#It just keeps on making me ship it the more I watch S3 over and over again

[justanotherdinboshipper]

Guns-For-Hire Very Small Dinbo Details

If I have a nickel every time Din and Bo's full name are mentioned together in Guns-For-Hire, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice in one episode, right?

"Din Djarin and Bo-Katan Kryze."

"Lady Bo-Katan Kryze and Din Djarin of Concordia."

It's like they're about to be pronounced husband and wife 😆

And Din mentioned that he and Bo are "engaged" twice when they are speaking with the Ugnaughts. Weird choice of words when he can simply say "tasked".

They also mirror each other a lot of times in this episode. When Bo fidgets her hand, Din does as well (I wish I could put a gif of that part but it's when they are inside the pod for the first time). And in the pic above, they're even in the same exact position with each other like their heads and hands are exactly the same. Their walk and even their run is on sync. They both turn to look at each other at the same time.

And after rewatching Guns-For-Hire for a lot of times (to write my fic for lust alley weekend) I've noticed something about this little scene as they went to the resistor bar. (Or this is just me overthinking but hear me out please)

While they were bickering about Din kicking droids, you will notice Din keeps on looking on the droids that pass them by, as if being paranoid. You will notice his visor following the droids that passes him and Bo as they walk.

Here he is walking behind Bo. But then there's a couple of droids on their way.

You can see him walking a little faster to catch up on her.

And when they pass through the droids, he moved to shield Bo from it.

Then he walked ahead of Bo, but he turned his head to her to make sure she's still following behind him.

And when he opened the bar entrance, he waited for Bo to walk in first and watched the droids outside intently, watching her back.

I didn't notice this before and I have always thought Din wasn't as protective of Bo as I want him to be but it turns out he is lowkey protective of her lol, just very subtle.

And may I add that when Bo groaned in pain when the rogue lab droid had cut her with its laser beam, Din used the darksaber with no issues, it didn't look like it was heavy for him at that time. It's the first time he used the saber to protect someone else and not himself.

Guns-for-Hire is my fave Dinbo focused episode in S3 followed by the Mines of Mandalore because there's a lot to unpack about Din and Bo's interactions throughout the whole episode. Those details were choices that are made, and they may look insignificant but when I saw Favreau and Howard in the behind the scenes in The Heiress, you can tell how detail oriented they are. So these tiny things are all intentional and they are meant to convey something. So I believe Guns-for-Hire is an implication of Din and Bo' s developing romance.

[bitchthefuck1]

you know what, I actually will talk about this because it's bothering me. The issue with focussing so heavily on syd and carmy's potential for a romantic relationship isn't that there's something inherently unintellectual about romance or whatever, it's that a lot of people seem incapable of doing that without immediately flattening the story and ignoring or intentionally misreading any and all nuance for the sake of that romance. Every scene suddenly becomes about how it impacts their relationship, every analysis is done through a romantic lens, every frame or line of dialogue becomes about finding some easter egg or hint that "proves" these people should start dating. Their dynamic is absolutely a fundamental part of this show, but if you can only see it as a will-they-won't-they, you miss so much of what the story is actually trying to say with these two.

There are good versions of this story where their relationship is romantic and there are good versions of this story where it isn't, but as soon as you decide them being together is "the point," you lose the ability to actually judge the story for what it is, not what you want it to be.

[eddiezpaghetti]

Okay, so my experience with Stranger Things is a weird one.

I didn't care when it first came out, started to watch it out of "might as well" in 2020, wasn't interested in it enough to make it past S2, forgot about it outside of going "oh, hey, cool, there's a lesbian in it now, I guess," in S3, got really annoyed when "Running Up That Hill" got popular from it because it was a song I listened to on fucking loop after one of my best friends died in high school and I fully expected its appearance in the show to ignore the whole survivor's guilt theme of the song (and was very happy to learn later that it did the exact opposite of ignoring the lyrics), saw people drawing Eddie, suddenly got a lot more interested, watched just the fourth season like a fucking psychopath because I was seriously only there for Eddie, then got interested enough to start the show over properly, having mostly forgotten what I did watch of the show before.

And let me tell you something from the perspective of someone who started with the complete fourth season, who wasn't there from the start, who wasn't tainted by ship goggles or this internal battle of hope and despair, who wasn't theorizing about what the painting could be or expecting Mike and Will to kiss when Volume 2 happened or rooting for Mike and Eleven's relationship to go down in flames or whatever the fuck. Just someone who went blind into Season 4.

It's really fucking obvious that Will and Mike are gonna be endgame.

Like holy fuck. It's so fucking blatant I don't even know why people are nervous.

No sane fucking person would shoot this scene this way if they wanted the audience to care about El and Mike as a couple. Despite being all blurry in the background, Will's reaction to what's happening here is smackdab in the fucking middle, clearly showing that the important part is what's going through his head here. What he's feeling. It's like the opposite of that scene from Kingdom Hearts II where Sora and Riku reunite and Kairi just fucking vanishes into the aether while it's happening because, despite the fact that she was standing between them when the scene began, she doesn't matter to the scene, so she's just kind of gone when the camera angle changes. Will could have been behind one of their heads, or so far in the distance he blends in with the background, but he's not. He's so obvious that despite being massively blurred out, he's still the first goddamn thing you look at. What, you think that's an accident? You think he's in the middle of this dramatic fucking scene because of a mistake? He basically has a big flashing neon arrow pointing at him with "THIS IS THE POINT" being screamed through a megaphone.

And then this?

They're paired up like they're taking fucking prom pictures. Each one of these pairs is so fucking close to one another and so fucking far from everyone else. It's not, "Oh, they're standing vaguely near each other in a group shot," it's fucking Noah's Ark out here. Again, there's no way to take this as an accident. It's not just a framing issue. If they wanted to make the shot look balanced while still not hiding anyone else behind El, they would have scattered people around much more naturally. Even if they wanted to keep Nancy with Jonathan and Hopper with Joyce, there's so much room on that hill for three people to stand on El's left and three on her right. But they didn't do that. They put Mike and Will together on purpose in the most obvious way possible.

Like I get that coming up with crackpot theories is fun in and of itself and I'm not blaming anyone for having fun. I totally get the appeal of arguing a point and reaching for every stupid little thing to pull into it because it's like a game, okay? I've done that. But if you're trying to actually convince someone (whether it's someone who wants to believe or someone who's pissed at the very idea that Mike and Will could be in love), stay away from blue and yellow lights, stay away from costume design, stay away from the existence of closets in backgrounds. And don't worry about whether Mike's gay or bi when he's in love with Will either way. I'll give you a little tip about persuasion: You're only as strong as your weakest argument. Even if you've got strong stuff in there, too, the person you're trying to convince is going to dismiss anything you say as complete insanity the second you start going on an entire tangent about the shape of a character's fucking pocket.

Sometimes, clothes are just clothes. Sometimes, there's a closet in the background because it helps establish that a character is in a bedroom. Sometimes, blue and yellow are just a couple of colors that look nice together. And sure, it might be set designers and costume designers and cinematographers smirking and winking at the audience from behind the camera. But if the show was just those things, instead of those things in the context of everything else, they wouldn't be saying anything of note.

But this?

This tells a story all on its own. Someone with no context can look at this and automatically assume that each paired person is standing with someone they care about deeply, seeking comfort as they watch some sort of disaster unfold. And yeah, romantic couples usually come in twos, and we live in an amatonormative society, so that's going to be the first association anyone makes seeing a bunch of people paired off.

