#also whatever might have been the faults of s2 and I don't even know if the intention was to show AL and ML as the perfect pair or not

[chlorine-and-daisies]

ok but the more i think about it the more i believe that the deck is stacked against good omens s3, plot-wise, and a LOT of it is s2's fault...assuming that the show will come out of the pause with a new showrunner, i'm wishing them the best of luck...bc they're DEFINITELY gonna need it...

the big one that hangs over everything else for me is that *s2 e4 confirms that human souls get tortured in hell for eternity, rather than just milling around or slowly dissipating or whatever.* and it gets glossed over in the show, the people who we see get threatened with this are legitimately evil and before long we're back to watching aziraphale and crowley flirt over wine, so it's easy to not think seriously about it...however i for one will *always* believe that infinite punishment for a finite life is horrifying and that the writers absolutely did not think through the implications of this. aziraphale is hanging onto a shop full of stories written by people who died and are now in neverending pain (which could be an interesting concept if they actually addressed that part of his guilt, i assume he just barely manages to convince himself that anyone who deserves it will be saved in the rapture, but they Didn't Really Address It)....crowley is now directly implicated in sending people to that pain (i assume that's part of what he's drinking to forget but they Didn't Really Address That either). i don't know how they are supposed to fix this...but if they don't COMPLETELY address and overhaul this system in s3 it will overshadow ANY possible happy ending in my mind. WHAT IS THE POINT OF STOPPING THE SECOND COMING IF SO MANY HUMAN SOULS ARE STUCK IN HELL AND THE REST ARE IN WHATEVER BORING RESTRICTIVE THING HEAVEN'S COME UP WITH?!?! hot take but maybe we Would be better off just destroying the world at that point, so no new humans can be born and doomed to suffer eternally? and that is DEFINITELY NOT SOMETHING YOU WANT YOUR AUDIENCE TO BE THINKING IN A COMEDY WHERE THERE'S VERY LITTLE CHANCE OF ACTUALLY DESTROYING THE WORLD!!! if you want me to laugh and happily watch you save the world, then saving the world needs to be a good thing...

also, s2 shows god talking directly to job, and it's...really scary, even though it's played for laughs? it's much easier to tell a story where the world is under an absent god who just reads the footnotes and laughs ineffably out of anyone's earshot, as She is in s1, than a god who is outright mocking and unable to be reasoned with....it's gonna be Really Hard to write a happy ending with This version of god. either She just has to not show up at all anymore, or She will need to be reasoned with (which seems hard to do, given Job), or She will need to be fought....do any of our protagonists have the power to kill God? Would that even make for good tv or a satisfying ending?

the more i think about it the more immature "they're not talking" seems...when the whole world is at stake and they love each other so much...

finally, s2 gives all these hints about crowley having been very powerful as an angel...possibly even an archangel...feel free to disagree with me on this, but I *personally* could not care less about who he used to be. it doesn't impress me at all, i'd prefer to keep it a mystery, and if anything crowley having lots of power (and aziraphale being promoted) takes away from their characters bc he and aziraphale were always supposed to be just middle managers who have more in common with each other than their bosses, a la cold war spies...I don't think Pratchett believed that might makes right and I don't want crowley and aziraphale to just wave their hands and stop armageddon pt 2 with an 8 billion lazarii miracle, even if it is a mIrAcLe oF LoVe........But s2 just Kept On Prodding with those incredibly obvious hints, so now it'll be weird if Crowley's past and power *doesn't* become central to the resolution of s3...the best I can hope for is some sort of schrodinger's archangel...i'm predicting that we'll get the confirmation that crowley Was an archangel but hoping that it won't affect the plot in any real way...

please note that i am NOT saying this with any bad intentions. despite the gaping plotholes i am a huge fan of the show and characters, and i really hope that s3 will come back with someone kind and capable and thoughtful! it's just like...how will they get out of this one, yknow?

[phoenixlionme]

Arcane S2 Theory: Caitlyn will be one to grant Zaun their freedom

This is a theory just came to me recently, but I think it would make so much sense to happen. Caitlyn will be the one to free Zaun in S2 and I have my reasons:

One of the co-creators, Alex Yee, stated in an interview that besides Caitlyn being his fav LOL fighter, he also believes she is the bridge between the two cities. What if that was unknowingly an early bit of hinting at this theory? Now, I don't have the link for that interview but if anyone can find it, please share.

"But she becomes the opposite of herself in S2!" - I can hear some of the fans saying to debunk this theory but that's the point of this theory. Look, it's clear Caitlyn is going to go through a dark arc with the trauma Jinx inflicted on her before and after murdering her mother (I know it hasn't been shown but come one, we all know it's a safe prediction). So, she'll be making some mistakes and even end up causing more tension between the two cities. But SOMETHING will occur that will let her see that the path of vengeance isn't worth it and she'll snap out of it.

