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fanatics4l · 2 years

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the way billy would've fit in with any of the groups in s4. yes i am going to speak about this. (this got long)

cali group: billy in his natural habitat would've been absolutely amazing. the trio smoking weed together?? billy being extra dramatic and sassy when he's high. if they're high enough, those boys will commit minor felonies together! argyle always supports his boys when they're screaming about their broken love lives (jonathan crying about nancy and billy being a sad little gay). billy would be screaming so dramatically while hauling that dead dude into the van and then complaining about how his clothes got all bloody the next second. he'd be cheering argyle on as he drives while the others all scream in terror in the back, trying to stop the bleeding. billy would adore the shit out of will, another gay. they'd bond over how shitty boys are and how they have no options but at least in cali, there are more willing boys. billy would always tell will to forget about mike and jonathan would agree very loudly. billy definitely would've absolutely non stop GLARED at mike after will confessed and mike didn't catch the hint. him and el would've been amazing together because they can bond over their abusive dads and pretty moms. el and will go to billy (the cooler big brother, sorry jon) to rant about mike. billy would terrorize the shit out of angela and her stupid friends for even thinking of messing with el.

hawkins gang: no offence but the hawkins older teens gang are all the same people in different fonts. sure nancy and robin were badasses that one episode but they're good girls at heart. steve is also a good guy at heart. so is eddie but in a drug dealing dork way. billy would've been a great addition with his loud personality and being a takes-no-bullshit kind of guy. he would insult each of them (him and robin roast each other) but be a lot of help. physically, he's probably the strongest and he'd be great at thinking up quick escape plans.

robin and billy would've been an unstoppable queer duo who are also potty mouths and anxious kids with obvious tells (shaking and stuttering). nancy and billy would've constantly been at each other's throats and it would've been great comedy. billy definitely got in the way of steve and nancy flirting because gross. eddie and billy would've easily bonded about their similar taste in music. if he saw eddie perform metallica on the roof, that boy's clothes would've flew off so fast and he'd start twirling his hair all giggly. we could've finally seen more of steve and billy's homosexual flirting and fighting. they would be reluctant friends and billy would have so much trouble trying not to flirt with steve. robin would cough really loud when billy stares at steve all lovey dovey. harringrove would've been amazing in s4

hawkins gang (younger teens): billy and lucas would've become besties on the court. we could've seen him apologize to lucas and then offer to teach him basketball so he isn't always on the bench every game. billy always hypes lucas up when he is in a game. he takes him and max out for shakes after practice, and max starts to hate the fact that her boyfriend and her brother are friends. lucas definitely grows taller than billy and he has the absolute best time of his life making fun of billy, who threatens to stop giving lucas rides everywhere.

let's say vecna still targets max: billy would 100% stay with max and lucas at creel's house because no way in hell is he leaving his sister behind with a literal demon that could kill her. when jason arrives, he fights him instead of lucas so max survives. plus we know that max and billy's relationship was getting a lot better between end of s2 and start of s3 so if billy survived, those two would literally be evil chaotic siblings who torment everyone around them with a smile. lucas is very scared. erica would love billy because they're both sassy and take no bullshit from the people around them. billy would tease lucas whenever erica yells at him. dustin would probably reluctantly accept billy as part of the gang because everyone else accepts him.

russia gang: hopper, joyce, and murray (billy's a weird kid and murray likes weird) would immediately adopt billy. in this au, billy is probably with hopper in russia and then joyce and murray find them. hopper is the absolute sweetest with billy and he's very gentle with him because he sees how terrified billy is. he also misses his kid so he takes another one in. he explains to billy what the upside down is and what happened to him. they share a cell so when billy has nightmares about the mind flayer, hopper is always there for him. when he has nightmares about his dad, hopper hugs billy close and lets the poor boy cry. he sees red when billy tells him how his dad treats him all the time and swears to never let him go back to that man ever again. billy starts seeing hopper as his dad.

billy helps out in all of hopper's escape plans. when the russians make them line up in front of the demogorgan, billy starts hyperventilating but hopper and enzo reassure him that they'll be okay. they're like his overprotective dads because wtf why is a literal child here in this high tech russian prison. when joyce and murray show up, joyce is all motherly with him and she immediately starts bundling him up in layers. she doesn't let him do any fighting. she makes him stick with her and when he argues that he can help, the other adults also agree that he needs to rest. if billy was in this gang in s4, he could've also healed as a person and become better because now he knows what love is. like hopper and joyce tell him all the time, love doesn't hurt his body or his feelings. billy ends up getting adopted by hopper and joyce and murray is like his crazy uncle.

the duffers were too much of cowards to do this!!!! billy would've been unstoppable

#billy hargrove #will byers #eleven #max mayfield #lucas sinclair #jim hopper #joyce byers #jonathan byers #argyle #billy hargrove deserved better #we were ROBBEDDDD #stranger things headcanons

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weirdo09 · 1 year

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platonic madcleric headcanons

they’re those best friends that no one would assume are best friends

they’re polar opposites but when they’re together, they literally act like the same person

they both shit on mike lovingly

they bond over their crushes on lucas

them together with erica is a power trio

they definitely have sleepovers and talk about the latest gossip

max would start a group chat called the girls and add will, when one of the other guys asks why she just says “he’s nice.”

them and el is also a power trio(i mean c’mon the wonder twins and max, who would say that they’re not?)

joyce absolutely adores max and she particularly adopted her into the family at this point

they both rant to each other about their love lives(scenario: the day after the rain fight, will and max meet up to talk about it let’s just say it took max some convincing to not kill mike later)

when max wakes up, she asked will about how life was in california, he just shrugged saying “it’s not like hawkins.”

after vecna, the two hang out a lot more

well that’s all, folks :)

@atbyler @xhavibee @yelenapines @adorewillbyers @adoremikewheeler

#platonic madcleric #madcleric

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worlostrashbin · 2 years

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I need more Will and Max friendship. Guys I need fanfics for it like, I feel like they would be best friends. And they probably are because they went to the movies together and Max had a letter for Will, but I need more of it.

I need a S3 rewrite where Max and El find Will at the mall because he’s tired of being ignored, and then they just become best friends. This will also include Will and El being besties and build up the sibling arc.

I need Max being a supportive best friend to Will and ragging on Mike for both of El and Will. I need it please you don’t understand

I’m sorry I just want more of this trio because I just think it’s so adorable and I’m hyperfixiating on it lol

#byler #stranger things #seriously guys #will byers #max mayfield #stranger things four #I need it so bad guys you don’t understand #they would be the best trio ever #please

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scarlets-phases · 2 years

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Stranger Things spoilers below

Jopper kiss!! JOPPER KISS

Robin’s like a toddler, she’s so adorable

Man I adore Erica

Eddie’s guitar scene was so badass (not what song I expected but badass nonetheless)

Eddie giving me a heart attack every five minutes

Mike saying “I love you”….oh my god, my heart

El is so damn powerful

God I love Murray

The stand off between Hopper and the Demogorgon was just wow

The music!!!!

Our favourite trio fighting Vecna face to face

Nancy Wheeler…No.1 final girl

Ngl I kinda love Yuri now…

I was sobbing at THAT Eddie scene….

and THAT Max scene I said it before ane I��ll say it again, El is so damn powerful,

But I’m so glad mother Steve survived

The reunion 😭😍

Help….Robin and Vickie are so cute

Wayne and Dustin…honestly this show is an emotional rollercoaster

I swear Argyle is such a mood

I honestly hope they don’t break Jancy up to reform Stancy

The door….three inch minimum

The other reunion, THE OTHER REUNION!!!!!!!!!

My heart cannot take this

But on a serious note,

They’re gonna be so screwed next season….

#stranger things #stranger things 4 #stranger things spoilers #stranger things volume 2 #stranger things 4 spoilers

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kolbisneat · 2 years

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MONTHLY MEDIA: July 2022

And so continues the year. Seven months down, five to go. And then I guess we just start over again?

……….FILM……….

The Last of Sheila (1973) Can’t recommend enough. Did you like Knives Out? See this. Did you like Clue? See this. It’s so good and multiple times I wondered how there was still so much movie left, only to go “oh of course!” Really great stuff.

Nope (2022) Something about the trailer gave me Signs vibes but turns out it was more like E.T. and Jaws; big Spielberg energy with the music and adventure vibes. Not a tidy package the same was that Get Out was but in reading other perspectives I realize I was being too literal. This movie has visual metaphors for days and big fan overall.

The Heroic Trio (1993) One of the rare times where I will sincerely say something goes hard. This movie goes HARD. In one scene a character drives an out-of-control motorcycle up a wall then kicks it at her enemy. That enemy then defends himself by splitting the spinning motorcycle in half! And that’s in the span of like...2 minutes. I was consistently surprised by what I was seeing on screen and wholeheartedly recommend. Probably not for everyone but if you like the first 15 minutes then you’re in for a ride. If you ARE going to watch it, don’t watch the trailer as it spoils so many fun surprises.

Phantom of the Paradise (1974) This hit all the right buttons for me. Plot moves at a breezy pace, the songs are all incredible, the visuals felt just one notch beyond reality, and Beef can do no wrong. Big fan.

The Sparks Brothers (2021) I remember being overwhelmed when I first saw Sparks’ catalog but this documentary would’ve been so helpful in knowing where to start. Appropriately playful and I hope it continues to help introduce new people to their music.

Bad Times at the El Royale (2018) Really stunning and there were moments/choices that really clicked for me, but I found myself bored during a lot of it. Maybe it’s the pacing or general structure but I feel like I would’ve enjoyed it more if it was under 2 hours.

Bo Burnham: Inside (2021) My limited exposure to the special (mostly a few songs on TikTok) didn’t prepare me for how sad this was going to be. I think I’m glad I didn’t see this during the peak of lockdowns. A really vulnerable meditation on the creative process.

……….TELEVISION……….

The Bachelorettes (Episode 19.01 to 19.04) This new format is really working for me: lots of good moments of friendship, a nice balance of highs and lows for the leads, and just the shake up I think the franchise needs. Now to try it out with the bachelors.

The Deuce (Episode 1.01 to 1.08) The Franco twins were a little distracting (though well done) and overall, a good season of television. It didn’t completely hook me (I’d go long stretches between episodes and didn’t really feel compelled to continue) but it tells a satisfying story in a visually interesting setting. Not bad at all.

Fleabag (Episode 2.01 to 2.06) Ugh I’m so sad this is over, though I adore a piece of media that knows what it wants to say and wraps up after it’s said it. The Priest’s character, and how the meta elements of the show play in, are just so great. Ugh I love this show!

……….READING……….

