#our s4 *is there*. its there and its shit and we just have to live with it because there are no second chances

[glasseater-3000]

ykw sometimes its better to just cancel the show

[shutuperce]

your fall 2023 byler reading list 🍂🍂

BIG BYLER FIC REC DUMP cause i haven't been writing a lot but i HAVE been reading and y'all need to read these! hope u enjoy as much as i did <3

got your spell on me, baby - @astrobei -Stranger Things (TV 2016) [Archive of Our Own]

Words: 7,919

TW: none

'To be fair, Will’s costume is great, now that Mike knows what it is. And, okay, wait-

“Oh, this is so good. This is so good.” Max points at Mike, wheezing. “Because you’re dressed as-”

Will’s still looking straight up at the sky. The length of his neck is very, very flushed. Mike can feel his entire face going redder than Vader’s lightsaber. He clenches his hands into tiny little fists, and says, around a groan: “I’m not Han Solo, guys.”'

THE halloween byler fic. the party at college, bi lucas sinclair content, halloween party shenanigans.

these nerds, using star wars to flirt 🙄

background lumax & their amazing couples costume, el & will power sibling duo!!!

bowie references to heal the soul

all in all one of my favourite getting-together fics for this time of year :)

what a match: i'm half-doomed and you're semi-sweet - @perexcri - Stranger Things (TV 2016) [Archive of Our Own]

Words: 28,150

TW: guns, blood, gore (just demodogs though no human gore)

'One month ago, if you had asked Will Byers what he’d do if Mike Wheeler threaded his fingers through his hair, looked him dead in the eyes, and started leaning in for a kiss, he wouldn’t have said this.

He wouldn’t have said he’d be staring right back into those yawning dark eyes, one hand on Mike’s waist, the other against his cheek. There wouldn’t have been any lightning in his veins or blood rushing in his ears.

He wouldn’t have said that Mike Wheeler would be tilting his head in the opposite direction, eyes widening just the slightest as if asking permission, his mouth slightly parted.

He wouldn’t have imagined it at all.'

SO SO GOOD. apocalypse post s4, background jancy and platonic stobin, interruption trope x10000 so it's SO SATISFYING at the end.

WILL WITH A GUN.

jonathan & mike solidarity <3

all in all amazingly well written mike and will being blushing messes. love them. fluff in the apocalypse.

take my hand, wreck my plans - @parkitaco - Stranger Things (TV 2016) [Archive of Our Own]

Words: 6,297

TW: discussion of past trauma

'"I am not taken," he says out of habit, even though he kind of is. He and Will aren't together - he blushes at the thought - but they do spend an awful lot of time together, and Mike doesn't ever find himself wishing he was anywhere else. "Will and I are-"

"Ooh, I didn't even say anything about Will!" Max crows. "Oh, this is excellent."

Mike hides his face in his hands even though she can't see him. "Oh my God. Can you put Lucas back on, please?"

Max cackles in to the receiver, the sound fading as Lucas presumably wrenches the phone out of her grip. "We gotta go, Mike," he says, laughing a little. "Max has class and I'm driving her."

"Tell her she's the worst," Mike grumbles, fiddling with the phone cord.

"Say hi to Will for me!" Lucas sings, and hangs up before Mike can protest.

Mike groans and flops back on his mattress. It's going to be a long year.'

part of a series!! byler college au, friends-to-lovers, background party friendship, AND THEY WERE ROOMMATES. OH MY GOD, THEY WERE ROOMMATES??

taylor swift title... do u really need any other persuasion

the whole series is just AMAZING. mike & will getting a break, living together at college and figuring shit out <3

i might be hoping about this - @astrobei - Stranger Things (TV 2016) [Archive of Our Own]

Words: 15,321

TW: none

'Will lets out a small squawk as Mike’s hand— his very cold, very freezing hand— finds its way around the blankets and under his sweater. “I’m sick, you weirdo,” he says, half-laughing into the side of Mike’s head, “I have a fever.” 

“I don’t care,” Mike mumbles, “you’re warm and I’m cold. This is nice.”

“You’re going to get sick,” Will tries, for the umpteenth time, but it’s pointless. Mike Wheeler is stubborn and hardheaded and he never does anything halfway— not even this.'

established byler at college!! so yeah i have a love of college byler and this is one of my top fics for sure. 2nd astrobi fic on this list because i love their writing <3

will gets sick, mike takes care of him. need i say more?

silly goofy guys living together & doing silly goofy domestic shit

this fic makes me SOFT.

accidentally on purpose - @itsromeowrites - Stranger Things (TV 2016) [Archive of Our Own]

Words: 5,019

TW: none

'It starts out with a kiss. An accidental kiss. Because Mike is sleepy and Will is pretty, and who can really blame him? And then there's another one, just as accidental. But the third? Well, that may be a little more on purpose.'

literally smiling so hard at this fic. like hello. soft secret boyfriends and loads of party content, all the kids are okay <3

established byler, how the party finds out. all fluff all the time. jonathan attempts the Talk. mike has no idea what's going on. et cetera.

background lumax, lucas & dustin being lil shits together, and el using her powers to cheat at splashing games. all in all a good time!

and if I get burned, at least we were electrified - anonymous - Stranger Things (TV 2016) [Archive of Our Own]

Words: 14,958

TW: none

'“I’ll leave you be until lunch,” Max starts negotiating, nodding at him as if that’s a good deal. Which—considering it's Max, it is, but Mike doesn’t want to give in just yet. She sighs. “I won’t laugh about the sweater anymore. Or the weak disposition that gives you stupid allergies all the time.”

Mike’s frown deepens, but she wasn’t as mean as she could have been, so he’s gonna take it. He needs to get this out anyways, or he’s going to keep running in circles as if stuck in a hamster wheeler—an accurate representation of his brain when it comes to Will, really. He presses his lips together and tries to figure out a subtle, non-funny way to say it, but he comes up blank.

Fuck, whatever: “I almost kissed Will. Again.”

Max actually has to cover her mouth with her hand, disguising a worryingly loud snort with a cough. The teacher turns their way and stares, then goes back to explaining the exercise on the board. Mike scribbles it down while Max gets herself under control.

Screw his life.'

senior year, post-vecna. the party being friends but also little shits to each other.

madwheeler bandmates!!!

will steals mike's entire closet

they are Dumb Idiots who are mutually pining from afar

and other lovable tropes. takes place in november so good fall vibes :)

[sharffffff]

Eyoo! Since it looks like the poll is gonna get canceled, I just wanted to give you a salute, my friend! We both spent way too much time on that!

Anyways, gonna start to watch Lifesteal in the new year. Anything I should know as a newbie going in? Or an inside joke I won't get until I watch it and then can go "Hey, my Nemesis said that! :D" ?

Salute to you to! I guess the poll did end in victory or death - death of the poll itself o7

As for watching lifesteal, the most important thing you have to know is that if you watch lifesteal videos and not streams: lifestealers lie to you. They lie to you so much. Recent roshambo video is the greatest example there isn't a single true thing he said throughout its entirety and every single event that occurred in it is peppered with lies <- exaggeration but also not. So never buy anything told to you in a lifesteal video as a truth, because while it can be, youtube!ls is a whole AU lmao

If you are watching streams - good fucking luck. I had to watch like 65 s6 Zam vods to catch up to the current day because I only joined this fandom late September, and man. I thought I could skip some of them but nope, this man can drop some bone-shattering painful conversation or even a monologue in a middle of 12 hour grinding stream and you would never know otherwise. And the further into the season it goes, the more filled with lore the vods become. Like last two vods especially had so much emotional damage to me, even though one of them was built off s4 events that I hadn't even watched, man. It was insane.

But to ease your burden: you don't have to watch every pov. Watching more than one pov helps with understanding things and now that I'm caught up I usually watch everyone that's live when they're live, but watching just Zam worked for me pretty well while I was catching up to modern day. Like yeah it certainly gives you a bias towards your pov, but that's a-ok! Lifesteal isn't about who's a good person it's about who's your favorite war criminal!

