#in conclusion i deserve it more

[lotus-pear]

rewatched madoka magica again today bc i fucking hate myself and to absolutely no one’s surprise i went through all five stages of grief in a single evening

[myenemytolover]

Thinking of Theo's "I'm an atheist, fire at will." because, yes, it hits hard, but it also hints so much at a deep vulnerability. Theo is very cynical — he's been used, manipulated, and hurt (to the point he became the villain) so much that it isn't surprising that he would reject any form of benevolence because where was it when he needed most? When he was nine and being terrorized and all that came after it? Even before the Dread Doctors got involved? Of course, he would denounce anything that might give him comfort or security because he'd had none and always had to fight for himself.

On top of that, Theo’s delivery of the line has an almost reckless edge. It's not even an indifferent proclamation — he’s challenging anyone — Sheriff Stilinski — where it’s like he’s saying, "Do your worst. Nothing scares me anymore." His time with the Dread Doctors and the endless cycle of trauma he endured left him hardened, and this line reflects that hardened exterior.

[brianskangs]

Young K "Fourever" Concept Photos

[sainz100]

💚 he's proud of his tortellino

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Sorry if this seems confrontational, but for the life of me I can’t get into your “Chloe has no growth” point when the show itself retracts growth from everyone and is inconsistent with everyone. You saying “The show just lays down basic character traits in Chloe” doesn’t make sense when her basic character traits are supposed to be her being selfish and spoiled.

S2 built off of that and despite what you say, had Chloe doing things that in S1 she wouldn’t have done. She apologized multiple times to the people she wronged, she willingly put herself in harm’s way to help the people she cares about and she was openly vulnerable to Ladybug in “Malidiktaor”. Something S1 Chloe wouldn’t have done. If there’s a distinct difference between a Chloe back in S1 and a Chloe in S2, then growth HAS taken place. But it doesn’t stay because of the formula (and the writers just don’t want her to keep that growth)

So what I’m asking is…what do you mean “Chloe doesn’t have growth”?

I can understand the “No arc” argument because an unfinished arc feels like there’s no arc at all (even though they are fundamentally not the same)

I wouldn't say that the show retracts growth from everyone. It's more that no one is ever supposed to grow. Every episode resets the cast. That's just how pure formula shows work and Miraculous is being sold as a pure formula show. The characters are meant to be static (one of the writers literally compared Miraculous to Dora the Explorer).

That static nature is why pure formula shows normally avoid giving their good-guy characters major flaws. It's the wrong medium for that type of thing specifically because the characters cannot change in meaningful ways throughout the show. They can learn little lessons that don't really change them and maybe have big change between seasons via a special or movie, but that's about it. Thus things like the season four conflict working so poorly. It's just a terrible choice for a formula show! The conflict is literally not allowed to develop properly because of the chosen format.

But sure, let's talk about Chloe and why I will die on the hill that she never demonstrated meaningful improvement even with the issue of the inconstant writing. In fact, seasons-one-to-three Chloe is one of the most consistent characters in the show. For this discussion to work, we need to start off by discussing character development and the two main forms it can take: character establishment and character growth.

Character Establishment

When the audience meets a character, they know nothing about said character. It's up to the writer to guide the introduction process. To choose when to reveal already existing elements of the character's personality, skills, and backstory. This is called character establishment. It is the writing telling you who the character is on a baseline level. Those reveals don't need to happen at the start of the story, though. They can be - and often are - held back for when the time is right.

When these reveals are delayed, it's important to remember that these elements were always part of the character. The reveal isn't changing who the character actually is. It's just changing how the audience views the character.

For example, we spend a good chunk of season one uncertain why Gabriel is doing what he does. Then, in Origins, we learn that it's all for Emilie. This is new information that adds depth to Gabriel's character, but it doesn't change him in any way. This is who he always was. We just know him better now and can recontextualize past events with our new understanding of his motivation.

Character Growth

Character growth is when writers take a character's personality or world view or even just their skills from point A to point B, allowing the audience to watch the character change and become a new better - or lesser - version of themself. This is usually part of a larger character arc where all the moments of growth add up, but it can take the form of small moments of growth that don't fit into a bigger picture, too. I'd probably still call that an arc, but we'll use the word "growth" a lot in this post, so let's just call it growth to be consistent.