The above pic -I believe this pic comes from Caitlyn letting go of her aforementioned vengeance (not her hatred of Jinx but not allowing it to blind her). Another part of the trailer with her in the same outfit is when she was in an apparently high position point with a new rifle. I think after she tries to shoot whoever or whatever, she gets caught or has to leave her hiding place and get injured in the above picture. She's injured as she's holding her stomach and is looking up in fear/anger at someone (i believe Ambessa). And given that it's out in the open, Caitlyn is most likely on the bridge.

She and Vi have reconciled - Don't know what split them up or how they got back together but they are reconciled. How do I know? The black Enforcer outfit; they are wearing matching uniforms. Which only could've happened if they met and reconciled. And when Vi is wearing hers, her hair is now more red than black, symbolizing her reclaiming her identity. One person on twitter even theorized that the black Enforcer outfit that Vi is wearing in the trailer is the same one Caitlyn is wearing. Maybe after Caitlyn got hurt in this moment she was saved by Vi and Firelights and taken to a more secure area and gave Vi her armor to protect her.

Why Caitlyn and not Ekko, Vi, or Jinx? - Now while Vi and Ekko have shown to want Zaun's independence, they have given up due to cynicism and lack of hope with them both only being concerned with their immediate circles (this isn't me shaming them, I am just noting this trait). And for people who think it might be Jinx? A hard no. She may be gaining followers in S2 but I can guarantee that she's going to end up causing more deaths and problems in Zaun and wasn't truly interested in Zaun's freedom, only interested because she wanted to help Silco and now presumably because she's around people who admire her. But Caitlyn? Despite her naivety and sheltered upbringing, when she sees how Piltover has failed Zaun, she is adamant on helping them in anyway she can, avoiding violence as much as possible. And now that she's going through a dark arc, and then realizing how she forgot her original goal would be perfect character development and symbolism.

Speaking of symbolism, it would make sense for it to be Caitlyn to be the key to granting Zaun's freedom and restoring peace between the cities. She's a Piltover Enforcer who comes from THE most affluent family and is presumably going to be the most powerful person (politically) in S2. And initially continue the oppression of Zaun in quest for vengeance before snapping out of it. Zaun's freedom being freely given from someone who always intended to do so and even directly apologize for being complicit in said oppression would be the beginning of healing. Because despite Zaun's faults, it was Piltover that unfairly oppressed and hurt them, so if a Piltovan was the one to grant them their freedom with no strings, it may be the start of a (very long) healing process.

But how would Caitlyn cause the explosion? Using one or a nice amount of Jinx's explosion placed in a way to specifically target the weakest part of the bridge. But why would she have one of Jinx's bombs? I can guarantee that in her hate-filled vengeance quest, she could personally keep some of Jinx's explosions in a way to remind herself of who she's shooting at in the future. But things have changed and she realizes she must uses them to help destroy the bridge.

Why is she destroying the bridge? Noxxians are invading both Piltover and Zaun and Caitlyn realizes that more of them are going to successfully invade Zaun unless she does something. So, she uses the bombs from Jinx, places them in a way to destroy the bridge completely. But she uses herself as bait to catch the Noxxians off guard and uses her rifle to set the match. But before she does, thinking she's about to die (she won't obviously), she uses some sort of radio or gets help from the Firelights to communicate to the people of Zaun - And she declares they are free before setting the match on fire. Causing the explosion and setting the bridge to collapse, killing a majority of Noxxian soldiers.

How she would parallel so may characters by doing this: Jinx caused an explosion that killed Enforcers and attempted to frame the Firelights; Caitlyn causes an explosion to save the Zaunites with help from Firelights. Marcus only dreamt of performing suicide murder on Silco out of fear and cowardice but couldn't do it; Caitlyn performs a heroic sacrifice (she doesn't die) to successfully protect the Zaunites. Vander lead a fail coup against Piltover resulting in many of people dying; Caitlyn works with Zauns (the Firelights), saved the Zaunites, and destroyed the bridge.

And speaking of Vander, what does Caitlyn have in common with him in this pic? She's injured in the stomach area. Just like how Vander was stabbed in the gut by Silco in S1 Act 1 before performing his own heroic sacrifice to protect Vi. And remember, Vander and Caitlyn, despite surface level differences, have much in common.

This shot of Vi reaching out to someone below her with an anguished face:

Now many fans believe this is Cait reaching out to Jinx; and honestly, I think could also be true, even with their extremely messed up relationship, you don't get rid of the love that easily. But I can also see this being Vi reaching out to Caitlyn after the presumed explosion. Could you imagine the angst - after reconciling with the woman she loves (possibly including a passionate and loving sex scene that is also Vi's first time) and reclaiming her identity, she is now forced to see the said woman she loves be caught in another explosion. Oh the traumatic parallels.

12. Oh crap, I just had a crazy thought (that is also another Vander and Caitlyn parallel) - Caitlyn also causes the explosion to save Vi from wherever she is AND stop more Noxxians from invading Zaun; I don't know how or if it'll even happen or it might be too much but again Caitlyn is very smart with excellent aim, so it could happen. Anyway, she (like Vander) would be performing a heroic sacrifice to protect Vi from whatever danger she's in. Is Vi in danger here? Maybe; she doesn't have one of her gauntlets and looks to held down (?). Look, it's more than likely Vi is doing this because of Jinx but I can also imagine it being Caitlyn.