For inside jokes I have No Fucking Clue. Probably "win condition baconnwaffles0" for this season but I am not kidding when I say I didn't even watch lifesteal until late september and I only started being active in lsblr like a month ago. Maybe less. I am the most lurker of all lurkers I did not exist in fandom until very very recently and I have no idea what the jokes here are. I'm just here for the ride.

Oh wait, probably "is he an ai robot" as the biggest thing of s6. That shit was so funny they were so perplexed. "Why does he have an unenchanted shield is he an ai robot?" and much later on "We both have FerreMC on our accounts at the same time!" just to make fun of certain overly paranoid ppl lmao

And, of course, "did you build an orbital strike cannon" whenever the server lags. How can I forget that.

[bekaterrier]

Happy Audio Drama Sunday! I listened to a few things this week (gushing and spoilers ahead):

@woodenovercoats S4: You know it's going to be a good season when it's already got me tearing up in the third episode! Madeline and her family!! 😭 Madeline and Rudyard besties! 🥰 I absolutely loved seeing Antigone continue to grow this season. She just wanted to be seen, to know she was strong enough to be seen, and she was!! We also got to hear Rudyard give more time to his life outside the funeral home, particularly his special interest in history! We finally got Chapman's backstory! Heartbreaking though. 💔 Holy shit that sound design when Chapman and Rudyard go over the falls was *chef's kiss*. My first thought re: the Funns running Chapman's was "Oh lord, how is Rudyard going to F this up?" It was really nice to hear them actually properly put on a funeral like we knew they could. Throughout the season, we heard Eric and Antigone grow closer and some feelings start to develop there. Then hearing Eric calling out for Antigone in his dream was...whew. "Sorry about the chloroform." 😂 Georgie's cycle of grief is so real. It hits you at the most unexpected moments. They're a town!!!! And of course he came back, he's home!!!!! This ending is so perfect, so absolutely satisfying. This show was incredible ♥️

@midstpodcast S1: I've been seeing so much about this show in my feed lately as its third and final season released, so I just had to jump into it. And wow am I hooked! The way the narrators share the story and the character voices between them is fascinating. The world building is absolutely incredible - the visual they painted of the fold sweeping through is just chilling. Combine that with the actual visual elements created by the podcast, seen in the YouTube videos...so so cool. Side note - I hate the Trust; the way that its systems ensure that those at the bottom are kept down, rewarding those already at the top...kudos to another podcast where one of the villains is capitalism. In any case, I was so absorbed in the stories of each of the three protagonists, trying to see ahead to how their lives would intersect, I almost forgot about the very first scene! The moon falls out of the sky!! Absolutely wild!! I'm very much looking forward to learning more about the consequences of this and the impact on Midst.

@midnightburgr Welcome to the Horizon Part 3 - The Wayfaring Stranger: God I love this town and these people. I laughed out loud so many times this episode! Frank and June's reactions to Verge's background are hilarious. I'm so glad we have Verge in this mini-series. It's also so fun to hear them flirting with Deirdre, especially after hearing their VAs as not so friendly in Moonbase Theta, Out (love you Cat and Tina). The news that we get from Trinkett about the comet is verrry interesting and concerning, so looking forward to seeing where that goes.

@tellnotalespod S1 & S2 (to date) re-listen: TNT is currently on their mid season break, so I re-listened to everything that's been released so far. I said earlier this season that it was going to be tough listening to all the S2 episodes in a row since many of them made me cry individually...and I was right! 😭 I am so looking forward to the rest of S2, and I really hope Leo, Riley and Julia all get the hugs they need, preferably from each other.

@storiesfromylelmore Winter Solstice crowdfunding episode: I love hearing the kids out and up to their shenanigans! It was also really sweet to get a glimpse of the parents doing their thing, but also loving all the kids (even though Elas can sometimes be puce). I also loved hearing more about their world's Winter Solstice story! The worldbuilding is so fantastic.

@hinaypod Episode 41 - Danny Boy (Pride Episode 2024): I'm glad I listened to this one during the day because I definitely would have gotten creeped out by some of the curse's descriptions if I'd listened at 2AM, as I sometimes do. We got quite lore dump on our favourite horrible old man, but I still have so many questions!!

[manwiththemagic]

spn s1 ep4 "Phantom Traveler"

more notes on my rewatch!!

OMG this is the demon episode isn't it? IT IS ISN'T IT? IS IT???

ew an airport. Post 2001 too damn ☹️

"you know what are the odds of dying in a plane crash? 20-1?" BRO. not helping the puking man..

BLACK SMOKE!!

In through the eyes? That got retconned.

WHY WAS SHE NOT MORE FREAKED OUT HE HAD BLACK EYES. chick you are the reason everyone's dead.

HOW DID HE JUST OPEN THAT?? demon strength???

Rip plane

Wait does this mean demons could have done 9/11? wowza...

Early bird Sam!! “good morning sunshine!"

“you get some sleep?” “yeah.” “liar. Cause I was up at 3 and you were watching infomercials” LMAOOOO but also d'awhhhh :((( the nightmares!!

“it's not just her.. It's everything.” THE VISIONS FUCK YES. YES. YESYSYSHSHG

I love the visions plot lines!!

“your never afraid?” “no man, never.” *Sam pull out a knife from under deans pillow.* LMAOOO CLOCK HIS ASS!!

“Thats not fear.” uhhuh...

WAIT THIS IS THE DEANS SCARED OF FLYING EPISODE LMAOOOOO

reminds me of hunter corp Dean who legit has a private jet..

Random guy calls Dean about the plane issue whaaaa

WAIT THIS GUY KNOWS JOHN. HE HAS INFO.

oh gosh. “yeah he was real proud of ya! Talked about you all the time.” “...he did..?” FUCK.

I still I hate john. I HATE EM. always will 😋

“welp we're missing the old man, we get Sam! Even trade” “aha. No. not by a long shot.” THATS RIGHT. CAUSE UR BETTER MF. uhm anyways.. I like this old guy, hope he doesn't end up SAD AND DEPRESSED LIKE ALL THE OTHER OLD GUYS IN THE OAST 3 EPISODES.

Monster porn live on tape? LMAO JKJK!! demon gotta stop moaning tho.

They definitely aren't showing the crash because they don't have the budget, not because it's locked in a warehouse and you don't have clearance..

Wtf is Evp?

LMAO THE FAKE ASS “nOoOooo survIvoRsSss” they did NOT get that mf off the tape.

Dude sees shit, and is now in a ward. Common. Common.

DEAN STOP HARASSING MENTALLY ILL MAN.

sams puppy dog eyes back at it.

Black eyes 😋 OOOGA!!

okay wait why tf is this demon doing this. They don't just “do evil”...

This guy isn't a monster bro..

Wait are they actually going to the wreckage?

SUITS!!!

“you look like a seventh grader at his first dance! ☺️” SAM PLS.

OMG wait they had the budget holy shit

LMAO HELP ME HELP ME “what is that?” “its an E.M.F. reader.” “no I know what an E.M.F. is. Why does it look like a busted up walkman?” “cause that's what I made it out of! ☺️ It's homemade!!” “yea.. I can tell😒” SAM WOAH DON'T KILL EM!! LMAOSKSK

Sulfur on handle!!!

Oh shit actual homeland security is there..

LMAO THESE MFS GET CAUGHT EVERY EPISODE.

Run bitch runnnn!!

This poor pilot.. it wasn't your fault :(((

Oh shit he possessed.

Sulfur!!

Babies first demon.

NO BC WHY IS DEMON BRO DOING THIS.

Everytime.. 40 minutes in.. WTF

and another crash.. fun..

BUT WHY. JUST CAUSE??

“this isn't our normal gig..” how WRONG you are pal..

“this is big.” it's really not.. you fight GOD. by s2 demons are nothing to you. By s4 Sam's fucking one. By s6 Sam's been tortured for 100's of year by an ex-archangel who's basically his ex 🤷. By s13 your son is part ARCHANGEL. sooo...

Rip chuck Lambert— SORRY CHUCK? mbmb..

