#how to control his emotions enough to not hurt mike

[bylertruther]

mike and will are both sensitive and emotional characters it's just that one showcases this in an "acceptable" way and the other does not :/

[orchidbreezefc]

edgar woe.begone: low empathy, high masking

THESIS: my reading of edgar woe.begone is that he's a low empathy autistic who has no innate intuition for social cues and has had to teach himself everything about social interaction from scratch, which is an interpretation that i think explains a lot about him.

now, i am very critical of edgar as a person. i think he's a less than good person and a bad boyfriend. but let me be VERY clear right off the bat: these symptoms don't make anyone a bad person. these symptoms aren't even bad per se. theyre all disabling symptoms that make social interaction more difficult for the person who has them. like any symptom, they have to be managed and compensated for.

some people under the neurodivergent/mentally ill umbrella, as with any group of people, are bad people. being a bad person flavors one's approach to their mental illness, and mental illness in turn flavors the manner in which they're a bad person. the mental illness isn't what makes you bad, but it does affect how your shittiness manifests.

disclaimers done, a good place to start is the way edgar speaks, especially with jeremy's performance. edgar always sounds very reasonable, approachable, and agreeable, and there is never an ounce of genuine emotion in his voice. he talks like an autistic person with zero innate intuition for social interaction who has taught himself to speak in the way that he's learned will get the best response.

edgar's customer service voice is the only one we hear and likely the only one he uses if he can help it. we know edgar's a tactician, a persuader. why use any other voice than the one he's carefully fine-tuned to make people like him and be receptive to what he's saying? this isn't even necessarily cynical: what do you want him to do, talk in a more uncontrolled, emotional way--that he's not used to managing--that will make people like him less?? what good would that do?

edgar likes control. he's more comfortable when things are in his hands, and only his. propagation definitely factors in here--if [link: my theory] that propagation is what solidified the certainty of edgar's death is true, it's no wonder he wants to control and limit the spread of information. edgar prefers to be in charge of making the plans, ideally alone.

this is part of why mike is perpetually out of the loop, even regarding decisions that concern him--which is pretty damn paternalistic. but there's a more wholesome aspect as well: edgar genuinely thinks he's doing mike a favor.

edgar knows mike has undergone and is undergoing a lot, and that he's terrible with plans and a major blabbermouth. if edgar can take care of a problem without mike having to worry his pretty head and perfect eyebrows about what to do, without knowing it ever existed, isn't that so much better? that's edgar being a good boyfriend, actually. he's helping!

it probably doesn't even occur to edgar how much this limits mike's agency, how much it hurts mike that edgar refuses to let him in, how this puts them on unequal footing, how fucking patronizing it is to not let your boyfriend make his own decisions about his own life. oh, how the tables have tabled since him originally telling mike that keeping the story of woe.begone from him didn't protect him, it impeded his ability to make informed choices.

here's where the low empathy creates problems--edgar doesn't have that innate intuition for how mike's feeling, and he doesn't (effectively) manage or compensate for it, and he definitely doesn't communicate with mike enough to know how he's affected by this shit (avoiding too much information sharing is good, remember?)

and mike certainly isn't going to tell him! mike is a goddamn simp. he's not going to establish boundaries. he's not going to put his foot down and demand better treatment. as if he fucking deserves that in the first place, pshaw. the only time he pushes back is in season 10 when he doesn't remember their relationship, and edgar is deeply shaken.

edgar is devastated to learn he hurt mikey, because he does genuinely adore that man. he would get lasso lessons from michael and rope him the moon if he could. his low empathy and efforts to manage everything himself keep him from realizing that mikey, a hyperempathetic mess who gets sentimental about pens, seriously suffers from being shut out like this.

edgar's thought process must be equally inscrutable to mikey, who just figures it would be asking too much to be an active and equal participant in his own relationship and life. edgar's perfect and great, so if mikey deserved that, he would already be giving it to him. if mikey's unhappy with any part of their relationship, no he isn't. he's lucky he has edgar at all. he's lucky he has anyone.

recall michael's agonized admission that "everything is about rugby, dammit" 10(++++) years and edgar's literal death later. we can only guess at how bad his rugby was, but we do know michael never talked it through with edgar. he tells mike this was him 'letting it go' actually, when the fact that theyre having this conversation at all is proof that he extremely hasn't. this is what 'letting it go' looks like to michael: burying an issue forever and giving up on ever getting closure.

so yes, edgar does authentically deeply love his mikey-bear. unfortunately, if you never establish the communication to bridge the differences between your own methods of operating and that of your partner, love will only get you so far. and the first time around, where it got them was michael fighting back tears in an apartment in latvia over a wound from edgar that he suffered in silence until the day he died.

[magpod-confessions]

i think the reaction to characters being unfair to jon is a good example of how fandom often lacks nuance and has a lot of black and white thinking. while it absolutely is ridiculous and unfair to say characters are evil and terrible people for being mean to jon, it’s just as absurd to say how they treated him was justified and there was nothing wrong with it. i think people have split into two extremes on this issue, which misses the point that the entire podcast is about how people react and interact and change when dealing with fear and extreme situations like this, not about who’s right and who’s wrong. jon was consistently treated with less empathy than the other characters treated each other, and held to a different standard. the other archives staff are much more willing to give each other the benefit of the doubt, and while they’ll criticize each other at the end of the day there is much more tolerance for each other’s issues than there is for jon’s. that is undeniable. they see each other as humans who make mistakes, and jon as a rabid monster who cannot be trusted. from their perspective, jon is someone standoffish and unfriendly who always pushes too far and asks too much and has growing powers that directly come from the entities responsible for their torment. he is both their superior in terms of his job, and he is essentially the favored child of their jailer. basically like elias, but significantly more present and vulnerable and less of a distant untouchable threat. he has enough power over them (or at least association with those who have power over them) to make them resent him, but not enough to stop the torment or prevent them from lashing out. when you and everyone else you know are humans who are trapped together and suffering, and your boss is locked away feeding on fear and turning into a dangerous monster like the ones who keep hurting you, you’re probably not going to be feeling particularly empathetic towards him. you’re not going to stop and think about how he’s a victim in all this too, because you’re not in a stable enough space to do that and you don’t know his perspective on any of this. that makes sense. it doesn’t excuse the way they treat him like a violent animal, but it does explain why they would have that us versus them mentality. also, all the info on the other archive staff’s emotional state from season 3 and onward, the stuff that explains why they acted the way they did, all of that is from occasional lines and overheard interactions. small pieces. jon is the main character, and we hear the details of his experiences and struggles and trauma and breakdowns and suffering. he is the protagonist and his is the perspective the listener lives in. therefore, he is going to be much easier to be sympathetic towards. if melanie was the protagonist, or even another avatar like annabelle or mike crew, people would be much more understanding of them, because it is easier to be sympathetic when you know every reason why a character acts the way they do. if we listened to melanie for hundreds of hours, her lashing out and getting violent towards characters that didn’t deserve it would be much more understandable. we hear what jon is going through, so we know his life is hell and he is a genuinely good person faced with impossible choices and absolutely terrible situations out of his control. the other characters do not have that perspective and understanding. i just think it’s possible to acknowledge that some characters did treat jon terribly, he didn’t deserve it, and it doesn’t make them irredeemable monsters.

.

[stevie-petey]

hello m i hope you are well. would you believe this was an excellent time for me to read your fic, truly what i needed tonight!! not to get #intoit #toodeep but a blowout fight with my mother puts me right in the headspace to ruminate on childhood and how to carry it inside of you in a way that doesn't hurt.

One thing before i start crying, i love this line so much, "Passenger seat is reserved for girls I’m dating.” passenger princess bug iktr!!!

