benvi apologist

“I like your personality”

[deviisthebestgirl]

And yes, the matching colours are at play here again cuz when are they ever not with these two. Sure, she has a difficult personality but Ben likes her personality

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

Benvi + Hallway Scenes

[moonlightredfern]

Pour one out for our neglected and/or forgotten besties in s4:

Patty

Zoe

Shira

Manish

Aneesa

Addison

Dr. Jackson

Hailey

Jonah

Eleanor’s Dad & Sharon

Noor Qureshi

Andy Samberg

REBECCA HALL YOSHIDA!!

[deviisthebestgirl]

Still can’t believe last season was the only one where we didn’t get to hear Andy Samberg’s voice

[rainparadefromhell]

twitter el and tumblr el.... two very different people

[deviisthebestgirl]

Long hair Ben Gross would have been too Jake Peralta in later seasons coded so they had to cut it off

[deviisthebestgirl]

Ben spent first 3 seasons looking out for Devi, making sure she’s okay, calling her out on her bs, making her apologise to the people she wronged, helping her make up with her family and friends. Being there for her when she needed it most.

And I was so worried the show will end without Devi ever reciprocating the same kind of supportive gf vibe even once. But that shirt swap scene made up for all of it. Not only was this Devi being supportive of Ben, it was Devi being supportive of Ben DESPITE their relationship being at a very low point.

+ bonus points for Devi reassuring Ben about Columbia after her reassured her about Princeton

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

[deviisthebestgirl]

THIS. This is proof that it wasn’t just Devi caught feelings that day too not just Ben

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

Ben + Wanting To Make Sure Devi Is Okay

[that-was-a-bit-stupid-of-you]

devi vishwakumar just spent an entire year pining for ben gross, if you even fucking care

[deviisthebestgirl]

Devi really went from

“Love him? Of course not! I only love my family and Michelle Obama”

To

“I love you to, Ben”

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

[deviisthebestgirl]

“You don’t have to explain” was the most frustrating thing in the world but also it makes sense in their context. It feels like Devi was both showing him that she’s willing to move past their fight but also I think she was worried about what he might have to say. There’s a part of her that didn’t wanna know. Didn’t wanna hear him repeat that they make each other insecure, didn’t wanna get hurt again. That’s why I strongly believe that all the problems for season 4 could have been fixed by a Ben pov episode. Ans I cannot believe they simply went with the alternating Ben/Paxton thing instead of doing what was crucial for the narrative to make sense

[harmonizingsunsets]

when your love languages are both banter and validation

[deviisthebestgirl]

Netflix saying “can someone look at me the way they look at her?” and then giving us these…

They knew that if they used an actual shot of Ben looking at Devi with his heart eyes there’d be no competition

Like it’s not even funny anymore

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

Ben “Heart Eyes” Gross

[transfiguredtoadsworld]

not seeing enough people talk about this moment

devi admitting that ben's terrible banter was good

one of my fave benvi besties moments of the series

[deviisthebestgirl]

just wanted to share that my best friend recently started watching nhie and after the FIRST episode he goes like “ben and devi would look nice together. also it’ll be dumb if she ends up with paxton in the finale” like. he gets it

Exactly! They were being set up from the very first episode. It was obvious that Paxton isn’t the right guy for Devi because it’s just too easy and boring: a girl ends up with a guy she’s liked for his looks since she was like 10.

I’ve been meaning to talk about this for ages but Paxton 69 being Devi’s password to all the accounts she’s made when she was younger just really goes to show that her fixation on him was an equivalent of a teenager having a celebrity crush, fantasising of marrying that celebrity and writing their name all over their little diary. I like how the characters even talk about Paxton H-Y being a local celebrity. And we know that Paxton is used to people just randomly staring at him because of his looks and status. Devi is certainly not the only one with an intense crush in Paxton. Half of the school probably felt the same way at some point which makes their relationship even less special. What Devi felt for Paxton isn’t unique in the slightest. She had the guts to act on it but I don’t think it’s because she wanted it more than others, it’s because she needed it most. She needed a distraction, something to help her cope with her trauma.

