#s4 trophy

[armandyke]

Diego the type of guy to take a phone call asking if they’re speaking to the head of the household and be like “oh no hold on lemme get my wife”

[hom3landr]

Blow Me (One Last Kiss)

18+

Homelander teaches you an important lesson at one of his rallies

CW: Exhibitionism, Voyeurism, Dubious Consent, Slight spoilers for S4

You’ve long grown accustomed to the roar of a crowd. It comes free with admission as Homelander’s lover. Sometimes it’s as if the noise itself follows you even into the dark peaceful nights spent dozing in his arms. Your ears still ring with cheers. You don’t mind too much even if you can tell the constant mindless applause has started to grate Homelander’s increasingly sensitive nerves. You know the alternative would be much worse.

You’re especially thankful for the noise as you kneel under the podium with his cock down your throat. Well, you call it a podium but it might as well be a pulpit with the way he preaches to the masses. Your precarious situation is the result of you correcting him in public. His firm grip on the back of your head ensures that your nose remains fully nestled in the nest of hair at the base of his cock as he begins to hush the crowd so he can begin his speech. You’ve heard him practice so many times by this point that it’s almost become gibberish to your ears but you’d never dare tell him that. He takes a moment to look down at you before he starts, a wicked smirk as he takes your wide teary eyes and the way your mouth puffs around his cock.

His fingers nestle in your hair and pull you off him, a line of spit connecting you to the tip. He gives a wink before shoving you back onto him. Despite how many times you’ve done this, you still gag a bit and you flush crimson when the mic manages to pick up the sound in the lull between words. Homelander chuckles.

“Sorry everybody, it looks like we have a little mic feedback.” He laughs good naturedly as the crowd echoes with mild laughter of their own. Your hands fly up to grip his hips as he slowly starts to fuck deep into your throat. His voice is able to mask the wet sloppy sounds of you sucking him off but if someone listened close enough, they’d be able to hear what he’s doing to you.

You’re embarrassed but the depravity has you moaning quietly around his cock as heat pools between your legs. You know he can smell your arousal because even from your awkward angle you can see his cheek twitch smugly. Drool drips down your chin and onto the stage below. You’re grateful that the sides of the podium shield you from the curious looks of the stage crew. They know what’s happening but they have no idea what it looks like when Homelander fucks your face. He loves showing you off like a trophy but there are things that are for him only. (At least if the viewer is meant to stay alive after. You can’t forget when he showed off your skills in front of Todd and his pals before ordering his teammates to beat their brains out to advance his plans.)

He speeds up right as he hits a lull in his speech and you can’t help but whimper as obscene noises fill the arena for a moment.

“There’s that feedback again. I might need to get a new mic here.” His voice is lighthearted but smug. He knew that didn’t sound anything like mic feedback but who’s going to question him. His hand gently scratches at your scalp mockingly. You tease at the throbbing vein on the underside of his cock with your tongue until he can’t help but whine for a moment. That earns you a sharp tug but your satisfaction masks the sting.

He’s careful not to finish until he’s done with his speech and when he does and the tech crew comes out to check the equipment in between sets, he tugs you off him to fix you with a stern look.

“Have you learned your lesson?” He asks you mockingly, his thumb swiping a drop of his come off your bottom lip.

“It depends, are you going to stop being so petty?” You reply in turn, cocking your head cheekily. The effect is slightly dampened by how fucked out you look but Homelander’s eye twitches in annoyance even so.

“Guess not.” He says before tugging you down on his still hard cock once more. After all, he still has so much he needs to say to his adoring public.

It’s alright though. He doesn’t need to know that you don’t really mind.

[sehtoast]

Safe Harbor (Homelander x OC)

minor s4 spoilers, hurt/comfort, he deserves to be loved, he deserves real love, real acceptance, he deserves to be held when it hurts, spidersona oc | Fic Directory

It always comes back to this, doesn't it?  Those reflections, each one their own facet of his inner being, each one more than happy to uplift him in their own… unique ways. 

“John,” calls the first.  It’s so loving that he could mistake it for the voice of the parent he never really had. “That’s it buddy, it’s okay.  C’mere.”  He approaches with hesitation.  Sure, this one will comfort him.  It’ll make him feel better about how the world has spiraled out from under him.  How his son was slowly replacing him with that English prick, how he wasn’t good enough, how everyone he loves slowly but surely realizes how utterly rotten he truly is.

It tells him he’ll be alright, that the hurt will pass.  Then scoffs the second.

“Here you go again, tiger…” He says, tone soft yet scathing all the same.  “They don’t deserve you, and you,” he nods, “certainly don’t need them. And they don’t want you.”

Homelander’s mind flickers to the two in question.  The real two– not the crowds or the adoring fans, not any of those roaches under his thumb in the tower.

Them.

The third one… he speaks the worst of it.  Tells John to create his greatest nightmare, claims it to be his only path to peace.

“No, no, no!”  He grits, hands over his ears.  He can’t listen to him.  Can’t acquiesce to the harrowing demand no matter how hard the other two come down on him in tandem.  Tears gather in his eyes, spilling as he flinches at each harsh word.

He wonders when he even shattered the mirror to give them this much of an opening.

“Kill ‘em, tiger.” 

“Wash away the mud.”

“Protect them.”

“Slaughter the little piggies.”

He hunches, shoulders quaking as horror, guilt, and fear run through his body like molten metal, pooling deep in his gut and burning him to the point of nausea.

“I can’t!”  He yelps through the cacophony of impossible demands.  Protect them?  From what– from himself?  Kill them, slaughter them, how!?  How can he possibly–

“No, no, no, no…” 

The world is too tight, too loud, too small– too big and too quiet, too spacious.  What is he to do but drown in the cramped vastness?  The water fills his lungs and it’s all he can do to gasp for aching, shaking breaths.  It’s like the air is stolen by those voices that demand more and more, and all they fucking want is more, and he–

He stumbles backward, eyes clenched to spare himself from their disappointment, their pity and anger, but it isn’t into the next mirror that he crashes.  No statues nor bookshelves, no globes or trophies.

Instead, it is a warm embrace.  Strong, unwavering arms– shelter from the hurricane destroying him from the inside out.  Peace and love and understanding all wrapped into one.  

His name resounds, but it isn’t the same as before. No sternness, no disappointment.  There’s familiarity and softness.  He is not John, but–

“Johnny.”

The sound rings even through the tight clamp of his palms.  The hand at his cheek, stroking rhythmically, seems to shield him from everything.  The world, their taunts and demands, the pain.

Oh, what had he done to deserve this?  What could he have ever done to have possibly deserved this safe harbor?  This sweet boy and his gentle touches, his words that heal everything that aches, that pull him away from the torrential violence of his own mind and ground him in a reality that doesn’t rip and tear at his soul every waking moment.

“That’s it, hey,” coos his darling little spider, so warm and welcoming.  If life was a blizzard, Benjamin was the cabin with a lit fire.  He would always be safe, always comfortable, always home. “C’mon, hey… look at me, pumpkin.”

Always his shelter from the storm.

How pathetic he must look with his wet eyes and hands protecting his ears.  Like the child he was once, always so quick to block it all out no matter how bad it still hurt.

“We don’t have’ta listen to them,” Ben murmurs.  He directs Homelander to follow him, leading him back to the couch and away from more reflections.  “Hey– shh…” he coos through a particularly harsh, breathless cry.  “C’mon, let’s sit.  Just let it out. I’ve got you.”

Why was Ben even here?  Last time they talked, all that chatter about the worthlessness of humans landed Homelander in the dog house.  Why care?  Why does Ben always show up to put out his fires?  After Madelyn, after the cabin, Stormfront, Ryan, Ryan again, and now–

Homelander buries his face in the crook of the bug’s neck all the same, finding himself subject to soft kisses to his hair and fingers scritching softly at his nape.  Those three would never let such a display of weakness fly, but Benjamin?

He’s always welcomed the tears.  Even now, even with a snotty upper lip and choked gasps about how much of a fucking failure of a father he is, Benjamin accepts him for all that he is.

“I love you. I love you so much."

For all that he ever will be.

They told him he doesn’t need this. That it wasn’t true even if it was said.  That it should all slide off like marble.

But that just makes him cry harder.  Not because they’re right.  Not because he doubts the truth of his little spider’s words.

It’s because he knows with full certainty that this is the real truth.

“M’always gonna love you.”

And he’ll always have to fight to let himself believe it.

[quitealotofsodapop]

I like to think Wukong doesn't give his cubs their geode shards until they're 'of age' in his eyes. In the case of MK that's after they defeat Azure. During the celebration afterwards he calls MK out from the water to hand him a small silk pouch, seemingly very serious for what's supposed to be a party. Realizing what is happening MK is in disbelief at first.

Wukong: Here, you've proven over the past year you've earned this, kid.

MK: A bag? *sudden realization* Wait... Mom! Are you serious!? Is this really-

Wukong: It is.

Noodle Gang: *notices the strange interaction*

Mei: What you doing?

Tang: *curious as well only get excited when Macaque explains its a Rite of Passage for stone monkeys*

+

omg gosh!!!

MK finally getting to hold onto his pendant at the end of S4 is so cute! Throughout the series he's been tackling issues relating to growing-up and taking responsibility, so after everything thats happened with the Brotherhood; Wukong deems MK finally ready.

