#it's taking away from will's storyline if he has a crush on mike

[stranger-detective]

So fucking done

[darksideofthemamon]

God in Hellblazer vs Lucifer comics

I have a lot of thoughts on the angel characters from Hellblazer/Sandman/Lucifer (basically the DC/Vertigo comics era). I've had them for a long time but I guess I'm only getting to writing about it now. I have a whole essay to write about Remiel from Sandman, but for now, this should do as a warm up.

Though Hellblazer and Sandman are supposed to be in the same universe, it gets really messy with different writers and storylines going in different directions, more so when you include Sandman's spin-offs, like the Lucifer comics and its sequels.

I think one of the most glaring differences is their portrayal of God. God seems... so much nicer in the Lucifer comics (both the Mike Carey (2000) and Holly Black (2016) runs).

And I think a lot of this is caused by the themes of each story.

Hellblazer has some really strong political themes going on, so much that I can't possibly analyze them all. What I do know is that gods/angels/etc in the story tend to represent people in power and privilege. So for example, look at what John says to the archangel Gabriel in the bottom right panel: "You're the ones that make the frigging rules for us, and you don't even understand us!"

In effect, God, as well as the heavenly hosts, tend to be portrayed as jerks.

The Lucifer comics take a different approach. The story's themes tend to gear more towards family, identity, and free will. The protagonist is a really headstrong guy who wants to be free of his omniscient, omnipotent, dad. In his words (upper right panel): "This face is mine. This scar-- is mine. You may not have them. Not without my permission."

Because of the "messed up family" angle, God tends to come off as more well-meaning, but flawed.

Reading the comics together and considering them in the same universe can get jarring when God is so patient with Lucifer, but so damn harsh towards The First of the Fallen and Gabriel.

(and yes I know the Lucifer spin-offs aren't or are dubiously canon, but for this analysis, just consider them canon)

When Lucifer rebels and causes a whole war, God gives him a domain to rule over in order to give His son what he wants: to be away from Him. (top panels)

But when First of the Fallen and Gabriel even step a toe out of line? They get cast out of Heaven in painful, soul-crushing ways. (bottom panels)

And I guess it just ends up coming off as if God has some pretty massive favoritism towards Lucifer?? XD Like wow the Morningstar gets so much leeway, but FOTF and Gabriel get tossed out so fast??

In the end though, it doesn't bother me. I think the dynamic can even enhance the story in fascinating ways.

The story where these 2 portrayals get reconciled is through Gabriel's character in the Lucifer (2016) run by Holly Black.

Gabriel in this run shares a backstory with his Hellblazer self, and though the specific events leading to his Fall were only briefly touched upon, his treatment and relationship with his Father retains those themes of free will and identity, while also portraying God as harsh and tyrannical.

When a God that turned evil tries to take away his free will, Gabriel cries "Get out of my head! I was beyond your mercy before. Now I am beyond your reach."

God tossed him out so mercilessly the first time, so why does He get to control him now?

Gabriel in Hellblazer is a proud snob who views things through a very self-righteous black-and-white lens. It's revealed however, that his Father's strict rules and harsh punishments have left him anxious, guilty, and afraid (especially following an eye-opening interaction with John Constantine).

When he opens up about his problems to Julie (actually a succubus named Ellie) in Hellblazer, she says: "Look at you. What did he do to make you feel so scared and guilty?"

When it's revealed in Lucifer (2016) that Gabriel killed God, Lucifer says: "Our Father turned His back on you. And you were so angry. You've been angry for so long."

The Lucifer (2016) comic manages to show God through the lighter lens while also acknowledging his harsh treatment of Gabriel.

And we see this in Gabriel's character. In Hellblazer he's nervously looking over his own shoulder, in Lucifer (2016) he's proudly passion's fool.

And while we're talking about Gabriel, his self-actualization arc is one of the main reasons I love Holly Black's run despite its flaws!

I love how they continued his story from Hellblazer. There's a story about a guy living under his strict father's thumb who fell from grace when he was cast out, then got back up with the help of family and friends who support him. It says something that by the end of the story, he no longer works for Heaven but instead for Hell, serving under Mazikeen who acknowledged him at his lowest. He also gains his wings and heart back-- the former from Lucifer and the latter from Raphael, his brothers.

That's all I have to say XD. This was just supposed to be an observation but I ended up talking about Gabriel lol

[duskdrawings]

Random Ronance thoughts/hopes for the future because my brain simply can't stop thinking about these two. (I didn't know how to title this but I just have MANY thoughts and wanted to share them 😂)

• Robin wanting to support Nancy and her love for journalism/reporting. Perhaps Robin is shown watching Nancy and she puts together an article in the school newspaper. Also I feel like Nancy would love using her journalistic instincts to find out more about Robin and ask her all these questions just to listen to Robin talk for ages about all these theories and ideas she has.

• A scene where Robin comes out to Nancy or Nancy somehow finds out about Robin's sexuality. There's so much that could be explored here! From Robin getting some closure that there are people who will accept her to the whole situation possibly making Nancy question some thoughts/feelings about her own relationships and sexuality. (I will die on the hill that Nancy has some repressed feelings about her sexuality and hearing that Robin likes girls could spark a lil something something up in her mind and then BOOM! Bisexual/Sapphic Nancy Wheeler!) Plus there are hints about Will being gay and liking Mike so Nancy could hear about that too.

• Robin being the one to save Nancy from Vecna. After going through her room in an earlier episode and seeing her tapes, it just makes sense that Robin would be the one to know Nancy's favourite song! Plus I'd love to see Nancy's reaction after she finds out that Robin is the one to save her. Even though Steve and Nancy did date, Steve was still in his 'douchebag era' at that time and I feel like he might not have properly paid attention to her and what she liked and also Nancy has changed quite a bit since then.

• Nancy just thinking about Robin and how important she is to her (perhaps whilst getting Vecna'd or after narrowly saving Robin from danger - like in that part of the trailer where Robin is tied up in those vines). Robin is Nancy's first female friend since Barb and I can just imagine her thinking about how she really wants to protect Robin so she doesn't lose her too. Plus it would be nice to see more of Nancy's storylines not being based around guys (I like Steve and Jonathan but I just feel that neither really belong with Nancy and they have all gone through so much development and would just do better just staying friends. They love each other but aren't IN love with each other).

• Nancy and Robin hanging out outside the group/just doing something fun together that doesn't involve attempting to save the world (Like with the Elmax scenes in season 3). They could hang out at Family Video whilst Robin has a shift or have a movie night or Robin could even dress Nancy up (which she insists is just to get back at Nancy for the whole Ruth and Rose thing but in reality she just wants to see Nancy in her clothes) Nancy wearing Robin's jacket is just something my heart and soul needs. Or if they don't show a scene like this, they could always just have one of them mention that they were hanging out or have plans to hang out, even something small would be so sweet. They deserve to enjoy time together without the looming threat of danger and death!

• Nancy finding out about Robin's crush on Vicki or just seeing them both interact and feeling jealous. OR what if Robin gets the courage to ask out Vicki and gets rejected and Nancy helps her get over things afterwards. OR perhaps Vicki isn't into boobies and is very much straight and might not even be very accepting if Robin confesses to her and then has a strong negative reaction and Nancy sees it all happen and comes to Robin's aid! She stands up for Robin and says how wonderful she is and delivers an epic speech (kind of like the one Robin gives when they are trying to see Victor Creel) and then takes her hand and drags her away to safety - Robin being a flustered gay mess from the whole thing.

• A scene of them both tending to each others wounds after escaping from danger. Nancy patches Robin up and says she was worried about her, whilst Robin tries to crack some jokes to make Nancy smile again and lighten the mood. And when Robin tries to patch Nancy up, she's insistent that she's okay but Robin says she knows she isn't and Nancy then lets her guard down so Robin can patch her up too.

• Nancy confides in Robin about her true thoughts and feelings behind the troubles in her relationship with Jonathan. Robin could offer some support and comfort Nancy if they break-up (which I feel is something that's been foreshadowed throughout the whole of season 4 as Jonathan and Nancy seem to be heading in separate directions).

• Robin realises she has feelings for Nancy and gets worried that she'll lose her friendship with Nancy and Steve, as Nancy is his ex. But perhaps Steve finds out about Robin's feelings and comforts her and I get the feeling that he would act as her wingman and be number one Ronance supporter and would even offer to babysit the kids more so Nancy and Robin could spend more time alone together.

•Nancy realises that her feelings for Robin extends beyond friendship as, while she thought she just wanted to be close to her because she doesn't really have female friends, she realised that people who are just friends don't think about how much they want to kiss their friends lips.

•A confession scene! Part of me feels like Robin would want to be brave and confess to her (probably after a big pep-talk from Steve) and so she goes to Nancy and asks to speak to her in private and then starts rambling and being a big chaotic lesbian mess until Nancy laughs and calms her down and says that she likes her too. But also part of me feels like Nancy could confess and it would be a more softer and gentler scene where she reveals her feelings and she has a whole speech prepared about her discovering her sexuality and her past relationships and about Barb and how she wanted to protect Robin and didn't want to lose her and all that jazz and then Robin is just absolutely flabbergasted because NANCY WHEELER LIKES HER! It would just be so amazing to see them being all happy and giddy and have their love lives blossoming!

• They kiss and become girlfriends and live happily ever after.

Even though I know that the chances of Ronance becoming a thing may not be that high, I just want to see more of them together and more of their relationship and them growing closer. Their dynamic is so lovely to watch and I feel like them becoming girlfriends (or even just best friends) would be so amazing for their character arcs and development and would make so much sense. It would be such a 180 from season 3 where Robin calls Nancy a priss to then be able to cut to the end of season 4 or 5 and then see how close they've become. Even just seeing how Nancy seems irritated at Robin at first when they don't really know each other but now she always chooses Robin to accompany her whenever they are doing anything. She could choose someone else but she doesn't.

Also in the Rebel Robin podcast there's a small scene where Robin and her teacher, Mr. Hauser, are talking and he mentions how people in Hawkins could surprise Robin and she needs to give them a chance AND THEN who comes into the classroom a few seconds later? Nancy freaking Wheeler!

