#it's so so hard to watch esp bc ... i love olivia...so much. and the way layla is treating her is so ugly

[gasstationlady]

GUTS | a lando norris social media au | pt. 2

pairing: lando norris x singer!reader, ex!drew starkey x reader

drew is still hung up on y/n, but the grid’s new it couple couldn’t care less.

notes: final part of guts!! thank you so much for all the love you guys showed the first part <3 and dw i have so many more smaus in the drafts! tried to write and add a bit more but i ran out of space :/ i hope the plot makes sense! i feel like bc i know how i wanted the story to go i can't rlly spot the plot holes as easily.

disclaimer: NOT PROOFREAD. let's pretend that jennifer lawrence "kym illman" picture is olivia lmfaooo. btw the events in “GUTS” sometimes does not line up with the schedule followed in real life. again, no hate to drew and, now also, to ppl on the today show aha. (CONGRATS LANDO FOR P2 AHHH)

masterlist ⋆ previously

yourusername

liked by landonorris, drewstarkey and 4,810,592 others

yourusername thanks for having me vmas!!!! <3

View all 22,504 comments

yourbestie STUNNING

user pls not drew liking her post when he doesn’t even follow her 😭😭😭

↳ user no he’s actually so painfully desperate lmaoo

↳ user i’m glad lando and y/n are just ignoring him

↳ user girl i’m not, i want the drama AHA

user love u more than anything

user lando liking and the two of them now following each other 🤔 yup him and y/n are forrr sure together

↳ user yea after the deuxmoi post and lando’s soft launch it’s basically confirmed at this point

↳ user i wonder if she’ll be attending the next gp bc i’d actually die and then come back to life if it happens

user you look BEYONDDDDD 😍😍

user are we fr just gonna ignore drew like..

thetodayshow

liked by landonorris and 67,298 others

thetodayshow It’s GUTS day! We loved having @/yourusername on the TODAY plaza. 🍒🎤🧡

We sat with Y/N to talk about her new album and recent scandals surrounding the topics of her work. “I just write songs; it’s not my job to interpret them for people.”

Tune in on our Youtube channel for extra clips of our interview with Y/N and her performances!

View all 342 comments

user SHE ATE THOSE PERFORMANCES. DEVOURED.

user some of those questions were a bit invasive

↳ user i was thinking the same thing, but y/n handled that rlly professionally

user omg how have her vocals gotten better 😭

user lmaoooooo i see you hiding in the likes lando

↳ user it’s so cute that he’s following her activities 🥹🥹

↳ user he’s probably here bc of what she said in the interview

↳ user wait i didn’t watch everything, what did she say??

↳ user so they asked how she felt about her exes being a popular topic on the internet, and so she said “I just write songs; it’s not my job to interpret them for people.” they also asked about drew and whether they’re going to get back together (which, may i add, felt a little rude to me) and y/n replied with “Those who I’m close with can reach me anytime. I tend to not focus on anyone else.”

↳ user thank you for summarizing!! doing god’s work fr 🫡

user y/n handled the situation perfectly

↳ user no bc the way she said not too much but enough to stand up for herself and her privacy

user AHAHAHAHA SHE RLLY SAID AINT NO WAY SHES GOING BACK TO DREW

ynupdates

41,086 likes

ynupdates Y/n seen arriving in Singapore!

View all 462 comments

user wait you’re lying??? actually? waaait 😭

user IS SHE GOING TO THE GP OMG PLS

user i mean i knew they were together but imagine a paddock appearance 😩😩 i don’t think we can handle it guys

user if she makes an appearance at the paddock with lando, i don’t understand why he didn’t just go as her date for the vmas too 😭😭

↳ user i doubt they wanted to hard launch at the vmas lol y/n was barely even in the audience, tbh i think she left early

↳ user y/n has said before that award shows make her rlly anxious, so yea she probably didn’t want too much attention on herself esp with all the drew drama

user did i miss something, i thought lando was still in ny? why didn’t they just travel together?

