No Name Please

[nonamethankyou]

I have such mixed feelings about the collapse of so many toy companies. On the one hand, as a casual collector and someone who has an entertainment job, it sucks that so many good people are unemployed and comic con won’t be the same without certain companies.

On the other hand, given how many in collecting community voted for Trump, I am feeling a lot of schaude right now watching grown men cry. You dipshits voted for this. Not me.

[tryingonametaphor]

Why Will Byers?

An analysis and theory on why Henry/Vecna targeted Will first in season 1 and his plans for Will in season 5

‼️Contains The First Shadow (TFS) spoilers so please proceed with caution.‼️

This is going to be a little long but I’ve tried to give as much context as I can without actually being able to show snippets from the stage play. This is my interpretation of everything that went down as a member of the audience and not as someone who has read up any theories about TFS before. To understand why Henry took Will first in 1983, we have to start with -

Henry and Joyce

From all the times I’ve watched TFS, the one thing that has stuck with me is the final conversation Henry has with Joyce. It’s just before his last confrontation with Patty Newby and before he joins Brenner for good. Joyce is the last person (who doesn’t know about Henry’s powers) that he canonically talks to.

Throughout the entire play Joyce, Hopper, and Bob are investigating the animals dying at the hands of Henry and come to the conclusion that Victor Creel has been the one doing the killing. They get so close to solving the case. In her last conversation with Henry, Joyce tries to comfort him by saying that Victor will pay for his crimes - which makes Henry laugh because she’s so close yet so far from the truth. He gets a little frustrated and says something along the lines of “You don’t get it. But someday you will.” (edit 28/9: the exact dialogue is [Henry: you’re too nice. that is how they’ll get you. you have to learn to do anything you can to protect the ones you love] [Joyce: I don’t understand.] [Henry: You will.]) The next time we see Henry make a reappearance in Joyce’s life is during -

The Vanishing of Will Byers

Will is taken into the Upside Down (UD) by Henry. It’s not even a question anymore. All of the context clues from 1x1 lead us to believe that Will’s kidnapping was not by a demogorgon. Will - a 12 year old - miraculously survives a week in the upside down with no food or water. Will is even around the demogorgon a few times in the Upside Down. (Joyce communicating with Will through the lights and then the demogorgon coming after her immediately).

Barb dies the night she is taken but Will stays alive and also somehow manages to talk to Joyce through the wall. Joyce is led exactly to where Will was held at the end of s1 and he makes it out alive. It’s almost as if Henry knew all along that Joyce was the most capable of never giving up on finding her son. Like Henry took Will Byers because he was Joyce’s son. And like he was giving her just enough to know that Will was alive. Even when Joyce and Hopper find him at the end in a state of near death, he’s not injured by a creature. He was being prepared for the next stage of Vecna’s plan -

The Possession of Will Byers

The origins of Henry’s powers happen as such - As a kid, he is transported into the UD (originally coined Dimension X by the government) for a few hours because he touched something he wasn’t meant to touch. During his time in there, he came in contact with the Mind Flayer (MF). According to TFS this is the point in his life when he started getting “corrupted”. Brenner’s dad - who was one of the first people to enter dimension X - had mutated blood after but no powers. Henry was the first person to come in contact with the MF and it’s highly likely he got his powers because of this (This would also track considering how most of the party has been in the UD now but show no signs of having powers). The MF controls Henry for the rest of TFS and Henry grows more power hungry the more he kills.

In S2, Henry presumably sends the MF after Will - who has now had a year to heal from the events of 1983. Will is the only other person in all of ST to have had direct contact with the MF and survived it. Henry didn’t hesitate to kill Billy in S3, but he always gives everyone just enough to keep Will safe. Will himself tells Owens in S2 that the MF wants to kill everyone except him. Will once again survives the entire ordeal and is given a “break” for the next 2 seasons. Except I don’t believe he’s been just given a break. I think Will is -

Henry’s Sleeper Agent.

Ready to awaken in s5. I undoubtedly think that Will is going to have powers. And I don’t think they’re going to be the same as Henry and El. El and the other lab kids get their powers directly from Henry. Will’s powers will be directly from the MF like Henry. I believe this has been Henry’s plan all along and it’s further affirmed by what he tells Will in the recent VR game. That Will will be the key to Henry being able to infiltrate his friends’ minds. Jamie Campbell-Bower also mentioned during the S4 press that to get in character, he set up a display with all of Henry’s victims and targets’ faces on his wall(?), and Will was in the center.

Henry is going to use his connection with Will sneakily and midway through S5 he’s going to awaken Will’s powers (maybe in ep4 - which is said to be titled ‘Sorcerer’ and has young Will in it). Henry is going to try and manipulate his way into making an ally out of Will, and it’s not going to work because -

Will is the Perfect Character Foil.

