#I would've loved to see her again in S3

[charliethomascoxuniverse]

‘Daredevil’ Star Deborah Ann Woll: Marvel Hasn’t Called Me to Join Disney+ Reboot, So ‘I Am Not Part of It’

By Zack Sharf  Nov 17, 2022 (X) (X)

Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio are making the jump from Netflix’s canceled “Daredevil” series to Disney’s upcoming limited series “Daredevil: Born Again,” but their former co-star Deborah Ann Woll might not be following. “True Blood” alum Woll starred opposite Cox as Karen Page on all three seasons of Netflix’s “Daredevil.” Considering Karen was a prominent character on “Daredevil” and Matt Murdock’s primary love interest, many Marvel fans have been wondering whether or not Woll would appear on “Born Again.”

“I can say this: they have not called me yet. So, as of now, I am not a part of it,” Woll revealed on a recent episode of the “Inside of You” podcast (via Total Film), hosted by “Smallville” alum Michael Rosenbaum. “I would be thrilled to get to be a part of it. They know where I am. Like I said, I love the character Karen Page. I love telling that story. I feel like I have more to say. But it is up to them what kind of story that they want to tell.”

Netflix pulled the plug on “Daredevil” in fall 2018 after three seasons. The show never got to resolve its storylines and craft a proper series finale.

“The Marvel series feels unfinished to me because we got canceled when we thought we were going to have more,” Woll said. “There’s a part of me that was like, ‘I had more to say about Karen,’ and I felt I was in the middle of that story.”

Cox has already made the jump to the proper Marvel Cinematic Universe by reprising Matt Murdock/Daredevil in a “Spider-Man: No Way Home” cameo and in a couple episodes of the Disney+ original series “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.” In the series, Matt becomes romantically intertwined with Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk (Tatiana Maslany), so if he’s going to have any love interest in “Born Again” it might be Jennifer and not Karen.

Disney and Marvel have only confirmed Cox and D’Onofrio (back as Kingpin) for its “Daredevil: Born Again” cast. The series is set to run 18 episodes.

#just saw this article ☹️ #I mean we already knew the new show wasn't going to be a S4 of Daredevil but I still expected Karen to be in it #And they're scheduled to start filming in like 3 months so surely someone would've called her by now #even if they only meant to have her appear in a reoccurring role rather than as a main character surely she'd have heard something by now? #well that sucks 😟 #and Charlie is like Captain Karedevil so I wonder what he thinks of this #although it does make Born Again even more unpredictable which could be interesting if handled well #because Matt has so many interesting love interests in the comics to choose from #ah well we'll just have to wait and see #I do wish we could've had some resolution with Matt/Karen though #if she doesn't appear in Born Again they may as well have just killed her off in S3 T_T #my random ramblings #deborah ann woll #charlie cox #karen page #matt murdock #daredevil #daredevil born again #article

[howtobecomeadragon]

if they wanted us to like mlvn, you know how the s3 finale would've gone?

scrap the entire "i like presents" exchange, scrap el trying to remind mike of when he said 'i love her' before, scrap mike's "uhh what'd i say again? oh heat of the moment stuff"

instead they would've had mike talking about using cerebro to talk to el all the time, and he would've joked, "and i'll keep trying to get you to fall in love with 'never surrender'" and then he'd burst back into the song he sang at the start of the season as a cute throwback.

el would smile at him and laugh a little tearily, thinking back on the moments when their relationship wasn't facing such a huge obstacle. she'd shake her head and cover mike's mouth again, and she'd lean in and say "i love you, mike." and then she'd pull her hand away and mike would be blinking in surprise with a smile pulling up at the corners of his mouth. and only once el sees that smile would she lean in and kiss him. and mike would reach up and hold onto her shoulders for the kiss. when they pulled away, el would be smiling and with her nose crinkled, she'd say, "but i don't think i love that song. maybe you can sing madonna instead?"

THAT'S how it could've gone if they wanted us to buy their romance.

but umm yeah none of that happened. 🙂 and instead they made their interactions super awkward 🙂 and mike didn't show any hint of reciprocating el's love declaration and stood there, not moving with his eyes open, as she kissed him 🙂 hmm a bit odd innit 🙂

#byler #anti mileven #mlvn rewrite

[probablyhuntersmom]

I hadn't spotted these a year ago:

Oh my god, guys???!!! Parallels:

2. These are the same face - the Depression Face.

It tugs at my heart like nothing else, because...

3. Oooh never paid attention to this:

4. These lil' guys were moving and animated while sleeping here, aww:

5. The screenshot below, to me, is foreshadowing that Hunter may have expressed his wish to study at Hexside...but once that wish is actually granted, he too is gonna be depressed - at school, specifically - for months, and frustrated that he simply cannot be enthusiastic about classes the way he initially hoped. He'll push and push himself and judge himself for why he "can't even" enjoy lessons he's supposed to be excited about:

6. Do you think they took Hunter to the zoo's bird hall, before he carved Waffles (I personally view it as a good element of exposure therapy)? :

7. People usually put the S1 screenshot of Luz drawing light glyphs, next to the one with Flapjack fading away...but I saw this too:

It makes me wanna chew extra recycled cardboard about Luz and Flapjack parallels, specifically. Because of what they both offered to the world, if you think about it:

8. If Camila went through an outfit change like this in her nightmare:

Imagine the mayhem of Hunter's many nightmares with his many outfits :S

9. A really good reference for how Hunter healed pre-timeskip, is this sequence, where the order has been altered a bit below:

(who knows, maybe Willow recorded a lot of vids of him on her scroll T___T)

10. Wow this sums up the show doesn't it:

11. Ugh you can't tell me that...they wouldn't have had a similar-ish mirror scene with Waffles and older Hunter to these, if we had a full S3 or more seasons:

Him approaching a mirror with no palisman beside him...I can't imagine how that was in those horrible months. (Maybe he does this before heading out to conduct a Palisman Adoption Day)

12. I feel really happy, confidently believing that he unlearned this body language:

in the presence of adults, especially his new parental figures. Coercive control wasn't a dominating theme in his life anymore. And while we didn't see it onscreen, he would've found the space to even initiate connection via physical touch with his parents, like what Luz naturally does here:

I say "physical touch" specifically, because to quote @idlescree's amazing video analyses, Hunter's own physical body - not just his mind - was the ultimate and most intimate battleground for Belos to exert control, by possessing Hunter and using him as a puppet in the most direct way possible. So for Hunter to get physically close to family to express love after Flapjack's death, in spite of terrible spooky thoughts that he might still gravely injure others...that isn't a small feat at all.

13. I think his casual sweater is a plain gold colour, and his cosplay outfit has its yellow colour: because he's still influenced by Belos.

The black of the wolf tee and in the cosplay, feel to me like foreshadowing of his post-possession grief. Even after Flapjack is gone, Hunter still thinks about Belos and is still walking around in the same cosplay outfit. His newfound freedom and healing is reflected in his timeskip design (calm midtones of orange and blue): when Belos has no more hold on him via a painful history. We would see a progression from the predominant darkness of the black colour to those peaceful midtones on his clothing.

14. Best one saved for last! It's a headcanon, but I draw a few connections. @childlikegoblinqueen and I were talking about him likely returning to the place where poor Flapjack was slain, even if it takes a number of years before he can do so. Waffles will be with him.

Imagine...instead of running frantically in the night:

he calmly strolls during a beautiful Halloween evening, with autumn leaves blowing in the wind once again:

There are no horrors awaiting him, and very importantly, he can believe that.

And he visits the spot at the lake, and puts his hand to his chest:

but for once, he can smile while doing that specific gesture. All the times that he has put a hand to his heart in the show, he wasn't smiling (link). He then leaves and then returns to his family (walking in the opposite direction of the portal above) to have an actually joyful Halloween celebration.

#for flapjack #Thanks to Them anniversary #the owl house #thanks to them

[lornaka]

Some TBB s3 trailer reactions/thoughts

If you follow me on twitter/IG you probably saw these already

First of all, FEBRUARY 21???? SO SOON. I'M NOT READY TO SAY GOODBYE WHEN IT ENDS AAAA

Secondly, CROSSHAIR. They kept Crosshair's old armor, even as they had to lose and repurpose and probably sell parts of their own kits while surviving.. they kept his armor intact NOBODY TOUCH ME.

As I thought, it seems Hunter and co will reunite with Omega and Cross in the premiere. This isn't surprising bc I couldn't imagine Omega being in captivity for long, she is the central kid character and has to be in the thick of all their adventures.

Re: Tech. I know in my heart that Tech is alive but tbh I'm one of the few people who doesn't want the brainwashed Imperial Tech plotline bc it feels redundant at this point, we already had Echo and Cross as victim of experiments/brainwashing.

