#same plotline but different bits

[urproblematicfav-ao3]

Cons of maladaptive daydreaming: I sometimes have issues distinguishing memories from reality and whatever stupid bullshit I practice in my head, and get very stressed out about being selfimposingly insane

Pros of maladaptive daydreaming:

I can spend 80% of my brain power thinking nonstop about how 2 people would fuck and if I can successfully write it down, sometimes people cum from it

[connormoving]

thank GODDD the doctor is taking time to work on himself maybe now he can stop ruining womens lives .

[failchild]

i can write so much more about why i think severance S2 isn't as strong or enjoyable as S1, but i could truly go on forever so i've organized my thoughts into three categories: lack of inter/departmental connection, dropped storylines, and how the world feels much smaller (1.2k words under the cut)

lack of inter/departmental connection

a significant theme of the S2 finale is the solidarity between different severed departments. MDR, mammalians nurturable, and the marching band department become impromptu allies against lumon management. innie mark is hesitant to save gemma not just because he might cease to exist, but so might the entire severed department. so why wasn't this a theme throughout the whole season?

episode 3 was building up to this: mark and "helly" made contact with mammalians nurturable, and irving visited O&D to share a nice moment with felicia. but that interdepartmental connection is completely dropped until the the finale, seven episodes later.

innie mark's concern for all severed workers rings a bit hollow when he doesn't seem to care about the three innies he got terminated in episode 1, and hasn't thought about irving at all. (i know ignoring grief is mark's whole thing, but he's known irving his whole life! there's not even a single moment of him acknowledging irving after his firing.) like, okay, mark said innie rights! does he really demonstrate that throughout the season, though?

EDIT: oh my god, miss casey—innie mark willingly killed miss casey. if he was truly so concerned about every innie, shouldn't he have been conflicted about leading her to her death? the person he said "we're people, not parts of people" to? the person he said "no one gets to just turn you off" to? (mark! you just turned her off!)

what stands out more is the lack of connection within MDR itself: once irving's gone, MDR just doesn't seem to care about each other. their tight-knit friendship and "we're in this together" dynamic is supplanted by romance. sure, mark and helly love each other now—why does that have to come at the cost of their friendship with dylan? do they just not care that he's been disappearing for half the work day? in the S2 finale, it's a great character moment for dylan when he comes to the rescue, but would helly and mark do the same for him? they didn't seem to notice or care that he was gone for mark's completion of cold harbor.

dropped storylines and dramatic twists that lead nowhere

(i know how television works, i know that plotlines that begin in one season can get resolved in another. okay. now that's out of the way)

remember how bold of a decision it was to have mark reintegrate in episode 3? the building of tension, reghabi asking an increasingly confused mark basic questions ("what season is it?" "you mean, what quarter?"), mark waking up on the severed floor table, and the triumphant soundtrack that follows? none of that seems to matter now: reghabi is out of the picture and mark doesn't get reintegration sickness or hallucinations anymore. reghabi kept warning mark to not move his head—then he fell to the ground and slammed his head, and was beaten in the head by drummond. is his brain okay? did the reintegration process even happen? did i dream this plotline? where am i?

what did the undercover helena plot accomplish? okay, so it was crazy when irving revealed that helena was impersonating helly. what exactly were the consequences of this? besides irving getting fired, there were barely any ripple effects for this seemingly momentous betrayal—mark was uncomfortable for two episodes, and helly was upset for, like, ten minutes tops. it's a fun plot twist for sure, but it doesn't seem to truly affect the character it should matter most to, and helly isn't given the time to wrestle with the fact that she's an eagan (royalty! a god!) and found out mere hours ago. we get to know helena a bit, i guess, but she was already compelling when she was just a face on a TV screen, telling helly that she wasn't a person.

speaking of irving's firing, this was the perfect setup for learning more about his outie, but we learn nothing. we have the same questions as we did in S1: who's he working with? what's his motivation to infiltrate lumon? why does he know about the elevator to the testing floor? irving is just as much of a mystery as he was in S1—and now we don't know if we'll ever see him again and get answers to those crucial character questions.

milchick has undoubtedly the best character arc this season. in episode 9 he finally snaps at upper management and can barely process what it means when outie mark tells him, "work's just work". i don't think milchick would turn his back on lumon entirely, that wouldn't be realistic, but all his character moments throughout the season seemed to be culminating to him realizing that, yeah, work is just work, it's not that serious. it makes sense that he would try his hardest to escape the bathroom, then get greeted by an innie uprising—but that would have also happened to a S1 milchick. after the kier animatronic microaggressions and all the shit he has to do to prepare for cold harbor's completion, would he really try to escape the bathroom that hard? or would he be having a midlife crisis, staring himself down in a mirror? i'm genuinely not sure.

i know i'm in the minority here but i loved ricken in S1—he and his strange followers bring an earnestness and sense of humor that made the show feel unique in how it juggled wildly different tones. ricken was also crucial to the innie story, and helped innie mark realize his potential as a human being. but besides appearing in a single flashback during the gemma episode, ricken's been completely absent since episode 3. what happened to his lumon sellout arc? what does he think his wife, who he has a newborn baby with, is doing? did he die in a private yacht explosion?

we still don't know what cold harbor is, right? we know that each file MDR completes is another room for gemma, but what's cold harbor specifically, and why would it kill her? she starts to disassemble a crib without feeling negative emotions—how is that any different from any other innie? is the point to sever away specific trauma? is that really it? and again, why would that kill her?

the world feels much smaller

the world outside of lumon is absent in S2. S1 had ricken and his weird friends, mark going on dates, back alley concerts, anti-severance protests, snippets of the news—there was life outside of lumon! S2 leaves that all behind to tighten focus on lumon and the people directly involved in the company, which makes the story very insular.

characters are so vitally important now: helly is an eagan, mark is the only one who can finish cold harbor and cold harbor is The Most Important Thing In The World We Have To Complete It Now, everything MDR does is because of gemma, and cobel invented severance. everyone else feels supplemental—people like irving and ricken can be easily discarded. the science fiction aspects, which were bizarre and unknowable in S1, are now directly personal to everyone. it's like milchick lying about the tallest waterfall in the world: it just makes everything seem smaller.

this also muddies S1's central themes and satire of the corporate world. mark isn't just another cog in the machine anymore, he's the most important guy (they fired and rehired a bunch of people, just for him!). the work isn't mysterious anymore, we know exactly what they're doing. mark being an ordinary guy who goes to an office job he doesn't really understand was the point of the corporate satire. severance just isn't interested in that anymore, which i guess is understandable; the show can grow into something different. but using a sci-fi concept to comment on office culture and the different personas we inhabit for work was so clever and special, and now they're just exploring well-trodden ground like identity and what it means to be human. sci-fi has already done that one, guys! many times!

again, i can say a lot more but i think this sums up my main thoughts. and i generally liked each episode individually, but when i look at the season as a whole it just doesn't cohere nearly as well as S1 did.

[obsessedwrhys]

ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 .ᐟ Wolverine x Deadpool x F!Reader

ᯓ★ Being in a polyamory relationship with these two. (A dream inspired this AHAHHA–) fluff, lots of bickering between the two, funny/goofy shit, bit of jealousy/possessiveness, reader is fem!!

This whole relationship is a mess.

I'm talking never getting a moment of peace kind of mess.

For example this one time you drove the Honda Civic.

Nobody understood why you were the one behind the wheels 'cause now you're ramming into everything with Logan grabbing on the handle for dear life while Wade is having the time of his life at the back.

"Stop the damn car before we crash, bub! Yer gonna kill someone!" Logan shouted and at the same time Wade was screaming out the lyrics to "Highway to Hell" by AC/DC.

Did I mention how different these two are with you?

Wade loves it when you run to hug him, he would swing you around a couple of times with your legs wrapped around his waist.

As for Logan, he prefers something less than that. A simple hug is enough and you can't complain much about it because the way he completely engulfs you in his embrace always made your chest flutter.

It's no surprise that they are protective over you.

Like when you were captured by some troops in the void. The fire guy, Johnny Storm, couldn't help but try to flirt with you. He figured why not shoot his shot right?

"Hey..." He'd say, flashing you a cheesy smile.

And seeing his attempt to charm you, you couldn't help but find it amusing and chuckle.

Clearly the two didn't like it.

Which is why that may or may not be the reason why Wade decided to out the man and get him killed 🤷‍♀️ I guess we'll never know 🤔

You and Wade enjoy pulling pranks on Logan.

The sight of him being pissed off pleases you both.

There was this one time you guys swapped his whiskey to a non-alcoholic drink and you can imagine his frustration.

"WADE!!" But he can never get mad at you. He just can't.

Even Wade complains about this privilege of yours.

"Seriously Lo?! You're gonna get mad at me and not our lovely prank partner here? Come on man, we're both guilty parties in this crime scene. If you wanna get angry, at least share the spotlight :("

Cue you sticking your tongue out at Wade as he pouts with puppy dog eyes.

All jokes aside, the two love and support you dearly.

I like to think Logan is more of an old romantic and Wade is the adventurous type.

That's why it can sometimes take a while for them to decide what to get as a present for you.

"Why the fuck would she want a pillowcase with our faces on it?" Logan asked with genuine disgust in his eyes.

"Why wouldn't she?! It's cute as fuck, and you can never have too many pictures of us together. Besides, it's a lot cheaper than buying a life-sized statue of me for her bedroom, although that's an option too, I hear Wolverine-shaped body pillows are all the rage these days" Without realising, he continued on muttering nonsense to himself which had Logan roll his eyes.

"I'm buying her the leather jacket and it's final" Not letting Wade say anything, he'd walk off to the cashier with him left behind. His action causing him to get irritated.

"What about the budget?!?!" He'd raise his voice but Logan simply ignored him. Fed up, he stomps on his feet as he points at his back.

"Fine, you big lug!! I'll let you have your way this time. But don't come crying to me when she dumps us for a pair of more decisive superheroes!!" He'd shout.

In the end you appreciated the gifts you got for your birthday. Each gift speaks for their character.

You guys definitely have lazy days.

Days where you'll lounge around in pajamas and watch cheesy romantic comedies together, complete with a pile of blankets and snacks.

Expect there to be lots of laughter, cringing, and the occasional eye rolling. Not to forget how you three would start making fun of the characters and the cliche plotlines.

Logan clearly struggles to sit through the entire movie marathon and you always have the to be the one to pull his arm to prevent him from leaving.

"Gimme a break, bub. It’s the same damn thing every time— the good guy wins, the bad guy loses. It’s like they think we got the emotional range of a rock"

"Gee, what a buzz kill. But are they wrong though? You practically live like a rock!!" Wade laughed with Logan letting out a scowl.

Thank goodness you're dating them or else they'd be fighting almost all the time.

In the relationship you're the peacemaker

No but seriously Wade calls you that and the nickname has stuck to you.

You enjoy sleeping in the middle with the two on either sides. Half of the time you always wake up with the two fighting over you.

Just imagine Logan pulling you closer to him but before he could even do that, Wade would be quick to pull you back to his embrace despite them both being asleep.

You like to think it's their reflexes. That even when sleeping they're still fighting with each other 😭

However you absolutely adore the two.

Logan will MELT when you kiss his knuckles. Especially when you do it with your eyes locked to his. He will literally go feral for you.

And Wade? He absolutely loveloveloves it when you baby him. It's his guilty pleasure. Hold him close with his face placed against your chest and he swears the voices in his head finally quiets down. That's why you're his angel.

Also, the two really enjoy showering you with kisses. You can barely ever hold back a smile with the two smooching every surface of your face.

Will do anything to get your praise.

The competitiveness is too much.

Oh Logan got you a bouquet? Well Wade got you a bouquet made of tacos. Who's the better one now huh? 😋

To be fair Wade is Wade. There's nothing you can do about it... but that doesn't mean Logan is ever gonna let him get his way.

"Where's Wade?" You'd ask, watching Logan sink on the sofa beside you.

"Don't know... could care less..." He'd say, wrapping an arm around you to snuggle with you. In the other room Wade has been stuffed inside the closet. Completely restrained and duck taped.

All I can say is that dating them is all fun and love. Literal baby girls.

[aliceinborderlandsquidgame]

In-ho as Yandere/Obsess with You (Player) |

This is going to have two versions.

Yandere!In-ho x Fem!Player!Reader

Yandere!Detective!In-ho x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Obsessive!In-ho - Yandere - Power Imbalance - NON CANON EVENTS DOES NOT FOLLOW PLOTLINE - Suggestive parts/NSFW - Manipulation - Grammar mistakes -

Yandere!In-ho its the type of Yandere who first goes into denial over his obsession. Yes, he has read your file multiple times by now. At least ten more times than the other files. He just wants to know all about you.

No, he wont admit it out loud. He would rather pass his little free time in his room looking at the cameras he got around Seoul to keep tabs on you.

Gets angry when he first sees the video of you getting slapped during the recruit time. He may call that centrain recruiter to dispose of him.

While he sees everybody who ends at the games as nothing but low trash (yes even knowing he was part of them once) you are different to him.

You may have ended there for the most stupid reason and yet he wont mind but would feel pity over you.

Will order that the games are easier for you, that the food you get its more healthy and has more cantidad than the rest. But its subtle since he does not want the rest of the players to think you are getting special treatment (you are).

If he sees any player getting too close to you, or its informed by the guards that a centrain player has not so pure desires over you, that one is out. The next game its harder for them.

Will he joy the games to keep a closer eye ? Depends. 

Part of him likes to stay in the shadows, and enjoy the show. You are his Star during these games. The only time he moves the games so you can easily win. He hopes that you feel watched and protected, that when the times comes you will ask to stay with him. He already prepared another room till you are ready to fully move with him.

He becomes so enamored that his actions are off. While usually calculated, with you he wont waste a single time on getting the most cruel deaths for these who  go against you. A traitor? He will tell the guards to keep them alive so he can personally torture him.

The guards prays that you accept on staying with him because his mood has been down and bad the last few games and they need a rest.

There are cameras everywhere, and he uses his position to keep a close eye on you. During night one camera will point at your bed, he passes most of his night watching you. It relaxes him.

NSFW:

He also has a not so saint side, he watches you go to the bathroom to relieve some stress. These are his favorite moments. The sounds and faces you make as you try to get yourself off. He has recording that one and used it multiple times till he is out of cum.

When the games ends and you win, he does things different. Does not send you home at once but rather keeps you in a well secured room with some lame excuse, and what can you do ? This Man has an army behind him.

The Manipulation starts from him slowly getting closer to you, sharing the same interests, faking the same or similar traumatic past.

Yes, you probably resent him a lot. But he is such a good liar, snake tongue and all. That you fall for his lies, how he was forced into this and how when he saw you he could not let someone as precious as you die.

Will take advantage of how emotional drained you are. Offering his ear to listen you rant about different topics from the games to your life.

You are quiet touch starved so he uses these times of vulnerability to hold you close to his chest and caress your hair.

Does give you a bit of freedoom to go and walk around the island, but a guard its with you during all of it.

He is in fact no scared to hurt you in order to keep you by his side. But his favorite way to do it would be forcing a baby inside you. Now dont get me wrong, he WONT force himself on you. He would just casually forget to use a condom and also confuse the anticonceptive pills.

He cant wait to have you all round with his baby. Maybe this is not the best place to raise a kid, but hell does he care ? No. He can make some calls and get things sorted out.

The important part is that you wont be able to leave him.

~○~○~○~○~○~○~○~○~○~

Now, what if he decides to join the games and be your personal guard dog?

He gets enamored by you from reading your file. Maybe there is a detail that resembles his past and that pulls him towards you. So much that after see you almost die in the first game he cant help it.

He needs to be there for you.

He is the quiet player that goes to you in the first night to probably offer you a shoulder or a ear to rant to. Maybe if you are reserved about it he would sneak some sweets not telling you how he got them.

He is the one who protects you from any player. Specially males that wants to use you for their own pleasure. Most get the hint to not approach you in order to not get their bones crushed.

Its clear you have a special treatment, from how the guards just give you free pass to the bathroom or you seem to get a bit more times in the games.

