#also releasing this from my drafts

[tokutaiseichan]

[Ren voice] Senpai, you should kill them.

[title]

Josh O'Connor 🚬 La Chimera (2023), directed by Alice Rohrwacher Challengers (2024), directed by Luca Guadagnino

[fernsnailz]

some sketches/doodles of my dnd character, Gorb :] my stupid lizard boy with a -1 intelligence modifier

[asha-mage]

FFXVI really takes your hand and says 'come with me', then shows you a world that is broken and full of pain and heartache and selfishness and cruelty. It shows you the terrible things people are willing to do to each other for no good reason, it shows you how how leaders can be short sighed and foolish in their earnest desire to do the right thing for their people, and that causes no less pain then when they are corrupted and arrogant and vain monsters. It shows you how people's cruelty all to often is born of a world that beats them down that gives them no other choice but to be cruel if they want to survive.

And then it asks: is this worth saving? Is this worth protecting? Wouldn’t it be better if you just let it all go? Let it all be destroyed, and broken apart, and lost? Wouldn’t it be enough to just end the pain? Wouldn’t that be salvation?

And in the same breath it answers, no because salvation isn’t the point. Humanity is cruel, greedy, fractious and hateful and it always will be. Just as humanity is kind, generous, united and loving and always will be. Even as the world falls apart The Dame fights to keep Northreach together, even as monsters beat down her gates Martha takes in refugees and escaped slaves and refuses to stop, even as nations crumble and bandits flourish the Dragoons still battle for the sake of their people and country, while the Crusebreakers keep struggling to free the innocent and protect the weak. Even as Joshua is hacking up blood, even as his body is shutting down he keeps walking forward at Clive’s side inevitably, inexorably to the end, because he loves his brother and refuses to give him up to Ultima’s scheme.

FFXVI tells you that there are no promises, not guarantees, that the only people who can promise salvation are the ones who want to sell it. FFXVI says that no one is assured victory, or safety, or paradise. The point is not to save the world from it’s evils. The point is that we fight to try and reach the next dawn with the people we love. Humanity can never create a perfect world because we are imperfect creatures, but the battle to make a better world, a kinder world, a more free world, a more gentle more fair, more loving world is what defines us.

[ilonacho]

💚🥑💚

[vivitalks]

i can't stop thinking about lydia's role in the nightmare-ception nightmare stiles has at the very beginning of season 3b. it's fair to assume that the nogitsune is, on some level, pulling the strings on this matryoshka of a dreamscape, possibly because it doesn't yet have the strength to control stiles while he's awake, but even if it's not the nogitsune, lydia's presence and behavior make no sense.

she's in the part of stiles's dream where he thinks he's awake, and other than wish fulfillment, there's no real reason why she would be there. and while she seems like just another part of the dream - manifested by stiles's subconscious - the way she acts suggests more than that. her presence is the first thing to tip stiles off that something is wrong. he thinks he's awake, but if he's awake, then why is lydia in his bed? maybe lydia was not, actually, supposed to be part of this dream at all.

the moment stiles realizes this, his door creaks open, distracting him from lydia and drawing his attention to the door - specifically, the idea that someone could "get in" if the door is open. if we run with the likely theory that the nogitsune has already entered stiles's mind by this point, then this is stiles's subconscious understanding to a certain degree that he could be in danger, but not yet aware that he already is.

but lydia knows. from the second stiles moves toward the door, lydia does her best to persuade him not to. first she tries to dismiss it ("just go back to sleep", "don't worry about it") and then to challenge his reasoning ("what if someone comes in?" "like who?") but by the time he's reaching for the door, lydia is full-on begging. she's panicking. she knows that (1) stiles isn't going to close the door, but walk through it and (2) there is something through the door that is incredibly dangerous.

and i keep wondering: if the nogitsune was already there, and on some level, however small, controlling the dream, then why the hell was lydia there? her entire role was to counteract the nightmare. she did everything she could to prevent stiles from opening that door. how did the nogitsune benefit from that?

now. i know this is a far-fetched theory. but hear me out: the lydia in stiles's dream was the real lydia. stiles and lydia were in the same dream - they just didn't know it.

