#wednesday meta

[districtsleepsalonetonight]

"Sure, besides maybe having someone to share it with." She says this in the long-vowels teasing tone she usually applies to Ajax. At first I think she means herself, and I think she's right. It does feel better now that she's here, and she's the only person I've ever been able to truly say that about. I'm about to muster the courage to put the sentiment into words when she continues. "Thing may have blabbed about your date with Tyler. How did it go?" This is such a hard one-eighty that it takes me a moment to calibrate. It's certainly no longer time for a compliment. I haven't thought about Tyler all night, even when I was coordinating Xavier's arrest with his father. But Enid seems to want to discuss the date. "It was....interrupted," I say. It's the only word that feels honest. Enid's smirk widens. "Maybe it's time to finish it? I heard Tyler is working the late shift..." It would never have occurred to me to do any such thing, but then I think maybe this is what Enid wants from me. Someone to discuss boys with. Dates. All the trappings of adolescent girl friendships I've always avoided like the plague. Maybe this is what she shared with Yoko. The thing that made the other girl the more attractive option when all I could do was fixate on attack patterns and organs in jars. There's more to parse out, of course. Part of me wants to confess that I'd rather stay here...."I'll tell you all about it when I get back," I promise her, and I head out for the Weathervane.

-from the novelisation of Wednesday.

So...

Wednesday notices that Enid is addressing her, while talking about having someone to share things with, in the same tone she uses to address Ajax-which is explicitly described earlier as flirtatious.

From earlier:

"Ajax," Enid says in that flirtatious way people sometimes do. Drawing out the last vowel.

And Wednesday, thinking Enid is talking about herself and Wednesday....agrees, and is about to reciprocate.

And then Enid reveals she was talking about Tyler and Wednesday's date-meaning she was definitely talking about having someone to share things with in a romantic context-and Wednesday reveals she hasn't even thought about Tyler all night.

And even with the knowledge that Enid was definitely talking romantically-Wednesday is disappointed to realise Enid wasn't talking about herself and Wednesday and had been about to reciprocate the sentiment to Enid.

And then Wednesday admits she doesn't even want to go and find Tyler-but she does so because she thinks that this way, she and Enid will have something to talk about, and that their bond will be less likely to end. (It's also made clear she doesn't want Enid to prefer Yoko to her.)

So Wednesday reluctantly goes out to continue the date with Tyler-with the clear implication that if Enid had been talking about herself and Wednesday, she wouldn't have done. She's only going because, in her mind, Enid just made it clear that she sees Wednesday and Tyler as a couple-and because she wants to have something to talk about with Enid in their friendship that Enid actually enjoys talking about, with her thinking that "maybe this is what Enid wants from me". Which kind of has a note of "Maybe this is only what Enid wants from me."

I was going to say it reads like that trope of the main character going on a rebound date when they've been about to confess feelings for their love interest only for a miscommunication to lead them to think the love interest doesn't reciprocate and then realised that's basically exactly what it is.

In the novelization, at least, Wednesday canonically believes Enid is talking in a flirtatious, romantic context to her and is about to reciprocate.

[ourdramaqueen]

THIS THIS THIS!!!!

Hi Weylers!! Today we have Tyler's monologue to analyse.

I was inspired by @itshype and @cosmic-lullaby posts:

I really like Tyler's monologue in the police station. I love the colors, the music, the acting, the reveal... eveything! BUT what I love most is how clever those writers were. Their intention was always to create ambiguity towards Tyler (and the fun fact that Tyler is a Gemini makes me cackle every time! LOL).

They threw all the hints about Tyler being genuinely fond of Wednesday, but they've never confirmed anything. They wanted to make us to believe he was lying all the time and break our hearts. That monologue was the validation for their idea. And well.. it worked out. One of many question the show raised is: Did Tyler genuinely like Wednesday? or Was the Hyde or Tyler in the scene of police station? Up to now, nobody knows for sure and on Season 2, the truth is going to be revealed.

HOWEVER the brain rot is taking over me again (when did it ever leave though?) and I decided to rewatch Tyler's monologue and take some notes to share with you. Shall we?

After being rejected, trapped and tortured by Wednesday, Tyler decided to confront her the way she would hate the most: mocking her. But before I start, I must say my opinion about Wednesday torturing Tyler: she was hurt. I'm not defending her actions, I'm just bringing this up. She was hurt because he continued playing the fool and lying to her face after she unmasked him, but above of it, she was trying to inflict pain on him the same way she felt because it was clear she liked him. She decided to believe she could be loved and accepted by someone, by him, but he was pretending all the time. So that was the way she knew she could take her revenge. Well, that is her pov and I still believe she continues believing he played her about his feelings in the past.

HOWEVER the thing is Tyler had real feelings for Wednesday, but she turned her back on him the moment she found out he was the Hyde. From his perspective, she never even considered the possibility that he was a victim, not just a monster. Instead of trying to help him, she tortured him, chained him up, and treated him as nothing more than a dangerous creature. That had to sting.

