#IF YOURE GOING TO REBLOG THIS WITH TAGS HATING THE GROUP JUST DON'T BOTHER I WILL BLOCK YOU

[miyawaki]

the vcha predebut(?) songs are a bit disney channel but i will admit y.o.universe is really cute and catchy i just know that chorus is gonna be stuck in my head. i hope jyp never touches their discography again tho

[rockbottomhq]

hey angels! we just wanted to drop in very quickly to touch base on a few things regarding general group etiquette and expectations around activity. i know we say this all the time, but we mean it when we say you guys are genuinely an incredible bunch of writers and we are so incredibly pleased with how this group has flourished so far. when we make these notes, it's really just to keep things going as smoothly as they have so far.

when it comes to bringing concerns to us, please keep in mind that there is very little we can do if a concern is brought to us anonymously. we don't post anonymous concerns on the dashboard and there's very little, if anything, we can do to reach out to you to further discuss, gain clarity, and reach a resolution on an issue when they are brought to us without a way to identify the member in need. we understand that sometimes coming forward about something is an uncomfortable experience, but as mods, our number goal is member comfort within our group. it is something we take very seriously, so please keep that in mind when something is bothering you. we hate feeling like our hands are tied when it comes to something that may have a simple solution.

to dive a little deeper into the topic of member comfort, we just want to remind you guys to make sure that you're tagging things accordingly. if you're second guessing whether or not something on the dash should be tagged, it's better to play it safe and tag something rather than leave it untagged and run the risk of making someone uncomfortable. here is our current, up to date trigger list. if there's something missing there that you think should be on there, or if we're missing any of your personal triggers, please reach out to us asap and we'll get the list updated. taking the extra second to make sure something is tagged is a small action that goes a long way in making your fellow dash friends feel taken care of and it's something we appreciate greatly.

finally, we want to take a second to reiterate our activity rules. they're pretty laid back: five days without posting gets you a warning, seven days without posting deems you inactive and warrants an unfollow. we consider excessive reblogs with no original content in between and excessive days between posts only to keep within the activity parameters to be rolehogging. since activity checks are posted at our discretion and not on a set schedule, there will be times that members reach 7 days inactive without receiving a prior warning. it is rare that this will happen, but when it does, the activity rule still applies. members that reach activity that would like to still remain part of rock bottom are always welcome to reapply. we also have a hiatus form readily available for anyone who may need to step away from the group but want to protect their roles.

that's all for now! please give this post a little like once you've read through it. and as always, thank you guys for making rock bottom such a pleasure to mod.

[autumntouched]

I have an unpopular and probably a controversial opinion, but as a fanfic reader, I honestly believe Tumblr is NOT a good fit for posting fanfiction, let alone multi-chapter fics when it comes to engagement of readers for a number of reasons.

First, there is how hit or miss Tumblr can be with posts not showing up in the tags correctly or not getting notifications when you're tagged. Heck, there are several blogs I follow on here that even though I have it turned on to be notified any time they post, I've yet to get a notification when they do.

Second, there's the difficulty of trying to find the first chapter/previous chapter/next chapter of a fic if the writer didn't bother to link the chapters together in some way or use a dedicated tag. I've come across way too many fics on here where I had to spend an inordinate amount of time digging through the writers blog to find the next chapter because they didn't provide any links or even use a dedicated tag for their story. After awhile, I don't care how good a fic is, having to deal with stuff like that will quickly turn me off a fic.

Third, there isn't a unified & connected tagging system here like there is on AO3. I know I'm probably missing some really good fic because it's been tagged in a different way than how I search on here. Also, I hate that fics I don't want to read keep showing up in tags I'm searching because I can't filter out tags.

So with all of that, as a fanfic reader, I much prefer to read and follow fics on AO3. In fact, the only reason I even started to read fics on Tumblr was because for the first few months after TGM came out, Tumblr was really the only place to find TGM fics. Before TGM, I never read a single fic on Tumblr.

And as a fanfic writer, I also prefer to post my fics on AO3. The few times I've posted my one shots on here (in an active fandom), I got very little engagement. And I tagged those fics six ways to Sunday and even reblogged & reposted them a few times.

But on AO3, I have fics I wrote TEN years ago still getting kudos & bookmarks when fics I posted a year ago on here will never see the light of day again unless someone decides to spend a day going through my blog or I decide to reblog/repost them because the tagging system on here either shows you the current stuff or the most popular stuff when you search a tag.

Plus with AO3 I know a kudos means someone read and enjoyed my fic even if they didn't leave a comment. I can see when someone bookmarks or favorites a fic and I can even see how many hits each fic has. I don't have to manage a tag list or run a second "library" blog because on AO3 someone can just subscribe to my fic or follow my account & AO3 will automatically send them an email when I update a fic or post a new fic. I don't have to use a million tags because a dedicated group of tag wranglers makes sure similar tags are connected.

So yeah, I know how much it sucks when it feels like you're just posting into the void on here when all you're getting is likes. And I know there is still a large number of new users on here who think likes on Tumblr work the same way they do on all the other social media sites when they actually don't and that it feels like we're shouting at a brick wall anytime we try to explain that to the new users. But at this point, I feel like fic writers on here are just beating a dead horse with every "ENGAGE WITH MY FICS OR ELSE I STOP WRITING" post I see.

You can't force people to engage with your content. Those who want to will & those who don't will continue to do so and shame posts aren't going to change that. In fact, every shame post I see makes me not want to engage with that writer. Just like us as readers have no right to demand you write & post more, writers have no right to demand engagement of readers.

And if not getting enough engagement makes you want to stop writing, then that's on you the writer and not on us, the readers. Would people miss your writing if you stopped posting? Probably. But that's your prerogative and you shouldn't try to make people feel guilty about YOUR decision.

Fair point about the difference in platforms. There are pros and cons to each, and I think it's also fair for writers to weigh what works for them. AO3 does not have PMs, which makes it way less functional for me to engage as openly as I would like. The readers who have taken the time to get to know me understand and respect that is why I am here and not always on AO3

Talk to Me as an intentional multi-chapter fic is on AO3 for its better functionality for that format and is here on tumblr for anyone who didn't catch it on AO3 and so people drop into my dms to chat about it

This though: "Just like us as readers have no right to demand you write & post more, writers have no right to demand engagement of readers."

Asks are readers asking for writers to write and post more. And yes, writers voluntarily open their asks but that does not preclude wanting some kind of feedback for the effort they put into provide those stories. I am writing it because I LOVE the collaborative writing process of sharing ideas and getting to write something that will make someone happy. When people tell me exactly what makes them happy, I have the chance to give them more of that. I am asking for something that makes me a better writer for what they asked me for

Also, just to recap what's going on widely, readers ARE demanding that writers write and post more. That's part of the frustration people are trying to address

The Hannix Football Rivalry AU Series was "born" on tumblr (and was never meant to be a multi-chapter fic). It exists SOLELY because of reader requests, and I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a different level of engagement for that or want people to acknowledge you as the writer in their asks or to ask for feedback to ensure you're on the right track for making people happy

Yes, there are people who comment on and reblog everything I write. And while I deeply appreciate it, that is not at all what I expect or am asking of anyone. Just every now and then letting me know where your head's at, what you're feeling would be nice.

And this is MY controversial opinion, and I am only speaking for myself here. I'm on tumblr to engage with my readers. To me, fanfiction is a community and a relationship. That is what's meaningful about it to me. Knowing what people feel and think. I am here to write for you but also still want to feel like a person doing that. If any readers don't want to have to even consider who I am as a person or have a conversation about how I feel, I'm very comfortable with them no longer reading my work or waiting until I decide what to migrate to AO3. There are enough people in my life who only care about the work I do without caring about me as a person that I don't need that energy in a space I've created for myself <3

[inksinger]

Finally, some decent pinned...

LINKS 👁👄👁

Find me on the Archive at Inksinger!

INFO - PERSONAL 🍑

Born in the early 90s

Pronouns: thu/thum/thu's | fae/faer/faen | she/her/hers

Bisexual, polyromantic, genderfluid/nonbinary

Married to @zofmoesia, my adoring spousevoid

Lokean hearth witch

Native to the northern end of California

I own too many cats and dogs

INFO - BLOG 🌸

Tolkien

World of Warcraft

FFXIV

Real life junk

Cat videos

Literally anything else I decide I want to post or reblog

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

Honor System - If you do not list your age or age range (minor/adult) in your header or pinned, I will assume you are an adult and treat you accordingly unless and until I am given evidence to the contrary. I am making every reasonable effort to be clear about what this blog is for and avoid minors where I can; if you are not comfortable making a similar effort on your own blog, that's okay - just be honest with me and yourself, and stay away or let me know if you're a minor. It's as much for my own security as it is for yours.

Bots Are Scum - I've been auto-followed by at least fifty different bots since I started this blog a couple months ago, and blocked every single one. If your blog looks like it's a bot, I will block you.

Double-Checking - I will check the header and pinned post of each blog that follows me to make sure they adhere to the DNI list below. This is my personal blog, and I will maintain the space around it as best I can. This isn't about being hostile or paranoid; it's me looking after myself and my peers.

Be Cool - I can and will block blogs for abusive behavior, even if they don't fall under any of the DNI flags below. Don't be a jerk. I don't have time for it.

See Something, Say Something - If there's something I post or reblog that you need me to tag in the future, or if you think I've forgotten a tag on an existing post, please let me know right away so I can fix it. This goes for triggers, sensitive subjects, spoilers for old content, and characters/series you just plain don't like. It also goes for things you want to be able to find more easily!

Inclusivity Doesn't Include Hate Groups - This blog is pro-BLM, pro-ACAB, pro-LGBTQIA+, and pro-reproductive rights, often aggressively so. If any of that bothers you, go away, we don't like you.

DO NOT INTERACT 🔞⚠️

Minors (US standard, so no one under the age of 18 - not everything on this blog is for kids, and honestly even if it was sometimes tweens get a little annoying)

Transphobes, homophobes, antisemites, misanthropes, misogynists, racists, bigots, pro-birthers, etc (if you hate another group purely because they are different from you and/or seek to strip another group of their human rights, stay far away from me and maybe go walk into the ocean)

Antivaxxers

P3dophiles

Apologists (this includes sealions, gaslighters, goal post movers, and what-abouters - I'm not going to "discuss" my extremely justified hatred of someone who's actual garbage, go have a poor-faith debate with somebody else)

Pearl clutchers (adults who think ns/fw or deep topics simply don't belong on public websites at all because kids or sensitive adults might find it - if there are kids interacting with my posts specifically it's on them for not adhering to the publicly accessible DNI list, and adults have no excuse for not blacklisting or blocking without interacting)

Purity stans (adults who think writing something in a fictional piece means the author must surely be endorsing that something - nobody in their right mind would accuse any of the writers who worked on Nightmare on Elm Street of being totally down with torture and murder because that's ridiculous and everyone knows it)

If there's anything you think I should add, let me know and I'll make sure to update this bad boy. Stay cool. ✨

[rebelwrites]

Outta My League || Part 1

Charles Leclerc x Girl Band Lead Singer!Reader

Charles Leclerc Masterlist

Summary: Charles realises he has it bad for the lead singer of the girl group F1 sponsors.

A/N Basically the reader is taking the place of Perrie from Little Mix but won’t be the same person to try and keep this inclusive. There will be a part two.

Requested By Anon: Hi bubs!I don't know if you're accepting requests but If you are,can you do a Charles Lecrerc one with girlgroup singer!reader? Something like,her group (could be little mix please?) are invited to a race by Ferrari (their sponsor too maybe?idk)to perform,and each of the girls are sporting one of the racers numbers to kinda support them and while they are performing Charles is just head over heels for reader? And he gets flustered because the other boys tease him for it and maybe he gets a little jealous too because he's not the only one there that tries to get her number and go out with her LOL. A little especific,sorry but you can add anything you want,feel free. Thank you love❤️

As always reblogs and feedback is highly appreciated ❤️ if you want tagging in future parts let me know ❤️

Staring in the mirror at your reflection you took a deep breath, this would be the biggest performance of your life. When you were first approached with the idea of Formula One starting to bring in live music to the racing weekend, there was no way you could turn down the opportunity, especially with them being one of your biggest sponsors. Without them the group wouldn’t be what it was today, you owed them for your success.

Your stomach was churning, your skin felt clammy and your mind was spinning and it was all down to the nerves.

