#i miss old degrassi

[boag]

This video is so sweet to me in such a bizarre way jejdjdoskfskkfsk

[good4hughes]

good4hughes’ navigation ☾ ⋆｡

JOSS MOODBOARD!!!!

JOSS! [good4hughes] twenty two. she/her. leo. ravenclaw. infp. 6w5. book worm. new jersey devils fan. written by tate mcrae, sabrina carpenter, olivia rodrigo & conan gray!!! fan of a bunch of silly hockey boys. loves sinjin drowning degrassi & south park. finds comfort in watching old disney and nick movies/ shows. probably aimlessly scrolling on pinterest. i have a hard time reading people, i need tone tags!!!

this is a safe place for me and anyone who interacts with me!! if you ever wanna talk pls message me or use my ask box!!

i do take requests for fanfics or anything you guys wanna see!

MASTERLISTS

i miss you im sorry

300 follower celly

YOU CAN USUALLY SEE ME RAMBLING ABOUT…

new jersey devils

luke hughes

adelaide and luke

dont be afraid to interact with me, i wanna create some friendships!!

[signetrings]

12, 19, 24 for the Monday meme!

munday meme / accepting!

12. Have you any old muses that you’d love to bring back?

i have a few ocs that i think about occasionally! i have my first ever oc ( renata ) on @/polyjuiceds adapted into the hp universe. she was originally a muse for percy jackson and i've played her for years as a fandomless oc after that. ( fun fact: ren's the reason my wife and i started talking in the first place☺️ ). and i do kinda miss writing jt yorke / frankie hollingsworth from degrassi.

19. Do you listen to music whilst writing? If so, what kind of music?

i answered this already, but the short answer is no as i get distracted sooo easily.

24. What about your muse are you most proud of?

i'm both insecure and proud of how soft the way i write draco can be. i'm obviously a very huge fan of draco pushing everyone away / being indifferent to everyone on the surface, but that boy grew up spoiled rotten with attention and love from his parents that it's a no-brainer that he secretly craves affection and attention and i love how i can explore that in all the dynamics i get to write with everyone!

[spinelli-gemelli]

A Degrassi Essay Series About Rick Murray

(Part 7)

In the last essay, I mentioned that it was difficult to have an unpopular opinion about the Rick debate. In this essay, I'm closing in on one specific question: how could one feel sorry for Rick, a woman beater? This question still boggles most Degrassi fans today. After all, it's a valid opinion to not feel sorry for the guy. Once you put all of his wrongs in writing, it proves even more difficult to empathize with him. Consider all of the following of which Rick is guilty:

Domestic violence: he attacked his girlfriend three separate times.

Aggravated assault: this resulted in landing Terri in a coma. If she had died, he would have been possibly charged with third degree murder.

Vandalism: he spray painted a giant "X" on Spinner's and Jay's car windows.

Possession of a deadly weapon: He brought a gun to school. This is exacerbated by the fact that Rick is also a sixteen-year-old adolescent/minor.

Attempted murder: he shot Jimmy Brooks in the back. If he had succeeded in killing him, he would have been charged with second degree murder. He later found Emma and aimed the gun at her face. If he hadn't been stopped by Sean, he would have killed her instantly.

It goes without saying: on paper, Rick is a classic, S-tier douchebag. Heck, one could probably expand on this list. And yet...some people feel for him? Why is that? Obviously there is contextual information missing from the list that would explain why Rick was driven to make many of the decisions he did. It's not like he woke up one day and decided that he wanted to kill everyone at Degrassi. In Rick's mind, he had tried everything: he tried to make amends with Terri's friends; when that didn't work, he tried to mind his own business; when that didn't work, he began to retaliate. When he finally got the chance to show the school how valuable he was, he was pranked on camera, and everyone that previously cheered him on began to laugh at him. In Rick's mind, the school betrayed him. Nothing else he did was going to work. The only way Rick was going to right the wrongs done to him, the only way he was going to earn respect, the only way he was going to fend off his bullies--in his mind--was if he used violence. Rick bringing a gun to school wasn't premeditated: it was his last resort. You see after his interaction with Paige that he goes from intending to shoot her to immediately concealing his weapon after he realizes that Paige wasn't there to give him a hard time. He reconsidered his choice after that single conversation. He put his backpack in his locker afterwards, a clear indicator that Rick didn't want to harm anyone if it wasn't necessary. Of course, after "overhearing" Spinner and Jay, he receded back into his violent ways for good. In the beginning, Rick was looking for a second chance. In the end, he wanted to avenge his suffering. Ephraim Ellis, the actor who played Rick, talks about the psychological whiplash that Rick undergoes in the span of a second: after he is doused in paint and feathers, Rick goes from the best day of his life to the worst instantaneously. After all of the hell he had been through, that was just a devastating blow for him.

