#i just rewatched endgame it was such a choice for me to do that at midnight

[zee-has-commitment-issues]

I’m not gonna lie I actually really loved this season AND the fact that they went this way with Wilhelms character. Because I do think doing otherwise would be the easier choice. It is harder as a viewer to realize that a character you love comes from a place of privilege and aren’t just magically free from their upbringing by falling in love with someone from another standing. Do I understand why people don’t like this choice? Sure! But personally I’m really happy with it. Also just another note, this season in particular (or what we have got so far) feels very scandinavian to me. Like the plot and angst and how the writers choose to go about it. Both good and bad.

I really liked this season! I really liked what they did with every character... except Felice. I might be alone in that one, though, and maybe after a few rewatches I'll feel differently.

BUT YES.

Showing Wilhelm still being selfish and privileged was important. It was also important to show Simon really not understanding that his life is changing because of Wilhelm.

While Wilhelm continues to try to control everything and act on his privilege without consequence, Simon is still trying to be an activist and show his "fuck the monarchy" attitude. These things can coexist but not without balance, which neither of them are willing to provide. Because they are literally children.

Wilhelm tries to change Simon by censoring him until he is fit for the crown. Simon tries to change Wilhelm by asking him to take a stand on things that he (Wille) doesn't believe he is allowed to. And neither of them are talking about how they really feel about it because they both start to panic. Because of this, neither of them is willing to change, either.

But they do give in. They do compromise with each other, while not in the best way.

Neither of them can magically change because they have fallen for someone of another standing. It isn't all Wilhelm's fault nor all Simon's fault. Like everything else, it's both of them.

Their joint stubbornness to keep things exactly as they think they should be is what made them have such a rocky relationship. Both of them have a predisposition for how they believe their life and their lover should be and both of them are wrong because they aren't taking in the other's idea.

I really really love this season, actually. I'm excited to see how it ends. I know people are nervous about endgame, but I'm really not.

[candied-cae]

Okay... I finished OFMD S2...

And yeah, as much as it breaks my heart, this season disappointed me in so many different ways. There are a few things I absolutely adored, but a lot of it felt like a disservice to a lot of the work S1 did to establish the universe and its characters.

Oluwande gave Stede advice like one whole time this season, even though that was a big part of the first. Him consistently being supportive was such a light, and it was pretty much replaced with him just being generally bubbly (and I fucking loved watching him be bubbly and joyful, might I add, but it's different).

Jim's complicated relationship with the idea of taking vengeance wasn't brought up at all. Jim's relationship with Oluwande was absolutely shifted, even now, I cannot watch S1 with the knowledge that they're going to be played off as "best friends who hooked up once" and see it, they HAD to have been intended as an endgame couple in the beginning.

Frenchie didn't sing even once, despite the fact that the very first scene opens to his voice! Frenchie as a character was shrunken a ton, in general. Ed leaned on him a lot in S1, that was gone. Wee John was shown as his best friend, but how many words did they even exchange this season? They let him do another grift, but it didn't include Oluwande so (personally) it felt cheapened.

Wee John didn't make a single fucking joke about fire! Even though there was a lot of fire this season, and he made like three separate comments about arson in the previous one?!?!?! And, again, he barely even talks to Frenchie at all!

The Swede was benched for half the episodes, Buttons became a bird halfway through and possibly won't be coming back at all, Ivan was killed off with a one-liner, and Izzy died as a completely backwards version of himself that we were given almost no show of him transitioning into.

Izzy, who practically stole a bunch of other character's "moments" while they rushed through his redemption so they could kill him at the end and hope they got everyone attached to him enough to care. Izzy got to sing, Izzy got to play advisor to Stede, Izzy got to do drag with John, Izzy whittled a gift for Lucius instead of Pete, Izzy pretty much interrupted every single scene Gentlebeard had... It's just... frustrating.

Season 1 was revolutionary to me, but Season 2 just felt far more average in comparison. I don't know, I was so excited, and rewatching season 1 is still exhilarating, but season 2 just doesn't do as much for me. I really feel like it was the wrong choice to spend as much time as they did with Izzy when they still skipped almost the entirety of his "redemption," condense so many of the other characters to make for time, but still make sure we could fit in some incredible jokes.

One of the only things that didn't change for me, was the humor.

But about half of my favorite things just didn't exist these last 8 episodes, so I need to go drown myself in some fanfics.

[thegoldheartlocketandkey-blog]

It’s been made pretty clear by the fandom, not just Buddie Shippers, that we aren’t really fans of who Buck and Eddie end up with in the finale.

The biggest issue I have with the pairings is that they weren’t worked up, they kind of just showed up and we have no reason to care about them.

If these women are supposed to be endgame, at least give us ample reason to support the choice.

Natalia: They really screwed up her character because there was so much potential in making her interesting and someone we would like to get to know. She’s a death dula and Buck died. Instead of having her tell Buck that it’s so “cool” that he died they could of had her play an active role in having him process his death. I mean they still have the opportunity to do that but after they gave us a cringe date, a recycled story line, but with less depth, they gave us too many reasons to dislike her as a character for me to even see that play out.

They made the same mistake they made with Lucy. Instead of having Natalia be a friend to Buck they force her to be a love interest which adds nothing new to bucks character.

But imagine Buck’s character development if Natalia was a friend. He would have gone from Buck 1.0 ( The guy who only does hook ups), to Buck 2.0 (the guy who just ends up in relationships) to Buck 3.0 (the guy who chooses himself and is able to be friends with a woman).

We can also address the fact that there is a lack of chemistry between Buck and Natalia. The kiss in the finale was awkward and not in a cute endearing way. I will say, I love that she doesn’t look like she could be related to Buck. I’m willing to see their relationship play out during season 7, but I just can’t see it being the end game.

Marisol: Where did she come from. What do you mean this is the girl that has Eddie acting like a middle schooler. She came out of nowhere and we know almost nothing about her, besides the fact that she fixes her brother’s mistakes.

I rewatched Season 6, Episode 5: Home Invasion, where we are first introduced to Marisol and after watching the episode, I believe the fan theory that her brother’s rescue was originally written as a boyfriend being rescued. But after the scenes where already filmed, the writers decided she’d be the love interest so they re-recorded the audio of the scene. I’m serious go back and watch her emergency, there is something off about it.

Marisol to me feels like another Ana. No substance, no reason for me to care about her. They both barely interacted, so their phone call makes less sense the more you think about it.

The same episode where Eddie is told he can’t look for love, he finds what he’s “been looking for”. This feels like Eddie is again only doing what he thinks he is supposed to do. Instead of processing his feelings of loneliness, he’s doing what he thinks the world expects him to do and date someone. He married Shannon because he felt like he had to. He stayed with Ana because he thought it was best for Christopher. And he’s settling for Marisol because he doesn’t want to be alone. None of those reasons are good reasons to pursue someone for a serious relationship.

