#stranger things infodumping

[rougarouuu]

Currently thinking about Robin Buckley from Stanger Things

I just finished listening to Rebel Robin, the podcast, and so this post is confined to JUST the context of that series, so heads up, there's gonna be spoilers ahead! Read at your own risk!

!! SPOILERS AHEAD !!

I loved Rebel Robin so so much. And like, I love how much of an in-depth look we get to take on her character in this series. Like yeah, we get to see her through the series, but since this is so focused on her we get to see more of a look at her inner monologue.

I think my favorite part of the podcast (and I have a few favorites) was Robin explaining to Mr. Hauser that she doesn't want to stand out too much, even academically, because she needs to stay in her camouflage. This happens in Episode three, "The Inferno" (thank you to @clowns-are-cool for making a transcript of the podcast!!) Mr. Hauser and Robin discuss this in which Mr. Hauser asks her why she's reading Dante's Inferno in the original translation, and she says that she "likes a challenge." When Mr. Hauser asks her why she isn't in advanced classes, Robin explains that she tries so hard to be painfully average and go unnoticed. They have a bit of a back-and-forth, jumping from topic to topic, and eventually, it shifts to Barb, but that's not what I'm referring to here.

Robin, in this scene, breaks down what I think a lot of people feel, and I know that I felt like this myself in High school and I'm breaking out of that now in college, but -- the mindset that you can't stick out too much or you'll be mocked no matter what. Robin's fear of being the nerd, fear of being chewed up by "The Hawkins Monster", which is really just high school society breaking you down until you fit in, and Robin doesn't want to lose her individuality. And this kind of goes back to her saying the following:

"I hope so. Because otherwise- If I'm totally honest with myself I'm scared of really truly rebelling and it feels like I'm close sometimes you know? Like I'm almost someone who is unique and interesting and unafraid but the camouflage is working too well and I'll turn into someone who never fights at all because I never decided who I wanted to be and I worry that if I- If I don't figure it out soon that someone else is going to decide for me" -Rebel Robin: Surviving Hawkins Episode 2, "Frankenstein"

She explains that she gets really close to rebelling, but doesn't. But what I don't think she understands is that her teetering on the edge of society by not fitting in and pushing back against the expectations and trying to fight "the system" is a bit of a rebel against society. She IS someone whos interesting and unique, maybe not entirely unafraid but she still gets close to it with how brave she is for following behind Dash in "The Outsiders" (Ep. 5), and saving Mr. Hauser from being essentially stalked. She is all of these things she just doesn't realize it because she doesn't fit her idealized version of this description, I think. She has decided for herself, she just doesn't see it yet.

Another thing that I really love is the way that Robin puts two and two together about Mr. Hauser's sexuality in the end, and she doesn't make it a big deal. She has her moment of realization, and she processes it, and then she immediately hatches a plan to protect her favorite teacher. She immediately came up with a plan to keep him safe and threatened Dash into staying in line, essentially, with her false accusation of pulling the fire alarm. Personally, I love this scene because it shows her connection with someone else on a deeper level than just "outsiders in this society", it's beyond that. It goes into Robin seeing someone like her. Seeing someone who is unconventional and, while afraid to be himself, still becomes a role model and is still passionate about his job and the life he's made for himself. And I know that some people might think that that twist is so unnecessary and not needed, but I think it's a key part of Robin coming to terms with herself and her own sexuality. I think that's why the smile that Mr. Hauser gives her at the end means. The happy-yet-sad smile. I think he's happy that she's coming to terms with herself, but he's sad that she's going to have to live her life in fear and not be open about herself, either. He sees himself in her. He sees his potentially awkward, askance, fifteen-year-old self who didn't fit in anywhere trying so badly to figure out why the system is so against him. And he sees it in Robin throughout this entire time that they get to know each other. He's happy that she has someone she can see herself in but he's sad because he's been along the same exact journey that Robin's walking on and he knows it isn't easy.

