#spoiler alert: the only time this has happened is when she isn't in the episode

[stargazerdaisy]

If I don't ramble about how Stella is the best and how much I love her at least twice an episode, then something is really wrong.

[outrunningthedark]

The weird thing about fandom, particularly 9-1-1, is the same people that will post about a teenager's autonomy and the importance of having a safe space, will instantly take that away if it means their uwu character is sad.

Eddie fucked up. Eddie fucked up bad. It isn't the first time Eddie fucked up. Chris did not fuck up. Chris deserves a safe space where he can deal with the damage Eddie did.

Eddie sending Buck to try and talk to Chris, just showed he did not know how to deal with the situation appropriately.

Chris is where he needs to be, with people that love him and are giving him space to deal.

I think what's most frustrating (besides the ableism/infantilizing, obv) is that this is another one of those instances where enough of the story line has been laid out for us that we're supposed to be able to pick up on whatever isn't being spelled out because there isn't enough time. Did Helena purposely plan Chris's birthday party during the call to be malicious? Or maybe, just maybe, she tried to separate the party from the call so Chris wouldn't be distracted and taken away from his friends, but Chris wasn't having it. Maybe the "compromise" was that Chris talk to his dad for a few minutes and then go back to his party. Except Chris did not want to be on that call. As evidenced by his refusal to even speak. To anyone. I know people like to pretend a certain portion of 7x10 didn't happen, but 7x10 very clearly established that Chris was the one who called his grandparents. Chris wanted to leave. Chris didn't even want to have a conversation with Eddie or Buck before he left because he didn't want them trying to convince him to stay. Just because the expectation was that Chris would come home or agree to come home in an episode called "No Place Like Home" - and spoiler alert: that's not the title anymore - doesn't mean the show was actually going to wrap things up that quickly, especially when 7x10 never got around to having Eddie admit that he needed to work on himself before Chris should come home. Three months with no visible progress not only supports Chris's frustration and anger because Eddie's clearly not doing enough to make him want to go back to LA (if Chris felt his dad was genuinely remorseful versus mad at himself for getting caught he'd be nicer to him, come tf on), it allows the show to have Eddie's self-discovery play out on screen instead of starting s8 like what he put his son through was nbd.

[howbrightthemoon]

costume *spoiler alert* for Bridgerton s3 part 2

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I am in love with the costumes so far this season, especially Penelope's. I am NOT in love with the fact that spoilers for the next part keep appearing all over the place, but I can't help sneaking a peek at them and trying to place Pen's outfits to certain scenes that I think will happen.

I remembered in one of Nic's interviews, she was asked about her favourite outfits of the season and mentioned a gorgeous "coat" when she is Lady Whistledown.

(I am also curious about her third favourite outfit; she didn't say anything because it was a huge spoiler)

So, the coat. Not only have I seen it in a leaked episode screenshot (proceed with caution)

But have seen it AGAIN in this video of the cast describing this season using emojis (I have no idea where the original vid is from lol I legit cannot figure out how people find these leaks and extra vids)

I wonder how many times we will see Pen wearing this coat as Lady Whistledown? She isn't wearing a necklace in the first image but has a necklace, a seemingly different hairstyle (and an engagement ring??) in second.

How many times does she go to the printers and which time will Colin catch her?

(if the spoilers are true idk anymore man)

ANYWAYS, this coat is STUNNING and suits Penelope so well.

[gingerylangylang1979]

How Colorism fuels BW/WM swirls in media

I guess this is maybe a counterpoint/companion post to this one and the dialogue started with @theonlyamazingtazmin in the comments.

That post was an ask that black women set personal boundaries around how the ship and media about the ship is effecting our well being. But an equally important conversation is why do we so often have to look to interracial couples for a well written romance for dark skinned black women. While I'm cautious about the level in investment in these pairings, I cannot deny the appeal and why it's almost a default because of how much romance for dark skinned black woman is gate kept.

My initial remedy to this frustration of how we attach ourselves to this pairing was, we need to watch and support black romance and and black tv shows and movies. But a lot of the problem is in doing just that. I watched mostly black shows in my youth and the pattern was already established of me always seeing the dark skin woman alone or butch while the lighter girls had their pick.

My favorite show as a teen was A Different World. And as ground breaking as that show was in many respects I do have to call out the paradigm it reinforced. Dwayne was obsessed with Whitley, the whitest looking woman shown on campus, and he was the darkest man shown on campus. Ron liked her best friend, Millie, a light skin girl, after that wasn't a thing it was like so crazy that he ended up with Jaleesa. His mom (the fab Patti LaBelle) kept telling him to get with the dark skinned girl with the pretty teeth, but it was like he resisted vehemently beforehand. He does, but then ends up with biracial Freddy and Jaleesa ends up with an old man and becomes a stepmom as her best option.

Back when I had HBO (I only pay for one subscription at a time and my current roommates decided to do the Disney+ package, but I only end up watching Hulu) I watched Insecure but didn't finish. I'm curious to see what happened romantically with the characters. Did they follow the same playbook? I don't want to be spoiled because I hope to continue that show one day, so please don't tell me. But I remember in the precursor to this show, Awkward Black Girl, Issa's love interest was a like pretty average, kinda lame white guy. Her black crush never panned out. I kind of rooted for her and white boy but like not that enthusiastically. I just wanted her to be loved, so tried to be into it, but honestly was like, is this her best option? I didn't finish because it frustrated me that he was her best option. Personal note: I need to finish an Issa Rae show.

Fast forward to literally as of yesterday. I started watching Queen Sugar (Hulu tries to represent black shows and movies but the selections aren't the best, if anyoen has recs, please share) because I said I want to watch more black entertainment like I did in my youth. The most recent try before this was Atlanta and I just wasn't impressed. Come to find out how douchey Donald Glover is about black women and got turned off. Anyways, I did get invested in QS after a few episodes and even cried. So what turned me off a bit and I hope doesn't put me off the show? Spoiler alert: The darkest woman, Nova, is a white cop's mistress. This isn't revealed right away. It opens with them having a sensual morning after but for some reason despite him being hot, I felt ick. Like, I predicted there was something ick coming, and sure enough she's the long term side piece. Her fine af dark skinned brother's ex is a light skinned woman and there seems to be a mild flirtation with his son's Latina teacher. The light skinned sister is married to a man about her skin tone. The aunt who is medium skin tone has a husband darker than her. So it kind of reinforced the colorism and that Nova's only option out of everyone else has to be a white man, and a white man that can't fully commit to her at that.

Now, let me jump back to why I got so invested in Richonne. I know some people probably like does this girl only hardcore ship traumatized curly haired blue eyed white men with dark skinned black women? Not intentionally, haha! But that was the most epic love story I've seen with a black woman who looks anything like me. I wasn't even expecting to ship anything on that bleak ass show. Not my fault. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough? But yeah, when I reached my adult years I kind of got tired of looking for the romance I wanted to see, that represented me, in black media and being disappointed. Because the dark skinned girls didn't get the same love as the lighter ones (or they are lesbians but that's a whole other post). I'm not saying white media isn't guilty. It's just white media when they tend to give a dark skinned black woman a romance it's with a white man if she isn't alone or a lesbian, just like black shows, but the romance tends to be deeper if it's main plot point, or at least that's what I see in Richonne and Carmy x Sydney.

I think there is a good and bad side to this. On one hand yes, give it to me. On the other is it only palatable for a dark skinned black woman to get love in a show with a mixed cast with a white man because there is still and aversion to black love for these women? It's so complex. This is why when I wrote my Syd and Carmy fic I intentionally made her ex a dark skinned black man. Carmy is mad jealous of him. It's not a real love triangle, he just frames it as one because he's insecure of her highly successful, young Idris Elba looking almost fiance, who her dad loves and is a family friend. So, of course Carmy is in his feelings. Although Syd dated white guys I didn't want the strongest competition to be another white guy. And I have Syd speak to the lameness of these other white men on purpose, on multiple occasions. She was always kind of chasing a Carmy replica but not because they were white, it's because he imprinted on her. But she chased trying to be with her ex just as hard, but for different reasons and in a different way.

Anyways, I don't even know what to expect from media at this point because often what we see onscreen does reflect reality. I'll describe myself. I'm a petite, slim curvy girl, cocoa complexion, kinky curly who often gets that "so pretty for a black girl" type compliment in the black community and from racist white people. My dating history has been mixed and mostly white (two Asians also in the mix) in my latter years by default. When I was in high school the few black boys (I went to a mostly white school) chased the white, Latina, or light skinned girls. And the few that were interested were not desirable trouble makers. One was so bad he verbally abused me in front of people consistently and then I found out he had a crush one me. No thanks, red flags galore. The first somewhat decent boy that was interested and actually knew me was my white boy best friend who tried to make a move one day. I wasn't interested, didn't see it coming, but it started a pattern. I just wanted to be his bestie because we were both film geeks, had family trauma, were loners, smoked weed, and were in theater together. It's so funny because he was a dead ringer for Leonardo Dicaprio and all the white girls swooned for him and I was like eh (never thought Leo was all that). So, no, I didn't view him as a prize romantically. But this same type thing continued with white guy friends secretly having a crush and me like not being that excited. But one day I did like one, gave it a try, and was like, ok cool, I can try this. And since then I get way more interest from white men than black men.

*Caveat, I'm currently single and don't think race has any influence on quality of men. My long term Asian ex was the worst boyfriend of my life and I'm still traumatized. Long story.

So should I be this surprised that media reflects my same experience? I don't know what the solution is going forward. Like, will media change and influence society or does society need to change to influence media?

[rafesbabyg1rl]

Hey girl pls do me a favor and GIVE ME ALL THE SPOILERS. So weird but i refuse to watch past season 2 bc ik id get so obsessed w the obx universe so its not good but i need to know what happened w rafe n sofia and who and why jj died PLS I BEG

SPOILER ALERT!!!

OBX SEASON 4 (pt.1 &2)

First of all, thanks for being my first ask!!! You have no idea how greatly I appreciate the support and attention I've received within the past 24 hours! I wish you could've seen the smile on my face when I received this anon ask.

Babe, I wish I was as strong as you, I'd be SO much happier if I stopped watching at season 2. But I'm literally addicted and have to watch the new episodes the second they come out. Part 2 of season 4 was so chaotic and DEPRESSING!! Like I already know rewatching the show will NEVER be the same. I'm also curious how season 5 will go now that JJ is DEAD.

I'm not completely sure whether or not you wanted spoilers for the entirety of season 4, or just part 2. But, seeing as I already over-explain enough as it is, I'll just give you part two spoilers.

The following will contain outer bank spoilers for season 4 part one and two:

In episode 6, we learn more about JJ's past (his real parents). Basically, Chandler Groff (JJ's real father) gave JJ (real name Jackson) to Luke Maybank after or just before JJ's mother died. Because Luke worked for the Genrette's and was somewhat close to JJ's mother. Also, in this episode JJ only tells Kie about what happened because he doesn't want the others "even thinking he's a Genrette."

We get TWO Rafe scenes in this episode. AND LET ME JUST TELL YOU HOW SCRUMDIDILYUMPCIOUS HE LOOKS!!!!!!! He just looks so OLDDDD and so handsome, he's also giving majorrrrr dilf vibes and I'm so here for it.

In his first scene, he's meeting with Sarah. Since Kie tells Sarah that Rafe came by and offered to help (with what they though was the land situation) but, what he really wanted to talk about was money. Rafe wants to work with Sarah to get Wheezie back from Rose, since Rose wouldn't allow either of them to even SPEAK with their youngest sister. He proposes that after they get Wheezie back, they get their inheritance. After Ward "died" the first time, he left a quarter of his money to Rafe, and a quarter to Sarah. Neither of them had received their money since Rose clung onto it, keeping all the Merchant Gold money for herself. Rafe appears a bit distraught and emotional as he talks to his sister. Sarah of course gets emotional as well and leaves abruptly, only saying that she's sorry but she can't do this. I felt soooo bad for my baby after this, it was clear that he was trying to rebuild their family, but he was scared to truly show how much he cares, and Sarah crushed him within seconds.

The pogues have no other option now but to round up as many people from the cut to attend court with them and provide support as they try to keep poguelandia from being taken. When things don't go their way per usual, JJ flips out and starts a riot in the courthouse. All the pogues help him escape the cops. JJ starts absolutely destroying shit on figure 8. I think this is him clearly crashing out after finding out his piece of shit, abusive father isn't even his real father, and that his actual parents are a murderer and a dead lady. To help JJ, Pope punches a cop that's about to shoot JJ and gets arrested. Oh, and while at court, Luke made an appearance, something about him being the previous owner of the property and signing some paper that helped the kooks. Trading his signature for his freedom (since he's a literal fugitive and all).

Sofia has a small scene where she's at work but calls Hollis on the phone and demands to meet with her, feeling wrong about their arrangement.