Steve and bug finally, FINALLY being in a stable place with each other is so beautiful <3. i love them so much. them actually talking about what is happening between them, finally trusting each other enough to be open and vulnerable is tooooo good, espcially since we've seen what it took for them to get here. i am terrified for how this will break down in s4. Steve offering to come back to weathertop when bug is thinking about how she used to come with jon as she's about to lose jon......i love that he's doing that for her and with her <3333. i love that nancy promises bug to take care and keep jon safe. i love that nancy and steve do that for bug and jon. i love that they reassure to be their new person responsible. i also love that weathertop is a special place for both bug and dustin's first loves <3. i love how they keep making places more comfortable for each other. steve making the beatles a beautiful memory again, bug making the flower field into a nice birthday date with her joy about his best birthday gift in the world is really what love is all about. i also really, really loved their conversation about luck and love, and i have a nagging feeling in my mind it will come back in s4 to confront bug as she finally exhales the mountain of grief she is holding onto. i am trying to find the words, because i don't really believe in luck very much, but i do believe in counting your blessings, and the i find the act of counting the blessing of how many people love you, and you get to love back, no matter how it ends in circumstances out of your control, a very brave thing to do. Joyce asking bug to live the life she decides is so special <3. a mother figure who actually knows bug to her core and knows the totality of bug's circumstances and then tells bug that she deserves a happy life is soooooo special and beautiful <33333. i love that joyce gets to be the person who tells her that, especially since joyce herself is so kind despite everything she's been through. i always thought bug would be like joyce when she grew up.

I also really shortly would like to also talk about bug and her guilt. i'm sure this will come up terribly for her in s4, but it really fascinates how much bug takes everything on herself, and i also don't really understand it either, but it does make her very interesting. even taking on the guilt of billy's death when it truly wasn't her fault at all in any way, jesus christ she's like a catholic saint. guilt isn't very logical and i really, truly get that, but i just idk, feel very sad that she feels that way at all, i wish i could talk to her about it.

i also loved this part, "Nancy screams back at you now, insulted that you truly believe she would ever leave her brother behind willingly. She wouldn’t do that. She knows that you know this." st has always been bad at handling the emotional consequences for their characters, but i really wish we got more nancy and mike. they're a complicated relationship because they weren't close before the upside down but obviously they love each other and are siblings, and like bug said, siblings are too strong of a bond to shake off in the worst cases. i wish they got more time in the show to breathe.

Finally i love the way bug's childhood ends softly and not the violent end she was sure of. "Time stands still. You’re seventeen and your childhood is coming to a close." Bug is so lucky to know she's in the good old days when they're happening to her. I don't like jonathan very much, but i appreciate they were kids together. they were almost girls together. having to figure out how to be adults apart is difficult for friends with less complicated histories.

This was a really beautiful story. I hope you know how much richer you make this story, and how much life you breathe into this world.

hi darling <333

passenger seat line ,,, i was DYING to write it for MONTHS !!!! my god it makes me giggle thinking about it. like yes steve pls dub me ur passenger princess <3

you understood the luck and love monologue perfectly. i also really do believe its brave to continue loving everyone and everything around you even in the most grim circumstances. its brave to keep loving even if the love itself has faded. to try again, to be human in doing so, its my favorite thing ever. its why i adore steve n bug so much. theyre trusting one another to love again, to try once more to accept the love theyre scared of. its raw and its tender and its terrifying. loving someone after your first love is i think, personally, the most authentic type of love. its the most vulnerable you will ever be and lowkey why im scared to love again as well.

the joyce and bug scene <333 theyre so special to me. bug really is the daughter joyce never had. she sees so much of herself in bug (and i also 100% picture an older bug just being joyce) and bug loves her like a mother as well. claudia is wonderful, but as you said: she doesnt know what bug has been through like joyce does. all claudia can do is patch up bugs wounds afterwards. its what made the scene so special to me: joyce reads bug so well, shes watched her take care of her boys the whole time shes known her, so for joyce to tell bug that she doesnt blame her ,,, its huge. to be told to live the life you deserve by the woman who you admire heavily is such an impactful thing.

bug and her guilt ,,, whew. youre so right that a lot of her guilt is irrational, thats the whole point. she piles so much on herself (we saw this more in season 2) because she physically cannot help it. its in her bones. she has to help, and in her eyes when her help fails, its her fault regardless of the circumstances. its such a #healthy way to live LMAO (season 4 will ruin her)

JUSTICE FOR THE WHEELERS UR SO RIGHT !!! its always bugged me that we never really see mike and nancy being siblings. nancy wasnt really concerned for mike (who had just lost his best friend mind you) in season 1 until WAY after he had gotten into so much shit. i hate the way the siblings are written, we so rarely get to see them be concerned for one another :(

and finally the goodbye scene. sigh. ive had her in my mind since we started season 2. i love her dearly, and the line with bug saying her and jon were more than just kids will stick with me forever. for some gnarly m lore: my first love and i were childhood best friends. when we broke up and severed all contact (because im insane), it truly did feel like my childhood had come to a close. it was terrifying. there i was, 19 and grieving, and i didnt know how to be someone without my ex. i wanted to portray that fear with jon and bug. when you grow up with someone, when this person knows everything about you, and they suddenly leave, its the most painful and confusing thing. i cannot explain it. but knowing that my childhood lives in my ex boyfriend, the same way his lives in me, even though we havent spoken in almost two years ,,, it haunts me, and yet oddly its comforting.

i was a kid with him. somewhere, a piece of me still is. im still that kid he met when we were 14, and hes still that kid to me, and i think its beautiful :)

[aemiron-main]

ok so I was in a gay mike Mood today so here’s a passionate ramble abt it from earlier because regardless of whether you’re a gay Mike truther or anything else, the idea that Mike being gay/having never loved El would hurt El more than him falling out of love with her/is inconsiderate to her and her character arc is absolutely fucking stupid and imo, Mike being gay is actually the sexuality for Mike that is the GENTLEST and KINDEST to el’s character and works with her themes and arcs Perfectly in a way that no other version of Mike does. You don’t have to agree with me on this but I’m literally going insane seeing the “people who think Mike is gay don’t care about El” takes because IMO and like I’m gonna talk abt more in-depth in my full analysis, again, gay Mike is actually the resolution/sexuality for Mike that is the best for El/cares about her the MOST.

Why do I think this? Why do I love gay Mike narratively when it comes to Mike and El’s relationship and the end of it and SPECIFICALLY from the perspective of caring about El and wanting to make sure that she gets her happy ending/that her arcs and themes are resolved in a happy and satisfying way?

BECAUSE EL REALIZES IT WAS NEVER ABOUT HER!!!! SHE REALIZES THAT IT WAS NEVER ABOUT HER ABILITY TO *BE* LOVED BUT RATHER ABOUT HIS INABILITY TO LOVE HER, AND THAT ITS NOT ANYTHING AT ALL ABOUT WHO/WHAT SHE IS OR ANYTHING SHES DONE BUT INSTEAD ABOUT WHO/WHAT MIKE IS (GAY). AND SO SHE REALIZES. WHY MIKE COULDNT SAY HE LOVED HER. WHY HE PHYSICALLY STRUGGLED TO SAY IT TO HER FACE IN THE S3 AISLE SCENE. ITS NOT THAT HE DIDNT WANT TO SAY IT, IT WAS THAT HE COULDNT, IT WASNT THAT HE DIDNT WANT TO LOVE HER ITS THAT HE CANT. EL REALIZING THAT THIS IS SOMETHING MIKE CANNOT CONTROL AND REALIZING HOW HE *IS* DIFFERENT (callback to the s4 bedroom fight scene where she said he doesn’t understand what it’s like to be different & I think that in the s5 OST in this Mike and El breakup scene we’re going to get a track that has parts of the ‘being different’ track incorporated into it) AND JUST. EL REALIZING FINALLY THAT ITS NOT HER THAT NEEDS TO CHANGE THAT HE DOESNT SEE HER AS THE MONSTER, BUT INSTEAD SEES HIMSELF AS THE MONSTER, AS THE FREAK.��

El who realizes that every single time mike lied to her was because he was lying to himself. El, who is so focused on “friends don’t lie,” and was upset about Mike lying to her because it implied that they weren’t friends, realizing that it was never about anything she did, but rather, Mike was lying to himself, it was about him, and that he doesn’t have to lie anymore and they can be friends.

