heycoyotegirl

[heycoyotegirl]

@fishyyyyy99 Thanks!! The ficlet this is from is here: early season 2 ficlet

All my fics/ficlets/quasi-fics can me found in my fic tag, and whenever I manage to think of a title, I’ll be crossposting the ficlet to my ao3.

2021 me was so right

#there should be links to my fic tag and ao3 at the top of my blog but i wouldn’t be surprised if tumblr broke them #also sorry i haven’t replied to any of our ongoing conversations! I promise I’m not ignoring you #I have an event this weekend and I’ve been crazy busy getting ready for that

[heycoyotegirl]

devi and paxton are truly the epitome of "A fell first; B fell harder"

#such a fun trope #daxton #devi vishwakumar #paxton hall yoshida #nhie #never have i ever #devi x paxton #paxton x devi #my post

[heycoyotegirl]

I feel like if Devi was appointed to the Supreme Court, she would get frustrated very quickly. They work 9 months of the year (which I guess would give her plenty of time for her hip hop side gig) and only hear about 80 cases annually. Plus her ability to do anything would be dependent on at least four other justices agreeing with her. (And that's not even getting into the fact that the Supreme Court can easily be hijacked, and she'd likely have to work with all three justices appointed by Trump).

I definitely thought she would be a doctor (or a psychiatrist/psychologist) after watching the first season, but I can't remember whether there was something in the show that made me think she was interested in science or if it was just because Nalini and Kamala work in that area.

currently going feral over the way paxton's arc (wrt figuring out life after high school) is a mirror of devi's, while ben's is more similar to her friends/the supporting characters

#nhie discussion #long post #my post

[heycoyotegirl]

NEVER HAVE I EVER “...said goodbye” 4x10

#devi vishwakumar #nalini vishwakumar #nhie #never have i ever #nhie s4 #gifset #queue

[heycoyotegirl]

-Angelita Lim

#daxton #devi vishwakumar #paxton hall yoshida #nhie #never have i ever #nhie s1 #nhie s2 #nhie s3 #gifset #queue

[heycoyotegirl]

#devi vishwakumar #dr ryan #never have i ever #nhie #nhie s2 #gifset #queue

[heycoyotegirl]

- Jenny Slate

#devi vishwakumar #nalini vishwakumar #eleanor wong #fabiola torres #nhie #never have i ever #gifset #queue

[heycoyotegirl]

@fishyyyyy99 Is coyote too on the nose for Devi (although I suppose that makes more sense for Mohan)? I actually have/had no idea what daemons are and had to Google them. Also, why do you think Devi's is a yellow-throated marten or a polecat?

I did actually consider coyote for Devi. They’re not a bad fit. I like that they're opportunistic and can thrive in a variety of environments, but I think they might be a bit too conflict avoidant? And obviously daemons aren’t an exact mirror image of your personality (Lyra is impulsive, while Pan tends to be more cautious and observant), but I can’t really imagine any part of Devi being skittish.

I'm biased because I absolutely love mustelids, but I feel like that family is a good fit for Devi in general. I said marbled polecat primarily because of their fun coat, but I think yellow-throated marten is the best fit out of the animals I've considered. They're fearless—not scared of humans or dogs and don't have many natural predators—opportunistic, and omnivorous (so not specialized like the mustelids that are obligate carnivores). But they're also facultative top predators in some areas (which would fit Devi's ambition/competitiveness).

The only trait that gave me pause is the fact that they usually hunt in pairs or small packs, but despite Devi saying that she doesn't like group projects, she never actually seems to dislike them that much, and she's social and always happier hanging out with friends, so I don't think it's actually a deal breaker.

me: ok. i am going to work on my daxton wip

me, approximately thirty seconds later: [brainstorming daemons despite having no plans to write a daemon au]

#if you're interested in daemons I'd highly recommend the novels (obviously) or the BBC/HBO His Dark Materials tv show!! #don't bother with the golden compass movie because it was garbage #nhie discussion #kinda #my post

[heycoyotegirl]

@fishyyyyy99 This is a very interesting analysis. But also, didn't they tell us she would want to become a Supreme Court Justice (which reminded me of her sex dream with Paxton way back in season 1, in which she wanted for him to say that she had the incisive intellect of RBG)? I agree that it would have been much more satisfying to see her journey of figuring out her passion, throughout the season rather than just having it added as an afterthought.