I have so much more I can say on this podcast but I also want to read the book, so I might ramble more and more every now and again but I wanna get the full picture before I make any assumptions. This post was entirely impulsive though so who knows what'll happen. Thanks for coming to my TedTalk :) Feel free to add on / comment / ask anything I'm so absorbed into this world right now /pos

[jay-birds-fly]

A candid image of me cleverly tricking my unsuspecting friends into sharing an interest with me so I have someone to infodump to

[uncanny-tranny]

The funny thing about cis people is how many of them infodump about the trans person they know because like....... Why was my prof infodumping about her trans ex husband whom she divorced because they had Problems (not because he's trans, too!) 😭😭

[strangeswift]

who up grieving their faded hyperfixations because there is unfortunately nothing that makes you enjoy living more than being hyperfixated on a good piece of media and now it’s just gone.

[bogkeep]

i NEED to get better at asking "how about you?" after someone asks me a question and listen to me give an overly nuanced and detailed answer for probably twenty minutes because I Take Every Question Seriously. it's the polite thing to do and also such a conversation lifehack!! i wanna snoop! i wanna know!! i'm genuinely interested in other people's lives and thoughts!! i just FORGET

reason 1: the autism, of course. i'm used to communication with my fellow neurodivergents, where ALL of us have the "oho this reminds me of something from my own experience so i shall elaborate" and i don't actually Need to ask, because i take it as a given that if they have something worthwhile or relevant to contribute, they Will.

reason 2: my irl social skills have deteriorated since the pandemic and especially when i moved to sweden </3

reason 3: for all that i want to Know. that i want the Hot Goss. that i am actually interested in other people's lives. i have this very strong norwegian cultural instinct of That's None Of My Business. like i will gladly gobble up what i'm given, and i'm not one to think direct questions are rude, but digging for personal info just. does not come naturally to me!!!! like to the point where i'm bad at participating in tumblr ask games or asking creators about their stories and characters. i just? don't

[nelyoslegalteam]

please tell me about your dnd campaign, stranger

hi hi hi hi hi hi hi do you have any idea how happy i am to get this ask. you have activated my trap card this is going to be SO long i am sorry in advance but The People Need To Know About My D&D Campaign.

so we’re playing in Adventures in Middle Earth, which is. supposedly a Tolkienverse-specific 5e mod but frankly it’s robust enough to fully count as its own system if you ask me. like it has its own guidebooks, character sheets, premade adventures, and features mechanics that 5e just straight up doesn’t have. it’s like if 5e were actually good. anyway. may i present to you:

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ The Mirkwood Campaign ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

so what, exactly, happened in the intervening years between the events of the Hobbit and LOTR? we did, BAYBEEEEEE!!

we are:

Murdoc, a hobbitish warden (adventures in middle earth’s version of a bard), played by yours truly!! raised in the shire and eventually moved out to the middle of mirkwood by an eccentric uncle who idolizes bilbo baggins, murdoc is the heir apparent to the brandybuck family inn. unfortunately for murdoc, he has developed extremely nasty prophetic dreams and is now burdened with the ability to see the future! a skill that has definitely left him with a very normal relationship to his new day job of Being An Adventurer!! i am unhinged and have uh. Talked About Him A LOT If You Care To Read This, but he is full of murderous rage and also tea and loves his friends very much. he also, more recently, surrendered himself as bait to the great werewolf plaguing mirkwood, trusting completely that his friends would come and save him. he was right. they did. and he lost his right hand in the process. :)

Ríros, an elven warrior (aime version of a fighter), played by @jaz-the-bard. tall, buff, sunshiny, and an absolute himbo. ALSO loves his friends VERY much and this is KEY. unfortunately for ríros, he is a redhead, and that does cause problems in a world where maedhros feänorion once existed. (stranger, i am so sorry if you are not one of my silmarillion regulars and did not know what you were getting into by asking me, a silmarillion blog, to tell you about my d&d campaign, and now have no idea who or what the fuck i am talking about). ríros is notably not maedhros though! he isn't even noldorin!! maedhros is a ghost who lives in his sword (and who is also played by jaz)! and who also maybe kind of accidentally possessed him one time, if you wanna read this here for a better explanation of ríros mostly but also all of the above.

