#i so badly need to rewatch s5

[so-long-soldier28]

where did theo sleep when the dread doctors were still in town, and if he slept in the sewers, where did he put his truck??

[aingeal98]

Rewatching agents of shield and it's so funny how much May hypes up Coulson as the heart of shield and the leader they can all rally behind when in reality, when it comes to moving things along and making choices, she's the center of it all. Season 1 monitoring Coulson, Season 2 after real shield invaded and she got Coulson out, warned Daisy and was the bridge between Coulson and them. s5 when she broke the odium etc. The only exception is s7 where fitzsimmons are steering the ship and honestly fair because after everything May deserves a break. She talks a good game about following orders but she only follows when she respects and agrees with them. If she thinks something is bullshit she'll act on it. She's just careful about drawing that line.

It's so funny because she and Daisy can both wax poetical about all of Coulson's best traits and yet every time they're actually talking about traits they themselves posses, even if they'll never see it that way. Coulson is good at negotiating, good at being the man in the suit and committing to talks with potentially hostile groups that May has no interest in engaging with. But actually taking any decisive action that results from it? Weighing all the potential paths and deciding on the best option? They can both do that but more often than not it's going to be her. The one time Coulson hid things from her in s2, (even though as director that should be OK), the narrative, May and Coulson himself were all like yeah I fucked up badly with that. Sorry you should have known everything all along.

All the villains and agents alike are like ah yes Phil Coulson, what a hero, a leader they can all rally behind. Meanwhile Coulson knows the truth, which is that Daisy is the greatest hero to ever grace SHIELD and May is the one who, when everything goes to hell, you should trust to call the shots. Even if she'll never, ever want that directors seat because ew, the amount of talking involved.

(As a side note Daisy, being the superstar that she is, possesses traits that can make her a good fit for Coulson's type of leadership and also traits for May's type of leadership. She could be the Director, or she could be the commander in the field, leading through action rather than sitting in a chair. And in a way the conflict in s5 can be viewed as Coulson trying to push Daisy in one direction and May fighting against that because she's still young! She still has time to choose her path in life! Stop pushing her to follow your dream and let her choose her own!

Which is why I like to think at the end of s7 Daisy is the Director of SWORD, and a solid mix of both. Lots of strategy, negotiation and people management but also a solid mix of May's style, where if there's a problem to be solved she'll happily tackle it directly and with her own body in the firing line. Sousa's there to pick her back up if she needs it.)

[comma-souptra]

BBC Merlin 10th rewatch thoughts compilation:

(this is also my first full rewatch since I was literally 18 so prefrontal cortex is notably more developed or whatever)

This is SO long and rambled because it’s for me and putting my thoughts down on my blog! But feel free to peruse bc I am just crying sobbing putting words down. Thoughts under the cut for spoilers <3

-fuck this show fr

-starting off strong with Angel Coulby you are the most beautiful woman and the most perfect Guinevere possible

-something interesting is how much more the lack of communication drove me bonkers this time around, like please just explain everything in detail to each other we could solve so many problems

-Merlin also seems like so much more of an ill-moraled character this go around? Like he is truly so morally grey and his logic for “should I do this” is deeply just “does it in any potential way benefit Arthur/the fuckass prophecy”

-TO THE POINT THAT he’s literally like Magic’s #1 Hater for five straight seasons AND can’t see that he is actively making the prophecy unfold every single time

-Gwen/Morgana gfs my angels I’m so sorry this happened to you

-Morgana should have had a friend so badly like one friend (not Morgause) would have saved her

-same exact sentiment for Mordred

-Merlin/Arthur and Merlin/Gwaine literally no comments

-actually this show invented polyamory and throuples would have saved many of you

-ON THE TOPIC Lancelot so badly is both Arthur and Merlin’s queer awakening in my heart. I do think Merlin likely already knew (Will) but I think his relationship to Lancelot made queer relationships seem feasible in some form

-I do not think Arthur knew at all and that’s why he looks so damn confused every time he interacts with Lancelot

-Lancelot is around for SO much less than I ever remember too he really is just stepping in to be pretty and complicate the narrative and then leave again

-Arthur needs glasses so severely I fear because I can excuse a lot of the missing magic moments but I watched Merlin lock eyes with him and use magic during that S5 dice game you can’t explain that one away

-Gwaine my beloved! Proof that a fictional man can be both a butch lesbian to the women in his life and a pansexual man to everyone else

-Morgana and Morgause…. This script is fruity as hell can we be for real. Both actresses said “yeah we played it a little queer” I fear the BBC was not brave enough to give Morgana an evil fucked up gf and went the Kill la Kill route

-I think by Elyan’s death all the knights fully must know that the ambiguous secret Merlin seems to have is in fact his magic and they are just choosing not to say anything out of respect for him (“he’s tell us when he’s ready”)

-EXCEPT: Leon doesn’t know. I do however think Leon just thinks Merlin is gay.

