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theoriginalbylergod · 1 year ago

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Mike Wheeler is important and there's nothing wrong with analyzing him

Since y'all wanna be insufferable bitches about it I'm gonna explain to you why he's important, why Will loves him, why his struggles should be acknowledged, and why his character depth is pivotal to byler endgame being a satisfying conclusion for both Mike AND Will. Deal with it!

We are not seeing smoke where there isn't a flame. We are seeing smoke where there is a literal fucking forest fire.

Starting off with something a lot of people aren't ready for but I've seen more people talking about: Mike is the main character of s1 at the very least. He is the character that brings us into the world of stranger things. He is the character that the writers chose for this. Mike is the main character of s1 and it was an instant hit. The writers love Mike. Contrary to popular belief, giving a character an arc where they are struggling and their behavior changes from what is normal for the character we know and love does NOT mean the writers hate that character. It means they deliberately chose to give that character complexity and depth. Your inability to like characters that do anything wrong ever is not the fault of the writers. Your decision to act as if a character is not important is not reflective of the actual narrative because it in fact is in direct opposition to the narrative. So just to be clear, if you genuinely believe that Mike isn't important, or that the writers hate him, or don't care about him, or that his story "takes away" from any other character's - ESPECIALLY WILL'S - you are simply wrong.

In s1 and s2 Mike is established as an extremely caring person. He's loving, loyal, brave, intelligent, and trying his best. He is also established to be hot headed, someone who speaks without thinking quite often, someone who is capable of hurting his friends despite that being the last thing he wants to do. He is all of these things and more. He is a human. He is a kid. So in s3, when suddenly he is entirely different, it is completely logical to assume that there is a reason for that. He did not just wake up one day and decide he wanted to be an asshole, push Will away, make his friends feel abandoned, and echo the same sentiments their bullies held. Something is happening with him. He has so much going on in his head and it is painfully obvious. He's holding something in, he's hiding from everyone and from himself. We see glimpses of what he's trying to hide after Will calls him out on his behavior. Will gets through to him. Mike is usually unresponsive to tough love, except for when it's coming from Will. After their fight, it is obvious that he's trying to be better. But he still doesn't wanna face certain things, and he doesn't know how to navigate that. Because he's 13 years old.

There is a reason for all of that internal conflict. There is a reason it comes pouring out of him at certain times. He's crumbling. He is quite literally falling apart because he's holding on to too much. It's not a stretch to assume that, it just takes basic media literacy. Why would the writers have Mike act this way if he was just supposed to be a one dimensional character? Why would Finn be directed to portray Mike the way he does if there was nothing more going on? There are times where Mike looks like he's in physical pain because of his internal conflict. There is a reason for that. And acknowledging that DOES NOT mean people are taking away from Will. That's the most idiotic thing I have ever heard. Do y'all seriously not understand that more than one character can have emotionally complex storylines? Genuinely asking, is this a new concept for you?

Will's love for Mike

Will is head over heels in love with Mike. That is very much established. So when you're dismissing the emotional depth of Mike's individual arc because you think acknowledging it "takes away from Will" you are actually diminishing the significance of a huge aspect of Will's emotional arc. By taking away the significance of Mike, you take away from the significance of Will.

Let's do a quick recap of the very significant role Mike has played in Will's entire life:

Mike is Will's first friend.

They have grown up together and it can be assumed that they've reached important milestones together.

Mike has always been a safe person for Will. He's been a constant in Will's very chaotic and unfair life. Until the summer of '85, Mike had always been something good in Will's life. (That's not to say he is no longer something good, but it can be assumed that the summer of '85 is the first time Mike has been a causal factor in Will's unhappiness)

When Will went missing, Mike did not hesitate to search for him. It wasn't even a question of if. The moment he knew Will was missing he knew exactly what he'd be doing that night. He spearheaded the search amongst the party. He was the leader.

When Will came back, Mike was the only person that didn't treat him like he was gonna break. He cared for him, and he was there for him, but he didn't treat him differently; Will tells us as much. Which means we can infer that the way Mike was with Will in s2 - how gentle and loving he was - was nothing new. He had just always been like that.

When Will was possessed, Mike stayed by his side. Even when it was scary, even when it could've gotten him killed, he stayed. Because once again, for him, it wasn't even a question. That's just where he knew he needed to be. He was in the shed when they were trying to get through to Will. He was set apart from Lucas and Dustin, but he also wasn't equated to family. And his retelling of the story of the day they first met was the final push Will needed to find a way to communicate.

