#team Let's Not Make Bad Faith Assumptions

[i-wear-the-cheese]

Thanks for asking. Yes! And actually I should have included that trans men are also welcome. Before anyone says it NO it's not coz "trans men are secretly women" it's because when we are creating safe queer spaces it sometimes isn't constructive to try to draw solid lines between trans men, trans mascs, and people who identify as "butch". There is very little restriction on who can buy tickets but it's been tweaked and they're open to feedback and adapting.

Check out their website [x] it's a genuinely wonderful space

[youmakethelight]

Melissa McBride and Angela Kang are both women in an industry and genre dominated by white men. We don't know them personally, but we know that much.

What surprises me about the current discourse surrounding the spin-off is that for many, it seems as though, as long as Daryl and Carol have a potentially romantic canon future ahead of them, everything is forgiveable.

Many are putting a *huge* amount of faith and trust in Melissa that this will be delivered in a way that feels authentic to the original story. For me, this is actually unfair pressure on Melissa, but it also feels like ignoring crucial evidence. First, Melissa has told us twice that she's laying low on her EP role, and this concerns both seasons 2 and 3.

Second, we have seen season 2, and as far as I can tell, her major inputs were her core ideas for Carol and her acting (both fantastic). To me, the showrunner heard this and gave a script that delivered gimmicks (e.g. gas hallucination) and lacked emotional depth. No time or attention were spent on getting the viewer to understand why Carol is thinking about Sophia now, Daryl's connection to the trauma is completely absent, and we learn almost nothing new about Carol's memories or feelings about Sophia or what she's been going through these last 12 years.

We had more in the flagship - when she said that the "thing" that came out of the barn wasn't her little girl, when she told Lizzie that she thinks about Sophia every day, that she didn't survive because she didn't have a mean bone in her body. Those pieces of dialogue were crumbs in the flagship, but when we have the opportunity to fully delve into it in her spin-off, we learnt that she can't remember Sophia's face anymore and that time took away the Sophia she remembers before the barn. Those lines are both good, but they aren't enough, and they were gone in a flash. A compelling narrative delivery of Carol seeming to "process" the grief is also not given. She gets a hug from Didi, a hug from Daryl, and a hallucination holding her hand and walking away from her. None of those are bad things, but they aren't enough. Melissa acted her heart out, and I ate it up, but the script let her, and Carol, down.

Melissa isn't a writer. The skills she's paid for are acting and executive producing. She can't and shouldn't be expected to make up for David Zabel's shortcomings. There are a number of things Zabel could have done differently, like hiring an expert on trauma and grief (maybe he did, but he doesn't seem to have listened to them, if so). The lines he gives are incredibly shallow. It isn't Melissa's job - and she may not feel it's her place - to make those sorts of suggestions. And regardless, he doesn't have to listen. And he can edit out whatever he likes in post-production, as he did in season 2.

Melissa talked a lot about how much it means to her for Carol to be able to explore her survivor's guilt. And Zabel gave her and Daryl about 3 lines where they talked about "why them" and luck vs bad luck. To me, it feels like lip service to Melissa's ideas. Zabel clearly lacks the knowledge of the source material or the care and attention-to-detail that are needed. Melissa can't fix that, but so many fans are willing to put faith in this showrunner because they somehow think that Melissa can fix him...

Meanwhile, Angela Kang is given no grace. I'm seeing assumptions about her and her work. There is so much we don't know about the behind-the-scenes, who is responsible for what, and what she internally thought and wanted. And yet, there's enough evidence to assume the worst of her? She might have been the showrunner, but she's still answerable to a studio and a chief content officer, and she's still a part of a team whose ideas she's responsible for respecting if she wants her team to respect her. And all this while she's a WOC in a white male dominated space. She simply does not have the same privileges as a white male showrunner. She just doesn't. She at least deserves some grace and not to be assumed the worst of.

I'm not going to dissect this further right now. I'm just going to leave it here. It seems, to me, like it's become normal and acceptable to assume the worst of Angela Kang, despite the fact that she was a WOC showrunner surrounded by powerful white men. And now, it has become normal and acceptable to assume that Melissa McBride, having been given only a fraction of power, is capable of fixing the shortcomings of her white male showrunner.

Both women deserve grace and better allies in their workplace.

"Being an ally to someone is unconditional. It's speaking up when it's easier to stay silent, standing up for someone when you don't have company, and continuing to show up and use your voice even when you're told, "you're causing trouble." But that is how things change. Because if we won't speak up, who will?" - @indigoraysoflight

[pommunist]

i hope i dont sound like i am immediately picking apart what you said because i basically agree with 99% of it i just wanted to add a couple of thoughts i had (this got so much longer than i intended i am so sorry)

I don’t like how he said to be mindful about the intentions of people who raised the question, because a lot of them had genuine concern about it being a possibility and this could have been a very serious and dangerous thing if it had been true.

i fully agree with what you said here - however i feel like the death threats/harassment he was getting kinda justifies what he was saying to an extent. in his position, i doubt he is looking at each and every account to figure out whether the individual was coming from a place of concern or was adding onto the harassment. i don't think outright dismissing things like this is a good idea so to speak, but to me it does make sense, from his pov, to tell people to be mindful. many of those people were coming from a place of concern, but i can see how some of it could have came off as less than such in addition to the threats he was getting even though they were mostly separate situations. if this hadn't been the case it would have rubbed me more in the wrong way, but i can understand why he would say it in this scenario even if its like :/.

however this is something i would encourage of everyone - he is not wrong to basically be saying check the source of where you are getting your information from. i would say 90% of the people talking about it were acting in good faith, but that is not always the case, and people acting in bad faith can still have good points that should be taken seriously. it is just something that i think everyone should take note of - in any situation everyone is going to have bias and if you're going to take someones words as fact you should recognize that. that goes for quackity's words too. he is obviously biased in one way in this situation which doesnt mean he is lying in every word he says, but take that into account when looking at what he says. same goes for the admins who speak out you know?

And great that he’s saying that there has been some restructuring made within the team, and hopefully these changes will only leave the studios with competent people who are good intentioned towards everyone involved. I won’t like though, I fail to see how asking for everyone’s feedback and taking it into account to make these changes wasn’t an option. Also the fact that this restructuring ended up causing them to massively letting go of all the twitter teams as well as some other admins is still an issue.

this is a double edged sword imo - im gonna take it in two parts. he says that the restructuring is good and full of people who are good intentioned, but there really is no way to know that? i am under the assumption that he thought the first set of people were good and they weren't, and im not saying we can't trust these people/his judgement, but there truly is no way to know until things progress. id like to trust that the new management is good, but im wary just because of everything and it is hard to put trust into the new managment without seeing anything come out of it. i know these things take time, but its hard to blindly trust that these guys are good when there is nothing to prove it.

on the twitter admins/other admins, as much as i do not agree with it, it does make sense. it sucks and i hate that it happened, but it was pretty clear that financially keeping the same amount of admins on the team wasn't going to work. removing the twitter admins seems like a logical choice (i loved what they did. i wish they weren't removed. but in the grand scheme of things it does make sense to let them go first because even if it sucks the life and some of the fun out of it, their jobs were not essential to keeping the server running) but the way it was gone about was so... not it. the way they were all informed of how they were fired was just not good. point blank not good. i dont know if there was a way to keep them on while being able to pay them, im inclined to believe at the moment he probably wasn't lying and there wasn't, but it doesnt change the fact that that situation was not handled well. they could have let them go with more communication to the situation. thats what bothers me the most.

Meanwhile people will discuss these topics that are so far removed from the main issue and focus less on what the admins went through.

THIS!!! i do understand why people have brought talks about lore and stuff into this conversation - it highlights what the admins went through using tangible examples lol, but part of me wishes they hadn't because exactly as you said. people focus on these issues and not the other ones! it happened at the start of this too, where people focus on the lore/story related problems (which isn't a wrong thing to point out) but in doing so kinda push away the other issues even if that isnt the intent. sharing these stories was not to complain about pushing x creators lore to the front and holding y creator's back but to highlight some of the conditions and i wish that didn't get misconstrued as much as i feel like it has.

Hey anon ! sorry if i took so long to answer but I’ve wanted to take the time to answer everyone of your point !

-I can also see where he was coming from, and I also don’t doubt that there were bad intentioned people in the lot (thinking of a particular group of people, i think you can guess who 🟩). It’s just that it paints people who have genuine criticism/concern as just being haters, and it’s not the first time he used the "things said by people with bad intentions" point so I’m kinda over it

-YES to everything you said about researching information !!!! Jumping to conclusions or blindly believing any piece of info you see is literally doing for harm than good for anyone involved, always always try to find sources source, fact check and look from an unbiased POV the things you see. Will never forget when the union released their first statement and I saw people either saying that they were a fake account trying to smear the reputation project or that quackity was going to jail, I was like « oh my, we are cooked » 😭

-Also agree with your next point, but as you said we don’t know who these people are (and I don’t necessarily think we should know btw), so we can only hope that they will be competent and caring people who will run the studio in accordance with the law and with better work ethics.

-On the twitter admins getting fired well first we can agree that the way it was done is fucked up. And I understand the difficulty of the financial aspect (to an extent, don’t ask me details about finance, idk shit about money numbers lmao), but it’s giving « Your work was very needed and appreciated while it was free, but now that we may have to pay you we can actually do without it, bye guys ». Especially ehhhh about it since multiple Twitter admins have expressed that getting paid wasn’t an issue, the working conditions were. Though to be fair idk exactly how volunteer work is regulated in every country the admins were from so this may have played a part in their firing.

-And finally yes, the distracting from what matters. Like fans can discuss whatever they want obviously, my argument is more about Q here, like dude are you really sure the main point of contention here is to debate whether or not you were overly interfering in other ccs lore ??? Don’t get me wrong, great that you’re saying it wasn’t the case but the main point of everything was missed by a mile.

Also don’t worry your ask didnt came across as you picking apart what I had said but even if it was, as long as you’re not rude i dont mind people coming to my askbox like « tumblr user pommunist you are wrong about everything and let me tell you why »

[chuplayswithfire]

I’d like to ask you, as a white person who reads your posts about ofmd and race because it is genuinely something I don’t see and these perspectives are important—but every time you mention the bar scene in episode 10 I can’t help thinking that your analysis of Stede’s behavior and the men’s reaction hinges on them knowing that Blackbeard isn’t white. And how could they? They believe his head is made of fire. Maybe not literally but the point is they almost certainly don’t know that he’s not white and so doesn’t that mean that their demands for Stede to reinforce their assumptions have more to do with them just wanting to relish the idea of a monstrous bloodthirsty pirate because it fills some hole in their own dull lives, and not as a way of othering a person of color?

I'm going to take this in good faith and answer it earnestly, because I get that this can be easy to be lost but -

here's the thing.

firstly, no one besides Stede *actually* believes that ed has a flaming, or smoking head. this is show very clearly by the fact that the entire crew are rolling their eyes or otherwise scoffing.

secondly, ed is clearly recognized as blackbeard by everyone from random dutch merchants to random people living on st. augustine. no one is surprised that blackbeard is a nonwhite man. it is a well known quantity, in fact, that blackbead is a nonwhite man, because no one ever mistakes izzy hands for blackbeard even though he has a much blacker beard than ed at this point, who really ought to be salt and pepper beard, as he pointed out.

so like. that makes it pretty clear that people know. besides the fact that there ARE pictures of ed. in books. we see two different artistic renditions of ed, and while we don't get to read the descriptions because they're unimportant to the point being made in the episodes where those images are shown.... we can expect that these published accounts of blackbeard will describe him as nonwhite perhaps not explicitly maori, but like. his nonwhiteness will be a known factor. it is improbable that the racist as fuck societies of the 1700s wouldn't mention it.

so its very very very likely that the entire world of those interested in pirates can easily know that blackbeard isn't white.

thirdly.... even asking "but could they KNOW that he's not-white when they eagerly ask about how blood-thirsty and monstrous edward teach is, wanting all the gory details, in a scene that tempts stede to dehumanize ed in a way that immediately casts him as not being human, not being like them, not being a person, being an other" is like.... affording good faith that none of these clearly casually cruel and bored with their lives white men deserves.

and finally, the most important thing is, this is a TV show, and its written and filmed with intent - which means that the writing and production and acting team all expect that we, the viewing audience, will be able to put together that when stede is in this room of only white men, eagerly asking for the secret true details and the awful gory nature of edward teach, maori man, brown man, nonwhite man, that there is racism afoot, because when awful and even, regular, white people who would never think of themselves as awful, group together, they love love to "let down their hair" so to speak and express racist sentiments they'd express around the people of color in their lives.

so we know that they know, because this is a tv show, and the writing team knows that WE know, and this moment is about what we see Stede do, and the betrayal he commits, and the reasons he immediately feels so bad - because he gave into this to make himself feel better, to prove his place with these people - over holding true.

[lulu2992]

(Hudson anon again) I was kinda proved a bit wrong by the dlc and I’ve seen other interpretations about things that I didn’t get when playing fc5.

I assumed that John, Jacob and faith held so many sins they weren’t worthy or seeing Eden. I saw so many notes and things that I assumed all of them couldn’t let go of their sins to join Joseph in Eden? Like John, Jacob and faith all with pushing their sins on other people and I just though that maybe Joseph wasn’t aware? Like with John and his victims in the bunker, Jacob with the cook and faith with her angels and that wasn’t apart of Joseph’s vision? Like I had it in my head that Joseph wouldn’t of approved of those and gave them power over regions and they didn’t do what they were supposed to and therefore they had to suffer for it? Therefore the deputy coming in and killing them? I know obviously joe wasn’t free of sin but it’s weird how I got that after playing it and I saw so many other interpretations that seemed so far away, I was hardly a Joseph fan at first don’t get me wrong but it’s interesting to say the least how different I realised my own feeling in the game changed from person to person.

I think your assumption makes sense!

Joseph was apparently aware of what his siblings were doing and let them do it because he believed it was God’s plan, how they could save souls, and be ready for the New Eden. But what he told John in the message he left at Seed Ranch suggests his little brother’s sin is the reason he died and was denied Eden. John failed to cast away his past and open his heart, so the Deputy, who was his sin personified, killed him. But what’s also interesting in the message is that Joseph reveals he had several visions and that there wasn’t just one possible future. He says things could have gone differently and that John could have seen the New Eden had he managed to overcome his demons. We can imagine that the same applies to the other Heralds, so you could be right when you say they died because of their sins.

When Joseph breaks down after losing his entire family, he says he thought he knew God’s plan but that he was wrong and “blind”. This confused me for a long time because it seems he knew exactly how things would go, that the Deputy would kill everyone and trigger the Collapse, so why would he be surprised his prophecy happened exactly as he said it would? I believe that, while he knew that losing his siblings was a possibility, he sincerely hoped it could be avoided. He knew that a future in which they could have been saved and seen the Garden was possible. Joseph blames the Deputy for his family’s death (and he’s not wrong), but what if Jacob and Faith were as responsible for their own downfall as Joseph said John was? What if they too failed to overcome their sin and were denied Eden for this reason?