And the parallels between Robin's crushes on Tammy and Vicki and then how she is with Nancy (how she looks at Nancy in the boat scene when Nancy is looking at Steve and how she talks a lot when she's nervous and around pretty girls and then we see her ramble ten times more with Nancy then she even did in her scene with Vicki).

Not to mention, how Maya and Natalia both act or talk about them when Robin and Nancy are brought up in interviews and how Maya basically pushed for canon lesbian Robin and we got it!! And it's basically a known fact that the LGBT's flock together! And I could go on and on! There's some serious potential for their relationship here! Especially as there's still the last 2 episodes of season 4 AND season 5 AND apparently there's a time-skip in-between the seasons so you never know what could happen in that time! And there's talk about potential spin-offs - just IMAGINE a Nancy and Robin spin-off where they go off solving mysteries together!!

Just please, Duffer Brothers, treat these girls right 😭

[dreaminglonger2nite]

The “Will” of it all - Analysis of Season 4-5

I recently rewatched a good amount of season 4 and I wanted to talk about the Will of it all. Will has never been my favorite character, though I do care for him, and therefore I guess upon original viewing, I don’t always pay attention to his storyline. Especially since I feel like I’ve let fandom annoy me and so I’ve been skipping anything related to “Byler”. But I wanted to pay attention this time around to see if I could decipher what the Duffer bros wanted with Will this season, his crush on Mike, and his journey with his sexuality. (Also I have a masters degree in television producing if that helps at all).

So, we’ve known Will has always been different, pretty much confirming he’s gay since season 3. Honestly I never picked up on anything about him crushing on Mike until this season but the consensus is that he has been. Cool, I have no problems with that. It did seem a little out of left field for me, I thought maybe it was due to fan service at first, but I warmed up to it because it seemed so genuine. And it makes sense. Mike has always been there for Will. Spearheading the search in season 1, helping him more than any of his friends in season 2, the monologue about meeting him, etc. But unfortunately, because Will is different and fell behind socially, season 3 is rough for him. He especially feels left out with Mike, who had always been in his corner first, but now El was in the picture and taking up all his time and attention. This doesn’t bode well for season 4, especially with moving away I believe Will began to distance himself and also spend too much time thinking and analyzing and truly developing this crush, knowing pretty well it would never be reciprocated. Almost like self sabotage so you don’t get hurt (Mike goes through this similarly with El). But then Mike shows up and it seems more real, but so is the hurt from feeling left out, seeing Mike in real time with El, and it all coming to a head. Will is forced to figure out his feelings while actively being a shoulder for Mike, turning the tables on their friendship. I believe the Duffers wanted Will to finally confront himself on the emotions he’d been bottling up - through Mike as a mirror to his relationship with El. Its very obvious as Will stares at Mike, watching him freak out over El, and recognizing that Mike needs him to knock some sense into him that Will truly cares about Mike and El, and wants to be there for Mike like Mike has been there for him. As Will supports Milevens relationship, he gains more confidence in himself. I think this is Will FINALLY catching up emotionally and socially with his friends. And I think it felt good for Will to be the one to offer support and advice for once, especially to Mike who is the “heart” and usually does that for others. Also, with El out of the picture, if anything was going to happen with Mike and Will, this would’ve been the time, but nothing happens because they aren’t meant to be a couple for a multitude of reasons. I think this proves the Duffers were not interested in going that route.

The infamous car scene was interesting to say the least. All throughout the season Will has been helping Mike get through his own block about loving El. This takes so much courage to help your best friend and crush strengthen their own relationship. But the painting says it the best, Mike is the heart of the group, and that means love in different ways for different reasons. I believe by showing us the picture, this was Wills way of showing his feelings, admitting that while he will always need Mike - he knows he has to move on and will prob never actually tell Mike about his feelings for him (hence the sobbing). This was never going to be the start of an actual relationship and Will knew this from the start, that’s why he kept his distance from Mike during the year. This is proven when Mike has his monologue to El and says “I thought if I said how I felt that it would somehow make that day hurt more” and the camera pans to Will. This was all meant as a way for Will to grow within himself and through Mike, gain the courage to do so. Because Mike loves Will as his best friend, and that’s finally enough for him.

Then Will has his conversation with Jonathan and I believe this heals Will in a way. He can finally let out some emotion and even though he wasn’t ready to come out, this is cathartic because he can tell that Jonathan loves him and has him in his corner as #1. He thought he needed Mike more than anyone, but that’s not the case. His brother will always be there supporting him.

Leading into season 5, unfortunately for Byler fans, I don’t see this crush moving forward. This played out, all parties grew from the drama, and people are moving in separate directions. Will is going to be a major player and I think he will be tied up in a lot of that stuff with Vecna and El, coming out, and taking control of his life back. The Duffers saying they will be returning to original pairings mean Mike, El, Dustin, and Lucas - leaving out Will because he’s gonna be busy. Mike got past his mental block with El, so they don’t have any unresolved drama at this point, and will be pretty solid going into season 5, arguably stronger and more in love than ever. It’s the last season so it’s going to be big and full, and I don’t think Will is still going to be dealing with an unrequited crush, nor are they going to suddenly break up Mike and El. Not that Mike and El won’t play a big part in whatever happens with Will, this is probably going to be part of it, but not romantically. ESPECIALLY since El and Will are basically siblings and Will would never try to sabotage or steal Mike away, especially after the events of season 4. By the time we get there, I believe Will is going to be over his crush on Mike, ready and focused to deal with the events ahead.

(Also sidebar - if you look at the editing of season 4, it’s very Will POV heavy, 1 sided. Will always in the middle of El and Mike, actively putting himself there but by the end, after everything they went through to save El and then fight Vecna, Will is more aligned with them as a unit.)

Just my thoughts, agree to disagree if you want. Ship whoever you want, but you gotta be realistic from a writing perspective - and keep fandom separate.

[androcreates]

Ordinary Superstar, Chapter 3

Mike looks away from his journal. “I wanted to see if you want to hang out, or something.” Mike’s eyes look soft and sincere, and Will realizes he didn’t capture them correctly in his painting. Will thinks of the invitation in front of him. It sounded like something friends would do. Although Will still considered Mike just an acquaintance, it was obvious that Mike felt differently, and it confused Will. He doesn’t understand why; Will is sitting in his stool, creating an oil painting of Mike, but Mike’s invitation to hang out was what he was considering too much. He felt dramatic. But his nerves were egging him on to stay wary. He felt silly thinking it, but in his mind, an acceptance felt like a disregard to El and her feelings. If Will spent more time with Mike, he would be getting to know him better, but he wanted El to have that opportunity. Mike is her crush, and Will wanted her to experience her emotions in full effect. He wanted to reject the invitation.

Hello!

Really excited to be getting further into the fic. There are a lot of tender and soft moments that come up between Mike and Will in the coming chapters, and my excitement for you all to read them is huge.

Those future moments really flourish because of Mike's initiative. To Will's own devices, nothing, not even friendship would blossom in this AU, so I really wanted Mike to be the one that takes the plunge. He's not subtle, which I really like, because even in these moments of sincerity, insecurity still rears its head for Will, making things complicated for him.

The past two songs, Ordinary Superstar and Anything But Ordinary, are really ones I imagine fit Will's storyline the most, but for Chapter 3, I think the song I've chosen aligns more with Mike's storyline. The song, Dead of Night, I feel, highlights Mike's want/need to be close to Will, and whatever that might entail in the future.

Thanks again for reading! I appreciate all the love the fic has been getting! It means a lot.

[justasimp1]

Finn Wolfhard x F! Reader

Fluff, Actress/Famous AU ☆

Florescent

It was a normal interview so far for the Stranger Things cast. Regular sly questions trying to find out more on the upcoming volume. The whole time you found your eyes drifting to Finn. His smile and stance are so intoxicating.

"So what about you, Y/N?" The interviewer cued the cameras toward you. Everyone's eyes glanced over at you, Finn included. The corners of his mouth slightly turned up when he made eye contact with you.

"Uh- Yeah. Filming this season has been an adventure...sometimes you think you become a part of the viewers because you are also watching the story unfold" You removed your eyes from Finn and towards the camera.

"Are you implying the Duffer brothers don't inform you fully?" The interviewer adjusted his voice. "Yes and no. It's like watching the show, you hear the script, and have your predictions, but you still are following that storyline" You smiled, feeling Finn's breath on your ear.

'Fuck why did he have to sit next to me?" You bit your bottom lip keeping the emotion from showing on your cheeks.

"I agree, even though I'm the actress playing the character, I feel like I connect to the story" Sadie chuckled, causing a chain of "Me too's". The man, positioned in the interviewer chair, shifted his index cards.

"With this new season comes sprouting romance. For instance, Will pining after Mike and we even get a glimpse of Argyle and Susie's older sister. Some fans have noticed--more like created a thing called screen tension, where the 2 actors in a scene have tension rather than the characters"

You're eyebrows quirked at the new phrase. You glanced around to look at everyone's reactions. Finn's eyes seemed trained on you, he smiled when you looked at him. Almost as if time stopped and your heart sped to the future.

You studied his expression, adornment no, infatuation no we're just cast members. You swallowed the lodge in your throat, pulling your attention away. Finn's smile slumped down in confusion, he wished he could read your thoughts.

"Kind of like Y/N and Finn~" Millie teased, her voice perking up. You smiled, feeling your cheeks temperature slip from your fingers. "Perfect example!" Noah clapped while laughing.

The group exchanged looks. "No me and Y/N are the opposite of scene tension. I don't even think about her that way or look at her that way..." Mike furiously blushed as he awkwardly scratched his nape. His eyes going to you, looking for reinsurance.

"I don't know- Season 1 and 2 Finn would say differently" Millie chimed, grinning. "What would 12-year-old Finn say?" You questioned out of pure curiosity.

"Can we please move on?" Finn flexed his jaw, looking at the interviewer. Everyone (besides you) seemed to have past knowledge on this joke. They laughed, mutually agreeing that flustering Finn on LIVE tv wasn't the best decision.

