of continuing the "jerk with a heart of gold" characterization they had going for two seasons, and to see the fandom just constantly make "babygirl Steve!" jokes irritates the hell out of me. I don't want to be that bitch who says you aren't allowed to headcanon characters certain ways, or you aren't allowed to project on characters, but damn some of the Steve stans genuinely make me question whether or not they actually like him in the first place. Like... Steve is a masculine guy! But people saw that he has a haircare routine and cares about hygiene and decided that makes him feminine to fit a queer stereotype so they can ship him with the two most mediocre white boys the show could offer.

And it really is super fucking weird that S3 "babygirl" Steve is portrayed as less intelligent and more pathetic than he was in S1/2. It's infantilizing. And the sailor suit makes it worse. If I could change one thing about ST I would get rid of that stupid fucking sailor suit. The show really did just make Steve seem pathetic in S3, and it was done in a way that I just don't understand why anyone who actually likes Steve would enjoy what they did.

Along with the "Steve can't get a job on his own" (which doesn't make sense if he was apparently a trained lifeguard. this man would have actual references aside from his mother if that was the case) thing, I have a bone to pick with the recurring gag of "Steve doesn't get pop culture references". Like??? Steve was a popular kid in school??? He would know movies (if only because movies are a super common date activity and there's a theater in Hawkins).

I refuse to acknowledge S3-4 as canon in any of my fics because of how much I despise the way canon botched most of the characters. There was so much potential there, and instead they just made Steve a loser with no charm. The Duffers for sure need someone in charge of characters. And plot. And worldbuilding. And overall consistency.

Basically, the Duffers need to hire actually good writers and just stick to directing.

[raccoon-eyed-rebel]

Director's commentary on Taking cues please 👀

Also, I take every bit of information about 179cs, of course 😘

Whahah ok so this is a little long...

I'm laughing just a tiny bit because there is exactly NO commentary available for Taking cues! I watched that video, saw what @captainsy-cookiemonster said about it, opened a doc and just rattled that down in maybe 2 hours tops? There was no thinking involved in making that at all - only the horny.

Now 179CS... God why do I need to think about this so hard because I could talk about that series for hours probably?

I slightly regret tossing EIGHT of the boys in that house, because I can hardly keep up with my own life, now I'm also managing their agendas, and honestly, I feel like I need an assistent!

I made Elena left-handed on a whim, and then I had to look up whether left-handed violins exist. (They do, although 'left-handed violin' would be a misnomer, because you already hold violins in your left hand, that being said there is virtually no good reason to use one, especially when you play in an orchestra or whatever because it turns into a logistical problem to have your bow arm be your left arm! Also, you can't just play a normal violin reversed, because it's not a symmetrical instrument.) (I'm sorry for this very concise infodump on violins.)

I have special things planned for NYE, and I might try to write some (if not all) of it from the perspective of the guys? There's some interesting stuff coming up w/ Marshall, that I can't talk about yet, because I don't want to spoil that particular storyline. I do predict that y'all aren't going to like me for some of the NYE things I have planned....

I have a half-finished essay in my drafts about August and Anjelica's relationship. The first chapter with them started of kind of strong, and because the series is structured (hahahahahaha ok...... I'll never go as far as calling that 'structure' again, sorry) the way it is, there haven't been a lot of details given about that yet. NYE might change that! I know the dynamic is quite heavy, but I just wanna assure everyone that Ange needs whatever happens between them as much as August does.

Some commentary on some of the characters that may or may not be new to people: Mike has ADHD, both Sherlock and Elena are autistic. Elena is bisexual. She's not my only queer character, but I can't talk about that yet... Dani has anxiety issues.

Eh... I mean I'll take any and all questions about this series, tbh, so if you anyone is wondering about anything....