#stella kowalski

[gayvecchio]

My initial impression when I watched Eclipse for the first time (and what I still believe) is that Stella knew full well that Ray didn't humilate himself on purpose in the bank when they were kids. I always read it as Stella knowing how embarrased and ashamed Ray would feel for having wet himself, and instead of trying to console him and tell him that it was okay, she let him be the hero instead. Because even though in Ray's memory he thought that he was being 'John Lennon, James Bond, Joe Namath, all rolled into one', I don't think Stella actually fell in love with an illusion at all. Like Fraser said, 'I am willing to gamble that Stella looked beyond that one incident and saw the whole person'. I think she always saw Ray for who he really was, but Ray's own insecurities about himself made him believe that she had to be with him based on a lie. I think the person who doesn't see Ray clearly is Ray himself. He has such a low sense of himself that he can't imagine her falling for anything but a con. He can't imagine that Stella simply fell in love with little Ray Kowalski, because who the hell is even is that? He's convinced himself that he's been playing the part of 'the hero' all these years that he doesn't really see that he has actually become one. The person who recieved all those citations that Fraser recounts wasn't a lie or a con, it was Ray Kowalski, a good policeman, someone who one would be proud to call a partner and a friend. In my opinion Ray's biggest con was conning himself into believing he isn't good enough just the way he is.

[hwaetnot]

Timestamp Roulette: Good for the Soul

Minutes 7, 12, 15, 16, 18, 22, and 29.

[sammaggs]

due South | Text Posts Part 5

[One] [Two] [Three] [Four] [Five]

[allofthebeanz]

I've said my piece in a meta earlier how I read the Fraser/Ray/Stella thing (which you can find here if you're interested), but I really do love the idea of Fraser and Stella just fucking hating each other. Two people who need control who try to make the world a better place by their job which gets in the way of their relationships and the only thing they have in common is Ray and they hate that they have that in common? i wish we had more scenes of them roasting each other while trying to remain professional.

[misterabit]

The fact that there's a version of the play "A streetcar named desire" with Rachel Weisz as Blanche and Ruth Wilson as Stella and that I can't find it anywhere keeps me up at night actually

[cortlandkaard]

"She didn’t know what she was doing ...

"She was as good as a lamb when I came back and she's really very, very ashamed of herself."

what's toxic yuri if it isn't based off of a toxic hetero story from the 1950s?

[geraldcrich]

Decided to doodle this lovely A S STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE playbill poster ater almost 20 years without drawing. It’s my homage to my favorite play!!!

[honestlyjustamillyfanpage]

Theatre Playground vs Straight Acting

@maryxschuyler the Stella to my Blanche 💞

Martin said we couldn't post videos on socials but he said nothing about pictures also I think Tumblr doesn't count as it is simply a deep dark void so it should be fine

Also peep the violin wrist I don't think I'll ever do anything better than that in my life icl.

[shiverandqueeef]

If i think too hard or for too long about stella kowalski's ending in due south i start to froth a little at the mouth

[gayvecchio]

Nothing makes me nope out of a due south fic faster than reading an unfair characterization of Stella. It doesn't matter how well written the rest of the fic is, I can't stand when Stella is portrayed as some heartless bitch who treats Ray badly for no reason. As much as I love RayK (he's my fave) I can admit his behavior with Stella is not him at his best. I mean we meet Stella in the episode where Ray is stalking her, and I think there's enough of an implication that it isn't the first time. It's not cute, it's not endearing. I can have sympathy for Ray's struggling to let go of the relationship he's been in since he was a kid, but it's not Stella's job to protect his feelings. She's made herself more than clear that there's no hope of reconciliation but Ray won't accept it. It's completely understandable that Stella would get fed up with Ray's persistence and feel the need to be a bit harsh in shutting him down.

[sammaggs]

the way Ray looks at Fraser at the end of Eclipse >>>>>>>>>

[hwaetnot]

"Are you from another planet?" — Ha, nice CotW tie-in.

