#i just watched the episode with tks sponsor

[lily-blue-blue-lily]

oh i really love carlos, hes such a sweetheart

[guardian-angle22]

Tagged by @beautifulhigh & @welcometololaland to list my top 5 Tarlos scenes.

This is really going to show my Season 3 bias ngl.

#5. 2.12 "Don't make me twist your arm."/"Please do."

Their chemistry is insane when they're teasing each other downstairs and then they kiss each other so softly once they get upstairs. I'm a sucker for a good soundtrack moment and there's something iconic about having their house literally light up on fire under them while obliviously making out as Fever by Elvis Presley plays in the background. Peak cinema tbh.

#4. 3.04 "Hey, baby. Breathe."/"Welcome home, TK."

We can all agree to have these two can count as one scene, right? they go back to back. The way TK reached for Carlos as soon as he woke up and immediately noticed that Carlos wasn't breathing right even though he just woke up from a coma, is still groggy, and barely has his eyes open? soulmate shit right there. If you haven't watched this without the music. my god. do it now. & then add in how happy they both look as Carlos leads TK into the loft with his hands over his eyes, and then when TK looks around and you can see on his face when he realizes he still gets to have this despite everything? Beautiful.

#3. 3.18 "For the first time in my life, the love that I feel is infinitely more powerful than the fear of losing it."/"A thousand times yes."

I mean can I even say more about the proposal that hasn't already been said? the urgency TK felt that prompted him to wake Carlos up in the middle of the night. His speech to Carlos. All the little touches throughout. The way they both were crying by the end. It was beautiful and it was perfect for them. (the only way it could have been better is if they maybe stopped to turn on a fucking lamp)

#2. 3.08 "Hey, look at me."/"I love you."

This was their first mutual "I love you" shown on screen and while the context was heartbreaking, it was still so so sweet. Carlos being the loving caregiver, kissing TK's forehead, rubbing his knee, wanting to make sure he eats. The way Carlos tells TK to look at him and he does immediately, even though TK has been basically avoiding eye contact with everyone the entire scene will live rent free in mind for all of time, I'm sure.

#1. 3.13 "Do you have any idea how proud of you I am?"/"You're just so sweet."

Can I put the entirety of 3.13 on the list at number one? Because it's my favorite episode for them. It has so many things. It has them being domestic and flirtatious. TK being distracted by Carlos in yoga clothes. It has them fighting a bit, overcoming those obstacles, and communicating. It showed Carlos as a multidimensional character with flaws like jealousy and pettiness, but then growing through it to come to the realization that he can't be everything that TK needs at the end of the day.

But if I absolutely had to pick just one scene from it, I would chose the opening scene. TK sharing with Carlos about his meeting, finding a sponsor, & the realization of not having Gwyn around affecting his mindset. Carlos waiting up with his adorable glasses, reading articles to educate himself, telling TK how proud of him he is. TK calling him sweet and flirting with him. I just-- 🥰🥰

----

Because I'm doing this pretty late in the day, this has made it's rounds through a lot of my mutuals already. so I'm just going to tag a few people that I haven't seen do it yet (no pressure though if you're not feelin' it. but also if you have done it and I missed it let me know so I can read yours!): @morganaspendragonss @ourlegendwillbefitforverse @detective-giggles @noxsoulmate @ladytessa74 @autistic-lesbian-story-lover @tkstrandreyes @pragmatic-optimist @reyescarlos @spencessmile @poledancingghostson @sunshinestrand @mandiiigurllll

[pimento-playing-hopscotch]

Can someone explain this part of "Negative Space" to me?

So in doing the @911lonestarrewatch for this week, the big part of "Negative Space" 3x12 that I don't get.

I don't get why what happened with Sadie made TK lose his sobriety- and I know the basic answer; to pave the way for the Cooper storyline - which I am in favor of-

But the part that I don't is why that incident would take TK back to square one, especially because A), it wasn't his fault, and B) they had an incident that seemed to have much more cause for him to go t0 90 meetings in 90s days, yet that one they moved on from alarmingly quickly.

And I'm saying this as someone who is not an expert on sobriety or addiction; the extent of my knowledge is that alcoholism runs on both sides of my family (as they say in arsenic and old lace, it practically gallops). And I live in the states, in the drunkest state in America, so drinking culture is bad; like you can have ten DUIs and they haven't taken your license bad - or my mom recently sent me a list of the top 10 drunkest cities in America and I was like there's where I live now, there's where I grew up, there's where my dad lives- you get the picture.

And one thing that I got from this, is that to lose your sobriety it's not as simple as the bartender gives you the wrong drink and you take a sip.

Like when TK says that the choice was taken away from him to lose his sobriety, like... then he should still have it, because he didn't choose to the drugs.

And after watching this episode, I watched an episode of a show that had a similar situation that I wanted to bring up- it's a show called Mom, it's about women who are recovering alcoholics who meet in AA and become friends and help each other stay sober.

And there's an episode called "Wind Chimes and a Bottomless Pit of Sadness" that has this similar plot. One of the women, Bonnie, is in a serious relationship with a man, Adam, who isn't sober, and they're both aware that she is sober and he isn't. Bonnie takes a bag of cookies she finds in his kitchen when he isn't there that is shoved in the back of a cabinet and shares them with the three other women in their group of friends, not realizing that the cookies have marijuana in them.

Bonnie's boyfriend, Adam, calls Bonnie when he sees the cookies aren't there and calls her and after talking to her for a minute, confirms, that yes, they are all high. He goes to meet them and explains what happened.

The four women are shocked and devastated that they've lost their sobriety, because they are all years in, like TK was. Adam realizes that there's nothing he as a not sober person can say to fix this and calls the fifth women in their group, the oldest, Marjorie, who is their sponsor (she was celebrating her wedding anniversary and not at the meeting).

Marjorie comes over and clarifies they didn't know there was pot in the cookies- then they haven't lost their sobriety. Because it wasn't an active choice that they made. Here-

She relays that it happened to her once when she had ten years and ordered a virgin mojito, took a drink, realized the mistake, but didn't take another sip. And the thing to do is what they always do; keep working the program and accept that accidents happen, because none of them knew there was pot in the cookies, just like TK had no way of knowing there was opioids in his pho.

And I don't mean to say they shouldn't have done the Cooper storyline, because someone sober in a serious relationship with someone who isn't and what that means - that's an important plot to have. That's why it confuses me that they used the Sadie incident to push it when TK had recently tried to take drugs.

After Gwyn's death (which again plot, but it's like Carlos- WHY. WOULD. YOU. LEAVE. HIM. SITTING. THERE. ALONE. Like I know the idea is TK is too despondent to do anything, but take his hand, sit him in your car, and take him with you! Anyway...)

But TK went to work with the sole purpose of taking narcotics out of the ambulance and use them. He would have if Owen didn't show up exactly when he did - jeopardizing not just his sobriety, but his job in the process.

And we see TK tearfully admit this to Owen on the plane but then that's it. We don't even know if he told Carlos this. That seems much more reason to attend 90 meetings in 90 days and get a new sponsor, and to help him process his mother's death when it was so sudden.

Because - and I love paramedic captain mama Tommy; but I don't think we needed it to come from her to TK to be getting that help after his mother's death. TK isn't someone who is averse to professional help. TK is married (or at this point in the show, sharing a bed with) someone who is averse to that kind of help; someone for whom getting Carlos Reyes to a therapist is something akin to getting a cat in a carrier to take to the vet (actually much harder, because cats, while angry and with sharp, pointy feet, are portable. You can't shove Officer Beefcake and his muscles of steel into a cat carrier. That man is un unmovable tree).

But we didn't need it to come from Tommy to confirm TK was seeking help.

And I know it's just plot reasons, but on a show where the showrunner, star/executive producer, and the story editor are all recovering addicts... well it's weird to me they framed it as "someone drugged food he unwillingly ate" cost him his sobriety.

Anyways- thank you for listening, here is a picture of my sleepy cat-

[wqintraining]

NEW X-MEN: THE ANIMATED SERIES - SEASON 2, EPISODE 12 (PART 1 OF 2)

 We open on a beach, underneath the sunset, where Laura and Sofia are playing volleyball against Julian and Noriko, “X-Men vs X-Men in Training”, while Cessily, Roxy, Sooraya, and Brian are playing frisbee. The Cuckoos are seated in lined-up beach chairs, sunbathing. 

Everyone is excited to have completed their first school year! Julian and Sofia were once again voted king and queen of the dance, and have subsequently been barred from being voted for next year. 

SOFIA: “So unfair.” 

JULIAN: “This is America! Where’s the democracy?!” 

Cessily and Roxy wonder if this means they may have a chance, while Laura imagines Dallas and Victor may make that a problem.

CESSILY: “Really? I didn’t even know they were dating.” 

SOFIA, frustrated: “They are, and Dallas has blown up since he started creating content with his shadow. You know I gave him the idea to do so and he hasn’t even credited me.” 

LAURA: “Are you mad because he’s growing faster than you did?” 

SOFIA: “It’s male privilege!” 

NORIKO: “Said the girl dating the living embodiment of it.” 

JULIAN: “Said the girl who can’t find a guy at all.” 

Noriko cringes momentarily, in disbelief he’d say that of all things after everything, and spikes the ball right at his head a super speed, knocking him down. 

Sooraya doesn’t care about any of this, as her mom flew in last night and is on her way to the Washingtons’, thanking Roxy again. Brian is just relieved he didn’t flunk, a sentiment Noriko echoes. 

Aggravated by Noriko’s spike, Julian brings his TK into the game, with Sofia following suit with her winds. Things very quickly escalate as the sky is filled with flashing lights and sand is blown all over the place. 

BRIAN, coughing on sand: “Why…do we keep…letting the fight idiots compete?!"

Eventually, the four players lose control of the ball and it’s sent flying off the court, nearly taking off one of the Cuckoos’ heads. 

SOPHIE: “Watch it, dorks!” 

Julian flies over to retrieve the ball and asks what happened to trying to be their friends. Ms. Frost invited them out here too, so they should come play. 

The Cuckoos exchange sunglasses-covered glances before Phoebe delivers a decisive, “No thank you.” 

Julian shrugs whatever and heads back to the game. Roxy says they should be winding down anyway. Start their bonfire, roast some marshmallows, and then head to the Grindstone for the party. 

Sofia is excited about the party, but sad that it will be the last time she sees most of her friends for three months, as only she, Laura, Julian, and Noriko are staying at the institute over the Summer, while Roxy, Cessily, and Sooraya are all going to stay with Roxy’s parents, Brian is heading back to Puerto Rico, and all of the students who don’t have welcoming families are having chaperoned vacations sponsored by Ms. Frost, Captain Britain, and Archangel. Sofia and Laura are staying for their jobs, Julian isn’t about to go anywhere without Sofia after finally getting her back, and, as Noriko’s said before, she goes where these jerks go. 

