#but yeah s2 won't be until a long while from now so

[calqlate]

THE LOVE & DEEPSPACE MLS AND THEIR KDRAMA ML COUNTERPARTS

INCLUDES: rafayel + sylus + xavier + zayne

WARNING(S): might be ooc bc i don't really keep up with the lore so there might be some inconsistencies (oops) (pls be gentle) (it's 10pm here and my brain is running on adrenaline) + contains some canon lore drops ig

MASTERLIST

NOTE(S): i will never stop inserting my fandoms into kdramas bc i love seeing worlds collide. anw pls partake in this brainrot with me 🤩

— RAFAYEL

ryu sunjae from lovely runner - they are both absolute losers for their respective lovers. i can picture rafayel in that one scene where sunjae was blowing kisses towards sol's house. no matter how hard his beloved tries to cut him out from their life to save him, he will always find his way back into their life.

jeong guwon from my demon - similar to sunjae, guwon is also another loser for his wife. (tbh i can imagine rafayel as a down bad simp for his lover; cue thomas sighing and shaking his head.) i can picture rafayel in the scene whereby guwon and dohee were doing that tango while fighting off their enemies too?!?!

lee yeon from tale of the nine-tailed - continuing the loser boy train, we have yeon as the final dude to add in this group. (specifically yeon from s2, bc the way he wanted to go back to his timeline so badly to see jiah matches rafayel's "the only person i'll ever love is my lover" energy.) their backstories also match in the sense that yeon never stopped searching for jiah and rafayel never stopped waiting for his bride.

— SYLUS

myulmang from doom at your service - not me choosing myulmang bc they both made contracts to their beloveds [clown emoji]. but nonetheless they're similar in the sense that they won't think twice about eliminating someone who hurts their lover.

shin wooyeo from my roommate is a gumiho - again, another contract situation. wooyeo is a "classier" version of sylus imo, and one who uses less pet names. if sylus were the ml in this kdrama, he would defo keep an even more watchful eye on his beloved so that she doesn't go about losing his fox bead. (aur naur iw to write a gumiho au for sylus now...)

lee youngjoon from what's wrong with secretary kim? - similar to youngjoon, sylus will never let his lover leave. they want to leave his mansion? he will try 101 (legal) ways to make them stay. they will find snacks they like in their room more often. they will find new (and expensive) clothes in their wardrobe. heck, even an all-expenses-paid vacation! he wants to keep them close to him; he's afraid of them upping him to leave.

— XAVIER

goo yeonjun from a time called you - like yeonjun, xavier has literally went back in time to save his beloved. he wants to see then safe and sound, and as long as they're happy, he's happy. as long as they're alive and breathing, he's fine with not being by their side. just watching them live their life is enough for him.

haru from extraordinary you - totally not projecting my all-time fav kdrama on him (or am i?) but xavier and haru have similar mannerisms and personality traits. yk how in the first few episodes danoh was dragging haru around and this guy just remained silent and followed along until one day he just started speaking? yeah that's the same with this guy. the person he likes could yap all day and he would willingly sit and listen.

moon seoha from see you in my 19th life - similar to seoha, xavier loves once in his life and he will only ever love his little star. he would never get over their death and if he's the one responsible for their death, he would be all the more upset with himself. he would throw himself into work all day and refuse to love again, thinking he shouldn't be able to fall in love ever again since he took his beloved's one chance of staying alive and happy away.

— ZAYNE

moon suho from black knight - they're both so overprotective of the one they love. the way suho essentially told sharon that haera is the only woman he would ever love is something i can picture zayne doing. if someone is out there trying to harm his beloved, you'd best believe zayne would do his best to prevent that from happening, even if it means giving up his own life.

lee suhyeok from bora! deborah - when zayne loves, he loves hard. like suhyeok, he's clumsy at expressing his affections, choosing to keep everything to himself and wait until he's 100% certain it's the right time to say whatever he wants to say. and sometimes, that can lead to disastrous endings (see also: suhyeok getting dumped on the same day he went to buy an engagement ring for his girlfriend). both men are careful to a fault, all the more so with their beloved because they're scared of losing someone precious to them again.

yoo jihyuk from marry my husband - zayne, like jihyuk, would willingly stand aside and watch the one he loves fall in love with someone else. he would be supportive and wouldn't try to fight for their affection. his motto is "if they're happy, i'm happy" and he can live being an unmarried old man as long as he sees them happy.

© CALQLATE. all rights reserved. please do not copy, modify, repost, or translate my works on any platform.

[ephemeralgalaxies]

y'all getting a whole ass series of these at this point

Aight it's been a LONG WHILE since Ben has been mentioned in TPP, so when I tell you I REALLY wasn't expecting this one :')

(yes I am relating this line to Nureyev bc everything is plot foil plot foil plot foil)

When Nureyev (Glass) finds out about Juno's brother being dead, he eventually apologizes in a moment of calm for asking about Juno's past. In which Juno offers up information that their mother, in fact, killed Ben... and this is what he says about that info:

s1ep2

Nureyev (Glass): "I'm... so sorry, Juno."

Juno: "I'm not telling you so you'll be sorry. I'm telling you that, so you won't ask me anymore goddamn questions about it. Just— drop it, alright? It's done. It's over."

Nureyev (Glass): "...of course! If that's what you'd like."

Having this mirrored with the s5 phrase of them ending their relationship together (yeah y'all know the one)

s5ep14

Nureyev: "I do not want to see you anymore, Juno."

Juno: "...what?!"

Nureyev: "You said it would just take those words to excise you from my life entirely, didn't you? Well, I've said them. I have no interest in seeing you any longer. None. I am done. We are finished. Do you understand me?"

Juno: "...yeah, I— get you... So, I guess I'll just go now."

Just something about how finale these two moments are in which both Nureyev and Juno are pushing back this great loss as if it isn't destroying them inside, just once again them acting SO SIMILARLY without realizing. And also how both immediately agree to the other's terms. Even if Juno is aching to process Ben's death, even if Nureyev is aching to keep Juno by his side. They both back off from the other.

In fact, it isn't until Nureyev backtracks when Juno tries to leave that Juno starts to question how much Nureyev really meant it. Juno assigned the conditions, yes, but he does know Nureyev. Enough to know that he'd played this game before, especially in protection of someone.

And whether it be with Ben and the mental fuckup of whatever the heck s2's The Monster's Reflection or with Nureyev and his fear of being understood/loved, Juno knows that sometimes, your business with someone just isn't over yet.

[hozaloza]

Logan thing I literally noticed by accident

Okay-- so,

We all know Logan's parents are out of the picture.

It's pretty obvious.

So, I'm now gonna talk about something completely different but it's still relevant to Logan.

So... you notice how their noses are literally the same in shape? Also, their skin tones are EXTREMELY close to one another. One last thing to note is that the eye shape is also pretty similar. (Note that the hair color may not be the same, since it's likely Ryan has black hair due to his eyebrow color... But parents with blonde or brown hair can have a kid with black hair, as long as both parents have the recessive gene, or someone in the family had the gene.)

This is pretty farfetched, but I honestly like the idea of Ryan being Logan's dad already, so now that I accidently made this connection while swooning over Ben's dad just makes my stupid lil au even truer.

Although, it's too farfetched for him to be his dad, so I'm making the safe bet that he's just related to Logan, like perhaps an uncle. It could explain why he doesn't really say anything about Logan, or there wasn't any hint that he was his dad. It could be that he left his family a little after Logan was born, so he would never know how he looked like after some time passed.

(fast pass spoilers here!) He also probably doesn't know the names of the kids (obv), so he won't realize Logan is his nephew for a bit until someone mentions his full name around him, and he's like "Hol' up-- That sounds like the name my sibling gave to their kid--" He also wouldn't care for the parents either, therefore he doesn't know his mom and dad are being kept here. Once he realizes that Logan's his nephew, he'll realize his parents are here. Because if the parents got kidnapped as well, Logan's guardians would also be here.

(end of fast pass spoilers)

Now, let's circle back to the first thing I talked about.

I may have an idea on what could've happened to Logan's parents because of the Ryan thing...

Since I was looking for pictures of the grandparents in all s2 episodes, I happened to be reading over the dialogue. When I read this at first, I was like "hm, great words spoken by James." Then I realized, "...WAIT-- WHAT IF THIS WAS THEM SELF-REFLECTING ON THEIR OWN MISTAKE WITH THEIR OWN KID--" And yeah, that's how I came up with this dumb little theory:

What if by possibility, Logan's parents were in danger, and whoever was the child of Mary and Jame's tried telling them about it, but they didn't believe them. So, trying to keep Logan safe (he was just a few months old at the time), they left him at their parents house, lying about needing to run some quick errands with their spouse, and never returned, possibly dead. Mary and Jame's heavily grieve the lost of their child. They already had one run off (Ryan left them after Logan was born, there was a huge fight about his alcoholism problem), and now their second child was missing, possibly dead.

They raised Logan as a sort of apology to their own child. And because of the trauma, they were really protective of Logan.

Now, this could also explain why Mary and Jame's were the first to believe the kids. The situation reminded them of their own kid, and they realized that there could be a chance the gang was in danger, obvious evidence being Tyler. So, to make sure the other parents didn't make the same mistake they made, they stepped up and encouraged the other parents to believe the gang.

Again, this all could be pretty far-fetched, but there's always the chance of it being right. (I also realized Ryan may have seen Mary and James, but never hinted at saying they were his parents, but then again maybe it's either too soon to reveal that, or he couldn't exactly notice since it was likely from a distance.)

That's all I have for now. Bye bye 🧖

[bluemagi]

Re. Jumping ship and multishipping

I've been thinking a lot about this these past few weeks, since a certain hot pilot swooped in and stole my heart. I've seen people giving other people shit for "giving up" and jumping ship, for multishipping or even just for liking and enjoying a character. And it's just weird to me how people are so obsessed with controlling other people's behaviors. Just the other day I saw a TikTok where the creator was saying that people who "jumped ship" to Bucktommy were just fetishising because they want to see two guys kissing. Which is just... a terrible take on so many levels.

I was a Buddie shipper too. I enjoyed their on-screen relationship, I saw the signs that there might be more than friendship, and I hoped that something might happen. But I have also been in fandoms for at least 20 years by now. I've been through queerbaiting, I have been through shipbaiting, I have been through relationships I previously loved being destroyed by what happens on screen. I know that nothing is promised and that we have to have realistic expectations. Our interpretations of things are usually not what the writers/actors/directors/editors intend, and so we can always hope, but we have to know that we probably won't get what we want.

