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madwheelerz · 2 years

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The idea of twinners, mirroring major life events, and the concept that what danger befalls one befalls the other

I read @stranger-chichka’s post mentioning parallels, and it got me thinking of the characters that we’ve seen most heavily paralleled with one another; Will and El, as well as Mike and Max. I recall reading a brilliant post by @gayofthefae regarding the book “The Talisman” and so I went back to check on the information and now I’m consumed with this idea that some characters are existing in space with their parallels or something like a twinner.

I believe that the “The Talisman” is the only book that we actually have a passage be read out loud to us. So, I was wondering if it’s influence on the plot might be larger than what we might initially assume. We know Stranger Things loves its parallels and I believe that part of this might lend itself to characters that match a little too closely.

These “twinners” in this scenario would be existing in the same space though. One of the big things that caught my attention when reading the plot of “The Talisman” was the aspect of mirroring major life events. Will and El do this constantly. We see Mike and Max do this as well, so it took me off guard. Will and El are constantly in the midst of the danger caused by Vecna and the Upside-Down and they are extremely paralleled characters.

El is even mistaken for Will on multiple occasions. One thing that I immediately took note of was the way that the book ended. The main character throughout this entire journey only had one goal in mind; to save his ailing mother. He does succeed and in doing so while his mother heals so does her twinner. Helping one, helps the other.

This is basically Will and El. By looking for Will, the boys find El. By helping El, she helps them find Will. Helping one lead to them helping the other. It’s interesting that we also see so many similarities between Will and El along with how the world treats them. Vecna wanting to kill all others except for them, both of them being used by the lab in some way, their initial father figures being the absolute worst and more.

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They both willing stand between their friends and danger. They both have feel othered. They also seem to understand each other immensely. If there is something big tying them together it wouldn’t be surprising. It would also explain El’s ability to sense despite having never met him as far as we know.

Now Max and Mike. These two are also eerily similar. Since Max’s introduction before Vecna she hadn’t faced a supernatural event that Mike also hadn’t faced even if they were in different locations. In season two, Max’s introductory season, they end up looking for dart in the same place and they burn the tunnels in the same place. In the middle of the season, they are in differing locations, but still facing the same enemy, demodogs.

In season three part of the reason Mike ends up with the girls is because he’s already next to Max when she notices El’s odd behavior. This would the third time the two of them end up grouped together if you count looking for Dart. Season four Mike isn’t there for the fallout so there’s nothing to be said about that.

Now let’s talk bridges with these two characters. In season two episode nine we see Max attack a B*lly whom she’s drugged. In season three episode four we see Mike attacked a Flayed! B*lly that might as well be drugged seeing as the kids did just essentially try to burn the mind flayer out of him. The season in season three with Mike proceeds to mirror not only Max’s season two scene, but both of her interactions with Vecna.

I’m gonna switch gears and talk about this in like levels so my brain can keep things straight.

Level 1- Max vs B*lly. What happened is that she drugged him and then proceeded to threaten him so that he would leave her and her friends alone. She won this fight without any outside assistance. She was able to get his keys and drive everyone to the tunnels. This was important.

Level 2- Mike vs Flayed! B*lly. What happened is that Flayed! B*lly was essentially drugged similar to before, but with heat. We know how heat effects the mind flayer it weakens it and makes whatever host it has uninhabitably so basically drugged. Mike attacks this version of B*lly for the same reason Max did. He was hurting one of Mike’s party members and he did not hesitate. Mike hit him once and tried to do it again only for B*lly to grab it. He starts to back away and prepares for B*lly to attack him. El saves him. So, success with help.

Level 3- Max vs Vecna/Billy. Max in “Dear Billy” meets Vecna disguised as B*lly (similar to the mind flayer possessing B*lly). She immediately backs away. Then we have B*lly morph into Vecna and Max runs away. When she runs, she ends up in Vecna’s mind more on this later. Ultimately Max successfully escapes.

Level 4- Max vs Vecna. Max attempts to race at Vecna to try and buy El time or something similar. Vecna flings her away. Given this and later events this it counts as a failure given that she would die this time.

Finally, the vines or like safety in similarities. Both Mike and Max get grabbed by vines and ultimately escapes this isn’t where the parallels between these scenes end though. It’s the exact same group of people save for one that ultimately saves them. When Mike is grabbed by the vines in the final episode of season two, he’s with Max, Dustin, Lucas, and Steve. When Max is grabbed by the vines in the fourth episode of season four, she’s with Dustin, Lucas, and Steve. Mike is in Cali.

Other than that, these two characters are very similar and they ten to experience the same things. They have similar personalities and overall are pretty interesting to look at in relation to one another.

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Also, if you trust in this theory, you could also say that Mike’s foreshadowing in the Hellfire game applies to Max as well since she does get zeroed out and lost. It might also be foreshadowing Mike’s own future in season five.

I’ll leave you with this.

#byler #twinners theory #parallel characters #willel siblings #platonic madwheeler #releasing a breath of fresh air knowing this is out now

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paris-geller-was-straightwashed · 2 years

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everyone shh be quiet I’m thinking about the scale between henry/001, kali and el and the differences in how they all, as isolated and deeply hurt children, view others and the world around them.

Henry/001

on the far side, we start with henry, who will in time become the murderous vecna. once we finally have the curtain revealed in ep7 through his monologue, it’s clear, that from the beginning his character was set up to be a villain.

in his isolation at feeling ‘different’ and anger towards his family & a world he didn’t understand, he processes this all into a gradual tirade of hurt and violence - beginning by harming woodland creatures and creating horrifying illusions, to in the end, murdering all his family save for his father. he says, how he would end up hating both his mother and father bc after peeking into their minds, he saw what he believed to be things so terrible they were inexcusable (though I still don’t totally understand why; I’m assuming he thought that about his father bc victor killed ppl in the war, but it’s not really clear what he says his mother did, but I’m assuming it’s for fearing what he was capable of and wanting to send him away? not sure). and then finally in the lab, it’s revealed that he was the one who murdered all the other experiments. in his own eyes, henry can justify this, either by claiming it was deserved or how regardless, everyone is just waiting to escape this cruel world around them anyways. becoming so warped from his own feelings of being an outsider and no doubt trauma wrought from brenner, he has turned to harm as a comfort, as a way of control, and something, to put it plainly, he has no issues handing down.

either way he tries to justify it though, it’s clear from the scene, that he is dangerous and craving both destruction and violence - aka, a villain, plain and simple. it starts, with a quiet, sensitive boy, who feels so unattached from the world and people around him, that he found comfort from his isolation in hurting and overtime, it grew completely into evil villainy.

Kali

my love, my life. kali stands as an interesting tie, between both henry and el. kali is no villain, but she too, has found comfort in taking the lives of others - but only the lives of people who’ve actively done harm, namely people involved in the traumatic abuse she had to undergo.

unlike henry, kali has still retained some of her humanity. she’s is kind and gentle towards el, saying how upon finding her she felt she’d become whole again. and before even knowing who el was, stopped axel from possibly harming her, not wanting him to hurt some innocent kid. she’s helped those in her crew, ‘saving them’ according to sunshine. she very much wants to help el, wants her to become stronger, to help save herself from the lingering affects of her trauma (their shared trauma).

but at the same time, she can also be cruel. while I would argue that kali taking the lives of child abusers isn’t exactly the same as henry slaughtering whoever he saw fit (including literal children), the fact still remains, that they both have decided on their own terms who deserved that cruelty. on their own terms, they’ve taken it upon themselves to decide who will live, and who won’t. both see the world as cruel and unjust for their own reasons, and so, hurt from what they’ve experienced, find a new purpose & go about their own ways of ‘fixing’ things. henry wanted to ‘restore order’ to a world he didn’t understand, and kali is also wanting to be restorative in her actions, by getting rid of the people who hurt her & others and therefore make things better.

both of them have felt isolated from their past in the lab; henry tells el that brenner sees her as nothing more ‘than an animal, a monster’, and kali too, in trying to get el to reconcile with her past, says that ‘we will never be anything more then monsters to them (brenner & the lab).’. they also both, use anger as a motive. both of them tell el to call upon a memory that makes her upset, and use it as a way to fuel her power. again, both of them, for perhaps slightly different reasons morally, have taken to anger and vengeance as a way of motivating them.

it’s wild actually, as I go back and look at ep7, how close their ideas and motives are - but still, when it comes down to the actual killing, there is a difference. kali, specifically, hurts those who hurt others - she’s after the lab and the lab alone. she never kills unless for a very specific reason, and where henry thought killing the other experiments was ‘saving’ them, kali would never hurt anyone, let alone kids, who’ve done no harm. it’s clear to me that kali only chooses harm when someone else is being hurt (a lot like how el does, in some ways); an innocent such as she & el were in the lab, being harmed by another. to henry though, he’s dwelled enough in his hurt that everyone he comes across, is already guilty and worthy of punishment.

kali still has a heart. unlike henry who felt his differences and powers made him alone, kali is able to bond her story of struggle with those of her friends, and even when they’re at the gas station, kali tried to deescalate rather then attack the upset owner, saying how ‘they’re on the same side’ - she is able to empathize (like el, though with not as strong of a bleeding heart as el has), where henry cannot. but she too, has started to warp in her bloody crusade for justice. and just as henry made his parents (and later max & ppl in hawkins) see their worst fears, kali makes el see brenner, a person she is still deeply afraid of and cries upon seeing him. again, motives are different (henry to scare and horrify the victim, whereas kali was trying in all the wrong ways to make el confront her past), but still, the actions are the same. she’s definitely not villainous, but her actions can’t be called morally pure either.

(also, tangent - what is up with the different powers? all three of them are different. henry shows he’s capable of both visions and telekinesis, which is interesting that he has both abilities. kali, as far as we’ve been shown, is only capable of visions, and el has only used telekinesis. does this mean they both developed one each, from the DNA brenner extracted from henry? but then I wonder, why is it that all the other experiments showed in el’s flashback only use telekinesis? why is it only kali has the ability for visions, if we’re going by the DNA theory. OR, was kali sought out kind of like how henry was - she held a sensitivity to the supernatural, and then was found and taken by brenner who wanted to use her for them. so many questions, but back to the main topic).

I feel like the difference is, is that kali has a very specific purpose, and a deep sense of justice (hence why the writers named her as they did), and I think that flame she holds to help people cast down and make things right, is what saves her from falling into her cruelty. at the same time, holding onto that anger could prove to be a great downfall for her, if taken too far.

that leaves el, at the opposite end of the scale. el has proven herself, time and time again, to be different then her siblings - in that she is very gentle in nature, and takes on a great deal of empathy for the hurt she encounters, whether caused by her or not.

she defies both her siblings when they ask her to hurt someone else. henry uses it as an out for her, to join his mission and escape the lab and brenner, and kali tells her that killing the lab worker who once tortured them was a way to both heal her trauma and restore justice. but in those moments, el sees only one thing. she sees the brutally murdered kids taken by henry’s hand, and she sees that killing this man will only end in a dead body and two little girls without a father. and in both moments, el says no - and chooses mercy instead. she refuses to be the one to take a parent away from a child, and she, seeing who henry really is, refuses to let him get away with any more killings.

almost every time el has ever used her powers, hurt someone on purpose, was either bc she (& her friends) was/were in danger, or bc she felt like she was being threatened. the only outlier was when she knocked max off her skateboard - and then outside of that, were just accidental outbursts, like tossing lucas (or just for cheeky, harmless fun, like spying on the boys and such). and EVEN in times when she’s done a cruel act, like hitting angela harder then she meant to, she’s shown to be deeply upset by it despite how angela treated her. all through s4, el is wracked with misplaced memories of the lab massacre, deeply upset and haunted by the notion that she might’ve been responsible.

when it comes to hurt, when it comes to cruelty, there are no excuses for el, unlike her two siblings who’ve created their own ways to justify it. el sees someone in pain, or is instructed to inflict pain (such as the cat in the lab), and there’s nothing to her that makes it okay. she stands up to a powerful foe like henry to stop him, or she risks the traumatic punishment of the dark room for refusing to kill the cat, bc with such a sensitive heart, she can’t stand to see any more pain.

el has undergone just as much trauma as both henry and kali experienced while in the lab. she too, has felt isolated and different, has felt like she had no place in the world. she’s been deeply hurt by the world and people around her over and over again, being handed more cruelty then she would ever give. for her siblings, they have used this in their own ways, to become destructive.

but el has refused. every opportunity she’d had to hurt, she’s chosen love. it’s love, after all, that allows her to defeat henry; love of her friends and family, that helps carry her through all her battles. she’s had such a cruel start, and yet she, is so soft.

Overall,

I think both the similarities and differences between all three of them and how they’ve each come to see the world, are really fascinating. they’re all interesting character studies, all different outcomes for how they each moulded themselves after experiencing very similar, if not the same, trauma. henry took his pain and isolation, his hurt at feeling like an outsider and anger towards others, and used it to hurt people under a guise that he was ridding the world of wrongs. kali took hers and tried to make it righteous, tried to make sense of her trauma by making those guilty pay for it, and while uses it to help save others from possible pain, is still leading a murky path. and el instead, holds onto her pain, and refuses to weaponize it, or let anyone else get hurt.

but with each character’s outcomes, I feel like there is a tying piece that connects to one of the biggest threads in the show - and that’s about the love for each other. it’s the love of el’s mom that helps her stop henry, it’s the love of her friends that she uses to guide her. it’s the love from her friends that saves max from vecna, the love from joyce (and jonathan) that saves will from both monsters that try to take him. el chooses love at every critical turn, never harm. kali has taken a dubious path, but it’s clear that she loves her sister, and that she cares about her and her friends - a driving force, even in her angry vengeance, that wills her to stop anyone from hurting them or others again. but with henry, that’s not a factor. his motives aren’t powered by care for others, despite trying to say that he was doing a righteous service - rather, he has rendered everyone at fault, calling humanity a ‘disease’ of which he wants to extinguish bc they did not understand him and he didn’t understand any of them. different from kali’s and not at all like el’s, he carries no compassion in his drive. he’s consumed entirely by vengeance and violence, and, in the end, it’s what costs him his (mortal) death.

there’s always more to dissect, but this has gone way past lengthy. I just wanted to touch on the fascinating dichotomy, of giving three characters very similar history but having it play out in various different directions, based on who those characters are at their core. anyone else is welcome to add-on and discuss!

#stranger things #stranger things season 4 #stranger things spoilers #stranger things s4 #eleven stranger things #el hopper #kali prasad #eight stranger things #henry creel #vecna stranger things #this also isn't even to mention the similarities between henry and will which loads of ppl have been pointing out #of be a 'sensitive and lonely kid'#again a lot of layover but I feel like for will it's the same case as el #he's got too big of a heart to ever turn out like that

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ghostwise · 3 years

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not a homecoming, but something like it

There are two men arguing in front of her home.

This is a nuisance, but not an uncommon one. Her neighbors are colorful and loud, so she’s used to people being in her way. Gente estorbosa. Normally she would’ve simply pushed past them to get to her gate. However, these are no neighbors of hers, and that makes her hesitate.

The two men are not speaking Antivan, but she knows enough languages to follow along, even with the street’s lively background chatter.

“This is a mistake,” one of them says.

“At least it’ll be in character, then,” the other replies.

Adelmar shifts the grocery basket on her hip, waiting. They’ll move on their own soon enough, she suspects. Or perhaps they’ll notice her and confront her for eavesdropping. Oh! Then they’d get an earful.

“I am being serious. Why would she remember me, hm?”

“You remember her.”

“That doesn’t mean anything—”

“I think it means more than you expected it to. I think that’s why you’re trying to back out at the last minute.”

Adelmar is not sure what the men are arguing about. She’d assumed their relationship to be contentious but now the shorter of the two steps close to his companion, looping an arm around his waist in an unmistakably supportive and affectionate gesture.

“If you really think this is a mistake, then let’s go, vhenan.”

Neither of them moves.

Adelmar clears her throat. Fascinating as the conversation is, she doesn’t have all day. She has dinner to get started, and her basket is getting heavy.

They turn to look at her, and she drops everything.

Tinned coffee and spices, parcels of lamb, and oranges, which roll out across the cobbled street.

“¿Zevran?” Adelmar’s voice is uncertain. She never expected to speak that name again, but those eyes and that hair…

“Zevran… Chivito. No puedo creerlo.”

The man Zevran is with has begun to pick up her groceries, although somewhat haphazardly, dropping one orange for every three he grabs. “You see?” he calls out, darting after a can and swiping it before it gets rolled over by a cart. “I knew she’d recognize you!”

And Zevran, the little boy she’d read stories to in the brothel, the same brown eyes, just taller, smiles at her like she’s singing a song and he’s in her lap again.

The scene, with all its noise and shouting in the background, and fruit rolling this way and that, feels briefly absurd. Is she imagining this? She has to make sure. She needs to just look at him. Stepping across a gap of decades (but it’s really only a few feet), she reaches for Zevran. She touches his face. Notices his tattoo. Frowns.

“Ay,” she murmurs, removing her hand. It is him.

He bursts out laughing.

“Qué gusto me da verte.”

Close by and with the biggest smile, Hamal Mahariel watches, holding the basket with all the groceries Adelmar has dropped.

It had come up in conversation, casually, a few days earlier. They had been investigating a mark, and Zevran, in the midst of planning and preparing, mentioned, “You know, I grew up near here.”

Hamal blinked. Sometimes he suspected that growing up meant something different for Zevran than it did for him. Did he mean he’d become a Crow here, just thirteen when he’d first killed?

