#vanessa larusso

[billhader]

trying to figure out how the fuck vanessa larusso exists when the guy who's supposed to be louie and vanessa's dad in canon was

1. old as hell

2. on the brink of death in late 1985

and vanessa's apparently supposed to be in her mid-late 20s in 2019 but her last name is canonically larusso so she can't be a half-sibling

[art-by-jas]

LaRusso Siblings

[alfietimewolf]

I'm not saying I'm going to be upset if we don’t see Vanessa LaRusso again, but I am saying that not having Vanessa psychoanalyse Daniel and Johnny’s relationship from enemies-to-frenemies-to-friends is a crime. It would be depriving us, honestly.

[jinkx-monsoon-season]

I still cannot find it in me to watch _the_ season again - even though some of your lovely people’s takes, texts and arts on it are so amazing. (But I remember that it’s not the season itself I see on tumblr, but the result of many, many beautiful people painfully processing the thing and coming out with something beautiful in the end.)

I actually wanted to make a short remark on another thing I hated - gosh, the entire scene of an impromptu “counseling” with cousin Vanessa. (Apart from the writers’ obvious misogyny and very strange views on good parenting, but let’s not distract ourselves) I’m honestly pissed off the most because D’s and A’s _family_ lures them into being “counseled” by not even an acquaintance, but a _relative_, is not this terribly unethical and a huge no-no that is talked about during the first class of the first day of your first undergrad year? And there’s no way Vanessa does not know it’s very much not done - also she obviously revels in having her rich and perfect cousins in her power, and is a living example of “why not” overall.

Oh, there’s also that moment when D and A are completely hypnotized by cousin Vanessa throwing a bunch of psychiatry speak at them - okay, we know both of them are in a vulnerable position now, and at least one of them never(?) got any post-secondary education, but - they’re both car salesmen ffs! Shouldn’t they have their bullshit radars built in their systems at this point?

The frustrating part is I strongly suspect that all of it was written and played without being aware of _what exactly_ they’ve written and played. It was just a fun scene of Amanda being funnily humiliated! (because these are always funny, right? and also, the objective of counseling is obviously to be told if you “failed” or “passed”, that’s some light-hearted fun, too)

So, could this scene happen in real life? 100 percent. But does the story frame it as a toxic pile of shit that D and A are being deliberately dipped in by their extended family, hence fuck the “traditional family values”? I don’t think so? Because what happens next (also, a very realistic outcome) with that bloody tablet is obviously supposed to be a _good thing_.

I don’t know why I even wrote this, I already know I’m not enjoying being sad and mad. But - the truth! I’m doing this for the sake of truth!

[pilvimarja]

YOU FAILED

[variousqueerthings]

wait am i the only one who didn't pick up on cousin vanessa being played by julia macchio?????

[gainaxvel3o]

Why is Vanessa LaRusso the greatest character in Season 4?

[variousqueerthings]

Johnny to Tommy about Ali: "I don't think I ever got over her. I mean I dated plenty of babes after, but I never really let my guard down with any of them, you know."

Vanessa LaRusso in season 5: Johnny. *whispers* Hey, Johnny... c'mere... Johnny the idealized image of Ali is a falsehood you created, because you preserved a moment of the past in amber, so that you could avoid any and all introspection about your sense of self, particularly in relation to masculinity and PTSD - the Ali in your head is not a real person, the reason you couldn't date women as an adult is because you don't relate to women beyond a vague concept and aren't attracted to women beyond the ideal of what you ought to be attracted to and then you took a dying friend's words to heart about meeting someone new and decided that the next door neighbor had heard enough of your bullshit POV about your past, knew you were an alcoholic, and hadn't run for the hills, plus she's the mother of the kid you've adopted, so once more you can decide not to self-analyze in any way, but name me three of her interests and activities you like to do together and once you've gotten over the crushing crisis that's gonna instigate, call me, I know a lot of cute guys you can hang out with, no pressure, but you need more queer peers than just Daniel, I love the guy, but he's messy AF, and I'm gonna send you some recommendations on intersectional feminist literature tomorrow - alright honey, you owe me a dinner and a recommendation on YELP *pats him on the back and goes back to doing her eyeliner*