#I do hope mike is there too

[princessanneftw]

Princess Anne will be visiting Kingsholm next week to send a rugby ball on a 555 mile journey. The Princess Royal will hand over a ball to rugby legends from across the UK.

And the move will kick off a a 200-strong peloton of cyclists on a poignant £500,000 charity fundraiser in memory of Doddie Weir, the Scottish rugby legend who died in November last year. A team of rugby legends will aim to cycle 555 miles in 48 hours to deliver it to Murrayfield Stadium ahead of the Scotland v Wales Six Nations game Saturday February 11 .

Once there they will hand the ball back to Princess Anne who is patron of the Scottish rugby team. The group, which includes former Scotland captain Rob Wainwright and World Cup winning former England skipper Martin Johnson, will raise money for motor neurone disease.

Son in law MIke Tindall is not on the official list of cyclists but earlier this year he paid tribute to Doddie who died while Mike was in the I'm A Celebrity....Get Me Out Of Here! jungle. He also donned his budgie smugglers to take part in Doddie Aid, a virtual exercise challenge taking place for six weeks from January 1.

The late Doddie Weir launched a fundraising foundation after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) in 2017. The Scotland v Wales match is known as the Doddie Weir Cup and this will be first time since he died in November 2022 at the age of 52, the match has taken place.

After collecting the ball from Anne the cyclists will travel via the Principality Stadium in Cardiff. Wainwright said: “This year marks the fourth anniversary of the Doddie Weir Cup, and it’s particularly poignant as it’s the first since Doddie’s passing in November, but this only drives us forward to continue making progress and raising awareness of MND.

“We have to believe that a breakthrough in MND treatment is just round the corner and push ourselves and others to raise funds to realise that dream."

[chloesimaginationthings]

FNAF movie Mike meets Jeremy Fitzgerald

[paladinsbrainrot]

i had an Idea for a scott pilgrim au and it has not left my mind since .

(ty guys sm for 1.5k followers btw ^_^ !!)

[gmaybe666]

“I love you - unbearably and very, very tenderly”

happy valentines day to the bylers. we crazy but we will win

[butterflysonnets]

yes i'm rooting for m*leven breakup because byler is neat but mostly? i'm rooting for m*leven breakup for the sake of el and mike.

to me, their romance was always a puppy love born out of a combination of social pressures, naïve curiosity, and a lack of true understanding regarding intimacy and romantic love and what it really is. it was real in that they do truly, deeply care about each other and they are close friends, maybe even shared an attraction, but a maturing romance is so much more than that. they've grown up and out of being boyfriend/girlfriend, and that's okay! i think television/film needs to show more often that most of us don't have definite "soulmates" or first childhood loves that we spend our whole lives with. it doesn't mean these relationships meant nothing and didn't impact us, it just means they've run their course and that something else is in the cards, and this is part of life!

i've always felt el was at her best and most confident self when broken up with mike, discovering who she was and what she liked alongside another girl her age instead of just relying on mike for mentorship on how to live in the real world. she deserves more of an opportunity to find herself, her autonomy, and her independence, and to love who she is, and she's made it clear she's felt insecure in the relationship with mike because she isn't being loved and understood the way she wants, needs, and deserves from someone who is her partner.

also, it's okay if mike doesn't love her in "the way he should". he is not obligated to love her romantically and stay in a relationship with her just because she's a girl, because she "needed someone", or because he cares about her a lot. he shouldn't be pressured into a romance if it's not truly coming from his heart. he deserves freedom to find out and honour who he is, too, instead of just staying in his non-functional first relationship — one he got into as a child, essentially — and defining himself that way because it's what's expected when a boy and a girl are close. he loves her in some way, yes, but it's okay if he doesn't feel comfortable or secure being her boyfriend anymore, for whatever reason that is. he's felt insecure too, and that's valid and it matters.

they are their own people and are steadily growing and changing every day. they need time to figure out who those people are, and it's become clear (at least in my opinion) that those people aren't meant to be a couple at this stage.

they deserve freedom. they deserve to grow up and be authentic to themselves and not feel like they need to lie for the sake of a relationship. they deserve to move on from this version of their relationship that isn't making them happy and rekindle the best part of their bond: their strong, beautiful friendship. they don't have to be a couple if it doesn't make them stronger and better and happier people.

i think it would be healthy and wonderful for a show, especially one consumed frequently by young adults, to show a relationship starting, progressing, and ending on good terms in this way. sometimes things don't work out, and that is okay.

