#your values are more important than friendships that make you feel like shit

[mxaether]

struggling a. lot with wanting to Be Liked on The Internet today.

[succulentsiren]

🐆Ways to Feel like a Dark Goddess🖤🩸

I. Embrace your ‘Black cat energy’ — Adopt or start acting like a Cat (beware when adopting that you’ll become their slave lol) but you’ll learn a how to carry their Royal (DGAF) energy, just from being around them.

II. Listen to sultry, slowed music. Find the song that represents you, listen to it slowed and play it whenever you want to feel sexy or confident. (The song is more impactful when it has a strong bass or an addictive melody).

III. Wear Black. The color black represents supreme authority and power. Black also pulls and absorbs all energy towards it. So when you wear it, it’ll allow you to absorb the energy around you and feel more powerful.

IV. Learn your Dark Feminine Archetype. Are you the Siren? Are you the Lilith? Are you the Gold digger? Or are you the Witch?

V. Don’t chase, Attract. Never beg people to be in your life. Never beg people to support you. Never force friendships or relationships. Be your authentic self and your connections will form effortlessly.

VI. Stay unbothered. It’s a fact that, you age faster when you’re stressed and overextending yourself, so be stoic and poised and observe more than you react.

VII. Wear your favorite lingerie.

VIII. Try Dark Feminine makeup looks. {Here’s my Pinterest board on DFM looks}

IX. Learn a new skill. Knowledge raises your value and protects you from making dumb decisions.

X. Have a Confident Presence. Never enter any room with you head down. Learn the importance of confident body language and teach yourself the basics.

XI. Be assertive. Add some spice [bite] to your language and character. Let people know your not a wilting flower in any way.

XII. Be unpredictable. When people think they know your next move, switch that shit up and surprise them.

XIII. Practice your Siren Gaze. The eyes are a tool of hypnotism. You can communicate through them, influence through them and seduce with them.

XIV. Worship yourself like a Goddess. When you recognize your value, you raise yourself up to Goddess-hood and others will begin to see your value as well.

XV. Spoil yourself. Don’t wait for anyone to make you feel sexy, self activate it. Buy yourself roses 🥀 Take a romantic baths with flower petals. Tell yourself “You’re sexy.” in the mirror. Write yourself love letters.

[jungwnies]

✰ syn ’ safe for work a-z boyfriend for jay park ✰ pairing ’ boyfriend!jay x gn!reader

requested!

a ⋆ affection - how affectionate are they?

very

very extremely affectionate

he's always touching you

always holding your hand

he likes to fiddle with your fingers

or he likes to play with your hair

he just loved being around you

and he tells you he loves you like all the damn time

b ⋆ bonding - how often do they bond with you?

whenever he has the chance to

he is always trying to hang out with you

tells you he misses you after 2 minutes of being apart tbh

he's so clingy but it's not overly clingy so it's okay

he always bonds with you

he will sit in a room with you and just do his own thing

as long as you guys are together everything is okay

c ⋆ communication - do they keep in touch with you when they're away?

uhhh duh

he literally sneaks his phone during events just to text you

buys airplane wi-fi just to be able to contact you

he is DEDICATED to being with you even if it's through some pixels on a screen

he will always keep in touch

communication is extremely important with jay i can't even express how important it is

d ⋆ dates - how often do they set up a date for you two?

all the time

he's always taking you out to eat tbh

his love language is litrally acts of service

he loves doing things for you

especially taking you on dates and seeing you get all dressed up for him

it literally makes him weak in the knees tbh

bro is ready to give everything up for you

e ⋆ essential - what is the thing that is important to them?

family and his members

in the beginning his relationship wasn't as important to him

but once he knew you guys were going to last he started to prioritize you more

basically you're family to him, his wife/husband, duh?

but he values his relationships more than anything!

f ⋆ friends - how did the friendship start?

you guys just kinda met through a mutual friend tbh and got close

your friends did not expect you and jay to get along and when they found out you guys liked eachother?

they were literally so shocked

g ⋆ gross - what is the thing he hates in your relationship?

he hates fighting

he's a very expressive person

and when he fights he tends to raise his voice

and he does not like raising his voice at you

so he tries not to argue with you

and when you pick petty arguments with him it really makes him upset because he hates fighting over stupid shit

h ⋆ hugs - do they like hugs? how do they feel?

yes

he loves hugging you

his hugs aren't big

but they are so tight

he's basically trying to squeeze you till you pop tbh

they are very comforting when you two are cuddling in bed especially though

i ⋆ intercourse - how are they during intercourse?

he's good

he's very loving

very domestic

very vanilla

literally loves missionary

just loves being close and intimate with you

it never gets old though

j ⋆ jealousy - how jealous do they get?

very

oh my god

his temper is so bad

so ofc he's gonna get jealous

why is jay lowkey a toxic jealous..

just very possessive over you

does NOT want another guy looking at you tbh

he will have murder on his mind if a guy looks a second too long

k ⋆ kiss - how good are they at kissing?

good

he loves kissing you

always kissing your neck or your shoulder

and steals a kiss from you every time you turn your head towards him

l ⋆ love - how do they show their love to you?

through acts of service of course

and physical touch

AND gift giving

he loves spoiling you, taking you out to dinner, taking you on trips

he just loves it ugh

m ⋆ mad - how often do you argue?

sometimes you guys clash

a little more often than some others

but that doesn't change how much he loves you

like i said, avoid petty arguments

he doesn't enjoy them, and i hope you don't either

n ⋆ naughty - how do they deal with you annoying them?

they just

don't

he ignores it

but sometimes he laughs

okay i lied

he always laughs

he doesn't get annoyed

he just thinks you're so cute trying to annoy him

o ⋆ open - how often do they open up to you?

he's very open with you

always having gossip sesh's with him

tells you all the hybe tea tbh

literally tells you all his problems

and even the members go to you for advice

he's very open <;/3

p ⋆ pet names - how are they with pet names?

babe, prince(ss), love, honey, sweetheart

he's not a baby person

never calls you by your name

always calls you by the pet name he picks for you

q ⋆ quiet - silent treatment?

he doesn't give you the silent treatment

if there is a problem you guys ARE going to talk about it

there is no avoiding anything in this relationship

even though he has a short temper, he will always talk things out with you

his communication skills are extremely good

r ⋆ ramble - how often do they talk about you to others?

all the time

but not in a bragging manner

just in the manner that's like "oh y/n and i did this" a few days ago

nothing that's privacy invading

just what you guys did or have planned to do

but he will never fail to mention at least a few times how amazing you are to him

and he is so glad he has you

s ⋆ soft - how soft are they to you?

he hates being soft with you tbh

but like only in joking way

he loves you a lot

he just tries to ignore the fact he does enjoy being the little spoon

but he gives in when you're laying in bed with him

but he will never openly admit that tbh

t ⋆ think - what reminds them of you?

food and music

if he sees your favorite food his mind traces back to you immediately

or if he sees something you really like to eat he will buy it for you and bring it to you

he also listens to music that reminds him of you

usually ballads

u ⋆ unhappy - what makes them break if you break up with them?

the fact he believed you were his one true love

he didn't believe in soulmates in the beginning but when he met you

he suddenly did

ugh he is a sucker for you

and everything would break him

he will literally be #broken

v ⋆ vacation - how are they with long distance relationships?