-Gwaine absolutely knows there’s literally no way around that one

-Gwen I feel also had an inkling that Merlin had magic, which I feel is supported by her and Gaius’ conversation in S5E13, I do also think she thinks he’s gay

-I also do think Merlin is gay

-I forgot how much of a through-line the joke that Merlin crossdresses is, it comes up at least three times

-tangentially related, the early friendship between Morgana and Merlin… I mourn u every day! The friends they could’ve been and how happy he was when he thought she knew he had magic (S1? When she thinks he has a crush on Gwen)

-also I forgot how much angst Merlin had about magic towards Gaius, several (justified) comments about how Gaius doesn’t understand what he’s going through

-also so so interesting is that I feel like in so many Magic Revealed fics, we write Arthur responding with shock & confusion & anger (which all rock big fan), but in the finale, once he understands that Merlin is so for serious a sorcerer, he’s just so scared of him?? Which was crazy I don’t think that has sunk in before how scared he looks

-and then they start to get over it and we get the reminiscing about their fight from the first day they met where Merlin confesses to using magic and we get the devastating exchange “you cheated” “you looked like you were going to kill me!” “I should have”

-damn major nostalgia vibe killer from Arthur, DEVASTATING on this rewatch

-also S5E12 when Gwaine and Merlin and traveling through the valley of the fallen kings and get jumped by bandits and Merlin gets cornered and HOLLERS for Gwaine thank you BBC that one lives rent free in my head always

-fuck this dragon for real also because Merlin DOES kind of fail like none of the shit they planned for happened, they got pieces but so much more COULDVE worked out without this fuckass dragon whispering in Merlin’s ear every day Kilgharrah it’s on sight dude

-finally maybe the most sickening parallel I have to offer is S4E13 when Isolde is dying and she and Tristan are reminiscing on the plans they had that are obviously not going to happen anymore and she says “hold me”

-which obviously is striking a significant chord with Arthur as it spurs him to reconcile with Gwen (thank god everyone cheered)

-(also why was the full breadth of her enchantment never discussed back to miscommunication please she didn’t cheat on him like that justice for Gwen’s rep I’m sick)

-BUT ALSO! A season later in S5E13 we get Merlin and a dying Arthur with Merlin trying to explain that they have so much to do so Arthur can’t die, and Arthur says “just hold me”

-I will lose it every time about this one… watching half of a couple die and mourn the chance to live a life together and then mirroring that at your own death with the man you are unexplainably close and connected to

-also the “I’m going to say something I’ve never said to you before… thank you” had such a queer set up that even my parents thought it was going to be an “I love you” when we watched the show for the first time together in like 2014 so… it’s the Spanish supernatural finale dub in my heart

-I think that’s enough I’m just sick to my STOMACH over this show once again, obviously it’s a BBC show from 2009 so it’s not without criticism but it’s genuinely my favorite TV show I’ve ever seen without competition. There is a deeply clear allegory for queerness that has drawn in and continues to draw in queer fans constantly and keep the viewership active. I also just love so badly how campy and classic it is, it’s one of the few pieces of media I have in DVD because I fear so badly to lose it. BBC Merlin I love u what a brilliant and silly and devastating tv show from 2009

[mandy4ever69420]

elaborate on your last post?

i've actually been marinating on this more or less nonstop! like how to phrase it and stuff. i have, like, notes.

& part of this is i had some spoilers as to who mickey WAS before i watched the show because he was what was dangled in front of my face like a pie in a window to get me to watch shameless. but the thing about mickey is like every thing you learn about him CAN absolutely be traced to his behavior in s1. mickey's one of the most consistently and unrelentingly himself characters in the show (the other is debbie). everyone else has like personality crises.

you can fit a shitload of development into someone like mickey being aggressively himself the whole time because he has every reason to be afraid of the consequences of his personality w/out actually being insecure or not knowing himself. so we as the viewer get to know him w/out any of the information being startling in any way from the jumpoff of s1. it's insane that i'm pretty sure he was meant to only exist in season one i just know he'd be haunting some psyches.

he like never apologizes for his personality. which is i think easy to attribute to "confidence" as a sort of nebulous concept but i think he's just kind of a realist. everything he hides has a very straightforward reason behind it and when the reason disappears so does his hesitance to just be that. & i think a lot of what reads as confidence comes from disinterest in other people's opinions & a pretty intense pragmatism and get-shit-done-ism. mickey kind of sorts people into "who gives a fuck" or "useful" & eventually he expands his "people who matter" category enough that even people he doesnt gaf about in the main cast he at least doesn't want to piss them off.

another thing about this is i've seen sometimes people who over-relate (very understandably) to mickey sort of take very seriously how much he must've been hurt in end of s5, end of s7. which is. i mean i will be honest i KNEW it was coming and watching love songs in the key of gallagher RUINED MY WEEK. which is a good thing. because i am out of my mind. but i think sticking on "well, ian should've been more sorry, or said something nicer later" out of feeling bad for mickey misses a little the point where what i really see in mickey is a "it hurt. obviously. extremely badly. fucking anyway" sort of angle.

this ^ isn't something i know how to explain very well. there's kind of a difference between going "well that was horrifying and i need to throw the fuck up" and moving on, and the sort of therapy-speak adjacent urge to linger over how everyone should be looking at their feelings about it. not mickey's language IMO. so mickey's pretty in tune with what's going on in ian's head so when ian hurts his feelings on purpose he's like mad that it worked, you stupid jackass. and then ian's guilt is sitting right there and he's like well you were so mean but it's more important to me that i can be around you than that my feewings are made much of. mickey's pretty steadily uncomfortable with touchy-feely validation or anything. this interpretation is also a me thing. obviously everyone's reads are going to be informed by their life experience but this is what makes sense to me.

