#she also had a personal reason to end Max but it's not important okay it's just a benefit she gets for being a good helpful christian

[reneeub]

Grace is such a lovely girl she just wants to help everyone :c

In Abstinence Camp she's worried that Steph might be pregnant and gets her send to Abstinence Camp for her own good

In Nerdy Prudes Must Die she's worried about Hatchetfield youth and wants to save them from co-ed dances and wants to help nerds stop getting bullied by Max

It's not her fault that all of her good intentions end with murder :C

[doverstar]

I'd love to defend Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life for a minute (I don't usually make long posts and may delete this later for that reason) because I feel like writing something inconsequential.

Other people get lots of comfort watching the original show (especially in the fall). I feel cozier watching AYITL. The characters are much older; the dizzy, flighty, still-growing-up feelings for Lorelai and Rory have faded, and it's full of moments that make it clear that certain things in their lives are definitely always going to be there. Constants. Luke, Stars Hollow, family, Kirk, Taylor, the changing of the seasons. Now - for my defense. (I'm rambling.)

Okay, many, many people don't like the revival. I understand. It's different in a lot of ways from the original show, and lots of expectations were not met. When I first saw it, it threw me too. But I didn't dislike it. In fact, the more I rewatched it, the more I thought it was almost better than the first show. The leading ladies are not flashy young stars anymore - Rory is Lorelai's age when the OG show first began, and Lorelai is gracefully and fabulously careening toward grandma times with all her wit and charm, all her most comfy habits, and it makes me want to hang out with her more than Season 1 of the show ever did. And I think the fact that ASP came back to write for these characters again and end it on her terms, at last, was an absolute win, and I love how she did it because it fixed so many things I thought were wrong in the show.

Lorelai is self-centered, terrified of commitment, and has no idea how to put others before herself and not run away during the hard times - unless something involves Rory.

Rory is self-centered, thinks she is special, and has no idea how to deal with not getting what she wants. The consequences of her actions almost never directly affect her, and when they do, said consequences are quickly stamped on and snuffed out by her mother/friends/family.

Emily is self-centered, desperate to be in control, and finds her worth in what other people think, in how things look, and that includes what Richard thinks.

In the show, Lorelai has moments where she learns to stay and learns to put other people who are not Rory before herself. Those moments don't last. She definitely has good intentions, but they're all conditional. She only has good intentions up to a point - and that point is usually when someone or something threatens her happiness and feeling of safety, or Rory's happiness and feelings of safety (understandable; that's her child).

In the show, Rory is told she is the sweetest kid in the whole world. Rory is told she'd never do anything to hurt anybody. Rory is told she's special, she's smarter than her peers, she's not like other girls. Rory 100% believes that. She also probably has a bit of a problem with living up to that image - she wants to be all of those things, and thinks she is, and can't handle it when it seems like people think she's not. (That may or may not have something to do with Christopher, who always had somewhere more important to be, or with Lorelai, who was so cool and strong and sure of Rory.)

And the show has moments, too, where Lorelai has to face the music and see that she's screwed up or is hurting someone with her behavior (Max, Chris, Luke, Jason, Emily, Richard, Sookie), but very very often, Lorelai breezes her way through that music and keeps moving, and flits to the next thing or person that will make her happy, because she does not know how to stay and stand and fix what she's broken. Because it only matters if she is happy and if Rory is happy. (The same thing goes for Rory in the show - consequences come, but Rory rarely has to properly deal with them herself. She is coddled and propped up the whole way.)

Now, to my point!

I watched AYITL and noticed something was different right away. Lorelai is with Luke (she should be), who is the opposite of her - constant, loyal, selfless, determined to stay no matter how hard things get. But they're not married. Lorelai is scared to really commit, and marriage is one of the hardest things you can commit to - ever. And Lorelai is not happy. Rory, for her part, is not perfectly settled as a reporter or a journalist or any of the things she was always told she could be. And she's not happy. And Emily, bless her, has lost her husband and her false sense of control is spinning away, and of course, she is not happy.

And A Year In The Life takes the show's clumsy half-arc of these three Gilmore women and perfectly completes it.

Lorelai's fear of commitment and habit of bolting when things get hard drives her to push every new chef out of the Dragonfly, refuse to expand the inn to better accommodate Michel's needs, shun Rory's tell-all of her past mistakes, shame Richard at his funeral and break Emily's heart, and worst of all, nearly wreck the closest thing to a proper relationship she's ever had: the one she has with Luke. She can't face that she misses her father, loved her father, and that maybe her mother is right about her relationship status. She can't face that people might read Rory's writing and see all her flaws and all her mistakes growing up in printed ink, and she can't run from that. And when Rory insists, Lorelai cuts ties. Lorelai has spent years avoiding marriage with Luke. She has spent years hurting her mother in an effort to defend herself at all costs. And she has spent years ensuring the Dragonfly Inn is exactly what she wants it to be; because changing it would be uncomfortable, and as a result, she won't commit to a new chef, she won't expand, and she's about to lose Michel the way she lost Sookie.

Rory's bubble of self-centeredness and assurance that she's special is popped with the needle of reality at last: she is not special. She's a young woman who has to actually work hard to find a job and make some money, like everyone her age. She is talented and she is smart, but she's not God's gift to journalism, and people keep saying no, and people keep asking her to prove her skills and her merit, and she doesn't know how to deal with that because everyone has always told her she can do anything she wants and she's the best. She wants a distinguished career and can't find anyone who will take her on; she tries to write for a raging batty feminist (hello Alex Kingston I love your work) and that goes sideways; she wants Logan Huntzberger but she turned down his proposal and now he's engaged and it has to be a secret; she wants somewhere to live - just not Stars Hollow because she's better than the thirty-somethings stuck back home. She wants Lorelai to approve of her book and insists her mother give her this, as if Lorelai hasn't always given her whatever she could. And when Lorelai says no, Rory does what she wants anyway and almost fractures their relationship over it.

Emily's control is completely gone - she can't control her emotions, she can't control her tongue, she can't control her maid or her maid's handy family, she can't even control a stupid painting of her late husband. She's on a downward spiral and her anchor is dead. She tries to regain a sense of worth, because surely that will bring happiness back. She tries to gain it from how many possessions she has, that doesn't work. She tries to gain it from Jack, who is not well-suited to her but he makes a matching accessory to the life other people will see. That doesn’t work. She tries to gain it from therapy with Lorelai, control her daughter at last, that doesn't work. She tries to control Richard's headstone, that doesn't work. She even tries to find solace with her beloved D.A.R, and she finds that emptiest of all.

A Year In The Life has these women finally face their flaws head-on and grow. The way characters should.

Rory: Rory is confronted with the fact that she is not special and has to move home like everyone else her age and get a job she does not want, because that's life, and that's what everyone else has to do in the real world. And when she's at her lowest, pouting, she gets advice from someone who has faced his own flaws long ago and has grown and who knows her at her best, and encourages her to get up and work hard (Jess Mariano, ladies and gentlemen). And she does. Rory hits bottom and takes Jess's advice and works at understanding her mother, who is not perfect, and even goes to interview her father, who is also not perfect. She fights with Lorelai over the book and insists on her own way, and when Lorelai refuses, Rory can only blame herself. She has a rabble-rousing night with her LaDB boys and winds up sleeping with Logan in one more bubble of fantasy, one more umbrella-jump of escapism, like the old days, because Logan is her weakness. And when she wakes up the next morning, Rory turns and walks away from Logan and the affair and her insistence on having what she wants regardless of who she hurts (hello, Dean Forrester and her affinity for taking spoken-for men) for the final time. And the consequences of her desires? She’s pregnant. (Come on, we all know the baby is Logan’s; Rory’s life rhymes with Lorelai’s.) She goes to Christopher to interview him for the book and is subtly asking her father why he wasn’t in her life, because she needs to know what to do with her baby and her lover. She didn’t go to Lorelai to figure that out. She went to her dad, because the truth is, Rory didn’t have her father, and part of dealing with the consequences of her actions is to work out how to take care of this baby and whether or not that means involving the father. She’s owning up. She goes to Lorelai and offers to give up this book; she doesn’t make excuses or whine, she wrote the book anyway because she believes in it, but when she’s gotten three chapters in, she respectfully goes to her mother and asks her to read it and then, for the sake of Lorelai, not herself, Rory promises to quit and throw the book out if Lorelai does not approve. Because Lorelai is more important to her than herself. Rory has worked hard and made mistakes and gotten pregnant and she has stared the world in the eyes and seen she’s not special. And she has to deal with that. And she does, finally, deal with it. And she’s happy.

Emily: Emily is confronted with the fact that nothing is inside her control—except what she does. Worth does not come from what she owns or who she’s with or what she’s wearing, and it didn’t come from her marriage, either. That wasn’t why she married Richard anyway. She is miserable and alone, and part of that is her fault. She married Richard because she loved him, and she keeps coming back to Lorelai because she loves her, and she opens up her house to Rory when Rory needs a place to write because she loves her. Emily looks around at what she has and recognizes what has worth and what doesn’t, maybe for the first time, with clear vision. She recognizes that she can’t control everything. At first, that fact keeps her down. She forgets what day it is, the curtains are closed, and she doesn’t get up in the morning. No Richard, no Lorelai, no reason to move. And then Lorelai calls her, and tells her about who Richard was and what Richard did and how it mattered, and that inspires Emily. She can get up. She buys a place on Cape Cod, totally opposite of the sort of life everyone admires and expects to have worth, and she does what she’s really always been best at—she loves. She takes care. She took care of Richard, she took care of Lorelai and Rory when they needed it, and she takes care of Berta and her wonderful family, instead of having a maid take care of her needs. She packs up and moves out, she sends Jack away, she reveals the D.A.R. for what it is and quits them forever, and she takes a job at a whaling museum because she just likes it. It’s nothing fancy, and neither is her oceanic house or the music she plays in it or the clothing she wears, because none of that is worth anything anyway. Her family is. Her friends are. She gets the painting of Richard done right and brings it with her, and she gives up attempting control of everything and only takes control of how she behaves. She gives Lorelai what Lorelai needs for the Dragonfly, and her only stipulation is that she gets to spend more time with her daughter and Luke. She loves, she takes care of others, she helps. And she’s happy. And now, the best for last. The star.

Lorelai: Lorelai sits in that stupid Stars Hollow Musical and hears a song that perfectly describes her problem—it’s never or now. Make a commitment. Do something hard. Make your life about something other than your momentary present happiness and comfort, the way you do with just Rory, sometimes, but make it a permanent change. Make change permanent! Don’t run away! …And then she runs away. She’s been miserable, she’s hit bottom, like her mother before her and her daughter after her. She’s losing friends, she’s losing Luke, she’s losing Emily, she’s losing Rory over the manuscript, and it’s all her fault. Lorelai tries to breeze past it. She does Wild. She does what she’s never done before, she does something hard and uncomfortable, but she does it for herself, and therefore it doesn’t quite work. She tries to hike, Dipper Pines won’t let her hike, she meets other women her age who think this hike is gonna fix things, it doesn’t, and she gives up and goes to get coffee because that’s her go-to. (Coffee is speedy, bad for you, and only a temporary rush—kind of everything Lorelai clings to, actually.) But the coffee shop is closed, and when Lorelai is denied that allegorical Band Aid, she goes around back and sees a great view and finally finds clarity. She didn’t need the hike—she needed to think. She needed a moment of silence and introspection to gain the insane courage to finally stop moving, stick around, and face her fears. To put her eyes on herself and then take her eyes off herself and onto other people—namely the people she loves. Lorelai calls Emily and cries, because it’s hard to do this, it hurts, but with one story, she proves she loved her father, and she knows her father loved her, and the fact that she’s calling shows that she knows Emily loves her too, and she loves Emily, and has loved them both all along. It gives Emily the strength she needs to get out of bed. That was hard, but Lorelai did it. And now she’s going to do more hard things—she’s going to commit. It’s never or now, and Lorelai chooses now. She goes home and the first thing she does is propose to Luke and become Lorelai Danes overnight. Hard. Scary. Just right. She patches things up with her daughter, and chooses Rory over herself—for the hundredth time, yes, but when it’s at its hardest for her to do. “I’ll read it when it’s done.” Lorelai expands the Dragonfly. She goes to Emily for help, which is also super hard, but this time it’s not for Rory – it’s for her, and it’s for Michel, and it’s for the Dragonfly. And she accepts Emily’s affectionate terms. Lorelai chooses Rory, Luke, Emily, and Michel over herself, and commits, and she doesn’t run away. And she’s happy.

