The Two Things I Really Like About Lumax

whatever dude. dream daddies your jayvik

i think about this and how there's no heterosexual explanation for it every single day

Oooh this is inspiring me to write some poetry about Mike's love for Will and how El feels like a momentary placeholder after Will disappeared

The Cyrano Trope & Byler

The byler painting lie is such a clear example of a literary trope where a character receives some form of courtship that makes them feel "in love", however the character does not know the true identity of WHO they got it from. 

This trope has a full fledged name called "Playing Cyrano". It comes from a famous french play from 1897 about a character named Cyrano, who felt that the love of his life, Roxane, would never love him back because he was not good looking enough. Still, he tries to find the courage to convey his love to Roxane through a love letter (think~ painting) and this is what happens: 

(link to full article)

Will is the one "playing Cyrano" here for El, as a means to make Mike happy, help Mike and El's relationship, and also to secretly convey his own feelings for Mike in the process. 

This trope very obviously ends with Roxane (Mike) falling for Cyrano (Will) upon learning the true identity behind the letters (painting/van speech). 

And it's also precisely why Mike makes the expressions he makes at Will in the van; why his eyes shine with awe, why he takes breathless gulps as Will speaks, the whole nine yards. 

I've spent a long time wondering why Finn Wolfhard acted the way he did in the van scene (the expressions he makes are VERY distinct and emotive, he was given clear acting directions for it), and this is the most concrete reason why: The writers/directors here were trying to show us how Mike is perceiving Will's gift and words, and what it's making Mike feel. The van scene is not ONLY about Will, but about Mike's feelings too!!!

Mike's expressions in the van scene clearly tell the audience that he feels like he's falling in love all over again. It's giving him hope for his relationship with El. It's making him forget about his insecurities with her, and making him feel needed and loved. 

And the obvious catch here is that it's all Will doing that. Not El. And that's the missing piece to how they're going to segue into byler in season 5. 

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Beyond Stranger Things, obviously the idea of 'Playing Cyrano' has been adapted for literally over a hundred of years, into hundreds of stories, cementing it as a trope in romance plotlines. Here are just a few other examples:

Ben and Beverly from It

Ben gives Beverly a poem, but she thinks it's from Bill and ends up with Bill in the first movie. In the second movie she learns who the poem is really from and rightfully ends up with Ben.

Olivia and Sebastian from She's the Man

Olivia quickly falls for Sebastian while reading a sheet of song lyrics he wrote. But she thinks the lyrics are written by his twin who is disguised as Sebastian at the time. She spends most of the movie chasing after his twin, but eventually finds out the truth and ends up with Sebastian. 

Ellie and Aster from The Half Of It

Ellie agrees to help a jock named Paul write letters to his crush Aster. Ellie is in love with Aster and communicates it through the letters under Paul's name. This helps Paul and Aster's relationship a lot and they begin to date. Eventually Aster finds out the real person behind the letters, which leads to Ellie and Aster ending up together.

I especially love how the Cyrano trope is used in this story, because it shows how easily the trope can be molded to fit the queer perspective: in the original, Cyrano believes his love will never be reciprocated because he's not attractive enough. While in the Half of It, Ellie believes her love will never be reciprocated because of her gender.

Otis and Maeve from Sex Education 

Otis plays Cyrano for Jackson who is hooking up with Maeve at the time. Otis is in love with Maeve and knows everything about her, and essentially meshes with her perfectly. But he's too insecure to confess to her. Meanwhile, Jackson doesn't mesh with Maeve super well, and gets Otis to play Cyrano (eg. Otis telling Jackson Maeve's favourite books) . Maeve and Jackson end things when she finds out the truth about Otis's involvement, and her/Otis are the main couple of this series. 

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Overall the moral behind Cyrano's story is about how love at first sight is foolish and that appearances are not the basis of true love. 

Reading about this trope struck me with the thought that maybe this is why the writers forcibly shoved El and Mike into the love at first sight trope— even when it doesn't totally fit Mike's behaviour or words in S1E2 (after he sees El the first time, he does not behave like someone "in love" at all and plans to send her away). 

