#a bit like michael and tori from

[thatonelittleindiekid]

I was wondering what to rewatch again tonight (enola holmes or agggtm) and that's when I realized I might have a thing for the "badass murder investigating queen x soft but portective bf" trope anyway still don't have a clue what to binge but hey

[ramblingsfromthytruly]

reasons i am actually tori spring irl:

impulsively cut hair

fucked up sleep schedule

tumblr addict

depressed - but have some good days

constant suicidal thoughts that i never really acted on

just a bit jealous and just a bit in awe of every friend i make

(i don't make many friends)

questioning (gray) aromantic????

"wtf how do u have all the romantic & sexual attraction thing figured out? i thought you were my friend?? and my age???"

strained relationship with my mother

and father that just doesn't bother atp

so so sensitive and absolutely incapable of showing anything but a "heartless" demeanor

a bit too in-my-own-head

“If you can’t accept things you don’t understand, then you’ll spend your life questioning everything. Then you’ll have to live out your life in your own head.” - charlie popped off there okay (reading that for the first time broke me)

been waiting all my life for my own michael holden

always needs a little sippy drink

like appearing out of nowhere

was genuinely surprised when i found out my "best friend" cared about my life & its well-being

also my best friend, who's much more extroverted and just generally more likable, is a fucking badass and i realized that a bit late

but i smile & hide all of that ^^ cuz the michael kinnie in me is also present :)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

[i-cast-zone-of-truth]

SO. After conferring with my partner, we have decided. Our Problem With Heartstopper (a show we both like to be clear). Is NOT that it is "too fluffy." It is 2 other things:

1. The tendency towards a rather PSA tone at times rises to extreme levels re: isaac. It's ok if the aroace character is tertiary!! But if hes gonna have not a lot going on, can he please have one (1) conversation that isnt about amatonormativity?? Or one single flaw pls??

2. The white gays have the worst problems? Elle and Tara are just chillin? Charlie, who while not a gym bro is not femme either, got bullied and James didnt? ....are we saying the light tone can't handle the kinds of problems Tara and Elle and femme gays would have?

And u know what would be great? If Tao was ace! He has a whole personality, and is very friendship-centric. Think about his conflict with Charlie in that context!! And his relationship with Elle too!!

...we concluded that this would make Tao too powerful and it would be too clear that he and Elle should actually be the mains

[sflow-er]

What Alice Oseman has said about the Ferris wheel scene

Cut for Heartstopper season 3 spoilers!

Apparently, Alice Oseman (@chronicintrovert) already said in May that the dialogue between Tori and Charlie would be different in the show and Tori's asexuality would only be explored in S4 (which has not been confirmed yet):

Not only that, Alice also referenced Tori's aceness in this Netflix Tudum article from a couple of days ago:

Although many Heartstopper couples are leaning into their relationships, one pair is in a bit of a gray area: Charlie’s sister, Tori (Jenny Walser), and her friend Michael (Darragh Hand). In the finale, we learn Michael is ready to call Tori his girlfriend, and Tori isn’t so sure. Even Charlie is confused about why Tori won’t say yes.  Oseman says that the answer to Charlie’s question lies in her fifth Heartstopper novel, which the show hasn’t caught up to. In Volume 5, Tori tells Charlie that she believes she’s asexual. “This is why she has been quite confused by her relationship with Michael,” Oseman explains. “She clearly cares about and loves Michael a lot. But she doesn’t really know whether it counts as a relationship or not.” 

So I hope that reassures those who are understandably worried that her aceness might have been erased from the show!

Personally, I think this is the better choice from both a storytelling and a representation perspective. Having her come out to Charlie on the Ferris wheel would have delighted those of us who already had more context for her character and relationship with Michael, but for the show-only fans, it would have come completely out of the blue. It would have felt more like lip service/ticking a box than actually portraying a new queer identity, because we saw very little of her and Michael's relationship and none of her feelings on it yet.

Also, the events of Solitaire don't seem to be canon in the show (as their first meeting was changed and they are clearly still going to Higgs), so the context we do have may not be fully applicable anyway. I for one am excited to see a new version of Tori and Sprolden unfold on my screen when S4 rolls around!

Perhaps we might even get to see the two ace stories converge, as the camerawork in the finale certainly seemed to hint at that.

[dsvoid]

i don’t want to be mean, but i feel like i might need to be. the way sprolden is shown in the series it’s like we just got charlie as a narrator of his sister’s life. and he’s an unreliable one. first off, the meeting. we know charlie is a hopeless romantic, so what other way of imagining his sister meeting who he thinks is her boyfriend than a meet-cute? second, we only see michael from time to time, like he’s just tori’s mascot. and i phrase it like that because we know at first charlie doesn’t like him, no one does. third, all of this goes back to the comics, where no one mentions the fire, like it never happened. not even tara and darcy. they don’t take much into account what happens with their friend’s older sister, not even if what is happening affects all of them.

it’s like through charlie’s eyes, tori can’t really experience those problems (sexuality doubts, mental illness, etc.) because she’s the big sister. she can’t have been dealing with a prank-based blog which went off the rails, she’s tori. she just has a bit of a weird boyfriend and they make it work. all of it it’s very strange, but, his sister has always been a unusual girl, hasn’t she?