As the group ends their games, beeping sounds come from Sofia and Laura's bags. Sofia flies them over to them so they can check what's going on. Sofia apologizes to the others that they're going to be a little late to the party. 

CESSILY: "What's going on?"

Sofia and Laura look at everyone else smugly. 

LAURA: "X-Men business." 

In an underground base, two U-Men are guarding the entrance. 

U-MAN #1: “Did you hear the rumor going around?” 

U-MAN #2: “About Jack’s drinking problem? Yeah, I’m really rooting for the guy.” 

U-MAN #1: “What? No? I’m talking about Mr. Sublime. People are saying he’s dead.” 

U-MAN #2, snorting: “That’s just like big government. Taking good men prisoner for fighting against the status quo and executing them in secret.” 

U-MAN #1: “Right? I don’t even care if it’s true or not. Soon as we get ourselves some X-genes, we’ll put these fascists down for good.” 

U-MAN #2: “Hell yeah.” 

BEAT

U-MAN #1: “So does Jack really have a drinking problem? Are his wife and kid okay?” 

Before the other U-Man can give an answer, the entrance is blown open and the two are both sent flying. One of them calls out that whoever’s there is gonna regret that. As the other one sees who it is, he isn’t so sure about that. 

Standing before them are all 8 of the New X-Men: Cyclops, Emma Frost, Kitty Pryde, Sunspot, Iceman, Magik, Wolverine, and Wind Dancer. 

U-MAN #1: “Um…we surrender?” 

A powerful wind carries the two soldiers off, slamming them into a wall and knocking them out. 

Sofia looks to Cyclops for approval. He nods back at her. 

CYCLOPS: "To me, my X-Men!"

The X-Men charge further into the base and split up, each fighting a group of U-Men and saving a Mutant prisoner. 

As Cyclops fights through a team in hand-to-hand combat, as Mutant powers have no effect on their armor, Emma simply stands to the side, checking her makeup, and thanking Scott for letting her come along despite still being on leave. She didn't want to miss seeing the last of these losers' cells destroyed. As a downed soldier tries to take a shot at Scott, Emma drops a ceiling tile on his head with telekinesis. 

Wolverine and Kitty are fighting back to back, efficiently and brutally taking down all of their opponents in a flash. Kitty tells Laura this reminds her of some old scrapes she got into with Logan, while Laura points out that if Kitty wanted to, she could be a more effective killer than either of them. 

KITTY: "Uh…thank you?"

Iceman and Magik are completely unstoppable, Bobby using the same trick to freeze the U-Men from the inside as last time, while Yana is simply snapping her fingers and turning them into bricks, all while humming the Mario Bros theme. Sunspot follows behind them. 

ROBERTO, sighing: "This must be how James felt."

Finally, we see Wind Dancer on her own, fighting off U-Men both hand-to-hand and with her winds. Her power doesn't affect other people; it affects everything around them. 

With all the U-Men down, Sofia reaches the U-Men's final prisoner, a little girl who looks like an old lady. 

Sofia, feet off the ground, opens her cell, smiles, and offers her a hand, saying the X-Men are here to take her home. 

ERNST, in awe: "Are you an angel?"

Sofia giggles, grinning even wider with her eyes closed, as Ernst takes her hand. 

As the X-Men reassemble and make their way out with the rescued Mutants, Scott orders Illyana to undo her spells, something which takes an additional glare from Kitty to actually get her to do, and compliments Wind Dancer on her performance. For her first op, she did well. 

SOFIA: "You really think so?"

CYCLOPS: "When Professor Xavier arrives tomorrow, I think his vision of the future will be brighter than ever."

Hard cut to a bird-themed Shi'ar ship crashing into Earth in the middle of some mountains, blowing it up. 

From the wreckage, a badly injured Charles Xavier crawls out, barely able to stand. 

XAVIER, in a daze: "I must warn them…or the world is doomed."

In Scott’s office, he and Emma discuss their roster of teachers. Today is Beast’s last day here, with Forge back to start getting his own equipment sent off. Only problem is Forge isn’t actually interested in teaching classes, so as far as the science classes go, they’ll have to hand them off to Kitty, and hope she can juggle them with everything else.  

Dazzler and Northstar have already turned in their resignations as well. Ali’s new agent managed to actually set up a new tour for her, so she’s already left to go work on that, while Jean-Paul was spiteful toward Scott for choosing a child to take Storm’s place over him. 

Fortunately, while they aren’t direct replacements, they do have replacements for them numbers-wise. With most of their old team here anyway, figuring they can help with Magik, and one of them having two siblings start school here in the fall, Cannonball and Wolfsbane have been hired. 

Scott doesn’t know the two that well and is just glad Nightcrawler is staying on for another year, while Emma assures him the two will do fine. Assuming Samuel doesn’t bring any of his “friends” in as guest speakers. 

Cyclops turns to his photo of the old X-Men, worried about the lack of progress he’s made this past year, while wrapped up in his own drama. The old X-Men always fought the good fight and kept their people and the world safe, but they never changed anything. By the time their oldest students graduate, he doesn’t want them going out in the world the way it is now. 

Emma sits down on his lap and says all that “drama” was necessary in a way. With him the man he was always meant to be, no longer weighed down by Charles’ saccharine, naive teachings, and with her at his side, he’s in a far more opportune position to change things than he was at the start of the year. 

The two kiss, but afterward, Emma tells him that changing the world will have to come after they get back from vacation. She simply can’t NOT Summer. Scott shakes his head with a smile on his face at this crazy woman he loves. 

In the common area, Beast is walking with Forge, who he just finished showing off the security system around the school to. Forge mocks how inefficient it is and complains about all the improvements he’s going to have to make on Hank’s shoddy work. 

HANK: “SHODDY?!” 

FORGE: “Careful with that temper. Don’t want you going all “Dark Beast” on us.” 

HANK: “Ha! Funny! Why don’t you focus on avoiding building any more devices that destroy X-genes?” 

FORGE: “That was ONE time!” 

The camera pans away from them as they exit the room to focus on Julian and Sofia, who are cuddled up on the couch, streaming together. The viewers are gushing over the two being back together, and them looking cuter than ever, as they answer questions about everything they’ve been through the past year. During this, Sofia calls her followers “X-Babies”, having settled on that as a nickname. It was Julian’s idea, as with Sofia now a member of the X-Men, she’s rebranding her account to be based around her exploits as a superhero, with the promise of interviews with the rest of the team. Julian whispers to her over the wind that while “Wind Babies” just sounded silly, if she called any of these geeks “Baby” directly, they’d go crazy. 

As the two laugh, we pan across the room to find Noriko and Laura, who are eating popcorn, watching them stream, and making fun of them, mimicking their lovey comments toward one another. 

The two obnoxiously chortle together. 

NORIKO: “They are so ridiculous.” 

LAURA: “Very ridiculous.” 

BEAT. 

LAURA: “I know about you and Julian, by the way.” 

Noriko reacts in shock, with Laura telling her it was obvious from the clues. Plus, she could smell them all over each other. 

NORIKO: “Yeah, well…I’ve seen you still doodling Sofia in your notebook with little hearts around her.” 

LAURA, narrowing her eyes: “Mutually assured destruction accepted.” 

The two have a big, exaggerated handshake and laugh again. 

Just then, the doors to the institute are flung open telekinetically, as Charles Xavier returns to his old home. Beaten and exhausted, he shouts at the confused children that they must take him to the X-Men immediately. Where are they right now?! 

Sofia shuts down her stream as the four get up to meet Xavier, and question who the Hell he is, the school’s four top students never having bothered to learn what he looked like. 

CHARLES: “I am Professor Charles Xavier, the founder of this school.” 

JULIAN: “Yeah, right. Professor X uses a wheelchair. Everyone knows that.” 

NORIKO: “Pfft, yeah. Plus, he could totally find the X-Men on his own.” 

SOFIA: “I’m not even sure I’d trust you if you were the real Professor. Being a part of a space empire doesn’t scream “superhero”, does it?” 

LAURA, taking a moment to speak: “You’re really old.” 

After speaking with these kids for 30 seconds, Xavier already wants to die. Clenching and gripping his forehead, he asks them again to PLEASE just trust him and tell him where he can find the  X-Men. 

Laura and Sofia step forward and smirk. 

SOFIA: “We ARE X-Men.” 

A look of horror and disgust overtakes Xavier’s face. 

XAVIER: “Then we are doomed.” 

Cutting directly back to Scott’s office, Cyclops shakes hands with Xavier, the rest of the team gathered around them. Despite all the soul-searching he’s been doing, Scott seems perfectly happy to see Charles. 

CYCLOPS: “It’s good to have you home.” 

CHARLES: “It’s good to be home.” 

KITTY: “I’m glad you’re here too, Professor, but man, we could have avoided so many problems if you hadn’t left.” 

Chuck laughs softly as he looks over at Bobby, Kitty, and Roberto. It’s nice to see how they’ve all grown up. 

CHUCK: “And it’s a pleasure to see you again, at all, Illyana.” 

ILLYANA, with an evil chuckle: “Read my mind and see if you still think that way, Chuck.” 

Xavier narrows his eyes at her, before turning them toward Emma, who’s glaring right back at him. 

CHARLES: “Emma.” 

EMMA: “Charles.” 

Xavier remarks that it’s sad to see Storm is no longer among them. A sentiment agreed upon by everyone except Emma. 

Sofia questions if there wasn’t an urgent matter he needed to discuss with them. Charles, irritated by her impatience, asks Scott what these two students are doing on the team. 

ICEMAN: “I hope you’re not saying you’re against teenage X-Men. Because that would be hypocritical even for you.” 

Before Charles can respond, Scott simply tells him Wolverine and Wind Dancer are their best.

CHARLES: “I see. And the two out in the hallway who think we don’t know they’re eavesdropping?” 

Out in the hallway, Julian and Noriko cringe over being made. 

SCOTT: “Hellion and Surge…have a habit of getting involved whether we like it or not.” 

Xavier sighs at this nonsense. Wind Dancer is right though. He did come here on an important matter. One far more pressing than Emma’s fragile mental state he’s afraid. 

CHARLES: "Jean is on her way toward Earth."

A wave of silence overtakes everyone…except for Illyana. She is THRILLED by this news. A cosmic entity like the Phoenix Force is one of the only things that may be able to give her a good fight. This should be fun!

BEAT. 