Yeah, I admittedly lost the plot at the end and veered away from talking about the Devi and Paxton parallels into being frustrated with s4 again lmao

Honestly, I'd lowkey forgotten about the Supreme Court Justice/hip hop artist thing. But also it kinda seemed like McEnroe just spitballing a potential future dream? Maybe that's just me, since I cannot fathom Devi ever becoming a Supreme Court Justice, let alone enjoying that career.

Even if they didn't have time to show her finding her passion, they could've had a montage of her going to and enjoying her classes, since she was worried that she'd be like Blair and implode. It feels weird that all the other young adults are working/at school for their epilogues, but Devi and Ben are just cuddled up. Especially since they both had doubts about the universities they ended up going to but didn't have an arc unpacking that like Paxton did.

currently going feral over the way paxton's arc (wrt figuring out life after high school) is a mirror of devi's, while ben's is more similar to her friends/the supporting characters

#nhie discussion #nhie critical #my post

[heycoyotegirl]

@fishyyyyy99 Starting a new post cause I didn't want the old one to get super long :P

I don't even know if the other sub ships Daxton, so much as they simply hate Ben. I'd even be okay with the hate if there wasn't so much censorship there. And the sub that I posted on definitely has a Benvi bias with a few Ben super fans (who didn't even really ship Benvi in the past) who post a huge amount about Ben. They don't hate Paxton, but they treat him like he's this boring, uninteresting character which I completely disagree with.

Yeah, I get deleting comments if they're unnecessarily rude/clearly trolls/arguing in bad faith, but it'd be nice if there was a reason given, so it doesn't seem like people's comments are being deleted just because they have opposing views. I did see a couple people hating on Paxton in a post on the Ben stan subreddit, but that could've just been an outlier. I admittedly haven't spent a lot of time on there because I a) don't use reddit that often in general and b) found the fixation on Jaren Lewison kinda weird and off-putting. Either way, Paxton is definitely an interesting character if you're willing to look past the fact that he's more introverted/reserved than Ben and Devi.

While it's fun to read the analyses of Ben on the Ben stan subreddit, it does not scratch my itch to read detailed analyses of other characters so I'm glad I found you.

Aw thanks!! Sorry I’m not faster at replying lol

Thank you for acknowledging that a good love triangle has two viable romantic options. Benvi was always more enjoyable to me because of the existence of Daxton. Ben is fun to watch when he does all that pining. As for why I prefer Benvi to Daxton, before I even knew that Benvi was going to be a ship, I wanted them to be a ship because I love enemies to lovers. And I always loved their friendship. But especially in season 3, Ben and Devi started reminding me of my best friend and myself (whom I'd definitely be very attracted to, if I were attracted to girls).

That’s fair! And you’re definitely right about Ben being at his best when he’s pining.

I normally enjoy enemies to lovers, but Ben and Devi don’t totally hit the beats I tend to want with that trope. And since it’s not my absolute favorite trope (that’d be fake dating), I was more looking at which guy’s personality/vibes seemed to mesh better with Devi’s, and imo, that was Paxton.

Also I felt like what Ben really needed was stable friendships (and therapy), rather than a romantic relationship. To me, Benvi felt like they were at their healthiest and most mutually beneficial when they were just friends. Whenever they were together—or trying to get together—it just seemed to create problems and conflict.

