#don’t even know if I’m referring to miles or max

[nicoscheer]

aaronparsonsphotography Time flies. Been a year since this shoot with @mileskane & the pooch icon that is Maxie.

[spoonfulofmilo]

Mick x driver!male!reader but childhood friends to rivals to lovers trope pls?

been writing this for so long, but I love it so much, and I'm finally happy with it :)

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Please keep requesting - y'all have awesome ideas we agree on a lot of stuff :) - my guidelines are here, and if you want some prompts, they are here.

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mick schumacher x male!driver!reader - childhood friends to rivals to lovers

2004

---

“Micky, Micky!”

Michael watched as the 2 kids smiled at the camera, both struggling to hoist their trophies up for the trophy. He saw the trophy tilt and tried to cry out, however it was too late.

Y/N could feel the tears welling up in his eyes as his head hurt. He’d heard his friend Max’s dad say that men don’t cry, and unless he was dying, there was no reason to cry. But he was 5 and the impact that the metal trophy had made with his head had really hurt.

But before the tears could fall out, Mick had already placed both his and Y/N’s trophies on the ground and was giving his best friend the biggest hug, and trying to stop him crying.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay You’re okay. This only hurt because it scared you. It doesn’t hurt as badly as the karting crash from last month, you’re okay, aren’t you.”

Y/N wiped his tears and nodded, trying to smile as he gasped to get his tears under control. Mick gave him the biggest hug ever as he stopped crying and picked up his trophy again.

Michael watched as the photos began again and the 2 kids smiled. Those 2 were going to do great things some day, he knew it.

---

2009

---

Michael didn’t think that Y/N would be happy when he got out of the kart. Mick and him had been fighting the entire race, miles ahead of anyone else and it had looked like Y/N would win it.

Until Mick went for a daring dive down the inside of Y/N’s kart, resulting in a spin for Y/N. He’d gotten back, gotten up to close to Mick again, but that spin had been costly, as Mick crossed the line and Y/N crossed it in second.

Michael didn’t even try to look for Y/N’s parents. They either would’ve gone home, expecting Michael to bring him home, or they’d be waiting in the pits for an opportunity to berate their son.

If they had done the former, Michael reckoned he would simply decide to let Y/N stay over for a sleepover tonight. He needed it.

As Michael wandered down to the pits where the drivers were finishing and parking up, he tried to blend in. It was easier than it used to be, back when he was racing he’d spend a while after every race taking photos with a couple of kids, talking to them, trying to convince them not to give up on their dreams even when it’s impossible. But now, ducking through, he was almost invisible.

And as he approached the two 10 year old boys, all he saw was jubilation. The 2 kids were happy, celebrating each other.

‘Papa! Papa! Did you see that, I won!’

“He did very well, even though I’m not exactly happy about that dive down the inside.”

Nothing about Y/N’s face indicated that he was unhappy, except for the darted around eyes that signalled he was looking for his parents.

They weren’t here. Clearly. Michael pulled Y/N into a hug. “C’mon, let’s get you 2 on the podium, and then we can head home. You wanna stay at home tonight?”

Michael didn’t even realise he had referred to his own home as Y/N’s home, as he saw his face light up.

“Home sounds good,” smiled Y/N, as he darted off to follow Mick to the podium.

---

2019

---

“Mick. I get that we were friends, back in karting, but life happens. Stuff happens. We’re both gunning for the championship and the f1 seat.”

“That doesn’t mean that anything has to change between the 2 of us, Y/N. We never let that stuff get between us usually. We were fighting for seats our entire childhood, and it never got between us then.”

“Yeah, well, this is the big leagues, Schumacher, sink or swim. I would wish you good luck out there, but I think I need it more.”

Y/N smiled at Mick, but it wasn’t a nice smile. It was a planned smile, like he knew what he was doing the whole time. Then he turned and left the driver room, heading towards the garage.

Mick tried to stop his eyes welling up with tears. First of all, Y/N was his friend. He didn’t know where this competitive spirit had come from. Well, Y/N had always been competitive, but not an asshole. And right now, he was being an asshole.

And Y/N knew of all people how much he hated his last name. How he hated when people referred to him as Schumacher, how he wanted to be seen as his own person, not his father’s son. And yet Y/N had called him Schumacher.

“Fucking asshole” was all Mick thought to himself as he prepared for the race.

---

2020

---

Y/N looked like he was going to throw something. Or murder someone. Or crash his car into a barrier. He looked positively fuming as Prema surrounded Mick, congratulating him on his driver championship and celebrating the team’s championship.

But Y/N, the person who’d been with him since karting, since they’d both been born. That was who he wanted to see and talk to. He bounded towards where the other prema driver was getting weighed.

“Y/N! Y/N, we got the championship!”

Y/N didn’t respond, just simply nodded, before listening to whatever the official was saying and wandering away from Mick.

As if he didn’t exist.

“Y/N” he called again, seeing him take out his headphones, maybe he hadn’t heard Mick’s calls. He could hear his family and team calling out, ready to celebrate. But he wanted to celebrate with Y/N.

Mick called out again “Y/N.”

“The fuck you want Schumacher?”

“I… wanted to celebrate the win with you. We won the teams championships. We should be celebrate.”

“Yeah, congrats. Congrats on your seat for next year as well.”

“I- oh, c’mon Y/N, you’ll get a seat. I bet Christian Horner’s just seeing how long you can hold out before he gives you the Alpha Tauri seat.”

“Yeah, well. Currently you have a contract and I don’t, so excuse me if I’m a little salty.”

“Y/L/N.”

Mick saw the way his jaw tightened, as he heard his father’s voice.

“I have to go, now Mick. Enjoy your win, and congratulations.”

Mick watched him walk off, towards his father. He saw the way he curled in on himself, as his father slung his arm around his shoulders.

Days later, when Y/N’s seat at Alpha Tauri was confirmed, Mick messaged him congratulations.

Y/N didn’t message back.

---

2022

---

“When did you start hating me Y/N?”

Mick was pissed. Y/N had nearly taken him out early in the race. He hadn’t spoken to him in years, since the end of 2020, over a year ago. He missed his childhood friend, and the fans had too.

Finding childhood photos of the 2 of them, often with Michael, had brought up more painful memories than he would like to admit.

Y/N was hyper aware of the cameras following them through the paddock, and so continued walking until he could pull Mick into a quiet corner where the cameras couldn’t reach them.

Inevitably, Y/N thought as he pulled Mick into the side of a motorhome, this will end up on the next season of drive to survive, but god do I care, no.

“I never hated you Mick. I tried to make myself hate you, but I couldn’t. You could hate me, and I would still love you.” 

Y/N tried to retract the ‘l’ word as soon as it came out of his mouth, covering his mouth and praying that Mick didn’t hear him correctly. Yeah they’d said ‘i love you’ to each other as kids, but that was when they were young, and kids and they didn’t understand the word, or the world that they lived in, or themselves fully. It was just another silly childhood promise.

Besides, while Y/N understood himself as queer, there were never any queer drivers, and he was probably about 95% sure that Mick was straight. He’d been spotted with girls through the junior formulas and he’d even been introduced to a couple of the girls. They were all lovely, but they never seemed to last a long time.

Mick's eyes widened as he heard the love word come out of Y/N’s mouth. Honestly, he was confused as to how he never saw the signs of Y/N’s queerness. The fact that there was 1 girl in karting, when he was 14, and then she never showed up again. The way his eyes had always lingered just long enough that it was unusual, but not long enough to cause any real suspicion. The way he’d gone on a few dates here and there, but always been super hush hush about the whole thing, not mentioning it until after it had happened. The way those dates had always had they/them pronouns, or they hadn’t been named.

“Y/N…you love me?” Fuck, Y/N had really fucked this up.

“No,” Mick’s heart dropped “No, I, fuck fine. It’s not like I’m ruining any friendship. Yes. Yes. I love you. And I have since, well not the day I met you. Maybe when we first got into single seaters… fuck i don’t know, but yeah i love you.” Y/N took Mick’s silence badly and just decided to walk out towards his driver’s room.

Mick didn’t follow him.

---

2025

---

Y/N couldn’t even be pissed as he crossed the line second behind Mick. The Ferrari just seemed happy, even from 5 seconds behind.

“AND MICK SCHUMACHER CROSSES THE LINE FIRST TO WIN THE GERMAN GRAND PRIX AND CLAIM HIS FIRST EVER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, and there’s his father on the screen looking every part like the proud dad that I’d imagine he is right now.”

“That’s right Crofty, it may not be the 7 world championships that Schumacher Sr achieved, but still this championship must mean so much to him.”

Mick pulled in to the pitlane, behind the number 1 stand, and he just sat in the scarlet Ferrari crying.

He had done it.

He had won a world championship.

Y/N pulled up beside him in the dark blue red bull, smile evident even after losing the championship.

He watched as he pulled off his helmet, watching as Mick embraced his family, his mum, his dad, his sister, his niece. He stood to the side high fiving his team, and thanking them for a great year. Next year would be their year.

And he didn’t exactly try and stop Mick as the German ran towards him, helmet off, and pulled him into a kiss.

---

taglist: @leosxrealm, @tallrock35, @wolf-knights, @janeholt3, @anicega, @badblondebisexualboy, @ghostking4m, @koalapastries, @camelliaflow3r

[the-firebird69]

 it's actually kind of funny because he says trump get away from me and it's the Kia. But really he did something at the hospital in Marlborough and we started the car company believe it or not that's Why.

it is steely dan 1972 It has a reference to Vietnam and that's what they're talking about a little but really it's about this car the Kia Optima and our son and daughter help design it and name it and it's there in particular mechanical pressurized system it is fuel injection it is not carburated and it works very well. The car is fine and they're arguing about it we know what the filings are about. And we know what the guy was doing screwing around with it. And he did write in the report that there were filings and he did on purpose and it was to take the car it was not for this purpose but he is going to try and do it and create the super car you saw the mcallister which which this time is fictional in the future would be real and what they do is videotaped and turned into a cartoon and sent back in time. This is a hard thing to do for us and we have to eliminate witnesses and people who get it and we think it might be that the person who gets it might be Nathaniel Hawthorne the Mac and a son and daughter thinking too and he's doing it on purpose. Now there are some things to this that are important. Doesn't have money to spend on gas but there's no way that he's gonna get a car like that without them giving him money for gas. And he's gonna drive it around and they'll pay him to drive around and he doesn't care he's not doing anything and he can't go to any of these events and it makes these guys look really bad and they're getting beat to hell no make it look like he can move away at anytime and they'll still have him held here eventually be curious stuff but that's what the Mac proper want and it's going to probably go through it is an intense idea it will have new tires and new rims you more or less have to because of the speed his tires were fast but they were probably only good for 150 miles an hour they're going to set a limiter probably to 130 but if someone wants it they'll do they'll want the new tires and rims but we want it because it'll make the car handle better and he needs that. It'll look stupid with the original rims. And even blacked out and you need to do something to the suspension in other parts of it but we approve this idea and it's our car. Does too and it's their car as well they usually get the prototype yeah and he says ohh here comes that damn car again i'm very kind of means it because it was like a hassle it cost him too much money for maintenance and this car would be maintained by someone else and they're trying to capture him and people think it's a cool idea he needs spending money if he's gonna do it he's gonna be driving around and he'll be forced to eat lunch and other things out and it might be a program where he gets paid by the mile so he likes that because he can drive all over the place and it might stop the Civil War and the max don't think so what we know is it causes a lot of trouble. We're just wondering though is how is he connected with the supercar and it's really like George WA went down and purchased it and we found out later that it was not a purchase the guy had him driving around and in order to attract attention and our son is probably going to be a little bigger and he will look the part and sound it and Tommy F will claim to know who his relatives are and he'll say it's Enzo and he'll say no way and he looks a bit like him problem is it's true so your act is real and Tommy F is laughing and saying the problem is it is real and the act is real and so he's going to try and go forwards with it and he is upset with our son and thinks he can grab him and he wants to threaten and he wants to use the bridge idea and it's a go and they're going on it whether they succeed or not and a son is kind of chuckling because he doesn't think he's gonna get a car of that magnitude right away with nothing it is kind of funny because it's kind of extreme he said maybe next year when they're desperate and it might happen next year but this year he thinks the Volkswagen Golf it's named the golf it's code for us. You do enjoy his company and what he's saying we do think it might be this year though.

Korean Go and Goddess his side of the family

we are here too and run a different company andnonot Hyundai that isthem and htey are huge we are big.  it is another ocmpany from Korea though 

Korean God and Goddess her side of the family and we help that is why. a lot.  good he says nad are soldiers.  they are seaen

Olympus

[ellewritesandrants]

I don’t know if someone has done this before but what about Steve getting dared to call Billy by all of the pet names he usually gives to his girlfriends?

I’d imagine it would either be Tommy who wants to get Steve in trouble with Billy again during a drunk truth or dare session with the keg gang including Billy or Robin who wants to mess with Steve by daring him do it to to his crush, Billy but either way, Steve has to spend an entire day referring to Billy only using nicknames like baby, doll, babe and sweetheart.

Imagine Steve still being in high school with Billy and that meant he’d have to whisper it directly into Billy’s ear so they don’t give it away. Imagine Billy stomping his way to his locker like he always does, surprised to see Steve whom he’s become friends with waiting for him there.

Steve doesn’t want to give the game away so they talk trivial shit until Billy’s gotten his books out and is just about ready to go. Steve is an asshole so he waits until Billy’s ready to head to class before leaning in close and telling him “Have a good day with your classes, baby.”

The look of pure surprise partnered with the high flush that bloomed over his cheeks made Billy look frankly adorable in Steve’s eyes and coupled with the lack of retaliation for it, it made Steve feel a lot more comfortable with spending the rest of the day messing with Billy.

So Steve does, accidentally on purpose bumping into him in the hallways only to apologize with an “I’m sorry, sweetheart, are you okay?” Steve treats Billy to lunch like he normally does with a “You need to eat to keep your strength up, babe.”

He even goes as far as to spend majority of their basketball practice riling Billy up, to the point of him having a permanent flush that travelled down his exposed chest. Steve was aggressive in defending against Billy, pressing up against him at every opportunity and congratulating him for every shot with a "Good one, doll" or "I'll get you next time, sweet cheeks. Just wait."

Billy is made aware of the dare at lunch so he tries his best to ignore it even if the pet names made him flush worse than when he attempted a 12 minute mile.

Billy doesn't even give Steve the chance to keep going after practice, choosing to rush through the showers as if the hounds of hell are on his heels and peeling out of the school parking lot as soon as Max got in the car.

Max had commented on his need for speed and his flushed cheeks but he didn't bother with fighting her over it, not when he'd spent the entire day being called pet names by his crush.

The next day, Billy was ecstatic to go back to the way things were, only to be surprised when Steve hurriedly parked right beside him and caught up to him before they got inside.

Steve passed Billy an apple while saying "Here, doll. I know you sometimes skip breakfast and you need something in your stomach to keep you going through your classes. See you later!" Billy was shell-shocked into holding the apple while Steve breezed into the hallway.

The rest of the week passed in a similar manner, with Steve flirting with Billy using pet names at every opportunity while continuously increasing his flirting game and Billy trying valiantly to hide his very visible reaction to all of the pet names and flirting.

It all comes to a head after their Friday afternoon basketball practice. For once, Billy bothered to stay until it was just him and Steve left in the locker rooms so he could finally confront Steve about the flirting. Billy doesn't bother to beat around the bush, pinning Steve to the wall.

"Stop playing these games, Harrington," Billy snarled.

Steve played innocent, widening his eyes to feign his innocence.

"What games am I playing, Billy? And what happened to Steve? I thought we were cool now." He pouted.

"We were until you kept on going with the pet names. What the fuck is up with that, Harrington? I know the dare was only for a day so why haven't you stopped with this bullshit yet?"

Steve just smirked at Billy and in a flash, their positions were switched.

"Aw but don't you like them, sweetheart?"

"N-no I-"

"Because I think you do like it, baby."

Billy looked around and tried to push Steve away but Steve had actually planted his feet for once and Billy couldn't get free.

"Stop trying to change the fucking subject!" He cried, trying to get Steve to release his wrists from over his head.

