#if you ship byler that’s fine too

[wastelandroses]

Even though I’m a multishipper most of the time, I wouldn’t be fine if MiIeven was canon after the events of ST4, vol. 2 more specifically, and how the love triangle was handled overall. The sentence “I don’t care which one will be canon as long as all of them are happy” has been very common around circles that love both couples, MiIeven and Byler, but I can’t bring myself to agree.

I wouldn’t be fine if MiIeven was endgame after Will’s feelings were used as a prop to mend it. El should have herself told Mike how greatly she feels about him, or Will shouldn’t have to urge Mike to say “I love you” if the relationship was to be fixed. (However, I think they are doing this for a reason, but this is beside the point.)

Will is a gay boy in the 80’s, lives in a small conservative town that already hates his family. On top of that, he is terrified of coming out. Amongst everything else he has gone through, he does not need a storyline where his romantic love for his childhood best friend is neglected, turned into a plot device in favor of restoring a hetero relationship.

If they wanted to make Byler as an example of a tragic unrequited love, there are other ways to do it that doesn’t reek homophobia (and queerbait). The love triangle is not just a mindless fandom battle between who is better for Mike (or who he “actually loves”) like any other heterosexual love triangle in media. There is a difference between the two outcomes. One of them being filled with homophobic and disgusting writing choices that led to cause more unnecessary pain and trauma for a queer character and the other is a hopeful, refreshing ending along with another step forward in queer representation that the mainstream media lacks.

insp.

[rosesradio]

any talk of byler in the subreddit is wild it’s like--

what’s your opinion on byler?

reddituser01: not gonna happen, mike’s straight.

a byler shipper, replying: well, actually if you look at subtext from (x) song and the lines said with this tone in (x) scene, it could indicate--

reddituser01: but. mike straight. :(

[maddy-ferguson]

c'mon i hate those takes lmao. that's partly why ppl think we are delusional when we mention about the love triangle imagery or parallels. not that i 'care' about when others say but it is just annoying when we talk about the context of the show and the imagery, and ppl just dismiss them because they think they are nonsense, and trying to find some 'parallels' or 'clues' in stddie and comparing it to byler makes byler seem like a ship that has no actual content whatever, because it is being put in the same position as other fanon ships even though it is vastly different.

it's sooo annoying i like a good fanon gay ship and a good queer hc that will never be canon but it's so irritating to see people act like they're anything alike when they're really not...even in the first seasons when they would've been considered a fanon ship with no chance of being canon byler had a crazy amount of subtext, which i'll admit is difficult to achieve when characters barely know each other/when one character dies and the other one doesn't even mention it and is instead busy feeling sorry for himself when his ex girlfriend reunites with her boyfriend of a year and a half etc

but obviously as soon as a ship is gay it's seen as a baseless fanon ship👍 so i think people would've thought we were delusional either way lol

[0daylighthours0]

A Deep Dive into Milkvan and Byler's Development: If Milkvan Was Endgame All Along, Why Was it Written Like This???

SO. I've been rewatching st with my mother, who's never seen it before. And she was a fan of milkvan throughout seasons 1 and 2. Viewing those seasons again I could see why, they're cute. However, come season 3 and INSTANT distaste. And, listen, my mother is not the consciously shipping gal. She simply routes for main character pairings as writers intend, doesn't read between the lines, doesn't nothing. And she does NOT know my own opinions on the pairing. In other words, completely unbiased, uninternet drama influenced eyes. We've now reached season 3 and, after getting through a chunk of it, I asked her,

"so what do you think of Mike and El?"

and she expressed to me that they seem to be, quote:

"not very good together."

She said El's character doesn't suit the way she's acting now (in the first few episodes, concerning Mike), that Mike is more likeable and interesting when he's away from her. She doesn't like the way they ditched the party, and when it comes to their 'making out' the scenes are seen by her from Hopper's perspective (in other words, distasteful). She claimed that they'd be much better characters as friends.

And ya know what, she's right. And I mean like - duh, that's what we've been saying all this time, I'm not stating anything new here. But guys, wouldn't it be strange if the central couple of the show, pivotal that it is liked by audiences and is rooted for by them as they are THE pair, would be so dislikable like this? So uninteresting, so cliche.

I mean, okay, let's do a little mental experiment I like to do to test if I'm not just acting delulu. Let's play a game. In this game, milkvan ARE meant to be endgame. They are in love, they were all along, and they're here to draw in viewers and appease all El stans. Now, seasons 1 and 2 their relationship is honestly fine. Surface level, yeah, people will watch and appreciate them. They perfectly blend in with all the other neat pairings of the seasons, and have their own unique character traits to stand out as a main couple.

Just pretending our mate Will doesn't exist, we now get into season 3. Now, writers have nothing to lose here. If you've finished season 2, you probably like milkvan already. The issue is that they're already together now, so what's the conflict going to be? The arc? And every central couple needs that conflict to stay juicy.

Just take a look:

Jancy: quarrels, struggle to understand one another

Jopper: not yet together, one sided? will they won't they

Lumax: ...