[raayllum]

I keep seeing people calling Callum Snake boi what does that MEAN

Little slice of fandom history and also because it's my fault (TLDR at the bottom in bold):

Years ago, a few days after S1 came out and when JK Rowling wasn't an outspoken bloody TERF there were discussions of what Harry Potter houses the characters would fit into. The general consensus for Callum seemed to be that he'd be a Ravenclaw because he's clever and artistic, but I argued for Slytherin (whose symbol is a snake) because I saw him more so as ambitious than just curious and more selectively loyal when it comes to his motivations, etc etc.

If you've been following me for any period of time you might know that I tag Very Meticulously, so as a trans person and a trans ally I was like I don't wanna use the TERF's terminology anymore, but having a tag to talk about a specific aspect of Callum's characterization (his wonderfully harsh temper, his intense selective loyalty, his obsessive ambition, etc etc) was still a useful prospect to me. Thus Snake Boi Callum as a tag was born, mostly as a joke? And so I could find metas that talked about his characterization (specifically) as I don't think I had a characterization tag almost at all for a while?

It started to pick up steam in my tags specifically when there was starting to be a little bit of - pushback isn't the right word cause everyone's entitled to their own interpretation and characterization of a character, nor does everyone have to engage with every part of a character's canon personality or actions in their fandom stuff if they don't want to.

But there'd be stuff of people forgetting that he can be pretty mean when he gets angry or not seeing him as selectively loyal to Ezran and Rayla? People would also be surprised but accepting, or resistant, to his growing and consistent parallels in characterization with Viren and Claudia (even if they are all still, ultimately, different from one another).

I saw a fair bit of sentiment during the hiatus of "oh he'd Never ever do dark magic again" (which I never believed even immediately post-s2) or in discussions of how he'd respond to Rayla after she left in Through the Moon graphic novel (set shortly after S3). Some people thought understandably that he'd care a lot about the lie (that he'd get to go with her) and the abandonment, understandably so - they're both shitty things to do, but I also sympathize/cry over why Rayla thought she had to do them, but I never thought he'd think the lie was that important, and focus more on the abandonment aspect as a source of hurt.

Snake Boi Callum as a concept also got some mileage in the development of my Cube Hostage Exchange Theory as well, an ongoing theory since November 2020-ish that Callum will help Aaravos / give him the Key of Aaravos in order to save Rayla's life if she was injured / taken hostage. I don't know if they'll do that scenario now because S5 basically delivered the exact thing, just with Finnegrin instead of Aaravos, but there was some more legitimate pushback to said theory/scenario during the hiatus because people thought Callum would never help a villain like that or take such a big risk for someone he loves. I'm not gonna say that I was wholly right (because I wasn't) and again people can interpret his actions in S5 in whatever way they want, but I will say that all of S5 was one of the most validating experiences of vindication I've ever had in my whole life, so that probably speaks for itself

But yeah, it's a term that's kinda caught on (I would say 60-80% of the fandom sees Callum as someone who would risk the world for Ezran and/or Rayla, with 20-30% - maybe less? - seeing otherwise, hence why I think it's caught on; but again, having an 'unpopular' opinion in fandom doesn't necessarily make it wrong, god knows I've had plenty) and then in the discords I'm in, a few people thought a week based around those traits would be fun and boom. Snake Boi Callum Week was born.

TLDR; Snake Boi Callum is a fanon catch-all / shorthand for the 'darker' / more emotional and torn side of Callum's personality (his ambition, his temper, particularly his fierce protectiveness and selective loyalty) that is being explored by whoever wants to in a fun fandom week. His bio in official series material does read that he values "those close to [him] more than anyone or anything" after all (which again, was very validating after years and seasons of seeing and writing him with that exact sentiment)

The tagging also means that for people who don't agree with this characterization for whatever reason, or whom dislike the emphasis on it, can blacklist it easily (as is the intended purpose with all tags on my blog)

He's a goofy nurturing guy who will Cut You and verbally eviscerate you without question if you hurt his loved ones or piss him off enough, and I love that for him. He's a little snake boi and we think he should have lots of angst (or sometimes not enough when it comes to killing/threatening people) over how far he'll go to protect the people he loves, as a Treat

[sparklesponge13]

Hello Everyone! I've been dead for a little while now cuz I'm bad at schedules and I'm not funny. But I'm here today because I've seen a lot of fanart and theories and stuff about Baxter, who's being introduced in season 2.

Honestly, I've liked him since the pilot days and I never thought He'd show up but when I saw him in the background of the full show, my obsession started up again and I audibly gasped, squealed and cried when I learned he would be in S2

So I'd like to share some of my thoughts/Hcs on him. Enjoy!

Starting with the more obvious/popular ones. I think he was friends or lab partners with Pentous (My boi ❤) and they had a falling out of some kind. This allows for backstory for both Baxter and Pentous. Maybe they both think it's the others fault (for whatever happened) and they both have different sides of a story.