Getting It: A Guide to Hot, Healthy Hookups and Shame-Free Sex by Allison Moon (Complete) Just a really healthy breakdown and summary, you know? The topics and lessons covered in here are as applicable to platonic relationships as they are to intimate ones: understanding boundaries, effective communication, etc.

The Michael Moorcock Library: The Chronicles of Corum Vol. 1: The Knight of Swords by Mike Baron and MIke Mignola (Complete) These visual recreations of classic sword & sworcery books are such a good idea. My gut tells me I wouldn’t click with the original books so It’s a great way to connect with older stories in an accessible way. Also interesting to see the components that influenced early D&D adventures.

……….AUDIO……….

Stankonia by Outkast (2000) Going back to a classic.

Love to See It with Emma and Claire (Podcast) With the return of the Bachelorette comes the return of this podcast. Perfectly compliment.

……….GAMING……….

Neverland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) One group is currently pursuing a player character’s ties to the Fairy realm, while another group just made a deal with a Fairy (and got a gold hand in exchange) so lots of Fairy-related shenanigans this month! If you want to read any of my recaps, they’re over here.

And that’s it! As always, feel free to share recommendations and happy Monday!

#Monthly Media #Kolbisneat #andrew kolb

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perexcri · 1 year

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Leah!!! Oh Lordy idofnwkfjajdjwfjejfjdjc Flirty And Happy/comfy w himself Will fic!! It’s like u can see Exactly inside my brain and know what kind of fic I’m craving. I’m so Very excited to see where you take this bc the first chapter was !!!!!🥰🥰🥰

“Mike’s always been one for boldness, for sculpting light out of darkness and shadows out of glows–obviously he’d like working with charcoals” screams. I Adore that Mike’s gotten into charcoal (also cackled that he was clearly trying to get art class w will poor bb)—it’s a hard medium to work w (I’m Bad at it) but I think ur right, I feel like Mike wouldn’t be bad at it.

“It takes Will a good two seconds to convince himself not to press his lips into Mike’s neck, just to dispel the word friend out of the air. Like, yes, they’re friends, but also…it’d be cool to be friends but also something else, right?

“Yeah,” Will finally says, already being dragged down into a cascading tornado of thoughts that begins with swingsets and ends with What are we, Mike?”

S c r e a m i n g rolling on the floor wiggling like a slug. E s pecially that last line of that bit. I’m going to Eat My Phone.

Earnest flirting Best flirting !!! Will is the most valid and correct person ever actually😌

Love me some Platonic Madwise and u write them so well—despite the fact that the show Hasn’t let them interact much at all— and just diandrkfjw.

Also!!! Willel!!! Siblings!! They’re so !!!

“The Party has its own intergroup dynamics and mini units that like to meet on their own for their own hangout time: the four boys have a weekly D&D session separate from the one they do with the girls; Lucas and Will sometimes meet to go on runs or work out; El and Max are practically inseparable; Lucas, Dustin, and Mike have set up shop in one of the unused utility closets to tinker with old A/V equipment the school had all but abandoned.” I’m literally So feral over this. the Party Being Friends!!!!!!! Kicking my feet rn

Painting for Mike :D !!!! I’m So rieicjshfjw invested in seeing how this is going to turn out !! Ur ability to set up plot that leaves me invested is like So talent and I just!!

ur writing is lovely wonderful and u are v wonderful and I hope you are having a fantastic weekend💕💕

VEEEE!! i'm glad i can provide what you're looking for 😌 i genuinely meant this to be a flirty fic, but i think i like where it ended up going instead better :D as funny as it is to write about these two being losers, it's been nice to write about Will being happy with who he is for once (especially since my other wip is just taking a scalpel to all of Mike's self-esteem issues but we don't have to talk about that right now)

!!! i'm glad i could have an artist agree with me on the charcoals thing!! i haven't used them since the art class i took my junior year of high school, but i remember them being my favorite thing to work with. Mike just seems like the kind of person who'd like black-and-white mediums. but more importantly: he just wanted to spend time with Will 😩

*punches wall* Will is going to be happy, dammit

and i'm glad you like that he's being earnest!! honestly this fic started off with a post i saw around new year's (which i haven't bothered to look for again but i know i reblogged it lol) talking about flirty Will. i tried to approach it like i did with cheer up, baby where i was taking a trope that often gets applied to Mike and was trying to imagine what it would look like if Will did it. in this case, i figured he'd be a lot more earnest with his flirting rather than teasing or brash. he just seems like the kind of person that would look at you with shiny anime eyes and say the most heartfelt thing you've ever heard

AHHHH i'm also so glad you're enjoying all the little group dynamics T_T i love Max/Will/El as a trio even though those three barely interact as a group in the show lol. i'd sell my soul for a whole season of st that's just the three of them hanging out tbh

heheheh yesss a painting for Mike!! i'm gonna make everybody's theory that the painting was gonna be one of them meeting on the swing set a reality even if it kills me. i'm still recovering from the whiplash of watching vol2 and Mike unrolling the canvas - i literally watched it the first time and went "but isn't it supposed to be them on the swings?? did they not get the memo?"

Vee i know i only finished posting aftry like a week ago but i got so used to marathon-posting it and seeing your thoughts on each chapter every day that i've missed see your name pop up in my ask box ajkfsdalkj. so it was lovely to wake up and see a new message from you!! you are lovely to talk with as always, and i am wishing you a wonderful weekend too!! or, i guess it's technically monday, so i am wishing you a lovely week!! :] 💜💜💜

#ask #vee my beloved <3

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sleepy-moron · 2 years

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All the poster characters from season four of stranger things but I assign them 1 Pokémon each based on vibes:

Karen- Leavanny: noted for being an exceptionally maternal Pokémon, it even makes clothes out of leaves for its young….also fits the green theming the wheelers have got going on in this au which is fun.

Joyce- Pyroar: Specifically noted as being good mothers and protecting their young extremely fiercely… plus cats are supposed to be able to pick up on things other things don’t so Joyce being a lion fits her imo

Hopper- Camerupt: Hop can have an……explosive temper but mostly I just picture a very unimpressed looking volcano camel following hop around and staring into the camera like it’s on the office. Big crotchety old man vibes and that suits hop.

Murray- Beheeyem: Murray is literally a conspiracy theorist and this is the Pokémon equivalent of the men in black how could I not give him this…..also an underrated personal favorite psychic type

Steve- Floatzel: I sat here for ages trying to think of a Pokémon for Steve and then I realized floatzel works really well+ it’s literally described as making an effort to save people that are drowning so clearly it has the proper protective instincts and I can just see Steve chilling with this dude

Robin- Chatot: A music note themed parrot that can replicate and as they age understand human speech?? Yeah this suits robin pretty well, plus one of its possible abilities is tangled feet which suits Robin’s general lack of coordination.

Eddie- Obstagoon: This is Gene Simmons as a Pokémon….not a ton of lore but it’s a punk used by the “evil” team in gen 8 and it suits him

Nancy- Gardevoir: Looks pretty and feminine (ie pre s1 nancy), loyal and will summon a black hole to protect its trainer, has some knight inspiration as well….overall very strong and cool Pokémon, plus her and mike have Pokémon with similar color schemes

Johnathan- Male meowstic: said to have awakened its psychic powers out of a need to protect itself, and must restrain itself to not wreak havoc with these powers. Males are highly protective of those they care about and are hesitant to fight unless those people are in danger.

Argyle- Alolan Raichu: chill surfer dude vibes and the fact that I can just imagine a lil Raichu floating around next to Argyle while he’s making the grave for the agent man and is helping to decorate it. I just think the energies are the same.

Erica- Galarian ponyta: Look me dead in the eyes and tell me Erica would not have this as a Pokémon……you can’t because it’s true!!

Dustin- Rotom: mischievous electric ghost that possesses electronics and is smart enough to cause havoc….also it’s heavily associated with befriending children with a knack for tinkering and engineering in Pokémon so it’s pretty reasonable that one would take a liking to Dustin.

Lucas- Luxray: (might be a touch of bias because I adore the shinx line and I have a shiny luxray) Lucas is usually the one in the party to scout out situations for danger…..he’s also pretty good at seeing through people and luxray can see through walls which is great for someone who uses long range weaponry

Max- Crobat: Fast and agile flying type that starts out as a super common annoying cave encounter but through the power of friendship evolutions becomes a really cool and powerful Pokémon. The Pokémon I gave Mike is also 4x weak to crobat as well which is funny.

Mike- Chesnaught: literally an armored knight that shields loved ones with its own body, and its (formerly?) signature move is spiky shield so it is spot on for how prickly and defensive Mike is… also I think him and Will both having stuff from the gen 6 starter trio is cute

Will- Delphox is literally a traditional fantasy wizard with fire powers…..The gen 6 starters are literally based around an rpg party it’s too perfect and Will did have a dog at some point so having a fox Pokémon tracks + I gave all the Byers psychic or fire types

El- Type Null or Marshadow: Null makes more sense since it was modified in a lab for use as a weapon before breaking out, and it reaches its evolution through high friendships. Marshadow just really reminds me of s1 El for some reason….both work fine but I would probably say type null is the more official choice.

#byler tumblr #stranger things 4 #stranger things #Yes I gave byler matching Pokémon what about it??#There’s actually even more lil references involved in my choices so feel free to look for more connections #Please send me asks about the st Pokémon au that lives in my brain I have many thoughts #or just ask me shit about Pokémon in general I love talking about it

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valenhell · 3 years

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From the studio that brought you “I can’t find good Byler fics in the ao3 tag”, comes:

"The Definitive Byler fic rec list"

Literally no one asked for this but because I spent the majority of last year (...and 2019, and 2018...) reading byler fics and coping with life, I thought I’d make a list of some of my absolute favorites.

The other day I was basically starving for some byler fics and the angel @magicalfairy provided me with some of her faves so I thought I’d do the same, because I love reading, and I love all of these fics and I appreciate their writers💗 And fic writers in general, come on!

- This is a mix of long works and one-shots/short stories. - Everything is mostly fluff with a tad of angst and a lot of internalized homophobia conflict. - Every fic is completed, except for the ones I mention that they are not. - I try my best to lay out the stories in a way that I won’t spoil you the plot but also warning you of some stuff you might don’t like. Either way, all of these fics are correctly tagged by their respective authors/owners, so read at your own risk. For better understanding, in between brackets I denote Rating, Words and quantity of Chapters. - I feel like I should clarify, none of these are narrated in the singular first person. None of that “And I told him...”, no.