When asked to clarify Zevran gestured at the map before them. He pointed a finger just a few centimeters from their present location.

“Rialto. I lived there before the Crows… acquired me.”

“Mm,” Hamal said, mulling it over. It was always a careful balance on his part to gauge whether it was alright to press for information, or better to let Zevran share at his own pace. But he was curious. Zevran seldom spoke of his early years.

“I’d love to see it, if you’re up to visiting,” he said finally.

“Perhaps. If we have time.” Zevran smiled warmly at him. “But really, amor, the place means very little to me. I have no childhood home, unless you count the brothel my mother worked at. I had no family. No friends. None that would remember me, anyway.”

Then why bring it up? Hamal wondered.

“Consider it a sentimental request from your husband,” he said.

Zevran rolled up the map quietly. He planted a quick kiss on Hamal’s cheek.

“That, I can do.”

Adelmar’s home is small and welcoming, with a tiny patio separating the living area from the kitchen and washroom. Her husband is away for a few days. Her children, grown and gone. She has all the time in the world. She wants to hear everything.

“How did you find me?” she asks, looking at Zevran with wonder. A part of her still can’t believe he’s here.

“We happened to be in Rialto. I… asked around.”

“You went to El milagro,” Adelmar guesses.

Zevran gestures noncommittally.

“I haven’t been there for years and years. It feels like a lifetime ago. I’m surprised anyone remembered, or knew enough to send you my way,” she said. “I’m surprised you looked for me at all…”

Adelmar takes a deep breath. She’s stirring up memories—old thoughts and feelings, few of them pleasant, otherwise she would find it nostalgic.

Quickly, she catches herself and shakes off the gloom. She sets a hand on Zevran’s shoulder.

“But I’m glad you did. I really am so happy to see you. Look at how you’ve grown.”

“I wasn’t sure if I should come,” Zevran admits. “My husband convinced me. He’s nosy. It is why I keep him around.”

He chances a glance at Hamal, who is staying well out of the way. His Antivan still being rather rusty, he’s left Zevran and Adelmar to their conversation, and is currently helping chop vegetables for a stew.

“Well I’m glad for that,” Adelmar says, looking between the two men and beaming. Little Zevran—at her kitchen table and married no less!

“I never forgot you, Zevran,” she tells him. “If I had moved a little faster, saved a little more money, I would have left and brought you with me. You were so smart. You were always moving, running around, playing. In the end, it seems we both escaped to better circumstances,” she says finally, closing her eyes and sighing.

“Thank the Maker,” Zevran adds solemnly. Adelmar smiles, pleased at his manners.

“I’m so glad you’re doing well. So tell me,” she scoots closer and looks at him eagerly, “What sort of life did you have, after you were adopted?”

“Adopted?”

By the kitchen counter, Hamal catches the subtle edge in Zevran’s tone. He pauses, holding the knife in his hand as a lull falls over the kitchen table, but he doesn’t know enough Antivan to guess what’s happened.

What’s happened is this: Zevran and Adelmar came from the same place, and know enough about that life to instantly understand that a lie has been told.

“Oh,” Adelmar breathes after a moment. “You… you weren’t adopted.”

Zevran lets out a laugh. It’s his ‘stalling’ laugh, and now Hamal is looking over, arms crossed, searching his face for clues.

“I was not adopted,” he says. “But do not trouble yourself over that.” Then, smoothly redirecting, he gets up and locks eyes with Hamal.

“Shall I boil some water?” he asks, switching out of Antivan.

The tense moment is gone. Hamal nods, glancing at Adelmar. “I’ll start the fire.”

There’s a reason why the kitchen is kept apart from the rest of the house. While the soup simmers, they bring their visit to the adjacent patio, where a cool breeze offers relief. Tree branches from the outside—from a tamarind tree growing in the street—have stretched out over the wall and blessed Adelmar’s patio with shade and fruit.

Hamal makes a face when he tastes it. Glancing at Zevran, he holds his gaze and waits just long enough to make it clear he’s less than partial to the flavor.

“So delicious, vhenan.”

Zevran laughs. “Wait until you try it in drink form.”

“If you make it, I am sure I will enjoy it.”

Adelmar, knowing she’s touched upon a shared hurt between her and Zevran, makes up for it by talking about anything else. She is particularly interested in their wedding, and is scandalized when she hears they’ve only been married a few weeks.

“I missed it!” she exclaims.

“It was quite sudden, my friend,” Zevran says, as if there’d been a chance of her attending. “Spontaneous. Just the two of us. Very romantic.”

Hamal taps the handcrafted silver band around his ring finger. He gestures at Zevran. “Él lo hizo,” he says in the most accented Antivan ever. “Muy, muy… bello.”

Dinner is delicious. Despite some language barriers, their conversation is easy and effortless. It’s also, intentionally, vague. Adelmar learns that they met in Ferelden, that they’re on an important journey, and that the journey is a dangerous one.

Most importantly, she also learns that Zevran’s heart has survived its rocky passage into adulthood, whole, if not unscathed. The core of the little boy she’d known in the brothel is there, even if he himself does not realize it. It brings her immense comfort.

The visit ends all too quickly, and though she asks them to stay the night, she isn’t surprised when they decline.

“Thank you for your hospitality,” Hamal tells Zevran, who relays the message to Adelmar.

“You and Hamal are welcome, always,” Adelmar assures him. “Will you visit again?”

“If it is less dangerous,” Zevran says. “We were not followed here. But repeated visits might be difficult. Risky.”

“I understand. Not right away, then. When you can. We still have so much to talk about.”

“I would like that,” Zevran agrees.

They share one last hug, the three of them, and Adelmar watches them slip into the night.

“I need to brush up on my Antivan,” Hamal says. “But I enjoyed meeting her.”

“She liked you a lot,” Zevran says, smiling. Hamal laughs.

“You talked about me?”

“Of course. I had to show you off.” He winks at him. Then, with a soft intake of breath, Zevran looks away with his brow furrowed, the lines of his tattoo tense.

“… They told her I’d been adopted. All these years, and she had no idea. I’m almost sorry she had to find out otherwise.”

They’ve traveled for hours, leaving the city behind. Bright points of light shine overhead. The night sky of Antiva smells of jasmine and the distant sea.

“That’s awful,” Hamal says, looking at him.

“What a farce,” Zevran says bitterly. “Just like everything the Crows do. Operating in the open, but hidden from view. Buying children and lives while people look the other way.” Earnestly, his brown eyes black in the dark, he shakes his head. “It must end. It must.”

Hamal touches the lines of his tattoo, calloused fingers grounding him.

“Ma nuvenin, Zevran Arainai. It will.”

A short piece to introduce my OC, Adelmar Provencio. If you ever read my WIP For Suffering is Such a Part, you’ve met her through flashbacks already. While I love the idea of Zevran taking down the Crows alone, please consider, Zevran taking down the Crows with the support of a community, strengthened by the bonds he’s made in his life...

Adelmar plays a further role in the story, so hopefully I can write more for her!

#dragon age #zevran arainai #mahariel #zevran x warden #rinnywrites #oc: hamal mahariel #oc: adelmar provencio

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stxleslyds · 3 years

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MY TOUGHTS ON PART FOUR OF RED HOOD BY CHIP ZDARSKY :)

THIS ONE IS A MESS.

But first a little rant about my feelings about Red Hood in general at the moment.

I am not going to lie, it took me a long time to read this comic, I am kind of tired of reading this book, I feel like I lower my expectations each issue that passes by and I still get disappointed at the result.

Maybe I just love a Jason Todd that is no more and I have to accept the one we have now, but here is the thing, if this is what we get then I just don’t like it, and on rough days I hate it. These are very negative thoughts about one of the two DC characters that I love and I don’t enjoy having them, I don’t want DC to keep giving us this version of Jason or these versions of Jason, each time they change little things that just change the character from the one that he once was even more.

I feel a bit defeated about it and I don’t know, on one side I want to fight and scream so they can finally give Jason the characterization he deserves and for them to give up the bland formula they have going on with him and on the other side I just want them to stop, stop writing Jason Todd/Red Hood and that is so sad, imagine loving a character and wanting the publisher to stop making content with them because what they give is just terrible. I don’t know, this is a rant that I felt like writing before I read the issue (I did skimm it briefly), so don’t take this as part of the review, its just me explaining my feelings right now.

Anyway, I will start the review now, sorry for the rant.

Wonderful, this book is on crack (or should I say Cheerdrops?), the thing with this particular issue is that I had a great laugh, it’s funny but in a good way, it's stupid and it kind of doesn’t make sense, the only way to describe Zdarsky’s writing here is with a phrase that we say here in my country “se pisa el palito”, which means that he lies about something and after some time he reveals the truth himself by mistake or because he got confused, in this case Zdarsky makes Jason say something like “this time I have come prepared” but he is actually not prepared at all and like two pages later (within the same scene) he has Jason call himself an amateur, it's very weird and to me it translates to Zdarsky not liking Jason or just not caring about him at all.

And that sucks and it really bothers me. As I have said before this anthologies book might be called Batman: Urban Legends but the particular story I am reading is a RED HOOD one, I am not here for Batman content, I am here for Jason Todd content.

The fact that we are not getting a Jason-specific story in a Red Hood book is killing me, it would suck if we get, let’s say, a Nightwing book and its all about his relationship with Barbara…That is not a Nightwing book, that’s a Nightwing and (fake) Oracle book.

Anyway, this issue in general is like a connector, the things that happen are all happening because they will be developed in the next issues but what is said here is absolutely absurd so I will be talking about that.

This issue starts with a flashback and Jason from the present (who is currently a popsicle because he fell in Freeze’s trap) having a monologue. The flashback is set when Jason finds out that his birth mother is alive and is being used by the Joker so he (in civilian clothes) and Batman at doing some reckon. What I want to dive into is the monologue because it's interesting but also very dumb so here we go.

“What was I supposed to do? I thought I was an orphan; I carried that sadness and anger everywhere I went and then I found the woman who gave birth to me halfway across the world. I found her…and the Joker. He was blackmailing my mother, forcing her to help him steal medical supplies, which he replaced with a deadly gas, that was being hauled to a village.”

“Batman knew what he had to do. Save people, forever saving people. Batman has always been a master of control, every situation, everyone around him. He’s always known just how to handle everything. Until I came along.”

“How could he be surprised? How could the great Batman not know? I wouldn’t listen to him and he couldn’t hear me. And the fucking cycle continues.”

The first part of the monologue is pretty simple it's basically setting the scene in time and space for the reader and it also gives us a little insight on how Jason was feeling at the time which was quite nice. It sets up the fact that Jason wanted to help his birth mother out of a horrible situation, he wanted to save her from the Joker. (Hear that DC, haters and fanon, Jason was a good Robin and a loving and caring son!!!!!)

In the second paragraph of the monologue I would have assumed that Dick never existed in this universe because the idea of Batman being able to control Robin!Dick or Gotham back in the day by himself is incredibly funny to me but because Dick exists and has been mentioned in this story already I will just take it as Zdarsky wanting to really push the “Jason could never reach the level of good Robin because he was reckless and nothing like Dick” and the “Dick was always completely obedient and Batman’s perfect little soldier” narratives. It sucks man, this is like bad fanon made real and I don’t like it!

During this part we also have a little dialogue between Batman and Jason where the narrative of Jason being so incredibly reckless is explicitly shown once more.

Let me repeat myself, Jason didn’t take on the Joker because he wanted to prove himself to the Bat or to prove that he was as good a Robin as Dick was, Jason did what he did because he wanted to save the last person that he had that he felt was family, he wanted to save the woman who birthed him and that he was hoping he could call a mother. He worried and cared for this woman and then he was betrayed and it ended up ending with him dying at the hands of a mad man that to this day is still alive.

Jason wasn’t reckless for the sake of being reckless, he took the decisions he took because he didn’t feel heard by the man that was supposed to protect him and care for him, a man that had the same feelings of sadness over being an orphan, a man that despite being the greatest detective to ever detective in the multiverse couldn’t understand that Jason felt like the woman that was his birth mother could come first in his list of priorities. Jason was a child and the adult responsible of him at the time bares the fault of his death as much as the mad man that committed the crime.

There, I fucking said it.

Gladly in the third paragraph of the monologue Jason calls out Bruce on his bullshit.

Also, what the hell was Bruce thinking leaving Jason stranded in the middle of the dessert, the man literally takes the only mode of transportation away from him. What the hell.

That’s it for the first glimpse at the past, now we are in the present with Ice!Jason where Zdarsky lies to our faces, he says that Jason is prepared for this situation…I am sorry but I do not believe this.

Anyway, Jason does manage to break the ice but he trips on the iced floor almost as soon as he breaks free and falls in a hole. Are you kidding me? I know this is supposed to be funny but Jason has been written as this incompetent dumbass in this book so much that this is just insulting.

He manages to escape for three or four seconds but he realises once more that the whole thing was a trap because Freeze had actually closed all the exists with ice because he meant to trap the Bat (also maybe Freeze is under the effects of Cheerdrops?), Jason also tries to use his guns even though he had already thought about the fact that they wouldn’t fire because of the cold AND he didn’t pack his explosives, yeah… “I am now prepared”, sure Jan.

The last thing we see in this scene is Freeze getting ready to ice Red Hood once more before we start jumping from past to present scenes as Jason’s monologue continues, he does that a lot in this issue, it’s quite impressive.

We jump into the past and we see Jason going to help his mother in his Robin suit, her betrayal and the Joker being ready to torture and kill a child. From there we go back to the present where Jason manages to ask Oracle for help but not anyone’s he asks for the Batman’s help.

First let’s talk about the monologue that happens across these scenes because it has some interesting takes.

“Stupid amateur, its not going to be okay, not if we keep repeating the same mistakes. He never trusted me, I never trusted him. Neither of us lived up to the idea of ‘Batman and Robin’, the ‘Dynamic Duo’. Because Batman and Robin requires trust, it requires knowing you can’t do it alone.”

Let’s be honest as per the modern take on Batman and Robin (if it includes Bruce as Batman) the dynamic is quite dysfunctional, Batman doesn’t know how to care for a child and children shouldn’t be responsible for an adult’s safety, so the whole thing has been weird for every Robin, its not something that happened only to Jason but here is the thing, in Under the Red Hood (which is canon in this story) when Batman and Red Hood fought side by side Bruce said the following: “…Neither of us has the strength to take him out, it will require skill and teamwork. It happens before I have time to question it, a manoeuvre that comes without thought, executed as practiced and practiced many times in the cave.”

So, him and Jason worked well, they trusted each other and the work they were doing but that is not all, because they are in the middle of a fight the Red Hood doesn’t act recklessly and takes the opportunity attack the Bat when he is vulnerable, he sticks to the coordinated fight because he trusts it will work. Batman’s thoughts confirm that because he continues saying this: “To complete it (the manoeuvre) I’m forced to leave myself unprotected from an attack, an attack from the Red Hood. But the attack never comes, he just takes cover from the blast, like practiced.”

– Batman: Under the Red Hood, chapter 10.

This thing alone, written in 2005 kills the narrative of Bruce’s Batman and Jason’s Robin not working well together.

Secondly, I have to laugh about what it's actually said in the very last panels. I am sorry but it's too funny to me, I know it acts as a parallel to Jason asking for the Bat when he was about to die but this is a man, a grown man that has experience on this job, this situation would have never happened if Jason was written fairly. This is funny because of all the people in the world I would never imagine the Red Hood asking for Batman’s help. Fuck that.

Oracle of course contacts Batman but let me say something really quickly, Barbara and Bruce are both acting like Jason getting in trouble and needing help is an annoyance. What the hell is wrong with these people? Why would Jason work with Oracle or Batman in the first place?

Batman gets in the Batmobile as soon as he can and dares call Jason his son. No thank you sir, I will not be taking that kind of bullshit today. Anyway, the Bat also has a monologue because he can’t be less, here it goes.

“Jason. Dammit, son. I’m on my way, I won’t let you…” (explosions) “You’re alive. In the here, in the now. I know this, like magic…with a curse…You’re alive.”

“I don’t need to be there again, in the past. I’ve learned my lessons, the guilt doesn’t help me, it doesn’t have a hold on me anymore. You’re alive, Jason and I intend to keep it that way.”

To this I have to say the following, the only reason why Bruce is not feeling guilty about what happened to Jason is because Jason forgave Bruce/Batman for not arriving in time in order to save Jason from the explosion back in that warehouse all those years ago. Jason forgave Bruce when the final confrontation happened in UtRH. He did it because he believed that Bruce tried and still didn’t make it.

- Batman: Under the Red Hood, chapter 13.

And something else, Bruce might have been “keeping Jason alive” but he has harmed him. Rebirth RHatO #25 exists, I don’t know if it's canon within this particular story but I can’t not bring it up if this is what this man has to say.

My take on the Batman and Red Hood relationship is that it shouldn’t exist. Red Hood is not a Batman villain but he IS a Batman antagonist. STOP making Batman and Red Hood work together, with how things ended in UtRH Jason would never work with Bruce again. I am sorry but the concept of the Batfamily with Jason as a willing participant is the biggest lie this fandom and Lobdell gave us.

Enough of my takes, let's go back to the issue because it's ending is closer and the funniest panels in this whole ass book are coming!

Batman does Batman shit and as he grapples out of the Batmobile, he manages to get Ice!Jason out of a truck and everything comes to a stop, the bad guys come out of said vehicle and one of them is going in Red Hood's direction with the intention of killing him, Batman of course saves Jason and starts fighting the rest of the baddies.

