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yikesharringrove · 3 years

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It’s a book Steve’s actually read.

Well, Nancy kinda mostly read it to him. Which really just makes the whole thing hurt a little bit more.

His speakers were crackling and he had turned the bass up high enough that the song was distorted, vibrating through his car.

It was embarrassing. Scream-singing to Kate Bush while sobbing into your steering wheel in the high school parking lot.

He’s just got a lot of feelings, and Nancy dumped in that alleyway, he can literally see it and Heathcliff, it’s me, I’m Cathy. I’ve come home, I’m so cold.

Which, it’s all just bullshit. Pardon the word.

Because, Catherine and Heathcliff don’t even fucking end up together. There’s something about family difference and he remembers Nancy saying socioeconomic like that word meant anything to him and Catherine winds up dead of bad brain-itis and Healthcliff is a dick so they never should’ve been together anyway.

But, whatever.

He’s feeling very much like Catherine right now. Standing on the moors with a broken heart.

Because fuck Heathcliff. And fuck Nancy.

Kate Bush is the only one he can trust anymore.

Her and her red dress and Steve’s insides feel like that red fucking dress in a way he can’t explain and Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy. I've come home, I'm so cold. Let me in your window-

He just about jumped out of his skin when the passenger door opened.

One too-tan hand reached out to crank the volume down on the song, and a too-pink tongue slid across too-white teeth and

“Harrington, I’m obligated to tell you that you’re acting like a pussy.”

Hargrove.

Y’know, he’s the top of Steve’s Fuck List. Right there with Nancy and Heathcliff, and everyone else who sucks shit and makes people feel bad.

“Can it, dickhead.”

To be fair, Steve was ugly crying to Kate Bush by himself in his car, but he’s allowed to be a pussy by himself in his car.

Hargrove just gave Steve a look that Steve’s pretty sure meant I’m resisting the urge to punch you in the face right now, but was undercut by that stupid fucking tongue of his lolling around like some kinda hyper-sexual golden retriever.

Meanwhile, Kate Bush was still singing and Steve was still Cathy on the moors.

“I’m fucking sad, or whatever. Let me be a pussy.”

“Oh, come on, Harrington. You really this cut up about some prissy little princess? She’s not even the best this town has and that is saying something.”

“Y’know, for a guy that’s constantly calling all the girls in town ugly, you sure do fuck a lot of ‘em.”

“At least I’m getting some. When was the last time the princess put out, eh? Or was she savin’ it for marriage? I could see her bein’ one of those types.”

He said those types like he wasn’t wearing a saint’s pendant around his neck. Like Steve didn’t see his family all sitting uncomfortably silent together in the diner after mass every single Sunday afternoon.

It was weird, seeing Billy in a nice shirt. All buttoned up properly with his hair looking all respectful. Especially since Steve was usually high off his ass and slurping down a strawberry milkshake with cheese fries like he’d die if he didn’t.

“I’m not gonna talk about my sex life with you, Hargrove.”

“Aw, why not, Harrington. Don’t wanna compare body counts? You embarrassed or something?” Billy was grinning that shitty sharp grin of his, still waggling his fucking tongue as he leaned closer to Steve. “You still a virgin, King Steve?”

The song ended. Steve rewound the tape. It started up again.

He needed Kate now more than ever.

“Of fucking course I’m not. I’m just not some gross asshole that goes around telling everyone who’ve I’ve fucked. It’s called being a decent guy.”

“It’s called being a prude. Now, c’mon. Tell me who’ve you fucked. Maybe we’re tunnel buddies.”

Steve wanted to throw up. Kate was on the moors again.

“You’re disgusting. Tunnel buddies. How gross can you even get?”

“I hope that’s a rhetorical question.”

“I don’t know what that means and you’re a shithead.”

Hargrove tossed his head back and laughed, showing off those teeth that looked like they could take a chunk out of Steve’s flesh if Billy got close enough to try.

You had a temper like my jealousy. Too hot, too greedy.

“Seriously, though.” Billy had stopped laughing. “What is this shit?”

“She’s Kate Bush and she speaks to my heart.”

Billy just stared at him.

Yeah, that was a pretty pussy thing to say.

“I just got fucking dumped, dude. Let me be sad about it,” Steve backpedaled.

And then Billy did something very unexpected.

Well, he did something very normal for his character, and then he did something unexpected.

He lit up a cigarette.

And then passed it to Steve.

Steve filled up his lungs with a thick drag of smoke. He held it for as long as he could.

Which was really long.

Swimmer’s lungs. And that.

He blew out the smoke. Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy. I've come home, I'm so cold. Let me in your window.

“Is this fucking song based on Wuthering Heights?”

“Yeah, you dumb dumb. It’s fucking called Wuthering Heights.”

“Okay, dumb dumb, I clearly don’t even know this song.”

“Maybe you’d be less of an ass if you did. Dumb dumb.”

Billy lit a cigarette for himself, letting the smoke trail out of his mouth like he was some kind of dragon.

Billy probably fancies himself a dragon. Thinks he’s this big scary creature that just goes around breathing fire and ransacking villages for their gold.

Ooh, it gets dark, it gets lonely on the other side from you. I pine a lot, I find the lot falls through without you.

Really, he’s probably like a dog of some kind.

Domesticated.

“You’re staring at me.”

Yeah. Steve was staring at him. Watching him smoke while Kate Bush played loudly. The speakers still sounded like shit even though Billy had turned down the song considerably.

Steve didn’t know when he had stopped crying.

Probably right when Billy had let himself into his cave of self pity, but his face was still wet.

He wiped it off, not pointing out that Billy had been staring at him too.

“Why are you here so late? Practice ended like, an hour ago.”

Billy shrugged lamely. He kinda looked like a little kid.

Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy. I've come home, I'm so cold. Let me in your window.

“Bored. Didn’t feel like being home.”

“So you came to sit in the break-up mobile with me. How nice.”

“Mostly I just wanted to make fun of you for listening to this garbage. I could hear it across the lot.”

And sure enough, Billy’s car was parked a good ways down from Steve, about as far away as their two cars could be from one another.

Steve doubts Billy heard Kate all this way, but what’s he gonna do, bring that up?

No. He’s rather sit in this weird silence that settled between them, feeling awkward about himself and his body and listen to Kate.

I'm coming home to wuthering, wuthering, Wuthering Heights

“She’s not worht it, y’know.”

Steve had to do a double take to make sure it was still Billy sitting in his passenger seat, and not some cheap imposter wearing a Billy-suit and saying almost nice things to Steve in a not-mean voice.

“What’d you say earlier? Plenty of bitches in the sea?” Steve would’ve laughed at that comment when Billy made it if they weren’t naked together.

There’s something things you don’t do while naked with another guy, and laughing just isn’t one of them.

Plus, he had been a little too focused on figuring out why Billy’s nudity had given him that same hot feeling that nearly seeing Rob Lowe’s dick in The Outsiders movie gave him last year.

“I mean, it’s true. Don’t sweat this break-up. She seemed like an uptight bitch anyway.”

“Hey.”

Steve was still a little too sore, a little too fresh from the split to trash talk Nance like that.

“Whatever. Get high. Look at some porn. You’ll be fine.”

Ooh, let me have it. Let me grab your soul away.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Silence again.

Kate was back to the chorus.

The song was almost over.

“You could always go on the rebound. get her out of your mind with someone that’ll actually put out.”

Hargrove had barely even said it before he was yanking Steve forward, giving him no time to prepare as their mouthed smooshed together in something that was very very awkward, and very very sloppy.

Steve still had tears on his cheeks, and his cigarette was getting dangerously close to the filter, threatening to burn his fingers, and Kate was still singing, and Billy was kissing him, and dear God Steve’s at least a little bit gay.

Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy. I've come home, I'm so cold. Let me in your window.

They drifted apart from one another just in time for Steve to rewind the song again.

“So, uh, yeah,” Billy said, and his cheeks were this wonderful shade of red, and Steve couldn’t stop thinking about Kate’s red dress and that fucking kiss and he was on the moors again, but this time he and Billy were making out in the grass and oh fuck, oh fuck-

“Yeah. Good.”

“Good?” Billy raised on of those dark eyebrows at him, his cheeks still burning.

“Good. Very good.”

Billy nodded a few times, sucking on his cigarette. Steve suddenly remembered he had dropped his on the floormates and tried to stamp it out before it got singed to bad.

“Okay then. Good.” Billy opened the passenger door, stepping out and flicking away his cigarette. He seemed to think for a moment, before turning around, leaning his upper body into Steve’s car.

Steve thought they were going to kiss again.

He was ready to go for it, ready to let his eyes close and maybe let it lead to more. He was Cathy and he was ready for some action.

But Billy just grinned again.

And skipped the song.

#yes i know when nancy and steve break up billys only been in town for like three days but its my fic and ill make up a timeline if i want to #yeah i call people dumb dumb all the fucking time so i had to put it in #this idea came from me listening to this song on a loop for fifteen minutes in the parking lot before work and crying before going in to wor #k #also i've never read wuthering heights everything i know abt it is from the song and this one fic i read that mentioned it #also the way that this is probably technically a song fic #i hate it #yikes writes #steve harrington #billy hargrove #harringrove #this is so self indulgent omg

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lesbianrobin · 3 years

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What do you think are the good and bad aspects of each season of ST?

ok 1. thank u for this question omg and 2. this answer may or may not be a mess, but either way it’s long (almost 7k words lmao) bc i’m insane, which is why it’s under a cut. it’s still by no means an exhaustive list but these are the things that just kinda came to mind.

also i realize you asked “good and bad” and i wrote this whole post as “strengths and weaknesses” which um. is not Exactly what you asked. but close enough <3 i also ended up including a lot of au ideas ksjdckmn bc like i personally hate when people say a certain plot or whatever was bad without suggesting anything that could have improved it yknow so whenever possible i tried to provide Some idea for fixing the issues i had with the show!!

season 1

strengths (this is probably gonna be the longest section but that’s because a lot of these strengths also apply to s2/s3 by default)

nostalgia and authenticity

this one’s pretty simple, but i think that season one did a good job of blending classic eighties media homages (such as the many many e.t./el parallels) with explicit pop culture references (such as mike’s yoda impression, mentions of the x-men, etc) to create a show that’s essentially dripping in early eighties nostalgia without it feeling too forced. before st, i think the most popular depiction of the eighties in mainstream media was that overly exaggerated neon scrunchie aesthetic from the mid to late eighties, and it was usually done in a comedic sense first and foremost. st took a different approach, instead focusing on the early eighties, a time that’s often ignored in favor of going either Full Seventies or Full Eighties, and i think that this choice likely resonated with adults who lived through the eighties and hadn’t yet seen something that felt quite so accurate to their own adolescence. a lot of young people who watched st were totally unfamiliar with this period of time, unfamiliar with books/movies like “stand by me” that st borrows from heavily, and i think st lent more seriousness to the eighties than most young people had experienced so far, and this was refreshing and interesting!

the use of dnd in the show is also quite genius in a way i’m not sure i can articulate?? it isn’t something Everyone would have played at the time, but it’s something that existed within a different context back in the eighties than it does today, and it really lent a sort of authenticity to the naming of the show’s sci-fi elements. like, of course these kids would name parallel dimensions and monsters and superpowers after these similar things in their favorite game! it just feels so real and it grounds st in our reality moreso than you might expect from the typical sci-fi or horror universe.

utilization of existing tropes

almost every single character in st clearly originates from some popular trope. the plot itself is riddled with classic eighties movie tropes. almost every single element of stranger things can be clearly traced back to some iconic eighties film or just to, like, overused horror/sci-fi/mystery/coming-of-age movie tropes in general. this might sound like a bad thing, but it really works in st’s favor! starting off with familiar tropes gives st the ability to easily create a lot of complexity and make a big impact by selectively deviating from those familiar, comfortable tropes!! while el’s whole plot, hopper’s character, etc, are all examples of this in action, i think the steve/nancy/jonathan plot is the greatest example. even from the start, the fact that good girl barb dies while nancy is off having sex with her asshole boyfriend is an incredibly thorough inversion of the most well-known horror movie trope in the book. how often do girls in horror movies have sex for the first time, walk home alone in the dark of night, and live to tell the tale? nancy and jonathan’s dynamic at first glance is a sort of classic “good girl meets boy from the wrong side of the tracks, discovers he’s actually got a heart of gold” thing, but instead of following this well-trodden path, st diverged. nancy is brash, impulsive, and at times downright insensitive. jonathan is angry, bitter, and actually a bit of a creep at first. while they have the capacity to emotionally connect and support one another, they can also bring out each other’s darker side, which is not what we’ve come to expect from that initial tropey dynamic.