[theodoraflowerday]

ok so im seeing quite a bit of upset people over the changes to the ferris wheel scene, and while i understand why people are upset (because like, duh, we all want ace tori and pan michael), i think from the show's perspective it makes a LOT of sense and i liked the change:

one, because it gave good closure to tori's storyline of the season: she is allowed to have close relationships with people who aren't her brother. I think she'd been so worried about charlie that she needed him to remind her that she's her own person and she doesn't have to neglect her own life for his sake. and also I think because she was SO focused on charlie she genuinely thought the lack of "feelings" she was experiencing were entirely because of her stress over the charlie situation and now that he's finally given her the "out" (as a manner of speaking) she can actually think about her life and her feelings for michael for what they are instead of through the lens of a worried sister. so I think it was necessary for her character development.

two, because the events of solitaire did not happen in the show while in the comics michael is already an established character and we know him, in the show he's been there for approximately 5 scenes. so of course he's not going to show up as a fully realized character. remember in the comics how tori is like "surprised neither you nor nick have noticed, bro's kinda obnoxious (affectionate) about it"? yeah well he's interacted with nick once and charlie like three times on screen. and also, he and tori just MET on the show. and this season was also a little busy with darcy, isaac and imogen going on their own sexuality and gender journeys so in my opinion, dropping a michael reveal in the ferris wheel scene would've felt kinda shoehorned (especially because it wouldn't even be michael saying that to charlie, and that tracks in the comics because of their background and bc tori assumed charlie knew, but not in the show bc they barely know each other and tori would essentially be outing him)

i hope hope HOPE we get a season 4 because tori and michael need and deserve a little more breathing room (and again, that's not a failure of this season at ALL, but solitaire not existing in tv verse DOES inform the way their joint storyline was written), and I want nothing more than a full season where they get to know each other better, learn about themselves and each other, and come out to the important people in their lives in their own terms ((and also I just honestly want a sprolden spinoff because I will always be first and foremost a sprolden shooter))

[georgiaswarr]

osemanverse allergies and intolerances

a list of headcanons and why they are 100% correct

BLISS

obviously, bliss is lactose intolerant. cause nobody loves dairy more than lactose intolerant people.

ROWAN

rowan is allergic to cat hair because as we’ve established he is allergic to going to therapy, so naturally he’d also be allergic to the ark’s therapy cat. doesn’t mean he shouldn’t have both. pill up, bitch.

LISTER

lister is severely allergic to shellfish. reasons being that in my experience, shellfish are a more elite, rich people meal, something you’d order at a fancy restaurant, i.e. something lister wouldn’t have had growing up poor. however, once he comes into money, he would try some for the first time and almost die, which shows that his current decadent lifestyle is very unhealthy.

JIMMY

jimmy is coeliac but he doesn’t know it yet. for one, he is constantly fatigued, which could in part be related to — and reinforced by — a severe iron deficiency. also, he is canonically shown to suffer from disordered eating, since he tends to skip and forget meals. this mirrors what many coeliacs tend to struggle with (and i assume people with other allergies too, i’m just speaking from my own experience); if your food options are greatly limited, it’s easy to skip or straight-up forget a meal.

GEORGIA

georgia is coeliac but she doesn’t know it yet because i’m tumblr user georgiaswarr and i say so.

SUNIL

sunil is allergic to nuts. that’s an asexual and trans joke.

TORI

tori has seasonal allergies because we all know her as a winter girlie, so tori in spring (no pun intended but pun greatly appreciated) doesn’t sit right with me. or her sinuses.

MICHAEL

michael has a loooooot of allergies; wheat, dairy, peanuts, oats, just to name a few. we all know he was very ostracised and unpopular at truham, something that would be reinforced by his ‘weird’ and ‘annoying’ dietary restrictions. after all, which horrible teenage boy is gonna like the kid that got peanuts banned on school grounds?

FRANCES

frances is allergic to certain fruits such as bananas or kiwis. however, she thinks that’s just how they’re supposed to taste, they’re supposed to hurt a bit. you know, just how she thought studying and university was just supposed to be painful without reflecting on why those expectations caused her this much suffering.

ELLE

elle is allergic to nuts. that’s another trans joke.

[pickledsprite]

sprolden question!

when do you think tori started to realize she has feelings for michael? and im not talking when it canonically happened, whats your headcanon moment?