El, someone who feels unlovable not only realizing that it was never about her being unloveable but rather abt mikes inability to love her bc he’s gay, but also seeing somebody who tried so HARD to love her, who saw her as somebody who deserved love SO MUCH that he would cut out parts of himself and repress himself in an attempt to give her the love that he thought she deserved. And how people in el’s life like brenner have never actually *tried* to love her, but Mike tried SO HARD but couldn’t love her in the right way (not that brenner loved El romantically but yknow general love) and how Mike can’t fully love her platonically as long as they’re in a relationship bc of the lying and the idea that lying = not friends/lack of platonic love. People who COULD love El didn’t even try to, but Mike, who CANT love her still saw her as SO worthy of love that he tried so hard to love her.

Mike didn’t not love her bc he felt she didn’t deserve love- he COULDNT love her but tried so hard to, because he DOES feel that she deserves it. El feeling like Mike didn’t give enough in their relationship- but then realizing just how much he gave up for it, how much of HIMSELF he repressed and gave up for it.

Like. Platonic Elmike with gay Mike specifically makes me so emotional for these reasons!! It’s such a beautiful conclusion to their arcs!!

El feels unlovable for who she is & so if there’s smthn that Mike doesn’t like about her & fell out of love with her over then it’s still ABOUT HER, she still feels unlovable. Those sort of messy situations happen IRL and Mike wouldn’t be morally bad for falling out of love with El, but it wouldn’t be a satisfying, happy conclusion to El’s themes and arcs, because El has been set up in a way with gay Mike in mind from the start, so her themes and arcs are meant to work in tandem with Mike being gay.

Like I just!! Not to mention the acceptance and relief that Mike would feel from El in all this and the deepened understanding between them!! But focusing on El and her feelings specifically because that’s what this post is about: I just am so emotional rn about El realizing that Mike tries to love her, that despite everything, he saw her as so worthy of love that he tried to give it to her even when it was killing him and forcing him to repress himself. He saw El as so worthy of love that he’d stew in hatred towards himself if it meant that she could feel loved, because he TRIED to love her even at the cost of his own mental well-being. El, who thought that Mike didn’t love her because of something wrong with HER, realizing that it was something “wrong” with him instead, realizing that he IS different, just like her, and that she was wrong to say that he isn’t different during the bedroom scene. The narrative BEAUTY of El feeling most loved at the END of her relationship with Mike, how his inability to love her is beautifully and ironically exactly what makes her feel loved, because a.) it wasn’t about her/her ability to BE loved but his ability TO love her and b.) he tried SO HARD to love her because he saw her as so worthy of love. El feeling so loved because of the realization that Mike can’t and didn’t love her romantically?? It’s such a beautiful narrative!!

El feels unlovable. Mike feels incapable of loving. But neither is true. El cannot be loved romantically by Mike because Mike is incapable of romantically loving her- but that doesn’t mean that El is incapable of being loved as a whole, and it doesn’t mean that mike is incapable of loving as a whole, he just can’t love her, and so she can’t be romantically loved by him, and because of the ties between “lying = not friends,” and the strain that their romantic relationship put on their friendship and prevented them from even getting to fully KNOW eachother, he can’t fully platonically love her until the romantic relationship is over!!

El Hopper is so loved. And she’s going to realize this and it’s going to be tied to gay Mike!! And it’s so narratively beautiful!! El realizing how much Mike tried to love her, how highly he thinks of her, how much of himself he gave up in his attempts to love her, how much it hurt him to try and love her, but he did it anyways because he sees her as being worthy of love and happiness and was trying to be the one to make sure that she got it?? It’s so good!!! There’s so many people who treated El HORRIBLY, and didn’t even fucking try to love her, people from the lab, and the bullies, but Mike TRIED, people who COULD have loved her but didn’t even try versus somebody who CANT love her but tried so hard??? El is going to feel so loved, it’s a perfect tie-in to her arcs about feeling unlovable, like a monster. El realizing that Mike doesn’t see her as a monster but instead sees himself as one?? Sees himself as the different/freak one?? And dismissed El’s feelings of being a “freak/monster” because Mike thinks so highly of her and so lowly of himself & sees HIMSELF as a freak/monster for being gay that he can’t process El feeling like a freak/monster because he sees her as being in completely different league than him. But that also puts him in a position of seeing her as a superhero which is something she Doesn’t want- but then they both realize that neither is a hero and neither is a monster and that they’re both actually deeply similar and that the they’re both just different, they’re not monsters, they’re different. And that’s not a bad thing! And Mike is going to realize that it isn’t a bad thing! Because El is different and so is he, and he thinks so highly of El that if he’s different, like her, then he can’t be a monster/awful for being different, because El isn’t a monster/awful for being different.

So yeah. Please cut it out with the absolutely ridiculous “gay mike ‘truthers’ don’t care about el,” and “mike being gay would be mean to el compared to mike being bi or unlabelled” rhetoric because it’s the literally the absolute opposite.

[estrellami-1]

I got a challenge for you with the writing prompts 👀 use 16, 17 AND 18 together. (Steddie, obviously)

16. "Excuse you?"

17. "This is all your fault!"

18. "I shouldn't be in love with you."

You’re choice on who says what 😌 (also doesn’t have to end happy, but we do love our angst w/happy endings)

Ooh I love this!!! I hope you didn’t necessarily mean in order, because, well… you’ll see. 😉

Dustin’s face is red. There are tears streaking down his face. Steve’s heart breaks as he reaches for Dustin and gets pushed away.

“This is all your fault!” Dustin screams, and Steve feels his fractured heart break irreparably.

“What?” He whispers, unable to believe he had heard correctly.

“It’s your fault!” Dustin insists, still crying. “If you hadn’t said what you did, Eddie would still be alive!”

Somehow, Steve’s heart breaks more. “Dustin-”

“No!” Dustin yells, pushing Steve away once more. “Just- just leave me alone!” He turns away, and no amount of pleading makes him turn back.

Steve leaves. Doesn’t know where he’s going until he’s at the cemetery, sitting in front of Eddie’s headstone. His body isn’t here; it’s still in the Upside Down somewhere. Steve will never forgive himself for that. He thinks, distantly, that he’s numb, in shock.

A dull laugh tears its way out of his throat. “He said it’s my fault,” he says. “Dustin, that is.” His throat clicks when he tries to swallow. “Said if I hadn’t said what I did, you’d still be alive. I hope- God, I hope that isn’t true. I don’t know what I’d do if it is. And I know he’s just looking for someone to blame, he’s grieving, I get that, but… it hurt. Y’know? Cause I thought we were past all that… that bullshit. Of thinking I’m still King Steve. Of thinking I’m not good enough, no matter what I do. Of thinking it’s not tearing me apart.” He shakes his head. Vaguely realizes he’s crying. “I just… God, I feel so stupid saying this, but… if there’s any way… just. Give me some sort of sign. Let me move on, at least. Let me be strong for everyone else still grieving you.”

He waits a few minutes, not terribly hopeful, but waxing more disappointed as the time passes. “I’m, uh. I’m choosing to believe there’s nothing you can do, instead of thinking you can’t hear me or something. I’m gonna come back, I swear. I dunno about the kids, but I know you love- um. You loved them. And you’d want to know how they’re doing. So I’ll at least tell you about them.”

Another minute passes as he wrestles his emotions under control, wiping the last errant tears from his eyes. “Same time next week?” He asks, imagining Eddie would grin and wink at him, say something like, “As long as you’re paying!”

With that thought, Steve stands and leaves.

He’s back next week. Says, as soon as he sits down, “Dustin’s not mad at me anymore, so that’s something. I think Claudia probably talked some sense into him. He’s just kinda… listless, now. Will too. I think, uh. I think he was hoping to talk to you. I dunno…” he sighs, tries to organize his thoughts. “I’m safe. That’s first of all. So if you are… it’s fine. Robin showed me a zine she brought back from a trip to Indy. Apparently the handkerchief means something. I didn’t know that until, like, three days ago. And it’s not that Will’s gonna start putting a hanky in one of his back pockets, but… I’ve seen the way he looks at Mike, y’know? And I wish I could help but I’ve got no experience with guys. Robin would be willing, but…” he chuckles. “She’s strictly into boobies. Which is kind of an inside joke, for us. Y’know she came out to me in a Starcourt bathroom while we were high off our asses with Russian truth serum? That’s one of the apocalypses we helped avert. Well, the Russians themselves weren’t the apocalypse. There was… well. It’s a whole thing. Billy Hargrove, remember him? He got mind-controlled. I hit him with a car because he was gonna kill Nance and them. He was fine, it wasn’t really him, y’know? Then he sacrificed himself. I’ve seen Max cry twice in the time that I’ve known her. She didn’t even cry when she sprained her ankle trying to land a flip. But she cried then. God, she was inconsolable. And he sacrificed himself for her. I think, for a while, she wished it had been her, instead of him.” He sighs, stands, smiles wanly at Eddie’s name. “Edmund, huh?”

