#even though i have....opinions about the story

[bluebugjay]

so why was Charles so adamant that Brad and Hunter were 'just best mates' ? like why did he come in so quick to say so? Richie couldn't even hear him so he was only defending them to Edwin and Crystal and it really has nothing to do with Charles wanting them to be 'good guys.' It was pretty clear Richie was just lying or joking because they'd literally spoken to Brad and Hunter and knew they thought they'd been murdered so I doubt Crystal or Edwin were believing the whole gay suicide pact thing, and yet Charles swoops in immediately like, no no they're just best mates!! And he specifically says 'best mates' rather than friends or best friends, when 'best mates' is what we've all come to associate with Charles and Edwin.

Everything else he defends Brad and Hunter for lines up with him wanting them to be good guys but this one things sticks out, unless he thinks being gay stops them from being good guys. Obviously Charles has no issue with people being gay, he accepts Edwin immediately, but he's projecting onto Brad and Hunter, he wants them to be good so he can prove he can also be good so it's much more personal if they turned out to be gay (again I don't think any other character was believing Richie's story, only Charles seemed bothered enough to debunk it) it's kind of giving the impression that Charles is actively avoiding thinking about his own sexuality or even the possibility of it. He shuts the joke down immediately, even though considering Edwin's journey this season, it seems more like a statement he'd have an opinion on. Basically Charles sees himself in these boys and all of a sudden their sexuality is questioned, making Charles think even a millisecond about his own, and whether that would stop him being able to relate to them and he just immediately shuts it down.

And if Charles gets his idea of good from what his Dad expected of him yet also wanting to be the furthest thing from his Dad, he probably has a really foggy idea of what 'good' even looks like. It's likely he can see how being queer isn't bad and accept it immediately in others but possibly struggle more with questioning his own sexuality. He's so quick to accept and forgive others yet holds himself to impossible standard of moral goodness he couldn't possibly wish to achieve. And if he's grown up in a homophobic environment which is very likely considering, he's probably got a very confusing idea in his mind about whether he could balance being good and being queer.

[gallierhouse]

maybe I just hate santiago right now, but the only history between him and armand I can think of is "their FWB arrangement ended after a month bc santiago's too into feet and it weirded armand out''

Well, the interesting thing about Santiago is that he’s an older blond man who’s self-assured, confident, and powerful, despite his age (for a human he’s old, for a vampire he’s young). Does that remind you of anyone? It tracks with Armand’s type. He’s also the one with the most authority within the coven after Armand, and the one who stages the coup, if the story is to be believed. Does that remind you of anyone?

Then there’s opening night, when Santiago presses his kiss to Armand’s lips, and if Armand’s account is to be believed, he and Santiago used to fuck. But then there’s also Santiago’s resentment of Armand — even before the coup — for executing his maker. But he’s also the one who Armand cuts the most slack. They’re physically familiar with each other, he’s been awarded the lead role despite being the newest and youngest member of the coven until Claudia joins, he throws tantrums at dinner and Armand doesn’t intervene until Louis makes it physical, he complains about Armand missing rehearsal and talks back to him, and Armand tolerates it. There’s this interesting power play going on between them. Armand’s older, and he’s the artistic director, maitre, if you will, but Santiago’s the one who inhabits the spotlight and bosses everyone around when Armand isn’t there. He looks older, too, and that affords him authority that Armand will never have. He doesn’t even really seem afraid of Armand (a grave mistake to make), even after Armand punishes him for eavesdropping in that alley. Maybe it’s because the coup is already in motion, but all vampires in the coven know that Armand could dispose of them with less effort than it would take to swat a fly. This might be related to the fact that the audience is working with incomplete information about the coup, though.

All this is to say that if they were fucking, I don’t think Armand is the one who would’ve been weirded out. Santiago might as well be a remix of Lestat, and Lestat is a remix of someone else for Armand. It’s more likely that if they had a physical relationship it fizzled out because of the inherent tension between being someone’s maitre and whatever sexual dynamics they participated in. I don’t even really know if they had a physical relationship, though, just because Armand announces it slightly too flippantly. In my opinion it’s more likely they’ve had sexual tension for the last decade that neither of them have acted on but continued to indulge in via play fighting and flirting and that’s the weird vibe I’m picking up.

[queen-kassiopeia-the-5th]

With the return of House of the Dragon, there is something that always bothered me about the main idea of the show vs the book.

In the show, there is this dilemma of who has the right to become king – the firstborn daughter, when women were always denied the right to rule, or the eldest son, who is male and thus following tradition. There is the mix-up with Viserys talking to Alicent before on his deathbed in the show, and the plain fact of power hungry relatives pushing their chosen monarch in the intended direction, but fundamentally, the question boils down to – woman vs man, who should rule. Rhaenyra's side doubles down onto proving this female equality side, which is great, and I'm glad we get to see some badass women riding to war on dragons, and plotting, but it was never the main idea of the Dance of Dragons.

The reason for the Dance, in the book, is a pattern we see in throught the entire story. A strong monarch leaves behind a weaker monarch, who is unable to maintain peace, and war breaks out. We see it in Aegon the Conquer, with Aenys being a weak king and Maegor being a tyrant, partially in order to combat the unrest that Aenys created, and partially because he is trying to emanate or even exceed his father, unsuccessfully. Then we have the Jaehaerys, who in my opinion was one of the best, if not the best king of Westeros. He created a long time of peace and was a strong monarch. Then came Viserys, a weaker king – this is not to say completely incapable – who left behind a festering conflict that lasted years. The green and black camps were decided long before his death, and he didn't do much to combat this, or try and resolve the situation. We see a similar pattern in real life history, that we all know GRRM draws inspiration from. The Diadochi generals that inherited Alexander the Great's empire quickly began fighting among themselves in the Wars of the Diadochi, vying for control over the empire he created, ultimately to lose it; the Carolingian empire was divided a few years after the death of Charlemagne; Genghis Khan's children attempted to expand his empire, but it fragmented into several khanates and to China.

