#even if I think s4 has some of the most wasted potential

[spicyicymeloncat]

Ik staff of elements!Kai is the more popular au but like consider. Staff of elements!Skylor. Kai can be her Clouse.

[butterflydm]

continuing to process the new WoT trailer: analysis phase

For all that it feels like there was SO MUCH!!! in the new trailer, it actually seems like it was limited to a relatively small amount of scenes when I look at it more closely.

The main focus of the trailer is Moiraine's visions and we go back to that again and again, with only hints of what else might be happening.

So while the trailer is epic in feel, it's relatively narrow in scope, which I think is good. That spoils a lot less.

First, I'll pull out all the shots that I think are based on "Moiraine's vision" (again, that I am currently assuming will come from the orb that she ponders, but I could definitely be wrong about that!).

a. The Visions

Moiraine lying face-up in the sand; Moiraine cradling and using the Orb; Moiraine lying in the dirt and opening her eye; Moiraine standing with the rising sun; Moiraine flailing around upside down; Rand dramatically dying from a sword wound; Lanfear strangling Moiraine (in bed and in the desert); Lanfear using the Power to slice Moiraine's neck; the shadow!mains in the Ways (as the new Forsaken?) with Lanfear, hunting down maybe Moiraine; Rand in the fancy makeup may also belong here; and then Moiraine telling this to Lan

So... Moiraine touches this orb (maybe) and gets a bunch of visions of all the ways that she can die, or that Rand can die, or that Rand can potentially turn evil (thrilled that we went with the whole Main Six turning evil and joining Lanfear and Moghedien, as it lets them do a little shot of them all getting to be their most evil and hottest selves). I do suspect that we will get Moiraine yeeting herself along with Lanfear into the doorway at the end of this season, and this trailer makes me feel that way even more.

b. Rand in the Waste

We also have the Rand goes to the Waste section, which includes: standing at the cusp of Rhuidian; Lan in the desert; Rand walking through the glass columns and seeing a vision of Janduin finding Shaiel (various shots throughout); Rand and Lan training together; people walking in the Waste; Rand and Moiraine talking to the Wise Ones; the tree in Rhuidean; what is likely Rand with Couladin (someone with better eyes than me thinks that the other man with him in those shots has dragons on both his arms); Rand carrying Moiraine (out of Rhuidean, is my guess)

This is all pretty much similar to what we know about his plotline from the books except for (alas) it does seem like Mat is snipped out of the plotline, which is very heartbreaking, though it has been rumored to be the case for a while.

c. Chaos in the White Tower

We have the Probably White Tower section: The three statues of ladies; Liandrin with her BA squad; two women speaking in the Hall of Servants; Nynaeve in the White Tower; Egwene beginning her Accepted Test; Alanna and Liandrin's fight that destroys some pavement and probably gets one her Alanna's Warders killed; Galad training at the White Tower; Moghedien talking to Liandrin

This is the plotline where I most worry about time-crunch, lol. Okay, so we are likely to start with Liandrin & her fellow BAs escaping the White Tower. Alanna and her Warders try to stop them, and one of them gets killed, setting Alanna up for what she will likely pull in s4.

The Wondergirls return to the White Tower and... I guess lie their asses off. Making Siuan the one who was the threat to Rand last season really complicates the return to the White Tower for me, so I guess we'll see what happens there. I will not venture any guesses at this time.

So in that case, it seems likely that Egwene is going to meet Gawyn and Galad at the White Tower, like she does in the books. There's one shot of her with Rand in what might be the Waste but might be her visiting him in the Waste via TAR; and I couldn't spot her in any other Waste-related shots. But I can't imagine that she'll stay in the White Tower when the other girls go to Tanchico? So maybe she will go to the Waste at some point? idk, like I said, the timeline here is the one that seems most likely to be vulnerable to weird amounts of crunch because there is just so much to do and so much travel time required to bounce around to all those places.

d. Everything Else

Single shots that seem unrelated to the previous themes: Moiraine in the rain; Elayne in white and putting on a crown; Egwene and Rand potentially in the Waste together; Lanfear and Rand nuzzling at some point; Lanfear being annoyed in TAR; Rand's power explosion (I think this is pre-Waste); Blacksmithing; One shot of Min walking away; Mat in a dark place with new clothes and a neck injury; Moiraine and Siuan kissing; Perrin being kissed (by Faile?); Actually Elayne in a very different outfit than normal, so maybe Tanchico; Egwene in TAR; Perrin fighting in the Battle of the Two Rivers

Basically, we get tiny reminders that other people exist and have plotlines: Elayne exists! Egwene and Rand share some screen time! Rand is still dealing with power issues! Min exists! Mat exists (with a neck wound)! We're reminded of the Moiraine & Siuan and Rand & Lanfear romances; Perrin gets to kiss someone (almost certainly Faile) and he's gonna be in a fight. But we don't get any context for any of that like we do with the first three plotlines that the trailer touches in more detail.

[ep2nd]

@remy-a

Today's topic- the change in animation in LMK

I know like the majority of the Fandom has probably been sent to the ER after season 5 animation (or the emotion couldn't tell) but I think someone said that the animation slightly changed from like the Pilot to s 1-3, somewhere there, so like 3 different animation at this point, maybe??

Alright here's my thoughts

AGGAGAGAGGGGHHHHHHHH

Okay for real this time-

When I first watched LMK, I fell IN LOVE with the fluid motions, the active movement, the anime-style Influence, the exaggeration, the most random fun moments, pop ups, yse of environment, angles, camera movement, facial and body expression and other stuff I don't know the name of

Now as someone who's never watched Anime, please don't kill me, I don't exactly know what that looks like, but try going anywhere on the internet without tripping down the stairs and falling into the basement of ANIME

Also, I'm used to more rigid, beautiful backrounds, great lighting, or basic show animation. Such as Trollhunters, Amphibia, The Owl House, Big City Greens, Ninjago, How to Train your Dragon, Carmen Sandiego and others

So as you can see, this was new to me, and I fricken loved it

Now I can tell there definitely has been change from the Pilot to season 4, more refined, less sloppy

So, when season 5-

Oh dear, I love you Wild Brain, I really do, Ninjago and Carmen Sandiego WERE BEAUTIFUL

BUT AHHHHHH

I will say this, this is a new artstyle, they need practice, and I'm sure it'll improve, but this is not that time it's time to CRITISIZE GET THE RED PEN (maybe I am an English Teacher)

Remember what I said about what I love about LMK animation? Okay now throw it out the window into the Fire of FRICK THIS

Now I will say, they used some angles pretty well, such as using the environment to show emotion/tension, like when it would Pam out and something was blocking the two characters, from Wukong to Macaque to the poll in the Pagado and then a mountain between MK and Wukong near the end- look for its cool- someone pointed it out here on Tumblr can't remember name sorry

2nd, the expressions look really typical, like I miss the shot eyebrow from Wukong, or the the pathetic puppy eyes of MK, or the :3 for Mei, or the furious faces of Pigsy, the sparkly pure joy of Sandy, the chaotic gremlinness of MO, the evil Edit maker smiles of Macaque (I've seen your tiktoks) ALL THE LITTLE EXTRA THAT MADE THE EXPRESSIONS AND HUMOR/TENSION/EMOTION BETTER

3rd, the movements. Seen especially in the second episode when they escape. It's just, so basic running, like compare them running to MK's run in s2 running from the LBD and then when he ran in s4 away from the Ink scroll. Just so much more fear and dread. Also talking bout LBD, her voice actor? Phenomenal as always? Her movements and how they animate her? She seems more like a red headed doll with button eyes than the horror of something like FNAF(haven't played FNAF so can't really compare) what I'm saying is she seemed less huanting, a weary, fear-instilling, and bone-chilling(shut up let me pun) presence this time around, which really makes the scene less dramatic, but the camera angles, voice acting, and some animation still make it somewhat good.

Okay, this post is getting long and I can rant all day, and that's not even with me rewatching the show to pick it apart, someone probably already has good for them I'll look for it👍

In conclusion, comes of more dull, simple, rough, and rushed. S5 story, which has some problems, really hit deep in the last few episodes, mostly MK and Wukong, and if the studio beforehand continued animating, then I think it would have been a masterpiece, really sad to see the wasted potential

I know it's a new studio, but I wish they took more time to practice and learn, and maybe do it on a season that wasn't like the big reveal and end (I'd say a more happy season but let's be honest the Trauma train ain't stopping for a LONG TIME)

so, I guess I'll give it a 4/10, points for using the backround to storytell, still got some great angles, some funny bits here and there (the soldiers where a joy), action scenes were somewhat good, not a lot can't judge more, and pity points because I know they're still learning

[karaspal]

just wanted to say how much I love your post about brainy in supergirl! I’ve written literal essay-length posts about how I think the show did him dirty and how much potential his and Kara’s friendship/relationship had, and also rewrote all of Supergirl season 2 to have Brainy arrive instead of Mon-El so I’m 100 percent with you there.

thank you very much! :)

your s2 fic is actually one of my favorite cwsg fics. link here

i don't talk about the show a lot on this acc, but i will now use this ask to state some of my opinions that no one really asked for about karadox / kara and querl's romantic partners. it's probably going to be a bit long lol.

(disclamer, but i don't consider s6b as a part of the show. like, at all. i think it's a disgrace and an insult to all the characters/story. for me, the show ends with 6x07. period. nothing after that is canon as far as i'm concerned. i ain't touching it with a 10-foot pole. i just, i don't acknowledge it as part of the story. that shit did NOT happen. so just keep that in mind because when i'm discussing the overall story, for me, the overall story is 1x01 - 6x07.)

since this turned out to be a very long post, i divided it into sections. opinions below the cut. enjoy my bitter ramblings :)

1) querl dox and the wasted potential of his character

ngl my opinions of the show have definitely changed a lot since it ended, but to this day, i still think querl as a character, as well as karadox, are the show's biggest wasted potential. they are literally my second favorite kara ship on the show (with superdey being first and superdreamer third). they had chemestry. their personalities meshed well. they could relate to each other on a deep, personal level. i don't know what happened there. and they didn't even need to have them date each other. a strong friendship would've sufficed. kara and brainy had, like, three scenes with each other each season. and kara is the main lead. shouldn't she have a strong bond with all of her supporting cast??? it's her supporting cast, they are literally there for her. HELLO??? the show truly was scared of their chemistry.

kara has a sense of justice, so does querl. kara is a hero, so is querl. kara knows what it's like to miss your home (krypton), so does querl (the future). kara is a nerd, so is querl. and, they are both cat people. and aliens.

honestly, the show failed querl as a character. maybe it's because i'm a space fam fan, but his character was truly likable only when he was interacting with kara, alex or j'onn. it's probably because he felt like he could be himself the most with them since kara and j'onn are both aliens and alex is cool like that. i really don't like how the show handled brainy in s4 and s5a. he is not a dorky dude??? he is a mean bitch. s3 had that vibe well enough. and him in 6x01 - 6x04? peak querl. he did not care about anything else, but kara. as he should, as he should.

it also really pissed me off how ableist the show was toward querl (as a neurodivergent person myself). they reduced him to a quircky dude, which was both infantilizing and hurtful. most of the time, him being "quircky and funny" was him being anxious or just genuinely not getting social cues (which is neither funny, nor a bad thing. he is still a full-grown capable adult even if sometimes he doesn’t get a social cue. can this show be normal about people with autism geez?). he wasn't trying to be funny. treat him like an adult, not an "adorable boy who just doesn't get it"!!! also, what was that wardrobe? nothing he wore fit. what was that even about? they should've let jesse show his strong arms!!! and what was that hair cut? brainy’s hair in s5b>>>

this is just my personal opinion, but the show not doing a character study on kara through querl's eyes was a missed opportunity. and it's not even a missed opportunity for querl, it's for kara!!! i mean, they kind of did with the quote from 6x02, but i want more. and not just querl, everyone!!! all the supporting cast i like. i want to see kara through their eyes. i'm just a sucker for multiple povs lol.

