#also the flashback in the Christmas episode

[supernatural-flowers]

As I am watching the earlier seasons of SPN I find the relationship between Dean and Sam especially interesting. They care so much about each other, they are the brothers ever actually.

That episode with Gabriel trying to teach Sam that they can’t keep sacrificing oneself for the other one but they are just so devoted and dependent to each other that it’s impossible to live without the other one

I’ll try and explain better when my thoughts on them feel more coherent

[adamfromsawreal]

“if you’re gonna do all of this for some girl you just met, maybe it’s time you stood up to grammy for me” trevor evans more like gay evans LOL no but seriously this whole episode was so fucking crazy every trevor scene was literally him either trying to get mike to move in with him or being jealous of claire. i have never seen a man so desperate. miketrevor were THE male friendship with queer undertones but yall aren’y ready for that i fear……….

[chaoswillcalmusdown]

i really want to dissect season 2 episode 6 of the bear. like. the convo about claire. the mom stuff obv. carmy's gift for michael. the fact that sugar is literally about to become a mom herself which must be extra fucking terrifying, the tragedy of relatives being like 'haha i wonder if donna's gonna do something crazy' vs the berzatto kids' stress and anxiety levels, michael's behaviour at the table combined with carmy being like 'oh i didn't even know he was using' - which. ?!

[todayisafridaynight]

So what's one of your favorite Tsutsumi fits 😉

random as hell question to be askin 🤨 so mysterious...

but since you did ask probably this one <3 from the second episode of pure <3

[stargirlfics]

SARAH PAULSON?!!! JAMIE LEE CURTIS?!!!

[cheese-rat29]

spn had the greatest kid actors, especially for sam and dean. these kids fuckin' nailed the characters.

[age-of-moonknight]

Murderworld: Moon Knight (Vol. 1/2023), #1.

Writers: Jim Zub and Ray Fawkes; Artist: Luca Pizzari; Colorist: Matt Milla; Letterer: Cory Petit

[fuckedupsociety155]

As a peruvian, I approve the message of what if...? S2e06.

[soulfulazrael]

"Media literacy" in HB fanbase. OH MY GOD is r/HelluvaBoss dumb. Also Vassago.

I made a mistake

Well 2. One of them is using this gif given recent... funny things with certain VA, but the other, relevant one is visiting the dreaded r/HelluvaBoss

Now I do not engage in discussion there. It will lead nowhere as most of you will realize the moment you will see what I have to show you, but first let's talk about a spectacular case of confused character writing that is Vassago.

I wont discuss who he is in Demonology. That is kind of irrelevant because this show barely follows any of it anyway. What is important is their appearance in Mastermind as the sole defender of Stolas's honor and all I can say is... Who the fuck are you?

And let's be honest. If none of us watched promotional material we would also ask ourselves the same thing. Who is this guy?

And it makes sense because suddenly at a very high point in the story this character is thrown at us as if we are not only supposed to know who this is, but also be amazed at that he defends Stolas. His one friend... brother... lover... someone who comes to his aid among all the other Goetias.

And there was no build up to this character, there was no name drop of him before, no flashback, not even a peep that would relate in ANY way to his character and all we are left with are questions and not the good kind. Why is he for instance speaking spanish in between english? Why is he so important? Why is he the only one in Stolas's corner? Why is he in this pivotal moment that is meant to cap off the entire season's story?

But not to worry because bright people from a beautiful place that is r/HelluvaBoss come to our aid to help our 'media illiteracy'

Do I even have to say anything? I mean I do, but still... come on.

Let us first address top comment "He will be important later". I am sorry, but what kind of justification is that? When is that later? 3rd season? Because if so then this is terrible way of introducing character that is going to be important in 3rd season. Because this show already presents him as if he has been part of the story for a while and gives him a prominent role (as prominent as like 5 lines are) like there was some kind of foreshadowing towards him being the only one to defend Stolas.

There was not. Vassago is put in a role that would be more fitting for character like Ozzie. You know. Actually important character that was given previously some screentime and has established relationship with the main cast who can stand in this proceeding and do SOMETHING aside from looking down at his phone like an average 12 year old today during Christmas Dinner.

And that is the thing. Such a role in an episode should NOT be given to completely new character. This is a role that should be given to already pre established character that AT LEAST is mentioned by word. Like I dunno. With Stolas maybe wondering how Vassago is doing or how maybe at some point he mentions him. SOMETHING. Dropping this character so suddenly in such a crucial moment of the story is just very strange. In a way same goes for Satan who also had about nothing about him besides I believe Verosika episode having him mentioned... one line... that is the level of foreshadow we are doing here.

And then there is that other comment that talks about "media literacy". You want to add a new character? How about do it ANYWHERE ELSE than a crucial part of it. Because those moments are not good for introductions of new parts of main cast without any prior mention of them. Those moments are meant to be culmination of everything that came before. Leave intros for before and/or after.