Ultimately, you can say that the show is a separate entity from the book, and I agree with that. I do think how the characters are written and developed in the show in some cases is much better than the book – see Viserys – and there are differences between them plot wise. I'm not saying I expect a word for word interpretation of the book. It's just an interesting angle that I got from the book, and that in my opinion the show has not touched on, and took into a completely different direction, which is still interesting. I think it would have been nice to have both, though.

[tealrootsgerardwayreal]

it makes me really sad that people just view mcr as some shitty screaming death emo band because of the way they present themselves (mcr yapping session part 4 but im actually writing this seriously for once??)

like obviously im gonna say this because like theyre my special interest, but seriously.

my chemical romance are so so much more than that.

like okay, their music might not be everyone's cup of tea, but the second someone utters a word against their songwriting is when i'm fucking throwing hands.

obviously, people have their own opinions and takes on things, but if you look into it every single mcr album is so perfectly crafted.

take three cheers for sweet revenge for example. one of the reasons (well at least for me as a writer) that it's so appealing is because there's a concept to it and you can literally experience that story through the lyrics and music.

but the thing is, because the concepts are only loosely tied in, you're also free to interpret it in your own way which i also think is just so so clever and makes the band way more enjoyable.

like yeah you have the canon lore, but other than that you can choose how to view the songs and how you think that it connects to the concept. or you give it another meaning personal to you. or you dont and just enjoy it because let's face it, that music is fucking perfect or well in my opinion it is and if you're reading this then you probably think that too bc why tf would u be on mcr tumblr lmao

like ive done a lot of digging on people's views on the story of the demolition lovers, and ive seen so many different interpretations, but the thing is they could all be possible and are all as valid as each other.

each and every single member of this band are so talented and it really shows through their music, songwriting, playing, performing live.

i've even had this conversation with my cousin who does not like mcr at all and he said that he can respect the songwriting.

it makes me so upset though that when people find out about who mcr are they just assume that they make shitty screaming music about death which i mean the death part is kinda true ig but i genuinely believe that it isnt just the music that makes this band so special.

and i think that this is something that could be said about a lot of other artists too.

anyway idek if anyones reading this far but i really need to do german homework so that's me off of tumblr for now so long and goodnight or have a good day whatever the fuck your time zone is

[neverevan]

idk if you've been asked this before but is there any scenario where you would be happy/ok with a bucktommy breakup? your gifset made me think he's already pre-approved by the most important people in buck's life and they (accidentally or not) made it work so well lol what on earth could they have planned IF they're not supposed to be longterm anyway

mm i do get some form of this question every once in a while, but you know, things change, people's opinions change, so i don't mind going into a bit again

to be very real, regardless of where this and any future relationship of Buck's goes, it won't really have a bearing on my enjoyment of the show, so let's start there.

i have my opinions and ideas about where the show might be headed, but you know, this could be the very last season or there could be 10 more and the writers have to kinda work with that in mind too, so whatever happens and when that happens have to work for either scenarios which is not an easy place to be in

but ngl a bucktommy breakup would definitely break my heart (shatter it to teeny tiny smithereens more like) however amicable it'd be and i absolutely wish that if that's something coming our way they stretch out their time together before, so we can see them bloom as partners and get to know more about their dynamic, maybe let us see some milestone moments (yes, i am very aware that it'd just hurt more, but if it's gonna hurt anyway, at least give me this!!)

more on the perspective of the show though... yeah, Tommy has everyone's approval and he's clearly a great match for Buck in many ways that we already saw and possibly in other ways we haven't yet seen. but that's not a guarantee of anything, good relationships can hit just one roadbump that's too big to overcome, people deeply in love can break up due to wanting fundamentally different things, life is a bitch and that applies universally, even in fiction.

i do think they will be longterm though, whatever that'll actually mean in the terms of the actual episodes. i also think Tim might be a bit more cautious this time around to take the fan's reactions into account and that he might have a general idea of where he wants to go with them, but the man writes episodes 2 days before the first day of shooting, so i think there's a lot of wiggle room either way

in any case, they accidentally turned this relationship into a narrative goldmine, so they'd be real stupid not to exploit it as much as they can (and give us a beautiful love story in the process, final outcome notwithstanding)

[westwingwolf]

Why the Chenford Break Up Era Needs to Come to a Close Sooner Rather than Later on The Rookie...

I've expressed my opinion on the Chenford break over several long posts in the Chenford Discord. I'm sure I've annoyed them plenty with my thoughts, but I needed a place to vent so thank you for being patient with me and letting me rant. I swear I am trying to do better, but maybe getting all of my thoughts out in once place will finally calm the beast inside me enough to hold back any further ranting. This post will focus on what should come next after the break up, and not my opinions on whether the break up should have happened at all. It's over. It's done. We're here now, and I have to accept that so I can move on to enjoy what comes next.

Anyways, I thought I would collect all my thoughts here for those of you who are not in the discord. Whether you agree or disagree with me, that's fine. I'm making this public so I know I am opening myself up to disagreements. Just know I'm likely to respond if I can, and I'm less likely to give up discussing my opinion until long after it is necessary. So fair warning, everyone should proceed with caution.

On the highly unlikely chance that someone involved with the show sees this and it makes them think about what stories the show wants to tell, then feel free to share.

I foresee this getting long as the introduction is already this long, so proceed behind the cut if you dare... (Spoiler alert: it is very long.)

First off in most typical break up storylines on television (Because keep in mind I am strictly talking about how these storylines are portrayed in fiction for maximum dramatic effect. Real life is a totally different thing.) , there are certain elements that play out in a break up that is always meant to be temporary. And make no mistake, I do believe this break up is temporary. I refuse to believe otherwise. It's just a matter of how temporary will it be. I must also commend the writers for hitting these elements in a quicker fashion than I expected. (Whether that turns out to be a good thing or not depends on what comes next, but for now I like it.)

Avoiding each other and thereby avoiding fixing the issues that caused the break up. This element is the biggest key in determining how long the break up can last. The longer the characters avoid talking to each other, the longer the break up can go on without being resolved. As we saw in 607 Crushed, Tim didn't want to talk about it while Lucy did. This set the stage for avoiding the issue. This could have gone on longer with Tim digging his heals in to avoid addressing the issue by first refusing to admit to it, but Tim actually did the adult thing and sought out help. Because he had been thinking about needing help all day and because Lucy gave him that final push to get it when he still wanted to avoid talking to her about their issues. That dramatically cuts into the waiting time of couples getting to the point where they can talk about their problems.

