#Keenler Baby

[kiss-my-freckle]

"Until one day... it will be the second thing."

Mako Tanida

[rey-jake-therapist]

The Blacklist rewatch, Samar and Aram my beloved

I'm currently rewatching The Blacklist season 5 and boy and particularly the rescuing scene of Samar by Aram and boy, am I angry at how they did them dirty in the following seasons...

I didn't care about shipping in The Blacklist at all except for Amar and Samar. They HAD IT ALL: love at first sight (for him), grumpy vs sunshine (he's the sunshine), mutual love respect, height difference (she's the tallest and he loves it 😍), slow burn etc. We even had a scene where Aram told his then spy girlfriend he was in love with someone else to explain why he was acting weird (boy had just found out she was with him only to spy on him), and Samar was like, "wow you're good!" and Aram not daring to tell her he was just telling the truth 😭

And then just when they were becoming, in Samar's own words, "boring" and "blissful", they briefly broke up because of Ressler and Liz's stupid advises about a ring, but Samar was kidnapped by a psycho and Amar went absolutely BALLISTIC while he's usually the sweetest guy on earth, like... We knew he would have shot the President of the U.S. himself if it had been what it took to save Samar.

Honestly, the only thing I could criticize about this episode is that it was once again a case of a man saving the women he loves, but it would still be unfair because realistically, it should have been the other way round: Aram's the geek, who barely knows how to use a gun, is the one who's got the profile of a kidnapping victime, not Samar who's a FBI and Mossad agent and spends her life on the field. So Samar saving Amar's life would have been very predictable, unlike what we got so I easily forgive the writers for making Samar a damsel in distress.

And this scene of Samar... expressing her feelings the moment she thought she would die in this car?! OMG it was so beautiful...

"yes..."

"yes what?"

"I would have said yes if you had asked me to marry you, my love"

While earlier she was coldly offering to bring him his stuff back 😭

And then there was..

No really I loved them SO MUCH.

Aram and Samar was the only romance in this show that ever mattered to me, and that they just... teared them apart and made Samar another female victim of the show, just because the actress left?? I was so fucking ANGRY. There was no reason to make Samar sick, and there was no reasons to separate her from Aram. She was Mossad for God's sake! they could just have Samar marry Amar, then decide to leave the FBI because she was tired of Reddington, and that would have explained her absence from the show!

But no, one thing that the Blacklist writers love is to make female characters suffer or die, and bonus points if they can do both. They love it because their male characters can have their moments, we can see them lamenting on their lover's (or daughter's, for Reddington) fate and it's ohh so saaaaaad and so beautiful, poor baby boy he needs a hug, yada yada.

N.B: I never shipped Lizzington because it didn't make sense to that a woman who thought a man was his father would also want to fuck said man, or that this man who always felt paternal towards her would suddenly lust for her for that matter. Also I just never saw what shippers saw; never shipped Keenler either except for a few episodes because 1) sorry but Ressler's boring, couldn't have fun even if his life depended on it 2) Liz was.... she loved Tom that's all. There was never any room for Keenler (even less Lizzington) in Liz's heart, at least from the moment it was decided that Tom would stay in the show for longer than a season. And I think that making Keenler happen in season 8 only to take it away from shippers one or two episodes later was VERY cruel as well as very bad storytelling... I always saw that as unrequited love more than anything else, as Ressler was obviously smitten with Liz, but that's it.

[keensressler]

I was tagged by @prentissrollins 💗

last song: nick jonas - jealous

currently watching: homeland s2

three ships: steroline, slexie, keenler

favourite color: blue

currently consuming: tea

first ship: my little brucas babies <333

relationship status: in a relationship

last movie: some kevin hart crap on netflix my bf made me watch

currently working on: nothing for tumblr, I currently don’t have a laptop but I want to get back into giffing 😭 however I just got a promotion at work today so I’ll be very busy for the foreseeable anyway 😊

tagging: since I was away from tumblr I’ve fallen out of touch with a lot of mutuals, so I’ve tagged a few in case you’d like to tag part - no pressure 💗 @bigszs @catoscloves @userbettycooper @saw-x @paceyjoeys and anyone else who wants to play along

[fancycaroline]

Keenler Baby Theory tease in S7:

Let’s have some fun, shall we? 😁

(Look, I’m not suggesting anything literal here. Just that the show likes to tease us with poetic imagery. Whether they mean to follow through or they are meant purely as teases is anyone’s guess. Personally, I love the idea of Keenler Baby and I think it makes for a compelling story within The Blacklist. Yes, it’s sad, but also bittersweet.)