I mean in a literal sense, she always had feelings for Michael. I believe those feelings gradually became “more than friends” a month or two after Higgs burning. While getting a bit better and her life going back to normal she noticed stuff she didn’t before like; Michael stares at her when she’s not looking, the way he slows his walk to match hers, his affectionate words, his passion for skating, his curls styled, his gleaming eyes, his laugh… his lips… :) when getting better it’s like a fog had been lifted from her and she could see and feel the love from Michael. That’s when I think she started to laugh a lot more, wear more “girly stuff" and generally taking more take of herself. Just a lot happier and positive.

Michael definitely noticed these little things and started making more romantic moves like taking her on dates and stuff. They were always affectionate but it was suddenly different. Tori was happy with it but, she always had that little doubt about herself. I mean this was her first crush.. Everything was moving fast and changing. She also suspected being ace so that whole debate was difficult for her to deal with.

Obviously now we know they had sex and that confirmed Tori’s questioning but moving forward, I’m not sure how their relationship is gonna go. I don’t think much is gonna change, still happily in love and no labels needed. :)

[thermodynamic-comedian]

I am of the opinion that Michael is a cooler character pre-distortion, and Helen is a cooler character post-distortion. Like the statement of Michael Shelley going to The Spirals ritual fucked me up, and the lingering affects of his previous character is interesting. But Helen is really cool, she's fascinating, funny, clever, hilarious and her motivations are really interesting. Before that she was a nobody real estate agent, and I believe Helen said she was a bit of a tory (I can't really remember I might be mixing up fanfiction for canon, it's been awhile since I listened to TMA)

valid take, personally i am extremely fascinated with helen richardson too. i really like the possible conversations to be had about her and the whole moral debate at the very core of tma. was she a worse person than jon for giving into avatarhood and embracing it fully? she took to being the distortion a lot more easily than i'd imagine michael shelley did, so what made her different from him? was she an inherently worse person from the start, or was she just unfortunate?

my personal interpretation of pre-distortion helen is just very. apathetic. lazy when it comes to morals. she took what she was taught as a child, and never bothered to challenge or deconstruct those ideals. she always took the easy route in life, and deep down, she resented herself for it, but never enough to actually change for the better.

she was an excellent and excessive liar, and probably the first person to experience completely correct and justified imposter syndrome. deep down, she never even felt like a real person.

the distortion is a more honest version of helen richardson than helen richardson herself ever could have been.

[lovepersevering13]

Now could you elaborate on Michael's autism

Alright it’s Michael’s turn!

I want to preface this part the same as before: I’m not a psychiatrist, this isn’t how autism is experienced by everyone and let me know if anything is incorrect :) oh also I’m a little bit more educated on how Autism is shown in girls so this one is a bit of a mess.

Ok so for Michael I kinda had to think for a bit about some like concrete evidence because I didn’t have anything annotated for him like Tori but I think I’ve come up with a pretty compelling argument (also I thought I’d let you know that as I was doing this I started to realise Michael may have ADHD but I don’t really go into that too much).

Firstly:

Alice Oseman herself supports this headcanon so…. Anhahahahajaja omg I can’t explain how happy this makes me! Anyway, let’s get into what I found in Solitaire!

1. Masking

- “Do you get angry a lot?” I say.

“I’m always angry,” he says.” Solitaire, Page 213

Ok we know Michael generally is a very upbeat, positive person on the outside but as we get to know him we learn he’s only barely happier than Tori. When I think about this covering up of his anger with overly positive emotions it is clear to that he is masking (Suppressing Autistic traits). Pessimism is a common m trait of Autism and the way I see it, Michael is overcompensating for this by acting super happy all the time to cover it up.

2. Deficit in social understanding

- “Do you remember when he tried to get everyone to do a flash mob for the Year 11 prank?” says Nick. “And in the end he just did it by himself on the lunch tables?” Nick Nelson, Solitaire, Page 39.

This quote when Nick and Charlie are talking about Michael shows and extreme lack of care about social consequences.

- “Michael Holden has swooped into the restaurant.” Solitaire, page 46

Ok so this quote and the entire scene on pages 46/47 where Michael shows up unannounced because he wants to ask Tori something displays extreme impulsivity and impulsivity is a common Autistic trait. He also didn’t care about the lack of social etiquette displayed by crashing a hangout he wasn’t invited to.

- “Michael is helping himself to our leftover starters” Solitaire, Page 48

Again, lack of social awareness because you aren’t really supposed to crash someone else’s dinner and just start eating their food.

- “He races inside and, without bothering to let me leave or shut the door, he lifts the toilet seat and starts to pee.” Solitaire, (I forgot the page)

LACK OF SOCIAL ETTIQUITE. DUDE.