I think I grew a bit bored with the Buddie ship around season 5. I was watching queer representation in other shows, like Tarlos in Lone Star, and I couldn't see 911 ever go there, especially as time went on and nothing happened, there were no obvious signs. I didn't think they would ever make Buck or Eddie queer. I still enjoyed the show for what it was and would watch when I had the time, but I wasn't obsessing over it anymore. I would watch the show and hope that either one of them would get an interesting love interest (I actually sort of liked Natalia at the end of season 6), and until that happened, I would just enjoy Buddie outside of that, in fan fictions and Tumblr discourse.

So imagine my surprise when they finally did it, when they actually made Bi Buck canon. Since Tommy had been on the show before, we already knew a lot about him, and we could also read into the difference between s2 Tommy and s7 Tommy and see that there had been a lot of development there. So yeah, I was immediately interested. The more I saw, the more interested I became. So while I can still love and appreciate Buddie, it is far more interesting to me to have actual substance with an on-screen relationship, rather than having to try to interpret and read into every interaction to see if it can relate to Buddie.

But, back to jumping ship and multishipping. I've been thinking back through my fandom history, and I realized that this is something I have gone through several times before, in one way or another. I started out with soap operas, and in those, everyone cheats and nobody is ever happy for long, so jumping ship back and forth happens. Suddenly a character is killed, only to come back to life several years later. They completely change personalities, they change faces (new actors), so things change a lot. I suppose that might be why multishipping and jumping ship is not really an issue for me. It just make sense that you can change your mind about something when more content comes out. It's sort of like a relationship. You can be happy and in love for a while, or for a long time, but things change, people grow, and suddenly that relationship is not right for you anymore.

So I was thinking back on my previous experiences with jumping ship and multishipping, and I just scribbled down some thoughts on them. Starting with....

As The World Turns - Nuke vs. LuRe

I think one of the first times I jumped ship, was from Noah/Luke to Luke/Reid in As The World Turns. An American soap that ended in like 2011. Nuke were one of the first gay male couples on American day time TV, and if you have the time, please go read about them on Wikipedia, because their story is absolutely ridiculous and overdramatic, as most soap couples are. And since this was in the 00s / early 10s, they barely shared any kisses or intimacy. At certain points we were counting the days between their on-screen kisses, and I think we went 200 days without an on-screen kiss while they were in a romantic relationship on the show, and the first time they had sex, I think they just kissed and fucking jumped on the bed or something. It was just ridiculous. But it was representation, which there was not a lot of back in those days.

Then, my beloved Reid Oliver came into the picture. He was out and proud, he was confident, successful, unapologetic, he was just very interesting. Luke/Noah was young love, riddled with insecurity and drama. Luke/Reid was more confident, more adult. And also, it was an option! Back in those days, there were barely any queer characters on TV, and now there were three guys in one show. At the point when Reid came on to the show, I was already finding myself growing tired and annoyed with Nuke, and Noah specifically. So when he showed an interest in Luke and they began their relationship, I happily jumped over.

I was then punished by the show's cancellation and that fucking train, but that's beside the point.... Moving on!

Days of Our Lives - Will, Sonny and Paul

Now this was a fun one! I remember watching Days back when I was in elementary school. My friend and I would go home together from school and watch it before doing home work. I was better in English and in reading than her, so I would be reading the subtitles out loud to her so she could keep up with what was happening. I think Days actually helped me to learn English much better. So I remembered all the drama with Sami, Carrie, Lucas and Austin, and with baby Will. And it was a bit shocking to me when suddenly baby Will was an adult (or I guess in his late teens) and was coming out of the closet. This was around the same time as ATWT, I believe, around 2010, so again, there wasn't a lot of representation on TV.

Also, side note, this was before streaming was a thing, and I lived in Norway, so we didn't even have access to everything. I had to buy DVDs to watch stuff like Queer as Folk and The L Word.

Anyways, Will and Sonny became a couple, and with that, the first male same sex couple on the show. It was the only real option, so of course I shipped it. I am again reading the Wikipedia page for this couple, and their story is quite insane. They recast the role of Will at one point, and I didn't love how the character changed after the actor was changed. So when Paul came on the show, I was immediately drawn to him. His back story was interesting and the actor had amazing chemistry with everyone. So I shipped him with both Will and Sonny (and both versions of Will, tbh). And again, you simply must read the Wikipedia article about this. It was just pure insanity.

Supernatural – Dean, Cas, Benny

We cannot talk about shipping without talking about Destiel. It is simply not possible. I'm not even going to explain anything, because we're on Tumblr, everyone knows Destiel. So unsurprisingly, I am a Destiel shipper. I can't remember when I first started shipping them, but it must have been quite early. Probably not in season 4 when Cas first arrived, but probably in season 5.

So Destiel is an example where I haven't jumped ship, but instead, I have multishipped. Cas has unfortunately not really had any real love interest outside of Dean. I honestly can't even think of any, apart from that random woman he married when he had amnesia, which... just no, dude. But Dean however, he has had some options, and I haven't hated them.

Lisa, I loved her back in the early seasons. And when he went to live with her after season 5, I didn't hate it. I knew the chances of Destiel ever happening were slim to none, so I could enjoy Dean and Lisa together on screen while enjoying Dean and Cas in fan fictions.

Later, we met Benny. And I immediately loved him. He was so interesting, he had such an interesting relationship with Dean, and I was so mad when he died. Again, Dean was never shown to be anything but straight, so again, chances of anything happening here was also slim to none. But I could happily enjoy fan fictions and content on them, alongside with Destiel.

Other honorable mentions:

I was considering writing a whole section about Robron from Emmerdale, but I realized that I am still so pissed off about that whole thing, so I don't think I'd be able to articulate anything good from that. So instead I will just use this as an example of an on-screen couple that I absolutely loved, but that I ended up hating and abandoning due to what happened on screen. I jumped that ship straight into the ocean, and swam far far far away.

Klaine! The couple that got me into Tumblr in the first place! I loved Kurt from the first season, and I was so intrigued when Blaine came into the show (I was also a huge AVPM fan, so that just made it all the better). And I really enjoyed them together for the first couple of seasons. But thinking back, I think I fell out of love with them quite early on. Their stories didn't hit the same, it got boring. I was actually more interested in Karofsky by the time I stopped watching the show, which was probably part of the reason why I stopped watching. It was quite the unpopular opinion back then. Maybe still? I have no idea.

Gallavich! I loved Shameless back in the day, and Mickey and Ian were among my favorites. But at a certain point, I got fed up with it all and stopped watching. The on-and-off stuff got boring, important things got swept under the rug, and I didn't like the treatment of Mickey. Anyway, I gave up and stopped watching. It was only years later when the show was ending that I caught up and found out they actually ended up together. Which was amazing, but still left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.

Anyways, my point is that there seems to be this opinion now that if you ship a couple, you are stuck with them for life. Jumping ship, or even multishipping, is seen as a betrayal, as something horrible. Shipping Buck and Tommy apparantly means that we hate Eddie, and that we don't care about the beautiful friendship and relationship Buck and Eddie have. But that is simply not the truth. At least not for me, or for most people I have seen discussing this.

At this point in time, I am going to enjoy the beautiful on-screen relationship that is Buck and Tommy, and I am excited to see where it goes. If that relationship ends, and somewhere down the line, Buck and Eddie finally end up together, I will probably be happy (as long as it is done right, like Oliver Stark himself has said).

[starseneyes]

Spock / Nurse Christine Chapel - Star Trek: Strange New Worlds S2 Eps 8 & 9

So, I was gonna wait until the Finale to do another Meta, but then I saw all the Chapel hate coming out after 9, and I felt the need to insert my (uneducated) opinion.

SPOILER ALERT: Spoilers are like garlic for me. If the recipe calls for a clove, I'm adding a head. So, if you dare eat this Spanish/Ukrainian princesa's babaganoush, then this spoiler-filled Meta is for you!

Everyone clear on how this thing works? Brilliant. Let's dive in with kleenex in hand.

"Under the Cloak of War" AKA "You Had To Be There"

"The ally ambassador must have many interesting insights on delicate matters of diplomacy." ... "Christine." "What? Oh, you're doing the word game. Um, I'm sorry. I don't really have one right now."

The staging of this is so haunting and beautiful. Spock has his back to the situation, because he was never really apart of it. Spock didn't see the ravages of the Klingon War up close.

Christine faces it head-on, refusing to look away when it might be healthier for her. She shouldn't even be here. But the Veterans are forcing themselves to put on a good face for the sake of Starfleet.

And, ugh, that kills me inside. M'Benga writes it off, saying he's survived worse than polite conversation. True. But that doesn't make any of this right.

Spock is worried about his not-girlfriend, but he has no idea how to help her. He can't understand what she's been through, but she won't/can't help him understand.

And, please don't misread this as a criticism of Christine. She is under no obligation to help Spock understand. But he cannot understand it, and from his perspective, he's trying to. He never will.

"You are under duress."

Spock shifts from standing in front of her to standing alongside her. I love that choice. I don't know if it was writing, acting, directing, or something else. But it shows the shift in him turning that blind eye (intentionally or not) to standing with her.

Also, gosh, he knows her. He's observant of her. He's paying attention.

He wordlessly looks down to the glass in her hand.

"Quite understandable. I do not know much about your service in the war, but... I am available if you ever feel the need to share." "Yeah, I don't, so let's just change the subject, yeah?"

Her duress increased. The exact opposite of what Spock hoped to achieve in telling her that he was there for her.

"I just wish he would shut up for one second about all this amazing peace he's achieved." "I can help with that."

There's vulnerability in her eyes as she looks over to him, because she really doesn't want to close herself off to him.

She doesn't want to deal with all that she lost during the War. And, in a small part, what she's going to lose shortly based on Boimler's words.

Spock strides over to the Ambassador, inspired by Christine's previous words, "let's just change the subject" and he puts it into practice. As conversation shifts, he looks to her.

"Did I do right?" his eyes ask. Because all he wants is to help her. She offers him a small nod and smile in return. Yes, in a small way, this is actually helping.

"Okay, I'm gonna go see if she needs anything."

It sucks that their first time sitting alongside one another at a dinner now that they're dating is one... like this.

There's nothing to report here on them besides the fact that Christine takes the out to leave and check on Erica while Spock sits in his chair stewing over what he could have done differently to help.

Spock earnestly wants to help. He doesn't know how. And Christine doesn't know how to tell him what will help because nothing will help.

"I want to apologize for my part in last night's dinner." "You don't need to apologize. None of this is about you. You just see me going through something and our closeness makes you feel responsible."

Spock is still looking for some way to help her. But Christine is still living in moments long since passed. And he can't get there because he's never been there.

But, she's right. Their "closeness" factors into him wanting to help. We know from the future that Spock cares deeply about the people he holds closest and would do anything for them.