Degrassi fans aren't shallow: crimes 3, 4, and 5 would be better understood if Rick also wasn't responsible for committing crimes 1 and 2. Rick's abusive past, and a recent past at that, is the point of contempt with some Degrassi fans when it comes to exploring the school shooting plot line. For one thing, high school shooters in real life typically didn't have records of domestic violence against women, though some definitely had some misogynistic overtones. For another, it makes it difficult to sympathize with the bullied victim when the victim himself has been cruel to his own girlfriend. Why couldn't the writers have chosen another character, one who was innocent beforehand, to explore the school shooting story line with? If Rick was innocent of any crimes before the extreme bullying, there would have been a chance to make him relatable to the audience and for more people to garner sympathy for him. This is the perspective that these fans are coming from, and I can understand and appreciate their reasoning.

I can also see why the producers decided to go with Rick's character, this former abuser, to tackle the gun violence topic. From a casting perspective, the Degrassi crew saw the actor playing Rick, Ephraim, as a talented young man, so they knew after his performance in season 3 that they wanted him to be back for Rick's tragic end in season 4, which is half of the reason why Terri's abusive boyfriend and the bullied school shooter are the same person. The writers have been wanting to do a school shooting episode since season 1, but they knew that they needed to "earn" that experience before they did so; they had to wait until the actors, who were all very young in season one, were old enough and experienced enough to pull off such a heavy and demanding role. Ephraim, playing a recurring guest role, exceeded the creators' expectations, so they decided to give him the most difficult part: he had to play the school shooter. Considering that fans still are appalled by Rick's character today, I'd say that Ellis successfully played the role.

I also understand this decision from a moral standpoint. I mentioned this in part 6 of this essay series: the writers were wanting to demonstrate the vicious cycle of violence and the ripple effect it can leave on a community for years after the fact. They wanted to show teens that solving violence with violence only creates more violence in the end. We see this when Rick almost kills Terri; when the students bully Rick relentlessly; and lastly when Rick brings a gun to school and essentially gets himself killed because of it. Nothing was solved in the end. Only pain, guilt, trauma, and devastation remained. The creators were implying a lesson to their teen audience: don't bully, even if the bullied deserves it. I think this is more powerful to teach kids than if the school shooter was just a cut-and-dry, loner nerd. I also think it was a more realistic way to introduce Rick's bullying problem, which was initiated by characters we care about who traditionally aren't bullies save for Spinner and Jay. You can understand why they did it. If the victim was innocent, it would be harder to understand the motivations of the bullies, and the story would be very black-and-white obvious. As I mentioned before, a lot of the main cast aren't written as bullies, so it would be strange to see these mostly good kids decide to torture one kid for no real reason. In this case, the kids had a legitimate reason to hate Rick, so the writers used that conflict to explore school shootings. Degrassi is about the nuance, and boy did Rick's arc have a bunch of that. You may not have liked him, and it's okay if you didn't sympathize with him; he wasn't designed for you to feel sorry for him. However: right is still right, and wrong is still wrong. It doesn't matter if Rick wronged Terri in the beginning, that he wasn't the "perfect" victim. He was still wronged by the school and his parents afterwards, and in the end, Rick committed the ultimate wrong. This whole tragedy is summed up in one sentence by Snake at the end of episode 4x08: "None of us took Rick's bullying seriously enough."

That still doesn't answer the main question. Sure the majority of fans have no empathy for Rick, but there are still a few who do. Why is that? How can that be possible? Considering that there is not much in the show's writing to suggest that Rick should be pitied, except when he was humiliated on stage, all of the credit goes to his actor, Ephraim Ellis. In order to make a character believable, whether they are playing a good or bad person, the actor himself has to find a way to relate to the character he is playing. Ephraim put in the hard work and had to internalize Rick's inner world so he could deliver an amazing performance. That is very difficult to do, especially when Rick becomes violent and sinister in the end. There is an interview Ellis did for Popgurls magazine twenty years ago that I recommend you take a look at. It may seem bizarre to reference such an out of date interview, but that era of Ephraim Ellis has fresh memories of playing Rick as he shot the episodes for Degrassi just months prior. You will get a better idea of what was going through his mind as he played Rick during the date of the publication, which was December 5th, 2004. In this interview, he discusses finding common ground between himself and Rick in order to connect to the character, and he says that they were both theater nerds and hopeless romantics, which is how I think Ellis was able to make Rick believable. He bridged the gap between his conscience and Rick's with what they shared, and then went from there. Consider the following which was said by Ellis:

"...when the character grew more in Season Four, when [the audience] learned there was a lot more to him than just this evil abusive person and that underneath he was just a kid with a problem who sincerely wanted to change – that’s when things got a lot more interesting for me as an actor. I had my run-ins with bullying throughout middle school and such, but it’s unthinkable what Rick had to go through, despite his past."