Lumax? Lumax. Huh, guess they were simply together. Some loveable bickering, maintained a friendly dynamic while clearly in closer proximity. Well then, writers can do the same for milkvan right? Well, yes easily. But one might argue that since they are supposed to be THE pairing they need more going on between them than that. So what'll it be? Well, it seems that writers thought,

"hey, why not break them up?"

ok so.. that's a bit risky. I mean you want people to like this ship, if you break them up then that threats: 1. there being a disliking to one or both characters, 2. coming off generic if done incorrectly, 3. the break up might make no sense considering how in love they came off as just a season ago. But hey.. it could work, if done right. Some kind of misunderstanding, similar to Jancy. Maybe an argument leading to a sudden parting. I mean, yeah, Yeah! I can see that. Perhaps Mike is being too overprotective whilst El's trying to sacrifice herself for something, so she NEEDS to separate herself from him attempting to hurt him less. Or, I dunno, something akin. What's crucial is that us, AS THE AUDIENCE, still know them to be deeply in love. I mean, we have to still want them to be together. And we've seen couple trouble before. Just take a look at Lumax season 4 - did you or did you not want the best for both of them as a pair? You most likely did. See, it's doable. So did people like milkvan season 3 the same way, even after a separation plot? No.

Okay well, there are obviously those who'll always love milkvan no matter but, see, season 3 tainted it. "We need to write them like this cause it's more realistic to teenager behavior" my ars. You can make it messy without making it icky. Not only did it sour their unique dynamic, it flabbergastingly stomped on Mike as a character.

Honestly, I feel Mike has always been a mild struggle to write. Season 1 his motivations were 'find Will' (who still doesn't exist in our mind game yet shh) and 'protect El'. This worked well for him. Afterwards though, El and Will became more separate plots to him. But as a main character it remained integral that he be closely linked to them somehow. This sets him apart from Lucas and Dustin, who can easily be given any arc any season as their plots have the flexibility of a side quest nature. Since what Mike does is meant to matter more - with there probably being a better way of phrasing that but you know what I mean - it's harder knowing what he'll do when El and Will (who we'll GET to sh.) are their own separate people. And Mike is just a boy, he doesn't have super powers and he isn't a cop, which leaves there even less for him to do which is of significance. Season 2 writers decided upon having him support Will's arc, making himself of enough relevance by being able to take credit for some Will development in the story, and the plots that surrounded that, and then Mike was thrown a little bone by being the one to come up with the idea of burning those vines in the finale.

Truthfully, you don't really remember Mike's deeds much when reminiscing the series. It isn't like Dustin who's bond with Dart sticks to everyone, or Nancy and Jonathan responsible for kicking out Hawkins Lab. This is due to them, again, being able to traverse all sorts of adventures without limits. But my guy Mike can't do dat. Sadly, this kind of leads to him coming of as a little.. well... insignificant. And I know I know, the Mike truthers are gonna come at my throat. And hey! I love him too. I only want the best for my boy.

This makes season 3 a unique case cause it seems that, for the plot they decided they wanted, writers actually had to almost entirely change his character. I mean mate s2 Mike and s3 Mike are two different peoples, don't even. And I don't believe that the Duffers had their story and character turnouts completely drawn out from the very start at all. If I was to guess, I'd assume they have vague ideas of little plots they plan to include in future, but there is definitely a lot that has come unpredicted or changed throughout st's runtime. And one of those phenomenons are Michael Wheeler. So they decided to make this guy a di-

So they decided to make him more douchy, more movie typical teenage guy. It's not as if he wholly sucked, he didn't, but he didn't really do much. Whined about his girlfriend, separated the party. I mean what even was his arc? (UnLESS–)

You see, if milkvan is written to be loved, then season 3 was strike one. All of its charm was stripped away. It seems they had some cute scenes after their reconciliation, but it's not enough. It's just sort of

"oh, ok, so they're happy with eachother now. yayy."

and Stranger Things should want to be anything but boring. Sure they often enjoy indulging in tropes, but they always do something different with them. Something standoutish. And from this point on milkvan just got dull. Either writers ran out of ideas or lost interest, honestly (still with our mind game of telling ourselves they're meant to be).

But it's okay. Look, so season 3 was a bit rocky, maybe lost a couple of fans for the guys, but it is salvageable. Easily, easily. Looks like we want a plot of Mike struggling to tell El he loves her. Great! Much to work with.

So let's get into it. Season 4! Choices were... made. And, okay, now we can't go any further without bringing in our boy Will.

Mike is intrinsically tied to Will and El and has been from the start. Maybe Will was more of an accident. Maybe s1 Will was just a plot device for Mike, then s2 Will was a plot device again and Mike needed to be there as the main boy character. Come season 3 and it seems their relationship still matters. Will was sidelined - hard - so most of Mike's moments revolved around El. But as his bond with Mike is the only that's been properly built up, that's the only friend we'll get him interacting with in a way that matters. So the Mike and Will tie continues!

But that does not have to be the case for season 4. Now the writers have a chance.

They made Will gay.

Ok so.. ok so yeah that's fine. Yeah! I mean they didn't have to do that, might put them in hot water with the bylers since milkvan is their golden beauty but.. you know what no no that's okay. He's been hinted at being queer since episode 1, why not make it canon! Cool that works. Explore that, especially since we now have Vecna who can easily target Will for this. Give him a boyfriend! Or a guy crush. He's at a new school now? That's cool. Maybe we can explore some new male character Will's taken interest in. Hey maybe he meets someone who interests him which rises to surface his whole sexuality plot and-

he's in love with Mike.

Ok. No. No. What are you doing? What do you mean?? You didn't have to do that. Strike- strike EFING TWO mates! Strike. 👏 efing. 👏 2!