he's so awful with this

but he copes because he keeps a picture of you in his wallet tbh

he wears it's his lucky charm

and he texts you or calls you like every second of the day

even when you're asleep

you will wake up to like 600 messages from him tbh

w ⋆ wholesome - the sweetest thing they ever did to you?

there's too many times he's sweet with you

but probably when he went all out for valentine's day

literally so many roses and flowers

and he bought you outfits to wear

took you out to the fanciest places

and bought you the most meaningful gifts

the way i'd literally sell my soul just to be with him

x ⋆ extra headcanon

let's bffr

if you guys live together

jay will always say good morning to you

even if you're sleeping

he leaves you a note on the nightstand

and he always kisses your forehead before he leaves to go to work

y ⋆ young and beautiful - (how long does it last?)

it lasts a really long time

i can see it being long term and ending

or just lasting forever

i think if you broke up it would be so sad

so how about, we just scratch that idea and you guys never break up ofc

wedding planning starts now

z ⋆ zzz - how do they sleep with you?

jay does NOT like being coddled when he's sleeping

he will cuddle with you before he sleeps

but when he's actually ready to sleep he likes his space

he's a deep sleeper, so it'll be hard to get him off of you if he falls asleep cuddling you

so let's just avoid that

2022 © jungwnies thanks for reading! reblogs & likes are appreciated!

[bunnliix]

Love Shot

Inspired by this dialogue prompt from @creativepromptsforwriting "You’re so adorable. I want to pick you up and never let you down."

word count: 1 260 warnings: drinking, alcohol, (not) unrequited crushes, reader getting drunk, reader wanting to get blackout drunk

I was never the type of person to go out clubbing and drinking. Any of my friends could tell you that. I normally stayed far away from clubs, they were far too loud for my taste, and yet here I was on a Friday night, by myself trying to get blackout drunk. There's a bit of a backstory on how I got here, and it all started earlier while I was on campus.

For a bit of backstory, most of my friends I met while in college, except for Felix. Felix and I have been friends since high school. We were both the nerdy type of kids, except that he had the advantage that puberty was nice to him. While I've had a crush on him since I met him, however I valued my friendship with him too much to ever say something. I'd rather an unrequited love, than to lose him over something simple like a crush. It ended up happening by pure coincidence that we attended the same college, but it worked out really well for me. I'm more of an introvert, while Felix is the extrovert who makes all of our friends, and that's more or less what happened.

Most of that isn't really important though, to be honest, except that I still have the biggest crush on Felix, six years later. He and the rest of our friend group, affectionately called "Stray Kids" for some reason or another, are the campus hotties. Which means I get to see girls upon girls try and shoot their shot with all of them, and for most of the boys, I don't give a shit who they date. I however get way too envious sometimes of the girls I see hanging around my best friend. Chan, the eldest of the friends, was sitting with me while we watched the boys have fun. 

"Are you ever going to say something to him? About your crush on him?" He questioned me. I turned to him like he was crazy. We've had this conversation a million times, and it was never going to happen. 

"I've told you Chan, he'd never like me that way, and I'm never gonna jeopardize my friendship with him over a stupid crush." 

"You'll never find out if he likes you though, if you never say anything." He retorts.

"I don't wanna find out if he doesn't like me. Besides, there's a good chance I could mess things up between him and I, and I'm not taking that chance." I stood up, and moved to leave the table, grabbing my things as I said goodbye to Chan. I really didn't want to deal with the guys nagging me to finally ask him out, it just made it worse. I headed home, before having the stupid idea that I should go out and drink instead of staying home, but impulsive decisions are a thing I do a lot.

I know it's kind of a shitty reason to be out trying to get blackout drunk at a bar, but honestly I couldn't think of anything better to help me deal with the pain of not being able to tell Felix I like him. I was about four drinks in, and already on my way to being wasted when I felt a hand land on my shoulder. I look back, my vision already blurring to see Felix behind me. "Hiii Lixieeee!" I giggled, waving at him. He grabbed my hand, pulling me away from the bar, while I took my drink with me. 

"Lixie, where are you taking me? I was having a good time at the bar~" I pouted at him, my words slightly slurring. He stopped suddenly and turned to face me, leaning down to cup my face in his hands. 

"Why are you out drinking? This isn't like you." He asked me, looking concerned. 

"Why are you so concerned, Lixie? I'm just having some fun and letting loose a bit. Aren't I allowed to have fun?" I shoot back at him, some frustration coming out in the process. I chug down the rest of whatever was in my glass, feeling the burn as it made its way down my throat. Felix reached to take the glass and put it somewhere out of my eyesight.

"Chan told me where you were. He was out with a couple of the other boys and they saw you here by yourself. You never go out to bars, why are you even here? If you wanted to drink, I would have brought over stuff, and we could've had fun at your apartment. Why are you doing this? Tell me, please?" He questioned me, begging me to answer him. 

I assume it was my lack of self control, but I blurted out, almost angrily at him, "I'm in love with you, okay! I've been in love with your cute face for the last six years, and I can't bear seeing you with other people. I want your eyes on me and only me. And I was never going to tell you because I didn't want to ruin our friendship." I couldn't bear to look at him after that. Felix went silent, and I started getting tears in my eyes, which started falling when the man started chuckling.

"You’re so adorable. I want to pick you up and never let you down." That made me look up at him in surprise. "Did you never think I wanted you too? I've wanted you so badly, wanted to call you mine. I was too scared that you wouldn't feel the same way. Oh baby, I think we've both been idiots for a little too long." He pulled me into a hug, resting his head on top of mine, before saying, "How about we head home now, yeah? We can talk about this more in the morning, when you're sober." I don't have it in me to do anything more than nod.

He takes me back to his car, opening the passenger door and helping me in, before going around to the driver's seat. He started the car and drove us the short ride to his apartment he shared with a couple of our friends. I was still a bit too intoxicated to walk by myself, so Felix assisted me up into his apartment, and then into his bedroom, having me sit down on his bed while he found clothes for me to wear. He set them out on the bed, pushing me to change into them while he went and found a spare toothbrush for me to use. By the time he returned, I had changed into the shirt he left me, but decided not to put on the shorts. He handed me the toothbrush, and since I had been here before, I knew my way to the bathroom. I quickly washed up, feeling a bit less wasted by the time I returned to his room. Felix was already waiting on his bed for me to get back, and ushered me into his bed and under the covers, while he laid down on top of them. 

I looked up at him, and softly asked, "Can you hold me while I fall asleep?" He nodded, blushing and moved under the covers with me, as I rested my head on his arm as his other one came around my waist. 

He softly kissed my cheek as he whispered, "Good night." It didn't take me long to fall asleep in his arms, feeling the happiest I had been in a while.

[genderkoolaid]

I understand if this is not the kind of ask you usually get, but you sometimes post about youthlib so. How would one deal with disliking their peers and some slightly younger people as a young adult? I logically know that no age group is a monolith but I just mean, interacting a lot with people of my age and somewhat younger has really disillusioned me, I don't seem to find any happiness in being around most of them. I sometimes think of my own being a relatively young adult as negative. Im aplatonic and don't want friends and I was miserable when I tried to make myself make friends mainly with peers.

I only talk to people for specific reasons but may just generally joke around with them or make small talk briefly without forming a bond. My partners are mostly somewhat slightly older than me, but one is my age, and I like all of them more than I like other people. Other people I generally just see neutrally and don't wish for them to come to harm.

