#like I’ll see a bi Mike take and be like I LOVE THIS but then it’ll end with something homophobic and it’s like ok nvm
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Saying gay Mike would be hated by the ga bc that would mean that he used El all those years, is homophobic, just like saying bi-Mike would be hated by the ga bc that would mean he could have just stayed with El if he is also attracted to girls, is biphobic.
Bylers using either of these as the basis for why their interpretation is most likely to play out in canon, just makes me cringe bc why are we even wasting time giving validation to homophobia/biphobia as having the last word for how the show has to play out?? Is that what it all comes down to then? Appeasing bigots??
Gays aren’t evil or trying to intentionally hurt others, least of all gay kids that are figuring out their sexuality. Let’s not act like being gay wasn’t seen as being broken or needing to to be fixed, meaning that going along with what society views as normal, was and still is seen as the only option for queer people in general. And I say queer people in general bc you don’t necessarily have to even be gay to experience questioning your sexuality and feeling like you have to do things because everyone else is. Arguably we all go through that! But especially gays in the 80’s bc for a lot of people back then, it was a matter of blending in to survive (for many it still is).
Bisexuals aren’t evil or trying to intentionally hurt others for falling out of love, losing feelings, or just merely not being attracted to/compatible with someone of the opposite sex. Straight people are capable of recognizing that they aren’t attracted to or compatible with every person they meet of the opposite sex. Does any of that make them less straight? No. So why is it so hard to understand it’s the same way for bisexuals and even queer people in general? Nobody, bisexual or otherwise should have to stay in relationships with someone they no longer have romantic feelings for, just bc they’re attracted to them or even were just confused and thought they were but it ended up not being enough?? Attraction is important, yes, but feelings are arguably even more so (especially when you have something else to compare it to, causing the dilemma in the first place). I mean look at Stancy/Jancy? Is Nancy viewed as problematic for being attracted to Steve and having deep feelings/being attracted to Jonathan, and having conflicting feelings about that? No! And so why should it be problematic for Mike?
The reality is, homophobes are going to hate Mike if he comes out as queer, regardless of whether he is revealed to be gay, bi or unlabeled.
This is why basing Mike’s sexuality on the backlash of bigoted audiences’ is a moot point to me.
I mean, as it is, most of the general audience already hates Mike as a result of his behavior in s3-4, and this is straight Mike we’re talking about! I’m obviously not referring to milkvans or Redditors, bc they only make up a minority of hardcore fans who hate byler and will defend Mike to the point of demonizing El. I’m talking about viewers that have seen the show once through each time a new season releases and then move on afterwards without being in online spaces. That is the majority. The majority of the general audience, homophobic or otherwise, does not like Mike anyways at this point. So, who the hell cares what they think about queer Mike in the end??? They’re already anticipating going into s5 and continuing to dislike him, so the argument that the show can’t do this or that bc those same people won’t like him?… That ship has already sailed.
If anything I could see the non-homophobic majority accepting queer Mike, regardless of what label he ends up identifying with, bc then at least it will finally give them some clarity about where that resentment they had for him was coming from, ie misunderstanding him completely and now finally getting some answers.
At the end of the day, bigots will do what they do best. They’ll make up any reason they can think of for why queer Mike is wrong. And so why should we base our interpretation of things on what will be more palatable to those that the show was never intended for in the first place?
#byler#gay bi mike discourse#just another Thursday in the byler tag#being a ‘remains to be seen’ truther is hard#so many are dead set one way or the other#and I just can’t defend ppl that have to shit on one to defend the other#like I’ll see a bi Mike take and be like I LOVE THIS but then it’ll end with something homophobic and it’s like ok nvm#like I just don’t see a need to tear down gay mike to get back at the problematic gay mike truthers#leave him out of it 😭#seeing homophobia/biphobia doesn’t mean you get a free pass to inflict that hate casually#two wrongs don’t make a right in this scenario#I’m an I love mike wheeler no matter what he comes out as truther till the end#and I’m willing to entertain evidence that exists out there for both#but it’s hard to support both sides when at times it comes with this cloud of homophobia/biphobia#bc I just can’t subscribe to that#and when/if mike is revealed to be gay/bi/unlabeled#please don’t be hurtful to others that ended up being wrong#like… it’s just so gross out here sometimes#we’re all real people outside of this space let’s try to remember that#let’s make this space one that’s worthwhile for those that want to be apart of this community#otherwise it’ll cease to exist bc no one will want to be here
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You’re fairly notorious for making really incredible and dynamic mini comic strips. I love making them as well but really struggle with creating a layout on a canvas. Do you make the sketches individually and then lay them out in comic form or do you do the entirety of the comic one page at a time? All this is to ask if you have any tips or suggestions on how to improve at making more dynamic mini comics?
I’m so glad you think my comics are dynamic! I’ll try my best to explain my comic making process in this answer:
I almost always start with the dialogues on my notes app. This process usually happens in the middle of the night when I’m struck with an idea but I have no energy to draw anything. I find it very useful to try and figure out how many pieces of dialogue there are in the comic and how many pages it might take. This is how the initial notes for this comic from @spideywillandmjwheeler looked (you can see that I’ve made changes in the final version):
Next, I always work on the layout. I imagine the scene in my head and try to understand how the panelling should look. What dialogue requires a bigger panel, what requires a spread, etc. this was the base of the bi Mike comic:
Here’s a little insight into how I do the panelling and how I make the choices with the sizes of the panels based on importance (from the Will with powers comic):
Once I do the layout, I basically just get started with the lines and colours and see what works best and then it’s the usual illustration process. It’s almost always this exact same process and with time and practice, each comic gets easier to work on. Sometimes I have an idea for a panel (like the one below. This is four whole panels but drawn as a spread instead) that I get very excited about because I’m like “wow, that’s kind of genius” and I keep hoping that I get more creative with it as time goes.
I hope this was a little helpful and what you were looking for! I’d say trust your gut in the comic making process and don’t feel limited by the panels. Things and characters can move out of the boxes and you can have all sorts of fun with it. Just remember to keep a certain amount of structure to the pages so that the comic is readable :D
#also#Hahaha when you say notorious it feels like I’m sitting here making comics plotting and rubbing my hands like an evil little housefly 😂🫶🏽#I like that bc that was DEFINITELY me drawing the will falling into the UD comic#anonymous#tutorial#artovna
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Mike Wheeler and Audience Perception
(Or, Why Does Everybody Hate Mike?)
I want to stress right off the bat that this is not meant to be read as Mike hate AT ALL— this is a pro-Mike post I promise!! It just might take a lot of explaining on my end so bare with me.
I know that the general audience perception of Mike can be incredibly frustrating. Post vol. 2, and hell even during season 3, there's been a large amount of animosity towards Mike, because he isn't acting in accordance with the Mike that everyone fell in love with in seasons 1 and 2.
But here's the thing, the audience is supposed to dislike Mike.
Maybe I should clarify first, I'm not saying that the audience is supposed to dislike Mike FOREVER, but rather the audience is supposed to dislike Mike RIGHT NOW until season 5 airs and clears up a lot of his choices. And even if people do like Mike, which a lot of the smart ones do, then they are at least supposed to dislike his actions. Even the most hardcore Mike fans will admit that he has moments where he messes up, but understand the complex reasonings behind why he makes these mistakes.
I should clarify too that what I mean by "the smart ones" are the ones who see Byler as the likely outcome. Even regardless if you see Mike as gay or bi (I personally see him as gay, but that besides the current point) the only way to explain why Mike has been acting the way that he has is through his sexuality and feelings for Will, otherwise he really is being an asshole for no reason. Mike's true character is purposefully being withheld from the audience, so that they can make the reveal and it can completely recontextualize his character arc. Those that have it figured out (Bylers) are just ahead of where a typical audience member would be.
Let me put it this way:
GA that dislike Mike and MiIeven are watching the show correctly, even if they don't necessarily see Byler as an option yet.
Bylers that love Mike are one step ahead.
MiIevens that hate Mike see all the narrative information correctly, but are denying the truth.
MiIevens that love Mike are willfully changing what the narrative is presenting.
If Mike was truly acting exactly the way he was supposed to, then his actions would be more likable.
I've noticed that a ton of miIevens tend to dislike Mike. Not all, but a good number. They hate him because they believe exactly what they see on the surface level and that he's acting exactly the way he's supposed to. When Mike is ditching his friends and disregarding his interests in season 3, that's just Mike growing into his heterosexual self! Yes it's totally rude and out of character, but Mike is meant to be with El which means that he is doing exactly what he is supposed to do, right?
Is it possible to have this arc without Mike being unlikable? I mean, it’s not impossible, but it would be extremely difficult. The whole point is that Mike has not been acting like himself for the past two seasons, so it’s important to show that when he acts like this it is not a good thing, and this is not only proven through the audience’s perception but also through the characters perception in show. Mike gets called on his bullshit in universe by Will and Dustin! You are supposed to see that what he’s doing is strange!
Let me put it this way, if all of Mike's current actions were liked and supported by not only the audience AND the characters within the story— this would make the reveal that he hasn't been acting truthfully not work.
I’ll use a pretty robust example, let’s consider a character dynamic that, while not romantic, is widely loved by most audience members: Steve and Dustin.
Let’s say that in season 5, it’s revealed that Steve actually hates Dustin and doesn’t like being his friend. Not only would the audience strongly dislike that, but it wouldn’t match any of what was being shown in show. There’s no reason to believe that Steve doesn’t like Dustin, so that reveal would just feel cruel and cheap.
Let’s also say that Mike was actually a perfect boyfriend and friend for the past two seasons. He’s always able to say “I love you” to El. He isn’t possessive of her. He doesn’t ice out his friends (especially Will) just to be with her. He doesn’t try ti be someone he’s not. His actions are loved by the audience and the characters. And THEN it’s revealed that he’s gay and loves Will. Wouldn’t that feel off?
While Bylers may be used to being faced with intense homophobia from certain MiIevens and toxic fandom members, the typical GA member actually isn’t homophobic. Most GA don’t like MiIeven, but they’re indifferent to Byler because they don’t see it as a possibility quite yet because they don’t read into it as closely as we do. It’s not because they are media illiterate, it’s just because they watch the show casually. The general consensus that I actually saw from GA on twitter is that they actually wanted more of Will and Mike and were dissapointed with their lack of attention from the season.