Steve leaned down.

"What's the matter with them, babe? They're just pet names."

"I don't like 'em. I don't like you treating me like I'm one of your girls so stop it."

Steve chuckles and moves even closer. Steve can feel how fast Billy's heart is beating and feel Billy's hitched breath on his skin.

"I think you're lying, baby."

"W-What?"

Steve chuckles before he moves to whisper his answer into Billy's ear, firmly pressing the blond into the wall.

"I think you secretly like all of the pet names. That pretty blush of yours comes out every time I use one and I love seeing it on you. See? There it is right now." Steve says, tucking a loose curl behind Billy's ear.

"I-I-"

Steve releases his hold on Billy's wrists before moving in.

"Stop me if I'm reading this wrong, baby."

Billy only melts into Steve's kiss, wrapping his arms around Steve's shoulders as Steve's hands move to grip Billy's hips to pull him in closer.

They make out for a good few minutes before Billy remembers he has to go and bring Max home from the arcade. Billy regretfully broke the kiss to get some air and to deal with everything once and for all.

"Fuck!"

"What is it, babe?"

"I-I need to go. I have to bring Max home before dinner starts or else, I'll be dead." Billy explained, wringing his hands in an unconscious manner.

Steve notices and immediately goes to hold both of them while catching Billy's eye.

"It's fine, Billy. I need to go and pick up the rest of the kids too but if you're free later, come to my house, baby. My parents won't be home for a few weeks so we can have it all to ourselves."

Billy looks down at their conjoined hands before meeting Steve's gaze to clarify where they stood.

"I-W-What are we doing, Steve?"

"Well, I don't know about you but I'd like to be in a relationship with you, Billy. Sure, I went about it in a different way but I'd love to be able to be with you and explore just how far that flush of yours goes, baby."

Billy flushes again but he doesn't try so much to hide it. Instead, he peeks up at Steve from behind his long, blond lashes. Billy dared to hope.

"This isn't a one time thing?"

"Not unless that's what you want. I want to go the whole nine yards with you if you'll let me, Billy. The ball's in your corner."

Billy's silent and contemplative for a few seconds before he mumbles his answer.

"I-I want that."

"What did you say, baby? I couldn't understand." Steve teased.

"I want to be in a relationship with you, okay?"

"Well, then I'll be the luckiest man in the world, baby because I get to call you mine."

Billy groaned.

"Fuck, you're such a sap, Harrington."

"Ah, but I'm your sap, baby."

[cobaltsapphire]

The Quarry: Playthrough w/ Friends After Thoughts (Spoilers!!)

I’ll try to keep this one shorter than the other one, but a lot did happen so I’ll summarize as well as I can. Also, I’m gonna be referring to my friends as simply A1 and D1 because yeah. This is mostly stuff they were thinking/saying, but I feel like most of it was Emma slander, so my sincerest apologies to any Emma fans who happen upon this.

Before Game

I was showing them the characters and the different ways that the game can be played and when we were on Dylan I stayed on his character for a whole of two seconds and A1 went, “Wait, is that Luke? Go back!” So I clicked through, got back to Dylan and then quickly clicked past, and A1 yelled, “That is Luke! Go back! Go back!” So I actually go back this time and confessed to them that we watched “Daniel Isn’t Real” because Miles Robbins was in it

Prologue

A1 and D1 believe Max and Laura are idiots. They are your typical start of horror movie characters that always die because they made dumb decisions. Like, splitting up? Why would you do that?

What is up with this cop dude

Oh? Old lady? Who’s gonna let us see the future? Why yes, you’re our friend

Chapter 1

Wow! Emma’s pretty, and Kaitlyn’s awesome

Why did Jacob do this ? We’re now stuck here and all of this is gonna happen cuz he WANTED ONE MORE NIGHT

Dylan closing the door on Jacob? That’s literally D1 to me

Also Dylan’s name is actually Luke

Nick’s accent is hot --- D1

Wait, Ryan is the dude from Detective Pikachu? What?! --- D1, said with genuine surprise

Why is Chris Hackett freaking out so much? What?

The Hag of Hackett’s Quarry is obviously the tarot card lady

Ryan is quite obviously Kaitlyn’s love interest

Chapter 2

Nick and Abi are cute but they are literally so awkward, they can’t even flirt properly.

TAROT CARDS. GET THEM ALL

Jacob and Emma? As a couple? Yeah, no. Nuh uh. They don’t work at all

Peanut butter butter pops... Jacob is a kid, but you know what? We’ll let him be happy

Surprisingly, A1 and D1 don’t want to make chaotic decisions, and actually want to keep everyone alive

Wait, are we gonna be hunted by these hunters?

Ryan seems interested. YES

Welp, whispers from the phone, that’s always a good sign

Oh? A trapdoor? Well let’s send Dylan down and get him killed!

Wait, OP, who’s your favorite again? --- D1, as Dylan’s climbing down the ladder

Dylan --- Me

Oh, well that’s too bad --- D1, said with obvious evil intent

Yeah, Dylan’s tall, but is he that tall?

Taking a photo! A1 has given specific instructions as to how we should take it

Wait, Ryan is both Kaitlyn AND Dylan’s love interest??? Is this a triangle??? --- D1

Truth or dare? Ryan’s a truth guy

Also Jacob has no sense of self preservation, so we picked Kaitlyn

Wait Emma. Emma no. Don’t do it Emma. Kiss your ex. Not your friend’s crush. Emma. Emma! EMMA. NO. HOW COULD YOU. YOU BROKE THE FIREND CODE. YOU---WE HATE YOU NOW. WE’RE GONNA LET YOU DIE.

Seriously though that was uncool. Kiss your ex for sake of your friend and her crush what is wrong with you. Plus you didn’t need to full on make out with him. A peck would’ve done it

Tarot card ye---why is Jacob shirtless

Between Sessions 1

Most characters are bleh

Emma is the worse, with Jacob following suit

Nick and Abi are alright, but there’s not much to them

Dylan’s not grown on them yet

Ryan and Kaitlyn are cool, but Kaitlyn’s the best

Ryan is A1′s favorite so far and Kaitlyn is D1′s

Kaitlyn gives Gogo from Big Hero 6 vibes

Chapter 3

Murder time yay!

Abi alone in the woods what could possibly go wrong

Nick’s here!

Uh oh, something’s watching

They kissed! Yes!

Welp nick’s dead

Hunter dude???

This is intense

Oop and now we’re Jacob and sobbing over Emma who’s so not worth these tears

Every choice we make is to make Emma and Jacob stay broken up forever. No hope for this couple

Emma shut up. Literally shut your mouth.

You’re so mean for literally no reason

Just stop

We’re gonna let you die

TAROT CARDS YES

D1 said no to shortcuts, but allowed us to take one, so we got it Nick in time

Nick’s infected! He’s gonna die

Is this like a zombie? Is he gonna turn into a zombie werewolf???

Don’t waste ammo --- D1, mostly

Only good thing about you is your accent, Nick --- Also D1

To Eliza: Would we even be talking to you if you didn’t offer us a look into the future??

Chapter 4

Let’s get Emma killed

But her evidence. Will we keep it if she dies??? Nevermind, let’s not get her killed

But man is she annoying... wish she would shut up. Jacob deserves better

Ah ha! A chance to get her to shut up! The high road it is then

No amount of talking makes us like you more, Emma

Snooping is our priority. Chance to snoop? Take it

Taser! Get that photo!

Okay now run

Oh yeah we’re being chased

Stay alive

We don’t like you, but we feel obligated to keep you alive, Emma

We outta here

Should’ve let Emma die but oh well

“Oh, it’s a zipline,” D1 says, in reference to the tarot card we saw and how we should totally let that future come true real quick (spoiler alert, we did not let it come true)

None of us would’ve been upset if Emma died

Chapter 5

Ryan and Dylan... what are they

So, are we cutting off Dylan’s hand?? --- Me

Yes, we’re pulling an Ethan Winters -- D1

Sorry, Dylan, we’re pulling an Ethan Winters --- Me

A1 and D1 are unsure as to if we’ll be able to cure you if we don’t so losing a hand is a better alternative

This is fine... not at all painful or anything....

OP, you sound like a mom trying to be cool --- D1

What? I sound normal --- Me

You sound like a cool mom --- D1

Oh --- Me

Yeah, you sound like a mom trying to be cool --- D1

No, it’s too late, you already messed up the wording, I’m a cool mom --- Me

Okay, Mom --- D1

EMMA, SHUT UP

Abi no!

Nick what is happening with you

We love you, nick

Kaitlyn, what are you doing stay here no don’t go out there, stay here

Kaitlyn

Please

Stay alive

“Voodoo doo doo” --- Repeated by A1

Literally anytime the woman whispers to Dylan (Luke): “Daniel?!” (iykyk)

Had a whole debate over cutting Dylan’s hand off and then decided it was the best thing to do for him, because D1 wanted to be able to cure him before he turned, but that’s not possible, so

“I’m sorry, Dylan, but you gotta become Ethan Winters” --- D1

Eye patch lady looks cool but who is she (they ask, unaware that is Laura and that they did not like her at the beginning)

Chapter 6

I’m looking at the notes I took and I kid you not this is mostly Emma slander

Why are you so mean, Emma. Jacob deserves better

Jacob you idiot! Your leg

Hat Emma so much.. Should’ve let her die... keeps stringing Jacob along (D1′s words, mostly). Just stop messing with him.

Jacob wants more out of it and she’s just like “no”

Emma’s done more bad than Jacob. This situation may be his fault, since, yk, he broke the car, but Emma is worse.

Wait

This is all Emma’s fault. It all leads back to her

Okay so... we want Emma dead, but we kinda wanna keep everyone alive.

But also who can we kill

But like keep everyone alive

Then come back and get Emma killed

Nick is being weird... “It’s because he’s turning,” D1, probably

If we have the option to kill him off, we should take it. We started liking him and then he had to go die on us.

No. Nick no. Please no. We don’t want to do this. Nick please.

“I’m so sorry,” D1 starts, knowing what we must do to save Abi. “But we have to put you down.”

Say your goodbyes

Goodbye! Bye bye!

You will be missed

“Someone pay attention to Abi,” D1 states, and then Abi is promptly thrown.

“Looks like someone paid attention to Abi!” I exclaim

Yeah we’re shooting Nick

“I’m so sorry, Nick,” D1 says as Abi picks up the gun. “It was you or me. And you were already gone.”

CONGRATULATIONS! You just avoided an Abi death!

Wait, really? -- A1

Yeah, if you don’t shoot Nick then Abi dies --- D1

Emma why are you alive... oh right, because we want to keep everyone alive

Nick is first love, Dylan’s for life

Almost like Daniel and Luke

D1 would absolutely write a fic where she personally offs Emma if given the chance. That girl w=really gets on her nerves

Between Sessions 2

Kaitlyn is best girl

Who’s the cutest boy that isn’t dead, aka Nick? --- D1

A1, very quietly, “Dylan...”

Me, “Dylan. Dylan!”

D1, “Yeah, Dylan.”

People who are genuinely nice are attractive

Sorry, Emma, but you’re no longer pretty

You’re too mean

Should’ve gotten Emma killed but oh well

Also, Dylan’s 10/10, 5/5, 1/1, 5 star rating --- A1 and Me

Chapter 7

I took the notes late on this one so I remember nothing and I don’t feel like watching the video back (because we recorded every playthrough... well I recorded every playthrough, they just watched and helped me make choices)

Something to do with flashbacks

Started to get attached to Travis here and understand him a little better now

Also, finally acknowledged werewolves

Someone finally said it

D1 said we should be compliant because A) Less likely to get hurt like that and B) Laura’s a girl and doesn’t look like she could fight back well (I personally beg to differ, but oh well)

Why is Ryan defending Chris so much -- A1 and D1 (they just don’t understand)

Chapter 8

Also barely remember anything, but definitely something about wanting Emma dead

D1 and A1 agreed with the notion that Ryan and Laura were acting like siblings

Freed Jacob! Didn’t kill Nick in the cage

Dylan getting “maced” was hilarious

He’s so dramatic

Like he was screaming and panicking until someone told him it was only air freshener (which, to be fair, probably would sting cuz of the chemicals, but definitely not as bad as mace)

And then he just goes “oh”

Possibly their favorite scene in the game

Between Sessions 3

I literally forgot to take quick notes so I have no idea. I think it was mostly D1 teasing me and joking that we’re gonna get Dylan killed in the scrapyard

Still want Emma dead 

Chapter 9

Scrapyard scene!

Hehe, it would be funny if we got Dylan killed -- D1

Anyone but Dylan, D1, anyone but Dylan

Killed the majority of the Hackett's sorry Travis

“This poor man, we just keep killing his family members”

Maybe we can save Caleb though

They’re confused by the lore but that’s only because they’re asking questions that get answered later

Dylan’s got one hand -- D1

Yeah, but he gets around pretty well --- Me

How would you know? --- D1 says suggestively

Did you see him operate the crane and possibly save Kaitlyn’s life??? That’s how I know!!!

Chapter 10

I kid you not I accidentally got Kaitlyn killed

Because apparently you can hold your breath for too long, and I don’t just mean holding it until the character’s out of breath, I mean the red indicating danger can come back

Caleb killed her in the lodge while they were hiding

But we still had 3 rewinds so I instantly used it on her

Most stressed I’ve ever been because I actually did things I’ve never done/seen before in this game at the beckoning of D1 and A1

They had me hide, and then we didn’t investigate and get the silver shell.

But they had me walking around forever so we found the toy in Abi’s backpack and were able to lock Caleb in the freezer

Our mindset after locking him in the freezer alone? “Yay! We saved Caleb and managed to keep at least one member of Travis’s family alive! Since, you know, we killed everyone else.”

We were actually so happy I kid you not

We saved Caleb

And then the outro thing happened

And the words “Caleb Hackett: DECEASED” graced the screen and a piece of us died with him

The devastation was real, not to mention the disbelief

We really thought we saved him

Like, killing Kaitlyn on accident was bad

But thinking we saved Caleb only to find out we hadn’t??? Whole other level of devastation

But we searched up how to save him and keep Kaitlyn and Dylan alive, so that may be in our future

Found all the evidence! So the charges got dropped (which, as annoying as the podcast ending may be, it wouldn’t have been possible without Grace and Anton, so everyone say thank you)

A1′s best boy is Ryan, and I can’t entirely disagree with that, but Dylan is personally my favorite so

D1′s best boy was either Nick or Dylan

But we all agree that Kaitlyn is best girl

And that we need to kill Emma and save Caleb (definitely in our future, I posted this late so we’ve already started on that mission)

[forestwater87]

A Wall of Text About My OCs

Hi, guys! Uhhhh . . . long time, no see, huh? 

Yeah, I got no excuse. I mean, I’ve got tons of excuses -- new job, new partner, moving out of my parents’ basement finally -- but still. Sorry for being gone.

*blows dust off the mic* Anyone still out here?

OKAY, so why am I doing this of all things? Because I was reunited with a handful of the Camp Camp people still around and they got to sharing their gorgeous OC art and I . . . do not draw. But I do write! And it turns out, writing about your fanfiction is a whole lot easier than actually writing that fanfiction. 

So I can pretend I’m being productive and writing up a reference for future fic writing, while actually just rambling about my OCs like a total dork. Unedited, because this is a bajillion words and took me forever.

Anyway, have ya missed me?

Max’s family

Gotcha with that opener, huh? Yeah, I know how to manipulate the fandom after all these years. ;) 

Anyway, I think I’ve been fairly vocal about how little patience I have for the whole “Max’s family is abusive and neglectful and totes evil you guys, David should adopt him” thing, which means I went in a different direction. I don’t have a ton on his parents -- I know their names are Reyansh and Anika Sahni, and in terms of personality his dad is more bombastic and his mom is a bit quieter and gentler, but that’s about it -- but I’ve determined that they immigrated from India (where in India? Fuck, idk, I’m an idiot someone suggest a place) and have been working to the bone to get Max a foothold. Their English is decent but spotty because learning languages is really hard as an adult, better spoken than written, which is why they allowed Max to choose his own camp activity (which he didn’t do, because he didn’t want to go in the first place and yes this contradicts things I’ve written in the past shhh we’d only had 1 season at that point), and that combined with their 12-hour-a-day work schedules leaves him thinking they don’t care about him. They do, obviously, but it’s hard to express that when exhausted and struggling.

