#s4 does a lot of things and a lot of things Very Well

[hanjisungslag]

attack on titan headcanons #15

synopsis: things you argue about 😵‍💫

characters included: eren, mikasa, armin, jean, sasha, connie, reiner, annie, bertolt, levi, erwin and hange.

notes: i’ll be expanding my horizons!! & adding a new anime to my masterlist >.< also, i added a s4 ver to this? i’m not sure if it’s any good but, i just wanted to do it loll

☆ eren jaeger

pointing out the obvious here but, his yearning to kill every single titan. he constantly puts himself in danger, especially since becoming a titan himself and he is just completely blinded by his rage sometimes. you’ve all lost someone to the titans whether it’s your parents, friends or an acquaintance, there’s no need for him to be so reckless!

by the time you guys are 19, he had left. he became awfully reserved and angrier but in a scarier way, he was quieter. he was clearly severely traumatised & that caused many arguments for a multitude of reasons but before you knew it, he left without a word.

☆ mikasa ackerman

her recklessness. she’s very head strong, leaning toward a bit stubborn but most of all, she was caring of those around her. as a rookie, she may have been compared to a 100 man army but, that doesn’t mean she’s indestructible!

by the time you’re 19, a lot has gone to shit. so many people have died, eren is on a genocide mission & everyone is terrified. at any moment, either of you could die. you used to see her as reckless now, you see her as fearless and what’s the harm in trying to save the world?

☆ armin arlert

probably his lack of survival instincts. or his insecurity because yes, he’s witty AND he does have some survival skills in a intellectual sense but sometimes, he does lack it and it’s scary. his insecurity not only has an affect on him but you too. it’s really difficult to deal with and it can be draining. his insecurity links back into his survival skills too, he’s so convinced he’s a weakling that he freezes, he doesn’t try to fight. you just want him to stand on his own two feet confidently.

by the time you’re 19, you don’t argue about much. he’s grown up so much, become so much more confident & everyone knows he gets closer to becoming commander everyday.

☆ jean kirsten

i’m sorry but this man is perfect 😭. I SAID IT, I SAID IT!! when he was younger, he acted like a bit of a arrogant. sort of acted like a big, strong man but he’s not and he knows damn well he ain’t! he’s a team worker, kind, understanding and most of all strong and intelligent! he’s the full package idc idc.

by the time you’re 19… you’re still the same. you’re in a more dire situation but, jean doesn’t change. he’s still the heartfelt, strong, confident boy you met 4 years prior except he has a mullet now (😜).

☆ sasha braus

dare i say pretty much nothing…? like you guys probably barely even bicker. you’re both fairly happy, good people who are strong and can handle yourself! maybe the odd bicker about how she steals your stuff.

by the time you’re 19… gulp.

☆ connie springer

he’s very set on stuff… he’s very blinded by his own opinions and doesn’t see the bigger picture. it’s frustrating trying to explain minute details to him or asking him to see things from others perspectives etc. all because he’s so opinionated!

by the time you’re 19, after all the tragedy and heart break, he’s a lot more of an open book now. although one thing you do bicker about is him cracking jokes at the wrong time. still a major issue to this day i fear.

☆ reiner braun

aha😅 probably the fact he’s a TITAN… yeah, i’d say that was a pretty big turning point in your relationship especially because he just blurted it out?? like one minute you’re setting up cannons and the next, eren is screaming about how your boyfriend and his best friend are the fucking titans??? like?? traumatic much? before that, you didn’t argue about much. only when he put himself in danger for others because yes, it’s admirable but it’s dangerous and stupid. you don’t wanna see him hurt!

by the time you’re 19… well. you broke up. not officially just due to uh, circumstances. awks.

☆ annie leonhart

i don’t think there was necessarily anything major that you guys argued about, definitely just like little bickers about stupid things and annie would usually just close off until you both forget about it or apologised to get it over with. after the discovery of her being a titan and the killing of marco, you were absolutely heartbroken.

by the time you’re 19, you had also broken up unofficially.

☆ bertolt hoover

nothing! i’m sorry he’s just too wonderful and perfect! that was until the inevitable happened, reiner exposed the two of them on a random tuesday. overhearing this conversation, you thought reiner was delusional, bertolt tried his best to get reiner to just shut up & stop talking but next thing you knew you were forced to fight your own boyfriend. you were furious, betrayed, hurt. you tried your best to let out your feelings of anguish while fighting him but, soon he disappeared.

by the time you’re 19… uhhh

☆ levi ackerman

oh dear god um, probably the fact he’s so closed off. it was difficult for him to even get into a relationship with you in the first place but then, he doesn’t allow himself to be open with you. he’s so traumatised and terrified in losing you that he sees no point in opening up. it’s really difficult because he doesn’t really realise he’s doing it but whenever you try to bring it up, he gets defensive.

☆ erwin smith

his need for the ‘secret’. it drives you up the wall, it’s understandable yes, but it’s insane. he’s so devoted and you love that but sometimes, it’s overwhelming and a little scary. you argue about this every once in a while but especially toward the end, when they were so close to erens basement, you wanted to spend the rest of our lives together but erwin was willing to put himself and all his troops on the line for this, you thought it was selfish.

☆ hange zoë

nothing. sorry but just nothing, maybe their experiments with titans because like what the fuck that’s so dangerous? but usually, you know you can count on moblit to make sure they don’t die aha… even when they do get a bit too close to comfort to the titans it’s less of an argument and more of a “hange— jesus, can you please be careful?” while they giggle happily 😭.

[love-byers]

we all know about the parallel of mike hugging karen when he feels like he's lost will, but i've never seen anyone talk about the other parallels in the s1 and s3 heroes scenes. there are more than you think!

will's fake body being pulled out of the quarry VS will (+ the others) pulling out of the driveway for california

a close up of mike looking at both

mike leaving the scene on his bike after 'losing' will

in one, he has no hesitation. he gets his bike and doesn't look back. not at wills fake dead body, not at el (which would be odd if he knew he was in love with her then...), not at dustin and lucas, not at anyone. he keeps moving forward.

in the other, he is full of hesitation as the other bike away, not looking back. mike stays back and takes one last look at will's house, looking nervous, before hesitantly tearing his eyes away and biking off, trailing behind dustin lucas and max.

do i really need to explain the implications of that....

mike entering the wheeler house visibly upset after losing will, and karen immediately noticing

mike seeking out a hug from karen, something he rarely does

mike hugging karen

note how both clips end with mike moving/sinking deeper into the moment. i'm not sure what the best way to describe this is, but im talking about mike shoving his face into karen's shoulder in the s1 scene and his eyes flicking down in the s3 scene. i know it seems like it doesn't matter, but it does. sprinkling things like that in as a director is purposeful! it's showing how mike is processing the events. in s1 he sinks deeper into karen's comfort, further breaking down because he thinks will is dead. in s3 he doesn't do that. he is extremely still, eyes not moving as he is in shock. then his eyes do move at the last moment, showing he is further processing whatever event has occurred, transitioning from shock to really processing whatever happened.

raw emotion vs icy shock.

and oomf @reo-bylerwagon who is a film major told me that the way the camera tilts upward in the s3 clip is used to show that a realization has occurred, or that something new is being revealed. does that not PERFECTLY line up with:

1. the way mike seems extremely shocked as though he has realized something huge

2. the fact that LITERALLY over that moment is a hopper voice over where he says "to turn back the clock, to make things go back to how they were"

and 3. the way he behaves in s4 (being weird about touching will, rink o mania, etc.)

so yeah, these are definitely parallels through and through and it's really interesting. mike has lost will in both, but in different ways. his reactions say a lot about how he's processing the events and how he views them/his relationships.

also reminder that this is not delusional in the slightest because heroes has only played twice and it's in these two sequences.

and to anyone thinking "well they're just trying to show that mike deeply cares for will, just not in a romantic way!"