Hannah Hayes 7.07

[ Liz and Ressler interview Governor Sweeney.] …you know, the pregnant guy

Liz: Nothing at all?

Gov Sweenry: No, it’s just a blank. I think they kept me drugged. Sure had one hell of a hangover when I woke up in that storage room.

Ressler: The guards at the state capitol building said you were in your office the night of the abduction. What do you remember from that night?

Gov Sweeney: I like to work late. You know, for the peace and quiet. Only, when you’re the governor, it’s rarely peaceful. My life’s a symphony of phone rings and door knocks, so sometimes when the guards aren’t looking, I like to sneak out to this little Oriental place across the street. They know me there. They take good care of me. They shut the place down, let me enjoy my egg-drop soup in heavenly bliss.

Liz: And that’s where you were the day of your disappearance?

Gov Sweeney: Yes, ma’am, just like usual. Only this time, when I walked out the front door, a bag dropped over my head. Next thing I know, I’m waking up to that hangover.

Liz: Hmm. Almost three months? It’s a long time to keep a man comatose. I’m surprised you can even walk.

Gov Sweeney: Well, I am a bit wobbly. Listen. I’m sure you can understand.

I want whoever did this found and punished. So if there’s anything else I can do, you be sure to let me know.

Ressler: Matter of fact, there is. The restaurant you were abducted from the, uh, little Oriental joint – what’s it called?

Gov Sweeney: —

**************************

As an aside, the egg drop soup as an analogy for conception isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds. 😂 Consider this dialog between Red and Heddie in 5.05, Ilyas Surkov, as they plot to rebuild Red’s fortune:

[ Red is playing solitaire ] [ Heddie Hawkins enters ]

Hawkins: You’re not my type, okay? But if you were even remotely in the ballpark, I would have your child.

[ She empties a bag filled with bundles of bills on the table ]

Red: Do you have a count?

Hawkins: The mailman gave us two lists. Each list had 22 people who wanted their mail held while on vacation. That’s 44 empty apartments. We rented 18 for 5 nights each at $500 a night. That’s $45,000 for the week off two lists.

Red: By next week, we should have eight.

Hawkins: Did you hear that? I just dropped an egg.

Red: While I appreciate your enthusiasm, we have cash but no business to run it through.

***Later***

[ At the pet groomer ]

Red: Our liquidity crisis has been solved.

Hawkins: By doggy day care?

Red: These are rescued dogs picked up at shelters, given a bath and a professional grooming, then given back to the shelters primped and proud and ready for adoption. They supplement their business with regular grooming. But it’s basically a labor of love – and a 501(c)3.

Hawkins: A non-profit. That is good.

Red: [ CHUCKLES ] Even the most ruthless IRS agent would hesitate before auditing the books of such a noble enterprise.

Hawkins: And that’s good, if we can run enough money through it. I mean, the rents are throwing up nearly 200K a week.

Red: Well, most of their business is mobile. They have a fleet of vans that go from shelter to shelter in 10 different cities. It’s 100 vans, a dozen or more dogs a van, 25 bucks a dog. You do the math.

[ LAUGHING ]

Hawkins: I just did. And my hand to God, if I found you a little bit more attractive, I would birth you a litter. I mean, like, seven pups – Boom! Right here on the floor.

I’m sorry…. this show has ruined me with their MagicEye plots and I Spy dead ends… 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

But srsly, with the BLATANT mooneyes between Liz and Ressler in that scene, and then the suggestive lines in the script, I just couldn’t help myself. Forgive me. 😅

[rose-larkin]

Day 24 - We’re not in Kansas anymore.

In my Ressler AU, he and Liz are together with Agnes and away from those who can do them harm. Oh, and they live happily ever after.

[alyblacklist]

Do you think there is any possible way Agnes could be Resslers child? I realize they slept together after her birth, but I just keep recalling the baby was born a red head if I recallt?? Also, do you have any theories on Red and Ressler sharing the same blood type? Early on in the show, I wondered if Ressler was the actual child of Red and not necessarily Liz. I also wondered if Ressler and Liz could be brother and sister. Now that we can eliminate that possibility, I still questions....

No, nope, none, zero, zilch, never. 

And I cannot believe I am still getting asks about this.

I think they have made it abundantly clear that Tom Keen was Agnes’s biological father. All of these alt-paternity theories, Keenler baby, Agnesgate, etc - they’re all just fan fiction as far as I’m concerned and growing increasingly more ridiculous by the year, especially now that Liz is dead and Agnes is at least 8 years old. Never mind that they spent an entire season showing us Keenler becoming intimate for the first time in S8! To go back now - after her death - and suggest that Liz slept with Ressler or anyone else besides Tom off screen seven seasons ago would be beyond absurd. This show may have jumped the shark in other respects, but I give them enough credit to not go that far off the cliff.

