#basically 8x04

[911-incorrect-quotes-dispatch]

*Athena getting home and seeing the 118 with bobby*

Athena: Hello, people who do not live here.

Chim: Hello.

Eddie: Hi.

Buck: Hey.

Hen: Hi Athena.

Bobby: Hi baby. Guys, I gave you a key for emergencies only.

Buck: We needed advice.

[jackwhiteprophetic]

Hey guys have been doing some data analysis on hit TV show 9-1-1 today as one does, and basically:

- based on data from 7x01 to present (8x04, excluding 7x08 as none of the related characters are in this episode).

- Buck says "Eddie" an average of 0 (ZERO) times per episode if Tommy is not present.

- if Tommy is in a scene, Buck says "Eddie" an average of 2.75 times per episode.

- this is over double Buck's over all "Eddie" average per episode since season 2, which is currently 1.08 EPEs (eddie-per-episodes).

(here is my graph with data from S2 to S7, I will make a new one maybe at end of 8A but definitely by the end of season 8)

More data/analyses under the cut

If anyone is curious on similar data for Eddie:

- 0.4 BPEs if no T.

- 1.125 BPEs if T present.

(currently overall, Eddie is at 0.73 BPEs)

Sorry if I counted anything wrong lmao ANYWAY we bear in mind that when Tommy is present it is due to a Buck/Eddie plot in that episode (because they are often deliberately paired together by the writers) and just have more lines anyway so may be more likely to speak each others' names.

To me this highlights that Buck and Eddie are being heavily linked together whenever Tommy is there, which indicates that the writers want the audience to associate Buck's romantic relationships with Eddie. Also when interpreting Tommy as a storytelling device used to represent part of Buck's queer awakening, having Eddie be tied to this is another potentially interesting writing choice.

Basically gay Eddie is haunting bi Buck's narrative and Buck is narratively condemned to be unable to separate his queerness from his attachment to Eddie

[thebuckandeddiething]

hi! i was wondering what you think of tommy’s character in general?

like ignoring him w/ buck, i feel like its weird he goes from being an AH to Hen (even though he was ‘covering his own ass’) to super cool with no on screen progress so i’m wondering if i’m the only one who finds his reintroduction really bizarre? from a writing standpoint itd only make sense if he is there as a plot device imo. even if eddie and buck don’t end up together i think its really weird for tommy to be with buck… he doesn’t even really seem to like him?

am i overthinking this bc im a media/writing scholar or do other people feel this way?

cheers :)

HI! I'm sure a lot of people feel that way and your degree certainly influences your perspective. I kinda can't put my thoughts on his character coherently, but I'll try lol

I feel like you have to pick a lane when it comes to Tommy:

take his whole presence in the show at face value from the flashbacks to the introduction in S7

take the past into account, but treat him as a sort of a positive rewrite specifically for Bathena's/Buck's stories

What I mean is that (before season 7) Tommy was a finished character = he had the bigoted past (Gerrard and stuff but still not really an excuse), a reconciliation into at least cordial relationship with the 118 (shown on screen as much as it was needed at that time) and was left alone somewhere so he can be mentioned in passing if need be.

Now, since Lucy's actress couldn't come back, Tim and the writers had to dig him out of that finished narrative and try to incorporate him back in. That's when we hit the wall of problems/behaviors resolved supposedly off screen and the plot device feeling. Basically, he was never a fully fleshed-out character and last season didn't have time to do it.

His interest in Buck is when we get to subjective opinions. People "hold a grudge" about the begins eps, dialogue may be shaky, plotlines (like the date disaster) may be interpreted differently, might like/dislike the actor, and for me again, it's the lack of time, so some interactions (juxtaposed a lot with Eddie, whom we know and love, or Buck's bubbly personality) feel disingenuous or plainly not that romantic.

So depending on what lane, as I put it, you start with thinking about his character, you will arrive at different feelings towards him. At the end of the day, I personally don't see Tommy staying because, as of 8x04, he is not integrated into the 118 in a significant way + is still not developed much = we know almost nothing about him or his relationship with Buck.

[sorry it turned into a an essay 😭 thanks for your question, tho!]

[missjackil]

Supernatural Battle of the Episodes!!

Looks like Born-Again Identity swept its way right into the Hall of Fame!! Taking its place will be The Girl With the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo for giving it the best fight!

How long will it last?

Chuck: It's first match is against what I feel is the worst episode of s8 and my 3rd least favorite episode of the series, Bitten - The episode that is basically a home video shot by college kids when one gets turned into a werewolf and Sam and Dean only get about 3 mins of screen time.

[ithilien-writes]

i know they're going to find a way to give us basically nothing but i'm still so stoked to see the 8x04 preview tonight. like almost as much as i'm excited for the ep itself

[zalrb]

So I know you’ve written about this in your fics, but I was wondering if you could elaborate a bit. Sorry if this sounds a little weird; I’m not good at explaining.

What do you think Damon thinks of Stelena? Like, he’s obviously jealous and resentful, but the part that confuses me is how he balances that. He knows that Stefan has a more intimate understanding of Elena, that Elena responds to Stefan above all else. He knows about how unintentionally exhibitionist they were about their sexual relationship. For a guy as insecure as Damon, I don’t get how that doesn’t bother him more, that Stefan’s relationship with Elena is inherently more meaningful than his own. He professes to love Elena and want that kind of romance but never puts in the work for it, but also witnessing it in front of him in real time even when Stefan and Elena are supposedly broken up (off topic, but even when DE were together on the show we all knew SE was still happening because they’re the keystone of the story) has to sting. I feel like this would be something cool to explore because as I watch the show it just looks like Damon is jealous of Stefan but does nothing about it. By nothing I mean he whines about how Stefan is the better brother and changes nothing about his own behavior.