It’s one thing to have Eddie date because he wants to be outside his comfort zone, meet people, and have fun. It’s a completely other thing to have him date because he feels like he needs to.

The only way to make Marisol a good character is by having her be a person that helps Eddie figure that out. She helps him realize that it’s not just about the end game, but his ability to just enjoy her company and not so worried about what the end result. She can just be someone he dates because she was fun to date. A relationship that shows him that you can have someone be an important part of your journey, but not your end game. Like a summer fling.

Given the fact that the actress who plays Marisol recently reposted a transphobic meme and couldn’t even attempt a sincere apology, I hope we don’t get to see her at all in season 7. She can be explained away by Eddie mentioning her once and just saying it felt promising but she just wasn’t the one. I have no interest in see their relationship play out.

Buddie: In my opinion, the best match for Buck and Eddie will always be each other. The writers have their relationship set up as the perfect slow burn, friends to lover scenario. And even though they screwed up the finale a bit, they can easily correct their wrongs. Buck and Eddie’s chemistry is undeniable and having them end up together would play into their individual story lines so perfectly.

I need this relationship that has developed organically to flourish in Season 7.

I will continue to manifest Buddie and let me use this moment to state couch theory is not dead. Buck will just need to get rid of another couch.

[eclipsebyler]

Will and Mike’s relationship has everything El and Mike’s relationship lacks.

Meeting El in the woods isn’t fate nor destiny, because it’s just simple dumb luck — Mike doesn’t only think that, he believes it. It’s the truth. 

In Mike’s perspective — they only met by pure chance, by accident. They aren’t meant to be together in the long run. Or maybe they weren’t meant to be for each other at all, because he thinks El just needed someone, not him specifically.

And then you got him declaring a love confession to El by the end of the season, saying a completely different narrative:

Doesn’t sound so convincing, does it? (It looks like El doesn’t believe it herself.)

Ironically, the only flashback we see of Mike and Eleven's "love" throughout the monologue is that exact moment: their meeting in the woods — a scene full of contradictory statements from Mike. 

On one hand, he says they just met out of pure dumb luck. And then he turns around and says his life started that moment. Which is the truth? Well you can scroll back above or rewatch it. Because it's right there.

Mike isn’t alone in these thoughts, however, about their relationship.

El doesn’t see herself with Mike and their relationship to last in the future. It’s implied when she pertained to him as her first boyfriend, meaning she could meet more people: 

She also questioned whether Mike still loves her or not. Even with Mike sending her a bunch of letters and focusing on her when they reunited at the airport and spent the day in Rink-O-Mania — she picks up on his lack of affection.

In El’s perspective — Mike doesn’t love her for who she truly is, that he just sees her for her superpowers. And when she lost it, that’s where their love ends. This letter is explanatory in itself. From, El. Not Love, El.

Mike and Eleven’s relationship throughout the seasons has developed to the both of them thinking the other doesn’t love and need them anymore. To them not seeing their relationship to last in the future. To them doubting their own self worth because of each other. And you expect me to believe a love confession full of contrasting statements would just fix all of that? 

It’s so easy to just let El hear the word I love you from Mike, and Mike hear El say she needs him, and for them to communicate to resolve that. But the show had to go through all these lengths only for it to be resolved by one person: Will.

Mike heard El needs him from Will. El heard Mike loves her because of Will. Will’s love for the both of them is what fixed their problem. 

And interestingly, comparing from the points above - Will and Mike’s relationship has everything Mike and Eleven’s relationship lacks.

Approaching Will in the first day they met, in their kindergarten’s swings, was Mike’s choice. It’s not by chance or fate. He went to him by himself, asked him to be his friend and to him   — meeting Will is the best thing he’s ever done.

Will on the other hand, who’s canonically in love with Mike, sees himself with him not just on a certain period of time - but also in the future. 

Loving Mike and spending time with him is something he would do for the rest of his life. It’s not just a childhood crush that he can get over with so easily. Especially considering they’ve known each other for 10 years and are best friends. He will always need him. And without him, he would feel lost.

And Mike feels the same way. He couldn’t lose, Will. Home isn’t the same without him. 

They both canonically make each other feel like they’re better for the way they are. Will doesn’t feel like a mistake when he’s with Mike and he makes him feel better for being different. And Mike is the heart of the party and he’s not someone who should feel useless because there will always be people who needs him. Will’s painting had made him realize that. 

In good days and in bad days, Will and Mike will always be together.

Them being endgame and canon is going to close both of their arcs beautifully, and it’s not just because they’re a gay ship, but because that’s literally what the show has been building up to. I don’t think the writers put so much effort in their bond only for it to amount to nothing and waste all of it. Remember when they took most of the day filming the van scene? And literally how every scene of them has such beautiful cinematography and dialogue? 

Yeah. We are so getting that Byler endgame (and Milkvan bones) in Season 5.

[starlight-bread-blog]

On Adjustments and Shipping Wars

I know I'm a huge Zutarian, but I would like to correct myself on a statement I've made in the past, it doesn't quite reflect my stance on Kataang.

I've said that the moments where Katara shows interest in Aang could easily be contextualized as just hints. Given that the fact that Kataang was already had that 'Will They Won't They' tension going on. I still stand by this, but especially after rewatching the show, I do think it would be just a tad bit ignorant of me to leave it at that.

There have been moments where Katara show explicit interest in Aang, that couldn't be brushed off as a hint.

(Propably not just here, but I'm struggling to find proper screencaps).

Although, these moments are very few. I think there were 2-4(?) episodes where I couldn't deny an interest on my latest rewatch.

But to me, it was always implied that slight adjustments will have to be made to change something such as an endgame romance.

Apparently it's not implied, it seems to be just me. So I'll elaborate now.

Full disclosure, I didn't watch the show as it aired. I don't naturally think of the production in this alternate Zutara universe. (How the writers would approach to it in real time, when will the decision be made, etc). And I don't really feel obligated to.

The show ended 15 years ago. I just think of the writing. Let's say I want Zukka to be ebdgame for it being the best writing choice. A few things should be obvious. 1) Both Zuko and Sokka would develop canon attraction to each other. 2) Mai and Zuko will not end up together, meaning there will be small changes in Boiling Rock and the finale.

This is an alternate universe. One in which the writing process went differently. A change in an endgame romance, or any change in general, demands an alternate universe.

In this specific alternative, I'm assuming the changes will start at book 3/2. In the case of Zutara, the changes will start at book 2/3.

But I can already hear the problem with this logic. If that was all there is to it, it most ceriantly would a very flawed logic. If we could just change the narrative to justify a writing choice, is it really justified?

