#and a subsection that’s just mike or Will

[dinitride-art]

Does anyone else stare away from their document while writing and think “what would Mike/Will actually say…” and just start flipping through their mental library of Stranger Things until they find an expression or line of dialogue that supports/changes what they’re writing? …or is that just me

[goodpaws]

i had a massive crush on this edgelord in middle school, heres me drawing him for the first time in almost 10 years

[shitsecurityguards]

OKAY THE AU GUIDE IS FINALLY DONE. it's very long so it's going under read more. there will probably be edits added at some point bc things keep changing

AU INFO

This version combines the characters of the original Rebornica AU, the canon FNAF lore, and a lot of bullshit I made up because I like having fun. The canon FNAF lore is mostly in place, though some of it is delayed until later in the timeline.

The AU takes place in the modern day instead of the 1980s-2000s. The new pizzeria is in the same location as the FNAF 1 location, but it’s decades later and there’s new animatronics: The Rockstar animatronics + Rockstar Mangle, the Security Puppet, Balloon Boy and JJ. Corporate put all of the budget into them so that they’d have experimental AI personalities and be able to react and respond to things independently + in character (like the animatronics in Security Breach). During the day, they act like they’re alive, though at night the ghosts of the dead children interfere with their programming and use them as vessels to go after the guards. They also contain reused parts of the animatronics before them, and so they have some vague residual memories of their past iterations, though they feel more like dreams.

The ghosts of the missing children are not fully conscious and are missing a lot of their memories, including who killed them. They know it was an adult, and vaguely suspect it was a security guard, but really they would attack any adult if they were there at night. They tend to react very negatively to the color purple, and on Vincent’s night shifts will go after him harder than the others, though they aren’t conscious of why. Since they’re mainly running on instinct and emotion, they can’t put the pieces together of what happened to them.

William and Vincent are not the same person, and neither are Mike Schmidt and Michael Afton. Additionally, Jeremy, Fritz and Phone Guy exist in the present day instead of the 80s-90s.

The guards also have different ages compared to the og AU, and are all within a 10 year age span.

The couples that are canon are Mike/Doll and Chris/Vixen, also Vincent and Mahogany are exes. I know ppl want that purplephone yaoi but I think the original dynamic they have where Vincent has a weird sexual crush on Scott and Scott prays that he dies every night before bed is too compelling to give up. Also I want that purple guy but we aren’t getting into that here

There’s 3 humanoid species in this au: Humans (Mike, Chris, Fritz, Doll, Boss, Mahogany), Objectheads (Scott), and Huemans (GET IT GET IT GET IT. anyways Vincent, Vincent’s parents, William Afton, Michael Afton). As for Jeremy, umm I’m not totally sure what his deal is but he is a human, just like a strange subsection of human. Listen there’s not a lot of logic going on I’m just working with the cards I’ve been dealt

LORE GUIDE

All of the FNAF lore is just about the same until William Afton’s death. After the FNAF 2 restaurant, instead of dismantling the animatronics and being trapped inside of Springtrap, William Afton decided to lay low for a while. During this time period, his younger half brother and his wife were killed (who could’ve done that?), and as the closest living relative, William ended up reluctantly adopting Vincent, their 8 year old son. It turns out Vincent has the same murderous tendencies, and so William takes him under his wing, teaching him both about murder and the animatronics.

 William took him to the 2000s iteration of the original Freddy’s location a lot. There, Vincent met Mahogany, who was there a lot since her dad owned it, and they became friends. On one occasion, Vincent met Mike and tricked him into going up to Foxy, which led to Mike being bitten, which damagedmhis frontal lobe. The Schmidts and Fazbear Entertainment settled out of court, and all of the money Mike’s family won went to his medical bills.

William and Vincent lived well together as a weird freaky family unit for years until William eventually decided to finally go and dismantle the animatronics. After destroying them, he was cornered by the spirits and killed inside of Springtrap in the safe room. The spirits were freed and passed on, and the room was boarded up without anyone finding William’s body. 

With his uncle suddenly missing, Vincent had to drop out of school and get his GED in order to become independent and avoid the foster system. Him and Mahogany started dating, and she accidentally got pregnant. Vincent didn’t want the baby because he was 18 and also already hated kids, but Mahogany decided to keep the baby, so they ended up breaking up and settled into a friends with benefits situation instead while Vincent was also an absent father to Violet, their daughter.

After a few years of goofing off and living off his inheritance, Vincent finally started seriously looking for his uncle and got a job with Mahogany’s help at Freddy’s as a security guard. A lot of sneaking around later, and he found Springtrap in the boarded off safe room. Him and his uncle were finally reunited, but William was very pissy about the whole “I’ve been dead inside this suit for years and you never found me” situation and Vincent’s an asshole so he started teasing him about it. Ultimately, Vincent realized that his uncle was a lost cause and now it was his turn to continue his legacy, so he ditched William there to go kill people.

Soon after, Scott got hired to replace the other security guard, and so him and Vincent alternated between day and night shifts week by week. They didn’t see each other super often because of this, but when they did, they got along well. That was until Vincent developed a crazy psychosexual crush on Scott and scared the shit out of him to the point that Scott started avoiding him.

Mike at that point had just barely managed to graduate high school. His brain damage caused him a lot of issues that had made school difficult, and as Mike started trying to find and keep a job, he found that those same issues were affecting that too. After meeting Doll again and successfully getting them to go out with him, Mike pushed himself harder to retain a job so that he would be able to treat them well. Still, he struggled to find steady work due to his lack of experience and intolerance to the poor working conditions he often found himself in.

Mahogany brought Violet to Freddy’s frequently and would sometimes leave her there if she had something important to do since she figured it was safe. Vincent, being a shit dad, avoided her like the plague. It was very awkward when they interacted, especially since he was somehow dodging child support for years at that point. By the time she was 8 and he was 26, Vincent had already become a full fledged serial killer, but he still hadn’t fulfilled his duty to continue his uncle’s legacy and perform a copycat killing. Eventually, he decided to kill two birds with one stone. He tricked Violet into bringing her friends into the Parts and Services room, where he then drugged them and put them into the suits, which killed them when activated. Eventually Vincent did remove the bodies from the animatronics since he knew that they would inevitably be found if he kept them there, but the gruesome deaths imprinted the children’s ghosts to the respective animatronics they died in. The bodies were never found and Vincent was never caught, but the restaurant did shut down for a while due to the missing kids. Mahogany also stopped talking to Vincent after seeing how apathetic he seemed to be about Violet’s death, though she did not suspect him.

After the press coverage of the missing children settled down, Boss reopened the pizzeria with significantly more security and hired Mike, Jeremy and Fritz. Chris was also hired at the reopening since the other janitor quit. The hope was that the added security would bring customers back, and while many did return, some were lost to the competing Chuck E Cheese down the road.

Now the five guards change shifts on a weekly basis, with four working various areas of the pizzeria during the day shift and one working the night shift.

The ghosts of the children are confused, but also have realized how to override the animatronics’ AI and use them as vessels. They tend to go dormant during the day to preserve energy, though at night they go after whoever is on duty. The animatronics themselves do not remember what they do when possessed and are very confused why the guards don’t like them/are scared of them.

MIKE SCHMIDT

Mike is 26, uses he/him, and is a cis man + pansexual

He stays at Freddy’s because it’s the best job he can get and hold. His partner, Doll, is the main breadwinner, and while Mike doesn’t mind that, he does want to contribute as much as he can financially.

Typically, Mike appears to be very irritable and unfriendly. However, while he does have a temper, he is actually pretty outgoing and gets along well with a lot of his coworkers,  even those that piss him off (Scott and Vincent). Mike also enjoys puns and pranks, much to his coworkers’ dismay.

In his free time, Mike enjoys collecting Pokemon and baseball cards. He also goes to the gym on his days off. Mike wishes he had more free time so he could volunteer at an animal rescue, but right now he’s got a lot going on.

As a child, Mike was bitten by the older Foxy animatronic and sustained damage to his frontal lobe that resulted in him struggling with his emotional regulation, impulsivity and short attention span. Because of this, Mike did very poorly in school and struggled to keep a job before working at Freddy’s. His brain suppressed the memory of the attack and he doesn’t know that he was bitten at the same place he works, nor that Vincent was the reason it happened, but his hatred of Foxy stems from the subconscious memory of the bite.