Collapse (which was not written by the Far Cry 5 writers) implies that Joseph lied to his siblings and let them die to save himself, but I’m not a fan of this interpretation of the story because he clearly expected them to live and was devastated when they didn’t. Far Cry New Dawn (which had a few Far Cry 5 writers in the team) isn’t a perfect sequel, either, but there’s a note in this game I think is interesting. Joseph wrote:

Today I showed my son the Gift. As I feared, he immediately wanted it. Anything to be stronger rather than build his own strength. I explained to him God did not want him to have it. He told me that one day I would die, and that when I did, he would simply take what he wanted. Every day he reminds me sin is rooted deep within his soul. I forgave my siblings for that, and I will try to forgive my son. But I will not let him do as he pleases. That was my mistake with Jacob, John, and even Faith. It won't happen again.

While I don’t like the implication that he knew his siblings’ actions were bad but he didn’t stop them (in Far Cry 5, he approved of what they were doing and didn’t hesitate to reprimand John), the note suggests that they died because they weren’t free of sin, and this is probably what Joseph painfully realized he was “blind” to when he lost them. He had faith that his Heralds (and the Deputy) would make the right choices, but they didn’t, and he failed to save them.

On a side note, I really like that the note says, “and even Faith” because, in Far Cry 5, Joseph described her as “perfect” and she reportedly was his favorite, but she was just as flawed as John and Jacob. Again, there are things I don’t like in New Dawn because I think they contradict the original game, but Joseph finally understanding that all his siblings were equally messed up? I like that.

Anyway, I think you may have a point when you say that, unlike what Joseph believed and hoped, the Heralds weren’t actually worthy of seeing Eden and that’s why they were punished by God, who sent the Deputy, harbinger of doom and sin personified, to kill them. We know this is true for John, so it could be true for Jacob and Faith too.

[lunarblazes]

I don't necessarily disagree with your take about mcc's ace race but I think it's just not true saying the only reason dteam is still in is the popularity. mcc people like these people!! people like to team with the dteam and have fun when they do! it is not that weird to be upset when you think youve won and then you didn't. sapnap did not complain much at all.

I think people who complain about funneling in dodgebolt (and do so in chat!) are whiny too but I not gonna make a post about it saying that mcc needs to have an intervention??

also some genuine advice do not let twitter drama affect your mcc experience.

hi!! okay this is the kind of opposing opinion i can work with, thank you anon! i respect and genuinely appreciate your response here, and i’ll take this opportunity to further clarify some things.

to your first point—you’re right! they’re not ONLY here because of their fans and it was wrong of me to make that exaggerated assumption in my post. that’s on me. i try very hard not to assume anything about ccs personal friendships or relationships with one another, and i’m sorry i did that there. HOWEVER, i feel as though i am still warranted in being upset with dream and sapnap specifically for their conduct about the ace race decision and other things in the event. for instance, the streamer i was watching was smallishbeans, who got sixth in the first run and dropped ten places in the redo. he was not in favor of a redo but acknowledged it would be the most fair thing to do. he was upset at his score drop, but never once did he argue directly with noxcrew’s choice, MUCH less in the in-game chat. because he’s an adult with manners. being upset because you got a lower score in the redo of the game is completely understandable and that’s not what i’m frustrated about. my frustrations stem from the fact that dream continues challenging and being snarky with the admins in chat when he is not and never has been in the position to make these decisions for an event. nobody else does this. everyone else is simply frustrated and moves on. nobody else feels the need to be an asshole like dream does. now, i cannot remember what sapnap did during ace race in particular, my issue is decidedly more with his behavior about build mart, but my point stands with him as well. he constantly spams messages against build mart to the point where the bit has completely run dry and it’s genuinely annoying to me. people don’t constantly reply to mcc tweets asking them to remove battle box even though it’s a few participants’ least favorite game and that’s because those participants aren’t fucking obnoxious about it. both of them need to grow the fuck up and learn how to talk to people normally.

2) funneling. i admittedly have a bit of bias here because i think funneling is fucking stupid (what a shocker, i doubt you could have gleaned that from anything i’ve ever said on this blog lol), especially with what the yellow yaks did. to me, it makes the event predictable and shows a lack of faith in your team and the fact that dream does it every fucking event no matter who he’s with gets boring as hell. the other participants seem to share my belief and it’s literally not fun to watch if they have such poor sportsmanship they can’t handle giving someone else an arrow for ten seconds, especially if those people are BADBOYHALO AND SKEPPY, WHO ARE NOT BAD SHOTS BY ANY MEANS. i don’t recall anyone saying bad things about funneling in chat, but i wasn’t fully watching dodgebolt this time, so there could have been some comments. regardless, as i’ve said before, it’s not poor sportsmanship to voice annoyances about the event. the difference between frustration and targeting hate is both patterned behavior and direct challenging, both of which dream and sapnap have done. fruitberries thinks funneling is stupid and i know this because he said it on stream. you know what i didn’t do? send hate to dream about it on twitter. i didn’t even mention funneling in my first post even though i dislike it. i wanted to focus solely on direct disrespect. while i can see your point about supposed bad sportsmanship from anti-funneling participants, i posit that it doesn’t have the same horrid effects that dream’s comments do at all.

3) this is some great advice, seriously! i know that some people do struggle with this and it’s truly something to keep in mind. however, twitter drama is not ruining my mcc experience—the behavior of these actual participants is. i have had multiple people in the last 24 hours tell me that they cannot watch mcc anymore because they know the dteam will throw a fit and it’ll be horrible to watch. if this was just twitter drama, i would filter it and move on. but because it is literal, actual behavior from literal, actual participants during the literal, actual event, there is no way i can avoid it. it’s exhausting and the worst constant of mcc. things can and should change, whether that’s a shape up in behavior or a removal.

[fortheloveofwonderland]

Tattooed Heart [Spencer Reid x fem! Reader]

Find my masterlist here. Requests are Open.

Taglist is open, you can find the form here.

Requested: Yes l No

Request: from Anon - “Hi! I saw the request you got on your second blog and it got me thinking. Can you write something about reader having a lot of tattoos and spencer thinks she’s a “bad girl” (not that tattoos make you bad but you know... stigma) and that she’ll never want him (maybe early seasons Spence?) and is in literal shock when she asks him out? I just want tattoo representation in fics"

A/N: I couldn't WAIT to write this. As a woman with quite a lot of tattoos this was very inspiring to me. Because there is still stigma surrounding tattoo's, I always get looked at a certain way and people always make assumptions about me due to my tattoos. I loved the idea of Spencer being so into a heavily tattooed female!

CW: vague hints at masturbation (male) other than that just a little pervy Spencer but not too much. Talk of insecurities and being looked at differently because of tattoos.

Plot: Once Spencer notices your tattoos, he can't stop thinking about them. But surely a "bad girl" wouldn't be interested in a guy like him?

Part Two | Part Three

WC: 1K

—————————————————————

From the moment you walked into the BAU on your first day, Spencer knew there was something different about you. He didn’t know what it was, he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

It wasn’t until a few months into you joining the team and a case took you to Arizona in the middle of summer that he realised what it was.

He met you at the crime scene way out in the desert and you’d rid your usual blazer, opting for a much more weather appropriate tank top.

You caught him staring at you as you exited the car, pulling your latex gloves on.

“How long has she been dead?” you asked him, trying not to make eye contact with him.

“Uh…” he swallowed. “She uh…”

You sighed, looking back at him to see his eyes raking over your bare arms.

“Stare much?” you put one hand on your hip and raised your eyebrow at him. “Yes Spencer, I have tattoos.”

He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the beautiful and intricate body art that adorned your body. You had two full sleeves, from your wrists, stretching up to your collarbones and he could just about make out one peeking out from between your breasts.

“Spencer!” you scalded him as his eyes dipped to your chest.

His eyes shot back up to meet yours, his embarrassment written all over his face. He nervously played with his glasses.

“Uh...sorry.” he chewed his lip. “I uh...I just…”

“When was her time of death?” you asked again, trying to pull his mind back to the case.

It wasn’t the first time you had been looked at in that way. For the most part you tried to keep your tattoos covered at work because there was still a stigma attached to being a tattooed woman, especially in a government job.

People always make assumptions about you and you could tell by the look on Spencer’s face that he was doing just that.

***

Spencer couldn’t get the sight of your decorated skin out of his mind. He didn’t think tattoos were something he would find attractive but seeing them on you had awoken something in him.

They were so delicate and artistic and Spencer wanted to trace his fingers over every single one of them. He wanted to kiss every inch of your inked skin.

The thought of this made him hard beyond belief. Sitting in his motel room later that night he was straining against his slacks as he closed his eyes and pictured your artwork, specifically the one between your breasts he hadn’t gotten the chance to see properly.

Did you have more under your clothes? What else would await him beneath layers of fabric? Maybe your ribs were decorated, your thighs too. God he wanted to find out more than anything else in the world.

But there was no chance of that. You were clearly a bad girl, and bad girls were not interested in Spencer Reid.

He was the perfect depiction of the nice guy. He was awkward and a little dorky with his thick rimmed glasses, parted hair and penchant for ties, sweater vests and pressed slacks.

There was no possible way a woman like you would ever be interested in a man like him.

So knowing never stood a chance with you, he freed his aching member from his slacks and wrapped his hand around his shaft.

He closed his eyes and pictured your glorious body and its stunning artwork as he stroked himself.

It didn’t take long at all for him to reach his climax.

***

Months passed and Spencer kept his desires for you to himself. Every time he caught a glimpse of your tattooed flesh he would add it to his sordid box of images for when he was alone later.

It was coming up a year since you joined the team when the whole team was on a night out. It was a warm night and you showed up to the bar wearing a sundress that showed off your arms and the full extent of the tattoo between your breasts.

It also gave Spencer a glimpse at the tattoos that adorned your calves and thighs.

It drove him wild. And clearly he wasn’t subtle about it because about half way through the night, you sidled up close to him while he was getting a drink.

“You’ve been staring at me all night.” you raised an eyebrow at him. “Do you have a problem with my tattoos?”

“W-what?” he stuttered, staring wide eyed at you. “Far from it, actually.” he chewed his lip, his cheeks turning red.

“Oh.” your own eyes widened. “Oh.”

So that was what this was. Spencer wasn’t disgusted by your tattoos, he was attracted to them.

“In that case,” you stepped closer to him hearing his breath hitch. You placed a hand on his chest and smirked mischievously at him. “Why don’t you take me out to dinner and maybe I’ll let you see the other ones I keep hidden.”

“Ot-others.” he swallowed, his pants tightening.

“Oh yes Spencer.” you let your hand trail to his tie and you toyed with it between your fingers. “There’s a lot more you haven’t seen yet. But play your cards right and you just might.”

Spencer couldn’t talk, he could barely breathe. He just nodded dumbly at you.

“Now I’m going to let you watch me walk away. Pay close attention to the backs of my thighs.” You winked at him before turning your back on him.

He watched you walk away and as your thighs met as you walked he saw it.

Half a heart on each thigh. When brought together, they made a whole.

—————————————————————

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mggsmismatchedsox

[skepticalarrie]

Do you think the leak was on purpose? I'm not sure why everyone is convinced it was just because it's happened in the past. Like mistakes can actually happen. I understand the promo behind getting an album getting leaked but what purpose would it serve to leak the titles, album name, artwork and date. When Harry leaked the album, we talked about it non stop for 2 months before the release. Harry never mentioned it, other than that tweet from Sony to draw attention to it. So lines were drawn and people who were against the leaks didn't listen, the rest of us did. But Louis didn't ignore the leak so that we could continue talking about the info we got. He tweeted he was gutted and immediately everyone stopped posting about it cause they were so upset that Louis was upset. So what would have been the point of it. To get it trending for a day? On top of Amazon's music sale for a day? It's gone now, no trace of it for a random person to stumble upon it on the chart. This just doesn't seem like something Louis would do intentionally. He spent 2 years tweeting about having faith in the future. He flashed it for a second at his festival last year. All that mysterious teasing lead up all that just for the title to be casually dropped? He's so meticulous with merch details like using the checkered print in his posters and then wearing the shirt in his cover art. Everything he did had a purpose. Oh and please is not cause a twarrie decided that 🏁 means bg is ending. The checkered is 28 programme too. This is all designed months and maybe years in advance. I bet he's gonna sing a new song at his festival and normally everyone would be freaking out about LT2 coming and asking when etc. but now everyone knows it'll be here in 3 months. Like ok? And if the leak was intentional, now he's gotta pretend it never happened? That makes no sense. I honestly think either someone on his team or amazon screwed up and he was genuinely gutted by it. He probably had so much planned for the rollout. Announcing the date and album title etc. Remember when the harrys house video announcement dropped? How excited we were? A leak just makes it hard to tease things. And I understand that it takes multiple people to get an album on Amazon set up but it doesn't mean that one person can't screw it up by accidentally releasing it.

Okay. I think a lot of people have really strong opinions on that topic and I’m slightly bored of the entire thing, to be honest. I understand where you’re coming from, and I don’t entirely disagree with you. But I think that’s the kind of situation we will only get the full picture and answers with a little bit of time, I feel like a lot of the assumptions you (and, I mean, all of us) are making are just based on several other “what ifs”.

I don’t think that is impossible that it was a mistake. But I do think that’s very unlikely. In a very practical way, we’re talking about like four or five different scenarios here of what could have happened. And we have no context. So that’s really all I have to say about it, let’s wait and see what’s up next. If it was in fact a “fake leak”, I’m sure it will become very clear in their next marketing move, like it was with Harry’s “leak”. And uh… that may be an unpopular opinion and I feel bad to even feel that way, but I kind of hope it was just a mistake… because I’m tired of everything being staged and fake somehow. Everything is always so fishy when it comes to Louis’ career, and that sucks.

[bonesandthebees]

Wilbur wakes up after sleeping the day away (at least he slept for once). He proceeds to not apologize because 1. He thinks he’s in the right and we have already established that he’s allowed to be an asshole as long as he’s protecting them. So then why should he have to apologise for being an asshole?

And 2. He doesn’t think Tommy should have forgiven him for their fight 4 years ago. But Tommy did it anyway. And he probably, maybe, subconsciously thinks Tommy shouldn’t forgive him for this either. Forgive him for failing to protect him, failing to be a good advisor, failing to do his one job. And he’s terrified that he won’t because he won’t know what to do with himself if he loses Tommy because his entire life’s purpose revolves around Tommy.

So instead, he’s trying to change the subject and slowly defuse the bomb that is Tommy’s anger. But Tommy is reading a book Techno gave him and Tommy is still mad that Wilbur thinks he’s incompetent. So more of his last mistakes come to haunt him, like that time he told Tommy that Techno was just trying to manipulate him. (which Phil is definitely doing to him, so fair assumption on his side.)

Wilbur doesn’t want to restart the fight because he’s still holding back worse things he does not want to say or knows he’s close to fully breaking down and spilling ever insecurity and the fight might set it off and Tommy does not need to know because he shouldn’t worry. So instead, he asks what the book is about, shows interest. He doesn’t do or say what Tommy expects because he’s trying to avoid the fight again instead of having it and solving the issues. Though it was working and maybe he could have gotten Tommy calm enough to have a fixing conversation had Jack not shown up.

They then get lied to and taken to a meeting, told everyone is leaving and sent to dinner. Wilbur realises he never stood a chance (but does he realise sticking to his ground is just a bad plan?) Soon Phil will have full rein to provoke and mess with him in meetings again and then break down is getting closer. Despite everything, Tommy still trusts Wilbur to have a plan or be stubborn and say they can’t give up. But he doesn’t, because he’s out of energy.

Tommy is preceptive, he can tell that Wilbur is giving up, losing faith, losing energy and motivation. And he’s worried because he’s never seen his brother like this. Wilbur’s mask is cracking. The pillar is crumbling. Yet he still won’t let Tommh comfort him. Support him. Because Wilbur thinks he failed him when all Tommy ever wanted from him was to be there, be his brother and let him in.