Nazareth?? Wtf is this demon on?

40 minutes? Wtf biblical numbers..?

Okay they got the flight attendant on the phone.

WHY PLAY ALONG LIKE IT WAS A PRANK. DUDE.

and she hung up.. girl your COOKED!!

Deans plane fear!! LMAOOO.

“your joking right..?" “DO I LOOK LIKE IM JOKING?? Why do you think I drive everywhere SAM??” LMAOSOSO

LMAOO DEAN WAS BORN TO BE A TEEN GIRL. “really..? Ugh... Man..” while rocking back in forth. He's so REAL LMAOSOS

Dean looks like he has PTSD LMAOOO

“your humming Metallica??” “it calm me down.!” LMAOOOO

“Hey! Say it in Latin!” “i know.” “Hey! In latin it's 'cristo'” “i know!!” LMAO I LOVE THEM.

“cristo.” “sorry I didn't..?” “cristo.” “??” “nevermind.”

Sam is honestly way kinder than me. I'd be making FUN of Dean but nah he's just like "no it's OKAYYYY just some turbulence dwdw.."

Dean you are so awkward.. it's def mr smiley

They found em!! It wasn't mr smiley damn..

Awh shucks.

BEAT THAT BITCH UP!! HE TALKED ABOUT JESS.

PLANE DOWN. PLANE DOWN.

DID LIGHTNING JUST STRIKE THEM???

okay all good now.

Nono demons killed jess. It wasn't wrong.

John redirecting calls to dean.. mf come ONNNNNNNN

Sam's peeved, rightfully so omg..

Kinda meh for an important episode.

[buckevantommy]

Hey! It's the first time Buck Begins anon from before!! First of all do not feel bad for rambling - that is exactly what that ask was for! I loved hearing your thoughts!

And to answer your question about how I started watching -- 911 was a show always a show on my 'to watch' radar but I didn't give it much thought? I did watch s1 of lone star tho. until then I saw bi Buck on my dash for the first time after Tommy kisses him and i just went oh??!??! 👀👀 I binge watched season 1 and 2, and then I gave up and ended up watching s7 part 2 live while also watching s3 for the first time 🤣 there were some gaps I had to fill using fanon knowledge but I think it worked? And now I'm furiously trying to watch s4 around my busy work schedule before s8 airs 😅🤣

Hasn't stopped my from reading bucktommy fic or posting gifsets tho. Tommy has bewitched me, I love him. Every time I watch a scene where Buck talks about his love life a part of me is just- don't worry, your man is coming

oh! same here! i'd known about it for years but i'd just avoided it thinking it was just a different take on the same old tired procedural cop shows, or maybe something too dramatised like grey's anatomy. i'm not sure i even realised it was about firefighters until i heard people referring to it as 'the gay firefighter show' and even then i didn't really connect the dots.. 🔥👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨🚒

one of my fave spn blogs (bc i was a destiel girlie before the gay firefighter show consumed my life) was a 911 fan so i learned about bi!buck through her blogging (shoutout to @sunglassesmish: kay, you have changed my life for the better 😚🫶). i mean, i came from spn - where bi!dean is widely considered unacknowledged canon and it's a show now several years past its finale but with a dedicated fanbase still hoping for some kind of reboot or movie or something to fix the shit they did in the finale - to a show with a canon bi character, moreover a character in his 30s who had been presumed (by some)/written as (sorta) straight for 6 whole seasons. and evan buckley.. he's so much like dean wincester: the all american heroic ladies man with a traumatic upbringing and a megawatt smile and babygirl features and a heart of gold who just wants to be loved.. honestly i could write essays about these two.. ✍️

i love that we're on the same page! i started with season 7 (i watched 7x05 and onwards live) and got through seasons 1-3 while s7 was airing week to week, and so my buck knowledge was growing as i excitedly waited for the next ep to air with the rest of fandom (there's just something about that weeklong anticipation, i've missed it so much - the theorising, the time for fanworks, etc). 📺

i was also the same, trying to learn what i could through dash osmosis of the seasons i hadn't watched yet (i knew vaguely about the lightning strike and tried not to spoil myself too much about the family secret but reading fic and meta blew those doors wide open 😅). and even in season 1 i was like: i'm so glad he'll grow to be that person in season 7 one day, that he'll get to be vulnerable and open and earnest and loved and also get kissed by a handsome guy. 🥰

OMG WE ARE BOTH ON SEASON 4!! 🥳 i mean, i knew that, but it's still so exciting to know there are folks out there in the same boat! ⛵ i don't think i've liveblogged any other ep besides Buck Begins, but i think i'll probably do a lightning strike/coma liveblog when i get to it.

omg the amount of bucktommy fics i've consumed since april.. i remember in those early days i was consuming every single fic that got posted on ao3 - about a dozen 1k fics a day - until eventually there was 60+ fics a day and i couldn't keep up, but i'm still reading about 2-5 fics (mostly short ones) a day. this fandom is hella talented. 📚

our love for tommy kinard knows no bounds. 🤝💖🤝 and YES- omg- the way he is just craving love and a partner on the same page as him, someone he can be himself with.. lightning boy will meet him flying into a hurricane and i just think that's neat. ⛈️😘

[brilliantfantasticgeronimo]

hmmm. so, I'm starting the end of time in the rewatch... by this point, the themes of "the natural order of things must be followed or Bat Shit will happen" has reached its peak w/ last episode. I had parked analyzing that for later (where does this urge in s1-s4 to portray Time and History as unshakable forces come from? why is the theme of "inevitability" such a focus? and why does it work?)... but ToE janked me and asked me to analyze it now lol bc it comes and opens with this: It is said that in the final days of planet Earth, everyone had bad dreams. To the west of the north of that world, the human race did gather, in the celebration of a pagan rite to banish the cold and the dark. Each and every one of those people had dreamt of the terrible things to come. But they forgot, because they must. They forgot their nightmares of fire and war and insanity. They forgot. Except for one. I remembered this phrase on someone's blog and thought oh, it may have been a reference! and... indeed it is. To this poem from victorian era poet matthew arnold...

which I think clarifies some stuff they were going for a bit, with this "time can be (can't be) rewritten" theme, and also why donna's seemingly "pointless" memory erasure *had* to happen... because there's a recurring theme in s1-s4 that, to allow anything to happen in the future, things have to be scarified in the past. (for the human race to go to the stars A Lot of experimental crews had to die) etc... and, this works in tandem with the "everything has its time and everything ends" theme. for new life to be born, there has to be death, maybe it's just me projecting my slight taoism philosophizing into it but... it feels like doctor who's s1-s4 messaging around death + the passing of time seems to be almost ... a metaphysical law it is dictating: the dark things in our lives have to happen. we will fail to reach our potential (in the case of donna), we will lose people, we will regret things... but we can't undo what has been done or try to go against that "natural flow" of things, or else we will go human the equivalent of timelordvictorious / batshit insane lol

[hertwood]

dts s4 e1-3

e1: -OK this was my first dts epsiode EVER it is so special and nostalgic 2 me its the start of EVERYTHING i do not accept s4 slander in this house!!!!!! -daniel is SO optimistic abt mclaren thats so sad 😭😭😭😭 -i think as a first episode for me this was GREAT for setting the scene. this is the first time in the entire series where they have a dedicated segment to the team principals and their rivalries and i think that is so so so important to be able to look at it through that lense moving forward -"[bottas] was moaning and bitching like you wouldn't believe" ok whatever u say moaning and bitching multi-world champion christian horner -"toto inhereted something already well oiled" wasn't brawn/mercedes struggling till he came along or am i wrong. like he joined and a year later they won their first championship. like am i missing something -"darling, i'm not riding bottas" is such an underrated iconic dts quote -i wish i was fuckin there to see nikita crash in his first fucking lap. iconic -love it when commentators say "oh thats a reaaaally interesting strategy call" its clearly code for what the fuck are they doing -i'm so jealous of yall who got to watch this race season live this opening round is SUCH a narratively beautiful start of the season and dts captures it well!!

