Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality
Anya is LIVE right now
FREE
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
⛸️ ❄️ figure skater will byers x hockey player mike wheeler 🏒🥅
the au I've been wanting to bring to life for so long now.. thank you winter olympics for the perfect excuse. I hope you guys see the vision bc I have more to draw for it, I think it suits them so much!!
👶🕊️🧣 for the headcanon questions (I'm assuming for both Will and Mike?)
These are just my headcanons - don't like you don't have to accept :)
Link to prompt list
Baby picture of them - what’s the most embarrassing thing about it?
For Mike I imagine all his baby pictures were like perfectly styled JCPenny type photoshoots. I think the most embarrassing part about his baby pictures is that he's wearing really offensively out-of-date clothes, at least at this time. I think in 2026 a lot of people look back at 70s clothes and 70s baby clothes as cute or potentially trendy - but in the 80s and 90s it would have been recent enough to be cringe. Nancy is almost certainly in Mike's baby pictures too and I think toddler Nancy would intentionally try and pull focus, and Mike finds that embarassing.
For Will, all his baby pictures were taken at home with really cheap film that was developed at a drug store. - so their cast in gold and don't have the proper exposure and have the time and date burned in the bottom corner. While looking at inspo pics to answer this ask I found an image of two toddler breaking into a cigarette box and I think that is very Byers household coded. I imagine there's a couple pictures of him and Jonathan in situations like that, with cigarettes and beer cans or bottles. Something Lonnie might have found funny or endearing and Joyce went along with at the time, but later on maybe didn't find as funny. I think Will and Jonathan really hate those pictures.
What would instantly calm them down in a panic attack?
After watching Heated Rivalry I've been thinking about how different panic attacks present differently and how they're not always loud and obvious. I think Mike and Will would present having panic attacks differently. I think Mike would freeze, be on edge, have shallow breathing, while Will has what is more associated with panic attacks, like hyperventilating, outward panic, etc. Mike fears other people's perception of him during a panic attack than Will does.
For Mike I think what calms him down is fantasy. Kind of disassociation or maladaptive daydreaming. It's not necessarily the best way, but if he can escape for a minute, calm down, and then circle back to what the initial problem was (or ignore it entirely) that's Mike's go to. Will does something similar when he's trying to help Mike. One way to break someone out of panic is to do something really out of left field. For example when a toddler is having a meltdown you might go "Wow, look at the sky, it's green!" and then your toddler is looking at you like you're crazy. So when Will is trying to help, he starts talking about a campaign or a story and helps walk Mike through a small adventure until he finds his way back to himself. Then Will makes sure the get to the root of the issue before they move on.
For Will it's touch. When he's alone he'll press a hand to his chest or hold himself to give the illusion of a hug - but if someone is with him the best thing they can do to help him is hug him, put a hand on his back, apply pressure. Knowing someone is there with him and he's not alone is the most comforting thing to Will in times of panic.
What texture/clothing item makes them feel safe?
Mike prefers looser clothing, for a lot of his life was dressed in stiffer, dresser clothes. Whatever his mommy bought him at the goddamn GAP, if you will. So Mike is most comfortable in loose, untucked t-shirts, loose-fitting pants and bulky jackets. However, when he's subconsciously trying to conform or punish himself he wears more button ups and polos. His happy medium is sweaters. Dressy enough to appear more normal and conforming, but loose enough that he doesn't feel like he's suffocating.
Will likes long sleeves. Even in the summer it's rare to see him in a t shirt or shorts. The connection to the Mind Flayer and the cold left a lasting impact on him, and even the smallest breeze becomes super uncomfortable to him. As he grows older and heals from his trauma he wears shorter sleeves - but he'll sometimes double up on t-shirts or bring a light jacket in case he needs it.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality
Anya is LIVE right now
FREE
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Something I've been thinking about is that Mike literally is the Duffers self-insert.
I know I didn't believe that before because I thought they were better than that but I sure as hell believe it now.
They tried to make Mike the literal narrator of the show in the end - but failed to establish that in the beginning.
I've been thinking that Mike in Season 5 especially feels like Nick from the Great Gatsby. He's a character, but he's the narrator. He doesn't necessarily grow and change throughout the story, the story is just something thats happening around him.
