#and a lot of them i noticed disliked max in s3 because they feel max led to the milkvan breakup

[boyfriendsmalec]

Many Milkvan fans don't actually like Mike. In fact, a good majority of them seem to get annoyed at Mike for how he treats and acts toward El, yet they still want Milkvan to be endgame. Why is that?

I think it's because they see Mike as being the only 'option' for El to have a romantic relationship within the remainder of the show. And they won't be satisfied without a romance line for El, because of course the female lead has to end up with someone 🙄 I think that's why they want Milkvan to last, in spite of their complaints about Milkvan's lack of development and despite their relationship steadily falling apart since S3.

If there was another option for El, I think they'd take it. But considering Lucas and Dustin are in relationships, and Will is her brother (and gay) Mike is the only possible option they can see for El.

I think they're actually quite worried about Byler happening, despite the front they put on. They worry if Byler happens that El will be alone, and they can't process an El who's single as being "happy" or fulfilling to her.

They conflate El being single = sad ending. And likewise El being with Mike (despite all their relationship issues) = happy ending. They claim to love El but can't see that her whole arc has been about her achieving independence and no longer being influenced by men in her life (Dr Brenner, Hopper, Mike) and defining who she is according to her own terms.

[strangerfigs]

does anyone else feel like mikes character is almost supposed to be unlikable post s2? because seriously if you think about it

s3 - Lucas, Dustin, Will, Hopper, Max and El are against him with the things he is doing

In Lucas’ book, I’m only the beginning but Lucas describes Mike as the worst person to be around and an asshole

S4 - there is a lot less characters SAYING he is unbearable but his actions are ALL criticized by the general audience, and a lot of the shippers (regardless of who you shipped), and again frowned upon by will and el

Which I just find so INTERESTING like usually with the unlikable main character, no one in the show is generally against them? But it’s like they want us to really notice this, so much so that it does feel on purpose

Especially with how Finn is - he is such a charismatic guy, like they truly need to push for audience to dislike him I feel? (Like how Sam Levinson said he struggled with Zendaya’s likability with Euphoria like he wanted ppl to dislike her character this past season but it was hard because it’s Zendaya!) but yeah it feels intentional

And anyways it’s just interesting… and like obviously there is more to it, but it’s like, you have to think about how there are more layers to it and yeah… does this make sense?

[miss-midnight-checkout-queen]

Slightly Ramble-y Hatred for Christopher Hayden

So I’m currently rewatching s3 e2 of Gilmore Girls and while throughout the show there are a myriad of not-so-great things or unnatural dialogue, I’m always struck by how well most family (and general relationship) dynamics are written. 

This is the episode where Christopher comes to their Friday night dinner and yells at Lorelai because of her shutting him out and “keeping Rory from [him]” and eventually him coming to the conclusion that Rory couldn’t have brought herself to that level of upset and pain that she shuts him out on her own. This really gets to me because it is so grounded in reality (at least in my opinion)

This is generally because of his sense of entitlement to the life he wants and feels he deserves, a thing a lot of people tend to have. In s1 e15: “Christopher Returns”, Rory and Lorelai have a conversation about whether or not Christopher will stick around and Lorelai effectively ends this with: “He’s going to come and go as he pleases babe, you know that” He maintains no responsibility until he wants to and interacts just enough so that he can feel entitled to have a say or have weighted judgments on Lorelai’s and Rory’s lives and choices and so that he feels he has had a substantial enough involvement in Rory’s life to be under the impression that he influenced her accomplishments. 

He maintains a possessiveness over Lorelai and especially Rory and views them (again especially Rory) as trophies. You can put them on a shelf and generally forget the upkeep side of things: they’re not the easiest to dust, though they do happen to be pretty easy to put a little bit further back on shelf so no one will notice the number of times you pushed it back another centimetre and mentally muttered,“next time”. Every so often you can choose to take them out, pay a little care and attention to them, but ultimately they exist as record of your accomplishments. 

While I hate that Christopher is deluded enough to believe that no grudges should be harboured or that he not only should have, but maintains the same relationship with Rory as Lorelai does (from authority to casual to general impact), in my experience, many parents that are casually absent do this. In being around enough to exist, yet infrequently and certainly not for most impactful life events; there is a failure to realize how they factor into their child’s life because they expect all parents to factor into their children’s lives the same amount no matter the dynamic. 

