#el takes too many screenshots

[bbpuckdrop]

okay this was so cute

ref's friends/fam for his first game !

[bbpuckdrop]

🫡💙

(and the outtakes:)

Please tell me someone has a screenshot of the hair sticking out of the top/side of Leon's helmet 🙏

[teambyler]

My response to "Will became less interesting and likeable in S4"

VERY interesting recent posts at the subreddit. One has people rank their favorite characters and Will is near the bottom of most lists. The other is screenshotted above.

A common complaint is that he had less to do. (That's for sure!) But another theme is that he is "boring" or "always crying" or "about to cry."

I left the following comment there:

Well, they've written him to be a closeted gay kid in a small town in the 80s. Struggling with his sexuality and coming out is going to be kind of... his everything. I went through it. (The 80s part at least.) And so no, he's not going to be as outgoing or "interesting and likeable" as a Steve Harrington or Dustin.

(Meanwhile, here is the current top post at the subreddit, with people going gaga in the comments:)

Instead, Will is incredibly awkward, reserved, closed-in, and does not project confidence and charisma that make people easily like him, because he hates and loathes and doubts himself. Every movement, every inflection, every look, every expression of himself, threatens his safety and well-being. He has been awkward and introverted and shy. But he has also been sensitive, caring, and empathetic. He was one of the more selfless characters this season. These qualities, at least the way he expresses them, don't win conventional popularity contests. Some people find that "bland." I find it to be admirable.

The Duffers have made clear that s5 will focus on Will:

“Will really takes center stage again in 5,” Ross Duffer told Variety. “This emotional arc for him is what we feel is going to hopefully tie the whole series together. Will is used to being the young one, the introverted one, the one that’s being protected. So part of his journey, it’s not just sexuality — it’s Will coming into his own as a young man.”

As he grows out of his shell and gets to assert himself more in s5, he probably becomes more "interesting and likeable" in the conventional sense.

==========

Anyway, just wanted to share. Will may not be the most "popular" character in the conventional sense, but he's won many hearts. Nor is he "bland" or just a "damsel in distress" (I saw those comments on the subreddit too ugh!) He's our original badass with a gun. Who cast fireball for his friends. He survived the frikkin Upside Down for one week by himself. He found the strength to communicate while being possessed that they needed to "CLOSE GATE" to defeat the monsters in s2, which would have killed him. He was willing to sacrifice his life. And in s3 and s4, he has been wanting to keep the party together and then put Mike and El's interest above his own.

Will is a hero. And heroes can be quiet gay boys, too.

-teambyler

[waltzingwithyourenemyattheball]

PICK A CARD: MESSAGES FROM KRISHNA(Universe) BIG DESTINY!!

Left: 111 ; Right: 333

Disclaimer :

Take what resonates, and leave the rest.

All personal readings are paid.

You are not allowed to copy my work under any circumstances.

Thank you for allowing me to read for you, please provide feedback.

🌸111🌸

You will be called to step into a position of power, a position where others rely on you, someone with responsibilities on their shoulders, and this energy cannot be brought to fruition till you become worthy of being a leader. Know thyself, you strengths your limitations, what makes you, your defence mechanisms and everything else. Because self knowledge and awareness is the 1st step. I am getting that you should read  Arthshastra, please do, it will be beneficial for you. It is telling you to work on your communication skills, I feel someone who is on the defensive, you may have people pleasing tendencies. Know how to be a good communicator, work on public speaking as well, practising in front of the mirror or recording yourself speak will be really good for you. You don’t have to post the video anywhere, just see, analyse, make notes and correct them next time. Even 5 minutes speaking with a 10 minute analysis would do wonders for you. Also BIG MESSAGE: LEARN TO ACCEPT YOURSELF. You are two criticsl, your shadow self ordered defensive self just wants to protect you, so nurture yourself, being too harsh in the beginning is so not the key to success, even acknowledging would do, journalling right before sleeping is a good way to do this. Just reading this and not taking action will lead you no where. Please put in the action. The key to that is intention. Intent to be what you need to be, and the rest will follow, it may not be a smooth ride but a worthy one.  Comment 111 TO CLAIM THIS. READ IT. RE-READ IT. TAKE A PRINT OUT, SCREENSHOT, doesn’t matter. READ THIS EVERYDAY. 🌙 DM for a personal tarot reading, it would help you in stepping into your power🌙

🕊️333🕊️

Okay so, I am seeing you are rebellious one, the innovative ones, the ones who see things differently, some of you may have rahu-ketu (north node-south node, in sidereal/vedic) in 3rd house and 9th house axis. You are embarking on a journey, and asking questions about rules and traditions that heave been setting in place, it could be in any setting, corporate, workplace, home, society. This has made you look for a new way of thinking, like a new adventure, I am getting The Alchemist vibes, Harry Potter, going in search for truth of some sort, and revamping the pattern. You will be the one to change things around here, I am taking BIG CHANGES for some of you. You could be an integral part of the new way to do things, making an innovative way to work, going aganist the grain. Encouraging people to be free. You HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF THE SLAVE AND RAT-CHASE MINDSET. You KNOW YOU ARE HERE TO LIVE LIFE, breathe every moment, living experiencing. This could lead you to travel a lot, learning about new cultures and ways, and making something out of those experiences. Key Place: Mountains, Hills, Rivers, Cold Places- these stand out the most. Note- Library and books are important, I saw this vision many times + SAMWELL TARLY from Game of Thrones.

YOU MUST KNOW THIS BY NOW, BUT YOU ARE IN FOR A BIG BIG ADVENTURE, I can actually FEEL YOUR THRILL, that feeling where your breathing then not at all, because you are in awe of the mystery that is about to be uncovered. It could be related to metaphysics as well. 

Comment 333 TO CLAIM THIS.  

 🌙DM for a personal tarot reading, it would help you in stepping into your power🌙

For more guidance -> EL TAROT

-

EL TAROT

[ven0moir]

ONE SIDED LOVE IN ST ... SPOILER ALERT: BYLER IS NOT ONE SIDED.

In S2, the show gave us examples on how they set up a requited vs one-sided love triangle ... and what's interesting about it was that Mike mirrored BOTH parties; the one who got their feelings reciprocated and the one that did not. Take a look at how it was blocked.

In the very first scene of the season, Lucas tells us what's going to happen; 'Princess Daphne' aka Max in this analogy, will end up with him (this was confirmed by the Duffers btw. This dialogue foreshadowed Lucas ending up with Max).

When they first see Max, she's introduced as the new student, aka, she is alone/has no friends. When Mike first saw Will, it was the first day of kindergarten and they were BOTH alone too. Then, Dustin and Lucas both approached Max and asked her to join their party. Mike approached Will and asked him to be his friend.

Mike is mirroring both Dustin AND Lucas, which is also why there were TWO Venkmans but Mike insisted they can only be one. (In meta dialogue, only one would get together with their love interest.) Now, I believe this is all FORESHADOWING Mike and Will ending up together (I don't think Mike was aware/had feelings for Will yet)

When they all go trick or treating, Dustin and Lucas end up spending the night with Max while Mike ends up spending it with Will back in his basement. (It is unclear how long they all were trick or treating for/how long Will stayed over with Mike but since it was established they'd be picked up at 9pm, I'm going to assume that's how long they were together)

Now this is where things shift a bit and it is then Will who mirrors Lucas; they both tell their love interest about the supernatural, and ask them to keep it a secret from others.

Then we see Dustin find Dart and get distracted from his crush on Max by taking care of someone mysterious that is unknown to him but fascinating and intriguing. Sounds familiar?

(I might have to make a whole ENTIRE post on this alone tbh, since there's a limit to how many screenshots we can post but boy, these parallels are quite telling.)

In Mike's case, he also sensed that El would be the key to finding Will. Now before you call me a weirdo for this comparison you need to remember that the Duffers did call Eleven and Mike the 'ET and Elliot' of their show. There are blatant ET & Elliot/Mike & Eleven parallels in the show. So Dustin & Dart/Mike & Eleven parallels were done intentionally.

