#and we know they love making references these fucking nerds of writers

[nereidprinc3ss]

So you think Spencer was still virgin in season 15?

well now that i think about it i guess they kind of just drop his romantic life after maeve? like he has some little flirtations here and there but idrk if it’s ever implied that he IS a virgin later in the show like it is earlier in the show

more below

and when he’s talking to cat in the roller rink he DOES make reference to “other women” which could just be max or he could’ve been bluffing or the writers basically were like alright if we give him a canon gf the fans will get pissed cause they tend to have this very like uwu he’s my smol bean mentality abt him even if they don’t realize it, i think the writers maybe knew that a lot of people project themselves onto him and if he suddenly started smashing bitches left and right it would be alienating to the viewers who love him for being a little bit of a socially inept nerd so they felt like they could not explicitly state that he was not a virgin and kinda implied it slightly with the “other women” comment. but toward the end of the show he’s kind of a very different person and i think it would not be ridiculous to say he totally could’ve been fucking. one would think however that if he were it would be a major plotline since for the entire show he had chronically very little success with women. but i think it’s not an unreasonable headcanon that he was maybe not a virgin by the end of the show. like they don’t really give us a reason to believe he’s not but people have had more outlandish headcanons before lol

although when talking to max he says he wants to take things slow and says “i know what slow means for me” which depending on how you look at it could be him acknowledging that he has very little experience OR completely the opposite, however, again, i think if he did have significant romantic experience they would’ve made it a plotline. idk!! im insane

[krokodilsredimudil]

Stranger things | Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995)

TW: homophobia, slurs, bullying, SA, minors in sexual situations (yeah...)

The movie is a horrifying grotesque slice of life that shows how miserable (and fucked up) a pre-teen's life can be. A lot of triggering topics. I warned y'all

Here I'll be talking about the Wheelers and their counterparts from the movie, the Wieners, the disappearance of Holly (?) Wheeler, homophobic bullies, Nancy, Will and Mike and how their characters were inspired by the protagonist.

Meet the Wieners. (the Wheelers??). A middle class nuclear family. A happy looking family, right?

Harv Wiener. A dominating figure in the photo. An ever-absent father who is always passive and is never communicating with his kids. A picture we're all familiar with.

The Wheeler's family photo is framed in a similar manner. A dominating father in the picture who ironically doesn't do anything at all.

Marj Wiener. The mother who only cares for the well-being of her youngest child and is extremely toxic and manipulative. However, she's the only "active" parent. (She's not similar to Karen character-wise but still)

Mark Wiener (MIKE WHEELER!!!). The eldest child, "king of the nerds".

First, look at the guy and his clothing:

Now THE BEDROOM. That shade of blue ... The posters ... The nerdiness ... It's a reference, your honor!

Missy Wiener. The youngest. A promising ballerina, a ray of sunshine, is essentially a spoiled child with ill intentions. Holly's not like her in any way. However, they might just bear one small plot similarity.

Kidnapping / disappearance. We don't know yet if that's Holly who goes missing in season 5. If so, that would be a further reference.

I hope Holly won't turn up in the UD / HNL / the cave.

Dawn Wiener. The protagonist. The most miserable person, she's extremely bullied by her peers AND by her family. She's utterly unloved and craves love deeply. That's a pre-teen played by a literal pre-teen.

Dawn is Nancy, Mike and Will in different aspects.

The introduction scene is literally her being bullied for 'being a lesbian' (she's not, but that's beside the point)

Will-Dawn parallels don't end here.

Dawn has a place for 'special people'. Yep, Castle Byers was inspired by this Special People Club.

The clubhouse gets destroyed here too. The clubhouse = innocence, childhood.

Here it was destroyed by Dawn's mother because she was selfish and didn't give a fuck about Dawn. In ST Will destroyed the castle himself (how I love that scene)

Now Nancy-Dawn parallels.

Dawn is in love with a sixteen-year-old Steve Rodgers, the most popular guy at school and the horniest as well (he slept with everybody, including pre-teens)

She even tries to change herself so that he notices her. She wants to look more mature, she wants him to sleep with her because only that will make her feel loved and worthy.

That's season 1 Nancy who tried to appeal to Steve 'King' Harrington.

Now Mike. The middle child who lacks self-confidence but can defend others.

Dawn defended a boy who was bullied for 'being gay'.

The whole situation is atrocious but the fact that the Duffers inverted the scene is hilarious.

Now Troy is the homophobic bully, how the turntables.

Overall, the movie doesn't give you hope that it's going to be better. It says 'you're stuck in this hell forever' but that's only a pre-teen's POV. Life sucks and you can't do anything about it, only grow up. I'm happy that the writers didn't stick to this message and gave the core four some moments of happiness (unlike here).

Other movie parallels

[mdhwrites]

The Lumity Kiss is Bad

Which is really weird when the actual, physical kiss is pretty much textbook perfect. However, this isn't a quick kiss or a throwaway one. It's the BIG kiss in a romantic subplot. The second half of the resolution we got in Knock Knock Knocking with the confession and the show frames it that way. As such... The kiss is more than just the kiss and it's every element around the physical action that ruins it, making even the textbook nature of it somehow flawed.

Let's start with the positive though. Now I've actually said I don't like how the kiss is animated and I do kind of stick to that. If you go to the 57 mark of this clip of the kiss, you can literally watch as Amity's face slides back to being on model.

And kind of like a lot of moments in the show with big budget animation, that's not a HUGE issue but it is deciding that frame rate and smoothness is king for good animation without considering how jarring it is to watch in the show and if it actually fits within the style of the show. I find TOH fights WAY more enjoyable to watch when isolated by themselves because of this because they aren't in an uncanny valley where they feel like a well produced fan animation than something official and I do still hold to that with the kiss itself. I just wish I could better describe why.

BUT! I said I had a positive to talk about and I do. For three seconds, the scene is just right. Luz says the date will be perfect before then Amity, looking at Luz, the person who the mere thought of was comforting her and who she's been worried about for a week, decides to go in and kiss her. Her hands are gentle as they take Luz's face and she leans in. Luz is shocked that this is happening but then quickly gives into the bliss and holds Amity's hand in her own. It is sweet, quick but incredibly impactful. It is a textbook example of how to do a kiss that one half of the pair didn't see coming and the couple are meant to be deeply in love. It's nothing new but doing the classic spot on is never a bad thing.

Those three seconds die the second Luz says, "Crikey," let alone the fact that it's in an Australian accent. And don't get me wrong: You do not have to make a kiss like this sappy. I Was A Teenage Exocolonist has a romance route with a very clinical, scientific person and when you two get together, she snarks at you if you ask what next. That I should know her well enough to know she has a logical decision deduced from what is correct for the situation.

"So are you going to kiss me or am I going to kiss you?"

Great. Amazing. Silly and not taking itself too seriously but above all else IN. CHARACTER.

I'm sorry to break it to you all but Luz is NOWHERE NEAR "Lol, random" enough for this. Hell, in both this scene and Looking Glass Ruins, the writers point out how Amity is driven to act on emotion and on what her brain pulls her towards more than Luz, especially on this topic. It's why Amity is ALWAYS the one to do the firsts in their relationship. Meanwhile, Luz's only times where she blurts out something random is "Snorses" which had a clear correlation to what was happening and "You damn rat!" which also was explicitly tied to the stimuli causing it.

What stimuli here makes her go "Crikey" and turn FUCKING AUSTRALIAN!? The only reasonable excuse I could even think of is to say she's a huge Crocodile Dundee fan but Luz was born theoretically somewhere around 2006, literally TWENTY YEARS after that movie came out and I don't feel like Camila would push something like that for her to watch or really fits in with most of what else Luz seems to enjoy.

Fucking BAZINGA would have been more in character because at least nerds still mock Big Bang Theory. Other options for a random word or reference would have been "Excelsior!" or "Wahoo!" as she jumps into the air like the hyperactive gremlin she's supposed to be.

Neither one would work though in general because the tone and framing of the scene isn't right for a joke, let alone this sort of joke. Part of what makes the kiss feel so justified in this moment is the setup... Though only on Amity's side. I'll get to the problems with Luz's setup for the kiss in a bit.

Amity has thought Luz might be dead for a week. She hasn't heard back from her, she's scared, distressed and strung out. She wants things to go back to simpler times like in Season 1 when things weren't so scary. She's emotional and is actively using the thought of Luz as a way to comfort herself. Then, out of nowhere, Luz comes in, promising romance, better times and safety, all while proving she herself is safe.

It is perfect setup in a story like this for the first kiss. Honestly, they could have gone one step farther and mentioned that they haven't even had a big kiss but they went with the missing out on the date element, which works just as well. It's nothing new but it's correct. It's good. However... It's also genuinely serious. Like this is effectively Amity laying out exactly why she likes Luz. The strength she gets from Luz. Why this relationship is important to her. It is great setup for an "I love you," or a first kiss.

It is a REALLY bad setup for a joke. However... as bad Luz's joke is... Amity's is actually worse.

"I can't believe I just did that!"

Yeah and I can't believe that in this moment that should show how far Luz and Amity have come as a couple, the strength and joy they've gained after being a couple for half a season, you're literally reacting the EXACT same way as you did when you kissed her on the cheek back in Looking Glass Ruins. It doesn't matter that you have nicknames now. That you two keep twirling each other about. Have had deep conversations about Luz's pain while Luz ignored yours. *eye twitch at Reaching Out* And it doesn't matter that in this moment, you have EVERY justification to be confident in this choice. To simply happy and overcome with emotion that your partner is simply ALIVE.

Her response should have been, "I'm so happy to see you," not literally going back an entire half a season for a cheap, repeat gag.

To be fair though, while this entire scene, from the moment it cuts to Amity talking to Emira and Edric, is obviously paying reverence to how big of a deal this is and trying to make the kiss be correct... The jokes are in keeping with how quite literally the rest of the episode treats Lumity. Remember, this episode starts with Luz claiming she'd like to pull a romantic rescue but deciding to opt out because despite having literally nothing to do with the plan, and likely being detrimental to how stealthy they need to be because fewer numbers are better here, she would rather be prepared to help Eda and King than actually break her girlfriend out from being grounded by the EC. This is despite, in Luz's own words, "You know me. I'll always choose the chaotic option." That... Isn't a good starting point.