This was part 1. I am tired and gots to get my ars in bed. But ohohoh, do not worry. I am just getting started.

[crxzytogether]

Lol I wanna address this even tho nobody asked because I’m mad. Like ship whoever you want as yk this person said but leave it out of our tag-💀 my problems more with the fact that they tagged byler for this post than what they said but yk since they tagged us might as well respond.

Firstly, “ideas planted by your community”? Huh? Girl what- you mean our evidence? You mean our analysis and perceptions and ability to interpret what we’re watching beyond surface level? And honestly after season 4 even surface level melodramas not looking too good- Secondly, what harsh truths were brought up? The lies? Your perception of montauk? which idk sounds a lot like mike and wills relationship to me but to each their own… “they’ve been together since pretty much day one”, “they have a deep connection”, “four seasons of character development”?? Do I even need to explain? Who’s been together since day one? Right mike and will, in the beginning of episode 1 before any of the upside down shit even happens we’re shown that their relationship is different from their relationship with the other party members. A fact that’s proven time and time again throughout season 1 where we see how much more Mike is affected by Will’s disappearance(not tryna negate everybody else’s feelings or reactions but it’s clear that we’re supposed to notice Mike cares slightly more or in a different way). As for the deep connections? Season 2 shed scene ring a bell, the first one of Mike’s monologue that’s an attempt to help someone he cares about that actually works and is completely honest, deep connection boom. And that connections emphasized again in s4 with Will being able to encourage Mike and make him feel better and we already know why it’s special on Will’s side and their whole plot-line that season. Next, “four seasons of character development” im sorry what?, season 1 and season 3 maybe are the only seasons I’d consider they had that meanwhile season 4 I’d say they had character regression because tell me how Mike goes from being able to comfort El about her feeling like she’s a monster but then does a 180 not only unable to comfort her but also make her feel worse-(I’m talking about she didn’t look fine in case you didn’t catch that). Back to s1/s3, s1 where they were friends for the most part is the healthiest their relationship has ever been the entire show- like���😭it literally just goes downhill from there. Season 2/season 3 their codependency I’m- and season 4 El feeling like she has to lie to Mike about her life and Mike unable to comfort her and also hiding his own interests from her. Like sure the bullying thing I get why she’d hide that maybe not really but El lies about so many things😭😭 she feels like she has to lie to keep up the relationship. THAT 👏 IS 👏 NOT 👏 HEALTHY 👏. Like maybe after they’ve both grown separately I’d consider it but as of now? No sir. Also let me remind you how El confronted Angela and asked her to help El keep up the pretence- SHE STILL DIDN’T FEEL SAFE OR COMFORTABLE ENOUGH TELL MIKE THE TRUTH. That’s not healthy for either of them. My byler agenda aside I still don’t think Mike and El should be together. Lastly, “the fact that Mileven IS endgame”, again I’m sorry what? Have you watched season 5? Have you read the scripts or been on set or talked to anybody working on st5 or work on st5 yourself? No? So then how is that a fact- it’s a prediction, an assumption but it’s not a fact. If after season 5 comes out and it did end up becoming true then you could use that phrase but as of now when you have no idea how season 5 is gonna go you can’t call that a fact. Also rip how are you so confident when Mike and Will are literally attached at the hip so far from what we have seen besides the rooftop convo and if that is enough to convince you then yikes- bc we’ve got like 10 of those to convince us so good luck watching season 5 and have a good day ig

[dukeofdelirium]

I was inclined to believe Nick before that post, but his response indeed reads like he took advantage of the byler community back in the day only to come back 2 years later and not only confirm he was just using our hype, but also lowkey call us illiterate and delusional. Biggest red flag ever.

Yup, that’s what I’m saying. He took advantage of ppl bc he saw the buzz of the ship community, he got what he wanted and then dipped when the writers exposed is lying ass on socials. Now he sounds like he’s batting for mileven for multiple reasons, one being that he probably figures he can’t scam bylers anymore since most are wary of him for good reason. And two, he might try to scam milevens this time around lol. Especially with how desperate they’ve been for any news, it wouldn’t shock me if he tries to do something like that. Which would be awful. As much as I don’t like the ship or most of the shippers, no one deserves to get scammed.

Ppl are too damn gullible. Don’t trust random ppl online who claim they have sources or know stuff. No matter how you dice it, this 8flix guy is a fraud. He was lying then or he’s lying now. And regardless of when you think he was lying, at the end of the day, he’s a thief.

Seriously guys, don’t give some asshole your hard earned money for crumbs of info that are very likely not true. It’s fine to speculate. It’s fine to theorize. It’s all in good fun. But it stops being fun when someone starts asking people for pay outs. It starts being a concern the second people start getting stolen from

[booksandpaperss]

idk who exactly on this tag needs to hear this but it’s definitely a lot of you:

it is perfectly okay for a fanfic writer to have Mike and Will having physical and sexual thoughts about each other. They are teenagers and it completely normal for allosexual and even acespec teenagers to have sexual thoughts about the person or people they like. Yes adult fanfic writers can do this too it’s literally not weird as long as it’s written respectfully and accurately, and I’m actually so fucking tired of all this discourse that is so clearly rooted in people feeling uncomfortable with two boys being sexually attracted to each other, or even queer teenagers in general having sexual thoughts about each other.

