#posts made for a max audience of 2 people

[secretmellowblog]

You know how Nick/Gatsby and Holmes/Watson and Enjolras/Grantaire are super popular gay classic lit ships? I’m genuinely surprised there’s not a slash-shipping community around Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay from a Tale of Two Cities…like. I get the reason Darnay/Carton isn’t popular is because no one cares about A Tale of Two Cities but their relationship is so bizarrely homoerotic for literally no reason! It’s like Built to be some Dark Academia tumblr ship! I think Carton/Darnay should be in the tumblr gay classic lit canon, repping Dickens and the way Dickens’ misogynistic inability to write convincing heterosexual relationships results in his characters seeming extremely gay.

I could write an entire essay on why A Tale of Two Cities makes more sense if you ignore Dickens’ intent and read Carton as gay (with quotes supporting my point) but like. Carton insists he’s in love with Darnay’s wife Lucie but spends much more of his page-time talking to/flirting with Darnay (to the point where he’s never had an on page conversation with Lucie until he “confesses his love” to her in a scene where he also immediately rejects himself for her, and insists that their relationship would be Impossible for Reasons and that his heart isn’t Capable of feeling things the way it should, as if he’s chosen to convince himself he’s in love with her because she’s unattainable and he will never have to be in a relationship with her.) Darnay and Carton have all these tense charged snarky interactions that feel like fanfic. Darnay’s thing with Lucie is pretty bland but there’s this huge emphasis on the fact that he and Carton are “counterparts.” Whenever Dickens tries to write Carton as being sad that Lucie loves another man it generally comes across as Carton being jealous of Lucie, because he’s almost never had a full conversation with Lucie and spends most of his time instead having these very sad clingy desperate pathetic conversations with the men who love her. Carton has a weird homoerotic thing going on with his jock law partner Stryver, who he sacrifices everything for and spends all his time with and lets invade his personal space/walk all over him for reasons he refuses to explain (all while Stryver repeatedly mocks Carton for being incapable of falling in love with women). Carton ultimately sacrifices his life for Darnay by forcibly taking off Darnay’s clothes and disguising himself as him….like?

One of their first interactions is Carton heroically saving Darnay’s life, then drunkenly calling himself Darnay’s “counterpart” and asking him on a date.

Like.

Hm.

This feels like the banter you’d find in an Enjolras/Grantaire fanfic:

Fellas is it gay to

But yeah! The main thing people remember about A Tale of Two Cities are the cool peasant women revolutionaries, who Dickens is trying to portray as villains but who are actually the best characters in the book. And if I’m going to be mean to my high school self (who was obsessed with ATOTC for some reason) I’d say that the central melodrama between Carton/Darnay/Lucie is a weakness of the novel because Carton’s arc has nothing to do with the political French Revolution stuff, so his sacrifice feels thematically disconnected from all the book’s attempts at political commentary. HOWEVER. I think it works better if it’s gay.Also the Vengeance and Madame Defarge are gay, but people aren’t ready for that conversation!

So yee!! people on tumblr love ships that are like “hot goody-two-shoes classic lit boy in a suit x hot snarky classic lit sadboi in a suit”, but so few ppl remember Carton and Darnay, who were repping that all the way back in the 1790s 😔😔😔😔😔

[flos-obsessivus]

250 Follower milestone event celebration!

I passed 250 audiences! To celebrate, the library will be open to all! Thank you to all of you who have been following and supporting this blog, to give back to you guys I will be doing a SFW Yandere alphabet. Why is there no NSFW version you ask? Well that's going to be for the 500 follower event, which is actually really close as I already have around 300 followers, yipeeee!!

Well then, lets proceed shall we?

SFW YANDERE ALPHABET

Rules:

Each person will be able to only ask for 2 letters max, this is to ensure that multiple people will be able to join.

First come, first serve!

To make it clean, if a letter has already been answered, I will not be answering it unless the other letter has been unanswered.

Once everything has been answered, I will be compiling it into a separate post.

Have fun!

Edit: Ones with red are still available!

Affection: How do they show their love and affection? How intense would it get?

Blood: How messy are they willing to get when it comes to their darling?

Cruelty: How would they treat their darling once abducted? Would they mock them?

Darling: Aside from abduction, would they do anything against their darling’s will?

Exposed: How much of their heart do they bare to their darling? How vulnerable are they when it comes to their darling?

Fight: How would they feel if their darling fought back?

Game: Is this a game to them? How much would they enjoy watching their darling try to escape?

Hell: What would be their darling’s worst experience with them?

Ideals: What kind of future do they have in mind for/with their darling?

Jealousy: Do they get jealous? Do they lash out or find a way to cope?

Kisses: How do they act around or with their darling?

Love letters: How would they go about courting or approaching their darling?

Mask: Are their true colors drastically different from the way they act around everyone else?

Naughty: How would they punish their darling?

Oppression: How many rights would they take away from their darling?

Patience: How patient are they with their darling?

Quit: If their darling dies, leaves, or successfully escapes, would they ever be able to move on?

Regret: Would they ever feel guilty about abducting their darling? Would they ever let their darling go?

Stigma: What brought about this side of them (childhood, curiosity, etc)?

Tears: How do they feel about seeing their darling scream, cry, and/or isolate themselves?

Unique: Would they do anything different from the classic yandere?

Vice: What weakness can their darling exploit in order to escape?

Wit’s end: Would they ever hurt their darling?

Xoanon: How much would they revere or worship their darling? To what length would they go to win their darling over?

Yearn: How long do they pine after their darling before they snap? Zenith: Would they ever break their darling?

Yan alphabet prompt made by @/dear-yandere Animated Gif by me

[profoundjellyfishnight]

i saw this post on reddit that was like out of all six of the kids, who would you hate to see die the most, and everyone was saying Dustin because he has the most character development? like what. listen, no hate to Dustin but objectively, his character has the least development out of the party and even most of, if not all of the main characters.

El, Will, Max have had clear, in-your-face arcs throughout the course of the show.

Mike's is a little more subtle but 100% there and there are so many posts talking about this if you don't understand his arc.

Lucas's character goes through a lot in season 1 with finding will and dealing with El, then in season 2 with Billy and Max, and season 4 with the basketball guys, Jason and Max.

And then there's Dustin. He's a fan favorite because he's lovable and funny and has his whole thing with Steve. That isn't inherently bad, but it's just boring to me. His character hasn't gone through much (other than Eddies death, which makes me believe most of his character arc will take place next season). I'd argue his character hasn't changed since season 2, when he have that whole thing with Max and Steve.

Dustin's character was been consistent this whole show which is why the general audience likes him. He's funny and adorable and whatever but at the end of the day, he's not very complex. In a show with characters like Nancy and Hopper, Dustin doesn't really stick out to me as a character with a live-changing arc.

This person wrote, "He has gotten a girlfriend, actually solved problems, made the social connections to bring people together who have saved the world, meanwhile Will cries, Mike Bitches, and Lucas farts."

Okay so the girlfriend thing was entirely off-screen and didn't add to his character development at all. All of the characters have solved problems at one point and made connections to bring people together to save the world.

The criticism of the other boys isn't constructive and doesn't change the fact that Dustin himself is bland. In any season, (other than 4 maybe) Will and Mike and (maybe not season 3 but every other season) Lucas, have contributed more while having a satisfying arc.

" in all honesty the Byers are only interesting due to Joyce and Johnathan, the wheelers due to Nancy and Karen, the Sin Claire's due to Erica, so on this picture alone we have Max, Eleven, and Dustin who have had any exploration of the character that has been significant to be fair."

What part of Dustin character has been more explored significantly than say, Will? Lucas' character has gone through so much, you can't say Erica is the only interesting Sinclair. Mike has wayyy more development that his mom. Side note, why is everyone obsessed with her? Her biggest accomplishment was her pep talk with Nancy and deciding to not cheat on her husband with a teenager. And the Will hate is getting old.

I get that Dustin is "a comedic genius" in your eyes, but at the end of the day, he's just too bland for me. Hopefully season 5 will add some more interesting plot lines to his character that don't just involve Steve.

My opinion on this has changed, if you are interested check the comments

[saphira-artandoc]

Behold… a project that began back in October 5th 2022…

C3 Swap AU

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I am nothing if not predictable

What is the swap AU?

The swap AU was created due to my love of that genre (If you followed me in my Persona phase, you know what I mean)

It was a way for me to practice my craft as time goes on and to this day, I’m still learning. It’s also an excuse for me to draw pretty outfits

It was also inspired by Eren Angiolini’s CR swapped classes (mainly VM and MN back then) before their own rendition of Bell’s Hells, done in 2023

The difference between my version and Eren’s is that instead of swapping DnD classes (Fighter -> Paladin) , we changed their subclasses (Fighter : Battle master -> Fighter : Eldritch knight). Some of these were taken from completely made up thanks to a homebrew list of subclasses

The entire creation of this AU is a group effort from various members of the Dorym Nation discord server. We did not plan for it to work as well as it did as episode rolled by. We did it mostly on vibes and somehow made everyone’s backstory sadder (oops)

Why making this post now?

With campaign 3 coming close to an end, I felt like it was finally time for me to face my fears and show the people what 2 years of creation do to someone, without any remorse for showing enjoyment in a piece of media.