When others notice that they beg you to team up with them since you are an advantage yourself.

By this point In-ho its your shadow and no one questions it. He will ever start to poison your mind with his ideals. Like how the game are a necesary evil and how if players did not truly want them then these would not happen.

Hell he would even request a voting to show you.

And no matter why you ended there. He would whisper sweet lies in your ear at night telling how you are different and how you are above the rest. No one compares to you. That if you win he is sure you would have an incredible life and make something out of it.

He already has planned on getting you "eliminated", pay up your debt and make you stay with him at the island.

Is he going to tell you who he is ? Well yes. And he does not expect you to fall quick for him. He knows whatever progress he made at the games will be like nothing and he will do even more calculated moves from now on.

And how does he make you fall for him at the games ? Well first he protects you, lets others know that you are off limits. He gives you part of his food, during nights he sleeps close to you till one night a fight breaks and he defends you like his life depends on it.

After it you most likely ask him to sleep with you. At first he may leave some space between both of you since he does not want to push you too quick. However his heart is beating so fast he cant even close his eyes, he may keep an eye on you liking how peaceful you look while you sleep, away of this reality.

He will let you come at him first. Like one night you may have a nightmare and you will end asking if he can hold you.

Of course he says yes. It does not matter how, maybe he will let you put your head on his chest or be the big spoon and cover you with his body.

Its almost a shame how much better he sleeps with you in his arms.

During games if its a game where you must play alone he still keeps himself close to you. When it comes to teams he is there.

NSFW:

The bathroom stalls end being your meet up place to relief some stress.

For you probably at first its just sex. No feelings, to him its so much more.

Its passionate, its dirty. He knows no one will bother since he is there with you. No one is allowed to enter.

How would he take you ? He can easily lift you against the wall, kiss down your neck and collarbone. Will held himself back from marking you. Its going to make you wrap your legs around him as he pushes his hard dick inside you. He wont bother on muffing your moans, no he wants to listen to them knowing he is the cause of them.

If during one of the meetings you want to give him head he wont complain. But wont be soft. He will use your mouth like his personal toy, pulling your head and fucking your troath till he sees tears down your face.

[golden-ebony]

Man Eater (1) 𓆩♡𓆪

♡ Series Masterlist ♡

♡ Pairing: Logan Howlett/Fem!Vigilante!Reader

♡ Word Count: 4.4k

♡ Rating: Mature (but any additional parts may be explicit)

♡ Warning/Tags: suggestions of child/adult abuse (no detail), mentions of violence (little detail), mutant/vigilante reader, suggestive language, Logan being a lil flirty menace (i love it)

♡ Summary: Leaving your past behind is never easy; teasing Logan makes it tolerable

♡ Note: reader has the same power as Diego from Umbrella Academy which I just summarized as projectile manipulation. also! this is a plotline i've fiddled with for years across different marvel characters and i finally found a way to make it work! i'd expect more parts because it'd looovvvve to tease Logan

Logan stood out of apartment 404 of a modern apartment building. Given the fact that Charles told him to come here to retrieve what he had described as a vigilante who could use some guidance. Yet, he was surprised to see such a dangerous person living in such a swanky place. It was none of his business, he thought.

He pounded on the door. No one answered. He groaned, pounding the door again, “Hey! Anyone home?” He heard the slightest of footsteps before hearing a voice.

“I’d be careful about pounding on a stranger's door,” you called back in a short tone. A woman, Logan thought.

“Oh, why’s that?” Logan scoffed, folding his arms over his chest.

You cocked your shotgun loudly enough for Logan to hear. You aimed it toward the door, “You never know where you might find trouble.”

Logan lowly chuckled to himself. He went to open the door; to his surprise, it was unlocked. He slowly pushed it open. There stood you, a double-barrel shotgun aimed toward Logan’s head. “Trouble, yeah?”

He glanced at you, not intimidated by the shotgun as he didn’t even attempt to move from the line of fire. You didn’t back down, still aiming the gun at his head, “Not scared of a little lead between your eyes?”

Logan closed the door, assuming you didn’t want your fancy neighbors seeing you about to gun down a man. Couldn’t bear to splatter his brains onto the community hallway. “Lead? Nah, I’ve dealt with a lot worse.” he smirked, casually leaning against the door.

Your eyes narrowed in his direction; no one came to your door. Ever. You took a deep breath, tilting your head in curiosity with the man in front of you. It was never your intention to know him, but you did. You slightly lowered the gun, “You're like me.”

He raised an eyebrow, “Depends. What’cha mean by that?”

“I mean what I mean.”

He sighed, his breath dripping with annoyance, “Kid, I don’t do riddles. Spit it out before you piss me off.”

“You, Logan, are a mutant,” you spat while completely lowering your gun further. You knew you didn’t have the firepower to take him down. “The Wolverine.” Your voice was song-like as you teased him with an eye roll.

He was surprised by your blunt answer; he was even more surprised by the fact that you knew what—who he was without any additional prompts. He chuckled in mild disbelief, “What? You a telepath or something?”

You chuckled, crossing your arms over your chest, “No…but Stryker used to talk about you allll the time,” you teased, striking a deep nerve in Logan.

His fists clenched as he stood up straighter. He appeared defensive as if this was all an elaborate set up by Stryker somehow. If it wasn’t Charles that had sent him, he would have let his mind go there. Yet, it didn’t feel like Charles sending him to this apartment was a coincidence either. Still, looking at you, you looked too young to be around when Stryker was at his peak.

“You know Stryker? How old are you?” By his demanding tone, you knew Logan wasn’t messing around anymore.

You leaned against the arm of the couch, “The only thing Stryker loved more than having mutants do his bidding was perfecting his soldiers,” you bit the inside of your cheek to maintain your composure, “but you? Ohh, you were his favorite. You broke the mold and all he wanted to do was put that perfect mold back together.” You spoke with a disdain that Logan couldn’t figure if it was directed towards Stryker or him. His gut was telling him both.

“I was only sixteen when Styker found me. He called me his best gun.”

That piqued his interest, “Why’s that?”

As Logan finished his sentence, you threw a spear point knife in Logan’s direction. Before he had a chance to react, the knife banked left into a wooden board hanging on the wall. Logan approached the small board, seeing the multiple knife marks wedged into it. It was out of place compared to the pricier art work that adorned the walls. He huffed turning back to you.

“You control metal, too?” he snarked, hoping Charles didn’t send him to find the second coming of Erik.

“Projectile manipulation—knives, bullets, really anything that’s airborne,” you explained. “But that isn’t enough for Stryker…I can’t explain how he did it, but he was hellbent on making me practically immortal…kinda like you. It took him a couple of years. The trials were…” your voice drifted off as the pang of dread filled your chest. 

Logan felt for you, imagining you at sixteen under the oppressive thumb of Stryker. Your eyes wavered from his for the first time. Although Logan was probably one of the few people left in the world that he had any clue what you had been through—the things you were probably made to do—you didn't appear to want his sympathy.

“But you’re out,” Logan stated, trying to offer some semblance of perspective, “Obviously doing your own thing—things Stryker never would have approved of.”

“That’s because I killed him when I escaped.”

Your words heavily weighed on him. He had been looking for Stryker on his own for a while. He raced down every lead on his own time—pulled every thread, turned over every stone. He just assumed that Stryker was alive somewhere underground.

Though shocked, he was impressed, “So you weren’t just a lab rat, you had some fire in you, huh?”

Slowly approaching Logan, your stare was intense. “Unlike you, I had the balls to do something about Stryker instead of just leaving,” you spat.

Logan’s jaw clenched. His patience became thin as he took a step toward you as well, making you well aware of your size difference. “You don’t know me, sweetheart. I don’t have to explain myself to you, so don’t you go around acting all holier than thou.” Truthfully, it did cross Logan’s mind. He hadn’t seen Stryker in decades. But if he had ended him when he had left, how many lives would be unchanged? Looking at you now hearing the hurt in your voice, he was face-to-face with his unconfirmed yet biggest regret. “You’ve got no goddamn idea what I’ve been through!”His tone was gruff and curt.

Like a slap, you chuckled at his remarks. “Right, sixteen year old female lab rat? Gotta be a walk in the park,” you muttered under your breath. Logan’s imagination didn’t have to stretch far to figure what you had gone through, not just in the field but in the lab, too. You roughly brushed past him and pulled your knife out of the wall, securing it in the sleeve, “But you didn’t pound on my door to talk about Stryker, did you?”

Logan dug his hands into his pockets as you walked back into his view, “I came to talk about what you did—what you do. Your little ‘heroics’ as a vigilante.”

You hummed, “And?”

“They’ve been noticed.” He took out a flask before taking a swig of it. He glanced back to you. “I’m here to assess whether you’re a threat or not.”

“And the verdict?”

His eyes narrowed, analyzing you from head to toe. You assumed he was analyzing how many weapons you had on you. He pulled out his phone, showing you an array of photos.

They were photos of you from various nights with different dates with a variety of men. The police called them victims. You had more…colorful language to describe these men. In some photos, your hair was brown and short, black and long and so on. 

“They aren’t dead, you know,” you feigned innocence with an insincere pout and wide eyes.

The level of violence would suggest otherwise. “No, just close.”

You hummed before taking Logan’s flask, taking a drink from it. He didn’t stop you. “Then I’m sure you know what they did to deserve this, Wolvie.” He knew the general idea, but he looked at you for an answer. You swiped through the photos. Some of them were surveillance, others were crime scene photos. “Phil Stanford: beat his wife so badly that she lost her baby in the second trimester. Jones Hill: almost drowned his girlfriend’s child just to teach her a lesson. And these guys? They passed around their intern to each other like she was a piece of meat.”

You showed Logan each crime scene photo. You remembered every single one like you got the assignment yesterday, remembered the satisfaction of leaving the hotel rooms that they paid for. Awaiting his reprimand, you took another swig before giving it back.

“Look, sweetheart, I get it,” Logan admitted. You raised your brows in surprise, but now, the reason for this visit felt clear. “The Man Eater; it’s fitting.”

“I didn’t give myself that name.”

“It sticked though.”

“Why are you really here? Did Charles send you?” Your question, again, surprised Logan. Was there anything you didn’t already know, Logan thought as he took another drink.

“You know Charles, too, huh? How long?”

You shrugged, “Like 20 something years. He’s always trying to sell me on the whole family and team shit. I never bought it; I’m better on my own. Still, Charles was always good to me when our paths crossed.”

Logan noticed your body tense when you mentioned family. He understood though. “I thought the same thing a few years ago before Charles found me. I was wrong,” Logan admitted. You could tell that it took at least a little bit out of him to admit that; vulnerability was clearly not his forte. Logan just thought you were lying to yourself.

“Charles and I had an agreement where he’d never get in my mind again. But instead, he sends a Stryker experiment, like myself, not only for him to determine if I’m a threat to what I can only assume is how the public views mutants but also to remind me that I shouldn’t be going through life alone, right?”

There wasn’t much for him to say; you had said it all. Instead, he offered you his flask. He only nodded at your statement as you took the flask. You couldn’t say that you were surprised that Charles used this specific tactic. He definitely didn’t have to get into your mind to play mind games.

You took a final swig from the container, taking the last drop of the liquor, “Did you also send you to bring me to the mansion?”

“Charles said that you may not come willingly; I told him that I’d do what I can. Even if that was just to extend the invite.”

You chuckled to yourself, “You never truly escape the grasp of Charles Xavier.” You pulled a coat off the hook near Logan. “But I guess we’re due for a reunion. I’ll go with you…peacefully even.”

Logan grunted slightly. He had no plans of forcing or fighting with you, even before he met you. Though, he was curious how you’d fare in a fight. The photos indicated you were brutal, having the ability to leave someone on the brink of death. Yet, Logan doubted that any of these men saw it coming. Getting a look at you today, he was sure the men were just excited to be in the company of a beautiful woman. Like a siren, he was sure he could be lured by you.

“Good,” he muttered, as he watched you open your apartment door, trotting out of it.

You followed Logan outside, immediately eyeing the bike he was approaching, “That bike yours?”

He nodded, looking at the bike. He had left it in a nearby parking lot. It was a black and silver Harley Davidson motorcycle and a damn expensive one. He turned to look at you, “Yeah, you ever been on a motorcycle?”

”I’ve had a few Harleys in my lifetime,” you mentioned, your hand slowly grazing over the bike and the leather of the seats. “Went to Milwaukee and got one off the line back in the 90s.”

He lifted an eyebrow, looking mildly surprised. He hadn’t expected that. He slowly walked over the bike, getting ready to mount it. He looked back at you with a smirk, “So, you’re a Harley girl?”

You mounted the back, testing out the suspension, “Show me any bike and I’ll show a Harley that does it better.”

He laughed as he watched you get comfortable on his bike, “You think Harley’s better than a Triumph? Hell, you think Harley’s are better than a Ducati?” He mounted the bike and pulled out his key.

“Nothing’s beating American-made, baby,” you shrugged with a smile. You could tell how amused Logan as he shook his head “That’s why I got one in the garage and two in storage. A Street 750, LiveWire, and a Fat Boy.”

He slowly looked over his shoulder again to look at you, obviously impressed. You had good taste. “And you can handle all that, princess?”

“You’d be surprised what I can handle, Wolvie,” you lowly spoke, maintaining eye contact until he went to turn the engine. 

“Then you know the drill.” The engine added a layer of low rumble to his voice. “Hold on, sweetheart.”

You did as you were told, wrapping your arms around his brown leather jacket to connect around his waist. With it being cold out, you almost audibly sighed when you felt the warmth radiating off of him. It was combined with the slight scent of mahogany, pine, and smoke.

Logan kicked the stand up before speeding off. You held on a little tighter as he sped up and weaved through traffic. Logan felt pleased with himself as he felt you gripping him tighter. He weaved through traffic, unconcerned with the angry car drivers he was surely pissing off. You couldn’t sit there and say you hadn’t done the same, but Logan had no reason to be in this much of a rush. You believed that he just liked being an asshole.

Once out of the city, the roads to the mansion began looking familiar. More into the countryside, traffic lessened and Logan’s speeds picked up. As you approached, you could begin to feel the raindrops begin to fall from the sky. You looked up to see the clouds threatening to release a storm. Luckily, Logan was quick to pull into the garage of the mansion before it began to downpour. Logan pulled up to the garage, parking the bike and killing the engine. 

“You ride like an asshole,” you spat as you dismounted off the bike. 

Logan was amused with you snapping at him, “And if I waited in traffic, we would’ve got caught in that rain and it would've drench that little white tee of yours.” He let down the kickstand. A smirk formed across Logan’s lips as he turned back to see you still standing by the bike. His eyes clearly raked your body, “Actually, maybe I should’ve waited.”

You scoffed as you watched him dismound. “I’m assuming Charles is still in the room at the end of the hall on the top floor to the left?” You opted to just change the subject.

“You know this place well, don’t you?” Logan asked as he walked you out of the garage to the inside of  the mansion. 

It was exactly how you remembered it, “Well enough. I met Charles back when he wanted to make this place a school. Make it a safe haven for children like us, he’d say.” You thought it was fun pipe-dream at the time, believing there couldn’t be a safe space for mutants. He was obviously more optimistic than you ever were. “Some things have changed here, but it’s practically timeless.

Logan led you up the stairs, “So, you keep coming back, but you never stay.” 

“Like I said, I’m better alone.”

“Sure you are,” he muttered under his breath. You could still pick up on the sass in his voice. You shot him a glare. “You’re better alone, yet you jump at the chance to see the man who has been pestering you for years? You like him checking up on you? Showing you he cares?”

You didn’t immediately respond as you two walked the hallways. The sound of the rain  colliding with the roof filled the space instead. There weren’t many contant people in your life. When you first met Charles, he could tell he genuinely cared. He wouldn’t keep checking in if he didn’t care. You just weren’t sure if you had the capacity to care in that same way. It felt easier not to.

“It’s complicated,” you sighed as you approached Charles’s room.

“Not that complicated,” Logan mumbled before knocking on the door and pushing it open.

