#much since their mike is like...a different mike sometimes or is portrayed as not good enough for will and not as someone who was

[oletus-manors-log]

hiya ! noticed ur rqs were still open so was wondering if i could ask for general romance hcs for mike and aesop?? its completely fine if you cant i understand. i hope you have a great day ahead of you ! :))

OBSERVER'S NOTE :

“ After losing my mind over personal matters, I finally managed to get to writing about these two. I do apologize for how long it took, because there are actually things I needed to focus on outside of my job.

But anyhow, here it is! I also looked up on Mike and Aesop because I actually didn't know Mike's story as a survivor, and reading up how people portray him really helped in pinning down what he's like. I do hope it's up to your expectations, dear guest. I tried my best with him, but I do think I can do better in the future. ”

General Romance HCs for: Mike & Aesop

The Acrobat is... An interesting man, that one.

Considering his behavior and past, there's a lot of things that can go with him. However, if you think he of all survivors would be the type to back down? Hah!

Absolutely not.

Don't underestimate him- unlike most of the survivors, Mike does have somewhat of an experience with romance. Although the Hullabaloo Incident had him lose everything and suffer psychological damage, he's had a few... Flings. Not as much, though, but a few that can help him understand.

People always say that he's quite the mischievous fellow, and although they'd be right, they don't often mention how he can be quite flippant.

For one moment, he may act quite kind- perhaps even a little cheeky if he so felt like it. But then next thing, he acts a lot more off, almost like he didn't have the desire to do much.

For the most part, though, when he's in love? He is one stubborn man to the person that became the thing he focused on.

Since he is an entertainer by means of his role (one being acrobatics), he enjoys putting on a show for the one he likes. One may say that, perhaps, Mike enjoys putting on a show if it meant seeing his darling smile! ✩

On that regard, he also doesn't like to see the person he cherishes sad. Please, if there is anything putting a damper on them, he'd be really worried if he wasn't told of what it is! Was it because of a match? Or maybe it's something else?

The acrobat can be quite, quite silly in his endeavors to make someone smile- even more so with his beloved darling! ✩ The amount of times he can be so determined to help them feel joy in an otherwise hopeless match can be a lot.

Oh, but please, do make sure he's never near anything in the kitchen :( as much as he'd like to say that he can and will be willing to cook for his beloved if asked, sometimes it can lead to... A burned meal instead. At worst? It may be set on fire.

... Yes, Emily gets angry whenever this happens. Probably a good reminder to not risk another burned room again.

Despite his nature, though, there may be times that he would crave something more calmer. On that regard, he enjoys quite a lot of cuddles if it meant having some time to 'recharge'.

Yes, he may be extroverted, but goodness sake, he isn't always full of energy...

Dates with him can be pretty spontaneous, actually. It isn't that rare to see him plan out a date on one thing in a map, only to do the complete opposite- which, well, makes it all the more fun for him.

To the Acrobat, he enjoys the surprise it can lead with plans going to an entirely different direction! The thrill it can lead gives him adrenaline- ah, so as long it doesn't involve arson.

Speaking of which, he enjoys making a show with the bombs he has! Although he would much rather keep it from going absolutely everywhere and risk an explosion as a result, he enjoys it when his lover gets to see the spectacle he can do with them!

Overall, Mike is possibly one of the few survivors that can be quite the wild one when in love. He does try his best to be, well, out of sight when it comes to trouble, but let's just say his ways of expressing his adoration surpasses it all ✩

“ Ah, the star of the show arrived just in time! ✩ Listen, I just found something amazing in Moonlit River Park, and I think you should see it! C'mon! It'll be fun! ”

... Pardon? Romance?

You must be joking, right?

Aesop Carl's thoughts are, well, exactly that with the matters of romance. Now, don't get me wrong- he isn't some heartless bastard that'd think of outright denying it.

He's just more used to being hated by others for how he was raised. After all, he had quite a grim past, majority of it was thanks to Jerry's treatment.

... that, and he honestly thinks that people are better off with not trying to get together with him. It made more sense that way.

So many may think that he is introverted to the matter of romance, and although you aren't wrong at the idea of him being introverted, he's more of the avoidant type.

He isn't even interested in romance, so why would you think he'd be interested in forming a literal emotional bond?

So the biggest surprise for him isn't the general aspect of romance, no— it was how he felt with a literal person, and how it was positive and not dread.

After all, he was raised by the literal scum of the Earth… Right? So why does he feel so humane?

Why does he feel the warmth in his chest when he sees the person he loves? And even the simplest touch they have… It makes him giddy.

… He doesn't know how to process that. And because of that, he avoids the person causing such emotions.

He's like Grace, but you'd have to put in effort with him. He's the type to avoid anything and everything that regards the matter of human interaction, and in that regard, to the person he likes.

Not to worry, however— if he likes you enough and understands the emotions he's processing, he slowly opens up and lets you through the many walls he's built up.

Aesop himself doesn't know how to express the many emotions in his heart, but he expresses it as best as he's able to. Be it through speaking or nonverbal gestures, you get what he's trying to show you, and you still love it all the same for his efforts.

He's pretty good in putting up makeup on his lover, and would be found putting it on them anywhere so as long it's private. Hell— ask him to put your makeup on the bed! He might grumble if you move too much, but he definitely will try.

When he's spent from interacting with the others, he seeks you out first. He craves you and your touch, and God forbid you don't give him that. I'm not saying that he's possessive, but he definitely is the type to sulk over it and be petty in return.

… What I mean is, he ignores you for as long as you did to him. Poor Aesop.

He sometimes talks about having to preserve your body when you die one day, opting to find the right coffin for you, makeup that makes you look the same when you're alive, and even offer to put you in the clothes you were on when you first met him.

… Please tell him not to though. It'd be… Questionable if the others heard of it.

He isn't the most confident of survivors, but if you are lucky (or you're in a teasing mood and tease him), there's a rare chance he gets back at you with a surprise kiss.

He finds it the easiest to shut up his lover with one, even if its rare and he knows you'd ask for more. Not that he minds… Surprisingly.

He likes PDA, but only a small bit in public. He hates it if you do more than a simple hand holding, though sometimes he would also crave more. It's very difficult to read him, but when you know him enough, you'd know when to give him what he wants.

Although Aesop has his own quirks, he's one of the few residents that people may have a hard time envisioning that he'd have a chance at romance. And although he agreed to that ideal, having a chance himself was… Rather pleasant for a change.

“ … You're back from your match. You're left unharmed, right? … Good. ”

© ᴏʟᴇᴛᴜs-ᴍᴀɴᴏʀs-ʟᴏɢ | 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟹 ✧ ʀᴇᴘᴏsᴛs ᴀʀᴇ ɴᴏᴛ ᴀʟʟᴏᴡᴇᴅ, ʙᴜᴛ ʀᴇʙʟᴏɢs ᴀʀᴇ | ᴀʀᴛ ʙᴇʟᴏɴɢs ᴛᴏ ʀɪɢʜᴛғᴜʟ ᴏᴡɴᴇʀs

[egtotaldramatakes]

im so happy i found this blog my td obsession is going to take over again !!! i have an insane amount of headcanons however most of them are about mike and his system because they are my childhood and current comfort character (also a very personal character to me because my mental issues)(this is going to be a long rant)

so heres a ton of mike n co headcanons while i plot how to rewrite all stars and draw it:

- mal is actually really into psychology, and tries to learn about it a lot. this is wht he knows so much about the system and how he could take over in all stars so easily (though in my eyes half of all stars was not real and i am going to demolish the writers with a wrecking ball) alsobmal is actually quite smart, however it is not portrayed well. he is about the same level as alejandro in terms of understanding others socially, maybe as observant as izzy, however he does not like showing that. he also usually does dumb things brcause he craves chaos to make him feel like he has control over his life (can you tell im self inserting(joke))

- the whole system collectively sucks with school subjects involving remembering very specific, one time use things (social studies, language) and formula based subjects are easier. however their grades are not great. also, they are all smart, but show it in different ways. svetlana is coordinated, mike is emotionally understanding/comforting person, mal is emotionally observant, manitoba is good with nature and animals, i can go on but i am not good at actually describing things like these in words !!! ask me if u want more explanation ig

- due to the above (grades), home life is not easy, and mike went to total drama to escape from life where he lived, though it was not the greatest idea. he met zoey though!

- mal is not really evil. he can be mean/rude as a defense mechanism, and prefers to do chaotic things for fun, and like i mentioned above to have a sense if control. he is very reactive / hotheaded and will get angry/emotional easily. he likes to see others hurt because he was hurt so many times and probably believes nobody would try to care for him, which is a large reason he tries to take over in all stars, since scott exists. he is destructive, and likes to show proof that he can be powerful, where mike tries his best to hide very strong emotions, and act happy as much as possible.

- mal thinks everybody loves mike, and has liw self esteem because of tje fact that he isnt mike. ("im a bug eyed weirdo and everybody loves me!") but mike thinks nobody could possibly like him. vito and svetlana usually have very high self esteem however, svetlana due to being good with athletics and probably for having medals for sports, and vito for being abke to talk confidently to others, which makes others act nicer. chester and manitoba do not really care about how others view them.

- svetlana being active (and mal fighting in juvie) probably gave them an ungodly sleeper build (how mal was able to mess up alejandro's wrist in all stars)

- mal didnt really want to go to juvie, probably only going for a big fight where he really hurt someone out of defense, but after seeing how much of a big deal it was and how people actually paid attention, he disobeyed people a lot more to get a negative reaction, since to him, "at least it is a reaction" or something like that

- i need to stop writing angst because i feel like i got hit by a truck but !! anywasy mal initially doesnt trust zoey and tries to sabotage her bond with mike, however zoey does research on trauma / rffects of trauma and kinda figures out that if she does nice things for mal, he will not be as destructive. it is slow and difficult but they eventually manage to bond as well as form a friendship

- mike has rarely had good food and when zoey takes him out to a fancy resturaunt for the first time he cries bevause the food is so good (they used to live in a house where groceries were forgotten and would sometimes fend for themself, and when dinner was cooked it wouldnt alwsys be something they liked, due to the different food preferences between each alter)

- mike, svetlana, and vito are dog people, manitoba, chester and mal are cat people , zoey got both and takes allergy medicine for the dog (mike insisted she didnt have to get a dog and this only made her want onr more(she always wanted a dog but never got one because of her allergies(she never considered she could take medicine since nobody close to her owned a dog)))

- the cats name is patches, she is a calico with one eye who mal found on the street, he initially tried to ignore her but couldnt leave her outside.

- the dog has short fur, not sure ehat breed, maybe a chocolate lab. has a name like hershey or some chocolate brand

- they go insane the first time they have a birthday and cry when the cake is brought out and zoey cries because she had birthdays but at home and with only her family

- sleep terrors.

- mal tried to give himself piercings several times but it failed since mike would find it and remove it and it the piercing would close up

i want to write more about the othet alters but they have so little screen time in comparison :( i also havent watched roti / all stars in like 2 months and my memort is really bad so i dont remember alot to base hcs on, also i zone out alot when they are on screen

my head is going fuzzy again and my neck and head hurts so i am now 🧭 anon !!! perhaps one day i will reveal my blog heheheh..... i hope these hcs are okay / dont get me hate and i will be back!!! i think ive typed for 45 minutes god

.

[castlebyersafterdark]

something ive not seen discussed is the class difference between mike and will and how this could manifest in sexual aspects. class fetishisation/kink is such a big thing in the gay scene in general, and im curious if this could manifest for mike and will, even as relates to emotion and love, to their self esteem, idea of whether they could ever have a life together. maybe something will come back with lonnie and will in s5 - calling him names, saying he'll never amount to anything and just be lonely, etc - and maybe for mike, its all the expectation, but ive not seen anyone discuss the specifics of whether they could be attracted to class aspects physically and emotionally. for example, will is 'from the wrong side of the tracks' but is a sweetie instead of a bad boy. and mike is kinda loudmouth instead of polite upper middle class. theyre a great subversion of tropes.

maybe the dnd analogy does this metaphorically - a knight/paladin is surely more privileged than a wizard, who lives in a little shack in the woods?

Ooooh a really good topic! I definitely think that class and home life and income levels will play a factor in their lives in some big ways. While I don't think there's a doubt that Mike and Will truly see each others as equals and peers - they've known each other since they were five, they're fixtures, they're best friends - there can be some roadblocks, for sure. I don't think Mike would ever judge Will for being poor. He looks out for him, takes care of him, doesn't make him feel bad if he's lacking some aspect because of his home life financial situation. But, maybe he takes things for granted.