......

why in the fresh FUCK would they eat up SO MUCH screen time to show that mike platonically cares about will, rather than use that time to develop his relationship with el and, i don't know, show that he loves her??? why would they feed into will's unrequited love like this??? spoiler alert: THEY AREN'T.

that would be doing WAY too much for a relationship that will end in an amicable split so one can get married and one can get over his deep seeded love for the other and navigate the (extremely homophobic) world alone.

like yall are very clearly not writers or creatives in the slightest 💀💀💀 any writer (or anyone with the faintest creative/analytical bone in their body) will immediately understand why that's fucking dumb and makes no sense. yall are just heteronormative af and instead of admitting that it's greatly affecting your perception of the characters you double and TRIPLE down until you sound like a homophobic disaster

also

season 1 - heroes plays (when mike feels like he lost will)

season 2 - heroes does not play

season 3 - heroes plays (when mike feels like he lost will)

seasons 4 - heroes does not play

season 5 - heroes will play...? perhaps the original david bowie version? and byler will finally kiss as though nothing could fall and the shame will be on the other side? and they can be heroes? just for one day?

so yeah anyways byler endgame

[surelysilly]

i love your King Of Hell Danny (superphantom) au and i would greatly (very much) appreciate it if you could talk more about it (King Of Hell Danny) i love his (danny) smug cat energy (smug) in all of your drawing for it (hell is under New Management)

i hope you're ready for this some rambling but ask and you shall receive!!! yes i waited to post this for superphantom week i gotta shill for my own event, y'know :9

So. You want to know more about King of Hell Danny, is it?

part 1 / part 2 / part 3 / part 4 / part 5

Well. Well. He's certainly Danny. Or more specifically I've decided as of recent, Dark Danny. I'm waffling on whether he's Dan Dark Danny or just... Phantom sans Plasimus. The latter feels less likely as i try to flesh him out, but you never know with these guys... he does prefer to look like his 14 yr old self though.

But whatever version he is of himself... it's post-TUE, and he hates himself more than anyone is allowed to know.

Not sure exactly how he ended up in the SPNverse (portal probably!), but he'd definitely prefer going back to his own world/dimension in a heavily buried sense of self-flagellation and unreliable narrator-ness.

Everyone is waiting for him there, not here, wherever he is exactly. This implies anyone is left alive, but he never said that. People (Crowley, etc.) just assume so.

and he's the worst lil jerk you could ever meet, at a first, second, and third, glance, anyway.

Smug cat, indeed. He does what he wants, when he wants, how he wants, and taking over Hell felt right. (isn't that where he'd go? he thinks, after learning Hell is actually real.)

he's overpowered for sure, but it also comes from a misconception for what he is. Not a demon, not human, a secret Third Thing: weird ghost.

i like to think most regular ghost counter measures work on him, but no one thinks to try them because that ain't no ghost??? He plays the part really well though, pretending to be a demon (and gets mislabelled a crossroads demon for his red eyes) -- it doesn't bother him to kill people, but he doesn't go out of his way to do it anymore.

KOH!Danny having it out for the Winchesters is a very thoughtless and fun thing, and it would piss him off when they try to summon Crowley, but in all actuality, he'd probably end up begrudgingly working with them or something.

And ultimately betray them.

I also think his goal would be to fuse with Lucifer when he's freed from the Cage. That should give him enough power to bust a hole back to his OG dimension, right?

maybe. Who knows.

You can certainly find him at DIY skateparks across the globe. He's an asshole to anyone and everyone, but god have mercy on anyone looking to cause trouble while he's trying to have a good time (he feels guilty about it, though, having fun -- it's a circle of shame/guilt/fuck it we ball mentality, here for a good time not a long time).

he can 'see' Castiel's wings and if in his presense, will pluck at them because he's annoying like that.

Crowley became his lap dog though, regardless of intial beheadings because... Hell generates a lot of paperwork the way Crowley was running it, and KOH!Danny don't got the time for all of that.

eventually I'm sure someone will figure him out, ghost weaknesses and all, but it's not 1:1 SPNverse ghost: no bones to burn, no records of him being alive ever, etc., but he's definitely solid enough.

i could see a later quest like what the Winchesters did to find Crowley's remains, but they'd spiral down a hole of "where hell did this creature even come from???" and the Men of Letters/Angels/anyone wouldn't know jack about what he even is exactly.

i'm so rusty on SPN though... but those are my cobbled together ideas. I'd place him mid-ish seasons Supernatural (because ive only really seen s4 thru s8...) but i think the 'hijinks' of later seasons could be fun with the seriousness of early, early seasons sprinked in!

[miwiheroes]

The Love Monologue + El's Arc

This is another post going onto my byler slides :)))

So today I wanted to talk about how the Love monologue is not a closer to El's arc like a lot of Milkvan shippers think it was. To me, a lot of them seem to look at this monologue in a black and white way - she was about to die and Mike spoke to her and then she escaped the vines so that means he loves her and she needed him to say it. This take is very surface level and barely seems to acknowledge all that El has been through in S4, instead just taking note of how she's interacted with Mike.

She's been apart from Mike this whole time for a reason - she needs to figure out who she is, she needs to learn to love herself. To me, that is her main arc in the entire show. Finding a family who loves her unconditionally, but also finding the strength to love herself instead of pleading for kindness from others.

Her arc with Papa in this show, to me, clearly goes:

Papa uses El to get what he wants: To find a gate to the UD to find Henry

He manipulates her into doing this by only showing her the love she needs when she does what he wants: Locks her away when she refuses to use her powers. Shows love when she improves her powers.

In s4, he poses himself as the only one who would ever accept her for causing everything: Takes her into the lab but still blames her for being manipulated by Henry. Implying she needs him for her own sense of self-worth.

In the end she says that he is in fact the monster and she is not to blame: Therefore meaning she doesn't need outward love from Papa to believe she is useful.

Papa had trapped her with a collar. When he's almost dead in the desert at the Byers-Hopper reunition thing, he is the one to open back up the collar. He says I'm proud of you. He says I've only ever wanted to help you. But this isn't as an act of love. It's all an act of self-preservation - just like all the other times he 'showed' love towards her. It was all for his gain. He hoped that she still had some guilt inside her to save him. He hoped she still had that desire for him to validate her inside him.

But she doesn't. She walks away. She says goodbye as an act of self-love. She doesn't need him anymore, she's not guilty about feeling like the monster anymore.

And since Papa is literally paralleled with Mike in the same Season?

Well. We can say that her arc with him is very different, but similar but in the sense that Mike gives her normalcy, makes her feel good about her powers but only when they save people or don't hurt anyone. He doesn't do it on purpose, but he inadvertently makes El feel like she needs his approval at the beginning of the season.

Mike's not an abusive figure, but her old abusive childhood means she pleads for unconditional love from Mike in order to calm her insecurities about being a Monster.

She creates an ideal version of herself for Mike at the beginning of this season because she doesn't have powers anymore which is what he puts her on a pedestal for, and continues to. Even during the monologue.

When that ideal image is shattered by her attacking Angela, Mike shows his disgust. And she breaks down, revealing why she felt the need to create the idealised version: she wanted Mike to love her. And why did she want her to love him? So she doesn't feel like a monster which is how Brenner made her feel. FUCK MAN-

She needs to stop tying her self-worth to men.

Anyways, so what I'm saying through all this is that El, after all that was said and done with Papa, it should be clear to the audience now that she doesn't need outward love to make her feel like she isn't a monster. She needs self-love.