↳ user lando probs had to leave earlier bc practice started on friday, and y/n still had a few tv show performances which i’m assuming is why she arrived today instead

kymillman

51,159 likes

kymillman F1’S NEW FAVORITE COUPLE

The first driver to arrive this morning was Mclaren driver Lando Norris. For the first time he is joined with his new girlfriend, Y/N L/N, a famous Filipino-American pop singer.

For A3 prints, hand-signed & numbered by a range of drivers/team principals head to kymillman.com

View all 343 comments

user omg it’s happening it’s happening

user HEY SIRI PLAY THAT SHOULD BE ME BY JUSTIN BIEBER

user this pic should be put in the louvre that is how monumental it is

user THIS IS HOW I FIND OUT?? FROM KYM??😭😭

user first💔hard💔launch💔is💔a💔paddock💔appearance💔

user the hand holding 🥹🥹

user don’t know if i’m more jealous of lando or y/n

user damn god really out here choosing favorites

user they’re already becoming my comfort couple omg i can’t i love them so much

landonorris

liked by yourusername, carlossainz55 and 1,135,226 others

landonorris Singapore 🥈

View all 3,229 comments

user so proud of you lando!!

user AHHHH y/n cameo

user god idk if i'm ever going to get used to seeing y/n with lando

user SHE LOOKS SO GOOD

user yay carlando podium !!! 🥹

— — —

8 months later

landonorris

liked by yourusername, yourbestie and 4,475,987 others

landonorris Happy one year, love ❤️

View all 24,395 comments

yourusername there's nothing i love more than those chips

↳ landonorris 😐

user they're the reason i believe in love

user damn i think this is about to be lando's most liked post lmaoo

user the fact that he calls her love 😭😭

user luckiest man alive i stg

user how does she always look so good

yourusername

liked by landonorris, carlossainz55 and 6,788,335 others

yourusername cause i love to love, to love, to love you

View all 35,719 comments

landonorris that guy's pretty handsome

↳ yourusername very :)

yourbestie LOVE seeing you happy

user omggg i'm crying i can't believe its already been a year

user might sleep on the freeway today

user let the light in is such a cute song to dedicate to someone

user LOL not the third pic

user i love them so much 🥹

user if you ever break up, love isn't real

[lingeringscars]

Layla has an intense amount of compassion, but she is not good with empathy. While the two typically go hand in hand, for her, there is a disconnect. she is able to feel sympathy for people, but she is not able to put herself into their shoes. She is not able to see why it might be hard for Asher to admit that he lost his money, but she is able to understand that it is hard for him. similarly, she is not able to understand why Olivia can’t just ... not drink. she doesn’t get that being around alcohol + the party environment is a trigger because...  the solution seems simple. 

While she loves Olivia’s heart and her ability for empathy, she is also envious of it. It is something she doesn’t possess. ( Especially when she is blinded by her own pain and fear ). While Olivia can see people struggling and put herself in their shoes, Layla sees them struggling and can fall back on the mentality that they made their decisions. With Asher, Layla does not understand why Olivia spent her morning getting him ready for the Combine because...that was Asher’s responsibility. As someone that has torn herself apart for responsibility, she couldn’t understand it falling on anyone else to help them out of it. 

In a lot of ways, Layla was struggling in silence. It is not on anyone else to have seen it before it became obvious. But in the pilot episode, Spencer mentions that Layla is lonely, and she automatically pulls away. It goes against the image that she has perfected, and it is part of why she is so desperate to get back in Olivia’s good graces. However, she doesn’t realize that things have to be different between them because she just cannot empathize with everything Olivia has been through. Partially because she is so outside of it all, as Olivia pulled away after it all, but also because she just doesn’t understand what that is like. she also just...doesn’t have the capacity to get it. Olivia could explain a million times in a million different ways but ... it most likely will not stick because it goes against everything she knows. 