Well, I mean, that's the problem with Damon as a character, he doesn't change. He just whines or he gives up and that's not just in relation to Elena, that's in relation to how he deals with everything. 

Damon thinks that he ruins everything around him

So he decides to just sleep for 60 years until Elena wakes up since “she makes him good”

Instead of, I don’t know, changing his behaviour?

(and I have a post breaking down exactly how Damon isn’t better with Elena in the ... you guessed it, master list).

And as I’ve also repeatedly said:

Damon feels enormous guilt for what he’s done without humanity so he goes into a comatose state

and it’s an episode of how everyone has to forgive him

instead of, him, I don’t know, doing anything to make up for what he did.

Much like how Damon gets his humanity back (apparently) when he sees Lexi

and instead of working towards atonement, he kills her

which he also did with Zach

(and before someone is like DaMoN HaD nO HuMaNitY, Stefan didn’t have his humanity when he met Lexi but my guy did the fucking work, he didn’t kill her because she made him feel something)

Damon killed a boarding house full of pregnant women because Stefan said something accurate

and instead of changing his behaviour, he makes blueberry pancakes

and as if that’s not RIDICULOUS enough, he doesn’t make blueberry pancakes everyday since, like, meeting Elena, he makes blueberry pancakes everyday when he’s stuck in a prison world in the 90s because out of sight, out of mind, amirite?

Damon’s entire state of being is being aware of how shitty he is and sometimes feeling bad about it and doing nothing to actually change his behaviour

And he doesn’t do the work.

This is why he's so fucking infuriating on a narrative level but why have character development when you can just have a character make pancakes everyday for penance? 

So basically, it's this:

Everyone on TVD:

Damon:

like it’s basically what happens in 8x04

So, now you have to apply that to how he deals with Stefan and Elena because the last thing this dude is going to do is change.

This part:

(off topic, but even when DE were together on the show we all knew SE was still happening because they’re the keystone of the story

I deal with in GREAT length in the master list, I mean I pretty much deal with all of this in different parts of the master list but anyway

but this

For a guy as insecure as Damon, I don’t get how that doesn’t bother him more, that Stefan’s relationship with Elena is inherently more meaningful than his own. 

I mean, it does bother him, though, it’s the same thing every season

season 3

season 4

season 5

season 6

at the beginning of season 5 he couldn’t even call Stefan by name to Elena he just kept referring to him as Elena’s “ex boyfriend”

It’s clear that Elena’s relationship to Stefan is always at the back of his mind

it’s also why he always outs Stefan’s sexual relationships to other women to Elena

In terms of what he thinks about their relationship, he thinks it’s true love

he’s seen how they are together,

he’s seen how she is with him,

he’s seen what she’s like when he’s hurt

how he is when she’s threatened

the whole thing about season 3 is him being like do you know what it’s like trying to keep Elena from you??

like he doesn’t believe the fighting in their relationship (god that stupid sway) in season 2 because he knows the depth

in season 5 he knows she’ll focus if he tells her Stefan is in trouble

he’s seen her focus because of Stefan before

he knows what they mean to each other, the premise of “in that moment I loved him” is that he understood what the necklace meant about the way Stefan and Elena loved each other and let me reiterate something about that retcon, Elena doesn’t reference that Damon gave the necklace back/didn’t compel Elena in 1x09 because he “wanted it to be real” or that he told her he loved her in 2x09 and compelled away her memory (since it’s framed as sweet even though it isn’t) and returned the necklace to her so she wouldn’t remember even though it was killing him inside or some bullshit like that, it’s because he knew what it meant to her and Stefan

he understands the depths of their love but what’s he going to do? Not be a piece of shit? That’s not the Damon way. He ignores it. That’s why Damon in my fics actively deludes himself because that’s essentially what he does in the show, he stews in his insecurity.

[justmypartner]

How do you define chemistry between two characters? I know people think they need to be kissing all the time, groping each other, arguing, having s**, to constitute chemistry. That’s why many people on Twitter talk about why they think Upstead don’t have chemistry. Just wondering what your thoughts are

Tbh my first thought when I hear chemistry is hardly ever physical touch. Don’t get me wrong, I fully believe chemistry makes physical touch scenes better (8x04 opening/9x09 closing I’m looking at you), but chemistry goes far deeper than just that. In my head, chemistry equates to connection — specifically how easy and natural it is. So when I think chemistry + upstead, my first thoughts don’t go to kiss scenes or sex scenes but scenes like “I’d follow you”, “We’re always gonna be good”, the 6x22 break room scene, etc. Basically, any scenes where we see them so effortlessly connecting with one another, reading one another, and being what the other needs without having to ask or exchange words at all. Everyone’s preferences are going to be different ofc, but in my mind, those who don’t/can’t see the chemistry between them just aren’t watching closely enough or they’re still too hung up on a certain other ship

[neurodiversebones]

autistic brennan !!!

in my autistic opinion... here you go. a SLIGHTLY more organized version of what i have dropped in the DMs of anyone who is willing to listen, copy and pasted from a google doc i have so eloquently named "bones is fucking autistic" !!

this headcanon is like. 95% confirmed, which kind of makes my heart do a little "!!!" <3 idk brennan means a Lot to me and always did as a young autistic afab person :-) so here you go !! (under the cut)

okay SO here is my explanation for my headcanon, explained in bullet points- this took up multiple google docs pages so i hope you're ready

emotional display:

has absolutely zero poker face- we see this frequently. there are too many instances to count where she cannot hide her facial expressions !! it is also referenced by booth in late season 8, and i think a few other characters have mentioned it throughout the series?

