#I liked the idea of them together since season 1 but I didn't really ship them

[bluejayadler]

Is Desire a "friend" of Charles

Got another NGL. Apologies for the delay. This one is only partially my fault. The app didn't initially tell me I had this message, so I didn't see it for 3 days. The other 2-3 days are cause I'm slow. Anyhow, here's the prompt:

And my long rambling 1 am response is below the read more. (No editing, no reviewing, we sending this like the Night Nurse sent herself. Enjoy!

It seem taken for granted that Charles is a friend of Desire's. Why?

I actually don't know. I don't think he is a friend of Desire. I can see the narrative play here. Desire and Despair in the Sandman universe are twins and its regularly mentioned that Desire and Despair are connected, one leading to the other. We taste despair when we desire things we cannot have or things we lose. At the same time, despair can make us desire things - things that would spare us from that despair. So Despair and Desire are very tightly linked and often seen together. And since the boys are inseparable, I think people are drawn to the fun narrative options there. A lot of what I've seen when Charles is tied to Desire is actually Desire seeking Charles out. I haven't read all the Sandman comics in a long while, so I am rusty on things. Still, I do know that Desire is pretty involved in humans lives. Not for the human's benefit but for Desire's entertainment. So I've seen a few fics and headcanons that are essentially, Desire sees that Despair has a plaything in Edwin and so decides to claim the other one in the pair for themself. Which I think can be pretty fitting for Desire's character. I don't really find that as much fun to explore for Charles's character though - for me personally.

I think one reason I struggle to tie Desire to Charles is because so much of the discourse I see is around intimate desire (romantic or sexual) - mostly the idea that Charles is in love with Edwin and desires Edwin but is consciously or subconsciously denying that desire. And I admit, I personally struggle with reading romantic/sexual coding outside very formulaic tropes. I do love payneland as a ship and think that it's endgame for the show. I love the friendship and partnership the boys have. I agree they have "married for 30 years" vibes. I think Charles needs to have his own arc before he realizes that and he needs to learn what love is, given his own abuse history and how that would impact his perception of what love means and if he's capable or willing to give it in that way. At the same time, a LOT of the scenes the fandom points at as proof of Charles's romantic feelings towards Edwin, I don't see that way. I don't read them that way. This might be due to my being very ace/aro or my particular brand of neurodivergent, as I struggle in real life to read a lot of social cues around romantic/intimate relationships. That "they were roommates" joke...yeah, I've done that...to friends who were dating prior to moving in together and only realized they were dating when they announced they were engaged. Not kidding or exaggerating. So yeah, I struggle with reading Charles as madly in love with Edwin romantically in season 1. And I don't associate him with Desire in that regard.

But I do think there's a fun (for me) way to explore Charles being associated with Desire from how I view the season's events. I don't think its as a "friend" though, even in the way that Despair claims Edwin as a friend. First of all, I don't think Charles is as much fun to play with. Charles does have a lot of desire, and there's the obvious relationship with Edwin, be it romantic/platonic/whatever. But for the most part, Charles sets his own desires aside for others. He is the people pleaser and will put his own desires down to put others first. So I think he'd be hard to hold in Desire's realm/power. Not because he doesn't have wants and desires but because he is someone who has gotten very good at setting them aside. He's essentially built up a little resistance, I think. But there is one major desire I think would draw Desire's attention that Charles couldn't protect against.

One desire that Charles held throughout his life that even carried over into his afterlife - to be enough.

Charles wants to be enough. His breakdown at the cliff is all about that. His breakdown in episode 5 is an extension of that. Even in episode 1, we see his reaction to being called out as not appearing to be the brawn. Its played for laughs, yeah, but he gets defensive. He doesn't brush it off or ignore it or even laugh it off. The brawn is his job and he needs to do it, to be good enough at it to protect Edwin and this afterlife they've made together. In ep 3, he starts to touch on the abuse he experienced. "No matter how good I was". Because however good he was at whatever he did, it wasn't good enough. No strong enough. Not fast enough. Not good enough at sports. Not good enough in school. Not good enough when he was alive. In ep 4, he says he's not good enough to help Edwin or Crystal, to save the Devlin girls. Even in death, even as a ghost helping so many others, he's not good enough. He helped save Crystal and Niko. He helped the WW1 ghost move on. He's helped dozens probably hundreds over the years, but its not enough. He's not enough. Not enough to stop his dad hurting him. Not enough for his friends to care for. Not enough for his school to tell the truth. Not enough for Edwin to admit what's going on with the Cat King. Not enough.

Charles just wants to be enough. He has always wanted to be enough. Its the one desire he never sets aside. Its the one desire he holds so tightly to himself that its the first true desire we see burst out of him when he lets the mask of a smile slip away.

And I think this would be an interesting angle to have Desire come in from. Because Charles doesn't know he desires Edwin. He says he doesn't know how he feels but he, they, have forever to figure it out. Imagine Desire showing up and Charles having that confusion - because he hasn't been running from his love of Edwin, he just doesn't know what it looks like yet. But then Desire points out that "desire" isn't just intimacy or sex or pleasure. "Desire" can be a lot of things, like wanted to be enough.

I know I'm a bit biased, as I don't often connect with romantic/intimate plotlines. I love found family and yeah, payneland is a ship I really get behind because its foundation isn't just romantic/intimate like many ships I've seen in tv/media. But I would love to see Desire come in in a different way and explore the different desires characters can have, not just for an intimate relationship, but other things (also not for things like greed or wealth or power as that's already been played out). I think Charles's desire "to be enough" is such an amazing thing to explore as so many viewers would relate to it as well. 

[nat-a-nat]

i been shipping Sam and Evan more and more every episode "can I live on your house and be your dog" IM GOING INSANE

[paceywittters]

ok so i know we probably don't need another ✨ chenford hot take ✨, but alas, i am going to share my thoughts because why not. i've seen a lot of people say that chenford feels weird post-breakup because they're so friendly with one another - and it's true, i agree, they're being incredibly relaxed with one another in a way that doesn't feel earned at all...but my issue for quite some time is that they didn't just not earn this phase of their relationship, this is a trend. chenford has consistently had drama/resolutions that feel unearned within the narrative since their relationship veered overtly romantic.

chenford went from the slow build of seasons 1-4 to the fast-paced version of the ship we met in season 5, which has always bothered me. i loved the slow burn of chenford, but something about the way they went from facing some genuinely difficult complications to their relationship in mid season 5 to just...skirting around them with ease (at least, for a while) was off-putting. lucy solving tim's work issue in one fell swoop with the 5 player trade was too simple (despite personal ramifications - i mean in a relationship/interpersonal sense). the fact that they were just...allowed to be together while working together was so easily resolved and deeply uncomplicated, despite us consistently being told how complicated it was going to be. from 5x01 to 5x09, it seemed like chenford were going to dive into something that wasn't easy, but was worth the risk.

...but then it was...stupidly easy.

the relationship moving so quickly and having a smattering of incredibly simple complications that were resolved almost immediately made the post 5x09 era of chenford feel so unearned to me - not to mention that, yes, they knew each other and they'd fallen for each other...but before they were dating, chenford weren't really friends. they went from tim being her TO to lucy being his aide to them being friendly at work...and sure, it built into personal moments here and there, but not enough for me to feel like they'd genuinely gotten to a point where they were ready to jump into a relationship. it didn't feel earned, to me - and i was okay with that as long as it was eventually addressed that they jumped in fast and didn't much care about the consequences.

regardless, i was hype to see chenford actually get together. i figured the way they rolled them out in the end of season 5 would surely lead to some addressing of their issues throughout season 6 - because, of course we could all see the glaring problems in their relationship, right? tim's penchant for closing off/shutting down in difficult moments mixed with lucy's lack of awareness of her overstepping tendencies and general over-inflated/displaced sense of ambition surely had to be addressed, right?

6x01 and 6x02 made it clear trouble was coming, and while i was excited to see them split up so they'd actually have to face their issues, the way the breakup was executed was...an unnecessary misstep. creating new drama with tim to make him seem like the only one who had any issues was weird. chenford already had some fairly major problems they could've mined for the breakup, but creating new drama made it much bigger, craggier, and entirely unmanageable. chenford, who had only dealt with minor issues that were resolved quickly and efficiently up to that point, didn't even have the capacity to address their initial issues, so they weren't at all equipped to deal with something so complicated.

now, we're at a point where chenford seems to have moved past their relationship-ending struggle without us seeing any real work from either of them (and, yes, i do think lucy has fault in their relationship breakdown - happy to talk about that elsewhere if you want). as viewers, we're expected to just follow along with the trajectory of their relationship and feel satisfied with the idea that lucy's taken tim's elevator declaration and moved into a place where she can make coded jokes about their sex life, or the notion that tim's "done work" on himself without knowing anything about it.

it's not earned. we haven't seen any of it - and the story just telling us these things have happened isn't enough...we need to see more of the build up, which the rookie has always been so good at. that's what i think is the most disappointing to me: that the first seasons of the rookie were so incredible for the ability to build, but they've dropped the ball now that an actual romantic relationship is playing out.

at this point, i would've preferred a near-miss in season 5 rather than them getting together at all. i would've preferred more build to a point where by the time chenford got together, their issues within themselves and each other had been resolved. i've been willing to follow along with what they're doing, but the way they've gone about it has me so much less invested than i've ever been in the rookie. it sucks, because i still enjoy the show - but i don't recognize this iteration of chenford at all.

anyway, tl;dr: that thing you feel like you're missing is the build up to this drama, to this resolution, to this odd version of friendship, to any reconciliation. the building blocks are not there, and that's why it feels empty and off-putting, at least in the way i see it.

[the-amber-raven]

I would never delete my fics

I got linked to a reddit thread today where people were being advised to download my mortifying ordeals/Buddie fics, since apparently "now that I'm a BuckTommy shipper", I might be "petty" and delete all my Buddie fics.

So. I'll move past the complicated feelings it gives me to have people hoarding my fics while actively shitting on me as a person (and seemingly not even telling me that they enjoyed my work, although in fairness that could just be a difference in usernames.) That's the nature of fanfic, fandom, and putting things out there on the internet and I accept that.

But I do want to reassure people that I would never delete my fics. I still have the cringy-as-fuck Harry Potter fics I wrote in high school up; believe me those would be first on the chopping block if I was inclined to delete my work. And all of my 9-1-1 fics hold a special place in my heart, but none more than the mortifying ordeals series, which consumed basically a full year of my life and reminded me why I love writing. Hell, I got engaged while writing the final chapters of I once was lost. That fic is indelibly tied to my life now.

And look... I don't think it really matters, nor should I have to explain and justify what I do and don't enjoy about a show or fandom, but this whole experience has upset me more than it probably should have and I can't help but want to get it off my chest anyway.

My favourite thing about this show is the found family feels. I either love or am at least intrigued by every single character that has appeared. You'll notice that family is the central theme of every story I write, whether the story is Gen, Buddie, or BuckTommy.

Because yes, the idea of BuckTommy and how that plays into the family themes of the show has intrigued me and captured my muse.

I've also said before that I didn't think Season 7 left Buddie in a great place in terms of romantic relationship potential - in my opinion, the ghost of Shannon would be an absolutely massive barrier to them getting together right now. The post season 7 Buddie fics have also heavily featured character bashing, which isn't something I generally enjoy seeing, and infidelity, which I really don't like seeing romanticised especially since I've had a partner cheat on me.

