#i just think queer eddie s5 makes so much sense!

[exhuastedpigeon]

As amazing and satisfying as Eddie's season 5 arc was, him realizing he's queer during that arc would have made SO much narrative sense and in my opinion we were robbed of that storyline.

Eddie's season 5 starts with him having a panic attack over the idea of his long term girlfriend being called the mother of his child. A literal doctor tells him 'it could be repression' about his panic attacks. He dumps said long-term girlfriend in a disaster zone of a kitchen by telling her "maybe you should go home".

They could have had the latter half of season 5 for Eddie stay pretty similar, but show him being petty and bitchy to Josh not just because Josh tells him what to do sometimes, but because Eddie is resentful of Josh being a happy, out, gay man.

They could have had the therapy still be about his PTSD but dived even deeper into his childhood trauma. That line to Buck when he says he's worried he'll never feel normal again? That should very easily be about both his war and firefighter related PTSD but ALSO about his religious trauma and his fear of 'not being normal' because he's queer.

The conversation he has with his dad in El Paso, where he says he isn't just getting better for Christopher he's doing it for himself? That could have been a moment where he tells his dad that he's not straight and we could have had a beautiful and complex moment where Ramon Diaz, a man who does truly love his son, has to reckon with the fact that his kid hated this part of himself because of how he was raised.

Season 5 makes sense for Eddie to have discovered this part of himself, even if he keeps it quiet. Hell, him not telling people but knowing it about himself makes his season 6 attempts to date women and feeling like he's performing even richer.

[stardustbuck]

im a multishipper. i ship buddie and bucktommy. but if im being honest one side is being incredibly more hateful and toxic than the other side. (aka the one thats been around longer) maybe i’ve taken off my rose-colored shipping glasses, but seeing ppl make hate posts abt tommy/lou gives me the ick. it makes me actually realize why oliver left twt. bitterness will get you nowhere. if buddie is meant to happen then it’ll happen. you cannot force it to happen. everything i’ve seen and read tells me buddie was more of a consideration pre-s5 than it is currently. and that fucking sucks but just because things aren’t going your way doesn’t mean you need to get on the internet and be a bully. it’s truly mind-boggling to see people so intense in their hate for a character that has righted his wrongs, who is now friends with the people he wronged, is well-liked among said characters and is now being a positive influence on buck’s newfound sexuality. their dynamic is also nothing new, pessimist/optimist ship dynamics have been around forever and it’s only a problem because it’s not eddie.

i would be happy for buddie to go canon as much as the next guy. getting buck canonically bisexual is mind-blowing enough in itself, i’m glad we’re witnessing it at all. if ryan doesn’t want to do buddie because he feels its important they stay friends then so be it. platonic friendships between a queer man and straight man are important, especially one that runs so deep like buck and eddie’s. sure, their friendship could be read as romantic throughout the show, but partly because oliver and ryan truly share a great chemistry on screen which helps lean into it but also because these shows are not written with an endgame in mind. 9-1-1 is very much a go with the flow show, and if bucktommy is where the show is flowing then that’s what is meant to be. invisible string theory isn’t because ppl think it was always planned from the beginning, it’s because it’s amazing how well buck and tommy becoming a couple comes together so perfectly out of pure coincidence.

we know buck was supposed to be made queer long ago. we also know maddie originally was brought in for eddie but was put with chimney instead. if tim minear hadn’t left after s4 i truly think buddie could have been already established by now, but unfortunately that isn’t how things work. perhaps the idea of tommy and eddie was pitched but ultimately ryan didn’t agree it would work for these character nor the story being told at the time. buck was already supposed to be queer, so turning it to tommy and buck instead makes total sense.

no one is saying you aren’t allowed to continue to ship buddie. most ships in the world are ships that have never gone canon. buddie is valid even if it’s non-canon. god knows i will continue to read and write for them and enjoy them whilst also enjoying buck and tommy together. the behavior i’ve been seeing though is just weird, especially from larger creators who i understand are very passionate for buddie, but it’s weird when you flip it into tommy/lou hate instead of just talking about buddie itself.

perhaps the theories will be true. we don’t know! maybe buck and tommy won’t last and buddie will be endgame. i’m happy either way because buck’s sexuality is so important for him and at the current state of the show eddie is absolutely not ready for anything romantic because he’s still grieving shannon to a point where he is not ready to move on romantically just yet and we’re literally shown this. even if buddie is happening, it is not happening by the season finale nor is it probably happening by the beginning of s8 considering the current storylines and where they’ll be at by the end of this season. lou probably isn’t going anywhere and from the looks of it, we’ll probably be bumped up into a semi-regular character in s8 like karen. he’s easy to write into the plot, he’s got connections to people and emergencies outside of buck that would integrate him well into the plot. their romance is supposed to be “romcom” esque, they’re taking things slow but they’re obviously happy together at the moment.

im just really tired of the nasty attitudes ive been seeing. sure theres are som toxic people on both sides, but to me its obvious which side is being the bigger bully. reality checks needs to be put in place for some people, go outside and realize you are getting way too worked up over a tv show where plotlines are out of your control. if the show is ruined for you over one relationship then stop watching it.

[begebege28]

On Reddit earlier, i saw someone bring up the question if buddie doesn’t happen in s8, will you (i) continue to watch. Here’s what i responded with.