I will show you funny panel number one.

You really want to make me believe that Bruce can pull that move, shut up!!!! There is no way! That’s some Nightwing level of leg work, stop it, if the Bat pulls that move he will break something or get stuck like that…

Ahh it doesn’t matter because as Batman finishes defeating all the baddies he goes to Jason’s side and here is where funny panel number 2 comes!

STOP IT, WHAT THE HELL IS THISSS? I am losing my mind over this, have you ever seen something and thought “oh this is wrong wrong” like what? This interaction is so wild to me, everything about it makes no sense…Imagine putting Jason Todd in such a vulnerable position that he is, I don’t know, happy or glad that the Bat showed up and that Batman would say that he will always be there for Jason, this shit is hilarious.

But that’s not the end, at this point nothing should shock me (as far as character designs) but this dude shows up…

Who the hell is this guy, and why does he look like that, why are all these new character designs the same and horrible? He reminds me of the weird discount-Joker-looking dude that we had in Rebirth RHatO #52

Anyway, the new dude that will be called Cheer (apparently) and Freeze ice Batman as well and that’s it, our Red Hood related suffering is over up until next month!

This one, this one was wild, I don’t know what else to say about it…I am honestly drained after reading the issue and writing this.

Let me know what you thought about this issue and if you want to read my reviews of the previous parts I will link them here! Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3!

#jason todd #red hood #robin jason todd #batman urban legends #urban legends red hood #red hood outlaw

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newamsterdame · 4 years

Text

a deadly education is tone-deaf at best and racist at worse; not the cure to jkr anyone was hoping for

Harry Potter’s massive cultural impact means that we haven’t seen the last of magic schools set in Britain, and we probably won’t for a long while. In some ways, the fantasy genre’s response to Rowling’s work is tiresome. In others, it’s exciting—because a generation of readers and writers have grown up to bring their own perspective to the limits of Rowling’s work and push it beyond the limits of its author. However, if you’re looking for a transgressive magic academy book that interrogates the limited morality, inclusivity, and perspective of Harry Potter, you should put Naomi Novik’s A Deadly Education back on the shelf and keep looking.

A Deadly Education tells the story of Galadriel “El” Higgins, a half-British half-Indian sorcerer attending a magic school where the consequences of any mistake might mean sudden death. El is a loner by nature and circumstance, but walking alone in the halls of Scholomance might mean being attacked and devoured by one of the school’s monsters. This puts El on a crash course with Orion Lake, the shining hero of her year who takes it upon himself to save the lives of his fellow students, including a less-than-grateful El.

The set up honestly sounds pretty good—a prickly protagonist, a heroic rival-slash-love interest, a deadly setting, and the potential for deep lore in magic and world-building. Unfortunately, not only does Novik fail to deliver on any of the premises’ strengths, she also chooses to weigh her narrative down with reductive, tone-deaf, and downright racist details.

El’s particular class of magic relies on language. El speaks English and Marathi, and picks up Sanskrit, Hindi, Latin and Old English in her study of language-based spells. It’s a little uncomfortable that Novik lumps dead and defunct languages like Latin and Old English together with actively spoken ones like Mandarin, Hindi, and Spanish, but that isn’t where Novik’s faux paus end. El approaches languages like computer programs to be downloaded onto her hard drive. Despite languages being the basis of her magic, she has no personal connections to the ones she’s speaking. She views other students and their languages the same way, identifying groups of students as “the Mandarin speakers”, “the Arabic speakers,” etc. Novik seems clueless about the relationships between the languages she’s building her world’s magic around, putting Sanskrit tombs in Baghdad and declaring that the Scholomance has a library aisle containing all of India’s languages. (About 800 individual languages are spoken in India, fyi.)

This clinical approach to diversity extends from language into character. El doesn’t try to make many friends, and honestly it’s not hard to see her classmates don’t try to befriend her, either. She doesn’t describe her classmates as people—she describes them as assets. And while that could be explained away by the premise that half her classmates won’t make it out of school alive, and El needs allies more than friends to survive, it doesn’t make it any better when El refers to others exclusively by the language knowledge they offer her. A character named Ibrahim has no personality or backstory, but he conveniently pops up when El needs someone who knows Arabic. A character named Kaito is thoughtlessly grouped in with the Mandarin speakers. An Argentine character exclaims in Spanish when she’s excited or relieved. There’s an uncomfortable distinction between the languages that get written out in the text—Spanish, French—and the ones that get narrated away—a character exclaims in Mandarin.

Novik goes out of her way to let us know that the population of Scholomance is diverse. There’s a group of South and West African students (only one of whom is named, and none of whom are important). There’s a “civilized” enclave of magicians in Toronto who value family and human life more than other groups. One character might graduate and go to Bangkok, but he’s looking to secure himself a place in Shanghai instead. Naomi Novik really knows the names of cities on at least four continents, and she’s not about to let you forget it!

But aside from names, languages, and cities, Novik has given no thought to what diversity means, or who these characters are if they come from diverse backgrounds. El calls on “Mandarin-speaker,” Yi Liu, exclusively by the name Liu. Is Liu meant to be this character’s first name? Or her surname? El doesn’t call anyone else by surname, but Liu is a Chinese surname, one of the most common in the world. El’s father is a Marathi-speaker from Mumbai, but El has no personal connection to Indian culture. Her father’s family prophesied that El would be a destroyer, and other than that rejection El has nothing to say about India or half of her culture. She refers to her Indian relatives in clinical English descriptors (my father’s mother, my great-grandmother, my uncles), even though she is purportedly fluent in Marathi and should know words like Panaji, Aaji and Kaka. El says that her Indian family is from an old Hindu enclave, and yet they have djinn as servants. (Djinn aren’t a typical part of Hindu cosmology, though they are a significant part of Islamic texts.)

Making El biracial seems like an afterthought, not something that affects her character in any way. It just creates some truly unfortunate optics, like when El goes on a three-paragraph description of how unnecessary she finds showers and how dirty she is at any given time. El’s father died making sure her pregnant mother (and therefore, El herself) would live, and yet El barely thinks about him. His name is mentioned once in the entire book. El complains that (presumably white) British people “assume she speaks Hindi” or call her the color of weak tea. But her Indian heritage is a veneer placed on top of a character who is otherwise just a default white protagonist.

All this adds up to a character (and a world), that reads as nothing so much as colonial. El feasts on the languages of others for her own edification, power, and survival, but she doesn’t see her classmates as people, and she doesn’t see language as a living thing related to real cultures. And I’m given to believe that Naomi Novik holds the same views, what with how she throws around the word “mana” as part of her world-building without considering its roots and real-life meaning to Polynesian and Melanesian peoples.

However, nothing makes the cultural tone-deafness of this book more evident than this passage:

Dreadlocks are unfortunately not a great idea thanks to lockleeches, which you can probably imagine, but in case you need help, the adult spindly thing comes quietly down at night and pokes an ovipositor into any big clumps of hair, lays an egg inside, and creeps away. A little while later the leech hatches inside its comfy nest, attaches itself to your scalp almost unnoticeably, and starts very gently sucking up your blood and mana while infiltrating further. If you don’t get it out within a week or two, it usually manages to work its way inside the skull, and you’ve got a window of a few days after that before you stop being able to move. On the bright side, something else usually finishes you off quickly at that point.

El’s pithy commentary about imminent death aside, I have a hard time reading anything but casual and thoughtless racism from this passage. The nefarious and deliberate myth of dreadlocks being unhygienic (and by extension, Black people being endemically dirty) is pervasive to this day. And Naomi Novik decides to include this passage in a book that has no major Black characters, in which dreadlocks never even come up in any meaningful way, just to remind us that in this magic world of hers, dreadlocks are dirty! Monster insects nest in them! The consequences are death! There was no good reason to include this passage, and all it does is draw on inaccurate and racist myths and perpetuate them into a world where anti-Black racism is never contended with. Although, I suppose, why would it? El never has need of any languages from the West or South Africans.

A Deadly Education bills itself as a subversive, even feminist, response to Harry Potter. But just like J. K. Rowling, Naomi Novik is a white author who uses other cultures thoughtlessly to build her own magic world. Other cultures and peoples exist, but only to serve the aims and needs of white (or mostly white-coded) characters. Novik has no empathy, no care and apparently no ability to Google anything about the cultures she wants to draw on. And the result isn’t just insulting—it’s boring. The world-building in this book is as dry and dusty as any history written by 19th century British colonizers.

Using some foreign names and making your protagonist biracial does not shield your work from racism. It does open you up to more pitfalls in depicting other peoples and cultures, if you don’t care to look out for them.

It would be nice to close by saying that despite its flaws, A Deadly Education is an enjoyable book. But it isn’t. It’s just a badly-researched, emotionless story told by rote.

#a deadly education #naomi novik #book reviews #quality text blog

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hawkinsschoolcounselor · 4 years

Note

Could you possibly do an analysis of the Byers Family as a whole?

I’m honestly surprised it took this long for this to be requested. The Byers family is really at the heart of the entire story. I’m going to try and limit this analysis to the on-screen portrayal of the family. If you want more of a deep-dive that includes predictions and suppositions that draw on the writers’ background material and references, I would point you to @kaypeace21. There’s some real next level stuff going on with her work, but I’m going to try and stick to what I know best. I will not be including El in this, though she may come up in passing, as we have yet to see any significant portrayal of her as a member of the family. The Byers are a family of unexpected strength and love. There’s a lot there that would suggest a family in shambles, but outward appearances can be misleading. I intend here to go through the family one-by-one and then go into some conceptualizations of the family dynamic based on my understanding of psychological theory and human development. My memory on some of the details of the show may be off, so feel free to correct any errors I may stumble into. Lonnie I’ll start with Lonnie, though it’s difficult to really refer to him as a part of the family. Still, for at least a portion of this family’s development, he was there and active in the others’ lives to some extent.There is much we simply don’t know about the family dynamic when he was still an active member of it. What we do know, however, is that he was involved in Jonathan’s life until he was at least 10, due to the story of Lonnie taking him hunting on his birthday, but that he was out of the house prior to the start of Stranger Things. Jonathan would have turned 10 around 1977, so the Lonnie would have left his family for up to 5 years prior to the first season. Lonnie’s actions, as portrayed in the first season, depict him as a selfish and callous man with very rigid ideas of masculinity. He would routinely try to force his sons to conform to these ideals. We can see this through the aforementioned hunting trip, which brought Jonathan to tears, and through his overall treatment of Will. The fact that a man would call his own prepubescent son a “queer” or “fag” is harsh even by 80s standards. He would also attempt to get Will to enjoy baseball, though even then it’s implied that he often fails to deliver on his promises to spend time with his youngest. Lonnie showed up in the first season upon learning of Will’s apparent death. He would seem to be a concerned father at first, but Joyce would later learn that Lonnie was prepared to file a wrongful death case against the owner of the quarry that Will was believed to have drowned in. Money has seemingly always been a concern for the family, but Lonnie is the only one who even considers financial compensation. All of this says a lot about where his priorities lie and what his values are. Joyce Joyce Byers is, by all on-screen depictions, a loving mother and open-minded, friendly woman. It is curious as to what she would have seen in Lonnie (we will not assume Murray’s theories to be accurate), but conservative, small-town culture at the time certainly would have led many a woman to see a macho guy as ideal. Joyce has been portrayed in making many sacrifices for her loved ones, and she has a fiery temper that has come out whenever someone would seemingly try to get in the way of her taking care of said loved ones. By the time we are introduced to Joyce, her priorities seem to be her children. She works as a clerk at a local general store, presumably not making much money. It is assumed that after Lonnie left she had no significant romantic relationships until Bob Newby in 1984. While Joyce seems to love both of her sons a great deal, it is suggested in season 1 that she felt closer to Will. Despite this, there was no apparent favoritism. Joyce did however, albeit unintentionally, trigger some issues with Jonathan during the events of Will’s disappearance in 1983. Despite the lack of financial resources (we do not know if Lonnie pays any financial support), Joyce tries her best to support her children. She even managed to get an Atari 2600 for Will, which, even after the video game crash of the early 80s, would have cost her the equivalent of over $100 of today’s money. At first, Joyce welcomes Lonnie back into her life when he showed up after learning of Will’s “death.” She seemed exhausted and initially leaned on him for support. This changed when Joyce learned of his planned lawsuit against the owners of the quarry. She proceeded to lash out at him angrily, accusing him of never caring about his sons, perhaps giving us a look into what ultimately led to their separation (were they ever actually said to be divorced?). When Lonnie couldn’t even come up with what college Jonathan wanted to go to, Joyce viciously spat out that he has wanted to go to NYU since he was a child. To Joyce, not knowing something like that about your own child is reprehensible. When she brings up to Chief Hopper that Lonnie would refer to Will with gay slurs, the discomfort it brings to her is clearly visible. It’s purely speculation, but not out of the question based on what we know about her, that Joyce isn’t so much disturbed by the idea, but rather that she ostensibly allowed Lonnie to say such things. As the series moves on, Joyce is shown seeking out stability and security for herself and her family. Her relationship with Bob was an attempt to rebuild a sense of normality. Bob took a genuine interest in the boys and clearly loved her a great deal. His traumatic loss affects her greatly. She develops an understandable sense of paranoia about Hawkins and the agency behind the lab which ultimately leads to her deciding to uproot her family and leave town to parts yet known. While her decision to do so is certainly understandable and well-intentioned, it could have unintended adverse consequences that I intend to explore further below. Jonathan When we meet him, Jonathan Byers is an intelligent young man and a talented photographer. On the other hand, he is also well aware of the family’s struggles, perhaps more so than Will, and is somewhat parentified. Jonathan is not social, and is shown to be something of an outcast at school. We do not know how far back this goes, but it is possibly a result of Jonathan needing to go to work to help support the family. Jonathan is more like his mother than his father, as seen in his unconditional support for Will and his generally sensitive and protective nature. While in many cases a parentified child is a cause for concern, in Jonathan’s case it may well have given him a sense of purpose that allowed him to weather the rough family life he’s experienced. Indeed, Jonathan initially seems to derive little satisfaction in life outside of photograph and his family. He apparently had already resigned himself to a life of sacrifice, at least until he can try to make a life for himself through photography. While he would go on to develop a relationship with Nancy Wheeler, he never lost his fraternal/borderline paternal bond with his little brother. He literally fought monsters to save and protect Will on multiple occasions. It is quite possible that Jonathan fosters a continuing sense of guilt, as the only reason he was not home the night Will vanished was because he took an extra work shift. With Joyce, Jonathan seems to almost see himself as a co-parent rather than a son. While he clearly loves his mother, he is not above calling her out and butting heads with her as seen in the first season. When Jonathan sees what he thinks is Joyce losing her mind, his reaction is an angry outburst. While there is not enough evidence, this could be a result of abandonment issues as a result of his father leaving.Despite his maturity, Jonathan is still just a teenager at this point, and one who is already blaming himself for his brother vanishing. He needs his mother but sees her as abandoning him. Joyce is going around and publicly making herself seem crazy. While the viewers know that Joyce is right, Jonathan reacts like any of us may. He comes around once he realizes the truth, but it is clear that he is holding in a lot of his own pain and he may hold some resentment towards Joyce, even if he is unaware of it himself. Jonathan was older than Will when Lonnie left, so he would presumably have been more aware of what was going on. He also would have been old enough to potentially blame Joyce for failing to protect him and Will. This last part is all speculation, however. Jonathan’s relationship with Will is perhaps the strongest in the family. Jonathan helped Will build Castle Byers in response to Lonnie’s departure. He stayed until it was finished despite a rainstorm and (a presumably very young) Will’s lack of skill at actually helping. He would go on to support Will in all of his endeavors, blatantly encouraging him to dare to be different. He clearly doesn’t want to see Will succumb to the pressure of conformity. He makes it very clear that he supports Will completely and unconditionally. There is a suggestion here that Jonathan fears that Will may have a lingering desire to please their father at the expense of his own preferences. Will Will is smart, sensitive, artistic, and caring in a way that was discouraged in adolescent boys in a town like his. Will is heading towards the latter years of middle school as the series starts. Lonnie is already gone, but his influence is still there. Joyce dotes on him as much as possible, but time and resources are scarce. Jonathan takes on a hybrid father figure/big brother role to help keep Will happy. Oddly enough, given the circumstances of the plot, Will actually seems to come out the best. I will go further into detail below, but compared to his mom and older brother, Will actually has the most going for him. I’ve already covered Will’s role in the family above, but there is a bit more to explore from his perspective. Will is the much-loved son and brother to Joyce and Jonathan, and the bane of his father. Joyce wanted Will to be happy, and made every attempt to bond with him. Will did indeed seem to have a good relationship with his mother, as shown in his excitement to see Poltergeist with her and his risking his life to warn his mother of the Demogorgon. We also see many scenes of him bonding with Jonathan over music, but their relationship goes deeper. Jonathan is someone who Will confides in his relationship with his father. Will also worries about Jonathan’s hand injury despite the fact that he himself is in a hospital bed, having just woken up after being in the Upside Down for a week. Despite how good his relationships are with his mother and brother, Will is shown craving his father’s love. We do not know if Lonnie ever directly called Will a “queer” or “fag” or if he only referred to him as such to others, but Will does seem aware of his dad’s lack of support. Even though Will does not like baseball, he makes a pretense of it in an attempt to gain his father’s love, and he takes it hard when his dad does not deliver. It’s quite possible that Will harbors guilt as to what happened to his family, blaming himself for his dad leaving. Much like with Jonathan, this is speculative, but it wouldn’t be an unusual reaction for a young child whose parents split. Development and Outlook