I do think it’s weird to write explicit sex scenes between minors and especially in this case when these characters are represented by real people with real bodies who were minors while filming the vast majority of the show, but honestly anything suggestive between two 14/15 year olds and up that’s not explicit and/or sexualized is normal. And before any of you come at me saying I’m sexualizing minors, you can fuck right off bc I am 17 and I am sick and tired of teenagers and especially queer teenagers being shamed for sexual thoughts that are perfectly normal.

I understand if you personally are not comfortable reading and writing anything suggestive, that is fine bc I have a solution for you! Wanna guess what it is??

Just. Don’t. Read it.

If it’s content u don’t like, simply don’t interact!!! No one is forcing you to read or write anything that you don’t want to, so simply don’t. It’s that easy 😱

I will say though, that if reading an even vaguely suggestive thought in a byler fic makes you extremely uncomfortable, maybe you should take a moment to ask yourself why that is. Bc love between teenagers is not all fluffy and pure and innocent, and its honestly way weirder to have that ideal than to write teens having sexual thoughts, so maybe do some self reflection. If you’re ace and suggestive content in general makes u feel weird then that’s different, but if that’s not the case then if you’re allo and u still feel this way… idk just take a moment to check and see if you’re internalizing anything before complaining about it and spreading legitimately harmful discourse.

So, to recap:

-it’s normal for teenagers to have suggestive thoughts about each other and it’s normal to write it

-writing teenagers having sexual thoughts and making out with each other is not sexualizing, fellow queer ppl who think this literally why do u hate ur community so much 😑

-anything short of an explicit smut scene between minors is fine as long as it’s done accurately and respectfully

-it is still weird to write explicit smut in the byler fandom specifically (and any other ship between teens in ST) just bc you’d be describing the bodies of real people that were minors until very recently with actors who have stated that they’re not comfortable being sexualized like that, but first and foremost…

-…if something makes you uncomfortable or you don’t like it, simply don’t interact

-stop shaming queer teenagers for being physically attracted to each other, and stop idealizing teenage queer love as something completely pure and innocent, if you’re going to do that, please keep it to yourself

If after reading this post you 1). want to block me bc you think this whole post was sexualization or 2). plan to use this argument as an excuse to actually sexualize minors and write hardcore explicit smut between them, block me. Weird reformed purity culture is not welcome on my blog and neither are people who enjoy sexualizing minors. Fuck you ❤️

[will80sbyers]

i always think about the difference in the ways mike confronts el and will about their problems

and im not talking about how he biked across hawkins in pouring rain to say sorry to will as opposed to complaining with lucas and burping about el

but how he treats will like an equal and el above him

with will it’s “i think it’s better if we’re a team” and “it’s up to us again” “it always is isn’t it” also with will excluding mike in his talk with jonathan talking about everyone treating him like a baby

how will says that mike makes him feel better about being different, how mike’s love is JUST what he needs

but with el it’s “they’re nothing! and you’re a superhero” “at least lois lane was an ace reporter for the daily planet” “it’s not fate, it’s just simple dumb luck”.

it’s “she didn’t look fine” and “you think i’m a monster too. yesterday. the way you looked at me”

if this isn’t enough to know what’s going on here, idk what is

Yeah exactly, imo the writers are presenting Mike & Will as a couple in a partnership way more than how they presented Mike and El, El is always on her own journey while Mike and Will are working together like all the other ships that actually work: Jancy, Lumax, Jopper

Season 1 was the only season where Mike and El worked together for a bit but not even that much honestly, then in season 3 they had some scenes but it was mostly the whole group like in season 1 🥴

Instead we have byler in season 2 where Mike and Will are together in the same storyline of the hospital, season 3 they work on a team but Will and Mike still have their alone moments too that parallel Mlv and season 4 it's again Mike and Will together for the majority of the time...

In season 5 they HAVE to have part of a storyline like the others where it's just them at one point because they have to "be a team" or simply because of the "we will" that Mike says to Will!!!

[olderthannetfic]

What is up with the Stranger Things fandom on tumblr?

A friend and I were speculating on if it was because its so many people's "babies first fandom" but going into the tag is an experience. I don't follow the tag but will occasionally check it out when I hear of new "leaks" or BTS stuff. Without failure every single time I check out the tag it is dominated by Byler 'enthusiasts' and Jamie Campbell Bower fanatics.

Its the only fandom where in recent years the show tag is chock full of ship arguments rather than source material chatter and such.

The two specific groups I mention also tend to use the main tag for stuff that really should belong in actor or ship tags. Bylers are in a league of their own with delusions and mixing show stuff with actors real life interactions - reminds me of c-drama fandoms. Harass people who disagree with them, or even if you don't but dare suggest that Mike is bi and actually cared about El and wasn't just gay repressing for Will the whole time.

Jamie Campbell Bower fans are seemingly split into 2 camps, Vecna fans and then fans who obsess over his daily life and speculate on the interactions between him and his partner. Personally I have been a fan of his since ~2011. However, stalker fans on tumblr are way too 'loud' these days - reminds me of the Cumberbatch stans. Vecna stuff is fine in the ST tag, the other not so much.