He imagines Eddie’s smirk. “No relation to the Pevensies,” he’d say with a wink and a bow, “though I, too, came out of a closet.”

So it goes, week after week, month after month. The days get shorter and colder, then longer and warmer.

“Will came to me a few days ago,” he whispers one spring day. “Scared outta his mind. But he did it, and he was so brave, and I told him what I could.” He manages a smirk. “And it turns out we’re not too different after all. I’ve been… thinking, recently. And talking to Robin, and man, that was a trip. Turns out the normal, straight amount of flirting with the guys is zero. I don’t think I’m the only one to blame, though, because thinking back on it, Tommy got really close sometimes, before we fell out, and Billy had that whole… thing going on, which I honestly figured was just California bully, but it turns out no, they probably weren’t straight either. Which. That took me a few days to digest. So I’ve been thinking about it and I think I just… never let myself like guys? But I definitely like both. I just always went with girls ‘cause that’s what was expected, y’know? So that was a lot to process. It’s still a lot to process, honestly. But I’m getting there? Or I think I am. I at least had something to tell Will, so. There’s that.” He chuckles. “Y’know you’re the third person I told? Will was second. Robin was first, though she kinda told me, instead of the other way around. Sometimes I dunno what I’d do without her. Most times, actually, I dunno what I’d do without her.”

He thinks about Eddie’s grin, the tilt of his jaw. “Welcome to the club.” He’d probably bow. It feels like something he’d bow about. “We have nothing for you because America is a capitalist pigsty and we are all naught but its pawns.”

Steve leaves.

The weeks pass. He returns faithfully, like clockwork.

“It’s been a year,” he whispers one day. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. You were supposed to make it. You were supposed to run, goddammit, why didn’t you run?” He bends in half as the tears come, burying his face in his knees. “Damn you,” he hisses. “This is all your fault, y’know that? I don’t even know how, but I’m in love with a dead man. Do you hear me, Eddie Munson? A dead man! I shouldn’t be in love with you!” He sobs for a few minutes, then forces himself upright. “And the worst part is I’m not even mad at you. Not really. I just- God, why can’t you be here? Why didn’t you run?”

Footsteps behind him. He stiffens, but doesn’t move until he hears the voice, vaguely amused. “Excuse you,” he says, and Steve whips around to find Eddie Munson staring back at him. “I did run. Or I tried. Those fuckers are fast, man.”

“Oh,” Steve whispers, drying his tears. “Great. Now I’m hallucinating.”

Hallucination-Eddie kneels beside him, wipes tears from Steve’s cheeks. “Could a hallucination touch you?” He whispers.

Steve stares for a minute before the dam breaks and he’s falling into Eddie, sobbing. “I know,” Eddie murmurs. “I know. I’m so sorry. If it’s any consolation, I definitely did die. I just… didn’t stay dead.” He runs a hand over Steve’s back. “And if it’s any consolation, I was able to hear every one-sided conversation. I appreciate the updates on the kids. And, uh.” He swallows. “I’m pretty sure somewhere along the way, I fell in love with you, too.”

Permanent Taglist: @justforthedead89 @ilovecupcakesandtea @madigoround @bookbinderbitch @suddenlyinlove @nburkhardt @artiststarme

[isitisitearlymichael]

Probs an unpopular opinion here but let’s go…

I look at Stranger Things seasons 1-4 as a tale of two halves.

For me, season 1 and 2 are undeniably about Mike and El. Even during season 2, when Mike is there supporting Will through everything, I don’t view his actions as him having romantic feelings for Will at all. He cares deeply for him, but I don’t think he considers Will in that way.

That’s not to say I don’t think the Byler storyline was planned, but I don’t think we were supposed to doubt anything.

But season 3 changed everything, and the narrative flipped. We saw that all the characters had grown up a little bit, and the dynamics between them were changing.

And for Mike, I don’t think he realised that the way he felt about Will was special until their fight.

I think a lot has been said about the it’s not my fault you don’t like girls line, which could easily have been Mike projecting, but little is said about Will’s I really did.

I don’t think Mike understood what Will was saying there, or at least allowed himself to understand the weight of the words they shared. However, I think it was enough to scare Mike. Because that shit both hurt and healed him. It hurt him that he almost lost Will again, but Will’s reaction also really showed how much he cared about Mike, and how much Mike’s actions were hurting him. And Mike couldn’t cope with that feeling at all.

So even though season 3 starts the whole I love you arc between El and Mike, the season also plants those seeds of doubt - not just for the audience, but for Mike.

Then season 4 seeks to repeat the dynamics of season 2 - Will and Mike are paired up while El and Mike go through the whole separated-and-reunited arc again. But this time it feels so different. They’re now even more grown up, and there’s a clear tension between the boys. But it’s not just this whole misunderstanding between them, it’s the romantic tension. The whole of volume 1 is like a will-they-won’t-they, even if volume 2 throws a complicated spanner in the works.

Season 4 also refers back to season 3’s fight, with Mike unable to control his emotions and then quickly running back to Will in forgiveness again. The apology scene is so intimate, but it’s the way he fluffs his words- gets nervous over them even - which tells us even more. I don’t know, maybe I feel like I lost you or something.

Or something.

What gives this line even more weight is how the words lost and lose are used throughout the show. When Mike tells El that he can’t lose her, we’re supposed to take that as a love confession. His fear of losing her has always been associated with his love for her. We also hear similar lines between Joyce & Hopper, and Lucas & Max.

But when the Duffers and Finn tell us that Mike is oblivious, I agree with them. I don’t think Mike knows that Will loves him at all. Not in that way.

He spends the whole season failing to understand how El could possibly like him in that way - his actual girlfriend - so why would he even consider that his best friend would love him?

But I also believe that there’s much more going on in Mike’s mind than we’re being let in to see. And I don’t think they’d plant so many seeds and focus on Byler in the epilogue so much if it wasn’t going anywhere in season 5.

[reddie-ao3feed]

6 Losers and A Werewolf

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/X5b87Ev by 5Candy2Wolf9Bear3 All his life, Richie was given Wolfsbane and silver to keep his “monster” weak. That’s what his parents told him. With each moon cycle and with age, it gets harder to keep it in check. Not that he began wanting to. There’s a couple things he’s hiding from The Losers, including him not being human and being in love with his best friend. He struggled, but liked it that way, keeping any touch or reaction from Eddie deep in his chest. Until getting into a fight with Henry Bowers, a full bred monster. His parents had enough after that and without so much as a note or call, The Losers didn’t see him again for 2-years. Richie’s back again, a little different and he planned to keep his secrets, but with Bowers and a few of his friends taking control and invading his area, Richie needs to find out how to keep his “monster” a secret and protect his friends from the people and monsters of Derry. It doesn’t help that distance truly does make the heart grow fonder and he isn’t sure if Eddie is truly looking at him the same way, or if it’s wishful thinking. Words: 5650, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: IT - Stephen King Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: F/M, M/M Characters: Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier, Ben Hanscom, Beverly Marsh, Stanley Uris, Mike Hanlon, Richie Tozier's Parents, Sonia Kaspbrak, The Losers Club (IT), Henry Bowers, Bill Denbrough Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh Additional Tags: Werewolf Richie Tozier, human losers, Drama & Romance, Friends to Lovers, Werewolf Turning, Blood and Injury, Secret Crush, Requited Unrequited Love, Fluff and Angst, Werewolf habits, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier In Love, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Gay Richie Tozier, Soft Richie Tozier, Soft Eddie Kaspbrak, fiery Bev Marsh, The Losers Club Love Each Other (IT), but platonically, Period-Typical Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, Badass Richie Tozier, Protective Richie Tozier, Top Richie Tozier, Bottom Eddie Kaspbrak, Full Moon, Alternate Universe - No Pennywise (IT), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Other Additional Tags to Be Added read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/X5b87Ev

[and-stir-the-stars]

Since Saffron Evan was so aggressively conditioned towards violence, would there have been any point (such as in the early days) where he would've been a threat to Michael, or towards anything else living that Michael might have ended up witnessing?