When he mocked her with his "You still think I'm the victim?" monologue, it wasn’t just arrogance—it was pain disguised as bravado. He had to act like he didn’t care because the truth was, he did. Deep down, he might have wanted her to believe in him, to fight for him, but she didn’t. She saw him as an enemy.

His mockery was his way of lashing out, covering up the fact that her rejection hurt more than he wanted to admit. Because if he really never cared about her, why would he need to mock her at all?

Another interesting point is Tyler's behavior might have been influenced by the Hyde side of him. The Hyde is a violent, uncontrollable force, and it’s clear that when Tyler transforms into the Hyde, he loses his sense of control. But even though the Hyde's actions are monstrous, I think there's still a part of Tyler—his humanity—that influences how he behaves.

When Tyler mocked Wednesday, there’s an argument to be made that it wasn’t purely the Hyde speaking. The emotional hurt and betrayal he felt as a person likely contributed to his words. The Hyde may have amplified those feelings, but the core of his mockery comes from Tyler himself: feeling rejected, misunderstood, and manipulated by Laurel Gates. The Hyde’s transformation doesn’t erase the fact that Tyler is a person with feelings, and I believe he was hurt that Wednesday—who he genuinely cared about—turned her back on him without trying to understand the full picture.

So while the Hyde may have twisted his emotions and actions, I don't think everything he said came from the Hyde alone. Tyler’s hurt and pain were very real. His mockery was a mix of his vulnerability as a person and the Hyde’s influence taking control.

The part where Tyler is on the verge of crying is such a significant detail. It shows that, deep down, Tyler is still grappling with the pain of everything that happened, even though he's in Hyde mode. When he sheds that tear at the end of his monologue, it's a rare glimpse of the human side of him breaking through, even in his darkest moment.

The Hyde side of him, while powerful and destructive, doesn't erase the fact that Tyler was manipulated, betrayed, and hurt. That tear is almost like an admission of how lost and broken he feels. He’s not just angry at Wednesday for not believing in him—he’s also grieving the loss of her trust, and maybe even the loss of who he could have been if he hadn't been manipulated by Laurel and transformed into the Hyde.

In that moment, the tear is like a crack in the facade of his anger and bitterness. It reveals that beneath all of his mockery and the Hyde's violence, there is a person who still cares, still feels pain, and still regrets what’s happened.

=(

P.S.: My analysis is longer than I expected. Sorry! I'll try to make it shorter next time!

[gffa]

*slams this comic down and yells about it* It's not that feelings are wrong, it's that they are Level 100 Space Psychics whose emotions are the foundation of their connection to the energy field that gives them those abilities. A Jedi can literally crush someone's windpipe with their mind. A Jedi can move so fast a regular person could never keep up with them, they could slice right through you before you could do more than twitch. A Jedi is placed in a position where lives are going to depend on how well they can handle a crisis. Feelings are normal, natural, and the Jedi have never said to suppress them. But instead that control is vital and this is exactly why--because using the Force through anger and fear is the dark side, that's literally what the Force is, your emotions. Jedi have to have higher standards than most people because otherwise people will die. Qui-Gon is not the first to say this (off the top of my head, I remember instances of Obi-Wan saying it in The Clone Wars, I remember Depa saying it in the Kanan comics, this is basically what Yoda was talking about in ESB) because this is what the Jedi teach and live by. Check yourself before you wreck yourself, because wrecking yourself is going to get a lot of people hurt.

[oneshotprincess]

i read this post on tumblr the other day that talked about how dick's time at haly's as part of the flying graysons made him particularly receptive to bruce's teaching methods to the point where bruce thought 'wow parenting is easy!' and then immediately got the next kid killed ://

and honestly? yea

dick's training as a flying grayson really is an overlooked part of his backstory. he already was doing death defying stunts and back breaking training! that was normal for him! and that probably 1) gave him a thing for perfectionism even before bruce, 2) primed him for bruce's specific brand of bat training and other neuroses and 3) made him think that yea, ofc, none of this is a big deal.

its amazing. truly the duo of all time.

[ladystoneboobs]

imo one of the biggest proofs of sansa's character growth post-agot (which seems to be overlooked) is this, where grrm makes sure we know how her perspective of the trident incident has indeed shifted. why else even say this? it's not what the tyrells wanted to know, they asked about joff's treatment of her in particular, and "he lied about the butcher's boy" means nothing without context (and even if she said the lannisters used that lie to justify killing mycah, i doubt olenna, at least, would care). but for sansa atp, joffrey's sins against mycah are worth remembering and reporting as his first crime (known to her), that incident is now recognized as evidence of joff's montrosity, the wrongs committed against mycah by joffrey personally (as in not even his death) are on par with sansa losing her wolf and being beaten by the kg. sure, she still has some classism remaining, but to say she cares nothing for the smallfolk, and is still the same girl disgusted by mycah's smellyness, who later repeated joffrey's lie about him weeks after the fact and blamed arya for lady's death more than joffrey, that's just demonstrably untrue.

[ourdramaqueen]

I love that op compares & contrasts Wednesday with Frankenstein!*

Tim Burton did tell Hunter Doohan that he was "in a long line of sensitive monsters", so hopefully your predictions will come true, op!