I mean, even in an interview they said Mike felt like he was taking care of a puppy or something like that, which these parallels bring home. What I think they are trying to portray is their CURIOSITY, not any sort of 'love at first sight' instance. Hence why Mike also has parallels to Benny in the way he met Eleven, because he did see her as a person and not some sort of 'pet' or experiment. (I will actually make a post about this since I feel like it deserves the context, but we'll leave it at this for now).

The party split up after they met in the AV Club to discuss Dart. Lucas and Max got closer, Will and Mike got closer, and Dustin went off on his own, then eventually ran into Steve.

And then when the season closes, this happens. Now what's most interesting about this is how Mike is mirroring Lucas. Eleven showed up and he gets to dance with her instead, just like Lucas is dancing with Max (and he even copies Lucas asking Max to dance).

However, he is also mirroring DUSTIN.

Mike looks sad/conflicted because Will is now dancing with a girl, and we see Dustin staring sadly into the distance as Lucas dances with Max. We also see Dustin dance with Nancy-someone he idealized and at some point had a small crush on, but that eventually he will also let go of in favor of someone he connects with better, just like Mike is dancing with Eleven.

I think that what this set up ultimately foreshadows is that Mike's relationship with Eleven was never meant to be a long-term thing. Whether you think Mike is gay or bi, his feelings with Eleven never developed in this way because they were never able to fully connect romantically.

If we think about how Dustin, the one in the one-sided end of things, closed the season, then we would expect Will closing up S4 similarly, correct? They had Dustin close the season dancing with someone else after getting his heart crushed, and Max with her actual love interest, Lucas.

The last time we saw him, he was moving on from Max, so it wasn't a huge surprise that the next season he had a new love interest. It was expected given how S2 ended for him! His crush on Max was hopeless.

It is worth mentioning that Dustin only knew Max for a WEEK and that storyline was still handled with a lot of respect for his feelings. The show didn't make fun of him for it nor did they punish him. He didn't even get flat out rejected-He never confessed to Max nor did we see his feelings develop beyond just a simple crush. But it was clear how Max had chosen Lucas. Dustin didn't need to tell Max that she was The Heart for her to confess to Lucas, did he?

So if we think about Will ... he ended the season standing in a literal field of flowers next to MIKE. If Byler was truly one-sided, Will would've closed the season very apparently MOVING ON from Mike, with Mike very apparently CHOOSING El.

Instead, the show set them up to still be a TEAM in S5. They left the season in a literal cliff hanger in this regard because Byler getting together is going to be HUGE. I am assuming they will go all out. And I honestly cannot wait to see what they do with them.

[kittenminari]

yeah so just to lay what i know out for the record

the info of bunnie's zionism is from a private twitter account they have. an account which they personally reached out to individuals of this community to follow - a separate private due to distaste for some following the first private they made on twitter.

because the follow count was extremely small to begin with, and even smaller now, i will not be sharing any screenshots of the account.

i am not trying to get anyone dogpiled on, whether it's the people who have provided sufficient evidence or even bunnie themself.

i have read through thirty two (32) screenshots from the twitter in question and it is all extremely vile and hateful.

the following topics are covered in the majority of their retweets, however this is a non exhaustive list:

- conflating being anti-isr*el to being antisemitic

- calling the genocide of the Palestinian people a "war"

- the notion that the people of isr*el are native to the land and thus have rightful claim to it - "it's not stolen land, it's the most successful land back movement for native sovereignty"

- posts saying those calling an end to isr*el are calling for "the genocide of 7million jews in isr*el as a reasonable solution to the conflict"

- complete denial of the starvation Palestinians are experiencing and have been experiencing for months "it was just straight up made up"

- a vent post about how "everyone suddenly has a PhD on Judaism post 10/7" (quite ironic if you ask me)

- ridicule of an individual who is now homeless for supporting Palestine

- equating the support of hamas to supporting h*tler

- racism. so much racism

Additionally they have made several tweets themself that are quite... off putting to say the least

one post that was a qrt. the quote talked about what the point was of learning about Nazis in history classes all throughout our formative years just to see so many sit back and let the current atrocity taking place.

bunnie's own tweet in reply to the quote said op was missing the point of what was being taught, because "you're falling for the exact same propaganda against jews that the german citizens did"

they also qrt a post about not speaking over black jewish people or discrediting their experiences. to which bunnie then questioned "when did [black jewish people] suddenly become experts?" - again, a bit ironic if you ask me

the amount of high-horsing and self victimization witnessed from their twitter is honestly disgusting. reprehensible is an understatement if you ask me.

again, while i do go in to specifics of what has been posted on bunnie's private twt here, i will not be posting screenshots out of respect for those that came forward with them and what they are most comfortable with.

i realize due to the lack of direct caps of the page, the info above is less creditable - however, it has been my experience of reading through (and i know others have seen the posts too) that such content be put on full blast one way or another in order to inform those in this space.

take what you've read as you will, and make a decision based on what you think is best, but do try to see what has been provided from those who witnessed it.

this will never be a space safe for anyone who supports the genocide being committed against the Palestinian people

[bloodpen-to-paper]

DSMP Finale Things that make me feel like I'm back at the Beginning

-Tommy's checklist, especially finishing his base with Tubbo

-Shroud set free

-Zombo the Second cured and set free by Eret and Tubbo years after they first caught it

-George sleeping through most of the event (but being there for the End)

-Tommy banning Dream, specifically by tricking Sam into giving him Op

-Tommy blowing up the hotel (with Sam rigging it up for him)

-Eret fixing all their old builds/restoring all their stolen beacons

-"I don't give a fuck about Spirit" speech throwback

-Tommy and Tubbo revealing what's in how to sex (the first volume) and it being the most stupidly funny thing ever

-Tubbo and Sam visit the ocean monument where they first met

-Tubbo and Eret jungle base visit where they became friends

-Tommy and Dream walking the prime path

-Punz finding his house griefed after being inactive for months

-Prime farming

-Huge donos

-Accidental media share opening up on Tommy's stream

-Dream respawning in the prison because he forgot he set his respawn there

-Puffy giving people (Antfrost) weednip

-Eret museum visit, appreciating it and walking through memory lane

-Hannah got her elytra back

-Philza doing hardcore while important DSMP stuff is happening

-Chat hoppers in Philza's chat telling him to go on the DSMP

-Philza telling them to fuck off

-Hannah on the cake path

-Tubbo trying to visit Michael, raging when he can't find Michael, and Sam finding Michael in Ranboo's base after Tubbo already left

-Visiting Techno's base

-Catmaid Antfrost skin

-Oogway visit (and people messing with the item frames)

-Punz, Sam and Tubbo trying to get Hannah's elytra

-Boomer roasting people

-Foolish build appreciation

-Seapeekay getting a part in the museum

-Mentions of El Targay and McPuffy's

-Eggpire site visit

-Visiting Alyssa's builds

-Bass boosted go pros and autotune shenanigans

-Tommy failing an MLG bucket clutch

-Dream spawn killing Tommy to the disc music while Tubbo defends him and saying he wants the discs (throwback)

-Church Prime

-Hannah's frog statue

-Puffy's builds being destroyed as collateral damage

-Everyone freaking out over George joining

-Callahan joining and immediately leaving

-Group dance session

-Punz smack talking people on instinct

-Ponk asking people for food cause he never has any

-Sam being stacked with everything everyone needs

-Hbomb innuendos

-Maidbomb mentions

-Skephalo jokes

-No one being prepared to go to the end and having to get ready in a rush

-Peeople getting lost on the nether highways and taking wrong turns

-People getting pushed out of the portals when there's too many trying to fit in at the same time

-"I WAS HERE"

-Everyone forgetting to bring ender eyes for the End Portal

-Callahan summoning withers in the end

-George continuously dying to endermen

-Tubbo killing the enderdragon and respawning at world spawn

-Bad staying on brand and wanting the enderdragon egg

-Tubbo and Tommy on a bench, listening to discs and watching the sunset

-Warden Sam and Prisoner Dream moment

-Techno's temple in the New World

-Skeppy joining after all the action already happened

-Sharing screenshots, secrets and final thoughts

-Puffy, Bad, Sam and Eret visiting all the sites and reminiscing

-o7

[cinamun]

