#bonus points if it’s mike who breaks up

[mikeslawyer]

the world next year when we finally get an official mlvn break up:

[skyblueartt]

Yapping again, are we?

I have so many ideas for a fun little “nobody dies” fnaf AU because I am in love with these characters ughhhghhghhhh. I love tragedy and drama and dysfunction, but also…let’s give the gang a bit of a break from that. Imagine!!!!

Charlie and Elizabeth as teenagers and BESTIES. I have SOOOO many thoughts, I treat these girlies like they’re my damn OCs at this point :’))) I made a whole ass headcanons post and everything ahhaha, they’re everything to me byeee

Also also ALSO Mike, in his 20s, totally lives with his “roommate” (take that in any way you want) Jeremy !!! Michael discovering his passion for art and selling some drawings/paintings on the side. Maybe he went/is going to school for art? Hmmm. I just really love Michael’s hobby being art (self projection). Jeremy being his fun, chill, supportive, stoner roommate and friend/boyfriend/whatever you want

Also just CC/Evan not dying as a little kid is just. Just so nice, dude. That kid deserves a good life ughghhhg. Maybe as he gets a bit older he’s faced his fears about those animatronics :) I’m imagining he’s like, a pre-teen or young teenager here. “Haha, dad, do you remember how these things used to give me NIGHTMARES? Crazy”

Maybe if William isn’t insane (well— not in the “I’ve taken the lives of several children and lost myself completely” insane, but he’s ABSOLUTELY still eccentric and weird but in like. A good way. I LOVE villain william though, he’s my fave don’t get me wrong hehe) him and his ✨🏳️‍🌈BUSINESS PARTNER and BEST FRIEND🏳️‍🌈✨ Henry just. Explore their feelings because they’re down bad for each other for SURE. I need middle age man yoai but make it not toxic- or not as toxic. Like I LOVE LOVE LOVEEE the tragic dynamic between those two when Will is a fucked up murderer, but damn dude this is supposed to be a happy AU here lemme have this😭

Also just Henry watching Charlie grow up <3 my soul like. Needs that, man. And just bein a cool uncle to the Afton kiddos!! Going to Mike’s highschool graduation, he’s SO proud, that’s his boy! Bonus points if other kids are like “yo Mike, who’s your dad’s boyfriend? Hahahaaha” and Mike’s like “that’s my ‘Uncle’ Henry and he’s actually really fuckin cool so shut up” (and also my dad’s boyfriend)

Also. William just…being a dad. I need this, man. I need it. UGH! DAD WILLIAM! NOW! And Henry never falling into a deep deep depression or emptiness because his little girl was never uhhh brutally KILLED. Pleeease

[findafight]

Why do you (personally) think so many Steve fans loathe the idea of him becoming a dad? becoming a parent is the only dream we know he has, but it's thrown in the trash in most fics. I keep reading about steve being childless by choice, because the party is enough for him, which I really don't get, they're only 4 years younger than him, their relationship is brotherly, not parental, and they have their own parents who raised them. I love found family, but it's not the same as raising children

Oooh. Anon you are so bold giving this to me, a person who has an elaborate studio era lavender marriage au where Steve and Robin just. Get adopted by children who break into their house AND one where Steve becomes brotherdad to his half sister. A person who clearly also doesn't know why people have future!Steve childless. Man attracts kids like the pied piper.

But let me try. I have some ideas.

First off there's less space between Steve and Dustin than me and my little sister, but more than me and my big brother, so I can for sure say, you definitely become more friends less caretakery with your siblings once you/they are not fourteen. Still protective though. Maybe many people writing those don't have close sibling relationships with moderate age gaps? Like, there's a point where you feel comfortable letting your little sibling do mostly whatever, because they're big, but you're not gonna let them get hurt if you can stop it. There's also never a point where you stop looking at your older sibling to help you. That doesn't mean my big brother is like my dad?? It's very different, and that's important!! The Party for sure has a sibling-like relationship with Steve, especially Dustin, and Max, and I'd say Lucas (he has a little sister, but no older sibling, and Steve and Erica are scoops troop bonded so. Bonus brother for Lucas!)(will and Mike have their own older siblings. El and Steve interaction WHEN!!!!) and they all have actual parents. So yeah. Steve has a gaggle of little siblings he'd fucking die for, and his kids are going to have so many uncles/aunts/non-binary sibling of parent (there is no good word for that)

So. I think it's possible that because a lot of people headcanon Steve as queer, that immediately makes "having kids" a bit more complicated given the state of things for queer folk in the 80's. That's fair.

With that, possibly people sort of...transfer Steve wanting kids and a big family to working with kids. Which isn't that big of a leap for Steve! He obviously does well with the Party and Erica, and he canonically worked as a lifeguard, which almost definitely means he taught swimming too! (Small pool def wanted duel certs. Trust me). He likes kids, works well with them, and wants them. These are three things that are separate, but blend well with each other.

However I don't really agree. Obviously being parents was harder for gay/queer people in the eighties, especially men. But it wasn't unheard-of! I think saying that because he's queer and in a relationship with a man in the eighties that he'd have to give up on his dream of being a dad is rude. There would be obstacles but, really, I think Steve would see it as totally worth it.

Another reason I think people don't want to give future Steve kids is. Listen it's been a while since I saw it but. His little speech was pretty embarrassing. Mostly because it was to Nancy. And that he followed up on the way to vecna and said he thought it would be her there too... Literally any other character would have made it not awkward, but because he and Nancy haven't talked about anything other than the upside down since season 2, it was awkward and bad. If it was ANYONE ELSE it would have been so cute (it still kinda is just. Ignore that they tried to give stancy development without actually giving them development) like if Robin was there? If Dustin or Max? Erica? Lucas? Were sitting in that seat, it'd be Steve sharing a dream of a big family he had, trying to lighten the mood, of opening up to people he cared about. They'd tease him, but the implication of him wanting them there as well would be clear and very cute. Adorable.

Because those are characters that don't have the same baggage in their relationship with Steve, but the six nuggets speech was made to Nancy so immediately it's already a bit off for people who want the characters to actually, y'know, talk about the past and move forward from it. Nancy and Steve's relationship is so messy and interesting and if they wanted me to get into actually rooting for it then maybe they should have an actual conversation about it!! And have Nancy break up with Jon before!! Not just half dreams of the future while her bf isn't there!

People also try to use it as saying Steve assumed Nancy would? Just be a Sahm? Or something? When that was never the implication? Maybe Nancy would have interpreted it that way, but I didn't. Steve wanted a big family who spent lots of quality time together having adventures. Six kids is a lot, but I betcha if Steve thought that much about having that many kids and road tripping to the ocean, he was probably imagining being the primary caretaker of those lil nuggs. He was daydreaming about first day of kindergarten and tearing up for real I know it.

Also I think people are cowards if they don't think Robin and Steve would get convenience married and adopt a couple kids even tho Robin is slightly terrified of toddlers (they are fast and they BITE) and Steve would be Robin's trophy husband who's a stay at home dad that wages physiological suburban warfare by being a Wife Guy and the envy of all early nineties housewives.

[myfriendmike]

can someone write a byler fic where vecna takes over wills mind ina different way. like Will is the same except he's super angry all the time from the presence of vecna in his mind and he ends up trying to join vecna. Mike IS FREAKING OUT and he is the one who breaks thru vecnas control on Will and helps him go back to normal.

bonus points if Will confesses he likes mike when he's in an angry mood one day bc how dare Mike suddenly care about him.

[redlegumes]

Things I need to see in Stranger Things Season 5

I saw someone else's post and disagreed so hard, had to make my own 😅

- Eddie alive in some capacity and a saving him arc

- Erica being allowed to be/feel vulnerable (maybe in a sibling heart to heart, she's so strong all the time!)

