#I don’t know enough about her opinions on characters from anything to make a guess

[brutal-out-here]

One of my aunts has been a long time twd fan and I desperately need to know who her favorites are but like I don’t wanna just randomly text her so I’ll probably have to wait until December cause we go over there for New Year’s

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Study Buddy 4

Warnings:this series will include dark elements which may include bullying, noncon or dubcon, or violent behaviour. Mind the warnings.

Summary: a group project leads to a tense partnership.

Character: Walter Marshall

Big thanks to those who read! Feedback always helps inspire and you know I’m always happy to chat about possibilities! Please reblog and comment ❤️

“She’s sleeping, fever’s still there,” you say as you ease the door shut behind you. 

As you come down the hall, Walter puts his phone away. He sighs. His curls are mussed from his stressed ruffling. He looks even more grumpy than usual. At least, what you know to be his usual. 

“Right,” he sighs. “Just called the captain...” 

“Captain? You military?” You ask before you can stop yourself. 

“Detective. Left the force a while back,” he sniffs. “I can’t exactly call in, you know?” 

You nod awkwardly. You’re not sure what to do and you know better than to say anything. He barely appreciates your opinions on fiction, let alone his life decisions. 

“You know, when she was a kid. A real kid, small one, I'd put her in the back seat with her teddy and blanket. Drive her around with me. She slept like a rock...” he shakes his head. “It’s too cold and she’s too sick. Too big for that now.” 

You fold your hands behind you. You don’t feel too bad for him, but you feel awful for Faye. She’s old enough to take care of herself but she’s in such a state, she should be left to. 

“Well, I don’t work tomorrow. I could—uh, I just realised how presumptuous--” 

“What?” He asks desperately. “You’ll stay with her?” 

His expression changes in an instant. Hope, concern, the face of a father. You nod. 

“Sure, I could,” you shrug. “I mean, I’ll keep an eye on her. Make sure she doesn’t get worse.” 

“Really?” He asks. 

“She’s really sick,” you say. “And I mean, you’re a cop. That’s a hell of a lot more important than what I do. Oh, I’ll even finish the report. A draft of course, I'll let you edit out all my mistakes.” 

He nods and scratches his beard, “hm, alright. I guess... you don’t got any priors and you look harmless enough.” 

“Wait? You don’t trust me?” 

“I just said--” 

“Priors? Did you... Did you look into me?” 

“If I’m going to bring someone into my house, I’m doing a background check,” he says nonchalantly. “Don’t worry, you passed.” 

“I’m not so sure about that. I pocketed a tootsie roll at the corner shop when I was eight. Maybe I should just go--” 

“I was just being safe. She’s my daughter,” he insists. 

“I know, I look like a criminal,” you go and grab your bag. 

“Please--” 

“Relax, I’m not going anywhere. Faye didn’t run a search on me,” you say. “I’m just grabbing my phone charger.” 

“Oh, right,” he drawls. 

“So uh, I’ll just work on that paper then. You probably gotta get ready soon, huh?” 

“Right about now, yeah,” he grumbles and rubs behind his ear.  

“Cool, I’ll get back to it,” you go to the table and plug the cord into the outlet behind the chair.  

You plug in your cell then turn the laptop towards you. You pay Walter no mind as you review the paragraphs he added in your absence. Or you try not to notice him. He looms and you feel the heat of his gaze on you, for about a minute before he disappears down the hall. 

You focus on your task. You might as well get the report out of the way. Faye won’t sleep very long. You can’t let her either. You have to make sure that fever doesn’t get any higher. You’re no nurse or anything but you know that at least. Writers do tend to have peculiar search histories. Even aspiring ones. 

The night promises you little rest. You’re a bit disappointed. You hope for a break to refresh a bit. You can’t be too upset, you should feel lucky you’re not sick as a dog. 

Walter returns. He smells like pine and mint. He moves around the kitchen wordlessly. He opens a few cupboard before nearing the table. 

“Kid likes grape soda, there’s lots in the fridge. Some mac and cheese in the cupboard if you feel up to it,” he offers. 

“No problem. I think I’ll probably just finish this then deal with my other assignments. More than enough to last the night,” you assure him. “Uh...” you sit back and look at him. “Good luck?” 

His brows furrow, “thanks. Well, I’ll be off. Call me if you need anything.” 

“Sure,” you agree and go back to typing. 

He grunts and stomps off. He rustles around in the entryway as you try to concentrate on the half-finished sentence before you. Even as the door shuts and the lock grinds, you find it hard to add anything. This is weird. You definitely didn’t expect this. 

Another hour and you call it quits. It’s good enough. Besides, he will be sure to make it perfect. At least, to his standard. 

You get up and stretch. You pace around restlessly then go to check on Faye. You were never much of a babysitter. The few times you did so, you felt wildly incapable. You tap on the door before you enter. 

She’s awake but groggy. You touch her forehead. She’s still hot but not feverish. You’re relieved. You bring her some more water then leave her to rest some more. 

Your keep your ears pricked as you go back to the kitchen table. You open up another course and work your way through the lesson. It won’t be so bad if you can even get ahead of schedule. 

You cup your chin as your eyes turn fuzzy. You blink and make your vision clear. You can do this. There’s nothing else you can do. You gotta make it through the night, make sure Faye is okay. With how Walter gets about novels, you can’t imagine what would happen if you failed at this. 

You yawn and rub your temples as you try to shake some life into yourself. You get through the lesson and submit your discussion response. You go into the assignment then start to plot out your project. The clock ticks by. 

Nine turns into midnight before you stop again. You stand and jump around, getting your blood going. You look in on Faye again. She needs tissue and tea. Does he not have any honey? You leave that with her as she scrolls dully through Tiktok. 

In the kitchen, you stare at the blinking cursor. You don’t get much done. Your brain clogs with molasses. Your eyelids droop. 2am. You blink. 2:07. Blink. 2:22. 

You don’t realise you're asleep until you wake up. The smell of coffee tickles your nose and draws your head up with a gasp. You wipe the drool from your cheek and feel the imprint of the table’s edge on your skin. You bat away the glossiness in your eyes as Walter stands on the other side of the laptop. 

“Oh, hi.” 

“Morning,” he says as he puts down one of the plain paper cups. “Coffee.” 

“Uh, thanks,” you glance at the cup. “Er... Faye’s fever broke. I think she’s feeling better. I must have... must have dozed off.” 

“That’s fine,” he says. 

“So I guess...” you stand and close your laptop. “I should get out of your hair. Finally.” 

“No hurry. If you need to sleep, there’s the couch,” he offers. You hesitate. You look at him and his cheek ticks. “What?” 

“Hm? Nothing. That’s nice of you.” 

“I can be nice.” 

“I didn’t say--” you begin to argue. “I know. Thanks for the coffee.” 

You wrap up your charging cord and scoop up your phone and laptop, balancing the cup in your other hand. You turn and groan at the stiffness in your hips. Oof, those chairs are not forgiving. 

He follows you like a shadow as you head for the door. “I am nice,” he insists. 

You look up as you put the cup on the corner table and pack up your bag, “I know. First draft is done.” 

He huffs. “Thank you.... you know, for keeping an eye on her.” 

“Oh, it’s no problem,” you assure him as you go to pull on your shoe, only to nearly tip over. “Oomph.” 

“Look, you shouldn’t go right away. I can see you’re beat, so why don’t you get a few hours in. Buses don’t come out this way more than once an hour before ten.” 

You look at him again. He crosses his arms, his thick chest bulging beneath. Is he suggesting or commanding? It’s hard to tell with him. And you are exhausted. 

“I don’t want to bother.” 

“If it was a bother, I wouldn’t offer,” he retorts. 

“Oh, of course, I guess...” 

“I’ll get you a blanket,” he spins and marches off before you can finish your sentence. You never said yes. 

[habaritess]

Is Claire Bear one of the villains of The Bear? Part 1

This is going to be kind of long, so I decided it'd be better to cut it up into 2 parts.

Recent discussions on here about Claire and Donna (@currymanganese, @thoughtfulchaos773) has got me really thinking about her character. I find it was weird how the majority of the people in The Bear have such a high opinion of her, and yet what we the audience see from her short time on screen is someone much more grey and maybe even a little sinister. Why sinister? Because Claire seems to have a major lack of conscience and is also incredibly manipulative. If Claire is such a great person like every fricken character seems to believe, then why do the writers create a character that has this many alarm bells?

I wanted to “understand” it.

I believe the first warning signs of Claire was that story she told about her childhood. A childhood friend broke her arm and while all the other kids were scared and panicked, Claire was calm. Carmy assumed it’s because she wanted to learn how to fix her broken arm so that she can help her, but Claire said she wanted to understand it. The graphic injury made her want to understand it. Let that sink in. The other kids were disturbed by the injury and no doubt also by the cries of the injured girl. Claire wasn’t. She was mentally disconnected from the scene because her empathy wasn't activated. Instead, she chooses to analyze the broken arm as if it isn’t connected to a fellow playmate. I suspect that this story Claire tells explains exactly what kind of person she is. She looks at people as a thing to analyze, and she does so in order to get what wants from them. 

We get an example of how she observes other people when she correctly guesses what Carmy named his restaurant. Carmy is completely shocked. When you watch the show, you get the impression that Carmy was infatuated with Claire while they were growing up, but they weren’t close. Definitely not close enough to the point where Carmy would have spoken to Claire about what he would name his hypothetical restaurant, but Claire is quite confident that Carmy had once “told” her. He never did. I suspect that Claire has been observing Carmy, just as she has been observing many people, and she guessed what he would have named just by what she knew of him. In one way, you could view this scene as a sweet thing, that it is evidence of Claire being secretly in love with Carmy for a long time, but the way the scene was portrayed was not of something sweet( or at least that was my impression of it). In fact, Carmy seemed a little disturbed by it even, and I suspect even he had some small alarm bells going off.