1 of the biggest things i've noticed rewatching is how FAST plotlines start moving when mickey decides he's getting something done. which is interesting because he's also one of the least ambitious characters in the show.

mandy and ian both really believe they can get something nicer and safer and better (&fancier) out of life. mandy has the strongest drive out of them to grab something nice for herself (like.. even vicariously through lip, she's always trying) mickey is kind of right that it's not realistic for everyone to get something better than where they grew up. it's depressing as fuck to be resigned to but especially with a criminal record it's pretty predictable under capitalism that you would just get stuck. these things happen to people

it's very sweet to me that ian keeps dragging mickey along to like nice places and optimism while mickey is like be so for fucking real. weird enough this is the most mickey has in common with lip - the "steal it or scam it" observation that lip makes, but mickey is chill with breaking more serious laws and being arrested for it. & lip also doesn't go for ambition the same way other people in the show do because he has noticed these patterns. he aims for a nebulous "more" jump up in the class system ONCE specifically because of mandy.

fiona is the opposite to all this ^ naturally. in the way that her ambition keeps coming back to bite her way harder than anyone else, because she gets caught up in her ideas of how to expand and do better and bigger really fast. funny enough both lip's "well it has to be a scam and you can't ever actually get anywhere" and fiona's "i bet if i just played my cards right i could make a million bucks rn" philosophies are frank traits.

BUT ANYWAY i also really like how mickey's pragmatism sort of lands him to being a very romantic person. because once he has reason to care more about someone else he decides to put all his eggs in that fucking basket. contrast -> ian is A Romantic. he wants to believe in like a soulmate and he pretty obsessively pursues validation through means of romance. m/while mickey never plans to be in a relationship and commits really hard when he decides that that's where he's going.

which comes to mickey's impressive skills at reading people. when he's not just completely disinterested, he can predict people really well. which is obviously like a survival technique but is also the only explanation of why he'd come back twice after getting written out. maybe it wasn't supposed to be the way his character played out but it can be traced back to s1 with the information we have and is the only way that his actions make sense.

& in like. the completely fucking insane way that mickey is as gentle as he is. you even see the intent here in his introduction. sure, he's showing up in a violent way to enact revenge. which being into prison abolition i don't necessarily agree with. but it's sweet! like, i know the revenge mob is kind of a THING but with everything that he does following it also seems very personal. so he shows up and the first thing he really wants is someone to look after. ian gallagher you may not believe you need a fucking caretaker but you literally snatched up the single person most desperate for someone to take care of

-> wrt gentleness also: i cant get over how fucking bonkers it is to be a violent teenager having a Massive mental breakdown and that mickey refuses to start the physical side of the "you love me and you're gay" confrontation. not a hand until ian shoves him multiple times. even though ian showed up explicitly as an attempt at using mickey to punish himself for something he really thought was his fault! what the fuck!!

um but anyway with mickey's fucking anger going on also i was personally very touched by him as a fantastic way to represent irritability and anger as an anxiety response. because anger is really fucking like that. again, visible from his intro to the end. ya habibi...

[yunmaobao]

bea… u have such good taste/pos

i agree, i feel like everyone ships polyninja :3 and honestly? as they should! they’re the couple of all time

i also was a jaya shipper so i’m happy im not alone :3 but i also shipped cole/jay a lot bc of their rivals to friends to rivals again dynamic :3 their relationship is fun

could u tell me more about cole and kai? like. why do u ship them? i’d love to hear ur reasoning behind it bc im ngl im not much of a shipper (i can be convinced though)

i forgot who skylar is but ur so real for that

i’m gonna be completely fr i only ship cole and kai because i ship jay/nya and zane/pixal as well, and they’re left over so i ship them with each other 😭

i think cole and kai would have a very relaxed relationship. kai’s pretty uptight but cole’s chill and i think they’d balance each other out. i also remember from s5 when cole was all down about being turned into a ghost, kai was immediately so supportive and reassuring. that’s just kai’s nature to be protective and uplifting towards his family, but i think it’s cute for lavashipping.

also i think for a guy who’s spent his whole life protecting others (nya, lloyd, all of ninjago), having someone who is strong and can protect him would be nice. kai could let his walls down for once with cole. and i need kai to be happy badly.

take this all with a grain of salt lmao i haven’t refreshed my memory with the earlier seasons, i’ve only rewatched s5 💀

[lemissingmask]

Starting a Leverage rewatch, beginning with Redemption (because I prefer original so it has to be watched after)...but some early musings on Redemption s1 happy-making things

Parker and Eliot casually occupying each other's personal space, like in original

Hardison's speech about Eliot risking his life to save loads of people, including what he says when he gets up every morning

The fact Hardison and Eliot installed vents for Parker

Hardison's expression when Eliot's fighting the RIZ guys in the warehouse, like he's listening intently to try and figure out whether or not Eliot's in danger or if he's winning the fight - they've learned to hear when a fight is going badly and their hitter might need help

The OT3 live together (obviously and probably have been since at least s5, with or without it being a formal arrangement)

Parker pushing Eliot against a wall - needs to happen more often e.g. Eliot risks himself too much and gets a 'your life does matter!' speech, they're planning a surprise for Hardison and Hardison walks in so she pushes him into a closet and shushes him urgently...

I'll end these musings there because that final thought is running away with me

[livingfandomly]

Before I jump back into the show I need to get a few things off my chest…

1. I thought that getting to know about Dean’s Hell situation didn’t have much of an impact on me. I was wrong. I’ve had this full ache in my chest the whole day and I randomly find myself thinking about him and just feeling so aggressively sad… I still don’t think I’ve processed the whole thing fully.

2. Sam is now this exceptionally hot, back rippling with muscles kinda man that I never saw before. Also, watching that moment as a Gilmore Girls fan is so out of pocket because that’s supposed to be the same puppy Dean from S1???? Nah, that’s a lie. Jared really transformed into a whole other animal for me you guys, and it’s exceptionally unhealthy how badly I wanna go and rewatch that scene to death…. Sigh….