Then the rescue is comically easy and Luz doesn't actually do any of it. It's all Gus, Willow and Hunter. Luz just gets to take the credit and get the big hero kiss, which this ABSOLUTELY IS. Amity was a damsel in distress for Luz to save, complete with a kiss for doing so. That's also without getting into how pathetically easy the save is. Like Willow doesn't even have to try to bury one dude and an abomaton ALIVE under ground. Frankly, I'm amazed that guard is still alive.

It's just a lot of stuff way too easy to be leading into what is the final payoff for your romantic subplot, let alone one that has taken up a THIRD of your story so far.

The rest of the episode isn't any better though. This should be an episode about Lumity. It starts with talking about Amity in trouble. Then it saves Amity and does the big, climactic kiss... But we haven't gotten Luz's side of the relationship yet, have we? We haven't gotten her speech like we did Amity's. We haven't gotten anything to show her deeper care for Amity and while Amity is talking about Luz's quirks and her kindness and the strength she gets from her, Knock Knock Knocking is really the closest we've gotten with "Awesome and pretty" which is vague and shallow. This is your chance to fix that.

There's even a perfect moment. Odalia threatens their relationship and says Luz isn't worthy. Have Luz agree... But then say it doesn't matter what her or Odalia think. That she is lucky to have someone as smart, dedicated, and passionate while having a sweet center that despite all her fears, anytime she's with Amity, she knows Amity is going to give her the chances she needs. Is going to understand what she's trying to say instead of looking at how weird she is and rejecting her. Take ten, twenty seconds to do that... While in the background, we can see Gus obviously thinking about something, glance at Luz, and then start working on a spell circle.

The shield comes down, get the dramatic reveal of Alador and then cut back to where Hunter is holding Amity's hand. Same effect as the show but allow Gus to make the plan of his own volition because he wants to protect his bro and this was the best he could think of. He thought Luz would be more capable of defending herself due to glyphs and that Belos was less likely to kill her than Hunter. Also, it was in a panic and the best he could think of.

INSTEAD, we get Luz ignoring Amity's problems with her parents for the THIRD FUCKING TIME and focusing on the white boy in the cast instead. In fact, I don't think Lumity talk to each other ONCE after the kiss scene. The focus is too much on the plot and Amity's angst and I could do an entire blog about how little Luz actually engages with Amity's character arc and plot elements. It makes it real rough analyzing old episodes for Amity's arc when you realize how much Amity jumps in her arc without almost any input from Luz on elements that are suddenly gone.

And this would be OKAY... But it makes the kiss feel like... Well, honestly like a gag. We're at a point in the show after all where very little of it is trying to be funny. Even Gus and King are being taken seriously now and Amity will be a joke for most of S3, especially in Thanks to Them. Even her standing up to her mother is lightly mocked by Alador sounding like he's just saying sweet lies in telling Amity that she was close to breaking the barrier. It's WEIRD the treatment of it when it has consumed so much time and the framing of the actual moment is so serious.

And I want to be clear: I am happy they kissed. I am not against this because it's two girls or anything like that. I'd criticize this no matter the gender, race, etc. of any element here because it is just flatly bad romance writing. The only parts that function are either cut off at the knees or the one part that has the characters too silent to actually harm the moment.

And I think the last thing any of us wanted for Lumity was for it to be treated like a joke.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[imaginespazzi]

Nivi Nivi Nivi. How dare you deliver so spectacularly. Us fluff girls need this kind of reprieve from the delicious angst as my heart is weak and I will fall into a severe depression if not treated tenderly with random fluff chapters. Thank you mommy.

April 2030

AHHHH KK!

Ok this tension is making me sad

Bullying Ice makes me laugh poor gal

Going to the bar, ok I know immediately where this is headed lol

Azzi loves to say WIFE with such distain. I don't think we gave credence to how upset the whole Olivia situation made her. I think she prob felt she didn't have the right to be upset. But she fucking hates her hahah. 👰🏽‍♀️🔪⛹🏽‍♀️

"there isn't a wife" i don't know why but this phrasing is very funny

Ok can I just say I really like how you integrated them sleeping together here. I know you said writing the chapter with 2 sex scenes in shades of blue almost killed you lol, but as the leader of the horny anons, a reference to them having sex still satisfies me greatly haha

April 2033 - Officially not the book of Mormon.

ok wow I really expected this to pick up right where we left off with them going right from the bathroom to the bed. They have restraint that I certainly don't have.

"Because the last couple of weeks had been hell. The stupid rules had been hell. Going slow had been hell. "

YA WE KNOW ITS BEEN HELL FOR US TOO. -> How has Azzi been surviving this either, we know she is equally as horny as P. Must have a really good rabbit or hitachi magic wand or gotten a custom vibrator made in the shape of paiges fingers that is keeping her more level headed than paige

“are you cold?” lol Azzi this is lame you nerd

“I think- I think her bed might be a little small for you.” ok this is a funny visual but actually cute cause she has probably gotten into Stephies bed to read to her at night and picturing her all hunched and uncomfortable is adorable

“make me stop thinking.” -> CHOIR OF ANGELS SING HALLLLLLLELUJAH, HALLLLELUJAH, HALLLLLEEEELLLUJAHHHHHHH

Ok you said before you don't consider yourself a great smut writer but I have to again say you are AMONG THE BEST. You are so incredible at conveying the intimacy/rawness of sex without being over the top/porny lol. I love the details of this scene sooo much, I've read it about 4 times already

Azzi kissing paiges body and noting everything she missed 😭😭😭😭

“missed all of this. Missed everything about you. Missed you so much baby.” -> I COULD CRY. I am cry. 😭😭😭

“Please what?” Azzi asks coyly, fingers moving at a faster face as she hides a grin against Paige’s neck, “gotta tell me what you want baby.” -> AZZI YOU WILEY MINX

“How have you gotten better at that? Actually you know what never mind,” Paige shakes her head, “I don’t want to know that.” -> hahaha Paige don't worry Clem didn't teach her new French fingering techniques.

Azzi being vulnerable about her body my sweet sweet baby

“Hey,” Paige whispers, lifting the younger woman’s chin back up before pressing their foreheads together, “talk to me baby.” -> wow so this whole time they just needed to bang to turn into excellent communicators?!

THE OTHER TIME? You are telling me they had sex again between the flashback from the beginning of the chapter and now?!?!!? OHHH you little easter bunny you 🐣. I am thinking this was some kind of Olympics related drunken celebration in 2032 - which would be like 6 months before the start of the story 😮 . And that probably ended badly in the 'LAST TIME' Jana references in chapter 1. Cause something fucked up happened between April 2030 and the beginning of the story for sure. You weave a real web Nivi! 🕸️

they keep calling each other Baby and I can't take it and I hope it continues

Ok did not see Azzi having a tattoo coming. Hot. Wonder if Paige has one. A big OLIVIA on her butt cheek she tried to cover with a map of Bolivia

Azzi returns from the bathroom with a smile and a damp cloth as she hops back onto the bed, gently dabbing it between Paige’s thighs. -> ok this is really intimate and sweet, brb going to give my gf shit for never doing this for me

April 2033 part 2

Ok I am normally a Paige girl but you are really converting me to an Azzi girl with these visuals. Waking up to Azzi reading in glasses sign me up

“Yeah you did,” a soft smile takes over Paige’s features as she leans up to brush her lips against Azzi’s, “you came back.” -> D'AWWWWWW

I knew Stephie and Katie were gonna pussyblock them in the morning 🐈🙅🏽‍♀️🙅‍♀️

"you’re not my dirty little secret or anything." -> ok I know his made P happy to hear, but actions speak louder than words. Not hiding her in her house from family is not the same as being open in public. STEP IT UP FUDD.

"I’m not quite ready to tell Stephie about us" -> ok girl she is a smart kid she is going to figure it out soon with all these sleepovers and ya'll are not going to be able to keep your hands to yourself no that you are going coital -> These bitches need to have a status convo. cmoooooon be gf/gf.

April 2033 part 3

LOL at Katie smirking in the background of this scene. She seems like the kind of parent that doesn't shy away from talking about sex, and liking Usher with his shirt off.

YOU GUYS HAD A SLEEPOVER WITHOUT ME -> hahah oh Stephie girl trust you don't want to witness any part of that sleepover. In about 10 years you are going to be disgusted by the sounds you hear when their door is locked. Get the girl some sound cancelling BOSE* headphones. *this review is sponsored by Bose.

Stephie milking it. Ok Paige is hilarious but this scene actually got me thinking, there is going to be a time where Paige shifts a little to be more responsible/parental with her Stephie interactions. I am curious how that change might come. I honestly can't picture her disciplining her but its part of being a parent, so she's gotta learn how to do it and not give in all the time!

In-N-Out just makes me think of those pictures of Paige's fine ass at the espys eating a double double in that suit. rawr.

And Paige thinks that when all is said and done, when she looks back on her life, she’ll remember this moment as the one where everything started to finally come together. -> I hope so Paige, but the person writing you can be evil sometimes so who knows

Well, this was fantastic. I love you, you spoil us, praise be to Nivi. 🤱🏻💜

Mommy remains insane work but I had a little tiny hunch you would enjoy this chapter lmao <3

Poor Ice fr fr

Olivia and Azzi really and truly don't fw each other and for good reason.

I simply could not write 2 smut scenes in the same chapter again. I don't know how I did it then but I certainly could not do it now like I'm ngl writing smut makes me cring and I have to repeat "for the people, for the plot" to myself life sermon while I'm doing it

LMAO no longer the book of mormon at all

IN THE SHAPE OF PAIGE'S FINGERS LMFAO (hmmm ideas for myself)

Thank you! I will never think it of myself but I'm glad y'all had fun and your horniness has been fulfilled lol

That post-coital communication is just different what can I say

I am Spider-Writer welcome to my web that I myself am slightly wrapped up in because I keep weaving and occasionally forget where the threads are going lmao

HEY LISTEN AZZI'S TAKING BABY STEPS AT LEAST SHE'S MOVING

Katie has no shame and she will not let anyone else be ashamed either and I love her for it

I think there's still a little while before Paige is going to become more disciplinarian with her but she is eventually gonna have to learn, you're right.