2) the show's inability to write romance pt.1: karamel

literally anyone on that ship who wasn't mon-el would've been ten times better. i hate that man. he is the worst. and the whole kara / mon-el romance did not work. one bit. he was not a good match for her. kara literally gaslit herself into liking him. up until 2x11, she did not like that man. every time she asked him if he liked her, she looked relived when he told her no. mon-el literally kissed her and she didn’t say anything lol. and she was genuinely upset when she found out he’s working with her because he wanted to date her, not because he wanted to be a decent person. kara rejected him twice. literally went to his job to tell him she doesn't like him. unprompted. that was so funny.

mon-el: so what do you want to drink?

kara: dude, no offense, but ew for having a crush on me. you suck. you are the problem. the way you are is just, eh. just letting you know.

mon-el: :/ … i'll just get my coworker to take your drink order. i’m going to go over there now.

like, mon-el got it the first time lol. kara did not have to go to his work and tell him again (i'm referring to the beginning of 2x11). but also, he had it coming.

i honestly think kara dated him because she felt like everyone was pulling away from her and she was scared to be alone again. i mean, it was during the time she was fighting with her best friends (the bisexual boyfriends winn and james) and her sister was not spending much time with her since she was with her (toxic) girlfriend. on top of that, part of kara's story in the early seasons is unlearning all the bullshit jeremiah and eliza forced her to do so she could "fit in" ("don't be too smart", "make sure not to stand out", "go on dates, find a partner. it's what humans do"). so her abandonment issues, mixed with her belief that you need a partner to fit in and be happy because "that's what humans do", pushed her to mon-el. it also doesn't help alex decided to push the last of her internalized comhet on her sister ("well, mon-el likes you so are you sure you don't like him either?" no. no, she doesn't. this is not slander to alex tho, it's the writers fault. alex is my girl, and i love her very much.)

and, on top of that, technically, for kara, mon-el was the closest thing to a kryptonian. in a way, he reminded her of her home (even if he was the furthest from that). she romanticised him a lot (she said so herself in 3x15). she felt like she could be herself with him, because he was too an alien. but the thing was, mon-el hated his planet and didn’t miss it at all. and for all of krypton’s faults, kara still missed her home a lot. mon-el couldn’t related to her the way kara thought he could.

all these factors - 1) kara’s abandonment issues (because almost everyone was pulling away from her), 2) the belief installed by her adoptive parents that you need a romantic partner to fit in and appear normal (eliza would get upset with her if she didn’t go on enough dates), 3) most of her friends looking genuinely happy in their romantic relationships (happiness kara wanted to experience too and not realising that happiness looks different for different people so she assumed a relationship would make her happy), 4) last of alex’s comphet telling her that maybe she likes him too because he likes her (even if there were no indications and in fact, kara said she didn’t like him and looked disappointed when she found out he did), and 5) mon-el being the “closest” to her home (even if that was far from the truth), resulted in kara reassuring herself mon-el would make her happy and that he is good for her. even though he wasn’t.

i honestly believe that if kara had nia as a friend in s2, she would've never dated mon-el. nia would've taken one look at that annoying man and laughed. and then she and kara would've spent the rest of the season making fun of him lol.

i really love how s3 ended for kara. she finally accepted that she's happy with her life and doesn't need a partner to make her happy. i also think there are a lot of elements in kara's story that are asexual-coded and maybe one day i'll make a whole separate post about it. i mean, forcing yourself to date someone because 1) they like you, 2) almost everyone else around you is in a relationship, and 3) you've been taught dating is the norm, and if you don't, you're weird, is pretty much the standard asexual experience.

it honestly baffles me how much the show messed up mon-el. comics!mon-el would've literally fited perfectly. especially post-infinte crisis one. he was learning how to live life. he was experiencing things for the first time. he respected women. he was a hero and a good man. and he was working as a law enforcer, which would've paired up nicely with kara's journalism story. they could've worked together on cases and such. he could’ve been her source. and he had a british accent. give me british mon!!!

i understand the show wanted someone to "challange" kara and push all her buttons, but mon-el never did that. well, he did annoy her a lot so in a way, he did push all her buttons. but not in the way the show wanted. everything kara thought and said about him, was true. he was a scumbag. he was a horrible person. he was literally the prince of daxam. that man just straight up sucked.

it's also crazy how much mon-el did not understand kara. he literally called her elitist (3x11) when that's the furthest from the truth. someone needed to beat his ass with a catco magazine. that woman is literally a journalist who fights for every voice to be heard! what was he talking about? and one can make the argument that she was "elitist" because she had "prejudice" (very valid opinions) against daxamites. but she literally hated them because they took people away from their families. in what world is that elitism??? is he fr??? bro should've just opened one article written by her. or just listen to what she was saying. like, how am i supposed to root for mon-el when he doesn't understand one of the main things about kara? and compared to will, who called kara's work "art", nia, who hyped kara up and called her intelligent before kara was about to go on stage for a debate, and querl, who has helped her with her articles and called her words maggic, mon-el is nothing. these three people are a perfect fit for kara and understand her well. mon-el? not so much.

another thing he didn't understand was who kara was to her core. and she literally told him. she told him "supergirl is what i can do. kara is who i am." and when they were on argo he told her "now you can be yourself, supergirl." no??? she told him she’s kara and supergirl is what she can do??? did he ever listen to her??? and she literally responded with “not supergirl. kara.”

fuck mon-el. truly the worst. but at least kara realized she doesn't need a partner to be happy, and now she knows what she doesn't want in a relationship. for what it's worth, karamel provided a good character development for her.

also, while i’m here, fuck mon-el’s fans too. you guys suck! karamel shippers who are kara fans and have more ships for her, other than mon-el, this isn’t about you guys!!! cw!mon-el fans are homophobic (to alex), xenophobic (“kara shouldn’t feel at home on earth” / they hate kara danvers. sorry that a refugee finally found happiness again, and a family that loves and respects her in her adopted world i guess? fucking weirdos. kara being kara danvers doesn’t take away from her being kara zor-el too. kara danvers will always be a kryptonian, even if most people don’t know that. and alex danvers will always be kara zor-el’s sister, just as much as kara danvers’ because guess what, kara danvers and kara zod-el are actually synonymous and not two different people.) and have a strange hate for adopted families (by denying how important alex actually is to kara. which is pretty funny because mon-el got divorced because imra chose her sister over him. as would’ve kara, if it ever came to that. maybe mon-el should just choose to date an only child?)

3) the show's inability to write romance pt.2: brainia

honestly, they are nowhere near as bad as karamel. i'm a fan of both nia and querl. i'd definitely say their relationship was just two good people not being compatible.

i did not like how brainia took away so much from nia's story. she is my favorite supergirl character after the spacefam (kara being my fav, and alex and j'onn sharing second place). her story arc in s4 was so good. but then the writers stopped her character development and reduced her to her romantic relationship in s5. and for what? in s5, she was supposed to figure out her powers more, become a better journalist, mourn her mother and get over her guilt for not being able to save her, and come to terms with the fact that izabel would never be able to teach her how to use her powers. yet, none of this happened. why? because they reduced her to brainy's girlfriend. and for what? most of the nia-focused scenes in s5 were brainia focused (minus 5x15). i love brainy, but i'm so upset about this. like, it's not his fault per se, but also, fuck that guy (not really, i’m just joking). his existence (kinda) screwed over nia. ideally, him and nia would’ve never dated, each would’ve had their own story and he would’ve went back home at the end of s5 after actually outsmarting lex instead of whatever the writers did.

and if it wasn't bad enough that they messed with nia's story, they completely butchered her character whenever she was around querl. like, i'm sorry, but she would not tell him he's too much and needs to change when he literally told her that's just how he is. she literally advocates for people to be able to be fully themselves!!! be serious!!! that was so ooc for her. she would've handled brainy "love bombing" her by telling him that it's neither her nor his fault, they should just find a middle ground. and she would've told him that calmly. they would've had an adult conversation about it. it's clear the show used nia to push their ablestic views (because telling a neurdivergent person they are being too much when in reality, they are just being themselves, is wrong) onto brainy and that's fucking awful. she would never say that. how do they not understand her? they literally created her??? it also pissed me off so bad that when kara got sucked into the phazntom zone, nia wasn't worried about her. she was more worried about wanting to make things work with brainy. i promise you, nia loves kara way more that she loves querl. she would've been so worried about her best friend, she wouldn't have given two fucks about that man. and especially since her entire story in s5b was getting over him. why would she want to take his ass back???

and honestly, brainia was just not that good of a relationship. despite them taking all of nia’s story in s5, they were still underdeveloped. most of stuff we know about them were told to us, not shown. in 5x18, nia tells brainy she promised to be there for him when he took of his inhibiters, but that never happened? querl broke up with her the same episode he took them off and she didn’t bother reaching out to him after. of course, she had every right to do that. he was her ex after all and she didn’t owe him anything. but claiming she was there for him when she wasn’t, is not correct. in 5x11 she says her nickname for him was “wild cat”, but she never really used it while they were in a relationship. again, this an example of the show telling, not showing. in 5x19, nia says her and brainy were more than just boyfriend/girlfriend, they were partners. which, again, we saw very little of. like i said, most of their relationship was told, not shown. and this is not how you build a good romantic relationship when telling a story. there’s also the whole erasing nura nal from existence thing lol. and i can’t say i’m the biggest nura fan, but mysa nal is my girl. she doesn’t deserve to be erased like that.