*Very minor quibble: I know that the Hyde is called a "monster" in Wednesday, but I really wish that word wasn't used here when talking about Victor's creation - Mary Shelley calls him the creature in the book. It's just become a reflex for me to cringe at him being called a "monster" since actually reading the novel. Frankenstein is the real monster of the story, just like Laurel is in Wednesday S1.

Analyzing W(e)yler Part Four:

(I was going to talk about Tyler’s arc but got super excited about this analysis and found it’s best to explain this in detail to make Tyler’s analysis more concise.)

Y'all its time to talk about the significance of Frankenstein. As soon as Laurel presented the book to Wednesday I knew she was behind it all. What I didn’t realize was how this whole show is an ode to Frankenstein, or I dare even say the creators own fix it fic?

Tyler:

The most obvious correlation is Tyler as Frankenstein’s Monster. The monster is “assembled from old body parts and strange chemicals, animated by a mysterious spark” (Sparknotes) much like Tyler’s hyde is genetic, activated by Laurel’s plant derivatives, and animated by his spark with Wednesday. I am giving credit to Wednesday for animation because I speculate the hyde did not develop his snarkiness and personality with Laurel (she would not nurture him to have any sense of self) but rather developed it after spending time with Wednesday and her quirks. The monster displays humanity and gentility, but due to his appearance, is shown disdain from his creator and is isolated from society. Tyler is a kind boy who displays compassion and friendliness, but due to his mother’s death, father’s neglect, and master’s abuse, he is faced with estrangement from every parental figure in his life. Add to this the knowledge of the hydes stigmatized nature even within the outcast community and he is predisposed to becoming monstrous. While I can’t say for sure, I think next season we will hear more about Tyler’s guilt and anger over what he is and what he has done which is exactly the way the Monster feels throughout the novel, regretful over his own monstrosity.

Wednesday:

Wednesday I believe is an amalgamation of Victor, Walton, and the Monster’s companion. I combine all three because I think in an effort to mend the original storyline, the creators need to “fix” these characters' fatal flaws. While Laurel is the obvious equivalent to Victor, Wednesday shares a lot of Victor’s characteristics (ambitious, obsessive, reckless) and is meant to resolve Victor’s flaws. Victor is so concerned with being successful and assuaging his curiosity he often fails to see the impact he has on other people. Wednesday struggles with this as well because she often equates her life to being all about her (“every day is about me”) that she neglects the fact her life is interconnected with her loved ones. Victor begins the story ignoring his family in pursuit of his goals much like Wednesday is disconnected from her family due to her actions, and continues to miscalculate the repercussions her actions have on her friends (Eugene going to the cave alone, Enid and Tyler getting hurt at the mansion, Thing being stabbed). Like Victor, Wednesday currently has no active empathy towards Tyler’s experience (She makes a few offhand comments but she is not acting with empathy yet) and makes judgements based on only her perspective.

The divergence of Victor and Wednesday comes when Wednesday begins to take accountability for her the risk she puts her loved ones in. Unlike Victor who continually blames the monster and never admits his part in the chaos, Wednesday takes the blame (sometimes too much) and begins to make compromises to protect her loved ones. These compromises come in the form of forming partnerships with Tyler, Enid, Weems etc. Another difference is that while Victor hates and fears the Monster, Wednesday is not horrified or disgusted by Tyler, merely disappointed. A contributing factor to why I think Wednesday is able to do all of this is she has courage and a sense of justice that Victor does not. Victor, despite all his grandiose beliefs still seeks societal validation (this is the main reason he does not tell the Judge about Justine’s innocence), and places himself over any morality.

Wednesday acts as Walton because this story is told through her narration. Walton also is meant to be a more grounded Victor, evidenced by his decision to turn back when his voyage became too dangerous. Theoretically, if Wednesday is only one character she is Walton, because Walton does exemplify Victor, but it is harder to parallel specific events since Frankenstein explores Walton’s perceptions more than actions and because Walton does not have the same personal connection to the Monster as Wednesday has to Tyler.

I say Wednesday is also the monster’s companion because once we remove the emotional conflict between her and Tyler concerning his betrayal, Wednesday and Tyler are the same (refer to part one of my analysis series). While Shelley never had the Companion come to fruition, the Companion was meant to act as a source of comfort and relatability for the Monster, and Wednesday is that for Tyler. She is all the things Tyler is afraid to accept about himself, and she does it in a way that is encouraging to Tyler. The Companion could have calmed the Monster's loneliness and remedied the narrative if she came to life and accepted him, and since the creators are using the show as a conduit to fix this narrative, I firmly believe Wednesday will come to accept Tyler.

Based on Frankenstein and what snippets we've seen of season 2 (I’m geeking over the teaser), this is what I expect moving forward.