I think Ive often been annoyed by my peers due to not fitting in and sometimes being treated in toxic or abusive/bullying kind of ways by peers, or from sensory issues because they all talk so much you could probably hear them from another floor. I think its things like that that make me generally unable to feel positive about my peers, along with seeing so many rancid discourse takes online come from the young adults and teenager age groups.

And I understand how being around my age makes people vulnerable to harmful ideology too but its so tiring to see a shit take then see like '22' or '17' on the persons bio.

(Im 21 for reference)

I think it's important to recognize that our emotions and our political philosophies are not tied together. You don't need to feel the right feelings in order to advocate for youth liberation. If you accept these ideas intellectually, and you are cognizant of your emotions and how they affect you, then you can make the choice to not let those emotions shape your actions.

It's important to engage with people outside your age group (or the age group you spend the most time around), but that doesn't need to be friendship. It's alright to engage with others in your communities without wanting friendship. You know, intellectually, that there are young people who are quiet, not interested in friendship, have nuanced opinions on things, etc. It's good to expose yourself to proof of this, but you don't have to do that through feelings of love and friendship.

The Internet is full of shitty opinions and youth, so obviously you are going to see a lot of youth with shitty opinions. But there's plenty of adults with shitty opinions, and youth with solid ones. Confirmation bias is a tricky bitch. I would recommend focusing less on how you feel, & more about how you act. Don't pressure yourself to like your peers or befriend people when it makes you miserable. Put that energy into talking about ageism, fighting KOSA laws, and consciously combatting your own bias. Accept that you feel what you feel, ask yourself what you value, and then find what harmonizes those two.

[master-muffinn]

Tensura slime- as their best friend

With: Benimaru, Velzard, Leon, Guy Crimson (a bit suggestive warning on Guys part)

Benimaru

🔥 You and Benimaru train a lot together, helping each other to improve and get stronger.

🔥 You two will compete with each other a lot. If it isn't sparing, then it’s in who defeats the most enemies.

“Look y/n! I caught a bigger fish than you! I'll win!”

“Yeah but I caught much more fish than you, which will feed more people, so I'll win!”

🔥 Benimaru tries to include you in everything so that you don’t need to feel left out. If there's a meeting, he’ll ask for your option. If Shuna or Rimuru send him on a job or errand, he’ll ask you if you want to come along (unless it’s an important mission).

🔥 Thanks to Benimaru you have also been dragged in to eat Shions food. But see it on the bright side! You are now poison resistant and have a really strong stomach! Or you just simply die together…Good luck!

Velzard

❄ Velzard will always greet you with a hug and ask you how you've been doing! 

❄ Going out shopping and eating together.

❄ Velzard would let you braid her hair. If you are bad at it, she'll teach you!

❄ She is good at noticing if something is off with you and will confront you about it. She won't accept these ‘I'm fine’ with fake smiles. Velzard will sit down with you on the couch. Holding you and looking at you with concern in her eyes until you decide to tell her what's wrong. She wants you to trust her! 

“Don't worry y/n! I won't judge you! I got you!”

❄ A lot of hugs and affection on her part!

Leon Cromwell

🦁 Leon trusts you a lot. He often asks for your option before making an important decision.  

🦁 You are the person he goes to, and talk out his energy with whenever he is irritated or when he has been successful with something. Of course he will be all ears whenever you need to talk out as well.

🦁 You two will shit talk people a lot and sharing gossip. 

🦁 You are probably the one who has been referring to Leon from killing Ramiris.

“If you kill her, you will be in big trouble!” 

“I KNOW! But She’s so annoying!! it’s like she wants to die!”

🦁 Sometimes you will have a nice and quiet Tea-party, just you and him.

🦁 Leon is very protective of you and your safety and will never let harm come your way. He might not look like it sometimes but he values your friendship greatly!

Guy Crimson

🍷 Guy is a pretty calm and chill dude (I mean look where he lives? Sorry! xD). 

🍷 I can see him as the dude who would buy a lot of gifts for his friends. Even the weird stuff that nobody understands why he would waste his money on.

🍷 Sitting and talking for hours while drinking wine and homemade sweets.

🍷 You have lost count of how many times you have walked in on him making love to people. Sometimes he even starts a conversation with you in the middle of it, like it is nothing special that is going on. 

“Oh hi y/n, how are you doing? Do you want to join us?” 

“No Guy, I'm leaving.” 

🍷 He has probably been trying to make out with you when he has been really drunk. Like, are you sure nothing is going on with you two?

Thank you for reading! Have a good day!🥰 Reblogs are very appreciated <3

Post made by @master-muffinn

[cabeswaterdrowned]

@clotpolesonly @mirror-bawl

I wanted to reply to both of your tags so doing so together. • Agreed about Gansey trying to be his better self for Adam’s sake, I think it would have been a combination of Gansey’s malleable personality and how he’s used to reflecting what people want to see in him for their own comfort especially when he likes someone as much as he likes Adam, and then also he’s genuinely being inspired by what he sees / values in Adam to be better. Sort of simultaneously showing the bad / good in adansey how they both play off and enable each other’s predisposition to be performative / put on masks and at the same time inspire each other to work on themselves and be better genuinely, at least that’s how I see that dichotomy.

On a related note that part where Ronan gives his ‘Adam would hate Gansey on fire’ hypothesis I do think he’s more correct than incorrect, and in some ways I find his read of their dynamic more reliable than either Adam or Gansey (who tend to be very delulu about it in one way or another) but I still feel like his perspective is worth questioning a little here. I think Adam would have a layered reaction to Gansey on Fire that would include hatred but wouldn't necessarily be only hatred, in the the vein that Gansey's President Cell Phone persona evokes repulsion and a kind of infatuation/attraction from him simultaneously. Also worth noting that Gansey on Fire is positioned as kind of separate from ‘Angry Gansey’ because of course Adam does bring that out sometimes. I feel like the difference is that the former Gansey is sort of casually arrogant and would be uncaring about the effect of his actions or words on others, whereas the latter might make a mistake and be cruel but never doesn’t feel like shit for it or doesn’t try to be another way. (I do really like that each Gangsey member sort of has a ‘favorite’ version of Gansey I’ve mentioned that before and might go into more detail about it but that’s for another post). • On Gansey seeing Adam as a real boy… yes I totally think that has to do with it and so does Adam’s hyper competent and controlling nature although Gansey would not admit to himself that there’s a side to it of Adam being willing to do the dirty work for him. I also think dynamically Gansey right now is used to the master-dog dynamic he has with Ronan, which is a loving relationship in a way that’s a very important departure for him from his dynamics with his family, but also there’s that Gansey being asked to manage or control Ronan aspect there which works for them and their dynamic but as the sole friendship you have … and then meeting someone like Adam who Needs to be allowed to work with you as a partner and is more comfortable with you relying on him than the other way around which has it’s own problems but! The different type of support there would be so appealing / grounding. Gansey at this point in TRB also sees Adam as perfectly controlled in comparison to Ronan, but doesn’t quite see the neuroses and mess that creates that control similar to how he can’t parse that in himself. Which in the long term makes a messy out of control Adam less palatable to him than an out of control Ronan but in the moment means he’s allowing himself to lean on perfectly controlled (lol) perfectly logical/rational (lmfao) Adam Parrish..