The second scene with Rafe is when he goes and meets with Chandler Groff about the deal he made with Hollis in the last part. In this scene, he calls Sofia his girlfriend. Rafe mentions that his girlfriend thinks the deal is a big hoax and he contemplates canceling the wire money transfer. But he decided against it, agreeing to stay in the deal with Groff and Hollis. He tells Groff that if he screws him, he'll come after him. This was very season 3 of him. AND RAFE LOOKS SO OLD AND SCRUMDIDLYUMPTIOUS. HE GIVES OFF DILF VIBES SO STRONGLY IN THIS SCENE.

Episode 7 starts off with some more of JJ and Chandler Groff talking. JJ happens to go over to see Groff on Goat Island at the wrong time, and he ends up caught up in Groff's crap. Pope spends a night in jail, being released the next day with an ankle monitor and a trial date. Pope was told he must reside at home with his parents, and he's not allowed to see or talk to any of the pogues until after his trial. So pretty much in this episode all Cleo and Pope do is sneak around trying not to get caught talking to each other. And in this episode, Heyward introduces the idea that Pope must go into the military for a few months rather than go to jail.

The rest of the crew (Sarah, John B, and Kie) follow JJ's trail of destruction in order to try and find him. Meanwhile, Sarah splits off to take a PREGNANCY TEST. Of course it's positive, because the writers literally add every single fan theory they come across or something like that. Kie basically walks in on Sarah and sees the test, Kie has quite a few negative things to say. Sarah seems upset as she asks Kie if she has anything positive to say about the situation, in which Kie tells Sarah that she'll be an amazing mom and, John B loves her and will be an "all-right dad", the final thing Kie tells Sarah in this scene is that she has all of them to help. Sarah intends to tell John B, but the timing is horrible, so it stays between her and Kie for a bit.

Sofia finally meets with Hollis to discuss the agreement they had (Hollis getting Sofia to nudge Rafe towards making the deal on Goat Island). The scene is short and despite Hollis' reassurance that the deal is real, all this serves to do is make Sofia feel even worse about what she did.

JJ spends a lot of time with Groff in this episode, not by choice. And you can tell Groff is starting to tear down some of JJ's defensive walls. My thoughts are that since JJ had a shit father that gave him nothing but a shitty life, he's trying to take the recent news and make something good out of it, something real. And when confronted by JJ in the start of the episode, Groff declines being JJ's father only to admit that he is JJ's dad towards the middle of the episode. Groff only admits the truth so that JJ helps him because he can't get out of his bad situation he's involved in with the mercenaries without JJ's help. After both being kidnapped, Groff tries to frame JJ with the murder of one of the mercenaries instead of admitting to it himself. Luckily, they don't believe that it was JJ. This episode ends with Sarah, John B, and Kie using explosives and fire to help save JJ from Groff's problems.

NO RAFE IN THIS EPISODE!!!!

Episode 8 begins with the pogues--and Groff trying to figure out more about the map and the new treasure (The Blue Crown). Pope gets told he has to go off into the military a lot sooner than he expected...like, right now; which leads into the formation of Pope and Cleo's new club, the "No goodbyes club".

JJ and Groff go out on their own to obtain the 'lens' that will help translate the map from his mother's grave, spending some actual bonding time in the process. It's not as if JJ is purposely trying to get close with to/ bond with Groff, but it just sort of happens. I feel like Groff is doing it on purpose because he wants JJ's help so he can continue to play him. Meanwhile Sarah and John B run an 'errand' (go to the court house to i THINK get married officially after Sarah tells John B that she's pregnant. But, the courthouse is closed because of the damage JJ caused so they decide to try again another day. Kiara stays at poguelandia.

We get ONE TINYYY scene of Rafe in this episode. He's just in the sheriff's department yelling and demanding to talk to Shoupe. He explains how Groff and Hollis stole 400k from him, and Shoupe realizes the guy they've been looking for actually is Groff.

Groff makes JJ be the one to get the lens from his MOTHERS grave. I felt so bad because literally she wasn't even fully decomposed so the only memory JJ will have of his real mom is her rotting corpse. Groff tries to frame JJ again and he locks him in his mother's crypt. Groff goes back to poguelandia and steals the map from them, when Kiara catches onto him he pushes her and causes her to hit her head. When she's literally UNCONSIOUS he locks her body in the shop's cooler. Groff returns to JJ, letting him out of the crypt and acting all innocent and fatherly once again, as if he didn't just lock his son's girlfriend up in a freezer. They stop by Hollis Robinson's house, JJ stays in the car as Groff goes in to talk with Hollis. Hollis accuses Groff of lying and stealing 400k from Rafe, threating to turn him into Shoupe. Groff shoots her and leaves the body. He then takes JJ out on a boat, saying that he'll drop him off. Except of course he doesn't. Groff tries leaving the island with JJ, trying to convince him that they don't need his friends and that they should do this one alone. JJ wants to call his friends, but Groff "accidently" tosses his phone into the water.

The others find Kie and she tells him about Groff, they track the last place JJ's phone was before it lost connection. When JJ calls Groff out for his bullshit, Groff injures JJ and throws him into the ocean. JJ is left alone, only able to back float when the others find and rescue him.

In episode 9, Groff frames JJ for the murder of Hollis Robinson. When the cops find where the pogues have been hiding, they have no choice but to go on the run. They all agree that they have nothing to lose and decide to go to Morocco in search of the Blue Crown. While looking for a boat to steal that can get them to Morrocco, they're spotted by the cops and are forced to run yet again. We get a TINY scene with Rafe while he eavesdrops on the pogues and overhears them talking about needing to find a way to get down to Morocco. Pretty much you see him for 2 seconds and all he does is look good, since he doesn't even make a single sound in this scene.

The next scene of Rafe is with BARRY!!! I WAS PRAYING BARRY RETURNED FOR AT LEAST ONE SCENE THIS SEASON, I missed his fruity ass flirting with Rafe. (Literally this was the one GOOD thing to happen in part 2). But anyway Rafe asks Barry to trade boats, Barry's big ass tuna fishing boat that he apparently has now for Rafe's smaller, flashy, half a million-dollar boat. Barry doesn't want to at first but Rafe tells him that if he doesn't get his piece of shit boat back, he can keep Rafe's boat. And because Barry is like in love with Rafe, he agrees and they end the scene being all silly and flirty like always. Also, Idk if it's just me, but in this scene the way Rafe talks is so off. Why does he sound like that?? And part of it is clearly a voice over but why is he talking so weird? It's like the first scene of him in part 1 of season 4.

That scene jumps right into another scene of baeeeee. It goes from a Rafe and Barry scene straight into a Rafe and Sofia scene. I felt so spoiled lmao. Anyways, Rafe and Sofia are talking outside on a beach (I think it's the same spot he took her in s4 ep5 to talk). Rafe tells Sofia that Groff killed Hollis and took off with his money, he explains that he's gonna track Groff down and get his money back. He stays very vague about where he's going though. Rafe tells Sofia that he wants to tell her something before he leaves (I got all excited watching this thinking he's gonna say he loves her)...BUT THEN HE GOES AND GETS DOWN ONTO ONE FUCKING KNEE IN FRONTOF HER????????????? Rafe fucking Cameron PROPOSING? WHAT?? Sofia tries to say that she has something to tell him too (likely about the arrangement she had with Hollis) but Rafe interrupts her by pulling out a ring, "It was my mom's". ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING? Rafe tells Sofia he wants her to have the ring before he left so she knows that they're real. Sofia keeps trying to say that she did something bad, and that it's about Hollis, but Rafe tells her he doesn't care. Rafe admits that there's a lot she doesn't know about him that's far worse than anything she could've done. He says he doesn't care to know what she did and that he wants to be with her. Rafe very clearly is intentionally not saying the real words like husband/wife, married, etc. and I think that's very in character for him. He does say, "If you say "yes", there's no more scraping the barrel, old Pogue bullshit. Okay? I want you...I want you to quit your job, and I want you to...to move in with me. Okay?" And Sofia is crying because, real well and also the overwhelming guilt eating at her from the inside out for what she did to him. This is where RAFE SLIPS THE RING ON HER FINGER!!! Then he quickly gets onto his feet and pulls her up to him and they KISSSSSS for a good, hot second actually. When he pulls away he's all happy and giggly as he gives her keys to his house, putting them in her hands and then wrapping his hands over hers. "I'll be back in a few weeks, all right? Stay at my...stay at our place." OUR PLACE? THIS MAN PAUSED TO CORRECT HIMSELF AND SAY ITS THEIRRR PLACE? Then he literally puts his hand on her cheek and whispers, "All right?" as she sobs. She nods and he says "I love you". I REPEAT, RAFE CAMERON SAID I LOVE YOU TO HIS GIRL!!!!!!!!!!! Then they kiss two more times, he mumbles a 'bye' before walking off, only turning to look back for a second when Sofia says, "I love you too". HELLLOOOOOOO????????????????? Babes I was literally in SHOCK. After being deprived of Rafe for nearly two episodes and then getting a Rarry scene and THIS back-to-back?? Shit gave me whiplash fr.

Going back to the pogues, their stolen police boat deflates due to being shot and Shoupe catches up to them. They have no choice but to talk to him. Shoupe mentions the warrant he has for JJ's arrest for killing Hollis. Except this time Shoupe actually uses his brain and knows that JJ did not kill Hollis. He also speaks to Pope since Pope cut off his ankle monitor when he escaped from going off to the military. Shoupe says he has a good idea on what JJ did and didn't do, but he says he has a warrant for both Pope and JJ and need to take them in. This is when Rafe comes out of literal fucking nowhere and says he's just there to save everyone's asses. He tells Shoupe that Groff was scamming with Hollis the whole time and it was most likely Groff that killed her, not JJ. Rafe says Groff probably killed Genrette too and the body that they found (that Shoupe already realized was murdered by Groff). He says that Shoupe could bring in the pogues for some vandalism 'bullshit', or he can get the "big fish", as in Groff. Rafe explains to Shoupe that the pogues know where Groff is and that Rafe can get them there, but "they can't do shit if they're all locked up". Rafe explains to Shoupe that the smart thing for him to do is to let them go that he can solve the crime of the century and keep his job. Rafe throws in an 'added bonus', saying that when they get back and Shoupe's got Groff locked up, Rafe will tell him "what happened last summer on the runway", when Shoupe had found Rafe out on the tarmac. He says he'll tell Shoupe the real story of what happened, because he knows Shoupe wants to know. In which Shoupe replies, "You wanna know what I want to know? I wanna know about another little runway accident from a while back. How bout' that?" Eventually, Rafe convinces Shoupe to let them go and get Groff. Meanwhile all the pogues stand around in confusion at what the fuck is happening.

Rafe takes the pogues onto the boat he borrowed from Barry. But, the pogues say they don't trust him and they tie Rafe up and lock him up in his own ship. Rafe spends practically the entire trip to Morocco tied up and locked away, not getting to have much interaction with anyone. But, when a huge storm approaches, the ship starts to go down. The pogues almost forget about Rafe until they hear him banging on shit and yelling for help, the room he was in starting to fill with water. Pope and others immediately say not to let him out, but Kie being Kie, says "no, he's gonna drown, we have to." And she's the ONLY one that gets up and finds a knife to cut Rafe free.

JJ spends his time on the boat to Morocco in a spiral and constantly drinking, so he's not doing shit when all this goes down. On the boat, John B even tells JJ about Sarah being pregnant in hopes to cheer him up. At first JJ seemed happy but he suddenly and without warning switched back to being negative and says a bunch of crap like how John B won't be a good dad. During the storm John B drives the ship and for some reason Sarah goes to find him, and she gets hit with a wave, and taken into the water. JJ sees this and calls out for her, without thinking (when does JJ ever think) he jumps in after her. John B watches it all play out, watches as his PREGNANT wife AND best friend disappear into the raging ocean. Kiara finds John B and asks where Sarah is, in which John B responds by hugging Kie as she asks where JJ was as well. Rafe comes out and takes in the situation at hand, he shouts for his sister.

The next scene is of John B, Kiara, Pope, Cleo...and Rafe emerging out of the ocean. The crashed tuna boat visible behind them. HOLY FUCK WAS RAFE HOT AS FUCK GETTING OUTTA THAT WATER...THE WAY HE SPIT LIKE HELLO??? Spit in my mouth next please! Despite their efforts, nobody can find Sarah and JJ. The group of 5 well, group of 4 and Rafe (he's literally 4 feet away from everyone else at all times, like he just sits there in silence), wait around for what I believe is like a day before they finally spot JJ and Sarah.