this is especially in the earlier seasons, but her response to stress and trauma is Very Neurodivergent. she rarely has an outward response- it's so rare to see her cry before season 7/8 ?? this could also definitely be a trauma thing but like,,, trauma symptoms and autistic traits are unfortunately hard to differentiate between because autistic people tend to go through more traumatic situations

not exactly emotional display, but similar- she clearly has alexithymia, or something of the sort (basically, she struggles to recognize her own emotions). this is exhibited a few times- the one i can remember right now is "i don't understand what i'm feeling" "you understand happy, right?" (conversation with angela, season 9). this is actually something i have rarely seen in a character- at least not done well. it makes me very happy !!!

empathy:

she struggles to understand why others would think differently than her- her view of the world is Correct in her eyes, and she finds it difficult to look from someone else's point of view. this frequently ends in her criticizing those around her- her view of the world is incredibly black and white, so when others disagree with her, she believes they must be wrong.

extension of the black and white thinking- she doesn't understand concepts, no matter how hard she tries. she needs evidence and proof. examples of this would be her views on god/religion, love (pre-season 6), and marriage (pre-season 8)

despite her lack of empathy toward people, she exhibits a lot of empathy toward animals. this is actually a really common autistic trait?? examples of this would be her emotional attachment to the dogs in 4x04, or her explosive reaction to finding out the tiger was killed in 8x04

social/conversational skills:

this is probably her most obvious and easily recognizable autistic trait- it's what made me go "she's autistic" after watching a few episodes

she does not understand jokes or sarcasm very well- she frequently gets confused by jokes, explaining why they aren't funny or don't make sense, especially pop culture jokes. when she does understand jokes or pop culture references, she gets very excited and explains them out loud, even though everyone around her already understands (just adding- i love this so much ?? her explaining jokes is Very Cute. i'm sorry i'm a simple gay who can't go ten minutes without declaring my love for her)

struggles with small talk and social niceties- this is used as a joke in nearly every episode. she doesn't do small talk well- preferring to talk about topics that are actually important or interest her. she doesn't see the need for most social conventions either, which leads to her frequently being seen as rude.

she misses social cues in conversations- she frequently brings up topics that are probably not Appropriate for the setting (talking about dead bodies in a restaurant, talking about sex while standing over a dead body, etc.)

she is incredibly literal, and doesn't understand metaphorical speak. this goes hand in hand with the not understanding jokes- she takes many phrases at face value, sometimes confusing others

tone:

she frequently comes off as cold or blunt without meaning to be- many people read her as "heartless" or just uninterested because of the way she speaks, even when she is very invested.

i don't know how to explain this other than her speaking pattern is Very Autistic- the way she pauses mid sentence all the time, the facial expressions she makes while speaking, it's all autism babey !!!

intense focus on one topic:

okay it's very obvious that her special interests are forensics and anthropology

she gets hyperfocused, often losing herself in her work and putting herself through the ringer for it. she puts her work above (almost) everything, and has stated on multiple occasions that she would be nothing without her work.

she often explains the things around her with references to anthropology and ancient civilizations- she uses these references to explain her feelings, the situations she's in, and frequently, to solve crimes. things make sense to her when she thinks about them like this.

not engaging with peers in an "expected" way:

she is often showed to have difficulty getting close with people- she doesn't like showing emotion to others, and would rather just talk about the task at hand. this could very well be explained by her trauma background- but i believe it's probably a bit of both.

she finds it difficult to bond with her peers over common things, like pop culture, and rather talks about work or other things. she doesn't open up to a lot of people, even those who she is incredibly close with.

other/misc.:

stimming !! this doesn't have enough instances to get its own section, but i like to interpret that wonder woman scene as vestibular stimming, purely because i love to spin and jump !!!!

detail oriented, to the point of obsession. it's common for autistic people to get caught up in the details of things, which she definitely does.

views on sexuality differ from the "norm"- she is very critical of monogamy during the first half of the series, and does not see the point in marriage. also she's definitely arospec, just putting that out there <3

i am autistic and i love her therefore i'm right

final notes:

i think she's one of my favourite autistic characters to exist- i usually despise the socially awkward detective trope, but it's handled well here. the people around her don't expect her to change the innate aspects of who she is- rather, they love her unconditionally (even if they are exasperated at times- which is natural to feel with people that you love)

i very much like that they didn't go with the socially awkward + smart = unattractive trope either- she knows that she's hot, and so do the people around her. i'm so sick of nerdy girls not being allowed to be hot 😭 especially when it comes to autistic-coded characters- let autistic people have sex lives 2k21

she just,,, holds a very special place in my heart. as an undiagnosed autistic afab kid, she meant a lot to me. i saw a woman on screen who was smart like me and sometimes confused people because of her intelligence, who didn't really get social situations, who didn't know how to express how she felt. she was like me- and she loved herself, and people loved her. she's a very important character to me and has been since i was really young <3

thank you SO MUCH to anybody who read this- brennan is the loml and i will infodump about her until the end of time

[dontbipanicjonsa]

Let's talk about 8x04

(Skipping writing about episode 3 because of obvious reasons.)

At this point, it's getting very hard to tell what is Pol!Jon and what is "oh no I fucked my aunt". Their relationship is disintegrating fast.

1) Sansa's motivations.

If there's anything this episode confirmed for me, it's that Sansa is not motivated by a desire for personal gain (not that I had doubts before).

Her line from S6 comes to mind:

"If we don't take back the North, we'll never be safe."