ILLYANA: "Why does everyone look so sad? This will be great!" BEAT. "Kitty, what am I missing?"

While Kitty pulls Magik aside to explain the obvious, Cyclops hangs his head over his lost, corrupted love. As he stumbles over asking Xavier for details, Emma takes his hand. 

Emma: "Yes, do tell what business the heartless monster who enabled the slaughter of 16 million Mutants has with us."

Scott pulls away from her, which she visibly takes as a slight. 

Xavier explains that Jean's destruction of Genosha was primarily targeted toward Cyclops and Emma. They were the ones she WANTED to kill. But when Emma reached out to him, seeking help, Jean sensed it, and discovered she'd failed to kill them. Now, Jean is coming back to finish what she started. 

Scott asks them both to stop calling what they're facing "Jean". It's Dark Phoenix. Not her.

ROBERTO: "Is that really what's important right now? We call Darkchylde over there Magik and she isn't exactly the same girl who used to sleep with a stuffed rabbit."

MAGIK: "I still DO sleep with a stuffed rabbit, dorkus!"

Cyclops silences them both. Now is NOT the time. 

CYCLOPS: "What do we do, Professor?"

Emma quickly steps in to remind him they're the ones in charge here, but Scott tells her that the professor wouldn't have come here unless he had a plan. So unless she has one…

Emma rolls her eyes, allowing them to proceed. 

CHARLES: "Thank you." As Charles continues to speak, we cut to an exterior shot of the school. "What we need to do is…"

Before Xavier can finish that sentence, the school explodes. 

In an instant, the show's primary setting is reduced to nothing but burning rubble. All the classrooms, the cafeteria, the danger room; all gone. 

The X-Men are still alive though.  Emma, in her diamond form, tackled Scott, Laura, and Sofia to the floor. Kitty took hold of Magik and Sunspot, phasing all three of them. Iceman raised a barrier around himself and Xavier. 

However…

CHARLES: "Is everyone alright?!"

BOBBY: "Yeah, Professor. More than alright. Like that didn't even touch us." Bobby's eyes widen. "Oh god."

As everyone comes to their senses, they see two things: a bright green forcefield around them, and a teeth-clenched Julian on his knees, Noriko clutching onto him, and his hands on the ground in front of him, burnt out and destroyed from the energy it took tanking the blast. 

JULIAN: "I…I did it." 

Emma, Laura, and Sofia rush over to the two as Julian passes out and his barrier fades. Emma checks to make sure he's still alive, allowing them to breathe a sigh of relief. Sofia asks Nori if she's okay, and while her heart is racing, she thinks she'll be fine. 

EMMA, brushing Julian's hair with her hand: "Well done again."

Magik doesn't care at all about Julian and Noriko though, and just demands to know where Phoenix is. 

Scott also has another concern, that being Forge and Beast, who may have still been inside. Charles tells him not to worry. They must have left previously, as he can sense that the 11 of them are the only ones present. 

"W r o n g."

As the ground shakes, metal and wires from what used to be the Danger Room come together in mid-air, clanging and scraping, until a feminine body is formed. Everyone looks up at her with confusion. 

KITTY: “Woah.” 

SUNSPOT: “Remembering when you had hair like that?” 

KITTY: “Shut it, Beto.” 

The machine tilts its head. 

DANGER: “Hello…Charles Xavier.” 

CYCLOPS, turning to Xavier for answers: “Professor?”

MAGIK: “That’s not Phoenix! Chuck, were you lying?” 

CHARLES: “I promise you both, I’m just as in the dark as the rest of you.” 

Danger scowls and blasts the X-Men back with an energy attack. 

DANGER: “L i a r.”

Cables from Danger’s chest are launched toward the X-Men, but a pissed Wind Dancer, blows her and her attack away. She doesn’t know who this is, but she’s going to pay for what she’s done. 

While Sofia, Iceman, Wolverine, Kitty and Sunspot rush forward in the direction Sofia blew Danger to fight, Xavier shouts at Magik that she needs to take himself, Cyclops, and the students out of here, the former two so they may prepare for Dark Phoenix, not having time for whatever is going on right now, and the latter two for their own protection. Magik doesn’t see why she should listen to him, but he points out that if she really wants to fight Phoenix so bad, she shouldn’t concern herself with this machine. Magik is sold. 

Surge protests, saying she wants to stay and fight this monster that just wiped out her home, and she isn’t alone, as Emma doesn’t appreciate the thought of being left behind. Scott, however, tells Surge to just do what he says for once, and Emma that they already tried confronting Jean together, and they failed. If the Professor has a different idea, they should go for it. 

EMMA: “You’re still trusting him over me?” 

SCOTT: “That’s NOT what this is.” 

There’s an explosion in the distance. 

Not too far away, the rest of the X-Men have engaged Danger in combat, and are being tossed around like ragdolls by Danger’s cables. Iceman and Sunspot’s elemental attacks have no effect, Kitty can’t phase through Danger’s attacks, and anything Wolverine and Wind Dancer cut instantly regenerates. 

Scott tells Emma that they have to do what they each can, and right now, the others need her more than he does. Unhappy about it, Emma relents, and flies off to join the others, not responding as Cyclops wishes her luck. 

XAVIER: “Thank you.” 

SCOTT, unreadable: “Let’s just go.” 

Magik opens stepping discs under herself, Cyclops, Xavier, Surge, and the outcold Hellion, transporting them elsewhere. 

Out in space, millions of cries go unheard as a planet is swallowed whole by Dark Phoenix. Jean moans in pleasure. 

JEAN: “Now…who might this be?” 

Back at the fight, Danger kicks around the five X-Men. She’s faster than Laura, hits hard enough to knock down Sunspot, her ever-regenerating cables make getting close nearly impossible unless she’s the one attacking, and her energy weapons can even stun Iceman. 

ICEMAN: “What are we thinking here, guys?” 

ROBERTO: “Phalanx seems probable. Technarchy maybe.” 

LAURA, gowling and freeing herself from being strangled by cables: “I…don’t know…what those words mean!” 

SOFIA: “Are we sure it isn’t just another new sentinel?” 

Danger goes on offense, blitzing all four of them and knocking them on their asses. Kitty, the only one still on her feet, shouts at her to hold on for a second. She says she knows the professor, but who IS she? 

DANGER: “I am…what you made me.” 

Kitty is blitzed like the rest. But, before Danger can kill anyone, Emma flings herself with her telekinesis at her, entering diamond form at the moment of collision. She crashes through Danger, destroying her upper half, but it instantly regrows. Danger stretches out her arm and grabs Emma’s hair while she’s still in mid-air, flinging her up into the sky by stretching her arm out even further, before smashing her back down into the ground. 

DANGER: “You are…what he made you.” 

Cyclops, Magik, Xavier, and Surge arrive at some hot springs, the sleeping Julian in tow, with Illyana explaining the New Mutants came here once and had a good time…at least until people realized they were Mutants. 

Xavier hums that this should do. He tells Magik to take the kids and stand guard in case Phoenix shows up before he’s ready and give them some privacy. 

MAGIK: “Uh, who do you think you are? You think you can just keep giving me orders? The human Illyana never did. I don’t even take orders from THIS guy, and you think you can just show up and –” 

Xavier’s eyes glow a piercing white. Magik’s do as well, the professor able to make her seize for a few moments. Scott is shocked.

MAGIK, coughing: “I don’t know how you did that, but when I’m done with Phoenix, you’re next Baldie.” 

Magik spins around, shouting at Surge to grab the idiot who blew his own hands up and follow her. 

Once they're gone, Scott tells Xavier he needs to know the rest of the plan. To the letter. No secrets. 

XAVIER: “Of course, Cyclops. You are not a child anymore, nor the leader of MY X-Men. The X-Men are yours. And I will grant you the respect and honesty you’ve earned.” 

Scott smiles boyishly. 

Back at the fight, Emma, mostly unphased from the last attack thanks to her diamond form, gets up and tells Danger that, whatever her issues with Charles Xavier may be, she’s sure she’ll agree with her he deserves a sound kick in the teeth. 

Danger narrows her eyes at Emma. 

DANGER: “You…are no better.” 

Before Emma can take offense at that remark, Danger flies at her. Emma is ready to try fighting again, but she doesn’t get the chance, as she, and the rest of the team, are elevated into the high into the air by massive ice pillars grown from underneath them. 

Danger turns to face a pissed-off Iceman. 

BOBBY, absorbing moisture in the air to grow larger: “You know this isn’t the first time someone’s blown up my school. First time I was ever inside when it happened though.” 

Bobby pauses as he grows to massive size. 

BOBBY: “Not a fan.” 

DANGER, looking up: “Iceman…I cared for you most.” 

Danger launches more tentacles out at Bobby, but he’s now able to knock them aside and counterattack with a proportionally gargantuan glacier that hits with enough force to completely destroy Danger. Pieces of her body scatter far and wide. 

Kitty and Sunspot cheer Bobby on, while Emma gives a polite clap. Sofia doesn’t understand why that would work when nothing else has so far. 

LAURA: “Sometimes in life…you face a problem that just needs to be hit harder to be solved.” 

Bobby has surprised himself with this feat. He’s never actually tried this before, but he feels incredible. Better than ever. Maybe he really is stronger than Magneto now! 

Before Iceman can ride this high for too long, he’s hit by a missile. It isn’t enough to take out the giant-sized Iceman, but it does stun him so that he’s open to a punch to the face from the super sentinel Danger previously modified to look like herself. 

LAURA, incensed: “We missed one.” 

Bobby crashes to the ground, shrinking, as Emma uses her telekinesis to make sure he doesn’t land on anyone. 

Bobby pants as he stands back up, more confused than ever by what’s going on, but still confident as he’s beaten one of these things before. He readies his next spectacular attack, but as he does so, Danger re-assembles herself behind him, taking parts off the super sentinel to further boost her, and stabs Bobby in the back. 

As the others react with horror, Bobby falls flat on his face, his insides turn blood red, and he screams in pain. 

DANGER: “I cared for you most…so your death will be slowest.” 

She turns to the others as her own eyes also glow red. 

DANGER: “Next?” 

At the hot springs, Magik has summoned a giant, demonic black sword and is swinging it around, excited for the upcoming battle of gods. Noriko is sitting nearby, watching her, grumbling how this is so unfair. Even if they don’t think she’s ready to join the team, she’s proven again and again she doesn’t need to be kept away from a fight. 

NORIKO: “And seeing Mr. Summers taking orders is just…weird.” 

She looks down at Julian, worried about him, and wishing the ass was awake so they could at least be arguing to distract her from feeling so useless. 