- “He’s the strangest person I’ve ever met.” Solitaire, Page 62

- “I know Nick and I said he’s weird - and he is weird -“ Charlie Spring, Solitaire, Page 177

- “He looks sort of out of place everywhere.” Solitaire, (I lost the page)

People with Autism are often described as being “strange,” “weird,” or “peculiar,” because they are different from their peers which can make them stand out and struggle to fit in.

- “I, er, didn’t get on too well with the people there. Not the teachers, not the students…” Michael Holden, Solitaire, Page 148

Because of the fact that people with Autism struggle with social understanding it can be very difficult to make friends and get along with other people.

- “I’ve never been good enough,” he says. “I get so stressed out, I don’t make friends - God, I can’t make friends.” His eyes glaze over. “Sometimes I just wish I were a normal human being. But I can’t. I’m not. No matter how hard I try.” Michael Holden, Solitiare, Page 376

Yeah, this quote hurts my heart. So many people with Autism feel as though they don’t fit in and that they aren’t normal. When you don’t have a diagnosis it can be especially difficult because you don’t know why. You know there’s something different about you, you know other people are doing and feeling things you aren’t and you know you’re doing and feeling things other people aren’t, but you don’t know why. It can be super isolating.

3. Challenging Authority Figures

- “…having that argument with Mr Yates during his mock exams!” Either Nick or Charlie, Solitaire, Page 40

- “I swore at Kent.” Michael Holden, Solitaire, Page 269

It’s very common for people with Autism to challenge authority figures. Generally this is because they often naturally assume equanimity and don’t understand why some people should get more respect then others if they aren’t seemingly deserving of it. This stems from having a heightened sense of justice and empathy.

4. Autism and Sexualtiy

- “I guess you could say I’m not too fussy about gender.” Michael Holden, Solitaire, (I forgot the page)

We know Michael’s canonically Pan and as we’ve previously discussed (read Tori’s part for more info) Autism and the LGBTQ+ community are heavily intertwined. I tried to look into Autism’s correlation to Pansexuality but couldn’t find anything specific.

I also wanted to add in a little fact about how Neurodivergent people tend to gravitate towards eachother and queer people tend to do the same so Michael and Tori makes a lot of sense.

5. Special Interests/HyperFixations

Ok so, Michael gets pretty into Solitiare. Right from the start he’s obsessed. Taking photos of the posts, insisting they go to the meet up. I’d probably say it’s a hyperfixation.

And DISNEY. Holy heck Michael loves Disney… and if you haven’t caught on already, yeah imma say it’s a special interest.

- “He gasps and grabs a third DVD, leaps across the room to the flat-screen and switches it on. “We’re watching beauty and the beast,” he says.” Michael Holden, Solitaire, Page 115

I mean look at how excited he gets over ‘Beauty and the Beast’.

6. School

- “Seriously. I haven’t gotten above a C grade in any subject since Year 8.”

“It seems almost impossible for someone like Michael to be unintelligent. People like Michael - people who get stuff done - they’re always smart. Always.” Solitaire, Page 188

- “When it comes to exams… I generally don’t write what they want me to write. I’m not very good at, well, sorting out all the stuff in my head.“

“I just don’t know what the examiners want to hear. I don’t know whether I just forget things, or maybe I don’t know how I’m supposed to explain it. I just don’t know.” Michael Holden, Solitaire, Page 118

- “Because I hate school!” This is quite loud. He starts to shake his head.” Michael Holden, Solitaire, (I forgot the page)

A lot of people with Autism struggle with school and like Tori points out, it’s not because they’re not smart, Michael is smart. It’s just that the education system isn’t fitted to benefit Neurodivergent children. So many things affect Autism in schools. The dreadful sensory environment, lack of control over what they can and can’t do and the difficult social pressures.

7. Emotional dysregulation

- “He clenches his fist and he snarls. He actually snarls at me.

“Maybe you are a manically depressed psychopath.” Michael Holden, Solitaire, Page 163

Emotional Dysregulation is the inability to control the intensity and expression of emotions. This is common in people with Autism and can result in overly intense emotions and lashing out. I think this is something that heavily impacts both Tori and Michael and results in a lot of their arguments. The aforementioned quote is just one example of how quickly and dramatically their arguments blow up due to this.

- “His face contorts into a kind of scrunched-up snarl, his fists curl, his skin drains of colour, and he storms past the man and tramps over to the benches. He reaches a row of lockers and looks into them, blankly, chest visibly expanding and contracting. With an almost terrifying malice, he throws a crazed punch at the lockers, wailing a subdued howl of rage. Turning, he hurls a kick at a pile of racing helmets, scattering them about the floor. He clutches his hair, as if trying to pull it out.” Solitaire, Page 211

Oh there is just so much to cover here. So this is a prime example of an Autistic meltdown. Autistic meltdowns can be caused by overwhelming emotions (In this situation that is Michael loosing his race) and result in an outburst which can include crying, screaming (“howl of rage”), aggression (punching the lockers and kicking the helmets) and self injurious behaviours (Pulling his hair). It’s probably worth mentioning that a few of the outbursts he has towards teachers that I mentioned earlier are probably also meltdowns.