So yes, I've distanced myself from the post-S7 Buddie fandom because I just don't enjoy the pervasive negativity I've seen and the way that cheating and violence is suddenly celebrated by a significant subset of the fandom.

That does not mean I've given up on Buddie altogether. I still have a whole list of pre-S7 buddie fics in my to-be-read list that I've been making my way through and 2 out of my 5 WIPs are Buddie fics (both in the mortifying ordeals 'verse, just to make it even clearer that I'm not at all interested in deleting that series.)

But two of those 5 are BuckTommy, because as I said above, their relationship was intriguing to me and it captured my muse.

I don't think those opinions make me some kind of betrayer, or that they inherently make me a "petty" person but I guess I just didn't realise that not-exclusively-shipping-Buddie was such a High Crime in this fandom.

[90shaladriel]

Rewatch of the ROP Finale Fight Scene

>> Warning: Clearly biased and delusional Haladriel here! <<

I admit that on the first watch I had some issues with the fight, not so much that it was a poor fight, or unbelievable, more that I felt there was more missed potentials. I think a lot of that was my fan or shipping head canons.

Could I imagine a different way it goes down or ends? Yes.

But here are some positives

From the very moment they are onscreen together, Sauron tries to de-escalate. He snuck up behind her and walked past while she was holding the Nine rings and Nenya. Her first words were a question, a pointed one, but it's satisfying they began on speaking terms, and then his calm response actually backed up my opinion that the Season 1 events that got them together were not his design.

She is the one that picked up the sword and swung first.

He struck back but she was the aggressor. What might have happened if she had run away? Or maybe used the Light rather Strength to overcome him?

Anyway. The shift to Halbrand was a bit of a low blow. He reiterated his feelings for her were not all an illusion and then immediately turned into an illusion of not only Halbrand, but then herself (?) and Celebrimbor. Like appearing as her murdered brother, these don't seem to be good strategies for winning someone over who mistrusts you. But ok, he is a villain and showing off perhaps.

As Halbrand he never strikes a blow at her, he speaks, walks away and dodges her first strikes. Even as Galadriel form he mainly parries her rather than attacks. Then as Celebrimbor he stomps the stone structure to collapse rather than striking at her. I could have used more Halbrand fighting her though over the magic show spectacle, but it was cool I will say.

When she once more asserts the Door is Shut, (because of course with her people's city in ruins, Celebrimbor tortured and killed, the threat of Sauron in the future, she has no choice narratively), and then takes that moment to kick him hard in the face does Sauron seem to become enraged. He is hurt, his pride is wounded to, just as Celebrimbor did with his dying words. He takes his anger out on the rocks and her sword but doesn't really try to land a killing blow.

Once she slices his cheek he seems to have said "I've had enough of her" and let the rage take over. Even then what does he do? He uses the crown not the sword to impale her. Which is pretty toxic, I do agree, although how many times as she tried to stab him and gotten a pass?

Caveat that I've never been stabbed in the chest, but that was very suggestive of them to say the least.

He could have reached over and taken the Nine and Nenya once more. But didn't. The speech he gave then about what he would have done for her as his Queen is really something. It's not meant to convince her of anything I don't think. He has lost that part of her (The Door is Shut). At least that's my thinking. He just wants her to know since at that moment he knows he would have won and has nothing to lose by telling her the truth of how he feels or maybe once felt.

By the way she was stabbed by two spikes but only seems to have one wound?

Still after the creepy face he lets her fall. Takes the nine and then asks her for Nenya.

I guess this is ambiguos. Is it plot armor for her? Did he really think the crown's poison would not kill her but drag her spirit to the unseen world? Was this the method he used to bind souls to his werewolves in the book legendarium?

It's not clear why he still would need her or want that versus take her life like he took Celebrimbor's.

The simplest explanation would be that he wants her alive and to be at his side, whatever he selfishly thinks of that.

My main disappointment was probably that we didn't get either a redemptive angle on Sauron or perhaps a Galadriel trying to tempt him back in someway. Maybe those were just crazy head canon ideas. I think having evil Sauron be obsessed with Galadriel and her light is about what I expected before coming into Season 2.

[gachagon]

The fandom rarely ever talks about Mel and her relationship with her mother and her family history and her actual story that the show literally tells us, because they're too busy trying to find a man to ship her with. I've found that there's this new phenomenon that happens in fandom with female characters that ARE written well in the piece of media they come from, where instead of focusing on her story, the fandom wants to include her in all of the shipping and romance side even if she might not be entirely involved with all of that.

So, they completely strip her of any backstory and just shoehorn her into whatever relationship they can think of, all the while telling anyone who DOESN'T ship her with someone that they're the REAL misogynists because they're not including her in any of the "real" discussions happening in the fanbase.

This thought has always bothered me since Arcane ended and people went from shipping Mel and Jayce, to shipping Jayce and Viktor, to shipping all three of them together because fighting over the ships was silly (it was) but leaving out the idea that maybe Mel's story was never about romance to begin with and the idea that she's single at the end isn't a tragedy because her being tied to a man is not a "happy ending". There's this overall pervasive idea that because a character doesn't have a romantic partner in the end, that they are alone and that the ending for them sucked.

I have never thought that Mel's ending was bad, and I was baffled by people who kept saying this, only to learn they were only saying this while posting screenshots of all the "couples" that got together in the end. Romance is not the end all be all of a characters story, and often times people forget that and completely disregard anything that happens to that character prior to any romantic tension they have with another, in favor of focusing solely on the "what-ifs" of a relationship between those two.

Mel's story is a beautiful one about learning to accept yourself in a harsh environment, growing into a person your parent can acknowledge and be proud of, the tragedy of not being able to show your parent that you were strong enough to take the mantle from her before it was too late and she died, the bitter acceptance that this was the only way she'd have ever accepted you in the first place and so many other deep familial themes of mothers and daughters.

Yet does ANYONE talk about that? No, all anyone talks about when they bring up Mel is something about how she was "manipulating Jayce the whole time' or how she was a "Mirror for Jayce to realize his feelings for Viktor" or how "She was rude to Viktor in season 1 and kind of dismissive of Zaun as a whole" it all just wraps back around to what Jayce and Viktor were doing and not her actual story.

Hell, it took me weeks to even find one edit on tiktok of her actual story arc, with her discovering her powers and fighting her own mom, and when there ARE edits of her? They are again just more ship edits of her with some man.

And look, none of this would bother me if the people who really liked those ships didn't act like shipping MelJayVik was some revolutionary idea, and that THIS is how you can finally include a woman in a story! Finally, now instead of her character revolving around 1 man we have managed to revolve it around 2 at the same time! Marvelous! I just hate that one of the best written female characters of our time is getting relegated to not just ONE mans "emotionally stable and hot girlfriend" but TWO (and she didn't even talk to him all that much!!!)

[wangmiao]

OK...i finally decided to make this long overdue post because i just realized that yang lei finished filming his latest drama 太平年 a couple of days ago...and it means that HE CAN FINALLY FOCUS ON THE THREE BODY SPINOFF AND SEASON 2 NOW!!!!!!

to be honest, even though he was directing other shows in 2024, all people cared about was three body. and no matter what the occasion, he'd be asked about how it was going for all the three body projects. he even wore a three body t-shirt to an interview for another show himself lol (screencap below), and of course they talked about three body...

anyways, the interview above happened in june 2024, but since i was very discouraged by the lack of interest back then, i didn't share this (sorry😅!). now that we have some new fans in the fandom asking about the spinoff, i just want to assure everyone that they will definitely let the shiwang ship sail.

what he said in the screencap: i want the continuation of the story between wang miao and shi qiang. so it will show a lot of wang miao and shi qiang, like season 1 of three body, the two of them solving the case together. their relationship...relationship story.

I highlighted "情感" in yellow in the screencap because the direct translation of this word is emotion or feeling. but for the sake of making it sound good in english, i picked "relationship", but you know the story is about their emotions/feelings towards each other. i can't believe yang lei even repeated the word twice. he was either trying to emphasize it, or he wanted to find a less intimate word, but failed🤣. you had no idea how much this shook the shiwang fandom with joy back then.

lastly back to the serious non-shipping stuff. yang lei said in june and then in october last year that liu cixin would consult on the script for the spinoff. it would fill in the gap between the first and second book, and explain some things that were not extensively explained in the novel, for example, why escapism is not allowed.

as of late october, they were still working on the script for the spinoff, and yang lei was in contact with both yu hewei and zhang luyi to get feedback from them as well. the three body fandom used to think yang lei's other drama wouldn't wrap up until march or april, but now that it finished shooting a lot earlier, we are really getting closer and closer to the filming date of the spinoff. yhw is going to get that shi qiang haircut, and zly needs to grow out the miaomiao hair bangs...life is good🥳!

we still don't know when the shooting of season 2 will start, but it really makes sense if they directly go for season 2 after shooting the spinoff. so let's hope that will happen.

[bronx-bomber87]

Happy Wednesday my lovely readers :) We’ve reached the episode that rocked me to my very core. Honestly haven’t been this attached to a ship in a very very long time. Years passed without this level of attachment. Bringing out sides of me I didn't think existed. Like doing reviews. But our ship is something special even when they rip our hearts out. I blame Eric and Melissa LOL They are INCREDIBLE in this episode. The both of them. Brought their A game and then some.

This ep legit affected my mood for 3 weeks no joke and utterly destroyed me. I needed extra days to decompress before did my mini. The fandom was so lovely about that too. Love this fandom so much. I still don't know how I got that out tbh lol Also God Bless my bestie D for going through that with me. I got to watch it early that day which normally didn’t get to. Was usually after work. I remember D wanted to stop me but didn’t cause she couldn’t tell me why..

I had to go to a company meeting after and pretend I wasn’t devastated. Be a positive fun leader when inside I was dying. I did a good job my team had no idea lol But damn that was tough. Never been happier for a 3 week break than after this one. We all needed it. Let us begin. And thank you all again for going through this heartbreak with me. Gif count was rough for me so I fit in everything I could and made a ton.

6x06 Secrets and Lies

We start out with Lucy looking as stressed and anxious as we’ve ever seen her. Laying in bed but most definitely is not resting. The brutal toll this situation has taken becoming visible. When Tamara asks how stressed she is from 1-10? Lucy answering 19….Ooof....Could not be more relatable if she tried. When I get this laser focused I too am a nineteen. Her person has been radio silent for days. Her last contact with him was a massive knock out drag out fight.

This is the most time they’ve spent apart since they got together. Like I stated last review other than 6x01 they've scarcely been away from one another. Her UC mission in 5x21 yes but doesn’t really count. They talked every single day. So it’s truly the longest they’ve been apart. No wonder she is at a 19. Poor Lucy. Kills me. Such a wreck without him. Tamara asks if Tim is still ghosting her? Lucy tries to defend their situation. Not well but she sure tries lol

Lucy is barely keeping it together and it shows. I love that we get a shot of her pin-up board from that BTS video. The cupcake poster hehe Hopefully that makes a triumphant return in s7. Tamara doesn’t want to add to her stress... But let's her know she wants to move out. With friends from school. Worst timing ever. It makes sense but the timing is horrendous. Lucy takes so many hits this season. It’s almost worse the second time around somehow.