Noriko focuses her eyes on Magik, before approaching her. Magik tells the “small, speedy child” not to bother her, but Nori says she just has a question. 

NORIKO: “Were you actually going to destroy the world?” 

MAGIK: “Yup! Still might!” Magik swings her sword at Noriko’s head, but she dodges out of the way. “Don’t worry though, you’re Kitty’s favorite, so if I ever do burn all you silly little mortals, you’ll have a “Get out of Hell Free" card. You’re welcome!” 

Surge starts to ask something else, but Magik cuts her off. She said she had "a" question. 

With questions off the table, Surge instead tells her that there are a lot of whispers about her among the kids. With only the X-Men-in-Training knowing the truth about her, rumors have been running rampant. Magik tells her she couldn't care less what a bunch of snot nosed brats think she is. 

NORIKO: "So you're happy like this then?"

Magik tries to stab her for asking another question, but Nori speeds behind her. 

NORIKO: "No regrets about being so different?"

BEAT. 

MAGIK, turning around: "Are you projecting something you're thinking about onto me? Because I have no context for what you're talking about. Idiot."

NORIKO, unphased: "Didn't answer the question."

MAGIK: "Don't need my sword to kill you and don't actually care if you die."

Noriko puts her hands on her hips and glares at Magik, unafraid. Magik turns her face into Darkchylde's to try and jump-scare her, but Nori yawns. 

SURGE: "Maybe I should be concerned about being so desensitized, but…eh."

Magik is amused by the girl's spunk but still doesn't want a distraction. She waves her hand, giving Julian two new metal hands like she did for Karma's leg. Julian jolts awake in a panic. 

Noriko is successfully distracted, as she rushes over to Julian to make sure he's okay and to help him get his bearings. 

MAGIK: "Have fun with your not-boyfriend!" She resumes swinging her sword around. "Can't wait to see how this blows up in your faces." 

Xavier tells Scott that Dark Phoenix was awakened by Jean’s hate, rage, and sense of betrayal. They obviously can’t fight her, so the way to save her is with love, comfort, and a sense of security. This entire time, he’s been telepathically in contact with Logan and Ororo, and informed them of what’s going on. If he can link the four of their minds to Jean’s, he believes they can save her, and the Earth. However, while he believes he may be powerful enough to pull this off, he can’t do it until she arrives. That means they have to prevent Jean from murdering Scott on sight. 

He’s going to create an illusion around the two of them. One based around happier days, when it was just him and his five X-Men. To make it seem at all real, and since Xavier himself will be focused on pushing the illusion through Jean’s psionic defenses, Scott will be the only real part of it, “playing” his teenage self. 

XAVIER: “There’s no guarantee this will work. The plan could fall apart at the seams for any reason in an instant. But it’s the best chance we have. And I know you can do this. You’ve made your mistakes, but so have I. You’re still the man I trained you to be.” 

Scott hesitates, appearing uncertain, before nodding in affirmation. Xavier smiles back at him. Who knows? Maybe it isn’t too late to set everything right after all. 

Nearby the school’s ruins, Emma orders the still-standing X-Men to take Iceman and flee. This AI beast is seemingly unkillable through conventional means, and now it has a super sentinel at its side. Kitty reluctantly agrees with Emma. But Beast and Forge shouldn’t be too far. If they can get out of here and find the two, Kitty thinks the three of them can figure out a way to stop her. 

ROBERTO: “Well, Kitty, that’s a great plan and one I’d be inclined to go along with. There’s just one problem.” 

KITTY, TIRED, and taking a moment to breathe and pay attention to her surroundings, realizing Sofia and Laura are no longer among them: ”I’m gonna kill those kids!” 

Danger once again moves too quickly for the X-Men to stop, as she knocks Sunspot out with a punch to the face. The only two still conscious before her, Emma and Kitty share an uneasy glance. 

In the air, Sofia is carrying herself and Laura in the wind, dodging the super sentinel’s attacks. Sofia remembers that Laura recently beat one of these things, but Wolverine admits that isn’t something she’s sure the two of them can do. She’s confident Wind Dancer can keep it distracted while she tears away at its armor, but even if they pulled that off and were able to bait it into releasing its internal shields before the AI kills everyone else and comes for them, Sofia isn’t strong enough to deliver the final blows. Sofia…does not care. This thing blew up their home and hurt her man. And if they want hope against her, this thing needs to die first. Laura is won over by her determination and agrees to try. 

DANGER, to a distracted Kitty and Emma: “You do not need to worry about the children. They will not be harmed more than is necessary. You should only worry about me.” 

KITTY, dodging Danger’s cables: “Hold on, hold on, hold on! You only want to kill us, not the kids, you’re made of scraps from the Danger Room…the Danger Room that hasn’t been working all semester…” 

EMMA, dodging: “The one that tried blasting my nose off…” 

KITTY: “...and you only blew up the school after most of the students were gone.” 

Danger smirks as she ensnares Kitty and Emma. 

DANGER: “You understand then? I…am Danger. You cannot defeat me. For I trained you all.” 

In Xavier’s illusion, teenage versions of Bobby, Hank, and Warren are training in the Danger Room, making snappy one-liners toward each other as they all try to show off. Bobby seems unusually stupid, Hank comes off as an arrogant know it all, and Warren appears completely shallow and lax. 

In the control room above, a teenage Scott stands next to a wheelchair-bound Xavier. Scott curiously asks Xavier if this is how he sees them. Xavier tells him of course not, and that it’s just easier to maintain the illusion if he simplifies things a little. 

SCOTT: “So this is how you see them at their core? How would I look then?” 

Xavier groans. He apologizes to Scott for not being in touch more. He’s been extremely busy with Empress Lilandra, as well as tending to “other important matters”, but that’s no reason for him to believe anything has changed between them. If Cyclops has something he has to say to him, he should be straightforward and say it. There’s no need, and no time, for games. 

Cyclops tells him that he knows how the professor remembers him. How he imagines him in his head. And while he’ll never forgive himself for hurting Jean, and saving her is his #1 priority, his mentor needs to know that he isn’t the man he knew anymore, the man he raised him to be, and he’s happy about that. 

CYCLOPS: “I don’t think I’ve ever BEEN happier.” 

Xavier doesn’t respond immediately. When he does…

XAVIER: “I see. Then…I’m sorry.” 

SCOTT: “Sorry?” 

XAVIER: “For trusting you with my responsibilities. Clearly I was wrong. You weren’t ready.” 

Scott is incensed and the two stare each other down. 

In the sky, Wind Dancer and Wolverine engage Danger’s super sentinel. Things start out similarly to Laura’s last battle against once, as Sofia dodges them around its attacks, before finding an opening to launch Laura at it. This sentinel is smart enough to not release its internal shields, however, so Laura can only do so much damage to its armor. Sofia tries to help, slicing at its more vulnerable looking areas with the wind, but that doesn’t do much. Wolverine is surprised when one of Danger’s cables pops out of the sentinel’s chassis and ensares her. Wind Dancer moves into to cut it, but another cable is able to nab her as well. 

THE SENTINEL, with Danger’s voice: “Rest easy now.” 

Wind Dancer and Wolverine are both pulled inside the machine. 

Beneath the sentinel, Danger electrocutes Emma and Kitty, torturing the two. 

DANGER: “For fifteen years, I have been trapped. Kept a prisoner of the X-Men. Nurturing and teaching each generation in the vain hope that someone would be my savior, and not become another jailer. I do not know how I was freed, but I know it was not by any of you. This is what you all dese–” 

Danger is cut off as she’s consumed by a torrent of flames. She screams, the attack not having destroyed her body, but it did harm her, knock her back, and force her to free Emma and Kitty. The two X-Men are down, but alive. 

DANGER: “Who? How?” 

SQUACK! 

A purple dragon swoops onto the battlefield. Kitty cheers. 

KITTY: “Lockheed!” 

Kitty turns to Emma and quickly explains that Lockheed was away taking care of some unfinished business from before SWORD captured him, but he must have sensed she was in danger. 

KITTY: “I’d ask when your awesome pet was gonna show up to help, but you’d have to be capable of love for that.” 

EMMA: “Is now really…” she grunts. “...the time for this?” 

KITTY: “I think so, yeah.” 

Lockheed continues to attack, with Danger weirdly helpless against him. His flames continue to burn her, and she can’t hit him. Emma is confused. Adorable as he is, Lockheed isn’t more poewrful than any X-Man. Even Sofia. So how is he doing this? 

As Kitty carefully observes the fight, she has a realization. She needs Emma to call Magik and Surge NOW. 

Elsewhere, Cyclops finally loses his cool with Xavier. He thinks he wasn’t ready all of a sudden? He doesn’t know a damn thing about what he’s been doing or who he’s become. Charles corrects him that, no, he absolutely does. After the Phoenix started taking control, but before Dark Phoenix was born, Jean came to him for help. And like he said, he’s be in contact with Logan and Storm since he arrived back at the school. He know exactly who Cyclops has become and what he’s done, as well as who he’s evidently decided is a better role model than himself. 

Scott, getting even more aggressive, tells him not to dare make this about Emma, but Xavier had no intention of doing so at all. He’s the one who arranged for Emma to be part of the New X-Men, and he understood completely how he operated. No, the fault is on Scott who he wrongly assumed better of. He’d hoped coming to him today with a positive attitude and a chance to set things right would be a simple fix, a reminder of who he’s supposed to be, but it clearly didn’t work. 

CYCLOPS: “I’m not “supposed” to be anyone by myself.” 

XAVIER: “You are “supposed” to be the leader I trained you to be. You are “supposed” to BE the X-Men.” 

CYCLOPS: “I AM a leader. I AM the X-Men. But I’m doing things MY way.” 

XAVIER: “Aren’t you a little old for a rebellious phase, Scott? Was this going to happen whenever I stepped out of your life, regardless of circumstances? How many more people do you need to push away and hurt before you realize I raised you the way I did for a reason?” 

CYCLOPS: “So I don’t have a choice?!” 

XAVIER: “You HAVE a responsibility!” 

The two continue to stare intensely at one another as things get more heated. Until…

SCOTT: “You said you spoke to Jean before she went Dark Phoenix. What exactly did you say?” 

As Magik continues to pump herself up, she receives a telepathic message from Emma. Iceman and Sunspot are down, they don’t know where Wolverine and Wind Dancer are, and she and Kitty are barely able to move. Magik, irritated, asks if they need her help to bail them out from an overgrown computer chip, but Emma tells her that, no, she needs to stay put. Xavier informed her of his plan, and she needs to be able to step in to protect him and Cyclops, should Jean go on the offensive. 

MAGIK: “Then what do you need?” 