Mike loves Jeremy, even if he isn’t the most outwardly affectionate with him. He’s one of the reasons Mike stayed at the job, since he was so worried about Jeremy’s safety. Over time, they’ve grown very close, and Mike sees him as a younger brother. While not as close, Mike is also very good friends with Chris, and feels a certain kind of everyman kinship with him, like they can sit around and talk about how weird and ridiculous everything is together. His relationship with Vincent is a bit more complicated, he’s like his shitty annoying freaky friend that he hates but also likes hanging out with. He’s the one that Mike goes to the bar with even though Vincent doesn’t even drink and sometimes gets him to do stupid shit. Him and Fritz are chill, although he has trouble following what he’s talking about sometimes and often has to stop him from actively putting himself in danger with the animatronics. To him, Fritz is definitely the most normal of all of the other guards, though. Scott pisses him off because he tells him about people dying in the restaurant all the time. Also, Mike’s first week was night shift and when he heard the fourth night’s tape he thought Scott died, and when he saw Scott the next week on day shift and found out he just had to get a couple stitches he totally freaked out on him. As time has gone on and he’s gotten to know Scott more, he’s tried to be more patient with him.

Mike is engaged to Doll and is absolutely head over heels with them. The two went to high school together but never really talked. They officially started talking at the library Doll used to work at, and he began going and pretending to read just so he could talk to them. Eventually, he worked up the nerve to ask them out, and they happily agreed. For a while, Mike struggled with insecurities in their relationship, mainly that he saw himself as not good enough or smart enough for Doll. Impulsively, he broke up with them, but quickly realized he made a mistake and fixed things. Five years later, they’re finally engaged and live together in Doll’s late grandmother’s house. Over time, Mike’s insecurities have dwindled, though his main concern now is that something may happen to him on the night shift. The two would like to have a baby once they’re married, but Mike wants to make sure he’ll be there for his family and not in a suit. For now, they’re considering a dog.

Originally, Mike HATED working at Freddy’s. However, as he’s gotten to know his coworkers and learned how to handle the night shift, he’s slowly grown to tolerate it. The animatronics still piss him off and he doesn’t like having to drag kids off of the stage, but it pays better than other jobs he’s had and at least his coworkers are kind of fun.

Mike has accidentally fallen face first into the secrets of the pizzeria. When he first got hired, he thought it was just a job he’d have to deal with for the paycheck. Now he goes to bed thinking about how there’s definitely ghosts and also the animatronics might be gaining sentience. However, Mike is not the most articulate guy, and so whenever he tries to tell anyone about his theories, he just sounds really nuts. Chris is his go to guy for crazy talk since he’s the most level headed of everyone at Freddy’s and will sit through his often nonsensical rants.

He is a pissy asshole at work but then he goes home and sees Doll and goes puppy mode. That man can act as macho as he wants but he is very soft for Doll

Mike doesn’t have a favorite animatronic (he hates them all), and his least favorite is Rockstar Foxy.

JEREMY FITZGERALD

Jeremy is 20, uses he/him, and is a cis man + aroace

Despite being terrified of his job, Jeremy stays on because he needs the money to afford rent and his online asynchronous college courses.

Jeremy’s already anxious demeanor is amplified at Fazbear’s, where the screaming children and murderous animatronics do nothing to soothe his nerves. He tends to be shy when first meeting people and takes time to open up to others, though when he does, Jeremy is a very kind and considerate friend.

His schedule is usually hectic between his job and his classes, but in between, he loves watching anime, collecting manga and figurines, doing arts and crafts, and occasionally streaming himself playing games. He really loves Sailor Moon, Vocaloid, and Sanrio.

When Jeremy first met Mike, he was scared of him, but as he got to know Mike and understand him better, he came to see him as an older brother/protector. Since Fritz and Chris are the closest to his age, Jeremy tends to hang out with them a lot. He relies on Scott for help a lot of the time and appreciates his assistance, but also is kind of intimidated by him since he’s so tall and has seniority. As for Vincent, he’s scared of him, but occasionally they can find common ground.

Jeremy isn’t originally from the area, but moved from another state to get away from his father. Originally, he struggled to make rent and feed himself, but after working at Freddy’s and meeting Fritz, the two moved into a new apartment together. Now Jeremy can make rent and has enough left over to take online college classes. Jeremy appreciates that Fritz will watch his shows with him, and in return he does his best to help with Fritz’s furby customizations.

Despite being scared of the other animatronics, Jeremy absolutely adores the Security Puppet. He thinks it’s absolutely adorable and he spends a lot of his day watching it. Jeremy has a soft spot for clowns and porcelain dolls, so the Puppet’s design is absolutely perfect to him.

He finds a lot of comfort in “girly” things since his experiences with masculinity growing up were very negative. When in new environments or when meeting new people, he tends to be a little shy about this aspect of himself. Thankfully the pizzeria’s environment is one where he feels safe to openly talk about his interests. Jeremy also tends to be very nervous around hypermasculine men, though his friendship with Mike has helped him work on managing those anxieties.

It’s not to the same extreme as Vincent’s love of toast, but Jeremy does really like lemons and lemon flavored things.

Jeremy’s favorite animatronic is the Security Puppet, and his least favorite is Rockstar Chica.

FRITZ SMITH

Fritz is 22, uses he/him, and is a trans man + aroace

Out of all of the guards, Fritz is the most enthusiastic about his job. He loves the animatronics, even if they try to kill him all the time. He rationalizes it as their security programming, and how can he be mad at them for that?

Fritz is a friendly guy, though he does have some trouble navigating conversations without relying on his interests for discussion topics. He finds that the animatronics are easier to talk to since he doesn’t have to worry about the same social cues and norms as he does with real people. Typically, he tends to get caught up in the fun atmosphere of the pizzeria, and his love of the characters and arcade games can often distract him from his actual job as a security guard.

Luckily for Fritz, his special interest in robotics— especially the Fazbear Entertainment animatronics— is a part of his job. He does mainly collect and study Fazbear related things, but he isn’t fully loyal to the brand, and does also enjoy Chuck E Cheese, though he’d never tell his coworkers that. He also enjoys video games and collecting furbies.

Fritz mainly hangs out with Jeremy and Chris since he has the most in common with them. Him and Vincent both know a lot about the Fazbear Entertainment franchise and its history, but Vincent’s tendency to refute Fritz’s statements with uncited sources irks him. Fritz appreciates Mike’s concern for his safety,  though he wishes he would trust him more with the animatronics. As for Scott, he thinks he’s a cool guy, even though Scott keeps telling him to get back to work when he’s stationed in the arcade.

After working at Freddy’s and meeting Jeremy, Fritz finally was able to move out of his parents’ house. Growing up with 5 sisters, living with Jeremy is a very nice change for him. Fritz usually cooks for both of them, and in return Jeremy drives him everywhere (Fritz can’t drive). On Jeremy’s night shift week, Fritz tends to sleep on the couch so he can make sure Jeremy gets home.

Fritz’s favorite animatronic is Rockstar Chica (she’s always been his favorite character), and his least favorites are Balloon Boy and JJ.

SCOTT

Scott is 30, uses he/him, and is a cis man + heteroromantic demisexual

He’s in the books as a security guard, but in reality he’s also had a management position thrust onto him since Boss can't be bothered to actually run his pizzeria and he refuses to pay a manager. He stays at Freddy’s because he’s been there for years at this point and he’s just kind of used to the terrible conditions.

Like the phone calls in the first two games, Scott comes off as awkward and a bit too nonchalant about the terrible and often morbid circumstances of the job. In fact, he has a strange fascination with Freddy Fazbear’s violent history, which often unnerves his coworkers. However, Scott does try to be friendly, even if he isn’t the most charismatic, and does his best to help his coworkers as much as he can.

Scott is politely and respectfully fighting gay allegations left and right. He likes cashmere sweaters and infinity scarves, he goes to a cooking class with a bunch of single moms once a week, he has a bonsai tree that he shapes, he drinks iced lattes and he watches The Real Housewives of New Jersey. However, to everyone’s surprise (Mike and Vincent especially), Scott is actually on the market for a girlfriend, and even goes on dates sometimes. Of course, Mike and Vincent wear disguises and spy on him in the restaurant, because what else would they do? NOT see what Scott is like on a date with a woman?

Scott’s an objecthead, so he’s biomechanical. His head is a functioning phone and works on the same pulse system as a regular rotary phone (reference below), it’s just also got some blood and nerves and brain in there. Think of the plastic exterior of the phone as like an external skull— if you touched it, it’d feel to him like if someone touched your tooth or something. There’s feeling, but it’s kind of dull. He talks out of the phone, but I like the idea that when he eats he unscrews the speaker part of the phone and that’s where the food goes. Let Scott be freaky 2025!!!