in addition, steve, the popular rich asshole boyfriend, is actually... a human being! unlike the cartoonishly evil jocks that we’ve come to expect (especially from eighties movies), steve has complexity. despite his initial immaturity and selfishness, he’s also kind to barb, he backs off when nancy says no, he’s gentle and sweet when they sleep together, his first big Dick Move of the season is in defense of nancy, he realizes the error of his ways after the fight and does what he can to fix it, he’s worried about nancy when he sees that she’s hurt at jonathan’s house, and to top it all off, he ends up saving both nancy and jonathan’s lives when he could have just walked away, and the three of them all work together to fight the demogorgon. like... steve began as the most stereotypical character of all time, and by the end of the season, he had one of the most compelling and unique arcs among the whole cast!

finally, at the very end of the season, instead of dumping steve for jonathan as expected, nancy ends up getting back together with steve, and they’re both on friendly terms with jonathan. i realize that i just kinda. summarized s1. but my POINT is that i don’t think the dynamics between the monster hunting trio would be nearly as fun and interesting had the characters of nancy, steve, and jonathan not been set up to follow certain paths that we already had charted in our own heads. like, within the first couple episodes of s1, it’s pretty obvious that nancy and steve are gonna break up, nancy will get with jonathan, and steve will either die or go full evil or just never be seen again. like, duh! you’ve seen this story a million times! you know that’s how it’s gonna go! so, when the story DOESN’T go that way, the impact of each character’s arc and the relationship dynamics become stronger due to their unexpected complexity and authenticity.

distinct plotlines separated by age group

this one’s rather obvious, but the way that the adults in s1 were essentially in a conspiracy thriller while the teens were in a horror flick and the kids were in a sci fi power-of-friendship story and all three converged at the end... wow. brilliant showstopping etc. not only was it just really well done and unique, it also gave stranger things near-universal appeal. like, there’s genuinely something for pretty much everyone in season one!

casting

obviously this applies to every season sorta by default, but when i think about what made season one So successful, i always think about the cast, and not just winona ryder. yes, she’s absolutely amazing in the show and it’s very doubtful that st would be as big as it is today without her name being attached to it from the start!! however, i think the greatest determining factor in st’s success is the casting of the kids, particularly millie bobby brown. like... el is just absolutely incredible. she’s amazing. this has all been said many times before so i won’t harp on it, but millie and the other kids are all So talented and charismatic and i think their casting has been instrumental to the show’s success.

strong visuals

the way that multicolored christmas lights which have been around for decades are now kinda like. a Stranger Things thing. jesus christ. those lights are probably the biggest stroke of stylistic genius on the show.

atmosphere and setting

this is probably like. the least important one here for me sdjncdsc because i think s2 and s3 both had like Even Better atmospheres and shit but s1 was good too and it laid the groundwork!! i know a lot of people would have preferred st be set somewhere more Spooky with lots of fog or giant forests or whatnot, and while i do enjoy thinking about alternate st settings and how they might alter the vibe, i think hawkins indiana was a good choice. as the duffers have said, placing stranger things in a fictional town allows them more flexibility than if they’d gone with their original plan of using montauk, new york. besides that, i think the plainness and like... flatness... of small-town indiana just Works. like, the fact that hawkins is never really scary on the surface is a big part of the horror in the lab’s actions and their impact. hawkins isn’t somewhere that people just disappear all the time. it isn’t somewhere known for strange occurrences (prior to s1, that is). it isn’t somewhere shrouded in mist and secrecy. hawkins on its surface seems like the sort of place with no secrets and nothing to fear, and that’s the point! the lab is out in the open! it’s right there! everything is so close to the surface, yet so far out of the public eye, and i think that really works.

the byers family’s whole deal (specifically the joyce/jonathan dynamic)

this is going here bc i miss it so bad in s2 and s3. i’m not one of those people who believe The Byers Are The Whole Point of the show, because st is and always has been an ensemble, and el, hopper, and the wheelers are just as instrumental to the plot as the byers, but ANYWAY, i do think the byers were one of the most interesting aspects of s1. joyce’s difficulties with supporting her sons as a poor and (implied mentally ill) single mother, jonathan’s stress as a result of having to earn money, care for his brother, and keep the house in order when his mother is unable to do so, and the resulting tension between them when will’s disappearance and supposed “death” brings the situation to a tipping point? holy shit! it’s so good! that argument after they see will’s “body” is just incredible and gut-wrenching. their relationship feels so real and messy and i think it’s just... good. also winona ryder REALLY acted her heart out and she carried a lot of s1 which i think people often forget to mention so i’m saying it here.

weaknesses

pacing/timing

ok so pacing is probably going to go in each season’s weaknesses, to be honest, because i think they all had a blend of some good and some bad pacing. good pacing is invisible pacing, though, so i probably won’t be putting it in any of the strengths sections and will only be focusing on it in the weaknesses. i’m also probably not going to talk about weird day/night cycle things, just because i don’t want to get nitpicky on timelines because that would require going back and rewatching things to double check timing which i don’t wanna do at the moment lmao. anyway, when i think of bad pacing in season one, i primarily think of two things: nancy’s little trip into the upside down and subsequent sleepover with jonathan, and the sort of staggered nature of the climax in the final episode. the latter is simple so i’ll explain it first: while i understand that each group’s respective climax is like part of a chain reaction and that’s why each big moment happens separately and at different times, i think that st is strongest when the whole group is together, and i think that makes the stakes feel higher too, so i’m not In Love with the way s1 separated everyone and gave each group their own climax.

okay, now on to the nancy/upside down thing! idk if i’ve ever talked about it before, but i think the worst decision made in s1 by far is the inclusion of nancy’s brief trip into the upside down, wherein she dives headfirst into another dimension with absolutely no backup, watches the demogorgon chow down, freaks out and runs around for a minute, and then leaves. like... what the fuck? even putting aside what an idiotic decision this was (because i do think nancy’s tendency to rush into things headfirst is an intentional and consistent character trait), it just kind of destroys any remaining suspense surrounding the demogorgon and the upside down, and it accomplishes basically nothing besides scaring nancy enough to have jonathan sleep over, which is lame. i will break it down.

like, first of all, nancy just getting to waltz in and out of the upside down and get a good, long look at the demogorgon makes the entire thing far less mysterious, and by extension far less scary. like... before this scene, we the audience haven’t got a good look at the demogorgon. we’ve seen its silhouette briefly and we’ve seen a blurry picture of it, but nothing more, and i think that is far more effective at building fear than this jaunt nancy goes on which gives us a full view of the thing and makes it into less of a horrifying nightmare and into more of a humanoid animal. like, maybe this is just me, but i found the demogorgon far less intimidating after that scene than before. it also lets nancy and jonathan know For Sure that they’re right without providing any crucial information that they need to fight the demogorgon (aka it’s unnecessary to the plot), which removes a very compelling story element (the faith nancy and jonathan need to have in order to keep going against a vague and poorly understood enemy, the doubt they might have about each other and their own sanity, the possibility that they might be wrong, the trust they need to have in each other) a bit earlier in the plot than i believe is ideal. at the end of episode 5, nancy goes into the upside down and jonathan doesn’t know where she is and it’s intense!!! you’re thinking like, oh fuck, not only is nancy missing and fighting for her life now too, jonathan might be implicated in her disappearance!! some people already think he’s the one who killed will and people know that he took creepy pictures of barb and nancy before they both disappeared, maybe this is gonna cause some serious problems for him!! maybe nancy will find will in the upside down and she’ll help him survive!! fuck, maybe she’ll actually die!! this is huge!! and then episode 6 starts and they’re immediately like oh nevermind jonathan found the tree and got nancy out and she’s fine. my point with all of this is that nancy entering the upside down could have done A Lot in the grand scheme of the plot, but all it did was just... get jonathan to sleep over so he and nancy could have some awkward romance moments and steve could see them together and pick a fight. which could have honestly happened at Any point while nancy and jonathan were working together to hunt down the demogorgon, without ruining the demogorgon’s and the upside down’s mystique. so yeah <3

weird behavior and dumbass decisions that make no sense (aka the whole camera thing)

gonna go off about the teen plot again sorry but: why was nancy so unbothered and quick to forgive jonathan for taking those pictures? girl what the fuck are you doing? why wasn’t that a bigger deal? why was jonathan’s motivation for doing it so weak and why did they just kind of forget about the whole thing? why did nancy TRACK HIM DOWN AT THE FUNERAL HOME while he was PICKING OUT HIS BABY BROTHER’S CASKET to be like hey can you tell me what’s in this creepshot you took? it’s insane. it’s so insane. i mean i think the funeral home thing is hilarious and i don’t mind it being in the show necessarily but like my point here is that i think a lot of character decisions in s1 just kind of.. happened because they Needed to happen for the plot. like, they wrote this plot that required jonathan to be secretly taking pictures of the party and required him and nancy to work together after seeing something odd in the pictures, but they didn’t like... really consider what that event would mean for their characterization and relationship. the whole thing was sort of just dropped with minimal discussion and i think it did both nancy and jonathan’s characters a disservice and was really mishandled.

lighting and saturation/color grading

i am literally begging horror/sci-fi shows to let me see shit. i GET IT okay i understand that when you’re doing cgi effects it helps to keep the lights down and i’m not mad at any of the lighting in the demogorgon/upside down scenes!! i’m really not i think the demogorgon scenes in s1 all look sick!! but like... dude. the colors. where are they. why does everyone look like a vampire. i know blah blah this was probably an intentional stylistic choice intended to mimic film at the time blah blah but dude a lot of old movies are very colorful!! please just let people have color in their faces so everyone doesn’t look like a sheet of paper!!! also i’m white and not a professional lighting designer so yknow grain of salt but i think lucas was kinda poorly served by the lighting sometimes in s1. not Hugely so, not to the degree that i’ve seen poc be poorly served by lighting in other shows, but there were some times where it felt kinda like the lighting setup was just not designed with darker skin in mind.

horror

i just personally don’t find s1 very scary like... ever. i don’t think they were really Trying to be extremely scary yknow so i’m not counting this as a big deal, but i do think that each season has improved on the horror aspects. i think s1′s horror lies more in the mystery and the unknown than in what’s seen onscreen, and as i’ve said already, i think s1 kind of fumbled that suspense ball.

season 2

strengths

the possession plot

i’ll warn u rn this whole s2 strengths section is probably gonna be really short bc idk like. how much there is to really say i feel like it’s all so self-explanatory skjncmn. anyway yeah the possession plot!! eerie as fuck, and noah OWNED. so did winona tbh and finn and sean etc but like. noah. wow! i think the possession plot helped the show maintain a good amount of tension and suspense throughout the season, and a lot of scenes with possessed!will are flatout disturbing to watch. in a good way. i think the mindflayer and will’s possession were far more genuinely frightening than s1′s demogorgon, and it provided a new layer of depth and intrigue to the antagonist besides just “bad monster want eat people.”

tone and aesthetics

halloween season... literally halloween season. halloween season. that is all.

actually i will elaborate a bit and just say that i think s2 did a good job of having the sort of foreboding vibe that s1 was often going for, but without the annoying darkness and desaturation. so points for that.

also st2 is like one of the best Autumn pieces of media ever like it just. like steve and dustin on those train tracks with the fallen leaves all around them.... god. god the vibes are unparalleled. all of the halloween stuff also really contributes to the nostalgia st runs on yknow it makes you think about childhood and trick-or-treating and you kind of get transported like damn... i remember going to the rich neighborhoods to score the good candy..... idk i just think the whole thing is incredibly effective.