and, look, i’m all for characters having flaws. had the show have nia being a bad girlfriend be presented as a character flaw, i wouldn’t have had a problem. but they acted like she was always right, when most of the time, she wasn’t. i’m talking about when they were in a relationship, nia did have every right to tell brainy to fuck off after he broke up with her. it wasn’t her job to reach out to him in s5b, it was his friends’. i still don’t know why no one checked on him. especially since we know kara, alex and j’onn are actually all close friends with him. and i can kinda understand kara because she is way closer with nia, but alex and j’onn? they are closer to brainy.

and because i have enough time, and this is probably the only time i’m speaking on brainia, i’m actually going to break down nia’s main story/role in every episode she was in in s5 to show you how much this relationship consumed her story:

5x01 - nia works on getting brainy to be more comfortable with physical touch;

5x02 - brainy bombards nia with food and she tells him to knock it down a bit (respectfully);

5x03 - brainy bombards nia with words of affirmation and nia tells him to knock it off and that he is being too much, they break up (?). in this episode, nia also helps j’onn;

5x04 - brainy and nia make up. nia also helps kara;

5x05 - nia stops a big wave (that was actually pretty cool). she also calms down her friend kelly;

5x10 - nia is there to support her boyfriend. they broke up at the end (hooray!);

5x11 - nia is getting over the break up. she has a talk with winn and he tells her to never let anyone make her question her own worth;

5x14 - minor role, but she saves kara so that was pretty cool;

5x15 - the only nia-focused episode. she takes down a violent transphobe. this episode shows us she still holds guilt over what happened to her mother and she’s still struggling with her powers. if only the show explored these two things in the previous 14 episodes. she is also still not over her ex;

5x16 - nia serves cunt during jeremiah’s funeral;

5x18 - kara and nia stop that old dude and when brainy takes him to the deo, they go with him. after the deo’s destruction (which, hooray. i hated the deo), nia has a fight with querl. in this episode, she also has a dream about him;

5x19 - nia is still upset about her break up with querl. she keeps having dreams about him she chooses to ignore. at the end, she finally figures out what they are about. also, her and the super friends fight leviathan;

like i said, brainia takes a majority of nia’s story. if the scene isn’t about her and brainy in some way, it would be about her doing standard superhero stuff or helping her friends. which, don’t get me wrong, is great. i like that they portray nia as a good friend. but these scenes aren’t really about her, they are about her friends. i don’t think it’s all brainia’s fault per se. it’s clear the show just didn’t give her enough screen time. but when all her personal stories this season revolve around her romantic relationship, it’s hard for me not to be annoyed about it. especially since brainy had his own storyline, away from nia. and much more screne time. and i’m not saying he didn’t deserve it. he did. he is a great character. it’s not his fault, it’s the writers’. but when the guy in the relationship has more screen time/an actual, personal storyline and the girl has none of that, i will be upset. you should not be reducing a woman to being a love interest. especially in a feminist show! i just don’t get why the show had to use her limited screen time for this relationship, when they had many more important storylines they had to continue when it came to nia. they literally used most of her screen time for her relationship with brainy and brainy’s screen time for his own story. why not have both of them have separate stories and use some of their screen time for their relationship (since they wanted it so bad)?

brainia not only messed with nia's story, but also butchered her character, and that's so so infuriating. she deserves better. brainia to nia's character is what people belive karamel is to kara's character - a relationship that consumes her story and stops her character development. i don't even hate brainia because i'm a karadox and a superdreamer shipper. they aren't even the endgame ships i have for kara. it's superdey. i dislike brainia because i absolutely love nia and her story, and i think she deserves better. i also think brainy deserved better. at the end of the day, yes, it was ooc for nia to act this way, but she still acted this way and was not a good girlfriend to querl.

as a nia fan, i’m upset how much brainia took from her story/screen time. as a brainy fan, i’m upset how nia treated him while they were in a relationship. this relationship was not good for either of them. the only reason most people claim to like it is because brainy wasn’t dating kara and they don’t really care about nia as her own character.

anways. that's my long ass rant. hope you guys enjoyed. :)

[demetriandelibinaryboyfriends]

WAIT UR THE ‘demitri and eli take a gay little road trip to find miguel’ GUY?? I LOVE THAT FIC OMG

YES HI I'm That Guy!!! That's my fic!!! Thank you for still noticing and reading it!!! <3 <3 <3

TBH it hasn't been getting a lot of comments or interaction lately, so I wasn't sure if people were still following it or really thinking about it much D: I definitely am going to continue and I have pretty solid plans up through about Chapter 13, but I got caught up in good old Adult Things (got a car part stolen and had to speedrun finding a job, and by some insane miracle I landed a good one???) and had to sorta get my life together for a while. I was also pretty bummed and discouraged that the Elimetri fandom kinda fizzed out after S5, and the hype that was there after S3 and S4 seems few and far between these days </3 And when someone DOES show up and get hyped about my boys, it always seems like they get bored after like 2 weeks and vanish into the ether again D: I feel like an immortal roaming the ruins of a once great and thriving civilization akjsalksufhdulrh

BUT ALL THAT TO SAY this is really encouraging <3 <3 Love that people are still invested, and now that my life has stabilized a bit, I may actually get Chapter 7 done ^^; The canon Mexico plotline was the most underwhelming thing I've ever seen in my entire life (and Season 5 as a whole and I just...did not really Vibe for a lot of reasons), and it's frustrating because like!!! Why would you introduce this grand epic quest for Miguel to find his dad and learn about his Dark Past™️ and then have it be over in 5 minutes and reveal nothing interesting whatsoever about Hector!!! Like if the point was to have Johnny prove he could be a good father figure to Miguel after all and to cause conflict between Miguel and Sam, then there were like...ways to do that without yeeting Miguel to another country with no ultimate character development or narrative payoff :/

And they really expect me to believe Miguel and Robby sat in petty stony silence the whole several-hour drive home and didn't even try to talk through ANY of their issues??? Didn't have ANY road trip bonding whatsoever??? WHAT A FUCKING WASTE. LAME.

ANYWAYS. I know a lot of people were against the Mexico subplot from the jump (mainly because of the potential problematic directions the show could go with it I think), but I might have been in the minority in being excited for it and thinking it had a lot of potential to see a world outside the Valley. Potential which it...did not fill at all. Like at least show us what sketch-ass shit Hector actually DOES!!! My god!!! Also not Robby being like "I wanna make things right with Miguel!!!" and then...clearly not doing that. Like considering their apartment brawl later was the first time Robby has shown onscreen remorse for what he did to Miguel, Robby didn't even apologize in the car ride on the way back??? Or speak a single word to Miguel about the whole, like...Paralysis Incident??? For all Miguel knows, Robby was tagging along just for kicks ajhdsukhfuyh

The whole thing is a mess tbh. I blame rushed production for S5. Deadass thank god for the writer's strike??? Maybe with more time for the writers to actually do their jobs, S6 will give its plotlines some room to breathe.

SO YES, long story short, I wanna do this plot thread some justice and also have my OTP be gay as shit the whole time <3 And give Miguel the epically dangerous adventure of self-discovery he deserves while ultimately still showing him he is very loved and does not need his shitty biological dad!!! God bless!!!

Thank you again for sliding into my inbox about this fic, I am always looking for motivation to keep going with it :D

(For anyone who doesn't know, the first 6 chapters of the fic in question are posted on my AO3, SummerPhlox!)

[hibiscussoupbowl]

Some characters in teen wolf are very 50 50 for me and some of those characters are malia, kira, allison, and derek. Most of them are females and that is bc the writers put all of their best into lydia.

Kira is one of the main characters that i dont like and that is bc how she was introduced was very weird. Eavesdropping on a convo and then just being like 'yeah those dreams mean ur gonna die :D' like sorry bro that is NOT the way to go if ur trying to make friends. I think the ppl who screwed her over the most was the writers bc i feel like if she was just a character on her own she wouldve been fine but it felt like she was there purely for scott. I get it, tv shows need romance most of the time but scott is never single ever. Like maybe s3a?? And even then its still sorta allison. Kiras scenes with malia were so good and i thought when they were dancing in the first ep of s4 i was like i think this would be a good dynamic. And in s5 when she has to capture the electricity or whatevrr malias there and shes giving her encouragement and i thought that was awesome. I feel like bc they made her there just bc of scott it made me iffy abt her character. Shes a kitsune who has lightning powers u couldnt give her some scenes were she wasnt with scott or doing stuff by herself??

Allison is another case like this. She has such good moments when its just her archery and doing stuff by herself or with lydia. S3a shes being herself and shes finding stuff out and still having to deal with ppl sorta dustrusting her bc she was an antagonist at the end of s2 and i think its annoying that they put isaac there as a love interest. Isaac and allison as separate characters or a dynamic?? Amazing. Awesome. But making them so sexual tension wasnt fun bc a. Allison was mainly using isaac as a rebound and b. when she was dying she was just all like scott its been you all along and that fine first love but to isaac??? That shit is painful af like imagine ur being kinda with a girl and then u think ok finally someone loves me finally someone is in the same boat of ppl being distrusting but then she dies and not even a glance? Idk just felt bad. Allison was so close bc when she was on her own she had such good scenes and i wish she had more archery scenes and ones with lydia. It was also like the parallel u couldve gotten with isaac and allison fighting together or smt???? Like with the end of s2 with allison shooting down all of the wherewolves and then s3b and shes fighting WITH them???? Like bro wasted potential.

Malia is just a character a 50 50 chaarcter cuz there is some questionable things she does but shes pretty cool with the whole 8 years coyote thing and with being blunt but idk i think i just am 50 50 on her lol

Lydia is the absolute best bc omfg she had some dating but overall she mostly figured stuff out herself and she had good sideplots with being a banshee and i thought her ajd parrish havibg that weird... smt was not needed but i did like the aspect of before she found out abt her sonar scream she needed to learn how to fight and i think it woldve been cool if they were not freaking tension filled. She was a strong character and they def put everything into her bc holy crap. Idk to me shes a big 10/10 character.

Derek is just freaking annoying man. Like sleeping with the enemy so many times? And he also never has smt besides a family problem or smt abt the person hes sleeping with. I was also kinda annoyed abt how isaac leaving after derek throws the glass never gets resolved. I feel like he also doesnt grow as a character much. Like two seasons hes like my sister died my uncle did it and family fire and my ex is the one who caused most of this and then s3 and its i slept with the enemy and my sisters back somehow after the family fire that my other ex caused and then s4 is braedens season and she was again so cool as a character on her OWN nd then the inly interesting thing was that he needed to learn how to use a gun. And then s5 he was barely there and s6 he was barely there so he didnt have growth i feel like. Not to say he wasnt hella funny at times

They all had good moments though like malias plot abt her mother was interesting (even if i couldnt really follow along) and kiras whole skinwalker thing which i was disapointed abt bc i wanted her to stay for s6.