This time Lucy goes to an actual adult about Tim. Not useless Nolan who was painfully inept for her. Couldn’t fit it in but we see her touch her tattoo when she approaches Angela. *heart clutch* I love Melissa for doing it every time though. So subtle yet impactful. Nice little mini gut punch to start the scene. This was the right call though. If anyone knows Tim like her it’s Angela. Lucy asking if she should alert Grey? Honestly she should've but here we are. That would've been a whole other set of problems though...

Lucy feels like she’s going insane so Angela validating her helps. (at first) You know she finds this behavior of his incredibly alarming. We can see the immediate worry painted across her face. That’s her brother. She loves that man like he’s one. What sucks is that, even though Angela is empathetic, she doesn’t fulfill the needs that Lucy is going for. Which is reassurance and 'Hey let’s do this together.' A united front. Hoping since he is acting off Angela's reply would be 'Let's find out why as a team.' She is protecting her but Lucy is in a heightened emotional state and doesn't see that. Only see's being shut out further from Tim.

Angela plays her cards very close to her chest. Like a good detective would. Sadly Lucy wanted more solace than just ‘Trust him.’ That’s all she’s been doing for days. Poor woman is going out of her damn mind with worry. Even tells Angela as such. The reply she gets back not what she wanted… She wanted her detective gut and friendship. Unfortunately she just gets the former. That short lived validation she got earlier dying off quickly. Lucy is so damn upset when she takes off from the convo. Knowing if she sticks around she’s going to cry on shift. My damn heart. Melissa be killing me. Holy hell.

Angela scaring the crap out of Tim is hilarious. Serves him right tbh. This episode had me so upset and twisted, I couldn’t even enjoy scruffy Tim in a leather jacket. You know something is wrong when I can’t gawk over this man. Angela has zero trouble finding him. Because well it’s her. This is why Lucy enlisted her. She needed the best to help her. Such best friend behavior from the minute she enters his car.

Drinking his soda, calling him out, and asking WTF is going on? I adore her brazen bravery. This is why we love Angela Lopez. Willing to get herself fired for him. That she can take the hit not Lucy. I mean she’s not wrong….Angela could easily live off Wes. She would hate it but she could. It's a more viable option. Says it can be ‘Wine o’clock for her.’ LOL I always enjoy them. More of them in s7 please writers.

Tim doesn’t argue with her reasoning. Starts to explain the whole Ray debacle. Why he can’t just let him go. What he has on him. That he needs to catch him in a new crime. So he has reason to actually arrest him. Once Tim fully explains Angela just replies. ‘I’m in.’ Tim is shocked because of course he is ha Even though she is his best friend he can't believe has his back like this. Oh my broken boy. He double checks and asks if she’s sure? Her reply being the absolute best. ‘Yeah. I got your back boo.’ Hehe Lucky she’s your best friend my love.

We rejoin our bestie duo at the docks. Scoping out Ray on whatever back door deals he’s doing. She is studying Tim hard in this scene. It’s the best. Angela tries to impart some logic to Tim. Saying he’s followed Ray for two days and nothing. Asking how long he’s going to do this? Tim replying the most Tim Bradford reply. ‘As long as it takes.’ Angela is on her game today and doesn’t let him get away with it. Saying he’s just going to walk away from his job? From his relationship with Lucy? All to arrest a guy he hasn’t thought about in over a decade?

Something isn’t adding up for her and she is letting him know it. Angela gives her patented look. Knowing it’s something more. There’s a reason she’s such a good detective. Woman knows how to get to the root of things. Tim has only given her surface info at this point. Definitely not enough to justify this crusade he’s currently on. Let’s him know Lucy would understand why he lied on the report. She would even commend him for it really. We know she would. She love his soft heart so much. Tim agrees and says she would still get in trouble for knowing and not reporting him to IA.

A risk she would gladly take if you’d let her Timothy… It’s here Angela digs a little deeper. He gets a second stare. Tim finding it aggravating and telling her as such. Angela let's her next truth bomb drop. Saying he’s doing it to protect himself as much as her. That there’s something he’s not admitting. Mic drop. Nailed it and Tim knows it but won’t entertain it further. Has him dead to rights and he knows it. We then get the glorious BFF line. Like it or not she is. lmao Has your number just like your girl.

We return to Angela’s for Tim to break our hearts some more. Theme of this episode. One punch after another. Literally no time to breathe unless you check out during the other SL's. Which I did tbh.... They’re alone so she probes Tim further. Knowing that it has to be so much more than a report. He wouldn't let Ray get under his skin like this if it was that shallow. That he's bearing the weight of something on his soul. Tim gives in and begrudgingly explains what happened. That he had been squad leader most of his tour. That he was looking to move up to Sergeant First Class. Only caveat was he couldn’t have any rampant criminality in his unit.

Ray was in the way of this. Tim decided to keep it within the squad if they caught him themselves. He did an unsanctioned mission… Oh Timothy….He explains how Ray called in an air strike on them. Did this the minute he knew he was trapped. Schmuck would rather take them with him. Such a cowards move. The way Tim describes the air strike. Ugh my heart. His eyes filling up as he depicts how the world imploded around them. Eric is a master of emotion here. So expressive. Looks like he is right back there, with the most haunted look on his face. He thought he was going to die. Being so vulnerable I wanna hug him.

He and Mark were lucky though. The Humvee took the hit for them. But Henderson and Coyle were ripped apart….Ugh and now we see what he’s been bearing. That he led his men to their deaths. Their loyalty and faith in him had cost them their lives. All because Tim was in pursuit of a promotion. For personal glory. Explains why he wouldn't praise himself or take awards pre-Lucy. Or advance his career before her either. He didn’t feel he deserved anything good. Because the last time that was important to him, he got two of his men killed. Imma go cry now.... My poor broken boy. The PTSD is so real.

Eric continues to rip my heart out. Telling Angela there was so much blood. I can't imagine seeing that. They for sure thought Ray was KIA. No way he survived. It’s the way he catches his breath, tears in his eyes in this next part. I'm so upset for him. The way he points at himself when he says leadership. The failure and shame he feels for what he did. When we found out it would be his military background I was excited. I knew it would be dark though. Whatever this was. But my god. I wasn’t expecting it to be this. But makes perfect sense why he’s kept it from Lucy. He can’t bring himself to forgive what he did. How could he expect Lucy to? To still look at him like he’s the same man she fell in love with?

The deep rooted shame is evident in this scene. This is quite the weight to keep on your soul. One I’m sure he’s never told anyone. Not even Isabel about I bet. My guess is he buried it once he was state side. Like most do with trauma. Hoping it would never resurface. Sadly not how trauma goes... The way he tells the story it’s for the first time. You can tell. He’s right back there re-living it all. This scene gives us so much insight to Tim as a person. Why he is the way he is as a cop. As a person. It explains why he lost his damn mind in 2x01 over Lucy falsifying the report. Probably brought him right back there.

This is a very revealing scene. It makes sense why he shoulders things alone. It’s punishment for what he did. Doesn’t think anyone could love him enough to shoulder it with him. That breaks my damn heart. This ep makes me so emotional. *sad sigh* Nothing scarier than the person you love seeing you at your worst. With his background of abuse, it makes sense why he’s hidden this from Lucy. He doesn’t feel worthy of the comfort she would bring him. Only shame that he made a mistake. Tim is very self loathing and this is why. Coupled with his childhood it makes so much sense why he is the way he is…This one is emotionally heavy af. All his unchecked trauma barreling through like a bullet train in this ep.

Lucy arrives home and Tamara is there to take care of her. Saying she ordered pizza. I love this. She needed this. Lucy leaves the room to drop off her stuff. We hear a knock at the door and it’s Ray.... Earlier he scanned Tim’s vehicle and got Lucy’s address. Which made me sick to my stomach. I knew him grabbing it was going to end this way. Best way to get to Tim is through his heart. When Tamara opened the door and it was him..The hairs at the back of my neck stood up. Tamara calls out for Lucy. She emerges and goes into protect mode right away. Eyes on Tamara first but also hating her gun is locked up.

Heart was in my damn throat the entire time. Lucy handles herself like the bad ass we’ve all come to know and love. Commend her for keeping herself composed when she was terrified. I also adore her not putting up with any of his scare tactic BS. Her line about the only call she’s gonna make is for the ambulance. Like hot damn Lucy. Way to protect Tamara and yourself. It's true she could take his scrawny ass easily. I long to be the confident BAMF she is.

Doesn't hurt she’s still got the rage burning from being in the dark. So not only is her life being threatened now Tamara's is. This is Lucy's FINAL straw. It’s now bled over in the worst way. Not only that but she still has no idea what’s going on. We can see that mama bear come out loud and proud. It’s one thing for her to be involved it’s a whole other thing with Tamara dragged in. This is what pushes her to reach out To Tim. To cut his crap. Whatever this is has now endangered an innocent life. One she loves fiercely and will die to protect.

Lucy RAGE calls Tim and unleashes hell. As she should… Demanding to know where his ass is. Tim knowing he can’t hold her back any longer. So he lets her know. I mean Lucy is million percent done with this crap now. With his behavior, him cutting her out, all of it. So very very done. Rightfully so. I do love him answering ‘Hey, what’s wrong?’ Knowing she wouldn’t be calling unless something was. He for sure would’ve dropped it all to go to her.

But she was way too pissed to see that fact. She shows up like a bat out of hell. Biting his head off immediately saying 'Does she look ok?' No….she does not. Forever love Angela escorting Tamara out of the room. Mom and dad about to have it out so let's go. The concern all over his face kills me though. This was the last thing he wanted to happen. The very thing he was striving for by shutting her out backfired horribly. Not only did he endanger her but Tamara too.

It was Lucy’s final straw and she is showing it. These were the types of fights that are needed though. As much as this hurts she is fighting him to save them. Because he is worth the bother and effort. Just like he stated in 5x08. Asking why her and Chris never fight?They’re fighting against each other to protect one another it kills me. Also you know your ship has chemistry when even their fights are lightning in a bottle goodness. Just as amazing as their happy stuff. I can't speak enough to their fantastic on-screen chemistry. Even though this fight is fiery and hurts to watch it's hurts so good to watch them hash it out.

Tim explains who Ray is and Lucy don’t give a single fuck. It’s not who he is that has her raging. It’s him cutting her out that is. I love the movements Melissa does in this scene. I know she had an interview about her being mad. Thinking she was awkward. It wasn't at all. Was so real. I think she nailed it. Her body language is on point. How she stamps her foot. Shouting how who Ray is doesn’t explain why he iced her out. At all. She is VIBRATING with anger. Yelling at Tim to stop protecting her. Which he won't. That is like asking him to stop breathing tbh. He would rather die than not protect her. Ugh his reply of ‘ I can’t. I won’t.’ They’re at odds with the deepest part of their souls. Of who they are.

Tim will never stop protecting her. Just as she will never stop trying to help him. Been in her DNA from the jump. For him to not let her is just as painful as Tim not protecting her. *sigh* This is where their intense need to protect each other backfires so badly. Sounds romantic and sometimes it is. But in these type of moments, it shows the cracks in their already fractured communication. It real though. Communicating is HARD. Especially when you both come from abusive homes where that wasn't taught. If you aren't taught healthy communication you're just not going to do it. Simple as that. It's like a muscle that never gets used. Then when it does it feels so unnatural and painful.