It's the same reason you look at this

And go, "Oh..."

"Those two are probably a couple."

And I genuinely don't understand how people could have watched S4 Vol. 2 and gotten scared. Because as someone who went in with no investment whatsoever, I just looked at these two--

--and went, "Oh, those two are a couple. Good for them." And I moved on. Shut up about the trees for five seconds and just see the forest for what it is.

Oh, and if you're still nervous? Little thing from a storyteller here: You don't leave a hanging thread like "Will confessed his romantic feelings for Mike by projecting them onto El, but Mike either didn't understand or at least didn't say he understood," without coming back to that later. That's Chekov's gun hanging on the wall, babes. It's gonna fire at some point. If Mike was going to reject Will's feelings, if they weren't relevant, they would have had that discussion in Argyle's van. There'd be no reason to leave you in suspense.

[k-s-morgan]

Hey K, have you seen the controversy around Hugh Dancy’s answers to hannigram-related questions at the Fan expo? Some fans are mad saying he’s a Hannigram denier but I’ve been in this fandom for 11 years now and honestly, reading his answers, he’s still saying the same stuff he always did though? So I’m a bit confused as to why people are angry with his answers?

He always acknowledged they loved each other, that it was a romance, but platonic. Also, I think he’s got a very British sense of humor and is sarcastic and ironic a lot and was never really into discussing hannigram as an openly gay romance, but more so because he is a literal guy in the way he communicates. Tons of Brits are like that. Especially actors, they’re not keen on doing fan service or saying what people like to hear. Mads on the other hand, loves enticing the audience and talking about Hannigram the way they want to hear.

All in all, maybe it’s bc some of these people are new to the fandom, but I literally think that this was just Hugh being Hugh and he gave mostly the same responses as he’s done in the past. It’s a mix of his sense of humor and the tone of the fan expo which is light and not necessarily a proper interview where he’d be more serious and give long answers.

Overall, what do you think?

Hi! Yes, I know a lot of people were unhappy with Hugh's responses - I'm not watching the fandom as closely as I used to, but I'm still keeping an eye on it.

I agree with you in that I heard nothing new. In my opinion, the problem lies in the reputation of 'Hannibal' fandom. We're known as a (mostly) cozy place where the biggest M/M ship is canon and actively supported by cast, writers, and the director. They all said so many wonderful things over the years, things that keep being repeated and are taken as a fandom Bible.

That's why people might still be unpleasantly surprised when they hear Hugh's reserved, distant replies, or Mads' weirdly shallow answers, or Bryan's ideas that are all over the place.

The truth is, ten years separate these people from their work. Hugh in particular hasn't even seen S3 as a complete product, at least from what I lasted heard. Besides, they all have been inconsistent even when the show was airing - Hugh has an interesting habit of saying different things depending on what kind of interview he's giving and who he's with. As an example, in the commentary to S3, he agreed with Bryan that Will was jealous of Bedelia and snapping at her because of it, but then later, he said Will disliked Bedelia for basically being a bad person, with jealousy being unrelated to it.

I'll be the first person to admit that some of Hugh's (and others') answers make no sense or contradict the show, but over the years, I got very used to it, to the point where it doesn't faze me any longer.

Hugh thinks it would take Will 7 season to fall in love with Hannibal, even though 7 seasons haven't been in the plans for over a decade (as Bryan has settled on 5 ages ago), and Will's silence to Bedelia's question and his further choices clearly meant to show he reciprocates? Ok. Hugh things Will's feelings for Hannibal are unrelated to his feelings regarding his own darkness? Fine - at least he acknowledged Will is dark because sometimes there are some denials about it. He thinks Will's decision to betray Jack and Alana and get a bunch of innocent people killed has nothing to do with his love for Hannibal? Lol, but all right.

I don't believe S4 will ever happen. Now, if it's announced, and then I keep hearing the stuff I really don't like, I might get worried, but as it is, I just save the things I agree with and ignore the rest :D The show is over, and we are all invited to come up with our own version of Will and Hannibal's future life. I'm also absolutely certain that we, passionate fans, know the show much, much better than people who were involved in it a decade ago. I mean, if I finished writing a fic 2 years ago, then a reader who just read it will probably know it better than I do at this point. It's natural.

Also, during this reunion, so many wonderful things were said, too. About Hannibal inviting Molly 'for dinner' and Will describing him as a 'therapist' to her, Hannibal urging Will to lose at least a dog or two out of the thousand when they are on the run, Will being annoyed by Hannibal's fussy kitchen habits, etc.

Basically, I don't think we heard anything new or bad. Some answers might have been frustrating, but the good still tops the bad, in my opinion - and the bad isn't all that relevant.

[echobx]

Jiara has done nothing for JJ or Kie's character development. It has actually caused character regression. JJ was a bad friend to Pope last season and he didn't even apologize for the way he handled the whole Kiara situation. Pope deserved better than that. Idc what anyone says their friendship is not the same due to this. It doesn't matter that Pope and Cleo are a couple now. If I was Pope, JJ would be kept at arms length.

As for Kiara, she has a different personality each season so that's why her development is all over the place. The only thing consistent is her loyalty to the Pogues. She deserves a better storyline than just trying to "fix" JJ while he pushes her away until she gets kidnapped. Free my girl from the fans who only see her as their self-insert to ship with the overrated white boys, especially Rafe the Rat!

yeah, JJ didn't feel like himself and more like a bad copy of who he was in the seasons before in like 90% of s3, the only time he was the same as always was ep7-8 when he was with JB.

I don't know if I would say he was a bad friend to Pope, but he was obviously less of a friend to him, and Pope decided to balance it out by spending time with Cleo (which tbh was the one good thing that season) and for selfish reasons I want JJ and Pope to reconcile and go back to being lovesick fools for each other (I'm never gonna let jjpope die. idc about the haters)

the only way I can think of s3 in terms of jiara, is by looking at all of it as sibling vibes (bc that's all they ever had, there was never any romance) and just ignore that kiss that both actors visibly didn't put any work in to make it look like they actually care about the ship.

honest to god, i feel like both Madison and Rudy are probably the biggest jiara haters out there.

concerning Kie, I will always defend her against the writers, bc s1 I actually thought she had such great potential, but then fans wanted her with Pope, so that happened, and then fans wanted her with JJ, and it happened again. wanting a poc woman to be with a white man so hard that you pressure the writers into doing it feels sinister to me. at least she and pope had a tiny bit of chemistry.

but then again, her whole arc is heavily queercoded. and Madison (an actual queer woman) knows this and wants to embrace it, but they won't let her. and I can't even imagine how it must feel to play a character and hope for them to get good character development just for them to fuck you over every new season. s1!Kie was very much a "pick me" girl already, and they could've easily gotten her a great arc and away from this pick me behavior, but instead they leaned into it even more, and then they made her into a bitch who plays with her best friends feelings. her development is literally nonexistent. she stays the same rather shallow girl all the way through.

I watched s1 and hoped to see Kie evolve into a real girls girl, someone who doesn't repeat her dumb hurtful mistakes. but they destroyed it all bc as we have also seen with Sarah, they don't know how to write women.

and I sometimes even question her loyalty to the pogues bc if she was really all in, why would she ask JB to pick her over Sarah. like, I know it makes sense for her as a pick me girl to do that, but i still hate it. and it also seems like most of the time she treats being a pogue like a hobby instead of actual reality and the lives of her best friends. (which is one of the main reasons why her and jj will never work even if they had chemistry)

on Rafe, i do hope they keep Sofia as his gf (even tho RafeBarry is just so much fun) but as much as I hope that they don't pull the "he fixed himself to be with her" I just know that they don't have enough brains to actually know not to do this.