I also struggle with showcasing my work in the last couple of years to a wider audience, especially with the rise in A/I art and N/F/T that just destroyed me mentally. This is why you don’t see much art posting from me

Also every time I thought I had a breather with art, shit just kept happening in the canon game and it really just spiralled to what we have today… Mind you this was created around episode e20 so we didn’t know everything about the characters back then… We were so close but had to change some stuff and add something else… I love the creative process <3

What did you mean by “you made everyone’s backstory sadder?”

When you go into a project made on vibes, you kiiiiind of mix-match a couple of ideas together. With the Swap AU, not only did we swap their subclasses, but we also swapped elements of their backstories with another member of their group. You will see it with everyone’s post.

Wait so you’re not sharing the art yet? Why not?

My goal with this post is to give you guys a small introduction to the AU. I know this will be at the very least 10 post in total minus this one since I’m hoping to give each Hellions their very own Tumblr posts

I am also a perfectionist and I want to give the best quality possible when posting the artworks. I am in the making of creating front facing reference sheets of each member of BH with max 6 different clothes ( EXU or start of the campaign, ball, outfit 2, current one, and for those with specific body transformations get that illustrated also)

There is already existing art of the AU that was created by @czpeterp that you can see here! (Their art is amazing, go check them out!!)

I have Fearne and Chetney’s that are complete, and Imogen is the next one in line. Expect for a post about them coming really soon (hopefully tomorrow)

That’s all for now! Sorry for all the rambling lmao, I do hope I piqued your curiosity and I’ll see you (hopefully) tomorrow morning for our first Swapped character: Fearne Calloway!

[piratefishmama]

Crossing the Line | Part 2

For Eddie Munson, it started with a tweet. A random little tweet in his mentions that ignited his incredibly hard to control impulsive curiosity. One of his long-time followers and his best friends little brother, a boy with a love of DnD who only begrudgingly followed him after he recorded one of his campaign sessions and posted it to YouTube, pinged him a mention with a single link in it to Instagram captioned “roast him he’s ruined Crazy Train!”

Michael Wheeler you little shit. He’d get Nancy on that one, Mike’s obsession with roasting people was getting mildly out of hand.

But Eddie was a curious soul and someone had apparently ruined an Ozzy masterpiece, so of course he followed that link, he didn’t even hesitate, even let out a cute little “boop” out loud as he clicked it.

Now. Eddie Munson, could have probably been classed as a bit of a music snob. He wouldn’t go too far with his snobbery, but for some people... it was just an unwritten rule that some people deserved the snobbery to the max. They deserved the shit storm that came with Eddie’s brutal honesty and lack of verbal filter.

And Nepo-babies with nothing better to do than *fix* legendary metal tracks with their top 10 bubblegum bitch bullshittery were 100% deserving of the roasting his bitchiest of little sheep had called for.

Did he go a little overboard over the following week while bored shitless in between customers at his shitty non-chain coffee shop gig? Absolutely. Did he feel bad? Absolutely not. It’d taken him all of five minutes to decide Steve Harrington was the worst.

Even if the nepo baby thing wasn’t enough, he was spotted with a different piece of arm candy every month, he had girls and guys falling all over themselves to get a glimpse from him in their general direction, like, there were articles about fights breaking out in the audience of his shows because fans couldn’t decide which one of them he looked at. He lived in some fancy ass house if his insta photos were anything to go by which no doubt his parents bought for him, he did way too many PR stunts to make it seem like he was a good guy, and while his voice was… okay, it wasn’t bad… passable, it was passable…

It sure as fuck needed to stay in its own goddamn lane.

So, the boredom in between the rare rush thanks to the Starbucks down the street was filled with what could only be described as obsessive online bullying, his ADHD hyper fixated so hard, but no way was he even going to notice it, so Eddie didn’t even feel bad about it. The guy had so many people falling all over themselves in hopes he’d notice them that his measly little insults would probably wind up just buried in the sea of hormones and the occasional desperate “COME TO BRAZIL” hashtag Brazilian flag and several thousand heart emojis.

And just as a fun little topper on the ice cream sundae that was his weeklong bitchfit into the void, a lovely little cherry on top, he covered Crazy Train on his channel. Not just the guitar bits, but he made chords and tabs for the lyrics too, letting his sweetheart sing for him, he never sang on his channel, vocals were just for the band gigs, his channel was primarily game music covers but this one, this one he declared “This is what it’s supposed to sound like” in the intro then rocked it.

Eddie was all about freedom of musical expression, but Steve Harrington could go suck a fat one if he thought he was getting away with ruining a masterpiece with his croony bullshit.

“So” The week after he’d finally put his one sided feud to rest, found one Nancy Wheeler, the instigators older sister sidling up to the counter mid-way through the most boring Sunday shift Eddie had ever worked in his life.

“Wheeleeerr, my sister from the most boring of misters, what can I get you babydoll?” He didn’t even need to ask, and she didn’t actually need to say it, he was already halfway through making her fancy little favourite, a cinnamon hazelnut latte with soy milk knowing she probably only had five minutes before she’d have to bolt again.

“Eddie… why have you spent the better part of a week harassing a celebrity on Instagram?”

“I think you mean an entire week, your little brother released the dogs of war. Aaaand the ADHD told me to do it.” He grabbed one of the little honey buns from the treats display and popped it onto a plate for her “forgive me honey bun?” A pet name AND a treat combined. She rolled her eyes fondly before accepting the free treat. “Why do you ask?”

“No reason.” There was absolutely a reason, but… honestly he brought whatever was coming to him upon himself. Sort of. She'd stand in his corner if shit got real. “I’ll handle Mike, don’t harass celebrities until you’re actually a celebrity, and even then, don’t harass celebrities.”

“It’s not like he’d notice, let’s be honest he has more fans than there are stars in the sky, all of them, and I do mean all of them, fully up for bearing his children.” Seahorse dads in the house! But also, mpreg too, ass babies unite. “It’s not like some rando having a questionably obsessive and lowkey aggressive meltdown over his ‘I’m bored as shit’ experiment would ever grace his radar.”

“I’m just saying Eddie, you never know who you’re going to reach with your online nonsense, if you ever want to get out of this place, you’re going to have to play nice with people from all walks of life, including nepotism babies.” The bark of laughter that erupted from Eddie Munson would have probably insulted most people, but Nancy had known him for years. He was listening, he was, there were just layers upon layers of automatic reactions to get through before he’d visibly take in what you were saying. “He could be nice, you never know.”

“Oh yeah, his royal highness seems lovely. Did you know people used to call him King Steve?” Seemed like the worst person on the planet masquerading as a semi-decent guy. Eddie wasn’t fooled in the slightest. “Your drink, mademoiselle!” He presented her with a large to-go cup filled with her favourite beverage.

“Don’t you have some odd little moniker on your youtube channel?” She asked behind the lip of her cup, before taking a sip and humming in appreciation. Even if he was a little shit, Eddie could make a mean latte.

“That’s a persona, it’s an online personality! People calling me Kas is different, people just called him that cause of how much ass he got. It’s weird, I bet he started it himself and paid his cronies to use it until it caught on.” That was good, maybe he’d pick his feud back up just to lay that one on him. “Seems very nepo baby of him, y’know? Can’t get a good nickname circling so he’s gotta buy one.”

“Wouldn’t his parents have bought it for him?”

“Ohhhh Wheeler good one! Nice nickname, did your daddy buy it for you? Babe, sugar plum, I love you. Imma write that one down for later.”

“Please don’t.” He was already off, and she caught sight of her smartwatch beeping about some meeting she was close to being late for. “Shoot! Gotta run, no more harassing celebrities!”

“I promise nothing!” Ah well, it probably wasn’t that big of a deal that Steve Harrington’s best friend had DM’d her, probably not a big deal at all, probably meant nothing... probably.

Part 4

[rogueddie]

Canon Divergence Steddie Fics

Important: READ THE TAGS! Also, leave a comment and kudos! These fics are amazing and I love them and I hope y'all do too 🧭

save it for a rainy day

Unoriginal_Username

In which Steve Harrington has to walk home in a torrential downpour, and happens to find Eddie Munson without an umbrella.

Words : 5,166 Chapters : 1/1 Rating : General Audiences

AO3 : x

Haunting

AnnetheCatDetective

Steve gets dragged to a haunted house… little does he know he's about to be a whole other kind of haunted.

Words : 8,890 Chapters : 3/3 Rating : Teen And Up Audiences

AO3 : x

I think I like them too

melonalemonade

Eddie was expecting to feel the sharp knuckles of a hand colliding with his jaw any second but the only thing colliding was a pair of soft lips … with his own.

Words : 2,035 Chapters : 1/1 Rating : Teen And Up Audiences

AO3 : x

off the beaten path

pukner

Post season 3, Steve manages to figure out that he's bisexual, despite his best efforts to repress it, comes out to Robin and Jonathan Byers of all people, and figures himself out. Also, there's a cute guy who might be actually insane running the kids' dnd club and he's got his eye on him. And his bandana.

Too bad Eddie Munson hasn't had a similar revelation. He's still under the impression that he's a straight man obsessing over Steve Harrington for normal, extremely heterosexual reasons.

