#i think this would also lead into his insecurity of being worse with his powers than Kaz

[scootersscooter]

I think Oliver should've been allowed an arc where after being confronted with him not being naturally gifted with his powers he hid in medicine and became the team medic, eventually coming to the conclusion that he can't hide from everything that makes him uncomfortable, slowly becoming more confident using his powers in fights

[dragoncookies]

Y'all

The emotional trauma Fitz has by this point in the series is insane.

When you consider:

-Him growing up as a Vacker, always expected perfection and taught to bottle emotions, and that you are only worthy of love if you perform well enough, never learning to really have his OWN voice, just whatever was given to him.

-Alvar and Keefe betraying him, two of some of the closest people to him, giving him some DEFINITE trust issues.

-His echoes FORCING him to bottle his emotions and just straight up deny them (so he didn't die) during one of the most emotionally turbulent situations of his life.

-just the entirety of his injuries in general, the limp he is insecure about, the echo that probably gave him some minor heart problems when you think about it, the damage done to his mental state from repressing so many intense emotions (doing that can seriously do some mental damage and also show up physically in many ways)

-Seeing people (his loved ones) get hurt by his horrendously unchecked emotions, but him being likely unsure of how the heck to deal with them.

-The girl he trusts most and genuinely likes essentially emotionally cheating on him with his best friend while leading him on saying she wants to try to make the relationship work (I love Sophie though, she has a zillion other problems to deal with), then the reason they "broke up" being a morally ambiguous situation where he's torn between the girl he was ready to spend his life with and the system that his family must uphold, the family he owes his power and existence to, and it being seen as a bad thing that he cracked and couldn't NOT choose his family (like he always does), but it also would have been seen as a bad thing if he chose what he wants because his family would likely call him "selfish"

And all of this being completley overlooked because he's a Vacker and he had the perfect life, so why would he have any reason to complain?

The constant undermining of his entirely real and mind-fucking emotional trauma has got to be the worst part of it all, because what's worse than hurting like crazy and then everyone calling YOU crazy for believing that you're hurt?

[donutwatches]

MHA 3.3 - Kota - part 1/3

This is a watch-a-long blog, so no spoilers past this episode please!

Didn't he already do that last season? Did I imagine that? I love that his training is creating the perfect bath temperature.

Apparently Midoriya's training is getting beaten up by a furry. I wonder what he is going to tell his Mom when she asked him what he got up to at summer camp? "Well...there were these park rangers dressed as cats".

What would class 1A do without Iida keeping it together 24/7? Everyone is dead on their feet, but Iida is like "Look alive people, we're about to make the greatest curry of all time".

HIS TINY SMILE. This was a small detail, but it was so moving. Just lighting a fire for cookin and making his classmates smile made him happy. In seasons 1&2 he was so shut off socially.

He is finding out that the part of his quirk that he rejected and hated for so long can help people, and that he can use it in a positive way.

Momo's power comes from food! She can make weapons from her body by eating cake, what a dream.

"It's like poo". Sero, noooooo! Why did he have to make it gross? lol

There is a full doozy essay incoming. I went ham. So don't click 'keep reading' unless you actually want to keep READING.

What Kota says in this episode got me spiraling into essay territory. Kota's point of view has helped a lot of MHA's themes click into place for me, but these thoughts have been brewing for me since season 1.

Categorizing people and placing labels on them can lead to dehumanization. The 'villain' label makes people who commit crimes less than human, and the 'hero' label elevates people into being more than human. Either way, dehumanizing people has consequences, and in Kota's perspective, it got his parents killed.

Someone labeled as a 'villain' can think, well I'm already called a villain, I might as well act that way. Someone labelled as a 'hero' is pressured to live up to being put on a pedestal, and that can lead to failure, or hypocrisy (like Endeavor's outside hero image conflicting with behind closed doors abuse).

The villains versus heroes narrative feeds a cycle where they are in perpetual competition with each other to negative results for the community. As if crime and justice are the same as competing sports teams, like red team vs blue team. This leads to what Kota says, "they're all showing off", and end up "killing each other".

I have had jobs where I worked with kids, and I saw social labeling play out. Some kids got labeled as 'trouble makers'. The kids saw that they got attention for challenging behavior, and it got worse. I have heard a kid state "I'm a bad kid" outright, and they internalized that as part of their identity. It is hard to undo the damage.

It reminds me of Shinso from last season, as an example of a teen being labeled a villain by his peers. He fought hard to reject being put in that category, but many real life teens don't escape the labeling.

There are also kids that get singled out as 'golden children'. These kids feel pressured to be perfect, and can struggle with their flawed human identity not matching their 'golden' reputation.

Bakugo is an example of an over-praised kid that develops a superiority complex. He is insecure about not being the best, because he was categorized as 'the best' at age five. I think 'troublemaker' versus 'golden child' is a small scale version of the 'villain' versus 'hero' in MHA.

These categories lead us to making blanket assumptions about individuals who fit the right image. All might is the symbol of peace, so he must be perfect, right? But the show reveals that All Might, while he is a good man, is a flawed human being. We see him struggling to upkeep the shiny symbol he has created, at the cost of his health and social life.

I wonder if MHA is going to explore a villain that could have been a good citizen, but got trapped by how society has cornered them into a 'villain' labeled box? I think this might be the major theme of the entire story. I've cracked it, I can stop here, I don't even need to watch anymore episodes, bye! ;p

"My friend", ok Deku, you're not fooling anyone.

The starry night backgrounds in this scene are beautiful!

This montage of Midoriya trying to force a quirk to happen almost killed me.

It takes me back to the 1st episode where Deku's opening line is "we are not all created equal", and the episode shows us both him and Bakugo being put into opposite social boxes based on their quirks.

Deku was labeled bad/useless because he was quirkless, and this flashback underlines how much it hurt him, but he was saved by how strongly he held to his ideals of heroism. That is the positive flip side of the 'hero' label. It gave Deku something to look up to and live for.

Kota isn't ready to accept that rejecting the realities of hero society is going to be more painful in the long run. He is too little, and trying to process so much grief, it breaks my heart.

What also breaks my heart, is that Deku is speaking from experience. He has lived quirkless in a hero society, and rejecting the reality of his quirkless-ness back then caused him a lot of hurt too.

This is such a great exchange. MHA doesn't do a lot of quieter character building moments, but this talk between Kota and Deku was so good.

Part 2 is here

Masterlist

TAGLIST

@jessiedead @blackaquokat @granny-griffin @champion-prism @bicheetopuff @setfiretotheshadows @hyperfixations-and-cringe

[clericofgale]

Spoilers for Patch 5 and the whole game.

I posted my thoughts about the new ending Gale got in patch 5 on Reddit first, but I might as well post it here with some revisions. I'll say it, I love the god Gale ending. But it is NOT his good ending to me. Before I would never have pursued it, but now it is tantalizing to say the least. I'm into it though Gale the mortal is still my preference.

