#no I’m not actively in the st fandom

[heyhylix]

My favorite fun fact about me is that I have only ever had one oc, his name is Ponk and he is the stupidest Vulcan of all time

[xxbimbobunnyxx]

Every time I think I can’t be more shocked by peoples behavior on here I’m proven so wrong lmao if you’ve got something to say come say it directly to my face off anon otherwise shut the fuck up.

[chirpsythismorning]

I don’t think we even realize the impact we have… Literally the cover of the WGA strike tag on Tumblr rn

[emblazons]

…..there are so many ST fans coming to this blog lately??

Hello and welcome—but please do realize up front I am just having a small renaissance with my faves in the midst of the S5 wait and will not likely stay posting about ST or the show in much critical capacity until S5 promo.

TL; DR: feel free to browse, but do realize:

Stealing gifs is tantamount to a block. Period. A lot of my older ST content is not watermarked, but I will definitely be able to recognize them if you do it.

I have long set opinions on things like byler & will not engage in arguments on characters or their sexualities etc with you ever. Feel free to ask my opinion on the matter but….I’ve been a critically minded fan of this show since 2016. You’re not changing my mind or getting anything but a blank stare with an accusatory ask. Also, I will not be turning on anons for any reason lmao

There will be several other fandoms talked about regularly on emblazons, and I will not censor them outside of tagging! My blog my rules etc etc

If you’re comfortable with all that please do stay! I’m just…the year+ I spent active-active in that fandom isn’t where I’m at at the moment, so I wanna be up front about what this blog is and what it isn’t—esp given it looks more active in the ST corners than it is in reality right now lmaooooo

[thelostsisters]

happy 1 year anniversary to me meeting henry creel for the first time lives were absolutely changed

[lexirosewrites]

it’s my two year Steddie-versary today?!!!

(which means I’m gonna ramble emotionally for a little bit)💛

I’m not really sure how to fully describe the last two years of my life and my involvement in the steddie fandom, but I’ll try!

I remember watching season four of ST and really liking Eddie, thinking he was so cool. I’d always liked Steve, but putting them together was a whole different story. And then I recall seeing fanart, finding a couple fics here and there.

I wasn’t aware how deep I’d gotten until I was drafting a fic of my own, eager to join the fun any way that I could. It had been years since I’d written anything of my own, but I was lonely and bored enough to try.

I drafted my first fic “All Through The Night” for a month.

I wrote it. Rewrote it. Edited it. Doubted whether it should stay in the drafts. Finally, I just hit post.

From there, it kept going. I’d write a few non-omegaverse fics based on TikTok prompts. Then, I’d end up delving into the omegaverse trope in a way I never had before.

I started to remember how much I enjoyed writing and I found a community that was kind to me. I made friends in the AO3 comments of all places!

It was a few months before I joined ST twitter in December of 2022, but I was encouraged to hang out and make more friends.

(I don’t need to rehash the bad parts of my experience because I think we’re all pretty aware of what happened. But I don’t want those things to define me or spoil all the good that’s come from this fandom either. Bullies don’t get to take this from me.

I wasn’t super active on Tumblr prior to my Twitter leave because I didn’t really understand the app😅 we figured it out eventually and I am so grateful to have been welcomed here when I was feeling so low.)

I figured out a lot about myself in this fandom! I identified as a cis, bi-questioning woman when I started writing!! That’s insane to me now!

But I found a place to explore and meet other queer people and ask questions that I would’ve never asked!

I was leading worship at a mega church when I posted my first fic. I was freshly separated from my ex-husband and still hurting immensely. I was working through a pandemic as a nurse and hating my life. I didn’t have much that brought me joy anymore.

This silly gay ship probably saved my life…

And I know I’ve been semi-MIA as far as posting to AO3 the last several months, but I have no intentions of leaving this fandom anytime soon. I will not abandon my fics or disappear. I just need a little bit of a break because I burnt myself out on writing for a year and a half!

God this post went way too long. Oops.