Long fics

a dream always the same (T, 99k, 35 chapters) What happened in those few weeks between the Battle of Starcourt and the Byers leaving Hawkins. Literally a satisfying and very needed fill in of season three, with a good dose of Mike’s thoughts and conflict. Mike’s characterization is specially amazing in this one. The writing style is amazing and I know the author put everything into making it historically accurate, and it was really sweet. You probably read it, it’s by the amazing sevensided here on Tumblr🧡

Spring Break (T, 120k, 14/15 chapters) The slowburn of my dreams. Lots of internalized conflict and conflict with each other. Conflict within the Party (uhh kind of), conflict with Mike and Will. Byers family has moved and the kids are visiting! Chaos. Characterization is on point. Yeah, I know it’s unfinished, but the fourteenth chapter actually serves as a pretty nice ending.

This is where it starts (M, 148.8k, 24 chapters) Aged up characters. The Party is in college and Will disappears again, but now it’s different. Mike knows he didn’t vanish from thin air, and the discovery he and the Party end up making is pretty insane. Mystery solving/fantasy/third dimension, throw in a bit of D&D and Mike realizing some shit, and you get this marvelous fic. It’s a breath of fresh air. The world building is definitely one of the elements that stands out the most, because it’s very nicely described, it sounds like a dream and it’s completely immersive. Absolute gem of a fic.

there’s a Starman waiting in the sky (M, 30.6k, 8 chapters) Do I need to say anything? Will is out there living his best life and Mike realizes that wow, umm, maybe his best friend looks a bit too nice with that costume... and wait, is he getting horny? It’s actually really fun and sexy.

The Evening Speaks (T, 23k, 7 chapters) In where Mike is a late-night college radio host and Will is the art student that stays up till late to catch up with Wheeler on the Mic. They flirt through songs y’all, this one is really sweet.

heads or tails? (E, 24k, 3 chapters) Aged up characters. I know most people don’t enjoy sex in fics and with specific characters but this one is insanely well written. It’s a slowburn that commits to the tension and with every word you are grasping and anticipating their next move. I think you can find the author here on Tumblr as yousaidyes🧡

The Man of Average (M, 56.7k, 5/? chapters) Aged up characters. No but you don’t understand, the writing here is absolute gourmet. The story is exciting as well, it’s super interesting. Weirdly enough, for being very aged up characters, they are well characterized but they don’t feel like teenagers. They are naturally Mike and Will. The author really captured Mike and Will’s essence. I know, it’s unfinished and it’s updated very rarely, but this is the typical fic you can’t believe someone just posted on the internet for free. I will say though, I think it’s definitely not for everyone. Read at your own risk.

Heartstrings (E, 82.8k, 24/? chapters) Aged up characters. By the same author of The Man of Average. A collection of memories, the road to Mike and Will’s happy ever after. And fucking hell!!!!! You’ll cry and get angry, you’ll cheer for them, then you’ll want to crash their faces together because god dammit you love each other!!! But yeah, same thing here. The writing and the way the story is laid out as a nonlinear narrative is brilliant. And I also think this is one of the best Will versions I’ve read. The author might as well be the og creator of this two characters tbh. You can find the author here as mylesimeblr🧡

Sinners behind the walls (T, 1.5k, 1/1) And because I can’t stop recommending this author, a little thing of Mike tormenting himself but also being too deeply committed to Will.

The Red Envelope series (T/E, 167K, two completed works) Something happens that Will thought was impossible and from there, pure drama and romance. Anything by this author has the potential to become your absolute favorite fic, but this series in particular is amazing. I doubt that any of you haven’t read this, but it doesn’t hurt to put it in this list. I’m pretty sure the author is serendipitous-magic on Tumblr🧡

A New Fight series (T, 91k, two completed works, one WIP) And finally the Star Wars AU that we all needed. But this isn’t your typical “Mike is Han”, “Will is Leia” and “El is Luke”, it’s way more interesting than that, and the author has appropriated the Star Wars world like no other. I’ll admit I’m not a 100% fluent in SW lore but this is amazing to me either way. This author is also on Tumblr, tea-for-one-please🧡

- Yes, most of these are (if not all), in a way, canon compliant/canonverse/canon continuation into fanon. (In a way)

One-shots and short stories

Sundae for Two, Please (G, 4.8k) Steve being the supportive friend and older brother these kids collectively need. (not Jonathan erasure, we love him). Steve is very sweet himself, and this little cute thing through his POV is gorgeous. Yes, it’s byler.

Backstage (T, 10k, 2/2) Jonathan, you forgot to mention to Will how hot your new band’s guitarist is, dude. Now he’s hyperventilating and weirdly flirting with him in the corner. Background Stonathan because why not.

102 Peach Street (G, 3.8k) Established relationship, but not only that, they are married :’’))) PURE fluff. Extreme fluffiness. Diabetes.

sweatshirts and bottled up feelings (T, 3.2k) Or, Mike thinks that the sweatshirt Will wears looks insanely good on him. And kitchens are for lovers.

kiss it better (T, 16.3k) Basically one of the best character studies of a few precise moments of Mike and Will’s relationship and feelings.

will wonders ever cease (T, 11.3k) #i ship will and happiness. Omfg what a beautiful piece of fanfic. Will centric, this kid really deserves all the good in the world.

The Calm After the Storm (T, 1.6k) Tooth rotting fluff, boyfriends in love. Boyfriends being lazy, cuddling, love words, kisses. Boys loving each other’s company... Basically, Mike and Will in their element. What more can you ask for?

neither of us ready to let go (T, 4.8k) That scene from season three, but a bit of a fix it.

Still in love (G, 1k) Domestic, married life au fluff. Y’all, I’m a sucker for established Byler, even if I can’t find many fics with it. But this is very sweet. It takes place in 2020, but I don’t think there are any mentions of the COVID-19 crisis that I remember.

I Nver Find Out ‘Til I’m Head Over Heels (G, 12.5K) Classic 5+1 fic. If you haven’t read it, where have you been? This is your moment. In where Mike keeps inviting Will to the school dances and Will thinks it’s just a joke until he realizes it’s not.

Before You’re Gone (T, 5.9k) Will is leaving Hawkins and Mike thinks this is a great moment for a confession. This one I discovered last friday, thank you friend @magicalfairy 💗

You’re weird Wheeler (M, 4.5k) Mike unintentionally starts a tradition of going to each other to talk about their sexual encounters just after they finish. Will keeps getting more explicit with the details he shares, and he makes his best friend interested. This one is really fun y’all.

Out-Of-Town Friends (N/R, 4.6K) It’s not rated. I haven’t re- read it but I’d say it would probably fall in a T rating. So cute!! Will has new friends and sneaks off every friday and the Party doesn’t know where he is going, so Mike decides to follow him and is surprised.

Snowed Under (G, 1.3k) By the same author of The New Fight series. Mike is spending christmas by himself in college because a snowstorm hits Chicago and Nancy can’t drive to see him, but then he has a surprise visitor. Ahhh just a lil sweet holiday fic. Super cute.

you love me anyway series (T, 7.1k, three completed works) Literally just the cutest thing ever. Established Byler. Will loves to take pictures and he loves taking pictures of Mike. It’s adorable.

you wanna be friends forever (i can think of something better) (T, 9k) This one is so amazing. So. Amazing. From Will’s POV, my kid deserves the world and he gets it.

okay not to be okay (T, 4.9k) Mike is a bit sad but then everything is okay.

can’t hold out forever (G, 18.4k) Y’all!!!!! 5+1 sweetness. Mike has been falling in love since kindergarten. And it’s long af, you’ll enjoy it.

even if it takes forever (G, 1.3k) College short AU, they miss each other, they love each other, they promise all to each other. It is sappy y’all.

clear as day (N/R, 18.4K, 4 chapters) It’s not rated, but I’d say it falls in the T category. Strangers to friends to lovers. And also, everyone is pretty gay; we have our dynamic trio Mike, Max and El as disaster lesbians (and gay). Will works at the library and he is also gay. Lucas and Dustin and Will are the best friends we needed. It’s very sweet and the Party is kind of formed here!

I went overboard with the one-shots, so you must have realized how much I love long one-shots and I favor them over long works lmao but they are all amazing!!! If it’s on this list, I probably read it at 2 am, sobbing in my bed. So. Hope you enjoy it☺️🧡

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robinsgayshoes · 3 years

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groups i want to see in stranger things but probably won’t

lots of these will never happen but i would love to see their interactions :) also there’s a lot of robin here mainly because im so excited to see her properly interact with the rest of the gang.

robin and nancy - ok so this one actually is happening and im extremely extremely excited about it. firstly, because nancy needs a friend after barb. secondly, they’re so different and i love them so much but for such different reasons so im intrigued to see what their interactions are like.

murray, nancy and mike - i’ve talked about this before but this trio would actually be so iconic. the angst would be through the roof, they would all hate eachother so much but like slightly less than they hate everyone else and they would be so done with everyone else.

and by extension of this

nancy and mike - as i’ve said before i am extremely annoyed that we get like zero nancy and mike content. like they would be amazing together, the dynamic would just be incredible. plus they’re my two favourite characters and this is honestly my biggest gripe with the duffer brothers, like GIVE US WHEELER SIBLING MOMENTS.

joyce and robin - ok i got the idea for this from this fanfic (which i highly recommend) and i just think they would be so soft. idk how to explain this one i just think they would be super cute.

will and dustin - i wish we saw these two interact more, like i feel like dustin would really make will laugh and they would just have cute friendship moments. i also just want the original four boys back again, even just for a bit, because i liked the group dynamic even though we’re completely robbed of it.

jonathan and robin - ok so they would get along so well. nobody can convince me otherwise they’ve both got little “im quirky, im a loner” complexes and i love them for it and i need to see them be little outsiders together.

steve and eleven - i can’t be the only person who thinks this would be adorable, like i can just see steve showing el movies and being like a big brother (tbh i think steve and eleven would get on better than jonathan and eleven as siblings) idk they would just be so soft.

lucas and hopper - they both see right through mike’s bullshit and i love that for them. again i dont know how to explain it i just think they would be so funny.

nancy, robin and max - three badasses who take nobody’s shit. we might actually see this in s4 but i like want just a scene with the three of them cause i feel like there isn’t enough female friendships/solidarity in the series.

erica and mike - again two people who literally get annoyed with everyone and i want to see mike get highly annoyed with erica and erica just not caring. this will literally never happen but idc.

robin and mike - 1. mike would tolerate robin and robin would tolerate mike at first but they would actually grow to be super close and i want this with my entire heart. 2. gay and lesbian solidarity

will and eleven - ok so i know this is actually happening cause they’re siblings but they would be so soft omg. like i want to see scenes of them at school looking out for eachother and im soooo ready for it. (also the people who say that will would hate el.... like are talking about the same will? like its just not in character for him in my opinion) and ik that noah and millie get along very well so im excited to see their on screen chemistry.

anyways these are the ones im mainly hoping for (though most will never happen.... sigh) but im interested to see what others want to see.