If it is not a circumstance that requires Tyler’s help, Wednesday is going to go see him out of revenge (you know she will taunt Tyler). Much like Victor meeting the Monster in the mountains, Wednesday will meet Tyler at Willow Hill. In this meeting I think Tyler will blame the loneliness and manipulation and probably be just as abrasive as Wednesday is towards him. At some point however he will express remorse and even ask Wednesday to not help him escape but perhaps to kill him. Tyler is going to be in such a bad state he will fluctuate between rage and depression. When Laurel is brought up he will lament her the same way the Monster lamented Victor’s death, with relief but loss at a solid connection. Wednesday will strike a deal with Tyler. What this deal is I don’t know, but it will act as Victor’s deal of making a Companion for the Monster. The deal between Wednesday and Tyler will be a more concrete, logical deal, but in working together to make it happen she will become his companion (source of understanding, support) and their relationship will reconcile. This will diverge from Victor turning away from the Monster and rescinding the deal. While this already steers us in the direction of resolution it won’t be that simple.

At the end of the season, after Wednesday has fully forgiven Tyler and their relationship has grown attached again, something will happen that causes Tyler to leave or distance himself from Wednesday. It will either be in a soul searching pursuit or Tyler thinking he is better off alone. Either way it sets up for next season to focus on their reunion, Tyler’s self actualization, and hopefully Tyler’s admission to Nevermore.

A few other parallels I want to include but don’t have the energy to integrate eloquently:

Enid as Henry Clerval

Enid represents Henry Clerval, Victor’s best friend who dies at the hand of the monster. Clerval is the more socially acceptable version of Victor, they share ambition but Clerval is able to express himself in a more socially digestible way. Victor sees Clerval as his equal and closest friend. As we see the show progress we see Wednesday begin to connect with Enid and see her as an equal. Both relationships are meant to show the importance of companionship and allow Wednesday and Victor to find comfort and connection.

Enid did not (and will not) be killed by Tyler, but she did suffer an attack from him. Frankestein used Clerval’s death to traumatize Victor and cement his hatred for the Monster, so I think the fight with Enid will serve as a reason for Wednesday to prolong the bad blood between her and Tyler.

Xavier

Xavier doesn’t represent a specific character but more so his relationship with Wednesday seems reminiscent of Victor and Elizabeth’s. I personally don’t hate Xavier but I do not like his relationship with Wednesday. He seems to project an idea of her rather than seeing her, and when Wednesday fails to match this image, he blows up. It correlates because Victor does not truly see Elizabeth and only relegates her to his possession ( “I[…]looked upon Elizabeth as mine.”). If Xavier’s character remained in the show, I think it would only amount to him blaming the state of his and Wednesday’s relationship on Tyler, just as Victor blamed Elizabeth’s death on the Monster, when in reality it stemmed from his own neglect and lack of consideration.

Eugene as William Frankenstein

Since Puglsey was not at Nevermore, Wednesday adopted Eugene as a surrogate brother, and much like William, Eugene has a cheerful and childlike presence that acts to represent innocence. In the book William is the first victim of the Monster, and is what is symbolic of Victor’s loss of innocence, naivety, and control. Eugene being attacked was the event that turned the mystery of the hyde into a serious and personal pursuit, and just like Willaims death, Eugene’s attack is what “sealed fate” and made it so our protagonist would not stop until the monster was confronted.

Gomez & Morticia as Alphonse Frankenstein

Alphonse is Victor’s loving father, who acts as a contrast between Victor’s fragmented relationship with the Monster. Morticia and Gomez are extremely devoted and affectionate but despite this Wednesday has trouble in her personal relationships. In terms of her and Tyler, it shows how despite having a healthy relationship modeled, Wednesday and Tyler’s relationship will remain complicated until the two reconcile their family dynamics.

Francoise Galpin as Caroline Frankenstein

Caroline and Franocise are two characters that haunt the narrative of the story. Caroline’s death affected Victor and could be cited as the root of his obsession with death and the creation of life (mommy issues). He even so much has calls his mother’s death an “omen” of his “future misery”. Francoise’s mistreatment and death is what triggered the events of Tyler’s unlocking, if she had been accepted and lived, Laurel would not have been able to manipulate Tyler’s love for his mother and Tyler would probably be more empowered instead of confused and isolated. Caroline is also reduced to a maternal figure who died so her child could live (she dies from taking care of her sick child) and I think Francoise will be revealed to have admitted herself to Willowhill and died there or to have killed herself to protect Donovan and Tyler.

Why Fix Frankenstien?

I personally think that Tim Burton is rooting for Frankenstein (and implicitly Wyler) because he is a horror lover! I love consuming media that analyzes horror and interviews the people that make it happen and I’ve noticed that a lot of the people who make horror don’t blame the monster and actually wish for its happy ending. After all, the monster in movies is typically only meant to act as a focal point for the true monsters, people, society, etc. to act against. If we look at Tim Burton’s work, he tends to empathize with the monster (Corpse Bride, Frankenweenie, Beetlejuice). As for other horror moguls, you can look up interviews by Guillermo del Toro and Stephen King where they reference the Creature from the Black Lagoon and talk about how they wanted the monster to get the girl. This is what inspired the Shape of Water. A quote that I think exemplifies this mindset is “the creature only gets deadly when threatened by man, and is desperately in need of companionship” (David Konow, author of Reel Horror). Horror is a genre that focuses on the underdog overcoming terrifying circumstances. What could be scarier for an outcast than being taken advantage of and thrown away? What could be more vindicating than defeating the naysayers and winning the companionship of a pretty girl? I just feel like Wyler makes the most logical sense for the genre and would be a lot more satisfying because Frankenstein is universally seen as such a tragedy and the genre is all about glory and gore and love and horror and Wyler really exemplifies all of these qualities!