_________________________________

You're body guards helped your walk out the crowded door. Fans lined the street, waving, throwing notes and flowers. "Oh Y/N!" Finn grabbed onto your arm, pulling you at his side. "Can we talk?" Finn looked up at a person pointing a camera at you.

You nodded, taking his hand and pulling him closer for the photo. The photographer shared his gratitude. You waved toward the last group of fans before reaching your black SUV.

Finn reached for the door, holding it open for you. You got in, turning in the seat to wait for Finn. "So what is it?" You pushed his brunette curls out of his face. "What Millie said in the interview-"

"It was just a joke, we are very close friends it was bound to happen" You shrugged. "...It wasn't and you deserve to know at least. But when I was younger I had this stupid crush on you" Finn laughed, rubbing his palms over his pants.

You went stunned. "Really?" Were the only words that could mutter out. "Yeah. And I still do" Finn's smile faltered when he saw your eyebrows raise. "I wanted to tell you myself before Millie did"

Finn grasped the door handle. You tugged his shirt, pulling him back with one hand and cupped his cheek with the other. Your lips touch his, they were soft, slightly thin. But the emotion swirling through one exchange had your heart racing.

You poked your tongue at his bottom lip, pushing your lips deeper onto his. His hands lingered over your waist. "I do too" You mumbled, averting your eyes away from the contact.

"Can I kiss you again?" Finn stuttered, pulling your face back into his view. "Anytime" You replied, leaning into his touch.

Masterlist

[mollyollypuddingpolly]

Tbh Byler has to be canon because Will being gay was set up from the beginning (Mike too imo but Will was more overt) and to have your only planned gay character (I say planned because Robin was originally intended to be Steves love interest but they changed it part way into filming) just helplessly pine for their best friend is not a fulfilling story for a queer character. And it's clear how Will feels for Mike isn't just a crush, I don't see Will just moving on next season if Mike stays with El. Also, if they wanted Wills story to be about him moving on from Mike and just being happy with who he is and excepting himself, then this season doesn't make any sense because it takes no steps towards that.

Like it's queer-baiting but worse if they do this, because not only do we feel like they have a chance but they're going to make Will feel like he has a chance only to just take it away.

And that's not even to mention how Mike's character makes no sense if they don't go with byler.

Will, Mike and El will all have better and more compelling storylines if byler is canon. Will's is a story of love, Mike's is of exceptance and El's is about independence.

[sennqu]

just noticed the disconnect that sometimes happens when it comes to analyses from the ST subreddit. if it's related to the lore, they can and will look at the more subtle things and clues...when it comes to ships though, they're more likely to take things at face value. e.g. theorizing whether it was vecna that took will by comparing the monster silhouette in S1 and other discrepancies between S1 and S4 vs. believing that mike's S4 storyline is just building up to him saying "i love you" (god this is such a boring hypothetical storyline)

but ngl though, their comments really give me a lot of insight on how non-byler shippers view the Cali plot and how much of an out ST still has at this point in time (pre-V2) to commiting mutual byler into canon.

most upvoted opinions on mike's weird behavior this season:

"finn's acting badly", (lmao)

"cali plot is badly scripted",

"mike and will have just drifted away because of time and distance",

"mike is subconsciously picking up on and is weirded out by will's crush on him because mike is straight straight straight". (from people who don't know finn said that mike is unaware of will's feelings. w/c tbf was also me before i went into the byler tags because i don't really watch/read cast interviews. this is probably also a commonly held opinion by people who only watch the show)

i do like that they're noticing just how cruel it would be for will to have his feelings unrequited. now please connect the dots and see how a storyline where will never gets a "win" would be a horrible one.

i think that once will has a more connected role to the lore again, byler will look like an actual option to most viewers. because he'll be an actual protagonist again and people will want to root for him and his happiness.

as for what'll it take for people to see mike's feelings... tbh what we only really have right now is subtext. i do think that mike's behavior is because he's realizing he's in love with will and not el, but there isn't anything more overt to really confirm it as of yet. we'll have to wait for V2. and even then, it'll probably be something that can still be run through the straight lens if people try hard enough.

[talesofafangirlwithadvr]

I finished Stranger Things Season 4

Let’s discuss!

This is definitely my least favorite season so far. I think the main reason for this is because my favorite part of all the past seasons is watching all the storylines and characters come together in the end and seeing how they all influence each other. Because of the spilt in seasons I feel this was a lot of build up anticipating the second half coming in July.

Let’s break it down more:

Eleven 

This season her plot felt long. I hated seeing her get bullied in the first few episodes, but as the majority of her story involved getting back her powers and reuniting with Papa, I forgot that California plot even happened. There were times I found myself not really caring and wanting to get back to the other plots. We’re anticipating she will take down Vecna once and for all, but does she always have to be the one to save/fix everything? Is that storyline too familiar or overdone? 

California 

This storyline was eh. Other than the introduction of Argyle, I didn’t love our time away from Hawkins. Everyone was in a state of distress (as expected), and I especially didn’t like seeing Jonathan and Nancy having problems (more on that in a second). I definitely think Will has a crush on Mike. 

Nancy and Steve (and Jonathan)

I want Steve to find love and be happy. I really do. I think his character development across the series has been one of the best parts. However, let’s find him a different love interest. I like Nancy and Jonathan (soo much) and I feel their problems due to being long distance make completely sense and are realistic. It shouldn’t make them break up. Please don’t do it. 

The Hawkins Crew

For me this plot is the strongest from part one. I looked forward to it every time and couldn’t get enough. I especially like the pairings we got and the overall group dynamic (as we’re missing Eleven and Mike (and Will) from the group). They just work so well and balance each other nicely. They’re also the ones trying to take down Vecna which was another reason I liked them so much. (Also want to note how much more horror-like this season is.) 

Sadie Sink 

*clapping hands emoji* *clapping hands emoji* “clapping hands emoji*

Sadie Sink is so talented and I feel that has really been showcased this first half of the season with the journey Max has gone on. I feel like how we got so much focus on her and the way they included her grief for Billy’s tragic death. Episode 4 is perfection. Looking forward to following Sadie’s acting career after Stranger Things.

Eddie

Fantastic addition to the show. Watching episode 1, I didn’t know how I was going to feel about him, but as the season progressed I liked him more and more. I really like how the kids are trying to protect him for the law and the way he is welcomed into the world of knowing about the upside down. He has great sarcasm and is just a great fit. I hope no harm comes to him. 

Speaking of being a great fit....  

Robin continues to kill it and is amazing. I love everything she says and how real she is. Can’t believe she’s only been on the show since season 3. Her friendship with Nancy was so well done and I hope she gets to go out with Vicki. (When they were in their scene together at the Pep Rally I couldn’t stop thinking about how it’s Jo March and Anne Shirley and I love them even more. We need more of them in part two). 

Hopper

I had some anxiety watching Hopper this season. I really wanted them to get out of the prison like three episodes earlier. His reunion with Joyce was fantastic though. 

And lastly....

Found this guy fishy right from the beginning. Originally, I thought he was just in Eleven’s head, but then I saw Papa look at him, so I knew that theory was incorrect. The last twenty minutes of episode 7 was REALLY well done. I DID NOT think he was going to Vecna and I loved how his narration to Eleven was paired with Nancy watching his origin. So cool! My main question is that one day he could just do stuff with his mind? That part still had me confused/asking questions. But seeing the Upside Down creation was awesome! Now I just want Nancy to be okay. (Btw shout out to Barb being brought up again!) 

July 1st cannot come soon enough! 

[dreamersdreamloud]

High School Lovers

AN: Planning to make a storyline out of this on AO3

Warnings: Mature

Omega Lena Luthor x Alpha Reader

————————————

First Day of School

Danvers Household

The Danvers, the famous kind family with three dashing Alphas. Eliza and Jeremiah are proud of producing three strong women alphas. The oldest (Y/N) Danvers, the most popular jock in their highschool. You're proud to be the captain and quarterback of the Midvale’s football team. The omegas from all grades adore your looks and muscles but they didn’t stand a chance since you were dating the cheerleading captain, Cat Grant.

Cat dumped you during summer break and your inner alpha felt heartbroken. She left you for Maxwell Lord, the snobby rich alpha with little or none manners. You learned to let go during the summer and focused on getting that athlete scholarship during your last year of highschool and just move on with your life. Recently you became more reckless with your alpha actions, getting into fights, not listening to your parents. You were a mess that your sisters had to watch over you, to avoid getting yourself into further trouble.

The second oldest, Alex Danvers is also popular, known for her smarts for science but also the captain of the basketball team. Alex has always looked up to you as a role model. She basically became a tough looking alpha just like her older sister. But under those tough looks, she’s soft as a teddy bear, as her girlfriend, Sam Arias, declares it.

The youngest alpha in the family is Kara Danvers. The well known ball of sunshine and kindness. People often underestimate the blonde. Her alpha side is not something to be messed with. Bigger alphas would bully the youngest Danvers but they would run for the hills if Alex and you teach them a lesson on what happens when you mess with their youngest sister. Kara loves her sisters so much but she also loves her omega girlfriend, Lucy Lane , for always supporting her.

You're happy that your sisters have girlfriends and glad that they picked the best omegas from your shared high school. You don’t have to worry about the omegas being a distraction to your sisters’ studies. Whenever they’re in heat, they know best to stay away from their alphas and sit out. Eliza is thankful to not worry about being a grandma so soon.

“(Y/N)! Wake up! Mom has been calling you for breakfast!” Alex pounds on the door of your bedroom. You groan and growl at the door.

“I’ll be there!” You yelled back. You’re glad that you have your own room. Unfortunately, Alex and Kara have to share a bedroom. Sometimes you would hear them arguing next door on the stupidest things.

“Agh. First day of senior year here we go.” You said to yourself as you push your blankets away.

***

“Sam! Can you drive a little slower?!” Lena yells at her driver. She doesn’t know why she agreed to ride with her best friend to school if her life is endangered.

“Lena. It’s our first day of being juniors. I don’t want to be late!”