8. Stimming

- “Michael starts whistling.” Solitaire, page 198

Whistling is a form of stimming, this particular quote is from when they are in Truham looking for Charlie, considering Michael’s disdain for Truham I can imagine it was a slightly stressful environment to be back in which would validly result in a need for stimming. I actually couldn’t find any other examples of stimming except possibly the hair pulling that was mentioned in the last quote.

9. Pattern Recognition

So pattern recognition is the autistic brains increased ability to recognise patterns and in Solitaire Michael is the first person to put together the fact that all of Solitaire’s pranks were related to Tori. I really can’t be bothered to find the quote where they talk about those

10. Safe foods

I think that Tea is probably a safe food for Michael because he is often mentioned to have a mug of Tea in his hands. (But I’m not British so maybe this is like normal? How much tea do British people actually drink?)

1. Miscellaneous Quotes

- Since when did you acquire a body temperature” Solitaire, page 112

I know it’s probably supposed to be related to figure skating but struggling with temperature regulation is very common amongst people with Autism.

- “Most of the time at school I can’t even decide what pen to use.” Michael Holden, Solitaire, page 149

Indecisiveness is very common amoungst people with Autism

Alright that’s a wrap on Michael Holden. I’m thinking of doing a conjoined part for Charlie and Oliver if anyone would be interested in reading that :)

Some of the resources I used:

https://livingautism.com/decision-making-problems-adults-asd/

Thermal Perceptual Thresholds are typical in Autism Spectrum Disorder but ...

https://sparkforautism.org/discover_article/managing-emotions/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7430467/

https://neuroclastic.com/autism-and-responding-to-authority/?amp

[louiisaaah]

HEARTSTOPPER SEASON 3 SPOILERS 🚨🚨

also tw for all of the sensitive topics this season covered

okay i watched all of heartstopper yesterday and i have thoughts

my first thought is that it was absolutely heartbreaking and nearly made me full on sob on too many occasions

the way they handled charlie's ed and nicks support of that was really good. it was done in a way that was respectful but didn't sugarcoat it. like it was realistic and not just disrespectful to people who have gone through that

one thing i did find was that the pacing was a bit weird. i think everything moved too fast. it might just be because i binged it all in one go but i found that they needed more episodes to fit everything in. there were so many storylines that got pushed to the side that i think deserved more attention. imogen definitely deserved way more screen time and more attention to her discovery story. i know they had the conversations with sahar in the tent and at new years but i found the conversation between her and nick in the hotel room wasn't very impactful. darcy definitely needed explaining better. i felt it was kind of like if you weren't paying attention full attention you wouldn't know that they hadn't gone back to they're mum, or even that they were non binary. the storyline of her abusive household was setup so much in season 2 and not really payed much attention to in season 3.

i think tori's character was perfect this season. you as the audience can tell she's definitely not okay but the people in her life don't pick up on it, which is exactly what her life is like for most of solitare. and the fact that you can tell charlie is her BEST friend but she isn't charlie's best friend. charlie's found his people for life but apart from michael towards the end, she has no one apart from charlie.

i'm not gonna lie i was disappointed by the fight. i wanted to properly see it because as charlie said that argument made them closer but to us it's like that new connection just magically happened because we didn't really see the fight. and because they're relationship so far has been positive it needed a more realistic lens and that fight being bigger really would've done that i think.

ive literally got so many thoughts it's gonna take me years to type them all out so ill do another post at some point. i'm gonna rewatch the whole thing slower and see if i still think it progresses too fast.

overall i genuinly LOVED this season so much and found it so heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. episode four and five were my favourites i think. i'm also the same age as charlie and most of my best friends are a year above me so it hit very close to home in that aspect. my school doesn't even have a sixth form so they all left me to SUFFER on my own it's not okay. anyway that is not what this post is about i loved heartstopper guys

edit: I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT ISAAC

i really love how him and charlie's friendship has developed and his coming out moment was really beautiful. i've literally never seen aro/ace representation in anything so it was really nice to see. it felt like last season he was barely part of the group and him finally talking about how he felt so left out was really powerful

[retrieve-the-kraken]

Okay, preliminary thoughts, after first time watching season 3 of Heartstopper.

SPOILERS!!!

(Some of these are just me screaming and probably lack context, i just wrote this really fast whilst watching, and then forgot what else was happening.)

MY BABIES ARE BACK!