I know its a big fandom but are people just using other tags to discuss the show or have less enthusiastic fans been chased off by the dominant 'loud' group? (or have I just not blocked enough people to see what I am looking for)

--

[oncamelliastreet]

⋆｡‧˚ʚ ❀ hi!! i’m r, and i’d love to be friends ❀ ɞ˚‧｡⋆

here’s a little about me:

in general:

i am a minor, i’m fine with 18+ just don’t be…weird

i’m cis and my pronouns are she/her

i’m bi and somewhere on the ace spectrum (people are pretty but ew)

i’m an infp and a february aquarius

i’m obsessed with camellia flowers (and not because it’s a luke hemmings lyric, that was just a delightful coincidence)

tv & movies:

stranger things

fav character : max and mike

fav ship : byler

dead boy detectives

fav character : charles and jenny

fav ship : charles and edwin

ted lasso

fav character : colin and sam

fav ship : roy and keeley

heartbreak high

fav character : spider and any

fav ship : spider and missy

the bear

fav character : richie (cousin)

fav ship : i don’t really have one?

outer banks

fav character : jj

fav ship : jj and kiara

young royals

fav character: wille

fav ship: wille and simon

shadow and bone

fav character: nina

fav ship: nina and matthias

school spirits

fav character: wally

fav ship: maddie and wally

criminal minds

fav character : spencer

fav ship : jemily

sitcoms

new girl

parks & rec

the office

brooklyn 99

mcu

fav characters: bucky, wanda, loki

other fav movies

10 things i hate about you

the breakfast club

the bikeriders

grease

elvis

music:

5 seconds of summer (my favorite artist)

luke hemmings is my lane and also my favorite human ever :)

my fav album is youngblood, fav song is lie to me

luke hemmings

fav album is wfttwtaf (fav album of all time too), fav song is garden life

taylor swift

fav album is midnights, fav song is yoyok

reneé rapp

fav song is willow

chappell roan

fav song is naked in manhattan

one direction

fav album is four, fav song is what a feeling

harry styles

fav albums is harry’s house, fav song is lights up

louis tomlinson

fav album so fitf, fav song is angels fly

note: i am not a larry

niall horan

fav album is heartbreak weather, fav song is science

conan gray

fav album is superache, fav song is movies

olivia rodrigo

fav album is guts, fav song is teenage dream

sabrina carpenter

fav album is tied between short n sweet and eics, fav songs are vicious, juno, and exhale

ruel

fav album is 4th wall, fav song is lie

ashe

fav album is ashlyn, fav song is loose ends

maisie peters

fav album is the good witch, fav song is lost the breakup

madison beer

fav album is silence between songs, fav song is king of everything

florence + the machine

fav album is ceremonials, fav song is breaking down

paramore

fav album is after laughter, fav song is fake happy

i am also an enthusiast of 80s music :)

hobbies:

art:

i love to draw (graphite)

i dabble in watercolor

i do some digital art but nothing too complicated, mostly i just make wallpapers and turn albums into books

writing

nothing completed or posted anywhere because i procrastinate until i lose interest :)

reading

romance books mostly, my fav author is emily henry and my fav book series is once upon a broken heart

other fav books: six of crows duology, dance of thieves duology, abby jiminez’ most recent series (yours truly, part of your world, just for the summer), i’ll give you the sun, all our broken pieces, i’ve read most fluffy gay romances (red white and royal blue, boyfriend material, her royal highness,

⋆｡‧˚ʚ ❀ and that’s all!! i’d love to be friends, feel free to message me anytime! ❀ ɞ˚‧｡⋆

[miwiromantics]

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄ welcome to my weird space ⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

i forgot to add an intro post so here we are,

(my old account was @/ronance-and-reddie)

my name is vii or virna. im bi and genderfluid (actually at this point idk). pronouns: she/he/they

i'm a beginner artist but i don't really post my art here frequently. i do a lot of stranger things fanart but if there is any other fanart that anyone wants me to do, you can suggest them. I also make character moodboards (i'm addicted) so suggestions there too <3

i ship byler, jancy, ronance, stonathan, jargyle, rovikie, lumax, duzie, steddie and jopper. im a shameless wheeler siblings apologist and a jonathan byers stan (I love that man to bits). bi mike truther and nancy wheeler defender until the day i rot.

Other ships include: peraltiago, reddie, boreo, benverly, stenbrough, telenor, chelenor, blitzo x stolas, millie x moxxie, huskerdust, chaggie. lila x deigo, sloane x luther, five x delores.

DNI: - terfs - homophobes - ableists - zionists - antisemitic people - toxic m*levens - toxic st*ncy shippers

if you ship m*leven or st*ncy and want to interact or ask anything, that's fine but there's no need to be toxic by spreading hate or invalidating other ships. thank you.

🍉🍉🍉FREE PALESTINE 🍉🍉🍉 (if you don't agree, just leave)

[gayofthefae]

Hey, I've been sad since yesterday and I thought a lot and I can say that I lost hope, I saw a video on TikTok of David talking about Byler and saying that it's not going to be a real "I don't think of your ship is going to sail " what do you think he meant it?

@nadajjk56 (just to make sure you see this in your notifs) Proof/Comfort: I have seen this. David also said that Hopper was dead(I think he's very convincing in this one by talking about character arcs and things so he is definitely good at lying with a straight face). David also said that Jopper was not going to happen. I got really stressed and nervous too but then I was reminded that he said those things.

And if you'll remember...

I still have hope.

To answer your question more directly, I think he is trying to subvert audience expectations for it to be more of a surprise. Think Alex Hirsch "leaking" a fake spoiler of Gravity Falls when fans figured the twist out too quickly.