I feel like MK's stone egg had lots of citrine embedded in it like Wukong's, perhaps with a few yellow amethysts in it, or a tigers eye. Either way MK's pendant shard is bright, orange-gold, and looks like a ray of sunshine (like it's holder).

The Noodle Gang and Bull family immediately quiet down when they see the serious but joyful looks on the monkeys faces. Bull is dancing in his hooves - he's finally seeing his Xiandi's calf reach his rite of passage!

Pigsy starts crying cus he's second-hand proud of his fave delivery boy. Tang is gibbering excitedly. Mei does a quiet little cheer for her bestie. Even Red Son has to admit MK's earned it.

MK wears it with pride.

+

And the imagery of Azure Lion, so angry by Wukong's refusal to rejoin the Brotherhood (and by extension Him) and warped by his own unstable view of the King, that he rips Wukong's marriage pendant from his neck.

Wukong gasps, clutching his neck. Azure couldn't have! He knew what it meant to him and Macaque!

Before Wukong could even reach to get it back, he was encased in the Scroll.

I wonder what would hurt more; Azure dropping the pendant to the ground and crushing it underfoot? Or keeping it as a trophy? As the JE's power warps his mind further, he may even see it as a "proof of conquest" over the King.

Either way, Macaque is furious when he finds out what Azure did with the pendant. He pointedly smells the hair and gem of the one given to him by Wukong when they were engaged - using the scent to find his mate in the Scroll. And if Wukong's memories are fractured like those of the Noodle Gang? A certain dance and story may be required to remind the King of the hundreds of years of joy him and his Warrior share.

[thestobingirlie]

steve facts we know from canon if you’re willing to actually pay attention to his character:

his interest in his hair. (which you tried to frame negatively?). also just his appearance in general. we know steve puts a lot of focus into the way he looks (e.g. him refusing ice cream in s3 because he’s watching his figure). “hair” isn’t just one thing we know about him. it informs us about other aspects of steve’s personality. he doesn’t care about using “girls” hairspray, but he also doesn’t want other people to know about it. he’s very conscious about the way he’s perceived by others, but he’s also willing to put that aside when he wants to help people! he teaches dustin how to do his hair and helps him with it!!

sports. (odd that you reduce this down to just “sports”). once again “sports” isn’t just one singular trait. steve likely has a routine in sports, it’s likely part of him maintaining his appearance, along with the hairstyle and not eating ice cream. we know he was in basketball, he had a baseball trophy in his room, he was a swimmer (and good at it!!!). these are his hobbies!!! (they may not be d&d, but they’re still hobbies!!!)

now. if you pay attention to the music steve listens to in canon, it’s very easy to realise that he likes rock music!!! obviously some songs depend on whether they’re diegetic or not, but either way that’s the genre steve mostly listens to. queen. corey hart. modern english (more alternative rather than rock, but we move!). etc.

again. if you pay attention to canon it is very easy to gather that steve enjoys tom cruise movies. risky business. all the right moves. he also explicitly states four movies he enjoys in s3! star wars (the one with the teddy bears), animal house, fast times and back to the future. (though admittedly with the last we know he was high while watching and may not have gone to see it again). we also know that he knows michael fox by alex p. keaton. which means he watches family ties!! at least well enough to know his full name.

“girls” is an odd choice of a trait to list but sure!! steve’s relationships are actually important in understanding steve more deeply. in s3 we see he’s striking out more and feeling like shit about it because he feels like an embarrassment. he hates his job. he hates that he didn’t get into college. he hates the stupid outfit he has to wear. he feels humiliated!! he feels like if he can do something, if he can flirt with a girl and she reciprocates, he’ll regain something he’s lost. but by s4 we see he’s over casual sex and he wants something deeper and more meaningful! that does say something about his character if you care enough to think about it for more than five seconds.

eddie does not have more inherent depth as a character than steve does, you’re just more willing to extrapolate canon into telling a story with eddie than you are for steve.

i can reduce eddie down to two traits if i ignore everything those two traits tell me too, look:

music and d&d. there. i just summed up eddie munson. seriously.

[purpleheartskies]

Robby is the underdog - Part 7

In s6e5, the leitmotif for Daniel's kk1 win against Johnny was used for Robby's captaincy win against Miguel.

(Watch with sound. Credit to another Robby fan who pointed this out to me and created this video.)

"A leitmotif is a repeating melodic phrase in music that is used to represent a character, setting, emotion, or theme. The intentional use of music as a means of communicating character, tone, or theme is a leitmotif." "The leitmotif has proven particularly effective in film scores as a means of creating continuity, heightening the drama and building an emotional connection between characters and the audience.

The fact that the leitmotif for Daniel's (first) win against his bully in kk1 is used for Robby's (first) win against his bully blatantly indicates that Robby is the underdog and Karate Kid of this story. This is more evidence that Robby is the Daniel in this kk story and Miguel is the Johnny.

It's important to note that when Miguel won the s1 avt final against Robby, no leitmotif was played when he won the match and was handed the trophy. Right before his win, an ominous motif was played, indicating that the win wasn't good. After he's handed the trophy and asked to speak, the shot slowly zoom's in on Johnny and starts playing his leitmotif in Cobra Kai (called Father and Son), because his focus was on Robby and his loss. This "win" for Johnny was a major loss in their relationship. In the s4 avt final, a triumphant motif was used for Eli's win, while a more melancholy one was used for Tory's win / Sam's loss.

No kid who has won a trophy so far had gotten the kk1 leitmotif for Daniel's win until Robby did in s6e5.

During the tournament in s1e10, Daniel approached Robby in the locker room and spoke to him about the "need" to find balance:

Robby: "I just wanted to get back at him [Johnny]." Daniel: "I know. But you're never going to find balance that way. You can't let that bad blood change who you are. I'm not saying you need to like the guy. I know I never will, but he... he is your father. And believe me, you're lucky to have one. You just gotta try to remember, he's... he's not a monster. He's just a guy with a lot of demons. Mr. Miyagi always told me there's no such thing as a bad student, only a bad teacher. And your dad had the worst teacher there ever was. It sent him down a wrong path. But you don't have to go down that path. Do you understand? You don't have to ever become him. Trust me. You let go of all that anger, and I guarantee you, no matter what happens tonight, you go home feeling great."

In kk1 tournament, during his conversation with Miyagi in the locker room, Daniel talked about his need to find balance.

Daniel: "Can you fix my leg with that thing you do?" Miyagi: "No need fight anymore. You proved a point." Daniel: "What? That I can take a beating? Every time I see those guys, they'll know they got the best of me. I'll never have balance that way, not with them, not with Ali... ...not with me."

Both Daniel and Robby are injured in these scene because a Cobra Kai had injured each of them during their semi-final fight and got disqualified for it. Both Daniel and Robby were then automatically given the semi-final win and were supposed to fight their bully, the main Cobra, in the final. (In my Robby is the underdog - Part 1.5 post, I go over some more of parallels between s1 Robby and kk1 Daniel in their respective avts and that Miguel had already been set up as the bully and Robby as the underdog going into the tournament.)

Both of their mentors had also told them that they didn't have to continue the tournament but both of them insisted that they wanted to. Daniel said what I've quoted above. Robby said, "Yes, I do. I'm going to have to face him sooner or later. Might as well be today."

Miyagi's original lesson to Daniel about balance was this:

"Better learn balance. Balance is key. Balance good, karate good. Everything good. Balance bad, better pack up, go home. Understand?"

In s6e5, Robby was losing the match, until he found balance when Tory arrived.

During the tournament in kk1, when Daniel was fighting to win a spot in the semis, Miyagi told Daniel: "Remember your defense. Points coming. Concentrate. Focus power. Remember balance. Make good fight."

During Robby's final match in the s1 avt, Daniel told Robby, "Breathe. Focus. Find your balance."

In his captaincy match, Robby was fighting offensively until he found balance, then he switched to mainly defense and won.

Interestingly, in the s4 avt, Daniel had at first told Eli something similar to what Miyagi had told Daniel in the kk1 tournament: "Concentrate, defense, focus, power. You find your balance, and those points will come."

However, after Eli told Daniel that Robby knows Miyagi-do better and Robby had scored one point on Eli, Daniel told Eli to fight using Cobra Kai and to put Robby on defense. This means that Robby was relying more on Miyagi-Do to fight, while Eli was relying more on Cobra Kai and won the tournament primarily using Cobra Kai teachings, despite representing Miyagi-Do. Eli didn't rely on having balance to win. He won by channeling his anger into fighting. It wasn't a real/pure Miyagi-Do victory.

Daniel had given up on Miyagi's teachings pretty quickly in order to secure the win in the s4 avt. Robby in turn still believes in and follows those teachings. In fact, his balance was off during his match with Eli because Robby had adopted "no mercy" while fighting Kenny and that had affected Robby greatly especially when he saw Kenny and had the realization that Cobra Kai wasn't helping him with his need to find balance.

In his captaincy match, he still relied on those Miyagi-Do lessons and teachings about balance. After he was able to find balance, he won the captaincy match primarily using Miyagi-Do. His win secured him the spot as the male captain, representative, and potential champion for Miyagi-Do in the final tournament in the series. His win was also celebrated using the OG Karate Kid leitmotif for winning by finding balance.

The overall theme of the series is about finding balance not just in karate, but in life as well.

“You remember lesson about balance? Lesson not just karate only. Lesson for whole life. Whole life have a balance. Everything be better. Understand?”