Mostly I'm just tired of seeing clone characters getting stripped of their agency to a ridiculous degree when it's not necessary for their character development at all, at some point it starts to feel like angst for angst's sake bad fanfiction style. I just want to see him being his capable self, not another victim in distress.. Combined with how a portion of this fandom has a tendency to infantilize him, I'm feeling some level of trepidation if Imp!Tech is indeed where this is going. But I ofc will take any scenario where he is alive > any scenario where he is dead. The family must be complete :< So while I have my reservations, I'm totally open to seeing whatever they have cooked up and reserve all judgement until I get to experience the story as it's told. I'm just cautious about this particular possibility bc I keep seeing fandom folk clamouring for it. As for THAT character cameo... God I so wish this means that godawful book was yeeted from the canon once and for all. This is a Dark Disciple hater household, sorry to those who liked it for whatever reason. I have nothing against Vos as his own character, but Ventress didn't deserve an ending THAT shitty so please keep her away from that bullshit.. please.. I'm so happy to see her again ;_; and I'm so happy that the big cameo wasn't Ahsoka lmao I would've thrown something. Anyway aGHHH I'm overflowing with emotion rn I love that show sm!! *cracks knuckles* opens up a folder of wips from almost a year ago titled "Crosshugs"

UPD. So apparently DD is still canon. So let me get this right.. TBB s3 is supposedly aligned with DD being kept canon.. but DD takes place before order 66?? Does it mean that Asajj faked her death to get the jedi to leave her alone lmao literally being "the reports of my death were greatly exaggerated". I get it girl I would've faked my death too to get out of a toxic relationship.

#the bad batch #the bad batch season 3 #tbb season 3 #the bad batch s3 #the bad batch spoilers #tbb spoilers

[chirpsythismorning]

Some of the evidence supporting Mike not being in love with El is brutal. No, but seriously.

In s3, when El's leg is injured, instead of Mike putting his arm around her waist, allowing him to take some of the weight off her injured leg, he puts his arm around her shoulder, basically having the exact opposite affect of taking the weight off of her, instead just adding more weight for her to have to carry.

Now, I’m not coming at Mike here, I’m actually coming at the writers, because this choice here has everything to do with them using this gesture to signal Mike’s lack of feelings for El, even at the expense of realism.

I say this bc any person with common sense, including Finn and everyone around him and Millie filming these shots, would've known it looked unnatural for Mike to be adding more weight onto El as opposed to taking some off of her.

This means that what Mike did here, Finn was directed to do, and therefore it was for a specific reason.

And we know they could have easily made the opposite choice, because they show us Max AND Lucas doing it.

See how putting an arm around El's waist looks so much more natural? Because homegirl is injured and clearly needs help taking weight off her leg to qualm some of the pain she's experiencing there, which is why Max and Lucas are shown here doing it the correct way.

And so, why can't Mike do the same? Why are the writers making a point to show Mike being incapable of simply taking some weight off of El, instead doing the exact opposite?

I don't think it's as deep as Mike not being able to do something intimate, and that's bc, again we see Max and Lucas doing it.

I honestly think what they're trying to convey with this choice here, is that Mike thinks he's helping El, when he is in fact doing the opposite despite his best efforts. The implications of that and how that sort of aligns with their romantic relationship and what it leads to at the end of s3, going into s4, is pretty spot on.

I do think Mike thinks he's doing the right thing by being with El instead of voicing any doubts at the end of s3, because he is under the assumption that she is in love with him. I do think he believes he is indebted to her and that this is the least he can do after everything they've been through together, which has mostly been riddled with romantic pressures and so continuing that instead of disputing it seems like the only option anyways. Not to mention, he does care for her deeply, so it's not hard to imagine that he's a teenage boy confusing deep care for love (he literally tells us this is his problem when he can only say care and not love to El's face... but that's a whole other conversation).

Still, when it's all said and done, Mike's not actually doing El any favors by being with her romantically, if that is not what he truly wants.

Because that's the sad truth about all of this, which is that you would never want someone to be with you just because you want them. If you knew that they truly couldn't have those feelings for you, you'd want to know, right? You don't deserve someone just because you have deep feelings for them. And I think there's so many layers to this idea, bc many people are capable of not giving Byler a chance bc they truly believe Mike could never return Will's feelings. Will also feels this way atp, so though it hurts, he rips the band aid off, because he would never want Mike to be with him just out of pity or something. No one would want that. And so it all really comes down to who Mike truly loves romantically and wants to be with. And the right thing to do, even if it hurts someone, is to be honest, because being with them just bc you think that will make them happy is never going to be enough if you aren't truly feeling it, or worse, feel it for someone else.

We see how Mike's inability to be honest with El at the end of s3, leads to a season of Mike feeling deeply insecure and undeserving of the love El has to offer him, and even though he does try, he always comes up short. Despite Mike putting up this front that they are the perfect couple, the details are telling us something is off. And it gives him away.

Another example that I think is very similar to this loaded gesture from Mike to El in s3, is the scene in s4 when they hug in the airport.

Common sense ppl, picture this: You're reuniting with your long distance girlfriend. Then suddenly, she runs up to you, with her arms wide open, and instead of opening your arms wide to embrace her properly, you take the bouquet of flowers you brought her as a gift, and shove them against your chest just as she approaches to hug you, effectively squishing the present you got for her (a pretty delicate present at that) for no reason other than to... what exactly?

Like?? El isn't even squishing the present Mike, she's trying to hug you, dude! Your gf is trying to hug you properly and you threw the gift you got for her in between you so you could throw in a careful! x3??

Again, this has less to do with Mike's thoughts and reasoning behind this gesture in a literal sense, and more to do with the simple fact that this is a narrative choice! Mike is not a real person! There are real people sitting down and writing this and actors are having to do multiple takes to act it out. What feels natural for a situation is going to be what is often chosen 9 times out of 10, because of realism and wanting the audience to see stuff happening that is believable. That 1 time though, when it's not being done the way it would usually be, is usually because there's a specific reason for it.!

So the question really is, not why is Mike doing this, but why are the writers having Mike do this, and what message are they trying to convey about Mike's feelings based on his behavior, in these moments where he's just not capable of committing to El genuinely, one way or another?

#byler #no but most of the gay subtext is just so like... you really didn't have to do all that? #gay subtext at the expense of realism? check #mike thinks he's helping el by not breaking her heart and just being with her despite feelings for will he can't deny #very reminiscent of mike's 'maybe you thought you were helping but you weren't. you hurt me! what you did sucks!' #i do think it would be epic too see that moment come full circle but with el saying it to mike this time #bc i'm sure el would much rather have her heartbroken finding out that mike is incapable of loving her romantically #than to find out he was with her bc he didn't want to hurt her even at the expense of his own happiness #like no one wants to have someone be with them out of pity or obligation #we want someone to love us truly and deeply and genuinely! #we see how much el struggles in s4 bc of all the hints she's getting from mike that he doesn't genuinely love her #bc that's the most important part of a romantic relationship #it being equal #and it didn't feel that way #sure she's gonna be pissed #but she's gonna be more pissed he wasn't just honest #friends don't lie obvs

[nikolai-vincent]

Y'all I have a big list of Byler things and I need help to make sure that everything I've stated is actually true and not my mind making things up💀🤣🤭 so prepare for a long list and I'll cut it down so it doesn't take years if you wanna scroll by it lmao

Mike tried calling Will all the time while he was in Cali (& could be the reason for weird airport interaction) Mike can't use a telephone to talk to El bc of of government listening in, so Dustin's words are about Mike calling Will but not being able to reach him.

It wasn't love at first sight, the offical season 1 trailer with the scene where they first find El, Mike's first thought is "That's not Will." And also this is Mike's plan to get rid of her from the night they found her, even though he is supposedly already in love with her since he said he loved her the moment he saw her?🤨

His monologue didn't help/wasn't fully true, El didn't have a single flashback of her and Mike throughout their whole relationship except for when they found her in the woods. They've been dating for roughly 9 months before breaking up for 3, then getting together again and currently at 6 months (so 1 year and 3 months of officially dating, having known each other fully for 3 years, although not fully because she was gone for a whole year) and yet she didn't have a single other memory besides the night they saved her?

Mike and El didn't speak that much for 2 full days while they were stuck in the van?? Even after Mike's love confession, all El was apparently talking about was how she feels like she lost the battle with Vecna and how Brenner had put it into her head and stuff.

Mike has a sort of superhero idealization for El. He's mentioned multiple times that she's a superhero, she's a machine that can help find Will, and it's shown throughout the seasons how much Mike loves superheroes. In my opinion, that's not a super great thing to compare your girlfriend to, especially after she has shown to want to be more than that, but feels like that's all she's good for now.

They never see eye to eye/always disregard the others feelings/attempt to be understanding. All of their arguments I've seen, they both try to be understanding at first, but then they shut each other down and speak for the other person when they're doubting each others thoughts (one scene perfectly showing this is their fight in El's room in season 4).

Mike and El knew each other for roughly a week (at 12 years old) before getting together and then immediately getting separated for a whole year, only to become reunited and jumping immediately into a relationship at 13 and ignoring their friends to only kiss each other for 6 months and not deepen their bond emotionally?? Then they break up like it's nothing and Mike doesn't know what she likes when he tries to buy her a gift to apologize (only after Lucas says something) (then getting into a fight with Will for the first time and apologizing as soon as possible on his own choice).