I want to begin with your first question. Will i continue watching? Yes. I started watching live (1x01 baby). I invested so much of my time to not see how it ends. Also, honestly, as much as i love buddie, they aren’t the sole reason I’m watching. Additionally, after hearing what Oliver said in regard to s4, had they continued to stay on Fox, buddie or bi buck would have NEVER happened. Yet, it took 4 episodes and a NEW network for bibuck. S5-s6 were a completely different show for me. Because we had a (in my opinion) homophobic showrunner. And you can literally see the way buddie are written s2,3,4 vs s5,6. My thing is eddies character and if they will go the route where i think they are left with. The only route. There is only so much that you can drag out the Shannon bs/commitment storyline. Which Bobby himself debunked. They either have him end up alone or queer. I CANNOT see them bringing in a NEW girlfriend. As much as i LOVE Tim, this season was awful. Everything was rushed. Storylines. Then receiving episodes a week or 2 before the EPISODES AIRING… epsiodes 7-10 were CLEARLY rewrites in the sense, they slowed everything down once the renewal was announcement. Mind you, they filmed episodes 1-5 at the same time. So by the time epsiode 3 aired (it was announced, s8 renewal) they were on 6/7. I would be worried for buddie had they written BuckTommy way differently than they did. Tommy had 18 minutes of screen time in 7a and 4 minutes in 7b. They had 6 episodes with LFJ. They had Taylor/Megan with 4 episodes (season 4) and they FLESHED out her character. They have been deliberate with Tommy’s dialogue with him. Him being jealous of buck and the 118. Him being dismissive. (The award). Buck talking about his parental parents and Tommy AGAIN turning it into a sex joke. Just like her did in the deleted scene (which isn’t canon). My thing is, if buddie don’t happen, it will be the biggest waste in television history. If they want to make history (like they did with buck), they could easily do it again and BIGGER with buddie

Always will add Tims and LFJ comments

[leandra-winchester]

I'm wondering how there are people who think killing off Tommy would lead to Buddie. Like for one outside of Shannon the show hasn't killed off any other love interest to write them out of the show and two the show would get so much negative press for it. Like I do not take people seriously when the bring up Tommy dying or Buck cheating as a way to facilitate Buddie canon because it would not endear most of the audience to them as a ship (not to mention Oliver Stark specifically said he doesn't want to go down the queer trauma route here so like I don't get why some people cite these as possibilities)

Yeah, I don't even know man. Fanfic brainrot or something (not that there's anything wrong with fanfic, obviously, but when you consume so much of it and it being very specific to your very personal liking, and then can't separate the expectations you have for fic from those you have for the show).

And I guess in a way I maybe fell for it too, with my past expectations for Buddie canon, because, in hindsight, I'm not sure Buddie canon - especially now after so much time has passed - would have feasibly happened. Not just because of studio politics or limitations on how many canon queer characters you can have among the main cast, but simply because you cannot believably pull off a mutual pining/slowburn romance in an ensemble show.

Buddie would only have worked if Eddie had taken some time to unravel all that repression, bit by bit, and we would have to see it, and that would have taken up too much room and time in a show that has a pretty big main cast.

It might have worked at the end of s5 when he went to therapy and all that, planting some seeds there and then fully following up on it in s6, but now? AFTER the whole Marisol and Shannon/Kim stuff? It would take A LOT to sell it not just to the general audience but, frankly, to people like me as well.

So I dunno, but I'm pretty convinced it's never going to happen. Both Oliver and Ryan have said/hinted that they wouldn't want it to happen purely as fan service; it would have to really make sense and be true to the characters and their journeys, and I agree.

But the BoBs don't listen; they take fragments of sentences and interpret them to fit their own agenda.

And then some of the most unhinged ones of them go and think killing off a love interest is one way to get there. And a lot of those comments or tags didn't read like purely 'jokes' either; there was sheer vitriol and hatred behind them. Which has very little to do with genuine or in any way valid outrage at the 'daddy kink' joke, but everything to do with someone getting in their way of their ship, and this time being an actual threat.

With female love interests, you could always write that off as the show being cowardly about it and not daring to make any of them queer. But now we have that queer representation, Buck is officially bi, and has a boyfriend with whom things are getting really serious, really fast.

And I get being sad and disappointed about Buddie not happening, but the amount of toxicity that has been directed at a) other fans b) the fictional characters and c) the actors/writers involved is ridiculous. This is a fucking TV show, after all. It's not real life, it's not politics or activism. It's just fiction (that gives us an unusual amount of queer rep for a mainstream network TV show!). If it doesn't spark joy, take a step back, stop watching, read and write fic, but don't be a toxic asshole about it.

[between-two-fandoms]

10 JoshxEddie hcs because I rewatched s5 and am delulu

This largely takes place in a season 5-adjacent AU, but I have various hcs that span across the show. And also Marisol doesn't exist. If it gets enough interest I'll write it.

PS: their ship name is Riaz(?)

Before they get together Eddie sees a creepy guy harassing Josh at a bar one time when they're all out for drinks after most of the main squad leaves and pretends to be his boyfriend to intimidates the fuck out of creepy guy until he leaves Josh alone. Josh has a panic attack about the creepy guy because of his trauma. Eddie helps guide him through it, then gets him home safely.

After that day Eddie starts feeling Things whenever he thinks of Josh and he can't put a name to it but he wants to make sure Josh is safe in a Overprotective Black Cat sort of way so he begins texting him regularly to make sure he's alright.

They've always been aware of each other, they work in the same circles just different environments. When Eddie starts working at dispatch he finally starts noticing Josh. Actually noticing him.

Josh and Eddie can't STAND each other at first when Eddie joins dispatch. More so Josh, because Eddie is a hot firefighter with a big heart and Josh knows needs to tread carefully. Rivals to lovers hands down.