Also

Yes this was my favorite part too tee hee

[brain-stuck]

what up welcome to brainstuck

were called that because we . Because we are Stuck in th

were a massively introject heavy system of like 27 or some shit and we made this blog to. idk reblog system shit and maybe you guys can interact with us or smth . this blog was the result of a democratic vote so here it is 💯

COLLECTIVE INFO

bodily 23

trans dude, default to he / him

overall aroace. headmate identities heavily impact the Flavoring so were loveless, lovequeer, nonamorous and partnering all at the same time

refer to us as a whole as brainstuck or perhaps bingus. i am serious we will respond to bingus

not endogenic or traumagenic but a secret third thing (nunyagenic) (nunya business)

DISCLAIMER some of us arent white in brain but we are bodily white . we dont claim those identities but we do like learning about those cultures so if you got any cool facts hit us up

the resident shawties

COHOSTS: kyle (irl), xingqiu (discord), dave (tungle)

FREQUENT FRONTERS: tao, shinobu, yoimiya, layla / samira, lynette, kaveh

OTHER SHAWTIES: bo, john, rose, jade, jane, dirk, jake, lark, aradia, sollux, karkat, feferi, lumine, barbara, keqing, xinyan, kokomi, bronya

LITTLE BITCHES: dimple (<- what we named our intrusive thoughts demon)

click the read more for more info on us individually OK EPIC BYEEEE

KYLE 💤 - Our core Guy. The OG. He / him, trans, aroace. Handles IRL stuff. Professional Sleeper. We are all facets of this guy including This Guy

DAVE 🎧 - @aroacedavestrider and @incorrect-hs-quotes (mod dave). he / him aroace homestuck gang. yallready know whats goin on. cohost

QIU 🌊 - @alegendofsword and @blueboy-mlm. He / him, gay ace, trans. Genshin Gang. Cohost. Name is pronounced “CHYO”. Writer and reader.

KAVEH 🏛️ - @kavehshahrewar. He / him Genshin gang uh. Horrendously gay. I am suddenly the tallest bitch in this house and I don’t know how this happened. Slay

BO 📺 - @nosignal-standby. he / it. aroace. nonhuman static entity. voidsona. shoutout to deltaverse. probably a trauma holder.

JADE 🌱 - @gardeniagnostic. she / they demigirl! polyam pan, homestuck gang :) talk to me about hawai’ian culture and green magic!!!

LAYLA / SAMIRA 🌟 - @fantastical-eveningstar. she / her for both of us, two-person subsystem. demiaroace and maybe bi about it ?? genshin gang. astrology nerd

JOHN 👻 - he / him, biro ace, homestuck gang. resident Dissociator™. i’m learning spanish and greek! june egberts can interact if comfortable. :)

ROSE 🐙 - She / It. Demi, sapphic. Bi lesbian, don’t care to figure out which I am specifically. Homestuck gang. Talk to me about crystal magic.

JANE 🎂 - She / He? Bi, some kind of gender going on. Homestuck gang. Not frequently near pilot. Sorry :B

DIRK 🔥 - He / him. Gay, aro, left arm amputee in headspace. Rewatching MLP. Rarity is funnier than I remember. Homestuck Gang.

JAKE 💀 - He / they demiboy quoi-aro and bi! Homestuck gang. Absolutely talk to me about crazy ancient relics and sites. Australian not british!

LARK 🐦‍⬛ - he / him and bi. kind of a fucked up human bird davesprite thing. not crow strider. used to go by luke. part time protector

ARADIA ♈️ - she / they n0nbinary thang. ar0ace. autistic 0n the beat ab0ut cryptids and urban legends 0u0. h0mestuck gang. name is pr0n0unced “uh-RAY-dee-uh”

SOLLUX ♊️ - he / hiim, biiro ace. iidk much el2e ii ju2t work here. ii play a lot of miinecraft. home2tuck gang

KARKAT ♋️ - HE / HIM, GREY-ARO, PAN AND ACE. VITILIGO NATION RISE UP. FREQUENT FRONTER. HOMESTUCK GANG.

FEFERI ♓️ - S)(e / )(er and pan! Name is pronounced “F-EF-furry”. )(omestuck Gang 38) !! I’m a trauma )(older, actually!

LUMINE ✨ - She / her, lesbian. Genshin Gang, kind of a… splice between Traveler and Abyss Lumine? I was both. I am both. Where is Aether

BARBARA 🎶 - she / her and bi ^^ genshin gang. i love to sing and make playlists for my headmates! kind of a… religious trauma processor??

XINYAN 🎸 - she / they ace lesbian and im the proud token punk rock headmate WOOO!!! genshin gang. send me cool music!! names pronounced “SHIN-yan”

TAO ⚰️ - she / they aroace :) genshin gang ! i collect books full of ghost stories so tell me some if you dare~

KEQING 💫 - She / her, lesbian. Genshin gang. Name is pronounced “KUH-ching”, but I also go by Kit. Let’s call me the… “manifestation of productivity”.

SHINOBU 🗡️ - she / he. not picky. aroace, genshin gang. i also go by “shoby”. protector.

KOKOMI 🐟 - She / her lesbian and Genshin Gang! Qiu and I read a lot of books together and I would be very happy to hear recommendations :)

YOIMIYA 🎆 - she / her demi lesbian genshin gaaaang nice to meet you!!! i’m a… motivator?? lmao?? yeah!!

LYNETTE 🎩 - She / her aroace. Genshin Gang. Call me Nette please. Not much of a talker

BRONYA 🐰 - She / her unsure of what the Bronya is. Bronya likes Seele. The Bronya is a newer member of system and does not know what she likes yet. Only Honkai subject as far as the Bronya knows.

DIMPLE - this is our resident “and a half”. hes like our intrusive thoughts brain demon and we all hate him so we made him look like dimple mp100 and we call him shit like “scringle” and “bunkle” and “grinkle”. hes not allowed to talk cause he sucks but if he was wed make him use this 👹 ok epic

THANKS FOR READING THAT WAS MAD LONG ok. 👍

[moldybonessmell]

Okay, but can we talk about this one Christmas scene in BBC Sherlock S2E2?

Let's take a look at this one dialog that occured when John needs to stay with Sherlock to comfort him after Irene's death and his girlfriend is upset:

"You're a great boyfriend!" "Okay, that's good. I mean, I always thought I was great-" "And Sherlock Holmes is a very lucky man." "Oh, Jeanette please"

John has his priorities and it's very obvious to everyone involved (even tho I do think that staying with your best friend after the death of a person who was important to him is a valid reason to miss a celebration) I suppose it just was the last straw for her

"No, I mean it. It's heartwarming. You'll do anything for him. And he can't even tell your girlfriends apart!"

The fact that John's love is so unconditional he doesn't even care if Sherlock returns it reminds me so much of this one episode of Doctor Who where River Song compared loving Doctor to loving sun: "You don't expect the sun to love you back!" or something like this, I don't remember the quote and it breaks my heart so much.

(Yes I did a wholock reference, what are you gonna do about it?)

And I also see here how much he tries to move on knowing that sun will not love him back but he just can't.

"No, I'll do anything for you, just tell me what it is, I'm not doing, tell me!" "Don't make me compete with Sherlock Holmes!"

This quote is so important because even Jeanette knows and understands the entirety of the situation John's in.

Compete with Sherlock Holmes is something nobody can do (all his enemies get defeated as we know) but not only villians are a threat, even loved ones will always be on a second place for John. The first place is forever taken by this one nerd not knowing the Earth is moving around the Sun (even tho he's the sun himself).

"I'll walk your dog for you. There, I've said it now, I'll even walk your dog." "I don't have a dog!" "No, because that was the last one- Okay."

Even John himself admits his defeat and realises what he got himself into.

(He did marry Mary eventually, and even tho I love her character, I can't help but see her being another one of "escapes" for John.)

Please don't witchhunt me for "hating on straight ships" or whatever, complain at the directors and writers who made John so unbearably closeted any other of his ships just doesn't sail (pun fully intended).

All I see here is a man desperately stuck in his one-sided feelings and fear of being out, he goes through the struggle a lot of queer people experienced in their life.

Yes, it's been done many times before, but I can't help but say that the production crew are cowards for not making John canonically queer when his writing is so authentic it makes me experience almost physical pain.