Vincent is Scott’s weird frenemy who he has been rejecting the advances of for years. They’ve been working together the longest, and are both Fazbear veterans, which has naturally made them gravitate to one another even if they don’t usually get along. Scott wants to be Mike’s friend, but finds that he’s always saying the wrong things to him without meaning to. Seeing as Jeremy and Fritz are significantly younger than him, Scott does feel the need to coddle them, even when they may not necessarily need it. It’s not that he thinks they’re incapable of doing it on their own so much as he projects his own anxieties onto them and as a result feels responsible for their safety and peace of mind.

Scott is fairly neutral about the animatronics. He doesn’t really resent them for trying to stuff him into a suit since he thinks it’s just their endoskeleton recognition malfunctioning, and while he is interested in their murderous tendencies, he certainly doesn’t like that they do that. He’s fine with interacting with them during the day shift, though.

Scott’s favorite animatronic is Rockstar Foxy, and his least favorite is the Security Puppet (he thinks it’s freaky looking).

VINCENT BISHOP

Vincent is 28, uses he/him, and is a genderqueer man, arospec + identifies as somewhere between gay and bi so he uses both labels

He’s worked at Freddy’s the longest at a whopping 7 years (since he was 21), so he knows the place like the back of his hand. Originally, he took the job in an effort to find his uncle after his disappearance, but after finding him in the sealed off back room, he decided to continue his uncle’s work at the new restaurant. He really hates the children, the noise and the crowds, but he can’t imagine working anywhere else.

It can often be difficult to understand Vincent due to how unpredictable he is. His moods change like the seasons, usually based on who he’s working with and how busy the restaurant is. Some days he is clingy, obnoxious and flirty, while other days he is standoffish and silent. What does stay consistent, though, is the aura of secrecy that surrounds him.

No one seems to know what Vincent’s hobbies are, and for good reason. After all, he does his best to keep his stalking, murdering and disemboweling under wraps. He does have some normal interests, though, and enjoys reading, journaling, and playing the piano. He also has an extensive collection of knives and vintage Fazbear merchandise.

Like Scott, Vincent isn’t a human, he’s a HUEman :D His all white eyes and teeth are visible in the dark, and he can see well in darkness. He’s also extremely flexible, even for what he is, and can turn his head 270 degrees like an owl. Freaky man yayayayayayay

Vincent tends to have very intense and destructive relationships with other people which in part is due to his tendency to see others as toys rather than people. Mike is the only person he considers a friend, even though he doesn’t regret tricking him into getting bit at all. He’s the closest thing Vincent has ever had to a normal relationship, and is the only person Vincent will hang out with voluntarily outside of work. Scott is a bit more complicated. They started as casual friends when Scott first got hired, but then Vincent developed a weird creepy interest in Scott that caused a huge rift between them. The intensity and creepiness of it has waned a bit over the years, but Vincent still makes it known that he is dtf. Him and Mahogany have a long history of dating, breaking up, being friends with benefits, and finally avoiding each other after Violet’s death, though Vincent does still try to hit on her sometimes to no avail. Jeremy and Fritz don’t really matter at all to him, but he does find them amusing to tease.

Overall, Vincent is not inclined to form connections with others. It’s much easier for him to study people from the sidelines— or sometimes the bushes— than to go through all of the work of trying to make them like him. Outside of work, he doesn’t talk to anyone (besides Mike) unless it’s part of some plan to kill them.

The only exception is Vincent’s uncle, who was the only person he ever really cared about. Since William was also a killer, Vincent developed a genuine love for his uncle and felt for the first and only time that he could be open with him. His best memories are of his childhood with his uncle, about learning from him and going to Freddy Fazbears together. However, William’s miserable state in Springtrap has made their relationship warp, and now Vincent sees him just as another toy.

Vincent doesn’t do anything that might make him inebriated (drinking, drug use) because he’s paranoid he’ll let something slip and get caught. When he goes to bars with Mike, he usually just drinks water.

Yes, he loves toast. Autistic W

Vincent’s favorite animatronic is Golden Freddy (he’s hidden him away in storage), and his least favorite is the Security Puppet (makes his murder plans harder).

CHRIS

Chris is 21, uses he/him, and is a trans man + gynosexual

Freddy’s isn’t his ideal job (he’d like to become a tattoo artist), but it pays for his student loans from art school. Still, he tries to see the bright side of the situation, and does his best to stay positive.

Overall, Chris is a chill guy, and is definitely the most normal one in that damn pizzeria. He’s not apathetic to the crazy shit going on, but he also doesn’t take it all that seriously. Sure, there may be killer animatronics and ghosts, but when he clocks out none of that is coming home with him. Of course, when Mike shows up on his doorstep with some batshit theory about the animatronics, he’s totally going to listen.

Chris enjoys drawing (usually either tattoo designs or comics), doing street art and skateboarding in his free time. He also listens to a lot of Weezer.

Mike is his work bestie, and Chris thinks he’s super amusing to hang out with. He also hangs out with Jeremy and Fritz a lot though since they’re around his age and chill enough. Chris doesn’t really interact much with Scott or Vincent, but from what Mike tells him they’re total weirdos.

Chris has a girlfriend named Vixen, but they don’t live together. He lives in a shitty apartment by himself.

Part of his job as janitor entails cleaning off Rockstar Mangle since part of her gimmick is that kids can draw on her with erasable markers. Sometimes it can be a pain, but Chris has also developed a love for Mangle as a result of the time they’ve spent together.

Chris’ favorite animatronic is Rockstar Mangle, and his least favorites are Balloon Boy and JJ.

DOLL SCHMIDT

Doll is 27, uses they/them, and is nonbinary + androsexual.

They work as an archivist at a museum.

They’ve encouraged Mike to quit his job in the past since he hated it and it was dangerous, but they eventually stopped pressing him when Mike stopped actively despising his job.

Doll has ankylosing spondylitis, which they use a walker for.

They went to Freddy’s a few times when they were younger for other people’s birthday parties, but haven't been there in 15 years or so. They’ve met all of Mike’s friends from work, though, and are always happy to have them come over to the house.

Doll thinks Mike is sooooooo cute <3 They love spoiling their trophy husband and taking care of him. Doll wears the pants in that relationship for sure

BOSS

Boss is 59, uses he/him, and is a cis man + straight.

He runs a few different businesses, but isn’t very hands on with any of them. They’re more investments than they are passion projects for him. When he bought the original Freddy’s location (it’s a chain, he doesn’t own Fazbear Entertainment), he figured it was cheap enough and had enough appeal as the og that it would be a smart business move.

Boss’ wife died when Mahogany was a preteen, so he had to step up and raise her by himself. He’s very much a girldad, even at 59, and spoils Mahogany to no end.

Boss’ name is Byron, but he just tells everyone to call him “Boss” since his name feels too personal.

He is very cheap and does not want to put more money into Freddy’s than he has to.

Boss adored Violet and did everything he could to help Mahogany with her. He was happy that Freddy’s could be a part of her childhood like it was Mahogany’s. After Violet’s disappearance, though, he felt immense guilt and shut the restaurant down to mourn and aid the investigation. He originally intended to sell it, but decided to keep the business as a way to remember his granddaughter.

MAHOGANY

Mahogany is 28, uses she/her, and is a cis woman + bisexual

She is unemployed, but helps her father out with his businesses where she can. Specifically, she is very charismatic, and is great at meeting with investors.

Mahogany is Boss’ daughter and lives with him.

In her youth, Mahogany was very outspoken and playful, though after having Violet she did mature a bit. Being a single mother was hard for her, especially at 18, but she did her best and loved Violet enough that Vincent’s absence was not felt. After Violet went “missing”, Mahogany turned very bitter and distant. She hates having to go to the pizzeria and despises Vincent for not caring about or helping with Violet’s disappearance.

She struggles with the loneliness of having lost both her daughter and, in a weird way, Vincent. Of course, Mahogany is beautiful, and has had plenty of lovers, but she wants to find someone who will treat her right and take care of her. Scott is definitely a person of interest for her, but his obliviousness to her passes at him frustrates her.

VIOLET

Violet died when she was 8 in 2022.

Violet was very outgoing and made friends easily with the other kids at Freddy’s. She also tended to be very hyper and rowdy, and would often have to be dragged away from the animatronics by Scott or Vincent.

She was very close with her mother and grandfather, and was happy with their family dynamic. Violet knew that Vincent was her dad, but she didn’t feel any kind of connection to him and often gave him a hard time whenever he tried to do his job as a guard.

Her favorite animatronic was Foxy. He is also the animatronic that she was put into and that she now possesses.

WILLIAM AFTON

William died when he was 65 in 2012, uses he/him, and is a cis man + bisexual

His parents divorced and his father remarried, eventually having Jay (Vincent’s father). They moved to America from Britain when William was a teenager.