These two are going to be the death of me. Hell they already have been. They have so much to work on in s7. It’s insane. I'm excited for it though. Lucy then brings up how Lopez was read in but not her. She is HIS PERSON. If anyone should be read in it’s her. Consequences be damned. Yeah Angela does have less to lose but that is NOT the point. Tim is clearly not getting that fact. I adore Lucy grabbing his hands during the end of the scene. Mirroring back she 'Can’t and won’t' not help him. Telling him she is over being to good girlfriend. He’s going to let her in NOW. Oooh lord. You Tell 'em Luce.

Their OP to foil Ray goes off without a hitch. Tim tells him it’s over. That there isn’t an air stroke to save him this time. Ray tells Tim ‘I am the air strike. I’m about to blow up your whole life.’ *grumble* It’s so true on many many levels. Watching Tim be so stoic in his IA investigation kills me. Wish could've fit this in. Eric be out here again making me emotional af two eps in a row. You can see the tears in his eyes but the rest of him is controlled. That military background of his coming in clutch.

it pains me to watch him lie and have it destroy him. I remember I saw people saying how could he lie? That’s not like him. Um no. This is very like Tim. Not to lie but to protect those he loves. If lying protects Lucy and Lopez that’s what he’s going to do. He has a history of being a little gray for those he loves. Isabel is a good example of that. All that went down with Detective Murphy was similar to this. ‘Some things matter more.’ Once again rings true with him. Tim is believed over Ray. Because even if Tim doesn’t want to believe this he is the better man.

Better reputation and Percy closes the investigation. Have missed him. But whoever he’s around it’s not good. Love the actor though. What happens after is rough to say the least. Never seen Grey as disappointed in Tim as he is here. Reprimanding him and having to report him to Pine SUCKS. R.I.P. Metro Tim. I loved you so…It’s killing Tim to have Grey look at him this way. Deeply respects him and to be scolded by him cuts him. Just dismisses Tim without further comment or fight….

God almighty the song playing in the background. I don’t even remember it. I only watched this scene once. I think I blacked out a lot in this moment. The immense shock rocked my system. Suffice to say it’s beautiful. The piano, the haunting oohs and lyrics are the perfect backdrop to this devastating scene. I felt this building anxiety watching this scene. Waiting for the hammer to drop. When she pulled him into her arms *phew* It was first breath I had taken in nearly two episodes. These eps had me on the razor's edge of sanity. I love her waiting outside for him and instantly pulling him into her arms. Just like Tim did for her in 5x22. I'm fine.....Imma cry as I write this. Horse heaven playing in my ears right now. Adding to my emotional state. These two getting me all weepy.

I’ll be honest I thought if a break up was coming, it was coming from Lucy the first time. Which is why this devastated me like it did. Having the full season in hand now. Makes total sense it’s Tim. At the time I thought would be her. But that wouldn’t be like Lucy at all. After everything he put her through. The secrets, the lies and shutting her out. She had every damn right. But she loves this man unconditionally. So unconditionally. Everything Lucy does in this scene is a reflection of that unconditional love. There to pick up his broken pieces despite all of that went down. Look at her in those gifs above.

Especially that second one. First time she took a breath too. So grateful to be here for him in this moment. I truly thought ‘Oh. Maybe we’re ok... She’s hugging him.’ Encasing him in her arms. Trying to absorb all of his hurt. Supporting him the way he sought out days previous. Gently cradling him against her. It's the tender way she nestled her fingers at the back of his head that gets me. Tapping into some ship crack for me there. *phew* Honestly thought with her being there for him they would make it out unscathed. I truly did. The chemistry from this hug is unreal btw. Tim doesn’t feel worthy in the least. The way he slumps against her. Doesn’t really hug her back like normal. Can't see Lucy is so willing to absorb his hurt and pain. To love him through this. This hug is beautifully tragic.

Lucy releases him and he looks as broken as I’ve ever seen him. 4x09 x 1000 tbh. He shirks away from her. Hands in his pocket. So disgusted and ashamed with himself. Something l've learned in Pilates is posture and the importance of it. When you stand tall and at full height. You are confident and sure of yourself. When you are slumped it presents a lack of confidence, shame, and feeling unworthy. His posture is screaming that. Like he feels he shouldn’t even be in her presence right now. He crushes me with how he says he lied about everything.

Then sarcastically almost sardonically follows it up with ‘But hey it saved my job….’ The amount of disdain in his voice is gut wrenching. The whole reason he was in this Ray mess was to further himself. To keep his career intact. He saw a promotion and went for it at all costs. What he just did lying to IA was to be that same man again. (In his mind) To put his career first over what’s right. Risked people's lives again as well. People he loves. Sickens him ten years later he’s doing the same thing all over again. Even though it's so different this time. There is still nobility in it with saving Lucy and Lopez. But this man can't see that right now. Doesn't see any good in this situation or himself.

Lucy does her best to sympathize. Telling him it was an impossible situation. If it had been her she would’ve done the same thing. Thing is if it had been for Tim yes she would’ve without question. But he can’t see the forest for the trees atm. He is drowning absolutely drowning in his self-loathing. Tim continues on with the painful self flogging. Telling her she would’ve never been in his position. Putting her on a pedestal while he makes himself very very small. That OTP line from 6x03 from him 'You could never disappoint me.' That is true. The problem is he doesn't realize he could never disappoint her either. Tragically Tim doesn't view it that way. Only sees he's not worthy.

Lucy once again tries to pick up his pieces. Telling him he thought he could handle it. He was wrong but made it right. It’s like she can sense him pulling away in this moment. Doing her best to calm his fears about himself. Trying to do what she’s always done in years past best. Build him up. Soothe him. Sadly she isn’t gaining an inch of ground with him. He is stuck in how he feels and there is no budging him. Tim is morose saying he wishes it was that easy….We can see the incredible amount hurt on his face. Telling her he just lied to two men he deeply respects. He is coming undone rapidly and Lucy can see it. I adore her putting her hands on him. Trying to right his ship.

Ground him to her in this moment. Because once again it's something she’s done so well in the past. Tim is spiraling so hard he can’t see her gesture for what it is. Tells her he just betrayed everything he thought was right about himself. *heart clutch* Lucy can’t stand him talking down about himself. Tries to interrupt but Tim won’t allow it. Lucy graciously nods and lets him get it out. Especially when he tells her how hard this is for him. She is so wonderfully understanding it makes my heart ache. Tim feels like he is a bad guy. Thought he had gotten past this and was sucked back in so easily. Truly believed he had become a better person since then. (He has) Ray was right he was gonna blow up his entire life.

He just exposed Tim for the fraud he already felt he was. Bringing his greatest sin to light. Bringing up feelings of not being deserving. Of inadequacy. His abuse background pulling into the station and not leaving. Tim is back to a place of massive self loathing. Saying he has been lying to himself for years. Thinking he’s gotten better when he hasn’t. To him he reverted back to the man he thought he left behind. Not only that he put his person. The woman he loves at risk to cover up his past. To cover up his shame. It’s hitting him like a freight train of terrible realization. Continuing on to say he can’t go back to the way it was. I was hopeful when he said ‘Right now.’ Then followed it up with maybe never….

Lucy had been nodding along. Being so wonderfully empathetic and understanding. She was with him till he said that. Then she is hit with her own terrible realization. He’s leaving her. She is losing him. In the same parking lot where he told her to take a risk. Where she expressed her concern over losing him if they did. Worried about losing the most important relationship in her life due that risk. The same spot where he told her 'Unless it is.' A giant stab to our collective shipper hearts.

It's why Lucy is in a state of utter shock. As we all were tbh. She shakily asks him if he’s breaking up with her? When he said I’m sorry. I remember having to pause. Freak out and cry. I recall chanting ‘No no no….’ To myself repeatedly. My dog was very alarmed. Because I was distraught af. I couldn't believe this was really happening. My happy place was being decimated before my eyes.

Look at the range of emotions on Tim's face before he delivers that line though. Eric you why you doing this to me? They blow this scene out the damn water. it's so visceral. and raw. He looks like he's about to have a breakdown before he delivers that line. Battling with himself about it. There's a desperate need to want to stay with her. But his self doubt and hatred wins out knowing he isn't deserving. Do I think he came out thinking he was going to do this? A little. I think the more he spoke about it and himself the decision was made. He wasn't going to be be talked off this ledge.

The way Lucy replies after this rips my heart out. This break up feels like death by a thousand paper cuts. Months later and this hurts just as much as the first time. Lucy doesn't hold back in the least. Telling Tim he doesn't get to do that. Her line about using it as an excuse is so spot on. This Ray situation has hit VERY close to home for Tim. An insanely sensitive subject for him. It's rubbed against a wound that never really healed properly. Just was buried in the back of his mind.

He doesn’t have the capacity or emotional maturity to handle it. So he ejects out as a coping mechanism. Lucy calls his ass right away for it. It’s so painful to her that he is doing this excuse. Because it feels like a crappy cheat to them. To her. It's truly a cop out and our girl deserves better than this. Especially after all they’ve been through together. All that rapport and trust they’ve built over the years. It’s an insult to who they are as a couple and the relationship they’ve developed. Sadly that all vanishes in this moment. It’s stunning Lucy and straight murdering my feels.

Her ‘That's not okay.’ is a dagger to my shipper heart. The way she continues to repeat herself cause she's in shock. Ugh.This goes down as one of the most painful breakups I've had to go through. Lucy is so upset he is going this route. Melissa had a great interview (quite a few actually.) About the lie line and using it as an excuse for Tim. She noted Lucy is upset cause how he’s acting isn’t them. That they get to have these conversations. Not only have them but recover and grow from them. It’s what she expecting from him in this moment. It's what she expected from his 5x08 Mantra going into this relationship.

She is telling him I’ve got your back. I’ve got you. What are you doing? What happened to ‘Unless it is?’ Lucy continues to vehemently disagree with him. As she should. The worst part is Tim says ‘I know.’ Like he knows what he’s doing is wrong. Knows to eject after everything isn’t ok. Yet he can’t stop himself. He is not emotionally mature enough to handle this conversation properly. Also too blinded by his own self-hatred to see the unconditional love she is showing for him in this moment. God this is painful.

Tim then comes in with the breakup line of ‘You’re an incredible person.' Lucy can’t believe this shit . She really can’t. That Tim is is doing this to her. To them. Even though Tim is being genuine with his statement. You can hear it in his voice. Doesn't do anything to soothe the wounds he's causing. Once again Melissa crushing it with the upset body language. The mannerisms are so on point. Maybe it's because I'm Italian and I use my hands when I'm upset. I do exactly what she's doing. Why I appreciate it so much. It's so real.

It's a cop out what he is doing. 'It’s not you it’s me' schtick. We see the anger building in Lucy. She can't even look at him in the second gif. For him to toss away what they have is painful enough. To do it based off a cliched excuse is destroying Lucy. Thinking what they had was worth so much more than this. Thought they worth the nasty fights. No way she knows fully what happened or she would figure out why he's really doing this. That’s what makes the rest of Lucy's replies so god damn tragic. She is trying to hold onto him for dear life. But is only being pushed away in return...