Okay! In summary! Today is my two year Steddie-versary and I love you all!!! I’m grateful for the friends I’ve made and the support I’ve had to share my stories.

(also tbh I cannot believe I tricked this many of you into reading mpreg)

[blurglesmurfklaine]

4, 7, 9, 12 for the ask game <3 (all glee if possible)

Yay, thanks for these Crys! 7 was previously answered so I went ahead and skipped it :)

4. say something nice about a ship you don't ship (it can be another ship in your fandom, a mutual's OTP, etc)

I don’t ship St. Berry, but I am of the opinion that if it couldn’t be Finn, I’m glad it was Jesse. He and Rachel really are two sides of the same coin and they seem to love each other very deeply and I hope they’re happy together!

9. a ship that isn't your OTP but that you enjoy

Samcedes 😭 they are my emotional support heterosexuals your honor. But also, they are two genuinely good people who care deeply about one another samcedes you will always be endgame to me

12. compliment someone else in your fandom

Okay this is gonna be a lot because I AM going to do all the active fandoms I’m in! So under the read more!

Glee:

First of all you, Crys! And @backslashdelta You are both so talented with your gif making that it kind of drives me insane.

@kurtsascot is probably one of the most talented writers I’ve ever had the pleasure of interacting with. I feel so lucky that we’ve gotten her so late in the game! I feel similarly about @rockitmans and @thelegendofjenna

@esilher @twinkkurt and @justgleekout make the most BEAUTIFUL fanart I’ve ever seen, and I also wanna thank @carsonphillips for klainegifs and keeping the fandom interesting with their events!

@somefeministtheatrepls is not only an amazing friend but the most thoughtful beta reader and honestly partner in my writing?? Writing is much less stressful because I don’t even worry about things being clunky or weird because I know her ass will help that chapter SHINE

@nancysgillians @kurthummeldeservesbetter also get shoutouts because they are wonderful people to have in your life

Newsies:

I could fill novels with how much I love and appreciate @somanywords! Their amazing storytelling and also volunteering to make art for the MiniBang I hosted earlier this year??? On top of listening to my insane ramblings?? They don’t make em like this anymore folks

@one-paper-bag is also SOOOOOO incredibly talented with their art, and their lovely comments on my Spider-Man AU keep me going (on GOD we are gonna get you another chapter ON GOD!!!!)

@livesincerely and @agentsnickers are some of the most prolific and INSANELY TALENTED writers I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading, and also genuinely lovely people! You know when you see someone on your dash and ur just like “wow. I hope they are having a FANTASTIC day and life. They deserve one.”

@piedoesnotequalpi and @regina-cordium are also so incredibly FUNNY and have the most correct takes on every single newsie and that’s on that ❤️

911:

I’m relatively new to this fandom, so I don’t know a ton of people yet, but there are def people I see on my dash that I have noticed!

@cranberrymoons @lesbianrobin @insertlovelyperson have written some of my absolute FAAAAAAVE fics! I feel like they really have a handle on who the characters are in a way that’s true to the show and kind of difficult to pull off!

@texasbama makes amazing gifs and honestly anytime I see her on my dash I laugh bc genuinely she’s so funny. Also on the list of hilarious contributors is @buckgettingstruck

And a couple of people who I think have genuinely great vibes are @buckera @leathercouchcushion and @yaz-the-spaz

And of course I can’t talk about 911 without a second mention to @regina-cordium who puts up with all my Texas!Buddie nonsense andbansndbsk

-

Okay yeah so that was a LOT sorry!! I didn’t mean for it to get so long BUT I do mean every single word! I’m really blessed to have met so many amazing people through fandom and my experience on this site has been nothing less than superb because of yall ❤️

[thestobingirlie]

ted wheeler is the hero of st

an explanation of the critical role ted will be playing in the final season of stranger things

everything from the past four seasons has been building to this point, and season five will bear witness to the culmination of ted wheeler’s incredible five season arc. showcasing, finally (it’s been a long wait tedheads!), that the ultimate hero of the show is the unimportant, average dad from indiana!