#stranger things #stranger things 4 #will byers #eleven hopper #robin buckley #mike wheeler #erica sinclair #nancy wheeler #max mayfield #lucas sinclair #jim hopper #steve harrington #jonathan byers #joyce byers #murray bauman

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allaboardtheussharringrove · 3 years

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So @billy-baby mentioned That 70’s Show and Harringrove, and it reminded me of a *whole ass* set of hc’s about a 70’s/Stranger Things AU that has been sitting in my notes for literal years collecting dust, so here it is:

-Billy & Hyde would be besties, probably neighbours in the same shitty neighbourhood

-They headbang to hard rock and metal, jam to 60’s & 70’s rock while drinking TONS of beer and hotboxing the Camaro and El Camino, respectively

-Bands they’d have in common: AC/DC, Black Sabbath & Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions, KISS, Judas Priest, Van Halen, and Led Zeppelin just to name a couple

-Hyde always gives Billy shit for like, never wearing a shirt, Billy gives Hyde shit for his ever-present sunglasses & sideburns

-They know each other’s parental problems, and take refuge in the Forman’s basement/the empty Harrington house (yes, we’re talkin’ a Hawkins, Indiana/Point Place, Wisconsin mashup here)

-Billy still has a major crush on Steve (Harrington that is, Steven Hyde will only be referred to as Hyde [and that possible name mix-up could cause some hilarity whenever anyone calls out “Steven”, and some embarrassing rumour drama for Billy, Steve, & Hyde (or omg a block party at the Formans where Kitty calls out “William! Steven! Michael!” And she turns around and has Billy, Will, Hyde, Steve, Mike, and Kelso starting at her expectantly)])

-Billy probably also thinks Eric and Kelso are kinda cute, but total dumbasses, they both definitely annoy him

-Fez would have a totally awkward and hilarious crush on Billy, and you just know Billy would flirt with him on purpose just to make him nervous (this might make Steve a lil jealous and annoy him to no end)

-Jackie would have the BIGGEST crush on Steve, after Kelso, and drag him around to go shopping and shit, he would tolerate it but Billy would absolutely hate her as a “bitchy rich entitled snot-nosed brat” cause she would be vocal about him being poor and he’d have to be calmed down by Hyde and Steve all the time

-Billy would give Hyde an unimaginable amount of shit for going out with Jackie, hooo boy!

-Steve would get a kick outta Kelso, but I think he and Eric would be pretty close friends, with Steve always pushing to hang around at the Forman’s cause Eric’s parents are always present, as opposed to his empty house (he adores Kitty Forman for SURE as the mother he never had)

-But the gang would surely hold parties at the Harrington’s....and only sometimes get away with it (both these groups are known for their KEGS! and the 70’s teens would lose their damn minds over Keg Kings Billy & Steve)

-Billy would put the charm on for Kitty sometimes just to see her blush, and Red would get annoyed and just a little threatening saying something like “Like to see how charming you are with my foot up your ass” and Billy being the abused kid that he is automatically takes it a little too seriously- probably flinches, goes a little pale, stutters out a “Yes sir, sorry sir”

-This would make Kitty and Red a bit concerned, pay a visit to the Hargrove household- I wouldn’t be surprised if they experience Neil putting Billy down or catch a glimpse of a smack or something and they would for sure take action with Red intimidating Neil cause you know he could

-Anyway! Girls. Robin and Donna would be THE BEST FRIENDS EVER, cause Donna had no other cool girl friend to hang out with and you just KNOW Robin might have an “itsy bitsy” (huge) crush on Donna, cause she’s Hot Donna, also they’re both super into female empowerment (and honestly, when Donna/Eric break up I could see her maybe falling for Robin too)

-Donna and Billy would be buds, she might like him for a hot minute but be cool with him being gay (Out of everyone in the 70’s gang, I think he’d most likely share this with her - cause she’d probably figure it out - even if it’s just to gush about their dumb, brave, pretty brunette boys to each other)

-Max would LOVE Donna, not just because of the hair (but also redhead solidarity is important), but because they’re both badasses and would totally vibe together- Max, Billy, and Donna would be an unexpectedly fun trio (and Billy would complain about having to drive the “GingeTwins” around all the time or something to that effect)

-And Jackie having to babysit Erica (because Donna does it sometimes, but she’s out for the night) would be the best thing ever good lord, Erica would put Jackie in her place, but they’d probably make up some schemes together too

-Also Erica would be absolutely appalled at having a similar name to Eric, she’d probably call him something along the lines of “Supreme Nerd” or “King of the Nerds” and have an endless supply of unimpressed looks for him during their debates of whose name is better

-Eric would totally join Mike, Will, Lucas & Dustin in their nerd exploits (STAR WARS!) And he and Dustin would get into loooong nerd debates

-I think Kelso would join Dustin & Lucas (and maybe the other boys too) in doing mischievous experiments including but not limited to: pyrotechnics, wrist rockets, radios and electronics... He’d begrudgingly listen to the scientific explanations of the boys (which would all fly right over his head) and they would have a moderate success rate, but also have to run away from the trouble they’d get in

-Lucas and Hyde would always be cool, but after finding out about Hyde’s biological dad they could become closer (Hyde’s dad and Lucas would have the best banter)

-Will and Eric would geek out over comics, and I think Eric would be super nice/supportive about seeing Will’s drawings

-Jonathan would be pretty quiet at first, but might talk to Fez since they’re both kinda the odd man out in each group (and he’d be genuinely NICE to Fez, *side eyes 70’s teens*)- then he’d be roped into doing random/stupid/mildly illegal stuff with the gang

-And despite Billy & Hyde being besties, I think Jonathan would bond with Hyde over shitty dads (plus I think Hyde would love Joyce, and she’d be another offer of refuge for him & Billy) and WEED WEED WEED

-Actually that might definitely be a sub-trio: Jonathan, Billy, & Hyde- they’d all have each other’s backs when it came to family drama (and later on when Hyde gets his record store, he’d offer them both jobs and Jonathan would be over the fuckin’ moon and work there)

-Billy would for sure work for Red in his muffler shop, and Red would take him under his wing, probably unwittingly become the father figure Billy never had.

-Nancy, hmmm, well she’s on the richer side of town so her and Jackie might be friends? but she’d for sure get annoyed with Jackie’s shallow bullshit

-OH and Robin would also hate Jackie I think, ‘cause of her entitlement and relentless obsession with boys (poor Jackie, I’m not setting her up for anything great here huh)

-So that’d be why Steve is friends with her, if only ‘cause he feels bad when she alienates herself from the rest of the teens, they (and I hate to say this) *could possibly* date for like 5 minutes, it’d be a REALLY hard time for Billy...and Kelso. And those two would probably come up with some hairbrained scheme to break them up (and succeed, but each get ripped a new one because of it)

-But at least the group of teen girls would be bigger if Donna, Robin, Jackie, and Nancy all hung out together sometimes (and if they tried to have a sleepover or something there would be toooo many idiot boys trying to creep on them, I think Billy would be the voice of reason and tell them they’re all being dickheads)

-And he’d give Fez a fuck ton of shit for being such a voyeuristic creep, probably make him stop hiding in people closets (wait what? Fez is like constantly coming out of closets in that show?! hello?? is that a thing??? Oh ho-ho they’d have a whole talk about that)

-Steve would get a kick outta Fez, probably think he was the funniest dude on the planet, as I’d say they’re the goofballs of the group (and yes, I am mostly excluding the King Steve narrative from this and using only cool mom Steve, cool? cool.)

-Steve might also have a lil crush on Donna, (‘cause a strong personality and blue eyes is like his kink, we all know this) but Eric would throw a fit about that and then they’d be all buddy-buddy discussing Donna & Billy (I think Eric being kind of a dumbass about his own gay kiss might put Steve off for a bit [and make Billy super hesitant and real pissed], but I also think Eric would be cool with hearing Steve out about his big bisexuality-discovery-adventure)

-Donna and Eric trying set Steve and Billy up by saying they’re all gonna hang out, and then like locking Billy/Steve in a room together or something and leaving😈

-When Billy/Steve’s relationship comes out, Hyde’s reaction is probably “That’s cool, man” Kelso would make some corny statement about how hot *he* is, Fez would probably fangirl over it with big ole heart eyes, Jackie would be like “weird, whatever”, Kitty would get flustered and then overly excited about it after a while, Red would be uncomfortable but okay with it saying something like “I better not catch you two dumbasses doing anything in my house”

-Ohmygod, Red as a father figure to Billy, Kitty as a mother figure to Steve, and they end up being so supportive of the boys ‘cause they have to put up with so much parental shit (say what you want, but the Formans have compassion) and they convert their house/backyard into a little private prom for the whole gang just so Billy/Steve can dance together and be themselves

-Billy, Steve, and Robin would die laughing every time they saw/talked to Leo. And I feel like Robin would talk her way into a job at the Photo Hut and then just end up being the manager and hires Jonathan herself to do the developments

-And you know how Hyde is always punching Kelso in the arm? Well he’d always get one, and Billy would punch the other arm as he’d classify Kelso a special kind of idiot, they’d always be teasing Kelso together, but Billy (and Steve I’m sure) would have some wicked BURNS that Kelso would love

-Steve and Kelso as friends? Sure, pretty boys gotta stick together~ especially when Steve gets called that by Billy, and then Kelso insists he’s a prettier boy, and Billy either rolls his eyes or flirts aggressively cause Kelso doesn’t understand WHY that’s Steve’s nickname, and it’s a whole can of worms you guys

-(And I didn’t forget about El, I’m just not quite sure where she fits in this AU... she probably doesn’t have powers and is the new kid who moves into town cause of a bad home life, she’d befriend Max in school and then I think Donna would take her under wing, then she’d be a hit with the teen gang cause she’d break her quietness with witty comments/one-liners, and since she’s very intuitive still, she gravitates towards Billy & Hyde and there would be some touching heart-to-hearts about shitty parental situations followed immediately after by inappropriate offers of beer to which she responds with a firm “gross”)

-And finally, *the Circle* would be so much bigger and funnier with the Stranger Teens in it

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lesbianrobin · 4 years

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takeaways from "the bathtub" + “the upside down” :

1. KAREN CALLED STEVE'S PARENTS LOOKING FOR NANCY

2. speaking of nancy, the kids literally do not trust her at all fjvkfmcmf lucas is like well nancy might betray us but the chief wouldn't!! and mike does not want to answer her on the radio at all he immediately assumes she's working with the government

3. the kids.... i adore them.... dustin is so fucking funny he interrupts clarke's date then IMMEDIATELY hangs up on him the second he has the information he needs

4. joyce and jonathan hold hands while el is looking for will and barb. i just think that's very sweet and soft.

