[davenweenie]

The UK is finally getting HBO Max (26th March) so you know what that means?

We finna be in the Pitt

[davenweenie]

Also, I’ve slept on it, still don’t like the finale and there are still several major plot holes that I’m not gonna get into right now. This is not Byler related, just to show you that I’m not disappointed just because of Byler.

The writing for Will felt so flat in the finale and I don’t think it was the acting, it was the writing. Surely Will would have PTSD from the Upside Down, at the very least a flashback but he just seemed…fine? Then on top of that, to make him sympathise with the man that has been haunting him since he was 12 years old, who by definition sexually assaulted him just felt so icky and disgusting.

And for them to skip two years into the future, to miss out on writing grief scenes just made it feel emotionally flat. I refuse to believe the Byers and Hopper would be able to move on from El’s death so easily, it would have been nice to see them at least speak about her or have pictures of her around the house. Even just some quick dialogue “I wish El was here” when they’re taking graduation photos or being sad about having to pack away her things in the cabin when Hopper and Joyce are talking about moving. But…nothing. Joyce doesn’t mention her at all. Hopper barely mentions her aside from when he’s talking to Mike.

Like, my disappointment isn’t even just about Byler, I’m just disappointed that we were promised such a grand ending to tie everything together and it just felt flat and rushed. I also felt stupid watching the finale, the writing just felt so simple for concepts that are so big. It felt like they were treating the audience like we were stupid, as if we wouldn’t have more questions that still aren’t answered, as if we wouldn’t notice the dozens of plot holes.

Oh how I overestimated the Duffers.

[davenweenie]

Stranger things 5 spoilers below

That was probably the flattest ending ever. Not even an actual epilogue boyfriend, not even holding hands, no settling down with a partner. Like okay, no Byler, that’s disappointing but whatever but Will’s ending objectively sucked. Why does every other character in the show get to have a reciprocated love interest but him. Like the Duffers claim that it’s a show about Will so…where’s his proper ending? Why does the supposed main character get less screen time than a side character?

Will Byers you deserved so much more and I’m so mad about how rushed it was. That final battle didn’t even feel worth the wait. How I overestimated the writing of this show. Also, I’m a huge 80s music fan and Prince was NOT the way for the ending soundtrack I fear. Love Prince but how was that a ‘saving the world’ vibe?

[davenweenie]

You’re allowed to not ship Byler and like other ships, that’s completely fine but hating a ship (not because of the fandom, but because of the ship itself) is pretty insensitive if you actually think about the impact a queer ship set in the 80s would have.

It’s not just another random ship, it’s not like most queer relationships shown on screen. It’s not made for the sake of representation like Heartstopper (although I love it dearly) where it has a cast of queer characters, it’s not fetishised like most BL/yaoi shows, it’s not made into comedic relief like sitcoms. It would be a pure, slow-burn, realisation of feelings in the biggest show in the world. The impact that a ship like Byler would have is bigger than people think.

Most Byler shippers don’t view it as just another ship, they don’t sexualise it, they don’t want it because of a fetish. We want it to happen because of the impact it would have. Think of the millions of queer people in the world that haven’t been able to see a storyline they can relate to, think of the millions of queer people that live in countries that still consider love to be a criminal offence.

Same-sex marriage was only legalised ten years ago in the US. Only around 40 countries in the world recognise same sex marriage. Just think about that. Think of the scared, terrified queer people and teenagers in countries where their feelings are considered ‘unnatural’ and ‘disgusting’ watching two teens experience pure, innocent teenage love on their screens.

That is why Byler is so important to so many people. So the next time you want to hate it (reiterating that it’s okay if you don’t ship it, not preferring it vs hating are different) just think about it for a second. Why do you hate it? Fandom aside, why do you hate the idea of two teenage boys being in a relationship?

I wouldn’t even use realism as an excuse in a show that has inter-dimensional monsters and people with superpowers.

[davenweenie]

I’m braving S9 (9-1-1) and genuinely cry-laughing at how cheesy and unrealistic it is. Now, I would be fine with this if Bobby hadn’t died for ‘realism’

Babe, you killed off a beloved character to call it realism and a few episodes later, a man is swallowed by a whale and somehow survives and sent characters to space…where they somehow manage to save themselves with no education about space. Right. Realism, right?

[archaicfauna]

So did I miss the part where they explained how the hell Stobin got a radio station to themselves? No one else is there. Everyone is free to roam around. Free to receive deliveries of and then store explosives and weapons with little regard to subtlety. They have a secret basement behind a bookcase where their gigantic odd-family meets up every so often to discuss monsters. Their go-to maintenance guy is a high schooler.