The Bearer, a human slayer (aime barbarian), played by @thymo-leonta. grumpy old man. unwilling father to all these young and stupid adventurers he’s been stuck with. are they all adults? yeah sure. they’re still Children. we are making him go grey. also full of murderous rage. looks like he's running from his perfectly normal, happy, loving family. is actually acutely aware of the fact that he has been doomed to die. killed the werewolf that took murdoc's hand. as a consequence, became the werewolf that took murdoc's hand. has two dogs, both named Dog <3

Déorwyn, a human wanderer (aime ranger), played by @shadowkat2000. resident party Horse Girl. a fellow sufferer of The Bad Prophetic Dreams^TM. because this is not quite unfortunate enough for her, déorwyn Hears Dead People. apparently our GM gives her extra secret bonus ghosts that the rest of us do not hear or know about! this being the source of her foresight makes her pretty distinct from murdoc, despite them both seemingly suffering from the same thing, in ways that i have LOTS of emotions about. her horse is named windrider and Their Bond Is Unbreakable uwu

and @potatoobsessed999, our obligatorily Extremely Ominous GM!

(we are also occasionally joined by Ioreth, a human treasure hunter (aime rogue), whose player is unfortunately not on tumblr. a founding member of the party, has earned the epithet The Feral, mostly loves to hang out in the woods by herself, look for shiny things, and cause chaos. as a beorning, she CAN astral-project herself as a bear. it rules. once got possessed by a ringwraith, probably holds the most compassion for characters who have been through similar out of any of us. is usually covered in mud.)

initially in the employ of radagast the brown, a tenure that did not last due to murdoc's insistence that saruman is evil (i mean. yeah lol.), we're a group of adventurers traveling mirkwood with the aim to defend it as sauron slowly gathers power. we are

very

successful at the Fighting And Killing Things part of this

we specialize in:

lugging unconscious bodies through the woods!

lugging DEAD bodies through the woods!

lugging EACH OTHER'S bodies through the woods!

lugging things through the woods in general!

setting things on fire (usually murdoc's fault)!

making fun of our enemies so bad they just give up!

INCLUDING the ringwraiths (shoutout to ríros)!

serving annoying politicians subpoenas!

murdering them like the one time it was totally justified we promise!

accidentally convincing the council of mirkwood that murdoc's inn is a small fiefdom!

being generally cursed (except for ríros) (he just looks that way)!

HIRE US to take care of whatever problems are happening in YOUR local cursed forest! wights? patricidal politicians? generally awful politicians? sauron? the same fucking werewolf again? it's definitely just tuesday to us!

you can count on

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ the union of murdoc ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

anyhow, jaz is absolutely wonderful and has written several fics of our party, including (but not limited to):

Cooking Contest for the Free Peoples, based on an in-game conversation about beating sauron at competitive cooking,

In Which There Are More Ghosts, which is not canon to game but is in fact Extremely Representative of the exact kind of nonsense we get up to (campaign's haunted),

A Stranger With a Friend's Face, a canon to game horror story of how ríros got slightly possessed, the party acquired maedhros, and neither murdoc nor déorwyn managed to explain the presence of the vengeful ghost residing in murdoc's scepter and bullying him in his dreams to any of the rest of the party right up until this very moment,

and this wonderful drabble from the horror arc in which we were isolated inside of a haunted longhouse. complete with party memes here.

there's more, and i am going to a.) pick on jaz to add them if they can find them, and b.) pick on my beloved friends in general to Please Help Me Infodump About our Game!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Top to Bottom, Left to Right: Murdoc, the Bearer, Déorwyn, Ríros, Ioreth]

[jonathanbyersphd]

Modern AU Jonathan texting Nancy

[bi-cot3]

okay hear me out: cot3 spiderman au!!!