And FINALLY episode 10 begins with all the pogues reconnecting and talking about random stuff while Rafe just like sits to the side.... JJ mentions, (I'm including this bc I feel like it's def foreshadowing) that a good name for a baby would be JJ, because it can go either way. And because only Kie, JJ, and John B know about Sarah, Pope is like "wait what baby?" And then John B and Sarah tell the group, Rafe just kinda looks at Sarah. I'm mad that he didn't say anything or talk to her about it because I KNOW this man is happy to be an uncle. I know he's happy for Sarah and I KNOW he wants to say something SO BAD.

The group make their journey through Morocco, only stopping when Sarah starts to feel unwell. They ralize she probably just needs to eat so everyone except for Rafe splits off and tries to steal food for her. But they get caught and chased, only getting Sarah a little food. After they just get moving again, the cops find them and try to arrest Rafe. When Rafe has to split up from the others, he figures something out, having to call Sofia to help him with something. The pogues and Rafe all get new clothes and try to blend in.

As Rafe is off on his own mission, he comes across Groff, saving him from being killed by others by taking him hostage himself. Groff tells Rafe about the treasure he's after and how much it costs, since Rafe is only worried about getting his money back after Groff screwed him over. Rafe tells Groff that because he screwed him, and then lost his money to the mercenaries, he is now gonna be Rafe's bitch. "And, if you're lucky, I'll give you a little taste on the back end, all right?" And Rafe gets all up close and quiet, "If I let you live." HE DOES THE SEXIEST LITTLE SMILE/SMIRK/GIGGLE HERE??? I love him. I wish he'd give me a little taste on the back end. Groff shows Rafe how to read the map with the lens, so he can get to the blue crown. As Rafe looks at the map, Groff yaps as usual, but when he mentions a 'girl', Rafe AIN'T FUCKING PLAYINGGG. "What girl?" He asked immediately. Groff told Rafe what Sofia did and this just sets Rafe off. He's not sure whether to believe Groff or not. Groff attacks Rafe with a knife, stabbing him in the hand, but Rafe easily gets ahead in the fight. Groff makes it too fucking easy when he stands right in front of a well, which Rafe of course pushes him into and then scream-laughs into. "Checkmate, bitch!" BELIEVE ME WHEN I TELL U HE LOOKED SEXY ASF HERE! Then Rafe like whines and groans in pain and I just literally wanna do anything and everything to make bae feel better. Rafe takes the map and the lens, putting it in his motorbike and wrapping his hand up, quickly driving off and leaving Groff behind.

Rafe calls Sofia and she answers all cute like, "hey babe, what's up?". While he's all pissed off and just says, "Is it true, what Groff just told me?" Sofia says nothing. "Is it?" He asks again, nodding when he still gets silence in response. "All right, pack your shit. Get out of my house. God, after everything I did for you? We're done. Done." and he hangs up. BRO I WAS SOBBING. He sounded and looked so hurt I felt so bad. Like UGHHH. But also like literally he said he didn't care to know when she tried to tell him. So like would he have ended things if she said it before he left? Or was it just like a heat of the moment thing? Especially because he didn't hear it from Sofia, and he had to find out from Groff of all people.

The pogues find Groff in the hole and of course he tries to manipulate JJ into throwing him a rope. JJ gets to make the decision on what to do with him, and he just tosses a big jug off water into the well and leaves. As they leave, Groff shouts "JJ! JJ get back here or I'll tear your throat out!" But they don't listen, why would they be scared of a man stuck way down deep at the bottom of a well? As Rafe tries to follow the map and find the crown, the mercenaries find him. They demand the map from him and he submits with his hands in the air. The listens to what they say in defeat. The pogues watch from a far. Cleo says, "They gonna kill him." To which Pope says, "do we care?". JJ adds, "yeah, that's a good question, Pope.". As Sarah clearly struggles with some internal conflict about her brother, the others keep talking regularly. Cleo speaking again, "Yeah, but then they'd take the scroll." Nobody shows any care or remorse for Rafe as they watch him be held at gunpoint. As the mercenaries approach Rafe and threaten to shoot him, the pogues argue about how they're gonna get the map and lens back. While they all pitch their ideas and shut down others, Sarah takes the gun from JJ, causing them all to look at her. "What are you doing? Hey. Woah." Questions JJ. Sarah doesn't respond as she holds the gun up and cocks it, "that's my brother." She says seconds before shooting one of the mercenaries' vehicles, causing it to blow up and be the distraction Rafe needed to get away.

Rafe and the pogues run off into a building as they're chased by several of highly armed individuals. Pope and Cleo stay to guard the door in case they get in as the others run off. Pope has the gun and gets ready to shoot. Since he's never shot anyone before he's nervous, so when he has the chance, he purposely misses his target as he fires 'warning' shots. Cleo and Pope run as they get shot at.

Meanwhile, Rafe continues to run with the scroll and the lens, but John B tries to stop him. Rafe feels cornered and holds a knife out to John B in self-defense. "It's ours", says Sarah, referring to the scroll Rafe clung on to. "It was. I look the shit." He responds. "I bought it for 400k, actually. Okay?" He's clearly panicked as his gaze frantically switches between John B and Sarah. Sarah reminds Rafe that she just saved his life, and he spins to face her, lowering his knife as he talks to his sister. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You did it so you could steal it from me. There was something in it for you. All right? Not to actually help me. I know that." Rafe pants. John B speaks "Rafe we don't have time." Then Sarah speaks again, "We can read that, you can't." Rafe responds to his sister, his voice getting louder, "Why would I help you? Huh? I don't trust you." Raises the knife back up, pointing it at his own sister. "I don't trust any of you. Do you understand?" At this point it's very clear he's panicking from emotion and because he feels trapped. His voice is uneven, threatening to break with emotion, "Dad trusted you. You remember what happened to him?! Do you remember?!" He yells at Sarah. She yells back in response, "Dad died saving my life." Sarah steps cloer to her brother, her voice becoming more raw with emotion. "And you're so eager to blame me for everything, you won't even listen to what happened. Singh's men had me at gunpoint. I was gonna die." She's fighting back tears now, " Dad took those bullets for me. And if he was still around, he'd want us to work together. I know you know that." (GET READY FOR RAFE'S NEXT LINE, CUZ I CERTAINLY WASN'T!!!) His eyes are watery as he looks at his sister, his voice betraying him as it shakes with his words, "No, you're just gonna screw me like everyone else in my life. You...I know you will." Sarah's crying as she interrupts him, "No, no, because I'm all you've got. And you're the only family I have left." (OH MY GOD RAFE IS LITERALLY POUTING RIGHT HERE AS TEARS THREATEN TO FALL DOWN HIS FACE). John B joins in, "She's telling the truth." Rafe sighs as Sarah breathes shakily, his eyes leave her to look around so he can gather himself enough to speak. His voice is soft now as he gives in, "All right. If we uh...if we work together, I...I still get my cut? So." Sarah nods, "yeah." Rafe asks again, "I get my cut?" And this time John B responds, "yeah". Rafe holds the map out to Sarah and you can very clearly see how much Rafe is shaking. Sarah raises her hand to grab the map, but instead it lowers and both of her arms wrap around Rafe. He just stands there for a moment, confused as he takes in the moment. Rafe cries as Sarah holds him tight. The moment of course is interrupted and they split up again.

Going back to Cleo and Pope who are being chased through the buildings. They stop and check their ammo, Pope reveals that he has one bullet left. The mercenaries continue to chase and shoot at them, eventually, Cleo gets shot in the shoulder.

Kiara and JJ team up to try and distract and take down the mercenaries. Rafe staying with John B and Sarah, giving them the map and lens to figure out. And they figure out where the crown is located just as a sand storm rolls in.

Theres a brief clip shown of Groff climbing out of the well.

Rafe tries to climb to get the crown, but he can't with his injured hand. So JJ decides to be the one to climb and get it.

While Cleo and Pope are held up due to Cleo being shot. Cleo tries to grab the gun so she can shoot the man that killed Terance in part one. But she can't even lift her arm. She wants Pope to leave her so she can shoot the man with the last bullet. But Pope being the great guy he is and knowing how important this is to Cleo he takes the gun from her. Pope decided that hell do it, he'll kill someone for Cleo. And he does, he shoots the guy right in the head.

Sarah and John B fight off some of the mercenaries. Kiara and Rafe watch as JJ climbs the large structure in the sand storm to get the Blue Crown. They're running out of time as the mercenaries creep up on them. But, Rafe tells Kie, "You stay here. I'll go down and buy us some time." In which she responds, "What? No, Rafe! Are you crazy? They'll kill you!" Rafe shouts back, "Hey! I'm a killer too! I've got nothing to lose!" And he walks off. In the disguise of the sandstorm, Rafe fights off several men.

JJ finally finds the Blue Crown. Of course he's shouting in excitement, "Long live Poguelandia!" JJ is happy, this means he'll get to save his home. But, he still has to hurry. JJ carefully climbs down the tall structure, immediately meeting Kie and showing off his discovery. Their cute moment is short lived as JJ spots a gun pointed at them. They run again as they're being shot at. And OF COURSE none other than that annoying motherfucker Groff comes out of nowhere and captures Kie, holding a knife against her throat. JJ comes to the rescue, trading the crown for Kie without any hesitation. Groff yaps like usual "You could've stuck with me JJ. Think about what you could've had. But now, you...you get nothing. Nothing." But JJ disagrees, "Nah, I already have everything. And I have everything I've ever wanted. Things that you'll never have. You want the crown? Sure, take it. Take it. I don't want it. Just...let her go." Groff tells JJ to hold the crown out, which he does as they switch, Kiara for the crown. When Kie is back in JJ's arms he reassures her, "I've got you.", as they hug. "It's okay." Kiara mumbles a response, "thank you." As Groff watches the two, he's clearly in distress, "JJ", he speaks. JJ lets go of Kie, keeping her behind him as he turns to face his 'father'. "It's...it's a shame. You and me." JJ has no time to respond as Groff shoves the knife right into JJ's gut. You can hear his flesh squelching and Kiara gasp while JJ groans, looking down at the knife as Groff twists it around inside of him. JJ looks up at Groff as he speaks, "you should have given me...the rope." Groff tugs the knife out, Kiara immediately catching JJ as he falls back.

Groff runs off with the crown as JJ and Kie fall to the ground. All she can say is "it's okay. It's okay." JJ groans and coughs, "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Hey, look at me. Look at me." JJ looks in her eyes as she speaks frantically. "It's okay, you're gonna be okay. Let me see it." Blood spreads through the fabric of his clothes quickly. Kiara sits there in front of him, shaking and scared, unsure of what to do or say. "Oh..." She cries, looking at JJ with a knowing look in her eyes. "Don't...don't move." She mumbles. JJ speaks, "Kie." But Kiara continues to mumble, "no...no. It's okay, it's gonna be okay. JJ, please, it has to be." She cries. JJ chokes out a few words, "Hey. Hey. I never told you my wish." (referring to something earlier in the season, he didn't tell Kie his wish because then it wouldn't come true) "What?" She cries. "No, JJ. JJ. It's okay." JJ groans, "I already got it." He smirks as he speaks, knowing these are his last moments alive. Kiara cries as he speaks again, "I already got my wish. Everything I wanted." JJ uses his last words to help reassure Kiara. "No. No, please..." She sobs, shaking her head. "Okay, okay." JJ groans in pain. Kiara beg, "Stay with me, please." JJ looks her in the eye for a moment before speaking softly, "Take care of the others, okay?" But Kiara shakes her head again, refusing to accept that this is really happening. "No, no. It's not what this is." She sobs as JJ speaks his final words, a single tear rolling down his cheek. "I love you, Kie." "I love you too." JJ's eyes flutter shut and his head falls back. Kiara shakes his body "no, no, no, no. Please, no. JJ, please. John B! Pope!" She screams. "no...no. no." John B starts to narrate here and it's so fucking sad. There's a whole flashback on memories of JJ and a bunch of sad talk. I can't even describe everyone's reactions. Even Rafe was in shock. They buried him out in the desert, he didn't even get to be buried in his home. And basically it ends with Kiara saying JJ wouldn't sit and do nothing if it had been one of them, he'd get revenge. So 100% season five will be Kie's season.

Anyway, I spent WAY to long and put WAY too much detail into this summary...hope it answers your questions...thank you!! Sorry that this is so long, I can't summarize to save my life.

[thunderstomm]

Hot Wheels: Let's Race - Season 2 Thoughts

Season 2 has been out for a few days now, and I've watched every episode at least once through, so I'm finally going through all of my thoughts on the show, what's going on, and what I think is going to happen next. The joy of serialized kids shows!

Everything will be under the cut, just in case. Spoiler alert for all of season two!

First off- we're finally introduced formally to our "mystery racer"- Cruise! She's the daughter of the villain of the first season, Professor Rearview, and a racer in her own right. I have to say, I think her character design is very clever, having the shape of her pigtails match Professor Rearview's big hair! i know some people may not like that Cruise is his daughter, as opposed to a grandchild or niece, but I think that the fact of her being a direct descendant makes more sense for the story they're telling. That and there's fun to be had with Professor Rearview being an evil dad.