That's it. That's her motivation in a nutshell. Two things are important here, being safe and the North. In her mind they are inextricably linked.

I think she believes (for good reason) that for her and her family's safety, a Stark has to have power in the North. Exactly which Stark is much less important (she's ready to make Bran Lord of Winterfell, she loyally kept Jon's crown safe through S7, he's still the Warden in the North even tho she's the Lady of Winterfell). Basically, Stark power in the North means safety to her.

Another motivation for her is Northern Independence. I think a part of that is again linked to Starks being in power in the North. She doesn't trust people sitting on the Iron Throne. And a part of it is the independence part. She, her family and much of the North bled and died for that independence, and she cannot give it up so easily.

The real motivation she has in this episode tho is protecting Jon. She says as much herself. Tyrion points out that with Jon in the South, Sansa is the power in the North, but Sansa's mind is on keeping Jon North (aka safe). The moment she told Tyrion his secret kinda reminded me of Cat freeing Jaime. It's a dangerous gamble that they're taking, but in that moment they decide to fuck it because if the gamble pays off, then the people they love (Sansa, Arya, Jon) will be safe. Sansa is fighting for Jon in this moment.

2) I don't wanna bitch about Dany but....

Can't she have said any throwaway line acknowledging the whole "the man I thought is my father actually isn't my father" crisis Jon was probably having inside his head??? Did she really just make his parentage all about her?? Nobody tell me she loves him.

Honestly, I think she's a great character (in the books). Going down a dark path, yes, but still great. The show makers appear to be hurrying along her descent now. This entire scene was jarring.

Moving on from the bitching-

Danaerys is really doubling down on the "what's mine", "the rightful Queen", and even "her destiny" now. The problem is that she's technically wrong. Jon has a better claim than her, and she knows it. Saying that he could take what's hers is plain incorrect. Now if she said, "fuck claims anyway. I've worked for this Throne" I would respect that. At least it's self aware.

3) The lady doth protest too much..?

I think Jon spent half this episode saying, "I don't want the Throne", "you are my Queen", and "she'll be a good Queen". Maybe I'm imagining it, but there is urgency in his words. He's trying to convince the people he is talking to. Who is he talking to?

Dany, Sansa and Arya.

Funny thing tho, in that same conversation with Sansa and Arya, it's established that he "did what he had to" because they needed Danaerys to fight the WW. Now this doesn't contradict his tag lines this episode exactly...but they don't seem entirely congruent with each other either. "Had to" implies a reluctance. Like his hand was forced. At the same time, even tho he keeps talking about how she'll be a good Queen, he provides no reasons for why he believes that, no explanation...only these lines. It makes for an unconvincing argument (sorry Jon).

Someone does say that Dany would be a good Queen because "people follow her" (either Tyrion or Jon) but we already know that's not true. People have not followed her since she came to Westeros, and while the show makes a point of establishing that Jon is liked by his people all the more for his role in the Great War, the same cannot be said for Dany.

So here we have Jon and Tyrion both defending "their Queen" hard. It is known that Tyrion, despite his protests, is having serious doubts about Dany. It is known that he is afraid of her (Sansa establishes that in her conversation with him). It is known that he is aware of her "worst impulses".

Why then, is Jon not? Why is he not having serious doubts? Why is he not afraid of her? Why is he not aware of her worst impulses? How can he not be?

The simple answer is, he is.

4) the "stfu or I stg" look.

The look he gives Sansa during the battle planning meet where she suggests letting the troops rest. Honestly? It's a sound suggestion. Jon, who has been Lord Commander, led people in battle, and is generally not known for mistreating his troops should agree with her. So why does he shut her down so hard, and with that look?

Dany says, "the longer I wait, the stronger my enemies grow". Which enemies?

It's a safe assumption to make that Dany is including Sansa in that list of enemies. As Tyrion says to Sansa (I don't remember the words exactly) but something to the effect of "it's easier to give in to her (Dany)" and Sansa immediately catches that Tyrion is afraid of Dany.

Now Jon is forcing Sansa to give in to Dany.....you see where I'm going with this.

This, along with his insistence that Dany is his Queen and she will be a good Queen....

Here's the thing. There are three things that could be happening here.

First, Jon is afraid of Dany and is being extremely accommodating to keep the heat off himself, and forcing Sansa to do the same.

Second, he's really Stockholm Syndromed his way into falling in love with Dany and he means everything he says.

Third, he has miraculously lost his critical thinking skills, his ability to see and hear Dany making some very dark threats (itching to burn KL, increasingly paranoid about Tyrion and Sansa, only concerned with the better claim that Jon now has on her Throne) and all his brain cells.

I know which of these things I want to believe.

5) In love?

Are Jon and Dany in love?

Danaerys is not. She felt something for him, yes, but now that she's discovered his parentage....her priorities are abundantly clear. She does not trust him, she is concerned only with the consequences this reveal has on her claim.

Her reaction is a mix of legitimate fear that this may be the end of her, a more concerning sentiment of "what it will do to the people" because what exactly will it do to the people...? A fear that he will "take what's hers" nevermind that she's supposed to love and trust him and he hasn't done anything himself to prove he's untrustworthy, and a fear of what it will do to "us" (?what?).

Does this make me think she honestly loves him? No.

Does he love her? It doesn't look like it. But we've already established that it's never particularly looked like he loves her. The question now is why does he keep insisting that he is subservient to her? Where does Pol!Jon end and the breakdown of their relationship begin?

The greatest irony of Jonerys is that it's supposed to be the most epic love story, but it's the story of two people that are incapable of truly loving each other.

