#tbl spoilers

[narzissenkreuz-ordo]

MARCH???? WHY DO YOU HAVE THE RENHENG "BEATS UP A CHILD" DIVORCE PHOTO ON YOUR WALL???

[matan4il]

You had an anon mention slow burns and also Luke and Lorelie. Firstly I agree with the messiness of S5a and S6a. I wrote to you a few weeks ago its just messy timelines and I hope if they get S7 they stop this pacing. I don't know alot about the other ships but I believe in Luke and Lorelie supremacy. However..... no joke it was torture watching it real time pre-tumblr.

Listen, it took them 5 seasons to get together. Really only one season of drama free being together. They spent more time married to other people then spent together. We got the pay off in the last 5 minutes of the finale. We won, so yeah. But that shit was torture every week. Tumblr posts would have been a mess back then if it was the same now.

And I bring all this up to get to my point. I sustained it all because I was relatively certain that this straight couple would make it, I was supposed to root for them. They were at the basis each other's rocks. Buck and Eddie still are straight or the very least believe the other is. That's not just angst to get over, that's a sexual identity crisis to get over.

And hopefully like Gilmore Girls they will. One day I can rewatch the same way I do now. Spoiler alert, wanted to cry when she married Chris in Paris, now I can throw popcorn at it and laugh. Just kidding, I still FF that part.

But again, I'm like you I can't promise it will go Canon. If it doesn't its because they are cowards. However in alot of ways there is a stronger case for Buck and Eddie being soul mates rather then Luke and Lorelie. Again I love L&L but still they were messy and heartbreaking to watch.

Hi lovely Nonnie! Thank you so much for the ask. As well for keeping up with my blog and repeatedly writing to me. I appreciate the vote of confidence! ;)

As for Gilmore Girls, I have to confess that while I’ve seen an ep here or there (I never got to see them in sequence, as you’re meant to, so I never got into the swing of things. I’ve seen enough to know some basic stuff, but not much more than that). So I can’t comment on Luke and Lorelai’s love story beyond the fact that they were OBVIOUS. I could see them coming from the first sec I saw them in a scene together. They were ALWAYS going to happen. The show couldn’t have been clearer about it. And yeah, this is what a slow burn means, if we’re being honest. A lot of torture along the way, because it’s meant to make the pay off at the end that much sweeter. Does it actually manage to do it? The answer varies between ships, and probably between fans of the same ship, too. But that’s the principal, the road is usually bumpy, some parts of it are delicious angst and pining, and screaming about how these bozos still don’t get it, but yeah, some parts of it are not that fun to travel.

My deepest sympathies for going through all of that for Luke and Lorelai! I hear you, and I hope you still got to enjoy at least some of the pay off at the end of it all. I know how you feel. I went through 8 seasons for Keenler (BEWARE! SPOILERS for The Blacklist), and I can count the moments they were actually together on... let’s be generous and say two hands. But stupidly, it works. I treasure the moments that I did get all the more ‘coz I love how long and patiently and without demand Ressler waited for Liz. They had their messiness as well, but God, he loved her so profoundly. To see her realizing that and reciprocating his feelings was beautiful and worth it, even though I will forever wish they had more time together. But to tell you it was fun along the whole way? No. The parts of the story where Liz got back together with Tom were hell, seeing her re-committing herself to him was awful because HE was awful, in general and to Liz (so it wasn’t just as a Keenler shipper that I couldn’t stand that part of the show), and even when he was gone, there were almost two seasons where I survived on essentially one scene of comforting (but seemingly casual and platonic) touch. Slow burn is NOT for the faint of heart.

And you know what I love the most, Nonnie? Is that bit you threw in about Luke and Lorelai still having less in the way of ‘soulmate material’ than Buddie. Because I can actually make a LONG list of CANON couples that I absolutely ADORE that this is true for. And that’s exactly why we keep saying that if Buck or Eddie were a woman, they’d be inevitable, right?