I will try to be short and sweet here. When one looks at the family as a whole, the many moving parts of the family and their environment quite frankly make sense. The family is portrayed in a reasonably realistic fashion. Lonnie’s displeasure with his family life, along with what is quite possibly dissatisfaction with his life in general, result in him leaving. These same factors left their mark on his wife and children. The Byers receive little support from the community, and are indeed seen as outcasts, resulting in reactions that range from indifference to scorn. This would lead to the Byers relying even more on each other and seeming even more like outcasts. The cycle is harsh. Even as you go outward towards more indirect influences, the Byers do not conform to conservative 80s norms, which sets them at odds with society as a whole. They are basically an island in a stormy sea. This is where Will’s bright spot comes in. Will has what the others in his family lack, at least before the events of the series: friends. Will is not an outcast in the same sense of the others. While he is still scorned by the larger school population, his relationship with the Party serve as a protective factor. In other words, he’s better able to deal with the bad aspects of his life because he has his friends to fall back on. Joyce and Jonathan, on the other hand, only have each other. Mike in particular is a source of strength for Will, which is what makes the rockiness of their relationship in season 3 so hard for him. Joyce and Jonathan would both form relationships outside of the family that make them better able to cope. Jonathan and Nancy have a mostly healthy relationship, and Joyce almost looks like a teenager in how carefree she is with Bob (before the plot hits high gear anyway). Joyce and Hopper aren’t quite as healthy, but there are signs that it could head that way before Hopper is presumably killed. This is where Joyce makes a decision that she may come to regret. While her own attempts to develop a better ecoysystem seem cursed, Jonathan finally seems to have someone outside the family (indeed from a well-off family) that not only doesn’t scorn him, but loves him. Will has a group of friends that, despite some trials, is actually growing. Joyce, however, decides to separate them from these relationships in a well-meant attempt to save them from the town, the lab, and the Upside Down. It is hard to blame her for this, but the decision is nonetheless curious. She seems to be coming around to the idea of staying due to a burgeoning relationship with Hopper, which runs contrary to her tendency to put her kids first. One could excuse her for being clouded by grief, and we don’t see how she broke the news to Jonathan and Will (and El) or the aftermath. They all seem to have made peace with the idea, but the goodbyes are emotional, and Joyce herself looks upset and perhaps guilty, but this puts the family back to relying solely on each other, at least in the short term. Will they become stronger and be able to regain normalcy away from Hawkins? Will they end up resenting Joyce for it? How will El fit into this family? Can Will cope without his friends? Can Jonathan and Nancy’s relationship survive at a distance? How is Joyce going to be able to support a now-larger family? How will Lonnie fit into this? That all remains to be seen, but would be realistic elements to include in the next season.

#stranger things #byers family #joyce byers #jonathan byers #will byers #lonnie byers

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fictorium · 5 years

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Hey sugar lips... you still taking prompts? #46

Sure am honey pie!

#46 “What happens if I do this?

Kara waited until Eliza had dozed off in front of a rerun of The Lion in Winter, Alex and Kelly having already retreated upstairs before the movie started. Their fake yawns had been so transparent that Kara had to smile. The house in Midvale was as still and peaceful as it ever had been, but for Kara it was just that little bit lonely too.

Stepping out on the porch she found her way to the old swing and settled in. She didn’t need the blanket for warmth, but reached for it anyway. From there she had a perfect view of the night sky, one expanding further and deeper than Eliza’s much-loved telescope, which sat waiting for its next search.

Kara watched the stars for a while, looking for patterns that she knew weren’t visible from this planet. Every so often she could convince herself the stars of Orion’s Belt had realigned to form constellations relating to Rao, but it was just a trick her mind liked to play on her.

“Kara?”

She hadn’t heard Eliza wake or come looking for her. Kara gave her a sheepish smile.

“Sorry I left before the movie ended. I just wanted some alone time I guess.”

Eliza came to sit beside her. “I’d say you’ve had a little too much of that lately. Alex told me about your… falling out with Lena. And I know James left, just like Winn did, and Mon-El before that.”

“People leave,” Kara said, dropping her head on Eliza’s shoulder. “Or they send you away. Sometimes you lose them and sometimes you find a way to get them back. I still have friends, good ones. And Alex, of course.”

“You don’t have to put on a brave front for me, Kara. It’s okay to miss someone. One special someone most of all. I know things haven’t been the same… since she sold CatCo. That was a big betrayal for you.”

“It wasn’t so bad. Andrea is difficult but—“

“Honey, I don’t mean that sale.”

“Oh. Oh. I didn’t… I mean I don’t… Ms Grant has probably forgotten all about me by now. Last I heard she was in Gotham. Or Metropolis. Either way, she’s busy.”

Eliza gave Kara a reassuring pat on the cheek. “You forget that I’ve seen you together. I’ve seen how you look at her, and not just that silly crush you had while she was on television. You didn’t see how she watched you as you gave that speech and saved everyone from Myriad. People don’t forget someone like that.”

Kara felt the tears welling up as they had so many times before. “Then why didn’t she come back? She said she wasn’t going anywhere and then she was gone.”

“I think,” Eliza replied, shrugging Kara from her shoulder and turning to face her fully. “I think that’s something you have to ask her. Do you know where she is right now? You could call. Or better yet…”

Without thinking, Kara closed her eyes and let her hearing roam. Within seconds she had traced that familiar heartbeat, just a little out of step with the ones around it. Cat Grant was always unique.

“She’s at her family home, in Metropolis. Weird, she doesn’t usually spend time with her mother out there.”

“Well I’m going to make some tea, and take that book you got me to bed. I won’t listen for you coming upstairs.”

“Eliza?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

Kara stood and watched her foster mother go inside. Before she could talk herself out of it, Kara raised herself up on tip toes and closed her eyes, feeling the night breeze whispering across her skin. It was barely nine in Metropolis. She could be there and back in minutes if she pushed it.

Decision made, Kara raised her arms like in the old prayers to Rao, and rocketed into the night sky.

The house was all but in darkness when Kara landed on the roof. She’d circled a few times before approaching, listening to Cat’s heartbeat vary as she moved from room to room, restless. Kara could have used her x-ray vision to see exactly what was happening, but it felt like too much of an intrusion. Instead she waited on the roof, knowing that Cat was a creature of habit, and eventually she always sought out higher ground.

Sure enough, twenty minutes later Cat walked through the room directly beneath Kara in the tall brownstone, and came out onto a small stone balcony that overlooked the slightly tangled gardens.

“If you’re one of the Bats or the Spiders, I��m not in the mood,” Cat said without looking round. “And I happen to know Superman is on bottle feed duty tonight, so I doubt he’s the one lurking on my roof.”

“Hey,” Kara said, dropping down beside Cat. She hadn’t bothered to change into her suit. There was no point pretending she hadn’t heard Cat calling her Supergirl last time they were together. “How did you know anyone was there?”

“My mother had an impressive security system. Courtesy of yours truly, of course. You wouldn’t believe how many two-bit villains thought going after her would bother me in some way.”

Cat hadn’t looked at her yet, so Kara took up the spot next to her, leaning on the balcony, propped up on her elbows to mirror Cat’s position. The only difference was that Cat was nursing a heavy crystal tumbler in her left hand, the liquid in it almost gone. Kara could smell the rich, peaty Scotch along with the fading notes of Cat’s perfume, something with a woody undertone that Kara hadn’t realized she missed quite so much. It was as comforting as the scent from her sheets on her bed at Eliza’s, but at the same time it sparked that low heat in Kara’s belly that she’d gotten so good at ignoring.

“You look good,” Kara said, not least because it had the benefit of being true. Cat had let her hair grow, and she was wearing it straighter. It made her look younger, not that Kara would ever say such a thing out loud; Cat Grant was stunning for any age. The black dress was pretty plain by Cat’s usual standards - no interesting geometry or leather panels anywhere that Kara could see.

Cat’s response was just a quirk of her lips, a smile that never quite made it all the way into being.

“Cat? I’ve never known you to ignore a compliment. Is everything okay? How’s Carter?”

“Fine, fine,” Cat replied, finishing her drink. “Well, mostly fine. He’s almost sixteen now, and things have been… difficult these past few months. But he was with me for all this, of course. Now he and Adam have gone to Opal City, so at least it’s nice to see them getting along.”

“All this?” Kara repeated.

“The funeral. I assume that’s why you’re here. You heard about my mother and came to make sure we salted the earth after we buried her.” Cat’s words were as disgruntled as ever on the topic of her mother, but Kara could tell her heart wasn’t in it. Even if they hadn’t gotten along, Cat had still lost her mom.

“I… didn’t know,” Kara had to admit. “I was at home, in Midvale, and I realized… well, it doesn’t matter now. Are you okay? Is there anything I can do to help?”

Cat shook her head. “Not even Supergirl has power over death. I see you’ve taken to flying in civilian clothes. Risky.”

“I flew high, and it’s cloudy.”

“Still. I worry about you, Kara. Not about you losing a fight, or coming across a scary new alien. I worry about you being exposed, about you losing the things that make you… like this.”

“Your mom died and you’re worrying about me losing my privacy?” Kara didn’t understand, even though she was one of the few people who’d really seen the depth of Cat’s compassion and empathy. “You’re right, though. It’s been close a few times. The new administration wanted to know everything, wanted to take away everything that lets me feel normal. I’m used to it by now.”

“I threatened you, before. With exposing everything.”

Kara nodded. She had forgiven Cat a lot of things, but they weren’t all forgotten. “You were trying to win an argument. It’s like Monopoly, you don’t necessarily play by the rules. I trust you now, for what it’s worth. Or I wouldn’t have flown here in leggings and a sweater.”

“Yes. Just as well there’s no dress code,” Cat replied with a pointed sweep of Kara’s clothing. “Though the thought of my mother’s face, seeing you dressed like that… you’ve brought a little light into my day as always, Kara.”

Although she was clearly attempting her usual dry humor, Cat’s mouth crumpled just a little around the words. Kara didn’t even think before pulling Cat into a full-body hug that felt better than anything had in a really long time. It didn’t take long for the shoulder area to become damp with Cat’s tears.

“We can go inside?” Kara suggested when Cat finally settled in her careful embrace, her right hand clutching the soft material of Kara’s top just above her heart. The same heart that was beating twice as fast as normal.

“No. Everything in there is her. It’s suffocating, even now.”

“Where would you like to go?”

“Surprise me,” Cat said.

Kara considered for a moment, looking out over the semi-familiar Metropolis skyline. “I could have ended up here, you know. If my cousin had taken me in.”

“No, you ended up exactly where you were supposed to. In Middlebottom--”

“Midvale.”

“Right, Midvale,” Cat continued without any hint of embarrassment. “And then in National City, with me.”

Kara didn’t have the words to reply to that, not yet, and so she pulled Cat close and shot them both across the city to a far less fancy district: the still-bustling streets of downtown. They alighted on the giant piece of metal atop the Daily Planet building, and Kara sat Cat carefully on the flattest part so they could sit together comfortably.

“Ta da?” Kara tried, smiling at Cat with all the affection that was threatening to pour out of her. “I put you on top of the world.”

“Perry White would be furious!” Cat kicked her legs up with something like glee. “Oh, he was always forbidding employees to come up to the roof. This is perfect. Wait,” she added, taking out her phone and snapping a selfie with her location quite obvious to anyone with half a clue. “I’ll send that to him later.”

“I’m glad I could give you something nice,” Kara said, offering her arm to wrap around Cat and being silently thrilled when Cat nestled into her side without any more prompting. “You deserve nice things, Cat.”

“Even though I left you? That’s the part you keep not saying.” Cat didn’t look up at Kara to see her point land, they both knew it had.

“You did. But I came after you, eventually. Isn’t that what people do? Go after what they want?”

“Kara--”

“Of course, I didn’t know about all this with your mom. So I can wait. I can put this all on hold and be a friend to you. I’m happy to do it.”

“Everything is up in the air,” Cat said, gesturing at the giant drop below them. “Quite literally right now. I don’t know what happens next, so I can’t promise you anything.”

“What happens if I do this?” Kara asked, summoning every last scrap of her courage into one finger, using it to gently touch Cat’s chin and tilt her face up toward Kara’s. Cat’s expression had softened, her lips were as soft and inviting as ever, and as soon as Kara realized all of that, she was a lost cause. She kissed Cat with sweetness and forgiveness, and a promise of comfort and more.

“Oh.” Cat still had her eyes closed when the tender kiss ended. “That was everything I hoped. But Kara, I don’t know if I can just come back, if I can find a life that makes room for all this.”

“You can. We will. However it has to be, I think we can make it work, Cat. But it’s better to try and fail than never take a chance in the first place.”

“Someone very wise must have taught you that.”

“You did.”

“Like I said.” Cat cupped Kara’s cheek with her hand, running her thumb over the cheekbone with exquisite care. “I’m tired of fighting this, Kara. I ran halfway around the world to escape my feelings for you, and they haven’t gone anywhere. Maybe all I cost us was time.”

“We still have lots of that,” Kara answered. “More than enough, I promise.”

“Will you come back with me? To the house? I can’t bear being alone in there.”

“Of course,” Kara said. “Now?”

“Not yet,” Cat replied, leaning back into Kara’s side. “Let’s stay on top of the world a little longer.”

Kara held her close, content to do exactly that.

#supercat #s1 nostalgia meme #cat grant #kara danvers #minor character death #xxtorchxx

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lullabiesandgoodbyes · 4 years

Text

Okay, you’d probably expect a dump of feelings regarding La Casa de Papel P4:

( here be spoilers, obviously )

It’s a fact that the writing of LCDP has never been brilliant. The heist was clever, but some scenes were far-fetched and the dialogue faltered many times. Still, I was mainly here for the characters: criminals, flawed people whose human side was revealed through the episodes, that was the reason why I got attached to the show.

I can’t help but to feel disappointed that they seemed to have lost perspective of them: the characters were turned into puppets for the sake of dRAmA!!1, became caricatures of what they used to be - this is already our 4th year with them, we know them, and please don’t call it character development when it’s so obviously just bad writing. They deserved better than this.

That being said:

- It’s not even the fact that Nairobi was killed; it’s the fact they’ve created and developed a strong female character, shot her for a cliffhanger at the end of P3, saved her at the beginning of P4, had both her body and mind tortured multiple times while still not fully recovered, and then simply put a bullet in her head by betrayal, with no honor nor glory. And for what, shock value?! Fuck you!!

- Since we’re talking about Nairobi: it’s not that she shouldn’t want to be a mother ( people claiming but she’s a feminist!! can shut the fuck up ), but she already was a mother, despite having no son for years, one that once got offended after being told that she should just have another baby to replace the one she had lost. Now, not only they gave me no closure regarding Axel and the way the Police used him to bring her down, but they also forced me to witness this marvellous woman emotionally manipulating a man that she knew to be in a committed relationship to have a baby with her and then partying with his partner ( her supposed friend ) without telling her the truth;

- The same can be pointed at Tokio, going ( again! ) after Denver, “ let’s fuck and pretend it never happened “ - they actually tried to tell us female friendships, yay!! and then have her sexually pining after her supposed friend’s husband, twice. Like, what are even women to each other if not rude bitches, right?

- Look, I don’t know what kind of wet dream these writers have about Tokio, but it’s time for them to actually acknowledge her faults, no? Nairobi would never consider her a good leader; the team would never accept her as a good leader; Tokio is simply not a good leader. Also, so much disgust at all the sexual innuendos between her and Gandía and the general idea that he only kept her alive because she turned him on...

- I was honestly laughing at the whole surgery scene; I gave it a pass when they helped Mónica with that infected wound back in P1 because..., but this was so ridiculous it was too much for me to bear. Tokio is becoming the Rachel Berry of LCDP and you have no idea how much it bothers me to write these actual words;

- She still had her moments, though. Not enough for me to love her, but I will always defend Tokio from a fandom who hates on her at the same time that idolatrizes Berlín, for fuck’s sake... -.-

- Raquel was one of the best characters this show had on P1-2. If Lisboa doesn’t grow a personality detached from El Profesor, I’ll be punching a wall, seriously, what did you reduce her to?

- But not everything was bad: Estocolmo is still MY GIRL!!!1 I’m still pissed they had to break up her marriage to give her some attention ( women are allowed to have partners and a life beyond them, in case you didn’t know ), but I generally liked her in P4 and how she’s slowly gaining her own place within the team. The whole discussion about seeing Denver in a new light was interesting ( I could write a whole essay about it ), but should have been better worded and developed, especially because this fandom is overall dumb and is already blaming it on her - but what else is new?