After a year of things being "weird" between them, Mike tells Will that he didn't deserve to be treated the way he had been. Mike tells him that he wants them to be okay again, and for the rest of the season he puts in the work.

Things get rough in s3, and at the beginning of s4, and despite all of that, Will confesses his love (albeit veiled). In a moment where Mike is feeling awful about himself, he tells him that he loves him and needs him, and he tells him why. And to him it doesn't matter that he's breaking his own heart to do it, because it's Mike. Mike, who makes him feel like he's not a mistake at all, and that he's better for being different. For Will, there was no other option. The person he loves was hurting and he knew how to help, and so he did.

Mike is the first person Will tells about Vecna still being alive. Because they're back to being a team. He knows he can trust Mike, and Mike seems to be very determined to prove him right.

SO.

These are all real and canon aspects of Mike's presence in Will's life. Will falling in love with Mike isn't something that just happened for no reason. Will fell in love with Mike because of who Mike is. When you acknowledge that, and when you acknowledge the reasons they've set out for why Will loves him - the reasons Will literally told us - you can better understand Will. But when you dismiss all of these things about Mike, you are dismissing a large portion of Will's emotional and romantic arc. You aren't being a Will Warrior. You are erasing so much of him and his feelings and his lived experience. That is not the hill you wanna die on.

Will loves a person. Not a feeling. Yes, he says that Mike makes him feel like he's not a mistake and that he's better for being different. But that's not why he loves him. He feels that way because he loves him.

Mike is a fully fleshed out character with his own feelings and struggles and fears and traumas and motivations. He's not a plot device. He's not just an accessory to Will's arc. He's not a character that was written only to be Will's love interest. He's Will's love interest because he's Mike.

If Mike didn't matter, and if Mike didn't play a significant role in byler, then they would be able to write in a love interest for Will in s5 and have it be somewhat satisfying. But they can't do that. Will's love for Mike has so much depth because Mike has so much depth. It is genuinely crazy that this has to be stated and that I have to back up this claim because it is simply a canon fact.

So yes, the rain fight affects Mike's character development and his involvement in it is important. Yes, the van scene literally could not exist without Mike and therefore his involvement in it is incredibly important. Yes, every single byler moment has an impact on Mike, and Mike has an impact on it because they are BYLER moments. Yes, Mike will have a lot of significant moments - with Will AND on his own - in s5 because his arc deserves and needs as much attention as Will's in order to execute byler endgame in a satisfying way.

No, none of these facts negate Will's importance or take away from his story. If anything, they add to it because Mike and Will's arcs are corresponding and intertwined.

Mike's struggles

To name a few

Dysfunctional family

Has been bullied his entire life

Extreme self worth issues

Inferiority complex

Hero complex

Lack of self preservation

Suicidal ideation (has been on display since SEASON ONE)

Internalized homophobia

To get this out of the way: Mike's internalized homophobia is allowed to be discussed. Discussion of it is not the dismissal of Will's internalized homophobia. Surprise surprise, two queer kids in the 80s have internalized homophobia! Who'd'a thunk it?! Their internalized homophobia presents in different ways but it is there for both of them. I personally relate to the way Mike's is portrayed way more than I relate to Will's. So why is it that we can't discuss it without being accused of erasing Will's experience? Or without people saying that we're "copy and pasting" Will's story? Because quite frankly, that feels dismissive of my - and likely many others' - real and lived experience. So please for the love of all things that are good just stop with this talking point because it will never hold up.

Moving on

I'm not gonna do a full breakdown of all of Mike's issues. Because contrary to popular belief, there are a lot. And that would be exhausting and I'd get carried away and it's not the point of this post. The point of this post is to defend the acknowledgement and mere existence of them.

If you're a byler that for some reason thinks Mike only exists to be Will's love interest and his trophy as compensation for his trauma, let me ask you this: Have you considered how awful it would be to have a queer character's individuality and emotional depth completely ignored for the sake of focusing on the queer character that "really matters"?

If Mike's own issues, with his queer identity and otherwise, aren't thoroughly explored... What's the point of all this? If Mike really is insignificant in this storyline and his individuality has no effect on it.. where's the emotional payoff? If his perspective doesn't matter... Why have the writers gone to such great lengths to ensure we don't have that piece of the puzzle yet?

