#like i didn't like her depiction in that ep for these reasons anon

[bolly--quinn]

not to demean OP’s headcanons in your post about diane and ricks relationships and attributes, but it seems wrong to say that Diane’s been portrayed as an airhead bimbo in the fandom. i think with this character we know little about it’s not outrageous to propose that diane could’ve been a gentle, kind, loving person—someone who might’ve been a little soft, or shy. why is that impossible for rick (especially in the past) to have fallen for that? why are these traits not good enough for rick? these traits dont necessarily mean weakness or stupidity

Oh!! I totally agree and I hope that my post didn't seem to suggest that she can't be a total sweetie peach as well!! That's kinda what I didn't like about fear no mort tbh (I know it was Morty's fear but the writers said it was accurate and that made me a bit :/) she seemed too rough around the edges for my taste as the episode progressed (like her depiction when they went to get ice cream and to the zoo was perfect to me because we could see that she takes no shit but is so fiercely loving)

I totally agree and think that she can definitely be gentle and loving without being an "airhead" and that she can be nurturing and sweet and a brilliant badass

[nanso]

Same anon with more complaints…lol. I just did a quick rewatch of just Kathony scenes (key word quick!! 😬) I truly love what we got but I can’t help but think about how much we didn’t.

1) This is no fault of Simone - who was brilliant with the material she was dealt (I don’t think the writing served her talent at all actually - she was strong dramatically as was asked of her, but she also can be funny and sardonic and we hardly saw that). Anyway, they really dulled down Kate’s personality? Or rather, the show kept putting Kate in impossible, miserable circumstances so she was always put upon or yearning or generally down. I wanted to see more of Kate’s spiritedness in the book which we did see in the first few eps (1-3). And her humor! She really came alive opposite Anthony (and he opposite her) but we ultimately got to see so little of this. I think how flat Kate is written is very obvious compared to Anthony, who is dynamic and fully realized. On my rewatch, they felt glaring unequal as the alleged co-leads (I’d argue Penelope was the season’s de facto lead though 🥴)

2) The show abandoned the enemies phase far too fast in favor of the love triangle. The issue with the love triangle is a separate thing but S2 barely using the enemies to lovers trope meant we lost so much fun *banter.* That banter would’ve helped established their “true love” a lot more convincingly imo, in addition to their strong visceral connection (that we didn’t see). Also why they’re such an endearing and beloved couple, imo, is chiefly because of how *fun* they are - and that was really lost in S2 because they spent the whole fucking time separated and yearning. I just think of their silly married antics and get so sad we were denied that. Or even some version of that dynamic. I personally hated S&D because of how damn tortured they were for no good reason (in addition to the obvious). Kate and Anthony in S2 were even worse which is just such a fundamentally wrong depiction of their relationship.

I feel like both of these complaints relate to the fact that TVWLM is a rom com and S2 is very much not. It started promisingly but took such a turn by episode 4. I did think the book could’ve used some angst since the stakes felt a little low, but certainly not this…I’m just feeling very wistful lmao. I know the actors have confirmed they’re returning but damn I wanted Kate and Anthony to be done justice in their own actual season…

Yeah, I mean, I think I said in a separate ask that it felt like competing visions. That could have been from different people being involved (ie CVD vs Jess B); or it could have been CVD himself. He told EW that among his inspirations for S2 were 2005's P&P (not surprising) but also...The Age of Innocence. Listen....those are two VERY DIFFERENT movies and honestly - I see that split inspiration visible this season. And you can feel it in the way there is not a seamless transition from enemies to lovers.  The transition is eliminated so we kinda go from 30 to 10 to 60/70 to 90 before ending at 100. 

Re: Simone/Kate - I don’t think that they dulled down her personality actually.It’s just the writing was all over the place between episodes, at least it was to me. The writers did Kate's character dirty. Kate should've gotten equal background development to Anthony (more honestly, since we spent S1 with Anthony) and we didn't get that. Her trauma felt like a footnote. And it's not ok.