Their first date happens when Eddie gets tired of being single and takes Hen's advice on a speed dating event at one of her favorite bars. She forgot to tell him it was a Queer bar but hey, Eddie isn't homophobic. His bestfriend is bisexual and has a boyfriend. Maybe it'll be fun. When he matches with Josh they're both painfully awkward about it until Josh and Eddie start gossiping about the other speed daters like they're watching telenovelas or the bachelor.

The infamous "You're a guest in this house, act like it!" scene ends up with Eddie rushing forward and kissing Josh against a wall because he cannot stand this man. Eddie thinks he's so smug and cocky and he thinks he hates him so much with his eyes and his soft lips. They've had all this tension building up between them, all Eddie wants is to kiss his stupid face. Imagine his surprise when Josh kisses him back.

Eddie spends weeks searching for sexuality labels, trying to find the right one. He invites Josh to go out for a beer a couple of times during his questioning phase just to spend time with him off the clock again, and Josh helps explain the idea of not needing a label unless it's something Eddie connects to. Eddie doesn't have to identify as anything specific unless he wants to. Eddie cries a lot when he gets back home.

When he finally does discover the term demisexual it suddenly feels like everything makes sense. All the puzzle pieces are perfectly aligned. Something tight unspools in his chest. He tells Josh, who celebrates with him after work. The 118 shows up too, so Eddie tells them as well and it becomes a night of celebration.

Bonus:

Eddie likes when Josh bosses him around.

Once they become established Eddie realizes how much he loves Josh being in control in the bedroom and loves how easily Josh can make his head go quiet and everything feel still.

[lover-of-mine]

I could be totally wrong and off base but we know from Oliver’s mouth they wanted to do bi nick in s4. But God shut it down. Therefore Tim left to do LS. I think he was told early on NO but continue to keep the shooting arc in the story. He couldn’t have simply left so suddenly and after the season right? Personally, i think the shooting was going to be the catalyst for it (bi buck) At least for buck. If we are to believe they wanted to do queer Eddie in s5, it kinda makes sense. Given the whole Ana of it all. However, what doesn’t make sense is Eddie having a breakdown over his army team dying. How long has it been since he’s been out of the military? I think it wouldn’t make sense for them to bring it up after 5+ years especially after all the calls they have been through previously in the seasons? The bombing? His FIRST time on the job. The fire truck bomb? I think what Tim wanted to do, was use the shooting for buck first and then in s5 flip it and have eddies perspective on it. Him reaching out to buck before he takes his last breath. To add, in would say he was closer to death during the well than the shooting.

Okay, the beauty of Eddie's breakdown is a lot in the way it shows how shit builds and snaps when you least expect it. Eddie has a lot of survivor's guilt and he was clinging to the way he saved 4 people. To have that break the box he put his army trauma makes a lot of sense. So much so that multiple people praise the way 911 handled his ptsd, so to say oh it had been too long you're being very dismissive about how trauma works. Triggers aren't always the thing you expect and Eddie is surprisingly good at coping, at keeping himself together because he has to, as best as he can, so for it to take him years to get there is expected. That being said, one thing doesn't negate the other. You're dealing with survivor's guilt and Eddie feels guilt for surviving Shannon, to add a sexuality crisis to the situation while keeping the same parameters is very very very easy. And if you make the shooting an oh moment for both Buck and Eddie and you have Buck come out in some way before Eddie leaves the 118, and you keep the way Buck is the one to pick him up from the floor and force Eddie to talk about how it makes him feel. Ryan has talked before about how fear-o-phobia is the moment Eddie lets the last of his guard down with Buck and allows him to see all of him, so to keep things exactly as they are, but add a session with Frank where Eddie is talking about the Buck of it all is very easy and it makes sense. Eddie's breakdown is queercoded enough as it is that if they want to backtrack and say Eddie has known since season 5 and he's just choosing not to act on it is very easy. Because one of Eddie's triggers is being afraid of an instant family, but he has a family, and Buck plays a huge role with Chris during 5b, and the will reveal also adds to that. To sit Eddie down and make him talk about the well along with being shot would force him to admit things about why he put Buck in his will and hid it. You can do both at the same time. I think they just cut the coming part of Eddie's breakdown, I don't think they changed anything that major. They just removed that aspect of it. It would make sense as to why they kicked Eddie to the ground again, because they want that moment of self-reflection of hitting rock bottom to get Eddie out of the closet. But that's just my theory.

[queerxqueen]

Congratulations on the Dustin book!! You're living the dream of so many fanfic writers and Stranger Things fans! I've seen you talk about how much fun you had writing Dustin and his relationship with Steve and Eddie, but if given a choice, what character(s) would you have chosen to write a book for from the series instead? The process must be so different from just writing fanfic, so with what you know now about that, also, what sort of plot would you like to write for those character(s) that you believe would have a good chance of making it through while still making you happy as a writer?

(I hope that all makes sense XD.)

Thanks so much!

The process is definitely different from fanfiction, where you can really do anything you want. There are a lot of constraints. For the Stranger Things YA novels, (to broadly generalize, none of this is stuff they specifically identified to me) they need to be standalone, self contained stories expanding on a particular's characters internal struggles and perspective in a close first-person perspective where you're really feeling their feelings and understanding their thought processes. They are also notably all in a more slice-of-life setting as opposed to the high-stakes of the main show's horror sci-fi.

So with that in mind, I would immediately rule out high-concept things like horror or really getting into the Upside Down lore. I couldn't go full romance with a Byler rom-com like I'd love to. I would have to respect the show's canon, so I couldn't write an Eddie lives story like some might want.

ANYWAY, I would have to say Will would be my absolute die-hard first choice if I could write one other character. Mike is right up there too, and Nancy and Jonathan.

