#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??

[thissugarcane]

Hey! Just wanted to know if you have any fic rec for Britin?? I have just rewatched the whole thing after 15 years and I need some more content 🙏☀️

So @winderlylandchime just answered this as well, which is great because they have an ao3 collection and I just have my sieve-brain's recollection of "fic that punched me in the face". that collection is here: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/ajqaf

I'll try to list a few more, off my own vague memory, that aren't in AJ's collection and that maybe are hidden gems? maybe not. (okay, this got long so I'll cut it.) If you're looking for something more specific, lmk and I can dig for that particular Type Of Fic. uh. not that I've read every fic.

Unfold Me by mornmeril - this is a great s5 canon divergence where, when Justin walks away, brian goes "wait. jesus fuck no." it's a very in character brian pov imo, which always impresses me cause I couldn't write it. It's so hard to read Brian so unhappy, but it has a happy ending.

Anything by Techgirl, but especially Creating a Family: a season 1 AU that from the get-go changes things (Lindsay passes away in childbirth so Mel and Brian have to step up). Techgirl is very good at showing, not telling? If that makes sense. They've done a bunch of just-off-canon AUs that are super satisfying.

The Things I Cannot Change by suzvoy - there's a reason this is on the first page of any qaf 'sort by kudos'. it's a canon divergent s1 fic which is basically "what if Justin confronted Brian about his unadressed alcoholism?" And, jeez, in true Taylor fashion, he doesn't shy away from what needs to be done. (That happens very quickly, then the inevitable brian rage happens, then, things get better.) Justin is so perfectly Justin - determined, confident, bitchy. Brian is so perfectly Brian - closed off, afraid, blustery arroagnce. And yet they're good together. Epically long and covers most of the season, including prom and beyond it.

Playing it cool by FrenchMarshmallow - this is another s1 AU where Justin is still Justin, but due to circumstances has gone through a bit more and so has already done a bit of growing up before meeting Brian. Sweet, and very kind to the growth they've both done (and have yet to do).

The True Comeback Kid by Anny (CupcakeGirlA) - this one is pain, so delicious but so good. Happy (or happy to hopeful) ending though. Post s5, Justin cuts off contact with no explanation, and then sees Brian at Christmas and has to explain why. Brian is so good and so loving but so him. The tags tell you what's going on.

Fatherhood by PrettyTheWorld, TrueIllusion - a series about Brian and Justin, living in New York, parenting teenage Gus. their relationship is solid, it's about them being friends and support to Gus, as well as settling into being a blended family successfully. It's quite domestic but not in a way that ever felt to saccharine for them? And Brian is a dad without being.. he doesn't pretend he's a full time parent, he's just. There for gus. I found the dynamic is really great.

Life Goes On by Frayach - So I've read this one once, and never again, because I probably wept for about four days over it, ymmv. It isn't actually that sad, per se; it's probably best described as a hopeful ending? But it describes being in your thirties and letting go of the places and people and jobs and experiences you want to keep in a way that myself, at the time, really could not handle. So I think... it depends on whether you've had a partner leave for life reasons, and then moved yourself, et cetera, as to how badly this hurts. But it's so good. Frayach has a lot of really great fic, all of which I recommend, this one is possibly the one that hurt the most of all qaf fic I've ever read.

Ding-Dong, the Witch is Dead by LadyJane_BBJFE - this one is also hard to read but less sad and more, well. Brian's mom dies. Brian doesn't cope well. But him and Justin are solid, in it. Brian is very, very Himself, not the sweeter, softer version.

Figs and Leaves by rhiannonhero - a sweet short oneshot about Jennifer, Brian and Justin bonding. over drugs. <3

Frozen Sunshine by Thyme [archived by bjfic_archivist] - Thyme, as archived by the bjfic archive, wrote so many canon AUs, that I suggest if you're looking for something different to dig in (search "thyme" in the bjfic archive on ao3). I like this one because it's another s1 AU where Justin is just a bit different before he meets Brian. I've saved up like, a dozen of their fics though, so.

Power Exchange by Minxie - this series is a super interesting take on Brian and Justin's relationship; it basically pins Brian as a Dom, so all of his unwillingness to commit to a typical relationship (and all of Justin's insecurities) are intriguingly no longer relevant as they discuss what being in a D/s relationship involves. Very in character to them. Not super heavy on the explicit D/s iirc, but the negotiations are spot-on. it made me want to write a s1 au where Brian putting a collar on Justin makes their insecurities so much better.

Incomplete by Anwamane_13 - this hit all of my "brian being self sacrificing and a dumbass for other people's good" buttons, my need to watch people wallow in self-loathing and then have the people they love pick them up and forgive them (in a believable way), and just all of that. hurt/comfort, I guess? brian style. Brian disappears on justin and the gang, and Justin goes a bit crazy about it.