But yeah. That felt like a definite hope-crusher to me too. I felt nauseous and had to recover and unsuccessfully convince myself it was gonna be fine. Until I was reminded that he has blatantly lied in interviews on multiple previous occasions.

For additional proof, the article on Joyce and Hopper was published between volumes 1 and 2 of season 4: well after they had already filmed the scene pictured above. So he has most definitely blatantly lied about plot points or his opinions on them when fully in the know before.

On other occasions, he was also giddy when talking about Mike and Will and said on 2022 and 2019 that he knows how the story will end(and I think he did because in 2019 he said he estimated 5 seasons) and that it is "beautiful", a word I would not attribute to a dead, heartbroken, or dismissively wrapped up queer character. So he has turned to be not consistent and and a proven non-credible source. I hope this helped lift your spirits :)

And I appreciate you valuing my analyses enough to trust me to have answers or comfort for you. That is so sweet to know <3

[thebylertheory]

ok so, how do you think the general audience will react to Mike being gay in the final season? Like Milevens ect…

The non homophobic general audience who don't care too much about ships? I think they'll be fine with it. They'll probably be a little surprised, but I think they won't care who Mike ends up with either way and they won't care that he ends up with a boy. They typically care more about the supernatural plot.

The HOMOPHOBIC general audience who don't care about ships? I think they will suddenly start caring about ships and they'll go on homophobic rampages about how the Duffer ruined the show by "turning Mike gay" and "going woke."

As for M*levens, I think there might be a small percentage of them who will hop onto the Byler train once they become canon, but the majority of them are going to lose their minds. I'm sure they're going to hit the Duffers with bad writing allegations and some of them will probably deactivate or cry lmao.

[findafight]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[weirdo09]

new intro post for the new me 😎

hey, my name’s cadence but you can call me cade or cady :p

i’m a infj, my birthday’s nov 6th, scorpio ☀️ scorpio 🌙 n scorpio rising. i’m just here, in the void.

main fandoms:

stranger things

nimona (updated)

deadend (updated)

the school for good and evil (updated)

atsv (updated) <- that one’s THE main

main romantic ships (st):

byler [given]

byclair

bywheelclair

wheelclair

lumax

jargyle

ronance

elmax

elumax

henclair

main romantic ships (atsv):

rio morales x me (😝)

punkflower

goldenflower

goldenpunkflower

goldenpunk

main platonic ships (atsv):

gwiles

jess x miguel (eh i’m fine w romantic but they have such bi4bi hostility)

main platonic ships:

madwheeler [given]

willel

willelmike

elmike [yk just acquaintances]

madcleric

i write and i also draw, these i post once in a blue moon

i take requests so ask away! my inbox is open and waiting, really send me an ask or something, it gets alone in my own void

dni:

homophobic

racist

transphobic

FLOWERFANG SHIPPERS

the basics, if you are any of the following, you will be blocked [after i taunt you ofc <3]

i shitpost a lot too, you don’t have to like them but maybe do. that lets me know that my tales are valid ik ik kinda bad but whatever.

my favorite movies as of yet:

BARBIE (updated)

girl, interrupted

mean girls (updated)

it 2017 & 2019

fear street trilogy

dear zoe

the whale

the hate u give

nimona (updated)

but i’m a cheerleader (updated)

atsv (updated)

itsv (updated)

favorite shows as of now

xo kitty

stranger things

i am not okay with this

heartstopper

favorite songs

moonlight by kali uchis

charlie brown by beadaboobee

si una vez by selena

i could fall in love by selena

dye it red by beadaboobee

princess diana by ice spice

supermodel by sza

my baby, my everything, my lover, my reason for living: @rashadliveson <3333

i’ll probably add more to this later but hope you’ll stay a bit to browse my blog :] (please do, i’m soooo desperate for ppl to talk to)

[love-kurdt]

How to Write a Good Fanfiction: A 5 Step Manual

Hello! My name is @love_kurdt, also known as Eva, and I’m a Wattpad Veteran of the early 2010s, where the genres of Slash Fics, Y/N, and Imagines ran rampant. I spent years of my life as a kid scrolling through my iPod touch, weeding through Wattpad’s plethora of profiles, on a quest to find quality fanfictions. I found a handful, which I added to a specific reading list to come back to when I needed a break from screaming into my pillow because of the sheer audacity of thought-criminals who called themselves writers.

When I’d reached the point of reading the same five works over and over in a never ending cycle, I decided to make the life-altering decision to start publishing my fanfictions online. Granted, I was only thirteen at this point, so my writing wasn’t spectacular by any means, but I came to discover that over time, the mere acts of reading and writing can light a spark of inspiration that can carry you to creative success.

I’ve been writing my own works for over ten years now, and can confidently say that I have cracked the code to writing a good fanfiction that will have your readers captivated instead of cringing. Please don’t get me wrong– if you want to just write fanfic on the internet for fun, and not to write a novel, that’s great, too! That’s what the internet is for; exercising your free will. But this manual is tailored towards those who want to hone in on their craft and gain a substantial following as strictly fanfiction authors. So without further ado, let’s jump into it. Godspeed!

Step 1: Choose Your Fandom

What show, movie, or book has drawn you in and left you feeling like there should be more to the story? When one of those media comes to mind, you’ve chosen your fandom!