“But one unlikely hero might soon be rising: that’s right, Ted Wheeler (Joe Chrest) could be the hero Hawkins needs.”[1]

let’s get right into it!!

season 5 is the season of the wheeler’s

if you’re in this fandom, then you have to know that “The Wheeler family will take centre stage in Stranger Things season 5, stepping into more significant roles.”[2] Obviously anyone that’s been watching the show knows that nancy and mike, and to an extent karen, are already fairly relevant within the story. and with holly going “missing” and karen being pretty badly hurt, what new wheeler can rise to a level of importance that they haven’t previously held? that’s right baby. ted wheeler. dad of the year.

not only do we know from the duffers that the wheeler’s are stepping up in season five, we also know from multiple interviews that “a lot of the cast, pretty much from season two, have been encouraging the Duffers to get Ted more active in the show”[3]. we have inside support! for almost a decade, the cast of the show have been actively trying to uplift ted wheeler to the role he deserves. the role we all want him to take.

subverting tropes and expectations

we all know that the duffers like their unexpected narratives, they like taking tropes that the audience is used to and understands and flipping them on their head. what possible better character, that has been well-established at this point to be removed from the narrative, to be unaware of what’s going on around him, to be fairly useless and unhelpful in the times of crisis, could step up, could save the day, could break the conventions and shock audiences, other than ted?

protective father instincts

the child that ted is canonically closest with is his youngest child, holly wheeler. “Ted was being a really good father to Holly, the youngest child”[2]. the obvious route here for the final season is that after his own child goes missing, ted will finally be pulled into the mystery of the upside down, and the disappearance of his favourite child will awaken his protective instincts. as joe chrest said: “he’s a man who will always fight for his family” (chrest) [3]. he may not always understand his loved ones, he may enjoy a good nap on his chair, but ted will do anything for his children.

not to mention, we all know the importance of fathers in stranger things. ted may not be hopper, but he’s got hidden depths within him we’re yet to see (though if you’re media literate of course we can all see them lying dormant lol).

let’s get back to the great joe chrest, who’s stressed in multiple interviews: “I would love a chance to get out there and defend the kids. Ted really loves his family and would do well in that Upside Down scenario. It’s the ‘80s, too. It’s a chance for Ted to fight for his country. I’m sure he served in the military. The dude’s a patriot, for Gods’ sake.”[3]. military ted, we all know what that means right??? nancy got her beloved gun talents from her father.

did anybody order ted wheeler shooting at monsters and government officials in season five? because that’s what we’re getting baby.

the love triangle

now, we all know one of the biggest plots in the upcoming season is the culmination of the love triangle between steve, nancy and jonathan. you might be wondering how ted factors into this, but it’s very obvious with just a little close reading of the show.

nancy’s views on relationships are inspired by her parents marriage; her dad’s perceived uselessness and her mother’s apathy. i mean she says it straight up in season one!! screw that!

in order for nancy to step happily into a relationship, free from doubt and regret, those issues have to be resolved. what better way for them to be resolved than for ted wheeler, father of the year, to step up for his family and demonstrate his love and devotion for them by protecting them from the upside down and the government, and becoming an active father figure.

ted vs steve harrington

not to make everything about my little guy, but well. it’s me.

i swear though, this is a solid point!

now, in the first and second seasons, there were some pretty heavy parallels between the characters of steve and ted that were obvious for even the most casual watcher to see.

joe chrest: “…With our characters, we felt like they were almost the same guy… That [Steve] was Ted back when he was in High School.”[3]

some haters would have us believe that these parallels are just there to show stancy as unsuitable. they’re wrong.

what these parallels are actually foreshadowing is the steve harrington redemption arc that we will watch ted experience in the final season!

in the first season we���re supposed to understand ted and steve to be on the same path, if steve deviated from that path, why would his parallel character not do the same? if steve had it within him to step up, to be brave, to make a choice outside of what is expected of him, then ted has that strength within him too, he’s just never had a reason to truly unleash it.