“babysitter” steve

by sending nancy and jonathan off together, the show created a problem: what to do with steve? this problem pushed them to create the unconventional and unexpected duo of steve and dustin, and the world is so much brighter for it. seriously though we all know steve and dustin are great i don’t need to argue that point. all i’ll add is that i think allowing steve to grow in this way, serving as a mentor figure and becoming genuine friends with someone so unexpected, really took the originality of his character to the next level. no longer content just to defy his archetype, in s2 steve begins branching out in ways that never would have been considered in s1, creating an incredibly complex and interesting person from the sort of character that most shows would have simply written out or killed off for convenience’s sake. and it works and steve and dustin are such a joy to watch and i love them. <3

the lucas/max plot

so first of all max mayfield is the most perfect baby girl on god’s green earth and idk what i would do without her but anyway. i think lumax is the best romantic relationship in the show and not just because they’re the only ones with like an age-appropriate approach to the whole thing. it’s also because their relationship accomplishes more than just putting the two of them in a relationship!! lucas and max spending time together motivates billy to do his evil shit, providing more conflict in the narrative, and it also helps establish max as part of the group in a relatively natural way while giving both her and lucas a great subplot. lucas (and dustin) has a crush on the new girl, they start spending some time together, and lucas ends up needing to decide whether he’ll keep the secret of the upside down and lose her, or risk both of their lives by telling her the truth. that’s a pretty big, character-defining decision that he gets to make!! max has to choose whether to trust this boy she barely knows and endanger herself, or to walk away and stay safe, yet another great character-defining choice that also contributes to the sense we get as an audience of max as somebody who’s incredibly lonely and desperate for love and connection. this post is way too long already and i have a ton more to say so i’ll stop now but yeah i think lumax really Works in the show without ever distracting or detracting from the overall plot and narrative in the way that some other ships (coughjancycough) often do.

balance between the normal and abnormal

s2 i think did a pretty solid job of melding daily life with more fantastical sci-fi horror elements. i enjoyed seeing so much of the kids at school in the first few episodes!! you really get a strong sense of where they’re at in life, what their daily lives are like, and you get a sort of gradual shift into madness that makes everything feel more grounded than i think it would if they had just leapt straight into the horror shit, yknow?

the el and hopper dynamic

go back and rewatch s2 and tell me that’s not one of the most moving portrayals of parenthood and trauma and growing up that you’ve ever seen. you can’t. or well you can but i won’t listen. i really can’t imagine stranger things without el and hopper’s relationship, and it’s my absolute favorite part of s2. their whole dynamic is so beautiful and complex, and gives them each amazing personal arcs in addition! the black hole scene is literally one of the show’s greatest moments of all time. any given scene between the two of them in s2 is just guaranteed to be heartwarming as well as heartbreaking, and i think that makes for an incredible show.

weaknesses

flashbacks

okay this applies to Every season they All have too many flashbacks but in s2 specifically... please stop showing me shit from season one. i watched it. i know what happened. you don’t need to spoon feed everything to me!! flashbacks can be a really helpful way of delivering information to an audience, but st has a bad habit of not only being kinda demeaning in how often they flash back to shit that the audience already knows, but they also have a bad habit of using flashbacks almost as a crutch to avoid having to deliver information subtly and naturally.

you know i gotta say it... the lost sister

this is so sad. the lost sister really is like a great concept for an st episode, and i’m not mad about the idea of st taking a break from the normal action to focus on one story for a full episode, but the execution of it was just dreadful. kali and her crew feel very over-the-top and stereotypical, and its placement in the season totally kills the tension and excitement that was built in “the spy.”

i think the lost sister honestly could have gone over far better, even with the stereotypical fake-feeling gang kali has, if they had just swapped it with “the spy” like... ok, the end of episode five has el setting off to find kali and will collapsing on the ground seizing. right? imagine if, instead of immediately following will to the lab, we’d followed el. we don’t know what’s happening with will, but it’s a very simple cliffhanger that leaves us on edge without making us feel cheated by the show cutting away. we follow el on her little journey, everything happens much the same as canon, and then at the end, el sees hopper in scrubs. she sees mike, screaming, sees that they’re both in danger. holy shit!!! what the fuck!!! what’s happened since we left will seizing on the ground??? we feel el’s fear and confusion. she decides to go home. and then... boom. “the lost sister” is over. now, we rewind, right back to will seizing on the ground, and “the spy” commences. we learn how they got into the danger that el saw in the end of “the lost sister,” and we sit on the edge of our seats all through “the spy” and “the mind flayer,” KNOWING that el is on her way back to save them but not knowing when she’ll arrive!! idk i don’t think that would have necessarily saved lost sister but i think it may have alleviated some of the issues that i and many others have with it, timing-wise.

the nancy/jonathan sidequest

once again, the idea of nancy going off on her own little mission to find justice for barb after s1 is like. amazing. genuinely i love that plot for her and i can’t imagine anything better for her to have focused on in s2. unfortunately though i think her and jonathan’s little trip to see murray was just kind of... lame. the whole thing just felt like an excuse to get the two of them alone together, yknow? which is fine i guess people contrive all sorts of situations to get characters alone together for romance reasons but in this case i think it just really doesn’t work for me because of what it’s juxtaposed with. like, will is POSSESSED, and jonathan is just off on a mini road trip and sleeping with his bestie, and jonathan never seems to communicate to joyce/will that he left town, and joyce never like... thinks to tell him that will is like sick and fucked up and they’re looking at him in the lab??? like it’s so weird i know joyce always forgets about jonathan when shit’s happening with will but jfc you’d think at some point in that like... 72-ish-hour period where jonathan was out of town she would have thought about him. like at least once. maybe i’m forgetting something and she mentioned him sometime and i missed it but even still, i hate the juxtaposition of nancy and jonathan just like cheers-ing at murray’s place and sleeping together and whatnot while everyone else is dealing with possession or trying to hunt down dart yknow? it feels really boring in comparison and i think it could have been done far better. like it was SO insanely easy for them to get into the lab and get an admission of guilt and escape with it!! i think it might have been a lot more engaging if maybe someone from the lab tailed them to murray’s place and they had to like lose the tail and race to get the recording out to as many news outlets as possible before they got caught, or something like that. the tension in their plotline is completely resolved in episode four!! episodes five and six are just them screwing around and addressing envelopes. while there were a lot of strong ideas in this plotline (i really enjoy nancy going out of her way to get justice, and the fact that they have to water down the story to make it believable), i just think the focus on nancy and jonathan getting together hindered it a lot without adding a ton to the plot or their individual characters.

season 3

strengths

starcourt mall as a setting

while i don’t think the mall was utilized quite to its full potential (something i could make a separate post about if anyone’s interested), i do think that starcourt was a genius addition to the series. i’ve said this before, but building a new mall is a literal Perfect in-universe justification for a significant leap forward in fashion and aesthetics, and it provides a great location for characters to just... be characters. idk how else to articulate this i just think that the mall is a great setting to let people interact with each other and to bring people together who may not have been otherwise (i.e. scoops troop). not to mention how sick it was to see the mall get wrecked toward the end kdjncdkm like they were able to do so much more with the mall in terms of like The Finale than they could with just the byers house or the cabin or the school or even the lab. i love all the back tunnels they run through it’s such a fun like acknowledgement of how this glitzy eighties mall is just a real place where employees get shipments and take out the trash and shit idk it’s all about the perfect facade and what’s hidden what’s underneath what’s hiding in plain sight etc etc i’m just saying words now. anyway.

willingness to experiment and go against expectations

gay robin. neon aesthetics. giant fucking meat monster. i know some people hate both the neon and the meat monster but i personally think they were kind of amazing and like. yknow regardless of personal tastes i think it’s impossible to deny that s3 had a lot of incredible visuals, and they’re all visuals that just wouldn’t have been possible if the show were too afraid to stray from its s1 aesthetic. robin being canonically gay (and her resulting friendship with steve) and the season’s striking visuals are two things that most everyone (besides like homophobes skjncdknm) can agree were great, right? and they were both departures from where the show began and what we all expected!! so yeah i think while some of the experimentation in s3 wasn’t ideal it was also that experimentation that allowed for some of the season’s strongest elements to come about.

the hospital sequence (and the season’s action/horror scenes in general)

this one is fairly self-explanatory. while they may have underutilized the “body snatching” element of the season, the hospital sequence with nancy and jonathan fighting off their possessed bosses did an amazing job of building tension and creating a genuine sense of really intense and personal danger.

in general i think that s3 melded action and horror rather well, particularly in the sauna test, the hospital, and when the mindflayer busts through the roof of hop’s cabin. horror can come from many things, and in this case, st elicited horror largely from the feeling of helplessness, and it was really effective for me personally. i think it worked better for me than s1′s brand of horror because it doesn’t rely so much on a lack of knowledge or a sense of suspense that inevitable disappears upon a second viewing.

the body horror we got in s3 was also really fun! that’s it i just think all the blood and guts and slime were fun and i would like more of them. once again, the impacts of body horror are less dependent upon the viewer being in the dark or unsure as to what’s happening, and as such i think it tends to be a little more effective at eliciting reaction in the long term.

timing and mechanics of the battle of starcourt/finale

i think the battle of starcourt is just fucking awesome, and beyond that personal opinion, i think it’s the most high-stakes and intense finale of all three seasons, and this is for two main reasons! 1. el is out of commission, and 2. (almost) everyone is in the same cental location. this means that (almost) everyone is in danger all at once, and they are all working together at the same time to fight the same threat. s1/s2 have their groups more fragmented for the finales, and while i understand why in each case and i wouldn’t call either season’s finale necessarily weak, i do think the centralized nature of the s3 finale just Works on another level. in s1 and s2, large segments of the cast are already perfectly safe by the time el dispatches the primary threat. in s3, however, everybody save for dustin and erica is still in danger up until the last moment, and el is seemingly (you can def debate how much power she still had in her when she peeked into billy’s mind and whether the memory broke the mindflayer’s hold on him or if she was actually controlling him to some degree) completely vulnerable. this increases the tension and raises the stakes, making the finale a real crescendo to fortissimo as opposed to a series of little mezzo forte moments. i hope everyone reading this knows music idk how else to phrase that my brain is stupid.

emphasis on friendship and adolescence (but in a different way than s1/2)

this is definitely a controversial one but i think that s3 really did like... show a side of friendship that had been more or less unexplored thus far in the show. el and max were amazing, and i think it’s really nice that we got an opportunity to see the kids have some growing pains as well as see them support each other through Normal Adolescent Stuff like boyfriends and breakups instead of just like. death and trauma. this is maybe just a personal preference, but i think it can be really enlightening and provide a lot of depth when you get to see how characters respond to normal everyday conflict and not just how they respond to giant world-ending conflict!! letting el use her powers for goofy teenage shit like spying on boys and messing with mean girls at the mall is not only fun for her and the audience, but it also really emphasizes just how much those powers are a part of el, making it that much more devastating when she loses them at the end of the season.

weaknesses

tonal dissonance

so this is like. obvious. but it must still be said! i won’t go on and on about it since we all know this so i’ll try to like talk about it from an angle people don’t usually? anyway. it seems to me like they were maybe a little worried about s3 being too dark. while the choice to really lean into humor was definitely driven by the sorts of eighties teen films from which s3 drew inspiration (like fast times at ridgemont high), i think it was also done in an attempt to alleviate the more troubling implications of some events in the season, particularly the russian bunker plot. like, yeah, st can be incredibly dark, but if they’d played the whole “children being stuck inside of a foreign military base, tied up, tortured, and drugged” thing completely straight without the humorous elements that exist in canon, it had the potential to be like... disturbing on a new level. steve and robin don’t have powers like el yknow their kidnapping/torture doesn’t have any sci-fi elements to sorta soften the blow. they’re just innocent teenagers being brutalized and traumatized by grown men. so anyway yeah i think maybe the writers were concerned about this storyline coming off as too dark and they wanted it to be a little more whimsical but they ended up pushing way too hard in that direction and creating extreme dissonance at times. this goes for joyce/hopper/murray/alexei too, but to a lesser extent. i think the ridiculousness in that group felt a lot more like... realistic. but still.