The unfortunate thing about Mike and audience perception is that we have to wait for the payoff. There’s not really anything that can be done about that, it’s just how the television production cookie crumbles. I also don’t think that it’s a bad thing for Mike to have pronounced flaws, if anything it makes his character more interesting and dynamic. Some of my favorite characters in media are ones that are deeply flawed but have a redemption arc. Although, I guess this would be less of a redeption arc and more of a recontextualization arc? Either way, I’m excited for the audience to finally see Mike the way that they’re supposed to.
#mike wheeler#happy birthday mike everyone hates you#btw thats an uppercase i when i write miIeven#stranger things analysis#my analysis#anti mileven#anti milkvan#byler
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Good Omens Crowley and Aziraphale Reunited Playlist
In anticipation of Good Omens Season 3, here’s the “Crowley and Aziraphale Reunited and It Feels So Good Playlist.” We know our favorite demon and angel will be reunited. Take heart, have faith, and keep hope. Crowley and Aziraphale will be together again, like chocolate and peanut butter. This is music Maggie and Nina would put together in a playlist for a party celebrating the Crowley and Aziraphale’s relationship. The songs are about friendship and love.
How ever you as a fan define the love they share – eros, philia, or agape - we know Crowley and Aziraphale love each other. In the Good Omens universe, angels and demons are sexless and genderless. However, they can have genders and sex body parts if they want to. They can be sexual, asexual, binary, nonbinary, romantic, aromantic, hetero, homo, bi, pan. They can be any expression of the spectrum of identities and orientations. Above all else, they can love each other.
Maggie, Nina, Aziraphale, and Crowley are going to sing a karaoke version of “That’s What Friends Are For” at the party.
Please enjoy this unashamedly, unapologetically romantic, silly, sentimental, and sugary playlist (with extra cheesy goodness).
See note after list on song the selection process.
Songs include:
“You’re My Best Friend” – Queen
“Let’s Stay Together” – Al Green
“For Once in My Life” – Stevie Wonder
“Reunited” – Peaches and Herb
“Love and Happiness” – Al Green
“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” – Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
“That’s What Friends Are For” – Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder
“I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)” – Aretha Franklin and George Michael
“Can’t Fight this Feeling” – REO Speedwagon
“Time After Time” – Cyndi Lauper
“I’ll Be There” – Mariah Carey and Trey Lorenz version
“I’ll Stand by You” – The Pretenders
“I Say a Little Prayer” – Aretha Franklin
“I Honestly Love You” – Olivia Newton John
“God Only Knows” – The Beach Boys
“Don’t Let Me Down” – The Beatles
“Just the Two of Us” – Grover Washington, Jr., ft. Bill Withers
“Just the Way You Are” – Billy Joel
“Your Song” – Elton John
“How Deep is Your Love” – The Bee Gees
“The Air that I Breathe” – K.D. Lang version
“Time in a Bottle” – Jim Croce
“Up Where We Belong” – Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes
“Islands in the Stream” – Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers
“Endless Love” – Diana Ross and Lionel Richie
“Almost Paradise” – Mike Reno and Ann Wilson
“Leather and Lace” – Stevie Nicks and Don Henley
“Feels Like Home” – Bonnie Raitt
“In Your Eyes” – Peter Gabriel
“I Want to Know What Love Is” – Foreigner
“Never Tear Us Apart” – INXS
“Eternal Flame” – The Bangles
“Heaven is a Place on Earth” – Belinda Carlisle
“Walking on Sunshine” – Katrina and The Waves
“Never Gonna Give You Up” – Rick Astley
“Everlasting Love” – U2 version
“[I Can’t Help] Falling in Love with You” – UB40 version
“Let’s Get It On” – Marvin Gaye
P.S.: Aziraphale secretly loves romantic duets and rock ballads. He wouldn’t admit it because his personality is classical music. However, he longs to sing karaoke duets with Crowley. “Reunited,” “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me),” “I’ll Be There,” “Don’t Let Me Down,” “Up Where We Belong,” “Islands in the Stream,” “Endless Love,” “Almost Paradise,” and “Leather and Lace.”
P.P.S.: “Never Gonna Give You Up.” Crowley unironically loves this song, but he invented “Rickrolling,” so Rick Astley would get paid more in song royalties. Who’s laughing now?
P.P.P.S.: “Let’s Get It On.” Crowley has experienced all the infinite varieties of human, demonic, angelic, and supernatural being sexuality and intimacy. Like various “sins” thought up by humans (without demonic influence), he has taken credit for inventing some of the more fun, creative intimate activities. He consulted on the artwork in the Kama Sutra. Crowley secretly wants to snuggle under the blankets with Aziraphale on cold rainy days, but he would never admit it because it would ruin his reputation.
Note on song selection:
Yes, the playlist is exclusively classic pop and rock songs. I’m a Gen Xer. David Tennant and Michael Sheen are Gen Xers. Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett are Boomers. This is the music I grew up listening to. These songs make me feel good. They don’t write songs like this anymore. I’m a cool college English teacher. My job is to corrupt the youth of the nation. Ms. Myers is going to expose you to culture. I’m a cool spinster aunt. Auntie Amy is gonna learn you about oldies music. I selected songs that thematically fit with the relationship between Aziraphale and Crowley. Listen to the lyrics. They fit. The list flows. You may not like my choices, so your mileage may vary. You can make your own playlist.
You can listen to it on YouTube.
#neil gaiman#good omens 2#good omens 3#aziraphale#crowley#playlist#reunited playlist#classic love songs
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Please tell me your punk!Steve thoughts.
OH BOY I HAVE A LOT - besides what i’ll probably infodump abt here i have lowkey fleshed out an entire backstory for punk steve under the #punk steve au
(to summarize, steve decides to become a punk and rebel against his parents instead of doing what they want and being a jock)
he introduces punk culture to el and max and they adore it (el loves the pastel punk aesthetic)
he doesn’t use any of his parents money (but continues to live in their house bc he doesn’t really have anywhere else to go and doesn’t want to burden any of the multiple families that would take him in), is a lifeguard in the summer and takes odd jobs around fall and winter.
he goes to Indianapolis as often as possible and learns most of what he knows from Elder Punks he meets there. there’s a couple small punk/alt stores he always stops by and a few bars/clubs. everyone he meets loves him (and baby punks in general but they find it really cool that he comes from privilege yet decides to rebel against ideals that were made so he could succeed at the failure of others).
he’s also introduced to the queer community a lot earlier on, and realizes he’s mlm (i hc him as gay but i can also see him as bi) and there’s a bunch of Elder Gays who adopt him.
he’s pretty much the only punk in Hawkins, so he kinda gets a reputation. in his freshman year he mostly keeps to himself, doesn’t really dress the way he wants and just wants to make it through the year. sophomore year though, he befriends jonathan nancy and barb and starts dressing and acting the way he wants to. him and jonathan listen to music together and he helps out with will when joyce and jonathan need to work- which eventually leads to him meeting mike dustin and lucas and taking care of them too.
steve realizes he wants to be strong enough to protect the people he cares about, so him and jonathan train and work out together a bit. steve and nancy don’t date, but they’re best friends along with barb. i just need to see barb and steve as besties it would make me so happy. also nancy and barb are in love bc obviously.
halfway through sophomore year steve gets a job at the local mechanics (mechanic eddie this, mechanic eddie that, no! give me mechanic steve who has a special interest in cars! just look at his beemer! and like the sole decoration he has in his room is a photo of a car!)
SO. junior year. this is when he starts going to indianapolis a lot more frequently. he buys records and camera stuff for jonathan, and drawing supplies for will (he basically lives with the byers atp). he is a lot more sure of himself, wears combat boots and battle jackets, and is damn good at fighting (he worked really hard at it the summer before). if anyone harms the kids he will not hesitate to hit someone, and this becomes town-wide knowledge very quick.
when will disappears in november, steve is the first person joyce calls before karen. he joins the search parties, he goes to lonnie instead of jonathan (steve would rather die than make jonathan face his abuser again). basically he’s involved with the upside down shit from the start.
also, steve accidentally finds out about el when dustin and lucas do. he offers to have her stay at his house, mike is reluctant but agrees, and el immediately becomes steve’s new baby sister. steve still saves the day at the end of s1 with the demogorgon, but the fight with jonathan and all of that doesn’t happen.
i accidentally plotted the whole show with this au…
steve finds el s2 and actually fucking tells the Party instead of hiding it like hopper did. el just permanently lives at steve’s now.
oh yeah and barb doesn’t die so that’s a thing that changes s2 a lot. i lost track of where this was going so i’m gonna just drop hcs i have about punk steve
he paints his nails black, he has a few piercings, he doesn’t really like the feeling of makeup on his face but he puts on eyeliner occasionally, he lets his hair grow out more and has perfected the ‘messy bedhead that somehow looks good’ look, he has big combat books and uses lace code, he’s gay but says he would go straight for joan jett (me too tbh), he has a reputation of “don’t fuck with me or my kids” in Hawkins, he also lowkey converts robin into a punk but she’s more indie-alt like jonathan, he doesn’t play any instruments but has a great voice and perfect pitch, will and el help him make one of his favorite battle vests, will is very crafty and artistic so he helps steve with a lot of his stuff, he has a few tattoos, he can do cool lighter tricks lol, etc.
#punk steve au#stranger things#steve harrington#punk steve harrington#baby punk el hopper#punk max mayfield#the byers adopt steve#the byers brothers#punk el hopper#jane hopper#max mayfield#will byers#jonathan byers#lesbian nancy wheeler#barb holland#lesbian barb holland#platonic stancy#platonic jancy#dustin henderson#the party stranger things#punk steve headcanons
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how things are in my eddie x platonic! experiment! reader universe
takes place between seasons 1-3 !
sev/van/y/n
- sev! reader’s powers consist of
telekinesis
pyrokinesis
extasensory perception
technopathy
electromagnetic disturbance
illusion manipulation
etc.
- so in this story reader is bi!
- if you can’t tell by her scary cute obsession with kelly lebrock
- speaking of ! here’s some of sev��s celebrity crushes !
kelly lebrock
anthony michael hall
tom hanks
michael jackson
elizabeth montgomery
- when she got to hawkins high, her being a harrington got around pretty quickly
- like i’m talking between students and teachers
- sev became quite popular
- much to the dismay of mike , dustin , max , and eddie
- but especially rob
- oh yeah ! rob hasn’t been introduced yet but i’ll talk about him anyways
- so remember at the end of season 2’s chapter when someone tapped on sev’s shoulder while she was stuffing her face at the dance?
- that was rob, one of her and the kids classmates
- he was part of the a.v. club with mike, will, lucas , and dustin.