- Addressing trauma for literally anyone and everyone

- Single, thriving Nancy

- A triumphant return to life for Hopper (who does not go back to being a police officer, 'cause acab)

- The Harringtons: some details, anything really

- Will having untainted fun times with friends other than Mike (like everytime we catch that boy getting a break it's always chained to bad tinglies)

- More ladies relationship/friendship moments that don't have a 'thinking bout boys undercurrent,' i.e. Max helping El feel good in her clothes, Nancy and Max shooting, Karen Wheeler supporting her daughter through sexist bullshit, Joyce loving El, etc

- Most unlikely wish: Everyone being mostly on the same page. Like I want the walkies to be in use. Sure break into teams, but let's have everyone trying to check in, let's have the teams actually aware of the other groups intended goals. I just need the heist movie level cohesion

-Coward gay ending of Steve and Eddie packing up the car to move out of Hawkins (to whatever city Robin is going to college in?) as 'roommates.' Bonus points if it has a road trip vibe ('neither of us has ever seen the ocean')

-Kids going to college epilogue, or a 'where they are now' esque thing

[victimsofyaoipoll]

alright time to write an essay detailing whatever yaoi has done to my girl nancy wheeler. so like, even when it comes to yaoi shippers nancy has had stonathan, harringrove, AND steddie over four seasons with steddie already having massive popularity + the other shippers, wheras thankfully eleven only has to deal with byler shippers when it comes to the victimization. but not to diminish eleven any more because she has def gone through it in fandom, im going to get into nancy's stuff: you will notice all three ships she supposedly gets in the way of (ignoring jargyle because the shippers are chill in my experience) involve steve harrington, AKA the most popular character if i had to guess and the white boy of the month. see, they were dating at one point in s1 and s2. the breakup was messy. like he kinda was complicit in her slutshaming at one point and didnt let her grieve her dead best friend properly and she ambiguously (as in nobody can fucking decide when the break up was) cheated on him so yeah. messy. mutually. if not more on steve's side given he was a bit of an asshole in s1-2 but gets better. yadda yadda fast forward to harringrove in particular, AKA steve x the guy who attacked a black child and abused his younger sibling (and im not attacking anyone thats just. what happened). basically 90% of them try to convince people nancy is abusive for the two arguments that occurred and is a slut and privileged (never mind steve being probably the most well off member of the main cast + hes a white guy in the 80s) blah blah blah. also ironic they call her abusive OFTEN when billy (one half of harringrove) kinda like threatens his sister max and breaks her things and otherwise abuses her Often. but yeah. they hate her for breaking his heart. they hate her for getting in the wya of their ship possibly. they hate her in general. add that to the general fandom misogyny and suddenly a large number of people are writing essays about how much they hate her and how she's a piece of shit, actually. fast forward to s4 and steddie and a new problem arises: steddie shippers keep flooding her character and ship tags with primarily steddie. so now your options regarding her are mlm ships and mlm shippers shitting on her. also keep in mind there is now more content for half of that ship, a guy who shows up for an hour and dies in the same season, than nancy, a mc. and if you like nancy ships like jancy or ronance, too bad those tags are flooded as well. as in someone did analytics in august for ronance i think and at one point the majority of main pairings in the ronance ao3 tags itself was steddie. either way both ships usually end up as side ships or bait into a steddie centric fic or tumblr post. or nancy ends up third wheeling and getting them together. as a nice bonus (not really) recently steddie shippers have decided that they too hate nancy and have entire posts and common plots (i have seen tumblr ficlets/hc's and people discussing this as a common trope for steddie fics on ao3) about how nancy was a horrible person who damaged steve's self esteem and ability to be in a relationship or something from a break up, as if the relationship wasnt mutually harmful and compounded by nancy's whole dead best and possibly only friend thing. and whoops for ships like ronance that isnt allowed either because steve's friend isn't allowed to interact with his ex despite the fact that said friend literally said he was an ass in the s1-2 timeline. all of this making it impossible to find any positive content without it being interrupted for a character who, if i remember correctly, has almost as much screentime as eleven (and eleven at least has popular fan content and other ships that dont somehow loop around to byler/mike). and whats worse is that while canon doesnt have yaoi victimization it does have heteronormative bullshit in which she is forced into a love triangle with the same guys TWO TIMES. she literally cant win so let her win a poll maybe also sorry this is super fucking long <3

Whoooo Nancy

[gogobootz1]

(Not So) Silent Night

Spider-Man x Reader

Summary: You're called into work on Christmas Eve, but a certain web-slinger makes your job more entertaining.

A/N: just a quick xmas one shot - not edited. I didn't have a certain Spider-Man in mind so it could be read for any of them <3

Word Count: 1.5k

Finally one of your favorite nights of the year had rolled around. Christmas Eve- perfect to sit back, relax, and put on a movie. You were debating between White Christmas and Christmas Vacation when your phone rang.

Recognizing the number, you quickly picked up the call.

“Yes?” you said.

“The boss requires your services tonight,” came a voice from the other end.

“Mike, do you really think anyone is listening to this call?” you asked, mildly annoyed.

“They might!” he said defensively.

“Fine,” you rolled your eyes, “what’s the job?”

“He forgot a Christmas present for his wife so now he needs you to steal some stone from the Natural History Museum,” he said offhandedly.

“Mike,” you said, exasperatedly, “there are probably a shit ton of stones there. Which one?!” At this point you had sat up, there was no way you’d be able to go back to relaxing.

“Okay, okay, uh…” you shook your head when you heard papers rustling. “It’s called the Ostro stone- it’s on loan from London’s Natural History Museum.”

Quickly you pulled out your laptop and searched the name. An image of a brilliant blue gem graced your screen. It looked to be a little larger than cell phone size.

You sighed, “when does this need to be done by?”

“I need it by four, so I can get it to him by six.”

“And shall I gift wrap it?” you asked, sarcasm dripping from your words.

“Actually, if you could, that’d be gr-“ his words were cut off when you ended the call.

Sometimes you really hated being on retainer for the most notorious of New York City criminal under lords. It didn’t matter what you were in the middle of- when he called, you delivered.

But the job had its perks. One of which was the nice Central Park apartment that you currently occupied. Being on salary instead of working freelance provided a nice level of financial security. And being on the payroll for someone so infamous provided you physical security as well. No one messed with Fisk’s employees for fear of retribution.

Once you’d sufficiently researched the gem and the museum you sprang off your couch and to your closet. Pajamas weren’t suitable for working a job, and you were hoping tonight would spell out a large holiday bonus.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

When you arrived at the natural history museum, you decided to bide your time until you determined the best method of entry. If you didn’t have to climb on the roof and enter via a skylight, you wouldn't.

Luckily for you, the guards were switching, and the one who was about to go on shift smelled strongly of cigarette smoke. You knew he’d have to step out later for a cigarette break, which would provide you the perfect chance to make an exit.

“Just so you know,” the one leaving turned toward the one you were about to follow in, “Kenny’s asleep in the cams room.”

Merry Christmas to me.

“Of course he is,” the man said, chagrined. “Have a good one, Craig.” The other guard gave him a wave before walking off.

Quickly, you turned invisible and stepped into the building before the door could close behind the guard. It was this ability that had brought you success even before Fisk found you. But now that you were on his payroll, your boss asked you to use it in more creative ways. By having you spy and thieve for him, Fisk discovered precious insider information. Not to mention secrets that made for excellent blackmail fodder. He compensated you heartily for your efforts.

In comparison to the other work you did for him, this job was relatively simple. The only difficulty that came with thieving jobs was when insufferable do-gooders took it upon themselves to stop you. And for what? So that a painting could sit in a museum instead of someone’s penthouse? So that everyone could look at a precious gemstone instead of one wealthy asshole? To you, there was no difference. It’s not like anyone appreciated that sort of stuff anyway, so why not make a buck off it?