They also make ALL the female characters be romantic with scott of least ONCE. Lydia kissed him, allison, kira, malia (which i thought was weird that they just, got rid of that in the movie and developed it in like 20 episodes and was rushed as hell) and then allison again. Please give me a character that isnt somehow drawn to scott i beg

[riverdale-retread]

Riverdale S7 E5 Tales in a Jugular Vein

We open with the three unwise men of Riverdale who fancy themselves the key authorities of the “situation”  - Clifford Blossom, the high school principal, and Dupont from S4 that they keep giving more names to that won't stick in my memory:  His first name is apparently Friedrich.  It’s not even Freddy, it’s Friedrich like he’s some sort of kaiser. In any case, the Blossom patriarch as the source of all evil in this town asks if Ethel has been silenced. 

Yes, she has, quite literally - the nuns at the Sisters of Quiet Mercy have imposed a ‘vow of silence’ which seems like a euphemism for literal physical muzzle  (Poor Ethel).  The parents are all very concerned about the murder of the Muggs but the three wise men are not.  They are also confused about why it is that Sheriff Keller is continuing to chase down this ‘milkman’ that Ethel saw as well as the murder weapon.  The HS principal seems not to know that this is Sheriff Keller’s actual job, but Dupont (Werther? Whatever) says that the real problem is COMIC BOOKS.  

I don’t think these old farts understand how very incompetent Sheriff Keller is. He’s the man who forgot to check the time of death on the coroner’s report. Ain’t no way he’s finding the murder weapon. 

And he has a whole batch of them to toss on the table, the topmost of which is The Pit Of Tyranny.  Which is what these three men are, sitting together all close in dim lighting.  (Are they going to have a threesome after??)

Dupont/ Werther hates comic books, because they are the source of all violence and iniquity in the world, so he is going to make everyone in Riverdale focus on them.

Jughead meanwhile strolls into the offices at the publishing house looking for work. He is just so happy to be working as a writer, across all universes! So adorable.  His asshole publisher who always puts out the most terrible terms - a full issue, 21 pages worth of  stories, no errors, by tomorrow morning! - and Jug is just bright eyed and bushy tailed about it.  “Plenty More Where That Came From!!”  Super eager Jughead is so cute - “I wont let you down!” with the finger POINT.

The publisher hands him a stack of potential stories, advising Jughead to talk to Bernie about them.  The extremely paper wasting way of listing these little A03 tags, 3 at a time, in single index cards is very luxurious to me.

Boxer, Vigilante, Organ Harvesting

Man, Woman, Cult, Rocket

“Gosh Bernie, all these stories have been done to death!” Jughead says.  Aw Riverdale, you’re so silly when you get meta.  Is this actually the writers’ process at Riverdale, the Show?  Because this was actually a fan theory I saw go around - that they literally just throw darts at the wall and then weave the stories together from keywords.  Is Roberto trying to tell us something about his “process”? 

The idea that Jughead thinks is GENIUS is “stories about teenagers in high school.”  And his ideas grow to things like Witchy Lunch Lady, Creepy Janitor, “Homeroom of Horrors.”  Jughead is completely enamored by his own ideas. 

Just in time, his girlfriend (Because Veronica is his girlfriend now, right? She certainly enters the room like she’s the girlfriend) Veronica comes over, calling him her “Little Tortured Genius” as Jughead is typing away.  She wants to go see  Diabolique, but Jughead is being very intense about his deadline and says maybe they can go tomorrow. 

I really need to take on Jughead’s attitude about work, maybe.  The way he phrases it  - “Al has asked me to take on an entire issue!” makes it so sound like he is adored and beloved and trusted, rather than being exploited. 

On second thought, no.  

Jughead needs to be more like me.

In any case, Veronica takes what he says at face value.   She wants to help him, so Jughead tells her with enthusiasm about his first story, which is about gym class (“What’s scarier than gym class?”). The narrator in Jughead’s special edition is a very unhinged looking unkempt old man, a ‘creepy janitor’ with a bunch of keys.  Jughead even got one of the artists to draw a mockup for him.  He’s really good at this, worming his way into this publishing house!

The first story is called Keep Your Head in the Game. 

And this is when I got attacked for a second time by this, my favorite television show, because they came for my throat.  Poor bespectacled Asian Dilton is called “the runt, the klutz, the pipsqueak, half pint, short, near sighted and uncoordinated.”

STOP TALKING ABOUT ME!   

He is the last among a row of boys who are being forced to uselessly throw a projectile so it lands in a specific arbitrarily designated location. (I hate you, all sports. I hate you, all games that involve throwing things at me.)

Nobody can leave until everyone makes  a basket which Dilton can’t.  OMG.  My PE grade depended on making a certain minimum number of baskets in gym class in Germany, and I almost failed it, but I kept at it with such bloody minded Korean dweeb determination that even though I definitely failed it, my teacher wanted so to go home that she gave me a C. This is so personal. 

The Coach makes the other players run laps while Dilton desperately tries to make one lousy basket. Of course, the one most immediately pissed off about this is Julian.  He threatens Dilton as soon as the lap running starts, then slams him against the lockers at the first opportunity.   Actually though, I decided during the course of this confrontation that Dilton would deserve what he got, because Julian asks him a very important question: Why are you even here if you can’t make one stinking basket?  Dilton idiotically wants to be part of ‘the team.’  

Dude. 

Dilton.  

Dude.

Don’t be stupid.

Julian pushes Dilton into a locker, while all the other boys let it happen.  Including Archie.  Archie is like this in every universe - he doesn’t think this is correct, but other than voicing a sort of weak objection, he doesn’t actually do anything to solve the problem (Flashing back to the infamous birthday episode with Jughead.  Does Jughead the writer of this tale really not remember the OG universe?? HMM??).   Dilton is desperately screaming inside the locker after Julian threatens for a second time to kill him.

Dilton it turns out is morbidly claustrophobic, which somehow leads Dilton to suffering a psychotic break.  The day shift cleaner lets him out, but he steals the fire-rescue ax to hide in the same locker until he can pop out and get rid of them all.   Covered in blood, Dilton is next seen in the basketball space, easily making a basket.  The coach is all atta-boy until Julian’s head rolls to his feet.   The coach turns his head to see six decapitated bodies, all wearing Chuck Taylors, sitting impossibly upright in a row on the benches, their hands demurely in their laps.  

Hahaha! OK so this was funny. 

The heads are all neatly stacked in between basketballs in a roller container. The next head that he picks up is Archie. 

Veronica is all about murdering jocks.  She especially likes that Julian Blossom got his head chopped off.   Jughead wriggles a bit on his round butt which he does when he’s being excited and smug. He explains that Dupont/Werthers (et al) don’t understand that comics are actually very *moral* forms of entertainment.  Rule breakers get punished in these horror stories, as do people who are cruel to others, as well as people who have lustful sex.

Veronica calls him Juggiekins (SQUEE) when she asks him to elaborate on what he means by lustful sex. 

Jughead says that it starts on a ‘dark and stormy night’ exactly as the night outside in Riverdale starts to get stormy.   The next story is called “Love You to Pieces.”  The “young strapping man” Archie Andrews knocks on the Blossom mansion door to explain that he has a flat tire to Nana Rose.  He asks to stay the night, to which Nana Rose generously says he can keep himself warm by the fire.  

There’s a very wholesome looking portrait of Cheryl that Nana Rose and Archie share their tea front of.  Nana Rose gives Archie a warning - he must stay in his room with the door locked all night, because Cheryl is an aggressive compulsive boy-molester.  Archie is immensely excited about this.  He leaves his door not just unlocked  - he leaves it OPEN, then sluttily lies there with his shirt off.   What we have is a Rocky Horror Show type of sequence when Cheryl comes in to kiss him.  She won’t let him light a candle, then they flop down to the bed together. (This is apparently what Jughead thinks sex is).

What the heck is Jughead’s problem with  Cheryl?  The cruelty of this story about Cheryl (as the audience knows her) is a bit shocking.  She’s definitely trapped in the house.  Her family members definitely sexualize teenage Cheryl.  She is definitely cursed.   And he’s using all this against her?  JUGHEAD.

Next morning, Archie is very pleased with himself as he bounces out of the guest room.  He sees a very ominous looking veiled young woman looking out the window, but he doesn’t say anything to her.  As he scarfs down a generous looking breakfast with Nana Rose, he proves himself to be a real asshole.  Having been told not to fuck Cheryl and then having done it, he wants NOW to know what’s wrong with her.  Apparently it’s fine if he just took advantage of a crazy girl (“What exactly is wrong with her, a mental illness?” he says as he cheerfully chows down.)

It’s only when he is told that what Cheryl has is a physical illness which is contagious - LEPROSY - is when he is upset.  Nana Rose is immune because she was ‘exposed’ to it as a child but of course, Archie wasn’t!  Then Nana Rose gleefully tells him that it “was no accident that brought you here.”  The nail in the road was Nana Rose making sure that Cheryl would ‘relish’ her last days on earth (because she is soon to die).  “We’re going to be together forever and ever!” Cheryl says as she comes from behind to grasp the terrified Archie by the shoulder. 

Veronica does not like this story whatsoever.  Jughead says it might be a “curiosity killed the cat” story or maybe even a safe sex story (even though that phrase wouldn’t be coined for another three decades).  Ever the smartie, Veronica sniffs out the Jarchie angle to all this, directly pricking at Jughead with “I’m hearing that Archie and Cheryl broke up” and that they didn’t actually have sex.  Jughead pretends to not be shooketh by this news and the realization that his resentment of Cheryl getting to fuck Archie before him was what was motivating this story.   He says, “Well, who can keep up with all the horny teens at Riverdale High?”

Jughead Jones is pro-food and anti-sex but he’s also pro-making out with Veronica. 

Anyway Veronica tells him the point of high school is for straights to  chase each other.  Jughead is just too far up his own ass to catch the hint, so he moves directly to, “Girls will do anything to get boys’ attention” to which Veronica, now thoroughly bored because the lustful sex story turned out to be an anti-sex debacle, glumly retorts, “Including feigning an interest in comic books, apparently.”  Jughead is not listening to her, at all. 

Jughead the writer next turns his poison pen upon the blameless Betty Cooper.  Or is he?  Because honestly his descriptions of her are so  completely wrong as to be comical:  “Plain Jane with the ponytail mane.  Sweater set waiting for better yet.  Whom none of the boys seem to sic their sights on.”  I mean, in the real world of the 1950s AU, Betty was targeted by the lying asshole Kevin as the perfect unwitting beard because she’s the prettiest girl in school, and no guy who can ‘get’ and keep the prettiest girl in school can be gay, right?  

