#hopefully we’ll get some answers in s3

[gay4h0pepunk]

praying for BAMF Aziraphale and for azira and crowley to kiss and make up(figuratively and literally)

also crowley might’ve been an archangel or near the high rank similar to the metatron(kinda spit balling)

also Azi is a guardian Angel of the eastern gate of the garden of eden and might’ve partaken in the war of heaven that led to the fall(and I’m not a fan of ‘oh he was responsible for crowley’s fall, no that’s a weird take in my opinion)

Okay, man, hold on. Everything is clunking into place for me, after reading this post about Aziraphale being Israfil in Islam, the angel whose job it is to blow the cosmic horn that starts Armageddon.

And so then, Crowley is the Serpent of Eden, who sets the human story in motion, and, presumably, the need for an Armageddon, where humans are measured and sorted into Good and Bad, sent to Heaven or Hell.

And someone else in another post I read long ago pointed out that Crowley signs to start the Armageddon process at the beginning of the series.

While Aziraphale signs for the package with the tools of the Four Horsepersons, at the end of the series, to end the Armageddoff process. [I could not find a gif or a video of this anywhere, so sorry, you get a crappy photo of my screen I took with my phone.]

So, once again, their roles are reversed --

Crowley starts humanity, Aziraphale is supposed to end it.

Crowley starts Armageddon, Aziraphale ends it.

And Aziraphale ends it in another sense, too, as he's the one [in the series, not in the book] whose creativity and critical thinking skills come up with the argument about the Great Plan vs the Ineffable Plan.

This has also got me thinking about how Aziraphale and Crowley, despite being absolute grade A idiots, are actually ridiculously powerful.

If Aziraphale is one of the ten most important angels, and his job is to literally end everything, it explains some things. Like why the other angels are so insistent on getting him back up to Heaven, instead of just writing him off as a weirdo and a soon-to-be casualty of the War. Like why the Metatron says, "We will leave the portal open for you, do not dawdle." Like why the Quartermaster angel says, "Your whole platoon is waiting for you."

And then there's Crowley. And there're lots of people who like the idea that he's just a nobody in Hell. "They just said, get up there and make some trouble." But then again, he's the only demon we know of who can stop time.

He's the only demon who has an imagination. Which. If all the demons and Satan fell at the same time, for asking questions. I wonder what changed. Why has Crowley kept asking questions, which seems to me to be crucially linked to having an imagination. Meanwhile Hastur and Ligur and Beelzebub, etc., and even Satan, are fatally literal-minded. Satan is defeated by Adam's creativity in naming his adoptive father as his only meaningful father, breaking the expectation and tradition of bloodline. So that kind of creativity is extremely powerful in the story.

So what else do we not know about Crowley and his power?

[marvel-ous-m]

D&D&D (Dungeons and Dragons and Dustin's Birthday)

AO3 Link | WC: 4,979 | Rating: Teen and Up Audiences | Tags: Fluff, Eddie Munson & Steve Harrington, Claudia Henderson is a Good Parent, Enemies to Friends, Hints of Steddie if you squint (and tilt your head), Birthday shenanigans, Mild Hurt/Comfort (like, very very mild, this is mostly just fluff)

This is a gift fic for the lovely @devondespresso!! Dev, I've loved getting to know you through this fandom. You are such a lovely person and a truly outstanding author. I'm so thankful I know you! I hope that you enjoy your day!!

Note: This is a pre-s3 fic taking place in May of 1985 with canon divergence for how Eddie and Dustin meet!

“Steve, thank you so much for agreeing to help with this. Come on in.” Claudia answered the door with her typical bright smile and ushered Steve into the Henderson family residence, leading him to the dining room. “I gave Dusty five dollars to go to the arcade with his friends, so I figure he’ll be out of the house for the next hour or so.” 

“Of course, Ms. Henderson.” Steve smiled back at her and took a seat at his usual spot in the dining room. Claudia sat across from him, and Steve took a moment to glance at the various decorations strewn around the table. They were mismatched, and all seemed like lightly-used relics of birthday-parties-past. “So… it looks like we’re throwing a Superman-Science-Robot...Underwater birthday party?” 

Claudia covered her mouth to muffle the snort of laughter from Steve’s comment. “Oh no! Could you imagine? I think Dusty would get all impassioned for five minutes straight if I did that, telling me about all the inaccuracies in the theme. No, these are just to help you boys get some inspiration for planning his birthday party! Thank you again for agreeing to do this. Nowadays he thinks everything I do is so uncool, so I thought it’d be best if you two took over the party planning this year.” 

Steve’s smile grew a bit tight at that. “Anytime, Ms. Henderson- really. But, uh- I’m sorry, I thought it was just me planning this? Did you have someone else in mind that I’ll be working with?” 

“Did I not tell you, honey? I’m sorry, it must have slipped my mind, I invited-” Claudia was cut off by the doorbell ringing, and she popped out of her seat in an instant. “Oh! That’ll be him- I’ll be right back.” She rushed to the front door, leaving Steve alone at the table with the pile of old decorations. He began to absently fiddle with a Superman poster as he waited for Claudia to return, mind racing through the various people who she could have enlisted to help plan the party. 

Nancy? No, Claudia had said ‘you boys’, so it wasn’t her. Jonathan? Maybe, but as far as Steve knew, Jon and Dustin weren’t very close. Maybe it was one of the other kids? But she’d said that she sent Dustin to the arcade with his friends, and presumably that meant all of the kids were with him…

“Thank you so much for inviting me, Ms. Henderson. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know Dustin over the last few months.” Oh no. 

Steve knew that voice. He’d heard it more times than he could count, shouting around the lunch room and marking sarcastic comments in class. 

No fucking way-

“Oh, you are too sweet, dear. Come on in, Steve’s already at the table, and I’ve got some old decorations laid out that you boys can hopefully make use of.” The two entered the room, and Steve felt his shoulders tense when he confirmed who he’d be working with. 

Eddie fucking Munson entered the room alongside Claudia, and was wearing a shit-eating grin when he met Steve’s eyes. “Hey there, Harrington. Sounds like we’ll be working together.” 

Steve pasted on his most convincing smile and nodded. “Yep. Sounds like it.” 

Claudia, oblivious to the tension between the boys, grinned. “I’m so glad you two know each other! That should make planning a bit easier. Now, I have to run off to go buy some groceries for the week, so I’ll leave you to it! There are cookies on the counter, feel free to help yourselves. If Dustin comes home before I’m back, you boys can just let him know that you’re here to help me do some renovating in the garage.” With that, she grabbed her purse from the living room and left to run her errands, abandoning Steve and Eddie at her kitchen table. 

“So… you, uh…” Steve trailed off, his desperate attempt at making conversation failing miserably. 

Eddie raised his eyebrow at Steve from where he was leaning against the wall, arms crossed. “Y’know, the kid always talks about you- ‘Steve’ this and ‘Steve’ that, but I kept telling myself it couldn’t be Steve Harrington, that maybe Dustin formed a weird friendship with a different adult man named Steve. Yet, here you are- Fallen so low from the totem pole that you’re planning a fourteenth birthday party for a kid in middle school.” 

“Yeah, well, at least I graduate this year- unlike some people.” Eddie’s words had triggered Steve’s bitchy side, he’ll admit it- but genuinely, what the fuck was Eddie ‘the freak’ Munson doing hanging around Dustin? “Also, you’re making fun of me for planning Dustin’s party, but in case I missed something, you’re here too.” 

Eddie threw a hand over his heart dramatically and pretended to double over, as if he’d been shot. “Oh, you wound me, Harrington. The rumors are true, I will not be walking the Hawkins High stage this year- but mark my words, ‘86 will be my year.” 

“Mhm.” Steve hummed, unimpressed. 

“As for knowing Dustin- there was that club fair two months ago for all the middle schoolers to attend, and I got Hellfire a table. Y’know, wanted to scope out the sheepies for next year’s flock. Anyways, I met Dustin and I ended up giving him my phone number because he wanted to talk about campaign stuff. Y’know what that little twerp did? He called me that night and started asking about stats for characters. Then he called me the next night, then the next, and eventually Claudia just told him to invite me over. We ended up painting mini figs- that’s miniatures for D&D- and watched dorky movies all day. It was pretty fuckin’ awesome, and Claudia liked me enough to keep inviting me over.” Eddie grinned at Steve, but the weight of Eddie’s words were not lost on him. 

Claudia liked him enough to keep inviting him over. Eddie Munson, known drug dealer and social pariah. 

Steve hadn’t formed much of a relationship with him- in fact, he’d pretty much avoided him because he’d heard such bad things- but Steve trusted Claudia’s opinion on things, often more than he trusted his own. She’d become a bit of a mother figure to him over the last few years, and if she liked Eddie enough to trust him with Dustin, maybe it was time for Steve to rethink his stance on the guy. 

“Oh.” Steve spoke, his lips pursed in thought more than anything else. “Well… alright. What theme should we make Dustin’s party?” 

 Eddie’s eyebrows rose in surprise, and he crossed his arms defensively. “What, now you’re fine working with me? Just like that?” 

Steve shrugged. “Yeah? Claudia and Dustin both like you, so that makes you alright in my book.” 

Eddie let out a huff of surprise, then uncrossed his arms and ran a hand through his frizzy curls. “Well… alright then. Uh, I guess I did have one idea. It’s maybe sorta stupid, and I’m not sure how we would pull it off, but I think it’d be fun if we can make it happen?” Eddie’s tone turned hesitant at the end of his ramble, betraying his apprehension surrounding the party. 

Steve gave him a reassuring smile. “Well? What is it? In case it’s not clear just by looking at me, I’m less the ‘idea’ guy and more of the ‘execution’ guy.” 

“I’m sure that’s not true, Steve. You seem like at least a thirty-percent ideas, seventy-percent execution kinda guy.” 

Steve quirked his brow. “Stop stalling and spit it out, Munson.” 

Eddie didn’t have much of a chance to avoid the invitation presented there, so he didn’t. He came out with his idea, complete with creative ideas for how to go about making it happen on a low budget, and despite all of his hemming and hawing around the theme, it was actually pretty brilliant. 

“Yeah, alright- I think we can make that happen, but it’s gonna take a good amount of time, and we don’t have a lot of that to spare. Are you up for that?” 

Eddie hummed thoughtfully, and when he finally responded, it was with a playful glint in his eye. “In the pursuit of making Dustin’s 14th birthday everything it should be and more, I am prepared to make that sacrifice.” 

Steve smirked at that. “Then I think it’s about time that we get to work.”

Ms. Henderson ended up arriving back home before Dustin did, her arms laden with groceries. She entered the dining room with an eager grin after setting everything down in the kitchen. “So? Have you boys come up with a plan?”

“Yeah, we think so! We’ll need a good chunk of time to set up on the day-of. I have a list of some stuff to shop for and an idea of how to decorate his cake, and Eddie will need a lot of paper in the meantime, like that kind on the rolls at elementary schools. Do you have an idea for how to get that?” Steve glanced up at Claudia from the planning document he and Eddie had been furiously working on for the last few minutes, an excited smile on his face.

Yeah, he was excited, go fuckin’ figure. Eddie’s idea had ended up being pretty brilliant once they worked out some of the kinks, and he was looking forward to seeing Dustin’s reaction on the day-of.

“Y’know, back when Dusty was in elementary school, I was president of the PTA. I made quite a few connections back then- I’m sure I could take advantage of that and get the supplies you need.” Claudia replied, a nostalgic and slightly mischievous sparkle in her eye.

Eddie grinned. “Damn Ms. H, look at you! No better than a common criminal. The more I learn about you, the more I love about you!” 

“Oh, stop.” Claudia let out an amused snort and pat Eddie’s shoulder with a roll of her eyes. “I gave more hours than I can count to that school, some butcher paper is the least they can do to pay me back, and I’m sure they know that. Eddie, I’ll go ahead and call you when I figure out a time for us to pick up those supplies. Is there anything else you need from me, boys? Cooking? Baking?” 