Good question, especially since I've left Mike and Evan's relationship post-bite so underdeveloped, lmao. I'm gonna vaguely answer your question in this essay, but this reponse is largely going to be me piecing together young Ev and Mike's post-Bite relationship :)

I keep rewriting the timeline, but so far, William doesn't start trying to manipulate Evan into being like him until a year after the Bite. It takes Evan three to four months to wake up from his coma. During this time, William keeps a close eye on Michael; he's just started to realize that maybe he doesn't want to do the whole child killing thing alone, and having his oldest, prized son who already looks a lot like him filling that role would be like a gift to him.

Once Ev wakes up from his coma, Evan is terrified of Mike. Also at this point, it's starting to dawn on William that Mike isn't as similar to him as he hoped. This realization causes William to treat Michael with more cruelty than ever before-- and he encourages Evan's hostility toward Mike at the same time. But William doesn't encourage Evan's hostility because he wants Evan to take Mike's place; that idea honestly hasn't occurred to William yet. He does it both in an attempt to punish Michael for not being more like him, and in the hope that if Evan pushes Mike enough, Mike will snap, hurt Evan, and put himself down a path that will inevitably lead Mike to being more like William.

Hostility probably isn't quite the right word to describe how Evan treats Mike at this point, though. Evan isn't being outright malicious at this point. A consequence of the brain injury from the Bite is that Evan has a hard time regulating and understanding his emotions; he's moody, has no filter, and is prone to bouts of rage and paranoia. If Mike gets too close, especially with no warning, Evan will panic and lash out; hitting, kicking, screaming, throwing things without stopping to see if what he's throwing at Mike could be dangerous. Maybe Mike has a scar on his forehead from a time when Evan threw a heavy glass lamp at Mike and it shattered against his head. William never outright makes Evan stop, and he even encourages Evan to act out in ways just subtle enough to keep Mike on his side, because William is hoping that if Evan makes Mike mad enough, then Mike really will be on William’s side. My William needs to manipulate his children against each other, both because it keeps them from looking too closely at him if they're busy fighting, and because William craves every ounce of control over other people that he can get.

But despite William’s hopes of turning Michael and Will's desperate need to be In Control, no amount of pushing gives William the result he wants. Michael will snap out some harsh things at Evan when Ev does something that *really* hurts, but he never lifts a finger against his little brother. Mike vowed that he's never doing that again, and deep down, he thinks he deserves everything Evan has been doing to him, anyway.

What William gets instead is the revelation that Evan has been getting progressively more intentional and more cruel in how he hurts Mike, now that William has been encouraging him. Evan doesn't just lash out when he's panicked, but when he's angry, too. Evan does it on *purpose* now, and William never expected to see such a thing from his weak little son.

William’s intrigued by Evan, and still angry that Mike has been acting in such a disappointing manner. So, about a year after the Bite, William decides he's not going to let Evan be the disappointment Mike is. William still hopes that one day Mike will "see the light," so to speak, but he turns his attention to Evan.

He starts off doing something "simple"; after he commits his crimes, he takes Evan to the crime scenes to get Evan more acquainted with blood and death. I've talked about this in other posts, so I won't reiterate here, but everything Evan has been doing to hurt Mike hasn't been too bad in William's opinion. A couple cuts from throwing glass or heavy objects, bruises from hitting and kicking, tearing apart Mike's things; Evan hasn't been doing things as violent or bloody as William would like, and he needs to get Evan used to that scale of violence while Ev is still young and impressionable.

A few months after that, William starts encouraging Evan to take out his feelings on animals, violently. Evan’s already becoming desensitized to blood and gore, and he has a lot of fear and anger to take out, especially because William has probably told lies to make his paranoia about Mike wanting to hurt/kill Evan worse.

But, another result of Evan’s injury and William trying so hard to desensitize Evan to what they're doing means that Evan doesn't always understand that he needs to be hiding this thing, or at least Evan understands that Father wants him to hide it but doesn't understand why, and so doesn't put a lot of effort into it at times. It's not such a big deal since Evan isn't in public school anymore (William would have pulled Evan out about the same time he started having Evan go to the crime scenes; can't risk Ev saying something he shouldn't) and their house is in the middle of nowhere. The only person around to see Evan coming home drenched in blood is Mike.

That does happen two or three times before Mike runs away from home, though Evan always comes up with an excuse. There was a deer stuck in a trap out in the woods, he saw a raccoon get hit and tried to help, etc etc. It freaks Michael out, but he has no reason to suspect that Evan has been actively hurting and killing animals. His little brother has always been gentle and kind, sensitive and sweet; he thinks Evan’s rough treatment has been reserved for Mike and Mike alone, and they both know Evan has every reason to be fearful, angry, and lashing out at Mike.

Although Mike has no idea Evan was doing it, Mike ends up running away about a year after Evan starts killing animals. Evan’s treatment of Mike gets progressively more daring and dangerous after that. Maybe Evan does something particularly bad that finally leads William to label physically hurting Mike as off-limits. He doesn't actually want Michael dead, after all, and he's getting less confident in Evan’s ability to control himself.

Or maybe William tried getting Evan to finish a kill rather than let Evan continue to get away with just being a child lure and watching William without participating, except Evan couldn't get himself to kill a human the way he could kill animals. Maybe William decided that letting Evan hurt Mike when Ev is scared was bad for business because it gave Evan too much control and too much of an outlet for his emotions. Maybe he orders Evan to stop physically harming Michael to make Evan feel more powerless, so Evan's emotions would sit stagnant, festering and getting more and more rotten; maybe William thought it would help push Evan over the edge into being a killer.

Either way, Evan doesn't understand why he's not allowed to hurt Mike, given everything Mike has done to him (and the fear that Mike still wants to hurt him planted by William). Evan doesn't do the best job of retraining himself, but he tries. He still hurts Mike sometimes when Mike startles him (always an accident on Mike's part), but Evan’s options are obey William or face his wrath. Evan knows by now what William’s wrath looks like, and evan thinks he knows what William’s love looks like. Evan knows which he'd prefer William gives to him.

Now that Evan isn't physically hurting Mike anymore, the two of them do grow closer together, in a weird way. Evan’s been terrified that Mike will hurt him for two years at this point, but... Mike hasn't. Not even when Evan stops hurting Mike first. Evan doesn't know what to think or feel about that. Evan never fully stops lashing out or holding Mike at arms length, but he grows used to Mike's presence in a way he hasn't been since long before the Bite. It's comforting.

William notices Evan starting to mellow out, and of course, he doesn't like it. Evan has still been acting as William's lure throughout this, but one day, William changes things up. He has Evan lure in a young girl with bright blond curly hair and big blue eyes, but William doesn't kill her. He lets Evan have a friend. He always intended to set things up so Evan would kill Suzie, and when Evan timidly asks William if he can get a dog one day because he likes playing with Suzie's, William sees an opportunity and runs with it. He steals Suzie's dog, gives it to Evan, and tells Evan to be grateful and not say a word to anyone about where the dog came from.

William piles a lot of things on Evan at once. Sadness because he wanted his own dog that he could bring to play with Suzie and her dog, anger that Suzie's stolen dog hurts him, guilt that Suzie is so crushed by her dog's disappearance.

Evan takes these feelings out on Suzie's dog. Michael sees Evan treating the dog cruelly. He tries putting a stop to it and is shocked at the ferocity with which Evan fights back. Mike has never particularly liked the dog on account of it being aggressive toward everyone in the house, but it spooks Mike to see Evan act like that; he really thought Evan only got that way with Mike and nothing else, and he thought Evan had been getting better. Mike begs Evan to stop, and Evan does, but only when Mike is nearby. Because Mike asks William if he can finally just get rid of the dog and tells William that even Evan has been so frustrated with the mongrel that he hurt the dog really bad. Because William makes sure Evan knows that he's not allowed to let on to anyone, especially not to Michael, about hurting animals or anyone else.