Mike has issues saying I love you (tried saying it once in s3 and couldn't even say the word "love", instead going for "blank makes you crazy" which El didn't understand. Only time he says it was in a high stress situation and he blurted it out to everyone except her, with a look of shock and confusion. S4 he doesn't say it at all, writing "from, Mike" all the time, to which he is confronted by her and only is able to say "I care for you... so much." And "I say it." ("It" being I love you) (which is a lie) That fight in El's room would've been the perfect time for him to tell her he loves her after he sees her crying to him about it, he could have perfectly said something like, "El, of course I love you. I'm sorry I don't say it, I'm just not used to feeling this way, but thank you for talking to me about it, I'll try to work on it." Or something to comfort her. In the end he is only able to say it in a high stress situation (AGAIN) and only after having a whole speech from Will, and needing Will to tell him not to stop and to say whatever it was he couldn't before. (Which, Will didn't know that Mike couldn't say I love you to her) Mike was given false hope that El needed him and felt better for being different because of him, which was a lie and those feelings were from Will himself, his speech was a veiled love confession.

Mike subtly (or unintentionally) compared both of his relationships with Will and El by saying that meeting Will "was the best thing he's ever done" but meeting El was "Not fate. Not destiny. Just simple, dumb luck." (He chose to befriend Will, by actively going up to him and asking, whereas he didn't choose to meet El, it was an accident).

Mike struggles to switch his focus between El and Will, we've seen throughout all of the seasons how Mike acts with Will and how he acts with El, and I'll be honest, they're pretty similar. He's soft, sweet, and casual with Will, and he's nice, gentle, and kind with El (just in general, relationship stuff aside). But then you put them in the same room and Mike doesn't know how to act properly with either of them, and we honestly don't see the real interactions with these three until season 3. I've noticed a lot that when Mike and El are in a relationship, they ignored everyone and just made out, but after they broke up, the whole group was together and had no issues with doing so (I guess the flayed helped with that, though lol).

Will is the only person that Mike will immediately try to apologize to if he did something wrong, whereas anyone else he blames others and doesn't apologize until someone tells him to (examples: Dustin told Mike to apologize to Lucas in season 1 after they fought, Mike was blaming Lucas and didn't want to apologize even though Mike was the one that started the fight. He didn't apologize to El in season 3 for the way he was acting, instead choosing to lie and needing help from Lucas on what to get for El as an apology (again, Mike knows nothing about El by this point still), and yet later on after he has a fight with Will, he bikes to Will's house to apologize, he blames himself, calls himself an asshole (with Lucas following, not leading). Seasone 4, the second fight that Mike and Will have is in the skating rink, Mike calls Will a douche and says he sabotaged the whole day by moping, rolling his eyes, and not talking but later on he goes to Will and immediately starts apologizing and says he was being a self pitying idiot, and telling Will that he wasn't being a douche and Will didn't deserve to be called that).

Mike and Will are very different compared to their friendships with Dustin, Lucas, or Max. (With proof being from Mike himself, saying "Max and Dustin and Lucas.. they're-they're great.. they're great, it's just-it's Hawkins, it's not the same without you. And maybe I was worrying too much about El, and I feel like I lost you or something." (Something along those lines lol)

The Duffers have compared Mike and El's relationship to Elliot and E.T, a friendship between a kid and an alien.

El was upset with Mike during the cabin cleaning scene (giving him a side eye and sighing heavily before going to her room) after Mike's supposed love confession.

Mike agreed (by nodding) when Will was talking in the desert about how it's scary to open up to people you care about the most bc of them possibly not liking the truth (Will was comforting Mike about El during this, sort of) (Why would El not like the truth if the truth was that Mike loves her?? Sus).

Mike showed a big difference in priority when it came to searching for Will vs El. In season 1 after Will went missing, Mike (+ the party) was told by the police to stay home and not interfere in the investigation. Mike disobeys and goes out (+ the party) to search for Will in the dark and rain. After meeting El, they use her as a weapon to continue searching for Will. After finding Will's "body" in the quarry, Mike switches on El and is mean and blames her for not telling the truth about Will. El then shows Mike through the walkie-talkie that Will is alive and Mike believes her (even after seeing Will's body, he has hope again that Will could be alive), he's nice to El again after this. Vs, when El goes missing at the end of S1 and going into S2, Mike believes she's dead (although not seeing a body), and doesn't go searching for her. He sees her through the window on the same night she disappeared, but he never goes out to look for her. The only thing he does for the whole year is try to talk to her through a walkie-talkie, but he never leaves his house to try and find her (even though he's seen proof of her being alive) while she's gone, Mike's priority is fully focused on Will and his possession. In season 3, Hopper threatens Mike to stay away from El (similarly to what he said about staying home and not looking for Will in season 1) and he immediately agrees and doesn't try to see her.

Mike has a lot of familial/platonic parallels with El's father figures than he does romantic, he's always paralleled with Brenner (with proof in season 4, the "what did you do?" / "what have you done?" scene at the rink) which is so bad and sad, and some scenes similarly with her and Hopper.

Gotta say it, Mike has looked at Will's lips multiple times (at least 4, off the top of my head) (which is 4 times more than he has with any of his other friends probably) and he barely does it with El. If it was a mistake during filming, they would've shot it again, bc they were obvious but they stayed in.

And just with the way Mike looks at Will compared to his other friends or even El, that boy looks more in love than the one canonically in love.💀

In both season 1 and season 2 (besides their first kiss and the snowball (which weren't planned originally, I believe)) Mike has never been the one leaning in or attempting to kiss El, he just stands and stares confused as she does all the work.

Mike has Will's art all over his basement from when they were children (and some in his room, I think?) But he throws away and crumples all of the letters he receives from his long distance girlfriend? Sus.

The difference in Mike's reactions to being broken up with romantically vs platonically in season 3. His face shows a sort of disgust and almost guilty when El breaks up with him, and his face is full of guilt and sadness when Will tells him he wanted to stay with him forever.

Mike was fruity af during his apology to Will in S4 Ep4 just saying.

Canonically Mike only smiles in pictures when Will is in them as well. (Photos in tags bc I'm at the limit😔)

It's been confirmed that Mike is clueless about Will's feelings for him, so I'm wondering why he was so affected by the 6 months away with only a couple phone calls that lead to him not even wanting to hug Will at the airport (even though he saw how happy and excited Will was to see him again) when he hugged Will perfectly fine at the end of S3 (even though they never actually resolved their first fight in the rain?) Hm. Sus.

Mike has Smalltown Boy on his (OFFICIAL) spotify playlist?? A song about "the need for gay men to flee small-town intolerance and pursue reinvention in the big city. " ???

Just a cute thing about Mike and Will beings friends since the first day of kindergarten (when they were 5 years old) and having the longest friendship out of everyone in the party.

Kind of iffy about this one but the song Tarzan Boy was playing at the roller rink (a song about being free and doing what you want) when Will, Mike, and El were at the table. (Probably not a lot of significance but still a thing).

From an outsiders perspective, Mike and El were not happy when they were skating at the rink together, from Will's perspective, they were super happy and laughing together while Will was left behind. This is shown when Angela walks into the rink with her friends, we see Mike and El from her pov and their faces are very stoic while they hold hands.

That's all I have for now, I've had these written in my notes for like 2 years lmao but please, if you've even gotten this far, let me know if anything looks inaccurate and I'll fix it:) and also feel free to add anything you've noticed as well! I'd love to see it.

#byler #stranger things #mike wheeler #will byers #byler analysis #<sort of

[hysteriaww]

You get kai and bonnie so much together and individually everything you say fits them in canon so well it's too bad the writers really fumbled with them because when kai showed up he was a breath of fresh air and the best part about him is he's all about bonnie that was new and realistic bonkai was their last shot at getting the vampire diaries interest back up again

AH thank you so much for this lovely message, you're so sweet!! Yes, it really is such a shame the writers fumbled Bonkai bc it rly did seem like they had some great ideas there in the beginning, but the execution fell flat :( I feel like Kai was a breath of fresh air not just for us fans but also the cast & crew! U could rly feel their spark of new excitement for a dying show when kai showed up bc i think they all sensed that he was unique and different from the tired, recycled plotlines they'd had since S4.

Ian in particular seemed much more interested in his scenes when Kai was around (and much more lifeless when he wasn't) and Bonnie ofc was *given* much more interesting scenes when Kai was around, compared to prior seasons. Even Alaric & Jo, who started S6 as rick's new boring romance of the season, became relevant, layered and interesting bc of their links to Kai. Like rick loved to play the hero & act like damon was morally beneath him in S6 but his need to protect Jo from Kai brought out a selfish streak that made him go behind Jo & her fam's back to make shady deals w Damon & Kai as long as it kept Jo safe! Even Jo was revealed to be quite crafty considering her backstory of how she tricked & betrayed Kai in 1994, which made her much more interesting than her early role as rick's bland gf.

Even Liv & Luke were (im sorry) SO BORING in S5 but 1000x more interesting in S6 once their story got linked to Kai. His existence single-handedly linked so many disjointed characters & plotlines from previous seasons (like why'd they even bring Rick back after dying in S3? His relationship w Jo (and by extension, Kai) was the only thing that made him relevant for the rest of the goddamn show)! Even the Heretics were introduced to the show through KAI & the gemini/siphoner lore and fully lost steam as soon as Kai wasn't there to make 'em interesting!