In my post Robby is the protagonist, I describe the role the protagonist plays in the story. One signifier of the protagonist is that the theme of the story is told primarily through their story:

The protagonist in a story is the character who offers the most conflict in situations, has the longest emotional journey, and has a primal goal to root for. Their transformation shapes the story's theme. Their choices and motivations affect the direction of the story. They're at the center of the conflict and their decisions push the plot forward. In a story with multiple characters with journeys, there is ultimately one character who is the primary driver of the overall story and their story tells the theme of the overall story. The other characters' can be protagonists in their own journeys but these become subplots of varying levels of importance. The protagonist is the character whose fate matters most. They have the highest stakes and the greatest obstacles.

Everything about the above statement is captured by Robby's story in s6e5:

He offered conflict by resisting Miguel trying to gaslight him about his greater need to win.

His issues with balance have been ongoing since s1, "the longest emotional journey":

"You may know the moves, but none of that matters unless you have balance.... I didn't mean balancing your body. I mean balancing your life. Look, Robby. I know it's hard growing up without a dad, believe me. Mine died when I was young, so I know. But when those bad feelings all weigh you down, you gotta... you gotta search inside for the good stuff, you know, and just... Because then you can find some balance in your life. Understand. It's not easy, but you'll do it."

He has primal goals to root for. He has to find balance in life. He also doesn't believe in his future but has to make a future for himself by knowing who he is and believing in himself and his future:

"Well, you are the tree, Robby. You've got strong roots. You know who you are, right? So now all you've gotta do is visualize what you want your future to look like, and then you make it happen." He also needs to find balance.

Robby's the only character that actively tries to grow and find balance, the theme of the story. Finding balance is emphasized for his story specifically, though other character's stories touch on the theme to different extents.

Robby's choices and motivations really do affect the plot. For example, Robby could have given into Miguel's claim that he deserves the win more, but Robby didn't. Robby stood up for himself and his future for the first time since he stopped doing so in s5e5. Robby didn't back down after that.

At the end of s6e5, although others in Miyagi-Do care about Tory, Robby is the one most connected to Tory and is the most affected by her rejoining Cobra Kai. That is, he is still most central in his connections to both sides in the dojo war.

Robby's fate has been set up to matter most. Robby issues with balance will greatly affect his ability to fight and lead. He has the highest stakes and the greatest obstacles during this tournament. (Though, Sam is also a captain, she won the spot by default, isn't an underdog the story, and balance is mentioned but is not a focus in her story and doesn't affect her karate.) Interestingly, even most Miguel fans are wondering about what will happen to Robby, though they viciously want him to get injured so that Miguel can take over and win.

Robby's story in Cobra Kai, like Daniel's in kk1, is about finding balance. Daniel's issues with balance in kk1 were centered around his issues with Johnny bullying him, how that made Daniel feel, and the trauma it caused. Robby's issues with balance are also centered around his issues with Johnny's behavior towards him, how it makes him feel, and the trauma it causes him. This parallel of kk1 Daniel's issues with balance being about Johnny and Robby's issues with balance being about Johnny is an interesting one.

The stark contrast in their stories is that Daniel had the support of his loved ones including his mentor in his kk1 match, whereas Robby doesn't have the support of his loved ones and his mentor. Johnny, Sam, and Daniel specifically have been on Miguel's side for some time. They all were on Miguel's side during the captaincy match. (Daniel did seem concerned about Miguel after this loss and not that enthused by Robby's win.) Everyone siding with his bully plays a significant role in Robby's issues with balance. Johnny, especially, choosing Miguel over Robby while neglecting and abusing Robby has played the biggest role in Robby's traumas and issues with balance. Tory was his only support during the captaincy match. However, going into the ST, Tory is no longer on/by his side too. Robby is indeed all alone going into this tournament.

Overall, this story is told from the pov of the bullies, Johnny and Miguel, who are unreliable narrators. Right now, all the "good guy" characters have been on the sides of Robby's bullies. They each frame themselves as the good guy. In s6e2, Robby explicitly called out Miguel for framing Robby as the bad guy. Overall, there is so much evidence throughout the story that Robby is the protagonist, underdog, and Karate Kid narratively and thematically in this story.

(This post is part of my Robby is the underdog post series and is also titled "Finding balance - Part 4".)

[ven0moir]

And if I say that I have a very unhinged feeling that Mike's Benny's Burger t-shirt comment has more to do with Will than it seems ...?

ST makes us associate certain things with certain characters. Our very first memory of El back in S1 is of her reaching Benny's Burger, automatically making us associate Eleven with Benny and his diner. This is the very first time we meet her, so as the audience, we will always, ALWAYS associate Benny's Diner with her, and we're MEANT to. And the very first time we see Benny in relation to Eleven, he is taking out the trash. In S4, one of the last things we see Eleven do is take out the trash.

The Duffers seem to like doing things that at first glance appear like clever, silly little callbacks, but if we attribute these to just random and meaningless callbacks, there would be no point in analyzing this show, really.

Now, here is the thing. One of the strongest, most memorable moments of the show is Joyce using the Christmas Lights to communicate with Will. Christmas Lights are the SIGN that Will sent Joyce to let her know he was alive, and she FOLLOWED that gut feeling, and she was RIGHT. If both Mike and Joyce had thought about Will's disappearance in a 'logical' and 'rational' way, Will would've probably died in the Upside Down. Christmas, specifically, is continuously associated with Will starting in S1 and going into S4.

I can't find the screenshot at the moment, but there's also a moment Nancy says 'When Will was in the Upside Down, the lights came to life ...' once again, associating Will with Christmas Lights and life.

We see Benny's Burgers again this season, which we hadn't since S1. Now here's the thing. When we see Benny's Burgers again in S4 ... there are Christmas Lights EVERYWHERE. It is SPRING, there's no reason to have Christmas Lights up at this time of the year. Christmas is nowhere near in sight yet, and it's been four months since Christmas.

So in S4, they WANT us to associate Benny's diner with Christmas Lights AND I also have something to say about this 'We ❤️ you tigers' thing. We already know that there are tigers everywhere this season, and we even see them in Will's room. I'd like to bring your attention to this ...

'And of course, of course, I have to give a special shout-out to the best and the prettiest fans of all time, the Tiger Cheer Squad.'

You can say that this was in reference to Milkvan. With Mike cheering El on and whatnot. But here's the thing, Mike's speech was mainly 'Me, Me, Me.' 'I love you, I can't live without you' etc.

And yet, who was Mike actually on a TEAM with? Who did he ASK to be on a team with?

Mike literally asked Will to be his teammate and I will NEVER get over how LOADED with symbolism, depth, and metaphor this scene is. Because by the time this happened ...

Will and Mike had agreed to be a TEAM. And here, Will is quite literally saying 'WE ❤️ YOU TIGERS', cheering his team on. Not just 'me', but 'all of us', you're our LEADER. To Will, Mike is the equivalent of Jason, and to Mike, Will is the equivalent of Chrissy. I anticipate we'll see a reverse in S5, with Mike cheering Will on now, and Will guiding the party, or perhaps, finally, a combination of them both cheering each other on and guiding the party to victory, S5 is the season they claim that championship trophy.

Now, I'm not comparing Jason and Chrissy to Byler but if we want to talk duality, boy is this loaded. Because they do have certain similarities that require a way more nuanced analysis that I can't fit into this post, but I'll be talking about it later.

We all know that it was Will's speech to Mike that inspired Mike's own 'love confession' ... but have we ever considered ... that the reason why the Benny's Burger's comment was necessary, as odd as it felt, and these S4 Christmas Lights associations are because ... Mike had a previous memory/association with Will related to Benny's Burgers when he met El?

The reason why I am starting to suspect this is because Mike and Joyce's S1 and S4 arcs are similar. Going above and beyond to helping their love interest, who is 'stuck' in a place they cannot physically reach alone. Joyce even received a literal message.

WE LITERALLY SEE MIKE'S EYES IMMEDIATELY PAN DOWN TO ELEVENS SHIRT ... As if he was looking for context. Who is this??? It is IMPOSSIBLE that there was love at first sight going on here because the circumstances are just so ... dire. The boys were out looking for their missing friend, in the dark, under the rain. Low visibility, etc. It was just not the right circumstances at all.

And the Duffers did NOT have to choose this exact moment as the 'Moment'. They did this deliberately to throw the audience off. And it worked. So let me propose something slightly delusional, but that yet again, probably makes more sense (at least to me following the show's context clues and crumbs) than something as shallow as 'love at first sight'.

Do we not think it might be possible that Michael 'maybe all of this is happening for a reason' Wheeler, saw that Benny's Burger t-shirt and immediately thought ... Will, or the universe, or something was sending him a message? Somehow, this person was connected to Will? That this person was the KEY to finding him? Do we not think he might've made that realization earlier, and on top of that him being a kind child took her home to help her? As she was not speaking much, maybe he thought he'd been stupid for thinking of her as some sort of sign, only to have his first gut instinct proven RIGHT when she CONFIRMED knowing Will?

He did feel love at that moment, and it was because he saw El as a literal light in the darkness and thought it was some sort of sign that either Will was sending or a sign that this person was the key to finding him.

I have heard some Bylers talk about how this comment:

Means that Mike feels his life started when he found El, because he felt like it ended when he lost Will. And that might have some merit.

Mike's monologue to Eleven may just very well be an amalgamation of the mess that is Mike Wheeler's feelings for both El and Will. He loves them both, but he loves El as someone he aspires to be, while he loves Will as someone he aspires to be with.