Coming back to the topic of Mary btw, I think it was fucking lame in the way her destiny turned out to be. She deserved to have a good life with loving husband and a child, but writers put her in the story just to make John not so openly queer coded (bi and pan people exist btw but it's a topic for another conversation unfortunately) and they just killed her off to "sail" the johnlock ship in the end because they are cowards to actually follow through with queerbaiting (that's what the quotes for, because they haven't actually sailed it). I hate, and I mean HATE when a woman is added to a story just for a man's character development and gets killed off and BBC's Sherlock situation is exactly like this. Why even add her to the story if you don't plan on making her stay with John? The last season makes no sense and makes me so angry I often pretend it doesn't exist "BOO TOMATOES TOMATOES-" (it's the reason I don't want any new Sherlock seasons tbh)

Okay, this post is all over the place, at this point I'm more just ranting instead of doing a proper topic analysis but I hope you liked it anyway. Share your opinion if you have any, ig the Sherlock tag is too full at this point I don't really see people taking about stuff while checking the tag (saying this as if the first season didn't come out like 13 years ago)

Have a good day :)

[dian-mian]

⚠️ Spoiler for Earthspark ⚠️

I just finished watching the newest episodes and I can't wait for the rest of them! The show continues to exceed my expectations with how well written all the main characters are shown, especially the Malto family, as well as the plot of each episode that are so engaging to watch, the fight scenes, all it was just MUAH 🥰🥰 (My comments don't go in an order of episodes lmfao)

They've tackled a number of topics normally I wouldn't see it being addressed like racism, xenophobia, generation related trauma (Thrash being upset that the new generation of Terrans are "facing problems caused by the previous generation and the expectations to clean up their messes"), gender identity (how alt modes are very tied to their identity) and omfg they include some other messed up shit like bots fighting in the arena to get energon (Sounds very familiar hmmm) and hint hint of Mandroid becoming more mechanical??? ALSO GHOST IS GROWING EVEN MORE SUS ESPECIALLY WITH AGENT CROFT I HATE HER ALR I WANNA KILL HER

I fucking love Megatron in this show, my god he just usurp Optimus' role as the father here (Or grandpa in this case). I mean, HE TOOK THE MALTOBOTS TO THE WAR MEMORIAL TO TELL EM OLD STORIES ABOUT THE WAR TO TEACH THEM TO NOT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKES AS THE PREVIOUS GENERATION AND I 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 (THE FLOWERS BEING A REFERENCE TO IDW WHERE EACH PETAL OF THE FLOWERS REPRESENT A LIFE LOST JUST KILLED ME RIGHT THERE)

AND NIGHTSHADE AND TARANTULAS,,, bunch of science nerds can relate ifhkdnksj,, I would die happy if Tarantulas can make a comeback to see Nightshade again and be his second papa like how Wheeljack is second papa to Twitch 🥺🥺❣️💕

My boy Jawbreaker,, I really love how he wasn't forced to choose an altmode so soon and it just going to get a lot more impactful when he finally scans an altmode that he feels is right for him! He so autistic coded and I luv it when Megatron and Elita explained to him how they got their alt modes and what it meant for them (ELITA SOFTIE MOMENT IS JUST 😭😭💞💕💞💕💞)

God, the dynamic of the Malto bots is just so super wholesome and so tightly knitted, but Twitch grew up too fast,, They all need fucking therapy, especially Hashtag my poor girl 😭

I fucking hate Mandroid with a passion, he's so hateable and punchable and killable

I wont be talking about that mutatued horror of a bear also is that fucking allowed in a kids show???

I dont know how, but Bumblebee dangling and restrained while his energon is drained is... Making me feel something. Also, he and Breakdown...

I cried and eyed so hard at that slowed down scene where Breakdown through Bumblebee and they both starin at each other like... 👁👁🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈?

ALSO, FIRST MEGATRON GOT RESTRAINED AND ALMOST GOT HIS ARM CUT OFF, NEXT BUMBLEBEE IS RESTRAINED WHILE BEING DRAINED OF ENERGON TO FUEL THE MACHINES, WHO THE FUCK IS NEXT???

Now....

I am a huge Optimus stan, so I have a bit of bitterness at the fact that throughout 11-18, he was barely involved. Like

WHERE DID YOU GO???

WHERE WERE YOU???

DID YOU SUDDENLY RUN OFF TO FIND MILK???

God, I love Optimus as a whole, even in this show but he seems so... Distant? I mean, I'm not hating the writers and animators for the lack of Optimus screentime, it's just me being a bit salty (Though I am a Megatron simp too at this point so my thirst has been at least quenched by him). I really hope there's more screentime of him (Especially him and Megatron becuz first few episodes the both were lowkey 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈) and we get a bigger picture of his role in the show in the future episodes. He barely talks to the Maltos and the Terrans, he's barely seen anywhere in the recent episodes, hell where the hell was he when the jailbreak happened???

Tldr; Love the show so much, but where's fucking Optimus

[purplecritter]

Dragon Age: Vows and Vengeance (Ep. 4)

Official episode transcript here

My notes while I was listening under the cut... Spoilers ahead!

I did not miss the templars bro…

I am really hopeful that Arlathan will have similar vibes to the Brecilian in Origins! I loved the talking trees and lurking demons etc etc. Bring back the whimsy to Thedas ya know

This was wayy too offtopic to go in the main post but the beginning with Bellara hidden in the trees reminded me of (improbable reference in 3, 2, 1…) Jasmine in Deltora Quest: The Forest of Silence

Yikes I bet Tevinter has some pretty stocked up museums with all these artifacts 💀 No wait we literally already know they do, the fucking Archives in episode 1 were full of things that didn’t belong there

“Call me rabbit again and I'll run your throat, shemlen dog” Bellara 🥰

I love a duo that can slip into scathing banter so easily but they actually like each other a lot. I’m so glad the writers didn’t go the (overused) “I insult you and create a huge argument but you didn’t realize that it was only as a distraction and I meant none of it but now it’s too late and you’re mad”

(Said by Bellara to temporarily animate the surrounding trees, using an amulet) Var vhen'alas var vallasdahlen. Should translate to something like “Our land, our life-trees*” *vallasdahlen = trees planted in remembrance of those who dedicated their lives to the Dalish kingdom

I want to bring our Inquisitor to this river specifically so they can walk on it and maybe learn how to stop drowning in puddles 👉👈

Bellara’s 10 steps ahead of everyone and I love that for her

Bellara loves books! Which tracks with her fangirling over Neve heh. I wonder if she’s ever read anything of Varric’s lmao

Bellara & Drayden: nerd to nerd communication

Every time Nadia refers to Elio as “my love” I go 🥺

Ohhh Bellara wanting maps of the tears but also not having been able to save someone important to her vs Aldwir Rook losing a map specifically to save other veil jumpers... If you hear distant barking that’s just me

The Flicker = ancient Elven device, built with secret metallurgical techniques lost to time, that can act as a guide = technomancy → Dagnaaa where are you

Arlathan having “lyrium fields” makes me so nervous

Drayden: “I get the feeling our paths have converged here for a reason. This all feels connected” 🧐🎤agent of Fen’Harel

Drayden’s whole backstory 🥺

AWE Flicker sounds ADORABLE

“Remember Nadia, the Fade is capricious. It lies and it obscures. There's also truth. In all of my research and experience, I've learned one thing above all else: Trust your mind more than your heart. The demons beyond the veil, they will use your feelings against you. They will reshape reality. You must put a thought in your mind's eye and weight it like an anchor, immovable and untouchable. Focus on–” “Elio. I will focus on Elio.” “But focus on how you know him to be and not–” “–on how you want him to be.”

The Fade without being a mage / conscious that it’s being manipulated by a Demon is nightmare fuel btw

The bridge specifically being described by Elio as being made of obsidian makes me 100% sure that the obsidian part of the previous episode’s mirror/eluvian/portal was at least fade-touched, if not directly from the Fade

“I can't leave the way you came. In order to protect myself here, I had to cast a spell disguising me as an inhabitant so the spirits of this realm didn't come for me [...] I can't [end the spell] unless I destroy the font that I used. But I hid it for safekeeping. Back there. Just outside of the Black City. I know it sounds crazy, but that's what made it safe.” 🧐Eliooooooo what did you doooooo

Mhkay demon Templar raising an army of lyrium-corrupted knights from the Fade. What.

dathrasi = qunlat for animal (derogatory)

[it-grrl]

Watching John Wick 3 tonight bc apparently I never saw it and the fella wants to see #4 this weekend so we're (and by we I mean me) liveblogging like it's 2009. Snacks: nearby. Disbelief: suspended. Let's go.

10:15p HE IS IN A WEAPON MUSEUM. EXCELLENT START. I have not seen a sillier amount of knives thrown around outside of an Itchy and Scratchy cartoon.

10:23 Now he is on a horse with the most beautiful hair in the world. Truly the Keanu Reeves of horses. (Side note: horses naturally have violence in their hearts this makes sense)

1027 fuck yeah Anjelica Houston is running the Department of Tragic Backstory. Oooooh she has Caravaggio's Judith Beheading Holofernes over her mantle. Gentileschi's two versions of Judith Slaying Holofernes were my hyperfixation last fall so I happen to have a coffee table book in front of me with that exact painting in it.

10:36 The Adjudicator is staying in room 217 at the Continental, the room number Stephen King stayed in at the Stanley Hotel and got spooked and wrote a shining.

10:50 Not for nothing but I feel like Anjelica Houston got off a little easy with a punishment that was essentially Double Avocado Slicing Accident. Oh and a lot of her henchfolk got murdered I guess.

10:55 Is the "seek the dog star" reference bc everything is dog themed here or bc. Y'know. Dogstar.

10:57 Retuning to our Dog Revenge roots I see. (Important note: The dog is okay!) Side note: you know there was a long writers' room conversation about making John Wick's new dog a super cool dog assassin and someone was like "no, he doesn't want that life for his dog but I do like the sound of 'dog assassin.'" so they had to make up some new dog characters to be dog assassins.

11:08 Larry Fish is just the best. That is all.

11:14 Jesus Fuck why is every IOU in this universe cashed in with a side of Body Horror?! Also I had always assumed that was his wedding ring on account of John Wick being a Dead Wife Guy. (I have a whole Wife Guy Taxonomy post I'm pecking at btw.)

11:18 Motorcycle Katana Fight. Followed by John Wick literally touching Base to be declared safe in Murder Tag.

11:23 Chekhov's Very Pointy Chess Pieces?

11:25 The thing about these movies is every single actor in it seems to be having a goddamn blast.

11:32: Activate the Emergency Color Changing Rope Lights! Big fancy switch for what nerds do with a smart speaker.

11:43 This series fucking LOVES a Hall Of Mirrors fight. Love how everyone is like "it is an absolute honor to try and murder you sir. Big fan, sir. HUGE fan."

11:48 I'm sure someone has written a solid essay on why John Wick is hot in a tumblrina sort of way, all I have is this wall covered in thumbtacks and red string and scraps of paper with things like "SUIT ACTUALLY FITS" and "PERPETUALLY DAMP" "IS KEANU REEVES" and "BLOOD?" written on them.

11:58 OOF. That was a lot of falls. Baby boy is having such a week.

12:00a LAR. RY. FIIIIIIIIIIISH.