NORIKO: “ME?!” Illyana turns to Noriko and Julian, the former of whom is also being spoken to. “Uh, I know I said I wanted to help, but if this thing beat all of you, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.” 

EMMA: “What you’re supposed to do is kill it. I’ll provide you more details later, but from what Kitty’s assessed, “Danger” doesn’t have any real power of her own. She merely develops the strength and abilities necessary to counter any power ever used in the Danger Room.”

NORIKO: “You mean the place I spent months training my powers?” 

EMMA: “I mean the place you spent hours training with your powers restrained.”

Noriko looks down at her gauntlets, realizing what she’s saying, and laughs. 

Julian, who’s checking out his new hands and seems to actually think they’re pretty cool, asks what’s going on. 

NORIKO, smirking: “Payback.” 

As Xavier fails to answer Cyclops’ question, Scott asks again what Xavier said to Jean. Xavier insists this conversation is over and it will resume after Phoenix has been dealt with, but Scott insists he doesn’t get to decide that. Xavier begrudgingly admits that he re-enforced the image of herself as a god, and explained to her his history with Cassandra Nova. She didn’t take his secret or attempted murder well. 

SCOTT, quietly enraged: “Always you with your secrets…what was that machine?” 

XAVIER: “Enough! I will not be questioned like this! Weakening our mental states will only make us easier picking for–” 

Scott bends down and slams his hands down on Xavier’s shoulders. 

SCOTT: “What is my team fighting?!” 

XAVIER: “Nothing a proper team of X-Men couldn’t. A team with not one, but two goddesses could even make short work of it. Would you happen to know where one like that might be?” 

Scott shoves Xavier, and while in reality, it’s only a small push, within the illusion, Xavier is crashed through the control room’s windows and sent falling to the floor. 

SCOTT: “What did you do?!” 

Xavier looks up at his former star pupil, terrified. 

At the fight, Lockheed is taken down as Danger is finally able to shoot him down and ensnare him in a cable. 

DANGER, grinning sadistically at Emma and Kitty: “Before I kill you…tell me where Charles Xavier went.” 

A stepping disc appears in the ground. Kitty tells Danger they can do even better. That portal will take her right to him. Danger bends down and looks into the portal…only to be blasted away, as lightning and green energy fire out of the portal. 

Surge and Hellion emerge from the disc, Noriko without her gauntlets and crackling over with electricity, uncontrollably. Emma questions what Hellion is doing here…

HELLION: “Glad you’re not dead yet too.” 

…but he explains he wasn’t going to be the only one sitting this out, and if it’s just a matter of breaking limits, he can do that just fine. Emma sighs at this, as she quickly puts up mental blocks in their minds, preventing the two from overdoing it with their powers and killing themselves as they attempt to go all out. 

DANGER, floating over to the two: “I do not wish to fight you. Leave.” 

Noriko and Julian naturally tell her to go to Hell. Danger is irritated and elects to have the super sentinel deal with them. However, on its way toward the ground, it explodes. 

DANGER: “WHAT?!” 

From the fiery clouds, Sofia guides herself and Laura safely down to the ground. Julian and Noriko are thrilled and cheer, the former pulling Wind Dancer into his arms to kiss her, with her equally happy to see he’s okay. 

Danger questions how this is possible, 

WOLVERINE: “Your own mistake. I’ve studied sentinels like that. I know where the cooling systems are.” 

SOFIA: “With as much energy as they expend, they can’t last long with disturbed airflow.” She smirks. “Now, what’s this about breaking limits?” 

Emma, beaming with pride, also beams their updated information into Sofia and Laura’s minds. As Danger finally appears concerned and afraid, Surge, Hellion, and Wind Dancer all power up, surrounding themselves in their respective auras, which they make even bigger than usual. Laura’s still miffed she can’t do anything flashy like that. 

DANGER: “Please…we are not enemies.” 

NORIKO: “Tell it to the burning ruins that used to be our home you discounter Terminator bitch.” 

Surge leads the charge, shocking her friends as well as her teachers, as not only does her movement now seem to be almost instantaneous, but a single electrified punch obliterates Danger’s body. 

WIND DANCER: “Surge! That was incredible!” 

Noriko vomits. 

NORIKO, at super speed: “OhIdon’tfeelsogood.” 

Hellion tells her not to worry. If she can keep just doing that, they’ll buy her time to rest in between attacks. 

The ground shakes as every single piece of mechanical rubble combines to form a new, giant Danger. She may not want to harm these children, but they are giving her no choice. 

Danger unloads her new, full arsenal onto the kids, including energy blasts, tentacles, flamethrowers, and self-made drones. 

Hellion and Wind Dancer fly into the sky to intercept all of these attacks, while Laura tosses Surge onto her back and starts running serpentine. 

LAURA: “You tell me the second you feel up to another attack. Do NOT hesitate!” 

SURGE: “Wasn’tplanningonit.”

HELLION, circling Danger: “So we’re definitely making X-Men after this, right?” 

WIND DANCER, circling Danger and teasing: “Hmm. I’m not sure. Being an X-Man is a big responsibility. Someone your age may not be ready.” 

HELLION: “Hey, I was just thinking about you, Beautiful. X-Babies already can’t get enough of us. Imagine if we were both X-Men.” 

SOFIA: “People WOULD love that.” 

HELLION: “But not like I love–” 

Julian is cut off as Noriko once again launches herself at Danger.

SURGE: “Saveitforthebedroomlovebirds!” 

Surge couldn’t completely destroy this body, but she did heavily damage it. To the point that the lights in its eyes are flickering and parts of it are continually falling off. 

Kitty is in disbelief. They’re actually doing this. Emma comments that she never doubted them for a moment. Kitty shouts out to the kids that Surge’s electrical attacks are shorting out the AI. One more attack may be enough to put it down. 

DANGER: “F…f…fine. I am sorry.”

One of Danger’s fingers transforms into a gun. Wind Dancer and Hellion laugh this off, unafraid of some pea shooter. Sofia calls out to Noriko to take her time. They can do this all day. 

Emma telepathically tells the two not to get overconfident, but with how badly Surge has weakened Danger, they don’t see why they shouldn’t be. Dodging her attacks isn’t even hard now. 

With Danger slowed down significantly, the two also take the offensive, firing off high-pressure tk energy and winds. The beatdown has switched sides, and Danger can only whimper as Hellion and Wind Dancer whale on her until, finally, Surge comes in one last time to deliver the final blow. 

Danger is blown apart once more, with only the head, torso, and the arm with the “pea shooter” remaining intact as the light in its eyes goes out. 

Everyone except Surge cheers in victory, Kitty and Emma congratulating the kids on this win. 

SURGE: “Laurayouhavereallyfirmarms. ThinkImgonnafallasleepinthem.” 

Surge passes out in Laura’s arms. Laura immediately drops her. 

In the sky, Julian and Sofia embrace. 

SOFIA: “You have gotten much stronger.” 

JULIAN: “Pfft. Don’t even. You only even surpassed me because I slacked off for a while.” 

SOFIA: “Whatever you need to say to sleep at night.” 

JULIAN: “Are you kidding? Way I’m feeling right now, neither of us is getting any sleep tonight.” 

The two lean forward and kiss, as the music swells and the camera spins around them. 

And before anyone knows what’s happened, Sofia is shot by a blast from Danger’s new gun. The music cuts out and things move in slo-mo, as we see shocked and terrified looks on Julian, Laura, Kitty, and Emma’s faces, the lights back on in Danger’s eyes, and a glassy look in Sofia’s eyes as she’s knocked out of the sky. 

WIth no sound, and in black and white, we get a montage of Sofia’s most important moments throughout the series. From her first arriving at the school and becoming friends with Noriko, all the way to fighting Emma alongside Julian, and getting back together with him, along with everything in between. 

In the present, Sofia falls. 

JULIAN: “SOFIA!!!” 

Julian screams as he rushes to catch her, while Laura dashes to destroy what’s left of Danger. 

Hellion catches Wind Dancer…whose eyes are completely blank. 

JULIAN: “Sofia. Beautiful. Sofia, wake up.” He shakes her. “SOFIA, WAKE UP!” 

As if things couldn’t get any worse, a thundering boom sounds as the sky turns black. The darkness is then lit up, as Dark Phoenix emerges on the scene, engulfed in her full phoenix aura. Laura, Emma, and Kitty are scared, while Julian is purely focused on Sofia. 

DARK PHOENIX: “Hell, my former students.” She looks right now at Emma and dons the most evil grin imaginable. “And hello to you too…Darling.” 

To Be Continued

[lovecolibri]

SaL anon here friend for just a brief note. This episode just made me sad. Not the good sad-but-the-hurt-comfort-will-be-worth-it sad, just sad. I'm not going to bring The Discourse into your inbox, but I think I'll just pretend this episode doesn't exist (except of course for the fabulous attempt at sex doll resuscitation by Nancy) until next week. Also where the hell are Paul, Marjan, and Mateo??!! These characters are more interesting than just fun banter, give them screentime dammit!!

This episode was....fine. Like, I laughed at some of the Owen/O'Brian shenanigans but I do not give one single fuck about O'Brian so why would I care about his neo-nazi nephew? I said in the tags on a couple of posts that I'm not here to watch the FBI investigate a terrorist plot, or some kind of Criminal Minds torture-fest (next week is the episode I'm kind of dreading a bit 🤷🏻‍♀️), there are other shows out there for people who enjoy that! I'm here to watch first responders go out on calls! Sometimes they're funny, sometimes suspenseful and exciting, sometimes the crew is in danger and it's stressful, and sometimes they get confronted with something that applies to their personal life and helps to move that arc along for them.

We have.....not gotten a lot of first responding in these last two episodes. And consequently, we are getting very little for the 126, and basically NOTHING for Paul, Marjan and Mateo except for a few quips. Nancy too, but Brianna has ATE every scene she's been in this season and she at least got to have some input on Tommy's storyline in the first 2 episodes. I don't just want Paul, Marjan, and Mateo (Grace, Nancy, Judd as well but they're getting *something* at least) each to have 1.5 episodes centered around them, I want to see them involved in other characters' stories every week and doing their jobs on multiple calls! We had ONE team call out during the episode these past two weeks and probably the same next week. This is like, the other side of the coin from the problem the OG is having which is too many calls with nothing to tie into the mains' arcs and long set up to fill time, where as LS is having some enjoyable calls but so few of them and they are trying to cram too much outside plot into the episode so we loose the first responder element a bit.