Anyway, in Jughead’s story, even though he calls her Betty, this girl is not Betty in the real world.  She goes to the hair salon in tears because nobody wants to take her out.  The drag queen (is it the same actor who is playing Janitor Key Keeper?) hairstylist suggests that Betty gets the beehive.  She suggests that ‘girls in Europe’ are doing it which is immensely enticing to Betty.  The thing is, according to the hairstylist you can’t ever wash your hair again once it’s in a beehive.  It can only ever be hairsprayed  (Aqua Set).  Betty objects on hygiene reasons - hair should be washed every other day or at least once a week!  - but decides to give all that up for the joy of being beautiful.

Jughead the writer has  a thing for Dad joke level puns - he describes the girls of Riverdale as being “gangrene with envy” at how fabulous Betty looks with her new hairdo.   Cheryl is upset, and so is Veronica, so when they run into her spraying the hell out of her beehive in the girls’ bathroom, Cheryl attacks first.  She calls Betty “ponytail princess” and the haircut “ridiculous” and Cheronica laugh meanly about it.   This turns out to be the very first time either girl had paid any attention to Betty, so Betty figures all attention is good attention.  She “started needing it, feeding off it.”   Veronica is in blue-white polka dots, Cheryl is in red check, but Betty is in the same blues-and-yellows of the bathroom!    

The hairspraying is out of control, but the heavier and more shellacked her hair becomes, the more boys are attracted to her. Julian wants to carry her books to class.  Archie wants to go out with her on Friday.  Two nameless extra boys just wanna stand close by and stare!  Betty doesn’t even accept Archie on his first pass either.

She does develop a bit of an obsession with the hairspray.  Sitting very Wes Anderson-like in her yellow-green living room, dead center frame, in her yellow-greenish outfit, she is spraying and spraying.   Betty never washes or undoes her hair, instead spraying it further before going to bed.  The narration says something VERY BAD HAPPENED as Betty’s window throws a huge spiderweb shaped shadow over her sleeping face.

A week later, she and Archie are finally on a date!  Pops says that Betty has always been a peach when Archie implies she’s suddenly become good enough with the hairdo change. Go Pop’s.   Can I just say I hate the word GINCHY. Is this an actual word from the 50s or did they make this up for Riverdale?  I refuse to look it up.  Archie insists on using it TWICE in one sentence - he calls Betty and her hair both Ginchy.  Ugh. 

The song called “I got Stung” comes on so they go out to the dance floor.  Archie is the dorkiest dancer of all time but Betty seems to be having a good time, until she suddenly isn’t.  She is coughing up foam! She’s having a fit!  Archie looks so horrified.  The narration comes in to say Betty is now DEAD.

Heyyy Doctor Curdle Jr. is the coroner!  He finds Betty very beautiful with a fascinating hairstyle.  He cuts the top of the hairdo off, which unleashes a torrent of spiders down Betty’s beautiful dead face.   Black widow spiders ate their way through Betty’s skull.  Well.. okay.  The Key Keeper bursts in to tell us that “beauty is only skin deep and  vanity kills.”

Veronica is super not amused by this conclusion, which I think Jughead put in there for her benefit because he just got done talking about how these stories in this horror comic are actually all morality tales.   She takes issue with it, in the beautifully spruced up space she created for Jughead to live in. “What’s wanting to look good?” asks Veronica, looking absolutely perfect beyond all reason.  She also says that men do the same thing, turning themselves into he-men.

The thing is, even though she doesn’t appear to like these stories, Veronica is still annoyed that she hasn’t had a starring role, unlike Dilton, Cheryl, Archie and Betty.  The fact that Dilton is included in this list is interesting, isn’t it, given the relationship, both shown and implied between the other universe Dilton and the Rivervale Dilton and Jughead?   She specifically asks a tale romantic in flavor, which is not at all the flavor of what Jughead has been writing all evening NOR who he writes for, but then because Veronica is actually gay her thoughts skip directly from romantic → focus on female friendship.   

Asking a man who has written about spiders eating into a girl’s brain because she got a fussy hairdo one time to write about “female friendship” is a recipe for disaster.  I will say, Jughead does sort of start off on the right foot - he suggests a story where the girls in a love triangle  do NOT go after each other’s throats. This brings Veronica’s hopes up too much though (“Now you’re singing my tune!”).

This last story is called, “My Better Half.”  

Jughead really dislikes Archie in this universe.  Like, a lot.  He sees Archie as a really dumb slut (both terms derogatory).  Are we absolutely sure that Tabitha did a complete mind wipe? Where does all this hostility come from?  The story starts out with the Key Keeper (who has a wicked case of sunburn or rosacea or whatever) coming in too close, way too close, to call Archie “a half wit when it comes to decision making.”

I object to this. This is unfair.  Highly suggestive is what Archie is and has always been.  When Julian tells him to ask Cheryl out, he does. When Cheryl tells him to write Betty a poem and start wooing her, he starts out to do exactly that.  And so on.  

The multiple choice question Archie is struggling with is the choice between A. the girl next door, or B. the rich starlet-socialite.  Betty in a pale blue headband and white neckerchief looks like Disney’s Cinderella, whereas Veronica looks like a Betty Page type seductress with her severe haircut and dark red lipstick.  Archie chooses C, both of the above.  

MWF are Betty, and TThrSat are Veronica days.

In a super modern innovation, Archie tells both girls that he’s dating the other one, and both girls allow this to happen.    Veronica thinks Betty is a smelly tomboy and Betty thinks Veronica is a vapid airhead.  This is exactly not at all what either of these girls are so this choice is interesting. (Is Jughead pulling his punches because Veronica is right there looking at him type?)   Archie just doesn’t have the brains to explain the concept of polyamory I suppose, so his way of coping with the objection from both ladies is to tell each that she is his favorite.

Julian wants to know how Archie gets away with it, and Archie calmly offers it up.  This is in matter of fact Archie’s actual philosophy of life a lot of the time:  You tell them what they wanna hear.

He even gives them  his best line - You’re my favorite. (Doiley gets yelled at because he tells Archie this is not three words, but four.)

The three girls at Riverdale are in the bathroom, fixing their make up. Veronica in black polka dots, close fitting, with a black handbag.  Cheryl in a flared skirt red-and-white dress.  Betty in pinkish dark check with a black belt.  Of course, Cheryl is the one to start shit, while standing between these two girls, by asking Veronica who will be her date for Valentine’s Day.  She calmly continues to do her make up while Veronica and Betty have at it. 

Veronica calls Betty “dumb for such a smart girl” and a “charity case.”  Betty calls Veronica “fragile,” “desperate” or “crazy.”   Veronica is furious at being called Fragile, so she fights back with “high strung” and then they're lobbing intimate things they’ve learned about the other from Archie.  Betty takes Alice’s sleeping pills because she can’t sleep.   Cheryl turns around to call both of them fools.  Betty carries a white handbag, by the way. 

Archie says that he ‘s taking his MOM to Valentine’s day because it’s her first Valentine’s day without her husband.  Both girls are completely moved, but also get their punches in.  Archie asks them what they’ll be up to, to which both say they will be at home.  They go on a girl’s night out on Valentine’s Day.  

And guess what?  Cheryl!!!  It’s Cheryl that’s Archie’s date for Valentine’s day!!   They see them in the Diner!   Veronica is immediately about to go do some confronting, but Betty stops her, saying she has a much better idea.  Immediately the next day, both girls approach him at once (I love Betty’s outfit with the contrast belt and the white hairpin) to offer a threesome.  This is something that Archie must have been working himself up to get them to do, because as soon as it’s offered he says he knows the perfect spot.  But they’re setting him up so they get to choose the location.   They invite him to the shop room because it’s soundproof. 

Because Jughead is the one writing this story, the girls set up the shop room with TONS of candles.  (Has there ever been a good fandom post about Jughead Jones’ candle fetish? Because it’s a really persistent theme. Please share).   They’ve even set up what looks like a bed on the floor of the shop room, as well as a record player.  Veronica and Betty are speaking in unison using identical dulcet tones. They give him a thermos of coffee which is apparently delicious, even though Archie says he doesn’t “need the boost.”  

I have been living a very sheltered life because I didn’t know that caffeine caused priapism but then Archie is an unusual bird.  Archie does feel strange immediately - there’s a funny Looney Toons type of doi-oi-oi-ing! sound effect as he tries to ‘shake off’ the effects of whatever they’ve drugged him with.    He collapses. 

When Archie regains consciousness he’s strapped to a table.  It turns out the sleeping pills were what knocked him out.  “A problem shared is a problem solved” the girl tell him, calling each other B and V.   They turn on a huge saw to “double their fun” as Archie screams and screams as they slice him in half.  The camera is completely doused with blood. 

Veronica wants Archie’s top half and Betty wants his bottom half.  I wonder why this choice?  Veronica is a breast girl, and Betty is a leg woman? 

Jughead wants to know what Veronica thought of the ‘tag team twist’ at the end.  Veronica is not pleased.  She says that the sexual politics of his stories are troubling.   She interrogates Jughead for demonizing women, to which Jughead says she is overthinking it. These stories are meant to be a gas etc.  She just doesn’t like these stories.

The thing is, I don’t think these stories are misogynist so much as anti-sex.  Jughead is very puritanical and judgmental at the same time - he finds all these people’s aspirations (retaining the desire to be part of a team even if that team isn’t nice to you and there’s no team that calls for your specific strengths, wanting to have easy sex that doesn’t mean anything, wanting threesomes, wanting approval and admiration for shallow things from others) all really dumb. He wants to punish people for being vulnerable.   He’s like a lot of solitary, self conscious overthinkers - he finds other people nakedly going after things they want painful to contemplate, and so he is mean spirited about them.

The main mistake Jughead made here though was that the story he wrote with Veronica as his lead wasn’t flattering to Veronica.  And Veronica’s mistake was hoping for something like that from a man writing in the horror genre.

I snorted when Jughead mentioned Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe as somehow aspirational because I know what happened with Miller after Monroe died (he wrote a whole play where he called his ex wife a great piece of ass, which, great. Super classy. Yup.)   Anyway they’re broken up now, over Veronica not liking Jughead’s writing.  He is sad about the break up between them.  Jughead is also worried about accusations about ‘corrupting the youth of America’ via comic books.

Friedrich Werther (Dupont!) has made good on what he said to the two other Unwise Men at the start of the episode.  He’s written a whole editorial on the front page of the Riverdale Register about the dangers of Comic Books: Slaughter of the Innocent!  It actually appears to be a fully written article that’s being used as a prop.  It ends with “I am asking for a call of arms.  We must attack our attackers. No one likes a fight, but the fate of our children hangs in the balance.”

Werther absolutely does not have children, so it’s the usual huge red flag when childless men go on about ‘our’ children.   The other major thing that has happened is that Four Horses Have Escaped From Farm (this is also a fully written article.  Apparently, nobody was injured, but the children did neigh at the horses , which confused the farm animals. What?)

We cut to the principal reading his boyfriend’s article out loud to their leader Clifford Blossom with great absorption.  “Our children are being seduced by sex, by violence, by depravity.”  Blah blah.  Clifford - who is mayor by the way - says this crusade against comic books is going to be a nice distraction from the still unsolved Muggs murders. 