Analyzing Mike and understanding Mike is very important to understanding byler. Once again, I think it's crazy that this needs to be said.

I also think it's important to note that characters can have similar struggles. There's no rule against that. Just like real life. Characters having similar struggles is not a bad thing, and acknowledging that their struggles are similar is not dismissive of either character. We're talking about STRANGER THINGS. Jonathan and Nancy's thing is "we've got shared trauma". They have literal matching scars. Shared experiences are some of the main building blocks for this show's romances. Byler has a TON of shared experience, basically their entire lives. We already know that. So wouldn't it be so beautiful for them to learn that they've been struggling with the same thing this whole time? That the entire time they felt alone in what they were going through when really they had each other and they never even knew it? Wouldn't it be so beautiful for Mike's acceptance of Will and Will's love for him was also a step toward accepting himself? Wouldn't it be beautiful for Will to learn that his love makes Mike feel like he's not a mistake? None of that would be in the realm of possibility if Mike didn't have emotional depth and if his individuality wasn't important.

And that leads me to my concluding point...

A satisfying execution of byler endgame hinges on Mike's individual emotional arc being handled well

God I hope this isn't controversial to say. I sincerely hope most people haven't forgotten that.

Here's a hypothetical:

Imagine season five has been released. You're watching it, and you notice that Mike has been relegated to just a supporting character for Will. We don't get any of his perspective. We don't get any explanation for his s3 and early s4 behavior. His breakup with El doesn't have any real tangible effect on him, it's really just used for El's character development. We never see him pining for Will like we saw Will pining for him. And then suddenly Mike is learning about the painting and then suddenly he's confessing his love and then suddenly byler is canon and official.

Now wouldn't that just be awful? Wouldn't that be unfair to the audience, to Mike, and to Will? For us to never learn just how much Mike had to go through to even be able to say it out loud? For Mike to never get the chance to prove to himself through word and action that he is the heart? For Will to never get an explanation for why things did get so "weird" between them? It would leave us with one big, nagging question: What was the point of everything Mike has said and done throughout the entire show if his conclusion is that lackluster?

Disregarding Mike for a moment (I know that's incredibly ironic given what the entire point of this is but just bear with me) - how would that be a satisfying conclusion for Will? I mean, Will's s4 arc was basically dedicated to showcasing his struggle with his sexuality and with his love for Mike. We were shown just how deep that love is. We were shown how patient, unselfish, unwavering, and beautiful that love is. So how would it be satisfying for Mike's love for him to not be shown with just as much depth? How would it be satisfying for Mike to just be a one dimensional character whose s5 arc is essentially "break up with girlfriend, wait to find out best friend is in love with him, say he loves him back, then they live happily ever after"? I think Will deserves for his love to be returned with the same intensity at which he gives it. And I think it should be clear to the audience and to Will himself.

Back to Mike!

Mike has been through so much shit. I don't think anyone that is denying that actually believes he hasn't been through shit. Because you'd actually have to watch the show on mute and with your eyes closed to think this kid hasn't had just the worst time. It's so ignorant to act as if this stuff hasn't affected him. There's stuff we've seen but there's stuff we also haven't seen. There are issues he has that date back to his childhood pre-canon. Just like Will, Mike has been a queer kid growing up in 80s smalltown conservative america. Acknowledging the pain he 100% carries because of that is so important. His perspective has been withheld from us, not because it's unimportant, but because it's the final puzzle piece. If we had Mike's perspective in s4, byler wouldn't be a "will they won't they" (even though we all know they will). If we got his perspective in s4, byler would be a "100% certain without a doubt they will". But the thing about his perspective is that it's so much more than just loving Will. It's fear. It's pain. It's insecurity. It's doubt. It's the belief that his happiness just doesn't matter all that much. All of that has to be explored. All of that has to be laid out in the open for us in order for byler endgame to feel earned. Mike's emotional payoff will lead to byler's emotional payoff.

Mike has known he loves Will. In s5 we will see him make a deliberate and active effort to overcome the things keeping him from doing something about it. And then he will do something about it.

And so when it finally happens. When both Mike and Will finally know that their feelings are requited, and when their arcs end with us knowing that they will face whatever life has in store for them together, that will feel earned. That will feel like the logical conclusion for both of them. Not just for Mike. Not just for Will. For both.

And Mike is just as important to that conclusion as Will is.