Step 2: Do Your Research

When writing fanfiction, it’s kind of an unspoken rule that you need to know the canon of the fandom you’re writing about. The canon is also known as the source material. For example, if someone were to write a Draco Malfoy x OC fanfiction (*cough* a 200+ page Draco Malfoy self insert fic written at 11 years old in a series of notebooks bound together with multiple layers of Gorilla tape *cough*), the canon would be the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. It’s, in essence, what “really” happened. It’s totally fine if you want to write a non-canon compliant fic, too! In fact, they’re extremely popular, specifically within the “fix-it” genre, which usually involves characters that died in the canon but the author kept alive in their fanfiction. Either way, you should have a general idea of how the canon functions within the context of the fandom, so you can make creative choices that diverge from or stick to the canon.

With the canon comes the fanon, which is basically a compilation of fan theories and headcanons that are often common themes in both canon and non-canon compliant fanfics. A pretty niche example of this is the Byler fandom (the ship between Stranger Things characters Will Byers and Mike Wheeler), where there’s an official list of theories on Tumblr that are used in many, if not most Byler fanfictions. There’s FlickerGate, where the flickering of the garage light in Season 1 is actually Will and Mike in the Upside Down in Season 5. There’s BirthdayGate, where the antagonist, Vecna, manipulates the minds of everyone in Hawkins to forget Will’s birthday, which is a central plot point in a lot of Byler fics since no one seems to remember it, not even his best friend. There’s also LetterGate, where Will confronts Mike in the canon about not sending any letters after he’d moved away, but the theory reveals that Mike wrote plenty of letters– he just never sent them because they ended up turning into love letters, which in turn resulted in internalized homophobia. You get the picture. Most theories reach far into the land of delusion, but it doesn’t stop writers from creating incredible work that could easily be mistaken for a script.

But Eva, what if I just think the characters are hot and I don’t give a shit about the cannonball? I can’t tell you what to do, my friend, but I highly suggest you at least consider the canon so you can avoid all the petty, obnoxious gatekeepers in some fandoms who can be unhinged enough to send death threats if you leave out a significant canonical detail. But you do you!

Step 3: Choose Your Platform

There are three popular platforms to choose from: Archive of Our Own (ao3), Tumblr, and Wattpad. There are also a few other lesser known or dead pages such as fanfiction.net, but I honestly wouldn’t bother with those, since they’re more infiltrated with anons and bots nowadays.

This is where you want to think about 1) where most of the members in the fandom you chose reside, and 2) the demographic of readers you want to reach. For example, I observed a higher number of Nirvana fans on Wattpad than the other two platforms, which is why I chose to post my full length Kurt Cobain fanfiction, “You Know You’re Right,” on there. It also helped that my favorite author of another Kurt Cobain fanfiction on Wattpad, @/ugh-nirvana, had hits in the hundreds of thousands, so I was confident that my book would do well on that specific platform. On the other hand, the Stranger Things fandom is in full swing on Tumblr and ao3, so I chose to post those fanfictions on there rather than on Wattpad. It all just depends on who’s where.

You also have to consider how active you want to be on your platform(s). Tumblr is more of a blog situation, while ao3 and Wattpad are solely for publishing the work. If you want to have a life beyond the realms of the world wide web, choose Wattpad or ao3, as inconsistent updates are a bit more accepted than on Tumblr. But if you want to throw yourself headfirst into a fandom and put your whole author-ussy into your fanfic, then Tumblr is the platform for you.

You should be aware, however, that Tumblr involves a lot of upkeep, as well as constant, strategic, and active participation within your fandom. Visual aesthetic is vital to any functional Tumblr blog. Most profiles have directories, with color coded links to each work’s homepage, which is linked to each individual chapter, which are then distinguished by a unique GIF to capture a prospective reader’s attention while they’re scrolling through copious amounts of content. And there are always new ideas and theories in development in certain fandoms, so it’s crucial to keep up with recent updates in order to stay relevant.

After all is said and done, you don’t have to get married to one platform for the rest of your life. You can choose to be exclusive to one or two platforms, or publish everything on all of them! The decision is ultimately yours!

Step 4: Obey the Writer’s Trifecta of Consistency

Yes, I came up with this term, and yes, it should be a real thing. Because in every piece of writing, whether it be fanfiction, a short story, an actual book, a screenplay, what have you, it is critical to be consistent in your People, your POV, and your Plot. Let me explain.

People

Your people, or your ensemble of characters, consists of three hierarchical levels: your protagonist/antagonist, your side characters, and other background characters. I should emphasize the importance of building character profiles for everyone, including your pre-existing characters from the fandom, but specifically for your original character(s) if you have them. That way, you know who serves as a major plot device, who serves as someone who just helps time move faster, and those who are mentioned by name but have very little significance to the events of the story. I’m going to reference Harry Potter again, since most of the world is familiar with the characters. Harry and Voldemort are the protagonist and antagonist; Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Professor Dumbledore, Hagrid and company are side characters; and Peeves, Seamus Finnigan, and Blaise Zabini are background characters. Keep this hierarchy in check; don’t let your main characters fade away, and don’t let your background characters shift to the forefront for no reason. If you do plan to move a character up or down the ladder, make sure to have clear motive as to why you’re bringing this character into or out of play.

2. POV

Your POV is the point of view in which you’re writing from. Assuming you’ve been in a typical middle school English class, you’ve heard of the first, second, and third person points of view. I cannot tell you how many times I have read fanfictions that jump from one POV to another, sometimes within the same sentence. I open the door and see Kurt Cobain standing in the corner of the room. She walked across the floor to meet him there. See what I did there? I jumped from first person present tense to third person past tense. Do not attempt this at home.