Back at the comic book business, Jughead is told by the publisher that his work is “incredible stuff.”   When Jughead says he needed a win, Fieldstone guesses that it’s girl trouble.  Jughead tells him he had a “sweet thing going with this one gal” and she didn’t like what Jughead was saying.  The publisher does not care what that means, and instead offers a byline (not a bonus, not a cover) so Jughead’s name is going to be in print!   The publisher names him Jughead JUGULAR Jones.  Featherstone promises that girls come and go but one’s name in print makes people sit up and take notice.   Apparently this is going to set Jughead on a collision course with Dupont (Werther! Whatever!).

I am sad that Jeronica is over, though I do like the way it just sort of fizzled out because they ran into an incompatibility that they could not find a way to overcome rather than Archie or Betty causing them problems, which I appreciate. And you know what - the fact that Jughead just can not stop thinking about Archie fucking other people makes me think the Jarchies have it right after all.

[markantonys]

apart from all his other various trauma (and his past life experiences as lews therin), the show is setting rand up with a much darker history in terms of relationships and sex than book!rand ever had. i really hope they don't shy away from that and actually show the consequences of that long-term manipulation and sexual coercion/assault. i've been very curious about how they intend to approach the polycule in general, and this adds a whole other layer.

yeah!!! so far the show's been doing a great job of letting trauma play out rather than trying to rush it along or sweep it under the rug (with the best example of course being perrin with laila's death) so i have hopes that we'll be seeing some emotional fallout for rand going forward.

definitely intrigued as to how they're going to proceed with rand's romances because boy, we thought there were obstacles in the book version, but now we've got 10x as many obstacles! i will say with tentative hope that this could be a good sign for my previous speculation that the polycule will be arranged more intentionally in the show and we'll jettison most of the Forced Miscommunication and rand being run around in circles because rj wanted it to be a secret from rand that he's getting roped into a polycule lmao - with rand now having HUGE romance/sex-related trauma he didn't have in the books, that will provide more than enough hurdles for the relationship(s) to overcome and we do not need to waste time with the various hurdles the books had (which were largely more manufactured & less character-driven than something like rand, and also min too with her new backstory, having past trauma that makes trust and intimacy difficult. and show!elayne i could imagine being more wary about people potentially faking romantic interest in her to use her for her position, and who knows whether aviendha might have any new depth/backstory to affect her approach towards relationships.)

so my proposal (which will be repetitive since i've said this a few times already haha but i want to muse on it a little with the new context of randfear. or should i say, randfear-induced Rand Fear!) is that aviendha is rand's first post-lanfear romance, and it takes them the majority of s3 to get together due to The Trauma. we can still have our avirand slowburn without needing to use poor elayne as a wedge between them! then they simply stay together, and elayne joins in s4 and min in s5.

it's also very interesting to me that we haven't yet gotten min alluding to The Viewing (beyond her quick joke-but-not-really mention to rand in 1x07), and i honestly don't think we will this season since she's gotten a different character arc to keep her busy. and i like that! i always hated the Fate Said So angle, so while min of course has still had that viewing in showverse and it will probably be relevant to her individual journey of falling for rand, i'd be thrilled if the audience, elayne, and aviendha don't learn about it until much later than they do in the books. especially if min is last to join as in the books, then avirandlayne could potentially develop COMPLETELY naturally without any foreknowledge by any of them (seems likely since min may not even meet elayne or avi by the time they get with rand) and maybe without any foreknowledge by the audience either (depending on how long it takes for min to make her viewing known to us), and the Fated Romance angle could be saved specifically for min/rand rather than for the entire polycule (i mean the entire polycule will still be a Fated Romance, but all sub-relationships but min/rand would develop without that as a known piece of info, in this scenario)

[beevean]

Everytime I hear about Carmilla when it concerns Netflix Castlevania, I have to scratch my head. The character from the games she is supposed to be based off of was inspired by a lesbian vampire who exclusively preyed on female victims; yet she has a(implied) harem of dudes. I know Carmilla was mostly a recurring boss of the week in the games, but if you're already going to take so many liberties with the source material then why not go to the original novella the character was based off from for ideas to make your differing interpretation of the character? The reason why Carmilla was portrayed as just a masked looking face in her early incarnations is even a nod to the how the character in the originating story would take advantage of masquerade balls in order to scout out potential victims.

I don't know. Man hating power hungry gurlboss #266 just isn't what comes to my mind when I hear female vampire character named Carmilla.

Carmilla in the games may be a lesbian too. She doesn't appear very often, but she has a trusted servant named Laura!

As others have pointed out, N!Carmilla's sexuality is ambiguous, but not only she is attracted to men (there's a throwaway line where she implied she had sex with multiple boys), but she also puts the idea of having sex with women on the same level of bestiality:

"I may [fuck Godbrand], if all the other vampire males in the world drop dead, and half the females. Some of the animals."

It's a joke, but, well, make of this what you will.

Carmilla only make one reference to her game incarnation. One. Right before she explodes, she cries blood from one eye. Get it, bloody tears? And I think her council all wear a tiny mask somewhere, like on a ring on in their hair. But personally I would have expected Carmilla to have a skull motif, much like in her boss battles in RoB and CoTM she's depicted as a giant woman on a giant skull lol.

Anyway, yes. While I very much do not trust Ellis with writing a good lesbian character (dude's already shoehorned too many fetishes of his), it's so disappointing that N!Carmilla is little more than a shallow #girlboss who never breaks her cool, with stupid goals like "conquering the world" (and this show is supposed to be more serious than the games?), with annoying as shit radfem speeches to pretend she's more tragic and nuanced than she is, and with trauma that is only told to us (this show is praised for its writing). Even if you like her as a character, for some reason, she's also phased out by S2! Her last meaningful act is that long sequence in the S2 finale where she randomly beats the shit out of Hector just because she's eeeeevil, then in S3 they all call her a dumbass for that (because they read the script) and they let Lenore take the center stage, then in S4 she appears in two episodes before dying in the most unsatisfying way ever. What a waste.

[katherineholmes]

For the ask game 😍

The Vampire Diaries, 11

Klaulena, 20

The famous Klaus Mikaelson, 2

11. what I think of the central character(s)

The central characters of TVD are Elena, Stefan and Damon. I'll start with Stefan and Damon I think. When we are first introduced to them, they are juxtaposed against against each other, they both have led pretty similar lives, on the surface, yet, both are vastly different. As we go about the series, we see the layers come off and get to know them more.

Stefan grew up with an abusive father, a protective brother, and no mother. From a young age, he was stuck in a conundrum, having to conform his behaviour to not be abused, and yet, watch Damon get abused. His father favouring him inculcated a deep guilt in him, and it carries on throughout. Katherine, I think, shaped a lot of who he is. She raped him, and then gaslighted him in the present.

There's a strange phenomenon in the way he reacts to Caroline's abuse at Damon's hands, I think Stefan has convinced himself that sex through compulsion isn't rape, because if he acknowledges it, he has to reconcile with the fact that he was raped by someone he loved. The one time he tries to speak to Damon about it, to connect, he's brushed off, his trauma isn't acknowledged and he never speaks about it.

In a very interesting sort of contradiction however, Stefan is a sadist. Some of his acts are so cruel that even Klaus is a bit taken aback, fascinated sure, but also in wonder at the capacity Stefan has to torture in ways that truly hurt. And this is exactly the reason Stefan tries not to go off the rails ever. He doesn't just tear people apart limb from limb, he compels them to drink their spouse's blood, etc just for his own amusement. It’s what sets him apart, I think, he can be so depraved that it makes sense to him to not be that person. I do think that Stefan has a strong internal character though, for trying to resist giving into his worst urges. But, he also hides from himself, doesn't always acknowledge how cruel and emotionally manipulative he can be.

Damon, oh Damon. Such wasted potential. Damon is a great antagonist, I love s1 Damon. As the villain. He's the bad guy who's horrid to Vicky and Caroline, hurts Stefan and Elena, has a mission. I don't mind him as a love interest in s1 but then a strange thing starts happening, all of his evil deeds are swept under the rug, never addressed, and this narrative starts where it's said he's doing the bad things just to protect Elena. It is such a disservice to him. He could've had a real redemption arc, could've actually helped Stefan through his ripper phase, acknowledged that what he did to Caroline was horrible and feel the guilt and pain, get tortured a little, been better to Jeremy and Bonnie. Or he could've stayed a villain. Instead we get this confused character arc that has one foot in antagonist, one foot in redemption and does neither well.

And Elena. I saved her for the last because I think I say how I feel about her all the time. I think she’s strong, incredibly intelligent, quite manipulative, and deeply depressed. I think I’ve read a fic that described her as a bit trigger happy. In that she always jumps to the most extreme solution to a problem and it ends up making thinks bad for her, but sometimes, it works very well. Honestly, I’ll need to make a new post if I am to do her justice.

20. how and when they should get/should have gotten together

For Klaulena. I think s4 could’ve been a fun time! Like, Elena is a newly turned vampire, who just a few days ago, held a knife to her throat to save Klaus’ life. That scene where Klaus has her tied up and is draining her blood has so much potential! Maybe she could’ve said something about how her destiny was being fulfilled, about dying, and Klaus would’ve been undoubtedly fascinated by that.

So when she turns, and Klaus has to save her by giving her his blood, it could’ve established a connection between them. Then afterwards, Elena, in a bid to protect Jeremy, could’ve agreed to let Klaus compel vampires for Jeremy to kill. Maybe they could’ve gone outside of Mystic Falls, and then it would’ve happened. It could’ve been great, we could’ve had it all 🥹

2. how I would have chosen to change their story from canon.

For the famous Klaus Mikaelson, hmm🤔 what would I change from canon, this is an interesting one, actually. Probably that he wouldn’t have been straight. Tbf, I refuse to believe that Klaus is straight. I mean, his whole thing with Lucien and Stefan, like, no way, he enjoyed spending his time with those two. And he was way too possessive over Stefan for it to be….platonic. I mean, Stefan survived s3 of TVD somehow, even after stealing the coffins, I mean there’s no one else who could’ve survived that. And the Klaus/Lucien dynamic is not platonic either, like those two def hooked up at some point or the other. I don’t think I’d change anything else about Klaus 😍😼

Thank you so, so much for the questions, I enjoyed answering them, even though I rambled more about Stefan than I expected to 😅

[kurokoros]

As we are talking about Steve's character rn, I completely agree with anything you said so far. To add to the whole s3/s4 treatment, I just hate the whole "babygirlyfication" by the fandom because of how s3/s4 was written. Like if I hear the word babygirl one more time. I think what annoys me the most about it is that in Steve's case, babygirl=stupid himbo loser, and ughh, I just hate it so much. Yes he wore that dumb sailor outfit but he hated it every second he had to be in it, but the fandom overlooks that completely and decided yeah Steve loves to dress feminine and all (mostly to pair him up with other characters like Eddie and to subject him into weird ship dynamics where he's like the submissive partner). I swear, ever since s3 people think Steve is so helpless in everything, they also act like he's a super virgin who just can't get anyone, which contradicts s1/s2 Steve. I mean, okay, he could have had a funk in s3 bc of Nancy, but the show over exaggerated it to a point it was so ooc. I think the scene I hated the most in s3 is his last one, where he needed Robin to get him the job at FV because apparently he hadn't seen any movie prior to this day (despite being a huge Tom Cruise fan). It's so annoying really because they simplified him so much. He could be such a great character with depth, but nope. And the fandom perpetuates this by making him the dumb babygirl his entire personality. You're literally one of the few people trying to pick up after s2 and develop him in a way that makes more sense than what the show did.