So Max is kind of a latchkey kid, sent to camp in the summer because it’s better than being left alone in an apartment and Camp Campbell is the best they could afford. Max resents them a lot, partly because he doesn’t really understand everything they’re sacrificing for him and partly because he doesn’t think they’re focusing on the right things; does it matter if he can go to a shitty summer camp if he never eats dinner with both his parents at the same time? Sometimes he lies and says they’re super wealthy and that’s why they’re such workaholics, but it’s mostly to get past the embarrassment of feeling neglected and not having anything special to show for it. But they love him and are doing their best, even if it’s far from perfect, and when Max gets older he’ll understand and appreciate them a bit more.

[Spoilers for my own fic, I guess?] His parents die in a car accident when he’s a teenager -- I haven’t decided when or where, but have in previous one-shots written it as on their way to get him from camp -- and he moves in with his sister. And oh boy, let me introduce you to . . . 

Kayla Sahni: A beautiful firebrand with a lot of ideas and virtually no follow-through. She’s around 10 years older than Max, and when he was little they were absolutely best friends. She has a rebellious and revolutionary streak, and would take him to various protests or to graffiti police stations or whatever -- wildly irresponsible, yes, but that’s something she never grows out of. In some ways she’s similar to David, with a streak of optimism a mile wide and a bright, peppy personality of someone that never lets anything get her down, but she’s also incredibly flaky, promising Max all sorts of things as a kid and never following through on them. Her parents often need to rescue her from her bad decisions, with the little money and time they have, leaving Max to feel even more ignored in comparison to his sister. Still, he idolizes Kayla and never blames her for anything that disappoints him, choosing David and his parents as repositories for the resentment and disappointment he gets from her. After their parents die and she has to take him in, Kayla doesn’t change her lifestyle much, still disappearing on random adventures without any warning and leaving Max to fend for himself, and it grates on him just as much as he wishes he could be like and go along with her. She loves her brother -- but really, she loves the idea of him, or the little-kid version of him that lives in her head, who never asked her for anything and hung on every word. Once she has to grapple with spending actual time with the real Max, the conflict between who they are and who they want their sibling to be makes things . . . incredibly messy.

Gwen's family 

For the Santos clan, I went with a very Long-Island-elites vibe, extremely wealthy and self-conscious about appearances, which means that Gwen is kind of a mega disappointment (and David even more so, when they meet him). New-money, with the dad definitely a first- or second-gen immigrant, and despite the fact that they made it real big they're still extremely aware of being out of place and in a precarious position. Everyone in this family is terrible at hugging and/or doesn’t understand the point of doing it. All in either law or business . . . and then there's Gwen. Oops. 

She spent her childhood being perfectly molded into a little debutante doll (I haven't mentioned it in any fics, but she's a virtuoso pianist from years of being forced to take lessons, and might be good at ballet too?), and as soon as she went to college she fell hard into the boho-hippie-artiste lifestyle as a way of rebelling -- dated a lot of starving artists covered in tattoos, picked majors her parents would never have allowed (which is why she had to pay for her own education and is the only one of the family mired in student debt), the whole shtick.

Cliché, maybe, but I think it's fun and developed all of this back when Season 1 had just finished and all we had to go on was her DESPERATELY not wanting to move back in with her parents.

So, from oldest to youngest:

Harrison: the patriarch. Written well before the episode where she had a canon dad so do not judge me too hard. My description of him makes me laugh so have it word-for-word: ``Harrison Santos was a broad-shouldered Hispanic man almost as large as Mr. Campbell, with tiny glasses perched daintily on his nose and a head as smooth and shiny as an apple. He peered down at David through his glasses, which made his dark purple (almost black) eyes seem much larger and more intimidating.`` Big guy, little glasses; it's always funny. He's a man of few words and lots of judgement. Silent but deadly, you know? I went kinda HAM with the "big scary dad" stereotype, but I needed David to feel entirely inadequate and that helped. He and Gwen don't really have a relationship, partly because he spends so much time working and mostly because they don't understand each other even a little bit and have nothing to talk about. Doesn't much like David, but not for any real reason; maybe because he's not masculine enough, maybe because he's white, definitely because he might be the reason Gwen's still working at that shithole of a camp. (At least David isn't covered in tats and piercings, though. Small mercy.)

Valerie: Extremely beautiful dark-skinned black woman with maroon hair and silver eyes. Some sort of business executive, never thought too hard about what kind. Agonizingly proper, gives off vibes of being the decision-maker in the family, and while she loves Gwen and wants what's best for her, they strongly disagree on what that actually is. Valerie would love nothing more than for her youngest daughter to get a job in a respectable law or accounting firm, marry someone from a good background, and secure the family's legacy, and she's terrified of Gwen ruining her life and/or their reputation. She thinks Gwen is overemotional and irrational and it permeates every conversation they try to have; she's pretty concerned David is a gold-digger, as well, and even if he isn't, playing in the dirt for pennies is a pretty humiliating occupation.

Samson (Sam/Sammy): Gwen's oldest brother. Ngl I have very little about him except that he's a nice guy, which is kinda rare in Gwen's family so that's kinda noteworthy. Dark-skinned like their mother, curly green-black hair that he keeps out of his face with a barette, very deep voice. I know Gwen was really close with him and his wife/kids before they moved across the country, and she's had trouble losing one of her only allies in the family.

Leon (Lee): Sam's fraternal twin. Kinda a shithead -- actually, no, definitely a shithead. Disaster bisexual; his major interactions with Gwen so far have been stealing one of her boyfriends, humiliating David at a family gathering, and flying out to Camp Campbell to try and get them back together after they broke up because he thought it was his fault and felt bad about it. A really successful accountant, but in his personal life he's a total playboy and never seems to take anything all that seriously. He loves Gwen, in his own way, but he's honestly too selfish to really be a good brother to her at all. Thinks every life decision she's ever made is absolutely hilarious, and has no problem telling her and the rest of the family that; every misfortune she has is another episode in the Gwennie's Fuckups Show, which is his favorite. Has a perpetual smirk. Dark green curly hair, lavender eyes, and more of a family resemblance to Gwen than probably any of her other siblings in terms of facial structure and mannerisms. In some AUs, where Gwen’s family lives in Sleepy Peak instead of NYC, Lee is Dirty Kevin’s high school boyfriend; their breakup wasn’t pretty.

Audree (Dree): An angel. My wife. I would die for her. Okay, no, let’s try to be serious here . . . Audree’s the only other daughter in the family, and Gwen’s big sister. She’s a successful lawyer with a killer fashion sense and generally stays out of trouble, which means she attracts a lot less negative attention than Gwen ever could and is considered something of the golden daughter. She’s a lesbian and definitely a bit of a flirt, but also the type who ends up perpetually bouncing back between “extremely serious relationship” and “single forever.” Extremely charismatic, but she’s also kind of harsh and terrible at being gentle or warm, and a bit of a snob -- not in a cruel way, but in a blind-to-her-own-privilege way that gets her in trouble sometimes with the eventual woman she falls in love with (more on her in a moment). Teal eyes, relatively dark, and I just realized I never assigned her a hair color. Since the rest of the family’s are either reddish or green (Christmas colors!), I’ll go with a fun, fiery red, kind of like Gwen’s lighter shade of hair.

Christopher: Literally a non-entity. Sometimes I forget he’s there, oops. His only contribution to the story is that he went off to California to run a surf shop and Sam eventually went along with him. Maybe I’ll give him a personality someday, but right now he mostly exists as “the other fuckup beside Gwen” in their family’s eyes.

Eric: Another virtual nonentity, but one I’ve put a weird amount of thought in. He’s basically a carbon copy of his mother -- very put-together, prim, fastidiously perfect -- despite looking more like his dad (in terms of skin tone and eye color, anyway; he’s very willowy, not buff). He’s very feminine, bordering on foppish, but definitely not gay; I haven’t decided if he’s bi (like every other character I get my hands on) or just a fairly girly straight guy, but either way he’s really self-conscious about it. Probably would resent David for reminding him of that, because let’s be real, David isn’t exactly the most masc person in the world either. His only sense of humor is a cruel one, and he’s always been and probably always will be a hell of a bully -- not the beating-people-up Nurf kind, but in a subtler, mean-girl way. If you cross him, he’ll probably get you fired, is what I’m saying. He’d have made an excellent Woodscout if his family hadn’t signed him up for something more prestigious. Staunch Republican, snooty, and while he worships and idolizes his parents, I’m not sure he actually loves anyone. Of all of Gwen’s siblings, Eric is probably the one with the fewest redeeming qualities, but sometimes it’s fun to have a villain waiting in the wings in case I need him.

And then there’s poor little Gwennie. Doing her best.

David’s family

I’ve talked about the Pine/Greenwoods in the past, but I can’t find the post so let’s do it again!

David’s family is a lot smaller than Gwen’s -- at the moment it’s just him and his mom, though his dad has intermittently been in and out of the picture. His parents got divorced when he was 14 (right after Jasper died, which was pretty rough on poor Davey), and since then he’s maybe seen his father once or twice? His mom basically raised him, and they’re absurdly close.

Harvey Greenwood: Another villain! He has aggressive Cameron Campbell vibes, but happens to be an even bigger monster. He got Cynthia pregnant when he was 30 and she was 17 -- ew, gross, very bad -- and married her as soon as she graduated high school. They managed to keep things together until David was a teenager, at which point all illusions of a stable relationship shattered and he took off. David knows he’s married and has a family, and periodically receives birthday cards (never on his birthday, never the correct age, and always addressed to Cynthia’s house because he can’t be bothered to remember where David lives), but otherwise his dad is AWOL. He’s the American to David’s half-American nationality, and while David inherited his bright red hair and green eyes, that’s about all they have in common. I just like big, masculine dads, I guess, because he’s also built like a Campbell -- I think it’s fun to mess with David’s sense of inferiority on that regard, because I’m cruel -- and has a big ol’ mustache. I did realize too late that this does sound like a jacked-up version of Harvey from Stardew Valley, and I feel terrible about it. SDV Harvey deserves better.

Cynthia Pine: A sweet Canadian cinnamon roll who’s never done anything wrong in her life, and never will. She’s a librarian in a middle school, so she’s very used to handling difficult people and is generally tough as nails, but with a sunshiny bubbliness that she passed on to David; she taught him how to smile in the face of everything going wrong, and is his biggest inspiration and hero. Like I mentioned, she was just a kid when she got married and had David, and her marriage was far from a happy one -- with all the affairs, neglect, and gaslighting Harvey did, it was probably in some ways a relief when he finally left, even if it meant she had to go from a stay-at-home mom to a breadwinner. She worked a lot after the divorce, meaning that David had to take on a lot of the household responsibilities and she didn’t get to spend as much time with him as either of them would’ve liked, but they’re still extremely close despite it, in an “us against the world” kind of way. She��s fiercely protective of her son, and while she likes Gwen and would never say a word against her, she’s definitely not comfortable trusting anyone the way David is. Which she considers a success, because she wants nothing more than for David to go through life having the joy and innocence she didn’t get to. Anyway, she’s real little, very young, with childlike features, lots of freckles, and thin blonde hair like duck fluff. She’ll kill you, don’t get me wrong, but she’d never get convicted because she’s so sweet and gentle-looking.

In addition to the actual family, we have David’s “family”:

Father Ray: Listen, I was going through an existential crisis during 2018 or so, and I needed to work out my religious angst with a non-homophobic religious figure. Therefore, we have a priest of one of those rainbow-flag churches, who took David in when he was young (his mom is very religious) and basically kept him from self-destructing without a father figure. I don’t have much to say about him, except that he was kinda there when I needed a non-shitty Christian in my own life. He probably won’t be in the story again, but I have a soft spot towards him anyway.

Julia Winters: Ohhhh boy, it’s our best girl. Julia’s technically not an OC in the classic sense -- there was a picture in Season 1 that showed David and Jasper as little campers:

And there’s a purple-haired girl that @hopefullypessimistic84​ adopted and made her own -- but it doesn’t matter because I want to talk about her, she’s perfect. (I feel like I’ve mentioned her in the past, but I seriously can’t find any of my old posts because Tumblr is the worst, so here we are.)

Julia, Jasper, and David all met during their first year of camp; I think Julia and Jasper were closer in the beginning because Jasper was Camper Extraordinaire and Julia was actually kind of excited about camp at first . . . Eventually she realized that camping sucked and befriended David, and at some point David and Jasper were thrown together and they became their own little problem trio. They’re all only children, so they considered each other siblings, and though Jasper and Davey’s relationship would obviously change (whether he dies or not), they’d always consider Julia their little sister. Her primary nicknames for David are Sunshine and Red.

She’s an ace lesbian and very uncomfortable around pretty girls. As she gets older she picks up somewhat more of a punk aesthetic, with a motorcycle and a bomber jacket, and gets a career in corporate photography that takes her all over the world. Despite this extremely cool veneer, she cannot stay even remotely chill if a woman flirts with her, and it’s quite cute. She’s somewhere between fat and buff, and could probably easily pick David up and put him over her shoulder. Eventually she’ll meet and fall in love with Gwen’s sister, Audree (probably at gwenvid’s wedding), and it’ll be . . . a little bit awkward, partly because she has no patience for the Santos family and partly because she grew up poor, and she and Dree have some friction over general culture clash. But at the end of the day they’re still an incredibly powerful couple that belong on the cover of the world’s gayest magazine and love each other very much and make me cry.

Anyway, I hope I didn’t forget any major OCs . . . though obviously if I did they can’t have been that important.

I know there are a couple exes of Gwen’s who are especially fun -- like Greg the creepy stalker and Damien, the ex who slept with Lee and then gave her a mannequin head as an apology -- and her roommate Claire gets like two sentences but is an adorable stoner with the personality of a teddy bear, but I think these are the important ones.

Sure wish I could draw literally any of them, though. Sigh.

[facelessfrey]

Roswell New Mexico - Season 4 Episode 2

So uhh....Alex just got sucked underground by alien related nonsense. I suppose I should at least be glad that if he’s having less screen time this season, it’s at least part of the main plot and not just because he’s supposedly at Deep Sky working even though everyone will think he’s just out on a work trip. But uhhh...also I don’t like it and I don’t want him to be MIA forever with this being the last season. We better get a damn good reunion scene. 

That said, the Malex goodbye scene was lovely right down to the his and his alien best friends forever soulmate necklaces. Also, for god’s sake just say “I love you”. If they don’t get to say it before the end of the season/series, I will be mad. I mean I know they’ve said it in a million other ways but the actual words would be nice. Still, it’s nice that Michael was going to trust Alex with the console in the end. 

The tiny Sanders scene was also amazing. I like that we got a little bit with him and he always give Michael good advice about Alex so it’s great to see more of that. In the same vein, I like that we’ve gotten a bit more Arturo so far this season too. I like getting the parent/parental figures involved where we can. I still would like Arturo to be in the know on aliens though. I think it’s wild that he’s not. I suppose in the original show, Liz’s dad didn’t know until the very end through Liz’s journals but I want Arturo to know. He deserves to. 

Last thing about Alex, I was so excited that he got to be in a scene with other people in this episode in that little meeting with Max and Dallas. I’m sad that this may be all we’re going to get for a good while. Sigh. 

Speaking of Dallas, last week I was all ooh maybe him and Maria and now Maria was MIA and now I’m all like “yes Cameron and Dallas”. I just want him to have someone in the end. I’m also just again glad to see him integrating with the group and getting to help out with the investigation and such. 

Max was kind of frustrating this week with being dismissive to Dallas and then kind of awful to Anatsa. I mean I get that he doesn’t want her looking into the case and she’s kind of a problem but still...chill out man. Don’t be such a dick. 

I like the idea of Liz trying to find a good balance between getting obsessive about the science and having a life. I don’t think that was as well articulated last week when she turned Max down or talked to Arturo so I’m glad it was elaborated on this week. And I liked the wife whose name I have forgotten. She gave good advice...and alien related gifts. 