Evan gets punished for letting Mike see.

And Mike runs away a few months after that.

Evan's surprised by how much it hurts when Mike abandons him.

Mike ran away about a month before his 17th birthday. When Mike's bday rolls around, Evan loses control. The reminder that Mike abandoned him just when they were starting to... not quite connect, but let's say connect for lack of a better word, it's the final straw on top of everything else Evan has been going through. That's about when Evan finally kills Suzie's dog.

[inky-goddess]

Urban Exploring

Warnings: Blood, death, depressed thoughts, panic attacks Fic type: Hurt/comfort Ship: Jeremy (the fnaf vr/fnaf 2 one) x Micheal Prompt

"Something's off about this place…" Jeremy said

"…You mean other than the giant pools of dried blood?" Micheal said.

"erm...that too" Jeremy said.

Michael sighed.

He knew exactly why this place felt off.

"You do realize what happened here?" He asked Jeremy.

"You mean other than what caused the pools of dried blood?" Jeremy said with a laugh.

"Now is not the time for this!" Michael exclaimed.

"But you're smiling~" Jeremy said, in a sings song tone.

Michael sighed, and let out a small chuckle.

"You really know how to get me to loosen up" he admitted.

Michael looked away. Jeremy wasn't there that day. And no one ever told him what really happened on Evan's birthday. All Jeremy knew was that Evan died here on his birthday. But now standing in the abandoned Fredbear's Family Diner, Michael had a choice to make.

Do I tell him? Will he hate me? Will he tell me I'm just as bad as-

As those panicked thoughts ran through Michael's mind, a familiar voice called out to him.

"MIKEY JUST TELL YOUR BOYFRIEND-" Evan started.

"Boyfriend?" Jeremy asked.

"E-Evan?" Micheal was too surprised to be flustered.

"Alright so I'm not hallucinating. That is your little brother who just called me your boyfriend" Jeremy said.

Michael's face went redder than Foxy.

"He what?" Micheal asked.

Evan laughed. And as he came out of the shadows, Micheal was face to face with the animatronic that he had shoved his little brother into.

Every ounce of flusteredness at his brother's comment on him and Jeremy went away as panic set in.

No no no this wasn't meant to happen. Micheal thought.

His rapid breathing and swift backing up was signal enough to Jeremy and Evan that something was wrong.

"Are you alright Mike?" Jeremy asked.

Micheal stared at him, wide eyed.

"I'm just like him...aren't I..." He said, almost devoid of any emotion.

Empty.

"Mike? Mike what's going on?" Jeremy was now starting to panic as well.

He had comforted Micheal through panic attacks before, but never one this bad.

"Y-you know how you were away the week of my birthday?" Evan asked.

Jeremy nodded.

"And how you are basically 90% of Micheal's impulse control? even back then?" Evan continued.

"Yeah...? Where is this going?" Jeremy asked.

"He- He may have accidentally- ACCIDENTALLY- shoved me into Fredbear's mouth...as a prank" Evan explained.

Jeremy looked over at his panicking boyfriend

"Mike...why didn't you tell me this?" He asked.

"You hate me don't you...you think I'm just like him" Mike said, once again devoid of any emotion.

"Micheal I do not think you are like that man!" Jeremy exclaimed.

Evan looked over at the two.

And they say they aren't boyfriends. Evan thinks.

Jeremy put his hands on Micheal's shoulders.

"Just tell me what is going on, you haven't been this...emotionless...in your speaking since you were scooped!" Jeremy pleaded.

"Since WHAT?" Evan yelled.

"Um It- It's hard to explain" Jeremy said.

"You don't need to explain just comfort him, I-I don't think I can comfort him like this...o-or at all...im not good at comfort" Evan said.

"Right" Jeremy said as he turned around to face his boyfriend.

"Just say you hate me, I know you do" Mike said.

"Mike. You know that's not true. I...I love you...a lot" Jeremy confessed.

"FINALLY" Evan yelled.

"Not the time" Both boys hissed.

"A-anyways...I love you too Jeremy" Micheal said.

Micheal got up and walked over to the animatronic bear possessed by his younger brother.

"I'm sorry...I-I didn't mean for it to go that far..." Mike said.

"I know, and I forgave you a long time ago. Now explain what Jeremy meant when he said you got 'scooped'" Evan said.

[hazmatazz]

in my head this is still the 80s…im saying 1987. there have been animal attacks in Hawkins, what everyone thought was a normal, quiet town. One night, when mike is biking home from Will’s, he’s attacked by and turned into a werewolf.

mike decides to keep it a secret ofc, trying to hide the changes going on with his body. his hearing improves, his scent improves (did Will always smell that enticing?). He can run a lot faster and for a lot longer. his reflexes become sharper—usually this manifests in catching something that falls (especially clumsy Will). Hes stronger, too—he doesn’t know his own strength and it’s constantly getting him into trouble (im thinking the beginning of disneys hercules). if he gets hurt, he heals quickly.

most notably, he’s protective of will. to a degree that really should scare will, but oh god, it doesn’t…

come the full moon, transformation is a slow & painful process. mike begins transforming as soon as the moon becomes full in the daytime and reaches his final form by dusk. Mike’s muscles become more defined on the day of, his nails elongating into claws, and his teeth sharpening into fangs. dark, coarse fur grows all over his body. we know mike is already suffering from being an Aries, his emotions are much stronger and harder to control—anger in particular. he finds he can’t control his temper as it nears the full moon each month—he begins to distance himself from Will after lashing out and hurting him.

after a MONTH of minimal contact, will has had enough. he shows up at mike’s house and demands to talk things through. he’s shocked to see mike looking…taller, stronger, creepier…sexier??? mike orders will to leave immediately but will won’t fucking listen!! it starts getting dark and mike is in so much pain and he’s begging will to leave. will is just not getting it. but then the final transformation begins to take hold, and will is forced to witness it.

suddenly everything is falling into place, everything makes sense. will tries to stay with mike and finds himself cornered by a very bloodthirsty werewolf with mike’s eyes. he knows mike is in there, and gives him a little speech (callback to You Said Yes speech in s2) which ends up saving them both because it turns out every full moon mike is a prisoner in his own body having to watch from the backseat as the wolf slaughters and devours.

will accepts mike and helps him accept himself. he does loads of research to try to figure out how to help mike tame the wolf and not remain a slave to it forever.

also theyre dealing with increased attraction to each other during all of this which is a little devastatingly inconvenient. not sure how to get them together tho

👀👀👀👀

very scrambled thoughts 👇

i'm imaging sooo much shit from when mike is just starting out and will doesn't know

like y'know in a lot of media peter parker accidentally breaks his door/sink/window/etc as soon as he gets superstreght? i'm thinkingggg. so many thinks in his room are broken </3

also i'm imagining, when you say he goes completely like an animal, that like he has to keep his window wideeee open at night so he doesn't jump through it in wolf form

i still stand by my idea that will gets attacked in the middle of the night by an animal or a person and mike comes out of no where and fucks them up in wolf form

hold on it reminds me of this one animation called dirty paws (ignore most things about it i last watched it when i was like idk 9)

i'll probably think of things to add but i just woke up </3

[irontragedyreview]

So, I just saw Hocus pocus 2 and I honestly feel like there is a lot to say about the movie. To begin I'll say that I loved the movie and I feel that there are several aspects to highlight about this sequel.

The first movie, although it was a box office failure, over the years has become a kind of cult movie, which many generations have seen, although I'm not unaware that many younger audiences can get into thanks to its sequel but the original movie is a classic that many repeat as a tradition. This is where the sequel has a point in its favor, in my opinion what makes this movie good is that it doesn't try to surpass the original, but rather it's the same plot with a different cast, the movie appeals direct to nostalgia for those who already know the original, they can enjoy the nostalgia and the small nods to the original, while the children who are just discovering it continue to see almost the same plot as their original movie with modifications that feel subtle and doesn't produce shock, that is why I say that the movie is fine, it doesn't try to overcome or innovate but it's still entertaining while respecting the bases of its predecessor.