I'm skipping over a lot of details as other Bylers have spoken about them before (such as Hopper saying 'what if after all of this time I have been looking for Will I have been chasing after some other kid?' being context we could apply to Mike as well) because I think this whole association of Will and Benny's Burger that Mike has of Will is something that could very realistically come up sometime in S5.

It takes ONE simple line of dialogue linking Will to Benny's Burgers for every single domino to fall into place.

And being honest, if I follow my Joyce spidey senses, I get a strong feeling that the duffers have already given us that context, and it is hidden somewhere within the show already.

[hellcheer-heaven]

After my latest s4 rewatch, I told some of the highlights to a friend who hasn't watch ST (and wasn't planning to; the genre isn't their cup of tea). When I reached the part about the aftermath of Chrissy's death, I said that I found particularly funny and infuriating that Jason accused Eddie of being a cult leader when he himself acted like one, rallying up his crownies and eventually getting the town on his 'hunt the freak' scheme. Then they said "oh, like Gaston?". Not saying BatB Hellcheer au (bc I personally don't like the Disney version and Beast's backstory is too further away from Eddie's) but there were def too many parallels between Jason and Gaston in canon, there would've been more than a few between Chrissy and Belle has she lived, and the most glaring one would've been their relationship once appearances were cast aside and Jason showed his true colors. What do you think?

I can definitely see what your friend and you meant by the parallels between ST/Hellcheer and BatB! I pretty much saw it after my first re-watch of season 4. I’ll try my best to explain using the disney version here while I give my two cents, and I’ll divide the sections with pictures too.

Town Hero

Jason and Gaston are quite similar, given that they're seen as the town hero that many people adore. Their looks, skills, charm, and being at the top of the pyramid allows for a large portion of the town to trust them wholeheartedly. They're seen as "perfect,” , thus they "can do no wrong" in the eyes of their peers. When they deem the Beast and Eddie as threats to their way of life, many people blindly follow whatever they say because Jason and Gaston are seen as a beacon of safety and hope. These "perfect" men found the answer to what's been plaguing the town of terrible things, so who better to follow than the self appointed leader who promises to get rid of the "threat" in order to make things right again.

“It’s Time to Follow Me!”

In terms of having a partner, Gaston’s interest in Belle is more for social status and as a means to boost his already inflated ego. He’s obnoxious and boastful, seeing Belle as another trophy to display in his already amazing life. He’s mean, but not bloodthirsty.

It's only later on his villainous intentions are revealed when he sees that the Beast is indeed real. When he hears how Belle speaks so positively about something so monstrous looking, that threatens Gaston's only chance of taking her for himself. His anger/jealously fuels him to use his power over the people to get them to do whatever he wants. This time Gaston is out for blood, cementing his change into a metaphorical beast.

As for Jason, a part me does believe that he did love Chrissy very much. He fell into despair the moment he heard about her death, so I don’t blame him for experiencing such raw feelings of loss and anger. He couldn’t bear the fact that the love of his life is gone. He wanted answers, he wanted justice to be served in the most twisted manner possible, and he was willing to do anything to avenge Chrissy’s death.

That of course doesn’t justify his decisions to beat up Eddie's friends, make a speech to get people on his side, and threaten to shoot Lucas and Max. I don’t know how religious Hawkins is, but I can imagine that many were not too keen on anything having to do with D&D and metal music even before the mysterious murders started happening.

Jason found his “answer” by pinning Eddie as a “satanic cult leader” for both Chrissy’s and Patrick’s horrible demise. He already has his preconceived ideas about Eddie, but Jason was past the point of reasoning and fanned the flames of hysteria. Cementing his metaphorical transformation from man to beast just like Gaston. In fact this short passage from "The Mob Song" sums up the dangerous side of mob mentality.

We don't like What we don't understand In fact it scares us And this monster is mysterious at least

Bring your guns Bring your knives Save your children and your wives We'll save our village and our lives We'll kill the Beast!

Something There

Now let’s look at the couple. While Eddie and Chrissy were given just a little bit of screen time together, you can absolutely see the chemistry between them during the bench scene (honestly all that scene was missing was a musical number). It felt like the beginning of what could have been a wonderful story between them. Sadly we'll never know if they could have just been friends or friends to lovers. But that's the beauty of fanfiction, people can create a world of what could have been. I'll share some headcanons (combo of ones that I’ve read and my own) regarding what might have happened if Chrissy and Eddie were allowed to live for the rest of the season.

They're both lonely, which surprises the other because they both seem so happy whenever they cross paths.

They learn to look past their already established preconceived notions about each other based on their social circles. i.e. Cheerleaders are mean girls, metalheads are vicious.

They both need to wear a socially acceptable mask in order to fit in with everyone around them.

Chrissy had a secret crush on Eddie growing up and still does. She's been told to steer clear of him because he's "dangerous," but that somehow still makes him attractive. So when she sees that he's actually a huge goofball, that doesn't diminish her feelings towards him.

Eddie is a hopeless romantic. He may have "cynical eyes," but he believes in things like "love at first sight" and "love conquers all." This of course blinds him to the reality that sometimes relationships aren't as cookie cutter like in a fairy tale.

They would share bits and pieces of what it was like for them growing up, which again surprises the other. Yet this helps to strengthen their relationship.

The two of them learn to see that there's more to each other than what's on the outside, which if it was done well would have made for a beautiful story.

Anyway I hope I was able to answer your question as best as I could.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

About the Adrienette relationship and how Adrien became the therapist trophy bf… idk if I can explain my thoughts right, but I feel like this is the result of a bigger issue with where the writer’s priorities lie regarding Adrien‘s obstacles?

Adrien‘s issues with his family are kind of not that important, or at least don’t affect him that much. When Gabriel does something shitty like not letting Adrien leave the house, it either gets resolved by the end of the episode or it‘s forgotten about. Gabriel‘s abuse feels to me more like a plot device to remove Adrien from the plot until the akuma shows up than a serious issue that affects Adrien mental being and needs to be resolved with therapy and Gabriel loosing custody over him. Adrien almost never talks bad about his dad, it‘s always „oh he‘s just overprotective of me“ or something. It’s like Adrien doesn’t recognize how crappy Gabe is, which does make sense for an abuse victim, but I don’t feel like the show frames this opinion as wrong.

Meanwhile in his relationship with LB, he takes everything super personal. He acts mean and entitled when she rejects his advances (even though he comes around in the end… only to try again a few episodes later) and he gets very angsty about LB… having more than one superhero friend. I know I sound dismissive, mostly because I though the whole arc sucked, but I do understand that it happened because Adrichat has abandonment issues. It makes sense why he feels that way. And he goes off to her in the s4 finale. So suddenly he can realize when he‘s treated badly in a relationship and talk about it? It‘s not like Lb treated him worse than Gabe, not even close!!

Adrien‘s main source of problems is his relationship with Maribug. This gets resolved in s4 on the Ladynoir side, and then in s5 Adriens biggest goal is resolving the Adrienette side, aka getting with a traumatized Marinette, aka the whole point of the show and probably the writer‘s only true priority. And when Adrien actually has a problem with his dad, it‘s only in the context of Gabe trying to sabotage the relationship, because who cares that he‘s an abusive asshole regardless of Adrien‘s relationship status? We need to save the relationship you guys!!

I guess what I‘m trying to say is that Adrien is the therapist in the relationship because (according to the writers), he doesn‘t really have problems. His only problems are when things are obstacles to his relationship with Marinette, which are her trauma and in the second half of s5 Gabriel being a dick to Mari. Other than that? Nathalie dying was a little important for like two minues, Emilie doesn‘t get brought up by Adrien in s5 at all, Gabriel dying and Adrien literally becoming an orphan is cool. None of these things have any influence on Adrienette, so they don‘t bother him and he doesn‘t need to talk to anyone about it or get therapy.

Love conquers all !!

So, confession time: I often tone Gabriel's abuse down when I write him specifically because of a lot of what you brought up (there's also the fact that it makes for a more compelling story if Gabriel's behavior is actually driven by grief and not just how he's always been, but let's not get into that). I've always considered it glaringly obvious that the writer's never meant for Gabriel to come across anywhere near as controlling and abusive as he's actually written. It really is just a plot device even though there are episodes that would have played far better if Gabriel had been less controlling.

For example, Glaciator would have been a far stronger episode if Adrien chose to not go see his friends in order to wait around for Ladybug because then he'd be super clearly in the wrong for flaking on a commitment and the lesson could be "don't put romance above your friends."

As-is, I have no idea what the moral of that episode is supposed to be because Maribug did nothing wrong outside of being a little rude to the ice cream guy, but Chat Noir also isn't really in the wrong because he was banned from going out as Adrien. There's a solid argument to be made for not wanting to risk punishment by going to a very public location with his friends. In episodes like this, it really felt like Gabriel's controlling, unreasonable nature wasn't being used to develop his character, but as a way to absolve Adrien of blame.

Along similar lines, the Adrigami plot in season five feels less like a thing that was included to make Gabriel feel evil and more like the writers desperately padding things out because Gabriel actually does very little to keep Adrien and Marinette apart. He could have pulled Adrien from school! He could have demanded Nathalie give back Adrien's ring so that his commands stuck! He could have interrupted the video game date and banned Marinette from the house. But he does none of that because he's not actually being controlling as a character thing. He's doing it so that the writers can add cheap drama to the Adrienette plot.