stranger things is a show all about how the ordinary can actually be extraordinary, and who better to showcase that than ted wheeler?

dedicated to shan, one of the biggest tedheads i know 🫶

[themewsatten]

OFMD

I continue to be baffled and disappointed by the decisions of streaming services. Honestly, I’m not especially dissatisfied with the way OFMD S2 ended (apart from Izzy’s fate, which I thought was bollocks), but it seemed clear to me that DJ felt he had more to do, more to say. Meanwhile the medium remains saturated with the bland, the formulaic, the safe. What’s to become of it all when these companies actively militate against risk-taking, even when it *works*?! Either way, not good news for the creative industries. 

I love writing in the fandom, and I’ve got no intention of stopping now. They can’t cancel OUR creativity. 

My existing OFMD fics are listed below; they’re not the best out there, but they come from a place of inspiration and love, and I hope they bring some joy. I’m also working on a multi-chapter modern AU which I can’t wait to share. I hope others will keep working on their stories and art, too. 

Ruin Me

Stede finally tells Ed what Chauncey said the night they parted.

(Teen And Up Audiences - 250 words)

Intertwined

Stede likes keepsakes.

(General Audiences - 100 words)

St(ed)e

Stede and Ed have a tender moment in the cabin, where Ed’s learning to read and write.

(Teen And Up Audiences - 500 words)

The Good Plan

Ed’s been a bit stressed lately. Fortunately, Stede knows how to ease the tension . . .

(Explicit - 4061 words)

Love Me (Fast and Slow)

Izzy tells Stede to give Ed space after their fight. Stede does the exact opposite. Fortunately, that turns out to be a good call.

(Mature - 6657 words)

One Rabbit And You

Ed and Stede end a long day the right way, before coming to a decision.

(Explicit - 4140 words)

[xtraordinaryfangrl]

Yeah... turns out the streets were right about how the 6 measly episodes of TUA S4 was made in somebody's butt crack. I don't even have to watch it now (although I might after cleansing my mind with seasons 1 and 2 - aka PEAK TELEVISION) and I haven't even finished S3 because of how badly they butchered Alison's character/her relationship with Viktor. I do, however, have some very confused thoughts from the bits I've seen so far of the final season:

—

|‼️SPOILER ALERT‼️|

—

- Diego and Lila had 3 kids - two daughters and an unnamed son, according to the wiki-page? So what, is their son supposed to be a pee-wee version of Stanley (or as I know him, a softer version of Ashtray from Euphoria)?? That'd be cool if it was, y'know, confirmed. Guess I'll never know, and that in itself should be a criminal offense.

- SPEAKING OF ILLEGAL ACTIVITY - whoever pitched Five and Lila as a romantic pairing needs a psyche evaluation. You mean to tell me that not only she cheats on my man Diego, but she cheats on him with somebody who looks like a sophomore in college? She couldn’t have an affair with Sparrow!Ben? Or Luther - who apparently dabbles in male-stripping now? OR Viktor the Critically Acclaimed Ladies Man? Literally any other Hargreeves sibling would have been a better spring fling than a middle-aged man in a child’s body.

- Allison doesn’t say “I heard a rumor…” at all from the edits I’ve seen of her… Suspicious. Also, Ray just ditched her and Claire? For what- genuinely- WHY WOULD YOU GIVE MY SISTA A VILLAIN ARC FOR NO REASON LIKE-

- Weirdly enough, I’m sort of OK with the ending. Something will never sit right with me about the Hargreeves Siblings only finding peace in death after everything they’ve been through, sure. But their sacrifice makes sense, if not one huge inconsistency.

They didn’t just die, apparently. They were erased from existence, and their children still exist because of the Grandfather Paradox (which I still don’t get, by the way)? Fine. And yet, by some not-so-subtle foreshadowing, there’s an end-credits scene with a row of flowers - 8 marigolds. That’s not a coincidence, or maybe it is, but then that would also equate to more horrendous writing.