“We’re an hour early! You literally just want to see your girlfriend and ride her dick in the locker rooms.” Lena huffs.

The omega is happy that her best friend is dating a popular yet caring alpha but it can be annoying to watch them tongue each other’s throats in public. Lena wishes she had an alpha to look forward to but ever since she dumped Jack, she hasn’t been able to find another great alpha.

The reason the raven haired dump the alpha is that he would often ask her to have sex. Lena felt uncomfortable and she was only 15 years old at the time and he was a senior. He was the legal age of having sexual intercourse. Lena didn’t like being pressure into having sex so she broke things off and was content when he left for college. Lena wants to pick someone special to take her virginity and hopes to find that someone soon.

Sam ease off on the gas so that her passenger doesn’t contract a heart attack. A muscle car pulls up next to Sam’s car. The car is too familiar to the omegas. They've been seeing that classic black Ford Mustang fastback all summer.

The Danvers sisters are inside that car. The oldest Danvers revs the car again, annoying the two omegas inside their own car. Sam got a bit distracted as she saw the second oldest Danvers giving her certain looks that any omega would like to see. Lena saw that Kara was shaking her head, not wanting to be part of her sisters’ reckless act.

The alpha speeds up and cuts Sam off. Sam honks at the mustang, “Jackass.”

Lena laughs, “maybe if you weren’t so distracted looking at your alpha, (Y/N) wouldn’t have cut you off.”

Sam didn’t park too far from the alphas, they both got off at the same time. Lucy from afar, ran into Kara’s arms and gave her a longing kiss for everyone to witness. Sam didn’t want to embarrass herself like that and waited for Alex to walk over to them.

“Good morning, babe.” Alex lifts up Sam off her feet and Lena gags.

Not wanting to witness their affection, her eyes fall to the older Danvers stepping out of the car last. You wore sunglasses and simple black jeans with white fitted t-shirt. You saw your sisters run to their girlfriends and you just roll your eyes at them. You didn’t bother to wait for them and just make your way inside the school campus grounds to go hang with your jock friends.

“I see that you’re checking out the oldest Danvers.” Sam teases Lena.

“Wait what? Are you seriously checking out my sister, Luthor?”

Lena can’t help to admit that you’re the most handsome looking alpha she has ever seen in this highschool and that she developed a small crush over you since her freshman year. Besides dumping Jack for pressuring sex onto her, she also did it for you. She had this little hope that would be her loving alpha but when she found out that you got together with Cat, she was broken into tears.

“You know she’s single right? Cat dumped her during the summer.” Sam informs Lena.

The raven haired already knew that from Kara. She mentally keeps tabs on the older Danvers and Kara just feeds her information not knowing that she’s helping her. During the summer break, Lena would often visit the Danvers household to hang out with Kara and Alex but you were never there when she visited. You often found yourself helping your father or out with friends during the early morning.

“I heard it first from Kara.” Lena replies to Sam.

“I’m giving you permission to go after my knot head sister.” Alex surprisingly tells her.

“Your sister doesn’t know I exist. Plus why would she want to date a small nerdy omega?”

It’s true that Lena is a nerd but she’s the most popular nerd in the whole school. She takes advanced classes, joins after programs and clubs to help boost her chances into getting into MIT. Lena is sure that you only saw her a few times ever since you met through your sisters and swears that you don’t remember her.

The school bell rings and everyone heads to their first class of the day.

During Lena’s history class, she doesn’t bother to give her full attention since she already knows everything and already did advance research of U.S history during the summer break. At the moment, Lena was thinking how it can be possible to date the oldest Danvers but it can be nearly impossible. Omegas are not known to court alphas. She wonders if she can grab the alpha jock’s attention but since she’s a Junior, she knows that she won’t have any classes with her. Lena nearly gives up on the silly idea. Maybe she’ll just need to move on.

***

It’s nearly the end of the day and Lena is looking forward to her last class, Microbiology. A class where only seniors can take but Lena’s mother, Lillian, helped talk the school board into letting Lena take the class since she already took all the other science classes and passed with A’s.

The raven haired was one of the few to arrive early and picked a seating of her choice. She picks a seat in the back to not draw much attention to herself for the semester. Lena keeps herself but checking her phone while the seniors pour themselves inside the room.

She felt a little lonely for not having friends in this class but she was content that she has classes with Sam and Alex. She also has elective classes with Kara and Winn. A few seniors recognized Lena on the way in and had a short conversation with the only junior in the class. Andrea Rojas, a cheerleader that Lena is friends with, sits before her.

The microbiology teacher who’s also the coach of the football team, starts to take attendance. It goes by alphabetical order and everyone just quieta down to hear their names be called.

“(Y/N) Danvers?!” Mr. J’onn J'onzz says out loud.

Lena’s head perks up and scans the room to find the older Danvers but apparently she’s nowhere to be found.

“Danvers?” Mr. J’onzz calls out again. He scans the room carefully and looks for anyone connected to the missing student.

“Gand! Where’s (Y/N)?”

Mike also known as Mon-El, a football player, answers, “I- um. I actually don’t know Coach.”

“Since she’s not here she better be at practice or else the whole team will be doing suicides for warm-up.” The coach threatens.

Mr. J’onzz is upset that his star player has ditched class but he resumes to take attendance and start the lecture. Lena wonders where the alpha jock went, she hides her phone under her desk and texts another senior she knows. She doesn’t want to text either of the Danvers sisters.

Lena: Mags, do you know where (Y/N) is at?

Maggie: Big D? Nope. She should be in class. Why?

Lena rolls her eyes at the older Danvers’ nickname. She can’t believe people call her that but she blushes on the reason why she earned that name. There’s been rumors going around that (Y/N)’s dick is huge and was exposed during one of the wild highschool parties.

Maggie was the one who started the nickname and decided to nickname all the Danvers sisters as well. She called Alex “Mid D” and Kara “Little D or Little Danvers.” Little did everyone know, all the Danvers have huge cocks and their girlfriends can certify that information.

Lena: She’s supposed to be in my microbio class.

Maggie: Hmm. I’ll look into it

The raven haired locks her phone and pays attention to the lecture again. It was long until Lena’s phone vibrated a text message.

Maggie: So . . Big D is getting a BJ from one of the cheerleaders.

Of course. Lena thought to herself.

“Okay class! This semester I’m going to pair you up with a partner. The project will be about collecting samples from different environments and studying what type of bacteria is out there. The due date is TBA but I suggest you start it early and not last minute. The project is worth 300 points of your grade.” Mr. J’onzz announces.

The teacher proceeds to read of the pairs of students for the project in his clipboard. The students were getting noisy as the pairs were being announced. A few were disappointed in who they got while others were filled with joy.

“Lena Luthor! You’re partners with (Y/N) Danvers!”

Lena looked up quickly when she heard her partner’s name. She sees that half of the class looked at her when they found out that their most cherished alpha is partners with a junior omega who’s known for her genius side. The raven haired caught a few omegas looking at her with disgust but she managed to ignore.

“Fuck.” Lena mumbled to herself. She can’t believe she’s paired off with her long time crush. It can’t be that bad right? She’s close with the younger sisters, doesn’t mean she can’t be friendly and close with the oldest Danvers sister as well. Or can she?

[mojave-pete]

Not one person has been charged with possessing or using a gun inside the Capitol. Further, no one even has been identified as carrying a gun inside the building.

Since the Justice Department launched its nationwide manhunt to track down and arrest anyone involved with the Capitol breach on January 6, hundreds of perpetrators have been arrested.

Most face misdemeanor charges for trespassing or disorderly conduct, but dozens are in jail and denied bond for the thoughtcrime of believing the 2020 presidential election wasn’t on the up-and-up. The acting U.S. attorney general overseeing the investigation promises to apprehend hundreds more, however, it’s been two weeks since authorities have arrested anyone in connection to the probe.

Almost as embarrassing as the bad behavior of a handful of Trump supporters that day is the conduct of the national news media and Washington lawmakers. The country has been subjected to a public group therapy session of sorts wherein grown adults—Republicans and Democrats alike, elected to defend the country at all costs—now recount their harrowing experiences on January 6, which include running away from no one in particular or insisting, without evidence, that they were on the verge of being “murdered.”

The media continue to promote any number of fabricated storylines intended to bolster the laughable narrative of an “insurrection” occurring at the Capitol. The concocted account of the death of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick recently fell apart; the New York Times, after pressure from outlets including American Greatness, effectively retracted its January 8 article claiming Sicknick was killed by a fire extinguisher at the hands of Trump “loyalists.”

So now it’s time to straighten out another twisted tale animating the folklore of January 6: The idea the random chaos amounted to an “armed insurrection.” Hundreds of crazed Trumpists carrying deadly weapons, the public believes, stormed the Capitol to injure or kill senators, representatives, and even Vice President Mike Pence in order to avenge a “stolen” election.

Most news outlets—as they did with the coverage of Sicknick’s death—unflinchingly repeat the “armed insurrection” trope, which can be traced back to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s January 7 press conference. “[Y[esterday, the President of the United States incited an armed insurrection against America, the gleeful desecration of the US Capitol…and the violence targeting Congress are horrors that will forever stay in our nation’s history,” Pelosi ranted.

But like everything else that exits the mouth of the Speaker of the House, her description isn’t only flat wrong but also manufactured for wicked political purposes.

When a thinking person hears the word “armed,” he usually thinks of a firearm, or a gun. Yet here is how the Justice Department describes the trove of deadly weapons seen at the Capitol that day: “During the course of the violent protests, several violent protestors were armed with weapons including bats, pepper spray, sticks, zip ties, as well as bulletproof vests and anti-tear gas masks.” (The zip ties, it’s important to note, weren’t brought into the building by Trumpists but by law enforcement officials.)

I reviewed the charges filed against the more than 200 people arrested for criminal misconduct related to January 6 and found only 14 defendants face any sort of weapons charge. Offenses vary; indictments range from possession of a “deadly” weapon on “restricted” grounds to assaulting a police officer.

But so far, just two people have been charged with unlawful possession of a firearm—and there’s no proof either man “breached” the Capitol let alone threatened lawmakers as part of a coordinated, armed insurrection.