Cruise is undeniably the highlight of the season for me, and my new favorite. I enjoy the angle of the racers having a non-camper opponent, as the lack of constant close proximity, or down-time with one another means they don't have to be cordial or polite towards Cruise, and we see a lot of more intense emotions fester as a result- especially on Coop's end.

I also think in general, Coop as a character works much better in this season. The pre-established motivation, plus his new outstanding title as the camp champ are threatened directly by Cruise, as he is her primary target to beat, and the determination and vigor it brings out in him is very entertaining to watch.

The rest of the racers sadly don't fare as well, as it feels like they take more of a backseat when compared to season 1, outside of a character focus episode. This feels especially apparent with Axle, who has gone from his role as the main rival, to being good-aligned all of the time. His personality is still intact, but It feels very odd to see him so reduced in role, as the show doesn't frame him as a threat to Cruise also- despite the fact he is probably the only racer outside of Coop who could pose such a threat. The rest of the cast seem much more competitive when Cruise is not in the picture, but once she is, the show relegates them back to supporting roles. Considering the show's age demographic and the story it wants to tell, this isn't a huge problem, but nonetheless a little sad to see.

We also get a bit of backstory for Dash and Professor Rearview! I'm surprised to see they're the same age- either Dash has aged really well, or Professor Rearview has aged terribly. It's interesting to see they were campers at the same time. Were they friends? The amount of team-strengthening exercises that Dash has her own campers do is re-contextualized by this reveal- is she trying to prevent a repeat of what became of Rearview by making sure they do actually like eachother and get along, meaning the jealousy that comes with losing is minimal, or reduced because they can feel good for the person who does win because they are friends?

The environment that Dash and Rearview were in was clearly far more competitive and unforgiving. Of course, we can't pin it all on just that, as Professor Rearview's coping mechanism and overreaction to his loss is his own fault. Explanations, not excuses. And carrying this grudge for at least 30 years, it has long passed being something to be blamed on the conditions of the environment.

I'd love to see a flashback episode regarding their time at the Ultimate Garage honestly! Who were the other four campers who they trained alongside? I'd like to think maybe Axle's dad, Striker, was one of them. Seeing the exact conditions of the race would certainly help to clarify as much. Not to mention, they already have the 3D models for young Dash and Rearview...

One thing that was made clear by the episode count, and the season ending about half-way through the level 2 arc is that season 2 has been split in half, and the season 3 we're to get is really the second half of season 2. Which means more time to dwell on what we've gotten, and who will be the winner of the Ultimate Garage. There's also the question of whether the show will redeem Cruise, and have her join the side of good. I personally am conflicted? It would be interesting, and makes sense, but we are also yet to see any desire to change- let alone Cruise's own motivation and feelings towards her father's plans.

One thing I wish we had seen was a slower moment between Cruise and someone else, particularly any of the racers! I think the show would have it be Coop, as he is our main character, and I don't really have an issue with such. Season 1 gave us a whole episode where he was made to work with Axle, and it gave us a better insight into his character, motivation, and storyline. I think an episode like this with Cruise, under a circumstance that suits their storyline and characters better, would work wonders. Cruise clearly LIKES to race, and yet she is willing to help her father win it in order to destroy it? There's the general question of why Professor Rearview would even allow his daughter to be a racer, but considering he was a former racer, I suppose it would be a waste to not pass on those skills. Is Cruise of the belief that her father will spare her car, and allow her to keep racing? I want to see Cruise forced to talk to someone so that we get these answers.

As mentioned in a prior post, I have two theories regarding the next season's end, the winner of the Ultimate Garage, and the events that could follow. These are both hypotheticals in which Cruise does get a redemption arc, so both of these could very easily be wrong, and Cruise could remain evil, which still would be fun to see.

Option 1: Coop wins the Ultimate Garage. Coop manages to catch up in flame badges to Cruise, leaving the final race as to being between the both of them. Coop ends up winning the big race, much to the delight of the other camp racers, Dash, and his father. However, this victory does not stop Professor Rearview, and he puts his plan into motion to destroy the Ultimate Garage anyways. The campers and Dash all band together to stop him, but It's not enough. All hope seems lost, and there is a moment between Professor Rearview and Cruise where Cruise comes to the realization that their plan working means she will never race again, and lashing out in anger to get a victory that destroys the rich car culture of the city, and takes away something she loves, is just not worth it. She'd rather race again and get a chance to prove herself and improve, rather go down as a sore loser. Using her knowledge of her father, her car's unique abilities, and a little encouragement from Coop and the other campers, Cruise helps to stop his plan. After his defeat, Coop invites the other racers to continue staying with him at the Ultimate Garage, wanting them all to continue improving together. He also ends up extending the invite to Cruise, considering that now she has no place to go, as she's betrayed her father, and now that she's "good".

Option 2: Cruise wins the Ultimate Garage. Despite the campers' best efforts to beat her, Cruise still ends up winning out, and is rewarded with the ownership of the Ultimate Garage, much to the despair of everyone else. She excitedly shares the news with her Father, who is excited to begin the plans to destroy the whole thing. However, Cruise is starting to have doubts. She has all of these amazing cars and resources at her fingertips now, and she can use these to become an even better racer! She tries to convince her father that maybe they don't have to destroy everything, and can keep some of it intact, but he is not having any of that. He's looked forward to this for years! Realizing that he won't listen, Cruise instead asks for help from the campers, admitting that she was wrong, and needs their help now to stop Professor Rearview. Reluctantly, they choose to believe and trust her, and foil the plans with their racing skills. Once he is stopped, Cruise attempts to hand back over ownership of the garage, but the others insist she keep it. They come to a compromise- they'll share. After all, there's a lot they can all still learn from one another, as people and as racers.

Thanks for reading all of the way through! What are your thoughts on the new season, and your theories, if you have any ! I'd love to hear what everyone has to say!

[starseneyes]

Chenford REWIND - Lucy Chen / Tim Bradford - The Rookie - Season 3 Eps 7 & 8

I had a request for Episode 8, but that would mean 7 was living in a bubble without a real anchor. So, I decided to pair these two together for a two-fer.

I also realized that by getting these two written up, I'll have finished an entire season. Huzzah!

SPOILER ALERT: Standard warning applies. Please don't click the "Keep Reading" and expect not to get spoiled. I'm going to spoil these episodes (and everything that came before) to pieces. I do try to write these without foreknowledge, just so you're aware.

Kosher? Cool. Let's dive in.

"True Crime" AKA Grumpy/Sunshine Meme Activated

Lucy and Tim's First Interview

It strikes me that even as Tim is sitting down, he's turned in and looking at Lucy. At this point, Lucy is comfortable to Tim. What they're about to do isn't.

Tim hates this, but he's gonna do it. I don't know if it was a direct order from Grey, or he wanted to make sure it was done right so he was going to do it, damnit, but he's here and he's not happy about it.

Lucy, on the other hand, is thrilled. Her True Crime loving heart is filled to bursting and no doubt she's researched every person who was going to be there so she could fangirl all the more. It's adorable.

Also, these two make for good television. I mean, we already knew that, but the pretend producers happening onto this had me rolling. I bet the True Crime fans call them "Chenford" and perhaps that's the way the term might make it into the show someday.

"I'm sorry, I cut you off. I'm sorry."

She's so damn excited! And they haven't quite gotten their back-and-forth rhythm down that they will later display with gusto. It's close once she calms down, but girlfriend is thrilled right now, and Tim's "this is bullshit" meter is rising with every passing second.

"This is fun."

Tim looks at Lucy like she's grown a second head. And I'm trying to pick myself up from the floor where I've been rolling with laughter.

Look, the Grumpy/Sunshine trope is beloved for a reason, and we always knew Tim and Lucy had it in them. We've seen glimpses of it before. But sitting them down in an interview situation for an hour? This is pure gold!

I wasn't a fan at the time of airing, so I can only imaging how many memes were born out of these moments. It's amazing.

"Holy crap." "What is it?" "It's a, it's a-" "A what?" "A mummy. In a suit." "What?!"

Because, what else would a Mummy under a bed wear, right?

Eric Winter has this really wonderfully exasperated way of saying, "What!?" where you can really hear both the exclamation point and the question mark.

It reminds me of David Tenant during his run on Doctor Who. There was an entire scene in the TARDIS where he said "What!?" several times, and that was pretty much all he had to say on his first meeting of Donna.

It's. So. Funny. To have the ability to make a word funny. David Tenant and Eric Winter share that "What!?" power, and I kinda think Tim would enjoy the reference (see Season 4 to understand why).

"What's that saying? Those who can't do, teach?" *laugh*

We got a Tim laugh!? I mean, he made himself laugh, but it's still so cuuuuute. Like, rough, tough, mean-faced Tim having a chuckle is somehow so endearing. Especially at this phase, when we haven't seen him even smile much.

FAST FORWARD: There will be a day when we see smiley Tim. If you're just watching for the first time and wondering if it's coming... Tim's arc is one of the most complete (thus far) of the show. Stay tuned...

"You were literally my teacher. What are you saying?"

Ah, yes, the one indication that this episode was written in a post-"Amber" world where Lucy is no longer a Rookie.

See, the early days of COVID were a fustercluck for productions. I happen to know some people who worked through it, and there were so many different models of how to cope with it, copious amounts of hand sanitizer, masks, zones, wait periods in hotels for a week after landing, etc.

Now, there are more structured COVID protocols, but in the early days we knew so little about what was happening, and it impacted productions, ended series before they began, and delayed some seasons of shows that have now been permanently shelved.

So, Season 3's episodes aired in a very strange order compared to how it was written. Now, I'm grateful that the writers established Lucy and Tim's new dynamic early in the season so that's it's consistent, even when she's no longer his Rookie. So, I don't feel the need to call-out the air date vs production number, much.

But since the lower third provided for Tim and Lucy identified her as a Rookie, we know that this is supposed to happen during her Rookie year. But this one word lets us know something is amiss, if we're really paying attention.

And, golly, it's a word. I'm not trying to be dramatic, but trying to clarify for anyone who might not be aware of the whole Pandemic-fucked-everyone-over nature of Season 3 that makes this one word out of place.

So, if you ever wondered why Lucy used past tense instead of present tense, there's your answer.

Synchronicity

The moment they learn someone they know has been affected, they turn to one another.

And I love the synchronicity, here. Tim and Lucy have worked together a year, at this point, and they are very in sync with one another.

FAST FORWARD: Watch them undercover in 5x01 with how they sort of shift with one another, as though there's a cosmic pull between them that waves and they move with it. I feel that the evolution of their synchronicity really starts here in Season 3.

"It's LA. It's not the first time I've found a script at a crime scene." "I've only been on the job for a year and I've already found three." "Have either of you ever written one?" "God, no." *silence* "It was for a class."

Because she knows how he feels about screenwriters. If only Caleb had said "screenwriter" as his profession because then Tim would've locked him up right away.

"He was trying to cut her out—from the script, the cult, and the money."

True Crime Kink Activated. Look at how Lucy Chen is scoping out her future husband when he rattles off some Law-and-Order level soundbite. Girlfriend is surprisingly turned on at those words rolling off of his tongue. Oooh, the places that tongue could go.

*ahem* Now, Lucy's not going to jump his bones anytime soon, but there's definitely a moment there where she's finding Tim Bradford a little hotter than usual.

Who would've known the key to Lucy's heart was an oxford comma?

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, right?" "Cool. Way to trivialize female anger." "Hey, I'm not trivializing. All sorts of crimes are motivated by jealous ex-partners." "And how many of those ex-partners are men?" "Most."

See!? See what I mean!? These two are hilarious. We've seen Lucy call Tim on stuff, before, but this format is allowing them to be hilarious with it.

And I love the way he gives her the side-eye before saying "most". It reminds me of the side-eye he will give Grey in a future episode when having to tell a story he'd rather keep private.

"I heard it was Office Chen who broke the case wide open." "I don't know if I'd describe it quite that way." "How would you describe it then?"

Married. This is so married. Because Lucy is giving him the "don't try me" wife face, glaring at her man on-camera for mass consumption.

The fact that he stares right back and doesn't turn to ashes is only because Lucy didn't want to commit murder on-camera. But I love the way Melissa O'Neil is playing Lucy's confidence in this episode.

"Her addiction to social media finally paid off." "That is hurtful."

I bet he's not even on Social Media. That makes it easier for whatever relationships he'll have along the way before he and Lucy finally get it together (I have faith). No need to change your relationship status online when you don't have it listed to begin with.

That said, Lucy's Mom totally has a shadow account that she uses to stalk her daughter to spy and see if she's found a stable man, yet.

The Wrong Video

I love how embarrassed Lucy is, and how Tim tries to get a look at what the heck she played before she gets it onto the right video. He looks actively concerned. Like, "Please don't tell me you're one of those 'dance challenge' girls because I was just starting to respect you."