- one day she came in after school, being that her chess club was canceled and just sat and watched them
- rob’s been infatuated since
- he’s harbored this really big crush on her ever since
- unfortunately sev hasn’t noticed
- see, even though sev is pretty well-versed when it comes to the knowledge of things like:
music
movies
sports
etc.
- she’s a bit clueless when it comes to love
- like, guys will give her flowers and bring her chocolates, and some girls will leave notes in her locker and invite her to sleepovers and parties
- but she just thought that meant they really liked her and wanted to be her friend!
- like one day she was walking to her locker with rob and once she opened it, 6 letters fell out. 4 from girls and two from guys
“oh rob look, someone said they think i like cute today 😊 !”
rob : “that’s great 😐”
- but you’ll learn more about rob in my next season 3 chapter
- moving on !
- from the time steve bought her that guitar, to 1986 she’s learned how to do a lot of songs on it
- her love of music continued on as she also picked up other instruments
the saxophone
the cello
the drums
- steve gets no sleep pretty much
- well actually he does because, he got so used to the noise, that it doesn’t affect him anymore
- speaking of steve
steve :
- steve is tired
- so very tired
- calls constantly coming to the house
- like one night while sev, max , el , dustin , lucas , will , and mike were having a sleepover in your room,
- steve was just getting home from dropping robin off after work
- so he just gets home and he’s ready to just fall asleep on the couch
- until the phone started ringing
“sev! go get that please!”
- no answer
“sev! can you- jesus christ, nevermind i got it!”
steve: “hello?”
random kid: “hi, is y/n home?”
steve: “who’s asking?”
random kid: (insert name of a kid he knew when he was in school)
steve: “wait, aren’t you a senior now??”
random kid: “well, yeah but-“
- steve just hung up
the only seniors your allowed near are nancy, robin, and eddie
- speaking of nancyyyyyy
nancy :
- she’s like a big sister to you honestly
- hence why she was so protective over her during that pool situation
- nancy taught her how to use guns
- (steve doesn’t know 😐)
- so when her and steve broke up it was kind of awkward
- especially when she got with jonathan
- but once steve graduated he was over it and so sev was too
and then came robin !
buttt that’ll be in the next part because this is getting too long 😊
tagged list ;
@tuffluuhv @ohthatsalittlegay @sadbitchfangirl
@reasontobebeautiful @uselessbutinteresting
@creativedogs @howlerwolfmax @kik51199
@spookyscarydinosaur @kenzi-woycehoski
#eddie munson#eddie munson x reader#stranger things#stranger things 4#eddie munson x y/n#eddie munson x platonic!reader#eddie munson x reader fluff#steve harrington x reader fluff#eddie munson x you#eddie munson x fem!reader#eddie munson x black!reader#eddie munson x poc reader#steve harrington x platonic! reader
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finn wolfhard’s “love songs” playlist
how the songs in it could possibly hint at endgame byler
keep in mind this playlist only has 7 songs and was made in january 2017 and also i’m a delusional byler so i’ll take anything
1. boys don’t cry by the cure
pretty self explanatory, but i’m gonna go into it regardless
we all deemed this will’s song because other than the fact that he has a poster of if it in his room, the lyrics resonate with him and his situation with mike. but we don’t talk enough about how the lyrics also make sense from mike’s pov
it feels like the first half of the song is from mike’s perspective, how he has hurt will quite a few times (e. g. “it’s not my fault you don’t like girls” and the rink-o-mania fight) and he feels he can’t come back from that because like the song says “i have said too much, been too unkind” (granted he does apologize to will every time they have a fight and he tries to make it up to him so i’ll give him that). i don’t think i need to get too into why the other half of the song is from will’s perspective, like i said, pretty self explanatory
2. let her go by mac demarco
this is more of a mileven song (although i wouldn’t exactly refer to it as mileven bc it benefits byler). the song is basically about how if you love someone you should tell them but if you don’t you should let them know.
i like the line “separations supposed to make the heart grow fond, but it don’t” because it seemed like that’s basically what happened between mike and el. they’ve been apart for 8 months (maybe?) and all they’ve done since then is lie to each other, causing their relationship to weaken
there’s also that very interesting lyric about the flowers, we’ve talked about how the end of season 4 symbolizes the end of mike and el’s relationship, how the flowers dying (the same ones that mike picked out for her) means their relationship is too
and to top it off, this is how the song ends
which i think it’s so funny considering this is pretty much what mike is doing. yeah, he said “i love you” to el granted it was thanks to will, and the whole thing just didn’t seem genuine (and i swear i’m not saying this with my byler agenda in mind), seems like he can only say he loves her when she’s in danger
you can see how much el doesn’t believe he loves her (or at least that he’s in love with her) by the way they act after the whole piggyback thing, they don’t seem too close, mike tells will she has barely talked to him and again, we get mike and will together in the last scene of season 4 (foreshadowing their relationship in season 5) kinda feels like mike is holding on to el because that’s what makes him “feel safe”, you know? the whole compulsory heteronormativity? but i could just be reaching at this point, you get what i mean
3. lovesong by the cure
this is pretty much just a byler song, also we get more songs by the cure!
the song talks about how whenever you’re with someone you love, you feel like the best version of yourself, like you don’t have to try too hard, talks about how being with the person you love is what makes you happy and complete
if this isn’t mike wheeler with will byers then idk what is (again, pretty self explanatory)
this song also contrasts the last song in a really funny way
especially considering how lovesong fits mike and will’s dynamic and let her go fits mike and el’s
4. africa by toto
i mean i don’t have much to say about this song, it’s not supposed to be a love song (which apparently is a theme with quite a few songs in here) but you could argue some of the lyrics might match mike’s situation, after all art is supposed to be subjective and you can interpret it any way you’d like
i could see how this could relate to mike, especially by the first two lyrics “i seek to cure what’s deep inside, frightened of this thing i have become”. we’re all aware of the theory that mike is gay (or bi or anything else, point is he is queer) and dating eleven bc of comphet, it could also relate to will, but this is finn’s playlist so it’s fair to assume these are about mike
5. inbetween days by the cure
a song by the cure yet again, im sensing another theme
this song was really just so… i literally can’t even form coherent sentences about it so i’m just gonna let you guys take a look at it so you see what i mean
this is so…
this is literally el, mike and will’s whole dynamic i’m like about to run into traffic
it couldn’t be me and her
in between without you
i don’t even have to put a caption in the pictures for u guys to know what’s happening (also i was too lazy to) but yeah, there would literally be no more mike and el if it weren’t for will
6. lost weekend by the so so glos
i’m gonna be honest with y’all i’ve been writing this post for quite a while now and im tired of it and i don’t have enough brain to analyze this so interpret it as u will, also i feel like the lyrics are pretty self explanatory (take a shot every time i say that instead of explaining something bc i’m lazy)
7. 前前前世 - movie ver by RADWIMPS
assuming most of u cant read japanese (me acting like i can lmao) i looked up the translation
also, this song was added way after the others were
the first verse and pre-chorus could be interpreted as mike realizing his feelings for will and finally being okay with them but will being upset because it took him so long
and i feel like the rest of the song is quite literally mike and will’s entire relationships from the moment will went into the upside down
it just fits them perfectly
okay now i know this could potentially be a reach, because at the end of the day these are just songs that weren’t made for the show and also weren’t used on the show, but the duffers do get a lot of inspiration from film so who’s to say they don’t do the same with different kinds of media
but this is also not an official playlist, and we don’t even know if it has anything to do with mike wheeler or stranger things, and we know finn is not one to be talking too much (not like noah at least)
however i do find it odd that this playlist has very few songs and some of them are not really love songs at all
finn did make a playlist about richie which includes some of the songs this playlist has, and maybe it’s to get in the mood of the time the movie (IT) and the show (Stranger Things) take place, but half of the songs in this playlist aren’t even from the 80s but from after 2010
again, this is just a fun theory, like i said the playlist was made in 2017 so it could totally just be finn’s love songs playlist, or what 2017 finn considered love songs, either way it’s fun to analyze (especially since we have nothing going on until the script for episode 8 comes out lmao) also i bet someone has probably talked about this before bc u guys are smart, but i’ve never seen a post about it and i wanted to make one
#also thanks finn bc these songs are so good and also fit the byler agenda#wouldn’t it be funny if finn made the playlist private after all these years#byler
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Isn’t too late to make Byler in season 5? There are only 8 episodes left and there’s no time for love stories but to fight Vecna. I hate this but i have to be realistic. Also it’s too late to make bi/gay the audience would be confused af.
i see your point completely. thats why i think if they do go through with byler it’ll be pretty halfassed because they should have started s5 with mlvn already broken up. ive seen some people say maybe el breaks up with him for good in like the first or second episode but at that point why didnt they just do it this season? why have the “i love you” scene at all if it genuinely isnt true?
defeating vecna for good, and breaking up mlvn, AND getting byler together is a lot all for the last season. and obviously i love byler so i’ll take whatever i can get but i do think its beyond dumb to not reveal mikes queer until the very last season after having him with el the entire show. it makes everything with el feel so pointless. honestly because of that i think it might make more sense for him to be bi now instead of gay but all the evidence has been way more gay coded than bi.
the thing is the duffers are still plotting all the evidence of it being requited in the form of subtext and we are beyond past the point of subtext!! we need to actually be directly told or shown mikes feelings!! it was fun in s3 and even in volume 1, but now they really gotta directly let us know where theyre going with this because theres not a lot of time left.
this was the season that should have revealed mikes sexuality. they put all their focus on will, a character thats already been pretty clearly queercoded from the beginning. mike was the one they really needed to show more of and i thought they were doing a good job of it in volume one!! with the fight over not being able to say he loves her and then what will said to him about it being scary opening up to people. i thought they were getting there but that monologue just fucking threw the whole thing away? like yeah maybe it didnt look genuine and theyll break up later but it would have been so much better for el to just break up with him this season and then leave byler ambiguous.
that being said, i do still think it’ll happen just because literally nothing makes sense if mike doesnt like him back:
why didnt he let el touch him when they were making out in s3? why did he tell will “its not my fault you dont like girls”?why did they frame him in a closet in s3 when el kissed him? why didnt he hug him at the airport? why did he emphasize “we’re friends!!” so much at the rink? why could he never tell el he love her and have such an important emotional scene of el calling him out on it if he actually does love her? why was mike nice and sweet to will as soon as el was no longer with them? why was he so “psyched out” (finns words) by will telling him its scary to open up to people because what if they dont like the truth? why did mike look so happy when he first opened the painting but when will said it was commissioned from el he drops the smile? why did will have to push him to continue his monologue which is what led him to saying he loved her? WHY DID HE STARE AT HIS LIPS SO OFTEN!!!??
the monologue ruined the pacing of byler completely and now youre right, it does seem like its too late, but i still think its gonna happen because nothing i just listed off was an accident.