Lonnie Coffman, 70, was indicted by a D.C. grand jury on January 11 with 17 firearms violations. Around 1 p.m. on January 6, Capitol Police, according to charging documents, noticed what appeared to be a gun on the front seat of a pickup truck parked near the Capitol. Cops searched the vehicle and found a handgun, a rifle, loaded magazines, and mason jars filled with material they believed were components to make Molotov cocktails. When Coffman arrived near his vehicle at around 6:30 p.m., he was questioned by police; they discovered two small handguns in his pockets.

Federal authorities threw the book at Coffman, a veteran with no criminal record.

But although he’s been charged with more than a dozen violations of D.C.’s strict gun possession laws, Coffman has not been charged with using his guns, ammunition, or the alleged Molotov cocktails. Further, it’s worth noting that aside from the two pistols found on his person, the other contraband was locked in his truck as the “insurrection” occurred.

The FBI isn’t finished with Coffman yet; agents raided his remote Alabama home on January 26. He’s currently being held in a D.C. jail without bail.

Christopher Alberts was arrested near the Capitol the evening of January 6 after police found a 9 mm handgun and ammunition in his possession. The Maryland resident has been charged with one count of unlawful possession of a firearm on Capitol grounds or building, one count of carrying a pistol without a license, one count of possession of ammunition, and one count of trespassing.

Again, although Alberts was detained near the Capitol, prosecutors do not allege he entered the building or attempted to use his weapon on January 6.

Here is a roundup of the non-firearm “dangerous and deadly” weapons charges:

Zachary Alam, nicknamed “Helmet Boy,” is charged with assaulting an officer with a deadly weapon although it’s unclear if the weapon used was the helmet he found on the ground or his body. (Documents allege Alam “pushed his body up against one of the Capitol Police officers guarding the door.”) Alam was near Ashli Babbitt when she was shot and killed by a still-unidentified police officer.

Richard Barnett, the man pictured behind Pelosi’s desk, faces two charges of unlawfully possessing a “dangerous or deadly weapon,” which, according to prosecutors, was a “ZAP Hike N Strike 950,000 Volt Stun Gun Walking Stick” he carried with him on January 6. He did not use it.

Scott Fairlamb faces a 12-count indictment including assaulting an officer and “entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.” Fairlamb had a small collapsible baton; it’s unclear whether he entered the Capitol at any time.

Robert Gieswien, found with a baseball bat and pepper spray, is charged with “assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon.”

Alex Harkrider and Ryan Nichols are being charged together; they face 13 counts, including four related to possession or use of “deadly or dangerous” weapons. Nichols is accused of using pepper spray on an officer—he allegedly sprayed the irritant on a crowd which included officers attempting to secure the building—and carrying a crowbar into the Capitol. Harkrider is charged with illegally possessing an axe on government property. Investigators gleaned most of their evidence from posts on the defendants’ social media accounts.

Emanuel Jackson is charged with striking police officers outside the Capitol with a baseball bat.

Edward Lamb, according to charging documents, “swung, thrusted, and/or jabbed the [baseball] bat at law enforcement officers multiple times” outside the Capitol. He faces 11 counts including three related to use of a deadly weapon.

Patrick McCaughey was directly behind Officer Daniel Hodges when he was crushed in a doorway by the mob. McCaughey faces three weapon-related charges; the weapon was a police riot shield he found on the scene.

Matthew Miller is charged with using a deadly weapon—a fire extinguisher—outside the Capitol. Miller allegedly sprayed the contents toward officers.

Jordan Mink is accused of using a “deadly weapon,” a baseball bat, on “unrestricted” grounds. (Mink is photographed smashing in a window.) In denying bond, a federal magistrate stated that January 6 was “a horrendous crime against our democracy that Mr. Mink not only participated in, but was a very active and violent participant.”

Robert Sanford, initially believed to be the suspect who injured Sicknick, is charged with throwing a fire extinguisher and striking three officers. (Investigators said the object “appeared” to be a fire extinguisher.) The retired Pennsylvania fireman also is being held without bond.

So, as Joe Biden likes to say, let’s be clear: Not one person has been charged with possessing or using a gun inside the Capitol. Further, no one has been identified as carrying a gun inside the building. Of the hundreds of photographs posted on the FBIs Most Wanted List for the Capitol breach investigation, not a single picture shows anyone with a firearm.

Only one defendant had a handgun on his person outside the building hours after the “insurrection” ended. The other defendant had two guns on his person but investigators don’t allege he was inside the Capitol on January 6.

At least 100,000 attended Trump’s speech that day; fewer than 1,000 “stormed” the Capitol. A few hundred have been arrested and only 14 face weapons charges. Those “deadly and dangerous” weapons include two baseball bats, a can of pepper spray, a walking stick/stun gun, an axe, a few fire extinguishers (one in question), a helmet, a riot shield, and a collapsible baton. And at no time did this random weaponry pose a lethal threat to lawmakers inside the Capitol.

Do the idiots who used any sort of weapon to harm an officer or damage property deserve to pay for their stupid and violent actions? Yes.

Was January 6, 2021 an “armed insurrection” or anything close?

No.

Another hoax is being built to take out Trump voters!

[thecommonraven]

ok. 

My headcanon for Dylan is: he hates Craig. It’s mostly irrational and he mostly knows that, but he hates Craig all the same.  He tries his best to hide it, but it slips through the cracks in the everything-is-fine-fake-it-’til-you-make-it plaster that he patches up over his Michalchuk-Aries-Rage-King personality. He didn’t always hate Craig. Though maybe he was occasionally annoyed or confused by Marco and Craig’s friendship. I know in Marco’s mind, he’s a total nerd who doesn’t understand what Dylan sees in him, but let’s be honest, Marco Is Cool. Marco is in a damn band! A band that won a competition in front of the entire school literally one episode before Marco and Dylan go on their first date. Craig’s band. I think Dylan probably teased Marco about having a crush on Craig at some point. Could have been completely out of nowhere as an innocent joke. Could have been to play off Dylan feeling competitive about trying to get time alone with Marco when Marco is so involved with his friends. Hell, maybe Dylan even joked that Craig actually had a crush on Marco instead. When Marco takes all that time to decorate Craig’s locker in GitM, Craig jokes about wanting Marco as a boyfriend. When Dylan shows up at the mall in Voices Carry, Craig is manically rejoicing over gay marriage. Etc. We know the writers heavily considered making Craig bisexual (even going so far as having a script written) before ultimately deciding against it, and if they’d gone forward with it, it wouldn’t have been out of the blue. Some groundwork had been laid. (TBQH, I’m glad they didn’t pursue that storyline with Craig, but that belongs in a different post.)   Combo all this with the fact that Marco cannot check out a guy without basically becoming a whistling wolf cartoon character of yesteryear (Sean in CW, Dylan in Pride/WtaS/TEotH, Hallway Guy in HCYM) and I think it’s pretty easily something Dylan would have joked about before.  Cut to the party in Moonlight Desires. Dylan loves Marco but has decided he wants to open up the relationship (my thoughts on how he managed to convince himself of this are again something that belong in a different post). But a key factor in all this is that Dylan thinks he’s Not The Jealous Type. And then this happens: 

It seems pretty clear by Dylan’s welcome that he assumes Marco’s attendance at the party means they have agreed to see other people. And for some reason, Marco came to this party...with Craig.  He plays it off like it’s nothing, but for basically the rest of the party we see Dylan constantly clocking where Marco is and also where Craig is in relation to Marco. When Marco and Craig are talking about the blood drive story being about to air at 8pm, Dylan is several feet away in full conversation with someone else and immediately jumps in. When Craig jokes about Marco’s hair, Dylan comes to his defense.  And later in the stairway when Marco panics and attack-kisses Craig, this is Dylan’s immediate response: 

CLENCHED. FISTS.  Just fully a nightmare coming true. He plays it off after this with some awkward hand gestures, but he also leaves the stairwell pretty damn fast. My guy opts for flight, but his initial impulse is for sure FIGHT. Neither is really an impulse one has if you think you just witnessed a funny goof or an acceptable side-effect of an open relationship. Then when Marco wants to know if the kiss made him jealous, Dylan is pretty obviously lying and avoiding answering the question directly: 

And Dylan is a v bad liar.  (Compare him “It was Craig!”ing in MD versus him trying to explain his magical ringing “dead” cell phone in IYL.) Now cut ahead to season 6, with Marco and Dylan back together again, and Craig visiting in WiFLtbaG.

Doesn’t Dylan look absolutely thrilled to have Craig on his couch playing unintelligible songs about whales on the acoustic guitar? This man is trying so hard to seem into it. But this man Has A Tell. (Compare Dylan’s jealous physicality in MD when Marco is flirting with Mike to his physicality when cheering on Craig’s song). Oh yeah, we’ve made it to Craig-hating times.  

Now, I can’t decide if he hates Craig because he can’t scrape the image of Marco kissing him from the inside of his eyelids (The Marco/Tim attack-kiss in TEotH HAD to have given him a flashback), or because the very presence of Craig serves as a reminder to Dylan of what an idiot he was back in MD. Maybe it’s a combination of the two. Maybe he hasn’t even really investigated his newly found dislike beyond general bad vibes. Whatever it is, he’s not a fan. 

And so when he finds out that Ellie is throwing a dinner for Craig that he’s expected to attend (after having to go to Craig’s show the night before where he seems SO BORED and where Marco acts legit twitterpated with Craig after it’s over), Dylan keeps mostly to himself and seeks help from a very large glass (PINT? STEIN?) of wine. 

Seriously, it’s a giant glass. Easily twice the size of everyone else’s at the table, even Jesse, who is the only other one drinking wine that night. 

Then when things get weird with Manny and Craig’s return to the dinner table. Dylan seems to know exactly what’s going on, and he seems to instantly blame Craig (correctly). Manny is the more obvious mess in the moment, but all Dylan’s glares get saved for Craig. 

[irandomblogfulb]

FATE: What happens when you get a bunch of middle aged white guys to adapt a cartoon for girls

Well, I just went through 6 hours of fate and I have a lot of opinions on it. Yeah, this is going to be long (slightly under 3k words) so putting it under read more and obvious spoilers.