When you finally made it to the display, you took a moment to analyze. You checked for any silent alarms and, not finding any, took the opportunity to examine the display case more closely. Unfortunately, it was clear that any movement of the protective glass would trip an alarm. So would any motion within the display case, and likely any movement of the stone itself.

Grabbing your backpack from your shoulder, you reached in and dug around for the device you were looking for. Once you’d found the small box, you leaned it against the black podium that supported the gem and pressed the button on its side. It released an electric pulse that would zap the power until you turned it off.

You quickly removed the glass lid that guarded the topaz against the public and lifted the gem from its stand. Just as soon as you’d locked it into to cushioned box you brought, you heard a voice come from behind you.

“You know, committing a robbery on Christmas Eve is pretty Grinch-y of you.”

“Is that why your voice sounds like Cindy Lou Who’s?”

You turned in time to see Spider-man drop from his place on the ceiling. He landed on the floor with a quiet thud and started walking in your direction. Swiftly, you replaced the box within your bag and backed away from him.

“You really couldn’t have taken a night off?”

“I’m a working woman,” you shrugged, “I just get bad hours.”

“You just have a bad job,” the masked man said, placing his hands on his hips.

“Well, I wouldn’t say that,” you argued, “it has good pay, great benefits- my dental care is free, baby, free.”

Spider-Man shook his head at you, “as much as I’d like to chat, I’m gonna have to ask you to hand it over.”

“And if I refuse?” you raised a brow.

“I’ll have to take it from you.”

His words made you smirk, “I’d like to see you try.”

You managed to dodge the first few webs he shot, but he landed one on your forearm. With a snap of his wrist, he pulled you close.

“If you wanted to hold me in your arms, Spider-Man, all you had to do was ask,” you said, chest to chest with the masked hero.

Slightly embarrassed, he took a quick step back, and you took the chance to yank off the glove he’d webbed. When he realized your ploy, he took a swipe at your legs, which you swiftly jumped over.

“Woah, woah, woah, okay, time out,” you said, making a playground-style T shape with your hands as he stood. Reluctantly, he paused his oncoming attack.

“Look- I don’t want to be laid up in bed for the holidays. I have plans! I can’t be limping or have any bruises.”

“Okay, I have never given you bruises,” he protested.

“Still, I’ll make you a deal. I will give you the topaz, and we’ll both walk away and have a lovely Christmas vacation.”

“How do I know this isn’t a trick?” Spider-Man was skeptical.

“You saw me put the box in my bag, and now you’re seeing me take it out,” you said while slowly removing a box from your bag.

Slowly, you set it down and slid it over to him. He picked it up instantly and examined it.

“What’s with the padlock?”

“Safety precaution,” you assured him, “I’m gonna tell you the code and then I’m gonna go.”

“Fine- what is it?” he huffed.

“Everyone’s favorite number,” you smiled and swiftly disappeared.

Once out of sight, you grabbed the electric purse device and practically sprinted back to where you came in. To your great luck, the same security guard from earlier was stepping out for a smoke. You crept out behind him and started walking back towards your place. You sent Mike a quick text, telling him to stop by in an hour to pick it up.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Back in the museum, Spider-Man had finally tried entering 420 into the combination lock. When it released, he opened the box to find a post-it note sitting in the middle of it.

He let out a sigh when he saw the message on it.

Merry Christmas, Sucker ♡

It was scrawled under a face with its tongue sticking out. He shook his head at his own stupidity. Of course, you had two identical boxes.

“Stop thief!” he heard from behind him and whipped around to see a security guard pointing a taser at him.

“Me?”

“Yes, you! Set the jewel down and put your hands in the air!”

“Really, the nerve of some people,” he shook his head, and shot a web up to the skylight he came in through.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

When you read the Christmas Day edition of the Daily Bugle the next morning, you couldn’t help but chuckle at the headline.

Spider-Man a Scrooge!

The Masked Menace steals beloved British jewel

[itsjustbyler]

"Will coming out to Joyce" this, "Will coming out to Hopper" that.

But what about Will coming out to LONNIE in the most angst and proudly way possible?

Lonnie shows up at hoppers cabin and spots Mike there. I hc that Lonnie thought that Mike and Will had something going on when they were kids so when he spots him, he starts to talk shit to Mike, homophobe slurs or whatever and then Will comes out of the cabin, put himself between Mike and Lonnie and starts screaming at his face.

At some point, Lonnie split out that Will is a mistake. And Will loses it.

"Yes, i am gay, but you know what? You are the mistake here! A fucking bastard who doesn't know how to love his own children and is a failure. You said that you are ashamed of me? YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOUSELF" and he just do a whole speech about how he is proud of himself and how Lonnie is a piece of shit.

BONUS if this ends up with Will breaking his nose. The only one of the Byers/Hopper family who still didn't punch anyone.

A parallel to Mike/Troy on S1 and a parallel to El/Papa on S4.

[thefrankensteinplace]

Newsies UK Review (Dec. 3rd)

Brace yourselves because this will be long and rambling and will contain spoilers. I certainly haven’t covered everything or everyone, but I’ve covered a few of the things that particularly stood out to me and the people I felt particularly deserved a mention.