Well dang I guess I was wrong about the Very Pointy Chess Set. I do hope ol' JDubs gets like, 12 hours to a week to catch some sleep and not get shot at between the end of #3 and the beginning of #4.

[intern-seraph]

these are a lot since i like the question list from here 😆

3, 13, 35, 39, 56, 64✨✨✨

Get to know your fic writer!

this is a long one so check out the answers beeeelow the cut

3. Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic

no outlines we die like men (i have outlines for a fic or two but honestly i just go on vibes); i tend to jump around from scene to scene and go back to write the bits that bridge the gaps+edit for continuity

13. what’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

i avoid using epithets as often as possible ("the blonde", "the taller man", etc.). it's a habit that many ppl including myself consider a very telling trait of something being a fic, and sometimes... it can get a little ridiculous. names are easy to use and consistent. if i do use epithets, i try to use only one or MAYBE two and keep them consistent to one character (so, for example, Malleus in the upcoming accidental marriage fic is referred to solely as "the stranger" by the reader until they decide to call him "Hornton"). it helps maintain clarity (and makes the work feel more "polished" imo)

35. What is one essential thing to remember when writing a villain?

you don't have to redeem them for them to be fun and likeable. they don't have to commit atrocities, and if they do commit atrocities... i mean... they're a villain. that's what a bad guy does. bad things. but that doesn't mean they can't also be kind at times. people are multifaceted and i am a villainfucker who wants cuddles god damn it

39. Share a snippet from a WIP

“How about I do stretches? Maybe I’ll even start a prison workout routine!” You roll onto your side and prop your head up with your arm. While you’re grinning, Vanrouge looks like he wants to vomit. “You could even spot me! Wouldn’t that be fun?”

“I think I’d prefer the staring.”

“See, if you keep shooting down my ideas for entertainment, I’ll have nothing left to do except stare at you. Throw me a bone here!”

He rolls his eyes. Jabbing a finger at you through the cell bars, he says, “You’re just trying to torment me now that I’m not allowed to kill you.”

“Yup! Wow, you catch on fast.” You give him your most obnoxious smile. Somehow, Vanrouge manages to look even more pissed off. It’s honestly a little remarkable. “Maybe if I had something else to do, you’d get some peace.”

“Tch.” Vanrouge turns his back to you and goes back to leaning on the bars. “Nice try.”

56. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

characterization :) i've been told before that i'm good at accurately portraying canon characters. i also pride myself on my grammar and spelling because i'm a fucking nerd <3

64. Something you love to see in smut.

squishy thighs squishy tummy body hair etc on women. gimme stretch marks that're seen as streaks of luminous paint on a beautiful canvas. moments of levity that break the tension or are reflected upon fondly in the afterglow. i like the it

[strawberrybyers]

thinking about how i’ve seen multiple posts on here of screenshots from tiktoks of people realizing will isn’t being treated fairly and that mikeven is a narrative mess. it makes me think once again that everything in volume 2 is intentional and that yeah, byler nation felt like they lost with the love you confession scene but maybe it’s been a win all along?

it seems like there’s more people analyzing how dry and corny it was 💀 (i think finn is an amazing actor and i think he acted it like this for a reason!!). season 4 starts to highlight the deterioration of mikeven and the general audience is picking up on it. i mean mike and el barely even developed this season? if that love you confession scene was development for their relationship then why don’t they talk afterwards? instead we get a convo between will and mike after the fight with vecna where mike says him and el haven’t talked. why is the “main” couple struggling this bad going into the final season?

and maybe there was hype about byler from the cast and duffer brothers because we are getting it and season 4 was starting to show the beginning stages of mike and el’s relationship ending for good to lead to their breakup and byler in season 5. maybe they wanted to have people more aware of mike and will’s interactions that way they can see that there’s something more there than a friendship. and it’s showing that the general audience is starting to pick up on what’s going on. this would fit into what noah was saying about how they’re building up byler *keywords: building up*.

the duffers seem like nerds who care about patterns, details, and references. there’s no fucking way the rest of us who eat up every detail and are interpreting it a certain way are crazy. we’re noticing it for a reason and they’ve put it there because we’re right. i know we’ve lost all trust in the duffers, but it really did seem like they cared about their audience and put a lot of details in the storyline for us to catch onto no matter how small they were? volume 2 feels different narratively compared to all the other episodes that there must be something in store for season 5 that explains why. i have hope. and haven’t they had the ending planned all along? doesn’t david harbor know the ending? if they’re good writers then they’re going to want everything that leads up to the ending (that they’ve had planned out for awhile) to make sense.

[greenhappyseed]

BnHA Ch.348 - Review, parallels, and comparisons

I let this chapter sit and stew in my brain for a few days because it seemed like there might be some meaty chunks if I let the immediate discourse die down. And I think there is some good stuff here, but on the whole I haven’t changed my thoughts much since the leaks hit.

Let’s start by looking at 347 and 348 together. In 347, Izuku reconciled Toga’s verbal statement that she loved him with her action; that is, Izuku realized she’s telling the truth. Toga does love Izuku, and while she has bloodlust in the literal sense, she lacks a desire for murder or carnage (at least at this point) so she doesn’t trigger Danger Sense. At the beginning of 348, we get Izuku’s full reaction to this realization. He goes from “I can’t believe a person like Toga actually exists” to “I can’t believe a person like Toga would be interested in a save-the-world cinnamon roll like me.” Basically, in 347 Izuku is reacting to Toga in relation to the world, and in 348 he is reacting to Toga in relation to himself. That’s notable because as much as Izuku wants to save people —including villains— he doesn’t often engage in a human feelings analysis of how his wants and needs align (or differ) with those he wants to save. The poor boy tries his best here, telling Toga he knows what it’s like to want to be someone else. Izuku gets that pure imitation isn’t truly love; love is complementing each other. But Izuku just can’t get past the “hurting the one you love” part.

In the English version, Izuku’s rejection is worded gently and is focused on his own “I would never…” But in Spanish (as pointed out by Trevoshere on Twitter and others on here) Izuku comes across as sanctimonious. He’s basically saying to Toga he understands it’s satisfying to be like someone else, but “if you love me, and find satisfaction in imitation, then why aren’t you more like me, who doesn’t hurt his friends?” Ouch. That formulation stings coming from Izuku, especially after the last arc. The Spanish version does not say anything about sharing a heart or mind with All Might.

The subtext at the end of 347, and the end of Izuku’s response in 348 (above), is that Izuku thinks Toga’s way of loving is fucked up. But is it? Especially coming from masochistic Izuku?? It actually makes sense that the girl who needs blood to feel satisfied is interested in the boy who breaks himself and bleeds for others to feel satisfied. Izuku may not understand how Toga equates love, imitation, and inflicting pain, but Izuku and Toga could complement and bolster each other. It’s not a ridiculous pairing!

Now, looking at the opening narration of 348, I don’t think WHO is the critical question. It’s WHY. WHY does Horikoshi, as a writer, wish to inform us, the audience, after 348 chapters, that one Izuku Midoriya is the key to this battle and the vessel for the ONLY power in the WORLD that AFO obsesses over? Why does Horikoshi tell us that the subject of AFO’s obsession has met Toga numerous times and failed to understand her because she never had expressed her affection in words? And WHY is it important to know Izuku can’t run away from/escape/grow beyond being a “damned nerd”? A few possibilities:

Emphasizing Izuku is a vessel. AFO’s current obsession over Izuku is a means to an end. (For the DFO crowd, note the narration refers to OFA/“that very power” separate from Izuku.) By contrast, Toga may be a villain, but she actually likes Izuku for who he is and what he looks like. She doesn’t care about OFA; she likes the nerd.

Izuku is still an inexperienced teen and has a lot to learn. He’s stupid powerful and multiquirked but an underdog against AFO and his manipulations. E.g., Izuku was easily spooked by AFO’s obsession. He didn’t understand how his classmates were willing to run alongside him and risk their lives because he didn’t ask them. He didn’t understand Toga was truly trying to express affection because he didn’t ask her (or others got in the way, like when Aizawa defended Izuku from Toga). And now, even though he understands Toga’s need to fit in, and her need to be someone other than herself, he doesn’t understand how love can be expressed as inflicting pain because he only understands receiving pain to protect others. Or, to put it another way, he’s still thinking “no matter what happens to me” and hasn’t mastered the “win” part of “win and save.”

The parallel of many other heroes’ growth — accepting all parts of themselves. All Might has to accept he can’t stop working to save people. Endeavor has to accept he’s a father who ruined his family. Bakugo has to accept he has weakness. Shoto has to accept his ice and his fire. Izuku has to accept he’s a brave little spunky nerdy fanboy, who is lovable and capable independent of OFA.

Finally, Danger Sense does come alive in this chapter once Toga hears Izuku’s rejection.

But really, the Toga art is just devastating. Wave after wave, crashing over her and gone. She’s not being reborn, or having anything washed away; she’s drowning. Her way of loving isn’t wrong, but it’s overwhelming her and isn’t sustainable for her any longer.