You couldn’t tear your gaze off your outfit that your manager had decided was right for this event. The longer you looked at it the more you hated it, how they thought that hot pants and push up bra and cut out crop top would be suitable for an event like this would always baffle you. Pairing it with the fact you were at Silverstone and the British weather was unpredictable at the best of times. This was just a recipe for disaster. The outfit only just covered everything it needed to cover, there was now way you were going out to perform wearing this.

Reaching for your oversized Ferrari hoodie and ripped jeans you quickly pulled the garments over your body feeling more comfortable as you stormed out of your dressing room going to find your manager.

The girls saw the pissed expression that graced your face and knew to keep their distance whilst you went to kick off. They knew you well enough that it was the outfit you weren’t happy with, they knew this meant so much to you, especially with your close connection to the racing scene and your close relationship with Sainz seeing as you grew up with him.

You didn’t bother knocking on your manager’s door as you barged in, interrupting her lunch.

“Y/N, what can I do for you?” she asked, looking up from her food.

“Tell me what the fuck the outfit you want us to wear is?” you snapped, folding your arms across your chest.

“You don’t normally have an issue with what you go out on stage in.” she said, raising her brow at you, not sure why there was an issue now.

“This isn’t a fucking tour gig.” you scoffed, rolling your eyes at her, not caring if you were acting like a diva right now. “Do you really think that anyone here would be happy if the girl band they are sponsoring and putting their money into walked out to their first live music event wearing next to nothing?”

“The drivers would like it.” she shrugged, reaching for her coffee. “You and I both know that sex sells.”

You couldn’t believe what you were hearing, you knew you would have trouble when your previous manager had to step down for family reasons and she took over. All she cared about was money and practically pimping you and the other girls out.

“Fuck this,” you growled, spinning on the balls of your feet. “We won’t be performing in the thing you call a suitable outfit. I will find us something more suitable.” you spat over your shoulder, before storming away.

The sooner you got rid of Satan herself the better.

Now the pressure was on, you only had a couple of hours to come up with something more suitable for this evening.

As you rushed back to your dressing room the idea hit you.

Each of you would wear one of the driver’s shirts pairing it with a pair of ripped skinny jeans with the chequered flag pattern down the sides. A smile appeared on your face as you pictured the outfits, it would be perfect. All you needed to do was get hold of some shirts with the drivers number on the back.

Pulling your phone out of the pocket you dialled the one person you knew would be able to help.

“Carlos necesito tu ayuda. Carlos, I need your help.” you breathed as soon as he answered.

“¿Ahora que? What now?” he sighed, but you could hear the smile in his voice.

“Well, I just flipped out at our manager. The outfit she wanted us to go out in was barely an outfit.” you sighed, “She has completely lost her mind.”

“So where do I come into this?”

“I need you to get me some driver shirts.” you hummed, kicking your feet up on the table, leaning back on your chair. “I need two Ferrari shirts, with yours and Charles’ number on the back, one Alpha Tauri with Pierre’s number and one Mclaren with Danny’s number on.”

“When do you need these?” he asked, a playful tone in his voice.

“In an hour’s time.” you said quietly, knowing that you were pushing your luck on time.

“Buen trabajo te amo. Good job I love you.” he chuckled. “Gimmie half an hour and I will come to your dressing room.”

“You are the best.” you grinned, staring at your reflection. A feeling of relief washed over you as you said goodbye to Carlos, ending the call.

You knew he would be teasing you for your choice in shirt, he was the only driver to know who you had a crush on. A crush that had been hidden for many years.

Being childhood friends with Carlos meant you were well known through the paddock and not just as the lead singer in a girl band. Everyone treated you normally so whenever you needed an escape you tagged along with Carlos and the Ferrari crew. So you and Charles quickly built a solid relationship, you were always causing trouble, pulling pranks on Carlos and laughing till your stomachs hurt.

But you knew he wouldn’t feel the same way you did so you never pursued him.

-

“I couldn't get hold of any polo shirts with numbers on but I managed to convince people to give me their spare fire suit top.” Carlos grinned, strolling into the chill out room you and the girls were occupying.

Looking up from your phone, you grinned at your best friend as he automatically tossed Charles’ fire suit top. Instantly your senses were overwhelmed by Charles aftershave.

“Urm, did you just raid everyone’s dirty laundry?” You asked, raising your brow at Carlos who was standing smirking as he placed the remaining tops on the coffee table.

“Of course not.” He chuckled, the smirk on his face growing wider as he spoke. “But Char already had his on when I went searching and I just got lazy so I made him take it off and find his other one.”

Rolling your eyes at him, you knew he was still trying to play matchmaker between you and Charles. You weren’t sure why when you were adamant that Charles didn’t feel the same way.

Checking the time you realised that you were needed for a sound check in five minutes.

“Right you are gonna have to disappear.” you hummed, pushing yourself to your feet, giving him a hug before ushering him out of the room.

“See you in a bit,” Carlos smiled, pressing a kiss to the top of your head.

Once he had left the room you sighed, knowing that you were going to be teased regarding your choice of driver’s shirt.

“Okay, you have the time it takes us to walk to the stage to take the piss outta me.” you laughed, tossing Charles’ shirt on the coffee table with the others, trying to ignore how the smell of his aftershave made you feel.

“Who said we were gonna tease you?” Jade smirked, following you out of the room.

“It would be the first time you didn’t” you laughed, as you guided the guys out to the stage.

“Everyone knows that you are so in love with Leclerc.” she winked, “I swear any time you are near him you get literal heart eyes and you get all giggly.”

“I do not.” you pouted, narrowing your eyes at her.

“Babes, you really do.” Jesy joined in, wrapping her arm around your shoulders. “Everyone can see it, bar you and Charles.”

“Whatever” you huffed, shrugging off her arm before climbing up onto the stage.

You needed to push the thoughts of Charles out your mind, you slipped your in-ear monitor in ready to get this sound check out of the way so you could chill out, maybe bugging some of the drivers before the show.

-

Charles was sitting in the Ferrari motor home when he heard the angelic sound of your voice, the sound alone made his heart beat double in speed. It had been a couple of months since he had last seen you due to the latest tour. During that time he thought he could get over this crush he had on you but it was no use, with every instagram update and facetime you had with Carlos he felt himself falling deeper and deeper in love with you.

When he found out that you and the girls would be performing after the race at Silverstone he thought he was going to burst with excitement. Pushing himself to his feet he found himself following the sound of your voice, it was a natural reaction and he couldn’t wait to see you doing what you loved.

The closer he got he felt his heart rate increasing, his palms were starting to get clammy and his stomach was flipping.

He didn’t want you spotting him so he hid behind one of the concrete barriers of the track. He felt himself sink down until he was sitting on the floor leaning against the concrete letting his eyes flutter closed listening to the sound of your voice.

“Je savais qu'il serait ici. I knew he would be here.” Pierre shouted over his shoulder to Carlos and Daniel. “He is never too far away from Y/N.”

“Can’t a guy just have some peace?” he sighed, running his hands over his face.

“I mean it is a bit stalkery.” Daniel shrugged, with a large smirk on his face.

“I just like her voice okay.” Charles said quietly, knowing that he wasn’t telling the truth.

The moment he knew you would be performing he knew he would get teased to fuck, Carlos, Pierre and Daniel all knew how badly he was crushing on you but never seemed to have the confidence to do anything about it.

Every time you two were together it was cute to watch, it was like you were the perfect match for each other but both were too blind to see it.

However he was saved from the teasing for a few hours as all of their phones went off with the notification that it was time to get ready for the race. Charles needed to push you from his mind and get focused on the next couple of hours of driving. But it wasn’t an easy task, especially with you being here.

-

Taking a deep breath you wrapped your fingers around the microphone, it was nearly time to walk out onto the stage and your nerves were in pieces. You knew it was risky walking out in Charles’ fireproof top along with the choice of songs you were singing tonight.

3 songs, that's all you were singing tonight and all of them were written with Charles in mind. You couldn’t help yourself, he was always the one you thought about when it came to writing new music. Two songs were the groups and then you were performing a cover of Yellow.

You had to remind yourself on how to breathe, the thoughts of Charles were taking your breath away. The feeling of Jesy’s hand on your shoulder brought you back to the real world.

“You ready?” she asked.

“Now or never right?” you shrugged, before you strutted out onto the main stage with the girls behind you.

The cheers and whistles brought a smile to your face but you still found yourself scanning the crowd for the one person you wanted to see the most. The moment you locked eyes with him on the front row you swore it was like you had just been punched in the stomach.

Charles watched in awe as you did what you did best up on stage, his heart practically stopped when he realised why Carlos stole his fireproof top earlier today. Seeing you wearing it made him realise he never wanted to see you in anyone else's clothes, he knew that was ridiculous as you weren't dating but it ignited something deep inside of him. The way you had styled it with your ripped skinny jeans, paired with your hair and make up, he felt all of his self control come apart at the seams. He was sure he had heart eyes right now but he didn’t care, you were taking all his attention and practically setting his world on fire.

“He has it so bad.”

“This is more than just a crush, boys.”

“Little Leclerc is in love.”

“They need to get together.”

“I swear I am going to have to lock them in a room together.” Carlos smirked, knowing it would gain his team mates attention and it did. “I keep trying to make them both see what's in front of them but they are both so blind.”

“What are you on about?” Charles asked, raising his brow at Carlos. “She is completely outta my league, there isn’t a chance that she would be into someone like me.” he said, trying not to let his voice crack as he spoke the words that caused his heart to ache.

“You two are both so dumb at times.” he laughed, slapping his hand down on Charles’ back.

“Écoute les paroles. Listen to the lyrics.” Pierre nodded, smirking at his best friend. “Ils sont à propos de toi. They are about you. Hell they are even doing a cover of Yellow by Cold Play.”

Charles froze at Pierre’s statement, he felt his cheeks starting to heat up as he realised his friends were right. These weren’t just random songs you girls had decided to perform, this was you trying to reach out to Charles on the sly and he was too dumb to see it. The fact you chose his number to wear over Carlos’, the fact you were singing Cold Play.

Everything was starting to fall into place in his head now.

Turning his attention to you he let out a long breath, running his hand over his face as you locked eyes with each other. The feeling was intense and it made Charles feel like there was nobody else surrounding him, it was just you and him.

He felt his eyes starting to burn from tears he didn’t realise had built up.

He needed to do something, he needed a plan. He needed you as his girl.

And nothing was going to stop him.

@chibsytelford @dragon-of-winterfell @ohthemisssery @a-distantdreamer @sgkophie @stillbreathin @angywritesstuff @miamedyu @enchantedbytomandhenry @scribbuluswrites @dangerouspursepeachbear @micks-afterglow @livo67 @buendiabebeta @pleasedontfollowinlost @ferrarifwendvale @hungryhungarian @theplobnrgone @charlesleclercje @sunf1owerrq @queenslife @panicforspec @inesramoss30 @justme2042 @liv67 @sessgjarg

[vivi-the-goblin]

People just don't seem to get that many of the "flaws" of tumblr are by design, sometimes OUR design, and the only thing keeping us safe. Tumblr is a community garden. The mods are half-conscious landlords that own the lot, stumbling around without much clue about what's going on or even who thier tenants are. WE made this place into what it is. We grew this site ourselves, planted every seed, maintained every plot. All the content was grown ourselves and shared via reblogs, they're the heart and marrow of this place. Reblogs aren't theft btw, as I've heard many confused by. To continue the metaphor, reblogs are like spreading fertilizer. You're definitely still contributing, it makes notes explode and motivates people, gives people the energy to keep creating. Reblogs start chains that can increase activity by orders of magnitude. Likes are private words of encouragement that only you and I see, they're quietly saying "good job" as you pass. I appreciate it, I truly do, they're like a cool glass of water that gives me energy to continue. If you wish to help the whole community without ever posting, a quick reblog on something you like seriously helps. Even without tags or additions, that's fine, it still greatly expands the lot we have to work in. We all follow blogs that're just "someone with similar tastes reblogging things," a good half of the people I follow are. That's all I was on my original blog for like 10 years before I started this, no shame. Oh, and I was serious about the maintenance bit as well. We've had bots spring up like weeds in the past and the only thing that ever kept them in check was community effort to block-report them. I mean "got 5 new followers every day even on brand new blogs" sort of bad, but we beat them down through group effort. So if you have no title or reblogs and are wondering why people block you after you follow, it's because people think you're either spam or a burner account about to start sending hate. Personally don't block until something actually happens, especially now that I'm aware many of you just showed up, but I did think that like half of you were bots at first. Chaning your title to anything, even just "not a bot" will fix that if it bothers you though. Or just reblog something. I see an account completely blank except like, a picture of a spinning lancer, I know they're just someone's personal sideblog. This is getting a bit rambly, but point is that the "flaws" people talk about are primarily by design and what we've fought to keep for 15 years. Yes our landlords wander around incompetently, but that's just as much OUR design. We don't want massive corporations paving this place over to make another shopping mall. We want to stay the quirky little farmer's market living off word-of-mouth, not be replaced by "more convenient" superstore of the algorithm. The work we put in makes this place the wonderful, terrible, irreplaceable treasure it is. Enabling our self-destructive staff, maintaining our community, and making sure we're bottom-of-the-barrel for advertisers is how we do that.