But unlike Nick, Mike inserts himself too much into the narrative. As if the Duffers just couldn't resist it. They make the mysterious girl fall in love with them him, and have another character yearning for them him.
Unlike Nick - Mike was never an established narrator. I only came to realize that's what he was later on. It's not established that he's telling other people's stories and not his own.
Mike simultaneously feels too removed from the plot, and too involved.
This post will be focusing on problematic tropes (more so than the many plot holes).Prior to this, I thought some of these writing choices were intentional subtext and symbolism for a greater plot point (and that these tropes would later be subverted) . This wasn't the case. I'm mentioning these tropes now: for people to grasp why we shouldn't reward the Duffers in their future projects. And how normalizing these tropes (in main stream shows) will negatively impact future story telling for the worse.
Fridging trope: El embodies this as her death is used as a catalyst for various male character's development in the finale. The Duffers saying El was never going to be with the gang in the end , because she "represents the magic of childhood" for the boys is just sad. Because yes-characters can represent something, but writers need to understand they're MORE than just a symbol of something (they're also a person/character in the narrative). The fact she also represents the magic of childhood of all things is awfully portrayed since Jane herself never even had a real childhood - and because of the writers , she's also deprived of an adulthood .
In s5, bringing back Kali (one of the only brown girls in the show) to essentially just make her suffer and die. They brought her back: k*lled her found family , had her tortured by the gov again, and then she's shot by the gov. God forbid, a brown girl shoots her white oppressors (the writers have to k*ll her the same way she offed her abusers). Kali targeting her ab*sers was portrayed as morally questionable/nuanced in the show. But white Jim & Nancy mowing down random soldiers with bullets, or El killing a bunch of American/soviet soldiers was just to make them look 'bad ass'. The audience never has to question their morality for doing so- only Kali's. If you believe's mike's theory: that would mean they just used Kali to save and give the white heroine a happy ending (which is gross optics in and of itself).
If you believe that El died along with Kali (this is also problematic). They couldn't let El/Kali : the victims of government oppression and abuse get a "happy ending" . In fact both die due to the government ...what an uplifting message during these fraught political times. Remember Hopper’s speech where the whole point was Kali/El shouldn’t have to off themselves since they deserve a happy ending (despite life being unfair to them constantly)? What was the point? Idk , if you don't die , off yourself if life has been cruel.Killing El / kali to stop the "cycle " isn’t empowering at all. It’s a harmful message to ab*se survivors!!!
Had Erica and Lucas in s4 be in a scene comparable to police brutality . Even having Jason point a gun at Lucas. And having poor Erica be tackled by a man (talked about it more thoroughly here) .The writers didn’t have the guts to meaningfully touch on how prevalent racism was in the 80s - so without doing so it just felt like they were exploiting black trauma for suspense. Without even thinking of how that would negatively affect or trigger black viewers. They also made Billy racist but not explicitly so. Arguably so fans could still thirst after Billy and deny his racism -and possible so they could keep their racist fans within the G.A. They could have called out the deniers after s2 via an interview a long time ago. And in s3 they gave Billy a redemption arc when his racism wasn't ever rectified in s3 (they just ignored it)? Tbf , Lucas was very much likable and level headed for most of the seasons (I’ll give them that) . And I also appreciate how intelligent and affluent they made both Lucas & Erica . But, I did find some aspects of Erica’s portrayal problematic since the very beginning- she always seemed to embody the “sapphire/sassy trope.” And Erica's actress has verbally implied she's had qualms with Erica embodying the " sassy black woman" trope (although subtly).
After the finale the Duffers also claimed that "no one is concerned about Erica" cause she's "so tough". Can we stop the adultification/masculinizing of young black girls? It's awful and problematic .Isn't her character in middle school (it would be normal to be concerned for her cause she's a literal child)?! I hope she gets better roles in the future.
They never addressed what happened to Argyle, when they could of just said a random one liner saying he left the city before the military check points were set-up. They also didn't even give the actor a heads-up that he would not be returning for s5. It just shows to me that once again they don't care about the majority of their poc characters or even actors .Similar to Erica , Argyle could also fall into another problematic trope: the "hispanic stoner trope".