To figure that out, there are follow-up questions:

How big are the changes before the point of no return?

Not big. What I'm offering is to tone down 2-4 moments. It does not affect how their relationship is treated, or how they behave.

Do the changes interfere with plots that aren't the one being changed?

No. Whether Katara showed feelings for Aang is completely irrelevant to any other narrative threads.

Will the changes be the only justification for the writing choice in question?

In the eyes of a Kataanger, yes. In the eyes of a Zutarian, no. This is another way to phrase the question at the center of this debate. Which ship is more justified in being canon? I couldn't possibly unpack all the nuances now.

From an already pro-Zutara standing point, suggesting slight changes in a select number of moments is valid.

[heheidks]

mike S1 analysis (kinda)

this isn't a character analysis, its regarding the framing of mike after the events of the upside down.

so i was rewatching S1 for the hundredth time (as one does looking for byler crumbs) and something struck me.

i was on the last few mins of ep8 and i noticed something that was worth telling y'all. or maybe its just that i'm skin deep in delusion lol. also this is LONG.

background : isolated shots of people in a group setting are always used to indicate a deeper connection of that person with the object/person of focus in that particular scene.

thinking about how we got isolated shots of mike like this (when will was found) :

mike was the focus of this shot

then we were shown this as the camera zoomed in on mike (telling us that we're seeing his perspective)

then these infamous shots. the duffers had no reason to highlight mike's eagerness here (other than indicating the fact that mike and will have a very tender relationship diff than the others because we already know that the party love each other very much)

now I know this shot doesn't have mike in it but STILL we are told through that "Mike laughs". they all were jumping with excitement and were laughing so WHY HIGHLIGHT ONLY MIKE?

we see mike again when they've all shared hugs and here if you pay attention his expression says a lot. he is bubbling with pure happiness upon seeing will again.

but the intention of showing mike alone in this shot was to feed to our subconscious that mike's relationship with will is stronger (and different) than dustin and lucas's. this next shot proves my point.

dustin and lucas are blabbering about the events that happened during his disappearance and are shown TOGETHER, thus not having any indication of intimacy that we were shown in the case of mike.

then will coughs and we see mike (isolated in this shot) again with a little bit of concern on his face. (if the boys were to be shown to have equally strong friendships we would've got all three of them together in this shot but NO. we see a concerned mike and THEN we see a shot of dustin and lucas together). but WHERE do we see a group shot?

when el comes up in there convo. isn't that interesting? if mike had genuinely romantically fallen for her (as he said in his monologue) wouldn't it make sense for mike to have isolated shots here? but we don't get even a SINGLE shot of mike alone when el is being talked about. we get all three of them as if they all have the same relationship with el (platonic friendship).

then fast forward to the DnD game

we see will rolling the dice and mike looking at him fondly (pt.1)

EDIT : after reading @dinitride-art 's wonderful lighting analysis i saw another thing worth mentioning here

@dinitride-art mentioned how in s4 will is always shown in different/soft/angelic lighting whenever we're in mike's perspective.

see how in this will is bathing in light and is literally glowing while dustin and lucas are similarly lit (in low lighting).

and i don't need to say anything about this next one honestly

this means we're meant to see mike's perspective of will (soft/angelic/glowing) through the lighting choices all along.

this is when jonathan comes to pick will up and lucas is making fun of dustin. we see mike looking at will fondly(pt.2 coz honestly, this screencap of mike the preceding screencap are EXACTLY the same, as in, mike has the exact same expression on two different occasions (the second one where will isn't even the focus on the convo as opposed to the earlier one))

now one last one

mike is shown bidding will farewell TWICE, once when him and dustin are saying together and the second time here, as if he wants will to explicitly know that HE is saying goodbye.

the duffers are telling us from the beginning that there is a lot more to mike and will's relationship and they've been building it up from the start.

byler endgame.

[ifonlyicouldrun]

Elmax is utterly romantic

I've recently rewatched ST and what striked me so much is how romantic Elmax is portrayed.

Those girls understand each other so well. They have an incredible chemistry and El can feel happy and herself with Max. I would argue that El is the most herself around Max. Max is the first person that taught El to make her own choices and to trust her sense in choosing what she likes. Before befriending Max, El had no idea if she even liked being kissed by Mike. She had no idea what kinds of clothes she wanted to wear and had little awareness about how she was able to express her individuality. After El moves away, things get complicated for Max and her. We see El turning around and look at a red-head girl that looks like Max. We see Max turning around and look at a brunette girl looking like El. They miss each other and wish that they were together again. This is not a platonic trope.

Now, moving on to s4 part 2 and the famous line : 'if you touch her again, i will kill you again'. This is NOT a platonic sentence. This is the 'main character protects and saves her love interest from death' trope.

I'm really wondering why the Duffers made the choice to portray El and Max as romantic. We all absolutely love Lumax and i do think that they will be endgame. And yet, Elmax is not portrayed as platonic. Do the Duffers just want to put super great emphasis on the fact that El needs to be around her female friend to truly be herself? ( she needs to be with her own 'species'). I find it very interesting. Please let me know your thoughts as i'd love to hear what you people think!

[ara-line]

So. The ending of Avatar

When I first watched Avatar in 2020, I always found how Aang defeats Ozai really contrived. He doesn't get to decide whether or not he kills Ozai, or even if he has to give Katara up to achieve the Avatar State. Nope. He gets handed an easy out. The show beats us over the head with the parallels between Zuko and Aang. Unlike Aang, however, Zuko doesn't get handed an easy out from having to make the hard decision of leaving the Fire Nation to join Team Avatar, giving up everything he's known to do the right thing. (That's the closest parallel I can think of, so bear with me).

So why does Aang?

Side note: I wonder if it would have been better for Aang to have wondered if he had it in him to give up his crush on Katara rather than wondering if he should kill Ozai. Aang never had any moral dilemma over whether he had to kill Ozai or not before the invasion. Why did that happen after, though?

At the time, I felt like my intelligence was being insulted. Avatar, up to that point, had consistently shown a lack of fear from touching upon hard subjects like abuse, for example. The show trusted its child audience enough to know that they were capable of understanding tough subjects with nuance. So why chicken out here?

My opinion only solidified after I rewatched the show with my sister and got a look at the OG scripts.

Let's start with The Guru.

Basically, Aang has to make the hard choice of letting his crush on Katara go so he can achieve the Avatar State. Aang makes the choice not to do it. After Aang gets shot down by Azula, he can't achieve the Avatar State. Ok. So far so good.

The way this episode frames this, it's hard not to get the impression that they were going to come back to this plot thread. Especially with the lingering shot of Guru Pathik's sad face as Aang leaves him.