[lunelicmoone]

rest in peace technoblade <3 i will miss you forever.

hi! welcome to my blog!

i'm lunelic! (or lune, i dont mind either!)

[I DO NOT support or even remotely like dream or dteam itself. I will not argue with you on this, and I do not want you on my blog. Thanks.]

[You may see some fanwork of characters that Wilbur Soot has created that I've reblogged. Despite this, please know that I have stopped supporting that man completely ever since Shelby has released her statement. Thank you.]

i consider myself to be a multi-fandom account! meaning i post/reblog things that span across different pieces of media! you may catch me mostly posting about/reblogging things from:

qsmp (lore & some content creators)

doki-doki literature club

the arcana (im a lucio hater)

danganronpa (all games, but mostly dr2)

the amazing digital circus

faith: the unholy trinity

the mandela catalogue

percy jackson & the olympians (will be reblogging tv spoilers)

the bear

stardew valley (i am in love with doctor harvey)

sleep deprived podcast & sdmp

criminal case (yes. the facebook mobile game.)

jujutsu kaisen (anime & manga)

and although rarely:

your turn to die

my hero academia (anime & manga)

marvel cinematic universe

stanley parable

animal crossing (new horizons)

the office (us)

south park

the group chat podcast

telltale's the walking dead (#1 clouis defender)

ace attorney (trilogy)

detroit: become human

aphmau (mcd & mystreet usually)

superliminal

mortal kombat 1

spider-man adjacent media (itsv/atsv, insomniac games, etc)

mouthwashing (james hate is welcomed)

(i also like to reblog a bunch of posts from specific medias like, the day that i actually get into them. for example, pride and prejudice 2005 and barbie 2023)

[I will absolutely be spreading awareness posts about the acts of genocide happening in the world. This includes what's going on in Palestine. Zionists are free to leave my blog.]

i do enjoy the occasional liveblog (especially for quackity and slimecicle streams, and i've recently done it more for big events such as the 2024 streamer awards), but i'll sometimes forget to tag them. if you notice me forget about the tag and you want to filter it or something, shoot an ask or message my way and i'll happily do it! 🙏

if you see me thirsting on main, mind your business, i'll get over it. /j

i make die/delete your blog jokes with some close mutuals, and i often joke about killing myself over minor inconviences a lot. if you want me to trigger tag those, i gladly will do so!

[do not interact with my blog if you are in 💐blr. i do not want you here, and i will block you.]

any extra personal information like my pronouns are in my blog description!

this is my ao3!

[i'll only really respond to any kind of anon hate if it's funny, so don't bother lol]

— as for tags, i only have a few custom ones:

• lune's drabbles - little drabbles of writting!

• lune's writing - full fics/one-shots!

• lune oc tag - things about my personal ocs!

• lune's random headcanons - random headcanons i have about dsmp characters!

• lune's mandela catalogue au - my tntduo mandela catalogue au!

• lune's snippets - snippets of fics im working on!

• lune's writing again - little shitposts i make about my fics!

• lune cc notices - self explanatory, but just something i made for myself!

[c-h-stevens]

I could tell you, but you'd just ignore it like almost all of my other posts and reblogs. Instead, I'm going to say what I've been yelling into the void all month.

I need to pay $300 of rent money in a couple of days or I'm going to be evicted

I really hate asking for money without offering something in exchange so here's what I've got:

My Ko-fi where you can read my ongoing serial and purchase a subscription. Admittedly, I'm pretty sure writeblr as a whole is uninterested in my writing (and hey, that's fair) considering I made about a dozen intro posts in the last half a year and got about as many notes. Usually I'd just shrug and go on with my life, but it's frustrating to see the same people who can't even give me a token reblog when I post about my money problems also post in the tags about how supportive writeblr supposedly is.

If anybody wants to commission me to write anything, LMK (though I'm not kidding when I say I need $300, I can't really afford to spend any time writing commissions for a couple dozen bucks). Or maybe if you want me to edit anything. I'm not asking anybody to just donate to me, but I'm not gonna tell you not to. Sorry for being so unhelpful!

Anyway, I'm not trying to guilt people into giving me money. I'm honestly just doing this because I don't want people to say they just didn't notice my last few posts, and if they knew they would've reblogged them, or whatever. Because I can tell that, if writeblr doesn't like you from the get-go, your posts will sink without a trace. That's what happened to me for the last six months, and I've been reblogging other people's posts all along.

I mean, don't get me wrong. I've had some nice interactions. But I've also made posts like this one, because every other week there's somebody in the tags asking where to publish original fiction, or if you can publish original fiction at AO3, and that post got literally 0 notes. It's after that post that I pretty much gave up on posting on writeblr, because why bother on spending my very limited energy on something nobody will even notice? The only reason why I'm still here is honestly because I'm very stressed about being evicted.

The only other thing I want to say is: please stop tagging posts like this one with the general writeblr tags unless you're going to try to engage with newbies outside your friends' group. Because I've reblogged about five or so of these, mostly out of curiosity than expecting any engagement, and I can tell you the people making those seemingly open "tell me about your story!" or "tell me about yourself!" posts rarely ever reblog anybody other than their friends. And not only is that frankly unfair to the new people trying to engage in good faith, it makes writeblr seem more open and friendly than it really is.

I mean, earlier this month I reblogged one of those posts talking about how I'm worried of ending up in the streets. OP didn't even reply. I don't take that personally, but writing isn't a hobby for me. I really do need some extra money. I can't just afford to shrug and move on when I'm unnoticed.

Hey authors! Let’s get to know each other :)

Why do you write?

[acourtofthought]

I don’t think what went down with that e/lriel was fair. I think it was beneath you. I am also using my phone, so I apologise for any weird formatting.

Let me preface this by saying - You made valid points. I just don’t understand why you went to their post, and commented at all? To be honest, I don’t think you were in the right on that, and it makes us look bad. We’ve been accused of baiting in the past, and I’ve always scoffed at it..but you undeniably did go onto their post to seemingly start a fight. I also don’t think it’s a fair claim, that they could stop responding - when it was their post and blog to begin with, and not some random post that invited discussion. That is an unrealistic, and unfair expectation. I would tell someone who came into my space like that to “fuck off” too. That e/lriel you engaged with IS problematic, undeniably so. Everyone knows it. I just feel you gave them something valid to whine about this time. I am genuinely confused and frequently disgusted by our ACOTAR community as a whole. We call each other hypocrites, and yet do the very same thing we accuse our antis of. One of your reiterated points is “you hate when e/lriels say Eluciens lack reading comprehension” - a very fair gripe to be sure! However I’ve seen numerous posts from “our” side of the line, claiming that very thing of E/lriels..I’ve seen much worse claimed of them, by us..Truly, I wish you would have just vagued that E/lriel instead of engaging like that. It was disappointing, and I’m annoyed that today I actually feel bad for them.

I apologize that my responding to something in the Elain tag has upset you to the point that you felt the need to message me.

I LOVE a lot of the people that I've interacted with through Tumblr. I love reading their blogs, their ideas, their thoughts. And I love that there is a collective group who love Elucien like I do.

At the same time, I am still an independent thinker and operate based on my emotions and thoughts. If I feel angered over others being attacked then I'm not the kind of person who's going to sit back and do nothing. If something frustrates me and I feel driven to speak up, I'm going to do it.

Truly, I apologize if that somehow gives the collective Eluciens a bad name. But the Original Poster was ridiculing others under the Elain tag which leaves it open for anyone following the Elain tag to comment on.

I was presenting an opinion to her, in response to a post which I felt did not provide accurate information. If she did not like my reblog response, she could have ignored me. She could have blocked me. But she chose to respond and progressively got nastier. I don't think there is anything wrong with responding to an open blog that has the tag of Elain in it, regardless of whether or not that blog was created by her or not. She blogged something with a tag that would be seen by both Elucien and Elriels. That's like saying when an actor posts a promo for their movie, only people who agree with a certain group of critics should be allowed to comment. The Elain tag belongs to no one in particular which, in my opinion means it's open for discussion. When a neutral tag is used, people are going to speak up. I don't think that means anyone is giving their ship a bad name if it's done in a certain way. What gives certain sides of a fandom a "bad name" is not the back and forth discussion with someone. It's when name calling and belittling others happens. It's when people forget how to have any actual debate and resort to pettiness.

I'm not sure what more to say because while I'm sorry it bothered you to this extent, I'm not going to be the kind of person who doesn't speak out when I feel like it's in defense of others. I know I don't always succeed but for the most part, I try to discuss the book rather than turning into a personal attack. And while I don't enjoy having someone upset with me, I can't promise I won't speak out again in the future.

[firelxdykatara]

Please don't reblog SessRin. She was 13 when he got her pregnant. When he first adopted her, she was 8.

Oi vey.

No, she wasn’t.

It’s really funny that somehow I know more about the source material than people who are actually in the fandom, despite being much more of a casual viewer, but like, it’s not that hard to look up??? And realize that Sesshomaru never ‘adopted’ her (fuck, I know that and I’ve only seen like three seasons of the show), because literally all their relationship consisted of was Rin following Sess around for a year (one (1) year), while basically taking care of herself (he didn’t even feed her ffs), occasionally with Jaken’s help. All Sess himself did was keep her alive, which.... man, if that’s what y’all consider a father/daughter relationship, I’m genuinely concerned. Especially since, after that year was over, Sesshomaru dropped her off in a human village so that she could be raised among her own kind and then choose, for herself, where she wanted to be. If that kind of relationship when Rin was young makes their relationship after she grew up off-putting to you, that’s completely valid! What isn’t valid is claiming that your feelings are the only valid ones, and that Sess must have had romantic feelings for her when she was a child, which is never suggested anywhere in canon.

Secondly, there’s no reason to believe she was thirteen when he got her pregnant, what???? Everyone looks weirdly young in Yashahime’s art style, for one thing, (though notably, she just doesn’t look that much younger in the birth scene than Kagome) but I’ve been over the timeline (more for curiosity’s sake than anything else) and, quite apart from the fact that Rin had no canon age in the OG series (idk how the fandom settled on 8, but that was never actually stated, and she could easily have been a few years older--she was small but also uhhhh she’d been living like a feral child and pretty constantly malnourished before Sesshomaru found her so she would have been tiny for her age anyway), at the youngest she’d have been 16 or so. Which you may not think is great, and that’s fine, but it’s not the worst thing to come out of canon pairings in shows, so I fail to see the issue there.

Sess is supposed to be physically/mentally 19, the way Inuyasha is meant to be physically/mentally 15. The show wasn’t great about conveying this, but no one yelled about 150 year-old half-demon Inuyasha falling for a high schooler, so??? (Nevermind that this is a staple in shows with immortal protagonists. Which isn’t everyone’s cuppa, and that’s fine, but I get the appeal. I kinda have to, Bangel being one of my ultimate OTPs.) They are demons. They don’t view human lives and mortality and morality the same way we do. They don’t have to! It’s actually really interesting to think about that juxtaposition, how demons view humans but then some of them fall in love and those views change, and how half-demons bridge the gap between those two worlds... it’s fascinating. And for Sesshomaru, famously disdainful of humankind, to have fallen in love with a human woman and had half-demon kids of his own??? That’s even better.

I really gotta ask, though, who y’all even thought that human might be before the reveal lmao.

The thing is, I’m not even really in this fandom. I have a passing interest, I’ve seen a good chunk of the show and enjoyed it, I don’t really ship anything except inukag and a bit sesskag because I’ve seen some artwork and fanworks that really intrigue me, but I thought that piece of art was cute and reblogged it. I don’t have any real opinions on the ship itself, except that people are losing their minds for no reason, because it’s easy to blacklist tags and block content and also if the show itself disgusts you bc of its canon pairings then don’t watch it??? There are plenty of shows I don’t watch because I hate the things they do in canon (see: why i never got into Game of Thrones) but I’m not about to ask people to not reblog things from those shows just bc I don’t like them. If it bothers me that much, there’s blacklisting and tumblr’s filter system. Also blocking, if it’s really that huge a deal.