"You're not." "I understand." *Spock looks around to see no one there* "That is not true."

Spock steps into the corner and Christine leans against the wall. They both relax into their positions almost effortlessly, but they aren't alongside one another anymore. They aren't facing anymore. They're separated with feet planted almost perpendicular.

This is where their paths diverge. No longer towards one another. No longer alongside. This subtle blocking choice shows us we're at the beginning of the end.

"I am having difficulty watching you experience such obvious distress. I want to help."

I love the clear communication on his end. Truly! Spock is laying it all out for Christine.

"But it would appear all that I am doing is making it worse." "War, it doesn't leave you. It can, it can bury itself, but it's-it's always there."

And she's trying to give him insight. But how can she truly explain? She can't.

"I researched J'Gal. It was a forward operating base. The data suggests the loss of life was disproportionate-" "J'Gal is not a statistic, Spock. J'Gal is what it is. War, it makes sense if you've been there, but it will never make sense."

That last line. Wow. I have nothing to add.

"Like I've been trying to tell you, I just need some personal time."

Like you've been trying to... huh? She's not even looking him in the eye while she says this. Because she's taking this opportunity to take that "closeness" that makes him feel responsible for her and push it away.

Maybe she's been trying to say this, but not saying this. We know Christine's not the best at communicating what she wants in a relationship.

And we know that right now he is making it tougher on her. Even he realizes it. But what he doesn't know is that in giving her this space, now, he'll never regain back what he thought they had.

"I understand. You require personal time away from me."

And he'll give it to her. He'd do anything for her. For goodness sake, he almost started a war for her when he was still in a fully-committed engagement. Of course he'll give her space if that's what she needs.

He only hopes she'll close the gap when she's ready. But poor, sweet, Vulcan/Human boy... you aren't ready.

"Subspace Rhapsody" AKA "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart"

"Oh, I have to talk to Spock."

But. She. Doesn't. Christine doesn't like truth-filled conversations with the people she's dating. We know that this is a core flaw in her attempts at relationship—she has no idea how to effectively communicate with a romantic partner.

She's not going to talk to him... and instead he's going to stew (and eventually make his own stupid decision) because they're not communicating at all.

I feel like Christine was one of the best at communicating with Spock pre-romance. They built this really beautiful friendship. And even as they were in the early stages of their dating relationship, that connection still seemed strong.

But J'Gal tested them in a way neither predicted. And that would have happened whether or not Boimler dropped the future truth bomb.

Christine has a lot of PTSD that is unprocessed. And Spock lacks that understanding because he has never shared those experiences. I've seen relationships implode more than once when one partner had PTSD. It's brutal.

And enter this huge opportunity for Christine. She once told Spock that relationships are about mutual sacrifice, that one puts the relationship above work. But that's not how either Christine or Spock operate.

In a parallel universe, they could discuss this openly and honestly with one another. But this Spock and Christine have communication issues that they'll sadly never resolve (at least so far as we know canon).

"Unfortunately, we have had another communication failure."

Dana Horgan & Bill Wolkoff (the screenwriters of this episode), I love you. To have that line as the verbal cue to switch scenes was so bloody perfect, especially considering the state of the Spapel relationship. These two are definitely experiencing a communication failure.

"Is that transmission regarding Nurse Chapel's recent fellowship application? Was the news... favorable?"

Oh, dear, how long has he been giving her "personal time" that he's asking Uhura for updates?

"I don't look at personal correspondence." "Of course, that would be unethical."

And, look, he's not trying to spy. But he does want to know. And he wishes Christine would be the one to tell him. Our poor boy has been doing everything he can to help her—including giving her space.

But while he's been wishing to be close to her, again, she's been widening the gap.

"You and Nurse Chapel have become close, haven't you?"

Okay, so the whole crew isn't aware that these two are shacking up. But, we've seen Uhura be hyper-vigilante about the connection between Spock and Christine since Season 1. She was the first person to call it out.

And Spock really isn't sure what to say. In his mind, they are still an item, even if they aren't a "couple", right?

"I suppose it would be accurate to say that we are more than colleagues." "There's that classic Vulcan romance I've heard about."

She means it in a ribbing way, but it hurts. Uhura notices, and makes the adjustment, like any good communications officer would.

"Why don't you ask her about it?" "Of late, our communication has faced challenges."

Gosh, he needs this. In the absence of Christine, he needs someone he can talk to. Someone who can see the whole of him and truly listen. To make Uhura that foil considering the TOS-era friendship they seem to have makes total sense.

Spock Presses the Issue

It feels like Uhura and Spock both thought he'd be the one to sing when this was pressed. Was it a stupid move? Gosh, yes. But if characters didn't make mistakes, we'd scream and wail about their plasticity and lack of organic truth. They have to be flawed to be well-rounded.

But, Spock's mistake leads to one of the most energetic songs of the episode, and a lot of unspoken truths.

"Christine. Logic would dictate you are toasting good news regarding your fellowship. So, allow me to offer congratulations." "Thank you, Spock." "I am curious why you chose not to inform me. Was it an oversight? Or was it intentional?" "Can we, um, can we talk about this later?" "I am just curious."

Again, Spock pressing this in front of everyone was asinine. I'm not glossing over that. But her hiding it from him was stupid, too. They are both in the wrong in how they handled this situation.

But I truly believe Uhura though Spock would be the one to sing. They were trying to incite a song, and she could already tell he was o the verge of emotional when it came to Christine and this fellowship.

But, Christine busts out with absolute glee. And she deserves to be gleeful. A partner should never be her whole life.

And I truly believe she never would have told Spock in front of the entire bar under any other circumstances. We already set it up with La'an warning Pike and then Pike and Batel exposing themselves in front of everyone.

To borrow the phrase from Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, these are "heart songs". These are things that dwell in the deepest part of selves that would never come out under normal circumstances.

Pike would still be lying to Batel. La'an wouldn't have run off to hide in her quarters because she was belting truths. And Christine would have dealt with Spock in her own time... even if that was still a bad choice.

The song forced Christine to share this truth.

And, gosh, there are so many lyrics in here that show Christine's state of mind. The validation. The freedom. The future that she already knows she doesn't share with Spock.

Christine has applied to something that only a handful of people get into every year, and this isn't a 2-month trip that she'd return from. This could be the start of an entirely new path for her. She may never come back to Enterprise.

And, from his perspective, I see how cold-hearted it seemed. But I do not begrudge her going after her dreams. I simply abhor that she cut Spock out entirely prior to this big musical number.

But... our characters have to make mistakes. Otherwise, we'd be watching "the perfect people" do nothing every week.

"If I need to leave you, I won't fight it. I'm ready."

She speaks the line the last time... "I'm ready." It's spoken outside of the song. She means it. And it crushes him.

He turns over that left shoulder... but away from her, this time. He's spent the entire song standing still while the world around him moved, while she moved the world with her words. And now he feels out of place in a realm where she thrives.

Her spark is ignited, while his flame painfully claws at the last threads of wick before dying.

Uhura and Chapel are the only ones who watch Spock go—who understand what really happened there. We don't see Christine's reaction, but we see Erica smiling up at her.

Christine meant it. She's ready to move on. But it does kill me that she doesn't try to go after him, to seek him out, to make sure he's okay.

Again, our characters have to make mistakes. They have to screw it up. And in how she handles breakups, Christine consistently screws up. It would be out-of-character for her to handle this one well.

Again, I don't blame her for breaking up with him via song. He pushed her to sing by pushing the issue. But her actions before and after are entirely her own just as much as his to push was his. They're both idiots.

"I didn't expect Christine to be so definitive about ending our arrangement."

He doesn't even refer to it as a relationship. But, since he's opened up to Uhura at the start of the episode about them being "more than colleagues", he feels freer to speak.

He also feels exposed.

"Relationships can be difficult, Spock, and you're Vulcan" "But I am also human."

Oh, my sweet boy. You finally got there. You finally learned to embrace both sides of yourself only to experience your first true heartbreak.

And now you'll endeavor to do what so many other humans have done before you—shut out the pain.

"I feel things differently. Bigger. I see her logic and, yet, I am hurt."

Gosh, the pain. Listen to his emphasis on "hurt". This is where Ethan Peck's vocal inflection and range really sing (pardon the pun).

Uhura has never seen this level of emotion from Spock. But they are becoming friends, which is welcome and needed for both their stories. And he's opening up in a way he won't, again, for a very long time, I suspect.

"I am left behind."

I hate to say it, but I imagine this is how T'Pring felt when he took off on their engagement night. There was always something Spock seemed to be choosing over her.

The difference is that Spock thought he and T'Pring's relationship could weather all his other duties. With Christine, that isn't even a possibility she's willing to entertain.

She's done. It's over. And he's hurt.

The Music Swells

Spock and Uhura lock eyes. They both know a song is coming on, but I love how he doesn't run away, and she stays there with him.

If anyone knows what it is to be alone, it's Uhura. She's the one who pressed him to press Christine, so she's not leaving his side, now.

And it's Christine's Song. It's their song. Oh, gosh, this hurts. I didn't call it right on them sharing a song in terms of a duet, but in this melody, they share the two sides of the same song—one elated, one defeated.

Though, Spock's in the minor key where Christine was in the major. So, even though the melody and rhythm are matching, the songs aren't quite the same, even in construction. Damn, this is masterful.

My husband, who started playing piano at age 5 and studied for 21 years, said they gave Spock and Chapel the "Les Mis" treatment, and I about died laughing. He's not wrong.

"This news really changes everything-"

Starting the same way, too, whew. This is already super painful. Christine's version was a boisterous, celebratory tune with raucous dancing, cheerful backup vocals, and lots of pageantry.

Spock is in the echo chamber of Engineering. Without Uhura, he would be utterly alone. But there's no one to sing with him. His voice rings out alone.

"I can't believe how wrong I've been. Convinced myself we shared the same feelings. I won't make that mistake, again."

And Uhura can't interject to tell him about interdimentional space and everything that Christine said there. It's not her place. But, damnit, communication would have changed this whole story.

"For her I set aside my need to analyze. Now I'm wrecked and searching for Why. I'm the Ex."

Beautiful play on words. Though, I'll admit a small part of me was mentally breaking into the Calculus song from 2gether (yes, I'm that old).

While the other song was more hilarious, this one's eloquently and agonizingly crafted. It makes so much sense that our favorite Science officer is merging math and music, as only the best STEAM students can.

"I've got no one but myself to blame. I betrayed my core philosophy. Unending reason must be my true north, lest I drown in this sea of pain."

Imagine you've grown up in a constricted world and when you finally decide to break out of that and test the waters, your boat is capsized by the person you trusted to help you steer.