[thrandilf]

while i fully agree with the thesis of your gay best friend mei post (she is often pushed aside in fanworks and her friendship with red son is undersold) but i think you might have gone too far in the opposite direction regarding mk and red sons dynamic?

obviously they dont have as much plot-relevant screentime as mei and red but mk is still important to red son. even disregarding their s1 nemesis dynamic, red son still regularly brings up mk in his conversations with mei during the s3 special, announces his entrance to mk in the mech, and asks about him on meis stream in 401, all of these feel like intentional writing choices to imply he cares about mk (and mei, but thats more implicit with him saying her name and such) more than he lets on

that is to say, i dont think shipping mk and red means someone doesnt value mei and reds dynamic or think its unimportant, just like shipping red and mei doesnt mean disregarding mei and mks bond

i hope this doesnt seem like im trying to pick a fight or anything, i just wanted to put in my 2 cents :v (also tumblr is being shit so sorry if this sent twice)

MK and Red Son are definitely friends, not denying that, but the show doesn't have an interest in developing their specific relationship further past like... halfway through Revenge of the Spider Queen. MK says they should trust him, and from there on out the two banter or work together sometimes, but nothing between them really gets going or more intense

Because after that the majority of the time is spent developing Mei and Red Son's dynamic (which was already starting in S1, 1x08 in particular I'd argue, but it was still minor then).

Her and Red Son constantly get paired up onscreen together in RotSQ, both on the main quest and then in like... every shot possible. The piggyback ride thing is actually a romance trope as well, btw. 3x06 involves everyone, but it's Mei who Red Son touches and has the Samadhi Fire connection with, and even then it's Mei who interacts with Red Son before they leave and she leaves her plushie, and then -insert the special here-. MK comes up in their conversations, as Mei comes up in MK's conversations with Red Son, so that segment's even to me, but then the Samadhi Fire ending is kinda like. Man. That's unique to Mei and Red Son and it got build up. That's something intimate and between just them

Don't get me wrong, I don't think shipping Has to be about who a character values most, because my arospec ass doesn't think that there has to be a One person put above all else. But it often comes across that way in shipping. I guess a fic doesn't have to include people who aren't in the pairing, but it does feel like it skews Mei's importance to MK and Red Son.

TBH, entertaining my own idea of a Most important person, even liking Red Son and Mei together, I think think that MK is more important to Mei than Red Son is, if she had to choose. Frankly I also think both of the boys would pick Mei before each other if they were in a situation where they had to choose, MK as Mei's best friend and Red Son, to me, having Mei as his anchor to the group considering how S3 went. They all matter to each other, but in different ways.

So sure, I don't think shipping automatically means that a dynamic is skewed to exclude or devalue a character, but it sure comes across that way when paired with seemingly ignoring all Red Son and Mei do get together, as well as how often I see people trying to give the Samadhi Fire to anyone but Mei. This is also a fandom where it seems like Lady Bone Demon's nameless male sidekick gets the same amount of content she does, which makes me scratch my head

Like, if Drag-onfruit was m/m, would Red Son and Mei be the rarer pair? Would ppl keep trying to give the fire to anyone else? For me it does read as fandom sexism with a gay hat slapped on. At the very least it's MK/main character bias, even though Mei is the female lead

No one Has to ship anything to be clear, Drag-onfruit isn't canon, but maybe it's because I watched the series all in one go that hitting the end of S3 and imagining going, "Who do I think Red Son is most likely in love with/has the most compelling relationship with? -insert anyone but Mei-" baffles me

I certainly prefer Drag-onfruit where MK is deeply important to both of them, even as a sort of platonic third (1x05 shot down MK and Mei or chimera faster and harder than any other ship known to man for me lmao) and to be fair I rarely engage with Red Son and MK shipping because it isn't my thing for multiple reasons, so maybe there is a lot of stuff out there where she's really given the love and place in their lives that she canonly has and I just don't know it, but the Mei treatment that I see in fandom does seem to be a side effect of said fanon favorite ship which is how I landed on the original post I made about her getting shoved aside to be the sassy bff who's conveniently fanonly a lesbian (for reasons I don't get) so people don't have to consider that she could have a relationship MK doesn't get to have

Maybe I'm a pessimist but this is how I've perceived it. TLDR they're a delightful trio regardless

Thank you for being polite btw, I know this got long winded but I appreciate being able to discuss!

[rays-animorphs]

Rachel and Cassie

So, I haven't been reading or posting about animorphs recently, but I have been reading the Scholomance trilogy, twice, and I think observing El and Liesel's dynamic has given me some insight into Rachel and Cassie's friendship.

My initial impression of their friendship was...I didn't buy it. I identify with Cassie a lot -- I've never worn shit-stained overalls to school, but my middle school aesthetic was noticeably closer to Cassie than Rachel. And personality too -- I cared deeply (still do) about concepts like peace and justice and compassion and making he world a better place. I was subscribed to Zoobooks and read them all. When I was in fifth grade, I tried to talk a friend and two of her friends that I thought might also be my friends into doing a class presentation on environmental issues. It didn't work, but I tell you this to illustrate where my head was around that age.

(Plus I very much had Cassie's conflict avoidance. Why can't we all just get along?)

And...my experiences with people who dressed like Rachel or had the interests Rachel has, were not positive ones. They ranged from being lightly pressured into things I did not want to do at best, and getting my shins kicked in the hallways between classes at worst.

So. It's hard for me to picture two people like Rachel and Cassie, at the age that they are, actually getting along.

But...it's possible my middle school perspective was distorted by my considerable lack of social skills -- if my Rachel-like peers were interested in things other than makeovers and playing truth or dare, I didn't know how to draw that out of them.

And Liesel. Liesel Scholomance. Drive, ambition, a terrifying intellect, and ruthless efficiency. And she puts effort into her looks -- as a part of that drive, ambition, terrifying intellect, and ruthless efficiency. I think Liesel and Rachel might have a lot on common -- not everything, I think Rachel is substantially better at having regular human interactions that are about something other than a 30 year vengeance plan, like I don't know, desiring connection or whatever. And Rachel does not have Liesel's gift for managing logistics.

But I think their approach to fashion etc might be about the same: that Rachel might hunt for sales at the mall largely as a way of feeling competent, because she knows she's good at it and doing things you are good at feels good. Having classy, put together outfits is a thing she knows the rules for.

And...maybe when she criticizes Cassie's clothing choices, maybe it's coming from that sort of place, the knowledge that she has a skillset that Cassie does not, that as a friend this is something she can help Cassie with, because at some point Cassie is going to need to give a speech at a fundraiser for the wildlife clinic or a medical school interview, and she'll be more successful at that if she has nice clothes. That fit. And do not have animal poop on them.

Maybe it's not judgement or rejection so much as just -- and Rachel says in her own narrative voice that she respects Cassie, Cassie's work ethic and her values and her intelligence -- maybe it's just, well, we're all human beings with different strengths and weaknesses, and maybe when you recognize that you're good at filing taxes and your friend isn't you offer to help your friend file their taxes, and if they need to move and can't get everything on their own but you're good at lifting and carrying things maybe you help with that, and maybe sometimes you're good at putting together the right look and your friend just isn't but it's an important thing to do in order to get what you want, so it's a thing you can help your friend with. When she needs that.