lockwood as spiderman- charismatic, a good fighter, no sense of self-preservation, tragic backstory, etc

lucy and george are his coworkers also interning at the daily bugle that he’s semi in love with but his attachment issues make him avoid those feelings like the plague

the three of them are absolutely MISERABLE at their jobs- the only good thing about it is the company they find in each other

george loves research and sharing his findings with the world but nowhere else would hire him except for the bugle. they don’t let him do any actual journalistic work or anything to do with research. honestly, sometimes he thinks he would be happier in an actual scientific experimentation job, but he likes the idea of making information and important findings available for everyone

lucy is a photography intern. she is passionate about all arts, especially making physical art, but has been able to make enough of a living off her photography so that’s what she focuses on the most. in this au she still is running from an abusive household and her mom is possibly a plot element (idk the context though, I just like the angst that comes with it)

lockwood canonically comes from money (inherited after his family’s death) and is more there for an inside view of the daily bugle and to see if he can change the opinions they are publishing (read: he absolutely CANNOT, bless him for being so delusional optimistic)

not fully sure where this au would go, but know that it is fully inspired in spirit by the stoncy fic ‘with great power’ by dharmainitiative on ao3 (which you should ABSOLUTELY give a read if you are a fan of ST or have ever shipped stoncy) (not endorsing of ST whatsoever!!! just the og polycule)

other underdeveloped plot ideas under the cut:

norrie died in [insert violent incident here] and although lucy has no logical reason for it since spiderman wasn’t a thing back then- or even around in the area they lived, she harbors spite that no one was able to swoop in and save norrie from an early and untimely death (or maybe she’s in a coma??? idk)

one of them is roommates with kipps. I would say that the three of them are roommates, but the logistics of keeping the spidey secret in the extremely close quarters that are nyc apartments would be a nightmare to write

kipps might be george’s ex. idk why, I just think the dynamic of lockwood’s feud with the man is hilarious when the george-ex dynamic exists in fics

(norrie and lucy were in love. bc it’s canon in my heart and everyone is queer bc I say so)

ALSO: bonus points if the three of them get together midway/two-thirds of the way through the fic but lockwood is still avoiding telling them

[im-a-bit-strange]

Tell me something!

It can be anything: a head cannon for a character you like, a tv show you are watching, a fun fact, something good that happened recently, something bad that happened, something you need to get off your chest. Infodump if you want. Tell me about a bird you saw or your pet. Tell me about work or school or an essay you have to write. What ever it is, I want to know about it!

[itsalwaysdark]

i think itis funny in the past when i would list my interests as if i post abt them i donot post abt the shit im into rly Mainly bc im not rly Into Into anything anymore i occasionally watch or read or play something but i dont do fandom stuff rly much.... just sometimes i get brainworms

[jay-birds-fly]

If you or a loved one enjoys infodumping you may be entitled to “pretty please tell me about it, please”

[sleepyeye17]

Neurodivergent Love Languages: Infodumping

I recently saw a post by someone named Amythest@neurowonderful about the five Neurodivergent love languages: Infodumping, parallel play, support swapping, ‘crush my soul back into my body,’ and ‘I found this cool object and thought of you’. I thought it would be a nice little Steddie series. Here’s the first one, which is infodumping. (The story that Steve is telling is not based on any actual book. I’ve just been listening to A LOT of the Fated Mates podcast.)

Eddie is sitting on the sofa, watching Steve pace and ramble. Steve wanted to start reading what he called “elf books” in an attempt to understand the kids’ interests better. Instead, he’s gotten hooked on gay fantasy erotica, and spends many afternoons trying to explain the plots to Eddie. Eddie has to admit, he’s based more than one campaign on Steve’s literal fairy porn. 

“Okay, so in this one, there’s this guy named Sorsumilus, okay? And Sorsumilus is cursed. See, when he was young, he was a real asshole, and bullied a lot of people. He was a dick to this witch, so she curses him, and turns him into a dragon shapeshifter, which is something, like, really bad. People don’t like dragon shifters. And she says that unless he bones a human before his twenty-first birthday, he’ll be stuck as a dragon forever.”