This link between her compassion and empathy is especially strained right now because she has depression doing it’s own damage on her brain. she’s afraid. after her house was broken into ( another sign of her compassion for asher not extending to empathy. as much as she hates being alone in her home, she also didn’t want to share it with asher. she did not want that extra layer and burden and didn’t understand why it was falling on her. regardless, she feels a responsibility to asher as her ex and someone that was very important to her, but it is a lot harder to hide how upset she is when someone is sharing that space with her ) she felt this fear even more intensely, and she felt completely alone. she blamed asher, something that she does regret, and she hasn’t been able to completely come back from it. 

with her father throwing money at the problem, she fell inside herself. she destroyed her home again when finally realizing how alone she was. she blamed it on a second break in because she didn’t want to have to explain what was going on inside her head, and as people pushed harder and harder... she started crumbling more. she couldn’t see that they were trying to help her-- all she saw was them trying to infringe on her personal space. the more into her head she got, the worse it became. the more she started pushing against them because they were getting too close to unraveling what was left of her. they were pushing, and if she cannot hear what they are saying right now. she does not have that ability to hear that they care about her; instead, she is going to push them away first. 

this is where things..get really hard. Layla knows Olivia’s heart, and she is able to see things. Not to mention she has a history of projecting and pushing too hard ( see: the hottub scene in s1 ). she had to keep it together with asher for image reasons, on top of just clinging to this idea of him being this safe space: a memory. they grew apart, but she wasn’t good at admitting that. then she goes after Spencer because...she realizes that is what she wants and it is one of the decisions she makes for herself. but she is unable to see how that might impact or hurt Olivia, especially after learning about her & Asher. 

Instead of empathizing with Olivia and being able to see that it is connected into her addiction, all she feels is betrayed. and she lashes out about this because she is unable to see clearly. flash forward to current events: Olivia stages an intervention, with Spencer’s help, and they called her dad in. her dad, an automatic trigger for her, actually shows up this time, but it took the choice out of her hands. everything that she has been doing has been her grasping for control after her life spiraled out of control, and now spencer & olivia have broken that tenuous hold that she had.  she had already hurt spencer in the best way she thought possible. she broke up with him, yelled at him to leave, and then broke down herself when he actually did. while not fair for spencer, at all, it was confirmation that she was alone. and then they go to show that she isn’t, and she cannot see that, at all. 

and because of that heart that she admires so much in Olivia...she knows how to hurt it. while not knowing how bad her actions and words can spiral, she does not have the foresight to see that collateral consequences. All she can see is that Olivia hurt her and she needs to hurt her back. she feels betrayed and broken and, much like a caged animal, is lashing out because she feels backed into a corner with no control. and so she crosses line after line in an attempt to break olivia because then she’ll leave her alone. only then. and just like with spencer... it will be like confirmation that she is truly alone. she is not in a place to see anything getting better. she is not in a place to see that she really does need help. she is also not in the place to accept it. 

her kiss with asher is more layered that just hurting olivia, though. while this is a primary motive....it isn’t the only one. it is no coincidence that she does this only after seeing spencer with someone else. asher was this safe place for her, for a long long time. that ended, and there are no residual feelings there, but she hurt asher with spencer, and now she can hurt both spencer and olivia with asher. while kissing spencer was putting herself first, this was a last-ditched effort at control. she kissed asher because he reminded her of what it was like to be secure. she clung to him after her mom died because that was what was expected of her, but now... now it was just that place that used to be safe. that, obviously, did not work, and it caused even more damage. 

she has made multiple mistakes and has crossed lines that she will never be able to uncross and...honestly.. she doesn’t want to right now. more, she isn’t able to right now. until she realizes what she is doing/has done...which would be hard for her without depression on top of it, she doesn’t want to see it. she isn’t being perfect anymore, but admitting that there is something deeper going on that she is not in control of... she won’t do that. until she does, she won’t be able to mend these relationships, but more importantly, she won’t be able to help herself.

[rahleeyah]

I think one of the biggest let downs for me was that I was not surprised by one single EO scene that we got during the crossover. Because so much filming was done outside and covered on Twitter by fans it almost became a little predictable and I was left feeling very… meh by the end of it. That’s not to say both eps weren’t good they definitely were good but it just felt a little boring. Maybe that’s just me. Idk I am very glad that there will be some fresh blood running the show next season like they really gotta pick these story lines up and start making the snowball into an avalanche.

But on another note the whole Donnelly naming his kid after Elliot seems HIGHLY weird to me. Like especially if it’s actually Donnelly plotting all this stuff behind elliots back like what’s the play there? That choice seems suspect to me.