Now, I wanted to point out something that I find interesting. In the scene in SBP where Mike and El joke around and then El gets kind of serious: I believe she was going to let him down easy and she knew he was going to as well.

Hear me out. Watch this scene. Can you image this carrying onto end up being Mike saying "I love you" at the end?

Mike's facial expressions of sadness and remorse, like he's about to apologise instead. El's faces of quiet sadness at the mention of their fight (it's a fight you can't come back from remember) - and how she says 'I missed you' like she's trying to cheer him up before saying something?

He breathes a sigh of relief because she's not mad. Meaning: he can apologise instead of feeling the need to do what she was mad at him for not doing!!! Now that he knows she's not mad at him for the fight, he can now begin to talk to her about the truth and "explain" himself.

The music has quiet, wistful, almost bittersweet notes to it that indicate not something hopeful like an I love you that we 'wanted'.

If this was supposed to be an "I love you" moment, then why did him saying it later seem like such a big deal? Why did Will need to be the one to push him to do it?

And besides, he gets interrupted, leaving the viewers to guess what they were actually going to do, making his love monologue seem different to what he was actually going to say here. And we know that without Will, the monologue would never have happened.

So now, we get to the monologue.

This is what we know already: the conclusion of El's arc with Papa in this season is her not needing him to feel good about herself and feel validated. She lets him go. Then, she meets up with Mike and starts a conversation that seems bittersweet rather than about them loving each other. Mike also suspects that El doesn't need him anymore - but Will, not knowing about El's true feelings or anything, sacrifices his own feelings to save their relationship and says Mike is the heart of the party and El's saviour.

So when Will again tells him this in a crucial moment where it seems like al is lost - Mike reverts what he was going to do in the earlier quieter scene and instead tells her what he believes he should.

And this is her reaction:

Yeah. I have another post on here about how this moment isn't supposed to read as satisfying or an amazing turning point, but from everything in El's story this season, Mike telling her that he loves her just......doesn't feel like what she needs???

In this scene, she's literally being told by Henry that it is all her fault that he is the way he is, manipulating her into thinking that she is at fault for even the mind flayer and Will's disappearance etc. Then he tells her that he's now going to kill all her friends because they've all already lost, so he makes her "watch" as he kills Max.

The whole time as El's listening to Mike talking, she has her eyes closed, she looks extremely afraid still, and nothing is happening. The vines are still tightening around her throat for like 3 minutes of this monologue - We have learned from her arc this season that she is trying to realise that she is not a monster by herself. She doesn't need Papa to think she is useful, she doesn't need Mike to love her to love herself.

Which is why the love monologue doesn't work until El looks at Max and is reminded to Fight.

Compare the pic of El above this one to this pic of El. They have practically the same expression except her eyes are open. The first pic is from the beginning of the monologue and this one is from the end. El's emotions never fucking changed until she looked over at Max. She was afraid the whole time - and then boom. Not anymore:

She was able to get herself out of the vines because she is reminded to fight and that she is good at fighting - she uses self-confidence to get out. Not Mike's words about her being a Superhero which overexaggerate and idealise her again just like in the love monologue.

This girl:

Is in a completely different place than this girl:

So that's why Mike saying the exact same things about being a superhero does not mean the monologue at face value is a good arc closer for El this season. Well, clearly not for the world, because El "lost" which are Mike's own words he later says at the end of the season.

Hopefully this made sense <3

[gayofthefae]

Screen time reminder that every time Mike and Will are together they're one on one almost the entire time, except for the the occasions Mike was "ignoring" him aka still spending all his screen time with him but with other people there. The only time they were apart was season 1 and Mike talked about him the whole time.

Meanwhile Mike and El's screentime is almost exclusively in a group setting (again, something considered so crazy and offensive to Byler that it consistently builds to them having fights about it because it is so different from normal), and they spend 2 entire seasons apart without contact with one if not both of their main plotlines not even mentioning the other during that time.

And just because I've counted and mentioned it before, I will also be noting that the number of episodes in which Mike and El are romantically together, physically together, AND happy (in the context of their relationship, I am not factoring supernatural stress) is.............three. 3. 1x08, 3x01, and 4x09. In all other episodes they are not yet dating, broken up, only pretending to be happy, or openly fighting. We also only really see them one on one when it is meant to upset other people - s1 Lucas, s3 Hopper, s4 Will and consistently in those scenes themselves those characters are revealed to be upsetedly observing the one on one scene.

The show itself dedicated its screentime to saying:

"Mike and Will are like a couple: happy spending lots of time together one on one and unhappy when they don't. Similar to the screen time of Jancy, Jopper, and Lumax."

"Mike and El are like friends: happy spending lots of time together in a group with occasional one on ones. Similar to how they are seen interacting with other party members. Mike, for example, is very close with Lucas and Dustin but mostly spends time with them in groups with only the occasional one on one with Lucas in season 3 and Dustin in season 4. But this does not undercut the fact that they are still deeply close."

In screen time is divided and awarded, Mike and Will are treated like the couples. Mike and El are treated like any two members of the party - any two friends.

And I would like to repeat one more time because this is the real new observation and it's a crazy contrast:

The primary way Mike and El spend time together, even portrayed as romantic build up at times, when applied to Mike and Will, deeply upsets the characters in how distant and unromantic it is, to the point of it repeatedly almost tearing apart their relationship.

Remind me again the last time you saw the claim by a show that if the best friends were to act like the "endgame" romantic interests they would feel not close enough to each other? Oh right, never.

Impersonating your "main couple" for a few days almost tore real love interests apart at the seams. Will thinks he wants Mike to treat him how he treats El, but Mike has before and Will HATED it because of how deeply platonic and romantically rejecting it felt.

In screentime, this is El when Mike treats her, as I described, how he might treat Lucas or Dustin.

And this is Will when Mike treats him the same

Gee I wonder what the ideal nature of their relationships to create a happy ending would be...

I also acknowledge the specifics of the behavior are different but with that once again, it's all about associations. With that behavior, they are associating that negativity with a lack of one on one time between Mike and Will. And, of course, because it is so abnormal for them, the only thing that would motivate that distance in the first place for Mike would be that snarkiness or avoidance. El is happy because to Mike, that is closeness with her so he is doing well. Will is unhappy because to Mike, that is distance from him so he is being avoidant.

They also consistently associate one on ones with El with unhappiness in a way that Will does not experience them.

Mike treating Will like El makes Will feel discarded and distanced from. Mike treating El like Will makes her feel forced and lied to.

Because that is what's happening. We aren't the only ones correctly assessing that that behavior is wrong and that is why what works for one does not work for the other. They are observing Mike correctly, that he is putting in effort to do those things. Will feels Mike actively pushing away and El feels the effort required of him to force himself closer. They can feel that these are not relaxed decisions or passive states in this relationship, leaving Will to think he must want to leave to put such effort into it and El to think he must be reluctant to be around her if he has to try so hard.

Because what they are trying to tell us is that this alignment is wrong. And specifically, of course, hint to us that it needs to be switched.

That is why they have NAILED the so often fumbled "these two getting together WILL solve all their relationship problems". Because every problem in both relationships comes from simply forcing pieces that don't fit into the wrong slots. Switch them, and it's easy. It's simple.