The least common of the three points of view is the second person, or what I like to call the Y/N point of view. In fanfiction, second person POV is often used in self-insert fics, where instead of a character’s name, it’s replaced with “you.” That’s why a lot of romantic character x reader fics are so popular. You should feel free to use this one, especially if that’s the kind of vibe you’re going for, but I’m going to elaborate a little bit more on first and third person, as they’re a bit more “literary.”

The first person POV confines the narration to the mind of one character. It can also be done with multiple characters, but be sure to do it so it’s painstakingly obvious to the reader whose POV you’re writing from. Also note that if you plan to write multiple first person POVs, try to keep that number on the lower side, as a large number of POVs can get really complicated really quickly. Third person narration can be done from two angles: limited or omniscient. Limited is more similar to first person, in which you’re confined to one person’s viewpoint, but they aren’t the narrator; you’re just seeing the story through their eyes. Omniscient is my favorite, because you can narrate from a bird’s eye view with the freedom to travel from mind to mind and read their thoughts.

Building character profiles can be really helpful when developing both first or third person POV; if you connect with a particular character more strongly than the rest, that should tell you whose POV you should write in. If you choose to switch POVs, be sure to do it either on an alternating/rotating basis, or if you repeat, it should be apparent as to why that particular character is the “voice” of that scene.

3. Plot

Dare I say that Plot is the most important step of them all, so do not skip this one, whatever you do! The biggest mistake most fanfiction writers make is having a concept but lacking a plot. It’s like biting into an apple just to discover it’s a lemon. Many writers are capable of starting off strong, but once their initial story begins to meander, traveling into uncharted territory, their brainchild can become a monstrosity.

In order to write a solid plot, it’s pretty common knowledge that you need to have a beginning, middle, and end in place. It doesn’t need to be overly specific or down to the last detail, you just need to figure out how your characters make it from point A to point Z (the larger scale), and how points B through Y factor into the plot (the smaller scale). There are a few routes that you can take in order to do this: you can write the entire thing ahead of time without any input, you can write the entire thing with the feedback of a beta reader or proofreader to help you work out any kinks or mistakes before you publish it for the entire platform to see, or you can publish it gradually and take feedback from your readers as you go. Should you go with the last option, though, you should be made aware that if you aren’t already an established author, it may feel like you’re talking to a wall, and you will likely feel discouraged from writing the story altogether.

I find it helpful to outline the whole thing. I have a closet door in my house dedicated to a Dave Grohl true crime fanfiction I’m working on. I’ve written the entire story from beginning to end on index cards, split into four different parts with each card representing a chapter. What’s good about outlining is that I can edit my story as I go along. If I decide to change something, I can add or remove an index card, then replace or rearrange the other index cards to work around the change I made, and that way, I don’t have to start over from scratch. It’s helpful to see everything laid out in front of me, so I’m not left at the end of a completely improvised plot with a slew of loose ends that I’ll need to go back and edit. It’s also better than publishing each part individually then having to redo everything after your readers have already seen it. And I don’t know about you, but I enjoy it when I’m able to save some time, energy, and lengthy explanations to random people online. That is, unless you enjoy constant feedback from readers, in which case you can change the plot on a chapter by chapter basis based on their feedback.

Consistency in all of these respects is key. I cannot emphasize this enough. Keeping all of these elements in check will help you create a sort of cohesiveness that will neatly wrap the story up with a little bow on top. 

Step 5: Use Relevant Tags and Content Warnings

Repeat after me: tags matter! Again: tags matter! When you’re about to publish your fanfiction, you’re going to be given the option to add tags to your work. For my first few years spent on Wattpad, I had no idea what tags were, so I didn’t use them. Thankfully, the platform was still pretty small, so people still found my work pretty easily. Nowadays, though, it’s nearly impossible to find what you’re looking for without searching excessively specific tags and using a million filters. It’s unfortunate, but look at it this way: there are so many people contributing to so many fandoms that the content is seemingly endless!

What you’re going to want to do is add as many tags as you can but keep it as simple as possible. I know that sounds kind of oxymoronic, but I mean it in a way that all of your tags relate directly to your story, and not just to the fandom itself. A lot of readers feel misled when they’re scrolling through their filtered search page for, let’s just say, a Byler fanfic, and end up neck deep in a Mileven fanfic in disguise. That’s not a fun experience.

Lastly, please remember that you are publishing your work on the internet, and you don’t know who may encounter your work! Listen, we live in a world where everything needs to be overexplained, everything needs trigger warnings, and everything needs to be neutral or else someone is going to hate you. I get it. I’ve been writing fanfiction for a long time. It might be annoying to add content warnings, especially if one of those warnings spoils a major plotline, but if I’m being honest, I’d rather be safe and add the damn warning than not add the warning and be responsible for someone’s worsened emotional or mental state. Bottom line, it’s just fanfiction! Let’s do our due diligence to create a community full of love and understanding for everyone!

After that, you should be all set to publish! Let’s review one more time for the road:

Choose Your Fandom

Do Your Research

Choose Your Platform

Obey the Writer’s Trifecta of Consistency

Use Relevant Tags and Content Warnings

If you’ve stuck around for this long, thank you so much!

I hope this manual helps you along your fanfiction writing journey, wherever it takes you <3