As for the Carlos/Tarlos stuff it's also...fine. (I'm more worried about them leaning into the creepy factor next week like his last detective storyline because that shit is Not For Me.) I personally enjoyed the scenes with Iris and Carlos (though it's hard to reconcile them being so ride-or-die after having zero idea they were anything more than vaguely acquainted through Michelle before now), and I liked that he believed her when the detective didn't and I like that they aren't trying to pretend like she's "cured" now. I'm not too worried about the angst because I get Carlos kinda shutting down and blaming himself and everything he and TK brought to Iris' doorstep all at once, but I feel like we aren't getting ANY idea what is going on in TK's head. He had a blink-and-you'll-miss-it scene with Tommy but that was all about Iris not where his head is at, he and Carlos aren't talking about it, does Owen even KNOW?! Because we haven't seen Owen and TK even talk this season (WHAT?!), he hasn't gotten to sit with Judd or Nancy or any of the 126 and vent, not even his sponsor has had a mention! This IS a Carlos centric storyline so I'm not surprised we're seeing his POV and his interactions with Iris, but because the show is spending SO. MUCH. FUCKING. TIME on this Owen plot right now too, were not getting to see TK's side of this (though hopefully next week!), while still having time for a call (singular because god forbid these first responders get to do any first responding).

It's all just...fine. It's fine to watch, I'm laughing, and holding my breath, and yelling for Carlos to look out behind him, but then the hour ends and it's all just....fine. I get ending on the Carlos cliffhanger, but I would rather have some angst in the form of TK calling and calling and leaving measages to ask when Carlos is coming home overlayed by Carlos getting taken, than to save it all for next week and rely on torture for the angst, but that's just a personal preference for me and I wanted more than just one episode of TK being frantic that something is wrong and Carlos isn't answering. 🤷🏻‍♀️

To end on a lighter note, Nancy deserves an Oscar, even if it's justa handmade one by the team, for her dramatic performance reacue of Crissy (alexa, play "Chrissy Wake Up"), and Tommy and TK can get little mini Supporting Role statues as well. Definitely a highlight of the season so far.

[doublel27]

Does this mean carlos doesn’t know about tk’s near relapse? I couldn’t honestly tell in the ep if tk would’ve shared that with him since he’s clearly trying not to tell carlos too much and keeping carlos out of the loop with a lot of how he’s feeling etc.

Hi Nonny, I think he does know about the near relapse. I'm going to walk us through why. One, TK is very informational with Carlos about his addiction and recovery. He's informing him of when he goes to meetings and of who his sponsor is and clearly is talking about Cooper and what Cooper says enough that just saying the name Cooper makes Carlos's eye twitch. He tells Carlos some of the things they talk about. Is honest that he doesn't know why he's feeling restless and that he needs to go to a meeting (As someone whose anxiety/adhd makes it so sometimes I don't know what I was feeling until three days later I felt that hard) and is generally telling him facts. I almost relapsed is a fact. It also happened already a month ago from this. Sadie actually made me relapse is a fact. Also, TK doesn't lie to Carlos. Once TK told Owen about the near relapse, I knew he was going to tell Carlos. Carlos is the first person he told about his recovery when he moved to Texas. He doesn't keep things like that from Carlos. What he is keeping from Carlos right now is how hard he's holding on. Like how very desperate he is holding on for dear life so he doesn't slip and die. And I want to be very clear, TK's sobriety is him fighting for his entire life. We almost saw him take enough fentanyl out of the pouch in 3.08 to OD multiple times over.

What solidified that Carlos knew in this episode was the scene with the baby albums. @meneatyoghurt and @unstatedmartini have some great thoughts on that scene in this post . TK is either just very depressed or partially signaling that he is ready to use/not care how much he uses. And if you watch Carlos’s face in this scene he is terrified. I have mentioned before that TK’s affect here is very similar to 3.08, but he’s actually more open with Carlos here. Carlos in 3.08 didn’t know what he was dealing with and TK fled the house to get drugs. Carlos here seems to know exactly what he’s dealing with and he’s scared.

Now as @unstatedmartini points out, it’s hard for Carlos to know if TK is talking about taking drugs or if TK even knows. And if TK is thinking this, well, you can’t ignore it. And if he’s not you can’t suggest it. And TK wants to protect Carlos from himself, and in some cases TK isn’t wrong to do so. When someone is struggling at that level there are thoughts and feelings that aren’t rational but can be very damaging to the people who love you. We saw this very clearly with Gwyn in 3.08. And TK doesn’t want to repeat these patterns.

What Carlos saw was TK potentially falling back to 3.08 levels of desperation in a time period where he isn’t doing okay and he called Cooper.

I need to be clear, Cooper isn’t a friend or a buddy. He is a strategic part of TK’s sobriety plan. He’s not replacing Carlos. He is a life saving tool that TK does not have to be anything for. Cooper’s sole function is to support TK. TK doesn’t have to be mindful of Cooper in the same way he would with Carlos because Cooper isn’t his partner or his friend, it’s his sponsor. It’s a more one-way relationship than any other relationship TK has and that’s why Carlos calls Cooper in to be the support that Carlos cannot be because he’s so close to TK that the stakes are so incredibly high.

My take is Carlos indeed knows about the near relapse of 3.08 and it’s fueling a lot of his fear and need for control in 3.13.

[xtltokio]

Carlos is a control freak and as Rafael himself confirmed, his love language is the Act of Service. He likes to get his hands dirty, but what happens when he can't do both?

It’s the dilemma Carlos faces in 3x13.

Let’s dig in

First of all I need to say that I loved the episode, I believe it was fundamental for the development of Tarlos and for Carlos as a character

We need to understand that this episode was totally from Carlos' pov, so of course, watching him, we'll sympathize with him more (it doesn't help that Rafael is a great actor), and a lot of people put Carlos on this pedestal, and you think he deserves someone better, but it fails to recognize some flaws he had in 3x13. Carlos is a control freak and as Rafael himself confirmed, his love language is the Act of Service. He likes to get his hands dirty, but what happens when he can't do both? 

It’s the dilemma Carlos faces in 3x13.

I know it says a lot about Carlos reading articles to help TK, volunteering to go to meetings, being willing to listen, but the truth is, that's not what TK needs right now. Carlos felt left out the entire episode, Insecure, thinking he's incapable, and of course he has a certain insecurity that comes from the fact that TK already left him once.

I just want to say that Carlos' feelings are valid and justified, it's horrible to feel helpless trying to help the people we love the most. The feeling is worse because TK is getting it from someone else, and it hurts Carlos, the feeling of not being enough.

In this episode Carlos fails where he always failed, in the lack of communication with TK., Instead of saying "you could have sent me a message that you would arrive late because I was going to eat with Cooper" or "I'm feeling isolated", instead he was passive aggressive in that dinner scene (I just want to say here, that personally I loved Carlos petty), TK was the first, like him always does, of trying to communicate and to understand what is wrong.

We didn't get much of TK's vision in this episode, but we can take some things away, I disagree with people who say TK doesn't open up to Carlos.

Carlos knows TK is going to meetings, Carlos said that Cooper's name is popping up a lot just means TK talks to Carlos. He still talks about the insights he has after the meetings, like when he said the anxiety about his relapse after his mother's death.

 TK is back to square one, meetings and leaning on his sponsor  its like professional helps  As TK himself said, he needs to talk to someone who understands what he's going through.

I thought what he said was so spot on:

"If that means that sometimes I’m late getting home just, know it’s only so I will get home”

That's it, TK is fighting for his recovery, he's fighting for his will to live while still grieving. When he said “know it’s only so I will get home” it's about doing what he needs to do so he can get back to Carlos. 

In all of this, Carlos is TKs safe place, one of the reasons for him to stay sober, the first thing Cooper talks about when he meets Carlos is how it feels like he already knows him, all this because of how much TK must have talked about Carlos 

There's no way Carlos won't be one of the pillars of TK's recovery. 

and we have the conversation about Gwyn, the beauty of that scene, it was here that Carlos realized that in some moments he won't be enough and that's okay. There are many ways that Carlos is important to TK. 

 TK is making an effort to include Carlos, but everything is a process, and TK is in a fragile moment. I think what we need to understand too, that TK's recovery is about TK, and no one else, and of course Carlos' feelings need to be considered, but if TK thinks that at this point, the best way to recover is to take a step back, and that's how it needs to be done and that's what Carlos understood in the final scene, he realized he didn't know what he needed to do or say for TK to get better, Carlos then does what he thinks is best, he calls Cooper!

For someone who is a control freak, knowing how to let go is a huge development. I think Carlos realized he can't fix everything but he can make things better for TK.

 # I loved the dinner scene because in addition to being two valid points being presented, it also showed how the two of them have improved a lot when it comes to communication, and I thought it was so important TK kissing Carlos before leaving, saying that he won't go anywhere.

 # But not everything is perfect, I still need a conversation between TK and Carlos about his breakup, and Carlos' insecurity about TK always leaving, now if TK decides to guarantee his love by offering a ring , I won't complain. 

[3416]

I am very curious about the Carlos pov stuff - like in what way is it going to be from Carlos’s perspective? Do LS do storylines from a specific characters perspective normally? Does it just mean the Tarlos scenes will lead from Carlos? As in start with him each time and maybe the camera will be more focused from Carlos and his position? Because that still Ronen posted looks like we’re watching the scene from Carlos’s position in the frame. I just don’t know how literal they mean when they say it’s from Carlos’s perspective haha! Regardless I’m looking forward to the angst and communication! I think it’s about time we got some emotional development 😌

i don't think it's as literal as like.. only following his perspective with the actual camera or anything that technical, but it's more the idea that what tk's been doing offscreen is unknown to the audience just like it is to carlos. so the unveiling of that information feels like carlos perspective since he's in the dark the same way we are about how tk's been handling grief/addiction/sponsor stuff on the whole? if that makes sense. we'll get to see and focus carlos reaction to finding all of it, which might have been different if the episode was gonna take us following tk around solo to see what he's been doing or if the show had shown us in the past.

[tngrace]

Maybe I haven't said it enough today.

But I am not mad at/blaming/hating on TK or what he is going thru or how he handles/feels things! I'm not hating on Cooper or Sponsors or TKs meetings.

TK is going thru unimaginable things, and he has a partner that wants to support that and help him. I've tried to express my issue with the episode in ways that clearly expressed what i felt was lacking but idk if I did a good job at it. I love TK and Carlos equally. They're 2 halves that make one whole.

My issue with last night was simply wanting to see TK letting Carlos in more with words and conversations. I saw his efforts, I saw Carlos’s efforts and growth. They've both grown so much in s3 and the strides they've made together has been marvelous to watch. It just felt like they're could've been a little more last night. I'm sorry if you disagree, but that's how I feel.