If you HC them going to college together like I do, this is where conflict and apparent differences arise. Maybe Mike's parents are paying for school while Will's gotta work harder, get a job, take loans, keep his grades consistent to maintain a scholarship. Could cause strain at times due to stress. It's not a clear path for Will. Maybe as time goes on Mike wants to take care of Will, pays for a lot of things, can be thrilling for Mike to dote on Will and spoil him but sometimes it does make Will feel bad or embarrassed that he can't do the same, or that he needs it, can't take care of himself or anyone else. Conflict, born from love but different actions have contrasting meanings.

But then there's the self esteem issue with their relationship as they stay together. The difference in Will coming from modest means but he has a support group. He's out to his immediate family. Mike is well off and doesn't worry about money as much as a young man, but he keeps them secret for a long long time. He's afraid of losing the support. The money. His family in his life in case image and their "traditional values" are challenged.

The subverted tropes are interesting, because that kinda does fit what they've got going on. Unsure if it ties into attraction because of that difference, since like I said, the familiarity would be there from childhood so they've cemented "real" views of each other quite young.

And interesting with the dnd/Clearadin angle. Often I refer to Will as a prince in his fantasy daydreams, but it would make more sense to portray him realistically as a more earthly mystic, a wizard getting by on the outskirts, not in the castle. Mike would be in some lofty position, loyalty to to some royalty - but there's a juicy little scandal or secret in pledging his true oath to a magic user or technically a commoner. Ooooh the possibilities.

[chevelleneech]

https://www.tumblr.com/chevelleneech/760748078531788800/confession?source=share

Mileapo the same actors from kinn Porsche right? I haven't watched the show but I'm aware of it since before it's release as i had watched one edit before it's release and i liked the chemistry, acting right away but i haven't watched cause i don't watch dramas/series/movies anything lol.

U know this reminded me of the other Thai bl drama actors their ship the brightwin....some 2-3 months ago one of them started dating and that causes distress in their shipping Fandom. All big accts left nd all that typical things happened and funny thing was the girl who bright is dating was another actor from their show right? She was frnds with both ig. Again haven't watched but got to know some things thr ppl on my tl who watched their drama when it aired.

This again made me realise how sometimes shippers just don't have the bigger picture in their mind you know. if i have to take jkk's example then we see them mostly with members so we usually just can compare how they behave with e/o to other members but there's soo many ppl outside that which we don't see so we don't have any idea how they treat other ppl. E.g. when those pictures of jk with mijoo were leaked it again caused havoc in Fandom cause ppl thought him back hugging is too much for friendship or what not. Again shippers cause so much over back hugs when jk seems pretty comfortable doing it with ppl he's close to doens't have to know them for years long u know. Armys for yrs has portrayed as jk hates woman when reality says otherwise.

We think jm treats jk in a certain way or vice versa when off cam there might be other people whom they treat more differently than that. I always think jungkook treats jm as his close frnds and jm does the same. When ppl were making big deal out of that jk bucking up at jm over sausage many said alot of things about jk when it's actually very normal in friends. I still don't think that's something jk would do to his actual partner but that's just my thoughts. People said jk not knowing jm's schedules nd not even going to any of jm's music shows despite being free ain't a big deal it happens in couples when i feel jk would be the first person to support when he's partner doing some projects as solo(if we assume jk is dating another artist).

Do i think jkk are close? Yes. Do i think they're more than friends? Yes. Do i think they flirt? Yes. Do i think they feel attraction towards one another? Maybe. Do i think they're dating? No. There are some rs that go beyond just friendship but it stops right before crossing the line between friends and romantic rs. I feel jkk's rs is there somewhere.

Feels one day fans gonna find them with their respective partners exactly like other ships.

Sorry it's just kinda rant

I’m not exactly 100% on what you’re comparing, because Mile and Apo were shipped, but not because of how much time they actually spent together. They were shipped for the same reasons as many BL actors, which is because they starred in a production together, and have major chemistry.

What added to the shipping is them having history outside the show, seeing as they went to the same college and crossed paths enough times, but weren’t friends. Then Mile talked about how he always thought Apo was good looking, back when Apo came up as an actor. And Apo thought Mile was handsome from when he saw him in their college gym working out. On top of that, Mike basically created the production company Kinnporsche was released under, because he wanted Apo to have the opportunity to shine. So they are or were really good friends, and Apo teased Mile a lot about being his sugar daddy because Mile is really rich, as he grew up in a wealthy business family. But outside of extremely specific lines, shipping them wasn’t because of how they acted around each other, because they spent a lot of time together, or because they appeared to want to be together.

So all that said, while people obviously shipped and still ship them, they aren’t really comparable to JM and JK, because Jimin and Jungkook aren’t being shipped just for being friends and coworkers during one project. They have a decade of history and are very questionable together, and as AYS shows, they were intentional about making time to spend together. Mile and Apo flirt and have fun, and are also private about their friendship for the most part, but anyone shipping them beyond the “I think they’d look good together.” we’re doing so knowing they likely weren’t a couple. Their chemistry is real, and I definitely thought they would remain visibly close as friends, but things change. Also, Mile is apparently dating a woman he has been rumored to have gotten with like two years ago, when he and Apo were still visibly close. So again, people were shipping knowing they weren’t together.

Yes, Jimin and Jungkook’s friendship might change after enlistment as well, we don’t know, but the context and circumstances are very different.

[demonicintegrity]

Okay I’m going to see Barbie today so I should probably have my misc thoughts on Across the Spiderverse down. (Spoilers incoming) Speaking of:

#1) tiktok spoilers my beloathed. They also don’t do the movie justice (I’ll get back to that)

#2) artistic styles my beloved.

The love and care to the craft of the story is so evident from the start. Gwen’s retelling of Mike’s story is in her universe’s watercolor style. And oh my god it’s so beautiful. I’m such a sucker for pretty watercolors and Gwen’s universe SPEAKS to my soul. Beautiful. Mwuah.

Speaking of Gwen, the analogy of her being trans and coming out is definitely there. While her being trans may not be a problem for her father, her struggle with a secret superhero identity absolutely is a parallel to being a trans kid. Her best friend knowing included. Her running away from home especially.

And it’s beautifully portrayed. And her father’s arc developing at the end, where he says he’s no longer a policeman if it’s gonna be that at odd with her being a hero because he loves her more than that, is the kinda sentiment I and every other trans kid with unsupportive parents wish they had. It’s about growth, it’s about the person being the priority not a stubborn hold to flawed ideology.

#3 Miles my boy, his story is definitely that of loneliness. Which arguably is queer-coded in of itself. He finally finds his people and now they’re separated and he misses that. Especially since the separation is inherently tied to the safety of everyone, sometimes it’s really hard to connect with other queer folk because of that. But i don’t think that’s the intended focus, it’s more of a coming of age thing.

Also holy shit he is YOUNG. He is fifteen!! I was a freshman in highschool when I turned fifteen! No wonder he’s so pissed when everyone is telling him what to do and how to do, that is like the quintessential age of being treated like both an adult and child and it’s infuriating. But it’s the perfect age for this kinda story. Because the very valid attempts of trying to find a happy middle are there, two cakes and all. But it also means it’s still the first few attempts, hence the fate of the two cakes. The technique is still being refined and he’s still figuring out his priorities.

Do what he’s good at (science) and push for something he really wants (his friends back) or something else entirely?

People have pointed out he’s incredibly artistic. And it’s good! Now that doesn’t always means it translates into a career well. From firsthand experience I can tell you art as an outlet isn’t the same as art as a career. It’s kinda kicking my butt with the difference. But that doesn’t mean it’s a very real option! And something he can pursue with science as well.

Adjacent to three: the age discourse. Now I heard plenty on it but I was withholding my judgement until I saw the movie itself. That being said, when I first saw spoilers Hobie read like an adult and after watching the movie he is definitely is in my mind.

The three other spiders (Gwen, Miles, Pravitar) all have a focus of actively being in school in their intros. A highlight that they are still teens dealing with teen issues and mentalities. Hobie doesn’t. Hobie’s intro doesn’t mention school. Hobie’s intro talks a lot about politics and ideologies and he carries himself like an experienced adult. (Obvs teens are into politics and all that, i did that as a teen too, but school often comes before that, just as their own intros mentioned.) He speaks with wisdom and experience and takes the others under his wing. He’s also not deferring to Miguel. And he pushes back in a much different way then Gwen and Miles do. For them, even if they don’t agree Miguel is still an adult and that age authority needs to be respected. For Hobie, it doesn’t seem to be a concern. (Yes yes he’s a punk, but respecting your elders is still prevalent in punk and queer cultures as well.)

“But Integrity the love triangle!” There is no love triangle. Gwen is not interested in Hobie, she’s expressly interested in Miles. Looks up to Hobie sure, but she’s clearly more attached to Miles. Hobie also explicitly states he just wants to look out for her. (Re: queer adults taking in queer runaways)

“But Integrity the toothbrush and jumper! And Pravitar going oooohh!!” First of all, Gwen is functionally homeless. She ran away and has been a runaway for literal months. Her stuff is obviously gonna be a mismanaged. And again, going with the fact that her story is a trans allegory, she’s going to stay with adults that take her in. First Miguel and Jessica, and then Hobie. Reading Hobie as a queer adult taking in a queer runaway child and looking after her makes the most sense to me. She also had an expressed interest in Miles that is very long running.

As for Pravitar? I think he’s just pot stirring. He’s (I think) the youngest and definitely acts like it. He’s openly treating them as a soap opera, not with an malicious intent of course, but it’s entertaining gossip for him. A fun tense twist is the fact that Miles doesn’t know. (Probably because he didn’t recognize miles as the anomaly. Genuinely was introduced that Miles is Gwen’s friend and so it’s wild he doesn’t know her closest friends.)

Also: there’s a chance this is suppose to parallel Gwen meeting Mile’s parents.

Your crush should know about and have met your family. For Mile’s that means meeting his parents. For Gwen that means her family of spiders. (She’s trans, found family is a huge priority here esp since her father is not currently in the picture.)

Anyways: Hobie reads as an adult. Gwen is not in a love triangle. I’m scared of touching ao3 for this fandom, even with filters it’s Bad.

#4 with circling back to how the tiktok spoilers/general fanon don’t do this justice, Miguel. He’s is not that fucking mean to Miles. He is genuinely sympathetic and does try to explain to Miles multiple times what “needs” to be done. His fatal flaw is that he carries so much guilt for what happened in the universe he infiltrated that he now feels the need to carry the weight of everything to make up for it. He says as much! If he could see it possible to have a good story, he’d love that but its just not possible for him.

Now granted, holy shit he does go fucking bonkers on Miles. We see the shock in Peter B’s expression. I do not think that is the norm for Miguel’s behavior. At least, not witnessed behavior and thus not behavior he wants to be seen/is proud of. Dude seems like he’s holding on by a thread and it was snapping a little bit there. And like, idek if I can fault that entirely cuz a literal child just sent him on the chase of a the century. Dude’s stressed and not coping well. Amazingly sympathetic antagonist for this reason. It’s an idealogical divide, a quite radical one at that.

#5) the music is sooooo fucking good. Again, the love put into this movie is so palpable.

#6) The Spot. I adore his character!!! I adore this arc and his art direction and his everything!! And I don’t currently have the words for it but I do feel his story is a good analogy for how society picks and chooses it’s outliers. Spider-Man is a hero and loved for his mutations provided he’s a hero and even then it’s very conditional and on a whim. The Spot isn’t. He can’t get a job looking like that, and super heroism is filled in New York by Spider-Man and it’s hard to exist let alone move around looking like that.

There is no support for him. And that speaks for any outlier of society. Queer, race, neurodivergent, “ugly”, and what have you. It’s only natural he gets upset. He lashes out at the easiest person to blame, the present Spider-Man. Even though it is not Mile’s fault he was in that room or employed there, or any of that. But he was a catalyst, and it’s easier to have the blame one person than a web of circumstances.

And there’s a kinship in a way. He brought the 42 spider here. He was bitten by it. Whether they like or hate each other that’s a helluva link. Call it dominos or butterfly effect or fate or what have you, there’s a link to both of their circumstances.

Speaking of, #6) 42 Miles!!!! I adore him. It seems in this universe the lack of a Spider-Man has caused crime cartels to run more rampant. Possibly supervillain run, but I can see overtime the general crime running rampant under them.

I wanna know this timeline, how this has happened. What was this descent? I’m so excited for Beyond. And obvs 42 Miles is gonna play a huge part. I think he will aid our Miles, even if at first begrudgingly. He’s a scared kid and he and Aaron see that. I hope and think they will take pity on him.

I’m wondering if 42’s arc will parallel our Mile’s. Trying to sort priorities and manage grief and loneliness while writing your own path. I bet it will.

Speaking of Beyond: I hope it takes years to make. Give those artists a break and pay them and give them a reasonably timetable damn it. I also hope for more Hobie he’s a catalyst here and I want to see lots of him and he needs dedicated time to animate to achieve that.