“Wow, harsh.”

Steve talks with his hands, throwing them up and gesturing. He speaks with his whole body when he’s excited. Eddie hugs a pillow and smiles.

“Yeah,” Steve says. “And he tells the witch, like, that’s fine, I’m fucking gorgeous, I’ll absolutely pull before then. But she curses him, and says, no human will ever want to fuck you.”

“Even harsher! Jesus!”

“Okay, meanwhile. There’s this guy named Joseniar, and he’s a wandering bard. And he’s just doing his wandering thing, and Sorsumilus sees him and thinks he’s hot. So Sorsumilus kidnaps him and takes him back to his lair. And they bone.”

“Wait. And Joseniar is cool with this?”

“Yeah he’s into it. Sorsumilus is smokin hot. But he can’t tell Joseniar that he’s a dragon shifter, obviously, so whenever he turns into a dragon he has to, like, run off. And Joseniar thinks that Sorsumilus isn’t into him.”

“I thought if the dragon fucked a human the curse would be lifted.”

“That’s the problem, see, because Sorsumilus is still turning into a dragon, and he’s like ‘why isn’t this working, maybe we’re doing it wrong.’ So they have to do it, in, like, lots of different ways. Cause like maybe it doesn’t count if it’s not the right position.”

“Very scientific.” 

“But finally, it’s the night before his birthday, and he starts to cry.” Steve stops pacing and grows still. “And he tells Joseniar that… That he has to leave forever. Because he’s a monster. And nobody can ever love him, and that he’s cursed. And then Joseniar says that…” Steve runs his hand through his hair. “Well, that he loves Sorsumilus, and that the reason he’s immune to the witch’s curse is that he’s actually a werewolf.”

Steve blinks hard and swallows.

“And then he watches Sorsumilus turn into a dragon, and he’s like… He’s like, you’re so beautiful, and I love you.” Steve wipes his eyes and laughs a bit. “It’s stupid. Really stupid. But I liked it.”

Eddie stares. He feels punch-drunk, sitting and watching Steve. He loves the sound of Steve’s voice. He loves Steve’s wide open smile, and the way he gestures when he’s excited. He loves that Steve tried to read fantasy to connect with the kids, and ended up crying over manimal erotica. Eddie loves everything about him.

“Come here.” He holds his arms open and Steve laughs and flops down onto Eddie’s chest. “Steve. You’re so beautiful. And I love you.”

Steve lets out a choked noise that’s half sob, half giggle.

“I love you too.”

“You want to be the wolfman or the dragon tonight?”

Steve buries his face in Eddie’s neck. 

“We can take turns.”

“I’ll see what we have in the dress-up box.”

[bibiana112]

HIIII ive seen you mention your ztd aftermath fic a few times in tags and id rly like to know more... feel free to yap about it im curious

Hiii hellooo SO!!! Something that always sticks out to me with fics that touch a little on the immediate post ztd reactions is that things just kind of sort themselves out and everyone chills out for a little bit which I cannot see happening like no wayyy it's okay for the purposes of other people's fics but personally I'm a staunch believer in effort going into the smallest things in life especially when it involves a group of people and especially when you're fucked up as they'd be after that and it's something I love exploring in my writings like expanding in gross detail on the more mundane ups and downs between all the high stakes stuff like I don't think they'd walk out of there working in harmony at allll there'd be so many factors going into how everyone would be thinking and how they'd interact with each other and how the lives they've lead would inform the new trauma after that and how each of them would react to their immediate circumstances like on a physical level