Spock took a great risk with this relationship, and he knew it. But he never predicted it would end like this. Yes, Christine was upfront with not wanting to label it and not wanting to tell Starfleet. She didn't pretend in any way.

But Spock still hoped. And now that hope's been dashed.

I think a lot of us have been there—having our hearts broken by someone we really trusted. Gosh, I remember my first boyfriend.

He broke up with me over the phone on my birthday, which happened to be the week of Prom. Oh, and he was cheating on me because two months in on my first relationship I wouldn't sleep with him. We still went to Prom together because I thought I could win him back.

Seventeen-year-old Rachel wasn't that bright. But she was hurt. And she had hope that she was wrong to be guarded, that it was okay to let those walls down a bit and let someone in.

"I'm so dysfunctional, weak and emotional, feelings I just can't contain. Escaping this misery, you're breaking free, not a possibility.

Uhura's brow furrows as she listens to him talking about himself so harshly.

"Weak and emotional" is a gut-punch to me considering how a season ago in episode 9 Spock was lamenting his weakness while Christine cupped his face and told him it was his emotions... and that they didn't make him weak... they made him human.

"I solved for Y in my computation but missed vital information, the variable so devastating... I'm the X."

Watch how he looks to Uhura mid-phrase. He nearly forgot she was there listening to him bare his soul. But he can't stop it as it's flowing out. He has to finish the song, no matter how painful.

"I'm the ex."

He speaks the line the same way Christine spoke her last line. Because, it's real. It's true. And it hurts like hell.

"I am sorry."

He's near tears, again, and it's all wrong. So far this season Christine, M'Benga, the transporter chief, and now Uhura have seen the Vulcan near-tears or crying. He can't have that, now. Before, he allowed himself the vulnerability. He tested the bounds of his humanity.

Never again. He refuses to let himself be hurt like that, again.

"So far, we've only witnessed people being torn apart by this event." *pointed camera on Spock*

Look, we all knew this was coming, right? This story is set in canon, and canon dictates and Spock and Christine are not together in TOS-era.

And Spock has already started to bottle up those emotions that plague him. We saw that he can pull it together quickly enough, as demonstrated in the season opener.

Yes, this will take work, but he's willing to do whatever it takes to never feel this pain, again.

The Missed Moment

At the end of the big musical number, everyone's feeling connected and elated. There's hugging and congratulations. But when Christine turns to Spock, there's a wall there.

She didn't expect that. You can tell she didn't expect him to wall her off so swiftly, though it's not entirely unexpected. And she's not going to chase after him.

But it still hurts. I mean, we all saw how broken-hearted she was at Boimler's news that she wasn't even a footnote in Spock's written story.

And I posit that's part of why this isn't harder for her—she's been letting go for weeks. Pulling away. Making space. But Spock's had mere moments to wrestle with the consequences of giving into weakness.

A few weeks ago, he would have been laughing and hugging with all of them. He was reveling in testing the waters of his humanity while basking in the love of this beautiful, human woman. So much changes in the course of a few weeks.

Look, I'm thrilled for Christine. I am definitely not a woman who thinks any woman should change her plans for a man. But celebrating with her friends over champagne before telling Spock was tacky.

And I'm not excusing him pressing her in front of their friends for an answer. While he did it under the guise of duty (and we all know how married Spock is to duty), it was a bad call.

But they're both in the wrong. Spock was right at the beginning of the episode—their communication is a problem.

And, now, their paths are potentially, permanently diverged. I say potentially because there are dozens of possibilities.

Maybe they try, again, but something external pulls them apart. Maybe they get together in another timeline. Maybe years after TOS they reunite. We can dream, right?

In the season finale, there'll be awkwardness between them, I'm sure. This looks like the Gorn issue is coming to a head, and we know from early promos that there's footage of the pair of them together in space suits.

Will it be a final coda on their relationship? I suppose we'll find out together.

There were so many little things that made me squee during this episode. Paul Wesley's voice reminding me so very much of 1960's-era Disney princes, the Gilbert & Sullivan reference, the Buffy-coded Bunny reference, Uhura's amazing earrings that were giving me major Nichelle Nichols vibes, the raucous joy of Chapel's number, the crispness and clearness of Chistina Chong's vocals, M'Benga's surprising range, the varying styles and eras... so much. I could go on and on and on.

And, I'd be so remiss if I didn't call out two things in this episode that took my breath away beyond the obvious Spapel:

"You see the connections between us when all we see are the empty spaces."

This line skewered me so beautifully. I'm a communications person. I have two degrees in it. I held together a group of friends who met at college orientation through our four years of school, and we've been together over 20 years, now.

This line is so beautiful and so meaningful. I will think of it often. Because we need people like that in the world. They're the connective tissue.

And this line captures why so beautifully with so few words. That's masterful. In a season that's all about connectivity and communication, this line stands out.

Celia Rose Gooding

No quotes needed. She's simply sensational. I like to think Nichelle Nichols is looking down on her with a proud smile on her face. Her entire solo I had chills.

Yes, there was another episode this season that focused on Uhura, but I really feel like this was her show.

We saw how she flawlessly handled all of the communications issues early, how she worked beautifully with Spock, how she cut loose with her friends with a musical number while working, and how she ultimately saved the day.

She is a marvel to watch, and I'm so grateful she had an opportunity to shine as she did in this episode. I've loved her performance up until now, but this episode is the one where I was completely wowed. What talent!

Truly, everyone was amazing this week. Yes, she was a stand-out, but everyone poured their hearts and souls and songs into this. It shows. And it's magical as a result.

My predictions for this episode weren't quite right, but the spirit sadly was. Now we get awkwardness next week in space suits. We all know how that ended for B'Elanna Torress and Tom Paris, but I doubt Christine and Spock will have such a positive experience.

Maybe some sort of resolution, but Spock's declared he won't make the same mistake, again. He's walled off that part of himself already. Christine won't be able to access it, again.

Unless, of course, I'm completely wrong and Season 3 opens with them in a parallel universe where these crazy kids get it right. But, what fun would that be?

Look, we all make mistakes. Characters make mistakes. They can't magically be completely different versions of themselves because it suits a happy ending. We all knew this wasn't a happily ever after story.

We knew it'd be messy and painful. We knew it'd end in tears. But, the writers, directors, and performers (not to mention the rest of the incredible crew) have given us something really beautiful, here. It's achingly beautiful. What a privilege to witness it.

Thanks for reading, my friends. Be kind to one another. Build one another up. And never forget that you have intrinsic value and worth that nobody can take away.

Look for the connections in the empty spaces. They're there. We're here. And you are not alone.

[robynrocksforbrains]

I saw this post from @thestrangestthing89 and I was gonna reblog and add my thoughts but then I kinda got carried away and it felt like too much idk so I'm just doing this

A little ramble about when I think byler will get together

Realistically I see them getting together around mid-season. Like Mike and El are essentially done. I think an official breakup scene is very important for both of them, and I think it'll happen pretty early in the season. The love triangle aspect of it all is essentially over. That's what the last shot of the season showed us. El walks past Mike, stepping out of the triangle formation, and she stands alone. Mike chooses to stay with Will. Mike has made his decision. El has made her decision. And we all know where Will's heart is.

It wouldn't make sense to draw the love triangle out any longer than it already has been. El and Mike aren't gonna have time to pretend to love each other. When it comes to interpersonal relationships, El's #1 priority is gonna be Max, and Mike's #1 priority is gonna be Will.

So with the love triangle aspect resolved, there is literally nothing standing between Mike and Will but themselves. And they've been dancing around each other for way too long now. It would not make any sense to keep that going until the end.

They've already agreed to be a team, and they reaffirmed that in the last episode, and "team" is basically stranger things code word for "couple". They crossed the line between friendship and romance a long time ago. I don't think they're gonna ignore it for much longer.

Even though they're not officially together, I can guarantee the boyfriendism is gonna be off the charts from start to finish.

Just like Lucas and Max in s4. They were officially broken up, but I honestly forgot while watching the season because they weren't acting like they were broken up. The love was so present and clear. It didn't matter that they technicaly weren't a couple. That's something I've noticed with ST couples. Relationship status doesn't really mean anything. It's really about the feeling you get from each pairing.

Steve and Nancy were officially a couple, they did not feel like a couple

Mike and El are officially a couple (not for long), they do not feel like a couple (never have felt like one)

Joyce and Bob were officially a couple, but something about it just didn't feel right

Joyce arnd Hopper are only recently an official couple, yet they've felt like a couple since s2, and even at some points in s1.

Jonathan and Nancy weren't a couple until s2e6, but they started to feel like a couple after Nancy went to the UD for like five minutes in s1. (I don't remember what episode that was)

With Lucas and Max, it's what I said earlier. They were officially broken up in s4, yet they still felt like a couple to the audience.

And finally, our beloveds, Mike and Will. Yeah, they aren't officially a couple, but they basically renewed their vows in Dear Billy and they had some of the most beautiful romantic moments in the entire show. So they feel like a couple even though they technicaly aren't one. And that's not gonna change in s5, it's only going to be more obvious until they can't ignore it anymore. And I think they're gonna reach that point pretty quickly, because they're basically already there.

I do think a lot of people choose to believe they won't be official until the end because they don't wanna be disappointed. And that's totally valid. Anyone can temper their expectations however much they deem necessary. But I really do think that everything is pointing to them getting together mid-season but acting like a couple even before that. It's something we've seen before.

This has just been a ramble. I just have a lot of thoughts about it.

In conclusion, I think that the prediction of them getting together at the end is very pessimistic, but I also completely understand that pessimism. I choose to be a bit more optimistic about it, but I also think that the progression of this storyline so far supports my optimism. But who knows? Maybe I'm setting myself up for disappointment. We'll just have to wait and see.

[lucianalight]

You say the show characters weren't divided to "good" and "evil" but they are still stripping people and putting collars their necks which personally I find pretty messed up. This is my problem and why I can't bring myself to watch season 2 because everything I end up seeing seems like the TVA is still doing horrible things and not treated with the weight it should. Like, there's torture scene, but it's supposed to be okay because turns out it wasn't really physical? Like thats still torture that crosses the line way past grey in my opinion.

It's these two images for me is why I can't be asked to see any of the TVA as just grey especially it's asked while Loki is still called a villain. He didn't do a fraction as bad as they did.