- I’m also only supporting this because I believe she’s dealing with her previous choices, and basically coming together after the initial Stockholm Syndrome, and will eventually get back together with Denver. If not, I’ll burn Netflix down;

- Also, being sad that Nairobi died, yes; coming after Estocolmo because she should have died instead, no, fuck you!! >:(

- Now, the major disappointment: thanks for throwing THREE years of development out of the window so Denver could chase Tokio’s ass, as if he ever felt for her half of the things he apparently did on P4, and thanks for nearly ruining my favorite character on this fuckery, starting with his rude commentaries about women ( he was in love with Mónica and still pushed her away because she wasn’t able to fully consent their relationship, but sure, let’s all agree that he sees women like cars because so funny!! Also, implying that he only ended up with Mónica because he couldn’t get Tokio, yes, that’s totally what happened, who the fuck wrote this shit...?? ) and ending on the toxic jealousy over his best friend being traumatized and finding his only comfort with his wife ( like, WTF was that even?! );

- Managing to regress Denver into someone he even wasn’t at the beginning of the show was probably worse than watching him die somewhere along the way, and, trust me, I hate to write this :’(((

- But thank you ( and this goes to Jaime Lorente, not the stupid writers ) for bringing him back on the last episodes. I guess this is what you get when writers don’t know how to properly do their jobs, but the writing has been a general mess since P3 so I’m choosing to still love him and want all good things for him. Including his wife back, because admitting his shit and trying to be better is still Denver’s redeeming quality, and I think she’s ready to accept that;

- I still think Ricardo is a better fit than Daniel :(((

- I admit that Manila was cool, but she still felt like a way for the show to gain some diversity points with a trans character that is not even played by a trans actress... Her conversation with Denver, although sweet, was vague and only complemented the initial feeling, since it could have lead him to reorganize his thoughts over male/female friendships ( as if P1-3!Denver ever needed that... ) and eventually served for nothing;

- That is, I’m choosing to believe they won’t make Denver/Manila happen on P5 because fuck them if they do...

- Also fuck everyone who’s coming after Río for being weak, and fuck whoever let the boy stay at the Bank after months of torture. The writing of his arc was just as bad as nearly everyone else’s ( perfectly able to shoot a missile in one day, incapable of holding a gun against Gandía on the other, wants everyone to kill him next... ) but his friendship with Estocolmo was worth it, loved them;

- He’s also a baby and he’s now Estocolmo and Denver’s new baby <333

- Last, but not least: I really didn’t like the way they turned Arturito into a major creep and confirmed rapist. This was a character we hated on principle, for being a headache and playing hero when he wasn’t more than an idiot, but this... What was even the point of this?

Some other random thoughts I have left:

- Helsinki: honestly, stop hurting him, please;

- El Profesor: I can’t get myself to like his character, sorry I’m not sorry;

- Marsella: a good boy;

- Palermo: please die;

- Bogotá: not convinced, still don’t like him, can still die;

- Sierra: the best antagonist;

- Antoñanzas: the best sidekick;

- Moscú: I missed you, papa </3/3/3

- Berlín: * you’re not allowed in Heaven with the rest of them, go back to Hell, motherfucker *

- The Bank’s governor was cool, helping to save Nairobi, protecting Amanda and telling Arturito off :)))

- Hope Amanda gets her well-deserved revenge, let her cut Arturito’s dick when he’s asleep ( or awake, it doesn’t really matter );

- I missed Cincinnati and Miguel x_x

Also, the cast and crew saying P4 was a satisfying ending when it so obviously was a non-ending felt dishonest and I don’t like being played like that. Just assume you’re trying to milk the most out of it - and apparently losing grip of it all together.

So, yeah, I’ll be back for P5 because they left me hanging on, but the disappointment is real. I wish they had left it where it was supposed to end. :(((

#Bel talks about TV shows #Shit that needed to be said #Ooh boy this was long #but felt *so* damn good *-*#Now let's wait for P5 #and then just let it die before it runs out of any glory #( although we all know that P5 will come with a P6 and I hate them for that )#:xxx #La Casa de Papel #for blog organization only #LCDP Talk

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kaypeace21 · 5 years

Note

What’s ur theories or what you want to see throughout season 3 for stranger things and what can you see for will for his arc

I literally would not be able to discuss every s3 theory I have in one post XD. But I can specify what theories/hopes I have for Will’s story arc in s3.

1) I want Will’s (not supernatural) PTSD to be addressed, as well as he deep-seeded abandoment issues(caused by Lonnie), and low self-esteem to be addressed. He probably blames himself for Lonnie leaving, and causing his family’s financial issues (which will only worsen because of the new mall). Not to mention Will probably blames himself for Bob’s death- the only cannon romantic love interest in Joyce’s life, since Lonnie. Will clearly has a low self esteem and when people ‘leave him’ he blames himself entirely. A good indicator of this, was when Jonathan says he has friends. And Will is confused and says …

This in itself is extremely telling of how Will views himself. After s1 despite all the kids, teens, and adults doing everything they could to save him (risking their lives to do so) he still doesn’t understand why any of them actual would want to hang around him- he doesn’t see ‘his appeal- his worth’. He doesn’t like himself . He sees himself as a burden, just like his dad perceived him. And because of his abandonment issues, and somewhat iffy social skills, he probably assumes in both s1-2 they saved him out of obligation. And because of his abandonment issues, he’s constantly feeling like a burden and always over-apologizing. And since Will already feels like a burden, because of his dad, his PTSD, and the upside-down incident he’s constantly apologizing .There was a reason Will didn’t tell Joyce what he saw in s1! He yells “I’m sorry “ and snuggles into his mom when he’s trying to explain the mindflayer to Hopper and Joyce. And Joyce says something indicative to his character (before anything supernatural occurs).

Joyce: “You feeling any better? Will?”

Will: “Huh? Yeah… Sorry.”

Joyce: “Hey… what’d we talk about, huh? You gotta stop it with the sorry’s.”

Will : “Yeah, sorry. I mean… yeah, I know.”

This illustrates that Joyce has already discussed the fact that Will over-apologizes . But Will still does it very often, even after these 2 separate discussions.

I think in s3 we’ll see a cumulative reaction to how Will’s experiences have shaped him in a very sad and problematic way. Dustin starts hanging out with Steve, Lucas has a girlfriend, Jonathan will probably be too busy trying to financially support the family/dating Nancy, and to top it all off he then has a fight with Mike about not being “ kids anymore”. I think Mike will lash out, but Will will take the argument much harsher than he usually would (because all of his insecurities are piling up one after the other).So through Will’s perception, he just feels alone and like he’s being abandoned all over again, by the people who he thought would never do this to him.

2) Will’s destroys Castle Byers (Theory). I actually predicted here, that Will would destroy Castle Byers(right after his fight with Mike)- before the track list even came out. I thought this would be the case, because of Castle Byers symbolic importance. Which is why hopefully it’s Will, not some other force that destroys it.

Will uses castle Byers as the one place he feels safe while in the upside down, or just on a daily basis. But it’s still a reminder of his deep-seeded abandonment issues. The day Will’s dad left , Jonathan and Will built Castle Byers all night in the pouring rain. Jonathan saying “we just had to finish it no matter what”. Will was the one who made-up Castle Byers in his imagination, and drew it, before Lonnie even left. He drew the sign “all friends welcome”, because with Lonnie around he never felt ‘welcome’ in his own home. So then when Will goes to Castle Byers in s3 at night in the pouring rain … he’s probably thinking that Mike (and his friends) are going to abandon him just like his dad did!

Will wants time to stop, to regain the childhood he lost, but he can’t cry about it now -since he’s officially a teenager . And everyone else is moving on. He feels like he’s being abandoned in a “ teenage wasteland”

So I think Will may in a fit of rage destroy Castle Byers (probably using his fire powers). Similar to how El had a psychic fit and accidentally destroyed all the windows in the cabin.

However unlike the El scene, it quickly turns into something empowering.We’d be sad. But this in itself would be Will at least trying to symbolically move on from his father’s influence, and trying to overcome his abandonment issues. Plus s3 is all about growing up- and if Will destroys the symbol of his childhood-abandonment-issues it would symbolically indicate his change in character as he accepts that he’s now a teenager . As well as how he’ll refuse to be a victim ever again (from his dad, the mindflayer, the bullies, etc)!

Rain in itself can signify “purification of the soul”. I don’t think all of his issues will magically go away- but it’ll be the start of his journey of acceptance & self-love.

3) I want: El to find Will in the woods right after he destroys Castle Byers.

I’ve described in a previous post that based on the symbolism and iconography of the show why Will & El represent Yin and Yang , read more here. One of the many symbols of Yin and Yang is - Yin being representative of feminity/water & Yang being representative of masculinity/fire.

Will is always referenced with fire in both the comic and show . He drew his wizard character shooting fireballs in s1 and in the first ep he rolled the dice and yelled “fireball”, he had the ‘shadow monster ‘ exorcised out of him with fire, and in the comic he shoots a demogorgan and yells “fireball”. El’s element or ‘substance would be the opposite of fire, “water” - the sensory deprivation tanks are filled with water, the void floor is covered in water, she escaped the lab through a drainage pipe, looked at a reflection of herself in a puddle and cased ripples in it using her powers, in s3 is shown sinking in water and falling out of a vanishing tub, etc.

Yin (water) and Yang (fire) have to be “in perfect balance” (if one’s presence is stronger than the other) “catastrophes will occur” and there will be an “imbalance between the cosmic and human realms”. And throughout the 1st two seasons that’s exactly what happened! If El was shown prominantely then Will was gone or unconscious (or vice versa). There is a symbolic tear between the real world and upside down (because of this imbalance). And having them both be there - as a lit fire of castle byers burn, and rain pours would indicate -that their both starting to find balance. And that they’ll finally team up because of the supernatural threat.

Not to mention the last time Will was at his lowest and went to Castle Byers who found him and even read aloud his mantra/ sign of “all friends welcome”? Right, El!

Not to mention in the very 1st episode, the boys went out in the rain to find Will, but found El instead (when she was also at her most scared and isolated).

So it would be ! PURE POETIC CINEMA! DAMIT! They should do it! (El’s house is even in the woods, it all makes sense)! XD

4. I want : El lying for Will

Millie said about s3, that the biggest lie was that “friends don’t lie” ... “everybody lies”. El is still learning what it’s like to ‘be a person in the real world’ and understanding the complexity of familial, romantic, and platonic relationships. And although it’s admirable to never want to lie- it’s much more complicated in the real world. Will (who has very little control of his powers) will probably want to keep it a secret- afraid of how his friends perception of him will change if they knew. So El obliges and keeps Will’s secret- her first lie.

5) I want: Will’s family dynamics evolving

I want to see the love Will has for his mother and brother (and vice versa). But I also want to see the growing pains involved with Will becoming a teenager, striving for independence, and dealing with the supernatural threat and his clear mental health issues. I want to see Joyce, Jonathan, and Will all grow as people- together. -Also Hopper & Will scenes

6) I want: Will to lash out and get angry

Will constantly fears abandonment and because of this he almost never lashes out- he mostly keeps everything bottled up inside. And regardless of whether it’s justified or not- he deserves to have an emotional outburst- where he SCREAMS about all of his frustrations.

7) I want El and Will talking about /experiencing their shared trauma & how they feel about El being the one who first opened the gate

I want to see happy moments for El and Will. But I also want to see El and Will in normal real-life scenarios/situations in s3. Making it more obvious the trauma of their abusive father figures still affects them deeply, and how their PTSD, quiet nature, powers, and the fact that they never had real-childhoods, causes them to feel more socially isolated and depressed than their peers. As they perceive themselves as nothing but burdens and “freaks” to their loved ones , since they’ll never feel “normal”. But they’ll learn to rely on each other.

-Plus how does Will feel about El opening the gate? El in s1 called herself a “monster” and when she couldn’t find Barb and Will, she felt so much guilt- she had to go to the bathroom to cry. Since then Will has had years of his life stolen, gotten Ptsd, possessed, burned alive, (technically) became a murderer, and was forever mutated (we’ll get to that last point later). So I’m just curious how they both feel about the whole ‘gate-situation’?

8) Byler scenes, and Will interacting more with all of his friends (and seeing the distinctions in all of those relationships and how Mike/Will’s dynamic differers from his other guy-friends, or even Will &Max’s friendship). And just having strong platonic relationships. And (not platonic) byler dynamics. I also want to see how he interacts with strangers/bullies in ‘normal’ situations.

9) Theory: I already explained here, that Will, will have a ‘dark phoenix’ moment at the mall releasing his very own mindflayer to protect his friends (right as the US government comes in to see everything).

10/11) Will and El are kidnapped by the government -theory here. However, El willing exposes her identity in order to go with Will and protect him - theory here.

*gifs/pics not mine

#will byers #byler #el hopper #joyce hopper #stranger things theory

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gloomygothy · 5 years

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Stranger things spoilers

Right so I liked Billy Hargroves character since season 2. Not that I agreed with him being an asshole, trying to run down kids, bullying his sister or beating the shit out of Steve (Who I love too) I just thought he was an interesting character, but I always felt that there was a reason he was the way he was. Like duh his dad was beating the shit out of him and abusing him so of course this angry teenager is going to lash out.

But here on Tumblr if you happen to like a character who is an asshole they assume your one too. I've seen people who liked Billy being called homaphobes and racists just for liking a fictional character.

I wanted him to get a redemption arc because I'm sick and tired of seeing abused kids in tv shows and movies become the villain because of their abuse.

And in this season... I just felt so sorry for him. He really did have such a sad life, his dad was abusive all his life. He had to watch this man beat up his mother as a young child. His mother abandoned him (I dont care what way you shape it, even if she was abused she abandoned her son with a monster).

And then we see that there is more to him, were made to feel sorry for him and are shown his back story that explains why hes this way like i wanted and then he dies...

This abused kid, with probably no friends and thinks no one cares about him who was possessed by a big fucking monster gave his life to save El and the others and no one other then Max cares that he died.

I would have liken him to be happy and i dont know get a good ending. I know that movies and tv shows bring characters back from the dead all the time (like that piece of shit show supernatural)

And yea I'd like him to be brought back but who knows? I just think there could have been alot more done with this character and Dacre Montgomery is an amazing actor and really went all out this season.

#billy hargrove #strangers things season 3 #stranger things #stranger things spoilers #dacre montgomery

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she-writes-imagines · 5 years

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Safe Haven, Pt. 1

A/N: Billy moves into the house across the street from Piper, a girl with a mysterious past.

Timeline loosely follows Season 2 and disregards certain elements of Season 3.

Disclaimer: I don’t approve of, or excuse some of Billy’s behavior. I just enjoy how well exicuted the character is and its interesting to write for him.

Chapter 1

The town of Hawkins, Indiana was always a bit peculiar. Strange things always seemed to happen there and they got stranger every day. This story begins in October of 1967. That’s when I was born. My mother was a scientist and researcher in a very top secret government lab that was housed in Hawkins. Cherie Lindell was her name, she and her sister, Diane, grew up in Hawkins. My father's name was Jeff Callahan and he went to school with my mother. And they were different as different could be. My mother was a science nerd, anti-social and completely lost in her own world. My father played football, and was incredibly mechanically inclined and took auto shop basically every period his senior year, or so I’m told. But somehow they found their way to each other and managed to form a strong relationship and managed to keep that going while my mother was away getting her degree and my father stayed in Hawkins growing his auto shop and becoming a pillar of the community and all that. By the time my mother graduated and secured her government job, my father had bought a two story house with a white picket fence for the two of them to grow into together. Not long after they were married and I was on the way. That’s when things began to get a bit dicey.

The project that my mother was working on was so top secret, so secret that not even my father knew. But the lab was working on human experimentation working to develop mental and psychic abilities. My mother allowed herself to be experimented on while she was pregnant with me. And that is how I, Piper Callahan, was born with some scary abilities. To be exact telekinesis and empathic tendencies. As a child I Thought it was normal. I thought every other child could do the things that I could and I never questioned why I was homeschooled and the only places I ever went, were to my aunt Diane’s and uncle Jim’s house, and my moms lab. And that's when the bad thing happened. I was seven years old, I didn’t have good control of my abilities and I was throwing a tantrum. A big one. Things flying around the room and a side table hit my daddy in the back of the head. After that I spent a lot of time alone. And then Diane and Jim convinced my mother to put me into the public school system. My powers seemed to be gone after the bad thing. Or so I let everyone believe. The only people that knew were my mother and the doctors at the lab. They were stupid and easy enough to convince. I grew and had a relatively normal childhood and a normal adolescence. A rough transition through puberty and all that good stuff. I mourned the death of my cousin and watched my aunt and uncle's marriage fall apart. My aunt moved away from Hawkins and got remarried. We didn’t talk much. My mother went off the deep end and almost never came home. I found solace in my uncle. Uncle Hop as I so affectionately called him. He was the chief of police. He knew of my abilities and believed they were gone. I never wanted anyone else to know about me ever again. We spent a lot of time together and I took care of him more than he took care of me. I had plenty of friends at school. I was a floater and liked by almost everyone. Nancy, Steve, Barb, Jonathan and many others. I was intelligent, athletic, artistic, good with cars like my dad. I became someone that I like. And then the next bad thing happened.

The disappearance of Will Beyers. A tragedy felt by almost everyone in the community. And at the same time I felt another presence in town. A familiar one but I couldn’t place it. A lot of crazy things happened. Monsters sneaking their way around town. Mysterious disappearances. My friend Barb, taken into what seven year old me called “the scary place.” And then with a series of insane events Nancy, Jonathan and I ended up meeting up with Nancy’s brother and his friends. And the familiar presence. She was eleven. I had been number one. Soul sisters in a project that should have never existed. She was untrusting and skittish. She could barely speak in coherent thoughts. She must have been kept in almost total isolation. Focusing on growing her powers. She was younger than me. Younger than Mike and the other kids. Maybe twelve. I didn’t want to reveal my powers I didn’t want anyone to know. But I pulled her aside and i showed her the number on my arm as well. She touched it with her fingers, then my face, “Sister,” she said and smiled, “Pretty.”