All in all, my love for the found-family trope is slightly tarnished now because of St*ve Bl*ckman and the only cure seems to be AO3.

—

Hell, I don’t write for this fandom, but if this isn’t a reason to start then what is?

[apparentlytheproblem]

Hi! I love your writing and I’ve been literally binging through all the fics! I was kinda hoping for a fluff / angsty fred fic 👀

So we all know our beloved Fred dies and I’m kinda wanting to have a fic around that. It starts very warm and calm with possible memories before the war and how happy the two were waiting to get married, start a family etc. maybe a little moment in the morning of their house together waking up and it’s just stolen kisses and happiness 😩

Until the war begins and they both want to fight in it, very bittersweet moment of goodbye between them while Fred tells reader to be safe and how it’ll come back on both of them. During the war we know Fred gets killed and how it could be the reader protects a younger person during the war and that’s how they are killed too. The Weasley family not knowing they were dead until they saw her being placed down on a stretcher beside Fred. It’s just SAD and ya know ANGST. Anyway could be the two of them reuniting in the afterlife Idc!

But if this is too much don’t stress you’re amazing 😩

b i t t e r s w e e t

fandom- Harry Potter

pairing(s)- fred weasley

a/n: ahh i'm so happy you've been enjoying my writting, that makes my day. this brought back plenty of unhappy memories of a ten year old reading it for the first time, but what this really remiend's me of this is the line, "it's been a long day my friend, i'll tell you all about it when i see you again". i hope you don't mind as i hav'nt really written a proper fic on this and i'm willing to try again to reach your expectations, i wish this enlightens your day, and makes you smile a little brighter with love, tiya

requested- yes

warnings- unexperienced writer, not thoroughly edited

the five times fred weasley was effortlessley in love

sometimes being the funniest person in the room was tiring, but being the most handsome, charming and the funniest was just absolutely exhausting. Fred was the type to always brighten the mood. he was the vibe, but sometimes its difficult to always light the room and be that positive ray of sunshine all the time, for it did take effort but he'd give it his all. But when it came to you? it felt so effortless.

(1) on his knees

Fred Weasley has never gotten on his knees for anyone, he'd never belittle himself to begging and he would certainly never find himself in a position where he would have to bend down. and for a girl? pfft

but he did, oh he did, he did, he did.

he found himself on his knees tying you laces with so much adoration. and a thought went across his mind.

is being this in love even real?

(2) oh for a hello

mind you, you were minding your business and making your way to the next class when the hem of your skirt was pulled, spinning you to the proximity of Fred Weasley's handsome face. you were cornered to a wall with him leaning in as if he owned the world.

"hello"

(3) privellages

Fred was going of about god knows what and he was being quite annoying. he was upset about you doing some reckless things as if he did not partake in any such activities.

"Freddie". that had shut him up so well ah.

"can i call you that?" you pestered on, watching him immitate a fish. he turned himslef around and started smiling in hopes you wouldn't notice how flustered he's gotten. it was astounding how effortlesley happy you would make him and it drove him crazy.

"hmm"

imma marry this girl

(4) that not so little sensation

Weasley had somehow gotten into your dorm, and to be honest you didn't bother to wonder how. Beacause, when he had a will, he'd find a way, and if he could not find a way? he would pave with his own hands.

he springled and peppered your face with kisses and had his arm tightly around you as if you'd disapear if he let go.

what was that sensation he felt everytime he saw her smile and laugh? it was him being effortlesley in love

(5) die for you

it says you see what you have loved the most in your last, and he was happy it was them, cause its always been them. He felt all the stress, the anxiety and the worry leave him, it was just her, and who could be stressed after seeing that face. it was like a sponge absorbing anything and everything that made you worry.

it's been a long day, he'd tell her all about it when he saw her again

[findroleplay]

Rules: do’s & don’ts

There is almost no rule for what is or isn't allowed on this blog, we are accepting of basically all and any content. When something is not allowed there is a good reason for it, so please try not to break the rules.