So you would think that in the lead up to Sozin's Comet, Aang would be grappling hard with himself on how else he could achieve the Avatar State. He's not willing to let Katara go. There must be another way. She surely will agree to be with him, even after the non-consensual kiss in The Ember Island Players, right? Right?

But eventually, Aang has to come to that realization that he can't expect Katara to return his romantic feelings just because he wants her to. And this would be during the battle with Ozai when he's in that rock.

Or do the creators have something else in mind? Something that surely wouldn't insult their audience's intelligence and let them have their cake and eat it too? I wonder what that solution could be?

So that's the alternative? Seriously? SERIOUSLY?

Side note: I have been waiting for an excuse to use that gif for a very long time. If there was ever an appropriate occasion.....

And then Katara and Aang get together.

Again,

Given how little build up there was to the lion turtle and the fact that the whole give up Katara to get to the Avatar State even existed, I have to wonder if the creators decided they wanted to have their cake and eat it. If Kataang not being endgame was never considered, why even have the Guru Pathik plot thread to begin with?

But Araline, you say, the point is that Aang decides love is more important than power! As my sister put it, Aang is a simp for Katara and we're supposed to believe that's a good thing.

But I ask you: How does that contribute to the larger narrative? What exactly is the point of Aang doing so? Because I can name a point to Aang giving up Katara for the Avatar State: That he has to make a hard choice to do the right thing, like Zuko, his biggest narrative parallel, did. Zuko had to give up the luxurious lifestyle being a royal offered and the ability to pretend he had a loving relationship with his father in order to help Team Avatar defeat the Fire Nation. He had to make hard choices. Aang did not.

The only reason I can think of for Aang to have gotten this easy way out was for the creators to have their cake and eat it too. Aang gets to have Katara and he defeats Ozai. Great. No chance of Kataang not being canon. In doing so, they ended up insulting their audience's intelligence. Like I said before, Avatar was excellent in approaching tough subject matter in a nuanced way appropriate for their child audience. It was easy for them to approach Katara rejecting Aang in an appropriate way as well.

So that's my two cents here.

[esther-dot]

I sent the show!Jonsa ask! Yeah, I was toying with it because one of the sticking points for me is figuring out why the show did or didn't do Jonsa and why that may or may not happen in the books. That to me is really some of the most damning stuff, and I can't point to Dany's arc in the show or Stannis' etc. (many of the examples you use) as argumentation for what makes sense in the books but have yet to have happened without, too, including Jonsa.

Anon asks are limited by length (and I would not want to waste your time with adding caveat after caveat lol) but I do also have complicated feelings about D&D; on the one hand I think there were serious problems on set and I have a lot of capital F feminist problems with them, but that doesn't belie all the creative work they put into the show (I do think there are Choices they made about how to portray romance without the source material at hand, and even before that honestly, but I already wrote that ask lol).

You're definitely right about the heaping of romantic parallels; one or two of those relationships alone could be written off, but the Sam/Gilly one is very weird, and Kit's acting choices are... very weird lol. Re: Sansa's jealousy, I had read that more as Dark Sansa foreshadowing as opposed to Jonsa jealousy, so I don't know???? When it comes to show!Jonsa I mostly only like the S6 dynamic anyway, so that might be down to some of my bias.

Basically I'm trying to entertain alternative ideas that might explain things as opposed to genuinely arguing for show!Jonsa being an accident, and I was thinking about this as well because it is an issue I've encountered with shipping/romance/fandom in general before. The male-gazey tropey dynamic ends up feeling off, but by virtue of the romance goggles of the author not being applied to another dynamic, it ends up feeling more mutual and less objectified and more interesting lol. A good example off the top of my head, given you've just watched the MCU films, is that I shipped Steve/Natasha (yes...) because the dynamic in Winter Soldier was above and beyond any other M/F pairing in the films. Naturally everybody goes on about ~platonic soulmates~ but I love good guys with sad/evil/redeemed ladies so I can't help it. Not saying it's at all canon though, I think they absolutely stumbled into that one.

I'm glad your nephew enjoyed the MCU films! I remember when I rewatched Endgame with my best friend, her dad came in and we had to keep explaining who the 'blue one and the green one' were. It made the film much better.

Anyway, thank you so much for entertaining my ask, and as always, being such a good sport. 🥰💝

(continuation of this convo)

You have no idea how much I sympathize with the caveat issue. I write answers and then delete entire paragraphs because I have such a tendency to try to clarify everything that it makes things less clear because I bury the point, but then I regret it when the vague blogs start. We all have limited time though, and every answer can't be thousands of rambling words! Sometimes I've literally just said "insert caveat" lmao!

I do also have complicated feelings about D&D; on the one hand I think there were serious problems on set and I have a lot of capital F feminist problems with them

I read this article about Emilia's experience on set for GoT (I have not been able to relocate it, but I did actually read an article with her quotes--it wasn't just a tumblr post), and I felt that she was taken advantage of when it came to the nudity/sex scenes. I actually think she meant for some of the stories to be amusing, but I felt sick reading it. She didn't say it was D&D, but apparently when she wanted to do less nudity going forward, she was told her fans expected it and it became a fight trying to move away from it, and....I just worry about the power dynamics with all these young actresses and what they're told they "need" to do. The fact that even if they ultimately agree to certain things, it still may be a result of coercion or they aren't actually being taken care of/feel safe when doing it...it left a very bad taste in my mouth regarding the behind the scenes stuff. And obviously, we all noticed the changes they made to the story, what they did to Sansa...plenty of things we can take exception to purely on what made it to our screens.

Basically I'm trying to entertain alternative ideas that might explain things as opposed to genuinely arguing for show!Jonsa being an accident

I enjoy doing that too! Groupthink is boring! I don't expect everyone to think the same way/come to the same conclusion, and I've changed my mind on a few things which only happens if we're willing to entertain different ideas instead of shutting people down. I mean, I'm not easily persuaded to a different way of thinking, but I try to be open to it. With the condition that someone interprets Sansa in a way I can live with which excludes most of the fandom/their theories tbh.

I basically work myself to one position and then back to where I started when it comes to show Jonsa. If it was an accident, I don't love it any less, if it wasn't, I'm curious what the hell happened. I didn't get what I wanted there, so it really doesn't matter to me what people conclude. I genuinely thought it was amusing when Kit acted surprised when he was asked about Jonsa because it was his face that was saying "not normal sibling feelings here." Silly man. 😂 And, D&D fucked up enough I don't like to take them too seriously, so I can't say, "this doesn't make sense therefore it was an accident" because, uh, a lot of their choices ultimately made no sense.

it is an issue I've encountered with shipping/romance/fandom in general before. The male-gazey tropey dynamic ends up feeling off, but by virtue of the romance goggles of the author not being applied to another dynamic, it ends up feeling more mutual and less objectified and more interesting lol.

