𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐲 ❦

For example, the bite from James. I was sure that was going to be significant going forward. Like, wow. Bella's the only known human to survive being bitten by a vampire and stay human. That should be significant. There's a lot you can do with that. Is she now immune to venom? Could her blood be used to make a cure? Is she slowly turning into a vampire, so slowly no one is noticing? Are the Volturi interested in this new Lore? But then the James bite ends up being just a reason Edward had to drink some of her blood and Hey Cool Scar.

Jacob and imprinting. My God. I was so sure the whole point of it all would be him rejecting an imprint. Him choosing on his own, refusing to let magic or fate dictate his life. He chose not to assert his birthright as Alpha, he resented choices being taken away from him. I was convinced he would imprint and he'd be like "NO! I CHOOSE BELLA!" (even though she was clearly with Edward but hey free will is important even if the choices are messy) and him fighting the pull of the imprint would be a cool parallel to the Cullens fighting the lure of human blood but again LMAO NOPE.

And Embry! I thought the whole reason his mom moved to La Push in the first place was because she somehow knew about the wolves and realized her baby might become one because of who his father was and wanted him near people who could help him if it did. But then it turns out she has no idea and is pissed at him for sneaking out at night all the time and it's like WHY DID SHE MOVE THERE THEN?! She's not saying who the dad is, so it's not so Embry can have a relationship with his father.

That whole thing in the beginning of BD where Bella is talking about her vampire lessons and the history of the Denali coven and how their mother was killed by the Volturi and she was like, "I couldn't imagine the Cullens without Carlisle" and I said, "Welp, he's a goner." It's pretty standard in a coming of age story that the mentor figure has to go. The protagonists can't really step into their own power with the mentor/teacher/guardian still there to help and protect them. And see, the movie understood this to a point and DID kill him off (temporarily). Don't get me wrong, Carlisle is one of my faves, but Carlisle (and Esme) still being Right There undermines the idea that Bella and Edward have Grown and Matured and just reenforces that they are frozen in this perpetual adolescence. Sure they are married and have a kid, but they live in Mom and Dad's guest house, basically. Doesn't scream growth and independence.

going so hard on the warm/cold dichotomy between jacob/edward and then like. not acknowledging at all that she picks the cold, which is not how that metaphor typically plays out. and i'm not saying she had to end up with jacob, it's actually super interesting that the metaphor gets flipped, but once bella picks edward she doesn't think about the warm/breathing/sun vs cold/addiction/eclipse terms and make the subversion work, we just pivot to the magnet metaphor! hello?

He loved them!

They were his baby siblings!

“Yes the friendships were uneven but pairing Bonnie up with someone from…”

In the verse where Elena does love Damon despite his abuse to her and her friends

In the verse where Caroline can admit she sees good in Klaus or even someone KIND like Cami can see the good in him…

But to fans like these they’d rather Bonnie continue to be subservient and have less than because it’s easier to view her as less than to think someone else could like her. If the verse made more “healthy” men you wouldn’t see non canon shipping

Frigga shuts all that down in one swift stroke. She robs Loki of the legitimacy of his reaction. She refuses to hear his anger and his anguish. She essentially gives him an ultimatum : accept Odin again or lose me. And at this point, Frigga is the only thing Loki has left. It’s unspeakably cruel. We often speak about Tjor wanting Loki to crawl back into the shadows of being the lesser brother, but Frigga does the same. Probably without realising it. It’s kind of horrifying.

I was so proud of Loki, so encouraged by his bravery, by his fight… He would not accept things to be the same again, he would not crawl back into “his place,” he recognized his worth and fought for his identity, for his right to self determination.

I was so encouraged by his anger! There comes a time where anger is the best coping mechanism, the best source of healing. Anger carries with it action, it brings change, it is the catalyst for disruption. Abusive situations need to be disrupted. The dysfunction of this family fell apart and Loki was the crux of their fall. The scapegoat, the Achilles heel, the only one who can see through the facade. He deserved the dignity of being the scapegoat who saw who he really is, who learned that his place was in the front and equal with everyone else, and fucked them all off till they realized he was no longer convenient. 

He was discovering his own individuality here and that frightened Frigga. Not because Frigga is some monster, but because she was scared. She was stuck in fawn and freeze, bending to Odin’s will, esteeming the narcissist. 

But Loki was in fight response towards Odin. He’d tried fawn, it didn’t work. 

“TRUST MY RAGE.” 

It was cathartic to see him return to Asgard, grim and determined, unafraid, powerful. Much better than the broken tearful face which let go from the bifrost, crushed by Odin’s rejection. 

“I just… I don’t love them.” 

YES! Fuck Odin, fuck the abuser, fuck the controller. Disrupt his narrative, make him self-reflect, make him realize what he actually is, face himself, take responsibility, and fear for once in his life.

Loki was standing on his own feet, and then they stole it from him and made him subservient to Thor and Odin again. They had the gall to label that progress, to switch him from one abusive overlord to another, to humiliate him and crush his relevance, to re-cement the dysfunction and break his will. 

They took him from fight, made him fail, locked him in freeze.

He’s just stuck now. What is the way forward?