As for Kai's links to Bonnie, ya i agree she rly was their last chance to make things interesting bc they'd already given Elena & Caroline "dark" romances that fans were too attached to to accept anything else (see: Delena being forced to stay together; Steroline forever being overshadowed in most fans' minds by Klaroline) so giving Elena & Caroline new pairings would've disappointed fans, whereas Bonnie was a blank slate they could've gone WILD with bc none of her canon pairings had strongly attached fans... yet they gave Elena & Caroline new romances anyway and scrapped Bon's romance with Kai :)))

That is what felt malicious. In S6 alone, they gave Elena who ALREADY HAD DAMON the new guy Liam, then gave Caroline the same guy Liam, Enzo (briefly) AND Stefan, whereas Bon *almost* got Kai & *fully* lost Jeremy in S6. ??? Any writer who paid half as much attention to her fans as Plague did (considering how much ott fan-service she wrote into tvd & how many twitter fights she got into w fans whose ships she disapproved of) HAD to have known her fans wouldn't accept Caroline/Enzo, Care/Stef, Care/Liam or Elena/Liam as much as they loved Care/Klaus & Elena/Damon. Yet she did it anyway bc she preferred LOSING FANS to giving Bonnie someone interesting!

She even planned Kai to be Bon's love interest in S6 bc she thought he wouldn't be popular w fans & instantly torpedoed that once she noticed fans' love for him bc, as I said before, Plague PAID ATTENTION to her fans' reactions. So fans having lukewarm feelings about Steroline was enough to get 'em married, but fans LIKING Kai was enough to get Bonkai axed. It's a common joke that Plague saw Caroline as her self-insert (neurotic, hyper-organized blonde control-freak) which is why she dated more men than even Elena. But I think a large chunk of tvd's white teen girl fans saw Care as a self-insert too (bc w each subsequent season, Caroline was increasingly written & designed that way, which is why fans turned on tvd's original self-insert, Elena, & worshipped Care instead).

Her "im never the one, im not perfect like elena" insecurities made her a blank canvas for (white) girls to see themselves in, which is why she wins Miss Mystic Falls, why she's a privileged Founding Fam member, why she gets to dress fancy & go to Mikaelson balls that have nothing to do w her, why she gets ALL the men, why she becomes the 1st vampire to be pregnant, why she gets to marry Stefan (then instantly lose him so she can go kiss Klaus in the spin-off), why she gets to be tvd's last vampire standing, why she repeatedly gets to have her cake and eat it too. By presenting Elena as "perfect/ideal" & Caroline as an "underdog," fans naturally sympathized more with Care's "struggle" (even tho she repeatedly got EVERYTHING!) Based on this, Plague refused to let ppl like Klaus date Bonnie (which would've made sense) but shoved him w Caroline (which didn't make narrative sense) bc that gave her & white fans the chance to see themselves in Care & feel like THEY were dating Klaus.

(Btw I wanna add that I actually do like & enjoy Caroline! This is a critique of the shadiness that went into *writing* Caroline, not a critique of Caroline herself)

Similarly, Kai was allowed to want Bonnie as long as fans didn't like him, but once he got popular, Plague killed Bonkai bc she believed that she & her (white) fans wouldn't be able to see themselves in Bonnie and feel like THEY were the ones dating Kai. But Kai was not Klaus, Stefan, Damon, Enzo or Kol. His character was CONCEIVED w Bonnie in mind to the point that erasing his obsession w her would make him not even feel like KAI anymore. And that wouldn't work bc fans wanted gucci kai, not walmart kai. Also, his general personality quirks were just not the type that would vibe w Caroline. Chris Wood said it himself, "Kai likes to be the one who talks, he doesn't like to listen, so I think Caroline might make him wanna snap her neck & move on" bc Caroline ALSO likes to talk. So writing him w Care would change Kai too much & writing him w Elena was not an option bc Delena was set in stone & Nina was leaving. So, how'd plague have her cake & eat it too? She refused to let Bon have Kai, and bc there was no other white girl who made sense for him, she kept Kai eternally single so white fans could eternally imagine themselves w him.

And uk what's the worst part? I don't believe all white fans would've necessarily struggled to see themselves in Bonnie if she'd dated Kai. I think Bonnie being the ACTUAL underdog struggler of the show made her very relatable to people, regardless of what your race is (esp bc tvd rarely addressed her race or centered any plotlines on it). I think Plague's own subconscious biases just made it impossible for her to fathom seeing herself in a PoC character, which is why she wrongly assumed all her majority white fans worked the same way & letting Bonkai happen would've disappointed them & made them stop watching. (But that being said, even if it was just a "business decision" to her... isn't it funny how disappointing masses of white klaroline fans didn't stop her from tossing Care at stef, enzo, whoever she wanted, but ONLY stopped her when it came to Bonnie's ships (bc she was looking for excuses to scrap 'em anyway)? Oh plagueee ur biases are showing, girlieee)

#bonkai #kai parker #bonnie bennett #bonnie bennett x kai parker #bonnie x kai #tvd #bonkamily #josette laughlin #caroline forbes #headcanon #asks #mine

[musicalchaos07]

Fun ask to offset the annoying ask: Why is Jancy so amazing (in your opinion)?

Oh Bless!

Reasons I love Jancy, a non-exhaustive list:

Chemistry (off the charts insane, no one is doing it like them I said what I said)

When the communication is good, it's good like they know exactly what the other is thinking (I mean even when it's bad they know but I digress)

Everything isn't magically better because they're together they both still have individual problems that can sometimes bleed into their relationship (also external problems like the end of the world)

Above point being made, despite their problems they're still very much in love with each other (see running into each others arms at the end of s4)

Sleeping in each other's beds and sneaking out the window

WILLINGLY SHARED A BED AND SUBVERTED THE TROPE

In the same vein: THERE WERE TWO BEDS BUT THEY FUCKED ANYWAY

I love how much they care about each other's sibling like in s3 Nancy calls about Will and in s4 Jonathan is protects Mike during the shoot out / for the rest of the funky little road trip

Their reasons for loving each other aren't shallow like they each list core elements of the other's character: ambition, compassion, etc. There aren't any lofty expectations or "I love them because they do X for me" it's just all the things they're noticed and admire about each other. (unlike some people 👀)

Anyways, they have similar life goals you know like they know what they don't want their lives to look like (the full "screw that" scene in s1 is a beautiful piece of modern cinema)

She has his poster (and mixtapes) in her room and he has her pictures all over his room (gonna throw up I love them so much)

Flirty so fucking flirty their flirting cannot be contained

They aren't afraid to call each other on their shit

They will absolutely go along with each others hijinks (like s3 Jonathan might have hesitated but he drove them to Mrs. Driscolls' and I FULLY believe if he had been in Hawkins he would've been getaway driver an Pennhurst)

BATTLE COUPLE BATTLE COUPLE BATTLE COUPLE

"Free my man he did all of it but I don't care" gf & "free my girl she did all of that + I helped her" bf

Golden retriever boyfriend & black cat girlfriend (fight me on this but canonically she yells at him about the pep talks)

"Most gorgeous big brown eyes you've ever seen + staring into your soul"

She wants to be a journalist and he wants to be a photographer???? hello???? compatible careers?????

MATCHING FUCKING SCARS (HOW DID I GET THIS FAR DOWN THE LIST WITHOUT MENTIONING THAT)

Jonathan would rather be miserable than watch Nancy throw her dreams away (like go off King but also get some therapy)

Have I mentioned that they're hot? Like have y'all scene them in the cemetery scene they're serving???

... What if she just doesn't let him go? *muffled sobbing*

I think they have broken the most laws out of anyone one in the show which isn't amazing per se but it is very:

BONNIE AND CYLDE VARIANT/ PARTNERS IN CRIME/ ALEXA PLAY I FOUGHT THE LAW BY THE CLASH.

peace by taylor swift coded

they got married in 3x08 fight me

THEY GAVE US MATCHMAKER MURRAY NEVER FORGET THAT

I feel like they can be themselves around each other you know? like it gets back into the expectations thing they're very natural around each other. Jonathan isn't awkwardly stumbling his way through conversation. Nancy isn't buying tops she thinks he might like. They love each other for their authentic selves (I'm gonna go cry again)

#this list is huge and I know I'm still missing things #stranger things #jancy #jonathan byers #nancy wheeler #anon asks #asks #jonathan x nancy #nancy x jonathan

[stars-n-spice]

Thoughts on s3 ep 13!

fucking hell ya'll,, we're almost at the end of this and I simply can't believe it and don't want to believe it simply because I don't want it to end and I don't see how the fuck they're going to tie up all the loose ends in just the next two episodes.

This time around I recorded my reactions to it and it was a lot of yelling and making really weird noises,, but uh, y'know the drill!

Incoherent screaming (this time for real) and spoilers under the cut!