Ted's Got Talent by eureka1 - I laughed out loud in this one. post-canon. I love Ted and Blake together, so there's that, plus, Ted playing matchmaker.

a rec that is less of a fic and more of an "if you haven't seen this, it's maybe worth looking youself": kinnetikdreams.com and midnightwhispers.net are both britin archives that are full of fic that isn't on ao3. again if you're looking for something in particular lmk. these are all older archives.

[luescris]

Here some Sunburst duo from s5 that I have laying around because I love them 😔💕

dude oh my god I literally exploded at the first picture I don't even remember that happening what the fuck/pos/pos/pos

I need to rewatch this show so very VERY badly

[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.)

[the-tenth-arcanum]

9 people you'd like to get to know better

(lys sorry I re-liked your post a dozen times I was trying to keep it on top of my 2k liked posts otherwise I would never see it again. and then I got stuck on the very first question and I kept putting this off. but I'm doing this now! everybody clap)

tagged: @malinaa

tagging: @centurieslove | @fairyhagmother | @flowersandfashion | @tuttocenere | @herstarlight |

@stormsouls | @mayapleiades | @courtjestermerlin | @godmerlin

three non romantic duos:

Sam & Frodo! Who did it like them! "Don't go where I can't follow!" "Frodo wouldn't have got far without Sam"! And other such hits. Crazy. To be honest there's a few non romantic duos from LOTR that I could pick but I love Sam Gamgee to death so I'm going with these two. Three hurrahs for borderline homoerotic devotion

2. Jen & Jack (Dawson's Creek). Dating myself here but I was obsessed with this teen drama as a teen. I've not really rewatched it since then because I'm afraid it will not live up to my nostalgic memories (though to be fair it started sucking so badly around S5 that I dropped it at the time and only tuned back in for the last episode lol). Anyway is there anything more beautiful than the friendship between a gay guy and his fag hag bestie? They were the cutest I love them both so much. I love how this show was so consistent in the way it portrayed their friendship. they were ride or die. I WANT WHAT THEY HAVE

3. Gaius & Merlin (lol). Okay I agonised over the last one but I couldn’t think of a better duo (sorry women 😔). I'm sure there are others I can't remember right now, but I do love them to be honest so why not them. I might have mentioned it before on my side blog but their relationship is probably my favourite in the show. I like the Chosen Family trope, okay? And I love that their relationship was important, in the show. They care so much about each other and it comes up time and time again. And their dynamic is fascinating, they're so similar in some ways and completely different in others. Immovable object vs unstoppable force. Thick as thieves, a pair of liars. As I once said—they lie so much, to other people, to themselves and to each other. And I think that's beautiful. Grey morality ❤

a ship that might surprise others: can't think of any tbh. I'm sure there are fics I've read that might surprise others, but only because I do check out a bit of everything if the premise sounds interesting enough to me, even with ships that are a bit out there. I don't really count that as shipping though.

last song: 80s medley I need to learn for my choir

last film: I don't really watch films anymore tbh 😭 I think the last one was when my aunt came to visit me last month—How Do You Know, which she chose because Paul Rudd was in it and it's probably the only reason to ever watch this film.

currently reading: Bliss & Blunder!! "A modern reworking of Arthurian legend". Or, the one where King Arthur is a tech bro. I'm enjoying it actually! (Nell if you're reading this I'll post some thoughts soon.ish. but I'm not even halfway through)

currently watching: nothing? I started Wolf Hall but I've watched less than half an episode over three lunch breaks and then I gave up for now because I'm meant to read a book and I can only focus on one (1) thing at the time apparently. but I might resume watching it at some point

currently consuming: nothing. hashtag minimalism

currently craving: local close friends so we can go out for a coffee and a chat 😔

[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 💀

[the-mpreg-guy]

to be clear i also don't think billie is wrong to go to the "we need to kill both of them" route because. she's literally death, and the idea of sucking out chuck's power probably isn't listed in his death book. so it makes complete sense why she would jump to killing amara and chuck (especially if she doesn't trust amara and knows that amara staying alive would result in a destruction of the universe bc of balance issues). like the idea that chuck could be weakened probably didn't occur to her.

I have complicated feelings on Billie bc on the one hand she's a great character and I'm deeply in love with her, but on the other hand the writers really neutered every single interesting concept they had by like. Season 11 at best. So we get a powered down Death who really isn't as interesting as Death was in s5 and we get flimsy lore and retcons that set her up to look incompetent in some episodes. Like if OG Death knew that he would reap God someday, why didn't that information get passed to Billie? Idk the writers handled everything to do with the Chuck/God plotline soo badly in later seasons.

