Writing is a process that often undergoes heavy edits… that includes responding to feedback. 

I had no idea this post would resonate with so many people. I let my vitriol surrounding several comments I received on a recent update get to me and it spilled out into .gif form and it’s now morphed into the most widely shared thing I’ve ever posted. So many comments and tags have said things along the lines of, “This was why I quit writing” or “This is why I hate writing fanfic.” And that’s soul crushing to hear, but I can relate. 

But while there are some crappy and entitled readers, there are also many brilliant ones and I’m so grateful for them. The huge response to this post made me go back and skim through the comments on my old stories, and comments like the one below are about half the reason some of those stories got finished, even if it was months later. 

Comments like these are so rare, but when they do come up, they leave me staring at my computer screen, drumming my fingers on the keyboard, struggling to convey my feelings about how their words have touched my heart. These are the comments that take the longest amount of time to respond to and the ones that cause me to wear out my backspace key the fastest. 

It’s easy to complain, but it’s literally just as easy to praise, so I just wanted to take a moment to recognize all those dear and dedicated readers who have propped me up when I wanted to quit. Readers like you are why I keep writing, and why I even feel honored to do it on rare occasion. 

And fellow writers, keep your heads up if you can. :) 

I have nothing to add to this.

David Shrigley

i missed this post

they’re a kind of fish i think

Birds aren’t real

You over Her [not as a body but as a steeple]

I made this when I was 18 and struggling with internal and external homophobia. The church both destroyed my perception of myself directly, and of my people through colonialism. I understand this can be seen as a disrespectful comic, but Catholicism killed every gentle thing my people had so drawing nuns kissing is… fine, ultimately. This comic is about how tender, consensual, and heart full love is holier than any oppressive institution.

Just noticed the shot of Mike's "what?" to Will's "what about us?" was shot close, in Mike's perspective, as opposed to a reverse of the previous shot aka showing him turning around from a distance, Will's perspective. They showed it from the distance Will was about to be but I thought it through and I don't think shooting it the other way would have made it awkward. If anything, it makes it less awkward in some ways because as is, it goes distance/close/distance because we are still seeing Will from over Mike's shoulder further away but they chose not to do that on Mike.

Because we were with Mike. Because the surprise and anticipation he can't hide is for him and us, and they needed us to know that Will doesn't see it. It's all pretty objective, side-view, up until this point. There aren't OTS's until it gets personal and vulnerable here, at which point it's back to Will's POV - prioritizing his reactions during Mike's lines and ending on him for the scene.

But in that one brief moment, we're with Mike. Because he's being honest. Just for that second. He lets his guard down - or rather, lets it slip - and we see it. It happens quick, so we see it no sooner. And we watch him put it back up in that same shot, so we get it no more...but it was there.

He wasn't expecting Will to say "what about us?" and it caught him off-guard enough that we were allowed back in his head, just for a second.

Now that I think of it, all of their flirting is really just defined by that once simple thing: Mike watches for Will's reaction to what he says every time. And they don't end the scene until they've got back to his reaction to getting it every time.

It happens in the Crazy Together scene. It happens in the airport scene. It doesn't happen in the roller rink fight - he leaves after saying "let's just find her, okay?" without getting an "okay" back which is how you know that when it is there it means something. But it happens in the apology scene. It happens in the van scene.

He does it with things that should be rhetorical or final and things that should be casual- because they're not. Because he has a crush and everything matters and nothing is casual about how Will reacts to what he says. It is all to be closely observed and deeply analyzed late at night.

And now that I think about it, maybe they aren't interrupted. Maybe they never have been. Maybe Mike just says all he has to say and waits and watches for Will and nothing was interrupted because the conversation was over...he just didn't want it to be. Because yeah, 4x05, 4x08, and 4x09 are the only times he's actually cut off from saying things. Otherwise, he had nothing left on his tongue. He just didn't want to be done and he hoped Will didn't either. So he watched to check. And when Will broke eye contact, he broke eye contact, because then it was over. But never before. He would never be the one to end it and he would never be the one to stop collecting data to overanalyze.

People be like: He only has eyes for El! No, he only has eyes for Will! And they are talking about the character who damn near has a stroke when that random Californian himbo says Hi... while sitting on a table with El and Will.

Something I noticed editing the other day was a contrast between El when she’s battling Vecna vs. when she’s saving Max.

They focus on El right before both of those instances, from a medium close-up, where Jonathan and Mike are both holding onto her shoulders for support.

But when she’s about to save Max, there’s a shift.

Instead Mike has moved his hand to join his other hand in holding hers. But near the end, they choose to focus on this medium close-up again, as opposed to a close-up with her and Mike’s hands joining.

For some reason they wanted to make a distinction from this angle specifically, with an almost before and after element, because this shot is literally followed by El sitting beside Max, meaning it's important. They are connecting these two moments together, ie. Mike and Jonathan's hands both there to support her, and then Mike's hand missing. It's almost as if they are separating Mike from what is about to happen.

It honestly feels like they’re acknowledging the fact that El never needed this grand love confession from Mike in the first place. In order for her to even focus on saving Max in the end, she had to ignore Mike begging her to wake up and acknowledge him, hence why he was probably not included in that shot.

the airport scene really is a cinematic masterpiece

we have argyle and jonathan high as hell

willel excited to see their boo

then this doofus shows up only to have his girlfriend immediately be disappointed by “from: mike”, have a totally “heterosexual” interaction with his best friend, then gets clocked by a guy he doesn’t know for wearing a knock-off

i love every moment of it because in just these 2 minutes you find out everything you need to know about the dynamic between mike, el, and will. this is the first half of the catalyst that takes down mikeven, shows mike’s struggle with his sexuality, and the love will has for mike. it’s chef’s kiss fr i couldn’t have asked for a better scene 🤌

Mileven breakup forshadowing since episode fucking one of season 4

Like the flowers that Mike got you??

Okay I'm bot crazy i swear, but listen.

Spring flowers = Mike

soo it would be...

"At first, I missed Mike." (SEASON 5 FORSHADOWINGG YES)

AND THIS IS HER INDEPENDENT ERA FORSHADOWING

Simple, homely: Byler

was already planning on writing a mike fic about the build up to the airport scene cus of this post and then ttpd came out and guilty as sin? possessed me to start this - so here’s the beginning of that 🤮

Call me crazy, but I don't think Will is getting Vecna'd.

I think everyone is going to be expecting it, to the point that they protect Will like crazy. I also think Henry is going to use their preoccupation with Will's safety to try and pick the rest of them off one by one. His plan is to torture Will until he breaks.

What Henry is going to want is for Will to join him again. To that end, he will target everyone Will cares about, all the while taunting him. He will tell Will how pointless it is to fight against him. He's going to win in the end, and he might consider sparing some of Will's friends if he joins him.

I stand by my prediction that Will is going to have a Luke/Palpatine temptation arc.

literally in every single byler fight mike says “we’re not dating” or any variant of this and it’s so funny to me because who said you were??? cause it certainly wasn’t will.

so how is it that mike’s first go-to thought when he gets mad at will is that will isn’t his? how does mike end up always circling the conversation back to that? interesting. very.

the realization that byler will hug eachother regardless of their relationship status next season just kinda hit me and idk why i want to cry

will? (inspo under cut)