And then we have some of this

I love those people man. All talking about "media literacy" or "anti-intelectualism". Just... AAAAGH! God. Yeah. You are so smart. You understand writing so well.

Let's just put it into perspective. This is as if Verosika's first appearance would be in Apology Tour as one of the people Blitzo hurt and we are suddenly supposed to care for her even though she never showed up or was mentioned before. That would be STUPID right?

Well that's what they did with Vassago. Apparently VERY important character to Stolas introduced haphazardly during climax of the Season in a prominent role of being the only one who defends him even though not only is this part better suited for other character that is there, but also this role is absolutely wasted because he has about 5 goddamn lines. And it is telling how much in that first image the long comment does mostly just theorizing because we know absolutely NOTHING about this character and people are already supposed to be hyped for him despite that he was introduced so quickly. Also take a load of this.

Yeah. Because a character introduced at the very start of the book is the same as goddamn Vassago. In fact this is like Gandalf being introduced in Moria. Wouldn't that be just dumb? And you know what's sad? This.

Those people actually bring up good points. And they either no attention or get downvoted. Why? Because critical thinking is a sin on that subreddit. The first one especially (upvoted by me now BTW). Just... ugh...

This is the state of people on r/HelluvaBoss. If you value your braincells do NOT go to that damn place. There is about as much critical thinking and praised "media literacy" as there is on ragebait thread on twatter spouted by some idiot talking about how "west has fallen" because woman.

It's stupid. And makes me dumber just thinking about it. Jesus. This fanbase man. It's amazing.

Now there are smart people in this fanbase. There are good people in it. There are very much great, talented people in it. And some of those people who I mentioned who's comments hurt my brain could be talented and could be smart, but are just not about this part of HB. But considering what they are saying... I needed to vent about this because this hurts to see.

And the worst part is that Viv probably likes that this fanbase is like this. No critical thinking or doubts. Just spouting insults. Making headcanons to counter criticism and refusal to leave their echo chamber.

It's sad. Because not only I feel bad for them, but I feel bad for the show, because with fans like those how could it EVER improve? To many of those probably the only time to say anything critical is when it's all over. But at that point... who cares?

Also do not think I am some pillar of 'media literacy' or 'intellectualism'. I am not. I am really not. I am just passionate about writing and those people cause me headaches.

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

Hi, do you have the list of flashbacks we could have had but didn't? Thanks!

Hiya! Oooh, like the historical scenes? :) I shall try:

Season 1 - written but not shot:

In which Crowley gets drunk with Leonardo da Vinci - where Crowley does that and buys his Mona Lisa sketch. (in the ultimate script book)

The bookshop opening scene - with Gabriel and Sandalphon as Regency dandies, and Crowley bringing Aziraphale chocolates and saving him from having to leave the bookshop by ‘being promoted’ to Heaven. (in the ultimate script book)

In which Aziraphale almost sells a book - with Aziraphale as Victorian Bookseller. (shared by Neil on his twitter or in the ultimate script book)

In which Crowley goes clothes shopping - scene preceding the 60s one where Crowley shops for ’psychedelic black’ paisley jacket. (in the ultimate script book)

honourable mention: the Rome scene is a smol bit longer with Aziraphale and Crowley talking about Nero and Caligula - this was shot but cut (also in the scriptbook)

(also, I have like a foggish memory Neil mentioning considering them in the ancint egyptian era possibility? 🤔 can't find it so not sure :))

Season 2 - only planned or written but not filmed because covid shortened the episodes (covid costs made 55min episodes into 42min episodes :( ):

an Arabian Nights one by a British-Sudanese author who had made a study of the period and the material previously and she was determined to tell a story set in that time and place that wasn’t from, a “stereotypical western vantage point”. It had a djinn.

a 15th century Papal one

a Wild West one

a 1960s American one with Crowley and Aziraphale female presenting. 

Bonus: When Neil was asked about a Christmas special:

Not one that’s going to be on this Christmas, no.

(Thinks, we could do the Birth of Jesus one, where Aziraphale is in the Inn and has rented out all the rooms to welcome Mary and Joseph, and then is sent out to be glorious to the shepherds and forgets to tell anyone at the Inn that the rooms aren’t just for him.)

(Or The Victorian one where Crowley, Aziraphale and the Usher Of Hell are determined to reform a miser by disguising themselves and turning up in his bedroom on Christmas Eve….)

(still hoping to get... all of them :D! <3)

[midnight1nk]

So, this week's episode...

[spoilers below cut]

I KNEW IT!!! I knew that one of the two episodes left of the year had to be a holiday one aha!! *LE GASP* does that mean the last one will be sonic 3?