Oh AND mmkay I get it Elliot is struggling with whether his dad was a dirty cop or not that’s hard and he’s working thru it but we get some actual car ride hang time with EO and they talk about work and his dad? That’s it? Like yes Olivia had always been a real sounding board for him but as far as we know the two of them hadn’t spoken in a while and that’s the first thing he brings up? Like ok but…. Feels like an opportunity missed imo.

Honestly a lot of the crossover felt like EO opportunities missed. That’s nothing against marshmelon they are lovely and talented and so wonderful I just wish better writing choices would start getting made for the two of them.

All that being said, I’m sorry if this was super rambling and thank you for reading this far lmao. Your writing is incredible! Every time I’m like damn how does she do it you come back and top yourself it’s unreal! ❤️ thank you for all that you do! 💕💕💕

lemme try to hit this all in order:

i completely agree. this is why i hate spoilers! i hate that i have been sucked into twitter lmao i usually don't go on it day of and i have the biggest spoiler blogs blocked but all it takes is for one person i follow to hit like on a random tweet and bam i'm fucked and i can't unsee what i saw. that frustrates the shit out of me bc i don't wanna abandon twitter completely, but it keeps sabotaging me. if we know everything that happens in advance, what's the fucking point? remember when the i love you was spoiled? that fucking hurt me fam, bc if i had watched that scene not knowing it was coming i would be floored but instead i was thinking "wait, that's it?" bc we'd had just enough time to get ourselves worked up about it, and so we had all these expectations we might have been better off not having, and i just hate it.

but yes, i am also hoping that with some fresh blood we might see some bigger steps forward, esp now that it's confirmed oc's been picked up for another season. thank god.

the donnelly kid thing WAS SO WEIRD bc ok FIRST OF ALL if baby has a different middle name than his daddy he's not a junior that's not how that works who wrote that, and second, wtf frank this guy has only been back in your life for like a month. what are you doing. who would do that.

and it feels like a HUGE missed opportunity that all they talked about was his fucking dad. of course oc is going to center elliot on elliot's show, but it seems like all liv and el have been allowed to talk about is elliot. again, now that we're gonna have a new showrunner, hopefully we'll get to see this be more of a two way street.

it was a nice episode, but it should have happened months ago, not at the end of the season. by now we should have moved forward more, i feel like. but again, we have an eye on the future.

and thank you 😘😘😘 i love writing these stories so much, and i'm so glad you're enjoying them!!

[ironcrwned-archive]

hi friends ! it’s me ur resident clown, bonnie, & i’m stoked to be in this rp with all of you ! i’m 20, located in the est, and i use she/her pronouns ! i’m currently procrastinating all my school work so ! there’s that. below the cut are my babies’ intros, so like this and i’ll hit u up for plotting ! i got out of hand and this is super long so if this is overwhelming, there’s a tl;dr at the bottom !

𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐆 : 𝒙𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒖𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒕𝒛𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒕 –– THE ARTIST

alex fitzalan. twenty-three. cismale. he/him. one sib. ––– hey , there’s XAVIER FITZHERBERT from AURADON walking past the castle. they’re the OLDEST child of RAPUNZEL AND EUGENE ‘FLYNN’ FITZHERBERT , isn’t that cool ? talk says they can be pretty - NAIVE , but don’t let that worry you – they can be + BENEVOLENT too. say , don’t you think they remind you of DANCING WITH YOUR FRIENDS UNTIL YOU CAN’T BREATHE, WARM HUGS FROM THE PEOPLE THAT LOVE YOU, NOT WANTING TO GROW UP JUST YET & BOYISH SMILES, or is that just me ? 

𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒔 

the oldest child born to rapunzel & flynn, and it is obvious that he took after rapunzel with his temperament

a soft soul, his smiles always reach his eyes, dimples and cheekbones are his trademarks honestly

growing up, he was always outside, playing with his mother & father & sister ( though he is more of a momma’s boy tbh )

probably made ( and currently makes ) flower crowns for himself and friends

and his strong connection to rapunzel , it’s obvious young xavier got his artistic talent from her

he constantly has paint on his fingers and hands, a sketchbook in his bag with pastels and paints and oils from all over the place

most likely has drawn everyone he’s ever met in his sketchbook and then given it to them for their birthday and/or a holiday

his parents both loved him very very much growing up, and it’s obvious in how he acts. he never hesitated to come to them if there were problems or issues with anything in his life ( friends, relationships, schooling )

xavier is ~kind of~ a partier in the sense he is ALWAYS down to go out and have fun and dance with his friends , but he rarely ever gets out of control due to substances or anything

is currently having a Crisis about his sexuality because he’s really only ever been with females but now he’s just like ... seeing a cute guy and is like wait a min.. 

he hopes to become some type of royal painter or something one day because art is truly his passion 

𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 

okay so obviously, this boy is a big old softie 

he will ALWAYS drop everything he is doing to help someone out, it never matters with him

can be a little ( a lot ) on the awkward side & tries really really hard to not be but it really is just how he is and sometimes it’s endearing and sometimes it’s...like watching aladdin ( 2019 ) scene where aladdin meets jasmine the first time as prince ali .. it’s pretty bad

he is ESPECIALLY cringey when he is talking to someone attractive ( and they’re male/nb and he’s having a Crisis ) and they’re flirting with him...phew just kno that his ears ? are as red as merida’s hair

most likely will never know if someone’s taking advantage of him/using him

𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕 

hi i just like making playlists for my characters so ppl know the Vibe™️

i. talk too much // coin – ii. supercut // lorde. – iii. boy’s dont cry // the cure. – iv. made of light // mikky ekko – v. chicago // sufjan stevens – vi. eyes shut // years & years

𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒔

u can check out his tag right here ! so if u see anything u fancy, just lmk !!

but also!! friends!! probably people that he grew up around a lot bc of who his parents were

mayb someone who is the opposite of him ( maybe a villain kid ) who he tries to like ... encourage idk , i just rly like unlikely friendships !

someone who watches out for him , esp because he’s always taking care of others and most likely forgets to take care of himself ( taken by: giselle desroches )

maybe some exes?? most likely females for rn bc he’s discovering his sexuality but these were probably like ... friendly break ups

literally anything i’m pretty easy going !

okay now onto my trash child

𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐆 : 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒔 –– THE SPITFIRE

olivia holt. twenty-two. cisfemale. she/her. two sibs. ––– hey , there’s CASSANDRA ‘CASSIE’ EVANS from THE ISLE walking past the castle. they’re the YOUNGEST child of CLAYTON , isn’t that cool ? talk says they can be pretty - MANIPULATIVE , but don’t let that worry you – they can be + RESOURCEFUL too. say , don’t you think they remind you of HAIR TIED INTO PONYTAILS WITH RIBBONS, KNOWING YOU CAN DO NO WRONG IN YOUR FATHER’S EYES, AN ARROGANT SMILE AFTER YOU GOT YOUR WAY, & THE FEELING OF BARE FEET IN THE SAND , or is that just me ?  

𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒔 

the youngest child of clayton ( the bad guy from tarzan )

and when i tell you she is SPOILED omg

growing up she knew she was cute , mostly because clayton was SURE to tell her that and spoil his little girl ( xavier is a momma’s boy & cassie is for sure daddy’s little girl yikes )

so from a young age, she had a little mischievous side to her. 

it started with lil pranks on her siblings and then her dad and most of them weren’t harmful , just annoying but eventually as she went to school at the isle...she became a monster

she knew she had the innocent face so her friends ( !! wanted plot btw ) would pull pranks on other students and even some teachers

and whenever the other students would try to tell the teachers, cassie would put on a little smile and flip the narrative so she looked good and the other person didn’t. i literally can’t stand her

now in auradon, u know she’s gonna be making sh*t hit the fan whenever she gets the chance

big big disaster Bi that flirts with everyone with NO shame

𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 

so obviously cassie is somewhat of a lil monster ( not somewhat, she is a big one )

can be pretty darn manipulative depending on the situation and whether or not she will benefit from it or not

but ! she does have some redeeming qualities ! 

she is super resourceful meaning that her mind is super quick to find the easiest and most time efficient solution to a problem 

and she’s a pretty good smooth talker in bad situations, she’s known to get her friends out of a lot of sticky situations before

very very flirty okay but hates commitment lol

is pretty adventurous as well, loves the outdoors and hiking and swimming especially

 ��𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕 

i. dead weight // pvris. – ii. bad memory // k. flay. – iii. simmer // hayley williams – iv. west coast // lana del rey – v. teach me how to pray // spelles. – vi. don’t hurt yourself // beyonce. 

𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒔

u can look in her tag right here ! same thing with xavier , if u see something u wanna do just let me know !!

girl squad !!! probably from the isle too and probably f*cked sh*t up over there and now? they’ll most likely do the same thing over in auradon 

probably has lotsssss of exes because she tends to self-sabotage and leave before things get serious. we love some angst in this household 

people that genuinely dislike her lmao 

people she probably flirts with on the daily basis lol 

𝚝𝚕 ; 𝚍𝚛 ( seriously i need to chill )

ik this was A LOT so i’m just gonna summarize them below lol

xavier fitzherbert : son of rapunzel & flynn, art heaux, discovering his sexuality, a whole awkward mess but just wants to help people!

cassandra ‘cassie’ evans : youngest daughter of clayton from tarzan, a little spitfire that manipulates mostly everyone, disaster bi afraid of commitment, and causes too much trouble all the time 

[boglog]

HILL HOUSE NOTES !!

Objectively speaking, I like the show as a weird crossover between Transparent and American Horror Story but there are always some cons :/ One thing I will say is that I find it hard to review horror bc I'm too busy swimming in cortisol to notice plot holes but I watched the scary scenes w subtitles and no audio and that will have to do!!!

Cons:

The diologue is occasionally awful.

Scratch that it's terrible and the more the show goes on the more it nears Grey's Anatomy levels of nauseating

Firstly, there are way too many name drops esp when there are only two characters in the room, sometimes even one sentence after another, it's exhausting.

i.e. 'Stay right here, honey. I'm going to talk to the police now sweetie, I'll be right back.' // 'You eat people, Steve. You are a parasite, Steve.'

Second of all, 'Don't do that ever again. Don't do that. Where were you? I thought the house thingy got you.' kids don't talk like this. I know irl children tend to imitate the adults around them but the sheer amount of stock cliches these child actors are required to say is incredible

And honestly overall there's too much talking period. There are dozens of scenes where a character monologues for almost five minutes!!!!

I loved mind doppelgänger Leigh's speech but really let's tally it up: we've got Mrs Dudley's monologue, Olivia monologues a few times, Theo's monologue, Luke 2 or three monologues, one from Shirley, Hugh is not much of a talker so thank god they were consistent. And of course a lot of these are important to the story and even close to entertaining (see also: Nell yelling at Steve) but it's way too much and anything actually significant is diluted in this deluge of info-dump-y speeches

Why god??? Why?

Like this is television not radio but I guess it's another case of Forced Diegesis when summarising w flashbacks would actually be way easier on my psyche but Tacky for these Kinematic Auteurs

I would've liked a more in depth exploration of Olivia and her childhood experiences of paranormal tragedy to give us a better context for her morally grey slip into an evil mother

Still somewhat peeved at how, bc of supernatural instinct, we can justify Theo and CPS taking a child away from her home. Obviously the show can't waste so much time on what's only supposed to be a quick detour into Theo's character and it works within the world of the show given that the guy did confess but portrayals of police, first responders, social workers, ad nauseum making snap descisions like that is Not Good for people's real world perception of their rights. Just sayin.

Maybe a scene where Steve and Hugh apologise for being garbage humans or something idk that would've been nice

This show has many layers and interpretations which could either skew towards clever ambiguity or clumsy indescision and while I'm leaning toward the former, I will say it does go a little all over the place for me.

Are the Crains' superpowers genetic, from their mother? Did it come from the house? Why is the house was so vindictive? What does it want? Or is it more symbolic of the emptiness inside the characters? Why is Olivia decidedly an over controlling mother but Nell is an innocent? Is really the only thing Steve had to do to save his marriage was reverse the vasectomy? Nell died of her own paradoxical haunting that began when she was six so was the cause ultimately a sadness within herself before the house of strictly the house's pull?