(this is also why so many people blame Mike, thinking he should -and COULD- just go back to what he was doing when it worked and that it's contrived and pointless of him to have changed it in the first place - not realizing that the reason he stopped was because he realized the deeper meaning of why *that's* what worked, a reason most viewers haven't even realized exists)

[sexcromancy]

it's so bonkers that every time angel comes back on btvs he acts as though it is buffy who doesn't want them to be together. bro YOU left HER. and she begged him not to... but every time he comes back he is like. why do you have another boyfriend. why can't we be together. I can resist temptation [immediately proceeds to get overwhelmed and back out]. and my favorite - in the s1 angel episode with buffy, when she comes to find faith, he YELLS AT HER about how he is building his own life and moving on and how dare she come back here expecting something. when she was literally not even there for himmmm oh my god he makes me sick. okay anyway. analysis. there's a very interesting meta aspect to this re: the different television shows. when angel is on btvs or vice versa, there is an artificial limit to how long they can be there. it seems to be pretty much one scene at a time; angel is in the s4 buffy episode a bit longer but not by much. that limit has to be reflected somehow in their dynamic, hence the heightened tension of every interaction. there has to be a reason they can't stay, and/or a reason to leave. there's also genre to consider. buffy has to have forward momentum in her journey bc she is on a Coming Of Age Show, so she can't be constantly hung up on angel and begging for him to come back. she does periodically make it clear that he is still in her heart, but ultimately, her current relationships are a huge part of the fabric of the show. conversely, angel's genre is noir (as I understand it?) and noir really benefits from a tragic hero mourning a doomed romance. plus, boreanaz is so good at looking miserable. so even though angel chooses to leave, it is framed in retrospect as a choice he was forced to make for Buffy's benefit. he will always, always play the tortured hero here, as though hurting her was necessary and beneficial for her. was it? I guess, because she didn't have to look at his stupid face anymore, and because she does eventually reach a place where - altho she does not outright reject him in the s7 finale - she is able to articulate that she might not need or want him ever again, and she needs to figure that out for herself. crucially the show is only willing to dissipate the long term will they won't they tension as btvs is ending. however, leaving was DEFINITELY good for angel and for boreanaz, because both character and actor were now able to lead his own show. and again it comes back to genre - with an older leading man, angel can be a more serious and lore-driven show than buffy. over and over again when I asked friends who've watched both shows lore-based questions, they said, oh well that's covered in angel. which is INFURIATING. of course the show led by a man is going to be the one where all that happens, especially once Giles leaves. of course btvs has to maintain the emotional core, the relationship focus, everything a Girl Show does. and I'm not even necessarily saying I wanted more lore - generally I get bored by it - but to see such a stark contrast is agonizing. alright I don't have like a cogent thesis for this post but basically that's a lot of stuff I've been thinking about re: bangel now that I can look at the whole thing. There Will Be More

[theymightbeclerics]

Will and El’s arcs are working in reverse to each other.

Will’s gonna end the show how El started it, with powers, escaping trauma and entering a relationship with Mike. El’s gonna end the show with everything Will started with, fully formed close friendships (Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Max), a loving family (especially with Joyce and Jonathan) and spending a lot of time in the upsidedown.

Both of them have been slowly making this transition into what each other has, to completely form their arcs. This also works well with their established dynamic as they’re usually connected and paralleled to each other.

The switch is necessary because we see these things the other has as the other’s deepest desires. El’s arc has been continuously centred around family (biological, found and bond wise) and she’s the one seeking this every season, she’s the one who explores this out of her own want and curiosity. Will’s arc has always had his sexuality looming over each plot point and the writers have been gradually building his feelings for Mike since the very beginning.

Each of these things drive their respective characters, they’re constant, unwavering plot points being shown to the audience constantly. The audience spends the entirety of s4 rooting for El to reunite with Hopper, to get away from papa and to save Max. While her relationship with Mike is still an element, it’s completely overshadowed by those key storylines (in other words it becomes irrelevant, like their relationship). The audience is also (supposed to be) rooting for Will’s happiness which would happen if Mike returned his feelings (he does).

With these wants being a constant in each character and their characters being parallels to each other, it makes the most sense for both of them to have been switching arcs the entire show.

[soursquare68]

I think the most jarring scenes in S4 are the two b-roll shots of the planes taking off, and I was irked by them until I realized something.

The first plane that takes off is Mike going to Cali and the second plane is Joyce and Murray going to Alaska.

In the scene after the plane b-roll for Joyce and Murray, the flight attendant assumes that they are married and Joyce does not deny it. Obviously, we the audience and them the characters know that's not the case, but everyone around them would assume that to be true. The reason Joyce wouldn't deny it is because there's no point in making a fuss, but we saw that she denied it with Hopper in S3 because she genuinely felt romantic feelings towards him. This denial is a common romantic trope in all types of media, and so it wouldn't make sense to use with Joyce and Murray; this is the writers establishing this as a trope they specifically and intentionally use. In this case they choose not to use it because the situation is not romantic. (we will come back to this VERY soon).

As the scene stands by itself it has literally no purpose other than the above point, a strange transition, and to potentially parallel the other scene that happens right after plane b-roll.

Of course that scene is the infamous airport scene. How I think these scenes relate to each other is through both characters not denying a relationship that isn't real. Of course, that's more obvious and truly what's happening in Joyce's case, but more metaphorical in Mike's. During the airport scene, it's very obvious Mike is trying to be someone he's not (El does the same thing too), their relationship isn't working, but he's trying to hold onto the threads that are left. He's not facing the truth that their relationship is falling apart, and is built on a lie because he does not feel anything romantically towards El. The same way Joyce does not feel anything romantically about Murray.

The real kicker to it all though, and what points specifically to Byler, is the way the writers establish denial as leading to romantic feelings. I think we're all familiar with the Rink - O - Mania fight, specifically the dialogue, "and us?" / "We're friends. We're friends." / "Well, we used to be best friends." Mike's line here is his own denial of there being anything more between him and Will (Which, yeah, the fact that he jumped to that conclusion in the first place is already very byler coded).

As a side note, I'd also like to mention that the ST writers seem to put a lot of importance in lines that repeat. Mike repeating "we're friends" twice, is not an accident, and has a deeper meaning. (Most likely to show that Mike is thinking there could be something more; he's creating the possibility with his words.)

So, in conclusion, the ST writers have very purposefully used denial as a romantic trope throughout the seasons (Jancy + Jopper + Steve's feelings for Robin + early Mileven + early Stancy) I think the only relationships that haven't done this are Duzie, Lumax, and Rovickie if my memory is correct. And the one time, (again if my memory is correct), a pair is assumed to be a couple and they are 100% not one, there is no denial of it.

That only leaves Byler.

As a final side note, I'd like to mention Stobin (Specifically the unrequited feelings). One might argue that since Stobin was unrequited that Byler could also fall into that same category, however it's important to know that Steve was denying his own feelings towards Robin, the same way Mike is denying his feelings for Will. We already know Will is canonically in love with Mike, that's not a problem. The only reason why Stobin didn't work out is because Robin couldn't love Steve romantically, but that's not going to be a problem with Byler because Mike is in the same spot that Steve was.

Anyways, this was long. Let me know if I've missed anything!

TLDR: Byler is Endgame.

[raayllum]

Is there like‚ some kind of symbolism of Claudia fixing Callum's hair VS Rayla lovely touching it?

There's probably a whole mini meta just waiting in TDP about hair (how Soren parts his hair switching post-timeskip to reflect how he's literally switched sides; Claudia's moon symbolism hair, which I do have a meta for in my drafts rn) so to put it simply: yes, I think so!

Claudia cares a lot about appearances. This ties into how much she hates feeling judged ("you're doing it again prince judy-face!" / "here to judge me, captain true heart?"). She values things looking put together, largely because she puts more emphasis on things being Physically okay rather than considering someone's emotional state (i.e. overruling Viren and Soren in S2 and S4 respectively). We see this overtly in "Lost Child":

“You’re still here. Even though I’m…” She gestured at herself, to something beyond the soil-soaked boots and tearstained face: a total mess. [...] A moment later, she blinked into the pond; her reflection beamed up at her. Her eyes brighter, her face fuller, more color in her cheeks. Small changes, but still—There I am, she thought.