"Gale Dekarios cuts a poor figure next to the wizarding prowess of 'Gale of Waterdeep. You like so many things about me I'd have sooner discarded…"

By ascending Gale, you are killing Gale Dekarios. The nerd that hits on you in front of everyone while you're covered in zombie blood, procced to infodump an entire tangent to complement you, and yet somehow stick the landing to hit you with the most romantic poetry you've ever heard. A sensitive man who wears his emotions on his sleeve and wants to make the world a more beautiful place. An artist of the weave and a poet. The owner of the most overbearing tressym in the world. The moment the spell was complete, Gale Dekarios died and Gale the divine was born.

Even then, why is god Gale now so enticing to me unlike ascended Astarion? Because he loves you. He wants you by his side as an equal. It's actually sweet and romantic, just like all of Gale's romance is. I'm nothing if not a sucker for a romance.

"Follow my Lead" "Show me more. Show me it all." "I want you to seize the crown and make us a new world"

BeMyGod is the name in the data file for the boat scene where Gale asks you if you'll be with him when he seizes the crown. I know file names can be arbitrary, but if you agree to his proposal, you really are asking Gale to be your god. It's so easy to say yes. You're in the stars, Gale says I want to show you so much more, but it's not worth it without you. All you need to do is say yes. You're angry at Mystra who demanded so much of Gale, caused him such suffering and won't lift a finger to help. So You say yes. You love him. He loves you.

When Gale ascends, even in 6 months he is a different entity. The devs indicate: "His posture/demeanor here should feel slightly more aloof/detached than the regular Gale - he's been immortal for six months, his ego is as powerful as his magic. The real Gale's insecurities still lurk beneath his godlike confidence, as does his love for the player, but this is clearly a Gale setting out on a darker path."

The Gale here is a twisted version of the one we loved. His flaws are worse, he good traits have mostly disappeared. Namely his kindness and tolerance to deprecating humor. He no longer tolerates any perceived slight or jab. He doesn't let go of his bitterness towards Mystra. His ego is large yet fragile. You saw a glimpse of it at the ritual circle scene if you succeed in upstaging him in magic. Now it's only gotten worse. Yes even his insecurity. If you rejected him after accepting the proposal, Gale says this.

Tav: No, I think it's the end. What happened to the man I once loved? Gale: He's the god he deserves to be. I achieved everything we hoped I would, and still I'm not good enough for you?

He's also lonelier than ever. His last 6 months were in isolation, with nobody he could trust while dealing with the crown and celestial politics. Immortals don't really have friends. They have allies and lovers. He stops talking to his mother who was so dear to him. He develops a spell to polymorph people into Tara, his oldest friend who rejects him after ascension. He then develops a spell that summons Shadowdark ale and forces people to dance and be happy, just like the vignette he told you about the Yawning Portal. The third spell is Power word: Ruin. he's finally back to speaking death into being with a single word, just like he used to.

Gale wanted to be a god to make a better world, but now he's a neutral god answering prayers from any alignment. He doesn't care if they are Thayan wizards aiming for lichdom or unscrupulous Amnian merchants. Ambition is a neutral idea. Ambition also drives healers to develop a cure. For adventurers to slay monsters.

What's the most noticeable remaining good trait in Gale? Gale still loves you. He's much nicer to you if romanced. He refuses to be with you if you don't go with him because he doesn't want to hurt you. He admires your good heart if you want to honor the pact with Raphael. He calls you my love just like before. He will fulfill the promise sealed that night in the astral sea. All you have to do is say yes. And the ascension cinematic is a callback to the romance scenes from before.

"Follow my lead. Close your eyes. I have so much more to show you."

And you know what. I'll go with you. Even if we will eventually lose both our humanity in our folly, and dreams become nightmares. Even if I'll come to regret that night when I said yes to the mortal you, I don't want you to be lonely. Where ever you go, I'll go. You'll always have me. And I'll always have you.

As God Gale would say… "A toast then, to our myriad ambitions. May we each get what we deserve."

[stanfordsweater]

what are your favorite wincest episodes

hehehe

in chronological order rather than in order of preference:

dead in the water -- i really latched on to this one as a kid and so it still holds a big piece of my heart. i love the slow aching reveal of how traumatized dean is, all with sam right there watching. i will always be preoccupied with the times where dean get peeled back and exposed all vulnerable

what is and what should never be -- another great vulnerable dean episode, i loved the insight we get into his thoughts on sam, more specifically how clear it is that his self-hatred clouds his understanding of sam's motivations and why he sticks around with dean beyond "the job." it helps that sam looks so unbearably sexy in dean's perfect world created from his most desperate desires and deepest insecurities. i want to connect this one with DSOTM, but that ep didn't make the list because season five is PAINFUL and i hate watching it 😭

metamorphosis -- kind of out of left field, but this episode is a great example of how their relationship is breaking down in season four. dean punching sam and sam just taking it and keeping his chin up is such a gut-punch + sam's reaction to the reveal that they angels are watching out for him, for all the worst reasons, while dean is getting closer to them himself... you also get sam's desperation to save dean, to be something good, and his despair and teeth-grinding resolve to stop using into his powers... which only lasts so long. TENSION. delicious.

swan song -- AGONY.

i love so much about carver era, but to whittle it down:

there's a lot of aspects i love about season 8 spread across a number of episodes, like the way dean is just freaking out and trying to protect sam in the great escapist, the tension cas and more immediately benny brings to their relationship, the attempts to reconnect and the feeling that they might actually work through it this time, even with all the jealousy, but every time you think they're about to work it out something else gets worse-- it's really fun. i don't think any individual episode makes this list but they all get honourable mention.

i think i'm gonna like it here & road trip -- double feature because of the way dean's decision comes home to roost. dean's absolute despair in 9x01, it's SO wild and hurts my heart, the way you can understand exactly how they've ended up here, the betrayal, dean's guilt but the lack of apologies, sam's righteous anger and his deep-down buried soul-rending shame... i want to drink it all up with a straw, i'm obsessed. sam is in fine fucking form in road trip. he's NOT BUDGING and it's so good. also he looks fine as fuck and you know dean is burning inside. all of it leading directly to my favourite death scene in the entire show at the end of season nine. fabulous.

safe house -- this one is just a fun reprieve from all the angst of the seasons before, where sam and dean are working a case and making fun of each other and spending hours across from each other in a motel room at a table too small for them and not getting sick of each other. there's also the end scene where sam is so pleased that dean was haunted by visions of him dead <3 affirmations with the winchester brothers!

carry on -- i know many finale haters and i understand their points, but i was so shocked that the show remembered what it was about and delivered us that beautiful monologue and the forehead touch and the heaven reunion, all wrapped up in sam finally having the life he had wanted in a way he would hate. it's poetic and it finally resolves that last lingering question that allows him to actually enjoy heaven, and the final piece dean needs to not feel like a monster for "failing" to provide sam with the apple-pie life. jared has this interview from season eight where he says that sam carries that resentment over being dragged back into hunting with him, and while it's not rational-- ultimately he was not dragged, he made his choice in an impossible situation, manipulated by outside forces-- i really loved that the finale actually gave us (and dean) absolution for this last desire of sam's. i don't know.

[mxtxfanatic]

Not really a JC ask, but more of a JC adjacent one.

Why didn't Jiang Fengmian ever divorce Madam Yu? I think you mentioned somewhere that JFM was also a victim to Madam Yu's abuse, and while I am not necessarily disagreeing, I do struggle to understand or even feel empathetic towards him for still being there and letting her act as she does with their children when she, factually, doesn't have any actual power over him or the sect.