He was always sort of an oddball, but in a charming way. Behind closed doors, of course, he was much more sinister and hateful, but he was very skilled at hiding that side of himself.

William did initially care about all three of his children, though CC’s death made him despise Michael. William and his wife divorced, and Michael lived with his mother while Elizabeth went between houses until her death. 

After the murders, William did leave Fazbears as an owner. Still, he felt compelled to go back, and worked undercover as Dave for a bit to kill more. He was at one point looked into by police, but they had no evidence that would stick and let him go. Realizing how close he’d gotten, William decided to lay low and leave Freddy’s.

When the authorities reached out to William about taking in Vincent, he was initially very hesitant. When he did, though, he realized Vincent had the same murderous tendencies he himself had, and decided to take his nephew under his wing. William enjoyed Vincent since he saw a lot of himself in him, and treated him like the son he never got to raise. Vincent also gave him the opportunity to visit Freddy’s again, which had never stopped beckoning to him.

Eventually, William’s obsession with Freddy’s became too much, and he decided to sneak in and destroy the animatronics to rid himself of them. He succeeded, but in doing so released the spirits of the murdered children. They chased him into the safe room where the Spring Bonnie suit was being stored, and when he hid inside of it… ruh roh!

William’s body was never found, but the remnant (i dont understand that shit but its the only thing that could possibly keep his gay ass from decomposing in that suit so its here i guess) kept his body intact inside of Springtrap. By the time Vincent found him years later, his mind had deteriorated so much from the pain that he lashed out at his nephew. When Vincent turned on him and decided to mock him instead of helping him, William began to despise Vincent the same way he despised Michael.

He’s still in the boarded off safe room and Vincent is the only one who knows he’s there. He could theoretically move inside the suit, but he thinks it is futile since he is trapped in there and it would be even more painful. If he really tries, he can manifest as a ghost and leave the room, but it’s very draining and he cannot do it for very long.

MICHAEL AFTON

Michael is 55, uses he/him, and is a cis man + unlabeled

He is semi-undead and is stuck physically in his early 20s from when he was scooped. He usually wears a mask and covers as much of himself as he can to blend in. He also uses a cane and compression sleeves for his joints.

Michael has been trying to find his father for years now to no avail. He knows that Vincent knows SOMETHING, but he isn’t sure what. Freddy’s isn’t super accessible to him since he doesn’t have a kid, but Vincent will often let him in just to drag him around, mess with him, and then show him the door with 0 information gained.

Michael is dating Vanessa, who is a professional gamer/streamer, and lives with her.

[ginaporterr]

HIIII Y'ALL!!!!!!! this is honestly very insane to me but i recently hit 1k on here, so i just wanted to say thank you all for being here and joining me on this fun ride over the past two years since i made this blog. i feel like i've joined the hsmtmts/specifically rina fandom three separate ways/times and i've always been able to easily find my niche of people, which really speaks to how open and wonderful this community as a whole is. this third time around was no exception, this little subsection of some of the nicest, funniest, smartest, most talented, most supportive people ever means the world to me, so thank you all for following and partaking in all of the fun that was this rollercoaster of a show, and thank you for supporting my relentless content creation bc i am most definitely not stopping anytime soon skdjfks 😭 this milestone perfectly coincided with the show's ending since i hit it on the day of s4's release, so i thought it would be fun to celebrate both my little milestone & the ending of our beloved show (and our many major wins) with you all, the lovely people that have made this time with the show as wonderful as it was! this show, these characters, and you all hold a very special place in my heart, so. let's celebrate it all!!

like last time, this celebration will be split into two components; prompts & polls! i thought it would be fun to see the difference in top ships now that the second half of the show's been released (+ with a bigger voting pool), so we're running it back! to join in on the celebration, you can vote in the poll linked below and/or send in an ask with a prompt!!

RULES — mbf this blog — send in a prompt (or multiple) from below — vote in the top ships poll

PROMPTS — ❄️ : song association! send in one of your favorite songs and i'll make a gifset relating it to some aspect of the show — 🦋 : personalized sets! tell me what you like about hsmtmts / what it means to you (in as little or as much detail as you'd like) and i'll make something inspired by your message — 🌀 : requests! send in a character/dynamic/episode/etc. + color/quote/song/motif/etc. that you'd like a gifset of — 🪁 : make me choose! send in two (or more) characters/episodes/dynamics/scenes/etc. & i’ll choose between them for a gifset — 💙 : surprise! for mutuals only <3 (reminder that i follow from milesgmorales)

and one last thing, i want to especially say thank you to some of my mutuals, old and new, that have made being here one of my favorite experiences <3 you all genuinely brighten up my dash, my tag, my blog, the show tag, the ao3 tag, everything with your thoughts and creations and talent and humor and i'm so very grateful to you all bc these past few years would not have been the same without you (especially those of you that were around for the s2/post-s2 rina dark ages KSJDKFH) forever grateful to this fun little disney show for bringing so many wonderful people into my life <3 LOVE YOU ALL MWAH

@ginaricky @laylakeating @homemade-ghosts @chuckclayton @richiebowen @saythewylie @aamirmitchell @pinkhysteria @mjsparkour @bakerolivia @spookys @blues-valentine @ginasporter @starrrbakerrr @emiraee @squishymar @rickybowsn @mariasyko @frostluvrs @ginaluvr @narcobarbies @usersojo @tabithatate @kitherondale @mike-el @userguts @kayascodelorio @yellowlaboratory @bartowskis

don't feel obligated to participate or rb ksdjkfs

[wakeupthemembersofbylernation]

as someone whose classmate is part of the general audience, i can confirm they don't remember most character names.

they only remember el, nancy, joyce, hopper, max and steve. they only know will as "the lonely quiet kid who disappeared in s1 and got possessed in s2" and mike as "the group leader who got dumped by el in s3".

when i asked them: "jancy or stancy?" they looked at me with confusion in their eyes. they don't care about ships at all. so i doubt they'll get worked up about the willelmike love triangle and byler becoming canon. they'll have a mildly neutral-to-positive reaction to byler endgame, most likely.

yeah that makes sense.

being hyper fandom engaged is only a small, but very vocal subsection of humans haha. apparently most people just watch media without injecting it into their veins, can you imagine? 🤯

I mean, it honestly sounds so peaceful though. Going into each Stranger Things season blind, hyped for whatever it throws at you, without any fandom baggage or vested interest in specific ships working out?

It’s a double-edged sword though, cause a lot of people really don’t care about mike or will. And it’s like, how are you not seeing the beauty of these characters?! Hopefully season 5 handles their arcs well so the GA can finally see Will as the icon he is and Mike as more than “an asshole.”

[grievedifferent]

how does the group fit in with each other / how did the group "become a friends group" at all: i am using this new context for my own assumptions here.

i think my problem first in trying to make how this dichotomy of friends make sense was looking at "how do characters like emily, jess, matt, and mike fit in with chris, josh, sam, ashley, hannah, and beth". what i should have been asking is the reverse.

there are three degrees in this friends group, and here's how i see them:

matt, emily, jess, mike -> classic popular kids, it makes sense they would know each other. you know for a fact emily and jessica were best friends, you know matt and mike were at least friendly because we see them talking animatedly to each other during the prank set up (the shots of just establishing where everyone is basically).

ashley and sam -> not correlated to each other, but they're sort of the "in-betweens", and this is kind of important in regards mostly to sam. for me? sam is the big connector of the two groups. for ash, this just sort of explains how she likely slid in to meet chris and establish being part of the "nerdier" side of the group.

chris, josh, hannah, beth -> chris is included because he's sort of part of the washington family package. if you get josh, you get chris.

i think it sort of goes like this:

matt knows mike who is dating emily (at some point during this but likely not the entire time this group was constructing / eventually constructed). this is how matt meets emily, who he will later date. emily is friends with jessica, which means jessica comes in by association to emily.

based on the way emily and sam interact throughout the game, which admittedly isn't a lot (but is enough), we can see that likely sam came into that group above via emily, thus making a good friendship with mike (based on their entire dynamic in the game, thus becoming final boy and girl, we see this even in their death mechanics compared to the others).

via sam, hannah (who is her childhood best friend), becomes affiliated, then beth, then likely josh (who was probably "known" to mike and matt, i would think, maybe in passing, but this is what solidified them being in the same circle and not by going to the same school). this brings in chris, because chris 4 josh of course (ie of course josh's best friend, who is always around, will thus then be introduced). sam already has history with josh, beth, and chris, so this conglomerate isn't that strange for her? more probably a clashing of worlds.

through matt, ashley came in. i say matt and ashley because a) ashley and matt are intentionally put together in the new snapshot, b) matt seems comfortable being goofy with ashley in the scene where he can scare her before being able to look out and find em and mike, and c) they're also placed together in the prank scenes, indicating some comfortability. likely? ashley was matt's tutor or something. she then meets chris, who she gravitates to more (thus likely josh, then hannah and beth). josh because of the chris factor, the twins because of age, i would think. more in common in that way.

i think there's always this divide no matter what, even as a unit. they don't often do things as a full group, likely split off into subsections, and then do huge things together (parties, getaways, etc). they're all mostly rich kids, so that makes sense.

from there, after the prank on hannah, it gets divided further before josh "rallies the troops back together". josh himself is missing half the time, chris seems pretty outside of the group save for ashley, and then from there, it sort of shows itself as to who was hanging out with who after hannah and beth died.

from here? i leave it all totally open tbh, i'm super happy to go with any routes for how this group became a group, but this is just my best guess as to how they might have come together just based solely on what we get in the game (original and remake) without my own headcanons tied in. although, i guess my headcanons follow this idea, so. i hope this kind of helps? it sort of helps me.