I don't blame her for looking for a solution to take out God and I definitely don't blame her for looking at the Winchesters for it. I do think it's kinda sus that she unfairly blames the Winchesters for "upsetting the order" and then keeps causing situations where they have to upset it. Then again, I haven't seen later seasons in a while and I don't want to misrepresent what actually happens. I'll probably form a more cohesive opinion on her after I'm through my rewatch.

[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

[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.

[clericsandpaladins]

Absolutely agree!!! If the writers have chosen to create new and original moments rather than referencing previous seasons, it will strengthen the ship. While calling back to moments from the earlier seasons is cute, it's important to establish that Mike and Will's connection is current. Their relationship shouldn't be built strictly on conversations they had years ago. If anything I would like to see throwaway lines acknowledged, such as Dustin saying that Mike wouldn't stop whining about Joyce's telemarketer job. It's something subtle enough that the GA is likely to not have picked up on at first while still adding layers to the dynamic Mike and Will have. It would show that even after the events of S3, which resulted in a disconnect between Mike and Will, they still sought out one another and desired a connection. While the crazy together and shed scenes were powerful in terms of showcasing their closeness, all they offer for S5 is a reminder to the audience. A moment of "Oh, but look at what their relationship used to be like before all of this." We don't need that!!! It is so easy to do a rewatch and make that connection without calling back to that and that is the beauty of the show. Stranger Things is detail-oriented! You are supposed to notice these things without needing them to be repeated. You are supposed to rewatch and make those connections. I don't want moments from S2 to be the only reason Mike and Will are acknowledged as being a good couple. I want to be shown the differences between Byler and Milkvan in the present. S4 shows us that Mike feels inferior in his relationship with El, resulting in him trying to be a different person around her. It also shows us that El feels like Mike doesn't understand her and that he isn't loving her the way she wants to be loved. Great! Now instead of showing me the crazy together scene, I want the writers to show me how Mike and Will do the opposite. I want to see in the present how Mike and Will build each other up in comparison to Mike and El, who break each other down. Let's leave the crazy together and shed scenes in S2. Let them be moments where the GA rewatches the show and goes "Oh. Oh." (It's almost 3am where I live so sorry if this is badly written. I'm tired lmao.)

okay time for my rant

i feel kind of upset that i know that a lot of people will be disappointed with season 5 byler because they have this one view: past byler moments need to be referenced.

assuming that it is endgame (bc yeah ofc it is), i don't think that will be enough for everyone, which i totally get <3 like if they do it in a poorly written way (i.e. no depth into mike's queerness or a cheating plot on el) i would totally get not being happy with it. but i know that some people will think that it's not that good because they may not reference past byler moments??

like some things that i've seen people hope for are understandable. for example, wanting a kiss with heroes in the bg, or wanting a mention of the painting. those make total sense because the writers set those things up in a way that implies it'll be referenced later on.

some things i just don't stand by. for example, wanting them to show ANY reference to them meeting each other for the first time, any reference to the crazy together scene. those are already canon moments. it's almost as if people needing these scenes to be referenced is a kind of insecurity in the existence of those scenes in the first place? like we need to them to be rehashed in order to make them like- double canon in a way?

now, i totally get wanting this to happen. for the reasons i have just expressed and the fact it would be really cool. but what i don't get is: saying that the new season's byler would be poorly written without a reference to a past moment.

i can almost see it now, post byler endgame, people getting mad there was no reference to their first meeting, people getting mad they didn't reference 'lets start a new party'. them saying it was poor writing. me going:

honestly......... i think it would be better written if they didn't reference these. More specifically, if the miwi flashback isn't them meeting each other for the first time, i would be equally as excited, because it means a NEW THING for us to reference, a new thing for me to explore in analysis.

the writers will hopefully give us some new lines. new soundtrack songs. new things to analyse and make memes about. i don't neeeed them to say they're crazy together for the third time*.

so if i catch anyone calling writers who have made an effort to create new, romantic, beautiful scenes that deepen the complexity of byler's relationship bad writing just because they didn't reference old moments, i am going to have an aneurysm <3 and then giggle in heaven, because why ur working urself up over literally nothing, i'll be sat, positive and happy, looking at fresh and new things to obsess over.

if you feel attacked by the post, im sorry, i just want to get you guys excited because no matter what we are getting new byler content, new lines and new complexities. sorry for making u feel bad in the future for criticising writers for taking the hard way out, and writing new lines LMAO

and in the possibility that they do reference these old moments, i'll also be happy, i just hate the idea that some people won't be happy if they don't do it, if that makes sense

*if you're wondering what the second time is, it's when mike gives will that post it note with the line on 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~~

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[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.

[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

[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.