Words : 34,208 Chapters : 6/6 Rating : Explicit

AO3 : x

you make it feel like christmas

oceanwaves23

Steve somehow ends up celebrating the Christmas of 1985 with Max and Eddie 'the Freak' Munson and it just might be his favorite Christmas yet.

Words : 9,122 Chapters : 3/3 Rating : Mature

AO3 : x

I wave goodbye to the end of beginning

LittleMissKnowItAll

Steve and Eddie properly meet for the first time in the middle of Family Video, somewhere during the summer of '85.

It's the start of a friendship, maybe even the start of something more.

Words : 19,814 Chapters : 2/2 Rating : Teen And Up Audiences

AO3 : x

kickstart my heart

inspectorabed

Eddie sighs and leans back in his chair. The plastic groans in protest under the weight of him. “You know, what sucks about all of this is that now I have to re-examine my biases. If Steve Harrington is actually, deep down, a decent guy, that means any of those asshole preps might be hiding a secret heart of gold. I mean, who’s next, Jason Carver?”

This makes Ant laugh rather hysterically. Eddie can’t tell if he’s doing it for dramatic effect or if he really thinks Eddie is that funny. “Okay, maybe not,” he concedes. “But you get my point.”

Words : 14,236 Chapters : 2/2 Rating : Teen And Up Audiences

AO3 : x

it's his party (and i'll fall if i want to)

formosus_iniquis

"Steve?" She nods, but even death couldn't stop him now,

"Harrington? Steve Harrington? King Steve? Steve "the Hair" Harrington? Steve "Big House, No Parents" Harrington? Steve "Sex God" Harrington?"

"I am certain you made at least those last two up. Yes, Steve "Lady Killer" Harrington invited me to his party."

"Are we about to be Carrie'd?"

Words : 25,411 Chapters : 2/2 Rating : Teen And Up Audiences

AO3 : x

I'm Beginning to Understand, There's No Mystery to This Man

senoritablack

Four times Eddie thinks Steve Harrington’s fucking with him, plus one time he accepts the compliment. Alternatively, the one where Steve’s been blatant since freshman year and Eddie’s really thick.

Words : 5,428 Chapters : 1/1 Rating : Teen And Up Audiences

AO3 : x

don't you know you might find a better place to stay

Anonymous

Eddie works the night shift at Hawkin's local grocery store. Somehow, Steve can't stop coming.

Words : 6,780 Chapters : 1/1 Rating : Teen And Up Audiences

AO3 : x

King Steve Buys Weed

StepfordSnarker

When Steve promises to get Robin high over the weekend, and his usual weed guy goes out of town, he needs to find a replacement. Eddie's grungy, and nerdy, and weird, but he'll have to do.

Words : 4,488 Chapters : 1/1 Rating : Mature

AO3 : x

undue

meglimeg

Steve and Eddie knew each long before Vecna, before Hellfire, before the Upside Down.

Words : 6,301 Chapters : 1/1 Rating : Teen And Up Audiences

AO3 : x

The Enormous Upside to Losing Everything

Stressed_Depressed_Lemonzest

Steve gets his heart broken in two and promptly trips over Eddie Munson. Then that school freak Steve usually wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole offers him weed to forget his troubles.

Words : 35,886 Chapters : 5/5 Rating : Mature

AO3 : x

[dalekofchaos]

I don't get the Chloe erasure in Double Exposure

To me, I understand wanting to show a Max Caulfield in her own game without being dependent on Chloe. If that's the case, you should have made sure to say "these gameplays are from a playthrough that chose save the bay" because I've been bitching about not showing what Max's life is like in the Post-Bay ending since LIS 2.(although an easier fix would've been to have Max and Chloe if you saved Chloe or Max and Warren if you saved the Bay in LIS 2 instead of fucking David)

However, I don't understand the marketing tactic of having Chloe's existence being almost non-existent in DE. Chloe is the very emotional core of LIS. Her and Max is what drove the first game's story. Chloe and Rachel drove BTS.

Now I imagine we're only getting Chloe's presence in texts, journal entries or phone calls. But to me that's really dumb. Imagine having an iconic dynamic like Max and Chloe and deciding we're going to act like that doesn't exist and force completely new characters on us instead of characters from Arcadia Bay.

Now to me there are two theories on why Chloe isn't in Vermont with Max

My personal theory. They're taking a break from each other to find themselves. Max chooses to continue to pursue their dreams and Chloe learns to better herself as a person like going to therapy, getting her education and getting a job to be a better person for Max.

The rumored and leaked bullshit break up theory. It's potentially leaked that they broke up and I hate it. Like yes, let's sacrifice an entire town and killing thousands of people, including Chloe's mother and all of Max's friends, only for Max and Chloe to break up. How the fuck is that "respecting the ending"

It also doesn't help that Ashly is a union VA and it feels like once again SE is fucking over the fans by having Rhianna potentially voicing Chloe. I'm sorry, I love Rhianna, but she does not work as an older Chloe, she worked for the BTS era Chloe only. and I cannot imagine Hannah being okay with working with anyone but Ashly as Chloe.

It's evidently clear this was supposed to be a completely different game with a different character entirely, but the D9 expose came out and SE course corrected to save D9's asses and had Max be the main character. For whatever reason they want to distance the player from seeing Chloe. I get the logic of suspense and the wait is worth the reward, but it seems to me they are alienating the audience as a giant fuck you and that is a terrible marketing strategy.

I really don't want to make this comparison because thinking of those vile Clementine comics makes me physically ill, but taking Max away from Chloe(Bae) and Warren and Kate(Bay) is like taking Clementine away from AJ, Louis and Violet.

I have a lot of reasons to boycott this game 1 2 3 4, but the lack of Chloe or characters from Arcadia for the save the Bay scenario is a large part and I really don't like the direction of this game.

To me the only way this game will be worth it is if it ends with Max saving Rachel in the end to quite literally save everyone and it ends with Max, Chloe and Rachel driving off into the rainbow sunset.

[incesthemes]

literally cannot wait to hear you talk about how supernatural 0103 is just. entirely about john's character

i HAVE made a post on this before: i think that 1.03 dead in the water is actually john's introduction episode, told through the allegorical characters bill carlton, jake devins, and peter sweeney's mother. because the character dean imprints onto and relates to is lucas, but the focus of the character is on the parents, so the attention drifts away from dean and onto john to paint a picture for the audience of who he is in his physical absence.

and the episode reveals a lot of information about john that's confirmed later in the series: that he considers losing his children worse than dying (1.20); that he's aggressive and likes to maintain control over situations (also 1.20); that he will sacrifice himself to protect his kids (2.01); so on, so forth.

but i missed something originally—or rather, i couldn't figure out the true, intended meaning of this particular, poignant line from dean: "you can't bury the truth. nothing stays buried."

it's a pretty big line. it's obvious foreshadowing. but i did my first rewatch of season 1 six months ago while i was half-paying attention and i couldn't remember the finer details, so i moved on. but! this is a line about sam (it's always about sam in the end, isn't it?).

dean says this in response to jake and bill attempting to cover up peter's murder. it happens when sam and dean are literally digging up peter's bike which bill and jake had buried thirty-five years ago. these two men had a secret, and nothing stays buried.

john has a secret, too. he knows about sam's connection to azazel. we don't know how long, exactly, he's known this, but it's safe to say he's known that sam is the target of something evil since the night of the fire, and by the time we get to the mid-season episodes, john has figured out this something is a demon. by 1.21, we know that john knows there's a distinct, unnerving connection between sam and the yellow-eyed demon.

and by 2.01, we know that john knows enough about all of this to understand what sam's destiny is and that he and/or dean are the only people who can prevent it.

he keeps all of this a secret, right up until the moment he dies. but no matter how hard he tries to keep the truth buried from his kids, it leaks out—sam has visions before jess dies; sam has visions of the house he was born in; meg comes after him to lure him away from dean; he finds max and realizes there are others like him; he finds meg again and she uses him as bait to kill john. and then there's the whole of season 2 on top of that.

it's a prophecy. you can't bury the truth. nothing stays buried. john was fighting a losing battle; the truth will always be found, and there was nothing john could do to stop sam from learning it, just like jake could do nothing to stop andrea from learning about the murder he committed three decades ago.

1.03 is about john, and it's about season 1. it's every step john will take from now until his death: from hiding the truth to watching it leak out from between his fingers to sacrificing himself to the monster to save his dying son. lucas is dean, jake is john, andrea is sam, and peter sweeney is azazel killing everyone around john and his kids until he's satisfied, until john offers up himself to bring his kid back from the dead.