Then Wilbur proceeds to not learn from his mistake and still leave Tommy alone at night, probably without leaving a note and be too hung over to tell Tommy about it in the morning. The only improvement is that he doesn’t try and lie about it, but that’s because he knows it won’t work. So we end the chapter with all of their problems on the table and none of them solved.

4/4

-🌲

WHY DID TUMBLR ONLY JUST NOW LET ME SEE THIS ASK ISTG TUMBLR HATES YOUR ASKS SPRUCE IM SO SORRY

god yeah finally at least he slept a bit lmao, but he doesn't apologize. and if he ever does apologize at this point in the fic, it's a very casual apology that's almost dismissive. nothing like the apology he actually needs to make. so he doesn't make it, because he's fine with being an asshole if it means he thinks he's keeping tommy safe

yuppp he doesn't want to lose tommy, he can't lose tommy, but he also doesn't feel like he should be apologizing either, so yeah he's gotta find another way to defuse the situation. it's getting difficult to remember just how to talk to his brother casually, but we almost get it with wilbur trying to be interested in what tommy's reading.

"all tommy ever wanted from him was to be there" im just aaaa this is it. yes, tommy wants wilbur's guidance, but if wilbur can't give his guidance that's okay. he wants to work together with wilbur on things. he wants them to be a team but wilbur keeps shutting him out.

and then yeah, he leaves again. which is something that's going to keep happening unfortunately

(also, new chapter coming out tomorrow, i finished writing it today so get excited for that :D)

[senadimell]

The Mysterious Benedict Society as an adaption

So far, The Mysterious Benedict Society adaption feels very faithful to the books. There are definitely changes (Constance, for instance, has been aged up, and likely has a different background. This is understandable. It would be nigh impossible to portray her as she is in the books in live action format--for example, none of the kids in the book suspect she’s a toddler, let alone two years old). However, most changes have all felt reasonable and add to plot and pacing.

I especially enjoy the additions: showing the adult side of the team, for example, or Ms. Perumal’s growing concern about Reynie’s whereabouts, or the girls’ nighttime conversations. Some changes are more extreme. The Mr. Curtain of the books is clearly a villain. He’s condescending and rude, and the only people who like him are bullies. Mr. Curtain of the show is much smoother. It’s easy to see how he’s managed to influence people. Similarly, the L.I.V.E. curriculum is much less obnoxious in the show (not just memorizing nonsense by rote), and as a result, the school’s students seem less stupid and cruel. You can see why they enjoy attendance.

I’m particularly pleased that Number Two’s weirdness has been amplified. Mr. Benedict’s found family is delightfully strange, and I love watching their unusual rhythms. It will be easy to believe when (or if) it’s revealed that the women have been legally adopted into Mr. Benedict’s family.

Similarly, I love how they intensified the quirky feel of the setting and characters. Of course Number Two built a house in the woods in a day because she has a woodworking hobby. Of course there’s secret tunnels and drawers and compartments in Mr. Benedict’s house. Of course Milligan’s disguises and mannerisms are wackily memorable instead of just matter-of-fact. The books themselves have a stylized feel at times (they kind of remind me of Lemony Snickett’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, though with none of the grimness).

I love the overall aesthetic. When I first read the books, they didn’t strike me as being set in the past, but the vaguely vintage feeling works excellently. (I was also a fully grown adult before I realized that the Incredibles wasn’t set in the present, so...) The color schemes, costumes, and sets have distinctive feelings and coordinate well. The effect is stylized rather than naturalistic, which is appropriate and amplifies the tone of the scenes. The bright colors and rough textures of the wooded hideout and its inhabitants’ costumes contrast nicely with the clean lines of tL.I.V.E.’s vintage-pastel interior and sleek exterior.

I also enjoyed the way they did Kate’s flashback as rough home footage. Similarly, I enjoyed the way they showed four kids solving problems on the same screen, how they illustrated Reynie’s thought process with overlaid sketches of the problems, and the way words show up on the screen during the tests for emphasis. The combination of animations, showing multiple things at once, and creative angles for emphasis did a great job conveying the feeling of the tests. (Unfortunately, I lack the vocabulary to describe the techniques they used here).

There’s two things I didn’t enjoy. The first was killing Sticky’s parents to make him an orphan. It mattered in the books that he felt rejected by his own parents. Making it his aunt and uncle who (seemingly) care more about money and fame than the child they’re raising feels a little too much like the wicked stepmother trope. I don’t know why the showmakers decided that Of Course They’re All Orphans, because while most of the book characters are orphans, Sticky isn’t, which serves to show that you can feel rejected and hurt by your parents even when you’ve got an ordinary, non-abusive nuclear family. It’s about feeling isolated, whether or not you’re technically alone.

Secondly, all the wheelchairs have been removed from the adaption. I’m not sure why this was done. Sticky’s mother has bad arthritis and requires a wheelchair. In the books, this was done without fanfare; it was as normal as anything else to oil Ms. Washington’s wheelchair in damp weather, or load and unload it from cars in later books. She was more of a background character, so it didn’t affect the plot, but the casual background representation was a welcome contrast to many books that assume being disabled is strange and uncommon, and that disabilities only exist when they’re plot-significant. The aunt who replaced Ms. Washington used no mobility aids, which disappoints me, especially as the woman she replaces in the books is ultimately shown to be a flawed but loving parent who’s dedicated to making up for her mistakes.

The other person missing their wheelchair is Mr. Curtain, the villain. I’m also not sure why this was removed? It could be to avoid the Evil Disabled Villain trope, but in the book, I didn’t feel like his disabilities were treated as a moral flaw or an excuse for his villainy. He shares his narcolepsy with the unquestionably benevolent Mr. Benedict, so it didn’t feel like his condition was used to vilify him.

He and Mr. Benedict act cope with their condition differently: Mr. Benedict relies on trusted family members for support and chooses to sit on the floor and avoid positioning himself in tall places from which he could fall, whereas Mr. Curtain disguises his narcolepsy by wearing mirrored glasses and using a wheelchair that secures an upright posture, so that no one knows when he has an episode. He does use his wheelchair aggressively, banging through doors and zooming around and forcing people to jog and keep up, but it felt like his use of mobility aids grew naturally from his character.

The books also include a scene where he shocks the children by leaving his wheelchair to chase them. They assumed that using a wheelchair=completely unable to walk, a common view in US society. Importantly, I didn’t feel like the scene was framed as particularly deceptive, like he was lying to them by using a wheelchair when he could walk. Rather, it fit into a pattern of Mr. Curtain managing assumptions and expectations: he doesn’t want people to take advantage of his weaknesses, yet wants to hold a few cards close to his chest. He doesn’t have to lie to people, just let them see and hear and assume what they will.

I don’t use a wheelchair or have narcolepsy, so I’m not in a position to say whether or not the books have good representation. Maybe the fact that Mr. Curtain is evil, and also zooms around and bangs through doors, is uncomfortable. Maybe the fact that his nefarious devices are wheelchair-accessible and in fact designed around his chair sends the wrong message. Maybe using mobility aids to conceal a disability sends a bad message, or maybe it would be better if the good guy was the one to use a wheelchair to cope with his disability. I don’t know. I do know that Mr. Benedict’s condition is played for laughs in both the book and show, and that might be uncomfortable. I do think it’s worth noting that Mr. Benedict’s narcolepsy is seen less and less as funny as the books go on, and grows to be seen as an endearing quality that emphasizes how much he loves people, since his attacks usually underscore with strong emotions and convey worry for his loved ones or joy at their company.

My own sense is that both approaches to narcolepsy make sense, and neither is shown to be inherently faulty. Rather, it’s Mr. Curtain’s character that’s to blame for his villainy--his arrogance, condescension, and mistrust. Both characters feel well-developed and consistent, and their disability is only one part of them. Their disability is colorful, but it’s colorful in the same way as the main characters (Sticky’s anxiety and memory, Kate’s gusto, eye for measurement, and bucket, Constance’s precociousness, etc).

As for why Mr. Curtain’s wheelchair was cut, I’m not sure. Maybe the show writers just didn’t want to deal with the ramifications of depicting a villain in a wheelchair, and decided to cut it altogether (a lazy reason, I think). Alternatively, it seems like they’re depicting narcolepsy without cataplexy, eliminating the need for a wheelchair (a better reason).

On the other hand, Mr. Curtain’s attitude and mannerisms bear the least resemblance to his book counterpart of all the show’s characters. They’re incorporating some backstory from the other books to build a secondary plotline, and I’m not sure how it’s going to play out. From what we’ve seen of him so far, S. Q. Pedalian is also drastically different (shy, cloistered, and openly acknowledged as Mr. Curtain’s son, instead of the gregarious, bumbling, misfit Executive of the books). The TV dynamic between him and Mr. Curtain is largely unrevealed as of yet. Since these changes constitute departures from the book, I’m not sure how the future story’s going to play out around them, and what that reveals about why the wheelchair was cut when it was so characteristic of Mr. Curtain’s mannerisms while other things (like Mr. Benedict’s use of plaid) were included.

Still, it does disappoint me that two wheelchairs were erased, and no one in the show uses one, not even background students. 

Overall, though, apart from the orphan and wheelchair situation, I’m very pleased with this adaption and think that the pacing works wonderfully. It’s a near-ideal format for a video adaption (I think animation would be best, but this is a close second).

[veniteme]

Hunting for Gems

season preview

ash island x reader

prev | next

When Ash Island is forced to participate as a producer for the latest season of Show Me the Money, he knows it won't be easy. But when his partner is you, a rising producer from H1GHR, maybe it won't be as bad as he thought.

2k words

As you stand before the door to the waiting room, heart thudding loudly in your chest, you think back to when the KIFF boys were in your studio eating cake a week ago.

“What am I supposed to do?” you slap Rohan’s arm vigorously as you panic. “How am I supposed to act around him?” The rest of the boys had already left, allowing you to freak out in relative privacy.

You’ve been an avid fan of Ash Island since his days on High School Rapper 2. Once he started releasing music, your infatuation with him only increased. When Jay informed you that you’d be working with him for the entire season of Show Me the Money, your brain immediately worked itself into a frenzy. On one hand, you were excited to meet someone whose music you loved. On the other, how were you expected to function properly next to him with the entire world watching through a camera?

“Okay, first thing you need to do,” Rohan starts, “is stop hitting me! You may be weak, but if you hit me enough it starts to sting okay? And second, just be normal? Act how you usually do.” He makes it sound so easy, as if you won’t die on the spot the moment the two of you make eye contact.

“That is under the assumption that I am able to think with him sitting next to me. And alright, let’s say I am actually capable of saying more than two words in his presence, what if he doesn’t like me? What if he thinks I’m weird or annoying?” You’ll be crushed if this person that you’ve admired for so long decides he doesnt like you.

“Then he’d be a good judge of character?” You hit Rohan even harder. “Ow! Relax, I was just kidding. Look, I’ve known the guy for a couple years now, and he has no right to call someone else weird. Plus, he’s one of the chillest guys I know. You’ll be fine. From what I’ve seen recently, the only time you need to be worried is when the cameras are on.”

“What do you mean?”

-----

While you stood outside the door, Ash is inside, staring nervously at the production crew setting up the cameras. Unlike you, he is not nervous about the two of you meeting. He’s worked with countless artists, featured on so many songs, he is used to interacting with people he didn’t know. What actually scares him is having to be a functioning human being in front of all these cameras.

He’s never done a such a big production like this, never seen so many cameras all pointed at him, capturing his every move. Thinking about all the eyes that will be watching him through that lens gives him anxiety. Normally, he’d be drinking right now to take off a bit of the edge. However, he doesn't think that would help with this cold bad boy image he is already starting to have. On top of being a jerk, the public will then think he was an alcoholic.

Just when he thinks he'll burst from nerves, you decide to walk through the door, a welcome distraction from all the thoughts running through his head.

-----

The first thing you see as you walk in is the production crew. All you are filming today are some short interviews to introduce the producer teams. They’ll be airing it as a teaser for the new season. You bow your head in greeting to the staff as you head to your seat. And that’s when you see him.

The two of you make eye contact, both looking up at the same time. And then you freeze; your brain short-circuits and for a second, all you can do is stare. Ash Island, the guy whose songs take up a good chunk of your playlist, is sitting there, right in front of you.

You break out of your stupor when you hear his voice. “Hey, what’s up?” he says casually. And you realize you’re being incredibly rude to someone who is older and a senior in the industry.

“Hello! I’m Saf. I’m a producer for H1GHR Music,” you introduce yourself officially.  

He chuckles a bit. “Yeah, I know. We’ve seen each other at the H1GHR-Ambition parties.”

“Right,” you say nervously. And you guys had met before, but you didn’t think he’d remember. He was always across the room or on the opposite end of the table, so you two never really interacted. In fact, this is the first time you’ve heard his voice, and not through a song on your phone.  

“So did you want to sit down?” he asks. You’ve just been standing in front of him for a while.  

“Oh!” you immediately take a seat. Now what are you supposed to say? Thankfully, he decides to fill the silence.

“You're friends with Rohan right?” he asks. Not really who you’re thinking about at the moment, but you'll take it.

“Yeah, I am. We're in the same crew,” you explain. “Why, did he say something about me?” you ask, feigning nonchalance. If Rohan said anything remotely embarrassing about you to Ash Island, you were ready to kill him.  

“Oh no, I just remembered him drunk-dialing me last night to wish me luck on the show.” You laughed, making a comment about how dumb Rohan was sometimes. And that’s how the rest of your conversation went until you started shooting, sharing dumb stories about your mutual friend.

-----

SHOW ME THE MONEY SEASON X

Team ASH ISLAND x SAF Q&A

The two are seated side-by-side in front of the camera. Ash Island is looking quite stiff and uncomfortable, while Saf has an easy smile on her face.

Please introduce yourselves.

After a glance at Ash Island, Saf begins her introduction with a bow.

Saf: Hello, everyone. My name is Saf, I’m a producer for H1GHR Music.

Following her lead, it seems Ash Island takes his first breath since the camera started rolling.

Ash Island: Hi, guys. I’m Ash Island from Ambition Musik.

Did you two know each other before the show?

Saf: Well, of course I don’t think there’s anyone interested in Korean hip hop right now that doesn’t know Ash Island. But we’ve also seen each other in passing at events and parties and such. This is my first time really talking to him though.

As she talks, Ash Island appears to loosen up just the slightest. He directs his gaze to Saf when he speaks.

Ash Island: [to Saf] You… can just call me Ash.

Saf looks at him in surprise, her cheeks just the slightest shade darker, undetectable to most.

-----

“WHY DID THEY EDIT IT LIKE THAT?” Rohan’s obnoxious laughter in the background is only furthering your agitation.

“Come on,” Rohan lets out between spurts of laughter. “That had nothing to do with the editing. Don’t tell me that wasn’t exactly how it felt when he looked at you.”

Unable to refute his claim, all you say is “Whatever.”

“Did they have to put in the romantic background music and CGI cherry blossoms though?” you complain.

Ignoring your best friend’s following fit of laughter, you begrudgingly hit play once again.

-----

“Duuuuude I didn’t realize you were so smooth!”

“Our Bition Baby is all grown up!”

“You can just call me Ash,” Changmo repeats in a sickeningly sweet voice.

“What are you guys talking about?” Ash asks, only slightly annoyed that his labelmates had interrupted his studio time. He wasn’t making much progress today anyway.