Just the whole set up. Shirtless Newsies getting ready for the day before carrying the banner started was a bonus, not least because it reminded me of carrying the banner starts in the film when they’re all in the lodging house getting ready. They were down on the stage rather than up in the scaffolding like on Broadway so I feel like you got a bit more of a scene setter and build up to it. And then one of them full on ziplines onto the stage, it was fabulous!! My friend who was with me described it as ‘a magic Mike entrance’ and whispered to me, ‘when are they gonna start stripping. Just the staging in generally was amazing. Having scaffolding all around so newsies could scale it at different points in the theatre as well as having the walkways between the seating was brilliant, because it meant all the chase scenes with Snyder could go through the audience and go up and down different levels, so like, Jack could run up a bit and escape then because they’d gone a different route, it was very clever. And during the World will know it meant that we had newsies marching on the spot right in front of us, sometimes turning to face us and I was grinning like a maniac, it was amazing!! There were 3 standing ovations. Three! I was expecting the one at the end, but the other two weren’t even at the end of the first act or something, they were both in sieze the day! One at the end and one at that moment when you think it’s about to end but they still have an extra bit to go. And it was one hundred percent deserved, the choreography was absolutely incredible. One of the guys did like a gazillion box jumps in a row, it was insane. Looking back at the cast list I think that was Ross Dorrington as Splasher but if anyone else who’s seen it could confirm or deny that would be great, as it is obviously hard to tell from a distance in the theatre. At first I thought this was gonna be instead of the ‘Ryan Steele spins’, but then we got those later on as well! There were even some break dancing style moves, it was ridiculously brilliant. I will say that I am a Javey shipper that has never truly understood Jatherine (which, disclaimer, may be partly because I’m a 92sies whore so I was a bit sore about the plot changes that introduced Katherine in the Broadway version, although I learnt to love her as I got used to the idea), but my god I changed my tune when I saw this performance. I don’t know what it was but there was just something different about Michael Ahomka-Lindsay and Bronté Barbé as Jack and Katherine. Part of me thinks it was just the way they kissed in something to believe in, y’know with his hands moving up her back and stuff, it was just *chefs kiss. But there was just something in their interactions as well, she was so snarky it was wonderful and you could just see it drawing him in. And like, when he strikes out at the beginning when he first sees her and she shuts him down I think you could see more of, her joy in doing that I suppose, and her amusement at him pursuing her that I feel was lacking slightly in the Broadway one. Like, you can tell more that her annoyance is kind of as much of an act as Jack’s postering is and I appreciate that because I feel you see the romance growing more rather than just being a sudden thing that happens. As much as I love Jeremy Jordan and Kara Lindsay I just felt it properly for the first time with these two. And he gives her a newsboy cap at the end which was super cute. Each of them individually were just astounding in their roles and really managed to bring a different flavour to both Jack and Katherine which was really lovely to see. Matthew Duckett as Crutchie is a fricking revelation. It was Marty Belafski who had my heart as Crutchie - he was the first iteration I saw and it was him that made me fall in love with the character. With Broadway, I already knew Andrew Keenan-Bolger, and loved him as Crutchie as well. Now it’s probably Matthew Duckett who just is Crutchie for me. I loved that he was taller than Jack for one thing, like in the original film, and that he was just generally like, a little grittier than Broadway Crutchie? He had a bit more of the Crutchie from the film who says, ‘I don’t want anybody carrying me. Never’, and who nicks food of Snyders plate to give to Jack. A little less relentless optimist and a little more world hardened, which I really enjoyed. And it doesn’t hurt that he had lovely shoulders which I had a great view of, as I was sitting in the second row from where they had a break in the seating that the cast used to run through the audience as such. Very annoyed that I just missed out on getting a pape from Crutchie himself. He waved one at us asking if anyone wanted a pape, and all of us just sat there in shocked, happy excitement, without realising that this was actually on offer to interact with the cast and not just like, part of the show. He threw it behind him into the audience members in front of us to our consternation and was then like, ‘yeah, now you want a pape’, and someone in front of me did then get one. It was amazing, and I can now say to everyone going, and if I go again, say yes to the pape! They actually mean to give them to you! I didn’t actually believe they would make Spot Conlon a girl but I stand corrected! Not only Spot but the whole of Brooklyn. In my humble opinion, not quite the same as Spot being a tiny but menacing little guy, but still very cool and great fun. And I loved that the girlsies were like, actually girlsies. Like, some of them had skirts and stuff, they were meant to be girls, not just, women filling in the men’s roles, which I absolutely loved! I think I would probably have preferred it if all the boroughs were just mixed to be honest, partly because it meant a lyric change to ‘we’re the girls from the beaches of Brighton’ rather than ‘we’re the boys from the beaches of Brighton, so we don’t get the alliteration which slightly irritated my brain although obviously it would have been weirder if they’d all sung that when they’re meant to be girls, but also because I just feel like it would have made for a more accurate representation, although if they’d done that I think I would have wanted them to keep Spot as a girl. Ultimately though, I did understand why they did it like they did, as it really packed a punch, and it made sense why Spot wasn’t in the cast list as they obviously wanted to keep this as a surprise twist. It honestly was a great moment. King of New York!! It was phenomenal!! They swung from ceiling lights!!! Honestly it felt like a little homage to 92s when Damien lucero spins on the ceiling fan, as there was a moment when some of them did spins from them, as well as them swinging about like Tarzan on them. Honestly, I did feel like the choreography from this as well as sieze the day was better than Broadway. There were just so many surprises. Although Katherine did tap a bit she didn’t seem to have as much of a ‘moment’ as Kara Lindsay got, when the newsies are encouraging her to dance, so that was a shame, but they did dress her up like the Statue of Liberty which was wild and amazing. The newsies bringing on all the props! It was so good. Hilariously Katherine thanked them when they put together her desk for watch what happens, but my favourite was when they did Pulitzers office because they were all just lounging around for a bit before Pulitzer and everyone came on. I’m pretty sure on of them was was sitting in his chair at one point before scurrying off. It was great. Cameron Blakely was wonderful as Pulitzer. A great voice, and I just loved his portrayal of the character. Some funny moments because it’s Cameron Blakely but still managing to be very sinister when it counted. The line that really stood out to me from him was when he grabs Katherine’s arm in the Bottom Line Reprise singing ‘too bad you’ve no family, but you can’t have mine’. Oof. Davey was glorious. He was just so soft somehow, which was very endearing, although I was slightly disappointed that he didn’t seem to loose any of his clothes on the way as is the Davey tradition in both the film and on Broadway. Having said that, he seemed less buttoned-up, in terms of his costume, to begin with than either of the previous David’s. His exasperation at Les, like when he’s staring at the Bowery beauties or when he announces that he has a girlfriend, was continuously on point. And his beginning of sieze the day was absolutely beautiful. I’m still annoyed that Davey has no solo song though. Medda was fabulous of course! I felt there could have been a bit more of ‘wink wink nudge nudging’ over the nature of her relationship with Teddy Roosevelt, but essentially she truly understood the assignment. And her Bowery Beauties costume she wore for That’s Rich was gorgeous. Being previews there were a few sound issues which was a shame, and they’d run out of programmes by the time I arrived (how a theatre runs out of programmes I’ll never know, but hopefully those issues will be sorted out by opening night. Overall, an insanely brilliant night out - glorious show, stellar dancing and singing, still so thrilled that Newsies came to the UK and that I had a chance to see it, 10 years on from the Broadway production I truly never thought it would happen and I’m so glad that it did.

[kariachi]

Oh look, I wrote a third part to that 'post-prison Kevin keeping an eye on Mike' fic series.

Our favorite rich bastard has an apartment now.

~~

While he had been putting in the work to rebuild his social life, the going was slower than he would like. Eight years on an off-world prison didn’t do much to keep you up with the latest news and topics, or make you especially desirable company, especially among his crowds he was trying to settle back into. It meant he hadn’t had guests over in the time since settling in, and certainly didn’t have anyone who would come over without at least calling first. So, there was only really one potential source for the knocking, one undesired but not unexpected.

Three solid-not-sharp raps against the door, followed by another three after a few confused moments, had Mike rolling his eyes with a groan even as he set aside his book and coffee to go open it. He took his sweet time, mind, there was no reason he couldn’t make a bastard wait, but he knew better than to bother pretending he wasn’t home. Would be just his luck the fucker would wait. Or break in. As it was at least he just stood at ease in the hallway, smirking to meet Mike’s glower.

“Levin.”

“Morningstar.” For a moment he considered having this encounter entirely at the door, god knew Kevin wasn’t shoving his way inside this time, but the small amount of raising his mom had managed kicked in and he found himself stepping aside in a silent invitation. Kevin made a hum that was almost impressed as he looked around. “What’d I tell ya? Smaller space works better.”

“It echoes less at least,” Mike said with a small huff. That had been one of the three main reasons he’d chosen that particular apartment. Even with the balcony it was only a fraction of the size of the places he had been looking at before, but it didn’t echo so fiercely despite sharing an open floorplan, there was tub, and the view was acceptable.

“Throw down some rugs,” Kevin said as he walked into the main room, Mike trailing a few steps behind him, “it’ll clear that right up.” Mike hummed curiously.

“Did take you for a rug person.” Not with his powers. Certainly, Mike himself preferred to be able to always make full use of his own. Each main room having a straight shot for open air had been another bonus for him. Kevin just shrugged, leaning back against the couch the apartment had come with..

“I’ve got enough shit to not echo. You don’t have jack.”

“I got out of prison a few months ago, I haven’t had time to accumulate as much useless crap as you.”

“I can tell,” Kevin said. Rolling his eyes again, Mike made a point to shove past him despite the ample space on his way to pick up his coffee. “Thought your old place was empty, but damn. Need some bookshelves or something.”

“Most of them are in my room,” Mike said, taking a large sip. “I’m having to rebuild my collection.” The couch just barely shifting as he pushed off it, Kevin stretched and nodded.

“May as well give me a look.” Just barely manages to keep his face mostly neutral, Mike glowered harder.

“And why would I do that?” Kevin flashed his teeth in a grin.