5. nancy does not react that much to finding out that barb is dead gjvjfncm she's just like :0 and then she's fine. obviously she isn't actually fine but i think natalia took "pushing down her grief to focus" a little too far to the point where nancy just doesn't seem too affected

6. nancy and jonathan both look so good in this episode the fits are TOP NOTCH. however, much later on, they also just abandon the kids at the school without telling them, which is not sexy, but THEN they break into the police station and steal a bunch of weaponry, which is EXTREMELY sexy.

7. hopper just knocking out all of those dudes to get the kids off the bus ... sexy

8. hopper effortlessly tossing all those bags of salt to jonathan who's like struggling to catch them and lift them and keep up is so fucking funny

9. when tommy threatens steve steve literally rolls his eyes like okay king !! go off bitchy boy!!

10. millie is so talented she makes every other person around her look bad like all the time ingfjjcjfc

11. i’ll be honest this post sat in my drafts for like three days and now i can’t remember what else i was gong to say so. here’s all i recall about “the upside down”

12. steve is the love of my life. when he goes back into the byers house and saves nancy and jonathan, he really does SAVE them. he single-handedly fends off the demogorgon with the bat, and then nancy and jonathan STAND BEHIND HIM as he defends them... it honestly fucked me up, seeing steve stand right in front of them, protecting them, no hesitation, nothing but a bat in his hands against a monster from another dimension...

13. the monster hunting trio really does steal the whole episode. the kids are pretty cute, too, and el is a badass and she kills like ten people which makes me very proud of her, but that fucking trio scene... fuck, dude.

14. dustin carries el around through the hallways when she exhausts herself killing the lab goons, and it’s the most precious shit i’ve ever seen.

15. the kids were really about to fucking DIE when el was passed out on the table in the school. they were fumbling around for ammo for lucas’s wrist rocket, and even though the demogorgon just presumably sustained gunfire from trained soldiers, they were just... standing there, confident that if they could just get the rocks out of their backpack they could fend it off with a slingshot. stupid kings <3

16. when hopper goes to put food in the dropbox in the woods for el, he puts like... a single small tupperware full of something and like two or three eggos. he gives her like a single meal’s worth of food. is he going out there two or three times a day? is he just feeding el like fucking nothing? why doesn’t he give her anything besides food? i get that for cinematic reasons they wanted to make sure we saw him very slowly placing eggos in the box, but like... bro. she’s a child living in the woods. stop holding out on her goddamn.

17. speaking of hopper the whole part where he and joyce trudge through the upside down was so boring and drawn out... maybe if the upside down had more going on it would have been engaging, but it was mostly just like ughhhh are they there yet???

18. one great part of that, though, is when joyce goes through the byers house and jonathan recognizes that it’s her. you can like see the colored lights reflecting off of the tears in jonathan’s eyes and it’s so good.

19. will was just puking up slugs at christmas dinner and i feel like they never. addressed that in s2. like he was literally vomiting slugs into the bathroom sink and they just forgot about it

20. STONATHAN STANATHANS LISTEN UP: we know steve bought jonathan the camera, but do we all recall that steve was IN THE HOUSE when nancy gave it to jonathan? they were both in the wheeler house. steve intentionally asked nancy to deliver the camera to jonathan and not mention him. they were in the same house. perhaps even the same room. yes these are scraps but this is what we thrive off of

21. okay that’s all i’ve got right now :)

#em talks #stranger things #long post #st rewatch

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panharmonium · 4 years

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stranger things 3, a visual summary:

more coherent thoughts under the cut, because wow.

......okay. that was a Trainwreck. an absolute mess.

i remember when my coworkers were watching S3 (and still urging me to start season 1) and they were saying how amazing the latest season was, and honestly i think there must just be a difference in people who watch tv just to be entertained and people who watch tv and automatically evaluate the story (aka fandom veterans and English majors, lol - cue Me twice), because WHO could watch this critically and praise it that way?

it's honestly hard to know where to even begin; i've been sending frustrated notes to @brambleberrycottage ever since episode three and now that i'm done with episode 8 there's just......so much more to say

first, good things:

erica is a great character. she's what max should have been (aka, uh.......interesting!) i liked the realization moment where dustin was like "you're a NERD!"

that entire sequence where will is so upset with lucas and mike for not being engaged with the dnd game was very well done, especially the conversation he has with mike out in the rain. i loved that moment where mike asked him "did you think we were just going to hang out in my basement playing games forever?" and will said, "yeah. yeah, i guess i did." i really felt that. [edit, now that i've finished: this was never resolved. will giving away his dnd books at the end was not an actual resolution to this conflict.]

steve is still a good dude, and robin was pretty cool. i'm down for them being super friends. but i'm still mourning the steve+nancy+jonathan trio that was a thing for like 5 seconds and then never returned.

i loved how genuinely excited steve was to see dustin when dustin came back from camp. that was adorable. "HENDERSON!!!!" "how many children are you friends with?"

and uh. yeah. i had more problems with this season than praise-bestowing moments, so. here goes that bit.

OVERARCHING PROBLEMS:

1. keep it simple, stupid

remember in the office when dwight quoted the above advice to ryan as michael's rule for making a sale? the same advice applies to storytelling.

season 1 of stranger things is so simple. there is One Monster. that is the danger. and somehow, that single monster manages to be a thousand times more terrifying than all of these new "bigger, scarier, more epic" threats crammed into the second two seasons.

how goofy is the stranger things season 3 plot, seriously? russians are blackmailing a small-town mayor so they can buy up land to steal power from the town while operating a secret lab under the mall to open a gate to the Upside Down (WHY?), while simultaneously a remnant of the malevolent force that was "defeated" last season has reanimated itself and is making people scarf chemicals (WHY?), and then it possesses one of them and uses that person to possess a bunch of other people in order to build itself a body made out of melted people, in order to kill el, whose only story this season is breaking up with her boyfriend, and we have to infiltrate this russian base in order to close the gate (same endgame as last season - BIG NO-NO) to kill the goo monster, except last time the "mindflayer” survived the gate being closed, so why would this even WORK, and -

the fact that there are so many "round-up/info dump" scenes where characters summarize what's going on and make implausibly accurate connections/guesses about what it all must mean is a red flag. the characters shouldn’t have to tell your story to the audience. if it's too complicated for us to keep straight on our own, it's too complicated.

the amount of energy that goes into trying to lash together a Chaos Plot with too many shaky legs leaves nothing left over for nuanced character development or mood establishment. you're constantly running to catch up to your own flimsy story before it collapses on top of itself.

2. the horror!

S1 of stranger things was the scariest thing i'd ever seen.

granted, i don't watch a lot of horror, because i don't like it. i get scared too easily and then i legitimately can't sleep. i watched a horror movie five years ago that i still think about every time the lights are off in my house. but still, ST1 was something i had never experienced before.

it wasn't creature horror, and it wasn't just suspense. it was the UNSETTLINGNESS of it all. it wasn't really about the monster. it was about the Upside Down.

the reason ST1 is so successful is because of how much we don’t know. it's the horror of not understanding what is happening, and the terror of knowing that nobody thinks it’s real. feeling like you're going crazy and being cut off from all assistance. the conspiracy and the cover-up. and the sheer unsettlingness of the whole parallel worlds things just tipped me over the edge - the idea that you can take one wrong step and then be suddenly and without warning completely off the map, simultaneously right next to the people you want to get to and also utterly beyond their reach. that was fucking scary!!!!

and they do it all with so little. i have literally never been more scared in my life than when i would see those christmas lights start flickering. and they're just LIGHTS! yes, we see the monster later, but it's the uncertainty that's most frightening. we don't understand how it arrives in our world, and we don’t know where it will show up next. it could be right next to you - on the other side. you could be standing on top of it. you just don't know. it’s like what jonathan says to nancy in her bedroom - “it can’t get us in here.” and she says, “we don’t know that.”

the later seasons of stranger things, by comparison, did not scare me at all. season two was like a zombie movie - hordes of weak enemies that you can just shoot with a gun. and season 3 was even less frightening - upping the ante and making things gorier, more explosive, and bigger just isn't the vibe they set in S1. i'm not scared of that giant goop monster. it's like godzilla. it's not horror; it's just a lot of noise.

the unsettling, "creep" factor that made season 1 so effective was gone. it just turned into a regular old monster movie, and i didn't find that particularly interesting.

3. illogical, captain

a while ago there was a wave of pushback against people complaining about plot holes, but you know what? there is, in fact, an appropriate place for us to talk about plausibility, as well as the point at which our suspension of disbelief collapses.

ST3 is a bona fide plausibility disaster. i did not believe half of the story, because it was not unfolding in a believable way.

half of the plot points in this season would not have happened if the characters had been behaving with any kind of sense. it is absolutely impossible for me to believe that none of these children IMMEDIATELY went to joyce or hopper the minute they knew something weird was going on. it makes no sense. after the shit they've seen? it makes sense in season 1, because the kids are still so young that they have that kind of magical thinking that makes all of this seem kind of like an adventure. but they're teenagers now, and developmentally, they’re past that stage. they know the evil creature is back and they're pretty sure it's possessing billy? for some unfathomable reason, they don't go to an adult, but try to trap billy in the sauna and just see what happens. the other group has actual proof that russian soldiers are up to something shady in the mall? they don't tell an adult; they send a TEN YEAR-OLD in through the AIR DUCTS to investigate the secret room guarded by MEN WITH GUNS.

this is ridiculous. none of this should have happened. none of this WOULD have happened. it breaks the boundaries of disbelief. it completely sabotages the audience’s engagement with the story - joyce and hopper's whole detour with alexei and murray is so dull, because its entire purpose is to bring hop and joyce up to speed on something that we, the audience, already know. the other characters already found out this stuff, but did not communicate it - the gate is being opened again in a russian lab underground. there's no suspense for us. nothing new is revealed. we're just waiting for them to hurry up and finish finding out so we can move on to the next thing.

moreover: there are so many other problems besides just "these characters would have talked to each other." why on earth would murray, whose sole characteristic is extreme paranoia, take alexei wandering around the festival for hot dogs and carnival games. why would hopper be so virulently against the possibility that weird shit might be happening again? does he remember the past year or what? how on earth would the kids be able to fight off that massive monster with an ax and a hunting rifle? it's made out of dead guts and bones; why does it care if they shoot it?! how in the WORLD is this russian facility so penetrable? i'm sorry, it's just - beyond believable. it doesn't have cameras? the russians guards really can't tell that murray isn't a native speaker? they don't check his id when they don't recognize him? joyce and hopper really just got that lucky, to be asked a question and have “smile and nod” be the right answer? nobody ever got shot? it's silly. it's just silly. so many things - erica uses the "Open" button to open the elevator door in order to let steve and robin and dustin inside, but once the elevator is at the bottom of the shaft, robin explains the door's inexplicable non-opening because......you apparently need a keycard to use the buttons???? THAT MAKES NO SENSE; ERICA JUST USED THE BUTTONS A SECOND AGO.

even the entire endgame of this season is a contradiction! if the mind-flayer survived el closing the gate last time, it doesn't make sense that closing the gate this time would kill it. literally the entire plot of last season was "we need to get this thing out of will, because the creature will die once the gate is closed, and we want to make sure will doesn't die with it." but apparently the creature didn't die upon closing the gate; it just got trapped in our dimension. but now apparently it WILL die upon closing the gate. for whatever fucking reason.

i'm sorry, but that’s a mess. that’s a bona fide mess.