Charles greeted you and Logan before the door was fully opened. You entered both annoyed and relieved to see your old friend. You hadn’t seen him in about 3 years

Logan entered behind you. He stepped quietly to avoid drawing attention to himself for the moment. Charles slowly looked up from the book he was reading and smiled softly. He looked happy to see you again.

“It’s nice to see you again, my dear. Come in, have a seat,” you offered, gesturing to a chair in front of his desk.

“I think I’ll stand,” you replied, still approaching him. “You sent one of your lackeys to come get me?” you asked as you pointed toward Logan.

Logan gave a huff of annoyance at the word lackey; it felt borderline disrespectful. Charles gave a heavy sigh, looking unbothered by your question.

“I did, but I believe I said that we’d speak again soon the last time we were together,” Charles reminded you. “I told you living alone was no way to live. The world is a dangerous place. Surely you know that, my dear. I just think it would be safer if you were here, with us, where you’re protected.”

“I don’t need protection,” you huffed.

“Not physically. You still need people—connection.” You felt like the conversation was a broken record, yet you always listened. “You have no one, my dear. No friends or loved ones—”

“Not true, we’ve been friends for over 20 years, and I’ll even consider making Logan a friend to mentally protect myself,” you cut him off, trying to humor the conversation. Charles was not amused. Logan was though.

Charles sighed. He could see that you were frustrated and being stubborn, masking it with humor. He knew you had always been a lone wolf. He had hoped that maybe time would change that, but obviously not.

“Is this truly how you want to live out your days? Alone?”

You glanced over to Logan who was also staring at you, “I already explained this to Wolvie. And thanks for sending him. I’m sure it was a meeting that Stryker would have loved seeing.”

Logan was listening to the interaction, though he was trying to keep his mouth shut. Charles could see that he was teeming with his own opinions, and decided to speak in his own defense.

“I thought Logan would be a good choice. He can deal with your stubbornness,” Charles admitted.

“You knew that I wouldn’t be able to kill him.”

Charles sighed again, knowing a part of that was true. You were more of a shoot first, ask questions later kind of girl. He wasn’t going to outright agree with your statement. He knew it would cause more conflict, but Logan spoke up, unable to stop himself.

“You didn’t even try, princess. Going soft?” he teased from the peanut gallery of the conversation.

Looking over your shoulder, you glared at him, “Fresh out of adamantium bullets; might need to invest now.”

Logan's chuckle at your response got lost in the rumble of the thunder. He was just enjoying this interaction between you and Charles. Getting a rise out of you was just a bonus.

You do protect others,” Charles interrupted. Knowing both you and Logan, he figured you two could bicker for hours if given the chance. “You can do that here.”

“I don’t think you want me running my work out of this place, right?”

“No,” he simply stated, “but our students—our future students—don’t always come from the best homes…you may not need us, but we need you, dear.” 

You hated to admit it, but that stuck with you. Your home life wasn’t good. Yet, it paled in comparison to your life with Stryker. You waited for help that never came. The number of unanswered prayers you had shot up always fell flat. Being the help for someone like you? It spoke to you.

You slightly paced, thinking while the storm outside roared, “I’m not a good team player, Charles. I’ve given it a try and it’s not my cup of tea. I appreciate the offer, but I think I oughta go home.” Near the end of your sentence, the loud rumble of the thunder made you jump.

Logan smirked slightly when he saw you jump. He took note of this, an idea forming in his mind. The storm was pretty intense outside, the rain pouring and thunder roaring. Logan spoke up, his tone slightly amused.

“You gonna run through that, princess?”

You huffed as, again, Logan had a point. You looked at the window, the wind whipping the rain in all directions. You groaned to yourself and paced back toward Charles.

“How about I stay the night and think about it?” you offered. For the first time in 20 years, you were on the fence instead of jetting home.

Charles had some gleam of hope. You were appearing to give this more consideration than you had in the past. “That’s a good idea, my dear. You can spend the night, think about it, and I’ll talk to you again in the morning. How does that sound?”

“Peachy,” your tone was short.

Charles chose not to comment on your attitude; you were here and that was a lot farther than he's ever gotten. “Very good…I expect we’ll be able to speak again in the morning. Logan, do you mind showing our guest her room for the night?”

You rolled your eyes before turning to look at the gruff man standing against the wall near the door. Logan chuckled slightly as you turned to look at him. He appreciated how cute you looked when you were upset. 

He pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against and walked over to you, that signature smirk on his face. “Well, come on, princess. I’ll show you to your room.”

You rolled your eyes as you allowed Logan to exit the room first. Logan led you down the hallway, passing rooms where students were staying. Some were roaming the hallways as well. There were a lot of them, all different ages and different powers, all just…happy. Logan glanced back at you, noticing how jarring the amount kids must be to you.

“Not used to being around this many kids, huh?” Logan asked.

You shook your head, “You just live with all these kids?

Logan chuckled, continuing to lead you down the hallway. He shrugged, “Eh, it ain’t too bad. It was a lot at first, but they’re good kids. And Charles is right, they need someone like you. Someone who’s skilled and gives a shit.”

You could see the sense of pride and protectiveness Logan had for the children just by the way he looked at them. For the first time in years, you felt your heart flutter. You didn’t even know your heart could do that anymore. The little smiles and greetings he got secretly warmed your heart. “And the kids seem to like you.”

He chuckled again, “You sound surprised.”

“Well, you just seem to have an asshole vibe rather than a nurturing one.”

Logan shrugged, “There are enough people here that baby them. I ain’t one of them. I imagine you being the same way, sweetheart.”

You passed a group of older female students, all of them saying hi to ‘Mr. Logan’ before erupting into fits of giggles. Logan didn’t pay it any mind. Glancing over your shoulder as they walked by, you could recognize the teasing of girls with crushes.

“Ohhh, I’m sure the girls love it,” you teased.

Logan lowly laughed at your little comment, “They have their little crushes. Not only do they love it, they also think I'm a pretty damn good looking guy too, princess.”

You felt like gagging at his response, “They’ll grow out of it,” you retorted as you approached the guest room.

Logan chuckled again. He was just enjoying your banter and entertained how you responded to him each time. He was amused by your scoffing and eye rolls. He opened the door to your room, watching you closely as you walked in.

“I doubt it, princess. Most women seem to love me damn well into adulthood.

“Oh yeah? You’re just too damn irresistible? They just can’t help themselves?” The layer of sarcasm on your words was thick.

Your words were only fueling his ego and that damn smirk on his face. He leaned against the door frame, shamelessly eyeing you. “Just ask all the women I’ve been with. Not a one that didn’t want more.”

As irritating as Logan was to you in this moment, it was something to do—someone to mess with. You approached him, your eyes gazing into his, until your hands were pressed against his chest. You felt his breath hitch against your palms. You leaned up to whisper into his ear, “You keep telling yourself that, Wolvie.”

Logan let out a bit of a grumble at your words, his hands gripping the doorframe to control himself. “You think I’m lying?”

You allowed your finger to dance across his chest, noticing the prominent definition of it, “I just think you overestimate your own…abilities…”

“Sweetheart, I think I can prove damn well that I don't have to overestimate anything…" His voice was low. His eyes wandered to your heaving chest, knowing he had an effect on you, whether you wanted to admit it or not.

Your eyes narrowed, “What are you? The mansion’s welcome wagon concubine?”

“It’s a new…package offered with the welcome wagon.”

You slyly smiled. With your hands on his chest, you pushed him with enough force to push him into the hallway, despite his grip on the frame. “Good night, Logan.” 

You closed the door in Logan’s face before he could make another snide remark. Finally letting out a breath you didn’t know you were holding, you could hear the hearty yet low laugh from Logan on the other side of the door. 

You hated how fluttered Logan made, how he made your heart race. He was shameless with his flirtations. You didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of giving in, no matter how tempting it was. He needed to be knocked down a peg. Still, it was hard to ignore the heat between your legs.

Logan was still outside in the hallway, standing right outside your door and still chuckling to himself. He could feel the heat that formed when he was pressed so close to you; he hadn’t felt like that in a long time. He smirked and shook his head. He was going to have some damn fun with you…

note: I'd love to do a part 2! tell me your thoughts♡

𓆩♡𓆪 Next part

[aimasup]

you know what no I'm not done I'm not done raving about the 2025 Lilo and Stitch like a lunatic. Have to get it outta my system I wanna be a BITCH today

This is coming from someone who is very biased towards the original movie and decided to do their first hate-pirate watch just so they knew exactly what they would be raving about. So it's not an analysis really. If you like the 2025 movie then I'm happy for you, buuuut maybe don't read this 👉👈

This is not meant to discourage anyone from watching the movie, this is just me ranting and nitpicking lol. If you are interested do watch it (PIRATED) and form your own opinion!

Spoiler warning, long post

Pleakley

Hey let's talk about the changes made to Pleakley's character other than 'no dresses'

Live action: Here's the thing. They seem to understand that an inseperable part of Pleakley's character is his love for fashion. So to work around the dress ban, they decided to give him the love for human fashion from the very start. He first shows up in front of the councilwoman in a cowboy outfit. Every time his human disguise is out, he is always wearing something different (flowery shirts and hats, a mini concert backpack, etc).

But to me this further simplifies an already comedic side character. He can't even have the progression from 'mosquitoes are cool' to 'fashion is cool', or be redeemed in his view of humans from fascinating specimens to thinking feeling beings!! He has nowhere to go as a character because they moved his end point to the starting point, erasing the road!!!

By taking away his discovery of his love for fashion, he remains the same throughout the whole movie with only half the competence of his animated counterpart so he can't even be a funny punching bag character. Idk how else to explain it

Og: A smartass dripping with condescension but also scientific fascination, his disrespect to the councilwoman comes from his confidence

Live action: His disrespect to the councilwoman comes from a lack of understanding of boundaries, he constantly gets so excited he asks to hug her.

Live action: Actually he's oddly enthusiastic in this movie??? He is HYPED to be teamed up with Jumba and clings to him on first sight, he is HYPED to go to Earth and stay on Earth. He has a bit of a nervous golden retriever energy. They did keep him high-strung about the mission, which is kind of entertaining to watch when played off of Jumba.

Live action: Speaking of Jumba, they really committed! People are saying Jumba turned on Pleakley and that Jumba was the twist villain. Not true! Pleakley turns on Jumba and Jumba was always a whiny heartless ass. The councilwoman orders him to arrest Jumba after they fail and Pleakley moves to do so with a shrug. Go off buddy cops who hate each other give us nothing

To read me bitch more about Jumba, it's all here in this post, Nani is also talked about a ton in it lmao

Lilo

(No hate to the live action actor, she's delightful)

Og: In hula, she has a violent outburst in response to an insensitive comment.

Live action: In hula, she gets actively shoved onstage. I am neutral about this tbh

Live action: Lilo asking 'we're a broken family, aren't we?' is replaced by 'Am I...bad?' for Nani to comfort her. watch the Sims negative relationship points appear above my head in real time

Live action: Most of her scenes are now dedicated to being chaotic cute or encouraging Nani. The scene in her bedroom where we learn about how her parents died is dedicated to Lilo talking about Nani's backstory I am not joking

Live action: does not discuss how their parents' death affect Lilo. Lilo is a side character and a troublemaker in her own movie. Watching her gas up this college plotline because the script thinks Lilo should be more understanding of Nani is so awkward

Og: About family, Lilo says 'What happened to yours? Do you dream about them? I know that's why you wreck things. And push me.'

Live action: Lilo says 'Do you have a family?' and Stitch says 'No.' and Lilo says 'that's okay, you can be a part of ours 😊'

It's a fine change I think, all the same it shows Lilo's emotional intelligence, but the vibe is off. I can't place it

Og: Lilo tries to explain Stitch's behaviour all the time: 'He needs desserts!' 'It's past his bedtime!' 'He's an orphan and we adopted him!' 'Be careful of the little angel!' The angel I wished for, Lilo doesn't say, he has to be the one I wished for!

During the Elvis Presley beach scene in the og Lilo cries out for the spectators to stop crowding him!!! and she is correct, the camera flashes overwhelm Stitch and he lashes out again!!!

Live action: Lilo sticks up for Stitch but it's slightly different, she says 'He's just exploring his new home!' 'He's just curious!' as he's sticking forks in the blender - it feels more like she's oblivious to just how destructive his behaviour is and excusing it. She's still a really sweet brave child but her naivety is played up on purpose here to frusrate Nani even more! She only tries to seriously get on Stitch about good behaviour when everyone around keeps telling her to control her dog - Stitch is an escaped convict, he's not actually a dog does the 2025 movie know that it's important to me that they know that

Og: Lilo is so defensive of Stitch because she sees herself in him (and also he's just a magic talking animal to her). Not in the way that the 2025 movie thinks, that she's getting a taste of her own medicine (she's 6, why do you want a grieving 6 year old to learn a Cat in the Hat lesson, Lilo ALREADY KNOWS CONSEQUENCES) but in that she believes Stitch is capable of more than just a destroying beast!!!

Live action: But in the 2025 movie she sees Stitch as top tier playmate material that needs to be controlled sometimes??

Nani

Live action: Listen she still loves Lilo. Tickle fights and concern for her and laughing at her antics, there is effort to show they care, she cares.

Og: When Lilo says 'I like you better as a sister than a mom' it's sad because that's the role Nani is in now. Nani doesn't know what to say, she wants to be a sister too!!

Live action: When Lilo says 'I like you better as a sister than a mom', Nani says 'Ouch.' in like a jokey way and I don't know what to make of that.

Live action: The movie gives her Fiona Gallagher levels of stress when they added two whole characters who live NEXT DOOR that have a close bond with Lilo and know their situation super well. She is not Tiana, why are we doing this (I've never watched Shameless I just know the entire plot through TikTok osmosis 😔)

Horror just flashed before me at the thought of a Princess and the Frog live action remake in the future

Live action: They added a wise playful grandma and social worker to constantly explain the plot to Nani and the audience ughhh

The grandma tells Nani she is smart and deserves college. The grandma tells her to make up with her sister after they fight. Social worker doesn't sit Lilo and Nani down to counsel their situation and set goals, she only sits Nani down. The grandma takes Lilo to get a pet behind Nani's back and explains what pets are for to Nani. The grandma says 'hey we're ohana too' and then later we have a scene where Nani says Ohana isn't realistic.

The grandma and the social worker keep telling Nani she's so smart and selfless and she works so hard, after the movie shows that Nani is smart and selfless and works so hard. She works so hard and is struggling so much that she misses Lilo's hula show and it's sad for everyone.

Basically they gave away Nani's sillier side, understanding and patience of Lilo, and time spent with her sister that isn't scolding, to the grandma. Leaving Nani with just the tragedy

They also do a reoccurring thing with Nani struggling to start her car until the end? I don't know what that's about. I think it's symbolic for her life or something. someone tell me why they gave her car troubles on top of college troubles

Nani is a mouthpiece for the movie too. The scene where Lilo tries to use Ohana to stop Stitch from being sent away, Nani interrupts her and rants at her about how unrealistic Ohana is now, and Stitch doesn't bat an eye, still a background nuisance. Huh

How does one fuck up the record player joke I hear you ask

One morning, Lilo places a record in front of Nani and demonstrates Stitch's biopunk capabilities, absurdly transforming him into a flesh gramophone.

Og: half the punchline is Nani's utter baffled reaction at madness. This is her life now and she's more certain than ever the dog is radioactive

Live action: Nani is so busy she barely acknowledges it. Lilo has to explain why this is cool actually, falling on deaf ears as Nani is more anxiously focused on being late and having to bring Lilo along to her job applications.

Again, along with the missed hula show, they want to show how stressed Nani is to the point where she CAN'T be in Lilo's life, that Lilo is a distraction, and that's why the separation is for the best. The HOOPS this movie is jumping through mate

If you want to read more about what I've said about og Nani, it's in here

Councilwoman alien

This is the figurehead of the alien plot that they kept

Live action: Why is she talking so fast. Why are all the alien scenes going by so fast. The beginning, from Stitch's courtroom meeting to Jumba and Pleakley being sent after him, takes like less than 10 minutes in the new one.

Og: Councilwoman is wise enough to find loopholes in her strict rules in the name of ethics, she's a grumpy governor whose every move is methodical and speaks sharply to get things done.