Thank you again, have a great day! As always, here’s my ask tag. xoxox

[iwouldlovetoeatyourtoast]

this is the first time i've noticed Agnes in this menu, which was especially confusing because i forgot that's what i named my phone

[pinkmarioparty]

no matter the series or film, hands are my favourite thing to look for. the delicate touches and the soft caresses, they portray so much without words. the cinematography of hands never fails to melt my heart, sometimes it gets me more than the big kiss scenes. i love the soft side of all things.

UNKNOWN 關於未知的我們 (2024) dir. Ray Jiang

[kaitsawamura]

🪞 🔮 🍅 🧺 🍯 🌱 The Farmer & The Wizard

❦ SUMMARY ❦

You need a change, a big one. When your estranged grandfather passes away and bequeaths you his farm in a little town just south of the middle of nowhere, you take it as the sign you needed to make a change instead of waiting for one.

The farm, while having fallen into a state of disrepair, is just the thing to cure your modern-world ailments. The people are kind and always ready to offer help, if a bit unusual. They have old superstitions, a haunted community center, and a resident wizard. Spoiler alert: those last two on the list take some getting used to.

Yes, things are different here but you have a sneaking suspicion that the slow pace and a certain alchemical practitioner are going to remind you that sometimes, all you need is time and a little bit of magic.

THIS SCROLL WAS LAST UPDATED: 6/1/24

❦ STATS ❦

Pairing: Wizard!Gojo Satoru x Farmer!Reader

Rating: M for Mature, 18+ only minors do not interact

Warnings: Fantasy/Stardew Valley violence, sexual content, angst (maybe like just a tiny lil bit)

Tags: Stardew Valley AU, strangers to friends to lovers, red thread of fate, soulmates (kinda) eventual smut, fluff focused, canon divergent, more tags to come (literally am too excited, I need to get this masterlist post out in the world lol)

Projected Word Count: 100K

Author’s Note: In unsurprising news, I have still been in the trenches with my Stardew Valley hyperfixation. Then, along comes this lovely PC Gojo mod and the fate of this fic was sealed. It's going to be inspired a touch by that mod (which I will link below, full credit to that amazing modder) and will heavily follow a standard Stardew Valley play through timeline. I'm a lil nervous to write Gojo since he doesn't fall neatly into the character type I normally am drawn to but I have WRITING HANDS (like jazz hands but for writers :P ) and so I'm adding another fic to my WIPs list.

Important Note: This fic is part of this blog's contribution to the @ficsforgaza initiative!

❦ LINKS ❦

Fics for Gaza Masterlist <- now linked! ->

GOJO MOD FOR PC'ERS

JJK Masterlist

Main Masterlist

Playlist

Moodboard

❦ TABLE OF CONTENTS ❦

SPRING

Part 1: In Which You Unexpectedly Receive The Deed to A Farm

Part 2 | In Progress | TBL

SUMMER

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AUTUMN

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WINTER

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This work and its digital elements (credit for pixel art to ConcernedApe) are © Kait of @kaitsawamura 2020-PRESENT. I do not own any rights to Stardew Valley and any subsequent settings/characters, but this work is heavily inspired by that amazing game. Please do not alter or copy this work. Please do not repost this work to other platforms without my express permission.

[jimmyspades]

“I love James. I think one has to see beyond the public persona—and realize that he's a human being like the rest of us—with his own quirks and challenges—and he happens to be very good at what he does and is in the spotlight and so he's ‘under a microscope.’

“Different people have different experiences with him, but for me, it was a very good one. I knew to take his lead, and ‘follow’—and learn as much as I could from him. At the same time he was very respectful and polite and I felt appreciated. And... he knows when something is out of place—like if a prop has been moved a fraction of an inch. 🤣

“He has the ability to learn a lot of text fast and will do it over and over again until he feels it's ‘right.’ I think attention to detail is important—and I've found that people working at ‘higher levels’ in whatever field they're in—what they all have in common is a ‘ruthless’ attention to detail.”

Wonderful new interview with our Friend in the East from season 8, the actor David E. Harrison! Some spoilers for the last couple seasons of TBL.