Okay misc thoughts done I gotta get ready fkdndkdndn

[briefcasejuice]

as someone whos not really able to read a lot of comics yet but wants to write dd fics, what are some defining traits of matt that you like best? I feel like I don't write his tone very well and really love how you write him in your fics!!

i'm gonna assume you mean writing for comic!matt because you mentioned comics specifically here and i'm sorry but don't really know how to answer this without telling you that you need to read the comics, even a little if not extensively, before writing for comic!matt. i mean, it's fanfiction it's not that serious, go crazy tbh but i understand that your work means a lot to you and half-assing it is the last thing you'd wanna do (me fr)

honestly comic!matt took a lot more time for me to get than live action!matt did and i had to pay attention to certain details -- his speech patterns, mannerisms, etc. -- while i reread comics in order to portray him to a standard i was comfortable with in my fics. even then, when i published helping hand(s) i still didn't like how little i thought i got him

i think the only advice i'd have for anyone not able to read a ton of the comics is to pick a run or story and get comfortable with it. you'd have like 2 (or 4) to 8 (maybe 10) issues about this one plot where you'd be able to get a wide range of the way matt would react to conflict and other kinds of stuff and it'd be good enough for characterisation (i think i've posted about how important it is for fanfic writers to read these extensively if they really want to get his character, specifics and all. on a literary level i think it's really interesting how many unique scenerios can be thought of and acted on this one guy and cause a multitude of responses depending on the context and whatever aspect of him a writer is trying to analyse)

like just hop on readallcomics, go to the beginning of a volume and read until the first plot ends and boom i think you'll be fine. if you don't wanna have to deal with the sheer amount of issues, choose a variant of matt: i recommend murderdock or daredevil: noir but there are tons of others, the main deal is that it's shorter, easy to read and is typically an excellent enough evaluation of matt for you to get him. there are also stand-alone books where they're canon but not tied to current canon events. you could look for one of those and get to know matt in that context.

(i haven't read a modern dd fic (with matt in it) since like september 'cause i've been reading the silver age and rereading a lot of anything to do with mike murdock in particular + school and orher fandoms have scrambled my mind a bit so forgive me if i'm a little rusty/for not mentioning specific runs)

the beauty about writing for comic!matt is that due to the multitude of writers, you can get away with just writing for one writer's matt. unlike the show, they're not trying to keep his character seamless, every writer is trying to bring forth something never yet explored about him in their own respective writing styles and even though it's the same guy, he'll feel a little different everytime. my author's notes always mention which writer's matt was on my mind when writing him if it's not specifically said in the pairing note

like i know you were probably expecting me to list defining traits i got from him to strengthen your characterisation but i just don't know how to do that? i write when i get the urge and it honestly just flows. if i think about it too much i'll get stuck. maybe sometimes i'll open an issue and refer to it or straight up copy dialogue but there isn't anything defining i can tell you; that's up to you to interpret

[will80sbyers]

Attraction at first sight is perfectly normal and that's usually how you end up liking someone and taking an interest to them, wanting to know them more and more and then you fall for each other after

Joyce and Hopper were friends for a lot of years before the show starts and even after the show starts they get together after years, they know each other very well before starting a relationship

Nancy and Jonathan knew of each other from before because their brothers are best friends and they live in a small town but Nancy at first was interested in Steve, only after they know each other and spend a lot of time together they fell for each other and get together but they were not saying they were in love since day one because they simply weren't, they got to know each other before

Lumax had a crush on each other but they get to know the other too in really vulnerable conversations in their relationship that the writers put on screen, they have problems like Mike and El and break up a lot because they start the relationship too early when they are too young but then in S4 they are just friends and get to be friends before everything else first and their relationship starts again slowly even if the love at that point is there, but it's like it's restarting in the right order and it's not just a puppy love crush it's something deep based on friendship and supporting each other and valuing the other as a partner

Now I think Mike and El love each other too personally but I think their love is portrayed differently from all the other couples because they aren't shown to be at the same levels and work as partners and they aren't trusting each other enough

it's like their love hasn't grown to a really mature type because they started the relationship super young and even if I think they have so much love for the other, they grew up and started needing different things and being consumed by insecurity in that relationship... so that relationship is not portrayed by the writers as a long term one imo

the "love at first sight" is Mike not talking about being in love in a way that I consider mature, it's him feeling this connection to El because he liked her and wanted to protect her and so he felt like he wanted to be with her because of that before of everything, it's attraction at first sight

then he gets to know her and of course he loves her because she's so lovable as a person but what I ask myself is if that type of love is enough for a relationship to last because I don't think it is

The relationship must make both of them feel better about themselves to work, not worse, and for now they have shown how they are being kept together more by the people around them than by themselves alone and didn't find a way to communicate on their own without people in the middle

El feels like she has to lie to Mike to be loved by him when she doesn't have her powers and Mike feels like he's not enough to be loved by her... they don't believe each other, they don't work together as a team in the show

El has decided to leave him once every season and that's the thing that breaks Mike's heart the most because he wants to be included but she wants to keep him safe more than she wants him as a partner

A type of love is there for sure but sometimes love is not everything you need to have a good relationship there are other things at play that makes both people in the relationship feel like actual partners!

see thats what worries me tho. i dont think jopper or jancy were written well. even lumax, they all follow the "attraction at first sight" bull we keep on critisizing mileven for

imagine the duffers are just weirdo reddit dude bros ill cry

I don't think j*ncy or j*pper have that though they built a friendship first and the duffers have said they do not believe love at first sight I think we have enough evidence for byler endgame a lot of people hate milkvan now after s4 and I think that was the duffers intention and a lot of people love byler again the duffers intention anon if you are that worried I suggest looking at byler proof videos listen to people talk about that as a matter of fact i have the perfect person you can watch @cloudycleric go watch his videos he's amazing ❤️ much love anon I hope you're doubt goes away soon I'm also posting videos on here check them out!

[cocochannel00]

Story time: How Fan Pages Directly Impact Columbia Records Decisions and Harry Styles Image

Ok I was waiting to see if I would need to sign an NDA after the session way back in June but I haven’t so here’s what I’m going to spill for all the people that don’t think record labels keep up with fan pages:

I was at a zoom event with the Vp of Digital Marketing for Columbia Records (he label Harry is signed too) and the guy on the call (John Vincent Salcedo) talked a lot about the Eroda campaign.

The campaign wasn’t initially supposed to be that big (and was supposed to be a secret much longer) but it was the fans that figured out all of these crazy connections because of their errors. The fans found the connections in accounts and all of these “Easter eggs” that weren’t even Easter eggs but they gained so much attention online that Columbia rolled with it decided to blow it up.

That entire campaign was literally driven by Instagram accounts and Twitter and tumble finding bizarre connections to Harry from the code of the website to the post cards share through Google drive (big stupid mistake there).

They are literally watching everything to see what’s trending, what do fans want, what are they able to give us (what are they able to get Harry onboard with). So while sure Harry might have been given the credit about wanting to make the Eroda island, almost everything else done by th digital marketing team at Columbia was driven by fans. (Keep in mind there’s only so much they can watch so it’s usually just keeping an eye on hashtags and look at the bigger fan accounts and what’s going on in their comments section etc)

They also talked about how each artist on the label handle their social media differently. Some artists choose to be completely in control of what gets posted, what they post, what they like, and comment on (think Miley cyrus). While others have their digital team take control of their accounts when it comes to posting, liking, following etc and then there’s some that do a combination of both (they and the digital team have control together). Regardless of what they choose all artists have it in their contract that their required to promote their tours and music (think of why all of Harry’s posts since going solo have only really been about promoting himself).

If you don’t think the publicity team keeps with fans you’d also be wrong. Mike Navarra who is the VP of Publicity at Columbia follows 4 different Harry update accounts on Instagram (who the heck needs four of the same content as a VP).

His PR team is always watching what’s online and fans reactions so don’t think that they don’t have ways of getting things taken down and covered up.

Every aspect of Harry and celebrities that we see is because their publicist and publicity teams want you to see it. Every “candid” photo, every pap walk, it’s all perfectly staged and set to create and perfect their image. It’s not all necessary fake, but structured. Sure some fan photos are inevitably going to leak here and there but the media training he’s gone through since One Direction makes it so you’ll never see him lash out at anyone like other celebrities because he knows how to hide his anger (and if he did lash out at a pap or someone his team would quickly shut it down and you would never know).

Everyone has their own version of Harry in their head and that’s ok! But some times it’s good to remember that Harry Styles that “we know” or think we know is ultimately Harry Style the brand, not the person. The Harry that gets portrayed to us is only shown through tailored videos and interviews where questions have been banned/excluded or through rare social media postings used to promote merchandise and tour or an album. No one knows who he is so we shouldn’t act like we do (but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be held accountable for his actions from time to time). Harry most likely is a pretty decent and genuine guy but what we see as fans and what happens when no ones around is a different story (just like everyone). Just because he uses good marketing strategies and promotion tactics to sell his music, doesn’t make him a bad person.

Ultimately what I’m getting at is that Harry Styles is a business and a business needs to do well so him and his team will do whatever they need to do to get him to the Beyoncé level of success that he wants where he could drop an album with no warning and have it go double platinum in less then an hour. His entire Fine Line album was held together by his dedicated fans pushing it to the general public. Without them, there’s no way he would have been Grammy nominated (aside from in Azoff connection which we can get into another time) and he would have had a decent release much like his first solo album (nothing to this scale). I’m not saying this to discredit his hard work on the album but the pop genre is very vast and for a song like watermelon sugar to become so big (don’t hate me for dising the song I’m just soooo over it) you need to acknowledge all of the other factors everyone happily choose to ignore so they can put an artist on a pedestal.

*disclaimer this has nothing to do with larrie (I know some weirdo is gonna be that guy) and if you’re a larrie please leave as I can’t help you*

*ok second disclaimer cause some people are getting aggressive: I’m not saying everything an artist does is based on what their fans want. I’m saying that the music industry as a whole is based on trends. It’s the reason tik tok and tik tok songs have been able to reach such popularity sometimes from nothing. There’s a lot of factors involved in marketing and promoting an artist/their brand and keeping fans engaged (especially large fan bases) is important for artists long term success (I’m mean look at Olivia Rodrigo now, her team looked at what people like from drivers license aka teenage angst and made sure to market that as part of her look for her album). This is how all record labels work, they try and show the best version of the artist/talent. And yes for those out there, there are some celebrities that are nice a genuine but they’re also human so take them off the pedestal and treat them like what they are, human.

Here’s the proof of the event since people be annoying :

[ackerfics]

hi, rory! <3 what majors would the sc veterans take if they were in the modern world?

hi, anon !! thank you so much for this ask, this is heaven in disguise from all my schoolwork. tbh, the whole time i was working for a lab report, my mind will go back to this ask bc i wanted to have the association as accurate as possible hhhajshw

i asked one of my friends for help and thank God for them bc my single brain cell really said 'it's time for you to rest' after staring at one backlog. without further ado, here are the veterans' majors if they're studying in university:

first off, hange zoe, because if you ask me this question in real life, they would be the only one i can answer. every damn time i would think of them in a college setting, being a biology major is really hange's forte. at this point, this is what everyone would associate them with.

hange is all about experimenting and doing brilliant breakthroughs in any field of science but knowing that they have this unparalleled fascination with the unusual and unexpected life-forms (ahem titans ahem), the biology lab would be the surest place where you could find hange. i feel like biology is too broad so i will add that microbiology or bacteriology are just some of the specializations they will be taking in their time in college.

imagine, being lab partners with hange and immediately knowing that you will have one of the highest grades in the class because they're that well-versed in a specific lab report. and if you're partners with them for the rest of the academic year, you might as well have a shot at an immaculate grade. i'm not saying that you should depend on them too much though hHHHH, hange is still a member of the majority of the student body who relies heavily on caffeine to keep them invigorated. who isn't at this point?

so far, some of the biology majors that i encountered (well, more like chatted behind a screen — online classes suck), they have this energy that could drain my social battery too quickly and hange fits that description. (note that this doesn't apply to any college bc i observed this in mine soooo 🤭) they're the type to always go on a tangent on a certain science article or coerce you into joining this org thing. i can imagine levi just looking at hange like they're the one sucking his brain cells out whenever they speak about a documentary in bbc they watched the night before.

and if you're stuck on anything biology-related, hange will be the best person to ask help from. they're the first ray of sunlight you get while waking up. they're that approachable.

okay, so erwin smith.