[chirpsythismorning]

Fun fact: In the original pitch for Stranger Things, El had a little brother.

After being rejected by almost 20 studios for the Montauk pilot, the Duffers were finally green-lit by Netflix. It was at this time that they began casting and then writing the first season officially, which included reworking a lot of that first episode.

This led to the removal of the brother reference, and with it, removing any sort of arc El could have had about her apparent brother.

But the thing about this moment, is that it might not have been scrapped entirely...

Going into the final season, no one can explain why or how El recognized Will back in 1x02. And while there are plenty of things on the show that are left unexplained, with a small portion likely left that way with the intention to uncover it later, what sets this moment apart from the rest is that there are very few possibilities here.

Because for starters, the story presents El's ability to see people in the void in s1 as requiring either a picture of that person for reference, or having met that person before.

But when El see's this picture of Will, she's never met him before. Or maybe she has, but we wouldn't know because they never showed us. They could have just not done this scene at all, given that it's clearly a copy/paste/edit of something scrapped from the pitch. Or they could have even still included it, but explained it.

One explanation could be that the lab had shown El a picture of Will before, similar to what they did with the Russian agent they wanted to spy on. But then that begs to question, why would the lab show El a picture of Will? Why would they want to see what he was doing? That alone is incriminating in and of itself, implying that Will is more connected to the lab than we realize.

The only other, and frankly most likely explanation, would be that El stumbled across Will at some point on her journey between escaping the lab and Will going missing. This is actually something that happens in The Other Side comic, which explores all the things Will may have experienced during his time in the Upside Down.

Though it’s worth noting the comics aren’t technically canon, and I highly doubt they would outright spoil everything in relation to Will’s time there, years before it was intended to be revealed. But still, let's humor this for a moment given that I do think Will's time in the UD is going to be very relevant in s5, which means it's highly likely they will finally address how exactly El saw him.

Basically, in the comic, Will see’s El walking through the woods, almost apparition like, glowing as she passes by, while also sporting the Benny’s burgers shirt. This means they would have crossed passed within a short span of time, between when El escaped Benny’s when the agents arrived, but before she was found by the boys.

Though it’s worth noting that we’re seeing this all from Will’s perspective. This means from the UD, Will was capable of seeing El on the other side, despite them being on different sides. And not only that, but she also looks back at him.

What confuses me about this, is that it doesn’t make sense for El to be in the woods, only to randomly decide to pop in to the void for a moment. She was trying to escape the lab and everything that came with it. I doubt she had any desire to lurk back there for some reason, not until someone encouraged her to. Not to mention, it would make no sense for her to go there and see Will if she wasn't even looking for him in the first place. And so this would mean Will and El could see each other, with Will being in the UD, and El being on the other side.

While it does seem pretty far off, given that you would think Will and El wouldn't be able to see each other from different sides, it is true in the story that El not only recognizes Will, but knows that he is in danger. She mentions that he is hiding specifically.

Which means she has likely seen him within the last 24 hours regardless.

This, in combination with Will being able to respond to El in the void at the end of the season in Castle Byers, when no one else outside of Terry and flayed-Billy have been able to, seems to imply that there is indeed something special about Will that makes him capable of communicating with El from the UD. Not only that, but El also seems to have an ability to be in this constant knowing state of how Will is doing, without even checking again to confirm. She's just certain of it. And she seems terrified about it.

Going forward, El never uses a picture of Will to find him. She never did. And more often than not, they don’t show us what she see’s either, not until the very end. And that’s the moment they reveal that he was able to communicate with her.

Again, there was really no reason to have El recognize Will. If anything it complicates things. But the fact that they chose to introduce this concept, with a scene from the original pitch that was related to El’s younger brother, with her pointing at his name cryptically, startling Benny, only to revamp it and have El not say anything at all while pointing at the picture of Will, startling Mike… It just really makes you stop and think.