Miraculous doesn't really have either arcs or growth because - once again - formula shows don't allow characters to meaningfully change, so I'm going to have to make up an example here. I'll use one that illustrates how character establishment and character growth can and do intertwine as that's an important thing to acknowledge to help guide this discussion.

Let's say that we have a character who lost their family at a young age. We'll call this character Mary. Mary's loss guides her character throughout the entire story, but the other characters and the audience are never told that this is what's going on. We just know that Mary acts in seemingly illogical ways at times and that she trusts no one.

Throughout the story, Mary learns to trust her costars, leading to a big, dramatic scene where she finally tells them - and the audience - about her past. This big dramatic scene is both the culmination of a character arc and a piece of baseline character establishment that allows us to understand Mary's character better no matter what part of the story we're reading.

Because these combo growth and establishment moments are so common in stories, it can feel like character growth when we learn new things about a character in a dramatic moment, but that's not always what's happening. Sometimes dramatic moments are just there to reveal what was always there by forcing a character to act differently than they usually do through the power of extenuating circumstances. These extenuating-circumstances moments are not character growth because, once the moment is over, the character resets to their normal self. The moment wasn't there to let them grow. It was there for the sake of the plot.

This is actually a really important thing that writers need to know how to do. Figuring out what circumstances will make a character say or do a thing they generally wouldn't say or do is part of how stories work. I have started stories with characters acting wildly "out of character" because I put them in the a situation where the behavior suddenly was in character!

Oh, you don't want to talk to this total stranger because you're an introvert with social anxiety who has yet to learn how to love yourself and open up to others? That's nice. Your leg is broken now and you're stuck in the middle of nowhere. What you gonna do sucker? Lie there in the dirt or talk to the nice lady who wants to help you? Your choice! (Spoiler: he talked to the nice lady. He even let her physically support him when he'd usually never let a stranger touch him!)

As soon as that scene was over, the character reverted because it wasn't growth. He didn't become a more open person. He just did something he normally wouldn't do because the situation demanded it. It was extenuating circumstances so that the freaking plot could start.

This is what happened with Chloe in season two. Everything that people call growth is really just extenuating circumstances that reset by the end of the episode or even by the end of the scene.

Let's Talk About Chloe

Chloe does not have a character arc, aborted or otherwise. She is never taken on a journey where we watch her change. All we get is delayed character establishment via extenuating circumstances, but it's given in ways that make some people feel like she was being given an arc. Let's talk about why that is.

Season one Chloe is a one dimensional mean girl. She has almost no depth. She's just here to be petty and cause akumas. She is not a fully realized character.

Season two takes those traits and keeps them, but also gives Chloe a lot more depth to round her out and make her feel like a real character. She's just as petty and mean as she always was, but we're finally allowed to see her in some moments that make her feel like a well of potential to become something more, which the writers basically had to do if they wanted to let her be a hero. The audience needed to feel like Chloe could be good in the right situation.

The feelings evoked by her newly discovered depth are why people go "oh, she had a character arc! My feelings about her changed in a big way!" But she didn't have an arc. You just got to know her better by seeing her in moments where she was forced to be vulnerable. That's not growth. Growth is meaningful, lasting change, not situational change. Everyone changes based on the situation! It's why the "True Selves" stuff is such nonsense. It implies that there's one set way that we're supposed to act in order to be authentic and anything else is some kind of lie which just isn't how the world works.

Let's look at some examples to drive home what I mean.

Season one established that Chloe idolized Ladybug. It's why we get things like this moment from Evil Illustrator:

Ladybug: Fine! You stay! Later! Cat Noir: What do you mean later? Ladybug: I mean, you're the one who wants to protect her, so you don't need me. So, later! (swings away) Chloé:(looks over balcony) Ahhh! Ladybug! Text me! OK!

And this confession from Antibug:

Ladybug: [Chloe] pretended she was me?! How often does that happen? Armand: She idolizes you.

So Chloe adores Ladybug and wants to impress her/be her best friend. Cool. Got it. That never goes anywhere in season one because season one doesn't see Chloe and Ladybug interact much. The most we get is Ladybug saving Chloe from akumas, which doesn't allow for deep conversations. I don't think that they're ever alone in a moment where they can actually talk.

That changes in season two. In season two, they get to interact a lot and it's often in moments where there's a big threat and no one else is around, letting us see a new side to Chloe. But that's not Chloe changing. It's just the writers revealing that Chloe has more to her than the mean girl stuff because of course she does! Pure mean girls don't exist. Everyone has depth. We simply never saw that depth before because Chloe was never put in a situation where she needed to be open. We can't say that season one Chloe wouldn't confess things to Ladybug or chose to sacrifice herself to let Ladybug win because she never had the chance to do those things!