But I’ve never had patience with this kind of argument where, like, people who really hate a ship have decided that it MUST be pedophilia, despite their insistence on information that isn’t even canon, like. It happened to me, not long back, when a group of atla blogs decided that Jiang was an adult, despite there being no canon basis for that belief (and a lot of canon basis for her being a teenager, since all her crew were around the gaang’s ages), and so if I shipped her with Katara I must be a pedo. I hated it then, and I hate it now, and if you don’t like my particular stance on this, you don’t have to, but I’m not budging.

For the record, I always tag ship things, and I tagged that post, so if you hate sessrin, I implore you, please blacklist or filter the tag. It’s genuinely not that difficult. And I’m not even in the fandom, but I’m also not gonna go out of my way not to reblog things if I find them cute or the art good or whatever, so I can’t promise I’ll never reblog sessrin again lmao

[bookofmirth]

Hi

I'm not up to date with all the drama in this fandom bc i tend to scroll past it. But being a reader of the books before I landed in these fandoms, I'm utterly shocked about how people treat eachother.

I'm very neutral on this stupid ship war going on. I tend to fall more for Elriel. But I understand everyone's opinion. I used to read all the book analysis, but now it just seems so exhausting. I get that people love books and ship different people. That's normal, everyone has different taste etc i'm just here trying to understand why we need to bring other human beings down in order to push our own narrative.

Since when is it okay to do that???? Can't we have a normal conversation without sending death treats?

I normally don't really respond to anything that involves drama. But these last couples of months have gotten me to dislike the books more and more solely because of these, may I call them blandly, horrible people.

And i'm very sad to have to admit that i'm also getting sick of the art of the multiple ships. Which that's horrible because I love what all these amazing artists create. But the hate they receive and the comments just make me hate it all more,this whole fandom with all these toxic people ruining it for me personally.

Can't we all just agree that we like these books, and respect eachother as human beings, no matter what everyone else thinks? And maybe wait and see what the author writes? In the end it are still her books and she will have the final say in everything.

I wish SJM would release the next book sooner so all this hate would stop, then again i don't know if it will stop. They will likely continue and probably bother SJM too...

Thank you for listening to me ranting, you always seem very nice to people with different opinions, so I thought i might as well rant a bit too.

Have a lovely day!!

Hello! Thank you for this message! I think it's really helpful for people to see because they can see the impact of the things they are doing and saying in the fandom. There are a lot of people who feel comfortable being vocal in the fandom, but I gotta say, if I were just joining now, I'm not sure that would be me. I wonder how many people walk in, take a look around, and walk the fuck back out. I probably would.

I got on my soap box a little bit because I was thinking about some of the things you've said!

I was just talking with some friends, some of whom I've been in the fandom with since 2017, some who are newer. And we all 1000% agree with you. It's so, so frustrating that the fandom has gotten so nasty to the point where we've become so separated from each other that we can't have a single civil conversation. Where people of color don't feel safe, and where a lot of the fandom doesn't even seem to care about that.

When I first joined the fandom, there were definitely people who shipped one way and people who shipped another, but we were still able to have conversations with each other. There would be these really, really long posts that were chains of people commenting on posts and reblogging, then someone adding on their thoughts, then op would respond, etc. Yeah, the posts were super long to scroll through, but there was so much engagement, ya know? And it was genuine, too. We could disagree or say "hey OP I like this point, but have you thought of X?" And it was great! (I even have a tag for it, #long post tag, because I once got an anon who was annoyed at how long my conversations with people would be 💀so I made that tag for people who wanted to block those posts.)

I'm not going to pretend it was perfect - there were definitely people I didn't get along with. But that wasn't a fandom thing, that was just a personality thing. And I never in a million years expected those people to fly off the handle and start attacking me anon, or to ss my posts to make fun of elsewhere. Now, that's a constant fear hanging over everyone's heads.

It has created an extreme echo chamber. I would genuinely like having those old fandom discussions where people would comment - in the open, on reblogs - and then we could all engage in that discussion in public. Now, all of that discussion happens in private, in groupchats and Discord. And don't get me wrong, Discord is super fun. But it also means that 1) people who aren't in those groups have no idea wtf is going on when we vague, although I try not to do that anyway, and 2) when people are in those groups they egg each other on to be worse and worse. Worse than they would have been if they were on their own and didn't feel like they had a group of people there to support their asshole behavior. tbh, I have to check myself sometimes and think, "would I do this if I hadn't just gotten into a rant conversation with friends on Discord?"

And what you said about fan art, it's so frustrating!!! Since when did fan art become a battle ground??? Since when did the appearance of fan art = a win for one ship or the other?? Why can't the comments of those arts ever just be nice and appreciative of the work someone has put into it? Honestly, it makes me paranoid to write fanfic, too! I mean, is that next???

I totally agree with you that we should be able to respect each other as people. We used to be able to do that. I hate to admit it, but I have so many people blocked now because I just don't trust them. I don't trust them to be civil, I don't trust them to be able to see my posts, I don't trust them to even read what I've written without misconstruing everything I've said.

I'm not sure if people realize that there is a big difference between this:

I don't like X ship

And this:

People who like X ship are delusional

The first one is okay! It's normal! Like you said, we all have feelings and interpretations and stuff we would prefer to see or not see!

The second one, not okay! Stop insulting people, people!!!!

The idea of engaging in a normal, healthy debate with a huge portion of the fandom is such a foreign concept to me at this point, and it never used to be. There could be a lot of reasons for this. And I always try to avoid pointing fingers because I know that not everyone is like that, though I'm sure I have slipped into that from time to time.

I think it would help if we stop seeing each other as a gwynriel or an elucien or an elriel, and start seeing each other as individuals. When acosf first came out, I started noticing a trend where people would send me asks and write them as if they were writing to every single person who ships elucien, or as if they were writing to every single person who holds a certain opinion about Azriel. It was really confusing at first, and I'm gonna request that the fandom stop doing that altogether, to everyone. If you want to engage with someone, engage with that person, not your idea of who they are and what they think.

I'm down for conversations where we talk about the series and what might come next as possibilities, because that's all this is, so far. Anyone who says that "X thing will never happen" is making some bold claims, and it's really off-putting to people who know that that's not why we are here. It's not a contest where we "win" canon. It's fandom, where we talk about what we like and what we don't like and what we want and cross our fingers and hope.

EDIT I wanted to add on one thing - a lot of this behavior is incredibly shocking and disgusting and I think that we, as a fandom, need to be better at 1) calling it out, and 2) not assuming that whoever did X horrible thing represents all people from that corner of the fandom.

I hope that you have a lovely day as well! And that the fandom doesn't get you too down. @heleencollier

[lebrookestore]

Thank You and Presents?

Welcome to this semi-chaotic, passive aggressive post. I spent a good hour on this, so you mfs better read.

I've decided to combine these two posts, considering they go hand in hand, so bear with me.

I've been here for a month, and I've made so many new friends, read some amazing fics, and actually made friends with some of my writing inspirations themselves, which I cant even begin to comprehend so I won't try.

I've released four fics, two were shorter, but the ones I'm really proud of- Little Princess and Poison and Petals-i still can't believe I sat my ass down and started writing. This year has been a shit one, but never would I have thought I would start writing fanfiction. Let alone the long ass fics I write please.

So hitting 100 followers is even more of a foreign concept, but thank you so much! I'm bewildered that people actually ready my shit and the fact some want to be tagged in stuff, and the fact it's only been a month? What is reality-

And some of y'all see my shit posts and deal with me- to that I say God bless you and your patience. You have to be some sort of heavenly being amen.

Honestly, some of y'all actually helped me through a lot of shit, and some even encouraged me with my first fic, which was the start of these shenanigans( whether this was a good idea or not, we shall never know)

Basically, thank you so much, it means a lot to me, it really makes my day when I see w new follow, or a reblog, or someone liking my shit posts about simping (I am sorry my dude) .

Now, since the year is ending, thank god, I've decided to give my moots presents, since I've seen a lot of people do this (originality went ✨yeet✨) and it's also like a thank you and appreciation message of sorts. Also because I'm nice.

Let the chaos begin:

@alicanta77 my first moot, and literally one of my biggest inspirations fir writing, she was with me when I was writing Poison and Petals, and encouraged me with everytime I hit a roadblock, or was feeling tired with it. She's such a talented writer, and her series are very well thought out. They deserve so much more love, because the effort, the plot, everything is immaculate, and felix, babe, I love you to death.

@danishmiilk my second moot on this hellhole and I hate you but I love you so I guess pemdas cancels that out. She is an amazing writer, her fics too deserve more attention. I honestly don't know what I would do without this bitch, we run the culture cafe together, and I'm such a dumbass at coding, but she does it(even if she does forget to add the https, but we won't talk about that okay) and she matches my chaotic energy perfectly. She's definitely not annoying (I wrote that with a straight face my dude, be proud), and I would do anything for her so yeah ily bye

@astroboy-lele furOU THE 40 YEAR OLD MAN ON FACEBOOK- I'm sorry, not really, oh well. Another underrated writer, her fics are really good too, and she was the one who encouraged me to start the net, and gave me the idea of a dark cafe aesthetic. She helped me with a lot of shit there too, and is a really good listener.

@orange-nimon-cross I scared as fuck of yunha, but I also love her. Shes honest and blunt af and I love that about her. She always gives me honest, actually helpful feedback a d if probably the first person I'd go to for said feedback. She deserves way more credit for her writing, its amazing, and her poetry? They're beautiful and deep and ineish I could write like that.

@rouiyan MISS REE ANOTHER WRITING INSPO AND A GREAT FRIEND honestly I met her and we just vibed tbh. She too helped me with my first fic by encouraging me, and I love her to death too. Very happy ahes back from hiatus, all my fists of love for you babe!

@yvezs mila I have no fucking clue what your posts mean half the time, but I love you anyways okay, you already know so I'm not gonna bother writing a long ass para, I'll annoy you later

@heartyyjeno ALESHA! honestly, she's so sweet, and her asks literally brighten up my day. Her writing is also amazing and just ugh, I love you and get very happy everytime I see you.

@moonbeamsung HANNAH BBY YOU'RE SO CUTE I LOVE YOU SO MUCH OMG you're the sweetest bean ever and your writing is the bomb.com. I hope we can get closer, because you never fail to make me feel better, or brighten up my day with a message or an ask.

@radiorenjun angie my fellow simp and hard stan letS GO- I know she's not always online, but she's always there when I need to simp, or when I need help with important descisions (what pic I should chose fir my lockcreen, for example) she's always there to simp for ten with me and our convos are questionable (she's seen my dark dark gallery man. If that's not friendship idk what it) . If you do want to summon her though, I suggest typing renjun or ten in a message, all caps.

@channoticedmeuwu kai. *heavy sigh* this bitch is honestly one of the best people, like she deals with ny shit posts, replIES TO THEM and even deals with my excessive simping like damn what angel are you (the fallen one, jK-) she also likes simping with me, even called for help once(it failed, but it's the thought that counts. She even tried helping me when my laptop fucked me over, which, surprise, it still is, but we barely even knew each other at the time?? How amazing is that?? But bitch stay the fuck away from taeyong thanks hyuck is the waiting.

@loonacitys I MET YOU TWO DAYS AGO BUT I ALREADY LOVE YOU WE LIVE I'M THE SAME DAMN CITY BYE OMG and she matches my crack head humour *cough* tHe gRoUp *cough* so yes another amazing hooman bean.

@sweetlyjaem she SIMPED WITH ME AMEN-

@ppangjae literally one of my biggest inspos for writing, I read seven letters and was inspired to pick up little princess again after it was sitting dying in a dark corner of google Docs for three days. Alex is so sweet, she didn't mind my chaotic awkward ass, and dealt with the long ass asks and the dozen of messages I sent her.

@kdongyoung ro is so sweet and chaotic I love it. Her edits are *chefs kiss* and she made my beautiful header which I will flex everytime I get the chance. We've not talked that much, but I still love you okay.