“No, ma’am- that should be it. I’ll handle the baking, and we figured it’d be best to just order pizza for the party. Everything else is already done or delegated between me or Eddie.” Steve responded.

“Alright! Well, I’m certainly excited to see what you two put together- but for now, it’s probably a good idea to head out. Dustin will be home any minute. How about you two plan to come by the same time next week to set up? I’ll take Dustin out shopping, that should be more than enough time for you two to set up before the party that evening.”

Steve glanced Eddie’s way, and after receiving his nod of affirmation, Steve turned his attention to Claudia. “That sounds perfect, Ms. Henderson. We’ll see you then.”

“Great! Now- go grab a cookie from the kitchen and get going. Remember- if Dusty somehow finds out you were here and asks about it, you’re helping me renovate the garage.” 

Steve and Eddie followed Claudia’s instructions and exited the Henderson household together. Before Steve could get in his car to drive away, though, Eddie spoke up. “Man, that kid really doesn’t know what goes on in his garage, does he?”

Steve snorted out a laugh and shook his head, amused. “Get in your van, Munson. Call me if you need help with anything, alright? I wrote my phone number at the top of your planning sheet.” 

“Sure, but don’t worry, Steve-O. You shouldn’t be hearing from me until next week, when we meet again here at castle Henderson, and I arrive with my van laden with decorations.” 

Eddie called him three days later, after school had already let out for the day. “Dude, did you know how hard it is to paint bricks on gray paper? I feel like I’m dying here, man.” 

“Is this you asking me for help? I thought you were all, y’know, arts and crafts-y-”

“Steve, please don’t make me ask twice. I live in Forest Hills- once you get here you won’t be able to miss me, I’m the guy in front of his trailer sweating buckets trying to paint giant sheets of gray paper.” 

Steve rolled his eyes fondly. “I don’t think you even asked once, but alright, no need to be so dramatic. Let me change into some painting clothes, I should be there in about twenty minutes.” 

Steve hung up the phone and rushed up to his bedroom, changing into a pair of ratty jeans and an old t-shirt from gym class. He grabbed his keys on his way out the door, and just as Eddie had said, when he pulled up to Forest Hills fifteen minutes later, he knew exactly which trailer was Eddie’s. 

Eddie was knelt on a patch of grass outside his home. There were a few long gray sheets of butcher paper in front of him, and he was covered in various splotches of dark gray, red, and black paint. Steve parked his car nearby and made his way to the makeshift crafting area, his mouth upturned in an amused smile. 

“Y’know you’re supposed to keep the paint on the paper or in the bottles, right? It’s not really supposed to get all over you.”

Eddie’s head shot up when he heard Steve’s voice, and though his expression made him look annoyed, there was a spark of joy in his eyes. “Ha-ha-ha. Laugh it up, Harrington. At least I’m doing work.” 

“Yeah, speaking of which, have you planned the campaign yet? You’re the one who wanted to do this whole ‘immersion' thing, it would kinda suck if we hit it out of the park on immersion with no activity to actually make it… uh, y’know. Immersive.” Steve joined Eddie on the ground as he spoke, grabbing an extra paint brush from a pile nearby, then dipping it into a paper plate of gray paint. 

“You don’t need to worry your pretty little head about that, Stevie. I’ve always got at least three one shots prepped, and there’s one that should be perfect for Dustin and his five friends with a little tweaking. It’s just this painting shit that’s giving me trouble.”

Steve frowned, and couldn’t help but mouth the word ‘pretty’ to himself. 

Eddie Munson called him pretty.

Steve felt his stomach flutter with anxiety, and he elected to ignore it.

Eddie Munson was weird.

“Well… hopefully it’ll go quicker with the two of us working together.” Steve smiled through the one-sided awkwardness he was now feeling. 

Their conversation ended up spiraling into a debate over music for the two hours that it took them to finish up the painting. By the time they were done, the day was turning to night, and Steve’s limbs were aching from the strain of staying in pretty much the same position the entire time they worked. He couldn’t even imagine how Eddie felt by now- but a look at the other man told him that he was probably about ready to fall over. 

Steve helped Eddie clean the brushes off using a nearby faucet, and once everything was packed up, he left to head back home- but not before confirming their meeting time at the Henderson house in a few days and telling Eddie to use dish liquid in the shower to help get the paint off. 

Steve and Eddie ended up arriving at the Henderson home at the same time on Saturday. Eddie still had a few flecks of paint on his nail beds and a stripe of red paint on his cheek, even though it had been three days since their impromptu arts-and-crafts day. Steve raised his eyebrows at Eddie when he noticed it, and received a clipped, “Don’t say anything,” in response. 

Eddie ended up reaching the Henderson’s front door before Steve, and after knocking, was met with an excited-looking Dustin. “Eddie! What are you doing here? Wait- Steve? Do you guys know each other? Did mom invite you over? That’s weird, because we’re supposed to go shopping in, like, ten minutes- so why are you at my house when I’m not gonna be at my house? Is that paint on your cheek?” 

“Uhhh… we- well, I- Steve and me-” 

Steve stepped forward and put his hand on Eddie’s shoulder to cut off his desperate attempt at answering Dustin. “Your mom is having us renovate the garage. We’re painting today, which is why she’s taking you out- because… uh, y’know. Fumes.” 

Dustin crossed his arms, standing immovable in the doorway. “Why is mom having you renovate the garage on my birthday weekend? Also, you didn’t answer my other question- how do you guys know each other?” 

“Dude, we go to school together. It’s a small town, and I can be a social guy when I wanna be. As far as your mom’s reason for having us do this work this weekend- I don’t know how your mom thinks, dude. You should maybe ask her that.” Eddie responded, then slung an arm around Dustin’s shoulders and walked with him into the house. 

Steve followed them, impressed by Eddie’s ability to go from stumbling around the truth to selling the lie. 

They made their way to the kitchen, where Claudia was digging in her purse for something. Her head shot up when she heard Dustin and Eddie enter the room, and a large smile made its way onto her face. 

“Boys! Good to see you. Dustin and I were just heading out. We’ll see you in about three hours, alright?” Claudia slung her purse over her shoulder and pushed past Eddie and Dustin to make her way to the front door. “Come on, Dusty! If we leave now, we’ll have time to swing by the bookstore!” 

Dustin sighed and moved out from under Eddie’s arm, shooting Steve and Eddie one last suspicious look before joining his mom by the front door. A slew of questions poured out of his mouth when he joined her, mostly of him asking why the boys were over, why the garage was getting renovated, and other questions along that line that he was saying too fast for Steve to process. Finally, the front door shut behind them, and the rumble of Ms. Henderson’s car leaving the front driveway signaled to Eddie and Steve that it was time to get to work. 

“I’ve got the big sheets of paper rolled up in the back of the van, and the red dragon decoration thing is in the passenger seat. The rest of the stuff needed for the campaign is in my backpack.” Eddie spoke as he made his way to the front door, and Steve followed behind him once again, rolling up his sleeves as they walked. 

“I have the stuff from the party supply store in the trunk, and the cake is in a cake carrier in the passenger seat. Thanks again for the sketch you drew of that dice thing-y, I think it helped a lot.” 

“Oh, right! The D20? I can’t believe you made a cake of that thing, man. I didn’t even know before this that you baked.” 

Steve shrugged, stopping behind Eddie outside of his van. He took the painted rolls of butcher paper from Eddie as he unloaded the decorations. “My babysitter taught me when I was younger, it’s nice. Calming.” 

Eddie hummed, grabbing the last roll of paper from the back of the van. He shut the doors with a thud, then made his way back to the Henderson house. 

They unloaded Steve’s car next, Eddie grabbing the party store supplies while Steve carefully transported the cake from his car to the fridge. 

They got to work after that, hanging the castle walls they had painted around Ms. Henderson’s dining room, making it look as much like a castle as possible. Steve had purchased red and black streamers from the party store, which he hung on the ceiling to add a bit of color to the room. Once that was done, he and Eddie had to work together to hang the red dragon that Eddie had crafted in the corner of the room. It was clearly homemade, yeah, but Eddie had put a lot of work into it, and it actually looked really cool. It was flat, but he had used black and red paint to create 3D effects on the paper. 

“Y’know Eds, you’re different than I thought you were.” Steve spoke from where he was standing in the doorway between the kitchen and dining room, hands on his hips as he took in the transformed space.

Eddie huffed next to him and crossed his arms, clearly offended by Steve’s words. “Gee, thanks Harrington.”

“No- I- shit, that came out wrong. I mean- look, the guys on the basketball team, they would always say so much shit about you. Junkie, burnout, asshole-”

“-You’re not really helping your case here, Stevie-”

“-if you would just listen, I could actually get to my point. What I’m saying is that they’re wrong. They say those things because they don’t understand what it’s like to actually give a shit about something. I didn’t really start to understand that until this last Fall, but the social hierarchy stuff, the conformity that you so proudly protest, that means everything to those guys- for a long time, it meant everything to me, too. In the long run, though? It doesn’t mean shit. You actually care about shit- real shit. You’re fuckin’ talented man, you’re creative as hell. You went to a club fair and met Dustin, and instead of pushing him away or telling him to get a life- which I’m sure most highschoolers would do in your situation after he bugged you three nights in a row- you took him under your wing. You’re a good guy, Eddie.” 

“Huh.” Eddie spoke under his breath, blinking at Steve as he processed the man’s words. “You’re different than I thought you were, too. Even after all the shit that went down with Wheeler earlier this year, I couldn’t believe what everyone was saying- no way The King gave up his crown and started babysitting a bunch of middle schoolers. Yet, here you are. Baking a cake from scratch and giving up hours of time to make sure some random kid has a cool birthday, themed around a thing that you don’t even understand.” 

Steve rolled his eyes and shoved Eddie’s shoulder. “I’ll have you know, I’ve babysat these kids long enough to know what the fuck Dungeons and Dragons is. I just haven’t played it.” 

“You’re an enigma, Steve Harrington- but that’s not a bad thing.” Eddie crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at Steve, as if trying to piece him apart with his eyes. 

Steve stepped out of the kitchen doorway and made a show out of looking at his watch. “Ah, shit, look at the time! Dustin’s friends will be here any minute, you should set up for the game, I’m gonna order pizza.” 

“... alright, man. Sounds good.” Eddie moved back to the dining room, taking a seat at the head of the table to begin setting up the oneshot he had planned while Steve got to work ordering pizza. 

Steve ended up being correct- the kids started to arrive a few seconds after he hung up the phone with the local pizza place. They all rushed to Steve, which was predictable, seeing as they hadn’t really met Eddie yet- but after Steve introduced them to the Dungeon Master and told them the plan for Dustin’s birthday, they began to glom onto the guy and ask a million questions about the campaign, high school, and anything else that came to mind. 

Eddie seemed to take the questions in stride and match the kid’s energy with his own. He even got El and Max excited about D&D. Steve wasn’t exactly sure how the kids got Hopper to allow Eleven out of the cabin, but he wasn’t about to ask any questions. Ignorance is bliss, right? 

Dustin and Claudia ended up arriving home shortly after the pizzas arrived. Claudia entered the house first and set the shopping down in the entryway, then led Dustin to the dining room, her hands over his eyes. The entire time, Dustin put up a fuss about his eyes being covered. 

He fell quiet a few seconds later, when her hands fell from his eyes, and all of the kids shouted ‘surprise’! 

Dustin’s grinned when he saw everyone, and he immediately ran to his friends, hugging them as he looked around the room, shocked. “Whoa! Mom, did you do all this? How?”

Claudia put her hands in the air, a knowing smile on her face. “This was all Steve and Eddie, Dusty, I just got them to throw your birthday party.”

Dustin’s smile grew impossibly wider as he rushed across the room to hug Claudia- then turned and hugged Steve, then Eddie. Steve was used to the boy’s hugs by now, but the way Eddie’s eyes grew wide in shock, then a bit glossy as he returned the hug, told Steve that maybe this was Eddie’s first time being hugged by the boy.  

After Dustin finished his round of thank-you’s, the kids ravaged the pizza and got straight into playing the campaign, eager to play with a new DM for the first time. Steve found a spot to watch them from the kitchen while he multi-tasked with cleaning up from the kid’s lunch and getting cake ready. 