I still miss Rosa. Her name was in the credits this week (I don’t remember if it was last week) but it got me all excited and then...no Rosa. Sigh. 

Kyle was stuck at the hospital again but at least he was somewhat involved in things with Anatsa and Isobel. Also, the ONLY reason I will tolerate Steph 2.0 as @bisexualalienblast referred to her is to make Isobel realize her feelings, which might have been starting to happen there at the end when she saw them on their date. I’m here for that because I know Isobel and Anatsa isn’t going to last obviously. Although I think they’re obviously doing miles better than Alex and Forrest and better than Michael and Maria in a lot of ways too. The conflict feels believable that Isobel doesn’t know how to tell her about the alien stuff which sits at odds with Anatsa’s reporter nature trying to dig up the truth. In some ways Kyle is the easier option because he already know, but they have so much trust between them that it seems is harder for Isobel to find with Anatsa. I don’t know, we’ll see how it goes. 

Plot wise, I feel like I’m always less annoyed at the start of a season because they haven’t had a chance to just completely drop a plot and switch gears. That usually happens half way through but this whole Jones contingency plan triad seems like it maybe actually has legs for the whole season the way that Jones did but right now they don’t really seem to have a secondary distracting thing per say so maybe this will finally be the season that they make things simpler on that front and don’t bite off more than they can chew. Time will tell. 

But right now it feels mildly less stressful to watch than usual, which feels encouraging. I feel like Tesca is the most interesting of the three but maybe that’s also because she’s more mysterious and we haven’t seen as much from her. But she’s also clearly the leader of the bunch. I’m still not quite sure what their goal is. Are they trying to recreate Oasis on Earth? It half sounded like that and half not. 

I am kind of glad they’ve dragged Graham Greene back into things again. I always felt like he was a missed opportunity when it came to the show. He or his twin always get dragged in a little but they never real commit to him properly being part of the story. So we’ll see if that happens at all this time or if he’s just never seen again after this. 

Also interesting, was hearing Ophiuchus again. They really are bringing us back full circle to season one. With that, with the Alighting, even with Michael’s console. I do like that because all of these things were weird hanging threads that often annoyed me in seasons 2 and 3 so I’m glad we’re getting back to them before the end. Remains to be seen what they do with all that but it’s at least promising that they remembered. 

Honestly, it feels strange not to be yelling in all caps about the absurdity of this show. Has it improved? I feel like it has to some degree. I guess we have to see how it goes. They still have a problem with characters who are not in episodes just not being mentioned at all. I wonder how much Alex will be remembered while he’s off screen. (Also do we know how many episodes he missed? Sigh)

[arduadastra]

Drabble idea for one Mr. Din Djarin… an innocent game of hide n’ seek gone wrong, because Din just can’t seem to find the damn reader… panic ensues… and the reader is just like chillin’, watching a frazzled bounty hunter from high up in a tree or from the Crest’s cockpit because they managed to bounce back without getting caught? Din’s reaction to finally finding the reader too, please (I imagine it’s a cross between ‘tell me exactly how you did what you did for future reference’ and ‘we are never doing that ever again holy maker you gave me a heart attack’). Thank you!

I loved the idea of this anon - I hope I did it justice! I could gladly write more of this !!

Want your own? My asks are always open and I write for Din, Ezra, Frankie, Oberyn, Max Phillips, Whiskey and Javi <3

Warnings: mild panic attack

Din had never felt so fucking scared in all his life.

He had fought Moff Gideon, hunted the vilest men to the ends of the earth, had almost died countless times but the idea of losing you?

That terrified him.

He didn’t like even the idea of this in the first place but you had been so excited and he couldn’t bare to say no to you. But he was regretting that decision. It had been hours now. It was getting dark and he still had no fucking clue where you are.

That in itself was maddening, he was a bounty hunter. He found people for a living and yet he couldn’t find you?

Thousands of scenarios had already been through in his head, some accident, a random floater finding you or maker forbid you were lying dead somewhere all because his fucking scanner isn’t working.

While his scanner wasn't all he used when hunting, it was a huge part of it and for some reason it wasn't showing heat signatures anymore.

Din knew he was good at finding people, it’s what he’s been doing his whole life and he knows you like the back of his hand and yet he can’t figure out why it’s taken him this long. He had tried to think like you, travelling into the depths of the forest and trying to guess your steps but still...nothing.

And he hated it.

He stalks back the way he came, glancing up at the treetops as he went, his usual calm demeanour when finding bounties long gone as he becomes more desperate to get even a hint as to your location.

He needed to find you. He needed to know you were safe and you weren’t unless you were with him. What if this was a ruse? An elaborate trap to allow your escape from him? He wouldn't blame you, his life was dangerous but now he knew what his existence would be like with you he didn't like the idea of solitude anymore.

Din was frantic now, pushing past branches and tripping over easily missable roots in a panic to find you. He called out for you as he pounded the ground and swept his surroundings but all he heard were his own plea's echoed back to him.

Din paused gasping for breath as he hunched over by a tree and smacked the trunk in frustration. "Fuck..." He was better than this.

He had no choice. He had to return to the crest and start looking from the air.

He huffed, to think, hide and seek was supposed to be fun.

** Unbeknownst to him, you sat safely back in the cockpit of the crest. You had dropped hints endlessly at how far you could get without him finding you when in actuality you had hidden just inside the opposite tree line. You knew his ego would drive him for a least a few miles, his determination to prove you wrong too strong for him to realise your true plan.

Once you saw Din disappear you waited a few minutes before creeping back aboard the ship to await his return. Though, it had been a few hours now and you were almost ready to go out and find him yourself when you heard the loud thumping of beskar on the crest ramp.

You held your breath as you heard Din ascend the ladder before you heard the door behind you slide open and his footsteps stopped. You slowly turned to face him with a massive grin on your face.

“Hey, took you long enough!”

Din just stood there, you noticed his chest was rising and falling at a rapid speed and he was coiled tight from his feet to the tip of his helm. He dropped his hand from the control switch and just stared.

“You’re….You’re…” Din couldn’t find the words. Five seconds ago he was sure you were dead and now here you are smiling at him in his own pilot seat. He can’t seem to find relief as his whole body thrums with panicked adrenaline and he sags against the cockpit doors.

Sensing something’s wrong you hop off the chair and grab Din’s biceps to help steady him, “Woah there, you good?”

Din shakes his head and grabs you desperately, pressing you into his chest, “shit, fu- FUCK…I can’t breathe…I can’t…” Din’s body felt white-hot, too enclosed in his armour and he wanted to rip it off but the thought of letting you go just sent him spiralling further.

“I coul- I couldn’t find…find you…I thou-thought you were..Gaa’tayl…gota’la…”

“Din I don’t speak mando’a you gotta help me out here babe.” You sighed and brought your hands to the sides of his helmet, forcing his gaze to you, "I’m okay I’m good, I didn’t mean to worry you.”

Din gasped and his arms found their way around your waist as he gripped you, “How…How did you..”

“I knew you’d use the scanner, I spent some time last night re-routing some of the wirings, easily fixable but I hoped you wouldn’t notice until we started. Then all I had to do was double back and hunker down,” you smiled up at him, “guess it worked?”

He was shaking still but his breathing was deeper, slower. He tightened his grip on you, “Never again. Fuck, never again cyar'ika .”

You laugh to yourself, if this is what it takes to rile up your stoic bounty hunter, you may consider hiding from him more often.

[kaypeace21]

The fathers of Stranger Things:  (narrative analysis)

This analysis will discuss all the dads in st. But will mostly focus on the parallels between Brenner, Lonnie, Neil,and Hopper. And the ramifications on their kids.And no i’m not saying Hopper is necessarily as bad as these other fathers/doesn’t have his reasons. But i think the parallels are worth mentioning.

Cycles of Ab*se  & internalizing your father’s teachings

Baseball-We see in s2 the cycle of abuse is there- Billy mimics Neil, and then Max mimics Billy. And uses violence to stand up for herself- which earlier she said she was trying to combat … explaining she can be angry like Billy sometimes but she never wants to be like him (her nickname symbolizing this: aka ‘mad max’).  

We see in s3 Neil taught Billy baseball and bullied him  and called him a “p*ssy” so Billy as a child bullied others and calls them a “p*ssy” (internalizing his father’s teachings and probably venting his anger towards his father on to others). We also see Billy in s2 antagonizes max and demands “say it. say it!”And later Max yells at Billy “say it! say it” and attacks him with a bat. Showing that even Neil has influenced her to a certain extent (via Billy’s ab*se of Max). 

We also see in s3 when Will is frustrated he destroys cb (a symbol of his artistic ambition/the day his father left) and destroys it with a  baseball bat (and then we see the mf officially return) . We also see in s2, Will has a baseball next to the mf drawing (in his room). This is noteworthy due to the fact Jonathan in s1 asks if Will even likes baseball or is just doing it to appease his father. in s1, Will admits he isn’t a fan of baseball -showing how this ‘interest’ in baseball in later seasons just reflects his desire to win his father’s approval (through more sterotypically masculine hobbies).  And we see how both Neil & Lonnie taught both their sons baseball- who are both named William -and who they would call  “f*gs”. We also see in s1 Jonathan lugs around a baseball bat & his father’s gun -however neither tool is used by him in the end successfully. However, in s3 we see Jonathan using an axe (like Joyce) showing by this point he’s mostly taken on Joyce’s influence. 

El’s spying , fighting the Russians, and  lack of care for her safety shows she internalized Brenner’s teachings- We know in s1 El was trained to be a spy/weapon against the soviets (by Brenner). And in later seasons when it comes to her interpersonal relationships- she continues to spy on everyone around her.  she spies on Mike despite his vocal discomfort in s3. Brenner specifically tells her to spy and repeat the words the guys are saying back to him- which is exactly what she does to Lucas and Mike (spying on them and repeating their words back to Max). And when Mike is concerned for her safety we also have El mimic Brenner’s words (from s1) . in s1 she is also said to be taken by Brenner to be a “weapon to fight the commies” and in s3 that’s exactly what she did!  She does literally everything Brenner ever wanted from her!!!!!!!

Jonathan & Billy’s fights with Steve (reflect their father issues... which Steve accidentally triggered)- We see Billy and Jonathan both shoved into walls by their father’s . For Billy this is in a direct consequence of Max running away and for Jonathan- Will’s disappeareance. Billy first shoves Lucas into the wall similarly to Neil. And both Jonathan and Billy are told to “STOP”.

Billy also breaks a plate over Steve’s head. What’s interesting to note is in s3 we see Billy’s mother threw a plate at  Billy’s father (so he was mimicking the dysfunction he saw as a child). kind of like how in s3 he backhands max (mirroring how neil backhanded his mother in the s3 flashback). 

When it comes to jonathan we see jonathan tell nancy to leave and it’s “not worth it” to argue with Steve. However he stops in his tracks when Steve says he’s “like his father”. Then Steve proceeds to insult his family. And  eventually Jonathan who throughout every season is generally portrayed as non confrontational attacks steve. similarly when Billy and Jonathan are beating Steve (who is laying on the ground)-multiple people are yelling for them to stop.But both are in too much of a triggered daze to stop themselves. Even when the cops come- Jonathan elbows the cop in the face and kicks steve with handcuffs on and even says handcuffed for the cop to “get off’ (like he told Lonnie earlier). 

Both would rather do this to their own fathers-but Steve (and the cops) were used as their proxy instead. The fights might reflect what the boys have been taught by their fathers-aka vi*lence. Also on some subconscious level jonathan may have been like-oh you think i’m like my dad? I’ll show you what my dad is like (beats steve with no mercy).

***also, tw se*ual ab*se (you can skip)-during the jonathan fight they also bring up the “pervy photo sesh”- which jonathan took right after seeing his father. in the movies said to inspire s4 they often had a se*ually ab*sive dad/relative who would take innaproriate pics of his kids.uuuuugh. So jonathan may have just been mimicking that past behavior of his father. ugh.***

father’s ab*se  reflects the supernatural

*if you know about my did theory-part 1 and 2 you’ve heard this stuff in detail but i’ll just give a brief synopsis 

- The demogorgan that attacks Will in s1 is  a demon called the “deep FATHER” in d&d.

-El first comes across the demogorgon  (“deep father” ) eating it’s own eggs- symbolically this shows the ‘father’ is hurting it’s own kids ( a motif in the show)!

hunting/baseball/trunks connecting to Lonnie and the monsters:  Will is attacked by the demogorgan in Lonnie’s old shed (and Will tries to defend himself with Lonnie’s old hunting gun). The demogorgan jumps on Jonathan and knocks the bat out of his hands, when he tries defending himself from the demogorgan( both activities: hunting/baseball Lonnie taught the boys).  We also see the demogorgan also attack hunters and a deer- a ref to the lonnie & Jonathan hunting story about Bambi. In s1 we see Jonathan check Lonnie’s trunk to see if Will is there . But also we see the mf throw heather and later her parents in the trunk as well. Also when Jonathan starts talking car repair lingo in s3 -Will senses the mf (since Lonnie repaired cars as a hobby in s1). When lonnie returns in s1 jonathan asks Joyce “did that thing (demogorgan ) come back?” And when Lonnie says he explored around the quarry-jonathan mentions how the demogorgan only traveled a few miles  around his house. When Lonnie says “someone should be held accountable” for what happened to Will- it transitions from lonnie hammering a nail into the wall to Mike piercing a pencil into paper explaining the hole in the upsidedown and how Will got trapped there- hinting at how Lonnie causing trauma to Will is the explanation for everything supernatural. Also need to point out how we zoom in on the lightbulb in Lonnie’s shed (after Will is taken) and they later zoom in on a red lighbulb (when Jonathan tears the innappropriate photos down from the red room) and then it transitions to the christmas lights. And then we see Lonnie berate Jonathan and there’s a glowing lightbulb beside Lonnie (to mirror him to the demogorgan).

-flowers & monstrous fathers: when Brenner (”papa”) first hurts Terry on a hospital bed she wakes up with sunflowers next to her bed. Lonnie in s1 is shown to have a sunflower blanket, and in s2 we see a sunflower book next to Will’s bed after he has a nightmare. We also see that the demogorgan ( ”deep father’-also called the “the man without a face” in s1 ) have a face that resembles a flower. Brenner also gave El a flower when on her bed (although not a sunflower) before forcing her to face the demogorgan for the 1st time.

I believe  credit goes to the tumblr user lazy-storm-cloud for noticing Lonnie’s sunflower blanket. I noticed most of the flower imagery but never noticed that blanket until they mentioned it.

-supernatural “wounds” connecting to Will,  El, Kali and fathers.The lab workers say the upsidedown’s influence over crops/hawkins is “spreading”  while joyce says the tunnels Will drew are also “spreading”. Will says his now-MEMORIES” (connected to the mf-who parallels lonnie) are “growing, spreading, and killing.” Later, Kali in reference to Brenner says her wounds “spread” because she didn’t address her pain caused by Brenner (her papa). And when kali creates a brenner-double he says El has a terrible wound that’s “growing, spreading, and eventually it’ll kill you.” (if not addressed) and they don’t stand up against their father.

-doors connecting to problematic fathers: We see Will in s1 have a sign on his bedroom door that says “do not enter”. And he also requires a password for cb for people to enter. When joyce in s1 hears aggressive knocking on the door she assumes it’s lonnie and says to “go away, Lonnie”.  In s1 we the demogorgan unlock the door telepathically and chase Will. later we see Will stare at the shed door terrified as the demogorgan sneaks up  behind him. in s2 we see the mf slam open the arcade door by itself, and also open his house door in the same manner . when the house door opens it zooms in on the back of his neck- which indicates it’s based off an old memory-a now memory.  We have El also telepathically unlock people’s doors in a similar fashion-not respecting such boundaries. And El asks in s1e1 for the door to stay open.  And Neil, Hopper, and Billy  angrily yell to “OPEN THE DOOR!!!!!” And Hopper slams doors open demanding they stay 3 inches open. We also see El enter a door in the void to see Heather being attacked in a tub and entering the darkness.

tubs:brenner forces El into a sensory deprivation tank. Later El refers to it as a “tub” after seeing the byers tub. we later see the mf is afraid of the byers’ tub. And tub iconography shows up for billy & heather. the s4 movies hint at Will having a tra*matic memory occurring in the tub.