newspaper plot

once again i feel like i don’t even need to say this skjdncmn we all know it was insane how the show basically ended up delivering the message “while misogyny is a serious problem poverty and classism are not” and i’ve said it on this blog a million times so i don’t need to repeat myself. i’ll focus on another weak point of this plot: the fact that it completely separates nancy and jonathan from everyone else. once again, the show’s preoccupation with j/ancy held them back! like... can you imagine a version of s3 where nancy and jonathan both worked in the mall? i have a lot of ideas about this possible au and like how the plot could play out differently if they worked in the mall but first of all it’s just more realistic, second of all it further utilizes the mall as a central setting, and third of all, it would bring everyone together. as it is in canon, nancy and jonathan were unnecessarily isolated from the rest of the group, and this isolation was detrimental to both of their characters. like, they only ever get to interact with each other! if they’d gotten summer jobs in the mall, they could have had more interactions with the kids/steve/robin, and they absolutely still could have had a similar argument! maybe in this case, nancy notices the rat thing (or something else odd) herself when taking out the trash behind the mall, and she wants jonathan to ditch work with her to check it out bc she thinks it may be related to the lab. jonathan doesn’t want to ditch work because he needs his job, nancy argues that they’re working shitty mall jobs anyway and who cares if they get fired, and we get more or less the same thing as s3 without the cartoonishly over-the-top misogyny. i mean honestly i think the rat shit could have been cut entirely it didn’t rly... accomplish much of anything. in my opinion. like imagine s3 without the rat plot you literally would not be missing anything except it would be more surprising when the dudes melted into goo at the hospital. so yeah i think it would have been better if nancy and jonathan had jobs at the mall, weren’t isolated from everybody else, and were maybe absorbed into the party’s plot or the scoops troop’s plot from very early on, allowing them to interact with more characters and have a less... dumb.... plot. like god splitting up nancy and jonathan between the party/scoops troop would have been So Much better i just. sdkjcnksdmn anyway yeah.

briefness of group reunion/separation of groups

remember in s2 at the beginning of “the gate,” where mike and hopper had a confrontation and max and el met for the first time and el hugged everyone and steve and nancy had their sad little moment together outside... where’s that energy? obviously the s2 reunion wasn’t that long either, but it made space for some significant emotional moments to take place. s3′s reunion had some hopper/el/mike resolution, but besides that... there was nothing, really. i just think that the whole group getting together in s3 was SO exciting and powerful the way they did it (with both the scoops troop and the adults having their own Big Moment reconnecting with team griswold family), but the emotional potential was more or less squandered.

i also think in s3 at times they were really stretching to keep everybody separated even though it made no sense. and like... in s1 the separation worked bc nobody else knew that (x group) was experiencing weird shit too, and beyond that, each group (as i mentioned in the s1 section) was sort of operating within their own genre and bringing something unique to the season. they’ve stopped doing that though! now, the groups aren’t separate bc each plot is tonally/structurally different, the groups are just separate bc... they need to be, because it’s a big ensemble cast and you can’t just have them all be together for a whole season or it would be way too difficult to coordinate things and keep the show dynamic. all this is to say that i’m excited for s4 because the location differences make it so there’s a Reason for each plot to be separate at the beginning, and i think that’ll work better.

general ridiculousness

i dont mean like i think it’s bad that they made jokes this is just me lumping in all the dumb shit like hopper not worrying about el and not wanting to check on the kids, him and joyce bickering long after they both know they and their children are in danger, max seemingly forgetting that billy is a racist abuser, etc etc. i think many of these are just a symptom of the show 1. trying desperately to keep the groups split up a certain way even though it may not make any sense, and 2. trying to fit into a certain genre/trope mold when their actual characters are more complex than the tropes they’re imitating. this is so fucking long already i am not gonna elaborate further rn but i trust u all know what i mean.

soooo... yeah, that’s about all! i mean it’s not all there are definitely many more things i could talk about and i know i focused sorta disproportionately on the teens which is my bad :/ but i’m done for now. thank you for asking, and apologies for the delay in responding!! i’m sure some people reading (if anyone read this far) will disagree with some of what i’ve said and that’s alright like i’m not The Authority on st or anything i’m just trying to talk about like my own thoughts yknow? so yeah luv u all i hope someone enjoyed reading this!!

#asks #em talks #lesbianrobin.canon #stranger things #if u actually read all this i love u and im sorry #these r just my opinions!! and im sure i misremembered some shit my brain is swiss cheese #i did my best tho

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morganaspendragonss · 3 years

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holly's august extravaganza day 4: a friend in me

📍 anon - I don't know but I feel like Carlos and Nancy can have such an awesome best friend dynamic. Maybe something sad/scary regarding Nancy happens where she has to make a report at the precinct and Carlos doesn't tell anyone as she made him promise so he starts to just check on Nancy and they just develop this caring, supportive, beautiful, fun, full of banter friendship to the amusement of TK and the 126.

kept this separate from your original ask because i want to keep those other prompts you sent alongside this one for later 😊

ao3 | 2k | hurt/comfort, brief references to gun violence, mostly just carlos and nancy being besties

Carlos has never seen Nancy look so small.

She’s sitting hunched over in one of the interrogation rooms, shock blanket around her shoulders, hands seemingly moving of their own volition to tear the empty styrofoam cup in front of her to shreds. As soon as Carlos had seen her being escorted into the precinct, shaking like a leaf and clutching her coat like a lifeline, he’d persuaded the officer with her to let him take over the case. His association with the 126 is well known so the officer had been reluctant, but Carlos had managed to wear him down, saying that he doesn’t really know Nancy that well.

And it’s—it’s not exactly a full lie. Through their hangs and TK’s stories, he’s coming to see Nancy as a force of nature, a woman who will let nothing and no-one stand in her way, whether that’s out on the field or during a game of Monopoly. But of her personal life, Carlos knows next to nothing; she mentioned a sister a few weeks ago, and TK delights in teasing her about her growing crush on Marjan, but that’s about it.

He needs to make more of an effort, he decides. When they’re anywhere else but a police station.

Carlos knocks lightly on the door to announce his presence before entering the room, sending her what he hopes is a reassuring smile. Nancy visibly relaxes at the sight of him and she drops the remains of her cup, though Carlos doesn’t miss the continuing tremble to her hands.

“Hey Nancy,” he says, sliding into the seat opposite her. “How are you doing?”

Nancy’s lips twitch, the corners barely curving into the beginnings of a wry smile. She breathes out shakily, meeting Carlos’s eyes for the briefest second before staring back down at the table. “I’m not great,” she answers, and for her to admit to that… Well, Carlos suspects it’s not a regular occurrence.

He nods, reluctantly pulling out his notebook and pen, hesitating before flipping to the next blank page. Nancy tracks his movements, resignation clearly etched all over her features. Carlos glances at the two-way mirror—not that it does him any good—then reaches across the table to take Nancy’s hand.

“We don’t have to do this right now,” he murmurs. “If you need more time, just say the word and I’ll leave. Or if you’d prefer to talk to someone you don’t know, we can do that too. Anything you need.”

The sudden tightness of Nancy’s grip is unexpected, as is the flash of panic in her eyes.

“Please, don’t go,” she whispers. “I don’t—” She cuts herself off, shutting her eyes and breathing slowly for a few seconds. Slowly, her hold on Carlos begins to loosen until her hand is slack in his, then she draws both hands into her lap and straightens in her chair. When her eyes reopen, she seems more like the Nancy Carlos knows—strong, confident, assertive—though there’s still clearly an undercurrent of fear underneath it all.

“I’m fine. Let’s do this.”

Carlos bites back an are you sure and settles for clicking his pen, his smile unwavering. “Can you run me through what happened, exactly?” he asks. “Take your time.”

A second or two passes, then Nancy nods, her voice steady when she speaks. “I was restocking the bus at the end of shift. I was alone; Captain Vega was in her office and TK was with the others in the showers—he did try to help but he’d had to go into a fire on our last call to help a patient and the smell of smoke was giving me a headache, so I told him to go.”

Carlos pauses in his note-taking, mentally filing that last piece of information away for follow-up as soon as he sees his boyfriend again. Judging by the amused quirk to Nancy’s eyebrow, she’s fully aware of where his mind has gone, so Carlos clears his throat and motions for her to continue, forcing his thoughts back to the present.

“Like I said, I was alone. I didn’t mind it; it was kind of relaxing, you know? Then this guy appeared from nowhere and pointed a gun at me, saying if I called out or turned on the siren or anything, he’d shoot. I thought—” She inhales sharply, her knuckles going white on the tabletop and her jaw clenching tightly. Her voice sounds different when she next speaks, more controlled, as though forcing each word out. “I thought it was happening again. I thought he was going to take me somewhere, make me his personal pet paramedic, something like that.

“Turns out, he just wanted drugs. I gave him what we had on the rig and he seemed satisfied, so I figured he’d shoot me anyway ‘cause I’d seen his face, right? He didn’t—obviously—but it looked like he was considering it.” Nancy pauses and flicks her gaze up at Carlos, biting her lip. “I think he might have done it,” she admits quietly, “but he got spooked by one of the guys making noise so he just bolted. I’m not sure how long it was between that and TK coming back and finding me. I’m sorry.”

Carlos shakes his head. “It’s okay. We can check the cameras at the station. With luck, that should get us an ID, maybe a license plate if he drove. I think that’s almost everything; just one more question, if that’s okay. Can you tell me what you gave him exactly?”

Nancy nods. “Morphine, Ativan, tramadol… I’d have to check stocks for the exact amounts.”

“We’ll do that, don’t worry about it.” Carlos taps his pen on the pages before flipping his notebook shut and leaning across the table again. “Are you okay?” he asks softly. “Speaking as a friend and not a cop, if there’s anything you need, anything I can help with, let me know.”

She smiles wanly. “I’m okay. I just want to go home and forget all this ever happened.”

“Fair enough. I’ll walk you out to your car.”

Carlos half-expects her to brush him off, but she just nods and allows him to escort her back through the precinct and out to her car. He dithers awkwardly, shuffling his feet as Nancy turns to him, one hand on the door handle.

“Thank you, Carlos. For real. I have the feeling it wasn't a coincidence that you were the one in that room with me.”

The tips of Carlos’s ears go pink as he finds himself caught out. “That, uh… That would not be inaccurate.”

“Well, thanks.” She pulls open the car door and Carlos takes a step back, wanting to wait until she’s safely away to go back inside. Nancy ducks as if to get in, then pauses and straightens again, biting her lip as she looks back at him.

“Hey, Carlos?” she says. “Can you do me a favour and not tell the others? Not even TK. They— They know vaguely what happened, but I’d prefer it if the details and, uh, some of the other stuff I told you could be kept between us.”

He agrees immediately, just grateful that she trusts him enough to handle this for her. “No-one will know any more than they need to,” he promises, which seems to relieve her. She thanks him again, then gets in the car and drives away, Carlos watching after her with one hand raised in farewell.

It grows from there.

It’s not intentional exactly, but one text to check up on her soon turns into a steady stream of messages, stories and jokes and even the occasional meme passing back and forth between them. Carlos especially appreciated Nancy's carefully curated collection of dirt on TK, which, as a concerned boyfriend, it is his duty to know. Many a conversation has been spent griping about TK's accident prone ways or sighing over his latest mishap.

Lovingly, of course.

Nancy, 15.48: you’ll never guess what happened this time

Carlos, 16.22: ?

In answer, he receives a picture of a dejected-looking TK sprawled on the floor with Buttercup’s front paws squarely resting on his chest. Buttercup’s tongue is lolling out, a wide grin on his face, and in the background stand the rest of the crew. All of them also seem to have their phones pointed towards TK—probably the reason TK looks so down, as Carlos knows his boyfriend couldn’t be upset with Buttercup to save his life.

Nancy, 16.26: he thought he’d try to teach buttercup some tricks. turns out, dog trainers exist for a reason

Carlos has to stifle a laugh—technically, he is supposed to be working—but his attempt at being subtle is thwarted when his phone repeatedly pings with similar texts and photos from Paul, Marjan, and Mateo. He screenshots the sudden influx of notifications and sends it to Nancy before saving every single photo.