And one last thing...

Some people are going to talk about Mike more. Some people are going to talk about Will more. Because newsflash, people have preferences. Some people just relate to Mike more, or they find his emotional arc extremely compelling, or they just like him. It isn't an attack on Will or any other character. No one is saying Mike is more important than any other character (I'm sure there are people that say that but they are a vocal minority and they are simply wrong). We are just saying that he is important. If you wanna engage in media analysis, please understand that "main character" or "central character" does not mean "only important character" and "only character that should be analyzed". If you wanna talk about Will and only Will, that's fine. But you don't get to act like people that talk about other characters are doing a disservice to your fave, because that's not how any of this works.

#mike defenders i need you to back me up on this #i hope my points come across well #anyway #the way people have been talking about mike lately is so infuriating #its called BYLER analysis because its the analysis of BYLER the ship involving will AND mike #st fandom consistently proving that they have absolutely no idea how fandom works #its almost like people wanna talk about things they care about and you dont get to tell them to shut up #if you dont wanna see people talking about mike you can just mute tags about him #but if you dont wanna talk about mike youre missing a huge part of the byler puzzle and thats your loss #please just let people discuss whatever they want to discuss as long as its not ACTUALLY harmful #sometimes i think y'all are allergic to fun #byler #mike wheeler #mike wheeler analysis #will byers #< this is about him too #byler analysis #byler endgame #stranger things

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pawnkyyy · 2 months ago

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a quick sketch break with my friends before heading back to our projects! We had fun together on magma.com and i

draw gilbert again. Sorry. My hand went on its own.

It’s him putting on his eyepatch

!! contain a major spoiler from gil’s dramatic route⬇️

Thinking about post this on twitter too

Bye bye🕺🕺

#when my brain went on an airplane mode my hand automatically draw gilbert #ikepri gilbert #i should make a tag for my art…. so i can find it easily…..#drawing with friends is fun #i had fun :3 #สิ้นปีแล้วอารมณ์ดี เลยอยากวาดรูปเยอะค่ะTT บวกกับโปรเจคมหาลัยด้วย ไม่อยากทำงาน #sorry if i post too much lately please block mute or unfollow me if you want #pawky draw #<-yippieeee my art tag :33

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cowchickenbeefpork · 2 days ago

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It is fascinating to me that Edward nygma is the only man who has someone in love with them kill their lover and justify it. Every time this happens to a character besides from Ed it happens to a female character. The fact his own desperation to not face responsibility for doing that action toward a woman makes this more tragic

#gotham #gotham 2014 #gotham fox #Gotham tv #edward nygma #nygmobblepot #lowkey I’m probably gonna mute this post because I’m a coward lol #I’m terrified about how people will feel about me comparing Edward to women I really am I can see the backlash rn #”the arc was homophobic lunar!” Yeah and I’ve already talked about that. I’ve literally made a entire post in response to a article where #robin lord Taylor says he’s surprised anyone considered it queerbait. To deny it has no homophobic feel to it isn’t my intention here #I just think it’s interesting to consider the power imbalances here. I’m not going to let the homophobia be the only thing I can draw from #this arc I find that quite reductive personally since Edward being in Kristen’s situation but worse in power imbalance is so interesting #Oswald is his boss his only friend the only person who provides housing for him the only person who cared for him in Arkham it’s a lot #Oswald is practically his own support net so if Oswald doesn’t truly love him and only seeks to own him he has nothing!#idk I just find it more fun to acknowledge the power imbalances than to pretend their dynamic is equal in power and toxicity #this isn’t me saying Edward has done nothing wrong to Oswald. This is me saying Edward has less power than Oswald does in their relationshi #”this is you downplaying how badly Edward has treated women in Gotham” I’ve literally made a post about how Gotham never lets women not wea #Makeup in the show. I’m that kind of feminist do not paint me like this lol I gaf about female Gotham characters #lastly. I don’t think Edward deserves to go through what Kristen did but worse despite his actions. I just think it’s interesting that he #went through it after doing it to Kristen and pretty much remains the only male Gotham character to have their lover murdered like this #that is all. I know the tags are way longer than the content of my post here but I must explain myself just in case

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revenantghost · 11 months ago

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Pspspspsps Trigun Tumblr fandom should join cohost so that we can take over the site stay in contact and continue the amazing meta and creations and general love and peace somewhere else if Tumblr continues on this hell path