“‘Cause I’m gonna look around the place anyway, may as well come along while I do it.” Oh joy. That was just what he needed, Levin wandering around like he owned the place. As if it wasn’t bad enough he was apparently going to just keep showing up.

“And you’re doing this because…?”

“Keeping an eye on you,” Kevin said with another shrug, “gotta make sure you don’t have captives or something.” The glower became a full glare, only a lifetime of practice keeping the mug from chattering in Mike’s hands. He had done nothing in eight years, yes most of that while behind bars but still. Was some faith too much to ask after all that time?

“Really, Levin?” Smirk dropping, Kevin shrugged.

“Not really,” he admitted, “but the Tennysons found out I’m keeping an eye on things and if they don’t get a proper report odds are they’ll come out here, and neither of us need that shit.” The anger didn’t leave, but settled some. He really didn’t need the temptation of Gwendolyn. He’d been on the wagon all this time, yes, and being able to eat whenever and as much as he wanted without judgement was helping him stay that way, but even just the normal people around town got tempting at times. Especially when he was stressed or hungry, and if anyone was going to stress him out and be too stupid to avoid mealtimes it would be the Tennysons.

Heaving a sigh, he headed for the nearest door, Kevin trailing behind.

“The guest room,” he said as he stepped inside for the first time since he’d moved in. It looked even emptier than the rest of the apartment, with only the furniture the place had come with and a singular generic painting on the wall, but Kevin still made appreciative noises as he walked around. “How are they, anyway?”

“Good enough. Ben’s engaged again and living in South Dakota of all places. Who the fuck wants that much snow?” Mike managed to cut off a snort in exchange for a snicker, watching as he went through the room to the en suite, opening doors along the way. “Does this wall go through the entire fucking apartment?”

“Mm-hm.” He couldn’t help preening as Kevin came back into view, eyes locked out the floor-to-ceiling windows that made up the western wall. Even in autumn the place sweltered in the afternoons, but he couldn’t help but enjoy them. The view of the outside soothed something in his gut. “The balcony runs all the way down too.”

“Damn.” Kevin went to the window, craning to see down the balcony, and whistled. “I’ve lived in apartments smaller than that,” he said. “Fuck, I’ve got one now smaller than that, and it doesn’t have half the view either.”

“Eh.” Mike shrugged. “It’s not the view I wanted.”  Turning, Kevin leveled him with a doubtful look.

“You have a whole fucking bay in front of you.” He did, and it was very nice, and a big part of why the place cost as much as it did, but it wasn’t entirely what he’d wanted. Close, but no cigar.

“Yes, but I wanted higher up and a better view of the city.” Unfortunately the higher floors had been big enough that the echoes grated on him. The echoes here still grated on him, and he hated that he was probably going to take Kevin’s advice and buy some rugs. Huffing, Kevin shook his head, eyeing the waterfront view.

“All I get to see in the inside of the station,” he grumbled, and Mike tilted his head at him.

“‘The station’,” he asked. Kevin turned back, looking his over with narrowed eyes, before answering.

“Splitting my time between Cali and the Saturn Station. The Cali views are decent, but the station? Awful.” Though his jaw didn’t drop, Mike did find himself blinking a few more times than normal.

“How did you talk Gwendolyn into that?” With a loud snorting laugh, Kevin headed back over and they stepped back into the main space.

“Dude, we broke up years ago. She’s off doing her own thing, I’m doing mine.” There was more blinking before Mike shook his head. He shouldn’t have been surprised. It had been actual years, of course it made sense they would have moved on in that time. Nobody and nothing else had stayed forcibly stagnant like him- fuck, his cousin Teddy’d gotten married and had a kid- why should they?

“Laundry, bathroom, study,” he listed off, pointing at the doors and opening as he did. At least the laundry had an excuse for being barebones, but he could admit it would be nice to do something with the bathroom and the study. One he used regularly and the other… Well, he didn’t use the study at all- it was a little too enclosed for his liking and he preferred to stay in the main space- but without a door it was a bit of a bare eyesore. Kevin seemed to agree, from the way he just stared at it with narrowed eyes after checking the other rooms.

“Well,” he said, “Tennysons should be happy to hear there’s absolutely nothing worth talking about.”

“As long as they’re happy,” Mike said in as dry a tone as possible, sending him snorting again. “Final room then?” Kevin waved towards the door beside the kitchen area with something between a smirk and a smile.

“Lead the way.” There was no way to get around the master suite being the most personalized room in the apartment, in that it was the only really personalized room in the apartment yet. All of his books were there on the shelf, a vanity he’d seen and needed in his life, and the photos he’d managed to dig out of his mother’s house hung up on the wall. There weren’t a lot, and he would probably never forgive her for that, but some, including pride of place for one of himself, his dad, and his grandpa, from the latter’s 70th birthday party. Mike beelined for it, turning it from view as Kevin slipped into the bathroom.

“The fuck does your toilet need to be behind a fucking door for,” he called out.

“I think they expect you to be sharing the room,” Mike threw back with a chuckle. It wasn’t something he could see happening any time soon. He would like it to, but his socializing was out of work, and he wasn’t quite sure he trusted himself to have someone over overnight. Especially not sharing a bed overnight, not when it would be so easy to feed off them. “I’ve been trying to see if I can take it down.”

Really, he would have preferred to take down all the interior doors in this part of the apartment. Even shutting the door to the main bathroom put him on edge, but that needed the option of privacy for when he eventually was having people over. In his own room, there was no reason for him to feel trapped.

“Shouldn’t be too hard,” Kevin said as he came back out, “just need to unscrew the hinges, it’s like a four-minute job.”

“You would know,” Mike said, smirking at him and being briefly flipped off for his trouble as the closet was inspected. “So, good enough for the Tennysons?”

“I fucking hope so. Last thing I want is to have to come out ‘cause you three are killing each other.”

“Oh my god,” Mike said, putting a hand to his chest, “something we can agree on.” When he stepped back out Kevin was glowering at the mock amazement, but smirking still.

“Now that’s out of the way,” he said, beelining for the open door- both it and the one in the main space kept open for that cool bay breeze and salty air- to the balcony. Stepping onto it, really seeing the full scope, seemed to push whatever he was about to say out of his head. “The fuck you even gonna do with this much room out here? You could host weddings.”

“Maybe Ben’s weddings,” Mike managed not to snort, though he did smirk at the ‘I don’t want to be amused, shut up’ look sent his way. It was true, however, it was a large balcony. Running the full length of the apartment and deep enough that he and Kevin, both tall men, could probably have lain down with their feet flat against the door and only just run their outstretched fingers over the railing. It had come with a table and chairs already, and he ate most of his meals out there, but there was still a ton of space that needed filling. “I was considering some potted plants, actually. It’s not as if I don’t have the space for them and entertaining out here.”

The smirk dropped from Kevin’s face in favor of surprise and a hint of confusion. Mike glowered at him on instinct.

“Never took you for a green thumb.” Halfheartedly, Mike shrugged.

“My grandmother liked to garden,” he explained, “I just never got around to picking it up myself.” For a million reasons. She’d died long before he was born, but her private garden had been maintained, from the flowers to the vegetables, until his grandfather’s death and he had spent any a day playing in it. He’d never had any idea where to start trying for himself, however, and between his father’s preference to avoid gardening anymore and his mother’s insistence on just how things should be… “Now seems as good a time as any.”

Nodding, Kevin looked over the balcony like he was trying to picture it. Mike could. Some produce on their end, heading towards the next door down, then flowers to decorate a nice social space making up the rest of it. An empty patch of railing to look out unobstructed over the bay. It would be nice, assuming he’d inherited half her green thumb, and just the thought was enough to ease the tension in his shoulders.