And all of it is earned. Finally earned.

I could talk more about the incredible writing, about ASP at her best, about the perfect themes and scenery and the very intentional end to Paris, Lane, Kirk, Taylor, Dean, Jess, Logan, Chris, and the general cast’s stories, but I’ve already rambled for too long.

Suffice it to say: A Year in the Life is my Gilmore Girls. It’s best version of the story. I think it was expertly done. Not perfect, but an ending that was earned.

[stardust-moth]

In order to fully understand why it was so hard for Mike to express how deeply he loves El, and why his speech at the end of season 4 was one of the biggest, most important moments for his entire character, we need to look at not just who Mike is as a person, but also everything that has happened since he met her.

Every single time he opens up his heart to her, something horrible happens to her or she's taken away from him almost immediately afterwards.

1x08; he's an awkward little ball of feelings that are way too big for a boy so young. He makes a nervous attempt at confessing and asking her out on a date; when he can't find words that she'll understand, swoops in for a kiss instead. She lights up immediately and smiles. It's a brief moment of hope and pure happiness. Maybe they can have some semblance of a normal life and be normal kids after this is all over.

Minutes later, all hell breaks loose-- they're almost shot, El pushes herself too far until she can barely move, she's almost taken away by the Bad Men, the Demogorgon appears, and she uses the very last of her strength to sacrifice herself to save him and their friends.

He has to watch helplessly as she disappears.

He spends a year caught between believing she's dead and hoping she's still out there somewhere (but if she is alive then why won't she talk to him anymore...?). Kept silent under threat by the lab, he can't confide in anyone or even acknowledge her existence, not with anyone except those involved... but everyone else is keen on moving on and pretending it never happened. He can find some solidarity in Will, at least, who is in a similar kind of emotional turmoil... but it's not the same and it's not enough.

2x9; he is finally reunited with El, and she runs into his arms like she missed him too. She tells him that all those nights he called out to her, she heard him; she was there reciprocating his feelings the whole time.

In a burst of emotions that he's been forced to suppress for an entire year, he lashes out at the reason they've been kept apart (Hopper), screaming and sobbing. It's a massive catharsis for him, and for once an adult is understanding enough to hold him and not punish him for it.

Minutes later, she is going to go headfirst into a pit of monsters, the place where Mike had just firsthand witnessed dozens of people (if not more) get ripped to shreds only hours earlier, and she is going to attempt to close the Gate-- a feat that he knows may take every ounce of her power, just like last time. He cries. He can't lose her again. She promises he won't, and before she can seal that promise with a kiss, they're pulled apart again.

He has to watch helplessly as she drives away.

3x1; all seems to be okay now. He and El are happily together, and he feels comfortable enough to be playful, romantic, and intimate with her. It's the most emotionally open we've ever seen Mike thus far.

For reasons he can't understand (bc there's no way Hopper explained himself beyond "I'm in charge so do as I say or else"), Hopper is angry about it and threatens to never allow him to see her again: the one thing he fears most.

He panics big time and fucks it up in the process by lying to her. During a frantic attempt to apologize while also abiding by Hopper's rules, he runs into her at the mall. He panics again-- if anyone finds her here, and knows that he was here too, it's all over, and Hopper surely won't hear reason. El dumps him cold on the spot, spurred on by Max and her rebellious attitude (and without any context of course). He isn't given much opportunity to respond. He knows he's in the wrong for lying to her, so what could he even say...?

He has to watch helplessly as she drives away.

It's a hard blow, and he retreats back into himself, unable to get any joy out of playing D&D (which he clearly hasn't lost interest in), back to the deadpan sarcasm and accidentally snapping a little too harshly at anyone whom he feels would take El's place.

3x6; no one seems to understand the danger El is putting herself in. Everyone is berating him for worrying about her safety. He's seen firsthand what these monsters do to people, he's seen firsthand how El pushes her abilities too far. No one is listening.

The words "I love her and I can't lose her again" burst out in his desperation, perhaps before he's even had a chance to realize how deep those feelings run, despite whatever protective walls he's tried to build around his heart to keep it from getting broken again.

Soon after, all hell breaks loose. El is nearly killed several times over, her leg is ripped open, she pushes herself so hard that she breaks herself and loses her powers completely. Her father is taken from her. She's shattered by all of this, and there's absolutely nothing he could do or say to make it better.

She tells him that when he admitted he loves her, she heard him, and indeed she loves him, too... But now she's leaving.

He has to watch helplessly as she drives away.

4x1; they've been apart for a few months, and write letters back and forth to each other. El's letters paint a picture of an ideal new life: she and the Byers family are doing well; she's starting school and it's going well; she's made new friends, she likes her new home, everything is going well. She seems to be thriving. She sounds happy, maybe even happier than she had been living in Hawkins. Maybe Max was right, maybe she's better off being her own person without him, and maybe the respectful thing to do is step back... It's a small insecurity that creeps up subconsciously. In his replies he holds back, afraid of clinging too hard.

Though there's little logic in it, he's afraid that if he tells her he loves her again, another disaster might strike and this lovely happy life she's finally found might get taken from her. After all, that's what always seems to happen when he does.

4x2; after months of waiting, they can finally see each other again. He wears her favorite colors, picks a handful of flowers for her, and falls happily back into step with how they used to be. Soon that same day, however, reality becomes clear and the facade crumbles. People he was told were her friends show up to torment and publicly humiliate her. She had been lying. She isn't happy here, she hasn't healed, she is right at the edge of a breaking point that he doesn't see coming at all. He can't believe she would lie to him, she's not the kind of person to lie... especially not about something like bullying, something that she was always so understanding about with him.

On that logicless subconscious level, he wonders if it's all his fault-- he should have known somehow, he should have been there for her. She protected him from his bullies, he should have protected her from hers. He tries to come to her rescue. She runs away from him.

He's helpless to save her, again.

4x3; after a night to process everything that happened-- and deciding that the betrayal he feels from her lying to him is nothing compared to the turmoil she must be going through right now-- Mike approaches her in the gentlest way possible, wanting to listen and trying to understand. El, however, isn't receptive at all to his attempts at reassurance. She is at an all-time low, she's given up. She believes she is unlovable, irredeemable, a monster, just a thing that doesn't even have those superhuman abilities to compensate anymore. Mike can't believe what he's hearing-- doesn't she know that she's always been so much more than her powers? She's always been so much more than what she lacks in quote-unquote "normalcy"... None of those things matter, they have absolutely no bearing on whether she's worthy of being loved, because he loves her, completely regardless of any of these things. He always has...

El starts flinging his restrained words back at him, the products of his insecurity and trauma-induced fear. That fear takes hold yet again, and he stumbles, afraid of saying too much or not enough, because surely both could result in pushing her away-- she's retreating, hearing none of it; nothing he tries to say consoles her.

Moments later, local police come knocking. She's taken away in cuffs, and she's so broken inside that she won't even look at him when he chases the police car down the street and promises he'll get her out somehow...

Once again, he has to watch helplessly as she drives away.

4x8/4x9; after days of driving through the heat and dryness of southwest desert, having narrowly escaped being shot at with military-grade assault rifles, witnessing the death of and burying a man whose last words were that El is in danger... After watching dozens of people get mowed down by a sniper in a helicopter, and watching that same helicopter be smashed into the ground in a ball of flames...

There she is. Just as powerful and beautiful and alive as she's ever been. When he runs to her and embraces her, she looks at him like she can't believe he's real. She's beaming a smile right from her soul and it's like all the insecurity and self-doubt that have plagued them both just vanish from existence now that they're in each other's arms again.

Like always, however, the universe comes crashing down soon after. Max is marked for a gruesome death and all of Hawkins is in danger. They're miles away and helpless, and the only possible way for El to save everyone is if she goes in alone. She's stronger than ever, but so is her foe. Once again, she descends to face all the demons of hell on her own, and Mike can't do anything.

She's losing. She's choking. She's dying. He's helpless.

He must be cursed. He must be. Being with her, loving her, allowing himself to admit he loves her, it always brings only pain and suffering and loss. His heart is so full that it's aching, it's bursting out of his chest, and he can't contain it any longer.

She's going to die and it's going to be all his fault, because he fell in love, and it's cursed her.

Just before it all crumbles into utter despair, the earnest support from his oldest and dearest friend-- one who's always shared and understood his feelings of helplessness-- sparks a light of hope in him: "You're the Heart." You're not helpless. You can save her.

The words that come spilling out of Mike's mouth are truer than any he's ever dared to speak before, and it's the most terrified he's ever been, but he has enough courage for this moment. Despite all of the fears that have been building, stifling, choking him to death for years-- fears that the light of his life will inevitably disappear again, and there's nothing he can do to stop it-- despite it all, he pours out his heart to her.

He loves her. He's always loved her. He loves everything she ever was, is, and could be. He can't imagine a world without her in it. She saved him, in every way a person can be saved. And he needs her to live. He believes in her.

And it works. It's music to her ears.

[pinkeoni]

Bruh. The episode name is "the vanishing of holly wheeler". Not only did they copy Will's episode name and gave it to Holly but they also are intending to give the kidnapping plotline to her character. And we know that should follow up by the other wheelers trying to save her. It is basically making the wheelers byers.

First of all, that list of episode titles come from an unofficial source. Could be real, could be fake. And the name of the title was "The Vanishing of *BLANK* Wheeler with no real confirmation as to the number of letters in the first name since the leak was given verbally, which was then relayed over the internet with "*****" making people believe that it could be Holly.

Second of all, rehashing season one with Holly instead of Will doesn't make any sense and likely improbable and here's why:

I don't see the narrative reason to have Holly go missing. Sure, it could still happen, but I wouldn't see the necessity for it.

The purpose of Will going missing in season 1 was to act as an inciting incident to get all of the other characters involved. The story was driven by Will's disappearance, thus why it was one of the first things we saw happen in the show and why it was deserving of the first episode title.

What would be the purpose of Holly going missing in season 5? Everything has already been set up at the end of season 4. The Upside Down is coming into Hawkins and Vecna has plans to basically take over the world. Max is in a coma and Will can still feel Vecna's left nut. That's reason enough to get the characters involved. We don't need Holly to go missing for the characters to want to take action. Also, if you wanted to get Karen and Ted involved, they already have their two other children involved with the supernatural, so they can get into it that way tangentially.

I think that people are overestimating the reasoning for wanting to replace Holly with an older and more experienced actress, I don't necessarily believe that this recast means that something terrible will happen to her, I just think she was replaced because there is a time skip and Holly is going to need to say more lines than "Mommy, it's snowing!" The original twins cast to play Holly were cast as toddlers, and Nell has more experience actually performing and saying lines. But I don't think that the Duffers are going to end their final season with giving irreparable trauma to a young girl without the chance for that to be resolved in later seasons.

What purpose would Vecna have with taking Holly? What would he even want with her? Vecna targeted specific characters for a specific purpose last season, he doesn't just kidnap little girls for the hell of it. That would be a waste of his time.

He doesn't need to kidnap Holly to get to Will, and personally I hate hate HATE the idea of Will going into the Upside Down in order to get to Holly. Will already has ties to Vecna. Why would he need to kidnap someone to get to him? Also, why would it be Holly? Why not Joyce or Jonathan? What significant relationship does Will have with this little girl who I'm pretty sure he doesn't have any screen time with?