And, look, no shade from me. But Tim Bradford likes to throw shade, and I'm betting he'd throw some on Lucy if he'd gotten a glimpse of that video.

"Okay, look, the case was definitely weird. But, I mean, come on, all this? This feels so exploitational. The low-hanging fruit of celebrity scandal and murder."

Tim is not wrong. A lot of what is on television relating to celebrity scandal is exploitative. But I love Lucy, here. Melissa O'Neil gets a lot to play with in this episode, and she does not let it go to waste.

She has nailed the withering sigh of your wife sitting beside you as she lets you rant and dig your own grave.

"You should be making serious documentaries about things that really matter." "My last film was about climate injustice in Puerto Rico. It won a BAFTA." "Oh. Well. Alright, then."

And Lucy's withering sigh has transitioned to a knowing look. Like, Tim, you need to talk to your wife about this stuff, more. She has the 411 and will keep you from getting embarrassed.

"You got, you got something in your hair." "What?" "It's kind of-." "Has it been there the whole time?" "Yeah, it's pretty big. Let's get out of here." "I would tell you if you had broccoli in your teeth, man. What the heck?"

Am I the only one who thinks there wasn't really anything there? Because, Tim is so ready to be done with this, and Lucy's high over doing the interview is totally annoying him.

"Bad Blood"

Breaking Up... In A Text

Look, this is totally the coward's way out... but when Lucy's face lit up to see his message, I might've vomited in my mouth a little.

So, seeing him break it off brought out a little cheer. Huzzah! But, oh, no, poor Lucy. But *whispers* huzzah Chenford *whispers*.

I've never had someone break up with me over text... because the only person I've dated since Text Messaging has been widely available is my husband. I remember the first time we saw people texting all the time in England and we couldn't quite get why.

But I did have a boyfriend break up with me over the phone on my 17th birthday... the week of prom... because he was cheating on me because I wouldn't sleep with my first boyfriend 2 months into dating him. Later found out the entire reason we dated was because he had a reputation as a "de-virginator" and none of our friends warned me. I don't keep in touch with most of them anymore.

So, while I'm not quite on Lucy's level of indignation, I understand the frustration to have your boo cut it off in the most cowardly way available.

And putting Tim in the middle!? Emmett, my man, what are you doing!? You already have one half of Chenford wanting to set you on fire. Piss of Tim and he'll happily help her finish the job.

"I can't believe him... breaking up with me by text? What is he, 14? He doesn't have the guts to do it in person?" "Most guys don't."

Tim looks over to Jackson on that beat. I bet Tim would never do that, but he's also only got his own limited experience. Jackson's actually dated other men, so he knows better than Tim, in this case.

"Look, just be happy he didn't ghost you." "Can we get to work now?" "Did Emmett talk to you about this?" "No. Why would he?" "Because you're friends." "We don't talk feelings. We drink and watch sports together." "That's guy for friends." "Straight guy for friends."

I think Lucy doesn't quite yet understand what Tim considers a "friend". Because, at this point Tim does have one solid friend. Angela.

And, yes, we are in the era of Tim and Lucy being friends, but I'd argue it isn't until Season 4 when they are as interwoven into each other's lives (if not moreso) than Tim and Angela.

Also to note... Lucy is holding her phone the entire scene. She quite literally can't let it go.

"Look, you want my advice-"

She does. Look at her open-mouthed, wide-eyed, hoping he'll say something to make this atrocity better. And she did tell him that she values his opinion.

Gosh, I wish I could tell her to lower her expectations right about now.

"Walk it off. Clearly he's the wrong guy for you."

As said by her future husband. What? I couldn't leave that alone! Emmett is definitely the wrong guy for Lucy. But Tim's still learning how to comfort Lucy, and this time wow did our boy get it wrong.

"It's the same advice he would give me if I got hit by a pitch. What is wrong with men?"

Trust me, Lucy. Someday you'll come to appreciate his sports metaphors. And find a new appreciation for baseball!

Yes, I try to write these without foreknowledge, but c'mon! It's right there!

"Have you ever been dumped out of the blue before?" "Let me think. One time my wife left the house in the middle of the night and I didn't see her again for two years."

Yeahhh... Um. I'm not touching that. Because Tim Bradford's being flippant, and it's warranted here.

But (yes, there's a but), Tim doesn't understand all of Lucy's hangups about how she sees herself, yet. He doesn't fully understand the weight of her mother's expectations. And how she has never felt enough.

Like, she can handle romantic rejection. She doesn't like it, but she can handle it. But why wasn't she worth a real breakup? That's what's playing in her head. She need to know the why. Why wasn't she good enough for some basic decency?

"Okay, I get it, in the grand scheme of things, this isn't that bad. I just want to know why. Can you please ask?"

If she can understand it, she can process it. But we all know Tim isn't asking his drinking buddy about his feelings—unless that feeling is about how he feels about the Rams not living up to their potential.

"He must've been a seriously hardcore guy for you to obsess like that. What was his main crime?"

Because Tim would only obsess if it was something important, right? Right!?

"3EYEZ tagged your shop back when you were a Rookie?" "My TO was chasing a suspect. I was guarding a vehicle full of evidence." "A vehicle that was ten feet away from your Shop. It's right in your notes."

I love how Tim's trying to rationalize this away. He has a habit of doing that when he's called out—trying to minimize his own embarrassment by stating facts. (Trust me, he does it at the beginning of 5x01 with Angela)

But, Timmy, Lucy's got the facts in her hands. And you totally dropped the ball.

"I was ordered to keep my eyes on the car. I'd just left the Army where you follow orders to a T."

He thinks this'll get her to back down, but Lucy's long past being afraid of Tim. In fact, she's openly laughing at him. And I low-key love it because this is a form of flirtatious teasing.

Look, these two have a completely unique language. Pranks. Embarrassing photos. And even this harmless giggling.

They're comfortable around each other, and by now they know what's crossing the line with each other. So, it doesn't bother me that Lucy's teasing him, here. In fact, I think it's adorable.

"Oh, man, I can just imagine the relentless teasing. Did they give you a nickname? Please say yes." *yoinks paper* "No."

But your eyes say yes. Wow, now I sound like some of those creepy Christmas songs from the 50's. You know the ones.

"That's why you're so intent on catching this guy. It's personal."

Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner! Look, when Tim tried to call in the cavalry when he first saw the tag, I wondered what the hell I was missing. Lucy, apparently, was, too.

Is this tag a symbol of a gang war? Or a killing spree? What terrible, horrible thing is going to happen because of this?

Nada. Nothing. Nil. Except maybe Tim Bradford's ego getting a bit bruised.

"Even if we were to track him down for tagging our Shop, it's a misdemeanor. Is that really the best use of our time?" *yoinks another paper* "I will get us a fresh Shop."

There's something so delicious about Tim's silent protest via yoinking those papers. And Lucy knows him well enough that they're done talking.

Look, these episodes aren't about pent up sexual tension or the angst of longing. These are foundational episodes, and what we're seeing is Tim and Lucy learning to work together. They're increasingly a unit in Season 3, even though Lucy spends most of it still his Rookie.

They're learning how to communicate with one another. So, if they ever do get their acts together, they're already going to have that part down pretty well.

"Let's go. Not a word about the Shop."

He knows her well enough to know that she'll tease him. She knows him well enough that if he says he doesn't want it, she's not going to do it.

See? They're communicating!

"What? You disapprove. You think I'm just dating him to make Emmet jealous? Heck, yeah. Maybe I am. But, he deserves it. Will you say something, please?"

Lucy processes by talking it out, we know, and when Tim doesn't interject, she starts projecting. Because even she knows going out with this guy isn't purely motivated. She's hurting and lashing out, and she knows it.

Tim's simply listening. But when she asks him to speak, he realizes that's what she needs.

See? Communicating!

"Today's the first time you've talked about Emmett in weeks." "You hate it when I talk about personal stuff."

Nice excuse. Look, Tim and Lucy are mirroring each other a lot this episode. They both have personal things that they're obsessing over that are clouding their judgment and thoughts.

And they're both rationalizing. Tim rationalized missing the tagger when he was a Rookie by saying he was just following orders. Lucy is rationalizing not talking about Emmett by defaulting to Tim's dislike of personal talk in the Shop.

They're both not thinking clearly. And, of course, it takes the other to help them get through.

"And yet you still do. But in all those conversations, you haven't said one word about your boyfriend." "What are you saying?" "Look, maybe Emmett treated the relationship like it didn't matter because you treated it like it didn't matter."

The realization hits her that he's right. It's one of those rare moments where Tim's the one helping Lucy examine herself. But that's what I love about them. They help refine one another. It's a give and take, and not just one person "healing" the other.

Tim and Lucy are on their own, personal journeys to healing and self-realization. But, I'll argue, each is a vital part of that journey. But to give one or the other full credit is to ignore the individual's effort to grow.

Tim and Lucy are growing together. And I love that so much more than one patching the other up. We're not patching up holes, we're actually healing. Yes, there will always be scars. But the healing makes it all so much more bearable, and so much easier to fully live, again.

But when he sees the realization hit her, his gaze softens. Tim hates to see her in pain. But we're not quite at the point where he's going to offer her comfort, especially on the job.

After all, Lucy is still his Rookie, and he needs to keep the lines firm between them. Because, if he were honest, he'd realize they're already getting blurrier and blurrier.

"Alright. Focus up. You read the file. Do you think 3EYEZ is done for the day?"

Tim's trying to get her back on track, like he has so many times before. But, Tim knows her well enough to know that sometimes barking out orders isn't enough for Lucy.

She needs something to help her switch her brain, something else to think about. They've done her mock-plan of how to sabotage her ex's wedding, before. This time, Tim tries a different tactic—he offers a piece of himself.

"Eagle Eye."

Lucy looks at him with confusion while I shove my face into a pillow so the kids don't hear me squealing and come running in here, mistaking it for screaming.

Tim doesn't have to do this. But he wants to. He wants to let Lucy Chen in just a little more.

"What?" "The nickname I got. After the Shop got tagged right under my nose." *giggle* "But it wasn't my TO who came up with it. It was Isabel. It kind of became her pet name for me." "Aw. That's sweet."

It's still hard for him to talk about Isabel. Those wounds are still healing, even though he's tested the dating pool a little. And it's important to remember that he and Isabel did have good times. There was a time when Tim had a lot of happiness in his life.

But he opens up a little to Lucy, here. He gives her insight. He gives a little of himself. And that's huge. He's starting to talk about Isabel without tearing up, without scowling, without the same agonizing pain striking his chest.

It still hurts. To a degree, it'll always hurt. But it's starting to heal. And I love that when he's starting to get healthier, the first person who gets to see it is Lucy.

We're not to the point of them swapping saliva and dreaming of the other's taste. But, we're building a really solid friendship. Heck, Lucy giggled when Tim opened up just now.

And I've talked about it a bit in this Meta, but I think it's important to draw out that Lucy has become comfortable to him. Why is this important?

FAST FORWARD: Remember the famous double date of S4? Why did Tim invite Lucy? Because he wanted a source of comfort in this truly uncomfortable situation. So, later when Bargain Barbie remarks about his creature comforts and about how he needs to get out and do more... nobody takes into account that Lucy is one of his comforts. So, once he and Lucy start dating, they are out all the time together. Why? Because he doesn't need all the other comforts when he's with her. Lucy is his comfort.

Thank y'all for reading and going on this journey with me. I think with this Meta, I've finished my tour of Season 3! It was a short season, so that made it a bit easier to chunk out.

And sorry this one took so long. My roof's leaking and it looks like I'm emptying out my 401K to replace it. It's always something, but I remain grateful. I've faced my death a few times in my lifetime, so every day I'm given is an absolute gift.

Just gotta take it one breath at a time.

[shiranui7]

The batman: strange minds episode analysis.

Plot summary: SPOILER ALERT

Joker kidnaps detective Yin and locks her in a box that will explode as soon as the time runs out. Batman catches him and brings him back to Arkham where Strange uses a device to enter his mind in search of clues. Batman uses it too, manages to trick Joker into revealing Yin's position and saves her.

EASTER EGGS

Joker fish from Btas.

The gotham statue in his mind is a monument to himself, it reminds me of "the rubber face of comedy" in which he modelled it to look like him.

Joker is usually a strong fighter but he immediately gives up after falling in the small pool. Maybe he has PTSD from his fall into a vat of chemicals, his bad day as he puts it (the moment is even shown in the episode).

"I Pagliacci"is an opera by Leoncavallo and Joker's pizza is called "Lee'n cavalos". Coincidences? The coupon also had a clown on it.

Joker's mind looks like his lair in the episode "the rubber face of comedy"

Chicken!Joker asks Strange why does he cross the road.