Hey Cin, So... I kept debating as an introvert whether or not to come onto the Big T. But I am a long time enthusiast of your work (since your S2 contest and S2 story days.) and wanted to join Triple R. (The Raven Simone pic is a good look for the club Avatar LOL.) I, as many of the rest of us were not expecting you to do a Stephen King and "Kill your little Darlings" well... not specifically El who I felt was a more complex character (literally) at least so far than Jayce (IMHO) because he like several of your characters had potential for redemption even when he took that dark turn. Yes, I know not every character has to be dark and twisty with continued problems. But case in point: I noted how quick the anger blazed up toward Elliot but Darren is lauded for his turn around and growth even after he *also* put hands to Indya in the early days of their relationship... now granted he didn't put her lights out like Hope, but came close. Elliot was that ride or die friend (like Darren.) that Hope didn't even have with her girls (that I could tell.) and even helped to find her when she ran away. But with the good doctors help, breakthroughs regarding Sean, an absent mother and love could have possibly changed El like Darren to a grizzled happy middle aged healed OG with a family. But, it's unfortunately not to be. I do also wonder with the way these events went down if Darren and Indya remember this side of himself? Even though that was past Darren and not Daddy of 3 and Uncle of 1 Darren? Ok, I am going to fade into the bushes like Homer Simpson now.

NO! Bestie! Come BACK! You can't just drop a think piece like this and fade away boo. Nope, we don't do that here. But you know what we DO do?

We get into it...

First of all, those sims 2 model contests where the best thing to ever happen to me in the early 2gs okay? WHERE ARE THEY NOW? That's when I learned how to use hair brushes in photoshop AND "frankensim". But I digress....

Elliot's death was not something I took lightly. I was VERY attached to him. I made him from scratch in CAS as a child *specifically* for Hope. That was her bestie, first crush, first love, first kiss. He was *MADE* for her and I really do mean that literally. It took at least 2 weeks to even come to terms with the idea and up until the last screenshot of that fateful day on the pier was taken, I was still not convinced I would do it. It was a test as a writer: to do something so drastic to an OC that it torments you. It hurt.

The reason everyone jumped on Elliot was because of *how* he chose to do it (I was angry with my DAMN self, but it couldn't happen another way in my head). LIke you said, he "put her lights out". He squeezed her neck so hard, with the most powerful part of his arm, and caused so much internal damage, it kept her in the hospital for two weeks (there is symbolism to this that I won't disclose just yet).

He absolutely had the potential to grow and be redeemed just like Darren did and Darren had far more demons than simply a lost love (he had that too, though, with Sherrita). Darren lost whole family members. Elliot was without a mother. Darren was without a mother. This is where, I believe, the parallels end.

I truly believe that Darren and Indya remember the days when abuse was a regular occurence. Indya had the same bruises from being lifted up by the neck by Darren that Hope now has after being.... (wait for it...)

...lifted up by the neck by Elliot:

Lest we forget....

Key difference here: Darren was abusive. Elliot was not physically abusive (that we know of) until the argument with Hani that led him down a spiral that would ultimately take his life.

I'll end with this (because the Ratchet Readers™ may have some nuances I'm not seeing) While Darren and Indya might remember those days, they choose to live in the present where blessings are abundant, the soil is fertile and the growth is perrenial. I believe that *everyone* has that capacity which is why I always say that this story is ultimately about growth. The plot is growth. The arcs are growth. All of it. So I absolutely believe Elliot could have grown to the OG status that Darren now is. The reality is that, some just don't get there, even with the capacity to grow inherently a part of them.

[jeonstudios]

꒰ hey, lo-ve .ᐟ.ᐟ ꒱ ꪆ

it's honestly upsetting to learn that tumblr ate up that anon-text i had submitted, outpouring my thoughts on eoalh. i'm gonna try writing some of it again ( it's been a month, and i cannot remember most of what i wrote ), but here goes nothing.

my journey with eoalh began back in 2022. i believe the story was still updating then(?) sorry for my lack of memories, haha. that being said— i kept screenshots of my favorite excerpts. even used the "you are my birdie" x "you are like a tiny little bird baby that fell out of the nest that i found and now i have to take care of" analogies with my crush/long time close(?) friend back then ( i'm over him 98% ) anyway, he is kinda like eoalh!jk. so loved that his ego outcompetes his brain sometimes that he feels unloved instead, despite all the attention swarming around him.

another point among many that touched me would be

oc talking about kindness. her idea of it reflects william blake's concept of "higher innocence", which i am very much a proponent of, by the way. true, it can drain you often if you foget how to show yourself equal kindness too, and our oc really struggled with that aspect, right? i'm glad. really glad you showcased it beautifully. a lot of her resonated with me. especially, her college days and how she, without a resistance, would take rejection and never try to blame it on others. i think i've outgrown that a bit, or significantly. i try to look at a situation the most neutral way i can, learn where i need improvements, and just do my best to move on. but the whole "none of it is your fault. yeah, i understand. it's alright, you don't have to worry about me. really." reassurances were so me. is still me.

then there was oc's need to shower people with kindness and love bcos she didn't wanna die with regrets. that's always been me. i would even narrate to people my stream of consciousness bcos "WHAT IF I DIE AND I NEVER GET TO TELL YOU HOW AND IN WHAT WAYS DID THIS MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHT OCCURED TO MY PUNY LITTLE BRAIN??"

so that was 2022, right? fast forward a few months »»

i had completely forgotten about the story's name. LOL 🤸🏻‍♀️ i remember i found you through @ggukkiereads recommendations. somebody had asked about the story back then— that's how i discovered you in 2022. but that same year, i had to sit for major exams. it made things hard to keep up with socials. lost the list, the ask & the story. imagine my agony? lol. all i had were screenshots of certain scenes ( without the account name visible, bruh ). @ggukkiereads went into hiatus, too. my search didn't end though. however, my agony hadn't either.

that's until 2024 𖦹 ･͛♡̷̷̷･͛

EL DORADO. ahoy, i 'ave found it and ye! prolly searched some bs like "bet!au jk tumblr" etc. didn't seem to work before tho. yeah, until that fateful 2024 evening. oh, agony! ( bugs bunny undertone ) it was from the same recs account. haha. i swear i had previously searched through every one of her lists! but oh, boy. speak of god's timing.

anyway, had the best time reading the story thoroughly. read fics from your recs account, too. imy favorite was a hogwarts!au where jk is in the quidditch team. huehue. read dc, bt and basically every one of your fics. but eoalh is eoalh, right? i'm so full of love for them, and so full of brainrots. when you mentioned the babybirthing drabble would have near d-word scenes? oh my, i thought that was tasty. bcos i do wanna see the fear in his eyes and heart when he sees her almost slip through his grasps. bahaha, as if all the angsts weren't enough. STILL !! it's fun to witness a man be loser and grovel and cry. i trust them tho. however, what's a little angsty brainrot? they are forever birdies. they will grow and fly together. almost close to the sun, but never too close like icarus, again. i believe in them. yeah.

but only bc i'm feeling vixeny— what's jealous eoalh!jk like? after marriage? NO, NAMJOON AND HER PET DOG WASN'T ENOUGH! I AM EAGER TO KNOW WHAT NEEDY EOALH!JK IS UP TO!

꒷ random gibberish incoming ꒷

dare i say, bts wasn't even my main fandom growing up? i mean i was never a hard stan of any group except [redacted], but kpop back then didn't need that. it was peaceful with fun interactive moments between every other group & reactions to performances. i kept up with bts since their debut, quite casually. the entirety of 3rd gen kpop is home to me in that regard.