This was how the actor saw the character he was playing: "just a kid with a problem who sincerely wanted to change". This puts things into perspective. I get that this was in 2004, and Ellis is now twenty years older, but, as mentioned before, this is him talking just after he finished playing Rick. I remember reading this interview when I was younger and being impressed by how Ellis was able to sympathize with a villainous character, but then I reminded myself that he's an actor. It's his job to connect to the character he's playing; that's how you sell the part. That is what every actor is required to do: they have to make you believe that their character is real, and in order to do that, they have to be able to connect to certain parts of the role. Obviously he doesn't have to relate to everything that the character stands for, especially in Rick's case, but imagine if Ephraim looked down on his character and didn't take his psychosis seriously. It would show in his acting or lack thereof. Yet Ellis encapsulated the role of Rick. He was a natural at the part.

It makes sense from an acting standpoint to connect with Rick, but what about the average viewer? It is never confirmed in the show that Rick was "sincerely trying to change" apart from Rick's declaration. Did the viewers believe him? Is that why they were more apt to feel sorry for him when bullying didn't let up? That appears to be the correlation.

Since the first essay I published about Rick Murray, I have been using hashtags that I deem relevant to the series. One of them is #Degrassi confessions. In case you were wondering what that meant, here is my confession: I can't get through "Time Stands Still" part 2 because my head canon can't help but believe that Rick never fired his gun. Up until the moment he decided to shoot Jimmy, I was a believer in Rick's repentance. I didn't want my bias to shroud the integrity of this essay series because I wanted to give validation to all sides of the debate, but there was something about the way Ephraim played his character in season four, with a complete change in his demeanor, that I couldn't help but root for. There's something to be said about him not hitting any of his classmates back in "Mercy Street" (4x04) even though many of them had no problems with pushing, shoving, or punching him. Some argue that it was because he was more intimidated by guys than he was girls, but girls were also hitting him, yet he turned the other cheek constantly. If this kid has anger issues, poking the bear would bring them out, but Rick kept his head down and didn't retaliate during the ribbon campaign, keeping his temper in check. No, I don't think he is blameless: I've laid out my case in all of the preceding essays. Everyone is to blame for participating in the cycle of violence, including and especially Rick Murray. Yes, he was deeply flawed. He was terrible at reading the room; he underestimated the difficulty it would take to earn forgiveness; he couldn't take a hint that Emma wasn't into him; and he was wrong in assuming that it was okay to force a kiss on her. It also goes without saying that it was disturbing for Rick to decide that Emma was worth killing because she didn't reciprocate his feelings for her (though I've made the argument before that at this point in his arc, no one feels bad for Rick). Still, before the shooting, I genuinely believed that Rick was making an effort to be better, however poorly he went about demonstrating this. He still had a lot to learn, but he never once, since returning to Degrassi, said or believed that the students were overreacting to what he did to Terri last year. He never denied what he did. He knew he was in the wrong, which was why he was putting in the work to be right. Maybe a different school or juvenile hall would have been a better fit for this transformation, but I do believe that Rick was trying to be better. The fandom's perception of Rick's intentions has shifted throughout the years, but even so, I still find myself wishing that things turned out better for him. The whole story is just tragic all around because, despite what happened, there were many opportunities for this to have gone the other way. As I said before, this was the story the writers wanted to tell the audience. Rick wasn't meant to have a happy ending, but there were plenty of chances for him to get one. He sealed his fate the moment he thought it was justified to shoot his classmates. It's a tragedy that Rick had to lose his life, but he was a threat, and he needed to be stopped by any means necessary.

[boricuacherry-blog]

Absolutely no disrespect meant, I’m surprised this blog is still active. It’s such a time capsule of things that unfortunately aged poorly. I miss the hype around early 2010s Rihanna (she didn’t age poorly tho), and back in the day I loved seeing her and Drake interact, rock each others merch, collab, etc. I was also such a hoe for YMCMB, OVO, and OVOXO. I really loved Drake sm rewatching Degrassi I’m so disappointed in how things turned out (the Kendrick beef and everything that’s been exposed)

Lol this blog is only like a year old. I just like and blog old stuff/older news. I guess that's a compliment tho cause it feels nostalgic if you think I'm an old blog. I remember really enjoying watching her music videos back in 2010/11 very visually creative and just idk she was just a very visual artist. But that was the height of avante garde pop being ushered in, around the time Lady Gaga popped up in the industry. And I liked Degrassi too. Also that was around when Tumblr started so it's interesting to go dig back in old blogs and find stuff from that time.