Other characters the show did dirty after s2 are Hopper (bc what was up with him in s3 like it was actually scary), Joyce, Mike, Jonathan (well actually he got fucked over by being Nancy's accessory since s2) and partially Dustin esp in s4. The writers needed a department that overlooks character contingency because those are not the same ones we watched in s1/s2. I love Stranger Things, I do, but my god, the wasted character potential sometimes keeps me up at night. I'm not a talented writer, I try my best, but even I would have come up with better storylines or at least make sure they stay the same characters.

The whole "babygirl Steve" thing makes me want to eat glass. Like, I get mad when I think about how they went the himbo route with Steve instead of continuing the "jerk with a heart of gold" characterization they had going for two seasons, and to see the fandom just constantly make "babygirl Steve!" jokes irritates the hell out of me. I don't want to be that bitch who says you aren't allowed to headcanon characters certain ways, or you aren't allowed to project on characters, but damn some of the Steve stans genuinely make me question whether or not they actually like him in the first place. Like... Steve is a masculine guy! But people saw that he has a haircare routine and cares about hygiene and decided that makes him feminine to fit a queer stereotype so they can ship him with the two most mediocre white boys the show could offer.

And it really is super fucking weird that S3 "babygirl" Steve is portrayed as less intelligent and more pathetic than he was in S1/2. It's infantilizing. And the sailor suit makes it worse. If I could change one thing about ST I would get rid of that stupid fucking sailor suit. The show really did just make Steve seem pathetic in S3, and it was done in a way that I just don't understand why anyone who actually likes Steve would enjoy what they did.

Along with the "Steve can't get a job on his own" (which doesn't make sense if he was apparently a trained lifeguard. this man would have actual references aside from his mother if that was the case) thing, I have a bone to pick with the recurring gag of "Steve doesn't get pop culture references". Like??? Steve was a popular kid in school??? He would know movies (if only because movies are a super common date activity and there's a theater in Hawkins).

I refuse to acknowledge S3-4 as canon in any of my fics because of how much I despise the way canon botched most of the characters. There was so much potential there, and instead they just made Steve a loser with no charm. The Duffers for sure need someone in charge of characters. And plot. And worldbuilding. And overall consistency.

Basically, the Duffers need to hire actually good writers and just stick to directing.

[butterflydm]

The news about Tanchico does confirm that when Rafe said a closer adaptation of TSR, he really meant a close adaptation, because that was definitely the easiest storyline to shift to another city that would appear again later on if he wanted to combine storylines (Perrin's plotline could only happen in the Two Rivers, and Rand's plotline can only happen in the Aiel Waste).

So I think a reread of TSR is in my future, lol, so I can refresh myself on the story beats.

Tanchico means Egeanin, I would guess. Otherwise you'd move their story closer to everyone else's action. So the show likely plans to keep the pressure on re: the Seanchan.

It does make going to White Tower feel even less likely (and I already had the likelihood of it pretty low) because that would be a LOT of ping-ponging for Elayne and Nynaeve, to go from the west coast to the middle of the continent and then back over to the west coast in the space of something like two or three episodes purely dedicated to traveling around. At least for Egwene, the White Tower is kinda 'on the way' to the Waste. The White Tower is definitely NOT on the way to Tanchico from Falme, lol.

The biggest question that I have is how long we'll get before the characters split up into their various plotlines and if any of them come back together again at the end of the season. From what else Rafe said at NYCC, it sounds like they are not dipping very far into TFoH at all, because he talked about focusing on a single book this season. There will definitely be things from books 1-3 in there, because we know Elaida, etc. have been cast and need some kind of introduction, but the main focus will be book 4.

A pretty good chunk of TSR does take place before anyone goes to the Waste, so I wonder how much of that we'll get. I do expect us to get the official final breakup of Rand & Egwene, though I doubt it will be comedic like it is in the books. I feel like they shouldn't rush right into Rand & Elayne afterwards (which is a major reason that I do hope they're planning to reunite Elayne & Nynaeve with Rand's side of the storyline at the end of the season, because that gives some space in between the breakup and then Rand and Elayne having serious emotions about each other), and Rand & Aviendha are built for a slow-burn. Plus I would expect Lan and Nynaeve to get some time together (their only time together in s2 was Nynaeve's vision in the third archway) before they split up (for the rest of the season?).

If Doman is the one who carries Elayne & Nynaeve to Tanchico, then that's the set-up for him to meet Egeanin there. Then Elayne and Nynaeve could potentially take a Sea Folk raker at the end of the season to reunite with Rand's half of the cast? But that really depends on how quickly Rand's side of the story is moving.

I definitely don't remember all the plot beats of Nynaeve & Elayne's side of TSR, so that reread is in order, yeah. But their TFoH plotline of having Nynaeve and Elayne just wandering the continent for most of s4 because Nynaeve can't remember the word 'Salidar' would feel like such a random & pointless sidequest especially since Rand & Elayne and Nynaeve & Lan still need a lot more weight in their romances at this point (and I'm saying that as someone who likes a lot of their circus arc in TFoH).

Even with knowing that they'll be following TSR more closely, I am definitely expecting a lot of surprises in s3. They did a really good job in putting in some elements in this season that I was not expecting but that I really loved (having Mat be the one to give Rand the wound in his side was so galaxy-brained of them; and having Elayne be the one to heal it really tied together her original meeting with Rand into the different way that the show has introduced her).

[castlebyersafterdark]

obsessed with the concept of rewatching a film series in a certain order and also naming the act of doing that?? badass af!

i think i have accidentally machete-watched s2 before, because i literally could not wait for the hawkins lab battle so i did skip that El ep and go back to it after! its also something that makes me worry a little about s5... cos if the duffers missed how cool the el reveal would have been if it was done in this machete order, then... they might do that again? but the s4 reveals i thought were incredible and i didnt guess them. s2 was a while ago, lets not forget this is their debut and they are still learning all the time. s2 was a lifetime ago creatively for them!

although, what about the flashes to mike and hop in the lab that el sees in her mind? i remember them being a really powerful moment that makes you want her to return. those emotional beats would not hit the same, even though you knew she would always return anyway. i think lost sister is just very visually forgettable too - i hate the cliche fire burning in an oil drum in a warehouse hideout. the moments with brenner and kali were chilling though, and surely projection powers of her kind must come into play in s5. things not as they appear, etc. basically, i think the heart of the lost sister worked, but it took a lot of guff to get there.

as for star wars, as someone who has seen them a few times only when i was younger, can anyone explain why the phantom menace is not in that machete line up? it was the first star wars i saw i theatres cos i was a kid when it hit cinemas and my parents took me. had seen the originals at home and loved them, dont remember much about phantom except the awesome double lightsaber lol. didnt see the following two sequels, i had lost interest in sci fi as i hit my teens. thanks!

Yeah, I don't really have any worries about the pacing about the final season. I think that's one benefit is going to have - being so location focused again in the staying in Hawkins vibe. What have been the biggest culprits of pacing we always hear? The Lost Sister. Hopper in Russia. El in NINA. The last two I feel were a necessity but maybe there could have been room for improvement, tighter pacing I guess? I don't have as many complaints as most, I don't dislike the Russia storyline as some scathing accounts I've read - I was totally hooked to it in my first watch so, it was effective then. The S2 episode didn't grip me, however. I just wanted to get back to the main story. I'll admit I can't even tell you if the Mike or Hopper moment was emotionally affective to me because I genuinely don't remember it enough to weigh in on it because the rest was so... eh.

The style really did it in for me. Why were the members of the Kali squad so grating to me???? Generic and cliche. It was a genre shift from the rest of the season which was a problem when the ending was very thriller/horror. I didn't really like the set. Too extreme of a shift tonally and if it was intended to do that to make us feel as out of place and in identity crisis as El - effective, I guess.

Kali was the shining part of it so I feel bad when I trash that episode, because Kali worked, Brenner worked, wasted potential for Kali though. A shame the mess that swirled around the good elements. I like the idea at the name itself "The Lost Sister" because then I was so excited to see all the other lab kids in the El solo stuff from S4. I said before - that's where Kali should have been if they dare to bring her into the fold! But I really doubt it at this point...

The reason The Phanton Menace isn't in the line-up is to tighten the storyline. It's an alright movie on it's own if you want to just watch Star Wars for Star Wars sake - but if you're watching a marathon as one connected story - it cuts out elements that don't add to the Luke Skywalker saga that aren't necessary - some will argue it's needed. But two movies as a flashback rather than all three. We don't need young Anakin - we didn't get young Luke. It parallels Luke and Anakin more, it cuts out "filler" villains like Darth Maul. People will argue so much is necessary because they love the animated series Clones Wars which expands and fills in a lot for the franchise but I'm an OG trilogy fanboy and think that even if there are worthy supplemental materials for the Star Wars galaxy - that stuff is extra. I think Rogue One is BRILLIANT - but it's not needed in the Machete lineup. The point of the lineup is to preserve the "twist," center Luke and Episode I does not really add to Luke's narrative enough to matter, and focusing on Anakin in II and III really is more effective if we cut out that first entry. Save it for watching another time. Sure, there are flaws to this method, but the spirit and point of watching it this way does serve a purpose.

[shrinkthisviolet]

☕️ The Flash should have ended after season 4

Agree and disagree.

Realistically, given audience reception and the way execs make decisions...yeah, it should've ended after s4. That's when audiences were falling out of love with the show, that's when so many say the show got bad. That should've been the final nail in the coffin for the show.

But I also disagree because...honestly, s3 was worse than people like to think, and I think if the show had any dignity, it should've ended there. I know a number of people who quit during s3 and...I get it. The season was honestly very boring for the most part*...and so was the villain. Yeah, there's my hot take—Savitar was very boring until he was unmasked. He was never able to reach Zoom's level of menace, and honestly the show wasted its time by trying. The godly-ambitions aspect was the least interesting part of him...in large part because it was used as a source of menace more often than it was actually explored.