4. watch your tone

i honestly think the tonal change is the thing that made me the most frustrated about this season. it's possible to have a terrible plot and still stay relatively true to your characters - you'll still have a bad season, but at least you didn't bastardize your characters in the process.

i had issues with S2 and i definitely was not as impressed with it as i was with S1, but at least in S2 joyce and hopper were recognizable. in S3, i felt like i was watching strangers. the tonal shift was bizarre and off-putting, more so with hopper than joyce, but it affected both of them.

even as early as the very beginning of this season, i was feeling weird about how often hopper was being used for comedy. and as the season progressed, this trend only became more pronounced. almost every scene we had of him felt silly - and not like there was just something funny in the scene for me to laugh at, but like the audience was almost being asked to laugh AT him. like he was constantly the butt of the joke.

this really bothered me. from that incredibly sincere and heart-wrenching portrayal of him in season 1, when they kept him rooted in the trauma of losing his daughter and the breakdown of his marriage, and then how that same trauma made him so driven to save will and protect the kids - what a change. even in season 2 i was frustrated how the throughline of his daughter wasn’t touched again until the very last episode, and now in season 3 we’ve left that part of him so far behind that he's just there for us to laugh at. we're supposed to laugh at scenes of him being drunk and a mess. every scene he's in is either him arguing with joyce for comedic relief or being way over the top with alexei or the mayor. he was like a caricature of himself, and i didn't recognize him.

joyce suffered from the same thing, just by virtue of proximity. she spent almost all of her time in this season with hopper, and virtually all of that time was taken up with silly shenanigans or comically overblown arguing. what a departure from the desperate mother of season 1, who was maligned by everyone in town and only taken seriously by the audience. now it’s the audience who are supposed to be chuckling at her.

i dunno. the tone shift was very dramatic, very obvious, and it impacted the entire season. are we supposed to be taking this seriously or is it supposed to be a joke? a little bit of humor to break tension can be a good thing, but when it's constant, it confuses the mood.

and i personally don't think it was appropriate or respectful to either of these characters, in this case.

SMALLER THINGS THAT BOTHERED ME:

this show has 100% hit maximum character saturation. by the end of this season there were 13 core characters onscreen at the same time, in the same scene! it’s too many people! they cannot reasonably develop that many people in the space allotted.

i still am not interested in max. i don't feel anything for her. she doesn't feel real. i don't hate her, but she's just an empty vessel, and i really do think she's superfluous to this show. i think you could remove her with very little reworking and the show would be stronger for it. (they TRIED to do something interesting with billy, and i might have cared if we had been given literally any reason to care about him previously, but there was no investment earned there. they didn't do the front-end work to make him somebody we were interested in.)

weird relationship sunderings from previous seasons. i felt very strange about jonathan barely even seeing will this entire season. i felt very strange about steve having almost zero contact with nancy. i felt very strange about joyce hardly ever interacting with her kids. all of these were core relationships - the characters were BUILT on those relationships, and they don't feel real outside of them. not seeing these characters devote time to these relationships makes it feel like i'm watching a slightly different show.

the VIOLENCE. apparently this is a beat-em-up now??? i really felt like every other scene somebody was getting beaten to a bloody pulp. there was SO much smashing and bashing and throwing people into walls and fistfights and head trauma like - first of all, i find that stuff pretty boring, and second of all, all of these people should be in the hospital.

the GORE. other people’s mileage may vary, obviously; i just didn't like that. i looked away at the scene with the rat, and all this...goopy dissolving human shit, and the stabbings, and just...general grossness level - season 1 managed to be bloodcurdlingly terrifying without any of this stuff.

i know this borders on nitpicky, but yet more medical malfeasance - another example of someone receiving an injection via the mysterious 90 degree angle neck route, plus - was anyone else losing it at the fact that steve and robin “puked up” a drug they received……..via injection?????? IT’S NOT IN THEIR STOMACHS, FOLKS! THEY CAN’T PUKE IT UP! IT DOESN’T WORK LIKE THAT!

the complete lack of follow-up to last season. the whole S3 plotline (such as it is) feels like a weird side quest. last season seemed to be furthering the mythos and setting us up for "there are other children like el/brenner is alive" - but this season, that fact appears to have been forgotten by everyone (even el!!!) and has nothing to do with the story that we're given, which is a goofy and redundant story about russians opening a secret lab under the mall which requires us to solve the exact same problem as last season (closing the gate).

this show's inability to keep certain throughlines in its headlights/keep things visible on the periphery instead of dropping them completely and then bringing them back whenever they feel like they need it again. i already talked about hopper’s daughter as an example of this (done well in S1 and poorly in S2 and S3). another example is that scene with nancy and her mom - it’s such a good scene, and yet it misses out on so much resonance, because they completely dropped the plotline of karen feeling locked out of her kids’ lives and desperately wanting to connect with them. if they had continued to reference that throughout season 2, then this scene would have been so much more powerful. as a third example, season 3 starts with a clear context/premise, and it’s INTERESTING - the town landscape changing because of the mall, business slow to non-existent, small town discontent over big corporations moving in, hopper pressured to break up the protest against mayor kline when he should have let it proceed - and then the show just drops that entire context. you expect season 3 to stay rooted in the "our small town is being strangled by this mall" and then to eventually deal with the revitalization of hawkins, but nah. it's never mentioned again.

LASTLY:

i'm not really gonna get into hopper "dying," because he's, like...clearly not dead. but the whole situation was stupid and contrived (i was so sick of that arnold schwarzenegger lookalike by the last episode, god that whole thing was so dumb) and it's even cheaper knowing that he'll obviously be back.

what i AM gonna say is that i was livid that they brought back that peter gabriel cover of "heroes" to end this season. their use of that song in S1 blew my mind - it had me stunned with how GORGEOUS it was and just, the way it worked in that particular scene - absolutely incredible. floored me. gave me chills. to recycle it at the end of such a poorly constructed season made me so mad. yOU CAN'T MAKE ME FEEL THINGS JUST BY REUSING THIS SONG. I REFUSE TO HAVE EMOTIONS JUST BECAUSE YOU PULL OUT THIS BEAUTIFUL TRACK THAT YOU ONCE USED TO GREAT EFFECT; YOUR STORY WAS STILL TERRIBLE THIS TIME AROUND; DO NOT TRY TO TRICK FEELINGS OUT OF US THAT HAVEN’T BEEN EARNED.

and that's it. i’m sure later i’ll think of other things i neglected to mention here, but...yeah. i was not impressed.

#i finished yesterday #holy moly #interdimensional babysitters club

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secretradiobrooklyn · 3 years

Text

Shroud of Pigeon | 12.5.20

Secret Radio | 12.5.20 | Hear it here.

1. Yos Olarang - title unknown

This is a real score in my book. Generally known as Yol Aularon, this guy is Cambodia’s greatest rock musician, turning out garage rock that knows no equal in America or anywhere else, in my opinion. I tracked down this song on a tape attributed to “Yol Aularon” which includes his big hit, “Cyclo,” but also this song which I haven’t heard on any other collections. Honestly, though, I may yet run across it in a prominent collection, because I have no way of figuring out the title — every bit of the text I can find is in Cambodian. In any case, we LOVE this track! It’s almost like a catalog of Olarang’s laughs: there’s a merry snort, a giggle, and a malevolent cackle all built into the melody. I believe he’s the blazing lead guitarist as well. It’s just such a perfect gem of pure rock energy.

2. Gedou - “Scent” (I think)

Speaking of pure rock energy — DAMN, SAM! This was our introduction to Gedou, a blasting burst of Japanese glam rock whose costumes match the sounds you hear here. These guys were only originally active from ’73-’76, and then got back together sporadically after that; I believe this is from that original lineup. It’s well worth it to check the live video that this comes from. It’s an electric thrill just to see them leaning back to back, singing into the same mic, doing kicks and losing their minds in shining kimonos and silk hiphuggers. It feels like a Japanese MC5 whose wardrobe directly influenced David Bowie. One note I read says that they were popular with Japanese biker gangs at the time — and there are certainly bikes aplenty in the video. I’m looking forward to finding out more about the impact they had in Japan, and whether they made an impression in the rest of the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHfBhJsqrD8

3. Clothilde - “Saperlipopette”

What a strange little slab of chamber pop! Clothilde was barely even a one-hit wonder in France — she released two 45s in 1967 and, as far as I know, that was it. But what a song! It’s like a vanful of pop records crashed into a classical instrument shop. I especially dig the xylophone or whatever that is back there — hardly necessary given the hyperactive harpsichord, but it takes the poppy flavor right over the top. So many bands have tried to get to this level of fizz, but I’ve never heard it succeed like this!

- King Kong - “Ten Long Years”

Slint is one of indie rock’s most unimpeachably cool bands, which makes the silliness of King Kong all the more endearing. Band leader Ethan Buckler was the original bassist in Slint, and all of the Slint lineup got into the act at one point or another. In 1995 Drag City released King Kong’s “Me Hungry,” a sort of funky concept album about a caveman, his yak, and an inhospitable world. Sean Nelson and I spent many not-sober nights enjoying that record — “I push em out, I push em out” — and got to see them play the Crocodile Cafe. I definitely remember appreciating how groovy King Kong was, like Neanderthal B-52s. Butler even looked a bit like a shaved caver.