BUT! BEHOLD! it's authors like you who made my attachment to them better. so, thanks for writing, yeah? know the power your pen/keyboard wields. i love how you aren't afraid to write about insecurities and vulnerabilities, in general. one might argue saying, "oh, it's easy to be behind a screen and type." maybe, but repeated exploration isn't ( respectfully and admirably said )

it means the author is trying to speak to the audience by baring themselves/their characters, sharing their views on topics whether personal/impersonal. it's not an arbitrary or whimsical piece of work. it's beautifully thought out and constructed.

you are really amazing, lo-ve. hope you keep growing, learning, and expanding your horizon. all the best wishes for you, sweets. also, a gentle reminder : you are much more than an author to me. kudos to your human.

[🎀🖇🩵]

yeah, tumblr suck sometimes! i've made it a habit to screenshot the ask before i send any just in case 😩 i'm glad you like eoalh and feel like you can relate to it! i do tend to write about things (and people) that i find comforting at the moment and as for eoalh!reader, i wanted her to be "weak" in a way i'm scared to be, and show that she'll be loved in the right way regardless. ♥️

[brionysea]

For the choose violence ask game:

3, 6, 7 and 22 (stranger things, of course) 👀

3. screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

anything to do with mike tbh. there are so many. the whole "mike's not really the heart, will is, will's just down bad!" thing is so annoying. like yes, 14 year old boy, let's all affirm your insecurities (which the scene subtly tells us could lead to suicide with the way will, who understands mike when he's not being blinded by his own biases, starts saying "hey, if you disappeared that would be bad, so please don't") and say will's too stupid to see what's in front of him. like, what? they created this role for mike, it's about being a leader and bringing the party together, and they showed us will trying to play that role instead in season 3 and he failed. the lack of media literacy is truly impressive. why do people even ship byler if they hate mike so much????? i don't get it

6. which ship fans are the most annoying?

m*levens are the only ones i see being homophobic to justify their ship, so

7. what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

i'm kind of cheating because i definitely do hate him because of canon too, but. b*lly. i do not understand how he has fans. it makes his scenes so much weirder to sit through. he's a racist sexist abuser who's only there to further max's story but he's played by a pretty white boy so that's all fine???? this fandom's desperation for a boring at best or horrible at worst white man to make the main character is astounding when the point of the story is that being a freak is good

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

mike's weirdness about the upside down. he's just like "obviously guns don't work against monsters, don't you know that?" "it's an alternate dimension, people. think about it. it's not that hard." "what do you MEAN you CAN'T see through the void el uses to spy on people???" he's just so effortlessly competent and intuitive about everything while everyone else is justifiably struggling to make the simplest connections because the topic matter is unfathomably confusing. i must know what's going on with him

choose violence ask game

[jlemonster]

[Image Description: an ao3 light mode screenshot of a short paragraph and eight dialog lines, that reads "The way he says it, Crowley knows immediately that it’s a false name. Oh, the man is good, she can’t argue with that. He’s been at this for a while. But she has, too, longer than this human could ever dream of, and she knows how untruth sits in the mouth. Cozzetti balances it well on his tongue. It warms her to him.

“I am Miss Ashtoreth.”

Cozzetti tips his head to the side. “I have to say, I’m happy to hear you’re a miss.”

“And who says that means anything to you?” Crowley says it coolly, but she extends her hand. Cozzetti raises it to his lips with a flourish. It’s rather compelling.

Crowley flags down the bartender. “A beer for me, please, and another one for this gentleman.”

“Do you have a first name, Miss Ashtoreth?”

“Ashtoreth is the name that matters. Encantada de conocerte.”

“You sound cute in Spanish.”

Crowley grunts. “It has been a long time since any man called me cute, Señor Cozzetti.”

“Do you object?” ".

End ID.]

"every morning the same big and little words all spelling out desire" by marveling_under_an_open_sky (@two-hands-toward-the-sun)*

is a banger fic and you should give it a look even if you don't know shit about Los Simuladores and Emilio Ravenna.

*+ juli beta reader

Here are some of my favorite fragments:

"and she knows how untruth sits in the mouth." is alone such a tactile line; it itself gives such tangible weight, reminder to the audience of the silver-tongued nature of any words coming from these two.

▪︎

""Ay, Dios. ¿Qué te hicieron a vos?”

“¿Cuánto tiempo tienes?” Crowley laughs. (...)

Cozzetti rests his elbow against the bar and gazes at her. “Todo el tiempo que quieras.” "

I'm just twirling my hair in spanish at this point. i have two hands and a passion for slutty little waists and you cannot hold me accountable for this.

▪︎

"Crowley finishes telling an anecdote about a director that leaves Cozzetti in stitches, and she downs the last of her beer with a grin. Conversation lulls between them. Cozzetti considers her, chin balanced on the back of his hand, laughter still lurking in his eyes and the corners of his mouth. It’s this crooked, delighted little twist of the lips that makes Crowley ask abruptly, “Are you staying at this hotel?” " now, from somebody that's fixated on Peretti (Ravenna's actor)'s little flirty and dorky gestures every time fae's watched El Colaborador Foráneo -& other instances where he gets drunk and acts fruity as hell- a maybe not normal amount, these details here are SO evocative and bring such nice images back. For this paragraph my only comment is: fag approved. Peretti chapame.

▪︎

"Balancing untruth, as it turns out, is far from the only thing Cozzetti’s tongue can do." no iba a comentar en la parte horny pero aguante Ravenna Good At Cunnilingus headcanon xoxo.

▪︎

"Cozzetti obeys, slumping down onto his back; the grin plastered across his face is so outrageously smug that it should come with a warning sticker." it should

▪︎

"“Plotting.” Cozzetti exhales a plume of smoke and stares down at the cigarette cocked between his fingers. “Scheming. Having a nightmare about it all going wrong.” " ,.,, marido,,, ☭NUESTRO marido☭. No but seriously this line makes my chest ache. Santos' nightmares..... i hope there's a "i woke up from a nightmare again, can i sleep with you" fic somewhere for these fags.

▪︎

"Slowly, Cozzetti lowers himself back into the pillows, never taking his eyes off of her. She hadn’t expected that, either. Actual concern. She knows humans, she’s been with many humans; she has seen the better part of everything and very little about them can outright surprise her anymore but—apparently—she can still feel stung by their kindnesses." what was that one quote? how heavy this human-ness? idk. that.

▪︎

im not gonna spoil the fic's last line, because i think its so well executed i refuse to take away any of the inertia it cultivated so well. but let it be said: it plunged a fist into my guts and i thanked it for it.

▪︎■▪︎■▪︎■▪︎■▪︎■▪︎

NOW a mini rant-review:

que placer leer una pieza tan claramente escrita por alguien bilingüe, el cambio del inglés al español en diálogo se siente tan nuestro, en vez de tener esa textura alien del latinismo pre-fabricado.

la caracterización personalmente me pareció hecha con cariño y cuidado, lo cual aprecio muchísimo porque no hay mejor cosa en un fic que leer las micro-expresiones que uno por su cuenta nota en pantalla. (sobbing) that's my little guy and their shit-eating grin etc etc

extrañaba a estos personajes y la verdad no esperaba reencontrarnos de esta forma, pero honestamente me encantó- un pairing que no se me había cruzado por la cabeza pero que funcionaría 100% en el canon.

also aguante she/her crowley. ahora falta she/her ravenna-

[bbpuckdrop]

welcome back penalty princess <3

[thranduel]

mike's expressions during the car monologue

rewatched the car monologue AGAIN and i'm going crazy. i know people have already talked about this but i just had to break it down and take screenshots because mike wasn't completely oblivious and his expressions reveal everything. you can see that his face changes whenever he thinks will is talking about el and he looks a bit uninterested and bored, but when he thinks will is talking about himself, he looks so much more interested and emotional.

also, the party is something meaningful to mike, will, dustin and lucas only. he doesn't talk about the party with el and she doesn't know anything about d&d. it's even more special to mike and will because at the end of season 3, mike was worried will would join another party and forget about him, but will said "not possible" and mike looked so relieved. then will kept his promise and made mike a beautiful painting and mike absolutely loved it when he saw it. his smile only faded when will pretended it was commissioned by el. he looked disappointed because he wanted it to be from will since that's their own special little thing.