[campbyler]

AKDHDKSKFHDKS I JUST FINISHED CHAPTER SIX AND DNKDKGNFFKDK!!!

(Spoilers obvi)

I LOVE YOUR WRITING SO MUCHHHH🩷🩷🩷🩷

I love the little detail about the face paint because when they started kissing my perfectionist brain went “oh no their face paint will get smudge!” And I was right!

Also Mike getting distracted and Max noticing is so real. (also I wonder just how much Max has figured out…🤭🤭) (also also what is with them and making out in kitchens istg it’s like their favorite thing)

i mean it was RIGHT THERE, how could i pass up on it a little blue and yellow color theory??

(fun fact: that scene's subsection in the outline is called "blue meets yellow in the isolation cabin" because i'm a dork.)

max Sees Things. best to leave it at that for right now

i think that making out in general might be their favorite thing. but that's just a guess 😗

[samasmith23]

The best Saladin Ahmed Ms. Marvel scene

One of the strongest elements from the original G. Willow Wilson run on Ms. Marvel IMO was the complicated relationship between Kamala Khan and her best friend Bruno Carrelli. While Kamala & Bruno already had a long history as childhood friends, Wilson portrayed both characters struggling with developing romantic feelings for each another due to them now being teenagers and dealing with hormones and all that jazz. Saladin Ahmed followed-up on this subplot during his run on Magnificent Ms. Marvel after Wilson left the title, and in Issue #9 seems to finally settle the "will-they/won't they" drama of the character's relationship by having Kamala suddenly kiss Bruno when she was torn between stopping a supervillain's rampage and staying at the hospital with her dying Abu.

However, by Issue #15 after Kamala felt awkward about publicly dating Bruno and suffered a near-death experience due to the events of the Outlawed crossover, the two decide to have an incredibly honest and earnest conversation about the status of their relationship:

Although I’ve used to be a huge shipper of these two as a couple, I can honestly understand both Kamala & Bruno’s perspectives here on why they feel it won’t work for them and feel they should just stay friends despite their feelings for one-another. And I love how Kamala acknowledges being confused about her feelings for Bruno since she kissed him in a heat of passion when she was emotionally stressed due to other factors like the Stormranger Nanosuit influencing Kamala's physical behavior to try and kill her arch-nemesis Discord (aka, Josh Richardson) and her grief and anger over her Abu dying in the hospital while she had to go off and fight the supervillain Mr. Hyde.

Additionally, Bruno acknowledges that maybe he was too fixated in the ideal relationship he always imagined having with Kamala that and ended up being a jerk about wanting to be more open about their relationship after the kiss. And while it’s a more subtle implication, Bruno’s mentioning of his ex-girlfriend Mike from G. Willow Wilson’s run is a reference to Bruno and Mike’s relationship developing at a more natural pace without any of the awkward baggage that comes with Bruno & Kamala being best friends since childhood.

Furthermore, this conversation between Kamala & Bruno served as a nice callback to the rooftop scene from the Last Days arc of Wilson’s run wherein Kamala similarly stated that she wasn't ready to pursue romance due to her life as Ms. Marvel. Except here, Ahmed provides some resolution and closure to Wilson leaving possibility of a relationship developing between the two open-ended, settling on the two characters deciding that the messiness of being a couple isn't worth risking their friendship over.

Overall, I was surprisingly impressed by how Saladin Ahmed handled Kamala and Bruno maturely sorting out their relationship and their decision to remain friends going forward. And I say all this as someone who defended and championed the KamalaXBruno ship for quite awhile (especially since a large subsection of Ms. Marvel fans on Twitter seem to actively despise Bruno as a character for reasons that I honestly don't understand...).

From Magnificent Ms. Marvel (2019) #15 by Saladin Ahmed & Minkyu Jung.

[elmoshipsbyler]

edit: i put this in my queue instead of in my drafts by accident, just fixing/rewording some parts

note: this doesn’t apply to all m*levens, i’m talking about a very specific subsection of them

m*levens talking about how sad it is that will won’t have a love interest in s5, because they feel bad for him & he deserves the best, all while they aggressively shit on bylers for wanting him to end up with mike (it’s unrealistic! delusional! or whatever)

like just say you only care about gay people being happy when it doesn’t threaten your straight ship. stop pretending to care about will, as if you wouldn’t hate him for “stealing” mike from el

i grew up in a very homophobic area and people are like this IRL too. everyone i’ve heard that’s used that argument before has used it as a very thinly veiled variation of “i only like gay people when they don’t cause problems” or, “i am pro gay rights, as long as they don’t affect me”. and some people genuinely don’t realize that that’s the logic they’re using (not intentionally being homophobic, they just haven’t thought it through) but i’ve seen so many people talk like that, use those arguments, that i’m just tired of it. like i’m annoyed. will can date mike if that’s what makes them both happy, whether it “interferes” with your ship or not. gay people can have happy endings if it “gets in the way” or not

[gaykarstaagforever]

Seriously?

I found it.

This comes from the website of some lawyer who goes on TV and writes books explaining when and how exactly you can murder people with your amazing, beautiful guns.

I read the relevant subsection or whatever, F, where it says you can push a guy over if he's in your way. But the context of it seems to be as it pertains to YOUR PERSONAL PROPERTY; like if someone is blocking you from going inside your house. But it just says "from a place you have a legal right to enter," so I guess that means you can use it to knock over protesters.

To wit:

Or maybe it only works that way if you're a politician and annoyed that someone is getting between you and the lobbyists who are LEGALLY not bribing you.

If the police won't even let you file charges, I guess it doesn't much matter.

They added this "right to knock people over" thing in 1980. I don't really know how to look up what was going on that prompted this. Plus Pennsylvania is notoriously awful at digitizing records and making them freely searchable.

[wewebaggit]

Honestly this whole 'karen is alice' or mike and the wheelers are related to creels takes seem to be coming from wanting to make mike 'be involved' in the supernatural in some way despite the fact that the important part of this is that he was just a guy who got involved in this bc of his determination to find will.

Also i just find it funny how karen is the one who is thought to be a secretive important character when we literally have joyce on the show who has been involved in the plot and whose teenage life will be featured in the upcoming play in a month in relation to the creels 😭 like why a subsect fandom on here is so blind to some things is beyond me

I mean it's fun to theorise and shit. To each their own. But I know the people who believe in this think of it as some foregone conclusion and act like ANYTHING else is stupid while extending other theories as evidence for future theories. Which is. Well it's more fun to see a house of cards collapse than just stay there doing nothing. So yay I guess. But idts it coheres. What's the message? It's just too crowded and confused already for these new additions to make sense. But good if they do.