3. I’ve been humming What Was I Made For? all the damn day and associating Dean to it… it’s been fun.

4. First off, I love supernatural. However, given that I’m on S4 now, I have noticed something... the writers/creators/producers of the show just don’t know how to create well written female characters. At all. Not a single female character has anything to her personality other than being a cardboard cutout of a stereotype. Further, they don’t last long in the show. And I get it, it’s about the brothers which is why I’m not calling it a “complaint”. It’s just something I’ve noticed is all.

5. I need to know more about Mary. A lot more. I’m in love with her. SNS.

6. Bobby is the best dad ever. He deserves the world and if anything ever happens to him, I will actually sob the world into a tsunami.

K. That’s it’s. I will do a recap of various categories and subcategories of my thoughts and emotions about the first 5 seasons once I finish S5. Back to the emotional torture now 🖤

[prettyplumb]

(camp camp spoilers ig) the new episode dug up my cc hyperfixation so badly i feel crazy like ive been rewatching all the episodes and consuming every morsel of content i can and it is simply. not enough to satiate me i am so excited for s5 it is. unfathomable but at the same time i have so many fears like. i need gwen for psychological reasons LIKE.. shes my girl i need her back so bad if shes not in s5 i truly won’t make it.. and its like. the new episode felt so FINAL and its like. if s5 is following this then what will s5 consist of.. and what happens after s5?!?? realistically by the time it comes out i will be normal maybe but i am already feeling anxious about it ending 😭😭😭 LIKE I NEED. 6 SEASONS AND A MOVIE PLEASEE

[my-mt-heart]

@coppermarigolds said Daryl is checking out Carol's ass in that .gif posted by @mcbride, and you know...it does look like it. XD Do you remember that scene from like...Idk...season 5 or whatever....where Carol was playing housewife to scope out Alexandria? She was outside with Rick and Daryl talking about weapons. Daryl was watching her...licking his lips...like she was a 5 course meal. This is why Caryl needs to be canon. That man...that woman...they want each other so badly it hurts.

Which gif was that? Sounds like I need to rewatch that scene from S5 too, but yes after 10 years or however long it's been, I'd say they're pretty wound up with sexual tension. It's about time they relieve it.

[kurokoros]

I wish ST would have more episodes so that the plot wouldn't be that crammed and we could focus more on characters. I also need the writing to be more consistent. It sometimes appears they write a new season without rewatching their old ones.

Eddie still sucks and Jonathan should have been the Eddie in s4. Thematically, it would have made more sense, and it would avoid the constant criticism of the cast being too loaded.

I hate how they damaged the Steve and Dustin dynamic for Eddie.

The Russian plotline killed the show, I would have preferred it they would explore more the evil American government as the main villain, or at least let Hopper stay dead in s4.

Steve will probably get only reduced to a love interest in s5, and I don't like it. I also don't want him and Jonathan to become besties because it's gonna be another "oh Steve has changed" storyline. I wish, in general, the older teens wouldn't be so friendly with each other. I need more drama after everything.

The s2 Jancy plot was stupid because it was way too easy. I wish their plot had affected the other groups, like sending out agents as a threat. It would have raised the stakes even higher.

Nancy is still a badly written character, with potential if the show wouldn't try so much to make her appear perfect. Characters aren't allowed to be bad at her, and the narrative is always on her side. Thus, I don't get the whole Nancy has so much character growth spiel, when she honestly is the same since end of s1. This is also why I don't get st//ncy, Steve has changed and might be better for her than Jonathan, but Nancy stayed abd same and honestly she wouldn't even have to work for it because Steve available. She could go for it, it's like s2 reversed.

On that note, I don't like st//ncy shippers because they only make this about Nancy and put Steve as other option. (In general, all of Nancy's ships are about her. It's never asked what she can do for her partners)

When it comes to the fandom and fic writers. I don't like that everything is smut now because that's the only thing that gets notes. It feels like there are no more genuine stories because of that. It's a cycle because smut gets numbers, which leads to an overflow, which makes it harder for other stories. Also, it's sad that the fandom is dead/dying after not even 2 years. After s5, nobody will remember the show.

They should have recasted Noah and let Brett Gellmann go. It's only gonna hurt their show. And the way they treated Eduardo was disgusting as well.

I think that's all for now lol.

S1 was honestly perfect in terms of length, but that's because the plot was so contained. Twelve-year-old boy goes missing and every other characters' plot, aside from Nancy's, is directly tied to this event. There was plenty of room to explore Joyce's frazzled state and Hopper's grief over losing his daughter and how that drives him now. Steve got scenes exploring him as a person. The characters were all allowed to interact with others outside of their designated grouping for the season. By S3 and S4 the plots are just so congested. Every group is off doing their own thing and the plots don't connect back together seamlessly like S1, and even S2.

Eddie as a character is still frustrating to me and I don't understand why he was shoved into a Steve-shaped-hole in Dustin's life that didn't need to be filled since Steve was right there.

As someone who grew up in a small town, the secret Russian base under the mall plot actually makes me want to scream. I knew the Duffer brothers were city kids, but man they didn't even try. I'm not opposed to a Russian presence, but like... make it a smaller task force or something, jesus.

I don't want to think about what the Duffers will do to Steve, but I would honestly rather see him die as a hero than get back together with Nancy. It does nothing for either of them as characters. I'm convinced that before S4 neither of them had spoken since early November 1984, so like ~1.5 years ago.