Moots I wanna know better-@jungwooisms @du0tine @moonttaeil @fruityutas @ooyoungs

I LOVE YOU ALL AND THANK YOU BYE

[kaypeace21]

i LOVE your analysis especially byler ones so please don't take this as hate, it's the last thing i want to do. but while i love the byler theories do you actually think the duffers are smart enough to realize the potential/brave enough to follow through on the relationship. bc tbh i think our viewpoint is skewed i don't think anyone but byler shippers see the canon possibility. and also it really seems like m/leven is going to be endgame? just wanted to know more of your thought process

Even if byler never happens- I’m 100% sure mileven won’t be endgame XD. Regardless of byler, Mike and El are just not going to happen. (Even if they’re ‘dating’ in s4). I could try to explain the reasons why I think byler will be endgame though. I’ll give the cliffnotes version. This will probably be a mess- because focusing on all the reasons isn’t as good as analyzing , each reason as it’s own separate post, in depth). 

Why mileven isn’t endgame

- The duffers said, while filming ST, El was supposed to die in s1 (glad that didn’t happen). And this was also their plan when pitching their show ‘Montauk’ (later retitled ST), saying that the hypothetical  s2 sequel would be about the boys returning to their town 10 years later. Mileven was never ‘planned end-game’. They also describe mileven kissing but never mention the word ‘love’ like how Jancy was described in the Montauk pitch. Nancy’s bio says “ she will experience love for the first time.”  But when they describe mileven, they say, “If Mike is the Elliot of our show, Eleven is our “E.T.” Like that’s … not romantic, Duffers. And if it was supposed to be … WTF did you guys watch the same film? 0-O

- In the byler centric s2, the Duffers kept mileven separated. And the mileven kiss wasn’t written in the show. Millie pretty much said “they had to do it.” Much to Matt’s confusion but then the Duffers agreed. And used ‘every breath you take’ (a song about divorce), and just by coincidence their 2nd back-up  song was also a song about a divorce? Nah, they were trolling.

- Most of the women (Nancy & Max) in the show critique Mileven saying Mike treats her as if she’s stupid, can’t take care of herself, or as she is a possession. 

-in the first ep of s3 almost all the guys (who had/have gfs) Hopper, Lucas, and Dustin all criticize the mileven relationship and think it’s unhealthy.

Hopper says “ They’re spending entirely too much time together… It is constant.It is constant! Okay? That is not normal, that is not healthy! ”

Lucas mocks Mike, saying “ Oh El, I wish we could make out forever and never hang out with any of our friends.”

Dustin says when they flake on him, “It’s bullshit, I just got home!” (insert Nancy calling Stancy ‘bullshit’)

and before this  Dustin talks about Romeo & Juliet (while mileven is out of frame). R&J is all about the dangers of not knowing the difference between love and infatuation. Juliet after Romeo is banished just complains about how in love/sad she is but never pursues looking for him (sound familiar)? R&J claimed that they were in love with each other after knowing each for a few days and deciding to get married-sabotaging the closest relationships they had with their friends/family (all in the name of ‘true love’) . Similarly Mileven thought they were in love after only a week of knowing each other, and the second they are reunited they start dating and spend all their time with each other. El is allowed out of the house (and her friends are allowed to visit), but El hasn’t interacted with Max nor Will? They spend almost everyday in her room just making out. Mike puts very little effort into integrating her into his life or as part of the group. The only time they go out- is for Mike to show off El to Dustin like a possession- then before El can even do the boding activity with the group (with the radio tower)- Mike convinces her to leave to make out. They are both complicit in this and they both bring out the worst in each other and they make each other blinded to their loved ones’ feelings.

- El literally asks Max “How do I know what I like?” Do I have to explain why this could be problematic? She even says “I don’t know”, when Max asks if Mike is a good kisser.You can call me ‘ableist’ my abused-autistic ass will disagree. But El is not ready for a romantic relationship! it makes perfect sense for El to be confused by the distinctions of romantic, platonic, and familial love- when the first 12 years of her life she didn’t receive any form of love , PERIOD! And she is not like normal abuse victims (she has never had proper socialization with peers her own age or even adults).All she had was television. She latches herself on to anyone who is kind to her (something I used to do). Without Mike she used Max as a replacement almost immediately, and even starts repeating/mirroring the things she says (specifically coping phrases from her …over 6 times!). She’s also susceptible to doing what others say or want her to do, “dumping his ass” (with Max’s validation and encouragement). El might love Mike but I don’t think it’s romantic, she latched on to the first person that was kind to her. Before their first kiss she asked Mike “Will you be like my brother?” And she’s hurt when he says “no”, asking “Why not?”. He then kisses her (she watches a lot of soap operas and she assumes it must be ‘romantic love’). You’re telling me that if she was ‘in love’ with Mike she would have been that happy over dumping him? I’m not saying El is dumb for not being able to discern these things (I think people without such backgrounds may still struggle with this concept). But it makes perfect sense for El to be confused by the distinctions of various loves or even the differences between ‘crushes’ , ‘physical attraction’ and ‘romantic love’ 

- In the last ep El asks about what he said at the cabin to Max, specifying “you talked about your feelings?”. He says and I QUOTE “Oh! Oh, yeah that.Man, that was so long ago. Um…”  and starts to scratch his head. Then he excuses what he said at the cabin, saying it was “in the heat of the moment stuff and we were arguing… I don’t actually remember. What did I say exactly?”  

Now either he legitimately forgot! Or he lied! You know the thing that broke them up in the first place! The one thing that El holds as her most important value in life- honesty. And he lied- about something as important as his romantic feelings?!  Make up any excuse (about being shy/character flaws all you want), but this isn’t real life- it’s fiction (everything is done for a narrative purpose). That wasn’t an accident ( mileven wasn’t “written out of character”- like milevens claim,  the duffers were criticizing the ship on purpose) .And the fact he lied again! Wouldn’t bode well for a long term relation with each other. The whole season, criticized their romantic relationship ! That wasn’t a coincidence neither was the fact he looked confused by her confession, and kept his eyes open the whole time and didn’t kiss her back . 

And as she smiled and walked away, he looked confused. That wasn’t a directing mistake, like so many milevens are claiming! You really think they wouldn’t make sure their ‘fav ship’ didn’t have a good final kiss? 

 Especially since it was right after a romantic Jancy scene (which was directed amazingly)- where Nancy even mentions Mileven- to make us compare the 2 pairings romantic scenes even more. 

* I know I sound like an assh*le but I’m just annoyed. I’ve always censored my byler posts trying not to offend/criticize mileven. I never cross tagged my byler meta with the hashtag mileven (never will, cause it’s rude). But (without sounding pompous) my byler posts generally gets reblogged a lot- and now the milevens have seen my posts (and are sending lots of hate my way) and worst of all they’ve invaded the byler tag. Today I saw 2 posts in the byler tag saying. “We’re delusional” and “stupid”- and also in the same posts they say they “feel attacked” by us.Um… there’s a difference between byler shippers privately criticizing a ship without bothering mileven shippers (and only tagging it byler) . Versus Mileven shippers  tagging things byler (and ranting about the ship and it’s shippers). Loved the comment about how Mike can’t be bi cause “he loves El too much”.I think Mike is probably gay and in denial. But, um that’s not how being bi works- didn’t know  bi people love women and men ½ as much as the gays/straights. Thanks for informing me (rolls eyes for eternity).So kid-gloves off, nothing left to lose! Time to compare the ships.

‘The breakup’ vs ‘fight’ parallel

comedic vs dramatic! The casual sunny day vs the dramatic framing of the storm (a romantic trope) . The ‘break-up’ being a scene with multiple onlookers vs the fight being with Will and Mike only (making it more personal/intimate).  ‘Cold as ice’ playing after the mileven breakup vs the sad instrumentals playing during the byler fight. The comedic after-math at the mall. El and Max laughing, and another joke being made as the bus leaves.El’s happiness vs Will’s heartbreak.

Mike’s drastically different expressions after their fights. He looks regretful with Will, and almost annoyed with El dumping him.  The fact Mike apologized right away more than once to Will, and ran into a storm to apologize a 2nd time. But with El he just lies to cover up the first lie, and then after the break-up he just complains/lounges on the couch (not taking any responsibility). He literally says about El “Why is she treating me this way? What did I do to deserve this? What did I do wrong?”.( He lied and made her feel “like garbage”!) Then he burps and laughs about chips- and makes sexist comments. Neither EL nor Mike are heartbroken by the breakup.

But when he angers Will (by him trying to finish the game early), he immediately tries to de-escalate saying softly “I was just joking- c’mon, let’s finish the game”. But when Will just yells back (much to Mike’s confusion) he doesn’t dismiss his feelings as irrational (like he wrongfully did to El) but chases him to the garage-  and begs him to stay since it’s raining.

In the garage, Mike immediately apologizes saying “I said I was sorry, alright. It was a cool campaign.” But after this, they fight and Mike runs into a storm to apologize a second time , and says to Will’s door “ WILL! I’m sorry I was being an asshole. Can you just come outside and we’ll talk? WILL!” He immediately takes responsibility and apologizes. And he’s desperate to resolve things. And when they find him outside castle Byers he just asks  (Mike’s catchphrase) “Will, Are you ok?”

Shed scene ( “best thing I’ve ever done” vs “the most important thing in the world to me”) parallel

When Mike says to El  “you’re most important thing to me” in the pool shed. El doesn’t even acknowledge the comment (and neither should the audience- cause the words were empty). She completely ignores his words, and responds by asking him about his previous comments. Asking whether Hopper was right about them spending too much time together.

I didn’t edit (or delete any scene after his proclamation) this is how fast it was delivered ! The framing of this mileven scene was not cinematic or heartfelt, and neither was the delivery from Mike. He’s not crying, trying to reach her with proclamations of his genuine feelings. There’s no dramatic music, framing, lighting or shot composition. And El just responds and cuts his supposed ‘true feelings’ off- only to agree with Hopper and says “ she should spend time with her own species.” And if this ‘romantic moment’ wasn’t already undermined enough. This is when Mike realizes she was spying on him , and feels wrongfully violated (something she doesn’t apologize for,  saying “I make my own rules” . He even brings this up in a later episode (this clearly bothered him)!

Juxtaposed to the MUCH longer byler scene. A literal single tear falling down his cheek as Mike , recounts the first day they met. Mike being in the back drop of darkness only his face being illuminated (having him appear like a guiding light to Will). Saying “ I felt so alone and  so scared… but you were alone too” (alone together/crazy together) .  He then talks about asking Will to be his friend, and then he pauses and breaks eye contact , before looking him in the eye and smiling (lost in the memory) saying softly “you said yes, you said yes.” (cough like saying yes at a wedding).

So, after he says “you said yes, you said yes.” It’s important to mention that he takes a deep breath and breaks eye contact again, (looking down and to the side) as he says this line. Subconsciously, I believe he knows this line is romantic and he’s too afraid to say it to his face. Only flicking his eyes up to look at Will  after he finishes the entire sentence, and to gauge Will’s reaction.

This whole monologue is only of tight shots of just their faces (their bodies aren’t shown like in the pool shed scene). This is a personal moment between them and them alone- and the fact we zoom in on their faces (expresses this to be important emotionally) . And when we see Will’s reaction to Mike saying “it was the best thing I’ve ever done”. We just see Will’s face only- no music is playing and all we hear is  Will’s whimpers and Mike crying in the background.

“ Blank makes you Crazy” vs “ Crazy Together parallel

When Mike tries to confess his “love” to El he says “Well they do say it makes you crazy”… much to El’s confusion.He has to try to explain it a second time to El- who just gets even more confused, by his ‘confession’. Saying “you never heard that expression? Like blank makes you crazy … like the word (love)?”

But when Mike says he “feels like he’s going crazy” Will immediately responds with “Me too”. Mike even smiles at the comment. So that moment in s2 means more than we think, when Mike (with tears in his eyes) smiles at Will’s comment and asks them to go “crazy together”.And when Will responds back “yeah, crazy together” (who also has tears in his eyes). They even linger on the moment as they just smile and stare at each other.

Mike is in denial, and may not even realize he loves Will, but he knows subconsciously that he does. He heard the phrase “love makes you crazy and that damn stupid”, 100′s of times and that’s why he said that phrase to Will. And why it made him so happy when Will reciprocated , by saying “ yeah. crazy together.” In addition to why we see them both go from happy, to immediately upset over the conversation.The scene was already romantically coded in s2 (but the scene in s3 re-contextualizes the whole thing) . Mike thinks “love makes you crazy” , and he asked Will to go ‘crazy together’ with him. And When Will is at castle byers looking at the Halloween pic of the 2 the day Mike said that, Will cries and calls himself “stupid” (4x). Can’t get more obvious… Like look what the duffers did! 