QUEER REP: QUEER BAITING A COUPLE. Constantly comparing Mike/ Will to canon couples for 5 seasons just to foreshadow unrequited love . And also use byler in marketing/social media constantly. Will said that if he lost mike he'd want it to be done like 'ripping off a bandaid' (the writers didn't give the queer viewers that- they dragged us along even in the finale, cause they wanted our viewership and engagement to make money). They repeat the tired old trope of : gay best friend needs to gets over straight bff (who is in love with the main heroine). Then have the gay friend lie to prop up and fix that straight pairing (while establishing the cyarno trope with the painting but never addressing it) . And in that season , they have him literally 3rd wheel the straight couple just to make him suffer (and use him as a punching bag for the whole series).Because a lot of straight writers subconsciously romanticize queer pain (and think it adds depth to their writing) .
Then they force said gay character to come out because he was coerced to by the villain . While the show never even uses the word "gay" for either Robin or Will . Then the sapphic couple also gets together/break up OFF SCREEN (while all the straight couples get actual development or closure) . They have the show take place during the aids epidemic with no mentions of it, and ignore the fact that 'anti gay propaganda' was prolific in the 80s . If Duffers want to talk about “realism” to justify Will getting rejected : it's not "realistic", for a room full of straight people to all be accepting of Will in the 80s . Let’s talk about how the Duffers barely talk about homophobia- so the straight audience doesn’t feel too bad about their own subconscious biases and LONG history of discriminatory practices ! THAT'S NOT "REALISTIC"-it's HISTORICAL REVISIONISM. The straight G.A bullied the queer fanbase for years (because queer viewers wanted better queer rep and fell for the queer bait). Those bullies never have to reflect on their actions (they're rewarded). They also didn't even give Will an actual 'rejection': he just rejects himself which is almost worst. Then he gets a 0.5s scene with a nameless guy -wow how revolutionary . "Gay epilogue bf/gf" is also another problematic gay trope.
Because an epilogue bf is a "tokenistic nod rather than meaningful inclusion" of a romantic gay relationship . At least El & Will are away from Ted 2.0 .Will getting rejected is just remnants of the usa's hays code: which made it illegal for films, tv and books to have a queer characters be in them unless they die , or had an unrequited love, or sad ending . This is also why shows do subtle queer coding even today (it was how writers back then got around the law to give their queer characters a happy ending) . The coding in ST was for queer readers to pick up on , while straight viewers would not . And that's why straight viewers today will say we're "delusional " : queer coding is now primarily weaponized by straight writers for marketing purposes. They know queer coding is usually only noticed by queer viewers . And they use this to their advantage when 'baiting' a queer couple, and not following through. They take advantage of the queer viewers, but also use their straight /heteronormative viewers as a shield (since they know they'll defend them in the end) .
Using sa/csa imagery with the monsters just for shock value. And as an “allegory” again cause they didn’t have the guts to address the subject (just like they didn’t have the guts to address homophobia or racism thoroughly or meaningful ) .They just triggered a bunch of sa victims for nothing , and for multiple seasons . As a gay csa victim this really pisses me off.
This is disgusting because there was no narrative reason to do this. It's not like they even tried to explore how and why THIS specifically would traumatize Will. They just did it for shock value and to torture their gay character some more. And they doubled down on this imagery in s5 with other kids- for again seemingly no narrative reason. Or maybe for more nefarious reasons...
Have Karen (who is in her 40s) almost hook up with a teenage (18y old) Billy . And she doesn’t even call it off cause of his age but because “she has a family.” In a lot of ways Karen was the goat but that choice did ruin her character for me. Like couldn’t she at least tell Billy: ‘you're much too young for me. I don't want to take advantage of you" in addition to her 'having a family' comment? Also having Murray encourage teenagers to bang was weird. I'm SIDE EYE-ing the Duffers forever . Especially cause they also added superfluous csa imagery and forced us to watch kids makeout in s3.
In the Wheeler family, this questionable behavior isn't just from Karen . We have El who didn’t initially know what a friend was , ask Mike if he’d be her brother or friend at the snowball- and then Mike kisses her. In s2 we see a gifted boy (who talks about "ectotherms") be "IN LOVE" with a girl who was just learning how to tell time and ask what “compromise” means . Then in s3, Mike just makes out with her constantly - despite El having to ask Max “how do I know what I like?” And in s3 she didn't even knowing what Illinois was (even after going to Chicago in s2). But- there was no (morally questionable) power imbalance between the 2 .Nope...not SUPER Creepy at all . No real world implications. I'm probably overthinking it : it's not like men in real life have weird fantasies about taking advantage of naive -impressionable girls with less knowledge of the real world than them so they can manipulate and groom them into a relationship (laughs nervously).