#Trigun #I like it because it has the tagging system for filtering and finding and muting #And you can tell it's a newer site but like #It's very nice #Not me considering running a bookclub rn exclusively over there just to build the Trigun fanbase over there #I DON'T WANT TO LOSE THE FANDOM AND LONGFORM POSTS #Y'ALL ARE SO FANTSTIC

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inkdemonapologist · 8 months ago

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are you excited for the big role sammy's going to play in Cage?? im apprehensive... i love him a feral amount and i was real disappointed with his 2 seconds of screentime in BatDR

also just saying ur sammy drawings give me life he looks wonderful in hats

brought to u by ⭐️ anon

Hehehe aw thank you!! :D

There’s a lot of things in Dark Revival I ended up disappointed about, but despite my love of Sammy Lawrence, Sammy barely appearing was not really one of them. At the time, I’d commented to friends that the complete lack of Sammy mentions in the hype leading up to BatDR meant he was either very important or had only a cameo appearance, and I was actually pretty delighted about the Cyclebreaker cameo – it’s a moment that takes him startlingly seriously, that wasn’t just him quoting one of his four catch phrases; it’s... a kind of moment we haven’t seen from Sammy before. The part where he gets shot was like, where my expectations were, so the cyclebreaker thing was a pleasant surprise.

But like, ever since The Cage was announced… we knew Sammy kind of had to be in it. Like, Henry says “how did WE escape” and it’s set in the SPECIFIC place and time that Sammy also is; literally the only reason for Sammy to not be a significant character is if the creators actually didn’t want anything to do with him. So I have to admit the announcement that WE CAN CONFIRM that SAMMY WILL PLAY A MAJOR ROLE IN THE CAGE!!!!!!! RESTORED TO HIS CHAPTER 2 CREEPY GLORY! is just…… ugh, it’s hard to articulate why this tweet frustrates me so much.

Like………………….. "he's in it more" is not the only thing people care about, surely! What is he doing? What is his role in all this? What does he even WANT? In a review, "he's back to his chapter 2 creepy glory" would be a powerful recommendation; in a tweet from the creator right after preorders go up, it feels more like, "Hey, remember the thing you wanted? we DEFINITELY did that thing you wanted and we did it SUPER WELL so preorder our game please!!" Give us an intriguing line of dialogue or a hint about what he's doing (opposing you? helping you? uneasy truce? trying to find bendy?) and you wouldn't even need to promise us that he plays a major role; we'd be curious to learn more.

So this reassurance ends up doing the opposite, for me, because I still don't know if the creators even understand what I like about Sammy. The thing is that the circumstances of BatDR (there's a little Bendy running around, the Ink Demon is claimed dead but actually it's not, Wilson is trying to become the Lost Ones' new Big Brother) could've been INCREDIBLY relevant to Sammy -- that's why people wanted him to show up in BatDR, to see what he thinks of these developments and how he would react to them!! So if you're interested in Sammy, the character, then it would not be hard to hint at like, what his deal is – "Sammy knows the Ink Demon is out there somewhere and Henry is the key to finding him" or "after the disappearance of his Lord he's become a desperate man who's as much an obstacle as an ally" or even "Sammy was defiant when he went into the Pit -- what will Henry find when he encounters him now?" or w/e -- simply insisting HES LIKE HE WAS IN CHAPTER TWO, THE ONE YOU GUYS LIKE instead of being able to think of a single character-based hint that we might find compelling is, tbh, rather un-reassuring!!!

My complaint about Twisted Alice’s role in BatDR was that ultimately, it felt like they were just trying to capture the vibes that Twisted Alice had in BatIM instead of really exploring what that character would be doing HERE, in THIS situation. Nothing she’s doing really makes sense, and what IS there seems to have forgotten what her actual deal is, but she’s doing it with the right flair, so it feels like she’s in-character enough for the scene to be fun. Like an episodic cartoon that just forgets what happened in previous episodes depending on who’s writing this one. So… I think that’s a real risk for Sammy. For the people who just want him to show up and whisper cult-ish things so we can hear his voice more and go HEHEHE ITS HIM, this isn’t really a concern lmao, that will probably happen. I don’t have high hopes that he’ll make sense as a character, but tbf I don’t know that he ever has.