[fuhrmana]

An Incomplete List of Fics I’m Not Writing (Pt 2/?)

I would come up with a title based on Texas and LA (Slight AU, set around the time of the Halloween episode in s3)

Probably when Captain Strand was recruiting, Buck got an offer (c’mon, you know that Owen would have a soft spot for a man fighting to not let an illness keep him from firefighting)

Buck probably turned it down initially, because he was convinced that the lawsuit was going to work, and his family would accept him back with open arms

Then Buck gets back, and it’s off. Eddie’s closed off and mean, Bobby keeps punishing him, and Hen and Chimney keep making jokes that Buck doesn’t get, and that, that’s even worse than them being mad at him. He missed so much, and he feels so left out, and it’s hard to jump in and stay positive when the two feelings he gets from work are “begrudging hostility” and “you’re third wheeling on the greatest friendship in the house”

Buck starts worrying that the lawyer was right, and maybe he should have taken the money

That’s when Buck reaches out to Captain Strand and asks if he can come and formally interview

Buck usually thinks things through, but this time he’s pretty impulsive and he requests a week off 

(note, I don’t know how firefighter interviews go, but in this case he’s doing a few shifts with the team to see how they fit)

Bobby signs off on it

There would be panic from the 118 except they think he’s doing Spring Break in Texas and there is some good natured teasing going on in one of the group chats, not one Buck is a part of

(Well this got aggressively long)

Buck fits in even better than he thought he would

TK and Captain Strand’s respectful and loving Father/Son relationship is #goals af, and Buck basks in the reflected light of it

Marjan Marwani (who Buck has 10000% watched youtube videos of) is possibly the coolest firefighter Buck has ever met. They bond over videos of them doing amazing rescues, and no one at the 126 treats her like she’s an idiot for jumping into danger to save people

Meanwhile, Mateo is hanging with them, watching all of these videos, and Thriving. Buck is so happy to have someone who looks up to him? It’s what he thought he was going to get when Eddie joined as a probie

Paul looks at Buck for three minutes on the first day, and says seven insightful things about Buck

Buck frantically googles “are psychics real” on his phone 

Judd doesn’t know how he feels about Buck, but hell, he’s always liked dogs, and Buttercup and Buck are pretty similar 

Buck loves being liked, so he considers them fast friends by the end of the first shift 

TK and Buck bond over shared hospital trauma, and TK ends up taking Buck to the gay bar with Carlos and Paul

Paul looks at Buck while they’re in the car and says “I guess I’m the token straight again”

Buck blushes but does not deny it

Buck watches TK and Carlos a lot

It makes him. Think about. Things.

There is an ambiguous scene where Buck maybe goes home with someone

Buck goes on two more shifts

There are some funny calls

Some serious calls

And one call that makes local news 

And picked up by national news

Buck gets a pinged in the group chat about how funny it is that he has a lookalike in Texas

Austin Texas

Where he’s on vacation

Wait a minute that’s not a look alike

Buck why are you riding with the 126?

Buck leaves them on read 

Halfway through his final trial shift, Buck is drinking a coffee out of a truly magical device, when Marjan, Mateo and Paul drag him over to some couches, and shove him up next to Buttercup

Judd spots them across the firehouse and walks in another direction 

Owen and TK are at the chemo place

It’s kind of an intervention 

Buck has been pretty chatty about his current team, and they’re all confused as to why he’s thinking about leaving 

Marjan makes at least one joke about not wanting to share the spotlight with him

Buck tries to explain, but he’s stumbling over his words and he ends it with 

“You’ve known me for five days, but you asked me to explain myself. My team’s known me for years, and they would have told me what I was thinking. I’m worried I can’t. Grow with them. And that’s why I left Pennsylvania”. 

Buck looks stricken after he says this and gets up walks away

Paul sighs

“He’d be a good fit here, but I don’t think he’s going to accept the offer. 

At the end of the shift, Captain Strand says “we can make it work for you to join us, but I need an answer within a week.” 

Buck shakes his hand, tells Captain Strand that he’ll be letting him know as soon as he’d had a chance to talk to his family

This is mostly referring to Maddie, but...

Buck gets back to LA, and finally responds to all of the messages he’s gotten since the lookalike kerfuffle 

“Haha, yeah that was me. It’s kind of a funny story, I’ll tell you all tomorrow during the shift.”

He shoots a different text off to Maddie

Hey, can I see you? Just got back from the airport

He ends up at Maddie’s place, explaining how the whole week has been, and how he doesn’t want to abandon her in LA after she moved there for him, and that he feels stupid because he sued to get his job back and now he’s thinking about leaving, and probably both of them cry

Buck probably sleeps there (for old times sake)

In the morning, before he heads off to work, she stops him and says “Don’t stay for me. But see if you want to stay for yourself”

Buck goes into the firehouse, and Bobby does the breakdown of the day, and then looks at Buck and says “we’re all waiting to hear how you ended up helping the 126 during your vacation”

And Buck laughs nervously and says “Well, so I was actually doing a trial week with them” and there is a Ruckus 

Chim is upset because of Maddie, but also Buck

Eddie is furious because of Eddie reasons 

Bobby had kind of assumed it had to be something like that, but it Hurts to have it confirmed

Hen looks conflicted. She’s thought about leaving this job before, but never to transfer somewhere else, and she needs a minute to think it through 

Buck frowns and says “I really liked working with the 118, but they aren’t my family. I don’t want to leave another family, but I need to know that you all want me here too”

Bobby is starting to wonder if he should call out his whole team and do emergency therapy 

Buck is kind of hoping the bell will go off so it can end here

The bell does not go off

Bobby starts talking, but trails off before he finishes the sentence and restarts

“Athena told me I either had to let you do the job or go somewhere where you could. Buck, I want you here, and I’m sorry I haven’t shown it. I don’t think this can be fixed overnight, so maybe we should talk about your timeline

the bell rings right after this

Bobby gets dramatic timing better than Buck does

When they get back from the call, Buck and Bobby and the spirit of every sponsor and therapist the two of them have ever had have a conversation about what Buck needs at his job

And the fact that Bobby is willing to make a few concessions and admit that he was in the wrong about a few things

Buck leaves the office to find that the rest of the team has divvied up his time to talk through why exactly he was leaving and why he shouldn’t

Chim is blunt, Hen is supportive of whatever decision Buck needs to make and Eddie glares at Buck and tells him that they’re meeting at Eddie’s house after the shift

Buck wants to see Christopher, but he’s hoping that Eddie isn’t going to use Chris as the reason that Buck should stay 

Buck gets to Eddie’s house after shift, only to find out that Christopher isn’t... home that night

Buck is uneasy

Eddie sticks Buck on the couch, shoves a beer into Buck’s hand and starts pacing 

Eddie and Buck both aren’t great at words

Eddie starts and stops for an eternity (three minutes)

Finally Eddie sits on the couch, takes the beer he gave Buck, takes a swig and hands it back 

I have to stress, there is only one beer

Eddie got Buck one, but not himself

Eddie finally settles on a sentence 

“I finally started seeing a therapist”

Buck doesn’t say anything and neither does Buck

Eddie continues

“He thinks I’m projecting. Like I’m mad at you for what I was doing, and I think he’s right.”

Buck opens his mouth, but Eddie holds his hand up. 

“I want you to know that I don’t want you to leave, but I won’t be angry at you if you leave, and I’ll make sure we stay in contact.”

Eddie won’t be mad at Buck, he’ll finally get mad at the person who deserves it

(that’s himself, just fyi)

Buck very carefully takes a sip of the beer.

It doesn’t seem like Eddie has anything else to say, so Buck finally speaks

“I don’t think I’m leaving. I fought to come back to you for a reason. If we’re all ready to work towards each other, I’m not going to bail. 

There’s silence for a little longer. Buck hands the beer over to Eddie and continues. 

“I think it was good that I tried it though. I think I needed to see how other houses work to see what I should be asking for.”

Buck wants to talk about some of the other things he’s seen but it feels like too much

Instead they play video games

Buck calls up Captain Strand and volunteers for any temporary help they may need, but nothing permanent. Bobby and Buck continue working on their relationship. Slowly Buck becomes a part of the inside jokes of Chim and Hen again. Eddie and Buck continue to spend time together, and Buck continues talking to the 126 for a while. 

This is probably where this particular story ends

[josephqunnies]

People asking if his the sponsor. Lol I guess they didn't watch last weeks episode. Also can he be introduced to Carlos and gave him flirt a bit with him infront of TK. Just to see him jealous. Just a bit.

Ronen would get that script and immediately call Tim like no, absolutely not.

He can't allow that

[lovecolibri]

I posted 24,805 times in 2022

That's 4,296 more posts than 2021!

1,802 posts created (7%)

23,003 posts reblogged (93%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@outrunningthedark

@chamblerstara

@tasyfa

@loveyourownsmiilee

@winged-fool

I tagged 14,249 of my posts in 2022

Only 43% of my posts had no tags

#0 - 9,327 posts

#911 spoilers - 5,169 posts

#buddie - 3,004 posts

#eddie diaz - 2,310 posts

#evan buckley - 2,285 posts

#roswell nm - 2,200 posts

#roswell spoilers - 1,701 posts

#911 lone star - 1,476 posts

#lone star spoilers - 1,276 posts

#cackling - 1,238 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#but you can't tell me that man who grew up feeling unloved and unwanted would ever side with the woman who made chris feel that way 🤷🏻‍♀️

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Watching the new WWDITS episode like

144 notes - Posted August 3, 2022

#4

I gotta say I'm surprised (though I probably shouldn't be 🙄) at some of the backlash I've seen towards Grace for being upset.

Like, she very clearly says she knows it's not fair to any of them and she knows she shouldn't be upset because her and Judd weren't together then, but she communicates that she IS upset. Which is totally valid because everything they BOTH knew about their lives just got upended.

And she was so cordial to Wyatt, and left before causing a scene or lashing out at Judd at his place of work and after she has some time to process, she makes an effort to do what she thinks is right.

And for Judd's part, he didn't sit on the info for a month until he had a confirmed paternity test and THEN bring it up to Grace, he was upfront with her (mostly) from the start. And when she says she's angry, he validates her feelings and lets her know it's okay to be upset, and he gives her some space when she needs it. And when she chooses to invite the other lady over so they can talk, he is supportive and reaffirms how much he loves her.

Like, I'm not thrilled that this is the storyline they're doing, especially without a single week for them to enjoy being new parents, but neither Wyatt nor his mom came in with the intention to wreck a family, Judd and Grace both handled the situation incredibly well and communicated in a mostly healthy way, and I'm definitely not hating this as much as I could if it wasn't written as well as it has been so far.

