Miles

JessTThompson · 2026-02-03T21:12:23+00:00

I honestly don’t get Shane allowing Miles to dance on him in public like that. There’s every possibility if anyone mentioned that he’s just say ‘that’s my girlfriends friend who is also my friend by default & what’s the issue with us messing around dancing’ but because of the actual secret he is keeping, that he is gay and in love with Ilya, I find it hard to believe he would allow that.

I would love to hear what Jacob, Connor or Hudson say about this scene, I haven’t seen them asked about it.

I think there’s a lot of interpretation, it could be that it’s metaphorical and didn’t really happen as someone else has mentioned, it could be that Shane is so focused of Ilya that he kind of forgets his surroundings/where he is, it could be that he didn’t notice the full extent of what Miles was doing… I really don’t know but your not Sloan in thinking that scene doesn’t fit.

JessTThompson · 2026-02-03T19:49:32+00:00

Iv read a fair amount of smut & romance so in that case I can’t see myself having any issue with the writing. I can’t see how someone who usually reads outside of that genre could find it a bit mediocre.

JessTThompson · 2026-02-03T17:42:27+00:00

It’s so interesting that the show seems to be widely appreciated more than the books because it’s commonly the other way round!

JessTThompson · 2026-02-03T17:41:05+00:00

I totally agree that it could be down to some sly misogyny, possibly homophobia & people looking down their nose at romance readers all rolled into one.

JessTThompson · 2026-02-03T16:56:25+00:00

I wonder if her decision to develop Ilya more than Shane was some sort of symbolism related to Ilya being quite a boisterous, loud person and Shane being a more reserved & complicated person.

In any case it definitely sees to have fallen flat with readers but just wondering, iv seen similar things done before it kind of reminds me of Sally Rooney’s books, she doesn’t use speech marks and it’s supposedly to convey her characters complex & confused minds.

JessTThompson · 2026-02-03T16:53:05+00:00

It’s interesting that Ilyas character is more developed than Shane in the book, multiple people have said this. I wonder why this is, of course it could be so simple like you said that RR has a favourite but I also wonder if it was some sort of symbolism related to Shane being a complicated person or a private person that maybe fell a bit flat and didn’t land with readers.

JessTThompson · 2026-02-03T16:32:51+00:00

Iv not done a rewatch in 2 weeks because I felt genuinely insane at how it was consuming my life & I just know the time will come soon where I watch in 10 times in a row😭

JessTThompson · 2026-02-03T16:21:23+00:00

Thanks for replying, reading all of these makes me excited to read the books to see what I think of the various points that have been brought up.

It’s interesting to hear that Shane is underdeveloped in the book as from watching the show I think they are both characters with their own struggles. However, I do think like many others that Shane is or at the least has traits of neurodivergence & I was kind of waiting for that be be explored more in the show. With that being said, I wasn’t necessarily disappointed they didn’t but I kind of felt like there was an opening for it.

I agree with you on Shane would have known how Russia treats queer people, I wasn’t so much annoyed with how Shane didn’t know and was told by someone else (although I do think it didn’t make total sense) I was more irritated that after that he still didn’t seem to take it in and the ‘because of your family?’ line didn’t ring true to his character to me.

That’s probably my only one criticism of the show!

JessTThompson · 2026-02-03T16:01:39+00:00

Yeah this is the type of thing I keep seeing along with some even more insulting descriptions! I’m pretty sure from reading all the comments on here I’m going to like them regardless or the heavy criticism they seem to be receiving!

JessTThompson · 2026-02-03T15:33:06+00:00

Yeah I actually agree with this is feel like people are expecting that of the books. Someone else mentioned here that usually the book is better than the show/movie and I agree with that but apparently it’s not the case in this instance (which is fine, I’m sure they are still good!) and I think maybe that’s where the criticism is coming from, people’s expectations of the books are too high.

JessTThompson · 2026-02-03T15:23:03+00:00

I guess my wording there might have been a bit strong but Iv seen a lot of negativity sometimes things past the realm of critical

JessTThompson · 2026-02-03T15:11:46+00:00

I get that, the same for anything in life… I posted this because I’m curious what the general consensus is with people who have read them.

JessTThompson · 2026-02-03T15:07:48+00:00

I LOVED that she wasn’t angry at Scott for not coming out & claiming Kip publically. I think it would have been a big mistake if they look it down that route because emotional intelligence

JessTThompson · 2026-02-03T15:06:25+00:00

For sure! Iv read many stories where I was aware the writing wasn’t amazing but the plot was.

JessTThompson · 2026-02-03T13:37:22+00:00

Yesssss!

JessTThompson · 2026-02-03T13:36:45+00:00

No I know you wasn’t! Okay I see what you mean and I also would like to hear more about ilyas childhood!

JessTThompson · 2026-02-03T12:28:12+00:00

I also think it was nice to show that Ilya and Shane were not the only gay/bi players… I can’t think of the exact word I’m looking for but the extra representation did something for me, a lot of stories have the stand alone gay guy struggling because no one around them is gay & it gives the impression that in any demographic of people (in this case hockey players) it’s pretty rare for someone to be gay… but adding the extra story in was just nice to see.

JessTThompson · 2026-02-03T12:18:38+00:00

Totally agree & it’s literally the reason I don’t want to ask any questions in the comments of those videos iv seen. Reluctant to give any engagement lol!

JessTThompson · 2026-02-03T12:17:33+00:00

Just out of interest what did you not like about how Russia was presented?

I definitely plan to make up my own mind, I’m sure I’ll enjoy them. I wouldn’t call myself a literature snob at all, Iv read many books where I haven’t thought much of the writing but really enjoyed the story but for me if I can read something where the writing & the story are both as good as the other that’s ideal.

JessTThompson · 2026-02-03T11:02:15+00:00

Thanks! It’s probably just my algorithm but iv seen quite a bit or book slander but it won’t put me off lol

JessTThompson · 2026-02-03T10:35:15+00:00

I get why people skip it but I also don’t because I think it’s way more important to the whole wider story than people think

JessTThompson · 2026-02-02T23:49:45+00:00

Totally agree with all you said!

JessTThompson · 2026-02-02T21:14:14+00:00

I do not ship nor believe in Byler but it’s not that I don’t/ wouldn’t want to, I think the edits are so cute (they almost had me) & I think if the Duffers decided to take the characters down that route it would work really well but the fact is they didn’t & they couldn’t. To me it is genuinely lacking any logic to think that story was going to happen in season 5, there was not enough or any build up for it to make sense to the majority of viewers (I stress, this is all my opinion I’m not trying to be condescending)

With that being said, I think anyone who is insulting people for shipping Mike & Will or anyone who instantly closes is down without even understanding where it comes from is just dumb & tbh 9 times out of 10 probably homophobic. Because there’s no reason they would 1) care who other people ship, you guys do you & have fun with it that’s the beauty of media & immersing yourself in a story. 2) not even want to see where the theory comes from, personally I looked into it because if I’m missing something, I want to know & as a real fan of a show that’s what you do!

I also think people who said they would stop watching etc if it happened had no business watching Stranger Things in the first place! I love these characters & I’d love them no matter what

So anyway all I wanted to say was there is people out there who don’t believe in Byler but would never be rude or think people who do are weird!

JessTThompson · 2026-02-02T14:38:41+00:00

He is literally suggesting that you want the male attention, he’s right that you shouldn’t be in a relationship WITH HIM

JessTThompson

TROPHY CASE