Click here for the audio recording of my initial reaction

WAAAAAH I DON'T EVER WANT TO SEE OMEGA IN PRISON UNIFORMS AGAIN!!!

i forgot they had that baby up in there,, omg

FUCKIN' WAAGHHh why didn't omega try to like access that hatch thing at night?? wouldn't that have been less risky??

this episode stressed me the fuck out,, I have a headache rn holy fuck

EMERIE I'M ON MY HANDS AND KNEES PLEASE DO SOMETHING

wait how the fuck are they going to get that baby through the chute thingy??

Eva is so precious :( I love her so much

Omega has been in there for like probably a day or something and is already making plans to escape, I love her so much

"That's okay, I like a challenge" AAAAA WRECKER WOULD BE SO PROUD!!

Question: why the fuck do they keep taking samples if they know her blood is compatible??

PHEE COME BACK D:

I better see more of Phee somewhere, anywhere, please, I love her so much your honor

ALSDKF;A I FUCKING FORGOT ABOUT RAMPART LMAOOO

Echo!!!! FUCKING HELL!!!! ECHO <3!!!!!

I missed Echo so much,, this episode really just showed that they couldn't have him in it because he would've gotten things done like five episodes ago because he's just that good

Them keeping Rampart is so funny to me idk

He was such a throw away character to me in the other seasons so I this is so hilarious to me, what a silly, pathetic man I need to see him get chewed up by a space animal or something idk

after all this time it was strange to see Crosshair in the background of things but he was still shoving Rampart around and I loved it

I SWEAR TO GO IF I SEE. Y'ALL THIRSTING FOR RAMPART!!! THAT MAN BOMBED KAMINO Y'ALL BEST REMEMBER WHO THE REAL ENEMY IS!!!

Rampart is basically Walmart Kallus

I swear to god, Hunter is getting shorter

Also looks like Crosshair is filling out :( He's finally getting to eat now :((

THEIR ARMOR ALL BLACKENED OUT??? WHAT A LOOK!!

Crosshair's helmet ESPECIALLY, it looks super cool

RAHHHHHH THAT SUPER LONG SHOT OF HUNTER LOOKING AT HIS BLACKENED OUT HELMET AGGUUGGHHHHH

Felt like I was watching an episode of Rebels due to how they were infiltrating the place

How the FUCK did nobody like,, notice?? insane. imperials are so fucking stupid I love that so much.

"Oh I don't think so" FUCKING AAAAA WOW THAT WAS HOT ECHO I LOVE YOU

WHEN WRECKER WAS JUST CHILLING ON HIS PHONE???? STOP. I'M ALREADY IN LOVE WITH THIS MAN!!!! FUCKING RAAGHHHHH

"Where is your captain?" - "Uh, captaining?" WRECKER MI VIDA!!!!

I've said it 100 times and I'll keep fucking saying it,, everything Wrecker does in this season is pure just,, everything he does is amazing, I love him so much, even in the background, him simply breathing?? Iconic. He better stay breathing.

WHEN HE WAS WEARING THE HAT OF THE GUY HE KNOCKED OUT?!?!? MARRY ME.

I know Rampart is stressed out of his mind LMAO bro is getting out of this with gray hair

"It's the only chance we have of finding Omega and freeing those clone prisoners" WHHHATTTTT HUNTER FINALLY THINKING ABOUT SOMETHING OTHER THAN OMEGA??? NO FUCKING WAY!!!

THE WAY CROSSHAIR WENT "he can't go alone" AFTER ECHO VOLUNTEERED TO SNEAK ABOARD THE SCIENCE VESSEL AAAAHHH i'm going to be sick,,

Crosshair and Echo dynamic my beloved

ECHO SLAY

OH MY BELOVED ARC TROOPER!!!!!!

last stretch of the episode had me so fucking stressed

i'm not ready for the next ones

"Negative" and all the Hunter girlies fell to their fucking knees

that was HOT

and stressful as FUCK

losing my mind

Music was insane, omg loved it

WAAAAAAAAAH I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S ALMOST THE END

AND FUCKING NOT A SIGN OF TECH???? WHAT THE FUCK

THAT'S NOT FAIR THAT THIS SHOW GETS ONLY 3 SEASONS AND FOR MOST OF IT CROSSHAIR, ECHO, AND TECH ARE BARELY IN IT!!! LIKE WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN THAT TECH IS ABSENT THE WHOLE FUCKING THIRD SEASON ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?????

makes me fucking sick

they need to give us a whole ass season of all of them together being happy on Pabu I swear to god

this episode made me fucking sick ugh

everything sucks man oh my god

#cannot believe this is the third to last episode #i refuse to believe it #tbb #tbb s3 #tbb s3 spoilers #tbb spoilers #tbb hunter #tbb crosshair #tbb wrecker #tbb echo #tbb omega #emerie karr #edmon rampart #max's musings

[hepaidattention]

I think the difference between JJ thinking he was never gonna see Kie again when she was taken by Singh and when he thought he might not see her again when taken by Kitty Hawk is so important.

When Kie is taken in early s3, JJs panic of not seeing her again comes out of a mindset of, "Okay, I love her but she doesn't need to know that, we're friends. However there is no way in hell I can ever live without her so we ARE getting her back. I will do anything." He even offers himself as a sacrifice because hes JJ but also because he just wants her safe. Hes not thinking about how much Kie would want him safe too. There is love and mourning but there isn't any regret. They were separted on good terms. He doesn't regret not telling her something because JJ never considered telling Kie he loved her as an option. He was content with her just being there with him forever, because JJ didn't think he deserved love back enough to ever consider that. He would've done anything for her and forever never tell her his feelings because he had convinced himself (out of his own self loathing) that that door was never open.

Then they reunite and she tells him she was afraid she would never see HIM again. And they're on the boat and she's looking at him like THAT and telling HIM they're gonna face all of this together and suddenly the adrenaline and the passion and just raw emotions of having her in his arms again makes him vulnerable and in that very moment everything between them changed. There was a shift, and JJ realized he wasn't the only one with feelings, and he didn't know what to do with that information.

Then he isolates. Self sabotages. Self destructs. Etc.

Now, when Kie goes missing the second time, this time is so so different. The first time he wanted Kie safe out of pure love, no want for anything else between them, just wanted to see her at his side.

But now, now she's gone and she'll never hear how sorry he is. Now she's gone and she might never know how much he loves her too. Now there's regret, regrets he can't live without fixing. So now, he not only can't imagine living a day without her, but he can't imagine living with her never knowing that he loves her so insanely much.

Now there's an actual chance for something more between them, and he's this close to losing it forever. He's not just panicking over losing Kie forever, he's panicking that he might never get to kiss her, get to say "I'm sorry", get to say "I love you" every single day of the rest of their lives.

I think this all slowly clicks together at the plane, then at the Carrera's, and then when he sees her and hears her immediately go along with his crazy plan, all the pieces clicking together to make him realize that he can't go another hour without telling her he loved her back.

JJ needed the push of reality slapping him in the face, telling him she's his "something to lose" and he cannot ever allow for that to happen. But to be able to accept happiness and love back, he needed to first know how Kie felt. Now he did.

The first time I think it brought JJ to realize that whatever was between them was very real. I think it really showed him his love for her wasn't a crush or a found family love. He would give his own life just to see her smile one more time, and he realized she might just feel the same.

The second time brought JJ to realize that he was the only thing standing between them from being real. It made him realize that the only reason he had regrets were because he got her back to only push her away.

I fully believe that JJ had to refrain from saying that he loved Kie so many times. I think he wanted to tell her everyday since getting her back from Singh. I think it took everything for him not to say it on the boat, say it at his house, and when she said it at the party he was so thrown because she wasn't supposed to say that. JJ had been trying not to say that for so long and she just said it so casually and no. She couldn't love him, that was ridiculous. No one could love him.

But he wanted to say it back so desperately. I think it took everything for JJ not to text her, "I love you too" in the middle of the night, or when he saw her at the chateau, or when he was trying to apologize, but there's no way he could actually let himself do that. Because Kie deserved better than him.

and suddenly she's gone again, and he never said it back, and why did he not say it back?? Suddenly being vulnerable and allowing himself to be loved sounded a lot better than living with the regret he had on his back if he never saw her again.

and he's standing there saying sorry and all he can think is how much he loves this girl, and then she says it, and the words just get caught in his throat because he's not sure how to even say them. he practically whispers it like it's a new language, like him saying it aloud is something he never thought he was capable of.

But he did. Because he loves he so incredibly much.

JJ needed losing Kie over and over again to finally realize that she was the only thing he had in his life that he wasn't willing to lose.