In real life, Mike would have been jumped for taking advantage of such a girl. Yeah, she matured and grew later on (but them dating, especially in the early seasons was always creepy and morally questionable). Myself (and others) have been saying for years: she needed friends, family , and socialization before she jumped head-first into a romantic relationship.
The worst part is the Duffers placed a child in an old problematic sci-fi/fantasy trope called "born sexy yesterday" . No , I'm not saying she was sexy for people who love twisting my words. The trope has been around for decades but the term was only recently coined by youtuber 'pop culture detective' (I'd recommend watching the video about it yourself) . The trope is usually about a main heroine who is a "magical woman who is an adult but is mentally stunted like a child (and has little to no exposure to the outside world) . Her male love interest is often a normal (or nerdy) human man who teaches her about the world and grooms her into a relationship ."
One alarming thing I learned from 'pop culture detective's" video was that an element of the trope involves the woman innocently undressing in front of a group of men cause she doesn't understand the social rules (this is usually done for gross fan-service) . This made my heart stop cause El did attempt to undress in front of the boys in the 1st episode. Initially, I though that it was to indicate how little privacy at the lab she had (or worse) . Now I'm just side eyeing the writers who wrote this (especially given how infamous Hollywood is toward child actors)...
The Duffers didn't subvert the trope: by showing how problematic Mike/El were together and letting El break it off . But instead they doubled-down on romanticizing their relationship .And worst of all: they used a child for the trope, which is EVEN WORSE than the initial problematic trope itself!!!!!! Mike was also clearly their self insert so it's even creepier .
Compared Mileven to to El & Brenner, el& hopper and el& Henry (post with proofs here) . But then they sell mileven as a romantic fantasy despite Mike STILL not being able to say “I love you” back to El in s5. You suck, Wheeler . The fact El’s whole life has been controlled by men that thought they knew what was best for her. And then they made El's sacrifice revolve around her (not great) bf is just gross and frankly unearned. Especially given how little positive development we saw of their relationship. She literally said in s4 Mike didn't "understand" her but than in s5 claimed Mike was the only one who "understood" her. It was so obvious men wrote this line to fufill their (Mike) self-insert fantasy, GROSS. El deserved to live and have fufilling relationships and bonds with other women. Especially when men took away her mother,aunt, "sister", childhood, and even her ability to express her femminity.
Mileven was also compared to Ted/karen. And even without El , Mike still conforms with his Ted glasses and ends up like his father who is oblivious to the world around him: hanging up the painting that he still thinks El commissioned . "you're just blind that a girl's not grossed out by you."
He falls into the false fantasy of El that Will made. Just like in the end, Mike writes her in the fantasy: as a mage who is in a far away land with waterfalls. Even when El herself said about this fantasy :” life isn’t like one of your campaigns, you can’t write the ending.” And he proceeds to do just that (re-write HER ending and everyone else's)! Just like the Duffers , Mike didn't see the real her, only a fantasy of her- to them she was just a a symbol of childhood magic (like the characters in Mike's childhood game). Mike also doesn’t move on like everyone else , and the party seemingly drifts apart and he’s alone like he always feared. He never becomes "Mike the brave" in the finale either ,unlike Holly the heroic or even Will the sorcerer who said he'll no longer be "afraid". And Mike is left with "regrets", that he said he wanred to prevent. How weirdly (and unintentionally) bleak for a self-insert character? Divorce get to you Ross?
Also having an open ending can theoretically work. But if El dying and El surviving both have GAPING PLOT HOLES. It's just poor writing.
Have almost all the character spy and stalk a love interest. Jonathan using the camera on Nancy , Lucas using binoculars to spy on max, Steve spying on a girl he was into in s3 with binoculars, el /Max spying on Mike & Lucas after their breakup Aka: stalking for love trope.