I think a Will POV story in Lenora with him and El and the Byers moving and settling in and struggling would be such a cool perspective. I could play with him pining after Mike, and struggling in school, and his relationship with El, Jonathan being distant, all of them dealing with So Much Trauma. I'd love to see how Will came more to understand his sexuality (i.e. his research project on Alan Cummings... I'm imagining him learning about queer history from some cool art teacher and it makes me emotional) even if he doesn't quite accept himself yet.

In a more daydreamy way, if Byler is canon, I'd love to backtrack to see Mike's perspective on a LOT of stuff. If we're really daydreaming, and if Byler is canon, and they live happily ever after... Then I would pitch a post-s5 Byler figuring-their-shit-out-together story exploring adulting and relationships after trauma.

Whew. Clearly, I have a lot of feelings about this. @ netflix please hire me again hahahahahaha

(sorry to disclaim again yada yada but all of this is me riffing and daydreaming and none of this is official and i have no clue what plans they have, if any, for future novels or other projects and if i did i wouldnt say it on the internet /end disclaimer)

[castlebyersafterdark]

'Look at him compared to all the skaters at the roller rink in particular because I think that's the most poignant moment to demonstrate all this.'

omg youre so right, and we're totally gonna revisit will at the rink arent we? i have a feeling we will. it's gonna be torture for him, either him standing still frozen just watching el suffer - maybe vecna even taunts that will enjoyed that after the day he had - or bad memories of similar humiliation from bullies and perhaps his dad. the ol' billy and will link, bad dads and homophobic bullies.

you nailed it with why will is the quintessential 'other' character for the normal side, while el is our 'other', alien rep for the supernatural side of things. you said 'he's neat and tidy, his clothes are often tighter.' and yeah! i always thought it was cos he's wearing jon's hand me downs that don't fit, but i think youre right and it's a combo of all this stuff. will's outsiderness is - instead of wacky and wild and big like so many others like eddie for example - the fact that he pares himself back, makes himself smaller and tidier with neater edges. he basically tries to take up as little space as possible in the world, and even his clothing portrays that self-restriction with it's tightness. fantastic visual storytelling.

it also adds to the queer reading so well, and i've gotta say that your description reminded me of s1 mike too. when the show came out everyone loved dustin's cap and lucas' shearling jacket, but no one mentioned mike's dorky preppy beige jacket or his stripy green ringer tees because they just werent iconic enough to be worth mentioning. but he was my secret fashion fav!!! cos to me, mike was THE nerd of nerds for s1. the king nerd. his style only became harder and harder to read as time went on, and i hope all becomes clear in s5 as to why! the cyan windbreaker shirt of s4 is most inexplicable of all!

I'll be so sad if we don't get some really devastating flashbacks or visions that Henry uses to taunt Will, especially featuring that roller rink. It's such a good visual. You're so exposed out there, panic makes it harder to escape, he already stands out and it will be so much worse in a vision. The guilt angle, the bullying angle. And I know everyone hates Lonnie but I really want Lonnie back. We need closure even in just the acknowledgement of Will's childhood and what brought him to this point, he's been brought up in regards to Jonathan but not as much for Will. I think he should be.

the fact that he pares himself back, makes himself smaller and tidier with neater edges. he basically tries to take up as little space as possible in the world, and even his clothing portrays that self-restriction with it's tightness. fantastic visual storytelling.

YES! Just yes to this. Says it all. And Mike has always been my favorite in terms of fashion, too! Until Season 3 then I liked Will the best onwards. They both embody such great nerdy, retro style. They never seem too gimmicky where some outfits on some characters, while very in the era, do seem costumey rather than wardrobe? I don't really know what I'm talking about haha my fashion opinions are all over the place. But! Unpopular opinion: not a fan of the teal jacket from season 4, but maybe its because we're used to seeing outfit changes and I got so sick of seeing the Cali crew in the same stuff, even if it made sense in the plot. It just seemed jarring to have them all so covered up for desert scenes. I get the reasoning for Mike's outfit, showcasing color blocking and sharp angles as his theme, but it wasn't my favorite. Though, excellent hint with the triangle pocket. Which absolutely holds meaning since the jacket was said to be customized. That detail was supposed to be noticeable.

I know most of what we've seen from set photos only show the one or two outfits for everyone, but I think we've only seen stuff from the first few episodes so I'm hoping we get more outfits than that! It's so fun to compare and analyze the clothes and it really makes it feel like a lived in world and adds to character personalities.

[sibylsleaves]

listen it's pretty obvious buck and tommy is not endgame, they very much are the second coming of buck and taylor so many parallels between both pairings. tim is literally recreating s5, eddie in a horrible place and buck being there for him 100% going through his mess and tommy likely being bothered by how much time buck is spending with eddie and putting the pieces together. Just like I suspect Taylor was going to be but they Network said to gay Eddie which Oliver has basically suggested was coming in 5. He's coming in S8 so now Tim is recreating the S5 he was going to have with the pieces all set. it just seems so clear BT is not going to last. He's very much playing this teacher role for Buck and getting him ready and being comfortable with being with a man. That's all that relationship is, a first queer experience for Buck but Buck is not going to end up with the first man he dates, that literally never happens in TV. Buddie is the obvious endgame and it's the only thing that makes narrative sense for both characters because we know how badly Eddie wants to be in a romantic relationship but he just keeps on blowing them because they're not with the write person or *cough* sex *cough* .

i honestly think the thing that will ultmately break up buck and tommy si buck and eddie's relationship just like eddie and jealous is what got them together, jealousy involving eddie is what will break them up.