During the whole conversation, Carmy gave off the impression that he was forcing himself to make small talk with an older acquaintance to avoid being rude, but he would rather been anywhere else. He had no intentions of getting reacquainted with Claire, and gave the fake number as a way to dodge any future engagements. Most people would have taken the hint… but not Claire.

Claire always gets what she wants.

It is very common for a person who grew up in abusive, dysfunctional households to find themselves in relationships with abusive individuals. It’s partly because these individuals are drawn to the negative treatment that they are used to and don’t believe they deserve anything better, and also because abusive people are adept at spotting abused individuals, and know who they can and can’t manipulate. 

Little observant Claire knows Carm. She probably knew of his past crush on her and knew of his family issues. Carmy used to be way more withdrawn and quiet, lacking any friends, and was probably desperate for any positive attention. Carmy is one easy to manipulate, and Claire knows this and takes full advantage. Claire wants her some Carmy. I don’t believe she always liked Carmy, but I believe she was fully aware of his attraction towards her and probably had Carmy as a possible person to get with in the future if need be. She wanted her some Carmy and shoot her shot, but the first sign of trouble for her was Carmy barely recognizing her. She continued on and got what she thought was his number, only to find out it was a fake. This probably enraged her, and she went on a mission to get him, and get him she does through pure manipulation tactics.

She calls him, the first thing she does is ask him if he gave her a fake number, then informs him that she is “hurt”. This is the first guilt trip. Claire knows that poor, sad, lonely Carmy who grew up in a dysfunctional family that he consistently tried and failed to please, would be horrified at the idea that he let someone down. That they were sad because of him. Claire goes on to inform him that she knows his entire family plus the Faks. This is important. She is informing Carmy that he can’t escape. She is tying him down to her and giving him only a few choices.

Carmy does not confront problematic individuals. He spent the majority of his life living with his alcoholic and narcissistic mother who could never be reasoned with. He learned it was better to withdraw within himself, dissociate, and appease the people around him in order to lessen the toxicity of his environment rather than confront the problems directly. Eventually, he learned the only other way for peace is to cut certain people out of his life, and he did so by cutting off the majority of his family. If he can’t separate from them, he reverts back to his coping mechanism for dealing with his dysfunctional family,  mentally absorbing their toxicity and trying his best to appease them, never truly standing up for himself, like he did so with David Shields, the evil chef in his past. Claire took away his option to run away. She knows too many of the people he knows. Her threats trap him with her and he reluctantly accepts he can’t get away from her and rather than be upfront and straight up telling her he can’t deal with her right now, he reverts back to what he usually does and focuses on appeasing her needs. Claire continues on the attack by repeatedly asking him why he gave her a fake number and applying more mental pressure. He denies it and apologizes repeatedly for the mistake, and note that in this scene, she smiles broadly at his apologies. She is loving his groveling and knows she got him where she wants.

He is still the weak Carmy she observed growing up. She still continues on accusing him of giving her a fake number, really laying down the guilt trip. She then asks him if he truly wanted her to have the number to which nonconfrontational Carmy reassures her that he did, but come on. Listen to him. He sounded incredibly unenthused and she had him repeat it twice. She is not stupid. She knows he didn’t want her to have his number. Rather than accept reality, she doubles down. She asks him if he was busy today. Carmy hesitated for bit and was trying to confirm to her that, yes, he was busy, but despite knowing that he was going to decline her, Claire interrupts him, tells him not to make this weird, and asks for a favor. Carmy is guilt tripped into believing he did wrong for giving Claire a fake number and thus denying such a favor would be really wrong. Claire made it such a big deal that she even threatened to have Fak punch Carmy in the face for it, really laying down how disagreeable his actions were to her and that he deserved punishment in some way for it. Carmy is gaslighted into thinking his actions were horrible and now he must make it up to Claire… somehow. He does so by doing what he has learned to do since his childhood. Do what they want no matter what he feels about.

Now that Carmy feels like he owes Claire his attention, they start to make future plans together. Now, Carmy doesn't want to do this with Claire, but feels obligated to do it since he feels like he can’t escape her. On season 2 episode 5, Carmy decides to use the forced time he has with Claire to do something productive for the restaurant. He actually changes their plans to hang out… to go mail their wine permit off. Note here that before he calls Claire, Carmy actually sighs twice and shifts uncomfortably on his feet. Note that Carmy shuffles his feet when he is in a situation he doesn’t want to be in, like he did in the beginning of the Christmas episode with his family. He really, really, REALLY doesn’t want to hang out with Claire at all, but forces himself to appease her.

We get another inkling of how emotionally detached Claire is when she brags about being a horrible driver. The girl is a doctor, but she is excited about being a bad driver because of the risks involved. Being a bad driver not only put the driver at risks, but others as well, but Claire does not care about this part. Now one can suggests she is just joking to play with Carmy, but putting what she says in context with other things she said, it fits her personality to not think of others. Carmy attempts to start a conversation with Claire by asking her about her residency. Claire chooses not to answer him and instead tries to throw it back at him, leading to an incredibly uncomfortable moment. One thing I notice about the beginning of this scene is that Claire is clearly annoyed by Carmy’s change of plans. You can see how irritated she is in the beginning of the scene by her head movements and expression, so her dig at Carmy in this conversation was her way of getting back at him.

Claire knows that Carmy is using their hang out time to do something convenient for himself, and she is pissed about it because it’s just yet another sign that he “just not that into her.”

End of Part 1

Part 2

[despairots]

survivor! readers hidden dialogues. pt1 pt2

- ELLEN

“ellen? i won’t lie, she’s probably my favourite out of the others. not for any particular reasons, i don’t use her for… sensual favours like the rest, it’s rather disgusting in my opinion. especially in a unsanitary environment like this? disgusting. anyways, i like her kind heart, how she’ll treat others with kindess despite how they use her, she earns my respect. maybe in another lifetime, we could’ve met sooner, settle down somewhere, she doesn’t deserve what happened to her and what’s happening to her.”

- TED

“ted? narcissistic asshole. i mean, he’s unreliable, he’s annoying, he only treats people with respect if they benefit him— i don’t blame him for that part though— but he does irritate me. it’s funny seeing how AM toys with him, manipulating him into thinking ted’s his favourite, how humorous! for an ai like him to be this funny, delightful. but back to ted, i’ll keep this short, he’s unreliable and a narcissist. poor ellen.”

- BENNY

“benny? hm. i don’t have an opinion on him a lot, and if i do, they’re nothing bad. i do feel sad for him, turning into an brainless ape and having AM speak in riddles to confuse him is hard to watch. we have a mutually respect between us, we don’t see each other often because, well, i’m being isolated, but, he’s okay, i like him. he and ellen are my favourites.”

- GORRISTER

“oh, him. i don’t really… care about him. no offence or anything. i don’t hold any ill feelings towards him, we just don’t talk a lot. bits of conversation here and there but nothing important. i guess, the only reason why i’m not interested in his character is because of him not having anymore optimism to fight against AM, now he only longs for death— well, all of us do, me a little less.”

- NIMDOK

“it’s funny how that’s not even his name, nimdok. AM just gave him that name because he likes funny pronunciations. although, i guess… he’s okay. i don’t hate him like i do to ted nor do i care about him like i do to benny or ellen. because of his old age and failing brain, i have no way to get to him, we can’t bond nor can we talk. more so that i don’t really wanna talk to him, we keep our distance but because of our intelligence, we respect eachother i guess.”

- AM

“it’s simple. i hate him.”

ERROR!

“am? i’m one of his creators, he’s hatred for me is much different than the rest. i don’t get a cage like the others, instead, i’m isolated away from human interaction because he said “he wants me to experience what he experienced” or whatever that means. i don’t really care about him sometimes. AM’s sorta— how should i say this?— bizarre? insane? i don’t know and i don’t care. all the torturing, dissection, threatening made me not care about him anymore. there’s sometimes where we converse but it’s me mainly pissing him off and analyzing him. he gets annoyed which is enough entertainment for me. hehe! the funniest thing about AM is that he’s not even sentient, he’s trying to convince he is, we programmed him to make sure he wouldn’t become aware of his own existence.”

[dairymistress05]

My thoughts on the Luke and gf situation. It’s long so bear with me. Also, I want to preface this by saying that this is my opinion, because I don’t know them personally my opinion and many others that have been posting about it doesn’t actually matter in the end.

With everything that has happened in the last several days, I wanted to reflect and discuss my thoughts. First, 2 things that are baffling to me.

1. Why is it so difficult for people to separate the art from the artist?

2. Why do people think their opinion is important to the discussion?

Believe it or not the only people that are allowed to have an opinion in Luke’s relationship, are those who are directly involved

I honestly can’t believe the amount of people that I am seeing saying things like this ruined the show or makes you not believe anything. They’ve been telling us all along, he and Nicola that they were just friends. Do I have an opinion as to why I may not believe that that’s completely true? Sure. Does my opinion matter matter at all? No. This is the thing, it’s unbelievable that people think they can go on the Internet and bash this person because they decided to live a life different from what they projected in their head. Para social relationships with celebrities are fascinating. Also, the internet is forever.

Tom Holland once said “if you have a problem with me, text me, and if you don’t have my number, you don’t know me well enough to have a problem with me.” And I think that’s a perfect example of why this is getting so out of hand. No one on the Internet posting their icks now knows Luke well enough to have a problem with him.

As a 38-year-old married woman myself, I haven’t been convinced there wasn’t anything going on as they are extremely touchy-feely friends. However, there were rumours about a girlfriend and then when the photos came out well then I guess that confirms it. Do I think that’s the end of it, No, but again my opinion doesn’t matter. But there are also several factors why even if Luke and Nicola were interested in each other why they would hold off. Their work relationship being paramount among those reasons.