Tim continues to push forward with this breakup. Letting her know she deserves better than him. It's SO much deeper than that but it's the only way he can convey it right now. Her ‘Oh my god…’ This is her worst nightmare. Her biggest fear come to life. This is why she hesitated starting this relationship. Why she was so afraid of risking her most important relationship. It's unfolding before her eyes and she can’t stop it.

Like a bad dream she can't seem to wake up from. We all wish we could...Tim has never felt worthy of Lucy’s love, light or praise. This reaction just proves that. It's been building for a long time and this is the final result of it. It’s not logical but a trauma brain rarely is. The amount of emotional and physical abuses he endured growing up left it's mark. Has him truly convinced Lucy could never love him knowing what he did. Tim feels he does not deserve her comfort, support or love.

Punishing himself and denying what he need most because he feels unworthy. Thinks he has made a mistake so grave there is no coming back for him. No way she could love him if she knew. So he like Angela stated earlier Tim is protecting himself. Pains me to watch. Now as I've said before it's not to excuse but to explain his side of it. I understand why he's doing it even if it's fucked up.

He doesn't give Lucy much more than she deserves better. Tells her it's why he's walking away. This man feels so undeserving of the love she has to give. In his mind he thinks he’s doing her a kindness. To separate herself from such a shameful and broken man. That she could do better than him. To Tim he made the biggest sin and can’t live with himself about it. He can't envision a world where Lucy would love him through it. The tragedy is she already was in this scene.

Lucy isn’t hearing any of it. Full on panic spiral that I shared in this moment. Her ‘Don’t do this. Why are you doing this?’ Is the most soul crushing part. She can feel him slipping through her hands. Like sand rushing through her fingertips. She can’t hold onto a grain of him. Can only stand there as he gives up on them. His face in the third gif...Knife to my soul. *screams into a pillow* It's killing him to walk away from her. Eric and his expressive eyes has me bawling. The quiver in his bottom lip as well. Gah it hurts to watch them both in so much pain. It’s the way she pulls away with one hand, but is clutching his other hand for dear life, that really gets me in that last gif.

Asking him once again why are you doing this? I shared that sentiment in this moment.. Tim stands firm in his decision to end them and rip all of our hearts out. Eric had a great quote about how Tim handed this whole thing. ‘He is impulsive and he reacts instead of thinking things through. And it can come out as a bit too strong.’ He feels he is a burden Lucy therefore he is removing himself. Not thinking about the damage it’s going to do to her. The immense regret he’s going to feel when he regulates a bit more.

Something therapy has taught me is we are ruled by our nervous system. Anxiety, stress, fear etc Tim’s was haywire in this moment. All of them going off at once. Not thinking clearly. Acting out of fight or flight. He took the flight option unfortunately. The tragic way he grabs her head and gives her the saddest head kiss. Shattering all of our hearts in the process. It’s the devastated look on his face when he strokes her hair and takes off. One final gut punch from him. It's like he’s leaving behind his greatest treasure and can’t bear to be around it any longer. Lucy is clutching to him until he departs. *snifffle*

The man actually thinks she is better off without him. Truly believes that. Even if Lucy had succeeded it keeping Tim, this would've reared it’s ugly head again down the road. This breakup ruined my friggin life. I kid you not. They were my happy place. My consistent happy place. And now that was gone. It affected my mental health a little too not gonna lie. I think I was in mourning for three weeks. Honestly I still am. Low key will be till they're fixed. Those three weeks were unbearable. But also needed. Thank you again to my bestie D for being my mourning partner through out that. Kept me sane.

That being said I think this will push them in the best direction. A healthier and stronger one. I truly believe that. I recently broke up with a friend who I had been friends with for ten years. It was very hard on me but time. Boundaries were being pushed and it wasn't healthy anymore. My therapist pointed me to a wonderful book called ‘Goodbyes and good boundaries. ’ While It helped heal my heart it also has really good pieces in it. Stuff made me think of this very ep tbh. Sure that wasn't her goal LOL But my brain is always in a Chenford state of mind in some way or another.

First one that made me think of them. ‘Health cannot bond to unhealth.’ As much as it wasn’t fair for Lucy. And god it wasn’t after everything else this season. Tim was in such a radioactive state staying with her wouldn’t have worked anyway. He was radiating turmoil. Lucy can do a lot for him but not this. He NEEDED therapy so much. There are things you learn in there that only your therapist can help you with. He was unhealth and Lucy was trying to keep her empathetic healthy self to him. It was never going to work. Not unless Tim put in some work. Which he couldn't at this point in time.

“Relationship often die not because of conversations never had but rather conversations needed but never had.” Another good one made me think of them. Tim was not ready in the least for the adult conversation required of him in this moment. Or their entire relationship really. They both danced around the issues a lot. 6x02 closest we got. Even then it was one sided. Thus them dying in this moment. Despite Lucy’s damndest to keep them afloat. Remind him of what they’re fighting for. Of why they started this. This breakup was painful af. Despite how this wrecked my world it’s going to be good for them in the long run.

I will say Lucy in that last gif was all of us in that moment. It was a soul crushing moment that decimated this fandom. Still blows my mind Melissa and Eric were surprised just how insanely devastated we were. Why they did those lovely posts during the three weeks. To thank us and to hold on. Growth is coming. They’re going to be even better after this. Doesn’t mean this didn’t hurt like a SOB and won’t long after they reunite. Curse you Eric and Melissa. You are incredible to evoke such emotions out of us all.

Thank you for going through this with me again. It wasn’t easy but they always worth it. Appreciate any and all comments, likes or reblogs I get. I shall see you all in 6x07 :)

Side notes non chenford

Balian doing the creepy bed thing again. Just have to note that.

Also can’t believe they didn’t end the ep with their breakup. There is a whole minute or so of I don’t give a shit after that scene. I was so distraught they could’ve had Nolan walk into a wall and I wouldn't have noticed.

[aristaspark]

You're like, the greatest Kenlynn shipper I know. You have any idea of why do Darius love Brooklynn if they're not going to be canon? That kind of plot is very common and Kenlynn already break up. So why? I know Brooklynn didn't wanted their relationship to end, but I don't see how they will keep going... You said something like "Darius learning how to deal with rejection is a mature theme they would bring here". But Kenji learning to let go wouldn't be a mature theme too? Or Kenlynn realizing it can't work is also a mature theme...

Hello, well, first things first thanks for the compliment 😭 (?)

So to adress your point, me saying that Darius's arc being about dealing with rejection (and his guilt) makes for a compelling storyline doesn't mean that I think the same can't be said for Kenji and Brooklynn.

That's why I wasn't even mad when they introduced the storyline in season one, because it was believable that Darius could fall in love with her and it was very in character for Brooklynn to be obsessed with an investigation to the point where she neglected Kenji, it made sense and was simply very good writing. So, yeah, coming into season 2 I was sure they were going to take the "kenji/brooklynn both realize they could never work" route and shove dinostar down our throats to build them up, because looking at the story as a media with a fandom, that was what seemed more likely.

But then there was the promotional material in which Brooklynn only wrote to Kenji, which made me really doubt my conviction. And then season 2.

I think I already listed pretty much everything that suggested, at least to me, that the writers were going for Kenlynn, or AT LEAST that dinostar would remain platonic.

I wouldn't have been mad if they had made dinostar canon (still possible), it was kind of expected since they had Darius fall in love with her. But season 2 suggests it's not the direction they're heading towards (according to me at least) and honestly, I'm glad.

I'm happy because they really stepped up the writing and character conflicts since jwcc, and to me having Brooklynn reciprocate his feelings would be REALLY questionnable writing at best and straight up fanservice at worse.

In universe Brooklynn has been with Kenji for 6 years. They have being a couple for far longer than they have ever been friends. And it was Kenji who broke up. And you want me to believe she would fall for her a guy she has always seen as her best friend only a week after her break up? 😭 Mind you, a best friend she only visited because she was still obsessed with her investigation, not because she wanted to see him (proof she was like that with everyone, her relationship with Kenji wasn't the problem, it was her).

My take on Darius's arc was basically me trying to understand where they were taking his character, why they had introduced this storyline in the first place if it wasn't gonna go "anywhere" as everyone puts it.

But that's the point, we're so obsessed with shipping that we basically forget that it's not all that makes a story, and IT SHOULDN'T BE.

Darius having this arc wouldn't have been in vain even if he doesn't end up with Brooklynn. It gave him his entire arc in season 1, with him being filled with grief and guilt over her death, and it also gave him his conflict with Kenji. It made his character compelling, relatable, interesting. Like, shipping isn't all that matters, whether they end up together or not it's such a compelling story, so why would they refrain for telling it simply because of fandom culture? And to me it's just a testament of how better the writing has gotten since jwcc. The characters no longer have one dimensional relationships/conflicts with each other but have real conflicts/problematics. I'm not only speaking in terms of shipping, but also other storylines. Sammy not speaking to her family, her and yaz struggling with their long-distance relationship, Ben's paranoia, Kenji loosing two of the two most important people in his life back to back, having a death wish, Brooklynn loosing a limb, being cut from all the people she loves for months...

It's clear the writers are putting the characters in very uncomfortable situations, like, death wish and the loss of a limb, please ???

So why would Darius be any different? Why would they refrain from tackling the subject of unrequited love, of messy feelings and confusing friendship with love?

I think that what I'm trying to say is that it's a mistake to look at jwct the same as jwcc/as a kids show cattering to the fans. They're clearly not writing storylines to please the fans, but want to tackle very real subjects, and treat their characters as real people and I respect them so much for that.

I'm gonna stop here because I feel like I'm repeating myself (which I totally am, I'm sure I already wrote that in my endless ramblings). Sorry if I got carried away 😂

And (because I feel like I need to say it) I could be TOTALLY wrong. I'm only making theories on my account, I don't know sh*t except from what's in the show, so it's totally possible dinostar will end up together making me look like a clown 😂

[lost-in-fiction-like-ur-mom]

I’d love to request a fic with a female reader and a angsty/comfort storyline with the Bad Batch.

For a broad storyline I was thinking something by along the lines of a female reader joining the Bad Batch (per Hunter’s idea) and Crosshair and/or Echo not being very happy about it. However they eventually they come around to having another girl in the group.❤️

Winning Approval

Clone Force 99 x Platonic!Reader

Summary- You felt as if you were living a purpose-less life, so when Hunter asks you to join his crew, you say yes! Not everyone on the force is as happy though... Takes place during and after Season 1, Ep. 2.

A/N- Thank you so much for requesting! I appreciate it so much, but I think I'm done writing platonic xD. This was sooo hard for me to write. I love the challenge, but i'm not sure how great my platonic writing skills are!

Word Count- 1,454

Growing up, helping people seemed natural. You remember discovering this when your old friend Kaiya fell and scratched her knee. It was second nature to dress her wound and comfort her. You were nine at the time.

Your mother enrolled you in medical classes as much as she could, you learned how to set bones, stitch holes, and treat infections. Amongst many other skills.

The city you lived in was soon taken over by the empire, but you found a way out before it was too late. That's where you found yourself- living with Suu and her husband Cut. The two had taken you in when they found out your home had been destroyed.

It didn't hurt when you found out you and Suu's parents knew each other in their youth.