Live action: they only halfway did that here?? At the end Cobra didn't even make up the mosquito conspiracy here, he just tells the councilwoman 'Hey. Trust me. I won't tell the government about this. 🥺'. and the councilwoman is like 'okay sure Stitch can stay.'

Stitch

Live action: A full-on dog, a puppy, a goofy creature that gets guilt halfway through instead of also being motivated by a desire for companionship

Live action: In the surfing scene, Stitch sees a dog surfing and wants to mimic it. That's it, that's why he gets on the water

Live action: New home adjustment scene, Stitch does not falter at Lilo using Ohana to stop Nani sending him away.

Here's Stitch's progress in the original film:

Destroy everything, evade the cops, find a city where I can kill everything rawr

Gets humbled by earth

Gets humbled by Lilo just hanging out

Gets humbled by Jumba and Pleakley on his ass

Hears Ohana just as he's about to get kicked out, sparking something in him

Lilo calms him down then tells him to redirect his energy towards something constructive. He makes a model of San Francisco to terrorize but it's a start

There's no memories for him to visit in the night, no other purpose than to destroy, so he starts looking through books to find it

He plays along with Lilo teaching him to play music, albeit chaotically, but he's such a natural tornado that he just brings destruction everywhere he goes. And now he's in an environment where destroying is both purposeless and not even fun, and he questions everything again

Getting humbled by surfing, placed into a situation with his natural enemy element (water) where he doesn't have the advantage. Seeing how much fun Lilo and her sister (+ future brother-in-law) are having, he finds himself yearning again, what intelligent creature doesn't? He willingly returns to water, he's scared but he's learning that water can be fun, he HUGS NANI'S LEG AND NANI FINDS HIM BRIEFLY ENDEARING

He breaks everything again, not even on purpose, the more he learns about Lilo he feels like he should remove himself from the picture, he's lost again and again. Aka consequences, he is forced again and again to grapple with consequences

He reveals himself as an alien to Lilo, he's honest on purpose because he knows he fucked up and she deserves to know the truth

During his arrest he decides to motivate Nani with Ohana again, because he's not leaving this time without them. And he gets them to save Lilo, then he ends the movie as ohana who helps with the chores

Stitch's progress in the live action: he just feels bad when Jumba calls him out and gets protective of Lilo out of nowhere!! The bond is them causing chaos together which is just more stress for Nani???

Live action: He willingly gives himself up for capture. Touching and noble, but they've missed out on yet another opportunity for Nani warm up to him.

When they make the surfing scene just surfing and the capture scene just capture, there's no reason for Nani to save Stitch from drowning the end of the movie other than an obligation to her sister and 'Ohana'! Again, it feels like obligation!!! And for plot reasons, to give Nani the selfless spotlight yet again and throw in a fakeout death scene for Stitch.

Live action: He doesn't shove Lilo like a petulant bully, his chaos feels more like playtime. It changes things when the 2025 movie makes him tear up the house with a wide-eyed smile on his face as opposed to the original where he's snarling and hissing the whole time. They're both carrying out their purpose to destroy everything they see but again. The vibes are off

He's not just a cute freak!! He's SOMETHING THAT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO EXIST WHO LEARNS TO LOVE AND HAS A CHANGE OF PERSPECTIVE THROUGH THE GRACE OF THE PEOPLE AROUND HIM!!! Agahgahhh

Extra:

The shot of the Hawaiian flag during a monologue near the ending? Cool I guess. I'm Malaysian, I recognise an intentional flag camera shot when I see one 🫵

CapriSun placement is also very unexpected and kind of funny. They did it like twice lmao. 'With the power of CapriSun you too can beat up Jumba in your own home!'

A lot of the 2025 movie removes if not changed the decisions their characters make that would affect the plot. It rearranges scenes without any consideration of why those scenes were there in the first place. And the scenes from the og that aren't totally altered go by so quickly with a dozen jokes per second, like the movie wants to move on and get to the new stuff they added.

Aaaah I think that's everything

Gonna go now

[di-daynamic]

No, but the Hunger Games did need the romance plotline. See, Snow got it all wrong for the cause of the districts' rebellion. He thought an act of love is entirely separate and different from an act of rebellion, that the two are mutually exclusive. But we saw even in Katniss' though process that the two are mixed. And for the districts, the two are the same thing. For seventy-four years they've been forced to watch their children, grandchildren, siblings, niblings, friends die in the Games or through exploitation, are told it's an honour for them to die for the Capitol and are not allowed to grieve. And then suddenly this girl comes up and plants her feet and says 'no'. She survives through illegal hunting, avoiding the miserable death via starvation or the terrible community home. She doesn't stand by to watch her sister die, she volunteers. She doesn't treat her friend's death as one of a tribute to the Capitol, but as the horrible killing of an innocent little girl who deserves to be memorialized. She thanks and humanizes another district's people. She gives another tribute a merciful death. She refuses to give up on the man she loves, repeatedly. Defying all sense and establishment.

That is rebellion, for the Districts. Love, loyalty, grief, kindness, mercy - they're all rebellious sentiments.

And romantic love is an integral part of that. Not the be all end all, but an intrinsic part. We see sisterhood with Prim, we see friendship with Rue and Finnick and Johanna (and Gale and Madge a little bit), we see mentorship and connection with Haymitch and Boggs, so of course we need the romantic angle with Peeta. Of course we need the dandelion that grows after the war, the dandelion that started it all through one act of kindness to the starving girl he loves.

[notebooks-and-laptops]

Anarcharisms, LGBT+ characters and cultures and How I'd Write Taash's Storyline

Taash was one of my favourite characters in DATV. As somsone who is genderqueer, genderfluid and still exploring all that, I also really appreciated their story. In our world today, its vital that stories about non-binary and trans characters are told to wider audiences. However, once again, the softening of Thedas; its culture and its people, led to kinda shitty writing.

So lets get it out of the way: it feels anachranistic when Taash says 'non-binary'. This isn't to say that you can never use modern LGBT+ vocabulary in a fantasy world; fantasy worlds are fantasy and you can do whatever you want with that. But Dragon Age has never used these terms before; words like gay, non-binary, trans; they haven't existed in the Dragon Age universe. Instead, Dragon Age in the past has opted for explorations via in-world cultures such as the Qun having a specific word; aqun-athlok.

I kinda think this has attitude has some rather uncomfortable undertones that just weren't thought through: being non-binary, genderqueer, genderfluid, these things have always existed. But implying the need for modern vocabulary about them, reinforces the idea that LGBT+ identities are 'modern', 'current' that they never could have existed before these words were coined. The fact that Dragon Age didn't use the word gay but does non-binary it just...makes me feel a little bit like they thought they could ask us to imagine gay people in a world before the term gay was invented, but didn't have that same idea to show us how non-binary people could exist before we had modern terms for them.

Dragon Age has also in the past hinted at nuanced ideas of how various cultures might see gender and gender identity. The Qun for example, based on what both Iron Bull and Sten say, appears to see gender identiy as tied to your 'role' or 'job'. Meanwhile, Tevinter has Maevaris, who has thrived and inhereted a seat in the magisterum while still being trans but seems to experience some prejudice from conservative magisters.

This game wacks nuance out the window and opts instead for a softening of everything (see my post here for more on that). So despite Taash's storyline supposedly being about exploring their multi-cultural heritage, there isn't actually a lot of space for exploring any culture at all in Thedas throughout this game.

But here's my pitch on how I'd fix it:

Firstly, I'd make it so that there was a specific word that Tevinter had for being non-binary that the Qun doesn't. Much like how it pans out in the game, Taash could meet with shadow dragons, realise this and explore it, and find it fits. They would still use they/them pronouns and state as such.

But then, when Taash came to tell their mum, I'd have Taash's mum say that she always thought that Taash might be aqun-athlok because they fight. This would push forward that idea of gender-identiy in the Qun being completely different to how Southern Thedas sees it, with it largerly being attached to your job.

Taash would then explain no, they are [insert Tevinter Word Here]. At which point, the point of contention would come from the fact that Taash has adopted a Tevinter word and identity. This would mirror the way conservatives in some countries across the world see/frame LGBT+ issues as a western concept. Taash's mum would have a problem with this especially because Tevinter and the Qun have been at war for centuries (something you'd be hard pressed to realise in this game despite the fact that it feels like it really should have come up at some point but I digress). This would then tie this plotline with Taash's exploration of their heritage and culture and what it means to be qunari.

I'd also make it so that theres no neat 'they' in qunlat. This would again mirror how some languages are more gendered and thus non-binary people have that to deal with. This again would link to a real world issue, but would feel like it was exploring cultural issues in thedas, not softening anything. Taash's mum would be upset that there was no way to refer to Taash in their shared tongue that she currently knew of.

Finally, instead of having the scene where Isabela teaches us how to be a good ally which feels...well. Written poorly? More tell than show? I'd scrape that, and instead have us meet a very cool non-binary qunari who is actually from the Qun and follows the Qun. Taash could connect with them, and see that Qunari DO have a non-binary identiy (maybe they use neo-prounouns that work in Qunlat) that its okay to be qunari and be non-binary and that people have done it before them and will do it after them.

These are tiny changes, but it would make the culture in Thedas feel so much more vibrant and real, and explore how things actually function in the world, you know? It would make gender-identity tie in deeply with this world we've set up and known for years, and it wouldn't feel anarchanistic.

[alltheboysandgirlsiloved]

It's super interesting that despite both of them choosing not to chase after Brooklynn, Kenji and Sammy have slightly different reasons for that decision. And it speaks volumes about their personalities.

Kenji's reason is exhaustion that manifests through the lack of trust, meanwhile Sammy's reason is feeling betrayed. (explanation under the cut)

Yes, at first, Kenji felt betrayed (rightfully so), but in his experience, it was just yet another... fierce emotion that he felt towards Brooklynn. Kenji experienced Brooklynn through a string of passion and life-altering events – falling deeply in love, losing her emotionally, losing her physically, grieving over her, even learning that she was alive was brutal. Dare I say... he is tired of going through a windmill of emotions because of one person, and truth being told that it is valid. I don't think it's even fully internalized, but my boy is simply emotionally drained. No wonder that the sense of betrayal sizzled out quickly – he had invested too much already, he doesn't have the energy to fight and protect his heart yet another time.

At the same time, a massive part of Kenji's plotline in jwct (in jwcc too to some extent) is learning how and who to trust – it started with his father (jwcc), then it was Darius (jwct s1), at the end of jwct season 2 and at the beginning of season 3 – it was Ben. Kenji is quick to doubt people's intentions (makes sense considering his past) and he has to put a lot of physical and emotional effort into trusting someone again. Which is why him trusting Darius again is so beautiful, which is what makes his goodbye with Ben so heartwarming – despite all, Kenji crossed the bridge and chose to trust them again. But Brooklynn didn't give him a reason to try again. Instead, he feels tired of chasing a ghost – not in the physical sense, but in the emotional sense. He's just out of energy.

On the other hand, Sammy feels utterly betrayed by Brooklynn's behaviour, and that also makes sense for Sammy's past and personality. Sammy is much more than her love and kindness, but we need to admit that "family" – all types of families – is what she puts faith in. Again, it all started in jwcc – remember that she went to camp cretaceous behind her family's back, in a way she betrayed them for a better good. Yes, she found a new family there but that choice also bit her in the ass – ultimately, her initial actions didn't bring the results she was aiming for (even though in jwcc s5 at the end we learn that Sammy's family provides Mantah Corp Island with meat). Sammy was a family person even before that, but after her Nublar experience, dare I say, family became even more important for her. She realized that staying with people you love is what makes you stronger.

And then, she was suddenly alone. She no longer spoke with her family members, Yaz was distancing herself from her, Brooklynn was "dead", and the rest of their friends were trying to find a way to live their lives in this new reality. Sammy was left alone, abandoned. Her argument with Yaz... She was right, Yaz should have put more consideration and understanding into her situation; Sammy completely lost her footing. At the same time, Yaz made a good point – Sammy's animosity towards Brooklynn in season 3 is absolutely tied with her past experience – both with her family and with Yaz. And it all finally bubbled to the surface. In Texas, Sammy focused on running a farm. She distracted herself. Then, when she and Ben picked up Yaz, the positive feelings (overall) outweighed the negative ones. But when Brooklynn left them at that airport, Sammy (maybe for the first time) saw someone physically walk away from her and it brought back everything she buried in herself out of love. She is not just betrayed by Brooklynn, she probably also feels betrayed by life.

[madlori]

Sometimes the delulu IS the solulu.

After some thought, and reading a lot of really insightful thoughts here and on Discord, I think I've reached a conclusion.

I'm going full tinhat. Not in an unhinged way, though.

I don't think this is the end.

I'm not going to count on it. I'm barely going to hope for it. But I am going to...keep an eye out for it.

The one common refrain we've heard from each other is that this did not feel like a permanent breakup. It felt so obviously and blatantly like a setup for Buck to fight for the relationship. It was that "one partner freaks out a bit and the other has to show their commitment" relationship hurdle which is so common it's a trope. In fact, most of us assumed that's just what it was...until those interviews

Now, I do not put Tim Minear up on some kind of pedestal of writerly greatness - far from it. And he did not write this episode, but the plotlines all go through him.

BUT.

He has always been very attached to Tommy as a character and to this relationship. He loves it. He loved red string theory so much that he wrote it into this episode. And I'm about halfway convinced he's in love with Lou but that's beside the point. (I mean, we get it, Tim.)

Tommy's what he always said he wanted to get for Buck. Firefighter, integrated into the 118, yadda yadda, we've been over this a lot. Someone he chooses, someone he works to build something with. Someone who shows up for him. He had Buck SAY in this episode that he'd never felt like this since Abby.

The thread of Tommy wanting a found family like Buck's. The intense settled/caregiving vibe of 8x05. It all felt so...purposeful. And yes, I agree that this could have been done just to punch up the angst for Buck when it ends. But that's not the only explanation.

The many, many comments of wanting to move Buck along in his personal life. Oliver wanting to do settled, domestic storylines with him. Giving Tommy the big hero romcom entrance in that hospital.

And what now? Cycle Buck through another love interest? It's hard to imagine recapturing what he had with Tommy with anybody else, or for the GA to embrace it as much as they did. What little we can see of the GA reaction (because the official socials are weirdly quiet and have not posted) is that they're not happy about this. Tim knows this.

I can buy Tim making some dumb writing decisions but he's not stupid. I find it very hard to swallow that he'd voluntarily toss away all this, and this potential, and what they'd already established, and a pairing/character/actor he loves, for what? For nothing.

So I think that it's not for nothing.

I think the plan IS to reunite them...

...they just don't know when, or how.

For some reason he wants to give it a break for awhile. I don't know why. There could be off-camera reasons. But I think it happened recently. Two weeks ago we got interviews talking about hurdles being overcome, relationships deepening, etc etc. It's a great episode for them, came out of Oliver's mouth. Not important, not consequential - great. And hey, what happened to that very important Bobby conversation where he gave Buck important advice? It wasn't there.

I think a change was made in the last two weeks. And yes, I know the loft stills were dated 9/17.

Two weeks is plenty of time to reshoot one scene, between when those interviews came out and last night. The stills could be from the first time it was shot, in September. Put the guys in the same wardrobe, we'd never know the difference, or that those stills weren't from the scene we actually saw.

OR

The scene was always the one we saw, but was always meant to be temporary, and the change was in how they talked about it in the interviews from last night. That is a simpler explanation, as it doesn't involve reshoots, but it doesn't explain those very incongruous interviews we got two weeks ago that do not match the scene we saw. Now, they have always vagued it up, and talked around things in interviews, but this was an entirely new level of misdirection and outright lying that isn't typical.

I'm really tinhatting it up now, but hey, what have I got to lose? I'm not investing anything in this. It's just...a thought.

If you think the network interfered (I don't, at least not for plot-related reasons, see below) or Oliver demanded the relationship be cut (I don't - I know lots of you are mad at him but I'm not), whatever it was...I just get a vibe. It could be as simple as money. It could be a ratings thing. Honestly? It could be that they've found out they're getting cancelled, and were ordered to cut bait on guest stars. They could be kicking the can down the road to goose ratings for spring when they do bring it back. There are lots of reasons I can think of and probably more that I can't.