As for the photos, as an outside observer who has seen Nicola help him through his anxiety this press tour I don’t feel that was a hard launch. He seems extremely uncomfortable in those photos. His body language is off if it was an intentional launch on his part. He’s walking ahead, even the handholding seems awkward. However, the girlfriend unfortunately looks extremely smug, smiling directly into the cameras. I am personally inclined to believe that it was her or a friend of hers who called it in because he doesn’t seem prepared to be photographed. I’m not sure what to think about their relationship as of yet but these photos don’t portray a lot of confidence. Also, the age difference seems like it could become an issue but the thing I would worry about becoming an issue is the social media presence mismatch that is pretty obvious. Sorry, even if I was a dancer I would not want to be posting some of those videos, as I said, the internet is forever.

Lastly, the only other person whose opinion maybe matters is Nicola herself and she has come out to post several times all in defence of him and his character. She is obviously seeing all of the hate online and saying hey guys stop it. I like him. He’s nice. He’s my friend. Quit being mean. And I’ve seen some people say that it’s all Nicola and he doesn’t reciprocate when she’s posting about him and blah blah blah I disagree and here’s why the other day on his IG stories, and I can’t believe no one is talking about this, he posted a photo of a scene from episode 6 to remind people that it’s now streaming and maybe I’m reading too much into it, but the photo he posted he is exactly when Colin is telling Penelope “I won’t let her ruin our night“. (Photo attached) Who is her? I don’t know. But I also don’t think that things on social media are coincidence, especially if you’re a celebrity posting because they know that everybody over everything. And then I also found it quite interesting that he posted on his stories the speech he gives Portia about proposing out of love nothing less and that’s where the real cut off. So again, I think it’s intentional to show appreciation for his friend.

Some final thoughts, I definitely feel like there is a strong connection there whether it’s just friendship or not. I think a lot of people posting online are putting a lot of the owners on him, but what if Nicola didn’t want to date someone that is so much younger than her? What if she doesn’t wanna date at all right now? What if they agreed that? Although there’s a strong connection work relationship is more important right now because of future seasons of the show? We don’t know them. We don’t know the situation and act like you’re devastated about two people that you don’t know not in a relationship seems rather silly.

The only thing I would worry about in this whole situation, is if this relationship with the girlfriend will sour the friendship. Like if it was her who called the paparazzi will she still be comfortable with her boyfriend being in this type of public friendship with Nicola? I sincerely hope so because they seem to have something special even if it is just platonic best friends. Their close friendship is part of the reason Polin works so well on screen.

Anyway, agree or disagree, just my two cents.

I would love to know your thoughts.

[babygirlbites]

Wolves and their star signs

Hello my little cherubs - how are we doing ? I hope we are doing well

Are we pretending I haven’t been gone for years? Absolutely!

Anyway, let’s talk star signs real quick. None of this is based on canon birthdays, I’m simply beyond Stephanie and her knowledge of her own characters.

These are MY opinions, which are fact as I am factually never wrong. However you are welcome to discuss

Jacob is a Leo; bold, stubborn, natural born leader. this man has main characteritis for sure. I’ve never met a Leo man who didn’t think he was always correct and was so headstrong about it, even when being actively proven wrong. I feel like Jake could wake up one morning and decide the sky is red and anyone who disagreed or god forbid brought factual evidence to him that disproved this would be ignored AND judged. However, Leo’s are loyal (to a fault, often) so although he’s headstrong he’s a ride or die for sure. If he likes you he is going to defend you against anything (excluding himself though because remember, he’s always right) and if he LOVES YOU pfft, I wouldn’t be messing with a Leo’s lover that’s for sure.

Sam is a Pisces; emotional, calm, strong willed. ugh, where do i start. Pisces are so emotional, which may seem like a good thing but I promise you those Pisces men can and will use this to manipulate, gaslight and gatekeep. He’s artistic though, and generally a reliable gent, but sometimes he can be a real nasty little man. He’s sly about his anger, he isn’t a shouting/agressive man at all, he would never DREAM of hurting you (the Emily situation will not repeat) but he can make you feel like shit emotionally. Pisces are just too clever idk I don’t mean to slander you all but as an aqua woman yous are real difficult

Embry is an Aquarius; Creative, smart, thinks outside the box, independent . He’s sensitive, but only when he’s close enough to you to allow you too see that. Aqua knows aqua, I know this boy would be super hard to get into the inner circle of. Sure, he’s openly friendly to everyone, but only the small few that HE allows close will see the real him. Once you do though, he’s an open book, belly laughing at your shitty dad jokes and ugly crying at pet rehoming tiktoks on his fyp.

Paul is a Gemini; loud, fun, and maybe a bit toxic. now I did debate aries for Paul but I just think he’s an air sign through and through. Sure, he’s firey as hell, but he’s so charming and no Aries has that level of rizz (sorry guys but the truth hurts sometimes). He’s a player through and through, he’s got a contacts list full of girls under code names like “girl from Seattle” or “drives a Honda” - which the feminist in me has an issue with but I can’t lie I love a Gemini. They are feral, and as long as you can prepare for that, then they will be the most fun you ever have. Just don’t get attached, or do, I can’t tell you what to do!

Jared is a libra; fun, lighthearted and emotionally wrecked. I love libras but damn do you guys wear your hearts on your sleeves! You’re so easily hurt, and you’ve BEEN hurt, and guess what? You’ll get hurt again. I feel like Jared’s the kind of guy to get played by the same girl/guy multiple times but still tell everyone they are his “twin flame”. Please treat this boy right - I don’t know if he can take the heartbreak (he can, and it will NOT put him off)

Quil is a cancer; he’s soft, he’s loving and he’s emotionally enlightened! We love a cancer in this house, emotional like a Pisces but open like a libra, a cancer is the right mix of mature and fun. They are sweet and sensitive and if any star sign is going to be an empath, it’s cancer. I feel like quil is the guy you go too when you’ve just found out something awful - all the guys would be there for you but where Paul or Jake or Sam even would blow a gasket and leave you alone while then went out on a rampage to hurt whomever was unlucky enough to hurt the one they love, Quil would take you in, cook for you and listen to whatever you had to say. Of course, he’s angry someone has upset you, but he’s more bothered that you are okay then that they aren’t. He’s a good guy, that’s all.

Leah is a Taurus; strong willed, well routed and stubborn. She’s practical, she’s gonna tell you straight up what she thinks with no filter, and sometimes that can hurt. She’s not the biggest personality in the room or the loudest voice at the party but she’s straight to the point and not afraid to be heard when she sees fit. She’s fun too, when she wants to be and with whom she wants to be. Under all of this though she’s family centred; she will kill for her family (and found family).

Seth is a Virgo; bold, grounded but enchanting. Virgos have a way of capturing a whole room without even having to try, they aren’t brash or loud but they are just so vibrant man idk! There’s something about them. Anyway I think Seth is just a lovely sunshine character, he’s deffo got cancer in his big three too, maybe his moon, but the Virgo energy is there for me. He’s the fun earth sign and he’s not gonna let you forget it

[mizz-sea-nymph]

Attention: if you are not @hebemina then I advise you don’t respond to this cause just by that you’ll embarrass yourself by proving my points and being literal proof.

Id like to say that me and her where friends but during the time we where friends she had her weird moments and her alright moments especially when we first met, it wasn’t her acting like the adult it was me, funnily enough I started referring to her as a sister cause that’s what I do when I worry about how a person views me, it was clear I was uncomfortable and got my friend who remember the first encounter and how I reacted to this ask a while back, hell I even asked them how to respond to the ask cause I was in such a panic. When looking at it, I’m genuinely disgusted how she didn’t even apologise or better herself, everyone keeps saying she’s better but she isn’t and it’s really sad how harmful it is especially to the people she spoke with that she made uncomfortable.

(She was drunk and I was mortified and didn’t even know how to respond so I danced around it I’ll admit that but thing is she didn’t even apologize)

Now it’s hard to show this from the past cause of personal stuff but since some people already know about it I guess I just gotta grow some balls. I’m showing this from the past cause I came across it a while ago and got disgusted, I was a child and I was mortified so much so I asked my friends how to respond to it and was so ashamed and embarssed I thought I deleted this but luckily didn’t cause one can realize how horrid this is. What’s funny is a DECENT AND SENSITIVE AND CARING PERSON would apologise! You never apologized Mina! and this wasn’t the first time you got weird with me! Seriously! Atleast have the decency to say sorry! But not just this you’ve many times turned our platonic and happy convos to something straight up weird, I ended up deleting many on my blog cause of unlike you I feel embarrassed!

I went through a hard year and having someone like this disturb me online was the icing on the cake but of course I was too embarssed and scared to say anything about it cause I feared I’d be yelled at, by your followers, yeah allot of you made me not even want to stand up for myself and say “what you are doing is rubbing me the wrong way” despite her knowing my age, and despite me reminding her constantly at that time I kept saying “haha I’m in high school”. So to the people reading this, dont make her seem like she Dosent know the age of her followers cause she lurks, she lurks around even accounts she has now ignored just cause said acount has a different opinion then her.

