Don't Know If Anyone Talked About This Yet But Matthew Modine Posted A Video Of El And Brenner With A

Don't know if anyone talked about this yet but Matthew Modine posted a video of El and Brenner with a quote taken from the second act of Romeo and Juliet.

To sum it up in modern terms, It's where Juliet compares her desire to control where Romeo goes to a spoiled child keeping their pet bird tired by a thread simular to a prisoner in shackles.

This perfectly represents their dynamic metaphorically, Brenner attempting to make himself the dominant aspect of El's identity for his selfish desires (framing it as "love") and knowing that'll end if the thread becomes too loose.

But that got me thinking, you know who else in the past was controlling about her identity.

where she has also been referred to as a "pet."

Expressed concern about her leaving.

AND be the only other pairing that's been compared to Romeo and Juliet?

Wheeler’s Delayed Choice

putting a polaroid of you on my unhinged conspiracy board and linking you with a red string to a post it note that just says "gay"

do you ever just think about "god we need will." and start giggling

Lesbyler dump for no reason at all

Library kiss is based on @longtallglasses’ fic 🙂‍↕️

When Mike called El a superhero at the end of their argument, El felt discouraged. So why would Mike's monologue include the same statement when no work was done to change El's feelings towards that title? In fact, the opposite conclusion was reached. El learned that putting herself into boxes was reductive. She shouldn't just be a superhero, she needs to be a "monster" too to truly understand herself. If Mike's monologue gave El strength, it means that he's leading her in the wrong direction. Her self-image takes multiple steps back when she's with him.

El looked angry when Mike called her a superhero. That isn't what she wanted to hear and she knows she shouldn't lean back into that mindset. Anger fuels her powers. So yes, it did give her strength, but not positive strength. El looks over to Max dying, something that makes her angry, listens to Mike, and screams out in anger as she rips away from the vines.

El knows that Brenner was right. Mike disagrees. Mike doesn't see how reducing her down to a superhero is harmful. But El does. She gave Mike the cold shoulder just before this statement. She believes Brenner was right about her being neither a superhero nor a monster.