In fact, I'd go so far as to argue that season one Chloe probably would have done the same things as season two Chloe because season two Chloe doesn't really contradict season one Chloe. Antibug showed us that Chloe was pretty desperate to be loved and welcomed the way that Ladybug is loved and welcomed:

Chloé: Jagged Stone! Jagged: (thinking she's the actual Ladybug) Ladybug! What are you doing here? Chloé: Um… when I find out you were here, I knew you'd wanna see me! I had to come say hello. (Sabrina waves at Jagged)

and Chloe has always been a stubborn girl who stands up for what she wants even if what she wants is something bad. Antibug also showed us that Chloe can be genuinely nice to the people she cares about. Her and Sabrina's relationship is shown to be complex with them often having a lot of fun together.

Similarly, Origins sees Chloe showing her father genuine affection after she's saved from Stoneheart:

[Image description: Chloe and Andre hugging and looking very happy to be together]

Origins is the baseline episode that tells us who the characters are on day one, so I never once doubted that Chloe loved Andre, but Andre didn't get akumatized because of Chloe's actions in season one. He didn't even get akumatized for something that Chloe had nothing to do with! His first akumatization is in season two, so it's not shocking that we don't get a Malidiktaor type scene until Malidiktaor.

Chloe was vulnerable with her personal hero when her beloved parent was in danger, but not before? Shocking! Who would have guessed?

Me. I would have guessed. I didn't even realize that people were reading it as some sort of character growth because it clearly wasn't. Malidiktaor didn't feel like something new for Chloe's character. It just felt like the writers were leaning into things that we'd always known about Chloe and using them to better establish her character as someone who genuinely cares about select people. She just doesn't show most of the time.

The same thing goes for Chloe's sacrifice and apology in Zombizou. Chloe only sacrifices herself when there's no one left but her and Ladybug. When the choice is to let the terrorist win or take the hit and let you personal hero save the day. Brave? Sure, but also not growth. Chloe is team Ladybug for all of seasons one, two, and three! She wants Ladybug to like her! Plus even a petty brat can have moments of goodness where they pick a hero over a literal terrorist.

This honestly would have been a damming moment if Chloe didn't sacrifice herself. She functionally had no other choice here. The entire episode builds itself to the self-sacrifice moment so that Chloe is forced to make that choice even though she's been her petty bratty self throughout the whole attack. It's genuinely solid writing.

Then, in the heightened emotions directly after the Zombizou win, we get this:

Miss Bustier: But I hurt a lot of people... Chloé: No... I did... I forgot your birthday, once again. And when I saw everyone had prepared a gift for you, I totally lost it. Because I, too, would've liked to offer you something. I'm sorry, Miss Bustier. Miss Bustier: Thank you, Chloé. Those words are the best possible gift you could ever give me. (hugs Chloé) (Chloé hugs her back, forgetting herself for a moment.) Chloé: Huh?... Uh, yeah. Okay then, we're all good.

A brief moment of vulnerability that quickly ends and does not stick around because Chloe's change was situational, not true growth. The next scene of that episode starts with Chloe being her usual self:

Chloé: Me? You want me to apologize to the entire class? Ridiculous! They should be thanking me for saving everybody.

And ends with the reveal of Chloe's gift to Miss Bustier, which was given in private via a note.

Once again, nothing new for Chloe's character. She acts as she always has, being mean to everyone while having moments of vulnerability when things get tense. Remember that hug between her and her father that we talked about earlier? Same concept. She had just almost died from an akuma attack and so she needed some emotional support, leading her to act more openly loving than she usually does when he's around. Once the moment is over, she reverts to the petty mean girl default.

Giving gifts to placate people is also something that we've seen before. A pretty similar thing happens at the end of Evil Illustrator, it's just played less sympathetic towards Chloe because the writers weren't giving her depth back then:

Sabrina: Too late. Chloé and I are doing the project together. Marinette: You mean, you're doing the project? Sabrina: Well, of course! After all she's been through... Marinette: Ughhh.... Nice new beret, by the way. Sabrina: I know, right! Chloé lent it to me. She really is my BFF! Chloé! Your geography homework's ready!

