#T speculation

[lemotmo]

!!!! This This This. We cannot help them anymore. This is it. This is the entire point !!!! Surely they see this?!?!

Q. Nope sorry I call foul. They absolutely played us. They built up this big plane emergency and released just enough grainy, no context BTS stuff to imply that Tommy would be utilized, because why would you not use your canon PILOT to help land a freaking plane, and not only was he not utilized he wasn't even in the two episodes. They used him to generate the buzz but then left him out completely. Nope that's disgusting.

A. I debated whether or not to answer this and initially I was going to ignore it, but I decided this was a good opportunity to highlight the difference between show importance and fandom importance. The show didn't use him to promote anything. We got b&w photos of a hanger, a partial plane, trucks from every fire station in the 911 universe and a grainy image of someone's silhouette. That was the BTS of these episodes. You all made them about Tommy because that's what you've done since 7x4. The show has never made anything about Tommy. You all twist everything into being about Tommy so you can call foul when it inevitably has nothing at all to do with him.

Tommy has never existed as a character in his own right. His has never had a scene that was about him. Every scene and interaction has had something to do with the development of one of the core four. For Chim and Hen they needed him to be racist and sexist, so that's how they wrote him. He only changed his behavior towards them when they had done something that he felt was worthy of changing his opinion. But it wasn't about changing how Tommy saw them, it was about changing how they saw themselves. Tommy wasn't the point of anything. He was the plot device used to help them with their character growth. When it came time to do Buck's bi storyline they needed a plot device to help introduce him to that new realization. So Tommy was written as gay. He was given a few sentences about struggling to accept himself and come out as a way to explain to the audience why he wasn't gay when we were first introduced to him. The reality is though that he wasn't gay when we first met him. He's gay now because the plot called for him to be gay. That's the entire point of a plot device. They become whatever the plot needs their character to be because they are not the point. The plot they are being used for is the point. In this case Buck and by extension Eddie are the point. So Tommy becomes whatever Buck or Eddie need his character to be.

Tommy wasn't involved in the opening arc because the opening arc wasn't about Buck or whatever internal struggle Eddie is dealing with. As far as the show is concerned Tommy doesn't exist outside of that story bubble so he doesn't need to be used in any other storyline on the show. Again, that's the entire point of a plot device. They exist only to move the plot they're involved in forward. It was important that he was a pilot last season because it was a way to introduce him to Buck and Eddie. It's not important anymore. That particular aspect of him has already served its purpose. The show no longer cares that he's a pilot because they don't need that part of him in the Buck storyline anymore. He had a scene in 8x1 because it was a scene about Eddie and by extension Buck so Tommy was needed because that's the storyline he's being used for. But any scene not related to Buck and Eddie's plot will not utilize Tommy because he doesn't exist outside of that plot. I know I keep saying this, but again, that's the entire point of a plot device. He doesn't exist for himself. He only exists for the plot.

The show gave you a handful of scenes. None of them had anything whatsoever to do with Tommy. They showed him during the cruise ship rescue with Buck and Eddie. They showed him playing basketball with Eddie and Buck being jealous. They showed him going to Buck's to apologize for coming between Buck and Eddie, a scene in which Eddie's name was said so many times it's hysterical. They showed him and Buck on a first date where they ran into Eddie. They showed a coffee date where Buck says he wants to try and invites him to his sister's wedding. They showed him at the bachelor party, again with Buck and Eddie only this time they were also dressed in coordinating costumes. They showed him at the medal ceremony, but not as Buck's person when he received his medal. They showed him at the hospital where Buck basically outed himself to everyone but made a point of showing Eddie's reaction. They showed him having dinner with Buck after Bobby's accident, a scene that's more interesting to me now and I will explain why in a minute. Then his one scene in the first episode of the season. He doesn't exist away from Buck or Eddie. But you all took those scenes and made them about him. You made the first kiss about Tommy instead of Buck's clear misplacement of what his true confusion was in that moment. You took the bachelor party scene and made it about Tommy showing effort by bothering to show up and chose to ignore the entire point of the bachelor party scenes which were Buck and Eddie. You took the dinner scene in the finale and made it a flirty date ignoring the awkward point of that scene entirely.