essentially what i'm saying is lydia "dreamwalked" into stiles's mind without meaning to. i know there is no canon basis for this being a thing that can happen, but play in the space with me for a minute:

lydia is specifically singled out for her clairvoyant ability to predict danger and death, though it is often presented to her in an abstract fashion

she has been known to sometimes have these visions while she's asleep

there is a door open in stiles's mind, meaning theoretically anything with the capacity to enter a mind could enter stiles's mind, whether intentional or not (and we know that at this point, lydia lacks the ability to control her powers)

there is a connection between stiles and lydia - a tether - that linked them in a supernatural capacity at least once before (with the ice baths)

given the other supernatural concessions of the show, it's not that much of a stretch to propose that lydia could have unwittingly entered stiles's dream, perceived it as her own, picked up on the threat to stiles, and been inclined to protect him from it, without knowing exactly what "it" was.

and before you say "banshees can only predict death, not any danger," that has generally held true for lydia...but with one notable exception, which happens later on in this season: she finds nogitsune!stiles unconscious in the parking garage, after the nogitsune slices his stomach open. he's not dead, and we know he's not dying because deaton says he seems to be healing. something about the connection that exists between lydia and stiles enables her to predict any kind of threat to him, not just the imminently fatal kind.

so: stiles has a nightmare where lydia is inexplicably there, the only part of the nightmare that isn't nightmarish. and at the same time, lydia has a dream that has all the makings of a banshee vision, and responds accordingly: by trying her best to protect her friend, pleading with him not to go near the door, because she can tell there's something bad behind the door. they had the same dream. they were both there. lydia, somehow, entered through the same open door the nogitsune used to get into stiles's mind, and, thinking the stiles in her dream was a premonition of danger coming to him, did her level best to keep him safe, unaware that this was the real stiles, and the danger was already here.

[waitineedaname]

"Amestris is an allegory for nazi Germany" you fool. Amestris is not an allegory for just nazi Germany -- it's an allegory for genocidal, fascist, militaristic governments as a whole. Yes, it has parallels to fascist Europe, but it also has parallels to xenophobic militaristic US and imperialist Japan. The point is not "look at this outlier of a country committing atrocities," the point is that the country committing atrocities might be your country and you might be complicit in it no matter how morally upstanding you might think you are. To act like only one government is capable of committing genocide blinds you to the potential that any other government might commit genocide too.

[ragsy]

[Shaking myself by the lapels] you have got to stop being harsh on your art for mistakes that you view as completely innocuous when other people do it!!! Why are you holding yourself up to a double standard like that!!! Look at this artist you look up to, they drew that leg really fucking weird, isn't that freeing? Look at this other person you respect, they can't draw anything from memory!! And this extremely famous artist? they don't know how to draw ears! And you were sitting there beating yourself up about how stiff your poses look or how out of proportion that face is. Yeesh!!!

[neixins]

ngl i’m very curious to see the dragons’ reactions to losing their powers (both the guilt of realizing that yona’s trapped bc she wanted to save them and in a practical sense (the disability allegory of it!!)), especially gija, who cares so so so much about his Duty as a dragon warrior and who doesn’t really have any combat skills outside of his dragon arm. there’s just so much potential there. on the combat skills note, if only there was someone who carried a whole stash of weapons on his person and could offer some guidance…..kusanagi if u give me this gijaeha-flavored treat i’ll pardon all of your diabolical crimes

[wackpedion]

i fucking hate mouthwashing fans why r ppl getting comfortable with calling babys born from rape "abominations"

[cultivating-wildflowers]

cozy horror game called “that’s not my cat” where you wander around a dark house trying to find your cat among an increasing number of vague, shadowy objects scattered across the floor and furniture

[marshmellowtea]

celia hates basically all of chris's friends by virtue of them Being Chris's Friends (it personally offends her that there are people who love him better than she ever could in his life), but she has a special distaste for sandra, who she not only dislikes for being a dirty whore promiscuous, but she's also openly accused her of trying to steal chris from her, an accusation that held no weight when it was first leveled at her cuz sandra hadn't thought she cared about chris like that but it slowly became a self fulfilling prophecy as she spent more time with him and his parents and decided "yeah, actually, i am going to steal your son from you and your creep husband you piece of shit, fuck you celia fuck you fuck youfuck you"

[finalgirlsamwinchester]