And IDK, its still early, its possible the cage will come out and I'll look up spoilers and be like OMG NM I LOVE WHAT THEY DID WITH HIM. A game that's supposed to be psychological horror could, in theory, be a really fun place for Sammy!! Maybe the people actually writing him will give him more care, haha. It's a little silly for me to be so worked up about the marketing for a game that I am not going to buy b/c I’m still not interested in giving JDS, Inc. my money. AND YET DESPITE IT ALL I STILL… CARE ABOUT SAMMY LAWRENCE LMAO….. I think my main emotion about The Cage is just curiosity, though. I do want to know what they do with him. I’m curious if he’ll play a major part in the story, or if he’s like Henry or Porter in BatDR, with one big scene where he gets a bunch of lines and then runs off. A lot of people really want to see Henry and Sammy team up in this, but I’m not writing off the possibility he’s an antagonist of some kind, so I’m curious which way that’ll go. But I don’t feel like I have any strong expectations, so I guess we’ll see!

#sammy lawrence #i know you have questions you always do #bendy saltposting #finally makes a tag so u can mute me being salty abt the franchise if ur not here for that!!

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starflungwaddledee · 1 year ago

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kirbytober 2023 21 + 26 : fav characters + ship [ prev || next ]

putting this at the top because it's extremely important but i received a message implying that some folks headcanon these two as drastically different ages. you may headcanon whatever you like of course, but in my work i firmly think that they're both full adults who are at least 25+. this is abundantly clear in my work. i'm not interested in headcanoning any of them as literal children and i would never touch that shit. dni if you think that sort of ship would actually be okay. don't be a freak. thanks.

very typical to take your favs and then also shove them together but isn't that the point. anyway i have literally never seen anybody else ship them (if you're out there... hello... 😭) despite them both being very main characters and i don't know why?? they could be so cute i think...

they are both industrious adventurers, prolific hard-workers (team task doers), and a little cheekily competitive!

i think that bandee is no stranger to a wide variety of close and intense relationships; he's beloved by many and loves them all equally but distinctly in turn. magolor on the other hand has been sooo isolated and lonely for such a long-ass time, he barely knows how to be friends let alone really care for someone. bandee is smart enough to be suitably wary but kind enough to give him a chance despite that, which i think would knock him off his non-existent feet instantly. in reply, magolor could give him something unique by loving and prioritising him utterly singularly, in a way bandee wouldn't even have realised he was missing

in awtdy (pictured in the sketch page; if you see a tattered looking magolor in my art it's probably this au) in particular they are both thrown into the angst soup together and come out insanely trauma bonded at the hip. their friendship/relationship is central to the plotline; together they're working on a solution to the timeline anomaly, while also hiding that they even really know each other the whole time

#kirbtober #kirbytober #bandana waddle dee #magolor #my art #my hcs #awtdy au #yelling 'hello' into the void like the voyager probe hoping to reach another living creature who speaks the bandeemagolor language #i tend to ship in a kind of qpp way just for clarification. i kinda just don't think amatonormative romance exists the same on popstar #that said they are like... utterly unwell about each other. insane. i just am not sure they are “Dating” yknow? i dunno how to explain this #but if you are arospec and you Get What I Mean then you can say that they're in love and stuff. if you get it yknow?? yknow.#mental illnesses shaped like each other.#i know bandee is 'the normal guy' but i think he can be a little mentally unwell sometimes too; as a treat #anyway.... that's it that's the rarepair. maybe its up to me to make this a thing. do you wanna be sold on this pair?? i can do it probably #they *don't even have a tag name* but i will make up one so that people can filter it out if they want to mute it:#bandee x magolor #🍎

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dearweirdme · 5 months ago

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Don’t you think y’all are grasping at straws with this whole Taennie thing? Y’all are literally nitpicking and dissecting the whole thing to look for inconsistencies so you can continue to deny the obvious.

Tae and Jennie are members of the biggest boy band in the world and the biggest girl band in the world, they don’t need to do a pap walk to make waves. I think that one thing y’all are completely forgetting is that these are kpop idols not western stars. Western stars are the ones who make waves with dating rumors while for kpop idols that is literally career suicide because of the parasocial relationships fans have with them which in a way they encourage by hiding their dating lives so they don’t upset fans and make fans to stop supporting them. Y’all are viewing tae and jennie from a western lens and acting like they are western stars while they are not.