We also see this in show canon. She checks with the little leaf-cub creature in 6x04 that her new haircut suits her. She also reflects that maybe seeing the creature as parts is bad, implicitly, because the creature is so cute/adorable. (This is in stark contrast to Ezran who reflects a season earlier in 5x06 that sea slugs may look gross, but they have a rich inner life and he's regularly made friends with them. Post with that comparison here)

Another consistent facet of Claudia is that her compliments are sometimes not entirely compliments. This happens just once with Terry ("Claudia says that makes me weird, and wonderful, so...") as she more readily compliments him ("you saved the day!" / "goofy and glorious just like you!"), but it happens basically any of the few times she compliments/offers praise etc. to Callum in any manner.

It was completely ridiculous. Adorable. Did you just say adorable? Did I? (1x02)

That was very confident Callum. Oh, thanks. Even if your hair's a little messy. (2x02)

You didn't open it? Why would I do that? [The letter] is for you. Though I could've easily opened it and then resealed it with magic. Did you? Did I? We may never know. But no. No.

Yeah, you always were a very clever human, weren't you, Callum? (4x08)

Impressive, Callum. Somehow you learned primal magic. But dark magic will always have the edge. (7x07)

(AKA she giveth and she taketh away.)

So Claudia fixes Callum's hair. She compliments him, but also makes him more nervous. She adjusts his appearance to something she thinks is 'better' (cleaner). Absolutely none of it is malicious, but it does reaffirm that when crushing on her Callum never felt entirely comfortable around her despite being longtime friends, whereas even though Rayla can be much gruffer, Callum feels a lot more comfortable around her (even once he develops feelings) in general.

So there's the obvious level of comfort (Rayla) vs non-comfort (Claudia), as well as a longstanding childhood crush vs what has blossomed into more mature, enduring love of 3+ years as of the end of 7x09.

Claudia sees that his hair is messy and points it out; Rayla sees that his hair is messy and quietly fixes it herself, doing so simply and leaving Callum looking more relaxed than before, rather than less like in 2x02.

Rayla, as we know, doesn't really care about appearances. She routinely doesn't care about titles, she goes with what her gut tells her, and anytime she expresses distress over her appearance ("I'm a mess") it's scaffolded under "I'm showing weakness" rather "I look bad". There's a similar fear of judgement lurking underneath as Claudia's, but I don't think Rayla sees herself as a Good Person the same Claudia does, and therefore doesn't have the need to keep seeing herself that way in the same manner.

Either way, Callum is always Callum to her ("You're so gross" with a fond smile on her face; his scarf is smelly and he knows it and just smirks at her over it; "you're a good person, Callum, maybe the goodest," etc), and always her Callum — her heart, her home, her best friend and partner — and that's what the 7x09 scene is ultimately about, I think.

Do me the honour of letting me talk a bit about hair-touching and white streaks, though, for a second, when it comes to Claudia, Terry, Callum, and Rayla.

Because despite Claudia and Terry being very touchy-feely for 3.5/4 seasons, Terry never once touches Claudia's hair in quite the same manner or framing that we see in 7x09. He touches her hair, sure — he braids it for her and then later cuts it — but this is the closest we get to an adjustment, which is when he's bathing her and cleaning her up in 6x03.

Now, pushing the white hair and all its associations to get to Claudia, flesh and blood and very much still alive, underneath would be ripe enough as a symbolic examination, honestly. The reason why this feels so different to me than 7x09, I think then, is that there are two scenes 7x09 mirrors when it comes to someone touching Claudia's hair in the "facing the camera, strands on the face/cheek" directly shot.

And it's herself.

SOREN: You saw what Dad turned Kasef into. What Dad turned into. Claudia, you're changing too. (3x07)

CLAUDIA: But... I'm still nice. I'm still me. (7x09)

In both instances, she's not willing to admit that Soren is right / that she's changed (or, arguably, that she needs to change just in the opposite direction). She touches it first as a sign of shame in the face of her brother's words, the first white streak in her dark hair. Then she touches one of the few dark streaks that remain, reassuring herself (because nobody else will or can at this point) that she's still the person she thinks of herself as, someone who's still nice ('good').

Callum, meanwhile, never touches his white streak. He wakes Rayla up in the middle of the night (which she takes much better than I would, I can say that much) and offers his scarf, asking if she trusts him. But Rayla notices his hair is a little askew, so she tidies it for him. And the whole time, his expression is completely open, smiling and trusting her in turn... even when she hasn't actually answered his question yet, and his expression softens even before she has too.

She doesn't tuck or hide it away. It's a part of him, and therefore a part she loves ("Everything"). And he knows it.

[eliotquillon]

NO YOU’RE RIGHT. YOU’RE SO RIGHT. i love hilson as much as the next guy but the fandom tendency to completely devalue the lives of female characters is unbearable. killing amber off in the first place was a pretty egregious example of fridging but the fandom almost celebrating it for the hilson potential is just like. come on guys.

on another note, i would’ve loved to see an AU where amber lived and we got to see more of her and house’s dynamic when they were social equals (eg. when she was dating wilson and not employed at PPTH). do you think they ever could’ve been friends?

yeah this is the thing. on the one hand, it’s hard to give the fandom too much shit for this when so much of amber’s writing in canon is just straight up misogynistic anyway—the fridging, everyone calling her ‘cutthroat bitch’ (which, come on, is not being used in the funny ‘lol slay queen’ reclaimed sense that it might be today and that i think a lot of the 2025 fandom interprets it as; it’s a derogatory nickname coined by a man that is clearly meant to put her down), being punished by the narrative for pulling the exact same shit as house and other male characters, etc. on the other hand…try harder, lol.

and like: we find out a lot of fascinating things about amber. i think there's probably a kernel of truth in her frustrated 'mommy didn't love me enough, daddy expected too much from me' explanation as to why she loves to win so much in games, given her later claim that before wilson she thought she had to choose between love and respect. if there is, that's a massive parallel to chase--who explicitly tells house to hire her and who she openly schemes with in 97 seconds, why does nobody talk about that--but even if there isn't, it's still fascinating that THAT'S where her mind goes to for an explanation that'll get house off her back, right? she goes through this whole off-screen character arc--she leaves games 'trying not to care', and returns relatively well-adjusted as wilson's new girlfriend a few episode later--and nobody seems interested in what happened there, what drew her to wilson specifically. part of the whole perversion of her hallucination form in s5 is that even at her worst, amber was never that cruel. there is so much to go off of here. i guarantee if she were a man she'd be a top 5 fandom character. can anyone fucking hear me. hello....

anyway: could amber and house ever have been friends? i'm gonna say something controversial: i think by the time amber died, they already sort of were. something nobody talks about AGAIN is that house's head specifically really...toys with this idea that house was attracted to amber. the woman who takes her place in his hallucinations is objectively very attractive. there's that whole eroticised tying-the-scarf-around-the-leg lap sequence. house fumbles and gets flustered when she pops up during the hypnosis session, and doesn't refute wilson when he points out that this is because house genuinely respects her. even that night at the bar: he doesn't shove her away. he goads her to stay for a drink. he sits and talks with her on the bus. this is what i mean when i say i think house wanted amber to live for her own sake: by the time she died, he'd stopped seeing her solely as a reflection of himself. he liked her. in that dream-vision on the bus after her death, he confides in her as an equal: wilson is going to hate me. i've often wondered if what might have driven the wedge between house and wilson in an alternate s4 ending where amber lived is house liking her too much, as a flipside to the whole 'mom said it's my turn on the xbox wilson' custody dispute he has going on with her in s4; we never do find out why house got so drunk that night in the first place, and i suspect in a longer s4 it might've been more heavily hinted that he had feelings for her with zero intent of acting on them. all this to say: yeah, i think they would have been friends.