don't come at me but he just radiates this ceo vibes and with that, one of his probably majors is business administration. i know this is so stereotypical of me but let's face it, erwin is a smooth talker through and through and if he doesn't take up marketing, business is one way to spend his college years. knowing his personality in attack on titan of establishing deals easily with a determined resolve, he fits the broadest description of being a business administration major. (again, don't come at me because my consultant for this statement is google and nobody comes after google sometimes hhhhh)

just for the benefit of myself, i will add what google says about this major, "[they] learn the mechanics of business through classes in fundamentals, such as finance, accounting and marketing ... students find ways to solve problems using data and they develop communication and managerial skills." and i thank you.

he's also probably the most well-spoken and most professional when conversing with others among his friends (and i'm not saying this to drag the other characters but this is what i pick up on) and that is exactly the qualities his major specializes. it is expected for them to strike deals and be a people person and who better character for the job than our very own erwin smith 🤩

now i mentioned 'one of the probable majors' and yes, aside from business administration, philosophy just exudes erwin smith. ngl, when i imagined erwin in a college setting, this major will always come first. his mind is just so sexy to me??? and i hope you guys think the same, too, because i don't want to be the only one who thinks that 👀 kidding aside, erwin is one of the smartest people in attack on titan and every time he speaks in one episode, my brain will instantly go mush, and that's what i feel when i hear philosophy majors talk.

philosophy majors (according to any other youtuber who does lookbooks for various majors hhhhhh) challenge what is unanswerable and analyze questions with no right answer. i feel like erwin, like hange, will talk all night to explain a theory. just imagine a date with him and you just listen to him rant about a topic that they should be making a report on. just listen to this man, okay?? it's adorable when he lets his guard down to include you in his little bubble of philosophies. he would also mention random things that he learned in classes, sometimes finding joy in knowing the philosophies of other people, or even deciphering levi's dream of an apocalyptic world. (it pisses levi off but he just leave him be.)

if you want a man who can do both of these majors, erwin smith is the answer 😉

sigh, mike zacharias.

this man holds so many talents and will forever amaze me.

i assume all of us here watched the movie perfume. and no, i'm not saying that mike is going to be a murderer but just like the main character of that film, making perfumes will be his forte with that sense of smell of his. and here, i conclude that mike will definitely take up chemical engineering.

he gives me the vibes that if it covers the one thing he does best, he will love his major. (mr. zacharias, can you please spare me that quality because i really need that now 😩) being in the labs while experimenting mundane things that can be found in the environment to create different scents is also a likely situation you can find him in, again, very much like hange. he's the type of student who really puts so much effort in staying afloat the honors list, even to the point of topping midterms in his major, for the sake of his dream. there will never be a moment where you will catch him complain about his major and professors.

he's that type of friend in college who agrees to any rant you say but in reality, he's got his life easy 😭

i headcanon mike owning a perfume shop after college just like how levi always dreamed of having a tea shop.

okay, imagine this little scenario if you're dating mike where he creates this unique perfumes as random gifts for you. they're not the typical perfumes that can seep through the room and can make you gag for no reason, they're subtle scents that will stay for the duration of the day. because again, he's got a sensitive nose, so making perfumes according to what his sense of smell dictates will always result in a revolutionary experiment. if you're randomly blurting out that you want a fusion of flowers and fruits as your perfume, say no more, he's your man.

now, the veteran who i find the hardest to associate a major with — levi ackerman.

after much deliberation and a break from plant physiology, i see him taking up law or criminology.

(i asked some of this from my mom because she attended law school :>>>)

levi is so organized and detailed in the things that he do and he fits in either of these majors since they require tedious memorizations and analysis of laws and crime scenes while being assertive enough to defend someone. he's the typical person who blurts out the true situation of a crime scene when watching film adaptations. yeah, he's that person, the one who sucks the enthusiasm out of you while watching a movie because he just had to correct some of the scenes. nevertheless, he means well though, he just wanted you to understand the reality unlike how films portray gruesome murders. movie nights always end up with levi ranting about half-assed mystery clichés.

levi's binder of readings are always too bright for everyone's good. his notes are full of highlighters and scribbles that it can blind someone. for one, he's always up all night studying his readings and cases for a practice court so by choosing neon highlighters, it's a way for him to wake up. there isn't one book in his possession that he doesn't highlight like it's a fricking coloring book. hange once jokingly said that his binder now acts like his bible and for once, he agrees because he was never seen without one. hange had a field day since levi never agrees with them.

when doing practice courts though, his go-to resting bitch face always come in handy when carrying out his role as one of the lawyers. he's just so sexy with his hands in the pockets of his slacks as he tries to justify his supposed client. the way he questions the accused definitely isn't hot because he's like one of the panelists in your thesis defense, the one who just comes up with questions that have you melting on the spot. he's dangerous i tell you. it also doesn't help if you accidentally hurt one of his friends or just landed randomly in his blacklist for being annoying as hell. relax though, he doesn't mean harm other than the fact that he's ready to throw some hands from all the pent-up rage he gathered in his body.

of course, i couldn't forget how he dresses up like a typical dark academia fanatic so look out for eye-candy.

if you want someone who can recite articles from the constitution, this man is perfect for you 😌

i had so much fun doing this !! again, i'm not generalizing every major i've talked about in these little headcanons, this is all for fun and based on the people i encountered in college. if you want more of this, don't hesitate to ask !! 😚

[riffheartsgraziella]

Regrets (Riff x Graziella)

When I was 13 years old, I made a FanFiction account so that I could write stories about Riff and Graziella.  No one else seemed to be doing it, so I was determined to do it myself.  What I wrote at 13 was honestly not so great, but throughout high school, I continued to grow in my writing and write oneshots about any random Riff x Graziella scenario that would pop into my head.  The last story I wrote on FanFiction was in 2012, and I honestly didn’t think I would write much again after that.  After seeing the new West Side Story (three times now), I was suddenly inspired to start writing again, just for fun.

The majority of my Riff x Graziella stories are based on the 1961 film.  After writing about them so often, I feel like I have a good handle on Riff’s and Graziella’s voices and their relationship, based on the way it was portrayed by Russ Tamblyn and Gina Trikonis.  Since seeing the new West Side Story, I’ve also been inspired to write stories based on Mike Faist’s and Paloma Garcia-Lee’s portrayals.  However, in my opinion, their dynamic was unique and different from Russ and Gina’s (which is great, because it means I get to enjoy both without comparing!). So that means I’m still trying to figure out the best way to write for Mike and Paloma’s Riff x Graziella.  All that being said, I did recently publish my first Riff x Graziella fic based on the 2021 film.  I’m going to post it below, but also link it here if you’re interested in reading it on ff.net.

I have some ideas for more R x G  fics based on the 2021 film, so hopefully I’ll get a chance to write them sometime soon!

Regret, Graziella realizes, is a cruel thing. It’s like a window that shows you all the things that could be, but only after they’ve been snatched away.

She’d never been one for regret. From the time she was a kid, she’d decided that it was better to just take each day as it came, without looking backward or forward. When her old man left them, she hadn’t spent months moping on the couch like her ma. When her cousin got killed in a street brawl, she didn’t get all weepy about all the things he could have been. When Tony got sent upstate for beating on that Egyptian King, she didn’t make any false promises about waiting for him. Wishing things could be different than they were was pointless, and Graziella wasn’t one for wasting time.

Riff had understood her in that way. He’d been the same. He never looked back and he sure as hell never thought about the future. She’d always loved that about him. Even when she’d been with Tony, there had always been something about Riff that she’d been drawn to. He understood her in a way Tony had never been able to. That’s why she hadn’t felt an ounce of regret when she’d started going with Riff after Tony got locked up. She never felt regret about anything when it came to Riff.

Until now.

Now Riff is gone and regret is the only thing Graziella knows how to feel. It punches her in the chest every time she remembers his smile, the feel of his arms around her just the night before at the dance. It slaps her in the face when she thinks about the nights they would lay in each other’s arms until the sun came up, her fingers tracing the scar beneath his eye that he’d earned from a rumble with the Emeralds. It was always then, in that suspended bit of time between darkness and dawn, when it was just the two of them, that he would whisper the sweetest things in her ear, things that were only for her to know.

He had loved her. She knows he did. People might have thought Riff cruel and selfish and incapable of love, but she knows better. She knows that he loved her, that he loved the Jets, their family. He died because he loved them.

He had loved her. And she had loved him.

But she’d never told him. And that was the most painful regret of all.

He’d come to see her before the rumble with the Sharks. He’d been nervous. She could tell from the way his hands shook, and the way he messed with the bracelet he always wore. It had been his mother’s bracelet. He’d told her that once, when she’d been playing with it after they’d made love. Over time, she’d come to realize that whenever he was really nervous, he’d twist the bracelet back and forth, sometimes clasping and unclasping it, sometimes just tugging on it absentmindedly. She had always wondered if he thought of his mother when he did that, the mother who’d died when he was six years old, leaving him on his own when he was just a kid.

He’d been twisting that bracelet before the rumble, until she’d grabbed his hands and kissed him, intent on making him forget about all his worries. Afterwards, she’d snatched up the shirt he’d left at her place the night before when he’d been getting ready for the dance. Knotting it at the waist, she’d smirked and winked at him. “Do I look like a Jet?” she’d teased.

He’d grinned then, the first smile she’d seen from him all night. “Too pretty ta be a Jet,” he’d told her, pressing another kiss to her lips and slipping a finger through one of her blonde curls. “I’ll see ya later, Grazi,” he’d added, running his fingers through her hair one more time.

It was then that he’d paused, looking down at her with those eyes that seemed to see everything all at once. He hesitated slightly, looking torn between wanting to say something and wanting to hear her say something. She’d known in that instant what he wanted her to say. What he needed to hear. She’d hesitated, too, her lips parting but nothing coming out of her mouth as she looked up at him.

Chuckling sadly, he’d moved away from her, twisting his mom’s bracelet once more. “See ya, Grazi.”

She has to close her eyes as the pain of regret pierces her at that memory. Maybe if she closes her eyes, she won’t have to see Riff looking at her. Maybe she won’t have to hear him silently begging her to tell him she loves him.

Why didn’t she tell him?

For all his talk and all his bravado, all Riff had really wanted was for somebody to love him. His old man had dipped when he was a baby, his mom had died when he was a kid, his best friend went to prison for a year and then was a different guy when he got out. All he’d had was the Jets. And her. And she had let him down.

Burying her face in the collar of his shirt, the shirt that still smells like him, Graziella weeps. For the first time in her life, she weeps for all that could have been and all that would never be. She weeps for the broken little kid who just wanted someone to love him. She weeps for the angry boy who just wanted a place in this world. She weeps for the man he will never get to be.

She weeps with the pain of a regret too overwhelming to bear.

She weeps for Riff. Her Riff.

“I love ya, Riff,” she whispers, pressing her lips against the collar of his shirt. “I’m sorry I never told ya.”

[charlieconwayy]

D3: The Mighty Ducks (1996) is the best Ducks movie and a flawless coming of age movie

It’s no secret that The Mighty Ducks are a beloved trilogy. The three films spawned a professional NHL team named in their honor, 2021 sequel series, as well as many knockoff films released in the 1990s. But with any movie series, fans tend to rank the films and have passionate opinions on which is the best. For most Ducks fans, the answer is simple: D2. It has the Bash Brothers, Team USA dominating, the iconic “Ducks Fly Together” scene and two Queen songs. What’s not to love? But upon a rewatch of the trilogy, I came to realize that it’s not D2, or even the original, that is the best in the series.

It’s the criminally underrated 1996 D3 that for me, is the most mature and has the most heart. Perhaps it’s that the Ducks are now old enough to carry their own weight on screen. Perhaps it’s that the film takes a look at trauma, specifically trauma in teenagers, and how that manifests itself. Perhaps it’s that the film is maybe ahead of its time, in the way it discusses classism, racism and sexism. There is so much about this overly hated film that makes it the best Ducks movie and a perfect coming of age film.

The movie starts presumably a few years following the Ducks’ win against Iceland. They all look noticeably older - definitely older than the middle schoolers we left behind in 1994 - and all of the male Ducks’ voices have dropped a few octaves. Gordon Bombay, played by Emilio Estevez, is presenting the team (except for unfortunately, Jesse Hall, a leader among the Ducks who would’ve made for a strong presence in this mature film, as well as Portman, but we’ll get to him later) with scholarships to his alma mater, Eden Hall, a preparatory high school in Minnesota. Charlie Conway, played by a young, pre-Dawson’s Creek Joshua Jackson, is the Ducks’ captain and unspoken leader. There’s been much debate over the years over whether or not Charlie is the true captain of the Ducks. Adam Banks, played by Vincent Larusso, is far and away better than practically every Duck combined. Fulton Reed, played by Elden Henson, has shown more maturity and leadership at this point. It’s probably true that the Ducks as a team think that Charlie is Captain because of Bombay’s favoritism towards him (and his mother), but I think that this film makes it abundantly clear why Charlie is the captain. 