[dallasbyersclub]

ok. ok ok ok.

so this season was disappointing to so many. and the marketing team at netflix did their best to make it as cruel and unusual a punishment as possible. still, i'm grateful for all the amazing folks here who have been doing The Most in media analysis and art and writing. it's been a blast and i'm proud of you guys.

i've already seen a trend start to form of people trying to find hope that somehow, somehow we weren't queerbaited. that byler can still win-steddie and ronance are dead (in the former's case, literally) in the water at this point and i am so very angry- but maybe, maybe there is some hope for byler. because the writing doesn't make sense and the marketing doesn't make sense and it's so blatantly awful what they did- surely they wouldn't be that ignorant, right? i mean surely they wouldn't be that cruel?

i don't want to say it's a bad idea to have hope. i don't want to say it's a bad idea to theorize, because this fanbase Kills it when it comes to media analysis and theories. but i do want to address this idea-that b/c it doesn't make sense means that there has to be some other explanation- because there is another explanation. it's that the duffer brothers are bad writers. and they don't care about their queer audience or their audience of color or any kind of real representation. they just do not care. netflix does not care. they want our money and love capitalism (new coke ad s3 my worstie) and have been making a show that glorifies and romanticizes the 80s since day one because they do not care about us. likely they are simply ignorant- i don't even mean this in a perjorative sense i mean they literally Do Not Know how bad it was in the 80s for minorities and they do not care to know. it's not a priority for them they just want to make their fun show with synth music and star wars references. the only type of oppression they can understand is the #nerd oppression that they try to peddle. this show has never been kind to minorities and it will continue not to be kind to minorities. because even if (if!) byler somehow, somehow happens. you still have the myriad of issues that this show has developed over the years in regards to its characters of color, female characters, and queer characters. i just wanted to lay it all out on the table, because regardless of whatever happens in season five, we have to hold netflix + the duffers accountable. let's talk about it- here's how stranger things has handled representation:

we have poc being written off as stereotypes, comic relief, or just not getting to play a significant role in the story. see erica embodying the sassy black girl trope , kali getting shafted and forgotten, argyle just being a comic relief machine. and lucas...

lucas continuously gets done So Dirty!! by the writers. he is regularly separated from the group i.e. season 1 where he gets in a fight with mike and has to go off on his own, season 4 where he had that storyline with the jocks that didn't really go anywhere, and seasons 2-3 where he just barely appeared and even when he did...

we have racism in smalltown america. the duffer brothers are somewhat aware of this in their periphery but they don't know how to address it and most likely won't hire any writers of color to help them to. i don't think any writer who has actually experienced racism would decide that it's a good idea to just ignore it and pretend everything was fun and cool while the one black character gets shafted in the story- and when there does come a time where he faces racism they can't even do it authentically. Billy Fucking Hargrove is a racist piece of shit and he targeted lucas for a very specific reason and we all know what it is but no one in the show addresses it, comforts him, or tries helps him process his assault at the hands of a violent racist asshole. no one talks about the fact that he got fucking hatecrimed. lucas does not get to process this-he does not get to go home to his family and hug his mom (a lá season 1 mike) and tell her his was really scared. he doesn't get to talk to his friends about the fact that they don't understand what it's like for him and most of the time they don't even try to. he doesn't get to express to max that he somewhat understands why she wanted billy dead because he was scared of her psycho brother too. no. because the writers don't care!! and don't understand!! and don't want to!! they gave billy a hamfisted and poorly executed redemption arc, but a redemption arc no less- and it wasn't one where he actually atoned for his racism, misogyny and abusive behavior. he just got a hero's death and isn't that just so easy.

not a lot of people talk about this one, but i actually feel like stranger things doesn't always do right by it's female characters either. i mean- let's talk about the fact that the ratio of female characters to male characters is wayyyy off; in the first season there was eleven, joyce, karen wheeler(ish), and nancy (and barb, sort of). in season 2 they added max (and kali sorta) and in season three they added robin. erica and suzie get bigger roles. s4 there's chrissy(dies immediately) and vicki (not a fucking character i'll get to that) meanwhile in s1 there's mike, will, dustin, lucas, hopper, jonathan, steve, brenner. and when they've added about four or five new female characters across the span of three seasons, they've added at least eleven new prominent male characters: billy, dr. owens, murray, bob, eddie, argyle, vecna/henry, enzo, yuri, alexei., jason.. all characters with a prominent role and multiple scenes and character beats in the story. and so many of the male characters we do have have wayy more prominence and care put into them than their female counterparts. i mean, look at erica in s3 vs alexei. both were side characters, and alexei was arguably an even smaller character than erica, but alexei was portrayed sympathetically and authentically. people cared about alexei. people had emotions about alexei. people cried over him. meanwhile erica was thrust into the SassyBlackGirl comic relief trope. there was no emotion, no nuance. and the way kali's story(which i have my own opinions on how that was handled) was introduced and then completely forgotten because the general masses weren't chomping at the bit for a cashgrab spin-off. so they dropped her. even when it would've made sense to bring her back for the vecna storyline, they dropped her because it wasn't making them money, because again, the duffer brothers do not care!! i mean, why are they always concocting new ways to create gamer oppression but there's like, not a lot of female nerds? max likes arcade games but there isn't much more overlap (see, her not being interested in d&d) suzie is a nerd but we almost never see her and erica has her moment in s4 but we don't really get to see her make references the same way dustin or will or eddie do. idk i think i'm just upset that there were no girls in the hellfire club. why are there no girls in the hellfire club. why are their no gi-

female characters being dismissed/reduced to a love interest. we see it with joyce especially in season 4- she barely gets to do anything, murray does most of the heavy lifting for no discernible reason, she spends most of her time worrying over hopper (a trait that is becoming a serious problem for a character who's life/ story in every season revolves around the men in her life) while he spends his time positioning her as a goal he can win over - see season 3 hopper character assassination where he became possessive and angry over joyce not wanting to go out with him/feeling like she owed it to him to go out on a date...despite her losing her boyfriend less than a year ago. also? the weird scene where they're changing clothes-why are they changing clothes i don't get it their clothes were fine-but anyway the way the camera focuses on joyce undresses and pulling down her pants slowly and taking off her shirt to reveal her bra... unnecessary!! like yes we all know winona ryder is a milf and i would welcome it any other day but the fact that it was only done the season where she was reduced to a love interest.. hm. we've also seen this with eleven's character arc revolving so much around mike, her only being able to defeat vecna when mike told her he loved her. she is reduced when she is around him. she is made small.

hopper season 3 misogyny, possessiveness, toxic masculinity. see above or check out this video.

robin flanderization. ok this might be a hot take but i didn't like the direction they took robin's character this season? like with her being a bumbling klutz/ comic relief/ wacky sidekick/ scaredy cat. like, listen. i'm All About women being imperfect and silly and not falling into the #perfect girlboss can do no wrong Trope but the problem with this is that... that's not what robin was in s3? robin's role in season 3 was pretty much the opposite- she was capable and was the key to the success of the scoops troupe mission, she's smart, she keeps her cool in situations where it would totally make sense for her to lose it- to the point where i actually thought it was strange how ok she was about the whole thing. in s4 we just see her constantly being the one who goofs up, the one who's awkward and clumsy and freaked out. and again, i want to stress that i'm not against this kind of character in theory. but what they set up this season was a dynamic of robin doing something silly or weird, nancy getting frustrated, and steve going Haha that'a classic robin! silly robin! she went from functional lesbian to disaster lesbian seemingly so they could further stancy development of all things.. i was just disappointed by how it felt like the focus was on steve and nancy's hamfisted romantic revival and not on robin and steve's well established friendship or nancy getting to bond with another girl her age after losing barb. just- so much of the emotional depth of robin was gone. she was turned into comedic relief/het ship fodder (sound familiar?) and had even less of a role than in s3, despite the fact that we were promised lesbian rep...

vicki. i personally despise it when writers attempt to give their gay characters relationships by introducing a onedeminsional character that exists as nothing but a love interest. while the Straights get developed and poignant romances in a show that has pivoted its focus to romance, the gays get tragedy at worst(will,eddie) and scraps off the table at best. vicki was in three scenes and like five minutes total, spends one scene kissing her boyfriend and not saying a word to robin, and doesn't even get to play a significant role in the story. like, if they introduced eddie and inserted him into the story, there was no reason for them to not insert vicki/ a love interest in as well and actually have her relationship with robin develop and have her be a real character with a real bearing on the story. because as of right now there's just robin and robin's love interest. this is not diversity this is not representation this is checking boxes.

eddie. fucking. munson. queercoded to hell and back see hanky code, plus his reaction to be hunted by the town and his feelings about being a "freak" and "different"... anyway they killed him for no other reason than to look edgy and create angst. it did not serve his character or any other character it did not further the plot it did not address any overarching themes. i don't think they killed him because he was gay/ to fulfill the bury your gays trope, i just think they didn't know or care.

will byers. god i'm so tired. i'm so tired of seeing him suffer for no reason and have him pine over someone who (they're making it out to seem) doesn't love him back and may even be freaked out by his queerness?(see mike's awkwardness about his intimacy with will that doesn't make sense unless either a. he's gay and repressed and scared, or b. he's homophobic). the fact that they won't even have him come out despite promising to address it in s4, the fact that there are still people who watch this show who are denying it/have not clocked that shit means that they are not doing what they said they'd be doing. they are using his feelings for mike to further m!leven, shafting his role in the story so that every time he's in screen it's just him suffering for being gay, and handling it with the utmost clumsiness WHILE the netflix marketing team queerbaits the shit out it's lgbt fans. it's cruel. it's a marketing tactic so they can draw in viewers and it's so blatant and so heinously cruel it's rolls back around to being funny for me in its absurdity. they did this. they did this.

i honestly could go on because i have a lot to say but i'm just tired at this point, and the point i'm trying to make is this: it's okay to hold out hope, it's great that people are speculating and engaging and making content. this is good. what's not good is people trying to make excuses for how-maybe the duffers aren't so bad maybe this is just a red herring maybe maybe maybe

because it doesn't make sense. you're right. this season doesn't make sense. this SHOW doesn't make sense. but let's not try to rationalize the creation of some straightwhitemen when it is bad and has always been bad at handling diversity with any kind of competence. and let's not forget, in the wake of all this, that the duffers have failed so many times, and even if they do something right in season 5 and they flesh out vicki and a character and will gets to come out and byler reconciles do not forgive these guys. don't forget lucas, kali, erica, eddie, everything else on this list and more. [oh and before anyone accuses me of inciting harassment- i'm not saying that you should harass these guys. it won't do shit and we're better than that. they're not worth it. accountability is not harassment it just means that you don't give them your money anymore and you stop praising their show and you write some scathing reviews. also maybe boycott netflix but that's a post for another time]

cool? cool.

[nadia-zahra]

Mike's Idolization of El

Talking ab the superman/lois lane metaphor from the van scene fyi, and if anyone ever wants to give me feedback on how to write better that'd be great just pls be constructive I can't handle bullying!