[kittenkatbar]

brb going back to college just to write a dissertation on leftist infighting via the vehicle of bi vs gay mike discourse in the byler subsection of the stranger things fandom

[thewrongmoon]

one thing I desperately hope for s5 is that they try to divide the plots and characters up more effectively. like because one of my major qualms with s4 was how bad the pacing was from having 2 hour long episodes and 5 different plots going on. like let me break it down so we can remember just how bad in retrospect it was:

Plot A: Hawkins gang (Max, Dustin, Lucas, Steve, Robin, Nancy, Eddie, Erica)

SUBSECTIONS of Plot A:

Nancy + Fred

Nancy + Robin

Lucas + basketball team

Dustin + Max

Dustin + Max + Lucas

Dustin + Max + Lucas + Steve

Dustin + Max + Lucas + Erica

Steve + Nancy + Robin + Eddie

Plot B: Cali gang (Jonathan, Argyle, Will, Mike)

SUBSECTIONS of Plot B:

Jonathan + Will + Mike + El

Jonathan + Will + Mike

Will + El

Mike + Will + El

Plot C: NINA project (El)

SUBSECTIONS of Plot A:

El + Owens

El + Owens + Brenner

El + Brenner

El + One

Plot D: Journey to Russia (Joyce, Murray)

SUBSECTIONS of Plot D:

Joyce + Murray + Yuri

Plot E: Russian prison (Hopper, Dmitri)

(Plot D and Plot E MERGE in the last few episodes)

Other Perspectives we see from:

Jason + basketball team

Karen, Ted, other parents

US military

Owens

Like the mixture of having more than 4 plots/perspectives and also having a non proportional number of characters in each PLUS having the grouping consistently changing is so convoluted. Let's compare it to season one just to see:

Plot A: The party + El (Mike, Lucas, Dustin, El)

SUBSECTIONS of Plot A:

Mike + El

Mike + Dustin

Mike + Lucas + Dustin

Lucas

El

Plot B: The teens (Jonathan, Nancy)

SUBSECTIONS of Plot B:

Nancy + Steve

Nancy + Barb

Nancy + Jonathan + Steve

Jonathan

Nancy

Plot C: The adults (Hopper, Joyce)

SUBSECTIONS of Plot C:

Hopper

Joyce

Joyce + Jonathan

Joyce + Lonnie

Plot D: Hawkins Lab (Brenner)

Other perspectives we see from:

Will

A lot more manageable, right?? This also has to do with there being less characters. But even if the Duffers don't want to kill anyone off, they could divide them up more efficiently. Having one plot with 8 characters in s5 and another with just 1 is like... how did that happen. Even though the Hawkins plot was one of them more interesting ones, the characters constantly splitting up and there just being too many of them in one plot together just kind of leaves the viewers confused. One of the reasons I actually liked the Cali plot was because I was like "Oh this is like a good number of characters for one plot line."

In a perfect world I think each plot has like a max of 5 characters and a minimum of two. Also there's only 3 or 4 going on. Which is why I really hope we return to the original groupings for season 1.

[brionysea]

whatever he did before things started looping, i don't think he died, but i do think he's dying. mike is einstein's definition of insanity given human form — doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results — and he's him, so he's made it this far on sheer willpower, but he can't keep going forever. which is why it's gotten to the point of needing a pep talk and a reminder of who he is

he doesn't seem to be immune to becoming a "faded, lesser copy" every time, either. it might even be affecting him more, since everyone and their mother has picked up on "the mike problem" by now of how he's just... dimmer, the further in we get. that's happening to some other people too, but it's to a lesser extent, so they go fairly unnoticed while mike is right in our face, and it's generally blamed on bad writing

everything might be getting dimmer because mike's dying, actually. if it's all coming from his brain and his brain is slowly shutting down, that makes it harder to get all the details right

the thing about el (but really mike, because he's projecting) being treated like a machine makes me think... idk, like, this is all a loop, right? something went wrong and he's trying to fix it, and while they don't usually lose, they don't really win either, so it keeps coming back

and if mike is the source of that, if he's making this all happen again and again and again until whatever was broken gets fixed, then all of that weight is pressing on his brain. it's like he's maintaining this little subsection of reality where they fight monsters from an alternate dimension every year and that's just normal, and he's doing it all on his own, because the one time el tried to go into his mind, he shut her out. maybe that's where the possible brain damage comes in, just from how much stress is being put on his brain to keep this whole operation up and running

and he kind of seems to want out, honestly? even without pioneering the "if the brain dies, the body dies" movement, he's constantly running into danger without a second thought for his own life. but whatever he's doing this for must outweigh that desire because he's not stopping. he probably just wants the others to take notice so he won't be indefinitely trying to fix the unfixable by himself more than anything, because the other option is giving up, and he didn't sing along to never surrender for nothing

i could see whatever was broken being that will or mike's life was seriously threatened, honestly. i'm partial to the second one, because i'm biased and i'd like to see him fight for himself for once, but both work. hopper considered the possibility of will's disappearance being related to his queerness, and as far as we know, his vanishing was as close as we can get to the triggering incident, so there might be some answers there. something in that vein definitely could have happened to either of them

hopper's theory of what happened to will -> got spotted in the woods by someone scary, dropped his bike, ran to the quarry, fell off the cliff

the reality of what happened to mike -> got spotted in the woods by someone scary, dropped his bike, ran to the quarry, and was forced to jump off the cliff, all because he made someone mad by standing up to them about their homophobia

mike and will's characters touch on a lot of the same stuff, but with will it's usually told to us, while with mike we're shown it. i tend to think that's indicative of something. this would certainly explain how they're planning to make mike's queerness so integral to the narrative and the final resolution that it can't be bullied into being cut out by the powers that be, if mike accepting it is what has to happen for the story to end

mike creating el under manifestation theory and then literally giving her a name like parents do to their kids. i guess the more apt description is like writers do to their characters, but the phrasing of "making el" keeps following her around, and it's one that she herself used when talking about her mother, so...

[spaceorphan18]

I read with interest your view and that of @hopefulobjectmiracle about tumblr Klaine fandom. Is there more shipping these days than 2010-15? I ask because there seems to be a smaller group that only ship Kurt with Blaine but there seems to be a huge rise in Kurtbastian and Hevans shippers. Likewise, there’s many more pezberry or faberry shippers. And a lot more of those shippers trying to discredit Blaine or Brittany as OTP for Kurt and Santana. There seems to be new younger people joining Tumblr declaring a love for all things Klaine, and then a week later shipping Kurt with everybody else!! Has there been a change since the show aired?

Hi Nonny! :)

Hmmm.... There's not really a clear answer to this because the way shipping evolved is different than people just finding things now.

There are kind of two different things going on here -- Kurt related shipping and non-Kurt (blaine/klaine) shipping. I can't tell you much about non related Kurt things -- however, I will say that Faberry was HUGE when the show was on. It's a subsection of the fandom I never interacted with but it was around in season 1, and loud enough that the show makes nod to it from season 2 forward. Brittana was always around, too, and the reason Brittana became a thing on the show was, partly, due to fans crying out that they should be a couple -- and more than the throwaway joke the writers made in the first season.

I don't know what happened to those ships over time, or how the evolved since the show ended -- I'm sorry :/

But now, I will tell you the epic history of Kurt shipping. (Again. i should really dig out my old notes on this, lol)

Here we go long post...

I found it! I'm going to quote myself so I don't have to write it out again, lol. This was originally from an ask about the BBO (Better Boyfriend Olympics), but it'll work here, too.

Okay, so let’s go back to 2010 when there wasn’t a Klaine fandom, there was a Kurt fandom.  A lot of the BBO stemmed out of the Kurt’s Boyfriend Shipping wars of 2010.

Back then, there was just a Kurt fandom, and a lot of opinions about who he should date.  Believe it or not, Kurt was shipped a lot with the other guys on the show, there was a healthy dose of Kurt/Finn, but Kurt/Puck was huge, and there was a smattering of Kurt/Mike (I never really did see much Kurt/Artie now that I think of it, which is kind of funny in retrospect, but I’m sure it’s out there.)  Anyway - when the show announced Kurt was getting a boyfriend – well, things began to get heated up.

Three big ships emerged

Kurt/Sam - because the rumor was that Sam was originally supposed to be Kurt’s bf (probably not, but that rumor was big at the time).  Btw, they were the canoe ship (I have no idea why) and was also known as Kum (rolls-eyes).  This ship’s fanbase was so huge and lasted so long, that the show felt the need to address it head on in Season Two’s Rumours (not a joke).

Kurt/Karofsky - Also known as Kurtofsky, they were also called themselves the Pirate ship (god, Idk why, shipping wars are weird, yo).  These people were also really passionate, mostly about Dave, but liked the whole idea that Kurt would save Dave and they would have this weird - enemies to loves love affair or something.  I don’t know, I could never get past the squicky assault aspect, but whatever.

Kurt/Blaine - which. at the time, was… the biggest possibility? It’s funny cause the other two ships were just as big as the Klaine ship, and really the fighting became over who was going to be the best option for Kurt.

And that’s the thing.  Fans of Kurt were so passionate about who was best for Kurt, because everyone had seen him go through hell and back on the show, so his boyfriend needed to be perfect for him.  And you know who was perfect (at first) – Blaine.  More on that in a second…

However, Blaine brought his own bit of baggage – namely fans of Darren Criss (and/or Starkid fans).  Unlike Chord Overstreet or Max Adler, people knew who Darren was before he was on Glee.  So his own fandom joined in on the Klaine of it all.  At first it was all fine – as the shipping wars continued, it was less about Kurt vs Blaine and more about Klaine vs the other shippers.  Well, that was going to change….