“Sister,” I repeated. “You’ll keep my secret?” I asked her.

She looked confused.

“I can’t do it anymore. I’m broken. No one but you knows.” I said to her.

“Sisters keep secrets.” She said determined.

We found will. Saved the day. Defeated the bad guys and all that jazz. After the commotion eleven disappeared. I told Uncle Hop everything. And together we were able to find eleven in the woods and she came with us. Hop had a cabin in the middle of the woods. Almost no one knew about it and we knew she would be safe there. As time went on I began to let El in on the secret that I still had my powers and made her promise not to tell anyone. It was dangerous for all parties involved if anyone found out about my abilities. Together we worked on controlling and growing our gifts and Hop was happy we had each other. And I was happy that she had Hop. I loved El and she adored me right back. Things looked like they were going to be ok.

I hadn’t seen my mother in over a week. She hadn’t come home from her lab and I was sure at this point she had her own apartments deep within the sub levels. Across the street a moving truck pulled into the driveway of a previously vacant house. After that a station wagon and a sexy ass blue Camaro. I was sitting on the couch in my living room, not even trying to pretend to not be staring at the car. And the boy that got out of the car was just as sexy. From his boots up to the ass hugging jeans. To the button up lazily tucked in and the leather jacket. And god the hair on that boy. He saw me looking and I didn’t even care. He raised an eyebrow and cockily smiled at me and gave a little wave. I didn’t return any of the gestures but hopped off the couch, ran upstairs to my room and put on my own ass hugging jeans, a black Harley t shirt, my chucks and looked at myself in the mirror. Delicious. I thought to myself. I had quite a reputation around town that I did thoroughly enjoy. Everyone said I reminded them of Stevie Nicks if she had dark hair. So if mother Stevie was the white witch then i was the Black witch. My skin was very fair, and my hair was a stark contrast, it was nearly black and my eyes were electric green. I was incredibly petite but my small stature was nothing in comparison to my aura. I won’t lie, I used my telekinesis to make my hair float about and make me appear lighter on my feet. I flittered down into the kitchen and thanked the almighty that i had the gumption to bake cookies earlier that morning. I piled the chocolate chunk cookies onto a plate and headed out my door and across the street. The first person I met was the daughter, “Welcome to the neighborhood neighbor, I’m Piper.” I offered her a cookie which she took.

“I’m Max.” There was rustling behind her, she turned around and saw the guy I watched get out of the Camaro earlier. “That’s my brother, Billy. Or Jackass, whichever suits you better.” She said just before turning around to carry another box inside the house.

“Cute kid, you must be the luckiest big brother ever. Would you like a cookie, Jackass, was it?” I joked.

He clenched his jaw briefly and then cracked a smile, “I think Billy will do just fine beautiful.” He said snatching a cookie from me. I held my hand out for him to shake and when his skin touched mine I felt a powerful emotion practically kick me in the stomach. Suffering, pain, loneliness, sadness, anger. Violent rage. Lust, insecurity. A lot to unpack for sure. I didn’t know what could cause so much pain in someone the same age as me, save for my own experiences. A cold and steely voice broke our eye contact.

“Can I help you?” The man said. I assumed Billy and Max’s father. Quite the unpleasant man. I immediately noticed that when he approached Billy seemed to shrink. He seemed smaller, eyes cast to the ground. I immediately didn’t like him. “Hi, its nice to meet you. My mom and I live across the street. I’m Piper Callahan, I brought you cookies.” I said as I held out my hand for him to shake. Again when the skin touched my hand, a gut punch of feeling. Primal rage mostly. And black and sticky evil. I understood so much more about Billy now. And I was worried for the rest of the family. His wife came around the truck and we went through the same process. I got almost nothing from her. She was almost like the shell of someone who used to be a person. She took the cookies and disappeared into the house. Her husband soon after her. Max reappeared from around the backside of the truck. I said to her, “It was real nice meeting you Max, I live mostly alone over there, my mom works a lot, if you ever need anything, girl time, a sleepover, a ride to school, just come over ok? My car is cooler than your brothers by far. And my motorcycle is even cooler than that.” She smiled at me and thanked me before disappearing again with another box.

“That was awful nice of you,” Billy said quite flirtily. “Thanks for stopping by. Will I be seeing you around school?”

“You’ll be seeing me, Billy.” I said, gently flirting back at him. I had a rule, I wasn’t going to ever get close to anyone. I didn’t want another bad thing happening. I couldn’t bear to know that I hurt someone else close to me again. But god damn was he a specimen. And there was no shame in some harmless flirting. “Will you let me see the insides of that beautiful beast you have down there?” I said motioning to his car.

“I think that might be a little out of your league princess.” He said.

“Oh sugar, I bet you I know more about it than you do. I have a ‘69 impala up in the garage and my dad was a mechanic. He died when I was seven but I inherited the talent from him. The guy that owns his shop now is great, I work there on weekends and in the summer. Pop the hood?” He looked behind him quickly and walked down the slope to the road. He opened the door and popped the hood. I opened it and looked inside. I whistled. It was a gorgeous and nearly immaculate block. But it looked like his ignition cable was a little loose. “You ever have problems starting her up? Mostly just when its cold?” I asked him.

“How’d you know?” He asked actually surprised that I seemed to know what I was talking about.

“Come here I’ll show you.” When he came around the front I pointed to the cable. “You see the screw you have securing the ignition cable? It’s the wrong size and its not attached properly. Which isn’t really that big of a deal, but when its cold and the metal shrinks up the connections aren’t as good. So it's a little harder to start. Bring it up the driveway later and I can fix that for you.”

“I don’t know...were kind of busy unpacking and all. Neil might not let me.”

I reached up and stroked his cheek, a spark of softness beifely shot through him. I could feel it. It made me wonder how long it had been since he had had any true compassionate human interaction. I’m sure he was having physical contact on the regular of the good and not so good variety. But something so gentle and kind, I wasn’t sure about. He seemed a troubled person but something in him sparked something in me and I knew in my heart I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t try and show him some compassion and genuine human contact.

“I get it, its ok Billy. Same goes for you by the way. If you ever need anything, a ride to school, some girl time, a sleepover,” I paused and became a bit more somber when I said, “somewhere safe, to escape too. I’ve got the space and I don’t like being alone all the time. So really you’d be doing me a favor.”

I didn’t let him respond before sauntering back off to my side of the street, swinging my hips back and forth the entire way. Before I walked back inside the house I turned around, Billy was still looking at me. I wiggled my fingers at him before spinning around again and walking inside and shutting the door behind me. I was worried. I’d hardly met the family, but I knew that things were off. I knew that BIlly was going to be trouble, that he was trouble. I knew the kind of guy he was. Hard on the outside to hide the sadness that was inside him. Taking it out on other people. I was going to have to watch out for that. I was going to have to be careful not to get to close. None of the boys in Hawkins could ever tempt me like I knew that one out there could do. But that wasn’t the thing I was worried about the most. I was worried about that little girl, Max. The same age as El. I was worried she would be the next punching bag for Mr. Hargrove

#stranger things #stranger things 2 #stranger things 3 #stranger things imagine #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things fic #stranger things fanfic #billy hargrove #billy hargrove imagine #billy hargrove fic #billy hargrove x ofc

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willel · 6 years

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El & The Upside Down Theories

So, I recently posted this:

https://willel.tumblr.com/post/172356873045/els-unexplained-recognition-of-will-more

It’s a gifset of El immediately recognizing Will among the boys on a group photo. She doesn’t JUST recognized him. She looks shocked and confused to see him and then points at him in awe. She never answers how she knows Will and the series itself never explains it either. There are all kinds of theories on how that I’d like to discuss now.

#1: El saw Will the night he was kidnapped

Some people believe maybe El saw Will get chased and taken by the Demogorgon that fateful night. There’s only a little evidence to support this, but there’s almost nothing to dismiss it I suppose.

When the Demogorgon comes for Will, it chases him all the way home from the road. I should note, Will was not bleeding or injured. The only other instance we see the Demogorgon chase someone without blood involved is Nancy. It couldn’t keep track of Nancy at all even in the Upside Down. She got away reasonably easily, yet it chased Will all the way home and all the way into his shed. It was almost always right on his trail in the Upside Down and only managed to catch him when he was too weak to move. (It also chased the kids and El in the school, but technically El was bleeding)

When it gets to his front door, it gently opens the lock with telekinesis. The only time we’ve seen the Demogorgon use telekinesis is to drag the bleeding deer into the tree. Usually, the Demogorgon enters a space violently by ripping through dimensions or just straight up bursting down a door. Why was it so careful in its pursuit of Will? What was the point of unlocking the door. Was it gonna turn the knob and step through like, “Hey Will, wanna keep playing cat and mouse??? Your move! Be happy I didn’t break your door.”

Some people believe El was actually there somehow and she opened the door. I honestly don’t think this is the case though. The shadow outside of the door is too big.

#2: El can sense people in the Upside Down

When I originally watched Stranger Things (Oct. 2017), I was fascinated by El’s interest in Will in the picture. I too assumed maybe she could sense people in the Upside Down. Maybe she was connected to the monster somehow. Maybe she is the monster?

I really thought this might be the case when she explored Nancy’s room and started to look at her things. El focused on a picture of Nancy and Barb together. I thought El recognized Barb too and was distressed to see her, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. That scene was to made to show how much El has missed while growing up. She didn’t play dress up or have a best friend. She never knew life could be like Nancy’s was.

The proof is later in episode 7 when they ask for El to look for Barb too. El didn’t know who Barb was. She needed a picture (they used the picture of her sitting on the diving board). El has NEVER needed a picture of Will to sense him or find him. She’s always remembered him or already knew him???. Another interesting piece of evidence for this is that El was trying to tune into something on Mike’s radio before she ever saw the picture of Will. Mike didn’t think much of it at the time.

Now though after finishing the two seasons, I think this has been completely debunked. If El could sense people in the Upside Down, she probably would have had a similar connection to Barb or any of the other people taken. No, her connection seems to be specifically with Will.

#3: They have a connection, but it’s just unclear what or how

This is the “theory” I’m on board with. It’s not much of a theory at all, just a belief. Will and El are inexplicably connected.

The amount of concern and care she shows for someone she never met is amazing and kinda strange. He’s a... Stranger (hurr hurr hurr), but I think she’d do anything for him. Even if it’s terrifying for her (as shown by her panic attack shortly after speaking to Will in the Upside Down), she’d do anything to help Will.

Another interesting moment I’d like to point out is in season 2 when El returns. When she embraces Joyce for the first time in a year, the first thing El asks is if she can see him. By this point, El theoretically would have no idea that Will is in trouble.

When Joyce tells her that Will isn’t doing so well, El simply answers, “I know. I saw.” Then when Joyce asks, “What else did you see?” El silently goes to the message Will tapped out for them in morse code.

Howwww did El know all of this already? Was she watching Will from the void? That timeline doesn’t quite match up and we haven’t seen her actually moving while she’s in the void. There’s no way she could watch what was happening in real time AND get to their house in time to save them from the demodogs.

One explanation I have is that while she was on the bus on the way home, El tapped into the void and there was an unseen exchange between her and Will. Not unlike what happened between El and her mother who is not really all there mentally. Will would be in a similar state, but maybe he could have passed along a message too? Doesn’t explain how she knew about the morse code message though~

The other explanation I have is just an extension of what was happening in season 1. El just KNOWS. She can just tap into Will in varying degrees without every having met him. For whatever reason, Will is just different.

Anyway, just wanted to type out some more thoughts. Would LOVE to hear opinions. I could talk about this stuff all day.

#stranger things #will byers #el hopper #jane hopper #theory #my content #no one wants to discuss ma theories #I cri

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emilysarsam · 6 years

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Taking back the market: An auditory dérive through Pueblito Paisa

Dérive (“drift”) in psychogeographic terms, suggests to derive the meaning of a place by passing through its varied ambiences with a playful and constructive awareness of the space and the encounters which it facilitates (Debord 1958). The concept offers a lens through which I will explore microclimates within the Seven Sisters market in Tottenham. My approach to this study was heavily influenced by spacial theorists such as Henri Lefebvre and David Harvey, whose book “Rebel Cities” I happened to be reading at the time of discovering the market. Pueblito Paisa, strongly resembles Harvey’s idea of a “microstate”, which he describes as an autonomously functioning fragmented state, that is born out of the stark polarization of wealth in highly urbanized cities (Harvey 2013, p.15). In the market, I’m also reminded of the concept of heterotopia, which according to Foucault, is a non-hegemonic space of “otherness” and, in the case of Pueblito Paisa, illustrates the result of social heteronomy, a product of class systems within urban capitalist centers. In this heterotopia however, “ethnic, gender and language inequality are key factors in encouraging agency and entrepreneurship which contribute to a sense of belongingness, identity and self-representation” (Roman-Velazquez 2013).

This fieldwork project, in the shape of diary entries and a sound map, reflects an exploration of the market through dérive. It aims to shed light on the complex social fabric that forms Pueblito Paisa’s community and illustrate the important role that such communities play in today’s urban context.

The market (When referring to the market, the names “Latin Village”, “Seven Sisters market”, and “Pueblito Paisa” are used interchangeably.)

Latin Village, located at 231-243 High Rd., contains 39 shops, of which 23 are owned or leased by Latin American retailers (Roman-Velazquez 2013). After Elephant & Castle in Southwark, The Seven Sisters market has the second highest concentration of Latin American business in London (Cabrera 2017). Since 2004, Haringey Council and Grainger development company have been negotiating a regeneration scheme for the area which requires the demolition of the market to make way for 196 non-affordable residential units and 40,000 sq. ft of retail space. Although the developers promise to provide a new long term home for the Seven Sisters Market within this space, the market community fears that it will disintegrate and be unable to afford the rent in the new development (https://tottenham.london/WC).

1. December: My first visit to Pueblito Paisa

I’m sitting in Latin Village’s Peruvian restaurant, “Pueblito Paisa Café”, which looks out on to the Seven Sisters station, allowing a glimpse of the outside world and reminding me that I’m in London. The restaurant is the only place I’ve spotted any other “gringxs”, by which I’m referring to people like myself. Regarding most of the market community is Latin American and speak little to no English, I completely forget my geographic location.

Music is ubiquitous. Almost every shop has its own speakers, playing a selection of Bachata, Salsa, Merengue and Cumbia tracks. Multiple tv-screens hang above the aisles, displaying the, mostly Youtube, playlists. Music is a vital element of the market’s soundscape and its impact on people’s uplifted mood is striking. Conversations are interrupted by familiar tunes, when spoken dialogue turns in to a song, whistle or dance. While wandering through the market like a tourist, I meet Alejandro Gonzalez Gortazar, a Cuban journalist and artist who’s been in the UK for 10 years and has known the market equally as long. He’s helping his friend Fabian, who owns the restaurant “Monantial”, with renovations. Having heard that the market would soon be moved to a temporary location, I am surprised to see people investing time and money in improving a space which developers were threatening to demolish. He happens to break for a cigarette so I take the chance to approach him and introduce myself, hoping he would be able to tell me more about the market. Luckily, he’s eager to speak and begins to talk about Pueblito Paisa’s foundation. According to Alejandro, a group of Colombian immigrants discovered the market about 20 years ago, which then was a half vacant market run by mainly African traders. Noticing they could rent stalls for cheap, they took their chances and started businesses, sending out for kin in Colombia to join in on the opportunities.

All of the market’s stalls have a commercial purpose, but still people seem to be using the space as a community center. There’s a notion of informality and inclusiveness at Pueblito Paisa which allows the general public access to and usage of the space without the pressure to consume or spend money. I think that markets function as important places of integration and solidarity for diverse communities and vulnerable people, where they can find affordable (and sometimes even free) food, social networks and even job opportunities. So why talk about Pueblito Paisa? And why through my eyes and ears, a gringa who has no prior connection to the market or the Latin American community.My sense of “rootlessness”, having been raised in Austria by a Canadian mother and an Iraqi father, has sparked my interest in the formations of “homes away from home” by immigrants and displaced peoples. At Latin Village, sound strikes me as one of the most powerful stimulants in recreating this sense of home. The omnipresence of Latin-American music, Spanish speaking voices, the sizzling of empanadas in the deep friers. Modern technology has enhanced the mobile notion of sound, allowing displaced people to reclaim space through sound and reestablish a sense of “home” wherever they go.Pueblito Paisa offers a fascinating location to study sound’s capacity to communicate impressions of a vibrant community’s social dynamics which is experiencing a period of transition. The Seven Sisters regeneration plans will uproot a well established community and possibly eliminate its collective memory. All I feel that my project can achieve is to exhibit the importance of this market to the livelihood and wellbeing of a community which is overlooked by developers interested in little more than reproducing capital wealth. To create documents that will allow the continuation of Pueblito Paisa’s existence, if only in people’s memory.

6. December: Second visit with Rita

(Screenshot taken of Seven sisters market through Google Maps Street View)

We’re sitting in Pueblito Paisa Café’s conservatory again, juxtaposed between two realms, Latin Village and Seven Sisters. The market is invisible, hiding in plain sight behind trees and vegetable vendors on High Rd., making it hard for passersby to assume what lays behind. This invisibility has offered the community a safe place to establish and express itself freely but the market’s lack of visibility has also made it hard for the community to gain the support they need to protect it.