Nancy responds with a laughing emoji and a promise to keep him updated.

Not all of their conversations are about TK, naturally.

Carlos, 19.10: I don’t understand why you don’t just talk to her

Nancy, 19.12: i do talk to her. every shift, actually

Carlos, 19.13: Nancy

Nancy, 19.13: carlos

Nancy, 19.14: i don’t even know if she’s into women, alright? it’s not like i can just march up and ask, that’s like waving a banner saying ‘hey, i’m in love with you’ in her face

Carlos, 19.16: Oh, we’re talking about love now, are we?

Nancy, 19.17: can it, reyes

Carlos, 19.20: Noted. Look, take it from someone who’s been navigating gay relationships in Texas his whole life. Sometimes you just have to go for it. Ask her for coffee, test the waters, see where it leads. You never know, it might work out. I mean, look at me

Nancy, 19.24: wow, way to rub your happiness in my face 😑

(Carlos doesn’t find out if she follows his advice, but he does notice her and Marjan showing up to their hangs together)

(Nancy does not appreciate his smugness)

Without even realising, they become a formidable team. This fact is highlighted one game night about three months after the incident, when Nancy and Marjan blow into his and TK’s house, a determined glint in both their eyes.

“We’re switching up the teams,” Marjan declares, much to TK’s outrage.

“What? Why?”

“Because,” Nancy continues, “we’re tired of losing to you guys. You’re like, freakishly good at board games and it’s not fair. Plus, we have to watch you both being all lovey all the time when you’re on the same team and it’s exhausting. We want to see you being competitive for once.”

TK pouts, but Carlos just shrugs when he looks to him for backup. “It’ll be fun,” he says, smiling at Nancy and Marjan. TK still looks put out, so he leans in close and half-murmurs, “C’mon babe. How about a prize for the winner?”

TK perks up considerably at the suggestion, and, going by the twin looks of despair on Nancy and Marjan’s faces, they caught both the comment and the innuendo. Marjan groans and Nancy raises her eyes skyward, as if pleading for divine intervention.

“This was a great idea, actually,” TK says, grinning. He quirks an eyebrow at Nancy. “You and me, Nance?”

That seems to shake Nancy out of her silent prayers for strength. “Uh, no. I’m with Carlos.” To emphasise the point, she strides forward and grabs Carlos’s arm, dragging him to the couch. He nudges her gently when they sit, smirking at the disgruntled way she digs into the snack bowl.

“You did say you wanted to see us being competitive.”

“Shut up.”

In the end, TK ends up paired with Mateo, and Marjan with Paul. It’s clear from the outset who’s going to win—Nancy and Carlos dominate the board, and not even Paul’s master strategy is enough to catch up with them.

They win by a comfortable margin, fist-bumping in celebration. There’s a general air of bemusement in the room, and when Carlos looks round at the others, he finds four pairs of eyes fixed on them.

“What?”

“Since when have you two been such a good team?” Paul asks, leaning back in his chair and raising an eyebrow.

Carlos shrugs, sharing a smile with Nancy. “Guess we just are.”

#911 lone star #911 lone star fic #carlos reyes #nancy gillian #marjan marwani #tk strand #tarlos #lone star #911ls #holly's august extravaganza #fanfiction #my fanfiction #writing #my writing #📍 anon

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massivechaoticenergy · 5 years

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steve harrington is the best developed character on stranger things and no other character can top him and here’s why.

SPOILER WARNING BABY!! stranger things season 3 is discussed.

this is gonna be pretty long because i am emotional and love steve.

season one: we are introduced to this cocky, typical, upperclassmen high school popular douche bag, steve “the hair” harrington. he is rude and has a big ego. he only cares about himself, and this is shown when he doesn’t want nancy to tell the police about barb. he is worried that he’ll get in trouble for drinking. he is rude to jonathan even though he hasn’t done anything to him, egged on by his friends. nancy is the one who goes up to jonathan and comforts him in a way. steve and his douche bag friends don’t get why she’d do that. later, when steve sees jonathan in the same room as nancy, her bedroom, he calls nancy a slut and gets into a fight with jonathan, getting pretty beat up. this is where we see a change: after the fight.

he thinks about all the shit he’s done (crushing jonathan’s camera, making jokes about him being behind will’s disappearance) and realizes it’s kinda fucked up he did that. he gets in a fight with his friends and calls them out for being bad people. he knows that nancy isn’t a bad person and that jonathan didn’t kill his brother. he goes back to erase the paint off the movie theater because nancy made him happy. it is here he realizes all he really wants is happiness, to be happy. how can he be happy knowing he and the rest of his friends are bad people? he can’t because he is starting to realize he wants more than that. he wants to be a good person, like nancy and jonathan, because that makes him happy, nancy makes him happy. so he goes over and tried to smooth things out with both of them, figures out there’s some kind of monster attacking and leaves. except, he doesn’t. we all expected steve to leave because that’s what we knew his character to do and that’s how his character was set up. so, when he doesn’t leave and swings the bat, helps them beat up the demogorgan, his character takes a shift. this shows how steve, fueled by his desire to be with nancy, changes. now let’s talk about his desire to be with nancy. he associates her with happiness and, as said before, his character truly wants to be happy. and so the season ends with them being together.

his character becomes much more like able and he has a higher chance of this arc changing for the better. which brings us to...

season two: we start this season with steve and nancy being together; going to barbs house and having dinner with her parents. nancy still feels terrible about the whole situation. we transition to their breakup, at the party. nancy calls everything bullshit and we can see steve break. he goes to the wheelers house to patch it up, even though he technically wasn’t in the wrong. he wants to still be with nancy because he wants happiness and he associates it with nancy or being in a relationship.

yet, he doesn’t find nancy but instead finds dustin. this starts their unexpected iconic duo relationship. he talks with dustin about girls after dustin tells him about max and lucas. here we see that steve still loves nancy, even though she kinda ruined their romantic relationship and called it bullshit. he wants to be happy. this is where his arc starts to become what it is today. when he’s with dustin and the other kids, acting like a stressed out father, he realizes he’s kinda happy with them. he bonds with dustin, takes him under his wing. we see him truly realize this at the byer house, when he and nancy are searching the pile for something useful, with the line “it turns out i’m a pretty good babysitter”. he tells nancy it’s okay, they’re okay and can be friends, she can go off and date jonathan. it is here where steve is also shown to truly care and be willing to sacrifice himself for others. he fights billy because he’s threatening to hurt one of his kids. he goes outside of the bus to fight the demodogs because they have the chance of hurting the kids. he truly cares about them. everything gets pulled together at the end of the season, with the scene with dustin and steve outside the snowball.

this scene also shows steve looking on at nancy, which shows that his character still has a lot to go; his arc isn’t completed yet. which brings us to...

season three: here is where steve’s arc becomes even more beautiful and rich. he still has that same father relationship with the kids, including el (“are you even allowed to be here?” that’s iconic, kids) who he didn’t really know about until season two (i believe, i’m not sure). however, we are introduced to a new character: robin. steve and her have a very banter-filled and funny relationship. steve spends most of his time at scoops ahoy trying to get girls than working and robin pokes fun at that. it’s a joke between them. she’ll poke fun at his relationship with the kids, showing how dad he truly is to them.

continuing with the whole “spends most of his time at scoops ahoy trying to get girls than working”, he still associates relationships with happiness. while he has moved on from nancy and knows he doesn’t really love her anymore, he still views being in a relationship as the key to being happy. his whole relationship with robin showcases this. when he confesses his feelings and she tells him that she really likes him but she likes girls, he (like the amazing ally he is) doesn’t storm out and he doesn’t beat her up as most people in the 80s would if they found out anyone was homosexual, he makes a joke about her taste in women and they immediately return to their normal banter-filled relationship. also with this relationship with robin, we get a call back to how much of a douche steve was in high school. robin tells him this story of how she sat behind him during a class for a whole year and he doesn’t even remember her. it shows how far his character has gone. he recognizes that he was rude and a bad person and shows remorse for his actions. during this season is when steve realizes that he doesn’t need a girlfriend to make him happy. he has fun with dustin, the kids, and robin. he has this group of friends that make him happy and support him and love him. he has a lesbian best friend that supports him just as he supports her. steve ends the season trying to get another job after the mall is destroyed by the flayed with robin. he’s happy, truly happy and surrounded by friends.

he ends the season with the knowledge that he can be happy without a girl and that his friends are always gonna be there for him.

in short, steve went from being an asshole who only cared about himself to caring and supporting single father of six (seven including erica) with a lesbian best friend.

and that is why steve will forever be my favorite stranger things character and one of the best characters on the show.

#stranger things #stranger things 3 #steve harrington #dustin henderson #max mayfield #lucus sinclair #will byers #jane hopper #eleven #el hopper #mike wheeler #i love steve so much #he is my baby #duffers dont hurt him #or i will F I G H T #also i love robin <3 #erica sinclair #an icon #sara loves steve tag

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canvaswolfdoll · 6 years

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CanvasWatches: Stranger Things

I am super late to the Stranger Things… thing, and it took the premier of the second season and an unexpected stretch of free time to finally sit down and watch it. Even then, it took me a couple extra weeks.

I’ve been a critic of Netflix’s binge-focused release format. Not because I don’t enjoy a good binge watch from time to time, but because I like the freedom to choose when I take a break. When bingeing a show formatted for segmented release, each episode tends to be written in such a way as to let the audience comfortably wait a week, either because the narrative is one and done, or by carefully pacing the series to allow it to hold up with a time gap between episodes.

Also, everyone was raving about Stranger Things, which induced some hype poisoning, and I was born after the 80s died, so I don’t really have any nostalgia for the era. Besides Back to the Future and Ghostbusters, I never really watched much 80s media.

Plus everyone was so excited by how the show featured D&D. There are very few D&D-centered episodes that I like, as such depictions always fall short of my expectations.[1]

Besides one groan worthy aspect in season 2[2], I was actually pleasantly surprised by how the show handled the subject: by making it a casual part of the kids’ lives. Season One opens with a game, and closes with a game, and it’s sometimes used to color dialogue, but it’s never in focus, which is good. Hobbies should color characters, not define them.

The actual plot of season 1 was well written, and uses the only plausible excuse for characters not telling each other vital information: by segmenting the plot between three groups that have no reason to interact until the plot threads run together.

Sure, Chief Hopper maybe should’ve been keeping Joyce appraised a little more often, but he was also busy, so I can give that a pass.

Oddly, beside Eleven, I didn’t actually care about the Kids’ plotline. They’re well cast, don’t get me wrong, but the argument over what to do once El enters their lives just runs in circles until the other two plotlines convene, and I just wasn’t particularly invested in them.

And the teens are likewise dull until Nancy and Jon start proactively hunting the eldritch horror. And even then, it’s plagued by gross High School Romance drama. I don’t care who Nancy starts dating, I want to know what’s up with the supernatural weirdness and the effects that has on people.

Which, of course, leaves Hopper and Joyce to be the ones to pull me through. Also Eleven’s flashbacks. You know, the parts showcasing and developing the things that are strange.

The first season is, mercifully, a rare example of a well-executed secrets plot. The mystery’s set off by Will’s disappearance, a strong inciting incident that gets three different casts going down three different plotlines until convening at the end.

Because of the nature of who the characters are and the methods they use to accomplish their goals, they’re kept separate not because of tedious secrets kept to ‘protect’ others, but because they just don’t have any reason to interact.

Hopper and Joyce’s efforts to find Will lead to the Government Conspiracy, and they are unaware of Eleven’s existence for most of it. Eleven is (rightfully) afraid of the Energy Research place, and doesn’t trust adults because of it, making it reasonable the kids wouldn’t know. The teens (once they get past the dumb romance drama) are trying to find Barb, who no one else cares is missing.

The moment the three groups learn they’ve been pursuing different sides of the same puzzle, they work together and share information without fuss. Then they split again when their goals lead in different directions. Hopper and Joyce don’t want to put the kids in danger when they go to confront the big bad; the kids continue to protect Eleven; the teens seek revenge on the demogorgon.