The fathers of St  (recap):

Brenner (“papa” to El and Kali). He forces El into a dark room for hours when she doesn’t obey him. At one point tries to force her to k*ll an animal.  Given the way she ate at Benny’s- he may have starved her as another form of punishment.He allows El no ability to express herself (and dresses her in a masculine/androgounous way) and bans her from the outside world. He tries using a calm-kind demeanor to try and manipulate mothers (Joyce & Karen) into thinking he cares about their kids. And uses El as a weapon/spy .  He would read to El and give her flowers and  a lion plushie . in the st novel  (suspicious minds) he compared the children/numbers to  “rabbits” he could “hurt”.

Lonnie-(dead beat dad of Jonathan and Will). divorced.Forced Jonathan to k*ll a rabbit. It’s implied he has thrown his kids in his dark car trunk  (since Jonathan checks if Will is lonnie’s trunk in s1). He tries manipulating Joyce into thinking he cares about Will. But he just wanted to use Will’s death to make money. He canonically-joked about his son dissappearing. And insulted his ex wife. Then when he realizes he can profit off his son’s death-who he hasn’t seen in years. He leaves his 20-something live in gf, flirts with Joyce calling her “babe”. And pretends to care for Will and the rest of his family. Then gaslights them when they call out his bs. He also has called Will a “f*g” and it’s implied he forced Will to hunt/play baseball. He also shoves Jonathan into a wall. He can have a relatively calm demeanor like Brenner-but then blows up. He smokes, and it’s implied he may be an alcholic since beer cans are littered all over his house. Will has lion plushie in cb (and since lonnie means ‘lion’ it may have been given to him by Lonnie?). He  (like Hopper) implies Joyce is mentally ill and that she’s hallucinating due to grief-and says she’s going to go “over the edge” mirroring Hopper’s words about Joyce in s1. 

Neil- divorced.Calls Billy a “f*got”, and forced him to play baseball. He later shoves his son into a wall and slaps him. He has a calm demeanor and then yells to make his points with Billy.  He also yells at first wife cause romantically jealous. Him & Lonnie both have fights with their ex wives where the phrase “I’m not lying to you” is used. 

Hopper- divorced.in s1-3 we see he smokes, pops pills,  and is an alocholic. The pilot pitch explicitely states he is . He is shown to have anger issues, sells out El’s location to Brenner in s1. In s2 threatens to send her back to her ab*sers if she doesn’t listen to him/ stay isolated from the outside world. dresses her androgonously and tries controlling her romantic relationships. He yells at Joyce cause romantically jealous . joyce annoyed at Hopper: “yes everyman i speak to is my boyfriend”. El says “you are like papa.” And in the pilot Brenner and Hopper were said to dress similarly. And Murray says to Joyce that Hopper is a “brute” who “reminds (her) of a (past) bad relationship”. Aka Lonnie. 

Steve’s dad- is called an “asshole” by Steve and it’s implied he cheats on his wife.

heather’s dad - is sexist to Nancy and cold to his wife. We see Heather (who is the same age as Nancy) has some hidden resentment towards him.

Sam (Max’s dad)- divorced/out of the picture like Lonnie. in the novel ‘runaway max’ is said to be a criminal who often took Max to shady places/bars. And also taught her how to pick door locks-similar to how Jonathan picked a car lock open in s1 like max with a door in s2.

Dustin’s dad- also out of the picture ? dead... maybe?

Recap: Parallels of fathers

forced their kids to k*ll animals/violence toward rabbits/throws kids in dark places/gave their kids lion plushies/tries unsuccessfully to manipulate mother’s  into thinking he cares for their kids: Lonnie & Brenner

taught kids shady stuff like how to pick locks: Lonnie & Sam 

are described as poor/called their sons “f*gs”/forced sons to play baseball/slam sons into walls/have their sons attack Steve/have sons who are into hard rock music: lonnie & Neil

“i’m not lying to you”-:Neil/ex wife and Lonnie/joyce

dr*gs/smokes/alochol ab*se/womanizers/hunters: lonnie & Hopper

imply Joyce is wrong about the supernatural and is just mentally ill: Lonnie and Hopper. Both use a similar expression of her being on “the edge”.

lie to Joyce: Lonnie and Hopper (specifically lies claiming he took her advice and uses that lie to try and get a date with her)

Gave them cat plushies: Lonnie,Brenner, possibly hopper with sara’s tiger 

being connected to flowers: Brenner & Lonnie

yell at love interest when romantically jealous:Neil and Hopper in s3

Hopper: compared to Lonnie (by Murray in s3) and Papa/brenner (by el in s2). in the original pilot Brenner & Hopper were supposed to look similar. Brenner was supposed to have a beard, and wear jeans and plaid shirts similar to hopper in s1. it’s also interesting to note how Hopper started to look more like Neil -they’re both blondes-and in s3 they have matching moustaches (and billy started growing out a moustache in s3-mirroring him becoming a mini neil too).

dress El in masculine clothes/isolate her from outside world/spy on El/read to El:Hopper & Brenner

calm demeanor but quick to anger/ also divorced: Hopper, lonnie, Neil

yells to “open the door”: Neil, Hopper, (and possessed Billy) .it’s also implied Lonnie can pick door locks open.

outliers

jonathan - In the pilot pitch he’s described as taking on the father role for Will (after Lonnie left).  However, he is often paralleled to the mothers of st. Most likely because he never had a healthy father figure- and distrusts even good men like Bob- so models his parenting behavior more so on maternal figures. We see  Jonathan being paralleled to the mothers taking photos of their kids on Halloween, and Jonathan being paralleled to Karen twice.  We even see him bored/annoyed in s2 watching the film “mr mom” since the comedic premise was haha - dad has to stay at home- cook for their kids , drive them to school, do laundry, whaaa how can a man do that ... look it’s so hard  ? isn’t that what moms do instead? All things Jonathan does without literally tripping over himself and failing like the older male film character, initially does .  He also in canon helps pay for the mortgage. We also see Jonathan is unlike the other problematic fathers (who demand entry into their kid’s room) since we see him knock on Will’s door and get verbal permission before entering Will’s room in s2 (respecting Will’s sign). Similar to joyce ringing cb’s doorbell and getting verbal permission from Will to enter.We also see on Halloween Jonathan mocks Bob but when Will defends him Jonathan later mimics Bob telling Will “hope it doesn’t suck” (in a vampire voice) showing at least subconsciously he was mirroring the parenting-like behavior from Bob (since Will liked Bob). So Bob became the first male he used as an inspiration for his ‘parenting style’.

Ted-  is shown in direct opposition to Lonnie.In s1 we see Ted help Mike put on a tie mentioning to Mike it has to be a “little tight” and that it “looks good”. And  after this scene: we see Jonathan struggle to put on a tie (and then ripping it off in frustration-signifying his lack of a father figure that could have taught him how to do this when younger). So in s3 we see Jonathan’s ties are always poorly done and slightly loose around his neck. The same season Jonathan comments about how Nancy’s dad makes 6 figures and his dad “isn’t even around”. He finacially supports his family. cuddles Holly on his fav laze-boy and takes her to fairs. Wants to comfort Mike after Will dies (but listens to Karen to give him time). Has Karen tell Mike that if he wants to talk to him about Will’s death- he can call him at work and he’ll come home for Mike. His calm demeanor seems genuine -unlike the other father figures who quickly lose their cool facade (Ted has never yelled at his kids). Even when kids yell or insult him he doesn’t lose his cool. Worst things he’s done: told kids to stop cursing, naps alot, gives an outdated football analogy about How Mike needs to stop acting out . Why st fans claim he’s a bad dad : boring af aka the human embodiment of wonder bread, in loveless marriage,  and not rambo-esque like Hopper so people act like he’s a horrible dad in comparison to Hopper. Despite being a  more stable parent in the normal everyday situations.

Lucas’ dad- unfortunately we saw very little of him. But he seems somewhat similar to Ted. He’s nice and gives somewhat dated  advice at the table to his son-like Ted did. He seems like a mellow, chill dude, who finacially supports his family. But,Unlike karen/ted it seems like he loves his wife and vice versa.

Bob-the wannabe stepdad-  as the first romantic interest after Lonnie-He contrasts him. He doesn’t do drugs or smoke.  Is emotionally vulnerable with Joyce and vice versa. He never makes fun of Will or Joyce’s mental health issues. he relates to Will -who was bullied as a kid, and is into computers, comics, and was in av club (just like Will). He is supportive of Will’s non-manly interests and encourages those interests (bringing brain puzzles, and board games over when told Will is sick).  Unlike Lonnie who tried to force ‘manly’ interests on to Will. He isn’t mad when Will busts his brand new camera but is simply concerned that Will is being bullied. He’s also shown being concerned about Will’s mental health. He helps joyce with little things like finding her keys and taking Will to school. His happy calm demeanor  is genuine-and he is never shown yelling in anger. He kindly disagrees with joyce on the ‘ drawings on the walls game’ cause he was concerned it wasn’t good for Will’s mental health (and tells her she can talk more about Will’s issues). He sacrifices himself to save Will, joyce and everyone around him.  And unlike Hopper- Bob was never jealous or mean to joyce about the men in Joyce’s life. Bob was serious about Joyce and the boys-he wanted them to be his family and move them near his own blood relatives. We see he had an impact on the boys at the end of s2- Will drawing the “bob newby superhero” drawing and Jonathan using Bob’s camera. 

[pllguy]

My Pre-release Thoughts/Mini-Theory of PLL: Original Sin

Now this theory (the first of many) will cover what I assume will take place or be relevant to what will be happening in the Pretty Little Liars reboot Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin.

Based off of what has been released so far as of date of posting (August 19th, 2021) the reboot’s details that have been released are few but already say a lot about what will take place.

The synopsis of the show, in a statement released by HBO Max, follows below.

“Twenty years ago, a series of tragic events almost ripped the blue-collar town of Millwood apart. Now, in the present day, a group of disparate teen girls—a brand-new set of Little Liars—find themselves tormented by an unknown Assailant and made to pay for the secret sin their parents committed two decades ago…as well as their own. In the dark, coming-of-RAGE, horror-tinged drama Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, we find ourselves miles away from Rosewood, but within the existing Pretty Little Liars universe—in a brand new town, with a new generation of Little Liars.”

So what does this tell us? The reboot will be set in a town near Rosewood which could potentially allow cameo appearances from the original show’s cast, though if that happened, it would need to feel organic. I’d love seeing the old cast reprise their characters for a special appearance but I think it would be best to keep the two separate from each other so as to not mess with the original show’s characters and what those writers and creators intended versus the new creators. Also this tells us that not only will this new group of Liars be getting into trouble and keeping secrets, but that their parents previously did something that someone is out for revenge for the past and present.

Ok, so what are sins? In view of the Christian faith, there are Seven Deadly Sins and also what some view as the “Original Sin”. The Seven Deadly Sins are pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, and laziness (sloth), while the Original Sin refers to the belief humans are born to sin through their genetics they inherited from the first man and woman, Adam and Eve who first sinned against God in the Garden of Eden. *(Other religions/faiths have sins but since this story will be set in modern-day Pennsylvania, I believe that if it has any religious allusions, it would be to the Christian faith - no disrespect to the others!)

It has been revealed that Bailee Madison, Maia Reficco, and Chandler Kinney, have been cast as Imogen Abel, Noa Oliver, and Tabby Hayworth, respectively (pictured below left to right as mentioned).

Now THIS is what stood out to me… In a show entitled Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, they created a character whose last name is Abel. In the Bible, there is the famous story of Abel and Cain, where one brother kills the other. To sum it up, Cain and Abel are the sons of Adam and Eve - Cain born first and Abel second. So Cain grows jealous of Abel for the favoritism being shown to him by God, so Cain murders his own brother, Abel.

*Note: the original Pretty Little Liars books even alluded to the story of Abel and Cain as that is the basis for the twins storyline of Alison and Courtney… notice the names have the same first letters, except Courtney is Abel and Alison is Cain (since she murdered Courtney).

Now how does this tie into my theory?

Well I believe that the original sin committed by the Liars’ parents was murder of a classmate/friend/enemy for one of the 7 deadly sins (or maybe it was self-defense?). Imogen Abel will either be killed by her (secret/twin?) sibling (like Abel) or she will end up the killer (like Cain). Since the books twisted the Abel/Cain story to make the killer’s name start with “A” (and ultimately be known as “A”), I think it’s fair to guess that Imogen could be the real killer and “A” in the reboot. Also her parents will definitely be involved in the “original sin” since their last name is Abel and Abel’s parents were Adam and Eve who committed the original sin.

I’m unsure how much material the reboot will pull from the books and the original show in terms of storyline ideas or plot points, so who knows what to really expect! However, a few key staples of the Pretty Little Liars brand are things that some fans may be tired of but they are what have made the show and the books the phenomenon they are. They are:

1. a group of characters being targeted, harassed, stalked, and tormented by an unknown foe who is always a few steps ahead of their prey

2. the unknown stalker being connected to the group or a specific member of the group, and having their reason for their actions being tied to the group/individual in some twisted/straightforward way

3. the one thing some fans will be tired of but I personally *love* … TWINS. Yupp, there HAS to be twins at some point in the show, and it has to be crucial to the plot. It was the premise of the books’ storyline, and then in the last A arc storyline in the original show.

For the PLL reboot to feel like I’m watching a PLL-inspired show (since I know it’s all new content), there HAS to be the 3 plot points I just mentioned and I believe that will be factored into my earlier points about Imogen and her family. Imogen will be the new Alison, and she will be the one to have a twin or even be the new A.

Final thoughts/mini-theories:

- I’m pretty positive that twins will be involved in the mystery, to what extent I am unsure but I have strong feelings Imogen will be featured in that storyline.

- It’s possible that Imogen may be a twin, and if it’s not her, I believe it will be one of her parents, since their last name is Abel, tying back into what I explained earlier.

- The Liars in the reboot will be more proactive in figuring out the identity of their stalker and the underlying mystery, than their predecessors in the original TV series. *No hate to the OG Liars but it always felt like they never tried hard enough to get law enforcement or anyone to help them out until the later seasons instead of from the get-go.*

- I don’t want this reboot to be a faithful adaptation in the sense of using all the material from the books but applying it to new characters. I have mixed opinions on it being set in the same universe as the OG show but I’m glad they will have a new setting, characters, and plot. I do still wish they utilize the twins storyline because I personally LOVE twins and have always found the PLL Alison/Courtney storylines one of the best ever written in terms of the buildup to the reveal, the details dropped along the way, and just the way my mind was blown apart reading it the first time.

So that’s pretty much all I have at this point based off what has been released. Hopefully this show will bring back old fans, bring in new fans, and we can rebuild the PLL community here again! Let me know your thoughts/theories/comments about the reboot, or even about the original show(s) and books! ❤️

[phoenixtakaramono]

Character Design Thoughts for Shen Yuan & Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky in ‘The Untold Tale’

(This is a Follow Up to This Post)

Hello, @averydrearydiana! Loved reading through your tags! I’m excited that you’re excited! Since I’m also seeing comments on AO3 speculating about how our transmigrators are going to appear as in The Untold Tale, I might as well give my current thoughts and have this archived on tumblr for future reference.

A fun fact about TUT is that a lot of the imagery in the story is inspired by Chinese PVs and popular C-dramas and literature. Since TUT is conceived as a lovestory to SVSSS, one element that I’d wanted to incorporate is playful attempts at satirical genre deconstruction. With that comes with me playfully poking fun at some clichés or things I’ve noticed in Chinese works.