Which brings me to the other aspect of this that might have people doubting, which is that El’s brother was originally younger than her.

We know Will is not younger than El, so how could this apply to him?

Well, it might be helpful to consider that in the original script, El was actually 10 years old, while the boys were always 12. Meaning that for some reason, they decided to age her up to the age of the boys, aka the same age as Will…

Ever since @erikiara80 shared this brother discovery with me, I have been sort of reeling. It then led to other little discoveries of changes they made between Montauk and Stranger Things.

It’s important to understand that the Montauk bible and the original script precedes what we ended up with in the final product, with it finally changing and evolving months, maybe even a year since that original vision. Even casting occurred before writing started for the first season. We know this because casting announcements were made in June and August of 2015, with writing not starting until August going into early 2016, simultaneously while they were filming.

And believe it or not, what I've discovered is that a lot of the changes they made between their original plans and what we see in the final product, have to do with not only Willel, but also Byler.

If you've read the original script for Montauk, you'll know that Mike's crush on Jennifer Hayes was focused on right from the jump, along with the birthmark on his face being focused on, which was the main cause of the bullying he experienced.

This has actually been talked about recently, and some of the claims people make do fit with what I am genuinely starting to consider here, which is that the initial plan for what makes Mike an outcast shifted.

I think when they completed casting, and started actually deep diving into what they wanted this world to look like, both from a short-term and long-term standpoint, they were presented with some pretty interesting discoveries, arguably already hiding in their initial plans without realizing it.

And this is where it sort of becomes a 'chicken or the egg' situation. Because which one came first? Byler or Willel?

I can't say for certain, because obviously this is all just speculation. But in the case that Willel came first, I think Byler would come very naturally after that.

The Duffers themselves are twins. Then they hire Noah, who is a twin. Then they're thinking and planning for El's past and how her family all fits into this, and they're thinking... wait a damn minute... We could totally Star Wars this bitch!

And then when they think it couldn't get any better, they uncover another layer that they hadn't planned or really considered in their initial plans.

While Will was always going to have sexual identity issues according to the Montauk bible, meaning that the writing process for him likely involved sitting down imagining scenarios that encapsulated this arc for Will from the beginning, they were simultaneously now finding very interesting aspects of Mike's character that made it hard not to at least consider the possiblity that Mike is not exactly straight.

Just think about it. The Byers and Wheelers are basically polar opposites on the spectrum of what a family looks like. While Will's discovery and acceptance of his queerness is interesting to explore because he comes from a low-income, single-mom household, all while having been bullied for years based on his perceived queerness, he also has a mother and brother constantly reinforcing that they will accept him no matter what. They've been sort of hitting us over the head with it for years, and so it wouldn't be very satisfying for his entire arc to merely lead up to something we've known all along. It's pretty much a given at this point.

On the other side of the spectrum, Mike comes from a more upper-middle class family at the end of a cul-de-sac, more aligned with what a nuclear family looks like. Mike's family is also presented as being more conservative, and while Karen does give that very queer-coded speech to Mike in s1 (I'm convinced they only wrote this after deciding to explore queer-coding more heavily with Mike), it also comes with comments from Ted and even still Karen that hint that they are probably not as open-minded and accepting as Will's family is to him. Which means Mike's arc would be a lot more about acceptance around him from his loved ones who we have been led to believe might not be as accepting of his queerness in contrast to Will.

And so as they're putting this story together, and they're being presented with something very interesting. Two similar experiences that play out in different ways because of the characters circumstances.

Will goes missing, and his twin sister with a buzzcut pops up and has the ability to help them find Will.

This leads to several moments where El is being compared to as not only a boy, but Will as well.

Now suddenly, their initial plans to have Mike's arc be about having a girl be interested in him and to hopefully have his first kiss and feel like less of a loser, starts to look a lot like what the experience a queer kid in his position might encounter growing up in the environment that he did.

And if you don't want to take my word for it, just hear the Duffer's themselves hinting at what they initially planned for Mike and the fact that it changed.

The changes don't stop there.

Believe it or not, 'It was a seven', did not exist in the initial pitch. When the boys went outside bickering over Nancy, they leave right after that.