[galindathegay]

I was so ready to walk into TBL's audiobook booth and test if it was sound-proof. Overheard co-workers bad-mouthing the library and patrons. I swallowed my gut-reaction to call them both motherfuckers just in time to get to the basement.

On my way, another co-worker in the basement stopped me and asked, "Have you met Irma?"

Irma? No. Who's that?

He didn't know the actual name of the painting, but "she looks like an Irma". But she's been in the basement for the last 5 years, and she makes him happy.

And we chatted until our breaks were over. I walked away smiling. Whether it was from my co-worker's company or the surprise of seeing a gorgeous art piece - or both - it's hard to tell. But I'm happy I didn't have to lose my voice. Even happier that someone as kind as him crossed my path. He really turned my mood around.

(Spoiler: Turns out that the title of this is The Storybook by William-Adolphe Bouguereau.)

[angelosearch]

@gardengalwrites is an amazing writer and she is particularly skilled at writing food descriptions that drive me crazy! When I read about the spicy mascarpone sauce in Death Shall be No More (great fic btw!) I HAD to have it. But it didn't exist in real life! What do???

Well, I decided to make it myself.

It is sweet and spicy with a bleu-cheese sauce-like texture that is meant to be served cold. You're supposed to dip super crispy fried chicken in it, as it is in the story. I haven't been able to try it with chicken yet but I HAD to finalize the recipe because I thought it would go really well with the cornbread I was making. (Spoiler Alert: HELL YEAH it was)

Here is the recipe for anyone who is curious:

1/3 cup Mascarpone Cheese 1 tbl sp. Chili Oil 1 tbl sp. Buttermilk* 1/2 tbl sp. Maple Syrup

Just combine all the ingredients in a bowl and you got yourself some Mascarpone's (in-fic restaurant) mascarpone cheese sauce from Death Shall be No More by Garden_Gal! * Or should I say Buttercup? Hehehe...

Bonus on the cornbread shot:

[pearbunny]

its the way i gave @hyunfilms spoilers to TBL and she didn't notice for a full 30 minutes.

[kamilapetelin]

⋆⭒˚.⋆ Aula 9 - NCS (TBL) ⋆⭒˚.⋆

06/05

Rotina: ♡ METABOLISMO DE PROTEÍNAS Sentimentos sobre a aula: Bem, eu sou uma completa idiota, ao invés de fazer aquele método que criei semana passada, resolvi assistir algumas vídeo-aulas ENORMES, porque um monitor disse que seria mais produtivo. Alerta de spoiler: Não foi. Eu não consegui aproveitar a aula de novo e a prova está chegando. Definitivamente NÃO posso pegar reteste. Não posso, não posso. Sentimentos sobre minha participação: Consegui ajudar meu grupo e responder algumas questões, mas estou LONGE do meu melhor. Frase que ando repetindo muito ultimamente. Sentimentos sobre a professora: A professora está bem animada que as aulas estão acabando, então senti até um alto astral nessa aula em específico. Adorei a explicação sobre ciclo da ureia, pois tem aplicação direta na parte clínica, especialmente em doenças como gota.

⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡ fim

[writingbyshiloh]

Possible spoilers for s9e8 of tbl

Mierce is dying 10000% I'm calling it now

"Do you think shes coming back? NO bbg she is going to die

[iwouldlovetoeatyourtoast]

i just randomly remembered making red wear one of sam's ties to his funeral in whatever you choose, which is odd because

a) i'd forgotten i'd written red attending sam's funeral at all

b) i only made him wear the tie because i had worn one of my grandfather's ties to his funeral

and

c) it had been—at most—four years between my grandfather's funeral and writing that detail (probably three, judging by the dates in scrivener) and now it's been nearly thirteen

[the-elemental-archives]

SPOILERS FOR PJO AND HOO. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

For me, It was because it went against Nico’s growth in the story.

We all know the infamous Cupid outing Nico in front of Jason scene. If you don’t, the TL;DR is that Nico is a suppressed gay boy who gets outed by the god of love because he wasn’t comfortable with his sexuality yet. Nico admits to Jason that he idolized Percy, and had developed a crush on him when he first saved him and Bianca. Percy is the first hero figure Nico had ever seen, and he’s infatuated.