e2: -i've started watching this while manicly cleaning my apartment so i have nothing to say abt the beginning bit soz -max f cameo!!! v important 2 me :) -michael & daniel are so kaylor coded to me. i know some ppl are like "oh they were never friends they were just coworkers" and i'm like CLEARLY thats full of shit just bc they've fallen out doesnt mean you need to retcon the friendship they had. its sad to see when it was good bc clearly there were good parts. if only we could know -this is the danny ric girlie orgin story 2 ME LETS FUCK SHIT UP -this is such an iconic lando episode 2 me as well! "1 nill down already fuck shit fuck" thats MY baby nothing has changed clearly -"the fireworks for me?" "they can be" 🥺🥺🥺🥺 -"what if i'm just a cunt" is such an important daniel quote to me it is actually deep LISTEN. why must we be expected to be calm n collected n positive in the face of adversity. why must we put on a brave face. our negative emotions deserve to exist without defining us. ANYWAY -i never even remember what exactly happens each monaco weekend i just know that ferraris gonna shit the bed somehow -OH this episode was the FIRST time i opened ao3 carlando interact for like 10 seconds at the end of the episode and i was immediately oh theres DEFINITELY fic of them fucking. in abundance. i just know it

e3: -having season 4 be the first season i watched just permanently altered my brain chemistry the 4433 brainrot is REAL they get near eachother on track i go NUTS they are everything to me. you'd ship them too if you werent a coward -LOVE every single segment with susie. she is so wise i could listen to her narrate the whole f1 season all day -pierre still doing red bull's dirty work i see OH MY GOD HES NEVER GONNA PICK YOU -ROSCOE -unfortunately i am still and will always be a mercedes girl in my SOUL. my bad -i think lewis is taking the piss when he talks abt not being an aggressive driver. is he the /most/ aggressive driver? no. but christian is unfortunately right. also reminds me of how in the 07-08 season there was a race where he got a huge penalty bc he was "too aggressive" and there was all sorts of talk abt how he was too aggressive of a driver 🙄🙄 anyway 4433 cinematic parallels -the way ppl STILL bring this crash up gets me mad like i promise no one was trying to have a nasty crash on purpose--they just happen sometimes. no one should fault lewis for celebrating either--it was his home race and he could've easily not know and you think max would want his apologies and platitudes? NO. also currently they're both clearly not hung up on it so idk why (mostly max fans) (only some obviously) are still hung up on it. "lewis could've killed max" and max could've killed lewis in monza in that case they're fucking even let it fucking go -but there is no way that boy wasnt CONCUSSED as FUCK you can just tell with that 1000 yard stare they shouldn't have let him drive again so quickly tbh -however i DO agree w toto saying max gets away w/ driving aggressively bc most ppl will bail out and i do think that is somewhat true. not to say max is the only driver with this mindset but i do think theres some truth to that -aldskjfalksjfalksdjf im looking up articles abt the incident and this reddit thread said that alex thought the penalty was fair i am KISSING HIM on the mouth

[castlebyersafterdark]

yes YESSSSS don't even get me started on junkets and press! ever since s4 dropped and i got back into ST, i have been fantasising about the fancy editorials they could do with noah and finn. i'm talking vogue, i'm talking gq, esquire, even some indie mags like i-d like they used to when the show first dropped. i want to see them both together in designer clobber photographed by giampaolo sgura or some shit. i want to see a whole narrative set up, like cowboys at a gas station in the middle of nowhere, shot in black and white. or a set up in a photography studio, something including a sword prop for finn but with a modern edgy twist? like a heart painted over his chest and noah dragging his hand through it, red paint everywhere. lots of smouldering looks. you know, like back when actors actually got back into character for their editorial photo shoots, gazed into each other's eyes.

maybe its my background in set design and editorial just freaking out lol, but they have so much potential and i cant believe how cheesy the majority of ST group photoshoots have been over the years. like, i looked up something similar for the challengers movie, being all erotic as it was, and the photoshoots are soooo lacking in passion, it's a freakin crime

(i also really hope for a long junket with more serious journalists, at least an hour long, moderated by a proper news outlet or even a guild? there's just so much meaning i want to excavate, and not just about byler, but certainly a lot about the actors' experiences of that because even if it is only noah who is out, there'll be lots of interesting things to discuss there. i think the show deserves so much better than page 3 press)

Oh, you're really speaking my language now, this is such a vision. Where is the glamour in Hollywood anymore, the romance of making television and film? Selling the characters, the chemistry! Imagine all of our wildest dreams come true and Byler is well and true and established. The really in depth think-pieces could be insane. The PHOTOSHOOTS?? Lordddd, you said it all. Bring some genuine artistry to the promo of these articles instead of just some trendy off runway outfits that look odd slapped on the stars as they pose halfway between a catalog and an instagram shoot. No! Give us mood, give us drama, give us chemistry!

Cowboys at the gas station! The smeared red heart??? I'm hand to my forehead swooning over that, you have been gifted with true sight. Sure hope you're peeking into our post-season 5 landscape because. I'm impressed with these vibes. And now I'll be so disappointed if we just get gab and drab all over again for the promo.

There could be so much room for really detailed and thoughtful conversation and both Noah and Finn seem very introspective actors. I'd love for them to really be given the chance to dive into their experience and world of Stranger Things that's been so important for a decade of their lives. Ahhhh.

[trickarrows-bishop]

i genuinely get so angry at s4 of stranger things like im p like over it and have come up with aus and stuff to combat it but like. goddamn does THIS line

piss me off. what do you mean she said this and then the very next episode had steve saying he's been fantasizing abt having six kids with his ex from two years ago.

they'd still b treating robin like shit if she was straight, but it's a spit in the face that she's queer and they still have her deliver this dialogue. they're basically saying that us queer people? yeah, our stories aren't important as straight ones. unless, of course, like will, your love is used to instead boost a straight couple!

s4 was just such a horrible season overall

honestly season three has been its peak so far for me. season four was alright to watch for the first time ( not that fucking finale tho. fuck that finale was horrible. ) but when you look back at it all they truly couldn't have written a worse script.

i get that yeah, its the 80s, queer people aren't exactly accepted that well. but fuck they very much existed AND very much had a love lives. robin's story is JUST as important as steve's is.

also. i want to deep dive into how they did queer rep in season four with vickie. we see how robin acts around vickie and its all nice and sweet like aww look robin's panicking over a girl thats cute !! but. they really fumbled the bag with the fact that vickie at the end of season four's finale literally mirroring robin's like. every mannerism. like. okay. say in season five we have vickie and robin set up to be a couple. cute. cool. but are you telling me that they're then being like "oh yeah this is exactly how EVERY sapphic and woman liker acts when they have a crush on a girl" like??? lol weirdly enough. NO ??? like that acc really pissed me off the way they just copied and pasted the way robin acted around vickie to when vickie acts around robin. i get and understand fully that the chances are they're trying to tell us in season five there's a chance vickie is going to be romantically interested in robin- but WEIRDLY enough they're so many other ways of doing that and to show her having a potential crush on robin. like the literally could've had. ONE. shot of her just taking an extra second to look at robin in that finale and that would've sufficed. pissing me off. season four really did piss me off their representation for queer media has literally dropped sm like they should let someone else write season five atp

[misdeliria]

I've been seriously thinking about Homelander from The Boys: Diabolical, "One Plus One Equals Two," because he was Superman for a second. I'm caught up on The Boys s4, and he is such a piece of shit—a total psychopath—but Homelander, when he initially joined the 7, just wanted to be a good person.

I saw a Cal-El with trauma manipulated into a triggering situation. He was, at one point, a salvageable person...Or, at least, I can write him as one.

(OP pls ignore if you don't want ff involved with your post)

Spoilers below! & I'd like to emphasize that I'm rewriting Homelander because it's been circulating in my head. I am in NO WAY romanticizing the live-action canon mf (if you don't like this, keep scrolling)

On our cue, I walk out onstage with Black Noir. The cameras are flashing in the crowd, and the spotlight is blinding even with the tinted goggles.