(*barring some bright spots, like Jesse and Wally's training, the Westallen moments, and the Killer Frost arc even if parts of it didn't make sense)

And then they revealed he was Barry...and although that's when he finally became interesting, the show a) never took that to its full potential, b) turned Team Flash OOC to give Savitar a sad backstory (remember how worried they were about the s2 time remnant? Remember how they never dehumanized him? Because I do!), and c) gave him a nonsensical origin in which he can only keep existing via Iris's death, and if Iris didn't die (aka what happens in the end), he should've been erased on the spot and remembered by no one. And yet, s3 continues as if they just killed a normal villain. As if they didn't ERASE SAVITAR FROM EXISTENCE

Not that it's their fault ofc, I'm just saying that the whole season should've been erased from their memory. Granted, s5 also has this problem with Nora, and so does every season after s1 with Thawne, but s3 treats this whole time loop thing as soooo clever that it grates on me.

(s5 also has Barry and Nora go back to s3 like it shouldn’t be erased…but in this hypothetical, the show would’ve never reached s5 anyway, so 🤷‍♀️)

So...yes, I think the show should've ended after s4 at most, but if it were up to me, I think s3 left it conclusively enough that it should've ended there. Honestly, I think that would've actually been smarter—some people loved the show, but some people were starting to give up on it. This would've been a chance to bow out somewhat gracefully. So many shows get canceled nowadays (not so much in 2017, maybe, but it was still happening even then)...I wouldn't have minded if the Flash did, after s3 or s4.

Send me “☕️” and a topic, and I’ll talk about it!

[chirpsythismorning]

I'm loving your theory lol, although even if he survived, that wouldn't explain mike knowing him since they were 5 😔

Exactly.

There's a lot of things that don't add up. Like in all fairness, Will himself doesn't appear to have any memories of being at Hawkins Lab, nor do his friends and family ever mention him being there pre-s1 from what I can tell? And so, how would that work?

And even though it's a popular theory that El recognized Will from the lab in s1 (definitely possible still), wouldn't she have brought it up in some capacity after meeting him officially in s2? Or even now that they're literal 'wonder twins' by s4? Even if Will forgot and she remembered him, wouldn't she feel compelled to say something?

It would only make sense if they both forgot because their memories were repressed in some way. Which isn't even a reach bc they are the characters with the most memory/memory loss references. El's s4 arc was legit her recovering a repressed memory related to the Hawkins Lab Massacre. And so would it even be a stretch to assume that if Will had been there too, being the only other kid to survive presumably, he would've also had to have repressed it somehow? Most likely not even by choice?

Out of all the supporting and conflicting parts of this theory, what has me stumped most of all is Brenner.

Brenner shows little to no interest in Will.

You could argue that he did in s1, because when Will went missing he took an interest in the case, even went to Will's house to the shed to see it for himself. He was presumably also involved in the government cover up regarding Will's body.

Though beyond that, they don't have any sort of relationship, which is weird?

You could argue maybe Dr. Owens and Will do, especially by s2 when Will was technically involved with Hawkins Lab after returning from the upside down. And so it's not like he doesn't have a connection to the lab at all. There are even parallels of both el and will being filmed with a bunch of people watching them from another room intrigued. Like the potential is there. But something is definitely missing.

Is it possible because of the events of the Hawkins Lab Massacre, with El literally banishing Henry, Brenner kind of blocked out any sort of regard for Will's potential abilities? Like yeah sure he survived the Massacre just like El. But instead of Brenner wasting his time on 'the boy that survived', he'd probably rather focus on whatever the hell El just did and how he can use that to his advantage.

That's the only way I could really understand it? Them being fine with wiping his memories and sending him back into the real world to combat some of the bad press they were dealing with?

What I do like about this theory, is that right now currently, we don't know for certain why the hell Will was targeted by Venca in the first place, and so this could answer a lot of those questions nicely.

Will went missing roughly 3-4 years after the massacre, and so Will, being Twelve, and a survivor, would've understandably been next in line since Eleven refused to join him.

Still doesn't explain how Joyce or even Jonathan wouldn't have known. I get that it's possible Lonnie could've been sending him to get tests done, but from what I could tell the situation for the kids at Hawkins Lab was more on a permanent basis?

Like I could see it if he was only there on a volunteer basis similar to s2, but otherwise, I don't see how everyone would forget or never again acknowledge how Will spent a good portion of his childhood in a lab.

It starts to fall through at that point.

Even still, I think I'm sort of 50/50 right now. A lot of the evidence supporting it is staggering, like this was something people were hypothesizing about pre-s3.

And so me literally stumbling across a lot of this evidence on my own in a matter of moments upon rewatching, and without anyone influencing me to start that theory, like... it's kind of surreal.

I'm only now discovering that there is in fact discourse about Will as Twelve within the fandom on here, but in all fairness, the evidence supporting it has been enough to intrigue even the most casual of viewers. Things like the birthmark reference, the rainbow ship feeling like a reference to Hawkins lab, or how El and Will have been paralleled in intricate ways since the very first episode. It's got somewhat of a good foundation as a theory because there is evidence of people picking up on those hints from the beginning, and taking time to ask others if they thought it might be hinting at something. So I do feel I can give it that.

There would definitely need to be a lot of answers.

I think certain details like Will having a birthmark on his right arm, and all these other little things hint at this very likely having been an idea from the beginning, which is a cool thought.

It would mean that even if now we don't think there's enough evidence to support it, or that theres too much contradicting it, if they did in fact come up with this from the beginning, then there's probably a proper explanation for a lot of it, assuming it has always been in the back of their mind.

I've been thinking about rewatching the show from this perspective recently, to see if anything jumps out at me.

It was honestly terrifying uncovering the Twelve theory in a matter of moments though. Like just literally rewatching those scenes, I felt like I was watching them for the first time. I was shocked. It didn't take much to convince me, it was almost too on the nose.

[wenclairisreal]

THESE ARE MY OPINIONS ON S4 VOL2!!!!!!

SPOILERS AHEAD READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

First we will start with Eleven, I honestly thought her character had so much potential this season and it wasn't completely wasted, I loved the scene where Nancy Robin and Steve killed Vecna, I think it's better in some ways because it ended differently, it wasn't flashing lights with eleven just killing the monster, because it was so much more.

I think Millie put so much extreme effort and emotion into season 4, she did the most amazing job and I really hope we get to see more of her in season 5.

Eddies death. Ok the duffer brothers better have pulled a hopper, Eddie is one of the most fun and loving characters in the show at this time, he is a comfort character to many including me, and killing him of was really unescessary, but not only was it unescessary, it was expected and predictable, duffer brothers always manage a way to kill off a character that everyone loves, but always keep the characters that everyone hates. And one last thing, something that made me so mad was the fact that we didn't get anybody else's reaction to his death, he died and Dustin would have left I presume. But we never got any of the characters to mourn his death, so that's really disappointing because It seemed as if nobody cared except for Dustin and Eddies uncle.

Rest in piece Edward Munson 🕊🎸

Now for Stancy, I can only say one thing.

No.

Ok, I'm sure alot of people say this but we actually need to give Max a break, the poor kid isn't even 18 yet and has had to put up with being verbally and physically abused by Billy, then had to watch Billy get killed right in front of her, she had her stepfather leave which seemed to not bother her, but more bothered her mother which resulted in Max mostly being alone with just a few friends. And if Max is actually dead then so help me I will march up to the duffer brothers front doorstep and smash they're door down with an axe just to make them bring her back. And another thing, she got possessed multiple times and was floating around and shit twice, had a vision of Lucas turning against her, then floated the 2nd time whilst 3-4 of her bones snapped, both of her arms and one of her legs, and maybe more than we don't know of. Then now she's probably going to end up blind and have no memories, or dead.

Robin and Vickie.

I'm sorry this shit gotta be talked about, I personally think that Robin maybe deserves better than Vickie? But don't get me wrong, I think Vickie is an amazing character and I would love to see her and Robin have some kind of connection, but just hear me out, either Robin built confidence or lost feelings because in the ending scene when they were in the shelter, it was Vickie who was rambling, not Robin. Which means Robin wasn't nervous around her which can lead to her probably not having many feelings for Vickie as time had passed, and after Robin saw Vickie at warzone with her "boyfriend" she was talking to Steve and saying how it was probably time she got over it anyway.

And Vickie, I'm sorry babes but is Robin really just "someone from band"? Is she not more? Is she not your friend? And if you ain't gonna treat her right then I will 💀.

Nancy.

I don't have much to say but I personally liked Nancy's storyline in volume 2, it seemed similar to most, yk Nancy and her guns and her being the powerful slaying woman she is, I just wish we got more of her in vol.2 along with Robin as well. Apart from that I thought Nancy was hella badass and ate up every scene she was in. And how come nobody is talking about the fact that she was the one who killed vecna? Like he was the main villain of the whole show, he was only introduced in s4 but had really been there since s1, and "Nancy the priss wheeler" killed him without hesitation, and we support her for that.

Ronance.

Duffers, they had so much potential. SO MUCH, THEY EVEN HELD HANDS, still disappointed we didn't even get a hug or anything out of them instead we just got them making they're merry way out of the season not even together but more apart. I was screaming with joy by the scene we got to when Robin knelt down so Nancy could get up. And then they gave us stancy like 4 seconds later 🙄.

Like ur not helping the situation.

Will and his coming out.

I can't even say anything because HE DIDNT EVEN HAVE A COMING OUT, do you guys realise we waited around 6-7 years for will to come out and he didn't even mention the words himself. I atleast expected him to have a coming out scene to Jonathan or maybe Joyce when she came back, but nothing. Duffers, you have failed the gays once again.

Steve, don't get me wrong I love his character but.. I think there was too much wasted potential in this season for him to be a really good character, like what they should have done is sent Nancy and Robin to kill Vecna, and Steve and Eddie to play the guitar with the demo-bat thing, then sent Dustin with Max, Lucas, and Erica, I feel like him and Erica would have worked really well together. Anyway I still minorly enjoyed his screen time.

Stancy, again.

Ok so yes, I'm bringing them up again.

I think that bringing stancy back would ruin everything that Nancy and Steve have fought for.

Including the fact it would ruin both of the characters and they're development that they've both made over the 3-4 seasons. And overall I just don't like the ship. Like why would they ruin a perfectly fine jancy for Steve and Nancy. Would probably destroy me tbh.

Unpopular opinion, I don't really think Jason should have died. Yes I hated him but imagine you were in his situation, his girlfriend died out of nowhere and the last person she was with was Eddie. I personally would have wanted to get revenge, although I take that back for his last few scenes when he was alive. But if they can do character development with Steve they could have done it with Jason. And instead of killing Eddie off I think they all would have become pretty good friends. Go ahead and hate on me for that tho.

I think that's about it. Might make a part two idk