your disgust with life speaks to me on a deeper level.

[ever_neutral]

so i was thinking of not doing this, but then i was like -

nope. can't pass up the shade. can't do it.

so:  

note: just a head's up that i'm pretty much disdain!watching this season. so, unless an episode particularly wows me in some way, i'm finished with long "meta"-like analyses of whatever nonsense is on my screen. in it now basically for the few things i can still muster up some caring for, i.e. the narratives that aren't complete pieces of shit. so, letting that be known --


starting with bile first because that's the way i roll:


WHY:

• if Klaroline weren't intolerable to me before, they certainly are now. i recognise that the framing explicitly acknowledged how reprehensible and disgusting Klaus' actions were. but. i don't care. i don't. in what world was this setup even necessary? in what world is it a remotely tolerable narrative choice to subject Caroline to yet ANOTHER gratuitous instance of sexual assault that, in the end, does absolutely nothing for her narrative. it turns the stomach.
• "i need my sister, not another one of them." Jeremy, i want to stan you ths season, so let's stay away from bizarre OOC lines such as this.
• "you respect my choices, like you always do." show: shut. the. fuck. up. you need to shut the fuck up with flagrantly misusing "social justice" and "female empowerment" to make what is a textually abusive relationship supposedly plausible. it is sickening. 
• the 20-minute long montage of ~memories being regained~. dudes, we all saw it the first time. been there, done that, nobody gives a fuck. i almost passed out from boredom!
• Sheila being brutally killed off EVEN AFTER BEING DEAD. that's an impressive new low even for you, show! 
• Stelena. basically

reader, i quit. i thought after the bleakness of the finale that their narrative might be back on track, but - i got to Paul's unintentionally hilarious delivery of "i love you so much" -- and started full-blown cackling. and by the time we got to "i can be with you forever", i was on the floor. folks, this narrative is a farce. it is a farce. i can't pretend to feel rage, or irritation, or disappointment, or anything at all about it because -- it is a complete joke. and death to both characters' individual narratives. sorry about your ship, bros. i'm out. 

(that being said - it struck me during the last rooftop scene that the framing was noticeably ott and tonally off. i don't say this out of ~hope for the narrative because - as established - i am now completely switched off. actually, it's something that struck me even during my cackling. i think it's pretty obvious that the fairytale rosiness of "let's be together 5ever!!11!!" is something that's being set up to crash and burn. at which point, good riddance.)





ACCEPTABLE THINGS:

• Rebekah.
• Klaus/Rebekah. best scene of the night. 
• Damon's general disgust with everyone's narratives, which speaks to my (lack of) soul.
• Elena's transition, esp. the moment where she finally tastes blood. 
• SHOCK: Stefan's characterisation. the fact that even while Elena was pissing herself trying to assuage his guilt, he still didn't really buy it. and his going along with the romantic reunion just like that -- even with his guilt issues -- just says to me that he's doing all of one thing: fulfilling his debt to her. 
• in which i am a terrible person: i have very little problem with the Salvadicks being as terrible as they were to Matt. yes, indefensible. but at this point, it makes nothing but sense to me that the both of them would project their own grief/guilt/anger up the wazoo on to the easiest target. it's ugly and intolerable behaviour, but - not here for nice people being nice, tbh. also, i would feel more judgmental towards Damon and Stefan being like "why are you even still alive" about Matt if i weren't also like "why are you even still alive". dude, what is your purpose on this show.
• Klaus being an effective villain again.
• Caroline. 
• Bonnie. undecided about where this is going, but Bonnie herself was fantastical and heartwrenching. 
• "Elena is not your problem to fix." good.
• "i am that selfish". good.
• and can we take a moment to appreciate that the first thing Elena did after turning was assault Damon. i teared up, tbh.

hm. so, relatively short post (EVERYONE IS GLAD). in conc.: it wasn't the most terrible of episodes? i think? idk. 

Comments

[ever-neutral.livejournal.com]

I've been craving all your shade the way Elena now craves blood, so thank you for posting <3

lol you are too much. /strokes

Is there ever a point where Stefan doesn't try to rewrite Elena's trauma in his own shadow?

ha. i actually didn't mind it here? firstly because i was totally prepared for it, but also because it's just painfully in-character for him to project all over her. i'd actually be annoyed if he were written as any less than that.

Well clearly that was because I hadn't gotten to the back third of the season and by that point I REMEMBERED ALL.

OY. i feel your pain. THE WORST.

Whatever, as if Damon would do it any other way besides being a public dick then playing dead to ~lure in his prey.

you know it, yo. (also: lol, plot schmot.)

[angearia.livejournal.com]

Yeah, my frustration with Stefan is for being so Stefan in that moment tho. Just continuing the pattern. And maybe Elena's also so invested in latching onto him for ~dear lyf~ that it makes his unhelpful projecting even more... tragic? Here she is clinging to him for meaning and direction and he's like ~blood sucks worst~. and I guess he's trying to brace her in the best way he knows how -- I feel like I'm talking myself into sympathizing and I don't even know how I got here. I guess its the pattern for everyone tho -- to make it all about themselves even when they think they're helping.

(also: lol, plot schmot.)

It pains me so much tho because I'm a plot writer. Character >>>> Plot, of course, but I also care about making sure the pieces fall into place. And I tend to write plots that service the characters, like I use plot as a way of pushing the characters where I want/need them to go. Just, sloppy plot hurts my soul. It's like I'm cruising and enjoying the ride and then I'm thrown by a plothole in the middle of the story road and suddenly I'm cursing the city for failing to fix the plothole and why the hell do I pay taxes anyway if they're going to let this road fall apart? And it's all bitterness and indignation which I'd rather not be distracted by but cannot seem to avoid.