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Me putting on my tinfoil hate to further say that having Vickie as Nancy's new photographer at the Streak would've 1. Been a great way to incorporate her into the story and 2.given Nancy a friend. (Like Nance takes her and Fred to Forrest hills Fred still 💀 but now Vickie is FREAKING OUT and Nancy is like pls calm down)
FURTHERMORE it's a given that stanky has to go or at the very LEAST Nancy is like my guy I am planning my life with Jonathan. But IDEALLY I would've loved to see them be snarky little exes who are playing matchmaker with Rockie
Onto blorbo (my beloved) the secret NYU thing is SO painful bc you've got the ACTUAL weight of things he wants to do versus what he thinks he HAS to do. Like you get hints of that in s4 but this would've been SO GOOD
Me (delulu): I can fix him
Hello Dearie!
OMG I LOVE THAT VICKIE IDEA!!!
The minute that I heard that Amybeth was going to be in S4 I freaked out cause 1. I’m Canadian and 2. I enjoyed Anne with an E and thought her Anne was great. I was hoping she would have a bigger role but needless to say I was a little bit disappointed when she didn’t. Her being a photographer would have been fun cause then she and Jonathan could have had conversations about it. Vickie is my fellow clarinet playing bi queen and I’m super sad that they didn’t do more with her.
My hope is that the S4 stncy stuff is a set up for Stevee’s arc next season where he gets over her. If they just put it there for love triangle bullshit I’ll be pissed cause Suffers if you want love triangle drama look no further than Mike! He’s got a pretty bizarre one going on atm.
You’re right it would have been fun to see Nancy and Steven be snarky exes helping out Robin and Vickie. I just hope next season they make Nancy and Stevens dynamic be that cause that’s how I view them in my hinge stoncy polycule where Jonathan’s in the middle.
Secret NYU thing would be heartbreaking. It would really bring home his core fear of the future as I think I and many other 17-18 year olds could relate to wanting to follow their dreams but being scared to go off and do them due to factors ranging from home life to just general anxiety.
S4 to me is the season that had so much potential but just fell short of reaching it. They hit some parts (ex. Vecna reveal, Max in Dear Billy, van scene, Byers bro’s heart to heart, spellbound at the ending) but in other parts they didn’t do very well. 
#coming from the fire emblem fandom where people go ‘hey I think we got some recency bias going on with blank game’ I do really think#that as a community we need to talk more about the flaws of s4#and what could have been done better#I see polls on what the best season is and s4 always win when to me best season is season 1 cause the mystery stuff is so interesting#and the character motivations feel pretty clean cut#off topic but#I’m tempted to start calling stncy Stacey or stanch cause my phone always auto corrects my censored spelling to that#mutuals! :)
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Stranger Things/Bridge to Terabithia crossover?
So I had this idea and I really like it but I know I’ll probably never write it so if anyone wants to continue it feel free to write it I guess just tag me cuz I’d love to read it. Anyway I’d love to see a bridge to terabithia crossover wit Mike as Jess.
So in this AU Ted and Karen get divorced and the kids end up split up when they’re young. Ted remarries Mrs. Aarons and takes her last name. he’s happier here but still doesn’t really parent Jess/Mike who is the only kid he gains custody of since his new wife already has 3 (was it 3?) girls and if he added his 3 kids Ted feels it’ll be too much so he lets Karen keep Nancy and Holly but fights for Mike not because he wants him but so that he can help on the farm Ted bought. Karen kept the same house the OG wheelers live in. Ted changes Mikes name to what he wanted to originally name him, and makes him take Mrs. Aarons name instead of keeping Wheeler (for the family image). He still meets Will, and the party but now sends them letters and calls them to stay in touch. He also gains an interest in art through Will who encourages this new passion they share. However Ted obviously doesn’t like it and tries to get them to cut contact. Mrs Aaron’s adopts Mike and now he has a third mom and they get along well though he misses his mom, Nancy, and Holly. Annabelle (was that her name I can’t remember… or was it Mary belle? I can’t recall the sisters names… oops?) and Jess get along ok but his older stepsisters and him do not get along very well even if they grow to love each other. Any way I picture him being there from around 7/8 to around 11 which is when he met Leslie. *cue very bittersweet music * everything in Bridge to Terabithia happens and after Jess/Mike is traumatized Ted decides to move back in with Karen for a while to help. In this Au they are still divorced which is why Ted sleeps on his couch/recliner. He still visits the Aaron’s all the time but doesn’t let anyone know outside of his family so that rumors aren’t spread around. Mike also visits them and Karen and Mrs. Arron’s end up with a weird kind of friendship due to everything and because they both love Mike/Jess as their son and are trying to help. Mike(Jess) gives up his art but still keeps Wills. No one in the party really knows what happened when he lived with Ted and kind of forgot about it as Mike never talked about it.
Mike visits in the weekends all the time to hang out with Annabelle(?) who is the only one who knows of Terabithia and both go a lot and talk to Leslie. What they don’t know is that Terabithia is like the upside down but a good version/sorta. There are dangers but since Jess is King and Annabelle(?) is a princess it’s not as dangerous to them. Mike doesn’t realize this and no one in the party knows . It’s not until Vecna becomes a problem that they find out. He possesses Mike which all of Terabithia feel and send Annabelle and Leslie(her ghost) to help. The upside down is basically an evil version of Terabithia with Creels influence while Terabithia is influenced by Mike/Jess. Also this is endgame Byler. Mike/Jess is bi in this and loved both Will, Leslie, and El(mostly platonic however he confused his feelings for El due to their trauma) Jess/Mike moves on for the most part from Leslie but will always love her just like with Will. While El and him become besties. Everyone in the party eventually find out what happened once he’s vecnad as stated earlier. Also they find out he had a crush on his music teacher who he’s still broken up over because if he didn’t take her offer of hanging out (weird date thing??? I never understood what that was about I always thought it was a bit weird….but it might just be my trauma) then he feels as if Leslie might have been alive still….
Um that’s all for now so yeah let me know what you all think ? Also I was thinking that maybe some how Holly, and Jess’s/Mikes other siblings got involved with the upside down as well? Maybe they make a comment about Leslie and Nancy and co ask who that is while Mike freezes and then that’s how they find out because Annabelle(?) who has no filter says it was his girlfriend but she died… I dunno anyway if anyone wants to write this into a fic let me know… also yes this should be an original prompt? I haven’t heard of anybody else doing this….
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Omg so sorry for falling asleep on ya last night 😂 But now I'm up and I'm having my coffee and trying to remember all my questions. Okay so
1- how do the adults feel about all this? I feel like Wayne is either completely disinterested or like mad as hell at the reader.
2- What about the Hellfire kids? In that lil snippet Mike seems annoyed but he's also a like 14 year old boy and puberty could just be hitting him like a brick so idk
3- why is reader driving around with no heat in their car????? It's about to be winter in Indiana it's gets below 0° easily get that shit fixed omfg
4- what has Eddie been doing for the months they've been apart? Just sitting in the house being a sad boy? Kissing other girls? Kissing other boys? Or is he like completely love sick and writing the worlds greatest emo anthems on his guitar.
5- ARE THEY GONNA GET BACK TOGETHER????? THEY LOVE EACH OTHER 😭😭😭
6- even if they do get back together what happens after the holiday when reader goes back to school???????
I'm just honestly so invested in this storyyyyyy. It's so well written and genuinely interesting. You're such a good writer. The way you say so much with so little dialogue. I am in awe at your skills, truly.
Oh god! No reason to apologize at all, I'm so glad you got sleep, that shit's like... super important!! Thank you for coming back and continuing the conversation, that's so sweet!! Okay, but onto your questions:
This definitely gets addressed in either part 3 (edit: posted just recently!). In part 4 or after, we may also get reader's parents' take on the whole scenario. Can't keep your personal life very secret in a small town, it seems.
That part's already done, actually, and while I feel like I struggled a bit to capture the kids in fully robust 3D, I also recognize that this is reader's first time interacting with them and First Impressions are a thing. They may pop up more in later parts, I haven't totally settled that one yet. (I’ll give you this much, reader definitely likes at least some of them.)
The heating was just a funny little quirk that I added in the beginning when it was all only going to be one part. It was a like, a throwaway one-liner I had tossed in just to add some depth to the character? But now I'm thinking it's probably something they should get looked at before they leave Hawkins.
I will just go ahead and put out there that I fully 100% invest in the concept of queer Eddie Munson. The personal interpretation of that queerness is up to any one person and how they see it, and I'm not here to police anyone else's perspectives on that. I, however, do interpret him as somewhere on the Bi/Pan side of things. (As a bisexual woman, this could just be me projecting.) Strictly speaking, this isn't relevant to the plot, but you kind of hinted at it with your question and I just wanted to take a second to talk about it. Anyway, my plan is definitely to get a little bit more into how Eddie spent the months reader was gone, but I'm not totally certain when that'll happen.
That's the big question, isn't it? Can't provide much by way of specifics here without big spoilers.
Unfortunately, I also can't give a whole lot away on this one because... I mean, y'know. Have to keep you hooked somehow. But I do plan on at least kind of answering this before I wrap the entirety of TtDS up!
Thank you again for your interest in the series and engaging the way you have!! It means so much and I'm so grateful to have people enjoying reading the story as much as I'm enjoying writing it. Maybe in a slightly selfish way, I love talking about it. So. Anyway, hope I answered your questions as best as I'm able to at the moment and hope you enjoy what's coming!!
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“Brief” Thoughts After Toronto
So. I’ve had some time to collect my thoughts. Still not enough cause I take absolutely forever to do that, but, I will try and put together everything and as many clips as I can relatively soon (I still don’t really understand this site).
BUT. One thing I have been able to process is that red and blue, and the bi flag colours seemed to be used a lot more than other color combos. Maybe that’s just cause I was looking for those more so noticed it but it did feel like it. (it also seemed like the red/blue happened a lot during songs I consider to be more Lashton, but again, maybe it’s just me.)