[reikunrei]

okayyyy so i made a post abt this last night that was just a short ramble trying to piece my thoughts together but basically... i’m just really curious how will’s (possible) powers might manifest and what they might be, and i’m trying to like. reason out how i feel about them and what i personally think would be cool or fitting...

lots of people have talked about this before (like user pinkeoni has made some really good posts abt it, and i think heroesbyler has had good discussions abt it too) and what his powers might be, and a lot of them revolve around creation or light, both of which i’m very fond of

this isn't so much a theory or prediction as it is a "these are things i noticed and i think this would work well with the themes of the show" type of spiel. it ended up way longer than i wanted it to and goes off on multiple tangents because i can't stop myself, so i'm putting it under the cut lol

it's more just for me to try and articulate what i'm feeling about it, but if anyone actually reads this mess, you're more than welcome to share your thoughts :3

with the creation stuff, it automatically makes me think of the UD taking the shape of hawkins... because we know that henward grew to hate that town so why would vecna shape the UD to look like the place he hated? i suppose it could be bc he wanted to take revenge on the town, so why not daydream about it and destroy your scale model of it to get some catharsis, right? but... then it's frozen on the night will went missing? it’s possible that the UD could have simply taken the shape of hawkins when the s1 gate was opened and made the two worlds touch, thus making the UD a true "mirror" dimension of hawkins. but i also really like the idea of will getting sucked into the UD, panicking, wishing he had his hiding places to go to to escape from this monster chasing him, and poof! now he's in hawkins and all of his hiding places are there (he's good at hiding!) but it's still the "wrong" hawkins

but anyway, i want to move on to the "light" angle because there's so many things that i love about the possibility of will's powers taking the form of some kind of light to counteract the darkness created by vecna and the UD ("hide in the light" thank u max)

i especially think it would be cool for it to take the shape of some kind of fire or flame, even if the powers themselves don't behave like fire, like it's just a stylization choice to give some sort of visual that the characters and audience can see

i don't recall if there's any specific moment where any version of henward/vecna/001 or other characters talk about burning or fire as a form of destruction in a metaphorical/symbolic sense, but we see it enough of it literally throughout the show. fire is a means of causing pain, of killing, of destroying

season 1, nancy and jonathan think to burn the demogorgon to a crisp because, hey, that'd be a pretty effective way to kill something, right? so they carry that theory over into all the other seasons

season 2, we see hopper using his lighter to maneuver through the tunnels below hawkins, and the vines flinch away from the flame. we see owens and the lab using fire to cull the "weeds" still growing out of the gate. we see will react physically to the burning, feeling the pain through the link with the hivemind, and requiring it to be cold in order to not be in physical agony

season 3, uuuh i can't remember any direct usage of fire against the fleshflayer other than the fireworks, but that's more about the explosions than the flames imo lol. but we do get the sauna test (best s3 episode hands down mwah love it) and the aversion to heat that we see in billy and also in heather, though less prominently

season 4, we get murray's killer flamethrower scene and hopper using the flaming spear to keep the demogorgon at bay. our hawkins crew relies heavily on use of fire (flambé) in order to take out vecna's physical body

so there's just a lot of fire and fire as a means of destruction. but i can't help also thinking about how fire isn't purely a means of harm. fire keeps us warm, it brings us light in the darkness, it cooks our food and brings us health. the sun, a giant ball of fire, is essential for life to exist on earth. i especially keep thinking about how wildfires are a necessity to the planet, and in places like healthy grassland ecosystems, fires are crucial to burn out old growth to make way for new, fresh green, which the animals there then rely on. letting old growth continue to sit and dry out and die isn't good. it has to be removed completely so that new grass shoots can take over

(not to mention that allowing for controlled burns and letting wildfires run their course in a regular system ultimately allows for fewer, less destructive wildfires to happen. if there's no old, dry growth to burn, then there's less stuff to catch on fire)

how does this tie into the show, though?

to me, it makes me think of the concept of simply living with your trauma, not talking about it, and pretending everything is fine, when all that's doing is creating more kindling for a bigger, more destructive fire. it makes me think of season 2 and the conversation will has with jonathan about how everyone keeps treating him like he's gonna break, and the instructions joyce and hopper got from owens to just "treat him how you normally would." you can ignore trauma all you want and pretend everything is fine, but it's going to be more destructive in the long run. instead, letting him talk about it, listening, letting him burn things down a little bit, will be healthier because it'll clear out that old, dry grass clogging everything up and leave a clean patch of earth for him to build back up with new, healthier growth. you can take a weed wacker to it all you want, but those old roots are still there

not to mention the way they get rid of the mind flayer is to "burn it out of him." they literally let the "fire" run rampant, cranking up the heat to make his body inhabitable to the mind flayer, clearing out those nasty "weeds" so will can grow on his own (more or less) unimpeded

and then there's the s1 flashback scene between will and joyce where he's drawing will the wise shooting green fireballs. joyce asks, "why does he need fireballs if he's so wise? can't he just outsmart the bad guys?" but will explains that sometimes the bad guys are smart too, so he needs the fireballs

only here, they're green because he doesn't have a red crayon. this specific tidbit makes me think of how will's powers are currently repressed in some way. at that time, it was possibly because his powers "hadn't come in" yet, if we want to follow the idea that powers are a symbol for puberty or coming of age

he hasn't "found his flame" yet, so to speak (which is what got me thinking about all of this at all last night bc of the song 'find your flame' from the sonic frontiers ost the absolute slapper that it is) and at this point it's obvious that any awakening of his powers will happen in s5 when he's no longer being suppressed, much like how he currently has to suppress his true feelings, or how he's been unable to move on from what happened to him in s1 and 2

he has to use "fireballs" because sometimes the bad guy is smart. sometimes the bad guy has a trick up his sleeve (like *checks notes* literally not being able to die) and your original plan won't work. you can stock up on weapons, you can create as many sneaky ambushes as you want, you can solve all of the bad guy's riddles, but sometimes you need the fireballs

and, once again, we come back to how i feel like will's powers won't be literal fireballs, or something he physically wields. when it comes to el, henward, and kali, as well as the other powers that we see from other subjects, it's all something that they do. and here's where i start to struggle with how i want to articulate what i think about will's powers...

to me, will's possible powers aren't a weapon in the way that we've seen other powers used, or at least framed as, a weapon

like... i guess i do think that it's something that he can "do," but it's less "i'm going to move this thing with my mind" "i'm going to go into your head and walk through your memories" "i'm going to make you see something that isn't really there." like, he himself, his person, his mind, his essence, his intent, is the power. will byers is the light. why else constantly bask him in rays of sunshine, hm?? lol

again, i want to touch on the possibility of the UD hawkins manifesting simply because he wanted it to. he didn't think about it, he didn't deliberately go like "okay and now this house is here and this place is there" it simply... was. it just happened without much of his input other than a vague wish and panic

if we want to make it into something more deliberate, it makes me think of lio fotia in promare. the movie is basically about this group of people who suddenly developed "burnish" abilities, where they contain fire and have some sort of fire powers. they're persecuted by the rest of the planet, and are treated as terrorists and locked away in prisons and experimented upon. the fire, or "promare," inside of them is a double-edged sword, where they supposedly rejuvenate their bodies, but if they don't let it burn, it instead kills them and they turn to ash. spoilers i guess (you should definitely go watch this movie i highly recommend it), but near the end of the movie, lio is taken captive by the antagonist, kray foresight, and our other main chara galo thymos tries to save lio. kray lashes out using his burnish powers and tries to burn galo, but lio launches his own flames toward galo to protect him. when galo's firefighting team finds him, he's on fire, but he doesn't notice because the fire doesn't hurt him. it's a special kind of flame that doesn't burn! in the end, in order to save the world, they have to let it fully burn one last time, and galo and lio work together to wrap the entire earth in a massive wave of fire, and it's fire that takes the form of water. it engulfs everyone, but everyone realizes that it doesn't actually burn

i'm getting off topic but !! now we start getting less into "will has fire powers" and more "his powers are light and warmth" instead. like lio and galo's combined powers and intent (that's the other thing, that final big burn is different than the rest because of the intent behind it), it's not actually about the fire, it's about its purpose

he needs the fireballs to fight the bad guys, but in the case of our "bad guy," literal fireballs don't work. henward's past is a complicated one, and a lot of where he's been led was caused by his lack of a proper support system. he was villainized for being different. even when he was found by someone who "cared" for him, it was for that man's own personal gain, not because he actually cared about henward

henward was only ever burned and then left in the cold. nobody gave him a second chance like el, nobody listened to him like will. he was forced to fend for himself on his own in the darkness. he came to rely on the darkness. vecna literally focuses on the darkest thoughts of his victims in order to gain enough power to open gates. and sure, focusing on negative emotions gives all of our characters with powers some burst of strength

but then we're shown that love is what makes them even stronger. focusing on happy memories, memories of friends and loved ones, memories of the love itself, is what allows el to overpower 001 in the lab and to close the gate in s2 and to break billy out of his tether to the fleshflayer. and even in that final showdown in s3, she's not using her powers. she's burned out. in that moment, it's not the powers themselves that save them, it's the message behind it

will's whole character is about love and understanding. he puts himself last consistently, he puts the needs of others above himself, and he does not know how to be a little bit selfish when it comes to his feelings. he's sensitive, he's kind, he's artistic, he cries easy, he relies on his friends and family to feel safe and loved, and without them, he feels lost and hurt and alone. and there might be ups and downs, but he gets that love and support from them. they always have his back. he knows what it's like to feel pain and to suffer, but to have people who will stay by your side unconditionally through it all