Noir throws his hands up as the crowd roars louder in applause, and it takes everything in me not to roll my eyes.

"Oh, enough, Noir!" I announce into my mic, tugging him back. The audience laughs at my playfulness. "We're here to welcome our new teammate, not steal his spotlight."

Turning over, I see the rookie standing awkwardly in the dark. Holding my hand out, I beckon him over, and my skin crawls when he misunderstands and takes mine in his.

Quelling my anxiety, I plaster on a smile.

"The Homelander, isn't it? Congratulations." I give his hand a prompt shake before pulling away. I send him a sincere look, assuring him in some way because the nerves he emits wash away.

"Thank you, Road Runner. I've been a huge fan since your debut," the rookie lobs back.

"I'm flattered and eager to start working with you." I don't bother looking back at the audience because this P.R. stunt has already consumed much of my time. "I think you're going to do a lot of good."

After the show, I'm decompressing in the meeting room. All the cameras are gone now, and the floor is clear of civilians. Playing games on my phone is fresh air away from my hero-personality.

Timid steps approach the meeting room, echoing off the high ceilings.

"Oh, it's you," I murmur, eyeing the blond-haired, blue-eyed rookie dressed in his stupid flag. "Tired of it all yet?"

"Tired of what?"

"All the attention?" I raise a brow at him, and he laughs nervously.

"Not really. Not yet, at least." He steps up to the center table, admiring every inch of the room.

Total rookie, I think, sighing and leaning back in my seat.

"You don't remember me, do you?" I ask him, watching how he searches for the memory. He looks genuine—I can tell the weight of his past hasn't come crashing down yet. "I don't blame you. They probably did a number on you."

That seems to spark some recognition. "What do you mean?"

"I was there too...In that facility. It was only for a little bit, but they put me through the same bullshit." I can feel the way he tenses up as I balance my phone on its corner, distracting myself. Glancing up at him, I can tell by his expression that he's back there—reliving all of it. Rushing to his side, I bring him back to reality when my hand touches his arm. "I think you understand what I mean. And, for what it's worth, I'm sorry they did all that to you."

Haunches raised, The Homelander swats my hands away with a scowl. "What do you know about it?"

Patience, I remind myself. He doesn't realize.

"I know how heat-resistant I am because of their tests. And, I mean, how badly can poison actually hurt without killing us, am I right?" I offer him a weak smile. "They did all of that just to get us here. And it wasn't even worth it, I'm telling you right now."

"Why did they keep you there?" I could tell he was curious and a little offended. Shaking my head, I hadn't meant to imply he wasn't unique enough to have exclusive treatment—a sign of Vought's brainwashing.

"I wanted to tell you that I remember because we were kids when I saw you. We didn't understand why they were doing that to us." I rest my hand on his shoulder, squeezing him in solidarity. "But now, they're going to be worse. They're going to use that trauma to control you for their own agenda. And if you really want to do good out there, you'll recognize it quick."

Something flickers in his bright blues for a moment before it's replaced with skepticism.

"How do I know you're not just saying this to get in my head and earn more popularity for yourself?"

Dropping my hand, disappointed, I blow air into my cheeks and step away.

"I don't care about the goddamn ratings. I didn't even want to be here today, but it was you. I saw your file, and I knew you were joining, and I tried to be...I wanted to help you with the transition." Sighing exasperatedly, I shake my head. "They're already getting to you; you can't let them."

Gritting my teeth, I feel like I've failed. The Homelander's looking back at me, confused but trying to mask it with arrogance.

"Something's going to be wrong on a mission, and you're going to get overwhelmed," I tell him because it's the truth. It happens and is human, but we weren't raised like humans. We were raised like lab rats. Locked up, away from civilization, and tortured—then expected to perform like trained circus animals for the sake of funding it all. "I'll be there to help. That's all it will be—and I hope you'll see that."

Moving faster than light to get out of the building within the next second, anxiety rattles me. The environment at Vought drains me and wears me down like a toxin, and reliving my worst nightmares with the rookie sent me over the edge.

Pulling out my phone, I call the doctor, and it connects me to her direct line.

"Hello? Morgan? I need to come in," I say desperately. "I can't- I think I'm going through a panic attack."

(definitely going to add on to this later, but it's 3am rn so gn hope you liked)

"John, why don't we-?"

"Homelander."

John is dead. I saw John, at that chemical plant trying not to hurt anyone too badly, pride and virtue in his eyes, someone trying to be a good person. But at that point you'd already done so much that it didn't take a lot to kill him and erect a foul monsterous abomination in his place. 'Just doing your job' is the cause for thousands tortured and murdered.

[ultraericthered]

Anime Update V2 49

NOTICE: There’ll be something of a hiatus before the next of these posts due to two reasons - it’s the big V2 50 and I want to prepare extra for it, and I’m currently on vacation and started on a special anime rewatch (my current icon should clue you in).

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 - Episode 1 of this series was certainly something, spending its whole run time on just showing us what the main characters are doing at that time in their lives, a steady but anxious build up to when Mirai tempts fate by saying the whole world could break apart for all she cared...and then at that very moment, it does. Even before the earthquake, this is a bit of a challenge to sit through since Mirai is just such an unlikable little shit of a main protagonist, but I love that she is because it’s in a very human, dare I say even relatable sort of way and adds that much more weight to the drama that’s going to be unfolding with her as our lead. In the dub, Luci Christian is almost unrecognizable in her performance as Mirai, same going for Tiffany Grant as her little brother Yuki. Side characters aren’t so fortunate, as the likes of Brittany Karbowski and Greg Ayres are very distinct to make out, and apparently they will be used a lot. Lastly, that “M/elody” ending song is a major banger!

Hunter x Hunter - While Hisoka meets back up with the Spiders as they intend on tracking down a Nen user whose ability can remove others' Nen, and Gon continues his training with Biscuit while Killua is recuperating his hands, Team Tsezgerra takes on Team Genthru. And after all that action, there was a startling twist at the end where Tsezgerra exits the game but finds no one on guard where all the Greed Island consoles are stored, finds Mr. Battera crying as he reveals the whole deal behind the game has been cancelled, and then Team Genthru break in there too, free to reign as they please!

Fruits Basket - An episode that started out cute with a talk between Hiro and Kisa turns into a major downer when we follow Rin and finally learn her devastating backstory. On top of the parents who adopted her being super fake and ultimately heartless creatures who had no business looking after a child in the first place, the romantic relationship with Haru that she got into causes her more trouble when she starts fearing that she’s going to drag him down and keep him bound to the Zodiac Curse, and then just to pile the trauma on more, Akito fucking pushes her off a balcony and sends her to the hospital! No wonder this poor girl is so beyond messed up now...

Date A Live S4 - Uh...okay, I noted that something was off when it looked like Shido was going to be killed in his room only for him to not be, but I totally didn’t anticipate the reveal of him having been killed by DEM already and having been saved from such deaths 204 times by Kurumi. Suddenly, everything about what Kurumi had been doing these past few episodes, the whole deal with Shido included, made so much more sense. The reveal I did see coming, however, was that <PHANTOM>, mysterious agent of the Spirit of Origins who’s created all the other Spirits, is actually Reine...or at least some version of her since the Reine we know is still with the Ratatyskr crew elsewhere at the same time. And then the episode just sort of ends without any finality, but we’re told that this is leading directly into Date A Live 5, the final season. Will have to await that for a while, but I hope it ends up looking and playing out better than this season did. 

Re:ZERO - Picked this up with two episodes that showed us a return to the capitol, the gathering of the Royal Selection candidates (Emilia, Priscilla, Krusch and Anastasia), the surprise reveal of Felt as the fifth and final candidate because apparently she has a noble blood lineage and Reinhard decides to be her knight (and while I’m selective about when I support systemic reformations via anarchy and forceful upheavals, I’m 100% with my girl Felt on her intended revolution based on what we’ve seen of this place!), Subaru being a dumbass by deliberating disobeying Emilia and showing up at the event (and some hints that Roswaal might’ve factored that into his mysterious plans), uncomfortable prejudice and scorn being thrown at Meelie for being a silver-haired half elf, and Sir Julius being totally justified in his anger at Subaru only to then take that rage completely off the rails by challenging him to a duel to the death over it! Geezus!