Personally, I don't mind smut fics, but I actually prefer to read fics with plots (with the smut sprinkled in, as a treat), so the lack of any decent long-fics kills me inside.

I'm not going to speak much on the casting. Recasting Noah probably just wasn't possible considering the contracts in place, plus I'm genuinely willing to give him the benefit of the doubt in terms of learning and growing as a person since he's 19. I also believe that cancel culture is, 99% of the time, incredibly stupid because people need to be allowed to fuck up, learn from that fuck up, and better themselves as a person. So long as those fuck ups aren't a regular, repeated thing, of course. Brett Gelmann should have been let go because I think Murray is a useless character who adds nothing. I'm not upset about Eduardo not being brought back for that same reason, though I do think it was a weird choice and he should have been informed about it.

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newseltter, Thursday, September 21

Anya: I think we shouldn't've brought Buffy back. I knew it was going to end badly. I should've said something. Xander: Okay, fine, but ... what are we gonna do? I mean, I'm feeling the need for some vigorous doing, you know? Willow: It's okay. We, we just k*ll the beastie and then all is good. We're rolling in puppies! ... Right?

~~After Life~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

scraped off my knees, i drink the honey (Buffy/Spike, E) by evesock

Overflowing (Anya/Cordelia, G) by underfallingstars

Finding Amy Part 2 (Ensemble, T) by AJ Fields

Du Passé au Présent (French language, T) by guepard54

Night Swimming (Buffy/Spike, R) by Geliot99

[Chaptered Fiction]

The Day I'll Never Remember, And Those That Followed, Chapter 2 (Jenny Calendar, G) by Jess_Ann_Perreault

Deep Dark Sky, Chapter 8 (Dawn/Connor, T) by Cornerofmadness

Plenty of Fish, Chapter 6 (Buffy/Spike, PG) by all-choseny

New Normal, Chapter 9 (Buffy/Spike, AO) by holetoledo

Because I could not stop death, Chapter 16 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Desicat

From Hell with Love, Chapter 27 (Buffy/Spike, R) by temporarytitle

Chocolate and Emeralds, Chapter 6 (Multiple crossings, FR15) by acs

The Wolf Who Sees, Chapter 3 (Multiple crossings, FR15) by calikocat

The Guardians of Magic, Chapter 13 (Multiple crossings, FR13) by MarcusSLazarus

The Art of Dying, Chapter 31 (Buffy/Spike, R) by disco-tea

What the Drabble?, Chapter 6 (Buffy/Spike, R) by VeroNyxK84

Give Up the Ghost, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Chelle, Megan and sandy_s

[Images, Audio & Video]

Icons: 15 BtVS (Season 6, Episode 1) Icons by debris4spike

Artwork:Keep Your Enemies Closer by disco-tea

Video: The Guys of the beholder Play Buffy by Guys of the Beholder

Video: Buffy edit || Where’s your head at? || Buffy the Vampire Slayer edit by Torch

[Reviews & Recaps]

No-Good Blood-Sucker | Buffy the Vampire Slayer 5x1 "Buffy vs Dracula" | The Normies Group Reaction! by The Normies

Dark willow is in the house..Buffy The Vampire Slayer S06E20 'Villains''♡Reaction & Review♡ by SoFieReacts

*BEST EPISODE!!!* Buffy the Vampire Slayer S5 Ep 7 "Fool for Love" Reaction: FIRST TIME WATCHING by Nick Reacts

Listening to Fear: Buffy the Vampire Slayer 5x09 Reaction by Dakara

"I Only Have Eyes For You" & "Go Fish" (2x19-2x20) | BTVS REACTION by cass reacts

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Reaction [ 3X1 ] "Anne" ( Buffy Reaction / Review ) by Java Java Reactions

Buffy the Vampire Slayer 1x8 "I, Robot...You, Jane" Reaction by Justalowly Channel

Let's Rewatch Buffy! Season 1, Episode 2 by Jenny Trout

Once more with feeling-5x13 Blood Ties(Buffy the Vampire Slayer) by Nerd Subculture Podcast

[Fandom Discussions]

[Xander's lack of character growth] by chronicpcssimist

[Riley wasn't so bad] by dgcatanisiri

Is Willow worse than Faith? by fauxindigo

Cordelia the Vampire Slayer by multiple authors

What’s a moment or plot in Buffy that affects you differently as you’ve gotten older? by multiple authors

The Witch (S1 E3) is such a fantastic episode by multiple authors

At the time it first aired, did people see the whole Willow ending up being the s6 big bad thing coming? Or was it a cool plottwist? by multiple authors

Deaths in Season 5 by multiple authors

What is something a character in Buffy did that you wouldn't be able to forgive? by multiple authors

I've never understood the Cangel ship ... by multiple authors

Amy Acker, Fred, Illyria and Root (Angel and POI spoilers). by multiple authors

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[steponmedean]

WARNING!! SPOILERS [SUPERNATURAL & THE BOYS]

So, I'm rewatching SPN and I recently finished The Boys and Kripke has a thing for Daddy Issues and older brother taking the beating so little brother doesn't have to.

In The Boys, there's a scene of Butcher's past where it shows how he used to tell he's little brother to hide and Butcher took the punches. (I'm not sure how it happens in the comic, but if it was Kripke's or not, he still showed the idea in the series)

In SPN is never really explicitly said, but there's one in s5 e16 where Dean seems to leave it implicit that John got agressive in the past. In this episodes they're in heaven and Sam has a memory of when he ran away from John and Dean. His heaven takes him to his alone time with his dog.

Dean says: "You ran away on my watch, I thought you were dead. And when dad came home..."