For any of this to be character growth, we need to see Chloe act differently over time. For her to be put in similar situations and get different outcomes, but we don't see that in part because Chloe didn't change and in part because season one didn't do much to develop Chloe's deeper side. We rarely see her alone or in moments of extreme vulnerability, but you need those moments to show her depth. That's why Despair Bear had Chloe crying alone after Adrien threatened to end her friendship and not before. Chloe is very reluctant to openly show depth. You have to force it out of her, which perfectly fits the character we met in season one.

Even her standing up to Hawkmoth and rejecting the akuma isn't character growth in my opinion. Chloe has always stood up to authority and demanded whatever she wants. She has wanted to be Ladybug's friend and be seen as a hero since season one, so it's not shocking that her extremely strong will would allow her to defy a terrorist. If there is anyone in this show who can stand up to a terrorist on shear "no!" power alone, it's little miss I-always-get-what-I-want. I could see a variation of this happening at any point in the show, just change Chloe's reason for defying Gabriel to match the situation. Rework these lines to be about a party that she wanted to go to and I'd still totally buy it:

Chloé: No, Hawk Moth! I am a superheroine! I am Queen Bee! Ladybug will come and get me when she needs me! I WILL NEVER JOIN YOU! (throws her photo onto the ground as the akuma exits it... and pants)

Chloe acted like a hero here because she wants all the perks of being a hero and can't believe that Ladybug would actually bench her. That's impossible! Ladybug wouldn't do that!

As soon as Chloe accepts that she won't be a hero again, Chloe stops acting heroic because acting heroic wasn't growth. It was her playing a part the same way she played a part in Despair Bear. She was doing what she needed to do to be Queen Bee again and not because it's the right thing to do. This would only be real growth if she rejected the akuma after accepting that she wouldn't be Queen Bee again, but that's not what happens. As soon as she accepts that she's out, she no longer has any reason to play nice. She never grew into a character who did what's right for the sake of doing the right thing. It's always been about getting what she wants or being seen how she wants to be seen. Until that changes, she hasn't changed.

So no, Chloe didn't have an aborted arc. They didn't start to redeem her and then change their minds. All they did was make Chloe one of the most complex characters in the show only to then not do anything with the character they wasted our time establishing, ignoring the complexity they gave her while also cranking her mean dial up to the point of absurdity where she's not even fun in her original role anymore.

I get why it feels like she had an aborted arc. The fact that the character establishment was delayed makes it feel like something shiny and new about Chloe. There's also the fact that the character establishment we get in season two is the kind of character establishment that you'd do if you were setting up for a redemption arc, but that doesn't change the fact that it was all establishment work. None of it was a true arc where we watched Chloe grow. We just saw her put in situations that revealed hidden depths.

Her showing depth is not her growing because when in the world does she show off this supposed growth? She only acts differently in the type of scenes that we've never seen her in before or around characters that we've never seen her truly interact with before. When she's around the established teen characters or in her usual scenes, then she acts the same way that she always has. We never see her be genuinely nice to Marinette or something like that. She's only nice to Ladybug and she's still rude to Chat Noir. That's not character growth! That's character establishment that can then be used to guide character growth!

Same thing goes for the stuff in Despair Bear. We learn that Adrien can push Chloe to be better, but he never does it again and she reverts as soon as he lets her off the hook, so it wasn't character growth! It was just Chloe establishing that she can play nice when she needs to. This means that she could grow if the story chose to take her down that path because we've established that she knows what being nice looks like. Fake it til you make it plot go, go, go! But the plot never went, went, went so meh?

Add in the fact that season one was a bit of a test season with lots of elements that got dropped and the fact that characterization in this show has always been wildly inconsistent from episode to episode and I'm really not seeing a strong argument for Chloe having an intentional arc that somehow got aborted. People just saw the potential for her to have one and argue that potential is the same as an aborted arc when it really, really isn't.

To give an analogy, Chloe's story is like walking into the kitchen and seeing grandma laying out the ingredients for her famous chocolate chip cookies. We get excited because, hey, cookies! Then we come back an hour later and there are no cookies. Nor is there some other sweet that uses the same ingredients. There's just ingredients, sitting unused in their original packaging, making us wonder what the heck grandma was up to. At the same time, she never really started making cookies. She just set out ingredients. They're still there, totally unused, waiting to be made into something, so we can't call them a failed cookie attempt. That implies a level of commitment that was never there. She didn't even say that she was making cookies! We just assumed she was because we, understandably, wanted cookies and wanted to believe that grandma had a purpose to her actions.