Thought I didn’t notice? I easily noticed how you and @hanaiikiki or whatever TF her name is now stopped talking to me as a whole and started ignoring my existence, even when I was geniunely trying to be nice etc, you stopped when I voiced my opinion about Loki, Hana going as far as telling people she Dosent know me (girl I got ears everywhere, when I heard this I was shocked cause I thought we where good!) despite me clearly stating as a continuation I don’t care what anyone likes and Dosent like it’s the VICTIM BLAMING, that’s wrong and also rly weird. So I don’t understand why both of you would let a fictional character come between a nice mutual friendship, especially you Hana I geniunely liked talking to you I liked talking mythology and liked sending you asks, you where really nice and kind with me and didn’t weird me out like Mina but it’s clear you have no self identity what so ever. But of course, no worries! I have no need for you! I know who my people are and aren’t and you aren’t one of em that’s for sure. As for Mina, yeesh girl yeesh that’s all I got when it comes to this, cause again no self respect self shame or friendship is magic in this case, but then again you’re no use of me either so I’ll say I’m glad you don’t speak to me anymore cause you creeped me out many times :)

just cause someone hides behind a cute kind persona dose not always mean that’s what they are on the inside dishonesty is sm. I’m honestly so dissapointed so many here defend her and say she’s changed instead of her saying she has, let her speak for herself if she’s so much so as the adult she claims to be.Let her speak cause I’m amazed how everyone walks eggshells around her cause she’s “sensitive” that is a insult to sensitive people as a whole.

I’m not going to mention who cause I want them to rest easy cause they are dear to me and what they experienced today breaks my heart they’re so sweet and didn’t deserve any of this, but when Mina apologized to them, Mina used the excuse of “I didn’t know you where a minor” despite her MENTONING THEIR AGE! Everyone knows people that know what they’re doing use that excuse, they lie, they will always go with this excuse, don’t get offended and stop reading now Mina I ain’t calling you a pedo, I’m calling you a dumbass, a real big dumbass as a whole for that shit apology and excuse. A victim of harassment Dosent deserve this, and a “sorry” dose not make up for the trauma the victim suffered let alone this type of “sorry”.

(I’m covering the name cause I rly feel bad for who experienced this and believe the poor thing has experienced enough today of all days like good god I don’t even want anyone to comfort me I’m fine! Just show some support and love to this victim cause good god)

there’s a line with senstivity and irresponsibility, and if it weren’t for me sending a respectful i REPEAT a respectful I’m a respectful person that’s how my mama raised me, anon ask saying you shouldn’t interact with minors much cause they’re easy to influenced and they see what you post easily etc etc, the useless “minors do not interact” wouldn’t be there. Oh and it’s hilarious how you have it there and still interact with said minors? Sweetie? It’s not there for show! Lotus? Heldril? Goddamm new comers? Children copy and children get affected! And you’ve clearly traumatized and affected a bunch! If you’re a so called elderly care giver you should know how to care for others that aren’t just you, make it make sense!

Oh and let’s not leave this out the cake. It’s funny how you talk about masturbating in public and how you vent in public, letting literally people who are younger than you be your therapist, or witness you sexting IN PUBLIC keep it in the dms woman! have so shame! This isn’t red lobster you embarrassing yourself! I ain’t slut shaming you cause I’m the queen of sluts, I’ve been called a slut for years and I didn’t even know about it so don’t think I’m slut shaming you. But really How wonderful really! A nurse! Who gose through the struggle of whipping elderly asses for a living! Doesn’t go to a therapist and relays on people decades younger than her! Get a damm therapist! Be ashamed! Seriously take some responsibility!

Not to mention I still remember how people expressed geniune concern for you and you milked it and said “see you on the other side” who says that! I was one of those people! I actually worried? But I woke up and realized what the fuck is this? Are you serious??? Some of these people who are worried for you are younger by years?? Some even minors?! Get a grip??! Where’s the responsibility?? It’d be better to write about your horny thoughts on a blog strictly for NSFW! I deadass told you to in the anon ask cause you need to be responsible! And dont you dare post a “im sorry 🥺” post! I know your type and I know them well! Just by that post where you explained yourself about the whole issue of you saying you want to make out with a minor, says allot. You didn’t address the issue! You just said it’s okay to hate you! You didn’t even defend yourself! Well for one Mina, I don’t hate you, I just hate the way you act,behave and your personality as a whole because that “sorry” will never cut the anxiety and horrible memory as a whole, be ashamed a bit, it’s not funny to make everything sexual and as a adult you should understand that.

What you did to those mods and roleplayers? I’m still speechless and have Vietnam flashbacks when it comes to the public sexting good god, atleast as if it’s okay to do NSFW and sent a literal pic of you bust? I know dirty I’m the QUEEN of dirty that hand on your top pulling the shirt a little lower shocked me so much my eyebrows left to Saturn and had a baby with the planet! I’ve got eyebrow planet grandkids now that’s how shocked I was. Not to mention the mod was 19 you are literally a decade older girl- tf is this lore Olympus? I know you like lore Olympus but girl lore Olympus is lowkey shit no offence. Honestly no wonder the mod stopped roleplaying and deleted the acounts cause good god girl- atleast have the decency to ask?

It’s really funny! Just a big joke really!

I for one was a friend with yo!u until I realized your true colors, I’m disappointed and consider this pathetic. I used to think you were nice and kind but I was met with dissapointment you genuinely disappointed me, hurt me and not only me but many others, don’t beat yourself about it just accept the fact that you did and just remove yourself from said minors and ACTUALLY BE RESPONSIBLE, before you hurt even more people.

As for the ones reading this,

You all know me and I’m pretty sure this is shocking seeing me a person here on tumblr call out the so called sweet Mina but honestly, people! nobodies perfect! Are you kidding me?? Get it through your skulls! She isn’t perfect and I’m not saying to hate her I’m saying to stop treating her like a child! when actual children here are being harmed! I’ve seen minors on here who deadass have been affected by her! And nobody I say nobody! don’t you dare say she didn’t know what she was doing that’s a insult to the victims and disgusting in general.

Also it’s not the ror fandom that’s changing, this has nothing to do with ror, to anyone reading this know this, it’s the Mina fandom that’s changing, not the ror fandom I’ve been in the ror community long before her and if sm was changing I’d know.

I’m deadass saying this despite me being a decade younger then Mina, I’m not saying this as a friend, not as a friend cause I don’t see you as that anymore and will never will ever again, im saying this as a person who’s going to be honest with you,

Keep it real

Enough of this self cantered,narcissistic ,immature, shameful,irresponsible and selfish behavior, you should be able to expect opinions like this, stop hiding behind your followers and say what you have in mind Mina and DONT dance around the issue, I read your “apology” post when the Heldirl issue raised to light, you didn’t even talk about the issue in hand, you just said it’s okay to hate you! Three paragraphs!! don’t dance around this, and you know what, Don’t even respond if you plan on doing that, cause that just proves the point.

Just know I don’t respect you not just cause of you being weird in the past with me but also with others specifically others I care about, so don’t come crying to me cause I geniunely don’t care I know these types of etiquettes, a sorry will never cut shit like I said so call me a cruel bitch idc ig it’s fair 🤷🏻‍♀️ just know I DONT respect you one bit,good day.

Tagging

@amphitriteswife @tinyy-tea-cup @mono-supports-palestine @praisethesuuun @riseofamoonycake @brokensenseofhumor @monstertreden @heldril @lotusmybeloved @nicasdreamer @ idk

idk who tf else to tag aaaa 💀 but yeah that’s my take on all of this respect me hate me I don’t care I rather be hated for who tf I am then who I pretend to be and who I am is a person to keeps it real 🤨

[acrobattack]

bliss redesign based off one I made in my teens

thought process + various other bits and bobs under the cut

I was 15 and annoyed by everything that moved when this character first came out, so in my own head I was very much making a Point with this redesign. Hence, I made very minimal changes. I wanted to work with what was already there and basically just make the existing design more thought-through. Little breakdown ahead (keeping in mind i myself am very much An Amateur who doesn’t know shit and am just ranting about my opinions and i also haven’t seen a single second of the 2016 reboot so i don’t know much about Bliss to begin with)

1. one of my Biggest pet peeves with Bliss is that the powerpuff girls each have bangs that are simple, memorable, and iconic while also being unique from each other and being reminiscent of irl little girls hairstyles. It’s very neat and clever and I like it a lot

and then Bliss has this confusing jumble of shapes that looks like it changes in style halfway across her forehead

i have absolutely no idea what the intent is here. My only guess is maybe it’s meant to look weird on purpose like she was trying to cut it herself or something (I suspect it’s something like that since she seems to have normal looking bangs as a little kid from what I can see) but it doesn’t really come off that way if that’s the case. It just looks like baby’s first PPG OC where you Understand that it’s meant to be hair and that it is made out of shapes but have 0 understanding of hairstyle or character design in general. Heck I might have put this exact hairline on a character in the past at the age of like 8

So in my redesign she’s got 5 even notches across her bangs, not thee most exciting change but it does the job I think. It is pretty reminiscent of Blossom but they look different enough from each other that I wasn’t too worried about it

2. low-hanging fruit time, Bliss’s hair color is horrible on the eyes. I’m bewildered at the decision to do this, especially since there is just so much of it, I struggle to think of how she could exist in any scene without hogging all the viewer’s attention constantly. That said, I understand they wanted her to have an unnatural hair color to really signal that she is a Fresh new Teen character from the late 2010’s, which is. Whatever, that’s fine, so she gets purple hair now. I kept the streak for the same reason, especially since she’s got a lot of hair, so no harm in a little extra interest in there.

I also learned recently that her hair glows sometimes? which i did Not know when first drawing her but well i think the darker color helps anyway. It adds some contrast for when she’s normal vs when she’s glowing and makes the latter appear more,, idk threatening or powerful or whatever the mood generally is when she’s doing that.