Original Song happened and Kurt and Blaine got together ending the question of who would ultimately be Kurt’s boyfriend.  And things were nice and cozy headed into season 3.  You’d think the Kurt/Sam and Kurt/Karofsky ships would die out, but not really, they stuck around for a long time, and kinda morphed into something else.

See, The First Time happened.  And for the first time Blaine wasn’t the perfect prince that he was in season 2 – he had more of a developed personality, and more flaws.  And… some people didn’t like it.  (Also added to the mix was Sebastian – and the Seblaine and Kurtbastian ships were born, but those kinda go off on their own thing and I’m not really going to bring them up much here.)  Anyway, what really got fandom split was Dance With Somebody.

You had two sides of an argument, people who saw Kurt’s POV and people who saw Blaine’s POV – and guess what happened.  The two sides began to fight with each other over who was “right” in the argument.  (My god…) And thus started what fandom started referring to as The Better Boyfriend Olympics.

See - for reasons I don’t fully understand - instead of seeing that each of the boys have a fault and each were wrong in the episode, each side wanted to say that their side, and their POV was the correct way – that one boyfriend was more oppressed and the other was not as good a partner.

On the Kurt side, though, you had a lot of the old Kurt fans and ships who didn’t like Blaine (and/or didn’t want Blaine as his partner) so they vehemently decided that unless Blaine was the perfect boyfriend again, he didn’t deserve to be with Kurt.  Meanwhile, you had the Blaine fans, many of them Darren fans who wanted Blaine to have more depth to him than just being Kurt’s boyfriend, and not being Kurt fans first (or originally) they were going to push back at the Kurt fans who were lashing out at Blaine.

Compounding this was the fact that during season 3, there were so many cast members and characters that unless you were Finchel, you were begging for scraps and your featured episode to come along.  Meanwhile - Kurt got a ton of screen time, but didn’t sing much, while Blaine sang a lot more, but didn’t get much story.  The Kurt fans resented that Blaine was always singing.  The Blaine fans were annoyed that the Kurt fans resented it, and tried to remind the Kurt fans that Blaine barely got any development.

Either way, a war had begun.  And then The Break Up happened.

Now Kurt fans had a specific reason to point at – Blaine being a terrible boyfriend.  He cheated.  He’s terrible.  The end.

The fandom was not firmly split into sides - you were either a Kurt fan - a lot of them who HATED Blaine - partly because he was getting more attention at the time, partly cause he did sing more, partly because they were made up of Kurt ships that didn’t work out, and partly cause they saw so much of themselves in Kurt that they projected onto him their own feelings, and loving Blaine was not a part of that projection.  Or you were a Blaine fan - who spent a lot of time defending Blaine to the point of exhaustion, and became so resentful of Kurt that they wished Blaine could be with anyone else because Kurt (fans) didn’t understand Blaine and should just stop trying.

Weren’t there any Klainers you ask? Ha, well…. Klainers, people actually liked Kurt AND Blaine were stereotyped into two categories.  Category A) the really really loud fanbase (usually on Twitter) that harassed the creators, RM, Chris, Darren, various crew about Klaine every second that they got – to the point that it started to feel embarrassing (that’s probably my own projection).   Category B) People who thought (think) that Chris and Darren were (are) in a secret relationship.  (Spoiler alert they aren’t, never have been, and never will be.)  The two of these categories overlapped A LOT, and many of the fans of one boy or the other just disassociated completely.

You could still be a fan of the Klaine relationship, but you had a preference to which boy you were actually a fan of – you couldn’t like both, or else you were a Klainer, and that was not cool.  (I spent a long time NOT identifying as anything, and trying to make sure everything I did and said was equal – a) cause I was new to fandom and b) cause I hated that either one or the other of these characters were villainized so frequently.)

Anyway - Season 4 continued.  Adam showed up, and Kurt fans got all excited, but the problem was that a lot of them saw him as the perfect boyfriend again – not a real character but a prop that could make Kurt look good and be everything for Kurt.  Look, I liked Adam, I did, but he was underdeveloped, and this weird idea that your boyfriend needs to be perfect in order to be a functioning relationship is just unrealistic.  I digress.  Meanwhile, we didn’t get a lot of Kurt POV, which didn’t help things, and meant even more projection over his character.

Meanwhile, the Blaine fans had formed their own community, which became viciously defensive of him.  I think the whole fandom was toxic during this time for a lot of reasons, and I really wanted to quit it.  Many people did – the show wasn’t being fun anymore.

Season 5 came along, the boys got back together, tempers simmered, but the whole idea of the Better Boyfriend Olympics came back every time a conflict happened.  Arguments about who was the better boyfriend ensued, gatekeeping as to why their pick was best and why your opinion sucked still ran through the fandom.  Not helping was the fact that Cory had died, and the creators, actors, and crew – as well as media – was tired of Glee.

The one nice thing, though was that a lot of the old crowd had moved on by then, and there was an influx of newer people coming in during season 5 (and season 6) – they weren’t here for the season 3 droughts and season 4 wars, and brought in a newer and fresher perspective.

But still - we had the end of season 5 and the summer of spoilers and season 6 to get through.  At this point, the Kurt and Blaine camps had moved to their parts of the internet and really not speaking much to each other if they could help it.  When an argument happened on the show, the same kind of Better Boyfriend Olympics came up again – one boyfriend was worse than the other, and unless they changed xyz they were not good enough for the other.  But at this point, it was incredibly tiring.  I know that I was just ready for the show to be done with.

I should say, as an aside, not helping things were the rise of some rather vocal BNF-ish fans, who dug their heels in about their own opinions.  The refusal to even acknowledge that one side or the other might be right, or have valid points was not helping anything.  A lot of people on both sides refused to even listen to the points on the other side – and instead of being frustrated at the show, the creators, or whatever, they took it against each other, which wasn’t fun to watch either.

Season 6 happened - Blainofsky happened, and that killed enthusiasm for the season on both sides, most people just kind of wanted it to be over.  And then the ending came quickly, and I think a lot of people who were just plain unhappy about everything left for good.

The Better Boyfriend Olympics, or this weird competition that always pitted the boys and their fandoms against each other in the name of one being better than the other, leveled off after this.  I won’t give myself /that/ much credit - but one reason I created @todaydreambelievers was to give fans of both Kurt and Blaine a safe place where we could enjoy and discuss both boys without the BBO rearing its head.  And you know what – it did mend a few hearts.

For the most part, it’s been pretty quiet since.  Fandom is quieter, but I think the people who have come into it after the show has ended are a lot less judgmental and argumentative.  (I suppose it helps if you know how the story is going to end.)  And the cool thing, for me, is finding a group of people who enjoy Kurt and Blaine equally (or respectfully) – and reclaiming the name Klainer as a good thing.

I’ll end by saying this – it’s been relatively peaceful, even with the influx of new people throughout the years, but I have been seeing shades of BBO pop up again.  Look, you don’t have to like Klaine to be a fan of one or the other of them.  But there are a lot of terrible things going on in the world, a lot of things to be angry and get indignant about.  How a fictional couple was written ten years ago is not one of them.  Be respectful of people, and know that maybe the side you understand better isn’t the only side worth listening to.  ;)

////////////////////

So, I suppose that's part 1 of this full picture. Onto Part 2.

Here's the thing -- I've stayed, mostly, in my little tumblr buble over the past five years -- blissfully unaware that I suppose things were going on around me. Except... they really weren't. Until the pandemic happened, and Glee went to Netflix internationally, and a whole bunch of young kids grew up and started watching the show.

By the time I ended TDB in 2019, there weren't many of us left. I knew there was our small, dedicated group of fans. The tinhatters (the group who thought Chris and Darren were in some kind of relationship. spoiler alert -- they're not). And I know the Kurtbastian fans have been kicking around for a while. But no one was around in huge numbers.

And then boom - pandemic, and I'm shocked (not in a bad way) that this show has already seen a resurgence. The weirdest part, for me, is the fact that not only is history repeating itself -- seriously, people are bringing up old conflicts that have been dead for ages, and old shipping wars I never thought I'd see again -- but I think this new group's relationship with the show is much different.

I think that Kurt is a character whom a lot of people can still identify with. And because he's on his own in the first season, it's still easy to project yourself onto him. And then shipping goes from there. Blaine went from being the exciting option, omg are they really gonna do Klaine?? to -- hey Klaine is the boring canon choice, we can choose who we want for Kurt.

