#text: mike

[mareestoermers]

i think we are all forgetting something when we talk about how toxic patrick, tashi, and art are — or when we decide one is “worse” than the other. they all have moments of seeing right through it, seeing each other’s toxic behavior for what it is, and STILL want and need each other in this possessive, envious, visceral way.

1. in the way beginning, tashi is clearly flirting more with art than patrick, and patrick is visibly annoyed. art sees right through it and even challenges him like “okay, let’s leave”, and has this little smirk on his face because he knows patrick won’t give up on tashi.

2. tashi immediately sees the visible tension and love between art and patrick, and literally orchestrates their first kiss. she sees right through their repression, and even calls herself a “home-wrecker” but still entangles herself with them, especially patrick because he’s clearly the better tennis player at that point and that is tash’s ONLY true love. tennis. that’s what she desires most in him, and patrick knows that. he even calls her out on it in the dorm room scene. but they have this mirroring fire in each other that neither of them can give up, not until patrick breaks the balance and bails — tashi’s injury is literally a metaphor for the balance shattering between all three of them when patrick leaves her.

3. before this, patrick sees right through art trying to break them up, and even admires that quality — maybe even feels smug and flattered because art is jealous and feels left out from both tashi and patrick. patrick has known this all along, we saw it in the “tick-serve” scene, where he even swears to tashi he won’t tell anyone but he still tells art, who is desperate to feel a part of them and patrick wants that, too — even keeps that close intimacy with art that we see in the churro scene (swoon swoon swoon).

4. haven’t you noticed that arts desire to be great is only ever tied up in patrick and tashi? how he needs to beat patrick to win tashis affection, how he needs to win in tennis so that tashi can live through him, how he lives up to his potential in the ending only because tashi and patrick push him to it, in their little fucked up ways? he knows this — he even admits that he’s playing for tashi, that he knows she’s living through him. he even admits he’s playing a fucked up little game with patrick when they’re in the sauna. yet he still does it. again, he knows what’s happening, sees right through them — still does it, still loves them.

5. when tashi calls patrick to come pick her up he knows it’s not just to tell him to throw the match — and despite how she battles him about it, they still have sex in the car, because he already knows. he’s so fully aware of her and her game and he’s so willing to be caught up in it, the same as art.

just some examples of how they all have moments of clarity and agency and yet they still choose to be entangled in one another because they’re all fucked up in their own, individual ways, and they’re all living through each other for their own specific needs. arts is to be seen as worthy, as great, but only through their gaze. tashis is to have the career that was stolen from her. patricks is truly to be in love and in lust with both of them, because we even see that from the beginning that tashis love alone will never satiate him; it has to be arts love, too. that scene in the sauna when he thinks he’s lost it from art is the most sad and fucked up we ever even see patrick. on top of tashi asking him to throw the game — he’s so defensive of arts feelings.

in short this is an actual love triangle (and i would go as far as to see it as a polyship). you can’t erase one without the whole thing unraveling, and you can’t say one character was the “worst” without picking apart the motivations and pointing to the fact that their bad behavior was never a secret or left unchecked.

even at the end, patrick signals to art that he slept with tashi — art knows and they still have that intimate completion at the end, all three of them. art living up to his potential and embracing patrick fully (id argue this could even be a metaphor for embracing his bisexuality), patrick having both tashi and arts affection again, and tashi playing a phenomenal tennis match through her little white boys — in such a visceral, emotional way that she cries out like she did in the beginning and the last frame is her smiling.

in a fucked up way, they all get what they wanted out of each other.

[demi-god77]

[heartmilheart]

The most obvious Byler proof is this Jancy - Byler parallel:

Nancy not being able to say "I love you" to Steve

And then going to Johnathan for comfort and advice

Mike not being able to say "I love you" to El

And then going to Will for comfort and advice

Not only that, the car scenes are very similar

- sitting on a car

- soda

- Wheeler on (their) right

- Byers on (their) left

Byler endgame is real guys 😋

There is so much more proof btw and don't come at me with "Oh but Mike is straight!" Just search up "Mike Wheeler queercoding and watch the video by Lesbianmindflayer about it, you might have to pause to read tho, or there's also another video which is longer by someone else but I haven't seen it yet so can't say anything about it. You will see that he is so much more queercoded than Will himself, the canon (confirmed) gay character.

Heartmilheart out

[cazbogie]

[love-byers]

[coolgrl111]

more bf!art text message posts eeeeekkk

ask and you shall receive 😈😈😈

—

[heartsuits]

[nessa007]

mike flanagan really woke up one day and was like

[slushiesandshowtunesat3am]

Oh my fucking god, how hard is it to use flushed cheeks instead of blushed cheeks in fanfiction. No, they didn't develop a dusting of light pink. No, I didn't turn red. I'M FUCKING BLACK.

I don't mean to be rude, but I don't know how many times dark readers of color have to make posts like this, dude. Physical descriptions, dynamics with hair...come on.

I've seen it in way too many times now, and I'm going to start calling it out every time I see it in fanfiction. There are no more excuses. It can't be x reader if it only applies to those of lighter complexions.

And for writers of smaus or text fiction, or even those making headers: If you have pictures in them, why do they only ever have white or extremely pale women in those with pictures, unless they are especially made for black people or another specific group?

Use general headers with photos that don't include people for your content. Try to use *image insert* if the reader is sending something made to include a picture of them.

Make it general!! It's for a general audience!!

I get it, nine times out of ten, you're imagining yourself in these scenarios and then writing them. So if you're someone who is lighter, it's easy to have slip ups. BUT, it's not difficult whatsoever to make general content.

Because, let me tell you, it sucks as a POC to look at content and think, "Oh well, this wasn't made with people who look like me in mind, and it's obvious."

We're not asking for anything big. So stop making us beg for it.

[mid13s]

what if these kids are holly’s friends who are trying to help look for her as a parallel to will and the party in season 1? (even more proof for the s1 jancy parallel for s5 byler 🤭)

[evilbookworm]

[itsdefinitely]

that sweet voice from the telephone

[lovesong1986]

this is what vecna shows ted wheeler before brutally mutilating him in s5

[lumons]

VAN PALMER OF YELLOWJACKETS . . . 2x07 / 3x09

[stanart4clearskin]

stanford!art x best friend!reader social media AU

credits to @222col for the layout and inspo!

part one | two | three

artdonaldson

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artdonaldson life lately

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tashiduncan tennis > art

artdonaldson @.tashiduncan i am deeply offended rn patrickzweig @.artdonadlson HAHA LOSER tashiduncan @.patrickzweig tennis > patrick patrickzweig @.tashiduncan how could you say that to ur own boyfriend???

patrickzweig lame ah caption

yourusername

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yourusername i can't wait to fall in love with you

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tashiduncan CAPTION WTF?? AM I OUT OF THE LOOP

yourusername @.tashiduncan it's just from a song i like 😭😭 tashiduncan @.yourusername got me excited for nothing mkay

artdonaldson petition to take down that photo of me

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patrickzweig i mog art

yourusername • close friends

[love-byers]