Pining for each other. I will admit I thought 608 and 609 were going to be episodes where Tim and Lucy avoided each other entirely to prolong more of this break up by not having them interact at all, but I was pleasantly surprised and glad to be proven wrong. They had their nice pining and awkward moment in Grey's office in 608 Punch Card. Tim spends time thinking about Lucy and being reminded of her birthday. That leads to the very sweet Kojo Birthday Card moment which leads to an even bigger moment of pining for each other in the hall.

Putting aside the relationship problems to help each other and be vulnerable with each other. In 609 The Squeeze even though Lucy is still hurt by the break up, she knows Tim is going through a lot, and so she does what she can to comfort him. Thereby showing that Lucy is still the one who brings out the most vulnerable side of Tim. He put on brave face for Grey and Angela and everyone else, but that moment of melting into Lucy's arms and answering that he is okay now that she's holding him showed just how much he was trying to hold it all in. And he immediately goes back to his brave front once the elevator doors open. Tim has always been his most vulnerable with Lucy and that doesn't change whether they are together or not. Like the Kojo Birthday Card moment, this shows that they still care about one another and they don't let anger from/resentment of/shame about the break up stop them from showing that they care.

Working together in spite of the break up. I was surprised by how quickly they had them working together after their break up. I knew thanks to spoilers that they would have scenes together in 610 Escape Plan, but I expected group scenes. I didn't expect the car scene. Talking about Tim's therapy. Joking about their sex life. They seemed more at ease together after a break up than I thought they would be. Which makes it hard to believe they can go back to any of the major awkwardness from before. A scene like where they can barely speak to each other in Grey's office coming after this kind of moment won't make much sense. Therefore they have to be out of the awkward post break up phase. Again something that significantly cuts down the timeline in delaying getting back together.

Having the talk about their issues or at least getting close to the talk. Now, Tim and Lucy haven't had the full discussion about the breakdown of their relationship and all of Tim's issues. But they are closer to having it 610 then they were back in 607. With Tim going to therapy, with the sense that he wants to continue therapy despite having a psychotic blackmailing therapist, and with the apology he gave Lucy in the elevator along with his promise to repay her kindness in whatever small doses she'll allow; all of that indicates that he is finally in a place to have the necessary discussion about why they broke up. And Lucy wanted to have this talk back in 607 so there no longer seems to be a reason to delay it.

So now with all the steps that The Rookie has already shown through the Chenford break up, it's time to think about what comes next. Typically once the characters finally have the talk about why they broke up, they tend to talk about if they can get back together. We know the show is going to have do a little bit of time jump. A couple of weeks at most. If they want the audience to see this discussion, they'll have to come up with a reason for why they delayed it instead having it almost immediately when the door was open for them to have it at least the next day after that elevation conversation. Which I will allow if only because I really want to see it. If you remember when Wopez broke up in season one; they indicated they needed to talk about their relationship, then the talk they had was off screen and the next time we saw them they were back together. Great for them, but after the emphasis on how important is is that Chenford needs to talk to each other about why Tim broke up with Lucy, I want to see it. So I'm willing to go along with Lucy needed a couple of weeks to wrap her head around the idea and gather her thoughts to confront Tim.

What I will not understand is if Lucy or Tim decide to delay this talk for a long period of time. Lucy wanted to have the talk from the beginning. Tim wasn't ready but there is clear indication that his ready now. In order for Lucy to have agency in this situation and regain the balance that she lost when Tim unilaterally decided to break them up, I do think Lucy needs to be the one to say she wants to talk about their relationship. I don't want it to be like Tim saying "I'm ready to talk about our relationship" and Lucy to respond with "Oh, now you're ready?!" Because she would have a right to be mad. And if Tim is being true about letting Lucy take the lead by accepting his proving how much he appreciates her in however she will allow, then he has to wait for her to make that decision. I can't see Lucy delaying for whatever reason for too long. Even if she is still hurt by his actions, her curiosity about the cause of the break up is too much for her to let it go indefinitely. Think about how she was in 607 where she was desperate to know why. Think about her behavior after Emmett broke up with her, and this is Tim. She cares about Tim way more than she ever cared about Emmett. If nothing else, that need to know why is strong in her.

Having the discussion about the break up has a huge impact on whether or not the break up storyline can continued to be prolonged or not. As long as they avoid having the discussion, the longer they can delay the characters getting back together. But Chenford has already reached the logical point where they should have the discussion. As I've shown above it doesn't make sense for Tim or Lucy to want to delay it, so it cannot work for character reasons. It also doesn't make much sense for storyline reasons because they've already done everything else they can possibly do during a typical break up storyline as I explained above. This is literally the last step. Any delay would strictly be done to drive the viewers crazy, and when your writing becomes so obvious as to manipulate an emotional response from the audience it veers into bad writing territory. Always try to keep the writing more subtle so that it works for a character or a storyline, and not so you can see the pipe laid out easily for the viewer.

Now that I've explained why they have to have the discussion right away, I will talk about how I think it should be handled and what I would like to happen because of it. And when I say right away, I mean season 7 premiere. I'll give them until 702 if they have a lot going on action wise, but no more wasting time after that.

As I said, I want Lucy to have agency. That means she decides when they have this discussion. That also means giving her a lot more control in what happens because of the discussion. I understand her heart is broken. Her trust in Tim is broken. However, I do not believe the answer in fixing any of that is by her deciding not to give Tim another chance right away. Her agency isn't going to be affected by her deciding to stay broken up with Tim. She doesn't somehow get more power or power back because she decides they can't be together right now. I also don't see Lucy punishing herself or Tim because she is hurt and angry. That's Tim behavior, not Lucy behavior. If she loves him, if she wants to be with him, then she will want to fight for them. Also she has a psychology background, is she really going to let Tim suffer because he was going through an identity crisis? Is that at all true the nature of one of the most empathetic characters on the show? Lucy's agency comes in guiding the story and taking control. If anything delaying getting back together, only keeps her level of agency in the relationship/break up at where it was before. If she chooses not to get back together with Tim now, then what will drive her to make that choice later? Something he does to change her mind? Some unknown time when she suddenly feels "ready"? Neither of those options show me she has control. True agency in her relationship is her saying "I want to be with you, but things in our relationship have to change for the better, and this is how I want to make those changes happen."