I think people outside of fandom forget that the show has not given the audience a reason to really care about Holly other than the fact that she is a little girl. She has had no significant lines, no significant screen presence, and no significant story line. And all of a sudden the final season of the show hinges on finding this girl that the audience doesn't give a shit about. Okay.

And before someone tries to straw man me and say "Oh, so you're saying that the Wheeler's doesn't have ANY connection to the supernatural and isn't important?" Of course I think they are important. They are as important any character is, they all have their own roles in the story. But the Wheeler's involvement with the supernatural has always been tangential. Barb was taken so Nancy got involved. Will was taken and Mike found El so Mike got involved. Karen is likely to now get involved since her children are now involved. I am making my assertion based on what I am seeing in the show. They are involved with the supernatural because they make themselves involved. Both Will and El are tied to the supernatural in a more direct way, and based on what the show has told me as well as what official sources (The Duffer's themselves), they are more integral to the supernatural plot than any Wheeler. Point blank.

[williamrikers]

okay. fuck. i need to talk about be my favorite. because jesus christ, this might be THE smartest show currently airing, which is a miracle at a time when la pluie is also airing.

so, this episode we learned more about kawi's and pisaeng's family backgrounds, and oh boy, is there a lot to unpack there... and it all works to explain why the original timeline was the way it was, why everything turned out so fucked up for both of them in the beginning.

(very rambly thoughts under the cut)

first of all, it's important to note how much of an impact kawi's father's death had. it was always clear that this was a traumatizing event in kawi's life, literally the first thing he did when he went back in time was to ditch the (supposed) girl of his dreams so he could be with his father, tearfully hug him and tell him "i love you, dad".

now, we're learning that after his father's death, kawi completely gave up on himself. he literally didn't see any reason to pursue a better life or his dreams because his father would never get to see it and be proud of him. i think this also explains to some extent why kawi has so much trouble accepting help from others: he has internalized the idea that he somehow has to do everything on his own, so his father (and others) can be proud of him. it's interesting that kawi obviously loves his father a lot but they're not really close: they don't see each other very often and in the first episode, it's established that they don't usually talk to each other about their feelings, either.

so. everything else that happened to kawi in the og timeline (knot making fun of his singing, pisaeng "stealing" his spot as pear's secret buddy, his falling out with max, kawi being too much of an introvert to make any new friends at uni) was compounded by the fact that after his father's death, kawi saw no hope for himself any more, and he ended up alone, isolated, friendless, depressed and deeply unhappy.

and now that we're learning more about pisaeng as well, it's becoming clear that something similar happened to pisaeng in the og timeline as well, only for him it was not a single event but more the reality of him being gay and having a crush on kawi (come on. nobody can tell me he DIDN'T crush on that cute awkward nerd as soon as kawi dropped his lil notebook in front of the seniors on the first day of uni), but kawi never even speaking to him and completely ignoring his existence... while pisaeng's own mother was adamant about pisaeng staying as deep in the closet as possible because it's bad for her political ambitions to have an out gay son. she basically tells him "you can feel whatever you want to feel but telling people about it is something that you should only do with my permission".

so, pisaeng has been getting told by his mother to stay in the closet since he was 15 years old (JESUS!!!), and since his crush is obviously unrequited and hopeless, why should he risk anything by being honest about it? his family is rich, pear's family too, their marriage is one of convenience for pisaeng, who gets to keep living his good life while placating his mother and spending his life with a person he's friends with, even if he can never love her romantically. from his mother's perspective, pear and pisaeng must be a good match, and pisaeng has no real reason to fight any of it. because coming out as gay would do nothing but cause him trouble and make him unhappy.

but in the new timeline, kawi is there as pisaeng's friend. and pisaeng falls for him so much deeper than he ever could have done in the og timeline. and now he HAS to figure himself out, HAS to confront his own queerness, not for kawi or even with kawi (utterly brilliant choice in the last episode to have pisaeng go on this journey alone!) but for himself, because it is becoming clear that he is living a lie and that he can't go on like this. having kawi in his life changes everything for pisaeng -- even if they weren't in a bl and were simply friends, this storyline would still be incredibly compelling because even while they're not in a relationship, kawi and pisaeng keep challenging each other, keep changing each other, keep making each other better, more honest people.

when they're in bed together and kawi asks why pisaeng likes him, he says much of the same stuff he's said before: that pisaeng is better, richer, more handsome than him, that he can't understand what pisaeng sees in him. but he says it differently this time, not with anger or defiance like in the beginning of their friendship, but so honestly, he's able to open up to pisaeng in a way he never could before just because he has had pisaeng in his life and they have had an impact on each other.

i keep coming back to this because it's something i rarely see in stories and bmf is doing it AMAZINGLY. both of the protagonists go on a journey of growth and self-improvement through knowing each other, they literally make each other better. and even though kawi is not at a point where he can see them as equals, he can honestly talk about this now, can voice his feelings of insecurity in a way he was never able to before -- and so, pisaeng can say, well, i think you're cute, does there have to be anything more to it than that? he doesn't try to talk kawi out of his self-perception, merely states his own perception of him in a way kawi can't argue away. i think this is a smart writing choice because kawi has to accept that pisaeng finds him cute, he can't say "no you don't" without accusing him of lying.

and oh, my baby kawi being so incredibly deep in denial is tugging at my heartstrings. there's a very interesting parallel happening with kawi's singing, something he was obviously dreaming of as a career when he was a child but completely gave up on -- until pisaeng and pear helped him gain confidence to put himself out there once again. i think something very similar is happening with his sexuality: he has shoved the truth of himself so far back in his own mind that it takes a long time and the knowledge that pisaeng is into him for kawi to even entertain the thought of maybe also being into him maybe. there's a certain safety in that, just like there's safety in having pear there while he reads his song lyrics to a room full of people. and that's not a bad thing! this show has consistently shown (and outright told) us that people need to help each other, that literally no one is capable of making it on their own, that everyone deserves love and support. and kawi needs a lot of love and support to be able to even let himself think of pisaeng in romantic terms. i am seriously excited to see what happens next, now that kawi has crossed the line between them, now that he got a taste of what he could have if only he let himself.

there are probably a million things i haven't said that i can't think of right now. but every single episode leaves me more impressed than the last, the story is written SO well and presented in such a smart way, later revelations recontextualizing things we already know, and with every week, everything makes more and more sense. and learning more about their families really explains a lot about all three of them (god, i haven't even mentioned pear's rich upper-class alcoholic father, a lot to unpack there as well!), and how they got where they were in the og timeline as well as in the current timeline.

thanks for reading 😘

[evilpenguinrika]

Okay so I had another thought about Descendants Rise of Red

Under read more cuz it's gotten a tad long. Also spoilers.

Throughout the movie, I legit thought that Uliyana was a red herring with the whole horrible prank on Bridget that made her turn from a sweet girl into a tyrannical leader because of what Ella said about it when QoH was staging the coup.

Like I DON"T KNOW to me it felt like they were setting up Ella as the person who actually did the prank (maybe against her will or was just part of a group that decided to do it and she just stayed quiet and went along with it despite not vibing with the prank at all).

And then we got introduced to Uliyana and her group and like they very clearly obviously had her set up as the one responsible (even though I was still under the impression that she was still a red herring and it was actually Ella)

But no

It... It was Uliyana

I felt like the writers had such a perfect opportunity to dive just a little deeper into the complexities of high school drama and high school cliques and teenagers. Because yeah, teenagers can be so incredibly cruel and so incredibly mean. And like, I kinda also assumed it was like your typical dumb love triangle bs with Bridget Ella and Charming as well and maybe that's why Ella did the prank idk. Like the two girls are interested in him but it's also a little more apparent that Charming is interested in Bridget and maybe Ella got jealous. And with how horrible her home life is, she just wanted something for herself for once and had a horrible lapse in judgment in playing a mean prank on Bridget.

And like if you think about it, how horrifying is it to discover your one and only friend stabbed you in the back and humiliated you for selfish reasonings (or maybe other reasonings) and that's how she became the QoH, which could tie back into that song about how love ain't it or whatever it was called, like it would further emphasize just why QoH is the way that she is and why she finds the notion of love and trusting humans/humanity so asinine because she had something horrible happen to her, a trust and betrayal, that has since hardened her heart.

Idk if this made any sense I'm just word vomiting at this point

like IDK THEY HAD A PERFECT SET UP. ULIYANA WAS LIKE A CLEAR RED HERRING (kinda like first movie with snatching of the wand and ppl thought it was Mal but nope it was Jane. See? Red herring. Kinda. Probably.) like it was an obvious choice but then the reveal that it wasn't Uliyana would have been juicy

Oh, I also wished they had more of a clear consequence of time travelling at the end. Like I was holding my breath the entire time anticipating some sort of time-travel consequence

But

There was none

Which makes no sense because when you time travel and change the timeline, there's gonna be consequences. It's sort of an important story beat to have (one example I can think of right now is the first Life is Strange game with Max's time travelling powers and how the more she uses her powers, the more fuckery shit happens where you either watch your best friend die to save an entire town or sacrifice an entire town to save your best friend). I wish they gave us something, because then it would definitely help set us up for the next movie since apparently people are saying Rise of Red is supposed to be a two parter? Or maybe not have it so blatantly obvious but still have something there to let us know "oh, something ain't right" (like I get QoH having that drastic change is already like its own thing, but idk give us more. I want more.)

ANYWAYS again, idk, just word vomiting don't mind me

[lokiiied]

before i start this is not hate and the post is a little bit old but it’s about the one saying everyone else sucks for not coming to lucas’s game have you ever had prior plans because personally if we had this super important meeting coming up and like a week before this super awesome event one of my friends asked me to attend their game i would have gone with the plan that was made earlier and vice versa and again this is not hate

hi! first off, i would never take this sort of ask as “hate” !! no worries there. but for me, this was less about the timing of things and much more about the carelessness and way it was handled.

it’s also not like the championship game was that sudden. like, it was a surprise to mike & dustin bc they don’t give a shit about basketball and aren’t aware of the ongoings of the team - regardless of the fact that lucas is on the team and most likely mentioned it. but no one else was surprised by this.

it’s the fact that not only do mike & lucas not care that lucas is on the team, but are actually upset with him for the overlapping events. he asks them to convince eddie to move the game to any other night. to which mike tells him to “talk to his coach. and get him to move the game.” lol. which is. clearly not realistic.

dustin says, “this is the end of eddie’s campaign and we need you!” then mike adds, “yeah and the tigers don’t. you’ve been on the bench all year.” which may be fine points & lucas isn’t that offended but the emphasis of the scene is put on this moment right here, when lucas says,

“i’m asking you guys, as a friend, just talk to eddie. get him to move hellfire. come to my game. please.” to which he’s met with silence. because it is made clear the significance that this game - and them being there means to him. to have their support. and then realising that they would rather choose eddie & dnd (yes, the super cool senior they all look up to but…) over lucas? their supposed best friend?

this is not just a poorly timed double booking where an “oh shoot, well i agreed to this thing first, so sorry!” serves as a reasonable response. these are two important events both involving lucas’ participation. one of which, is non-negotiable, it’s a championship game, if he doesn’t attend he misses an opportunity to play and maybe get his talents recognised & risks possibly being kicked off the team if they found out where he actually was.

the other, although also planned in advance, is an event made up of and controlled by his friends. eddie had complete power to move hellfire to another night at the cost of…literally nothing? the anticipation of waiting one more day but having lucas’ presence and making a small sacrifice to show solidarity/support?? and eddie says absolutely not because?? because it’s lucas’ fault for being in basketball? as punishment? i love eddie with my whole heart but it was not that serious.