[honest-moth-of-silver-grove]

Yan! Alucard post season 4 with a targaryen reader and has dragons like daenerys from game of thrones or house of the dragon, how would they meet and interact? Would the first meet when the trio see the dragons flying over the village and think it is a threat or a attack, sorry if I'm ranting I just think the idea has so much potential and I can't write to save my life so I'm passing it to you❤️❤️

A/N: Okay so full disclosure, I’m not the hugest Game of Thrones fan, but I did watch a fair amount of the series (mainly for Khalessi lol, they did her so dirty in the finale!). And sorry for being MIA, just lots of real-life crap I’ve been dealing with. 

Yandere Alucard (Post S4) w/ a Targaryen Reader

When our Targaryen reader first hears of a village founded under a famous monster hunter's name, yet supposedly run by the Alucard operated out of Dracula’s castle, she decides she has to see it for herself. 

Much like Trevor Belmont, she is the last of her kind, the bloodline ends with her, and as such, the dragon(s) in her possession are her utmost responsibility. If she cannot find someone worthy of continuing the Targaryen line, then she will have to settle for her family’s legacy existing solely as one more relic in the Belmont hold. Without any remaining relatives to marry to keep her lineage pure, she sets atop her noble dragon steed and sets out for Village Belmont, determined to find a worthy successor, and if not, then at the very least, a worthy grave. 

When she first flies over the village, it is a cloudy day; her dragon’s looming shadow initially goes unnoticed. But soon enough her dragon’s large wingspan wafts the gray skies away, leaving her and her majestic beast very little coverage. 

At first sight of the beast, villagers cry and scream out, as they mistake her dragon companion for yet another wandering night creature, hellbent on eating their children and pillaging their livestock. 

They alert Greta, who arrives on the scene at the same time as Alucard, his heightened vampiric senses having heard the loud thwap, thwap of the dragon’s wingspan long before the villagers could see it. 

Greta organizes her troops to gather their weapons- pitchforks, swords, scythes- those sorts of things and stand ready at the entrance to the castle while at the same time, the less athletically inclined villagers are ushered inside to safety. 

As the Targaryen descends with her dragon, she gives clear instructions not to harm the humans gathered before her, even though the mob before them has their weapons drawn and ready. 

Descending from the sky, our Targaryen reader looks like a goddess, some sort of mythical queen, the elements of both wind and flame at her command. Alucard is immediately drawn to her, her presence, and her power. Although, he is weary of her as well. Too many have come to claim the power vacuum left by his father’s death, and he will not tolerate any vampires or supernatural beings staking a claim on his childhood home, his new village. Even if they are both insanely beautiful and a dragon rider. 

Sypha and Trevor make it outside by the time the young woman dismounts. As she does, she raises her hands in surrender. 

“I am not here to cause anyone harm. I am here to ask a great favor of the keepers of this Village Belmont.”

The trio approaches her, Greta staying behind, her army of villagers at the ready. 

She explains who she is, how special her bloodline is, and how she, the current mother of dragons, is the last of her kind. She speaks mainly to Trevor, as he is the last of the famed Belmonts which angers Alucad greatly, although he doesn't understand why. All he knows is a rather impudent voice inside his head insists that she should be talking to him! Not that stupid Trevor! After all, it’s his castle and his hold, Belmont gifted it to him for safekeeping! 

The young Targaryen asks Trevor if he would accept the privilege and the honor of keeping her dragon eggs safe deep within his hold until the time is right for them to be called upon. Of course, Alucard interrupts, saying that while dragon eggs would certainly be a first for the Belmont hold, he should like to examine them, as well as her and her dragon before making any commitments. 

There’s a tense moment. Behind her, her dragon’s nostrils flare as it heavily breathes out. It seems she doesn't like to be questioned, and neither does her rider. 

Alucard must be careful here. Yes, he’s smart and manipulative as a yandere but we are talking about a Targaryen here. Make no mistake, if he steps out of line enough, or causes her enough harm, he and his whole town will get barbequed. (Despite the threat, this incredible amount of power is one of the things about her Alucard finds the most sexy lol.)

I imagine the group forms a fragile allyship at first. The Targaryen teaches the villagers about her people and dragons. The orphaned children of course fall in love with her dragon, who to their credit, is very patient with them, but also lets them know when to back off with a shake of their large head or a deep growl from within their belly. She wants them to experience some bonding with the creature but she also doesn’t want them to grow too friendly and become complacent when encountering wild beasts outside of the village. Dragons are not to be trifled with, and should they encounter any one of them in the wild they are to react with wisdom, but more importantly fear. 

Alucard, of course, watches all of this very interestingly, in awe of the Targaryen reader's fortitude and dedication to her companion and her role as mother of dragons. In watching her interact with the children, he can’t help but feel a swell of pride, and a longing in his heart loins for her to perhaps bear his children so that they can become keepers of dragons too. 

He can't stop fantasizing about it, how perfect it would be, how incredible she would look housing their combined legacies. Their offspring would be unstoppable. With his vampiric abilities and her draconic bloodline… Not to mention his mother’s medicinal knowledge and Belmont’s collection knowledge within the Hold… By god, they could form an empire! One for creatures and humans alike, all who wish to live in peace and choose knowledge over ignorance. If only his mother and father could see him now…

Alucard knows though he must tread lightly. The Targaryen reader is smart and cunning. She did not come to be the last of her kind by being naive, no. She’s hardened, and she’s been through a great deal. She will need time to adjust to his affections. 

Alucard doesn’t mind though. He has all the time in the world. 

[butterflydm]

Wheel of Time 3x07 - goldeneyes

Spoilers through 3x07 of the show and somewhat vague spoilers through Lord of Chaos.

Wow, that was a lot! I am pretty tired, so apologies if this is short.

Loial. Heartbreaking! I did think that he really went out like a Hero (capital 'H' because... did you hear the Horn of Valere theme there before he struck that final blow?). I did have his death down as an outside chance, but it was still so incredibly emotional when it happened.

The show swerved my expectations from the books a lot (complimentary). Our only really big death was Loial, with the rest of the deaths being villagers. But that does mean that Loial's heroic sacrifice to save the Two Rivers doesn't get overshadowed by any other big deaths.

I really hope we get our s4 to explore this new storyline that was set up for Perrin because I am fascinated by it. Perrin successfully turning himself in to the Whitecloaks. Valda is dead but Fain lives, and he seems to have more of a connection to what the Dark One wants right now than any of the Forsaken do, which I find very intriguing.

Aram did pick up a sword but... then he got an offer to become the new Two Rivers blacksmith. We touched enough on the relationship between the Tuatha'an and the Aiel here and it really rang well for me (Ila quoting "we bury our dead and we move on. what else is there?"). This softer storyline for him was really touching (and makes me suspect we may not see him again).

Bain and Chiad finally playing Maidens' Kiss with Loial... because he was trying to send them home to save them.

Some interesting things pushed forward into the future -- Maskim still living makes me think that Alanna's Thing That She Does from LoC might not happen in s4 after all. Are Bain and Chiad going to stay in Perrin's plotline or will they return to rejoin the Car'a'carn, since they were here for Loial?

Lots to think about.

Flowers for Loial, our heroic Builder.

[yjyt85r98r]

Differences in the philosophy of different Aikatsu seasons

Aikatsu has a pretty consistent set of values, but each series is a bit different.

Aikatsu

Every Aikatsu series puts a lot of emphasis on self-improvement, but the original series probably does it the most.