I certainly agree about the general male v female view of romance. I found that a problem when I said that they didn't write a romance for Jonerys, and the guy I was talking to was like, "they had sex tho???" There was just...a massive gap between what we were looking for when talking about the characters/relationships. Although, he did know what I meant when I said "well, they filmed Jon and Sansa like a ruling couple." He immediately understood that. And, considering what they did to the sandsnakes (I'm not saying the line), I do understand the argument that if they meant for there to be a romance, they would have done it in such a way that we would have objected.

I think part of the reason I believed Jonsa was intentional was because I don't ship non canon pairings. My brain isn't one to think, "oh but what about those two" as I wasn't even involved in fandom before, and I generally just took what a story was and reacted to it, rather than re-configuring it. Obvy, having been in the fandom for so long now, that's changed somewhat, but for me, s7 was a total puzzlement, and Jonsa / some variation of poljon was the only way it connected to everything we had established before. In a bizarre twist, we didn't get the story that would make it coherent, but we still got the endpoint: Jon betraying Dany for Sansa. It's still weird to me, all these years later. Now I'm mainly bemused rather than angry though.

[emblazons]

hi marie, its me again <3 the anon with byler doubt haha ... you made such great points! and tysm for such a thorough response.

I am SO CURIOUS how do you think they'll get Mike and Will together? I think that's the aspect that has me doubting the most because it feels so so MESSY and they can very easily mess it all up if they aren't careful.

Explaining Mike's internalized homophobia etc might be something too difficult to unpack in just one season, on top of everything else going on as well with the world literally ending. I also don't know what the point was of having Mike say he loved Eleven if it wasn't true, what do you think they were trying to achieve with that?

Do we truly think she'd be okay with breaking up with Mike? And if the answer is yes, how will that affect Mike and El's dynamic going forward, you think? Will they really not only break up milkvan, but leave elmike underdeveloped in favor of Byler?

I look at the Steve/Nancy/Jonathan love triangle and that has been a mess for seasons now and still no resolution, so I don't know how they'll do it for Mike and Will. I fear they'll go for the "easy route" (aka milkvan endgame) to focus on the supernatural and other characters more. Because if Byler is endgame I feel like they'd need to devote a great chunk of the season to them in order to explain wth is going on with Mike specifically + giving him closure with El.

I suppose something else that gives me doubt is how Mike and Will have been sidelined in these last few seasons to give more screentime/protagonism to other characters and dynamics, so I don't know if I can fully believe the Duffers care THAT much about romantic!Byler if that makes sense.

Hopefully this all doesn't sound overly pessimistic or something, I am genuinely curious about your thoughts in some of these more like looking for reassurance tbh! Especially after reading your response to my first ask <3 TYSM once again!!

hello again!

To be honest, you've got a lot of questions that require separate (and equally detailed) responses, but...let me see if I can briefly explain each, and maybe link to other analyses I've done that might help make sense of why I say.

note: some of these are just my frankest opinions unfiltered, but I do have analytical reasons for all of them. Your questions are also asking things it's taken several rewatches and a year to sort through so...apologies if you just get the simplest version of the idea delineated here haha. also, a cut, because this got really long.

1: How do you think they'll get Mike and Will together? Transparently? I'm not really all that into specifics, because expecting specific things means I'm going to fall into the trap of thinking I'm the one writing it when I'm not and then say The Duffers "lied" or "messed up" because I expected something they never put in there. That said—in terms of plain setup, they will need to address the painting because that was a critical plot point from damn near minute one of S4, and now it's become fully integrated with not only Will's feelings for Mike, but Mike's own sense of El's feelings for him.

Beyond that...I think El will need to be the one to initiate the "complete" breakup, because she's the one who wanted space in the first place, the one who is repeatedly having her romantic partner paralleled to parental and tragic figures, the one refuses to be vulnerable & who built lies into their relationship...and the one whose general arc centers around reclaiming autonomy and choice from the men in her life. I also think Mike will be the one to initiate the romantic aspect, if its not a bit mutual.

2: Mike's internalized homophobia etc might be something too difficult to unpack in just one season - I disagree. We managed to sort through introducing Will's romantic feelings and sense of his queerness in a single season just fine...and Mike has had queer-coding show up throughout every season if you know what you're looking for.

The fact that this boy already has a one way sign into his closet, has repeatedly yelled about "boys only" every season AND shows clear signs of male attraction already has most people (even the supposed 'GA') suspicious of his sexuality, and combined with his devotion to will + the wider context, there are plenty of ways to introduce the idea of him liking boys explicitly that don't require any intense delineation...unless you expect them to say "he's gay" out loud, which they didn't do when Robin came out, and still haven't done for Will either...despite everyone knowing damn well they're gay.

3: I also don't know what the point was of having Mike say he loved Eleven if it wasn't true - I think that most of the breakdowns I've done of parentified!mike make clear that the love he has for her is somewhat genuine...though its being written as misplaced familial love, because he spent so much time believing he needed "a girl" to assuage his insecurities.

While I absolutely lean toward a gay!Mike reading myself, it's still clear even without a label that Mike's love mirrors Hopper's more than it resembles any of the love given by potential romantic partners to other women across the show—and Mike, given that he was being told by Will that El needed him to say he loved her for her to win, did what he thought was necessary to help her.

I do not think his love for her is a lie—I simply think it isn't romantic, and has now been so conflated with something negative in El's mind that it wouldn't matter if he mean't it romantically anyway. That said: narratively, Mike had to say he loved El because unless the fullness of what was expected (an I love you) was accomplished, it would hang over the story and any relationship Byler might have. El needed to hear it...so she could reject it, which she did.

4: Do we truly think she'd be okay with breaking up with Mike? yes. I think El will be absolutely 300000% just fine being broken up with Mike lmao. She has Hopper back now (who she was mourning the loss of, and therefore looking to fill with Mike emotionally), on top of having Max's "there's more to life than stupid boys" at the fore of her mind saving her.

Mike is also paralleled to parental and abusive figures in El's mind, on top of the fact that she has been keeping him at an emotional distance for the entirety of S4. Given that she and Lucas will probably also get closer in the search for Max...I'm quite sure she's not going to take it as hard as people imagine, especially given the fact that we already know she was happiest in S3 when they were broken up.

I also don't have any expectation of ElMike being super close friends (beyond party bonds + civility) either, which...I mean if you are I apologize but. I don't see that happening in canon, so them being developed deeply as friends before the show ends is not important to me as a plot point, and doesn't really have any canonical backing considering their ongoing lack of platonic connection outside of the necessary + lack of common interest. That's even a note thematically in the show...which means its makes sense for them not to be that close by the end of the narrative.