“Probably good for you to have a hobby,” Kevin eventually said, and turned to lean back against the railing. “Had some questions to ask you.” And there was the tension again, urging him to glower at the bastard again.

“Such as?”

“What’cha been up to, where you been going, who can verify, that sorta shit.” Of course. For a heartbeat he’d almost forgotten he was being treated like he was on parole rather than a free man. He sipped a smirk onto his face.

“All this talk of keeping an eye on me and you can’t figure that out for yourself?” Kevin smirked back.

“Gotta check and see if you’re lying to me.” Much as he hated to consider that Kevin might have a brain in his skull, he had managed to track Mike down three times already and so couldn’t be underestimated. Damnit. Was still painfully tempting to lie though. With a sigh and a roll of his eyes, Mike made for the outdoor table and sat down, finishing what was left of his coffee. Kevin joined him directly, draping himself over the opposite chair.

“Exploring the town, mostly,” he said, managing to keep himself in line enough to not get into trouble. “See what stores, museums, restaurants are available, took a few tours. Otherwise, I’m generally hanging out by the pool or on the beach.” He didn’t even really care about the pool or the beach, they were just his best options for socializing, at least so far. The tours had been mostly tourists, so that’d been a failure. Eventually, surely, he’d find better options, but when you were just getting settled in the area, especially an area like his, your best choices often ended up being bars. A history of addiction, plus that addiction being to living energy, plus it all being tied to a monstrous appetite that tended to get him weird looks when he indulged it? Meant he wasn’t willing to risk getting shoved off the wagon by urge to keep up with the heavy drinkers and fill an empty stomach.

“About lines up,” Kevin said, nodding. “How’s the social scene looking?” Mike just shrugged.

“There’s a few other people in the complex I’ve hung out with, I can give you numbers if you would prefer.” He wouldn’t like it, but he could do it. His social life was already barely getting its feet under it, he didn’t need Kevin calling around asking after him. Unfortunately, the jackass held out a hand expectantly.

“Phone.” With a glare that unfortunately didn’t light him on fire, Mike pulled his phone from his pocket and handed it over. The attempts to develop pyrokinesis continued as Kevin checked his contacts, and he only kept it long enough for that, something the basic human desire for privacy appreciated, until it was safely back in his care.

“Okay, looks like we’re good then.” ‘We’re good then’, he hated this man. Especially the stupid grin he threw at him. “Keep this up and you won’t have to deal with me anything.”

“Keep this up and I’ll start eating people again.” An empty threat, and worse from the way he laughed Kevin could tell. “Are we done here?”

“Yeah,” Kevin said with a nod, throwing another look out over the water before looking Mike over again. “Gotta admit, wasn’t expecting a lot but, you’re doing good.” Or at least he was trying to. No thanks to Kevin. Well, a small thanks to Kevin. Two small thanks to Kevin. He was never going to admit it though. Instead, he simply stood back up with purpose, leaving his mug where it sat, and looked down his nose at the other man. With an amused huff Kevin mirrored him, a smirk on his face.

“If that’s all,” Mike said, “I was in the middle of a very good book.” His glare faltered when Kevin cringed at that, throwing an apologetic look through his lashes.

“Sorry, man,” he said, Mike’s surprise edging out his anger as they headed inside and made a beeline for the door. Well, there was his normal view of Levin on its head. All Mike would do was nod slowly, turning the reassurance and the honest apology for a simple thing- god but how many people didn’t think it worth apologizing for- over in his mind. A part of his mind pointed out the mentioning of bookshelves immediately as needed furniture, rolling that over as well before stowing it away just in case.

“Apology accepted,” Mike said as they went, out of habit more than anything. “You probably know my number, you could just call ahead.” With a snort, Kevin smirked, shook his head.

“Nope, sorry, can’t give you time to hide bodies or some shit.”

“If there’s any bodies I’m framing you for them out of pure spite,” he shot back with a huff, unable to entirely keep a small smile from his face when Kevin laughed again.

“Behave, Morningstar, I don’t wanna have to come out here forever,” he said as they reached the door. It opened with all the smoothness of new construction, a blast of cold air blowing in from the hallway as Kevin stepped out.

“I completely agree,” Mike said as he did, and sighed as the door began to close before sticking out a foot to catch it. “And Levin.”

“Yeah?”

“You could have at least brought a housewarming gift.” A snorting laugh came from the other side of the door as he pulled back to let it slip shut.

“Next time,” Kevin called, laugh still in his voice, “I’ll bring you a plant!”

The worst part was, Mike thought as he headed back for the couch, he was probably going to appreciate it.

[spaceorphan18]

Glee Musical Retrospective: You Can't Always Get What You Want (Sectionals)

Sung by: New Directions Original Artist(s): The Rolling Stones

Oh where to begin with this...

Story Analysis

You can't always get what you want But if you try sometimes, well, you just might find You get what you need

There's a set up for this song earlier in the episode -- where Will is talking Finn into returning to New Directions, and tells him that he can't always get what he wants. Which inspires Finn to pick this song for their big sectionals number.

Thematically - the song works for the story, and works for the whole concept of Glee. In life - you can't always get what you want (hence the general popularity of the song). But sometimes you do get what you need out of your circumstances.

Finn doesn't get the girl - but at least he still gets to be a leader and have those who rely on him (and bonus not having to be a teenage dad).

The glee club doesn't get to rise to the top of the hs hierarchy but, they at least get a family in which they can safely be themselves.

Even Will doesn't get a working marriage - but at least he finds that love still exists.

The song is very on point for the message the show is trying to create. The world sucks - but at least you can find people who are like you enough to make it worthwhile. Glee has never been a subtle show - and this song hits the nail on the thematic head a bit hard.

And I went down to the demonstration To get my fair share of abuse (Singing, we're) Gonna vent our frustration (If we don't we're gonna blow) A 50-amp fuse

Understandably - they don't sing any of the verses that are more related to drugs and drug culture. By the do include the one about civil rights. While it's not a one-to-one comparison, it makes sense that the ND would sing about standing up for being different -- getting shoved down because of those differences and singing about how they want to be them anyway.

Technical Analysis

So, fun fact - apparently Dijon Talton, Harry Shum Jr., Heather Morris, and Naya Rivera helped with the choreography for this number - I wonder if the scripted line about Matt, Mike, Brittany and Santana doing the choreography was a nod to this.

That said - the dancing here is a bit rough and loose. It's intentional (and I'm just completely sidestepping away from the conversation that it's in anyway believable that the ND could pull this off hours before) but it does feel more like the kids bopping around the stage haphazardly than any cohesive dance number.

The cast sounds fine, even if it's a lot of the same arrangement of group numbers we've heard consistently throughout the Front 13. Finn and Rachel lead the group, with Mercedes coming in at the end with that big note. The back up vocals are blocky - and while yes, in the style of a show choir, feels (as usual) too big to be just twelve voices. It's a fine number - but maybe it's me personally - it's one rock number that I don't know if works in its translation to show choir number.

Just a couple of minor things -

The cast is hilariously over the top happy in this number. I can't tell if they're breaking or laying it on too thick.

I can't with the audience standing up as if it were a rock concert. I'm already beyond having to suspend my disbelief for this illogical plot, the audience just breaks my brain a little.

I should mention the ending bit - the hands raised as a call back to DSB.

vs. The Studio Recording : It's becoming apparent to me just how much other sound mixing they do for the episode performances - such as adding audience cheering, atmospheric sounds, etc. Also - there's about another minute of added song. But instead of including the other verses - there's a strange turn in the song that feels very Glee-ish, and less Rolling Stones. It was kind of unexpected since most of these songs have been diligent copies of the original. I wonder if there was a note that the original lyrics were a little too risque but they wanted a longer version of the song?

vs. The Original Version : There are a lot of different 'original' versions of this song - including the one on the album that features a choir - which Glee does mimic in its own performance. I linked one that has a really young Mick Jagger in it, though, cause I thought it was kind of fascinating. Of course - the other thing that picking one of these classic rock songs is a nod to Don't Stop Believin' - the song that set the tone for the series. Glee, of course, does a very much watered down version of it, and unlike how Glee's DSB feels inspired and magical, I think this one feels a little more Kidz Bop-ish.