Shen Yuan’s Celestial Design

Before I talk about his mortal appearance, I have to give a lil context about his celestial design in the story. We already know what he looks like as the celestial fortuneteller in TUT’s cover art that I’ve already posted on tumblr. As everyone knows, I was heavily inspired by this Chinese PV:

(TUT ch1 - Excerpt)

Among the things I’ve noticed are the fictional characters with white hair. We have a whole subculture of fans liking male character designs with white hair in anime and animation. Taking that a step further, they’ve even shown up in C-dramas, i.e. Teng She from Love and Redemption (technically more blond than platinum white, but shhhhh, just let me have this), Dong Hua Dijun from Eternal Love of Dream aka Three Lives Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms (rest assured, I’m aware of the source material’s controversy, but let’s not get into that here), etc. One of the tags for TUT is Opposites Attract. Luo Binghe’s color coordination is aligned with black and red mostly. Now, visually speaking, what’s the opposite of that?

The yin yang symbol.

Fun fact, besides black vs white, green (SY) is the complementary color of red (LBG) on the color wheel. Now taking everything I’ve said, to take it even one step further, my thought process at the time was, “why not go the extra mile then and just have SY be albino? Within context of the Heavenly Realm, that character design makes sense.” TUT is me subtly riffing off what I can (for the good ol’ meta humor), but making the content come across as a legitimate story experience. As Protagonist A and Protagonist B, LBG and SY have to look visually striking together. With all that said, let’s talk about....

(In reference to the original tumblr post)

Shen Yuan (Mortal)

I’ll keep some elements of his albinism from his celestial form (light sensitivity and pale skin mostly), but SY’s mortal form is essentially SY pre-transmigration but within context of the xianxia genre.

For his appearance, let’s just keep this Author’s Note^ and TUT’s summary in the back of our brains. This is the fanvid I was originally inspired by for SY’s mortal appearance:

(TUT Summary - Excerpt)

For what he wears, I’m currently feeling very heavily inspired by this PV:

His mortal appearance wouldn’t be considered as “strange” or “otherworldly” compared to the “ethereal fairy-like beauty” SY retains in the Heavenly Realm, but as a side-effect of the 【PROTAGONIST’S HALO】 and his +20 CHARISMA stat, he would still be considered attractive to people even when he takes on a mortal appearance. (Mainly, I like the idea of Bing gē taking large shots of vinegar seeing SY turning heads no matter which appearance SY takes on, and Luo Binghe glaring at these “insects” for even “daring to lay their unworthy eyes on his fated person.” The thought of it just makes me laugh.)

What I mean by how SY’s mortal form being very much based on how SY appeared pre-transmigration but in the xianxia genre context, I mean he’ll have his dark hair (but longer), a “scholarly air” (as a nod to his novelist background), dark eyes, and even his glasses technically (the divine monocle mentioned in ch3, which is also a subtle nod to Sha Po Lang and a riff on men wearing monocles in other Chinese works andit’salsoforeshadowingbutshhhh).

(TUT ch3 - Excerpt)

Shen Yuan originally was an author in his forties pre-transmigration, so I like the idea him having a mature air about him in the Cultivation World as well. So for both our Protagonist B’s celestial and mortal appearances, the idea is that you can look at him and immediately recognize him as a protagonist of the danmei setting. My only two prerequisites are that his appearance screams “hello, I’m Protagonist B” and that he appears in “scholarly” attire.

Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky (Mortal)

Keeping in mind the original tumblr post where I wrote my thoughts on who I’m transmigrating him as, currently I’m thinking it’s a combination of these two PVs for his mortal form:

As a nod to him being a successful novelist, I wanted him to also appear scholarly. A scholarly crown prince, if you will. For his attire, imagine all the C-drama clothing you’ve seen actors wear in period dramas, and you already have a good idea already of the direction I’m heading down.

As the prince of the cannon fodder emperor, I very much like the idea of Airplane perhaps having a baby face and brown hair (as a small nod to fanon!SQH from SVSSS) but with a great body (a huge source of inspiration are clothing worn by Prince Yu and Prince Jing of the three princes from the C-drama Nirvana in Fire). Since Airplane will also be able to select his Character Creation stats like Shen Yuan had, one thing I’m fairly certain is that he will max out his CONSTITUTION—because “game logic” and not wanting to die. (For those who don’t know, the CON stat in tabletop RPs essentially indicates a person’s overall health, wellbeing, and vigor checks...so him maxing it out is equivalent to him being as invulnerable as a cockroach. A high CON means overall healthiness, which means your character probably is full of energy and vitality, can heal rapidly, and will rarely get sick—if ever. Low CON usually means a higher susceptibility to sickness and disease, wounds that fester and linger, and a general fatigue would haunt you, etc.) Like how SY zeroed in on his CHA, Airplane would have prioritized +20 CON (+5 modifier), especially knowing the fate that’d await him as a prince and the vicious environment that is expected for palace intrigue plots (the harem is a big factor, with concubines and consorts and even the empress sabotaging each other—just to win the favor of one man). Against poison or whatnot which is a cliché in palace intrigue plots, rather than relying on luck, you typically stand a better chance of passing the CON check if you have a high modifier aiding your checks. He’s basically become impervious to illnesses, most poisons (probably being able to spring back quickly), and is considered the healthiest prince in all the mortal imperial line. <- This could be taken both seriously and humorously simultaneously.

Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky (Deity/ Celestial)

For Xiàng Tiān Dà Fēijī’s “actual divine body” that is currently asleep and won’t be awakened until Airplane completes his mortal trial to “regain his cultivation powers,” the face should obviously be similar but, as Xiàng Tiān Dà Fēijī, he would appear regal and dignified as a god of this world:

Imagine something along the lines of mortal Airplane as the man on the right, celestial Shen Yuan in the center, and deity/ celestial Airplane as the man on the left. I envision a respectable appearance that would knock the air out of Mobei jūn and make him recognize Airplane despite any visual dissimilarities, and in a way we have the Four Beauties of China: Luo Binghe, Shen Yuan, Mobei jūn, and Xiàng Tiān Dà Fēijī.

I will say I currently have an idea of making Airplane have “golden” eyes in both his celestial and mortal forms. (Spoiler alert: in my notes, I’d written down to give Airplane yellow eyes as an Easter egg to Yanxi Palace, I believe, where there was an episode where someone of the imperial harem schemed against the empress and almost had the newborn baby killed because that and the yellow skin was an inauspicious omen. We later find out through a timely intervention that the true reason was due to jaundice—because of the diet/ pregnancy cravings she ate for a period of time which resulted in her son’s symptoms. With Airplane’s high CON and another trope I’m bringing in which’ll have to do with the Medicine King’s Valley/ Valley of the Medicine King, his yellow eyes are the only side effect that lingered from that traumatic event which would have killed him had they gotten away with their scheme. A lot of palace dramas have to do with the vicious harem plots, so this would potentially be one such example.) The reason being that this is the identifying marker for MBJ to clue in that they’re the same man he will have loved. And I think that has romantic potential.

Misc.

Now addressing the other tags, yes, essentially speaking, Mobei jūn might just very well experience his very own Big Damn Reunion trope that Bing mèi had suffered from SVSSS. Poor MBJ. He’s in a tumultuous ride of his own with him considering Airplane as his own fated person, hahaha. But for the Moshang dynamic, I want him—a demon—to find himself taken with Airplane in his mortal guise—and subsequently his true celestial appearance once he finds out. I very much also want SY to jokingly snark to his fellow transmigrator-and-writing-colleague about him getting in a relationship with his own “creation” (MBJ). And Airplane would jokingly snark back about SY “ruining his ‘first son’ as well” (LBG). If you can read between the lines of that, then kudos. I’m glad to hear you’re looking forward to the palace intrigue.

I’m especially very happy to hear you’re looking forward to the descriptions! I personally love worldbuilding in the stories I consume I’m an interior designer and realtor irl, so I’m glad my love of house details and landscape, etc shows in TUT. For the pseudohistorical vibe, in the Mortal Realm, I will be referencing the Forbidden City of our Chinese history and a couple popular period C-dramas. Take the settings of period C-dramas like Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace, Yanxi Palace, and Nirvana in Fire as examples for what will be awaiting us when we finally meet Airplane in his mortal body. In the Heavenly Realm, the descriptions will be heavily referencing shows that contain aesthetics such as those of Ashes of Love, Love and Redemption, and Eternal Dream.

Take this with a grain of salt just in case I change my mind later on, but in the chapter when we meet Airplane for the first time, I probably won’t say which character he is in the first scene. I’ll give plenty of hints in the first scene so that you all can make your guesses before the big reveal, but I’m fairly confident you all or most of you will be able to pinpoint who he is among the cannon fodders. We’ll meet the emperor, who is discussing with his sons about the matter regarding the approaching calamity that is Luo Binghe. Then when we transition into the second scene, we’ll know exactly which “royal prince OC” it is that our beloved Airplane has transmigrated into, hahaha.

(*Keep in mind, for everything written above, some details are subject to change. Nothing is official until it appears in the story, or I’ve actually drawn my ideas out and posted online to both my tumblr and twitter. These are just my current thoughts.)

A goal of mine for TUT is to make the story widely accessible, meaning it doesn’t matter if the reader is new to the SVSSS fandom or aren’t familiar with the Easter egg references or meta jokes or subtext or even the Chinese culture, or even if English is not their first language. Having knowledge beforehand might help someone notice more hidden details in TUT, yes, but it is a humble wish of this writer for her esteemed readers to be able to dive into the story and get the enjoyable feeling like they’re reading a genuine danmei novel. It really makes me smile whenever I hear feedback that I am able to emulate that experience.

Very exciting developments indeed are in store!

[inmyarmswrappedin]

Ages ago, I asked people to send me scenes they wanted me to compared across the Skams, and then I kinda ignored it. This wasn't intentional, but rather because I wanted to do the scenes in chronological order. And the one I got for s1 was the Eva/Jonas breakup scene.

The issue is that Jonas is a very misunderstood character in international fandom. I felt like I couldn't begin to compare the scenes without getting into the fundamental conflict between Eva and Jonas, and I couldn't do that without getting into why Jonas hates Russetide, and I couldn't do that without a long post that was going to swallow up whole the other 7 versions of the scene.

I've never really let go of the idea of doing those comparisons, even though the anons that sent the original asks are probably long gone. I thought of a bunch of different ways to approach the asks, but nothing worked for me. Until recently, where I just decided to first explain Russetide, then compare the different Skam opening speeches, and THEN I will finally compare the breakup scenes.

But instead of explaining Russetide itself, which I think most Skam fans more or less understand, I'm going to explain SJEIKEN 2015. This song perfectly encapsulates what Jonas hates about Russetide. In fact, he quotes it in one of the scenes where he's being a dick to Eva!

Russetide is a tradition in all of Norway, but western Oslo (where Skam is set) is one of the richest areas in the country and, as such, they really go above and beyond with it. A bus is better than a van, the buses have to be decked out with the best sound systems. The crew has to have not just hoodies but also headbands and other merch, and it all has to follow the theme the crew has chosen. And if you really are the hottest of hot shit, then you actually commission legit artists to write a theme song for your bus. We can see this in s2, where the girls discuss The Penetrators theme song.

There are a bunch of different Norwegian artists that you can commission for your Russe song, but the most famous are probably TIX and the Pøssy Project. The Pøssy Project is a group of multiple songwriters, but all of its members have chosen to keep their identites anonymous because, as it turns out, ~Norwegian adults~ think everything I'm about to explain is trashy and disdainful. The one artist in The Pøssy Project that has always owned his participation in it is Andreas Haukeland, better known as TIX. (You might also know him as this year's ESC entry for Norway.) Why does TIX stand by these songs? Idk, probably because they're extremely popular, chart well, and make money, and by standing by them, he gets to perform them in gigs and profit off those creations.

SJEIKEN 2015 has featured twice in Skam, first in s1e1. It's also the song Pepsi Max is singing when they party at Sana's place in s4. And SJEIKEN 2015 featured so prominently in Skam because the song became a runaway hit the year before (the 2014-15 school year), breaking into the Norwegian charts as well as Spotify most playeds in Norway. It is a tremendously popular song that people loved.

So, who or what is SJEIKEN 2015 about? SJEIKEN is a 2015 Russe crew (meaning they graduated high school in 2015) who chose to make their Russe theme about... oil sheikhs. That is what sjeiken means. The song itself is about an oil sheikh called Sheikh Yer Bouti who declares tonight to be free of rules. His 400 wives are allowed to get drunk and be whores, just for tonight. Here are the lyrics:

Now, TIX has recently tried to become a mature artist, and so he was recently asked about SJEIKEN 2015 (again, a song he performs to this day). This was his response:

At a party, I met a girl who was crying over a boy she liked. She had built up her expectations that this would be the night she finally hooked up with him, but she was afraid that if she did, the guys would call her "whore". I thought about it a bit… It's actually quite true - if a boy hooks 10 girls at a party he is a legend, but if a girl hooks up with only one boy she may risk being called loose. That's absolutely ridiculous! So I said to her, "Tonight you are allowed to be a whore. Tonight you are allowed to hook up with him.”

And like, I just want to say this response is horseshit, first of all lol. But in case you for some reason thought this was supposed to be like a feminist anthem for a girls' russe buss (a crew like Los Losers for instance), let me share a picture of the SJEIKEN Russe crew:

(Count the moc... Oh wait, there aren't any.)

SJEIKEN (the Russe crew) also participated at a Russe event back in 2015. Here is how they chose to stage their song:

(The one thing I can say about this is that the boy playing a niqabi doesn't appear to have taken it off at any point, which is better than Skam Italia did.)

At this point, you might think that perhaps Jonas might have reason to be appalled that Eva, who he assumed shared his values, decided to get involved in Russefeiring. However, one other thing about Russefeiring is that literally EVERY YOUNG PERSON in Norway is supposed to love all of this shit. My evidence is very anecdotal, but I once asked a Norwegian high school student how many people aren't involved in Russefeiring. He said everyone is, the only people who aren't are the friendless losers. I also came across a Norwegian young woman's blog who said she preferred talking to people from abroad, because she didn't have to explain to them that she never actually did Russe, because to admit she hadn't, would immediately show her to have been a total outcast in high school. Like, this is an issue for people into their twenties.

So Jonas isn't just taking a stance to be cool, the fact that he is vocally opposed to Russefeiring in every way makes him (and the boy squad) total losers. In fact, Chris Schistad referred to Jonas as a nerd and the boy squad plainly wasn't in William's radar at all. It wasn't a thing like in Skam NL, where Kes' squad was leagues and miles above Noah's squad in terms of coolness (MOTHERfucker... don't even try to tell me Gijs was cooler than Kes lmao). Jonas would've been seen as a loser and a burnout, and that's what Jonas was talking about when he told Eva that she was always doing the popular thing to do. Because he very staunchly refused to participate in this tradition, despite the fact that doing so made him an outcast, because, for him, THAT was the moral thing to do.

Having read all this (you poor soul), and being on tumblr like you are, is it really that unthinkable that Jonas would think that Russefeiring and the culture associated with it is crap? Do you really think a 16-year old has the nuance to say, "you know, Russefeiring stands for everything I hate, but since you're friendless because of me, and this is your chance at having friends, I will put my ideals aside and support you in this." Absolutely not lmao. How many of you would even now shit on friends if they stepped outside the line of what tumblr considers woke? How many people on twitter turn on each other for transgressions like stanning the wrong Skams? Jonas was shitty because he was super rigid in what he considered the right way to behave, but in that sense, he was actually one of the most accurate portrayals of a specific type of Gen Z. Unlike idk, characters who quote fucking Animal Farm to talk about school festivals.

(And NOW that all of that has been established, I can finally begin dissecting season 1 lol.)

[seancekitsch]

Powerplay: a Marko x Reader fic

part 3 of 3, previous part here

Warnings: harassment, vamp typical shit, cursing, death/killing, smut mentions, reference to the book

Marko was a good boyfriend, it turned out, except for when he wasn’t. You liked the sweet little kisses, the teasing way he snaps his jaw at you when you catch him staring, the way he holds you while you’re falling asleep even though he doesn’t have to.You like that he listens, more than your friends do. You rang another friend the other day, and were left waiting with the endless ringing again. You want to be upset, but they weren't as close as you were hoping they’d be. Your close friends were back in New York, three thousand miles and a year of working behind you. And they were Marko and his brothers now.