Joker stops running away with his loot after seeing Dr. Strange and tries to hurt him. Even when he gets into his mind, Joker makes remarks about how he isn't looking for Yin. It's a red flag for Strange that, after some episodes, is revealed to be a villain. It's highly probable that Strange, since he was so eager to use radical or experimental methods in his therapy, probably did something to earn Joker's hostility (electroshock? Violence?).

Joker's EEG looks like one from an epileptic seizure.

The importance of opera

The theme of opera is always present in the episode. Since the beginning, Joker is shown to be an opera enthusiast and he clearly states that he has always wanted to participate in one. He also tried to steal the costume from "I Pagliacci" and wears it in his mind, where he also sings "vesti la giubba", the most famous part of it. Now, why is he obsessed with this opera, since it's a tragedy and he clearly loves jokes and fun? I have some hypothesis.

"I Pagliacci": plot summary

Canio is a circus leader and discovers that his wife Nedda is betraying him with Silvio, a member of the company, thanks to Tonio, who is jealous of Silvio. Canio is devastated and at the end of the play, he kills Nedda and Silvio.

Now imagine this: Joker is Canio, Yin is Silvio and Batman is Nedda. Joker often flirts with Batman in the series and in the comics so we can suppose  that he has a crush on him or that he simply wants to be the only one in Batman's life. Batman however, has a partner, Yin that, even if she's not romantically involved with him, is a third wheel for Joker. Who is Tonio? Riddler. He knows about Batman and Yin's team up and probably told the other inmates about it. Joker must have felt betrayed by this reveal, so he went after Yin. This is the only episode in which Joker purposely kidnaps a specific, single person for a reason that is not money of twisted fun: this is revenge. If we compare the opera to the plot, Joker discovered Batman's new partner and got jealous, so he planned to kill her (Silvio) to figuratively stab Batman (Nedda) in the heart. After failing, he is seen crying alone in his cell, like Canio did when he discovered the betrayal.

Why did I come up with this idea?

Joker says that he needed a costume and a female character. In that moment the camera zooms on Batman, who is listening outside the asylum. Is he the character he wanted, Nedda?

Joker is usually called freak, monster or clown, he is not treated as a human being and in "Vesti la giubba" Canio says that he is not a man, just a clown, made for people's amusement (Joker's goal). Joker is probably trying to express his inner turmoil caused by his own bad day and by Batman "cheating on him".

The theme of puppetry and theatrics is recurrent : there's a scene in which Joker controls some puppets and then Batman himself.

Joker swallowed Batman whole 😅

Joker cries at the end and this never happens when his usual plans are foiled. He was probably heartbroken.

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!

[nangbaby]

I've seen the leaks and now I'm ticked off.

This post has potentially VERY BIG spoilers so I'm hiding this under a cut.

Again, if you don't want to know how Season 5 of Miraculous Ladybug and the whole "Agreste Arc" ends, this is your LAST CHANCE to not be surprised.

I'm assuming you WANT to know now. Well, here's how I feel about it.

I'm not mad that Miraculous Ladybug isn't closing out its biggest arc the way I want it to end. I'm disappointed because the writers chose to go with an ending that goes against not only everything set up so far for this arc but the overall message of the series. The overall message to learn to deal and recover from setbacks and to never give up hope, even though it takes work. When things go wrong, Ladybug can fix it, but fixing the emotional damage is harder than summoning a "Lucky Charm" and shouting "Miraculous Ladybug!" Basically, she can start the process to truly heal and the cheat of making a deal to get what you want never ends well. The only way out is through...by working at it one step at a time and having hope.

Instead this ending is Gabriel getting what he wants - the restoration of this wife - then becoming undone by it. This would work if it came after some effort and evaluation on Gabriel's part to truly understand why he would be unworthy of this new world he fought for, or if he hadn't already been shown repeatedly that he would destroy himself to get what he wants. Instead, he gets away with the punishment he chose for himself and at worst, the collective memory of him will be as a hero...even though he did nothing to earn this and the only person it benefits is Adrien.

This whole scenario could have been fixed by the wish granter making one important declaration.

"You can have your wish, but you cannot choose the sacrifice."

Then we could have had an alternate Wishverse, and then Marinette given the difficult burden on setting right what went wrong. Before you cry "She'd be no different from Gabriel," this IS basically what she does when she uses Miraculous Ladybug, only a step further. WARNING FANFIC ALERT! FANFIC ALERT! THIS IS OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD SO IT CONTAINS PLOT HOLES GALORE!

Imaging this scenario: As in the leaks, Ladybug is tricked into thinking that Gabriel/Monarch wants to give up. The bad guy takes her earrings and then does the whole wish granting ceremony.

We see the wish bubble expand since we know that's how it happens thanks to "Ephemeral." Before it reaches a frozen Marinette (or maybe she's not frozen here...I'm not sure if she still will be frozen in the actual episode even from the leaks), a portal appears under her feet. All of a sudden Marinette is in the Burrow. (Yes, it seems contrived, but just hear me out.)

Bunnyx has saved Marinette, and Marinette mentions that they have to go back in time to before Gabriel makes his wish. However Bunnyx explains that once a wish is made and it engulfs the universe, everything is changed, past, present, and future. (Note: This makes it a point that even the Bunny Miraculous, as powerful as it is, can't counter a wish and also shows how it differs from the Snake Miraculous, and it would also explain why the Bunny Miraculous couldn't be used in Ephemeral). The Burrow is outside of time, but once Bunnyx deposits Marinette in the new universe, Marinette can't come back. However, Bunnyx knows Marinette can set things right and sends Marinette on her way.

So then Marinette is deposited in her own room and it's a school day and she's almost late for school. Remarkably, many things are the same in the "new" world, although there are little things like a poster teasing a Tsurugi-Fathom alliance in London is coming to Paris soon (implying Feligami is still a thing...but this time arranged the way Adrigami was in canon). Chloé tries to start her bullying, but is surprised to see Marinette have a strong backbone when Marinette fires back at her, and Alya is glad Marinette stood up for herself. However, as soon as Marinette gets to class she realizes that Adrien is not there and more importantly, no one even seems to know who he is.

Marinette then goes over to the Agreste mansion and to her surprise, the gates are open people are flowing in and out of there. It's an "open house" called "Gabriel's House." Nathalie and the bodyguard are still there, but more like ushers rather than barriers, and surprisingly, Marinette is able to see Gabriel after waiting in line. Gabriel is in his atelier alongside Emilie.

At first Marinette accuses Gabriel of being Hawk Moth and being behind Adrien's disappearance, and the couple are stunned. They don't know. When she says he's their son, Emilie gets upset and Gabriel asks her to leave, but that she is welcome to come back once she learns her manners.

Marinette goes home and both does her own research (discovering Adrien really doesn't exist, as well as Ladybug or Cat Noir, and there's no information about the Miraculous or even the restoration of the temple) and consults Alya to fill in the blanks. She asks Alya if she ever heard of Hawk Moth or superheroes. Alya tells her superheroes appear in Paris all the time whenever crises happen. She says she even became Lady Wifi once....and so Marinette realizes that Hawk Moth does still exist and is still akumatizing people. Marinette then goes to Master Fu, who is still in Paris with the Miraculous Box.

At first, Fu feigns ignorance and pretends to be a healer, but Marinette explains the situation and asks him to give her the Ladybug Miraculous. He believes her wholeheartedly, but he says he cannot. Even if this world is "wrong" there is always a price to be paid for a wish and for her to change the universe again would make her no better than the villain she described.

She despairs at the thought that she can't bring Adrien back, and then a butterfly slams into her purse.

"Ladybug, I am Hawk Moth. I will help you obtain what you seek."

Marinette doesn't listen and instead rejects the akuma, thinking that Hawk Moth planned to turn her into a minion. She then goes back home, then goes upstairs to the balcony where she finds a note asking her to come to the Agreste mansion. Marinette goes over to the manion and sees Gabriel and Emilie. He tells Nooroo it's okay to appear. Gabriel explains that even though he found the Peacock Miraculous, he and Emily both decided to never use it, as the price for creating life that way was too high. After seeing what has happened to their nephew (he says "family"), Gabriel and Emilie are more convinced this was the right decision. Instead, they decided to give their love to Paris' children and adult citizens, and Gabriel would use the proceeds from his fashion line to help others. However, there was still more they could do, so recently Gabriel began to use the Butterfly Miraculous to share power with others to help them save others. In this way he could go his good from the shadows, with no one the wiser.

Marinette explains that in the world before the wish Gabriel was not a good man. Upon merely mentioning a few bad events, Gabriel and Emily are horrified.

"Perhaps the Guardian is right," Gabriel laments. "If I committed these terrible crimes, not only do I not deserve a son, but Paris is safer as it is now."

However, Marinette mentions that this world is wrong. Reluctantly, Emilie agrees. She confesses that all these years she has felt something wrong, and she knows Gabriel felt it as well. That's why the two of them were trying to atone and do good for others, but it was never enough.

With a newfound resolve, Gabriel becomes Hawk Moth and akumatizes Marinette into Ladybug. Emilie also uses the broken Peacock Miraculous to transform, which horrifies Gabriel, but she stands resolute as she knows what Ladybug must do is bigger than herself. Emilie adds, "I'll also give you a sentimonster of your own choosing. If you're going up against the Guardian you will need all the help you can get."

Ladybug would tempted to bring back Adrien with the amok, but instead she knows what she has to do. In order to beat Master Fu if it comes down to fighting. She then recreates Cat Noir.

"As a sign of good faith," Hawk Moth says, "we give you these."

After this, he then not only removes the brooch and turns back into Gabriel, but gives it to her alongside a kwatagama. Emilie also takes off the Peacock Miraculous and gives it to Ladybug.

"These are the Peacock and the Butterfly Miraculouses," Gabriel says. "You can return these to the Guardian so they are with the others. If you are successful, we will not need them any longer."

"You trust me that much?" Ladybug asks.

"If we do have a son in this we'd like to think he'd have as kind of a heart as you do."

Gabriel does give her one final piece of advice. "Even if I am a villain in the other world, don't try to change things. I'm fully prepared to pay the price. Let me face the consequences of my own actions. Neither that version of myself nor I deserve a second chance."

"Likewise," Emilie says, "I know I would gladly give my life for my son. Now I get the chance to help set things right."

Ladybug then goes to Master Fu's. Master Fu is outraged that she has sold her soul for power just like all the mysterious "heroes" that have shown up and turns into Jade Turtle. Ladybug tries to explain that she's not a villain and that she is willing to return even the Peacock and Butterfly Miraculouses in exchange for the Ladybug and Cat Miraculouses. Fu declares that she is a villain who doesn't even know it, and so he has to fight Ladybug.

Since Ladybug's powers come from an akuma, she can use her Lucky Charm more than once. Of course, Jade Turtle counters with a barrier and says he can wait it out.

"Cat Noir" cataclysms the barrier, but Master Fu forms it again. Cat Noir's ring pads begin to disappear. Ladybug uses her Lucky Charm and is able to win the fight. (Okay, I haven't worked this part out yet.)

She repeats a variation of the speech Fu had given her in "Miracle Queen."

"Master Fu," Ladybug says, "you are the best Guardian I've ever met. You taught me that we all make mistakes, but what matters is to fix them. Please, trust me, and let me fix this mistake."

Jade Turtle then yields then becomes Master Fu again. Cat Noir also doubles over as his markings disappear on the ring finger. Ladybug doesn't understand, but he reminds her that he's not the real Cat Noir just before he disappears. She realizes that this is because he's just a recreation of the Cat Noir she knew, but she did not know who was behind the mask so he ceased to exist when he switched back. She gives Master Fu the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculouses, but not the kwatagama (it's still in her yo-yo, and, yes, this is an important point for future arcs). Master Fu then gives her the Ladybug and Cat Noir Miraculouses, and then she wears them and makes the wish. But Marinette wished for everything to be it was...with one exception. She wishes that Gabriel Agreste wasn't Hawk Moth or Shadow Moth or Monarch any more so that Adrien could have a father.

This wish recreated the world as it was with one exception...Instead of being Monarch, Gabriel has lost his memory of being Hawk Moth, the Miraculous, and just about everything since he met Emilie. However, because he is no longer Monarch...he no longer has a hold of the Butterfly Miraculous...and that Miraculous ends up in Lila's possession. Because Gabriel does not remember Emilie, the power fades and she passes away in her coffin unnoticed to the world. However, Gabriel decides to be there for Adrien, no matter that he does not know his son any more, and he and Nathalie act as parent and guardian to create new memories for each other. So...yeah, I kind of went overboard there. But my point is letting the bad guy win, even when redemption equals death, leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

*Important note. Just like the new leaks confirm, it's clear Ladybug still does NOT know Cat Noir's identity and vice versa. EDIT: I realized a big plot hole in the above is that Colt Fathom is supposedly the one who gave Gabriel his money...so I pretty much have to wait until the episodes air before finalizing the details of my FixitFic.