If what I saw was Mobius owing up to being wrong about believing in the TVA and how his glorious purpose hurt people instead of seeing Loki say he invaded New York because he was mad at Thor and Odin, maybe I wouldn't still mad at the show

The actions are wrong, it doesn't matter who they're against what justification they have for using them. I rather have a story the condemns those actions and finds a better way than one that keeps the system with only a promise that now they'll only target the bad people

What I've been trying to say and said before in my s2 review, is that the narrative is neutral this time. It just shows you the story and leaves you to decide for yourself how you want to judge characters and their actions. That's sth very important for me in a story. I always have an instant knee jerk reaction to any blunt sort of message/framing even if it's a good one. I hate it when I feel like the writer is holding up a sign and telling me "look look it's a bad/good action or you should love/hate this character". No, thank you very much I can think for myself. The writer's feelings towards the characters can also bleed through so you understand when a character is treated by distaste and another with adoration.

These were the most important issues I had with s1. Because it stopped me from doing what I love most, in-universe analysis. Sth the fandom were doing before TR. No one told us, what happened to Loki before Avengers, we were shown clues. No one told us the reasoning behind every sentence of the characters and what they meant. But we analyzed every single action and expression. We put the pieces of puzzle together and built the picture. I was happy doing just that, until with TR the in-universe analysis didn't make sense so we had to look what caused it from out-universe pov.

Now with s2 having that neutrality I want, I don't care what the creators wanted to say as long as the characterization and actions make sense and are consistent with how I see the canon material. That's why Loki's line about New York didn't make me angry.

That hatred and dismissal toward Loki we felt in TR, IW and S1 is also gone. So having that irritating narrative of s1 out of the way and a better writing, the characters look grey to me. Which means like any other human they do bad things and good things. I didn't got the feeling that any of wrong actions are framed as sth good. Not putting collar on people(they were actually uncomfortable), not the torture scene(which I hated as I explained in my review) and not what TVA was doing all this time. In fact one of the few instances of framing in the narrative is that their atrocities were acknowledged.

The promotions of S2 were terrible though. I have no idea what they were thinking. None of the trailers were interesting and who would buy TVA merch? They're not even aesthetically beautiful and why would anyone want one of those creepy posters anyway? Although that's what happens when you sideline your main character in s1 and then you have nothing except creepy totalitarian merch for promotion smh. So yeah I get what you mean.

The ending also wasn't like now they're targeting the bad guys. It was shown that they won't interfere with what happens in timelines unless one of HWR's variants start a war and their intervention was needed. I haven't watched ant-man 3 but I assume they were referring to it when they said one of his variants made trouble but it was handled and their intervention wasn't needed. So they just intervene when the people of a timeline can't handle sth themselves. I also got the impression that they were changing their whole system to sth new.

In the end I hope it's been clear that by posting about the series, I'm not insisting, encouraging or recommending others to watch it. Because I know what Loki means to us. And Because I've seen many of my mutuals didn't like s2. Some did. S1 still makes me as angry as the first time I watched it but I liked s2(that doesn't mean I won't criticize it though). No two people are ever gonna agree with each other on everything. So it's ultimately a choice everyone need to make themselves.

[hazmatazz]

why hollow moon by arlington reminds me of byler/will byers soo much

long post + i accidentally posted a draft of this early so if you saw that...no you didn't

[lyrics] [youtube] [spotify]

i need to qualify: i love death of the author + this song has no actual connection to stranger things this is all just me brainrotting

first:

this just reminds me of the scenes were Mike is inraptured by Will in the sun. exmaple, the van scene: (gif stealing <3)

next:

a LOT of thoughts about this chunk so i'm going to go rapid fire

"And I won't let you step away"

Mike won't let Will rip the band-aid off

"Your lipstick's melting in the shade"

the closest thing i can come to putting something to this line is will's painting (lipstick) and how he doesn't give it until it's at a point something bad happens (melting in the shade)

(clarifying: if will had given the painting earlier i don't think he would have felt the need to say it was from el. but because he waited so long he was put in a situation where he thought lying was the best option. meaning that because he waited so long, his gifting process resulted in something he didn't want originally)

"Imagine every day

You'll drift and float and fade away

Crashed into the men involved"

while it wasn't on purpose (in fact he probably tried to avoid it), Will drifted away from Mike

i'm a "Mike tried to call Will after they moved" truther so i'm imagining mike being so crushed over Will not calling him

ALSO "crashed into" implies that both parties were harmed in the process which.. yeah??

"And now you're doing what you're told"

so in S3, Will kinda obviously didn't like Mike and El being together (see the rain fight)

but in S4, when Mike goes to Will for help, he seems to support their relationship and try to help it. "now you're doing what you're told" now he's supporting their relationship (even if he doesn't like it)

(adding on, i think this is a negative thing and that mike was wishing for a S3 will reaction telling him to break up)

"This light has got to go"

See the first chunk of this post about Will being a sun

"They stripped you naked head to toe

You never made enough in time

To live a better life"

OUGH ok. i heavily associate this with the day Will went missing

the Demogorgon goes after Will when he's alone, stripping him of any safety brought from his friends or family. In the next scene we see of Will, he doesn't have that shotgun. Not having that weapon, again, strips him of his safety

2nd part. he rolled a 7, which was not enough to save him from the demogorgon. and he ran out of time (Karen calling them to leave) to possibly find a way to make more to be safe

3rd part if Will hadn't been kidnapped he would have avoided a lottt of trauma

also for that last part. if will had been safe the party wouldn't have found el. now i'm SO glad they found el, but if el and mike never met they wouldn't have dated and it's possible will would be happier (again, i'm still happy they know el. just something to point out for this)

"Your broken heart means everything

To me, alright? Alright?"

ignore how they used the wrong your

Will's heart has been through a lot of shit. upside down trauma, "unrequited" love, bullying and abuse for being gay, etc

but Mike still adores him

also i imagine, even sketched, mike saying this to will. so. brainrot

Next!

"Cause I'm still beating like a drum"

either could be because they're still alive through everything or how despite the distance they had, they still have feelings

"Two roses in the sun

And now it's swiftly coming down

Yeah can't you hear the sound

That thunderous sound"

ok. let's get the flower part over w because we've all seen these

now the sun in this situation?

bright? check. will and henry parallels? check. "swiftly coming down"? he'll get there eventually, check. thunderous sound? fucking duh? check

next!

this mostly is giving s2 possession

"Twisty little renegade"

"renegade" is someone who deserts or betrays an organization, country, or set of principles. and sure, Will was possessed, but it was still betraying who he was and betraying The Party in some form.

"Only worth what you've been paid"

kinda off topic but the closest i have is Mike having self worth issues

"Your life is gonna change

You'll make it work, you'll be ok"

through all the negatives, Will has been able to get through them. expect the best for s5, he deserves for his life to change

also imagining mike telling will that

"Knocked into the bitter cold

And now you're thinking on your own

This fire's bound to glow"

when Will was possessed he was cold because the Mindflayer/Vecna liked it cold

After he got away from the possession, he started thinking on his own

Fire's bound to glow = Nancy burning the Mindflayer out of Will

"And keep your children from the road"

I think Joyce learned to be extra cautious with leaving Will alone :)

Also S1 when Karen wouldn't let Mike and Nancy out of the house when Will went missing

"They never had to raise a family

Entire lives"

something something Mike's family is mediocre, Will's dad mostly didn't raise him (thank god), the victims not having a life to raise a family. do whatever

"And their bleeding hearts mean everything

To me, that's right, that's right"

first thoughts were always about how Mike (and Will) care about the party and how they all have issues. you would also go down "pity for the victins" route again

lastly (because the rest of the song is repeating)

here's where the least of my thoughts went to so sorry if this is bullshit

"Do away now with words"

you know how byler often communicates without words

"You've had enough"

they fight...a lot. i'm specifically looking at the rain fight where the summer bubbles over

last lines either about the night will got kidnapped or about the rain fight/other fights. shit y'know

so sorry if this is jumbled, i don't do this offen (done only one thing similar to this before)

[twotangledsisters]

You said you'd finished writing S2, congratulations! Can I ask what you're most excited for in S3 or is that too spoilery?

Thank you so much! I am very proud to be this far ahead in writing it's always a relief!

And of course you can ask anything, and this questions comes at the perfect time because you do not understand how much I need to just ramble about something I love right now!

But you're also right it's hard to talk without spoilers so I'm going to try my best to talk about my fave bits... briefly. Without giving too much away! Obviously if you wanna go in completely blind, do not continue reading!

1.- Caine! She's kinda chilling in the current fic... On some involuntary sideline no action time. But she will be back in S3 full force! She'll get a new weapon at least temporarily, there's a scene where she sits on the floor with Hamuel in her lap, she's just as sassy as ever and she just has a good arc for the start of S3.

2.- Edmund... I am still not 100% sure about how I'm gonna handle him. I do know where he goes to at the start. But if you know me and you've been following for a while you know I don't quite enjoy how quickly the show glossed over how terrible Eugene's childhood was and how hard it must have been to get back to Edmund who is like 'yeah I knew where you were this whole time, I know you were heading down a bad path cause of the wanted posters. What did I do about it? ....' Like... I love Edmund, there needed to be more than one episode to mend that father-son relationship. Trust me... He gets an earful about that, but he gets that in S2.

3.- Lore, worldbuilding, prophecies... I have so many plans. So many plans. Some of these plans we've been getting foreshadowing for since forever, others we're gonna start getting foreshadowing very soon. I am excited! Especially diving deeper into the capabilities of the sundrop, moonstone and how they came to be.

4.- Getting darker. Up until now I've tried to keep things... Relatively tame. Please ignore The Great Tree for this statement. But things get serious in S3, there are character who won't make it out alive, and I don't means character like Weasel who I doubt anybody shed a tear for. I think my writing when allowed to get dark can be really good, take the finale of Princess, Pirate, Prosecutor for example!

5.- Frederic and Arianna... Look, they aren't the center of attention by a long shot. And they spend a lot of time splitting up to be more productive in season 3. But when they are together, when they are being a couple and making decisions for their kingdom and their family, they have some very strong moments this upcoming season.

And so much more that I cannot talk about because of spoilers!

But trust me, I'm excited! I've been waiting for this for sooo long! Season 3 is where we stray the furthest from the original canon and it's just so exciting for it!

Thank you so much for asking, I needed this today.