I read a thoughtful and reasonable post about how it was more or less a mercy killing to post those interviews - most showrunners like to keep viewers guessing and coming back, so for them to say definitely BT was dead meant it's really, really dead (although how definitive they actually were is another question).

They might be right about that. I don't know.

Or they just might not know themselves. Even if the plan IS to reunite them eventually - if they don't have a plan for how or when, the safest course is to shut it down. No guarantees they can make it work, so play it safe. Oliver and Lou might not be looped in on this.

It's pretty thin. They probably would be, although we have ample evidence of actors not knowing stuff until the last minute. The other option is that they are looped in and are intentionally lying but I think that's very unlikely - although Lou has demonstrated a keen skill in keeping his mouth shut when necessary.

I'm not going to get nuts about this and neither should anybody else. I'm not going to be scouring socials or the internet looking for support or clues. I'm not going to be holding my breath waiting for a sign.

The only thing I'll keep an eye on is how they handle any flirtation or dating Buck does in the near future. How they handle it might be telling.

This is ALL very unlikely, let's be real.

I'm still tinhatting, though. Why not? What have we got to lose?

But if I'm right, I expect that red dodgeball in my inbox toot sweet.

(And Buddie still isn't going canon, btw.)

[butterflydm]

Wheel of Time 3x07 Deep Dive (show spoilers)

Spoilers through 3x07 of the show - show spoilers only.

This was very emotionally heavy and tied together a lot of threads for Perrin.

First, a minor correction for my 3x06 deep dive: I said that Egwene successfully pushed Bair & Melaine out of her dream before she was yanked into TAR to be taunted, but a rewatch of that bit clarifies that it was actually Lanfear who shunted away the Wise Ones and then locked them out so that she could snatch Egwene, which explains why Egwene decided to keep training instead of confronting Rand right away. Egwene looks triumphant after Bair & Melaine disappear, which is why I originally thought that she'd succeeded, but Bair & Melaine's words after Egwene wakes up make it clear that that was Lanfear's doing and not Egwene's. So the show does provide a reason why Egwene delays her conversation with Rand.

Okay, now for 3x07!

Much like I wonder how s2 might have played if they'd been able to get Thom's actor back (if we assume that he would have been in Rand's Cairhien storyline... though it's equally possible that he would have been in Mat's storyline instead, which might have meant a different storyline for Min), I wonder how this episode would have played if they'd been able to get Tam's actor this season. I feel like some of the beats that might have gone to Tam went to Maksim instead, since Tam's experience in the Illian army would have likely meant he was the primary person leading and training the Two Rivers' archers.

I do think Maksim works well in this role, but I do wonder how the plotline would have played with Tam around. That's one of the major downsides about the way that shows are renewed these days -- less likely to be able to get those actors for minor characters back in for their established roles (I'm glad we were able to get Aram and Ila back for their roles in this episode! It would not have been the same trying to play those beats with new actors/characters).

That's also why Maksim is here at all -- I believe it was confirmed in one of Rafe's interviews that Maksim was originally going to be the Warder to die in 3x01 but when they lost Ihvon's original actor to another show and had to recast him, it made sense to have Maksim survive instead, since he was the actor that audiences would be more familiar with. It's funny how all that behind-the-scenes stuff ends up affecting the show in big ways and small.

I really like that in the shot we get of Perrin looking around, we see Alanna training Bode & Eldrin but we can't see their weaves. The nature of how television works means that we can't always see that distinction because the show wants the audience to know that channeling is happening and to see the weaves, so it's nice to get these little moments like this one, where Perrin is unable to see channeling weaves.

Bode and Eldrin get a nice little arc in the few episodes that they got this season and it's really nice how we've gotten to see them grow into feeling like more distinct characters and not just "Mat's little sisters".

I also love the thread started here for the al'Seen boys teasingly (but affectionately) calling Perrin "Lord Perrin" and "Lord Goldeneyes" here, only for it to come back at the ending of the episode being said with true admiration, because Perrin has earned it, both through blood and through diplomacy.

The return of the Tuatha'an! I mentioned this above, but I'm so glad that the show was able to get Aram & Ila back for this. We needed them to really make those emotional beats him.

I will say, one thing that I've seen adhered to better on tumblr than any other place online that I've checked out about the show is remembering to call them "Tuatha'an" instead of "Tinkers" (which they explicitly say is used as a derogatory term, back when we first meet them). Perrin, who knows them and has some understanding of their ways and who respects them, always calls them Tuatha'an.

The thread of the Aiel & the Tuatha'an is done so well in this episode, with the audience now in on their secret shared past -- both Aiel and Tuatha'an are Oathbreakers in opposite directions. The Aiel forsook the Way of the Leaf and the Tuatha'an forsook their duty to the Aes Sedai. The world was in so much turmoil that it became impossible to hold to both oaths.

I really do love that we had Ila directly quoting Jonai/Adan in this episode as well -- "We bury our dead and we go on. What else is there?" -- because it shows us how the Tuatha'an held onto what helped them survive but let go of what didn't. That's why they've forgotten the song. They never settled anywhere, so their policy of constantly moving for their own safety was continually reinforced. But what use is a harvest song to people who don't harvest?

And we get the thread of Ila being disappointed at Perrin carrying a weapon -> being disappointed at Aram for picking up a weapon -> admiring Perrin for choosing to put his weapon down and peacefully surrender himself to Dain. Much like Adan, Ila is firm in her convictions, despite the heartbreak and loss that she has suffered in her life. When Adan lost all his family but his grandfather, he carried on, determined never to abandon his oaths. And when his own grandson took up violence, he was unable to look at him the same way ever again, which we see in Ila at the end of this episode. She has spent her entire life living by the Way of the Leaf, and she genuinely believes that it would have been better for Aram to let himself be killed by that Trolloc than pick up a weapon in his own defense or the defense of others.

Aram, on the other hand, has been shaken by his losses. He is not so committed to the Way of the Leaf that he is willing to die for it, or let innocent people die for it. For the Aiel, this choice of being willing to use violence was both a harsh one (being cast out from their people) but also the only way that any of them survived (and, indeed, thrived). But the Two Rivers has the ability to be kinder and softer than the Three-Fold Land was for the Aiel, and Aram is able to be accepted by Marin and the rest of the Two Rivers people, embraced as one of them, and given Perrin's old role as a blacksmith.

I am once again struck by how the show chooses to be kind in so many little ways. There is just an inherent kindness in so many of the choices that the show has made, like how Tam found Rand's mother before she died, and gave her comfort as she was giving birth. Such a lovely grace note of compassion.

And, in particular, making the Two Rivers the source of this unexpected kindness a second time feels like it's going to continue to be an importance note for the future -- Two Rivers people are stubborn but they are also kind. And both of those are things that they would reinforce in their children (even those not of their blood, like Rand).

Once again, I am thanking the show for being much freer with letting men hug each other than the books are.

Faile, Bain, & Chiad come in together after the Tuatha'an -- doing some more scouting, like they were doing in the previous episode. Those three do have a lot in common in their general outlook on life, which makes sense. Faile talks about being from a military family and Saldaea is one of the Borderlands country, near the Blight, and so likely has faced Trollocs before. Much like Bain & Chiad grew up with violence and adversity, so did Faile. Plus, Faile doesn't use swords, which probably earns her some bonus points.

We get another (minor) example of how Aram is not feeling as committed to the Way of the Leaf as Ila, as Aram is clearly tempted to eat the food that Marin offers him (with the meat "picked out" but cooked in) while Ila thanks Marin but clearly has no intention of eating it (and looks over at Aram when it seems like he might, and he also puts his own bowl down).

Interesting note is that... we don't actually get any indication in the Rhuidean episode that the "Way of the Leaf" meant not eating meat, not that I can recall.

In fact, Lewin justifies being able to use a spear by saying that it can put food into the pots (a justification still used by Aviendha in 3x02). The Way of the Leaf, as used by the Aiel in 3x04, appears to be about violence against other people, while over the centuries, the Tuatha'an have adopted it into every aspect of their lives. I really like that implication of cultural drift there. Both the Aiel and the Tuatha'an have drifted away from the original Aiel and how they behaved and believed, each of them drifting into deeper extremes away from each other and with each side pitying the other.

The way that we can see Aram questioning Ila, questioning his entire way of life. I really really like that we were given time for all of this.

I also like that Faile observes all this without feeling the need to push back against the inter-group discussion that Aram and Ila are having with Perrin. And Perrin trying to ease the conversation by speaking in the same kind of poetical language that Ila often uses re: leaves and whatnot. Perrin just... show!Perrin just really has a lot of respect for other people and cultures and sees value in them, and I really love that about him. He comes across as very perceptive and thoughtful about other people, and able to consider their perspective and speak their language to them.

And then we shift to Bain & Chiad, who think that Aram is cute but would never touch him because they see him as a "tinker boy. coward. lost one." High amounts of dramatic irony now that we've seen their history in 3x04, but tracks with what Aviendha said about the Tuatha'an back in 3x03 -- "the only thing less honorable than refusing to defend yourself is attacking those who refuse to defend themselves". This is, basically, cope on a cultural level. The surviving Aiel, over time, had to justify their choice to abandon the Way of the Leaf and came to the conclusion that choosing to follow the Way of the Leaf was the coward's choice. And now that belief is baked into their culture at its very foundation.

Also, this might be the first time that we've seen Bain express an attraction for someone before Chiad did, so that's interesting. Usually we've seen Bain following Chiad's lead, but that gets flipped a couple of times in this episode.

Poor Alanna is getting flashbacks to trying to teach the other Two Rivers girls here, when Bode and Eldrin want to rush ahead to learn battle weaves, lol. Now that they are less traumatized, they are getting to show more of their personalities. And now we bring in Daise as someone who can channel but was never trained -- also a Wisdom, like Nynaeve. Given what we saw of the women's circle ceremony and how 'listening to the wind' was explained to us, it seems likely that the majority of the Wisdoms over the years have been self-taught channelers, never quite realizing what it was that they were doing, only knowing that it worked to help their people. The last remnants of lost Manetheren, like the song that they no longer remember the depth of history behind.

I really liked what we got in Maksim and Alanna's relationship here, and throughout most of the season. We've watched the way that losing a Warder can affect both the Aes Sedai and a fellow Warder, and we've gotten to see a poly throuple navigate through the loss of one third of their relationship, and figure out how to communicate again.

The unfurling of the wolf banner! This works so well in the show. I love how it looks homemade and fairly simple. It's lovely and the light shining through the material really makes the wolf stand out. And Faile talking Perrin into leaving it up also works really well for me. Pointing out to him that his people are drawing strength from him because he is one of them, and that they don't want outside leadership -- they want it from one of their own. It's a good conversation.

"What if I'm not ready?" "Of course you're not."

feels like a good companion to the Moiraine & Rand exchange from 3x04:

"Ready?" "No." (goes forward anyway)

In some ways, this episode is about Perrin learning the lesson that Rand has already learned about duty -- you might never be 'ready' but the job has to get done anyway, so you need to go ahead and do it, even if you don't feel prepared for it. Because the world (village) is depending on you, and time is short.

Perrin offers an apology for killing Dain's father, but also points out that Dain has allowed people to die over his own grief as well (Natti Cauthon). He points out that if Dain really does believe in the tenants of the Children of the Light, then he should help the villagers fight off the Trollocs.

We don't see the actual decision-making process for the Whitecloaks, but I'm guessing that Valda was arguing against helping while Fain was arguing in favor (but with his ulterior motives).

From what Dain says later on in the episode, the deciding factor for him was what Perrin says here near at the end of the discussion:

"Why should we fight for you?" "Because it's the right thing to do."

Once again, in this conversation with Dain, we see Perrin applying empathy and respect for the other person involved, as he makes this deal with Dain -- if the Whitecloaks help out, then I'll turn myself over to your justice. And he means it, as we see at the end of the episode. When Perrin makes a deal, he abides by the terms.

Another great relationship thread through this episode was Loial and the Maidens -- we saw them first show interest in playing Maiden's Kiss with Loial back in 3x01 and Loial saving Chiad's life and her owing toh towards him -- we've seen them be genuinely interested in his lessons about history (which continues here) and, when he's reminded of Rand here (their "Car'a'carn"), he acts to do what he can to try to send them back home to safety, using ji'e'toh as the means to try to do so. Everything about this trio in the episode was golden.

We also do get that blatant reminder of Rand here -- there are only two points in the episode when he gets mentioned, and both times it's used to tie him to the 'bigger picture' of the world. Here, it's as the Car'a'carn and because the name of his adopted family is similar to that of the last king of Manetheren. Later, Fain will mention that the purpose of bringing the Trolloc army here was to teach "the Dragon Reborn" a lesson by wiping his hometown off the map.

Last moments before potential death -- we had that in 1x07 too, and saw how it can bring people together or have people to try to protect others: Alanna and Maksim finding their own balance in the absence of Maksim, the last of Alanna's ashes wiped off of her face. Perrin trying to send Faile away for her own protection, and their prickly cultural clash that ends up in honesty and emotional vulnerability (confessing that his biggest fear isn't death, but failing his people and getting them killed). Loial trying to send away Bain and Chiad for their survival, and the way both sides play with ji'e'toh to try to get the result that they want (Bain & Chiad are the ji'e'toh experts, so they win).

We also get it confirmed here that Maiden's Kiss can be a deadly game, which is another example of how far the Aiel and the Tuatha'an have drifted apart. Even Aiel games can be fatal (though given Bain & Chiad's actions here, they probably would have found an excuse not to kill Mat if things had gone against him). And we get our other flip of the Bain & Chiad dynamic, where Bain is now the one who owes Loial toh, and Chiad is the one who will follow her.

Though Natti did die to save her girls, we see that the damage of her and Abell's parenting still affect the twins too, even though Mat tried to protect them from it -- they've internalized the idea that "Cauthons aren't worth much". Perrin pushes back against that narrative, and tells them that Mat is a hero now, who blew the Horn of Valere. Again, we get some cuteness here as the twins relax enough to show a personality that's a bit more like Mat's, and they playfully mock the idea of Mat as the Hornblower. Very sweet moment that Faile also gets to share in.

Not sure how much I'm going to have to say about the actual battle, but once again I love how we see Perrin respecting other cultures -- for the Tuatha'an, he asks that they take the children away to safety if needed; and he trusts those willing and able to fight to protect everyone else. And you can see how much it means to Ila that Perrin is willing to trust her people with the children of the village.

Loial is the one who volunteers the idea of going to seal off the Waygate -- I'm guessing he'd already thought about it earlier and that's part of why he tried to send Bain & Chiad away. Sealing off the Waygate, even if he managed it before the Trolloc reinforcements arrived, leaves him with a very slim chance of survival, as he would need to make it to a new Waygate before any potential reinforcements arrived. He volunteers for this already knowing that he's likely going to die.

It really does make me think of the speech that he gave to the others in 2x08. "We are all the heroes of another Age's legends. It's time we act like it." He lives up to that speech. And he really gets such a heroic exit. I love Loial but this was a good death, narratively-speaking. He did something that no other character could do, using his own personal knowledge and abilities. He saved the entire village and thwarted the Dark One's plans. It's a good death.

It does make me cry when it happens, though. I'm actually tearing up a bit just writing about it and we're still in the "talking in the inn" section of the episode. It's a really lovely goodbye between Perrin and Loial. "Make sure we're remembered" but it's going to be Perrin making sure that Loial is remembered. And we get another example of Perrin noticing and respecting other people's customs when Perrin says, "Your name sings in my ears" to Loial as they say farewell.

Having "Weep for Manetheren" be here instead of a big speech is so perfect. I love how that comes back around from s1 and it is used so beautifully here. This bit of history/folklore that ties them together as a community, even half-forgotten, it serves as a rallying cry.

"Fucking wetlanders. Even their shadowrunners are soft."