[pimento-playing-hopscotch]

I love this show and it means a lot to me,

and I feel disappointed and a little bit misled tbh by the choices they have made-

These are two thoughts that can coexist btw

[nationmckinleyscorset]

In a way each season features a character in more depth than they have been in others

Spoilers for nearly every episode of wwdits so far under the cut

Let me explain

Season 1 introduced everyone but the plotline mostly followed Nadja's affair with the human Gregor, she was coordinating the orgy, she hates werewolves, she hates Laszlo's hat, and she turned Jenna then had an episode half dedicated to her teaching Jenna how to be a good vampire

Season 2 followed Laszlo as the main character, he got their familiars killed off, he discovered the family had a ghost problem, he gave Sean bran scramblies (it wasn't Nandor, Laszlo said "forget everything" and that's what fucked it up), Laszlo became Jackie Daytona for a full episode, Laszlo wrote songs with his wife because his original melodies were being plagiarised, and Laszlo fucked a witch and she returned to steal his semen (he was the first to be abducted)

Season 3 is less obvious in some episodes like The Siren, but I believe the focus is Nandor since he was trying to seduce someone by using the cloak of duplication (even though other characters are in this episode they are all played by him), he attempted to marry a werewolf and was rejected heavily, he and Nadja take over the vampiric council, he forgets to feed the sire then has to track it down to appease vampire kind, he rebukes his vampirism and joins the wellness centre, he is locked up in a cell until he decides to go into a super slumber then when he is woken up too early he basically confirms Colin's death, and he decides to go on an around the world adventure for a year and plans to make Guillermo a vampire on said trip

Season 4 is distinctively about The Guide and Nadja, for the purpose of this we're gonna overlook Nadja (sorry my girl). The Guide has been waiting for the vampires to return for a year because her life revolves around them, The Guide hates change so she receives counselling from Laszlo and we are given her very sexual backstory, we learn she has OCD and an overwhelming crush on Guillermo because of his lineage, we see her working alongside Nadja trying to get new acts for the nightclub and coordinating the wraiths, we see her longing to be included in the night market when she is gifted a box which turns out to be a bribe for the wraiths, we find out she falls in and out of love very quickly in The Wedding and also get the whole makeover sequence which is just <3, we see her at Girls Night in the pine barrens (this episode is less Guide-centric but you can't deny she's in this season a lot more than previous), I can't remember when but she has the "no close female friends" episode with Nadja and we can all empathise or at least sympathise with her character, she helps Nadja in her search for an act for the nightclub and is dedicated to her work right until the end

Season 5 is very much about Guillermo and his new found vampirism, in the mall we see him getting abilities such as better eyesight and the vampires invite him to dinner to try and cheer him up, the whole of dinner he is the main focus of conversation specifically how bad of a vampire he would be, in pride parade he helps plan the pride event and the viewer feels his horror towards the stereotyping throughout the episode, he also is the reason why Nandor goes to space in this episode, he goes to tell his family he is a vampire in local news but keeps being distracted by the vampires, although he doesn't directly interfere with their news problem he commentates on it then basically has to say goodbye to his van helsing familia, he is experimented on by Laszlo which leads to Nadja taking him to urgent care where she discovers he is a vampire and he gives his opinions on the group while doped up, in hybrid creatures he becomes responsible for animals that look like him and Laszlo's experiments continue, in the roast the baron finds out Guillermo burned his in the first place and the episode follows him being chased and almost killed numerous times, at Morrigan Manor he is the only one who The Guide doesn't want to torture and she accidentally reveals his vampire identity, in exit interview he is living with Derek and keeps being visited by the vampires, he eventually has to make up with Nandor and a whole ceremony takes place to turn him back into a human

Season 6 is focused on Colin (I was going to say season 4 but that wouldn't be fair to the guide, technically he has 2 seasons though). This is the least apparent because of the writing but his main themes are raising The Monster and trying to give him a less controlling childhood than he had, he picks out the monsters head using Uber and dances to Latin music with it, he joins Nandor's army while also working from the inside to overthrow Nandor and make him see sense, he sees Laszlo's father as a parental role completely bypassing that Laszlo is his father, he visits an old friend who turns out to want to fuck him and we learn he is less perverted than the other vampires, he gets the first vampire kiss in the whole program, he has many awkward moments in come out and play with various drinks and delaying the groups progress (he is the funniest character in this episode at moments and it really shows), in The Promotion he is named as one of The Monster's dads and The Monster basically takes his last name because he is just wonderful wonderful, I'd like to pretend the finale doesn't exist but in an alternate ending he had 2 babies with Nadja and in the other he had a really dramatic sequence with The Guide where I'm guessing the idea is he was behind everything and the only reason people can't see it is because he was a "boring" character