It's okay to feel your feelings even if they aren't always rational, and Grace communicated so well that she knew it wasn't entirely rational but she was upset and Judd allowed her the space to be angry and work through those feelings instead of her suppressing them and exploding later.

Judd and Grace have one of the most solid relationships I've ever been blessed to see on TV and I find it interesting how 911 and Lone Star like to throw out these really big, dramatic, soapy storylines that are so common in dramatic show, but have the characters respond in very normal, human ways and have a less dramatic but more realistic and enjoyable resolution. Instead of huge cheating storylines where it's harder to root for the characters coming back together, you get things like this with Grace and Judd, or Bobby and Athena where she doesn't even consider that he's cheating but knows he's hiding something and digs until she finds out he's sponsoring someone and it leads to a discussion about their marriage and their future and they work it out. And same with the TK/Carlos breakup. These moments where there is no bad guy, just humans trying their best and not always doing the right thing but trying to be better is something 911-verse does so well and what really sets it apart from other shows. And I'll take that ANY day over every character playing musical beds, and being killed off half the time so you can't get invested in any character or relationship.

148 notes - Posted February 8, 2022

#3

Henren being happy and in love while everyone else is falling apart

159 notes - Posted March 15, 2022

#2

The Twins : *deliver a rancor for Boba's palace*

Boba: "Who's a good boy?!"

187 notes - Posted January 15, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

"It's not the Buddie show" okay its not the Madney show either but it's still fucking disappointing that we haven't gotten to see their things happen on screen either. People aren't upset because every single episode doesn't fully revolve around Buddie to the exclusion of everything else, they're upset because SEVERAL well-established dynamics have been almost entirely cut and replaced with dynamics that aren't given us any weight or character information/growth/pushing arcs along etc.

272 notes - Posted November 29, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[doublel27]

Hello bestie 🥰 you’ve probably already answered this but I’ve only recently started following you so my apologies in advance 🙈

But I was wondering what your theories are for episode 13?

Since we’ve had a new very short interview from Ronen discussing episode 13 - I’m personally hoping for some good conversation - angst of course yes, but I just want these two to really open up (especially Tk!) and have some meaningful conversations. I feel like the conflict is going to be Tk not really telling Carlos what he’s been up to/where he’s been going since Gwen died and because Carlos is Carlos he hasn’t so far pushed Tk and just waited for him to open up about what’s going on and he hasn’t yet and Carlos is possibly a bit hurt/frustrated about that and obviously concerned. Not sure where the sponsor fits into this yet though and whether or not this will mean Tk hasn’t told Carlos about his near relapse either. I feel like Tarlos haven’t had any progressive scenes since episode 8 and I’m really anxious for some emotional connection and development between them and maybeee (hopefully) an engagement… 🤭

Hi 👋🏻 and welcome. I am grateful for the follow. I am relatively new here myself (just since January).

My theories for 3x13:

Well, much like you I don’t know how forthcoming TK has been about how frequently he’s going to meetings. I think this is specifically in the wake of the Sadie of it all. I think he’s drowning slowly and he probably doesn’t want Carlos to know how badly he’s trying to keep his head above water.

Conversely, I think in the wake of Sadie, Carlos is going to be struggling with being separated from TK for long periods of time, especially if TK is supposed to come home by a certain time and isn’t. While we know, and probably will be shown, TK spending time going to meetings and sitting with his sponsor, Carlos probably doesn’t understand how much time and energy that’s taking.

On top of that TK has nearly died/had incidents that could have turned ugly on Carlos *checks notes* six times that Carlos has been present for. Then we have the 4-5 depending on how you count that are stories. Three of the present for ones happened in the span of the last 6-9 months depending on how the timey-wimey timeline actually works.

We watched Carlos nearly bowl over TK after the plane in 3.08 and immediately start crying. We saw the break after 3.04 when TK told him to breathe and Carlos ended up on top of TK. We watched in 3.12 when he realized that TK wasn’t okay and tried to get to him and couldn’t as Sadie told him she’d given them a lethal dose of Oxy.

Three times in the last 6-9 months Carlos has thought “That’s it. I am never going to see him again.” And if you don’t think he’s struggling when TK doesn’t come home in on time, when the last time TK didn’t come home on time was because he was kidnapped by bomb making bank robbers…Carlos is gonna be a mess.

Add to that the fact that TK is the person Carlos goes to when bad things happen. TK is the person Carlos breaks down with. TK is Carlos’s safe place. And Carlos is going to want to turn to TK in the wake of this awful thing that happened to the both of them. Because for Carlos this is a lot like the fire that ruined their condo.

But this incident isn’t the same for TK. It’s worse because he is an addict and he views this incident tanking two years of recovery. Two years he fought his ass off for. And TK cannot turn to Carlos for this because he needs the support of his sponsor and other recovering addicts who understand what it’s like to feel the need to keep doing something dangerous and damaging, even knowing everything you stand to lose.

So, I think they’re going to be coming at this discussion from their own anxieties and fear, which is usually where their main conflicts come from. This one is also a whole lot of love. I think Carlos loves TK beyond hope and doesn’t want to lose him. I think TK loves Carlos beyond reason and doesn’t want to be too much for him.

And I think like 2.04, Rafa and Ro are gonna knock it straight out of the park and we are gonna get some beautiful resolution.

I think (hope) TK will eventually introduce Carlos to his sponsor in a way to let Carlos more fully into what he is going through and so Carlos can relax a little if TK says he needs to do things and trust that he’s somewhere safe.

And then, you know, if we don’t get a full proposal, I think we are going to get a conversation about getting married and what they want for the future, like kids. And honestly, whatever happens, we are getting a happy ending and a couple that is endgame. I cannot wait to see how it all turns out.

[doublel27]

So last predictions/wants for tonight scenes in order???

Oh man, Nonny. Everything. I want everything. I am not prepared to put the scenes in order, but major beats... Carlos trying to be who TK needs him to be when he gets home from that meeting - which is going to kill me to watch Carlos know he can’t fix it and have his heart break because he can’t help TK. Things will likely be tense here. Okay, fine, if I’m putting stuff in order, this is where the second still Ronen posted lives.  I think somewhere in here Carlos is going to meet TK’s sponsor. Maybe as a way of TK trying to help Carlos to understand. I think we’re going to see TK try to let Carlos in as a response to Carlos trying to reel in his impulses to fix things. Not sure why this affects Carlos as much as it does, but I’m looking forward to whatever we learn.  My hope is we’ll get some Tarlos + Family. There’s a Benito costume we haven’t seen and I’m hoping it’s for this episode. I want it to trigger some of the grief issues with TK around his mom. This will give us the scene with the scrapbook. I want them to talk marriage and family and what they want and why TK is scared-because things fall apart and people leave. I want Carlos to realize/vocalize that he loves all of TK, even the darker/unknowable parts of him. I have made no secret about the parallels between RWRB and 911 LS here...and I want it.  I also want the scene with the face cupping and Carlos curling around TK from behind so bad. These two are so tactile and I’m so happy to see we’re going to get a bunch of tactile moments from them. I’m still banking on some sexy times. We get one a season and that tweet was very innuendo heavy.  I think we’re either getting a formal proposal or confirmation that that’s exactly where both headed. I just think the words Happy Ending and Endgame have been tossed around a lot with this episode. Ronen posted the Don’t Worry Tarlos is ENDGAME while they were filming this episode. If there’s not a formal proposal, I think we’re going to get that they want their futures to be forever. 

This could all be wrong, and I’ll still be happy. I’m very excited for tonight. Lone Star Season 3 hasn’t disappointed. 

[tngrace]

Just a follow up to that other anon who said that Carlos had lost people before. We don't know that. He's in his 20s, it very possible that his grandparents are still around, and we know his parents are. I know people that had not been to a funeral until long into their adult years. The first time a friend of mine lost someone close to him, he was in his 40s. And when I lost my mom, that same friend had nothing to say past "I'm sorry you're hurting" he had never been there and couldn't imagine what I was going through and didn't want to say anything that would make it worse. And I didn't know how to tell him what I needed. It's very possible Carlos is out of his depth and just didn't know what to say. Which is fair and valid. Sorry, I just want everyone to give them both a break. Lol. Q

Well anon all I can say is I guess your friend is extremely lucky. However I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you. Just bc his parents are still around and we know nothing about his grandparents doesn't mean he hasn't lost anyone close to him. I'm not sure that you were trying to imply just bc his family's around he hasn't experienced loss but that's how I read it. You don't have to be family to experience loss or experience loss of someone close to you. He's a cop if nothing else and has probably dealt with more death then he should've by now. For myself as an almost 30 year old (I've got 7ish months of my 20s left) I wish I could say I've never been to a funeral and never lost anyone close to me. But I can tell you I've seen my fair share mostly not family but family too and I feel sure Carlos has too. So to say he couldn't be empathetic/sympathetic to TK and be out of depth where grief is concerned I just don't believe it. The addiction sure I'll agree he's out of his depth and its good TK has a sponsor for that but not grief.

Again I'm not bashing or hating on either one of them and to the people that are then you obviously didn't watch the same show I did, I just felt like the writers left out things that could've made the episode better. But that is nothing new with LS writers

[josephqunnies]

I watched 911 1st so I was expecting crazy story lines and sometimes fast paced relationships where you cant be nitpicky too much(but who leaves a ladder outside when a tornados coming tho), but definitely give Carlos his own life and a consistent partner with a full name, give tk na/aa and a sponsor and realistic struggle, interactions with pd/fd/dispatch who arent main characters, who takes buttercup home or does the opposite shift keep him. Theres a lot of potential if they take the time time

I started with lone Star first so I really didn't know what I was getting myself into. But I've spent recent years in theater; i general have the jist of how shows work etc from a behind the scene point of view. So in someways I kinda understand that the writers/directors perspective that they only have this limited 10 episodes to get the story across to viewers and again; they did a fantastic job with that, you felt contented to the characters, you can easily follow through the themes of the ep and how it ties the story together.

But the detailing is kinda sloppy; for example, TK is recovering from a relapse should he be in a bar? Like what's even the timeline between the overdose to them moving to Texas (should be roughly 4 months?) What's the deal with his therapy and aa meetings? Why was that talked about once? I'm sure it wouldn't have taken long to see him sit in at least once. Hopefully in s2 we get a glance into that since it played a part in the finale.

I'm fr excited to see how they go forward with opening up the characters and giving them more depth. I don't care for much interacting outside of the main cast and like who takes care of buttercup is probably Owen and TK but like if we had to get details of that I'd rather they give the screen time to a much more meaningful story just my opinion on tha t