Why did the characters spy on one another parallel the hyper-surveillance of the us gov, or the spying of the mindflayer? Duffers probably: "no reason, we just do parallels for fun with no deep thematics behind it." They also had Jonathan throw out Nancy's sweater cause it was pink . SMH duffers’ incel energy unfairly affecting Jonathan’s character. Some aspects of how the women were written were done well. But, sometimes subconscious misogyny seemed to seep through -by the duffers or another writer . Besides Kali/El's endings being evidence of that. Why was Tina "the worst" in the family, when Derick was clearly the menace before his redemption arc? Was it necessary to have the children call Holly a b*tch, strangle her, and throw her down the stairs? I could go on...
I have mixed feelings about this next one, because they tortured Max for s2-5 (and frankly I would have preferred Max just breaking the curse in s4 like Will broke the m.f's control in s2). So, I'm glad she got her happy ending in s5 . I get that realistically : her bones healed, and her atrophied muscles healed too (even thought they ignored the fact that Max would also realistically be on a feeding tube and IV while in the the hospital). But , the fact vecna's curse was broken so her blindness is just gone... I'm curious how some other viewers with disabilities felt about this? Lucas even claimed Mike was "blind" because of a girl. So Max being "blind" was possibly a call back. You could argue Max being physically fine in the end is part of the "throwing off the disability" trope.
They play Hopper’s explosive anger as a joke even in the finale (haha so cute that he’s yelling at Joyce’s son for making a simple camera mistake.) Let’s have Joyce get with a guy with anger issues even though she already divorced a guy who would yell and insult her sons . Hopper had some great characterization even in the finale but they flanderized and tried to make his anger issues comical from s3 and beyond . The way he talked to her in s3 was apalling . Hopper in s3 is made into a male power fantasy : an angry , gun slinger , who was based off of magnum pi and other macho men from that era of tv/film . Joyce doesn’t get with nerdy, sweet, emotionally intelligent bob whose had a crush on her since highschool (he is brutally killed looking at her with love ). "Nice guys can't win": all cause the nerdy Duffers didn't pull in high school.
So instead she gets with the macho archetype from the era . Even when Murray in s3 pointed out that Jim reminded her of Lonnie . Why even have him say this if we're supposed to want them together??? Duffers really struggle to write healthy relationships.
Have Murray go through military checkpoints, and be the one that drives aid/food into a town under military occupation (which is even enclosed by a fence/wall). When Brett gelman is a racist Zionist who supported the Military siege , bombing, blocking of aid and starvation of Gazans who were also in an enclosed walled/fenced city .
And Palestinians outside of Gaza also have to use different roads and go through various military checkpoints unlike their Israeli counterparts (as part of the 70+ year apartheid). Having the kids literally escape the occupying military force by going into tunnels (was a choice when israel uses the fact Gaza has tunnels as an excuse to bomb hospitals, schools, churches, mosques, etc). And having Murray blow up a military helicopter (while palestinian kids are often arrested for simply throwing rocks at Israeli tanks is interesting). But, I guess none of these characters are "terr*rists of the state" or get arrested for decades without trial like Palestinians do . Even when these characters in ST actually killed a bunch of soldiers- they're not deemed as "terr*rists". HMMMMMMMM wonder why? Also look how "realism" is randomly gone again (guess it's only important for gay suffering and k*lling off ab*sed women). It could be a coincidence. Or , at best, it's one of the other writers taking a dig at Brett Gelman. As he's the only character who gets to go through checkpoints as ease -unlike the Hawkins citizens (similar to how israeli citizens are able to go through military checkpoints in occupied Palestine with ease) .
And if not, they're using the plight of Palestinian trauma as window dressing for their show (or even worse mocking the people who wanted to boycott s5 due to the their 2 actors' comments against Palestine).
In s3, they do essentially cold-war propaganda (common in the 80s) within the show by making the communist soviets cartoonishly evil. All while Erica is used as a conservative mouth piece: who praises American Capitalism . And she is described as a genius "political junkie" (after she claims America is a meritocracy and people get payed based on their contributions to society... ok, respectfully don't agree with that take tbh).
Ignore the fact that at this exact same time Regan as president popularized "trickle down economics" (otherwise known as Regeanomics) : which is the cause of most of our economic issues today . He also cut & reduced funding for many of our social-programs by running on a campaign that used a racist dog whistle for black women .