And now that I am rewatching it, I came across this little chat in s1 e14, where Sam and Dean are talking about the kid with psychic powers who was abused by his father and uncle, both used to hit him a lot.

So Sam says they're lucky that kinda thing didn't happen to them, but Dean's reaction reveals otherwise.

[Sorry, I recorded this one myself just now, I can't find it in good quality on YT or somewhere to take it from 😭]

[I usually prefer english subtitles cuz it helps with the practice and I kinda have crappy hearing, but the DVD's weren't considered enough to have english subtitles]

Look at Dean's reaction! Does it look like he thinks they were lucky to have John?

Early seasons Dean Winchester was much of a John aplogist, but doesn't mean he didn't suffer. He blames himself for everything, usually small children blame themselves when their parents treat them badly instead of blaming the ones inflicting pain, lack of love or neglect.

So, yeah, I hate John and I always did thought he mistreated Dean physically, and I'm pretty sure there's more posts about this, but I needed to get it out.

And the co-relation to The Boys is cuz Kripke probably had the intention to put that in like it was shown in The Boys scene, but for some reason never explicitly did.

[measuringbliss]

Glee Rewatch 1x18, Chris Colfer is a great actor

Brittany is absolutely entranced by my rewatch.

(Confused? Check this post!)

Rachel trying to sing "The Climb" is absolutely hilarious and props to Lea Michelle for succeeding in badly singing it.

Kurt masquerading as macho is comedic but also quite interesting on Chris Colfer's part because it's a side he never displays again (or maybe in Props?) and shows he absolutely can play something else than Kurt. I feel like his singing is trying to emulate Finn, which, understandable. The good ol' "do I want to be him or to be with him".

Finn and Brittany are the only ones delighted by the performance, Brittany because she supports everyone, and Finn because...

Well, I guess we can interpret this in various ways.

"he's cute" just before "oh no he's cute" (flash-forward to five years later: Finn's brandishing a bisexual flag at Pride as Blaine and Kurt kiss him on each cheek just as Sue Sylvester announces that she married Olivia Newton-John)

"i knew he could do it" meaning "be masculine" meaning Finn needs to read a book or two about feminism

"i have no idea what's going on but Kurt's having fun and that's nice :)"

I'm very fond of my "Finn is bi but only understands it after highschool because It's A Lot" headcanon but I know I'm in the minority.

Anyway I completely forgot that Kurt and Brittany snog in this episode, so I shouldn't be surprised that later in the show we see Blaine and Brittany in bed together (with more chemistry than Klaine but that's another debate). It's just Brittany Things.

Completely forgot about Sean!

If the last episode annoyed me with its suspenseful audio cue, this one annoyed me for its excessive use of the "todododododoooo" cue (there's notably a scene at the beginning where you hear it every two second like PLEASE WE GET IT).

Nice outfit!

You know, I thought that saying that "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" was one of Finn's favorite songs in S5 came out of nowhere, but he does sing a U2 song here so. uh. congrats for vague continuity, I guess?

[attempted--eloquence]

do you think liam is an anchor for theo being good? just to preface i’d like to say i understand why people hate when people say theo (or any characters) sole motivation to change or to do anything is love for another character but i was rewatching s6 and while i believe theo changed because he wanted to do the right thing and become good, there was other influence there. for some reason, liam brings him back (bc idc he’s reasoning for bringing theo back and refusing to send him back doesnt 1/

make sense especially when you consider how theo doesn’t have any powers and his overall usefulness is fairly limited and seems like stuff they could’ve figured out on their own plus liam seems genuinely upset when he says “scott was right, i was wrong” when he thinks theo went evil again) he is somewhat coerced in doing the right thing by liam. i think he quickly figures out liam is his safety here (grabbing malias wrist to keep her from killing him, refusing to send him back, “liam’s the (2/

one with the sword”) so he naturally sticks with him. all of the good he does in s6 is for the direct benefit of the pack or to help/protect liam (who, by the time he stops liam from killing gabe, seems to be mutually anchors with) and it seems his motivation in this season is similar to his motivation in s5 but instead of looking for a way into the pack through power he’s looking for a way in through acceptance with the end goal being the same: he wants to be loved. he even tells mason (3/

“maybe i want to be in the pack” which seems like something weird for him to say since usually he’s very clear in what he says and wants but adding maybe seems like he’s testing the waters and when mason angrily rebuffs him he looks genuinely upset and ashamed (and then again when he can’t take masons pain). which brings us back to liam. i may be wrong but that’s one of the last interactions theo has with any other member of the pack with the exception of liam and again he’s drawn to helping (4/

him. when scott calls theo for help, he specified that “liam and the others” need help and theo is seen racing off and then immediately zeroing in on liam (who would’ve been the least vulnerable given he was the only one at the hospital with supernatural strength) and stays to fight with him after liam suggests they fight together). the only action i can think of where theo does something good that isn’t to the benefit of the pack is when he takes gabe’s pain. he’s redemption arc comepletes (5/

here because it’s the first completely unnecessary act of good that he does and one that proves he cares about others. but the thing is he seems like his main motivation for whatever he does in the future would be loyalty and love. assuming theo gets accepted into the pack in the future (scott calls him an ally in the finale and just assuming he has a relationship with liam too that makes him eventually a part of the pack) his care he showed in s6 to the needs of the pack would only increase (6/

so his tie to doing the right thing would be dependent on them. like i always feel that if he were to be accepted into the pack he’d have to follow the no murder rule but if something happened to liam it would be enough for him to become an anti hero or villain in his revenge. idk it just seems to me that his interest in doing the right thing might largely be dependent on the interests and needs of the people he loves (7/7)