what about max? she’s grieving, she’s depressed, she’s going through it. she doesn’t realise that she’s the only other friend he can ask to come. but still he says, “i know you never want to come to any of my games, but this one is kind of a big deal.” implying that he’s asked her to come before and she never has. and while, yes, he could’ve worded it a little differently- do you know how fucking hard it is to try and convince someone that you care about to come to an event that’s really important to you that would mean the world to you if they were there and for them to just…not care? it’s really fucking disappointing.

he tries to reach out to her and to tell her that he knows she’s not okay and that he’s there and she just. shuts down and hands the ticket back. and then later he is STILL the one apologising for not doing enough!! for not being there for max. i get how hard it is to let people in when you’re struggling and not wanting to go to events like that but, fuck he just looks so put out. she also didn’t seem to question/put together the fact that dustin asked her to play dnd that same night (bc lucas couldn’t be there.) but i wouldn’t really expect her to know why.

i do credit steve for being there/cheering him on, though i’m sure part of it was robin being there in band. and nancy was there as well, but for the paper. and sure, i’ll give dustin & mike credit for at least trying to convince eddie to move it. and it is sweet that max at least was listening to the game.

but at the end of the day, lucas is looking out at the crowd and seeing the absence of his closest friends. he finally gets his moment to shine, but they’re not there cheering him on, they’re not there to celebrate with him. and then he sees them leaving their game, not only cheering about their own win that he missed out on, but also that they asked his own sister to act in his place?? when she also probably would’ve gone to his game?? bc in ep. 7 he literally says “you still come to all my games though” ?? and again, just with the emphasis on lucas’ perspective in the episode - the look on his face as he’s leaving with jason and the team just says everything. we should absolutely be empathising with him. we’ve all been there.

all this to say, my post was in no way meant as “they suck” all the time!! i truly, dearly, love them all. but i do think every single one of them played a part and that everyone failed lucas that night. and it says a lot that none of them even realised or apologised to him and ig it especially bothers me because lucas tries so hard to be there for his friends, he’s always the first person to apologise when he says the wrong thing and he’s unconditionally loyal. even after all that you bet your ass he’s still gonna lead jason + co. off on a false lead and bike 8 miles to find & warn his friends. so yeah, i think lucas deserved & deserves better than that.

sorry for the TEDtalk lmaoo there were several factors to this but uhh yeah! hope that helps put it in a different perspective :)

[nightmanatee]

reasons why it might be safi all along PART 2

part 1 is here

or why the final choice to "accept" is the only correct one (for max at least).

i have a few things to talk about: safi's threat (talked a bit about it in part 1 addition) and what she might do with it later and what i think might (should) happen in DE2. i only talk about bae timeline bc i've played in that timeline but i'm pretty sure it applies to bay as well (replace chloe with joyce/warren/kate/victoria).

part 1 (again). she wanted to threaten max.

if you look closely at safi's pattern with gwen and lucas you can clearly see that she can do a lot of things bc of the book cancelation and considering that max has been in her life during this time in the end of ep3 safi thinks that max was responsible for it as well. she's had 2 chances to threaten max:

once where she didn't know max had powers:

ngl pretty sure safi was gonna say something along the lines of "that's why she left you - bc you're fucked up and evil and ready to mess up with your friend's book deal for a little "fame" caledon can offer you" had max not fallen from that place.

and once - when she knew max had powers.

"how best to hurt lucas" and it's her literally messing up with a KID who had nothing to do with that. but what does safi have against max when she WILL hurt her?

part 2 (again). "how best to hurt max caulfield"

wait will? yes will. bc someone did end up lying to her and last time it happened the other person got shot (and it was her own mother!!)

she has 1. max's memories box with lots of info on arcadia bay, max's parents and CHLOE+the fact that chloe and max were impersonating pirates as kids (important for later). AND WITH A BREAK UP LETTER.

2. this photo of chloe and max being very close (is it really a coincidence that they've remade this pic to look more intimate?)

3. THE PICTURE IN A WALLET that will tell safi who to look for in max's house

4. potentially! diary entries (they're different from timeline to timeline or at least should be bc max didn't write about her powers here but these are same in 2 timelines):

5. max's own words

so ugh this ex-friend of hers who hurt her by not agreeing with her and decided to stay with others has ugh photos, diary entries (written to someone as if they're unsent letters) and stuff about some girl who max even mentions in her confession about powers. someone who made her stop using her powers for YEARS before getting into caledon? ugh i wonder what she's gonna do with this info...

part 3 (again). safi the investigator.

okay. so. safi's turned into present day max. unless max will try to change her hair style/hair color/do some piercings to alter her look so that everyone can know it's safi and not her doing this stuff and considering that safi can "act" as someone else as well she can do whatever she wants to hurt max's reputation or meet someone who knows max?

and oh. safi knows about chloe. she knows she's max's old friend/ex who max sacrificed the whole town for. she's the most important person in max's life and if safi wants to hurt max this is the person she should be looking for. but how?

oh easily. not only does max have no friends but she has a memory box with her and chloe with lot's of polaroids and pirate themed kids stuff. she knows that chloe's name is chloe and what she looks like. so who is this _CaptainChloe_ girl who max follows on social media?

the girl that so stupidly (i can't blame her she doesn't know that a fucking shapeshifter is after her) left the info for where to look for her in her posts? and who also comments under another person who max follows??

i wonder if one brokenhearted shapeshifter would want to meet a close... friend of a person who betrayed her when she was in the most vulnerable state considering how she's messed up with people for less and without evidence of them being guilty.

so yeah if done right max will wish she accepted that thing with safi.

[bugsbenefit]

what is UP with Alice Creel?

okay finally going into what i talked about here, what is Alice Creels deal? i'm ignoring any theories that Alice Creel is actually Karen Wheeler or any other character we know for this and just purely focus on Alice the way we see her in the flashbacks. because i've been thinking about the general oddness of Alice Creel for way too long (in a numbered list format because i like those and they're easier to keep track of *heart*)

as a quick overview:

1.) Alice is paralleled to Henry. Why though?

2.) the reason these parallels are so weird

3.) the death of Alice Creel - or more specifically WHEN does Alice Creel die? the timeline is WHACK

4.) "so... what? Alice is coming back to tell her story? she's dead."

here we go ->

1.) Alice is paralleled to Henry. Why though?

Alice has an odd amount of contrast to her brother given that we only see her in the Creel flashbacks. she has More screen time than Virginia, but still, she's a side character that seems to serve the main purpose of getting killed by Henry. they're siblings but the main relationship we know them by is murderer and murder victim, so them getting compared on a narrative level feels a bit misguided given their power and story-importance imbalance

some of the most eye caching contrasts:

1.1.) the Angel and the Demon

firstly, this was something that i thought was actually pretty straight forward on the show when Victor first mentioned it and was then surprised when they didn't make it explicit. Victor Creel begins telling his story and he's a very religious man, attributing the display of powers to a supernatural demon. and he's not wrong about something going on, he just doesn't realise it's his son doing it, so the religious imagery becomes a place holder for Henry. we know Henry is the demon. if they mention the demon? Henry!

but then it gets weird when we're suddenly introduced to a second religious figure. the Angel. the angel that saves him from the demon no less. the demon is a real person but the angel is just the radio? sure, maybe. but Victor was actually right in identifying the demon, he just put the wrong name on it, him identifying another religious entity in his house right after doesn't really give us any reason to believe he's wrong this time around. you can make the argument that the singer, Ella Fitzgerald, is the angel. but random singer vs evil superpowerd child feels much more impersonal than sister vs brother. Max let the music guide her and was ultimately saved by her friends calling out to her and her memories of them. sure, Victor's favourite 60s singer could have solely saved him from Henry by randomly playing on the radio, right place right time for once on this show i guess, but from a story writing perspective it's incredible anticlimactic

1.2.) and on this topic of music. WHY is there even music?

the radio plays right before Virginia dies and it is Victor's favourite song "Dream a little Dream" that's on. but after grabbing the children and running into the hall we can't hear the radio anymore. he tries to exit the building, falls into his vision, walks around a bit, and only THEN begins to hear the song again. so why does he even hear it in the first place? you could make the argument that not much time has passed and that the radio is just still playing, but that contradicts what we see on screen. we can't hear the radio outside the dining room. had it been the radio, why does it take a solid minute in his vision before he randomly starts hears it again? if that's not enough, Henry also messes with the radio channels right before killing Virginia so the chance of the station randomly ending back on "Dream a little Dream" is incredible small in and of itself. and on top of all of that: the music is also Gone when he snaps out of his vision. if it truly was the radio that saved him he would still be hearing it afterwards. but he doesn't

so whatever allowed Victor to hear the song that night, it was definitely not thanks to the radio that he couldn't hear and that wasn't even playing the right station anymore

and then there is also the weird connection made between Alice and Dreams in one of the few verbal lines we get from the flashbacks that aren't narrated by either Victor or Henry:

this line serves no purpose, we learn nothing new except that she likes the house which we could already tell by her attitude. the phrasing is also a bit clunky. however, she now just randomly name dropped dreams for no greater narrative purpose we know of. and she does so TWICE because this is one of the only scenes we get in full in both Henry's AND Victor's flashback

1.3.) then there's the general parallel

in fiction you'll find the trope of the paralleled siblings quite often. one is a nerd the other a jock. goth and prep. popular and loser. stereotypical girly girl and himbo guy. good twin evil twin. the list goes on. and despite Alice seemingly having no greater importance to the narrative than to die we get parallels between her and her evil superpowered brother as well:

we get lines like "sweet innocent Alice" while Henry sits in his spider attic trying to haunt her dreams

and while Henry has his dark closed off attic space we see him mostly in, we see Alice outside (playing like a normal child) in the open air playground on a slide looking like a rocket for some reason

and Alice being backlit even stronger than Will in the van scenes himself while finding the dead rabbit her brother just killed

you can definitely read these two as being opposite coded. Alice being good (not murderous) and also conforming to expectations, not standing out clothing wise like Henry, not trying to break the space-time-continuum because she's scared of societies expectations. being seen as sweet. (which okay to be fair, Victor also thought Henry was sweet so maybe he's not the best judge of character and she could have also been super mean but we'll just go with it for now) and then Henry being the "evil" sibling out to hurt people. who can't conform and then decides to break out of his role (which results in the family murder day). but all this just raises the question again why these two uneven characters even get paralleled to begin with. Alice is just the sister he kills, she's in no way on an equal level to him as far as we know so why does she get to stand as his opposite narratively?