6) are you seriously telling me

Are you seriously telling me that Jon reluctantly gives away his crown to this woman because he felt that he was left with no choice (and the woman greatly contributed to making him feel that way) and he simultaneously falls in love with her?

Honestly? It's a bit reminiscent of Yggrite. The entire story from Jon going to Dragonstone till now is very reminiscent of Yggrite. I would just like to believe that Jon's character has developed and grown since Yggrite.

And if Dany is Yggrite, then she's an Yggrite who is threatening mass murder and the lives of Jon's family. Are you seriously telling me Jon is capable of loving that (in a healthy way)?

My god. I get what people say now about Jon's character being assassinated. Pol!Jon is really my only option if I want to keep his character somewhat consistent. I guess we have to make our own consistency in this world too.

Note- these are only my ramblings and they are filled with my personal opinion and biases. I'm only saying what I think, not that I'm right.

[peralta-guaranteed]

Hc 8x04 coda or jake singing to get Mac to sleep

"Alright well don't go without me cause I want to see it too."

Amy is already carefully opening the nursery door when he says that, cooing softly the way she does in the mornings to wake Mac up too.

"Heyy little baby bear," she smiles as she leans over the cot, where a sleepy-eyed Mac with his pacifier still moving rapidly is already looking up at her. "Mama's back home. You wanna say hi to Mama?"

There's a keen little sound coming from behind the paci, and his outstretched arms towards her quickly move to roll himself over when he realises she's not picking him up like usual. Jake only grins as Mac crawls to the edge of his cot, standing a step behind Amy but hearing her excited little whine nonetheless, turning into a downright squeal when Mac grabs the little rails of the bed and pulls himself up to standing, one hand even letting go to reach for her again.

"Oh my big boy! Look at you!" She singsongs as she finally picks him up and hugs him close with a sway, his little arms snaking around her neck immediately. "Such a good job, standing up on your own!"

"He's gonna be running around the place in no time." Jake presses a smooch to those adorable chubby cheeks in Amy's arms, and she sighs happily. Hopefully she'll be there for that milestone, at least.

"I know - oh we have to babyproof so much more when he does!" He can tell she's already making a mental list to check on next morning. "And we'll need to check the bathroom to see if there's anything dangerous he can reach, and-"

"We'll do all that, babe." He calms her down even as he lifts Mac out of her arms, and she's hesitant to let go. "But right now I think what we all need to do is get some actual sleep." He's not forgotten their 3 am wakeup bites from earlier, and Mac in Amy's arms was already looking sleepy again too.

"You're right."

"You hear that, buddy? Mama thinks I'm right. Mark it down, that's a rare thing to hear."

Amy rolls her eyes with a scoff and a smile, as she watches Jake starting to sway with Mac's head on his shoulder, blinking heavily already, but still looking at her.

"🎶 Your mama thinks I'm right 🎶 and that's pretty great 🎶 cause your mama's the smartest person in the world 🎶" Jake sings as he sways around the room, and Amy giggles. He's been pretty creative with the lullabies lately, getting bored of the traditional lines quickly enough, and he's slightly off-key most of the time, but the way his voice softens so much and rises just a bit makes her heart jump every time.

Jake continues to sing to Mac about her day, basically, about Mama acing a presentation and looking like a queen throughout, and he definitely earns himself a kiss after Mac's eyes have completely drifted shut.

"Let's go sleep." She whispers with a hand stroking up and down Jake's back as he leans over to put Mac back into his cot.

"Oh by the way, I changed the bedding and cleaned all around the headboard." Jake says almost absentmindedly as they carefully close the nursery door again. "So definitely no more ants."

"Oh good." Amy hums deeply, as she suddenly pulls her responsible, cleaning househusband very close to her. "But we might need new sheets in the morning anyway."

[anniesardors]

Love is a Ghost-Upstead Oneshot

Masterlist

Summary: Post 8x04 one-shot: Hailey finally confides in Jay about what happened at the hospital (Spoilers for 8x04)

Read on Fanfiction and AO3

Upstead has been basically taking over my thoughts since last night so of course I wrote a little one shot! Title is from “The Words” by Christina Perry. Hope you all enjoy (and how we all survive another week until upstead graces our screens again)

[enigmaticxbee]

✖️✖️✖️ 8x04 Roadrunners

The one where... Scully is taken hostage in the desert by a slug worshipping cult.

Best: Scully tied to the bed surrounded by a creepy slug cult yelling Him?! That thing in my back is a him?!

Worst: Can we not punish Scully by torturing her and then making her apologize and get berated by Doggett for not including him immediately on a case? 😒 Mulder had some real ditches but he also often flew out to check out a case before bringing Scully on board and I don’t think that that was necessarily reckless or a betrayal. And if Doggett had been out there with her they both would have been trapped by the cult.

✔️ Flashlights

✔️ Desert

❌ Slideshow

❌ Autopsy

❌ Evidence Disappears

❌ Scully Misses It

✔️ Mulder Ditch (the biggest ditch of all)

❌ Sunflower Seeds

❌ Voiceover

❌ Catch Phrase

✔️ Scully is a Medical Doctor

❌ Mulder is Spooky

❌ Scuuullllaaaaayy! Muullllderrrr!

❌ Fox/Dana

❌ Inappropriate Touching (that I am here for)

✔️ Casual Scully

❌ Casual Mulder

❌ Trench Coats

❌ Bad Tie Watch

❌ Glasses Watch

✔️ Taking! It! Personally!: Scully

50 States: Utah (41/50)

Investigate: Apart

Solve Rate: 25%

❌ Bechdel Test: We never learn the bus driver’s name.