*nods* respect 👏

A Christmas special with TARI, oooh! and noticeably a shorter one too, huh. alright, let's-a GOOOOOOOO

(the following is my live reaction:)

aww, look at Tari being adorable (see that's how you get me, have my favorite characters do cute little hops and my life is yours)

bringing back the side characters LET'S GOOOO

CLENCH omg you're back I hope you can stay for the whole episode

ooooh tari's christmas list just dropped. hmmm let's see...

Saiko = KFC Theme Guitar (honestly slay) Mario = Spaghetti Necklace (whether he's going to wear or eat it, he'll enjoy it regardless) Kaizo = Scythe Polish Luigi = Gardening Kit SMG4 = Body Oder Spray (my man can't catch a break, "he stinks" canon) Belle = Nintendo Switch Case SMG3 = Dog Grooming Kit (for Eggdog awwww) Melony = How to draw Manga book (nice callback to "SMG4 and SMG3 Shop For Cursed Items" episode for Christmas shopping) Whimpu = Glasses Repair Kit Boopkins = Body Pillow Cleaning Kit (...) Bob = Karaoke Machine (that's actually sweet considering he is a rapper and the obvious choice would be a gun or smth, tari's a good friend) Rob = Corn Keychain

the cliche superhero transition *wheeze*

can I just say I love the fit Mario has on

1920's spaghetti?

i did not expect to see Sonic 06 (foreshadowing, eh?) and as a sonic fan, i gotta respect the hustle

now, i know it's supposed to be disgusting and you obviously have to put gross things here to convey that but... there's that eye imagery again.... *flashbacks ensue*

oooh Christmas party! I wanna see that!

aww tari did get clench a glove, maybe she didn't want to spoil the surprise too soon

also let's take a moment for that board in the bg:

"Random Text Here Shameless Advertising Happy Birthday smg4!" then something signed by a "Fan"

gotta love the small details

gonna be using this as a reaction pic for now on

Mario, don't you guys have a basement? pretty sure no one will grab the bag in there

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA OMG OMG THERE'S NO WAY THIS IS REAL THEY ACTUALLY USED CANTRO'S OUTFIT DESIGN FOR THIS EPISODE THAT'S AWESOME DUDE (am aware that the Team used the model before in a previous ep but it was only shown for a few seconds, this is BIG)

new merch, eh?

...i'll take your entire stock

Oh Tari, it's okay to say no. Four did ask if you had time

beautiful commercial....wha? Bob, da hell are you doing? oh the usual

charity? understandable, have a good day

PFFT HAHAHAHA that grenade bit somehow got me

oh Four somehow teleported outside, chair and all

*wheeze* the way they just latch on the back of the cop car like that

BOOPKINS? ...yeah I should've seen that coming. and he's on a toddler seat too

question for the people: is UNO a board game? if not, then boopkins, you got it wrong buddy

RIGHT NOW?! boopkins she's got her hands full

GEEZ even I'm getting stressed

gonna be real here: it was actually a good choice to have the plot at a faster pace just so we could feel Tari's stress rapidly building up

oh hey Meggy's matching with Mario (love that for the M&M siblings) but Saiko, girl, please get yourself a coat :( you're gonna freeze

OH GOD Tari, i need you to breathe please! all of this is stressing you out, it's okay to say no

...oh no

i can't look dude, i know Tari's technically fulfilling everyone's wishes but this isn't the way to go :(

C'MON TARI, HOPE YOU CAN MAKE IT IN TIME PLEASE

NO NO NO *flips table* oh poor Tari

OH NO CAN I GIVE HER A HUG PLEASE? *shakes my laptop screen* LET ME INNNNNNN

WTF NO SHE DOESN'T DESERVE THIS

TARI DON'T LISTEN TO THOSE VOICES IN YOUR MIND, YOU ARE A GOOD FRIEND

...three? let me turn the brightness up

yeah that's Four's model but for some reason has Three's voice and line.... huh... (I'll come back to this later)

dude, i literally had to pause and leave the room

fuck you got me tearing up. Team, is that what you wanted from me?

no tari, it wasn't your fault :( you didn't ruin anything

YES TELL HER, SAIKO

STAWP I'M THIS 🤏 CLOSE TO FULL-ON SOBBING WTF

FAMILY IS FOUND 👏👏👏

...wha? Three?

wait, this whole episode was you were retelling what happened to Tari, to Eggdog?

...that actually puts things in a whole new context (I'll talk about it later)

*gets hit by the book*

AY Congrats to Mango for your art being featured in the end credits! 🎉 what an awesome Christmas gift from the Team honestly

.・-: ✧ :--: ✧ :-・.

This was a fantastic Christmas special! This really punched me in the gut (but in a good way). Everything, as always, was amazing. Excellent job, Team!!! Too bad Clench couldn't be in the whole episode.