But it was everything after Subaru got thoroughly clobbered by Julius that sticks out the most in my memory, this absolutely breathtakingly harsh final scene between him and Emilia where Subaru is berated and tries over and over to justify to Emilia (and to himself) why he had to do what he did for her sake and to repay the debt he believes he owes her for all the loops she’s helped him in, all while holding Emilia up on a pedestal that she never asked to be put on. But as Meelie refuses to take his shit, eventually the guy just completely cracks and goes full Mask Off, rambling about how it’s actually he who should be owed a debt by Emilia for all the great things he’s done for her, that the courage and generosity he’s shown her and all the help he’s given her entitles him to the best treatment, including being Emilia’s knight. I was slackjawed at this moment and internally rooting for Meelie to LEAVE. HIS. ASS. And thank heavens, that’s what she does. Seeing how unstable and needy he is, and how poisonous their association with each other has gotten, Emilia cuts ties with Subaru and leaves him in the recovery room a pitiful, sobbing wreck. And folks, this is only the peak of the downhill slope! Rock bottom still awaits Subaru Natsuki in episodes to come...

Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works - Honestly I found it a bit unnecessary to follow the premiere with ANOTHER one hour special episode just to catch us up with Shirou and explain where Saber came from. It was interesting to see some ground retread for this animation style and these new dub VAs, and also some material never adpated in the Deen anime (I particularly liked seeing Matt Mercer-voiced Kiritsugu again, that shit hits hard after Fate Zero), the one detriment is still Shirou’s voice. Bryce Papenbrook’s weird midway between Naegi and Nagito that he uses doesn’t do it for me, so I’m always going to think of Sam Reigel as Shirou Emiya. 

Symphogear G - The final two episodes of this season matched up in both expectation and quality to its predecessor. The fight between Kirika and Shirabe leading to them just holding nothing back in confessing love to each other was not a surprise, though seeing Shirabe also having Fine’s soul and abilities, Kirika’s attempted suicide, and a divine meeting with Fine herself certainly were. Also sort of predicted but still loved seeing Chris turn out to be a double agent, having worked out a deal with Tsubasa without a single word needing to be spoken between them. The big turnaround for Maria, the last stand of Dr. Ver, and the passing of Nastassja were perfectly satisfactory (Ver’s super Extra hamminess, constant cowardice, and big mental breakdown were especially great to watch), and we got a cosmic level final battle to put the previous finale’s final action to shame! Hibiki being totally free of the Gugnir scrap in her heart, Miku playing a key part in saving the day, the villainous Symphogears now joining the main friend group, and the message at the end were all multiple cherries on top of a concoction that already tasted so sweet. 

MAR - Nanashi VS Gallian. This is what the whole round was being built up to since before it started, so it had better damn be interesting. And oooh man, was it ever. Turns out Gallian is the former leader of Nanashi’s guild who’d found Nanashi and brought him into the guild, gave him a name, trained him and worked alongside him as a brother, and made him his successor...but Nanashi at first could not recall any of this because Gallian had wiped his memory of him! Seeing Galian with the Chess Pieces now, I thought to myself  “wouldn’t it be something if we learn how far back this goes and that Gallian was never that good a guy to start with...”, and the show went on to give me exactly that! This scumbag even let Peta slaughter so many of his former comrades and raze his old home to the ground, feeling no remorse for trading it all out for power! Once we knew this, I was really wanting to see Nanashi take him down, and the moment it happened was oh so glorious to witness.

Gintama - Circled back around to that beach episode I gave a pass on earlier since I’m on a beach vacation right now. Odd Jobs, Otae, and Taizo Hasegawa head to the beach to get rid of a monster that's been terrorizing the area. It goes about exactly as you’d expect.

AND

Gurren Lagann, Kill La Kill, & Sakugan - Gurren Lagann was just Gurren Lagann (the weird as shit episode 6 that seems to exist just to riff on stupid anime tropes while reveling in its own stupidity and making fools of every character) and Kill La Kill was just Kill La Kill (Nui’s majorly trolling and Ryuko’s majorly hating, at the cost of poor Senketsu!), Sakugan was an entirely new experience. I’ll admit that the main characters names made me laugh a lot of times when they got spoken (”Gagumber” and “Memempu” just sound so silly), and the whole thing was just all kinds of strange and goofy for the most part, but the idea that they’re a single father and daughter team out to survive in an enviornment where there are kaiju and other such hazards out to kill them definitely has promise. Also, that death of the other father-daughter team - what was that? That was so much tonally darker and more dramatic than anything else in the episode! Are such random demises going to be a thing here? Cuz I think we’d need more mental preparation and down time!

[gaybitchfx]

Oh I loved the big brother fic you just posted!!!

Is it ok if I request something for the group, like not just one person in focus, but like the whole group?

If it is OK I would like to request something!

So the s4 group (steve, nancy, Robin, Eddie, Dustin, Lucas, max) kinda need help with something(doesn't have to be Vecna) and like the babysitter are like "well we know someone, but he probably isn't gonna help us" but they decided to try.

The reader absolutely hates this town and all of its citizens. Like sure he has a job, but he hardly interacts with anyone and if one does they're met with just an angry look, but he isn't mean.

When the group show sup to his house, obviously he's like "no i will not fucking help you???" but they are very persistent and in the end he caves in and angrily helps them.

And he becomes an unofficial part of the group and helps them out more often but still "hates" them

Note: That reminds me of someone I just can’t put my finger on it. Also I couldn’t find many images of them all together so I improvised

I SAID NO

Character(s): Eddie, Steve, Nancy, Robin, Dustin, Max, Lucas

Type of reader: M!Reader

Category: Fluff🥰✨

Warning(s): None

Edited: ❌

Parts: Pt 2, Pt 3

"Ah shit.." Dustin mumbled as he stared at a broken dnd figure. "How are we gonna fix this?! And we borrowed this because our old one broke." Lucas sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Well, I know someone who might help us butttt..." Nancy trailed off as she looked off to the side. "Butttt what?" Eddie questioned with a raised brow.

"He most likely won't help us even if we bribe him." Nancy finished as she rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, we're gonna have to annoy the shit out of him so he can help us." Robin told her. "I know, but he isn't the...nicest or meanest person. He hates this whole town even the people that live here since he isn't a people person." Nancy said and Steve patted her back.

"We gotta try anyways Nancy." Steve said and she nodded. "Alright, let's go." She said and so everyone followed after her to where you lived. When they arrived Nancy started having second thoughts about this.

"What is he's asleep right now? It is night." Nancy said, trying to get out of this mess herself. "We're already here Nancy." Max sighed.

"True, there's no going back." Eddie said and went up to the door and rang the doorbell. A minute or so passed before the door swung open. You looked absolutely pissed and annoyed since today was your off day and you wanted to get as much sleep as possible. Your eyes scanned the group in front of you before it landed on Nancy.

"Nancy? Why'd you bring a couple of kids at my damn door step?" You sighed and rubbed the sleep from your eyes. "Hey Y/n... Um, we might have a problem." She said with a light chuckle. "We broke a dnd figure and need some help fixing it." Lucas quickly said.

"Sooo, can you help us?" Steve asked with a small smile. You stared at him and back at Nancy before looking at everyone else. With a smile you flat out said, "No I will not fucking help you, have a nice night." And closed your house door with a loud slam. Thinking it'd end there, it didn't. At random they'd bother you no matter what time of day it was. Eventually you caved in so as they were about to knock on the door again and opened it looking really pissed off. "Alright I fuckin' fix it, damn!" You shouted and snatched the two pieces from Steve's hand.

"Thank you." Nancy sighed relieved. You hurriedly pushed them inside your house before going to a certain drawer in your kitchen and brought out some gorilla glue. You sat down at your table as you mumbled under your breath about how annoying they were while you glued the two halves together.