1.4.) and the arguably most on the nose parallel of all

which actually convinced me that there was something going on on my first watch-through -> they fall mirrored behind their father. they face each other, both with their arms bracing the ground bellow. had they fallen any different (as in, had Henry just fallen straight backwards like he already did before dipping sideways for some reason) no one would think anything of it. but alas, they DID fall the same and now were here

i'm serious this is weird, we're back to them being paralleled and put on an equal level despite the fact that they couldn't be further apart in story relevance, power, and character depth, as far as we know. that's the classic, good sibling evil sibling, yin and yang imagery

(also ignore the image quality pls, i had screenshots and didn't want to go back to get a better one, so you're getting a cropped one sorry u.u)

2.) the reason these parallels are so weird

i talked about this here before. essentially, when analysing film, you obviously look at what you see on screen, that's what you're working with. but in any analysis it's almost More important to ask yourself WHY you're seeing it and didn't get any alternative imagery of the infinite possibilities that could be used to convey the scene. because this always tells you the most about the intention and focus of the writers/directors

as an example: why is the scene in the pizza freezer shot at such a weird angle? they could have done that Any other way. we could have seen the character from behind and had everyone in frame. we could have actually seen El's face. etc. Answer: we didn't get any of the alternative options because they wanted Will to be in frame, he's directly involved in the delivery of the monologue and even prompts it. we don't see Everyone, we don't see El's face. the angle is there because Will's face needs to be in frame

essentially, movie doesn't happen on it's own and parallels are hard to make, you have to pay attention when writing AND shooting AND acting AND editing, etc. they rarely happen on their own or on accident. so now let's apply this to the Creels:

why did Alice even have the weird clunky line about the house being like a dream when we already saw her be excited to move in? why did they spend screentime writing a line that tells in addition to already showing, that's incredibly unnecessary? (not even mentioning that we get the line Twice from both Victor's AND Henry's story. at this point it feels important, because no other lines get repeated like this)

why do they lie on the ground in the same way? Henry was in a prime position of landing on his back when he started falling, but somehow he ends up on his side instead? if any of them were facing in the other direction, were lying on their back, or just had their arms sprawled out wider they wouldn't mirror anymore. but as it is, even the angle their legs have is identical. why would they shoot it like this? why does Henry suddenly parallel his presumed victim? he's a murderous psychic, why is he mirrored to his normal sister here? there were endless ways for them to fall that wouldn't have made them parallel each other and yet here we are

and (almost most important of all imo) why does Henry even have a sister? as in, what narrative benefit is there? to make the Creel's fit more in the nuclear family picture with two instead of one child? maybe, but you still have to work with the characters you add, why does she have so little to do? Victor survives and becomes our narrator. Virginia is the first victim of Henry and antagonised him in life. Alice is... his sister. if they didn't have any role for her to play they could have just excluded her, only-child families existed in the 60s and would still perfectly work with the narrative. so why IS there a sister in the house? to show that Henry just became weird on his own and that his sister managed to turn out alright despite them sharing parents and living in the same house? well, yeah maybe, but now we're already back at the good vs evil sibling set up that directly pits Alice and Henry against each other in a parallel. and you could argue that she was there to make the torment and murder of his family more severe and shocking. except that the only thing we see of her is her waking up from a nightmare and finding the dead rabbit, both things we could have also gotten from the parents and didn't actually need a whole new character for. AND WE DON'T EVEN SEE HER DIE so that's completely wasted the potential of making the murder night seem more brutal or cruel

and actually about that, let's get to the big thing...

3.) the death of Alice Creel - or more specifically WHEN does Alice Creel die? the timeline is WHACK

here we go. the weird part. everything else until now was analysis about the purpose of her character, weird framing and narrative choices, and odd parallels. but now we get to the big thing that genuinely doesn't make sense

why don't we see Alice die on screen?

Virginia died in less than 5 seconds. it's quick since we didn't even see her vision, similar to Patrick. Virginia's death was the fastest we see on the show and we actually see it Twice, both from Victors And Henry's flashback. so why didn't we get a three second shot of Alice falling to the ground in either of the visions? it's a small detail but the more you actually look into it the more nonsensical it gets

we saw all 4 curse victims die. we saw Virginia die (twice). and Henry does kill fast making it a non-screen-time-eater. if they wanted to be original and not show another body hit the ground. why didn't they verbally mention it instead? Henry doesn't even say "and then after i killed my sister i tried to get my dad too". Alice is completely left out of the narrative after Henry begins his familicide mission. we see her suddenly lying unmoving on the floor at some point but we don't see OR hear how she got there - we just have to assume from context clues that it was Henry who did it. which is odd considering Henry only had 3 family members, two of which he killed, but somehow that was too much to show so we just skip it and see one of them die twice instead?

that's all already weird. but there is a bit of an explanation why we don't see it happen. it's because neither Victor OR Henry actually see it happen themselves...

let's look at what happened with Alice as far as we can follow. neither Victor's nor Henry's vision are ever shown to be incorrect. even what we see from Victor only gets backed up later, he's just lacking a literal angle to look at his son. so. what's Alice up to? and when does she end up on the ground?

well from Victor's flashback we learn that she's fine when Victor goes into his vision

this is less than a second before Victor breaks through the door and falls into the vision. (note Henry being ominously cropped because Victor is biased and we only learn how fucked up and responsible for this Henry is later on) however, we DO see Alice and she looks upset, but fine overall. standing upright, nothing broken, no blood, no possessed Vecna eyes, no levitating. and given that even Virginia's speed killing took roughly 5 seconds she is fine when Victor's vision starts a second later

but then Victor snaps out of his vision after hearing his favourite song, turns around, and both his children are on the ground now

so. we can infer, Alice died sometime during Victor's vision. she was fine less than a second before he went into it. she was dead when he came out of it. fair enough. of course we didn't see her die in Victor's version of events because he was literally in a trance when she died, makes sense so far

except now we have a problem because how did Henry actually kill her? for real this time. it's no longer just a "why didn't we see it happen"? it's a genuine "how DID this happen?"- because Henry SUCKS as multi tasking with powers! canonically!

that's what leads to him getting flambeed in s4 to begin with. Henry closes his eyes and has to focus to channel his powers. we see it when he does as little as manipulate a clock, then he grows stronger and still needs to close his eyes and zone out when he kills Virginia. he keeps getting stronger with every victim but we even see it years later when he kills as Vecna. despite seeming much stronger, he STILL can't multi task. in order to even just see into someone's mind he has to motionlessly suspend himself in his attic (like a rip off of El's sensory deprivation tanks tbh) and while he visits people he's completely tuned out of his body, making him vulnerable to attacks when the teens visit him in the UD

however, we're left with a situation here where Alice actively died DURING Victor's vision that Henry was actively inflicting on him. which means that Henry killed her while Also trying to kill his father at the same time. so. how did he do that? especially when much stronger adult Henry failed to even have basic awareness of his surroundings when he was in Max's head? and Henry is only 12 in the flashbacks canonically, he's much Much weaker, he also just straight up falls into a coma after struggling to kill his father when the song is making it harder for him. he literally almost died himself here. but he also somehow killed his sister quickly in between without Victor ever escaping the vision???

and when we finally get Henry's pov of that night we still don't see anything clearing Alice's death up. Virginia dies, we cut to the moment right before Victor snaps out of the vision, and then zoom in over Alice who's already on the ground and turn around to look at Henry who's incredibly focused with his eyes closed as he tries to kill Victor. (odd shot choice considering we learn Nothing about Alice here except an acknowledgement of the timeline that yep, she's on the ground again) moments later Henry falls into the coma

Alice was alive as Victor's vision started and on the ground at the latest very shortly before it ended. so again. WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN?

we already saw enough victims die. we got sped up versions like with Virginia and Patrick where we didn't even have to see the visions. so why did they deem it unnecessary to show us Alice die? did they just forget to have Henry mention he killed her? and what's up with the timeline because as it stands her death is actually impossible:

alive as Henry enters Victor's mind to induce the vision -> unclear what happens as we follow Henry and Victor into the vision -> on the ground seconds before Henry falls into a coma -> dead?

so the only natural conclusion for her death is that... Henry killed her in his first and only feet of successful multi-tasking which we didn't get to see for some reason, and he also never manages to replicate even when teenagers were shooting shotguns at him years later? the timeline makes no sense the way it's presented. Henry would have been physically incapable of killing her Virginia style while fully out of it and focused on his father the way he was. there is either something to Henry's powers we haven't seen yet that allowed him to do this or a whole aspect of that night that we haven't seen yet

but this unanswered question about the timeline that just raises more and more questions actually does answer a different question as said before:

we didn't see Alice die because neither Henry nor Victor saw it either. Victor was in his vision. Henry had his shifting eyes closed as he was in Victor's mind

this doesn't explain at ALL how Alice actually dropped dead on the floor but Does explain why we don't see it. and that's how the entire Creel flashbacks work to begin with. we see what the characters perceived to have happened. narrative bias and all. Victor gives us his account of the demon. Henry adds his attic and murder moments to it later. Henry is able to tell us his father got arrested that night despite already being in a coma because that's something he found out after the fact. Vecna knows Victor is at Pennhurst so he must have found out about his fathers arrest at some point. and with the set up of withholding perspectives from us that the Creel family has, it makes sense we don't see Alice die because everyone is preoccupied as she does so

i would genuinely not be surprised if we got a Third addition to that night (rule of three's am i right) to show us what happened in that time period of Victor's vision we missed. with the theme of unreliable narrators and the fact we're lacking a time frame where BOTH our narrators are completely occupied in which one of the 4 main characters of the scene also Dies raises alarm bells

4.) "so... what? Alice is coming back to tell her story? she's dead."

well yeah. she is. maybe.

i can certainly not blame anyone for assuming Alice is dead, it's a fair assumption because that's what's conveyed to us on screen. however, with a show that enjoys fucking with perception and perspective as much as ST... well we can certainly question if the dead body we see is actually dead or if our pov characters are just mislead. especially when there are other things standing out as odd

also just adding here: Alice being dead or not has nothing to do with the previous points listed. they all raise questions on their own. her death is just the final addition to the long list of what the fuck is up with Alice Creel? and the fact even her Death is questionable is why people think she might return to tell her side of the story (be that as Karen Wheeler, other characters we know, or just Random-WomanTM)

so Alice is dead right? we see it right here. but the thing is. why does she look nothing like ANY of the other Vecna victims we saw. and it's not like we shouldn't notice the differences since we just saw Virginia die a typical Vecna death in the scene prior

they both bleed from their eyes alright, which both appear to be dark. good. first similarity checked off

now we have the problem that nothing else matches anymore. Alice is the only dead victim that has her mouth closed for some reason. Vecna makes a big show of breaking every bone in his victim's bodies before pushing their eyes in, the limbs and JAR being the most jarring part (haha funny) Patrick, Crissy, Fred, Virginia, all have their mouths open (even in Vecna's mind dimension. the bodies' jaws remain open and broken grotesquely). the only other person we see with a still intact jaw was Max who just as a reminder wasn't dead and actually survived her encounter with Vecna. she died of her injuries right after. but she survived the Vecna'ing itself and her jaw was unbroken, just as Alice's

and as we see with Max, bleeding from your eyes itself actually doesn't kill you. it's the general trauma to the body and that kills you if you survive the initial vecna'ing

but that's not where the weird surrounding Alice Creel ends. because Alice doesn't have that severe physical trauma, she is the LEAST injured Vecna victim we see on the whole show. it's not just her jaw, that is just the most obvious body part we see still intact in the closeup. you know how Henry makes a big deal of snapping every bone in people's bodies even as a tiny child killing his mother? well he kind of forgot to do that with Alice

we spent the entire season seeing the mangled corpses of Vecna's victims including Virginia on the dinner table seconds before this, so why are Alice's bones not snapped like toothpicks?

her left arm is clearly broken, bent behind her back. but that's it. her right arm is completely fine which we can see even better than her left arm because it's laid out on the floor. both her legs have a natural angle (Henry was literally laying just like her until Victor picked him up so those are definitely all good) and again, her jaw is fine too. so. why is Alice not horribly disfigured? she's lying still, that's infinitely easier to CGI than the falling and floating corpses of all the other victims that DO get their bones snapped. so why didn't they animate her other arm to be broken for example or even just used practical effects since she isn't moving to begin with. it's not like they forgot since her left arm IS broken, they just didn't go all the way here for some reason

again, look at her and compare her to every other Vecna victim we saw. these are SURVIVABLE injuries. she's bleeding from her eyes and her left arm is broken. Max died from the shock and culmination of her injuries. Alice would not die from a broken arm. the only possibility for Alice to die here is if Henry straight up stopped her heart and did so BEFORE breaking any bones. which would also be something we haven't seen him do before

taking all this into account. let's make up a scenario where Alice could have actually gotten injured and died during that night:

Henry was busy killing his father. Alice asked him what the fuck he was doing being a little weirdo standing around with his eyes closed and shifting all over the place, right after their mother died and their father was standing around like a statue. and then Henry killed her quickly without exiting his father's vision, which he somehow managed to do but which was still hard for him so he couldn't break any of her bones. but he still managed to take her life by injuring her heart or brain instead of any physical body parts for once. and then Henry fell into a coma when he tried to fully focus on his father again

and this is actually the only way this night could have gone down when taking all we know into account. Alice had to have died during Victor's vision. Henry was busy focusing on the vision. Alice presumably dies with little injuries and for no reason we're told or shown

but then why didn't we see it? it does sound straight forward, so why not show it? well as of now we're literally lacking a perspective of someone who Wasn't mentally hanging out in Victor's vision