This time with Rita, my Spanish speaking friend who’s offered to help with translation, we meet Fernando and his colleague Nixon of El EstanQuillo, Pueblito Paisa’s most dynamic hang-out, functioning as a grocery store, butcher, bakery, café, bar, and dance club. Nixon is a baker from Colombia who came to London and found work in Fernando’s shop two years ago. The space is a melting pot of sounds, where the noise of a juice mixer blends with Colombian christmas music and the chopping of meat. All the while kids, sipping on their hot chocolates, watch their parents dance with Corona bottles in their hands. Just across the aisle, we find Fabian from “Manantial”, replacing the carpet in front of his restaurant, completing the renovation process that Alejandro started last week. Later I find out through Mirca Morera, the founder of the Social Enterprise Latin Corner UK and one of the leading women fighting to save the market and protect the rights of its traders, that Fabian is a victim of the 7/7 bombings and is currently facing eviction charges on false accusations by the council appointed market facilitator, Jonathan Owen.

Just next door is the salon of a lovely Portuguese hairdresser, who is repainting her storefront and invites us to the reopening of her shop the following Saturday. Mirca will later tell me that she has a heart condition relies on the income and stability that the market can offer her, to ensure her health and livelihood. While she chats to us about family and work, her warm and welcoming spirit makes us feel like she’s always known us. Some in the market recognize me and wonder how I am and where I’ve been. Many traders tell me that their customers to them are friends before potential income-sources. “When a frequent customer doesn’t show up for a couple of days, I begin to worry and, if possible, call them to see if they’re alright”, Victoria Alvarez tells me. Vicky is the president of the association El Pueblito Paisa Ltd, owns two businesses in the market and is the face of the current crowd-funding campaign striving to raise 7,500 pounds towards a legal defense fund to preserve the market and its community.

9. December: Third visit with Paul

We’ve decided that Latin Village reveals elements of the failing system we live in.

Pueblito Paisa succeeds in protecting individuals who have fled economic hardship and possibly persecution, by offering them job opportunities and social networks. Rather than just facilitating economic reproduction, the space functions as a safe place guaranteeing the community’s happiness. Here, individuals do not self-maximize for the sake of reproducing their own wealth, but rather self-sustain for the sake of reproducing their own and community’s happiness. In an ideal reality, where governing systems enforce city development to improve the life quality of its citizens, particularly minorities and the most vulnerable, the protection of spaces, like Pueblito Paisa, woul be of highest priority.

Upon arriving at the market we head straight to El EstanQuillo to visit Nixon and Fernando. “Bomba En Navidad” by Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz, who Nixon adores, is playing while customers dance beneath the christmas decoration. We go over to see the Portuguese hairdresser who’s celebrating the reopening of her shop. She invites us in for snacks and drinks and to dance to some Reggaeton tunes together with her family and friends. After getting in touch with Latin Village UK over Facebook in the hopes of learning more about the organisation’s activities, Mirca invites me to the market to chat this evening. I find her sitting at her little community desk which she has set up in her stepfather’s video and music shop, “Videomania”. Her table is surrounded by artwork made by children from the market community, for who she organizes regular field trips to universities and museums. A trained educator, Mirca adores and is adored by the market community. With slogans and hashtags like, “take the Victoria line to Latin America”, she’s targeting the anglophone community through Latin Village UK’s campaigns. She’s also taken her plead to the UN triggering an intervention by the UN working group on business and human rights. Mirca and Vicky Alvarez seem to be the informal mayors of the market. They know the names and stories of everyone and fight restlessly to make their stories heard. They tell me that half of Pueblito Paisa’s business owners are female and that the market plays an important role in offering women, especially from Latin America, the opportunity of employment or entrepreneurship. These opportunities have raised their self-esteem and empowered their agency in a city which makes it extremely difficult for migrants, particularly female, to integrate into the job market.

Above: Images from Latin Village UK’s crowdfunding campaign: https://www.instagram.com/savelatinvillage

Below: Video still from Latin Village UK’s campaign video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luEy65Y5n7s

16. December: Fourth visit alone

I’m on the tube heading back South, siting across from three men who left the market the same time as I did. They recognize me, smile and start speaking to me in Spanish, the market’s notion of community clashing with London underground’s nature of anonymity. It’s an incredibly precious feeling, realizing that inside this vast city, a sense of familiarity amongst strangers is possible.

Back at the market, I sit inside Vicky’s salon, chatting to her and Mirca while outside the market begins to fill up for an evening full of music and dance. Vicky tell her life story, of how she arrived in London from Colombia about 30 years ago. It was only until her father was murdered due to the Colombian conflict, that the UK granted her asylum and she was able to flee the country. She lost four of her siblings during the war and has undergone immense trauma, making her a very anxious person today. She tells me that the current market facilitator, Jonathan Owen, uses harassment to tear apart the market community and make way for developers to start working on the regeneration project. Many community members are Colombian refugees and suffer from PTDS. Vicky fears for the mental health of the community and is convinced that Jonathan’s bullying and threats may evoke anxiety and flashbacks of the terror they lived through in Colombia. “We are not just a shopping market, we are like a psychological clinic, a therapeutic market.” (Roman-Velazquez 2013). I am deeply humbled by Vicky and Mirca, who fight day and night to protect the market. Not to ensure their own livelihoods, but to defend their community’s right to existence, free cultural expression, and mental health and stability.

In the bathroom, which goes dark after 9PM when electricity is cut, I meet Lorena who is holding up her phone to illuminate the bathroom. She notices that I’m new to the market and asks me how I like it here. “I love it, what about you?”. She laughs, “me? I am Colombian, of course I love it! It’s the best place in London”. We continue to chat about life in the city while she holds the flashlight over the sink while I wash my hands.

Pueblito Paisa is a place of casual heart-warming encounters like this, a public space in its purest form, which is open to all and is shaped by the diverse people who use it. These are the spaces we need most in increasingly urbanizing cities like London where urban commons are reclaimed by profit-driven developers who are privatizing the city for their own economic benefit. It is places like Latin Village that remind us that cities can exist for people and not only for profit. It is places like this that make me feel “at home”.

“Dériving” in Pueblito Paisa: A sound map

Follow the link for the soundscape and its description (to trace the dérive, refer to the map above):

https://soundcloud.com/emily-sarsam/pueblito-paisa-an-auditory-derive

Follow the link for a Spotify playlist of music heard at Pueblito Paisa:

https://open.spotify.com/user/1111197818/playlist/1y5DaUkpu0nnBbowCwv2hM

References:

Cabrera, Maria. “We need to recognise the latinx community in the UK: Save Pueblito Paisa.” http://www.gal-dem.com/latinx-community-pueblito-paisa/ (accessed December 30, 2017)

Costa-Kostritsky, Valeria. “‘I won’t be displaced again’: the fight to save London's latin market.” https://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/valeria-costa-kostritsky/fight-to-save-london-latin-market (accessed December 30, 2017)

Debord, Guy. “Theory of the Dérive”. 1958. http://www.bopsecrets.org/SI/2.derive.htm (accessed December 30, 2017)

Harvey, David. Rebel Cities: From the Right to the City to the Urban Revolution. Paperback edition. London: Verso, 2013.

Roman-Velazquez, Patria. Valuing the work of small ethnic retail in London: Latin retail at E&C and Seven Sisters. Presentation given at Department of Sociology, UCL. 23 March 2013. https://latinelephant.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/valuing-small-ethnic-retail-space_ec.pdf (accessed December 30, 2017)

Photographs & Map:

All Photographs and the map are my own.

Photo 1 (cover) : An aisle in Pueblito Paisa, 2017.

Photo 2: El Pueblito Paisa Café, 2017.

Photo 3: El EstanQuillo, 2017.

Photo 4: Tiendas Manuelita, 2017.

Photo 5: Horvipan, 2017.

Photo 6: El EstanQuillo, 2017.

#latin village #pueblito paisa #colombia #london #tottenham #haringey #gentrification #soundscape #seven sisters

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Supergirl: Inside Kara and Zor-El’s Return to National City

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This SUPERGIRL article contains spoilers for Season 6, Episode 8, “Welcome Back, Kara!”

Supergirl Season 6 Episode 8

Supergirl is back! But it’s not all ice cream cones and pizza parties just yet. She’s finally reunited with her sister and her team, and she got that long-awaited hug with Lena – without whom she would still be in the Phantom Zone, as she pointed out. But from the first time we see Kara in this episode under the sun lamps, it’s clear that the events of the first half of the season will stay with her for a while.

Guest star/CW legacy player Jason Behr (Roswell, Roswell, NM) caps off his time on Supergirl as Kara’s biological father, Zor-El, by getting to know the Girl of Steel’s life in National City before he heads to Argo City to reunite with his wife and the surviving Kryptonians. Posing as Kara’s Uncle Archie, Zor-El stops by Catco, lifts a big ol’ copy machine, flies to the rescue alongside Supergirl, tries to solve climate change, and apparently even found time to catch up on Sesame Street. We spoke with Behr about the episode, who called it “a real honor” to be asked to be part of the beloved show’s final chapter. “It was a lot of fun to be able to put that ‘S’ on my chest and to play like I was eight years old again.”

Nia and Lena’s bond continues to grow, and it’s a welcome highlight of this great episode, a return to form after the lackluster midseason finale. The pair are both smart, observant people who tend to keep struggles to themselves, who have been missing Kara each in their own way. They’re also uniquely capable of understanding what the other is going through, regarding their strained (strange?) relationships with their mothers. Hopefully they will continue to look out for each other as they set off on the very different journeys this episode sets up: Nia presumably taking on Nyxly and Lena looking for her biological mother.

Throughout the episode, everyone struggles with Kara and Zor-El’s time in the Phantom Zone. Kara tries to manage triggering reminders of the phantoms with friends, family, and at work, which is only compounded by the realization that the team’s efforts to save her unleashed phantoms on innocent people in National City and an assignment to cover how “Supergirl” took on the phantoms in her absence. It’s the kind of emotional fallout that makes sense for someone like Kara, who tries to always be the one shouldering the burden – which is probably why she’s also trying to hide the fact that she’s struggling now that she’s finally back.

Viewers know that Alex is experiencing something similar, but of course both Danvers sisters try to grit through it. She was so afraid for Kara’s safety that she can’t simply go back to normal. Hopefully these two will be able to lean on each other, because Alex is right – the only way out is through, and they can only get through it together. Seeing Kara take inspiration from fellow journalist Iris West-Allen was a nice touch – more of these little moments of connectivity and more acknowledgment of Iris’s journalism career, please!

For his part, Zor-El spent roughly 40 years in a world not only without hope, but thinking he was to blame for the destruction of his planet and the deaths of everyone he knew and loved. It turns out he saved his daughter as well as Argo City, but Zor-El had no idea until Kara came to the Phantom Zone. Behr says that this bleak time was filled with guilt, self-hatred, and sadness for Zor-El, and that the phantoms, “broke him down and sucked the life out of him.”

One thing the episode did especially well was balancing out the heavier elements with lighthearted banter from the team and the sheer joy of seeing the gang back together and Supergirl flying through the air again.

“I feel like after being seven episodes in the Phantom Zone, I think everyone deserved a little levity,” Behr says. And Zor-El deserved to get to know his daughter again, as an adult. “I think he wants to experience the life that Kara has created for herself on Earth, along with some of the other new Kryptonian perks. He wanted to experience some joy.”

Speaking of that joy: Behr got to fly with Supergirl!

“I found myself feeling like my eight-year-old self, running around the front yard with a red towel wrapped around my neck. I felt like all my childhood dreams had come true,” Behr says. “Both [Melissa and I] were grinning ear to ear, but I could definitely feel my face hurting after a little while. It was just a lot of fun.”

There have been many different versions of Zor-El over the years, but the one we’ve come to know on Supergirl is first and foremost a scientist. This episode brings that fact front and center as Zor-El takes on the alien equivalent of real life garbage patches in our oceans, like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. In brutal 2021 irony, Zor-El delivers to Kara what he thinks is going to be shocking, heartbreaking information about the state of Earth’s environment, to which she must respond that everyone already knows. For Zor-El, this is history repeating itself. so he steamrolls anyone and everyone as he leaps into action – solo.

“What he did on Krypton to try to solve that environmental problem didn’t work,” Behr says. “His hubris and his ego drove him past what could have been a different outcome. When he saw on Earth, that he was heading down the same path as Krypton, he saw it as his destiny to make things right to correct these past mistakes. To, to be given a second chance at this magnitude, it’s the second chance of a lifetime.”

Unfortunately, Zor-El falls prey to the same hubris again on Earth, assuming he understands the situation and can solve it on his own, rather than working together with fellow scientists Lena and Brainy. His attempt to right the wrongs of the past, while noble, is, as Behr puts it, “Kind of a tragic thing.” Even six seasons in, it’s remarkable to watch a superhero show that prioritizes teamwork, thoughtfulness, kindness, and slowing down to make sure you have all the necessary information before acting to the extent that Supergirl does.

While that was a hard lesson for Zor-El, it’s good to see Supergirl resisting the temptation to offer up quick fixes by way of alien technology. Frankly, problems like climate change might be more interesting to watch supers tackle than traditional all-powerful villains or disasters, since they’re not mere matters of brawn, brain, speed or flight.

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Behr sees a clear connection between his character’s past and our planet’s future. “When I think about what we are experiencing here on our own planet, it’s the same thing on Krypton. It’s not a simple solution. It’s not a quick fix. It’s not one way, it’s got to be a collective. It’s got to be everyone working together to try to fix this problem, because it is a problem and because the time is running out.”

The post Supergirl: Inside Kara and Zor-El’s Return to National City appeared first on Den of Geek.

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theragamuffininitiative · 7 years

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Winn Schott - He Protects the Stars Masterpost, [P1 S2 E1-11]

Being a ramble of thoughts concerning one Winn Schott Jr., the tech genius and undervalued hero, with much appreciation for his character and reminders of how much they all need him.

Missed Season one? See S1 episodes 1-10 and episodes 11-20.

Without further ado, episodes are under the cut.

2x01, The Adventures of Supergirl

A decent Winnisode by all accounts

It was pointed out to me that Winn is always the one to pass Kara her drink when they’re out in a group. #idon’trecallmyhashtags. #supportive friend #priorities whatever

Winn chiming in on the “to family” toast, because this is his family. #space fam

Friendly reminder that Winn learned Kryptonian because he “got bored.” and that Alex requested his help at the DEO. #genius

“Find out something that my team of highly trained alien experts can’t.” “Challenge accepted.” AND HE DID. #genius

Aside: he promises to figure this out. To Kara. Because she is important to him.

Fanboying over Superman. I don’t have anything intelligent to add over this. Just watch the smol son freak out, it’s beautiful. #protect him

Winn handy translator helped him read the alien pod’s computer and discover the craft’s trajectory, giving them important info on their guest.

“You look Fantastic.”

Is the one who pays attention enough to find out where the explosion originated, that it was directly under a seat, and to realize that seat had significance: it belonged to Lena. This allows Kara and Clark to rush to Lena’s aid, who they thought was a suspect, not a victim, and they arrive just in time to save her life, and thereby contact the villain and find out his plans and save other lives. #hero

the murdery drone reminding him of his dad’s work. Look at our boy casually tossing around what was held as his deepest, darkest secret; making sure his friends don’t see him any differently now that they know. He’s come a long way.

-and immediate concern for Kara. Always. #supportive friend #priorities “always” should become another hashtag here.

Kara immediately asks specifically for Winn’s aid the minute they’re in trouble. And he delivers. #always

One minute Alex asks J’onn to let Winn help on a tiny bit of decoding, and suddenly Winn is in the thick of things, like he saw stuff going down and just grabbed a computer. #hero

Already making Space Dad smile by his antics. Space Dad needs this tbh.

Welcome to the DEO, Winn. You deserve this.

2x02, The Last Children of Mars

Open with sass: “Grumpy”

Quoting Yoda, the second Star Wars reference in as many episodes. Also, aside, it is obvious that Star Wars is Winn’s favorite fandom, it has the most nods and references from our boy of any he mentions. #nerd

“Hey, new kid, go get the alien tech from storage. Ya know, the stuff that almost made everything really bad for us last time. And see if you can improve upon it.” Winn isn’t there more than a day and J’onn already relies on him an incredible amount. Might be a test, might just be resourceful with his assets.

Entrusted with making Superman (and Kara) a specialized suit.

Our favorite non-super hero is loving this DEO tech, locating the Prometheum in seconds.

Those suits aren’t ready because the former IT guy is obviously preoccupied doing... everything else tech wise at the DEO. #give him a break

Winn and science and his big sis, Alex. #nerds #brotp

“Think with less stabbing.” Good advice.

Here’s a bit of backstory: Winn grew up in foster care after his dad was jailed and his mother took off. And they are not happy memories, probably especially because he’s the child of a crazy murderer. But what he’s taken away from that is beautiful. Family is about showing up. Probably this is why he always shows up for his friends, his family. He understands the importance of that.

CANNOT TELL A LIE TO SAVE HIS LIFE

Does anyone else require much, much more of Winn being a nerd with Clark? Give the boy some quality friendship time please.

Also: the slightly ironic swell of the soundtrack as the camera pans around Winn to reveal his emotional expression. It’s earned though: Winn is a hero.

“Thank you, Winn.” Clark is one of a small handful of people on a small handful of occasions to show appreciation for Winn or his efforts. Even though the quickly assembled armor was not ready to withstand the attack, it was helpful, and Clark appreciates it here. Bless.

He’s happy to see Space Dad and Clark finally getting along, and sad to see Superman leave. Also, that hug. Winn is very much a hugging person, and it’s a great bit.