MSR: 🐝

Goriness: 👽👽👽👽👽

Creepiness: 👽👽👽👽

Humor: 👽👽

Rewatch Thoughts:

Doggett check-in: Okay, okay he seems like a solid dude. But do I wish it was Mulder carrying her around and putting his hand on her bare stomach? Absolutely. Do I resent Doggett for being there instead? Yup!

Pregnancy check-in: Hand on the stomach - the universal cinematic sign of pregnancy. Then at the end Scully SCREAMING: No! Don’t do this! I’m pregnant! I’m gonna have a baby! Noooo! This is the first time we’ve heard her acknowledge not just that she’s pregnant but that she’s going to have a baby. She wants this parasite not that one!

Futile pregnancy timeline estimate: Over a week goes by in this episode so she must be at least 7.5-9.5 weeks along.

Missing Mulder: No direct reference but the implication is that Scully ditched Doggett not because she doesn’t trust him per say, but she just doesn’t want to work the X-Files with anyone other than Mulder.

I wish Doggett finding the similar X-Files cases had contributed to the resolution rather than just using brute force to pull the slug out of her and shoot it. Finding those cases is basically just busy work until they need him to come in and rescue Scully at the last minute. If he’d learned something from the other cases, something psychologically interesting like in Ice when introducing the second parasite killed them both and they had to decide who to give it to, that would have made this case feel more significant. But I guess they were just going for the creepy cult horror vibe.

Speaking of Ice... A parasite living along the spine - not familiar with this Scully? How could you forget the Ice worms??

We (and by we I mean fanfic) talk a lot about Scully’s scar from her Tithonus gunshot wound but you don’t see many references to the scars she must have on her back from this episode...

[cheryls-blossomed]

I’m a bit worried how next episode will play out for two reasons. One Caitlin wasn’t in the ending scene of yesterday’s episode and two Lauren Barnett is solely writing episode 4. Do you think she will somehow make it so Caitlin is the only person to believe Barry in the future or this timeline and thus creating a stronger bond between Barry and Caitlin.

No. As in, I don't think it's going to play out in this way. Barnett still has to work within the parameters of the story. That's not to say that she won't pull some shit, including coddling and elevating her fave white girl, because I'm sure that'll happen, but I don't think it's going to play out to the extent that you're fearing it might. One, because it's legitimately never been the case ever.

Also, slightly off-topic, but since we’re talking about this episode, basically, I think this is going to happen:

Or rather, a variation of it. Remember when we were told that Barry is going to need Iris, his rock and his lightning rod, and that Iris has to step up in a big, emotional way or the world is literally going to end. She's going to do something self-sacrificing (WHYYYYY) to save the world. My prediction is that: Barry and Iris will have a love transcends spacetime moment. Thawne is going to threaten Barry that if he does anything to take Iris back with him, the Earth will die. Barry is like idgaf about the Earth; I’m saving my wife. Iris has to make a super emotional decision to save the world.

I feel like what we saw in 8x03, with Iris not caring one bit about potentially de-stabilizing herself to save Barry and Joe is a pre-cursor to what we're going to see in 8x04.

[dragynkeep]

defense of whitley schnee.

& weiss you suck, holy shit i cannot believe this is a controversial opinion at all.

with the latest episode of rwby, 8x04, aptly named fault; we were given the scene towards the end of the show where weiss & her entourage consisting of ruby, blake & an unconscious via electrocution nora seek refuge in her former home & find only whitley there. he informs them that the staff have left & willow has locked herself inside her room. when whitley is snarky & combative to his older sister, weiss makes the delightful choice to point her loaded, military grade weapon in his face & then orders him to go to his room.

in short : this scene is disgusting. i have no doubt it’s another of crwby’s “””humourous””” scenes or at least what passes for their attempts at humour nowadays & even so, it is still disgusting. especially when you put it in context of their family dynamics, past interactions, differing power dynamics & levels & the current situation whitley has found himself in.

now to start off, i’ve seen plenty of defense for weiss when people have been faced with the appropriate reaction of what the actual fuck, weiss? ranging from “well if i was dealing with that little shitlord” to “they’re siblings, my siblings & i have done worse to each other” to “well, weiss isn’t his mom !!!1!” all of these excuses are piss poor. they ignore everything i laid out up above about the context of the scene & honestly, about the characters themselves. i understand the need to try & defend a favourite character, weiss has been the only one i could stand for the past few volumes out of the main girls but this scene was incredibly shitty & shows a nasty side of her that the writers probably don’t see anything wrong with. considering this episode was written by eddy ... yeah. so, since we need to defend a 14 year old, unarmed, abused child from a fndm that apparently sees nothing wrong with brutality from what’s basically a cop, let’s go through them.

if i was dealing with that little shitlord / okay but he was mean to her once / he was being a brat.

i simply do not know how to tell people that even if someone is being petty to you, you do not get to point a loaded, military grade weapon in their faces. yes, i understand that they were on the run & nora was severely injured; but jesus christ ruby managed to get through to whitley just by treating him like a human being & not an annoyance. maybe you should try it weiss.

some people hold a grudge against whitley for him “being snarky” to weiss; ignoring the fact that for a majority of his life she has not been there. like willow said last volume, weiss left. not only did she leave, but she left him alone with two abusers. no, it is not weiss’s responsibility to care for whitley & i would never wish that to be put upon her, but she cannot act blind about why he might have just the smallest chip on his shoulder. he was left behind to jacques narcissism & abuse, willow’s neglect & disinterest while miring in her alcoholism & as far as he cared; two sisters who abandoned him. pair this with jacques doing what narcissistic abusers do, applying the roles of golden child & scapegoats, then it makes perfect sense why he acts the way he does. & just to lay it out; whitley did not cause weiss’s disinheritance. she did that, through her own actions. whitley is in no way shape or form to blame for weiss’s brashness getting her disinherited & some of you need to get that into your skulls quick sharp.

