#i think i have a post somewhere thats like

[miwiheroes]

Dropping Byler Evidence Every (Other) Day Until Season 5

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁ Day 26: Music Choices (Titles) . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁

Music is important for conveying a subtle message that the viewer barely realises they're getting. A lot of romantic Byler scenes would probably seem romantic with any music, but they're made more romantic with music that has been chosen specifically for this purpose.

For example, in my Lumax parallel post, I talked about how they used the same music in a pivotal Byler scene as a heart-to-heart scene in S2 with Lumax. This is "On The Bus" -

This is highly intentional and was done to make the viewer see both scenes as romantic, due to the music's calming and curious tones. Both scenes seem like the start of something new. Of course, with Lumax, it is the start of their uninterrupted romance. With Byler, to Will it feels like a chance for him to reconnect with Mike. To Mike it feels the same after feeling like he lost him and now that El is somewhere else, he feels comfortable being more affectionate with Will.

In both scenes, the couple gets interrupted, which happens a lot on Stranger Things, but really only when two characters with romantic potential have a romantic scene.

You do not use a song in the background of a romantic scene and then place that song in the background of a platonic scene. the song is in no other scenes other than these two. The creators are trying to clearly convey that Byler's scene is romantic.

Now, I also wanted to talk about the titles that some of these soundtrack pieces get.

So, everyone knows the Rink o Mania fight, right? If you're not well-versed in the Byler lore, you might not have any idea where this is going, but basically, a song begins to play during the climax of the fight.

This argument is already packed full of implications: the thought that Mike believes that Will had already ruined his day by ignoring him, the implication that Mike hadn't been ignoring him the whole time, Mike saying "we're friends!" a little too adamantly, the "what about us?" and dramatic head turn to make it romantic--

So when Will says "Well we used to be best friends!" The camera cuts to Mike looking like this ^^, aka regretting everything he's said because he'd misinterpreted things.

And some music plays:

Before anyone says anything, yes, El is also hiding in a closet right now. As in, a literal one. But the whole point of the BRACKETS is to show that there is a double meaning to this title. Will and Mike are hiding in the metaphorical, gay, closet. El is hiding in the closet at Rink o Mania.

What's funny is that there is literally no mention of being queer in this argument on Will's part. Despite being the one with confirmed feelings, all Will is talking about is his friendship with Mike and feeling like he's being pushed away. He may say things like "What about us?" and "And us?" but when he confirms that these were all only to do with their friendship, we get Mike's reaction, and that's when the song begins to play.

The editors chose the music to play at this point in order to drive the idea home that Mike is in the closet. During the fight, he constantly misinterpreted Will's words as romantic. So when Mike realised that Will hadn't meant it all that way, the music played, because it the moment why he's in the closet.

ALSO the music's motif is the same as the soundtrack piece used for the garage scene, called "Destroying The Castle", showing that the song is about Byler, not just El being in the literal closet.

creds for the video goes to @indefinitevoid

Another interesting title choice for a piece of music is the song in the background of the love monologue by Mike in S4.

What do you expect the song title to be? (im expecting that you don't already know but i think thats unlikely)

Should it be something like....Right there and then? In that moment? You're my superhero?

No. This is the title. Because it's the main takeaway from that scene.

Not that Mike loves El, not that El is finding strength in Mike's words, not that he loved her from the moment he saw her, no. The scene is about Mike keeping the party together, doing whatever he has to do to save El. The scene is about Will sacrificing his own feelings. It's supposed to be painful. And to many viewers, who weren't even Byler shippers, it was.

Coupled with the fact that the camera constantly makes you remember that Will is there and is taking pain to all of this, the music title shows the true message to be taken away from this scene. The memory that sticks in your head isn't "Oh so I guess Mike loves El, yay", it's "I can't believe Will did that :((". It places emphasis on Will's arc, rather than Mike's.

Will's speech to Mike is being remembered. Not Mike to El's.