Maybe.

[macawritesupdates]

Aww, modern a/b/o fic is so good. Yuuji's kind heart is lovely to read about. I want to know who hurt Sukuna, and am I allowed to attempt murder on his behalf? I'll fight, I won't win, but I'll fight damn it. Pack dynamics when written well are a favorite or mine I remember when I first read a/b/o and getting super disappointed by the way most authors wrote an animalistic society with complex non verbal communication and scent markings without actually doing anything at all with the concept. I like the trope best when people explore the deeper world building aspects instead of just going for the sex. The sex is fun to read, of course, but come on, there's so much more to explore here. For long fics at least, one shots don't have to go in depth. I just feel like a lot of the coolest concepts get shoved aside and ignored, so it's really nice to read your work and get some fun world building and a look into social dynamics and the like. It's interesting to see Sukuna trying to hide his dynamic a bit like someone has tried to make him ashamed. looks to me like someone has treated him awfully and he's internalized some sexism because of that. poor guy I wonder if he might be projecting on Yuuji a bit when he accused him of stalking, guilty conscience perhaps or is Yuuji living rent free in his head causing him to pay way more attention to him than a normal person which makes him feel like he's seeing Yuuji more than he really is. … ok I might be trying to dig too far into this man's head. we're only on chapter two, lol. The bullies were kinda funny to me obviously I hate that Yuuji's going through that shit but knowing he's so much stronger than them and that this fic is about him ending up with the world's toughest omega makes their comments kinda hilarious. That cute baby faced alpha is ten times the alpha you are, and the only reason you don't know that yet is he just so happens to have incredible self-control. I'm so proud of his self-control. Yuuji holding on to his convictions because he's a good person with morals, not a hormonal beast makes me happy. I kinda wonder how Sukuna must feel watching Yuuji not react with violence if he's used to awful alphas who throw their weight around and bully others for dominance. How must it feel to meet an alpha who could be top dog but chooses not to because he's a kind person. Yuuji does not equate the ability to hurt and rule over others with a person's value, which must seem so strange to Sukuna. Maybe at first it'll make him dislike Yuuji even as it draws him closer. How long before Yuuji's kind heart starts to make Sukuna feel safe, how long before he's willing to accept that safety? It takes strength to reach out a hand to someone who's hurting, but it also takes strength for someone in a bad situation to grab on to the offered hand and accept that life can be better. I hope Sukuna finds that strength within himself. It's a very different type of strength than what he's used to, but it's no less important even if society doesn't recognize it as such. Again, the little pack moments were very sweet, and Yuuji's family time was beautiful. I love my grandparents so much. I'm happy Yuuji gets time with his grandfather even though his health is failing. There's that love but the dark knowledge that you might not have much time left together hanging in the background like a spiritual bruise. I'm glad Choso is there so that Yuuji doesn't have to go through things alone. … I feel like I've typed out Yuuji's name fifty times today good lord haha. Ah man, well, thanks for the new chapter it was lovely. I can tell already that this will be a new favorite fic of mine!

I'm glad you are enjoying this fic! I also like when the world has more depths and uses the scents/marking/behavior in the concept of a society and world c: Just being super animalistic can be fun, but it would make it hard for individuals I think to fit in ; w ;

I love writing time for friendships too! This fic focuses a lot on not just the romance, but also the family relations and friendships as I have more cute family moments planned, especially in the next chapter! Part of the comfort in this is showing Yuuji has all theses good supports in his life....

Which is going to contrast more as it is revealed what type of situation Sukuna is in as the behaviors you are noting are all intentional little gives! Want to be subtle until the revela for sure!

Thank you for the long comment! It is much appreciated!

[2offayyo-kzt]

me ranting for nothing about wwdits ("fandom") :

I don't know why I'm insisting on making this post when I know perfectly well that no one cares, but I'm SICK of people complaining about wwdits writing, frankly y'all are ANNOYING ASF

I understand not liking the new seasons of wwdits, even finding the writing to be shit, honestly, fair it's your right

But for the love of god, STOP COMPARING WWDITS WITH OTHER SHOWS EXPLICITLY FOCUSED ON ROMANCE

wwdits IS NOT ofmd, wwdits IS NOT good omens, wwdits IS NOT Hannibal or other shit

wwdits is wwdits, it's a silly show, sometimes badly written, sometimes emotional, fun to watch, painful to watch, with interesting dynamics, but it's not your fucking fanfiction dream between Nandor and Guillermo

I'm the first to say that sometimes in wwdits, yeah they miss opportunities, if we take my favorite character (Sean) I think it would be more than great to make him a drag queen, but am I going to cry because I have not been lulled into my illusions next season, no

Fuck. trying to create a superwholock bootleg edition you shit on a show that is important for people (me, I'm talking about me lmao)

and you know what I'm going to be honest, whether it's the relationship between Nandor and Guillermo, or the relationship between Sean and Laszlo. I find that it has just as much if not more impact on the queer community, because it's not a sappy romance with cliché "heartbreaking" moments

seanzlo is the story of a redneck who is torn between the values his macho, patriarchal upbringing has taught him, and socializing with queer people on a daily basis, he's constantly learning on how to deal with his own sexuality, especially his feelings towards a man who is openly comfortable with his sexuality

It's two best friends flirting on the blurred line between friendship and love, they're also toxic for each other, bringing out the best or worst in each other

Nandermo is, even if I didn't personally like Nandor's development, one of the best demonstrations of a deep and complex romance between two people, nandermo IS the good shit, and I can see why fans love it

my post is starting to make no sense, but damn wwdits is a show centered around a FAMILY.

I repeat. A FAMILY.

a family, newsflash, it's not perfect, far from it

So from now on for my mental health. Whenever I see someone criticizing wwdits and it annoys me, I block

block block block

[aibidil]

One of my favorite things is the acknowledgment that friendships are incredibly important and meaningful and not as secondary to romantic relationships as a lot of people/media would have you think

However! I think there's a poor (or at least wildly undercomplicated) lesson in a lot of media, YA media in particular. Which is that they use this narrative arc where the MC is wrong/bad for getting swept away in a new relationship and "ignoring/abandoning" their friends. Why on earth aren't we instead pointing out that it's totally normal and expected for a person in the throes of new romantic love to pay less attention to their old, stable friendships for awhile?

This is part of the ebb/flow of life. Life isn't a stable or linear thing.

It's actually brain chemistry. When a person is in the state of new love, they're in a dopaminergic state. It's a super exciting feeling that literally cannot last, because the moment we come to expect the relationship and it becomes the normal, dopamine leaves the building. The remainder of a romantic relationship, if it continues, thrives for reasons having nothing to do with dopamine. (You should read The Molecule of More, it's so good.)

My point is that I don't think it makes any sense to get angry at someone in the dopaminergic state of exicited passion, to tell them they're a shitty person for spending less time with old, steady friends.

What I DO think makes sense is for us all to keep in mind that there will be these moments in people's lives. If you're the one in the passionate dopamine haze, enjoy the fuck out of it, but keep in mind that it can't last and you should be conscious of the likelihood that your friends will notice the difference and you should be fucking kind to them. If you're the one who has a friend who's all googoo eyes, be happy for your friend with the knowledge that it can't last and this a season of life that your friend is lucky enough to experience in which they likely won't be as available to you.