David Simmons, “There’s a ton of lore on unicorns too”: Postmodernist Micro-Narratives and Supernatural in TV Goes to Hell: an Unofficial Roadmap of Supernatural

started writing this mostly as a reflection on the above chapter from TV Goes to Hell. the show from its initial outset is based around a particular formula. the brothers often rely on a postmodern patchwork of stories to 'solve' their monster-of-the-week. on this show, everything can be real all together, all at once: from alternate myths and histories, to movie monsters, to urban legends, cultural gods, and folk tales. this cultural melange gets 'tamed' through the frame of the show's monster-of-the-week format itself, where everything gets solved to fit a singular narrative: identify the monster, find a way to defeat it, and successfully eliminate it (there are rare exceptions to this formula: bugs is the standout)

there's a tension between the characters' research, drawing from unofficial sources, local legends and civilian accounts versus the show's format demanding, in a sense, that fear of the unknown (really a fear of difference) be conquered through the simplified logic of its formula. unofficial sources and beliefs become incorporated into an official narrative, so to speak. they gain legitimacy and authority through our heroes use of them, not the other way around. magic is evil when a witch uses it, but somehow the rituals and spellwork our heroes use to defeat them don't count. you feel me. and that same logic applies to what monsters count as real and what doesn't. on this show, everything becomes real when our protagonists are able to see it and kill it.

(1.01, 'Pilot')

so a common show critique i see tends to separate the more episodic plots of the early seasons (1-3) from the more serialised grand epic narratives of 4-5 onwards. well my argument is this - nah, that impulse was there from the start! the mystery of the show was always going to dissipate, because explaining away the mystery was always a part of its initial premise. the concept that - 'the monster under your bed is no longer scary when you can name what it is and learn how to kill it' - turns into -> a fear of death? heaven and hell and everything else in between are now real, tangible places! fear over external, powerful forces meddling in your lives? demons, angels, leviathans, god himself! now all real and tangible beings! the air of horror and mystery shrouding s1-2 was never gonna last. the murky horror was always a means to a defeatable end.

(5.19, 'Hammer of the Gods')

anyways. there's an obvious mythological hierarchy in this series and it's very funny to me. all gods and spirits and monsters, even the ones predating christian mythology, fall under its ruling (white, judeo-christian) narrative authority. the postmodern embrace of multiple narratives is a ruse. all incompatible things lead to a universal truth. the show doesn't dispell the existence of differences; rather everything is to be combined, united under a totalising front, despite the contradictory nature of that impulse. this narrative then, down to its bare bones formula, is a civilising mission. civilisation barreling in, banishing fear and uncertainty from the light. and in order to stay in that light, one must submit to its complete authority. by this show's logic, uniformity ultimately requires the subjugation of difference.

[tired-lamb]

If you were to rewrite the Lion Guard, what would you change there?

*cracks knuckles* get ready for a word blast.

Firstly, I would change the target audience of the show, mainly so that I could slide in much more serious plots in the show and also to raise the stakes. Target audience would be.. maybe preteens to teens. Think The Owl House, Amphibia, She-ra and the Princesses of Power, ah yes all the queer shows, Ducktales, Gravity Falls, etc. That’s what we’re trying to go for.

Secondly, characterisations. I want to add more depth to the main characters, i.e., the Guard. Give Bunga more of a role than being the comedic relief, give Ono more of a role than just being the one with the braincell, give Fuli more of a role than just snapping at Bunga all the time, give Beshte more of a role than just being Kind and Strong, give Kion more .. development, you get what I mean. Don’t get me wrong, I like the characterisations in the original show, it’s just I wish there was more to it. Give the characters flaws, maybe even have them all go through some sort of development arc (very much impossible what with industries these days cutting shows down </3). I’d like to see why these characters have been chosen for the Guard, because if you take the roles of bravest, fastest, fiercest, keenest of sight and strongest at just face value, Kion could have picked any animal. I want these roles that they’ve been given to mean something.

Thirdly, the concept of the Guard. Tying back to how I want the Guard and their roles to mean something, I’d change the main basis of the Guard’s concept to not just be a group of animals with certain qualities, but a group of animals that not only hold those qualities close to their chest but have the ability to work as a team with those qualities. The ability to combine these traits and use them for protecting the Circle of Life. This allows for moments in which, say, any of the Guard is unable to.. well, perform the role/quality they’ve been given (eg: Ono being unable to see, Fuli being unable to run fast), they still manage to be helpful to the team. This adds depth not only to the Guard members themselves but to the Guard itself, too. Also adds opportunities for fun dynamic exploration!