Oh Tari, my girl :( I felt the emotional rollercoaster along with her and I just wanted to give her a giant hug.

Me 🤝 Tari → people pleasers with a dose of abandonment issues

Tari, I've been there and I promise your friends aren't gonna leave you. What you can offer, what you're able to, that is worth something. It doesn't need to be material, just being a part of their lives is enough. No matter how big, because to them, it could mean a lot more than what you think.

It's what I've been struggling too, that the people who have approached me only wanted what I could offer, but not as a person. And it takes time to heal and open up again to people who are worth opening up to, but you'll get there.

So, to remind you (yes, the one behind the screen): you are enough. We are enough. What you do, means a lot more to other people than what you think. You'd be surprised how much a second of your presence means to people, and they value that. It's why it's okay to say no when you aren't able to, they'll understand if they truly do care for you. I promise, time will come around for you to find the good ones.

That's why I love this show. It isn't just a "silly meme show", it's so much more than that. Yes, it does have its funny moments but it can be emotional, dramatic, exciting. And even relatable. That's the point of stories. Like I said countless times before:

Every story, no matter how outlandish it seems, is grounded in reality.

That's why I'm glad this was one of the last episodes of the year, to bring it all back that it's a story that we all can relate to in some way. That we aren't alone. Grab each other by the hand and take one day at a time.

Oh boy, sorry for that emotional stuff. Just wanted to bring some comfort 💙 With that, I'm gonna bring back what was the most interesting of this episode: SMG3

It wasn't until the very end that we realized this whole episode was Three retelling Tari's story not only to Eggdog but also to Terrance.

(If I remember the layout correctly, right in the same nook above the fireplace is where Terrance's photo is placed)

So, yes, he is reading a bedtime story to both of his sons. (just gonna cry in the corner for a second) He's such a dad 🥺

Anyway, i shall put my theorist goggles on:

Back in the part when Tari was too late to buy the Crew presents and the voices in her head were bashing her for failing, we have SMG3 for some reason come in:

To be clear, that's Four's model (notice the lack of chip of the cap) but Three is the one saying: "And I thought I was evil..." Other than being the narrator, Three wasn't in the story, so the question is why?

The obvious would be that the Team simply made a mistake and forgot that they placed this in. Ok, sure, that's if it was on accident. But what if they did it on purpose?

As Three stated in the episode "Trash Friends", he truly believes he's "the worst version of SMG4"

Think about it: the basic roles for them are Four as the hero and Three as a villain.

If Three was ever in an episode all of a sudden is because he is the negative force of the story. Recall back to the episode "Meme Hunters" when Three was forced to be "the conflict" of the episode.

Now, it may seem harmless but to him, he was afraid to be perceived as nothing more than "SMG4's cheap and worst copy"

And also in "You Used to Be Cool", people have noticed when he does lay back a bit from the usual villain/rival role and bash him saying, "This isn't you."

Hero or villain, you're seen differently by everybody

Then there was the whole "moral of the story" part:

Ofc, it's a whole thing that Three refuses time after time that he's not friends with the Crew

Now with the context that we have, we just got a peek into Three's fears/insecurities. Basically: if he opens up and accepts that he has friends, they might try and take advantage of him. So, what should he do? Close himself off, be an asshole, and deny, deny, deny.

Despite risking literally everything, INCLUDING HIS OWN LIFE, for them, he's doing this to protect himself from emotional harm when he's the most vulnerable.

There's indeed a trope that villains, especially redeemed ones, would have a sense of empathy of some kind. They know what's like to hit rock bottom, it's why they can empathize with the people who least deserve it, like Tari. (Even with Four back in IGBP.) So yes, as much as this is a story about Tari, it also relates to Three.

How can you have what you want when you're the one holding yourself back?

Three: "I also need love, understanding, and tenderness." [IGBP movie, Spanish dub] Three: " I just want the USB in that spaghetti in your stomach so I can use it to gain fame and love that SMG4 has too much of, okay?!" Mario: "...Is that it? Silly SMG3, you could of just told Mario instead of suppressing your inner emotions and your fear of being forever forgotten." [Trash Friends]

I mean, look at the last episode, he was so happy to know he got fanart.

The pressure he has, the role he has to play, what he's perceived as. It all affects him. Sure, he doesn't care that he's not perceived as the standard definition of a villain but he is really as human as he can be, with fears and desires.

Another way to see the "failure" part of the episode is that Three could never see Four in a negative light. Sure, Four has made terrible mistakes but past the YouTube Arc, Three has never seen Four as a villain (again, the role of the hero thing). Four is flawed just as he is, but since he's the one telling Tari's story, he replaces Four with himself in the narrative.