Claudia has long since abandoned the group of kids, eager to sort through the shopping she and Dustin had done. About an hour after things started, though, she joined Steve in the kitchen. 

“I can’t thank you boys enough for what you put together. It looks amazing in there, and Dusty looks so happy.” Ms. Henderson kept her voice quiet enough that it wouldn’t travel to the dining room. “I know Dustin doesn’t have too many friends- my boy can be a lot for some people, and I’m not naive to that. Still, he loves the people he has. You and Eddie aren’t exceptions to that. He’s not old enough to remember when Walter passed, but… well, I’m just glad he has you two as role models. Men to look up to, y’know?” 

Steve’s eyes shifted to Eddie as Claudia spoke, and he felt himself grow emotional at her words. “I mean… friends are one thing, Ms. Henderson, but role models? I’m a washed-up jock and Eddie is…” Steve trailed off, frowning to himself. 

“I know what Eddie is, Steve. I’ve heard enough around town. Still, you have to admit, he has a strong work ethic and he’s passionate in the same ways Dustin is. As for you- well, Steve, I’ve put together enough to understand how strong you are, and how fiercely you protect the ones you love. I don’t think I could ask for two better role models for Dustin.” 

“Oh.” Steve felt his cheeks grow warm, and swiped a hand over his eyes to brush away the tears gathering there. “Uh… thank you, Ms. Henderson. That’s really sweet of you to say.” 

“Thank you for being here for my boy. Not just now, not just for this, but for everything you’ve done. It means the world to us.” She pulled Steve into a hug, and Steve hugged her right back. 

“Yeah, of course. He’s…” Steve trailed off, his eyes shifting to the dining room. He could still see Dustin over Claudia’s shoulder. The kid was sitting up on his knees in his chair, practically folded in half as he tried to move one of the figures across the map on the table. “He’s a great kid.” 

Later, after the campaign had ended, after all the kids had their fill of the D20 cake that Steve had baked, after the party was cleaned up, the guests had gone home, and Dustin had gone to bed, Steve found himself leaving the Henderson home with Eddie by his side. 

“I’d say we did a pretty good job for our first time working together, Harrington.” Eddie nudged their shoulders together as they walked to their cars, a playful smirk gracing his features. 

“Yeah, we did do pretty well, didn’t we?” Steve smiled. 

Eddie turned towards his car, apparently heading out, but Steve put his hand on Eddie’s shoulder to stop him. “I know you’re not graduating this year, but- the next gathering with everyone will be a graduation party that Mrs. Byers- Will’s mom- and Ms. Henderson are throwing for me. It’d be cool if you came.” 

Eddie raised his eyebrows in surprise. “You want me at your graduation party?”

Steve shrugged. “It’s not like I have many other friends my age. It’ll be right after the graduation ceremony. I can pick you up on the way, if you want. I’d really like it if you were there.” 

Eddie’s expression turned more vulnerable after that- delicate, breakable. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” 

“Cool.” Eddie swallowed nervously, shoving his hands in his jacket. “I’ll see you then, I guess. You’ll pick me up?” 

Steve nodded, letting his hand drop from Eddie’s shoulder. “I should be to your house around noon, yeah.” 

“Cool.” Eddie repeated, and without another word, darted off to clammer into his van. He was gone from the Henderson household in seconds. 

Steve rolled his eyes fondly at Eddie’s antics, and couldn’t wipe the smile on his face. 

Eddie Munson was a weirdo. 

It was a good thing that Steve liked to collect weirdos.

[oakwolves]

Thank you for bearing with my long asks! just wanted to elaborate on the last point because i maybe didnt word it right. I dont think toh writers would change big things to apeal to the adult audience or make twists just for the sake of the twists. But with smaller things i think there were quite a few instances where they were adressing fan theories (like the "who wrote azura books" plotline), or reacting to fan criticisms (in s3e1 lampshading how Amity didnt spend time with Willow and Gus) that felt either very awkward or the time would have been better spend on other things. But maybe the puppet plot wasnt that. Tbh i feel the shows writing was often not that great even before the shortening - and i am keeping in mind that it is aimed at kids.

I really thought the only 'upside' of the coven heads in s3 would be more fanworks with Raine and Darius friendship angst/comfort (i even didnt start writing it myself until recently because i was so sure there would be too many similar fics/art by the time i finish), but apparently it's not even the case.

Of course! I’m happy to answer other peoples questions about shows I watch! I definitely get where you’re coming from! There’s are some parts of the show where I felt the writing was kind of lacking but that’s what we have fanfiction and aus for.

Hopefully after toh ends we’ll maybe get more coven heads fan content/lore even if it wasn’t included in the show itself!

[alyblacklist]

Hey!!

I am new to your tumblr but I read your fics all the time (and reread them more often than I should admit lol)

I think you’re really amazing!

I’m so relieved that you answer asks and discuss speculation because I really need someone to talk this through.

So, I have watched a couple of other thriller series along the same lines where the makers don’t have any issues killing off major characters off the show.

There are a couple of things that are happening in this show which I think (and I honest to god hope I’m wrong) are building up to them killing off Ressler.

They get together, they partially admit their feelings (which we’ve been waiting for too Damn long) - so they get closure. Ressler is in the hospital, they show him deteriorating, he goes into v-fib.

And all of this is not that much of a game changer but hear me out. The task force is being dismantled and they need to give the viewers sth that they won’t expect. And bring some new spice in s9. With Liz going full time into crime, it seems a lot easier for them to kill off Ressler.

My only counter debate to my point is that they would have killed him off the moment he got shot (like they did with Meera) rather than show him being treated.

I really need to know what you think. Please tell me he’s not gonna die cause honestly who on earth will watch the show then?

Hi there! I have to say a special thank you to you, @alrightygirl, and to my anon (above) who I have lumped in, for the shoutouts on my stories. I came to Tumblr in the first place during the hiatus between S2/S3 in part because I realized some of my fav fanfic authors (@aussieokie !) were here so I am especially happy to read this.

I'm not sure people realize how much we fanfic writers thrive on feedback, and especially on the multi chapter works we invested so much time into. So thank you, and I have to say I really am looking forward to the end of the season so I can step away from the BTS hunt and my inbox and get back to just creating. Hopefully the writers will leave things in a good place in 8.22 so there's plenty to work with. Ok, on to the substance of your ask and I'll put in a jump because I can already tell this is getting long.

I really do NOT think Ressler will die. I didn't think so before 8x19 and I still don't think so after the "medical drama" of 8x20. Because that's what I think they're doing - they're creating drama because it's the end of the season and they want people freaking out and guessing over who will survive. Call it the curse of cable, or thrillers or whatever, but we as audiences have been conditioned to believe that major characters have to die every year, even if it's pointless.

The thing is, The Blacklist has never been that show. They have killed three "main characters" in the life of the show. Meera in S1 (and I later read Parminder only had a one-year deal), Tom in S5 (with huge fanfare and foreshadowing and an entire "hero" arc following a failed spinoff with a new series eagerly awaiting him at NBC), and Samar in S6 after the actress specifically requested to be released from her contract after S5 and gave them time to write her character an appropriate conclusion arc which also had huge foreshadowing.

Could they go a different route this year? Sure. We're late in the life of the show and twists and cliffhangers and budgets all come into play but the thing is - I just still really don't see it when it comes to Ressler.

For me, the characters' perspective is always paramount. What purpose would Ressler's death serve? It would make Liz more upset (because, you know, Sam, Tom, Katarina, her sister, her whole team weren't enough?). And other than that......?

The audience already knows the gravity of the stakes. So does Liz. So does every other character. The only purpose Ressler's death would serve that I see (and to be clear, I am focusing only on the characters in the show not the irrational fandom hate for his character) is to "punish" Liz more, to make her feel worse about what she's done, to deal another body blow on top of all that she's suffered already.

I don't think Liz needs that. (I'm positive nearly all of Reddit disagrees).

She turned herself in to Cooper because she recognized the bloodshed needed to end after she FEARED losing him. She stayed by Ressler's side and spoke her entire speech in the hearse and by his unconscious side because she can't handle losing him too. This is exactly the scenario the writers teased when Eisendrath teased all those months ago that maybe he would use her feelings for him to get her to come back.

Source (X)

He didn't overtly "use" her feelings in the end because that is not Ressler. He is not that guy. But in the end, her feelings for him were EXACTLY why she turned herself in.

I don't think Liz doesn't need to be punished further or suffer more in anyone's eyes except those who still can't come to terms with her war against Red. I don't think the writers feel that way about her character. To the contrary, they introduced a hallucinated Kaplan to try to give her a pass and also had her give lengthy explanations to both Ressler and Aram defending her behavior. I think from all I have read and seen that the writers view Liz as a victim of circumstances caused by Red - something Cooper has also articulated to Panabaker along the way in defending why Liz has done what she's done under extraordinary circumstances. We can all agree or disagree on the why and the method and the extremes but the bottom line is that I think the writers still view Liz as more "victim" or "forced criminal" than diabolical villain so killing Ressler, on top of everyone else Liz has lost, is just another deep blow on top of all the blows that have turned her into who she is. I think we're past the point that that is necessary and we'll be even further past that point after 8.21/8.22 when Liz learns some truths.

This has gotten crazy long so I'll just add these final thoughts which I have also articulated in prior posts:

- I think if the writers were going to write out Ressler - an original character from the Pilot - they would do so with more hype and fanfare and story than what he's gotten this season. Sure he was present in 8x19 a lot but it was really Liz's story. She was the heroine saving him and moving them from place to place while he suffered. I think the writers have enough respect for Diego to give him at least as much substantial story as Tom and Samar got in their sendoffs if this was really the end. He's a good guy and a good character and he deserves more than for his final moments to be a quiet fade to black in Vfib in a hospital with only Park present (or even Liz present for a final, vague, goodbye). A show that can't do that isn't a show I'm interested in watching, you know?

- his agents congratulated him on the S9 renewal back when it was announced. Hardly an indicator that a major character is getting jettisoned.

-You'd also think, if he was leaving this season, that he'd be doing more to elevate his profile on social media like he did at the end of Homeland to gear up for a new gig. He's done NOTHING.

-Finally, there has been literally nothing in JB's recent interview with The Blacklist Exposed, any of the BTS, the press, the episode descriptions, the crew photos, or anything else to date to indicate that a major actor/character is leaving. I know people can hide the ball but usually in this show, something slips through. So far - nothing. (No, I don't take Megan's thank you's or wrap party photos that way).

Anyway, hopefully we'll all be here at this time next year (or a few weeks earlier if things are back to normal), analyzing S9 and all that has happened. Thanks for the ask!

[handonhaven]

I feel like giving up on this show just the way the writers really want to ruin Handon for whatever reason that they will do whatever bs reason in 4x04 to lead into whats happening in ep5 and up with darker Hoep tribrid or whatever and Landon being excluded for whatever OOC reason i will be just done And it doesn't help with the recent personal interviews and some of the answers in it i just should have known better than giving my time to a third TVDU show and how they deal with the couples.