[someotherdog]

for / @seolinah participants / mary esther & your choice of muse, as long as they're the type to work at a psychic shop! story / based off of here; our muses work at a psychic shop, where mary esther views it as just another con in her long list of cons, and she gives phony fortunes all the time (she's got a flair for the dramatic). your muse can be the one that actually believes in their gift or they can be another grifter, we don't have to stick to the plot wholesale! setting / the psychic shop where they work! let's call it... miss rudy abilene's house of fortunes.

mary esther propped her feet on the table where the employees of miss rudy abilene's did their tarot readings. of course, it was another slow day in the shop; only weirdos and desperate people came to see a psychic, and they usually didn't want mary esther to give dole out fortunes when they eventually realized she was just copying storylines on general hospital or old episodes of degrassi. the only reason she hadn't been fired was miss rudy abilene's refusal to cover shifts until mary esther's vacant position would be filled. that, and miss rudy abilene said she saw real potential in mary's lifeline when she read her palm during the initial job interview. "yeah, okay, maybe i shouldn't have told her that her daughter was going to meet a man in a yellow raincoat that would show her a world she had never dreamed of before. was i supposed to know she'd chase down any man she saw in a raincoat, not even ones that were yellow, and ask them if they'd be willing to take her daughter on a date?" mary scoffed, rolling her eyes. "my psychic told me it would happen clearly wasn't a good defense in the police's eyes. that's on her for being so dumb to believe me."

[degrassi-fandom-confessions]

I'm only just now getting around to binge-watching Next Generation, and I'm on season 9, and so far, I simply do not care about the newer group of students at Degrassi like Clare or Holly J or any of them. I miss the old crew like Jimmy, Ash, Craig, Paige, Sean, etc. I get that it's focused on the high school and the old characters had to graduate and everything, but I'm having a hard time adjusting to this new cast of characters. I'm not sure if I even want to keep watching at this point.

[zayadriancas]

Seeing these old screencaps from Degrassi is very trippy. How can pics of Zoe be 9 years old already? Jeez. Time flew!

I know right! It doesn’t feel like it was that long ago but even their graduation was 7 years ago now as well as the end of Degrassi :( it feels like it just happened. I miss them so much! Hence the post spam lol 😂

[spaceshipsandpurpledrank]

I think it is time for me to bring this discussion back up because it's very relevant.

Every major artist on Young Money Cash Money has been a predator or a victim or both.

Tyga: was allegedly having sex with a 14 year old Kylie (at kendalls sweet 16, which he performed at) while he was 22.

Drake: We've all seen his "at best" questionable behavior, but i also believe he is a victim grooming, specifically while on degrassi, a lot of his older interviews hint at this plus his obsession with older women in his earlier music.

Nicki: We've seen Miss Captain save a pedo in real time, but i have to believe this also comes from being groomed as well. Her staunch defense of the broken men in her life has to be because if she condemns them, she has to take a hard look at EVERY MAN who was ever in her life.

Wayne: There is a literal interview where birdman talks about locking wayne in a room with a prostitute when he was either 11 or 13 until he came out, "a man." Nuff said. And while he hasn't (in any instance I've heard of) perpetuated these behaviors himself, i have to believe his drug addiction is a side effect of the unresolved trauma.

[thebridgehqs]

Welcome to 1926 – Miles Hollingsworth!! I hope you feel right at home here in Sydney. Before you get too comfortable and see what all our city has to offer, be sure to review our CHECKLIST. We’re so glad to have you with us, Doe !!

We are in the middle of an event - Miles has been given air at beginner level.

** Blair Waldorf (Gossip Girl) is now reserved for 48 hours!!

Look who just woke up- is that FELIX MALLARD? No, I must have been mistaken, that’s MILES HOLLINGSWORTH III from DEGRASSI.  I heard they are TWENTY years old and stuck here just like everyone else. Even in the 20’s, he still gives off a CHARMING SMILE THAT CAN CHARM HIS WAY INTO ANYTHING, BABY BLUE EYES THAT HAVE A DEVLISH CHARM TO THEM, A BASKETBALL ALWAYS NESTLED UNDERNEATH HIS ARM, MESSY HAIR FROM SLEEPING LATE, RUNNING SHOES  BECAUSE HE ALWAYS MISSES THE BUSS, AND A SMART MOUTH THAT OFTEN GETS HIM IN TROUBLE. But here, they are working as a BUSS BOY at UNDISCLOSED. They’re known to be quite LOYAL & KIND but have a tendency to be CHOATIC & AGGRESSIVE on their bad days. (britt here, could i reserve Blair Waldorf (Gossip Girl)?.)

[mcdreary]

I miss old degrassi I just watched a season 8 episode that finishes with a character saying as the LAST LINE [to a cis girl]: “You ever have ball cancer? I did. So if I can get through all that, you can get through this.” A+ writing

[angie-baebii]

How many times have I watched Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2 in my life(way too much) and you’re telling me I never realized that Bianca from Degrassi was a dancer at Camp Star?? This movie has literally been out since I was nine years old and I’m now twenty-one and I have been watching Degrassi since I was a kid with my older siblings, I grew up with the era of Clare, Eli, Drew, Biance, and Adam how the heck did I miss her all these years??

[marvelslegacies]

Jarome | Fate and Felicity | Past Paragraph

And in other news, the local Walmart’s latest- Patrick, your genius is showing.. -All for nineteen ninety-nine!