Bain and Chiad are so funny. I love them. I'm glad that they survived and I know Loial would be grateful and relieved about it too.

The show continues to be good about following characters that we know in the middle of battles (they talked about this in one of the extras after 2x02, I think) and it really helps make it so that the battles aren't confusing.

I like the difference we see here between a true Aes Sedai linking with inexperienced channelers vs Amalisa messing up in 1x08 because she didn't know what she was doing and burned herself out because she didn't know how to let go of that much of the One Power once she was holding it. The art of letting go is probably one of the most important things to know before doing any kind of linking. And we get a reminder of how good channeling can feel when experiencing the link makes Daise Conger willing to give up drinking. Moonshine can't compare to the One Power!

And then Daise sacrifices herself to protect Alanna when she gets hit. Poor Alanna, she's so powerful and so good at what she does that she keeps needing to get hurt so that she can't OP her way through every situation. But it's also a good reminder that power doesn't make them invulnerable. She can still get taken out of a fight by a well-placed arrow.

We've seen now a few times that instinctive shields seem to have a similar look to them -- Egwene's in 2x08, Rand's in 3x06, and now Daise in 3x07 -- and that look differs from the Tower-trained shields. Or maybe Two Rivers' folk are all thinking about it in a particular way that leads their shields looking similar.

The Whitecloaks coming to help... but also Trojan Horsing the enemies inside the gates as well, which Perrin realizes when he hears that the pass was abandoned and then spots Padan Fain.

I do think that the Perrin and Dain have the potential for a very interesting dynamic next season (assuming for the moment that the ending of this episode was set-up for next season and crossing my fingers that we get renewed). Because Dain does not occupy the moral high ground here, and I do think he has the capability of realizing that as time passes.

The Women's Circle as the last line of defense before the Inn is breached. I really like that.

I believe we actually can hear threads of Mat's theme/Horn of Valere theme as soon as we enter the Ways with Loial when he's trying to break the Waygate (it cuts off when his strikes fail). And getting to hear the Aiel theme when Bain & Chiad get ready to fuck shit up. <3

One of the Trollocs was able to breach the line of the Women's Circle and get into the Inn, chasing after the Tuatha'an and the children. Aram gets to experience the Original Sin of the Aiel all over again, picking up a weapon in defense of his own life and the lives of others, and seeing his family distances themselves from him because of that impulsive choice. Because, when the rubber hit the road, Aram is not willing to die or allow innocent people to die because of his personal moral beliefs, and now he has to reforge new beliefs to replace the old ones.

Perrin experiences his greatest fear -- the Trollocs have breached into the Two Rivers and it looks like they're all going to die, this conversation between him and Faile, and the emotional tipping point that he comes to because of it, is so beautiful. And that great shot of the wolfhead banner. And Perrin using the hammer and the axe.

"What would you give for the Two Rivers?" "Everything." "Then show them."

And we get a beautifully-realized battle couple sequence with Perrin and Faile, where he knocks Trollocs & Darkfriends out, while trusting Faile to have his back and take care of anything that escapes him or slips behind him. They really balance each other, which is perfect in this sort of situation. He's the wrecking ball and she's the clean-up crew (with knives).

They also do a great job in this battle of showing the different people protecting the others in the battle.

This moment with Valda is fantastic -- we see him slipping away from the battle to try to hunt for 'witches' and Bode & Eldrin taking revenge for their mother's death, and Alanna's relief and joy over Valda's fiery death.

@markantonys mentioned this, but it's great how Perrin is able to pull together so many of the lessons he's learns over the season -- he asks Padan Fain why he's doing what he's doing, like Ingtar suggested that he should, and finds out that it's to try to hurt "the Dragon Reborn", which is useful information. It's useful to know that this is not a personal vendetta from Fain. And once the Waygate blows, he uses his wolf senses to tell that Fain is afraid, and he uses that as part of his bargain -- Fain being afraid to die means that Perrin has leverage, and he uses it.

And it shows that Perrin is able to control the battle-rage that terrified him so much after 1x01 and accidentally killing Laila.

Fain mentions the reinforcements, and it's time to return to Loial, as he realizes that he can't destroy the Waygate itself. He needs to destroy the bridge. Loial hums "Weep for Manetheren" to himself, steeling himself for his choice, and the Horn of Valere theme swells as Loial summons his strength for his final blows.

"They bought the land with their blood, long long ago."

(I cried again, of course. Very effective scene. Heartbreakingly heroic exit)

And Loial succeeds in cutting off the reinforcements, which means that Fain has lost his leverage. Perrin has the leverage now.

He's able to be practical and realize that Fain is more useful alive than dead, because if he's alive and afraid, then he might be willing to run away with the Trollocs, saving the lives of the people of the Two Rivers.

Perrin also now potentially has a reason to either try to get to Rand (once he's dealt with his Whitecloak plotline next season) or to send someone to Rand, because he has information -- the Dark One tried to send an army to destroy the Two Rivers in order to send Rand a message. So we've opened Perrin's plotline back up to the rest of the story.

The beard-pull kiss between Faile and Perrin is adorable. <3 And then the hugs commence between the Two Rivers people, and some forehead touching. Very nice triumphant moment for the village. <3

We pick up during repairs of the village, likely the morning after and now we're going to do their wrap-up for the season and set-up for s4 plots (at least that's how I'm interpreting a lot of this, since I assume that 3x08 will have very little of the Two Rivers plotline in it, as there was such a huge focus on it here).

Set-up for next season: where is Fain going with the remnants of his Trolloc army? What will he be up to next?

Set-up for next season: where does Alanna plan to take the girls, if not the White Tower? What are her plans? "The Pattern has bigger plans for us."

Wrap-up for this season: Aram has lost his previous home & family, but is offered a new home, to be the blacksmith of the Two Rivers, and it's clear that Marin will keep looking out for him. I wonder if he's realized that Marin is Egwene's mom. Did anyone say her last name in front of him? Well, he'll probably figure it out.

Wrap-up for this season: acknowledging Loial's sacrifice, and mourning his loss. "Life is a dream from which we all must wake before we can dream again. May your soul find water and shade, Loial, son of Arent, son of Halan. Your name sings in our ears." I really love Bain & Chiad merging one of Loial's customs with their own here, as they mourn him and bid him goodbye.

And Perrin reading the last lines of Loial's book. Very emotional.

Set-up for next season: Perrin gives himself up to the Whitecloaks, as per the bargain that he'd made before the battle. And we have Perrin asking Faile to respect his choice, just as he has respected hers. Very very good stuff. And Perrin quoting Ila to make his point -- he's decided that enough violence has happened here. He's not going to create more now, by fighting against this.

"Perrin Aybara, my friend."

"Perrin Goldeneyes, Lord of the Two Rivers."

Titles that Perrin has earned, through his actions and choices.

[vidorgoggles]

Weird misconceptions regarding Terra Grayson and Marky Murphy

(TW: Spoilers from some of the last issues of the Invincible comic, and references to a SA plotline)

Hey there.

I unfortunately don't use this blog a lot, man. But today we've got a curious think to speak about, 'cause this is really a case to study of how a fandom can collectively create some fanfic and turn it canon in their heads lmao.

Outside of jokes, this is a post about two characters who debut in the later part of the Invincible comic, the children of Mark: Terra Grayson and Markus 'Marky' Murphy.

These two are secondary characters in the part of the comic they appear in, but obviously get focus for being part of the Grayson family. If you ask me, I dig them both.

Terra is generally a fun character with her violent child antics, and it's thanks to her that we can get my favourite moments of the comic: Mark being a dad! ���️

(Remember, child Terra loves violence)

Marky, on the other hand, unfortunately suffers from being related to a certain plotline of the comic, which I am not going to mention because everyone knows about it due to it being the most common spoiler. I want to speak a little bit more of that plotline another day, but since it's not the subject of this post I'll do a quick tldr: I generally find it very underdeveloped and I also think it's overhyped by the fandom due to morbidness, even though I understand why it's conceptually important for some people and respect their feelings.

But, apart from that, Marky is a character who had some good moments in the two final issues, and that has a lot of potential which I would like to see explored, if only in possible one-shots in the future or fanfics.

Now, since both Terra and Marky are characters from the final issues of the story, there are many random YouTube shorts and the likes spreading misconceptions about them (happens with everything related to the final issues, trust me). I consider it a real shame, since, as I have said, both characters are interesting to me, and I really would prefer the vision the fandom has of them to be as little tamed as possible. That's the reason why I have decided to make this post.

With that introduction done, let's go to the misconceptions:

'Terra hates Marky'

To explain to anyone who doesn't know the context: in the final issue of the series, after certain events end in Mark becoming the ruler of the (reformed) Viltrumites and deciding to leave Earth, Marky stays in the planet alongside his family for reasons I will explain later (it's related to other misconception). A particular consequence of this is that Terra and Marky grow up in different planets, although Mark and his family still visit Earth occasionally. During the final issue, Terra's whole life from childhood to adulthood is shown in two pages:

And since we don't see much of Terra and Marky's relationship afterwards (because unfortunately, even if I like them, they're just not much developed characters due to how rushed the final issues are), people have just assumed her opinion on Marky never changed.

I just don't think this is the story's intention: Terra is purposely being framed as immature (like any child) in many these panels. Of course a heated child would be mean, but that doesn't mean they would do the same as a fully grown adult.

Now, I think something that fuels this misconception is the reader's point of view. We know that later in the story Marky is very emotionally affected due to discovering the way he was conceived, so knowing that, in retrospective, 'He's not my brother!' seems like a bigger deal than it actually is. But in-story, neither Terra nor Marky knew of that by that point. Hell, we see Marky's reaction to Terra's words: he's just mildly annoyed, because the comic just sees this as what it is, a children's discussion.

And here Marky is also mean to her other half-sister, Molly. Do we assume he hates her for all his life too?

Now, if I may guess about Terra's feelings about Marky as an adult. I just don't think they know each other that much. They have grown apart, in literally different planets. She isn't close to him, but I don't think she hates him. I think this is supported by the next time she meets him in the comic: she barely recognizes him and calls him by his full name, Markus. To me, this just expresses distance between them.

And Terra and Marky not feeling close to one another is just very logical when one thinks about it. They were both raised in different planets, by different families, of course they would be distant. Terra's 'He's not my brother!' is the mean child version of expressing that idea to the public, in my eyes, not the setup for a life-long hatred.

'Marky hates Terra'

This one has some truth to it, to be fair, but I still think some people ignore any and all nuance about it.

In the final issue of the comic, this (unfortunately not followed on) moment happens just after the prior page:

Where yes, Marky heavily implies he is jealous towards Terra. However, I feel people in the fandom generally fail to take into account that the moment lets very clear this is far from Marky's most emotionally stable moment. Hell, he's saying far worse things about himself than about Terra. And he's also clearly regretful about many things he's done and said right afterwards.

Marky does have some negative emotions towards Terra? Yes (although not even that strong, again, he's feeling worse about himself). Do they stay there when he's calm and cold-headed? It's up to us to decide, but given that the last panel tells us that Mark and Marky are going to deal with their trauma and heal with time, I would like to think Marky just abandoned them eventually in any case.

'Mark abandoned Marky on Earth'

I especially blame the comic itself for this one.

One could start thinking this is related to a delicate subject, and perhaps start a discussion about forced parenthood, reactions to trauma or something similar. I may like to talk about how the comic handles those issues one day (I think it has problems related to that), but don't worry, today it won't be necessary.

Remember when I said Marky stayed on Earth for plot reasons? Well, those reasons are that his adoptive (and real) father, Scott Murphy, wanted to stay on Earth when Mark decided that the Viltrumites should leave Earth:

Mark himself expresses that he wanted Marky and his family to come with him, but he had to respect Scott's decision or else he would be literally kidnapping them:

And by the way, if you wonder, at this point of the comic Mark isn't that uncomfortable being around Marky. He lets him play in his house in the page above. Before he was also perfectly fine personally explaining him everything about Viltrumites (Marky didn't know beforehand) and afterwards he takes his time to say goodbye to him and his family:

And look, Mark is a flawed character (and I love him for that), but if I have to defend him and say he did the right choice in something, is in this. He didn't abandon anyone, he allowed Marky to live with the man who raised him before Mark was even able to know Marky existed, the one who Marky himself rightfully calls his real dad.

Now, you may be wondering where Marky's abandonment issues come from then? Well, Mark started visiting Earth far less at one point. I think the implications of issue 144 are a simple 'he's very busy', although I would like to think things like the fact that Debbie, William and more people must have died by the point Mark and Marky fight has something to do with him not wanting to visit Earth anymore. We can assume that a Marky with self-esteem issues due to learning how he was born and with no context of why Mark left him on Earth would (wrongfully) assume it was his fault, especially taking into account that by that point in time Scott and Debbie must be dead. Again, I wish this was more developed than it is in the actual comic.

Unfortunately, the comic fails to remind anyone of all the facts I have mentioned in the pages after the Mark and Marky fight, so of course people just take Marky's words in those pages at face value despite them being contradicted in the very same issue 144.

'Terra is an spoiled brat'

This one's just curious to me. It may be because I have a particular definition of 'spoiled', I guess, but I just fail to see this.

Mark doesn't really 'spoil' Terra in my eyes, to be honest. And I am not saying this to deny the flaws of a character I like or anything, he's far from a perfect character and I love him that way, but I just genuinely don't see this.

Terra's childhood is a pretty regular first world childhood with loving parents to me. I don't see how Mark lacks any discipline or is irresponsible as a father. In the two pages I have shown that sum up Terra's life, we can see him doing basic parenthood stuff like denying her things she shouldn't have (those adorable lava puppies), telling her things she needs to do (him telling her to learn how to fight would be the equivalent of an irl parent telling their children to do their homework) or scolding her when she's being immature (when she's mean to Marky).

I don't know, if someone wants to give me reasons for this, I'll listen, because nothing I have heard about this really convinces me.

'Terra never suffered/faced any difficulty in her life'

Um. Objectively incorrect statement, I don't what I can say about it lol.

Well, I lied. When discussing about this, I was told once 'But it was only this, though', because she was being compared to Marky, so trauma olympics I guess. I will elaborate more why this weird competition some people make up between Marky and Terra goes against the core themes of the comic at the end, but for now let's move on.

'Terra hates her father'

Alright, so at the end of the comic there's a certain conflict started by the Coalition Of Planets against Mark's Viltrum Empire:

And we later get to see Terra's reaction to it:

Which yes, feels like an underdeveloped (I know I am saying that a lot about events here, but it's just true lmao) father-daughter conflict, which I think is not very interesting due to how little it matters.

However, I can confidently say that people assuming Terra hates her father over this are just wrong. In fact, this conflict it's solved in the very next pages.

And even in Terra's page with Ursaal you can tell she feels bad for disagreeing with Mark due to her mannerisms and facial expressions, so this is just a little not much relevant part of the story blown out of proportion by some people lol.

It's even a little infuriating for me because, as I have mentioned, Mark relationship with Terra is one of my favourite things about the story, so I really dislike how YouTube Shorts and the likes spread misconceptions about it.

'Terra and Marky will compete to see who succeeds Mark as the ruler of the Viltrumites'

None of them seems even particularly interested in doing so from my point of view. Terra has issues with the way the Empire is going, shown by her page with Ursaal, and Marky spent his entire childhood light years away from them.

If you ask me, there may not even be a future ruler of the Viltrumites. Mark had to take the responsibility after his father's death because Nolan feared that without someone guiding them in the ways of compassion, they may fall in their old ways again. After Mark's rule, with a new generation of Viltrumites led in the right direction, they may not need a single ruler anymore.

But outside of personal readings, I have seen that people spreading this misconception usually prefer Marky to be the successor, which leads me to my final point.

Closing thoughts

The ending of the Invincible comic, with its many, many flaws, it's overall heartwarming and usually satisfying to me, but I think some people fail to see why.

It's not a happy ending because Mark has become stronger. It's not a happy ending because he's now a ruler. That's a responsibility, not a prize, and not even one he wanted to have before Nolan told him. It's a happy ending because he is trying to make things better, and because he's happy with his family despite all the difficulties he has faced.