Which leads to the what I hope comes next. I want to see Tim and Lucy actually working on their relationship. I don't want them going the route of "Everything is better now that we had that break up and got back together so we never have to discuss the problems that led to our break up again." Like what was essentially done to Wopez. Or how every now and then Nolan kind of snarkily brings back up the fact that Bailey hid the truth about Jason from him, and when he does she looks like she wants to beat him over the head with a bat. Actually working on fixing the relationship is more interesting a storyline that prolonging a break up as long as possible only to pretend like everything is okay afterwards because getting back together somehow miraculously solved all their problems. The writers and actors told us the importance of this storyline was to show them as a real couple with real problems. Well, a real couple that wants to be together is going to work on their problems if they have any hope of staying together so show me Chenford working on their problems.

One way to show me Chenford working on their problems is through couple's therapy. I think watching Tim and Lucy in couple's therapy would be funny, heartwarming, and dramatically tension filled with angst when necessary. And there doesn't have to be a lot of sessions. At least not a lot shown. Alexi mentioned not wanting to do the static, almost repetitive nature of Tim in therapy even though theoretically he does want to show ways that Tim has continued therapy. So really all that is needed is one episode of Tim and Lucy in therapy. Bookend the scenes of the episode with the first meeting is them being funny and awkward about it. And the final scene has the more raw and emotional moments that are tough to watch but get them understanding each other better. Then the rest of the episodes all they have to do is talk about what they learned or discussed in therapy or trying some exorcises to improve communication and intimacy.

No matter what Tim and Lucy do to fix their relationship, one thing that is absolutely necessary is to show Tim's growth. He started showing this in the elevator scene in 610 by willingly be more emotionally vulnerable with Lucy. It's never been about that Tim can't be emotionally vulnerable with her. He's more vulnerable with her than anyone. It's about Tim willing to put himself out there without Lucy having to ask or work to pull his feelings out of him. He pushes his feelings down so much that he doesn't ask for help when he needs. He needs to learn to ask for help. And he needs to learn to accept that help when it is offered. I would like to see Tim have another personal crisis, but this time instead of hiding and ghosting Lucy, he tells her about it immediately. She doesn't even have to ask or notice that something is off about him, he just tells her that he has problem and he wants her help in whatever way she can help him. That shows that Tim has grown and that he trusts Lucy to allow her to see the messy parts of himself. We know Lucy has seen plenty of the messy side of Tim and still loves him, but there is a part of Tim who is still afraid Lucy will walk away if he causes too much trouble. That's part of the reason he broke up with her. As much as he wanted to protect her, he also wanted to protect himself by not having her walking away from him. In his mind he lost Isabel because he didn't do enough and she said that living up to his standards was too much for her. He lost Rachel because he couldn't move for her job, and she couldn't give up that opportunity either. He lost Ashley because he couldn't give up being a cop, and she couldn't deal with that kind of life for him. Time and again has shown him that he isn't enough for people all the way back to probably feeling like is some kind of disappoint to his dad. And anyone who stays with him is going to be dragged down by him. The sad irony in that Lucy feels the same way in how her parents treat her. Lucy is the person who can understand Tim the most and love him for all of it. So an opportunity for Tim to willingly put himself out there for Lucy would be a great turning point in their relationship to show it has changed for the better.

Now you are thinking, well once everything is fine between Tim and Lucy isn't that going to make things boring again and put us right back to where we were before? I would argue that things were never boring, but if you are asking if it is not better to prolong the break up so that at least Tim and Lucy have a storyline filled with tension rather than things going back to being good between them again, I say no for these reasons:

Because the working through their problems storyline is filled with tension and needs to happen. It is still wrought with tension of whether or not it will work out. Arguably more so than just waiting to see if they will change their minds about getting back together. Working on their issues means putting all those problems right back in the forefront. It means talking about them instead of avoiding them. It's raw and messy and potentially shows all the cracks in the relationship that has to be repaired.

A longer delay in getting back together means we are less likely to see them actually work on their problems. If God forbid, they take a whole season for Tim and Lucy to decide to get back together, then we don't get any of that. If we manage to get a season 8, and Tim and Lucy don't get back together until the season 7 finale, then what is likely to happen is we come back to season 8 with them saying they worked it all, are fine, and will go on happily with their lives. Which is great, but I'm still going to be pissed that I had to endure a season and a half of a break up and I didn't even get to see the effort of them working on their problems. And if we don't get a season 8, if the writers find out near the end of this season that it is their last and they spent so much time on this break up, then what we get is a rushed getting back together to leave us satisfied that they are together but not particularly happy in the execution of it.

Once they are back together, and even if they are happy, they still have other issues that could cause them problems. One is Lucy wants to work undercover. The other is the chain of command issue. These problems only have significance to Tim and Lucy's relationship if they are together. If Lucy goes undercover while her and Tim are broken up, Tim is probably still worried about her, but there isn't much he can do about it. If they are broken up, Lucy not being around because of UC is no different than Lucy not being around because they are broken up. It doesn't really capitalize on all the problems between them if they aren't together to make it an issue. Same with the chain of command problem. Doesn't really matter if they aren't together. Neither of these issues can be tackled to their full extent by the writers is Chenford is not back together first. And if these problems are solved before Chenford get back together, then it's taking away a potential storyline when Chenford inevitably gets back together. Becomes a little too easy for them if Lucy get a job out of being under Tim's chain of command and decides she doesn't want to do UC anymore before she gets back together with Tim. So get them back together sooner, and they can address the storyline sooner.

Now here we are at what storylines can Tim and Lucy have after they are back together, have worked out their problems, and seem to be in a good place.