Another thing that changed from the first script, was Scott Clarke's introduction:

And so you might be thinking, who cares? What does that have to do with anything?

Well, it's interesting because the line we end up with on the show is arguably one of the most on the nose Twelvegate proofs to date. Mind you, this is from the first episode:

Why chuck the original version, which was arguably more interesting and fascinating in terms of it hinting at the mysteriousness surrounding this story, only to replace it with him listing off tips about their upcoming test?

Well, I think it's the irony of it all. Here Mr. Clarke is practically telling us where to look to figure stuff out for ourselves what is going on, with all the kids filing out and ignoring him...

I relate to Scott a litttle too much in this shot here, any time I try to drop Willel evidence.

And the changes go on, as they obviously would.

Things like Terry Ives not even being El's mom, but actually a man who more so aligns with the characterization of Murray.

And one very interesting one I almost overlooked was in Hopper's introduction, where instead of a kids drawing done by who we assume to be Sarah, we actually see a picture on the wall of him and his wife and daughter... Interesting that they decided to switch it something that is a lot less definitive in presenting what Hopper's past looked like...

If you've made it this far, congratulations.

If you still think I'm out of my mind, just remember that El was going to have a brother in the original script, but they scrapped the scene and gave a near identical one to introduce her connection to Will instead 😘

[beep-beep-robin]

even when we're down to the wire, babe even when it's do or die we could do it, baby, simple and plain 'cause this love is a sure thing - Sure Thing, Miguel

[thisisnotkitty]

Ness tending to Mike's injuries 😭

me when i steal the scene from the movie and make it securitywaiter

-so yknow when mike is like “yeah ill trade in abby for garrett (which like why did he do that lmao) and gets just like mauled by the animatronics

-anyways instead of vanessa finding him ness had actually gone in to snoop around freddy’s bc thats what he does as a conspriacy theorist

-he gets there just in time to save mike but mike’s like,, OUT so he takes him back to his apartment to fix him up

-while mike takes a while to wake up ness begins cleaning his wounds and stitching him up and there’s a brief moment when mike is nearly all cleaned up that he looks kinda peaceful(?) lying on ness’s couch and ness is like “huh” but he doesn’t quite get why his heart speeds up a bit

-as ness finishes cleaning him up he starts humming and singing gently and it kinda wakes mike up but he’s still a little out of it and can’t quite open his eyes fully so he’s just like “are you an angel?” bc he fully thought he died back there lmao

-and ness just laughs and goes “i’m fully human as far as i know. the name’s ness and i found you at freddy’s which is lucky for you bc it looked like you were in a bit of trouble there” bc he’s cheeky like that

-and mikes still a little dazed and confused from the blood loss but still he’s like “wait a minute… narrows eyes why were You at freddy’s”

-ness is just like “well you see it’s a long story” and mike just looks down at this injuries with a look that says well i’m clearly not going anywhere soon so i’ve got time

-ness starts explaining the fnaf lore while bandaging up mike and mike is trying to pay attnetion bc this is kinda imp but he can’t help but get distracted with how gentle ness is handling his arm and maybe he’s still a bit dazed but he swears this guy’s voice is a bit melodic and oh. oh.

-mike hasn’t really been in the dating scene much bc of abby so when he realizes that he might be developing a crush on this guy he’s known for a grand total of 30 minutes (and he was only awake for 10 of those) he begins to panic a bit

-uhhhh yeah. they go back to freddys and vanessa’s there and they save abby and it’s pretty much the last bit of the movie but w ness there now! (i couldn’t figure out how to end this im so sorry)

prompts, hcs, whatever random thoughts you guys have on these silly little fellas pls be sure to send them my way bc im going a Bit insane

[bylertruther]

hot take: you know that "lovingly tending to your love interest's wounds and bandaging them up while telling them to be more careful next time with lovey dovey eyes" trope? well. stop saying that will is the one doing the tending. he isn't.

this is will in the face of danger, blood, and stress:

meanwhile, mike ...