I feel you, anon. I’m definitely worried for what’s to come ngl. I mean, we know that Handon will have a “pause,” and I still believe they’ll be endgame, and Danielle implied that as well. But I’m concerned about how long this pause is gonna last. And most importantly, what the reason will be for it, and are they gonna end up screwing up the characters in the process? It just really sucks because we went a whole season without the real Handon, without even getting to see the real Landon for most of it, and for what? Some plot twists? So not only have Handon fans and Hope and Landon waited for a reunion for a whole season, with Hope and Landon fighting to get back to each other all this time, but now we’ll be lucky to even get a short reunion only for them to be separated again? They couldn’t at least let them have some time together after all they’ve been through? I also just don’t understand why a separation would happen at all. If there is a reason that makes sense and they don’t have one or both of them act ooc to make it happen, then hopefully I can get through it. But there’s only a couple reasons I can think of that would justify it. Either something happens to make Hope believe that Landon is gone for good (and whatever happens, maybe it takes a bit for him to come back) and then she leaves and possibly turns off her humanity. Or, with all of her powers being heightened as the tribrid, she can’t control herself and doesn’t want to hurt anyone, including Landon, so she leaves for that reason. But the fact that it seems that Landon is being excluded makes no sense. I mean, we know Aria will be in 4x05, but nothing was said about Landon or his involvement with Hope at that point. And we know that if he was around, he’d be doing all he could to help Hope. And I can’t imagine him breaking up with her after everything, especially after all she’s done to save him (and they emphasized that Landon would never leave Hope, with the fake break up with Malilandon in 3x13, plus what Clarke said about how Landon would never leave her). But even if he did break up with her, again, he’d never let her deal with being the tribrid on her own. Even if he felt like he couldn’t do much to help, he’d be the one calling Rebekah and trying to track Hope down as well. He’d never just let Hope struggle with all of that, or possibly go on a killing spree, without doing whatever he could to help her. And if Hope isn’t out of control after becoming the tribrid, I can’t see why she would ever break up with Landon. It’s gonna be her choice to become the tribrid, and she’s fought for him and has wanted him back this whole time, plus her love for him will be heightened, so in what world would she leave him? Especially when he’ll be so traumatized and need help as well? But even if a breakup is the cause for the separation, why would Hope leave the school? And how would they even fit a breakup into 4x04, the original s3 finale, that would be weird to just shove that in along with probably tons of other stuff that’ll be happening? So I feel like there has to be more to it. But my biggest concern is if they’ll have either of them acting ooc. Because I have complete faith in Handon as a couple, but not in the writers. Because we know Hope and Landon would get through whatever comes next together. And also with all of the promises they’ve made to each other? There’s no way either of them would let the other go at this point. So I’m really dreading however they’re gonna do this, I just want them to stay true to the characters and their love for each other.

And I know there’s a lot of crap going around after that event with Danielle and Kaylee, and I didn’t see any of the panels or anything, but I wish I could know what was actually said and how. Because the H*sies will distort everything and make something out of nothing. It’s what they’ve done with the entire show, we know the ridiculous stuff they come up with, and just outright lies they tell. So I’m trying to keep that in mind since I don’t know what the truth is. From the other Danielle interviews we got, it really sounds like Hope is going to be on her own. Which is what I’d prefer if she’s not going to be with Landon. So idk, I think I’m gonna have to wait and see what happens in 4x04 and 4x05, and if it’s bad and they really screw things up, I might have to take a break for my own sanity. Because fr, I can’t deal with them messing up good couples anymore, especially Handon at this point. But I’m still trying to have hope that it won’t be too bad or forced and that it will make some sort of sense for the characters. 🤞

[landonkirbyappreciation]

Lol I can't believe I let a Landon anti get me all worried. And I'm not gonna lie I was one of the people who was worried about Aria not being in the show anymore back in the beginning of October. But anyways antis were saying that since Brett said Landon was dead he's not coming back at all blah blah blah. And once my freak out was over I started laughing. And though "this is legacies".

They have hard enough time answering questions and clearing up big plot points for storylines they had going either since the beginning of s3 or even when it comes to Malivore that I personally have been waiting for since s1. Like one of the things I wanted answered was why Malivore took Hope and Golem Landon hairs. They even had Malivore mention it in 3x13 and nothing. So there's just no way and I highly doubt that if their plans are to keep Landon dead or in limbo or whatever forever they wouldn't have wrote him past 4x04(also they way they wrote that scene with him and Ted it was implied they would be getting out of there, at least that's how I saw it). He wouldn't be in 4x05 or 4x06 I'm not sure about 4x07 yet because we haven't gotten the summary for that episode yet. So if they really want it to kill him off they would have just wrote him finding peace or implying that he did at the end of 4x04 and be done with never to be mentioned again(kind of like Rapael after they sent him to the PW). Plus it's Legacies MO to end storylines or even characters with big bows. And never even knowledge it again.

And I honestly feel like it's reaching to think that Landon is never coming back just because Brett said he was dead(and them once again ignoring the part where Brett said that in the universe that death doesn't always mean dead. Or something along those lines I can't remember). But if antis want to believe that then so be. I'll just have a good laugh at their reactions once Landon is back in the land of the living. I know it's wrong to say that but I'm just so tired of getting attacked for no other reason than being a Landon stan.

P.s thanks for listening to my rant/vent. Any thoughts if don't mind sharing that is.

Same! No because I legit had like one day where I was genuinely worried that Aria wasn’t gonna be on the show anymore. Not because of what antis were saying (idc what they have to say) but because we’d seen that Aria wasn’t on set for quite some time (that we know of), and I also wouldn’t blame Aria for wanting to be done. But I guess we know why he wasn’t there at the beginning now, he wasn’t in 4x05 like some had thought. (They really had the nerve to not have him in an episode again, after a whole season of his character being absent. 😑) But yeah, I’ve also seen people thinking Brett confirmed Landon is dead for good and not coming back, which is ridiculous. Exactly, it’s Legacies. And do they really think Landon’s story is just gonna end with him trapped in limbo with Ted?

And right? It’s insane to me that they would leave so much unexplained, they didn’t clear up anything! I feel the same way, I’ve been waiting for certain things to be answered since season 1 and we’ve gotten no answers at all. And yeah! What about the hairs? That was this really threatening, mysterious scene, and what was it for?? Malivore said in 3x13 that he’d taken some of golem Landon’s hair to test, but why did he take Hope’s? That was the extent of their explanation for that scene?

And yeah, I think if they were gonna have Landon be gone for good, they would’ve just had him finding peace. Why have him stuck in limbo and, like you said, write the scene the way they did with Ted saying, “we’ve figured our way out of worse.” They’re obviously gonna find a way out, or at least Landon is. That’s how I saw it too. And even though he wasn’t in 4x05, he’s gotta be in 4x06 since Landon is mentioned in the synopsis. And hopefully we’ll find out more about 4x07 soon, but surely Landon isn’t going anywhere. I agree, I think if they were gonna get rid of Landon, they would’ve done it before so that they could move on. And good point, they probably would’ve done a bit more, had more of a send-off like they did with Raf, before then acting as if he had never been there, like they do.

Very true, Landon might be dead right now but that doesn’t mean he’s gonna stay dead. As we know, when it comes to this show. And as Brett said himself, so idk why people are ignoring that either. Sure, they can believe it if that’s what they want. They’ll just end up being disappointed, and I’ll be laughing once Landon is back too. And I totally get what you mean, I think Landon fans have it the worst. It’s bad enough in the fandom, but then in the show they treat Landon horribly too, so it never really ends.

And of course! Thanks for sharing your thoughts with me!

[irishseeeker]

Since you’re answering asks about the show—how do you think they’re going to handle Bridgerton house in season 2 and going forward? When Anthony and Kate move in and the rest of them move to number 5, most of the Bridgerton kids still live with Violet (idk where Colin and Benedict live in the show…?) And since Bridgerton house was one of the main sets in season one, it would be jarring to suddenly have the main characters of future seasons be living in a house other than Bridgerton house.

So…do Anthony and Kate move in with the rest of the family? Do they allow Violet to stay there until the kids grow up? (side note the scenes between Violet and Kate about passing down the title of viscountess is gonna make me so emo) Will they decide to break my heart and have kathony live off screen at Aubrey hall during all future seasons so it’s not a problem? Am I thinking about this way too much? 🤣

Hi Anon! Hope you’re having a good day! That's such a good question and something I've thought a lot about.

Bridgerton House is definitely the most important set and the main place where they all have dinner and congregate and later this will be No.5 from S3. I think they’re going to increase the amount of scenes all the Bridgertons have together as those scenes are so popular from S1 and the show is about the Bridgertons after all! Plus Ben and Colin will be focused on big time this season to build up for their seasons.  Bridgerton is such an expensive show they’ll want to use the same sets as much as possible and they’re already expanding a lot for S2 with Aubrey Hall, the Sharmas and probably a few more sets. A lot of Anthony’s scenes take place in his father’s office in the books and S1 and they definitely will in S2, so Bridgerton House is very important. I reckon we’ll see Kate, Edwina and Mary in Bridgerton House for tea or dinner with all the Bridgertons at some point as well pre and post engagement. Bridgerton House is where we’ll  mainly see all the unmarried Bridgertons together, especially Hyacinth, Greg, Eloise and Francesca as that’s where we saw them most in S1 (excluding parties and balls) and there’s not a whole lot going on for them unless the smaller ones get more of a plot but I doubt that. We’ll definitely see more of Eloise everywhere like we did in S1 anyway as her plot will be her debut to society! 

I’m kind of curious if they’ll show any of Eloise’s suitors and possibly one she actually likes? As she does get a few proposals over the years in her book but she has 0 interest in any of them. I reckon we’ll see her just being the worst, funniest debutant in the history of London haha.

I think they’ll definitely do the move to No.5 but not properly until S3. It definitely will be jarring but I’m thinking they’ll make it a plot line for sure to show the transition and sort of the emotional impact of it, leaving behind Edmund and their family home. I could see Kate and Anthony moving into Bridgerton House in the last episode in the final scene of S2 like a year later with Kate recovered from her leg injury and pregnant, to set the scene for S3 as most of that will take place in No.5 with Sophie and the Bridgertons. No.5 is important for S3. I also think we'll see Violet and the Bridgertons having a moment together before they leave their childhood home either at the end of S2 or at the beginning of S3, as that's going to be emotional for them, particularly Violet as she’s leaving the place she lived with Edmund behind.  

 TVWLM ends in 1814 and AOFAG begins in 1815, which is when Edmund II is born. I’m thinking Kate and Anthony's role in the first 2 episodes could be Kate's struggles to adapting to motherhood or as Viscountess now they're living in Bridgerton House or something like that. Anthony struggles too possibly? Moving in with the family is actually a really good idea as that would definitely result in some humour as they all could get very sick of each other? Or it would just make it easier for the writers and the show to have everyone together. They could move in with the Bridgertons first and then they could leave just before the time skip in AOFAG. I really don’t see them all living together as that’s not how the books do it but who knows! I just really hope Anthony and Kate have a good sub-plot in S3. I'm thinking the first episode of S3 will be mainly about Sophie's childhood and life (or they could do it in flashbacks but for Sophie it would make more sense to just tell her story at once to understand why she runs away) and it will end with the ball scene, so Edmund’s birth fits in perfectly around then before the 2 year time skip. The ball scene could even be episode 2! 

This also will be the year Francesca enters society and marries John so John courting Franny & their engagement will definitely be a sub-plot in S3, maybe only for an episode or two or we might only get an introduction and then we see them married. This will happen before the time skip which I can’t see them avoiding as it just throws the entire time line off. Anthony will be relatively involved in that plot as well and so will Violet. 

Daphne's role in S2 intrigues me as she won't have Simon so to see where she fits in and if she has a plot herself will indicate what's in store for Anthony, Ben etc when they're married after their seasons and if their spouses stay on. Although, they will have a bigger role than Daphne regardless as the brothers always have scenes together and are relatively involved in their brother’s love lives. I can see Phoebe leaving after S2 but I would like if they focused on motherhood for Daphne in S2 and possibly helping Anthony out with courting and his love life if she does end up going. It would be sad but hopefully she stays! She might not really be in S2 we won’t know for ages anyway! 

The show is so expensive that I think they’ll minimize the amount of sets they have to set up or locations they shoot on and for S2, I’d be surprised if Ben and Colin aren’t nearly always in Bridgerton House. Benedict and Colin seem to be living in Bridgerton House in the show from what we've seen so far, they're always at the house and they return from balls to Bridgerton House. Anthony is the only one who doesn't live there but we never see his bachelor lodgings and I don't think we will until their wedding night, unless we seem some scenes of him brooding on his own and pining over Kate haha. I can see Anthony gifting Benedict My Cottage at some point in S2 to set him up for season 3 and to help him escape London, but in his book Ben has his own bachelor lodgings which I don’t think we’ll see until S3. I don't think we'll see Colin's bachelor lodgings until S4 as that's when he gets a place in RMB after returning from his travels. I think they'll want to keep Colin in the show as much as possible so any time skips that's when he'll be traveling like when they ended S1 with him going off to travel and then flash forward to a year and Daphne and Simon have their baby. So when he’s in London, he’ll always be at Bridgerton House or No.5.