Plus lets not forget that Maddie knows the truth, she knows that Buck is in love with Eddie. Is she gonna play a role in all of this or sit back with her wine and watch?

I love when you guys come into my inbox 100000% certain how the story is going to play out. Live your truth and go with god, my friend.

I, on the other hand, cannot with any certainty predict what Tim Minear is going to do next. because he did write eddie's dead wife's doppleganger into s7 😭😭😭

[wibble-wobbegong]

woke up thinking about dustin and mike and like. dustin is legit the one person mike has never lost. with every other party member, mike’s gone through some huge emotional fallout and he lost them somehow. he’s never driven dustin away though. in s1, dustin sticks with him when everything else starts to fall apart. in s4, when mike has supposedly become an even bigger, pricklier asshole, he’s still able to fall back on dustin in hellfire while he tries to deal with some emotional issues. dustin stays, even when mike has driven literally everyone else away.

mike and dustin are close enough in s4 for mike to feel like he can complain about the telemarketer job, and dustin isn’t stupid, he knows he’s not trying to call el because that would lead to her being found. dustin definitely understand the feelings under those feelings but he knows things about mike the other party members don’t know just by being around him.

mike’s lost everyone except dustin, and it would be kinda weird to leave dustin as the sole survivor of mike’s self destructiveness when their relationship has never really stood out. dustin spends more time with the older kids, so his relationships with the party members don’t get much screen time. there’s no reason for dustin to be exempt from that pattern, and the only thing i can imagine driving a wedge between them is eddie’s death. his death is dustin’s first focused emotional wound from the ud other than will in s1, setting him up as incredibly important to dustin’s story in s5. mike had a specific attachment to eddie that won’t be recreated in the show because eddie, knowingly or unknowingly, served as a queer mentor for him

it seems hard to drive a wedge between those two, but i think the thing that’ll divide them is gonna be how they react to eddie’s death. mike has seen people ‘die’ over and over only to come back every single time; el, hopper, will, henry. mike has never personally dealt with an actual death before, just ones that seem to be deaths. he’s seen death, but all the people who he cares about never seem to really be dead, even if he watched them die. at this point, it makes more sense for him to believe eddie is somehow still alive than for him to think eddie is dead even if it’s illogical. dustin was there with eddie when he died, though. he held his body. that difference could be what finally drives a wedge between them, and mike’s refusal to think eddie’s actually gone could also play into what i was talking about with eddie’s body being used as a puppet to lure mike away from the group and kidnap him

idk something about mike finally losing the one person who never left before being kidnapped and put into a trance and playing into his inevitable revisiting of the cliff and getting very near suicide/attempting it and feeling completely and utterly alone. mike finally breaking

[tenisperfection]

i honestly feel so stupid saying this but i binged watch the entire show and by the end of it I was like this has to be leading to buddie like that finale was so loud I can't. The way Buck was there for Eddie through it all, when he didn't need to be. The sheer lack of care they didn't do at all with Tommy after episode 6, the way the camera panned to Eddie in episode 9, the way Eddie and Buck are completely interwoven in each others love lives, and that's just the wild shit in S7.

Don't get me started on S3(TSUNAMI AND FIGHT CLUB ERA), S4(SHOOTING) S5(BUCK SITTING IN EDDIE'S MESS AND THEN IN THE S5 FINALE LITERALLY SAYING THAT HIS DEFINITION OF LOVE IS EDDIE LIKE HELLO!? AND THEN YOU WANT YOUR PARTNER TO HAVE YOUR BACK) S6 was kind of a let down but OMG THE POKER DATE AND THE DOMESTIC AND BUCK ONLY FALLING ASLEEP ON EDDIE'S COUCH!!

I'm sorry to go in all caps lock but this truly is the greatest queer slow burn of all time and S7 was just pushing that slowburn up like 9 megawatts with clear emphasis on storytelling it was just wild to me.

Although I do think that Tommy is going to get his heart broken which I think is inevitable. I honestly think he's being written as the third party that's gonna be the one to put the puzzle piece together of Buck and Eddie and actually vocalize it to Buck especially. I do like Tommy for the role he's playing(a safe space for buck to be able to explore a queer relationship for the first time and a mentor) but I do hope they can stay friends after they break up.

Final point that last Buddie was scene was such beautiful foreshadowing, it feels like the show is repeating S5 steps if that makes sense i think it's cause i binged the show in days so S5 is fresh in my mind and the set up from the finale screams S5 redux with Eddie being in a much lower place and now Buck having to basically play the role he did in S5 except now Buck and Eddie have to realize and define what their relationship is without using Chris as a safety net between them.

Sorry this got so long but yeah this is what a full binge will do for you and I hope you're having a wonderful day.

Not to be mean, but you should post this on your own blog, where you’d actually get people to engage with you. I’m not the audience for this. I do not subscribe to a lot of this and I detest the concept of a “mentor” in this context. Sorry if this is unnecessarily harsh but you should make your own post instead of this.

[adolin-is-best-boy]

ranking four queer stranger things ships on how likely i think they are to become cannon!