D3 is Charlie’s story. We see that in the opening scene, when Bombay tells Charlie he will not be following the team to Eden Hall, accepting a job instead in California. We learned in the original Mighty Ducks film, that Charlie and his mother left a bad situation in Charlie’s father when Charlie was very young. We also hear about Charlie’s mother, Casey’s marriage to a new man in the D2, who we can assume from what Jan says, that Charlie doesn’t like. We see in that first film, Charlie’s reaction to Bombay announcing that he is leaving the Ducks after the two of them have formed a bond. It is very clear that Charlie deals with abandonment issues, stemming from trauma in his early childhood. Charlie freaks out when a D3 Bombay announces the same thing, and storms off. 

Change is the biggest theme in D3. We see how change affects each of the Ducks, even those who don’t get many lines. Some, like Russ Tyler, played by SNL’s Kenan Thompson, think it’s a good thing. All of the Ducks don’t come from good neighborhoods and we assume that most of them don’t have the best home lives, especially when Charlie tells their new coach, Orion, played by Jeffrey Nordling, that the Ducks are the only good thing that any of them have had. Going to a preparatory school should be a good thing for them. But for most of them, it’s not. The new Ducks (who by the way, three of which are people of color, and one of which, is a woman) are immediately told that “their kind” is not welcome at Eden Hall. The Varsity team claim that they feel this way because the captain’s younger brother was not admitted onto the JV team because of the Ducks’ scholarships, but it’s very clear what they really mean. Russ commented that he’s the only black person on the whole campus earlier, and he, Luis Mendoza (The Sandlot’s Mike Vitar) and Ken Wu (Justin Wong) are the only people of color we see in the film. Change takes a toll on each member of the team. We see it the most in Charlie, but we also hear from Fulton on how the separation from his best friend, Dean Portman (Aaron Lohr), who decided not to enroll at Eden Hall, is taking a toll on him. Connie (Margerite Moreau) and Guy (Garrette Henson) have presumably broken up, as the two small scenes we get of them, they are arguing. It’s a transition period, one that the first year of high school often is. But it’s also a look on how a rich, white privileged world is vastly different than the one that the Ducks are used to. 

Coach Orion seems like a hardass, especially when he tells Charlie at their first practice that he will no longer be “Captain Duck” (as coined by D2’s Gunnar Stahl, played by Scott Whyte, who now plays the level-headed Varsity goalie Scooter). This, to the Ducks, is a line in the sand. Ever since Bombay turned District 5 into the Ducks four years previous, Charlie has been their captain. They’re in a whole new environment, where the man who gave them so much happiness and so many friendships isn’t, and their “little Duck tricks” won’t work anymore. Orion thinks Charlie is a showoff, and perhaps he is. This Charlie is vastly different than the sweet, shy Charlie we see in D1 and D2. But this Charlie is older, has just been abandoned by a man he considered a father, and is being harassed on a daily basis for being, as Varsity Captain Reilly puts it, “white trash.” I find it hard to believe sometimes that fans can look at Charlie from the outside, and not see who he is on the inside. All of Charlie’s closest relationships that we see portrayed in this movie, are with women. His mother (who he, as a teenage boy, says “I love you” to in the final scene of the movie), his teammates, Connie and Julie, who he gets a lot more screentime with, and with new love interest, Linda (Margot Finley).

I think now is a great time to talk about the shockingly impressive way all of the female characters are portrayed in this series, particularly this movie, especially for a 90s sports film. Connie has always been a leader on and off the ice. She’s in a relationship with Guy, but it’s not her only character trait. Dubbed “the Velvet Hammer” by Averman (Matt Doherty), she stands up for herself, and for her shy teammates (she literally shoves Peter Mark - a character cut out of D2 and D3 for good reason - in D1 when he insults Charlie) and stands up to the entire Varsity team despite them telling her that they hope they can “fight” with her later. Julie “The Cat” Gaffney (Columbe Jacobsen) is the second best player on the Ducks, despite the little ice time (thanks, Bombay) we see her have. She is the first person to tell of the Varsity, telling Captain Reilly that his little brother “just wasn’t good enough.” She’s a huge facilitator in the fire ant prank and despite the very weird and out of character game she had against the Blake Bears, shows that she deserves the number one goalie slot that Reilly gives her - despite what Goldberg, and the obvious underlying sexism there, have to say. I’ve also always been very impressed with Charlie’s mother, Casey (Heidi Kling). Although she has a romance with Bombay in D1, she makes it clear from the get go that her first priority is Charlie. We know that she took the two of them away from an abusive situation, and she’s a goddamn hero for that. Her scenes in D3 are limited, but they always show her chastising Charlie’s antics and encouraging him to stay in school. It goes unsaid, but it’s clear that she knows that he’s not going to get an education this good in the problematic public school system. But according to Linda, Charlie’s love interest, the private school system is no better. The first time we see Linda, she is protesting the “outdated” Warriors team name. This was in a 1996 kids movie, no less. She holds her own against Charlie, calling him out when he’s wrong. No one aside from Charlie, and maybe Fulton, get much screentime or lines aside from Bombay and Orion, but her presence and the point of her character is clear - not every rich person agrees with the horrible things that wealthy people do. 

Back to the plot.

When the Ducks receive their positions, they learn that Banks, as a freshman, has made Varsity. From an outside perspective, they seems obvious. Banks is the best player we see in any of the films, definitely miles better than the losers on Varsity, so it seems obvious that he would be promoted. But Banks is unhappy with this. Adam Banks is a fan favorite character, definitely due to the sweet, understated performance by Larusso, but we don’t see much of him. From what we do see of him though, he underwent a huge character arc from D1 to now. In D1, Banks goes against his father’s protests and joins the Ducks, claiming that he “just wants to play hockey.” Here in D3, we see that Banks is utterly miserable despite playing with some of the best players in the state, purely because he’s not with his friends. At the end of the film, he makes the (questionable) decision to rejoin the Ducks and go against the Varsity. But Varsity seems to feel that Banks fits in with them, for obvious reasons. He’s the only Duck who comes from an affluent background, and he’s definitely the most clean cut. Captain Reilly is visibly angry in the final showdown with the Ducks that they no longer have Banks on their side, as if he’s betrayed “his kind.”

The turning point of the film comes when after Charlie has quit the freshman team (no longer the Ducks), Hans, a father figure to the Ducks and Bombay, suddenly passes away. It’s an insanely dark moment for a Disney film, especially when Bombay returns to the funeral and reminds the Ducks that it was “Hans who taught them to fly” and Charlie storms off, crying. I think Joshua Jackson, in the Ducks films, as well as in Dawson’s Creek, is phenomenally good at portraying teenagers who wouldn’t normally be seen as leading men. Who let their emotions overtake them, who have anger issues, who deal with familial problems. Characters like that in leading roles were almost unheard of in the 90s, and in the upcoming scenes, it reminds us why this side of Charlie that we’ve seen throughout the movie is not the only side of Charlie.

Bombay takes Charlie to the rink to see Orion skating with his disabled daughter, who was injured in a car accident. He reveals to Charlie that Orion quit the NHL to take care of her, and this immediately changes Charlie’s opinion of him, but he’s still unconvinced about rejoining the team. The next scene is without question, the greatest and most important scene of the trilogy. The last two films spent way too much time telling us how great of a person Bombay was, how he was the Minnesota Miracle Man,despite us seeing so little of that onscreen. We see him making mistake after mistake, hurting the team, being an unjustified dick to those around him. But this scene more than makes up for all of that. I’ve put the quote from this scene below.

Bombay: I was like you, Charlie. When I played hockey, I was a total hot shot. I tried to take control of every game. I wound up quitting. So I tried the law. I ruled the courtroom, but inside, I’m a mess. Start drinking. Man, I was going down. But then this great thing happened, maybe the best thing ever - I got arrested and sentenced to community service. And there you were - Charlie and the Ducks. And as hard as I fought it, there you were. You gave me a life, Charlie, and I want to say thank you. I told Orion about all of this when I talked to him about taking over. I told him that you were the heart of the team and that you would learn something from each other. I told him that you were the real Minnesota Miracle Man. 

Charlie: You did?

Bombay: I did. So be that man, Charlie. Be that man.

It’s a callback to D2, when Jan tells Bombay “Be that man, Gordon. Be that man.” This scene is flawless. Every good thing that has happened to the Ducks, came because of Charlie’s heart. It came because of that game when Charlie refused to cheat, and made Bombay see his wrongs. It came because of when Bombay first tried to quit the team, and seeing how hurt Charlie was, agreed to stay. It was Charlie who stepped out of the game against Iceland so that Banks could play. It was Charlie who found them Russ. Giving the credit to a young, emotionally unstable teenager, rather than their Emilio Estevez, hotshot Bombay, is the best thing this series ever did.

This movie, in my opinion, is nearly flawless. Every moment has been planned to make the same point - change sucks. Especially when you’re a teenager. Even more so when you’re a teenager with trauma.

[atlas-of-a-human-soul]

frENEMIES, pt. 12 {Quarterback AU}

Summary: I can’t even summarize this one, just read it.

Warnings: angst, swearing

Series Masterlist

"Hey, Quarterback, do you ever stay awake for hours, just thinking about the way things were between us? 

Do you contemplate your choices, my choices, and wonder what you could have done differently? 

Are there any particular moments that bring you back to a time you were certain you could have made a change that would result in us being together?

 Because I have. I do it all the time. I'm often caught in the riptide, searching for the truth of things we said...things we didn't say. But I believe there was a reason why it was always us - sometimes looking at each other as if the world doesn't exist, no time or other people but us.

I don't know why or how, but every time I think of that time you told me "I love you" and I thought you were joking, I feel like maybe it wasn't a joke after all. I laughed it off that day, I used laughter as a defense mechanism and I'm sorry if it was real. Because thinking about that day, about you and the way you awkwardly just smiled before walking off, it brings a spark in my heart. It makes me want to call you at midnight as I'm writing this, to reach for you in the endless dream you're in, despite all the miles between us now. I'm always hoping you'll call too, that maybe you still care about me. 

Regardless, in my heart and in my head, I go back to that moment every damn day and I'm not laughing, I'm not saying "Nah, you don't" but I’m saying it back. I'm screaming I LOVE YOU TOO and in those vivid dreams I forge with my imagination, so real, I feel like you're still with me. 

I hope it gets easier. I hope I stop daydreaming of things that were and never will be, but I hope I never stop feeling you're with me. I don't know how I'll brave life without it."

Struggling to take a proper breath, Y/N had to sit up, abandoning her sleep. She had spent so long imagining how it would be to see Grayson at her doorstep again and she never once thought it would end with her fucking it up.

Shaking her head, she placed a palm across her chest and felt her heart beating - the only reminder she is alive and the panic in her body won't end her life no matter how hard her heart has to fight.

It's been two years since her last panic attack and while Grayson's presence is likely a trigger, she doesn't blame him. Even as she gasps for breath, she isn't blaming Grayson. She blames herself for allowing her old pattern of thinking control her behavior.

There are a lot of reasons why she is angry with Grayson. A lot. She's angry he hadn't tried to contact her because she may have left college a few days early but she didn't change any of her socials or her phone number. She's angry he did though. He kept his phone number - she knows because in the first year she would dial his number like a heroin addict looking for her next hit - aching to hear his voice on the answering machine.

And she's pissed he thinks he can just waltz into her life and judge her for trying to move on. She took baby steps for years before daring to say yes to Mike who is very sweet. He had been a dumb idiot for giving into peer pressure that day but he's a good guy and she knows it. She could feel it. Mike is good, he's funny and gentle and kind and he opens her doors and pulls out her chair. He's the kind of guy you could be happy with if you'd want that. And years have only made him more handsome.

But Grayson? It wasn't about his ability to make her happy because she knows he could not only make her happy but blissful, but then again, he could also make her extremely miserable if he wanted to and knowing he has that power over her didn't sit well with her. 

It was always all or nothing when Grayson is involved and it's not because he made it so, but because their connection carried a lot of emotions that they have a hard time sorting through. Grayson is the equivalent of dancing in the kitchen at 2 am to a tune he's humming, and he's barefoot running around the backyard because they're in a water gun war and he's the guy who would build her a porch swing and he's also the guy who would make all the pain worth it.

And damn it, Mike would be a nice dream, but Mike is the safe option - settling was never what she saw as a path she'd take. She wanted crazy and she wanted all or nothing because she doesn't love in half measures and she couldn't help but wonder if she was brave enough to do that.

She glanced at her glowing screen, seeing a good night text from Mike and it made her heart smile, but she felt guilty. She felt guilty because she'd love him, she would, but would he be okay with being her safe option? Would anyone?

The worst thing is that she didn't know what she'd choose if it really came down to it. Could she take the risk that came with Grayson? Would he ever realize what she needs from him?

Is reassurance too much to ask?