Here’s how we track Nico’s growth towards acceptance. At CHB, Nico probably would have met other gay people, and would have acclimated to modern day standards with more ease. But when Nico runs from camp after Bianca dies, he withdraws socially. Throughout TBL and TLO, Nico works with Percy. Every time, Percy treats Nico more like a kid he was told to be responsible for, and Nico could be borderline hostile towards Percy. That isn’t to say that they both don’t care about each other, but Nico is festering in his own self-hate. It doesn’t stem from Percy, but he’s a factor in Nico’s internal struggle. Meanwhile, Percy only gives Nico the occasional good willed thought outside of when he’s in danger.

After the Battle of Manhattan, Nico seemed to be accepted by the Camp. However, in BoO, Nico tells Will that he felt like people never liked him. Nico views himself as this alienated person from camp, and he views himself being gay in this same way. Will is the one to actively argue against Nico’s self deprecation.

So for me, Pernico was symbolic of Nico’s insecurities and self-deprecation. It was him idolizing the first guy who seemed like a hero to him, and then hating himself for it. Nico moving past Percy symbolized him moving on from a mindset that hurt him, and into a future that was much brighter.

Genuine question for the PJO fandom

Why do we hate Percico? I stopped paying attention after HoO, so did something happen or is this a completely new Fandom after PJO?

Because Nico and Percy are the two best characters, they're friends, and one of them had a canon crush on the other. Perfect shipping conditions right there.

[agxntkeen]

3.02 // 8.20

[jimmyspades]

The Blacklist seasons 8-10 spoilers below

The last few seasons I struggled to keep up with The Blacklist’s timeline and even if I did I’m not sure it would make sense because TBL writers are TBL writers

But season 8 ended in 2021 (both in-universe and in real life). There was a two year gap in-universe between seasons 8 and 9, so even though season 9 aired in 2021, it was 2023 in the show. Another six months passed between the end of season 9 and the start of season 10 (aka the time Red grew out his hair and that beard amen 🙏)

So, in the show:

Season 8 took place 2020-2021

Season 9 jumped to 2023 and ended in 2024

Season 10 is tricky bc they said six months have passed since the end of s9 in (summer of?) 2024, but it’s clearly spring/warmer weather when Aram sees bearded Red, so maybe it’s early 2025 and the whole season takes place that year

I might be missing other time skips/details bc I’m mostly going off the season premiere and finale dates, I don’t remember if there are big jumps between any episodes

But all of this to say season 10 hasn’t happened yet in our world WE CAN STILL FIX THINGS. HERE’S HOW WE CAN STILL SAVE HIM.

Also not as important but—we can say the finale took place in July because that’s when it aired, buuuut the very last scenes were filmed on my BIRTHDAY in May. That makes me throw up but also. I kind of want it to be canon bc I like suffering 🫶

This photo taken on my birthday yippeeee 💕💕

[matan4il]

I saw your posts about buddie and blacklist. What happened in the blacklist season 8 finale? I was wondering if you could explain how things wrapped up because the articles I read are confusing and some don't think it was done well.

Hi Nonnie! I hope you enjoyed those posts! :D

OK, I'll give a vague answer and, if after reading it , you wanna progress, there's more UNDER THE CUT, with the warning there will be TBL SPOILERS, including the solution to the show's main mystery (who Red is to Liz) spelled out explicitly, as well as GENDER discussion. Be sure you wanna read before you click the cut!

So my vague answer is, IMO the s8 finale was really well executed. The reason why the articles seem confusing is because the mystery solution wasn't spelled out, it was hinted at. IMO, it was hinted at with such thick hints that it was impossible to miss the solution (and from what I can tell, even people who reject the solution still had to entertain it), but as long as the show didn't come out and say, "Red is... [redacted]", the articles can't either, plus I imagine they think they'll have more readership if they continue to write about the mystery in speculative terms, as if it hadn't been solved.