Like it's v unclear (probably deliberately) wether or not the story was Psychosis All Along or it was the house's vendetta or bc the Crains specifically are a supernatural mutant family

We never find out what Nell does for a living and I'm curious

Finally: it's really white sometimes. Like. Painfully white. Granted, the Crains come close to my favourite kind of white person, the quirky dysfunctional family of adult children scattered all over the country who only reunite at their dead sister's funeral. Still, the POC tally up to two love interests (one of which DIES), one cop, one naïve widow, and one poor daughter-less foster parent. One could argue only a middle class white family would stay in a haunted house for so long ://

Pros

The show juggles seven characters and two plots flawlessly. Each character is recognisable w a distinct personality after about only two episodes, the nonlinear structure as we alternate between the present day frame story and the main plot in flashbacks before ultimately converging when the family reunites at the house for the last time is not only clear but parses its information in way that's not only not confusing but strengthens the tension and dread. Even while they show the flashbacks' ending (w Olivia and later Nell's death) as well as the epilogue, the build up still feels entirely justified. This is peak plotting right there.

Furthermore, Nell's ghost still manages to be in the spotlight with some jumpscares even after we know who she is

My soul pretty much left my body when Nell's ghost attempts to bond w her sisters via screaming as they argue in the car

A quintessential microcosm of the show's representation of time and memory is Nell's final speech: whimsically disjointed at first, poignant and clear by the end

It's a horror show that is completely dedicated to its characters (and I'm sure some of you already know my love of dysfunctional families) and centres around human themes of connection, mourning, and trauma and the necessity of vulnerability and letting go in order to live a full life. That's very rare in horror where we usually get gratuitous gore with a small spattering of sentimental scenes to further the gore.

Olivia's Forever House served as an excellent symbol for her need to control, the house's monicker implying her fear of change.

An incomplete but not bad portrayal of trauma, a decent addition to the topical and ever-expanding mental illness discourse

Also ft. meta commentary on writers

In the beginning, Olivia really was portrayed as a concerned mother who was always trying to be considerate of her children's emotional well-being despite her occasional snaps. One has to wonder wether her slip into an irrational need to control might reflect society's paradoxically oppressive expectations of motherhood: to have absolute control of your children while also being a benevolent saviour to them 24/7. I mean in all fairness to Olivia, she was working and raising 5 kids. I'd lose my marbles too.

Or maybe I'm giving the creators too much credit and they were only angling for an Other Mother thing. I like this Foucaultian nihilism though so we're gonna go w that.

The show's acknowledgment of Useless Dad and Entitled Eldest Son syndrome.

Spat my tea when doppelgänger Leigh ripped Steve a new one, and since she's a representation of his psyche maybe that means that Steve himself has gained some self awareness. (He should still... apologise to his family....)

I mean they were really spot-on with how birth order family drama goes.

Human portrayal of a lesbian as an adult and a child! As tumblr user Lesbeet said, this is very rare and deftly done!

Theo doing literally anything

Shirl is p adorable

Theo and Shirl: the comedy duo we absolutely need in our lives

Arthur and Nell's romance is joining Up's prologue in the golden vault of world's greatest ten minute love montages. (Both of which ended in tragédie. ☹️)

Shirl's AU dream sequence, which unlike the others, presents us with an extramarital faux pas that we were not previously aware of, manages to seem totally appropriate for her character

The set and costume design are perfect for the primordial fear of the unknown aesthetic the show was going for. Fairy flappers! Gothic stairwells! Punk rock leather gloves! A McMansion that doubles as a funeral home! Motels! A curvilinear LA mansion! The absolutely insane brutalist million dollar rehab centre! Oh boy!!!

Accurate mortician portrayal: they really do gotta wire the corpses' mouths shut. Those damn chatty dead people.

Tldr:

Diologue is lengthy and cheesy while the characters are Too White. The rare portrayals of POC and how social services work were lacklustre. 👎

The show's incredible ambition and dedication to its characters and themes of trauma, dysfunctional family relationships, and the consequences of coping via trying to control your life is amazing. Theo, especially, is amazing. It's a very goth show with clinically depressed ghosts.👍