It's not confirmed it's because he cares about Four in this instant but it's obvious he has done it on purpose. All because that's the role he plays, one he absolutely fears, "an evil and worst copy of Four".

(For all we know, he might've altered some other things in the story we haven't even known about.)

AND the fact that he's telling it like a bedtime story to his son(s) as a warning, so they don't go through what he went through when he was younger (his whole parenting of reminding them that they're loved and appreciated for even the smallest things)

So, long story short: me 🤝 Tari 🤝 SMG3 → underlining abandonment issues

I've been noticing that a lot of points from past episodes are starting to resurface again (like IGBP) and I do hope we get to bring back what's going on with Three. Then, we might get Three having the same conclusion that Tari went through: as much as he wants to deny it to protect himself, he'll realize that it's okay to be vulnerable and have friends.

And he'd be surprised how much of what he did was valuable to them. That what he seeks is already right in front of him. After all, he's already part of the Crew :)

He would just have to let himself avert his view and see the truth.

[imtryingandtired]

Episode ideas for a NATM series that should exist

- McPhee ending up getting fired as museum curator because of complaints from museum guests not liking him all that much and getting replaced with a much worse person, so Larry tries to get him back

- War breaks out between the Wild West and Rome exhibit despite Jed and Octavius being friends now and them having to try getting to the bottom of this sudden aggression

- A buzzfeed unsolved type group starts to believe the natural history museum is haunted and decide to have a lockdown type stream in it to catch ghostly activity

- Larry has some time off as night guard and his temporary replacement ends up being the worst, leading to them trying to get Larry to come back

- Obligatory body swap or Freaky Friday episode for the fun of it

- Larry gets to go back to the Smithsonian after they borrow ahk and the tablet for a exhibit featuring the gate of kahmunrah (new wax statue or his actual corpse), him and Ahk reuniting

- The anniversary of Wea and Teddy getting together comes up and the exhibits try planning the perfect date for them, going the slightest bit overboard

- Halloween special where Ahk discovers a lone statue in the basement while exploring and befriends them, only to find out no statues are actually down there and revealed to be a spirit

- Christmas carol type episode with McPhee as Scrooge

- Flashback episode to Ahks childhood and eventual death (also this episode focusing on his time at Cambridge)

- One of Larry’s invention prototypes get discovered by some big tech boss who wants to help him make it big in the industry, making the exhibits worry that he’ll leave

- Teddy ends up having to be taken away for repairs after fetch with rexy gets too hectic, but when he comes back he’s acting completely different and the gang try to get to the bottom of it

- Ahk decides to sneak out of the museum one night to see how much the world has changed since he’s been let out of his sarcophagus and shenanigans ensue as Larry runs around New York trying to find him

Leave suggestions for other episode ideas

[taahko]

I just found your blog today can you please explain or point out a post that explains the MASH timeloop thing? I love the show but I've never heard anyone talk abt it that way before

oh yay hurray ive been waiting for an excuse to talk about this lmao sorry this is long

ok so basically maeve (my gf) and i started watching mash for the first time about a month ago and we started joking about it being like the characters were stuck in a time loop mostly because the same basic episode format is repeated over and over, because it's a sitcom from the 70s and the episodes arent meant to be watched en masse where you can start noticing all the little repetitions and plot holes and inconsistencies that naturally occur in longform tv

but then i started to pay attention to the dates being mentioned in the show - famously the korean war never technically ended, but american troops were involved in active on the ground fighting between 1950 and 1953, so the entire 11 seasons of mash have to be squeezed into that three year period. with 251 episodes occurring within 1,129 days, that gives every episode about 4.5 days of real time. so it works right? no time loop right? well wait a sec

for the first 5 seasons or so of mash they give very consistent dates about when things are happening. for example, bj arrives in korea in september of 1952, at the start of season 4. colonel potter arrives about a week after him, and talks about how he has 18 months left before his retirement. that gives us about 7 months for the shows final 7 seasons to take place in, meaning that by the episode 'point of view' in season 7 we should be around december of 1952. in that episode the pov character starts writing a letter home and in the corner he writes the date:

september of 1951. ok, could be that this episode isn't meant to take place in the regular timeline of the season - maybe for some reason its just like, a random flashback episode. but bj, charles, and potter are all present, even though none of them got to korea until 1952. now i KNOW that this is not like, the True Hidden Secret Lore of MASH, this is the writers realizing they were running out of road and turning back the clock a bit to accommodate for how long the show was running on. but play in my time loop space with me please

more talking points:

consistent jokes about time zones and how difficult it is to call the states because "our today is their yesterday but if you call them now it might not reach them until our tomorrow and by that point our yesterday will be their today"

