#but am enamored with the idea of them being frienda and mutually raising their son together

[deanncastiel]

@miss-bridgerton

Hope you dont mind me responding publicy bc i had thoughts!

Anyway, youre entirely right it would have been WEIRD if the show had never resolved the conflict of ted and his relationship to fatherhood and henry, absolutely. I actually went into the finale expecting ted to go back to kansas, ngl, i did think that s3 was setting that up, so it wasnt really a surprise to me.

THAT SAID

The show has done an excellent job in the past of subverting our expectations, and moving forward with a storyline that is both satisfying to the folks who expected something else and also those who wanted the subversion. I mean, take richmond being relegated in the s1 finale. That was not a standard storyline we have come to expect - where the heroes succeed against all odds - but was ESSENTIAL for the growth and development of the characters and their arcs

And thats the kind of ending i expected here. Something that followed through with the themes and ideas of the past 3 seasons, a nuanced and complex story that didnt take the easy way out of anything, and instead forced us to reconcile that two conflicting emotions or events or whatever can exist at the same time without mutual exclusion

That nate could both be a person who was subjected to harrassment and bullying and negligence from his parents and is just trying to heal and become the best he can be AND ALSO a fucking twat who perpetuated the same abuses he faced onto someone weaker

That jamie could both be a child of abuse who can love and hate his father and struggle with how to overcome the shadow his father has casted over him and his football career AND ALSO a fucking himbo who was cruel to the people who loved him and had to take accountability for his actions

And ted could both be thankful to his mother for the love she gave him AND ALSO hate her a little for not giving him the support he needed after his dad died

AND TED COULD BOTH BE A GOOD FATHER AND ALSO NOT SACRIFICE EVERYTHING HE'S BUILT IN RICHMOND SOLELY FOR THE SAKE OF HIS SON

like these are not ideas that are mutually exclusive these are components of a complex and compelling story line and can and do exist at the same time

So all that said, yes my ideal outcome turns out, was for henry and michelle to come to england

Ok so for those of you who might be a smidge confused as to why so many of us may be upset about ted going back to kansas to be with his son bc "it was always going to end up like this" "thats his boy of course he was going to go back" "Ted's entire journey was about how to be a better father and not to do to henry what ted's father did to him" like

Y'all realize that parents are people too, right??? They have their own thoughts and beliefs and friends and things that make them happy and interests (special or otherwise) and hobbies and relationships outside of their children and and and and and

To say that his ENTIRE character arc revolves around his son is reductive and perpetuates terrible ideas about what it means to be a parent and what they are expected to sacrifice for their children

Ted's arc revolved around Ted. And part of that, sure, was being a father. But it was also being a husband, and a friend, and a coach, and an individual person who is trying to move on from their trauma and mistakes and people pleasing needs and set boundaries and accept that they dont always have to be happy and optimistic 100% of the time and that its okay to be upset sometimes and

And if y'all have somehow missed that, then no wonder we have very different views on ted's ending