You love the way he keeps you safe, your protector being probably the deadliest thing you could encounter. You love the way he laughs, always joking and jovial. You always thought his smile hid a joke like some mystery, but now you're in on it too, and it's the funniest thing. There is no secret  joke, just Marko seeing the world with eyes full of humor. He sees the little things, and now he shows them to you. You love the way you can speak without speaking. Silence followed by heavy laughter, kisses, and understanding.

You even love that week you were on your period and every night he ate you out until you screamed yourself hoarse.

“Marko,” you’d say, “lets ride.”

And he would obey, letting you hop on the back of his bike, always after work, always too fast. You'd like to imagine him crashing as the wind whips your hair, stings your face. What that would be like, huh. It's what you assume he feels like when he flies, free and wild in the night. He caters to your every whim, makes you feel the happiest,  as long as the sun has set.

He was less a good boyfriend when he was hungry, brooding and refusing to get close to you. He would be irritable, pick fights, silent treatment. He would purposely leave you in silence, but he wouldn't ask for a taste, despite your offering. He respected you enough not to try that. Other times, he would make sure that you could hear every thought in his head. His thoughts sounded like shouts, always telling you to get the fuck away, always reminding you how vulnerable you were, how easy to kill you’d be. It's almost maddening. You never knew which nights he would be the silent ones, or which ones would be the loud ones.  

“Marko,” you’d say, “This is just temporary.”

You don't even have to think the words for him to know what you mean. Or those moments during the day when it's highlighted just how different he was, would always be. He would always be twenty and handsome and having fun, with a guaranteed group of friends. With a family he belonged with. You would always age, you would have to find something else to do eventually, and you would probably have to leave Santa Carla, because he wouldn't. You could always bore him, with Marko one day realizing you can't keep up anymore. You would always be weaker, and no matter how often Marko puts you first, he always holds the power. You’re only the decision maker because he lets you be. He could always take that power back. Find someone new when you get old and he stays the same age. He will always be this way, and you will always change.

It's those nights you think of pulling away from him, and you hope he never hears those thoughts. You love him, but he’ll always say it's not temporary. It's not true.

You love Marko today.

The jingling of the bell snaps you from your thoughts, head rising only to be face to face with one of the surf nazis. Huh, guess the boys didn’t clear all of them out. This one was tall, a skinhead with an upturned pug-like nose, wearing a lot of denim with eyes alight with mayhem in his agenda. Oh, please don’t fucking break anything.

“Hey Baby,” he sneers. God, his voice was even worse than his looks and his smell.

“Not your baby,” you deadpan, wishing desperately for him and his friends to leave without stealing or breaking anything forcing a sickeningly sweet customer service tone, “But what can I help with?”

Maybe good customer service will get them in-and-out quicker.

“That hot little body of yours could help me out,” his tone is outright mocking. God, is this how dudes like these think they can pull? You can’t even hide your grimace as you flinch at the words. If there was anyone else, just one other person working tonight, this wouldn’t be happening. You know this. Working nights alone practically invited this brand of harassment.

fuckfuckfuck. It’s way too early for Marko to be sniffing around, and if you can get them to leave the next four hours of your shift will be miserable. The man laughs, and it makes your blood run cold. He leans over the counter, past the little curtain of incense haze; breaching your only barrier of safety.

“I bet it could. Couldn’t it, baby?”

His large arms press against the glass of the counter and your eyes immediately flicker from them to the back room, where your knife is. He straightens up.

“Cat got your tongue?”

You frown, meeting his eyes now.

“Do you plan on buying anything we sell?” The Bauhaus record you have playing over the speaker skips, and you almost jump. It's just enough to break the tension, the rising bile in your throat clearing.

“I come in here for you, girlie,” and he affirms what you already know. Now that half of the surf nazis were gone, they were struggling to maintain their turf on the boardwalk. So harassment and torture at their hands were on the rise. Many people over the past few weeks had been dodging them in the stores around here, and now apparently they had caught wise to that. Done with it, you take a step back, leaning yourself against the back shelf to retreat further into the curtain of nag champa.

“You can fuck off,” you offer, gaining confidence as you realize the bong behind your head was more than affordable, and if you broke it over his head, you could cover it.

He opens his mouth to respond, but-

The bell on the door jingles again. A familiar smile fades into a scowl. Marko looks like one of those greek heroes tonight, maybe if only because his presence saves you from the gross comments (or anything worse) of the shaved head across the counter. He immediately distracts the surfer from you.

“Why don’t you get outta here, buddy? Me and the lady were just discussing me trying her out later,” the man spits, and you almost gag at the mental image of that.

Marko laughs, that high pitched full body laugh you love so much.

“That’s funny, buddy,” He throws the man’s nickname back at him, “Cause that’s my old lady right there.”

You loved and hated when he called you that. Technically, you are a year older than the year he turned. The first time you all realized that, Paul gave himself a stomach ache laughing over the ‘older woman’ Marko brought home. Tonight though, the nickname brings the biggest smile to your lips.

“Damn right I am,” you chime in, “and you couldn’t take the hint.”

Marko seals the deal by striding over to where you are and pulling you into a kiss over the counter. It doesn't take much more for the surf nazi to leave, the jingling of the door opening announcing his departure.

“I’m gonna make sure we kill the rest of them before the week is out.”

He waits the three hours it takes for you to be able to lock up behind the counter with you, loosely holding your hips and following you around, only moving away from you to pick out new records when one ends. 

Come over tonight, Marko thinks, and you know it isn't a suggestion. You kiss him hard on the mouth, wrapping your arms around his neck and pulling him to press against you. His arms automatically find themselves around your waist, squeezing you as he eagerly returns the kiss. This wouldn’t be your first time at their dilapidated hotel, with sprawling caves and chandeliers and beautiful spray painted murals on the walls. The first time you were there, he brought you there while the others were hunting. He fucked you on any surface not covered with knick knacks they'd collected or takeout containers, leaving you to sheepishly blush while he proudly talked to the others when they returned, deep red hickies and a bite mark on your collarbone you couldn't hide. The next time, the boys and Star and Laddie welcomed you in with booze and a feast and a fun night where you had to crawl out of the cave at dawn looking like a mess. Either way, he waits for you to agree before he leads you to his motorcycle.

“Star, Why don't you just become one of us already?” Paul whined, holding his half eaten eggroll like a cigar, “You're already living with us, Mama. We just want to be friends forever.”

She scrunches her nose, smoothing the long hair of Laddie’s head in her lap. The boy was tired, their unofficial little brother or not, he was still an eight year old.

“Or maybe,” David starts, dropping down from the rim of the check in counter of the hotel, “Star can just have some fun with them and we don’t even have to do what Max wants.”

The boys all laugh, Dwayne’s shoulders turning inward, while Paul smacks Marko in the chest behind you. Whoever Max was, he was someone that could give the boys orders; something you didnt think possible besides their own little group hierarchy. You'd figured out pretty quickly that David was the leader, Marko was his right hand, Dwayne was the left hand; with Marko enforcing, playful and impulsive, and Dwayne being the level head, logical and the one who often kept the boys from fighting and made them all remember why they loved each other so much. Paul was the baby. Both literally and figuratively. He was the messiest, the most likely to slip up;. He was also the one turned last. So when Star decides to be one of them, she’ll be the new baby. Then Laddie.

“No,” Star affirms, “No, I can’t do that to Michael.”

“Michael,” David tests the name on his lips, tongue darting out to lick them after he says it. The curly haired brunette on the boardwalk had a name. Then his eyes flick to you. There's a sharpness to them that feels so different from Marko’s. David is trying to stare through you, not to look inside of your head, to look past it, to see any weakness. A challenge.

“Who’s Max?” you speak up from your spot on Marko’s lap. You can feel him tense under you, but David smiles.

“You don't know about Max? Marko, you didn’t tell her about Max?”

Marko’s hand wraps around your wrist as David continues.

“Max knows all about you, y/n. There’s a reason you're here.”

Here as in, still alive in a vampire den, or here tonight specifically?

Mind thing? You think, and Marko leans his head down against your shoulder as he nods.

“So he knows Marko and I are X-men? Is he Professor X?”

You hear Dwayne and Paul chuckle from the other side of the circle, and Dwayne mutters, “Yeah something like that,” as he swats his hand at Paul’s mesh-covered chest.

“He sired us,” David clarifies.

“You feel it right?” changing the subject, “You feel like you need to be near Marko?”

Marko squeezes your wrist in encouragement, and you nod.

“He’s my boyfriend.”

“That's not what I mean.”

You know what he means. It's the way you feel Marko before you see him, the way you can never sneak up on him.

You nod again.

“That’s what Max wanted to know. Marko, do you wanna tell her, or should I?”

What does he mean? You think and the man below you perks up.

Come with me. His palms grip your hips and gently push you to stand, and he follows suit before taking the lead.

He leads you towards the mouth of the cave, where you enter and away from any listening ears.

“So you know how David is dating Star?” he asks, voice low and close to you in the shadows.

“If that’s what they’re doing,” you joke, and he laughs along with you.

“Well, he thought they had what we have, and that's why she’s with us.” He reaches for your hands to hold them, dropping any playfulness from before.

“I’m supposed to turn you, Max thinks. He’s a lot older than us, and he says some vampires have mates or something similar to that. Others they have some deep mental connection with. The guys… we can hear each other sometimes if we try hard, because we’re a pack. I don't have to try with you and that's why Max thinks it's different.”

Turn you? Like, capital T- Turn you? Into one of them? If he turned you, you’d never see the sun again; never feel its warmth. You’d have to drink blood, and human blood at that. You’d become a killer, and you’d have to keep killing. While you aren’t innocent, killing kind of seems like it would be a stretch for you. Some of their victims had to be innocent, but would your hunger corrupt your morals one day?

It's like he can see the wheels turning in your head, ability to hear your thoughts or not.

“Y/n, you don't have to. Fuck, this was dumb to bring up. David thought you were ready, but if you don't want to I won't make you…” He trails off, visibly a little more deflated.

But if you did, you would be on the same level as Marko. All of the insecurities you have about your relationship would just… stop existing. Your relationship’s expiration date would disappear, your fears about having to leave him or him leaving you would disappear. You'd have people and a place to belong and lover and guaranteed group of friends to be a new family.

“How does it work, Marko?” your voice surprises him, and in honesty, he brought you to the mouth of the cave to give you an out. If you wanted to leave here, leave him specifically, he was going to let you.

“You gotta drink, uh, vampire blood.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

You shrug.

“Are you sure? There's no take backs for this,” Marko’s voice is stern, unlike you ever heard it before.

Deadly sure, Marko.

He smiles, slowly like the moon rising in the night before it crescendos into the wide toothy grin you're so used to seeing.

Marko leads you back into the den of the cave where the others are hanging out.

Dwayne is the first to approach the two of you.

“Everything okay?”

You nod thankfully, offering him a smile.

Paul swoops in next.

“You better be tellin’ me you're joining the fam, chica!”

He tries to drape his arm around your shoulder, but Marko pushes him away playfully, both of the boys smiling.

“Let’s get this girl a drink!” Marko shouts, and the guys start up hollering and laughing.

Marko leads you back to where you had originally been sitting, his designated folding chair. He gestures to you to sit down, while he looks to David for something. Over his shoulder, you can see Star frowning as she watches on.

“Glad you got to talk it out,” David remarks as he hands a bottle of wine to Marko. Maybe you’ll be able to get used to his mannerisms in half a century. Marko hands off the bottle of wine to you, and your hands dip with the weight of it.

The wine bottle is bejeweled, another do it yourself project that the guys seem to love so much. It's heavy in your hands, dark and unseeing down the neck of it, but full. Marko crouches down between your legs, palms flat against your thighs as everyone waits with bated breath. You uncork the bottle, noticing the dark red staining on the cork, and knowing exactly what’s in it now. Two shaky hands bring the bottle to your lips, tilting your head back as you let the contents flow into your mouth, filling it. The ‘wine’ is thick, warm and salty but feels like it's already intoxicating you from just being in your mouth.

“That’s all Marko’s blood, you know,” David remarks, and you swallow deeply. All Marko. He drained his blood for you, weakened himself for you. Your eyes flicker to him, and he smiles up at you from his spot between your legs.

You smile back at him, widely, teeth stained with blood.

[mediocre--writing]

Will sees Billy kind of like a father/ another parental figure (bcoz fuck lonnie). He has Jonathan of course (and Hopper and Steve), but Billy is the one who teaches him how to play basketball, change a tire, throw a punch, etc. a lot of stuff fathers in the 80’s would generally teach their kids

will has a hard time adjusting to changes in his life.

when his father first left, even though he was a piece of shit, it was weird to lose him. he got so used to the occasional affection that he grew to miss that fatherly figure.

jonathan was still a kid, too. he was dealing with their dad leaving as well, and he didn’t need the responsibility of acting like a dad to will.

joyce was amazing, but she’s a helicopter mom. she’s tactical and confident, but in a mom way, and there’s just some things a woman can’t teach her son as well as a man can (the puberty talk was scarring, to say the least)

bob was kind, bob gave will a chance and didn’t look at him any differently, and will thought that maybe, just maybe he could get a father figure out of him, but we all know what happened with that.

then steve came into their small group, but when and dustin had a very close relationship and steve didn’t care to interact with the other kids.

hopper was kind and amazing, but he didn’t have a super close connection with will. he just wasn’t openly warm and fuzzy and they just didn’t connect.

it shouldn’t have been anyone but lonnie’s responsibility to be will’s dad, but he still wanted someone to fill that hole in his heart, left shattered after the first time lonnie called him gay for crying.

and will wasn’t expecting jack shit out of billy. he was loud and obnoxious and crude and selfish and will wanted nothing to do with the californian.

until the day their av club ran late and, as all the boys were picked up, max and will were the only ones left standing on the steps.

billy’s car was sitting in the high school parking lot, among others, who were staying after for basketball practice or other extra curriuculars.

but jonathan’s car wasn’t there and his mom had the late shift and will wasn’t allowed to ride his bike to school anymore, a stern rule from his mom.

max was waiting on the steps of the middle school since billys practice went until 5:00 and there was still a good ten minutes, plus she didn’t want to leave will alone

when billy eventually came strutting out of the school to his car, 10 minutes later than usual, will was still waiting with max.

“do you need a ride? i can force billy to take you home,” max gave a sheepish smile

“do you think he’ll get mad?”

max shrugged her shoulders in a careless manner before starting to walk down the sidewalk to billy

will followed a step behind and overthought this whole situation. he wasn’t all to sure he wanted to be in a car with the guy who almost ran the party over.

but he had to get home somehow.

“billy, will needs a ride home,” max said, as if there was no room for questioning.

“doesn’t your group ride bikes?”

“i got driven to school today,” wills said, almost inaudibly

billy sighed and took a drag of his cigarette before giving max a glare, then getting into his car, meaning max won the argument.

billy was mean but he’s been left at school because of a careless parent one too many times before getting his liscence.

billy asked only twice which way to go, because he’d only ever driven there from the wheelers, not the school (which was in the opposite direction from the wheelers, but just a mile or two farther than the hargrove-mayfield home)

billy flinched at each rock hit the side of his car as he drove down the bumpy dirt road that led to the byers, cursing at the work he would have to do to clean his car later.

will, who was patiently sat in the back, unbuckled before the car fully stopped an max was getting out, leaning the seat foreward, and letting will go into his house.

billy rolled down the window before will walked in, “hey kid!”

will turned to look at billy cautiously, raising his eyebrows in question

“if you ever need another ride home, i’m expecting you to wash my car after!”

will looked at the car, seeing how muddy the wheels and bottom few inches of the car had gotten compared to the pristine condition of the rest of his car

he nodded and billy rolled up his window, waiting until will got inside before driving away.

max snickered from the passenger seat, “you’re such a softie,”

“am not,”

“i doubt will’s ever washed a car in his life,”

“seriously?” billy raised an eyebrow, glancing over to max

she shrugged, “don’t know,”

two or so months later, billy has developed a routine of driving will home every other tuesday, when joyce and jon are too busy to pick him up.

this one particular tuesday, however, max is home sick, so it’s just going to be the two of them

billy doesn’t see it as being so bad. the av club ends about half an hour before basketball practice does, so will and max usually wait by the car, and when billy walks out, will is looking down at one of his tires

as he gets closer, billy sees that his tire was slashed and completely flat by now, he puffed out a breath angrily as he got closer, and will flinched as he heard billy

“i didn’t do it, i swear, billy—“

“yeah, i know you didn’t do it, kid,”

billy takes a moment to push his anger to that little dark spot in his mind before unlocking his trunk, where he kept a spare tire and car jack

“what’s that?” will asked, referring to the car jack

“what? you’ve never changed a tire before?”

will shook his head no.

billy instructed him to put his bag in the car, then showed will how to position the car jack, then get the car up, then remove and replace the tire.

will’s eyes lit up as he helped billy out the new tire on, never having had a person show him classic-guy things like this. jon just would have called a service or something.

it didn’t end there, though. will started to really enjoy billys company.

he was rough and tough around the edges but very patient with will and understood that he didn’t have much experience in normal life things.

billy even offered to teach will how to shoot a basketball one day when practice was running behind.

it’s not until winter falls into spring that billy teaches will another fantastic life skill.

will comes trudging to the car with max one day in march, head bowed and hoodie covering his face.

billy and max have a silent conversation of ‘what’s up with will’ and ‘don’t ask’

billy doesn’t see it until he’s driving down the road to will’s house and looks in his rear view mirror. there’s a big, blue/red/purple mark on his cheek.

it takes every ounce of power in billy’s body to not track down and kill an 8th grader. but he’s better than that.

as wills getting out of the car to go to his house, billy gets out too, tells max to stay in the car.