Going by the first season, I presume there's going to be 8 episodes in season 2. I think Kate and Anthony will be married by episode 5 like Simon and Daphne were. That leaves 3 episodes of Anthony's 'I won't love my wife idiot' stage. I would love for us to get a full episode of their honeymoon in Aubrey Hall but I don't think we will considering the book didn't have it and we're going to get at least 2 episodes in Aubrey Hall anyway. I do think one of the post-marriage episodes will be focused on Kate adjusting to the role of Viscountess and her bonding and having some very sweet moments with Violet and the Bridgertons. I hope they'll focus on her insecurities and her struggles with how Anthony is behaving and just how society has been treating her.  Especially when Anthony ran off to Aubrey Hall after their engagement and left Kate all alone to deal with the whispers? I hope they address that and he gets some slack for it. I think there’s going to be a good few scenes in S2 at the Sharma residence as well and a few balls, definitely one at Lady Danburys, so we’re in for an amazing season! 

Who knows what will happen but I could see them using very similar sets for Bridgerton House & No.5 in future seasons so it wouldn’t be a big change. No. 5 will still be a big household if it has the 4 youngest and Violet and occasioanlly Colin and Ben. I’m still not so sure about Eloise’s book and on, I think the strongest and most popular books plot wise are Anthonys, Benedicts and Colins and everyone is hyped for them. Daphne’s did extremely well though with a weaker book (that was still good just not a favourite of mine) so I have high hopes for them to do all the Bridgerton’s books. What I think they could do is possibly combine Eloise and Francescas for S5? As they’re both taking place at the same time in 1824. Gregory’s book was okay but it could be a good adaption as there’s so much going on. Who knows! They’ve already included Marina and Philip so that seems like an indication they would love to do them all and plan to?

I really went on here (again, do I ever stop talking). I don’t know what anyone else thinks but I’d love to hear! I could talk about Bridgerton forever tbh and I really do need to get back to the many invoices waiting for me <3 hope you’re having a good day anon!

[communistkenobi-archive]

We've seen Din interact with 3 different types of Mandos: his covert, Bo-Karen's, and Boba Fett. How do you think the latter has influenced him and/or why do you think it was important that Din met him at this point of the narrative? (God, this sounds like an essay question on an exam lol:))

you sent me this before the finale and I was specifically waiting for s2 to close out before answering it because I figured we might get some more insight into how din feels about bo-katan and boba

we didn’t end up getting any of that (lol), so it’s extremely difficult to tell. I think if you squint and blur your eyes, what the writers were maybe going for was “din meets mandos who practice mando identity differently, and this ‘helps’ him be more accommodating with his own identity, especially re: the helmet rule”, but that’s a very surface level analysis and also not really justified in the show when you get into more detail, so I’m not a fan of that interpretation at all. the assumption undergirding that interpretion is that din’s specific practice of mando identity is just, like, a weird quirky thing he does that he ought to grow out of, when in reality the reason he hides his face and his name is because the Empire purged Mandalore and hunted them all for sport. so to say that he just needs to meet other Mandalorians that practice mando identity differently in order to “solve” the helmet rule ignores the history behind the helmet rule set up in the show, and frames religious practices with a real historical material basis as these abstract cultural quirks that are the domain of individual human delusion. which sucks!

from an out-of-universe perspective this is trickier because he’s interacting with mandos who existed prior to that lore being established (so why aren’t THEY also wearing their helmets 24/7), but I think you can probably get around that in-universe with some general handwaving about how big of a galaxy it is - din just happened to be in the wrong place and time for the Purge to have that effect on him and the mandos around him in a way it did not for other groups of mandos. bo-katan was also definitely present for the Purge, but she’s a known entity by now and also royalty, so her response to that Purge is understandably very different.

I also realise this is all way too generous to the showrunners, who are not writing a star wars tv show to do historical dialectical materialism or whatever on a fictional minority warrior tribe. I think the mainstream fandom interpretation (that boba and bo-katan “helped” din get over the helmet thing) is probably a little bit more in-line with favreau’s general political outlook and intent behind this conflict, but we haven’t really seen it play out one way or the other so I’ll reserve my judgement until then. they definitely are setting up for a broader conflict over what constitutes mando identity that we’ll likely see more of in s3, so hopefully that sheds some more light on the topic.

I think what IS interesting is that din has won the mantle of Mand’alor at the point in his life where he is extremely unsure of his mandalorian identity. he underwent a very dramatic shift in how he practices his duty to his people to make space for the baby, and now that the kid is (temporarily, crossing my fingers) out of his life, he has to either go back to his previous understanding of his own faith or forge an entirely new understanding all over again. both of those options are scary and difficult for different reasons, and I suspect what will probably happen is he will try to fall back on what is familiar and it’s not going to work. the kid has irrevocably changed his life and the way he lived prior to meeting grogu didn’t seem particularly fulfilling for him, so trying to go back to that isn’t going to cut it.

[twdmusicboxmystery]

6 Extra Episodes in S10. This May Be What We’ve Been Waiting For!

Yeah, you might say I have a “few” thoughts on the extra 6 episodes, lol. I think this is fantastic. I really think this is what we’ve been looking for for 5 years.

Of course, that said, I must caveat this with the fact that this is just speculation and no one knows for certain. But man, is this exciting!

When I heard for myself Angela announce the 6 new episodes for S10, the question I kept coming back to is…why? Why would they do that? Even putting Beth aside, never in 10 seasons have they ever extended a season at all, and 6 is a lost of episodes. (I can’t help but run through every episode 6 of every season and how many Beth clues we’ve found in all of them.)

But more to the point, why make them part of season 10? Why not finish them and make them s11 so they can show how awesome TWD is and that it hardly missed a beat. You know, on to season 11!!!!! But they’re smashing them into s10. Why? That’s a REALLY big deal.

So let’s state some things we know MUST be true about these six episodes:

1. Obviously, they’re special. For some reason.

2. They MUST have been previously filmed. They haven’t filmed anything since November and with CoVid, no way they could have. And yes, you could argue that they were filming secretly, away from cameras, as we often say that about Beth. But even so, they wouldn’t have had enough time before CoVid hit to film six full episodes. So these must have been filmed sometime before that. And then there’s those missing scenes we’ve PROVEN were filmed and never aired. Just seems like too much of a coincidence that this wouldn’t be that.

3. It must be something related to what happens in the finale. Maybe that seems obvious, but the reason I say that is because, in terms of Gimple’s we’re-working-on-seeing-what-happened-to-characters-early-in-the-apocalypse thing, I think there’s a few possibilities for what he could be talking about there. One of them, obviously, is Beth. But they’ve also long-hinted at an Abraham/Eugene early apocalypse spin off. So, it’s POSSIBLE he could be talking about that or some other storyline they have in mind for a future spin off. Now, I have more reasons for why I don’t think that’s the case, which I’ll get to in a minute, but this is what I mean about these 6 episodes needing to be tied to the finale. Putting in an Abraham—or anyone else’s flashback story line, for that matter—would make no sense here. It would be really jarring for the viewers because there’s been no hint of anything like in the show.

And of course a non TD-er would probably argue that there’s been no hint of Beth either, but we all know better, don’t we? There’s the Connie stuff (that convo between Daryl and Carol was the first on-screen mention of Daryl’s love life since…what? S3? When Carol asked him jokingly if he wanted to screw around? I mean, of course the fans were talking about it with Beth, but none of the on-screen characters were. And of course there’s the symbolism, dog stuff, Emily’s music being in it, and all other social media hints and attention she’s gotten. It just makes sense that if the last 5 minutes Nicotero keeps hinting at is her, then it would naturally follow that we’d then see her backstory.

And, I gotta say, the six episodes is perfect. This is exactly what we’ve been waiting for. We’ve all gone so back and forth about how they’d do this. We knew her backstory would take more than a single bottle episode. Or even two. And having a full 6 or 8 episodes for it deviates too much for too long from the main story and the other characters. So we always figured it might be a spin off or “special event” or something. This works perfectly for that mold, and may explain why they’re just “extending” S10.

But I’ll say more on that in a minute. Let me get back to Gimple’s comment.

Three things really stuck out to me about what he said, all of which make me think his comment was about Beth, rather than some other spinoff.

1) He made a point to say it was something that happened early in the apocalypse, not pre-apocalypse. And while that would work for an Abe/Eugene spinoff as well, it just jumped out at me that he wanted to be very clear about that.

2) He said what they’re working on that he’s referring to isn’t an entire series. That specifically suggests that a) it’s probably these 6 episodes he’s referring to, because rather than making them their own series (like TWB) they’re just mashing them into the main series. And b) what I said above about any other character spinoff: it would make way more sense and be way less jarring to have it be its own spin-off event because it just wouldn’t fit into the main series.

3) He suggested it’s what they’re actively working on right NOW. So, let me be the devil’s advocate here. That could possibly mean two things. Right now they can either do remote stuff to work on what they’ve already filmed or they can plan for stuff they’ll be filming when they get the okay to do so.

Let’s say I���m wrong and what Gimple said refers to some other spin off. Well, you could actually argue it either way. Maybe (again, we’ll use the Abe/Eugene thing as a placeholder, though it could feasibly be anything) they already filmed another spin off, secretly, and it’s just that no one knows about it. They could, technically, have done that at any time since MC left in S6, right? So Gimple could be working on that. Or, if they haven’t done any other filming, he could just be planning for the next thing beyond S11, right?

But that just doesn’t seem particularly realistic to me. Given that they’re trying to get stuff out for the fans, and the way CoVid has thrown a wrench in everything, I think all other projects would be backburned and they’d just be pushing as hard as possible to get the rest of S10 and S11 out to us. That’s what they have to be working on now to fill the gap of CoVid and make sure the fans don’t riot. That’s pretty much what Angela said and Gimple, Nicotero and others all agreed.

So of course, it’s not proof or anything, but it just seems obvious to me that what Gimple meant is what’s in these 6 episodes and nothing except it being about Beth makes sense. Nothing else would fit into the story at all right now.

Okay, I’m going to give a few thoughts about the suspicious pushing back of the finale and then I’ll stop.

In many ways, them pushing back the finale makes MORE sense to me in light of these new episodes than it did before. You both know I’ve always thought it was hokey because, after getting the filming done, everything else, by definition is done by computer and therefore can be done remotely.

So here’s what I think happened. Remember that even after CoVid hit, they still got several episodes aired, and didn’t tell us until—I don’t remember exactly when; episode 14 maybe?—that they wouldn’t be airing the finale because it wasn’t finished. I still think that was a lie. I think it wasn’t so much that they didn’t get the finale finished, but that they looked at what was happening (CoVid) and understood that everything would be shut down for an extended period of time and there would be a gap. That they wouldn’t get S11 filmed until the new year. But overall, S11 isn’t even really the point. Like I said, hearing about these 6 episodes has brought me some clarity.

So this may explain both why they held back the finale and why they’re mashing these episodes into S10, rather than making them their own thing. Now, maybe they were always going to do that. I obviously couldn’t speak to it either way. But I think the time frame is the thing here. Understand, I’m operating under the assumption that these 6 episodes will be Beth’s backstory, the missing 17 days, the white church, all of it. So, assuming that’s true…

If they always knew they were going to air these episodes soon after 10x16, they probably want them aired very close to (soon after) the reveal of Beth being alive. Think of it this way. When her being alive is revealed, there will a collective, fandom gasp. And then tptb will hype everyone watching the next episodes so we can find out how and why this is the case. But if they’d aired the finale back in February, it would have been 9 months before got those answers, and they would have lost the hype of the initial shock. Not to mention, while obviously the break would have built up plenty of hype for Daryl and Beth, it also would have allowed the haters to rail for months and months about how unrealistic this is, which might have infected others in the fandom in a negative way. I think Gimple and Kang are smart. They know their fandom very well, and are doing everything they can to guard against that sort of thing.