[knightedgem]

Waddle Dee Want Me, Blippers Fear Me

Waddle Doo Turn Their Eye Away From Me As I Walk

No Beast Pack Dares Make A Sound In My Presence

I Am Alone On This Barren Star.

[seilnakyle]

Batman/Superman (2003) Issue #65 / Batman: The Long Halloween - The Last Halloween (2024) #5

Bruce once again hallucinating under fear toxin his perfect world being one where his is married to Selina with Dick as their son

[tunemyart]

So I've just watched the finale and I'm feeling... Weird. I think part of it is because this show started with everything I like in a story (cool badass ladies, a queer romance, found family, redemption, etc etc) and ended up being... Not all that (most characters die, the romance is doomed, and I guess the redemption mostly happened but wasn't entirely satisfactory to me). Also, I'm someone who as Trauma (tm) with death so, I guess my brain's first reaction is "fuck that I just want them all happy and safe" and it takes me a while to accept when stories take these paths, however well written they might be.

Still, I thought it all went a bit fast in the last 2 eps, with parts of the show ringing just a little bit more hollow than I would have expected? I'm left feeling like the characters of Alice, Mrs Hart and Jen were treated a bit superficially (Lillia's story felt more complete). I also wished we had seen more of Agatha's past because spending centuries just conning witches then killing them is... a bit boring? (maybe we learn more about her in WandaVision, I haven't seen it). And obviously I wished we had seen more of Agatha and Rio. It's like the show couldn't decide if it was about Agatha or about Billy (partly because, I'm guessing it's setting up a 3rd show about him?), and with this short format we ended losing a bit on Agatha's part.

Anyway, curious of what you think of all that because your analysis are always super interesting, and like I said my own brain might be a bit biased towards resistance with this one. And obviously would love to read your fanfic(s) should you write any!

So, I've started and restarted a reply to this a few times, but I think what my answer boils down to is: we're meant to have multilayered responses to this finale. We're meant to sit with it. It's meant to change our experience of the show we've had to this point.

I think the best metaphor for this is the fact the revelation that Rio is Death. Bear with me, because I know this got spoiled for us way early on and we all knew it and were all just waiting for the revelation to drop - but imagine for a second that we didn't know that Rio, Agatha's ex-girlfriend and spooky fun vaguely-a-psychopath as played by the delightful Aubrey Plaza, is death. Your perception of Rio would have been turned on its head. Your perception of Agatha would have been turned on its head. Your perception of the Witches' Road and what we're even doing here with Death walking alongside us as a tourist would have been turned on its head.

Now, we all had an incredibly fun time even with the knowledge that Rio is death before we should have had it. But I think some of the power for what it meant for the story - and our perception of what was really happening - was muted.

Jen, at the beginning of 1.08, says, "She told us who she was from the very beginning."

Sit with that - because the same is true of this story.

---

It turns out that the Road is a metaphor for death. This isn't fully illustrated for us until Nicky, the author of the Ballad, walks down the road with Death's hand in his, and we go, oh. Oh.

Agatha tells us in the beginning that the Road doesn't exist, a rare instance of her giving anyone unbridled truth. And sure - the Road that our coven walked down doesn't exist. The Road that all the witches Agatha lured to the deaths believed in doesn't exist. It's a fiction. But it's significant that Agatha lured them all to the Road and killed them. They wanted to walk the Road. They died. Not "they died instead" - it's a two-fold statement. They wanted to walk the Road and they died. In a gruesome way, Agatha's been taking witches on the Witches' Road since the 1750s.

I don't think the significance of that is lost on Agatha, either, especially where we pick up at the beginning of 1.08. Lilia's dead, and everybody's reeling.

Perhaps Agatha more than anybody.

---

I also want to quickly take a look at Rio's accusation of Agatha regarding Billy.

"The bodies are really piling up." "Did you doubt me?" "Yeah, I did. I thought there'd be a trick in there somewhere. And there was! You were distracting me from him."

Because this is a revelation about Agatha's actions toward not just Rio, but any audience watching her - i.e., us the viewers. She's been distracting us! Not from who Billy is, we know that of course, but with regard to what the Road itself is. Agatha's known the Road isn't real the entire time. She's been protecting Billy from that knowledge. She's been protecting Billy from Rio. She's been protecting the coven itself from disintegrating. And, the biggest con woman move of them all, she's been distracting us - with less and less success as the show goes on - from the fact that she is not even the slightest bit in control.

---

So I definitely want to circle back to what you said about how the show started out with everything you like in a story, because oof, yeah, I felt that. I felt that hard in the finale. Coming off the impact of the incredible storytelling in 1.07, and the queer jokes and campy Wicked cosplay balancing out the sad, I think many of us spent the next week expecting some kind of emotional resolution that probably involved the remaining coven banding together in some more of that found family we've felt them becoming along the way.