1.) The chain of command issue: I get that it was a whole thing in 5B and eventually led to Metro Tim. Sadly, because I think the writers really do want to put focus on either Patrol or Detectives, that means no more Metro Tim. If we are all honest with ourselves, as much as we love Metro Tim, the show wasn't really do enough with him in Metro. They spent just as many storylines, if not more, figuring out how to get Tim back on Patrol and/or working with Lucy as they did doing his own Metro thing. For this reason, I think Tim is going to remain on Patrol until the end or when they promote/retire Grey so Tim becomes Watch Commander (which I hope also isn't until the end if they decide to retire Grey.) They came up with a storyline that still doesn't make any sense to me to keep Lucy from getting promoted to Detective in order to keep her on Patrol so I assume that means they want her to remain on Patrol for as long as possible too. (Seriously, Primm, you got promoted and presumably a position you wanted because of Lucy so take your male ego and shove it up your ass.) So that means Tim and Lucy both on Patrol for the foreseeable future. As mentioned above this isn't an issue for them until they get back together so it's not an issue the writers need to address until they get back together. And no point in fixing it prior to that if they want to have the storyline. But how to fix it?

Simple answer: Sergeant Grey says it is okay for them to date. Yeah, that seems to fly in the face of making it an issue the first time around. But Grey was also there for that time. He saw what Tim and Lucy were willing to sacrifice to be together. He saw what those sacrifices ultimately led to. He paired them to work together even when they were dating and knows they can still work together well. They weren't too terrible even during the adjustment period of their break up so he didn't have to say anything more than once about making it work. If he sees them working just as well together as they are broken up, and none of it causes problems, then he can make the call to let them date. Chain of command issue be damned if he says it is not a problem. Especially if he doesn't want to lose one or two of his best officers. At this point, Chenford has been through enough so who is really going to care? Are the fans going to put up a big fuss if it means if we get to see Tim and Lucy not only dating but also working together? If the writers insist they have to remain on Patrol, then this is a concession they have to give us to make it work.

More complicated answer: Promotions As unlikely as it seems, I say just give everyone the necessary promotions. That starts with promoting Grey to captain. (Shh. I don't care about Lieutenant. ) Grey has been treated like the show's captain since Captain Andersen died. He is always in charge for the big events. Angela and Nyla go to Grey to talk about cases even though he isn't their boss anymore because they work in the Detective department. When Tim got promoted and worked in Metro, he was the same rank as Grey and answered to Pine, and yet somehow he usually answered to Grey anyway. The LAPD is currently going through a big shake up; some higher ups were probably compromised with this whole blackmail scandal. I'm sure one or two captains could have lost their jobs/rank. Promoting Grey wouldn't really change anything storywise in terms of what he does, but it would make more sense. Once Grey is promoted, Tim becomes Watch Commander. During this time Lucy takes the sergeant exam and passes easily. Grey creates a position in which Lucy is now his aide. She becomes his right hand woman when crisis mode. She can work on Patrol as sort of a liason role like Tim had in Metro so she can keep doing Patrol storylines. And if Grey is okay with it, she can even do some undercover work when necessary. It keeps Lucy available for all potential storylines while also giving her a well deserved promotion. And she will officially be under Grey's chain of command only and not Tim's.

2.) Tim and Lucy moving in together storyline. Once Tim and Lucy are back together, things get awkward for Celina as she now takes over Tamara's role of constantly catching Tim and Lucy in the middle of kissing. And maybe other things. Only a thousands time worse for everyone because Tim is Celina's boss and they all work together. Celina doesn't want to know that much about her boss/coworker's sex life, and they wouldn't like her knowing about it either. So after some very humorous and awkward moments, Tim and Lucy discuss moving in together. Are they prepared for this? Are in they in a good place after their break up? (Which is another reason they should get back together soon rather than later so there is more time between being in a good place and moving in together so it makes more sense.) Do they want to move in together to a place they already have or find a new place all together that is all their own? If they find a new place, they don't have to worry about Tim's home looking different yet again. That's at least two or three episodes. Build up the awkwardness with Celina, have the discussion about moving in, finding a place and moving in.

3.) Lucy getting a longterm undercover assignment opportunity. This storyline would ideally happen just as Tim and Lucy feel happy and secure in their relationship and have taken a big step like moving in together. They finally have to discuss what this means for them and if they truly can handle it. I think Lucy will have to take it and they will be able to make it work because they've put in all the effort that came before with working on repairing their relationship to make it stronger. If the show gets an 8th season, I can see this as a cliffhanger so that they can use the break between seasons to be a time jump so Lucy can be UC for months without having to isolate her for too long from the rest of the characters. Come back in the season 8 premiere with the end of the assignment winding down to an big action packed finish worthy of a premiere. And then Lucy decides she hates the isolation of longterm UC because she is a social person who needs to be around the people she loves. So she never does longterm UC again, and it is no longer an issue for Tim and Lucy. If this is the final season, then same storyline and outcome but sped up over a few episodes with an even more dramatic conclusion of Tim & Lucy hating being apart so they decide to get married.

And finally, I present you with the additional benefits of getting Tim and Lucy back together sooner rather later:

Secret Dating Era Redux: Tim and Lucy hiding their relationship once again, but this time it's more difficult and potentially more funny. Tim sneaking out of Lucy's apartment early in the morning without getting caught by Celina. Tim and Lucy having to act sad about being broken up even though they are back together. Other people trying to set them up in front of each other, and having to come up with excuses to say no. All coming to the ultimate conclusion where everyone finds out they are dating again. Just want the fans wanted: the everyone finds out reveal. I say Nolan should still be the last to know.

Tim finds out out Lucy dated Nolan: Maybe it comes up in their therapy sessions. Maybe Lucy mentions it when she talks about the issue with dating a cop. Whatever the way it happens, it's best if Tim and Lucy are together when he finds outs to really milk it for a potential issue. Also great to see Tim finding ways to take out his annoyance about it on Nolan. Bonus points if it if happens during the secret dating era redux so Nolan has no idea why Tim is mad at him.