“what happened?”

will sighed in defeat, he knew he couldn’t hide it forever, “troy, he’s a dick in my grade and just, hit me today, its not a big deal,”

will looked so dejected at the recap of his day that billy almost hugged him. almost. he had a reputation to upkeep, you know.

“so did you hit him back?”

“i probably would have hurt my hand more than his face if i tried,”

“you don’t know how to punch?”

“do you really think my mom would have taught me how?”

“good point,” billy nodded, taking a moment of silence to think, “are you doing anything this sunday?”

will’s face scrunched up, but he shook his head no. billy had a wicked grin growing on his face.

“perfect. i’m going to teach you how to hit that piece of shit back. i’ll pick you up sunday at one, sound good?”

before will could get a word in, billy was turned around and walking back to the car.

the saturday meet-up wasn’t as bad as wills thought it was gonna be.

billy had picked him up, one on the dot, and driven them out to the old junkyard, bringing a pillow and his toolbox out with him.

he held a pillow to his chest and looked at will. “hit me,”

“what?”

“you wont hurt me, but i brought the pillow so now you especially can’t hurt me, so do it. hit me!”

will gave a weak punch and billy corrected him from there. moved his thumb so he wouldn’t hurt himself, changed the approach, and showed him how to get more power into his hits.

will was a pro by the end of the hour.

“so what’s the toolbox for?” will asked as they were sitting on the hood of a rusty, old car, taking a break

“ahh, the fun part of the afternoon, you mean,”

will raised an eyebrow and watched as billy pulled out a crowbar from the box, handing it to will

“what am i doing with this?”

“hit the car,” billy looked way too excited for this.

when will didn’t move, billy’s shoulders sagged.

“look, it’s therapeutic and these are all dump cars anyway, just start hittin’ it!”

will did, he hit a junky, old, red car as hard as he could and was elated by the huge dent that was pushed in as a result.

“there you go! do it again!” billy encouraged

will did. he hit the car over and over and over.

billy was right, it was therapeutic. every time he had an angry thought, be it about his dad or his bullies, he hit the car and a string that kept him all tied up snapped.

will didn’t even realize he was slowing down until his muscles stopped moving and he had his arms hanging to his sides, crowbar still grasped tightly in his hand.

“feel good?” billy asked, walking closer and taking the crowbar, putting it in the toolbox and locking it, then picking up it and the pillow.

“feels good,” will nodded

billy motioned for will to start walking to where he’d parked the car, only a bit away, so they could go home.

“thank you,” will said as they were driving down the road, music quieter than billy usually played it and a peaceful silence between the two

“what for?”

“doing this... like, manly stuff, i guess. i never knew how to punch or change a tire or play sports before, and it’s been cool hanging out with you,”

will has his whole body turned towards billy (who was peaking glances at him while keeping his eyes on the road).

“i’m glad i can help you out kid. i used to get pushed around a lot, believe it or not, and i wish someone had helped me out and i didn’t have to go it alone, ya know?”

will nodded, glancing out the window and seeing that they were pulling onto his street.

“i’m glad i get to help you out, kid.” billy reached the end of the driveway and parked the car, “let me know if you ever... need a ride to the arcade or something, ok? never be afraid to ask.”

will thanked him again and pushed the door open, going into his house, listening to the camaro’s engine rev after he’d shut the door.

he hadn’t ever had a stable father figure, and he knew billy was too young to be his dad in any sense, but doing things like this made the gap in his heart grow smaller and smaller every day.

because who needs a dad when you’ve got billy hargrove?

[partiallyobscure]

otp questions from this post <3 I just went ahead and did them with David and Michael lmao. it’s mostly my usual headcanons with my fic as the backstory but you don’t necessarily need to read it to understand. cw for light nsfw but it’s mostly tame.

Who is the most affectionate?

David is disgustingly affectionate. he lives to make people uncomfortable so he would be the absolute worst perpetrator of PDA. he and Michael have gotten kicked out of too many establishments all because David is constantly letting his hands wander. I don’t even think he’s aware of it at this point lmao

Big spoon/Little spoon?

they bicker about it a lot, but usually in bed, David ends up being the little spoon. he tries to start off being the big spoon but he always wakes up with Michael’s arms around his chest, specifically covering where the holes from the antlers were, even though the scars are long gone by now.

Most common argument?

usually comes down to who/what/where to eat.

Favorite non-sexual activity?

they love doing tons of stuff together, but they really like racing, watching bad sci-fi movies, and going on haunted tours around the country. they’ll really go the extra mile for the ghost tours and get huge cameras to hang around their neck and everything and act all tourist-y. it’s a great time.

Who is most likely to carry the other?

David fusses but Michael carries him around when he can or requests it. he doesn’t like to do it too often though because it always reminds him of that first time he did so, thinking he was carrying David’s dead body in his arms.

What is their favorite feature of their partner's?

Michael’s favorite feature is David’s mouth, especially when it quirks up into his signature smirk, but he can also tell a lot about what David’s feeling from what he’s doing with his mouth. David hates that Michael can read him so easily (even with their shared mental connection) and asks how the fuck he’s able to do that, and Michael always gives an enigmatic smile and swipes his thumb across David’s lips.

David’s favorite is Michael’s eyes. he could lose a whole night just staring into them. he can’t quite place the color, but they remind him of how the sky would look at noon and he gets a rush of nostalgia every time Michael looks at him. whenever they light up like when they’re with Michael’s family or when he’s talking about the coolest bike that he saw in town that day is David’s absolute favorite. and when only his eyes turn amber, before the rest of his face follows to match David’s, David falls a little bit more in love every time.

What's the first thing that changes when they realize they have feelings for the other?

not much changed on David’s end since he was attracted to Michael at first sight. he couldn’t let it show though so he just found excuses to touch Michael whenever he could, passing him the joint and their fingers brushing when Michael took the bottle and catching him when they fell off the bridge.

when Michael realized he started to share those feelings, he was confused at first considering everything that happened between them. he wasn’t sure if he wanted to hit David or hit on David when they first met, so those feelings simmered a bit until he could get to know David beyond their history. he doesn’t fully admit it until he realizes he’s the one David is pursuing and he has the ego boost from this combined with knowing there’s more to David than what he allows people to see.

Nicknames? & if so, how did they originate?

David likes how Michael’s name sounds too much to give him a nickname, but will sometimes hit him with a ‘babe’ just to see him flustered. Michael calls him Davey just to make him mad but especially in public.

Who worries the most?

Michael since he still can’t seem to shake the fact that he doesn’t need to worry anymore about human dangers. he still flinches and looks twice before pulling onto the highway and all. but mostly he still worries about his family and their perception of him and whether or not they see him as a bad person, despite their love and support. and of course, he worries about how he’ll be when the day comes that he gets older than them.

Who remembers what the other one always orders at a restaurant?

David knows Michael’s order all too well and specifically chooses restaurants that have at least fifteen kinds of burgers to choose from.

Michael swears David is making stuff up at this point whenever they go to a sushi place or a Thai place and he chooses something new to try every time. he knows David’s bubble tea order by heart, though.

Who tops?

Michael, but they’ll switch whenever David has had enough of Michael being too gentle with him.

Who initiates kisses?

David, but he’ll usually give Michael a look when he wants a kiss and Michael is happy to oblige. otherwise, since David likes gross PDA, he usually steals a kiss whenever he can.

Who reaches for the other's hand first?

David and it’s usually because he has to pull Michael along after he gets lost in his thoughts, more often than not after they feed.

Who kisses the hardest?

Michael. David nipped at his bottom lip once and that’s all it took for his fangs to come out and sometimes, it gets a little bloody.

Who wakes up first?

Michael. he has to practically drag David out of bed most nights because he’s too comfortable.

Who wants to stay in bed just a little longer?

David as stated above lmao. who knows how long dude was batting it up before he could sleep in a bed again.

Who says I love you first?

Michael and it was out of frustration.

Who tells their family/friends about their relationship first?

there’s no one to tell at first since they were keeping it secret, but Star finds out first and is initially upset, mostly about being lied to. grandpa eventually finds out next and then Sam stumbled across them by accident, so...both of them technically spill the beans together each time lmao

What do their family/friends think of their relationship?

Lucy is supportive and likes David a lot. she knows she should probably resent him for turning Michael, but he really seems like a boy who was in a bad scenario and is making due with what happened to him. she also knows Michael has been a good influence on him and trusts the two of them are doing what they need to to survive. her and David bond over shit talking Max and the best kind of wines.

Sam was understandably skeptical at first, but he and David came to an understanding and they’re cool now. they bond over music and David eventually comes around to really enjoying board games because of Sam, mostly because he wins every single game. Sam even refers to him as his brother-in-law.

Star took longer to come around but she mostly listens whenever Sam tells her what they’re up to. she’s also mostly relieved that she dodged both of those bullets and can live her own life how she wants to now, grateful that the boys gave her an escape and that Michael helped get her human life back.

Who is more likely to start dancing with the other?

both of them suck at dancing, but Michael will spin David every now and then when a cheesy slow song comes on, or Careless Whispers and they both crack up.

Who cooks more/who is better at cooking?

when they’re back spending time with Michael’s family, David is usually the one helping Lucy in the kitchen. he’s chided Michael before about joining in, especially with the big holiday dinners but Michael is always there to lick whatever spoons and bowls clean when they make dessert.

they vow to take a cooking class or two while they’re out on the road but never do.

Who comes up with cheesy pick up lines?

Michael. he usually gets them from Sam.

Who whispers inappropriate things in the other's ear during inappropriate times?

David, 100%. inappropriate times being at all times because of the whole telepathy thing.

Who needs more assurance?

David, that Michael still wants to be with him and doesn’t resent him for turning him. but also Michael that he isn’t a monster and that he’s only doing what he needs to to survive.

What would be their theme song?

SOOOO MANY but just from my drive to work today: Possum Kingdom by the Toadies fits TOO well. Michael by Franz Ferdinand too obviously. I’m curating a playlist for them here at the moment if anyone’s interested lmao

Who would sing to their child back to sleep?

please don’t give these two a child

What do they do when they're away from each other?

they’re not usually too far from each other but David gets a little mopey until he can see Michael again. he’s protective so he doesn’t let Michael too far out of his sight. Michael feels a little part of himself missing when David’s not with him, so he’ll do whatever he needs to do quickly or just take David along with him.

one headcanon about this OTP that breaks your heart:

despite all the time David has had to mourn and grieve, he still misses the other boys every day and sometimes it gets really painful. his only regret in life is not easing Michael into the vampire thing more before turning him, but he was under a time constraint from Max so he didn’t have much of a choice. they still get into shouting matches very rarely about whether or not Michael was the catalyst for the other three’s deaths and David’s very deep, hidden fear is that he’ll never learn how to accept it and one day, his emotions will take him too far and Michael will get sick of his guilt trips.

one headcanon about this OTP that mends it:

Michael does blame himself for David’s grief, because how could he not. he feels like the constant source of David’s sorrow when it comes to the boys but also his ecstatic love and it pulls him in two directions. he listens intently whenever David tells him about his past and his time with the boys and asks what they’d say or do if they were there with them right now, and it continues into the modern era. Michael asks what kind of blog Paul would have (music reviews and fashion), what Marko would name his Instagram account for bird photography (vampigeons), and how many followers Dwayne would get on tiktok for posting thirst traps. David knows Michael cares and is trying to keep the spirit of the lost boys alive.

[itsonlystrange]

some say that El would have to die for byler to work.

Theres a lot to unpack here...

First off: el exists outside of mike and it is so misogynistic and narrow minded to assume that she can only exist as a partner to mike and in a relationship with him. She has her own interests and desires and personality that goes WAY beyond Mike and does not need Mike to survive. In the beginning, yeah, Mike was her life line, but now she has way more people In her life and will continue to make new friends and make new enemies, too. There are more Mike’s out there. And she knows this too, as she refers to Mike as her “first boyfriend”, implying that she is not only open to having a second, third, or even fourth boyfriend, but that she genuinely wants one. She knows that there are plenty of fish in the sea. At first, all she had known was Papa and Mike. Her vision was very black and white, and she was convinced that the only trust worthy people were Mike, Dustin, and Lucas. But now shes seen the world. She’s met more and more people and as the seasons pass by her view of the world has widened, and she now knows that the world isn’t full of “bed men”. She knows that she can trust more than one person and that the world isn’t always a battle field between 2 options. El is her own person. She does not need mike to survive!

Second: Mike’s happiness does not depend on El. We see that in season two, even though he misses her dearly, he can still be happy without her. So saying that el would have to disappear, or no longer be a romantic option for Mike, is implying that Mike will always choose El unless he has no other choice. And we know this for a fact because, whenever it came down to El or Will, he always chose Will. In season 2 he did call El for 353 days, but the second that Will was in need, he completely forgot about her and even admitting to Max that she was dead. In season 3 he biked multiple miles in the rain for a “friend” and then ran into the woods, (which, by the way, if you have the canon “Will Byers Secret Files” there’s a map of Hawkins inside of it, which shows that Castle Byers is a incredibly significant distance from the Wheeler’s. Like multiple miles. So the fact that Mike was willing to possibly get hurt while biking in deep fog, rain, and thunder, all to apologize to Will, when he couldn’t even apologize to El in sunshine, or when he couldn’t even bring himself to call her, to call her! Like he couldn’t even take a few minutes out of his day to dial a freaking number and apologize to El, who apparently is the “most important thing in the world to him”, yet didn’t even waste a second to apologize to Will, that says something. Mike most definitely does not need El and he also does not always fall back on her. If it came down to El or Will, he’d choose Will. And he does not rely on el for happiness, in fact Mike seems the most irrational and irritated when together with El.

Please stop making El and Mike out to be the romantic duo of the century. They barely even knew eachother for a week and were supposed to believe that he was in love with her at first sight, just because he gave her food and a bed? That’s like... the bare necessities. And I bet that if El didn’t have powers and didn’t know where Will was, Mike wouldn’t have hesitated to abandon her and turn her in. I do believe that now, Mike cares about El. I think he has a strong bond with her, but I don’t think he’s in love with her. I mean, you saw how he reacted to her kissing him! That is not the face of love or happiness, or even disbelief. He 100% just noticed something. Finn is a brilliant actor, and I’m sure that if the Duffer’s told him to act “in love” he would not have made that face, or kept his eyes open during the whole kiss. The duffers had to have specifically put it in the script and even tell Finn to look utterly shocked and disgusted.

Anyways, I went off on a tangent here but to sum it all up: El is her own person who exists out side of anyone and does not need Mike to be a good character, and if you only like her when she’s with Mike, you got an issue. Again, ship whoever you want! I won’t bash you for it ! But these misogynistic ideals gotta change.