Look at all the hate Tae and Jennie got after that pap walk. What is fun about any of that or how beneficial is any of that to them? Jennie didn’t need tae to make waves, the gils have over 80 million followers on IG. Tae didn’t need Jennie to make waves either he has over 60 million followers on IG so what was the point of a pap walk? Whom did that pap walk benefit? Even if you think it benefitted Jennie what did Tae get out if it? And if you think he got nothing out of it then why did he agree to do it? If you think he did it to have freedom in his relawoty Jungkook then why was he the one who had to do the walk with Jennie? Why not Jk? Tae and jennie lost some fans after that walk, they both got an insane amount of hate because of that walk, so what was the reason?

Katarina from Aespa literally had to end her relationship and apologize to fans and y’all really think any kpop idol would be dumb enough to fake a pap walk to make waves, I mean come on.

Let’s say the pap walk was fake. Was the accidental follow fake? You can say whatever you want about gurumi but the truth is some of those photos they posted back in may of 2022 were not fake especially those ones in Jeju. Take one good look at Tae’s toes and even the scare on his leg. How do you fake toes? How did gurumi know to put tae and Jennie in clothes we had never seen them in before and only saw them in months after the leak? If those photos were fake then why on earth didn’t they both deny them? Instead YG put out a statement threatening legal action on the person who invaded Jennie’s privacy meaning that the photos were real. Bighit never made a statement and neither did tae but look at how fast he denied dating Joanna and got mad but it was crickets with Jennie. How do you explain their close friends circle? How do you explain Jennie’s manager following Tae or the mutual friends they have? You could say they are idols and have mutual friends but you know it is much deeper than that. How do you explain Tae constantly glancing at Jennie at the Harry styles concert on Seoul? It wasn’t once or twice but many times. How do you explain him posting a picture of himself in jennie’s neighborhood right after the Harry styles concert in seoul? Is that a coincidence too? How do you explain us seeing some artwork from gurumi’s pics from tae’s house that we had never seen before and only saw after those leaked pics?

Tae and Jennie in Paris probably took a walk at night not thinking that anyone would recognize them. I don’t think they were planning to soft launch their relationship. They probably took walk and as fate would have it, they got photographed and maybe they stayed quiet about it because they wanted to do things by their own terms and were not ready to go all out yet so they left fans guessing besides isn’t that textbook Tae?

Listen, Tae and jennnie dated and they are probably broken up now. I say probably because it isn’t uncommon for kpop idols to lie about breaking up just to get fans out of their hair. So they are probably broken up now or maybe they broke up because Tae was about to enlist. Couples in korea usually break up when the men are about to enlist. There are so many things which point to the fact that the walk wasn’t media play and that taennie was real. I don’t think taekookers would have been cracking their brains this much if even 1/4 of these had happened to another idol as you would have just concluded that they probably dated but seeing as y’all really want to believe that taekook is real, you completely throw logic out the window.

Ok answer me this. Let’s say the pap walk was media play as you said. How do you explain the pictures from Jeju? Are those not Tae’s exact same toes? What editing or photoshop software is that great at replicating toes or fingers? Didn’t tae wear those exact same shorts months after the leak? How do you explain that? How do you explain him posting a photo in Jennie’s neighborhood after the Harry Styles concert? So are we going to pretend like Seo Joon being so friendly and cozy with Jennie and even taking videos of her so fondly while she performed wasn’t because of Tae?

All this back and forth won’t change reality and the earlier some of us realize that the better. Denying reality just because of a romantic relationship you created in your mind is actually kinda mental if you ask me because what do you mean you are fighting tooth and nail to deny something which is more probable just because of a romantic relationship you wish existed or because of something you have completely made up in ur head? If taekook isn’t resl it isn’t real and no matter how much you try to twist reality, truth still remains truth.

Hi anon!

I'm not nitpicking at all. Nor am I fighting tooth and nail here. I'm actually quite relaxed about the whole thing. I know a pr stunt when I see one. Some might want to get to the bottom of things, it's kinda what army always does, right? Obviously Taennie is something that bothers some, and creates insecurity for others.. personally I'm still feeling the same about it as I've always done.

Tae and Jennie are members of the biggest boy band in the world and the biggest girl band in the world, they don’t need to do a pap walk to make waves.

So the biggest stars don't need to do pr? What about the Kardashians and basically every move they make? What about Taylor Swift? What about artists disapearing for months (yes, huge artists) only for them to pop up before releasing an album or movie? Jennie herself might be able to make waves in her fandom, but outside that hose waves have definite limits. This stunt with Tae got her way outside of her own fandom's reach. It's about growth, it's about conquering new territory, it's about staying at the top.. not getting there and relaxing into it.