“Next time.” Let there be a next time, yes? Yes.

2x03, Welcome to Earth

Look at that flame-retardant cape helping Kara save the president's life tracking Mon-el.

Just kind of, left on his own while everyone else squees over the president?? Winn honey, I know that in the past episode and a half you have become the single person who gets asked to do everything at the DEO but take a break for a minute

Finds Mon-el. Bravo.

Look at the other, older, more experienced DEO agents behind him, literally just staring in awe and confusion as he works. #genius

Somehow not only finds the signal Mon-el sends, but also tracks down its origin to a dead planet whose existence and name hardly anyone even knows about.

I feel the need to point out here, with Kara's reference to a Kryptonian slur for the Daxamites and her farewell to Clark in the previous episode, that Winn's ignorance of their meaning does not mean he doesn't actually know Kryptonian. Languages are hard and complex things, and Winn probably learned everything he knows from texts, not from oral teaching. A deeply personal phrase like the one Kara uses for Clark, which they say has no easy English translation, and a random curse, are not likely to have been in his vocabulary - but for what it's worth, they are now.

Pretty low on the Winncontent otherwise.

2x04, Survivors

Disappointed Earth doesn't have dragon soccer. Me too, Winn. Me too.

"awesome" and "amazing" are Winn's favorite terms, in case no one has noticed. #give the guy a thesaurus

Hold the phone. Casual mention of "shall I get a strike team to gear up?" after he identifies and locates an alien assailant??? The man has been at the DEO for what, a few days, maybe a week? And he has the authority to call up a strike team for Alex?? I'm not complaining, but, just how tight a ship is J’onn running here?

Just assumes Mon-el is going to use his newfound power for good, to be a hero, because whether it's with his friends, or even with his dad, or with Siobhan, Winn has a steady history of looking for the best in people.

I've been asked to point out the times Winn gets manipulated into things, and here's a good one: Mon-el promising Winn he can make his supersuit and name him, if he'll just let Mon-el do what he wants. Should Winn have listened? No. But he, too, has been cooped up at the DEO for a fair bit and temptation is too strong here. Thanks, Mon-el, for setting up how this relationship is going to work.

Drunk Winn. Oh dear.

Again, Winn cannot keep secrets or tell lies. He's hopeless.

This whole follow-up scene at the DEO is golden. All of it. I love him.

Winn traced J’onn’s phone. No big deal for him, but he did that.

To be fair, Mon-el at least puts in a good word for Winn, admitting he baited him into the whole thing.

Winn and Alex being concerned for Space Dad is an ongoing trope. I love Space Dad and his kids. #space fam

2x05, Crossfire **Winnisode**

Winnisode is how I’m officially labeling episodes with a fair amount of Winn

"Any of these [guns] look familiar?" is in the weary tones of someone who has asked this question multiple times in the past hour.

Displaying, again, concern over what could have happened to Kara in this most recent fight. #always

"I was into Kara." An important line. I don't think this is completely honest, but he's also not good at lying so who knows. In any case, his friendship with Kara is still important to him, and that's good.

Winn never should have let Mon-el watch television.

Playing with a toy gun, are we? After the incident at the toy convention and everything else?? Hmmm. I choose to read this as our irrepressible hero bouncing back, and maybe intentionally moving past fears, maybe because he thinks being an agent in the field would be cool.

Repeatedly going over the Cadmus broadcast, looking for clues. Detail-oriented.

Another instance of Winn being manipulated? Here we go. James here, showing up to "check in" on his friend, when instead all he wants is to trick Winn into giving him info so he can go be a haphazard vigilante. The second he has what he needs, not two minutes into their conversation, he just leaves. He wasn't there to see Winn at all.

This entire scene where Winn confronts James is golden. James is completely valid wanting to do important and worthy things and feeling out of place, but Winn is making total sense. James will get himself killed on this. He isn't a superpowered human, he isn't bulletproof. Winn obviously already worries about his other best friend getting herself hurt, now he's trying to protect his second friend.

“To fight with knowledge - there is no shame in that.” #hero

"Or you can end up just like him" is harsh. However, coming from the guy who is terrified that his own interests and skills will make him turn out like his father? He's not wrong.

Winn trying to remind James that you don't have to don a suit and punch people to be a hero.

Helping Kara implement her plan. Complete dork bumping into Lena. And still trying to protect James, whose actions in this scene, do not help btw. #supportive friend

Saving the day with his new Science Friend, Lena. #more of this please

"We stopped it!" #hero #sunshine child

1) acknowledging James' side of things, and 2) "I would feel kinda bad if you went and got yourself killed and I could have helped you, blablabla." You watch this scene and tell me which one is the more relevant reason for his decision. “Do not run into the line of fire until [the suit] is ready.” Winn will always want to be there to protect the people he cares about when he knows he can help them.

Also just a little bit excited to be a hero, who can blame him.

2x06, Changing **Winnisode**

(not as much screentime, but some solid moments)

Calling the agents to arms (is that also his job on top of everything else? what exactly is in his job description anyway??)

Distracted by Drunk Kara, a new thing. And you can't convince me of "was" into Kara when here he immediately deflates into saltiness about Mon-el partying with Kara.

Alex and J'onn just... leaving Kara for a bemused Winn to take care of lol.

Winn analyzed the laptops. All of them. Literally what are the other agents doing when they are at work?

Identifies and names the alien parasite. #genius #nerd

Another manipulative scene with James, and I was so angry with James here: He has absolutely zero right to demand things of Winn. They're both upset, worried about Kara, but that doesn't make his angry demands warranted. And he realizes he's gone too far, but it's too late. I think they both very much needed this conversation. But Winn is not yours to use, James, and he's doing this completely for you, so back off sir.

Aside: I will never not have feels over the way Winn immediately checks himself when he gets angry here. He confessed to Kara that whenever he gets angry, he wonders if he'll snap and do something terrible. So he doesn't let himself get angry. #protect him

"I'm better at this kind of stuff than anyone you will ever meet." It's nice to see Winn not selling himself short. Is it a little grandiose of a claim? I dunno, so far, he hasn't been wrong.

"Your IT Prophet has a lead." oh Winn. XD

Left to look after the two people who have come to be his family.

While I wish Winn had found a way to convince James not to do this, I appreciate the solemnity he handles the moment with. Yes, James, you need to be sure.

Friendly reminder Winn makes all of Guardian's arsenal. That bomb that just saved Mon-el? His. That shield? This boy is good.

Excited to see Kara. Sorry James, your Man in the Van will #always have a favorite super.

Designed James’ suit so that Kara specifically couldn't discover that it's James.

Feels wrong keeping the secret from Kara. Yes, good.

He hoped that James would take a shot at the hero thing and realize his mistake and be done. But that's not the case, so he'll continue to support James and enjoy being a hero along the way. #supportive friend

2x07, The Darkest Place **Winnisode**

Honestly, S2 holds a promising amount of content for Agent Schott, or at least it does when you know you might get scraps.

Winn Is Not Subtle.

“Three versus one.” Try three versus two, James. Don’t forget about your partner. Partner, not sidekick.

"in every situation Guardian seems to be one step ahead" that is one hecking good "sidekick" Alex

Nice grappling device, Winn *cough* I mean, Guardian.

#highpitched panic

Terrified of going to jail? Gee, I wonder how much thought he's put into that scenario...

Fantasy football: something James is into and invited Winn to get into as well, but not really Winn's thing - something he would do for an excuse to hang out with his friend? Yes.

Alex. Those eyes. He doesn't stand a chance.

That jump.

Offended by her slap. Such a little brother to Alex's big sister. #brotp

Too worried about the James/Guardian situation to be worried for Kara for once, having no idea she could be in danger. He does know she can take care of himself, honestly he probably shouldn't worry as much as he does, but this time it would still be warranted.

“Genius takes time.”

Winn figuring out things no one stopped to think on: noticing the one guy the vigilante let get away and wondering if there was significance to it, following through, making connections, digging up exactly who they need to look into. Call yourself genius anytime, sir, because at least it's not an empty boast.

James trusting Winn's direction when they're in the field. He needs Winn like the rest of them do. Can you imagine Guardian without his man in the van watching his back? (Spoiler, when Winn gets distracted, James ends up with a bullet graze.)

A little offended on Kara's behalf with the whole "hitched" conversation with Mon-el, but mostly amused

Kid in a candy store when his bff uses her powers.

2x08, Medusa

"Casually drop" the revelation about Guardian. Winn, dear, you can't casually drop anything.

"Eliiiiiiza's glazed carroooooots??!"

Okay, but petition Winn gets like... one, just one happy normal safe Thanksgiving someday?

Shoves James forward to make his confession. Pulls him back down when the timing is obviously not right.

Mon-el gives his speech, very similar to the one Winn tried to give last year, and Winn just...sort of freezes... and then just downs his wine. Poor dude.

"One slightly less intense than last year's Thanksgiving." SEE WHAT I MEAN Warring families are definitely worse than ripping holes in space, I agree.

Listen to Kara or do the smart thing? Or try your best to do both?

-Not Winn related, but I just have to point out in the Monopoly scene you can see one of the crew got careless with those glass doors and you can see their feet as Kara goes in to help Mon-el.

Watch Winn's face when Cadmus declares "every alien will die." You can tell his heart just dropped. His bff? The boss who will also become probably his healthiest relationship? Hundreds of innocents? He can't take it.

Calls the strike team anyway, because he would rather take action (and listen to Kara) than err on inaction.

At the end, he was totally going in for a hug there with Space Dad. Just saying. #space fam

Lastly. We were so close, sooooooo close to a Winn and Cisco meet. *sigh*

2x09, Supergirl Lives

I have a love/hate relationship with this episode, but Winn is amazing.

Quick thinking Winn, clothes-lining the baddie with the van door. Bravo. #hero

I can’t watch this scene. 10/10 cannot handle.

THE NEXT PERSON TO POINT A GUN AT THE PRECIOUS SUNSHINE CHILD-

“Winn, you okay?” No James. He isn’t. But thanks because this may be the last time anyone asks.

James had free time so he went home and wrote a fluff opinion piece on himself?? While his best buddy is in need of medical care and a friend. *sigh*

Can we talk about how Winn, regardless of keeping Guardian a secret, chooses to try and cover up his injury rather than seeking sympathy with his “mugging” story? #too pure #a good #protect him

“The future is very bright.”

.2 seconds of concern for Winn being the victim of an armed mugging is over, now we switch to finding out why Alex looks so dang chipper.

I’m sorry James. Not everyone gets a gun pulled on them. That doesn’t happen to normal people. Give Winn a break.

James may truly want to help, but somebody please give him some pointers: Good things to do for your friend: give them a break to recover from a trauma, go visit them for the express purpose of seeing them and being there for them, listen to what they have to say. Winn is always the #supportive friend, but he could definitely use one of those himself.

“It’s Stargate!” #nerd

WINN DESIGNED KARA’S SUIT WITH POCKETS AT THE SHOULDERS AND CAPE. #HERO #GENIUS

Tracing the portal trip to its base planet. #genius

Tooooootally a Captain America shirt right there. #nerd

I could talk about this scene for days but just kudos to Jeremy for brilliantly portraying a panic attack with all of Winn’s little mannerisms here: flight instinct, pushing his sleeves up, trying to breathe normally, stammering, all of it. Bravo.

“Kara needs you. I need you.” #hero

Alex is just amazing in this scene.

Winn + Space = the only OTP

Please tell me whose bright idea it was to leave an untrained agent by himself on a dangerous alien planet with no means of protection other than a bulletproof vest and what appears to be a completely empty weapon holster. ???? #protect him

You are not the red shirt.

“You brought WINN to space?” I hear you, Kara.

Winn taking on a murderous alien with only his wits and a space rock is amazing. #hero

LOOK AT THIS BRAVE CLEVER HERO. Yeah, you had better be watching Kara, look what your friend can do.

“Start the car!” is like my second favorite Mon-el line of all time, just have to put that out there.

Sometimes, being a genius means aggressively hitting alien technology until it does the thing. #genius #sorta #desperate times

Did anyone else notice that Kara pushed Winn safely through the portal and then suddenly he’s still with them at the end? Terrible continuity, but I’m just going to choose to believe that the little space nerd didn’t want to leave it forever quick so quickly.

#no hugs for Winn. :(

Look at him. He is over the moon. Well. Close. ;)

When did he get the space rocks? Collecting samples while fixing the portal? Or from shaking out his vest and shoes and finding space dust there?

WIINN. SCHOTT. PROTECTS. THE. STARS. #hero

2x10, We Could Be Heroes

Winn. Is. Tired.

It’s a tossup whether the fact that James is injured or the fact that Winn’s suit failed is the reasoning for him wanting to tell Kara immediately.

“This is officially the first time I have ever asked you for anything.” ..... He has a point. And all he wants is to tell the truth.

“Maybe she’ll turn all the girlfriends evil again, I don’t know!” Winn Schott is the saltiest, most extra cinnamon roll in the world.

Cries out in anguish when Kara breaks a computer. XD #nerd

Pretty sure if Kara had maybe had a heart to heart with her best friend, it probably would have kept him from going behind their backs to help Guardian again. He wants to prove a point, and prove his worth.

Jack-of-all-trades #8?: Man in the Van. He has too many trades. I’ve lost count.

“Short answer: science,” is the best techno-babble replacement line.

Stuff goes wrong. Calls Kara. Winn isn’t an idiot.

Space Dad lecturing Winn and Winn thinks he’s this close to being dead. XD Bonus of Space Dad complimenting Winn and James and acknowledging their work. Kara, take notes.

When Kara lectures them, James leaves. But Winn waits. He waits to see if Kara has anything else she wants to say. And he looks so disappointed as he walks away. :( #always?

2x11, The Martian Chronicles **Winnisode**

not the most development, but some thrilling heroics

“Didn’t know I’d be seeing you tonight.” “Why wouldn’t you be?” Kara, some people do actually have work schedules that they try to stick to in order to keep their jobs, and most humans actually benefit from them.

That sad smile of his when she says “you could have been killed” It’s the thing he worries about with her. He knows, Kara.

“Have you ever thought that maybe I have a calling too?” This is one of only a handful of times Winn directly stands up for himself, and I want to stand up and applaud.

Gameplanning with Vasquez. YES. Also, good to see at least one of the other DEO agents actually being allowed to do noticeable work.

Confusion and horror in reaction to seeing the White Martian double. #protect him

They just.....wreck all the computers. Winn is really going to have a lot of work.

Spoilers: Everything from this point is not Winn, but the Martian. But that Martian has access to Winn’s memories, including learned abilities and general knowledge, and uses that to his advantage. Also, little note: Winn was probably physically the easiest target in the room. He’s not tactically trained. Maybe that’s why the White Martian took him out, because it needed a hiding place and Winn was a safe bet. On the other hand, the other one also took Alex, so. It may have been more than luck that led the Martians to selecting Winn, the genius whose mind and access they could use to implement their plan.

“Teakwood and tobacco.” I need the story behind this. Current headcanon is that this smell is associate with a foster home.

Martian!Winn noticeably nervous about J’onn’s mind scan.

Covering his initial offense at M’gann’s insult by turning it into a very Winn-like quip.

There is thinly veiled contempt in Martian!Winn’s glance at J’onn. Nice acting, nice directing there.

#whatEvenIsThatHandThingy ???

#ScaryWinn

I...I really hope Jeremy enjoyed this as much as it looks like he did.

Winn has access to the whole system. That’s great. Uuuuuntil an evil alien gets to the reactor.

“We need the real Winn to unlock it.” I love that Alex doesn’t even question if anyone else can beat Martian!Winn’s encryption. However, I’m not sure if this is the real Alex here or not...

Also, seriously Kara, why has it taken you this long to show concern for your friend?

non-Winn-related commentary: #this is not the time for a meaningful chat. #you are going to get blown up.

WINN. UNCONSCIOUS. TIED UP ON THE CEILING. how dare. #protect him

“Whhyyyyy??!” is me when my alarm clock goes off. Probably Winn too.

“OOooHhHh wegottagetouttahere” XD XD

....Recovers faster than Alex. Maybe because he’s already ‘been there done that’ with someone being in his brain?

“About four minutes?” Love him.

Psyching himself up, assuring he can do it, right before seeing the battle going on around the reactor.

Warns J’onn about Armek. #hero #space fam

Space Dad’s priorities: protect the children, stop the bomb. #space fam

Has the courage to move through the fight to the core. He has his fear well in control here, just getting to work. #hero

“Whoever encoded this was a genius.” You. You sir. You are the #genius.

“This did not used to happen at CatCo.” Sweetheart. It wasn’t a lot better.

“Close? We had like twelve seconds to spare!”

“Can’t believe it’s still nighttime.” It’s ok, no one knows how time passes in this town buddy.

Put it on record: Kara just showed appreciation for Winn doing his job and saving the day. He couldn’t have done it alone, but no one else could have done it without him. #always #hero

“Unless you object.” He’s giving her a chance to make amends and she takes it, not giving him any reason not to go with Guardian. #supportive friend. “Be Safe.” She also shows care for him, which has become rare.

#Always.

Alrighty, that’s it for this post! I’ll add the rest of the episodes to a second part, which I shall link from here as soon as it’s posted. :D Hope you enjoyed. Winn Schott deserves the world.

#stop ignoring winn 2k18 #winn schott - he protects the stars #winn schott #appreciation post #supergirl #superglue #masterpost

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