Fourthly (is that a word?), I’d change the fight scenes, or, rather, how the characters fight. I want to really showcase the animal side of the universe and characters, so I’d make it so that we see them fighting like or at least similar to their actual real life counterparts. Also since I’m making this a show targetted towards preteens and teens, I’d show the scars and effects characters face from these fights, too.

Another thing I would change is the Pridelanders. Not change the characters, per say, but change the atmosphere of the Pridelands. Again, I want to add stakes. The Guards before our current one usually have little to no trouble protecting the pridelands, but this new Guard that we follow as viewers is facing a land that is just recovering from the reign of a terrible king; Scar. Have the herbivores unable to trust the Guard due to the presence of two carnivores. Have the Guard face challenges in being accepted as protectors of the Circle of Life. Have carnivores themselves be hesitant to having a Guard with a lion for a leader protecting them. Have the Guard really struggle to find just how they can protect the Circle of Life. I want to see hostility. I want to see chaos. I want to see Simba struggling to be a king and thus rely on the Guard too much in order to help restore peace.

I also want the Guard to struggle. The Lion Guard has not existed for two decades. They have no one to look to for guidance. There is no former Guard member they can talk to who might know a thing or two about teamwork, about existing together as not just a unit of protection but as a part of the Circle of Life, too. They have nobody to go to … except the older lions. The older lions that remember the times of Scar’s Guard. Sarabi, even!! I love how much the og show gives time to other Pridelanders, but let’s not forget the lions maybe? Have Nala or Sarabi be a sort of mentor figure to them, maybe.

Speaking of Sarabi, I’d also get rid of Mufasa’s role in the show. I like that they wanted to include Mufasa in the show, but I dislike the way they went about it. If at all we need Mufasa in the show I’d give him a kind ‘haunting the narrative’ role except in a.. good sense? (Also to parallel with Scar’s own negative ‘haunting the narrative’ role). The Guard don’t know much about Mufasa, only that he was a great king. I’d try to add Mufasa in the story in bits and pieces, never directly and never outright. Honour him in a more quiet, in the background way.

While we’re talking about mentor figures, something I would really like to add, and I cannot emphasise this enough, is having the moments where we let the Guard be kids. I hc them to be pre teen age when they start, and I want to see these kids not only embrace this newfound role that they’ve been given in the Circle of Life, but also really think about what it means to them. What being a part of the Circle of Life means to them. I want to see moments where the Guard struggles in saving some animals or making decisions. I want to see the Guard mature as the show moves on but also really put into perspective that these are child soldiers. The things they face will and do have an affect on them. When I say let them be kids I also mean it in other ways. Let them be absolutely scarred (hah) after events like the burning of Mzimu Grove, the loss of Kilio Valley, and especially the Battle for the Pridelands. (I’m aware this kind of makes TLG a coming of age show).

I’m not quite sure what I would do with the villains. I honestly like them as they are, except I wish they got more screentime and had more of a logical reason as to why they’re villains, instead of just being animals that are ‘greedy’ for food. An idea I’ve been having for sometime however is to make the TLK2 villains serve as the villains in TLG aswell, plus making them the ones to resurrect Scar. Also, while we’re talking villains, change the Circle of Life concept to be a little more up-to-interpretation. Like, of course I’d let it have some concrete characteristics (such as the ones mentioned in the first TLK movie), but when it comes to the Guard and the show as a whole I’d make it more up-to-interpretation in order to avoid the whole issue the writers had with their villains (and how in a real life situation the outlanders’ whole ordeal being portrayed as ‘bad’ just.. doesn’t make sense).

For villains like Makucha, I would have given him much more build up or not put him in as a villain at all. If the main cast needs to face any struggle at all in season three, I would make it about them trying to recover from the Battle for the Pridelands. I think this would be a kind of arc for the Guard. They think they’re as good as they can get, but the BFTP hits them in the face, as does having to take the Journey to the Tree of Life. They’re forced in a new environment, and excuse me for how I’m about to describe this, freshly traumatised, and not only that but I would write some of the characters to regress back to older, bad habits they had when they were starting out at first. I’d write this to be an affect all of them face from the Battle for the Pridelands; a piece of ‘evil’ inside all of them instead of just Kion.