4. Star Feminine Band - “Femme Africaine”

Born Bad is our new favorite label, right up there with Analog Africa. They’re based in France, and release music both archival and new. Star Feminine Band is based in Benin, home to so much of our favorite music. It’s definitely worth watching the video for this song just to see how young and full of potential the girls in the band are. They were assembled in a School of Rock sort of situation, taught to play instruments and encouraged to write lyrics. The lyrics of this song are so directly uplifting it’s enough to put a lump in the throat. Meanwhile, the music is such a pleasure to listen to! The whole album is full of good stuff, but this song is pretty much their theme song. It translates to:

“Oh woman, African woman

Oh woman, Beninese woman

Black woman, get up, don't sleep

You can become president of the republic

You can become prime minister of the country

Get up, something must be done

African woman, be independent

The country needs us, go to school

Africa needs you, you have to work

The world needs us, let's stand up we'll defend

African woman, be independent”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdDp6VAXXbk

5. Young Signorino - “Mmh Ha Ha Ha”

A few years ago a friend posted the video for this song on FB with a note that was like, “Ever see something you should hate but you can’t stop watching?” I watched it, watched it again… and watched it again. It eventually slipped out of my mind, but I was thrilled to remember it the other day in the context of WBFF. The song’s language, such as it is, is Italian, but it also just fits perfectly into the post-language mix that has been turning our cranks lately. I’m really glad to get a chance to present it here first as a piece of music, because the video really affects the experience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9bf4PT-aEk

6. Yura Yura Teikoku - ゆらゆら帝国で考え中 “Yura Yura Keikoku de Kangaechuu” (I think?)

This is another sweet find in a broadcast full of em! Yura Yura Teikoku is a trio formed in 1989 and have a huge rep in Japan as a psychedelic band, but apparently by 2000 they were crafting super-awesome pop songs that rocked hard. The video of this song features a singer with adorably mussed hair and a striped shirt against an orange background, looking super hip and on top of the world. From what I’ve read they were gigantic in Japan but utterly unknown outside, which changed a bit when they played New York in 2007 and again a year later, to packed houses. But that didn’t seem to do the trick, and they finally broke up in 2010. They have several good songs from this period, but this one, from a three-song 45, is the one that has hooked us the hardest so far. We can’t seem to find out even what the song title is, but as far as I can tell the band’s name translates to The Wobbling Empire, and the song title is “Thinking in the Wobbling Empire.” It’s bizarre to us that this kind of hip tight rock didn’t find a way into the bigger world… but I guess singing in Japanese was the deciding factor. Really glad to have uncovered it though!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9CM44MohAs

7. Can - “Mother Sky”

I know a lot of bigger Can fans than me, but this track has so much of what we love in the drones, the freakouts, the lockdowns, the Engl-ish vocals, the long climb towards the climax… it feels sometimes like flying, sometimes like swimming, sometimes like burrowing deeper and deeper downwards.

8. Señor Coconut - “Showroom Dummies”

Can and Kraftwerk share enough DNA that they seem like a natural pairing. But… Señor Coconut’s version of this classic track of “Trans-Europe Express” is honestly my preferred version of the song. It sounds so sincere and strange, and I find myself thinking about the lives of mannequins even as I also hear the palm leaves switching in the breeze. The album “El Baile Aleman” — “German Dance” — was released in 1999, and apparently Kraftwerk was fine with it. Thank goodness.

- Lithics - “A Highly Textured Ceiling”

Every time I hear this track I think of Six Finger Satellite’s “The Pigeon Is the Most Popular Bird,” a crucial album for me. I learned about all of these tones for the first time from that record. I’ma write more about this band in a sec, when they show back up.

9. Schwervon! - “American Idle”

Years ago Mike Appelstein hipped us to Schwervon!, a two-piece band who were about to make the opposite journey of our own eventual path, moving from NYC to Missouri — in their case Kansas City. They turned out to be lovely individuals and an instant favorite band, and we hosted them whenever they came through STL. Their album “Courage” plays like a lost ’90s classic, and “American Idle” is one of the best tracks on there. The production of the album, by Matt Mason, is straight-up enviable. As is so often the case, good people have good friends, and they led us to Jeffrey Lewis, who has been a pleasure to get to know better since we made our own way east last year. I don’t think Matt and Nan are writing songs together anymore, but we’re glad that they did.

10. Boney M. - “Rasputin”

I saw this song peeking at me from my computer now and then, but didn’t check it out til recently. What a complete banger! The lyrics are absolutely fantastic — “Rah! Rah! Rasputin, Russia’s greatest love machine, it was a shame how he carried on!” — but so is the production… and the video, for that matter. Apparently this was a hit track in 1978. I’ve spent most of my life avoiding disco, though, so I had no idea. I love how the narrative weight shifts from the lead male voice to the chorus voices. It’s such a strange read of Rasputin’s life and death — the unkillable Casanova of Russia!

11. Rafaella Carrá - “Festa”

Did I mention that I used to hate disco? Well, this is my big comeup. We’ve been dabbling in disco on WBFF here and there, but this pairing is meant strictly for the dancefloor! This is the original Italian version, but Carrá became a massive hit in Spain and recorded most of her songs in Spanish as well. Obviously, the Spanish influence is strong in this song’s amazing flamenco claps and trumpet passages.

12. T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou Benin et Loko Pierre - “Djo Mi Do”

There’s nowhere to go from disco but back to our prime fascination: Tout Puissant! This album is a collaboration with saxophonist Loko Pierre, and every track hits hard. But this track’s chorus, “djo mi do, djo mi do!” is such a gotdamn hook! This band continues to surprise and reward the deeper we dig into their catalog, and I feel like we’re still just getting started. So funky and fresh every time.

The chorus makes me think of a song we first heard on KDHX about a decade ago — “Dominos,” by The Big Pink. I really liked the hook of the song but loathed the cold-blooded lyrics, so I found myself hating it. You know how it is. I’m really glad to find a song that can replace it in my head — and it’s a way better song!

13. Bruno Leys - “Hallucinations”

Credit to Born Bad records once again for this song. It’s a true rarity. Bruno Leys fell in with some fellow students in Paris in 1967 including a guy named Emmanuel Pairault, who was obsessed with an instrument called the ondes Martenot, which is a very very early electronic instrument that works a little like a theremin — though it’s played by wearing a ring on one finger and sliding it along a wire, depressing the wire to change the note — but has a crazy range of sounds. The instrumental hook in this song, as well as the backing notes, are on the onde Martenot. Leys co-wrote and recorded four songs with the band, they got signed up with a label, released a 7”, then he had to leave for compulsory military service… and by the time he got back two years later there was no band and no label. The 7” was practically unobtainable til this year, when Born Bad records finally released it anew. I hope Leys is still alive to appreciate that it finally made its way into the world!

- The Psycheground Group - “Psycheground”

14. Troubadour Dali - “Spirit of ’67”

Oh, Troubadour… Sleepy Kitty shared a label with Troubadour Dali for several years, and we were big fans of their whirling swirling psychedelia. They had a couple of chicks (I think they’d approve of the word) projecting old-school colored oil-and-water light effects on the band, and when they were on, they looked and felt like the greatest band in the land. Troubadour went through an impressive number of players over the years, and there was generally some sort of drama or mayhem going on — not too surprising for a band who loved Brian Jonestown Massacre. The main songwriter was a lanky, handsome fella named Ben, though there were also great songs by Kevin and, every once in a great while, a powerful contribution by a quiet, snappy dresser named Benjamin. Benjamin apparently put this recording together entirely on his own. When he showed it to the band they flipped out — it’s obviously a winner — and they quickly got together a live version of it. Man, it tore the house down every time. At some point, though, in the midst of some of that drama, Benjamin started to kind of slip sideways out of the band. As they were finishing up their second full length, he declined to let the band record this song, or to make the demo available, despite their pleas. Eventually they went forward without it, and I don’t know what happened to Benjamin but I do know that Paige happened to rediscover her copy of “Spirit of ‘67″ recently, tucked into a stack of burned CDs. We’re very glad to get to drop this very special song into this secret radio mix.

- The Psycheground Group - “Psycheground”

Rare Italian instrumental noodles from the mid ’70s.

15. The Velvet Underground - “After Hours”

*Not ruined. Affected, but not ruined. She said so.

16. Jean Cussac in “Le Livre de la Jungle” - “Etre un homme comme vous”

One musical adventure we’ve really enjoyed is checking out familiar musicals in unfamiliar tongues. And though you may not think of Disney’s “Jungle Book” as a musical, you’d be mistaken. This version of “I Want to Be Like You” is a particular delight. It plays straight with the original, but the presence of the French language inflects the rhythms with a Parisian flavor that I’d never noticed before.

17. Duch Kim Hak - “Neary Sok Khley”

Another hit from the Cambodian treasure chest. Paige noted as we listened the first time, “This one has good chords,” and we took to referring to it as Cambodian ska. I think it’s meant to be a simple twist song, but there’s a royal quality to the chords that really puts it above a straightforward dance novelty. And his vocal delivery is ace!

18. The Fall - “Terry Waite Sez”

Not much needed on this one! This is one in a host of classics from 1986’s “Bend Sinister.” The Brix E. period of The Fall is just the BEST.

19. Twiggy - “When I Think of You”

Paige: “I was made aware of this record by The Deccas [a band she briefly sang with in Chicago]. They knew every single girl group song that had ever been recorded. This was the same band where the guy who was obsessed with Scott Walker and looked like him and his house was very /60s and he had a word processor. I didn’t even know what a word processor was. That’s unrelated to this song though. She’s one of the great singing models — and maybe next week we’ll play another one. There are three known.”

- Psycheground Group - “Psycheground”

20. Hallelujah Chicken Run Band - “Alikulila”

SO happy to have this album on vinyl at last! It was just released in this format, and Analog Africa is always so good at including notes about the album’s genesis. These guys are from Zambia, and they pioneered the translation of mbira parts into guitar parts, while writing these amazing songs that I’ve never heard anything like. Except for one. One of their songs sounds a bit like a Bound Stems song. Which is weird, because obviously we’d never heard them when we wrote “Cloak of Blue Sky.” It just proves to me that they were both way ahead of their time and working in an idiom that could and should be hit music today. It sounds so alive and creative and insightful, like good indie rock should.

21. Lithics - “Snake Tattoo / Twisting Vine”

Lithics is one of my favorite contemporary bands. They played Foam in St. Louis like five years ago, right after I’d discovered their existence via the excellent album “Borrowed Floors.” Foam was a tiny little club that fit maybe 50 people and was sure to go apeshit for this show. I was SO psyched to be there… but the night of, we couldn’t get out because we were staying out in the Illinois woods and it was snowing enough to make the return trip too treacherous. As much as that’s one of the main shows of my life I wish I’d seen, I’m glad that Brad got to see them and tell me about it later. I hope I can catch them in NYC.

22. Sunny Blacks Band - “Mission spéciale”

OK, I admit that I’m obsessed with Melome Clement — or Meloclem, as he is known by some in Benin. He’s the composer of hundreds of T.P. Orchestre songs, and I’ve written about him a ton. I know he plays some horns and I believe he plays the slashing guitar that you hear in this track. I don’t think that’s him singing but I’m not sure; his voice is very malleable. Sunny Blacks Band is the group he was playing with when the T.P. Orchestre guys found him. It’s hard music to track down, but I love how much it rocks — or “jerks,” as they said at the time. We’ve also played the track “Holonon Die” on here and it jerks too, with an extended, wild electric guitar solo over pulsing trap and hand drums. What a freakin powerhouse Meloclem is.