[inlovewithaspiderguy]

Thoughts on tua s4e5 and the start of the season - spoilers ahead

So, Five/Lila. I wanted to share what I thought ever since I watched episode one of season 4, and then I forgot to do it and I saw more eps so this will be less detailed than I wanted.

My first idea was to do two analysis of Five and Lila, one in-media and out-media. However I found that in-media the show wrote them well over the season and you do understand why they get closer and eventually together in episode 5. I had been spoiled about it before I watched so I was looking for signs but it was well done. No comment about that, it doesn’t feel forced for them this season.

I guess my biggest critic is out-media: why? why did the writers do that. (I’ll admit I didn’t read the comics so I don’t know if the show just made it up. If not, I’ll have a contract on your head mr way). I’m not a fan of breaking a ship apart, and I fail to see the reason for them to do that. I mean, diego babysitting stan in s3 showed he was ready to have a more stable life with lila. and then suddenly they can’t stand each other? ok, transitioning from assassin to full time parents has gotta be rough, as lila put it, but it means they need to work on what they want in their marriage. this rocky diego/lila situation is not my thing.

And then to compensate and have a taste of her old actionful life she gets with five? A man that’s both older AND younger than her? it kinda weirded me out from her. As much as I appreciate their love-hate dynamic I don’t like it turning into actual romantic stuff. And from five’s pov… it’s hard to think he would do that to his brother. I’m not gonna talk about my aroace five headcanon, that’s not the right time, I’m just confused that five who I believe to be a stand-up guy, would get with a married woman. And the thing I hated most so far is when she wanted to leave and he’d rather she stayed, he hid the cypher thing from her. He was also very possessive when they argued about it and ugh.

It’s a strange situation. They’ve been stuck in the reality subway for years, does it make their thing okay? I wonder, in-media, what would have happened if they didn’t get trapped there. I guess we’ll never know. (I really thought the ship with five we would get to latch onto the most would be with his assistant, Derek. but I was wrong.) I’m gonna watch episode 6 tomorrow night, and I’m intrigued to see if they’re gonna get out (I think they will) and how both of them are gonna behave towards Diego. Lila was clear she wanted her children back so I believe she’ll go back to the suburban life she will now appreciate, and five will keep the secret too but will always be in pain because he can’t be with the woman he loves yada yada yada I’m not being original and I hope the show surprises me.

I wonder if some people shipped five and lila before this season. I genuinely hope they’re happy. I’m not interested in ship wars, I just know if my ship became canon I’d be excited. peace and love on planet fandom.

[dragonfly0808]

S1 ch8

To this day one of my fave chapter titles and one of my fave chapters overall, I was so excited to write a whole chapter from the boys’ POV and I tried very hard to really get across their personalities and how they each think of their squad, I remember I spent like a week planning the chapter and then another week writing and editing just to make it perfect, and I’m still very proud of this chapter.

First: Sky being so proud of his team and of himself for getting jobs not due to his royal status but due to their hard work.

First mention of Shirley, though no name drop. And, in case yall didn’t know in this chapter Riven makes mention of Cloud Tower inscriptions -“Have you started preparing the papers and the essay?” Another pause, “I know it’s still a long time for the due date but it’s best to start preparing now.” Another longer pause and Riven sighed heavily, “Just listen to me for once please. Start checking everything. - cause originally Shirley was older and was gonna start Cloud Tower in s2 instead of s3 but then I made a very soft reboot of her age (cause I realized I wanted her to be close in age to Roxy so she could be part of that squad) so that’s a little fun fact right there.

THE BOYS DON’T EVEN REALLY KNOW EACH OTHER YET, THEY’RE JUST STARTING TO LEARN ABOUT THE OTHER AAAAHHHHH

This makes me very emotional, again, them just starting their friendship, what do you mean I once wrote them before they were bonded for life and brothers?

Tiny Brandon POV, mostly to show that his main trait is being a protector cause it’s Brandon duh.

Riven taking charge of the situation! Being instinctually protective and trying to distract the everyone so they won’t be scared. 

Idk why I wrote Flora a lot more… she’s bowing and shit? I think that was gonna be a Healer thing from Lynphea but then I forgot and never brought it up again

Tecna being exhausted from keeping the Owl from sinking for a minute… ugggh they really had a power crawl didn’t they?

Damn, the days when the girls were inexperienced and the boys were justified in trying to keep them away from the action… so much has changed

Timmy’s POV, trying to fix the walkie talkie and everytime he gets a clear voice someone just snatches it away ajajajajajajjjajaa

All of them panicking and fighting, they’re still learning how to be a team! -Soon all four of them were yelling, all sense of compatriot ship forgotten in the face of panic.-

“The plants were scared?” Riven’s tone became dismissive, which earned him a few angry glances from the other girls when Flora shrank into herself.

“Hey, she just kinda saved your asses so watch the tone.” Musa was quick to retort, stepping in front of Flora.

“It’s fine Musa-”

“No it’s not. Now, are you gonna keep being idiots and insist that you don’t need anyone, or are you going to let us help you so we can find the troll and get this over with?” Musa didn’t wait for an answer, whipping around and taking the lead, dragging Flora with her.

Musa’s ride-or-die ass showing itself for the first time. And Flora used to be so quick to back down it makes me want to cry!!!!

Tecna awkwardly hovering around Timmy, trying to help him fix the walkie but not knowing how to engage in conversation, the start of their dynamic, I’m dying.

And finally, a longer Brandon POV to show his connection with Stella and we see Stella’s first instinct is to take care of and protect the girls. I think this is when I finally started to figure out how I wanted to write Stella.

————

It might seem weird to see me essentially fangirling over my own fic but I don’t even care I’m proud of my baby and it’s been AGES since I even read s1, I have like 3 scenes i’ve gone back to to check details but aside from that, this is like reading it for the first time to me

[thefrogdalorian]

How can you still ship Dinbo when shippers have been so disrespectful to Katee AND she said it wasn’t going to be romantic?

Hello! I'm going to put most of this answer under the cut because it contains a lot of fandom discourse for one fine Sunday afternoon. But I wanted to give your question a full answer so I can direct any future questions I may receive of a similar nature to this answer because honestly, I am not a blog that revolves around shipping and I really do not want to be one! But thank you for asking a question without being aggressive, I am more than happy to answer :)

TL;DR: I hope the disrespectful idiots step on a lot of Lego. As much as I may share a ship with them, they do not speak for me and I cannot control their behaviour. I certainly do not condone it. Also, I ship Dinbo because I personally enjoy the idea of it and as much as I respect an actor’s opinion on their character, I do not necessarily have to share it. An actor should never be harassed for an opinion, that crosses an awful lot of lines that should never be crossed. I hate that that happened just as much as you do.

Ultimately I believe in ship and let ship. I stand against harassing real life people over fiction and more than anything: always always ALWAYS treat others with kindness!