and that's something he can offer to vecna and his alternate versions. he can offer that love, and that warmth, and that light in the darkness. and once again, i think it would be neat if it was less of a literal flame or source of light, and that it was will who is the source of light. like, he is the example for henward/vecna to see. he's the proof that despite all the bad shit there is in the world, there are people who will still love you anyway. there's people who will listen to you and care for you even if everyone else shuts you out

and even if it does take the form of something literal, of an actual flame or glowing ball of light or more of those glowy particles, it's not a weapon like the other powers we've seen

it's also about just shining a light on all the good stuff that's mixed in with the bad stuff. again, there is no black and white (thanks brenner, you fuck). henward was miserable in his life, he hated it and was frustrated that he felt trapped in a cage, and he only saw all the bad in the world. he couldn't see any of the good mixed in (ie. the possibility that he was friends with scott clarke as a kid, or even the fact that victor was really so caring and loved his son so much) because he just assumed it was all bad and he'd have to start from scratch to get any of the good he wanted

even focusing on the negative thoughts and feelings of his victims, vecna was able to be evaded by thinking of happy memories that took place at the same time as the bad ones. "hide in the light." again and again, we see max use memories, both past and present, to free herself from his clutches. good memories that still exist alongside the bad ones. and if vecna acknowledges that there's still good mixed in among the bad, his whole source of power, the foundation for his plan, completely crumbles

if will's power has to do with light, then he'll be the one to shine the light on all of the good memories that henward had mixed in among the bad. and this isn't to victim blame this 12 year old boy who was miserable and didn't know what else to do, but it's instead about his lack of support system, and how it's understandable to have grown so jaded, but that doesn't mean everything is bad, and there's still a chance for him to come back from it and change his way of thinking

henward was a wildfire waiting to happen, and rather than having someone to let him burn a little, to let out his anger and listen, he was trimmed back and suppressed. he had his old growth left there to dry out, which only added more kindling. he was never given the room to bring in new growth

and then to really tie in the use of fire to match the theme of "no black and white," i think about avatar the last airbender, and specifically the sun warrior temple that aang and zuko visit in the final book. in book 1 of atla, aang tries to learn firebending and jumps in too quickly, ends up burning katara's hands, and swears off ever learning firebending because he doesn't want to hurt anyone with it. in book 3, zuko offers to teach him, but aang is still very timid about it because of that incident in book 1. zuko also finds his firebending ability diminishing, and they surmise that it's because he no longer has this drive to find and capture the avatar. that was his source of power, his purpose, and now that it's no longer his purpose, he has to find the true way to master firebending. so, the two boys travel to the sun warrior temple to try to find answers. there, both zuko and aang admit that they really only see fire as something destructive, but the sun warriors remind them that fire is warmth and light and life. fire can be destructive, but it is not only destructive. it's something beautiful and necessary, you just have to respect it

feels pretty fitting for stranger things, yeah?

so, to wrap this all up before i go fucking crazy:

i personally think that will's powers will predominantly take the form of fire or light

i do also still adhere to some of the creation power theories, but it also wouldn't be crazy for him to have more than one power, right? after all, el can use telekinesis, track someone's physical location, and go into their minds. that's 3 pretty different things that she can do!

will is directly tied to the behavior of the lights in s1 and called back to in s4. throughout the show, and especially in s4, will is basked in sunshine on multiple occasions. sure, those instances are mostly about his bond to mike, and how mike sees him in this halo of light all the time...

but that still ties into the theme of love. those rays of light are about mike's love for will, and vice versa. but that kind of unconditional love and acceptance is something that will have to be extended to henward and vecna. therefore: light is the key

and again, it just feels very fitting to have the key be something like fire. something that's so often villainized and only seen as bad and destructive, when it truly is something that's misunderstood. unchecked, it can run rampant and cause pain and grief, but when respected, it can bring life and healing, for lack of a better word

so far, we've only seen fire used as a means of harm. it does keep our characters safe (ie. hopper's flaming spear, the flame thrower, the moltovs, etc.) but it is wielded as a weapon first, when it doesn't have to be

fire can cause pain, yes, but fire is also passion and love. light is something to be extended, to help people find their way out of the darkness, and i just think it would be really cool to see vecna, who's always shrouded in darkness, or henward who hid away in the dark attic surrounded by candles, to have a ray of warm sunshine like will byers hold out a hand to him and try to help

[thestobingirlie]

With the asks about Eddie and the 'hunt the freak' thing it made me think of two things I've seen fandom talk about with it

1. Acting like it's a classist thing that Eddie was considered a suspect for Chrissy but Steve wasn't considered a suspect for Barb. When there was another (ok, it was wrong) explanation for Barb being missing, with the whole runaway line. There was no evidence for the police to believe that Barb had been harmed at Steve's house. And with Chrissy there was a body! There were two people living in the trailer, one had an alibi for his whereabouts, the other was seen entering with her and leaving without her. Of course he was a suspect. And when you add in the fact he was a known dealer, the police probably had a potential motive of a drug deal gone wrong in mind.

2. I recently saw a post saying that fans are wrong when they make Claudia Henderson such a loving and accepting person when she's 'obviously' a judgemental person because she believed the police that Eddie was dangerous and not going off what she would have been told by Dustin. She's a single mother to a teenager who is known for not having the best judgement (Dart, the Russians). She would have been worried about Dustin's safety or him getting caught up in something. If she'd never met Eddie and all of a sudden the police are saying he's a suspected serial killer, she'd be terrified about what it meant for her kid. If he was going to get dragged in as an accomplice or if he was in danger of being the next victim. She didn't know Eddie outside of what she'd been told, so she had no reason to believe he wasn't dangerous.

Some fans seem to forget that we, as the audience, have additional information as to what's happening, we know things that the other characters don't, and the characters need to stop being judged for acting in a certain way because they don't have all the information.

it’s kinda funny because this fandom, like, invents things that eddie is oppressed over. for example, no one ever calls eddie trailer trash in canon. but in every anon i get calling him that, it’s in quotes. like. just admit it’s you calling him trailer trash, no one else lmao.

but anyway!!

1. i actually made a post about this so long ago!! so here you go. but yeah, it’s dumb to compare the two. the cases are not at all the same, and like you said, eddie is known drug dealer, he’s had run ins with the police before. we know this from max’s mum, and chief powell himself who asks jason if chrissy would buy drugs from eddie.

2. who tf is shitting on claudia henderson, because i will not allow it. like. jesus sorry she lives in a HELLHOLE, where people seem to get brutally murdered on a yearly basis and everyone does fuck all about it. let her be nervous damn, she doesn’t owe eddie anything.

honestly i think most people need to rewatch the show, preferably without shipping goggles, just to remind themselves of what actually happened.

[foxcassius]

i read lots of books this year so i'm gonna post opinions about some

gita desai is not here to shut up

sonia patel

this book is like a 2.5/5 stars for me. did i cry yes but its very hard to not cry when a book is talking about something traumatic that you happen to have experience with. i find that the metaphor was shoved pretty hard, i read the words chup-re at least 400 times over the course of the book i think, and while its a good metaphor you dont need to dumb something down and shove it front and center just bc its a ya book. the book also reeked of like bioessentialism? there were no good men in the book except gay men and the mc's brother. dads are bad uncles are bad boyfriends are bad guys you meet at school are bad guys you meet at work are bad. the author couldn't find it in her to write a man who wasnt a violent rapist who wasnt gay. it felt very pandering and vaguely radfem. the main character's thoughts were so tangental and rambling i had trouble reconciling that people she interacted with had normal interactions with her. kind of weird overall with the takes and the writing choices.

the emily wilde series

heather fawcett

first i want to state my confusion about these books being ya……the protagonist is 30 years old. is it just due to the lack of sex? does lack of sex a ya book make? i think these books are good, a solid 4/5 stars. i cant say much for them other than that they are entertaining, especially to me. the fae love interest isnt controlling or dark or brooding he’s just kinda goofy and particular and faeries are referenced/the worldbuilding is done so as to build a very cozy and pleasant view of the fae and their world without it being too cozy. in complement, the dangers of interacting with faeries are highlighted without it being overly grim and melodramatic. there is a lot of reference to real folklore but like more niche real folklore and a wider variety of it instead of just the same six superstitions over and over again. They’re not 5/5 because i have a certain bar for that but there’s nothing like wrong with the books theyre enjoyable.

hench

natalie zina walschots

this book is like a 4 or 4.5/5 for me. i think i lean more towards a 4 because it was longer than it needed to be and the ending was pretty blah in my opinion. the book carries the pov character’s voice very well and addresses the made-up issue of its world (that parallels our real world in ways) very head-on. the way the plot and the characters build is natural and realistic. it can be slow to start but once you get into it you’re pretty into it. it drags its feet as it waddles towards the ending but you stick around because you do want to see what’s going to happen. if you’re really into romance though and want the romance a lot you will be disappointed

this is how you lose the time war

amal el-mohtar and max gladstone

i feel like i’m not smart enough to fully appreciate this book or something. not into poetry enough to Get It i suppose. i did like it. it’s like a 3.5 or 4/5. it’s the only pov-change book i’ve read recently that warranted it. but its a difficult book to recommend to people because it is sci fi, right, but its also got a really weird writing style. i really dont Know what to say about it? it was good and i liked it but if i was the target audience it would have been Gooder and i would have liked it More, maybe.