[aphrodaisyacs]

Re the yj / bllk au(?): besides the Jackie/kunigami similarities which other characters do you see fitting into this au???

ok so after thinking about it some more, I realised that reo would be a much better fit for jackie in this au. first off, his backstory states that he is so privileged in his everyday life that he's barely had to work for anything, ever. as such, I strongly believe that he would NOT be able to adapt to surviving in the wilderness. he would cling onto the hope of getting rescued, but as soon as it becomes clear that they won't, he would... not take it well.

and finally, the reonagi friendship parallels with shauna/jackie. that dramatic breakup in canon where reo thinks nagi is ditching him in favour of isagi? well, if it happens to coincide with a sudden overnight cold snap...... yeah......

now, since reo is the jackie of this au, I think kunigami would fit much better as laura lee. someone kind, with a strong moral compass and a presence of Good that the others feel like they can depend on post-crash. kunigami would also definitely volunteer to fly the plane to get help, despite the very real possibility that it will might kill him

as for the other characters, it's a lot harder to find direct parallels but here are some other things I've got for this au:

(warning: contains spoilers for the blue lock manga & yellowjackets s2)

the plane that crashes contains the blue lock 11, shidou, the bench players + ego & anri. here, the v U20 match was supposed to take place in a different part of japan and they were heading there when it all went to hell

in this au kunigami didn't get eliminated and the wildcard program doesn't exist, hence why he's still around (he's one of the bench players)

ok so I lied when I said I couldn't find other parallels- if we are keeping what yellowjackets did with having 1 (one) adult character who is the opposite sex of the teens survive, then it's anri. and... hoo boy. I genuinely feel so bad for her because like. jesus fucking christ. she does not deserve to be stuck with these boys in a situation like this. I can only hope that she finds the secret underground lair sooner than ben does because she has a much higher chance of surviving that way

canonically gagamaru fucks off into the wild on a regular basis for fun, so all the boys are going to turn to him for guidance when it comes to surviving the wilderness. he is also most likely going to hunt game for the group as well, making him one of the most important and well-respected members of the group until they run out of food and decide to start killing and eating each other

hear me out- bachira being the one to start the cult because his 'monster' keeps directing him to food sources/symbols/whatever. eventually the more religious members of the group (like igarashi) start talking about leaving out tokens of their gratitude for the 'monster' and it all snowballs from there

one winter day when everyone is starving their minds off, rin and shidou butt heads for the millionth time. except instead of deescalating the fight, the other boys have run out of fucks to give and decide to let them duke it out while they watch from the sidelines. but the fight just keeps going and going, until one of them gets beaten to death. it is brutal, it is tragic, but... at least they have food now?

and thus, their hunting ritual is born- 2 of them get chosen to fight to the literal death, and the loser gets eaten by the rest of the group. at long last, their canon dialogue will make sense /j

so who survives in the end? at this point in time I've only locked in isagi, bachira and nagi, because I strongly believe that these 3 will manage to find a way to win all those 1v1 death matches. in the rin vs shidou fight I mentioned earlier I haven't decided on who wins, but I know that the winner of that match would survive until rescue. in yellowjackets, so far we know there are 7 survivors, and if my theory that there are 8 total survivors is correct then that would leave 4 more spots for the blue lock boys

this got much longer than expected and in the end I don't know if I even answered your question properly hjafklsd I hope you enjoyed my ramblings!

[imadumdumjewel]

While I generally concur with what the replier had enumerated, I feel that Theresa's restricted roles came from her voice actress being stuck with Modern Family filming back then. Not helped that Disney had given rc9gn a very short end of the stick deliberately.

Also, hate to play devil's advocate here. However, within just a few episodes I have already grown extremely attached to Theresa as her character attributes stand out even in just a few episodes. Enough for me to compare them to why the other girls don't suit Randy. I personally have a hunch that she was almost gonna get promoted by the writers who would really have gotten to explore her background a little more, until the last minute.

From those few episodes she is involved, the writers have given a clear message of "Randy needs someone who is kind and forgiving while lecturing him to correct himself". He needs a shoulder to cry on and her levelheadedness to steer him on the right track, while also helping her to overcome the pressure she has been imposing on herself. As much as Rachel (who is also one of my favourite rc9gn girls hehe) has won my heart with how selfless she is, Rachel is too soft, with how she doesn't know how to express herself honestly until so late as seen in "Ninjafan", def not gonna guide RC the right track in time...

Therefore yes, I would very much have a few more episodes for s2 about Theresa. However I won't blame the writers since for the bare minimum they have managed to built up enough romantic sentiments in s1, hence the reduction of moments in s2 isn't too big of a problem for me. Besides, s2 isn't the best timing retrospectively for a confession when there was a honking sorcerer and honking albino goth cyborg teen doppleganger for our ninja to worry about, and when his friendship with H has to be expanded on first.

Also... on another remark, I feel that many fans including past crew members aren't trusting in Randy's ability to love Theresa, probably owing to his more reckless personality. In fact, so many artworks have depicted Randy as... a tomcat. I know he can get attracted to girls, but Theresa has admittedly given him moments to reflect on himself; attraction doesn't equate to longtime affection! And I have actual faith in him since he's already a loyal friend to Howie (as much as I want to deny that sometimes). Plus, many people will change for their lovers in a positive manner, so I believe no doubt that Randy will change for his dear flower. (Besides, offscreen canon is still canon when confirmed by writers)

PS: this is a rare instance of me writing long opinions. i had previously reblogged this post before but now I finally knew what correspondence I have in mind even though this post is ages old kekekekek. Still, ocxrandy is still fine since shipping is subjective, it's just... a bit cringe sometimes when you deliberately edit screenshots of theresa x randy moments for the sake of shipping, u know... but yeah to each of your own. I'm just analysing.

By all means, I know these love shoobs are having their best lives together even without us watching QWQ

What r your thoughts on Fowlham ? If u could change anything about it what would it be (besides it occurring in more episodes) ?

Hi anon! I’m putting my words under Keep Reading because it may be a bit long

繼續閱讀

[herotheshiro]

ok i just caught up on the happenings of even if you don’t love me and hooooo-eee bc i am actually quite excited for the manhwa’s return in feb now. if you want to read my thoughts on the story prior to like ch 40ish on, it’s here ... i’m not reblogging it for my thoughts here today bc that post is so long even w a read more and i expect this post to be on the longer side

but ok, first off, i did NOT realize there was a fucking time skip... i knew jiwook left school and his apartment, but i thought their next meeting after that was them still the same age as before... i was looking at the korean version so that’s one reason but also usually stories do a visual version of “du-du-du-du-du, X years later” but the author didn’t here, instead they had the characters verbally be like ‘oh the last time we met was 4 years ago’... which i actually like bc it feels more realistic. also that pic of the white shiba makes more sense bc i suspected time had passed but literal years makes more sense than like the maybe weeks-months i thought before

but anyway i’m surprised i predicted the plot point abt seungeon agreeing to be part of his family’s company in exchange for the loan money but i mean if you looked back on the beginning of the story you’d know (bc the last time i wrote about this manhwa, the latest ch had just ended w seungeon barging in to his sister’s office so you knew shit was abt to go down bw them even if i didn’t know what abt exactly). obviously this doesn’t excuse seungeon’s later behavior, but i can understand why he’s so pissed at jiwook during their reunion bc he basically gave up his life for a family who doesn’t care for him FOR jiwook but then jiwook left so now he’s just doing this shit for nothing.

and man reading jiwook’s thoughts abt how he wants seungeon to hate him so they won’t meet again (also title reference/explanation... i’m emo) ... and then it’s implied that he prob still holds a flame for seungeon even 4 years later (when he hesitated to hit him even tho he had good reason to bc he knew seungeon doesn’t like it.... it’s sad bc you should really have stopped liking him esp after he raped you, but also bro.....)... EDIT: ok nm i went back and actually reread the time jiwook was thinking back on and i think he hesitated to hit him more so bc he was afraid of a potentially violent response. bc i forgot seungeon hit him back in that scene :/ but i mean i still get the vibe that jiwook hasn’t fully gotten over his feelings for him or it’s complicated rather than complete dislike/apathy

second, i went back and read through some old chapters again and i actually did not remember/read (lol? i’ve mostly “read” this manhwa in parts rather than like all at once bc some of the shit that happens is kinda fucked up so i don’t wanna read it lol) that seungeon actually doesn’t really have any part in the succession of the company he was born into which i thought he did before... which is important info and reasoning as to why he clings so hard to jiwook. obviously it was fucked up when he tried to use his sad backstory to get jiwook to stay w him out of pity but i was like damn he truly is so emotionally messed up that he’s like i NEED jiwook’s love..... i also re-read the aftermath of blondie (i still can’t remember his name lmao) killing the idol’s manager which 1. made me learn again the whole drama bw him and seungeon is mainly abt their statuses which i literally never commit to memory bc i don’t care abt blondie at all and 2. confirmed that he had jiwook’s dad killed. i mean even looking at the korean version the dad’s death felt suspicious PLUS jiwook’s accusation in the first few pages of ch 1 but then when blondie was like ‘lmao time to fuck up their relationship’ i was like damn... so he knew abt the dad’s debt and predicted how the need for a fuckton of money would mess up their relationship. idr what i thought before bc the ch 1 stuff makes it seem like seungeon was the one to kill jiwook’s dad and i don’t think i had reread the manager murder aftermath in my last post but looks like it’s just jiwook’s misunderstanding (maybe even blondie insinuating that lol)

anyway i’m excited for season 2 fr now after getting all this info. so w a timeskip of 4 years, that means that blondie will prob be returning to korea again soon, and just in time to keep throwing wrenches into the relationship bw seungeon and jiwook as i provided an example of above lol. and obviously the idol’s role in the story isn’t over, i’m fully expecting him to return and try to blackmail blondie for hurting him both physically and emotionally and i’m looking forward to it lol. i mean yes this manhwa is kinda stressful to read bc i’m like i know y’all are just fresh out of schooling at this point and have a lot of feelings abt your relationship(s) but can we please learn to be emotionally healthy and communicate for once BUT i am looking forward to the journey! slash looking forward to the next time we can have jiwook and seungeon smile at each other genuinely which i hope will actually happen in s2 bc idk if i can handle an entire season of them at each other’s throats the entire time on top of other forces putting pressure on them

[doctorqueensanatomy]

bouncing off of this tweet in relation to Jemaine Clement (and Bret McKenzie) having a cameo in ofmd s2, here's a little something i like to call, "flight of our flag"

ext. on a ship Stede and his remaining crew have occupied, looking at an oncoming vessel

buttons: what say ye cap'n? should we go all hands on deck?

stede: maybe semi-hands... one hand on deck? wait until we see how many of them there really are. I can only count the two at the moment. it wouldn't seem so fair to raid them like that

oluwande: there's only been two for a while now cap, I dont actually think there's anymore people on board

pete: two people? on a ship? that's barely a ship. might as well be a dingy. those aren't real pirates

wee john: probably better than us. bigger boat too

swede: if we raid them, can I take one of their instruments they're playing? i heard it helps improve your singing

buttons: they seem mighty impressive, aye

stede: their... their what? (reaches for telescope) my God they're just playing guitars. have they even noticed us?

roach: I actually did wave at them earlier

stede: well, did they wave back?