Here's where things starts going wrong, right off the bat: they don't. Instead, they splinter. Not only are you aware of just how few of them are left (Jen, Billy, Agatha), but Jen and Agatha can't handle Lilia's death. Jen's distraught. The close up on Agatha running away out of the trial and back onto the Road, alone, shows her looking hunted and wild in her guilt. Everything that follows has its seeds in that moment of rending that began with Lilia's death.

From the beginning, the point has been that Agatha Harkness is a covenless witch. It's something we've seen her revel in - maybe simply because she has no choice but to own it. But the fact is that here, for the first time in centuries, she had a coven. She didn't intend to have one - she intended to kill them all in her basement and not think twice about them again. But events transpired the way they did. They became her coven. And one by one, they all died on the Road.

Rio, of course, has the words to cut right to the quick: "Your coven is shrinking," she teases Agatha cruelly. Agatha looks wild - because she's right. The worst thing is that she killed Alice - and she didn't mean to. She didn't want to. But she did, and in exactly the same way she'd intended to kill her at the beginning, the same way she's been killing witches for hundreds of years. "Your coven is shrinking," and it's Agatha's fault. It's Agatha's coven. It's Agatha's coven.

Hold on to that, too.

---

One of the things that I've been mulling over most is Agatha's character. She's so much fun in the beginning. We're all fucking charmed by her. We also don't have the full context of just how much of a serial killer she is.

So for me, at least, watching 1.08 and not only not getting found family, but getting an Agatha so far away from a "redemption" story that she only just barely is willing to not sacrifice Billy for herself, was kind of a rude awakening. Agatha's a lot more of a villain that I was prepared for. Surprise!

Agatha's so far away from "redemption", in fact, that she's only just barely starting to feel empathy for other witches. She's just starting to be affected by people who aren't #1. And that's a trauma response. And it's so, so, so deeply rooted in her that she's only just starting to be able to conceive of the idea of people who care for her. Of the possibility of being able to live in community. She's not ready for a redemption arc. There was no way that the kind of redemption arc she'd need could fit into nine episodes, because so much of it would for her be predicated on a mental shift that Agatha just hasn't arrived at yet. She's still so angry. She's still so traumatized. She's done almost none of the work. And even at the end, even with the final gesture of sacrificing herself for Billy, that's not a final act of redemption, oh Agatha's now a good person/forgiven/insert word frame of choice.

What this show did in terms of redemption for Agatha was set her up to be in a place where she might want it - where she might want to do and be better for Billy, and someday, for Nicky.

And it's significant that that point comes for Agatha in dying… and after death.

---

This show is about death. The Road is about death. Death is a character on the show.

Like, okay, you're saying. Fine. But what about my gay fun times? What about my queer romance, my found family?

And please know that I'm there with you.

I'm not hugely in touch with what the larger fandom is saying and how they're reacting because I have my little echo chamber here on tumblr and a few friends who have actual social media, but even here I get the sense that we're all kind of :/ for fairly similar reasons. What happened to the show I fell in love with?

And for me, the last few days, I think it's been important to realize that the fact that the show I fell in love with didn't suddenly become a different show. It didn't pull a bait and switch. No twists were in bad faith. Everything has been right here in the text of the show from the very beginning.

And I think it's important to see the story that Jac Schaeffer et al. were actually telling vs. our expectations of what they were telling, or worse, what we wanted them to tell. For just one example, I was convinced we were going to see Alice again - maybe Lorna Wu, too. I wasn't expecting it to be for the sole purpose of recognizing that not only is she dead, but to give Alice herself the space to say that it wasn't fair, that she wasn't ready, that she'd just broken her family's curse, that now she can really do something with her life! Because, ugh, yeah! It's not fair, for all those reasons! But that's also death. Likewise, Sharon's just dead, and worse, her death was pretty much meaningless. Lilia rediscovered herself again, and she chose her death to save everyone else - extremely meaningful. But at the end - she's just dead. We don't see her again. She's gone. She, like the others, walked the Road and away with Death.

I loved these covenless witches. I loved them finding themselves together. I loved them bonding around the campfire and discovering community. I miss them all, so so much. But they told us from the beginning how haunted by death all of them were: Alice and her mom, Lilia and her coven in Sicily, Billy and William Kaplan, Agatha and her son and her ex-lover. And of course, Death herself. Forget haunting these individuals - she came to actually join the temporary coven. Like, fuck. They told us what this show was about.

---

This show is about death, but it's more complicated than that: we'll take our cue from Rio again, who, in being Death, is also the original Green Witch. In short, this show is about Green Craft, "growth and decay in constant flow."

So yes - almost every single witch in the coven dies. Yes, it's permanent. No, the queer romance isn't resolved happily. No, Agatha doesn't have a redemption, satisfying or otherwise. And no, none of it follows what we've come to expect from found family story trajectories.

But the focus shouldn't be solely on the decay. There's a whole cycle of growth coming up after it, even now, and it's being made possible by the death and decay that we just witnessed. And most importantly, it's confirmed that this isn't the end of the story - just the end of "Agatha All Along."