[livehorses]

Obviously when Lent starts, any catholic has their spirit uplifted with the hope and good intention to renounce to those things that slow them down in their spiritual journey. But truth is, as the season continues, those good intentions are faded away by temptantion and emotional drain. As in the Parable of the Sower, the plants of seeds that fell among rocks or thorns, can be easily anniquilated. The thing is, we always make the mistake to rely only on our own strength, thinking that it will be enough, when, as our Lord says, “Indeed, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Mathew 26:41

As you may know, my main goal in Lent is to spend less time on Social Media, since it can be very absorbing, making me pay less attention to my spiritual life, my personal relationships with those around me and to ignore my main chores. Sadly, is one of my most strong weaknesses. I always feel tempted to check that comment, to see what's new, what my friends have been up to, which, isn't wrong exactly, but doing it the whole time can invade my whole day and it can turn out as a very strong addiction.

Thinking about this, I remembered one episode from Adventures in Odyssey that I enjoyed a lot. Connie, one of the characters, is upset with all the bad stuff that happens in the World, and she tells Whittaker, the main character, that all it takes is for every person on Earth to try and be good and kind with each other. Whit laughs at her and tells her that's impossible.

When I heard that in the episode, I personally felt upset. I use to try to give my best in everything because I'm so tired of how bad has been doing the World lately with wars and political conflicts. All I know it's that a stronger change comes with personal change, only to discover that the same evil I see out there relies inside of me as well, as I'm also capable of feeling envy, pride, greed, hatred and resentment.

Going back to the episode, Connie decides to prove Whit wrong and makes the resolution of being patient with everyone for a week. Long story short, (spoilers alert) she ends up failing at her own resolution. Whit's conclution is that we may have the best intentions at hand, but without God, the source of our strength, we can't accomplish anything.

It's not that we lack of strength and personal resilience to resist to temptantion and do good, as doing good is also a human natural thing. It's that we didn't get it, and we can't get it without going to the source of it. It's like, trying to go a whole day without consumming water or food. Of course we have some energy left from our lasts meals and night rests, but if we don't take care of ourselves, sooner or later we will faint. So, as to achieve a true personal change, we must look for our spiritual meal.

I can say, I've failed miserably to stay out from Social Media by my own strength, but in other things, I realized I'm more able to do things that costed me a lot more in the past, like waking up early, renouncing to little whims, making house chores, helping and understanding others, being kind and patient, when I started the day with a prayer and trusting God wholeheartedly.

I still need more improvement to do, but I'm sure that with God, strenght won't be lacking.

[ramen8008]

I had been putting off watching the last episodes. But I finally did and SPOILER ALERT!

OMG! I have so many things to say.

1. I LOVE how all the heroes from the specials came together it was 🤌 but my question is WHERE THE HECK WAS FELIX?!! I love him and I really wanted him to have a big role in the finale and he was NOWHERE like not even a scene of him helping defeat the... Hawkmoth's minions?!? I forgot what they are called.

2. GO DAMNIT I NEEDED CHAT NOIR!! PLEASE! It's the god damn FINALE, the boss fight, the final battle and CHAT NOIR JUST MISSES IT TRAPPED IN AN ASYLUM!?!

3. That brings me to my other point. GABRIEL REALLY LOCKED HIS SON IN AN INSANE ASYLUM?!?! WHAT THE HELL😭

4. I am kinda confused and concerned... Like now Gabriel is looked upon as a hero, nobody knows what happened except Marinette. But what about Natalie and Felix. Natalie probably would just want to forget it and Felix knows Gabriel was Hawkmoth but I think he would also let it all be for Adrien's happiness and so he can spend time happily with Kagami. He's smart and he probably figured out what happened.

4. Senti-being?!? What about that? Felix and Kagami are happy and have accepted it but Adrien still has no idea. Marinette isn't even remotely seen thinking about it or discussing it as to what it could mean. I mean great she's accepted it but like...bro deserves to know but at the same time it makes sense for him to not know.

5. Back to the 3rd point. So like Kagami's mom is just there now? Will she like team up with Lila or is she just gonna sweep it under the rug like nothing happened 😭. Nobody knows so like ???

6. CHAT NOIR!! Still mad about it. Don't get me wrong I liked everything and i understand it makes sense for him to not be there with what happened in the finale with Gabriel and everything probably better for him he wasn't but like?!?! It's Miraculous Ladybug and CHAT NOIR.

I don't like how he just accepts it and doesn't even think about it. Chat noir was a way for him to be free and now that he has Marinette he doesn't care as much about his other persona. He doesn't mind if he isn't needed, he just accepts it and doesn't think about it because chat noir doesn't plays as big of a role in his life as it used to be.

( This is getting too long I'll talk about this separately because I have a lot to say)

7. Lila- freaking- Rossi. Die die die die die die. God damn it we finally got rid of her. *Deep breath* 😤😮‍💨 I really think this time she'll use a different strategy though. As much as I hate her she isn't stupid. If she's as smart as she's seen to be by the writer she won't do the same thing again. She'll either be a minor character in the background who observes Marinette from afar and only be seen a couple of times when she helps Marinette with something or they have a brief conversation OR she'll go the opposite direction as the last time. ( Imma talk more about this separately)

8. Ooooh and Felix being a part of their superhero team. I love that. I really wanted him to have that mysterious superhero helper that only comes when it's really necessary kinda vibe but I don't hate it. And I still think he can and will be like that.

9. It seems like the actual reality of Adrien being a senti-being hasn't dawned on her yet. Like she knows but she's pushing it back and not thinking about it and I think in the next season we'll see her just ignoring it so she doesn't have to think about what to do or if she should tell Adrien. Maybe she'll have a breakdown or sorts.

10. CAN PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE GET MORE FELIX. But like Felix with Marinette/ Ladybug. He's smart and they could do so much together. I really want him to have a big role in the story because he's just a great character with everything and it's going to be sad seeing him go to waste. AND MORE BONDING BETWEEN FELIX AND ADRIEN!!!

11. EMILE!!! I know she's back and I love that but I really NEED to see her have a good relationship with Marinette and same with Natalie. Natalie already likes Marinette so Emile is bound to as well. I love Natalie so much!! I need more of her but I'll be fine with her just enjoying her life in the background and not having more of a mess to deal with later. I think she deserves some rest cause 5 whole seasons of...whatever the heck that was with Gabriel and his villian era ( it wasn't a phase) and Adrien and then being paralyzed because of Hawky and then LITERALLY DYING!?!

Edit: I'm stupid pretty sure that was Amelie not Emilie 😭

That's all for today thanks for coming to my ted talk. I'll rant expand on the chat noir and other things separately.

[bowtiesnmusicals]

Here is my recap of The Spider and the Queen B (Preggers) episode of the podcast

Jenna really enjoys this episode and has a lot of memories. Tina gets her moment to shine.

Kevin doesn't have a lot of memories because he wasn't there.

What was happening in the world at the time: The Black Eyed Peas were still crushing it. I've Got A Feeling was still #1. The cast was still in Australia. There was a huge dust storm. It was frightening.

This episode has the least amount of songs of any episode.

There are no full songs in this episode.

There were a lot of first in this episode. There were no duets or group numbers. The first Sue's Corner. First appearance of Burt, Matt, and Mike. First time Mr. Shue keeps his shirt on. No shirtless Shue this episode.

We get to see more of the other glee members this episode.

Three big things happening: babygate, beyoncegate, Sue and Sandy plotting.

Mike O'Malley is one of the most lovely human beings and an excellent actor that you just can't keep up with.

Terri and Kendra are in cahoots now that Kendra knows Terri isn't pregnant. When Kendra asks if the baby is black is possibly wink and nod back to Nip/Tuck and Jessalyn's character on that show.

Quinn is pregnant.

Think of the mailman is a great scene.

Spoiler Alert: Puck is the dad.

Fairy veil was a term coined by Telly and Naya. There is a bran of hair extension called Fairy veil and that became their secret term.

Jenna loves Single Ladies.

Heather and Chris had been working on Single Ladies dance for weeks. Jenna got thrown into it later on.

Jenna only ate canned tuna fish and salsa for two weeks because she knew she would be in a leotard.

They would have to do the dance at every Fox party.

Heather, Jenna, and Chris rehearsed for a couple of weeks. They shot part of it on a blank wall like the music video but that part never got used.

Kurt smacking Tina's ass was improved.

The Single Ladies outfit was Chris's idea. The original outfit was closer to the music video.

Kurt now has to audition for the football team. Kevin says those scenes are so magical.

Kurt's coming out scene is beautiful. Kevin said it's a little clunky but that is what makes it great.

Burt's acceptance is fast but he still needs time to process.

Burt accepts Kurt to the best of his abilities. They only have each other and he's not about to lose his son after he's lost his wife.

Jane Lynch and Stephen Tobolowsky are insane in the best way.

Lea and Jenna both asked for a lot of Celine songs. Lea got one later on but it was the wrong song.

If you watch Tina on the ladder practicing Tonight she is wearing a big spider necklace. Jenna and Kevin have arachnophobia. She panicked about having to wear the necklace. Jenna didn't know at the time she could say no to costume and hair decisions. They made the chain longer and that helped.

Kevin was peeved that Rachel's audition song in this episode clearly sounds like it was done in a recording studio and Tina's while it was prerecorded was made to sound like it was being sung live. Tina didn't get the most produced songs.

Tina always gets the shit end of the deal.

This was Jenna's first big scene with Matt. Matt told her she was cheating out which is something you do in theater.

Sue's Corner was just Sue ranting. They get crazier and crazier.

Terri Schuester is a horror movie character. The car scene is terrifying and so illegal for so many reasons. It's also wonderful.

Kevin loves a good car cry.

Kurt's coming out scene is not Ryan's life but based on the reaction he wished he had from his parents. Kevin texted Ryan during the recording to find out the answer.

It is nice to see a positive response to coming out.

Glee club has added 3 new members by the end of this episode. Matt, Mike, and Puck.

Tartie Takes:

Cringe Moment - Sandy Ryerson, Figgins commercial

Worst Dance move - none

Best Song - Single Ladies

Best Line - My body is like a rum chocolate soufflé if I don't warm it up right it doesn't rise.

Best performance by a prop - the spider necklace

Things that didn't age well - Is the baby black?

Thing that did age well - Burt coming home early to watch Deadliest Catch

Shit we found on Tiktok:

They shouted out two people that do recaps on the podcast.

When Karofsky is first introduced he on the hockey team and later is on the football team. Kevin asked Max about this plot hole. Max said when he originally auditioned he auditioned for Karofsky and Azimio. Karofsky was a hockey player and Azimio was on the football team. They were both jocks that bully the glee club. Karofsky was originally a one episode character. They decided to bring him back and it was easier to just make him a football player.

Jenna likes being surprised every week by the shit we found on tiktok segment and she likes not having to do any prep work for it.

Next week is Rhodes Not Taken. They loved getting to work with Kristin Chenoweth.

[pimientos-especiales]

hey it's me back with MORE MIRACULOUS LADYBUG THOUGHTS but this one's shorter this time, season 5 spoilers

Okay so we get confirmation that Felix is a sentimonster and he somehow knows Kagami and Adrien are too. Putting aside the horrific implications of this - first of all, that you can create a sentimonster INSIDE OF ANOTHER PERSON - like why didn't Shadowmoth/Mayura just do that and kill Ladybug and Cat Noir in that case; also that this essentially means that Ladybug, Adrien, Felix, Nathalie, and Gabriel have literally murdered sentient beings.

Putting that aside, I see people pointing to stuff from way back in season 1 that's supposedly foreshadowing and the stuff they point out is pretty obviously confirmation bias - oh Adrien is allergic to feathers, even though there's no indication that any other sentimonster is also allergic to feathers! The girl who has a crush on Adrien and his own father both refer to him as perfect, that must mean he isn't a naturally created being! The only logical explanation!

The thing is that in season 1, Hawkmoth's apparent motivation for getting the ladybug and black cat miraculous is to *take over the world.* He doesn't indicate he needs them for a specific wish, he just makes normal "the same thing we do every night, try to take over the world!" declarations. And this is apparently the case in the original French as well. So how is there foreshadowing for a concept that Adrien is a sentimonster before the main villain has made any indication that he's anything other than just some power-hungry psycho?

Also the people pointing out all this season 1 foreshadowing, this is the same fandom that insisted during the gap between seasons 1 and 2 that Hawkmoth and Gabriel were in no way the same person and it was absurd to think they were the same person. Spoiler alert: they are the same person. There was more actual foreshadowing about that in season 1 than about the thing they totally didn't just write into the script in season 4.