Also, Robin has apparently pissed off the military before. I don’t know about y’all’s jobs, but if my town was in a military quarantine and I pissed off the military overlords by taunting them at my place of employment, my boss would totally give me the boot so hard I’d be coughing up leather for a week.

So, obviously it’s not employment. But that still leaves the question… How did they get access to all of this?

Like. They’re totally squatting, right?

[davenweenie]

Is it possible that the management either fled Hawkins or died during the gates opening? Or the station just got abandoned during it all so they took it upon themselves to keep it going? I’d assume the older ‘teens’ saw an opportunity to utilise a radio station, also assuming Nancy has something to do with it too. To be fair, I’ve been wondering the same thing lol maybe they’ll explain it in Vol 2

[davenweenie]

I’m so sad that The Squawk is only lasting six weeks, it’s genuinely been so great when I’m driving to work or college. Also I find it super cool that they made a real radio station for the show, like, you can call Stranger Things overhyped or bad if that’s your opinion but you can’t deny that they really do have cool concepts for fans.

The radio stations available to me never play 80s or alternative music so I’m genuinely really enjoying being able to put the ‘radio’ on in my car like so many people do. Sure, I have Spotify but it doesn’t hit the same lol

[davenweenie]

⚠️ STRANGER THINGS 5 SPOILERS!!!!! ⚠️

I CALLED THIS SHIT YEARS AGO, I SAID WILL HAS POWERS YEARS AGO IN SEASON 3 AND EVERYONE LOOKED AT ME LIKE I WAS LOSING MY MIND OMFG

[davenweenie]

You guys need to watch Young Dracula to fully appreciate Gerran Howell’s Welsh accent and also his character’s dad being an absolutely gorgeous man (I love Keith Lee Castle)

Americans (or any non-Brit) you can find it for free on YouTube with reduced quality or use a VPN with BBCIplayer

[cinnitoast63]

For anyone in America who's interested in watching, the full series can also be found for free with ads on Pluto TV and the Roku Channel, which have subtitles and are in much better quality than the old YouTube uploads! Not sure if these two sites are available outside the US, though.

[davenweenie]

Thanks for that! I’ve never had to go on a hunt to watch BBC shows since I have the Iplayer app available but good to know there’s other streaming services that have it. Tbh, I still haven’t been able to watch The Pitt in full yet since we don’t have it here in the UK, I watched the first episode with a VPN but the rest is unfortunately through reaction channels lol

[davenweenie]

You guys need to watch Young Dracula to fully appreciate Gerran Howell’s Welsh accent and also his character’s dad being an absolutely gorgeous man (I love Keith Lee Castle)

Americans (or any non-Brit) you can find it for free on YouTube with reduced quality or use a VPN with BBCIplayer

[davenweenie]

I think Stranger Things fans that make character playlists (as in music characters would listen to) completely forget what genre of music that the characters canonically listen to. Eddie Munson the metalhead is NOT listening to Taylor Swift or Cavetown or Tame Impala. Will and Jonathan Byers who canonically listen to punk rock and post punk music are not gonna be listening to Chapel Roan or Taylor Swift or other pop singers.

This is no hate to those genres of music but it’s something I see frequently that becomes frustrating considering music is such a huge part of what makes these characters so distinct and iconic. Music in Stranger Things is such an important plot point and is mentioned frequently. At the end of the day, it’s not that deep, they’re fictional characters but it is something I notice so often.

[davenweenie]

Just witnessed someone finding out that Jackson Wang is a real person and not a recurring fan-made party host in fanfics 😭 also why did people collectively start using Jackson Wang as their ‘go-to’ party host in fics

[davenweenie]

Young Jared Padalecki would have been in my Top 3 for a live action Nightwing/Dick Grayson btw

Argue with the wall of you disagree

[jdotsodomite]

not me is so funny if you're sean. this guy i hate with a passion in my activist gang is suddenly more wimpy and twinky than usual and my first instinct is to grab his neck to pull him close and straddle him during a motor oil playfight

[atlas-coolbean]

GET. AI. OUT. OF. FANDOM. Stop making headcanons with it, stop making fanfic with it, stop making fanart with it. If I see one more "asking chatgpt *blank* about *character/characters in a fandom* I'm going to lose my goddamn mind. Use your own fucking brain, stop asking AI to do everything. You could even ask other real people what they think. Just. Stop. Using. AI. In. Creative. Spaces.

[wanderingcritter]

god gives his most niche fandoms to his most autistic warriors

[davenweenie]

Every time someone uses Smalltown Boy by Bronski Beat to edit a queer or queer coded character from the 80’s, an Angel grows its wings.