Ships in question: ronance, byler, jargyle, steddie

from least likely to most likely

note: i’m more focusing on the thematic and meta stuff to determine whether it gonna happen or not

4. Jargyle

i mean, it’s cute, but there is very little evidence for this happening. the only reason i could see the writers doing it would be to give jonathan another love interest after a likely jancy breakup. I mean, neither of them seem the most straight to me, but not in a way that makes it seem that their relationship could be anything more than platonic. besides, if half of the ships on this list end up being canon, when you add it to the other canon ships, then adding jargyle would really make it a bit cramped in the romance department

3. Ronance

the chemistry is there! nancy and robin are looking at eachother in those posters, the same way all the other (basically) canon ships are. it might be a thing relating to getting the other person unvecna’d, but then it’s kinda weird that jopper is doing it. also, i feel like nancy being queer could also lead to some actual sibling bonding with you-know-who. good vibes here all around, plus it’s one of my favorite w/w ships ever!

however, there are some things that make me less sure it’ll happen. first of all, vickie. the only reasons i see robin and vickie not happening is A. vickie dies (lame), or B. vickie doesn’t like girls (unlikely). from the way it’s been building up it’s nigh impossible some sort of romantic confrontation (or something like that) between them won’t happen, and it would be kinda weird if it was built of that robin liked vickie only for her to end up with nancy, unless vickie dies, which would be not very cool (but i could see happening in vol 2).

second of all, i have a feeling nancy is gonna die, if not in vol2 then in season 5. but that’s an entire other post, so i won’t say much else. i’d really like this ship to happen, but i won’t be surprised if it doesn’t.

2. Steddie (bisexual steve)

steddie just makes sense for a lot of reasons! steve having an arc where he realizes he’s bisexual has been set up SO well, it works perfectly with his character, it would be a shame if it were wasted. eddie is heavily gay/queer coded, making it perfect for steve to realize things about himself. plus, it would be perfect for the kids to have someone they already look up to be queer, and make them more comfortable with themselves. im about 75% sure that steve is bisexual.

the only problem here is that eddie has some massive death flags in vol2. i really don’t want this to happen, but i can’t ignore the signs. but if he DOES survive vol2, then i believe it’s extremely likely we’ll get steddie in s5. if he doesn’t live, then it’s possible that steve could end up with jonathan, bc of the likely jancy breakup and the fact that it would be poor writing if stancy got back together. i think we’ll for sure see some queer steve stuff in s5.

1. Byler

it’s happening 100%. i have never been this confident in a queer ship (or any ship for that matter) before. i am so confident in byler happening that i am going to schedule a post on july 1st celebrating it. there is no doubt in my mind. too me it’s so obvious it’s happening that i feel like it’s redundant to explain to anybody who’s seen the show why. there are so many reasons (both external and internal) why byler is going to happen that im not even going to list them, just watch the show.

the question is not IF byler is happening, but WHEN byler is happening. In my opinion it would be better if they are established by the end of vol2, not only to haze out the homophobes early, but to give the relationship time to grow so we can see them as a fully fledged couple in s5 before it ends. there are other reasons, but those are the main ones. however i could also see the writers not having them get together yet, and only confirm that they both have feelings for eachother so they can get together early/mid s5 and we can watch them navigate a new relationship and what it means.

———

okay im done, let me know what y’all think

Edit: I fucking hate it here

Edit 2: never mind im gaining hope again

[hawkinsgsa]

okay okay . alright some real thoughts under the cut:

general: 

- i DID really like a lot of vol2?? like it was such an immersive and intense watch and the last episode was a fucking roller coaster of tears, some of the thing they did like the gate splitting through hawkins and the ways they figured out how to have them all team up at the end just not physically was really creative?? they way they edited it together was just fucking SPECTACULAR too - does feel a little rushed when you think about it probably because of all that separation.... like the two days later are you kidding me what the fuck HAPPENED i have so many questions...... how did they get out of the upside down did they go through the big gate or back to eddie’s trailer, did they find his body, how did they REACT...  - honestly lowkey disappointed with the “deaths” they teased like... of course i don’t want a lot of them to die either but when you ONLY have the guts to kill off new characters it gets so... predictable, and the stakes feel less intense.... they need more courage to kill members of the main group for good or else the stakes are gonna feel nonexistent in s5  - so fucking glad they’re all back together now though, i really hope it stays that way for s5 i miss the party with all my heart

robin:

- MY BELOVEDDDD i don’t really have any problems with her in these episodes honestly i just love her so much DHDSSD - her and vickie have... potential, i like the potential a lot, however i’ll like it a lot more if they let vickie into the group in season 5, let her be an actual character and form a real connection/chemistry with robin, she deserves a real romance not just an afterthought for rep points ( love that she’s someone robin can find solace in relating to tho !!! ) - i’ll make a separate post to really talk about this but the only things i think i Really Need To Address that they didn’t is her reaction to eddie’s death and almost dying in the upside down

will:

- oooh boy . okay . Okay - will my absolute beloved you’ve done nothing wrong ever and i love you so much - slightly controversial take maybe but i?? really like his scene talking to mike in the van actually.... not a fan of when people use “it’s the 80′s” as an excuse for why they can’t be gay, but you really do have to remember that......... it’s the 80′s, if he’s going to talk about his feelings ( which i wanted to see ), he’s NOT in a place where he’s able to outright say it yet... he admitted he feels like a mistake, hell the only people i think he could manage really admitting it to right now are jonathan and joyce......... letting his emotions out under the guise of talking about el, holding onto the smallest sliver of a chance to say it even though it just makes him feel even more isolated... idk something about that just Gets Me - although, what i do NOT appreciate is him and his queerness only being used to further develop a het ship... this could and Should have been made up for with a longer talk with jonathan, one where will actually gets to sort through his feelings a little without constantly centering them around someone else ( i also think there should’ve been more conversations with him and mike like that, Not just surrounding el, plus i don’t think mike Noticed will trying to hide his crying... if he Did, he would’ve acted on his concern, i accept nothing else ) - OH I ALMOST FORGOT i don’t think the painting was el’s idea... why would she comment on him acting weirdly and not showing him what he’s painting in her letter if it was, i do think it’s something will would SAY to hide the fact that it was his idea but whether or not that’s true, that is the case for my portrayal, it was all him - will’s connection with vecna is... really interesting, i want to explore that more, and NOT just in a “sensing him” way, either.... will needs to be INVOLVED again, he’s directly connected to the upside down, i want him part of the confrontations or even especially targeted by vecna.. absolutely here to explore this in rp  - overall while i understand that he does not have to and probably Won’t outright “come out” and have a relationship, i do think he deserves better treatment by addressing BOTH the trauma he carries and his sexuality in some way, without just pushing him to the side or using him to serve other characters