“Wait, go back!” An 8-year-old Jarome whined, watching the television flicker off and be recolored with a new scene. He wanted to watch Spongebob, but Degrassi was on and that was Felicity’s favorite show. “Felicity! Go baaaack!” Jarome cried as pitifully as he could, hoping Mom or Dad would intervene and tell Felicity to change the channel back to Nickelodeon. “No, Jarome.” she hissed powerfully, still flipping channels, “The new season of Degrassi starts tonight and I am not missing it!”

Jarome crossed both his arms harshly across his chest, sunk into the couch and scowled until his cheeks ached. “I hate you.” he muttered through clenched teeth, a common utterance at this age, one that had become only more popular with the news that the Blakely family would have a new addition in 3 short months. Mom was pregnant. Jarome couldn’t imagine how much everyone would ignore him once their new baby brother or sister was born… he already came in second on everything with one sibling as it was.

“Mooom!” Felicity called out, her thumb still jamming over the button on the remote, “Jarome’s saying mean things to me again!” His face instantly changed at the fear of being scolded by his mother, but it soon turned back to bitterness when he hollered, “Felicity’s hogging the TV and being unfair!” To this Felicity responded, “I am not!” Mom, of course, sided with Felicity and told Jarome that once Degrassi was over Jarome could have the TV for the rest of the night. Jarome got up and sulked up to his bedroom to wait out the hour-long event.

In the kitchen, Jarome’s mother hummed an old song by Journey as she fried pancake batter in a buttered pan on the stove. She had just flipped a pancake over to reveal a fluffy, golden brown underbelly when the fire alarm chirped its shrill warning from out in the hallway. Mrs. Blakely sighed.

The noise could be heard from upstairs, but Jarome wasn’t worried by it. He was too irked at his dumb big sister to get himself worked up over the shrill chirping. He had enough life experience to understand that the fire alarm would go off rarely and of those rare occasions, there was almost never a fire. Folding his pillow over his head so it wrapped around like a taco shell, he held an opened palm over one side to keep the pillow in place. “Stupid sisters, stupid parents, stupid TV…” he grumbled absent-mindedly.

Placing a cool, wet cloth over the fire alarm in the hallway caused the chirping to cease. Mrs. Blakely smiled to herself and rubbed her budding belly gently. Holding the lower of her back, she eased herself down from a chair she’d borrowed from her own dining room and began to drag the antique piece back to its set in a room at the end of the hall. A shriek split through the air followed by a whoosh, now grayed out with thick smoke. Felicity stared into the blinding light of wild flames licking away at the kitchen cabinets.

“Felicity!” Mrs. Blakely demanded in a panicked tone as she found her daughter, standing opposite her at the other end of the hallway. Felicity stood facing the open doorway to the kitchen, being swallowed by thick, graying smoke, with her arms covering her face to guard against the heat. “Felicity! Get away from there!” Her mother cried, desperately striding up the hall to shield her child from the explosion that she knew was inevitable. The poor pregnant woman was a few feet away when the explosion thrust the little girl back into the living room, and she collided with her pregnant mother, knocking them both to the ground.

Hearing a ruckus that Jarome could not fathom, he roused himself out of bed and gingerly made his way to the bedroom door, still angry. He didn’t want to go back down stairs in his sour mood but found himself worrying too much not to go down stairs. So he unlocked his bedroom door and stepped out onto the indoor balcony, underfoot was the living room now clouded with smoke and blaring painfully with heat.

“Mom?! Felicity?!” Jarome cried out, racing awkwardly across the balcony to the staircase which wound down into the living room. Jarome was nearly blinded once he reached the foot of the stairs and began choking from the smoke. “Felicity?” he croaked, seeing a hunched over figure by the couch. He willed his feet to move forward, into the breathless hell. He could hear a commercial playing to his left and swiped about with his hand until he found the television. Dragging his fingers to the corner of the box, he shut it off and asked again, tears in his stinging eyes, “Felicity?”

Huddled over the limp body, a weeping woman cradled and caressed the lifeless figure, praying to a God who’d put her on hold. “Wake up, baby, wake up!” Mrs. Blakely’s voice shook violently but she never stopped spilling out words of desperate encouragement. Jarome got closer, and closer, but could not find the courage to speak… he reached out a silenced hand, pleading for his mother to turn her attention to him instead of…

Run, little brother. Jarome’s breath flooded from his mouth instantly at the sound, he had been raised up into the air and was spun around by an unseen force, he searched for the voice. It had come from behind and was unmistakably Felicity’s. The voice began to speak again but was drowned out by a coughing fit, Jarome’s eyes sunk into sorrow as he spun back around, suddenly feeling the warm floor beneath his feet. He’d made himself dizzy in the process, his lungs were shriveling up inside his chest. He looked at his mother’s face, she laid down next to her daughter, their soot-covered faces an inch from the ground as the pair wheezed and convulsed. “Mommy.” he cried, sputtering. Every time he sucked in a breath to cry for his family’s pain he choked harder on the black smoke.