And all three contribute to the resolution.

Then the second season opens, and Hopper, who I loved for being a reasonable protagonist, betrays my trust. Eleven’s hurting being separated from her friends and her friends are hurting not knowing her fate.

A problem easily solved if Hopper just told Mike “Hey, Eleven’s with me, she’s safe, but I’m keeping her out of the public eye. I’ll try to arrange some visits, but they can’t be frequent. Here’s a morse code info card, and a frequency. Don’t keep each other up too late, and don’t tell anyone who hasn’t already met her.”

There, Eleven’s got some social stimulation, no one’s pining, and everyone knows where things stand.

They all worked together for season one’s finale. Hopper’s actions are inexcusable.

Hopper went from my favorite character to one of the most annoying.

As a whole, the first season felt much more tightly written than the second. The first balanced the eldritch horror and psychic powers sufficiently well.

The second advanced and built upon the Upside Down in exciting ways, including a giant central intelligence to the whole place. Confirmation that, instead of just a decaying world to mirror our own, the entire place is a single malevolent entity, represented by an enormous, alien being. I love what is being done with the Upside Down.

Then there’s ‘The Lost Sister’. Which is… the episode literally doesn’t fit. Eleven leaves, seeking her mother. Okay, good development. This leads to some new exposition of what Eleven’s young life was like. That’s good! Slowly exploring that works for the show! Introducing another test subject in the form of ‘8’. Logical, since Eleven is, well, number Eleven.

Elle/Jane goes looking for this mystery girl. That’s where the show goes off the rails. Not that Eleven searching for others like her isn’t a fair plotline, but it literally takes the show away from Hawkins and all the endearing characters we’ve met.

It’s a filler episode, and it turns Eleven from ‘Oddity with connection to the Eldritch’ to ‘Blossoming superhero’ which… Stranger Things wasn’t a superhero show. It’s a mystery and thriller. It’s an episode so divorced from the other eight episodes, you can literally skip it and lose nothing.

Kali’s gang has no redeeming features. They’re criminals and murderers, plain and simple. Elle finds them, establishes a connection with Kali, and then it’s just a ‘Good Character is lead down a dark path before leaving’ plot. It adds nothing.

And Kali has a different power set from Eleven, deepening the Superhero aspect where each mutant has a different power. If, instead, Kali had the same (but weaker) Psionic powers I might take her inclusion better.

But, worse still, none of it has anything to do with the rest of the plot, even when it would’ve been easy to integrate, though that probably would require more time.

Kali’s gang, as mentioned, are bad people. Send them rocking into Hawkins in search of a place to lie low while the heat dies off, maybe induct Billy Hargrove… maybe they could find a space.

Actually, no, nevermind. They’d still be a distraction. It’s a series that works on the strength of it’s dynamic characters. Suddenly hamfisting in Kali and company would strain that.

In fact, I’m not sure searching out numbers 1 through 10 (maybe 12) will ever work, because that would imply a road trip season, which would suck because we’d see less Hawkins in favor of Scooby-Doo’ing up the series.

So keep the fates of the previous ten test subjects a mystery. They were experiments that failed. And considering how much hullabaloo Eleven’s escape caused in the first season, Eight getting away without any remark until now is ridiculous.

It… just doesn’t work. It’s too Kyle XY.

So, let’s take some metaphorical scissors, snip after episode 206, and before 208, remove the middle episode, and drop it out a window. It’s gone, hopefully never to return to hurt us.

Keeping Eleven separated from the rest of the cast for most of the season is the greatest sin of the second season.

Having strong characterization can only go so far if you limit who characters interact with. Segmenting the cast by age groups in the first season was fine as we were meeting the characters, so we need to learn about them in their preferred environment and when normality is interrupted. They come together at the end and cooperate to save the day, an experience shared by all. Mike and Nancy even have a heart-to-heart about how they won’t keep secrets from another. Real touching stuff.

For the second season, besides needing to flesh out the now present Will, we know the cast. So the fun should come from now intermingling the cast. Have Nancy consult Mike about getting hashtag Justice for Barb; Jonathan and Steve becoming romantic mentors to Lucas and Dustin;[3] Hopper becoming an unwilling paternal figure to the party; and show Eleven adjusting to the Real World.

Instead, Eleven only interacts with Hopper all season, and, yes, Daddy Hopper is adorable, though he should maybe try and remember he’s caring for a socially stunted psychic before he starts yelling. Maybe have him start yelling, Eleven gets mad, one bookshelf falls over, both stop to look at this reaction, then Hopper runs both of them through the deep breathing exercise from the end of Season One before talking it through.

Eleven and Hopper’s arc should’ve been about learning to trust in a scary world, instead of… whatever they were going for. And giving her limited interaction with her friends would’ve allowed for this growth, as the party would first have to coax her out of the cottage, and then she’d have firmer ground to question Hopper keeping her cooped up.

And I so love fish out of water stories. Learning what money is and asking Hopper for an allowance? Stumbling about and learning not to assault people who offend her?[4] Being the first kid to form a bond with Bob? All would’ve been nice to watch happen.

Also, Bob was… okay. He didn’t leave much of an impression on me for a generically nice man. They should’ve worked the ‘Bob founded the AV Club’ thing in way sooner, so it wasn’t an awkward line shoved in after his death to retcon in stakes for The Party. It was awkward.

Also, no one else wearing costumes is the least realistic thing. After my 13 years of public school, I know that would never happen.

It’s not all bad, let’s be clear. Upping the threat of the Upside Down and giving it a central intelligence was good, as was expanding on the Demogorgon lifecycle to bring in a nice Alien touch. The tunnels made the threat feel more immediate, and explained the pockets of Upside Down that broke out in season 1. Max is… promising. Hopefully she’ll get more of a concrete arc going forward, but she’s got a good start.

So, in summation, I liked Season 1, and 2 was as enjoyable with a few missteps that hopefully won’t be forced back in. My one fear is that they’re going to put the Mind Flayer on the back burner and spend the next season on the less interesting ‘Other Test Subjects’ plotline. We’re heading towards the end of the Superhero Media boom, while I can’t think of many properties that focus on themes of eldritch and inhuman intelligences that the Mind Flayer and Upside Down presents.

Still, when Stranger Things 3 arrives, I’ll watch as eagerly as anyone else.

If you enjoyed this review, may I suggest to trawl through my archive to see if you enjoy my other works? (The CanvasReviews tag should give you a good start). Also, feel free to send me messages and question. I also have a Patreon, if that’s your sort of thing.

Kataal kataal.

[1] Yes, even Community’s much beloved take. There was no passion in it and it was weighed down by the ‘One Character for all games’ and ‘Dice results dictate everything’ concepts that makes zero sense. [2] How can you forget about Rogues, you idiots? It’s literally the best class! [3] I will go on record: if you sit me through a tired love triangle, but follow it up by having two corners advise on a new love triangle, I will be on board for that absurdity. [4] For context, my ideal ending of the the show is the town just transitions into casually accepting that, sometimes, eldritch horrors pop up, and just deal with them casually.

#CanvasWatches #stranger things #CanvasReviews

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cinema-tv-etc · 7 years

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25 Reasons 'The Good Wife' Had the Best Guest Cast Ever

Mandi Bierly - Deputy Editor, Yahoo TV Yahoo TV Staff May 4, 2016

When The Good Wife ends its seven-season run on May 8, the CBS drama will be remembered for many things: the empowering evolution of Alicia (Julianna Margulies), the continuous delight that was watching Christine Baranski in a role that has earned her an Emmy nomination for every season to date, and some of TV’s best writing. Of course it’s that last one that is truly responsible for the show being revered for its great guest stars. But here are 25 more reasons why that roster is the best ever.

The Good Wife series finale airs May 8 at 9 p.m. on CBS.

1. The writers knew that when you have a great character, you keep him (or her) in your world.

Dylan Baker has earned three Emmy nominations for playing Colin Sweeney, an accused wife killer who first appeared in Season 1′s thirteenth episode, “Bad,” and returned often enough to be dubbed Alicia’s creepiest client (“I like you, Mrs. Florrick,” he once told her. “You feed my Mary Poppins obsession”). When the audience knows a recurring character well enough to find a cutaway shot to him scowling in a courtroom funny, you’ve done your job. (Credit: John Paul Filo/CBS)

2. They created a role worthy of Michael J. Fox.

How do you make opposing lawyers quickly feel like three-dimensional characters? You have them exploit whatever they can about themselves in the courtroom. For Fox’s Louis Canning, that’s his illness (cue the eyeroll from Alicia). Over the years, as Fox has earned four Emmy nominations for the role he first played in Season 2, we’ve seen many sides of Canning (and even his alleged deathbed). But like all great recurring characters, he continues to bring out the best — and worst — in Alicia, including that awesome fake cry Julianna Margulies performed in the series’ penultimate episode when Alicia imagined what Canning expected to see when he told her Peter was accused of having a longtime affair. (Credit: Michael Parmelee/CBS)

3. They acknowledged that judges have personalities and personal views — and how they remain fair (unless they’re being bribed or just want to move their day along, of course).

On most shows that take us inside the courtroom, you don’t even know the judge’s name, let alone that she prefers you always use the phrase “in my opinion” (Ana Gasteyer’s Judge Patrice Lessner) or his position on gun control (Denis O’Hare’s Charles Abernathy). Because they’re truly characters, we can find them punishing the lawyers either amusing (David Paymer’s Judge Richard Cuesta keeping score in Peter’s current trial) or infuriating (pretty much every interaction Christopher McDonald’s Judge Don Schakowsky has ever had with Alicia). (Credit: Craig Blankenhorn/CBS)

4. They recognized another truth: Just because you have young kids doesn’t mean you’re soft.

It turns out you can still be fierce (Martha Plimpton’s Emmy-winning role, attorney Patti Nyholm) and extremely competent (Tim Guinee’s Mr. Mom investigator, Wiley) even when you have to bring your baby to an emergency hearing or take a call from the State’s Attorney through a talking lion toy. (Credit: John Paul Filo/CBS)

5. They weren’t afraid to go quirky. Like really, really quirky.

You can also be as eccentric as attorney Elsbeth Tascioni (Emmy winner Carrie Preston) and extremely respected. She carries ridiculously large bags and has made some ridiculous entrances, but her brilliance is never questioned (even after she’s busted singing along to “Call My Maybe” while falling for Kyle MacLachlan’s Josh Perotti). (Credit: Jeff Neumann/CBS)

6. They wouldn’t let you judge a book by its cover.

Nancy Crozier (Mamie Gummer) was one of Alicia’s greatest adversaries. Young, bright, and deceptively naive, she was actually a cobra whose bite made even the audience sit up a little higher in their chairs.

7. They knew a face you would want to slap — but wouldn’t want to stop watching.

State’s Attorney Glenn Childs (Titus Welliver) was the original foe we loved to hate. His legacy has lived on, though, in that office, in the high-ranking members of the Democratic party who’ve screwed Alicia and Diane, and most recently, in AUSA Connor Fox (Matthew Morrison), who’s taking the last crack at Peter.

8. They knew opposites attract.

Christine Baranski’s Diane didn’t need a man in her life to be a great character, but we’re sure glad she found Kurt McVeigh, Gary Cole’s ballistics expert. Their flirtatious cross-aisle verbal sparring grew into a still passionate relationship befitting a man who’s willing to sacrifice his most valuable commodity — his word — for the love of his life, and a woman who means it when she vows to make him happy every day of his life if he’ll forgive her. If we were told only one romance could survive the finale — Diane’s or Alicia’s — we’d pick this one.

9. They knew people with opposing views could be civil.

It was fascinating to see R.D. (Oliver Platt), an approachable and politically conservative businessman who loved a civilized argument with a worthy opponent, in scenes with Diane. He respected her, and used her as the devil’s advocate — eventually making her question whether his retainer was worth the sale of her soul.

10. They knew how to keep us guessing.

Were we supposed to like David Hyde Pierce’s Frank Prady, a political commentator-turned-State’s Attorney candidate who insisted to opponent Alicia that he wanted to run a campaign? We wanted to trust him (he’s played by David Hyde Pierce after all), but in the world of ‘Good Wife’ politics, you could never be sure.