- Not me doing a happy dance and squeeing with joy when Isaac says “I’m not in the mood to give my friends a vocab lesson.” SAME!

- Crying already.

- TORI!

- Nellie, like a good doggo, waiting for her dad outside the bathroom, really got me. That look!!!!!

- I loved Hailey Atwell as aunt Diane, but I still missed Olivia Colman so much… she made too much of an impact as Sarah, and you can really feel her absence.

- Screaming at the fact that they got Annette Badland (from Ted Lasso and Big Boys) to be Darcy’s gran!!! I love her, she’s perfect.

- OMG The Teachers ™

- If episode 3 was already getting to me and then episode 4 was super sad, I was still unprepared for the scene where Nick cries in Tao’s arms. (Something something Nick in his superhero outfit trying to be Charlie’s superhero, but also needing to cry, will delve more into that in my full episode analysis…)

- I weep every time I reread the comic when Charlie goes to talk to his parents, but hearing everything out of Charlie’s mouth made it even worse. I’m a mess…

- I honestly looooooved how they did episode 4, with the quick catch-up flashback structure and two perspectives. I didn’t think it would work, but it was great.

- It took me a whole 5 seconds to realize that when Nick said “vintage camera” he was referring to the HANDYCAM that Will’s dad used, and I honestly never thought I would feel the urge to punch Nick Nelson but I did…

- “I hope that when you get back you don’t feel like you have to lie to us anymore.” LOOOOOOOVED that whole home video they did for Charlie, perfect vibe, it was so nicely done. But that line really got me… Isaac was perfect this season.

- More crying…

- OMG the Charlie painting!!! All of Elle’s paintings! I wonder who made those really? Whose style is it? Have they ever talked about it??? I need to know!

- “I hope I get a soul”, “I hope I get mental health”. I didn’t know I could ask for these things for Christmas…

- Imogen was hilarious and so beautifully developed this season. Much like Nick, she’s going through a whole self-discovery phase, but hers is not as perfect.

- HENRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

- “Is this the boyfriend?” I need to talk soooo hard about the contrast between the two families. Nick has a whole family that loved him, except that he doesn’t get along with his brother and he has an absent dad, whilst Charlie has a difficult relationship with his family, but his sister really seems to get him. You can see the contrasting environment at Christmas, with the disjointed vibes at the Spring household, and the very warm and welcoming vibes at the Nelson household…

- Every time Tori pops us out of nowhere, it’s perfect. Love the spooked look on David’s face.

- Dysphoria talk!

- “Spare us the details”, “No! I want all the details!” I am Isaac and Isaac is me.

- I watched the trailer… I watched the clips… but I NEVER expected that Michael would be so FUCKING PERFECT. I need more of him. “Beautiful chaos.” I was in tears.

- “I don’t want to keep hurting you.” IMOGEEEEEEEN. Love this whole storyline. Can’t wait for more of them.

- Drunk Charlie!!! He’s so horny. Whilst drunk Nick is a little sad. And drunk Imogen is a bit of both. I’m more of a drunk Tara: extra anxious.

- As someone who just experienced a major meltdown at work, over which I’m still embarrassed, I love how Tara also went from “I want to die” to “IDGAF about anything” because that is the right response.

- The radio show scene proves that Yasmin Finney’s voice should be on everything. I could listen to her read scientific papers to me. Does anyone know if I can make her my satnav voice?

- Sincerely disappointed that Elle’s mum did not kick down the door and barge in and slap the interviewer, whilst Mr Argent tried to hold her back and Tao filmed the whole thing.

- But I wrote down everything that Elle said, because that’s going into my arsenal. “Trans people are not a debate”. PERIODT.

- Love how we see Nick hanging out with other people more, especially Tara, and how encouraging Tara is. Their friendship is so lovely.

- I honestly thought that Tao would say “I’m improving, I might even become the next… Elle Argent.”

- I never thought I would identify so hard with a fictional bisexual teen boy, but in the comic, and now here, when Nick talks about how much of his true self he was repressing before he figured out he was bi… I feel that.

- The whole uni road trip was perfect, but it felt too short. Also I wish we would have gotten the scene in which Nick and Charlie facetime and Nick gets a preview of Naked Charlie ™. *Was not prepared

- A little disappointed in Charlie’s rock band outfit, it looked nothing like the one in the comic… also, after seeing Joe Locke as Teen in “Agatha All Along”, I would have killed to see him in all black tight clothes. Nick’s head would have exploded, though…

- Although this season was definitely hornier, it wasn’t quite horny enough. Here’s hoping that season 4 (which will definitely happen) will be the horniest ever.