[carolinesiede]

My 2019 Writing Roundup

Not to get too New Age-y, but 2019 felt like a very ~transformative~ year for me. I turned 30, got a literary agent, and became a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association. After feeling like I’d hit a plateau in my late 20s, it was nice to experience a sense of forward momentum again, even if the lack of financial stability in this career is a constant background stress. Still, on the whole my sixth year as a full-time freelancer felt like a time where I kinda, sorta figured out what I’m doing. Instead of struggling in murky waters, I’m at least actively swimming in them.

I continued to write for The A.V. Club, The Spool, and Consequence of Sound, plus took on new outlets in The Verge and Polygon. I also had an article about romantic comedies published in Southwest Airline’s in-flight magazine and was asked to talk about Hallmark Channel Christmas rom-coms on Canadian radio. Speaking of rom-coms, 2019 was the second year (and first full-year) for When Romance Met Comedy, and I feel like the column really came into its own this year. It’s by far the biggest undertaking of my career (I’ve covered 47 films in total so far!), and I’m really excited to continue shaping its voice in 2020.

Beyond finding a regular fitness routine and seeing Cats onstage for the first time, the biggest personal project I undertook in 2019 was immersing myself in the world of film and film criticism—something I started in mid-2018 and really amped up this year. My goal was to watch 300 new-to-me movies this year, and I wound up watching 355! (Including 129 new releases.) Regular access to CFCA screenings and screeners allowed me to be a bigger part of the film critic conversation than I’ve been in the past, which was exciting. I also tackled a bunch of blindspots from the past decade and put together a list of my 50 favorite films of the 2010s, which you can see right here:

Over on the TV side of things, I bid farewell to the Netflix Defenders universe with binge-review coverage of the final seasons of The Punisher and Jessica Jones. Those Marvel binge-reviews were a big part of my early career, so seeing that universe come to a close was bittersweet. It’s always nerve-wracking when a semi-regular assignment ends, but I’m hopeful that new projects will pop up to take its place.

Putting together this year-end retrospective also made me realize I was on a lot of podcasts in 2019, including jumping in as a regular guest on the Cinematic Universe podcast in the latter half of the year. Podcasting is something I really enjoy (I find talking so much easier than writing!), and I’d love to do more of it in the future.

With that, I’ll leave you with wishes for a Happy New Year and a roundup of all the major writing I did in 2019. If you enjoyed my work this year, it would mean a lot if you would support me on either Kofi or PayPal. Or just share some of your favorite pieces with your friends!

My 15 favorite TV shows of 2019

My 15 favorite films of 2019

Op-eds and Features

“Rom-Com Revival” for Southwest The Magazine

Avengers: Endgame doesn’t earn its big “girl power” moment

An MCU breakup could be a terrific step forward for Spider-Man

“What is a weekend?”: A catch-up guide to Downton Abbey’s cast and characters

Nope, seeing Cats the musical will not help you understand Cats the movie

Let’s talk about the ending of Greta Gerwig’s Little Women

TV Coverage

Doctor Who’s 2019 New Year’s Special

The Punisher S2

Jessica Jones S3

The Crown S3

This Is Us S3 and S4

Supergirl S4 and S5

Rent: Live

Jane The Virgin fill-in

The Tony Awards

The Little Mermaid Live! 

When Romance Met Comedy

27 Dresses doesn’t deserve your hate and neither does Katherine Heigl

Bride & Prejudice weaves an impressive cultural critique into a Bollywood-inspired Jane Austen update

How does the original What Women Want hold up two decades later?

In 1990, Pretty Woman changed romantic comedies forever

For one brief, wonderful moment, Eddie Murphy reinvented himself as a romantic-comedy star

20 years later, 10 Things I Hate About You remains a model for how to do the teen rom-com right

Lloyd Dobler is Cameron Crowe’s original manic pixie dream date

We're just not that into He’s Just Not That Into You

Romance is the weakest aspect of one of the most celebrated rom-coms of the ’90s

To All The Boys and Netflix reminded the world why it’s smitten with rom-coms

Imagine Me & You gives a lesbian love story the classic rom-com treatment

Queer resilience thrives in this rom-com about love in the time of the AIDS crisis

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is bubbly and smart, just like Marilyn Monroe

The Best Man capped off one decade of black rom-coms and inspired another

Nicolas Cage romanced Cher in one of the weirdest rom-coms ever made

After a decade of discourse, (500) Days Of Summer is basically the Fight Club of rom-coms

It’s No Strings Attached versus Friends With Benefits in a rom-com showdown

Adam Sandler’s sweetness makes The Wedding Singer a rom-com worth growing old with

The Philadelphia Story delivered one of the most star-studded love triangles ever

13 Going On 30 made Jennifer Garner a rom-com star—and gave tween girls a sleepover staple

Celebrate Halloween with Warm Bodies, the film that tried to make zom-rom-coms a thing

In the 2010s, rom-coms went indie and saved themselves in the process

Sandra Bullock became a rom-com star with a cozy love story about crushing loneliness