In fact, she actively rejects the sect by keeping her maiden name and refusing to be Madam Jiang.

Looking at it in an objective way, Madam Yu... Doesn't have anything. She has Zidian. She has her strength. But none of that strength actually translate to the power that Sect Leader Jiang possesses as the sect leader of one of the Five Great Sects.

It's a reason why she's so insecure, because she knows that she has none of the political power necessary to hold onto her position.

Why didn't JFM divorce her, when the previous sect leader that had pushed for that marriage passed away? He didn't even want to marry her, did he?

I understand that abuse victims struggle to leave their abusers, and I do feel for that, but I am of the mind that if children are involved, then no matter your feelings you should protect them.

And by that I mean actually protect them, none of that half assed bullshit that's just placating everyone for the sake of a shaky peace that nobody is satisfied with.

It feels like a remix of Lan Xichen, who, in pursuit of making everyone content, ended up just ignoring the warnings and stood aside as everyone else around him suffered.

I find it interesting how JFM preached for the ideals of the sect, to "attempt the impossible", and yet he never dares try anything to actually help anyone around him.

When people say that they wouldn't say he neglected his children, I beg to argue, because he absolutely did. Yes he couldn't say a word whenever his wife was around, but what could've possibly stopped him from keeping her from doing that, or, if inneficient, then to make er a non issue anymore.

The very patriarchal, classist and misogynist society he lives in wouldn't have batted an eye at that, because as a sect leader he had every right to do whatever he wanted with his own wife.

His inaction and cowardice fostered a cycle of abuse that every one of Madam Yu's victims could've been spared from had he just done anything, so I find it hard to consider his contribution in his family as anything more than gross negligence.

Obviously, she is terrible. She is abusive. JFM isn't any worse than her. But from where I'm standing, he was a bystander that let things happen and fostered an illusion of having his hands tied when he very much did not, and never did anything to actually help any of the children in his care, other than that time he broke Yanli's engagement after learning Jin Zixuan had disrespected her and that's...

Hardly anything in the grand scheme of things.

I don't disagree with you, anon. In fact, I think this is part of the larger critique that the novel leverages at modern society: instead of fighting for better even after being dealt a shit hand, people would rather fall into passivity and accept their recently received shit hand as their new status quo. Jiang Fengmian was forced into a political marriage with Yu Ziyuan, but even after his father died, he maintained the marriage along with all the dysfunction that came with it, leading to the destruction of his clan and its legacy. Despite the QishanWen kidnapping their heirs and almost killing them, no clan does anything. Despite the QishanWen having the Cloud Recesses burned, killing the former Nie Clan leader, chasing dangerous monsters into the territories of other clans, thereby endangering their people, and being responsible for the Lan Clan leader's death, not a single clan rebels until the Nie pick up the banner for the Sunshot Campaign after successfully repelling the invading Wen forces and killing the Wen heir. Until that moment, all the rest of the clans were willing to overlook the Wen's behavior and accept every escalation as the new norm. Jiang Fengmian is even shown to have traveled back and forth to Qishan to beg his disciples' swords off the Wen despite those people almost killing his son.

After the Sunshot Campaign, nobody says anything about the labor camps holding civilians, an issue Wei Wuxian made public. Nobody stuck up for Wei Wuxian being slandered except for Lan Wangji who was ignored and Mianmian who was then slandered. Nobody except Wei Wuxian said anything about the Jin Clan collecting clans former subsidiary to the QishanWen, and he's brushed aside. Nobody except Nie Mingjue says anything about Xue Yang's slaughtering of the Chen Clan, and then after he dies, nobody says anything about the multiple clan slaughters done at Jin Guangyao's own hands. Just as everyone was willing to accept the horribleness of the QishanWen as "business as usual" until it led to their own massacres, the fact that none of the post-war clans were willing to stand up for Wei Wuxian and the Wen remnants and, in fact, bayed for their slaughter is how whole-clan slaughters became "business as usual" to the post-war cultivation world.

So while I agree that Jiang Fengmian's decision to stay in his abusive marriage absolutely affects the quality and effectiveness of his parenting, I don't think we are meant to see this as a critique of the parenting capabilities of domestic abuse victims but as a critique on how people who don't truly stand for anything will passively welcome evil into their homes with little to no pushback, if they are not themselves throwing the doors wide open to welcome the evil in.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

Aita for making my friends drop another friend completely?

Warning: There is mention of suicidal thoughts. Also I swear a lot, I apologize.

This is some dumb discord drama but I feel like an utter asshole for this despite multiple people say I wasn't in the wrong and others saying that the friend group shouldn't had known about the situation and I shouldn't had forced this onto them.

And I been around here a lot, please don't excuse any behavior taken here as "You guys are young" or "You guys are kids." You will understand later as why but a lot of things that happened shouldn't be excused and that involves some of my behavior. And no, I am not doing a TL;DR.

There is a lot of pre-context so I will bold where the situation I'm talking about starts.

So me (17, he/they) and a few friends had created a server to get away from people in another server. We had really 1 rule which was "what happens in the server, stays in the server". This hangout server became a vent server very soon as a lot of us have issues that we just can't see a therapist for and use each other.

We had an issue with this one friend, let's name him Owl (14, M). Owl had been way to relaxed and some of the stuff he had said began to lead to fights within the friend group. He and another Jojo (15, M) were making jokes about each other, which were taken too far. Owl could had stopped it way before by stating that the jokes were too far but despite he had started it. He texted Jojo about their biggest insecurity in the form of "imagine having [insecurity]" and then hell broke lose. Owl knew Jojo was insecure about this because they talked and vented to each other privately, so for Owl to do that was shitty and a red flag that we didn't catch at the time, mainly because Jojo didn't tell any of us what was said till after the dropping. This was only one out of seven conflicts we would have with him before we got fed up. I will not go through all 7 but I will go through the ones that led to us removing him from the group.

I, Owl and a few others of us were playing a game on. I was very stressed and stated that beforehand and wanted to game to cool off. This was around the time that the Supreme Court made their decisions which added to my stress. I cannot remember what comment he made but my stress hit a peak and I blew up at him, possibly a joke about rights (trans rights) which is a touchy subject for me (it isn't out of his character). At this point I was having a breakdown on call and he didn't realize despite the fact it was clear through abnormal behaviors. Owl had also been around be in a breakdown beforehand, so I don't know how he didn't know. During breakdowns my voice becomes shaky and cracks, I speak very fast and make irrational decisions. Our other friends picked up on that and tried to deescalate the situations but Owl kept going and adding conflict until I removed him from the call (because both of us had admin powers). After a while I had gotten Jojo involved out of sheer panic and trying to get out of a conflict while not thinking rationally. After a while I rejoined call, Owl was gaming like nothing happened and I cried on mute due to the breakdown. Why I rejoined call? I don't know. Jojo pulled us to the side and talked about how he didn't want any more conflicts and that we would have our perms removed, Owl was informed that the breakdown happened and what he did made it worse, he didn't apologize for it at all.