"but how would Alice return, she'd at least be blind" well yeah? maybe? but also, again, this is stranger things. they fuck with the narrative all the time. we're missing a full season before we have the full story. we saw Hopper standing in a collapsing room only to learn he didn't die in there the next season. we see Henry lie on the ground with his sister, Eddie's uncle and the newspaper all tell us he died, only to then find out he was very much still alive at the end of the season. could Alice be blind if she survived? yes. could her eyes have recovered? potentially? we don't even know how severely she got hurt in the first place so Anything could be revealed about her in the next season

"but the papers said she died" that one is actually a fully invalid point. they also wrote Henry died. they didn't even know Henry was in a coma, we learn that from Victor. the papers also thought Will died And was found by Hopper in a cabin which were both incorrect. (the paper in Hawkins generally doesn't have the best track record to be honest) so the paper saying Alice died in the same breath they claim Henry died isn't really the most convincing thing

"but Victor only said Henry fell into a coma, that means Alice had to have been dead" well, again, maybe. or he just thought she had died. the Creel narrative we see with Victor and Henry is literally about unreliable narrators and perspectives. Victor for sure thought she was dead, but if she actually was... well we can at least question it with the odd details the show includes

if you want to believe that what we're shown on screen is the truth and Alice is dead that's fair enough. however, with the track record the show has it's not an out there assumption to slightly question how correct the characters are in assuming her death

"but everyone said the demon/Victor took his families eyes, you can't survive that" yeah but that's also wrong. back to the Hawkins-newspaper slander. everyone talks about the whole family's eyes being taken when we Know that's not what happened. Henry's eyes are more than fine. Alice's eyes don't look to good but it doesn't look deadly on it's own honestly. Max was still able to communicate clearly with both her eyes injured by Vecna, even El is constantly shown bleeding from her eyes when using her powers. whether Alice's eyes are gone or just injured, it does not appear to be a deadly injury on it's own

so TLDR as it stands now:

Alice Creel is Weird. straight up. her entire purpose in the narrative is questionable. it seems like she's just there to be the cute innocent girl that dies to make it more tragic at first but then we don't even see her die. to top it off, her lack of a death scene actually happens because it's off screen in a gap in the timeline. so she dies in an unlikely circumstance, in an unknown situation, and with the least injuries we've ever seen on one of Henry's victims.

assuming she is dead because of her bleeding dark eyes is fair. but there's enough discrepancies to seriously question what we're looking at

could she be dead? sure. but could she be alive? well, i'm going to say yes. ST loves subverting expectations and misleads. s4 was all about misleads. the Creel story, the story of the lab. all stories that give the viewer a false perception of reality, not by showing lies, but simply by withholding information. and the idea that Alice could have survived her minimal injuries is not unlikely with what we're used to by now

[thestobingirlie]

Okay but also about Nancy being seen as motherly to max it’s so weird to me considering that all Nancy does is ask max if she’s okay after a traumatic experience. Like Nancy did the absolute bare minimum and robin isn’t even close to max at all. She’s way more close with Dustin and erica and people just like totally ignore that. Idk it just seems like they do the bare minimum and they get established as “Max’s mom” which again they are maybe 18 and being treated as parents. And max has a mom that is interesting to see about their dynamic as a whole but people just ignore that. But it’s even more weird cuz max would not see them as her “moms” at all like at most she may look up to them but she definetly does not see them as her mother figures. Also like we already established - she didn’t even give them a letter! That’s sooo important to max and the story that she only gave a letter/write a letter to Steve! He was the only teen that max felt close enough to write a letter to. Like idk it’s just so odd to me how people assign robin and Nancy as Max’s moms when they’ve barely interacted outside of group settings. Like max and Nancy were more around each other in season 3 however they were barely even together in a situation that wasn’t anything to do with not saving the world. Meanwhile yes it is slight but max went to see Steve with el at scoops ahoy and it’s clear that the younger teens have gone out of their way to playfully annoy Steve at the beginning of season 3 when none of them are in danger. Idk it just drives me a little bit crazy honestly because max doesn’t really even open up to Nancy and robin at all and she isn’t around them much. But also I could just hate the whole “mom” thing that people have started to do. Anyway those are my thoughts and I’m glad that other people are annoyed that robin and Nancy are now seen as “Max’s moms”

max and nancy literally had like one scene where they spoke to each other one on one, and people immediately dove for it. “nancy is max’s mom!” like… this fandom is just so fucking weird and obsessive when it comes to labelling teenagers as younger teenagers parents.

and with robin, i literally was gonna say that! like if anyone is robin’s ‘kids’ it’s dustin and erica! (but people love to erase erica for some reason…)

i think in a lot of fiction parents just aren’t there much, so you don’t have to think about them, and a lot of people attempt to recreate that dynamic in stranger things, but it just ends up looking kinda silly because there’s like ten kids that now don’t have parents even though they have parents. all because people can’t be arsed to think about adults lmao

and yeah! max gave steve a letter! literally the only person outside of her direct family and friend group. the only older teen she wanted to have something to remember her by when she died, and had something to say to. and people just like to write over it. i think sometimes people underplay the importance of those letters. it’s everything max wants to say to these people before she dies in. and steve gets one! not nancy, not robin. steve.

and i didn’t even think about that! like, yeah max often gets paired with steve when the upside down comes back, but she and the kids do also just hang out and bug steve, like you would an older brother.

but yeah. the weird parental thing this fandom is so insanely obsessed with is weird, and they should try and let it go a bit lol.

[liaromancewriter]

What's your HC for Ethan's personal time, away from MC? Like, do you see him going out with friends? On his own? Does he ever do things that doesn't involve her?

I really like this -- thanks for sending it my way. It reminds me of another one from a few months ago.

In my hc, both Cassie and Ethan value their personal space and need time on their own. It's one of the reasons why Cassie was reluctant to move in with him too quickly. There were other reasons, but that was an important one.

They love spending time together and hanging out. But they also work together, so it's nice for them to get away from each other. Neither is the type to mind if one of them says: I need 'me' time. They each have their own lives as well as the one they're building together.

Cassie also has her friends group and Max. So, if she needs company for something that Ethan doesn't want to do/doesn't enjoy, she's got it covered. I showed that in this MC Monday post.

Even before Cassie came into his life, Ethan had things he enjoyed doing: visiting a farmer's market on the weekend, concert in the park, spending time in coffee shops with a good book, going for a walk along the water. He enjoys going for a long drive alone when he needs to think. Sometimes he ends up in Providence and drops in to see his dad, make sure everything is okay. I can see him and Naveen meeting up for a drink and convo every now and then.

We know from canon that he's into exercise, going to the opera. I hc that he might go see a performance every now and then. He does go with Cassie at times, but she's particular about which operas she likes. I also hc that he has a regular basketball pick up game, plays ice hockey and has poker nights with friends (yes, he has them despite what he said in book 2 -- I mean, Naveen is his friend too).

Even though his residency cohort ended up not speaking to each other at the end, I imagine that Ethan has a small group of friends that include academics, doctors, researchers, etc. People he's met over the years professionally, at the opera, in the park, etc. and whose company he enjoys. I don't think he considers any of them his best friend; some are acquaintances and others he's comfortable inviting to his place for a small dinner party.

He is a workaholic though and doesn't have much free time. But his friends are similarly busy, so they all just roll with it. He's in his mid-30s when we meet him, and not anti-social, so I would be surprised if he didn't have a full life already.

Tags under the cut

Character Asks: @annfg8 @bluebelle08 @cariantha @crazy-loca-blog @coffeeheartaddict2 @doriopenheart @lucy-268 @jerzwriter @lady-calypso @mrs-ramsey @openheartforeverinmyheart @peonierose @queencarb @quixoticdreamer16 @rookiemartin @tessa-liam @trappedinfanfiction

[c6jpg]

wait isn't alhaitham meant to be a dendro dps/driver?

so why do we "need" nahida? i thought he had the dendro infusion so he could act as a driver? you could use nahida for extra off-field dendro application but i don't think we'd NEED her :/

okay honestly my eyes start glazing over when people really get into the theorycrafting so i might need someone to #factcheck me on this but basically

first of all, obviously you do not NEED any character. however when TCs start talking about a character's kit it is in terms of what is their highest projected DPS, and a main factor of that is their teammates. it's the same way people say scara "needs" c6 faruzan to reach his damage ceiling and quite frankly that is true, hence leading some to believe that faruzan is "useless" before c6

so no, al haitham does not NEED nahida to just work

however, he DOES likely need nahida in order to reach his highest damage ceiling

based off early TC it looks like his best team is projected to nahida + yelan + flex but i think the popular pick right now is shinobu since al haitham's best overall team is looking to be quickbloom

(as an aside, this team is even more expensive because it seems like xingqiu, who is usually somewhat interchangeable with yelan, may provide too much hydro to support 100% uptime (on some reaction I'm not actually sure which? either way basically he applies too much hydro for other characters to keep up which will ruin certain reactions). now obviously you don't HAVE to use yelan, but again not having 100% uptime = DPS loss. but as far as i can tell a less necessary unit than nahida)

now aside from the usual of nahida just being a god (heh) at supporting/boosting the power of dendro reactions, she's also important for al haitham for two specific reasons: EM buffing and energy.

to maximize al haitham's A4 passive (e.g. converting a set amount of EM to a damage bonus, which is currently .12% for each point) it is currently projected you need ~850 EM, which is quite frankly impossible to get from artifacts and weapons alone without sacrificing the rest of al haitham's stat needs (tldr; he's basically really greedy and wants it all, EM, attack, crit, ER).

dendro resonance gives you 100 EM. assuming someone (nahida) on the party also has 1000 EM, nahida's passive gives another 250 EM. that's 350 EM from using nahida alone. even if you don't have that maxed out 250 EM, simply having nahida on the team decreases the difficulty of building EM on al haitham by a lot.

next is energy. al haitham's current burst cost is 70 which is on the higher end. not sure what his personal particle generation is but it's probably ayato-level e.g. not that high. so he needs a decent amount of ER or a battery (nahida) to burst every rotation (bc again if you don't, that's a DPS loss lol)

the other thing about wanting his burst up is that al haitham's scaling is like. actually insane. people are claiming ayaka levels of scaling on his burst right now. so this is a character who again, to achieve the highest DPS ceiling, you REALLY want him to burst every rotation. that's why ER is even more valuable on him, and again nahida simplifies that.

another thing to keep in mind though is that how things are projected may not match up in practice. one thing that's been pointed out is right now al haitham does not really have any interruption/stagger resistance.

so the combo of al haitham + nahida + yelan + shinobu may not actually work out very well if al haitham keeps getting knocked around like a ragdoll (scara and cyno have this same problem, rip). in which case you want to add some sort of shielder/someone like xingqiu who provides interruption resistance, in which you exchange maximum damage for comfort. but regardless nahida seems to always be on the team anyways. so yeah just things to think about

[campbluelake]

The End of The Lies | Suzy | Re: The Director

 To say Suzy hadn’t been herself for quite some time was an understatement, and that’s partially because before even coming to this camp, she wasn’t sure just who “herself” was. But slowly, over these past few months, she’d made some discoveries she never thought possible.

  She was creative and artistic, she loved nature and animals, she was a surprisingly good listener and gave honest advice, and most importantly, she’d met people who genuinely cared about her.

 Eri, who had so much in common with her and brought her out of her shell. Jacky-Bobby, who understood just how important family was, as well as moving on from past mistakes. Saya, who’d taught her not only how to cook, but to shamelessly be herself because someone will accept you for that. Max, who had gently taken her under his wing (quite literally, in fact) and gave her a safe space to try opening up. And of course, Kaede, who welcomed her from the very moment they’d met, and did everything he could to keep her smiling.

 Hell, even those she didn’t exactly keep the best bonds with still ended up shaping who she’d become at this point.