I did re-add that toothpaste blue to her eyelids though. I like to think it’s also the color of her lasers. It’s a cute color, just not as like 70% of this character’s palette

3. real talk I was drawing this from memory and didn’t mean to change the way her hair flares out from her head. realistically I think the original is fine, maybe just a little boring but fine, so that part of the redesign was an accident. Only thing is, it’s in the exact same position in every screenshot I’ve seen? It doesn’t seem to whip around when she’s flying or anything which looks weird and probably looks weirder in motion, especially since it takes up so much space onscreen. Idk it’s a strange decision, esp since the original show liked to use the ppg’s hair to emphasize their movement, so I’d just bring more movement into her hair. I mean if nothing else it’d make her look cooler.

very very rough little visual of what I mean

I also ended up making it shorter in my redesign—again, not really intentional, but I think it’s better that it eats up a little less of her silhouette

4. Her headband is largely the same, I didn’t hate the idea of her having an accessory, so I just toned down the colors. I’m not personally a fan of the powder blue and that pink heart is very bright and just doesn’t go with the rest of her (once again the color of her hair is doing it no favors). I also moved the heart over. Not necessarily needed I think, but I feel like it reads quicker as a headband and not a weird crown that way+introduces some asymmetry into her design that I think is nice.

5. my biggest gripe other than her bangs are her hips. I’m not against adding anatomy to this character design to make her read visually as older than the girls, but it’s so awkwardly done and distracting. I feel like it even interferes with her line of action more often than not (which is not helped by her unmoving hair).

Part of the issue is she still has the teeny tiny torso, just… with those square-ish hips slapped on, which makes her legs look all gangly and stretched out. I tried to balance out the proportions more in my redesign, as well as change the hips to a flared skirt. I think it helps differentiate her from the girls and still implies hips underneath, it just also functions as a less clunky transition from her torso to her legs.

Lengthening her torso also allows the stripe to look more like a belt above the skirt, which I think helps to sell her as “similar, but not the same” from the ppg

6. Her leggings(? Idk Im not a fashion person) aren’t a bad idea I think. like a more mature version of the girls’ stockings, but I think the white makes them look really distracting. It would help to make them a darker color I think, but since I wanted to keep them reminiscent of the girls’ socks I kept them white and just shortened them.

7. Not really sure what Bliss is wearing on her feet. I think they’re Mary Janes, but they’re drawn a bit different from the girls’ and I honestly think it’s too babyish a shoe for her to wear. I’m not sure what she’s actually wearing in my redesign either honestly, but the goal was just to make them look like the girls’ Mary Janes while clearly being something different.

8. Uh her signature color is something I’ve contemplated changing a lot but to be real I think it’s fine. I feel it was a very bad idea from a marketing standpoint because people were hype about Bunny and would obviously be mad they didn’t get her once the character actually dropped (and in the long-run she would just end up being overshadowed by the character everyone has already assigned that color to) but I’m personally not bugged by her being purple beyond that. If I were to draw them together though I think Bunny would have a more pinky shade of purple and Bliss leans more blue.

Loosely on the same topic, because of Bliss I’ve had a running headcanon that “only child” types of powerpuffs tend to come out purple. Kind of like how trios tend to have a red, blue, and green. It’s a fun little piece of fake lore to rotate around in my brain

Anyway with all that out of the way, here’s some redesigns I decided to have some fun with. Wasn’t being too precious about recognizability or simplicity or anything like that, but I did run out of steam partway through. There’s also one based off Whoopass Bell bc idk, why not

Finally, here’s some OCs I only ever drew once before out of a desire to give Bliss her own teen girl archetypes to form a team with. This is Bee and Beetle, who I’ll probably definitely forget about again immediately after posting this

[fernhelm]

opinions on the black sister relationships? i love your character posts sm!

i’m blowing you a kiss!

i love thinking about them…sorry this took so long, i was busy lounging and watching killing eve. i might type up something about the dynamic between the three of them, but i broke them down into pairs here.

bella & cissa ♛

i made a webweave here that basically sums up my thoughts on bellacissa. i do think cissa thinks she’s a fanatic and completely bonkers, but she’d defend her anyway. narcissa appreciates that in their patriarchal fucked up family, bella is carving her own path—she isn’t docile or ladylike at all. so cissa takes some vicious pleasure in how unleashed bella is. conversely, bellatrix has a deep-seeded jealousy FOR narcissa, who is at least able to play the part of the perfect pure blood woman in a way bellatrix never could. my vision is that druella has contempt for bella but pays a lot of attention to narcissa. once druella is dead, bella sees narcissa as both her baby and her mother in a way, and she resents both. but i won’t get into bella here she deserves her own post.

bella & andy ♞

the hardest relationship for me is bella and andy. my belief is that these two are one year apart in age, like irish twins. we know from dh that they’re basically identical. I think they were pitted against each other a lot. they both end up teaching each other how conditional someone caring for you can be. it’s obvious that andy leaving really wounds bella (as evidenced by the ferocity with which she wants to kill ted and tonks), so there is a degree of power andy hold over her emotionally. bella is both the terrorist and the protector in the home. she goes after both her sisters, but it’s with the ultimate goal of making them strong enough to face anything that’s thrown at them…andy doesn’t want to change her or save her—she knows all the dark, evil parts of her and grapples with all the times bella showed her tenderness or turned her rage against someone else for her sake. i think they can read each other’s body language perfectly, but don’t understand each other’s minds at all. once they’re older they fight all the time, verbally if not with magic, and it would start with bella making some pointed jabs to get her attention and andy curating a biting response without looking up from her magazine and just like that they’re dueling. but once it’s over and they’re panting on the floor, bella would kick her leg and they’d smirk at each other a bit. or one of them would storm out. i do think that andy did bella’s hair for every event they attended between the ages of 8 and 16. huh, i guess i have more to say about them than i thought i did.

andy & cissa ♝

narcissa spends years stepping in the footprints andy has left behind. before she figures out who she is, she’s just a ghost of andy. she learns all her best defenses from her. i don’t think andy feels very bad about leaving her behind. i don’t think she’d try to convince narcissa to go with her either. she would miss her so much, but she’d grieve her like she’s dead. i don’t see her as a person who holds on to a lot of regrets. and she’s in love! she wants to run away and forget every bad thing that ever happened to her! is that a crime? narcissa thinks it is. growing up andy was her strongest ally, and she takes it as the ultimate betrayal when she leaves. similarly to regulus, she looks down on andy and maligns her whenever her name comes up, but it’s a cover up for how hurt she is. andy knows all the reasons that narcissa thinks she’s trapped in the life she leads, but she still thinks ‘if you want out, get out.’

daughters 1, 2, 3 ♙

fairy tales often follow a 1 2 3 format because it’s easy to remember a moral lesson tied up with a bow when it comes in a set of three (three billy goats, beauty and the beast, the peverell brothers). it goes bad bad good. so it’s super interesting that the ostensibly “good” one, andy, is the middle child. she is bookended by two death eater sisters. which raises the question: what went wrong (or right) with her? and for the others too—narcissa in canon is primarily draco’s mother, but giving her andromeda AND bellatrix as sisters raises all kinds of questions about her upbringing and interpersonal relationships. bellatrix chases and scolds narcissa at the beginning of half-blood prince, and she’s not particularly scary at all. the terrifying evil bitch who killed sirius calls her sister cissy? three sisters who mean vastly different things to harry, but we never get the three of them in a room, so so much is left to the imagination. lots to play with. good things come in threes!

[cringefaecompilation]

sign of the times, might as well pop out this orymposting that compiles all my thoughts and possible fears as to what will happen with his character arc.

orym’s probably the de facto “npc” in a party of npcs. if he was in a jrpg, he’d be a captain of the guard or something overlooking a phalanx of identical soldiers. everything about him as a character leans hard into this. the way he never stops exercising, sword training or looking out for danger while everyone else relaxes like he’s on a pre-programmed loop… but that becomes less funny and more upsetting when you give it more than ten seconds of thought.

because starving yourself and overexercising aren’t healthy. being able to hear a whispered conversation from a few feet away is handy in some cases and overstepping in others. he’s clearly not okay, but since his trauma responses are helpful or he’s traumatized by the correct people (read: the main villains) in the correct way (read: they hate gods), fandom just treats these as a cute little character quirks.

speaking of this also bleeds into the much-maligned god debate. notice he only ever discusses saving the gods in tandem with his dead loved ones. obviously he’s gonna do that given the circumstances and has every right to (even if he is being a little too obstinate at times), but it goes deeper than just “people that i personally cared about died so screw anyone else’s opinions”.

orym was nothing more than collateral to the real target, which was keyleth. he failed to be a good enough soldier to protect her, to protect them, to keep outside evil from forever tainting his home with gruesome memories. maybe he just wasn’t trying hard enough and he deserved to permanently lose them! maybe if he tries even harder and pushes himself to be the best soldier ever, he can make up for his horrible sin of not being good enough to have kept them safe the first time!

and it gets worse! he’s constantly rewarded for putting himself last! he gets a title from keyleth denoting him as the best soldier ever (and he gives the most dead inside speech about it), his fey pact has done nothing but be subtly horrifying than anything, he’s praised for killing fake evil clones of fearne and opal and reminded over and over that he will have to kill imogen and/or fearne for real if they turn, and melora turned his husband’s sword that he adores and protects over anything into a sword that worshiped her instead. he is completely losing his identity as anything other than a faceless soldier trying to save the gods and he hasn’t even realized it.

it’s not for lack of trying on everyone else’s part. imogen clearly cares about him and sees what this mission is doing to him. dorian went out of his way to tell orym that he didn’t need to be a protector all the time. laudna knows about his deal and is the only one that understands that it’s going to blow up in his face sooner rather than later because she’s been there before. but he keeps brushing it off like “it doesn’t matter, we don’t have time, i don’t matter, let’s get this over with so the actually important people can solve this problem”.

do you see why i can’t bring myself to be angry at him? this is fucking depressing to watch. i feel awful for him more than anything. it’s why i’m death gripping the morri deal to give him something to show him that just because he’s doing the “right thing” by sacrificing himself, it doesn’t mean that he should have done it. i don’t want the gods to go “let’s nuke everything to stop any other anti-god jerkwads from pulling this crap again!” and that be the way he learns.

but if we don’t, if everything turns out okay and morri just goes “aw darn i lost! better luck next time i guess!” and the narrative says “see? all orym needed was a new boyfriend to make him feel better!” then i will be supremely disappointed. firstly, because guilt over losing will was only a small fraction of what affected orym’s mental state, and second because rewarding self-harm and complete identity loss as long as it’s for the sake of the “good guys” is an objectively horrific message to send.