Hearing her doorbell, Y/N held her breath. It's just after midnight and it sparked fear in her chest.

Chewing on her lower lip, she tiptoed to her door, wondering why would the doorman let anyone up at this time without asking her first.

Trusting she's safe, she opened the door and her eyes widen the very moment she looks at the person on the other side of it.

"How did you find me?" She raised an eyebrow, watching him carefully. But he wasn't careful that night, it's not why he had showed his face so late at her door. 

Grayson was anything but careful.

Swiftly, he closed the distance between them and she gasps, grasping his shirt with her hands.

And he held her face in his hands, his eyes a perfect storm of anger, pain, unspoken devotions and such longing it simply knocked the breath out of her. She could hear his breathing, as heavy as her own and she could see his body trembles in fear of more rejection, but his hands are warm and they hold her face tenderly in their grasp yet firmly enough so she couldn't run away this time.

But then he spoke, his lips moving with determination she had hoped to see before, his voice portraying his certainty as much as raw emotion that follows every word she clung to.

"Do you think I care about anything else but you? Because you were right back then." He could hear her tiny gasp, see her blinking faster and notice the way her body swayed a little.

"Football isn't the most important thing in the world. Love is. You are. You are love and you are the future I want. I'll transfer teams if I have to, or you can come with me if you want to or I can quit altogether if it will make you happy, I don't care." Licking his lips, his eyes flicker to her dry, parted one and he smiles because for the first time ever he had made her speechless, he had left her breathless.

"So yes. I'm not Mike, I don't want to date you or be your boyfriend. Y/N, I'm saying you could have a husband."

Tags:  @livexdolan​ @dreadingdaisies​ @strangerliaa​ @mendesficsxbombay​ @beinscorpio​ @peacedolantwins​ @dolandolll​ @idekxdolan​

PART 13

[carbonarafootprint]

frick it kurtbastian hogwarts au on the dash

(just a quick note it started as kurtbastian and does mention them a lot but also a lot of it is kurts friendships and the glee characters in hogwarts in general lol)

- sebastian is a slytherin and so is santana- his frenemy

- kurt is a hufflepuff (loyalty to his friends and whatnot)

- but all of kurts friends (britanny, mercedes, quinn, goth tina) are ravenclaws

- sebastian likes quidditch and defense against the dark arts the most

- no really

- he definitely doesnt enjoy potions

- hes not a nerd

- kurt likes muggle studies mainly bc of all the old films they get to watch (and partially bc burt is a muggle so he tends to excel)

- sebastian, on the other hand, thought a microwave was just a term to discuss the ocean on a calm day

- the only class they share is defense against the dark arts

- sebastian likes the really dramatic spells and tends to get carried away especially bc hes a slytherin- of course he wants to win

- kurt is a pacifist and finds it implorable that this class is still mandatory (although he excels in it) bc didnt harry potter kill voldemort like 20 years ago?

- kurt and brittany go down to the kitchens a lot; brittany has made friends with the house elfs and kurt enjoys cooking. they also both question the claims that the house elves “enjoy” being servants

- they decide to question this publicly and try to campaign for the rights of hoyse elves- not to stop them from working entirely, but to give them wages/ workers rights and the option to leave their “families”

- mercedes favourite lesson is astronomy and she is often found hanging out at the astronomy tower late at night and quinn tends to join her

- sam thinks french is a dead language

- brittany has never met a muggle in her life. she is also hagrids favourite student.

- unique transfers from beauxbatons in her fifth year and magic has made her transition a lot easier physically although she still has her struggles

- she quickly makes friends with kurts group, specifically kurt and mercedes, and joins their weekly sleepovers

- wes is a ravenclaw and head boy, and mcgonagall may have somewhat taken him under her wing

- sue coaches the slytherin quidditch team (sebastian and santana are beaters). there are rumours that voldemort was more afraid of her than dumbledore, he was just nervous about her reaction if he said it aloud.

- there are also rumours that she was a muggle and just showed up one day. nobody has ever seen her use magic.

- will is in azkaban. no one knows what for but no one disagrees that he belongs there.

- emma is the charms teacher and cleans her classroom the magic way then the muggle way just to be sure

- kurt mercedes and tina alter their robes so that they can lace ribbon through them for the aesthetic

- mcgonagall hates the lack of tradition but reluctantly respects the drip

- kurt wears velour/velvet robes on occasion. he has never once followed the uniform and as such spends far more time in detention than his attitude would suggest

- consequently most of his house hates him (except for mike who knows him through tina)

- kurt and sebastian get put in detention on the same day (sebastian and santana got into an argument which they had already forgiven each other for, but the property damage had not yet forgotton. kurt wore constellation patterned robes to his astronomy lesson and, when he was asked to change, told his professor she was the sole reason that witches were portrayed as old hags in fairy tales.)

-they form a reluctant friendship built on bullying the astronomy teacher and theorising why will was in azkaban

- they begin partnering up in defense against the dark arts

- kurt still thinks its useless but secretly looks forwards to the lessons with his friend

- santana is a little furious that she lost sebastian, her usual partner in the lesson (the teacher is quietly thrilled, as far fewer walls have been broken since this development)

- kurt and sebastian both slowly fall for each other, documenting it to moaning myrtle who is far too invested

- sebastian, unsure of how to express his affections, remembers kurts fondness of muggle studies

- as such, he learns about how plants tend to be a romantic gesture in the muggle world. he doesnt get it at first, giving kurt mandrakes that scream at him and make him think hes done something to upset sebastian

- he eventually gets the hang of it though, giving kurt small flowers like lavender and daisies which kurt is far too happy to tuck into a safety pin and wear like a brooch

- they eventually decide to go out together to hogsmede and spend the afternoon at madame puddifoot’s (kurt thought the decoration was tacky but missed tea parties. sebastian was just happy kurt was happy and if they spent 2 hours in dervish and banges thats his business. he also tries not to think about how kurt manages to spend so long in gladrags wizardwear)

- after they decide to go steady, they realise that santana is looking a little lost without sebastian

- they also notice that she was oddly supportive of kurt and brittany’s attempts at house elf rights for someone who hardly seemed to care about people

- they decide to set brittany and santana up

- mercedes helps bc she loves a bit of romance (especially since sam from gryffindor has started leaving notes on pieces of parchment in her defense textbook, but thats her business)

- tbh their plan is very simple they just tell them both that they are setting them up on a blind date and the work does itself

- mercedes finally responds to sams notes with one of her own, asking if he’d like to join her by the great lake

- he agrees and they spend the night with a picnic as mercedes points out the different constellations

- quinn watches from the astronomy tower, slightly solemnly

- when mercedes asks her opinions on sam, she tells the truth; he seems like he really likes mercedes and is good for her (she doesnt mention how much better she thinks could be for her)

- the smythe family has a family crest which sebastian has as a wax seal stamp

- he uses it on every letter he sends with emerald green wax, except for the ones to kurt which he uses navy blue wax and a badger seal (until later, when he learns just how deeply kurt enjoys fashion at which point it becomes a lavender wax with a stamp that shows a pair of scissors)

- as life goes on, the letters that kurt keeps have a rainbow of different seals and sebastian has a full drawer of stamps (so what if he likes to see kurt smile thats his business)

- kurt designs formal robes and has a band in his spare time with elliott, who uses every excuse to wear kurts robes onstage

- sebastian becomes a lawyer and ends up notorious for legally permitting house elves workers rights

- mercedes and sam live in the countryside where they can watch the stars without any form of pollution, but close enough to the city that mercedes can go to all the fashion shows that she can stand and sam (a pureblood) can be introduced to the cinema

- quinn and mercedes stay best friends and quinn eventually gets over her crush to the point that they can laugh about it together. she meets a nice girl and they work on making new products for weasley wizard wheezes

- santana and brittany become dancers and tour the world with that, although santana will preform with kurts band when shes in the uk

- sometimes sebastian will press flowers and stamp them into a wax seal when hes away from kurt and recieves a particularly sad letter

- eventually kurt and sebastian move to france (dont worry, burt isnt left alone as the schools nurse, carole, had taken a liking to him and it had absolutely nothing to do with kurt- plus, the floo network was something he’d finally got the hang of)

[strangertheory]

I’ll admit I’ve been very skeptical about the DID theory, but your most recent post discussing the “layers” was mind blowing to me. I’m still standing back to see how things play out, since it is a theory, but reading the first “layer”, I 100% can see that being part of the plot. The rest is a little more abstract and I’m curious to see how they would write it in if this theory is true. Thanks to you and Kaypeace for your posts on this theory, they’re interesting!

[This is a follow-up Ask referring to this earlier post.]

Thanks for Asking! I have a lot of thoughts on the possible “layers” going on in the story, but I find it challenging to put into words what my ideas are sometimes because I don’t consider myself a very good writer. I can’t promise that anything I write in this reply will make a lot of sense, but I will do my best! I’ve avoided trying to explain certain thoughts I have on the layers of the scenes because they’re complicated and I hadn’t been sure how many fans would have an interest in them since there’s already such a small number of fans interested in the interpretation that the story is about a DID System in the first place. This is yet a sub-theory of that theory! But I’m really excited that you asked. I will try to explain as best I can.

Please keep in mind that although kaypeace21 and I both theorize that Stranger Things is about a DID System (her blogpost about which characters are alters is excellent and I highly recommend it if you haven’t read it yet), we each have our own interpretations of the DID theory that are sometimes very different from each other’s. Her analyses are based on the theory that the alters, internal worlds, and traumas in Will’s mind have escaped his subconsciousness through supernatural means and have become real. I see her interpretation as one possible explanation for the events in the series and I do like that interpretation a lot. I think it’s a very compelling theory and interpretation of the events so far. But what I’m going to describe in the rest of this blogpost is not currently representative of what kaypeace21 theorizes is going on in the series. This “second layer” interpretation that I’ve considered is based on the idea that there are no real superpowers in the story at all and that they exist strictly within internal worlds or in the imagination of the storyteller.

▪️ ▫️ ▪️ ▫️ ▪️ ▫️ ▪️ ▫️

To explain my “second layer” theory which I also like referring to as my “story within a story” theory: I believe that some scenes (but not all scenes) that we see in Stranger Things might be metaphorical and not meant to be taken literally as they are shown, but rather seen as an artistic interpretation of certain concepts and scenarios.

Let’s look back at season 1. Imagine that a character (I’m going to say Mike because I do suspect he’s the one writing the story) is explaining the story of “what happened in 1983″ in a journal, and then a film crew had found what Mike had written down and adapted it into a series but the film crew did not know the original context of Mike’s story, and so the film crew was unaware that it was a story about Mike’s friend who has DID and that many of the characters in the story are actually alters.

“One day Will went missing and then a girl who said her name was Eleven showed up. She was scared and said that she knew Will but that he was ‘hiding’ and that she could help us find him in the ‘Upside Down.’ She told us that we absolutely couldn’t go tell any adults because it wasn’t safe and that ‘bad men’ were after her. I hid El in my closet upstairs when my mom came home unexpectedly. Mom told me that she wants me to feel like I can talk to her. (“All this that’s been going on with Will. I want you to feel like you can talk to me. I’m here for you!”) Later, Dustin and Lucas and I helped find clothes and a blonde wig for El. We made sure that my mom didn’t see El while she was at my house. We snuck into the school with El and tried to get to the radio in the AV Club Room, but Mr. Clarke found us and reminded us that we should be attending Will’s memorial assembly. Oops. (Thankfully Mr. Clarke didn’t ask too many questions about El and he believed our story that she’s a cousin from Sweden!) Attending Will’s funeral was a funny experience since we knew that he was actually alive after El channeled him on the walkie talkie (”Like Professor X!”) Eventually Nancy found out about El (”Is that my dress?”) and so did Joyce and Hopper and we worked together to put together a sensory deprivation tank because El remembered that she could enhance her ability to reach into the ‘Upside Down’ that way. We set up a sensory deprivation pool in the school gym. Joyce thanked El for everything that she was doing for Will and told her that if she ever got scared that she should let her know and that she’d be with her the whole time. El was able to reach out with her mind and find Will in the Upside Down. She found him in the Upside Down in Castle Byers, barely conscious. She told Will that his mom was coming to get him, and Will whispered back ‘hurry.’ Then El became upset as Will faded away into the darkness and her connection to him weakened. She took her goggles off and sat up in the water, panicking. Joyce held her close and told her that everything was ok. Joyce and Hopper went into the Upside Down to find Will and Hopper gave Will CPR until he regained consciousness. Then the Party got to visit Will at the hospital once he was feeling a bit better, and we told him all about the adventures that we’d had and that we’d “made a new friend” named “Eleven.” (”Like the number?”) Dustin said that El was “basically a wizard” but I insisted that she’s much more like a Yoda.”