El and Will’s opinions on Mike (Parallels)

-When asked if Mike was a good kisser,  she just said “I don’t know he’s my 1st boyfriend.” (implying she’s thinking, at least subconsciously, of having other boyfriends ,who are not Mike in the future).  But when Mike pretty much asks’ if Will thought they’d never get girlfriends, and spend the rest of their lives with each other’.Will just sadly responds “yeah, I guess I did. I really did!” Unlike, El, Will always saw Mike as his future, his forever.

-And when Mike says “it’s just a break” , Max says “No it’s not!”, and we see El laugh along with Max’s comment. She is not heartbroken at the idea of never getting back together with him, romantically. Right after they break up she was laughing, reading comics, and playing games with Max.

But Will is devastated over the fight! And out of all the memories in Castle Byers it’s the Ghostbusters photo from Halloween that causes Will to pick up the bat and start destroying everything. That was the night that Mike agreed to go “crazy together” with him. He tears it in ½ right in the center where Mike and Will are. He was so stupid to think it meant anything. The “crazy together” scene, that Mike initiated in s2 was always meant to be romantic. Not only because of Will’s reaction to the photo in s3, but because Mike in s3 says “They do say it makes you crazy…blank makes you crazy.”  Which is exactly what happens to Will, as he has his breakdown.Castle byers was built on a rainy night , the same day Will’s dad left, when Will was 5 (the same age he met Mike). And lonnie called him a “queer” and a “f*g” and forced him to do “normal things” like baseball to have him “be more of a man”. And then on a rainy night, after Mike says “It’s not my fault you don’t like girls”… what does Will destroy castle byers with? A baseball bat! The fact Will has a baseball bat (despite in s1 saying he does not like baseball) in Castle Byers, surrounded by things he loves: drawings, d&d, art supplies, a microscope, comics- just shows what an impact Lonnie’s problematic conditioning and abandonment had on him. He used a baseball bat to destroy something he loves -castle Byers, and symbolically he was trying to reject his feelings for Mike using Lonnie’s old tactics of fixing him.

- Also, El doesn’t even seem to appreciate when Mike acts like his true self (goofy/like a kid). She laughs when Max complains he talks too much. Rolls his at his jokes with the cpr-dummy, covers his mouth and tells him to stop when he tries to joke and sing, ignores him when he gets excited about talking about dinosaurs. Which relates to my next point

The only characters who’s character bios focus on ‘escaping’ through d&d is Mike and Will.

Will in the Montauk pitch was described as having “sexual identity issues… LIKE MIKE , Will ESCAPES through fantasy gaming where he can be himself, uninhibited.” Like what is Mike escaping from… being a nerd? Because they could of said ‘like his friends’. And no it’s not because they’re best friends- they even specifIed in Lucas bio he’s “ Mike’s best friend” (which was even mentioned in s1).

.In Mike’s character description it says “ bullying and near-crippling insecurity. He has never had a first kiss, much less a girlfriend.He ESCAPES his insecurities through reading fantasy novels … retreating into his own vivid imagination. The Dungeon Master of his Dungeons and Dragons group, he writes sprawling adventures with fantastical monsters.When he finds himself on a real adventure, facing real monsters, he will discover a courage he didn’t know he had. By the end, he will even kiss a girl.”

*Interesting that Mike uses D&D  to escape his insecurities about not having a gf (retreating into his imagination). While Will (who is somewhat aware of his sexuality) uses d&d to escape and be himself uninhibited. They’re foils in a sense- using d&d for opposing reasons.

So the s3 fight about d&d games has a lot more meaning 

Mike equates heterosexual romance with ‘growing up’ and his feeling for Will as something childish he has to grow out of.When they fight over d&d. Mike says “It’s not my fault you don’t like girls!”, then he tries to ½ apologize only to say, “I’m not trying to be a jerk. Ok? But We’re not kids anymore.” He pretty much explains, this is just the way things are-boys fall in love with girls, get girlfriends, and that’s just a part of growing up (heteronormativity).  And tells Will “I mean, what did you think, really? That we were never gonna get girlfriends? We were just gonna sit in my basement all day and play games for the rest of our lives?” And poor Will who is probably more aware of his feelings just responds. “Yeah. I guess I did. I really did.” And after this Mike rushes to Will’s house and apologizes saying he was an “asshole.”When he tries to say he loves El . It was very forced. He can’t even use the world love or explain his feelings, “A feeling … yeah, like, something… like OLD PEOPLE say it sometimes”.

He can’t even describe love and what his “feelings” entail for El , he then says  “Yeah, like something , like old people say it some times. He doesn’t even say it back in the last ep, when she confesses. It’s all talk, but no feeling, it’s just a part of becoming an adult in Mike’s mind.

In the last ep before the mileven kiss, he even invites both El and Will over for Christmas saying “ And Will too… we could all have new presents to play with and… *scoffs* Sorry, that made me sound like a 7 year old...  ”

And it’s implied in the last ep (before the mileven kiss),  because of the 3 month breakup Mike is back to liking d &d. When Mike sees Will put his own d&d book in the donation box he stops him.

Mike: “WHOA, dude that’s the donation box.”

Will: “ I know, I’ll just use yours,  when I come back. (pause) if WE still want to play?”

So then Mike asks, shyly …

Mike : “Yeah, but what if you want to join another party?” (cough- girls , the other ‘species’, or just someone else: girl, guy or otherwise)

Will: “Not possible.” (Will will always love Mike- insert Mikes immediate heart-eye reaction to this comment).

I think people don’t notice what the subtext is here- regardless of his intentions, Mike broke Will’s heart. He made him feel “stupid” for ever thinking he ever had a chance with Mike. He always saw Mike as his forever, but Mike shot any hopes of that down in the garage. Will doesn’t trust his own instincts. Mike could straight up flirt with him in s4/5- and Will would dismiss it as his imagination. He essentially said ‘he’ll always love Mike- but if something is going to happen. It’s up to Mike to initiate it’.

Mike was queer coded since ep 1 (and he’s more queer coded than Will)!

 I LITERALLY thought (in s1) Mike was queer before Will!

- 3 rainbow references. Mike in s1 in his basement has a red heart being propelled by a rainbow sign. We see this again in s3 as a drawing. Mike also stands next to Will behind a rainbow apple poster in s2. Forbidden fruit + rainbow = queer forbidden romance. Also the apple poster was in the AV Club and at that time the rainbow apple-mac sign was suspected to be in reference to for Alan Turning (the gay ‘father of computers’).

In s1:

- 4 separate characters said El looked like a boy, but Mike doesn’t care! Even one of the men thought El might be the missing ‘Byers boy’. When El loses her wig , Troy said “she doesn’t even look like a girl” to the cops. But Mike just calls her “really pretty”

-Nancy says “I thought you were acting weird, but I thought it was because of Will” And Mike responds “I thought you were acting weird too I thought it was because of Steve … Do you like Jonathan now”?” Nancy: “No, do you like Eleven?”. They literally compared the explicit love triangle between Steve/Nancy/Jonathan to the Will-Mike-El dynamic!

- Mike literally uses gender inclusive pronouns when talking about crushes using the word “someone” (3 times), and embarrassing himself because he can’t articulate the difference between friendship and romance. When he could of simply given the 80s heteronormative  answer of ‘when a boy likes a girl’.

Mike: “ you go to school dances with someone.

You know someone that you like”

El: “a friend?”

Mike: ‘not a friend uh … uh someone like a” (gives up and kisses her)

-Mike’s mom said “ What’s been going on with Will, I can’t imagine what it’s been like for you. I just … want you to feel like you can talk to me. I never want you to feel like you have to HIDE anything from me” (she even emphasizes the word ‘hide”  (which is heavily queer coded)

- when Will ‘dies’, “we can be heroes” by David bowie (a bisexual singer) plays,   “And we kiss as though nothing could fall and the shame” is the lyric that plays when Mike returns to his house and cries in his mother’s arms over the ‘death’ of Will. Do I have to explain how ‘kissing and shame’ are queer-coded . And how such a lyric is oddly romantic- if we’re supposed to see their bond as nothing but platonic XD

-his dad jokes “Absolutely not” *turns to wife* “our son with a girl?”.

- when Lucas makes fun of his crush on EL, Lucas gets down on one knee  and says “ I love you so much, will you marry me?” and literally 1s later, we’re introduced to the bullies and the idea (for the first time) that Will is ‘gay’, and Mike is in the forefront of the scene and unlike his friends he is THE ONLY ONE physically assaulted as they cause him to fall face first into a rock (like a gay-bashing) .  They leave Lucas and Dustin unharmed. Even though Lucas just proposed to another guy- which should have gotten him a beating by the homophobic bullies.

It’s supposed to subconsciously hint Mike is queer like Will, and likes Will. The first interaction with the bullies, they mention Will being ‘gay’ right after they mention Mike’s crush on androgynous El and have a guy propose to Mike. Mike says to “ignore them” ( the homophobic remarks) but is assaulted anyways. And when asked what happed he doesn’t want to tell El the details cause he’s ashamed .

2nd time the bullies talk about Will, Mike is once again in the forefront, unlike his straight friends who are in the background . But this time Mike initiates the confrontation), as the bullies say Will is “flying in fairyland with all the other little fairies. All happy and gay”. Mike was literally on the verge or tears at this comment (despite being happy a few moments earlier , telling the others to ‘act sad’ because they’d look suspicious other wise). But this is the comment where Mike snaps and pushes Troy back (because he took it personally/wanted to defend Will).

The framing of Mike once again being in the front and snapping at the homophobic remarks ( gifs don’t do it justice, just rewatch the scene -Mike eyes water at the remarks). Then the last time the bullies appear , Mike jumps off the cliff and “flies like a fairy” (like Troy said) thanks to El . Troy at the police station even uses the word “fly” not levitate.

-Mike sneaking out to find Will, as Steve sneaks in to Nancy’s. They both even make eye contact (and pretend not to have seen each other).

- they share dinosaur toys , in s1 and 2 they appear to be the only ones with dinosaur toys.

- The s1 mom hug scene where Mike feels he lost Will is paralleled in s3 - signifying how he lost him a 2nd time.

- Mike in the 1st ep being the one to insist on looking for Will in the rain (callback to s3). But he never went looking for El when he saw her through his window? Even when Mike saw Will’s dead body, the second he heard his voice he convinced his friends to help rescue him!

- You remember the binder (from s1) that Mike keeps, filled with 100s of Will’s drawings, and how he caresses the drawing after thinking Will was dead. That’s totes platonic.

- Mike in s1 proclaiming “I’m the only one who cares about Will!” Seems like something a kid with a crush might say ( because obviously his other friends care about Will). But he thinks he cares the most. He was even the first to worry about Will not showing up to school, the first to suggest looking for him while speaking to Hopper, and when Hopper and his parents say ‘no’ he sneaks out anyway (and is the first to suggest forming a search party). The first to believe he was alive after seeing his dead body.The only boy to have a scene dedicated solely to him mourning Will.  Mike being the only boy to stay awake at the hospital, and the first boy to see and hug Will. The only one to have a private one on one talk before Will goes missing. The only one who was literally given 100s of Will’s drawings. And yet Dustin says Lucas’ is Mike’s best friend? So what does that make Mike and Will?

In s2:

- Will in all 3 seasons identifies as a wizard. But in s2 Mike (the paladin) says Will is a cleric. Meaning this reflects how Mike actually feels about Will. In d&d, they have similar moral values, powers, and generally need and depend on each other in the lore of d&d. Paladins have similar healing powers to clerics, but clerics have stronger healing abilities - which is interesting since Mike has always been viewed as the protector. But to Mike Will has helped him (maybe deal with the loss of El and other trauma) , just by being there. And if Mike says Will is a cleric,despite Will still identifying as a wizard in s3, it shows how deeply Mike actually feels about Will. It shows he views Will as one of the only people who understands him and views him as a healing presence and his moral compass.

“ strength of conviction gave many paladins a sense of common fellowship but did not always endear them to others. In many cases, paladins did not get along quite as well with other non-paladin adventurers, with the exception of clerics with similar beliefs.”

“A Paladin tries to hold to the highest standards of conduct, but even the most virtuous Paladin is fallible. Sometimes the heat of emotion causes a Paladin to transgress his or her oath (of honesty, courage, compassion, honor ,and duty). A paladin who has broken a vow typically seeks absolution from a cleric who shares his or her faith or from another paladin of the same order. After a rite of confession and forgiveness, the paladin starts fresh.”

This proves Mike knows he treats Will special/different than his other friends- and unlike a relationship with El (they are still individuals who are not dependent on each other). And Mike thinks being with Will quite literally makes him a better person. Juxtaposed with how him being in a romantic relationship with El made him blind and apathetic to those closest to him .