With just two storylines, The Holiday paid tribute to the entire rom-com genre

The A.V. Club

The maudlin Five Feet Apart anoints a new pair of winning young stars

After thinks it’s beautiful, that’s what makes it tiresome

Teen Spirit has plenty of it

Ramy is a Muslim millennial comedy with impressively big questions on its mind

Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson’s new comedy The Hustle pulls an inelegant con

The Sun Is Also A Star turns a compelling premise into a lackluster teen romance

The Art Of Racing In The Rain is a doggone mess

You don’t need to love Springsteen to like the thoughtful crowd-pleaser Blinded By The Light

The well-meaning Brittany Runs A Marathon can’t quite go the distance

Renée Zellweger zings in a Judy Garland biopic that clangs

The Downton Abbey movie is as pleasant as a cozy cup of tea

Tall Girl’s familiar teen love story fails to reach new heights

The new Lady And The Tramp feels like a ’90s update of a ’50s classic

The Verge/Polygon

Tigers Are Not Afraid puts a Pan’s Labyrinth spin on a poignant Mexican drug war story

The gloriously surreal space epic Ad Astra is half a great movie

An AI affair fuels a midlife crisis in the eerie science fiction drama Auggie

The painfully generic new animated Addams Family deserves no snaps

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is boldly bonkers

Netflix’s apocalyptic teen comedy Daybreak is an exhausting sugar rush

The Current War is basically Amadeus for electricity

Is Playmobil: The Movie just a reskinned Lego Movie?

The Spool

The LEGO Movie 2: Everything is About Half as Awesome

Isn’t It Romantic: An Instant Postmodern Rom-Com Classic

The Aftermath: Sumptuous but Surface-Level Melodrama

Late Night: A Sparkling Comedy With a Lot On Its Mind

Plus One: An Indie Millennial When Harry Met Sally

The Farewell is A Poignantly Funny Goodbye

Where’d You Go, Bernadette: A whimsical mid-life crisis

After the Wedding: A grown-up drama that doesn’t trust its own story

Falling Inn Love: Love, New Zealand Style

Paradise Hills: Harajuku Gossip Girls

Consequence of Sound

Brexit Takes An Engaging But Ultimately Shallow Look At the 2016 Vote

What Men Want Flips the Script and Finds Mixed Results

Dumbo Delights Without Ever Fully Taking Flight

Someone Great Continues Netflix’s Romantic Comedy Revival

Aladdin Has the Animated Classic’s Songs, But Less of Its Personality

MindMeet Interviews

Nadine Hack and Global Citizens Circle: Creating Connectedness

Podcast Appearances

Filmography: When Harry Met Sally

Filmography: Tim Burton’s mature films (Ed Wood, Sweeney Todd, Big Fish, Big Eyes)

Debating Doctor Who MCU Edition: Avengers: Endgame

Cinematic Universe: Alita: Battle Angel

Hall of Faces: Friends

Cinematic Universe: Joker

Hall of Faces: The West Wing

CBC Radio: Hallmark Christmas movies

Cinematic Universe: The Wolverine

Cinematic Universe: Awards Special—The Cuppies 2019 (Part One)

And here are similar year-end wrap-ups I did in 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, and 2013.

[bottoms-movie]

i think you're valid for wanting coming out scenes for gay characters. especially ones that are obviously queer coded. at the same time i feel like the duffer brothers kinda did a decent compromise with will. for one it's the 80s & being gay was 10x scarier than it is now. for two we got Robins amazing coming out scenes with Steve. i also wish ppl would hire like. consultants for script writing so they'd stop accidentally queer coding characters. so eddie would've never come off as gay. steve never came off bi. still the same charming guys just not queer coded

i literally had this typed all out and then tumblr brought up a random notif and exited this out so hopefully i can get my words to work again fjskks

okay i totally understand what you’re saying, i mean atp will is basically as canonically gay you can get without him saying “i’m gay.” i just still wish we didn’t have to compromise when it comes to queer characters. but my feelings on this might also change depending on if will comes out in s5 and how s5 actually treats will.

in relation to eddie being queer coded (imo, gay), i don’t really see how it could be accidental tbh. i mean i could see how the whole “freak” thing going over their heads, but the whole scene with eddie and robin where eddie goes “hunt the freak, right?” and robin goes “exactly,” that feels intentional. also the hanky code?? that was mainly used by queer men so ?? idk

in relation to steve, i honestly don’t think he is really bi coded (but if other people have a diff opinion, please lmk!!). i mean he exudes bi energy and i hc him as bi but i haven’t noticed much of him being bi coded, except maybe in relation to eddie just bc of their looks fjskkak, but i also think keery and quinn just have amazing chemistry that leads to people reading their relationship a certain way. don’t get me wrong, i totally ship them, i just don’t necessarily think they bi coded steve if that makes sense?

idk i also just want will to be happy and i also want everyone to be gay so i may be biased fjskks. pls let me know your opinions if y’all have diff ones!! (just as long as they’re not rude 😭😭)

[heterosexistly]

wait i’m seeing so much about an eddie queer awakening and is that like confirmed? bc it would make a lot of sense with the story but i can’t tell if it’s a theory or if it’s known for a fact that it’s gonna happen

pls i have to know how much i should get my hopes up

hello!

It is not a known fact but I wouldn't say it's out of the realm of possibility. Based on what they've shown us so far, queer Eddie makes a lot of sense, and not only because of his arc in s5 (though s5 is the loudest).

I understand not wanting to get your hopes up, though I do think 911 is a bit different from other media I've watched where I've suspected characters were queer and they weren't.

we all just have to sit back and wait for now