Also I haven't seen enough people talking about the fact that Adrien quite literally murdered his own father??? I see people complaining that Ladybug making all of Paris think Gabriel was a hero for helping her defeat Monarch is bad, but like, if Adrien learns the whole truth of what happened he should logically put together that the Cataclysm he used on Monarch at the start of season 5 is what ultimately killed him. How just beyond devastating would it be for a 14/15 year old boy to lose his father, find out his father was a supervillain because he was trying to revive his mother, and then realize that he technically killed his own father? Major yikes.

Of course knowing the show it won't matter if he ever finds out anyway.

I just, like, man, I know this show is for like 12 year olds and all but I do enjoy it, I just wish I could discuss it with adults or at least with kids who have critical thinking skills and actually listen to the show??? It's so hard to discuss episodes when you have people asserting something that is the exact opposite of what was said on the show. For instance, in the episode "Reunion" Marinette can talk to a previous Ladybug miraculous holder. This holder, Joan of Arc, can't tell Marinette what happened after she renounced her miraculous, because the memory is only of when Joan had the miraculous - since she can talk to past HOLDERS she can't talk to the versions of the people when they were no longer holders. I thought they were very clear about that but there are still folks who are like "oh no if Marinette ever stops being a miraculous holder, she'll lose all her memory :(" even though we've seen literally over a dozen people stop being holders of various miraculouses, even more permanent holders like Gabriel and Adrien, and they didn't lose their memory. And then when Tikki and Plagg forced Marinette and Adrien to stop being holders, they didn't lose their memory. So why, even if you missed Tikki literally saying "the memory of Joan as a holder is only thememories she had while a holder, she can't remember something that happened after Joan no longer had the miraculous" would you think Marinette giving up being Ladybug would make her lose all her memories?? Her giving up being the GUARDIAN would, but not LADYBUG.

Like... sheesh. I'm not looking for adult fans to talk to for any reason other than wanting some more coherent discussions. But I don't talk to anyone anyway, so, oh well.

I swear I only meant this post to be like 4 sentences long.

[sboochi]

Hello! I adore your recent tangled the series au art with The Big Four!! It makes me so happy that fans are still creating art for this crossover! What are your headcanons for this au?

First of all thank you!! The fandom may be small but it's made of some very stubborn people like me lol

Now for the headcanons! (Long train of thought alert)

The story would follow the plot from Before Ever After and the first episode of the show

Until bam! Jack shows up from a portal and apparently he comes from the future?? Also this is Jack after the events of his movie

People can see him bc magic is a thing here (spoiler: his timeline is the same of Tangled, just a few centuries after) (Merida Raps and Hiccup's are from the exact same time period because Tangled said fuck historical accuracy and so do I)

Merida arrives after running away feom her marriage issue, basically instead of the witch she follows the wisps all the way to Corona

Hiccup is there for some dragon research, set between httyd 1 and 2

(yes I have conflicting feelings about The Hidden World and yes this is a way to cope with said feelings) (same for Brave)

Jack sticks around to find a way home since his apparition involved the black rocks and staying with Raps seems a good way to solve the thing

Hiccup stays to escape from his own chief problems for a while, Merida is just stocked about the adventure

Varian and Hiccup become close after they bond over their wanna-make-dad-proud-but-also-other-people situation and their interest for science. I think Hiccup would be the first to really Listen To Him you know?

Meanwhile Merida finds a mentor and a friend in Cass, they train a lot together and have fun

The Queen for a Day events happen and while Hiccup does follow Varian to his dad, Rapunzel isn't able to and Varian Doesn't Like That. The final episodes of s1 follow this

Except when the path of rocks shows up Cass immediatly goes "ok bye losers I'm gonna get myself some power and prove I matter". She isn't really mad at anyone in particular (ok maybe to her dad) but her actions escalate during s2 and s3

It doesn't help that she kidnaps Toothless to get a ride to the Dark Kingdom, needless to say Hiccup is emotionally destroyed after this (but it's a nice chance for a character arc so he can realize he's worthy even without a dragon!)

Which brings us to s2: this time the party is only made of The Four, Lance and Eugene. Sorry Hookfoot and Shorty

It becomes apparent that Jack has some connection to the rocks, but it's another mystery. Hiccup is Sad. Merida is having the time of her life

S2 finale: we get back Toothless but Merida gets convinced by Cass to get the moonstone shard that Rapunzel broke. Merida accepts to ~change her destiny~ (evil arc? evil arc.)

In all this Eugene is going through his personal Identity Crisis with the Dark Kingdom stuff

This is where I haven't thought about plot: at some point in s3 Merida gets a redemption,

Jack discovers that he owns the moonstone from the future (his present) and fixes his broken stuff (you should buy some glue for that thing Jack). He was sent to the past in case the Past!Moonstone gets destroyed or something. Not cool, Sun and Moon, not cool

After an emotional fight with the Four Cass finally regrets her recent life choices and helps Rapunzel defeat Zan Thiri

Character arcs get resolved, people are happy and can go home and they all lived happily ever after!

[miraculouscontent]

When you say that Marinette isn't allowed to move on while Adrien is, what exactly do you mean by that? Bc Adrien doesn't even try to move on, as we can see in "Lies". How can "He's allowed to move on" and "he doesn't move on" coexist? Am I missing something?

I can answer that with one simple question, and this also deals with anyone who dares say that Lukanette is treated better than Adrimi in the show:

Where’s the Lukanette equivalent of this scene?

Or this?

Where the endgame love interest is nearby and they ignore them in favor of their alternate one?

Spoiler alert: it doesn’t exist.

Adrien was trying to take Kagami on a date in Season 2, and Kagami insisted on continuing to pursue him while Luka let Marinette go. Adrien also continued to have romantic scenes with Kagami as well in “Oni-Chan,” “Desperada,” and so on, the former of which had him ignore Ladybug to focus on taking Kagami home (which is fine, he can do that, that’s not the point) and the latter of which only featured Adrien focusing on Ladybug after Kagami was gone.

Adrien’s endgame is Marinette/Ladybug, but he’s allowed to test the waters. They could’ve easily had an equivalent where Chat caught Ladybug meeting with Luka and she ignored him in favor of talking to Luka, or where Marinette, Luka, and Adrien are all in the same room and Marinette focuses on Luka over Adrien.

It doesn’t happen. Adrien is asking Kagami on dates in Season 2 and gets a near-lip kiss from Kagami in “Miraculous New York,” as well as multiple attempts to kiss Kagami at the end of the season 3 finale (whether he goes through with it or not isn’t the point; it’s the fact that he’s given the chance). Marinette, meanwhile, was giving Luka the same cheek kisses as always, even though the two are officially dating by “Truth” and “Lies.”

Marinette’s first sign of actually “testing the waters” with Luka was Season 4, and it’s the same episode where she was forced to break up with him. Even when Adrien was confessing to Ladybug and flirting with her, the narrative still shrugged it off and let Adrien claim to Kagami that everything they had was real. It means that, from the narrative’s standpoint, Adrien liked her genuinely and was allowed to have time with her even if he went for Ladybug in the end.

Where’s the same treatment for Marinette? Not here. The girls are already talking about Adrien when Marinette’s panic is unrelated to him in “Truth” and the Adrien pictures are magically back in the episode that confirms she and Luka are dating. Cut to eleven episodes later, and the narrative is pretending like she never really loved Luka at all (Adrien’s feelings are never put into question, regardless of how hard he leaned towards Ladybug).

Plagg encouraged Adrien to try out other options and not to bother with Ladybug when she wasn’t into him anyway, whereas Tikki left Marinette completely dry outside of saying that Luka’s confession was beautiful (that’s not encouragement to move on, it’s an idle comment). If anything, Tikki lured Marinette away from moving on (”The Puppeteer 2″) and any discouragement was more related to Marinette’s actions with her celebrity crush on Adrien as opposed to her feelings..

The show has the gall to talk about “balance” and lets Adrien have Kagami as his side chick, while Marinette’s best Lukanette episode is where Adrien isn’t there for comparison (note that this isn’t a diss on “Silencer”; one of that episode’s best points is that Adrien isn’t there).

And any time Marinette is seen being sad over Adrimi happening, the narrative either bashes her for it or she’s generally put in the wrong for “being overemotional” about it.

The one time Chat was jealous over Theo? He was allowed to push the blame onto Ladybug.

He was salty at the first male hero Ladybug called? Ladybug reassured him that he was irreplaceable.

He whined about Ladybug’s “other cats” in “Hack-San”? Ladybug is the one who apologized to him in the end.

And remember, when Marinette considered Luka in “Frozer,” a date never happened like it did with Adrimi; Luka sent her away to talk to Adrien. They didn’t even get to ride the subway home. When Marinette talked about moving on and how she and Adrien “are just meant to be friends,” the girls literally started arguing over it.

How the Adrimi date in “Frozer” went doesn’t matter; Adrien was able to try. He was encouraged to try. When Marinette considered Luka, she was cut off by the akuma attacking. The show forces her to backpedal at every opportunity so she remains at the same place with Adrien as she’s been in Season 1, and I don’t have to explain how the show often puts Adrien in the right even though he’s wrong (”Malediktator” and “Chameleon”).

Adrien keeps taking little steps towards Kagami and is repeatedly shown shipping moments with Kagami (sometimes just so the show can make Marinette sad), going from “Frozer” (where the date was unsuccessful) to “Heart Hunter” (where Ladybug even noted that he wasn’t calling her “m’lady” when Ryuko was nearby) to “Miracle Queen” (where he ends the episode stroking her cheek and having ice cream with her, even after he felt unsure about the kiss; they clearly progressed), whereas Marinette - despite being the main character - might be seen blushing around Luka (in “Silencer” and “Heart Hunter”) and getting crumbs with him, but any progress she makes with him will be undone in the next episode because the show is obsessed with reassuring its audience that Adrien doesn’t have competition..

The balance is completely off and that’s what I mean when I say that Adrien is allowed to move on but Marinette isn’t. Adrien is allowed to try; Marinette can barely dip a toe in the water before the lifeguard pulls her out by the hair. There are no equivalents, even though you’d think the balance would be tipped in Marinette’s favor due to her being the main character.

It’s not. Adrien is able to date Kagami ten episodes (in production code order) after Kagami’s debut, and Marinette had to wait thirty-seven after Luka’s, nearly four times as long (and it’s the break-up episode).

That’s insane.

[roseofnohr]

hotd tragedy talk 01: the maiden

welcome to hotd tragedy talk! this is the first post of a seven-part series analyzing how house of the dragon fits into + plays with tragic conventions.

in tragedy, young women are often treated as means to an end more than anything else. alicent plays this role, and rhaenyra tries to rise above it, yet the fact that this role exists to begin with means both are doomed.

(note: this is not to say that grrm/the house of the dragon writers are automatically misogynistic because of this. the capacity for catharsis, the recognition and subsequent release of negative emotion, is so important in tragedy. and it can be incredibly cathartic to see reflections of real-world problems in media.)

let's start with alicent. she goes from being her father's tool to gain more political power to viserys's Male Heir Generator. she gets a say in approximately none of this. she's the iphigenia being deceived and sacrificed for an uncaring father's gain, the thetis forced to marry a man she has no interest in just so he can have a powerful son. even in episode 05 (the most recent hotd episode at the time of me writing this), when she wears a green - her family's heraldic color - dress, she's still being treated as a symbol. she IS the beacon signifying the beginning of war. she is not an instrument of war herself. she isn't playing the game, she's a piece on the board: an object.

so how can she not resent rhaenyra for at least trying to play the game? alicent and rhaenyra drift apart as rhaenyra begins to take more risks and reject the same role that alicent is playing so well. of course alicent is upset that she doesn't have the same agency rhaenyra is so desperately trying to exert. think back to the first episode, where alicent and rhaenyra discuss their dissatisfaction with what society expects of them. rhaenyra begins to subvert those expectations as alicent has to keep acting as viserys's personal incubator. it has to be so frustrating to alicent that she doesn't have the same freedom.

then there's rhaenyra, who outright refuses to play the role of the obedient daughter and wife. this refusal doesn't seem to matter to anyone except for her. viserys doesn't even bother to hide that he just wants to marry her off as soon as possible. in episode 04, when she and daemon have their little adventure in king's landing, i thought that was incredibly sweet for a few seconds. then i realized daemon did that because he's so savvy - he knows that rhaenyra wants to feel control over her life, if only for a night. so he wanted to give her the illusion of being in control so he could manipulate her into putting herself in a situation that would make viserys more likely to agree to a marriage between the two of them.

so even though alicent and rhaenyra are approaching their prescribed role as others' game pieces differently, as they're young women in a tragedy, it seems their fates will be the same: in that their fates are not theirs to define.

will this change after the time jump? i'll be back to discuss that, probably once season one ends, in my "the mother" post. not sure what number that will be. the next post in this series, likely "the smith" (fate and being Doomed By the Narrative) or "the stranger" (what happens when you try to violate gender + sexuality norms in tragedy. spoiler alert: nothing good) will be up within two weeks/likely in a week!