The clearest evidence of this is the wacky season five ending. That's not an ending you give to a person you consider abusive and evil beyond all hope of redemption even though that's arguably who Gabriel was by the end of season five. The writers are either ignorant to just how abusive he actually was or they know that he got pretty bad as the seasons went on, but they didn't want to change their planned ending so we got the ending they wrote when the show had less seasons and they'd done less to make Gabriel abusive.

It's just another case of that inconsistent characterization problem I've discussed before. By letting Gabriel be whatever they needed him to be for a given plot idea to work, they created a monster and made Adrien into a victim, but that's pretty clearly not the dynamic they actually wanted to write, so it all comes across as strange, wacky, and insensitive.

This is getting long, but I'll end by noting that I fully agree on the Maribug stuff. The conflicts they give Chat Noir and Ladybug make me super uncomfortable because they tend to center around her being a bad partner for... not reading his mind. Which is a massive personal pet peeve because so many people do this shit (myself included) and it's wildly unhealthy. Not saying she behaved perfectly or that this isn't an understandable flaw to give a character like Chatdrien, but it is a flaw and the show fails to treat it as such. It especially annoys me because it's a terrible conflict to give two people who are trying to keep the world safe. I've mentioned this before, but a big reason why superhero shows aimed at kids tend to develop both the civilian and superhero sides is so that the civilian side can focus on interpersonal conflicts and learn valuable life lessons, many of which will then be applied on the superhero side. Miraculous really needed to use this tool to help Adrien learn to communicate his very valid feelings. It's just bad writing choice after bad writing choice, adding up to a mess of a show no matter how you look at it.

Quick side note: I have nothing against people writing Gabriel as abusive as the show often makes him. I hope I've made it clear that I fully agree with that take, it's just not the take I like to use in my own stuff because it doesn't suit the kind of stories I enjoy telling. I prefer the happy family broken by Emilie's death route that the show pretty clearly wanted, but failed to write.

[hushhushplzzz]

An Underrated Rina Moment II

(and an exploration on Terri’s shifting perspective on Gina and Ricky and Gina&Ricky and how that is largely due to the Ricky Effect)

(aaaand a slight defence of Terri Porter; don’t kill me lol)

Ricky’s super power is 100% the ability to charm the pants off the most prickly, scary, take no ish, rough around the edges, I-wear-the-pants divas and it’s hilarious. All three of the girlboss characters in the show, Gina, Lily, and Dani, became romantically interested in him, and it’s because he exudes trophy boyfriend, malewife, earnest puppy dog vibes and their instinct tells them he’s their compatible opposite.

Ricky has a habit of melting the hearts of the most prickly of women, and Terri Porter is no exception. She was definitely charmed by his care for her daughter, both when he sassed her and when he professed his love in front of the press conference.

But joking aside, Ricky managed to change Terri’s mind about him in only half a day, 1.5 conversations, and a declaration of love. And that’s because, much like he did for Gina, Ricky was the connecting point—a bridge, a catalyst—that allowed Terri Porter to finally reconcile the old Gina she knew with the current Gina who’d grown and become a stronger version of her former self.

And this is why this moment hits so juicy to me:

Will come back to this in a bit!

Incredibly long post ahoy :3

I’ve watched s4 about 8 times now, and I’ve come to the conclusion I actually kind of like Terri Porter as a character.

(Yes, controversial, I know. Please put down the pitchforks 😅).

Don’t get me wrong, she could definitely learn a thing or twenty from Michelle Greene (who wins Best Mom Award™, no contest), but Terri is a well-written archetype of the Overbearing Mother. And having grown up with a similar type of mom, it was pretty refreshing to see a storyline of someone navigating that type of relationship with their own mother and how it affected their upbringing. And above that, it was even more refreshing to see Terri’s mentality start to transform.

With Terri, undoubtedly, her motivations and her love for daughter inspire her actions, however questionable those actions may be. But she clearly wants nothing more than her daughter to be successful and become a star as she was always meant to be. As Michelle and Lynne stated during the HSM 3 performance, kids don’t know how much their parents worry about them. And Terri, no matter how misguided, I truly believe that is how she translates her uncontested love and worry for Gina, through pushing her to be the best and extremely successful. Terri just has a homogenous view of what constitutes success and primarily attributes success to the amount of tangible ambitions and subsequent accomplishments fulfilled.

Is this the best way to approach raising children? No; too much and this is how kids develop anxiety and imposter syndrome, among other issues.

Should Terri let Gina make decisions about what’s best for her in her own time? Absolutely.

But do I understand where Terri is coming from by pushing about New Zealand? Very much, yes.

Terri Porter has tunnel vision and singleminded focus on the future. A mentality of eyes on the prize and a focus on securing future goals. She views each action taken in life as yet another step up the stairwell leading one to their ultimate goal/success. It’s an admirable quality to have—the ability to plan so substantially every step you take to reach the top of your goals—but that tunnel vision often prevents one from living in the moment, or in Terri’s case, from seeing the importance of Gina’s journey to growth and balance and not just the final destination.

She raised Gina with this mentality and this is the root of where overly ambitious Gina 1.0 comes from: the desperate pursuit for lead through sabotage and manipulation, only for her to realise it wasn’t what she’d been looking for at the time. (Now confirmed to have been purpose and acceptance that she was actually seeking.)

But don’t get me wrong about Gina: she wanted a stable community and people who saw her and understood her, but she herself is also a naturally ambitious, driven girl who has the chops and desire to go after her dreams with no hesitation. She gets straight As, has no problem stepping into the spotlight, and is an insanely talented triple threat. Could you argue that this is potentially nurture over nature because Gina has been conditioned by her mom to be as ambitious as possible through her upbringing? Perhaps, but s2 and s3 we saw a Gina not under the influence of her mother’s overbearing nature, and we were explicitly shown how much her confidence was negatively affected by not pursuing the lead in s2 versus how well-balanced and satisfied she was in s3.

Gina is meant to be a star, and she loves the limelight and pampering of stardom. Her mother is also overbearing and pushes her to be in the limelight. They are not mutually exclusive, but undoubtedly, Gina’s motivations are still her own in a large capacity. Of all of Miss Jenn’s students, Gina is the one who acclimates to the changes with the film and navigates this new world with ease while also managing her growing fame and school with relative ease. We see Kourtney struggle with college apps and the filming, even almost dropping out of HSM 3; Carlos quits being Miss Jenn’s assistant; Ricky is trying hard to accommodate change, but it makes him uncomfortable.

(And Ashlyn is just a hot mess overall because of Maddox 😂).

Gina is on top of everything, though, and is in her element and doing amazing to boot, but the caveat to that is she’s found balance and has a loving and supportive community courtesy of her golden retriever boyfriend and the theatre crew family with which she’s strengthened bonds.

But Terri was not there for that journey in s2 and s3, a roughly 7 to 8 month interval of time during which Gina pushed aside her drive and was at her lowest in confidence only to figure it all out and bounce back stronger than ever. And she was not there for the fall and stronger rise again of Gina’s relationship with Ricky. So from Terri’s perspective, the last time she lived with her daughter, Gina was 1.0 and had no desires for anything but her ambitions to be the best.

I give Terri some grace, because though it really is up to her to try to learn and understand her daughter and who she is and who she is becoming—something Terri failed to do more than once—to be fair, Gina kept all these things from her. And I give Gina a lot of grace for not being able to express her truth in all this time because it can be very hard to stand up to overbearing moms who are inflexibly focused on one plan. But for someone who isn’t very observant about what is happening in the now, there was no way Terri would have ever known about all these changes and balance Gina found. And the biggest problem is that this season, Terri refused to open her eyes to see the growth Gina has exhibited to become 2.0 and therefore failed to understand her daughter.

Therefore, I can only imagine Terri’s sheer confusion and discomfort when Gina finally revealed the truth about the journey she’s been on and what has been the most influential in making her this happy every day. There’s no way it didn’t feel like it was coming out of left field for Terri—and she doesn’t get it at first—and for an overbearing, relatively inflexible mother, this type of confession would definitely inspire pushback.

Which we end up seeing.

The way I see it, Terri emphasises no boys in her lecture because she doesn’t want Gina’s success derailed by a relationship. She’s an adult who’s had two kids; I’m sure Terri knows what being in love is like, how unhinged it can make you, and the types of choices you make and types of distractions you have when you’re in love. And in one evening, her daughter, who had likely been telling her everything in the past and has always been under her thumb, tells her she’s been lying to her for months, is in a secret relationship with another boy, has been sneaking him into her room at night, and then rushes out of the house in the middle of dinner with a guest to make out with said boy in the rain.

But above that, the biggest thing is this secret boyfriend is the one person responsible for making Gina the happiest Terri has ever seen, something monumental, and Terri has never even conversed with him, let alone had a substantial, proper first introduction.

She knows nothing about him besides what Gina has likely told her—which is not a tangible thing Terri can confirm—but in her view he probably doesn’t seem driven, doesn’t seem particularly ambitious the way Gina is, hasn’t particularly made a mark on the world, and if we are to go by the implication of her “Gina has been waiting for you to step up for a long time” line, then she also has knowledge of how much pain Ricky inadvertently caused Gina in s2.