That’s it for now… I need to rewatch already…

[012mashi]

Loved this season but there were some things I didn't really like (ferris wheel scene). I love the addded bits, getting to see more into everyone's relationships was great! So much original content (the whole radio show scene was so well done and just an awful gut punch of an experience), great soundtrack as always. Michael! The visuals were so on point, especially with darker Charlie scenes, but also the happy ones. I love love LOVE the different effects for feelings, not just the iconic heartstopper leaves, but the sparks and the snowflakes. Imogen and Sahar, hello?? The two teachers are great as usual, so many small adorable moments, agh love them. Interesting, sweet, and gut wrenching season as a whole.

The pace was kind of all over the place. With so much stuff going on it seems natural scene transitions would feel abrupt, but I wish they'd add like 5 mins to each episode just to let things breathe, especially in between more tense scenes.

Glad I'm not the only one disappointed that they changed the ferris wheel scene. Man, it was such an important scene for Tori in the comics, way different than "you can love more people than your brother".

Which okay, yeah that's what's extremelly important to her throughout the story, but it's deeper than that. She's a pessimist asexual, worried about her relationship with the one person she made a genuine deep connection with and the societal expectations that come with a relationship.

She's scared of disappointing and hurting that one person she loves outside her family, despite understanding that they're sticking with each other for the long run. Scary relatable stuff! Michael just loves her, he doesn't give a shit, glad at least that was highlighted.

Instead, Isaac is now the one carrying everything aro-ace related, which sucks, because he represents one specific experience (and conflict, important nonetheless, but still). We don't really get deeper scenes of just him this season, which I wish we did because he had some flickers of great things. Yet, it was more like conflict between him and his friends, mostly from their pov, over their relationships interfering with their friendship, while he spells it out kind of like in s2. At least it had actual development this time? Yay to him coming out and them all affirming their friendship. He's not alone. Nice to see his whole face light up when people recognize asexuality/aromanticism though, that was sweet. Also him liking the idea, but clearly knowing it's not for him??

We just could've had more variety. I mean, maybe Alice is planning something for Tori and Michael still, especially in s4? I'd hope so!

Yay more insight into different friendships at least. Tao and Nick!! Nick and Tara!! Charlie and Isaac, yay. Their gift to Charlie was the sweetest thing ever.

Also, we CAUGHT UP with the comics?? THE WEBCOMIC CAME BACK

[bunnysnuff]

Safe Space.

Pairing: Charlie spring x mtf!reader (sibling), Tori Spring x mtf!reader (sibling). Michael holden x mtf!reader (platonic).

Trigger warning: none.

Request.

The party was in full swing downstairs. Laughter echoed through the house, glasses clinked, and Tori’s bright voice carried above the noise as she directed the last few touches to the decorations. But even with all the commotion, you sat quietly in the corner, your plate of sugar cookies balanced on your lap, a glass of pink lemonade in hand. You watched, observing but never truly joining in.

Charlie and his friends had taken over most of the living room, chatting and sharing stories. Michael was there too, smiling at something Tori said, but his eyes kept drifting toward you. You met his gaze for a second before you quickly looked away, taking another sip of your lemonade. You could feel his eyes lingering on you before he got up and walked over.

He sat down beside you, but not too close, leaving a small gap between you. His presence wasn’t loud or demanding, and you appreciated that. Michael had always been good at reading people, knowing when to push and when to step back. He smiled gently at you.

“Hey,” he said softly, as if trying not to disrupt your peace. “How’s the party?”

You shrugged, your eyes drifting toward the rest of the group. They seemed happy, carefree. You, on the other hand, felt like you were on the outside looking in, as usual.

“It’s fine,” you replied quietly, your voice barely above a whisper.

Michael nodded, as if he understood. He leaned back slightly, resting his arms on the back of the couch. “Do you want to do something else?” he asked after a pause. “Maybe go for a walk, or… I don’t know, we could watch a movie upstairs if you want.”

You glanced at him from the corner of your eye, feeling a tiny bit of warmth at the offer. But the truth was, you didn’t want company—not now. You had your own plans, your own way of celebrating. Alone.

You shook your head. “I’m just… I’m gonna head upstairs. Watch WALL-E or something.”

Michael didn’t push. He never did. “Alright,” he said, offering you a small smile. “If you change your mind, I’m around.”

You gave him a slight nod and stood up, slipping away quietly. As you made your way up the stairs, you heard Charlie’s voice calling out from the kitchen. “Everything okay?”

You paused at the top of the stairs, turning to see him standing in the doorway, a soft concern in his expression. He wasn’t overbearing—just checking in, as he always did.

“Yeah,” you said, your voice steady. “Just need a break.”

Charlie nodded, understanding. “Okay. We’ll save you some cake.”

You gave him a faint smile, a silent acknowledgment that you appreciated the gesture. Then you disappeared down the hallway and into your room, closing the door softly behind you.