I always have a hard time answering these because I feel like there are soooo many ways to interpret Theo and his motivations in s6. My short answer would be a tentative no, I don’t think Liam acts as an anchor for Theo’s goodness, but mainly because I don’t think Theo needs a person to help him fall in line with some benevolent sense of morality, if that makes sense? But stay with me!! I might have a point somewhere in here 😅

This is probably gonna be so incoherent buttttt I think that it’s important to consider how doing things “for the direct good of the pack/Liam” may have also been beneficial to Theo himself (especially right when Liam brought him back). Not to say I think Theo is only ever driven by self-interest, but I just think Theo wanted to be as far away as possible from the Skinwalkers Prison and that could’ve a primary motivator for his actions when he was first brought back because his compliance = survival (which. Fucking oof. Very Dread Doctors reminiscent :/) But obviously things get shaken up once the sword is broken.

I feel like I always ramble about this but I dunno I just think there’s so much instability and aimlessness in Theo’s life in s6. And time to think. About, like, everything. I think the idea of Theo “changing” after the Skinwalkers Prison is something that’s really difficult to assign moral weight to because 1.) he went through a personalized torture loop for months on end and 2.) the Dread Doctors are gone. His actions look different because his life is completely different, you know??

Regarding the scene where Scott asks Theo to go help at the hospital that you mentioned, the way Theo zooms over there. Prior to that, as far as we can tell, Theo’s just, like. Sitting there in his truck. Same with the spider scene? He’s just sitting in his truck. We get a whole montage of Theo being asked to move by cops while sleeping in his truck, and it has always made me wonder just how much of his life has been compressed to this one tiny space? Like s5 Theo is a fucking busybody. It’s like he’s everywhere, keeping tabs on everyone all the time. But the interior of truck, just. That’s not a lot of room to just sit alone with your own thoughts and memories and shit. I totally believe that Theo wanted to help. But I also believe that Theo wanted (needed?) something to do. Liam, for a lot of s6, is his “something to do.” (In a completely unsexy non-euphemism way lmao).

That isn’t to minimize Theo and Liam’s relationship in s6 though! Absolutely think that Theo had a respect and appreciation for Liam that went beyond “this guy brought me back guess I’m indebted to him now.” And I think that respect was gradually reciprocated by Liam. And when the two of them aren’t arguing, there’s this weird air of normalcy between them?? Almost like if they didn’t always have to fight for their fucking lives every time they were together, they could have fun? I could totally be wrong but I feel like the only other scenes of Theo having these goofy, low-stakes moments (like the fucking ghost riders key finding scene or the car scene post-zoo w/ Liam) are s5 when he’s like, manipulating his ass off trying to ingratiate himself with the pack (like the Malia driving lessons and whatnot). I think that Liam offers him normalcy more than a motivation to be good.

[chirpsythismorning]

Rewatching s1 and… just being full serious for a second, I used to ship milkvan, like I thought I loved them in s1-2. Then when s3 happened I sorta lost interest. And in between the long hiatus between s3-4, I discovered the theories about the ending of s3 and byler and started to watch the show differently. Since then it’s just been a transition from thinking Mike and El were cute romantically, to being indifferent about it, and to just being sort of off put by it entirely by this point. Especially after all the analysis about Mike and him seeing her as a superhero with what we got in s4 in canon, it’s sort of ruined their dynamic for me.

If you guys thought the parallels between Brenner and Mike in s4 were bad, holy shit it somehow manages to be worse in s1.

There were literal scenes of Brenner forcing El to find someone for him, followed scenes of Mike, Dustin and Lucas basically doing the exact same thing to find Will.

Don’t get me wrong. I do think Mike did genuinely care for her as a person who was vulnerable and needed someone to protect her, because she was literally in danger.

But when she started lying to them about leading them to the gate, and hearing Lucas’ comment about how she was only doing what they asked because she needed a roof over her head, etc., technically, that wasn’t far off…

She doesn’t know Will, therefore she has no obligation to keep hurting herself in order to please Mike and prove herself worthy to Lucas and Dustin, by finding Will, just so that she can stay.

Do I think that makes them or her inherently bad? No. I just think that there was an obvious miscommunication here, where El wanted to be cared for, and to have someone to depend on, and she thought that in exchange she had to do these things to get it, ie. Find Will.

I don’t think Mike genuinely even felt like her only value was finding Will, but the circumstances were pretty bizarre. His best friend goes missing only for Superman to land on his doorstep and say that he’s alive. While it might not be his intention to use her, he is giving that impression and that’s undeniable watching s1.

What makes her sacrifice so sad at the end of the season, is that Mike had just gotten to a point where he was starting to see her as a person and not just a girl with superpowers. And right at that moment, she sacrifices herself to save them. A selfless act of the many she’s been doing all season. And now Mike feels awful. Because he’s realized that he used her for his benefit, to find Will. And at that point, they didn’t even find Will yet. So at the moment, her sacrifice was for nothing.

Whenever she wasn’t successful, he lashed out and pushed her away. And yet in the end she practically killed herself for him and his friends. I feel like if Mike had empathy and regretted his behavior, then his literal reaction in the end, to her ‘death’, does make sense and fits pretty well with someone experiencing survivors guilt.

Because although he’s got his best friend back, and that’s what he’s most focused on, he’s simultaneously feeling this immense sense of wrong doing on his part. He feels indebted to her now, in the same way she may have felt indebted to him for helping her and putting himself in danger to do so.