It also stood out to me just how often Luke would turn around and face Ash, it felt like it was at least once a song (I feel like nobody else is gonna be surprised by this, but I just didn’t expect it.) I was way back on the lawn, but I watched both the stage and big screen during the show, and filmed both the entire time so as not to miss anything. And when Luke would turn around it felt like Ash would also turn his head to look back at him and would smile (maybe I’m being a crazy person who tries to make everything about Lashton, but who cares, but I did definitely have the conscious thought during the show at one point that Ash had definitely turned his head towards Luke and started smiling, which feels like a dumb thing to mention, but I’m never fully coherent during concerts so that fact that I’d a full thought and it was that, feels to me like it would have had to have been noticeable enough for me to process it in the moment.) Slightly related (take everything I’m saying with a grain of salt, I’m crazy, and tend to have a habit of making pretty much everything I see about closeted couples), but I think during when Luke was leading the ahs in BLENDER (or a similar moment, I just know it was Luke interacting with the audience in some way or another, and he was walking around the stage so it wasn’t talking, and it was still light out) where I did think Ash was smiling about Luke being cute (as per usual.)
A few more things, Calum did cry a bit during his speech, and then Malum had a cute moment together (will try and get the video, it’s just a conversation but I thought it cute), I have absolutely no clue how none of us (me + my family) saw it when it happened, but I do have a video of Luke rolling around on the ground, Michael kept faking us out before Jet Black Heart, there was a point where Luke turned to the right and said “we should’ve played hard to get guys, we’ve told them we love them too much,” in relation to that, they complimented the crowd a LOT. Like, a LOT A LOT. And maybe they do it every show, but it felt excessive, literally every talk break they did it more than once and would put a lot of emphasis on it (I’ll try and edit every compliment together if anyone wants to compare it to their show) (my theory is that that, and all the posting about the show, is because they felt bad for having to cut down our set and wanted to make up for it (nothing against them, it was 1000% the right move, we saw lightning about 5 minutes after they left the stage (I wasn’t sad about it until this morning (if anyone has full videos of the 4 songs we had cut, could you please send those my way? I don’t care which city I just wanna like pseudo experience what it would have been like if we had the songs, thank you!)))). I think that that is everything I wanted to say right now, once I go back through my videos to re-jog my memory and get clips, I’ll write everything else down and post all the photos and videos, this is all just off the top of my head.
Also. I am still fully stuck on Ash’s speech. What he said wasn’t all that different from the other guys, I’m just head over heels in love with the man, and his speech just like. Made my life.
Thank you for our time, I’m back off to mope and nurse my throat (yes I’m talking about it. When they were introducing the guys they went Cal, Mike, and Ash. I was already screaming louder for Cal than I probably should have been, but they were trying to get us to scream louder each time, so I pushed it. Really far. My mom was stood next to me and after Mike, she realized they were about to introduce Ash. After how loud she realized I’d be for Ash (I was already real loud for Michael, but she knows I’m in Ash’s lane and would scream my head off) she literally backed up a few steps. Afterwards she said “you absolutely lost your god damn mind when they introduced Ashton” and I was like, of COURSE I did. And this is probably not good for my health by ANY means, but I just wanna emphasis how absolutely feral I went (the entire show obviously, this was just the loudest I was by far), I got lightheaded afterwards (I did a few other times, I have some pre-existing health issues related to this, it’s fine) and I literally felt myself lose my voice. I don’t know how to explain it, I just straight up felt my voice go. I could barely make a noise for the next 10 minutes and was so hoarse and cranky and painful for the rest of the show BUT I DID NOT CARE.)
#tmh toronto#lashton#luke hemmings#ashton irwin#michael clifford#calum hood#oh well#yeah so yeah#i have absolute no idea how to tag or use this site#i’m still a wreck over this show#it’s been a full 24 hours#i tried looking for tickets to other show cause i’m miserable but can’t#it was amazing tho#as per usual after shows i have a ton of stories#this will have to be added onto like 100 more times#i did not intend for this post to become so long#my video of Luke climbing up behind Ash is already circulating
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I finally figured out why it feels like Supernatural murdered a unicorn (AKA why you need to STOP telling me to watch Black Sails)
I’ll start by saying, everything everyone else has been saying CERTAINLY bothers me:
- the queer-baiting
- the bury your queers
- the undermining of Dean’s character arc
- the wasted opportunity for a certain kind of overall narrative closure
- the flat out disrespect to Misha Collins and Jensen Ackles
All of that bothers me tremendously.
But there has been something else rather ineffable about this that has left a horrible taste in my mouth that I couldn’t quite pin down until last night. Bear with me, if you will, because this will require some set-up.
***
This is not the first show to ever disappoint me in a spectacular fashion, nor will it be the last, I suspect. And one of the ways I’ve always coped with that disappointment was to remind myself that there will be other stories, other characters, other chances to get it right. (”It” being any number of things from just pure narrative emotional coherence to not burying your queers to not stringing along your queer audience and then yelling fuck you to them on the way out)
But somehow that assurance -- that there will be other stories, other characters, other chances to get it right -- has rung particularly hollow in this instance, and I couldn’t quite put my finger on why until yesterday.
I kept asking myself, why do I still have this feeling, deep in the pit of my stomach, like something was lost here that can never be recovered?
Because something was lost here that I am doubtful can ever be recovered, and I don’t think I’ve seen anyone else talking about this aspect of it at all.
***
A few months ago, TV critic Maureen Ryan did a great interview piece with Mike Schur (of Parks & Rec/The Good Place) discussing the death of long-form TV in the streaming era. They explore how the longer seasons and longer runs of traditional broadcast/cable TV provided an opportunity to tell particular kinds of stories that you simply can’t when seasons are 8-10 episodes and series typically run 2-4 seasons (thanks Netflix).
One key thing we’ve all lost in this new era of highly condensed TV storytelling (and of prestige TV narrative styles)? The traditional (several season’s long) slow-burn/will-they-won’t-they romance. Not only is there simply no longer the time or space to write such romances, it has also come to be seen as hacky, manipulative, cheap, artistically impoverished, low-brow, a embarrassing vestige of the era before TV became art™.
Everybody is trying to be Fleabag now. No one wants to be Frasier. (”It’s really more like a 10 hour movie” they all like to brag)
Obviously TV still has romances, even ‘drawn out’ romances. But ‘drawn out’ in 2020 is like 2-3 seasons, maybe. More commonly it’s like half a season. Take Schitt’s Creek. The number of episodes between when David and Patrick first meet and when they first kiss? Seven. Seven episodes. Half a season. If you watched it live, it took less than 2 months for them to move from introducing that dynamic to consummating it. And I’m not bagging on Schitt’s Creek; I think the David/Patrick’s story is very lovely and well-written.
But Niles & Daphne (Fraiser) had to wait 7 years and over 150 episodes before they finally got there. Josh & Donna (The West Wing) had to wait 6+ years, and 145 episodes. Mulder & Scully (The X-Files) had to wait 7 seasons and 143 episodes. Booth & Bones had to wait...you see where I am going with this.
And my point is (and I can’t believe I never realized this explicitly until now): there has NEVER been a queer slow-burn/will-they-won’t-they romance of that type on TV ever. EVER.
I’m going to say that again, because I think it bares repeating:
There has never been a queer, slow-burn/will-they-won’t-they romance that fits the 100-150 episode paradigm of delayed gratification on TV.
Not ever.
I can’t think of ONE example Not a single, solitary one. And I know queer TV pretty well. Arguably the closest we’ve ever come is Legend of Korra, and that ran 50 episodes, a THIRD of the length of old school will-they-won’t-theys like Booth & Bones or Josh & Donna.
Queer people have had a fair number of canonical romances on TV by now, even fairly long running ones. But we never got a primary/front-and-center romance that you had to root for for 100+ episodes before you got any kind of canonical consummation.
That is a particular kind of TV experience that queer people and queer characters were just 100% shut out of until it was too late. And because of how the TV landscape has changed in the last 10 years, I don’t know that that opportunity will ever come back around in our lifetimes.
***
Dean and Castiel are/were a legacy of an earlier era of TV, an era that still contained the possibility for a will-they-won’t-they of that particular mold. There were other shows that could have also filled this gap at one time - Rizzoli & Isles, OUAT, House MD, etc. But one by one all of them were killed off, their queer romances unrequited, until Supernatural was the only one of its’ generation left standing.
And they should have acknowledged that they were a species about to become extinct.
There are plenty of other valid and compelling reasons Supernatural should have gone full Destiel, don’t get me wrong.
A) It would have been the most emotionally satisfying ending to the series and to those characters (and that would have been reason enough).
B) It would have stopped the manipulative queer-baiting of the (disproportionately queer) fanbase (and that would have been reason enough).
C) It would have been queer representation of middle-aged men, of bi men, of queers who came to their queerness later in life (and any/all of those would have been reason enough).
D) It could have been a glorious subversion of the bury your queers trope, considering how often they’ve died and been resurrected (and that would have been reason enough).
But point E) on this list is the reason this one hurts in a singular way that no one even appears to be acknowledging.
Almost all of the other wrongs and missed opportunities contained in this Supernatural debacle have the possibility of being rectified (at least to a degree) elsewhere. I can and I likely will get more bi male characters from TV as time goes on. I can and likely will get more middle-aged queer characters. I can and likely will get more queer characters coming to their queerness later in life, and starting queer romances later in life. I can and likely will get more queer characters who aren’t killed cheaply and prematurely. I can and likely will get more genre TV shows with sprawling myth arc plots that are resolved in a coherent, satisfying way. I can and likely will get Misha Collins and Jensen Ackles involved in other projects that value their work and their talents.
All of those other things are at the very least POSSIBLE, and many are even likely.
But a queer 100-150 episode slow-burn romance a la Mulder & Scully or Niles & Daphne or Booth & Bones? That is the one baton Supernatural dropped spectacularly that no one else even has the possibility of picking up again for the foreseeable future. (They don’t even write those types of romances for heterosexuals anymore!)
Seriously. It was a TV unicorn. And rather than letting it run wild and free, they stabbed it with a rusty nail.
***
Given the monumental shifts in the TV landscape that have occurred in the last decade, I don’t know that TV will ever go back to the slow-burn/will-they-won’t-they romance spanning 100-150 episodes. Today it is a miracle if you can get ANY show to last longer than 50 episodes in the first place.
And that is the piece of this that makes it feel (to me) like they murdered a unicorn.
Because queer people have gotten a lot of things from TV, and they will get a lot more as time goes on. But that one? That one could very well be a totally extinct species.
That is the larger missed opportunity here that has left this feeling especially hollow and destructive. That is the thing that makes me balk when people tell me to go watch Black Sails or Pose or whatever other prestige TV show is doing this representation ‘better.’ Because that’s not really the loss I am mourning here. I KNOW there is ‘better’ representation elsewhere.