What you can not post

Anything too explicit. Detailed NSFW starters, graphic GIFs or pictures used as decoration and the like. If you really want to share a detailed vision of the scene that will be acted out in the roleplay, send a link to google docs, carrd, another post, etc that people can check out. This is primarily about smut but it applies to gore as well. To be super clear, smut and gore are not banned from the blog, you can request any kink/situation you like, but you will need to discuss the details with your partners. For example, asking for a BDSM roleplay is fine, writing out details of the smut scene in your request is not. This is to avoid possible reports based on the NSFW ban.

Wait 24 hours before submitting again from the moment the ask is posted. You can post ads requesting different RPs, just not the same ask. This is to avoid cluttering.

It goes without saying, this is RP only. You can't send requests for dating or similar.

You can only send ads through asks or submissions. If you need help with those I'll be happy to lend a hand, but don't send your requests via DMs. If the inbox is closed it means it's full/I'm not active, please be patient and, again, don't try to get your ad in through DMs. I won't be able to post your ad from DMs.

That's it, pretty easy, right?

What you can post

Generally, anything not mentioned above is allowed. However, since some things get asked often, I will make a general list of things that are allowed for your convenience.

RPF is allowed. 

Discord servers and other groups are allowed. 

Things related to RPing, even if not strictly roleplay-seeking, are allowed. Other roleplay finders, RP resources, and even questions about roleplaying are all allowed. 

Minors are allowed. 

Dead dove content is allowed.

What you should/shouldn't do

Your ask will be published even if you don't abide by these rules. However, keeping this in mind will make for a better experience for everyone involved.

Be as clear as possible about the fandom and other relevant information. I can't tag it if you don't tell me where these blorbos come from. If the fandom has alternate names/acronyms include everything!

If you're going to include more than 20 fandoms in your search, split the post into two separate requests. There's a maximum of 30 tags allowed on a post, out of which only the first 20 will show up in searches. If you include more, the rest will go untagged/will not show up in searches.

Don't censor triggers. It just interferes with people that have these words blocked. Don't write inc*st, write incest.

Miscellaneous other stuff

I am not the police, your parents, or HR. If you have a disagreement with your RP buddy I can't intervene to solve it for you, nor can I put them in time out. Unpleasant things happen online, learn to block and move on. Please don't message me - or worse, send anon asks - with callouts for certain users and ask them to block/warn others.

If you feel stuck and the blank page is daunting, you can use this form as a base. Feel free to fill out everything, just some of it, add items I didn't include, or just send your own personal ad.

Literacy:

Fandom:

Pair: (fxf, mxf, mxm, ccxcc, ocxoc)

Character(s):

Ship(s):

Triggers:

Genres:

Plot ideas:

Where: (discord, Tumblr, reblogs..)

Other:

[pinkeoni]

Hi as someone who’s been in the Byler/ST fandom since 2019 THANK U for your posts regarding gnc Will. The shift in the Byler fandom & the perception of Mike and Will changed DRASTICALLY after st4 and it was so jarring to see. I kind’ve fell out of ST fandom for a while after st4, now I’m coming back and I’m so confused at the characterization of these two. It’s been well established in the show that Will IS gnc & it’s an important part of his character. A big part of Mike’s character is the performance of heteronormativity & masculinity. It is now difficult to even find fanfics that aren’t OOC. I 100% support people having headcanons & seeing themselves in characters. But I’ll be honest, I have no idea where this characterization came from and I genuinely feel like I’m in a completely different fandom sometimes.

Aw, thanks anon. I've been a fan of the show since 2016, but wasn't actively in the fandom until 2022 so I wasn't sure what people's perception of the characters were like back then.

I'm definitely not the first nor the last person to discuss Will being gnc, a lot of the posts I make are me adding onto conversations that have been taking place since this mischaracterization of him began.

If you want a better idea of where this characterization comes from, then I would suggest reading this post.