So I think s4 is just a part of this cycle, of Mike not understanding that he’s wronging her until its said and done.

So, more than anything tbh, I just want her soooooo badly to lash out at him in s5… and not in a dramatic way, but in a necessary way that I feel like is required for them to go from romantic to platonic without any bitterness.

I remember reading someone say that they hoped that we got a scene that paralleled Mike to El in season 1, when he said “You hurt me. Do you understand? What you did sucks!” And I don’t need or expect it to be word for word exactly like that, but something along those lines. Where as soon as El starts speaking and telling Mike how she truly feels, about their relationship and everything that they’ve been through, no bullshit, I just know as soon as it gets real, as soon as she calls out his idolization of her and his obsession with her powers, and how she hates that and she’s been through that enough, I honestly think it’s gonna click for Mike and he’s gonna listen and accept it and take responsibility for not being fully honest with her.

I am a byler truther forever atp, but it’s also really important to me that Mike and El end things in a way that feels true to what they both deserve out of it, in terms of closure. Especially El!

Which means that they’re both honest about everything from the beginning. And I think once we get that (if we hopefully get that), it’s going to give the audience closure too.

[woadisme]

st5 theory: el finds vecna in will’s mind!

This is a theory for how El will enter Will’s mind to find Vecna at the beginning of st5, and how that might play out with Will’s powers getting revealed. I’m not sure if it will make total sense but hopefully enough sense for other people to weigh in!

Recently I’ve seen some videos (from @_stfaves on tiktok go check it out fr!!) about how they have already filmed part of s5 in which Will gets cursed. The highlights from those videos is that Noah was filming in his finale outfit at Rink-O-Mania, Lonnie’s actor was at s4 table reads, and ofc the infamous picture Noah posted wearing a harness with his finale outfit. This points to him getting cursed and reliving the events at Rink-O-Mania and the abuse from his father, before the time jump. In fact, it would have to occur on the same day that the Cali gang returns to Hawkins, because of his attire.

However, when we left off in s4, Vecna’s base of operations was pretty badly destroyed, he was badly burned, and Will said that he was “hurting.” Basically, Vecna is wounded and the place from which he attacks is unusable. Plus, he wouldn’t have any apparent reason to curse Will like that, since the purpose of cursing the other victims was to open gates. Or, at least, it doesn’t seem as though he will strike again just 2 days later, while he is wounded.

Now that our team knows that Vecna is still around but he is badly hurt, I think that they will want to strike back as soon as possible, to prevent Vecna from rebounding at all. That is when Will or El proposes that she looks for the piece of the Mindflayer/Vecna that is in Will. We have already seen El do this with Billy in s3. (Bonus if we get protective Mike again, this time not wanting to put Will in danger, plus worried that Vecna will be able to find them like Billy did.)

So I imagine that El’s search in Will’s mind plays out very similarly to what we saw with Billy. I was rewatching that episode recently, and it really reminded me of what we know of Vecna’s mind from s4. I couldn’t find screenshots of when he was skimming through various people’s trauma before Patrick gets a nosebleed, so just look at the scene with Max compared Billy’s mind.

It’s the red and the darkness and the smoke and the lightning… Plus, now we know the reason that El had to encounter these moments of trauma for Billy. That is where Vecna thrives, how he targets his victims. Max says herself that he uses people’s memories against them, but only their darkest ones. She says, “It’s like he only sees the darkness in us.” So, as El goes to find him in Will, it makes sense for her to witness some of his past trauma, likely from his dad.

However, this does not explain Will’s finale outfit at Rink-O-Mania. This is where my theory might get a little bit sloppy but hear me out. Will gets Vecna’d from within his own mind. This will take a lot of exposition to explain.

This relies on the assumption that Will has had powers from the beginning. I think they must have occurred spontaneously, or however 001’s happened. That is, his powers didn’t come from 001 like El’s did. He is special, but his powers (if he has them) are obviously dormant. There were some weird things going on in s1 during his time in the Upside Down, but it’s not clear what his powers actually are. I think that Vecna knows, or has suspicions, so he formed an incredibly strong psychic connection with Will when he took him and kept him in the Upside Down. I think his goal with the Mindflayer was to control Will without killing him. Vecna says that all of his victims are still in his mind, but he wanted El’s power externally. He wanted her to join him, so he probably needs her strength. If he could get that from Will without having to convince him, by simply taking over his mind, that would be ideal. And, although the Mindflayer was exorcized at the end of s2, Will still shares a psychic connection with Vecna.

Thus, the manifestation of Vecna in his mind, I assume, will be a bit different. It doesn’t have a hold on Will’s behavior, but I think it could be actively suppressing his powers. When El finds it, she will see the red smoke, the traumatic memories, but the eye of the storm will not be a location, like Brimborn Steelworks in Billy’s mind. I’m not sure what it would be exactly, but I think it is a perfect opportunity to draw another parallel with this scene!

The key of this part is that El’s interaction with the Demogorgon was the catalyst for the gate opening. So I think that El interacting with whatever exists inside Will will be a catalyst for Will having his Vecna moment. Suddenly he is thrust into his own worst memories, rises from the ground like Max did, is literally suffocated by his own trauma until something breaks. Not his bones, but whatever is suppressing his powers. Remember that focusing on a memory that makes someone angry and sad is what strengthened the power and control of 001 and El? I think that Will’s powers are tangled up in all that mess and El disturbing that releases Will’s powers. Just like her disturbing the Demogorgon created a path between the Upside Down and Hawkins.