So yeah, maybe i'm too sensitive and overthinking it (unlike the Duffers, apparently). But having the (possibly) white conservative writers make her say this whole spiel : feels very icky, and a bit tone death given the political climate at that time. Jonathan tbf does a "anti-capitalist" movie in the finale, but it rings hollow, when the stranger things creators are seemingly very pro-capitalist. Down to the obnoxious product placements, the merch, spin off shows/books/comics/food etc. The Duffer Brothers (after the finale) even started offering a writing class of all things, which is only available through a subscription platform (again cause they can never have enough money apparently). They think : THEY deserve all that money for THEIR contribution to society (don't blow up their ego more, and let them take your money , while looking down on you)!!!!
The duffers claim it’s a show for outcasts but at the end of the day- it’s just a show for nerdy white incels or men .
It has a veneer of progressiveness, but it isn’t in actuality. They claim the show is against "conformity" but ironically falls into many of the conformist tropes and writing conventions that have been critiqued as harmful for decades. It uses marginalized people and women to get browning points. But, It's not progressive at it's core (it's regressive)! It didn't challenge many of the out-dated (and harmful) tropes we don't want to see in media today. IF ANYTHING THEY BROUGHT BACK MANY PROBLEMATIC TROPES.
You could also argue the show is subtle & insidious : historical revisionism.
A few years ago I’d give them more credit with the symbolism , parallels, music choices, set design, foreshadowing, etc (which usually amounted to nothing). I thought some of the problematic writing was intentional subtext and symbolism for a greater reveal (or that most of these tropes would later be subverted or explained as problematic in the narrative ) . But that finale along with all the plot holes, and poor writing choices, made me question the entire series as a whole. To be fair a lot of redeeming aspects of the show may have been attributable to less famous writers of the show, directors/producers, set designers, music composers, etc . Some of the highest rated episodes weren't written by the Duffers (or had other writers reeling in the Duffers problematic elements). The s5 writer's strike probably didn't help. And for s5 they got rid of one of their female writers /co executive producers (Kate Tefry) who was involved since s1 .Instead of helping finish s5, she worked on the spin-off play instead (which could explain a lot about the nose dive s5 took):
I also do sort of believe in divorce gate: the conspiracy theory about Leigh Janiak (Ross' ex wife) maybe being a ghost writer. She's a screenwriter and director (who has worked on Ross' other projects).The divorce filing occurred after part 1. Leigh also made the 'fear street trilogy': it was diverse, set in the 90s, had a straight bait instead of a queer-bait, and had the main character save her gf from possession/death. Love was the cure. It also had a bunch of st easterggs down to a bleeding nostril to allude to the supernatural, and staring 3 actresses from ST. Maya hawke's character even worked at a video store. Leigh complained that "queer subtext is not the same as real representation" and that she despised when writers would do queer subtext but never follow through (explaining it was one of the reasons she made fear street). hmm. The duffers were also sued for allegedly stealing others work twice (so I would not be surprised if he stole creative work or ideas from his wife too). The first lawsuit, filed by filmmaker Charlie Kessler in 2018, who claimed the Duffers stole the idea from his 2012 short film Montauk after he pitched it to them at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2014.The second lawsuit, filed in 2020 by Irish Rover Entertainment, alleged that the show was based on an unpublished script called Totem written by Jeffrey Kennedy, with similarities in plot, characters, and concept art. This lawsuit was settled out of court in 2023
Regardless of whether those rumors are true . We should not reward or normalize the Duffers writing in Hollywood : they do harmful/regressive tropes and messaging, use easterggs/call backs that have no deeper meaning, and can't complete a story without many plot holes and ret-cons. They even normalized short seasons which take much longer to make (when shows shortly before st's initial airing had 25+ (45 minute) episodes: that were created in less time with similar or better quality. That's not even getting into all the rumors/ allegations of the Duffers mistreating their staff...
I know some may disagree with my takes here , but I just wanted to get my grievances out so I never have to think of this awful series again.*Feel free to add to this list of issues in reblogs or comments.
Apologies for my absence - I wanted to ride out conformity gate because while I didn't fully buy into it you guys were doing amazing work and I wanted to see how it unravelled.
You guys should be proud that you are way smarter than the Duffers could ever be - even though its apparently a lower bar than we could have imagined - you guys are AMAZING.
I know I've had my grieving period, I know some of your grieving periods may have been postponed, but I'm feeling ever more empowered to give this story and these characters and this fandom the ending we all deserved - and more.