When you had stumbled onto Hunter- he and his crew had set off a trap you had set in the fields. Your gun raised at him was lowered by Cut, claiming he knew them.

Things blurred together since then, everything moved so fast. Having to relocate away from the empire again was not something you fashioned. You were tired of running, and expressed your concerns.

Hunter initially suggested dropping you off at the planet of your choice, (a repayment for taking care of one of Omegas wounds).

Crash landing on a moon wasn't on anyone's roster, but it happened nonetheless. It did, however, give yourself an opportunity to prove yourself to them.

You helped Tech repair a part of the hyper-drive, earning his favor.

You shared your rations with Wrecker, earning his approval.

You played and entertained with Omega, earning her and Hunters trust.

Last was Echo. You wanted him to like you, as you enjoyed everyone's company. They were so kind to you, and didn't pay any mind to flaws. They knew themselves that they were defective- what was one more defect?

Maybe you were in over your head, would they really accept you as a member of their squad? They just met you a week ago. For all they knew you were an Empire spy... You couldn't deny that you wanted to stay though. You felt like you belonged- finally.

When Echo still avoided you like the plague and the ship was ready to fly again, you felt like you had run out of time. You sulked around the ship for awhile, waiting for Hunter to ask where you wanted to be dropped off.

That was until you noticed- he hadn't asked you. It had been hours and he had said nothing about you leaving.

This made you crack, anxiety like ice through your veins.

"Hunter, I mean this in the least selfish way possible. But, why haven't you asked where I wanted to go yet? What planet?" You thought you messed up when his face fell. He looked dissapointed?

"Well, we were hoping you would want to stay. We were going to formally ask, but Wrecker and Omega are still making the poster." He rubbed the pack of his neck and chuckled a little bit. "Would you like to join us? If not, that's completely understandable. Just name the planet and we will be headed there." He stated, making sure you knew you had options.

"R-really? You guys want me to join you?" You wanted to smack your head at how cliche you sounded. Though, you didn't have time to think on it, as Hunter started talking again.

"We don't have an official medic. While Tech possesses all the knowledge needed, he doesn't have a, uh how do I put it? A steady hand when it comes to medical means." He reasoned.

"You are more than capable as we've seen, and between Wrecker and Omega we need a medic- bad." You smiled at this. You felt a purpose. Someone needed you! You would be able to help your squad and civilians you came across on any journey.

Before you could respond, Omega and Wrecker barreled through the mid-section of the ship. Omega held a small banner in her hand, and Wrecker a large sheet of paper. It was full of colorful pictures, drawn by the two.

Your heart warmed at the effort they put in, all to make you feel welcomed.

"How could I say no? You guys have been so perfect to me, and I want to help you guys as much as I can." You smiled up at Hunter, he patted you on the shoulder. His way of officially letting you on the squad.

After that day, things started to move more smoothly. Yeah, you had some bad run-ins, almost got captured a few times, and had many near-death experiences. But, you were with your family through it all. The only problem was Echo.

Maybe 'problem' wasn't too nice of a word. Echo never did anything wrong. He just, never seemed to like your company. You guessed he didn't have to like you, not everyone would. Because of this, you pushed back your guilty feelings surrounding him. That was until you over-heard a conversation between him and Hunter.

"Something feels off about her." Echo told Hunter. You couldn't see either of them, and didn't want to expose your position by moving.

"Yeah, and what's that?"

"I can't place it. I don't understand how everyone can just accept her, no questions asked." Echo sounded confused.

"She's shown us many times that she can handle herself. Plus, Omega needs another female on the ship.'' Hunter defended you, but still wanted to hear Echos concerns.

"She's not a clone. She doesn't think like us!" Ah, so that's why he's been so put-off by you. It was because you weren't a clone. You assumed he was so used to clones, that of course you were an odd piece in their clone family.

You slowly moved back to your sleeping cot. You sunk down slowly. It wasn't your fault, really. You can't control where or how you were born. Thoughts surrounded you. Was it that obvious? Were you that different from them?

As much as you wanted to pack your bags and not burden anyone else, you decided to talk to Echo first.

After landing on a planet to resupply, you asked to speak to Echo alone.

"Uh, sure." He replied, skeptical. You both exited the ship, though keeping close.

"Echo, I didn't really know how to bring this up. I figured I should just get straight to the point?" You asked, not wanting to waste his time.

He nodded, looking straight to you.

"I overheard you and Hunter talking last rotation..." You nervously picked at a nail. He still stared, not wavering.

"I can't help that i'm not a clone. I'm not sorry either, but I do want to know what I can do. To gain your trust." You dropped your hand, eager for his response.

He licked his lips, thinking. "I'm sorry you heard that..."

"Echo, I don't care. I just- I want to be a part of this family..." You mustered out. Now or never!

This surprised him, "What are you talking about. You already are!"

He seemed, mad? Was he really that disgusted by 'normal' humans?

"I can't help that i'm not a clone!" You regrettably yelled, throwing you arms up.

"That doesn't matter, everyone accepts you anyways!" His words were strained, like he didn't want anyone to know.

"Why don't you?" You whispered.

He sighed and took a step back. "When I first joined force 99, it wasn't as easy."

You couldn't imagine what he was referring to. You knew he was a regular clone before joining Hunter, but what did that have to do with anything?

After seeing your confused look, he continued. "I wasn't born a defective clone, I became one. It took a lot of time to understand how to use this. But you fit in so easily." He gestured to his mechanical arm.

"I had no idea you felt that way... I wasn't trying to mean anything-" He cut you off.

"I know, and really, we do need a medic. I was just being resentful, I'm sorry."

"I'm not trying to take anyone's place. The team wouldn't be the same without you. Besides, Omega adores you, and I think Hunter will do whatever it takes to keep her happy." You laughed, he luckily gave out a chuckle as well.

"Thanks. I think It'll just take some time to get used to the difference." He said, honestly.

"I get that, just let me know if there's anything I can do... Ya know, to speed things up?" You smiled up at him. It was then that you knew everything would be fine. That you really had found your family, and nothing could take you from them.

A/N- Thank you so much for reading! I am sorry if this isn't what you had in mind! Feel free to send in another request if you would like a more specific plot! Again, sorry that my platonic writing skills aren't that sharp! Tags- (lmk if you want to be tagged as well!) @thethreeeyed-raven @knight-of-flowerss

[luxurydumpsterfire]

Hazbin Hotel ships I like!!! 1¡!!¡(In no particular order) (Includes non-canon ships) (This is just for fun and is not meant to offend anyone!) (Okay, I'm going to stfu now).

Let's go!

Radiodust!

These two live in my head rent free,all day,every day,24/7,365.

And most of the time they're kissing.

Anyways.

We know that they both lived in the same decade and have similar tastes in music and cuisine,which is already a great start! I also love the idea of Alastor adoring everything about Angel EXCEPT for the sex. Cause let's be real,Angel needs that. He deserves a complete and total gentleman who would never lay a finger on him; Especially after tolerating abuse from you-know-who, cough,cough,fuckyouValentino,COUGH.

Also,the tropes??? Good old fashioned lover boy x Killer Queen? Mafia x Serial killer? Hello???

10/10, Literally one of my favs.

2. Chaggie!

My babies!

Okay, I admit these two are very cute. Since neither of these two age normally, Charlie's a hellborn and Vaggie's a fallen angel,it means they'll get to grow old together! :)

I love the opposites attract trope and these two are no exception!

I would definitely like for them to get more screen time in the second season 2,since they didn't get much in the first one,but other then that, they're perfect!

3. Nifty x Baxter

(Do these two have a ship name? Idk?)

Baxter hasn't even come on to the show yet but I can already tell these two are going to be Chaos gremlins,in their own,lovable,concerning ways 😌

4. Lucililith

I don't believe for a SECOND these two aren't in love,even if just a little bit.

Yes,yes,yes,I know they're divorced. AND? THEY CAN STILL GET BACK TOGETHER! THEY'RE IN THEIR DIVORCE ERA, GUYS.

I think it's mostly the fanart that got me hooked,lol. And the fact that I would love to have them as my parents, honestly.

5. CasinoBomb

(No photo for this one,sorry 🥲)

I...I don't know,man,@zaebeecee 's posts about them altered my brain chemistry and...I DON'T KNOW WTF HAPPENED,IDK

I just saw one of their posts and the more I thought about it,the more I liked it

Something about them just clicks,you know? It's one of those ships that makes no sense but also a lot of sense.

Also,if you don't know what characters I'm talking about, it's Husk x Cherri bomb.

5. Radiorose

He doesn't mind her touching him 😢

They're so cute,omg 😭

Look at them!!! 💗💗💗

Although I mostly prefer them as besties, I also like the idea of them being together. You can tell he's a lot more comfortable with her then anyone else in the show and I love that ☺️

6. Radiohusk

(Art belongs to @vadoodlevee and it will be taken down if I am asked to).

Ah yes,the two loser old men in love. GIVE THEM TO ME.

They've known each other for years and are sick and tired of each others bs. They know what the other like's and dislike's because they're begrudgingly stuck together. They actually can't stand each other.

I'M SOLD!

And no, I'm not glorifing the slave x master thing. I've shipped these two HARD since the pilot,so calm down.

Alright, let's get more into the crackships/rarepairs. Not counting Casinobomb cause we've actually seen those two interact,lol.

Feel free to give your own personal take on these(as long as they're not hateful)!

7. Caramel Apple!

Apart from me just really liking their ship name,I feel like these two would be a really cute couple. Like,she would take him out to one of her parties when he's feeling down and would comfort him about his relationship with Charlie and Lilith.

I also feel like she would be very polite to Charlie and Vaggie.

And I like the idea of them baking together ❤️

8. Angelic Ballet!

A little hesitant on this one.

So, realistically,these two would probably hate each other. Sera was the one who approved the exterminations,resulting in the death of billions of sinners, which puts Carmila and her daughters in danger. So that's not really a great way to start a relationship...

However, I think in any other circumstances,I think these two would be a nice couple.

They both just want to protect the people they love and are willing to go to extreme measures to do just that. It could be Sera realizing not all sinners are absolute monsters,and some were just people who made mistakes in life. Kinda of like Vaggie realizing the hellborn weren't terrible upon meeting Charlie.

Also, they're both very elegant ladies who need another refined woman to treat them right 😌🏳️‍🌈

[sebadztian]

I rarely get myself invovlved in fandom/shipping discourse, but please allow me to put in my two cents in this whole "A guide for new Kuro fans" drama by sharing my own personal experience.

When I first watched Kuro, I wasn't into Sebaciel. I didn't see them as father-son, but I didn't see their appeal as a unit either, if you know what I mean. I was just watching this new anime without shipping anyone with anyone else (no, not even Cielizzy).

The only reason why I watched Kuro was because of the plot (yes, really). I like the idea of Ciel being the Watchdog and how he behaves like a detective, solving these cases (Azzurro, Jack the Ripper, and even the demon hound anime arc).

I managed to stay 'neutral' for the entire season 1 & 2, believe it or not (totally has nothing to do with how I'd watched them all within 3 days. It was during COVID lockdown, ok? I had nothing else to do!).

Of course, as a fanfic avid reader, I'd gone to AO3 to check out some fanfics and to my surprise, there were a ton of Sebaciel fanfics out there (I wasn't into anime at all and I wasn't aware that Kuro, let alone Sebaciel actually exist).