Alongside this arc of the Guard (wow thats catchy) I’d also have Makini have her own arc as well. The Guard is in shambles after the BFTP, and Makini is their closest friend. I would see this as an opportunity to build up Makini’s character, especially as a future Mjuzi (whether that be in the Pridelands or the Tree of Life). She finds herself in a position where she’s the only one who can somehow try to bring the Guard back together to what it was, or maybe even something stronger. Some development for my girl <3.

This arc resolves in the journey itself. I had thought of making it continue to their time in the Tree of Life, but hit a dead end there. The way I see this arc coming to a close is that it eventually erupts in a fight between the Guard members themselves. It’s nasty, with Makini and Anga trying their best to hold at least one or two of them back. This would take place around ‘Friends to the End’. In the prior episodes, I’d make it so that the fight that takes place here builds up. All the points I’ve mentioned above for this arc would be shown in the prior episodes, and eventually produce what happens in this one. I’m not going to write out the entire episode plan I have for this, but I’ll give some important points. The episode is pretty angsty, in a sense, and after Kion leaves I think the others would, too. Beshte, although not as mad as some ofthe others, is still deeply unsettled, and is also feeling some inkling of annoyance. Again, pieces of ‘evil’/Scar inside all of them. They’re not acting themselves, all of them, and when they split up, Makini and Anga are just trying to get them to reconcile. In the end, what brings them back together is Kion. I’m keeping his whole nearly-falling-off-a-cliff thing. The moment all of them find out he’s in danger, they rush and forget whatever they had said or done in the fight before. This is to sort of remind both the Guard and the viewers of why they’re on this journey, and why they’re together at all. Why does the Guard exist as a unit and why has the Circle of Life chosen them? All themes and questions that have been already addressed in the previous seasons, but something the Guard has forgotten due to the events of the BFTP. Trauma does that to you. To everyone. It’s not easy for them, especially as kids, but they find a way to come back together, because they’ve grown from ‘just the Guard’ now. They’re practically family to each other. What Scar and his army wanted so bad was to seperate them, and by the effects of the BFTP, they’ve unknowingly succeeded. It’s Makini who finally brings this realisation to them, and reminds them of all that they’ve learned and all that they’ve experienced, together. They’re the Lion Guard, and that’s where this arc sort of concludes. (Cough, can you tell I like found family themes?)

However we will still definitely see the Guard struggle after this, but not without wanting to make up for it, not without wanting to try and to heal. There’s no more spitefulness, and even if there is, what follows after is forgiveness and love. While this particular arc of the Guard will have come to a close by the time they reach the Tree of Life, I still want to show how it’ll take some time before they’re able to become what they once were. Healing is never perfect, after all.

Speaking of the Tree of Life, the Guard’s time there deserved waaay more episodes. The place had such a huge build up only for us to spend barely anytime there at all. I’d also like to see more time given to the Night Pride. I think they rushed a lot of things regarding them, such as their introduction, Queen Janna’s death, how we’re suddenly supposed to root for Rani as new Queen.. etc etc. I’d probably write it so that we spend some time with them before anything major happens. I’m not criticising Queen Janna’s death by any means, and although I really liked the entire episode and Rani’s coronation in general, I do wish we as an audience had more of a chance to connect with these characters first. I mean, I’m an emotional person, and while I did cry once or twice for Queen Janna, there was no basis for me in order to root for her or Rani’s character, you know? I’ve also seen one or two people talk about how they wish Queen Janna had more connection with the rest of the Night Pride, especially Baliyo, than with just Rani. I can agree with that, and so I’ll probably add that bit or two in my rewrite, as well.

Another idea I have in mind (and this is inspired by this particular night pride redesign/revamp) is to change Binga. I like her, don’t get me wrong, but I dislike that she’s just a genderbent Bunga whose supposed to be his love interest. Heck, I dislike the whole squeezing in love interests for the Guard (except Ono and Beshte, ofc) at the end of the series. If at all you want them to have love interests, let it build over time. I know Kion and Jasiri or Kion and Fuli would have made more sense that Kion and Rani. But for Bunga specifically the idea I have in mind is to make Binga an Indian-crested porcupine instead (an idea that was also inspired by this post). Idk much about them, but what I do know is that they’re tough and close to the honeybadger in terms of size and toughness against larger predators. I can see that what the writers were trying to go with for Binga was to kind of have Bunga meet ‘his competition’; someone who could stand up to Bunga. I think having this someone be a porcupine (especially with Bunga’s already established history with porcupines from Mama Binturong) would make sense and also be a lot more fun than having another honeybadger. I would also probably change Binga’s name, too, so as to not make them.. well, you know, genderbent Bunga. I don’t wanna go too in depth on this idea in this post specifically, but I’ll definitely be making a post on this idea someday (and maybe an OC, now that I think more abt it lol).