Tim and Lucy having fun arguments again: Comparing their first date to their second first date or whether it's their second second first date. What counts as their anniversary? When they started dating? When they started dating again? Do they have two anniversaries? Does Lucy only want two anniversaries because she wants twice as many presents? The list goes on and on for how they can try to put humor into the idea of the break up once they know they are going to be okay after getting back together.

So there you have all my reasons for why and how Tim and Lucy should get back together sooner rather than later. I know we all want them pining for each other. I get it, but ask yourself how much time do you really want to wait to see them get back together. After the initial break up, there was a three week break of no new episodes, then four episodes where they are broken up, and now we wait 8 months just to see season 7. So that's 10 months of dealing with this break up already, and we don’t even know how much longer it will take. Do you want to wait even longer or do you want to see Tim and Lucy fix their relationship as soon as possible?

As a treat for those who suffered through this long ass rambling of my thoughts, I present you with a snippet of my new multichapter fic which I hope to finish soon so I can begin posting it in July. It's a Chenford fic based on the Once Upon A Time tv series concept. Basically if fairy tale characters were in the real world.

After they finish their meals, Lucy brings Tamara a pillow and a blanket for the night. When Tim sees that she has brought a second pillow and blanket for herself, he asks, “What do you think you are doing?”

“Staying the night with Tamara,” Lucy answers plainly like that should be obvious.

“This isn’t a slumber party. She is still our prisoner. You actually have to guard her,” Tim insists.

Lucy scoffs in disbelief. “You don’t trust me to do my job?”

“I trust you implicitly. I don’t trust her,” he points at Tamara, “not to give you some sob story that tugs at your heartstrings and has you handing over the keys.”

“You know what? Fine.” Lucy takes said keys and opens the cell. Stepping inside she throws down her pillow and blanket on the other bed. She then reaches her arm through the bars to lock the door from the inside before tossing the keys back to Tim. “You can let me out in the morning, and not have to worry about our prisoner escaping in the middle of the night.”

“And what are you going to do if there is a fire or an earthquake?” Tim asks smugly, thinking he has the upper hand.

Lucy shrugs as she challenges him on that unlikely scenario. “I guess I’ll have to trust that you can race back here quickly enough to let us out before the building crashes down on us.”

Tim doesn’t respond. Instead he leaves, and Tamara thinks he is admitting defeat and going home. But he quickly returns with his own pillow. “Just how many pillows does Smitty keep in this place?”

“Enough to build a fort,” Lucy answers as she sets up her bed. Not surprised at all that Tim is choosing to stay.

“Figures,” Tim responds as he puts his feet up on the desk while situating his pillow between his head and his chair. “Don’t stay up too late gossiping. We have a trial to attend in the morning.”

Lucy shakes her head, but fondly tells him, “Goodnight, sir.”

Tim answers with a grunt and nothing more.

Lucy seems less interested in gossiping and more interested in telling ghost stories. “Have you ever heard the one about Gracey Manor? It’s a local legend about the mansion that rests on the highest hill at the edge of town.”

Tamara and Lucy spend the next couple of hours talking and playing with a deck of cards Lucy brought with her. When they finally do go to sleep, Tim’s eyes are still closed, but Tamara has the sneaking suspicion that he is only resting his eyes. That if any trouble were to happen in the middle of the night, he would awake alert and ready to perform his duties. She knows her own experiences have kept her mindful of never allowing herself to fall too deep into sleep, but she can only wonder why Sheriff Bradford would learn such behavior.

[thesharktanksdriver]

Did y/n ever wake up on a sky island? since they're going along with the Strawhats to Skypiea, it would be kinda funny if y/n is talking about how dangerous the wildlife in the sky is and the numerous ways the animals can end your life and everyone gets more and more concerned as they continue while Luffy just thinks it's cool

I personally think they got snatched by one of those big South Birds one time

(also i think it would be kinda sweet if y/n and Aisa become friends when they're in Skypiea since both are kiddos around the same age range)

Y/n actually has been to sky island due to Roger’s stop there!

Y/n most definitely would talk about how “oh yeah I almost got eaten by a giant snake there, fun times!” While the others are just staring at them with varying degrees of horror while Luffy just asks them questions about the snake lol.

What more funny though is when y/n talks about the shandorians since while in Skypiea with Roger they wandered off and ended up meeting various from the tribe who despite being defensive didn’t harm them.

They talk about how nice the shandorains were to them and how much they sympathize with the group.

Meanwhile the shandorians when meeting Luffy and crew: 🗡️🗡️🗡️

you’re definitely right about the south birds at some point picking y/n up and just flying away lol. Many Birds kinda just has a natural affinity for y/n and end up somehow on y/n shoulder for a long duration of time.

That at least made getting a south bird much more easier….if y/n had remembered to tell that fact to the others lol

Also Aisa and y/n being friends is such a cute thought! I’d imagine while Aisa was scared of the strawhats she’d kinda feel a bit more comfortable around y/n even if she was still apprehensive. But once becoming friends with y/n she’d be really happy, especially since she seems to be the youngest of the shandorians so she doesn’t have many to play that’s around her age.

I’d like to think that once seeing her “treasure” y/n would show Aisa how to garden. Maybe even gifting her seeds for flowers that can’t be found in upper yard and only in the islands of the blue sea. Hibiscus, lilies of the valley, red spider lilies, chrysanthemums, etc.

Maybe Aisa in return would teach y/n about their culture and maybe even gift them something like a beaded bracelet. Since the shandorians are (in my opinion) heavily inspired from indigenous cultures I’d imagine that passing on stories and traditions is important to them just like it is to real indigenous cultures.

Along with Aisa becoming friends with them Wyper also joins this group. I won’t spoil how they become close since that will definitely spoil stuff I have in store later but I do have stuff to say him and y/n’s dynamic. He’s trying to get used to peace and not having to fight for his people anymore meanwhile y/n is asking him about his tattoos and playing Ukulele while he just kinda takes in upper yard.

Wyper is trying to get used to not being defensive all the time and luckily for him he’s now friends with the chillest mf out there (lol).

Wyper unlike Aisa isn’t very curious about the blue sea and the thing’s y/n has experienced but moreso about y/n themself. Which leads him to have long discussions with them while the strawhats celebrate their victory and he relaxes due to his injuries.