I know Baxter is introverted and I feel like he would be a huge bookworm. He would also probably get along with Husk pretty well since he's pretty introverted at times.

I personally don't like most Nifty pairings but I'm literally OBSESSED with Nifty x Baxter. I call this ship NeedleFish. (I don't remember the original creator that made the name I'm sorry 😭) I might make a separate post on Hcs for NeedleFish.

Baxter doesn't let a lot of people in his lab, which he made out of his hotel room. When you're allowed into his lab, you are a trusted demon or at the very least, the most tolerable.

I've heard that Baxter has a little bag that follows him around (I've even seen fanart of him with it) So I feel like when Baxter made the bag, Pentous copied him and made the Egg boiz or vise-versa.

Well that's all the headcanons I could think of! I might make another post for NeedleFish in a few hours but my fingers hurt right now since I typed this all on my phone. That just about wraps up this post! Bye my lovelies! I hope you have a good Day/Night/Evening/Etc. and make sure you stay hydrated! ❤❤❤

[vyladromeave]

7 and 18? :]

07. best dynamic in the series? like, whenever these characters are onscreen your brain just explodes?

APHMAU AND VYLAD!!!!! VYLAD AND LAURANCE!!!!!!!!!!! THEYRE SOOOOOO GOOD. They don't get a lot of screentime, because Vylad doesn't get a lot of screentime, but when they do its almost always written well!! That's a lot to ask of MCD! Vylad being quiet and introspective, but also inherently tied to basically every plot/lore element MCD has to offer does a lot for his onscreen (and offscreen) dynamics. This reaally shines through in his interactions with Aphmau and Laurance.

And LAURANCE AND APHMAU!!!!!! Maybe its because they have sooooo much screentime, arguably the most any pair in the series has, but up until S2 starts shitting itself, their dynamic is SOOOOOO. listen to me. listen.

Aphmau is the person Vylad accidentally created. Laurance is the person he failed, the unplanned sacrifice he was forced to take in a plan that was supposed to only hurt himself. His life is a spiral of guilt. Everything is his fault, and everything has to happen the way it happened, or it would be even worse.

Aphmau is the person who, even before he became a Shadowknight, pulled Laurance out of the darkness. He loves her always, even if she can't return things quite the same, and he's fine with that, he knows he isn't owed anything. Laurance is the split second of hope in Vylad's 200 years of literal torture in hell. A split second of kindness in a life (and death) full of people who simply hate him, use him, or do not care about him.

Vylad is the person Laurance failed. Vylad doesn't see it that way.

Vylad is Aphmau's one hint at a past, the one person who might know more about her than she could know about herself. The one person who's been there since the beginning. She doesn't know him, until she does, and then she knows him too well, more than anyone else knows him. He knows her well, but not in person. He can only make guesses about all the things she wants to know. She already knows too much, but he struggles to hide anything from her, because its his fault she exists. Because its his fault he exists, because he knows her so well, he feels like he can tell her more.

Laurance and Vylad will throw their lives away for the things that matter, and when they're at their lowest, they'll do it for the things that don't matter too. And they're stuck looking to each other for hints on how to be people. They see a hope in each other that they can't see in themselves, but they don't know how to say it.

And the three of them can't all exist in the same room together, because if they do, the universe explodes.

18. is there anything about the fandom you dislike?

smiles. there is so so much and i think saying all of it would get me killed. Admittedly I do think fan spaces for mcd have calmed down SIGNIFICANTLY over time. I've been here since S1, I've seen some shit. But for what it's worth, people are less actively gross in full view of me than they were in the past. Likely a side effect of mcd/Aphmau rp content as a whole being dead for multiple years, but you know what I'll take it.

I still think a lot of people's critical thinking skills could use some fucking Work. I still see so much apologism for villainous characters across mcd (and Aphmau's works as a whole tbh) just because they're charismatic and hot lol. it gets REALLY telling when you compare how people treat Zane in comparison to like, Michi.

There's no harm in liking villainous characters. There's no harm in liking charismatic villains. But you have to admit that thats what they are. I personally think people like Zane and Gene are really interesting, they're decently well-written, their motivations are intriguing, I cannot deny that the way their actions were presented was often cool from a narrative standpoint, and if you find them hot then whatever. As characters, I like them a lot!! But when you consistently start talking about shit like [CLEARLY VILLAINOUS CHARACTER] isn't actually evil™ hes a soft boy™ he's silly he doesn't know what he's doing™ he just made some bad choices™ its not his fault™ he would've made a great dad/lover/brother/etc™ he never meant to hurt anyone™ he wouldn't have hurt anyone if circumstances were better™ oh torture is sexy actually™ you need to step back. and examine your actions. extremely quickly.

Anyone would do different things under different circumstances. Why is it different for them? These people aren't your next Zuko. It isn't your job to fix them. You are not immune to propaganda. You are falling for the charismatic villain boy act, and your life would be a lot better if you didn't.

(ask prompts from here!)