“Did you not watch the Show Me previews last night?” Hash Swan asks.

“No, I thought I’d avoid the embarrassment of seeing myself on national TV,” Ash replies. He was there when it happened, he didn’t need reminders of how awkward he was on camera.

“Alright, you have to watch this,” Leellamarz says, pulling up the reposted video on Youtube.

-----

You guys are the youngest producer team in the history of the show. Do you feel pressured by this fact?

Saf: [to Ash] Do you want me to answer this one?

He looks at her and nods wordlessly. She smiles at him in return before addressing the camera.

Saf: Of course, working next to such big names and artists can be quite intimidating. But I think as long as we put out work that we can be proud of, I will be satisfied.

Saf: But I would appreciate it if the viewers would look kindly upon us as it is our first time on this show. I’m kind of a wimp; I think I’d be pretty hurt if I saw we were receiving hate comments.

Saf’s smile indicates she’s only joking, and the production team can be heard laughing behind camera.

Ash: I doubt anyone in their right mind would send you hate.

Saf: Why not?

Ash: All you do is sit and smile and release music. What could anyone possibly say about you?

Saf: …I’ll take that as a compliment.

Ash: It was one.

-----

“I hope you know that if you break her heart,” Changmo starts, “I’m petitioning to kick you out of the company. I am NOT risking losing an invite to AOMG-H1GHR parties because of you.”

Ash rolls his eyes. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, dude. Glad to know you have so much faith in me. But also, chill out. I haven’t even done anything yet.”

“Yet? So you are planning on making a move?” Hash Swan questions. Ash sighs. Why are these guys reading so much into everything he says?

“No, I am not making a move, I barely know her,” Ash refutes. “She’s just a producer that I will be working with for the next couple months.” That day was the first time he’d ever talked to you. There is no reason to get excited about anything just yet, even if he does think you have a nice smile.

“Come on, Ash. She’s not just a producer,” Leellamarz points out. Ash is a bit wary of where he’s going with this-

“She’s a very cute producer.” -and rightfully so. Ash really can’t catch a break with these guys. They all burst out laughing, and Changmo gives Leella a high-five.

“Whatever,” Ash mutters. “Why the sudden interest in my love life anyway?”

“Wow, you’re not even gonna try and deny that you think she’s cute?” Hash asks. This guy is way too observant.

“I have eyes. How am I supposed to not think she’s cute?” Ash says bluntly.

“You know, contrary to what you may believe, not everybody has to find her cute,” Changmo says, mostly just to tease him. “Maybe she’s just not my type,” he shrugs.

“Yeah, that’s because she’s actually nice,” Ash retorts. “And we all know that isn’t your type.”

“That’s never been your type either, Ash, so why the sudden change of heart?” Leella asks.

“Maybe I’m looking for a change of pace,” Ash says with a noncommittal shrug. This is all hypothetical anyway. It’s not like he’s planning on asking you out or anything. He just thinks you’re cute, there is no reason for the guys to make such a big deal out of it.

“Yeah, well be careful. You’re going to make some very scary people mad if you mess around with her,” Changmo warns.

“Please, the H1GHR guys are like literally the nicest guys on the planet. I think I’m safe,” Ash says.

“That’s not who I’d be worried about if I were you.”

-----

a/n: let me know what you think!! was the official show part too short? are there parts that sound weird/awkward? first time writing full fics so i'm always open to feedback!

[amberwild420]

one step back, two steps forward (pt. 28)

masterlist

A wolf’s howl

No!

 Many heroes jumped at the scene. Wonder woman saw the destruction before her knees buckled. Robin was clearly shocked at the amount of destruction. Superman was willing to go himself, he was barely holding his rage at bay. Superboy was gripping the chair so tightly that it was crushed into dust but no one paid attention.

 The camera focused on ladybug and her team or what was left of it. The three were frozen in shock. The dust settled and they could see something. It was chat, hands in front of him like he was bracing himself for the hit.

 Problem? He was frozen. Not like the people who had their energy sucked and had a layer of frost on them. No. He was completely turned into an ice sculpture.

 There was no sign of Luna and Ryu. They were nowhere in sight. Ladybug could feel herself hyperventilating.

 That was close.

 A familiar voice said making them turn around. Luna put Ryu down before wiping a thin layer of frost off of her elbow. A sigh of relief came out of their mouth. They wanted to smile but the frown on her face turned them serious.

 She looked at chat who was frozen before gritting her teeth.

 She can’t be allowed to remain. We need to take her out one way or another. Right. Now.

 She hated chat. Yes. But she wasn’t completely heartless. The sculpture could mean only one thing. The akuma didn’t hold back on taking on his energy.

 The watchtower was filled with many cheers. Luna quickly got out of the trouble with her teammate. Though they should feel guilty about chat being caught in crossfire, but they didn’t paid much mind to it. Karma is a bitch.

 Superboy looked at Luna who didn’t even spare a glance to the drone. Her eyes were cold. Colder than ice. She was done with everything.

 She barely managed to take Ryu out of the way, slightly grazing her elbow on the beam. The shock she felt, she knew she was losing her very life energy. Should she feel lucky that this amount of frost was nothing for her or should she feel guilty for not saving chat?

 Ladybug, we need a plan. You saw what has happened to the end. So now we need a plan to end this one and for all.

 Ladybug felt like she was about to hurl. There was too much pressure. If not for Luna, she would have lost a lot. The pressure was getting to her. Before she went into spiral, the pain in her head brought her out. Honeybee hit her on the head.

 If you think you have all the burden, just so you know you aren’t the only one who’s carrying it. Have a little faith on us, ladybug.

 Ladybug looked around before gesturing to the drones.

 Please stay here. We need to recharge. We will return after we’re done. With a plan.

 And they all went in different direction. Away from akuma.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Honeybee jumped in her room before transforming. Pollen looked around both pleased and sad at the change. There is no way he didn’t miss this room.

 Let’s recharge and get some work done.

 Pollen smiled at the snacks and went eating.

 I hope we can win. This will get even more destructive if the akuma used that destructive attack in our direction.

 We’ll win. We’ll give our best.

 Chloe smiled before looking out.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marinette put a macaroon in front of Tikki as she paced around. The akuma was destructive. More than she initially thought. She did saw the victims. The count was not as high syren but still high. The only living would be the one in the shelter.

 Picking up her phone, she saw the default text she had send her parents about her hiding in a safe place and telling them to stay safe.

 What a hypocrite she was. Telling them to be safe when she is the one putting her life in danger every day.

 Marinette.

 Should we go Tikki?

 The exhaustion was clear in her eyes. They were all tired of being hostage of their own emotions. She could have fallen long ago if not for the soul of balance finding the soul of creation. But they still need a soul of destruction.

 Let’s do it. Together. Like we always do. Not just you and me. But with every friend of ours.

 Marinette smiled before calling for her transformation and flying out.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Daybreak.

 Calling off her transformation she quickly pulled the stack of jerky for her Kwami. She had been on her guard since the whole destruction beam incident. Nova wanted to say something but stopped herself and ate her snack.

 Kaylan paced around before her eyes fell on a pouch. It wasn’t there before she left for school. Looking through it, she felt her heart jump at a familiar sight but put it in her pocket.

 She might need it in the fight. A bitter smile came on her lips.

 I couldn’t hide it after all.

 She whispered looking out of her window. The house will be fine. With her in here, she doesn’t need to worry about her. Looking at Nova, she nodded.

 Full moon.

 Feeling familiar transformation passing over her, she looked at the mirror before jumping out. Uncoiling her whip she swing it at the nearby chimney before swinging towards the regroup point.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just as everyone regrouped, they saw the akuma opening fire again. This time the main blaster was not being used. The small amount of people that were still out were being attacked.

 Let’s do it.       Ladybug said before calling for her lucky charm. A magnet fell in her hand. Silently looking around she saw a few things lit up. Or rather people.

 Her teammates and the akuma.

 Let’s begin. We will follow the plan but if we are not in the position to follow, let’s improvise, whatever you think is alright.

 They looked at the drones in distaste. Like they wanted to tell them what they go through every single time.

 Getting into positions one more time, they stared at the akuma. Luna grabbed something in her hand, before running towards the akuma on the signal. Jumping left and right to avoid getting hit, she uncoiling her whip, she grabbed the nearby debris before hurling it towards the akuma.

 Though it didn’t do much damage as it was broken before it could touch her. But that was all the plan, as Luna dropped from above from the cloud of the dust. The roundhouse kick threw it off guard. Before she could gather what happened, Luna started her onslaught.

 Not giving her time to recover, Luna kept hitting with her whip. She needed to distract her enough for the rest to grab the akumatized item. Just as it looked like the akuma was nearly to the point.

 Lightening dragon!

 Ryu attacked from above like a lightning strike, rendering akuma unfocused. Just as bee was creeping closed to use her ‘venom’ the akuma laughed like a madman. The blasted on her chest powering up.

 She could feed on lightening?!

 Ladybug yelled in disbelief. She was wrong in her assumption.

 “She uses life force from a person and use it as an energy. If I’m not wrong she hasn’t use any form of electrical energy. It could be because she can’t feed on that. Otherwise, the power gird would have been the first to struck.”

 Ladybug said before pulling out the magnet. They looked at the akuma wincing slightly as another person froze.

 “Any metal when charged, exhibits a magnetic field. If we feed her a large dose of something she doesn’t digest it would be making her slow. That’s when we paralyze her and get the akuma.”

 Ladybug trembled at the maniacal laughter. She was wrong. She was so wrong in her evaluation. She forgot that human also have electrical energy aside from just life force.

 She has been feeding on electrical energy all this time. She messed up. She messed up so bad.

 All over.

 This is all over and it’s all her fault.

 Silicus milez sasitatio!

  Ladybug looked up, Luna had used her magic once more. This time it was three stone creatures. The humanoid creatures attacked the akuma, physically overwhelming her. Luna unwrapped her whip, walking forward, passing Ryu.

 If you think I’ll just give the satisfaction of winning against me. You have a lot coming for you. Because I would rather die than to give you that satisfaction.

 Uncoiling the whip, she attacked again. Combined with the effort of the stone creature she brought, the akuma didn’t have time to focus on the attacks.

 Her attacks were all fueled by rage. After winning constantly, the despair that she might lose today was fueling her rage even more. The unexpected events that had turned the about to win battle in a may lose this battle. And she was not having it.

 Honeybee stood there tense looking for a moment to attack, beside her ladybug stood, the magnet tied to the end of her yoyo. She couldn’t do much in the battle, and she’ll be damned if she didn’t take off the necklace.

 Python waited for when he might need to call for second chance. There is no way he would let them get hurt.

 But that happened in an instance. The akuma got away from the stone creatures, charged the blaster and fired.

 ........directly towards the ladybug and other two.

 It was like, the whole world slowed down. She could hear her heart beating in her ears. Feel her body tremble. It was like the fear she had pushed down for long started to grip on her.

 Not noticing her throat glowing, she ran in front of the beam. Opening her mouth she howled. But instead of a sound, it was a beam of magic that came out.

And then the clash happened. Both beams clashed, and then nothing, except for the dust cloud.

 Gritting her teeth, she shouted.

 Get her!

 The akuma struggled against three giant creatures. Honeybee also snapped out before using her venom. The creatures let go of the akuma before making their way towards Luna who fell on her back panting. This akuma took too much of her energy. She was exhausted.

 The stone creatures shrank until they were the size of a normal dog and rubbed against her. Ladybug grabbed the necklace before breaking it and purifying the akuma. Throwing the magnet in the air, she witnessed how a million ladybugs swept over the city, reversing all the damage that occurred.

 The drones came near the team before showing the holographic screen.

 How about we study the whole battle again and discuss how could we possibly help you before our meeting?

 Ladybug nodded and waved as the drones flew away. The office woman sobbed as she realized that she was turned in the akuma.

 Soon enough she was consoled. Ladybug sat next to Luna who was staring in the distance. Petting the dog like creature, she cleared her throat bringing the girl back to her senses.

 I realized just today, how much I have to learn.

 And I need to learn I can also lose.

 ..........thank you. If .........i-if it wasn’t you.......

 Tears filled her eyes but she wiped them before they can fall. Grapping her hand, she squeezed it.

 Even if it wasn’t me, it would have been you instead. For the first time I have people to care for....................and now.....I’m ready to go to hell and back just to keep them safe.

 .......You’re an idiot.

 So are you.

 A giggle left her lips before tension left her shoulders. But that was short lived, as chat dropped in front of her, ignoring Luna and smiling silly at ladybug.

Luna rolled her eyes at his behavior. Looking at ladybug from the corner of her eye, she saw her sighing before looking at his goofy smile. It was like he forgot that he had nearly died once again in the akuma attack while recklessly jumping in.

 Chat meet me at Eiffel tower at midnight. We need to talk.

 Anything for you bugaboo!

 Ladybug grimaced before leaving them. Luna sighed before standing up as well. The stone creatures glowed before floating and shrinking to the size of marbles and landing on her palm. Pocketing it in her space she left as well.

 They were doing it tonight. It’s happening tonight.

previous

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[sunflowerandco]

Entranced

One-Shot

A/N: Hi!!! taking a break, but I queued this one shot I wrote a couple weeks ago. I hope you like it!

Rating: T

Summary:  Courtney's beliefs on hypnotism are challenged when she gets hypnotized into pursuing her growing feelings for the rebellious delinquent of their friend group. [Requested]

          Geoff approached their table with their respective drinks in his hands. He handed them out in the order he called them out in.

         "Okay, Long Island iced tea for Bridge, rum and Coke for DJ, red wine for Courtney and two Blue Moons for me and Duncan for whenever he shows up." DJ raised the question. "Where is he anyway? The hypnotist is coming on stage soon."

         "He had an emergency client at the shop. Something about a failed brake? Anyway, he'll be here soon."

         "You can't tell me you guys actually believe this stuff." Bridgette shook off Courtney's doubt.

         "We do! Too bad your boyfriend isn't here to agree with you." Courtney crossed her arms at Bridgette's comment.

         "Duncan is not my boyfriend!"

         "I didn't say a name." Courtney couldn't say anything and decided not to dig the hole she was in even deeper.

         The show started, and the hypnotist, David, brought out a few people from backstage fifteen minutes into the show. He performed a few acts; the first being David making a woman afraid of the word 'balloon'. The second person was brought into a trance and left craving their least favorite food at the sound of a snap. Courtney remained unimpressed and assumed all his tricks were the product of good acting and practice. She rolled her eyes at the last act and the pure theatricality of the last woman clucking like a chicken across the stage as laughter filled the bar. After she ran off backstage, David called to the audience for their participation.

         "So, anyone wanna take a stab at it? Any doubters?" There weren't many people eager to try public humiliation until Bridgette yelled out while grabbing Courtney’s shoulders from behind.

         "She does!" Courtney turned to face her.

         "What?! No!" If there was one thing Courtney hated, it would be having no control of how the public perceived of her. Still, Bridgette persisted and had the assistance of DJ and Geoff now.

         "Come on, Courtney! I thought you didn't believe in it!"

         "I don't, but-" Courtney tried to make her case, but was cut off by the audience's cheering. David reached his hand out to help her get to the stage. Bridgette swore she heard a death threat from Courtney before she gave in and made her way up. There was a chair ready for her facing the audience to which David gestured for her to sit.

         "Now, remember this can only be done at your most relaxed state." She looked up him; her lack of belief resting on her face. He continued. "So, take a deep breath, doe eyes."