#jiara #just me rambling #obx #outer banks #jj x kie #kie x jj #kiara carrera #jj maybank

[my-mt-heart]

As utterly beautiful the Richonne renuion was, amd they deserved it don't get me wrong...It's just their love making scene is EXACTLY what I imagined it what it would like for Carol and Daryl. I mean exactly, from the fear, the overwhelming emotions to the point of tears, the hesitation and finally letting 12 years of burning lust and desire break threw all the barriers and they would ravage on another. We have for years talked about when they have sex the scars they both have would be kissed, we talked about Daryl being afraid to the point of trembling like he couldn't believe she was real and finally in his arms..If they do go Canon I hate to see a copy cat scene smh 😞🥺 Maybe they could play it like two fumbling teenagers, unsure, nervous and giggly...laughing and setting the mood light only for it to turn into passion later?! 🤔 I dunno...I hate to even talk shit about the The Ones Who Live 1x4 cause man was it powerful and beautiful. Danaii outdid herself writing and direction 2 the episode,no one knows the characters better then her and Andy..They our both powerhouse actors, see the charactersto go from enemies to lovers and face so many obstacles and just falling deeper in love is so beautiful, but to also show how hard it can be and things aren't always what we expect them to be. But despite the setback and heartbreak you keep fughting for ezch other. ANYWAY COMPLETELY OFF TOPIC 🤦🏻‍♀️MY ENTIRE POINT WAS, Where you also kinda sad about the Richonne lovemaking scene? With it being pretty much being exactly like thousands of caryl fanfic, and was what we all expected when they are finally intimate that's how it be?

To be honest, I've been staying away from all the towl discourse due to how quickly it turns into a ship war where everybody is trying to invalidate everybody else. I'll say this though (and nothing further unless or until it ever feels safe again to discuss). To me, apples are apples and oranges are oranges. Richonne is Richonne and Caryl is Caryl. They have completely different histories and I'd expect there to be plenty of nuance even if they both hit the same story beats at times.

For Caryl, there's a lot of trauma that goes hand in hand with their sex lives. We can infer that Daryl has guarded himself for a lot of his adult life and Carol has had to survive, serve, or maintain control, but sex with each other would be an entirely new experience for them because it would be about expressing how deeply they love each other and how completely they trust each other. I think Daryl would be hellbent on making it good for Carol and she would allow herself to be vulnerable/taken care of. We wouldn't see her leave in a hurry afterward like she did with other partners. She'd stay in his arms. Fumbling like teenagers maybe would've made sense in S3 of the flagship show, but their relationship is far too mature for that now.

I'll do a more in-depth post on sex where I can just focus on Caryl without making any comparisons, but hopefully this answers your question for now.

#caryl #carol peletier #melissa mcbride #daryl dixon #norman reedus #the book of carol #twd caryl

[dollsome-does-tumblr]

thinking about the cut funeral scene for the millionth time on this, pink notecard of despair day! under the cut so no one has to witness my rambles. 😘

i've been pondering the story that we got without the scene in, vs. what it would have been if it had stayed. without it, it's basically: roman (rightfully) loses gerri, gerri still cares and we know but roman doesn't know that, roman is left with the bittersweet awareness of what he had and what he lost. (a little fleetwood mac there for ya!)

and then with it in ...

+ i feel like the second gerri walked past roman in 4.03, that was telegraphing that eventually she would comfort him, in the name of narrative parallels and bookends and what have you. so it fulfills that purpose in a satisfying way. (plus, gerri saying "this is fine" when he breaks the firing news to her in 4.03 and then again here. parallels! delicious parallels!)

+ i think in a way it's a healing moment for gerri too, because after spending the whole series quietly observing logan's mistreatment of roman, and being emotionally removed (on the surface anyway), she finally actually does something to outwardly support him. and does something with virtually the biggest audience they have ever had! i just think it is forever so interesting that she was so "this is only professional, this is only professional!" for all of s3 and then when roman is at his lowest, she shows up for him in a way that is not professional at all.

+ i am also very moved by the thought that roman would finally have someone express to him the sentiment "i am done with you professionally, but i still care about you as a person." acknowledging that those are two separate things, and that his value isn't totally wrapped up in who he is in the business. (i remember jsc said something in an interview about thinking that scene was important because it was beyond their differences.) like, after roman has spent the whole season hustling like a terrible beast to honor his dead father and to stay connected with his brother, like totally being consumed by the company was the only way to demonstrate his love, here's someone he loves and thought he lost at the lowest moment of his life going "it's okay, you're okay." to see someone care for him as a person separate from what he can bring and what he can do -- and the person who had the highest, most earnest hopes for him businesswise too! -- is just A Lot. (maybe it hits the Gerri Is The Good And Healing Force In Roman's Life thing too hard and that's why they cut it? too sappy? too positive? too romantic? i don't know!!!) and then he rejects it because it's so painfully far removed from his world view and his conception of himself. (secretly, in my heart of hearts, this is why gerri looks so wistful at what i'll 2013-ishly refer to as the HBIC table at the reception thingie later.)

+ uh they finally would have had some physical contact for the first time in 9 million years and that's extremely important to me. it's not actually related to anything, but it's still essential to my well-being, so i'm making it a bullet! you know everyone (cool) wanted them to touch One Last Time!!!!!! you know that's what the people wanted!!!!

anyway, those are just my paragraphs on why i think it would have been narratively enriching for both characters to keep this scene in! i think it would have done some good character & relationship work and that it would've added some tasty, fulfilling-as-we-near-the-end-of-the-story goodness to the season and the series overall.

i think it would have also made the finale really difficult, because after that interaction we all would have definitely with more confidence expected more to happen between them in it. but also: think about all of roman's reactions to gerri (on video and irl and thinking of her w/ martinis) in a universe where she comforted him at the funeral and he has that recent memory of her! because that's technically what it was when they shot that episode! and also, i'm insane! in short: i will forever carry a great burdensome fangirl sadness in my heart that they took this out.

they also should have kept in the scene of gerri winning at sauna in norway. i will die on this hill. the s4 deleted scene news was truly blow after blow for the gerriheads among us.

#dollsome's deep thoughts #romangerri #roman x gerri

[howtobecomeadragon]

Everyone likes presents. The show does focus a lot on them and I'm trying to figure out if there's a bigger meaning here. I don't think there's any new info here to uncover, but thought presents was a good focus for an analysis 🤷

Will absolutely loves presents, to the point of asking Jonathon, with no hesitation, if he can open JONATHAN'S present from his crush (I'll give Will a pass, he just survived the Upside Down but this is hilarious behavior on Will's part). At home, he's shaking presents before Christmas, he's guessing what the presents are. He's very very very into presents at the end of s1. Unfortunately I don't think we see him get another present yet (YET) so far in the show. With all of the s4 March 22nd drama about Will's birthday, it almost looked like the birthday boy didn't get any presents, but supposedly the Duffer Brothers forgot.

Next we see Mike's absolute bafoonery in s3, trying to get El an "I'm sorry" present for lying. It's the thought that counts, right? Not really when Lucas is doing all the thinking here. Will in that third picture is me giving Mike the side eye in this season. Will knows what a good present is and he knows that this isn't the right attitude to have going into shopping for a present.

He tells El he was trying to get her a present but has nothing to show for it. Big swing and a miss. "We couldn't find anything that suited you." We see the boys looking at a jewelry store, where Mike finds the $300 teddy bear pin, perfume, and lingerie. This is classic "I don't know anything about my girlfriend, let me just look for a present that any boy could get any girl" behavior. After seeing each other every single day for 6 months (according to Hopper) Mike doesn't have much of anything to show for it. He only had $3.50, which equals about $9.64 according to an inflation calculator. Not a lot, but enough to get something. El's favorite snack, a cute hair tie, a cheap bracelet, a comic, a toy, just something. Or he could've made something homemade, but it was shown very clearly that he wasn't going to put time or thought into that, when he can hardly admit he did anything wrong. In my opinion, he would've been better off not even telling her about his failed attempt to get her something, it's just more disappointment piled on. He's not thinking about her feelings though, he just wants credit for putting the work in (*cough even though Lucas was the one that did all the work cough*).

At the end of s3, we get the iconic "I like presents" scene. I've seen a lot of analysis about how Mike felt more comfortable talking about liking something childish, opening presents, because he just reconnected with Will about wanting to play DnD, but then doesn't feel comfortable being himself about liking these things he considers childish around El. But focusing more on the idea of presents here and the text of what was said: Mike likes presents, but El has never given him a present. El likes presents, but Mike failed at getting her a present. Maybe Mike is thinking about how much he likes playing with his toys on Christmas and how if he's with El on Christmas, he might be too ashamed to enjoy them. Just last season, just 8 months ago, Mike was so hesitant to throw away toys at his parents' request. And in s1, he showed El his toys and she walked away from him. He won't enjoy his presents if they spend Christmas together.

In s4, we see Mike bring El an actual present this time! However, he brings her Hawkins flowers right after he read in her letter that she doesn't even miss Hawkins flowers anymore. So the flowers aren't on the mark and the note definitely isn't. Again, he probably would've been better off not bothering, the present brought more pain than getting off the plane empty handed would have. He's showing that he doesn't understand her enough to get the right present, to the point of ignoring/missing what she's saying to him in her letters.

And of course later on, we see that every letter Mike wrote El, each one a present in a way, was really a knife to the heart with every "from, Mike" and then later we see yellow Hawkins flowers wilted and dead. Mike's presents to El bring pain and disappointment.

We know that Mike loves the presents he gets from Will: drawings and the painting. Mike likes presents, we know this from the s3 finale, and he also loves Will's art. He keeps those presents and has for years. He displays the presents in his basement and bedroom, years after he gets them. Contrasted with El's letters, which are presents in a way, not being seen anywhere in the house.