5: Steve/Nancy/Jonathan love triangle and that has been a mess for seasons now and still no resolution, so I don't know how they'll do it for Mike and Will. Truth be told, that love triangle has a resolution—Nancy has chosen Jonathan, and continues to, even though she flirted with Steve when she felt lonely. Nancy's arc has always centered around choosing something different than her parents and has from S1—her brief flirtation with Steve aside, her loyalty to Jonathan hasn't changed, though they are absolutely not a perfect couple.

If anything, the end of S4 set up Jonathan and Steve learning to be friends less so than anything implying Nancy might choose Steve instead—Jonathan is finally in a narrative position to choose something for himself now which frees him up to be honest with Nancy, and even outside of that, Nancy is far more likely to end up with single than she is with Steve—which is the exact opposite of how they've set up Mike to be with Will rather than El over the course of the season.

6: I fear they'll go for the "easy route" (aka milkvan endgame) to focus on the supernatural and other characters more. I don't agree. The supernatual plot has always been well-integrated with the romantic elements in every couple across the board, from Mike's "first love lost" energy happening when El disappeared in S1, Lumax bonding in S2 in a fight with demodogs, Jancy's bonding across S2-3 happening in the lab seeing the gate, while Will was un-possessed, and while they fought the thing monster in the hospital....and Jopper in Russia fighting a demogorgon in S4.

The Duffers have never slacked in setting up their romances in conjunction with the supernatual plots, and there's no reason to think they're gonna start with Byler, especially given Will's mirroring of Vecna/Henry, the way the day his disappeared is the day the UD is frozen, and how he's the one who can sense him...while now having Mike glued to his side.

7: if Byler is endgame I feel like they'd need to devote a great chunk of the season to them in order to explain wth is going on with Mike specifically + giving him closure with El. The 5th season is going to bring all of the characters together again, and they've already said Will is central to that. I've written before about the reason why they had to sideline Will in their plot to make a narrative point, but regardless...like I said before, if you know how to read subtext, Mike being queer won't come as all that much of a surprise.

Note: I've done several (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) analyses on Mike and his arc, which might help.

Beyond that...again, I honestly don't think The Duffers care much to make ElMike besties like fanon seems to think they should be (they haven't done it with any of the other romantic couples they've broken up) so...closure can include civility and acceptance for them the way it did S2 Steve with Jancy, imo. What Mike needs most is to gain the courage to accept himself and realize he doesn't need a girl to assuage his insecurities—and him being casual friends with El the same way he is casually supportive canonically with Max makes more sense than trying to skirt over all the mess of their relationship for the sake of an attached fandom ☠️

—that was a lot to cover, but hopefully that cleared up my position on a lot of your questions? I would also encourage you to take a look at my ST commentary tag & analyses highlights list (soon to be updated again) and even my asks for more context, on top of maybe giving the show a rewatch in its entirety if you can.

Sidebar: I also encourage you to dig into my Duffer Brothers tag and commentary (see bottom of the page), because knowing who made the show is just as helpful as understanding the show itself.

Its really easy to get caught in other people's wants and headcanons for the show if you don't keep going back to it yourself, so—as lovingly as possible, I really do encourage you to just sit and watch it with the "byler knowledge" you have from users like me, your other fave analysts, and maybe some of the "old guard" like @kaypeace21, who was integral in my own development of opinions before I dug in for myself. If you're ever doubting, that's always your best bet.

That said: It's literally impossible to summarize a framework crossing nearly 37 hours of TV in a single ask (or even 20)...which is why I've got almost a year worth of posts about it (and have evolved my depth of understanding dramatically over time).

The same way you can't spark notes your way through a degree without missing a lot of context, even me saying this with evidence won't help a lot if you haven't dug into it yourself—and doubt will repeatedly creep in if you're trusting me over the show itself, even though the show is where I've pulled all this from lmao.

—this got really long, but....I hope it helped. And again, sorry if I seemed short anywhere lmao. This was a lot to cover. Still, as always, thanks for the ask!

[jbuffyangel]

Hello! I finished TVD. I knew about Damon endgame beforehand, but from the moment I started the show and saw Stefan and Elena and their chemistry and connection, I was like: "Wow, I know Delena is endgame, so they must have done something amazing with Delena to top that couple right here." The problem is they didn't and threw Stelena away for nothing. I read your old reviews and they are amazing. Do you still think about them the way you did? Are you still watching occasionally?

Hi Nonnie! Welcome to the pain that is Stelena. I absolutely still think of them and they are one of the true great injustices in my television viewing experience. Especially after I read Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson's interviews when the show ended. I think they would have put Elena and Stefan back together in the end. When I listen to their perspectives on the show I think Stelena was endgame. I know Kevin absolutely wanted that. So it gives me some peace knowing that I wasn't totally off my rocker.

The show was actually moving in that direction in Season 6. Elena forgot all her memories of Damon & that would've played out much longer. She would fall for Stefan again (not unlike the sire bond storyline for Damon). They were all about balance on the love triangle. A supernatural element broke Stefan & Elena up and put Elena & Damon together, so they would've done the same thing to Delena. And then we move towards Elena becoming human, getting her memories back and having to make another choice.

Julie likes to say that they couldn't reunite Stelena or do the final choice because Nina left the show, but honestly it was totally doable in Season 6. They broke Stelena up in like 6 episodes in Season 4. I had whiplash. It would've been easy to sell Elena was in love with Stefan again due to the memory loss. They like to blame it on Nina leaving but honestly I think they just took the easy way out. Delena was more popular. They didn't have to make an endgame decision and if Stelena fans were unhappy then they could just blame it on Nina... which is exactly what they did.

And then they killed my Stefan.

I do occasionally rewatch Season 1 - Season 3. I rewatch 4x01 on repeat and pretend it's endgame. Or I like to pretend Stefan and Elena visions of a happy human life was how it really played out. Stelena had a proposal (which Steroline basically coped which i found SUPER WEIRD) We saw their happy life together. I think Delena fans were really hosed on that end.

I tried to have a podcast of TVD with my friend @lipstickandwifi but it just ended up with me yelling in every episode because I'm so ticked off at the writers.

[louisdotmp3]

finally rewatched infinity war. had some complaints to lodge

a majority of this movie is markus & mcfeely trying and failing to be joss whedon. a good movie cannot be made of little quips and winks at the audience alone, and there's no meat on any of these characters at any point in this film. to me they all read like little chess pieces that are being moved around to get to the real movie of endgame without capitalizing on the ten years of relationships built between them - which sucks! they simply should've leaned harder into this being a thanos movie. they really had something with thanos and gamora, and plenty of people connect to the neo-malthusianism of it all. however wrong and silly it may be it's not an uncommon belief ! they should've used that in the same way they used the just critique at the heart of killmonger's beliefs.

and another thing! i hate the determinism that is baked into infinity war and endgame through strange's pronouncement that they win in just 1 possible future + this leading to his decision to save tony. it's vile and boring on a storytelling level that he's not making a choice based on what he thinks and feels is right, but based on a path he's already seen. this movie would have landed a lot better for me if it had taken the existentialist/absurdist path - if nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do. that would have enhanced the repetition of we don't trade lives. in the face of unbearable odds my love & care for you is what matters.

ah well. at least steve rogers looks the best he ever does and gets these 5 last in character scenes. i love you alive boy.