Another point in favor is the Sanderson sisters', the witches take complete control of the movie from the moment their original cast appears, the charisma and the way their characters handle themselves is possibly the most captivating aspect of this sequel. The actresses interpret their roles so faithfully that I can't believe that the sequel takes place 30 years from the original , the actresses resumed their roles as if they had never left them, there is no difference between the sisters from 1993 and those of 2022, their personalities and characterizations are identical. Only that as it's a sequel to a movie that managed to transcend time, the charisma they already had in the first one is amplified by the affection that you have to the characters. The witches are the stars of the movie and the other characters are extras in their story (I'll talk about the new protagonists later). The sisters are what makes this sequel remarkable and above all enjoyable.

Regarding the soundtrack, the songs are good, they don't overwhelm the movie but they don't feel out of place either, they are there and they are enjoyable though and this is my personal opinion "I put an spell on you" is simply iconic and the new song chosen doesn't finish fill me with the same emotion, but it's a good song and it doesn't ruin the movie either.

Now and focusing on the new cast, honestly it's not bad or good, it just doesn't stand out because the witches take all the focus, the new protagonist doesn't stand out because her character seems flat and uninteresting compared to the charisma of the witches, if the movie hadn't been a sequel and its plot was based only on Becca it would have been fine, I don't think it would have been incredible but the protagonist would have had an opportunity to shine compared to what happens in this movie. The plot of her discovering her powers, her relationship with her friends, while dealing with the fall of her friendship with Cassie is fine but not enough to really matter to these characters. Another point to keep in mind is that I honestly hate how the movie casts Mike (Cassie's boyfriend) as a silly boy who doesn't realize his comments are offensive, even if for a second I actually think the guy is dumb enough to not realizing his words, Cassie doesn't feel the need to say something? if she knows that her boyfriend is making a mistake out of sheer ignorance or naivety and he's in turn hurting her friends, I honestly believe that the intervention should have been earlier and not suddenly a random scene with him understanding his attitudes and Cassie just nodding as if to say "I'm glad you finally noticed"

Another character that I find unbearable is Guilbert, especially because of the role he plays in the entire witches' resurrection, while I understand that a new explanation was needed to bring the witches back, in the first movie we have Max, a boy who he simply wants to look cool and impress a girl, while presenting himself to us as an incredulous character because he's a city boy. The way he brings the witches back is because of his sheer ignorance of the situation, there are no manipulations and external factors just a teenager being a teenager. In the sequel, the initial fuse is Guilbert, a man who takes advantage of the ingenuity of two girls who trusted him to bring back the witches he had managed to see years ago. The annoying thing about the character is the naivety he possesses despite being an adult and knowledgeable about the Sandersons' story. I have to say his line that the sisters had been misunderstood in their time is stupid when you compare it with the story that we all know, although the movie deeps a little more in the sisters' past and how they become witches in a search to stay together there is something that should never be forgotten, these witches cast a spell on children to drag them home and kill them by sucking out their souls, in Hocus pocus 1 the first scene we see is the sisters killing Emily and turning Thack into a black cat to suffer for eternity. So, and as someone who enjoys the Sanderson sisters even then, I wouldn't call them misunderstood and above all I wouldn't be surprised to find out that he had put two girls in mortal danger when he knew that they feed on children and that thirty years ago they tried to do the same thing, this unjustified naivety makes him an unlikeable character because he is a naive, manipulative and cowardly adult, for which his small redemption does not make him more likeable than at the beginning.

I think that honestly the only negative point of the movie is its cast because you have main characters that are overshadowed by the witches and extras like Mike and Guilbert that are annoying, possibly the only one that is saved is the mayor how shows that generations change and loves her daughter, otherwise they just aren't something to write much about.

[foreveralwaysanauthor]

I know I’ve been offline for a while, but this whole month has been a rollercoaster and I feel like it's finally slowing down, so I figured I would give you a small life update before finally getting around to editing part 10! I haven’t gotten to read your new post, Eleanor, but that’s because I’ve been saving it as a reward for finishing up everything in part 11 and editing part 10 haha! I can’t wait to finally read it either later tonight or tomorrow!

Onto the more serious stuff, I suppose! Well, as I said in my last post, we started this month out getting rained on by our upstairs neighbors twice in the same week and someone damaging our front door locks (presumably to break in and steal while we were out). Great way to start February, I know! Thankfully, my brother Mike - technically, he's my sister, Honey's husband, but I call him my brother since we’ve known each other for so long - came over to fix the door and help us with our ruined ceiling tiles. Then, my great-aunt (91yo) got sick with the stomach bug and, while she is still recovering, she’s feeling well enough to not need someone with her 24/7. On top of staying with her for a while, I started three jobs in the first week of February (housekeeping and dog walking for a lady in town and PCA work for a bedbound woman in the area) only to have the first lady take my housekeeping hours away because she claims her mother could do it instead. Honestly, I was glad she took those hours back because I could barely tolerate the way that she was over my shoulder the entire time I was there. She knows that I've been a housekeeper since I was 16 and that I knew what I was doing, but I’ve come to discover that she’s a bit of a control freak in all aspects of her life, so I am more than willing to let someone else handle her housekeeping 😂

Next up, my sister, Honey, and her family got a new puppy named Vanya and she is the sweetest, most loving little crackhead in our family. She loves to snuggle and gives people dirty looks if they tell her she needs to go back inside, but she has a weakness for peanut butter and listens to whatever my niece tells her to do. Vanya isn’t even a year old and they've only had her for a short time, but I will hurt anyone who dares look at her wrong because she is the fluffiest little angel and I adore her

A small, more emotional dip in things came when my Uncle Doug came over with a truckload of all of my grandparents' and Uncle John's belongings. Uncle Doug moved into their old trailer before they passed and, since the three of them have passed away, he owns the house and wanted to see if we could go through all of their belongings since he is trying to fix the place up and has no space for everything. I don't know where he thinks we have the space for everything in our apartment, but we took it all nonetheless and used our old, practically unused computer room as storage as we went through 67+ years worth of my grandparents’ things. There were a lot of emotions for me and my mom to go through and even more things that my mom didn't know her parents and brother still held onto - my great-grandmother's high school diploma and things from her business among those items - but we really loved going through the disorganized chaos that was dropped on us on a random Thursday!

Now, onto today! After all of the chaos and stress that February brought us, I feel as though things are finally coming to a point where I'm ready to keep going with the way things had been. Today, Honey and Mike came over with my old laptop, told me to set it aside for a while, and brought me out to his truck where they showed me the project they had secretly been working on for months now: an actual PC just for me! It glows and so does the keyboard and mouse they got for me, and I just can't get over how cool it is! They told me it was much deserved because of all that I do for the people in our family, but I still don't see how even though the two of them and my mom took the time to explain it. I don't do any of the things I do for recognition or gifts, so it's very hard for me to accept such an insanely expensive gift for something I do out of love for my family and those around us. I know it certainly wasn’t cheap, I’ve wanted one for ages now and done hours and hours of research trying to find a good, cheap one. I suppose I'm still reeling from it all. It will definitely take me a while to adjust to everything, especially having a mechanical keyboard in place of my old laptop's keys, but I now have an actual desk and setup that I can write at and I couldn't be more excited to start this new chapter in my writing journey. It feels like a step in a better direction, if that makes any sense at all haha!

Anyway, I hope you aren't upset with me for taking this super long break; I really hadn't intended for it to be this long of a break, but I can't say that I didn't need it with everything else going on in my life. I should have the next part up soon after I get all of the editing done and get a moodboard made up for it. I just wanted to fill you in on all that's happened during my little break from everything on the internet. I can't wait to read your new story once I get everything finished! It should be a great reward after all the work I'll be putting into everything! I hope everything has been going well for you and that you have an amazing day! 💕😊

[wheeling]

@nancewheelr sent : "Mike, spit it out."

For days now, Mike had been a prisoner in his own mind. He could see everything, hear everything, but all control he once had was handed over to the Mind Flayer. Or rather, Vecna, since he had been the one to create the monstrosity and it functioned on his commands. He wanted to say something, to warn Nancy and come up with a plan before it escalated too far and someone got hurt. Alas, it wasn't so easy because, try as he did and would continue to do, there was no break like there had been for Will and Billy, when there'd be glimpses of them returning to their normal selves.