[spicybylerpolls]

“Nobody does anything cool anymore, and everybody is afraid of everything,” Vinson Cunningham said in a recent roundtable about the death of the sex scene for the New Yorker. “We are in a decadent, post-excitement world.”

The widespread access to porn online, according to Cunningham, raised the bar for a sex scene from titillation to plot. It wasn’t enough to make people horny; a sex scene had to move the story forward or serve a stylistic purpose. Narrative momentum can in itself be a turn-on. As a teenager growing up online, I was significantly less interested in porn, which felt obviously fake, than in Youtube compilations and cuts of various sex scenes, which had the trappings of real characters, and thus real life. The scenes felt fascinating, shocking, spellbinding, adult. Maybe not actually realistic, but vibrant and vital, validation of my own capacity for eroticism. Sex is an essential part of humanity, sex scenes an essential reflection of the human experience. Perhaps the most frustrating element of this particular anti-sex scene argument is its fixation on a justification for sex on-screen, as if people wanting to have sex or wanting to be turned on is not character-driven or important enough. To deny the power of sex on-screen is to deny one of the core reasons to watch anything in the first place: desire, a basic human impulse and a gift.

from this article: https(:)//archive.ph/VqXbY

And as relates to byler and culture itself, another piece....

In a culture of convenience, where values are understood increasingly through their digital imprints, things feel nauseatingly 2D because they literally are. Marshall McLuhan predicted this a long time ago. [in the 60s with his 'the medium is the message' - a concept which relates to ST as a whole!] I’ve started thinking of this quality as sexlessness. I’m using sex here as a euphemism for the natural arousal that attends life in 3D, sexual or not. It is the antithesis of the gamified pleasure we pursue online, which has now infiltrated our values offline too. Consider beauty, which is today often understood as a set of objective, imitable, purchasable characteristics, rather than a quality experienced through movement, context, subjectivity, mystery, actual presence. When I think of the dominant trends of the last five or 10 years, most of them engender this same lack of humanity: personal branding; biohacking; virtual reality; reality television; fillers and filters; botox and plastic surgery; being extremely online; corporate activism; minimalism; cancel culture; labels for every type of person and personality... One way to view the irritating state of things is as a kind of collective sexual frustration. '“Nobody does anything cool anymore, and everybody is afraid of everything."'

The above is from: https(:)//haleynahman.substack.com/p/89-the-death-of-sex

I see this page has died down a bit but wanted to drop this for any deep thinkers out there, because it speaks to the wider issue and shows how spicy byler tumblr (and indeed byler tumblr, and by extension ST fandom and all fandom itself) is part of this wider issue of being engrossed in the kind of culture that removes you from visceral, realistic pleasures and what this might mean for society.

Can we expect eroticism from Stranger Things? Not in an arthouse way, I don't think, but i'm fascinated to see how they position themselves in the zeitgeist of gay media, conservative media, and media that is willing to portray sex - especially considering that the portrayal of sex could and would indeed have narrative purpose for mike and will. the duffers might just have set up one of the best stories to portray this experience, and redefine the entire genre if they can pull it off.

Always grateful for your thoughts and contributions to the spicy byler fandom (and the byler fandom at large), scrunchietown. It's so true that there's a general sexlessness in media, even as people try to complain that everything's too sexualized when that's not true, especially not in mainstream movies. Last summer there were a lot of people freaking out about the (pretty tame) sex scene in Oppenheimer! Perhaps there are more sex scenes in Max shows like Euphoria, but even so, I do think the Duffers have the opportunity to do something truly special and redefine the sex scene. Byler has the opportunity to be groundbreaking in so many ways!

"One way to view the irritating state of things is as a kind of collective sexual frustration."