But when he thinks that the painting, the present, is from El, he's not as pleased. I think that's the only physical present "El" ever got for Mike other than her letters, and for a guy that likes presents, he's not pleased to think this one is from his girlfriend. So in a way, when Mike thinks he gets a present from El, he's disappointed and confused.

El and Mike both say that they like presents, but their presents to each other are never the right gift, never evoke the intended emotion, and are never given with good intentions or thought put into them.

A colossal bummer is, of course, the fact that Will hasn't gotten a present from Mike on screen, as far as I remember. We don't know if a present from Mike to Will would be as awful as his presents to El, but all evidence points to the fact that it wouldn't.

Basically, I want to put Mike in a mall with $3.50 and see what he would walk out with for Will.

#byler #mike wheeler #will byers

[revelca]

aggretsuko s5 was the best and the worst at the same time, and here's why.

so, the last season of aggretsuko is here, huh. it's one of my favorite shows ever and i just really want to discuss all that happened in s5 with someone. it's totally okay if you disagree with some of the stuff below, i'd love to hear your views and opinions!

so, obviously, it wasn't perfect. it was fun, but it had some issues. luckily it was better than s4 and had some really good moments, but the 2nd half of the season was a big misunderstanding. i decided to make a list out of all the stuff that bothers me:

retsuko literally got forced into politics. saying she's a people pleaser is not enough to justify it. i'm not saying "you can't do politics in aggretsuko", i'm saying that it would be better if she went "maybe i can make lives of regular office workers like me better?". and what was the politics arc for, anyway? there was no point but if you have to do it then just don't force her into that? give her a reason that would make her go "maybe it's not that bad of an idea".

why were retsuko and haida always going to a grocery store that was far away? plot hole! you see, after the stalker incident in s3 retsuko moved and i remember haida literally saying something along the lines of "the shop below keeps it safe and light at night". in additon, the building retsy lives in was shown several times and there really is a shop below her house.

remember when retsuko dreamed of being a lil blushy bride with a big smile in a beautiful dress all the way back in season 1? it was important for her, it was her dream. and in the end, haida and retsy just went with the civil marriage thing and? why?? honestly, why...

one of the biggest issues is obviously the fact that we didn't get enough about retsuko's and haida's relationship. since when were they even together?? i might've missed this part, but my point still stands - we really didn't enough about them. 5 seasons of waiting and this is what we get?? i just didn't get the feeling that haida and retsuko are actually happy and in love with each other, so them getting married so suddenly was a big suprise to me. and it's not like there weren't any opportunities for them to show affection to one another! i'm not saying they should act lovey dovey all of the time, but take for example retsuko's visit in haida's house. when they went out for a walk to the garden, he could say something like "i know it's hard, but deal with them just for today, okay?" or "sorry that i'm making you go through this. you really shouldn't have went here with me." stuff like that is what would make it feel a bit more like a real relationship and this exactly what their relationship lacks.

in the end we didn't get a single bit of info abt whether haida have found a job or not. he was supossed to get into IT and? after visiting retsuko's parents it was never mentioned again?? did netflix really just forget about it?

this isn't really an issue, but i still wonder who have hit haida with that truck. his brother said that he didn't do it but how did he even know that happened? not like haida would've told him about that considering their relationship... is, yknow.

and now, to the good stuff!! i have to admit, the 1st half of s5 was good, great even. those honestly were the best aggretsuko eps after the stalker incident in s3.

SHIKABANE ABSJSJSJ (no explanation needed) <33

haida deserved that. bro was being miserable and i loved every second of it. now he knows how tough life can be!! and that's a good thing.

as always, tadano never fails to make the show better, no matter what season is it. the thing where he bought the whole internet cafe? hilarious.

i'm bad at explaining why a show is good i was born to be toxic so that's about it haha. would love to hear others' opinions! <33

#aggretsuko #aggressive retsuko #shikabane #aggretsuko season 5 #haida #tadano #retsuko aggretsuko #retsuko x haida

[elijahs-dumps]

Cassandra and her villain arc; was it bad? Let's discuss... (Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure)

Just wanted to say before we dive in, I'm currently working on a piece about Gonzo from the Muppets and some Hazbin Hotel stuff too. So stay tuned;)

Cassandra was mainly portrayed as snarky, cold, and even a little rude. She's almost a perfect opposite to Rapunzel, which makes them interesting friends. And it's nice that Rapunzel has another girl she can rely on, since I personally believe female friendships are important in media. Within the TV series, Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure, Cassandra is often seen budding heads with Eugene or helping with Rapunzel's misadventures. And as the show goes on, we see Cassandra actively looking out for Rapunzel more and more.

Even though Cass states many times in the first two seasons that she loves and cares for Raps, their relationship is quite unstable through out the show even before she became a main antagonist. Let's take a look at their relationship pre-season two to get a better understanding:

For example, in The Challenge of the Brave (S1 E4) when Raps joins the challenge, Cass feels like Raps is being a bad friend by trying to win something that means so much to her. She's annoyed by Raps' ignorance, and jealous of the admiration Raps is receiving. Yet, Cass never even told Raps how much the contest means to her. So instead of communicating her feelings, Cass starts to act more snappy with Raps and actively tries to get Raps eliminated from the game. However, it's not unreasonable for Raps to be unaware of Cass' wishes, especially since she struggles with social cue. Regardless of the fact that Cass should've been more patient with Raps, I think this episode would've been nice foreshadowing to her change of heart in season three if they didn't try to paint Cass as the victim in this episode. I don't understand why only Raps apologized, when they both should've acknowledged their wrongs.

In Under Raps (S1 E9), Rapunzel tries to make Cass feel better about being single by making her things and showing her appreciation for Cass. When this happens, Cass sort of gets annoyed for no reason even though Rapunzel's intentions are sweet. She doesn't even really verbalize if Raps is pushing boundaries or not, she's just... frustrated?

This doesn't relate to Rapunzel directly, but in Great Expotations (S1 E8) Cass uses Varian to get what she wants. Even though she does make up for it, it's still a testament to her character. Cass often acts without thinking about how others might feel or think, and the way she treats Raps in season one is a prime example of that. She does take into account how naive and ignorant Raps can be, but she refuses to show any patience for it as Raps recovers from literally being isolated for eighteen years. And Cass is supposed to be Raps' best friend! It's the same with Varian. You see, Cass isn't really a bad person. She just wants her moment in the spotlight, her moment to prove herself. In these episodes, that's often what drives her to make these mistakes towards her friends. This would be a great character flaw, and an interesting writing concept. But this show keeps having Cass in this same situation again and again, and she never grows from it. It gets old very fast.

Not to mention, Cass also tried to force Raps not to tell Eugene how she got her hair back when it first happened. All because Cass "doesn't trust Eugene". I thought this was strange, because I don't really know what kind of friend asks someone to lie to their significant other.

In the flashback episode, Beginnings (S3 E6), we learn that Cass never wanted to be friends with Raps to begin with, and there was a lot of guilty undertones on Cass' part of the relationship at least in its early stages from what we can see. Raps clearly latched onto Cass way too fast, because she was still fresh out of the tower when they met. And Cass wasn't ready to be what Raps needed (which was therapy). Cass was Raps' first friend besides Pascal, and I don't understand why Cass would take on that role if she wasn't going to put in the effort to at least try and be compassionate and understanding with Raps.

Moving on to season two, Cass didn't really do anything of substance until The Great Tree episode (S2 E14) which is a little weird in hindsight. But I thought her insecurities about needing to prove herself and how she always feel second place to Raps were pretty justified. We saw a couple times through out the series that people preferred Raps over Cass, or gave Raps opportunities when Cass worked harder for them. Still, I don't feel like that's Raps' fault. Waiting in the Wings did a perfect job of illustrating Cass' feelings on this subject, and it even made me like her more as a character because it gave her so much more depth. Still, the song talks about how Cass is going to keep waiting until her moment in the sun arrives no matter what, which contradicts her villain arc quite a bit considering the fact she did not wait at all. Anyway, I think Cass trying to insinuate that Raps doesnt trust her judgement anymore in these episodes was BULLSHIT. Raps clearly loves and values Cass, and trusts her completely. All Raps did was mkae a call that Cass didn't agree with, I dont think this meant that Raps wasn't listening or wasn't trusting Cass. The two of them simply disagreed on it, which they do all the time.

Technically, the thing that pushes Cass off the edge is the fact that she finds out she's Mother Gothel's biological daughter. But there was one other incident that set this villain arc into motion before the episodes within the House of Yesterday's Tomorrows. Cassandra's hand wound from Rapunzel.

When Cass injuries her hand during the final fight within the Great Tree, she blames Raps for it even after they talk it out and apologize. I didn't understand this at all, because yes Cass warned Raps not to use the decay incantation. But it's not like they had any other choice! And Raps was not in control of herself or the tree when Cass got injured. Not only this, but Raps also told Cass to leave before anything even happened. Why is Cass upset with Raps for not listening to her when she wouldn't listen to Raps either?