"but that's what holds this whole party together... heart. because, i mean, without heart, we'd all fall apart". when will says this, mike takes a deep breath, like he's trying to process what he's saying. what other reason is there for him to feel nervous here if he's just talking about el? not only is will making mike feel better about himself and giving him hope and strength and calling him "the heart", but i'm pretty sure mike knows will is talking about how he feels for him here which is why he looks more nervous and emotional. you can't really see it in the screenshot but he takes a deep breath right here when you actually watch it.

"even el, especially el". so many people probably won't notice this because it's such a subtle detail, but mike's face changes SO much after will mentions el's name here. his eyes look almost emotionless and he actually looks disappointed the moment el is brought up again. then he turns away and looks down at the painting again.

"when you're different... you feel like a mistake." will says this while he's facing the window, and mike notices. then he turns around with tears in his eyes and of course mike would be able to see that too. "but you make [her] feel like [she's] not a mistake at all. like [she's] better for being different. and that gives her the courage to fight on". now mike's eyebrows are slightly raised (like when you're genuinely concerned and listening very carefully), his eyes are watery and he looks like he's trying to process what will just said because he's starting to realise that he's talking about himself. this line can't even be applied to eleven because mike heard her say "you think i'm a monster" right to his face. he knows he has made her feel like a mistake before because their last conversation was literally the fight they had. this line can only be applied to will.

then will starts the next line "if [she] was mean to you...", and the camera immediately goes back to mike to show his face. he raises his eyebrows again, looks down at will's lips and there's even a tiny smile for a second.

seriously why would he be smiling if will is talking about el being "mean" to him?! he obviously knows he's not even talking about el here. i feel like a bit of relief hit mike in this scene which is why he smiled like that for a split second and then tried to brush it off so will wouldn't notice. it's like he knows that the boy he loves also loves him and he's talking about his own feelings.

will continues "or [she] seemed like [she] was pushing you away, it's probably just because [she's] scared of losing you, just like you're scared of losing [her]", and mike slightly nods and he looks like he just processed everything going on. this line makes it even more obvious. even if mike doesn't FULLY realise, he knows that these words can't even be applied to eleven. "you make her feel like she's not a mistake at all"?? he literally saw her have a breakdown in front of him and she said he sees her as a monster. and then the whole part about being mean and pushing mike away... eleven never did that. she was constantly sending mike letters and showing him love. "she's scared of losing you just like you're scared of losing her" is a direct response to when mike said "i feel like i lost you" to will. mike HAS to know that will is talking about himself here.

then will says "if [she] was going to lose you, i think [she] would rather just get it over with quick, like ripping off a band-aid" and the face mike makes says it all. his eyes are even more watery, he looks at will's lips AGAIN and he swallows as though he's trying to hold back his own tears because he just processed everything.

will says "so yeah, [el] needs you mike. and [she] always will", and mike looks so happy because he realises that will is talking about himself here. what makes this even more obvious is because he responds in his soft voice that he only uses with will when he says "yeah?" and you can just tell he knows.

and then of course we have THE WILL SMILE which says it all. mike smiles, looks away, then looks back at will and smiles at him when he isn't looking.

[stranger-chichka]

The scenes with the stars in Stranger Things and their importance (p. 1)

I wanted to post everything in one take, but I didn't expect I need so many screenshots, oops. So, there will be 2 posts: this one includes scenes from 1x04 to 6x04 + a mention of the s3 rain fight, and the second one covers episodes 7, 8 and 9x04. Well, not the whole episodes, but just the scene where we can see stars. Also, sometimes I'm gonna write a little about the scenes which follow or precede the one with the star because almost always there's a connection between them. And I'm sorry in advance for my miserable vocabulary. It's really very hard to choose the right words for such an analysis when English is not your native language and I hope it wouldn't be too painful to read.

So, as @madwheelerz there's a possibility that the stars bookmark important moments/scenes we should pay close attention to. So far I've noticed these moments with stars in the show:

2 stars on Erica's earnings during the DnD game in 1x04 (it foreshadows Mike & Will defeating Vecna - the theory about it is here) and stars on the dress she wears in episodes 6, 7, 8 and 9;

2 stars on Lucas's sneakers during his basketball game where they win and he's the one to make the final shot (THIS parallels Erica who rolls 20 and defeats Vecna in the game);

stars on Will's costume he's wearing during the DnD game before the rain fight in s3;

6 stars on Angela's earnings in the Rink-o-Mania scene (and during THIS scene Mike & Will argue again which parallels their s3 rain fight);

Also, stars are associated with Dustin. In s3 he talks about star-crossed lovers and sings “Neverending Story” where the lyrics are : “reach the stars, fly a fantasy.” + “Ziggy Stardust” in Will’s playlist.

And @skvtebored mentions two more characters having stars in their clothes. Jason and Patrick have stars on their jackets, that's why we'll start with them.

3x04

We see the boys wearing them for the first time in 3x04 while they’re going to look for Eddie and have a small talk with Lucas near the abandoned Benny's Burger restaurant (and this place is associated with El because of s1). But I want to start with the previous scene. We see El in her room after dinner and the "She didn't look fine" moment, thinking about the roller rink accident and the massacre at the lab. "What did you do?" "What have you done?" These phrases are said by Mike and Brenner. We are shown flashbacks from that horrible day in the lab. (I made a collage with some shots, but haven't included the ones with the bodies of kids, it's already too gross to watch).

On the screenshots (1st & 2nd row): Brenner walking through the door, El in front of the broken mirror, a labyrinth with two silver balls, a ball with 8 on it, a chess desk, two dice with 2, 6, 4 and 5, some blocks with one green and one blue figures. To be honest, I don't know if these objects are there for a purpose, but I better leave the screenshots here and maybe someone with a bigger brain will connect the dots.

+ I'm adding the gifs from the moment with El in her room because of that spinning effect, like in the scene with her and Max in the final episode where she restarts her heart.

After El's flashbacks we see the Upside Down (3rd row): the library, some abandoned building that I thought could be Brimborn Steel Works but it's probably not, Creel's house with a spaceship slide next to it and Vecna.

The next shots we see (4rth row): the sun is rising, a yellow lamp in Benny's Burger restaurant, a "SPEED LIMIT 25 69" sign, a shot of the room with Lucas in a blue t-shirt (similar to El's shirt in the previous scene) and him near the doors of the restaurant with "WINNERS ONLY" written in green on it.

The dialogue between Lucas and Jason starts with: "What are you guys doing?" What did you do? What have you done? What are you doing? Past, present and...future is missing. Where will? Hmmm. And Jason's answer parallels Henry telling El the same thing the day he killed those kids in the lab. Like almost word by word. They're going to look for Eddie and Lucas is coming with them. Actually, during this scene they're putting some stuff in the truck.

The next scene when we see Jason and Patrick, they're on their way to one of Eddie’s friends. But right before seeing them in the car we are shown Eddie's trailer from the outside and the locked door with yellow ribbons, the room with the gate, hats, yellow light and electricity flickery, red lightning bolt and Vecna spying on the people with traumas.

At that time Vecna's looking for his next victim and he chooses who? Patrick. His nose starts bleeding. One of his friends calls it “gross.” They beat up the members of Eddie’s band and are going to Dustin's house. Before that fight Jason talks with them a little while Lucas pretends he isn't part of their club, although he's in Hellfire. That's when one of the boys says: "Lucas, what the hell?"

And then another boy tells Jason this: "Well, you have eyes, don't you? He's not here." That's when he starts beating him, stepping on his hand and saying: "It's gonna be hard to play drums with a broken hand." And who has no eyes and broken limbs? Vecna's victims. Interesting. In the following scene El’s in jail questioned about the roller rink accident and we see her having flashbacks of hitting Angela and the massacre at the lab again. The car is in the first shot of that scene.

As Jason and others come to Dustin, Patrick says: “No one’s home” and here I already wrote about this scene. Jason answers they should keep looking and then he sees the car door open and Lucas is not there. He says: "Where the hell is Sinclair?" while Lucas reaches Dustin and says: "Where the hell have you been?" After Jason notices Lucas in Dustin's house he says: "What the hell were you doing?"