Will is everything Henry could have been if he had a better support system. He is the perfect character foil. Unlike Henry, Will has a mother who loves him unconditionally and more importantly, believes him. Unlike Henry, the person who Will loves the most (the Patty to Will’s Henry: Mike) is going to love him back and stay by his side all season. No one is going to force them to be apart the way Henry was told to stay away from Patty. Will is not going to be easily swayed even though Henry has spent years crafting him into the perfect soldier. Sure, Henry has seen him heartbroken and sad, but that comes nowhere near to the amount of love and support Will is going to get from his people next season. And they’re going to quite literally defeat Vecna with the power of love and friendship. After that, Will Byers is getting the happy ending that Henry could have gotten.

[sunskate]

Isabella Flores & Ivan Desyatov 2024-25 FD at Denis Ten Memorial Challenge

[anewbeginningagain]

I give them a lot of credit for going for something so original and out of the box (though I despise the movie so much), I just wish they work on their lines and overall sloppiness. They have good speed and good edges so I can totally see them improve if they are committed to 2030.

[nonamethankyou]

I admittedly have turned into a January to April skating fan, so am just getting caught up on the next gen of US ice dance. In skating terms (yes I am aware of the off ice issues), she’s great while he looks like he’s never taken a ballet class in his life. I wondered if the sloppiness was due to being in a new partnership but it seemed like the same deal with his old partner.

[fandomlife-confessions]

[nonamethankyou]

SDCC Newbie Traps

The Stylin Booth - low quality, unimaginative crap you can get much cheaper online

Toy Resellers - these guys are parasites and often the worst people on the convention floor. They use their early access to buy out all the exclusives and then put a 100% markup at their booth. And if they can’t get their early access, watch out!

XLE Parties - Unless you like bad DJs, overpriced drinks, not legal branding, and hanging out with not beautiful people. All organized by a guy who thinks Jay Gatsby was a cool dude instead of a pathetic simp. And get a $100 photo opportunity

Any chain restaurant - Why would you eat ultra processed crap you can eat at home?

The Hello Kitty truck - Oh look. Overpriced, non-exclusive merch. Yay

Anything Kevin Smith - Trust me, you’ll see him somewhere. No need to pay extra for his shitty burgers.

Legion M - the comic con version of Cutco

[nonamethankyou]

[nonamethankyou]

Pulled a triple header today: Hunger Games, Wish, then Napoleon. The 90 minute movie ended up being the biggest slog to get through.

[nonamethankyou]

Has anyone ever noticed Club Chalamet only obsesses over white guys?

[inthiskingdomwewillendure]

Lee Pace in Foundation 2x10

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

The three emperors in Foundation, Dawn, Day and Dusk, is an insane concept and I don't think I've ever seen a weird sci-fi government premise so compelling before??

You've got 3 clones of the same Emperor from centuries ago, perpetually cloned, a kid, an adult and an old man, and each will be all three within his lifetime. When you're kid, you learn from the older ones, when you're adult you rule, and when you're old you guide. The old one, Dusk, has had the two clones before him - his "brothers" from when he was Dawn - die, and now he's them, and he has new, younger brothers. Each Day sees his own past in little brother Dawn and his future in Dusk. Each clone has been raised by himself and will raise himself. They watch themselves be born just before they die.

They're triplets and son-father-grandfather all at once.

The cycle has repeated for centuries and yet each generation obviously has its unique distinctions, each clone his individual life. The first emperor's way of becoming immortal wraps around to being a constant reminder of mortality, because he's dying again and again and again.

Their love - and hatred - for each other is such a weird and complicated thing I'm going crazy. FINALLY SOME CLONING WEIRDNESS WHERE THE IMPLICATIONS IN IDENTITY ARE ACTUALLY EXPLORED BEYOND JUST 'HAVING THE SAME FACE'

[prettypinkdork]

Relate so much to Brother Dusk. I, too, would put aside my fears that my familial line was being corrupted by the first infusion of new blood in over 500 years if someone brought me art supplies

[sersi]

We could reprogram you. I would destroy you if you tried.

[prettypinkdork]

I (deceased M) programmed the magical woman (18000 F(???)) I found in a wall to love me and then cloned myself so that she would forever be tied to the throne but I also gave her the ability for manipulate the clones’ memories so that they would follow her guidance which in essence would make her the real power behind the throne. But now she’s getting cagey and is trying to burn the galaxy to the ground to get away from us (and she slept with one of our children). AITA?

[harmie-mammer]

Club Chalamet: Meet The 30-Year-Old+ Super Fans Of Timothée

"I just wish him the best, like an aunt would." Welcome to Club Chalamet, a forum for mature fans of Timothée Chalamet.

[nonamethankyou]

I’ve had really shit $2 champagne and elevated slurpees.

And Italian food lovers don’t go to Olive Garden

[atropos-moth]

[akajustmerry]

"You grew up with an uncertainty in mind and morals. I hoped initiating physical intimacy with you would give me the influence to correct your shortcomings. That failed. I apologise to you for what you have become." - Lady Demerzel, Foundation: 'Long Ago, Not Far Away'

"I could have got you there. But no. No." - Gerri Kellman, Succession: 'Tailgate Party'

Brother Day and the Lady Demerzel in Foundation / Roman Roy and Gerri Kellman in Succession (2023)