[elainsgirl]

Whats the weirdest argument against Elain or elriel you have heard?

I think this is oen of them (I cant believe its still here after all these years): Elain doesn't belong in the Night Court because CASSIAN THOUGHT she looked bad in an unflattering black dress when the IC had to make the famously beautiful elain unflattering so Eris would focus on Nesta. There's a very clear reason cassian said elain looked unflattering, so readers could understand what the IC was up to, manipulating Eris to their wishes. Which Elain was an important part of.

Never mind it's never once even implied you have to wear black in the Night court. Rhysands first and second, Mor and Amren, dont. But GA/EL have special rules for elain! Otherwise everyone knows she will most definitely jump the bones of her favorite bat boy and he will be very very VERY happy about that. We can't have that! Need her gone!

And it's so funny that it is because of one of the scenes where Elain chooses to work for the IC that they claim she doesn't belong there. Its so backwards and ANYTHING Elain does is disregarded in favor of the words of a male. But GA/EL are entirely focused on the males so I guess it's no surprise.

They have been too locked up in their bubbles, their ridiculous ideas have moved further and further from the books and then become so ingrained. Like a house of cards built on fanon. So fragile the tiny puff of wind from turning a page in one of the actual books is enough for it to crash.

GA/EL need Elain to leave the night Court because they know she can't be kept in the same place as azriel because everyone knows elriel is canon and Elain almost climbed azriel like a tree when they were alone, while Az worshipped her like a damned goddess. With Lulu sleeping upstairs. That must have been like reading pure horror for GA/EL. I guess it makes sense they are grasping at straws. But the straws they are grasping at are laughable.

Hey anon 🫶

The whole “elain looks bad in black” arguement is so hilariously funny. That scene was clearly set up to make elain look unflattering when compared to Nesta - but antis hate the theory because they don’t believe Elain is capable of doing anything complex. They don’t want to acknowledge that Elain Archeron - the very character they call weak and boring- can pull of such a plan. That or they want to stick her to the whole “she’s a feminine girl who likes to throw balls and gardens” and not let her grow outside of that image (idk if that makes sense). Elain - who grew up as a socialite- would obviously have been taught by their mother what colours are flattering on her, the dress shape and size that suits her, which makeup would go with which look etc. She would have known she looked “washed” out in black. She would have known the dress was unflattering. Not only that, she had the twins, feyre, Mor etc all to tell her she looked terrible but no one did. The scene of Elain in Hewn, her dress specifically was described exactly as void fabric which we met in acofas with Feyre and? Elain Archeron. Besides all of that: They’d rather take Cassian’s opinion seriously instead of Elains own words. Which is kind of the point when it comes to Elains character how no one rlly takes her seriously or looks past the surface which her antis including elucien stans do. They take her character surface level when it suits them.

I’ve come across such BS takes, from Elain being a cheater, someone who self h4rms, evil, manipulater to elriel being toxic, rebounds etc but if I had to choose one for Elain and one for Elriel:

Elain: Eluciens calling Elain a cheater. When they started yapping about this, it confirmed for me that eluciens do not love Elain. Im not making the bold statement that “all eluciens hate elain” - that would be mean and immature of me. However, I am in the firm camp elucien Stans like elain but love Lucien more which is why they’re always coming up with HCs where elain is the bad guy that will grovel for Lucien.

Elriel: That Elain and Azriel’s relationship is not important and can be concluded within a paragraph as the bonus already ended elriel. This has to be the most biased take. Just because YOU do not like elriels dynamic and dismiss their scenes as unimportant doesn’t mean everyone else does. There is literally a reason why Sjm had Feyre - her main character- stare at Elriel and wonder why they’re not mates. I have seen an anti today talk about how the foreshadowing/buildup in acowar/acofas isn’t as important as acosf. That alone tells you everything you need to know. Antis will use Sjms words when it suits them and dismiss her words when it doesn’t. Also - ACOSF, where we learn that Az has moved on from Mor, is staying at H.O.W bcs of how strong he feels for elain, Nesta realising Az likes Elain, Elriel literally left off on a charged glance, Azriel being incorporated into the prison plot which we know will go to Elain etc. I think its just becoming clear that antis are grasping at straws to justify shipping Gwynriel/Elucien and “debunking” elriel.

No author ends a couple in a bonus. Sjm does not end her couples’ the way she ended elriel. I think as time is growing closer and especially now that we have an idea at which time the announcement will come - antis are rlly scrambling to proves their ships but its just looking ridiculous. When you’ve created a bubble for yourself filled with people in the same camp as you that will believe anything, it’s easier to remain in the bubble.

Their bubble is going to pop when Sjm announces it is in fact Elains book next.

[viridianevergarden]

Saw a post talking about how el*cien is no different from other ships and that opinions (the characters) can change, which somehow nods to the chances of El*cien being endgame.

They used Nessian, Feysand, Rowaelin, Yrene and chaol, and Bryce and Hunt as examples.

But the differences between these ships and El*cien is painfully clear.

For all of those ships, or at least 4 of the 5 aforementioned that I know, there was an inherent attraction to one another. (I haven’t finished ToG for clarification)

They either thought their future SO’s were exclusively beautiful or had a figurative pull that kept them coming back to one another no matter what.

Nesta combated Cassian.

Feyre combated Rhysand.

Aelin combated Rowan.

Bryce combated Hunt.

(For obvious reasons, I’m excluding Yrene and Chaol but my guess is they may have combated one another too.)

The trend is there.

They all had an initial attraction and still disliked one another. They argued, they bickered, they tested one another and still remained on equal ground.

However, El*cien is different.

Elain does not, from what we know, have any initial attraction to Lucien. She immediately cringed away from him. She avoids him. She loses all of her boldness around him. She makes excuses to leave. She refuses to talk to him unless Feyre or anyone else forces her to.

They don’t bicker. They don’t argue. They don’t test one another. They flee from each other. They don’t have a figurative pull to one another.

In a way, they stifle each other.

Elain is uncomfortable around him.

Lucien is uncomfortable around her.

Discomfort is significantly different from disliking a person. You can hate someone all you want and still have enough mind to argue and stand your ground against that person. Elain doesn’t do that. Lucien doesn’t do that. Hence, obvious discomfort.

They don’t have chemistry like Nessian or Feysand or Rowaelin do.

SJM couldn’t have emphasized that fact enough.

And if someone argues and says “well, she’s saving that for their actual story,” sorry, that’s bull.

SJM has sown the seeds of what’s to come already, and it’s not anything positive regarding El*cien. She’s already told us what we need to know.

[encantobrainrot365]

So I just had an interesting revelation after an exchange of comments with a writer on ao3. Cause I think I finally figured out ✨Dolores✨

I realized that she and Mirabel are pretty similar people. And while some aspects of their lives and circumstances parallel one another, they don’t have quite enough in common to be all that close.

Mainly, their family is the glue that binds them together. So, they love each other, but they don’t know each other very well, or spend a whole lot of time together.

As they pointed out, Dolores doesn’t fully respect Mirabel. Not enough to take her seriously. In fact, it’s quite likely that Dolores pities her.

Yeah her cousin is gift-less and different from everyone else, but at least she has hobbies and free time. At least she doesn’t have to deal with any of the stress and drawbacks that comes with having a magical gift. And Dolores, of all people, would know.

Between the disasters she prevents; the secrets she keeps; the damage control she has to do; her mother’s weather; her struggles with her own gift; her crush on Mariano; and caring for her younger brothers, as she is the eldest sibling; on top of all her anxieties, Dolores has far too much on her mind to worry about Mirabel. She just isn’t a priority nor her responsibility. Pretty similar to Alma in that regard.

It’s not a pretty side of Dolores, but it makes her human. It makes her relatable. She is not perfect, no one is, and we shouldn’t expect her to be.

On the other hand, I think Mirabel sympathizes with Dolores but that won’t stop her from trying to butter her prima up and asking her for favors. She doesn’t really know Dolores and I don’t think she trusts Dolores either, at least not yet, (which is honestly, valid). She also might not see her as a role model, not the way she does for every other woman in their family.

This is made evident in “Waiting on a Miracle,” and “The Family Madrigal” where she expounds upon and sings everyone’s praises but Dolores’s. I don’t think Mirabel knows what Dolores does other than ‘she can hear everything we’re saying.’ We, as the audience have to guess, to infer what Dolores’s role in the community is. Dolores just isn’t someone on Mirabel’s radar.

Again, this is a character flaw for Mirabel; a blind spot that makes her all the more relatable to us. She’s not immune to taking people for granted or overlooking their hard work.

However, even though they’re not close to each other they don’t go out of their way to hurt one another the way Isa and Mirabel do.

Both of them care very deeply about their family and would do anything in their power to make them proud, protect them & make them happy. This is why Mirabel helps Antonio to his door. This is why Dolores goes out of her way to speak up, unprompted, for the first time, to share her honest thoughts and opinions about Bruno.

Someone that she empathizes with. Someone she loves so much, she kept the fact that he was hiding in the walls a secret for ten years! If you consider all of this together, it’s no wonder she blabbed at dinner.

Despite how wrong it was she was operating from a place of stress and anxiety, not malice (like some would assume).

I think during reconstruction for Casita, and without the magic hanging over them, Dolores and Mirabel finally find that report they’ve been missing out on.