Lucas answers: "I was looking for clues" and Patrick calls Lucas Sherlock Holmes. Hmmmm. Does it remind you of anything???? Not only do we have a Sherlock Holmes reference but also in both scenes they're talking about clues. Steve asks Dustin: "What sort of clues we're supposed to be looking for here?" By the way, keep in mind "by any chance."

After this Lucas says: "I found one" and leads them to Hopper's cabin. I wonder if it's foreshadowing of him finding Vecna in s5.

In the following scene again (for the third time) - El’s thinking about the roller rink accident and that day in the lab while riding in the car before being rescued by Owens and his people. What did you do? What have you done? And we see a rainbow.

The next scene with the basketball team is them in the woods on their way to Hopper's cabin.

Lucas said THAT is the place where Eddie's hiding. It reminded me of Will hiding in the shed in s1. Is it a parallel? The first shot we see is Jason opening the truck. Again, it reminded me of s1 and Jonathan checking Lonnie's truck. And Eddie was hiding in a boathouse which is a shed at the edge of a river or lake used for housing boats. He was hiding in the shed like Will. Interesting. And here we see after references. (Watergate my beloved) So, they’re in the cabin and the scene is shown together with the one where Owens tells El about Vecna and how he's killing right now in Hawkins. We are shown Lucas running out of the Hopper's cabin and Hopper with his cuffs off as Owens speaks of "good people and brave friends." In the following scene - Max's in trance for the first time.

4x04

The next day Jason comes to Sinclairs and talks with Erica (She refers to Lucas as Jason’s boyfriend in the most careless way possible, says he might be with Dustin and mentions Nintendo). I wrote about this scene in my Nintendo theory, so I'm leaving the link here (that's a must-read). I just want to add this screenshot from that scene where Erica's colouring the DnD character who looks like Eddie but we know that Mike is trying to look like him, even grows his hair, so I really believe it's Mike from s5, because 1) we see a dragon 2) we see a sward 3) we see a shield and 4) we see Mike with a sword and a shield facing the dragon and leading their party (Eddie is also the leader of Hellfire) in Will's painting.

Again, we hear: "Where the hell's Sinclair?" And in the following scene Steve, Lucas and Dustin talk about Victor Creel and Vecna, how he was killing then and how he's killing now.

6x04

In the previous episode Jason was wearing a black suit, so I didn't check these scenes, but in 6x04 he is in his bomber again. The police officers are talking with the citizens about Eddie and the curfew they should follow while they're looking for him. People are mad. "It's been days. Days!" The police officer answers: "I understand you all are upset, but I promise you, we will find him." And that's when Jason comes in. His first word is "No. You won't." (El's first word to Mike is "no") .

"Son, how about we talk about this in private?" That's what the chief asks Jason. (He is not ready to reveal the truth yet. The same with the Duffers.) Does it remind you of any other scene? Season 2. Mike is mad because Hopper (who’s also the chief of police) was hiding El in his cabin and Hopper asks him to talk about it in private. He calls him a liar and cries in his arms. But what if I told you he's not only mad at Hopper for hiding El but also at himself because now he has to hide from himself. From his true feelings. His feelings for Will. And Jason's speech just proves it.

"So you can keep me quiet? So you can keep the truth from coming out?"

Very and very interesting phrasing. That’s definitely the parallel to Will’s speech in the desert. "Sometimes, I think it's just scary to open up like that. To say how you really feel. Especially, to people you care about the most. Because what if they don't like the truth?" We saw Mike resonated with these words very much. He nodded and even wanted to answer something, but Argyle distracted him. What is Will's truth? He loves Mike. What is Mike's? Same. The only option for them is to come out in s5.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I can't bear to listen to any more excuses and lies. In fact, I think we've all had enough. That's enough."

Well, well, well. We have plenty of liars during the show but it seems to me that Mike lies the most, right? He lies not only to others but to himself. And here Jason just speaks on behalf of the GA, especially those who are homophobic, because the truth is "awful" for them.

"Last night, I saw things, things I can't explain. Things the police don't wanna believe. And things that I don't wanna believe myself. And I've come to accept an awful truth."

Jason is talking about Patrick's death, but we should always look for a double meaning in that show. He is talking about an awful truth. And we associate the truth with Mike and Will's feelings towards each other. What things he can't explain and believe is he talking about? Mike having gay panic at the airport maybe? Or Mike being pissed off because Will was showing little attention to him at Rink-o-Mania? Or Mike flirting with Will in Jonathan's and then his room? Or maybe Mike's triple take in the desert? Here Jason represents the GA, who were oblivious to the boys' feelings but now start noticing them.

By "satanic cults" he refers to Hellfire. The DnD club. And DnD represents Mike and Will's relationships, IT'S THE FACT. Jason compares it to disease. @howtobecomeadragon cracked it right open: D&D - sodomy - Satanic Cults - disease - AIDS.

ritualistic sacrifices = the consequences of forced conformity;

cults = lgbt community/Bylers;

deaease = AIDS crisis;

DnD = Byler relationship;

"And Eddie Manson is the leader of one of these cults."

Who's also called a leader of the party? Mike. Who wants to look like Eddie? Mike. Jason's speech is not only about Eddie, but it's about Mike and his feelings that he's hiding deep inside for a long time. Feelings toward Will.

Jason believes their town is cursed because of Hellfire and some ritualistic shit. In 1x04 Eddie says:

"Society had to blame something. We're an easy target. We're freaks because we like to play a fantasy game. It's forced conforming. That's what's killing the kids!"

And in 9x04 we see this scene. 5 targets with shot heads (= Vecna attacking people's minds). As far as we know Vecna was targeting 4 people in s5: Crissy, Fred, Max and Patrick. Or was there one more person? Mike is Vecna's 5th target. And also the smoke in these scenes looks like the fog we see in Vecna’s visions.

Let's return to Jason's speech. On this note, Erica's lost her nerve. By the way, she also has stars and hearts on her dress during this scene, so the next moments with her are also important.

"A club. A harmless club. That's what they want you to think. But it's a lie. A lie designed to conceal the truth. And now this cult is protecting its leader, Eddie. Hiding him. (Here we see Mike's parents, so these lines definitely refer to Mike) Allowing him to...continue his rampage."

Here Jason represents the homophobes, some of the GA and Milkvans who hate Mike and don't understand his personality, whereas we are protecting him for all costs. And what is a lie designed to conceal the truth? Mike's romantic feelings toward El. Once again, I don't know about the rest of you, but I can't bear to listen to any more excuses and lies. In fact, I think we've all had enough. That's enough.

Again, here he's religious = homophobic. And the Duffers created the paradox in which good=evil and evil=good. Just look. "Evil" is "live" backwards and "Will" is "lliv." Liv means "life" in Scandinavian languages. Will is the one who Mike wants to live his life with. While "good" is "doog" backwards and Mike says to El he's not a dog in Surfer Boy Pizza. That's such a reach but this post is full of crazy shit, we're crazy, so what???????

Okay, okay, okay. I'm gonna be even more delusional. Hellfire. Hell + fire. He'll. Fire. He will. Fire. He. Will. Fire. it's all about Will and fire. And we know about fireballs. Ohhhh, stop me, stop me now.

"We will be implementing a curfew. If you are not in your house after sunset with the doors locked, you'll be written up."

That reminded me of Mike and El in s3 lying about a curfew to the party in order to be kissing in Hopper's cabin (El's house). I'm not sure if there's some connection, but the whole kissing thing was Mike trying to be a normal teenager. Having a girlfriend. Enjoying time with her. While being in the closet (= locked doors). And for some reason we see "will" in italic, why??? And "written up" with all the writing-letters-to-El-and not-to-Will thing. Maybe, Mike is "written up" by El (=from, El) after focusing all his attention on Rink-o-Mania at Will while he was supposed to spend romantic time with his girlfriend.