Continuing the topic of Paxton practically being a celebrity, at the model UN the “Russia” dude goes: “Every teen in SoCal knows who Paxton is, Brah. He’s got three fan Tumblrs. One of them is entirely in Korean”.

And Devi responds: “Wow that’s crazy, he’s just regular old Paxton to me”, while Ben is rolling his eyes at her because it’s obviously bs. Ben doesn’t know she’s been lying about having had sex with Paxton at the time but he knows that what she’s just said is a lie anyway. It’s so clear to everyone around her that she idolises him.

Even after Devi and Paxton got together she’s continues putting him on a pedestal rather than seeing them as equals. Even after he reciprocated her feelings, he remained a celebrity crush. I’m not saying Devi’s feelings for Paxton didn’t become more grounded in reality when they started dating and she got to know him a little better but it certainly started off in the most superficial way possible and she felt that they don’t make any sense together because of his social standing even though it didn’t matter to him anymore. He was her dream. She wanted that dream so bad, she never stopped to think about what would actually happen if it came the. But now that she found out, there are no stomach knots. As soon as she stops idealising him, she views him as a friend, there is no romantic chemistry because there’s no connection. Because at the end of the day someone who’s always viewed her as his equal and for whom Devi developed feelings based on his actions rather than looks and status is gonna be the person she ends up with, the person she’s gonna say “I love you” to for the first time. Because it’s a part of her dream but it’s also real.

[rainwedding-deactivated20251005]

Ben and Devi have literally been written in the stars since BEFORE WE SAW DEVI'S JOURNEY. They paid attention so closely to each other that's why they were able to insult each other so well and it didn't take much at all to flip that switch (the model UN heist) so it really was BOUND to happen at some point. All three seasons (including season 2 where she technically started dating Paxton at the end) showed Ben and Devi growing closer and having a genuine care and love for each other at the (1/2

(2/2) core of their relationship, so unless s4 threw some kind of drastic wrench in their relationship, it would make absolutely no sense narratively for Devi to end up with Paxton, especially the show, Dr. Ryan, her mom, her friends, DEVI HERSELF, and her interactions with Paxton reveal that they don't have the same level of romantic chemistry. Ben and Devi have years of history it would take an archaeologist to unearth all of it and frankly, no one else can compete. I know a lot of whoops 2/3 (3/4 whoops sorry I have more to say) Really enjoyed Des and he was "perfect up until the end" but I personally disagree with that and the end !!! was !! important!! Not fighting for Devi and working to understand her trauma is incredibly important to developing and wanting a deeper relationship and he didn't want that so he didn't put in the work. I think the argument I've seen from most people as to why they want different love interest for Devi is because people don't want to see the yt man w (4/5 maybe probably sorry Spencer ily) to win, however, I think we should focus on criticizing the systems which cause women of color to favor white men, such as Western beauty standards which drive internalized racism in POC male populations (causing them to favor white women), vice versa in females, and the patriarchal societies of these cultures which systematically cause men to expect subdued women and to diminish the accomplishments and complexities of modern WOC (see Prashant) (5/5) I completely agree that Mindy should write more POC love interests and based on her work in Sex Lives of College Girls she is working towards that, but we need to consider the systems in which informed her writing. Also, I think it's so important that they show Ben respecting Devi's family and culture, such as taking his shoes off and being respectful and kind to Nalini, taking her to spread her dad's ashes, doing an extra credit report on the cuisines of South Asia. TL;DR Yes Mindy should write more POC love interests, but it would be absolutely lazy and undermining to Devi's story to throw someone in the last season just to have two POC people end up together when she has developed a relationship with someone who respects and loves her just as she is, who understands her culture and wants to learn about it. We should stop ignoring how Ben is perfect for Devi and instead criticize the systems which favor white love interests

grace you have hit every single point right on the head like i genuinely don't think there's anything else i can add because you said it all

[devixben]

 Ben Gross, your perfect Valentine is: Devi Vishwakumar (98% compatible)

[deviisthebestgirl]

No one can tell me that after this happened, Daxton is somehow gonna be endgame