Wyper like y/n is someone in a sense who’s focused on the past, but now focusing on the future. Something that brings them very close together despite the very short time they’ve actually spent together.

Aisa and y/n have most definitely dragged Wyper to dance with them, and unfortunately for him Genbo, Kamakiri and Braham will not let him live it down.

Y/n and Aisa also may or may not have made him a flower crown that he may or may not have kept as a keepsake and reminder of who’s future’s he’s fighting for

[kiragecko]

Rating Post-Resurrection (but pre-nu52) Jason Todds

Hush(/Clayface/Jason Todd) - eh. Good instincts for drama. Good insults. You're fine, but it was easy to believe you were an imposter. Plot is ridiculous. (Personality 1) 7/10

Under the Hood/Family Reunion/Franchise/All They Do is Watch Us Kill - I mean ... yeah. You're what I think of when I think of Jason Todd. You define the character. Also, you ARE really funny with Black Mask. (Personality 2) 8/10

Life and Death (Titans Tower) - okay. YOU are not necessarily the problem here. The problem is that the author doesn't understand Tim or what happened in the comics he's referencing AT ALL, and puts the most nonsensical words into your mouth as a result. Also misunderstands the New Teen Titans. And you're drawn really ugly. Under all the retcons and nonsense there is SOME okay characterization, though! (Personality 3) 4/10

World War III - never plan on reading this.

Daedalus and Icarus (Summary of Jason's Return) - This is a recap, but it's a recap of things we haven't been shown. Recaps aren't stories, so it isn't GOOD, but it does have some puzzle pieces. (Personality 2) 3/10

Pay As You Go (Outsiders) - you try SO HARD! All you do this arc is try to help a superhero and get beaten up by Dick. Maybe a bit of standing around being awkward because you don't know how to break into the securest prison on the planet. You are being very fanon Jason this arc. (Personality 4) 5/10

Brothers in Blood (Nightwing) - you're ugly, you're mean, you're dumb, and you turn into a tentacle monster. An UGLY tentacle monster. I enjoy laughing at you! (Personality 5) 2/10

Seeing Red - this arc is SO FUN. You are unhinged, but I would have LIKED if this turned out to be who you are. You truly think that blowing up Mia's gym is HELPING!!! Delightful and silly and I like the talking ape. Go hang out with the Arrows more. (Personality 3) 8/10

Countdown - you remain my favorite post-resurrection version. Love you as an insecure, immature kid trying to impress your big brother's friend. Love how young you are. Love how emotionally fragile you are. Love all the pretending to be tough. This would have ALSO been a great version for other authours to run with! (Personality 4) 9/10

Search for a Hero - I HATE EVERY THOUGHT TIM HAS ABOUT YOU IN THIS ARC! Why does the authour think so little of you?? You are not dumb and brutish and I refuse to believe this slander. Your expressions when you see someone in your Red Robin costume, AND when Tim turns down your 'awesome' team up plan, both belong in an arc that respects you more. (Personality 3) 4/10

Robin Dies at Dawn - see, this is how people should write you interacting with Tim. I want him to take you on as a project, and everyone to recognize that this is both condescending and not healthy behaviour. I guess YOU don't actually do much, though. How is this the next issue? (Personality 3) 7/10

Battle for the Cowl - shouldn't there be editors? People to say, "this authour isn't very good and maybe these characters should act like themselves?" I want comics to be better. (Personality 4) 3/10

Revenge of the Red Hood/The Streets Run Red - I don't read Morrison, but I've seen a bunch of panels. Wrong sort of unhinged, in my opinion. I prefer you to be trying to help people, not win some sort of messed up contest with the Bats. (Personality 6) 5/10

Red Hood: The Lost Days - look, I'm not here for your thighs, your daddy issues, or your revenge fantasies. I am here for your truly unhinged attempts at bonding with others, and the sincere confusion you seem to have when they don't work. This is good, but not for me. There's not even any ridiculously large crates of kryptonite! (Personality 2) 7/10

[sephirthoughts]

Maybe Reeve and 15, 26, 34 for the ask game? ^^' (15 is a free option. You don't have to do it, if yiu don't want to. ^^'')

Yayyy Reeve!!! i do have several opinions about him

Reeve pretty much 24/7:

same bro same

-15- pets or feelings about animals:

HE DID NOT CHOOSE THE HAMSTERVERSE, THE HAMSTERVERSE CHOSE HIM

-26- interactions with their friends

I don't know Reeve to have any canonical friends aside from Veld (Verdot), before Dirge, and I don't know much about their friendship, but I assume Veld was a hero of his or something because Veld is old as shit, and Reeve is only 35 during FF7. He was willing to risk his ass to help save Elfe, because she's his friend's daughter, even though she's with Avalanche. Yes, he uses his Cait Sith bots to go in his place, but even getting involved that much is a massive risk for him considering he's on the Shinra Board of fucking Directors. This suggests how highly he values friendships and demonstrates his personal integrity.

Reeve actually gets involved in a staggering number of situations considering he's a literal executive at the biggest company in the world, like…Reeve my guy when do you sleep buddy? (Also how did you make it to the top of Shinra with your conscience intact??)

I really wanted Reeve to have seen Vincent's file or some of his reports back in the day, like as a young Shinra employee, and been like "holy shit this Turk is amazing in a totally not gay way i am just going to take a copy of his photo for personnel management purposes thank you Veld." ALAS, Reeve was five years old when Vincent died. So no such luck unless he was Shinra's youngest employee ever aside from Sephiroth (lol).

HOWEVER. We KNOW direct from the cat's mouth that Reeve knows all about Vincent, meaning he DID study his files at some point, and was clearly moved by how sexy he was tragic his story was. HERE THERE BE HEADCANONS: Vincent was a pretty impressive guy even before the monster powers, and I absolutely HC Reeve as being a total Vincent fangirl, which makes him scruffing and then throwing the Cait Sith bot at Cloud even funnier. He and Vincent become friends through the Cait Sith bot, during the events of FF7 but they have that falling out because of the Marlene thing. However, he keeps helping the group and whatnot, which earns their and Vincent's trust back, and then eventually reveals his identity to the whole group.