Firstly, want to start off this answer by saying that I absolutely love Katee, she’s great and she brought SO MUCH to the character of Bo. I am thrilled she was able to portray her in all her forms, we're so lucky. To make such a successful leap from animation to live action is testament to how talented she is as an actress and I feel like she deserves so much more praise than she gets. It’s sad because in all of her comment sections after Mando S3 there were endless disgusting 2% jokes after ONE tiny comment she made on a much longer podcast appearance where she shared much more interesting stories. I think that was maybe the same one as she spoke a little about Dinbo but tbh, I haven't actually watched it because I can't stand podcasts... they make me cringe 😭

Anyway, those basement-dwellers focused on borderline sexually harassing her because of how attractive she is to them, rather than appreciating her talent. That just… absolutely sucks for her. I feel terrible for her. It was so widespread too and lasted for months… really hard to watch, tbh. But as far as I’m aware, it wasn’t Dinbo shippers that were leaving those comments.

Now, that’s not to deny that Dinbo shippers have taken things too far at some point, I’m sure they have! It wouldn't be the first time shippers in a fandom have crossed a line and sadly, it won't be the last. But I personally didn’t see it because I try and stay out of fandom discourse as much as I can. I really only have the energy and appetite to interact with the chill, respectful people on my little corner of the internet. If I ever saw anything that disrespected her, I would 100% call it out.

However, I do know there was that one panel appearance where people booed her or something? Ngl, I never watched the clip because just hearing about it made me cringe too much… (wow I really have a low tolerance for these things). I think, though, that it is a case of entitled assholes being entitled assholes, regardless of what they ship. It isn't a ship that makes them behave that way, that's the excuse, but really it's their idiotic, selfish nature. I think it would be a shame, then, to tarnish entire groups of people who might be enjoying a ship in a perfectly respectful way with that same brush, I don’t think that helps keep fandom spaces kind places to be. Absolutely screw all the people who have been disrespectful to Katee, I don’t condone that AT ALL. But equally, I am not responsible for actions of everyone who happens to ship the same thing as I do.

As much as I admire Katee and she absolutely DOES NOT DESERVE ANY NEGATIVITY FROM FANS, she is an actor at the end of the day. An actor’s opinion on a character is exactly that... their opinion. They portray them as their personal interpretation of the character and how they’re directed to, of course. I'm not arrogant or deluded enough to believe I know more about Bo-Katan Kryze than the person who portrayed her. I don't at all think that, but I think I can still disagree with Katee's opinion because, y'know, I'm human and humans don't always agree on everything.

The great thing about media is that audience can come away with a totally different view of the same character. Once the work is out there in the world, it takes on a life of its own, for better or worse. Sometimes beyond what even the creator intended originally. It’s like, for example, after you finish reading a book and you discover that other readers interpreted the exact same words in a completely different way. Some of those opinions you might agree with or entertain, some you completely disagree with and wonder how the hell they can even think such a thing. A portion of such interpretations probably aren’t even what the author intended, like this golden piece of tumblr history: the curtains were fucking blue.

This kind of thing has happened to me with my own writing before! People thinking a plot will go in a completely different way to what I intended. It's always a strange feeling, but as long as you don’t berate the author/fellow readers with different opinions, I think it’s perfectly reasonable to draw your own conclusions about it. After all, art is meant to be interpreted in many different ways. That’s the beauty of engaging with and creating art, to me.

At the end of the day, we're all bony sacks of meat with our own individual lizard brains and it would be boring if we all thought the same! Of course I still respect Katee’s opinion. If she says she wasn’t playing Bo to have romantic feelings towards Din then I’m not going to say she’s lying or get frustrated at her! That’s genuinely how she played it. Equally, it won’t really change my opinion because I know what I, personally, believe I saw in their interactions! Katee is more than welcome to share her thoughts, I would never think that she should stay quiet because I disagree with what she said… but equally I don’t have to let her words stop me from shipping something I enjoy! Plus I don’t think any of the cast know how Mando will end. Maybe they have some general plot ideas set out but nothing is final yet.

Ultimately, I’m equally happy for Din to end up with Bo or another love interest, if it makes sense for his character and feels right for the story, as I am for it just to be him and Grogu. The love he has for Grogu will always be the most important thing in his life. Loving a child like that changes you as a person and I love that we got to see how he evolved into a much better man because of it. Not to be a simp or anything but he truly is the best man in the world and I love him so much my chest aches.

A final point: I think if we just took actors and creators’ words as gospel then fandom would ultimately become a much duller place to be. Speculation and shipping are FUN (when done respectfully, of course). There’s so long to wait between seasons that if I just watched Mando repeatedly and never considered a different way to view the story… I just think it would be boring for me, personally. Enjoy the show however you want, watch it and interpret it however you want...but equally I will do the same! If you don’t share my ships and headcanons then that’s totally fine, as long as we can both respect each other and not lose our humanity.

Like I’ve said before, I welcome ALL Din ships and headcanons for Din or indeed for any characters. We may disagree on some of them, but ultimately, I am not right and you are not wrong… we’re all just nerds on the internet. And I’ll always try to make my blog a friendly, welcoming place to be for anyone who stops by, I really take that vow to you and anyone reading this very seriously.

I hope that answers your question and you can see where I’m coming from. I'm glad to have said my piece and I think any future questions I get like this, I'll just direct to this answer because it really sums up how I feel.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far. I just wanted to end this with what I said at the beginning: ship and let ship, don’t harass real life people over fiction and treat others with kindness… that’s my philosophy and it’s one that I’ll always stick by :)

[kawaiidoodles95-blog]

Byler VS Mileven: Thoughts, opinions, etc.

Warning: If you are a Byler or Mileven endgame person, please stay off this. I’m gonna critique both of your ships.

To get the most controversial out of the way, let’s talk about Byler.

Byler is a ship between Will x Mike. If you are on Tumblr, a Stranger Things fan, and you don’t know that, what are you doing? Byler is like, 80% of the Stranger Things fandom. Anyways, so these are my thoughts on Byler. I don’t think it’s gonna be endgame and I don’t think it’s be healthy even if it was. Mike seems really… uh, what’s the word, rude to Will? Especially in the last 2 seasons. Mike was literally pushing Will away in the 3rd season over a girl. Yes, I do agree Will is gay. I have no real doubt about it. But if Mike really loved Will…

1. He’d probably show true signs of affection. No, not smiling at Will. No, not grabbing his hand (I do that with my friends no matter what gender they are.) Like, actual signs of affection, not just friendship signs.

2. He’d probably be more coy with Will. Just as Will is showing affection to Mike in obvious ways, Mike should probably recuperate these feelings. This leads to my 3rd and final point…

3. Is Mike just stupid? Listen. How come we, the outsiders, the people watching, the people not even being INTERACTED with, are noticing all the signs of Will’s obvious gayness, when MIKE, the person being DIRECTLY TALKED TO AND INTERACTED WITH is not getting the hint. Sorry, this topic just gets me heated. I know this is the 80’s and being gay is still taboo, but being Bi/Gay is not unknown. Mike probably would know if he himself is bi, non the less, his own friend. Will is as subtle as 100 nukes going off at once. So why is Mike not getting it?

So yeah, that’s my thoughts on Byler. Overall, I don’t have a problem with the ship. It’s just that people are thinking it’s going to 100% being endgame, and hey, maybe I’m wrong. I’m just saying Byler is not 100% on the board of endgame ships, if there are any.

Now let’s talk about Mileven.

This is the ship of Mike and El. This is a canon (for now) ship. So, obviously since I dislike Byler, I must be for Mileven, right?

Idiot.