Anyway - I did a whole deep dive into the original inspiration for the song, and what the verses mean (the chorus is, perhaps, pretty self explanatory). I couldn't find one single account - even Mick Jagger has conflicting thoughts on it. But a lot of it revolves around dealing with culture at the times -- and a lot of it drug culture. As I said above, it doesn't surprise me that almost all of these references are cut from the Glee version - which I have to wonder if it was a note from the network, or a choice that Glee itself made.

[lupon]

I don't think Mike realizes Will was lying about the painting... yet.

Mike is a smart person, and deep down he does want everything Will said to be his own feelings, but he's also very trusting of Will. Will has never lied to Mike before, which is the main reason why he still believes him. His trust in Will is stronger than his doubts. Until he has proof that Will wasn't being truthful, Mike is going to believe him. I feel like a lot of people think that Mike not understanding the monolouge is a bad thing. It's not. Yes he looked lovesick, because what Will just described is exactly how Mike wants to be loved. Just because he thinks those feelings are El's, doesn't mean it's going to change how he feels when he finds out they were Will's feelings.

If the writers wanted us to believe Mike understood what Will was saying, they did a very poor job. Mike went into the conversation with El and Surfer Boys Pizza with the intent of telling her he loves her. His overall giddiness and the way he was so quick to bring up their argument is a sign that he was ready to say what he believed would make her happy. Because that's all Mike really wants for everyone. Mike felt like he was loved unconditionally for the first time in his life, of course he'd want to make the person who he thought felt that way happy. It's waaay to subtle if the writers were trying to make it seem like he was going to say anything other and I love you. It needs to be something ther general audience can see.

And that moment right before his monolouge when he looked at Will all heartbroken, that wasn't Mike realizing those feelings weren't his. There was so little focus on his expression, not nearly enough to indicate a realization. And how exactly was he supposed to look? El was dying right in front of him, of course he looked sad. And it wouldn't make any sense for him to be able to deliver a whole monolouge about how much he loves her if up until 5 seconds beforehand he knew he was in love with Will.

Mike will find out eventually, but it probably won't be until after El breaks up with him. Because that's proof she doesn't need Mike, contradicting what Will said in the van. Bonus points if the painting is brought up. This story has to make sense to the general audience. If Mike turns around in s4 saying he knew those were Will's feelings in the van all along, everyone will cry "it came out of nowhere" because it wasn't obvious enough to the GA. I talked about that a lot in this post though, so I'll just leave it at that.

[hello-nichya-here]

Which is the worst writting duo: Bryan and Mike, Craig and Carter, or David and Dan?

I cannot believe I'm saying this, but put some respect on Bryke's name!

Bryan and Mike already get bonus points because, even though Avatar had it's problems, at least there is more than enough good in the show and it's conclusion that the audience doesn't want to burn their TVs after the finale. And even the weakest season was still enjoyable, instead of dragging on and on only to slap us in the face like seasons 7-9 of HIMYM, or making even the past three awful seasons look briliant like season 8 of GOT.

And even the terrible shit like rampant ableism that would eventually make the comics unsalvageable? They never hide that shit. They're ableist dicks, but they're honest ableist dicks.

Why does that matter? Simple: because How I Met Your Mother only lasted as long as it did because Carter and Craig spent years straight up lying to the fans.

The very first episode shows us that Robin, the girl the main character, Ted, is obsessed with it is NOT the love of his life, but she did eventually become a close friend that his kids now think of as their aunt. We see how Barney goes from womanizer to a hopeless romantic that just wants to make Robin happy, and they spend SIX SEASONS developing their romance, with their wedding leading up to Ted meeting Tracy, aka the "Mother," and the writers are giving interviews talking about Robin and Barney are soulmates, and how Ted's love for Tracy will completely change his life and make him FINALLY experience true love...

And then the finale happens, Barney and Robin divorce because there's no wi-fi at their hotel, Robin starts living the nightmare that is the revenge dream of every incel (aka she regrets being with the "jerk" that the "nice guy" warned her about and is now completely isolated from everyone, desperately pinning for Ted), Tracy is dead and neither her husband nor their kids give a shit, and we have the reavel that the epic love story/tribuite to his deceased wife that Ted has been telling his kids is actually just going "Can I go bone Robin? You know, the actual love of my life? Your mom was just another girl I banged, and she only mattered because Robin can't have kids."

The level of bullshit these two bastards put the fans through was unbelievable, and I can't believe they're still being allowed to work in television. They destroyed nine years of work (though some of said work was mediocre or straight up bad at times) with one absurdly terrible episode that they still think was brilliant.

And now we have the infamous Dumb & Dumber. These two are, without doubt the worst duo on this list, and I instantly knew that, because I was actually OFFENDED that you called them "writers."

There's a reason Game Of Thrones went to shit the second they ran out of books to adapt. The REAL writer was gone, and left us with the two morons that straight up said they scammed HBO when they convinced them that they totally knew what they were doing. The guys who said "themes are for book reports."

Bryke made mistakes, but they never made the heroes suffer a major loss because they "kind of forgot" they still had enemies. C&C might be idiots, but they would have never made Barney be seduced by a girl who said "You want the good girl, but you need the bad pussy."

There's a reason these two got fired from Star Wars before even writting anything: the way they botched the second half of the show, the final season, and especially the finale was SO OBVIOUSLY BAD that two people who thought that was not only good, but actually talked about how they expected it to get 100% positive reviews from critics and audiences like Breaking Bad's finale did, were two men that shouldn't be anywhere NEAR a writting process.

[staceymcgillicuddy]

okay wait also before i go to bed: babysitters club au please. bonus points for including at least one ridiculous outfit description here. triple bonus if the outfit includes a jaunty beret with like a sequined tiger appearing to leap from chrissy's forehead at some point. (sorry for plagiarizing u, ann m. martin. probably.)

YES EXCELLENT. OKAY. My brain immediately went to mapping the characters onto their BSC counterparts and then this happened.

Nancy Wheeler as Kristin Amanda Thomas. I will not be taking comments at this time.

Chrissy as Mary-Anne Spier. HEAR ME OUT, because I know Chrissy is aesthetically the Stacey BUT Mary-Anne is quiet and reserved until you piss her off and then she turns into Little Miss I Love Myself and gets sassy haircuts and is the only member of the BSC with a boyfriend AND if she's Mary Anne I can kill off Laura.

For Claudia Lynn Kishi, I'm going back and forth on El or Will, because El has a very unique sense of fashion, and would probably do well with some of Claudia's canonical outfits, while Will is a talented artist who probably needs his own phone line since he keeps breaking his mother's when he calls her from the Upside Down.

Argyle as Dawn Read Schafer because he has long hair and is from California and some people find him annoying but I like him.

Steve as Anastasia "Stacey" Elizabeth "Boontsie" McGill because if he was from New York City he'd probably talk a lot about being from New York City. Also he probably has the nickname Boontsie.

Barb as Mallory Pike because Mallory is a horse girl and Barb gives me big horse girl energy. (Also lol that Mallory doesn't have a middle name? I guess her parents forgot? I don't really care for Mallory.)

Max as Jessi Davis Ramsey because nobody on Stranger Things is canonically a dancer BUT Jessi was cool and precocious and hung out with older kids while being suave, just like Max.