[thegeminisage]

it's time for a star trek update: finale edition. wednesday we watched ds9's "in the hands of the prophets" and tng's "descent part i."

in the hands of the prophets (ds9):

ok first of all it's fucking wack how relevant this shit still is like more than 20 yeasrs later. miss politician literally just pulled a r*n des*ntis trying to rile up her base about religious panic to get votes that she lacked

secondly they BOMBED a SCHOOL??? actually it works as a nice reminder of how the bajorans made their pleasure known under cardassian rule...for awhile there, federation was no different

LOVED o'brien being willing to beat a guy senseless for making his wife sad. good for him.

DID NOT LIKE kira and sisko fighting...........i liked that kira had that wake-up call at the end but i feel like ds9 has been a little unclear on whether or not she was a true believer til now, and i was a little surprised she thought the curriculum needed changin at first - then i was like well yeah i guess she was really upset when kai opaka died but then at the end she was like guess i'm not as much of a believer as i'd like to be! so a little hazy. but that might be a me problem

i liked that sisko took the time to sit down w jake and be like. people have a right to religion. lest this episode seem one-sided or unfair. it was a nice touch

the assassin being obriens little shadow was SUCH a nice touch but once they let you in on the joke she's like always suspiciously in the back and it kept cracking us up

the flirting scene was really good also. "on your toes o'brien" he read the room and headed immediately for the exit and good for him i love him sm. probably my favorite part of the entire ep i laughed really hard

overall felt like a weird choice for a finale, but not necessarily a BAD episode, just one of their weaker ones. i would have picked duet for sure but i guess it just doesn't involve as many characters, let alone Sisko, The Main Character

though side bar ther ehas been a disappointing lack of sisko-centric content in s1...........all he really got was the pilot and the plot with jake sneaking out to teach nog to read. fingers crossed for more of him in s2

descent part i (tng):

DATA....................................

the reason i was banned from reading the summary of this ep prior to watching was that it spoiled literally all 3 major plot twists 1. data gets an emotion 2. the borg 3. lore

i felt geordi was a little dismissive of data having an emotion here ("how would you know it's really anger") but i liked that deanna treated him really niceys. i thought his brainwashing at the end was a little scary but ULTIMATEL not his fault!!! somebody save my boy

i looooove seeing the borg again. even though these guys aren't the real borg i love the borg in any form <3

shoutout to hugh and that time picard DIDN'T experiment on a sentient being like a lab rat! and then this whole episode he was like damn i should have experimented on his ass. never change ig.

back to geordi, i think he should have helped data with the experiment. i don't know that it could have changed anything but it might have given them a clue...like yeah data is taking his life into his hands or whatever but geordi surely has a phaser. like he could say END PROGRAM at any time. furthermore, surely he culd ask data to step out and then tell the computer to PRETEND it was putting data's life in danger without actually doing it? it's wack that the holodeck can and nearly has killed people by the way. unethical horrific technology.

oh and i almost forgot how cool was it that the REAL LIFE STEPHEN HAWKING was in this episode, playing himself...and gambling :') i bet he was so stoked that was literally so fucking cool. i hope he had a great time

TONIGHT: tng's "descent part ii" and ds9's "the homecoming."

[quirrelli]

So, I finished Killing Eve S4 and I'm...

...just gonna pretend I do not see it. S3 wasn't amazing but its ending still works way better as the ending of the show than the actual ending, so I think I'll just be having that, thank you.

No, but seriously, how did they manage to have this much lesbian activity for four seasons and still end up with bury your gays lite?? Did literally no one in that writer's room have even a cursory look at tvtropes.com or talk to like one gay person??? Make no mistake, I was fully expecting one or both of them to die, especially since I was aware – without knowing any details – of the finale's negative reception. There are always going to be people who hate an ending and by extension the whole show simply because it killed off their favorite character, irrespective of context or execution. I am not one of those people, so I want to be crystal clear here when I say there were ways to make a tragic ending work for Killing Eve, a few fairly obvious ones even, and so I thought surely there was no way they would fall into that specific trap again.

The most generous interpretation of this (non-)ending I can come up with is to apply Hanlon's razor, in which case it might be be seen as a symptom of the general loss of focus the series suffered beginning with S3 and exponentially more so in S4. By which I mean they let the emotional core (the V/E dynamic) diverge wildly from the plot (finding the 12).

Never lose sight of the emotional core. I find you can get away with almost anything; technical faults, dodgy performances, plot holes (especially plot holes), even a meh ending, as long as the emotional core stays exactly where its name says it should stay.

Helene is an easy means of illustration for this point. Helene in S4 is basically less chaotic Villanelle, both in her function to the plot (murderous fancy bitch whomst is important as the key to a bigger bad) and in her relationship with Eve (gay, aggressive, lethally hot), which makes me wonder why they didn't just let Villanelle play that part??? It's driving me mad bc it's the most obvious thing and would have fixed so many problems in an instant.