Since I wasn't into it, I didn't read any of those fics. I looked for the neutral ones because I just wanted to read about how Ciel solved various cases. Unfortunately for me, not many of those existed.

I started looking for more Kuro anime and found the BoC, BoM, and BotA online. Tbh, I was very, very confused. S2 was confusing enough and now this? Naturally, the next thing I did was to do some research about what's going on and that was when I found out that most of the anime aren't canon.

Then I started reading the manga.

In the beginning, I still had the same mindset, that I was just here for the plot. I can't remember exactly what has changed my mind, but then I gave those Sebaciel fics a try and that was when I started shipping them, because I was curious about why people ship them.

I started slow, but as I read those amazing stories and equally engaging manga, I started to see the appeal of Sebaciel and before I knew it, I become a shipper.

I'll say this, there's no way not to ship them if you read the manga. The entire series is built upon their relatinship and the development of their characters, both individually and together as a unit.

You can see this 'unit' as romantic, erotic, mentorship, even business partnership, or other. It really is up to you because your upbringing, your environment, your own characters, etc, might make you look at something in a certain ways.

But please remember that they're just FICTIONAL characters and they remain as such. As invested as you are in the story or the plot, this is just that, a story. Reading it doesn't make you a/an *insert insulting terms for Sebaciel shippers*.

So, in conclusion, for the new Kuro watchers/enjoyers, there is only one rule to watch Kuro: There's no right or wrong way/reason to watch Kuro, but kindly please do not harrass others whose opinions don't align with yours. Everyone has their own life story and it's not within anyone's rights to judge others for what they ship/don't ship. Please respect that and don't be an ass about it.

That's it. Other than that, read, watch, and enjoy the series (or any other series) in whatever way you want.

[eriexplosion]

Bad Batch Season 3 Episode Title Predictions

Okay, so I've poked at the trailer enough that I think I can do a series of predictions that is likely to topple like a house of cards immediately but hey what else is this month of waiting for? Here is my very rough outline of what I'd love to see in season 3 based on nothing but the trailer and Vibes.

Episodes 1-3, "Confined" "Paths Unknown" & "Shadows of Tantiss"

These three seem pretty obvious, we'll likely catch up with Omega and Crosshair first in Confined, which is likely where we'll see these clips from the trailer:

As well as probably the (SAD AS HELL) discussion between Omega and Crosshair shown in the Celebrations trailer. Mix their scenes in with catching up on Hunter, Wrecker, & Echo - I'm actually really attached to the idea that Echo is searching for Tech, having not given up on him. This also parallels to Omega talking to Crosshair, about not giving up - I think that's going to be a theme this season. Can't run away, can't give up. But if Echo is searching for Tech then it might just be Hunter and Wrecker right now, likely giving us a few of their action shots together.

I do think that Omega and Crosshair's escape attempt is going to be relatively early in the season - either at the end of Paths Unknown or the very beginning of Shadows of Tantiss. I went into it more in this post and paired up a few shots of Tantiss' defense systems as well as the crashed ship with Omega and Crosshair. From the look of it, they likely don't make it off planet due to the damage and crash land and have to try to escape and, in the process, are split up and lose each other. Possibly they are able to contact the batch, who are on the way to try and get them when things go wrong.

My guess is that by the end of this three parter we'll have Crosshair reunited with the batch, or about to be, Omega on her own trying to evade Hemlock and his men, and somewhere along the line our reveal that Tech is alive because at this point I can't see them not aiming at a comeback with how hard they're trying to keep his 'death' on all our minds.

Episode 4 - "A Different Approach"

If Crosshair didn't meet up with the batch by the end of the previous three, then probably he does it here, I just get the sense that he's been gone for so long that we need to get him zipped up with the others early in the season, especially since we'll have several reunions to get to by the end of the series.

With Omega still separated but hopefully out of Tantiss at this point, they have to adjust how they plan to find her. She's now a moving target, because she's on the run still and likely unable to contact them. Echo will meet back up with them here, I think, maybe with info on wherever Tech is (my prediction: still on Eriadu in some fashion, either held with the good old pirates & smugglers or possibly by Tarkin himself, but I'm hoping the pirates & smugglers) and Rex will likely come too. I do think that they have their exchange about losing brothers here but rather than being about Tech, as the trailer implied, it's about Nemec or Fireball (or both) who possibly died getting the information. I just feel like those two are not long for this world, unfortunately.

We'll also follow Omega here, now completely alone for the first time. Previously she always had the batch, then she at the very least had Crosshair. Now she has neither and she has to try and figure out what to do. The title does dual work here, both the batch and Omega have to find a different approach in order to try and reunite.

Episode 5 - "The Return"

I feel like this is going to be a mostly Omega centered episode. Where is she returning to is the question, I still think that this refers to a place rather than a person returning. Pet theory - Cid put out several bounties on her to try and get her tracked down and rescued and she gets a blast from the past when she's grabbed by Bane a second time and taken to Ord Mantell. She of course is Not trusting Grandma Crimes anymore, but Cid is trying to redeem herself and fix what she broke.

While this is going on, the parallel return is the batch getting to Eriadu in order to set up the two parter.

Episode 6 & 7 - "Infiltration" & "Extraction

With the batch set up, they're ready to go get Tech from wherever he's been stuck! These two are likely more action oriented, with a little bit of Difficulty between Crosshair and the others after so long apart, but they find their footing well enough and begin to work together in order to get Tech out. They're 5/6ths of the way to a full family, they just have one more to get a hold of!

Episode 8 - "Bad Territory"

Getting fully into Pet Theories here but I think that this shot from the trailer

is Batuu - going mostly from the distinctive looking spires here. Another possible Omega focused episode, Cid is taking her to Batuu to cash in a favor. Not one owed to her - one owed to Omega, by Roland Durand. (LISTEN HERE'S HOW INFESTED BEING RELEVANT CAN STILL WIN-)

Anyway the focus here is on Roland trying to link her up with the batch. This might be a good place for Fennec to make her reappearance too, working from the Batch's end.

Episode 9 - "The Harbinger"

I'll be real I have no idea, my ideas started getting thin right about here, but I will say the title sounds like a great place for Ventress and the Teth monastery to make their appearance (I'm assuming they'll be together) but how they would actually play into the plot if they appeared here is unclear. I do think that we'll finally get everyone together though or at least be on our way to it, in order to bring us to our next two parter.

Episode 10 & 11 - "Identity Crisis" & "Point of No Return

The team is back together and all is not well, because everyone is still suffering a severe case of the Issues. No one can agree on what to do, where to go, with the identity crisis being the batch unsure of how to move forward together. Omega of course gets immediately stressed out by it all because it seems like she finally got her family back together only for it to immediately start falling apart. Wrecker is probably right there with her. Tech & Phee have their moment together, Echo still thinks they need to fight and I think that Crosshair is going to tend towards that too. Hunter at least absolutely wants to retire to Pabu right now immediately, but as the show has been trying to demonstrate, avoiding things won't be an option because-

Point of No Return is the dreaded invasion of Pabu. The Empire followed them here in order to retrieve Omega, and they barely escape, evacuating as many of Pabu's residents as possible. Shep doesn't make it out and is imprisoned.

Episode 12 - "Juggernaut"

This is where like a full quarter of the trailer comes from because they can show us several exterior tank shots without showing who's in the damn tank. I think the point of this one will be to get Shep back, since it does look like him that Wrecker is carrying. We know that Crosshair, Hunter, and Wrecker at a minimum will go in, but I think likely Omega and Echo are there (likely together thus being why we don't see much of Echo in the trailer) and Tech might be with Phee.

Episodes 13-15 - "Into the Breach" "Flash Strike" "The Calvary Has Arrived"

Grouping these three together because I have no idea what happens here except that we're likely going to be mounting an attack to take down Hemlock and, hopefully, free all of the clones that he's been experimenting on. The time for hiding is over, they have to take a stand against the Empire. Not because they're soldiers, but because they're a family, and the other clones are still their brothers.

For the first time, we don't leave our own behind can get followed and they're going in.

The Calvary Has Arrived is not a title I can see going dark to be quite honest, it's more of a full circle moment, it's the Batch becoming who they're meant to be, a family that fights for each other and for the other clones, I will cling to the idea of a happy ending (hopefully one that sets up a continuation that might focus more on Rex and his clone rebellion) until it's ripped from my cold dead hands thank you very much. I think that after the family has spent two seasons absolutely torn apart, becoming increasingly fractured, the best ending is one that has them finally united, all six of them, for the first time.

Like Omega said. They're more than soldiers. They're a family.

[not-eli]

Rating Total Drama ships because I chose violence

Gwent - Alright hear me out. They were one of my favourites as a kid and it's really a pity they turned out that way. Trent genuinely loved Gwen so much but he lowkey deserves better ngl. 5/10

Gwancan - 1/10. No. Just no.

Gwortney - Their chemistry was really strong. Another good example of opposites attract, and again I wish things turned out different for them. Still, 8/10 one of my favourites fr

Scottney - I still have to process where the heck this ship came from. They literally never talked to each other and fell in love in three episodes??? Sorry not sorry, 3/10

Duncney - I have mixed feelings about this. They were so cute and my season 1 otp, but that was their only moment of glory. I love the opposites attract dynamic, but they made Courtney way too overcontrolling and Duncan... It's better if I shut up. 7/10

Lyler - Idk what yall say, they're definetely one of the cutest ships in this fandom. Lindsay often forgets Tyler's name but holy moly he NEVER lost his patience with her, he could have easily told her to screw up but always waited for her and it's just so cute to me. 9/10

Aleheather - Who follows this blog (and ao3 fics) knows how much I fucking love this ship. I've always been a sucker for enemies to lovers and god if I love their dynamic. The denial, the secret care, IT JUST MELTS MY HEART ALR? 10/10

Aletyler - I didn't even know this was a thing before I searched up total drama on Tumblr. Never saw their chemestry (even though I have to admit, the "paying back the favour" thing is a fantastic fanfic idea giver) and never shipped them much. Plus, some fans can really become oppressive with it (which, pay attention, appens with every ship). 2/10, sorry not sorry.

Alenoah - Look, Alejandro is at this point shipped with half of the fandom. But I have to admit, this ship isn't that bad. Another example of enemies to lovers, which I repeat I'm a sucker for, and can really turn out well if you think about it. Not my favourite, but a good 5/10

Nemma - I don't get why this is so hated. When I first watched the season I really appreciated Noah's change as a character. He clearly loved Emma with his heart and soul and it was just so cute to me. 8/10 for sure

Izzowen - Sorry if the name isn't correct. Now, I have mixed feelings about this too. They were really cute together and it's a pity it turned out like this, I think they could have worked a little better. 6/10, it's silly and makes me laugh.

Coderra - Alright, alright, Ik what yall are going to say. Sierra's actions weren't good at all. I already expressed my feelings about her and I don't wanna do it again, but I think that Sierra could have grown so much more as a character. In ROTI we see her wearing Cody's hat while hugging him, and by his smile we know that he now feels more comfortable around her. It's a shame that she came back to her obsessive behaviour in All Stars. Still, 5.5/10, pretty good if you ask me.

Zoey and Mike (dunno the name) - Again, I don't get the hate. Mike literally loved Zoey so much, cared about her since the first time he saw her, and it's obvious she feels the exact way about him. 7/10, loved them as a kid

[spaceorphan18]

14 years since Never Been Kissed aired. Did you watch it live? Where were you? Did you think it would be the start of something major - one of your favorite ever ships?

Ohh, interesting question!

It's kind of funny to try to remember details of something that did happen nearly fifteen years ago. the tl:dr version of how I started watching Glee was that I wasn't in a great place in Mar of 2010, and a friend of mine had given me the DVD of Glee S1 Part 1 (because that's a thing that happened back then.

And I watched it and I was, meh, it was fine. I mean, DSB gave me literal chills. But I didn't really connect with any of the characters (and omg did I find Terri and Ken annoying). And it's funny, Kurt I had a hard time with -- not at all because of the gay thing, but because his crush on Finn hit a little too close to home and I was still a little sensitive about how I was during high school.

Anyway, the same friend said we should start watching the show together - so I started going over to watch it with her. We watched the rest of Season 1 together. And maybe the first half of Season 2? I definitely watched the first four-ish episodes with her. I think (?) I must have watched NBK with her.

The ONLY thing I remember from my first time watching was the forced kiss between Kurt and Karofsky. It was THAT shocking. Like, WHOA what is happening???

The only real thing I remember about Blaine was that my friend had told me that Kurt was supposed to be getting a boyfriend, and we all wondered if it was going to be Sam (because Duets did give that tiny-ish set-up). And when Blaine showed up, it was one of those - oh, is it this dude? type things.

I did not like Season 2 when it was first airing, Nonny. I'll be honest with you about it. The thing I've since learned about RM and his shows, he often fills them with a lot of unlikable characters who are often ridiculously dramatic. And it just wasn't my thing. But also remember, the show focused hard on Rachel, Finn, Quinn, Puck, Sue, and Will (and Emma). Like -- not my favorite characters. At all.

It's one reason I appreciate the later seasons, because characters I like got more focus, and it just became super weird and super queer and that's just more to my taste.

But anyway -- I kind of only watched sporadically after the first few weeks. I caught Silly Love Songs - because I remember thinking after Kurt and Blaine have their When Harry Met Sally convo, oh yeah, they'll get these two together.

I have zero memory of watching Original Song for the first time. Which I just have, because I knew Klaine was together after that point. But I did miss most of the second half of Season 2.

No, I had zero idea I'd love Klaine as hard as I did (do). I can tell you I remember the exact moment I fell in love with Klaine, though. I decided to catch up on Season 3 because I missed the first half (and hilariously - I was actually enjoying Season 3 more than Season 2 at the time, wild right?) and it was The First Time, and it was the auditorium scene, and it was this moment.

And really, just Kurt saying -- I'm just a silly romantic, and Blaine saying it wasn't silly, and just kissing him. And, my god nonny, it made my cold, dead heart come alive. It took my breath away.

And then, I mean, I rewatched the full series again, and really got into the Klaine of it, and got into fandom, and as much as fandom was a headache -- and my god it was a headache -- I think that's why I stayed with Glee for so long? It was something to have fun with and explore and write about and talk to people about and there was the insanity of week to week, and it was wild - I mean really wild, but it's what made the show fun. Because, I mean, I love the show - but it's a mess.

And I'm constantly amazed new people come in for it, because sometimes it feels like there's a -- you had to be there -- to get it, lol.

But, I mean, did I think I'd be here, fifteen years later, still talking about how it impacted me? Not even a little bit. :)

[jaydexbg]

Aite, Jay's thoughts on Restoration now that the emotional dust has settled.

My non-spoiler thoughts are... it's okay, a love letter to the series? No. A love letter to fans? For the most part.

No shade to RT, Burnie or anyone who worked on this, they did what they could, and had time for. This is going to be loooooong as its my full summary of the movie as a long-time fan, RvB is my special hyperfixation/interest. Spoilers below the cut.

Alright, to start. I personally will believe that s14-17 are cannon, and that Restoration is a simulation/Jax movie/AU/Alternate ending./what have you. I believe this for many reasons, but let's get the Big 3 out of the way first.

1. Sarge's death. I understand it's inclusion, and I understand that with the anvil and steel boot of WB it was hard to produce something of immense quality. Sarge had been a consistent key player and many of us expected this.

But his death was... wrong. It didn't feel impactful, he didn't die a Sarge death. While the reasoning was good (saving Caboose) the execution and runtime made it feel sloppy and just a plot driver(barely). He deserved a much more heroic send-off, and this comes from a avid Red Team supporter, so this should have impacted me. If Sarge had a proper heros death (and the movie had more time), set in a similar vein as Church (or even like he would have died to Meta in s8) then I think I would have had a lot more feelings, and I think it would have also allowed me to accept it much easier, I'm not insanely upset at Sarge dying(however I still would prefer them all to be happy), im upset at how it was handled.

2. Doc's death. Alright, this one peeves me a bit. I LOVE the idea at play, I personally even think it works with Wash given their history in S8, it is a really good reveal. But this also means Doc, an integral character who's been there since Season 2. Doc, who had been the most mistreated and abused character--and JUST got over being overshadowed by O'Malley in universe(S17)... died off screen. And that alone makes me not want to take this as cannon.

It was a moment of "WHAT??-wait." I like Doc, I like all the characters of RvB, but Doc dying off screen after the battle is not it. The Matt Hullum double kill is arguably funny, but I won't stand for Doc dying like this. Sorry.

And 3. The one that bit me the most, hold your sighs/tears; Grimmons. I'm sorry, but I refuse to believe that Grif would leave Simmons, or that Simmons wouldn't go with him. These two characters have been joint at the hip since episode one, they have been through EVERYTHING together. There is a LOT of subtext behind these two, Grimmons barely felt like a fan ship, if they revealed the two were married the entire time I wouldn't have batted an eye.

I don't like their ending. They should have either both went to earth, or both stayed in Blood Gulch. I understand Grif's entire thing was hating the military, but he loved his friends, he cared so much (saving Sarge MULTIPLE times despite Sarge still always bullying him, agreeing to go with Sarge and Caboose to fight the Meta even though he didn't have to, him throughout all of the Chorus Trilogy, and this is just the stuff that is cannon no matter what.), and I don't believe him simply being dismissed would have him leave, he stopped being apart of a proper military when Project Freelancer shut down, and while he was apart of Chorus they'd clearly been demoted/let go since they were ranked down to Privates in Restoration. (I also believe S15 handled the idea of them being moved after S13's ending far better)

And while I don't mind Simmons coming into his own as a leader, he dosent... have a team? They abandoned Lopez, Sarge is dead, Donut is an Admiral (likely for the UNSC), and Grif left. The Blues only have Caboose and Tucker. Carolina and Wash are likely going to go back to the hospital to let Wash heal (which is another thing). So its just Simmons, Caboose and Tucker alone in Blood Gulch? Doing... what exactly? Fighting? This is not a good ending for any of them and it barely makes sense. Id honestly have preferred a "where are they now" segment to this ending.

With those out of the way, lets go over a small lighting round of stuff i didn't like;

Wash felt like he was just there to tell us Doc died, and to get Carolina to the final fight. If you removed him entirely and just said "Carolina has been tracking Meta" nothing would change.

Carolina's inclusion felt like someone threw a cyan bolder into the script, her entrance being a homage to Maine's entrance in S10 was cool but she appeared out of nowhere.

I refuse to believe that after all of this none of them would be checking in on Wash, that man has been the glue of the Reds and Blues since he joined the team and I REFUSE to believe they would just dump him at an institution, however this is especially insane for Carolina. She would be with him every second.

Tucker was INSANELY underused, his moments of breaking through Sigma's control were good, but Tucker felt like he wasn't important. He should be, he should have been the main character of the story, he is the main character of Red vs Blue to me (after Church).

The way Lopez and Sheila were just abandoned is disrespectful. Its in character, and the whole gag but for a final season I dont want a gag like that in a finale. I wanted to see Lopez at that campfire scene imagining him not talking but enjoying the reminiscing. That would have been so sweet and nice. This also applies to Sheila.

The lack of Donut outside of a mention of him being an Admiral and the silly memory of him from Simmons is outrageous. He is a main character, we established this in S17 and retcon or not, he earned that development and it should have remained.

Grif was was insanely angry in the beginning, I imagine this more as Geoff because his performance throughout was probably the best of the movie. He's taken RTs closure hard and I completely understand him being upset, so this is barely a complaint.

Alright... with the negative out of the way, lets talk positive! i wish I could say my positives outweighed the negatives, but unfortunately that isn't the case, however I do have two big standouts.

1. The campfire scene. This, this scene alone is what adds a chunk to the positive section of my feelings. It was the scene that really gut punched me, the moment I heard Ed Robertson's voice I crumpled into tears (I am a HUGE Barenaked Ladies fan). The pure bittersweetness of watching these characters who have been through so much together finally taking a serious moment to reminisce is all I ever wanted from RvB. I wished with all my heart that Tucker, Church, Sarge, Donut, Doc, Lopez, and Sheila could share in it, who knows maybe Sarge and Docs ghosts popped by to listen. But, this is to me, what I wanted.

2. Agent Texas. This was good, this was REALLY good. The bait and swap to have Caboose bringing Tex back and not Church was good, and especially nice development from Caboose despite how rushed it feels. The kicker of this though? this Tex was not the same Tex as before. That reveal that this Tex was not based on the Directors memories of Allison's failure, but instead based on the Reds and Blues memories of her beating their asses is ACTUALLY insane, and a genius twist. And her getting her black armour plus the playing of Round One/Bullfight got me more hype then I was ever expecting to get from Restoration. I also believe that Tex finally being remembered properly and being able to move on with Church was heartwarming and very much deserved.

My negatives far outweigh the positives, but the positives are so good, and with it being the finale of 21 years worth of content I cant in the right mind say I dislike Restoration. I don't like it as the ending to Red vs Blue, call me bias (my favourite season is 15) but the trade off of development for the characters between Restoration and Shisno is just not worth it for me. Say what you will about the Shisno Trilogy but you cannot ignore that it gave us the much needed development for many characters, Grif and Donut standing out the most. While the "god"-plot is far fetched and out there, and I've heard that Tucker was character regressed in s16 (which I do not believe and will die on that hill but thats a topic for another day), or the inclusion of the Blues and Reds putting a wrench in some lore I still don't think it was all bad enough to warrant a retcon entirely. Who knows, maybe this was all planned from the start, or it was just because of WB. But this ending is not satisfying to me. I won't say its a bad ending, if I didn't like Shisno so much and never bothered to watch it I'm sure as a direct continuation from S13 I would have a much more positive look on it.

I also do believe that Burnie wrote it in such a way that you can decide for yourself if S14-17(and 18 if you enjoyed it) or Restoration is the cannon ending and to that I respect it.

So in short, my review of the final piece of official Red vs Blue content, is that its okay. A lot felt OOC, and plot was rushed and messy, things felt like they were all predetermined and not driven by the characters as is RvB's biggest strength. It was far too short and even still I generally don't like retcons. But for what it is, and the positive moments it brings I still think its good. Not cannon to me, but I will definitely be taking points from it into my personal cannon post-s17 (Admiral Donut my beloved, you would be so cool if you actually showed up).