hawkeye's increasing mania over the seasons and his conviction that the war will never end, comparing the camp to dante's inferno multiple times. maeve once pointed out that the closer hawkeye comes to realizing that he's trapped in a time loop the closer he gets to being institutionalized - and what does the series finale cold open onto ? hawkeye in a mental institution. the only way out is to lose yourself etc. sidenote frank also escaped the time loop by going insane and getting institutionalized

in a war for all seasons bj potter and charles are all present at the 1951 new years party as well as the 1952 new years party

there are three christmas episodes, two of which bj is present for even though he should only have spent one christmas in korea

details of people's families and lives shift around - sometimes potter's got multiple grandchildren, sometimes he only has one, sometimes its a girl, sometimes its a boy, sometimes she's 5, sometimes he's 2

we're not the first people to talk about this either, here's a good video compilation posted a couple yrs ago of time loop moments

overall ive been using the time loop thesis to add another layer to my mash viewing experience. it increases the already present sense of constant dread, anger, frustration, and disgust with their situation that the characters feel, plus it feels like a very poignant take on the united states' constant warmongering and violent existence. it really never ends, it just goes on an on. the future's been canceled by the war department- we're just gonna replay the past.

[imissthembutitwasntadisaster]

Nat is called Sugar far less in season 2 than in season 1. 

The nickname Sugar has a lot of significance.  Firstly, it’s notable because it’s an ingredient.  It’s used in the kitchen, but it has no agency in the kitchen.  We see in the flashbacks in season 1 that both Carmy and Nat are not allowed in Mikey’s kitchen, but it’s in different ways.  Carmy and Mikey cook together, but Carmy’s not allowed to take the final step and follow him to the Beef.  Nat, however, is rejected from the cooking process altogether – she’s belittled and stopped when she tries to add raisins, her cooking isn’t right, it isn’t good enough.  She’s an ingredient in the kitchen, nothing more.  Similarly in the present day she at first has a similar role: she’s in Carmy’s life, she turns up at the Beef, she comes across at first as miserable and nagging (which she is, and reasonably! Her brother just killed himself! Her other brother looks like he’s headed in the same direction!).  She hates the Beef and everything it stands for, so while she’s there, she takes no part in it, she refuses to engage in it, just as she is not allowed to engage in the family activity in the flashback. 

(Notably, sugar as an ingredient is often dismissed as merely existing to sweeten food.  However, it’s crucial for many other aspects of baked goods such as moistness, texture, and sometimes leavening.  Sugar is seen by many as something to cut out, or cut down on, but it’s essential in tying together the finished product.) 

Secondly, the nickname Sugar itself, we learn in season 2, comes from a place of humiliation.  This information further cements the idea that Sugar doesn’t belong in the kitchen – she mixes up sugar and salt, and she’s known forever for it, she’s known forever for the fact that she can’t cook, that she doesn’t cook.  Given how important food is for the Berzattos (clearly) this just serves to alienate her from the heart of the family.  Calling her that is a constant reminder that she’s not part of it all in the same way her brothers are, calling her that in the present is a reminder that she’s not part of the restaurant.  And when the restaurant becomes her brothers’ whole lives, she’s not allowed to be part of that either.  She’s estranged when we meet her, looking in, trying to reach out but struggling to do so. 

I’m pretty sure Pete never calls her Sugar, he might be the only one not to.  This is because he’s an icon a legend the moment.  However, side note on Pete – he does cook.  In the Christmas flashback he brings tuna casserole.  His cooking, however, isn’t right for the family.  He was specifically told not to bring food (not to bring sustenance, not to bring care) and he does anyway! But this sustenance doesn’t fit with the rest of the family, with Donna’s expectations (and the episode is all dancing around Donna, around her dysfunction, and Pete’s steadiness and kindness doesn’t fit in a household like that), so it’s rejected.  It starts to make a lot more sense why everyone hates him in season 1.  Importantly also, I think, it’s tuna casserole.  This dish is often maligned as bland or boring or goofy, and Pete can seem that way when compared with the high energy and intensity of the Berzattos.  But it has staying power because it’s cheap and simple and it lasts, because it’s versatile, because it can be comforting.  Pete isn’t a flashy character, you wonder sometimes at first why Nat married him.  But he’s deeply deeply kind and comforting and steady, wholly at odds with the Berzattos and completely what Nat needs.  And to him, she’s not Sugar because she’s not alienated from him.