By which I don't mean get rid of Helene btw, just make better use of her, as an actual member and face of the 12 or a double agent or sth. Give V the quest to hunt down the 12, it's already perfectly aligned with her motivations and capabilities at the end of S3! I mean she wants to impress Eve by showing her she's trying to be better and to start a new life, right? Cool, ok, therefore, in Villanelle's moderately disturbed mind it makes perfect sense to do this by violently hunting down a bunch of bad ppl ~ for Eve ~ . (The fact that she's also high key horny for murder is just a bonus, don't worry about it, baby.) If not that, then do sth else entirely with her, do the church thing (properly this time, not squeezed into two episodes and then entirely forgotten) but don't give hunting down the 12 to Helene, a character that already feels vaguely like a replacement for Villanelle while she's off doing character growth or whatever.

If they had done the thing that makes sense, it would have also meant that for once V and E's goals would have aligned, (though they might not have realized it immediately, you know, for spice,) which would have given us an opportunity to delve into a new dynamic: Partners in crime. Not S2 V tenuously working for E bc horny but actual challenging "we want the same thing except oh no, all this history and unresolved tension" cooperation. Obviously it would have gone horribly wrong in some fashion (I'm thinking Carolyn shenanigans), but at least it would have gone wrong for a reason that actually involved them bc the plot would have actually been their plot again. Incidentally, if you're going to have them hook up, this would be a great time for that, so it doesn't feel quite so backhanded if/when one/both die at the end.

The only reason I can imagine for not going down this route is that it would be too obvious, to which I can only say: [Insert tired comparison to Game of Thrones here.]

Seriously, hunting down the 12 is a natural conclusion to the story. It makes sense, was built to from the beginning and should have been a slam dunk in terms of plotting. Thus I am flummoxed as to how the writers managed to drop the ball so spectacularly that it hit every single one of their teammates square in the tits.

Well, I say that, the show does maintain a few of its strengths, first and foremost the cast of course, consequently some of the dialogue (Carolyn and V's interactions are delightful) and I do like the idea of both Gunn and Pam and also V getting shot by an arrow. Just wish the cupid/angel motif hadn't been so muddled and included Gunn more (who shouldn't have been called Gunn. It's a bad joke.)

Speaking of, many have rightly decried the lackluster supporting cast but as I see it, that is largely a holdover from S3, which killed off/wrote out basically everyone but the core four and failed to introduce any new characters that stayed past the season finale (besides Helene) bc it was too busy not moving the plot forward. You gotta have side characters in your show, so they made some new ones for S4 and gathered together whatever scraps they could (Hugo prettyboy and Martin the therapist). Idk if there was a good way to solve this problem exactly, but they could have certainly woven the new lot into the story better. Especially Pam. Pam could have been so much more. Oh and fuck the way they wrapped up Irina's story too. Complete waste.

With bad plotting comes shitty pacing. Again, that already started in S3. However, I will say in defense of S3 that it being a bit slower and introspective is very much the sort of thing that could have felt kinda ok, even needed in retrospect, if S4 had Risky Businessed into the room champagne in one hand, gun in the other, ready to party. Instead it made S3 look worse by turning it into a prelude to an even more plodding experience, now with bad editing!

For real, there's some really poorly constructed scenes; shots that feel disjointed, unfocused, repetitive. No idea what that's about, could it be the lingering effects of Covid-restrictions? Or maybe they just needed a better editor. Regardless, while not super dire it is absolutely noticeable and contributes to the general lack of cohesion, not to mention the tonal dissonance.

What am I saying, that's an excellent thing to mention. An ideal candidate to put the show and this too long note on my phone out of its misery in fact.

Killing Eve is supposed to be fun, you guys, remember that? S1 was at all times like two smash cuts away from becoming a full on comedy and it was amazing for that. It was the show's most unique feature, what took it from very good to transcendent as far as I'm concerned. Walking that line is hard, no doubt about it, and I get that different show runners have different visions and of course you can take on a more serious tone between seasons but then you actually need to make everything else match that shift. Integrate the absurdity into your writing or discard it, the way I've discarded the idea of ever writing a proper conclusion for anything. If you really want a dramatic, played entirely straight spy thriller conclusion with conspiracies upon conspiracies and doomed passions, that's fine. I mean, it’s not really bc you're losing what made Killing Eve great et cetera and so forth but my point is that you can't have your imaginary drag king Jesus and eat him too.

tl;dr: S4 is bad. There are several reasons for this.

[chocolate-cream-soldier]

-

[byler-4-life]

1. How do you think Will would react when he finds out that Mike is in love with him? 2. How do you think Mike would react when he finds out that Will is in love with him? (if Mike isn’t in love with him) 3. How do you think will felt after "it's not my fault you don't like girls"? 4. How and when do you think Will found out that he loves Mike and how did he react to his own feelings? 5. What future do you think Will likes to envision for himself and Mike? 6. What future do you think Will sees for himself in his adult life? 7. How do you think Will was feeling at the snowball? 8. What do you think Will imagines in the situation if someone finds out that he is gay? 9. How do you think Lonnie’s abuse affected Will? 10. What do you think Will was thinking of season 3 Mike and season 3 El? 11. How do you think Will was acting ‘weird’ in Lenora according to El’s letter X)

Sorry for the delay! There were so many wonderful questions I had to work my way through them. But I love the ask!