We never got to hear where he was going with "I mean, at least Lois Lane is an ace reporter for the Daily Planet. But--"; however, it can be interpreted as finishing with either two things: he was going to talk about himself or Superman. If he was going to finish it by saying "But I--", then the statement shows he's insecure about being just a nerd and not being good at anything else. He does enjoy being a nerd and, at some point between seasons, he accepted it as part of his personality, but what he feels insecure about is not having great accomplishments or talents like his friends. Will is an ace artist, Lucas is an ace basketball player, Dustin is an ace with technology, and El is an ace superhero. Mike's just some nerd who plays d&d. This gives insight into why Eddie is a role model for him and why Mike aspires to be like him-- Eddie is extremely confident in who he is despite only being a nerdy d&d lover (and metalhead that shreds the guitar but this mike's pov). If he finished it with "But Superman--" then it means, compared to El, he feels inadequate. Superman is a literal superhero who saves his city countless times, meanwhile, Lois Lane is just a normal person with a normal life. El is a literal superhero who's saved the world twice, meanwhile, he's just a normal guy who doesn't have any special abilities. Not to mention, compared to El using her superpowers to save the world, the ways he's proven to be a hero for his friends seem inadequate and that hurts his self-esteem. Either way with the interpretations, he's super fucking insecure ab himself and El heightens it.

Mike technically never referred to himself as Lois Lane, it's just assumed he does because he compares El to Superman. Everyone's immediate thought processing is "Superman's love interest is Lois and if he refers to El as Superman then by default he's Lois". Except that's not true. In his eyes, even though Lois is portrayed as Superman's love interest, she at least has a purpose outside of it. He talked ab Lois's job (her purpose in life) and that she's ace at it. Mike sees himself as "just some nerd" and El makes him feel like he can't be a hero/leader (something he's always tried to be). How he views Lois does not line up with how he views himself!! If he was going to bring up Superman again, then that would be like saying he views himself as having a fulfilling life and is good at something outside of d&d which we know he doesn't believe. So why would the writers lead us to believe he thinks he's Lois? Well... to be completely frank: he's supposed to be her. Mike knows he's supposed to be Lois-- to have a fulfilling life and happy relationship-- but he isn't. He compares himself to Lois, not because he thinks he's her but because he wants to be her. Also, the writers love making the meaning behind Mike's thoughts/ actions unclear, so why would they make this the exception?

Omg I just had a realization while editing this: So I've brought up multiple times how he's insecure about only being good at d&d. I even listed all the things his friends are good at compared to how he's just a nerd. But I just stopped and asked myself "Why is he so insecure of being a nerd and playing d&d?". But then it clicked-- his s3 thought processing HASN'T fully gone away. A major part of s3 Mike was how he doesn't want to grow up: the rain fight was him projecting his fear of growing up and getting past the age of board games, and s3 finale reveals how he just wants things to stay the same and to not grow up. Again, Eddie's influence over Mike definitely got the insecurity died down enough to allow himself to be a kid again since he is fully a part of Hellfire and could ask strangers to play with him. But now we're shown more depth into those fears. He's scared of growing up because the only thing he's good at is a childish activity that he can't do forever. He can't be a functioning adult with a stable life if all he does is play d&d. And yeah his yearbook from middle school said he wants to be a writer, but only because he was writing d&d campaigns as Dungeon Master! But he's in high school now and he needs to start venturing out into other interests and start thinking ab his future career-- something that we know he doesn't want to do. And now it makes sense why he was so adamant against Lucas playing basketball too (omg back-to-back realizations) -- Lucas was his last friend from the og party to gain an interest outside of d&d and be good at it. Everyone can build a life off of their interests... everyone except Mike, and as he gets older the less of a purpose he feels he has. jesus that's sad :(((

Ok back to our regular programming

This metaphor isn't to show if Mike's aware of his platonic feelings-- ik that's like a super surface-level point but it's true. The metaphor's purpose is to put a spotlight on his insecurities and idolization of El. Mike comes up with the superman metaphor because he's a major nerd and was the first thing to come to his mind when thinking about El, and the writers chose to use this metaphor because it makes Mike's idolization super obvious! Superman is considered an undefeatable superhero; his immediately thought of El is Superman shows his extreme idolization of her and how the idolization creates insecurities, not his love. Let's just for kicks and giggles say this metaphor was supposed to show his awareness for his platonic feelings and the state of their relationship. Referring back to the two interpretations, besides saying "Lois Lane is an ace reporter, but I--" obviously separates them into two different characters it means he and Lois are two separate people in his mind, and that he knows he's not in love with El and doesn't think they're a couple anymore since Lois is with Superman. But I'm going to assume most ppl chose the other interpretation of "But Superman--" since everyone thinks he is Lois. This version shows he MIGHT not know he's in love with El, but 100% isn't aware of their relationship's fragile state because Superman and Lois are a healthy couple. It's pretty obvious the writers didn't finish that sentence because they wanted to keep whether or not he knows a surprise for st5, but my god ONE WORD would've revealed everything.

Would like to point out that the Louis Lane/Clark Kent/Superman love triangle is parallel to Mike's feelings for El. Louis Lane (Mike) is in love with the same person, Clark Kent/Superman, but falls in love with Superman (El in superhero mode) while great friends with Clark (El despite her powers). After she realizes they are the same person, she falls in love with Clark. If the writers actually intended for this to be a parallel, then st5 is going to show Mike loving El despite her powers. Oh and I don't think the parallel is any evidence of Mike's thought processing behind the metaphor, it's definitely just the writers having fun with making smart references and parallels to outside sources.

[sepublic]

Through the Looking Glass Ruins!!!!!

         …

         SO! Onto other things first…

         WRATH IS BRAXAS’ FATHER!??!!? HOLY SHIT, Wrath is a canonical dad, I’d always expressed my… OH MY GOD WRATH IS DAD! And of BRAXAS, that sweetie… How is Braxas such a sweetie with a father like HIM, also-

         Wrath was in casual wear? Either he has a day off, or he got fired by Belos/Kikimora after drawing Luz a map to Eda in Young Blood, Old Souls! Either way this guy has a sudden new level of NUANCE that I am reeling from, and yes I checked, that really is Wrath according to the credits! Dang this puts everything in a WHOLE new light…!

         AMITY HAIR OHMIGOD IT LOOKS SO ADORABLE SHE’S SELF-ACTUALIZING I AM FUCKING SCREAMING HOLY SHIT OH MY GOD!!! OH MY GOD OH MY GOD, it’s PINK and not green… They acknowledged it, Emira did! And they CHANGED IT I AM LOSING MY FUCKING MIND OVER THIS-

         She looks so BEAUTIFUL and I love the kind of foreshadowing with the bookends of our first shot of Amity having her hair down, and now it’s changed! And she looks adorable and EMIRA AND EDRIC BEING GREAT SIBLINGS I LOVE IT SO MUCH! This… THIS is everything I wanted! I was resigned to not much of them but HELL YEAH they’re being good siblings and we get a look at their rooms, we see them doing MAKEOVERS together this is everything from my favorite fanon content and MORE,

         Also Edric has a date?! Emira says ‘their’ mom… Unless the Golden Guard has a mom, DARN! Not gonna lie, I half-expected a big twist at the end that Edric was dating the Golden Guard, who was doing some sort of reconnaissance as his unrecognized normal self and/or screwing around with the Blights even further, but in a GENUINE sense… But then who knows Kikimora could be posing as GG’s ‘mom’, this is a stretch anyhow-

         JUST HELL YEAH Blight Twins! Blight Twins being sweet and mischievous and supportive of each other, Blight SIBLINGS being siblings, Emira being an older sister and giving advice! And AMITY, Amity mentioning how much Luz has changed stuff, I love that they acknowledge it openly how her life has completely shifted, and now… NOW…!

         No necklace! Red leggings! PINK HAIR?! Is this why Amity in the intro hasn’t been updated yet… She was getting TWO updates, so the animators decided to only animate a change after this final update?!

         King and Gus are also friends it seems, and they even recorded some fun together! I’m surprised at how much Bria and the others mock Gus’ illusion skills… Obviously Belos is kinda terrible but like; I don’t think he’d set aside an entire subset of magic into Illusions without reason! Also that nightmare trip… I LOVE IT, I love Gus applying the creativity of illusions in their ability to completely warp and distort someone’s sense of reality! And I called that dragon-thing being an illusion!

         A graveyard… I wonder if the Gallderstones (is that how it’s spelled) have any relevance or if they’re just neat? I hope Mattholomule and Gus help hide the Looking Glass Graveyard… Damn, that’s another Death reference with Gus, huh! Is it culminating in his respect for the dead, or will it continue further with Gus being a necromancer, or an Oracle who can commune with the deceased, and he has their respect as someone who treats them properly?!

         Also not to get dark but… What if all those Illusionists are dead because of Belos? I’m JUST SAYING…! And not gonna lie, every time someone insulted Illusions, I kept imagining the Illusion Head just suddenly waking up and feeling like there’s a disturbance in the force, as well as a weird compulsion to beat up some Glandus kids. It’d be even funnier if he had beef with the Construction, Plant, and Abomination Heads as well!

         Speaking of which, more confirmation on Construction Magic being related to earth! Glad to see Bria give us a look into that, which furthers my idea of Belos using construction magic… Also dang, Bria and the Glandus Kids really are the parallels/foils to the Detention kids! You’ve got the short ‘nice’ girl, the tall lanky kid, the furry… But the Glandus Kids start off looking nice and cool, but turn out to be rather nasty!

         Meanwhile the Detention Kids seem like bad news and delinquents, but no! They’re just demonized and actually very kind and chill! The Detention Kids are looked down upon, the Glandus Kids are appraised… The Detention Kids are dual-track, the Glandus Kids are singular; Glandus Kids from, well, GLANDUS, Detention Kids from Hexside… One’s ‘mischief’ is actually very neat and cool, the other’s is literal grave robbing.