Seeing is Believing- Time Stamp Roulette

Minutes: 12 16 23 28 37 40 43

[allofthebeanz]

That moment in Strange Bedfellows when Stella and Ray told that government dude to get fucked whilst completing a graceful dance move really cemented why and how they were a couple because I can tell just from that they were Little Shits together

[khakilike]

I've literally been waiting years to see Choi Yoonjung again, and when they showed her in the crowd supporting her sister at the I-LAND 2 finale, I went full Stanley Kowalski.*

*I've never actually seen Streetcar, so I hope I didn't just say something dirty.

(Watching the show live, I would've sworn these girls' signs said they were cheering for Choi Yoonjung. The letters (최윤정) are all there, just in a slightly wrong order, and I'm only so good at reading Hangul quickly.)

[geraldcrich]

A Streetcar Named Desire (1947)

[allofthebeanz]

Sorry to hop onto your post, op, but I think this is the right place to put this ridiculously long meta of my interpretation/reading of this episode regarding the Ray/Stella/Fraser triangle

Before we get started, can I just say that Ray/Stella make me sad? They're both two kids who want to go back to the idea of the other instead of the real person. You can tell throughout the whole episode they really miss each other and the divorce is hard on both of them. Plus, we shouldn't say that one or the other is blameless or the villain in the relationship. They're both complicated and flawed individuals whose flaws didn't fit together (Stella seems to want control over people and things while Ray has zero self esteem).

Also, I get the sense that those two and their respective families never learned how to establish boundaries? Example: Stella tells EVERYTHING to Ray's mother and Ray's mother tells EVERYTHING to Ray. That's a little... weird to me? But then I notice that Stella is trying to set boundaries by telling Ray to back off and Ray also does this when he rejects Stella's first invitation to her apartment. They are learning! They are also hurting!

So, now we get to the whole point of the episode: obsession destroys you. More specifically, the narrative is trying to get Ray to move on so he doesn't warp his sense of self. Personally, it's a pet peeve of mine when people say that Ray's been stalking Stella more than once because everything points to this being Ray's first time doing this (might I say it's bizarre to me he brought Fraser? What was he planning to do? Spy on her and then at the right time bump into her like 'check out this hot guy i found you jealous?' Was he not planning to do this and then thought what the hell?). It makes more sense to see the start of Ray's slippery slope into dangerous behaviour since the whole point is trying to lead him away from this decision.

So now we finally get to Fraser. Obviously, he has already developed an attachment/friendship with Ray. Even an attraction, and I don't care at this point if it's just platonic or romantic or both, Fraser has developed a bond already with him. He's seen Ray take a bullet for him. He's read all the citations. He's seen Ray be emotionally open with him. Ray is a good person, but then his relationship with the only woman he loves warps into obsession and ultimately leads to him losing his morals as he attempts to get back together with her. I word it like that because - huh - sounds familiar doesn't it?

Everything leads back to Victoria. Fraser believes in there being good in people, of course, but more importantly he's seeing himself in Ray. He wants to help Ray fix his mistakes and not be led down the road that Fraser went - literally with a bullet in his back.

Now, why is Fraser being a bit of a dick to Stella? Well, we can chalk some of that up to just Fraser being human. Even when the people you're close to do something bad, you automatically defend them. But I'd also say it has to do with him being pissed off at Stella for rejecting Ray beforehand, when Fraser read what a noble person he was (citations and emotional vulnerability and the like). Maybe Fraser is projecting some of Victoria onto Stella, but a part of me sees this as Fraser's frustration with Ray being obsessed with Stella - someone who didn't want him - when Fraser is right there. Someone who still respects him and likes his company. The other part trying to capture Ray's attention also being "you two aren't healthy for each other and I don't want you to become like that guy that literally set up bombs'. But really, Fraser does not like Stella for being a big source of Ray's insecurity.

So, yes, Stella was in the right about telling Ray not to spy on her (obviously), but Fraser is letting his feelings/emotions get in the way of his duty when interacting with her, and that all stems from a combination of the Victoria debacle and his friendship with Ray. And hell, maybe that's why Fraser's a bit scared of Ray because he makes him feel so strongly.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk

Fraser, who up until this point, always takes the side of the person being wronged, starts behaving like a dickhead to Stella for no reason beyond backing up RayK