PSA before delving right in:

1) Yes, I will be comparing to the original. Any comparisons are not through rose-tinted nostalgia glasses. There are parts here and there that I genuinely think were done better in the cartoon on a writing standpoint.

2) This is purely my opinion and overall negative. Don't like it? Don't read. I'm all up for discussion but I don't want another person crying to me about how I “ruined” their experience of the show.

3) If you like Fate then good for you. This isn’t me bashing people who like it. 

I've spit it up into sub sections just for my own convince.

1. The problem with the 'I'm not like other girls' trope

This pertains to the entire Bloom-Sky-Stella love triangle. I wasn't as pressed about it compared to other winxers (and I loved Stella's and Brandon's relationship on my rewatch). In fact, I was okay with it. But then I sat down and watched the show and there's a lot of underlying problems with the love triangle. Particularly pitting Bloom and Stella against each other for Sky's affection.

Now this part of the love triangle I already didn't like. Correct me if I'm wrong, since I dropped the OG Winx after season 5 but the Winx while they did have their conflicts and arguments, never fought over a boy. I really appreciated that from the cartoon so seeing that live action would fall into that trap – I was mildly annoyed at that. Then it hit me. It's Bloom and Stella.

The seemingly ordinary girl vs the pristine princess of Solaria. If the title didn't give it away, you should get the point by now. Others have already called it by now but the "I'm not like other girl's" trope in itself, while seemingly feminist is actually misogynist. Saying the more masculine type of girl is better than the feminine is inherently misogynist. Stella, the prime princess, girly and feminine, is villainized by the love triangle. Sky's and Stella's relationship is toxic and Stella's overt co-dependence and jealousy are already big fat red signs - but Sky's and Bloom's relationship is built on how she's "different". Bloom isn't like Stella, she's "real".

2. Am I supposed to like Riven?

As the title puts it, wtf am I supposed to feel about Riven. Is he supposed to be a good guy? Do I root for him? Is he morally ambiguous? Because holy shit compared to OG!Riven, this guy is diabolical and much much worse! OG!Riven is an asshole and he teams up with the trix but his arc was very simple and easy to understand. He joins the bad guys, distances himself from the good guys, the trix betray his ass, he self-reflects in the dungeon - escapes and redeems himself. Net!Riven is so bad to the point where you can't redeem him and the writers don't even try. Freddie Thorp is good in his role. (however, he definitely doesn't pass for a 17-year-old. He's 26 and it shows) and he actually makes the cringe dialogue work. But he's way too diabolical and downright predatory. The scene where he forces Dane to gulp down his spiked drink - it’s worse seeing it than reading it. That grossed me out more than the gore.

What makes it worse, nobody properly calls him out. Beatrix kinda does on his homophobia – “Homophobic bashing by GIF” - and Sky does chastise him, but they still tolerate him. It is kinda funny in a way Sky has a whole ass arc about how he's enabling Stella's problematic behaviour by still dating her after she blinded her friend but doesn't realize he's doing the same for Riven.

The only person that really puts her foot down with Riven is Terra and nobody takes her seriously about anything she says.

Everyone is very laissez-faire around him and that's not how you respond to your friend being problematic. (Hey, kinda like the other girls sans Aisha are with Bloom!) Everyone surrounding Riven is so disgusting and the notion of him supposedly being a good guy is very hard to buy into. His whole relationship with Dane has a section of it’s own because there’s just a lot to unpack.

3. Stella I am so sorry

I'm also in the majority hating how they've tarnished Stella. Basically, they turned her into the stereotypical rich bully with mommy issues.

I get that Stella has an abusive mom but that’s no excuse to be a total bitch to her roommates. And no, her roommates shouldn't accept her back with open arms. And she doesn't even redeem herself - the girls just accept her back after her mom pulls her from Alfea.

And this is also another issue with the writing were the characters suddenly just change their opinions on a whim. Suddenly Stella likes the winx, suddenly Terra misses Stella even though having that girl literally gives her anxiety. Suddenly Aisha's on Bloom's side in the end.

This isn't me simping for the cartoon out of nostalgia. I was mostly okay with the idea of Stella and Sky hooking up. But Looking at it from a creative standpoint - looking at the source material, and the many paths you can take this character, the best thing Brian Young and co. can think of for her was turning her into the stereotypical rich bully that we've seen time and time again? No deconstruction no meta take, it's played out exactly how you’d expect it.

Again, this isn't me simping for the show. Purely from a creative standpoint Stella was such a major let down. There's so much to the character and Brian Young took the easiest, saturated path.

4. That one scene with Bloom's parents

You know the one. Mike unhinges Bloom's bedroom doors and Vanessa cusses out and insults her child like a petty teen bully. Forgetting how utterly cringey that scene was, you can't have her mom go batshit insane on her child, then act like she's this loving parent that cares so deeply about her daughter. Screw that! Vanessa deserved those 3rd degree burns! She invaded her daughter's privacy. Bloom didn't even do anything wrong!

I can't buy into this narrative of Vanessa and Mike being loving parents when they do something like that. Seriously who thought that was okay?

5. Pity Parties for everyone.

I already discussed this in Stella’s section but I don’t like the “it’s okay for me be a shitty person because my life sucks :)” narrative Fate tries to pull. They did it with Stella, Bloom, Riven.

What I liked about the first season of Winx Club is Bloom’s arc and her character as a whole. Because while she went through shit, from the Trix, to finding out she was adopted, her existential crisis, not feeling like she belonged, losing the dragon flame, she went through a lot. She didn’t throw a pity party. She didn’t whine, bitch and complain. She allowed herself to feel upset, took it as it is and tried to make lemonade out of lemons. And I respect that.

Net!Bloom is agrevating. She does some dumb, reckless stuff but it’s excused because she’s the protagonist? She let the war criminal out, the school gets taken over by the bad guys because of Bloom. Faragonda fucking dies because she let the war criminal out! The burned ones attacked the school because she let the war criminal out!!! But no, Aisha’s villainized for calling Bloom out because Bloom’s existential crisis is more important then anything else.

Getting to Sky, he isn’t as bad as the others. He doesn’t become a shitty person because of his problems. (Though lowkey flirting with Bloom while he hooks up with Stella is uh not good.) But he does come across incredibly whiny. Because of the cringey dialogue and the unnecessary swearing  I can’t take his speech on opening up to Bloom seriously. I laughed throughout the whole thing and Bloom leaving his unconscious body there was the icing on the cake.

One of the few characters that deserved a pity party is Terra. She’s very much like OG!Bloom in a way. She is bullied by Dane and Riven, has body insecurities, anxiety, nobody listens to her and at most only tolerates her. Despite all the crap that is thrown her way she still reminds humble, kind, and respectful. And she is one of the few characters that deserves more support than what she got out of the season.

5. Bloom, Aisha, Tokenism and their awful relationship

I’m going to be upfront, their relationship sucks. The core of their dynamic is what Aisha can do for Bloom. It’s very one-sided. Bloom only goes to Aisha to help solve her problems, which Aisha gladly does – but when Aisha disagrees with Bloom or says something Bloom doesn’t like, Bloom suddenly goes off and Aisha’s made to be the bad guy. Even though she’s right? And Aisha has her own problems as well, shown to also struggle with her powers. But nope, that’s pushed to the back burner because Bloom needs help.

I am all for creative freedom. I can stomach Stella x actual Sky. I can stomach turning Stella into a rich mean girl. I can stomach the dark academia aesthetic but what Brian Young and co. did to Aisha is just plain racist. Screw the “it’s an adaptation” excuse. Turning this character who had a rich storyline and was a princess into a white girl’s magical negro who fixes all her problems is racist and by definition tokenism. And by whitewashing the other two characters of color, making Aisha the only poc in the group – that’s the worst thing you can do to her.

And frankly we need more black princesses on screen.

6. Dane and the homophobia of the show

Towards the show’s climax it’s revealed Dane is helping Beatrix because she accepts he’s “different”. Not only does this go back to my pity party rant but like bruh,

1)      Beatrix never really did anything for Dane? She hung out and smoked with him a bit, but that’s all. You’re telling me Terra wouldn’t accept Dane? Beatrix never helped him and he never really opened up to her about his struggles.

2)      Nobody else, not even background characters bully or harass Dane for being “different”. It’s only Riven, the guy he’s crushing on. The whole falling in love with the bad boy/abuser trope is bad in a hetero relationship and that still stands for a gay one. And I know damn well if Dane was a woman half of the shit Riven did to Dane wouldn’t slide.

It makes no sense for Dane to side with the bad guys when Riven’s the one bullying him and Beatrix is complacent in the bullying. Oh, and having your second black* character who’s also lgbt+/potentially questioning be a villain? Not good.

I’m all for gay and poly rep, but not like this. If Stella and Sky’s toxic relationship is going to be called out for what it is, why not Dane’s?

*Idk if Theo Graham is light-skinned black or biracial so I’ll just refer to him as black.

7. The plot

It’s very predictable. Personally, wasn’t fond of the ‘twist of a twist of a twist’ style of writing. The story tries to be nuanced and deep but it’s not. Common sense is treated like a big revelation. Not trusting the war criminal you barely know isn’t as big of a take that the writers try to make it out to be.

8.  Everything else

·       Beatrix is fine. No Icy but did like the gothic bookworm aesthetic.

·       Sam is just there to be Musa’s love interest and provide some dumb drama between Musa and Terra. I thought they’d go the Edward/Bella root – Musa’s drawn to Sam because she can’t sense his emotions for some reason. Nope, they just get together for the obligatory make out sessions. Don’t care much for the relationship or the character.

·       Since the powers are all elemental shouldn’t there be classes purely for an elemental? Classes purely for fire fairies, etc?

·       Musa’s powers are confusing. If she has no control over them and they are “always on”, shouldn’t her eyes constantly be glowing purple?  Very wishy washy. Sometimes they overwhelm her and other times she has complete control. Her character is just there for plot stuff.