We all have seen Gina’s journey throughout the show and know this is the true Gina, but Terri was not there for those events. So from Terri’s perspective, everything she’s learned in one dinner has to have made her think these are all bad choices and decisions she incorrectly believes to be out of character for Gina. All she sees is a Gina who is hesitating and slow to sign a contract for a leading role in a big-budget movie in a way the daughter she remembers never would have. And I have no doubt that she believes that if Gina can make bad decisions like this about a boy without much thought, then she could just as easily make rash decisions that could negatively affect her future.

Like, for example: giving up a once-in-a-lifetime leading role as a brand new actress for a boy who can easily sway her to lie to her mother and sneak around behind her back.

I can only imagine the disapproving panic that started setting in because—beyond the potential implications of sneaking a boyfriend into your room at night—the optics do look pretty bad.

And that’s why I think she told Ricky about New Zealand. I really don’t think she has anything against him personally as she said. Her issues stem from his presence in her life and what that means for Gina’s future compared to Mack, which I’ll get back to a little later.

Again: Terri has tunnel vision and believes Gina has to pick either the movie or SLC. The only right choice in her mind is the movie, and she doesn’t want Ricky to be in the way of that decision because in her eyes, he will impede Gina’s success. But I still didn’t sense strong malicious intent so much as I sensed an inflexible mother trying her hardest to grasp onto the last vestiges of control over her daughter’s life however means necessary. Gina gave her heart to Ricky, and her clear love for him is enough to make Gina hesitate about the direction her career is taking her. Terri overheard Ricky preparing to tell Gina he loves her, and in my opinion was close to “panicking” over the fact that Ricky confessing could very well have been the final nail in the coffin in Gina giving up the acting gig to stay in SLC instead. This is the same mom who encouraged Gina to stay in SLC in s2 and not make any big decisions because she doesn’t know what the universe has in store for her. In Terri’s view, Gina was never attached to SLC, and now she’s having trouble leaving it because of Ricky, so the Ricky panic and pushing Gina to sign the contract faster kind of checks out.

I do believe mentioning Mack was a bit of a malicious dig though, but in the sense that she was trying to tell Ricky that he’s not on the same level as Mack and Gina in drive, ambition, and success. But I interpret her overall behaviour in that scene as a last ditch Hail Mary to try to make Ricky recognise what’s at stake for Gina and how influential his decisions could be in impacting how Gina makes her choice. Ricky, to her, is an obstacle and the biggest barrier at the moment to Gina jumping right into doing the movie so instead of approaching Gina, she opts to target Ricky to reconsider his attachment to Gina.

I truly believed her when she said she doesn’t have anything against Ricky, because it really isn’t about Ricky. It’s always about Gina—and who Terri thinks would best match Gina—and she just doesn’t get Ricky’s impact in Gina’s life because she probably never asked.

Terri, though overbearing, clearly does want what’s best for Gina’s success, but she doesn’t know what is best for Gina because she hasn’t been there enough to recognise Gina’s needs in the first place. And she tends to bulldoze over Gina, sometimes not even listening to what she has to say.

That’s why the confrontation with Ricky in Gina’s room is so, so important, because it’s the first pivotal moment where Terri is confronted for the first time on how important the theatre community is to Gina, no matter how small and non-famous. The moment she first realises why this idiot boy has such a strong impact on her daughter in the first place. The first moment she starts to see how Gina started to and had a safe, comfortable space to change. And the first moment she is met with the very real threat that Gina is no longer as tethered to Terri’s idea of success and stardom because Gina has people in her corner who she has placed at a higher ranking in importance than her mark-making goals.

Even when Ricky was being denigrated for not stepping up, his mind was still razor focused on Gina and being her biggest supporter and cheerleader. His response is very much a “you can say whatever you want about me, but I won’t tolerate you hurting Gina again” kind of thing. And however small, he did get through to Terri in some capacity. In some ways, I think he also gained a little bit of her respect with his Caucasity audacity.

This is the face she makes when he calls her out on her hypocrisy:

That’s a face of guilt with bits of shame. Maybe a bit of understanding that she deserves that one.

And these are the faces she makes when he asks her to turn around while he tries to get out:

Terri Porter is not a warm woman. She is driven, she is ambitious, and she pushes her daughter so hard because, to some extent, she likely views Gina’s success as her own too. And she wants nothing to get in that way, come hell or high water.

And yet, nothing about those expressions indicate a dislike of Ricky. If anything, I’d say she kind of looks fond, amused, or even impressed during a lot of that interaction. And there is no way Terri did not recognise at least a bit of the aspects of Ricky we viewers have watched him develop. His admirable complete devotion and protection of Gina. His drive to grow and improve so he can be a better partner to Gina. His desire to fully support her ambitions so she can become the star he knows she was always meant to be.

There’s no way that at that moment, Terri didn’t see an inkling of exactly why Gina has been so happy. There’s no way she didn’t recognise that Ricky is not just some random dude her daughter is dating for fun. This is not a similar relationship like the one she had with EJ over the summer. Ricky is the real deal. And he has potential to really damage the choices Gina can make about her life. She’s wrong, of course. Ricky is no longer the type to try to make everything else go away so he can have control and stability over his own life and relationship. But I think from that brief moment in Gina’s room, she at the very least now has the tangible evidence to back up what makes Ricky so important to Gina. And that informs her subsequent “panic” and the New Zealand reveal.

But again, she doesn’t know him. Just sees that her daughter is in love with a boy who doesn’t fit her own idea of strong future ambitions for success and thinks him unworthy and a possible deterrent to Gina becoming a star.

The thing is though, as I mentioned earlier, it’s not Ricky personally who she has a problem with: it’s what Ricky represents versus what Mack does.

Ricky is the theatre community—dinky, small school club, nondescript, can’t acquire fame through it—while Mack is the world of Hollywood—big-budget movie and fame, potential for successful stardom, glitz and glam and glory.

Until the end, she doesn’t care for the theatre community, because like most of her approach regarding success, a small school club is unlikely to match Gina’s drive and allow her to reach her fullest potential in a more public sphere.

(I’m gonna get over-analysy and philosophical for just a second).

The show, whether intentional or not, makes it a point to reflect this idea of the theatre community versus Mack/Hollywood as it pertains to Gina’s home and life. All moments with the theatre group and anyone having to do with it were relegated to scenes in Gina’s attic bedroom only. The cast reveal is in the attic, and they only got in because Emmy stole the garage code and they snuck in while no one was home. The Halloween party is not in the house proper, but confined to Gina’s attic, and Terri’s interaction with them is to remind them to keep it down. Ricky sneaks into the windows at night to see Gina and all his visits are also confined to the attic.

Compared to that, we have Mack, the representation of fame and stardom, gets full-blown concierge service of a dinner and is treated like royalty in the main part of the house. His presence is not only invited, it’s also encouraged and unhidden.

(Quick aside: after Ricky takes off during the Halloween party, we see Gina melancholic and at war with herself on the stairs, a middle ground/point between the main house and the attic. One foot in each world and a reflection of the start of the conflict she has to resolve in the second half of the season).

Following this metaphor, it reflects the view Terri has of Gina’s communities. How she disregards the theatre group and kind of ignores them, pushes them to the side in her mind. How much importance she places on Gina’s Hollywood gig, even going as far as not attending any stage performances but showing up to the movie set. I don’t think she even would have tried to watch most of the HSM 3 production had Ricky not called her out.

Terri prioritises success in a larger scheme of the world, choosing to ignore how much Gina’s community means to her and how much Gina means to the community too until the press conference. Until the moment when Gina talks about SLC being her support network and home. When Gina spontaneously changes the film location to stay in SLC so she can have both her found family and her future fame. When Ricky shows up and with no hesitation boldly declares his love for Gina. When her friends and castmates and found family (the bridesmaids and groomsmen 😜) come to the front to share in this moment and protect their moment and their moment alone from the prying eyes of the press.

It's not hard to see Gina’s sheer joy and bliss at all her dream's realised with Ricky and her community through her smile and tears, and the room is quite literally brightened up.

And Terri gets it: what Ricky was sassing her about, that Ricky wants nothing more than Gina’s happiness, and that Gina’s happiness is not just success in her ambitions but more so the people who have been there for her when Terri wasn’t there. She finally reconciles the words Gina likely told her at dinner and what Ricky alluded to with Terri’s absence from the opening nights with what she sees as tangible evidence right in front of her eyes.

So this is why this:

Is such an underrated moment for me, not just because her personal invitation is a seal of approval for their relationship and her acknowledgement that Ricky is worthy of her daughter. It’s also because Ricky is the reason why Gina found and joined this theatre community in the first place, and in many ways, represents exactly what this community means to Gina: finally being seen, known, understand, and accepted for who she is.

Terri telling Ricky he’s welcome in her home without having to sneak anymore represents to me that understanding and approval of this community to Gina, and in turn, a desire for Gina to continue to have this group present in her life. It’s Terri finally making an effort to listen to what Gina needs and wants and making the effort to accept Gina’s decisions and what makes Gina happiest with open arms.

Gina showed her that beautiful balance Gina 2.0 achieved without her mother’s influence by figuring out a way to have her cake with the movie and eating it too in SLC with her family. Something Terri would never have thought of as an option, given her tunnel vision. And this was definitely a strong factor in Terri recognising the influence and importance and benefit of Gina’s theatre community. And now that she is taking active steps to get to know Ricky and the community, I can only imagine her relationship with Gina, her relationship with Ricky, and her understanding of Gina’s relationship with Ricky will improve.