When it was finally finished you gave it to Dustin. "Now leave me alone." You huffed and quickly pushed them out of your house not even allowing them to say thank you. "Who put a stick up his ass?" Eddie scoffed. "He's always been like that. Like I told you last time, he hates this town and everyone in it." Nancy said.

You thought that was the last time you'd see them, but you were so damn wrong about that.

[naruhearts]

I’m done keeping my composure.

Sorry, this will be a LOADED post! (And I’ll be repeating the points others have made)

for real, to everyone being nasty and telling heartbroken fans that “Dean was always supposed to die get a grip you’re just butthurt etcetera etcetera—” F you royally.

How dare you police the brutal feelings that’s been embroiling us since the Finale That Must Not Be Named aired. 

The show you think you all watched, the show you all believe was the same SPN from Season 1-4, changed at some point. Kripke wrote his original vision, put it to screen, saw it through in S5 as he intended, and closed the door on that era.

In 2008, Supernatural was adopted and inherited. As you know, there was a supreme paradigm shift post-Kripke era. The show FLOURISHED (we won’t talk about Gamble thanks). It evolved, transformed, grew beyond trauma-induced self-worthlessness and toxic masculinity and endless death and hegemonic social ideals and conservatism and repressive anti-revolutionary ideas. Castiel, the iconic favourite and beloved staple of the series portrayed by Misha Collins, was introduced in Season 4 as the core lead character, and he ushered in a brand new era of Christian mythos that SPN took advantage of. Longevity SKYROCKETED. Audiences were INTERESTED. SPN amassed an incredibly groundbreaking fanbase infused by non-nuclear principles. A massive subversive wave began, fighting the Status Quo of the times since 2008. It’s precisely why such an abysmal ending to a show of extensive Freud-Jungian metanarratively meta META complex stature and social POWER will render us totally and unbearably broken for years to come.

Point is, DEAN WINCHESTER NO LONGER WANTED TO DIE. HE WANTED TO LIVE. HE WANTED TO SIT ON THE BEACH, PLUNGE HIS TOES IN THE SAND, AND SIP UMBRELLA DRINKS WITH HIS BROTHER AND HIS BEST FRIEND. He said this in Season 13. And then, a season later, he told the ghost of his long-deceased father — the source of his deep-running trauma and the figure of self-reductive authoritarianism permeating his arc since Season 1 — after being questioned why he didn’t pursue the Nuclear Fam, that he already has his own: his brother Sam, his adopted child Jack, and Cas.

Dean’s best friend Cas. Oh god, Cas, who made his inevitably permanent mark on Dean’s soul beyond allyship. Castiel, renamed to Cas, God’s -iel removed by Dean. Dean, the human spark that lit the fire of pre-existing autonomy in the inherently rebellious angel who was, this entire time, the catalyst for free will in God The Writer’s puppet show. Their friendship set on goddamn fire. I can also write paragraph upon paragraph about my love for Cas while devastated tears stream down my face, but I digress—

Cas’ romantic love for Dean pushed our main Heart of SPN to love himself. Love is free will. Free will is also love. Of note, Cas’ love confession in 15x18 was supposed to offset something so vastly important and fundamental...to maybe (read: most likely) pull the trigger on SELF-TRUTHS in conjunction with free will. And The Great Anticipated Follow-Up to the episode penned by the passionate Berens should have included (read: seemed like it was going to be) Dean, closeted trauma survivor in love with his best friend, being given the opportunity to do it right: to SPEAK HIS TRUTH, and then that very singular opportunity was STOLEN so grossly. After poring over it for days, I refuse to believe we made their years-long story up out of thin air, spun it out of fantastical-delusional dream cotton candy, because we DIDN’T. IT WAS REAL.

As I said in another post: “I’ve just been feeling physically ill for the past >40 something hours with the terrible knowledge that 19/20 undid years of vital progression towards healthy interdependence, autonomy, and a positive endgame, where Sam, Dean and Cas close the ring of found family in final empowering self-fulfillment...where Dean, no longer repressed and set free, is able to use his words and speak his truth as a queercoded trauma survivor, henceforth confirming and self-affirming his own bisexuality since S1 by reciprocating — by telling Cas that he always loved him, too, loved him endlessly, which would have altogether divested Supernatural of its cult status and catapulted it into global worldwide significance as the longest running sci-fi genre show in American broadcasting history that actually dared to defy and, by proxy, empower LGBTQ2IA+ everywhere who found profound personal meaning in Destiel through VALIDATION,” — found themselves mirrored in Dean and Cas’ respective character journeys individually and as each other’s queer love interests.

THIS IS WHY DEAN WASN’T MEANT TO DIE.

THEY WERE SO ESSENTIAL, NOT JUST TO THE OVERARCHING STORY AND HEALTHY INTERPERSONAL THEMATICS OF MODERN SPN, BUT ALSO TO THE SOULS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE ACROSS THE WORLD WHO FOLLOWED THEIR JOURNEYS, HOPED FOR THEM, ASPIRED TO BE LIKE THEM, TREASURED THEM, WEEPED FOR THEM, AND FOUGHT FOR THEM, LIKE YOU AND ME.

Heck, how could anyone think Sam Winchester had a well-deserved characteristic ending? He didn’t. Dean’s brother was shafted so badly. He stopped hunting when seasons ago, he had canonically accepted that he no longer wanted an apple pie life. He simply...turned the lights off in a resoundingly empty bunker and left — abandoning his dead brother’s room — never to return (he did return later to get the Impala, family photos etc, I mean this symbolically)...as if — dare I say it — Supernatural itself eerily told us, in the negative-spaced pitch blackness, that the organic show and the wonderfully complex, matured characters we’ve grown to love weren’t going to survive or be revisited...that it was all going to perish, and that they no longer gave a single shit about their own show, which, to me, is the worst cardinal sin, because how dare they throw Team Free Will, an immovable and indomitable and passionate found family they built from the ground up, a found family CHOCK FULL TO THE BRIM OF LOVE AND LIFE RAGING AGAINST THE AUTHORITARIAN MACHINE IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE FREE WILL, under the bus no matter who is to blame. Growth was stomped on.

Then Sam married a faceless wife who wasn’t his textually established (and deaf) love interest Eileen, named his son Dean Jr., and grew old miserably, still mourning the passing of his older brother, shaken and sombre. Back to square one. IT WAS ALL ANTITHETICAL, even OUTSIDE a shipping context, and I ripped my hair out at this point in sheer disbelief.

This 15x20 ending would have fit somewhere between S4-7. Now? IT DOESN’T FIT. IT’S A JAGGED PUZZLE PIECE THAT DOESN’T BELONG ANYWHERE. IT’S THE FOREBODING UNKNOWN STRANGER IN ITS OWN LAND, BOTH LITERALLY AND FIGURATIVELY. This kind of ending was basically an illogical, unsound cluster of metastasized cells that, to me, ruined the viability of previous seasons to sustain bold praise and respect and dignity and rewatches and classic nostalgia in such insidious ways.

Dean Humanity Winchester and Cas, after everything they’ve been through, were silenced and lost in death, ripped apart from each other, unable to love each other the way they deserved, because of disappointing, vile incompetency and homophobia. The greatest love story ever told, again obliterated in less than 60 hollow minutes.

You know what this tells your audience, CW SPN? Death without self-growth is the way to go, and no one is allowed to forge their own path to freedom.

HOW INSULTINGLY HARMFUL IS THAT?

I don’t think I’ll ever stop grieving.

We all deserve answers.

[wanderingwomanwondering]

The og post is meant to be funny. And it is!!

But I feel compelled to note that DS9 was about THE WORK involved in living one’s highest ideals. It was about the struggle of navigating and managing differing needs desires values and goals and at the highest levels with stakes through the fucking roof. It didn’t sugarcoat the hard stuff, it leaned into it and consistently showed our crew/visitors wrestling with their fears biases ambitions and convictions.