·       Terra is one of the better characters but can’t enjoy her knowing about the whitewashing. Why can’t we have a plus sized character just exist and not have body issues?

·       Sky doesn’t feel like a prince. Characters treat him like his dad is a war hero and not the King of Eraklyon. There was a point where I thought I misheard and thought his dad was just a war hero and not a king.

·       Why try to justify Rosalind’s war crime if she’s going to be the big bad anyways?

·       The way the characters treat death/act around death is very weird. Musa and Terra see a pile of dead bodies and they’re unreasonable calm. Especially Bloom an “ordinary teenage girl from earth”, reacts very nonchalant when death and war crimes are brought up. Doesn’t help the show tries to push this “they’re kids fighting a war” narrative.

·       Can’t buy into the girls’ friendship. The Aisha/Bloom dynamic is centred on what Aisha can do for Bloom. Bloom only cares about herself and only goes to her friends to help with her problems. Most of Musa’s and Terra’s interaction centre around Sam. Stella didn’t care for the girls until her mom showed up and pulled a 180. The girls were quick to turn on Aisha when she sided with the adults.

·       I have no problem with technology existing but why do they have Instagram, Tiktok and Tumblr? The otherworld is a completely separated from Earth, why do they have the same technology?  

9. Brian Young, what do you mean by mature?

I grew up on the 4kids dub before transitioning to the Nick dub for season 4 and 5 then dropping the cartoon for good. So naturally on my rewatch of the cartoon I decided to go watch the RAI dub since I heard it’s more accurate and 4Kids are infamous for their horrid localisations straying too much to the source material. Upon finishing season 1 and currently watching season 2, a few things took me by surprise. For one, the cartoon is surprisingly dark. The schools are at war with the Trix and their army of Darkness, Sky almost dies in Season 2, Riven almost dies and the Trix thinks he suicided, it’s heavily implied in Season 2 Darkar murdered some of the pixies, the paedophilic undertones of Bloom and Avalon’s relationship, the list goes on.

When the interview with Brian Young came out, he said Fate would be a mature take on the cartoon. And I wondered, what did he meant by mature? Was he going to delve deeper into the darker aspects of the show, or did he mean he was going to have the girls swear and have sex? Watching Fate, I found my answer.

If you take out the gore, swearing, drug and alcohol usage from the live action, the maturity is on par with the RAI dub. The difference is in the presentation. This is what sucks about the mentality surrounding live action remakes. Because the OG!Winx was colourful with glittery transformations , was super girly and overall had a positive upbeat tone (not forgetting 2D animated) - it can’t be taken seriously. You have to strip all that, the colour, the kindness, the femininity in order to be deemed mature.

10. Wrapping up

I went into Fate expecting the worst and honestly, it wasn’t that bad. There were things I liked about it. The show looks pretty, and I did like what they were trying to do with Sky’s arc. The actors did what they could with the material. Freddie Thorp made the cringe dialogue work and Abigail Cowen proves she can carry a show as the lead.

Fate is your generic, YA, dark academia show. It follows all the tropes of the YA genre to a T. If that’s your niche, then you’ll love Fate and I’m not bashing anyone who liked it.

For me, as a creative, it doesn’t capitalise on the strengths of the source material. I’m not asking for Winx Club again, as I’ve reiterated, I’m all for creative freedom. But Brian Young, Iginio Straffi, whoever worked on this – they could’ve created something new, innovative, something that stood out from the hordes of other YA shows. They had good material in their hands! But what I got -  I’ve seen before, and I’ve seen it done better. That’s a major disappointment.

As a winx club fan, don’t bother watching this. It’s a very diluted version of the Winx. In trying to capture the interest of the adult fans who grew up with the franchise – Iginio showed how out of touch he is if he thinks this is what they wanted.

[snark-academia]

Hey why did we let It (2017) take Mike’s storylines/character traits from the book and give them to Ben ??? Ben already would’ve had enough screen time considering his crush on Bev and the sequence where he runs away from Henry Bowers. Having Ben have all the pictures/research regarding Derry and the town history just meant Mike didn’t have much to do. Obviously since he didn’t have a lot to do anymore and he already joined the Losers kinda late he got less screen time than everyone else. Miniseries Mike got to go to their school and give a presentation on Derry’s history so why the fuck was 2017 Mike left out of his own plot relevance? In Chapter 2 they still make him the one who stays in Derry while everyone else leaves and that makes more sense when you consider his family has history there and he already knew the most about Pennywise’s 27 year cycle. Also killing his parents was pretty unnecessary. Mike was a great character (one of my favorites in the book) and the fact that he wasn’t given more to do is sick ESPECIALLY since Chosen Jacobs was such an amazing actor.

[cartoonfangirl1218]

Riverdale should have been a Disney show

Riverdale should have been a Disney show. There I said it. I'll admit the first season was fine Great even. Self-contained with an intriguing mystery and you waited at the edge of your seat for what will happen next. But then... Part of the problem for me is because I've read the original comics since I was a girl. I still do get some from my mom, and the way they have changed the characters just bug me.Betty used to be the girl next door, always hopeful, smart, trying to figure out the mystery. And it was perfect that she was a reporter because Betty was always someone who valued honesty so her being the roving reporter was perfect. And her taking pills for anxiety or some sort of disorder was also a nice take because she does take on so much, and tries so hard to help and be good and nice and perfect. All the stress. Archie was also great in the first season. A bit horny, but he means well, and he truly is an average American boy so his big trouble of choosing between music and football. He's a klutz and sometimes his plans go sideways but he means well, he's all for family and Riverdale and school spirit. None of this whole Red Hood/semi mafia/wrestling nonsense. I actually really liked their take on Veronica, she still a bit materialistic and thinks she can depend on her wealth to get her out of trouble but I do like their take on trying to be enterneauripal and working to act less high class society girl as she was used to. 

Jughead, I'm conflicted with. Because he's good I guess as a brooding, investigative journalist he's good. It fits the setting of the show. But I do have a soft spot for him as the sane man to Archie. Going about his business, surprisingly philosophical. And you can't forget the most important attribute to him. His love of food! I miss that. Like the one scene in season 1, I forget what exactly but basically he ordered burgers and when Cole Sprouse just protectively held the burger to him...such a nice touch. That sort of guy I can see as a DCOM. The genius ditz I guess it's called. But he's not dumb. He just prefers napping to being awake. 

Now the others...omg.I have a bone to pick when it comes to the other characters in Riverdale. Josie and the Pussycats-- they are such lively musicians who solve crimes, sometimes in space. ABsolutely wasted here. Melody barely had any lines. And they didn't have Alex or Alexandra Cabot which was such a shame. I know, I know they're in the new Katy Keene show but having them be step-siblings who used to date is wrong and weird and bad and no! Stop having the twins in these shows with vaguly incesteous feelings. It's weird!

Kevin Keller, all his storylines revolve around his bfs or lack of bfs or how much he wants a bf. The Kevin of Archie comics was so much more well-rounded. He was head of ROTC, he was class president, he ran marathons, he was Veronica's bff, he was a reporter. He had an appetite to match Jughead's. He even had a brief crush on Jughead! He was so much better than this sham. He was confident in who he was and did his best to help others feel good about themselves too because he knows not everyone is lucky to come out as LGTBQ in a supportive environment. 

Reggie. I think not giving him enough of an arc in season 1 really backfired because if he appears, it's only as Veronica's arm candy. Which is a shame because he is a good contrast to Archie. A bit richer yet a cheapskate. Thinks he's a casanova, loves being the class prankster. A modern day politician with his sweet words when all he cares about himself. Basically like 

Yet he has his hidden depths with his neglectful workaholic parents and jealousy of Archie's popularity. Cheryl. Omg Cheryl. They have ruined you here. I'm sorry, I do NOT find any of her lines iconic. It's like she swallowed urban dictionary and a gothic novel and came out all jumbled in a google translate. She may be abused but the way she still treats others like shit and gaslights her gf and makes everything about her is just...ugh!!! OMg, comics Cheryl is actually fun and iconic. She's as rich and pretty as Veronica and unafraid to use it. She wants to be a star like a modern day influencer. She's a red-haired Sharpay Evans basically. 

Also Jason, her twin whom they sadly killed off. He was also fun like a meaner, snobbier version of Reggie. But with a huge crush on Betty which I think could have been used to milk such drama. 

Polly also got hit badly. She was a good older sister. She was a reporter, and inspired Betty's enviormental-feminist activities. A sane person. Not a cult worshipping cuckoo. Toni Topaz, ah she was so good in season 2 and then they made her Cheryl's arm candy. Alas. I liked her as a friend to Jughead. In the comics, she was his equal in food contests. That's no small feat. She was cool, and joined Betty's band and... she was her own person. Remember when Toni used to be a photographer for the South Side paper. Yeah. Basically Toni as a 3d character with personality. Please return. 

Dilton. Oh Dilton. Once the smartest person in the Archie universe and they turned you into a survival freak to get killed by the gargoyle king. Or whomever. I just remember he got killed somehow. Honestly, they should have stuck to smart Dilton. They need a smart scientist there, cuz no one is using their brains in Riverdale. 

Chuck. They have done you SUCH A DISSERVICE! So so bad. Chuck was a good person! He was a cartoonist, and a basketball player and Archie's friend. (Yeah, that's right Archie has friends in the comics. Even though Riverdale makes some effort to show Archie and Jug's bond, they're mainly consorting with their gfs. In the comics, they had guy nights. Reggie, Chuck, Kevin, Dilton, Moose. Come on show. Friendships are just as important.) And what did they do, make him a lying scumbag, turn him good and then have him arrested because of what Cheryl did! No, no no. Bad writers. Just no. Ethel Muggs. You have also been wronged in season 3. Making her a crazy freak. Ethel in season 1 was nice. Ethel in the comics is nice. Plain but with a good heart even though she had a slightly obsessive crush on Jughead. Here, making her cult worshipper.... smdh.  Okay at this point I know I sound like a bitter, bitter person complaining how it'S nOt liKE tHe cOmICs. But hey, I admit season 1 was good even if they changed the characters a bit. It’s just that I watched Riverdale because of the property it derived from. Because of the comics. At the least I expected some faithfulness to the characters. Not make them all so inconsistent and crazy. 