Also, although I’ve not finished the series I am aware of the fact that the Guard return to the Tree of Life after returning to the Pridelands. Now that.. is something I would change. If I go with Kion and Rani being love interests, then I’d make it that maybe Kion wants to go back, but this doesn’t mean the rest have to. I mean, they all have a life in the Pridelands after all, and I’m sure some if not all of them would like a break now that Vitani’s Guard is keeping the Circle of Life in balance, and whatnot. Not such a fleshed out idea but just wanted to add it in there.

I also really like @kaythefloppa ‘s idea of how the show ends (particularly his last point of his entire rewrite). It’s sweet and brings everything to a satisfactory close. I’d have to love to see it, honestly.

Aaand I think that’s it! There’s my ‘how I’d rewrite of TLG’ and things I would change! According to tumblr this post was started around 5 November and has been sitting in my drafts ever since so uh.. saying this is late would be an understatement. However, in my defense, I had a LOT of thoughts while writing this! A lot of my ideas were coming to dead ends the more I thought about them so I tried rearranging/changing some stuff so that wouldn’t happen, but I’m sure if this rewrite were to be the actual show’s writing there’d still be some dead ends and plot holes, lol. Ah well, good thing this isn’t then, huh?

Thank you so much for this ask!! I gotta say, you usually have really interesting and thought-provoking questions so whenever I see you in my inbox I get excited, haha. Hope my answer was as interesting to read as your question was!

[that-ineffable-devil]

I don't know what it is about Neil Gaiman's stories and characters that bring up so many visceral emotions and realizations but Dead Boy Detectives has gripped me in it's skeletal claws.

I'll admit I haven't read the comics--one more thing on my neverending tbr pile--so I came into this show without any preconceptions or foreknowledge of the characters or their histories. And I didn't do any research on the show beforehand a) to avoid spoilers and b) it's Neil Fucking Gaiman what am I gonna do NOT watch!?

Basically, I had no idea what to expect from it. Except that it'd be queer (praise be).

And I gotta tell you, Charles is getting to me. In ways and at depths I never could have expected. And, fuck, it's making me confront some things I didn't realize were affecting me...and some that maybe I did...

Like the anger. Gods, the deep-rooted anger at the injustice and cruelty of the world and the hands you're dealt. The fury of feeling helpless and alone and terrified during the worst experiences of your life. And the self-loathing you feel as you bury that rage for fear of becoming the very monsters that tormented you--unable to express it in even a healthy manner because you can only associate anger with violence. So you bottle it and bury it and hope against hope you can keep it down, but you fear the day you run out of burial ground.

Like the compulsion to act like everything's fine. To mask any negative emotions with a smile and a kind word or a laugh. To never be the reason someone else is in pain. To try so hard to undo the pain done by others. To be the person you needed most who was never there. Maybe you're trying to convince yourself that you're not a monster. Living in constant fear that you really are that monster, and all your goodness and light is a smokescreen to trick truly good people into allowing you to walk amongst them--and that one very bad day they'll all see the truth and your worst fears will be confirmed in their eyes.

Like the almost desperate need to cling to anything or anyone good that comes into your life, because it has happened so rarely and so fleetingly. The fear of taking certain risks with those things and people because any change can be the one that results in losing them. Yet constantly taking risks with yourself and your life (death?), likely boiling down to "If I go first, I don't have to lose them." Because, deep down, you think they could never miss you as much as you'd miss them.

And even specific moments...

Like using the word "rough" to describe abuse, because how else do you reference decades...or in his case, likely at least a decade...of trauma and abuse without upsetting someone? Without letting them know it's still affecting you?