         She used those same eyes to roll them at him before taking a deep breath. He held a pendulum in front of her face and the chain with one finger. "All you need to do is follow the motions of this pendulum. Only focus on this object..." Courtney's eyes moved back in forth, mirroring the object before her. The faces she once saw clearly in the audience faded before her as she slipped into a deeper state of relaxation. Before she knew it, the only voice she could hear was David's. She followed every step he had told her.

         "Now, close your eyes. and repeat after me."

         Every time he spoke, she echoed his words.

         "I was wrong."

         "I was wrong."

         "David was right."

         "David was right."

         The crowd filled with laughter as he continued to prove her wrong, and Bridgette was only glad Courtney wouldn't remember this.

         "I will never doubt the power of hypnosis again."

         "I will never doubt the power of hypnosis again."

         David moved on to seal her fate and tried to keep her focus. "Now, can you still hear me?"

         Courtney sat still. David continued. "I want you to think of the person that attracts you the most. The person that makes your heart race at first glance."

         Courtney's mind faltered but still followed instruction.

         "From now on, at the sound of a bell, you will have the urge to kiss that person when you're in the same room. This urge will dissipate after you kiss that person, and the sound of bells won't affect you any longer."

         David continued to give her instruction. "At the snap of my fingers, you will return to us in a relaxed state, and no memory of this conversation."

         David snapped his fingers quickly and Courtney opened her eyes slowly. She felt like she had just woken up from a cat nap. She stretched her arms out before remembering she was on stage. She jumped from the seat and David only gestured to the stairs leading to the bottom of the stage.

         She walked back to their table still confused as ever as her friends suppressed their snickers. Bridgette playfully questioned her, but Courtney didn't answer out of pride. "So, do you believe in it now?"

         In a matter of perfect timing, Duncan rushed to their table from the door and sat down in the empty seat next to Courtney's. He greeted them as he sat down. "Hey guys. Princess. What'd I miss?"

         They looked at each other with all-knowing expressions in an unspoken decision that it would be funnier if he didn’t know what happened. Geoff, the loudest of the three, tried to suppress his laughter as he handed him the bottle, he ordered for him. Duncan furrowed his brow, grabbed it, and used his keys to pop the top off. He looked to Courtney for an answer. "What's wrong with them?"

         Courtney wasn't ready to admit David's line of work was potentially legitimate and that she was the lab rat in the test of faith. She assumed that's why they were laughing, anyway. So, she just shrugged her shoulders while trying not to make eye contact with him. Their conversation ceased when David called for the next participant and Duncan turned his attention to the stage.

         The rest of the night went on with Bridgette, Geoff and DJ making hints only they'd understand, and for the night Courtney and Duncan's joint confusion left them on a team of their own. Duncan didn't mind the excuse for them to share glances every now and then without her pushing him away.

                                                        ***

         Courtney stared up at the elevator dial as she waited for it to reach the lobby. After a long day at the firm, all she wanted was a night in her bathtub and bed. She heard someone enter the building from the blaring sound of the buzzer to let guests in. The person entering found the audacity to stand right next to her, shoulder to shoulder. She was annoyed at first but caught a whiff of his cologne and recognized the scent. Before she turned her head toward him, she heard his voice, and it echoed throughout the empty lobby.

         "Hey, Princess. Long day?"

         "Yes, Neanderthal. And I wish you'd stop calling me that. " Duncan smirked at the opportunity to ignite the flame inside of her. He loved seeing her nose scrunch at his words knowing there was no real annoyance behind the guise of her expressions. He thought it was cute and it the most common reaction to get out of her.

         "But it's just so fitting, babe."

         "It is not! What are you doing here anyway?"

         "Geoff and I are hanging out tonight. You're not the only tenant here." Courtney's attention shifted to the elevator dial when she heard it reached the lobby, and the bell ringed. Courtney's eyes widened and her mind felt lighter as if all her thought prior to this moment disappeared. She remembered where she was when Duncan gestured for her to go into the elevator with his hand.

         "You first, Princess."

         Courtney looked up at him and the first thing she noticed was his lips moving. They were forming words, but she was more focused on the shape as the sound drowned out. Were they always that pink? Her confusion increased when she felt her heart thump loudly in her chest and she quickly looked toward the elevator doors. She walked inside while he followed behind her. He pressed the tenth floor for her and the eleventh for him, the doors closed, and the elevator ascended to their floors. He whipped his head in her direction when she yelled out.

         The rush of her thoughts only compelled her to do one thing, and it felt increasingly difficult to push it away with him around, and the face she resisted to look at to stop her from feeling anything she couldn't control. Still the words echoed in her head one after the other.

         Kiss him! He's right there, and we're finally alone!

         She held her face with her hands and screamed.

        "No!"

        Duncan got closer to her, and that only made it worse for her. He held a genuinely concerned expression on his face.

        "What's wrong with you? Are you scared of the elevator?" She didn't want to explain nor could she, so she went along with his assumption. She nodded in fear of opening her mouth to hear an uncontrolled thought escape from it. She groaned loudly as she tried to subdue her mind's determination for action. Duncan instinctively held her as he tried to keep her from lowering onto the floor, and her arms wrapped around his upper body. Courtney couldn't resist the need to face him as his grip tightened; her composure slowly coming back to her caused her to stand a little straighter, but her breath couldn't catch up with her when her studying eyes shifted from his lips to his eyes. They still sought after hers to reassure her.

        "It's okay, Courtney. Nothing's gonna happen to you." His words slowly softened the intensity of her thoughts. She remembered feeling safer, and what she wanted didn't sound so bad after all.

        Duncan's voice trailed off, and she appeared to relax for a little before he realized how close their faces were. He savored in the fact that he was able to admire every feature without the barrier of their usual deal. He took in just how rounded and big her eyes were and every freckle on her nose. He allowed himself to focus on her lips and their fullness. They were painted in crimson and were... parting? He knew he wasn't just seeing things when he noticed them slowly inching closer to his. As much as he wanted this, he couldn't determine if this was something she really wanted. Everything was all happening way too fast.

        The bell went off again to signal they had reached Courtney's floor, all her need diminished, and her original thoughts piled on her like a ton of sand. She tried to remember getting into the elevator and into Duncan's arms. She enjoyed the feeling of being wrapped in him for a split second before realization hit. She pushed against his chest to separate them; a look of disbelief portrayed on her face as she pretended her heart didn't skip a few beats in between.

        "What are you doing?!"

        "What am I doing?! You were the one freaking out! I was just trying to calm you down because you wouldn't stop yelling!" Courtney held no regard for what he said as embarrassment took over her body. She readjusted the bag on her shoulder while she looked down to avoid eye contact with him again.

        "I don't need you protecting me!" He couldn't say anything else because she stormed off to her apartment letting the doors close on their conversation. Duncan felt frustrated at first, hell, even angry, and confused all in one. He was only given a mere amount of time to process the fact that she was actually leaning in to kiss him. He was wrapped up in frustration like a ribbon, but then it hit him.

        Courtney wanted to kiss me. That is, before she pushed me away for no reason. The thought chimed in his head repeatedly and he smiled to himself when the question that plagued his mind finally had an answer.

                                                        ***

        The moment in the elevator couldn't leave Duncan's mind. What he assumed was a confirmation of her reciprocating feelings made him feel compelled to talk to her about it and get their feelings in order. He buzzed her apartment and made his way upstairs. The tiniest of nerves got to him on the way up. She didn't have to pursue anything, but he still needed clarity from her.

        Courtney was brought back into a trance and took on the same mindset she had in the elevator. She knew she had to answer the door and in her tranced state she hoped it was the person her mind was hellbent on seeing. The trance stunted her speed by keeping her focus on the feeling her had in the elevator, but she quickly snapped out of the haze when the doorbell rang once more. She proceeded like normal to the door to unlock it to see Duncan standing in her doorway. She was confused but seeing him even in an uninfluenced state made her heart race as his arm hovered over the doorframe. She secured her robe as she greeted him and tried to keep an unfazed tone. "Duncan, what are you doing here? Are you here to apologize?" She still had a brief memory of them in the elevator. She wasn't entirely angry with him, but he indeed caught her off guard that day.

        "I wanted to talk to you. Mind if I come in?" Courtney widened the door to let him inside and led Duncan to the living room. Her heart had no plan of soothing to its normal pace as Duncan sat down next to her on the couch. He placed his elbows on his knees and looked toward her before speaking.

        "We need to talk about what happened in the elevator the other day. I don't know what happened to you at the end, but you tried to kiss me." Courtney wouldn't believe him or anything that made her face her feelings.

        "I did not try to kiss you! You were simply holding onto me and I pushed you away. Anyway, you need to go. I'm expecting Bridgette over any minute now."

        Duncan felt anything but encouraged by their exchange of words. He shook his head in frustration at her disbelief. "Fine. If you wanna keep living with selective memory, then by all means-" He was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. Courtney turned to him in vehement intent as if a switch had been flipped in her head. The thoughts that raced through her mind previously in this trance came back to her. This time they grew stronger, and she didn't feel compelled to fight against them anymore. They sounded like that of a schoolgirl crush. Duncan's voiced faded slowly into the background.

        "Are you not gonna answer the door?"

        Kiss him! His lips are right in front of your face and he's right here on your couch!

        Drunk on her pervading thoughts, she slowly inched next to him; seeking her hazy ambitions. This time, Duncan was even more perplexed at the situation and he couldn't understand the sequence of events Courtney brought to their circumstance. Before the madness, he understood their relationship to an extent, and all of it managed to derail in a matter of two days out of utter confusion. She got closer to him, holding her hand to his face. "Courtney, do you not remember what you just said, like, two seconds ago?"

        Bridgette rang the doorbell again, and Courtney immediately slipped out of the trance once again.

        “See? I knew you wanted to kiss me.”.

        “What the hell are you talking about?”

        Duncan stood up from the couch; his brain was tired of the mental gymnastics at this point. “Okay, now you’re making me feel like I’m crazy-“

        “If the shoe fits, wear it.” Courtney opened the door to find Bridgette outside. She was ready with questions after hearing them yelling from the other side of the door.

        "What's going on in here? What are you guys yelling about this time?" Courtney led her to her living room and gestured to Duncan before she explained her side of the story.

        "This Neanderthal thinks I want to kiss him! He keeps up coming up with these stories that didn't even happen."

        Duncan offered his side this time. "They DID happen. And every time I try to tell her, she acts like she doesn't remember!"

        Bridgette sighed and looked at the both of them. Bridgette answered Duncan, not eager to explain to them without creating this awkward moment of realization for Courtney. "Because she can't remember them."

        Courtney looked at her incredulously and crossed her arms. "What are you talking about? You believe him?"

        Bridgette continued and tried to keep her tone calm as Courtney's intensified. "The hypnotist gave you the urge to kiss Duncan at the sound of a bell."

        Duncan and Courtney let out a simultaneous “What?!”

        Courtney surprised tone didn't match Duncan's humored one. She fumed at the thought of her friends causing all this humiliation she couldn't even remember for the past three days. “Why would you guys make me want to kiss Duncan?!”

        “The hypnotist told you to think of the person you’re most attracted to, so we didn’t choose him. You did.”

        Courtney eyes shifted to the side while her ears burned cherry-red at the fact. She looked down so she couldn't face either one of them.

        "Oh." She didn't argue back, letting Bridgette finish her explanation.

        “Yes. And it’ll only end once you actually kiss him.”

        Duncan added on to the conversation with growing frustration. “Which she has been trying to do until you came in!”

        She turned to face him, her face still bright red as ever. “Shut up!”

        “Okay, then. I’ll leave. It's not like you didn't want to do it before he hypnotized you.” Bridgette made her way toward the door and Courtney yelled out for her.

        "Wait! Can you ring the bell so I can get rid this stupid trance?" Bridgette nodded and closed the door behind her.

        "So, ready to admit you have the hots for me?"

        "Even if I did, why would it matter? At the end of the day, you wouldn't last long enough dating me."

        "Would it kill you to have a little faith in anything?" He turned to face her. "I'll be the first to admit it: I like you, Courtney.  I like you enough to come back here. I-I like you enough to " Bridgette rang the doorbell, and Duncan called out behind the closed door. "We're not ready!"

        Bridgette yelled back. "Sorry! Can't hear you."

        All the build up from the last two trances returned to the forefront of Courtney's mind. She looked up to see him in front of her, and her eyes fixated on his lips again. In one gesture, Courtney grabbed his face and placed her lips on top of his rather forcefully in quick motion. She felt herself being brought back to reality and out of the trance she was put under by David, but when she pulled apart from him the craving never died down. She was fully aware of exactly what she wanted. Courtney looked into Duncan's eyes for a second and noticed the seriousness of his expression. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again with the same force. His eyes shut instantly at the collision, and his arms pulled her in closer to him. Her lips began to overlap his in her desperate need to taste him, and Duncan smiled into the kiss while running a hand through her hair. Courtney sighed while they continued, and he swore he heard a moan escape of out her mouth. They were finally able to give into the thoughts of each other that persisted often in the night. He was as spellbinding as she imagined at this, and she gasped when he ran his tongue on her upper lip. She gave him the access he needed, and the feeling shot to her core.

        It was everything he could've wanted to happen between them. He wished for more opportunities like this one as he pulled her in closer to the point where their bodies were pressed against each other. As much as he wanted this to go on, her words still played over in his head. He broke them apart; their breaths trying hard to catch up with them. He looked at her as he posed the question; his arms still held her around her waist. "What about what you said earlier?" Courtney shook her head to dismiss his doubt. She was too enthralled by him to keep up the façade she maintained around their group of friends.

        "Forget what I said. I was just too scared to admit that I like... you?" Duncan smiled at her revelation and playfully poked fun at their predicament, still satisfied with the outcome.

        "So much you had to be hypnotized to do it?" Courtney shut him up again when she attached her lips back to his in an intoxicating pace, and her hands made their way through his dark hair. The weight on her shoulders completely lifted at the confession; she felt happy to feel weightless in Duncan's hold. They held little regard for Bridgette's questions from the other side as their pace escaladed slowly.

        "Do you guys really still need me to stand here?"

        "Guys! Hello?!"

[thecottageinthedark]

Sorting Persona 4

Here again with another Sorting Hat Chats post! This one’s for Persona 4. Full disclaimer; this is based just on the game, not the anime. Also it’s behind a cut cause it is LONG. And has spoilers.

The system I’m using is explained here by @wisteria-lodge.

The Persona 4 MC, whose name is either Souji Seta or Yu Narukami depending on which supplemental materials you go by, is a really REALLY loud Badger secondary. His power is based on making Social Links with NPCs and shifting to become whatever they need-and also on patiently grinding to level up his attributes. And because he lives so much in this secondary-plus the fact that on a meta level he’s kind of a stand-in for the player-his Primary is hard to see.

But where it gets revealed in the end is the decisive moment when the ending you’re going to get is decided. The Investigation Team have discovered that Namatame’s been putting people into the TV, and thus are assuming he’s the murderer-and it’s become horribly personal, because one of the people he did that to was Nanako, and even though she’s been rescued, she’s deathly ill thanks to the TV World’s poison.