Days were spent holed up in his basement where the temperature was cool and offered relief from the sun shining through the windows upstairs. Little words were said to his family and, when he did speak, his voice was oddly devoid of the emotion and fluctuation it usually held. It was especially odd when his bantering with Nancy became less playful, taunting jabs turned into words that were meant to cause offense. The evil within him was disguised among his own family, biding its time and playing the part of the brooding teenager without a filter. Bit by bit, the Mind Flayer would tear down moral and eventually, when Nancy was at her weakest, he would finally put an end to her and move on to the next to continue building his army.

Finally, Nancy had enough of the biting words from Mike and had sought to get him to spill what was bothering him so much. She probably figured it had something to do with El or Will or some other personal problem he was working through on his own, but Mike also knew how Nancy functioned. Sooner or later she would put the pieces together and figure out that he wasn't just not acting like himself, he really wasn't himself. After she had followed him down into the basement, Mike turned to face her near the bottom of the stairs. Dark eyes fell onto her, hard and piercing and lacking warmth.

❝ You wanna know the truth? The truth is that I realized I hate being your brother. Even while living under the same roof, you've been gone for a long time and I don't need your protection, so you can spare me the big sister act and stop acting like you actually give a shit. ❞

[dgalerab]

superhero au where mike can heal injuries and absorb emotional pain by touch but he can’t control it so every supervillain/morally bankrupt rich dude with any kind of ailment is immediately drawn to kidnapping him and thus lucas spends a lot of time rescuing and taking deep breaths to control his emotions so he doesn’t kill his boyfriend by accident

[bylerchoseme]

Michael Wheeler Perspective:

This kid is misunderstood which is the reason it fuels the fire of hatred against him. It’s very sad. The Wheeler family comes across as strictly conservative to me. That means they follow the traditional route of life. Growing up in the 80s with society standards is heavily influenced on Mike. He is the one that wants to live up to these expectations. Nobody is more affected than him. It’s like being stuck inside a bubble without air to breathe. In a lot of ways society is telling him how to live his life. There is so much of should do this or that. Should is a very intimidating word because it feeds on to the idea a person has limited choices. Essentially, Mike is being controlled. There isn’t free will in his world. He sees the world in black and white. Choosing safety is easily done. He went with the easy choice. If life is simple everything works out right? Wrong.

The truth is life throws battles whether anyone is ready or not. Sometimes it’s the ugly. Other times it’s the good. There is never an in between. There is a huge difference how Mike views good and ugly. The good is pleasing everyone for the benefit of feeling secure in what is considered to be normal. The ugly is anything on the surface. He has already locked it in his head to be the person everyone wants him to be. He seeks approval and acceptance. If he doesn’t have both of the two, he falls apart and his self worth doesn’t exist anymore. He can’t love himself if others don’t love him. Nobody teaches him otherwise. That’s just the expectation. He needs to live up to it. Being raised into a family where perfection is the norm plays a big role in how Mike develops as he grows older. All of these ideas he was taught become his saving grace.

However, human emotions are a tricky subject. There are things that are out of ones control. There is no certainty of familiarity staying the same. Overtime, change is bound to happen. One of the biggest challenges for Mike is self acceptance. The version of himself he does accept is an illusion of reality. He is out of touch with reality. Facing his innermost thoughts and feelings requires enough persistence, patience, determination, focus, and above all commitment. It’s a long process. He needs that extra push. He will get there one day. It’s only a matter of time.

The deciding factor depends on how willing Michael Wheeler is to defy all odds. His maturity level is at its peak. He is learning every possible thing about himself lately. The hardships of the 80s are definitely overwhelming. There is so much pressure to put a cover and pretend the mask on the face is the real deal even though a new story lies beneath the surface. How scary is it to be told what you can and can’t do, what you can and can’t say, how you can and can’t feel, and what the fate of your life is supposed to be? Mike’s life is mapped out. He knows men have to be with women. He knows the type of lifestyle men are born to succumb to because of A, B, and C. The list continues on and on. If he doesn’t follow through with the expected ways of living, he feels like a failure.

Believe it or not, Mike has insecurity issues. He doesn’t have a positive self esteem. He isn’t allowed to be the individual he aspires to be. He has a huge weight on his shoulders. His perception of normal is exaggerated in his head. All of this ties into his behavior. He is very limited in terms of freedom and free will. He is having an ongoing dilemma about all of these issues surrounding him. This hurts to say but Mike surrenders to darkness. He takes the road more traveled by. He has many hurdles to overcome. He feels alone like he doesn’t have anyone to guide him on his road to the rainbow where there is happiness, joy, and laughter. Somewhere deep down there is hope for him. He needs to search for it and find the motivation to keep fighting and eventually he will see the light. Behind every problem is a new beginning.

Love is uncontrollable. The heart wants what it wants. Ultimately Mike wants Will to be his twin flame and soulmate. He wants Will to complete him to the full extent. He desires Will. He has a passionate love for Will. He has an indescribable love for Will. His love for Will is scary, beautiful, fascinating, exhilarating, out of this world, profound, soft, sweet, tender, and among all pure. He is in love with Will so much it makes him happy to be alive. He breathes the love he has for Will. He lives the love he has for Will. All he knows is how to love Will. Loving Will is the hardest and easing thing he has ever done in his life. He didn’t chose to love Will. Love chose him. Will is Mike’s other half. He will always love Will no matter what happens. Nothing can or will change his love for Will.

Falling in love with Will was beyond comprehension. He met a boy in kindergarten and wanted to be his friend. They became best friends. This particular day turned out to be the best day of his life. He is grateful to know Will. It might seem like ten years but for Mike 10 years is a century. That’s a long time to know someone. A very long time. They were only children when they first saw each other. At first Mike was probably thinking ‘How can I fall in love with my best friend?’ ‘Is this normal?’ ‘Can boys love each other?’ ‘Is it acceptable to be in love with a boy?’ He was confused. He was lost. He felt helpless. He was on his own. He had to figure it all out having no support. He was barely a teen when the question of being in love got raised.

Based on the timeline of everything and the way Byler was built from the first day of childhood to their pre-teens and teen years, Mike fell in love with Will around the time before he knew what being in love meant. I’d stay the earliest he fell in love with Will was 3rd grade and the latest is the year before they became teenagers. Mike was already in love with Will by the time Season 2 rolled around. His actions spoke louder. He wanted to go crazy with Will. He was by his side while he experienced traumatic PTSD. Mike was in front of Will. He showed Will compassion. He cared about him. Mike was there for Will through the good and bad. Nothing or no one can or could’ve separated Mike from Will. He was in this together with him. He was devoted and loyal to his best friend and now love of his life. He couldn’t stay away from him.

Once Mike was over the initial shock of being in love with Will and facing any romantic feelings, he put his guard down and went into defense mode. In Mike’s eyes, everyone loves the opposite gender including Will. He didn’t know anyone that loved the same gender. He wanted to play it safe. The more he tried to deny being in love with Will the more he fell harder and harder. He couldn’t escape from his heart. His eyes couldn’t lie. Realistically, he was only lying to himself. Subconsciously he was and is in love with Will. There isn’t a time and place for falling in love. It happens when it happens. For Mike and Will love was unexpected. They didn’t see it coming.

Mike is in love with Will deeply and on a level that defies all sense of logic. Not only is he in love with him but he wouldn’t be who he is without being in love with him. Mike’s love for Will is as wide as the ocean and deeper as the sea. He loves him irrevocably, angelically, madly, fiercely, intimately, undeniably, warmly, uniquely, full of fire, and in a very heightened way. Mike’s love for Will can’t stop expanding beyond the horizon. Will is Mike’s antidote. Mike loves Will unconditionally. He doesn’t want or need him to change. He will go to greater lengths for Will. Mike said his life isn’t the same without Will. The only thing that makes sense to Mike is how much in love he Is with Will. He looks at Will like he is his universe. Mike loves Will infinitely. Mike is crazy in love with Will. Will is special to Mike. Mike adores Will. They’re just meant to be. Only Mike can love Will the way he deserves to be loved. Mike’s love for Will is immaculate. He is engrossed in Will.