Like equal parts fear and fury welling inside you as you watch something truly horrific happen. Memories wrapping your senses so tightly as that man brutalized his family for no reason. Being both unable to stop it and unable to look away. Desperate to do something about it but completely helpless. Again.

And reliving his trauma, forced to by someone else? Feeling that pain and misery all over again. The heartbreak as friends choose to hurt you for reasons you don't understand. The anguish as your brain tries to protect itself while a parent who's supposed to love you makes you wonder why you exist at all. The terror of being hunted. Not knowing why. Not knowing what you've done to deserve it. Wondering if somehow you do.

And confessing his fear that he's a "bad guy." Wondering if you're really the villain in your story. Fearing that the reason people treated you so cruelly is because they saw the monster within, and thought they could keep it contained and afraid. Fearing that you won't be able to.

And not every day is like this. Not every day has you feeling like you're at the edge of a precipice. Some days are quite good actually, especially if you have even one good person around. But any day could turn out like this.

But you keep on with the smiles and the positive attitude because the monsters can't win. Your monster can't win. And frankly, you don't know how else to deal with it, because no one ever taught you how to. Or maybe you never had the chance to learn. All you know is that it's all you know.

[chirpsythismorning]

I think what really puts into perspective the likelihood of ST5 premiering in 2025 (I’m gonna predict March 21st for fun), is that a year from now is just barely Summer 2024, and yet as of now, they have not even started filming.

Are fans really expecting them to have season 5 filmed, fully prepped with marketing and promo ready, with everything ready to be released within one year from now (roughly speaking, give or take a couple months)?

In all honesty it's very much the norm for Stranger Things' to have promo leading up to an upcoming season last for months. And I'm not talking like 3-5 months I'm talking a year+.

This isn't like s1 where they put out a trailer and a release date and some low budget marketing roll out on social media, which is something they do for every new Netflix show. This is a $35 million + budget per episode series and thats just to budget for the literal episodes... There are dozens of partnerships they have going on with merchandise and things like that which are discussed and planned for months/years. There are music rights negotiations which go on for months upon years. Shit, post-production has the capacity to take, at the very least half of the time it takes to film, and in some cases as much time or even more. This shit takes time!!!

The build up to a new season is so huge, that each month leading up to it, there are different things dropping, creating the hype that guarantees millions of fans engagement for a long time.

Like 1 year up to the 6 months before the release, promo starts heating up officially. The main accounts for the show will start posting stuff, initially it'll be cryptic using old footage to kind of recap the characters and get us refreshed on where we left off. This time could have some really awesome surprises, but it's mostly casual. If we're lucky we can count on Atlanta filming paparazzi bc those people are insufferable...

6 months up to the one month mark is when it starts to get more real. At this time we're likely to get an episode list announcement, along with sneak peeks and teasers that are quite short, being that they're still likely in the editing process when they are releasing these so it's very much in part them trying to tide us over and keep us interested.

The final 3 months leading up to it is when it gets REAL real. This is at the latest when we'll get a release date announcement, but that's a worst case scenario. I feel like it took so long for them to announce s4, and not until like Feb 2022 bc they wanted to be certain certain. And that could apply to s5 as well. The state of the world isn't like awesome I would say... Look what happened last time? Like it sucks to be the person to say that but I think also considering delays in general, for any reason are a possibility, is also what contributes to my open mindedness about an early 2025 release.

And so based on what we should be expecting for marketing, that means that assuming s5 would somehow premiere in summer 2024, means we are already close to the one year mark, which means promo should be ramping up right now, with literal content to share? And yet we have nothing filmed...?

A lot of people have this idea that s5 is going to take as much time to film as s1 took, which is just not the case. Not saying it will take as long as s4 took, however it's still going to take a while. One of the main factors for this is an in demand cast with conflicting schedules. In a perfect world, everyone would be available all the time throughout the entire production run. Instead what you have is certain actors not available at this time, and so you have to overlap those that need scenes together and schedule according to all of that. And so even if it wouldn't take more than 7 months to film literally, adding another 4+ months might be necessary to accommodate everyones schedules so that they can have these A/B list actors be able to film scenes together.

And then there’s editing and VFX to account for, happening during filming yes, but also with them needing months to focus on AFTER filming is complete. S5 is arguably going to have more VFX than any other season, as most of the season is expected to be surrounded by UD conditions and with the final battle being pretty epic with a 3 headed dragon potentially. Editing is more likely to be 7+ months post filming AT LEAST, vs. like the 4 or less, which is what I think everyone is imagining and telling themselves.