But the will-they-won’t-they/slow-burn romance is a qualitatively unique thing that queer people literally just never got. Ever. There is no substitute, no alternate, no other show I can turn to with that kind of build-up and pay-off for a queer couple, and there probably won’t be in my lifetime. Not unless the TV industry undergoes another monumental evolution similar to the streaming revolution that shifts the incentives back to telling those types of stories again.
All those shows you want me to displace Supernatural with? None of them can give me the one thing I uniquely wanted (and could have gotten) from Supernatural. THAT ALTERNATE SHOW DOESN’T EXIST. It doesn’t exist. And I have no reason to hope it will ever exist in my lifetime.
So stop telling me to look somewhere else; you don’t understand what made this one a unicorn.
***
Addendum: The only other possible show that could perhaps fill this gap is It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (re: Mac/Dennis). But I’m hesitant to say it exactly meets that criteria, for a number of reasons:
1 - It’s far less serialized relative to Supernatural and (except for a handful of stand-alone episodes) very little of the story is grounded specifically in Dennis/Mac’s romantic dynamic (unlike SPN, where it is absolutely central to much of the narrative)
2 - IASIP is fundamentally satirically in nature/tone which makes it much harder to have genuine romantic pathos (not impossible, but harder)
3 - All the characters on IASIP are fundamentally crummy people who you aren’t exactly supposed to root for. Which doesn’t mean a romance between two of them can’t have its value/charm/worth but it’s not the same as when it is between characters who unequivocally deserve nice things/happy endings
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This is a new version of my TD characters sexualities bc I rewatched it and I changed my mind on a couple of things
Chris is the embodiment of being gay and homophobic
Chef is gay
Beth is straight in my opinion, I know I said she was my pan child but I rewatched the show and she just doesn’t give me that vibe + I don’t like her that much anymore so... yeah
DJ is still my gay child, I’ll do everything for him and his two mums; TDWT did him dirty
Gwen is still the goth bisexual queen; for my own sake I’ll ignore what the writers did with her and act like the kiss never happened and you should do the same; her and Duncan should’ve remained friends, case closed drive safely
Geoff is giving me bisexual vibes
Lindsay is either bi or pan, but I’ll go with pan; she was robbed, I’m telling you, ROBBED
I’d say that Heather is a lesbian, but since aleheather is my ride or die ship, I’ll say that she’s bi
Duncan is just giving me bi vibes, maybe bi with a preferance for women, but bi nonetheless
Tyler is a chaotic bisexual; just watch his first interaction with Alejandro and you’ll understand
I see Harold as straight, but I could be wrong
Trent is my bi child; they did him dirty in TDA, he deserved so much better
Bridgette is pan; she is my second favourite character and I’ll not argue on that; this girl was robbed, I’m still mad about it
Noah remains our sarcastic gay pal, he’s probably ace as well and most likely in a relationship with Owen
I want to say that Leshawna is a lesbian but I’ll say she’s bi; I love her and her elimination in TDI was stupid
Sadie and Katie are lesbian girlfriends, try to change my mind
Ezekiel is aroace, I don’t have an explanation for that, he just is
Cody is a bisexual king, I also see him as a trans boy
Eva is a raging lesbian, she has a special place in my heart
Owen is our chaotic bisexual king but we all know that; it was made very clear from the first episode
Courtney is yet another chaotic bisexual; I can see her and Gwen getting together after the show
I think Justin is aroace
Izzy is pan in my opinion
Alejandro is just really bisexual, you can argue with the wall
Sierra is bi with a preferance for men (Cody)
Jo is our hardcore butch lesbian; I’m pretty sure I had a crush on her when I watched TD as a child, should’ve told me something sooner
Scott is ace and maybe bi but with a preferance for women
Zoey is a chaotic pansexual queen, she is my child, even though I feel like putting my hands around her neck ever so often for some of the stupid stuff she does but anyway
Mike is most likely bi with a preferance for women; as for his alters, Vito is a pansexual mess, Svetlana is a raging lesbian, Mal is a they/them aroace brat, Chester is just... Chester and I don’t even know what to say about Manitoba Smith so...
Lightning is so gay, he’s most definitely best friends with Jo bc lesbian/jock solidarity; he probably takes Jo to buy clothes and gives her fashion advice; I mean, just look at him, this guy has a super bowl champion father and trophy wife mother, you can NOT tell me that he doesn’t dress well and take care of himself religiously
Brick is yet another gay man; and a bottom
B is aroace, maybe even a trans man
Dawn is my favourite character from the whole thing so I’m probably projecting this but she is unlabeled, but if it would be to put a label on herself it would probably be pansexual, cuz she doesn’t give a frick about gender, she just loves
Dakota is bi with a preferance for men
Anne Maria is either really bi or really straight, no in between
Staci is probably straight but idk
Cameron is my aroace child
Sam is giving me bisexual vibes
I won’t do the whole Pakitew Island cast bc I haven’t rewatched it and I’m not really planning on it but I do have some opinions about some of the characters so...
Scarlett is a raging lesbian
Topher is gay
Jasmine is bi and so is Shawn
I like to say that Max is aroace, maybe a they/them or he/they as well but idk
Samey is a chaotic bisexual, lesbian could also work
Ella is yet another lesbian, she could also be bi but I’m going with lesbian
Special mentions to Brody who I personally see as pan and also in a poly relationship with Geoff and Bridgette
and also, Josee is a lesbian
#totaldrama#sexuality#gay#pansexual#bisexual#lesbian#aroace#asexual#aromantic#non-binary#total drama island#total drama action#Total drama world tour#total drama revenge of the island#total drama all stars#total drama pahkitew island#total drama presents: the ridonculous race#td#tdi#tda#tdwt#tdroti#tdas#tdpi#tdrr
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Okay, but (sorry for my english) I just really love modern hc where they perform as the band No Name during their school festival (their identities are already known and that people know they belong to one of the most famous group in the school /with nanaba and erwin/).
Levi’s the face of the group and almost half of the fans have him as their bias but they really thinks he’s asexual or bi or even gay since they never knew anyone who had been his girlfriend and he doesn’t seem to be that person to be involved in any romance.
But then he surprises everyone when during their performance, he just grabs hange’s ponytail and kissed her deeply.
And people were just like—oh, shit, wait, what.... levi just—kissed his friend....his....friend.....Hange....the Hange
Then the crowd went wilder and even Levi’s fans just gasped with excitement because—damn that’s hot!
Even Hange herself were surprised but she couldn’t do anything since levi’s grip was too strong, lost in his own world as he ravishes her with kisses as if he doesn’t give a shit about everyone watching them
she doesn’t even know how long it lasted.
Then there’s Erwin in the crowd, capturing every moment with a camera because he’s the only one who wasn’t surprised about this
Stop the presses!
“Breaking news! Levi Ackerman frontman of No Name is having an illicit love affair!”
“It’s not breaking news if everyone already knows...” Porco rolls his eyes. Connie groans. Great. Now Porco is in his shot. The school’s journalism club is essentially him and Sasha with her phone’s camera. They do not have the skill nor the budget to edit him out.
“Who’s he dating then?” Sasha shoots back.
“Heard it’s a girl from another school.” Porco shrugs.
“Heard he’s gay...” Reiner offers.
“You just want him to be gay...” There’s sniggering and Reiner wants to punch Porco, but he’s a man of discipline, so no violence before breakfast.
“It’s just a rumour! He isn’t dating anyone! Levi’s too cool to date.” Eren says, gagging at the mention of the word. A literal child.
“Who would wanna date him?” Mikasa scoffs.
“Everyone in the school apart from you, Mikasa...” Petra says, “he’s dreamy...”
Connie urges the discussion on, Sasha capturing all of this. This is the best content they’ve gotten all week. “Come on! There are no bad answers!”
“Maybe he’s dating a fan?” Bertholdt says.
“Maybe he’s dating Hanji... They do seem rather close?” Pieck says, and the silence and scowls are intended to shame her. Connie looks at the aluminium foil on Pieck’s head. Right. The Signs movie screening organised by the conspiracy society is today.
“No bad answers except that one...” Connie says.
—
“You’re the talk of the town again...” Mike says, “they were discussing you on the school’s YouTube channel.”
Levi tsks. He doesn’t know why Mike bothers with that crap. It’s a pretty high quality production... he had justified, but there’s nothing high quality about Sasha’s shaky hands and Connie’s head covering half the frame. Everyone knows Mike enjoys the gossip, and there’s no one that enjoys it more. Except maybe Erwin.
“Do tell! Who is the enigmatic Levi Ackerman dating?” Erwin teases. He knows he’s not getting anything out of tight-lipped Levi. But it’s still worth a shot. Also worth seeing how annoyed he can get. Plus it’s not like they don’t already know.
If the canteen hadn’t been so goddamn full, Levi would’ve relocated long ago. Then again, his lunch groups hasn’t changed since his first day at school. The routine works.
“I’m sure you boys would be the first to know...” Nanaba chuckles. She had been the first to know and frankly. Levi’s inability to confess has been getting stifling. The only thing that really breaks the conversation though? Hanji tripping and landing face first on the table, lucky for her Levi moves her tray out of the way, saving her lunch, “watch it four eyes!”
“What did I miss?” Hanji asks, eyes already gleaming at the possibility of new knowledge.
“We were just talking about Levi’s illicit love affair.” Mike says. This is getting interesting.
“Awww Levi! You didn’t tell your ol’ pal Hanji that you were seeing someone?”
The rest of them exchange looks. God she’s so goddamn oblivious.
“Eat. We’ve got band practice before class.” Levi says, fingers already working to peel Hanji’s orange for her.
Nanaba winces. So goddamn oblivious.
—
“So we enter school today and Sasha what do we see?”
“Merch!” Sasha pops in front of the screen and does jazz hands with Connie.
“In the lead up to the big No Name concert, everyone’s donning their best No Name merch! First, let’s speak to the best in the game, Armin Arlert.”
Armin fidgets awkwardly, “ahaha I’m just a fan who just happens to make high quality merch.” Modest for someone earning big bucks from his enterprise.
“Ah... And you have competition this year!” Connie says into the microphone, which is really just rolled up newspaper.
“Well... The quality of my work speaks for itself...” Armin smiles sheepishly at the camera, but there’s something insidious in his eyes. Armin has to admit having sole monopoly over No Name merchandising in school has gone a little stale. Surely a little competition will spice things up.