But the solution is awesome. It's awesome in the sense that it makes all the puzzle pieces fit together right, it's awesome in the sense that it highlights the amazing meaning of the entire show, it's awesome in that you can go back to s1, watch it and catch throwaway lines that suddenly make so much more sense or mean so much more...

That doesn't mean everything that happened in 822 is happy. If that were the case, there'd probably be no s9 (which is currently airing). But 822 IS a really good and (in terms of storytelling) satisfying conclusion to an 8 season mystery. I personally would recommend it to anyone who liked The Blacklist in general...

OK, so before I spell out what I believe is the solution, I wanna point out some of the puzzle pieces. Red, the notorious crime lord, one day hands himself over to the FBI, willing to work as their informant on the condition that he gets to work with Liz. That sole condition makes us wonder why, what's his interest in her. Pretty quickly he makes it clear he knows very intimate info about her, meaning he's been watching and following her. This could be SO creepy, except it also quickly becomes evident that he cares about her and her well being, warning her about her husband, Tom (and she later discovers Tom has stashed tons of money, a gun and fake passports under their home's floorboards, meaning what Red is telling her turns out to be truthful pretty early on). By the end of ep 110, we also see Red calling Dembe, whose life is being threatened, "my brother". It's clear Red means it, as he seems to have tried everything in his power to save Dembe. But then we see the threat being shifted to Liz, and as much as Red tried to save Dembe, we see him go absolutely bonkers trying to save Liz and going further than he did even for Dembe.

At this point, to me, it was clear that Red's love for Liz is the protective, parental kind. Who's the one person you would try to protect and save even more than your own brother? Your own child. So whoever Red was to her, the solution had to explain why he has a parent's love for her.

The immediate option we're drawn to is that he's Liz's bio dad (we learn she was adopted pretty early on). But she asks him directly about it at the end of 110, and Red, albeit taking a moment to answer, says no. Later, he states he's never lied to her (and looking back after the first 8 seasons, as far as we know, he never has. He sometimes didn't tell her the whole truth or corrected mistakes and other people's lies, meaning he sometimes let her believe things that aren't true, but he never himself lied to her).

So who was Red to Liz, why did he love her like his own daughter? An adoptive parent CAN love the child they raise as their own, that's what we see in Sam, Liz's adoptive father. But Red didn't raise Liz, he wasn't her adoptive parent. Why did he love her so much?

All sorts of possible solutions come up over the seasons, and each one seems like we have to dismiss it. Was Red her bio dad? Or a man so in love with her mom, Katarina, that he came to see and love Liz as his own? Katarina's husband? A love-sick childhood friend? All sorts of options come up and don't seem to fit for one reason or another. Meeting Katarina in the s6 finale and seeing her reactions to Red, that only thickens the mystery, because nothing seems to fit.

As more characters from Katarina's past are unveiled over the season, I was hesitant to try to resolve the mystery, because I kept wondering whether I had enough pieces of the puzzle to do so. You can't solve a 1000 pieces puzzle if you only have 32, right? But somewhere in s7 I think, I tossed out the idea that maybe Red is actually Katarina. Something about the Katarina we met seemed off. So... I had that thought. Then I dismissed it. "Stop making everything queer!" I told myself. A mainstream US show would never be that courageous, I thought. Especially not when Red, our protagonist, is the "manly" wet dream! Charming, smart, powerful, always ahead of everyone else by at least three moves, a survivor who can come back from all sorts of impossible situations (an FBI manhunt in s3, his crime empire destroyed at the end of s4, being put on trial in s6 are notable examples), and we see him "charming the pants off" so many women... He's not the typical alpha male, but he IS an alpha male, and no mainstream US show would take that kind of protagonist and reveal that they were actually born a woman, all the sexist viewers would rage, and no mainstream network would want that reaction.

So imagine my surprise when we get to the start of 821, and I realize that's the ep where we're gonna get the solution! Because it means we've been handed all the pieces of the puzzle. Whoever Red is, he HAS to be one of the gallery of characters from Liz's background we had already met.