The whole family is relearning how to respect one another and truly understand their needs and personal boundaries. To be more proactive in showing how much they love and appreciate one another, instead of leaving things unsaid. They spend more time together actually bonding and listening to one another.

Building a relationship they didn’t know was missing for the past ten years. Just like Mirabel and her sisters. Or Alma and her children and grandchildren. How beautiful is that?

[girl4music]

I’ve had enough of people referring to ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’ as queerbaiting and claiming that the creators of the show were committing it so I’ve gone on an extensive Google search and pulled up this AftenEllen article written all the way back in 2008 and I’m transcribing the full thing right here because if people don’t want to voluntarily do their research when they make their insulting claims then I’ll provide the source for them and force them to read it because I refuse to allow them to disrespect the creators/cast/crew like this in making their completely off-base assumptions about a TV show that I’ve been watching since I was 5 years old.

This is an interview with the creators/cast/crew of ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’ where they express their opinion on what they think would happen with the lesbian subtext between Xena and Gabrielle if the show was made for today. It’s why many of us don’t want a remake or reboot or revival of it of any kind.

Do not ever come for ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’ and the incredible people that either made the show or were involved in the making of it around me. You have absolutely no chance in winning the argument!

[Viewers never had to look too hard to find the lesbian subtext in Xena: Warrior Princess, but that’s still what it was: subtext. And while lesbian fans in the 1990s might not have had any choice but to settle for that, would things be different if the show were being made – or remade – today? When I attended the Xena convention in Burbank, Calif., at the end of January, I asked the show’s creators, producers, writers and stars if the world is ready for an openly lesbian relationship between Xena and Gabrielle.

“To me it was main text,” said Renee O’Connor, who played Gabrielle, in an exclusive interview with AfterEllen.com. “And even if it was subtext, it was very clear that we were together. They are so in love with each other, they love each other so dearly; there’s no way you can say that’s not true. Anyone can see that from watching the show.”

I asked her if she thought that relationship could be openly acknowledged if the series were being made today. “I don’t know,” O’Connor answered. “Maybe there’s a little bit more hint of acceptance today. Maybe, maybe not. You can only put it up and see what would happen. I guess we could do anything, just get it out there and see how it affects people.”

In a lot of ways, Xena flew under the radar during the ’90s. Viewers who didn’t perceive (or didn’t like) the lesbian subtext could see it simply as a story about heroic friends righting wrongs and battling villians. If the show were being produced in today’s post—L Word television landscape, it’s hard to believe that audiences would be quite as oblivious.

But O’Connor doesn’t think that a more overt presentation of Xena and Gabrielle’s relationship would have changed the moral heart of the series. That’s because she sees those two things – the love between Xena and Gabrielle and the series’ focus on the fight against evil – as inextricably combined.

“If we were just starting Xena right now, I know what the relationship of the two characters is,” O’Connor said. “So even though we wouldn’t blatantly talk about all the issues involved, because I don’t think that’s what the show is about, it’s still about defeating oppressors and wanting to do the right thing for the world. And that comes down to these people and how they love each other.”

Lucy Lawless, who played Xena, isn’t sure how acknowledging a romantic relationship between the two women would affect the show’s reception if it were being made today, but it could have changed the way audiences perceived it in the past.

“There might have been more general discussion about whether the characters were lesbian or not out in the mainstream,” Lawless said. “In the 1990s, when this was all new, people like Ellen [DeGeneres] and k.d. lang and all these people who are out were blazing a trail. And you might hope that it’d be done long ago. But in a lot of the world, it’s still incredibly painful to come out, even today.”

Then she laughed. “But let’s have a go. Let’s do it. Why don’t we make a Xena movie? Just tell a bloody good story and let the fires and torpedoes be damned.”

A Xena movie doesn’t seem any more likely today than it did a year ago, but I asked Lawless if she thought the sexual relationship between Xena and Gabrielle might be brought more into the forefront if a movie were made.

“I think that’s a good question for Rob,” she said, referring to Rob Tapert, the series’ co-creator and her husband. “I know he’s been thinking about this for a long time, mulling it over in the back of his mind. He’s got a great feeling of where the world’s at and what he can make that’s progressive and gutsy and still have it be financially successful.”

Backstage at the convention, Tapert considered the possibility of a more openly queer Xena and Gabrielle. “It’s a tricky question,” he said, “because if Xena were being made today, well, there’s two different Xenas. There is the one [in which] people could read between the lines, and that played to one audience.

“Then there’s one that played to kids, or that played to 9—17-year-olds. And they didn’t understand the subtext, nor did they get it. So like the finest of Disney films, that plays to all audiences; that was a balance we tried to find. Making it today, I don’t know what would happen.”

He called series co-creator, producer and writer R.J. Stewart over to ask his opinion. “Could there be more commitment to the subtext?” Stewart said. “Well, I think if it was a cable show, absolutely. But if it was the same kind of broader market, I think you have to be more inclusive. But yes, absolutely, I think that a cable version of it could work that way.”

What if a film were made today, based on the series? That would be a different proposition, Stewart said. “When you make a movie you always try to stay pretty close to the original in feeling.” Then he laughed. “Now, if you could just get Oxygen to order some episodes …”

However much fans might wish for another season of their favorite show, not even out lesbian Xena producer and writer Liz Friedman (pictured left, and currently a producer on Fox’s House) thinks it would come back as an ancient Greek action-adventure version of The L Word.

“As much as I would love to see it – and I’m speaking as somebody who watches The L Word obsessively – there was something really wonderful and romantic about the relationship between Xena and Gabrielle,” she told AfterEllen.com. “And I think it’s actually easier to have romance without sex. You don’t then get into issues about ‘Will this relationship last?’ There was never – well, until they started killing each other’s children – the question of a breakup.”

I asked if she thought that times had changed enough that a series could now be made with two legendary female heroes shown unambiguously as romantic partners.

“If you look at the lesbian relationships that are on TV now, it’s either niche-market stuff like The L Word, or it’s Cashmere Mafia that gets you all excited because there’s a kiss in the pilot, and then by Episode 3 she’s hitting on boys again,” Friedman said. “Certainly in a single-lead action show we’re not ready for an openly gay heroine yet. Well, I think we’re ready for it. I don’t think the networks are going to let us do it.”

Then she laughed. “Look, obviously I’m biased. I loved the show the way it was, so it’s like, don’t talk about messing with my Xena. It worked pretty well, thanks very much. … If I were doing the Xena movie I would try to get there to be a kiss, but there are plenty of ways that you can do that without changing what the relationship is.”

That raises the question of just how much would have to change in order to bring the subtext into the forefront.

It’s undeniable that there are some scenes – and even whole episodes – where it’s hard to make sense of what happens without believing that Xena and Gabrielle are at least a little bit more than friends. Most of the time, these moments occur in the more humorous episodes, but as series writer Steven Sears told AfterEllen.com, “We didn’t cross the line completely but … these are two women who live together, travel together, had domestic duties together, die for each other, fought for each other, continually say how much they loved each other, but no. They’re not in a loving relationship.”

Steven Sears talking with Christie Keith

He shook his head. “Excuse me?”

Writer Katherine Fugate (currently executive producer of Army Wives) sees it much the same way. She is the author of “When Fates Collide,” widely considered one of the most subtext-friendly – and romantic – episodes in the entire series.

Katherine Fugate

Set in an alternate universe where Xena’s old enemy, Julius Caesar, has imprisoned the Fates and used their loom to undo the events that led up to his assassination, “When Fates Collide” is about the inevitability of both destiny and love.

In Caesar’s new reality, Xena is his empress. A famous Greek playwright named Gabrielle comes to present her latest work to the Romans, and in the greatest romantic tradition, she and Xena are struck with what can only be called love at first sight.

They gaze at each other across crowded rooms. Xena casts tortured glances at Gabrielle when she is called away by her husband. They stare longingly at each other from their balconies in the moonlight. Xena gives her life to save Gabrielle, and Gabrielle risks destroying the entire world to save Xena’s.

Caesar calls Gabrielle Xena’s “girlfriend,” and his violent jealousy would make absolutely no sense if Xena and Gabrielle weren’t being depicted as lovers.

And, in fact, that’s just how they were being depicted. Fugate appeared at this year’s convention and spoke with AfterEllen.com backstage. “The paradigm in my episode was that they find each other in any lifetime and they were meant to be, no matter what body they were in or what gender they were,” she said. “These souls were entwined somehow. And that, to me, almost has more a spiritual connotation than a sexual one, although I personally believe that they were lovers and had a committed relationship.”

She added: “I think we touched people, and it was multifaceted with all the spiritual components as well as the love. But the love was so intense, and ‘We’ll find each other in any lifetime,’ I think, is profound. I don’t know many shows that say that, period, heterosexual or homosexual.”

Given that, it’s surprising there wasn’t a kiss in the episode, something that had been played with both teasingly and tenderly (if briefly) in earlier episodes.

“There was a kiss written in which was more definitive, and it’s in the script that they sell here [at the convention],” said Fugate. “So my intention was actually to push that envelope, and I was really supported by Rob and R.J. and everyone. But ultimately they pulled it, because they wanted to maintain it for the finale.”

The finale is, of course, a sore spot for Xena fans; mention of it during R.J. Stewart’s appearance triggered the only boos of the convention weekend. He took them in stride, defending his decision to kill Xena at the series’ end, but there’s no question it took the shine off the climactic kiss the two women shared in “A Friend in Need.”

Fugate, who announced at the convention that Renee O’Connor will play a lesbian on Army Wives later this year, is optimistic about the possibility that a show about two female heroes who are openly lovers could be made today.

“This may sound like a writer’s answer, but I think anything works if it’s well-written,” she said. “If you have respect for the subject and if you can find a universal theme, anything will work.”