“So Zeke, care to tell us more about your entry into the merchandise game?” Connie asks the bearded boy. Who has a full grown beard at their age? Connie makes a mental note to insert “sells bootleg merch” in the little panel that runs below Zeke’s interview. The whole school is also pretty sure Zeke had been behind the whole oregano debacle last year- someone had been passing oregano off as weed and selling it to the younglings.
“What’s there to say? Mine’s cheaper.” Zeke winks.
“So, satisfied customer. Why did you choose to buy Armin’s merch over Zeke’s?” Connie asks.
Pieck glances down at her Hanji shirt, “Armin got Hanji’s nose right.” She smiles.
In the background Armin and Eren are yelling at one another.
“How could you Eren! I thought we were best friends!” Armin says. Maybe the competition spiced things up a little too much.
“It was cheaper Armin! So much cheaper!”
Eren is wearing the ugliest shirt in school so, is it really worth it though?
—
“We are absolutely not blowing our budget on a confetti canon!”
“But Levi!” Hanji whines, “you already rejected so many of my ideas...”
“May I remind you that your previous ideas include a guillotine on stage, you repelling from the ceiling-“
“A tiger...” Mike adds and Hanji shoots him a look, traitor...
“It was two tigers...” she mutters under her breath. “Aww Levi you never let me do anything fun!” She pouts and Mike watches as Levi’s resolve slips an inch. There’s nothing more disgusting than the weakness of a man in love. Mike rolls his eyes. He had told Erwin if he wanted in on the action, he should join their band. There’s just so much to see that Mike has honestly had his fill. Or maybe he’s just saying it. Damn Nanaba was right, he enjoys this more than he’d care to admit.
“If you shut up through the next five songs, I’ll buy you dinner.”
“What about me?” Mike huffs.
“Deal!” Hanji shouts triumphantly, “and if you let me sing the chorus with you on this next song at the concert I’ll buy you dessert!”
“Almost as if I’m invisible...” Mike mutters.
“Fine... Deal... If you can hit the notes that is...”
“Ohhhh snap!” Mike says, and Levi turns to him for a high five. Mike smashes a beat on his drums. Hanji deadpans.
Ba dum fuckin tiss indeed.
—
“So it’s two days before the festival and the big No Name concert. Today, we’ve got a special treat for you. Roving reporter Jean Kirschtein will find out more about Levi’s love affair, straight from the horse’s mouth!”
Jean shoots Connie a dirty look. But the pun had not been intended. Connie mouths a quick apology before continuing, “but first, a word with the people closest to him-“ Connie nudges Jean towards the general direction of Erwin, Nanaba and Mike. Remember you owe me Jean! Connie whispers harshly when he senses his friend’s hesitation, now go!
Jean groans once more. God his reputation was going to take a hit. He’s vice captain of the soccer team for God’s sake. He doesn’t need this.
“Erwin Smith! A word? Uh... Thoughts on the rumours surrounding Levi Ackerman’s love life?” Jean asks. “Erwin Smith, football captain, history club president, student council treasurer, overall overachiever, and Levi Ackerman’s friend” appears on the screen. They all know if anyone’s likely to spill, it’s going to be Erwin.
Erwin’s eyes light up, he’s finally going on the channel he watches religiously with Mike. There’s so much he can contribute, so much gossip to share, so much insight. Maybe they would even invite him as a panelist on their show. The sheer power! He looks at Nanaba and she frowns at him and shakes her head. Ah damn it! He knows she’ll tear into him if he divulges too much.
“That’s strictly on a need to know basis.” Erwin grins.
“Well... Can you give us anything at all?” Jean asks. Please for the love of god he needs to pay Connie back somehow for setting him up on that date with Mikasa. God is generous but he can easily take it all away.
“We have good, solid guesses, but other than that... No... We can’t confirm anything...” Erwin answers, but not before glancing at Nanaba. She’s nodding. Good, that’s a good answer. Ambiguous enough to keep people wanting. Erwin is relieved. Jean isn’t however, he’s now certain that his debt is going to be rolled along a tab he will soon never be able to pay.
“Oh and the history society’s having quiz night next week, be there or be square!” Erwin plugs.
“Nerd!” Nile yells from across the hallway and Mike chortles.
It doesn’t take Jean long to find Hanji, after all she’s president of the biology club, so why wouldn’t she be in a lab elbow deep in a vat of something Jean doesn’t want to know the name of. It’s her kingdom with a whopping total of four subjects.
“Hanji Zoë, I’m here to ask for the latest on Levi Ackerman’s love life-“
Hanji Zoë- the school’s resident oddball, the genius herself, in the flesh, eating a checkerboard cookie. She looks up at him and there are crumbs on her face.
“Oh! Hi Jean!” Hanji looks up momentarily, “that’s easy, Levi’s in love with me.” She winks at Jean and chuckles. Jean’s jaw drops, surely she’s kidding. Hanji’s known for that after all- her quick wit and dismal personal hygiene. He chuckles awkwardly. “Yeah... Okay...”
“See you at the concert?” She beams at him and he replies enthusiastically. Is she kidding? Everyone’s gonna be there. But Jean remains strategic, he leaves right before she gets the chance to talk his ear off about joining her club again. “Shoot... There goes another one...” she says under her breath as he exits the lab.
Jean bumps into Levi when he’s leaving the lab, odd, what’s Levi doing here, no matter, Jean has a job to do.
“Levi Ackerman! Care to comment on the recent rumours surrounding your-“
“No.” Levi interjects and heads off.
Jean flips the camera so he’s in it, “well, that’s the scoop. Back to you Connie and Sasha.”
—
“It’s the day of the festival! But really the whole school is buzzing with anticipation for the No Name concert!” Connie announces into his makeshift mic.
“Will there be another accident on-stage this time? Will Levi Ackerman reveal more on his secret romance? Is there even a secret romance to begin with? More importantly, will Porco Galliard finally pay for his own food at the festival?”
“Hey!” Porco whips his head around to glare at Connie, “did Reiner get you to say that?”
Connie shrugs, “we’ll find out after these messages...”
The concert is a blast, from a spectacular entrance (choreographed, no doubt, by one Hanji Zoë), to Mike’s drum solo, to Levi’s vocal riffs. But there’s an anticipation of another sort- will Levi Ackerman finally address the rumours of his love affair?
“My Levi-Hanji senses are tingling Nanaba...” Erwin says mid-concert. As the self-proclaimed expert on school gossip, there’s no gossip sweeter than that which surrounds his two best friends. Nanaba thinks it’s an overstatement of his abilities.
But Nanaba feels it too- the electricity in the air, “i think it’s finally happening!” She says, nothing short of a vision.
Levi announces the last song for the night, and he makes his way over to Hanji during the last chorus.
HUH?
Sasha’s cameras are rolling. She holds her breath, for what she doesn’t know, but she feels it coming, call it director’s intuition if you will.
Hanji looks at Levi and beams past the bandages over their eyes, now upgraded to a material they can actually see through, ever since that one accident with Hanji trying to execute a stage dive completely blind. It’s not fun explaining to the ER nurse how you managed to fracture your arm in so many locations.
Hanji’s expression changes to one of confusion when Levi closes the distance between them. This isn’t part of any plan. Her lips part in a gasp. The crowd falls silence, breath collectively held in anticipation. It’s happening. The most significant and exciting moment of their young lives.
What in the name of Maria, Rose, and Sheena!
Levi grabs Hanji by her ponytail and crashes his lips into hers. She forgets how to function, her guitar now hanging limp and forgotten. But her arms find their way around Levi’s neck. It’s just Mike on the drums now, roaring with laughter.
“Hell yes!” Mike exclaims and it’s captured by one of the mics, joined by Nanaba and Erwin at exactly the same time. There’s a flash from Erwin’s phone, there, immortalised in a photo forever. He knows it’ll come in handy one day. For blackmail or for a future wedding montage. Either is fine.
What just happened?
Connie’s jaw is hanging.
“Levi Ackerman and... and... Hanji Zoë?” Connie says, more for his own benefit than for his audience. Because this is Hanji they’re talking about? The Hanji Zoë? Resident evil genius, overall weirdo, oddly magnetic and popular amongst both the boys and the girls, Levi’s childhood friend Hanji Zoë? The answer had been staring them right in the face! Levi at the biology labs, Levi glowering at her, the bickering, the chemistry on and off stage.
Connie whips his head over to Pieck, and she winks at him, told you so!
“I don’t believe it! Stop the presses! Levi Ackerman, frontman of No Name, in love with the brilliant, the magnetic, the one and only... Hanji Zoë!”
Hanji is kissing Levi back with fervour, until they’re both blushing and giddy, the music long forgotten, and when everyone is done gawking, the crowd erupts in violent cheering. Who would’ve thought emotionally constipated Levi, Levi whose private life has been kept a secret for so long, safe from the prying hands of the school press and his loyal fans, would choose to make an announcement like this. What a night! What a spectacle!
“I guess that’s all for tonight folks, and what a fantastic and surprising evening it has been!” Connie laughs, “I’m Connie Springer, and you heard it here first!”
The confetti canon goes off. And Hanji watches with uninhibited joy as confetti rains down on the stage.
“So... Tigers next time?” Hanji says, unwrapping the bandages from her face, her eyes glazed over and more beautiful than anything Levi has ever seen. He scoffs, pressing another kiss to her lips for posterity.
“Don’t push it...”