And I point this out because it's important to understand why I am really annoyed by these misconceptions.

Some people have seen Marky, a clearly traumatized young man, and the answers they have for it is: give him something he can win. They want him to become the ruler of the Viltrumites, and may as well do it by winning an imaginary competition against his mean, spoiled half-sister who always had everything while he had nothing, never suffered a day of her life and is also ungrateful to everything her father does for her (I really hope I have showed why it's much more nuanced than that in this post).

Despite how little screen time it gets, the comic already has an answer to Marky's trauma, what he needs: time, healing. While the comic didn't manage to develop it nearly as much as I would want, I just hope people can see it once this misconceptions are gone (hopefully when the show reaches this point of the comic).

[bkdk-prophet]

Ochaco Uraraka and Katsuki Bakugou: Who saves heroes when they’re the ones in trouble?

Do ya’ll every think abt how Katsuki took over the “who supports/saves heroes when they’re the ones in trouble” plotline in the current arc, which Ochaco originally had? Yes, that question came to her first when she saved Izuku from the Blackwhip rampage with the help of Shinsou, and once more reflected on that said question with her speech to let Izuku in UA.

But the thing is, her attention has shifted from saving heroes (Izuku) to villains (Toga); even during her speech to save Izuku, she thinks of Toga’s smile and ever since then couldn’t stop pondering it—so much so that she had to voice out this dilemma to Izuku which, after talking to a bit, had her arrive at the same conclusion to save their respective villains.

Where does Katsuki come in this? Well, as seen from his development in the JT arc, a lot of it is centred around being willing to “be saved” and “save” as a hero towards other heroes. He acknowledged the save aspect of “win to save, save to win” and had therefore improved on his ability to lead a team and find compatibility in working with them (Also notice the placement of the texts lmao).

This is a huge sign of improvement, as he used to despise the idea of being saved/helped cause he believed it to be a sign of weakness and vulnerability. Also, the “saving” aspect of heroism wasn’t something that came naturally to him, so instead he put most his energy into winning in order to compensate for it. It was huge character flaw that held him back in a number of ways. However, that flaw had began to unravel bit by bit as early as the final exam arc when he and Izuku had to work together, then the Kamino arc (where he took Kirishima’s hand), the provisional license exam arc (where he trusted Kirishima and Kaminari to win and save him) and had since been accelerated after Deku vs Kacchan pt. 2.

Further down the line, we have seen him grow into the belief that heroes save everyone, even other heroes. But as he’s been opening up to this idea, Izuku’s been closing himself off from this idea in relation to himself. His self-sacrificial tendencies, something Katsuki’s already aware of, were now worsened due to the duty and weight of carrying OFA. As he allowed himself to worry, it became clear to him that Izuku will not share his burdens unless someone insists their presence. Because of that, he’s made it his personal job to follow Izuku to war, catch up to his pace and match him, and make sure he doesn’t endanger himself (this is true before, during, and after Katsuki Bakugou rising).

Going back to Ochaco, it’s clear that both she and Katsuki’s focal point in the “saving other heroes as heroes” plot line is Izuku. The idea of them also being heroes who save heroes had been introduced in the same arc, which was during the JT arc. The difference is that Ochaco had mostly diverged from this plot line, while Katsuki has made it his main priority alongside winning (save to win), cause saving people is what paves the path to absolute victory. He even singles himself out as being the person who steps in when Izuku can’t handle it all on his own. Furthermore, he worked together with Izuku in saving All Might (both their childhood hero) to win against AFO.

So what gives? Why was Ochaco the person to introduce the question of who saves heroes, when Katsuki’s the one to pedal it in the final arc? Why didn’t Horikoshi stick with this motivation for Ochaco when it could’ve been used as an opportunity to make leeway for more romantic tropes concerning the main couple? Where the presumed heroine wants to save the hero, is closest to the hero, and becomes targeted by the villains. The answer is simple.

Horokoshi isn’t following a formula, and loves subverting our expectations.

Ochaco’s crush towards Izuku and former motivation of being the one to support/save heroes acted as a red herring to Toga. Her crush introduced the conflict of how to love others and yourself authentically, a conflict that’s central to Toga and Ochako’s fights all the way up to their final confrontation. Then the “who saves heroes” plot line is what put a crack in her imagine of hero society, a society who views heroes as infallible and abuses their selflessness, making people such as Deku—someone she had idolised for his heart and self-sacrificial traits—buckle under the weight of unrealistic expectations. Although this was important to the development of Izuku and Ochaco’s relationship itself, considering her speech which emphasised that she was one of the first people to truly support Izuku, it also made leeway for her to reflect on how hero society views villains, too. Then there she discovers that she wants to see Toga smile again, and find her among the crowd of happy faces in front of her.

Katsuki, on the other hand, takes on the roles that were expected to be given to Ochaco on account of her ‘love interest’ status. He’s the person whose consistently been saving/supporting Izuku from the first to the last war, the person targeted by ShigAFO cause of his closeness to Izuku, the person that has known about OFA longer than his peers, and the person at the center of Izuku’s “control your heart” plot line. The choice for Katsuki to take on these roles weren’t made willy nilly, as the narrative makes sure time and time again to emphasise that his relationship with Izuku is unique, complementary, deeply personal, and intimate; they are two people who complete each other’s brand of heroism by having what the other doesn’t.

Anywho, that doesn’t mean his individuality as a character is diminished cause these roles are typically associated with lazer-focused-on-the-mc heroines. Remember, his biggest character flaw had to do with being too independent and hyper focused on winning. He was a hero who formerly had trouble with the concept of being saved and saving others, especially towards the person he had refused the hand of and despised all these years, so it’s impactful and telling of his character development to now be the one who outstretches his own hand to other heroes, notably to his classmates and All Might, and most importantly Izuku.

His journey is of reaching an understanding with the person he wronged and couldn’t understand due to the views hero society ingrained in him, and to save that person from themselves. It’s understanding that heroes such as him, Izuku, and All Might, no matter how much power they hold, won’t always win if they refuse saving and support; so far, his arc focuses on the humanisation of heroes. It’s not unlike Ochaco’s, Izuku’s, and Shoto’s, who want/wanted to reach an understanding and save the people they had despised and couldn’t understand due to the views hero society ingrained in them; their arc focuses on the humanisation of villains.

That’s why I’m hopeful about DvK3 happening, where it’s Katsuki’s turn to see and respond to Izuku’s inner turmoil, and save him by his words.

Anyways, I’m sure by now we’ve all reflected on the romantic implications the roles Katsuki takes on, so I think bkdk being implied canon isn’t far off. However, I’m still not sure on what kind of deconstruction/subversion Hori is aiming for—does he want to say that the tropes usually applied to love interests can be platonic? As to say that romantic relationships aren’t always the closest? Or is the rival the actual love interest, and the perceived love interest is not. We’re not sure yet.

[sevensoulmates]

Buddie 7x07 "Ghost of a Second Chance" Meta

So sorry for the delay! This one took me a minute due to life/work stuff happening, but here it is! A doozy! This episode had a lot of parallels with the other characters storylines happening so bear with me here! This is mostly going to be about Eddie.

This episode deals a lot with past trauma, specifically bringing up stuff that some of the characters haven't dealt with in a while or seemingly had already dealt with in the past. Maddie with Doug's abduction, Bobby and the apartment fire, Eddie and Shannon. All of these are re-introduced in this episode, but it's important to note that they are NOT resolved, mostly Bobby and Eddie, and will likely continue into the rest of the season. Maddie reacts the most noticeably to her trauma being triggered, and of the three, she's the only one who has actually managed to work through that trauma from the past, so while it does affect her, it does not cause her to self-destruct like Eddie and most likely Bobby will.

As many of us predicted, we theorized that it was going to get much worse for Eddie before it would get better. And this episode has put Eddie on that path that will likely take him towards rock bottom if Ryan and Tim's interviews and teasers for his 7b arc are to be believed.

The first big parallel to Eddie's storyline is the woman and her baby being abducted by a man with mental health problems who allowed a past trauma with his ex-wife/child to reach a dangerous point. While Eddie's actions in this episode are not placing a woman's life in danger, it does parallel how in pursuit of soothing his own pain, Eddie and this man, are prioritizing their own feelings, over the feelings of a woman stranger (Kim) and an innocent kid.

I was already anticipating many many Shannon call-backs in this episode, but the writers dive in immediately by having Chimney intubate Catherine. This is the same heavy choice Chimeny had to make when Shannon was hit by a car, and Chimney was interim Captain. He had to make a choice to either intubate Shannon, effectively taking away her last chance to say dying words or to not intubate and allow Eddie and Shannon to exchange final words. With Shannon, Chimney does not intubate, but with Catherine, he does. This could possibly indicate the need for Eddie to make different decisions this time around if he wants to survive this new catastrophic plotline.

This was an interesting way for the writers to give us a kind of "speedrun" of introducing us to Marisol a bit more. I know that the ENTIRE fandom has been bugging over the fact that we "hardly know anything about Marisol other than DIY and Nunnery", and now they're giving us more information, but notably it's all very surface-level information. It makes the scene feel like Eddie's trying to get to know her for the first time instead of this being a woman he's been seeing for about six months at this point.

While 7x05 did indicate to us that Eddie is trying to get to know her all over again, it really does drive home how little effort Eddie has put into trying to build a relationship with her, which is then further proved by the rest of the episode. All of this demonstrated very clearly just how little investment Eddie has had in ANY of his relationships after Shannon's death. It's probably supposed to make us think "Oh, that's because he only ever truly loved Shannon!" but in reality, the Eddie-Shannon onscreen relationship was very tumultuous, and they spent most of their relationship (even during their time pre-military) away from each other. All in all, the topic of how well Eddie knows the women he's with, and how much effort/investment he puts into his relationships (including Shannon) are being pulled into question here. And I think it's being done to show the audience that Eddie has only ever dated and married women as a duty and not something he actually does because he wants to be with the women as people. Once again, this includes Shannon.

Before Marisol can even finish her two truths and a lie, Eddie interrupts, starting to dictate the conversation again, and Chris is the one who has to step in, reminding Eddie that this moment is about Marisol. Eddie has been the one to lead his relationships with both Ana and Marisol, almost to the point of steamrolling over them. A similar thing happened in his relationship with Shannon, where Shannon notes that Eddie is always making decisions for them without consulting her, including going to the military, or moving Chris to a new school, etc. and how that was always a giant issue in their relationship. While this moment is not Eddie purposely steamrolling over Marisol, it does show that again, Eddie has a myopic view of relationships with women, where he's constantly trying to steer them towards something that he wants without really letting the woman have any agency. Shannon had to physically leave him in order to get any agency of her own.

Additionally, the choice to have the get to know you game be "two truths and a lie", inherently implies dishonesty, or at least makes us think of lying. And considering that becomes a theme for Eddie this episode and likely in upcoming episodes, it's also indicative of the general theme of not knowing someone and not being honest with them. It could've been "twenty questions" or something not involving purposely lying, but instead it's two truths and lie, and Eddie is now about to be involved in a whole bunch of lies.

I've seen others point out that this line is clearly meant to compare Marisol and Shannon. Shannon, Chris and Eddie had a tradition involving smores, one that Chris and Eddie were trying to keep alive only last season when they visited Shannon's grave. This line is meant to show us that Marisol is not Shannon, and as Eddie actually gets to know her, this is more and more evident. It's no fault of Marisol's, but it's likely what is sticking in Eddie's head, right before he ends up meeting Kim. Eddie, once again dictating what he wants Marisol to be rather than accepting the truth of who Marisol is, exclaims that obviously Marisol has had smores because Shannon loved smores. But Marisol is not Shannon, and Eddie is always comparing his partners to Shannon in unhealthy ways.

While this line is clearly a joke, nothing is done without purpose in TVland, and this is another one of those times where even though Eddie's joking, it's actually telling of how he actually feels. He's already had one foot out the door with Marisol for the last 3-4 episodes, and now it's the smores that makes him say "we can still leave her" because who Marisol is, does not align with who Shannon was. But the thing is, I have a hard time believing that Shannon was even who Eddie truly wanted, at least not without expectation or pressure. Shannon is an Ideal, and no one, not even Shannon herself, can live up to it. No woman is supposed to or can reach this Ideal, because (in my opinion) a woman is not really what Eddie wants deep down in his most hidden of unconscious desires.

"You two aren't going anywhere". Oh, the dramatic irony is killing me here. Because not even a couple of minutes later, Marisol has lost Eddie for good when he sees Kim. The death bells have already been ringing from the very beginning, but this is the final death knell that has been rung. Even if Eddie stays with Marisol through most of this arc, their relationship will end, as will his relationship with Kim.

Eddie and Kim lock eyes and he's reminded of Shannon instantly. Because of that, this relationship is dead before it even begins. A moment later, Christopher calls out "Dad!" just like he did when Shannon and Eddie were on the beach, interrupting Eddie's thoughts.

Marisol notices Eddie acting weird, asks if he's alright, he says he's fine, and she calls him out, asking "is that the truth or a lie?" He promises he's fine, but we as an audience know that's a big ole lie. This has been the case for years, and it's interesting that it's coming at this point in the season. The early half of the season we saw Eddie the "happiest" he's ever been. And I can't help but wonder how much of that was true happiness, and how much of that was just putting off thinking about it. It's easier to lie and say he's fine, that his relationships are fine, that his relationship with Shannon was fine. It's harder to admit the truth, that he's not okay, that his relationships with Marisol and Ana were unhealthy and his relationship with Shannon was the unhealthiest of all. It's easier to place the blame on his unhappiness on missing Shannon, instead of admitting that it's his own choices that are making him unhappy.

Another theme of this episode is internalized biases and misunderstanding the current situation due to being blinded by the past. Maddie misses crucial details of her call with Catherine because she was looking at it with too much bias about her own situation with Doug. Eddie also misremembers his past with Shannon, but instead of recognizing his mistake like Maddie, and trying to look at it objectively, Eddie lets that bias from the past effect his current decisions, which is already resulting in a mistake by cheating with Kim and will likely result in more mistakes the rest of this season.

Maddie heard what she expected to hear. Eddie is seeing in Kim what he expects to see from Shannon. Both lead to really bad outcomes.

Eddie goes back to find Kim/Shannon, and they meet. She looks similar but not really the same (btw, kudos to the makeup team, wow). She has similar facial expressions (nose scrunches, giggles, etc.) and she asks him if he's looking for something specific. And the answer is yes, he's looking for Shannon in Kim, just as he was looking for Shannon in Marisol and Ana.

This is very obviously a sexual innuendo, which is interesting because their first real interaction is showing more of a "sexual" chemistry, than anything really romantic, or soul-connecting. It's a clear harkening back to how Eddie would use sex as a way to stop fights between himself and Shannon. It's also one of Eddie's biggest distancing tools. He used sex to distance himself from Shannon and from Marisol, as an excuse to not address problems, or just simply to not get to know them. And given that Eddie was having sexual dysfunction issues in his last major episode, this is meant to provide a juxtaposition to that. Sort of a "Hey look Eddie couldn't get it up for Marisol the Nun but he can get it up for the Shannon look-alike". On the surface, this might be to show us that Eddie really only has sexual chemistry with Shannon, but if you look below the surface even a little bit, you'll realize that his sexual relationship with Shannon was also deeply dysfunctional, but in its own way.

The answer is no. Eddie does not trust Kim because she's a stranger, but this line is meant to remind us that Eddie very much DID NOT trust Shannon for most of her arc in season 2 and even up until her death. It's a callback to the line in season 2 Merry Ex-Mas where Eddie says he "forgives Shannon but doesn't trust her" and Shannon says something along the lines of "Eddie trusting her enough to have sex with her, but not enough to let her see her own son". Kim is hitting all the lines that are meant to remind Eddie of rose colored "Good times" but are meant to remind us, the audience, of all the issues he had with Shannon.