1. How do you think Will would react when he finds out that Mike is in love with him?

I think Will is going to be incredulous. He's not going to believe it at first. He's wanted this for so long, spent so much time dreaming about it. But, he's also convinced himself it's not happening. So it's not going to be easy for him to accept what Mike is saying. Mike might just have to convince him with a kiss ;)

2. How do you think Mike would react when he finds out that Will is in love with him? (if Mike isn’t in love with him)

This one was hard for me to answer, because I'm so convinced Mike IS in love with Will. But if he isn't, and he finds out Will loves him...sigh. Idk. It won't be anything outwardly mean or hurtful, and I think Mike would be very careful with Will's feelings and apologetic but...any rejection is gonna ruin the show for me.

3. How do you think will felt after "it's not my fault you don't like girls"?

I mean, you could see it in his eyes. He could not BELIEVE that Mike said that to him. He was stunned. Out of everything that Mike could have said. Out of anyone that could've said it. The combination of those two things devastated him. Mike was his greatest safe space, and it got ripped away pretty brutally. This also led to him destroying his other safe space, Castle Byers.

4. How and when do you think Will found out that he loves Mike and how did he react to his own feelings?

I love this question, because I think it was all very gradual. He always kind of knew he felt differently about Mike than his other friends. But early on, he just thought it was because Mike was his best best friend. I think that he began to suspect the truth some time around Season 1, but hadn't really accepted it yet. In S2, he knew he was in love with Mike for sure.

5. What future do you think Will likes to envision for himself and Mike?

I don't think Will minds a lot what they're doing as long as they're together. Not saying he'll completely abandon his own interests for Mike. But he knows that their interests are so similar/complementary, whatever they end up doing, they'll be compatible. The comic book writer/artist team is a popular headcanon for them, and I do love that idea.

6. What future do you think Will sees for himself in his adult life?

I think that a part of Will, especially around S3, had been resisting thinking a lot about his adult life. He was clinging to childish things, and a part of that might have been because he didn't want to grow up. The GA was pushing that agenda hard. But the piece they left out was why he didn't wanna grow up. Think of being a closeted gay teen in smalltown Indiana. It's probably hard envisioning a future for yourself where you get to be happy, especially romantically. That's probably even more true as he feels Mike slipping away from him more and more.

Career-wise, I think he does want to do something with art, even if it's nothing huge. Maybe even just becoming a high school art teacher or something. I think Will would be great working with kids/teens.

7. How do you think Will was feeling at the snowball?

This always breaks my heart thinking about it. After all the hell he went through in S2, the Snow Ball was the topper. Mike basically forced him to dance with some girl he didn't want to dance with. Then Will had to watch Mike dance with and kiss El. That's probably the moment he really realized Mike was drifting away from him. Which was probably an abrupt turn, given how present Mike had been with Will during S2 before the Snow Ball. He probably cried himself to sleep that night.

8. What do you think Will imagines in the situation if someone finds out that he is gay?

Dire? I mean, he's been bullied and abused a large chunk of his life just because of allegations. If it was actually confirmed and he was outed? Yeah, Will is probably terrified.

9. How do you think Lonnie’s abuse affected Will?

I touched on this above a bit, but it likely just solidified that it wasn't safe at all to be gay. We hear in his van speech to Mike, he feels like a mistake. Like he sometimes doesn't want to fight on. That's part of the reason I'm hoping they give Will come closure with Lonnie in S5. (even if that's just kicking Vecna's ass while he's in Lonnie's form lol)

10. What do you think Will was thinking of season 3 Mike and season 3 El?

Again I touched on this above. He was likely jealous and scared. Jealous because El had the type of relationship he wanted with Mike. And scared that he was losing Mike altogether. I don't think it helped that Hopper (and Mike) had El on such a tight watch in S3. It didn't look like she got to interact with any of the party except Mike on a regular basis. That's why it was good development for both Will and El to be able to get to live together as siblings in S4, and form a relationship with each other outside of Mike.

11. How do you think Will was acting ‘weird’ in Lenora according to El’s letter X)

Hard to say. Seemed like it centered around the painting. Maybe he usually would let El see his work, but with this one, he was being secretive, leading El to think he had a crush.

Thank you for allowing me to ramble on about byler! This was fun :)

[omegas-spaghettios]

In Defense of Bo-Katan

This character receives an enormous amount of hate and it is so unfair.

Before I begin, I have a few disclaimers to make.

1. I used to be on the hate train for her. When TCW S7 and Mando S2 aired, I hated her. Absolutely loathed her and I was vocal about it. You could go back and find a trail of me hating on her, I want to admit to that before I go on.

2. I love every character I talk about during this. When I compare her to other characters or discuss other characters, it comes from a place of love. Flawed characters are the best characters because it makes them feel human.

3. I am not defending her from a moral standpoint. She does some pretty awful things. What I'm arguing is that a lot of criticism levied at her for being a "bad character" is unfair because what she does either lines up with her motivations and thus makes her a well written character (if not unlikable), or she does things and gets slammed for it when male characters do the same things and get away with it.