- All the mileven s1 parallels vs byler s2 parallels were ALL initiated by Mike. If the parallels were meant to show a one sided love triangle (on Mike’s end). They would of made Will the instigator not Mike! Parallels can be watched here , start at 6:50)

-Mike initiated the “crazy together’ line- and in s3 he said ‘blank makes you crazy’. So subconsciously he knew the line had romantic connotations.

-Mike initiating the hand hold (with a zoom in shot) and in the show this is only done for romantic pairings. Also Mike being the one to initiate the ‘arm thing’ which is generally romantic. But in s3 , Lucas also does this, saying “I am spending quality time with my girlfriend’

-Mike saying, asking him to be his friend was the “best thing I’ve ever done”

-Mike constantly following Will around, asking if he’s okay or biking to his house to check on him in s2 . In s3 running out to chase Will to the garage and apologizing, and running into a storm to apologize a 2nd time.

YOU SEE A PATTERN! Mike is whipped! And is the one constantly chasing and pursuing Will, not the other way around! Before s3, people always portrayed Will as the (stereotypical- problematic trope of a) sad-pinning-gay in a one sided love with Mike. It’s like people didn’t even watch the show (and just assigned tropes/stereotypes they wanted, that weren’t actually there). Will (probably too shy or scared to- because of homophobic taunts) never initiated a single byler moment- it was ALWAYS Mike!!! If people were actually objective, they would of thought it was Mike who was the one pinning!

- Which brings me to Mike literally pinning! Mike forcing Will to dance with a girl (who has a rainbow hairclip), but you literally see Mike’s shocked expression like  ‘what,why’d I do that ?’ And after this, they show Dustin looking sad about Max/Lucas dancing and then they have Mike get into the frame (next to Dustin) and look sad when Will/girl are dancing in the same exact frame as Max/Lucas. As they switch between these last 2 shots.

the cannon Spotify playlists-called ‘Mike’s basement beats’- These are character playlists that Spotify and St worked on together after s2.

-his first song is “small town boy” an 80s LGBT anthem about living in a small town and being queer and bullied. Every band member was openly gay.

-his 11th song is ‘don’t you want me’ from a “celebrate your gay pride” album

* But queer people are “delusional” for thinking Mike isn’t straight? And are told to “open your eyes and watch the show” (that was an actual quote in the byler tag). Ok? Take your own advice, then! XD

One of the Duffers cited inspirations for ST is SUPER GAY (and what they based the byler dynamic off of).

In the Will comic, Will throws an old 1970s book called “house of stairs” at the demorgorgan. And in a later chapter Mike and Will just read together at the library (just silently reading together, enjoying each others’ company-totally not a romantic cliche).And Mike warns Will the book ‘could have spoilers’ for the d&d campaign. Also look at this byler-centric cover :)

  Peter (Will) is shy, quiet ,initially a pushover, and gay-coded.  And as a coping mechanism he has psychological-breaks with reality where he thinks of his best friend from the orphanage, Jasper (Mike) . Another kidnapped boy, named Oliver (who looks just like Jasper/Mike) is also queer-coded (but a violent-sociopath). And, unlike Jasper who actually wanted to protect/take care of Peter -Oliver starts to gets a sick thrill out of making Peter dependent on him (which Peter catches on to pretty quickly). Oliver was insistent on being the only one to ‘wake’ Peter from his episodes (just like how Mike did for Will, in s2), except Oliver calls him pet-names like “sweetheart, baby, etc.” 

And again to prove it’s queer-coded I’ll read some of the (shortened) quotes, in the order they were written. These are quotes from Peter (Will’s) pov talking about his childhood best-friend Jasper (Mike) .  

-“his room. His and jaspers room.  Jasper looking up from his desk, smiling glad to see him. Jasper saying . Something very important. The most important message, the secret message.  He couldn’t hear him . But jasper keeps smiling , keeps talking . What was the message, jasper? What was the message? The dream had been beautiful at the beginning, terrible at the end, but he longed  to be in it again. If only he hadn’t awakened.”  

-“Jasper sitting on the bed and taking off his shoes ,smiling, ‘you’re okay pete, you’re better than a hundered of those slobs put together. Tomorrow I’ll tell them so myself‘ jasper’s strong, hard body as he got into bed ,so different from peter’s. Strong, to protect him to take care of him. Jasper, who always took care of him”.

-“He wanted to think about oliver it  it was like having Jasper back again. It would disturb him to see Oliver go off with Abigail… the rejection quite painful. It had never been like that with Jasper…jasper.

-The room they shared with rainbow colors, murmuring comforting words to him , enclosing and protecting him. He let himself drift into it, the rainbow hues dimness.”

-“No one ever depended on him. It was he who always depended on others, on Jasper. jasper, who had always taken care of him. Jasper…”

later he admits his feelings for Jasper to Lola/el. Lola and Pete are plantonic soulmates. The only reason why they survive and don’t succumb to their dark and violent urges/psychological brainwashing is because of each other. Lola has  brown hair and eyes and has a buzzcut and is heavily implied to be a lesbian (as she is the only girl in the group who is not fooled by Oliver’s ‘nice guy act’. Which makes the other girls ‘suspicious’ and alienate her). Also this was written in the 70s… she has a buzzcut and is said to “look like a boy”. It’s not that subtle! There was a reason that the author whose first name was WILLIAM (was suspected to be gay/bi when he was alive)!  XD

-Peter says “ he was my friend we were always together . Jasper his name was jasper .in the dream he’s taking care of me’. Now he was beginning to cry, his throat constricting and tears welling up in his eyes .’taking care of me … he always took care of me… taking care of me, and , and … and loving me’. ‘”It was the best time in your life’ she murmured’. ‘Yes’ “

* cough protective childhood friend, rainbows, ‘best time of your life = best thing I ever did.

S3 ending (byler centric ending)

When we first see Mike during the Hopper mologue, the moving truck leaves. “Like you’re pulling away from me or something. I miss playing board games every night (d &d)”…  (the last thing they talked about was Will visiting to play d&d and their fight this season started because of a disagreement about d&d.)

Then Mike looks back at the Byers house (just lingers there and looks back as his friends leave) like how Will did seeing Mike hold hands with El and leave .  “But I know you’re getting older, growing, changing. I guess, if I’m being really honest, that’s what scares me. I don’t want things to change.”Mike , like Will “doesn’t want things things to change”. He doesn’t want his  his feelings of friendship to become romantic in regards to Will,  it “scares” him (especially in rural 80s Indiana). Right after Will cries,  it immediately switches to Mike hugging his mom- to mirror the time he thought Will died in s1 “So I think maybe that’s why I came in here, to try and maybe stop that change. To turn back the clock. To make things go back to how they were.” He goes back to his mother for comfort, like he did the 1st time he lost Will. But also to reverse back time, to s1, before he realized his feelings for Will were romantic.  When things were simpler. 

“But I know that’s naive. It’s just not how life works. It’s moving, always moving, whether you like it or not. And yeah, sometimes it’s painful. Sometimes it’s sad. And sometimes, it’s surprising. Happy.” (byler endgame)

Will (in s2) even says everyone treats him like ‘freak/ that something is wrong with him’ (purposely leaving out Mike from the discussion). And then when Will disparages himself as a freak,and Jonathan agrees but asks Will, ‘who would he rather be friends with-  David Bowie (who was openly bi since the 70s) or Kenny Rogers’? And when Will says Bowie, Jonathan agrees saying “see, it’s no contest”.

So,  it’s just another coincidence that when Will ‘dies’ (in s1) a David Bowie song (‘we can be heroes’) plays. And as Mike hugs his mom, mourning Will -  a romantic lyric from the song plays during the hug?“And we kiss, as though nothing could fall. And the shame”  (which is heavily queer coded)?

And then in the last ep (in s3) Mike mirrors this scene in s1, hugging his mom, since he feels like he’s losing Will all over again. And right after the hug (‘we can be heroes’) plays again!?  I’m not saying byler is endgame. But- WAIT THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT I’M SAYING! XD

These men literally invented ‘hetero-baiting’ (with Robin & Steve) and you think they’re going to queer bait?!

Also, if Will was a girl named ‘Willow” no one would call byler ‘delusional’ ! Even the most casual viewer would say it’s obvious they’d end up together in the end!

If the witness said about El in s1 , “ same height… it could be the Byers girl”, instead of ‘boy’ (pointing out the resemblance).  Mike only meeting El cause he was looking for Willow. Proclaiming “i’m the only one who cares about Willow!” . Mike getting into fights and getting upset (almost crying) about the bullies insulting Willow. Mike only getting angry at El when he thinks she lied about Willow being alive. Mike being the only boy who has a scene dedicated to his loss of her (with the same romantic lyrics playing). Mike having a whole binder of her drawings and caressing one of the drawings, after he thinks she died.  Mike being the only one of her friends to stay awake at the hospital, waiting for her to wake up- so he can see her and hug her first. People probably would of started shipping it the second Willow stared at him and was the only one who didn’t lie to him, in the first ep! Another parallel to El!

If Will was Willow, the majority of the fandom would be byler shippers. Think about it! . Mike having s2 byler scenes that are identical to s1 mileven scenes, and then additional unique byler scenes. Mike staying by Willow’s side 24 hours a day for several days (not even changing clothes), carrying her out of the hospital, grabbing her hand (with a zoom in shot),constantly asking her if she’s okay at least 5-7 times, putting his arm around her twice, being the only one who could tell something was off with her (and it wasn’t her normal type of quiet). Calling and running all the way to her house and banging on the door to check on her, desperate. Watching her sleep cause he’s so worried. That shed scene reminiscing about how they first met in perfect detail, saying “I asked, I asked if you wanted to be my friend. You said yes, you said yes. It was the best thing I’ve ever done. (like a marriage proposal)”  The “crazy together” scene. Them being close since they were 5 vs the girl he knew for a week (but is somehow in love with?). In s2 if Mike sadly watched Willow dance with another guy , while Dustin does the same to Max. Forget it- everyone would already know mileven would be doomed to fail.

And again think about s3 if Will was a girl.They parallel the (comedic) mileven breakup vs (the sad/serious) byler breakup. Then Mike just complains and burps on the couch vs apologizing to Willlow multiple times/even going into a storm to apologize a 2nd time (and to ‘talk’). Willow having a breakdown over the fight vs El laughing and high five-ing Max after.The shed vs the pool shed scene- “best thing I’ve ever done” vs “you’re the most important thing in the world to me”, “blank makes you crazy’ (as El stares confused) vs “crazy together’ (where Willow says ‘yeah, crazy together’). Mike going on ‘movie dates with Willlow all the time’ right after making out with El. The last mileven kiss where Mike has his eyes open the whole time,  and doesn’t kiss back. And saying he doesn’t remember saying  “I love” you to El (and doesn’t say ‘I love you’ back). Right after having a talk with Willow about playing games when she comes back (the crux of their fight). Mike getting excited that he’ll be able to visit El and Willow on Thanksgiving and them visiting him on Christmas (those are holidays where family usually introduces their S.O.) Having the last scene of Mike,  be him looking back at Willow’s house, and have that whole monologue about “feelings changing”, and then he goes to hug his mom like the s1 byler scene where he thought Willow was dead, signifying he lost her again. And that’s not even all the scenes- and every time byler won by a landslide. If Will was a girl, we wouldn’t be ‘delusional’! It would be obvious writing on the wall, that Mike would eventually choose Willow over El by the end of the series.

But since they are 2 boys, we’re delusional, because queer kids don’t exist … apparently.

*S3-I’m not repeating my literal essays but they’re probably better than this post so here are the links to pretty much all my s3 byler meta.  (x) (x) (x) (x) (x) (x) (x) (x)

gif credit: 1st few have the name stark in the gifs, 2nd byler gif (found on wheheart.com- user dream_daisy, not sure if they also have a Tumblr , 3rd livelovecaliforniadreams, 4th &10th Cath-avery, 5& 6th unknown, 7-9 eggogorgon . Tell me if you know the unknown one so I can give credit , please.