I think that one thing y’all are completely forgetting is that these are kpop idols not western stars.

Kpop has been trying to move into the western market (and succeding) for years.. it's an odd assumption to think they will not also adapt some of the western strategies.

Western stars are the ones who make waves with dating rumors while for kpop idols that is literally career suicide because of the parasocial relationships fans have with them which in a way they encourage by hiding their dating lives so they don’t upset fans and make fans to stop supporting them.

An odd thing to say when Jennie herself is very clearly an example of this not being true. Whether you see her relationships with G-dragon and Kai as mediaplay or real.. she has either proven that mediaplay exists the way I think it does.. or that it is not career suicide to confirm a relationship. Tae being Tae does make it more delicate I believe. Blinks and Army do not generally get along. BTS members especcially are seen as SK's property. But.. if the need to stay hidden is so strong.. they would not have spent their three hours together publicly in a restaurant and on the streets of Paris at a very touristy spot. Their teams would have turned everyone around them away, or driven them off at the sight of fans and bystanders. You can literally see Tae look at the camera. Their teams will have extensive training and experience on how to spot suspicious people. It is naive to think they were this careless if they are concerned about being discovered.

Why not Jk? I strongly believe Jk would not be able to pull this off. I also think Tae would rather it be him than Jk. Everything with Gurumi also already provided them with a basis to go along with. It was basically ready.. set.. go.

Tae and jennie lost some fans after that walk, they both got an insane amount of hate because of that walk, so what was the reason?

Publicity. Heaps of publicity. Every article written about Tae and Jennie had her series in it and every article about Jennie's series mentioned her and Tae. It was a prooffail plan to maximize attention. Everyone was paying attention on her and trying to figure out if it was actually them for weeks... months even.. for crying out loud.. we are still talking about it apparently.

Was the accidental follow fake? No. Accidents happen. Tae and Jennie can even be friends and actually follow each other on their private accounts. Why does that have to be something romantic?

You can say whatever you want about gurumi but the truth is some of those photos they posted back in may of 2022 were not fake especially those ones in Jeju. Take one good look at Tae’s toes and even the scare on his leg. How do you fake toes? (....) Ok answer me this. Let’s say the pap walk was media play as you said. How do you explain the pictures from Jeju? Are those not Tae’s exact same toes? What editing or photoshop software is that great at replicating toes or fingers?

Please go and find a youtube video explaining what photoshop is. You are clearly unaware. This toe creating magic you speak of does indeed not exist... but I think you fail to realize how photoshop actually works. Come back after you have updated your knowledge (wait what.. no, don't come back.. just update your knowledge). Also.. feel free to go through my gurumi tag. Gurumi themselves admitted to being an editor. I mean, if you want to trust and anonymous account on the internet who puts out edited pics and whom themselves admits to being an editor and who on top of all of that is clearly out to bait both fandom and companies... then go ahead. I teach my kid not to do shit like that.

How do you explain Tae constantly glancing at Jennie at the Harry styles concert on Seoul? It wasn’t once or twice but many times.

How do you explain him posting a picture of himself in jennie’s neighborhood right after the Harry styles concert in seoul?

You know who lives there also and whom Tae actually left at the same time as....

So they are probably broken up now or maybe they broke up because Tae was about to enlist. Couples in korea usually break up when the men are about to enlist.

Peak romance apparently.

Good grief... isn't that textbook Tae?? What is that supposed to mean anon?

I don’t think taekookers would have been cracking their brains this much if even 1/4 of these had happened to another idol as you would have just concluded that they probably dated but seeing as y’all really want to believe that taekook is real, you completely throw logic out the window.

Partly true actually. We probably wouldn't think twice about other celebs (well, actually I do at times). We have reason to doubt this though.. the plus years of reasons. We don't think Tae and Jk are probably/possibly together because of nothing. We have moment upon moment upon moment that makes us believe that. So combined with the knowledge that papwalks and media play happens.. we do have reason to think question what we see here. We don't throw away logic. The mere existence of media play makes this a logical conclusion.

#taennope #I'm not gonna do much taennie #i think we are all bored of it already #so just a few #also you can mute my teannope tag if it's too bothersome #taekook #gurumi

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