So, I think it’s possible that they were going to present these six episodes in a different way originally, like a spin off or special event (maybe, maybe not; I could see it either way) but they decided to make it an extended part of season 10, specifically because we won’t have s11 for a while and they want to push people through these episodes as quickly as possible after the finale.

I also think it’s terribly interesting from a psychological standpoint that they plan to start airing these things in October. Exactly when we SHOULD have gotten S11. Like I said, the writers are just smart that way. All we’ll actually be missing time-wise this year is the finale. And yes, other things like Fear and TWB were suppose to air in the interim. But in terms of the main series, which blows all the others out of the water viewership-wise, we’ll be sticking to the same schedule of getting more TWD in October, exactly when we should. I’m sure that’s purposeful. And by the time they air everything they’ve already filmed (S10, Fear, TWB), they’ll probably be ready to start airing S11 by then. Hopefully.

Okay, sorry. I said I’d stop, but two more minor things I want to mention. When Nicotero mentioned the last 5 minutes thing again, he said it would take everyone in a “whole new direction.” That gave me a lot of hope. Yes, I know hyperbole and exaggeration are still a thing, but I think we get it less from Nicotero than from Gimple, and I just don’t feel like he’d call it a “whole new direction” if he was just referring to Father Gabriel’s death or something. So once again, I think that “whole new direction” will be something completely unlooked for that will push us into those 6 episodes. That gave me some hope.

And finally, on the topic of FG’s death, I really think that could be a thing. Did you notice Angela’s giggle? I think it was right at the end when they were asking her what to expect from the finale and she just did a rundown of how all the characters were doing important things in important places (Negan has some exciting scenes, Carol has a redemption arc, Daryl’s leadership is important, etc.). And when she mentioned FG, she did this weird smile/giggle thing. She didn’t do that mentioning any of the other characters. It was like she got nervous and was trying to cover something. Just a little too shifty-eyed and giggly for me. So I kinda think we might be right about him dying in the finale.

But of course that remains to be seen. Thoughts?

[ohnotoomanyfandoms]

What's your opinion on s2? I loved it, of course I missed some parts from the book, but understand why it has to be that way. What do you think of Matthew and Teresa? Any thoughts about s3, what do you predict they will do with it? I honestly think they served every season and it will be bitter sweet ending. Hopefully covid will let them do press, I love cast and their chemistry and family like atmosphere.

(Taking a break from TLH theories to answer one or more ADOW asks! I say this because I know the name Matthew confuses people, lol)

Hi! I poured all my thoughts about season 2 here. I do think they did the absolute best they could with the little time they had. These books need more than 8-10 episodes to be adapted, but they did an amazing job regardless. Some things might feel a bit rushed towards the end, but it’s either that or cutting down more plot lines. There are a couple of things I would’ve done slightly differently, but I am 97% satisfied at season 2. 

Matthew and Teresa were phenomenal. I touch upon that too in my review. We owe so much to them and their chemistry. 

For season 3, I really wish they would be able to split it in two seasons like they were supposed to, before COVID happened. I know it’s impossible now, but I recognize that any narrative problem s3 could have will be due to this: they were planning for 2 seasons and had to resort to 1. I wish at least season 3 could have more than 10 episodes so they can tell the story and wrap up everything perfectly, but we can’t know that yet. But it looks like Deb just answered an IG comment yesterday saying it will only be 7 episodes. 

I would obviously love if they were granted an extra season to cover more material in TBOL and Time’s Convert. Officially, they haven’t cancelled the show yet, they just haven’t said it will continue past season 3 and everyone is sort of assuming it will end there, especially given all the delays that happened because of COVID. 

The actors themselves don’t hold much hope that the show will continue past s3 now - or can’t say what they know yet - because Teresa was asked and she just vaguely said that she’s ready to let go but she will be more than happy to continue if they can. But they must have signed deals for 4 seasons, if they were planning to split TBOL in two seasons. The problem might be that they were only under contract until a certain year (2021) and there will be no way to extend that. I’m just speculating here, based on my good enough understanding of television production. 

Plot-wise, I think they might actually include some bits of Time’s Convert (without the past parts, of course) because they’ll want Marcus and Phoebe to have their happy ending. If you think about it, Adelle is so often on set with Aiysha, and I don’t recall Phoebe and Miriam spending much time together in The Book of Life... maybe we’ll see the glimpses of the twins driving Diana and Matthew insane as they develop their skills. Maybe we’ll see Apollo, and Pip doing some magic. Maybe we’ll see Becca bite people. Hopefully we’ll get one of those family dinners at Les Revenants where everyone is happy and safe and together (except for my love Gallowglass). They will probably have to rush everything. Major plot points will have to be completely scrapped. 

I hope they do the book justice. I know we can trust them to do the very best they can despite the situation. Deb is one of the Executive Producers, and no one cares about these characters more than she does. We have to trust that these people who made magic happen for 2 seasons can do it even in such adverse circumstances, just like Diana and Matthew would. 

For now, let’s enjoy season 2. We can worry about season 3 when the time comes. By then, I hope we’ll finally be out of this pandemic for good and at least the cast and crew will be able to celebrate and do press together. It’s what they deserve. 

[gra-sonas]

Wait, so there's an IG live and someone gets to have a one on one with the two of them together some point later? Hopefully that means we might get some mild spoilers for s3 Malex, right?

I’m not sure what kind of meet & greet you can win (and how?), but I guess they’ll tell us?

Man, I’m dying for some spoilers. I doubt they’ll answer any too direct questions, and Forlex fans should probably be prepared to not get any answers about their ship (Vlamis is gonna get all possessive “Forlex? We don’t know her. This is MY boyfriend btw” - not sure if Tyler’s gonna answer Forlex questions either).

In lieu of real spoilers, I hope we’ll at least be able to tell whether good things are in the books for Alex and Michael. And by “good” I mainly mean, that they share scenes, and that they are headed in the direction of “getting together”. 

13 hours until the live! \0/

[pynkhues]

I’m so excited they renewed, but I’m so scared too. Let’s say we get two more seasons, where do you think the story will go?

I totally get that, anon! Honestly, it’s so hard to predict where this show goes / is going. It’s certainly a show that loves to surprise its audience (for better and for worse), but it’s also a show that likes to unpack characters in ways that are ugly and human and often unflattering too. I think we see that particularly with characters like Beth and Annie, but with minor characters too like Nancy and Max. 

So yeah! I don’t know is probably the short answer, haha. I’m buckled in for the ride though, whatever that might look like! 

But if I had to make predictions, well. 

Behind a cut to save your feeds!

On the Homefront

- So first thing’s first, I do actually think we’re going to get our Beth x Dean divorce. The post s3 interviews with Jenna in particular certainly seemed to point that way to me (albeit Bill’s quotes less so), but – and this is purely speculation – I think there might be some uncertainty in the writers room right now on what that looks like and how to handle it? 

All the precursors are there on screen for us. The writers are constantly telling us that anything romantic or intimate between Beth and Dean is done, but I think there’s anguish in that process on a writing front of how to keep Dean around in a way that makes narrative sense. Matthew’s a lead, and seems to be pretty beloved on set. They’re not going to push him sideways like Greg, and I think really since 1.08 the show’s been curious to explore how Dean can operate in the crime world. 

He’s actually been complicit since s1 in a way Stan wasn’t until he stole the pen cap in 2.01 and Greg still isn’t, and this has been used a few times over in a lot of different capacities – mostly in a black humour way i.e. Rio practically cuckolding him with Boland Motors, the baby hitmen, and the scene where Dean tries to get a gun in 3.04 – but also in ways that have played with Dean’s privilege as a straight white man, and shown him to be naturally underhanded (moving the botox for Beth way back in 1.08 immediately springs to mind). 

I think the writers are overall interested in exploring that further – that certainly seems to be what they’re going with with Boland Bubbles – and I actually think it’s also important in the sense of a divorce. Right now, nothing’s stopping Dean from pulling a 2.08/2.09 and taking the kids. If he’s involved in crime though too? That actually gives Beth a leg to stand on. 

- I think Stan and Ruby are going to continue to be the show’s OTP, and in the domestic sense I think that their storyworld will be expanded particularly through Stan’s parents, in a similar way to how the show’s used Judith. We know Ruby’s father’s dead from 2.08, and I feel like it’s implied that her mother is too, and that she doesn’t have much of a relationship with her brothers. Stan’s parents though have been mentioned a lot (in fact, more than any of the girls’ parents, and almost as much as Dean’s), across both s2 and s3, and I feel like it’s building to us eventually meeting them. 

How this happens, I’m not sure! It could be through one of them passing, through Sara getting sick again, or even through something smaller like them just moving closer. I do think it’s going to have really big ramifications for the Hill family overall though – particularly as Stan and Ruby have found this sort of equilibrium with their morality and where they stand now. I also can’t see it not tying into Stan leaving the police force too. 

- As for Annie, after s3, I really think she’ll be the one to try and properly leave crime. I’m not sure if she’ll be successful, but I do think her growth arc will continue, and that it’ll likely continue to be one step forward, two steps back, but hopefully, eventually transition to two steps forward, one step back, y’know? 

Even in the early days of this season though, I think the show was demonstrating that Annie didn’t have the same interest in crime as Beth, nor the same desperate need for it as Ruby. Annie likes the rewards of it, and she likes the feeling of success with it, and that immediately transferred to non-criminal activities aka the EMT work. I think that’ll continue to be the focus of her journey, which I think will only be making her inevitable sideways slide into crime all the more painful for us as an audience as it continues. 

Crime time

I think that we were about to be easing into a bit of a success period for the girls (*me, sobbing* please, haha), and that from what Jenna and Bill both said in the s3 finale interviews, something was about to be bringing Beth and Rio closer again, not tearing them further apart. 

As much as I’d love for Beth and Rio to be proper partners in crime, I don’t think that’s somewhere the show will settle on. I think they’re really going to be on and off – I think they’ll be shady partners and true partners, enemies, lovers, reluctant accomplices – all of it. I think though that the show is invested in Beth having an operation outside of Rio, and it’s something I think will be built to over and over again until it sticks. I just also think circumstance will constantly push the two of them together again too. 

And I actually think the girls have a few game flips in them. I think we’ll probably always narratively circle back to funny money, but that other business opportunities will be explored beyond that (and beyond prescription pills). I think the show’s more and more easing into Ruby’s criminal capacity too – particularly this season with both the nail polish and the hockey jersey – and I think we’ll see her become a true crime partner to Beth, and probably end up with her own hustles with Stan too. 

Otherwise, I guess I just really see the crime world expanding, y’know? Through Rio’s networks and beyond, but also through Dean and Stan’s deepening involvement, and honestly – I feel like Greg and Nancy might end up entangled in a scheme or two too? I don’t know!

Beth and Rio

And haha, I’m sure this is what most people want to know. 

I do think Beth and Rio will be intimate again. I don’t think I ever see them pursuing a conventional relationship on the show, but I think there’ll be something, and I think it’ll be more than what it was in s2. I think a lot of that will tie into their ever-shifting dynamic more broadly too. 

And look – I don’t think they’re endgame. I think Beth’s endgame has always been Beth x herself (or, well, Beth x Ruby x Annie), but I actually do think the show will keep it open as to what Beth and Rio can be in the future. Realistically, the worst thing that could happen between them – y’know, the multiple attempts to murder each other – has happened now, and hell, if they’ve been able to bounce back from that, I think they’ll keep bouncing back, y’know? 

But this is all pretty broad, haha. What do you guys think? Do you have any theories?