11. They knew how to make feminists think.

Caitlin (Anna Camp) was a promising young lawyer who wanted to leave her burgeoning career to focus on her fiancée and their planned family. For some viewers, that’s as divisive a decision as Alicia standing by Peter at the start of the series. Alicia tried to talk Caitlin out of it — you can have it all — but Caitlin said she wasn’t sacrificing anything; she was choosing what she wanted. Her generation has nothing to prove, Caitlin said. Of course, years later we learned that Caitlin is now a single mom, back at work, and wondering if she ever should have left. Is the moral that nothing can guarantee a happily ever after, or that she’ll be fine, just like Alicia was?

12. They introduced us to Mike Colter.

Though he came to the show with credits, it’s his portrayal of the stoic, imposing Lemond Bishop that was Colter’s big break. “Mike Colter is such an amazing actor, and everybody’s catching on now and stealing him from us, which we take as a personal affront,” ‘Good Wife’ co-creator Robert King joked to Yahoo TV last year. (Colter’s ‘Jessica Jones’ character, Luke Cage, get his own Marvel series debuting Sept. 30 on Netflix.) “While this guy can play the very grim drug kingpin, it’s always fun to see how there’s a real human side underneath that because he’s a dad. Being a dad myself, I shovel some of my issues into [Bishop]. It’s just like you got a guy who’s split right down the middle. And obviously, Kalinda’s got front row seats for that.”

13. They made us wish Matthew Perry could have stuck around.

The actor’s slap-me dry delivery was way more palatable as Mike Kresteva, Peter’s political rival, than it is as Oscar on The Odd Couple. Damn you, Go On!

14. They took advantage of filming in NYC.

New York is not just the home of Law & Order franchise guest stars, it’s the home of Broadway stars, and many have had memorable turns on The Good Wife, including Renée Elise Goldsberry (ASA Geneva Pine), who just received a Tony nomination for her role in Hamilton, and Laura Benanti (Sweeney’s latest wife, Renata), who just earned her fifth career Tony nomination for She Loves Me.

15. They wrote sexy, accomplished women over 40.

On a show with Alicia and Diane, you’d expect nothing less, but let’s appreciate the juicy roles for women such as Rita Wilson (Diane’s old attorney friend Viola Walsh) and Vanessa Williams (the businesswoman/donor who broke Eli’s heart).

16. They built a believable family.

We all know where Alicia gets her love of wine — from her mother, Veronica (Stockard Channing) — and why she turned out okay (she had her brother, Owen, played by Dallas Roberts, to commiserate with). It was nice to see them return recently when, for at least a moment, there was a lightness to Alicia that matched theirs.

17. They gave us a millennial we didn’t hate!

Another welcome return: Eli’s daughter, Marissa, who is the only person we like to see outwit Eli and is second only to Gary on ‘Veep’ when it comes to our favorite body man (or woman). We still wish she was working for Alicia.

18. They always found new and different foils for Eli (Alan Cumming).

Eli was always at his best when he was maneuvering against someone. It didn’t matter whether it was a savvy teen mean girl (Dreama Walker’s wicked Becca), Peter’s manipulative mother (Mary Beth Peil’s delicious Jackie Florrick), or a more accomplished peer (Margo Martindale’s imposing Ruth Eastman).

19. They made us fall in love again.

After the shocking death of Will Gardner (Josh Charles), much of the audience, like Alicia, felt hollow. But Matthew Goode’s Finn Polmar, the ASA who’d been opposite Will when he was shot dead in court, filled us up again with a simmering promise of sexual tension. Even though Goode was ultimately billed as a series regular, you sensed he was just passing through (on his way to Downton Abbey). He left because he knew he couldn’t work closely with Alicia and not have things get “sloppy” between them. He left us wanting more (i.e. Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Jason).

20. They weren’t ageist, really.

Could it be the series’ happiest ending is reserved for Jackie and nap-loving firm relic Howard Lyman (Jerry Adler)?

21. They went with the unexpected.

Who wasn’t surprised to see Linda Lavin as Joy Grubick, Cary’s pretrial services officer? She was by the book, but even when she wouldn’t cut him a break for going half a mile over the state line, there was something calming in her slow-talking voice that made it difficult to get angry with her.

22. They warmed our hearts.

Clarke Hayden (played by Nathan Lane, who was nominated for an Emmy for his guest turn) was a court-appointed trustee whose job was to trim the fat at Lockhart/Gardner. He eventually grew close to Cary (Matt Czuchry) — who, in the backstory Lane created for the character in his own mind, reminded Clarke of his son who’d died of an overdose — and got to put David Lee (Zach Grenier) in his place. With the rat race tearing so many characters down, it’s nice to see the firm build someone up.

23. They created their own version of Snowden.

Some people loved the NSA story arc, some people thought it dragged on a bit too long, but everyone can agree how fun it was to see Silicon Valley’s Zach Woods recur as Jeff Dellinger. And let’s not forget about his former cubemates, led by Ugly Betty’s Michael Urie.

24. They even knew how to cast the right dog.

Just when you thought you’d seen every quirk on ‘The Good Wife,’ we were introduced to Elsbeth’s ex-husband, Mike Tascioni (Will Patton), who shares custody of their absurdly chill Chihuahua mix (played by a one-and-a-half-year-old rescue dog named Louie). “We’ve been interested in the idea of emotional support dogs, and it made sense to us, as we built the Mike character, that he might benefit from one,” ‘Good Wife’ executive producer Craig Turk told Yahoo TV. “Then it felt like high-strung Elsbeth might benefit, too. And if you begin to imagine what the dog in that situation would feel like… you get Tom. I named him Tom because, when writing the Mike character for the first time, I described him as hero-worshipping Atticus Finch — so, the ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ connection.”

25. And finally, on the rare occasion they made a misstep, the role (read: Kalinda’s ex) was cast with someone who’d make it easy to forget.

Sorry, Marc Warren.

https://www.yahoo.com/tv/25-reasons-good-wife-had-223854699/photo-5-they-weren-t-afraid-to-1462401610717.html

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carasueachterberg · 5 years

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Every evening when I sit down to post in this diary, I think—nothing really happened. (except on Wednesday – that was a little too exciting) And yet, when I look through the day’s pictures and start to write, there’s always something to tell.

That’s probably true of all of our lives, not just one rescue dog. So much happens every day that we take for granted and should instead be awed by in gratefulness, but I suppose it’s human nature to think it has to be exciting/tragic/titillating for it to be worthy of writing or reading about. Daisy is teaching me to slow down and appreciate the moments.

This week was made up of a lot of little moments, but her world stretched and she gave me lots of clues to her history and maybe a few that will help to unlock her heart.

I appreciate any help you can give in sharing her story. I really believe it simply she needs to reach the right heart—someone who will recognize her as family and choose to adopt her. Daisy has so much love to give and every day I see more of her huge loving, funny personality.

If you’d like to read her story in real time, you can follow along on Facebook at Cara Sue Achterberg, writer.

Here are this week’s entries:

Diary of a Rescue Day 29:

This is gonna be super quick because I’m late for bookclub and I’ve had a crazy busy day involving a horse dentist, vet, and an unexpected drive to my oldest son’s college (and back).

So, obviously, I didn’t see Daisy much, but this morning I caught some pictures of her with her fork. For some reason, unknown to me, she loves this fork. I don’t even know how she got it in the first place, but she likes to keep it close by – in her crate or on the dog bed.

Every time I see her carrying it I am never quick enough with the camera, but this morning Ian was in the room and she carried and carried it as if she didn’t trust him not to take it if she put it down, so I got these pictures.

There really is a silly, mischievous dog hidden in there under all that fear.

#funnypup #anothergooddog

Diary of a Rescue Day 30:

Once again I didn’t see much of Daisy today. We had a little time this morning. She spent the better part of the day back in the puppy room since Nick and I were in New Jersey to see Addie perform in a show at Rowan.

The puppy room was the best place for her since my oldest, Brady, is home on spring break and there have been plenty of extra young adults at our house. I don’t know if all the extra activity is making her anxious but since her fork is still in the kitchen, she’s taken to carrying around a stuffed football. Guess it’s her security football.

#peoplearescary #footballshelp #togetherwerescue #anothergooddog

Diary of a Rescue Day 31:

It’s been an amazing Daisy day! She spent most of the morning walking laps in the kitchen with her football. She reminds me of the old polar bear at the Baltimore Zoo who used to walk/swim the same pattern over and over. You could stand there for hours (and we did because one of my kids was so amazed by it and was sure if watched long enough he would break his pattern); he followed the same route over and over for days, weeks, years.

Daisy’s pattern is in and out of the crate, then around the kitchen island, then in/out crate, around the island, ad nauseum all the while clutching the football in her mouth and emitting an occasional whine. I made applesauce and then banana bread to keep her company and then I couldn’t stand watching it anymore so I convinced Nick to bring Frankie and go for a walk with us.

Once we left the drive (a first for her), she lit up. Running and sniffing and even trying to reach Nick and Frankie. By the time we got home, they were walking side by side! I saw more tail wagging and happy energy than I’ve ever seen from her. I’m very encouraged. Clearly, she is happier outside and loves going on a real walk. We’ll do lots more of that this week if weather allows and this blasted snow finally goes away.

She’s back in kitchen pacing at the moment, but at least I know how to make her happy and I’m hopeful she and Frankie will eventually be friends. I think the new pacing is just anxiety over the addition of Brady (and his people).

#peoplearestillscary but #theoutsideworld is exciting!

Diary of a Rescue Day 32:

Confessing right up front that these pictures are a day old. I was busy/distracted today by all the activity at my house- new foster dog, college kid home (with friends), a lot of writing to do, needy horses, sick kid, so I never managed to take a single picture of Daisy. But! She had a good day.

Another OPH family member, Ronni, came by to drop off a donated bag of my favorite brand of dog food and stayed to take a walk with me. She walked Gracie and I walked Daisy. Once again, Daisy was happy and brave – walking beside Gracie (who miraculously ignored her!) and scampering playfully or walking happily. Not an ill word was spoken. (Which is saying something since Gracie is usually a bit of a bully).

The pictures are from Daisy’s walk yesterday with Frankie, plus a couple of her with her football which she has carried around most of today. But you can substitute Gracie for Frankie and it was exactly the same.

This pup will be such a fun, sweet, loving dog for a lucky adopter. Now we just need to find that adopter!

#choosetoadopt #anothergooddog

Diary of a Rescue Day 33:

Other than the fact that she carries the football everywhere with her now, Daisy is becoming more and more like a regular dog. Tanis came over and we walked Frankie and Daisy (who carried her football the entire 2 miles) up the road and back. Neither of us thought to grab a picture, that’s how ‘normal’ she’s becoming.

Daisy’s looking so much healthier and is really a good weight now. She remains petrified of the guys and we are just accepting that for what it is. With me, she is incredibly loving and affectionate and I have no doubt that she is ready to share that love with an adopter – it will need to be a female adopter. Maybe this thing with men will just take time. Her fears are firmly entrenched but hopefully not immovable. After all, she is always initially frightened of new women and it takes her time to warm up, but she does.

I’m very curious to see how she reacts to children, but haven’t had a chance to find out. I need some young kids who can move slowly to test her out on. I have a feeling that she might trust children.

We have a new foster dog in the house, but so far Daisy has ignored him when he walks by, as she does both Gracie and Frankie.

Happy to report it’s really been an uneventful day at this foster house.

#easydoesit #daybyday #togetherwerescue #anothergooddog

Diary of a Rescue Day 34:

A pretty big day for Daisy- she made a new friend! Molly patiently sat on the floor with me for a good hour and Daisy circled and circled with the football in her mouth getting closer and closer to Molly.

Finally, she got brave and reached out to take a treat from Molly. That was the beginning. After that, there were kisses and pets and more treats. She showed her playful and affectionate side, which is something only I ever witness. There is hope for this dog!