other birds

sarah addison allen

this book is a prime example of changing pov where no change of pov is necessitated. it’s like a 2/5 for me. i did finish it. i dont know why the author insists on using changing pov when every character’s pov has the exact same voice as every other character. its also just kind of a boring book its not that interesting. and the only black characters are elderly parental figures even though there is a pretty full cast of young white people running around being heartfelt. like you didnt think for one moment to make one of them a slim shade less white? not worth reading in my personal opinion.

the bog wife

kay chronister

another pov change book that had no business being changing pov. if this book had picked a main character, it maybe would have been a 3/5. as it is, its 2/5. it's a long book with very little character development or payoff to speak of. i guess you solve the mystery? a little? not even, really? i dont know maybe im just not smart enough to get it but this book was a huge miss.

the unlikely pilgrimage of harold fry

rachel joyce

this is like a 4.5 or 5/5 book to me. it is one of those books that is quintessentially about humanity and realizing that everyone around you is a human with a life and a story and a sorrow of their own. i understand how people could find a book like that kind of boring or condescending, but i like books like that, and i liked this one even though it felt pretty direct and low on metaphor. i teared up and cried my fair share towards the end but there are about 30 children’s picture books that make me do the same that i can name off the top of my head so not really a MASSIVE feat i suppose. i would recommend it.

till the last beat of my heart

louangie bou-montes

this was like a 3.5/5. an extremely low-stakes ya sort of urban fantasy romance. i dont even know if im using urban fantasy correctly here. the writing style is just sort of okay in my opinion and when you step back, they spend a lot of time waffling around not doing much. i felt like it could have used one more draft, and i mean draft like start over from the beginning with a blank page and write only what you remember of the most important parts of your old draft. it was good though and other than just feeling like the writing could have been tightened up there is nothing wrong with it.

a good girl's guide to murder

holly jackson

not normally the kind of book i would read but kids keep asking for readalikes to one of us is lying so i had to read a few and have more on hold. this was the best one of the bunch, 3.5 or 4/5. realistic? no. pretty good though? yeah. i appreciate that the book acknowledged racism without trying to center it in the narrative. maybe some readers would prefer the story to have tackled it more head-on, but i think with a white author this is a better approach. i think there were plenty of leads to keep the mystery interesting but the solution didnt come out of left field or anything, and having so many loose suspicious people does set it up well for sequels, which i know it has but i wont be reading them.

all your twisted secrets

diana urban

this is like. a 2.5/5 or 3/5 for me personally because i am not a teenager who is into this genre. when it got to the end and *SPOILER* it turned out the main character set everything up, i was just like lmao. no she didnt though. like i know you wrote that she did but like. no she didnt. would suffice as a readalike for one of us is lying though which fulfills my purpose w it.

a danger to herself and others

alyssa sheinmel

follows a girl with psychosis who doesnt realize she has psychosis through her court-mandated stay at an institution for evaluation/diagnosis if possible after her summer program roommate falls from their second-story dorm window during a game. its like a 3.5/5. i cant speak to whether or not its an accurate portrayal of the illness, but it shows how she changes and her view on her doctor and the insitution changes as she comes to terms with things and gets medicated. also portrays how she struggles with missing people from her hallucinations and how missing them can tempt her into not taking her medication and similar struggles.

jubilee

patricia reilly giff

this is one of my favorite books of the past decade full stop. 5/5. its a children’s book. a young girl with selective mutism who was left to live with her aunt as a very small child is moved from the special ed class to the general classroom at the start of 5th grade and is adjusting to it. she makes friends with a dog a random man throws at her in the ocean and also with a dirty, rough boy who is always being chased and beaten by either his brothers or his parents. her aunt’s not-boyfriend tells her he wants to marry her aunt but wants her permission/approval, and then also she finds out her mother who she hasnt seen in like ten years is living on the mainland a mere ferry ride away. all of these are things she struggles to answer/make decisions on/be heard about. its a book about adjusting and growing and moving past your traumas and i cried a lot its a really good book. i recommend.

the puppets of spelhorst

kate dicamillo

another 5/5. childrens book. beautiful, sad, hopeful, poetic, just an extremely good read. i truly have nothing else i can say about it.

the land of neverendings

kate saunders

a book that tackles grief. a real 4.5/5. its a childrens book. it is explicitly sad and does not shy away from talking about death and grief and every little thing associated with losing someone. a young girl loses her older sister, who was disabled her whole life. she feels strange because she finds her grief over her sister manifesting as missing her sister’s bear, bluey, who was cremated with her. when she starts catching glimpses of the world of toys she had always made up stories about to keep her sister entertained, she jumps the hurdles of hope and disappointment over and over again as her desperation to see bluey and, in turn, her sister staggers between the extremes. it is so well written, it depicts both raw, recent loss and long-lived loss clearly and realistically, and i really recommend it.

the grace of wild things

heather fawcett

i wanted to read this book when i worked at my last library, then i came to my new library and forgot about it, and then while reading the emily wilde series i was like hey. that author's name looks familiar. which is kind of funny to me! she must be busy, because this book and an emily wilde book both came out this year i think? anyway a good 3.5 or 4/5. sort of an anne of green gables retelling but with a heavy magical twist. the main character, grace, is a witch, and runs away from her orphanage to seek out an old witch the kids have told her about who cooks and eats children because grace wants to be her apprentice. this book does not shy away from scariness, often depicting the witch as terrifying and confirming she does cook and eat children, going so far as to have the bones of them left in her oven and etc. i think its very good and original as far as anne of green gables retellings go and it has really wonderful voice, something heather fawcett just seems to do well.

[thewarnerbrothers]

Hello I’ve got two questions

1)Do you believe disney and wb are ever going to bring back max goof/the warners one day? Animaniacs got its reboot but I miss them already and max has so much potential

2)I know you’re a fan of max and yakko but do you also ship max with bradley or is yax your main favorite?

aww, this is the first ask i've gotten in a while!

more under the cut!

animaniacs first: i think it'll be a whiiile before we see another animaniacs reboot, even with the pace film/tv is pumping out remakes. for a hot minute i thought there were plans for another patb spinoff (which honestly i wouldve fucking loved). alas, we only really got those masterclass shorts. fun, but i was hoping it would be followed by more gay lab mice!!!

WB seems to fucking hate their own cartoons at the moment so i'm not really hopeful we'll get much more animaniacs any time soon 💀 not even spinoffs

i'd love to see even a direct to video movie featuring the kidses though!!! i want another silly adventure a la wakko's wish

if they ever do i'm promptly shitting my pants

as for disney... lately max goof/the goofy movies (especially the sequel) have been enjoying a huge fandom boom! 🥹 it makes me SO fucking happy seeing people draw max in droves again

apparently at least a couple of formal goof troop reboot pitches had been made in the past few years alone, from what i've gathered on social media! AFAIK none have been greenlit. maybe one day max will get his shot at the spotlight again. if that happens, i think we're gonna see a MUCH different incarnation of max.

he was originally a very stereotypical rambunctious 90s kid/edgy angsty teen (as edgy as disney toons ever got anyway). unless they set the reboot/remake in modern times, it might feel a bit dated and played out. i don't think the 90s nostalgia market is strong enough to convince disney to bring back max atp

tbh its lowkey funny. they always seems to forget/bury max outside of goof troop and SOME movies

its lame that bc outside of little cameos, sparse social media posts, occasional merch, and park appearances, max goof doesn't exist. he's goofy's fucking son, hello? one of the most popular toons to ever exist? POWERLINE has more merch than max at this point.

(tbf he's iconic but anyway)

my own personal conspiracy theory was that the slight increase in attention to max on disney's part (that powerline boardgame, some merch, and the documentary on goofy movie that's supposedly coming out) is testing the waters for audience reception. if there's enough, maybe they'll finally consider it

until then i am doubtful we'll see goof troop rebooted or another film featuring max.

as for max/bradley, i honestly don't care about it too much. i wouldn't go so far as to say i hate the ship. it just doesn't interest me by default? popular fanon doesn't align well with my tastes. i like enemies/rivals to lovers, but i struggle with taking him seriously as a romantic counterpart in fic/fanart lol. the only versions of the ship i am drawn to are where bradley and max are at each others throats, or through the lens of comedy.

i suppose in meme terms i only like maxley if it's toxic yaoi lol

honestly i don't care so much about how people are shipping max as i do the fact that he's getting any attention (art and fic) at all. i'm a multishipper at heart anyway, so i'm having fun all the same!

[londonspirit]

When Our Flag Means Death first premiered, the pirate comedy series — a novel genre mashup in and of itself — didn't necessarily make a big splash in the streaming landscape. It didn't take long, however, for positive word of mouth and a slowly growing fanbase to lead to impressive viewing numbers, with the first season becoming the biggest new series in the U.S. across all platforms — and its popularity has only grown since. Now, on the precipice of the series' return, over a year after it was finally renewed for a second season, viewers are eagerly preparing to tune in to find out what will happen to Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby), Edward Teach/Blackbeard (Taika Waititi), and the rest of the Revenge's crew now that everyone has been divided into two separated groups.