Run, little brother! commanded the voice of Felicity, despite her body still lying limp. Jarome cried something incoherent and rushed, stumbling and clumsy, to the back door where the fire had not yet spread. He rammed his own body into the back door before stopping to grip the doorknob and twist. His face was pressed up against the glass, dusted over in smoke somehow and he saw the blurry reflection of his sister but dared not look behind him. He spun the knob as hard as he could and forced himself out of the house.Smoke leaked out in his wake, another explosion sent his small body flying across the backyard when Jarome first learned to throw a football. Blood was dripping down his upper lip from his left nostril and copper filled the space between his teeth. He saw Felicity once more, but faded away and pale like a ghostly spirit. You’re safe now, little brother. She, it, whatever it was… smiled and dissipated. Jarome only didn’t cry because he could not do so without bringing upon himself another coughing fit. Sirens. Important men announcing important things. He stumbled in a daze for a while, shuffling the long way around to the front of the house until his own eyes met with that of another man, a firefighter, here to help… he collapsed.

[spinelli-gemelli]

A Degrassi Essay About Rick Murray

(Part 2)

"We have to do something."

It's difficult to continue this story without discussing the one-and-only Emma Nelson's role in Rick's return. Most fans find her intervention in this plot line quite irritating, wondering what would motivate her to suddenly interact with the upperclassmen. If we refer back to episode 4x03, we would recall that her current classmates have unofficially stopped talking to her because of how she felt about her ex-boyfriend, Chris, showing interest in Liberty Van Zandt. Her lines in that episode have become infamous. "What are people gonna think of me if Chris goes out with Liberty next?" Manny Santos, Emma's BFF, who was first on board the "Emma and Chris reunite" train, was taken aback by Emma's...well, let's call it condescension. Anyway, word gets back to Liberty, and, to quote her words, Emma is "dead to [her]." Since Manny and JT are dating, and since Toby is friends with J.T. (though not for very long here: more on that later), that leaves Emma completely friendless in time for this season's festivities. I doubt that the boys of the friend group care about the ladies' petty squabbles about the Chris ordeal, but since J.T.'s girlfriend is friends with Liberty, and they all hang out, it would just be awkward for them to include Emma in any of their social engagements at this time.

Now that we've established her social status, let's get back to Emma's involvement in the return of Rick Murray. Miss Nelson quickly learns from Paige and Spinner about who he is and what he's done and ceases the perfect opportunity to flex her cause girl muscles. I'll give her credit where it's due: she's bold, driven, committed, and smart. She may have let the glow up get to her head, and so what if she thinks that she's better than Liberty. At least she didn't put a classmate in a coma! She actually is better than this guy. She takes it upon herself to do whatever it takes to get this abuser out of her school. Of course, it's wrong to hurt others, but if she were successful with this mission, she would win the approval of Paige and her clique. What could be cooler than that? Definitely not Liberty's hot tub!

Collaborating with Paige and Marco, Emma manages to organize a ribbon campaign at school that is against domestic violence on the surface, though truly, it is an anti-Rick campaign. Somehow harassing a student in school, regardless of what he did before, is not considered breaking the rules. "We wanna pressure Rick. Make his life hell," Emma would go on to explain to Sean Cameron after he asks about her true motives behind launching this crusade. Either Emma doesn't know what the word "pressure" means, or she didn't foresee how the students of Degrassi would interpret the word. The campaign combined with Paige's popularity status means that everyone knows Rick, hates him, and wants nothing to do with him. Now, because of Emma, Rick's identity is out, and the student body feels a sense of duty to make this guy suffer the consequences of his actions. It's not like the principal was going to do anything about it anyway (more on that later).

The fact that this happened is both good and bad. On one hand, Rick was reminded of the simple fact that his actions have consequences. Everywhere he went, he was greeted with hostility. Going back to my argument in part 1, here at Degrassi, he wouldn't be granted the luxury to slip back into his old, abusive behaviours. While I believe that Rick was sincerely repentant this time around, it wasn't enough for him to just want to "bury the hatchet" with Paige et al. He made a student suffer because of his unchecked rage and almost killed her. Wanting to change is a good starting point, but he had to prove to everyone that he was different from last year, and students had no reason to believe that he was. Degrassi's opposition to his presence was a reminder that what he did couldn't be swept under the rug and forgotten about. He didn't just hurt Terri; he wounded her community as well.

On the other hand, getting the entire student body involved was a bit extreme, as not everyone knew Terri or even cared about her. Students like Jay Hogart were simply tormenting Rick for their own amusement. Jay loved to wreak havoc, and Rick was an easy target. No one was going to go out of their way to defend the guy, so why not have some fun? Treating Rick poorly on school grounds is one thing, but to heckle him at the Dot? Sure, it's a popular hang out spot for Degrassians, but they don't own the establishment, and Rick should be free to dine wherever he wishes. It's not like he's causing any trouble by ordering a cup of coffee. After Rick got jumped by Jay behind the Dot, Emma realized that her crusade had gone too far, and stopped the students from attacking him before he became severely injured.