And since nothing else fits, and since Red once told Liz in passing that Katarina is not her mom, it suddenly clicked for me. Red IS Katarina! He HAD to be, there was no one else left in the story that Red could be. The "Katarina" we met in the s6 finale must have been an imposter. And as the story unfolded, that's exactly what we learned, that that woman was actually Tatiana Petrova, and we discover how she came to assume Katarina's identity.

The story unfolds, Katarina's story, we watch it in flashbacks as if Katarina is telling it, but we know that this is how Liz sees it in her mind, so when we remember that the person ACTUALLY telling her all this is Red... There are even moments when Red's voice and words in the present and Katarina in Liz's mind overlap. Or separate moments, in which they say the exact same thing ("I had been with men and women").

TBH, even that last line was more than I expected TBL to dare have Red say! It means that the show's biggest alpha male seems to have confessed to being bisexual. That, in itself, is still (sadly) HUGE for a mainstream US show.

So the fact that there's only one last logical conclusion to the story, (as I said, Katarina is the ONLY one in TBL's gallery of characters who can still fit and be Red), that Red and Katarina speaking is intertwined in more than one way, that Red knows Katarina's story so intimately, that Liz poses two questions one right after the other when she insists on hearing the story to its end and those two questions are who is Red and where is the real Katarina, that even the musical choice for the end of the story fits this solution (playing out the lyrics, "This is a man's world... but it's nothing without a woman"), it all works. IMO, there's no doubt that the show was saying Katarina IS Red. It also fits early s1 lines, like when Red introduces Luli and says about her, "She hates all men," but then proceeds to have a steamy kiss with her. We THINK it's meant to show how irresistible the manly Red is, but in fact it's a hint, Luli doesn't hate him because she knows he wasn't born a man. When Red says therapy had helped him become "someone else"! Or whenever Red talks/hears talk about mothers and motherhood and maternity, what he says and how he reacts suddenly makes more sense or becomes more meaningful.

So yeah, this is the solution IMO, that, recognizing the danger to Liz's life, Katarina is the person who underwent a series of plastic surgeries in order to become Red. In this way, she both protected Liz from Katarina's enemies, making it seem as if Katarina was gone, and at the same time, as Red, she was able to build a crime empire whose sole purpose was to procure enough power and information to always keep Liz safe from those enemies.

And this is what I maybe love the most about this solution... That it turns TBL from yet another crime fighting procedural with one mystery at its core, into a love song to mothers and to motherhood. About how strong mothers are when they are determined to protect their children, a strength that comes from how strong their love is. It takes this show, which seems to be in love with the "manly" protagonist and turn it into a hymn to what women are capable of.

And there is so much sacrifice there, in Katarina's choice! Among other things, because of her dad, Dom. His reactions and anger and even moments of despise for Red take on a whole different meaning once we know it's because Dom could never accept that Katarina, his daughter, had become his son. He never accepts Red or this choice. Which is very interesting, because Dom himself ended up betraying his own country (and he was DEVOTED to it and to its cause, and made many sacrifices for it) for Katarina and Liz's sake. He gets what it means, to love your child so much that you would do anything for them. But he still can't accept THAT specific choice. Which I think is where this solution is also important to trans people!

Now, admittedly IDK that I would classify Katarina/Red as trans. The show very much frames Katarina's choice as being driven solely by her love for her daughter. There are lines in s6, during the scene where Red invites Liz to join him for his last meal on death row, that could fit this possibility (he says he saw himself one way and the world saw him another... but his mom understood), but I do have to point out, they could also fit another interpretation, they might be about what Katarina recounts in 821 (that Dom and his social circle had always prepared her to be a spy and she never had any other choice, her fate was sealed by them). But even without those lines, even if the show was clearer in saying Katarina/Red wasn't trans, I still think this experience of being rejected due to her father being unable to shake off society's limiting ideas about gender, it speaks volume about the trans experience. Just go and watch some of the things Dom says to Red and tell me they don't echo what some trans kids have heard their parents say to them! It's heartbreaking. And it's even more impactful because it's clear that, despite everything, Dom and Red continue to love each other to the end. Katarina/Red doesn't have to be trans in order to expose society's bias that makes life so much harder for trans people. And even the people who reject the "Redarina" solution have to entertain it. Which means that whether they like it or not, they have to pause and consider this and what does being a woman or a man or transitioning between the two mean, and I love that the show does this...