Obviously with time and effort Nat and Carmy get closer.  We find out she cosigned for the Beef, she is part of this even if she doesn’t seem to be.  She gets involved more and more with the building, at first out of necessity but later out of care.  Season 2 rolls around and she becomes project manager, she slowly admits she works there, she takes on more and more responsibility with it.  She gets closer to the other employees, it’s clear she and Syd have a real friendship going on.  She gets happier, she loves it! And I don’t have time to unpack it now but I think there’s something there about the fact that she’s pregnant and this is a family restaurant, that she gets to help make it better.  If the Beef is the family, Nat gets to make it something functional.  Something something breaking cycles.  And as she gets closer into the kitchen (to the extent that she’s wiping plates in the last episode, she’s got an apron on, she’s literally right there in the middle of it), as she gets less alienated and more involved, she’s Nat more and more often.  When she’s called Sugar in the Christmas episode it’s almost a surprise because she hasn’t been referred to by it for a while.  She’s not being made fun of for her outsider status anymore, she’s being let in.  She’ll never mix up sugar and salt again.   

[will80sbyers]

STRANGER THINGS 5 PRODUCTION MASTERPOST / part 007

October 22 / 2024

Pics from the Creel house with Jamie there + rovickie news

Circus stuff + Finn arriving at the radio station set

Holly on set at the Creel house

Again

Jamie on set dressed as Henry

Vecna's make up + Noah hinting at the mind flayer imo

October 25 / 2024

POSSIBLY Eleven on set at the Creel house but it's not confirmed that it's her

October 28 / 2024

Will is the centre of the story in season 5

October 29 / 2024

New pic of the UD tunnels

They literally posted trashcans, this is probably in the hospital set and something Demogorgon-like is happening because lights are flickering

October 31 / 2024

El spotted in the UD with Hopper and a 3rd person that we think is a random kid that they have to save, sadly it's not Erica teaming up with them: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Finn gets a coffee ☕ Mike was at the lab set with Will and Robin

Searching for random musicians (probably for a graduation scene as we learned )

November 2 / 2024

Military checkpoint set probably where the Bradley's truck gets attacked by monsters: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

A good picture of the gay van *ahem* I meant the blue radio station van

November 4 / 2024

Various BTS pics of cars and the kid with Hop and El in the UD

November 5 / 2024

Blood prints in downtown Hawkins + military and random stuff

Is there a battle going on in Hawkins?

November 6 / 2024 ( Stranger Things DAY!!! )

ALL the names of the episodes

NEW BTS PICTURES WILL, MIKE, LUCAS, DUSTIN, NANCY, JONATHAN, STEVE, JOYCE AND HOPPER !!!! Promo pictures quality 🥰

+ the duffers and a BTS of a scene with lots of characters (the names are written on the chairs)

Filming in downtown Hawkins with the military / again

November 7 / 2024

Video of Noah/WILL AT CASTLE BYERS

November 12 / 2024

My speculation on this scene

November 14 / 2024

New military in downtown Hawkins scenes + blue van... Steve, Robin, Hopper, Murray and Linda Hamilton's character

November 15 / 2024

Searching for real couples and dog walkers idk

Filming at the Wheeler house and the lab (?)

Finn spotted on set as Mike - again

November 17 / 2024

BTS pics of random stuff

November 20 / 2024

There's no Christmas epilogue like we thought but they were looking for catering people maybe for the graduation or something like that also they have been filming at Mike's house and Gaten + Finn and maybe Jonathan's double were spotted on set

November 21 / 2024

These could be doubles but we have a scene with Will, Dustin, Joyce, Nancy, Mike, (maybe) Lucas and Robin: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 (maybe this is Mike and not Steve?)

November 22 / 2024

They aren't decorating for Christmas (sadly) because we found out it was the town doing that and they took the decorations down to film BUT it's still confirmed that Hawkins gets saved and not destroyed

Jamie has wrapped filming as Henry Creel

Random AF - they hired this group for the 200 day of filming party

November 25 / 2024

Downtown Hawkins and BTS stuff random + Karen working

Again

November 26 / 2024

BTS pic of a Demogorgon at the hospital, it's basically confirmed that they are gonna attack there, also we found out that the IF poster behind is a AIDS prevention poster

New set in an abandoned school

Matthew Modine (Brenner) posted and OLD video hinting that he might return as Brenner in S5, I think he'll be in some visions or flashbacks

November 27 / 2024

1989 GRADUATION TIMEEE

Spoilers of who survives the finale and makes it to the epilogue (unless that's all a dream/vision lol)

December 1 / 2024

Downtown Hawkins has been rebuilt and there's a movie set (probably for the Lumax date)

December 2 / 2024

SPOILERS FOR WHO SURVIVES - conversation between two characters on a bench near the monument of the fallen in the epilogue in 1989

We have lots of pictures and videos of this scene :

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16

Kids in the epilogue that I thought after posting this, maybe will remind one of the characters of when the Party was little

The blue van was filming but not for the epilogue

Searching for extras, not for the graduation but for a SPOILER!!!! .... College scene for someone in 1990

December 4 / 2024

SPOILERS of some names in the monument of the fallen

December 5 / 2024

My theory about Lumax

December 10 / 2024

Coffee for Gaten

December 11 / 2024

SPOILERS OF THE CHARACTERS THAT SURVIVED THE FINALE (at least for the leaks)