And this is the following scene. Mike himself confirms Jason's truth. His words just parallel what Jason already said.

Jason: "Last night, I saw things, things I can't explain. Things the police don't wanna believe. And things that I don't wanna believe myself. And I've come to accept an awful truth...Some people say our town is cursed. They just don't know why. Now we know. Now we do." Things = love. Remember that.

Mike: "I know, it's hard to believe. But it's true. All true."

In this scene, the boys are lying to Suzie about Nina Project calling it Nintendo. Wait, wait, wait…Americantendo. Nintendo goes together with DnD in Will's love confession, so it represents Byler's relationship. (I hope you've read it, but leaving the link once more!!!) And really, during their search for Nina Mike and Will open up about their feelings to each other. Mike says they need Americantendo for Dustin's birthday. Can we suppose that we'll see Mike and Will as a couple on Dustin's birthday?

The following scene (wow, three scenes in a row) is with Dustin's, Lucas's and Mike's parents + Holly and Erica coming to Wheeler's looking for the kids. They lied about going to the movie ("What time was the movie?" "Four hours ago.") and Erica exposes their lie while Holly sings "Liar, liar, pants on fire!" Hellfire.

When Dustin's mom questions their involvement with Eddie, Ted says: "I think at this point, anything is possible" and Mr Clarke in s3 says to Joyce: "Once you open that curiosity door anything's possible." Karen answers that their kids aren't murderers and Ted tells this: "Don't put words into my mouth. See, she does that, twists my words." Hmmmmm. Is it a reference to Mike's monologue where he uses the words of others and not his own??? That's smart, that's smart.

+ When Karen is calling the police we see 7 made from the magnets on the fridge.

The following scene is the Hawkins group near Skull Rock aka make-out spot and Dustin realises the compass doesn't work correctly because of the electromagnetic field. The electricity. (I wonder if somebody already spoke about the magnets and compasses because I feel like there's some double meaning there too!!!!)

So, we have scenes with El suffering from her traumatic memories (she blames herself for what she thought she'd done) and Tigers looking for Eddie (who is also blamed for something everyone thinks he's done) going together. And we know that El hasn't killed these kids, the same with Eddie. Both aren't guilty. Vecna is responsible for all those deaths.

And other scenes with Jason go together with the ones with Mike and Will/refer to Mike. The ones with lies and the truth. And there'll be even more in the second post.

On this note I leave you alone with your thoughts, but to see the full picture wait for p.2, which I hope I'll have finished by Monday.

[thatonesongyouretryingtoremember]

El prom dress post

So the El prom dress comes from this post by dis-a-pointment which also has a photo of the inspiration dress so take a look at that and also look at dis-a-pointment 's blog bc it's really cool 😎

Basically red and white are both colored that represent El in different ways unlike blue which represents Mike, so if there's gonna be a Snow Ball parallel, she might wear those colors instead. In the post above she's also gong to prom with Max which is for fun(but would be cool in canon too).I made three versions of the background. One is transparent, one is colorpicked from the photo, and one is a screenshot from the show+ a black gradient.

[ID: three images of a digital drawing of El Hopper from Stranger Things from the waist up at a head-on angle. She is wearing a red dress with a sweetheart neckline and puffy sleeves. A panel on the left of the bodice is a lightly deeper red and a had a vine outlined on it in a curling, almost heart- shaped form. The right/ majority of the bodice is brighter red and gathered slightly at the seam much like the skirt. The triangle waistline has a thin white ribbon and the left side of it has a white bow. She is wearing white silk elbow length gloves and a white pearl choker necklace. Her hair is in short curious reminiscent of season two and she has blotchy red eyeshadow much like in season two, but this time matching her new dress. The leftmost image is set against a transparent backdrop. The second image has a flat maroon backdrop. The rightmost image has a photo background of the gym doors from the Snow Ball scene. : end ID]

Some part of the art I wanted to talk about:

All white elements are filled in with a very light gray. The gloves and pearls have a yellow highlight and blue shadow.

All of the red colors are from the photo

I specifically chose to copy that original snow ball photo but with two key changes besides her outfit and makeup

Her hair in my drawing is kind of styled in bangs/fringe to mimic her Season four hairstyle since she seemed to really like it AND because the original photo had her hair swirled in the front- like Superman. The only person who compares El to Superman is Mike, specifically in the context of their relationship, and unlike the Snow Ball, prom is about El (/elmax for the sake of hc). I also changed her expression from a sort of shocked look to a smile since I think he original reaction was partially due to being around so many people and not having to hide.

The reference photo of the red dress has a bodice panel with embossed or embroidered shiny vines and floral patterns, so the way I added that to the dress and changed it to not look out of place in a cartoony style was to have a larger vine which was colored to blend in with the fabric. I mightn't have bothered, but the vines reminded me of the Upside-Down, which I just thought was cool.

I also have the sketch on paper

Where she originally had a bow in her hair, which I only didn't add by accident💀. Besides that, O didn't change anything, but I like the sleeves outline better in pencil. The erased lines were the original sleeve placement until I realized the sleeves only have one point of attachment.

I made some thumbnail sketches of elmax at prom as well

Max has trousers in one and a skirt in the other bc I couldn't decide.. here's her sketch plus a version with a some quick color on it (colorpicked from El), the colored version has a skirt one and a trousers one. I thought she'd wear a suit bc it can be more simple than an elaborate prom dress and still come off as formal, plus she wrote a sweater to Show Ball. I added a little braid in her hair too for fun :)

[withbriefthanksgiving]

Transcription of text in images:

images 1-3: screenshots of text from Ilan Pappé’s “The ethnic cleansing of Palestine. Text reads:

On 9 April 1948, Jewish forces occupied the village of Deir Yassin. It lay on a hill west of Jerusalem, eight hundred metres above sea level and close to the Jewish neighbourhood of Givat Shaul. The old village school serves today as a mental hospital for the western Jewish neighbourhood that expanded over the destroyed village.

[…]

As they burst into the village, the Jewish soldiers sprayed the houses with machine-gun fire, killing many of the inhabitants. The remaining villagers were then gathered in one place and murdered in cold blood, their bodies abused while a number of the women were raped and then killed."

Fahim Zaydan, who was twelve years old at the time, recalled how he saw his family murdered in front of his eyes:

They took us out one after the other; shot an old man and when one of his daughters cried, she was shot too. Then they called my brother Muhammad, and shot him in front us, and when my mother yelled, bending over him - carrying my little sister Hudra in her hands, still breastfeeding her - they shot her too."

Zaydan himself was shot, too, while standing in a row of children the Jewish soldiers had lined up against a wall, which they had then sprayed with bullets, 'just for the fun of it', before they left. He was lucky to survive his wounds.

[…]

One only has to be told that thirty babies were among the slaughtered in Deir Yassin to understand why the whole 'quantitative' exercise - which the Israelis repeated as recently as April 2002 in the massacre in lenin - is insignificant. At the time, the Jewish leadership proudly announced a high number of victims so as to make Deir Yassin the epicentre of the catastrophe - a warning to all Palestinians that a similar fate awaited them if they refused to abandon their homes and take flight.

Image 4: screenshot of tweet by Mohammed El-Kurd (@.m7mdkurd) quoting the words of Ezra Yachin, quoted after the image, and embedded in the tweet is a video of Ezra Yachin.

[Note: the rest of these images are screenshots or photos of text]

Image 5: clipping from the San Francisco chronicle. Text reads: Shamir Says Terrorism Was 'Acceptable' For Jews, Not Arabs

Associated Press. Jerusalem

Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, recalling his days as a guerrilla commander, said yesterday that Jews were justified in using terrorism to win statehood but that Palestinians are not.

"Personal terrorism is a way of fighting that is acceptable under certain conditions and by certain movements,” said Shamir.

The Jews, stateless and persecuted, had no choice, he said. But the Palestinians are "fighting for land that is not theirs. This is the land of the people of Israel."