And now you-and the MC-have a choice. The IT are baying for Namatame’s blood, ready to kill. One Badger Primary method would be to appeal to the fact that he’s a person, you can’t just kill people….but nobody’s listening. Another would be to dehumanise him and say, he’s a murderer, he needs to die for the sake of everyone-going along with all the fury of the group. A Lion would lash out too-less because everyone’s doing it and more from their own gut feeling, but that would still lead to dead Namatame. A Snake might kill Namatame because he hurt Nanako...or, in the Golden remake, if they’ve done Adachi’s social link, they might cover for him. Either way, they’d be prioritising an inner circle member.

And all of those get you bad endings. Especially the Snake choice to cover for Adachi.

What gets the good ending, the happy ending where the MC is fulfilled and at peace, is to ignore all the emotion that’s running so high, and order everyone to step back and take time to think about whether the theory of Namatame being the killer makes sense. Pounce on the niggling little detail that doesn’t fit, and realise that the assumption everyone is labouring under isn’t true. And then prioritise the actual truth over personal loyalties or emotional reactions.

Bird Primary.

Because of course. This is a detective story. Your party are called both the Investigation Team and the Seekers of Truth. Even the title song hints at it; find the truth (Bird) by getting together with others (Badger).

Yosuke Hanamura’s a young, immature Snake Primary at game start, with the selfishness typical to that. His Shadow throws that back in his face, and he realises he doesn’t like being an asshole whose secret gut reaction to murders happening is ‘well at least I’m not bored anymore now something is happening in this dead-end town’.

So he does two things pretty much at the same time; he widens his inner circle to let in first Souji and then the rest of the IT, and he adds a model on top to let him care about things outside that circle. I think it’s a Lion model-a young Lion, just like his Snake, that edges into Glory Hound, but keeps hold of the idea that you should do certain things because they’re just right.

(It’s not based on the MC, though the MC is undoubtedly his most important person, who he even calls his partner. But then, as I said, the MC’s Bird is very quiet, so it’d be hard for Yosuke to perceive it well enough to mimic it. I think it’s actually based on Chie, who is after all the inner circle member he has known longest!)

And his secondary? Yosuke’s a support guy. He lifts his friends up. His family run Junes, and he leverages that connection to create a base location for the IT and secure a portal into the TV world that’s big enough to be usable. When Teddie comes to the human world, it’s Yosuke who gives him a place to stay. He’s a Badger secondary, and again, this makes perfect sense. The Lover sorting. No wonder so much of the fandom ships him with the MC.

Chie Satonaka is LOUD and BRASH and if you are a jerk she will KICK YOU IN THE FACE. She is so goddamn Lion Secondary, and utterly unapologetic about it.

Her primary, I think, is Lion again. The reason she has gotten possessive of Yukiko (as her Shadow calls her out on) isn’t that she wants Yukiko to be just hers-it’s that she wants to be Yukiko’s knight. Saving the princess is actually a textbook Lion cause. It lets her feel heroic and brave.

But that’s not good for either of them. Damsel in distress is a shitty role, one that doesn’t allow Yukiko to be strong and capable herself, and Chie pushing Yukiko into that role is really straining their relationship. It’s also something that Chie herself knows is wrong-that’s why her Shadow accuses her of it. (“I am a Shadow, the true self...”)

So instead Chie changes gears, because oh look a new Cause just popped up! Find the killer and bring them to justice! And on top of that, there’s always sexist prats to kick.

Yukiko Amagi models Badger Primary, because it’s expected of her. Running an inn is a really Badger kind of job. She also models Badger Secondary, for the same reasons. She feels this is who she’s meant to be; sweet, gentle, socially adept, community-focused and hard-working. The traditional Japanese ideal of womanhood.

But it chafes. The weight of societal expectations feels crushing. She doesn’t want to do stuff just because she’s meant to, because people think she should. She’s an Internal Primary, and needs to follow the voice of her own heart.

And where that heart leads her...is back to the Amagi Inn, except now she’s decided that she’s doing this for herself. She needed to feel that she could actually choose to not inherit the inn, before she could realise that she wanted to run it. She’s a Snake Primary, and the inn is important to her because it’s hers.

Her secondary...actually I get the feeling she’s like Toph Beifong of Avatar, a Snake who likes to spend most of her time in neutral. She is delightfully quirky and weird, and owns that, but she doesn’t charge like a Lion and she’s comfy with wearing masks when the situation calls for it.

Kanji Tatsumi panics at the idea that he might be gay, and caretakes like a boss, and that might look at first sight like a Double Badger who’s scared that he might be one of the people he’s used to dehumanising. His Shadow screams that it wants to be accepted...but what calms it is when Kanji himself accepts it, and says that this resolution is about being true to himself. Kanji’s a Double Lion who burnt his primary because being given shit for the feminine, queer-coded parts of himself made him lose faith in his internal compass, worrying that it was leading him somewhere that he viewed as bad. Internalised homophobia’s a bitch of a thing.

Accepting his Shadow is the start of Kanji healing his primary-letting go of shame for being an oddball and telling the world to go fuck itself if it thinks it can make him conform. He does model Badger Secondary-as I said, he caretakes like a boss-but that’s more a thing he does as a gift to others. When it comes to solving problems, he charges in swinging, ready to beat up anyone from biker gangs to otherworldly monsters.

Rise Kujikawa is a cheerful, shameless Snake Primary, loving and ambitious. She became an idol to make friends, and enjoys the fame it gets her. And when she needs to take a break for the sake of her mental health, she has no compunctions about doing so.

But she needed that break because the idol life was stressing her out-unsurprisingly, it’s a really intense life. And the particular problem she had was to do with the conflicting expectations the public has of celebrities. Perfection is demanded...but so is authenticity.

Rise realised that she was face-shifting as an integral part of her career, and this knowledge sent her into a tailspin. The fans don’t like the real Rise Kujikawa-they like Risette. But who is the real Rise Kujikawa? She doesn’t know! It’s frightening! What if she’s just made of smoke and mirrors? How does she find out what’s underneath?

And the answer she comes to is that there is no real Rise Kujikawa...which is the same as saying that there is no false one. Rise is Risette is Rise, it’s all just her, adapting to the context as she needs to. She’s a Badger Secondary, and the act of performance is the true self.

And for her, that’s a good answer-it brings her peace. But now we need to talk about Teddie.

Because just hearing Rise say ‘there’s no real me’ sends Teddie into a Shadow crisis right there.

He completely fucking loses it. He’s a denizen of the TV world-he’s been immune to it all this time, never manifesting a Shadow, but this is what breaks him. And that just screams Bird Lion. It’s his Buzz Lightyear moment-or rather his first Buzz Lightyear moment, because there are two. This is the first, and he survives it by retreating into his Secondary. It allows him to bring Shadow Teddie under control...but this isn’t sustainable. He’s realised something terrible and can’t avoid that knowledge indefinitely.

And soon enough he admits it to himself (and to the MC). He is a Shadow, that somehow became self-aware. His Truth was never true. He can’t handle it, he has no idea how to even exist, and he outright tells the MC that he intends to commit suicide.

He recovers, though-and he does so because the MC tells him Nanako survived. That’s the first thing that gives him a glimmer of hope, because his Truth already had some Snakey elements in there about chosen people and ambitions. He comes back from the brink, reshapes his system to centre those Snake principles, and returns to the side of his friends.

Lastly, Naoto Shirogane, our other queer-coded character. (I’m using she pronouns for the sake of canon here-but I’m a firm believer in nonbinary Naoto, for the record.) I think she’s a Bird secondary-the only one of those here, jeez. She’s just so analytical. She’s a rapid-fire Bird too, Detective Prince working on a case, squarely in the middle of her comfort zone. But push her out of it-into a normal teenager social situation, say-and watch her squirm!

She has a Bird Primary performance, too. But performance is the operative word here. She’s trying to look adult and smart and collected, in order to be taken seriously by the police officers she works with. And she is smart, mind you, but that’s not the why of her though it is the how. It’s not Naoto who goes ‘wait, let’s think about this, we need more information’ at the crucial point, but the MC, who really is a Bird Primary. Naoto was the one to suggest doing a little vigilante justice vis-a-vis murdering Namatame.

Her real Primary is Lion. Being a detective is a Cause for her, not a Truth, and she is blazingly certain of her own sense of what’s right-so much so that she doesn’t stop and check it against other people’s. And she inspires people! She doesn’t even mean to, and certainly doesn’t know why, but she is just so cool that people flock to her and admire her. ‘The Detective Prince’ is, when you think about it, a really Lion Bird kind of title!

Her Shadow has two issues with her. First, it harps on the gender angle. Hey, self, there’s that thing about your identity that you’ve been refusing to think about! You need to go poke at it! And then it breaks down into a scared child. Self, your performance is eating you alive. You need to do it, yes, the Cause demands it, but you also need to be able to stop sometimes and let yourself have emotions!

In short:

MC/Souji/Yu: Bird primary, Badger secondary

Yosuke: Snake primary, Badger secondary, models Lion primary

Chie: Lion primary, Lion secondary

Yukiko: Snake primary, Snake secondary, with Badger primary and secondary models that start out pretty unhealthy for her. 

Kanji: Lion primary that starts out burnt and begins to unburn after his Shadow fight, Lion secondary. Models Badger secondary.

Rise: Snake primary, Badger secondary

Teddie: Bird primary, Lion secondary. Falls dramatically and recovers by shaping his system to be more Snakelike.

Naoto: Lion primary, Bird secondary, performs Bird primary

[feckin-zicons]

that's why i hate larries, i hate them with all my heart. besides being boring they are hypocrites 🙄

Hey nonnie, sorry its taken me so long to reply but if you’re following me you know I’ve been travelling lately and have been more scatterbrained than usual. Not that I’m ever not scatterbrained, but its been just a little crazier than usual!

Now I wouldn’t go as far to say I hate Larries. After all their delusions can be pretty funny sometimes!

Joking aside, I don’t hate Larries, I love Larries, I’m a Larry, so I really hesitate to tarry the whole group with the same brush. However I do strongly agree with you that there are those who are complete hypocrites. Nothing annoys more more than when Larries ™ treat the other boys, other celebrities, their friends and even family as one more side character to the Larry Show.

In particular when Larries ™ flood comment sections asking or in some cases, ordering people to confirm rumors/the couple being together. The absolute fucking disrespect. Not just because they’re flooding comment sections in videos streams, tweets, what have you, that sometimes have nothing to do with the couple in question, but because its presumptuous and rude as fuck to think they’re owed a coming out- just because they’re fans of the boys.

Stop it. Thats fucking ugly as hell.

While I have no doubt all the boys will one day be out (as referenced by their continued efforts in fighting the closet. I don’t get the sense the boys will just stop at being freed from their contractual obligations). It should and will be on their own terms. Provided they’re not forcibly outed some other way.

Coming out is a deeply personal experience and no one, no one ever, has the right to out someone else. I’ll never not be absolutely furious at the Larries ™ who posted about having ‘receipts’ that would out the boys. Which… tbh weren’t receipts at all but thats a whole other story. I’m also still angry at the reactions after Liams Attitude spread that wouldn’t have been as bad if not for the entitled fandom that peddled ridiculous claims beforehand about Liam confirming Larry to be real.

I mean… What the actual fuck. Setting aside the fandom experience of the time, and boy was it an experience. What right would Liam have confirming Louis and Harry’s relationship? I mean, get some perspective? It doesn’t help that a lot of fandom adults were the ones coming up with, and reblogging those theories and the younger fans ate it up. It would have made more sense for Louis and Harry to do it but idk maybe I’m still out of touch for thinking so. I mean, it felt like every other week someone was talking about Larry coming out. It was such a shit storm oh my god.

Biggest issue I still have with them is that the entitled behaviour hasn’t stopped. For some it seems like, Larry coming out is it for them. Like pack it up, goodbye, shows over, Louis and Harry are gay and in a relationship and everything is rainbows, we get to see cute pictures of them and everyone lives happily ever after.

Yeah, no. Coming out, for anyone, is just the beginning, can’t even begin to imagine what its like for them. They’re still going to need everyones support, and it irritates me that for some fans it seems so fucking conditional.

Time and time again, I’ve seen tweets, and posts, and videos, whatever, going on about Larry coming out and it reads like a fucking wattpad story. Not just that but its always on the assumption by the poster, on the off chance they consider the other 3/5ths of the band and Ziam being a possibility, that Larry will come out first?

What?

I’m sorry but, what?

Everything I’ve seen from the boys tells me they’re all in this together, they support each other and are working through the bullshit as a team. We have all seen the No Judgement music video yes? The merch, posts, double speak etc referencing each other, yes?

I mean, I suppose if you only look at Louis and Harry, like so many do, sure. Only Larry matters, everyone else is a side character in their life.

(Lemme just, scream for a second).

However, that kind of thinking leads them to the wrong conclusions. Like… assuming the SBB/RBB countdown was attributed to nothing, when it counted down to Liam finally being free of Sophia. In the years since, I’ve seen Larries ™ backtrack on claiming the bears had anything to do with the boys, that they weren’t behind it at all, or that they were just trolling the fandom.

You know, despite all the proof otherwise, and some really, really good posts breaking down clues about what the boys were trying to tell us. The moment something might not actually be about Louis and Harry its like all their thinking shuts off. Its frustrating. Really fucking frustrating.

Seriously, fans of the other boys as individulas, not just Ziams, have been talking about the stunts too and how they fit together. Its why we tend to be right, because we’re considering the entire group. They’re still a group. They’re not free until all of them are free.

Just for that Nialls coming out first. Lmao. I’ll call it now. Lets go Niall, whens the baby coming. We all wanna know. Its been years.

Imagine, imagine! Acting like coming out is some race to be won. The fucking audacity.

Go outside and touch fucking grass you absoulte ninny.

I get it, you want to be vindicated, you want to be rewarded for putting your faith in two celebrities being together.

Newsflash you dandelionfluff, its not a race, Louis and Harry coming out isn’t a fucking prize. Thats not what supporting a relationship looks like.

Its worse when someone admits they don’t know much about Ziam or the possibility of Niall being LGBT+, and claim they’re open to it, but then immediately tweet or reblog or sub tweet or tag comment a post or answer an ask from another Larry ™ talking about how Larries ™ are the most marginalized and persecuted group.

???

In what fucking world?

IN WHAT FUCKING WORLD?

If we wanna play that game, boohoo, the media claims Louis and Harry aren’t friends anymore because of crazy shippers. Meanwhile Zayn publicly isn’t friend with anyone and “left” the band… despite the Ziam fandom calling the stunt about either Louis or Zayn “leaving” and getting it down to the exact week (the second article coming out a week before about the Ziam kiss pretty much cemented it for Zayn leaving. Which did a lot to fan the flames of the already rabid fanbase when Ziam got two articles confirming a Ziam kiss over the years and Larry got nada. Like that actually means anything).

Not to mention Larries ™ using the hetties and management tactics against the other parts of the fandom to silence them.

Who cares what the media says anyway!  TPTB, 1DHQ, The Sun, The Mirror, Simon and his minions and their unpaid interns have used the media to split the fandom apart and it worked.

Who the fuck cares if the media calls the 1D stans delusional, you know the truth! The truth it out there and you’ve seen it! The truth is coming! Who gives a damn about what some two bit “journo” who failed out of their creative writing course writes? They get worse by the year. If it wasn’t so pathetic and hilarious I might actually feel embarrassed for them. They can’t even come up with new stories and have just taken to copying old articles, but you’re upset with them??? Give it a rest. Honestly.

The sense of disconnect, entitlement and victimhood of some Larries ™ is absolutely ridiculous.

Oh my god they’re Karens. I’m not trying to be insulting, but thats exactly who they remind me of.