The dinner scene from the finale is really interesting to me now that we have Oliver's interviews and the Tommy/Henren deleted scene as context. The dialogue in that scene is brutally awkward and cringe and while I still think it was wildly out of place within the episode it does make more sense to me now. Buck tried to initiate a meaningful conversation in that scene. He tried to make an emotional connection and Tommy turned that attempt into a daddy sex joke. Oliver's comments about Buck viewing their relationship through 'rose colored glasses' and the deleted scene establishing that Tommy, rightfully so, is allowing Buck to set the pace of things within their relationship is very interesting. We know that we are now 3 plus months into their relationship and with the added context of Oliver's interviews and the deleted scene that would indicate Buck is the one who is actually avoiding the deeper conversations. I think part of Buck realized during that dinner that they weren't a compatible match. But he desperately wants to make a relationship work, especially if he currently believes the thing he kept getting wrong was the gender and not the actual relationships. So as a result Buck decided to avoid dealing with things that reinforced their incompatibility and has chosen to keep things surface level deep because he knows the physical aspect is what he can offer and do well. Having the current storyline push him to the point where he will no longer be able to avoid talking about and dealing with those issues is a very interesting way to handle Buck's part of the bigger storyline. They have to get Buck to a place where he can acknowledge he has more to offer someone than sex. So I'm really curious to see how that part goes over the coming episodes. I got off track there, anon. But the reality is the show and Oliver didn't play you at all. You all chose to play yourselves by refusing to acknowledge things that were not being hidden from you. The show has been very clear and obvious with what they are doing with Tommy. Stop trying to pretend their intentions away because they don't fit your headcanons.

Thank you Nonny!

Okay, I'm just going to post this without any of my own comments, because I feel this really summarises the whole T and BT discourse. I try to always post about the show and the fictional characters and leave fandom out of it, but in this case it can't be avoided because fandom is a part of the problem.

Ali talks about 'show importance' and 'fandom importance' and that's so relevant right now.

Please remember, this doesn't come from a place of hatred, but rather a place of 'logical thinking' and 'understanding' what the show is telling us. What story they are really showing and how fandom perceptions can sometimes be deceiving.

It's a damn good read.

IMPORTANT! Please don't repost this ask and/or a link that leads straight to my Tumblr account on Twitter or any other social media. Thank you!

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If you are interested in more of Ali’s posts, you can find all of her posts so far under the tag: anonymous blog I love.

[charcoaldustonmyfingers]

Leo skeletal anatomy! Click for better quality :)

The way most turtles actually fit into their shells is because their arms and legs are shaped to fit into the loose skin around the openings for their limbs, but on account of their human proportions, I just suspend my disbelief as to how mutant turtles could fit in their shells without the odd configuration to their organs that real turtles have. Real turtles have flat lungs that sit widely along their carapace, which is weird but cool. Turtles shed their scutes (the large flat scales on their shells and plastron) about once a year or if the scutes are damaged. The scutes have barely any skin between them and the bone, which is why turtle skeletons usually have the scutes on still, though they can pop off. The rest of the skin sheds regularly though, instead of in large patches.

For the brothers’, their respiration is much more human than turtle. Therefore, their lungs need to expand and contract with their diaphragm rather than just with their movement, so therefore they must have some flexibility to their chest. Some turtles, like box turtles, already have hinged plastrons, and softshell shells are mostly cartilage, so it’s not too far off to assume that there’s a bit of cartilage just to the upper plastral bones of the hard shelled brothers to give their humanoid lungs room to breathe.

Poor Leo. After the movie, one could assume he’s got a couple broken bones. It kind of made me morbidly curious as to how to describe injuries on a character whose skeletal structure is quite different from a human’s for my own writing!

Feel free to use as reference or disregard, these are just my own little speculations :)

[General][Raph][Donnie][Mikey][Splinter]

[dandelionjack]

exactly the face i made when i heard her say that line. Kate, what does that mean. did you intend to say “this event may be suspended along your timeline” and misspeak? “along your event” that’s just words. they don’t really click together into any kind of cogent sentence.

unless… is ruby’s life an event?

makes me think of the doctor referring to himself as a “complex space-time event” in boom. ruby’s timeline seems to be getting more unravelled by the minute, what with all the changes and erasures and rewritten histories and alterations to her past and future. she’ll out-complex him if she doesn’t watch out

[steampoweredwerehog]

Sure he’s a 10 but he’ll lie about his Nightmare Teeth

Fun bonus fact a giant’s threat display is called Flaring :3

[causalityparadoxes]

Hey, quick question, what did he mean by this.

[queen-of-hawkins-why-ler]

It's crazy to think that in a few short years Byler will be mainstream. Like, not even "fandom" mainstream in the sense that Destiel and Johnlock became well-known ships across the internet, but like, MAINSTREAM mainstream. Like, culturally mainstream. Like, official Byler merch at your local mall, major headline on Fox News, angry Ben Shapiro rant, SNL parody mainstream. Everyone and their mother will know about Byler and they will be a classic couple in media the way that Han and Leia or Harry and Sally or Jim and Pam are.