A lot of Milkvan shippers try to ignore the depth of Will's feelings and his importance and involvement of his own feelings in this scene. But why would there be no deeper connection to the van scene if this is the name of the track? His words are significant enough to trigger the music and to be the name of the track.

The name of the music isn't just crazy because it's what Will said. The name of the music is literally the phrase that encapsulate's the reason for Will's love towards Mike. Yeah, we may joke about the line being corny (at least me and my gf do um sorry) but it literally means "I think you are the most important thing in this world, I think you give me the courage to fight onwards, you make me feel like I'm not a mistake." And they decided to make the song for Milkvan's supposed arc closer called that.

I think you get the point <3

Hope you enjoyed <3

[boarloved-art]

Wei Wuxian should be able to get drunk for once. I think he'd either be singing bawdy drinking songs on the roof of the Jingshi or he'd be getting irrevocably lost no matter where he is. He's found in the bushes behind the mountains like a cryptid, and then he's like "I can't believe you all got lost" (extremely slurred) as if he didn't get embarrassed by something Lan Wangji had said and just somehow disappeared when everyone looked back at him

oh ABSOLUTELY im walking with u and nodding and agreeing, i can see him becoming an absolute menace to keep track of at his drunkest.

anyway heres wonderwall The Gang (Wangxian & their fave group of ducklings) in a city known for its STRONG wine and wuxian being like well. ur all grown now, youre technically not juniors anymore. we have to see whos lasting the longest against this stuff!, smash cut to a suspiciously wei ying-less group of the worlds drunkest cultivators being wrangled through the woods by designated driver hanguang-jun, with at least 2 of them clinging to his robes at all times.

[mephoj]

nickel and balloon would be so much more interesting if people explored the way nickel became everything awful that balloon used to be but so much worse ironically all in the name of "protecting" everyone from that history repeating. and not softboy tsundere yaoi or whatever is going on in those tags rn

[puppppppppy]

i feel like im not making any sense but does anyone else feel like there are stories that let u run with them and ones that spell everything out for you

[sluckythewizard]

'I wont cry for you, I wont crucify the things you do. I wont cry for you, see, when you're gone, I'll still be BLOODY MARY'

[arsenicflame]

y'all ever think about Sam & Izzy in a no-name port, in a house, in their house, the place they've met in secret for decades? sharing the few days they can snatch from the unforgiving passage of time, holding each other, knowing it's going to end again before they're ready? knowing that perhaps this is the last time they'll ever get to do this, and they won't know until it's already happened? I sure do

[6-epigraphs]

Have we ever seen this old man being affectionate with drivers or other juniors? Or just Yuki? I don't even think I've seen him this close to Max and Seb (off the podium at least)

Brother.

[mitchmotch]

day 3 of 30 minute sketch mondays with @revalito! this time with jack zimmermann ^^ (he's 100% looking at bitty)

[lightyakami]

also writing au version of characters is so fun but also so difficult because you are constantly balancing "he would not fucking say that" with "but he WOULD say that if he worked in a coffee shop and drank three free lattes per shift." u know. like if you write them in a way that exactly matches canon they quickly become nonsensical but if you go too far it becomes a different guy altogether. the good news is i have found most readers are way more flexible about interpretations than it often feels like as an author but it is still a nice & occasionally stressful project to try to get it right

[esterigermaine]

You can all blame @animentality for this because their posts got me into durgetash (thank you!!!!!) and now I want to torture the villian couple. Probably won't make much sense because I drank enough caffeine to kill a horse today and my brain is going a million miles a second.

You know that scene where Orin shapeshifts into durge and tells them what she did to them? What if Gortash found out about it the same way and had Orin rub salt in the wound by then showing him the prayer for forgiveness?

She is cruel enough to do it and I can't think of any worse way to find out about what happened than for the attempted-murderer to shapeshift into their victim and describe what happened to them in explicit, gruesome detail. The attack itself, the tadpole, how they were abandoned to die alone like trash, how Gortash wasn't there to protect them, all of it. Only to show grieving Gortash the note

[coldpintglass]

Is this a safe space to be hater? Can I be a hater this fine Tuesday afternoon? Will you, my brethren, my nearest and dearest, join me in my hating?