The final situation we had with him before we dropped him was between Me, Owl, Jojo and Ark (Doesn't want age to be stated, M). Owl had lost all ways to communicate on call because of a dumb action he did that caused panic to another member (reading a classified document that another person found on Bing after being told to stop). He was clearly upset and during the mix Jojo had gotten a suicidal thought but Owl had encouraged his thoughts saying shit like "Why wait? Your life of pointless". Ark stepped in and bashed Owl for this behavior and the two got into a fight before we banned Owl.

Owl let the situation drag for 5 days as he didn't try to fix what had happened or apologized for any action he done up to that point unless the entire group was against him. The some of us got together and decided a last resort plan, we would stage an intervention and give him 3-5 days (which is being nice) to fix his shit or he would be dropped. We invited him to another server and we have the intervention there. He took a while to join, nearly 40 minutes. He was informed how important it was 20 minutes in and took another 20 to join. After that he refused to join call, which I understand but it was more so, he didn't want to because he saw no reason. I told him why, he got upset at the fact we were timing him. We had the mentality that he was on our time as he did waste 5 days not doing anything but letting the situation just hang. Me and him got into it and he said he didn't care about any of our friendships (even those not there) and he wouldn't mind being dropped if we were going to pressure him to apologize for things that here his faults and try to make amends.

We dropped him however I made the choice of informing others who weren't in on the plan and told them to drop Owl. This also meant Owl could not come to America to get his dream job which requires 11 years of training because he was dropped but not only Me, who would bring him to the states and house him, but also the person who was help pitch in for his college payments and student debt. I feel bad about informing everyone about what he had said and how he acted, which included people who had no idea what was going in the background. There were people coming back who hadn't been online this entire time and being told to get rid of him. I just feel like I shouldn't had forced that decision on them, especially as a person who had been dropped by an entire friend group like that. But we been doing a lot better without him and we try not mention the situation but as time has gone on, I feel more and more terrible at the fact I put other people involved and had them remove all contact to him instead of letting them decide.

Am I the asshole?

What are these acronyms?

[scarletttries]

Kendall Roy x Reader Engagement/Wedding Headcanons:

Pairing: Kendall Roy (Succession) x Gender-neutral!Reader

Rating: Fluff with one slightly NSFW thought at the end clearly labelled.

Author’s Note: After my own lovely bachelorette party last weekend I got a request for wedding/engagement headcanons for Kendall Roy and couldn't resist! Thank you to everyone who wished me a lovely weekend for my Hen Do and for sending in so many amazing succession requests!! 😊

- From the minute he knew you were the one for him, Kendall would be mentally planning your wedding. It wouldn't matter that it would take him another year to actually propose, he'll live for meticulously planning every detail to make it the most memorable proposal and wedding in history, constantly be thinking of things he wanted for the two of you, scribbling down ideas in his notes app that he can't wait to share with you one day.

- The proposal would be so incredibly Kendall: there would be fireworks, and a stage, and he'd have prepared a musical number, and everything for the whole week would have been set up to lead you unawares to the moment he finally gets down on one knee and asks you to marry him. To be the other half he's always been missing. The loving family he never thought he could deserve. And when you, thank god, say yes; a hundred doves fly out behind you as glitter rains dow,n and it truly feels like something out of a movie or a fairytale, the staged photos front page of every paper in town that night.

- For the entire time you're engaged it's like Kendall's already in the honeymoon phase, his obsession with you is completely renewed. He's so enamoured he finds himself calling you into his office just so he can close the blinds and wrap his arms tightly around you, barely able to contain his grin as he leans down to kiss 'his fiance', a phrase he cannot stop uttering. He'll introduce you to people you've already met a dozen times just so he can say 'my fiance' about you again and again, cheeks aching from the smile that hasn't left his cheeks since you said yes.

- Now that you're engaged he'll also get even more ridiculous with gift giving; when Kendall first starts dating anyone he can be a little insecure that they're just with him for the money, so he holds back on being too generous until he knows their true feelings. But now, expect a bouquet of your favourite flowers every hour, on the hour, each with funny little notes Kendall writes imagining what your life will look like together. Not to mention he insists you both go shopping as 'you both need an entirely new wardrobe now that you're engaged.'

- There won't have been a lot of times you've been able to meet Sophie and Iverson while dating Kendall, so he'll be nervous about re-introducing you to them now that it's as his fiance. But he doesn't need to worry, Sophie is so smart and friendly she'll immediately start running through wedding planning ideas and suggesting you pick them up from school once a week so you can get to know the two of them better - she's seen how much better her father is doing since he found you and genuinely wants to keep you around as much as possible. Naturally Iverson is a lot more reserved, but you'll give him the space he needs and keep the pressure off and over time he'll smile when you walk in a room and Ken will know you've been accepted as part of their dysfunctional family unit.

- The other Roys might not be as welcoming to you when the announcement comes out, assuming you're just some beautiful airhead, or worse, coming after the family's power and fortune, despite how happy Kendall seems to be around you. The exception to this is of course Connor, who will pull you aside after Logan spends dinner shouting about how important prenups are, and tell you he's so excited to have another sibling and he's so happy Ken found you. *For more Kendall prenup drama I have a whole smut fic on it here.*

- Kendall would be torn between wanting a long engagement, loving the affectionate excitement the two of you share every time he catches the glint of your ring out the corner of his eye, and being so excited to plan the wedding that he gets it all set up for just a few months later. No expense would be spared for your day, whether you want to have an island to yourself, an exquisite country house or just to hire out the gallery of your dreams. As long as you're okay with it being BIG, then Kendall will make any dream you have come true.

- Kendall's first wedding was a much more classy, muted affair where he felt like he had to stifle himself to fit the idea of what a wedding should look like. He's learnt a lot about himself since then, and you've always been there to encourage him to be honest with you and hold on tight to the parts of his life that bring him joy, so be prepared for the whole day to be elaborate and spectacular.

- That doesn't mean it's not also magical, and romantic, and intimate. You and Kendall find ways to make every second meaningful to the two of you, stealing away for moments at a time to just look into each other's eyes, overwhelmed with the joy that you are now joined forever, secure together for all the ups and downs your lives will bring (unaware that one of three photographers Kendall hired is taking candid shots that Kendall will have printed as six foot high portraits to hang on the walls of his penthouse, and another dozen images to line his work desk.)

- While you and Kendall aren't too worried about a lot of the classic wedding traditions, you will spend the night before the wedding apart, opting for a cosy night in a luxury hotel with your friends to get prepped. You'll have to have your friends taking shifts by the door at all times though, as Kendall sends an influx of deliveries to show he's thinking of you. And then at 2am he'll turn up at your hotel suite begging your friends to let him see you one more time, "for one last night of sin" and they'll have to remind him it's bad luck and force the door shut in his moping face.

- But it's completely worth it as he sees you for the first time on your wedding day, somehow more beautiful than he could have pictured, dressed to perfection, wearing the same smile as you walk towards him that you did that first day he kissed you and knew then and there that this day would be coming soon. He has to choke back tears as he stutters through his vows, overwhelmed by finally having a true family member in his corner who can love him and have his back through anything.