Erica as Shannon Louisa Kilbourne because she gets. shit. done. and you can't spell America without Erica. Seriously, though, Shannon was a high-achieving mfer with no patience for fools.

Eddie as Logan Bruno SIMPLY for Mary Anne proximity but also because I think making Logan a metalhead would be the most interesting thing that anyone ever did for Logan's character.

Robin as Abby Stevenson because she showed up late in the series, stole my heart, and is definitely a lesbian. Abby also doesn't have a middle name, so that's fun.

This leaves me with Lucas, Mike, Jonathan, and Dustin if I'm doing main cast. SORRY, KIDS. Let's see how many "other" characters I remember from Stoneybrook.

Lucas as Sam Thomas because Sam seemed cool and was kind of a jock but still had time to flirt inappropriately with Stacey, but in this universe we'll say it's APPROPRIATE flirting with Max-as-Jessi and Lucas-as-Sam is 11 not 15.

Mike as Trevor Sandbourne because IIRC Trevor dated Claudia for a while which works if you are a Byler OR a Mileven shipper, which probably says a lot about why both those ships are fun!

Jonathan as Bart Taylor because of the Nancy proximity, only instead of coaching a kid's softball team, he takes pictures for the yearbook and Nancy, in addition to running the BSC, a softball team, solving 70 mysteries, and going on many trips around the world in various Super Specials, is also the editor of the yearbook.

Dustin as Janine Kishi simply because Janine was a geek who liked computers and shit, and Dustin enjoys such things. I'm sorry, Dustin! The BSC did not have as many nerd tropes as I needed!

Bonus:

Angela as Cokie Mason because fuck her

Jason as Alan Gray because Alan is the closest thing the series has to a real dick

Billy as Robert Brewster (if you're into Harringrove and subscribe to my Steve-as-Stacey theory) because they dated.

Anyway, this took FAR longer than it should have and I am like 30% proud of it. Please be gentle.

[spellbook-gayboy]

prompt 20? :]

20.

"Oh, calm down, you drama queen!" Ian yelled, having to almost scream to be heard over the deafening howling that surrounded the pair. "Like I said, it's only a minor-!"

"Yeah, yeah, I heard you!" Kid Thor talked over; his back pressed to the wizard's and his hammer held up in front of him. "'only a minor-level dimensional anomaly'- which is still pretty dangerous when you think about it!"

Ian rolled his eyes so hard he was half-convinced it was audible. "Every day, I am more and more surprised at how much of the world scares people shitless! Maybe if you lot lived a day in my shoes, you'd- shit, duck!" he shouted, pulling his friend down with him into a kneeling position, narrowly avoiding a large chunk of... something flew over their head and smashed into a nearby surface. “Ah, you worry too much, Mike! Besides, management will tack on a nice bonus for this one, and you can get Sarah a nice... actually, what were you planning to use the money for?”

“LA! We were gonna go on a sightseeing tour!” his friend shouted back; his voice slightly distorted by the anomaly swirling around them. 

“Jesus, how old are you two?! What’s next, you’re gonna get a mortga...!” the wizard started, trailing off as the howling and warping suddenly died down. “Okay... where the fuck are we?”

The pair had just been in the middle of a busy street when the distortion had flared up, but now they stood in some sort of snowy forest. It was almost picturesque in how crisp and even the pure white snow around them was, and every spruce tree was exactly the same height down to their individual needles. If they hadn’t just been whisked away from home by a tear in the fabric of the cosmos, perhaps it wouldn’t be quite so off-putting. “What the fuck?!” Kid Thor exclaimed, looking around the new environment in bewilderment. “Okay, uh... did you close the thing, Ian?”

“Yeah... and I think that’s what caused this, too. I mean, dimensional anomalies don’t just bend space, they bend time, too. We could be a thousand years in the past, in the future, or at the exact same point we left. Who’s to say?” 

Mike groaned, lightly banging his head against his weapon. “Goddammit! The one time I get a day off and I’m trapped in God-Knows-Where, probably a million years away from home, and it’s freezing too!”

“Ahh, come on! We’ve both been through worse than this!” Ian reassured his friend. “Hell, just last week, you took out seven Illithid priests without breaking a sweat! That’s no small feat, even for me! I...”

“You... what?” Mike asked. “Don’t stop praising me just yet, man!”

“Who is that?” Ian said. Kid Thor followed his colleague’s gaze, spotting the figure in question: a thin man, shrouded in black furs and leather, contrasted by both the crimson cloak he wore underneath and the shock of silvery hair he sported that flowed down to his shoulders. He seemed to be lacking an eye, a beaten cloth and leather patch covering the place where it would normally be. He was watching the pair from atop a rocky outcrop at the edge of the clearing they were stood in. He was a complete stranger, but there was something slightly familiar about him, like Mike had met him before. 

The man was gone, suddenly vanishing in a cloud of... feathers? “What was that? Who was that?” he asked, an edge of panic taking hold in his voice as he tightened his grip on Mjölnir.

“Definitely still on Earth, at least” Ian spoke, slowly reaching into his scarlet cloak’s folds. “That’s a Seiðr witch, which means we’re both in danger. A lot of danger”

“Oh, calm yourself, bairn!”

The two of them whipped around to see the old man, now just steps away. One thing that could only be seen up close were the litany of scars that covered his head: a jagged cut raked across the bridge of his nose, twin slashes followed the curve of his jaw, and a long and thin cut marked the flesh of his neck. Mike realised what had been so familiar before. “Holy shit... Ian?!”

“Aye?” the other two men said in unison. His colleague’s face twisted into one of surprise at the realisation of who he was looking at. “How is that... that’s not-! H-how old are you?”

The older Ian grumbled, the dour look in his eyes remaining as he answered “By my last count, eighty-three. Come,” he told them, raising an arm to point off in a different direction, “Niflheimr winters are nothing to balk at, even for an Einherjar and a Cambion”.

The two shared a look of confusion. This was turning out to be a long day. 

[castlebyersafterdark]

AND RENN FAIRE #1 YOU KNOW SHE'S THE STAR!! ✨🧙‍♂️🏰⚔️

its your magnum opus fr! love that you want to put plot in too. your characterisation detail is my fav thing <3

i myself have been having director/actor fic ideas... where they were indeed childhood friends who grew apart as many do, and find themselves reunited through a film job. i think there could be lots of similar dynamics to play with that do draw from canon byler, including their childhoods and gunning for stardom vs exploring artistry in a big city when you come from a small town. bonus points if the fictional characters in the movie resemble finn and noah - coworkers from different parts of the world (opposite to mike and will!) who meet as adults. maybe like a romcom, or sci fi like the show! just to switch it up and add some layers, a little cheeky mise-en-abyme!

complicated though, so i can see why you wanna make it work and focus elsewhere first. i'll see you in the queue for the midnight release of the renn faire fic! 🤗

I don't know if it'll be my Magnum Opus, I have so much more yet to write, too! But I'm taking my time with it because of the theme and subject. It can really veer into cringy cheese and not the fun kind, especially working through dialogue. It's been interesting writing this because it's not writing a true 'high fantasy' story about a wizard and a knight character with lofty language and tropes and all that - it's two guys pretending to be a wizard and a knight character while still being very aware that it's pretend. We see that they are roleplaying with one another, it's a fantasy for them, but for us we're reading their performance of the fantasy. Fumbling lines, weaving in and out of character during sex. Laughing during certain moments, other times taking it very seriously. And the whole day that leads up to why they decide to break away from the group and go fuck in a storage shed still in character even though they are alone now. They keep up the charade, because that's just who they are. So, it's been interesting writing it!! The perfect combination of sexy and silly.

I have so many potential directions for the film set one and it's going to need some very heavy drafts before I even attempt to get into it. But suuuuuch a good idea.