(I’m happy to elaborate on any of this; I just didn’t want to be anti Benvi unprompted lol)

Ben and Devi seemed to really enjoy each other's company in a way that they never enjoyed anyone else's (I know that not everyone may agree with this)

Yeah, my knee-jerk reaction is to disagree lol, but do you have examples/scenes that give you that impression? Ironically, I was grieving for a good chunk of last year (not a parent; don’t worry), which made my already not-great memory even worse, so my recollection for season 3 is spotty.

and they just retreat into their own world which really reminds me of how I am with my best friend even though we don't have a banter-y dynamic like Benvi. That really, really sealed the deal for me. To me, season 3 Benvi is basically just best friends to lovers and I really want my boyfriend to be my best friend too.

Huh, I’ve never thought about this before, but I wonder if the reason Benvi’s banter doesn’t always land for me is because I have a banter-y relationship with my friends (and my academic rivals back when I was in high school), so I’m more picky about how banter is written.

Now that you mention it, I agree that Lindsey's interest in Paxton was not well-developed, but I assumed it had to do with what he did for Eric.

Yeah, I figured it was because he helped Eric, but I still didn’t believe it. Like, she’s at least 22* and meets Paxton when he’s 18**, which is the same age that some of her students will be by the end of the year, since she’s teaching a senior class. And she literally calls him out for his immaturity and then less than six months later starts dating him??

She’s wanted to be a high school teacher since she was in high school, so it feels kinda creepy/like a lack of boundaries that she’d be willing to date someone who, only a year ago, was a student at the school where she’s teaching. Especially since it’s not like Paxton knew that college wasn’t for him and confidently entered the workforce. He’s abandoning his goals and floundering around trying to figure out his life. Even when he goes back to college, he’s still in that weird, not-quite-an-adult period, where he’s still figuring out how to be independent. Which is a hugely different stage of life than Lindsay, who’s a college graduate pursuing her career goals. (And that doesn't even get into the whole long distance thing)

I dated someone one (1) year younger than me when we were both in university, and I sometimes felt like he was annoyingly immature. If I wanted to be a teacher in a high school, I would have a hardline stance about only dating people closer to my age than students’ age. Also imagine if the genders were swapped and it was a guy who had graduated college who ended up with a teenage girl after influencing her life goals? People would have way more issues with the pair.

A mentor-mentee relationship would’ve made much more sense. And, honestly, Lindsay doesn’t have any narrative significance beyond “Paxton’s girlfriend” that couldn’t be filled by another character. Becca or Devi could’ve called him out for being immature and/or giving up on his goals. Devi’s tutoring and encouragement in season 2 could’ve inspired him to pursue a career in teaching. Or it could’ve been Mr. Shapiro who convinced him to become a teacher—Facing History was the first class that Paxton really pushed himself and succeeded in, after all.

Also, it just feels kind of gross to pair Paxton up with an older, much more mature woman, after all the weird sexualization and cougar attention throughout the show.

*I was curious, so I checked the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, and she'd either need a baccalaureate (for a CL-505p Substitute Teaching Permit) or to still be enrolled in a four-year school, which we know she isn't, since she said she graduated. But with a permit, substitutes can only cover for a teacher for 60 cumulative days. And since she seems to be working there for pretty much the entire school year, she probably has full teaching credentials, which could add at least a year to her time at college.

**I did the math, and his birthday would be December or early/mid January

I will say that I was really annoyed that they made such a huge deal of her slow-mo entry because it felt to me like they were undermining his feelings for Devi. But I've since become okay with it because even Des had a slow-mo entry for Devi and we all know that that was NOT the superior relationship.

Honestly, the slow-mo entry thing seemed weird to me, too. I think it felt like a Devi-specific quirk, 'cause she always cared about looks and popularity more than the other characters. It both felt ooc for Paxton and like they were doubling down on the physical attraction to make up for the fact that the emotional connection between them hadn't really been that well developed.