I see these movies where someone is deliriously happy in love and ignores their friend for like two days and the friend gets so angry—and the lesson seems to be that the MC needs to realize how horrible they were. No! Friendship means having appreciation for our friends' happiness! Giving grace!

This isn't to say that it isn't hard when it's your turn to be the friend. Or that you're a bad person for being annoyed when your friend suddenly isn't around. Just that I don't think that's a position of moral superiority that we should be lauding in our cultural scripts!

As a friend, I strive not to burst my friends' bubbles. Of all kinds. They're excited about some new restaurant I hate? Good shit; I'm glad they're excited. I value their excitement more than my desire to convince them they're wrong. The dopaminergic haze of new love is probably the biggest bubble that it's our challenge as a friend not to burst. And that is part of friendship. Anything less is asking humans to not be human.

But bubbles can't last forever, anyway. To everything, turn turn turn...

[nazuna-tunnel-vision]

I saw your tags and I wanna say RitsuMao (I think that's the ship?) is the perfect ship for hanahaki in the way which you described.

Also, interestingly enough, I have written a hanahaki fic from the person who is on the receiving end of the crush, in a frustrated "why can't I return the feeling???" And not wanting to lose the friendship way.

So anyway I think that's a great angle to pursue and it's very big brain of you.

YESS thank you for the validation, this AU has been eating at my brains for a year but i'm just not very good at writing actual stories rather than just analysis so. it stayed in my brain.

yeah it is ritsumao and oh boy ritsumao with the flower actually removed would be a riot. they're childhood friends and so much of their identities are rooted in the relationship, so losing the relationship would destabilise the both of them so much.

to Make Things Worse ☺️✌️ in my AU, i made the surgery remove memories related to the person altogether rather than just feelings (although tbh it's also bc i never quite understood how you can "remove feelings" without fundamentally making the memory stop making sense. aren't memories a key way in which people make sense of the world and remember things?)

and this makes the story veer into exploring how one's memories and relationships with others kind of. makes you who you are. which a lot of hanahaki stories don't really explore.

that means ritsu just Forgets about mao and loses years worth of accumulated memories and self-narratives about how he became who he was. how did he manage rei's broken promise, who did he cling to? apart from chasing after rei, who made him want to 'enter the sunlight'? post-surgery ritsu would be a very different and a very confused person.

and considering how so much of their relationship was Just The Two Of Them (thanks ritsu), mao would have no one who shares so many of his memories. they'll probably find random trinkets all over their houses that either only mao or neither of them remembers the significance of. some matching keychains they got from an event. a pen with one of those plastic jewels that's the colour of mao's eyes, which ritsu used to like a lot but now just throws it away bc it's out of ink. maybe some random thing of mao's that ritsu stole when he was 6 because of some convoluted reasoning and jealousy, and which he never returned. and when they rediscover it mao is like "wtf i've been trying to find it for YEARS, why do you have this," and ritsu can only reply with "i dunno."

mao also can no longer use ritsu for the. to give himself self-esteem in his role as someone ritsu needs, or whatever codependent shit they have going on. he'll just have that pretty important aspect of the maintenance of his identity and self-image ripped from him because the flower is arophobic.

i just think ritsumao with the hanahaki surgery would just be rly tragic bc rtmo are the kind of friends who would want more than anything and who would do everything they can to ensure the other stays in their lives. or rather, they've been with each other for so long that they also don't actually need to bend over backwards to maintain their relationship. even when something does happen, i think they generally understand each other and value the other enough to resolve things sooner rather than later.

i think the both of them would choose not to have the hanahaki development in the first place if it meant that they could continue as they have always been. ritsu would never want to guilt trip mao with hanahaki (!! era at least, and not to make mao actually feel like shit for longer than a few hours at most). and mao would want to give ritsu what he wants as is usual but be unable to. so they're both absolutely miserable! falls face flat on ground.

anyway i can't believe i rambled this much but. after writing all that out i read that fic you wrote and. slams fist on wall and cries, you get it!!!!!! i don't know a thing about these two but oughhhhh. !!!!!!

(for anyone else who has somehow read to this point and who also has brainworms for Best Friend with Hanahaki, read it here before i spoil it below with my quoting)

the way Hak's first reaction is to do everything he can to solve things and his fear of losing 12 years of friendship. 12 years of memories. Their entire lives together. That was the price of getting it removed. while Soowon goes “But what if you find someone you have feelings for?” Soowon asked, “it’s not really fair for you to be bound to me this way.” and “Love” was too heavy a word to impose upon his friend

ohhhh my god. oh my god. It frustrated Hak, every time Soowon coughed up another flower and he couldn’t do anything about it. He couldn’t make it stop. Why couldn’t he make it stop?

it's the mutual love and care for the other!!!! screaming.

and the way Soowon just slowly fades away and Hak's heart breaks watching it happen. The way Hak finally says "I love you" and the way Soowon says "I know" and yet it doesn't do a thing because the flower is stupid and only cares about romantic love.

euggg this dynamic of hanahaki is really so interesting and real. i'm so glad you brought up your fic bc i have been trying for so long to find a hanahaki story like this. i get that the hanahaki haver's POV of keeping the illness and their feelings is dramatic and heartwrenching and all, but at the end of the day it's more or less just a more dramatised version of their already existing pining. the perspective of the one being loved, and of two friends trying and failing to save their relationship, is so unexplored in comparison. like these stories would require some very healthy, open communication, and yet somehow that is still not enough and that otherwise perfect relationship gets destroyed

[batgeance]

happy happy birthday to my closest friend on this terrible website. you make my day even by sending a stupid tiktok that makes me laugh until i cry. i'm still hunting for the cosmic jet fuel you showed me and am forever jealous that i can't have your order because they don't have that shit by me. red bull coffee heart attack aside, i love your heart. how deeply you feel always comes across even if you're not an outwardly emotional person. it's felt. it makes me love you even more. you're funny as hell and are also unapologetically you no matter what which is super rare. you're a great listener. you're also a rock and anyone who can truly, genuinely call you a friend is so lucky. you're a staple in my day whether we're bitching about work or life or buying multichrome eyeliners. i don't think i can get how important you are to me as a person across but i do hope you know how much i adore you. personal feelings aside, in terms of this site i've written with you across so many characters and have gotten to see so many different sides of your writing over time. each one gets a unique reaction out of arthur and it's so fun as a writer to shift into so many different situations and tones and feelings...all with the same person. sometimes i'd get followed and not know who it was then i'd see your staple b&w and oh it's rio LOL. but that's so fuckin cool?? the fact that you have so much versatility and i can look at a blog and not even know it's you until i get beaten with the branding. and then you made bruce on a whim and oh hey. kaz was a really pleasant surprise too you know how i feel about s&b yet i love brekker and i love how you control the lore now. terrible for the actor, but love that you've got the reins. on top of that you're a super talented writer. i love how you can craft such a morose scene yet also thread humor into it even if it's horrible gallows humor that losers like us find funny. anyway all that being said i love and appreciate you and i hope you know that i am so lucky to have you in my life and i know you've got plans today and you're sick. throw that afrin in a shot glass and have fun. i wish i could be there to celebrate with you but i think that'd be such a chaotic combo god went "no ❤️." happy happy birthday i love you wear your crow feathers to protect your aching throat and may your next trip around the sun be the absolute best ever. love you big big.

why you gotta make me ugly cry today? i'm crying more than i did at the fucking piercer, you ass. i love you. i LOVE you. i cannot begin to convey how much i appreciate and value your friendship in a world where true friendships are so often taken for granted. especially on this shit show website. you're the very very best. thank you from the bottom of my rotten cynical heart. i love you SO much.