I’m not going to say its a surprise to me that so many in the Ziam fandom are POC, LGBT+, and Neurodivergent and any combination of those, but I am going to say I’ve read a lot of Larry fics that just have Het sex made gay. Those in the Ziam fandom just tend to look at facts in a different way than Larries do due to their life experiences. A interfaith, interracial, relationship where one or both partners fall under the Bi umbrella (not saying Louis or Harry can’t be or aren’t Bi+ but rumors, and the way the fandom markets them, puts them firmly in the gay category) looks very, very different than gay or straight relationship. Both looking from outside and being in one. There’s just different dynamics at play that aren’t often realized or understood by the gays and hets.

Its not a bad thing. All relationships are different. The issue is that theres a lot of biphobia/racism/religious prejudice etc that arises from people being unwilling to understand the inherent differences.

Taking myself for example, I’m bi, like, bi as hell, and I don’t understand how gays and hets only like one gender. I just don’t. Can’t wrap my head around it. If someone asks me to choose one gender over the others to prefer I can’t. Its so stressful. My brain goes into panic mode and it feels like I’m being torn apart. My sense of identity is shaken- its a shit feeling. I just can’t lie to myself like that. If other people feel the same well, its no wonder bi+ have such high rates of depression and suicide. Its not about choosing who to like, there is no choice, I just feel attraction to everyone. Aces, I get. Its similar to being the opposite of what I feel, or not feeling an attraction to someone I’m not interested in. Easy. Gays and hets? I’m completely lost on.

Completely, and I know I’m not the only one who feels that way. But that doesn’t mean I’m not willing to try and understand where they’re coming from. Its alien to me, personally, but I’m not going to shut down the fact, that theres a fuck ton of people who only like one gender or try and make up reasons as to why they’re actually bi+

I digress, none of the boys fall neatly into the gay stereotypes, its just that parts of the Larry fandom have boxed Louis and Harry into certain roles to fit preconceived notions (likely do to them initially fitting in better with the white, sassy, somewhat effeminate twink thats been plastered all over Hollywood as their “LGBT+ representation” for years. Gag), they can understand better, and only look for proof to back up their theories but don’t look at things objectively.

They really need to get out more and make some LGBT+ friends that aren’t on the internet and talk to some gay elders. They need educating that’s not the often sanitized and insulting Hollywood version, that’s all I’m saying.

They made Louis and Harry more palatable for themselves and its… really gross.

I don’t know, I don’t get it.

Some Larries ™ turned the boys into their fandom and fanfiction stereotypes when they’re so much more than that. The Sony leaks should have been enough to dissuade the fandom, and prove that the brand sold to the broader audience is just that- a brand, and yet… Niall only talks about food and golf and Ireland and is only allowed to be straight or ace. If he exists at all its just to be Capt Niall. Liams slow and dumb and depending on the day he’s either Capt Liam or a horrific abusive homophobe. Zayns just The Worst, a unstable drug addict, and the boys hate each other, and they should have kicked him out of the band sooner because he never wanted to be part of them anyway, etc.

It drives me absolutely around the bend some days. They’re real people who don’t owe anyone anything, especially not coming out.

Yes, I think they will. But they’re not obligated to. They can change their minds, I’ll support them regardless of an “official” coming out or not.

Look, a part of me gets it. They wanna be right, they wanna prove the haters wrong, they want to be able to say I called it all along! The vindication will be sweet.

But like, it takes a quick look at someone other than Louis and Harry to realize theres something hinky going on with Liam, Zayn and Niall. Please listen to their fans who have spent just as much time as you have looking into Louis and Harry compiling together evidence.

It might take a weekend to watch the ILYSM and pterodactyl bros videos and a few more hours looking into some Niall blogs, which isn’t much compared to the hours I know they’ve spent looking into Larry. At least then they’ll have enough information to form an opinion on things.

I wonder, for some, what would happen if Larry didn’t come out, or didn’t come out first, or one of the other boys was outed against their will. Because… I don’t know. It seems like some would rather just be proven right at this point.

I get it. We’re tired. Its been eleven long years. But this isn’t a television show were everything can come to a head with a s3 or s4 cliff hanger and fixed in the series finale. Its real life, and they started off as boys trusting industry veterans who never had their best interests at heart.

Iduno. I just want some Larries ™ to take a step out of the echo chamber, realize life isn’t The Larry Show & co. And especially. ESPECIALLY, that every instance were someone, friends, family, co-works, industry peeps etc support the boys they are SUPPORTING THE BOYS, NOT THE FANDOM. They are not “confirming Larry for the fans” they’re doing it to support the couple, not to cater to the fandom. Please stop confusing the two. There’s a huge fucking difference. Learn it.

[hopevalley]

Season 8, Episode 9: Pre-Wedding Jitters

Y’all know what’s wild? The season is coming to a close! I feel like we just got started with Season 8, and it’s already nearly over. I’m not ready for things to end...except the love triangle. Lol.

One important thing I want to talk about, before we move on to my regularly scheduled episode write-up, of course, is the quality of the writing and filming this season. I really feel like the team took a step back and thought very carefully about how to improve the show, and then they went through the effort of actively trying to improve things. 

Are there still badly-written areas of the show? Absolutely. Are there things I loathe seeing? Yes. Are there plotlines that are extremely contrived even by Hallmark standards? Unfortunately there are.

But I don’t think anyone can deny that the writing this season is, overall, an improvement over Seasons 5, 6, and 7. The only thing that I feel about S8 that is worse than 5/6/7 is the love triangle, but it had to come to a head eventually so it was always going to be a point of contention among the fans.

I’ve seen a ton of negativity going around the Internet, and you are all entitled to your opinions, but let’s hold back from being too angry until we see how things will work out. After all, there is a chance, however small, that Hallmark will end up surprising us.

So here’s to hoping that the writing quality uptick will continue as we move into Season 9.

And now, our plotlines from this episode:

The Dilapidated Love Triangle

The Wedding Planning/Party

The New & Improved Henry Gowen

Miscellaneous (Car Investigation, pastor position/Jesse and Clara + Cafe, Carson and Faith, Mike and Fiona)

This was another episode that felt pretty smooth in its storytelling; it had some smaller plots going on, but two primarily large plots, a smaller one that revolved around Henry, and then a few small (connected) plots from previous episodes/that overarched the whole season!

Sorry for the muddle by the way, it took me hours to type this and I’m too tired to read it over thoroughly before posting. If you see any glaring issues please let me know so I can fix them, though!

--

The Dilapidated Love Triangle

Let’s just get the pig slop out of the way, shall we? I think we are all in some sort of agreement by now that we’re tired of the triangle and just want to see it resolved as soon as possible so that we can get on with our lives and invest our interests in the right place(s). 

I also believe most of us are also in some kind of agreement, however we feel about the characters, the triangle, and who Elizabeth’s choice should be, that this thing has been very poorly paced. This sentiment seems to be echoed across the Internet right now. The pacing is AWFUL. After two years of almost nothing happening, now we’re going to bullrush to the end of the triangle? That’s a yikes from me, Chief. (Wait, didn’t I say that last week, too?)

I was never a fan of the narrated beginnings of episodes. I think they’re really tacky and boring. That said, there’s no other way to get into Elizaeth’s head easily because...I don’t know. Either Erin isn’t that skilled or the director doesn’t know how to direct her, or the script sucks. They struggle SO MUCH with show-don’t-tell that they have to resort to telling...which is fine, sometimes. This is an instance where telling is just mega redundant since she says the same exact thing probably 10 more times in the episode. I wish they’d have just kept the first part of the reflection or focused more on that—how Nathan talking about it...makes it feel fresh and raw again in a way she didn’t expect.

Anyway, Elizabeth writing that she’s been “left to reflect, once more, on the senseless accident that took [Jack’s] life” is ridiculous. Senseless? He was in charge of the training mission, but unless I’m losing every last marble I’ve ever had, wasn’t it Jack’s choice to go after the younger recruits who had been separated? Wasn’t it thanks to Jack’s quick thinking and intervention that only one person lost his life that day (Jack himself)? 

This is where the whole “Jack died heroically” thing kind of matters, actually. Especially when you butt it up against Nathan being the original person intended to go. Would he have risked his life like that? We’ll never know, but I’m sure Nathan thinks about it a lot, and it’s not something that should be left out of this story.

It’s valid for Elizabeth to wonder why Nathan kept the Secret hidden from her for almost three years, but what is really troublesome is the weird shift she seems to have between Casual Curiosity and Stricken Grief about it.

I grew tired of mopey Elizabeth in S4 and 5, so I’m not happy to see her back. Fewer eye drops, please. -_-

Anyway, it almost felt like a breakthrough when Elizabeth asked Rosemary why she thought Nathan took so long to tell her about Fort Clay, but Rosemary’s response was so bad. “He didn’t think it was important enough.” WHAT? WHO WOULD SAY THAT? Rosemary can be a bit thick-headed but that was almost too contrived for me to willingly follow. Anyone with a brain would realize it was IMPORTANT and THAT WAS WHY IT WAS A SECRET.

And when Elizabeth’s like, “Not important enough?” BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY IT IS IMPORTANT... Rosemary just tells her that Jack’s death wasn’t Nathan’s fault.

Which. She’s right. But that doesn’t make the secret unimportant. It’s still kind of a big deal. He’s confessed to being in love with Elizabeth multiple times now. Even Rosemary can’t be so dumb that she doesn’t realize that the connection between Jack’s death and Nathan is...meaningful, especially to Elizabeth. And that Nathan knew this and couldn’t bring himself to tell her because he knew it would hurt her.

Anyway, I’m doing my best to give Elizabeth a bit of grace here, because she’s just so self-centered I almost can’t stand it. To be clear, Elizabeth has ALWAYS BEEN LIKE THIS. It’s just that usually the issues at hand aren’t about her, they’re about someone else. 

Rosemary’s right but what she said was straight-up stupid. I don’t know, I don’t think the characters are out of character so much as the dialogue just didn’t flow very naturally and I felt like the characters were making assumption jumps to force certain responses. If Elizabeth can’t agree with Rosemary that Jack’s death isn’t Nathan’s fault, then she should have expressed that a bit more directly so that Rosemary could draw the conclusion that Elizabeth does feel it’s Nathan’s fault. It came across like Rosemary was speaking to the audience more than to Elizabeth, and I didn’t like it.

--

The most delightful scene in the entire episode has to go to Allie and Lucas. That was so cute and wholesome and good. Her asking if she could sit at the bar, him offering her a treat, her trying to return the gift ‘cause she felt caught in the middle and like it wasn’t fair to accept it... SO GOOD. They remembered the gift multiple episodes later AND incorporated it into this episode flawlessly. LOVED IT. 

Also, she asked an important question. LUCAS...where DO YOU LIVE?!

His story was a bit silly but I actually enjoyed it. It gives him a more playful vibe and also I think was almost entirely to ensure that Allie felt more comfortable and less anxious about what was happening around her. It was also his way of reassuring her that him courting Elizabeth wasn’t going to take Elizabeth out of Allie’s life...and that things will be okay.

I enjoyed it.

Things were a bit awkward with Elizabeth and Allie but they felt...better than before, so I felt like the conversation helped.

--

Lucas calling Allie “Allie Grant” was nice now that her adoption is official! I appreciate that.

Elizabeth and Lucas talk about how Lucas told Allie he’ll “work things out” with Nathan and Elizabeth definitely doesn’t appreciate it, and with somewhat good reason: she doesn’t like being caught in the middle of things any more than Allie does.

The thing is...she has had the power...all this time...to tell Nathan straight-up to leave her alone/that she isn’t interested. I stand by what I said before, that she shouldn’t have to tell him no for him to respect the boundaries she’s set, but if he’s not respecting those boundaries she needs to be firm about it.

I like how Lucas comes off in this scene. He wants to understand, he listens, he’s patient, he doesn’t push. I’m here for it.

She tells him what Nathan told her and he seems a bit overwhelmed by it, too. It’s pretty clear that he realizes she must be feeling all kinds of things after finding that out, especially after all this time. 

Again, for the second time, Elizabeth doesn’t seem all that grief-stricken about the secret being kept from her for so long: she tells Lucas she just doesn’t understand how he could keep it from her. 

He asks permission to suss out an answer and Elizabeth politely declines and says she’ll ask herself, but to please forgive her, she needs some time to...think.

She watches Lucas go and then...touches her wedding band.

-

Nathan meets Rosemary in the library and goes on a long boring monologue about how he’s read like, three whole books that women wrote, but still doesn’t understand women. No shit, sherlock. That was terrible writing...just straight up bad writing.

But I’m not exactly surprised because the very next thing that happens is that Rosemary tells Nathan...she’s been in his eXACT position before!

No...you have not. Yes, you were the unwanted third wheel, but that’s where the similarities ended, and you should have clarified. This just didn’t hit well for me, I don’t know. I don’t want to say it’s out of character, but...I don’t think Rosemary is this soft gentle personality anyway. I feel like she was always a bit more in your face with the things she said, not “try to encourage a manner of action in a very roundabout way” like she is in this episode. But again, without a logic jump from Rosemary, this scene doesn’t quite work.

I think I might have preferred Rosemary to play dumb and ask what specifically he didn’t understand about women. Make him freakin’ say it. And then she could react better. 

--

We get Love Confession #3 or whatever we’re on with Nathan, now. Let’s go over the entire scene.

Elizabeth walks into Nathan’s office and instantly asks him why it took him so long to tell her what happened.

He says he felt guilty and when she tells him she doesn’t understand, he goes on to say that after the accident he requested a transfer to Hope Valley. He never met Jack but he knew he’d left behind a wife and child, and felt it was his responsibility to look after them and protect them.

She asks why he would assume that, and he explains that he felt it was his duty. And that when he found himself falling in love with her, he felt like he was betraying Jack and his memory. That’s why he didn’t tell her.

He then takes it ONE STEP TOO FAR and says, “I fell in love with you, and I think that love is always worth fighting for.” 

Elizabeth says “Excuse me,” and leaves. Nathan’s face afterward is maybe a decent mix of “I probably shouldn’t have said that” and regret, but...woof.

Anyway, I was fine with this up to the point where Nathan said, completely unprompted, that love is always worth fighting for. How does he know? What are his experiences with love? Books he read, written by men??? PLEASE.

READ PRIDE & PREJUDICE U SWINE... ELIZABETH FALLS IN LOVE WITH MR. DARCY BECAUSE HE DECIDES HE WANTS TO CHANGE AND BE A BETTER MAN AND THEN DOES SOOOOOOOOO oh wait this is turning into an Elizabeth/Henry argument...OOPS?

Anyway, yeah. Not a fan of that line. It almost feels like there’s something missing. She’s standing in front of him about to cry because she feels hurt that he didn’t tell her this, you know, crucial information, and he’s just like “Yeah I didn’t tell u cause I love you and felt like i was betraying jack’s memory and also lol love is worth fighting for babe!” What kind of confusing mess of babble is this?

Honestly, it just left a bad taste in my mouth. :( I have so many really obnoxious opinions about Nathan and what they’ve done with him this season, but I feel like I should save them for a season summary podcast or something, just in case Hallmark ends up surprising me. Right now I just feel like they really just wanted to give him what the fans hated about him (he wasn’t passionate enough, not manly enough, not forward enough with his emotions, at least from what I read on Reddit and Instagram last year), but in like THE WORST POSSIBLE WAYS and for the wORST POSSIBLE REASONS in the VERY WORST SCENARIO.