 Jo, whose family situation seemed the exact opposite of her own, it felt like a warning of what she could have become if things were different. Abigail, and her unabashed, bizarre self, no matter what the circumstances were, the bravery that always shone through when she was needed. Nora, who she’d judged far too harshly for all the wrong reasons, and in turn Warrick as well; they were both people who she admired, and even more so as a couple. Kyosuke, who also had a fair amount of things in common with her; perhaps that’s why they both gravitated towards Eri so much. And even the snarky reaper himself who’d just been trying to do his job; Suzy can’t even fault Niko for his attitude anymore. She knows for sure she’d have acted almost identical if she’d been in his position, maybe they could have actually been friends...

 But there was still one more person who arguably had the biggest impact on her out of everyone here…and that was Malyce Faustino himself.

 They’d bonded on the bus, and became friends right away. They messed around and played stupid pranks. He’d spent her birthday with her. He knit her a scarf. They shared secrets. They shared a twisted and toxic relationship relying on each other this entire summer, and much like she’d come to suspect in the past month…

 …it was all lies.

 This wasn’t at all the first time someone had lied to her, no; she remembers her high school prom far more than she’d like to, and how much it had fucked up her thoughts and views of others. How it caused her to set up these walls and aggressive defense mechanisms to begin with, and how it’s what caused her to become the "Suzy" most people here were familiar with.

 …but she wasn’t going to let that happen again.

 Suzy hadn’t spoken much at all since demons started appearing and more and more magical nonsense sprung up. In truth, she’d been too scared, and just moved along with the motions of the others in hopes of at least providing them emotional support. Because that was all she could do, right? Isn’t that all she had been all summer?

 A living, breathing emotional crutch for Malyce Faustino. He would come crying to her, and she would silence him and assure him that things would be okay. Even when he’d hurt her, even when he’d twist her emotions into things she didn’t understand or used her as his scapegoat, it was okay! Because he cared for her…right?

 …that was all another lie, wasn’t it?

 Suzy, finally, is able to draw a shaky breath as she hugs herself tightly, desperately clinging to the shrug she’d been given. It’s not the familiar weight or warmth of her jacket, and it leaves her digging her nails in deep.

 “...you…you really think you deserve another chance…?” she chokes, already prepared to simply start sobbing at any given moment.

 “After all the shit you’ve put these people through…after the deaths YOU caused…?” she shakes her head, unable to look at him. She’s trembling, shaking, she’s overflowing with emotions.

 "Fuck you. You’ve been nothing but a selfish little prick all summer. I don’t even give a shit about the things you’ve done to me anymore, but…for the sake of everyone else…? No. No, absolutely not, you don’t get another fucking chance. You’ve already had several, and…and you chose to just keep lying and digging yourself deeper and deeper…I hate you so, so much-…I wish I'd never fucking met you.”

[future-oscarwinner]

It's going to take them ages to grade it though ;-; I hope I get my grade back before the holiday starts.

Ah I don't understand why people get so pissed off about which driver someone likes. Like in the grand scheme of things it's really not important, they're all a bunch of rich men that live such a different life than us I highly doubt they will care.

But you should develop your own opinion about them. It's better than just blindly following people.

For my dislike for him mostly comes from his fans. Like everyone in The Netherlands likes him just because he is Dutch. Obviously I'm not saying that he's a bad driver, he's not otherwise he wouldn't be where he is now. But the way Dutch people always get offended when I say I'm not a fan is what annoys me.

Oh really that's so awesome! What got you into the sport if I may ask? I'm always curious to see how people found it :) I think Seb just has that influence on people, even if they haven't been around the sport long, he just has that thing about him. I will miss it very much :/ If you end up writing that essay every I wouldn't mind reading it 😂

You can always watch his old races back or his press conferences. Seb in his villain era is really something beautiful to see.

God how much I want that man back in the sport (maybe in Audi with Mick, that would definitely be something) But I also understand why I choose to leave, such a sweet reason in my opinion. Though I doubt he will be able to sit still for long. It must be so strange to have lived such a busy life for so long and then to just have "nothing" going on (obviously he has stuff going on but nothing as fast paced as f1)

Schumini I will miss him, I'm still waiting for Merc to announce him as a reserve driver. I think that environment will be good for him, I also think it might be better if goes there than going to Ferrari. Somehow I think it would be more beautiful if he tried to pick up where Schumi left off rather than trying to copy him in Ferrari. It might also be less pressure for him, this is something I could go on about for a while.

Gunther that man I can't. Dts made him look like a silly little man and now I just can't take him serious anymore. As much as I want to fight him I still would rather listen to him on the pitwall than Horner.

Sorry if this is a bit long I just have so much to say, I hope you have a nice day or had a nice day :)

- <3

Oh no, I hate that, fingers crossed

Yeah it is literally so unimportant plus I try to separate how they are as drivers and how they are as people. Plus it took me a week to finally admit to her that I actually love Lando the most, I mean she caught on because I was sending her tiktoks all about Lando and she was like "what's with the Lando content?" and I was like "uhm...👀 no reason" and okay really even I was in denial back then 😂 And when I finally told her she wouldn't believe me like nah you're playing again (which, reasonable, I do be joking a lot just to get on her nerves, but-😂) but when she finally believed me she just had to say I'd be running back to Charles once he starts fighting for the championship--girl if I cared about the championship I wouldn't even--he's still my top one DRIVER like I know what Lando's chances of winning are in that carrot box, but we'll see for the next season

Oh I didn't know Max was that adored in the Netherlands.

Hehe, my cousin got me into it 😂 at first I was reluctant bc I know she's been following the sport for years and I don't like prying into other people's interests but she was like no come on if I didn't want to share it with you I wouldn't have suggested you getting into it and I was like uhm okay let's give it a shot... And so my first race was Singapore and uh I didn't hate it 😂 I liked it as much as a person who didn't know ANYTHING back then could like it 😂 but then I didn't get to watch Japan because life and I think it was at like 7am in my timezone and I was both happy and sad I didn't watch because you know how the race was :/ (also at that time I was EXTREMELY worried about their safety and was like I could never date any of them because I would be under constant stress from worrying, but look at me now I want that wag life 🤡 but I am still in fact always worried) and then after COTA all hell broke loose, also that was the time I was finally done with my five stages of grief and realized it is Lando I want and so here I am today :)

Yeah, as I said Seb has a very charming personality and even if I don't find him that particularly attractive I've seen his flirting skills and oh boy would I fall for him, he will be greatly missed but I don't think he's done with f1 ❤️‍🩹 Oh I will definitely watch as many full seasons as I can find!

Oh so merc didn't announce their reserve driver yet? I hope they really do, we still need him in f1 <3 And Ferrari is from what I've seen a disaster... As Felipe said "Ferrari is not a dream for younger generations as before anymore" or something like that

First team principal we see in dts is Gunther and I was like GET THIS MAN OFF OF MY SCREEN but I grew to like him even though he is annoying, but good for entertaining purposes 😂 especially his choices, someone should make "Gunther is _____, don't be like Gunther" memes off of him 😂 And Horner ah he's just full of crap

Hey no worries, I got pretty excited when I saw the long message! Thank you, as it is nighttime right now, I did have a nice day and hope you did as well!! <3

[deathon1leg]

we all know by now that blue represents mike and yellow represents will but... i’m also a FIRM believer that red represents el. (and this is a good thing for byler!)

here’s why.

⚠️spoilers ahead for all of st but mostly s4⚠️

this is gonna be a long one, so, strap in. i promise i’ll make it worth your time!!

also, i’m sure someone’s talked about this at least a little already so i’m sorry if i end up reiterating someone else’s point!

i’m gonna be focusing mainly on season 4, but i wanna start by saying stranger things has always heavily utilized primary colors, aka blue, red, and yellow, for characters’ clothing, set design, lighting, and promotion. now, this doesn’t necessarily have to mean anything but things add up when we get further into it.

here are just a few examples:

in the poster, clothing, and even the background lights in the s3 mall pic, primary colors are the main ones used.

so... what’s with the colors?

if you’re here you probably know fellow delusional bylers have made wonderful analysis posts about the strategic use of yellow and blue to represent will and mike, and i’ll add some links if i can find them, but to summarize: will is most seen wearing yellow, mike is most seen wearing blue, and they often wear each other’s colors in elements of their outfits. here’s a couple examples from season 4:

anyway, these are obviously two out of three of the primary colors that stranger things loves to use so much, and mike and will could be considered two out of three of the main characters.

the third primary color is red.

the third main character is el.

i know this sounds like a reach, but hear me out, okay?

eleven is often seen wearing red. it’s hard to say if it’s to the extent that mike and will wear their own colors because of all the time she’s spent in her hospital gown or the sensory deprivation suit, but it’s definitely prominent. mike and will’s outfits also often have red in them, just as el’s outfits often have blue and yellow.

she usually doesn’t wear a LOT of red, it’s almost always an accenting color to the rest of the outfit. i’ll explain what i think the reason for this is later, and more on why i think it’s her color. this is just me establishing this notion so we can get into it.

what does the use of each color in their outfits mean?

mike, will, and el’s clothes often include each other’s colors, be it a whole shirt or a few stripes, as you can see in some of the pictures above.

from what i’ve gathered the use of each color indicates how much the wearer is thinking about the character it represents, or how important the character currently is to the wearer. this includes when they’re wearing their own color.

i think el beginning to wear more red than she used to signifies her becoming more of her own person, which could also be why she still doesn’t wear that much of it—her life since escaping the lab has been all about saving the world and obsessing over her boyfriend, she hasn’t had time to fully realize who she is as a person.

that, and the idea that the the colors they’re wearing correlate to who they’re thinking about/who’s important to them helps put the s4 ending scene in better context.

i believe (at least in this scene) that white symbolizes neutrality, as in either no specific person at all or maybe every person as a whole. i included her white sensory deprivation tank outfit because i think it encapsulates neutrality, because being in one of those makes it feel like you’re sort of floating in nothingness.

her outfit in the last scene of s4 is almost completely white with a little bit of pink on the bottom of her sleeves and the flowers in her shirt, and an even smaller amount of yellow and green as a part of the flowers. mike’s confession and max’s near-death might’ve caused her numbness and/or confusion, explaining the neutrality. pink is just a lighter version of red (or red + white) showing that her sense of self is still there, but dimming. then there’s yellow for will, and green for will + mike. there’s no blue at all—she’s probably just done with mike’s shit.

even though i’m focusing on clothes i should point out that all around her in the field are yellow, red, and blue flowers. from some camera angles yellow flowers are the majority which could be hinting at will becoming the main character again in s5. all of the flowers are dying as the upside down takes over their world, and the sky flashes with red lightning. el picks up a dead flower and you can’t tell at that point what color it was, but it might’ve been yellow based on the others in the bunch, which... i’m not actually sure what that means.

the dying flowers look a whole lot like the ones mike brought her in the airport and they’re even the same colors, suggesting a m*leven breakup.

the previous “person they’re thinking about” theory also goes for set design and lighting, but in terms of clothes, here are some of what are imo the most concrete examples of this in s4

in the top left, will’s waiting for mike to arrive at the airport and he’s SO excited to see him and give him his painting. his shirt is all blue, because his head is completely full of mike.

in the top middle, mike is having a serious argument with el but he doesn’t really care about it. he’s mostly thinking about himself hence the blue shirt, and thinking a little bit about will, hence the thin yellow stripes.

in the top right, el’s shirt is blue and the flannel over it has blue and red stripes, but the base of the flannel... is green. green = blue + yellow. to be fair, the brightness on that picture is significantly turned up and in the original it mostly looks blue, but there is undeniably green in there, especially in other pics. she wore this during her and mike’s fight and while being arrested when mike was telling her that he would fix everything. i don’t think she believed him. i think the green is her beginning to get suspicious.