I'm just gonna go chronologically and discuss major talking points on why people hate her.

1. Her Discussion with Kenobi in 7×10

People hate on her because of this, and that could be fair, depending on how else you view Star Wars. Bo was responsible for helping bring an organization to power that killed her sister, she weaponized the death of her sister against Obi-Wan, and also her organization (Death Watch) has tried to kill Obi-Wan many times. She is overall being incredibly unfair and awful in this scene.

Okay, so she helped kill a woman important in her life, weaponized that death to guilt Obi-Wan, and also is responsible for attempts on Obi-Wan's life.... why does this feel familiar....

Anakin did much, MUCH worse than her, yet he is still loved. I love Anakin! But it pisses me off that when Bo does it it's a valid reason to hate her and one of the two most commonly listed examples to hate her, but when Anakin does it he gets nuance. Anakin's character and motivations line up to that event, it makes him a flawed character. But when Bo does it, we just hate her?

"But she doesn't have the development to that point like Anakin" the entire Prequel Era is the story of Anakin, no character has as much time dedicated to them. How can Bo have that much development to make it "believable" when the only character who can rival Anakin's level of development is Ahsoka?

If you hate both Bo and Anakin then her Discussion with Obi-Wan is a 100% valid reason to hate her. This is not to say you can't hate her for that, this is to say that there is a lot of hypocrisy in the fandom over this.

2. Sabine Wren

I'm not gonna spend much time on this, cause it isn't a huge reason I see often and it's just, so easy to debunk. I love Sabine and her arc is good, but from a Mandalorian standpoint, she's lucky she left the planet with a decent public standing. She makes a weapon for the empire that is handcrafted to kill Mandalorians and names it after Bo's dead pacifist sister. Under no circumstance is any Mandalorian required to treat her well after that, especially Bo.

I know she has an arc to redeem herself over the course of the show, but imagine if a public figure irl did that. No one would care how hard they worked to redeem themselves, no one would ever trust them again and that is valid.

3. Bo's discussions with Din

The way she and the other two scoff at Din is not kind at all, it's pretty rude. But guess what? Din got aggressive first when they took their helmets off.

I understand being in a cult means your view of the world is purposefully warped and information withheld so he doesn't know better, but why does Bo have this responsibility to be kind to anyone who is mean to her just because they might not know better? Why does Bo NEED to give everyone the benefit of the doubt?

Din was aggressive and accused them of not being mandalorian FIRST, he doesn't know better and that makes Bo's treatment of him less than ideal, but why does she have to respect his beliefs and identity when he IMMEDIATELY is trying to rip apart hers?

She never even says he isn't Mandalorian, just he was raised in a cult, which he high key is. The amount of identity suppression and implied information control in The Children of the Watch or whatever they are called is very cultish.

4. The Boba interaction

This and the TCW S7 interaction with Kenobi are the two big ones I see very frequently.

Before I begin with her motivations, can we talk about how blatant the one-sided hate is in this scene anyway? Boba is standoff-ish and aggressive right from the get go, audibly calling them a waste of time, ridiculing Bo for wanting to liberate her literal ancestral homeland, calling her all sorts of names, etc. Boba is by no means trying to be respectful or diplomatic but that's fine, but when Bo gives the same energy as him she gets hated. Again, Boba starts it by saying they were a waste of time.

Getting mad that she called him "not a real mandalorian" is pointless because he immediately says "never claimed to be". Boba isn't Mandalorian. He isn't. He doesn't view himself as Mandalorian and his connection to the armor is just because of his father, not because of Mandalorian heritage.

Her seething hatred for clones and attacking Boba with it is awful but it's understandable within her character. Clone Troopers came to help in the Siege of Mandalore with the explicit agreement they would leave once Maul was captured. Maul was captured, Order 66 came down, the clones never lifted their occupation. Does that mean her hatred of all clones is justified? No. But is it understandable from her viewpoint? Yes, and that makes her a 3 dimensional, flawed character.

We know it wasn't the clones' fault, but we have no reason to believe Bo knows about the chips. Even then, it is established in Rebels when Kanan first meets Rex and crew that people who know about the chips don't necessarily believe it. It takes discussion with the clones themselves and evidence to sway his belief. So even if Bo knows, why does she need to believe it when Kanan initially didn't? Bo hasn't had any discussions like Kanan and Rex had with a clone on screen, so the evidence already shown in previous media lines up with her hating clones.

Also, the weird stuff with the darksaber is not her fault. It's legit just the writers changing how it works to write their story so now she has to bend. It's inconsistent between Rebels and Mando but literally every character shown so far suffers from it. The Saber has not been won in combat since Maul killed Pre Vizsla, the whole "rightful heir" thing is just a mess and is more inconsistent writing that affects star wars overall, not just Bo.

Conclusion

Hate her all you want but stop letting men get away with the shit you hate her for lmao

I still don't particularly love her at all, I don't tend to think about her much, but y'all, come on.