I grew up watching TNG & DS9. At that time, I didn’t realize that TNG made being good look easy most of the time. Too easy. It was only after I started watching DS9 when it aired that I realized the struggle to live one’s highest ideals is normal AND WORTH DOING even when it’s hard. TNG was only able to make such a ginormous endeavor look easy because it pretended to have a monopoly on what’s ethically sound and ideal. The tension or pushback in any given episode was usually kinda basic and the audience could feel fairly confident in “the right answer”. But when you have something like DS9 where it presents the Federation lens but acknowledges that the Federation is not always the maker/keeper of The Galactic Negotiation Table shit gets interesting!

DS9 was a mess because it was a more realistic take on what it means to be at the table with multiple groups with diverse agendas and perspectives AND where there is no single recognized unilateral authority. DS9 could at least in part show these complexities because they couldn’t just fuck off into another adventure. It was a space station so they had to stick around through every ebb and flow of intergalactic politics that permeated the station. They got to be the stationary hub of a transquadrant war and we saw the toll that took and the ethical messes that surfaced and the character deaths (literal and metaphorical) that ensued.

In the Pale Moonlight, anyone?! That ep solidified DS9’s greatness in particular and Star Trek’s greatness in general because it captured the complexity of the TrekVerse. Sisko made an ethically problematic decision as he weighed the needs of the many against the needs of the few. By choosing deceit he shifted the tide of the war but he also bypassed the autonomy and agency of a species!! Like. That’s deep and dark as hell and it begs the question ‘can you call that good’, ‘can you call it a victory’, ‘does the end justify the means’, ‘who the hell is he to make that call’, ‘is it okay to gamble and trade in lives regardless of the scale’. Fuck.

The questions are endless. DS9 had its clear cut moments too but the questions and the interspecies politics and diplomacy issues made it feel more real than TNG. TNG felt like a thought experiment after I started watching DS9, but DS9 made it all real and showed the impact that these questions and issues had on lives that we couldn’t just warp away from.

In summary, DS9 was dope af. Thanks for attending my TED Talk.

P.S. I’ll give you one guess as to why I LOVE DISCOVERY TOO!!! S4 especially captured this same vibe but the other seasons had the juice too. That plus the full range of unapologetic emotion and infinite diversity in infinite combinations?? Yeah. That’s the stuff.

watching ds9 and the contrast with TNG while still being the same type of show is gorgeous

TNG: we’re on the cutting edge! This is the federation flagship! we’re different but we get along! Space is dangerous but together we can pull through!!

DS9: why the FUCK doesnt this SHIT ASS station make hot water??? Is that a ferengi? I hate that asshole!! Goddamnit who’s coming through this wormhole NOW?? I’m gonna get us through this week’s fuck up but only because I refuse to let you fuckers outlive me

[piastrinorris]

rj's big sappy 2022 recap

when i started this dumb little blog, on july 9th, i was midway through writing an unambiguous love and rife with other ideas for more fics that i finally decided to bite the bullet and start writing. i'd been out of the fanfic writing game for a long time, and as a day 1 stranger things fan i knew how big the fandom already was, even before s4 came out in its entirety. but i was inspired to Just Start Writing Anyway. not to worry about notes, because yeah, it's oversaturated as all hell, but that means if numbers don't do well, there's an excuse, right? and i can just enjoy writing and posting and seeing what sticks.

but now here we are, nearly half a year later, with over 1.5k of you (!!!!!!!) and i am rejuvenated, i am inspired and i have never felt more love. so i'm gonna get real sappy and share that love with you all.

first and foremost, to the og's, @denim-mixtapes + @fanatictypist, i can't say anything more to you that i haven't already in the last nine years, other than thank you for reigniting the flame under my ass to get me here again. i love you both eternally.

to the other half of my brain, my platonic soulmate, @keerysquinn, i still cannot believe we had matching urls saved. i love us so much. thank you for being my muse, constantly inspiring and encouraging me, and making me feel less alone in this insane expanse of a fandom. thank you for always being my number 1 hype person, and being the best sister wife (gn) to our beloved scrunkly.

and on that note, to @bowerquinn and @hellfirehoe; the immediate friendship, guidance and support you both showed me from the moment i first started talking to you both is something truly special. i have never felt more welcome in a community than the way you made me feel from the moment we "met", and never more loved than through the absolute ferocity with which you guys have my back. i love the three of you immensely. slut squad 4 lyf <3

after having been in the [redacted] fandom for so long, i'd really lost touch in what i used to love the most about fandom, and on the surface there's so much flack that gets thrown around for what is and isn't "canon", what's "true" and what isn't, and so i had given up on my old love of crackshipping until anna and @heroeddiemunson once again reinvigorated new ways to interpret my favourite media since, i wanna say my old glee days?? i forgot how fun it is to just take two characters and explore their dynamics with little to no canon context. and that's had my creative juices flowing consistently for months now. i just have so much fun thinking about these things, and sharing them with people who get it, it truly never gets old.

speaking of bouncing ideas back and forth, i can't talk about the shit that's changed my life this year and not talk about busy streets and busy lives. while i've had stranger things-related fics that have reached insane numbers, and i am so very grateful for that, the small and mighty community that bsbl has formed is something i hold very close to my heart. i never thought i had it in me to write a longform story. to write believable angst, or slow burn, or even original characters that people would care about. that's why i've always only ever written fanfic. but the comments i get from bsbl chapters truly make me believe that i'm capable of far more than i'd thought before i started it. thank you for loving it as much as i do. <3

(also, while i do sincerely love and appreciate every sort of commentary on it, i do have to give an extra special dose of love to @reysorigins because their reviews on @reysorigins-library are, honest to whatever's out there, some of the most genuinely sincere ones to receive. seeing your own words recited back to you, singled out to praise them, is validating and inspiring in ways i can't put into words. thank you for what you do, rey <3)

it was never even meant to be the insanity that it now is. it started off as a dumb oneshot idea that i had no idea what direction it was headed in. then an inside joke in the jq server inspired me, and many others, to start bouncing more and more ideas about what ralph would be like in the modern world, and so a fic was born. a fic that's only 6 chapters deep so far and already 52k+ words. that's a whole novel!!! i daren't tag everyone who's contributed to bsbl bc a) it'd take so much searching back through multiple channels to make sure i included absolutely everyone, and i'd feel terrible if i missed anyone out; and b) if you're there for that, you're here anyway lol. so to everyone in the jq server, thank you for giving me the gift of the story that never stops giving back.

there are so many other friends i've made through the camaraderie of the writing community. again, at first it seemed oversaturated, like i was going to be just a drop in the ocean. but actually, that's not the case. it just means there's always going to be people who are willing to listen to your headcanons and hype them up with you. it's given me the confidence to - and i can't word this in any other way but i promise it isn't self-deprecating - just be really fucking annoying about the things that i enjoy. i've managed to find a corner of the internet that loves the things that i love as much as i do and in as big a way as i do.

and the inspiration i get from new friends goes even beyond writing! i've even been inspired to start learning how to make gifs now?? and not just compiling frames and putting them together, i'm learning all about colouring and rendering and blending scenes together. i've never been very visually creative, but i have so much to learn and i'm so excited to.

it's my 2023 goal to try and be more of an active friend to my mutuals. but i'm bad at reaching out lol. i would tag all of the mutuals i want to get to know better for accountability's sake but a) again i may forget people and feel real bad about it, and b) i don't want to annoy anyone with unwanted pings. but if we're moots, i am always down to talk more!!

2022 was always going to be a big year for me anyway. a couple of weeks ago, i celebrated a decade of my "second" life. but i've done other big things this year, too. i've been learning welsh and getting in touch with my own heritage. i've started to get over my fear of learning to drive. i applied for a promotion at work, didn't get it, but most importantly, i didn't let it get me down. it's just motivated me to get to somewhere better, where the talents i KNOW i have can actually be appreciated. if you'd have told me from ten years ago that, i'd have decked you lmao.

i couldn't have imagined at the start of the year that i'd pick up the one creative hobby i thought i was fully burned out from. but here we are. thank you for the last half-year-ish. whether you've been here for five months or five minutes, i appreciate your presence regardless. <3