This moment of Eddie and Shannon on the beach is meant to represent Eddie's "happiest" moment on-screen with Shannon when she was alive. Eddie remembers it that way, as kissing Shannon and finally having his family back together. But in actuality, it was the start of the end for them. Shannon thought she was pregnant, paralleling the time when they accidentally got pregnant as teens and both of them had to put their lives on hold and commit to a marriage that might not have been the ultimate right choice for them. If any of you remember, this is also the moment where Eddie and "signs" and the "universe" are connected for the first time. Eddie asks for a sign, and Shannon says she's pregnant. In my personal opinion, this was supposed to be a sign for Eddie to not get back together with her, given how traumatic it was the first time around, but he ignores it and tries to push down his feelings. "Life is like a vat of chocolate, it pulls you down but it's comfortable". And when Shannon very clearly stated she wanted a divorce, Eddie did not really seem to accept it...and the universe took Shannon away permanently. (Again, I want to reiterate this is all about fiction I'm talking about here not irl, okay? This does not apply to real life) The universe tried to warn Eddie, to bring him a sign, and when he ignored it, as he always does, the universe decided it needed to take Shannon away permanently.

And now here we are again, 6 years later, with Eddie ignoring ALL the signs over and over and over, and setting about down this path with Marisol that literally everyone knows will not make Eddie happy, and what does the universe do? It throws him the biggest wrench it could by bringing someone who looks/acts like Shannon back into his life. Kim was brought in by the universe (the writers) to show Eddie that his relationship with Shannon was not as wonderful and amazing as he remembers it....and he ignores all of the signs yet a-fucking-gain. I get the feeling that this arc with Kim is going to end VERY. VERY. badly for Eddie. I think we should all be preparing ourselves for that.

Eddie is making active duplicitous choices here. He's lying about being in a relationship with someone else, lying about being a single dad. And it's not the first time he's said something like this (see the "taken for now" line in 7x04), further demonstrating how he's always had one foot out the door with Marisol.

I also want to point out that Eddie lying and deceiving Kim and cheating on Marisol is not meant to be the show saying "this is good! this is who Eddie's supposed to end up with!" The writers know how most people feel about cheating. Most people are 100% aware that cheating is morally wrong, and by Eddie making these decisions, they're not supposed to show that Eddie is inherently a cheater or a bad guy. He's acting OOC on purpose. The writers want us to see Eddie lying and cheating and want us to clock that Something is Very Very Very Wrong and that has to do with Eddie's romantic relationships, Shannon, his perception of Shannon, his perception of his past marriage, and his expectations of himself.

We, as an audience, are not supposed to be enjoying this. We're meant to be uncomfortable.

911 is doing something really interesting lately with their pointed use of Full First Names vs. Nicknames. When I heard this my first thought was actually of Ana and how cringe it was to hear her calling Eddie Edmundo all the time. Shannon actually never once called Eddie by his full name. If anything, Eddie calling himself Edmundo here, introducing himself by it, is once again supposed to trigger the audience's "Something Is Wrong Here" mode. I was also going to mention how this is also something a lot of people have felt with Tommy's constant use of "Evan" instead of Buck. Some people like it, some people don't, but everyone can acknowledge that it's odd and unusual.

Even as he's flirting with Kim, talking more about "stimulation", Eddie is holding an "S" for Shannon. I think when Kim told Eddie her name, a sharp K, very far away from the soft S of Shannon, it was a slight shock to him. If her name was something similar like Sherri or Sheila or something, Eddie could've lived in the fantasy more. Her name being Kim momentarily broke the illusion, hence him looking down at the S for Shannon.

Eddie is remembering the first time he slept with Shannon after she came back into his life while he's sitting at the table with Marisol, completely ignoring her. But not only that, as many people have pointed out, he's misremembering. The walls in the background are recent, with the new teal color and his new bed. Shannon's hair is a cross between dark and light, almost like a mix of Kim and Shannon, and--and this one rocked my world--they had sex right side up.

Many have pointed out how it's odd that Eddie and Marisol's sex scene harkened so similarly back to his one sex scene with Shannon, where they both ended up at the tail end of the bed, upside down. People have often discussed Eddie and his upside-down sex as a metaphor for unhealthy sexual connection, for misconnection, and right side up sex to be healthy sex. To find that he is thinking of him and Shannon in his memory of being right side up has been pointed out by others to be yet another example of Eddie's rose-colored memories of his past with Shannon. In his memory, he views his relationship and sexual relationship with Shannon as this Amazing and One of a Kind thing, hence the right-side-up sex, but in reality, it was upside down, it wasn't healthy.

He's looking at his relationship with Shannon through a veil of the present, chock full of regrets, would've/could've/should've's, and two almost-failed relationships. Not to mention that he literally was just having extreme sexual dysfunction with Marisol not even two episodes ago it's very likely that his remembering this passionate, voracious, unquenchable thirst for Shannon is also brought on by the fact that he's having sexual issues with Marisol. It might also be him wanting to remember that he does and did have desire for sex with women...as long as they're Shannon or reminding him of Shannon. This is not at all supposed to be something that is represented as healthy for Eddie, and I don't believe the show is trying to put across that message.

Eddie remembers his sex with Shannon, and when he decided to "bring Shannon home for Christmas". Even in this scene, the focus is not on the two of them as a couple. He doesn't talk about how much he missed her, or how it feels good to be close to her again. He talks about how he wants to reunite her and Christopher. "Santa" in this present day and age is bringing "Shannon" home for Christmas, by bringing Kim into Eddie's life.

Bringing it back to Maddie's storyline, with the Big Bad Kidnapper of this episode. He was encouraged by his sister to move across the country for a fresh start after his wife and baby left him due to his own abusive actions (assumed, but the sister did say they were "afraid of him"). We don't know too much of the details of this man's story, but it does show a clear parallel to Eddie too, with his wife leaving him to move across the country too (though she left their son with Eddie because obviously, Eddie's not abusive like this man). But the man's sister was hoping that this move would mean he would "stop looking for them". Eddie ends up doing the same thing with Shannon metaphorically. He never stops looking for her in all of his romantic relationships, hurting other women like Ana and Marisol, in the process.

The man is so clearly a parallel to Eddie but in the worst most devolved way. Eddie has been seeking out a Mom for Chris for years, even when Shannon was alive. It was never about Shannon, wanting her, loving her, needing her because he's so deeply in love with her. No, it was, and still is, always about the mother she could be for Chris. It's the same thing he did with Ana, and with Marisol. I'm not sure if this thing he's doing with Kim will eventually lead there too, or if it won't make it that far before it gets blown up in his face. But Kim cannot be a new mother for Chris, even if she wants to be. Christopher would clock that she looks like Shannon, and might feel betrayed, like Eddie is actively trying to replace Shannon, which I doubt Christopher would take well. So what is Eddie's endgame here? In my honest opinion, I don't think he has one. I think he's acting on pure emotional hurt, and desperately seeking out a balm, and not considering the consequences of his actions.

Just like that man was hit dead on with the literal consequences with the police, I think Eddie's gonna be hit HARD as a result of these mistakes. I feel like it might be something really bad, possibly involving Christopher. If "isolation" is going to become the thing he might have to contend with Christopher being really really angry with him in whatever way that takes form, and the rest of the firefam not being happy with him either. I think Eddie's going to be going through another arc similar to where he was emotionally in season 3a with the streetfighting arc.

Just how like the man who abducted her was a parallel to Eddie, Catherine herself is also a parallel to Eddie. She's clearly in pain, but she refuses drugs that will make her feel better. She feels she has to stay awake and endure the pain as a comeuppance, similar to how Eddie felt he had to endure his pain like a man because he deserved it. She feels her husband will hate her, just like how Eddie feared Shannon would hate him for what he did. He fears Shannon would never forgive him, but just like Catherine, even worse is the fact that Eddie has yet to ever forgive himself. No matter how many times people tell her it's not her fault, no matter how many times people tell Eddie he's a good father or a good person, they will never believe it. That guilt still rocks them, and for Eddie, it's been the monkey on his back every day LOONNGGG before Shannon even passed. Likely he's been dealing with it from the second he found out he got her pregnant. Even though Catherine's daughter was returned to her, she will still likely feel guilty, just as Eddie's guilt has lingered and festered and turned to rot the longer it's gone unchecked.

It'll only be once Eddie can let go of that guilt, let go of Shannon, and forgive himself, will he ever be able to actually start healing, and making the right choices for himself.

Many people have pointed out how this parallels the scene in 3x03 with Christopher and Eddie coming to Buck's house after the tsunami. That was a moment where Buck was feeling "lost at sea" and Eddie and Chris came in to be his "life raft that gets you home." And now Eddie's the one lost at sea. He thinks he has to find Shannon when really all he really needs is here with Buck and Chris. Eddie and Chris are "late", but eventually, they will find their way home to Buck.

Have y'all ever heard the phrase "where there's smoke, there's fire"? It means that if there's a rumor or something being said about a topic, there must be some back story/truth in it. It's what I point out every time the show "jokes" about Eddie's sexuality or lack thereof to women, Eddie ready to leave Marisol, etc. They're in the script because there's a kernel of truth to them, even if it's still nebulous (or smoky) at the moment.

Additionally, Buck is making a new lasagna recipe (a metaphor for his new found bisexuality and MM relationship with Tommy) and something about it is not working. In the same way that I've been theorizing that there is misalingment in his relationship with Tommy, we're now seeing that lasagna (like in 6x01 where the couch theory was introduced) is yet another metaphor for Buck's relationships. He had 3 at that point in time (as well as 3 failed attempts at lasagna) and now he's here in a new relationship, and something about it isn't working, he just doesn't know what. I'll reiterate, it's not the bisexuality, but rather the person he's in a relationship with. This being told once again to Eddie, in Buck's kitchen, with Chris present, is driving home the point once again.

Eddie, on the other hand, is aligned with Buck. He knew ahead of time to order a pizza for them. This isn't usual, given that Buck's a good cook, and has cooked for Chris and Eddie many times. Eddie being attuned to Buck right now is meant to show that he can sense these things about Buck, even when it's not conscious.

"To be seen… to be found… isn't that what we're all searching for?"

Buck assumes Eddie's meeting with Marisol, and Eddie does not correct him. I've seen other people mention how this feels like Eddie is cheating on Buck, and not really on Marisol, and in my opinion, that all comes down to who is Eddie more emotionally intimate with. He already feels super disconnected to Marisol, even more so in this episode, but we've spent the first half of this season establishing how Buck and Eddie are closer than ever. So Eddie lying to Buck feels like the real cheating here, because Eddie has only ever given himself fully to Buck, in all his messed up glory. He's never given that to Marisol, or Ana. And he most definitely never gave that to Shannon.

Side note, I loved the cologne line because it implies that Buck knows how Eddie smells, and that smelling him now is something Buck is enjoying. Him saying they won't wait up for Eddie further cements the domesticity of the scene. Buck has a full relationship with Chris outside of Eddie, but they also have a strongly established bond all three of them. In an episode where Eddie assumes Marisol must love smores despite her never having tried one, Eddie inherently knows that Buck's struggling with lasagna and needs to order a pizza.

Eddie and Buck's flirting--because that's what it is-- feels natural. More so than the flirting with Marisol in the beginning of the episode, and more so than with Kim-Not-Shannon that was moored down by the reality that Eddie is severely projecting all of his major issues onto her. Buck and Eddie have an easy rapport filled with mutual support, inside jokes, gentle ribbing, synchronicity and above all, friendship and trust. THAT is why the betrayal of Eddie with Kim only a few moments later feels so stark and like a huge blow to the audience.

Eddie sees Kim, and all he sees is Shannon's face, but I have to give MASSIVE kudos to the hair, costume, and makeup department here because they couldn't make Kim look ANY more starkly different from Shannon. In the scenes at the store, Kim is dressed more professionally, in lighter more inviting colors. And then here, when Kim can take off the customer service mask, and be fully herself, we see that she dresses in darker clothing, pants, and jackets with her hair up in almost an alternative-punk style. It's a MASSIVE contrast to Shannon who was almost always dressed in lighter, warmer colors, in shades of orange, yellow, and warm pinks, with minimal makeup and long flowy dresses or soft sweaters. Shannon's hair was almost always down and flowing around her face with her bangs. Kim's hair is completely up, totally out of her face in a severe bun look, without any bangs. She could not look father from Shannon if she tried. And yet, Eddie is not seeing Kim, he's not seeing the individual woman who's probably really lovely, the woman he's inherently hurting by using her to be reminded of his dead wife. No, all he sees is Shannon, and he's 100% willing to tank his whole life just to get a bit of that feeling back.

Eddie is on his way towards rock bottom, and this episode is only getting started. The glass is going to shatter extremely hard, and I worry for what the consequences will be for Eddie for all this, because there's no way he's escaping this without deep cuts. He will likely lose Marisol and Kim in one fell swoop. As for Buck, Chris and the rest of the 118, that's yet to be seen. But we know Eddie's parents show back up later on, so they could be coming in with the steel chair, likely to hit Eddie harder when he's already down. After all, the originator of "Don't drag him down with you, Eddie" is none other than Helena Diaz. This season is giving very strong season 3/4 vibes, and if that's the case, it's possible Helena and Ramon are going to pose a problem by the end of the season like they might've done in season 4 if things had gone as originally planned.

I'm worried, scared and excited to see how this ends up for Eddie. But I'm also hopeful. I see a light at the end of this tunnel. After all, it's always darkest just before dawn.

Thanks for reading my meta!

[conflictofthemind]

Not only do Robin and Will (and Mike!) have scenes together, they have a plot where the three of them visit Castle Byers in the Upside Down and here's all of the proof:

I originally posted this on twitter a month ago, which got a lot of backlash as well as prompting a certain someone to lie directly to my face about it. Now that I've been vindicated so much in the last few days, I want to share this mini-theory that I'm mostly convinced of at this point.

1.Let us go over the filming timeline: February 15th (left), Robin and Will at the McCorkle farm. Take note of the outfit that Robin is wearing here. February 20th (right), fans stumble on an Upside Down Castle Byers set in the woods.

February 22 (left), a pap reveals they were filming at this location the past week, and likes a comment saying one of the figures in the red picture was of Noah/Will.

March 1st (right), Ross Duffer posts what is (possibly) weeks 7-8 of filming, including a picture of Castle Byers in the Upside Down with the prominent American flag.

March 13 (but not really), we get a hidden shot from Episode 4. Oh, and an iPad in the corner that says this was actually February 13 - the same week they were filming with Maya/Noah/Finn at the farm.

Oh, but zoom in. Enhance image. What is that? It's the unknown!

A flag.... the body of a person with a dark coat and a white t-shirt.... possibly in the mirror view of a car or some kind of framing device. Now what did they film in the same week(s) that looks like this? Just Castle Byers and Robin.

2. Aaaaand then we get a little bit into Lovers Lake gate (literally).

The official version of the map, that could still be incorrect tbf, has Lover's Lake placed near the farms on the outskirts of town. There is also a fan-made map referenced from the actual show, which is different but still places Lover's Lake next to some farms and specifically Eugene McCorkle's farm.

Then we have this classic BTS photo from Ross of (possibly lol) Weeks 5-6 which would include the week of February 13 and 16th where we know they were filming at the farm.

What this all means, I won't speculate on too much, but I am fairly sure we are getting a mission with Robin/Will/Mike as they venture into the Upside Down (maybe Mike drives them himself) through a rift that has strategically opened near the farm because of it's position near the Lovers Lake gate. I think it's possible that they are investigating Will's memories, and trying to induce them to come back. The opening scene as we all know happens at Castle Byers. Will wants to go for his own self-development and discovery, Mike tags along because that's his boyfriend bestie, and Robin tags along after developing a soft spot for Will and to get a glimpse at how the two interact.

3. Where are the others at (why only them three)? Also in episode 4, we have Nancy, Jon, Dustin and (probably since it's his car) Steve as a group all travelling from the McCorkle farm into the Upside Down. Perhaps they split off into their own missions, or something goes awry and this is the reconnaissance team sent in to find RoWillMike.

The one thing I do have extra confirmation of is that Millie has not been involved in any of the farm scenes, even the ones filmed in April. There is no way El is involved in this plot. Millie was also on a filming break during most of February.

The others all likely have a plotline together (Lucas/Erica/Joyce/Hopper/El). Vickie couullldd be there though?

Fin.