I mean. Diana is completely new to any of this stuff and she's supposed to just transition seamlessly into a sudden new commited relationship and a daughter her own age? Phi has not gotten a single break since she experienced the events of vlr and has a whole complex about where she comes from and she's supposed to feel uncomplicated joy at finding out these are her parents and that the motherfucker that made the virus that's been making her life hell for a week is related to her? It's just been one week for her and that's so long but so little too she'd still have a connection to most of her old life? That shit isn't true about Sigma what's he supposed to do since Akane lied to his face about not knowing what happened at the test site for decades? It's not even something she remembers doing to him but he remembers spending a lifetime with her I love the ztd booklet scene of them interacting during d-com he asks Akane not to let her future self lie to past him point blank and she just says what he wants to hear and Phi stands in silence like she can't wrap her head around why he thinks for even a second that she'd be honest about being honest but stil extending enough goodwill to silently wait and see if she will. the man would be having a whole crisis of faith

Where do they leave Sean? Should he just stay with Q-team wouldn't he need maintenance and therefore stay in contact at least with Sigma? Eric doesn't remember much so he'd shockingly be one of the most calm people there, he'd have to deal with some revelations but Sean informed them of it in a good enough way that he seemed to take it well enough and even if that's not true he's the most high masking mf of the entire cast he wouldn't let himself step on other people's toes, if anything he'd only be set off by how everyone would have something to hold against Mira now, she kills everyone once except Carlos and Akane and she doesn't remember but they do, in fact there being a serial killer in their midst memo never gets to c-team delta never tells the whole snail story to every team. Would Mira just turn herself in without any resistance? Wouldn't someone have to talk her into it or at least make sure that's what she's really going to do since the stakes are so high? It's her fucking fault rad-6 got out too the characters have no reason to trust she's just gonna beeline to a police station. Carlos would probably be fine for the most part but he wouldn't be around long to keep everyone else sane especially Junpei and Akane because he'd probably go check on Maria as soon as possible especially since we're led to believe avoiding the apocalypse helps her recover

Akane herself would be all sorts of fucked up about it, there'd be so much pressure on her by everyone there and she'd try to be forward thinking and work on the extremist stuff immediately without processing anything and overcompensate the new recent failure to foresee dange and her revictimization by being even more controlling and inconsiderate to the others which is an energy Junpei would match I think especially going off his enneagram they'd be immediatly set in like an unhealthy loop of behaviors that push each other's trauma buttons on accident until they're hurting cause they're both trying to rush things and put each other in idealized boxes they imagined and having things their way Junpei is gonna come off much worse probably cause he's not a pov character and he's canonically an underhanded asshole when he has reson to be and he would not trust akane or her brother wouldn't be trying to pull another fast one on him so soon especially if we assume he has restored memories of the c-team ending too he'd like get keyed up and paranoid of being away from her for even a second

There are so many logistics involved in transporting and keeping in contact with people while simultaneously making sure no one leaks any sensitive information and that's probably important for Crash Keys and would fall mostly on Aoi to keep track of but he would in my opinion not be doing very okay either be it out of separation anxiety a level of psychically feeling like shit because of what akane goes through or just stress from preparing for an apocalypse more likely all of the above lol And he'd be working with half the info everyone else has cause if Akane doesn't pace herself in passing the new info to him he's gonna snap

Like I don't think these issues would be a slow burn to boil over, I think everything would feel like it's all going wrong from the get go and that kind of stress can be palpable in a group setting even if they're not under direct threath of death anymore I mean that's what ptsd is it's when you get fight or flight or freeze levels of fear in an entirely safe environment due to perceived instability and then they'd eat and rest and deal with it better for the next day, be more functional and levelheaded about everything going forward and even perhaps apologize and help each other out, and they'd be like that for a good while until underlying issues start to surface again in individual relationships cough mostly the junepei cough

[lordgreenslimemold]

my idea of a saturday night is popping an eddie after work and working on my harry dubois minecraft mural while watching fd signifier's new 3 1/2 hour hip hop video essay

[mayhasopinions]

for the drawing rec :))

spidey-will‼️ (and MJ wheeler)

oh anon you know me so well

[bogwitchlesbian]

Steve: I love you dearly, but sometimes talking to you viscerally upsets me

Eddie:.... YOU CANT JUST SAY THAT AND GO BACK TO BAKING LIKE YOU DIDNT UPEND MY ENTIRE PERCEPTION OF MYSELF, STEVE