[wizardsix]

I can't remember who said this but there was this one dev who said that when making romanceable characters they have to be attractive in some way (personality, looks, not too morally fucked up etc). and since I read that, the statement hasn't left my mind and I'm very aware now of whenever outside influence and modern discourse get to me or other writers. like just yesterday I found myself rewriting a scene to be more "comfortable" to witness, even though the point was to be emotionally charged and face a difficult topic the character had been actively lying about. but some things can't be glossed over. sometimes it's good when media grabs you by the shoulders and makes you face horrible shit. it's good when media makes you uncomfortable even if it's coming from a ~romanceable companion~. that means it's working. if you remain comfortable forever you learn nothing.

I bring this up bc the veilguard companions are the perfect example and victims of the "romanceable characters need to be attractive" mindset. they don't have ugly sides, they don't fight with each other--and I mean really fight--they don't have controversial opinions or do problematic things. they don't ever question your authority over their lives and why you're the guy in charge. they are nice and perfect and their problems aren't really that serious and can be fixed by simply having a therapy session w rook (bc being possessed or gaining new magic isn't a big deal in a world where previously such events are Very distressing and hard to control). they are further proof that trying too hard to make something attractive has the complete opposite effect if your brain isn't the size of a pebble.

it's overall very frustrating that big game developers continue to be so spineless and I'm not giving anyone a pass for shallow writing, especially from a franchise that is known to have complex characters. none of this is impressive after the first three dragon age games, which were well loved and dissected and debated for years after their release. that isn't to say these games don't have kind characters, having that balance is why I personally like dark fantasy and liked what the dragon age games offered (whenever the writing was good..). it's not dark for the sake of being dark (see grimdark), there's a reason why these things are happening, and in this world no one is completely innocent even if they have good intentions. most people like when their characters aren't always kind or agreeable, bc it's extremely rewarding to finally find that middle ground (of course I have to bring up larian, who made bg3 and proved just how much people appreciate flawed characters, see astarion). conflict is the driving force of a story, no matter what it is. even the most sickeningly sweet cozy slice of life story will have some kind of conflict. it's unavoidable. that's life. taking that away is setting yourself up for failure and all that remains is a boring story full of boring people. no one cares about characters who have their lives together.

(the post is technically over but I wanted to put some final thoughts under the cut bc this got longer than I meant)

I want to go back to the statement real quick... like i do agree, it's true as writers we'll subconsciously (or consciously if you're insecure) try to make our characters appealing, but this is the common trap writers fall into by giving a shit about what others think and want from Their work (which btw I fully believe in writing what you want even if it's "bad" because something with genuine soul will never be as bad as soulless cashgrabs). romanceable characters can and should be as flawed as you'd make any other character, bc trust me there's an audience for everything. even a random npc with two lines will be attractive to someone.

the pressure of an imaginary audience is what pushes writers into a corner and prevents writers from writing and exploring what They want. it's the writer's story first, not the audience's. I think the romanceable companion trap can be easily avoided if writers just 1) grow a bit of a backbone and 2) ask themselves if this is even a necessary or insightful mechanic that will help develop a character further. ask themselves if this character even has the capacity to handle a romantic relationship bc everything else is subjective and it's impossible to appeal to everyone (which apparently this is a controversial take). I won't sit here and pretend that I don't appreciate a good romance, but sometimes all someone really needs is a friend.

obsidian is a good example of self aware devs. they tried to do romance for pillars of eternity 2 bc of fan demand, and it didn't work very well. now for avowed, they didn't explore romance bc they know it's not their strong suit and don't feel it's necessary for this story, instead that time and effort went to developing the characters in other meaningful ways. I have nothing but respect for such a decision bc they know what they want from their story instead of lying and trying to be everything at once. less is more as they say.