oluwande: we were all waving at them for about 10 minutes

wee john: I had a lot of fun waving at them, it has to be said.

stede: well then, I suppose we should see if they're okay. a big ship with a small crew on these seas must be very scary for the (struggles to read ship name) The Concorde

ext. cut to new ship, The Concorde, where we see two pirates with lutes standing infront of the camera, played by Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement

bret: my names bret the pirate, this is jemaine

jemaine: also the pirate

bret: we're the 4th most popular musical-duo-cum-pirates in the Caribbean

jemaine: and not just the Caribbean. quite a lot of places actually like...

bret: ...barbados...

jemaine: ...and that's just one of them yknow we're quite. quite multifaceted

bret: worldwide yeah

jemaine: well not worldwide; we haven't been everywhere just yet. there's still a lot of places left to go

bret: like... on your ship. haven't been there yet. who knows what there is to discover on your. your ship

black pete: there's not much

wee john: it's not even our actual ship

oluwande: yeah blackbeards got captain's actual ship. that one was quite nice

swede: I had my own barrel

bret: why don't we have a barrel?

jemaine: well, we do have an entire ship to ourselves

stede: and how did you come about having this ship? it seems a bit, and I mean this with all due respect, overkill? for the two of you

jemaine: yeah nah well, it wasn't always just two of us...

stede: oh?

bret: there used to be three of us but we didn't like the other one so we killed 'em

silence and shocked faces amongst the crew

jemaine: kill is probably a very strong word

bret: no one died

jemaine: we didn't even really hurt their feelings

bret: in fact it was them who decided to leave us

jemaine: apparently we played music too much for their liking

bret: but it's like, what do you expect? we're musicians

jemaine: and pirates. we're also pirates

bret: yeah well they didn't mind the pirating

stede: would it be possible to hear some of your music?

the crew of the Concorde proceed to drop the sicket beat the seven seas have ever heard, interwoven with commentary from the remaining crew of the revenge on how these two have survived this long

I might upload this to ao3 but it'd most likely follow the script-esque style, or maybe I won't. who knows

[anarchistbitch]

hi, hiiii!! this is once again long af so i apologize for that skdjfsl

re aurora - god yes, there's this beautiful horror in her music, carnivorous plants and the fae who are so beautiful they're actually unsettling, mermaids who are so alluring you won't notice them dragging you until you're about to drown

I really liked Boyfriend, it had me thinking of those scenes in movies when a band's performing on stage and the singer is looking at one person on the crowd through the whole song trying to convey that it is not only a song but really a confession

idk if I already said something about svsss donghua but YES im so excited for the new season, btw what do you think of mobei jun's design, personally im a fan of black haired mbj and I /genuinely/ thought at first it was tianlan jun and not mbj, he just didnt look how i imagined him at all lmao

I've wanted to watch lovely writer since it was ON AIR I DONT KNOW WHY I DIDNT, I watched my engineer (which meh) and fell in love with Lay and then I heard about YYY but I didnt watch it and THEEEN lovely writer came out and im just *clown emoji* and I've read nothing but praise for both and yet here I am

Binghe, Binghe ah, he IS an angel and he deserves to be called as much

and yeah, I really do feel it can be their safe space for exploring all kinds of things, specially for sqq who is so easily embarassed and has a bit of a hard time expressing his feelings, and lmao yeah, lbh's a brat but we love him exactly as he is and so does sqq skjkdss

have a great day, get plenty rest and drink some water!!

-M*~

bestie do not apologize i love long asks, especially from you!!!

and gosh that description is spot on i often write my short stories while listening to her songs cause the music helps me envision the type of scenario i want.

dude i found boyfriend from one of heartstoppers(by alice oseman) playlists and its just so *clenches fist* so good.

honestly i loved mobei-jun's design both in the book and the donghua and my first reaction to the donghua design was, "huh sqh gets to have two(2) boyfriends?? good for him😌😌". and i wanna see tlj's character cause hes the demon embodiment of neutral evil(i say neutral he tries to merge dimensions together it is what it is) while also giving the vibe of "live laugh love☺"

honestly the one thing i do want to see in s2 is how they try to dampen the homoeroticism but i think theyre just gonna put the homo in homicide asdfghjh

there are so many shows i want to watch!! and honestly i keep adding new ones to my list and then. i dont watch them!! but to be fair i do keep reading new manhuas every week`(>﹏<)′ [schpeaking of. have you read cbaw]

you🤝🏾me Binghe is an angel truthers ❗❗

binghe is a brat and he will bat his eyelashes and sqq will simply succumb😌<- paraphrasing the intense relationship that these two have

also i accidentally deleted the other ask but 😳😳 you made the photo ur background😳😳

as for ur uni sending you good vibes!! and habitica sounds like a great idea and im actually thinking of using it starting next semester, gamifies is an actual word<3 if three ppl use anything it becomes a word and im forcing my sibling to use it from now on💗💗💗💗

hoping you have a great day and dont forget to hydrate as well!!!

[ally-writes-many-things]

Secret Voight (J. Halstead)S2 Part 7

Summary: The team finally knows that Y/N is Voight's daughter. One secret is out but theres still one secret that's not out. Y/N and Jay's relationship. Will that stay a secret or not? I mean Voight always finds out

Words: 2615

Requested: yes

Prompts:

Warning or A/N:

    Burgess and Atwater had reported to a scene where someone got shot and Lexi, Al's daughter was the wintess to it, so they brought her back to the unit. Jay was comforting her when you saw Voight start to walk in. You quckly walk in front of him. "She's okay. She's just in shock,"

    Voight looked at her then to you. "Sounds about right,"

      He walked over to her. "Hey, how are you doing, kiddo?"

    "Hi, Uncle Hank,"

    Not long after Voight walked in Al walked in and saw his daughter and wlaked over to her. "Hey."

    He pulled Lexi into a hug. "Hi dad. I'm so sorry."

    "What happened?"

    "I was at a party."

   "Until dawn? Does your mom know you're here?"

   "Yeah."

   Trudy walked into the lobby and called Voight. "Sergant."

    "Yeah."

   "Someone here from gang unit ot see you. its about the shooting in Pilsen."

    "Alright, I'll be down in a second,"

    Voight looked over at you. "Why don't you take her to get her a hot cup of coco or something?"

    Al looked at his daughter and then to you. "She doesn't testify."

    "I know."

   "TO anything."

   "I know."

    "I mean it."

   "Al, I know,"

   You took her into the break room and made her a cup of hot coco and yourself a cup of coffee. She started talking without prompt."I only met russell a couple of times. He's a really nice guy. he offered to walk me tot he train,"

     "Did you know that he was in gang?"

    "He was always cool to me,"

    "So what happened in the alley?"

    "Uhm, the guy came up. russell and him started aruging

    "About what?"

   "He told russell, 'you're in the wrong neighborhood' The guy was totally gaked out',"

    "Did you get a name?"

    "I heard Russell call him Calaca?"

    Al took the rest of the day off to deal with Lexi and making sure she was safe. You were now in the lobby talking about what Lexi told you and the details of the case. Dawson was the first one to offer up infromation. "Calaca means skeletion in spanish. my money is on the latin preists. That's the kind of name they gave to their boys,"

    Jay looked over the details of the case that was in the file. "Neighbor's don't claim to have seen anything,"

    Ruzek added on it. "And there's no security camera either,"

    Another cop comes into the lobby and hands Voight a file. "The report you requested, Sergeant. a breakdown of all drug-related busts in the pilsen aera in the last 12 months,"

    You looked at the files in her hands. "Must've been a lot of files,"

    Voight didn't look impressed. "Alright, now give me a list of all gang-affillated males in the neighborhood that were areested with a weapon who were between 5'2'' and 6'3'."

     Jay offered up information. "Gunman is 5'9,"

    "You can never be too careful. alright, lets find this calaca and get a confession so lexi doesn't have to testify,"

     While Dawson went to pick up the kids that threw the party you went and checked on Rusell and his mom at the hospital. "How's he doing?"

   She looked at for you a few seconds before talking to me. "They won't really tell me and i get that feeling that it can't be good,"

    "Did Russell tell you about having a problem with someone named calaca?"

     "No, I've never heard that name before,"

    "How long has russell been running with the Lords?"

    "HE had drugs on him?"

     You slowly nod.

    "T Mac. I told Russell to say away from him,"

    "T mac?"

    "Tamarcus pierce. Russell worships him. thugs like that have a way of gragging the young ones in,"

     While you were talking to Russell's mom, four latin priests were killed. You were now back in Intelligence. Voight tapped the a picture on the board. "Four dead latin priests killed execution style. Displayed on a soccer field. it was areprisal shooting for Russell Thompson,"

    You walked up to the board and put a picture of T Mac up. "Russell ws a low-level runner for Tamarcus Pierce aka T-Mac,"

     Kim stood up and walked up to the board. "Yeah, we used to answer domestic violence calls all the times at his mother's. His stepfahter beat the crap out of him,"

----

      After an hour of digging more dirt, Kim walked up into the lobby dressed weirdly. Jay tried to hide laughter but it didn't work. "What are you wearing?

     "I'm suppose to be a tourist. It's what this cell phone thief looks for,"

     You looked at Kim. "It's working,"

   Voight looked at Kim and then back to you. "Alright, T-Mac Pierce. It's a place to start,"

   "What about Calaca?"

    "You tell me?"

     You nodded. "Got my C.I.s working on it but so far nothing,"

     "Pirests probably have him in hiding,"

     "Maybe tmac knows where. he had no problem finding four of his pals and putting lead in their head,"

    ----

     While Kim was doing her undercover work, you and Jay were driving around and he ends up pulling up to this house that you didn't recongize. Jay kissed you and then opend the door. "This will only take a minute.

     You were confused but watched him get out of the car and walk up to the door and banged on the door, you could only hear Jay's part of the converstation. "Oh, you scope out your next victim yet?

      "Maybe you can alibi him out after this one too,"

     Jay started to walk towards the car but some guy followed him. "Just get off my property!"

        Alibi....Victim...scope out.

     That's when you realized who these people were and where you were at. You unbuckled your seat and walked out of the car. You walked up to Jay and put your hand on his shoulder. "Jay,"

      Jay ingored you and kept looking at the dad. "What are you gonna do? Call the cops?"

     "What? You here to rough him up?"

      Jay looked beyond pissed. "He bought duct tape and rope up the street last night. you remember how they found Ben Corson?"

       "What, are you monitoring him?"