Ahead of the Season 2 premiere, Collider had the opportunity to speak to creator David Jenkins for a spoiler-free conversation (if you've checked out some of those trailers already, that is!) about what fans can expect. Over the course of the interview, which you can read below, Jenkins discusses when he found out the show would be renewed, the unprecedented response to Season 1, and why he enjoys engaging with the OFMD fandom online. He also digs into discussing why Season 2 takes a somewhat darker tone, the importance of adding more female characters to the cast, his envisioned story for the show's planned three seasons, and more.

COLLIDER: You made a whole season between now and the last time we spoke!

DAVID JENKINS: It was a long time ago. Here we are!

And I know it was a bit before we even knew that Season 2 was going to be a possibility. How long was that wait on your end?

JENKINS: Yeah, I blocked it out, if I'm honest. [Laughs] It was a minute. We're really lucky that they picked us up, and they've been really wonderful to us at Max. They're just very fun to make this show with. There was a minute where I would call it kind of a slow-burn fandom, and the show just seemed to grow and grow and grow. I think we became more and more viable as the weeks went by after the finale, and thank god we got to do it again.

With the response to Season 1, it felt like week after week, even once the whole season was out, there was just this exponential growth. What was your reaction to that? Has that ever happened to you before, in your experience?

JENKINS: Oh, it’s never happened to me. I don't know if it's happened to other shows. Somehow, I feel like the streaming of it makes this unusual, and then the fact that it is actually a romantic relationship between these two characters. Audiences didn't want to get burned again, and then saw that they weren't going to be, and celebrated it. It just really moved me, actually. I thought that they'd kiss, and people would be like, “Oh, cool, cool!” I kind of thought people would know a little bit more [about] where we were going, but then in hindsight, no, people have been hurt and burned on so many other shows and then made to feel silly. So it was very gratifying to see the show embraced — to see every element of the creative embraced, every element of the production design, every department get their due in attention, was just overwhelming. It's the honor of my professional life. I don't think this happens very often, so I'm just savoring it.

You don't always see creators who are willing to engage with the fandom online, or they try to keep a distance, but it feels like you're getting in there occasionally and interacting with fans. How do you feel about that particular response, the fandom and their passion?

JENKINS: It's an honor. If it were a different circumstance or a different property or something else that maybe had a different tone that brought in a more dyspeptic, less gracious [fandom]... Everyone's been lovely. When people are being nice and normal, easy to be around, yeah, I wanna be at that party. Are you kidding me? And then you're gonna celebrate all the work that we did when we didn't know if the show would be good? Because when you're making these things, you're like, “Well, I know this is just my weird thing. Maybe people like it, maybe they won't.” When people are this gracious and effusive and not weird about it, it's like, “Yeah, let's talk. This is great. You're a fan of the stuff that we were a fan of. We're not different.” So that's really rare.

In terms of the overall tone of Season 2, there's definitely a darkness that it starts with. Was it more of a conscious decision to embrace that side, or did it really inherently come from picking up with these characters after where we left off with them in Season 1?

JENKINS: It's picking up with where the arc is in the story. We're post-breakup, and they're trying to fix it. One of these characters is very, very damaged and has never made himself vulnerable in this way before, and I don't think [he] would react very well to having his heart broken in this way. I don't think it would be cute, and I don't think it would be funny. I think it would be scary as hell to watch a very damaged guy that we've established in Ed, who killed his dad and thinks he's not capable of being loved, deal with rejection and see that Stede really hurt him. It's important to do that, to give him stakes because Rhys [Darby] is adorable, and Taika [Waititi] can be adorable, and sometimes when they're being adorable, they become invulnerable. I want to see a love story between two people who are very vulnerable, for better and for worse. So you have to pick up in a place where there's been damage done and there's a price to pay, and then it's like, “Can they come back from it?”

That's not to say that there aren't moments of levity and comedy. Stede, from his perspective, is this more pining figure writing letters, but he's definitely not in the same mental or emotional space as Ed is at this point because he doesn't realize how hurt Ed is.

JENKINS: The lovely thing about Rhys and about Stede is Stede’s cluelessness. He eventually does the right thing, but he doesn't know his own strength, and that's his problem. Then he does damage, and then he has to repair that damage, and that's the growth of that character. Ed is a guy where you're like, “Wait a minute, you're invulnerable. You’re Blackbeard,” but then you see he's hurt, he's not getting up. To me, those are the natural journeys for those two characters. Then you see Ed come back, and he has to wear a bell around his neck, and he's gonna fix a lock on this door, and he's gonna learn to fish and just be a three-dimensional human as opposed to just a scary drawing. Those are the tensions of those guys, and that's why Rhys has dog energy, and Taika has cat, and that seems to go along with both of those arcs.

I wanted to ask you about one of the things that feels like a really nice addition to Season 2, which is just the number of female characters that we get for the crew to bounce off of.

JENKINS: Good, I’m glad you feel that way.

Leslie [Jones] is back, we get Minnie Driver, and there's a new female pirate captain who shifts the power dynamic, among others. Did that feel like a natural way to expand the cast, or was that a change that you really wanted to make after Season 1?

JENKINS: It felt like both. Watching Season 1 is like, “Oof, there’s a lot of dudes.” We do go into Jim's experience as a non-binary crew member and Jim's relationship with their mentor and mother figure. In Season 2, it felt important and also the most logical way to build the world out. So it was fun to add these characters, even one-offs like Hell-Cat Maggie, and be like, “There are so many different perspectives to bring into this show.” It just felt natural to do that.

What's your favorite needle drop that the show has used so far in Season 1, and which one are you excited for fans to get to in Season 2?

JENKINS: Season 2 is built around [Kate Bush's] “This Woman's Work,” and that was very early on. That was a little bit like [Fleetwood Mac's] “The Chain.” I knew I wanted to use that, clear it, script where it should go in the season. There's a couple of those where it takes a minute to get that song, and there's a lot of back and forth, and if you don't get it, there's not a real good replacement for it. In that first season, “The Chain” really worked. We could have found a different song, but “The Chain,” that really works there. Also, [Cat Stevens'] “Miles from Nowhere” at the end of the first season felt like the Stede Bonnet song with that version of “Miles from Nowhere.”

Season 2, Nina Simone makes a couple of appearances, and I just love the size and grandeur of what she's doing. She seems to fit with a really large fantasy show — obviously, she's Nina Simone — and what she's talking about and how she's expressing it up against this world is really exciting to me. I don't know why it works for me as much as it does, but it really moves me. She comes back at the end of the season with a different track, and I just love having her music up against these pictures.

I've seen quotes from you recently where you talked about how—fingers crossed—if there's a renewal, Season 3 would be the planned final ending for this show. Was that something that you always envisioned, that it would be three-and-done?

JENKINS: I think so. When Taika expressed interest in doing it, I was surprised. “Are you sure?” He was like, “Yeah, man. Yeah, I wanna do it.” I was like, “Okay, but it’s not limited. Can you do it for three seasons?” “Yeah.” “Really? Really, you'll do it for three seasons?” “Yeah, man. Yeah.” So my expectation was we're only gonna get Taika for three seasons. But beyond that, three is good for this show. The first season is about two emotionally underdeveloped men who are at about 14, 15, 16, emotionally. Season 2 is about them getting older and maybe, in terms of the relationship, being around 25 to maybe 30 by the end of the season. And then I think there's one more story to tell, and it's how does a relationship evolve? Where do we find them again in the third season? What are they dealing with? That's very interesting to me, and there is a big story that I'd like to tell there.

Our Flag Means Death Season 2 premieres with its first three episodes October 5 on Max, with two episodes dropping weekly thereafter leading up to the season finale on October 26.

[technicolorfamiliar]

Technicolor Familiar Watches Too Many Conrad Veidt Movies Part 2 of ?

(More on what this is all about in Part 1)

Disclaimer: I think I get into more plot spoilers here than I did in my last post, incase that matters to any interested parties reading this.

We're getting into the titles where I mostly went in cold, no expectations or even general ideas of what these movies were about beyond brief descriptions on IMDB or Letterboxd.

Oh and, Disclaimer #2: If the creators/editors/scanners of any images used see their work here, please let me know so I can give you proper credit! 🖤

The Thief of Bagdad, 1940 Dir. Ludwig Berger, Zoltan Korda, Tim Whelan, Michael Powell, William Cameron Menzies ⭐2/5 Watched Oct 24, Max Ehhh, I don't know. A lot of people really love this movie. I did not particularly enjoy really anything about it. Sure, it's a groundbreaking technological marvel that set the standard for a lot of future fantasy films. But the story is messy in a way that couldn't be rectified by Movie Magic. All those directors probably account for some of the problems there, but I haven't done a ton of research into the making of the film (what is it with large scale, big budget movies made around this time all having multiple directors?). And, I have to say, putting white actors in brown face is always a tough sell. The third act was partially saved by Sabu and Rex Ingram, two actors of color, having some extended screen time, but only just barely. And frankly, I think Connie, although absolutely glorious in Technicolor, was largely wasted on this one.