---

I'll finish by actually answering your question - I've been sitting with the finale for a few days, because I also felt weird about it. And I think that's the right word: "Weird." Very spooky season-esque, first of all, but also not tipping all the way right into "bad".

The first thing to acknowledge is that no story is perfect - they were limited by nine episodes by what they had the space to show, and finales are really hard to get just right. The second is that you're allowed to not like any or all of it, especially when something happens that asks you to change your entire understanding of the story thus far, i.e. the Road isn't real, or when you have a particular trauma around death and it turns out that that's what the whole show is about in ways we hadn't fully realized. The third is that it's worth sitting with stories sometimes and seeing how they marinate and develop in your brain and your soul over time. All of these things can and should coexist.

This isn't my first go-round with a series finale that initially made me ???, so I was fortunate in that I felt like I had a cheat sheet. I've still got some marinating to do to see how this continues to change for me. But it's helped me to realize that my ??? reaction is what the story wanted me to have - that the characters are reeling right along with me. Not just Alice in shock about her death, but also Billy at the implications of his creation of the Road regarding his responsiblity for what happened on it. We're meant to feel this way… and then we're meant to reconsider the journey we've been on, the Road we've walked with all of them and the death we've died alongside them, and see it anew for what it really is.

[ourdramaqueen]

ALSO THIS!

How does it feel to lose?

Me running to piggy back off of @fullofwoe5321 great analysis: 🏃🏾‍♀️‍➡️

First of all great analysis I suggest y'all go read that post.

But yeah to piggy back off of that post, I wanna just reiterate that Tyler Galpin went completely out of his way to mock Wednesday in that scene. And to be real, it was completely unnecessary on his part because he had already in a sense won. There was no need to gloat to Wednesday, and confirm her suspicions that he was indeed the Hyde and that he had been playing her.

Except there was a reason.

He wanted Wednesday to hurt.

The way she hurt him.

Because he could've very easily left the police station and went back to Laurel and finished off the plan, but that was too easy.

Somewhere in all the trickery, he really started to fall for Wednesday, and for her not to even ask him why he was doing this or anything like that and just jump straight to, "He's a liar and horrible person." after Tyler had already told her that he wasn't a terrible person and that he had just done some terrible things. Must've hurt him deeply.

And then to ask that question of..

"How does it feel to lose?"

Has anyone ever once thought that maybe...just maybe..That question also wasn't just for Wednesday?

Because who really lost in that scene?

Wednesday? To a certain degree and at face value sure,

But on another level Tyler lost incredibly.

Any hopes of being saved by Wednesday and escaping Jericho completely went out the window, because she had completely turned on him.

Any hopes of building any type of relationship with Wednesday, platonic or romantic, completely vanished in that moment.

He was once again completely by himself and on his own.

So the question of..How does it feel to lose while was said in a very mocking and condescending tone really is one of self reflection to a larger question that nobody asked Tyler and that is the question of..

How does it feel to win?

Because from the look on Tyler's teary eyed face after talking with her...It didn't feel so good.

[achromatophoric]

Bianca: Is it just me, or does Addams seem a little different today?

Divina: Huh. Now that you mention it, she does look kinda like… Miss Thornhill.

Bianca: *sneers* That bitch? I was gonna say Misty from Yellowjackets. Both be cray.

Yoko: 🤔

Yoko: I’m pretty sure it’s Enid’s fault.

Bianca/Divina: *expectant looks*

Yoko: She said she was going to, and I quote, bang Wednesday into last Wednesday.

Bianca/Divina: ❓🤨😐❓

Bianca: How’s that even related?

Divina: Yeah, I don’t get it.

Yoko: *shrugs* Meh. The joke was a bit of a Ricci.

[gffa]

Shmi finding the echoes of Anakin in the Tusken that delivers a black melon to her because Anakin helped them when he was young, that she finds comfort in the stories of him, the way he affected the world around him, that's so much what George Lucas was going for with the concept of letting go--forcing someone to stay with you because you're afraid to let them go will only hurt them, will only crush them in your hand. But if you let them go, if you can find happiness in them working towards the dream they had, then you'll see all this beauty in the ways they affected the world, you'll find that they're in your heart, you'll find happiness in their happiness. Of course Shmi misses her son and Shmi has had a life that no one should ever have to live, but the message of Star Wars is that in loving other people, in letting them go on to do what they were meant to do, you'll find true joy and everlasting contentment. Shmi is one of the strongest people in all of Star Wars, because she took her pain and suffering and turned it into love for her son, she let him go, and if it weren't for Palpatine, I honestly believe that Anakin would have overcome his issues and become the brightest star in all the galaxy.