So. I recognize that I skipped many scenes in the above example summary of how author Mike Wheeler might retell the story of “what happened in 1983,” but I skipped scenes because I want to primarily focus on the connection between El and Will that is represented in season 1 and set aside what is going on with the other characters for a moment. But if you re-read the summary that I wrote above you might realize that the way in which I described season 1 could be interpreted (at its core) as the non-fiction story of a bunch of kids finding their friend who went missing in the woods, realizing that the person they’re interacting with is no longer Will but a new individual (an alter, a distinctly separate state of consciousness and separate self), and then going on an adventure as they try to sort out the best way to “find Will” and bring him back while also becoming friends with El and protecting her from the “bad men” that she says are after her. The ‘Upside Down’ is a space in the DID System’s subconsciousness that is an internal world. The innocent creativity of Mike, Dustin, and Lucas as they try to find an outfit and a wig for El to wear to school is very sweet. The scene in which they accidentally run into Mr. Clarke when they are trying to break into the AV Club room becomes even more charming when you realize that Mr. Clarke does not appear to recognize El (but Mike, Dustin, and Lucas appear very nervous that he might realize something strange is going on!) Attending Will’s memorial service with El at their side gains an amusing layer of narrative irony, and Joyce’s protective parental affection for El gains new layers of significance. Every moment in the story changes if we imagine that the story we are seeing on screen is like a creative theater performance telling the story of “what happened” and each alter in the series is represented by their own individual actor on screen.

Are there moments in season 1 that break this “second layer” theory that I’ve considered? Arguably there are. I consider this a theory-in-progress. But the key concept of this “second layer” theory is that the story is perhaps not meant literally but is meant as a story that is artistically representative of the experiences that alters in a DID System might have. Many films and tv shows that portray fictional characters with DID approach telling their stories as an outside observer might and without taking into account the individuality of each alter, alters’ experiences in internal worlds, or the way that alters might have different understandings of our reality when they’re very new to the outside world and are fronting (controlling the body) for the first time. Perhaps Stranger Things is taking a new approach.

You’re probably wondering how I carry this “second layer” theory into season 2 and especially season 3 in which we finally see Will and El in more scenes together. I might write a longer blogpost about it at some point. But I believe that, if I were to assume that my “second layer” theory is correct (it’s just one of a few very different theories I’ve considered), that it is possible that significant portions of season 3 take place in an internal world or a dream in which characters that exist in Will’s life are now NPCs or alters. This would make Will’s statement “What if we locked him out here with us?” incorrect. What if Will should have technically said “What if we locked him in here with us?” What if “the Gate” is specifically the doorway through which alters need to pass in order to front in the body in the external world? As I’ve mentioned in a few other posts: I theorize that El is a gatekeeper alter. I suspect that Hopper is also a gatekeeper and that he has been mentoring El. In summary: I often wonder if Will is not always entirely “awake” and if many scenes are taking place in a liminal space between his conscious and subconscious, between reality and his dreamlike experiences in an internal world.

You might be interested in reading a summary of my observations regarding how Will and El do not interact with each other in any scenes in season 1 or season 2 directly in this older blogpost that I made about the parallels between El and Will. I think it might interest you a lot and provide more context to my “second layer” theory if you haven’t read this older post before. I am infinitely fascinated by how Will and El parallel each other so closely and yet rarely interact. I think that this is an intentional consequence of whatever secrets the writers have in store for us in future seasons and I cannot wait to find out what those secrets are. I hope that the connection between El and Will is going to be explored more in season 4.

How might we expect the layers to be peeled back in the series itself if the writers decided to reveal this “second layer” existed beneath the current story? I think that they could reveal things to us a few ways if this “second layer” does exist. Perhaps we could see a character meeting with a therapist and a medical professional would openly name the condition and describe what the characters have been dealing with in a way that provides very new “second layer” context to earlier events in the series. (Sidenote: Back in the 80s it was called “multiple personality disorder” and we might have characters in the series refer to it that way since it takes place in the 1980s, but that term is outdated and it should be referred to as “dissociative identity disorder” or “DID” today.) Perhaps we might see them artistically or literally represent concepts like co-consciousness (two alters being conscious and aware in the body at the same time) or have characters transform back and forth into each other while sitting in a chair in order to represent them taking turns fronting in the same body.

Or perhaps this “second layer” theory that I’ve described is insisting on too much artistry and metaphor and the real “second layer” is that the vast majority of the story so far has taken place in internal worlds and Hawkins itself is an internal world. (I have wondered if this might be why Hawkins doesn’t exist in the real world even though other locations referenced in Stranger Things do exist: Chicago, Indianapolis, etc.) If that were the case maybe we’ll see the shared body of the DID System for the first time in a future season which may (or may not) resemble any of the actors we’ve seen portray characters so far. But from everything that we have seen so far I theorize that the host is most often known by the name Will in the external world. (We've had both Will Byers and William "Billy" Hargrove canonically referred to as hosts. And we have "Will the Wise" who I suspect is also an alter.)

Thank you for your Ask! I hope that I was able to explain some my thoughts in a vaguely coherent way. I really should do a larger post breaking down every single scene between seasons 1 and 3 and how this “second layer” interpretation of the story could apply, but I haven’t had the time and I’ve been wary of doing it since I’m not sure how it would be received. But maybe I’ll do that sometime soon if enough people have an interest in it.

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

Oh I didn't realize you'd seen Suits! I'm curious about what you thought of the final season if you're caught up? I couldn't get into it. They caved to Faye Richardson way too easily

It's been a while since I last watched it, but yes I have!

In general, I like the show and I like the concept of all the characters being arguably terrible people who carry out the will of the mega-corporations and make ungodly amounts of money in the process, all just to "kick some ass." But like...they're still so human. I adore Louis, he's easily my favorite. Especially his character growth in Season 8. Jessica is a boss, and she went out like a boss. Harvey is compelling, and I like the whole storyline between him and his mother. "The Painting" is probably my favorite episode for that reason. Mike is...annoying sometimes, but still someone I grew to care about. He wants to do the right thing, but he loves to say that he's a good person more than he actually is one. Rachel's importance seemed to decline after a while, but I am glad they kept the relationship drama to a minimum. She had neat storylines. Donna...oh god. Donna is likeable to me...at first. But the show keeps trying to portray her as this flawless superwoman that she just isn't, and never holds her accountable. Don't get me started on Donna, I have a whole rant about her.

Season 9 is...an interesting beast. I'll fully admit that I am not well versed in New York law, but I agree with you - I have my doubts about the realism of everything that happened. Can the New York Bar really just assume total control of an independent firm whenever they want? Do they have that much power? I can't find anything in my research that suggests they do, but if there are any lawyers out there in real life who are reading this, by all means correct me. I just find it hard to believe that they can order a firm to change who's name is on the wall, and if the firm refuses, they can appoint a new managing partner? They can threaten to fire every single employee of the firm if Louis doesn't sign over absolute control? How does that work, why don't the other named partners have to sign? Why can't all of them outvote her, when that's how the firms have always worked? Here's my question. If the Bar can do all of this, why haven't they yet? Why did it take nine seasons?

Faye Richardson is frustrating because I believe she's meant to be a case of reality ensues, the real world catching up to the shady lead characters. Trouble is, she's not a straight shooter herself. In the very first episode, she uses Mike's fraud cause as one of the examples, and flat out ignores the point that there's no proof Harvey or Louis knew. (Alex and Samantha weren't even there when this happened.) She just says "Where there's smoke, there's fire." Okay, great line. But it's not proof. Later on in the season, they find leverage on her, and opt to not use it because "it would destroy her image of her father" to which I say...really? The daughter is an adult, and it's not like her father killed someone. She'll get over it. Meanwhile Faye tries to keep the moral high ground by saying "I crossed one line in my career, for my family. That's not the same thing as what you do." Like...that doesn't matter, Faye. You can't have your cake and eat it too. If you want to argue that what you did is justifiable, then you are admitting that crossing lines can be justifiable in the right circumstances, which kills your entire premise for being at the firm. Everyone could argue that their case is "different."

Why is this a problem? Because they make her so unlikeable, such a frustrating antagonist, that whatever lesson she's supposed to be teaching? I don't want the characters to learn. Watching this season, I want them to defeat her using the same shady tactics they always have. Am I supposed to root for the idea that they'll learn better, and stop crossing lines? Because if so, they created a pretty terrible representative of that argument. And if I'm supposed to root for Faye being defeated so the firm can carry on being shady...then what's the point of any of this? Faye even demands that Harvey and Louis represent her and if they get her acquitted for wrongfully terminating Samantha (which she did) then she'll "consider her job done" and tell the Bar that the firm has passed the test. Like, oh my god. You are every bit as corrupt as Harvey. Just admit it. And in the end, Harvey has to leave the firm to make her go away, even though they've got her dead to rights and she just wont' accept it? Why does she have to accept it? They already won! I know it's what he wants, to go work with Mike...but still. Faye is an annoying character.

Other than the main storyline, Season 9 was pretty solid. I'm glad Mike came back, and I am so glad that it lasted more than just the one episode, that he was there for the finale. They managed to wrap it up rather decently. I am so glad Louis got to be a father, and bonus points for his daughter not being named for an existing character (I hate that trope and I was so expecting it from someone like Louis.) Harvey is at his most mature this season and I'm glad he gets to be happy with Donna, I'm glad they gave us a full season of the two of them without the drama, even though I stopped shipping them at around like, Season 5. (Donna going back to work for Harvey was just one reset button too many.) Louis leading the firm when all is said and done makes me happy, as does Katrina getting her name on the wall. I also appreciate the lampshading that holy shit, they need to stop changing the name of this place. The death of Lily was something I didn't see coming but damn did it hit me hard. That probably remains the greatest story this show ever told, that of Harvey and his mother.

[peachywise]

ailing confessions

stanley uris x reader

– one-shot

– synopsis: Dating in secret sometimes had its perks, but when Stan got sick and all he wanted was you, it got a little hard to come up with a convincing lie to tell the rest of the losers. Hopefully, it didn’t blow up in your face. 

– notes: okay so some of you have asked for a part two to basement confessions, so here it is! it’s unofficial, so you by no means have to read basement confession to read and understand the context of this story. it also works just as well as a standalone. as always reader is they/them pronouns!!! it's an au aged around 19 years old.  

_____________________________________

"What's going on, what's wrong? Is Stan okay?" you shouted out near-breathless, pushing open the slightly ajar door to his bedroom, frantic eyes scanning for any sense of disaster.

When Richie called you, all you heard on the other end of the line was his stifled voice and arguing in the background. You couldn't exactly make out what Richie was saying, but you heard enough to piece together between his swearing trash mouth that you needed to come to Stan's place. You also caught the very alarm-ringing word of "dying." Putting those two things together within the same breath was enough to kick your ass into gear and bail out on work. You didn't even give a passing "bye" to your manager. He owed you one anyway. Last time he went out of town, you babysat his cat and the… the thing threw up on everything. Your shoes, your clothes, in your bag, and even once on your hair as you slept. But that's beside the point. Stan was allegedly dying, and you needed to get to him.

Or that's what you thought.

Taking in the full scene in front of you, your eyes first drifted towards Ben in the corner, pleading for the angry shouting to stop at a safe distance while wearing his puppy-dog eyed disappointed look that worked on you every single time, but barely on the others. Then you saw Bev sitting on the window sill, hand resting on her cheek as she watched the whole thing with a bored but partially affectionate look—like she'd given up on stopping it long ago, though probably hadn't tried very hard to do so in the first place. Eddie was trying to manhandle Stan's to open his jaw, juggling medicine in one hand as he shouted in his particular high-octave, "take the fucking pills, damn it!" Stan, who you might add was also bare-chested, was slapping his hands away like an indignant child, turning his face every which way to avoid Eddie's hands, letting a trail of "no, no, no, no, no," leave his mouth. Eddie managed to actually get the pills in there at one point, but in the end, Stan just spat them back into Eddie's unwitting hand. Eddie shrieked.

Richie, however, had no such panicked fear in his gaze or tone as he had portrayed in his earlier phone call. Instead, he was stood at the base of Stan's bed, cheering the whole thing on like it was some match to the death. And it was about to be. Just not one between Stan and Eddie.

You silently promised to at least give Richie a beautiful funeral-- a dick drawn on his casket and all.

"Hey, trashbitch!" You hollered, stomping up to him and wrapping an arm around his neck, locking him in an unrelenting hold while jerking the tall, gangly boy down to your height. He let out an exclamation of pain followed by a whiny, "what the fuck?"

"Is this the reason you brought me here? To watch Stan not take his medicine? He does this every fucking time! I thought you said he was dying!" Tightening your hold until you brought him to the ground, you both began to pseudo-wrestle. He managed to block any of your pathetic attempts to hit his body. Though, you did manage to smoosh his face against the floor with your hand. Your laugh was victorious, albeit a little maniacal as well.