housed, clothed, fed, and tried to lift the spirits a girl he'd just met in the middle of the woods + immediately wanted to see lucas's head to check if he was okay after eleven threw him against the rock

spent all of season two holding will, tending to him, fetching and finding him whenever he wandered off, asking him if he was okay whenever he so much as breathed differently, watching him like a hawk, motioning him to move back when dart was moving, standing in front of will to protect him from dart, dropping to his side asap when he fell during the burn, (possibly) reaching for his ankle when will was in the hospital bed, and he immediately helped max up and asked her if she was okay when she fell

held onto el the entire time that she was injured, stayed strong even when that shit was way too McFucking NASTY as everyone else was cringing, applied pressure to her wound and did what he was told easily once someone that knew first aid told him

held will back from going after jonathan during the shootout, put his arm over will, and let will cling to him all the while despite the fact that he was defenseless and in just as much danger, too, and calmly (compared to jonathan and a certain scared hamster) continued to apply constant pressure to the agent's bullet wounds as he bled to death all over them, purposely went to stand by will's side in the hospital room after will looked back at him, and put his hand on will's shoulder to offer comfort when will told him about vecna being alive

one of mike's best, most popular and lovable traits is how attentive and caring he is. obviously they'd both tend to each other and no one is saying they would just let each other die lmao, but if anyone is more likely to throw googoo gaga major heart eyes at someone while tending to them and doing everything they can to protect, save, and help them and make sure that they're okay because they don't want to lose them... if anyone is more likely to say something like "please be more careful next time", which curiously sounds within the realm of "i feel like i lost you"...

canonically, it's mike.

put some respect on his name, please.

[aarontveit]

i need direction to perfection

[katierosefun]

actually as much as i love mike and harvey together. i feel so sad for rachel zane because imagine falling in love with your coworker and then you learn that your coworker is a fake lawyer but not only that, your coworker is a fake lawyer who would literally do anything for his boss. he'll literally leave you at the altar to go to prison for his boss. he'll try to quit his job multiple times but keep coming back because his boss asked him to come back. he'll move to seattle with you, and you'll breathe a sigh of relief because it means that it can finally just be the two of you, but then you learn that he's inviting his stupid former boss to join them. and his stupid former boss agrees. you smile because your husband is so stupid happy at the idea of working with his former boss again, but you've seen this film one too many times before, and you are going to be subject to watching your husband choose his stupid former boss-slash-friend over you again and again and again and again and again and ag

[chloesimaginationthings]

I just adore the way you draw Movie!Mike. He’s my absolute favorite. You draw him so so well! 🥺 I always have to hide my face from blushing every time I see your art with him in it! 🥺

You also draw Abby so adorably! Just!!! AAAAAAAAAA!!! 🥰🥰

Mike Schmidt appreciation post 

[gayofthefae]

Sometimes when I'm doubting I imagine lines from Byler season 5 being made into TikTok sounds to normalize it in my mind. Best one I've come up with is definitely recently I imagined a line from Mike talking about or confessing to Will being turned into one of those really cute trends where you just put a bunch of pictures of your partner.

I want people who haven't watched Stranger Things to learn about through the love confession sound on tiktok of Mike talking about Will. Fuck it. I want period drama level shit. I want Amy and Laurie 2019. I want-

I'm ready for it it's gonna happen I believe.

[exsqueezememacaroni]

.

[mel-loly]

-Hello there! Hry'all?

A new character arrived! A somewhat exotic character, almost very different from the others I've already brought andd without further ado, her name is.... Sabryna! The butterfly bat :D

Sabryna look:

Description of her:

Name: Sabryna Morgan

Age: 27

Birthday: November 11th

Sexuality: Lesbian

Gender: Demigirl

Pronouns: She/They

Status: Dating with Celeste

Specie: Butterfly bat (a species of bat created by me-) <3

Personality: She likes to be “seen”, someone who attracts attention. She can sometimes be a little cocky but with whom she has more affinity, her rudeness become a great affection bomb, like- she literally goes from sour to sweet in a matter of minutes! <3

Dead/Alive: Alive

Family/relative: She does not have.

-Hope you guys have a wonderful day/night!💛

[reel-fear]

Hey if anyone wants to check out Moving Pictures Redrawn [a fan-made remake of the first chapter of BATIM that Mike n Meatly may have ordered to be taken down? It's unsure at the moment] Guess who downloaded a copy before they did that~