[symbioticsimplicity]

Just got to season 7 and I have some thoughts on souled!Spike.

So my whole worldview on rewatching this series has been different from when I watched it when I was younger. There's been a lot of things I liked or thought were fine the first go around that I don't see the same at all now.

Spike getting his soul back is one of those. I have incredibly mixed feelings about it.

On the one hand, I fucking love him for looking at himself, deciding that he wanted to be better than he currently was, and making the effort to change. That's a huge thing, especially for someone who supposedly is "evil".

But that's the entire reason I hate it too.

To me, a soul in this context is very much a representation of the idea that people are intrinsically good and therefore worthy of love and respect. That being good is the only way someone could or should truly love you. Its certainly what Spike believes and the narrative backs it up.

Setting aside how reductive that is, I dislike that idea because it ignores choice.

Before Spike got his soul back, whenever he did something good, that was a choice he consciously made. He chose to go against his nature and do things that made him a pariah with his own kind, regularly.

Sure, you could argue that he started that because of the chip, so it wasn't necessarily a choice. But he didn't have to start slaying demons. He didn't have to help Buffy, or get close with her friends and family. Those were all choices, the only thing the chip did was keep him from being able to cause meaningful harm. Everything else was a choice.

I personally think that its far more noble to chose to be kind and helpful when you have no reason to.

Like yeah, he eventually wanted Buffy to love him, but he didn’t start off that way. Falling in love motivates plenty of people, and I think it was pretty telling that he could do that even without a soul.

Idk, it just leaves a bitterness in me that they only genuinely start treating Spike like a person after he goes through such a drastic and painful change. Like that makes him more worthy of their care, like he hadn't already been a friend for years.

I know it was also in part a response to Seeing Red, but I've also got a laundry list of complaints about that too. I think it was OOC as all fuck, it was shitty for the actor, and overall an unnecessary character assassination in a season that was already really full of S/A overtones, I don't get why they'd toss something so horrible at a ship they planned to make endgame other than to get to the soul plot which could have come about literally any other way, especially when even at his worst Spike never showed any sort of proclivity towards that.

It just.... I really don't like the idea that love is something you have to be worthy of. I dont like the idea that you have to change your entire person and suffer for it to be meaningful. I don't like the idea that everything that Spike had done for them up to there was ultimately meaningless because he didn't have a soul to back it up. Especially after all the emotional abuse season 6 puts him through.

I would at least have liked for there to be a scene where he's clearly suffering soul related issues and Buffy just apologies to him. Because she knows he did it for her, she knows how much pain he's in because she's seen Angel going through it, and he's been doing it for longer so fresh must be even worse. Just an apology because someone she cares for is in deep pain because all he wanted was to be "better" for her, because she made him feel that way. I just want it to be shown as the desperate, hopeful, scream for love that it was rather than an obligatory requirement of earning that love.

[bestworstcase]

Can I just say that Salem's origin story is just by far my favorite episode of rwby and nothing has yet surpassed it? (maybe the entirety of v9) but other than that it's my favorite to rewatch and my initial reaction to watching it has yet to be beat. Could I maybe get your inklings on that episode and if it also rewired your brain chemistry ?

some inklings

bless you, you must be new here, this house is on a 24/7 never shuts up about salem lockdown; even when i do not explicitly connect the dots she exists between the lines of everything i post about rwby. because the lost fable cold-clocked me yes. every time i rewatch the episode it takes me 3-4 hours to get through because i have to pause every minute or so to talk and scream. i am only slightly less unhinged about her half of so that’s how it is. half the reason i enjoyed V9 so much is it delivered on what i expected from the narrative on the basis of the lost fable to an even more pronounced degree than i anticipated.

anyway the TL;DR of my take on the lost fable is:

- salem was right

- salem did nothing wrong

- salem still is right (and her goal is to end the brothers’ power over remnant)

- ozma’s cocktail of apocalyptic terror and religious zealotry has led him to an idea of who salem is and what she wants that is wildly, hysterically off base, and the narrative conflict is in essence about excavating salem from the narrative he has imposed on her (and the inevitable subsequent truce made possible by the heroes realizing that She Is Right)

- salem fully (correctly) believes that the only possible outcome of playing the game by light’s rules is humanity decimated, remnant destroyed, and eternal suffering for herself; everything she does is about preventing ozma from fulfilling his task, and defeating the gods once and for all in the long term.

- the god of light is the final boss. if dark still exists now as he did then (<- i am doubtful on this point) the endgame conflict is him and humanity vs his brother. otherwise, the endgame conflict is about getting light to Let Go.

- the lost fable is not The Truth, it is very specifically ozpin’s side of the story and relayed to the kids with his misunderstandings and biases intact, because just like ambrosius, jinn gives you exactly what you ask for.

- ozlem endgame REAL

- salem jumping into the pool of grimm caused the resurrection of humanity, whether directly or indirectly

- (no longer vacillating on this one after V9) no purification no purgation she is having her villain -> hero arc as a grimm. cinder too.

- the god of light is a chthonic deity, the god of darkness is a god of nature, and it is actually hilarious how explicitly V9 vindicated me on this point. every post i have ever made about the brothers is 100% correct

- salem is the god of choice, ozma the god of knowledge, thank you for coming to my ted talk

- grimm are people

- this is probably not a deliberate allusion but salem is job. also read edward greenstein’s translation of job it fucks

- when salem glowingly praises humanity’s courage passion resourcefulness ingenuity and capacity for hope in her V1/3 monologues she really means it

[gayofthefae]

Keeping with the theme of general audience perspective:

I was kind of leaving the fandom until my friend reminded me season 4 was coming out and I had nothing else to do, then I got on tumblr around the roller rink fight bc I wanted somebody to tell me why Mike was being weird (and mostly wanted somebody to tell me that trusting this show enough for deep dive analysis was not a waste of time).

Really, for me as a general audience member what would have happened is I was getting a bit tired of Mlvn. I still thought they were sweet, but was worried they would end up at repetitive filler relationship conflict thereby normalizing unhealthy behaviour because it had no purpose. So...I would have been very happy to see Will introduced as a “new love interest” to Mike in season 4. Would have rooted for him near immediately. It would have made me want to rewatch - the Duffers’ goal, I’m sure. 