(A/N: prompt so good I had to write a mini fic! Thank you anon💖💖💖)
#yes it me pretending the manga and its spoilers don’t exist#thank you anon💖#anon#inbox#Drabble#levihan#levihan fanfic#Levi x hange#Hanji Zoë#hange zoe#Levi Ackerman#mine#shingeki no kyojin
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this might be a weird thought but the way jensen performs masculinity (and i KNOW it’s a performance cause like, have you SEEN the mockumentary?) is just.... so inherently queer to me lmao
ok. okokokokokok. you asked for this. i have a LOT of thoughts on this. it’s gonna be under a cut because i’m gonna be annoying and psychoanalyse a celebrity i’ve never met(and hope i never do) but trust and believe when i tell you i know what i’m talking about so
you want my opinion? here goes. there is absolutely no way jensen ackles is straight. i hear you, ‘how do you know that he’s bi? that’s invasive and creepy’ but may i counter that point by saying how do you know he’s straight???? why is the default for everyone heterosexual? that’s a toxic mentality to have; ‘oh you don’t know for sure so just treat him like he’s 100% straight just in case’ like....what? heteronormativity drives me wild i’m sorry
and also, um, just to, um, prove my point that this man is decidedly not straight™(i really don’t want to do this but like it has to be said) we KNOW he’s not straight because his d*ck has spoken for itself around misha, like, four times. I HATE SAYING IT!!!!!!! but, um, straight men don’t get aroused by men. ...do i really need to explain myself further???? that’s what i thought(and don’t give me the ‘it could have been for unrelated reasons’ or ‘that wasn’t a boner!’ crap because um good lord yes it was and misha caused every single one so no it wasn’t a coincidence i’m gonna move on before i collapse into myself like a dying star)
anyway, on to the topic at hand which is jensen and his performative masculinity. and it’s a juicy one.
after the unconscious amount of hours i’ve put into watching and subconsciously judging jackles, i have come to the conclusion that like, 90% of how he presents himself and talks and even moves is an act. it’s a facade. it’s a shield. he is not that person. it actually seems exhausting, because he tries to compose himself in this macho, manly, confident and effortlessly cool way, but he’s not that person he desperately wishes he was and wants to be perceived as. he’s on guard every second, even the slightest tilt of his head is like, pre-meditated in some way? if i’m going FULL body language analyst mode, i’ve noticed he has a certain posture he always shifts himself into, and it’s very ‘pursed lips, stoic faced, gruff voiced, square-shoulder, broad and manly’ but, not to be rude jensen, it kind of reads as a little kid imitating the adults he thinks are cool? oof i am going IN huh(it’s out of love though i promise)
he is trying to be this person at every second:
because that’s who he wishes he was, because that’s how he gets validation from the people around him that he looks up to; straight white guys. but to me, who he presents himself to be at conventions is just as much of a performance as this whole eye of the tiger bit is.
oh i should mention i know his body language isn’t naturally like that because how he naturally carries himself is actually pretty flamboyant? like he seriously must be toning himself down HARD
examples:
there’s no tension in his body here as opposed to the eye of the tiger gif. i’d describe it as...generally loose and free? he’s at ease when he moves like that and you can see it.
oh and dude!!! DUDE!!!! how could i not mention the fucking SPECTACLE that is his voice??? jensen. i watched season one. i know where your voice naturally sits. THAT IS NOT WHAT YOU SOUND LIKE. and there have been so many accounts of fans visiting jensen in his trailer and being surprised that his real voice is two octaves higher. again, his performance of masculinity is all encompassing. he can’t even talk normally because, in his mind, that’s a chink in his armour.
and, like you said, anon, this whole smokes-and-mirrors gong show of ‘i am the cool texan man’ is inherently queer. who are you trying to impress??? guys??? that’s pretty gay dude.(btw: gay[honorary])
i feel like i’ve already read this man for filth but i have to keep going bc i have so much to say
ok next thing i’m gonna talk about is how jensen says one thing but everything else about him tells us the exact opposite. another HUGE element of performative masculinity, ONE THAT DEAN WINCHESTER IS A MASTER OF. have i mentioned how dean and jensen are like mirrors of each other when it comes to their sexuality and queer identity??? because it is fascinating how everything i say about jensen also directly applies to dean.
allow me to introduce the grumpy face™. as in, the face he glues on when he’s enjoying doing something but doesn’t want to let anyone know it. and it’s ALWAYS when he’s doing something that could be seen as unmanly in any way. (and when i say manly i mean the ‘ideal’ version of manhood that doesn’t really exist but that jensen seems to be striving for[and dean too])
prime example is this video he did with daneel. the grumpy face™ doesn’t budge the whole time as he’s like,,,,playing an instrument and acting like he doesn’t want to bc i guess that’s too girly??? but i also find this video fascinating because the joke IN it is kind of that they’re both poking fun at him for being so insecure about playing a freaking flute. because, i mean, he gets into it, but he wants you to think he is not.
also this picture.
what is this. i hate them. jensen is smushing himself into misha’s forehead but noooo his face is telling us ‘i hate this’ because CLEARLY he does. also misha’s so happy ew gross
he does that face in photo ops with misha ALL THE TIME but how many times has he also literally asked the con goers if he can also have those photos on his phone too? because of course he actually loves touching misha and is actually a sentimental fool but he tries so hard to hide it and fails so spectacularly.
oh and this. and of COURSE this. actually let’s talk about the hitch kiss for a hot minute because it’s a perfect example of exactly what i’m talking about
(he is so transparent guys. he tries so hard but he’s so obvious.)
1. misha was never supposed to be onstage with him. so it’s a boldface LIE and OBVIOUS PLOY TO GET MISHA TO KISS HIM when he says ‘they’d like us to make out now’. but of course the way he says it is ‘oh my god can you believe what these crazy panel people are making us do haha but i mean what they say goes amirite’. same energy as ‘oh my god did you just dare us to kiss rn???’ ‘....no i didn’t’ ‘oh my god i can’t believe you’d ask that haha but i can’t say no to a dare lol’ it’s the SAME THING
2. the fact that he was in the worst mood before misha came onstage and FAKE KISSING HIM made him feel...SO?? much better? like not just a little better a lot better like, again, that says a lot, because if they weren’t dating he would not be in a better mood if misha kissed his cheek unprompted. bc that cheek kiss wasn’t a joke it was a genuine sign of affection and AHHHH
3. after the kiss happens. you know, the one that jensen actively leans into and is smiling like an idiot the whole time through and is quite clearly having the time of his life during....he says ‘well, that was uncomfortable’. .......my guy. um. i don’t know how to tell you that i do in fact have eyes and you are NOT pulling the fast one you think you are
like i’m so sorry jensen but i have you pegged. it’s literally no use.
god there’s so many instances of him doing this with misha specifically. the whole ‘ew gross lol’ but then everything about him tells us the exact opposite. like this(i hate this. how dare he say ‘he has though, hasn’t he?’ LIKE THAT?????)
so yeah my point with that is he really wants us to think he is one thing when he is the antithesis of what he’s trying to be. he really likes those things that he talks down about, and everything he’s loudly projecting is all to hide how he really feels. he went to a gay bar with daneel, for crying out loud. he wants to play a role in drag. he’s queer and he likes it. pov: you’re jensen ackles train of thought: ‘ok so i really like this thing that people might make fun of me for or call me gay for liking so if i just say ‘lol as if’ and make a grossed-out face they will be FOOLED. i am a genius. hey misha wanna blow on my ear lol i meAN GROSS EW’
i have two more things i want to talk about when it comes to this topic so PLEASE bear with me anon this is why you took so long to answer clearly lmao
ok so we’re now going to go over my favorite hot take of all time. which is ‘how do we know dean’s performing masculinity? because sam isn’t.’ only replace dean with jensen and sam with jared and oh my god do we ever have a case
jared is as STRAIGHT as they come. he is secure in that knowledge. and that’s why he is perfectly comfortable treating misha like this:
and not try to scream ‘i am not enjoying doing this!!!!!!’ at us. because he doesn’t care what we think of his sexuality like jensen does(because he has nothing to hide whereas jensen DOES)
something i found the other day that no one has brought up but i SCREAMED upon finding it is this one clip THAT I CAN’T FIND OH GOD but i promise i’m not making it up. i can’t believe i can’t find it guys it is gold. i need need NEED to talk about it. and if anyone knows what i’m referencing and can apply links in any way i will love you forever but here’s what happens off the top of my head:
ok so i’m a bit too braindead to explain it perfectly but um basically it’s a j2 panel and someone brings up magic mike and i think jared says ‘yeah i didn’t watch it’ and then jensen says ‘all the way through’. stupid joke. whatever. the joke is that jared is gay for watching magic mike.
and then i literally kid you not. jared gets this like ‘jesus christ ok dude? lol’ look on his face and then goes ‘projecting much, mr. ackles?’ and jensen gets a guilty look on his face and walks away. and jared did not say it as a joke. he was being dead pan and earnest. and jensen knew it too, he knew he was projecting. i wish i could show you guys the clip i promise if i ever find it i’ll link it but IS THAT NOT SO DAMNING FOR JENSEN????? like come ON. also proves my point that when you compare how they feel about watching magic mike. jared doesn’t care bc watching it just doesn’t interest him, but he also thinks that just watching it in itself doesn’t make you gay. jensen however.......has a different mindset, clearly.
‘projecting much, mr. ackles?’ is actually a great title for my next and FINAL section(we’re almost there folks) which is how jensen projects his insecurites about his own sexuality and relationship with misha onto misha.
i hope by now we’ve all seen this video of jensen impersonating cas. it is a blatant microaggression on his part. and like obviously homophobic. it’s like in his mind if he makes fun of them for being gay it makes them both less gay somehow??? it’s self-deprecation in a way??? let’s just tell it like it is: that impression was just jensen’s overt internalized homophobia rearing it’s ugly head. he does it a LOT too when it comes to misha.
i mean:
and that whole mess where he’s making fun of misha for being a bottom in their panel in 2016? ‘so you’re saying, like with football terms, there’s a handler and there’s a receiver heheheehe’ jensen you’re not exempt from being gay just because you know football terms lmao
oh and his OTHER impression of misha where he mocks him for...bicycling...because it’s not a manly enough sport??? jensen NO ONE else has ever thought this hard in their lives about what constitutes as masculine enough to be a sport before. that’s all you bud. we don’t find those jokes nearly as funny as you do. you are reaching, sir
the good news is that misha thinks it’s hilarious and knows it’s projecting on jensen’s part and will tease him endlessly for it. many stories come to mind, like that one photo op story where they’re literally dressed in rainbow banners and pride stickers but when misha goes to hold his hand jensen said something like ‘no way’ and then misha stepped back, put his hands on his hips and went ‘that’s the part that’s too gay for you???’ and jensen LOST it
or when that whole underwear thing happened(messy messY MESSY BTW) and then a fan asked a question about what dean and cas would do in rome and misha just said ‘when in rome’ and jensen makes a face like ‘are you serious’ and then misha says ‘you can’t look at me like that anymore, because of what you did!!!!!!’
OH and that whole story about when misha suggested they put jensen in the closet for that cat video....yeah um
and then when jensen was asked to do bisexual finger guns for a photo op and the con goer said ‘he looks bisexual here’ and misha literally said ‘oh he definitely looks bisexual here. i would say he’s actually closer to the gay side of the spectrum’ so..um...make with that as you will
OH MY GOD i’m finally done. wow. WOW. that was a lot. i hope i’ve blown your minds. ty anon i really wanted to talk about this and i hope you’re happy with the outcome!!!!!!
#cockles ask#sexuality spec#jensen is bi#anti rps for ts#cockles#liz answers#ok i have to admit it is crazy i have retained all this info#i hope someone appreciates it#my analysis#mine
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