Within 12 hours, only two short prior conversations, one of which was Terri talking at Ricky, and Ricky publicly declaring his love for—and proposing to 🤭🤭🤭—her daughter, she’d changed her mind about him. Which is pretty insane to think about considering the type of mother Terri is: a bit controlling and not very flexible. And I attribute Terri’s change of heart mostly to Ricky, who put into action the words she’d heard from Gina and Ricky and showed her so easily that he has every quality she values and rewards:

Single minded focus and pursuit of a task when it counts.

Guts and gumption.

Ambition and drive to go after what he wants.

Never gives up.

Her machinations (twice!) did not deter him from expressing his utterly romantic, swoonworthy love song for Gina, and she definitely respects that. And it helped her see that Ricky’s drive is to make sure Gina is always happy and that Gina knows she’s loved and cared for.

Despite the fact that he is not a traditional “successful” by her definition, Terri still thinks and understands he’s worth the wait Gina went through since Thanksgiving s1 to finally be with the love of her life.

All this to say a woman like Terri Porter does not change her mind for any old reason—it has to be significant—and Ricky gaining her approval was such an excellent way to emphasise just how truly perfect Rina is for each other. How worthy Ricky is of Gina, not based on some arbitrary definition of success, but because of how significant he is in Gina’s journey of growth and happiness. I could go on and on about Rina being perfect soulmates, haha, but I digress. I foresee a great friendship between Ricky and Terri in the future because above all else, the both of them are driven by a staunch desire to see Gina successful and happy.

I originally was going to name this post “Ricky’s Effect on the Porter Women” because he truly does play a significant role in changing both of their perspectives. He was the first to allow Gina to find a home, a place where she can finally be known, something which kicked off her growth which ultimately gave her the strength and courage to make her choice at the end of the season. And he was the first to transform Terri’s mentality on success and the ultimate reason she finally saw the real Gina and the importance of this whole community that has impacted her life the most.

Ricky is an instrumental catalyst in both of their lives. He’s the reason why Gina stood up to her mother and stood her ground on her own desires and what is important to her. He’s the reason why Terri Porter will likely continue to learn who her daughter is from now on, step back, and trust Gina to make her own choices knowing she is safe with the friends she loves. He’s the reason Gina and Terri will be able to have a more equal, open and honest relationship where Gina’s desires are understood, listened to, and met because he won’t ever let anyone hurt Gina again. He’s the reason that Terri is starting to understand and reconcile who her daughter has been and who her daughter is now.

Terri is a complex character, but I feel it is doing her a disservice dismissing her choices as her being a terrible person. Her priorities are far more intense than current Gina necessarily needs, and she is a flawed human being who has definitely made mistakes in motherhood, but she’s also been an amazing mom in other ways:

She understood how much pain Gina would be in when they had to move on Thanksgiving and tried pre-emptively to keep it from happening. She gives her a bear every Valentine’s day. She let her 16 year old daughter stay in SLC by herself upon request because it was the first time in 5 schools in 7 years that Gina wanted to stay somewhere. She encouraged Gina to stay in SLC in s2 and keep making new experiences when Gina was about to give up. She moved her whole life back to SLC and decided to stick there for her daughter so Gina could have a stable home this school year. Even if too strong a push at times, she is an unwavering supporter of Gina’s talent and rise to fame and does not hide from her daughter how incredibly talented she views her. And though an incorrect assumption on Gina’s happiness, she immediately waived her no boys rule in case Gina wanted to pursue Mack. And once she accepted Ricky, she did the same again, allowing their relationship and telling him he’s welcome in their home and welcome in her and Gina’s life.

She’s a bit of a messy mom, kind of clueless, misguided in the direction she was taking parenting Gina, and has a lot to learn about a more hands-off and trusting parenting style, but she is very much there for her daughter.

And when Ricky and Gina get married in ten years, I can guarantee you Terri Porter will be right in the front, proud as hell that her daughter is marrying the perfect person for her, who cares for her beyond himself and makes her the happiest she’s ever been.

[samadhifired]

Since S4 hinted that Nezha, Erlang Shen and Princess Iron Fan used to be some kind of elite warrior trio... Do you think Nezha and Erlang were invited to DBK and PIF's wedding?

No... not invited. Tricked.

I'm willing to bet my head that when PIF ran away to be with DBK, no one in Celestial Realm realised what had happened. After all, the mere idea of a Celestial Warrior falling in love with an enemy is just way too absurd to even consider. They probably assumed that she had lost a battle and DBK had captured her. As a trophy, so to speak.

And who would the Heavens send to rescue one of their greatest warriors? Naturally, the two other warriors who are equally as skilled!

So Nezha and Erlang are sent to rescue their sister-in-arms. But instead of a battle, they find very annoyed looking PIF waiting for them at the gates of the DBK's lair.

"What took you two so long?"

"Of course, you managed to rescue yourself... Well, let’s draw a teleportation circle and go ho-."

"The only thing you two will be doing is getting in and change. We are already late."

"... Late from what?"

"My wedding. We have already been postponing it over a day because you two were taking your sweet time. Do you have any idea how embarrassing it would be to get married without any of the bride’s family present?”

"Wait… You are getting married?! With whom? The Demon Bull King?"

"Naturally. Now chop-chop. My beloved is getting impatient."

Their presense probably made it the most awkward wedding in the history (not that DBK or PIF noticed) but thankfully no one got killed.

(And even though both Nezha and Erlang would rather die than admit it; they actually had pretty good time.)

[apatheticlexicographer]

not to be unoriginal but seriously i'm never not thinking about the one way sign and just how gay/byler coded mike's room is in general.

like??? we only get one angle on his room, but all of the decorations except that sign are clearly tied to either his character (past or present) or the plot.

the two black and white art prints are from the basement in a previous season i believe. i haven't watched conan but from what i've heard the plot is some kind of foreshadowing for the russia plotline. pinboards are usually places to display mementos that mean a lot to you, so the couple of wills drawings that can be seen there make sense. the big tiddy dragon man is obviously a d&d thing. even the barely-visible guitar is another nod to how much mike is trying to copy eddie in this season!!!

but the one way sign??? the fuck does that represent??? it's big as hell, directly above the part of the shot you're led to focus on while watching (mike) making it easy to pick up on peripherally on a single watch, and points straight at the closet. with how deliberate literally everything else in his room is, one of the most prominent pieces of decoration being filler makes no sense.

meanwhile he has two images of very muscular male figures on his walls, one of which is dead centre of the shot and has a tiny wizard casting a fireball on it (big tiddy dragon man ilysm) AND has will's art on his corkboard despite being in a rough patch with him and just tossing el's letters away.

(side note: something about his drawings being directly next to the lamp and the recurring association of will and lamps/lights throughout the whole show, and the way the blocking places him under the light sources so frequently when he's with mike. something about his drawings being representative of mike feeling like he's lost him due to the s1 scene with the binder. something about him being mike's light even when they're so physically and emotionally distant from each other. yeah.)

and let it be said, the stranger things set designers DO NOT FUCK AROUND. there are countless instances of people noticing little pieces of set decoration that follow characters throughout the entire show, or innocuous graffiti and posters that foreshadow major story beats. one of my own personal observations from an analysis i never finished is a perfect demonstration:

a trophy in will's room in s2, and a matching one in mike's room in s1. a matching set from one of the party's science fairs, presumably.

another lamp-shaped trophy in will's s4 room...

and an exactly matching trophy from a photo shared on finn wolfhard's instagram IN DECEMBER OF 2017!!! those trophies are such a minor piece of set decoration that i couldn't even find a screencap of mike's that was clear enough to use, but it's still custom embossed. that's how hard the stranger things set design goes.

so the wealth of queercoded and will-centric imagery in mike's room??? the seemingly "random" road sign??? that's not coincidence or laziness, no matter how hard some people will argue that it's not that deep. on the contrary, it's probably substantially deeper than we'll ever know T_T

[generalluxun]

Miraculous Movie Character Headcanon

So I know I have zero to go on, and odds are this is wrong, but I have at LEAST until 2026 before it matters, so...

Chloé Bourgeois headcanon: This Chloé actually despises both of her parents. Her upbringing is largely the same as show Chloé, but she's made the connection that no, neither of them really love her as a daughter. She's a prize/trophy at best and an annoyance at worst. She openly resents them, but as with most kids she's powerless to do much about this fact, and so it comes out as bullying outbursts.

Some supports for this:

She neve mentions her parents, or calls for daddy on anything. The closest we get is a 'Do you know who I am?' which is a very general notion of self-importance, not the same level of parental-desperation.

Sabrina's far more independent around her. This is not a minion/master relationship like S4/5 tried to pedal. While it's still clearly more take than give on Chloé's part, it doesn't feel like Sabrina *has* to be there. She knows what Chloé is like, and that she can leave. She chooses not to. There needs to be more there under the hood for this to be the case.

The times Sabrina does look scared is when Chloé is raging out. This distinction makes me think she's mad *because* Chloé is raging and those outbursts scare her, perhaps as something abnormal. No Chloé's not a saint, she's a snob, but the intensity of these explosions is something abnormal.

What does this mean?

I dunno! It could lead to some very different interactions, and is mostly fun for laying around with.

Her path to change would be very different for one thing. Since a lack of self worth and feeling a loss of control in her life(parental inflicted) is the root. Heroing and learning to build her self worth by doing good things rather than by tearing those around her down seems like a solid path. This would be an interesting reflection of Marinette's own Journey in the first movie. Marinette believed she was nothing, and beat herself up for it. Chloé believes she's nothing, and beats everyone else up for it.