Layer over that years of Blaine hate still circling the interwebs. The echo chamber that Twitter and Tiktok create. And the fact that neither Chris or Darren seem to have the army of fans they once did (well -- Darren does, but they don't really watch Glee anymore). And you get this varied landscape of shipping.

No, some days it doesn't feel that different from the BBO days. The fact that I still get asks about Blaine and TFT car scene or Tested makes me feel like I'm back in 2013. Other times I'm perplexed by resurgences -- such as Kurtbasitan and Kurt/Sam. (Please don't bring back Kurtofsky guys)

But there's a saying -- Same Shit, Different Day.

I think there is an entirely different group of people than the original people watching, and their reasoning for shipping whatever is much different. But they've certainly come to a lot of the same conclusions that brought about the shipping wars in the early days.

At the end of the day - I think Kurt will always been a fandom mattress. But ship what you like and be nice to everyone else. There's enough hate in the world -- no need to dump on people's escapism.

[dearyams]

december 18, 1985

If you want to destroy my sweater, hold this thread as I walk away. Watch me unravel, I’ll soon be naked lying on the floor; I’ve come undone. - Wheezer, 1994

day 1

day 2

[ day 3: wow, that is an ugly sweater ]

Will sits on the steps outside the Wheeler household, a steaming mug of hot chocolate scalding his ungloved hands. The sharp heat is a welcome comfort against the whipping wind lashing snow against his face. He takes a hand from the cup and wipes it across his flushed and damp cheeks. The door behind him creaks open but he doesn’t bother to turn and give his sudden intruder his attention. He can tell from the person’s gait as they take a few steps from the door that it’s El anyway.

“Hi, Will,” she starts ever so kindly. Will gives her a hum of acknowledgement and scoots over as she squeezes in on the step next to him. He notes that she’s wearing a too-large green sweater, but it’s oddly familiar so he assumes it must be one Mike outgrew after his growth spurt. “It’s cold outside.”

“Yeah,” Will replies softly. The mug rim dances against his lips as heat from the liquid curls up his nose. “Why’d you follow me out here?”

“Me and Mike finished talking.” Will wants to correct her—Mike and I—but he just nods. “I’m happy for you; I hope you know that.”

He wants to say yes because deep down, he knows all El has ever wanted from him since they moment they met in the Upside Down is his happiness and safety. She trusts that Mike can give him both, which is part of the reason why she so excited approves whatever happens between them. Everyone knows Mike and El adore each other, and maybe there will always be a tiny part of Will inside that’s forever cold and bitter over El getting Mike first when it comes to romantic entanglements. At least until he grows out of it once he’s more comfortable about being with Mike. It’s still a weird thing, looking across the way and knowing that when Mike glances up and catches his gaze, the soft look in his eyes is meant for Will in that special way Will himself didn’t truly realize he wanted until he saw that gaze directed at El during Snowball the year before.

He wants to say yes because El really is happy and he knows that intellectually, factually, and objectively. She speaks the truth and yet a minuscule subsection of Will’s hardened heart still believes the words are nothing but a farce hiding disgust and disappointment.

Of course she’s happy, he thinks with a voice laced in self-deprecation and harrowing pity, happy she’s not dating a guy who likes guys. Happy she’s not kissing a boy who would rather kiss other boys.

And he knows it’s stupid thoughts because El really doesn’t care about things like boys liking boys and girls liking girls. Plus, he’s extrapolating a lot of his own internalized problems and fears onto Mike and that’s unfair too but he can’t help it. He has no clue what goes on in Mike’s head when it comes to what they are and he’s scared that Mike will run away once the reality of it all comes crashing down. It’s not as if Will is too sure he wouldn’t run away either; he’s never been with anyone before, he’s never had the freedom to express his affections for Mike in this manner, and the ability to do so freezes him in a stupor every time Mike brushes their hands together or how all day on this cold winter Wednesday, Mike sent Will gentle and warm smiles that screamed “I’m glad I’m with you”.

Despite not having her powers back, El seems to have the innate ability to read Will like a book. She tugs on his sweater and then tries to pull the mug out his hands when he can’t gather his thoughts from the swirling depths found in dark, bleak shadows hidden from the light of the moon. “Will,” she whispers kindly. “It’s okay.”

What exactly is okay about all of this? Will feels like he’s unraveling at the edges, unsure if this new relationship is really something he should be pursuing. “How do you do it?” he asks weakly, hating his voice for cracking.

El huffs out a short breath and Will watches her breath puff white in the night air. “Do what?”

Care for someone. Present that affection. Love Mike Wheeler. It feels so all consuming and Will can’t understand how he’s able to carry this much feeling for one person and be allowed to express it, act on it, enjoy it. It’s as if a dam inside him has smashed open, waves of besotted sentiment crashing into every thought until he’s drowning, one hand reaching out through the ocean in his heart only for nothing to reach out and save him from himself. He closes his eyes and lets the winter breeze brush calming fingers through his lightly tousled hair.

“Wear such an ugly sweater like that,” is what he says, nodding toward El as he tugs at the green cloth on her shoulders. Now that he looks at it, it’s definitely Mike’s—an old thing he got from his grandma a few Christmases ago. It’s decorated with battery operated Christmas lights and cotton puffs meant to imitate snow. Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer decorates the center with a glowing nose and Will remembers Mike tolerating the sweater just for the reindeer. A green, red, and white chevron pattern lines the edges and seams, and all in all, the sweater is far too decorated but it swells over El’s entire body and consumes her in a way it never did Mike.

Will finds it suits her in an endearing way.

El though seems to catch Will’s deflection but she doesn’t question it further. “It feels weird at first,” and maybe El is actually answering his unspoken question, “but you get used to it. Other people might say it’s ugly and complain that you wear it around but,” and she taps the flashing red nose which lines up over her heart, “I like it. I think you should be proud to have a gift like that. Not everyone gets to wear ugly sweaters for Christmas.”

Will drinks from his mug to hide his smile, nose crinkling once he realizes the drink has now gotten too cold for enjoyment. The door behind them opens and Will turns to spot their undisclosed topic of discussion working his way down the steps to them. “Hey,” he starts, ruffling Will’s hair as he squeezes El’s shoulder. He settles down on Will’s other side and snags the mug from his hands only to also scowl once he realizes the drink inside is cold. “You want me to warm this up for you?”

They hold eye contact for a moment, something silent and unspeakable passing between them in just a second or two. Will smiles and places his hand over Mike’s significantly warmer one. “Sure, if you don’t mind.”

El stands up and plucks the mug from Mike’s hands with a giggle. “I can do it, don’t worry about it.” She’s gone before either boy can protest and Will stares at his hands as silence fills the air.

Mike sits a little closer after a moment and places his hand on Will’s thigh with a small squeeze. “Was I too much today?”

“Too much?”

“Like with the glances and touches and stuff? I can stop if you want, it’s just...,” the lanky boy laughs and rubs at the back of his neck. “I don’t know.”

“I don’t mind really.” Will states and he doesn’t mind, not truly even if he’s still unable to really respond with anything more than stiff nods or quickly averted glances. “Don’t stress over it.”

“Take your own advice, yeah?” Mike nudges Will’s shoulder and lets loose a gentle sigh. “This is all so new, you know? I don’t know what to do.”

Will shakes his head. “Then why are you asking me? At least you’ve had a relationship before this.”

“Yeah, but you’re...well, you’re you.” Mike’s blushing, his freckles spotted against his reddening cheeks. Will feels an underlying urge to kiss each one he can see. “I don’t want to mess this up. Like you said yesterday, this is serious.”

“We’re serious?”

“Of course.”

The wind blows a bit stronger and Will closes his eyes against the incoming breeze filled with melting flakes. Mike curls in closer, not dressed for the winter weather even less than Will. The brunette unravels his scarf and wraps it around his companion’s shoulders, letting his hands linger just a moment longer than he usually would now that he has the permission to do so. They’re far too close to each other for public consumption and if it weren’t dark and snowy outside, Will wouldn’t dare be this close to him in case someone drives by and decides they need to comment in a more physical sense.

Will speaks up to distract his thoughts from taking a twist. “I saw you gave El your sweater.”

Mike laughs, hearty and sweet in the way Will has always loved. “She wanted it and you know I can’t fit it anymore. I don’t miss it, I mean, it’s so ugly anyway.”

“Yeah. That is an ugly sweater.”

Soft lips press against his temple and Will leans into the touch, letting the heat melt the chill that built up during his hiatus outside. Will feels more than hears Mike’s next words. “Bet it’d look cute on you.”

He smiles, no reply on his tongue, but he closes his eyes and doesn’t stress over it as Mike requested. How can he anyway when he’s got the cutest boy wrapped around him making sure his winter night ends in nothing more than love and comfort.