in the middle, will is emotionally supporting el during her presentation and comforting her when she gets bullied, so his shirt is mostly red stripes. it’s very hard to see here but there are super thin lines of blue, yellow, and green between the red ones.

in the bottom left, el’s dress has big blue, red, purple, and green stripes with scribbles of yellow on most of them. once again green = blue + yellow, but the ones on her dress are leaning more toward blue. then of course, purple = blue + red, mike and el. the stripes on her flannel are blue with yellow on the edges. she’s excited to see her boyfriend for the first time in a while, and will’s tagging along, so she’s thinking about all of them, including herself, and her and mike as a couple.

in the bottom middle, mike’s hat is mostly blue and orange. orange = red + yellow, so he’s thinking about el and will at the same time, and blue means he’s thinking about himself. there’s also some blue-ish green and a few small red circles for el. he wears this when he first arrives in cali, showing that his mind is pretty much split on will and el even though he gives el all his attention.

lastly, in the bottom right is another shot of mike’s cali outfit with his t-shirt being blue and his over-shirt being yellow. this illustrates even further that he’s thinking a lot about will even when seeing his gf for the first time in ages and focusing on her! even his glasses chain is yellow! mike wheeler i know what you are.

so. that was long. but we’re not done yet.

does each character’s color have a deeper meaning?

honestly, yes, i think so.

i’m not some color theory (or film theory) expert and even the small bits i’ve gathered could be wrong, but here’s what i think:

will’s yellow represents the sun

mike’s blue represents the sky

el’s red represents the upside down

let me elaborate.

i’m mostly gonna go in depth for my thoughts on el to support my “red” theory, but i’ll start with will and mike.

the sun and the sky go hand-in-hand, you can’t have one without the other... kinda like two boys we know. they’re also (at least to me) the most obvious blue and yellow “duo”s i can think of, and there’s lots of symbolism of them that fits mike and will as a duo.

i can’t think of a lot of examples for this off the top of my head, but notice the pictures of will being hit with direct sunlight while mike’s in the shadows beside him. also a picture of el during her fight with mike in nearly the same spot as the pic of will next to it, but no sunshine is on her. this could be meant to show us how mike views will vs how he views her.

mike is the vast, never-ending sky and will is the giant, warming star that lights him up.

okay, now for el. this one’s important.

el opened the first ever gate to the upside down—this is one of the most crucial plot points in the entire show, let alone for just her character. el sent 001 to the upside down and he created his own area of it to keep his victims in. el bleeds out of her nose when she uses her powers, and out of her eyes and ears if she overworks herself.

in general, she has a connection to the upside down and vecna different from any other person in the show.

all of these things are red.

are you convinced yet?

what do their colors mean in relation to each other?

as i just mentioned, will and mike represent the sun and the sky, some of the most basic symbols for the universe and the earth out there. the sun and the sky are worldly, natural, supposed to be there.

here’s where things look up for byler.

i wanna preface this by saying i absolutely LOVE eleven. she’s always been one of my favorite characters, and i’ve been watching since the beginning. i’m not trying to say she’s unnatural or not meant to be with the rest of the group, hell no. this is just my interpretation of what the show has given us and what it could be for the future of mike, will, and el.

el’s red represents the upside down, which is quite literally the opposite of worldly, a dreadful mirror of the natural universe. this isn’t to say el’s from the upside down because she’s not, she just happens to be connected to it not of her own volition, and opened a portal to it without knowing what she was doing.

this blatantly separates her from will and mike. their motifs are embodiments of the universe and go together effortlessly, while el’s motif is, well, basically the anti-universe. sorry el. love u.

but, is there any other significance behind the use of primary colors besides them being the “main” colors and these three being the main characters?

well...

i don’t know about you but this looks awfully like a triangle to me.

it’s love triangle symbolism, everyone. pack your things, we’re going home.

besides the obvious that there’s nothing going on between el and will because they’re siblings... there’s a clear love triangle between the three of them regarding el dating mike while will has a crush on him, and the fact that mike will inevitably have to choose who he wants to be with if they continue the storyline they’re on.

they’ve given us some pretty blatant imagery of this in s4. will is in the middle or on the sidelines of basically every m*leven scene this season (and they want us to root for him!)

additional primary color imagery

there’s a few more things i want to point out.

had anyone else noticed they’ve shown us three different versions of the upside down with three different colors?

i’m gonna be real and say i have no idea what this could mean. i’ll leave that up to you. what i do know is that the top one, the yellow upside down, is the untouched version of it before vecna altered it. the middle blue one is the current version of the upside down, BUT it does have lots of flashes of red lightning. the bottom red one is... honestly i don’t even know, but vecna takes his victims there.

one more thing i noticed before i go:

this season 4 poster that uses the three primary colors and... green.

we all remember that green = blue + yellow, so.

this could very well just be a graphic design choice, because green is usually what’s added to the other three if another color is needed, but... who knows.

in conclusion, we already knew that mike and will are blue and yellow, but i’m also positive that el is red.

byler endgame is in our sights!!!

if you read this entire thing, first of all, wow. second, THANK YOU SO MUCH!! i hope you found this interesting :)

[fruitydemogorgon]

Character Arc Timeee

Okay I'm gonna be honest with u idk if i've posted this already. Also, I don't usually talk about these characters so ig this is me just compiling my thoughts. not entirely related to byler, but the last 3 character bits are

Dustin: The Duffer's explained that more people would be grieving Eddie in season 5 (i'm pretty sure they said this but i can't find a link sorry), and I think this will largely impact Dustin's character. Over the series, I believe his arc has really been focused on independence and self-love/pride. His intelligence and confidence have been established clearly throughout every season, and I think, though it was painful, someone close to him dying was a reasonable way to begin the end of his journey. In season 2, it's highlighted how much he hides his emotions if he's uncomfortable or excluded (lonely). So, giving him someone who could reassure him, and tell him that they loved him, was a beautiful thing. Taking that away gives Dustin the opportunity to build himself up higher, now knowing that someone loved him for who he was (not saying that his friends didn't, just pointing out that most people tease him for his personality, rather than tell him they love him for it). I think, as a way to end his storyline, he needs to share his internal struggles with people he loves, and to reinforce his bonds. In other words, he needs to communicate with someone close about his grief for Eddie (Steve, Mike, Lucas). He deserves to have a major accomplishment. Something that he can take pride in and share with the people he loves. In fact, we've gotten this multiple times before (with Dustin's inventions and the way he succeeds in understanding the supernatural occurences).

Lucas: Over the season's, he's proved time and time again his untarnished loyalty to his friends. Always being there for them when necessary and putting himself in danger to do so. His selflessness is extremely significant to his character. Over the seasons, we've seen him face maturing and growing up head-on, embracing new opportunities and changes. However, this becomes a conflict for him in season 4 when he desires to join the basketball team. He wants to stay loyal to his friends, but he also wants to move on and "not be a nerd". We see this aspiration of his falter as the Upside Down resurfaces in his life. And, by the end of the season, his maturity has rooted from grief and trauma rather than physically growing up. In the final season, I think it would be important to let him move onto something new. Let him have that individual growth that we saw begin in season 4, while maintaining the beautiful bonds he has with his friends and family.

Max (TW-mention of suicidal thoughts): Though we've had her for only three seasons, as viewers we have been given a significant amount of insight into her character. As stated by Sadie and the Duffer's multiple times, in season 4 Max reverts back to her original ways from season 2. Closed-in yet brave and wilful. False guilt enforced into her by Billy (for 'being the reason' her father left. 'Being the reason' her mother met Billy's father. 'Being the reason' they had to move across the country) making her more hesitant to make friends. In season 3, we saw her adapt, become more comfortable with her friends and herself. Though, when Billy dies, she becomes afraid again. And, as Vecna begins to 'curse' her, he brings out her guilt. This is what leads to her becoming more isolated and quiet. It also brings to the surface suicidal feelings and depressive thoughts. The 'Running Up That Hill' scene symbolised her escaping these thoughts, breaking out of that depressive episode with the help of people she loves. After all this, though, she's almost killed at the end of the season. This put her back in a place of suffering, rather than tying up her arc like it could have. In season 5, though, her recovery will almost force her to open up about how she's feeling with both her friends and doctors (assuming doctors would be monitoring her). To finalise her arc, I think we just need to see her in a place where she is happy, as overcoming being unhappy has been a major part of her character.

Eleven: Like Max, her character arc was a huge focus of this season. At the beginning of the show, her powers define her. That's what she's been told her whole life, and it's practically all she knows. Then, she meets Mike, who teaches her about love and family and the real meaning of home. However, rather than letting her experience the world for all it is, he tells her about it. Hopper does, too, in season 2. Both of them confine her to a situation where she is forced to pretend to be 'normal', whilst being treated like she is not. In season 3, Max finally gives her the chance to move on from that lifestyle, and to discover herself in the real world. At the end of season 3, though, she's forced to become the superhero again, and defeat the Mind Flayer. Here, she also loses Hopper. This has a huge toll on her, as the grief and trauma of it all forces her to revert back to Mike for support (and, his character is only grateful for this). Finally, season 4 gives El the opportunity to break away from everything that has been holding her down, only, we discover that there's even more holding her down. Her past, her relations with Vecna, the other test subjects, conflict of feeling like a monster- it all builds up until she attacks Angela. Then, Mike, the first person to make her feel human (though also the person who fails to treat her like one the most), treats her as she is nothing without her powers (at least that's how she interprets it). Then, she goes on a huge journey of turmoil and danger and reconnecting with her past- only to end up back in the same situation she was in at the end of season 3. Powerful and ready to fight. Then, it's portrayed as if Mike's monologue is the only thing that can make her strong enough to fight (I say this, but I think Mike is the only one who really believed that. He thought that saying all these things was the only way he could save her, he wasn't actually speaking from his heart). And, at the end of volume 2 we still don't know how El feels. In the end, it was memories of Max that helped her regain her powers, not her love with Mike (which wasn't resolved in volume 2 either- they haven't spoken about it yet). El's character needs to finalise her independence, and that very likely means ending her relationship with Mike.

Mike: I have analysed the hell out of this boy. So, bear with me on the complexity of this one. Mike's character progression has been the least clear of them all. His motives and pursuits differ throughout the show, and aren't always sensical. To entertain the confusion, his character has a dramatic change between seasons 2 and 3. Before that, though, let's look at season 1. His main goal is to find Will. He's passionate, determined, and stubborn. Qualities that are shown quite clearly through his actions and other clues. It is shown to the audience that Will's disappearance is affecting him greatly, however, when El arrives, his focus turns to her. But, it's fairly deductible that this is only because she "knows about Will". Keep in mind that, before she noticed Will, Mike was indifferent to her. She was an obstacle in his way of achieving his goal. On the same day he loses Will, he finds her. On the night Will is rescued, El disappears. In season 2, El is gone. And, in a way, Will replaces her. I could keep talking about him forever, but I'll try to wrap it up. Mike's relationship with El is very similar to his parent's relationship. This has been painted in a negative light throughout the show. Mike is complicated, because though he is a 'main character', his arc and personality are written into the subtext. In everything, he's scared. Scared of bullies and conflict and himself. Scared of himself because he knows he feels, he feels so much more than what he pretends to feel. And what he's feeling is an overwhelming amount of love. Love for his friends and sister and El and Will. His best friend. And he's so scared of this deep, sturdy web of love that he succumbs to the normal. The normal his parents have shown him, raised him to. Normal for El, Troy, himself. To beat this, he needs to be brave. He needs to reach for that compassion that roots inside of him, and use it. Use it to tell the truth and share the love. Share it with his friends and El and Will. Because, he is Will's heart, and in season 5 he'll start showing it.

bitch be gay, your honour.

yes i did put a lot of effort into this and yes i did put a lot of effort into analysing will i just did it all in my brain and yes you just have to telepathically communicate with me if u wanna hear it 😤. max and el are my favs to write about i think. and dusty bun. and lucas. and, of course, will and mike.

please excuse all the tags lol