Zoé could be entirely different if she is brought in. Chloé might absolutely love the idea of a family member who is *not* her parents to be family with. If sisterly-conflict is needed you could have Zoé's absolute desire to be one big happy family clashing with Chloé's desire to have nothing to do with her parents.

Just some overall ideas that came to me and might be fun to explore in fanfic.

[liesmyth]

do you think richmond wins the treble next year (to you)? i know it's unrealistic but i want itttt. at the very least the premier league they have to win. like, jamie deserves to win a trophy with his besties before he moves on to chelsea/psg/wtv so he can reach his full potential AND bang his fave coach in peace <3

It IS unrealistic but LIVE YOUR DREAMS.

I could see a multiple-trophy season as, like, a culmination of Jamie's years at Richmond, their golden years etc, but honestly not any S4-ish timeline because the stars really have to align for a continental treble, and the Champions League especially is such a wild card (and Richmond have never even been in the UCL before!) You need a well-honed team with deep pockets at Richmond in S3 are just starting to play with the cool kids. BUT maybe they get super lucky because everyone else gets super unlucky, who knows? LIVE YOUR DREAMS

Anyway they absolutely have it in them to win one (1) trophy next season,at least. I believe in them. (Which in turn would block City from winning their treble, though since the show is one year behind. Sorry City)

Also: fun fact, Roy's background at Chelsea from early-00s to mid-10s means that he's a double winner, because Chelsea won the FA Cup and the League title in 2010. That man has so many medals at home.

[carrymelikeimcute]

Con O'Neill as 'Ben Walker' in Wycliffe S4 E4

The highlights:

Lolling myself silly because he's cast as the trophy husband of a woman ten years older than him. Oh how the turn tables.

Who gave him a riding crop? jfc.

He's flirting with the detective investigating his wife's disappearance (the woman in the picture below - can't blame him honestly). She's a stronger woman than me.

That soup looks dreadful.

Oh he is so guilty and I don't care (his horsey waistcoat has so many pockets because it's full of secrets).

It's been 32 minutes so far without a classic homoerotic incident. I'm impressed.

The police diver being so happy he found a shoe. Well done mate.

Why are all Con's character's jackets so big?? The jacket paws :3

Ah the old 'you remind me of my missing wife' routine. You ain't slick.

Ah the old 'I miss my missing wife, please have dinner with me' routine. This. Fucking. Guy.

Oh he's been putting that soup about. Slut.

He's a black widow! Why is that hot???

SHE'S STILL ALIVE AND SHE'S BEEN CAMPING DOWN THE ROAD THIS WHOLE TIME???? Of how the plot twistens.

Oh dude, you're fucked. (I love that they put him in a black jacket for the 'he is evil' scene).

Oh MY GOD the wife's sticking by him...fair.

Was not anticipating direct eye contact with camera. I am very scared.

[purpleheartskies]

Some of my thoughts about Robby for s6...

First, I wonder if Robby will start out the season having quit karate again. At the beginning of s4, he had told Kreese that he didn't care about a stupid trophy after everything that had happened. He didn't want to be part of the dojo war, but he ended up joining Cobra Kai and eventually fighting in the avt. At the end of s4, he was more upset about what he'd done during his match with Kenny and about his struggle with his trauma/"hate" than about his loss in the tournament. He quit karate again. He didn't want to be a part of Cobra Kai, and there was no indication that he wanted to rejoin Miyagi-Do if it were open. In s5e6, he re-joined Miyagi-Do and the fight against Cobra Kai, along with the Miyagi Fangs, but he clearly told Daniel that there are people he cared about in Cobra Kai and that they (Miyagi Fang) all needed to take down Silver.

At the start of s6, maybe he'll be focusing on himself and his future, without karate in the mix. Although Robby is really talented, karate has brought him nothing but more trauma. I also don't see Johnny paying much attention to him or encouraging him as the Sekai Taikai champion as much as Johnny will focus on Miguel and his future. Robby was just staying with Johnny for the summer. s6 picks up after the start of the school year. Shannon should have returned by then, which means that Robby could be back living with her. Robby may not even be in Johnny's vicinity at the start of s6, and that would be good for him as his situation with Johnny is toxic. This would also open up storyline potentials for Robby. He has no real family (I assume Shannon is more like a roommate), no real friends except for Tory (and maybe Kenny), and no school, so Robby also being away from Johnny gives the writers a more open canvas to work with for Robby. Of course, at one point something would happen and Robby would re-join Miyagi-Do and continue with karate and training for the Sekai Taikai.

Next, in a recent q&a, Hayden said that the dojo will have to select team leaders from each dojo. Johnny would no doubt back Miguel for the boys and Daniel would back Sam for the girls, regardless if more girls joined. Daniel may show some support for Robby to lead the boys, but that remains to be seen. Hawk is in Miyagi-Do and won the avt. If anything, Miguel and Hawk would be supported by the senseis over Robby, and Hawk would definitely step aside for Miguel to lead.

So, most likely Miguel would be the leader for the boys, at least starting out. But, would Robby actually follow his lead completely? In s5e9, Robby went on his own to the CK dojo without the Miyagi Fangs knowing. It shows that Robby would still operate independently if he needs to. Also, in the brawl, when Miguel yelled protect the egg, everyone gathered around Anthony. But when Miguel yelled "Ais!", no one moved. Then Robby yelled it and everyone got into defensive stance. When I saw Hayden's tweet, I realized that my Robby as a leader post actually has some relevance after all. Narratively, Robby has been built out as a leader compared to all the other kids.

Of course, if my first thought above about Robby is true, then at the start of the season, Robby wouldn't even be in the dojo, so Miguel starting out as the leader for the boys would be a given anyway. However, eventually Robby would become the leader at some point because narratively he's been built out to be.

Finally, there's a certain payoff that I'm hoping we'll see. In s3e3, Bobby encouraged Johnny to be there for both boys. Bobby then arranged a visit for Johnny with Robby in juvie. Johnny missed the visit. In s3e4, Johnny was on the phone with Bobby and told him to tell Robby that he's going to make things right with Robby. Bobby obviously refused to do that for Johnny, so Johnny said he'd tell Robby himself.

Since this scene, Bobby hasn't come back. But I think it stands out that Robby specifically met Bobby. Bobby had done a pure act of kindness for Robby and for Johnny. In turn, Bobby himself experienced first hand that Johnny chooses Miguel over Robby. This was after Bobby had told Johnny to be there for both boys. Fans like to quote Bobby saying this, but they always leave out the phone call that followed after Johnny blew off the visit. After this, Bobby doesn't know that Johnny continued to choose Miguel over Robby, abandoned Robby for months, and eventually left Robby with Kreese after Johnny had a violent confrontations with both of them and Kreese tried to kill Johnny. In s2e6, Bobby was not happy with Johnny's decision to let Kreese back into his life. So, Bobby definitely wouldn't approve of Johnny leaving Robby with Kreese.

I don't think Bobby would approve of how Johnny treats Robby overall. And I think Bobby having this first hand experience may influence Bobby to be on Robby's side if Bobby were to learn more details. I've seen fans say that they want Bobby to return to officiate a Johnny-Carmen wedding, but fans ignore that Bobby wasn't happy with Johnny for blowing him and Robby off. Silver can see the Johnny-Robby situation for what it is: that Johnny screwed up Robby. Kreese even told Johnny that he should have been with his "real" son. Bobby would definitely not blindly support Johnny's behavior as is. Bobby also didn't approve of drunk Johnny disrupting his sermon. He wouldn't have approved of Johnny's dumbass drunk move at the end of s5. Bobby would encourage Johnny to work on himself and his behavior with Robby. In s3, Bobby had Johnny promise himself that he would do positive things, be a better person, and do the right thing because it's the right thing to do. Johnny didn't keep that promise. Johnny at the end of s5 is worse than at the end of s3.

Robby needs at least one consistent supportive adult, and so far, none of the adults have been that. Bobby would be a great support system for Robby. Bobby has a history with Johnny, but would still put Johnny in his place. Bobby did this act of kindness for Robby, so Robby knows of him now and knows his kindness. Bobby is also not involved in the dojo war. For Robby's story and the story overall to be complete, Robby's side of the story has to be told, which Bobby can also help do.

It's the last season, and it would be thoroughly disappointing if Bobby didn't make an appearance again. If Bobby is in s6, I would like to think that Rob Thomas himself wouldn't want Bobby to just overlook everything that is wrong with the Johnny-Robby situation and cheer on a wedding for a man who clearly needs help and who continues to traumatize his son. (Besides, in an interview, Hayden was dismissive of the idea of Johnny and Carmen getting married. Makes sense, cause nothing in the story indicates that the baby plotline (aka the "Johnny screwing up another kid" plotline) or the toxic blended "family" are part of Johnny's endgame. Johnny and Robby's story has to conclude now, and the baby plot device was obviously used to place Johnny at the top with everything to lose and Robby at the bottom with nothing to lose, including himself (which he gave up to appease Johnny after hearing the baby news). s6 will be Act 3, the final stretch of Johnny's redemption story. Robby is the person that Johnny has wronged the most overall and throughout the series. Now is the point in the story that Johnny gets the wake-up call he needs (and should have gotten a long time ago, honestly). Johnny's redemption will only come if he make things right with and for Robby.)