It is true that one of the early sets of twins who played Agnes around the time of her birth had reddish hair (that we barely saw on screen). Diego made a joke about that on Twitter at the time because there was a vocal group of fans constantly tagging him in tweets about how the baby would turn out to be Ressler’s. That’s all it was - a joke - and fan service to some wishful thinkers. It’s been blown WAY out of proportion imho. Why did they cast that way? Who knows. Maybe they were otherwise the best facial match of young twins who were available. Maybe it was a nod to the fan theories or the fact they were introducing Liz’s red haired mother in Cape May. Every other Agnes since has been a brunette and they have never once since she was born cast any doubt on who her father was.    

I do not think there is any significance at this point to the shared blood type between Red and Ressler. I think it’s one of those things they threw out there early on to keep fans guessing on Red’s identity and for the convenience of having Red able to do the field transfusion in the box. After all that we’ve learned in the seasons since about Red and about Ressler’s actual family, I think we can safely say there’s no biological connection between them. I never, ever, for one hot second thought there was a biological relationship between Liz and Ressler. That’s just...NO. At least we agree we can eliminate that one for sure.   

[love-is-fiction]

friendly reminder that this kiss is “the beginning of a really great story that’s been years in the making”

THEY’VE BEEN YEARS IN THE MAKING YES THEY HAVE

[misterlords]

Are you sending hubby without wifey?

Bonus:

[aomine-dajki]

When it's been 7 seasons and Keenler still hasn't happened:

[kiss-my-freckle]

2 of 2: The Pretty Loner

Not the prom, but her birthday. Not punch, but wine.

[kiss-my-freckle]

1 of 2: Between Sleep and Awake

[kiss-my-freckle]

"A proposal’s so much better when it’s a surprise."

When it comes down to Red and Ressler, it will be Ressler. To harm him would be to harm her. A mortal sin. 

[kiss-my-freckle]

I don’t need to fake anything. 

Liz, 2x1: My husband was an imposter, a fake. 

Red: You were wrong about him once. 

Agnes, 10x10: Except one of us is secretly an imposter. 

 Red: What makes you so sure you’re not wrong this time? Do you really want your child to pay the price for that mistake for the rest of his or her life?

Liz: Keen was never his name. 

Nor Agnes'. 

A coincidence that Agnes is playing a game on a spaceship, while Ressler spoke of climbing mountains and exploring galaxies with Liz? I doubt it. 

[kiss-my-freckle]

[kiss-my-freckle]

And inside the warehouse was... a fake apartment! Oh, look! It's your [ fake ] daddy in your fake living room!

[kiss-my-freckle]

My season 10 prediction for Agnes.

I’ll try to make this as short as possible, but it’s been 6 seasons since Agnes was first brought into the show. I believe they aged her against their timeline for the sake of their religious aspect, and are returning to Lady Ambrosia’s episode.  

The age of religious maturity. Bat Mitzvah. The  end of adolescence. Lady Ambrosia. Rebirth, transformation, Red and Little Red. 

Red: Do you really want your child to pay the price for that mistake for the rest of his or her life?

Red has a term for this. It’s called a sin eater. 

Red: I’m a sin eater. I absorb the misdeeds of others, darkening my soul to keep theirs pure. That is what I’m capable of. 

Liz was the one considering giving her child up for adoption. 

Liz. I’m thinking about giving the baby up for adoption.

Ressler was the one completely against it. 

Ressler: I’m not saying it’s easy, but I’d never give up my kid for adoption.

Agnes is written with two different outcomes. One to parallel the very dead real Red, like those children in Lady Ambrosia. This is where “Little Red” Riding Hood comes in. Liz parallels Katarina due to her second memory wipe. That’s where Tom Keen comes in. 

Dom: For most people, baptism comes early. My daughter had to wait half her life to be reborn.

Aram: In fact, I was at your christening. You couldn’t have even been a - a few months old.

The age of religious maturity for girls is 12. like Anya in Lady Ambrosia. 

Tatiana: She's an angel.

Cooper: She’s 11.

Shuster: She’ll be… transformed.

Liz: I’ll be… transformed.

Liz: Speak of the devil. It's the devil.

Liz: I’m expecting a little devil of my own.

This is where Laurel Hitchin comes in. 

Hitchin: Hand to God, how amazing was Saturday? I know I’m his mom, but Philip’s Bar Mitzvah - cutest thing ever. Although my idiot husband did order 500 extra swag bags, so one for you, one for you -

Hitchin: The mint-chocolate candies are a little stale, but the red-velvet cake pops - to die for.

Ressler is the idiot husband who had red-velvet cupcakes with Liz on her birthday in The Longevity Initiative. 

Samar: What should I call you - my idiot boyfriend or my idiot husband?

Samar: I’m sorry. Excuse me. Could you help us? My husband is a complete idiot.

Liz: Hey, guys, what you got? Aram: A birthday card and 31 red-velvet cupcakes. Uh, well, uh, 30. I couldn’t resist. When are you coming back?

I believe Keenler baby will be revealed. 

Ressler: All this to hide an unwanted pregnancy? Who’s the mother? Pastor Darvis: There is no mother. I gave birth to Luke myself. 

Liz: Oh, my God. You’re not carrying a child. You’re carrying drugs?! Alexandra: I fell at the airport. I think maybe -  Maybe the package ruptured.

Ressler: The drug test came back negative. I’ve been reinstated, but, um– Park: But what? Ressler: The hormonal levels in my readings, they were irregular.

Red referred to Ressler as the second-string quarterback. Next thing you know, he’s seeing a sports doctor for his drug/pregnancy test. 

Ressler: What does that mean? Red: I mean - that if this were the high-school prom, she’d be the pretty loner standing on the sidelines, and you’d be the second-string quarterback guzzling down the punch, hoping to cop a feel off her during “Stairway to Heaven.”

Ressler: Is that even possible? Dr. Francis: I spent a decade as a team doctor for pro athletes. Believe me, when you’re playing for your next contract, anything’s possible. Those guys want it so badly, they’re willing to do anything. Are you?

Correction for both of them. 

Doctor: What it means is, you were pregnant.

Hannah Hayes, Marko Jancowics, The Avenging Angel. It’s not safe to assume Tom is the father. Better to actually know for sure, considering it took three DNA tests for Liz to find out her biological father was dead and buried. One in 4x7, one in 4x22, and one in 5x22.

Back to their religious aspect, Agnes now nearing 12, and the fact that 10 is the final season. Red is likely to die, leaving behind a criminal empire worth a great deal of money. As Agnes’ father, the discs meant for Liz would fit Ressler.

Red: You will have one blind spot, one weakness that can’t be willed out of you. And that’s Agnes. I have no advice for you there. All I can tell you is, uh - do your best, and hold on to that like it’s the last thing in your heart.

Dembe is now an FBI agent working alongside Ressler. This is how both Red’s granddaughter and Dembe’s granddaughter will become the new Red and Dembe. 

Dembe: Raymond! Ours is a friendship forged once in this life and again in the next. Goodbye, my brother.

Not like brothers, but like sisters - as they push to reveal Red is Katarina.  

Vasilia: The only thing that could change my mind is you bringing her back.

Liz: No matter what happens, I love you to the moon and back.

I’m fully predicting that Ressler and Agnes will find out they’re father and child, and they’ll have a reunion that mirrors Vasilia and Anya. I believe that’s why they’ve yet to actually give them a scene together. They’ve been keeping them apart for the sake of emotional impact. 

Vasilia: How did you find me?

From finding Liz. 

Aram: That’s right - Keen. K-E-E-N. First name’s Elizabeth.

To finding Agnes. 

Red: You were wrong about him once. What makes you so sure you’re not wrong this time?

That’s right - Ressler. R-E-S-S-L-E-R. First name’s Agnes. 

Red: R–O–M–E–O Romeo.

Another Theo was added to storyline in Ressler's S9 episode. Agnes is nearing 12 years old, the end of adolescence. Just listen to Red's story to Vasilia, and picture Wujing breaking Shuster out of prison.

Red: And old Zeeb had been signing, “My wife, my daughter, my life.” Six words, unspoken, convinced that guard to let us go.

Dead wife, dead child...

I suspect an attempted suffocation. Like Liz and the cellophane in 5x8. Like the bag Theo suffocated Ethan’s mother with. 

"Share it with someone special."

"I’ve been saving this for a special occasion."

"Oh, I think you’re very special."

My prediction: Wing Yee's and red-velvet cake pops to die for.

Time for Agnes’ 12th birthday, for Wing Yee’s and red-velvet cake pops to die for. All of it tying in Ressler’s sad flower of weddings past. Because Liz didn’t want to marry Tom. She wanted to marry the father of her child. [x]