- Without getting too NSFW, we can all agree Kendall on his wedding night would come at you like a man starved. Greedy hands squeezing and clawing at your thighs hard enough to leave marks as his teeth clash against yours with the sheer fervour that he comes in to kiss you with. A strangled mix of growls and moans, broken up by ecstatic laughs fill the room as he embraces you for the first time as his spouse, exploring and tasting every inch of you like you are an entirely new world only he gets to claim. A world where now he feels safe and accepted and loved. A world he's never going to leave.

[agentrouka-blog]

"Sansa had never had much of a head for figures. If she did marry Prince Joff, Arya hoped for his sake that he had a good steward." - AGOT, Arya I this passage comes right after arya talks about jeyne's namecalling, so i always took it as foreshadowing that jeyne will someday become sansa's steward, as her father was to sansa's father. but it occurs to me it could also be jonsa foreshadowing the way the "hands of a blacksmith" quote is gendry@ foreshadowing. what do you think, rouka?

Hi there!

I had only ever made the jonsa connection before, what with Jon being made an upwardly mobile steward in the same book that states Sansa would need one.

I'd never connected the quote to Jeyne before, but since GRRM made sure to emphasize throughout AGOT (and later ADWD) that Jeyne is a steward's daughter, as opposed to any other household position, it could well apply to her too. Like Sansa, she may step into the role of her father. As you point out, that whole chapter is full of foreshadowing, so why not for Jeyne? Like Sansa, her secret dreams may yet have a future.

Her lower social position places her in a similar state of inclusion into the highest circles without being able to fully belong. Much like Theon (as a hostage) or Jon (as a bastard) or Littlefinger (as a low status ward), she is not necessarily gracious about it, and she mocks Arya for failing to meet certain standards, while enjoying privileges Jeyne could never access. Sansa herself notes Jeyne's ineligibility for a high status marriage, without being so unkind as to voice it. Jeyne's desire to belong is turned into a cruel mockery by the powerful adults forcing her into the role of Arya Stark after exploiting her in the worst way. But it's precisely Theon, the worst possible extreme iteration of her own insecurities and petty inclinations, who ends up saving her even knowing who she is. He's not saving Arya, he is saving Jeyne. Imperfect steward's daughter Jeyne.

Jeyne's journey, while worse, is very similar to Sansa's and for both the time of hidden identities is coming to an end soon. There is going to be an upward swing to agency and power.

When Sansa learns what Jeyne has been through, her status will not matter. Her voice and her witness account, on the other hand, will. (Actually... could there be a Shae parallel in there? The trial against Tyrion?) So if Sansa's journey leads to queenship, Jeyne's journey should also lead to independence and status and agency. To a true sense of belonging. And if Sansa's journey leads to love, should not Jeyne's at least invite the possibility down the line?

There is a whole soup cooking there for Jeyne Poole.

[calina12]

Also, holy FUCK, was episode 4 massive for Charlie's character!

Yes, she REALLY needed that reality check about how bad the lives of the sinners are she tries to help, but it also lead to Charlie taking her proper role for a solid second when she get angry at Valentino.

It's quite obvious to me that Vaggie will be the one to actually run the hotel, so it's Charlie's job to not only use her unique position as princess of hell to deal with heaven for her people's sake, she's also supposed to be protective mighty force her guests can find the save haven in they desperately need to escape their circumstances.

When any of their powerful abusers dare to enter the hotel it's HER job to put them in their place and away from their victims.

Her place isn't running the hotel, SHE'S supposed to be the hotel's and people's protector, and I'm so fucking hyped to see her growing into that role. To see her rip open that portal between hell and heaven for good to free her people herself if she fucking has to.

But episode 4 is also so important for Charlie because it showed us just how massive of a toll it took on her that her mother just up and left 7 years ago, and we were already told that Lucifer ain't the dad of the year either.

Angel forgiving her at the end of the episode meant so much to her because she feared so fucking badly that she ruined everything, he would hate her and leave forever, into a life she would have had had a hand in making worse.

Obviously she has massive abandonment issues and as Husker correctly stated: she's a bleeding heart who wants to solve everyone's problems except her own.

And she does that because very clearly she was highly neglected by her parents in her emotional needs, even if I don't put into question at all that they love her.

She desperately tries to help and find in others what she didn't get from her parents, to get a group of people she can finally trust and who won't abandone her, so she tries everything she can to solve everyone else's problems because that way she thinks she will "earn" being worthy of being loved and not abandoned.

So when she just showed up at Angel's work place to talk to Valentino without checking with Angel beforehand what she has to do to NOT cause him hell, and caused an absolute fucking disaster HE had to pay the whole price for and NOT her because of her privilege and immunity as Princess of Hell, that was literally one of the worst things for her she could have caused.

It hit all her insecurities in the worst ways possible. And I'm so glad that they had Angel say "thank you for caring about me" and not "thank you for trying" because that's not the same and what Charlie needed was indeed the former.

She really desperately needed to hear from him that the reason why he forgives her is that he understands that she did all of this because she CARES for him. That his reason for forgiving her has nothing to do with him prioritized anything else she can GIVE or provide over seeing HER.

Mind you, of course this whole disaster she caused can't be justified and it has no business ever happening again to such horrific degrees, she NEEDS to work through her own problems ASAP because the people who depend on her as the privileged and basically untouchable person in power who promised them protection can't continue paying the price for her actions

But this is a fictional story, so I'm talking about the narrative when I say that both Charlie's and Angel's characters needed this to happen for their development.

Just, good fucking God, let this have been the peak of Charlie's naivety and the incident she needed to start healing a deep scar in her heart. I love Charlie to pieces, please give us the pay-off now from the emotional development and what she learned by now so she can grow into the mighty mama bear she is meant to be without her unintentionally continuously hurting her adopted hurt cubs.

Because thats a factor I can't and won't ever ignore in her type of (main) character and in her leader role and privileged position/ status in all of this.

Fingers crossed, cause I'm so fucking ready to love this sweet broken girl with the heart of a lion, with every inch of my being.

[melonteee]