This is also the last season and so they obviously want to focus on the quality, not their ability to churn it out as fast as possible. Rushing for a quick release is just setting themselves up to flop.

The story is over forever after this (excluding spin-off prospects). It would make sense for them to give themselves the wiggle room to make it perfect (the stakes are so fucking high you guys), as opposed to rushing the entire time just to have it release as early as possible.

This also reminds me of what Noah said when asked about s5 premiering in 2024, where he basically just deflected and said that they want to focus on quality… essentially hinting at the fact that it’ll probably not be soon as we’re expecting, but we’re better off for it bc it gives them time to ensure it's the best that it can be and also is just realistic in terms of considering potential unplanned delays.

And then there are the strike implications. While I think the ST production is lucky in that they wouldn't be impacted as much as other productions, that doesn't mean the solidarity won't impact other parts of the production beyond just the writers. This is an industry where people are extremely overworked and underpaid, where a strike could be on the horizon at any moment. And we’re out here telling them hey i know the conditions are horse shit, but I'm gonna need you to step it up and experience even worse conditions bc I need s5 asap... which is just, it’s asking too much if I’m being honest.

Not trying to rain on anyone’s parade here. I know it sucks hearing that it could be another 1 year and 10 months. But lets be serious right now.

All the action that happens in the fandom, building up to the release is arguably just as exciting as the actual premiere and I think we overlook that. Again, once it premieres, it's over. So being so hellbent that it comes as soon as possible, is built on this idea that getting it is the only worthwhile part of this experience, which couldn't be further from the truth. Hiatus and all of the activity that happens during that time is what makes this experience so unique and without it, none of us would be here.

I think realistically, the timeline for s5 production is likely to look something like filming taking place from May 2023-Feb 2024 (giving them AT LEAST 10 months, but if you ask me srs i think it'll take 12...). We should get an announcement post from the official Netflix/ST social media accounts the very day filming starts.

As time passes and they're filming more and more, we will start to get teasers and sneak peaks from the little bit they have filmed from the earlier episodes in the season. Technically they can't spoil that later stuff too much in promotion, so it does work out for us in that sense.

But in all honesty, well planned out and detailed promo is likely to not start getting official until this fall when they’ll actually have at least (hopefully) over half of s5 filmed, and be planning ahead plenty in advance so all of the promo leading up to the release is well thought out.

I won’t rule out Fall 2024. But there are no Friday dates in fall 2024 that ring any bells to me as being the perfect day? Maybe Winter 2024? Or like January/Feb 2025?

The problem is Netflix loves ST for their summers... But summer 2024 is too soon and Summer 2025 is too late imo...

So what it will likely come down to is them trying to be realisitic about their options, and how to ideally get it to match with the setting of the show, which is something they have tried to do with s2-3, but couldn't in s4 (for obvious reasons), and so I definitely see them thinking ahead to try to bring back that approach for s5 if they are able to.

So filming, best case scenario, ends maybe Jan-Feb 2024. If we give them at least 7 months, which is still arguably rushing to me, that lands them in September 2024.

BUT if they were smart they would be realistic and just plan for late 2024/early 2025 so that they don't have to keep delaying... also why they haven't announced a date/year... if it was for certain going to be 2024, they would say it. But they aren't. That alone should tell us they are not willing to make that commitment bc it's not something that can be made when there are so many impromptu factors at play.

I imagine a scenario though honestly, where it takes them a year (12 months to film), so they won't be done until May 2024, which means that they would have until January 2025 to edit with 7 months for that strictly. And that just honestly feels realistic to me to look at instead of hoping that everything just is swift and fast as possible.

Not to mention ST5 2025 just fits.

However, I don't see anything wrong with hoping for late 2024, since as of now I think it is still possible.

But I also think, keeping all of the factors in mind, most notably a potential strike and also them ensuring quality over a speedy release, I think 2025 is something people should also be prepared for as a possibility.

The good news is that we'll know eventually as s5 starts filming and as time goes on.

If filming is complete in 2023 then we could definitely hope for a fall 2024 release. If filming isn't complete officially until early/mid 2024, then pack up your duffel bags bc we're going back to spring break...