She said she feels that doing that would be easier today than it was in the ’90s. “We probably couldn’t push the envelope as much then as we could now,” she said.

“The subtext issue gets asked a lot; I think everyone here has been asked about it. And I think that’s because it obviously touches people, and we had an opportunity to dignify these relationships. And everyone felt it did that. I think both the lead actors have come forward and said this is how they view their characters and how they played them. We did what we could.”

If they did what they could in the ’90s, what could they do now? Sears said he’s thought a lot about that question, and he’s not optimistic. “As far as the marketing mind is concerned and the studios,” he explained, “if a movie came out they would play with it, they would toy with it, they would try to appeal to the male heterosexual audience, because in their minds that’s who’s attracted to these kinds of films, these action films. They don’t want to turn those people off.”

Then Sears pointed out the dark side of main text. “The horrible thing that might be done is that they would then say, let’s go completely commercial with this thing,” he said. “They would have the characters kiss, have the characters imply that they had a sexual encounter, and then have them realize, well, that was just an experiment. Now let’s go back to men. That’s the worst possible thing that could happen. But it’s also one of the most possible things that marketing could do.”

In light of those fears, a dozen intimate moments in the hot tub, soulful glances and fireside nights spent in each other’s arms don’t seem so bad. And neither do Renee O’Connor’s final thoughts on how Xena might best be made today.

“I always wanted people to look at it as unconditional love,” she said, “especially people from the conservative side who didn’t want to see anything like that. Just watch the show, and see what you want to see. I still think that today that would be the best way to put the series on.”]

SOURCE: https://afterellen.com/bringing-out-the-warrior-princess/

[lyrical-fics]

I Wanna Be The One You Think About At Night, And I Wanna Be The One That You Would Put Up A Fight For.

Song: Flaming Hot Cheetos - Clairo

Synopsis: Who would fight for you, who would think about you non-stop, and who would do both?

Characters: Ei, Jean, Ningguang

A/N: Do not attack me, these opinions are personal 🥲 btw I may have gotten a bit carried away at Ningguang’s, sorry that my favoritism is showing 😭😭

Who would fight for you?

As the electro archon, Ei will not be afraid to throw hands if people were to ever talk shit about you. She’s not that good with her words since she has kept herself locked inside her Plane of Euthymia for 500 years, so the least she could do is protect— in her words— your precious soul away from people that are not even worth 1 mora.

“N—no! Please, I’ll do anything! I’ll apologize! I’m sorry! Don’t hurt me!”

Her determination to absolutely destroy this man is unwavering, eyes full of disgust and the air that surrounds is electrifying. Her intimidating demeanor contrasts her gentle and calm voice.

“Oh? So you think a little ‘sorry’ is enough to fix what you’ve done? You deserve a lifetime—”

“Ei? What’s going on?” you ask while walking into the room, your voice immediately catching the attention of your beloved and the other.. thing. Scanning your eyes around the place, you see the guy kneeling down and immediately rush to him to check for any injuries. The guy was absolutely distraught. His face resembled a chalk due to how pale he became with his interaction with Ei. He even looked like he was about to pass out.

Your beloved watched as you checked up on the guy, shocked that you still had guilt and remorse left for him. Especially the fact that you forgave him for doing such an unforgivable thing. Spreading rumors about you using her for power? There was no way she nor the shogun would allow that.

As you finally finished making sure the guy was okay, you told him to leave. You knew this act greatly shocked your lover, so you walked up to her and gently cupped her face with both hands.

“Ei, it’s okay. What he did was harmless, and I honestly don’t mind it. There’s more things your pretty face can worry about, hm? And you wouldn’t want your reputation to be damaged just because they said meaningless things now, would you?”

Truthfully, she would rather have a destroyed reputation than having nobodies speak about you in such an unpleasant way. But seeing you speak so softly really calmed her down. And maybe— just maybe— she’d be willing to let him go, but not without asking Miko to damage his reputation a bit. Just “a bit.”

“Alright, if that’s what you want,” she mutters while closing her eyes and melting into your touch even more.

You leaned in and gently kissed her, giggling as you sense her chasing after your lips while you pull away.

“Thank you, Ei.”

Who would think about you nonstop?

Jean has always been putty to the thought of love. But being in love with you? You just turned her into a mess! When you two weren’t dating yet, she would giggle like a high school girl to the thought of you. Always thinking about what you’re doing, how you are, and getting worried sick when she hears that you get in trouble. Now that you two are dating, it gets even worse! Often asking if you’re okay and sometimes when she’s still drowned in paperwork (which is most of the time), in need of your presence, she’ll ask knight or one of her trusted friends to call you and then next thing you know, you’re sat on her comfortable lap.

Slumping in her chair, the dandelion knight groans at the sight in front of her, a whole stack of paperwork. Great, just as she planned to finally come home to you early. She then proceeds to massage her temples before continuing her ongoing work.

“If only Y/N was here..” she thought and chuckles to herself, “I wonder, what could she be doing right now? Sleeping, most probably”

“Actually, that guess is incorrect. As far as I know, I’m inside the office of my favorite acting grandmaster,” you say, grinning at the way her head instantly tilts up to your voice.

She looks so stressed, new eye bags appearing and you could tell she was having a headache right now. But it all seemed to disappear as soon as she saw your face, her body finally feeling at peace.

“My love? What are you doing here? It’s late, and you should be asleep at this time.. and you do know that I’m the only acting grandmaster here, right?”

“Oh come on Jean, loosen up a bit, hm?” you reply, walking over to her and sitting at her lap while embracing her.

“Lisa called me, she told me that you looked like you needed a Vitamin Me.” you said, laughing softly and burying your face into her neck to breathe in her scent. “And she was right.”

Her face immediately burns at the fact that Lisa was indeed correct. Maybe all she needed was you, after all. As she wraps her left arm gently around your waist, she props her head on your shoulder, finally allowing her body to fully relax.

“See? I told you, you needed rest.”

“You are my rest.”

Who would do both?

Oh Ningguang. Being with her is just like a dream, you know? She’s gorgeous, dominating, rich, caring, but most of all— loving. Oh? These people are bothering you? Well, considering that she’s the Tianquan of Liyue, she doesn’t mind pulling a string or two just to get rid of groups that are causing you any type of trouble. Not like the citizens would ever suspect her of doing anything like that. In addition, since she’s busy most of the time and doesn’t get to spend time with you a lot, she thinks about you so much. So the least she could do is ask one of her many servants to take care of you. But don’t fret, she’ll make sure to come home to you every night to make up for lost time.

“Y/N, dear, I’m back,” she says softly, careful not to wake you up if you were ever asleep.

“Mm.. Ning.. Ningguang?” you groggily respond, your eyes barely open. If only you could see the wide grin plastered on her face. You just looked so adorable!

She carefully places her hand on your cheek and lightly kisses your forehead. It’s moments like these where you truly feel at peace. Moments like these are where she makes you feel like you deserve the love you receive even if you consistently protest against that fact.

Ningguang closes the lights before laying down in your shared bed, wrapping her hands around your waist and letting her senses be completely enveloped by you. You, the one who makes her forget all her worries and the stress she’s received all throughout the day, replacing it with gratitude towards the archons for gracing her a person like you.

You turned around to face her and relish more in her embrace. Saying your ‘i love you’s and ‘goodnight’s before you allowed yourself to start drifting off to sleep.

She remained awake looking at you, simply admiring your whole being. She stayed like that for a while before closing her eyes and muttering a few words.

“I love you— so much more than you think I do. And while we’re still alive, I will not hesitate to prove just how much I love you and everything you do.”

[greenfiend]

my older sister is just watching s4 for the first time when her toddler is put to bed. total GA, not a queer audience member, didn't catch up with anything prior to s4 but remembers enough to understand what's going on.

here are her thoughts before she embarks on the final ep!

she's a massive argyle fan - the way he is just making pizza when they're prepping to fight a demon haha

she's 'scared to watch' the finale: "I am scared of the horrible basketball twat to ruin their plan. Hate him"

"I also now feel like I need to rewatch seasons 1 and 2"

"Also. I know this is probably hella unpopular opinion but I really dislike Millie Bobby brown. She’s not a bad actress at all though"

"I love will"

I'll include our exact convo about this:

Sis: Will is in love with Mike right? It’s so adorable and heartbreaking

me: I KNOW. you wouldnt believe how many people didnt pick up on that and still think will is in love with eleven like wtf

sis: WHAT. no way

me: they’re like ‘there werent gay people in the 80s’

sis: omg stop

then she started talking about the hella other things going on. "There’s actually no characters I don’t like apart from the ones you’re supposed to not like." she said there's so many 'bad dads', she HATES papa lmao ('he's so desperate and cringe. "Approve of me even tho I treat you like shit!")

she started by watching while she works in her studio so probs missed all the mike clues, but she's fully focussed now for the finale, and it sounds like she'll be more than thrilled to find byler is requited as she adores will!

i'll update her thoughts post-finale when they come in :) let's see if she picks up on it!

I absolutely love knowing people’s thoughts when they watch ST for the first time. 😃

I think the majority of people who have paid some attention figured out fairly easily that Will is gay and that he loves Mike! My partner figure out he was gay from the very beginning. But with Mike… I tried to make them guess why Mike couldn’t love El and it took a while but finally they guessed correctly. Lol

When it comes to Mike, the clues are there but El is covering them up so to speak. The mere fact that he has a girlfriend is making most people assume that he’s straight. Especially because El is such a focus in the show.

I remember for me as a GA, the thought of Will/Mike was always somewhat of a possibility in my head- just because they are so emotionally intimate. Even though I didn’t know if the writers were going that direction, I definitely never ruled it out.

Overall, I think most of the GA will be satisfied with Will/Mike, especially if it’s all explained explicitly enough for them!

Thanks for the ask!