      Jay walked up to the dad a little bit. "You son is a pedophile and a killer,"

       The guy points to the car "Leave,"

       You grabbed the back of Jay's shirt and started to pull him away to the car, which made him loose balance but he regained it. You didn't let go of his seat till you got to the car. He looked at you and you just stared at him. He huffed and then walked over to the driver's seat and got it. You got into the passenger's side. You looked over at Jay and Jay was utterly pissed. "You shouldn't have done that! I had it under control,"

       You scoffed. "You had it under control? Yeah, okay. You're worried about what Voight will do if he finds out about us? The outcome of this will be much worse now since you violated your restraining order. Stop trying to get yourself arrested. You keep interfering with their lives and keep violating your restraining order, you'll lose your badge,"

      "Whatever! You still shouldn't have done that. I know what I'm doing. I've been in this unit a lot longer than you have, just cause your Voight's daughter doesn't mean you can boss me around. You're not in charge!"

       "I'm bossing-Okay fine. Have fun getting your ass chewed out,"You pulled out your phone and ordered an uber and got out of Jay's car.

      "Where are you going?"

     "Don't worry about it,"

     You walked down the street and waited for the uber. Jay tried to get him to talk to you, but you didn't. He didn't leave until he saw the car pull up and you got in.

-------

      It's been a few hours since you got into it with Jay and you haven't talked to him since. The team had found out where T-Mac is and he was at his mom's house. The boys had kicked in the door and you cleared theownstiars and saw that there was a little girl and a woman in the living room. Before you could see anything, the mom said that she told people that T-Mac doesn't live here. Antonio wasn't having it and bent down to talk to the little girl and asked her where her brother was and she said he was upstairs. You, Burgess, and Atwater stayed downstairs with the mom and the sister. There were a few shots and then nothing. Voight yelled that he was running. You looked out of the front door and saw him running. You told Burgess and Atwater to stay here and you chased after him and when you finally got close enough to him, you tackled him to the ground. You pushed him to the ground and took one of him and placed it against his back and cuffed it. You did the same with the other arm, all while he was resisting. You were now back in Intelligence, Voight and Jay were in an interview room with T-Mac and you were watching on the other side of the window. "That female cop, that arrested him is quite impressive,"

      You couldn't see Jay or your dad's expression as he was sitting with his back to you. "Yeah, she is."

      Voight ignored the comment T-Mac and got straight to the point. "Wicky sitcks? Real low grade to be shooting at cops over tmac,"

      T-Mac just shrugged. "Hipsters like what hipsters like,"

     "You ever heard a Latin player name Calaca?"

    "Guess I ain't the only one looking for him,"

     "What? You're just gonna take out his crew one by one until you find him? That's your plan? You're gonna pull back and let us find calaca ourselves,"

     "Nah, man. Calaca's gonna get what he got coming,"

     The guys just looked at him for a few seconds and then got up from where they were sitting and walked out of the room and to where you were. "What are we gonna do?"

     Before they could answer the officer that Voight had doing busywork walked in. "Those arrest reports. I also did a search on T-mac's mom's house. the entire thing was bought with cask linked to narcotics. You ever heard of an asset forteiture seizure order?"

     You grabbed the paper from the officer and walked into the interview room with Voight and Jay behind me.You ingored his comment and sat in front of him. "Do you know what an asset forteiture seizure order is?"

    "Am I suppose to guess?"

    "Property forteiture document freshly signed by a judge. you bought your mother's house with drug ,"

      His smile dropped. "You can't take my mother's home,"

     "Federal law says we can. you know, the neighborhood is gentrifying. Hipsters are having babies now. they'd love the place, maybe find drugs in the wall,"

      "Okay stop,"

     Voight walked up to the table and put his hand on the table and looked at T-Mac. "You tell your boys to call it off with the pirests. I want Calaca living, or your mama's gonna be living out of a shopping cart,"

      After you got done talking to T-Mac, you were on your way back to Intelligence when you got a call about where Calaca could be. You walked into Intelligence and address the team. "We may have gotten a hit on Calaca from the hotline. sombebody who matches his description was jsut seen leaving a barbershop on South Racine,"

     Dawson walked up next to you. "It's owned by an uncle of one of the latin priests,"

     Voight pointed to both of you. "Alright, you two get on it,"

---

      You walked into the barbershop and it was only an ederly guy. Dawson walked up to him. "Oye, Viejo, you the owner of this shop?"

     The guy nodded. "Yeah, for over 30 years. please call me Papo,"

      "We are looking for a guy named Calaca?"

      "Never heard of him,"

     You were walking over the shop but looked at him when he said that. "He was last seen here,"

    "Pssh. Not that i saw,"

    Dawson wasn't believing it and you weren't either. "Well, we know that your nephew hangs out with the latin priests,"

     "I haven't seen my nephew, oh, in a very long time,"

      "Hmm,"

     Dawson was making small talk while you were still looking around. You walk up to one of those blue containers, grab it and opened and immiedtialy closed it when you barely got a sniff. "Damn. Antonio,"

     Dawson walked up to where you where and grabbed the containers and sniffed it as well. "That sure anit aqua net,"

     You looked at Antontio. "Liquid P.C.P,"

     "You always keep bottles of wet hangning around the store?

     "I have a license for those chemicals,"

      You scoffed. "For what?"

     "The hair starightening products. I can show you the paperwork if you want,"

    Antontio walked over to a door and tried to opened it but it's locked. "What's in here?"

     "I don't know,"

     You started walking over to the door. "Open it,"

    "Don't have a key,"

    Dawson was getting tired of this as you were too. "30 years and you don't have a key?"

      You and dawson shared a look and then drew your guns. Dawson busts the door down. you follow Dawson as he goes down the hallway and to a storage room, papo follows. "My nephew and his gang have taken my establishment. they take my disability checks. they forced me to get the chemical license for the hair straightening products,"

     "Where are they now?"

    "I don't know. they don't tell me nothing,"

     You were going to walk to another side of the room but you stepped on a part of the floor that felt and sounds hallow. you step off it and Antonio moved the rug. you drew your gun again as dawson opened the hatch. and there was blood everywhere you climed down it. You were looking at all the blood. "Looks like someone took a beating down here,"

      "How much you wanna bet it was Calaca?"

      You saw a finger that was cut off. "Then this must be Calaca's finger?"

     After you were done with the barbershop, you went back to Intellgence. "The latin priests are using the old man's barbership glade as a front to sell PCP,"

     Voight looked at us. "Points for origanality. what makes you think that Calaca is still alive?"

     "He's still one of them. if they wanted him dead, they'd have dumped his body for the whole world to see. but they still had to punish him for starting a gang war. That's why the beat him and clipped his pinky finger off in that dungeon,"

     You walked over to your desk and sat down. "After that, my bet is that they moved him to a safe house when he got hot,"

     "They knew we were coming. Alright, that's all,"

     After Ruzek and Burgess follow the kid back to a house, they get an address for a latin priest's hideout. You sneakily got into the hideout and then went in loud when everyone got in position. While the team had the people at gunpoint, you break off and saw that there was a door and you walk over to it and opened it. You saw a very weak looking guy who was holding a napkin on his hand. It was Calaca. Al came back and said that Lexi was going to testify.

      You were walking out of the precinct when you saw Jay was walking towards you. You ignored him and got in your car and drove home.

[galadrielette]

thanks for answering my long ass asks, i appreciate it! gonna have to agree to disagree about some things lol. i do want to clarify that i DON'T put the blame on edwina, and out of all of them, she's definitely got the least power. i do get that she is idealistic and romantic and that anthony never explicitly said to her that he won't love her, but i think the same goes for the opposite - he never gave indications that he will. I'm not saying that she should've known better and that she's dumb for accepting the proposal, but i dislike many writing choices when it comes to her character because sometimes it just feels a bit scrambled all over. but the whole nobody asked kate to do anything - their father died and their mother was too consumed with grief so kate took over the family responsibilities out of necessity, i don't think it's quite the same as she simply made a choice to do so without being asked and now she's complaining. still i don't think edwina's has any part in that aspect of their dynamics, but i do think mary does have some responsibility for their situation as the only reason kate took on that role is mary's grief. nobody asked it of kate, but mary still left it to her even after her grief abated. and i love mary and kate's convo about that, my feelings are simply that they, as kate's closest family don't acknowledge enough that maybe kate didn't want to play that role, that she took on the responsibilities in an effort to help her family, and that no matter how badly it ended up, she still did it out of love for them. i agree with you about not every convo needing to happen on screen, but I still would have like to see just a little bit more of like, kate you fucked up here though we love you and understand you did it out of love and all that. and also about kate letting her sister get married to the man she has feelings for - obviously that can't be edwina's fault and i didn't mean it in that way, just that edwina's happiness clearly does matter to her and she's not scheming behind their backs out of some urge to control everything. i just love it more when family dynamics are, we've all hurt each other in some way, some more than others, and aren't perfect and not always a healthy relationship, but we love each other, and the sharmas, to me, end up a little more of kate fucked things up. I'm not trying to change your mind, just clarify my stances, though I'm getting interrupted as I write and by the time I finish the ask i have no idea what I've written. idk, to me, while i liked kate and anthony and their dynamic which I think the show did best, and don't even mind the many side plots, the season stjll feels kinda... vaguely lacking to me, a little undercooked for lack of a better term lol. love your rants even if i disagree!

oh i know you're not trying to change my mind and i'm not trying to change yours either! and tbh it's not that i disagree, i feel like we're saying the same thing with different words? or rather, i have the same criticisms but they don’t bother me that much? i dunno. i'm really enjoying this discussion tbh so thanks for messaging :)

but i totally see your point and yeah that's totally valid about mary. she was very much underutilised this season and that's definitely because the writing was all over the place. they moved away from the book plot but i don't think they did it with any real idea of what they were doing. i think s1 ends up being more cohesive as a whole because they stuck to the book plot so much better (not to say that i prefer s1 to s2, obviously i don't lol).

but i think the conversation with mary and the conversation with edwina before the ball both imply the whole "kate you fucked up but we still love you" feeling. i don't think they ever disparage kate specifically for her choices but the choices themselves. and yeah waiting until the literal last episode of the season to have mary own her culpability in that situation was a serious misstep of the show. and since the forgiveness and understanding and love wasn't explicit, i can totally see being dissatisfied with that. i think the writers just left too much up to fan interpretation. there should have been more moments where the writers made a clearer stance on the character choices. this is most obvious, of course, with how flat edwina and mary ended up being in the final product and then we end up with a sharma family that doesn't feel as close and as loving as the bridgertons are.

i just think the featherintons sideplots would have been better in polin's season. the same with theoloise or whatever they're called - it should have been a major plot in eloise's season. throwing them into kanthony's season just draws the audience attention in too many directions imo. like yeah we got sideplots in s1 but that didn't distract from the main story being saphne, you know?

thank god you love my rants cause i certainly love ranting lol