[cozylittleartblog]

The way you draw deltarune characters is so charming! Have you ever drawn King?

like twice lol

[puppppppppy]

who up seeing their disorder in a fictional character but feel like its not their place to put a name on it

[icewindandboringhorror]

examining a seemingly normal image only to slowly realize the clear signs of AI generated art.... i know what you are... you cannot hide your true nature from me... go back where you came from... out of my sight with haste, wretched and vile husk

[afterthelambs]

PLEASE spill the Makoto cop tea. I'm always down to hear people's thoughts on that

Thanks anon! I do my best to keep this blog positive-vibes only, but since you asked I will answer. Warning: DO NOT read this post if you do not want to see any criticisms about Makoto Nijima from P5 + discussions of police. This is not hate towards the character or her fans. It's just criticism for the writing choices and their implications for her.

Makoto Nijima does NOT want to reform the police. There's a mandela effect in the fandom where everyone seems to think she does, but rewatch her rank 10. Reform isn't mentioned at all. I'm so serious. What she actually says is this:

Within her confidant, the context is the host that was preying on her friend Eiko. Wanting to stop situations like that is good and makes sense 👍 The writers framed her decision to become a cop as a response to the most clean-cut black-and-white situation ever.

But here's the thing though: what happens when the lawless and the victims are the same people? Because in the real world, crime tends to concentrate among the poor and marginalized. The real world is not black and white. And I try to separate my personal experiences with the law from the media/art I engage with, but that doesn't work here because the game at large doesn't portray society as black and white.

There are a number of people in this game that do wrong because they have been hurt or are marginalized or did not receive proper help. A lot of mementos requests are about 'lawless' people and yet many are portrayed as 'due to systemic issues' or a lack of support or developing mental illness. It's also not a coincidence that Akechi is the most marginalized of all the phantom thieves and he was the one who did the most crime. There is deliberate social commentary here. People do not become lawless out of nowhere. They are shaped by their circumstances. And the game itself sympathizes with these people, focusing on changing/ helping them. The game's conclusion is that providing support and rehabilitation is the solution. Rehabilitative justice > Punitive justice.

Police wouldn't achieve that. Police in the game are framed as corrupt and incompetent at their core. Our protagonist is one of their biggest victims to demonstrate how they are weaponized against the weak. Even Sae Nijima at the end of the story has shifted to become a defense attorney rather than attempting to reform it (best character arc btw) because she recognized that the system is broken. And you can't even blame it just on Shido controlling the police because we see that the problems persist beyond him. By the end of the story they remain useless or outright harmful. The police do not help or rehabilitate, they only punish.

So no, this isn't me projecting my personal issues with cops onto the story because within the game's own story, law enforcement is not the solution. If it were a question of reform, we could debate about whether police reform is possible, but again: Makoto doesn't care about reform. It never comes up. According to the writers, she wants to be a cop because she thinks not enough lawless people are being punished. You can argue that her wanting to 'head an organization' means she wants to be in a position of power where she can reform them, but remember that police only enforce the law. They do not make the law. If reform was her goal she would be a politician. (I honestly thought that's what she was set up to be, since she was student council president and all but I digress)

Also a small detail, but notice how she mentions destroying the lawless before she mentions helping victims? It's super minor but I think it's indicative of the cop mentality. There's greater priority on punishing than helping.

I also dislike this conclusion to her arc because it's net zero character growth. You're telling me the character that was rebelling against corrupt adults' orders is now becoming a cop, the biggest bootlicking profession of them all? She started the story being a well-intentioned pushover, and she's ending her story being a well-intentioned pushover. And it doesn't matter whether she as an individual is a good person or not. All cops comply to be active participants in a system that is designed to hurt the weak and prop up the powerful.

TLDR: You do not help victims by punishing the 'lawless'. You help victims by helping victims. Period. Makoto becoming a cop is a contradiction of this and her own character arc. Either the writers did her dirty by not thinking this through or this is meant to be who she really is, and both those possibilities upset me.