Society if Byler helps to heal our collective sexual frusturation:

[eddiethehunted]

depressed because i am still hyperfixating on steddie and st in general but i’m just so burnt out. i can’t even recover from the burnout bc i just keep having to work and i can’t afford to not work. i can never just rest. so i have no energy to think about anything fun or even draw or write which i WANT to do!!! i just feel like a failure idk 😔 i know it isn’t like my responsibility to provide content but i like being active in fandoms!! i just have 0 energy to even do anything bc im so depressed and that just makes me more depressed 😭

[henrysglock]

“real ones left byler behind for greener ST pastures (the Creel/NINA plotline) because that shit is crack cocaine once you're in it”

People are interested in what they’re interested in. It seems like y’all are already predisposed to being more into that kinda stuff, and that’s totally fine- no offense, we all have our own taste! But it seems like you all took your lessened interest in byler/dissatisfaction with the fandom/lack of obsession with will/connection to henry and made into your whole personality while many of us haven’t left because we simply aren’t interested in the same things. You can’t make someone care about things more than they love byler.

The creel/nina stuff will never be crack cocaine to those of us who aren’t predisposed to it. personally, nina was my second least favorite part of S4 (I didn’t really like the flashbacks, which I found boring/repetitive), and the creel stuff IS interesting, but I only really care about the supernatural stuff as it relates to mike/will. And it’s cool while watching it, but it’s not what runs in my mind everyday with specificity. The characters do. And what converted me from being part of the GA- a passionate fan, but still GA (I was never active in the fandom during the off-season)- was byler. I’m here for the gays. And I think that’s true for a lot of us here.

What that opener tells me is that you missed my entire point with those tags.

The reblog I was replying to was saying that they left byler behind because ST4 wasn't good. I said I left byler behind for greener ST pastures because a) NINA is more interesting to me and b) that area of the fandom is less toxic. So...did you or did you not comprehend the context there?

It wasn't about:

"oughrghrghr byler BAD. byler BORING!!11!!!!111 find better plotlines LOSERS!!!! NINA BEST PLOT 4 EVER!!!!!"

It was about:

"Hey, just because I'm put off by the byler fandom because it's self-admittedly a toxic dump these days and I can see the ways bylers screwed themselves over as a fandom doesn't mean I think ST4 was bad. I just found a part of it that was better for me in general".

So you can take your "You can’t make someone care about things more than they love byler" and shove it, because that was never and has never been what I'm trying to do.

Also...I'm about to earn my title as "mean and condescending", because you've caught me in a special mood.

I genuinely don't care that you don't like the supernatural plot outside stuff that relates to M/W. I don't care that you favor characters over plot. I think favoring characters over plot, only being "here for the gays", and devaluing backstories/sub-plots or cherry-picking them for only what relates to your fave little gaybies is a detriment to your understanding of them. For example, the Russia arc isn't my favorite, but I still hype it up what for does irt subtext for the story as a whole, even as it relates to characters who aren't my favorites. I care about NINA because I care about Will's vanishing. I care about Will's vanishing because I care about NINA. You can't claim to care about the characters and then just cherry-pick your way through the plots for what you think relates to your faves, because it ALL contributes to the forces that shape your faves! If you actually cared about the characters outside of "ouaghh will we get to see the boys KISS 😳???", you'd care about the inner workings of the plot as a whole.

So, in short: skill issue.

So actually, to refute your point: I do care about Will. I just do it with a more nuanced lens than 99% of bylers. I care about him as both a character and as a cog in the plot. I care about his good moments and bad moments, and how his behavior/character development might tie into the progression of the overall plot and affect all the other characters. In fact, I'd argue I care about Will more genuinely and with more objective intellectual depth than 99% of bylers...and I'm able to do so because I understand and care about the plots that shape him.

And complaining about me making my connection to Henry my whole personality is so fucking funny coming from "I'm here for the gays". Unparalleled hypocrisy. Many such cases, unfortunately.

I'm dissatisfied with the fandom. That is very true. Shit like this is precisely the reason why. I'm so fucking fed up with this kind of self-centered, self-righteous behavior that's indicative of a fucking victim complex worth speaking to a psychiatrist about.

Now go back to obsessing over boys kissing and stop making harassing me your entire personality.