I am for NEITHER. NON. NEIN. NIE. Here are my reasons for my dislike of Mileven. I don’t think they’re gonna break up, but I sure as heck hope they do. El deserves better. Sure, Mike was forced to, but he could have chosen not to lie to El if he truly loved her. Second, he was overprotective of El, and El deserves to have her independence. Luckily, she does in S3 and 4. Mike was great to her in the first two seasons, being not overprotective, but just caring and wanting to make sure she’s ok. He seemed to have chemistry, and then, the next season… well… it sort of turned toxic. Mike got really weird and mean to like, a lot of people. If he truly loved El, he would have…

1. Stayed like how he was in the first 2 seasons. Protective, but not overly so. The relationship shouldn’t have become the stereotypical and annoying break-up get-back-together plot. I feel like Lumax was the way they should’ve went with the relationship.

2. Again, he wouldn’t lie. He should’ve stayed with El and not have lied, because that only made the whole thing worse. Then that lead to Mike and Will fighting, because Mike is a moron (are you seeing a pattern here? That both of these ships’s issues are a lot because of Mike? Huh) and wouldn’t even listen to his own “crush.”

3. He would, as I mentioned with Will, be more coy with her. Mike in the recent seasons (also notice how I keep mentioning the first and latest 2 seasons? Odd) has been acting strange around Eleven. Almost like she’s pulling her along on a relationship that doesn’t really exist anymore. I think he’s worried El will be mad at him and not help him if he breaks up with her. But again, that isn’t healthy. That isn’t love.

So those are my thoughts on the ships. If you disagree with me and fight in the comments like a bunch of barbarians, I will not care. You can like what you like, just leave me out of it.

[vole-mon-amour]

3x11, part 3. RJK edition.

Listen. LISTEN. The boy feels so lost & his home is PEOPLE. Roy & Jamie are RIGHT. THERE. I NEED it. I need not only Jamie having vulnerable moments with Roy, I need Roy to be able to talk about it and/or at least hold Jamie and mean it. I need to see Jamie hugging both of them and feeling safe, and loved, and HOME. I need Jamie to know that he belongs, and he's good, and he deserves all the good things only.

This is honestly such a huge topic & I've been thinking about it from time to time. Jamie/happiness please and thank you. And somebody quietly take out his dad so Jamie can process it and let out a sigh of relief. I know it's not that easy, I've been there, still going through it tbh, a lot of trauma and feelings, but still.

Babe, your hair is beautiful & I love it, don't listen to that.

Keeley: puts even more pressure on Jamie to the point where Jamie is even more overwhelmed.

She's no better at it than Roy lol. Made it worse somehow.

"If only I could have a friend who'd stick with me until the end. And walk along beside the sea, share a bit of moon with me."

Those friends:

I can't get over the fact that Roy acts like a human towards Jamie? Like, it's the most "I care about him A LOT" & humane thing we've ever seen at this point, I think? Especially after that weird string episode that I often just want to ignore?

"I wanted it to be you. I wanted it to be you so badly."

I find their reactions so interesting? Keeley is straight up bored and tired. Roy is crying which is even in character, after he watched Love Island with Jamie in it & all those yoga sessions and drinking wine after. Jamie is... one eye red. Jfc, someone hug Jamie and be there for him. Just unite all three already. While Keeley can have her beauty sleep, Roy and Jamie can have spend their time together.

Not sure if I should watch You've got mail, but yeah.

Are we gonna ignore this? The way Roy looks at Jamie. The theme of Roy being so worried about Jamie that he brings Keeley in and he tries his absolute best to help Jamie and make him feel better. Like, I always shipped them, but right now it feels more than ever justifiable? Not like I imagine it but the way it's RIGHT. THERE. It's not one sided. It's "I care about you, too, and I'm trying to make ti right." Maybe a kiss or two would set it into the right direction, but still. Baby steps (at the end of s3).

???? Ot3???? Poly canon when???

"...share a bit of moon with me."

is this the new "Let's get lost"? For ot3 this time? C'mon. How am I supposed to ignore this? It's so romantically coded.

Roy, you very much can if you don't kiss him and if you keep pretending you and Keeley are not dating again. Like, talk to him. Invite him in. You two are fools. Keeley sees it though.

There goes "I care about you" again.

Jamie is such a sweet and gentle boy. Making sure he didn't push either of them.

Seriously though. He. Him. And his hair (unironically). And his rings.

Jamie's smile getting wider, heh. The neighborhood he grew up in? Or the neighborhood his mom ran away to from James?

Jamie is the best sunshine of all the sunshines. Both Jamie and Roy being dressed in black :)) They really are so alike.

I feel honored to finally meet Jamie's mom. Wow, she and her husband seem so different from James, and you can see why Jamie is the way that he is. I still have questions on why Jamie was abused so much by his dad while his mom is right there & judging by Jamie's words she only wants Jamie to be happy. But then again, maybe he really is like that, "I wanted to tell her, but I knew it would hurt her. So I let it hurt me." Which is heartbreaking, but it is what it is, I guess.

This episode Trent met Ted's mom, and Roy and Keeley met Jamie's, and "it's lovely to FINALLY meet you BOTH." I am NOT letting this go. Like, Jamie just decided to take his best friends for a ride and introduce them to his mom. Ahhh.

[my-mt-heart]

I’ve read the leaked script page—the whole page— not just the Carol teaser. I’m not going to share it just in case it gets anyone in trouble, but fwiw I strongly believe it’s a sanctioned leak, meaning AMC wants to gauge our reactions so they can plan their marketing strategies going forward.

I’ve reread this thing a bunch of times from different angles—as a writer and as a fan—and every time I come out of it feeling like the concerns I’ve expressed before have been validated. Again, I don’t have the big picture, just this one page that suggests:

1. AMC and co are struggling to write/market Daryl’s character. I'm so sick of the ambiguity. I'm so sick of the baiting. And, I'm worried I'm going to end up resenting him if it isn't made explicitly clear how he's feeling (particularly about Carol) ASAP. There’s an excessive amount of conventional action heroes on TV. Daryl has never been one of them, AND THAT’S A GOOD THING. Why not lean into it?

2. AMC doesn’t consider the ways they are constantly using women to service the male hero’s story or how it’s impacting the female lead we’re all really invested in. They can flaunt the number of women they have in the writers’ room all they want. It means absolutely nothing if leadership can’t get over their biases and listen 👏 to 👏 their 👏 audience.

3. It makes me happy that Carol is going to be riding Daryl’s bike and that Daryl is going to be her emotional drive. But take a closer look at the action line “as we left her in 106.” If that's the case, then to me that implies they’re relying on gimmicks (Daryl’s bike) to get us hyped rather than giving us any real payoff. It’s low hanging fruit, it’s a huge gamble considering that most of the audience has no faith left in any eventual payoff, and it’s not enough.

I feel like I have as much as I need to conclude S1 isn’t worth any amount of my time or my money, not that I wasn’t sure already. Whether S2 will be worth watching remains to be seen, and is dependent on how faithful the story is to the relationship between Caryl which was twelve years in the making.

I know I’m going to get a lot of asks, which I will answer as soon as I can. Just please be patient with me, and please keep in mind that I’m trying to honor strike rules to the best of my ability while still providing insight.

I’m not trying to rain on anyone’s parade. I said before that we should focus on Carol/Caryl, so if you love this little leak as much as I do, go nuts about it. The fact remains that Carol is back. Melissa is back. Season 2 will have her in it and that’s worth celebrating. I just feel it's important that we aren’t playing into AMC’s gross strategies in the meantime or responding to even a tiny hint of ship baiting that might come our way. Do not stop reminding AMC what you'll pay for—unambiguous Caryl canon.