There's also a lot of focus on worthiness and becoming worthy, such as getting accepted into Starlight Academy, earning the approval of the brand designers, and earning the right to be in Tristar. Aikatsu is honest about the fact that not everyone can be worthy of everything. "Only a few stars at a time can be the brightest in the sky", and all that stuff.

Aikatsu encourages using the tools and support that others have set up for you, but also doing what you want. Yurika refuses to break characters during the Tristar auditions. Sumire rejects the modeling jobs she was offered because she wants to be a singer, not a model. In both cases, the opportunities they turned down ended up coming back in another way, a way that suited them better. Aikatsu says it's worth it to turn down opportunities that don't align with your vision. And that the further you get down your own path, the more people will come to understand and support your vision.

Aikatsu's philosophy is like a cross between a business/institution and a personal trainer. The business aspect is about getting external validation through institutions, and how once you get in, you are welcome to make use of everything provided, but there are expectations you must meet. The people around you are here to support you, but also to compete with you. The personal training aspect is how you should go down the path you want, and be responsible for yourself. Above all, Aikatsu's biggest value is probably discipline.

Aikatsu Stars

Aikatsu Stars probably has the biggest emphasis on "personal brand", that is, turning yourself into a product people will want to consume. As such, it has a recurring theme of pushing yourself to appease your fans at any cost, such as in episode 11 when Hime puts on a concert while having a migraine, or in the movie when Subaru tells Yume not to let her fans see her depressed. (Luckily, they add nuance to this through Lily, who is very strong-willed but still genuinely has limits she can't surpass because of her health condition. She can't always give the fans exactly what they want, but she still has a loyal fanbase despite that. The thing with Yume's rainbow powers also explores the dangers of pushing yourself too hard.)

The personal brand thing also ties into the whole "self-producing" theme that Aikatsu Stars brought up a lot around the beginning. In the original series, most characters follow their school's curriculum and do fairly standard work (with the notable exceptions being WM and the Dream Academy students). Aikatsu Stars idols have more choice, and therefore more responsibility, in the path they choose to take. Yotsuboshi students have to choose whether to major in song, dance, theater or beauty. In season two, some of them choose to attend Venus Ark. Many of them travel around the world. No one is laying out a path for them to follow − they must create their own.

The original series' focus on worthiness turns into straight-up elitism, with a lot of focus on getting into elite groups such as S4 or Venus Ark. Joining those groups provides special opportunities that are closed off for regular idols. However, the series still shows that your dreams don't have to end just because you didn't make it into a special group, as opportunities are everywhere.

Aikatsu Stars' philosophy is closest to that of influencers and self-employed people. It's a mishmash of DIY and elitism, with a strong emphasis on doing your own work and forging your own path.

Aikatsu Friends

Well obviously Aikatsu Friends puts a higher value on friendship compared to the other seasons. It's about having others help you do things you couldn't do alone − perhaps the exact antithesis of Aikatsu Stars' philosophy. (They do go against this in the third cour of season 1, but it's so out-of-the-blue that it ends up coming off as unreasonably harsh, especially in the Halloween episode.)

There's still an emphasis on self-improvement, but this time, it's for the sake of others rather than for oneself.

Aikatsu Friends is the least elitist of the shows – there's an idol division at a regular school, and the main character transfers to the idol division easily. Units are always formed by creating bonds between the two members, not passing a competition. Of course, there's still some elitism, because elitism is sort of baked into Aikatsu's DNA, but it's not as strong here as it is in the first two series.

Aikatsu Friends' philosophy, at least in season 1, is sort of like a friendly competition between teams. Players should work well together, but also be strong on their own. Bonding is just as important as training. (I'm not sure what season 2 is like. Season 2 moves away from the competition aspect and is overall less Aikatsu-y.)

[miwiheroes]

Day 37: Lightning Flashes

(so starting my analysis posts again has been a long time coming but im no longer titling it doing it every other day until s5 becauseeeee uh its just so much pressure so im doing it whenever i want bc thats much less embarrassing... also i'll still be updating my google slides with these posts)

So there is much, much to unpack about the love monologue scene so I'll be breaking it down in approx. 4 different posts. An establishing thing to know about this scene is that the monologue was never meant to feel like a totally positive thing for every character. From the beginning end of the season, the viewer is supposed to want the same thing as El -- for Mike to tell El that he loves her. However, I think by the love monologue, by the time that he actually does the thing that he wants: the viewer is no longer supposed to feel totally satisfied.

This is in keeping with the theme at the end of Season 4 -- they did not win against Vecna this time. And it's not just an unhappy ending for Max, Lucas, everyone in Hawkins, it's also an unhappy ending for Will, Mike and El. Well, I wouldn't say totally unhappy, but it's definitely not a successful ending for anybody, which is supposed to be a tonal shift after the endings of the other seasons which are all very "everything is solved and seems okay but there's still more to be done."

So: The writers need to try to make it seem less like a satisfying ending that the viewer is supposed to want. Instead, it has a slightly darker tone as a result of Will's feelings, the fact Will's feelings are fuelling the monologue, El's arc and of course the cinematography.

This is the moment after Mike says I love you:

With a lightning flash placed right at that moment (may I remind you, that this is all intentionally placed and there is absolutely no chance this is a coincidence, hello??) the viewer is supposed to be led to believe that this isn't the satisfying culmination of their story that had been expected beforehand. El's face does not look shocked, even.

I never expected her to look happy especially when she's literally tied up like this, but looking upset/ pensive throughout pretty much the whole monologue while there are lightning flashes, and the vines continue to tighten around her neck. They only begin to rescind after she looks over at Max, and when Mike reminds her to fight.

That, paired with the lightning, this confirms without even needing to hear what Mike has to say that this isn't supposed to be satisfying or relieving. This isn't supposed to be a romantic, intimate moment. Lightning doesn't do anything but forebode something dangerous. Having it as a background noise during a love monologue is a choice by itself, but having it ring loud and clear straight after Mike saying that he loves her - it's almost like the lightning is begging for the audience to recognise that this is a bad thing for both El and Mike.

Will telling Mike to say these words were a mistake - a misbelief and a self-sacrifice that was taken too far and ultimately will lead to more harm in the future.

I will talk more about other people being in the shots of Mike in my next post, as there is much to say about that - but I want to quickly compare the 'intimacy' from the monologue in S4 and the intimacy in Mike's monologue from S2.

Season 4: Lightning continues to flash, there is a lot going on with El being tied up and the red lighting, and while Mike is the obvious focal point of the shots, Will and Jonathan are cut back to, reminding you of their presence in the scene.

Season 2: There is no other sound other than Mike's talking and Will's breathing, the lighting is extremely stark to cause a sense of tension and urgency that Mike feels, no other characters are in shot or cut back to despite being in the shed. Will is in danger but his facial expression is still soft.

So for anyone that even tries to tell me that the love monologue completely trumps Byler probably needs to rewatch to get rid of their delusions because this is definitely not supposed to be a happy ending, it is not supposed to be satisfying in the least. I honestly don't think anyone was satisfied back in 2022 watching this unless they had the bias of already being a mileven fan from before S4. There were obviously other factors that go into this feeling of unsatisfaction in this ending, but the lighting and the non-intimacy feeling of this scene is super telling.

[freedelusionshere]

Are Syd and Carm already seeing each other outside of the restaurant?

Syd, off screen, has seemingly made several pasta dishes now.

Unless of course, Carm made all the noodles for Nat and Pete, and they just chose not to show it? Bolognese, minestrone, lasagna, beef stew with noodles. All of these dishes require pasta.

Did Carm contribute to making the meal Syd drops off for Nat and Pete? Little hints of things going on that they're not showing. Similar to Syd mysteriously being able to sign an apartment lease with shitty credit and without her dad's support.