I was actually okay with Devi not actively pursuing anyone in season 4. I feel like she finally was okay with not being in a relationship and would have been happy even if Ben hadn't come and confessed his love to her. She knew what she wanted and had already asked him out, he was the one who had to work through his issues in season 4. She was even happier to be with Ben but would have been happy single too. And I liked that. It showed growth to me. However, I do wish that there had been a scene in which Paxton had actually expressed interest in pursuing a relationship with her (it's a pity the teacher thing prevented that), and she actually had to make a choice about whether she wanted to pursue that or not. I'd have felt the same way even if Daxton was endgame. I'd have wanted Ben to make his interest known and for Devi to actually have to either reject him or Paxton.

Oh, I didn’t mean that I wanted her to actively be chasing after a guy; you actually articulated my point better than I did: Her rejecting Paxton should’ve been solely her choice, rather than something influenced by the situation. Because as it stands, we don’t actually know if she would’ve rejected him in s4 if his job hadn’t been a factor. It takes away some of her agency to make decisions about her love life if one of her possible choices would get someone fired.

I think it probably would've made sense to have a scene where El and Fab ask if she's crushing on anyone after her breakup with Ethan and have her say that she's happy to focus on school/hang out with them and find some guy in college. (Or a scene with Dr. Ryan that conveyed the same message.) Devi spent the past three seasons chasing after guys, so it'd be nice to have it be in the text that she doesn't feel the need to do that anymore, rather than having it be subtext.

Like, I don’t have any issue with her pining after Ben, but there were times when she seemed more resigned to the fact that nothing would happen with him towards the end of season 4, rather than actually content and comfortable being single.

Also, I agree that Daxton wasn't well-represented platonically in season 4 either. They really did Daxton dirty.

Literally every scene with them could've been platonic (at least on Devi's side) as long as they kept the emotional depth of their friendship, and I would've been happier with the season. I feel like a lot of the relationships this season were either completely forgotten about or sidelined/shallower than past seasons, which was super disappointing.

#my post #nhie discussion #anti benvi #(not really but I didn't feel like censoring the post so it's gonna show up in search and i don't want people to get mad at me) #this post is so 2012!tumblr of me #tbt to when you couldn’t reply to your own post so you’d create a new post linking back to the first just to say ‘thanks’ to someone

[heycoyotegirl]

Damn Rebecca 😎

Never have I ever season 2 Episode 3

#sdfhasdklfjl rebecca let him live #paxton hall yoshida #rebecca hall yoshida #nhie #never have i ever #nhie s2 #gifset #queue

[heycoyotegirl]

daxton playlist  → endgame by taylor swift (for @infinite-wanders)

Big reputation, big reputation Oh you and me would be a big conversation

#the second to last gif might seem random #but i chose this scene bc it was the first time she saw the real paxton behind the popular jock mask #and that's when he realised he couldn't have casual sex with her #i feel like after this conversation they both know each other a little better #< op's tags #yeah you're absolutely right #daxton #devi vishwakumar #paxton hall yoshida #nhie #never have i ever #nhie s1 #nhie s2 #gifset #long post #queue

[heycoyotegirl]

“That’s how love goes…”

#obsessed with this scene #he's so freaked out and trying to make sure she's ok and all she can focus on is whether he's her bf now #daxton #devi vishwakumar #paxton hall yoshida #nhie #never have i ever #nhie s2 #gifset #queue

[heycoyotegirl]

rewatching NHIE s1 and nvm how adorable it was to see Paxton flirt with Devi right in front of his sister... I think my real favourite part was Rebecca smirking at Paxton (& Devi) like she just figured out her brother is down bad

Devi too

but Paxton down real bad

#daxton #devi vishwakumar #paxton hall yoshida #nhie #never have i ever #nhie s1 #screenshots #queue

[heycoyotegirl]

[heycoyotegirl]

sister, i missed this

[heycoyotegirl]

209 ➜ 302 ➜ 308 

#i was kicking and screaming when he ‘’’’’wiped her mascara off’’’’’’ #my guy you did a shit job at it #you just wanted to craddle her face and stare lovingly into her eyes #< prev tags #SO TRUE #daxton #nhie s2 #nhie s3 #devi vishwakumar #paxton hall yoshida #nhie #never have i ever #gifset #queue