Side note: I don’t know if they’re trying to use name recognition to lure back a reluctant audience, but I’m not promoting or watching anything with “DD” as a placeholder. I think it's disrespectful to their female lead and to loyal Carol/Caryl fans, so please make it stop.

Other side note: I would not be surprised if more info on a potential S3 comes out soon to try to get us to "hang in there."

[chirpsythismorning]

I feel like a big part of the reason Anti Bylers are so aggressive is because this is the first time in mainstream media where there's a chance that the main couple of the show may end up being mlm.

Not only is there a likelihood that the main couple will be gay, it will come after years of these fans assuming that the cliche, safe straight ship was going to sail from start to finish.

If you look at the "predictions" these individuals have for season 5, which honestly have less to do with narrative direction and more to do with what they want, you'll always catch a certain undertone to what they're saying:

"The heterosexual, white male audience is the default for media. We will allow the wlw ship, so long as it has limited screen time. We will accept Will surviving, and even allow him to have an acceptance arc. But you will not receive queer rep at the expense of a ship that we are nostalgic for. The straight male audience is the one that matters, and we will be represented by the main couple in the show."

My favorite is when they’re asked what they hope for Mike and El in s5, only to list off qualities of Mike and Will’s dynamic. I legit saw someone say that they hoped they finally took the time to talk through their problems (oh so you’re admitting they never do..) and that we’ll actually get to see them be a team…

Like, do you hear yourselves?

I would actually like to read off their play by play of how they imagine s5 going down. Not just their wishes but like what they literally imagine happening over the course of the season, episode by episode.

And I’m talking the confident milkvans ones that are like super hostile about it. I wanna see what they hypothesize will happen in early s5 related to Mike and El… I don’t think I could keep it together if it is anything along the lines of them instantly making up and being happy for the rest of the season… 😳🤣

They just don’t realize how dumb that sounds.

S4 created conflict and hasn’t settled it. It was considered the beginning of the end, meaning those parts are going to fit perfectly together. If Mike and El were lacking romantically more than ever before in s4, don’t expect that to change much…

And gentle reminder that rewatch value is everything. If milkvans have to skip 3 eps in s1 bc they’re not together or fighting, skip all of s2 bc they’re separated, skip most of s3 bc they broke up in the second episode, skip most of s4 bc they separated in the third episode…. What does that fucking tell you?? They are not being prioritized for rewatch value, that’s what. Whereas byler is. (Bylers also are capable of watching milkvan scenes religiously… I can’t say the same about milkvans being capable of handling more than one second of rewatching a byler scene. And it’s bc they know if they watch it the mental gymnastics they gotta go through to convince themselves nothing romantic is going on is near impossible…)

Byler endgame is going to make the rewatch for the entire series hit, while milkvans, even with a hypothetical endgame would probably watch s1 and s5 and say the rest doesn’t matter. Do they think that’s how the show is supposed to be watched?

With one season left, they should have been hoping that monologue wasn’t in s4, but instead s5. Bc now how can those two one up that? They simply can’t. It was put there to show that they’ll never progress beyond this point. Nothing will ever top it. This is as good as it gets and yet, they still lost. What should that tell you?

What are they gonna just repeat that monologue in s5, but have mike say it 20x and THIS TIME it works?? Yay? Like there’s literally nothing satisfying about that in the least.

Can’t say I wish bad for ppl that simply like Mike and El and are bummed that they’re starting to lose hope. That as a basic idea is like whatever. I don’t like seeing ppl sad. Even if I told off a milkvan directly, seeing them like feeling depressed afterwards, does make me feel bad.

But when it comes to the hostile ones, people literally resorting to harassing directly with complete strangers unprompted and threatening to dox, over people merely theorizing? Like?? Was it ever that serious?

If we’re so delusional and we’re just setting ourselves up for disappointment, why not wait to say I told you so when it’s all said and done, if you’re so sure? Why dedicate so much of your time trying to discourage people on the other side? Unless it somehow qualms doubts you have?…

What makes this whole situation such bullshit, is that if this were a queerbait situation, you still shouldn’t be out here being hurtful like literally spouting off how you can’t wait for people to experience getting queerbaited? Like it’s fucking weird? The prominence of queerbaiting is literally referring to show runners taking advantage of fans, making them think it’ll happen, even encouraging it, and then ripping it away, usually ending in a bury your gays situation. That is the norm in the industry and it’s only now within the last few years starting to change in mainstream.

The hypocrisy of it all, is that they think we should just accept what they believe is the only possibility, queer-bait. But you know if the roles were reversed, which they inevitably will be when s5 drops, they’re going to be playing the victim, saying nonsense like if queerbaiting is bad then so is straightbating!! and it’s just going to be so out of touch and pathetic.

It’s not the same. Whatsoever. And the fact that they can’t see that, that one result is lazy writing and one is epic subversion, and are literally making a mockery out of the situation, convinced they’re right bc they have history on their side and gays should just be used to never getting their way and THATS okay to them?

Like it’s almost painful to watch. Especially knowing the 180 they’re gonna pull when they end up in the situation they convinced themselves we were gonna be in.

[avelera]

Hi there! Wow, Good Omens 2 was a ride. Do you have any thoughts about Aziraphale pulling out his halo? For such a tightly written season, it seemed to just sort of… happen, without any real significance other than to be the thing that called all the big players in Heaven and in Hell into the same room after the whole Thing with the demons. Do you think the Halo Fix (as I’m now calling it) is likely to be important at all in season 3?

*Sigh* Honestly, that beat was something of a bummer for me because it teased at the plotline that I found far more interesting, without actually fulfilling it.

Now, it could still happen in S3, so I don't want to entirely dismiss the possibility that I simply misjudged the pay-off for what I took as a bit of foreshadowing, but I was really expecting that halo toss to go in another direction as far as consequences go and I was very disappointed when it did not.

(Details below the cut)

See, I thought that Aziraphale was tearing off his own proverbial wings at that point. I thought Aziraphale was about to Fall.

My hope for the season was that it would end with Aziraphale and Crowley knowing they were in love, even sharing a kiss over it, but that the tragedy would come from them ending up on opposite sides at the same time.

I wanted Crowley, who so struggled with his faith in God, to finally find peace in some way, to see Aziraphale's argument, perhaps through their long association. To ascend back to being an angel perhaps as accidentally as he fell to become a demon.

I wanted Aziraphale, who we are shown over and over to be questioning God, to be treading the edge of the very same mistakes that led Crowley to Fall, to finally tilt over the edge irrevocably, accidentally, tragically because he just can't do it anymore, he just can't keep believing in the ineffable plan when he keeps seeing the wickedness of his fellow angels.

I wanted the proverbial "I sold the watch to buy the hair clip, I sold my hair to buy you a new watch band" moment, two ships passing in the night, a kiss that seals the fact that they both, finally, through their long association managed to get through to each other, that they both managed to convince the other of their argument, one to abandon Heaven, one to return to God, and for them to awaken to the cold, horrifying realization that they did too good of a job tempting/saving each other and now as a result, they can't be with one another and they're both on a side that is utterly alien, utterly foreign to them, utterly uncomfortable, because Aziraphale's sensibilities DON'T belong in Hell and Crowley's repelled by the angels in Heaven with their casual cruelty and willful blindness.

... So, long story short, I was super bummed when the halo toss didn't have anything to do with switching sides or Falling or Redemption. I don't understand why he didn't just summon his flaming sword if the plot point was just that using a Heavenly weapon would accidentally make this an official conflict. I didn't understand wtf was the point of Shax, then, if they could blunder into a fight with an angel wherein the angel couldn't use their official tools to fight back without starting a war? What was the point of that Shax plotline in that case? I mean, I found everything with Shax annoying and infuriating and dull, but it felt like that moment even undermined what little purpose and tension there was to that battle in the first place.