I think what hurts the most about how Nami was handled in OPLA is how thoroughly her character themes and trajectory were screwed up. Nami is one of the first representatives we see fake smiles hiding genuine suffering as an overarching motif, to the point that it’s engrained deeply to her backstory and the final note Arlong Park ends on, and it just… isn’t there. At all. To the point that the one time Nami smiling/laughing *is* brought up in the show, it feels backhanded. Like the narrative equivalent of telling her she should really smile more. Then, because Netflix/Tomorrow Studios are cowards, the show did everything in its power to downplay Nami’s financial insecurities and decided Nami stealing should be framed in a worse light than Zoro killing people for money. Which meant Nami’s arc became her needing to overcome a “fuck you, got mine” attitude, which led to Arlong Park being thematically (and somewhat narratively) incoherent once they got to her deal with Arlong. But the worst of this was the choice to give Nami all of Sanji’s parts in Baratie. Because, really, what does Nami thinking Luffy should stop Zoro’s fight have to do with her problems with Arlong? The whole reason she didn’t see Zoro’s fight in the original was because that wasn’t a lesson she needed to learn. She was already risking her life for her goals, and she still believed she could achieve her dreams once she paid off Arlong. It was the hope that Arlong *could* be bought, and that she had no other options when compared to Arlong’s strength, that was holding her back in the original. Nami trying to convince Luffy also felt so nonsensical because it’s the one place that doesn’t have heaps of over explaining (while also removing Luffy *and* Zoro’s explanations from the original scenes) so it’s like… what do you expect him to do, Nami? What could Luffy possibly say or do to stop Zoro that doesn’t either lead to Zoro responding “okay then I quit” or require some massive violation of Zoro’s autonomy? And, again, what does Luffy not doing so have to do with Nami’s conflict with Arlong??? Is the implication supposed to be that Nami thinks Arlong is *right* to use force to make people do what he wants???? But then you get to the episode 6 and Zoro’s second unnecessary pledge to Luffy (that’s already ruined Thriller Bark) and it was like… Oh. I see. Nami was given all of Sanji’s parts so she could be an easy straw man for Luffy to knock down. She *can’t* explain why she thinks Luffy is wrong (nor can anyone else) outside of vague repeated phrases, because if she did Luffy would have to actually defend his stance the way he did in the original. Instead of having Zoro tell him that he was right all along and doesn’t need to self-reflect about anything. Because Luffy’s true arc in the live action is that he Wants loyalty, and Needs other people’s validation. Hence why Luffy spends very little time actually interacting with his supposed crew most episodes, why storylines that were originally about Luffy proving himself worthy are now reframed to be about the others proving their loyalty to Luffy, and why the show’s ending reframes his first bounty as him *finally* achieving the recognition he felt entitled to at the beginning. And Nami’s sadly the one most effected because the East Blue is her saga. Cool.

(I realize you must get a lot of these, so thank you. It’s been very cathartic to hear your thoughts)

Anon you are doing exactly what I'm doing, which is thinking further ahead in One Piece's story and going "Wait, but if THAT happens, these scenes in future arcs are going to be totally ruined and make no sense?"

Hence why I'm saying, ALL these changes, ALL these characters being uprooted from their original writing, is going to cause MORE changes down the line if this keeps going. To the point the series is going to be completely incomprehensible and won't be One Piece at all. They already failed multiple scenes by just ADDING them in while changing EVERYTHING around them so they made zero sense and had no impact, but it's virtually impossible to fix this show without totally redoing everything. They ruined the introductions, they ruined the original motivations and original personalities, these characters are simply not the same at all.

And with these story changes, as you pointed out, it has ruined future character development AND future scenes.

Also the "Nami stealing is more immoral than Zoro killing for money" is so fucking funny, makes just as much sense as a WHOLE town genuinely hating a LITTLE GIRL 😭😭

[keikakudom]

What if your Alastor genuinely started to feel love for Vox? Like what would he do? If he realized he was in love with Vox? Would he attempt to Atticwife Vox? Or chain him?

***WARNING: this answer does go into heavy/dark themes.

Woooh, okay so I had to search what "Atticwife" meant, but this question literally sat with me for two days when it was first sent in. I even consulted my bestie(not into fandom) about it.

From my understanding, I think it means "when the partner/significant other forcibly keeps the other against locked away their will bc they're mentally not well/insane(?)".

Initially, here are a few reasons why I think that wouldn't happen/I don't see it working for RR!AU:

I think of Alastor liking the free little things that Vox does as entertainment. He likes to see what Vox does with Hell as playground. Free-roaming gerbil style.

Maybe he would try to cage him once for the heck of it, but I genuinely think(despite all the fanon interpretations and how canon Vox is all leading into that he's insecure and pathetic) that Vox and Alastor are equally matched and Alastor would not have a feasible way of keeping him there for one. I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL. I swear in canon that they are setting up Vox to be underestimated. Like, yes radio waves/radio has power over TV signals--but literally face it, nobody WANTS radio. Only TV does. Even if TV disappears, the masses are not going to go back to radio. Radio has its purpose but in the modern age and from what it looks like in HH too(since TV/Vox is so popular) radio as a ruling media is already over, it's relegated to a supporting role now because TV is just so convenient and straight up better with so many more uses.

And I dont think Vox's way of thinking is "wrong" or that he's far gone, since he's never been actively suicidal. I only made him mention that line in the fic because Alastor was so blindsided by HIS way of thinking that Vox needed to voice his side for Alastor to think of Vox's perspective for once(also in the fic I made Alastor SHOW that he cared) aka, in the end they both communicated in the way that the other prefers (show vs tell). RR!AU Vox is characterized as only to have maybe, PASSIVE suicide ideation. Its like, he wont ever think about dying unless his mind is empty--so putting him in an isolated/empty place would make it worse/allow his depressive thoughts to fester because he's not busying his mind.

So if you want to go with a fluffy route, if Alastor really romantically fell in love with Vox, I want to say he'd tone down the blatant stalking and go for a traditional and appealing courting way(probably asked Rosie for advice) that finally respects Vox's current feelings...would Vox reciprocate? Eh, too little too late, maybe.

That said, I'm fascinated by this scenario so I'm going to entertain it as a what-if , LOL. It's going to get very toxic and strange, even more-so from hereon out:

Let's say we take what Vox said in the fic for verbatim(wants to stay on DND forever, chasing after death), and that Alastor planned for this ahead of time.

First, it would be an environmental shock to Vox because he's so used to constantly being around people, and just DOING stuff...there's some symbolism here about how great white sharks have trouble being kept in zoos/being kept in captivity.

A lot of people would look for him. Hell politics would go haywire. I think Vox would busy himself in his thoughts about how to deal with his own absence too, all concerned for the power vacancy and things that are piling up, if he couldn't find an immediate way to escape. It's really hard to think of Vox ever doing "nothing" IMO.

(Even if he sits and watches TV all day, he goes all giggly and dramatic. A big reason why I push this in RR!AU. I find it so interesting to have a character/personality so animated also having deep nihilistic thoughts. He would not curl up and spend days not doing anything, more like 'OK NEXT NOW WHAT'.)

Then let's say Alastor introduces daily stimulation with Vox. In order for him not to do anything drastic. Playing chess with him, asking open-ended questions...Vox starts to crave those singular interactions everyday so badly. Because it's his only fix to do something.

In any case, it would turn into a very unhealthy and co-dependent, Stockholm syndrome-y relationship. Subsequently, 'Atticwife'....

This was a very wild question to answer, but thank you for sending it! It was pretty fun to imagine a possibility where this played out.

[buffster]

Buffy vs Dracula (BTVS 5.01)

This is part of my ongoing Buffyverse Project, where I write notes/meta for every episode in an attempt to better understand the characters and themes of the shows. You can find the BTVS list here and the ATS list here. Gifs are not mine.

Really leaning into the camp with this one.

It’s clear from the outset that the writers are preparing for Riley to exit. Now that the drama of the Initiative is over, we are stepping right into the idea that Buffy and Riley don’t actually work as a couple. Riley has fallen asleep (presumably satisfied and relaxed after some sexy times) while Buffy lies awake. She sneaks out and does some late-night slaying. She satisfies him, he doesn’t satisfy her. 

When the gang hangs out at the beach for some relaxing, we also see that Buffy consistently holds back from Riley without ever mentioning it. When he says she throws like a girl she puts a little effort in and immediately knocks him over and ruins the ball. This puts forward the idea that Buffy is deliberately holding her Slayer self back from Riley. We’ll get more into this through the season.