I think this is incredibly apparent when it comes to each of Rory’s parents being in relationships. While Lorelai over-matures Rory and has a bit of an inappropriate relationship (and this is its own thing), at the end of the day the way she initially handled Max and Rory was amazing and appropriate and it’s a large reason why Max and Rory have their little “I wanted you to know that I really wanted to be your step-father” moment (which as someone who’s had step-parents,, I melt,, this was truly perfect) Christopher handled things with Sherry totally different than this: he introduces Sherry by surprisingly springing her on Rory on an important day for her — one where she needed an unclouded head (and if he was around enough, he would’ve been aware of how much she disliked surprises) and “ Well, he and I never met. I didn’t even know he existed until late in the game. Hell, I didn’t even know you were engaged until you called me from your bachelorette party. And I wasn’t invited to the wedding – or did my invitation get lost in the mail?” He views his lack of announcement of Sherry’s presence as on par with his lack of knowledge of Max slowly entering the life he made little attempt to exist in. But why should she have told him? With how little he was around, can we honestly think he flickered in any of their heads once? — or even that he should have?

He had never cared to have them in his life, that is until they chose to stay out of it. 

[adeline-is-here]

Why season 3 of stranger things is my least favorite

(TLDR at the end)

(Also sorry I don’t know how to do the “read more” thing)

I don’t know about you, but my favorite aspect of the show is not the action, but the mystery/lore.

Growing up Star Trek was my favorite show and I quickly got obsessed with the idea of different dimensions and alternate universes.

When I first saw Stranger Things when it came out in 2016, it felt like I was solving this mystery with the characters. Naturally, I theorized Will was stuck in a different dimension, but I thought “no, of course not. That kind of stuff is only on Star Trek. I’m going to get my hopes up.”

You can’t imagine my joy when I figured out I was right! A mirror dimension? In my TV show? More likely than you think.

When I heard another season was coming out, I got excited! I was going to see more of the characters I love and learn more about the upside down? Hell yeah.

Stranger things 2 came out two years later. It felt like I was solving another mystery with the characters again! I loved it so much! A hive mind?? Things are bigger and more dire?? Will, my favorite character, being the center of the attention?? Hell yeah x2!!

After being so impressed by season 2, of course I was even more excited for season 3, I heard it was going to be the best, biggest most dire season yet.

After (about) 6 months season 3 came out! Of course I loved it! But it really wasn’t as good as everyone said it was. It became a lot more like Star Wars than Star Trek. It became about all the action and gore. We learned nothing about the upside down(which is what the whole show is about), Will was ignored. We didn’t even get to see a friendship between Will and El like the fandom expected.

So of course the first 3/4 episodes were my favorite. Because the first 3/4 were the mystery. The other episodes were just action and gore. Of course I liked the action in the first two seasons, but that’s because it felt like there was buildup.

(Now suddenly everyone started disliking season 2?? Why?? Everyone seemed to love it before watching season 3.)

Of course action isn’t bad. It just doesn’t feel like what stranger things is about. Or at least was about. It feels like stranger things became more of a people pleaser the more popular it got. I mean, Star Wars is more popular than Star Trek. And you don’t have to think that much.

Okay now to make up for shitting on s3 I’m gonna say the things I liked about it:

The rep: Robin! They didn’t make her “the trophy lesbian” they made her a well developed character and gave her an awesome, accepting, platonic friendship with Steve! She wasn’t a stereotype either! Perfect! Also I love her and I also have an obsession with codes.

Joyce, hopper, Murray, and Alexei: there was mystery, although a lot of the same fight scenes with a big Russian dude. It seemed kind of off character for Joyce to kind of ignore her kids for a bit there though. It was very sad though because half of the characters in this group died lol.

The scoops troop: The mystery!! The dynamic!! The comedy!! It was very funny and it had what I liked from s1 and s2. Though I don’t like how they didn’t know about the upside down had anything to do with it till the end, and it kinda sucks that Dustin was separated from his friends.

The deaths: This may seem kind of morbid, but I liked the deaths. When you watch movies/tv shows or read books you can always expect it all to be okay and the bad guys die and the hero’s are happy and swell. I love it so so much when media kills of an important character. It makes it less predictable! Also I cried when those three died. (Hopper, Billy and Alexei)

Billy/Dacre Montgomery: The intrusive thoughts (sorta) from episode 2 (I think) was amazingly done, and the character was played amazingly by Dacre Montgomery! I’m a sucker for sibling relationships so I cried when he died. Although I would’ve liked to see something, anything, from him and Max’s parents. Did they notice him acting weird? Was he home at all during the time he was flayed? Do they know he’s dead?

Nancy and Jonathan: It showed how healthy relationships fight, it showed how well the work together, it showed they’re friends and lovers. Also they’re a perfect mystery team and I loved the hospital scene, probably my favorite action scene!! Nancy is a strong, awesome women!! And Jonathan knows this and respects her!

The kids + Nancy and Jonathan: The only good parts were in the first 3/4 but the sauna test was one of my favorite parts with them. Also I loved Will’s castle Byers scene.

TLDR:

Season 3 of Stranger Things had a lot of good things, but it didn’t give off the same mystery feel (my favorite aspect of it) that the other seasons gave off.