This is where fandom shines - this is the reconstruction after the mainstream media fails us.
I talked before the season ended about wanting this blog to move into a more creative direction - I'd love to post head canons and answer ficlet prompts - I have some long form fics in the works that will take some time to get up, but they are cooking.
I want to celebrate the beauty of what we have made, and will continue to make, together.
I was just talking to a friend and he pointed out something that makes one plot hole even worse.
People questioned Kay and the military just up and leaving Hawkins. I believe the answer from the Duffers was there was no reason for them to stay. Taking away that it's bad enough that Dr. Kay just gets away with everything, keep in mind what the heroes did.
They cast Linda Hamilton for this role, and she ended up just being a recurring thorn in El's side. Then she just disappears along with her team with no explanation.
The heroes killed US soldiers. That's the same thing that one guy (Lt. Akers?) complained about El doing, which was his entire motivation for being there.
They were also witnesses to the atrocities Kay and her team were up to.
No way the military just leaves the heroes be and leaves, even if they had to admit defeat because El was gone and the Upside Down closed off.
They'd be imprisoned, if not just executed on the spot. These people had top secret bases and Kay was researching monsters (which also ended up going nowhere), so it's not like they'd realistically have to worry about oversight.
I'll tag this in conformitygate just for the sake of sharing it in case others didn't already think of it, but I think the Duffers just failed to resolve the story.
My biggest point when talking about Kali and El's plan to sacrifice themselves was that their deaths wouldn't stop the atrocities from happening.
Even if they didn't have Kali, El, or Henry's blood, they'd keep going. They opened the first ever gate way back in the 1940s without any of them.
That's what caused all this - that desire to find Dimension X/The Abyss pushed Brenner to start is projects, to track down Henry, who just happened to find material from that dimension.
This was their mission. They would find a way back to that dimension, a way to infect someone else with those powers, a way to make more. They have way more information and resources now than what they started with back in the 40s.
And even if they couldn't replicate those exact results they'd keep trying.
Kali and El killing themselves was never going to end this. Bad people will find ways to do bad things, regardless.
Kali and El deserved to live despite it.
So yeah it's bullshit that "they didn't have any reason to stay" or "there was nothing left for them".
They're still out there working towards that goal. It might take longer now, but they're still gonna do it.
I feel like they retconned that entire thing about Dimension X being how Henry's blood changed and just made it coming into contact with shadow particles in the stone.
They all went to Dimension X. They'd all be affected if that were the case. I think the dimension itself is benign.
Or it's the jumping off point to a spinoff. But you'd think they'd have a stinger showing that there's still work being done.
Yeah but if they could get a material like that again they could make another Henry.
My main point is that it's such a stupid idea that these people would just give up. I'm sure that's how the Duffers wanted it to be, how it's actually happening in canon - but it's just naive.
They're point is that it was the right choice for El to kill herself (whether it's an illusion or not) because it put a stop to this whole program.
Which is an awful message to the audience, especially since one season ago the message was "don't kill yourself, you have so much to live for" and back then the allegory for suicide was more nebulous than it was this season.
The message shouldn't be "kill yourself to stop the bad guys from doing bad things" it should be "bad people do bad things and it has nothing to do with you - the victim. You deserve to live your life to the best of your ability."
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality
Anya is LIVE right now
FREE
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
I'm curious to see your opinion on it. I know it's bylers probably just coping (cough, scriptgate, cough, cutgate) but I don't think that really a bad thing. everyone who was disappointed in the finale is coming up with a truly beautiful, complex, and yet unexpected story.
I've seem bits and pieces of it - but at the end of the day I feel like I'm done trying to find something redeemable in the way the Duffers ended this series.
I'm ready to move on. Read and write rewrites for the season, read AUs and find fanart.
I'll still talk about the details of the show - but in my opinion the show is done. There is no more. It's time to make it ours now.
I was just talking to a friend and he pointed out something that makes one plot hole even worse.
People questioned Kay and the military just up and leaving Hawkins. I believe the answer from the Duffers was there was no reason for them to stay. Taking away that it's bad enough that Dr. Kay just gets away with everything, keep in mind what the heroes did.
They cast Linda Hamilton for this role, and she ended up just being a recurring thorn in El's side. Then she just disappears along with her team with no explanation.