I think that was always the point. The reason we’re called delusional is because of that rewatch goal that we can see. We are of analytical minds and like to theorize. These things were planted for people like us to see and excitedly predict. But for the most part, no one was supposed to know. It’s a retrospective reveal. ‘It was there the whole time, like a magic trick, having us look the other way, while something else was being set up right under our noses”.

It is not meant to me watched as a childhood best friends to lovers love story. It is meant to be rewatched as a childhood best friends to lovers love story.

This is also the time of storytelling that leaves emphasis on the individual characters and thereby their trauma representation, which I love. Sitcoms often have obvious love stories set up from the get go, but dramas often have a cast of characters who get taken apart and put together like puzzle pieces. We absolutely see this in the different friendship dynamics every season. It preps us for it romantically as well, just like with Bob and Joyce - whom nobody hated despite Jopper being the obvious choice. You’re just along for the ride. 

And I am very happy that as I learn more about the film and television industry, I learn more about how planned out these dramas are. Because it always feels like they aren’t because of how unstrunctured and unpredictably random the pairings etc can seem. But that’s because the beauty in it is that it isn’t focused on a relationship. And that’s what frees the characters of codependency and expectancy in their relationships. But dramas have this beautiful thing where they treat each character is individual from their relationship by having endgame not be the only focus, but that that is only the true endgame for the people they still need to become. So naturally, we won’t see it start to blossom until they start to become those people.

Byler becoming more visible is a sign that the characters have reached a point of growth where they are ready for it. It was hypothetically compatible and narratively made sense for a prediction before, but they weren’t ready for it. And had they not changed in this direction, it would not have necessarily been best. But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s been under the surface this whole time.

Early Bylers didn’t so much see it early as they did predict its future development. Because they weren’t there yet. But the signs were there that they would be. They were just hidden, as they were intended to be, to be noticed on a rewatch. The general audience intention just seemed to mean a rewatch of the show in its entirety after the reveal, not the second time you watch season 2 by itself XD. But it’s planted for the subliminal messaging and the theorizers anyways, out of a respect for their audience members.

Overall, I am very happy to say in recap that this show is not about Byler, but that is the best outcome for these characters, but only as the people they have become, whom they only could have become through their previous experiences and relationships. Not narratively, but realistically, any planted feelings would have faded or not been reciprocated and been gotten over had they developed in different directions. Which is exactly why narratively, it was natural for those who noticed the planted feelings to predict not that they would be endgame, but that they would become the people who that is best for.

[gins-potter]

Are you all caught up on the OC finales? What did you think?

I caught up today! I thought they were fine to really good!!

Med was really solid. Surprising no one I'm absolutely heartbroken that Will is leaving but I'm glad he went out in typical Will fashion, had a really nice scene with Sharon at the end, and we got Manstead endgame. Liliana and Dr Charles are back together! They're so flipping cute, I love that for them. Dasher are doing Dasher things, I had to LOL when Hannah was like HARD NO about dating Archer and he was so offended. I think Med's gonna return to somewhat normal next season, probs the first half will be dealing with whoever buys the hospital and convincing them to turn it not-for-profit again. The only question marks for me are whether Maggie and Dr Song stay. I think if they continue to do O.R 2.0 things, Dr Song will, and I think they've left it a bit open for Maggie depending on Marlynne's health and what she decides. I was a little surprised they didn't address it more in the finale about the possibility of her leaving since the episode before made it feel like much more of a sure thing. A solid episode!

Fire was... kinda meh if I'm being honest. Like it's not unusual for me to multi-task while I'm watching tv, but I still pay attention to what's happening with the plot, but I was dicking around on my phone while watching Fire and kept realising that I was fully not paying attention to what was going on and kept having to go back and rewatch. Like, it just felt like lots of talking ha ha. I think where we go from here is super dependent on whether Taylor comes back next season or not. Feels like they're setting up Carver and Violet, which I'm not against, but haven't fully let go of Carver in his feels over Stella either, so if T.K doesn't come back and Stellaride break up (BIG IF NO ONE THROW TOMATOES) they might continue to pursue that as well. I'm more and more on the Stella/Carver train (NO ONE HATE ME) so I'm super fine with those angsty looks he's sending her lmao. Super here for the little friendship between Kylie and Ritter and very keen for Kylie to become the new candidate (that has to be where this is going). Sylvie's adopting the baby, yay for her I guess, I mean, like I said in another ask, I'm pretty sure I know this is heading for a Kara exit, which I'm not opposed to, so I'm just very.... okay? about this storyline. It feels rushed, but it's fine, and I get a Brettsey endgame (probably) so fine. And Mouch... maybe I'm stupidly optimistic but I don't think he's dying. I think Christian is leaving the show, but I don't think Mouch is dying. Idek why tbh. It's a bit anticlimatic if he does die tbh. Like he didn't even get shot, it was a random piece of shrapnel. Idk, I think he'll probs survive and then retire. Maybe I don't think they'll kill him because it would mean that PD also has to change Trudy's characterisation over on that show. Like imagine her husband dies and they never even mention it on PD 💀💀💀

PD was the best episode imo. The pacing and writing was great, even though I'd seen bits and pieces of it already online I still felt drawn in by it and I really felt the tension. I felt like Adam, Kim, and Kevin all got to shine. Hailey and Voight not so much, sad for Hailey, get fucked Voight. Absolute snaps for Kevin getting to shoot that racist mother fucker, and I know he's just a kid but lmao fuck Callum. Fuck his mum too and I hope she goes down for some of this shit. One of my only question marks is why Torres wasn't in the ep? I can't tell if it's a weird writing choice to keep leaving him out of episodes or if the actor has some sort of other commitment keeping him from being in every episode, but I feel like they either need to commit to his character being part of the team, or drop him and bring someone who will be around all the time. Burzek slayed as always, inject that moment of Kim on the phone and absolutely sprinting to get to Adam into his veins. Kim in the ambulance, and at the hospital, "Are you his partner", "You're with Adam" "I'm with Adam" yeah girl you tell that bitch. You ARE with Adam. I mean, as with every other Burzek shipper I'm annoyed that they clearly filmed a Burzek scene at the hospital and then cut it. I hope they release it as a deleted scene at some point bc I need it. I've seen the theory that they cut it because it shows Adam's alright and Paddy might leave the show.... I mean.... maybe? I doubt it. It's more likely they cut it bc the show has a hard on for Hank Voight and wanted to end on him. I think it would have been a better ending to end with Burzek because it would have been a really full circle, cyclical ending from where they started the season, and the episode, but, what can you do? I'm sure someone will write the fic. Still, despite all that, a really great episode and end to this arc.

Sorry, this got long but yeah, those are my thoughts. Med 6/10, Fire 4/10, PD 8/10.