[ambitionsource]

every once in a while i go back and read about the rl + da road trip bc that's such a fun cute idea and honestly such a vibe. they had the opportunity and they TOOK IT like i really wish i had that opportunity but i was forced to leave college and go back home INSTEAD. oh well just gotta live vicariously through the characters amiright

awww pal i’m so sorry about your college plans being affected. i know a lot of us are struggling with that, how this unprecedented situation has impacted all our goals and expectations for life at this moment. it’s definitely not the way you imagined it i’m sure, but you can still make the most of it! what i’ve been doing is just focusing on each day at a time and finding joy or progress or uniqueness in each one. it’s not easy some days but i think overall it helps, just to reprogram your thinking a little bit. 💕but i’m glad to hear that aaa is part of that joy for you and that we can be a safe haven or fun space in some capacity during this time! that’s what ambition quarantine 2020 is all about baybee

(for friends who don’t know, devyn is referring to this ask i answered about rl and da during the summer of love, between s2 and s3.)

but yes, we will prevail! hopefully all of the promo stuff is giving y’all things to have the option to focus on + get lost in, and of course we’ll still be here trying to keep up with our inbox and give y’all more little snippets of bonus content. we’re in it together!!

-- Maggie

[msbeccieboo]

Arrow 8x03 Brain Dump

ASDADGHSADFSAF!! Back on form this week, with more returning guests, massive sibling feels and concentration on characters that we love, AND THE COLLISION OF FUTURE AND PRESENT TIMELINES IN THAT EPIC ENDINGGGG!!!!!!!!! YAAAASSSS!!! I’m still spiralling now!!!

Oliver and Thea

Welcome back Thea Queen!! Oliver had missed his Speedy 😍

So following on from last week, Oliver travelled to Nanda Parbat (which looked suspiciously like Lian Yu...the S8 Budget was clearly too used up on guest stars to recreate the outdoor Nanda Parbat scenery we saw in S3 😂), where he hoped to find some answers about The Monitor. I’m not actually sure if he intended on visiting Thea, or if her appearance was just a happy coincidence! But either way he was able to tell her about Mia and show her the picture of his new little family GAJKFSDGHFHDSGFS!!!

Source: oliverxfelicity

More below the cut...

In a shock move for Oliver Queen, he is open and honest with Thea straight away about his prophesied and imminent death. Thea wasn’t buying it, and Oliver even made a little sarcastic comment to “take as much time as you like to be upset” 😂😂 I’ve seen a few people say that they wanted to see more emotion from Thea here, and in later scenes. My take is that Thea/Willa’s nonchalant air is just classic Thea Queen Swagger™, but did feel like Willa maybe wasn’t really all that present in all of the scenes (mainly the LoA stuff though really). I however loved her total chill at the prospect of Oliver dying...not dissimilar to us...we know what's what! Our boy will be okay in the end!

Oliver seeks out Talia Al Ghul to use the Leagues archives (?) to find out more about The Monitor, because she owes him one. I love the idea of Oliver collecting his debts for once...this could fill the rest of the season to be honest; he’s racked up rather a few favours over the years. Talia’s help comes in the form of an Indiana Jones-esque scavenger hunt to uncover an ancient League book, and some special Demon’s head sword (?), with interruptions by the pesky Thanatos Guild from last season, who Thea is at war with. Honestly, plot-wise, I struggled a bit this week; even on rewatch I found it hard to concentrate😂 . I just zoned in on the character moments to get me through. But luckily, there were lots of those! 

One such beautiful character moment with the Queen siblings was on the side of a mountain, and reminded me a little bit of the Will/Mia scene up the Glades wall back in 7x16, I think? Oliver getting all emotional about missing his family and doubting his decisions every single day just punched me right in the feels 😭😭

Source: feilcityqueen

Then his explanation for trying to find answers before the Crisis: “My sacrifice, my death will protect the people I love. I need my family to be safe.” MURDERER!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭

Thea reassures him with some sage Queen family words, that their parents also made some questionable choices regarding them (that’s putting it lightly), but it ultimately made them heroes because of them. I think this scene was one of my favourites this episode, if not the season so far. Love me some Queen siblings 💗

The upshot of this random adventure with Talia was that Oliver read that the upcoming Crisis will actually be caused by The Monitor (dun dun DUUUNNN!!), complete with a lovely drawing of him 😂😂 But what Oliver doesn’t know, cos The Monitor doesn’t tell him anything is that there is also an Anti-Monitor, who will be the big bad of Crisis...so this may be a bit of a red herring for now!

Oliver ends his time in Nanda Parbat by saying one final (in his mind) goodbye to Thea, which actually made me sob like a baby out of nowhere, and has done every time I’ve rewatched the clip haha! Thea didn’t see it as a goodbye (cos Oliver dying? Pass!), but Oliver just cracks and won’t let go of her, and now I’m tearing up again 😭😭😭

Source: smoakmonster

I think by the way the goodbye scene played out that that will be the last we see of Thea, and ugh it’s such a shame because she has always brought out something special in Oliver, but we know she’ll be with him the whole time...😭😭😭

Stray thoughts:

They had Thea acknowledge Moira as her namesake (still think it’s a stretch, Moira-Mia? No.) but also had a callback to Thea’s Corto Maltese alias, which made me lol, and frankly, I find a better reference 😂

“All beings burn but a Phoenix rises from the ashes”. The Phoenix references this week were as subtle as a sledgehammer...Oliver is the Phoenix, and he will rise from the ashes following his death!

The Guild calling Oliver and Speedy ‘outsiders’ 🙄🙄 Oliver was Ras al Ghul and Thea is heir to the demon; get your facts right, biatch!!

Thea was a total badass this week, taking down Talia was sooo cool, and shows how far she has come as a fighter/hero.

Nice drop-in that Felicity gave the hozen to William!

Thea and Talia joining forces to raise a female ‘League of Heroes’; better than any faux-feminist Canary bullshit!!

The guest stars are fantastic, but their novelty and distraction is wearing off...I MISS FELICITY SMOAK 😫😫 Next week should hopefully tide us over, though!!

Dyla

Dyla had their own little adventure this week, that  echoed their suicide squad mission in Season 2. Bronze Tiger killed a bad guy whilst working for Lyla, and in revenge, that bad guy’s son kidnaps Sandra and little Connor Hawke, then also tries to kill Lyla, but obviously she’s a total badass so that doesn’t happen! Anyway, all’s well that ends well and Dig rescues Connor and his Mum, and that’s about all I can remember plot-wise 😂😂

What we got character-wise, though was really cool! We got the first hint of JJ’s story of being 'neglected' by Dyla...with Dig and Lyla being increasingly away on missions and unable to call him, and in turn finding Connor and obviously starting to fall in love with him because he is the softest little bean 😍 When ickle Connor said “thank you Mr Diggles” I was a goner 😂😂

We saw Dig having a crisis of faith (pun intended) after seeing Earth 2 disintegrate before him, but ultimately he realises (after some Lyla wisdom) that they just have to hold on to each other and do their best. Lyla made a few comments and pulled some ‘I’m keeping secrets’ faces, asking Dig to remember the good times no matter what happens, and I need to know what Lyla knows dammit!! I still believe that she is on the good side, and her appearing to double-cross Dig and Oliver with The Monitor last week is a little bit of a red herring. I need to believe, ok!!!

Flash-forwards

Plot-wise, I actually think the flash-forwards were the strongest storyline this week. Following on from last week we had the team rushing back to the bunker to check on William, after JJ threatened him. This scene brought us another “frack” from Mia 😍, and a mention of Felicity as “Mom” from William 😭, as he managed to electrocute the bad guys all by himself! Will being a techy little badass is a forever mood and is yet another reminder of our Felicity. She is never really gone.

With the Deathstrokes now targeting William and other members of the Star City Unification Movement (SCUM, really?? LOL), William offers himself up as bait. As Oliver’s daughter, you can imagine how that went down with Mia. Badly. Big nope from Mia, who decides on a more direct approach of going to their HQ and kicking all of the ass 😂. Zoe is very much against this, but Mia is all “I know best, we’ll just storm in and take them all out myself” (S1 Oliver anyone?). Said storming in leads to this absolute beauty of a moment:

I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!!!

Prior to kicking all of the asses, Mia and William have a heart-to-heart, with Will still angry at Mia for not trusting him to go into dangerous situations. Will thinks it’s because he’s not a fighter, but Mia comes back with “it’s because you’re my brother” 😭 😭 😭

Source: olicitygifs

In another Felicity-worthy pep-talk, William tells Mia that operating out of fear is not the way to go, and that they need to trust each other to survive. I’m really gonna need a Mia/Will hug soon, please and thank you. Honestly, Will is the perfect balance/offset to Mia with his easy humour and quick wit, but he ALWAYS brings the feels as well. He reminds me so much of Emily’s portrayal of Felicity, and not just in the way that his character has been written, but just by what he brings to the role. Ben is a wonderful actor; I adore him and he and William must be protected at all costs!

In the final confrontation, Mia, Zoe and JJ storm JJ and the Deathstrokes, but JJ gets Mia by the throat in an awesome 3x23 Felicity/Slade parallel. Mia couldn’t save herself like Felicity did in this instance, but we must remember that this is just the beginning of Mia’s journey. She has time. Unlike Zoe, who saves Mia, but is then fatally stabbed by JJ 😬 Poor Zoe dies in Mia’s arms. Kat’s acting here was perfection. I may have shed a tear. They had kept Zoe pretty much in the background in the FFs, so I wasn’t particularly attached; if one of FTA needed to die, then I’m good with her. Sorry Zo. But in all honesty, this fridging trope really needs to end. Another female character didn’t need to die in order to elevate JJ’s evil-factor, or to spur on Mia’s hero journey, or Connor’s struggle with his conscience. Enough now. Hopefully, being a bird, Zoe will be back from the dead soon enough anyway 😂

Source: 1-crazy-dreamer 💗

Connor sees Zoe die and goes after JJ. Hard. Tries to kill him. Between 2 generations of Queens and Diggles, the sibling parallels were so strong this week, and I’m loving it! I wrote a little meta here about it. But does Connor have the guts to actually kill JJ? JJ taunts that he doesn’t, Connor disagrees, but then the bright light comes for all of FTA and so we come to…

THAT ENDING

OH MY GOD ALL OF FTA IN THE BUNKER IN 2019!!!!!!!!!!!!

So most people following any kind of interviews or spoilers had a pretty firm idea that Mia would come back in time at the end of the episode. We were expecting it. What the show did was really quite clever...they allowed these pretty big spoilery-type interviews and tweets to be released, heavily implying that Mia would rock up in the last 30 seconds. They let us think we were all clever and had figured it out then BOOM! EVERYONE CAME BACK (minus Zoe 😬)! 

I am so pleased with this!! All the paparazzi pics etc that we’d seen of Mia in the crossover etc had made me so happy, but equal parts sad that William couldn’t go back and see Oliver too, but now he can!!!

Uggghhhh it was so fucking goooood!! Oliver’s initial confusion of being beamed back to the bunker, stunned Dig, Dinah and Rene (I can live with their 5-second appearances this season 😂😂), then the camera and Oliver pan around to Mia, William and Connor just stood there!! Mia still had tears running down her face from seeing Zoe die, and she has her Arrow suit on and is covered in blood and she sees her Daddy for the first time in her memory!!!!!!! Just one word is delivered in those last few seconds and it was still one of the best moments of the season so far!!

Mia’s “Dad”, followed by Oliver’s confusion, realisation, then shock was just gaaahhhh!! But my absolute favourite reaction (I decided after multiple rewatches, for science, haha) was William’s 😍😭😍 His eyes full of tears, and utter gobsmacked-ness was fucking sublime!!  

Source for all 3 reaction gifs: tylerposey

Next week is going to be so epic!! We have Mia, who has never met Oliver and who has built him up so much in her head and heart from Felicity and William’s stories, and also the tainted Star City archives, getting to finally come face-to-face with him. Then conversely, there is William, who got a few years to know his father, but then left him and eventually believed to have been abandoned by him and Felicity, and has had to live for 20 years until very recently still believing that, and now he gets to see him again, only a few months after little William left! Then there’s Connor, who Dig barely even knows in 2019 and he’s gonna call him Dad and then have to tell him that he nearly just killed JJ, who just killed Zoe, and Rene is right there and I AM HERE FOR ALL OF ITTTTTT!!!! 

There’s so much content coming in next weeks episode it’s going to be so beautiful!!  I wrote a post of things I really hope to see here, and I’m pretty confident we’ll get most of them and so much more!