even if whitley had done all he was accused of; at the end of the day, he is a fourteen year old child who is unarmed, abandoned, auraless & a civilian. if certain huntsmen can be compared to cops then weiss, who had the power to arrest her abusive father, can also most definitely be considered a cop to. this is not the first instance of her brutality against civilians & whether or not if you think the victims “deserved it”; that doesn’t matter. we don’t get to decide who deserves to be protected from brutality & who doesn’t. pointed a loaded weapon in a child’s face is disgusting. end of story.

they’re siblings, my siblings & i have done worse to each other !!

weiss & whitley are not you & your sibling(s). end of story. not all sibling interactions can be generalized across the board, especially in instances of abuse where narcissistic dynamics of the golden child vs scapegoat are in play. weiss & whitley canonically have a very fraught relationship where they barely know each other, have clashed over weiss’s chosen profession & have had clashes where weiss was disinherited & whitley had wine thrown over him ( which in context of their mutual alcoholic mother is a giant fucking oof & was also never funny, crwby just stop. )

even if they did have that type of relationship like we’ve seen with other siblings in the show; there is a difference between playful roughhousing or fights that escalate to minimal violence vs once again, pointing an armed military grade weapon in your defenseless younger sibling’s face & treating him like he’s beneath you & a hindrance. this is not okay. this is not teehee funny or acceptable on weiss’s part. if your relationship with your sibling ends up in serious or life threatening violence; that is also not okay. that is dangerous, that goes beyond the scope of just “normal” sibling relationship boundaries & should be examined in closer detail before being used to excuse this incident.

well, weiss isn’t his mom !!!1!

the final point & one i actually agree with; weiss isn’t whitley’s mom. & she shouldn’t act like one. like i said, right after the scene where she points her weapon at whitley’s face, she orders him to go to his room. like a mother, only their mother has probably never done that because for a majority of whitley’s life, she’s been a useless drunk & he’s had to rely on the manor staff & his father to have his needs fulfilled.

but right now, he has none of that. the staff are gone, willow has locked herself in her room because of course that stupid drunk can’t step up to the plate & the only adult in his life that ever seemed to give a damn is gone because he was arrested by the sister who is now laying down the law in his home like she owns the place. whitley is far better off without jacques & honestly, willow too, in his life & we know this but he doesn’t. all whitley knows is gone. he has a right to be snarky to the older sister who only ever seems to cause trouble, especially when we don’t know how long it’s been since he’s eaten or hell even talked to someone. imagine being hungry, alone in a giant, lonely mansion with your only guardian actively ignoring you, only for your older sibling to come home & immediately treat you like you’re the dirt on the bottom of her shoe.

it’s kind of disturbing how easily weiss slips into the gaping hole left behind by jacques arrest to play that domineering figure in whitley’s life; just look at how this scene basically paralleled the one of jacques telling whitley to get lost in v7 when arthur showed up. knowingly or not, weiss is mirroring the actions of their mutual abuser & furthering those shitty actions onto whitley because no one has thought that he might need a way out too.

i honestly do think of whitley was whitney; that this scene would’ve played out a lot different in fndm perception. just look at the perception of “abusive winter” because she bopped weiss on the head in v3, mirroring ruby fucking decking yang when they were rough housing in v1. neither of those situations are abusive because there is not a difference in power dynamic, at least not one that drastically affects the ability to speak up or retaliate; but for whitley & weiss there is. not only in age, but in weaponry, training, status in society, etc. in every one of those, weiss ranks higher than whitley & she has an inherent power over him.

& she used it to drive him further away. that’s not something to be excused.

[whateverthedragonswant]

Jonsa vs Yara/Theon

The subtle Jonsa parallel that I never picked up on until rewatching the last two seasons:

I don’t consider this to be a romantic parallel per se (for Yara/Theon) but I do think it is romantic on Jonsa’s side if that makes sense. I didn’t catch this before posting this post but I wish I had because I would have added it in.

Jon promises to protect Sansa in 6x09 “I’ll protect you, I promise” - after they take back Winterfell, there seems to be a theme of protection/protectiveness on Jon’s part for Sansa that Sansa does end up returning when it comes to Jon. We see Jon choking and threatening Littlefinger in 7x02 when the latter mentions that he loves Sansa. There was a cut scene where Jon leaves Ghost behind to watch over Sansa while he’s gone. We see Jon’s reaction to Tyrion’s mention of his marriage to Sansa in 7x03, prompting Tyrion to immediately tell him “It was unconsummated.” We see Jon’s reaction to Theon’s arrival on Dragonstone in 7x04 and him saying “What you did for her is the only reason I’m not killing you.” While he’s gone, Arya almost steps into Jon’s narrative once she and Sansa are reconciled. When Jon comes back to Winterfell in season 8, we see his protection/protectiveness is muted at best (almost seeming as if he’s failed to protect Sansa in this regard by bringing the dragon home so to speak, the glare in the 8x04 meeting scene is pretty much their lowest point when it comes to their supposed unity), but his subtle actions still attempt to protect/shield her from Dany and the very real threat she presents. In the end, he chooses to protect Sansa (and their family), and kills Dany when she confirms that people won’t get to choose. So ultimately, he keeps his promise.