The heroes killed US soldiers. That's the same thing that one guy (Lt. Akers?) complained about El doing, which was his entire motivation for being there.
They were also witnesses to the atrocities Kay and her team were up to.
No way the military just leaves the heroes be and leaves, even if they had to admit defeat because El was gone and the Upside Down closed off.
They'd be imprisoned, if not just executed on the spot. These people had top secret bases and Kay was researching monsters (which also ended up going nowhere), so it's not like they'd realistically have to worry about oversight.
I'll tag this in conformitygate just for the sake of sharing it in case others didn't already think of it, but I think the Duffers just failed to resolve the story.
My biggest point when talking about Kali and El's plan to sacrifice themselves was that their deaths wouldn't stop the atrocities from happening.
Even if they didn't have Kali, El, or Henry's blood, they'd keep going. They opened the first ever gate way back in the 1940s without any of them.
That's what caused all this - that desire to find Dimension X/The Abyss pushed Brenner to start is projects, to track down Henry, who just happened to find material from that dimension.
This was their mission. They would find a way back to that dimension, a way to infect someone else with those powers, a way to make more. They have way more information and resources now than what they started with back in the 40s.
And even if they couldn't replicate those exact results they'd keep trying.
Kali and El killing themselves was never going to end this. Bad people will find ways to do bad things, regardless.
Kali and El deserved to live despite it.
So yeah it's bullshit that "they didn't have any reason to stay" or "there was nothing left for them".
They're still out there working towards that goal. It might take longer now, but they're still gonna do it.
The fact Noah had to ask the Duffers to include that whole best friends scene between Mike and Will shows how much they did not care about his character. They were planning to have the coming out scene as 'closure'.
There are so many scenes in this season that an actor had to convince the writers of the show to include.
It's needless to say that the finale was disappointing. I had actually had someone who watched the finale before me let me know if byler was endgame or not, so I knew going into it.
But even aside from that the final battle was bullshit - way to easy for the end of this whole series. There were so many things that made me think "why is this important" and a lot of details that went against everything that had been previously established in the show.
The only thing the finale had going for it, in my opinion, was the epilogue. Because while even still in the epilogue I have issues, it reminded me just how much I love this show. It made me miss what we already had, and reaffirmed that this show is never going to be something that I can just leave behind.
That's the beauty of fandom is now it doesn't belong to the duffers anymore. This story is our and we can play in this world with fix its and rewrites and headcanons and fanart.
To everyone that follows this blog - I'm here for you. This isn't your fault for believing in something that was "never going to happen". The details were all there. This is queerbaiting, right down to the slap in the face and middle finger that was "friends? no thank you... best friends".
I know we're grieving, but I want to remind you that this is what fandom is for - and I for one am not going to let this loss set us back.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality
Anya is LIVE right now
FREE
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Not necessarily about byler, more about the final episode in general. Do we know something about what is going to happen? I remember they saying the trailer had scenes for the finally but not ep 7, but I counted at least three scenes from 7 and I'm not sure if there was something about V3 at all.
These are the three moments from SuperSpy that weren't in Vol 2 - the Hopper and Dustin ones align with what we know of the final battle plan - but I'm not sure about the third one...
honestly i love your work and you so much. my entire feed rn is full of negativity and hate for the duffers (which could be valid but still) and seeing your posts make me feel like, reassured ig? anyway, yeah.
thank you. no byler doubt 🙏🙏🙏
I'm glad I can be a reprieve.
Honestly, I'm overwhelmed by the negativity myself, and I'm trying to remember and hold on to what was actually written versus how everyone has perceived it.
I think everyone's disappointment may be influencing how they see the entire show.
I think it's fine to be mad. But I also think theres a possibility the tables get turned on us and byler is endgame, because there's still so many things that need to be answered.
I probably will do a longer post on this - but even if byler isn't the best queer rep in the world, it will be a really important step in the right direction.
And if it's not endgame, I'm still gonna love the show. It's gonna hurt - but I love the lore, I love the relationships, and I love this fandom. I couldn't leave that behind forever - I never can.
So take a deep breath, and maybe use this low to understand - we will survive this. Not just in the literal "it's just a tv show!" sense - but as a fandom we will still be standing once the dust clears, for a long time.