December 12 / 2024

They filmed a scene at a bar with some characters, spoiler of the epilogue

December 13 / 2024

SPOILERS OF THE EPILOGUE - two characters meeting in 1990 :

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

December 15 / 2024

WILL on set, 1987 because of the outfit and also Derek is there and El too : 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Headless stonathan spotted

SPOILERS OF THE FINALE / EPILOGUE

For my personal speculation about stuff you can search St5 speculation ( warning ⚠️ there's lots of byler lmao)

GO TO -> 001 / 008

[metacrisisdoctor]

i think sometimes people have a hard time seeing jackie as an individual person and this leads to them sort of seeing her as a villian in rose's story.

in my opinion it's pretty important that as much as jackie is sometimes wrong about things, she is also right about a lot of things as well.

i do feel like jackie was unintentionally holding rose back out of fear of losing her, hence her "airs and graces" comment etc- but rarely do people think of why jackie feels like this.

think of jackie tyler. in doomsday she is forty. this means when we meet her and rose she is 39, meaning she had rose at age 20, meaning she was pregnant at age 19- the same age rose is when we meet her.

19 is young.

think of jackie tyler, age 21, widowed with an infant daughter, on an estate and looked down upon. in army of ghosts we see that jackie's father passed away years ago, and we never see her mother either.

this is partly why the fandoms universal eyeroll at love and monsters frustrates me. that episode fleshes jackie out and shows us how deeply alone she is, but how loyal she is to rose despite the fact that the only family she has sees her as second best. the tentoo and jackie big finish audios also bring attention to this. jackie is not afraid of rose advancing in life, she is afraid of being left behind. because she has no one.

it pains me that the bf audios with her and tentoo aren't more widely known because they explore jackie and her relationship with both the doctor and rose a lot. we see how much jackie loves, and has always loved, the doctor. how she too missed him after doomsday. how she wants to be close to him again but she's afraid of what him being back in rose's life means as well, because now that the doctor is in their world, what is stopping them from leaving again? and i think it's important that jackie feels that way because it shows that her love for rose isn't just because she was lonely, despite it having had played a large part.

she genuinely loves them both and does not want to be without them, so much so that she says if/when the tardis grows the doctor has to take them all- because he has a family now. this mirrors the doctor telling donna that rose had a family and that they had become his family as well in the runaway bride.

in this sense, we should know that the doctor and jackie are on the same page. we know how much he missed rose and how that extends to the sense of family he found in the christmas invasion. however, jackie's own poor self image leads to her projecting her own fear of being left behind onto tentoo and to his relationship with rose and it causes friction in their relationship until they can both be honest with each other in the climax of the audios when they're about to die together and realize they want to live, which is why rose trapped them into talking in the first place.

jackie struggles because rose was so young when she met the doctor, and she was RIGHTFULLY wary of their relationship considering the last time rose trusted a man he left her behind and took all her money. in the audios we hear jackie say that she was the one who payed off all of rose's debts which is a stark contrast to the idea some people seem to have that jackie didn't have a job and mooches off of rose entirely- which makes no sense anyway because how does she keep the lights on at home when rose is missing for an entire year? it's much more plausible that she and rose both have jobs, and that she was going to look for a second job.

jackie gets everything she wanted in a sense. her husband back, a son, rose is still with her, but her own low sense of self is something that is hard for her to shake off because she has been looked down upon for so long because of who she is and how she was raised, so much so that the thought that rose looks down on her terrifies her. in the end of time flashback we sees jackie say that at that point in her life she isn't gonna do much better; but rose tells her she doesn't know that which speaks volumes. rose is afraid of falling victim to the helplessness jackie has in the last twenty years, but we also see that deep down jackie also wants more to her life as well, she just thinks it's too late.

jackie is proud of rose, she grows to love the doctor, but her fear of rose losing herself entirely is a valid one. just like rose wanting more out of life is valid as well. they're both right and they're both wrong which is why they bicker but also very very clearly absolutely love each other more than anything.

this is why the ending rose gets is perfect for everyone. rose gets to keep defending the earth at unit with the doctor, a life that she always wanted. the doctor gets to, in one life, have a family and be human and jackie gets to find her sense of self again and find "more" in her life, and doesn't lose what makes her who she is at all because people like jackie - working class people - are the ones who make it possible for "bigger" things to happen which is what the purpose of the back and forth between rose and jackie is. rose wanting more from her life is valid, but it's also important to rememeber not to look down on people who you subconsciously see as "less" because "less" is just as valuable.

of course rose leaving helped jackie grow, but sometimes the way people talk about jackie is unintentionally classist while also defending rose from classism.