Theon promises to protect Yara once he returns home after escaping Ramsay. He supports her in being their queen and is basically her knight or bodyguard. Yara has attempted to protect Theon in the past by mounting a rescue which didn’t end up working out. When Yara’s ships are attacked, Theon instead of fighting against Euron for Yara, turns and flees. In season 8, Theon rescues Yara from Euron’s ship, enabling her to take what is left of their ships back to the Iron Islands while he goes to fight for Winterfell. In the end, he keeps his promise.

Both brother and sister (though Jonsa ends up cousins in the end) that were separated for a time. Theon who is a mirror for Jon in that he is of two houses: Stark and Greyjoy, and he chooses to be a Stark in the end while letting go of the Greyjoy (he’s still both but I mean this in that Yara is not there). After Jon tells him that he can “be both”. Yara ends up the leader in the end for their home, even though they’re still part of the 7K. Jon wasn’t physically there but he was supportive of the idea of Sansa being Queen In the North. The physical line between Yara and Theon were blurred at one point (we all remember that scene) when Theon had no idea who she was at first. Sansa is in love with Jon and he knows it.

I’ll be damned if this didn’t smack me upside the head while watching.

[esther-dot]

The only way I can tolerate the waterfall scene is telling myself that it is about Jon placating Dany after she threatened his family (Sansa) and found out about wight!Viserion thanks to Bran. There's no way I can see Jon, who was obsessed with defeating the Night King and who didn't see ARYA and Bran for years, returning to his home after months (not being a king anymore) only to delegate his responsabilities to other people, and basically ignore his siblings just because he needed to go on a dragon date with his new girlfriend who he barely knows. It just doesn't make any sense.

Sorry if this ask bothers you, but I sometimes remember what they did in the final seasons and I get angry again 😔😔

It’s hard to let s8 go because what they wrote was so contradictory to their stated intent. Like, we can’t just hate it and leave it at that, because, we don’t even know what that was? (A mess, a mess is what it was!)

In the Jon and Sansa scene that follows, he seems surprised by her accusation that he loves Dany, but the guy sat there silently as she threatened Sansa in front of their bannermen, chatted her up in plain view of everyone after, and then took a joy ride on her dragon—how is he surprised Sansa comes to that conclusion? Considering that he bent the knee unnecessarily and told his people it didn’t matter, how can he expect Sansa to trust him? How could he be angry with Sansa when he knew she was right? He should have, would have, felt shame. Makes no sense. If Jon wanted his relationship with Dany to be a secret, and they wanted to sell his love to the audience, they would have gone with longing looks, him following Dany to her room after their arrival to heatedly debate about how he’ll speak to Sansa, but Dany can’t talk to her that way before they fall into bed because they can’t help themselves. The secret love affair idea only works if the characters are, ya know, trying to keep it secret. If the J/D relationship is so intoxicating and overwhelming, make it about passion rather than specific choices (choosing to bend the knee, deliberating before knocking on D’s cabin door, going on a dragon ride). Hell, if they wanted to convince us this was all about uncontrollable desire and total infatuation, the sex probably should have proceeded bending the knee. The progression was too measured to be what it apparently was meant to be, but also so inconsistent/contradictory in progression that it felt insincere on Jon’s part. If it’s meant to be an uncontrollable urge against his better judgment (which 8x04 kinda leaned into), the previous stuff doesn’t fit. If it’s supposed to be love built on admiration, then put the words in Jon’s mouth and the proof in his actions. He would have proposed a marriage alliance back in s7. Then, he would have been able to *not* throw Dany under the bus when he returned North. Sansa and the Northern Lords still could have been pissed, Jon would have still been torn, everything could have played out in the same basic way, but there wouldn’t have been all these contradictions. There are dozens of ways they could have communicated what they allegedly intended, but they clearly wanted certain images in certain episodes, coherency be damned. And I think that’s what the dragon ride came down to. I think they wanted something cool for 8x01. The fact that they went on location for that, spent so much money on that, only for the reaction to be “what show am I watching?” bewilderment and collective cringe from the audience/reviewers...is pretty funny. They used that scene to say Ygritte 2.0 with a lot of callbacks, so on the one hand, it’s meant as foreshadowing for how their story ends, but, if Jon genuinely believed in D and wanted her on the throne, there was no need to do that? He never switched loyalty to Ygritte/the FF, so it isn’t the same situation unless... S7-8 simply make a lot more sense with a Pol!jon interpretation and that’s what I go with. And again, if he was so in love with her he’d betray his people for her, lie to them without remorse, and defend mass murder, then how the hell is he standing there refusing her offer of a life together? Because he’s more obsessed with the NK? Ok, but then why is he shown only hanging out with her instead of working/making plans? It’s all nonsense because they had ideas for specific shots in their heads rather than making sense of anything. 

The waterfall scene makes more sense the way you contextualize it. Add in that deleted scene of the Northerner disrespecting Dany and clearly, Jon has a lot of damage control to do. Also, leave shipping out of it, strictly from his dedication to the Starks, as soon as Dany said that shit about Sansa Jon’s lust addled mind would have snapped out of it. Even if he hated Sansa (which of course, he didn’t), to have a woman with dragons target someone you feel an obligation to protect? And act like that doesn’t turn him off? Please. 

And you’re so right about Arya too! In 8x04 they wanted to showcase how lonely Dany was, but they should have started that the moment they got to Winterfell when D saw how Jon was with his siblings because the Starks absolutely deserved some bonding scenes. I’ll never be able to wrap my head around the fact that they gave Tyrion and Jaime more scenes together in s8 than Jon and Arya. And they can’t even justify it by saying that the Starks are alive and will see each other again because Arya rejected Jon’s offer to visit him. Like WTH. 

I don’t mind talking about s8 at all. It’s still entertaining to me. Clearly. 😂