If I've missed any moments from these specific seasons please fill me in, I had to be careful with season 4 because I've read so much fanfiction I can't remember what's canon for the guide and what isn't (i think I managed to keep fanon away from this but if not... Oops. Live with it)

I'm aware characters cross over in each season (season 1 - Nadja, Laszlo, Jenna and Gregor but they all belong to Nadja in a way) (season 2 - Laszlo, Nadja and Colin in a way) (season 3 - Nandor, Guillermo and towards the end Colin) (season 4 - Nadja, The Guide, baby Colin, Laszlo but they all tie into the nightclub and also I HC Nadja The Guide and Laszlo as a polycule so it's whatever) (season 5 - Guillermo, Nadja - particularly her Antipaxon heritage - and The Guide - her tricky little schemes to make friends such as Morrigan Manor and the hex) (Season 6 - Colin, The Monster, Laszlo as a mad scientist but again this 3 come as a package deal)

This is simply something I noticed earlier today while rewatching season 3 and thinking "hey, Nandors in this a lot more than usual. What is happening?"

I'm also aware gizmo is the main character in every season but fuck it we ball

[slytherinshua]

I think one of the reasons the astronaut continues to be so nostalgic and sentimental to me is because its release marked the close of my bts era— not in a sad sudden way, but like a gentle taper out to an end.

I never biased jin, yet his vocals were the start, middle, and end to everything I associate with bts and my time with them as a group. epiphany was the first bts song I ever heard in 2018, even though I wouldn’t stan them for 3 more years. moon is my favourite bts song to this day. the astronaut ending my era with them as my ults is a picture perfect close.

I think jin is under-appreciated as an artist and a vocalist. because of his personality, we mostly love him for his jokes, or because of his visuals, he’s known for his face. yet when he sings songs like abyss, epiphany, the astronaut, moon, or awake, his voice holds a million emotions and feelings in the melody. there is something so timelessly beautiful about his voice, and for the first time since I stopped following bts closely, I’m really so excited for his solo album. I hope he can continue to shine as an artist and a vocalist into his late 30’s and 40’s. his voice is one that will never get old and I certainly will never get tired of hearing him sing.

deep in my bts era, I always used to debate whether my favourite bts vocalist was jin or jungkook. and it was always funny to me why jin made it to such a high ranking when jungkook was my bias. jin didn’t even wreck me like other members, and at the time, I enjoyed his solos, but they weren’t in the ranking to become my favourite timeless songs like they are now that I’ve stepped away.

although I’m not active in the fandom anymore and have disconnected from content and the members, the music still stays, their voices still stay, always reminding me how bts changed my life in such a dramatic way. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how different I would be if I hadn’t found them. it’s not just about kpop, fanfic or being a stan— finding them was the first time I ever found something by myself, for myself and enjoyed it independently without the influence of anyone else. and the start of that was with jin and his voice and I’ll never forget how much he changed my life.

[acethetically-bway]

i think we need to spend a minute, or several, talking about the al-anon questionnaire that fiona canonically got a “perfect score” on (TWs for alcoholism/self harm):

imagine little fiona realizing frank loves alcohol more than her and her siblings for the first time and carrying that with her all the way until season 9 when she takes this test 😭 also makes me think of her giving him the ultimatum as his liver is failing and realizing that if he is gonna stop (which he’s not, but regardless), he’s not gonna do it for her. it honestly hurts more to think of the fact that she took this test years AFTER giving him that ultimatum and making that realization, meaning that she *still* deep down, at almost 30 years old, thinks he’d stop if he really loved her.

i can also just picture her heart sinking when she sticks her little kid nose just a bit too close to frank and the strong smell of booze just radiates off of him and makes her nostrils burn. also holy shit #9 (and others on this list too tbh) has me thinking about the wifeification of fiona and how she has to be the one to placate frank and walk around eggshells with him, otherwise he’ll go off the rails and hurt her (or worse, her siblings). because they’re just kids and they’ll say shit without knowing any better, and by that point it’s too late. imagine fiona coaching the others on how to act when frank’s around, telling them exactly what to avoid saying so they don’t set him off and incur his drunken wrath. her letting frank steal their money because it’s better to just give him what he wants and get him out of their hair than to challenge him (until she and her brothers are physically strong enough to fight back.)