[meonea]

“They walked quietly down the corridors of the Enterprise. Only the noise of their bumpy steps distracting them from certain thoughts and certain fears”.

(I’m obsessed)

[meep-meep-richie]

they could open the next 911 episode like this tho

[scopnotes]

Dale is a Helper T cell who suffers from a lot of frustration and self-hatred.

He despises knowing he’s an ‘imperfect’ (labeled ‘defective’) white blood cell but what’s even worse to him is being surrounded by them (Tars, Phal, Fleur, etc).

He spent his whole life masking his struggles alone while his squad never really needed to do that. He ends up getting pretty rough with Tars to the point where a fight occurs between the two.

Fortunately, she, and the group, will help Dale on opening up about his feelings.

And here is Amig!

A Regulatory T cell who becomes Dale’s assistant and emotional support in his job. They’re basically very chill and kind to everyone.

[thaumasilva]

my biggest wind and truth theory is still that that adolin dies, shallan discovers she's pregnant after the fact (or otherwise tbh), and then she becomes a worldhopper to abscond into the cosmere and escape roshar at the end of the book. because honestly if things are as Catastrophically Fucked as i'm predicting them to be by the end, i think she's a character particularly vulnerable to, well, the despair of that. she would have found a reason to go on anyway but as a writer that first thought being "i need to get my unborn child out of here for their and adolin's sake if not mine" is super powerful motivation

[fantasticgothicpeachsludge]

Still going insane over Cosmo Chase coming back from the dead as a vampire and IMMEDIATELY kissing Jack Manhattan

[lemotmo]

I was hoping someone would ask her this. I know that makes me terrible 😅

Q. I don't know that you can look at it as the show or Tim not bothering to use him. It might actually be they're just being selective about when and how they use him. That might be a good thing.

A. Okay, I understand that at this point you all don't really have a lot of cards left to play so I get the need to make 'they're being strategic with how they use him' sound remotely plausible. It's not. That is not at all what they're doing. Mentioning his name costs them nothing. A line here or there to establish his presence, especially with Buck, costs them nothing. It's the easiest way to work a non main into the narrative. The problem with giving Buck and Eddie love interests separate from one another was always going to be figuring out how to work that person into the narrative consistently enough to compete with the BuckandEddie thing. On paper Tommy is the easiest love interest, by far, to work into the narrative. It's not hard at all to find places you could realistically slot him into. Look at how much they have inserted Brad into Bobby's narrative. And he doesn't fit in nearly as neatly as Tommy does. But the show has done it, and they've done it believably. He doesn't feel shoehorned into his scenes. They make sense. The show is more than capable of using Tommy effectively. If that's what they wanted to do. They're not using him because they don't need him. Tommy was never the point. Him being male was the point.

It was always going to be difficult to bring in someone and get the audience to a place where they would want Buck or Eddie to have the moments or conversations, that they would normally have with one another, with their love interest instead of each other. It was going to take effort. You don't need a ton of scenes but you need meaningful scenes. Scenes that show a genuine connection. And the show has made a point of not giving them any kind of emotionally connecting scenes. Oliver has even basically confirmed that in all of his interviews. Their relationship is not deep. They're avoiding that connection, or most likely Buck, is avoiding that connection. The reason why Buck is avoiding those conversations is the point of his story, and what we've yet to learn. Tommy is the amalgamation of every relationship Buck has had throughout the series. He is all of his love interests rolled into one. The age difference and teacher role of Abby, the fun doesn't want anything too deep and messy of Ali, the we're completely different and incompatible but attracted to one another and Buck wants to make it work of Taylor, and finally to the relationship in name only of Natalia. Tommy is all of those things. The only difference is he's male. His maleness was and is the only important thing about him in terms of Buck's storyline. He is the last piece before Buck figures himself out. There isn't a nicer way to say that. His only important trait is being male. He's a walking, talking plot device.

They're not being subtle about where this Eddie storyline is going. They're not. It's not hard to follow the yellow brick road here. Last night was the official start of his coming out arc. You can pretend you didn't see it. You can pretend the subtext and undertones of his entire plot last night wasn't what it clearly was, but it won't change the reality of what we all can see coming. My ask box indicates most of you can see what is happening here. Some of you can keep denying, that's your fandom right, but it won't change the storyline. If Tommy was ever going to be a genuine factor they would have leaned into him more, especially where Buck is concerned. They didn't do that. They leaned even more into Buddie. They have added an unnecessary Buddie moment into each episode so far. And that dates back to the start of last season. To make any other love interest remotely viable they needed to adjust the way they write Buddie and instead they doubled down on them. Buck's entire plot last night was how differently he reacted to and dealt with finding himself in the very same position Tommy was in back in season 2. They spent the entire episode highlighting how differently they handled the same situation. That's the point. And it wasn't a point in their relationships favor. They are massively different people. I have said all along that I don't think they're going to turn Tommy into the bad guy on his way out the door, and the way they handled Gerard last night, gross, further proves that belief. They're just incompatible. Something Buck probably already knows but is avoiding dealing with at the moment. Allowing Buck the agency to make the breakup about what is right for him, and only him, is the correct way to go. Giving him the ability to identify, recognize and finally walk away from the pattern is the growth he's earned. And having it happen an episode before or even during Eddie's big moment is deliberate. This is only going to go one way. Pretending you don't see the train coming isn't going to make it stop.

Thank you so much Nonny! As always, much appreciated.

And thank you Ali for saying the things we have all been repeating into infinity, but summarizing it so neatly and making it easy to understand for everyone who desperately needs to hear it.

I'm just leaving this here without adding anything. I feel all that needed to be said has been said and to be completely honest? I'm tired of talking about the guy. 🤷‍♀️

IMPORTANT! Please don't repost this ask and/or a link that leads straight to my Tumblr account on Twitter or any other social media. Thank you!

Heads up! For anyone who is giving me the shifty eyes for reposting Ali's updates instead of reblogging. Read this.

Remember, no hate in comments, reblogs or inboxes. Let's keep it civil and respectful. Thank you.

If you are interested in more of Ali’s posts, you can find all of her posts so far under the tag: anonymous blog I love.

[charcoaldustonmyfingers]

Donnie skeletal anatomy! Click for better quality

Alright so softshell turtles right. They funky. It’s a lot more obvious that their shells are part of their ribs, as you can actually see the faint outline of their fused vertebrae and ribs on their shells. The reason their shells are so soft is because the edges and much of the lower half of their shell is actually all just cartilage and skin. Their plastron are weird, because the bone plates are largely separate and pointy, held together by harder cartilage the same way human ribs are attached around the sternum.

Donnie was weird to figure out on account of the cartilage lower half of his softshell, but I tried to compromise with his lower back vertebrae being unfused to still allow for the higher mobility required for his waist. Another fun fact about softshell is that they don’t actually have scutes or scales, but because of the look of his plastron and consistency with his brothers in the show, I’m just going to pretend that Draxum mixed in some DNA to let him grow scales for extra protection even if he has less coverage than his brothers. He can “breathe” water by absorbing oxygen through the skin of his throat, not actually by inhaling it. While most turtles can do this to a point, soft shells can stay quite active while doing so.

Personally I like to think of Donnie’s softshell as both a weakness and a strength depending on the situation! While more vulnerable, his skin can heal faster than scutes, and if he sustains blunt damage to his shell he can more easily disperse the force of it because of the give to his cartilage, rather than have the force crack his shell and cause a much more traumatic injury. Kind of like how seatbelts have some give to them to ease into a stop instead of giving someone whiplash.

Just some personal head canons! Feel free to disagree or expand upon :)

[General][Raph][Leo][Mikey][Splinter]

[dandelionjack]

is it just me, or does that sound like a reminder a director would give an actor right as they’re about to launch into a scene?

“and, from the top, Ruby, you’re standing in the street, on the phone to your own mother.”

or stage directions in a screenplay: RUBY, standing in the STREET, on the phone to MOTHER.

nothing to do with me.

we’ve been thinking susan twist is “The Director”, but what if she’s not? what if she’s a helpful member of the crew, trying to get through to Ruby and the Doctor in whatever ways she can; and The Director is actually Mrs Flood?

[hot-frog-stew]

really important star trek question: can vulcans smoke weed?

cause they can’t get drunk by alcohol but chocolate has an equivalent effect so is it the same for weed?

what mundane human substance should be vulcan marijuana?

i think catnip is a fine option cuase vulcans are evolved from felines i think but it’s also kinda boring

i cant think of anything better than catnip so suggestions welcome!

[folliesoftheforest]

Just wondering, but how do Borrowers walk most of the time? Do they walk like people, or more like a mouse or smth? Also, I really like ur art ☺️

Also, thank ya kindly!!! I'm glad yer enjoying my silly lil doodles and scribbles TTuTT