Shamir was interviewed by army radio on the 50th anniversary of the founding of Lehi, the underground group in which Shamir fought British rule in Palestine in- [column cuts off]

Image 6:

Herzl approached Britain because, he said, it was "the first to recognize the need for colonial expansion." According to him, "the idea of Zionism, which is a colonial idea, should be easily and quickly understood in England." In 1902 Herzl approached Cecil Rhodes, who had recently colonized the territory of the Shona people as Rho-desia. "You are being invited to help make history," he said in a letter to Rhodes. "It doesn't involve Africa, but a piece of Asia Minor; not Englishmen, but Jews. How, then, do I happen to turn to you since this is an out-of-the-way matter for you? How indeed? Because it is something colonial."

Image 7:

Early Conflicted Relations between the Jewish Colonists and Palestinians

There quickly developed in Palestine the usual kind of colonial relations seen in European colonies in Asia, Africa, and America, namely, contempt for and exploitation of the poorer and less organized native population.

According to Morris, the Zionist settlers referred to Palestinians as "mules" and behaved "like lord and masters, some apparently resorting to the whip at the slightest provocation . . . a major source of Arab animosity." The settlers seemed to believe that the only language that the Palestinians understood was force—the settlers "behave towards the [Palestinian] Arabs with hostility and cruelty, trespass unjustly upon their boundaries, beat them without reason an even brag about it,” wrote Achad Ha'am in 1891. He noted in 1893 that "the attitudes of the colonists to their tenants and their families is exactly the same as towards their animals." He warned: We are accustomed to believing, outside Israel, that the Arabs are all desert savages, a people like donkeys, and that they neither see nor understand what is happening around them. But that is a great mistake.

Image 8: photo of text in a book, presumably explaining the structure to follow. Text reads:

[text begins] - strength, why would Israel's existence as a Jewish state be so objectionable to Palestinians? Unlike today's slick apologists, the early Zionists were refreshingly honest about the reality of their mission, as we will see more of in Part I.

[paragraph circled for emphasis] Ze'ev Jabotinsky was one of the foremost Zionist leaders and theoreticians, a man who has more streets in Israel named in his honour than any other historical figure.' In perhaps his most famous essay written in 1923, Jabotinsky was clear about one thing: 'Zionist colonization, even the most restricted, must either be terminated or carried out in defiance of the will of the native population'. Why? Simply put, history shows that 'every indigenous people will resist alien settlers'. [end emphasis]

This book has been written in order to describe clearly and simply what Zionism has meant for the Palestinians, how Israeli apartheid has been implemented and maintained, and suggestions for how it can be resisted. In this task, I am indebted to the many academics, writers and journalists who have researched, documented and witnessed the unfolding of Israeli apartheid in Palestine.

Part I begins with a concise history of the development of Zionist settlement and theory, particularly with how it related to the Palestinians. There is then a summary of the key historical events of the Nakba, the Palestinian Catastrophe of 1948, when the aim of a Jewish state in Palestine was realised.

Part II will clearly define the main areas of Israeli apartheid and the contradictions of a so-called 'Jewish democratic' state. Dispersed through Parts I and II will be small 'stand alone boxes with personal stories of how individual Palestinians are affected by a given aspect of Israeli apartheid.

Part III is the section in which ways to resist Israeli apartheid are discussed, with details of existing initiatives that should— [text cuts off]

Image 9:

A voluntary reconciliation with the Arabs is out of the question either now or in the future. If you wish to colonize a land in which people are already living, you must provide a garrison for the land, or find some rich man or benefactor who will provide a garrison on your behalf. Or else—or else, give up your colonization, for without an armed force which will render physically impossible any attempt to destroy or prevent this colonization, colonization is impossible, not difficult, not dangerous, but IMPOSSIBLE! Zionism is a colonization adventure and therefore it stands or falls by the question of armed force. It is important ... to speak Hebrew, but, unfortunately, it is even more important to be able to shoot—or else I am through with playing at colonizing.

Zionist colonization must either be terminated or carried out against the wishes of the native population. This colonization can, therefore, be continued and make progress only under the protection of a power independent of the native population—an iron wall, which will be in a position to resist the pressure to the native population. This is our policy towards the Arabs.

—The Iron Wall, Vladimir Jabotinsky, 1923

Images 10 and 11:

All Natives Resist Colonists

There is no justification for such a belief. It may be that some individual Arabs take bribes. But that does not mean that the Arab people of Palestine as a whole will sell that fervent patriotism that they guard so jealously, and which even the Papuans will never sell. Every native population in the world resists colonists as long as it has the slightest hope of being able to rid itself of the danger of being colonised.

That is what the Arabs in Palestine are doing, and what they will persist in doing as long as there remains a solitary spark of hope that they will be able to prevent the transformation of "Palestine" into the "Land of Israel."

Arabs Not Fools

This is equally true of the Arabs. Our Peace-mongers are trying to persuade us that the Arabs are either fools, whom we can deceive by masking our real aims, or that they are corrupt and can be bribed to abandon to us their claim to priority in Palestine , in return for cultural and economic advantages. I repudiate this conception of the Palestinian Arabs. Culturally they are five hundred years behind us, they have neither our endurance nor our determination; but they are just as good psychologists as we are, and their minds have been sharpened like ours by centuries of fine-spun logomachy. We may tell them whatever we like about the innocence of our aims, watering them down and sweetening them with honeyed words to make them palatable, but they know what we want, as well as we know what they do not want. They feel at least the same instinctive jealous love of Palestine, as the old Aztecs felt for ancient Mexico, and the Sioux for their rolling Prairies.

Image 12:

Vladimir Jabotinksy is the father of political Zionism, the Zionism that prevailed and led to ethnically cleansing the Arabs of Palestine in sufficient numbers to create a majority-Jewish State of Israel. In the 1920s Jabotinsky was busy publishing about the "justice" of this atrocious plan, arguing with fellow Zionists who wanted to co-exist peaceably with the indigenous Arab population. Jabotinsky was writing material such as this about the Zionists who did not want to simply take the land from the Arabs:

Let us consider for a moment the point of view of those to whom this seems immoral. We shall trace the root of the evil to this - that we are seeking to colonise a country against the wishes of its population, in other words, by force. Everything else that is undesirable grows out of this root with axiomatic inevitability. What then is to be done?

The simplest way out would be to look for a different country [other than Palestine] to colonise. Like Uganda. But if we look more closely into the matter we shall find that the same evil exists there, too. Uganda also has a native population, which consciously or unconsciously as in every other instance in history, will resist the coming of the colonisers.

[...]

Yet if homeless Jewry demands Palestine for itself it is "immoral" because it does not suit the native population. Such morality may be accepted among cannibals, but not in a civilised world....

Image 13:

“We must do everything to insure they (the Palestinians) never do return ... The old will die and the young will forget.”

—from his diary, July 18, 1948. Ben-Gurion: the Armed Prophet, by Michael Bar Zohar

“If I were an Arab leader, I would never sign an agreement with Israel. It is normal; we have taken their country. It is true God promised it to us, but how could that interest them? Our God is not theirs. There has been anti-Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They see but one thing: we have come and we have stolen their country. Why would they accept that?”

—quoted by Nahum Goldmann in Le Paradoxe Juif (The Jewish Paradox)

‘We walked outside, Ben-Gurion accompanying us. Alton repeated his question, "What is to be done with the Palestinian population?" Ben-Gurion waved his hand in a gesture which said "Drive them out:" ‘

—Yitzhak Rabin, leaked censored version of Rabin memoirs, published in The New York Times, October 23, 1979

Image 14:

Ben-Gurion absolved himself of blame, calling the attack on Deir Yassin the work of "dissidents." Begin, however, crowed over the "splendid act of conquest." He wrote his commanders, "Tell the soldiers: you have made history in Israel with your attack and your conquest. Continue thus until victory. As in Deir Yassin, so everywhere, we will attack and smite the enemy. God, God, Thou has chosen us for conquest."

End of text transcription.

I'm reading again about the early days of the 1948 Nakba, and I'm just... at loss for words (cw: rape, child murder)

The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, by Ilan Pappé (2006, p. 90)

And, continuing on p. 91: