#they barely got any screentime this season

[starrysharks]

clone high s2 has a serious character assassination issue esp with abe and cleo and the jokes don't land nearly as much as those in s1 and it doesn't even have ghandi but at least it gave the world topher bus

[steveharrington]

major hornets nest moment here but i must speak my truth. its so fascinating to me how will byers was clearly written with the driving motivation and intention of making him a beloved fan favorite character and instead he falls so flat that, if you asked the average casual viewer of the show who doesn't engage in the fandom like, say, your coworker, the odds of him even being in their top five of favorite characters is pretty low.

will's disappearance kicks off the plot, singlehandedly. the first episode is literally called the vanishing of will byers. his name is shouted so much in the first season that most people would recognize the reference if you used the right cadence and desperation that winona ryder does. after not being featured much in season one, you'd think season two would've just like launched will/noah schnapp into stardom with how much more screentime he's given and how dramatic his plot is that season. but instead the fan favorites of season 2 were by and large el, hopper, dustin, steve, max, even bob who's barely there. that's not to say that there AREN'T will fans out there (and online i understand there are like entire armies dedicated to him/byler, but i'm talking about the average opinion of viewers as a whole, not just in fandom spaces) but think about all the stranger things merch you see in stores, the halloween costumes, the characters that appear in promotional materials when the show has partnerships with brands....will is so rarely featured. idk if any of yall ever got the chance to visit the stranger things pop up shop in any of its various locations, but there was such little mention of will in the stores theming or merchandise that it was almost funny. actually it WAS funny, to me, someone who does not care for him

i think the flop can be attributed to many things. one, noah schnapp is just not a very good actor and he doesn't have the same appeal in his performances that millie, sadie, caleb, gaten, priah, or finn do (although finn i've noticed is also kinda falling out of favor from majority audiences). one could argue that noah schnapp intentionally isn't given much to do, which is true and i'll circle back to that, but the decline in his acting between seasons 2 and 3 is truly a sight to behold. when he's not like tied up and screaming, he reallllllly struggles on the smaller scale performances compared to the other cast members his age. he doesn't really have the charm that gaten does or the humor that priah does or the depth that caleb does. (i don’t feel bad about saying this, btw, given noah schnapp’s behavior)

back to the vanishing of will byer's screen time. my beloved prettymuchit's eric striffler commented on how diminished will and mike's roles in the story have become in s4. "noah schnapp is below the grips on the call sheet" is my fav line, but he also makes an observation on finn's role that i think is soooo accurate. when mike and will are kneeling down next to the pizza dough freezer and watching el just kinda twitch while she fights vecna in her mind, eric and his co-host miles say "this is so embarrassing! finn's like, 'oh so gaten's fighting the monster? and i'm kneeling next to a tub at a pizza place? i used to be this show" and i think the same exact sentiment can be superimposed onto will

but i think this happened naturally, as the nature of the show is to shift its focus from character to character. not to mention the duffer brothers' obsession with tweaking their story to give audiences what they want. i've always held the belief that there isn't one main character of stranger things, rather a rotating circle of characters depending on the season you're watching. season one is mike, season two is hopper, season three is el, season four is max imo. again that's a little subjective and arguments could be made to swap those a little, but overall i think those characters stories and point of views take center stage during each of their respective seasons. by season 3, the duffers wanted to kick things up to a larger scale. the UD is no longer targeting just will, it's targeting the entire town. this works because a THIRD season in a row where this one kid specifically gets possessed would just be bonkers, so they kinda had to let him take a backseat. i'm not sure why they didn't let will be more involved in the mystery-solving portion of season 3....to this day that decision baffles me, but what's done is done and the will that everyone watched in season 3 literally just kinda follows everyone around and gets a small little slice of a plotline about wanting things to go back to normal, but alas

it like totally worked, though. though there are MANY complaints commonly made about season 3, i've never heard anyone offline complain that there wasn't enough will byers. i think the group in s3 that had the most success like, commercially, would be scoops troop and then a bit farther back i think most audiences enjoyed hopper/joyce/murray's dynamic. i think if there had been a huge outcry in the minimizing of will's role, the duffers would've backpedaled immediately. they aim to please. they can't even commit to killing of a main character out of fear that audiences will lose interest if we permanently lose hopper or max, so they just do some creative writing that allows them to milk the emotional consequence of those characters deaths without actually writing them off. if audiences on a large scale demanded that will be center stage, he would be. but they dont!

final point: i think will gets fucked over by the duffers obsession with romance. in season one, two of will's strongest dynamics are with his mom and brother. which like, yeah. theyre his immediately family and he is 12. but in seasons 2 and 3, jonathan spent all his screen time with nancy and from 2-4, joyce has spent all her screen time either with hopper or in the pursuit of finding hopper. these characters are written together as a package deal, typically. it was refreshing and unexpected to see jonathan get a whole season with a friend of his very own and his siblings, but they barely took advantage of that. jonathan and will get ummmm one (1) scene to talk about their emotions in a fucking 20 hour season. it's hard for will to be a main character when he rarely gets to interact with the people that make up the other half of his main dynamics.

as for byler, im of the belief that it will not be endgame because i just don't think they're going to break up mike and el at this point. i could be completely wrong and stand corrected, but im like 90% sure lol. i do think that will's s4 storyline resonated with a lot of people. even eric striffler! i think the issue is that the vastttt majority of people who watch this show above the age of like 15 do not feel invested about the romantic relationships between any of the kids. because why would they!!! theyre literally in middle school for 3/4 of the show. you would be hard pressed to find a vocal will stan online who doesn't also dedicate 90% of their engagement with the show to byler. which makes sense, because most if not all of will's scenes revolve around mike to some degree. but according to neilsen, the majority of stranger things audience is consistently in the 18-49 age range season by season. its more likely for adult audiences to identify with adults (or characters who are narratively treated like adults, like steve and nancy) than with any of the kids. esp when the kid in question, despite being written as the focal point of the show, has less relevant plotlines, less interaction with other characters, and an actor who just doesn't deliver on charm the way his fellow younger costars do

[eddiediazismyhusband]

so i got a hate reply on this post

and as i usually do when i receive hate replies i did a perusal of their blog and it was the typical worship of t*mmy that you see from this groupd of fans but of course this post in particular caught my eye

the fact that this person unironically wished death on buddie fans and then proceeded to call us psychopaths.

because we don’t ship a ship that has no chemistry and barely any screentime.

and they even tagged their post incorrectly because that’s the only way they can get attention- by antagonizing.

i have never once intentionally mistagged a post so that someone would see it and get offended. common courtesy is a virtue not many people seem to have on this site. and the fact that you’re saying something so vile and hateful because someone doesn’t like a character who wasn’t even originally supposed to be a part of the season to begin with?

maybe that is a sign that you need to reexamine some things in your own life because behavior like this is worrying.

[momowoah]

No but what drives me crazy about 911 is that they never give Buck and Eddie's love interests a fighting chance. Buck and Abby were doomed before they even began bc Abby was never supposed to stay on the show so they were always written with an end in mind. Eddie and Shannon's relationship never worked and even if she hadn't died she would've still have asked for a divorce - she and Eddie were never going to work. Ali was barely even there. Eddie was never into Anna and everyone knew it and pointed it out time and time again. Bucktaylor was the closest the show has ever gotten to giving either of them a decent endgame possibility but instead of leaning into what brought them together and what could be good in their relationship the writers time and time again chose to push them apart and to exacerbate their incompatibilities to the point both of them were basically trapped in the relationship. Lucy and Buck could've been something but, again, the writers never tried to make them into anything meaningful. Natalia was only interested in Buck because of his death. Eddie only started dating Marisol bc he was being pressured into getting into a relationship, and the show never cared about giving her any depth of character and emotions whatsoever besides the nun thing, and even that was only to cause conflict between them. Tommy has been shown not to be into Buck as much as Buck is into him multiple times and the fact that he can't call him anything but Evan just pushes the idea that it won't work further. Kim could never mean anything more than a way for Eddie to heal. They've never had a decent love interest that was portrayed as one, and we're seven seasons in. If they want to push any endgame relationship other than Buddie, we're past the expiration date. Taylor worked bc Buck already knew her and bc the writers put time into developing their friendship and her character. She was popping up almost every single episode since her return and had decent amounts of screentime. She got a backstory. How do they plan on bringing two new love interests that get the same treatment, the same chances, when it's been seven seasons and not a single one of either Buck or Eddie's relationships has shown any signs that they were meant to work long term? What other possibility is left besides Buddie?

[canonicallyobserving911]

Hi just thought of this the other day - i think you were one of the few people who picked up on the gross implications of thommy's "they're always so grateful!" line in 7x04??

And then i remembered how thommy rushed to help eddie when he got injured at the basketball game and thommy was the one who volunteered to get eddie to the hospital and take care of him....???

We can see thommy was basically wooing eddie in 7x04, right up until buck presented an opportunity, so maybe...maybe thommy was hoping for eddie to be "so grateful" for thommy's help and care....😅

Hello @blutterlie and thank you for your ask.

My response got kind of long, so I apologize in advance but I'm happy to be able to share my thoughts on this topic because I've rarely seen or read any posts about it. That could be because I've blocked probably hundreds of blogs since 7x4 aired but I digress.

Before I delve into my response, here's my disclaimer: I didn't want Tommy dating, hooking up with or doing anything with Eddie or Buck because IMO, neither of them needed to be with another man before they go CANON. In season 3, they were both single and they had all the emotional, physical and romantic intimacy/chemistry they needed to have already been in a relationship but of course the FOX network wouldn't let it happen and we had to endure two seasons of them dating lackluster LIs (4x6 to 5x3 of Eddie dating Ana and 4x14 to 5x18 of Buck dating Taylor 🙄).

I believe all Buck and Eddie need are each other and after the kitchen scene in 3x9, it seemed like they may or could have already been in between the sheets but hey, that's my headcanon since it's not actually CANON and I'm not one of those who tries to retcon things that aren't or weren't in the show like the showrunner(s) and some veiwers have done.

Now back to the regularly scheduled program...

Since so many things changed prior to the start of season 7 with scripts, actresses not being available (AC and AK) and a shortened season (which wouldn't have had any impacts if they wouldn't have changed the scripts and storylines down to the wire) it's difficult to tell what direction TM was going to go with Buddie without him admitting it (he'll never do it). But based on OS's interviews about BuckT*mmy only being short term and LFJr.'s admission in an interview after 7x4 aired, it was originally supposed to be EddieT*mmy not Buck*Tmmy, I think things between Eddie and T*mmy were going to be more than whatever Buck’s doing with him. Also, I think TM is using T*mmy to delay CANON Buddie yet again.

Now, I'm going to go back to 6x15 first because that's when Buck broke Eddie’s heart with that BS line about how Natalia saw him when we all know she didn't see $hit but his death. And even though Eddie asked Marisol on a date at the end of the season, I stand by my original speculation that Eddie wasn't ever supposed to be serious with her and it remained that way until 7x5 when TM flipped the script and turned his relationship into something more than that. Reminder, she barely had any screentime until that episode. Also, RG mentioned Eddie’s abuela and his sisters were supposed to show up during the season but that didn't happen. His abuela was there in 7x6 but whatever she was supposed to talk to Eddie about, it got cut and all she did was attend the wedding with him and Chris.

With all of that being said, here's what I believe was supposed to happen. This is my speculation and it's contradictory to what most people think but that's ok since everyone interprets media differently.

I think Eddie and T*mmy were supposed to officially date each other and it was supposed to make Buck jealous to the point where either Natalia was going to call him out on it or he was going to breakup with her and tell Eddie he loved him. Another reminder, TM said he had a whole plan for Buck and Natalia but when AC couldn't return to the show, he had to scrap it. Also, he wanted Lucy to be the one who flew the helicopter but she couldn't return because the actress got a spot on a new show. These are things he and the writers would have known by January since the strikes were over and the writers had been working since late October.

Therefore, my analysis is based on several things. First, LFJr. looks like he could be one of OS's relatives since they have the same eye and hair color. Also, I think T*mmy was not only wooing Eddie, I think he seriously wanted to settle down with him. Surely, he knew Eddie was a family man because he has a son and he probably had the same thought process as a lot of the viewers did about Marisol being just a babysitter for Chris.

The issue was Natalia's actress couldn't return and instead of correcting everything in the scripts so that BuckT*mmy would be believable, they just changed a few things thinking no one would notice but it was a cluster f~ck. If Eddie would have been dating him then Buck’s actions on the basketball court would have made more sense than him injuring Eddie just because he had a new friend. That was ridiculous and none of it made any sense. Also, when did T*mmy and Eddie first talk to each other and when and WHY did Buck even want to contact T*mmy? He only saw him in the helicopter and as much as the 118 blabs all their business, there's no way Buck doesn't know T*mmy is a racist and a bigot and he has to know the things he did and said to Hen and Chimney. Buck’s two on screen kisses don't mean jack $hit when T*mmy doesn't seem interested in him at all and Buck was supposed to be off the hamster wheel but the truth is, he isn't.

Honestly, I think when T*mmy figured out Eddie wasn't available, he went for the consolation prize, Buck and IMO he's only interested in one thing just like ALL OF BUCK’S OTHER LOVE INTERESTS WERE. Abby, Ali, Taylor and Natalia along with Dr. Wells, and those two women he hooked up with in season 1 only wanted his "Firehose ". It's hard for those who haven't watched the first 6 seasons and the first 3 episodes in season 7 to comprehend, since they only want to see Buck kiss a dude but the truth is they don't know or care to learn about Buck’s history of using his body to get people to like him. He's literally been doing it since 1x1. The people he's been with never wanted to get to know him but HE'S ALWAYS HAD AN EMOTIONAL AND SEXUALLY TENSE relationship with Eddie. The only thing missing is sex for Buddie because they have everything else. They didn't even have to touch each other or take off a piece of clothing in 3x9 because their chemistry was so hot, it emanated through the screen and it's legendary.

It seems like T*mmy was going to be Eddie's first boyfriend and Buck wasn’t going to like it. Since by TM's admission and for those who've been watching for years, Buck was ALREADY CANONICALLY bi so it wouldn't have taken much for him to just admit it in season 7. There were hints throughout seasons 2, 3 and 4.

That's my speculation about what was supposed to happen and I think that line T*mmy said about the people they meet on calls always being "so grateful" was added at the last minute and it was done purposefully for Buck's storyline. I could be wrong but the way T*mmy pursued Eddie with dates, expensive fight tickets and them hanging out multiple times each week, it kind of seemed like he wanted Eddie because he's a "beautiful man".

Thanks for the ask and have a great day.

[foreverautumn89]

I'm so angry!!! We all saw the casting thing, but did you notice the part about NO SCRIPTED LINES FOR WILL AND JONATHAN> Cause I didn't. Not until now.

::RANT::

I was really looking forward to seeing Mike, Jonathan, and Will interacting as kids. But nope. Once again Jonathan and Will are just made to be part of the background.

I'm not just mad about this. This is just the latest in a long line of the Duffers doing this. I'm mad about years worth of them pulling this crap. And I do realize I'm probably over reacting to this because it might just be a small scene, but thats not the point. Its not just about this its about everything. The whole show. Its been years of them doing this type of stuff - Jonathan and Will getting no lines or no screentime. I've internalized this anger for too long and now I can't anymore. It may be coming out at the wrong time. But its got to come out. I'm tired of this happening.

And just so there is no misunderstanding no I'm not complaining about Mike in any way this has nothing to do with Mike-I'm complaining about the writers. It's about how the writers always screw over Jonathan and Will and give them less to do than everyone else and how they're just in the background most of the time. How Jonathan and Will are more for 'filler' than actually giving them a big part. They're not even main characters anymore.

The reason I kept watching this show after S1 was because I wanted to see more of Jonathan and Will and the two of them together and we only got crumbs of that for the last 3 seasons!!!

Just to remind you: This show used to be about the Byers and their family and they were the main focus. Jonathan and Will are constantly pushed to the back and ignored now. Its been going on for years. I'm so sick of it. There is so much wasted potential with Jonathan and Will. They should have a lot more screentime and bigger storylines and a bigger role. Jonathan should have had his own storyline and they should have explored both those characters a lot more and shown the duo together a lot more.

Now its the end of the show and its too late. And I got my hopes up with this. I got all excited about tiny Jonathan, Will, and Mike moments. imagining what it could be and so happy to see them together as kids ext and ofc the Duffers let me down AGAIN. Very misleading.

I'm more mad at myself for getting my hopes up when I should know better by now. Jonathan gets 5m of screentime a season I should have known better.

I'm just sick of Jonathan and Will being buried and pushed to the back and/or treated like props. Yes it looks like Will is getting a bigger role this season, but I'm gonna learn my lesson from all the stuff I've said above and stop getting my hopes up. Stop thinking that oh this is gonna be really good we're gonna get to see more of Will and Jonathan-nope I got to stop thinking like that and I'm going to be very disappointed again. I'm going to expect there to be no scenes of Will and Jonathan so that way when there is no scenes of them.... I won't be disappointed then. I'll be expecting it.

I can't wait for this show to be over so I can stop getting all excited before every season about seeing more Jonathan/Will/Jonathan and Will scenes-- just to be let down every single time because it turns out they were barely in the season or in the background of someone elses storyline not getting to say or do anything.

They always make it appear as if Jonathan and Will are gonna get a big part each season and then its just crumbs.

Last season, a whole episode went by without them in it at all.

[very-straight-blog]

This might sound funny and cringey, but I feel like I lost something I cared about and now it's just sadness and depression. Like it's a TV show, I get it, but we waited 2 years and for what? To get the two worst episodes imaginable. I'm really starting to believe that Sapochnik was responsible for everything good in s1, bcz Condal and Hess ruined this show. S1 wasn't perfect and I didn't like a lot of things in it, but it still managed to keep me invested so I hoped that in s2 everything would be improved. And yet, I'm so terribly disappointed. Alicent's characterization makes no sense anymore, like they want so badly to show her as a bad mother and a hypocrite and really - after ruining bnc with Alicole sex now it had to follow with her not being able to console her son but hoping on Criston is a must do?? What sort of degenerates write this??

Aemond is also ruined for me and I would love to erase that crappy brothel scene from my memory. What was it for? To show his mommy issues, vulnerability... Idc. The dialogue was bad and they did him dirty with the angles and the pose. And now he's apparently going to be there *again* in e3 and we'll get full frontal nudity. Idk why the actor agreed to this since they are obviously making a joke and meme material of his character. Not to mention that he straight up lied in the promos about being loyal (if the RR leaks are true and I'm almost 100% sure they are). I get that they are told what to say, but a more general answer would have been much better than a lie. In brief, one of my favourite s1 characters is also destroyed.

Then Cole. My god, I only waithig for him to look at the camera and say "do you hate me enough already hahah?" He's the writers punching bag atp.

Helaena barely exists.

Otto is Viserys' fanboy and ofc, appalled by his grandson. It's not as he just has lost a son and was forced to take the crown in the first place by him and his mother, no less.

Aegon got more screentime and I love Tom's performance, but I'm not fooled. He is still depicted as weak, politically inept and rash. And he'll still be a bully, apparently. Just to justify his brother's treason. F*ck you Condal, Hess and whoever else is responsible for this mess.

Anyway, sorry for the rant. I just don't get how anyone can seriously praise this shitshow anymore. It could have been great, but the creators are obviously not up to the task which is now painfully obvious. I wouldn't mind the greens as villains, but don't write them as a walking joke. I'm quitting the show and would like just to forget about it. This adaptation of the Dance was a huge mistake.

I feel you! By the way, I haven't participated in any fandom life, I think, for 10 years or more, but thanks to HOTD, I started this blog, I write some critical (well, kinda) reviews, and English isn't even my native language. I've been waiting for the second season for two years and now I just feel tired and empty. So far, the only thing I've liked about these two episodes is Aegon's storyline, that's all. Everything else is bad, very bad, and judging by the leaks, it'll be even worse.

Firstly, the series has a very strange pace of the narrative. We didn't get a bunch of important plot scenes, and even those that remained were shown in a hurry, but at the same time we have many scenes like "Rhaenyra stares at the dust for three minutes", unnecessary dialogues and PAUSES between lines.

Secondly, again, an insane amount of important plot details are left behind the scenes and this is absolutely wrong. Aemond's return home, the family's reaction to what he did. Aegon's reaction when he learned of his son's death. Aemond's reaction when he finds out what his actions have led to. And so on and so forth. Many of the characters' actions are shown without context. Alicent fucks with Criston - cool, but can I have some additional information? How long has this been going on, what feelings do they have for each other, how have they developed, like, anything? The same can be said about the scene in the brothel - no context.

Thirdly, it's unclear what's going on with the characters, as if the screenwriters decided to make the greens the most unpleasant people in the world. So far, I only like Aegon and Helaena. I can't even say anything about Aemond, because his only dialogue scene is built around Daemon and Luke, damn them. I just can't.

Everything annoys me except Aegon lol. So yes, I understand you.

[gojuo]

gods eye is definitely happening in the final season because they don't want to miss matt smith (i wouldn't want either since he's very talented) but they don't really care about aemond so i imagine him having another 15 minute on screen appearance during s3 haha completely forgotten in harrenhal

I was extremely surprised by the lack of screentime for the younger generation since Condal said this season would focus on them .... only for Aemond to have 25 minutes of focus and Helaena barely 15.... What a fucking joke. Aemond nor Helaena and I think Aegon too tbh won't be getting any more screentime next season than they got this season. And I'm very sure of that.

[shuttershocky]

Do you have a dislike for media universes that "rewards" people for watching/reading all of it in general?

Or do you think there is one that executes that idea well?

I'm answering this 5 months late, but I'm pretty sure I still remember this ask being prompted by a post making fun of the MCU.

Do I dislike story universes that reward people for reading all of it? Not at all. I mean, I'm a fan of both Middle Earth and Star Wars, I fucking love big, big universes with plenty of stories in them. When they intersect in some small way it's a delight to me, I love those little personal winks from the author for having read their other works or recognizing the most obscure names only a nerd would know.

However, there's a difference between a little reference in a story meant for people who can connect the dots, and making something almost required reading for your enjoyment. It's the difference between an acknowledgement from the creators that you liked the setting enough to come back for a new yet familiar ride, and a company realizing they've found their cash cow and can't wait to milk it for all its got until it's dead.

And dead the cash cow will be, eventually. It's been said before that the reason why the Big Two of western comics have ceded more and more ground to manga over the years is that Spider-Man has 10 different starting points while Naruto starts with Volume#1. That's not just a funny joke. Onboarding new readers has genuinely been Marvel and DC's problem for decades, which is why it was both incredibly predictable yet shocking all the same that this is what the MCU turned itself into.

Sure, early on you could ask the audience to watch a couple movies before the big Avengers crossover, but now they've got all these TV shows on top of the movies that you have to watch in order to "catch up", and it's not even about the cool characters anymore. More and more of their fanbase is going to stop caring once the barrier of entry gets too high, and it's ridiculous to me that Marvel went this road with their movies when they know this is what happened to their comics first.

I mean, are you serious, their next big bad is Kang? I am not watching several TV shows and an Ant-Man movie that's somehow worse than the second one all to see how the currently left Avengers meet goddamn Kang the Conqueror. He's in both the TV shows and the movies, which means they're somehow giving Kang more buildup screentime than Thanos. Why? Either I've been extremely out of touch with Marvel comics or the MCU picked a wild choice to headline their next billion dollar franchise when Doctor Doom is actually available to them now and barely needs an introduction.

Sorry, got lost for a bit. Back on topic, yeah I know I know, all art right now exists under capitalism which means every setting that becomes a wider story universe is an author trying to milk their existing fanbase. Whenever a creator makes a thing that I like, and then announces they have a new thing set in the same setting as their first thing but isn't a direct sequel so they can keep gaining a new audience while keeping their existing one, I know I'm being suckered in.

Just, don't make it so blatant. And don't make it so hard. I am the exact target audience for these shenanigans and even I'm starting to feel like it's homework because it's all fucking required now.

If I, a lifelong Star Wars fan, want to watch the newest Star Wars thing, I have to see a hundred hours of other Star Wars media first. If I want to watch The Mandalorian Season 3, I can't just have seen Season 1 and 2, oh no, I have to also see The Book of Boba Fett too, because halfway through that show became The Mandalorian Season 2.5. Well I did see Boba Fett, and the combination of my dislike for turning it into required homework AND the show itself just being kinda dogshit meant I never touched season 3 of the Mandalorian. That show used to be so great because it wasn't tied down to any existing story arcs or characters, so it stood on its own and made for an amazing watch no matter how much Star Wars you've actually seen. And then it succeeded and so had to become the new spine for the entirety of Disney Star Wars afterward. Fuck. Now if I want to watch their latest show Ahsoka, I have to have seen the Clone Wars animated series AND Rebels, because the Rebels cast are in it too! I mean I did see Clone Wars and Rebels, but that still sucks!

That makes me worried now! Andor was also really fucking good and it stood on its own so hard you didn't even need to see Rogue One, the movie that introduced Cassian Andor in the first place. But now that season 1 was a success and everyone sang its praises, it certainly means season 2 is suddenly going to get real cramped with Ahsoka and Luke Skywalker and whatever guys are currently alive in its timeframe. Shit, they're probably gonna add Cal Kestis in season 2 of Andor. The Respawn Star Wars games are still doing their own thing which means it's time to connect to something else.

I hate what all this has become. It was fun to read the Silmarillion and see what kind of fuckery one family of elves got up to that eventually turned Sauron from minion to big evil eye parked next to evil mountain, but you didn't need to read all that before The Lord of the Rings. LOTR didn't assume you knew anything at all (and oh boy did Tolkien never miss an opportunity to explain shit).

Let me repeat. I am the target audience. I live for the ridiculously nerdy habit of reading things set in the same universe as other things and connecting all the dots. If /I/ feel like it's become homework, I can't imagine what the average person thinks of all this. Make it stop. Stop running everything I once loved into the ground in the name of endless profit. Star Wars was already doing this to itself before the Disney acquisition and yet it didn't feel this bad.

[atopvisenyashill]

Why do you fing Helaena's changes to her character heinous? 👀

I think if you're going to make such a huge change to her character, you need to dedicate the time to actually fleshing that character out. Part of why I never minded the Shae changes (until the very ending) was because a) you can still get Tyrion and Sansa roughly to the same points that they are emotionally at the end of ASOS with a Shae that is older, smarter, and loves both of them and b) they made the effort to dedicate the space in the narrative to fleshing her out. Even if some stuff is kind of left up in the air (like her potential background as a runaway noble), I think she still gets a lot of time to spotlight her relationships with both of them. When she asks Tyrion to leave, most of her conversations with Sansa, the little quirks like her not knowing how to properly brush hair, etc., Shae is given the room to be this new character and be a deep character without breaking the rules of the universe and ultimately serving the same purpose she did in the books (again...up until she betrays Sansa and attacks Tyrion with that shitty little knife. I think if she had insisted on Sansa's innocence and Tyrion had out and out murdered her, she would be a perfect example of a Canon OC type fleshed out correctly).

With Helaena....she barely gets any screentime at all. Rarely are we following a scene from her PoV, it's almost exclusively Alicent's very infantilized view of her daughter or Aegon/Aemond's view of her oddities. It reminds me of the Arianne writing in that way - because we got Arianne first through Areo who sees her as a child and then through Arys who is attracted to her, our initial picture of Arianne is both infantilized and hypersexualized. Similarly, because we rarely get Helaena from her own PoV, our image of her is infantilized. If they were ~saying something~ about the way disability is treated, that's one thing, but they're just kind of...letting it lie? It's taken us a season and a half to finally see Dreamfyre. Part of the reasoning for the Storming of the Dragonpit is that the smallfolk believe she's been murdered and she's beloved because she's one of the few dragonriders to not have an active hand in fucking these up for King's Landing. We have no idea her true feelings for Aegon or Aemond, there's just a lot of looks. She chose Jaehaera over Jaehaerys and we haven't seen her interact with - or purposefully Not interact with - Jaehaera once since. All of her interactions with the smallfolk have been negative.

So for me, it’s like they completely sacrifice any and all resemblance to her canon character to turn her into a foreshadow device and occasional sounding board for her mother’s problems. a feminist story about the way power is taken from women and noble women take power from the lower class, but we completely ignore the character who is known for interacting with the lower class, and focus more on every single man around her.

[lemonhemlock]

I’m so confused by Aemond this season. In season one it seemed like they wanted to expand and make him very sympathetic and developed, but now he is one of the flattest characters on the show. He can’t have any depth, he never gets an interior emotion. He goes from zero to 100 on trying to kill Aegon and we don’t even see that bring a reaction from him. It’s just very weird to me.

yeah, he really was portrayed like an asshole who doesn't really gaf about anyone lol, without much exploration into his psyche beyond the bare minimum. compared to last season, where he got a compelling background, this season feels very "tell, not show" so far.

i'm not really convinced by the lack of available time, since he didn't get a lot of screentime last season anyway + jace and baela didn't get a ton of screentime now but they had way more lines and feel more like actual people.

and, don't get me wrong, it's not just about being an arsehole, it's about how they don't really dive into why or do much of anything interesting with it. perhaps they've postponned and programmed their development of aemond's arc now that aegon is out of commission and is bound to occupy less screen time.

but idk. as i've said in the past, it's not innovative storytelling to just throw things at the screen and save the commentary for later as some kind of gotcha

he is supposed to be this wildcard bursting at the seams but so far has just acted like a robot. he's already over having committed kinslaying twice, slain two dragons and being linked to jaehaerys's murder via domino effect. it must be a premiere for the most exciting plotline written in the most boring way.

[wasted-women]

ROUND 1B, MATCH 3 OUT OF 8!

Cause of Death & Propaganda Under the Cut:

Sky Young

Cause of Death: Disintegrated while attempting to save her friend/crush

Propaganda:

She literally only exists to be fridged, which is a shame because her death by probably the void would have made her an excellent tie-in champion for League. But no, she just gets dusted for Viktor’s character arc.

Her death was pointless aside from making Viktor feel guilty. Her whole character was that a) the was a brilliant scientist and b) that she was in love with Viktor and he didn't know. He was pursing dangerous magic for himself, and it's shown that the magic wouldn't have even killed him because he's now connected to it (through choice!). Sky died trying to save him from something that wouldn't have even killed him. Her death was literally just to make Viktor realise that the magic was bad/dangerous. Even though it clearly already was, but now it really is.

Princess Allura

Cause of Death: Sacrificed herself to save the universe

Propaganda:

The show has so so so many issues, but taking the black female lead and reducing her to a love interest and then killing her???? I never even got to the finale (bailed on the show seasons before) but I am still so fucking mad about this

The first case of fridging that many young girls saw.

Pyrrha Nikos

Cause of Death: Turned into dust after being defeated in battle

Propaganda:

Badass, powerful, beautiful. A warrior of virtue who tried to do the right thing. Was willing to risk having her entire personality overwritten in order to protect the world even though it scared her and conflicted with her ideals and concept of destiny. Everyone looked up to her. She was kind. She was smart. She was strong. She was one of the best characters in the show. And ever since she died, her death has only ever been brought up when it pertains to how it affects the one blond haired blue eyed author insert. Pyrrha deserved so much better.

There was SOOOOOOO much good build-up for Pyrrha's death. Like she's literally ACHILLES. With her trying to decide whether she should sacrifice herself to become the maiden or not and then when she finally decides to but it's taken away from her at last second when Cinder comes and kills Amber. How that contributes to her decision to fight Cinder even though it's certain suicide; that's sort of what she wants. She thinks she should have died before so she's going to fight Cinder to the death. And her final battle and ultimate death!!!! But then after her death happens we only see it in the lens of JAUNE. Like to an extent I get it because Jaune was close to her and he was the last person to talk to her. Him melting down the gold in her armor for his armor is a good moment. BUT ONLY JAUNE??? Volume 4 onwards, the only time we see any main character grieve it's always Jaune. RUBY LITERALLY IS THE MAIN CHARACTER AND THE PERSON WHO WITNESSED PYRRHA'S DEATH but she is barely given any screentime grieving!!! It's all Jaune and his manpain and how he is sad that she is gone and how they loved each other and it's like God give me a break. Even Pyrrha and Jaune's other teammates, Ren n Nora, never are given any screentime to grieve besides a quick second after Jaune looks at Pyrrha's statue. They don't even have a real good conversation about how fucked it was that Ozpin's team put Pyrrha in the situation that made her so suicidal in the first place other than outright dismissing it. For a show that loves to dissect and criticize Ozpin and his decisions they really didn't come back to that. Can a death retroactively become fridging? Because that's what this is.

[mlmlucio]

The Jaune stuff was in VOLUME TWO.

And yeah, guess what? When the majority of characters are women, some of them WILL DIE.

But you're just another man with a dumb opinion.

Bestie the problem with Pyrrha isn't just that she died,the problem is that the majority of her screentime revolved around Jaune,she was never allowed to develop relationships with any other characters except Jaune, and her death was milked to hell and back for THREE FUCKING SEADONS for Jaune's pain while the rest of her ' friends ' barely acknowledged her. And don't even get me STARTED on how Penny's both deaths were handled cause I'm seeing red just thinking about it.

Also, " The Jaune stuff was in VOLUME TWO" okay and? Is that not part of canon anymore? Also while yes it got less egregious over time the Jaune problem still persisted into later seasons ( see- how he was the only one allowed to grieve after the Fall of Beacon)

[lover-of-mine]

Personally, I like Tommy as a character, and I’m okay with BT for the time being, though I don’t really ship it. The biggest feature Tommy brought to the table this season was to make Buck realize he’s bi. But you could have replaced him with any random guy and I would have been just as happy about it.

My biggest issue is the toxicity from the BT stans. As in, I don’t appreciate being called a homophobe for thinking that the daddy-kink comment was out of place at the dinner date.

Look, we’re all part of the same fandom and if it makes you happy, go smash your Barbie doll’s faces together. Have fun with it. I support you 100%.

But the fact of the matter is that up until now, most of the things relating to Tommy come from head canons and Lou’s cameos. There isn’t much in the source material to go by. Mostly because he didn’t get a lot of screentime, and the writing of the scenes he’s been in, has been questionable. It’s not a very realistic show so why couldn’t they dress Tommy up for the bachelor party? It would have meant the world to Buck. (Oh, but guess who suggested matching outfits because he cares a whole lot about him?)

Yet, people are out here celebrating these two like it’s the most romantic thing since sliced bread. It’s jarring to see, how many people - especially former Buddie stans - jumped ships at the first opportunity they got. I don’t know if it’s a thing of instant gratification of having Buck in a queer relationship canonically or something else, but I don’t like it. The whole thing makes me worry, the show runners will change course to cater to the BT supporters and push for BT endgame. That would be the least satisfying ending to both Buck’s and Eddie’s story.

I will be honest with you, I think most of my dislike of Tommy comes from the way I am being called names because of him all season, it kinda kills a character's chances when the following of them gets so aggressive, he aggravates me more because of the way fandom treats him than because of anything he did this season because he was barely there this season beyond showing Buck he's bi, like you said. The fandom created this version of him and his relationship with Buck that's not backed by canon, because his scenes lack depth and the writers are not helping him at all and the way people flipped is actually disconcerting. Especially with how willing they are to attack everyone who doesn't agree they are the best thing to ever grace their television. But honestly, considering the way that buddie was still very much present and very much displaying the partnership and love they always had, I still think Tommy is a stepping stone that they are dragging out because it gave them better publicity that they were expecting. Buddie was the only thing that was handled carefully in both Buck and Eddie's storylines the whole season, they know the potential they have there, so I will keep the hope that they'll let this story unfold in a satisfying way. And yeah, it would be extremely unsatisfying to see Buck end up with Tommy with the way Buck was constructed and I like to believe they were way too careful with the construction of Buck in the love interest archetype to fumble the pass in the 2 yard line (I know that's not a saying but my brain is in football mode for some reason bear with me) and not give Buck the conclusion of that when they have been building Eddie in the way to fight that archetype by giving Buck someone who just loves him. And because no one they introduce for Eddie is gonna feel as satisfying as Buck with the way they kept playing up the way Buck is Eddie's life partner. And Buck is quite literally the only thing the show is allowing Eddie to keep. It would be unsatisfying to watch them end up with other people and that was very clearly exemplified by the season 6 finale and the way their ending were very 😬😬 yk? I have faith we will get there.

[lemotmo]

https://www.tumblr.com/lemotmo/751241780793622528

I’m confused by the timing of it. Like if it was to move momentum forward you’d think it would have been after episode 4 or 5.

To announce a hey we’re going to be giving more focus on this relationship next season, it be after the finale.

But now it’s just…. it’s airing before the episode airs tonight so like…. They already have very little to talk about relationship wise, and removing episode 9 and anything that happens in it from being able to talk about gives them even less lol. And it’s also happening after Tommy hasn’t even been seen or mentioned once by anyone in the last two episodes?

I know we keep saying Tommy is a plot device but I wonder if Lou is “plot devicing” here, by which I mean it’s mostly going to be about bucks bi journey itself (which is what Tim and Oliver and hell sometimes Ryan oddly enough lol, keep focusing on) and since Tommy is currently part of it, Lou has to be there as well.

Ah Nonny! You speak my language well!

I was just thinking about this. The timing is off. Something is going on. What an odd moment to do promo for a couple that barely had 20 minutes of screentime. You would think they would do promo after the finale, assuming they would have had more scenes together and they would be more established.

I think there are two things that could be at play here:

It's good promo for more people to watch the penultimate episode. The bisexual Buck storyline has garnered some new viewers and since Tommy is part of his storyline (as a plot device to make him realise he is actually bisexual) he has to be there.

Something might actually happen between them that won't be so positive at all. Their relationship might take a hit or even a fall. So, they won't be established by the finale and they won't be able to do any promo for them anymore.

Personally I think it'll be a combination of both of the above. I could be wrong of course, but the way the promo of this season has been going (mostly Buddie-related) and the way Oliver refuses to promote Buck/Tommy (which is something he has done before because he doesn't want to lead the fans on) I have a pretty good feeling about this.

If I'm wrong about this? Well, there is always next season. I'm convinced that Buddie is in the works. Everything in the episodes and the way they portray Buck/Eddie and Tommy in their scenes, to the promo, to the strange social media postings (Vertigo poster), to the way Ryan talks about Eddie pressing a refresh button and the audience will get to know an unexplored side of Eddie? Yeah, I'm sorry, but I'm firmly seated on my Buddie-train. I've got a strong feeling that we're riding the Endgame Express at this point.

Sorry, not sorry. 🤷‍♀️

PS: Oh and Buddie peeps, don't let anyone tell you that you are delusional. We've been here for 6 seasons. We've seen it all. But this is different now. Buck is canonically bisexual. This is no more delusion or clown noses/clown cars situations anymore. Buck is bi and all the possibilities are open now. So yes, Buddie is definitely a viable and valid option. This is something that can happen. No more clown make-up for us!

[magic-glasses]

I’m gonna be real guys, the first half of season 2 was a little disappointing 😭 nightshade and some of the autobots barely got any screentime, Starscreams evil arc was just so sudden??, and maybe I’m making it up but the quality of the animation decreased a little.

We still got two more parts of the season left so I’m not gonna shit on it entirely. I did like aftermath and spitfire (I really hope they’re not dead forealsies), the little cosmos cameo, and the quintus prime lore.

Let’s just be thankful starscream didn’t kick the bucket because I thought they were gonna go the transformers cyberverse direction for a moment 😭