[pnfc]

i dont wanna shoot down the idea that perry’s spurs are artificial but i also don’t think that’s necessary when, intersexuality exists. but above that i dont think perry would have gender dysphoria about his platypus body. his gender is ‘human guy’. nobody’s gonna tell perry he’s not enough of a dude because he lacks crural venom spurs, definitely not the humans in his life, and his life is made up of humans and non-platypus animals. anti-animal discrimination is his daily concern, not the one freak who’s made it his life mission to be transphobic to platypuses on the basis of venomous spurs. although like, wow, how high effort, that's almost commendable

[queenie-ofthe-void]

🪱🧠Wiggly Wednesday 🧠🪱

Tagged by @wheneverfeasible 💜 I'm a week late but I got there. This is also me tagging you back!

~~~

I'm thinking about Steve Harrington growing up hating everyone.

His dad is cruel, so he hates him.

His mom tells him men are dogs. Men are pigs. Men will do or say anything to get what they want. So he hates her.

The boys at school are cruel like his dad, just like his mom warned him, so he hates them.

He starts high school. He's tall, with big eyes, thick hair, and cute lips. Girls were nice to him, he thought they were friends. But they only did what they did and said what they said to crawl under him and wield him like a trophy. So he hates them.

Hates them less when he's buried inside them. Hates them more when they leave the same night.

He's a man now, just like his dad. So he hates himself.

Carol's the same as other girls, but different. She leaves but comes back sometimes. Hangs around. She meets Tommy, and Steve likes Tommy. But they're mean to Nancy, and Nancy's the only thing Steve loves. So he hates them too.

He hates Billy. Hates him as much as he hates his father. Billy's easy to hate.

Nancy thinks he's bullshit. He tries to hate her, but it's hard.

The kids... he can't find a reason to hate them. They're loud and obnoxious and snappy, but they like him. They always come around. They call him out when he's bitchy, and he likes that. He chases after them, drives them around. Shoots hoops with Lucas, let's Max teach him how to skateboard, does most of the heavy lifting for Dustin's experiments.

There's no way he can hate them.

And that's when he realizes how fucking draining it is to hate that many people. He's exhausted. So he decides to stop.

Robin wants him to hate her. She's desperate for it because that would make everything so much easier. He doesn't hate her. And she finds she can't hate him in return.

Eddie's the first person he meets who likes him. Doesn't want anything from him, isn't using him, doesn't hate him, doesn't just see him as a protector or babysitter or a good fuck or a failure or an idiot. Eddie likes him for him, exactly the way he is.

It's easy to love Eddie.

@runninriot @carolperkinsexgirlfriend @sadisticaltarts @devondespresso @just-my-latest-hyperfixation

@strangersteddierthings

[ladystoneboobs]

the younger starklings about robb (robb the strong and brave big brother, the perfect heir, the fierce and unbeatable young wolf):

arya

bran

sansa

meanwhile, actual robb (robb the lord and then robb the kitn):

before arya ever promised to be strong by using robb as her benchmark, the definition of stark strength, ned had to remind robb to be strong as the ruling stark in winterfell. (strong for bran and rickon, the brothers he thought he failed by sending their would-be killer away, leading to his great moment of weakness in jeyne westerling's bed.) as his siblings' faith in his ultimate triumph held strong, even after the loss of the north, robb himself was struggling with despair.

as grenn once told sam, maybe everyone is just pretending to be brave, maybe that's how people become brave. robb was faking it to make it too, imitating his father's lordly attitude as bran later tried to imitate robb's. as his younger siblings remembered him as their shining example, robb was trying to live up to his father's example. not the ned who'd been in his circumstances, a teenager unexpectedly turned into a lord and fighting a war to save his family. no, ofc, he never knew that young ned. the ned he knew as his father, the standard to measure himself against, was an adult man in his mid-30s who'd ruled the north for ~15 years. but was that standard for a 15/16yo any more fair and valid an expectation than 8/9yo bran believing he was almost a man grown and holding himself to the standard of 15/16yo robb as robb's heir?

and the only person left close enough to see robb as the boy he still was died with him.

[fantastic-nonsense]

before I get into my meta cups about that incredible Batgirl #5 spread, I just want to note all of the bits of Cass and Shiva's relationship history it references:

The top panels are all from Batgirl (2000) #7-9, where Cass first meets Shiva, fights her, and eventually agrees to a death match in exchange for Shiva "fixing" her body reading ability:

On the middle left: Cass defiantly declaring to Shiva that she is more than her upbringing and more than the death she is capable of dealing out in Detective Comics (2016) #956:

And the middle right: Cass and Shiva's conversation halfway through Batgirl (2000) #25, after Shiva resurrected her:

The bottom left and second-from-left panels are Cass snapping Shiva's neck during their final fight and leaving her body dangling from a hook over a Lazarus Pit in Batgirl (2000) #73:

To the right of the 'Smile' panel, Shiva encouraging Cass to rise and fight during Batman and the Outsiders (2019) #16:

On the bottom right, Shiva resurrecting Cass with a punch after their death match in Batgirl (2000) #25:

And of course, the centerpiece: the last page of Batgirl (2000) #25, after Cass won her rematch with Shiva:

And all that contrasted with Shiva holding Baby!Cass in her arms after just giving birth to her. What a page. What a way to depict how complicated Cass and Shiva's relationship is. What a way to showcase how far they've come from that initial Batgirl (2000) arc. I'll be thinking about it for a long time.