The group begins a conversation about making life choices. Xander doesn’t have a steady future, Riley can’t focus his major, and Willow is still deciding what she wants to major in. It surprises me that she wants to take a drama class after all her fears from past seasons. I guess this is a sign she is trying to leave the old Willow behind. Giles has spent the summer archiving texts, labeling amulets, and generally preparing to leave Buffy behind. He tells only Willow that he’s planning to go, and it seems like that’s because he’s prepared her to be mini-Giles. 

Buffy is patrolling alone when she meets Dracula. He immediately causes her to question her power by labeling her a killer. He says her power is rooted in darkness. It appears this season will continue to explore what it means to be a Slayer. Anya, Willow, and Buffy (and Xander?) all find Dracula attractive. They discover he can read and control minds and appear in dreams. 

Riley’s restlessness is clear here. He doesn’t really like or fit in with the Scooby method of dealing with a problem. We see him pacing, distractedly muttering that the Initiative would be able to pull files on Dracula and give them all the information they needed in seconds. He visits Spike for information just to feel like he’s taking some kind of action. 

Riley picks up on Buffy’s attraction to Dracula. It’s made worse when she hides that she’s been bitten, and he finds out. He doesn’t think she’s under Dracula’s spell but is just transferring feelings of Angel onto Dracula. As we watch Buffy begin to get more and more curious about what it means to be a Slayer (and running from it less), we see Riley pick up on that part of her he can’t reach and get more insecure.

Dracula understands part of her Slayer side, and this curiosity draws her in.

A little inconsistency with Joyce this season. She’s lonely and invited Dracula in, which I guess we will blame on his mystical alure rather than her being naive. But there’s a little joke where she says something about wanting to give up on men altogether and Willow and Tara sort of side-eye each other, like she doesn’t know they’re a couple. But then next episode Dawn is writing in her diary and it’s pretty clear Joyce does know they’re a couple. Not really important, just something I noticed.

Giles being seduced by the vampires and Riley rescuing him was a funny scene. Also interesting, though, because Riley is laser focused on Buffy and not at all tempted at this point. But we know he’ll be in that exact same position later in the season...

Buffy is still under Dracula’s spell until she tastes blood. It snaps her out of her trance, because she might not be sure what her power is leading her to, but it’s not that. She’s not a vampire. She beats Dracula. 

Also...how many times did he come back? How did she know he was gone for good?

Xander: Damn it!.. You know what? I'm sick of this crap. I'm sick of being the guy who eats the insects and gets the funny syphilis! As of this moment, it's over. I'm finished being everybody's butt monkey!

Buffy’s decision to re-commit to Slayer training derails Giles’ decision to leave. She wants to know more about what she is. We’re pivoting away from past seasons, where all Buffy wanted to do was run away from her power. 

Annnnd....Dawn.

Character Notes:

Buffy Summers: She says she’s fought fanboys that called themselves Lestat.

Willow Rosenberg: When the gang is exhausted looking at Buffy and Riley’s exertion, she says they’ve put their finger on why they’re the sidekicks. She loves mochas and is starting to get addicted to them. 

Xander Harris: Xander was fired from flipping burgers “in like a day” and is now working construction. Anya mentions he’s been looking at sexy girls in tool belts.

Anya Jenkins: She hung out with Dracula a few times in her evil days. She once cursed someone by making them incredibly fat.

Riley Finn: He’s trying to decide whether to focus on psycholinguistics or cognitive neurobiology for his psychology masters. 

Tara Maclay: Her joke only lands with Willow, which makes her embarrassed.

Joyce Summers: Buffy suggests she get a pet. She says a cat is too pathetic and a rat too creepy. She says she’ll think about a dog.

Spike: He says Dracula owes him 11 pounds.

[nomsfaultau]

dunmeshi and sbi!fault :DD

I did briefly consider writing a normal sbi crossover cause ohhh my God it would be good. Honestly Laios did bleed into my Techno in Worth far more than your weight in gold cause Techno also gets into that hyperfixation on creature details (although in a lot more 'to kill them better' way). They are ON that grindset. Although polar opposites on Techno 'eating the same potato recipie for 12 months' vs laios 'new dish every meal'. The Blade is such a lazy cook see: cooking headcanons. Laios would openly speculate on how his meat differs from actual pork. And Wilbur would start explaining the flavor profile/texture difference very accurately to everyone's fascination/horror. The Blade also straight up doesn't know Chilchuck is part of the party because he's so tiny he's like 100% in The Blade's blind spot. Like yeah he can smell and hear him but he just keeps forgetting Chilchuck exists. Also confused that the orphan meter isn't pinging but whatever. Marcille constantly bribes him to get access to his long luxurious mane. Senshi is cool with him bc he's familiar with orcs.

I think Senshi and Philza share one brain cell in that regard. Agressively taking care of everyone else. Cause you cannot tell me Philza hasn't seen so so so many people starve to death in famines...not so much worried about cannibalism. Also. Technically Philza isn't in the mental place for more adoption (read: he's mentally stable rn), but it would be soooo funny if he looked at Chilchuck and was like. Another child? Baby? But that's mostly because I love tormenting Chilchuck so very very much. Probably radiating disappointment the second he finds out Chilchuck is not really in his kids life that much currently due to the adventure. Appreciates Marcille's fireballs and black magic. Philza cannot distinguish between Izutsumi and 14 yo Wilbur that's just the same kid.

Wilbur ADORES all the food omg yes this is fantastic. And Marcille is cringing as it eats increasingly inedible dishes and sarcastically teasing her for not eating it. But Wilbur CANNOT handle Laios 'man I wish I was a monster' like he just can't he will punch Laios if he tries that. Him and Izutsumi have the nastiest kvetching sessions it's fantastic. Instant bonding over being distrusting brats that are desperate to be human. Cannot fathom the picky eater thing. Likes how paranoid Chilchuck is, although Chilchuck is convinced a mimic is going to pop out of its head at any time.

Tommy gets even worse dish duty than normal, but these crazy adventurers like. Are really amazed about his power? About how it can be used to sanitize stuff?? Like passionately going on about the health implications and Tommy is just staring at his hands as a wholesome anime monologue is happening in the background while he's having flashbacks to murder. [Marcille and Tommy would be most insufferable duo imaginable. I think they’d constantly butt heads given how bossy yet insecure both of them are. Tommy would eat mud in front of her and Marcille would have an aneurism. And he’d blow a fuse about her thinking he’s essentially a toddler by elf standards. however. Tommy would be extremely encouraging of her explosion magic to a degree that would cause structural damage to the dungeon.] Tries to show off and impress Izutsumi because GIRL!!1! And is very cringefail about it, she and Wilbur team up to bully him. He thinks Senshi is weird and groans about having two Philzas. Constantly riling Chilchuck up about his height.

Tubbo is like thank God normal people who aren't crazy murderers at first. And then decides they're all weirdos but not Problematic to the degree of Fault crew peoples. Thinks Marcille's magic is freaking awesome, and helps her control her meat dragon homunculous guys a lot better. Grand/kid talking with Chilchuck. uhhh ngl having trouble with Tubbo for some reason lol.