The end of 822 is also heartbreaking because (another spoiler warning, because this next part is no longer about the main mystery, it spoils what happens at the end of the s8 finale) after all of this, Red failed in his main mission in life, to protect Liz. She dies in his arms at the end of the ep. Lies had surrounded her from... even before her conception. We learn in 821 that Raymond, Liz's dad, was the man Dom chose for Katarina to have an affair with. According to her journal, she did fall for him, but nothing about Katarina's life was truthful, and so Liz was tangled up in lies before she even drew one breath. And as much as Katarina struggled to keep Liz safe, she felt she couldn't tell her the truth about who Red is due to Katarina's enemies. The more anyone knew, the more Liz was in danger. Red wasn't wrong about that...

But it meant that Liz was surrounded by people who were lying to her, not all of them for reasons as noble as Red's (*cough* Tom *cough), so over the seasons, she loses her trust in people, in love, in her own ability to understand the world around her, the lies also caused her to lose many loved ones over the years, losses whose meaning she couldn't fully understand until 821/2. Which is why what we see is a woman who's slowly driven half-mad by the need to find out the truth or avenge what she thinks is the truth. Up to a certain point, Red was right in not telling Liz everything about himself. From a certain point on, Liz really needed to know. But it's the nature of lies that it's hard to know when's the right moment to stop lying, especially if the lies are ones that someone sacrifices so much for (and Red had suffered his own losses of loved ones, too). That's why these 8 seasons of TBL are also the tragedy of Liz's life, which is made possible through lies and when she finally learns the truth, when she finally learns to trust people and love (hi, Ressler!) and herself again, when she finally can have the normal, happy life she had always dreamed of (with her daughter Agnes, with Red, with the man she realized she was in love with), that's when her life ends.

And because the show didn't explicitly say whether Liz figured out the last piece of the puzzle, that her mother was Red, it becomes so meaningful that in the moment when she dies, we see her look up at Red and we get a glimpse of how, in her mind's eye, she sees Katarina. Liz knows she died in her mother's arms (later confirmed in s9, when we realize Dembe had given her Red's letter with the final confession). Thematically, the show comes full circle, and Liz's death right after she learned the truth about "Redarina" serves to both highlight that Red was right (Katarina's enemies did end up killing her daughter) and that he was wrong at the same exact time (Liz not knowing the truth means a lot of the choices she makes, she doesn't understand their real meaning, for example she doesn't realize how off the mark she is when she hates Red for killing "her mom" and so she ends up putting herself in harm's way even when she thinks she's trying to get herself and Agnes away from danger)...

I love the show, and as sad as Liz dying at the end of 822 was, I don’t regret watching TBL and getting to see the many awesome things it did. I also get exactly why they chose to end the show that way (it also means the story can continue even after Liz’s actress, Megan Boone, left the show, as we see Red, Ressler and the team dealing with the aftermath of Liz’s death). And as much as the ending makes me hella sad, I also have to admit that because TBL is the kind of show where many people who we thought had died ended up coming back “from the dead”, a show where what we perceive as reality isn't always that, I can comfort myself over Liz's death by constructing a continuation of the story where it turns out she's actually alive, and she gets to have that life with her loved ones that she always deserved to have, without ignoring that theme of “this is how lies protect us... and here is how they hurt us”. I have one scenario in my head from Ressler's POV, another different one from Liz's, and the fact that there's more than one way (which makes sense and is true to the spirit of the show) that could give us Liz alive and with a happy ending, it makes it feel like it's not just a headcanon. Who knows, maybe one day I'll write those two fics.

Anyhow, I really hope I helped, Nonnie! Please don't hesitate to let me know, and also to tell me whether you chose to watch all the way to 822. Thank you for sending this ask! Lots of love to you! xoxox