Inside, the quietness wrapped around you like a familiar blanket. You sat down on the bed, reached for the remote, and started WALL-E. The soft glow of the TV filled the room, and as the opening scenes played, you felt yourself finally relaxing, sinking into the quiet solitude that always brought you comfort.

This was your space. Your way of celebrating. No crowds, no noise—just you, your favorite movie, and the gentle hum of the world you’d built for yourself.

[sflow-er]

Assorted Heartstopper season 3 thoughts (spoilers!)

Charlie's mental health issues were handled really, really well and Joe Locke acted his heart out. Perhaps the recovery could've been shown in a little more detail, but the ep4 structure was a great solution for a show of this length. I also liked how they portrayed the impact on his loved ones (especially the toll on Nick and Tori).

As much as I missed Nick's mum throughout the season, making his aunt a psychiatrist and letting her advise him about Charlie was an excellent choice! It actually felt more realistic than if it had been Sarah.

So pleased to see more Tori this season, and the rewrite of her and Michael's first meeting was cute! I do wish they had broken away from the comics timeline though, because the fast-forward to him casually hanging at their house felt very abrupt. I would've preferred a closer portrayal of her depression and them gradually getting closer this season, with their actual relationship saved for later.

Hence, I am actually glad they saved the ace reveal for S4. We saw too little of Tori and Michael's relationship or her confusion around it to relate to her aceness yet. If she had randomly come out to Charlie on the Ferris wheel, it would have just felt like lip service and a nod to the fans who knew her story from Solitaire (which is not canon in the show). I get why people feel like she was straightwashed, but there is zero chance of Alice Oseman of all people eradicating ace rep, and I genuinely feel that this was the better choice.

That being said, Michael was perfect and the casting was spot on!

As for the aspec rep we already got, Isaac's arc this season was amazingly well done! Even if his experience doesn't resonate with me on a personal level, it was relatable as hell in the show. It's also a great reminder that we are watching an ongoing show. S2 was Isaac figuring out his own identity, S3 was him living it and communicating it to others - and based on the camerawork in the scene where people wondered about Tori and Michael, S4 may be Isaac helping someone else figure out their own identity.

Another memorable thing for me was Elle's radio interview - the sheer absurdity of a trans teen being asked to respond to bad faith talking points from some adult TERF. The host both-sidesing it and unwittingly exposing her to vitriol if the interview had aired. Holy shit how appalled I was on her behalf - and how sadly realistic it felt... I hope the parents and random adults who watch this highly popular show take note.

Is it horribly middle-aged of me to say the teachers are still my favourite couple? I loved the glimpses we got of them together and the flashback to little Youssef made me tear up. More of them in the final season please and thank you!

My main criticism is that the season felt too heavily packed. There are so many characters now, and Alice and the writers want to give them all at least some kind of arc in each season. The result is that many of those arcs feel a bit rushed, and even as someone who usually fixates on side characters, I'm struggling to invest in all of them at once. Especially while the main characters and the more prominent side characters are going through very heavy stuff. So yeah, I would have preferred a tighter focus and more narrative breathing space.

All in all though, I really enjoyed this season and am looking forward to the next (presumably last) one!

[hona-hona]

Order you fave characters, 1 being u like most:

Nick

Charlie

Elle

Tao

Isaac

Aled

Imogen

Tori

Michael

Christian

Sai

Otis

Oliver

you didn’t ask, but i gave a little comment to each, because i don’t want my rankings to exist without context. also added taradarcy! if we’re talking sai otis and christian we shouldn’t ignore our favourite lesbians

many opinions ahead! you don't have to agree

charlie (i have an extreme amount of feelings towards this boy) and nick (i can’t separate them, i love you i relate to you you are my son)

darcy (she’s so fun, even though irl i’d probably be a bit intimidated)

tao (i adore hstv tao, for me personally his quirky personality comes across better in the show than in the comic)

michael (he’s silly!!! he’s the silly man!! i’m looking forward to seeing him in the show)

elle (she seems like an overall good friend and a very cool, pleasant person to have around. i just want to be friends with her honestly) (although i do have questions for hstv elle for telling tao about charlie and nick without asking charlie first like girl um. why does that never get addressed)

imogen (she’s important to me, and if anything happens to her, i will destroy everyone in the room and then myself)

isaac (I LOVE ISAAC he’s the sweetest)

tara (she’s very kind and nice but i don’t have many meaningful things to say, so i placed her here)

tori (she’s great but i feel like compared to how some other fans feel about her i’m pretty neutral)

oliver (he’s an amazing kid!! i love the energy and the fun moments he adds to the comic, but i wasn’t horrendously upset when i found out he wasn’t in the show, so take from that what you will)

aled (i haven’t read radio silence, so sorry to say i don’t really have any strong feelings towards aled.. he seems nice, though)

otis, sai and christian (i mean they’re background characters they seem like decent friends to nick but that’s about it)