Also. On a very big note I think the world building re: monsters could lead to massive angst and tension between the groups. Especially with things like Laios crossing lines on 'humanoid monsters' as food. Like the entire group is constantly talking about eating monsters, and for the Fault crew that's very dehumanizing, racist, offensive, traumatizing, etc. Very high chance they end of fighting each other, however, the funny dynamic trumps all so that's what I went with.

[castlebyersafterdark]

It’s amazing how the depth of ST really relies on Byler happening. Not that there aren’t other things/themes within the show (Max’s depression, being black in Hawkins, a cop learning to be suspicious of authority, the power of friendship, etc), in terms of its three central kids/now teens (Will, Mike, and El), a Byler-less season 5 would mean that the show doesn’t have much to say. And it would mean the show is ultimately fairly generic, fight the Big Bad and the evil government with superpowers fare. Sometimes I wonder if I’m too hooked on Byler endgame to the point of overemphasizing Byler’s thematic role and not being able to enjoy alternate outcomes, but I don’t think I am. Cause if Byler isn’t endgame, we’re not just wrong about a ship, we’re wrong about the show. Not to mention being wrong about the characters, specifically Mike. Like I don’t even recognize the Mike they believe in?

No, I really don't think you are I or anyone in agreement with us are being dramatic or unfounded or biased about this - Byler not happening as predicted really changes the whole story and I also am not sure what the show's messaging would be. It changes the characters completely.

How do you have Will at the end alone, without getting his love? Or, with him dead? His story has so much resting not just on acceptance because here's the thing - we know Joyce and Jonathan and Mike would accept him for being gay if that was his only secret. Will doesn't know that, but the audience (who cares about the show) know this. Or at least, has the context clues to know. THEY GAVE WILLIAM BYERS THE LINE "I'M NOT GONNA FALL IN LOVE" when one, he already is and two, not let that pay off!! And he's in love with Mike!! And Mike - his story of needed to be the hero, be needed, be himself, be allowed the grace to be different and true to himself - and that is really only allowed to shine with Will. I don't know what we're supposed to take away from the character of Mike without Byler with the show as it stands. It could have been a different arc with him and still have his arc entwined with endgame El - but what was written is so so so odd if real. Should have been written differently seasons ago. From the beginning.

Hell, even El needs Mike and Will to get together to really shine and come into her own. Her story is not about romance. If you really care about El - she cannot end the show in a relationship with Mike Wheeler. She needs inner strength without others propping her up or using her (whether for power or for a misguided stand-in for feeling needed). She doesn't need you, Mike. And you don't need her. Standing apart actually allows you to stand as equals. Right now both hide insecurities with themselves by burying them in each other in that relationship. They need each other's friendship - which neither have right now. Will needs love. El needs family/friendship. Mike needs both. The door to El and Mike also needs to be firmly shut and the door ripped off the closet.

The sexuality storyline is tied into the supernatural storyline. It kinda feels... incomplete without a way for Will (and Mike) to express that beyond just Will being gay. There needs to be weight and stakes to that storyline and he needs a love interest the audience can care about due to invested familiarity - which is why a shoehorned random townie isn't gonna do anything for Will.

There's a lot of additional value to the other arcs you've mentioned and I want to briefly highlight them as well as to emphasize how they all tie in and enhance each other. The message of being different and the power of love and friendship. Being different in a small town. How humanity's monsters are just as bad or worse as monsters from other worlds - or how those human monsters make the fantastical monsters. Something something like that, there's a lot of different takes that all lead to a similar place. It's a wonderfully assembled ensemble show, and the Byler storyline as the heart ties everything together really. What else could have been built up? It's the most dramatic and hard hitting reveal - everything swirling to a focus with Will. He started the show, he ends the show. With his happy ending - it'll be so beautiful.

[secondeve]

hi hello happy opening, nice to meet everyone! i’m blue & this is shin jieum, sadpathetic girl looking to exchange a plot of land for just a bit ( a lot ) of the love or power she thinks she deserves ! i've got her profile, background pages up & more info / plots under the cut, pls like to plot or ask for my d/scord and i’ll be there! 💗

info

unknown / nth was on loop while writing her bio, though i think that's more indulgent for her than the sharp objects jieum's actually made out of rip but that's on context & for listening!

starting from the bottom: the shins are a family that somehow manages to weasel their way to capitalise on whoever's in power at the time ( usually the parks ). have an unfortunate tendency to angle for their daughters marrying into the founding families—though they can't be said to be unsuccessful on that front!

so that's how jieum is raised! mother is sour from losing out on the yang heir of her time & is now puppeteering her children into where she almost was. she lied to jieum that she's a yang-affair baby & insists that she's lost out, so she's got a big chip on her shoulder about not having what she's due

( would fuck her up to find out that she's actually just the daughter of a mediocre man but she doesn't know that. yet! )

but anyway jieum is not the alluring type :( she fades into the background, v much unperks of being a wallflower. not rlly charismatic or sweet enough to win any hearts & doesn't have the backbone to stand taller than kim i or yang on her own either so she's kind of fucked she's always 2nd yknow bridesmaid but never the bride until!!!!

she Does become the bride. hot damn!

she thinks she's finally getting her flowers, but this marriage is loveless & faithless so eventually ( quite quickly ) falls apart. her ego is her undoing and she turns cold & dry to park i, which only makes things worse, rip—she's defo keeping up the facade of a perfect home but it's not that at all

tries to soothe her ego by reminding herself of all the people she's better than now that she's married into the parks! has defo stepped on a few toes for her ego's sake but she has old habits of deferring to people & also needs her father in law's help re the land so she can't be Too uppity?

let's go horoscope girlies she's got a pisces sun aries moon taurus rising, she longs for love & loves herself too much but it's not enough for her... she might think she's playing the game well but it's usually clouded by her ego / insecurities. makes missteps all the time bc she's not used to being on the upper hand or needing to be careful since being 2nd means no one rlly notices u. feels sorry for herself all the time & can be kind but only when it makes her feel better about herself. also she's so bored & discontent with life she's just a housewife but who knows if she'll still be when she starts shilling for tk group!

plots

fellow stiffed by life sufferers. people who are willing to commiserate about how bad their lives are even tho objectively none of them are having it that bad

the first / only person she's ever come first to & like sure they aren't important or powerful but they make her feel powerful so maybe she's attached but sneakily. maybe she doesn't want to be associated w them too publicly?

a friend her friend they're hers & she might have smth codependent with them

someone who thinks she's so pathetic but she's like trainwreck entertainment for them they keep leading her down the wrong paths

or maybe someone who feels bad for her. they keep trying to help her & she keeps getting mad at them for meddling even tho they mean well & she Knows they mean well but her ego is small & easily bruised

people who don't like park i & the wife of my enemy is my enemy—but if she doesn't like him too then is she ur friend?

someone who smells a rat when she's around & repeating jung / iida's talking points about selling the land...

also someone who might believe her & legit thinks the shins have the good of the town at heart she's working an angle on them now

the usu yknow childhood friends rivals exes fwbs ( yes she's married but if he's cheating so is she... )