23. Betti-Betti - “La Vie de Bettie Bettie Chanteuse Camerounaise”

This recording is a beautiful mystery. It appears in a film called “Badiaga,” which I encountered while looking for music by Betti-Betti, a superstar within her nation of Cameroon. This comes from one of the final scenes in the movie. There are different summations of the film (we don’t understand the language of the film itself), but apparently the story is “inspired by” the story of Betti-Betti, who was discovered as a child wandering in a marketplace, brought up extremely poor and eventually sang (a cappella?) on the radio, whereupon she became an instant success. She played constant shows and played with many of the region’s heaviest hitters, including T.P. Orchestre (they recorded an album together, which is how we found out about her). As for this recording — I don’t know if this is sung by Betti-Betti or by the actress playing her. And I don’t know the male character singing alongside her, though I’m guessing he’s a real-life music figure himself. It’s a beautiful duet, rich with feeling, and the performance footage throughout the movie is electrifying.

P.S. This film is also how I found out about Eko Roosevelt, whose “Me To a Dey My Own” is an epic upbeat number we’ve played on WBFF!

24. Guided By Voices - “The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory”

A perfect song, meant for the opposite of social distancing: to be sung full-bore in a crowd with one’s arms slung around sweating strangers, straight into the face of the band (I’ll be the one hooting the recorder part). This is how legends are made.

- Janko Nilovic & Soul Surfers - “Maze of Sounds”

I love the bass part on this album as much as the album artwork, which we will surely have included somewhere around here. This guy’s story is pretty interesting: he was born in Istanbul to a Montenegrin father and Greek mother, and his career started by working with French singer Davy Jones (but not THAT Davy Jones) in 1967. He got into recording for sound libraries, working in soul and funk and psych music, gained a serious composing rep and eventually, maybe inevitably, his music started getting sampled by the likes of Dr. Dre and Jay Z. Not bad, not bad!

25. Gnonnas Pedro et Ses Dadjes - “La Musica en Verité”

Maybe someday we’ll release the version of this song that we recorded in the early days of the pandemic. This is the final track (if not the final song) on the immortal “Legends of Benin” album on Analog Africa. My favorite aspect is how the guitar plays the same mesmerizing piece throughout, but the percussion evolves over the course of the song until it has gradually changed completely. It’s a subtle dynamic but it’s a master clinic in how to run a drone song the right way. Also, that organ part is just beautiful.

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okaybutlikeimagine · 5 years

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What if Billy and El decided to team up against Hop and they have a prank war

LOVE. IT. DUDE. Hopper doesn’t stand a fucking CHANCE, my guy!!!

Bc El and Billy are such an Iconic Duo! esp in terms of pranks bc Billy is Devious as Hell and El is Just Devious Enough to go along w/ it and not only that, but she has the mind powers that are able to bring all of Billy’s terrible thoughts to fruition and tell me he doesn’t get such a kick out of that bc he so does.

and before they team up, El will often get super fed up and irritated w/ Billy bc he’ll do that dumb thing where he pretends she has something on her shirt so he can flick her chin up (to which she just uses her mind to flick his chin up) or he’ll put a fake spider in her room (to which she’ll throw it at him w/ her mind and innocently say she was just “returning” it) or he’ll put whipped cream on her hand while she’s sleeping and make her scratch her face (to which she’ll wipe the whipped cream off of her and send it flying towards Billy but….

It gets Hop instead.

Hop wipes his face, jaw tight but eyes with a hint of amusement.

“Alright alright… cut it out, you two.”

and El nods, twisting her mouth up a little bc she doesn’t like to disobey but she’s irritated and when she heads back into her room, Billy follows her and closes the door.

“Wha-?”

“What do you say we call a truce?” Billy asks quietly, closing the door.

“Tr-uce?”

Billy bends a bit to explain the meaning and then his reasoning. And El is a little hesitant bc a “prank war” sounds dangerous and she doesn’t wanna upset Hop but Billy is adamant about how it’s “all in good fun” as he ruffles El’s hair. They brainstorm a bit and Billy decides to head to the little pop-up Halloween store to gather some supplies.

And in a couple of days, there’s a bat flying around the cabin and a very shaken, very spooked, very loud Hopper running around trying to shoo it out with a broom.

“It’s over here!” Billy yells from where he’s sat at the their little dining table, trying for all the world to not smirk or laugh as Hopper stumbles over the couch to get to it. When he eventually smacks it out of the air, it falls to the ground lifelessly and Hop takes tentative steps towards it, leaning over it and about to touch it with the broom when-

-whoosh!-

It flies up into his face and Hop shrieks, smacking at it before Billy and El are busting out laughing, El from the doorway to her bedroom and Billy at the little table next to Hop and Hop realizes… it’s fucking fake.

He gives harsh looks to both of his kids, throwing the fake bat down.

“Oh ha ha.”

But the kids are basically gasping for air at this point with how hard they’re laughing, El even flopped on the couch and tapping her feet on it as she laughs and Hop drops the fake bat onto her.

“Eek!” she shrieks as she uses her mind powers to fling it away from her and straight into Billy’s face, who gives a very similar shirek.

About a week later, Hopper walks into a completely dark cabin, and gets a little nervous for a second bc El really doesn’t like the dark and his kids should be home on the couch watching TV and ruining their dinner??? So why so quiet?

“Hello-?”

It’s just then that a flashlight turns on, illuminating a large, floating figure that looks to be wearing a cloak of some sort. It spooks him, making him jump and putting him immediately on edge. Suddenly it’s laughing a deep, rumbling chuckle and then it’s flying towards him, rushing and Hop has his hands up and is punching strongly into-

Pillows…?

The blanket that once seemed like a cloak falls over Hop’s face and he’s still punching when he hears the laughs. He’s struggling with the blanket over his head, pulling it off and flicking the lights on to reveal tiny feet kicking in the air from behind the couch and a curly head of blond along with crinkled blue eyes peeking over the top of the couch.

Stupid kids.

“What was that????” Hop demands, hands on his hips and anger in his voice. El pops up then, nothing but amusement in her face.

“Prank!” She shouts excitedly. Billy is still laughing when Hop turns irritated eyes onto him. Hop’s too tired for this.

The next time, they get Steve involved. Steve is not happy about it.

“Look, guys, you’re both very cute and very intimidating but this is Hopper we’re talking about here! We can’t… he’s gonna kill us!”

“No he won’t.” El is adamant as Billy pulls out the bucket full of water from the quarry that they’ve been hiding all day.

“Okay, he won’t kill you guys because he loves you guys. He doesn’t have any attachment to me! He’s gonna murder me on the spot!”

“Stop being so dramatic.” Billy says, straightening up and walking towards the window to see if Hop is coming.

“Hey!” Steve whines. “I’m not dramatic!”

“You are, and it’s adorably irritating.” Billy says as he kisses Steve soundly. “Now go out there and distract him.”

And Steve does. He stumbles over words and keeps Hop from coming in until Billy gives the signal that El has the bucket in place, which is just to open the door and let Steve in slowly so that Hop stays just past the doorway and Steve’s face is stressed and Hop isn’t an idiot, he knows something is up.

“If this is another prank…” he looks up and-

The bucket tips over and water pours down over his head.

Billy and El are laughing hard as Hop wipes his face and Steve is terrified. Hop starts taking heavy steps in the direction of the trio.

“I’m sorry Hop!” Steve is fumbling. “Uh, Chief! Sir! I’m so sorry, I was just used as bait, I promise!!”

“Come here.” Hop grumbles threateningly.

Steve is shaking like a leaf.

Hop extends his arms out. “And give me a hug.” He says it menacingly.

El’s eyes go wide and she giggles as she tries to run to her room. Billy holds his hands up in protest to the incoming Hopper.

“No no no, this is my favorite shirt.”

But none of them are safe, even as Hop chases Billy around the couch. He scoops all three of them into a very big, very damp bear hug, faces smushed and whines loud as they complain. Steve is…. Confused. But glad he’s not dying at the hands of the Police Chief so he guesses this is…. Fine….

And it’s ON at this point. Hop starts by only buying sugar free cookies and sweets but then realizes that affects him too so it’s a bit of a failure. He takes Billy’s car to get “serviced” but really he just gave it to a buddy of his down at the auto shop to hold it for a bit so that Billy has to be driven to school by Hop for a whole week. He buys only whole wheat Eggos. El hates them and pouts every time she picks up the box.

They table the Prank War so El can get her Eggos back.

But once Hop gets together w/ Joyce, Billy starts the prank war again w/ a renewed vigor. This time they have Jonathan and Will on their side, against Hop and Joyce. They all feel a little bad about doing anything mean to Joyce, but it’s still fun to watch her jump and shriek when Will’s stuffed puppy starts running around her feet. Or when they switch out all of the groceries to frozen pizzas. Or when Will and El sweetly tell her that they ran her a bath and then lead her to their bath tub full of the Jell-O they all 4 spent all day making.

Joyce and Hopper are ON IT though. they’re the fuckin dream team and were probably totally partners in crime in high school whenever they’d hang out together. They replace Billy’s hairspray w/ water. They hide all of Jonathan’s records and switch them out for old stuff from the 50’s. They let the Party come over and then embarrass the living daylights out of Will by sitting and pretending to try to understand DnD, purposefully getting everything slightly wrong and making Will want to pull his hair out. They let El go out on a date w/ Mike, but they insist on being there and they actually start dancing w/ each other in the middle of the ice cream parlor. El is mortified.

But the real straw that breaks the camel’s back is when Joyce helps Hop turn all of the kids’ clothes pink.

On picture day.

Like….. Billy is standing in the middle of their living room in a pink button down bc his clothes are fucking tinted pink now and he’s not happy.

“I can pull off anything, sure, but are you serious???”

“It was an accident.” Joyce says as she smirks over her cup of coffee.

“Let’s just get this over with.” Jonathan sighs, walking out in a pink short sleeved button down and a pout.

Will hops out, smiling a bit bc he really doesn’t care that much that his t shirt is pink. He’s a little worried about bullies but Mike helps him w/ those and he’ll be fine. El waves bye to them happily and totally not perturbed in her big pink-ish sweater with pink-ish shorts underneath.

Jonathan is pouting as he heads out to his car. “The prank stuff is over, Billy.”

“No, we can’t let them win.”

“We’re wearing pink for picture day, Billy. It’s over.”

Billy huffs in angered defeat.

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