It was true. This scenario has happened before. While Stan barely ever did get sick, when he did, he made every step on his recovery as tricky as humanly possible. Demonically impossible, even. He was responsible. Probably the most responsible out of all of you, but the moment sickness overtook his body it was like he shifted into this evil brat from hell who only got his kicks on making everyone around him just as miserable as he was. However, you all cared about him too much to just let him get sicker and sicker and sicker by just not doing anything about it. And he knew this.

In short, Stan was a sadistic son of a bitch.

Grabbing your wrist, Richie pulled it off and away from his face, forcing you from your balancing act above him and onto your side. A small gust of air left you at the painful contact of your body hitting the carpet, but your eyes only narrowed in amplified determination. Though his glasses always magnified his eyes anyway, he widened them in a fear that made him look just like a bug so easy to squish.

"Wait, shit, stop," he started, scrambling back as he outstretched his hands towards you, "I meant I was dying because he wouldn't stop fighting us and kept saying all he wanted was you here. Care to explain why that is?"

That stopped you.

Freezing all your limbs like if you didn't move everyone in the room would suddenly forget you were there, you racked your brain for something to say. Another lie, another excuse.

So, maybe you hadn't been exactly honest with them. For a while.

Like… four months.

You and Stan hadn't always gotten along. It was no secret. It had been that way ever since you were at kids. If you were in the same room together, an argument would inevitably follow, and while that still happened, it had changed into something a little different a few months back. During a game of truth or dare, your friends had both dared you and Stan into Bill's basement where you were promptly locked in. You had a substantial freakout. That place gave you the creeps ever since you were a kid—a long story for another day that ended with you having a broken arm—but Stan had calmed you down. And then he kissed you. And you kissed him. And then you made out. And uh, it hadn't exactly stopped since then.

What can you say? You were weak.

The only one of your friends who knew was Bill, and that was because he had caught you two in his basement and promised to hide it from the rest. He'd been pretty good with it so far, apart from the knowing looks and laughs he gave you two whenever you so much as even looked at each other too long. You'd kept up the façade of the still 'friendly' rivalry so far, but it was extremely out of place for Stan to ask for you specifically if he was sick, considering he didn't want anyone around him at all when he was.

You also realized you probably looked a little too panicked running in here and literally attacking Richie because of how freaked you were about Stan.

Couldn't blame yourself for dating a dumbass when it seemed you were one too.

Opening your mouth to finally retort back something along the lines of 'well he probably wanted to torture me by being around him,' instead, you were cut off pretty quick by Stan's voice timidly saying your name, almost like a question. No—hopefully imploring. Blinking once at Richie, you let his question hang in the air as you popped your head back up. Looking over the edge of the bed, Stan repositioned himself to sit up properly, his head slightly tilted to the side, his sleepy eyes surveying you behind his messy golden curls that surrounded his flushed face. Eddie looked like he'd just run a mile, absolutely wrecked as he stepped back with a huff. Stan just looked…adorable. Too adorable. Oh, God.

"You came?"

Stan didn't exactly smile, but his voice took on a sort of up-turned infliction of rosiness that pulled at your heart. He was something akin to sunshine; just his warm look thawed out any of the dread and frustration that had encapsulated you upon arrival. There weren't many moments you two have been able to steal alone as of late. Dating in secret had its own perk of making it more personal, something so securely special between you two and utterly consuming. Unfortunately, when you had a group of friends who barely ever hung out without each other, it left little time to be able to sneak away and successfully have a moment alone. You'd managed okay so far, but in the past month, it'd been hard to pull away from the others. You only got brief little moments of these teasing sunlight streams.

You'd missed him. Yes, you still saw him quite often, but you missed him. Pretending to continually get on each other's nerves is fun sometimes until it gets devastatingly hard and lonely as well. You didn't want to go back to how it was before.

"Of course I did," you spoke softly, your lips twitching up into a small smile that matched the sudden gentleness of your tone.

Then a bottle of Tylenol smacked into your chest in a broken moment, followed by Eddie's exaggerated huff of, "great, it's your turn to babysit now!" He very quickly stormed out of the room, muttering as he did.

Picking up the bottle of pills, you stood up and tried to look anywhere but at your friends. Okay. Maybe no one thought this was weird. This is fine. Normal.

"Of course I did," Richie mocking voice grated your ears, his tone carrying a lilt of impish laughter as he repeated your words back.

Turning your head towards him, you let your smile curve into something more sinister. It was the only warning he had before you launched yourself at him again.

Ben's arms circled around your waist, pulling you away before you got your hands around Richie's neck. Bev placed her small hand on Richie's shoulder as she moved up from her spot to stand behind him. The asshole was startled enough that he actually jumped. I mean, you were talented, but it's not like you could fucking teleport.

"Mike and Bill are going to the pharmacy to get some more medicine, so while we wait, how about we go make Stan some soup?" Bev offered, flashing a look towards Ben who dropped his hold on you as soon as you stopped struggling.

Ben smiled. "That sounds like a good plan." As both moved towards the door, you turned to watch, thankful that they were giving you the chance to be alone with Stan but wary of the knowing looks they were casting to each other as they went. Richie, however, stayed right where he was. Bev stalled at the doorframe, raising a red brow and offering a short, "Rich, you coming?" It seemed to snap Richie into place immediately, as he grumbled something about unfairness and how they never made soup while he was sick, before exiting the room and shutting the door behind him with an almost resounding click.

Finally alone.

"Hi."

Turning back around, you watched as Stan's face broke in a feverish looking smile, happiness seeping out of him, unrestricted. You'd never quite seen him that way before. Giving an amused shake of your head, you motioned for him to scoot over a bit before sitting on the edge of his bed, setting the medication on his side table. "Hi," you repeated back with your own little smile, reaching over to press your hand to his forehead.

He closed his eyes at your touch, practically melting as he reached up to clasp your hand, though still keeping it against him. "You're cold," he murmured, his voice taking on a sleepy tone.

"I'm not cold, you're just hot," you pointed out with a short chuckle, removing your hand to drop it back on your lap, though he still clasped onto it.

"And you're beautiful." His smile was languid as he obviously either ignoring your hot comment was because he had a fever or because he was utterly ignorant to your actual meaning due to his muddled mind. Either way, it was all the same. Your cheeks still got warm at his comment, still unused to such compliments coming from him.

"Wow, sick Stan really lays it on thick, doesn't he?" You joked, standing up from your position. Stan reached out to grab your hand again, an almost panicked expression crossing his face. You let out an amused laugh. "I'm just taking off my jacket, you baby." Slipping off the restrictive article of clothing, you tossed it onto the corner chair before moving back to his side. "Wanna tell me why you asked specifically for me? It wasn't enough to stress Eddie out of ten years of his life?"

Stan slipped back to lie down, bringing his comforter up close to his face as he clutched it, glowering at you like you'd said the most offensive thing in the world. "No," he murmured, "I just wanted to see you. I miss you."

You sat back down on the bed and slightly brushed his curls off his forehead, letting your fingers linger slightly as you stroked his hair a few times. It seemed he felt the distance between you two just as jarringly. Continually holding back in front of the others, unable to touch his hand, or let your gaze linger too long without being watchful. It was exhausting. "I miss you too," you spoke in almost a whisper. Stan leaned into your touch.

You both sat like that for a bit in companionable silence, merely taking each other's features in, a scene of subtly intimacy and comfort. It only broke when Stan scooted over more, lifting the blanket up and stating a simple, "come here."

And then you realized what that little shit was actually doing.

He was trying to distract you. And he almost succeeded.

Straightening your back a bit, you gave him a coy look as you grabbed the medication bottle from the table and the glass of water sitting next to it. Holding it out to him, almost like a trade, you asked, "will you take your medicine?"

Stan's face scrunched together, showcasing his deep consideration at the challenge presented to him. Such a thoughtful look would rival those of the best Philosophers. Fuck you, Aristotle.

"No."

Well then. Fuck you, Aristotle and Stan.

"W-what?"

Shit. You said that out loud.

Ignoring that, you set the medicine and water back down again, standing up and moving towards your coat. Without a word, you began to shrug it back on. Stan's scrambled at that, clawing out of his covers and sitting up straight, a panicked question of "where are you going?" escaping him.

"Clearly you don't need my help," you shrugged, turning back to face him with a knowing look. "You have it all under control. I don't need to comfort someone who's not sick enough to take their medicine."

Stan narrowed his eyes. Like actually, physically narrowed his eyes at you like you were the one being the brat in this situation. You just glared back at him. The tension between you two may have started this impromptu staring contest, but there was no way you were losing it.

And then it began to reach over the two-minute mark, and your eyes started to water. Fuck.

Blinking your eyes with a groan, you cut Stan off before he could rub the win in your face. He always did that. "Let's make a deal!" you nearly shouted, walking back up to his bedside. "You take your medicine, and I'll lay down with you for just a little while. We don't want your body temperature going up any more than it is."

Stan crossed his arms over his chest. He was silent for a moment, taking on that contemplative look once again. "Deal. But you also have to kiss me."

Wow. Such a romantic proposition.

Your hesitation in accepting wasn't so much the fact that he was sick-- though, it really should have been-- or the fact that you didn't want to. You did. You really, really, did. It was just the fact that all your friends were outside that door, and knowing them, they would burst in here at any moment.

Stan seemed to read your hesitation for what it was. He always seemed to know what you were thinking. You thought he was going to argue, or simply retract his statement, but Stan surprised you. "I don't care." Your face must have turned perplexed, because immediately he began to clarify, "I don't care if they know. I'm tired. I'm tired of missing you, I'm tired of holding back and pretending like all we want to do is rip each other apart, when quite frankly there's only one thing I want to rip off of you." Okay, either you were getting his fever, or your whole body flushed at that single comment. With a hard look, he leaned over and grabbed the pill bottle, shaking two out and swallowing them back without even any water.

"So what's it going to be?"

Sick Stan was slowly turning into your favourite Stan. Guess he wasn't taking no as an answer. And who were you to not reward him?

Letting out a light laugh, you took your jacket back off and sat beside him. "It's a deal," you smiled, setting a gentle hand on his warm cheek. "But you're the one who's going to have to tell them. It's only fair since you're obviously getting the better end of the deal." Leaning down, you shut your eyes as you placed a soft kiss on his lips. Stan put a gentle hand on your arm, almost sighing contently at the contact. Affection rolled off you two in waves, but before you knew it, you'd both parted with tender smiles, foreheads touching.

"That's not a real kiss."

Confusion crossed your features, but it quickly turned into shock when Stan gave your arm a hard tug, bringing you down to the bed on top of his chest. Wrapping his too-hot arms around you, essentially caging you against him, his lips met yours again in greedy haste. Bracing your hands on his chest, you moved them up closer to his neck as every part of you lit up where you touched. His hand snaked under your shirt and up, leaving a trail of fire in its wake as his thumbs brushed your skin so gently. You still shivered despite the heat. The kiss was almost persistent, desperate as he tried to pull you closer, tighter. He didn't want to let go, and neither did you.

He broke off for a moment, his lips trailing to your jaw to give you both a moment to breath. His kisses turned breathless and gentle once more, and you pushed up from your position to stare at him with an incredulous look. "You sure you're actually sick?" you chuckled, twisting off to lie down next to him, snuggled into his arm.

"I feel great," he argued back, just before a small coughing fit racked over his entire body. Liar, liar.

Moving away, you began to sit up, laughing as you said, "okay, okay, I don't want your germs." Stan pouted as he rolled on top of you and rested his arms on either side of your head, trapping you once again.

"Don't leave," he complained, bending his head down to leave a trail of kisses on your neck, cheek, lips. "You love me and my germs," his voice murmured against your skin, his lips pulling up into a grin. You playfully began to swat him away, laughter really erupting from his onslaught attack. He captured your lips once more, hands sliding up your sides, devastatingly unrelenting. But there was no struggle from you as you wrapped your arms around his neck, moving your lips against his after he teasingly nipped your bottom lip.

He didn't even make a motion to pull back after Eddie's angry voice seemed to bounce off the walls of the room with the jarring statement of, "oh that's so gross, you're going to get sick!"

Turning your head as Stan grumbled into your neck, something along the lines of 'they always ruin everything,' you saw all of your friends at the doorway gaping at you two without a damn word to say about it. The only one who made any motion or reaction was Eddie who literally threw his hands up before storming out again, going on about how "it's not my job to take care of two idiots. I'm not going to do it, I'm not!"

With a small smirk, Bev pushed past both Richie and Ben and shut the door with them behind it, giving you a little wink.

Looks like the cat was out of the bag.

And oddly enough, as Stan smothered you up, you couldn't care one little bit.