Between FF7 and Dirge, he and Vincent stay in contact and even wind up meeting in person. By "meeting in person" I mean Vincent vampire ninjas himself into Reeve's office and scares the ever-loving shit out of him, because he wanted to meet him face to face, and they have a nice talk, before Vincent vampire ninjas away again, leaving Reeve with an even bigger totally platonic and not at all gay crush on the very dangerous and very sexy vampire man.

Reeve eventually leaves Shinra and starts his good-guy club and all that, and he and Vincent reconnect during Dirge, where Reeve is doing this weird matryoshka doll thing with himself inside Cait Sith inside a suit of himself, but whatever i don't kink shame. Apparently Vincent finds that very cool (or hot if you ship them) because they spend the rest of the game helping each other (or secretly making out). Much like almost all of my ships, whether you ship Reeve and Vincent or not, my HC for their relationship is pretty much exactly the same, except in the ship version they fuck.

Anyway I HC that Reeve and Vincent are friends. That was a long thesis, just to work up to this one point.

ps. my ship name for reeve and vincent is reeventine because it's more prosodic (fancy talk for rolls off the tongue), and also, reevince just looks like re-evince, which is a word already

-34- feelings abut themself

This is important to how Reeve feel about himself i promise: CAIT SITH SPEAKS FUCKING KANSAI-BEN. I have no idea why they chose Scottish accent for the English version but they have inadvertently canonized Reeve's hometown dialect being either Kansai-ben, or Scots-gaelic. Which means that little Reeve had one HELL of an accent, and had to meticulously dialect-train himself, to speak in the accepted nonregional vernacular (Kanto or newscast English) for his Shinra job. HEADCANONS BEGIN: This suggests that he's self-aware enough to know what will help him get ahead, and is willing to do what it takes to succeed…but like, in a NORMAL way, not like the rest of the Shinra execs, who are all literal psychopaths. Not exaggerating. Actual psychopaths. He's a classic overachiever and apparently pretty charismatic, despite never having been listened to ever not even one single time during a Shinra board meeting. Luckily he's also a good person deep down and when it really counts, he does the right thing.

In conclusion, Reeve thinks highly enough of himself to have very strong drive and ambition, and to go against the flow and make conscience-based decisions, even when it puts him at risk, but not enough to disconnect the coffee I.V. and get a good night's sleep once in a while.

unpopular but correct opinion: reeve was hot even back when he was cosplaying some kind of pirate clergyman back in the Dirge of Cerberus days

Thanks for the ask! Hamsterverse forever!

[sidsinning]

Bruh idc bout the state of Fairy Tail this OP IMMEDIATELY HIT ME LIKE A TRUCK ITS SO FUCKIN GOOOOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

LIKE YOU EVER HAVE THOSE SONGS THAT JUST INSTANTLY SCOOP YOUR BRAIN UP THAT’S THIS

EPIC

[goldensunset]

there are games that i enjoy playing more and there are games i enjoy thinking about more. sometimes the overall story and themes and blorbos are delightful but actually playing it is a little annoying so i just rotate it in my mind instead. sometimes i get absolutely sucked into the gameplay and the world and the experience for dozens or hundreds of hours and i enjoy listening to the soundtrack but it has little to no lasting impact on me as a person bc something in the story just failed to hit and that’s ok. both are good both are beloved. obviously the ideal piece of media is one i both enjoy actively consuming and thinking about but my mindset is that if a piece of media has any single good thing in it it’s a good piece of media. give me literally anything to work with and i’ll extract joy out of it. i’ve literally never played a game i didn’t like btw

[aroaessidhe]

2023 reads

Wren Martin Ruins It All

YA contemporary romcom

student council president proposes to cut the school valentine’s dance because it's expensive and alienating for queer/single people, but instead the vice president (who he adamantly hates for being perfect) suggests they get sponsored by a popular friendship app

he decides to secretly give the app a go to “know his enemy” but ends up making a friend, and starts to catch feelings for him...and maybe realises the guy he hates isn't actually so bad either...

ace mlm MC, aro-questioning side character

I loved this so much! great MC with a funny internal monologue

despite the title most issues or misunderstanding are sorted out pretty quickly rather than drawn out for the drama and plot. which is refreshing

I was a little nervous about the concept of ‘ace hates the school dance and wants it shut down’ - there's a bit of a stereotype of aspecs being boring Fun Haters - but I think it did a really good job of showing the specifics of why, not dragging it out, and also that he’s just a snarky fun hater in general with not much weight behind it.

There’s also no discovering of sexuality or big coming out (just one-on-one) - he already knows he’s ace, and it comes up naturally a bunch, talking about how dances etc can feel isolating, the way the friendship app called buddy being called ace-friendly can feel infantilizing, avoiding dating because of the stress of having to check upfront if people about it, etc.

I would have liked to know more about his relationship with his mum? Though I understand that it’s clearly something he avoids thinking about - going too deep into his relationship with his parents might have changed the tone a lot. but still.

ARC from netgalley thanks netgalley

[0fps]

really loving wuwa so far, it still lags a bit here and there but it kinda feels like it just has to marinate for a while? first 10 minutes are painful but after it seems like it has its assets cached or something and it isn't as much a problem anymore. it also looks like kuro games has been working overtime putting in patch fixes asfdjlkadfsj god speed to the devs fr

[cyle-stuff]

SPOILERS FOR S5 EP11 BUNGOU STRAY DOGS!

BULLSHIT!

I’m calling bullshit on this!

No way Sigma is dead!

(May or may not be possibly delusional again)

[un-pearable]

i am fine admitting i have a shameful love of shitty crossover fic in which characters get to show up in media i like slightly less and then one-up all the characters there by being competent badasses in ways you don’t usually get to see bc in their normal universe you’re usually watching from said characters pov. but i absolutely loathe reincarnation fic with the same premise. no i do not want to read about midoriya izuku with sonic the hedgehog’s memories just give me sonic the hedgehog

[dailynakaharachuuya]

(just some thoughts about things, I think its rather long so you don't have to read ❤️❤️)