It's just the writing is so inconsistent! The plots hop around and so do their moods. Bughead and Choni broke up for one episode and then they got right back together. Even though they had VALID reasons to break up. Nope. That made fans mad. So they had to get back together. Ugh. And Archie got attacked by a bear and was so traumatized that he broke up with Veronica because "he's changed" for like two episodes before forgetting about it and going back to Veronica. Oh which brings me to the ridiculous "love triangle" of Archie/Reggie/Veronica where she couldn't choose. Please, Archie and Veronica were reuniting and planning to go run away for a weekend together. Reggie was completely forgotten until he walked in on them. And Veronica couldn't decide because she loves them both? No, she didn't. She may have felt bad to tell Reggie but it's not because she loved him. Forgetting a guy so quickly...yeah great proof of love. Horniness maybe. But her indecisiveness makes her look bad. Don’t tease a will they, won’t they when the answer is so obvious.  If you're going to do something like that, you should have there be something called CONSEQUENCES! They can get back together but at least wait. Wait 8 episodes at least so they can have character development. But who am I kidding. Character development is not the goal of this show. The character's just move because the writer's want them too not because it fits their personalities. Such as Archie's grieved reaction for baby Teeth in season 3. 

Not only do I have no idea when (the ridiculously named) Baby Teeth appeared, much less why Archie or I should care about his death. But sometimes the show juggles too much. Too many characters. Too many plots. It's all so ugh!!! So my final thought on this is... Riverdale should have been a disney channel sitcom. Archie comics are about family friendly entertainment and sometimes imparted lessons... well so does Disney. I get the appeal of having Riverdale reach a new teen generation, but from what I can see the only big thing Riverdale on CW is that it allows alcohol and gartituous sex scenes. 

Which is another small gripe of mine. I can handle sex scenes (hello Magic Mike XXL) but so many at such inappropriate moments too It's like that scene in an action movie where they suddenly kiss when they should be running for their lives. No teen is that horny all the time. Plus there's always less is more. If one kisses so much it loses the meaning. If you think your shirtless Archie is going to distract me from lack of plot haha. No. Plot and consistency still sucks and shirtless Archie does not make it better.

But Riverdale as a Disney show can work. After all the comic stories are a bit formulaic. It's all high school hijinks. And all the characters fit an archetype. Archie, the protagonist. Veronica, the fashionista. Betty, the reporter. Jughead, the slacker. Reggie, the class clown/bad friend. Cheryl, the Sharpay, Kevin, the sane one. And if people want a season long story arc with dramatics, Disney can actually handle it too. After all they had the mysterious "threat' lurking in the background of My babysitter's a vampire season 2. Or the Juliet and Mason saga of Wizards of Waverly Place. And if people want adult situations, look on to Jessie. Rewatching an episode now, there were so many adult jokes and references that flew over my head so they could sneak those in. Heck, Disney channel is infamous for all the innuendos they manage. And they handle consistency. Cody and Bailey broke up in Suite life on deck, they actually stayed broken up for a good half season. Gabe matured from a prankster tween to teen in love in Good Luck Charlie. Actions have consequences, characters grow. Storytelling 101

And the best part is they don't even have to think too hard for the plots of the week. They literally can build on stories from the comics. All 80 years of it. And I have put some examples right here from my own Archie comics. Like Veronica literally being the fashion police. 

Veronica and Cheryl teaming up + rolling around in their money. 

Cheryl changing the Cherry Blossom Festival to the Cheryl Blossom Festival 

Archie doing his classic Valentine's Day mix up

Veronica and Betty buy Cheryl’s maid service when her father forces her to get a job. 

Jughead and Trula (Jughead's nemesis & psychoanalyst in training) get amnesia and become friends. 

A boy dares to change Veronica

Jughead falls in love with the lunch-lady 

Betty and Veronica pretending to be distressed damsels to get Archie's attention (it backfires) 

Toni and Jughead foil each other in a food eating contest. 

Betty's cast causes more pain to other students

Reggie dates Cheryl (for real) 

Reggie helps Kevin dress for the dance and his mystery date 

Riverdale Shore. 

Cabot vs Lodge

I think all this pretty much illustrates my point. Archie comics equals Disney sitcom all by itself. 

[loverfighter]

well. i think i’ve finally pinpointed the Thing abt chapter 2 that really digs under my skin / makes me uncomfortable to look at too closely (not the character execution of half the losers which is major and probably reason numero uno why chapter 2 does not live up to the book nor first movie and i Will go on abt later but i’m waiting to finish my reread to do so) and it’s essentially that eddie and richie are almost.... forced apart for a lot of it. in chapter 1 we have so many moments, countless looks and gestures and dialogue to point at and say look! there! that’s why they’re in love! where the impact these characters have on each other holds weight and they’re so deeply intertwined to the degree of siamese twins, one never without the other, never farther than a thought or heartbeat away (physically touching in one way or another anytime they can, a beacon through the walks of hell). it’s clear, on both ends, that whatever love they hold for each other is profound and heavy and embedded six feet deep into each other’s souls, transversing across memory, distance, time. even in the background of a scene in which the main focus is ten feet away, highlighted in red and grasping at your attention, you can spot eddieandrichie⏤together, inseparable, linked. 

with chapter 2, this dynamic is hinted upon, and given to us through flashes, but never through scenes alone (prior to neibolt) or actual context. in fact, the scenes we Do have in which their magnetic pull towards each other is allowed narrative (hammock, eddie taking off the shower cap, eddie looking away smiling after richie’s “what the fuck does that mean”, going into the photo booth separated from the rest + eddie pulling richie in, eduardo! andale, them expressing constant agreement w each other through gestures, all of the jade of the orient stuff, etc) was courtesy of the actors and not the script or (likely) direction. bill even said that He was the one who had to push the clarity of richie’s sexuality, to clearly express that he’s gay (“““movie canon”””), while andy and the rest thought vague would be the best route to go in fear of audience reaction. and even then! it’s not as forward as it should’ve or could’ve been (considering they pulled eddie’s canon death scene w the love confession + more emotional moments between them in that setting + the supposed kiss), and oh! not to mention stripping eddie of his own homosexuality and giving richie the bowers storyline, which was the scene that cemented his sexuality in the movie, making it clear that the crew knew the dynamic and context of the interactions between eddie and bowers. 

the point remains that all of the “official” reddie scenes are... kinda out of nowhere? we are given spare information, but lacking any context, leaving the general audience with no way to complete the puzzle with a dozen missing pieces. during the flashback, we see richie carving r+e on the kissing bridge, set after the events of the arcade, and obviously the e stands for eddie, but that’s it! nothing before or during that flashback gives the average watcher any information besides that, and the ones of us who are invested have little satisfaction from that moment alone, when we’ve been building it up and expecting an actual storyline, rather than 5 secs in a minute long flashback clip (that is to say, the r+e is one of my fav reddie scenes, but maybe they shouldn’t have teased it in the trailers if that was all it was gonna be?). 

richie is the one to calm eddie down, snatch away his inhaler bc it’s meaningless physically and damaging psychologically, and tell him “you’re braver than you think.” but why is it that richie is able to get through to him when no one else can or bothers to, why richie, why does he understand what eddie needs to hear, why does eddie listen and take it to heart, especially when richie is the one emphasized to have a crush on eddie and not vice versa? they’re important to each other (on a deeper level than they individually are with the rest of the losers), it’s clear based on that scene, but that’s what it’s left at, with no scenes or dialogue previous to that moment propping it up, other than the r+e, which doesn’t account for eddie’s reaction. and then, they’re together when they face the doors, parallel to benverly who are shouting their love at each other. again, this is telling us something, which is less surprising based off of the inhaler scene 5 mins prior, but then it swiftly plummets to eddie essentially sacrificing himself / saving richie. again: why? 

to me, it’s obvious. to y’all, it’s obvious. we all know well enough, right. but susan in the seat next to me doesn’t, nor do her two friends, or even my friends (getting new ones) or the majority of people who came out of that theatre. they walked out of there and didn’t understand the relationship as requited bc they weren’t given the context and love and soul of reddie. and i think what upsets me most about that is that i can’t just brush it off as them not understanding the nuance or depth of a stupid clown film (if it was the stupid clown book, sure, or even the first stupid clown film but) bc it was done on purpose. they were afraid of negative responses to the lgbt storyline (and god forbid there’d be two of them in their precious big studio film), and so they strangled the heart out of reddie. and because reddie became canon (or richie’s crush became canon), they had to tone down the “gayness” of their relationship, because now the audience would have a new perception of what they were to one another, and no longer have the cushion to brush it off as a “brotherly relationship” (sorry finn). take bill and mike for example! objectively, they were probably “gayer” than reddie, because they were allowed to touch, to show affection, to say i love you. but of course they can’t be gay, bc bill has a wife and they don’t see mike as enough of a person to give him anything good. 

it’s like. what they (production) Have given us is flashes of moments that they are barely responsible for and bury ur gays (fantastic rep), wherein the sexuality of the character that actually dies is kept vague so that the record breaking number of people that went to see their film (who frankly don’t even care) won’t think the film is too gay. like. LMFAO it’s so dumb and frustrating bc on one hand we’re valid for clocking reddie but on the other we’re Too Wild for thinking that it’s a requited love story. like yes, i’m grateful that richie’s sexuality (re his attraction to men; i think he’s bi, movie canon leans toward gay but whatever) is canon, that the wretched grief he felt at losing the love of his life was Shown if only to paint how deep the emotion he felt went, that r+e is forever carved into history. but that’s hand in hand w me being upset over eddie’s character and sexuality being sidelined, at the graphic depiction of gay men being murdered with no full circle moment as it Should Have Been, at having to defend reddie as canon bc some cowards in the editing room couldn’t handle the negative reviews of a few bigots at the expense of their invested and loyal and passionate audience who care abt this story and the characters within it. 

idk. anyway. this is the result of me going crazy so don’t pay it much mind but. imagine how fucking tired i am