[impuretale]

Alright - Headcanon Asks yeah?

All of them! Every last one for a character in the Stand. Which character for each headcanon up to you.

Okay [cracks knuckles] I can try that! I may wind up going back to a few more than others but it just tells you which ones I do the most thinking on. Also by and large this is specific to the 2020 miniseries but will figure in wider canon sometimes.

SO

Headcanon meme ask list is here.

☾ - Larry Underwood's dreams and visions, even those alluding to Mother Abagail, are as disturbing as they are at the start of the series because he's still taking coke. Hence why his vision of her calling him to come and see her is intermixed with that of his dying mother.

★ - Joe/Leo Rockway still has dreams about both Larry and Mommy Nadine as he grows up.

☆ - Kojak the dog fathers puppies and lives a good, long dog life.

☠ - Lloyd Henreid's gold tooth that appears after arriving in Vegas, is not purely cosmetic. One of the first people who wound up on the telephone poles didn't understand the pecking order yet and thought he was an easy target to take a swing at, and while Lloyd scrapped back, Flagg finished the matter by establishing that he picks his soldiers and they are off limits.

✿ - Flagg is very accustomed to his partners passing out before the end and tends to hit such a devastatingly huge dip in adrenaline afterward that he could probably benefit from aftercare, which never happens because his partners are out. When your mind is open to the eldritch horrors and arriving leaves everything exposed and unguarded, you don't experience post-nut clarity so much as post-nut disparity. This is not a big enough deterrent to warn him off from the practice itself, but then it is very canon that he finds this kind of exposure necessary, even if unpleasant. Wizards, amirite?

■ - Glen Bateman tends to live in clutter. Where he puts something down is just where it lives which means his home dwelling can contain a lot of organized piles of stuff -- it looks like a mess and on occasion he will be very "shit I need to clean I'm out of surfaces" but he knows where everything is.

♡ - Lloyd Henreid is in love with Randall Flagg and doesn't really expect anything from it -- he isn't afraid of him as Julie thinks he is. What he's afraid of is the notion that Flagg only tolerates him. This leads to him trying too hard to be accommodating, on occasion.

♥ - Fran ignores or rebuffs Harold's romantic advances because even if her feelings go beyond "kid I used to babysit that I thought was annoying when I was a teenager" it is not romantic in origin -- she also projected a lot of her little brother onto him, who died when he was little. So him making it after Trips was bittersweetly important because he has always been the younger sibling that made it. Even if it is something she distanced herself from because childhood trauma is hard to deal with as a kid and a teenager, and her friendship with his sister made it a quietly kept secret. She recognizes that's unfair and not something he asked for, but she didn't ask to be the object of his unrequited affections either.

☮ - On the way to Boulder, Glen went fishing a few times with Stu, which seemed to relax him. They would usually catch things and Glen would joke, if they did not, that his loud speechifying scared the fish away.

♦ - Stu cannot play any instruments and his singing is for the shower and the radio only.

☯ - Harold loves PayDays (canon) but absolutely hates fruity candies. After trick or treating he and his sister would barter for their favorites and his willingness to let go of higher-value candy like chewing gum for chocolate meant it was a largely pleasant experience where neither sibling had much reason to steal from each other's stashes.

▼ - Fran hates swimming and can only do it because her parents made her take lessons when she was a kid.

∇ - Assuming my New Game+ theory re: the 2020 miniseries and Flagg holds water, Mother Abagail is also just as aware that events have transpired before and is less ruffled by Flagg because she's literally had these conversations with him multiple times.

♒ - Flagg has a sweet tooth (book/TDT canon) -- with a fully stocked kitchen and permission to fuck around and find out, Lloyd discovered this when he made deep fried oreos and then almost didn't get to have any.

☼ - Lloyd Henreid's XIX tattoo is an easter egg but he got it because it was his first tattoo, on his 19th birthday, and he couldn't think of anything else cool to get.

ൠ - Randall Flagg has no pop culture memories from after 1994. His car has a tape deck because it doesn't occur to him that cars wouldn't have one. He keys into new music pretty quick but all his favorites and the ones that get stuck in his head are from well before that and come from a variety of places.

[sexybabystevie]

Just saw your post about b/ler and their stans hating on everyone and I have to agree.

Like, I don't mind discussing little theories, but the way they go about things it's super annoying. Like the whole blue meets yellow in the west shit like that was a thing for scoops. idk why you make it about b/ler. Or saying Mike dressed up in yellow at the airport for Will when El's favorite color is also yellow. When they complain about other characters having screentime, I have to laugh because they manage to make anything about that ship anyway, so it shouldn't matter so much in the end. They act like this ship is the foundation of the show when Will is barely a real character because he doesn't even have a personality other than the gay kid who disappeared. And the fandom hardly develops his character because his relationship with Mike is the only thing they talk about. (And before ppl complain, other characters are underdeveloped as well, but I don't put them on a pedestal and call them the main character of the show like they do with Will)

Their treatment of El in all of this is the most upsetting part. Similar to Steve, she isn't allowed to be hurt or upset if others do something (aka r/nance, b/ler). Like they should all be super supportive allys, and if they are upset, they are deemed as homophobic or terrible friends.

I think the saddest part what i've read about b/ler was people insisting that Mike never loved El and had always feelings for Will, which is so cruel? In general, making m/leven important to Mike is not a thing in the b/ler fandom because they don't want Mike to be bi, which idk what the problem is with that. I just think they are scared that Mike is still interested in girls is threatening their ship or whatever.

Anyway, what I also hate when discussing b/ler is that they simply make El a lesbian in order so she doesn't feel bad instead of letting her deal with complicated feelings. Like in s4, Mike's inability to say he loves her clearly upsets El, meaning she does have feelings for Mike that are beyond a friendship level. It's also weird that they take away El's agency and reduce her to this abused child who doesn't know about anything so she shouldn't be in a relationship because she can't know what love is. (Ignoring s2 and her learning throughout the tv about the world and feelings and making her own decision regarding that part.) If we go that route non of the kids should know about love bc they are all traumatised and fucking 14 lol. And then they break up lumax so Max and El are together and everyone is happy? (Forgetting about Lucas) Also, idk crossdating within a friend group is so messy, but people just take the complicated parts out.

Also, what I found not discussed enough is the Will and El relationship. Like yes, Will likes Mike, but El is his sister. He also loves her. And tbh I think he would have reservations about dating his sisters ex-boyfriend because he cares about her. Maybe El gives them their blessing, but Will would know that she's hurting, so he might not follow through because he values the sibling bond with El more.

In general, I hate when there are ships that have to be so clean and liked by every character that is around. They don't exist in a vaccum, other people esp those who have close relationships with the people in those ships (ex-partners, best friends, siblings etc) might have negative reactions to it which is fine. That doesn’t mean they are homophobic it means they feel betrayed by a friend or sibling who dates their ex they loved for a very long time.