In most cases of the Cyrano trope, the love that exists between the "wrong" pairing is mainly based off of physical appearance and cyrano's masked courtship. There is little else holding them together. So by writing Mike declare that it was "love at first sight", it makes me question the whole basis of his love for El and how superficial it might be. I mean sorry Mike, how did you know you loved her the moment you saw her? You didn't even know anything about her. Meanwhile there's an undeniable depth to byler's bond— their friendship deepened and evolved over the course of many years, and it's anything but superficial.

(Side note: this trope sometimes involves Cyrano actively aiding the other love interest -Christian/El- but sometimes does not. In byler's case it does not. Will does not directly plan with El to woo Mike, and instead uses her name to an unknowing Mike to help their relationship. This trope can be executed a million different ways, but the main point is: the one in Roxane's role doesn't know who is causing their feelings of love)

mike wheeler vs mike wheeler using his will voice

IMAGINARY FRIEND — a set of face presets for children.

i always thought children's lack of more presets options kind of infuriating, so i made those, and i'm sharing with you'all now. i expect to post a part II in the future with presets for other face parts, but i don't know when (lol, i'm so tired); enjoy!

⭐ INFO

base game compatible (bgc).

child only, all frames.

disabled for random.

available for occults, except werewolfs.

custom thumbnail.

⭐ PREVIEWS

13 presets.

some come with their own textures, but will look better with custom eyelids or skin overlays.

14 presets.

recommended to use with skin overlays or nosemasks.

⭐ NOTES / T.O.U

don't reupload, but you may include it in sim dumps.

don't put behind paywalls.

⭐ DOWNLOAD

simfileshare / patreon (free)

any problems, PLEASE tell me. feel free to tag me if you use it, i will love to see!

Bar, 18 Celebration Way, Gilbert Gardens (San Sequoia)

Lounge bar with a dance floor and a terrace with a view :)

lot type: bar

lot size: 40x20

DOWNLOAD (SFS)

My galery ID: Yellowduck3

Only NO CC building

Use bb.moveobjects

add the files to your “Tray” folder

I think you can come to such a place at sunset, eat some snacks and drink an aperitif, stay after sunset to listen to a DJ performance, sing karaoke and play board games with friends …

💕enjoy..

MONSTER HIGH SET - Frankie, Draculaura and Clawdeen

Finally, here is the Monster High Hair set! I could manage to make a twotone colour accessory without sacrificing the texture quality ^^

I hope you enjoy this cc a lot and I will make Cleo and Lagoona hairstyles next month to complete the set :)

Please read my TOU before download.

New meshes

Base game compatible

24 EA colours

Hat compatible

Draculaura V1 (hair in front) - Draculaura V2 (hair back)

All LODs

Custom Thumbnail

DOWNLOAD (Patreon Early Access) free on April 7

mini mesh edit set !

three meshes from life & death and one from artist studio liberated and/or edited and made bgc. more info and download below ⤵

dancing raven wood signpost

liberated from the dancing raven tarot tent + made BGC

has its original swatches plus some sign recolors with varied simlish text

boring murphy membrane

freed from career lock + made BGC

has original swatches for those without the pack and then a handful of monochromatic, boring-ified swatches

will deco object

just the will from life & death but as deco only

one swatch (original)

BGC

painter's palettes only

the palettes from artist studio liberated from their junk

three swatches: original + slightly lighter and slightly darker

BGC

download [always free]

Just got back to Tumblr after like 15 years of not being here religiously, was scared of being kinda lost with the new layout and culture 4 hours later and I started to cry looking through tags of a show I like because it will never be uncancelled. Some things never change, huh

hiii 🌸 by my patrons vote, the new theme is shoujo girl aesthetic!

DOWNLOAD: Patreon - Early Access (To be released Feb 25)

⑅ ♡ important info under the cut ♡ ⑅

All items are base game compatible.

Highest polycount is 12k.

Type [KS] to find my cc in game.

Please read my terms of use.

You can also make a custom donation on Ko-fi to support my work even further so i can continue to bring cc like this to you!

pleaaase tag me if you use my stuff! I love to see your creations ฅ^>⩊<^ ฅ

thank you for supporting my work!

lots of love,

Kirika (˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