The last time we see Syd trying to make pasta herself she ends up frustrated and unsatisfied with the results.

We also see Tina making pasta in the S4 trailer, but I'm going to speculate that she's learning that from Carm and that Tina and Carm will get closer in S4, mirroring Mikey and Tina's relationship. Tina will be able to get through to Carm where she could not to Mikey.

That was a bit of story that was mentioned and hasn't been brought up again since S1, when Tina tells Carm that she loved Mikey a whole lot. Carmy never brings it back up, because he's tried to bury his grief about his brother's death beneath his work. He even admits to Marcus in S3 he didn't deal with it.

All that to say, the pasta making once again hints that perhaps Syd and Carm actually are already hanging out together outside of work off screen. His behavior in Apologies just before he asks her out is very much like a husband telling his wife not to wait up for him because he's working late.

Just like when Carm tries to ask Syd what her dad thought about the apartment, and she changes the subject. Her dad, who basically had been using the apartment as a metaphor to talk trash non-stop about Carm being her partner. Carm seems to be the only one who knows about this, no one else mentions it to her or asks about it. They all show up there later in Forever to party there. But narratively, it's only given importance when Carm asks her about it.

Wouldn't it be wild if Carm does show up to Syd's place while she's in the alley having a panic attack because that is where he was always headed to begin with? Her reaction to him going off about Chef David is very "oh well" and not like someone trying to pull him out of the mess he's making. She's not even checking in with him, Luca is. Now, this could be just because she wants to have a good time and she's over it, but she's very non-plussed by it, I'll just say that. Because she knows they're going to talk about whatever is going on with him later.

Syd playing coy when Luca asks her if there is anyone besides her dad because there actually is, they're just not telling people? Syd is very private; it wouldn't surprise me at all. Doesn't want to end up on those team text threads!

It also would be funny, because it mirrors the dumping situation at the house party with Kelly, and Claire going in on Carm would then make perfect sense. She will accuse him of cheating on her with Syd. Syd and Carm start seeing each other outside of work again after the walk-in incident (they had already been at his place twice before he started seeing Claire).

Now, Syd is the one "cheating" on their restaurant by possibly dumping him for Shapiro. Which would mean he doesn't get to work with her and see her every day, except maybe outside of work. But that is ultimately what he wants, of course, to be able to have her as part of his family and for her to need him.

Carm telling Ted and Neil at the dumpsters that he thinks about Claire every day when it's actually about Syd. He's lying because they're not telling people about it, but it's something he wants to be able to talk about and can't. Syd asks, "Where are the Faks!" she doesn't have anyone she can talk about this to. She's not going to do it with Nat because it's her baby brother.

Her saying she's his "accomplice" makes sense if they're behaving codependently because they are emotionally closer than ever. Her whispering to him she's not his babysitter and he stops acting up immediately instead of being upset by her putting him in check which requires a certain level of trust and knowledge of the other person's triggers. It's a sign of intimacy between them.

If they show them making pasta together onscreen in S4, I'm definitely going to think that's what's been up. Carm thinking about Claire in S3 is not because he wants to still be with her. He's trying to figure out what made him drawn to her in the first place. Like Claire, he's trying to understand her in order to figure himself out and what he really wants.

Hiding, as Nat mentions to Carm in the S4 trailer. Syd also hides emotionally as well. Nat feels like he is hiding. Meanwhile, they show Syd and she's basically telling him off directly about how he can't let his chaos fuel everything. This is after she watched him get out of control at Ever. It's her having enough understanding and intimacy with him to be able to say these things to his face, in contrast with Nat and Tina saying that he's "chasing something" and he "doesn't need to hide" because they aren't as close to him as Syd is. That scene with her telling him chaos fuels him is very different from her calling him a POS to his face and walking out on him. And it also shows him listening to her and looking contrite.

The legerdemain of it all! I mean, who knows, but I've always suspected this could be a possible twist. It doesn't even necessarily mean they've had sex or are committed (although Claire will think so as will Donna). It just means that they've come to rely on each other more emotionally than what they're showing us at the moment and are actually trying to figure things out outside of the confines of the restaurant.

[kerubimcrepin]

LIVEREAD: WAKFU, THE GREAT WAVE [TOME 2, Chapter 8 part 1]

Wow no way i didnt know that. Nice anime eyes btw ghsjdhgdf.

He's so smug it makes me crazy. Genuinely, it makes me insane. God. "Kerub and I"... they make me sick. He's so proud of living with his dadsonthing for 600 years.

Heartbreaking: kerubim infected him with being a hoarder.

What the HELL are these flying books bro.

WHAT.

IS THIS THE ORIGINAL BOOKWALKER

So smug... dude.

This manga confirms joris as the twelvian equivalent of A. lost media wiki; B. the fuckers that hoard lost media and never release it (choose the one that you think applies)

What's next? Wikipedia editor Joris?

God fucking dammit. Btw I swear I didn't write the wikipedia remark on purpose. I hadn't reread this manga in months.

A likely thing for a guy who based his entire identity around living with two demigods to say.

TAP TAP :)

WHY DO YOU HAVE THIS TO BEGIN WITH!!!!!

Joris likes cartography truthers stay winning.

AGAIN WHY THE HELL DO YOU HAVE THIS. DONT GIVE US THIS CHILL EXPRESSION.

Of course they'd have secret passages... inside the secret library inside the secret portal. And of course this thing is only fit for Kerubim and Joris. Atcham please crash out.

BJSDHFKBJHDKFJHDLFLBJKLDSJKLDGDFMT

This really puts into perspective just how tiny he is... Trying to draw canon typical Joris is enough torture that I gave up ages ago.

He's able to cast fire! Once again, insane shit I added to my fics turns out not to be out of the realm of possibility. Thank god.

HE LITERALLY HAS NO CLOSE FRIENDS EXCEPT KERUBIM AND ATCHAM. FUCKING RIP BOZO.

Statuette of khan! Self explanatory why he'd have this.

A painting of Asalar. Maybe to keep record of how his enemy looks like?

Down from it, we see baby Joris's drawing of what he thought his parents might look like... Not a painting of Jahash or Julith, just his own ocs. I think it's cute that this place, that seems to be pretty important to him, doesn't have his actual parents. It's not like he knew them well. Idk, it's a neat detail that says something about Joris's feelings on them in a subtle way.

Saving the best and juiciest for last, we have Zabelle. When this comic first came out, multiple crepinjurgenites had mini-freakouts that Tot might have gone actually off the rails insane and might be giving Joris a love interest. Which would be bad given Tot's trackrecord with romance writing. And also Joris's whole shtick.

However, I am very happy to announce they... REMOVED A (likely) IOP (Zabel) and made him into a sexy dragon lady queen. No fucking way. If they also don't give her an ex-husband/a dead husband/a far away husband/a son/a boyfriend... I don't know what would happen to the world, if that were to happen.

I approve of this. I don't know what to think about the anime style (might be fun! might be bad! can't be worse than bestiale!) but it does have actually nice looking female characters. which is already a glow up from bestiale and s4.

I'm expecting fanart of Bechamel the Catgirl and Zabelle making out at my desk by midday, mister! Not because this is in-character or makes any sense. I just like to sexualize and objectify women.

Joris being a newborn when this happened explains a lot about the timeline of events.

[nodding sagely] the fucking yass twins.

This too, I foresaw. Joris has similar opinions but understands the shitfucked reality of Yugo's life.

VBSDFKBSDFOIGUOSDFIJGSFJGIDSKLFHGKDLF

whatever you say cute.

I choose not to comment on the lore retcon nightmares going on here because I dont car anymore.

oh my god his grabbablle waist