I like the theory of b/ler, but people take out the complexities that come with the ship. And then when you point them out, you're the worst person on earth, and your fave deserves to die. (esp Steve)

(Sorry, this is long. You don't have to answer. I just needed to vent a bit)

oh my gosh, no worries at all about this being on the longer side of asks! i don't mind at all and actually really like talking about this stuff and you brought up so many good points! since this is longer, though, i'm gonna put my thoughts under the cut <3

firstly, the theories CAN be fun. emphasis on can because they aren't anymore. b/lers make it clear that you pretty much have to agree with every single point they make, treating every single detail as canon rather than a theory, and it's exhausting. some of the ones i read a while back were genuinely interesting and fun! but when you take away the actual idea of it being a theory and just insist upon it being the truth, then going as far to call other people who don't agree/who are skeptical stupid or homophobic or some other name they come up with, then it makes people not want to interact with you.

i'm gonna be really honest here and say that i think all this stuff about blue and yellow is really ridiculous. i mean, they're quite literally colors. not saying there's no literary meaning to colors, but implying that every time we see blue and yellow in the show is some secret b/ler symbolism is just... so bizarre. (again, this could have been a fun little thing, but they take everything SO seriously and are such negative people that any amount of enjoyment is immediately stripped away just because you can't even have a civil disagreement with them without getting accused of being homophobic or without getting loads of anon hate.)

you said "When they complain about other characters having screentime, I have to laugh because they manage to make anything about that ship anyway, so it shouldn't matter so much in the end." and THANK YOU for wording that so well. this is what i've been trying to say for a while now, but i couldn't word it correctly. b/lers go out and make every single hint of foreshadowing, every single character and their personalities or arcs all about mike and will (because they for some reason are convinced this show is just a massive great love story for the two of them, and to that i have to say that this show has an ensemble cast. the other characters will and SHOULD have their own personalities, arcs, etc, that do NOT tie into b/ler) so why should it be a problem that a character is gaining popularity? if everything really is about b/ler like they claim then it should be no big deal to assume that this completely unrelated character exists entirely for the sake of your ship, right? it's honestly ridiculous.

also, yeah, will is barely even a character. he barely has any screentime that's spent creating his character, despite the fact that i think he's an essential point to the show. he's more of a plotline than a person, and i think blaming anyone other than the duffers for that makes no sense. fictional characters don't write themselves??

as for treatment of el, i made a post forever ago the parallels between steve and el as characters, and i think that goes for here too. they're both essential characters at this point, they're heroes, but even still b/lers treat both of them terribly. with el, it's pushing her to the side, dehumanizing her in a very ableist way, etc, and with steve, its much the same. dehumanizing, pushing him to the side, not allowing either of these characters to have feelings about their best friends/close friends dating their exes, and its just not realistic and its also weird. to enjoy a ship is one thing, but to push it onto everyone else and actively hate on other people who don't like it (which, by the way, you literally do not have to have "valid reason" to dislike a ship. you can just not like/hate it and that should be fine!!!) is immature and exhausting.

interestingly enough, i think b/lers mainly view el and steve the same way - an "overrrated" character, probably some part of why they hate the "general audience"/"fanservice", and, interestingly, i think there's also this idea that they're both basic in some way. like, steve is the "basic" straight white guy (idk why there's anything wrong with that??) and el is either a misinformed, confused lesbian or a pathetic straight girl too and its... so exhausting as well because characters can be queer without having to be mike and will!!! (and in the view of el they can also be queer without breaking up other important ships just for the sake of b/ler??) the amount of times i see people say that people are homophobic for having steve or el as their favorites is just... why? like, going on some kind of homophobia-yelling witch hunt isn't going to make anyone like you or your ship that you're so heavily promoting.

and with mike, i've seen some people (the more tolerable ones, i think) say he's bi while others insist he has no attraction to girls whatsoever, and i don't know, i think people read into it too much just to go and discredit el's relationship with him. if they can go and say, "oh, their relationship wasn't important to mike OR el so now we win!!" then they can convince themselves that b/ler is endgame, everything is happy for them, there are no problems, etc, which, again, is unrealistic. breakups are messy even if both parties were not to feel romantically about the other, and especially when you're gonna go and date someone in your group again. like, i've personally seen situations like that entirely destroy friend groups, time and time again, but let's ignore that for the sake of b/ler!

(also side point that goes along with what you're saying - they're literally 14!! i think so many people forget that since the actors look older or whatever, but like... they're children.)

the will and el relationship is always ignored and never talked about because it doesn't fit in the b/ler agenda (unless they assume that el is a lesbian and therefore doesn't care about will going on to date mike). which honestly is a shame because i love their dynamic but i also would rather not hear thoughts about that from b/lers anyway, but regardless it's a major plothole in their plans that they all just totally ignore because the only solutions to it are severely out of character.

i honestly don't think there's anything wrong with shipping m/leven or b/ler, if you're not insane about it. the b/lers heavily despise people who ship mike and eleven and go on to call them homophobic (are we sensing a trend here?) or whatever else, and i honestly haven't seen enough m/leven shippers here to know what they're doing so i won't put words into their mouth or whatever. either way, there's this general distaste and shunning that happens of anyone who doesn't like b/ler or ships something else and i'm personally so tired of it. i don't ship either of these because i just don't care that much (and also these people ruined it for me) but shipping m/leven does not make you inherently homophobic, and shipping b/ler does not automatically make you annoying in the way that most of them are.

now that i've kinda covered your thoughts, i want to add a few more points of my own that i think of every time this situation arises.

one, i think a large chunk of the toxicity of the b/ler community comes down to the fact that they worship the ground the duffers walk on. and this is a general thing that a lot of people and some of the media do, where they dramatize how good the show is and hype it up to be some untouchable, perfect series, which is far from the truth. they're convinced the duffers are on their side (b/ler endgame) and thus can do no wrong. (also a very weird way to act when they go and hate every other character CREATED by the duffers - but oh no! they didn't do it because they wanted to or because they like other characters too, it's all because of the general audience and how they just fuck everything up!!).

which, this is just setting them all up for failure. no one is getting this perfect dream of an ending, and i think if anyone knows this, it's the steve fans. we are painfully aware of the fact that our fave will either die or will have some shitty ending that none of us want, and b/lers are on the other side of the spectrum where they think everything will end perfectly for them, and you're just setting yourself up for colossal disappointment. every little hidden clue or theory that you've come up with is not going to be true, every bit of "foreshadowing" isn't going to pan out, and that's just a fact. the duffers simply are not as good as these people want to think lol.

secondly, i think the treatment of el and steve is also very similar in the viewing of their love triangles. there's st/ncy vs j/ncy and m/leven vs b/ler, and in both of these situations, everything is always one person's fault when people don't get their way - el and steve. if j/ncy happens and steve's fine with it, then people have to talk about how shitty of a boyfriend he supposedly was. if j/ncy happens and steve's upset, then it's on him for, again, being shitty and "deserving" to be alone. if st/ncy happens then it's steve's fault for having feelings or being a popular character or some other bullshit that makes no sense. and in the case of el, will and mike, it's the same. b/ler happens and el's upset, it's her fault for caring about her boyfriend. b/ler happens and el isn't upset, it's her fault for NOT caring. m/leven happens, then el is primarily the problem because SHE loves mike and cares about mike and "only gets all these things because she is a popular character."

overall, it's just pointing fingers, making excuses, and acting like babies 24/7 until they cry enough to get their way, honestly.