Then there’s the implications of what FTA being in the present means for the future!! I had a bit of a spec meltdown here about how this could end up saving Oliver, and I think that’s pretty much just wishful thinking, but either way, them coming back to the present to help with the Crisis and to try and stop future Star City turning so bleak is going to make my head hurt and my heart sing in equal measure, I’m sure! After all, what is the point in having the multiverse, time travel, super powers etc in Arrow if we can’t reap some benefits from it somehow? The ending to this episode, and hopefully next week will be our reward for the fuckery we’ve had to endure with the more sci-fi-esque elements since Larry rocked up and the Arrowverse was extended. And I. cannot. wait.

Thank you to the beautiful, talented, and super speedy gifmakers for blessing us with all the amazing gifsets from this episode!! Mwah! 😘😘 (Uncredited gifs are mine)

💗💗💗

[signor-signor]

Trending 27th - January 2020

What have been your efforts in the campaign for SaveWOY and what are your upcoming plans to save WOY? Now this is a question worth answering!

In the past, I made a little list of the things I did to support SaveWOY and bring awareness to Wander Over Yonder’s existence and its third season plans. Since then, I’ve done a whole lot more from hand-drawn art to more intricate art. Some of them are almost as special as that signed poster @peepsqueak got from the WOY crew as a token of their gratitude.

Here’s an updated list of everything I did for SaveWOY so far:

Attended the SaveWOY picnic at Griffith Park, where I got to sign a banner.

Pointed out various higher-ups involved in the business of Disney television.

Sent several letters to the higher-ups, some of which had envelopes with an image of the downed space pod taped to them.

Started a weekly Twitter post series, SaveWOY Thought of the Week.

Made Lite-Brite art of Wander and Lord Hater, which Craig McCracken and Francisco Angones liked.

Attended D23 2017 with an Operation: FORCE drawing of Hater, a colored page of Wander and Sylvia and a few facts about WOY, and an orange pen with a green hat (I got the hat from the aforementioned picnic) - there, I signed a bench with Wander and the phrase, “Never hurts to help.”

Signed my name, drew Wander (and my own character, Jacken DeBox), and wrote, “Happiest place in outer space!” on the highest beam for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.

Wrote a letter (and drew Wander) for the victims of the Las Vegas tragedy with the message, “The darkest times call for the sunniest smiles!”

Got Craig to reveal the name of the ship (said to play a BIG part in S3, made a cameo in Future-Worm) when I commented that we’d have to figure out the name - his response: “The ship is called The Star Nomad.”

Wrote a couple of cards to two Disney higher-ups with the message, “A little nice makes naughty think twice!”

Drew Dominator in a situation that might take place several seconds after she passes the downed space pod, just in time for Noël Wells’s B-day.

Made the Star Nomad with LEGO Digital Designer.

Made three images in the style of the original Star Wars trilogy VHS set.

Posted 50 WOYS3PredictionPolls on Twitter.

Made an image of “The First 5 Years” with over 140 individuals (including the question marks for 3 new mains and 2 new regulars - I still want to know what they look like!) and one cleverly made Hidden Mickey.

Shared WOY-related images from my 1st 5 Years fan art on Twitter acknowledging the B-days of most of the voice actors (Charlie Adler, Kevin Michael Richardson, Ken Marino, Josh Sussman, H. Michael Croner, James Adomian, Jason Ritter, and Piotr Michael clearly noticed).

Typed a summary of how I think the S3 premiere would go.

Typed lyrics to “Let’s Go Soarin’ and Explorin’,” a song from my aforementioned S3 premiere summary. Wouldn’t it be great if Andy Bean used it?

Made a microgame with WarioWare: D.I.Y. where the player has to spin the fan to make the Star Nomad fly. Part of a chorus from “Let’s Go Soarin’ and Explorin’” included.

Started FanCharacterFriday on Twitter - more Tumblr users seem to like Dr. Otmar Vunderbar.

Made a short comic page of Lord Hater trying to break out of the DTVA vault plus a sly reminder that Disney owns the rights to WOY.

Shared a list of potential episode titles for S3.

Made an actual LEGO Star Nomad based on the model made with LDD. Hopefully, those who worked on WOY have noticed. In case you missed it, here’s a picture...

Now, the ideas I have in mind for further boosting support for the campaign. I may not be able to do most of them myself, but they are certainly for everyone’s consideration.

Provide updated information of higher-ups (if any).

As soon as we find out what Kid Cosmic looks like, expect fan art of him saying, “Watch my show and tell your friends so we’ll make that Mousey Company pay for what they did to my half-brother!”

Another SaveWOY picnic - if there’s one in my general area, you can count me in.

LP album artwork of My Fair Hatey.

A mural identical to that of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate consisting of not just characters from WOY, but also characters who were said to debut in S3 and characters who’d fit in perfectly, namely some of my OCs.

Pumpkin stencils of the main characters for Halloween.

Drawings of various WOY characters stuck on the ex-secret planet explaining why they need to leave said planet. Maybe I could also show how the galaxy’s villains would react if they learn that Lord Dominator’s been bested by Lord Hater.

Drawings consisting of SaveWOY-related messages spoken by the main characters from Disney shows that got at least three seasons (e.g. DuckTales, Fish Hooks), tons of love from the viewers and the executives (e.g. Gravity Falls), or both (e.g. SvtFoE, Mickey Mouse ‘13).

Example with Phineas and Ferb:

Phineas: “We may be creative and famous, but we’re not the ones who came up with the Star Nomad. It’s the ship powered by orbbles! Orbbles! I’d LOVE to see it take flight, wouldn’t you? If you let Mr. McCracken end the show his way, and not the executive way, which, truth be told, is the absolute worst, Wander will surely be elated!”

Ferb: “The Orbble Transporter was invented by conjoined twin brothers, voiced by the performers of the theme song.”

Irving (peeking in from the side): “Speaking of voices, the titular main character sounds JUST LIKE ME! How could you possibly resist?! And look, just because I’m the biggest fan of these guys (gesturing to P&F) doesn’t mean I have no interest in what’s planned for the furry orange fella!”

Since I’m a full-time Disneyland cast member, I should be able to make contacts with anyone who might have more clues about what S3 would entail. It might be a long shot, but if I’m able to convince Disney that WOY’s influence on my life boosted my chance at gaining employment at the company, they should understand.

A weekly Jeopardy-type pop quiz on Twitter - here’s the catch: you must refrain from finding information online when you read the answer (I bet you that the most hardcore fans of the most popular shows will get most of the questions wrong).

Example: This arachnomorph got his name from a dog tag he swallowed when he infiltrated a fish-shaped ship. He later became Lord Hater’s beloved pet.

-Who is Captain Tim?

Summaries of S3 episodes I made up myself a while back.

More fan-made characters - my most recent is an elected official of Cluckon, Mayor Spye C. Drumstick.

Conjuring a logo that best fits the status of S3/TV movie - Wander Over Yonder: The New Galaxy (the center would have the silhouette of the Star Nomad with Wander and Sylvia on it).

Brainstorming possible ideas for the three new main characters.

If all else fails, I suggest we make a web comic based on the hints we accumulated back in 2016 and what we learned from the cameo in Future-Worm’s finale. Team Sea3on has been taking that approach for SatAM Sonic the Hedgehog S3, though they are also making an animated version.

That’s about all I’ve got so far. In closing, I have several questions to ask as the new decade kicks off.

Disney executives: Are you even listening to us WOY fans? What more do you want? I’ve done so much for the campaign that I feel I’m entitled to know everything that was planned for WOY’s third and final season, especially now that I’m working full-time for your company. If you tell us what your demands are, we’d be happy to oblige.

@crackmccraigen: Are you aware of how hard the fans and I have been trying to talk Disney into giving you the chance for true closure? We’ll make sure we watch KC when it comes out on Netflix. If we’re lucky, we might see WOY get added to Disney+, where it should get that closure, assuming you’ll have finished KC your way before then.

@suspendersofdisbelief: I know you’re super busy with DuckTales and you love the plans for WOY S3 so much that you can’t bear to reveal it all in one post, but it’s been waaaay too long since we got any hints from you. Are there any other WOY S3-related facts you could describe in much greater detail? The campaign could do with more motivation.

Non-WOY fans: Are you convinced? Need I remind you what’s in the end tag of the “last” episode of WOY? You know there’s much more to life than tales from the land of Ooo, a blue middle school cat boy in a world of unusual individuals, adolescent twins in an Oregon town filled with oddities, a half-gem half-human protagonist, a coming-of-age princess of Mewni, a trio of ursine trend-followers in San Francisco, and all that jazz. If you’re not one bit interested in Hater’s origin story and all that was planned for S3, it’s your loss.

Pessimists: Will you please dispense with this unnerving “Wander is dead” talk? As a certain Popeye would say, “That’s all I can stands, I can’t stands no more!” You’re not trying to let the Disney bosses win, are you? You probably used to think previously canceled shows like Hey Arnold!, Samurai Jack, and Young Justice could never be brought back. The point is, all is not lost.

@peepsqueak and WOY fans/SaveWOY supporters: Have I been of assistance? Almost every remark I’ve ever made shows wit and perception. I mean, just think. Wander is still stuck in that vault where his goal of reforming Lord Hater remains incomplete, and he has no idea of what threat awaits him. He says, “Glorn, help us.” It’ll take something big and extraordinary to convince every Disney fan (and perhaps every Netflix fan) to talk some sense into the higher-ups. Not to mention the replacement/back-up voice actors we’ll have to find if Disney takes even longer (we already lost one - René Auberjonois). We shan’t rest until we get the answers!

@disneyanimation

[nooraiskind]

TV shows + questions

 Rules: Pick 5 shows, then answer the following questions. Don’t cheat. Tag 10 (or however many) people.

Thank you for tagging me @edonori (I think some other people did a while ago but I can’t remember)

SKAM 

La Casa de Paper

Dark

Fleabag

Peaky Blinders

Who is your favorite character in 2?

Probably Tokyo

Who is your least favorite character in 1?

I mean it has to be Nikolai

What is your favorite episode of 4?

2x01. A masterpiece.

What is your favorite season of 5?

S1 all the way

Who is your favorite couple in 3?

Jonas and Martha... we’ll just pretend she’s not his ****. Or Magnus and Franziska.

Who is your favorite couple in 2?

Tokyo and Rio in s1-2 (s3-4 are not canon imo, just extras)

What is your favorite episode of 1?

1x11, 2x10, 4x08

What is your favorite episode of 5?

Hmmm. 1x05? 2x06?

What is your favorite season of 2?

Season 1

How long have you watched 1?

I watched season 1, 2, and 3, in 3 days in May 2017 (I watched 4x06 - 4x10 live) and that was only the beginning

How did you become interested in 3?

I was bored on Netflix and accidentally clicked it (which was a good thing because I thought the trailer looked extra)

Who is your favorite actor in 4?

If not Fleabag, then Claire

Which do you prefer, 1, 2, or 5?

..... No

Which show have you seen more episodes of, 1 or 3?

I mean SKAM has 43 episodes and Dark has 18 (+8 coming to finish it off) so SKAM

If you could be anyone from 4, who would you be?

😬 Hopefully no one. Maybe Claire post s2, or Hot Priest?

Would a crossover between 3 and 4 work?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Fleabag travels through time or Winden sleeps around (though tbh that happens already)

Pair two characters in 1 who would make an unlikely but strangely okay couple?

I mean if I can’t have Chriseva... None of them are “unlikely” bc there are headcanons for everything. Noora x Eva? Noora x Jonas (bc of their “politics”)? Girl Chris & Mutta? idek

Overall, which show has the better storyline, 3 or 5?

Dark. It has a plan and everything feeds into something else. Peaky Blinders has just turned into the creator getting off on his own “brilliance.”

Which has better theme music, 2 or 4?

I feel like neither a very musical, but LCDP probably...

Tagging: @teamnick @soon--soon @hauntedfinnick @geetalkstv @lovedoestoo @inmyarmswrappedin @carlasmina and anyone else who wants to