Der Student von Prague (The Student of Prague), 1926 Dir. Henrik Galeen ⭐4/5 Watched Oct 29, Archive.org Poor Balduin. All he wanted was a hot, rich girlfriend and what did he get? His evil double chasing him around Prague like Michael Myers. I really loved the old school mirror effects and filming tricks. The updated score in the version I watched was pretty good, too. The final act was excellent. The suspense, the build up -- it's all so well-crafted. And an excellent bridge between high German Expressionism and dramatic period romance. We love to see Connie as the tormented romantic hero. Especially when he's giving face, he's giving eyes, he's giving shapes. I'm having a hard time finding anything negative to say about this one. My only gripe is that it's just a little long, could have had maybe 20 - 30 minutes chopped off (but which 20 - 30 min I could not say).

The Passing of the Third Floor Back, 1935 Dir. Berthold Viertel ⭐4/5 Watched Nov 1, Archive.org This film... it's timeless, actually. I may be a grumpy old so-and-so, but stories where one kind and gentle character comes in and leaves a lasting influence on a bunch of deeply flawed or even outright awful people always get me. For some reason, this is the first of Connie's films from the 1930s on my watch list. Not sure what took me so long, but I was really pleasantly taken aback by his delicately nuanced and subdued performance here. His measured gestures and restraint are so great in this film, and so appropriate for the character. I really appreciate the way the Stranger takes time to consider and see the folks at the boarding house in a way they're clearly not seeing each other. I also love that there's not a lot of exposition or explanation like there usually is in similar pictures: Why is the Stranger there? Who/what is he? Where did he come from? The audience kind of gets an answer at the end, but ultimately nothing more than what we're given matters and wouldn't affect the story anyway.

The Last Performance, 1929 Dir. Paul Fejos ⭐4/5 Watched Nov 4, Youtube Gooped and gagged! Somehow we go from adding a fourth to Erik's polycule to MURDER? I'm so mad so much footage (and a voiceover??) was lost. Can we please talk about the big bisexual energy Connie has in this movie, maybe more than any other film on my list so far? From how he physically handles his costars to how he's styled with the heavy makeup, the tails, the dressing gown, it was a lot to take in, and I am living for it. I'm realizing that, as a performer, he really is a master technician, somehow without anything he's doing on screen coming off as inauthentic or too studied, without "showing the work." Erik's face journey when he kisses Julie's hand and wishes her all the best with Mark is worth watching the whole movie for.

Dark Journey, 1937 Dir. Victor Saville ⭐3/5 Watched Nov 12, Youtube Please believe me when I say I really tried very hard to pay attention to the plot of this movie. But it was extremely difficult as I nearly swallowed my tongue because of how stupidly attractive Connie is as Von Marwitz. He's charming, intense, vulnerable. He really has the range, darling. He's kind of using his lower vocal register a bit which apparently does things to me. (Sorry for all the parentheses in this post, but I was shocked years ago when I saw Casablanca and heard that voice come out of that person. It… it does not go. He's like a early 20th century German Jeremy Irons and I guess I half expected him to sound like that too.) Also, I wasn't into monocles before. I am now. So I have to apologize, I know I said I was going to keep the thirst posts to a minimum but can you blame me? Really? But uh, the movie itself? The story is fine, the script is just ok. There's lots of eye candy with the production design. Vivienne Leigh is doing Vivienne Leigh. And she got that man, so good for her I guess.

Part 3 is going to be all over the place in terms of genre and tone, so we'll see how that goes as I piece together all the stuff I wrote.

[amethystina]

Spotify Tag Game

I got tagged by @sofapup17! Thank you so much 💜

The game: Put your Spotify On Repeat playlist on shuffle and post the first 10 songs!

Honestly, I'm the worst person to do this x'D I don't use Spotify all that often so right now all songs on my On Repeat list are from the Who Holds the Devil playlist I made. So this turned into less of a "what music do you listen to" and more of a "let me explain why I put these specific songs on my Who Holds the Devil playlist." BUT I guess there might be an audience for that, too?

So let's go, I guess?

___

1. Heroes Rise - Tommee Profitt, Sam Tinnez

Definitely more of a Ga On-focused song what with that whole "hero" thing he's got going on and his attempts to make a change in the world. But there are also definite hints of Yo Han in that whole "heroes never die" aspect. Because while what he did was technically illegal and he's more of an antihero than anything else, he IS definitely still a hero. And what he did will be remembered for a long time to come, if nothing else because it gave rise to new heroes (see what I did there? ;D)

This is just a very good song to convey the overarching plot of heroes and the power they hold — but also the amount of conviction and dedication it requires.

2. I Didn't Ask For This - Beth Crowley

I am OBSESSED with this song right now, specifically in relation to Yo Han. There are parts of this song that hits just right for his character, both in the original drama and Who Holds the Devil. I mean:

Take what's left Of my fractured heart Bloodstained 'cause The pieces are so sharp

*chef's kiss*

But also:

*pterodactyl screech*

3. The Sacrament - HIM

My teenage emo phase coming back to bite me in the ass x'D No, but really, there's just something with this song that vibes with the whole religious themes of The Devil Judge. And the longing, desperation, and reverence of Who Holds the Devil.

Also, I just really, really love that piano. So sue me.

4. Die For You - PENTAGON

This one is pretty self-explanatory, I feel. Very much Ga On at the start of Who Holds the Devil, desperately longing for Yo Han. It also perfectly conveys his recklessness and just how far he'd be willing to go to be forgiven for his mistakes.

5. Dancing's Done - Ava Max

Possibly added during a bit of a YOLO moment, not going to lie xD BUT, there are definitely parts of the lyrics that apply:

I wanna give into your dark temptation I wanna touch you like nobody does, oh People like you and me were born to run So where we going when the dancing's done? (Oh)

Because Ga On sure has hell wants to give in to Yo Han's dark temptation, even if he pretends that he doesn't.

6. A Little Bit Dangerous - CRMNL

Yo Han. Through and through. It also has a bit of the same cheekiness as the original soundtrack, which I like. And, I mean:

Let out of the cage, took my chains away I'm so tough to tame now Look at what you made me Look at what you made me do

7. I Want You To Want Me - Chase Holfelder

Another Yo Han song. Like, if you've read The Gentle Light? You know why this song is here. You know about the desperation and the yearning and the need. So, really, I HAD to put this on the list.

BECAUSE PINING.

8. Let Me Be Your Armor - Assemblage 23

I am SO glad this song made it onto the list because this one actually requires an explanation. It's one that might not make a lot of sense in terms of style (it definitely has a different vibe than the rest) BUT. The lyrics. The LYRICS. Like, babes. Listen to the lyrics. Listen to the lyrics ALL THE WAY THROUGH and then tell me this isn't Yo Han (as he sees himself).

This is a song I've had in my folders for literal YEARS (a friend sent it to me as a mood song for one of my OCs) and the moment I decided to make this playlist, I KNEW this song had to be on it.

9. A Dangerous Thing - AURORA

Honestly, I'm not sure if I need to explain this one all that much. It kind of speaks for itself in a lot of ways. Though I WILL say that while the dangerous thing is Yo Han in most situations, just maybe, there might be times when it's Ga On. Especially in Who Holds the Devil.

(... you'll understand after chapter 37)

10. Addicted - MONSTA X

Look. I know we haven't really gotten to that part yet, but they be horny, okay? Desperate and horny. And very much addicted to each other. What more do you want me to say? xD

(for real, though, MONSTA X sure know how to make desperate and horny songs. Mercy is even worse, in the best way possible).

___

Well, I hope that was fun! Even if it turned into an advertisement for Who Holds the Devil and the attached playlist x'D

As for tagging, I tag @shi-toyu because I know you at least use Spotify ;) And everyone else who wants to do it!

[hairstevington]

💜WIP Wednesday💜

Tagged by @hbyrde36 !!! <3 <3 <3

It’s WIP Wednesday, time for a little accountability, sharing your work, and getting a kick in the pants.

Here’s how it works:

In a reblog of this post (so people can find you in the notes) or new thread (w/ rules attached) if you want to play on your own, post up to five (5) filenames of your WIPs; not titles, file names.

Post a snippet from one of them. Snippet must be words you wrote in the last 7 days. We’re posting progress here. If you haven’t made any, go make some and come back to play!

After you’ve posted, people can send you an ask with one of your file names. You must then write 3 sentences in that file. If the filename is one you can't share from (for example, an event or gift fic), write 3 sentences on it anyway, and then 3 more on another to share.

That’s it! You can invite others to join in, or just post.

If you see someone posting a WIP Wednesday Game snippet, send them an ask! Make them write.

-

My file names:

we can be heroes (deaf steve part 2)

if i said you could never touch me

Eddie Munson vs the World

Every city's got a graveyard

Max AU

Snippet from Eddie Munson vs the World under the cut (because I wrote and posted the newest chapter today):

Argyle’s voice chimed in from the audience. “Oooooh, I think that’s my bad, brochacho,” he said. “There was a paper taped to our door with I’m coming for you written on it. You think that’s what she’s talking about?” Eddie whimpered. “Uh, yeah, man, I think that’s what she’s talking about. Why didn’t you tell me about this?” “I thought it was from Jonathan!” Argyle explained. “Although, now that you mention it, it wasn’t his shade.”

Tagging my dearest @withacapitalp because I want us both to writeeeeeeeee love you king