The season three opening episode, Rapunzel's Return (S3 E1), shows us exactly what Cass saw in the House of Yesterday's Tomorrows. We learn that Cass is Gothel's real daughter, and this is a huge turning point in the series. Because in this episode, Cassandra's entire villain arc stopped being about her own struggles and insecurities and how she's felt second place to Rapunzel this whole time, it became about the fact that Gothel chose Raps over Cass. I felt like this was a lazy writing choice, to make it seem like Cass' feelings of being inferior to Raps are more justified. But honestly, I think her villain arc could've stood well on it own if they just planted to the smaller seeds of doubt earlier on, and didn't involve Gothel in it. Of all people. Gothel is a naturally selfish woman who would never do anything that doesn't serve some kind of purpose for her. I find it hard to belief she kept Cass around simply to do house work around her cottage instead of just dumping Cass at an orphanage of some kind.

I also feel the need to mention the fact that Cass was absent for almost 12 episodes in a row, during what is supposed her season as the antagonist and her moment to have the spotlight, probably has something to do with why her writing in season three came out so half-baked. Combining this with the fact that her change of heart was only really hinted at in maybe five out of the forty-five episodes, episodes in which the conflict involving Cass' character is always resolved by the end, makes her entire villain arc seem out of character at first glance.

This season went to great lengths to make Cass' actions and attitude as nasty as possible, especially by having her show no remorse or doubts after Be Very Afraid (S3 E9). This is on of the reasons her redemption arc fell flat.

In A Tale of Two Sisters (S3 E14), we see the last bit of Cass' doubt be outweighed by her need to blame someone for the way Gothel abandoned her. So, she blames Rapunzel. But Cass knows Gothel was sick and abusive towards Raps, and she also knows it's not Raps' fault she was kidnapped. After all their years of friendship, I didn't buy the concept that Cass would let her anger manifest in a way that would blame Raps for a traumatic event that happened to both of them.

While I'm well aware that Zhan Tiri has been manipulating Cass since the House of Yesterday's Tomorrows, it still didn't make Cass's villain arc anymore believable for me. It felt like the show's way of trying to excuse its own crappy writing.

Once a Handmaiden (S3 E16) is when Cass realizes Zhan Tiri has been manipulating her since the beginning, and begins to regret her choices. So Cass disguises herself as Rapunzel's current handmaiden to try and find a way to extend some kind of olive branch. This gives us a little more insight into the headspace Cass has been in these past few months, and it gives the audience more room to sympathize with her (especially in the play scene). Yet, when Zhan Tiri reveals Cass to everyone and the guards start attack her, Cass is quick to become incredibly angry, even though Raps was trying to call off the guards. Cass literally takes over the entire kingdom, almost killing hundreds of people after spending the whole day bonding with Raps like old times. While I have issues with the amber-firing machine Varian made, I feel like the switch up with Cass in this episode was absolutely insane.

Cassandra's redemption arc, if you can even call it that, completely fell apart because it was so rushed. It was similar to Varian's redemption arc in that sense, but even though Varian's redemption arc had flaws he was able to sort of get away with it. Varian's villain arc was shorter than Cass', his crimes weren't as bad as Cass'. and he served at least a year in jail anyway. Cass served no punishment for her actions and got to leave Corona scot-free. This also plays into the constant contradiction Cassandra goes through this season of soul-crushing remorse vs homicidal rage.

Considering Cass was one of our main three characters for the entire show, I just think she deserved better when it finally came time to give her some more depth and complexity. But what do you guys think? Do you think Cassandra's time as an antagonist was poorly executed? How do you think they could've fixed it? Feel free to let me know!

#tangled #cassandra tangled #rapunzel #tangled the series #tangled varian #tangled cassandra #eugene fitzherbert #analysis #moon cassandra #cassunzel #tts #rta #varian #rapunzels tangled adventure

[findafight]

Hello! I've been plagued by thoughts of Starbara. I would love to know how you think the bathroom scene between Robin and Steve would go if Starbara was a thing. Like, I really, really love Starbara, and I really, really love Stobin as besties, so I am desperate to be able to combine the two without either relationship losing too much depth and connection. Thoughts?

Many. MANY thoughts. @momotonescreaming and I have actually talked about the bathroom scene! (both of them hehe) The Starcourt bathroom scene is like. Holy Stobin Texts okay. I refuse to water it down, ever, but tweaks must be made.

so with the starbara au, sometime before s3 Barb decides to rekindle her friendship with Robin, who is a bit weary of it a little. But anyways Robin is at the very least friendly but not close with Barb, and still holding a a grudge against Steve (love her being petty). When they get jobs at scoops, Robin just tells Barb she's working at the mall, and Barb goes haha Steve is working there too! Maybe you'll see each other! (and then they did)

First day at Scoops Steve walks in and goes oh! Barb's friend Robin! hi Robin! :D and Robin is just. gritting her teeth. Of course then she spends time with him and discovers he is just a goofy lad. She tries so hard to keep him as her nemesis but she simply cannot because even though she has the "you suck" board to tally the amount of longing sighs Steve does while Barb isn't in the store, he grows on her. She can tell when barb told Steve she'd try to come by because he glaces at the clock and perks up. He gets all sappy when Barb comes in and they flirt and he gives her free icecream and Robin is stewing like HELLO. she is TRYING to be BITTER. if those two could stop being SICKENINGLY in LOVE that'd be great.

Steve has the worlds most devastating squish on Robin he wants to be her friend so so so bad, and Barb teases him about having a crush on her and he's like "Barbie 🥺 how could you say that? You know I 'm in love you🥺I just want to make her laugh and share a backyard with her so our kids can all play together and be best friends too 🥺"

anyways blah blah blah s3 happens they're in the starcourt bathrooms. Robin blurts the first semi invasive question of all time, because as soon as she finishes "have you ever been in love?" she's like yes obviously he has. he is.

and Steve answers affirmatively "Yeah. yes. Barb, of course. maaaan. She's amazing. I'm gonna marry her one day."

and Robin huffs a laugh because yeah, that's a pretty unsurprising plan from Steve. "Yeah? Tommy gonna be your bestman? or are you gonna shake it up and have Carol there?"

Steve sighs "nah. I don't...I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"Because...Tommy and Carol are my friends and I love 'em, but...I think I've found someone better for that part? Like someone we could split custody of a cat with, or my kids could call auntie, y'know?" Robin thinks she might throw up again, actually. "And I wish I would've been hanging out with her the whole time. She's hilarious, I've laughed more this summer with her than with nearly anyone else besides Barb in a long time." There's no way he'd be saying this to her if he knew.

"And she's smart. Way smarter than me. Able to crack a Russian code ina couple days, kind of smart, Y'know? She's unlike anyone I've ever met, and I really hope she wants to be my best friend too?"

It's so sweet, and so very Steve who's been sappy with Barb and goofy with all those kids, and now he's point blank asking her if she wants to be his best friend. She doesn't know what to do. She feels gross and sick and dizzy and hurting, but she could lie. Whatever was making her and Steve unable to keep their mouths shut has...well it hasn't worn off, but she'd definitely be able to resist it.

She doesn't want to. She wants to be brave, and honest, and vulnerable.

"Robin? You, uh, you OD over there?" Steve sounds nervous.

"No. Uh, I'm still alive..."She doesn't want to fuck this up. Doesn't want to lose Steve or Barb.

Steve slides under the stall wall. Says he can't get any worse that the blood and puke on him.

"So what do you think? About this girl?"

She gives him a wobbly smile. "she sounds awesome"

He smiles through his split lip. "She is awesome. And the guy?"

"I think he's coming down from being drugged and isn't thinking clearly. Cat custody? Really?"

He looks at her seriously. "I think he's thinking pretty clearly. Cat custody aside."

"He doesn't know this girl. And if he did, if he really, really knew her, he wouldn't want her anywhere near his wedding, let alone his hypothetical kids. I don't think he'd want to even be her friend."

He shakes his head. "That's not true. No way is that true."

She thinks fuck it. They've been tortured (she's not thinking about that). There's Russians under her feet probably still trying to kill her. She's going to be brave.

She tells him that she really likes him. About Clicks class. About Tammy. About how she was still trying to hold onto some resentment even when she was reconnecting with Barb, but he made it very difficult.

And then. Steve just. makes fun of Tammy Thompson. Sings like a muppet. And he makes her laugh.

When Dustin, Erica and Barb all bluster into the bathroom, they laugh more, at their faces, at being caught, at the ridiculousness of the entire situation.

Steve stands up and stumbles into Barb, holding his hands out to help robin up. Once she stands with him, Steve tries to rest his face on Barb's shoulder but winces. He giggles again. Turns to Barb.

"Ohh Barbie Robin's my best friend now and is gonna be my best maaAan and also our kids' godmother. She said so herself"

"I did not."

"Didn't say no, though, did you?"

To which Dustin scoffs and shoves them all out of the bathroom.

that's how I think the Stobin bathroom scene happens in the starbara au hehe

#findaanswers #starbara #stobin #steve harrington #robin buckley #barbara holland #hollington #steve x barb #stranger things #anonasaurus #momo I know i said i was working on my essay which is why I'm not writing a different starbie fic #but i do not control the brain rot it seems #yall should ask about the other bathroom scene momo and i are unhinged it makes me go insane