Emma's involvement in Rick's plot, though it initially seemed to come out of left field, was necessary in order for Rick to see the error of his ways and to know what it felt like to be physically assaulted. After considering the events that happened to Emma in "King of Pain", the episode that preceded "Mercy Street", it makes perfect sense that she would take up a new cause at Degrassi in an attempt to be accepted and appreciated by a new group of friends. When fans look back at Rick's story, they usually view these episodes in a vacuum, forgetting about the buildup that came before the episode of Rick's return, and as a result, they are confused and annoyed about Emma's seemingly sudden involvement.

While Emma might not have meant for her campaign to take such a violent turn, I think after episode 4x04, Rick understood that he had to work extra hard in order to earn the rapport and acceptance of his classmates. He is sadly mistaken, however, that they are interested in his change of heart to begin with. Ironically, at the end of this episode, both Rick and Emma are social outcasts: Rick for putting Terri in a coma, and Emma for publicly defending him. Both were seeking approval from their peers, and neither of them received it in the end. In a sense, they are both on the same side against the student body.

[alphabetatoes]

92 Questions

redoing this 6 years later!

THE LAST:

1. Drink: cran pineapple juice w/ mango pineapple vodka

2. Phone call: my mom

3. Text message: alexis

4. Song you listened to: iSpy by kyle and lil yachty

5. Time you cried: today

HAVE YOU:

6. Dated someone twice: no

7. Kissed someone and regretted it: no

8. Been cheated on: no

9. Lost someone special: yes

10. Been depressed: yes

11. Gotten drunk and thrown up: yessir

LIST 3 FAVORITE COLORS:

12-14: black, gray, pink

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU:

15. Made new friends: yes !!!

16. Fallen out of love: no

17. Laughed until you cried: yes !!!

18. Found out someone was talking about you: no

19. Met someone who changed you: yes

20. Found out who your friends are: i don't think so? at least not in a bad way

21. Kissed someone on your Facebook list: no

GENERAL:

22. How many of your Facebook friends do you know in real life: id say the majority of them

23. Do you have any pets: staley! (miss banana)

24. Do you want to change your name: sometimes

25. What did you do for your last Birthday: got ramen!

26. What time did you wake up: first around 8 then around 10

27. What were you doing at midnight last night: twas asleep

28. Name something you can’t wait for:  my birth-iversary next saturday lmao

29. When was the last time you saw your mom: when i got home from work tonight

30. What is one thing you wish you could change in your life: knowing its not selfish to humanize myself

31. What are you listening right now: the kids arent alright by fallout boy

32. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: probably

33. Something that is getting on your nerves: not feeling good enough/other peoples undeserved entitlement

34. Most visited Website: youtube

LOST QUESTIONS.

35. Mole/s: one on my lower back

36. Mark/s: birthmarks on my legs, liver spots scattered everywhere & a surgery scar above my belly button

37. Childhood dream: "to be a lady of luxury” - my actual 4 year old self .

38. Hair Colour: blue/black (starry night hair dye)

39. Long or short hair: medium

40. Do you have a crush on someone: yes

41. What do you like about yourself: my kindness

42. Piercings: ear lobes, double helix, nose

43. Blood type: A+ apparently????

44. Nickname: kate, bo peep (when i was like 5), kb, kathia

45. Relationship status: single

46. Zodiac: Aries

47. Pronouns: She/her

48. Favorite TV Show: degrassi, rpdr, abbott elementary, mythic quest

49. Tattoos:  got a hibiscus flower on my upper left arm friday 1/13/23

50. Right or left hand: Right

51. Surgery: had cataract surgery in october 2022

52. Hair dyed in different color: yessir! its blueish black

53. Sport: i like to believe im a badminton protégé

55. Vacation: i went to marquez for a weekend in september 2022 but thats it since then lmao

56. Pair of trainers: vans superiority!

MORE GENERAL:

57. Eating Currently: freebirds burrito bowl

58. Drinking currently: cran pineapple juice with mango pineapple vodka

59. I’m about to: change songs on spotify

61. Waiting for: next saturday (my birth-iversary)

62. Want: to get clarity as to why someone blocked me on instagram

63. Get married: who knows

64. Career: green engineering or additive manufacturing

WHICH IS BETTER

65. Hugs or kisses: kisses

66. Lips or eyes: lips

67. Shorter or taller: taller >:)

68. Older or younger: older

70. Nice arms or nice stomach: nice arms. all tummies are nice tummies

71. Sensitive or loud: sensitive. loud is too much for me

72. Hook up or relationship: hook up

73. Troublemaker or hesitant: troublemaker,, im impatient

HAVE YOU EVER:

74. Kissed a stranger: no

75. Drank hard liquor: yes

76. Lost glasses/contact lenses: yes

77. Turned someone down: no

78. Sex in the first date: not yet

79. Broken someone’s heart: not that i know of?

80. Had your heart broken: yes

81. Been arrested: no

82. Cried when someone died: absolutely

83. Fallen for a friend: accidentally lmao

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:

84. Yourself: im trying to

85. Miracles: i believe in karma

86. Love at first sight: maybe?

87. Santa Claus: no

88. Kiss in the first date: sure

89. Angels: again, maybe?

OTHER:

90. Current best friends’ names: alexis, dawn, yasmene, kassidy

91. Eyecolor: green and brown

92. Favorite movie: grease/hairspray/the internship/rv

92 Questions

doing this because im bored af// feel free to do this if you want to

THE LAST:

1. Drink: Chai Tea 2. Phone call: my mom 3. Text message: my mom 4. Song you listened to: Dust Bowl Dance by Mumford & Sons 5. Time you cried: today

HAVE YOU:

6. Dated someone twice: no 7. Kissed someone and regretted it: no 8. Been cheated on: no 9. Lost someone special: yes 10. Been depressed: yes 11. Gotten drunk and thrown up: no

LIST 3 FAVORITE COLORS:

12-14: black, gray. blue

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU:

15. Made new friends: yes 16. Fallen out of love: no 17. Laughed until you cried: YES 18. Found out someone was talking about you: depends on the context 19. Met someone who changed you: yes 20. Found out who your friends are: unfortunately 21. Kissed someone on your Facebook list: i don’t have a Facebook

GENERAL:

22. How many of your Facebook friends do you know in real life: i don’t have a Facebook 23. Do you have any pets: a miniature schnauzer 24. Do you want to change your name: sometimes 25. What did you do for your last Birthday: went out to eat sushi 26. What time did you wake up: 10:04 27. What were you doing at midnight last night: watching youtube videos 28. Name something you can’t wait for:  being happy with myself 29. When was the last time you saw your mom: a couple hours ago 30. What is one thing you wish you could change in your life: i want to be true to myself 31. What are you listening right now: After the Storm by Mumford & Sons 32. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: probably 33. Something that is getting on your nerves: things aren’t moving as fast as i want them to 34. Most visited Website: Youtube/Tumblr

LOST QUESTIONS.

35. Mole/s: none 36. Mark/s: birthmarks on my legs, liver spots scattered everywhere & a surgery scar above my belly button 37. Childhood dream: “to be a lady of luxury” - my actual 4 year old self 38. Hair Colour: dark brown 39. Long or short hair: medium 40. Do you have a crush on someone: yes 41. What do you like about yourself: my sense of humor 42. Piercings: ears, want to get a nose piercing 43. Blood type: O+ 44. Nickname: kate, bo peep (when i was like 5) 45. Relationship status: single 46. Zodiac: Aries 47. Pronouns: She/her 48. Favorite TV Show: Degrassi, Riverdale, Rick and Morty, Bob’s Burgers, The Walking Dead 49. Tattoos:  I want to get one once I turn 18 50. Right or left hand: Right 51. Surgery: several. and one coming up 52. Hair dyed in different color: its a few shades lighter than my normal hair color, but i want to dye it a dark blue or purple 53. Sport: i ?? dont ?? do sports ?? ( i was on the track team in 7th grade) 55. Vacation: my favorite vacation was Hawaii, id like to go to Greece on vacation 56. Pair of trainers: converse

MORE GENERAL:

57. Eating Currently: Nothing 58. Drinking currently: Coke 59. I’m about to: find more of these posts 61. Waiting for: AP scores to be released 62. Want: to find a group of best friends 63. Get married: who knows 64. Career: something in the computer science department

WHICH IS BETTER

65. Hugs or kisses: dont care 66. Lips or eyes: dont care 67. Shorter or taller: taller,, im fairly short 68. Older or younger: either 70. Nice arms or nice stomach: don’t care 71. Sensitive or loud: don’t care 72. Hook up or relationship: no opinion 73. Troublemaker or hesitant: no opinion

HAVE YOU EVER:

74. Kissed a stranger: no 75. Drank hard liquor: yes 76. Lost glasses/contact lenses: yes 77. Turned someone down: not applicable 78. Sex in the first date: never been on a date 79. Broken someone’s heart: not that i know of? 80. Had your heart broken: yes 81. Been arrested: no 82. Cried when someone died: absolutely 83. Fallen for a friend: no

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:

84. Yourself: sometimes 85. Miracles: i believe in karma 86. Love at first sight: no 87. Santa Claus: not since i was 11 88. Kiss in the first date: maybe 89. Angels: no

OTHER:

90. Current best friends’ names: i dont have a best friend 91. Eyecolor: i have heterochromia so one of my eyes is green and the other is brown 92. Favorite movie: Grease

[minamotoz]

*me reading boycoff the caf* damn that was racist as shit........ *keeps reading*