PLEASE AGH IF FRANK WASNT AN ALCOHOLIC FIONA WOULD’VE HAD A NORMAL CHILDHOOD WITH A PRESENT AND LOVING FATHER!! she wouldn’t have had to be a mom to her siblings, she wouldn’t have to worry about money constantly bc frank would be there to hold down a stable 9-5 job, she wouldn’t have such a fucked up view of love/men in general (“i can handle men trying to fuck me, i’ve been doing it since i was nine”), and she might not have gone to jail or become an alcoholic herself. she could’ve gone off to college on a track scholarship and made something of herself. and if she had just been better at controlling frank and been good enough for him to love and stay sober for at the age of NINE then none of this bullshit would’ve happened. oh this is my final straw istg.

there’s a story behind #18 i can FEEL IT oh god it makes me wonder if she ever actually made those types of threats *to* frank or if she just kinda intrusively fantasized about it. like “if he saw me bleeding out or sick or on the brink of death, would he still choose drinking over me?” and #19 genuinely i wanna know the details, like she obviously has anger issues but confused and depressed?? perhaps a shift from one to the other over time, like as a kid her predominant state was one of confusion and then as a teenager it turned to depression and it’s now just festering as this lingering resentment and bitterness because of the walls she’s built up and how she’s so stuck in her current life. she’s so independent but also so dependent on her siblings for a purpose and even on frank, because the course of her day/week/life depends on his behaviors (if he needs their money, if he’s exploiting the younger kids, if his actions/crimes put her or her family in danger).

[wildm00re]

maybe it’s because i just barely finished season 1 but seeing tiktok try to depict the lestat-claudia-louis dynamic to the “often father and daughter look down on mother…” quote— louis and claudia being ‘father and daughter’ and lestat being ‘mother’— feels eh

and maybe i missed something or will be shown something in season 2 that wasn’t in season 1 but that is not the vibe i got from their family dynamic at ALL

like was louis not constantly prioritizing lestat over claudia? in what world was lestat the one being ‘left out’— when louis and claudia were bonding about how much they resented him for being so toxic/abusive to them? sure, i don’t really see how he could’ve bonded with them over that but idk

again, maybe s2 will give me a better perspective but right now y’all will not make me feel bad for lestat for being/feeling excluded as if he didn’t bring that upon himself

because if i had to watch my parent beat my other parent to the point of near death over a tantrum, then emotionally and physically dedicate myself to helping said parent heal and rebuild themselves just for them to end up choosing the abuser parent over ME?

claudia deserves the world

i will say it’s interesting how lestat is interpreted as the ‘mother’ and louis as the ‘father’ in the dynamic, because i definitely interpreted it differently, given the housewife role louis took while lestat was more like the head of the house and the one with an affair he used as an escape when “the wife and kids are too much”.

and with claudia taking the role of a resentful daughter on behalf of her ‘mother’ that’s being cheated on by her ‘father’ if that makes sense?

[a-compass-without-a-needle]

Gotta love when you can tell that a character has absolutely been through/witnessed a form of The Horrors when the metaphorical light leaves their eyes.

[princsstwilightsparkl]

saying "if aroace people can date, then can lesbians date men?" is absolutely aphobic narrative btw!

[emily-mooon]

She’s so pretty 💖💙💜

[larrythefloridaman]

WOAH, HE'S BIGENDER? I DIDN'T KNOW THAT!

[loderlied]

i need you all to know that the main reason (besides a general hunger for attention) niles even accepts aldori’s call is because he got caught stealing his student’s work and passing it off as his own and his reputation as a teacher was obviously ruined. lmao

[butmakeitgayblog]

Spoiler? for fear the walking dead. if you care about that? Alycia did it again 💀 I’m not sure about anything else that happened since she left but apparently her character finally reunited with her mother

Baby I seen, and she looks fine as fuck

I haven't seen exactly what happens entirely cuz people are being slow posting clips but it's fine cuz I'm,,, pretty sure it's offensively nonsensical plot wise anyway, but whew. Damn Alycia, back at it again. Girl will do community service for all the busted ass shows of her past and I suppose I respect that. Loyalty and all that