[lightsandlostbells]

what would be your ranking of each season? (love your all your recaps btw, they have given me insight to stuff I didn't notice before and made appreciate s3 a lot more) <3

Thank you so much! ❤️❤️❤️ Gonna put my ranking of Skam’s seasons under a read-more since I go into some criticisms and I’m long-winded as always:

1. Season 3. Probably obvious from my recaps, lol. Literally everything about it not just works, but soars. Like I remember watching in real time and expecting the show to stumble at some point, because even shows I love generally have aspects that I don’t care for. And instead this season kept ascending. The acting is top notch and the chemistry between Isak and Even is really something special. The writing is tight and nuanced - no scene feels unnecessary, and the use of symbolism is excellent. The music is perfectly chosen. They did some of the best social media work this season. You can tell Julie put so much thought into this story for a long time. It has no major flaws for me, like I can only think of one quibble and it’s more of a “I wish they did that” instead of something that really cuts into my enjoyment of the story. I feel totally OK saying S3 is a fucking masterpiece because I can prove it (I mean, art is subjective, lmao, but if you asked me to defend this season artistically I would have zero problem.) 2. Season 1. Also amazing. It’s more low-key and understated; I can see why people would find it slow, especially in the beginning. But I love it. Eva’s journey is raw and deeply personal. Lisa Teige is fantastic and makes Eva warm and sympathetic. She’s so natural and pulls you right into Eva’s struggles. (I can respect that remake Evas have worked better for some people, but I will go to the mat for original Eva. She’s incredible.) The themes of the season are established well and tell a story that often feels overlooked. There are a lot of subtleties about navigating relationships as a teenage girl and feeling adrift, and some truly gorgeous scenes. In some ways this is a “test” season but it’s still powerful, well-acted, and well-written, with a lot of Julie’s vision for the show apparent from the start. Adore it.3. Season 4. So while I prefer S4 to S2, in some ways I think S2 is better as a narrative. S4 suffers from a lack of focus, and S2, whatever you think of Noorhelm, has that story to anchor it and not drift too much. S4 would have benefited from a tighter story rather than trying to wrap everything up, because we ended up with like 3-4 storylines and none of them had a completely satisfying conclusion, IMO.  Iman Meskini was wonderful this season and much of the good qualities of S4 were from watching her get to shine. The Sana/Yousef relationship, what we did get of it, was fantastic and made for many of S4′s best scenes. However, it was only one part of the plot, and other parts weren’t as engaging. Too much time spent on the bus and Pepsi Max girls who no one cared about. Filler scenes. I don’t think Even needed to be a major part of the story but I disliked the way his mental illness was portrayed in S4, especially after S3 did a good job with it. Overall I think Julie made less interesting choices for drama when there were more obvious ones that would have made for a richer story - for instance, the Noora/Yousef plot was a shallow conflict that could have been resolved with one conversation, and took time away from the real conflict for Sana and Yousef, which was being an interfaith relationship, an issue that has no neat resolution or “right” answer but would make for tons of complex drama and dialogue (as it did when it was the focus). Or how the bus storyline focused on Sara and Pepsi Max when we could have focused on Sana and Vilde’s relationship and their clashing over the bus, which would have been way more interesting. 4. Season 2. I’m not going to go into a full breakdown of it but my main issue is that some of S2′s positive messages and good qualities are undermined by other aspects of the story that are like … direct contradictions. You can probably guess how I feel about Noorhelm. Even outside of Noorhelm, though, William as a character needs a rewrite because I feel like we know barely anything about him as a person? Not what has happened to him but who he is, like what does this guy even like to do in his free time, what are his interests, what are his goals? He’s also weirdly endorsed by the narrative even when it doesn’t make sense (like why is Sana stumping for him and breaking down William’s reasons for smashing a bottle over his head when … she doesn’t know him at all … how would she know … ) The pacing of this season can drag. The Yakuza storyline feels like something out of Riverdale or Gossip Girl rather than Skam and is also underdeveloped (William: totally has good reasons for fighting and Noora needs to understand his motivations, we need to see other’s POVs because war starts from misunderstandings and prejudice. But those Yakuza guys are just violent nameless punks beating up people for the hell of it, don’t think too much about it.) I felt like Noora’s personal arc is not that clear other than falling for William and choosing to be with him - it’s not like with Eva or Isak where they had clear arcs and personal development regardless of their love interest. Or well, I think she has some personal development but a lot of the later episode big drama comes from William having to make choices, not Noora, so it felt like less of her story in the end. Even with Sana whose story is also muddled and whose arc wasn’t handled as well as it could have been, there was more of a personal journey outside of Yousef. Good things about the season: the girls, especially Noora and Vilde’s relationship, the handling of Noora’s assault for the most part, Eskild and Linn’s introduction. Some good symbolism and motifs.