         I guess that’s how the bleeding statues got past the censors- It’s technically just an illusion! Also more insight into how Glandus works with its Survival of the Fittest mentality, I wonder if we’ll get confirmation on which coven heads came from there, how that might influence them as adults…

         What is Glandus like, is it more whole-heartedly accepting of Belos’ rule, hence its harsh ideals? Was it made after Hexside? Does Bump hate it for being so cruel like that, or is it just school bias? And dang poor Mattholomule, I always had a feeling he sort of felt and knew that he wasn’t much, so he accepted and compensated by deliberately doing whatever he can for power…

         They confirmed he’s from Glandus, and I appreciate this new look at him! This new leaf turned… Hot take but he’s honestly not as bad as Boscha, his stint with Gus was a one-time thing that Gus was able to live with! And that seems pretty good to set them up as friends! Speaking of Boscha, Willow was injured by pixies? And the last time we heard of pixies, they belonged to Boscha and caused the school to get shut down… Did BOSCHA DO THIS I SWEAR SHE IS DEAD TO ME-

         (Also she’s mentioned in the credits for this episode but I don’t remember hearing her? I might’ve gotten distracted with so much other things.)

         Gus! I like the insight into his relationship with Illusions, and I appreciate how he’s considering other forms of magic… But this hesitation might just serve to reaffirm his believe in Illusions, which is okay! It’s all about choice… And yeah, it seems Gus also has a case of impostor syndrome like King, no wonder they get along so well! I love the glimpses into Gus’ house and the confirmation that he has a library card, no Perry though alas…!

         I appreciate how Gus feels overlooked, like he has no real substance, which is how his Illusions reflect a desire to draw attention, but also the idea that there’s nothing real beneath them… Again, very much like King! And Gus, he’s not a powerhouse like the rest, he’s SKILLED and smart, but strength isn’t his forte, it’s not brute force he operates on, but cleverness! Trickery, I like it…! It’s a nice callback to his last A-plot episode, SVSF, where instead of fighting Mattholomule physically, Gus’ solution is to think outside the box and pull the alarm!

         You go kid, not relying on brute strength but showing that some clever tricks and thinking are just as valid! Kinda wonder if this episode is lowkey a discussion on masculinity for young boys, especially with Gus growing older with puberty, though the latter is mostly because his actual VA grew… But maybe the writers rolled with that and incorporated it, or it’s just a very neat coincidence! Also, it is me or did Mattholomule’s voice change? And the gag that Gavin’s dad looks identical to him, even moreso because he’s NOT supposed to have a moustache… That’s great!

         Malphas! Love this reference to a classic demon, I wasn’t sure if Malphas was the librarian with glasses whom I’ve always headcanoned as a father figure to Amity… But maybe it’s actually this bird dude! He seems adept in Bard magic, and I love the reveal of his true crow appearance… Guess those theorists were right that the one-eyed figure is from the Forbidden Stacks! Also Malphas NOT COOL with Amity, but I’m glad Luz changed his mind, and I wonder how that adventure looked…

         Which- DAMN, the RSD with Luz! She looks so UTTERLY BROKEN when Amity mentions doing stupid things, and she didn’t mean it like that, but Luz just looks so completely shattered and you can tell she wants to cry but instead she bottles it up and tries to take it in stride, and that plays into her trying to overcompensate for her mistakes AGAIN… SOMEONE GET IT TO HER HEAD that she doesn’t need to! I’m scared for Luz, and I was SO scared this episode would end on a bad note…

         BUT DOAHLDdFAEONDKFHN LUMITY KISS LUMITY KISS! ONE-SIDED BUT THEY FINALLY FUCKING KNOW AND AMITY IS LIKE WHAAAAT AND I WAS WAITING FOR IT AND I COULD FEEL IT HAPPEN AND GAY KISS! GAY KISS ON-SCREEN!!! And the way Luz just FLOPS to the ground on her knees AAHJJFFKHGGK and no Alador nor Odalia to ruin this, UTTERLY PERFECT and the twins WATCHING OOOHHHHGGGG YYYEEAAAAHHH-

         This is EVERYTHING I ever wanted!

         What an AMAZING episode with wonderful characer beats and reveals! Again, Amity’s growth as a character, that brief insight into how Luz as a person is very chaotic and sometimes frustrating for Amity and forces her to reevaluate, but ultimately it’s good and Luz DOES try her best, and Amity clearly wanted to make things up for Luz and apologize, they’re BOTH doing things, just the little moments!

         Also, Alex Lawther voices Philip Wittebane! He has long hair and a vaguely british accent, he’s… He’s Belos isn’t he? And they got a new VA because having him voiced by Matthew Rhys would be really spoiler-y right? He’s got the long hair and he’s a nerd… And with how he talks of finding a way back home, maybe Belos really DOES just want to return home, after all? He talks of making a way back home…

         And we see a glimpse of the Portal, so it might’ve brought him there? Or did Philip succeed in making it, and that was his blueprint designs? Did he arrive by Titan’s Blood? What happened to the portal if it brought him there, or if he made it? Why the scar, why near Eda’s house, partially buried?

         Was it lost before he could finish his work, and Philip got side-tracked into something else… Perhaps going on a crusade, on behalf of a curse/demon that possessed him? A demon that killed King’s father…? Was the portal broken and he had to discard it, but then it naturally healed- Or did it just need to recharge, maybe Philip DID make it back home, WHAT IS THE ANSWER?! Is there some sort of doppelganger for Philip, is BELOS his doppelganger?! What is THIS WHAT-

         WHAT AN EPISODE!

[wackybuddiemewbs]

A list of some random things I noted down while watching the mid-season finale - in a just as random order (AKA no order at all):

Buck feeling under pressure not to perform as the BF. Buck feeling like he has to make BF points. Don't we remember that from before??? Buck??? Also: Dude, remember what you got Abby just coz? You know how to do gifting, come the fuck on.

Buck being such a nerd about the generator, I love him.

Interesting mirroring between Buck and Christopher: Buck also thinks about what to get for Taylor that's actually protecting her (generator in case of emergency, later the bracelet). Both are expressions of not wanting to lose those people.

"Someone's gonna be single by New Year's." - Hen, please be our oracle. Please show the power of foresight. Pretty, pretty please.

Buck hogging all the gifts is the cutest thing on earth. I. Love. Him.

Wrapped up gifts, people unwrapping them, people unraveling. Something. Something. Symbols. Symbolizing symbols. Symbols!

They pack the gifts away, they stack them up. They keep on stacking, stacking, stacking. Things are piling up, boys. Tilting, even!

"Maybe I'm not doing it right." - Eddie, my boy, you're fine. Just accept help and get a therapist, my love. Also, gotta love how Buck's having ABSOLUTELY NONE of that. Instantly reassures Eddie. They so cute. Now kiss. Hard. On the mouth.

"That's not your fault." - Buck, my love, you say that so casually, but do you know what that means for Eddie??? And boy, if only that finally got through to him! And if only YOU took that to heart as well! IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES!

"It's a real pressure cooker." - Lots of talk about pressure by Buck. Once with the gift, then in reference to the gift, then Eddie talking about the pressure... callback to Under Pressure in the future? Yes. Please. Let. One (both). Of. Them. Strip. Whatta man. Whatta man. Whatta man...

Feeling TRIGGERED, anyone? Any more mentions of the word in this episode? Half of the season? Yeah? Oh-oh. Seems like there are a lot of triggers, triggering. Buck says it, said it before in other episodes. Then the future BF of the elevator girl... methinks the writers are telling us something about those triggers!

Guy to elevator girl: "Have been having a crush on you for months." Buddie hello??? Take notes! This could be you!

Buck always so happy to see other people falling in love. Biggest dumbest smile. I love him. Did I already write that? Sure did. Will that keep me from writing it again? Never!

Hen, I love you. "Missing the rest of your family." - it's a clear indication and reminder to Buck that they are part of his family. Blessings on your house, ma'am.

"My house! It's ruined!" - yeah, kid, I felt that, too.

Chris throwing down the gingerbread house like he tossed that salad when Eddie didn't tell him about dating Ana. Kid has a thing going on with tossing food when he's upset. Or maybe he's also upset with Eddie's cooking.

"We'll make another one (gingerbread house)." - foreshadowing much??? Buck, Eddie, and Chris, making a ginormous gingerbread house? Yes please! Making a family! Building a home! YES FUCKIN' PLEASE WITH SPRINKLES ON TOP!

So. Much. Pressure. Talk. I. Feel. Pressured.

"You could be dead next year." - things that, taken out of context, can mean vastly different things depending on the tone you use.

Eddie saying that since neither one got hurt, not telling Chris or Carla about the hostage situation was the appropriate response... Eddie, my dude. What the actual fuck??? Also, sure, it was a minor injury, but Buck *did* get kinda hurt. Seriously. You guys could earn a therapist a whole damn house. And. You. Should.

Homes breaking down. Homes collapsing. Gingerbread houses falling victim to gravity. Merry fuckin' Christmas, everyone!

Eddie gets triggered by the kid asking whether dad's dead. Which is interesting enough since that guy is not doing a dangerous job. Eddie, my love, life itself is dangerous AF. You can get buried by a house by just parking there, my dude. ALSO: That guy was OKAY because you and the team were there! Take a hint! Or ten!

Red and blue - jaws of life and red car. With Buddie in the frame. Praise be!

The house is not safe to go back to. THE HOUSE needs fixing. EDDIE. My friend. Take another hint. So many hints! Take them! Make a list! Buck has a clipboard! Chop-chop!

Wrapped in red. House about to collapse getting red-taped. Red ribbon on the gift by elevator girl. Red ribbons in Eddie's house. Buck gifting Taylor a red gift with red bow. Buck holding on to that red Santa hat like it's a lifeline. The red string that connects people. I am losing my shit. And I have connected shit!

LOL. Taylor standing between Buck and Eddie. I am mean and have zero impulse control:

Hen asking Buck where Eddie is. She been knew.

Eddie wearing his breakup-color palette. Petition he doesn't get to wear that once he's with Buck.

Seriously, this wee woo is doing things to me.

A lot of them.