[fandomele]

I don't wanna start anything but I've seen the lack of love for POC ships happen in dozens of fandoms now and I just gotta say you can't fault people for not liking what you like bro. You could make a show full of diverse representation but no one's truly gonna care unless the characters are actually interesting. I'm black but I'm not gonna enjoy a show JUST b/c there's a black person in it. If I don't like them I don't like them and them or me being black has nothing to do with it

okay so racism tw , supergirl, anti supercorp fandom, anti supergirl fandom. long post for ts

no, it’s okay, you are free to express your opinion, just like I’m free to get annoyed at the tag being filled with Lena and Lena and Lena I haven’t watched a show that has an ace character in it, Sex Education, because it’s not my kind of show and it bores me (though I do reblog gifsets of the Ace Scene and I am so happy about it. Because I do care about ace representation, I try to promote these things and also to share so that it might reach people who are interested in shows like that and will get a kick out of it. But I’m not saying everyone has to), and I’m not saying you must like everything, but at the same time a fandom like ours simply ignoring the plot of entire episodes because… what, they only find one character interesting and they couldn’t find ANY other worth mentioning, is something I personally found ridiculous. 

And that’s kind of the thing, isn’t it? You raised a great point. If this was a part of the fandom that from the beginning had simply said ‘I like this because of my tastes, and everyone has different ones’ I wouldn’t be exasperated, but given how it actually went, nope, THEY said it wasn’t just about people’s tastes, it’s about having representation and supporting fellow lgbtqia+ fans. So good part of my frustration depends on this specific fandom and how it behaved in the past. 

For more context, it bothers me that the loudest (even if small) group of fans left watching supergirl on tumblr are the ones yelling about how Kara and Lena not being together is homophobia, and how they are being queerbaited and how the show (and non supercorp fans) is against gay people, while the tag itself is full of posts either complaining about the lack of Lena, and writing posts about Lena, and completely ignoring the amazing wlw couple there and the trans character there, and in fact those episodes with little Lena but focused on those characters get downvoted/boycotted/ignored by the fandom, and while they hate on all actors and writers if they so much as point out it’s not canon or that they are being bullies, and attack minorities, people of colors, transgender people, people with mental illnesses all day long to defend their ‘rights’. Not to mention that it’s the same group that back in the day accused people of shipping Kara and Mon El, also canon, together because they were against James, who is black, and so it was because ‘racism,’ and then turned around and hated James as soon as he was canonly together with Lena. And there is proof of them being racist as well like when they photoshopped James’s actor as an ape* next to Lena’s actress, and how Raul who played Lena’s ex also commented on that behavior. They use social issues to attack everyone and then show they don’t really care about supporting a show that actually has the representation THEY say they are not getting. 

I was bored by James and Kara. Nothing to do with him being black. I found him cute with Lena at first but then it became a bad relationship for him to keep. But if you (always a general you, not YOU-YOU anon) accuse me of shipping Kara with someone else (Mon El) only because I’m racist and don’t want her with James, that’s the only reason, and then you start insulting James like hell for being with Lena, you basically said it yourself that it’s racism, and on top of it you used his being black and the ‘you are racist’ card as props to attack people, and then disregarded him and the actor as soon as you didn’t need it anymore, and that sounds also racist to me. As well as how pretending to care about trans issues only to ignore the trans character after you stop needing it is using that character/actress and it’s transphobic, if you ask me. 

I’m not saying it’s everyone, I’m not saying it’s all those shippers, I’m not saying personal taste doesn’t count, but come on. Just admit you only care about your ship and it’s not about ‘moral’ reasons, that’s fine, but make it a social issue, and then turn around and ignore episodes about canon representation and downvote them and ask people to boycott episodes. How can you also not find ANYTHING but Lena interesting in a show that isn’t about Lena? So many choices, and yet.

 At least this is my opinion, and seems to be the opinion of all the people who liked posts and reblogged. Again, there is a lot of stuff to talk about so  the answer is chaotic, but to sum it up:

1) if you build a whole case around the fact that your fanon ship (Kara and Lena) is about representation too, about gay rights, and how much you care about it, and have spent years telling everyone else that they are racist and homophobic because they ship other things, and then you don’t even make a peep about the representation you are getting and just complain about your fanon ship, which by the way up until now involves a white, straight, woman, you are using social issues to prop a ship you like and you don’t really care that much about them outside of it. Admit from the beginning it���s about your tastes and that you just like those two women together, it’s not about a show giving you representation, and it’s fine, but you can’t have both. You can’t tell people that your fanon ship is all about representation AND if they don’t like it it’s because of homophobia, and if they like another it’s because of racism, AND simultaneously ignore everything you get that isn’t about said fanon ship.

2) the cast was attacked in the past with racist and transphobic tweets so some people, not everyone, are also motivated by them. Also really, you are telling me that all these people who like Lena but do care about social issues just happen not to like Nia, a trans woman, and not like her ship with Brainy, a man of color, and not like Alex and Kelly, and not like about the whole plot about the guy going after Nia because transphobic, there is just NOTHING interesting to talk about? Either they are using social issues to their advantage which is kinda homophobic and racist and transphobic in itself, or this is a giant coincidence, because there isn’t one of these plots that is worth a post or that won’t make them not complain about the lack of Lena in a show that has all these characters together.

3) for me it’s frustrating to get all this good stuff and then find nothing but comments about Lena in the MAIN tag, where one usually goes after an episode to talk about the episode itself. That’s how tags work in all fandoms except this one. 

4) I’m white, that means that I can’t declare that tumblr deciding not to ship biracial couples in nearly every show where there is one is a matter of tastes or is a matter of racism, it’s not for me to decide, and my personal opinion is that it depends on the person but there is such a racist culture in some places that it can’t not have a role in it. And I’ve seen people of color bring up that yes, it’s about tastes too, but since I’ve also seen many others instead bring up the issue that it’s just happening too much to be a coincidence, that every single time people say a ship is platonic if one of them isn’t white, I feel like it would be racist of me to dismiss those concerns. Because it is a trend and because the racist insults thrown at actors more than once do say that while for some people it is a matter of tastes, for others it’s definitely not just that. Just going to leave this as a little example that represents that hundreds we saw in years:

 *

edit: and

[delusion-of-negation]

Ex feminist/sjw here. I can confirm that using discourse as a way to process trauma will fuck you up even more and you'll start losing touch with the real world. And there's also knowing that people you consider friends will turn on you the moment you have a ""bad"" opinion or forget to tag an extremely specific trigger you weren't aware of, which is literal hell if you have paranoia or a fear of abandonment. I cannot express how much talking to regular people offline helped me.

I think this is re these, but I'm not 100% sure, feel free to correct

it could also just be a reblog I've forgotten about, like this post

yeah, having real friends, offline or online, who won't just drop you over shit is important. I know it's popular on here to say "actually politics is an extremely valid thing to drop someone over" and to an extent that's true - if someone thinks you shouldn't have the right to get married and is always ranting about how people like you destroy the western world, totally valid to go "yeah that's not good for my health", but it really can't apply to every little thing. I have a trans friend who's had actual real life arguments with people who get pissy when they find out she still reads Harry Potter, despite it being a huge part of her journey that she's just not ready to drop over the author being a bitch. and that sucks. as humans, we want unconditional love, because we all have some fucked up part of ourselves, or some frustrating flaws, or some opinions that are wrong, or outdated, or right but against the grain, or some weird grey area - and we're all well aware of a part of ourselves like that, everybody reading this has a thing that they're going "yeah, if I posted this right now I'd be getting hate for days (or more)", and we're hardwired to wish even that part could be loved, y'know? I have really fucking bad paranoia, although not as much fear of abandonment (obviously total abandonment by everyone or a couple of specific people is still not something I'd be anywhere near happy about, I just have a LOT of paranoia so almost anything is minor by comparison), and it's a blessing when you find people you really can say anything to - I only have a couple of people who know my darkest secret, mostly online people but one who's stayed at my house and that was the only time I've ever said it explicitly aloud that I recall, and that is probably one of the best moments of my life in a weird way. it was a joke one of us made that referenced it, and it was so casual and non-judgemental, and I never thought I'd be able to have those sounds in the air without the whole world exploding, y'know? you can't process things in the same way when you're just yelling at people online, you can't trust the ever-dramatic hellscape of discord servers, full of people who care more about keeping the colour they earned their name being than having your back, to be a reliable and consistent group of friends. you need unconditional love from a myriad of sources - eg a dog, a best friend, a partner, a bro, and yourself. as fun as arguing online can be, and as valid as friendships somehow forged in the fiery pits of discord hell can be, it's not all there is to life. sometimes I get too online, and I have to step away because a whole day has disappeared to a couple of tumblr arguments and some random fun chats on discord, and whenever there's drama in a discord server I've learnt to step away unless it's absolutely necessary for me to butt in to try to drag everybody back to the real world where "they were caught liking trans porn that had a slur in the title!!" is only considered a problem to people who take issue with the existence of trans porn or what it means about the viewer's sexuality, not with the wording of the title (that's just a hypothetical but it's not an exaggeration). it's important to have people in your life who aren't going to leave you over dumb shit, and it's important to be that person to others, because if we're all dropping anyone who steps out of line and ostracising them then we end up in a "first they came for the furries and I said nothing" scenario (I know that's not the original, I just like that version), and folks get left out in the cold without people who love them. and it's important to go to the people who love you, especially irl, when shit hits the fan and you're not coping well, because going deeper and deeper into the often damaging coping mechanism of internet politics is only, as anon says, gonna hurt you more.

[perpetua47]

I posted 613 times in 2021

11 posts created (2%)

602 posts reblogged (98%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 54.7 posts.

I added 667 tags in 2021

#the untamed - 234 posts

#cql - 123 posts

#xue yang - 66 posts

#mdzs - 48 posts

#wei wuxian - 41 posts

#fandom - 40 posts

#xiao xingchen - 38 posts

#word of honor - 29 posts

#jiang cheng - 27 posts

#yi city - 21 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#not to appeal to age but if you don't remember what life was like before ao3 idk if you can fully understand unless you do a lot of reading

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Finished nirvana in fire, headache from so many tears. 54 episodes, March 1- April 1. Honestly would have been faster if my one friend wasn't so busy that she could only put in 6-12 hours a week on watching this. HIGHLY RECOMMEND UGH. I only wish there were more fanfic (that looked appealing to me). Read the first 2 chapters of the novel, the author was also the screenwriter and i hear it's 90% the same, but there's always more details in the book.

3 notes • Posted 2021-04-02 06:18:28 GMT

#4

it’s incredibly hard to make myself block word of honor spoilers, because i don’t give a fuck about the plot and just want the gay. I’ve never before bothered with a show that i care *so little* about the plot of. too many factions, too much maguffin. I’ve watched through episode 7 and i have so little idea what is going on. And this isn’t about cdramas in general! with the untamed and nirvana in fire, i took extensive notes and rewatched the first episodes before i moved on. (wrote down 22 damn names on ep 1 of nirvana in fire, should have gotten a character guide sooner) anyway, i want to see gay gifs, but i will go for the actual best option and block it. there will still be new gay available when i catch up

5 notes • Posted 2021-04-10 00:05:15 GMT

#3

I LIKED EPISODE ONE OF LOKI VERY MUCH. I AM VERY HAPPY.  it is giving me things that i like, my tropes, my stuff, if you hate it or just don’t want to watch it, i completely understand. This opinion is coming to you from someone who cried for two hours over comics kid loki. Someone who did this for halloween in *2019*. (We were doing a comics group theme. But still. Not 2012. 2019.)  But. “Sex: Fluid”. This is the main thing I need from this show. All the psych stuff was exactly what I wanted, I’m just very happy. I’ll tag loki, feel free to filter away!

6 notes • Posted 2021-06-10 04:31:00 GMT

#2

Last night we watched Word of Honor ep 10, and i expect I'm not alone on having some really mixed feelings there! Decided i wasn't going to rec the show until i saw more and could decide how i really felt. Tonight we inhaled ep 11-14 and i want to just skip all obligations to binge this incredibly overdramatic gay. I've also started announcing things i want to see in smut, so that's a good sign.

This is not The Untamed. I am not going to rewatching this multiple times in a year, i might never rewatch it in full - i just don't caaaare about so much of the plot. But I'm having fun enough to want to binge! Catching up to the current subs and having to wait till June or whatever to see it all is gonna be TOUGH.

7 notes • Posted 2021-04-15 09:34:41 GMT

#1

so netflix has many options for the thumbnail they show you for a show, and... netflix knows. THEY KNOW. I haven’t even been rewatching their episodes. NETFLIX KNOWS MY CRIMES. This looks SO GAY. Why isn’t this a whole show. Why. They know I want it.  (read about the thumbnail thing here)  https://www.vox.com/2018/11/21/18106394/why-your-netflix-thumbnail-coverart-changes

8 notes • Posted 2021-01-18 06:27:39 GMT

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