And not only that, whatever danger was raised was IMMEDIATELY dispatched by Crowley dispelling the whole situation and making it not a big deal, so... why? What was the purpose of it? Why not just have it be the flaming sword or something??

[dangermousie]

Farscape Rewatch: Die Me, Dichotomy, 2x22

First off, what a great title! But also Die Me, Dichotomy is both one of my favorite episodes and one that turns me into a blubbering mess even on rewatch. Arguably, John at the end of the ep, thinking Aeryn is dead and it’s his fault (he never ever excuses himself and takes the easy way out; the doctor tells him he was not in control so it’s not his fault and he rejects it), Scorpius victorious, John not even able to speak but just to scream, is the lowest he gets (though I suppose you can make an argument for DWTB. Farscape’s end of seasoners were always brutal).

  In fact, I can never watch DMD without popping in S3’s opener Season of Death soon after (apt name, isn’t it? Season three is even darker than two). I came to Farscape in Season 4, so I can only imagine how insane it must have been to wait over the hiatus for continuance. You know what occurred to me on this rewatch? Why do Moyans simply not tie and sedate Crichton from the start? Fine, they don’t realize how truly dangerous he is and don’t realize he can sabotage the ship, kill any one of them etc etc…But he is clearly not only a loose cannon at that point, he is also in a horrendous amount of psychic pain (man is shaking and mumbling and falling apart even as Aeryn holds him), not to mention is self-harming all over the place: the scene where he looks at himself in the mirror and sees Scorpy so he smashes it through but mirror ‘reappears’ and he keeps smashing and smashing and smashing, and Aeryn comes and sees him basically breaking his hand on a brick wall because of course the mirror is long gone. 

Interesting parallel of course, to Aeryn in The Way We Weren’t, where she was the one ‘making hamburger’ out of her hands and John was her voice of sanity. But that is the thing: Aeryn was upset, you can talk it out. Crichton is certifiably insane, and you can’t talk it out at all. Aeryn’s ‘walk it off’ approach where she tries to be the pep coach telling him he is strong and ‘I need you to face reality’ is not working because John is NOT in any way in control of himself. I feel for Aeryn tremendously there. John is not just the man she loves, but he is, for all the Moyans in a way, a little rationality check, and it’s gone completely (never to be reassembled fully again btw). I suppose they don’t sedate him because they are just overwhelmed with everything else that is going on: burnt Moya, Jothee’s back etc etc. And also, because except for Zhaan (who has her own take and brand of insanity, but is also the most distracted; and in fact the chip explores her weakness to break free - I think one of the reasons she sacrifices herself to bring Aeryn back in s3 is because of guilt she feels since it was because of her Chip in control of John got out and Aeryn died), they are all much too pragmatic/practical to really get the danger of a mental collapse and foe because it’s not something physical to shoot at. At least not until it’s too late. But if this is Crichton at his lowest, I have rarely loved Aeryn more than I do here. She has to be strong and together in some horrible circumstances, and the fact that she chooses to tell him she loves him at this juncture (where he is off the edge of despair) is mind bogglingly awesome. But this is Farscape, so we never get what we want even when we get it. Aeryn telling John she loves him is something I wanted to hear for years and as she was saying it, I was cringing away and covering my eyes, because she doesn’t know it, but Crichton is already gone, and now it’s the chip in control so she is spilling her heart to the disgusting abomination of shadow Scorpius. She is so vulnerable there and you can tell how the chip is delighting in ‘playing along’ and toying and UGH. When he uses all these seemingly romantic lines but it’s the gross perversion of every feeling John has ever felt about her, and he delights in ruining something that was a light for John in all that horror. 

And when he knocks her out instead of kissing her and licks her face going “that’s my girl.” That is a sheer level of wrong, of horror, that is worse than the Aurora Chair for me because this is so utterly a negation of everything John is and everything he feels for Aeryn and just - this is an ep that keeps cranking up the awfulness and does not stop.

And John telling Aeryn he loves her, in words? Even though neither we the audience, nor the Moyans, nor Aeryn herself, were in doubt for ages? So great, right? It comes during the scene where I always cry: Aeryn’s funeral. Honestly, that whole sequence and the sequence leading to it, kill me. Because Aeryn flying after John, who is completely taken over by the chip, and you know, that no matter the cost to herself, she will shoot him down because she knows John would rather be dead than in Scorpius’ hands. And the chip, wrecking her plane, and so she has to bale out, but she is descending not on solid ground but a frozen lake and her thrusters will melt it…I start sobbing when the chip tells her of that fact ‘in deference to that part of Crichton which still cares.’ 

And then, nothing else could have made Crichton temporarily free of the hold of the chip but the sheer horror and loss and enormity make him break through and his desperate ‘baby, you are not going to die like this’ makes me sniffle no matter how many times I see it, just as Aeryn’s accepting calm does (she is always a pessimistic fatalist, isn’t she? And combat trained. We see it in Prayer in S4 very starkly, but it’s here as well). 

And he sits there, helpless, knowing that he had done this, he has caused the death of the person he loves more than anything, and for whom he is willing to sacrifice anything, his soul and Earth included. And OMG, when she tells him ‘I meant what I said in the neural cluster [I love you]. I hope you did’ and you realize he has no idea what she is talking about, he doesn’t know she told him she loved him, he doesn’t understand her last words I…I…I…I…And then she sinks through the ice but she fights to the surface a time or two and he is trapped there, unable to do anything but watch and there are tears in his eyes, and his stare is utterly blind and he whispers ‘What have I done’ and you can tell he is so numb he is beyond numbness.

And then the funeral, with that music and his face…it’s utter self-loathing (though none of it is his fault. It is not his fault he was tortured and chipped, after all) and a frozen sort of grief. And then OMG, he is cuffed and he asks D’Argo for his knife and he goes to the coffin and I seriously thought he was going to off himself and he looks like he wants to, he stares at the knife, but that’s the thing, he can’t…the chip won’t let him. But also, being Crichton, he probably thinks it’s not punishment enough. And instead, he awkwardly cuts a lock of her hair, and tells her “Aeryn, forgive me. I love you.” For the first time. OK, I am getting wet-eyed again.

And then (I love how Aeryn’s death snapped him so much the chip can’t get control any more, though a darker interpretation is the chip doesn’t care any more since it already signaled Scorpius), he goes for the surgery and when Doc tells him he has to temporarily cut his speech center (and Crichton, more than anyone else, is all about words) he says ‘go ahead, there isn’t anyone I want to talk to anyway.’ This season has broken him down so completely.

And when he is asked (they can be removed) he keeps all memories of Aeryn and I love that so much, I love that he will never take the easy way out, that he will rather live with the horror of his guilt and pain of losing her than not remember her. And of course, then, he is left on the operating table, screaming, not able to talk, Scorpius walking off with the removed chip, leaving John to be destroyed by fruitless search for revenge. 