We had a bad moment shortly after which resulted in me ending up with a banged knee when I dove to separate Daisy and Frankie who got in a scuffle. The last time they tangled, it was my fault because I intentionally let Frankie in to meet Daisy, but this time it was Frankie’s fault because he barged past me at the gate in his hurry to greet my friend Gina, who had just arrived to help walk dogs. He didn’t even see Daisy who was saying her goodbyes to Molly.

Daisy is fiercely defensive when it comes to other dogs and I think that trait may be as entrenched as her fear of men.

Frankie is fine, just chastened, and I am pumped up on ibuprofen, hoping the pain and swelling are temporary. (I was able to walk dogs so I’m probably just being a baby.)

Never a dull moment here at this crazy dog house.

#dontbesopushy #newfriendsaregood #togetherwerescue #anothergoodog

Diary of a Rescue Day 35:

Thankfully Nancy stopped by today and did a little photo shoot with Daisy so I’ll have some MUCH better pictures to post once I figure out how to see and download them without upgrading my Dropbox (I tried opening a new Dropbox with a different email but they were on to me…).

Daisy had a quiet day, but she needed one after the excitement of yesterday. My friend Linda is visiting and making slow steady progress in winning Daisy over, and hopefully we can get her out for a hike tomorrow.

Daisy did great at the photo shoot- racing around in a circle because she was happy to be outside with me, chasing a ball (slowly), gnawing on a stick, and startling at the chickens. Can’t wait to see the results!

My bad pictures do show you how much weight she’s gained. (And her messy room)

#justwait #modeldog #togetherwerescue #anothergooddog

Thanks for reading!

If you’d like to know more about my blogs and books, visit CaraWrites.com or subscribe to my monthly e-newsletter (which is rarely monthly, but I’m working at it…everybody needs a goal).

If you’d like to know more about the book, Another Good Dog: One Family and Fifty Foster Dogs, visit AnotherGoodDog.org, where you can find more pictures of the dogs from the book (and some of their happily-ever-after stories), information on fostering, the schedule of signings, and what you can do right now to help shelter animals! You can also purchase a signed copy or several other items whose profits benefit shelter dogs!

If you’d like to know how you can volunteer, foster, adopt or donate with OPH, click here. And if you’d like more pictures and videos of my foster dogs past and present, be sure to join the Another Good Dog Facebook group.

One last thing! I will be leading a group of eight volunteers on a week-long trip to volunteer in some of the shelters we work with in North and South Carolina. We will be posting stories, pictures and video of our adventure. You can see all of it by following our Facebook page, OPH Rescue Road Trip. We promise to share the dogs we meet, the heroes we help, and the reality of shelters in the rural south. It may not always be easy to see, but hopefully it will also inspire you to help the many, many dogs in need. And if you’re so inclined, you can support us with donations through our Road Trip Fundraiser.

I love hearing from readers, so please feel free to comment here on the blog, email [email protected] or connect with me on Facebook, twitter, or Instagram.

Best,

Cara

Released August 2018 from Pegasus Books and available now

Diary of a Rescue Week Five: It’s a Big Wide World! Daisy's little world is getting bigger... #choosetoadopt #anothergooddog Every evening when I sit down to post in this diary, I think—nothing really happened. 1,985 more words

#bigwideworld #dog diary #dogs #fearfuldog #fosterdog #fostering #rescuediary #rescuedog

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dontfindyourcenter · 6 years

Text

Chapter 22: I don’t know about you, but here’s chapter 22

Rules: https://dontfindyourcenter.tumblr.com/post/177027661290/rules

Previous chapter: https://dontfindyourcenter.tumblr.com/post/178360375750/chapter-21-trial-7-seven-trials-a-swimming-six

The moment I walk out of the trial room, Lillie runs up and heals my pokemon again. Yay! Then it’s up the stairs I go…

At the top of the stairs, Lillie says “I can feel the strong power of the moon”, like she’s an ocean all of a sudden. Then we stand on two platforms and each blow our respective flutes. I turned my volume up for this and it turns out we both manage to sing a passable harmony without any apparent rehearsal. Honestly, it makes me feel like Tori and Lillie have been missing their true callings throughout this game - if they’d just spent this whole time honing their gifts as flute prodigies, they’d be famous by now. In any case, playing the two flutes at the same time must level Nebby up a few times, because it’s a lunala now. And just to ruin the anime’s assertion that all pokemon can only say their own names, it turns out that the cry of lunala sounds like “mahina-pea!” I was never particularly fond of the pokemon-say-their-own-names thing, but I’ve got to say, I’m not quite sure why that’s less plausible than “mahina-pea!” Anyway, I had my volume turned up and it sounded mostly like “eaaaaa” to me.

Nebby then picks up Lillie and I and brings us into Ultra Space, which as it turns out, looks like an abandoned aquarium. “How surprising. It’s more beautiful than I would have expected…” says Lillie. Lils, you either had really low expectations or you inherited your mum’s rose-tinted glasses for anything with the word “ultra” in its name. This place is just creepy.

We soon run into Guzma, who calls us stupid for following him and Lusamine. Not an unfair assessment. “It’s all dark here… I’ve got no clue what’s going on,” he says. I didn’t know Ultra Space held screenings of Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice.

No, it turns out Guzma tried to catch a Nihilego, one of the ultra beasts floating around the area, but he ended up with his mind and body possessed and found out what fear felt like. Gee, I wonder if this is foreshadowing something? Spoiler alert: yes.

Then Lillie and I run forward and see Lusamine. Lillie gets in an absolute killer of a speech here, which I just had to google so I could transcribe it in full; “Children... Children are not just THINGS that belong to their parents! Pokémon are not just THINGS that a Trainer can do whatever they want to! I am alive! Cosmog is alive! We are not things for you to collect! We're not made for you to just discard when you get bored with us! That is terrible, Mother! You are terrible!"

It’s a really powerful, well-earned moment; everything in the stories of Lusamine, Gladion and Lillie has paved the way to this confrontation, from the references to the experiments that Aether Paradise performed on both Nebby and Type:Null, to the fact that Lillie kept talking about how her mother chose her outfits for her back when she was dressed suspiciously like a Nihilego. The fact that this whole segment was excluded from Pokemon: Ultra Sun and Moon is part of the reason why I was so underwhelmed by those sequels. As it stands, in those games, Lusamine just seems like she gets forgiven at the end without either of her children calling her out for ignoring them. Also, in those games Lusamine’s obsessed with Necrozma instead, so is it just a complete cosmic coincidence that she still ends up dressing Lillie like a Nihilego?

Sorry, you don’t come here to hear me going on tangents about which aspects of these games do or don’t work for me. As we’ve firmly established by now, you come here to see if my pokemon die and make me burst into tears. You monster. You terrible, terrible person.

Just like the first time Lusamine fought me, the first pokemon she sends out is a clefable, while mine is Digit Al the magnezone. This time, though, the clefable is surrounded by an aura which boosts its special defence, thanks to Lusamine’s Ultra Beast-melding powers. Luckily, it only takes a couple of Charge Beam attacks before Digit Al’s special attack is high enough again to do serious damage with his Flash Cannon move. Soon, the clefable has been beaten, having taken away a shade under half of Al’s health.

Lusamine sends out her bewear next, and since Al’s speed actually decreased a little when he evolved into magnezone, I decide the safest bet is to switch pokemon. Enter Wash the toucannon, who has to contend with a bewear whose defense stat has been raised one stage by the creepy Ultra Beast power. I decide to use my favourite strategy with Wash, which is to use Beak Blast and assume that the opponent will burn itself by using a move that makes contact.

That doesn’t happen, though; instead, I am the witness to the most elaborate example of self-sabotage I’ve seen in quite a while. The bewear uses Pain Split, a move which takes the current health of the user and the target and splits it so that each pokemon ends up with the average amount of health. Since neither pokemon has taken any damage yet, though, Wash’s health stays exactly the same, while the bewear’s health gets lowered by a pretty reasonable chunk, since bewears in general have quite a bit more health than toucannons do. Then Wash’s Beak Blast attack hits, doing even more damage, and on the next turn he’s able to use Drill Peck to finish it off. So that’s a whole member of Lusamine’s party beaten without Wash taking a single hit point of damage. Unexpected, but I am not complaining.

Next up, Lusamine sends out her mismagius (which has its speed ultra-beast-boosted), while I switch out Mr Nancy. The mismagius uses… Pain Split? Again? Okay! This time it doesn’t even seem to do anything - I wouldn’t be surprised if mismagius and Mr Nancy started off with the exact same number of hit points, because neither health bar seems to be affected by the move at all. Then again, I didn’t get that long to look at mismagius’s health bar before Mr Nancy used Crunch and took out more than half her health.

To Lusamine’s credit, it looks like she does use Pain Split at tactfully advantageous moments sometimes; that’s what she uses this move, too, doing quite a bit of damage to Nancy while bringing mismagius’s health back to the point where my second Crunch attack doesn’t quite kill her. On the following turn, though, she gets cocky and uses it again, and while that does leave Mr Nancy with less than half of his health left, it doesn’t heal the mismagius quite enough to keep the next Crunch from killing it. That’s three of Lusamine’s pokemon down. Cool!

Lusamine’s penultimate pokemon is a special-attack-boosted lilligant, and since Wash did so well in his last match, I decide to send him out once again. This match-up is the least challenging so far; the lilligant tries using leech seed, and when that misses, Wash’s Beak Blast attack knocks it out in one hit. Last pokemon now!

And… surprisingly, Lusamine’s milotic is just as easy! Hedwig beats it in one Leaf Blade attack after it basically wastes a move using safeguard. Sorry, sadists - none of my team are dead!

Time for a long old cutscene, everyone! Lillie calls on the legendary pokemon to save Lusamine when it looks like she’s having a bit of a wobble; Lusamine celebrates being back in her normal form by saying Lillie is becoming beautiful; then the whole of Ultra Space starts shaking. Fun fact; after Guzma starts saying “What now? What’s going on?” while the space we’re in shakes rapidly, I got distracted by something on the TV, and when I looked back thirty minutes later everyone was still looking around in panic in the middle of an earthquake and Guzma was still saying “what now? What’s going on?” Guess no-one thought to actually do anything in that time.

Then a bunch of Nihilego turn up and Lillie says “there are so many Nihilego!!!” She’s right! Good thing Nebby the lunala turns up to take us away. Hapu pops up in between the unconscious Lusamine and Lillie says “Hapu… Is my mother…?” while looking at the two of them. Bit oedipal, Lil, but whatever floats your boat.

Then the lunala asks me to try and catch it. Uh, that’s sweet, but there aren’t really any open slots on my team at the moment, pal. Please don’t take it personally, I’ll always like you as a friend. It’s not you, it’s me. I hope you’ll understand.

I do have to catch it to move forward in the game, though, so I get Loki to use Thunder Wave and Foul Play and then lob a ball at it. Since there aren’t any dead characters from franchises I’m in the fandom of called “Nebby”, I decide to call it “Remus” (because his nickname is Moony, do you get it) and send it to the PC box. I like to pretend that I’ve set it free.

“Nebby, you belong with Tori now,” says Lillie; “She will be the one to raise you. Just like any parent should raise their child.” Uh, about that…

Seriously, she keeps saying stuff like that for a full couple of minutes of tearful dialogue. “See the world… Have battles against strong Pokemon where you can use your full power...That’s the kind of world Tori can share with you!” All while Moony/Nebby is sitting on an island in poke pelago. Way to make me feel guilty, Lillie! It’s not my fault I’ve gotten attached to the team I’ve already got. Granted, it IS my fault that I’m playing a game where I’m never allowed to withdraw any pokemon from a PC, but that’s neither here nor there.

Then as Lillie rushes off to be with her mum, Nanu turns up at the top of the Altar of the Moone to tell me that the Pokemon League has been built now. Yay! He offers to take me along with him, but I say no; I’m pretty sure there’s a section of Vast Poni Canyon I forgot to explore the first time round, and I don’t want to go to Mount Lanakila without every item I can get my hands on.

I’ll leave all that for another day, though. I’m knackered after all that. End of Chapter 22.

#Pokemon sun and moon #alola #Pokemon moon #suicide run challenge #no Center challenge #pokemon #lunala #ultra space

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