You know, I don’t think Scorpius gets John as yet (neither does Harvey, not for a long time). It’s not hate or revenge that moves Crichton, it’s love. Yes, he would kill Scorpius if he came across him, but if Aeryn wasn’t dead, he would never go looking for him. He is obsessive, true (a way to displace and deflect, IMO), and his obsession makes him a loose cannon without Aeryn as focus (see late S3) but revenge is not his default obsession. Perhaps Scorpius is thinking John is like himself and in a way it’s a twisted compliment. Oh, and I realized something. In order for John to break through chip in DMD when Aeryn is dying, chip must have allowed John to watch all this while helpless. Yikes. (As contrasted with neural cluster when he seems not to have remembered anything at all). Talk about sadistic. Oh, and a final comment: I love that even in such an extremity as he is in DMD, John doesn’t want to be saved if it means killing the frozen Interons. It’s not pure goodness though, it is a deep sense of unworthiness of anyone’s death for him. Oh, and Stark’s proposal to Zhaan? Melts my knees to butter. Melts Zhaan’s too.

PS Because I am a packrat for quotes and things, I saved a quote from the long-defunct TWOP’s recap/analysis for this episode which discusses why it’s named what it’s named. It’s perfection.  “I know he wants to die; I know he's split in half. I know one side of him burns like the sun and the other is cramped and bound by darkness. I know he dies three times, in three different ways, and they all have to do with the other side of himself: he becomes Harvey; he loses Aeryn; he loses wormholes, the ability to beg for forgiveness, or pity, or death. I know that the only thing worse than losing speech is losing the desire to speak. I know he begs for death in every way he can throughout the episode. I know that the only thing that keeps him alive is hate, which is a kind of death. I know Aeryn didn't even consider the possibility, because she believes in him so strongly. I know watching it kind of makes you want to die. It's a two-part process, a dichotomy of soul and spirit. If he would lay down his life for her, then the one you mourn is the one that lived.”

[chronicsyd]

Sapphics: I want an enemies to lovers arc

Sapphics when the characters act like enemies: no not like that!

Like seriously, the hells wrong with some of y’all? Catradora were literally at war with one another and with the current power dynamics in the show Catra couldn’t just drop whatever she was doing and play for the other team. Especially once s3 happens and Shadow Weaver ends up in Brightmoon. How do I know this? Cause we already got our answer once she popped back up in s5. The only plus side would be Catra seeing through the bs that was Glimmers behavior in s4 (speaking of which, “Glimmradora was healthier” people need to get off your high horse cause she treated Adora JUST as poorly in s4 basically saying “hey you’re only here cause you’re sometimes useful to us” ok I can’t start talking about this cause I’ll get sidetracked by getting angry. Moving on)

And it’s outright boggling to me that sapphics will cry out “we want enemies to lovers” until they ACT like Actual Enemies. Cause the truth is you don’t want enemies, you never did. And the reblogs on my last post only prove my point on the matter cause while Amity and the others of the Boiling Isles grew up under strickt rule by Belos and their parents it wasn’t War. That’s what we gotta keep in mind here. Catra and Adora grew up as child soldiers in an army however Adoras mind want fully loyal so when she saw what the Horde was doing and needed to ditch her ideologies she abandoned them. However, Catra saw that as a “Im leaving because of you” kinda deal no matter how the latter claimed the opposite.

Another thing i find Absolutely Hysterical is that y’all will bash Catra then immediately turn around and praise Zuko’s character even though they had practically the same character arc “Zuko didn’t do things as bad” eh did we Forget he helped Azula take over the Earth kingdom at the end of s2 and Aang would have died if it weren’t for Katara’s magic water (plus Several other things?all I’m saying is that Y’all don’t remember pre-redemption Zuko as well as ya think ya do) but I’m getting sidetracked here. Im probably gonna talk more about this comparison later hell I might go rewatch ATLA and take notes on this.

If you don’t like “enemies to lovers” Whatever. Don’t ship it. I honestly don’t care it’s Your shipping preferences. But for gods sake don’t get pissy when enemies act like enemies cause it’s exhausting for those of us who do enjoy it watching your little screaming matches while trying to find content. 🤦‍♀️

(Im probably gonna also bring up Caitvi at some point cause even they don’t truly fall into enemies to lovers but that’s for another time)

(And one more thing: a lot of people claim Glimmers “I love you” came out of nowhere but it was in very much the same vein as Catra’s “Im sorry for everything” as in “I may never see you again, so make this last meeting count”. Yk? Ok NOW I’m done)

[despapillon]

stupid how you managed to make a dick joke out of innocent shot. and hosegate oh no that is awful. Byler is not going to be in relationship. what show have you been watching certainly not Stranger Things more like Gayer Things. Duffer have had an emotional love declaration by Mike and you believe Byler? that is sad. it may not be romantic but to Duffers it is. same men that wrote in Steve talking about his breeding kink to Nancy and framed it as romantic. just because something is the better choice in your eyes does not mean that will happen. after events of show i can only see Mike and El get married. Duffers try to convince he is straight and they intend him to be but Mike reads as deep in closet. fans dw Will is going to get over Mike and find a bf that is give him happiness he deserves. but Mike? Mike will forever be in loveless marriage and he is never ever going to get over Will. in his thirties and beyond that he is going to suffer and not stop thinking about how everything would be different if he accepted his sexuality and chose Will not El. he is going to hate himself for making such a mistake

listennnnnnnnnn. ppl were talking about hosegate so i just made a reference to the rolled up painting shot. i wasnt the one that noticed it first. i only knew it was a thing because of Bylers discussing it. i had the pic saved, as i was preparing a post that i scrapped that was about Will and the allegations he had, including fake stuff spread around that S3 Will would have a p*rn magazine and the speculations that Will is going to sleep around with random men in S4 and my thoughts on this plus the sexualization dramas like Byler sex in the show, Byler kiss not being chaste, writing Byler smut, Mike supposedly checking Will out, hosegate and other phallic imagery. i decided against that and now i think that was a good choice because it would drive some wild.

i never truly meant the rolled up painting thing was intentional i was simply saying what was a regular shot became dirty to me thanks to Bylers influence. i’m sorry i didn’t mean to offend anyone. i still find it funny but i feel bad for making that post. i guess i should have kept it to myself. i had no idea it would come off this inappropiate. though the characters are only 15 (i think) so that is on me for not caring how uncomfortable it could make others.

now onto the rest of your ask. i don’t know if Byler is going to be together. i don’t. i ship it because i like it. when we get the next season we will see. i willingly choose to spend my time on discussing Byler knowing i’m not really that confident in it. nobody is forcing me to do this. i know we may get queerbaited. but i don’t care.

there is that section of Bylers that got utterly destroyed by vol 2 and either converted to M!leven and now mock us for still shipping Byler (there must be a name for that phenomenon because how) or are bitter and lashing out at Duffers because they lost their faith and now Byler bad. i assume you are the second. i hope you are proven wrong because you seem heated about the topic. to the point you sent me an ask about it.

Duffers did make a lot of writing mistakes and choices i disagree with. whether Byler happens or not i do plan on discussing what i had a problem with after watching s5 because i need to see how they will handle the characters’ arcs to make a post as there could be surprises awaiting us. and talk about how i’d handle certain plotlines as a person that can’t write anything coherent.

keep in mind that Montauk, the original ST, drew inspo from It, and if there was a potential season 2 to Montauk, they wanted to straight up go the It route by having the characters grown up and some leave the town then come back when it all gets fucked up again and join forces for the second time.. they do also mention It, and Stephen King as inspiration. you can see it in the current series too. Willelmike is literally a ripoff of the love triangle between Ben, Bev and Bill. Ben’s poem and Will’s painting.. it’s so blatant. and those that watched the movies know how said love triangle ends.

Gayer Things is a great series that i suggest you need to have more faith in.