I feared that would be Nathan’s reason for coming to town from the moment the character was announced and...I wanted to be wrong.

Anyway, I really liked his self-awareness up to that point. He never met Jack, which keeps some of the weirdness at bay. Also, he felt like he needed to make sure Jack’s family was okay, and that’s fine. I wouldn’t call it noble (as Rosemary later does), but it’s not exactly bad, either. Then we got the line of him admitting that it felt kind of bad to fall in love with her. I wish he’d gone on to say that wasn’t supposed to happen, or even given her a reason he loves her (so that it doesn’t feel like we’re just being told everything), because his line about love being worth fighting for right after he says he felt like he was betraying Jack’s memory by loving her...was...really strange??? Maybe a few sentences were edited out? 

--

Elizabeth tries to refuse to play Fiona’s blindfold game and LITERALLY NO ONE SAVES HER (though I think Rosemary considered trying). I hate the idea of this game solely based on the fact that several people participating shouldn’t even be there (Nathan, Bill, Mike, Fiona, Molly), but Elizabeth wouldn’t be able to accidentally choose Nathan if he wasn’t there, so... -_-

I think I might have actually liked this (her “no” with Carson was super cute actually, probably the cutest laugh she’s ever had on this show) if she’d had the chance to reject a few more guys on the way down the line. If she was closer to the end of the line she’d feel her options were running out and might second-guess herself. Having Nathan be the second person she touches and having her choose is...eh.

Nitpicks aside (their hands wouldn’t feel the same and she held Lucas’s hand quite recently actually), it could have been worse. At least she stated who she was searching for...

BUT UGH THE EMBARRASSMENT.

The thing that gets me about the whole scene is 100% that everyone in town would know about the Triangle drama, so it feels...weird to see everyone so gung-ho to watch this happen... I don’t know... I like having fun too, but NOBODY even TRIED to step in??? 

At least Lucas found some humor in it right away (he smiles). 

I think I wish someone had said something. Maybe Nathan could have said, “Nope, sorry” to lighten the mood a bit? Or Lucas could have said, “Almost!” since he was standing right next to Nathan?

--

Anyway, we’re spared having to wait because the very next scene is Lucas checking on Elizabeth and laughing about her choice.

One line I wish they’d added in is that someone else got it wrong. Imagine if Lucas said, “At least you didn’t pick Bill like Clara did!” Or even just made a joke about it in general like: “Of course I’m not upset. But if you would have picked Bill I might be a little hurt. My hands aren’t that old yet.”

Elizabeth tells him that she spoke to Nathan about the whole...thing and it was awkward. She chooses to not tell Lucas the rest of the reason Nathan gave, but instead only admits that he told her he loves her again. When Lucas asks what she said in response she said she didn’t say anything.

Lucas seems...a trifle upset at this, and understandably so. I think he can sense she’s...not really a sure thing and is worried about it. :( I feel so bad for him right now.

--

Rosemary stops by to see Elizabeth after Lucas leaves, and tells her she ran into Nathan at the library yesterday. Elizabeth tells her what Nathan said in his office and Rosemary says it was noble and selfless of him.

(I mean...it wasn’t selfless. Like at all.)

Elizabeth says she never asked him to be noble. She didn’t ask him to fall in love with her, either.

She asks Rosemary if she encouraged Nathan’s feelings for her at the library. Rosemary says no, but Elizabeth asks again and she interrupts her to ask Elizabeth if she’d rather hear what she actually said or just assume.

Rosemary goes on to say that she just wants what’s best for Elizabeth.

And we get Elizabeth asking how anyone would know what was best for her.

I mean, that’s like 90% on you for not communicating with your friends, but also, it’s 100% on you for just assuming you knew what Rosemary said to Nathan. I think she’s just looking for a reason why Nathan is being so persistent and in her mind encouragement from someone else is the only thing that makes sense, ‘cause she sure as heck hasn’t been encouraging him herself!

This hurts Rosemary’s feelings, probably because she was about to say that she wants what’s best for Elizabeth so she asked Nathan to stop getting in the way lol, and says maybe she should leave (since Elizabeth is in a bad mood). Elizabeth agrees she should go.

End episode. On this note. Woof.

Overall it wasn’t too bad I guess? But I’m not a fan of how some of this was written. It really felt like they cut lines out to make the episode shorter, when...they could have cut out one of the boring side plots. You know. The entire thing with Jesse and Clara, for example. 

--

The Wedding Planning/Party

I admit that I got a little enjoyment out of Florence saying no to all the dresses. Highly relatable. 

Then, at the barbershop, Fiona says the exact wORST possible thing about Florence wanting a hairstyle that’ll “knock Ned dead” FLHDSFAJDSA.

Florence goes on to say she wants anything but “ordinary Florence” and Molly steps in.

Honestly, I wish they’d just let Molly stick to being Florence’s BFF because that’s the role she plays best. Also, I’m almost sad Florence and Ned got together because it means #teamflomo is no mo’. :(

Paul shows up...

I don’t know what I expected but this boy would have been a literal BABY in season one, which makes the whole thing with Florence almost sadder AND it gives Florence more in common with Elizabeth (widow with a young child) BUT I HAVE OPINIONS.

I know what you’re thinking. “Manna, you always have opinions!” Yes, you’d be right. 

They based this off of ONE (1) line of dialogue that Florence had in S1 when something was stolen from her house. She says, “while my child slept nearby” or something like that.

They brought a child in...for that? On one hand...I’m impressed.

On the other hand, I kind of had just assumed they’d retconned that and that Florence had no children (which is why she was always goofing off gossiping with Molly) so I don’t really know how to feel about the whole thing.

Rosaleen starred in an episode and never showed up again after S1, so I think I’d have preferred to see her return instead of a child we literally never laid eyes on. But he’s a cutie. And he’s named after his father just like little Jack so...I’ll take it!

--

The party begins and we have to do “the men are stupid and don’t know how to plan” again which is really annoying. The highlight of this entire thing was Ned saying (about his hairline) that he’s been driving with the top down since his 30s. I respect you AND ONLY YOU, Ned.

--

The party continues on and they play charades. Rosemary chose weird awful options that don’t make any sense and are hard to act out. Ned’s could have been funny but the one Bill got is just...so weird.

The funniest part about it is looking at everyone staring at Molly as she guesses it.

I think it was supposed to be...cute? Or something? It was just really weird for me.

“Cuddle up a little Closer, Lovey Mine” (yes, it’s “lovey” not “lovely”) was written and recorded in 1908. You can listen to it here. Lyrics here.

They then play the Most Awkward Game Ever, one that would have had me sweating bullets if I’d had to play it. Florence has to find her man by only holding the hands of the other men.

As Fiona says, it’s a bit...risqué, but Florence rejects Jesse quickly and finds out the second man is Bill by squeezing his hands too hard.

Bill explains that his arthritis is flaring up and of course Sara and I jumped on that almost at the same moment:

We like Bill. :P

And then Florence correctly guesses that the next man is Ned. It’s very wholesome and sweet.

But then it’s Elizabeth’s turn because I guess she’s not been traumatized enough this episode. I covered that in the triangle part of the plot, though.

--

The New & Improved Henry Gowen

We start off with a BANG here with Henry and Christopher. Christopher misses Rachel because he’s a twitterpated little FOOL and he tells Henry all about it...while Henry sees Bill tearing apart the stolen car in the distance.

He asks Christopher how he got to Hope Valley from Hamilton and Christopher just straight up comes clean about it: he drove a stolen car that his buddy stole. 

Henry scolds him a bit, tells him he can’t borrow a stolen car, and explains that he doesn’t want Christopher to end up like him. Christopher seems kind of surprised by this and says, “You turned out good.” 

To which Henry replies, “The jury’s still out on that.” 

Christopher says he’s done with that kind of thing, and Henry tells him he believes him.

Honestly, Henry’s “I believe you” got to me. It sounded SO genuine. And also, can I say YET AGAIN that this kid was an impeccable choice to play Henry’s son? WOW. I can’t get over how much alike they are even in mannerisms and looks.

But THEN when Henry tries to say Rachel has something to do with Christopher being done with that old lifestyle, Christopher tells him “And you” AND I ALMOST LOST IT. SOOOOO GOOD. Henry goes on to explain that “long after” he divorced Christopher’s mom, he met Abigail, who saw the potential for goodness in him. And that he can’t help Christopher be a better man because he’s still figuring that out for himself, but if he thinks Rachel can help him, he should do what he can to not lose her.

--

Later, Henry invites Christopher to Ned’s party and Christopher declines but asks what happened to the woman Henry mentioned earlier—Abigail, of course. Henry says she left town to help her mother.

Is this a...hint of things to come? I’m...not sure.

Henry sits down for two seconds before Lucas asks to speak with him outside. Once there, Lucas admits that he contacted Christopher. This is one of the most contrived plotlines we’ve had in a bit, if only because I just can’t figure out how Lucas would have known who Christopher was, let alone whether or not he would be useful? He doesn’t even have the same last name... I mean, what, did Henry write in sparkly gel pens or something? 

But for some reason he contacted Christopher to come work for Henry to keep an eye on him. He’s not proud of having done it, which makes sense. I guess I wouldn’t be either.

Henry’s upset about it. Lucas tells Henry that he took advantage of him and that he had to make sure Henry could be trusted.

Christopher doesn’t know that Lucas told him, though, and Henry asks that Lucas keep it that way.

It makes Christopher’s behavior with Lucas make more sense (when he kept trying to push him around earlier this season), but the timing is just...awful? Maybe talking to Elizabeth about Nathan’s secret made him feel guilty about his own? I’d buy into it more if I felt like there was a really compelling reason for Lucas to feel that Christopher would do any good...but it’s just too contrived for me.

--

Christopher randomly decides to go to Bellingham to see Rachel. Henry tells him not to make trouble if her parents ask him to leave. Henry makes to leave, and Christopher stops him.

I CANNOT SING THE PRAISES OF THIS SCENE ENOUGH. Christopher tries to tell Henry about the thing with Lucas and Henry’s like...you’re different now, you’re starting over it doesn’t matter anymore!!!! Everyone deserves a second chance!

AND THEY HUG AND CHRISTOPHER TELLS HENRY HE LOVES HIM.

They almost got me to cry. ALMOST. I refuse to cry at this show because I refuse to give Brian Bird the satisfaction, but boy oh boy was this close.

Henry responds with a “me too” and makes Christopher promise to write. Then the stage leaves and that is that.

The rest of the storyline for Henry is under the car investigation. They’re related but...only intertwine at the very end so I separated them. ;)

--

Miscellaneous (Car Investigation, Pastor Position/Jesse and Clara, Carson and Faith, Mike and Fiona)

Car investigation: Nathan starts this episode off on the wrong foot. I think that was...a mistake. THAT SAID...I’m relieved Bill isn’t being written as a complaining whiny pile of trash for once, so I just want to say that...they had to realize after last episode the fan opinion of Nathan would be...not great, so mayyybe they shouldn’t have started this episode off with him literally complaining about doing his job...while he’s in uniform no less. Also he has NO PASSION at all for his job, or for investigating, which I hope means he’ll end up quitting the Mounties. (It could be a hint of things to come...I hope.) 

I mean, does he think Bill got his position for...no reason? Also, thank God Nathan turned down the promotion to Inspector if that was how he was gonna treat actually doing the work?? I’m pretty sure this is their idea of “humor” but boy did it fall flat after the love triangle mess that’s been going on.

The owner talks to Nathan on the phone later and is coming from Hamilton to get his car. Nathan seems to be telling Bill this to discourage him from wasting his time investigating, but Bill doesn’t want to stop lol.

Ned’s comment from the party about his hairline being him “driving with the top down” gives Bill an Idea in the middle of the bachelor party and leaves. Ned looks shook that he produced An Idea.

And follows. Ned is absolutely adorable as he assists Bill. They should interact more?? Long story short, Bill figures out that the top was probably up when it was being transported to Hope Valley (as you wouldn’t want people getting a good look at your face if they’re looking for a stolen car), and finds a footprint in the removable top.

The next day, Bill approaches Henry up at the oil derricks and comments on the fact that Lucas told him that Christopher checked out of his room at the saloon. Henry is up front and honest about where Christopher went, and says he went to Bellingham to see Rachel Thom.

He says, “You know how it is. You love someone, you’d do anything for them.”

The one interesting thing about this comment is that...no, Bill does NOT know. He’s never admitted to being in love in his life. He married Nora, but that was out of obligation (something he makes clear several times). Like, he obviously cared about Nora, but he wasn’t in love with her.

Obviously he’s loved someone enough to do anything for them (his son), but considering he’s dead, and possibly died in a really traumatizing way considering how it’s portrayed, that seems a bit...insensitive. :P

Bill counters it with, “Almost anything, maybe.” 

He then goes on to tell Henry he found a footprint in the stolen car.

And he just. Kind of. Gives Henry. A look. Because he knows exactly who stole the car, he just has to prove it.

Henry stops Bill and says: “A while back I remarked about how you had never solved the mine disaster. Perhaps if you and I get together, I might be able to help.”

Bill doesn’t say a THING...he just leaves. But he looks kind of...put off by the whole thing.

Like he knows what Henry is doing.

Do you know what Henry is doing?

Anything.

For someone he loves.

(Pst. That someone is Christopher.)

As soon as Bill is gone, he picks up a pair of shoes and throws them into the fire.

I think it’s pretty clear that Henry is using this mine disaster thing to protect Christopher, and he’s doing it for this reason WAY MORE than he’s doing it to come clean and be a better man. That’s just my theory, though. I think if Bill hadn’t found anything out about the car, then Henry wouldn’t have brought it up.

But I guess he knows something. The question is...what? And also, when did he mention Bill never having solved the mine disaster? I’m really struggling to remember Henry ever saying that to him, at least not recently. Does anyone recall offhand?

Anyway, I’m wondering if they’ll tie up that whole thing about Noah and Peter that was never addressed on the show to the fullest. You know, the whole thing with them going into the mine knowing it wasn’t safe and not warning anyone. I think a lot of people who watch this show have never been in poverty or lived paycheck to paycheck, but sometimes a person just has to put their head down and keep working even when it’s not safe, because they have to keep living. Or because they had more time to put a stop to things before anything bad happened.

I think blaming Noah and Peter as much as Henry is pretty stupid, but they still shoulder some blame. They were working to fix that problem. Henry wasn’t. He did what he was told and shut up. But maybe there’s a bit more to that story. Could be interesting.

Could also be the worst reveal ever, so...who knows? I’m curious to find out.

BUT ALSO what do they mean Bill didn’t solve that case? The widows sued and won. Sure, he got beat up in S1 carrying evidence out of the mine, but it’s not as if there wasn’t a lot more of it inside the mine, too. Everyone knows the fault of the collapse was due to working conditions being unsafe. What’s left to solve? Is Henry going to give Bill the names of the people who told Henry to keep his mouth shut? 

Or...are they talking NOT ABOUT THE HOPE VALLEY MINE DISASTER, but the original one that sent Henry to Coal Valley (and Nora into a marriage with Bill)? Because that one was not solved. The company just made Henry a scapegoat in that case.

THE WAIT TO FIND OUT MORE IS GOING TO BE TORTURE.

--

Pastor Position/Jesse and Clara + Cafe: I enjoyed Minnie in this episode and seeing her step in and help Clara and become part of the town was great. Jesse giving more credit to Joseph than Lee was pretty funny, and a nice set-up for Lee realizing that Joseph is a pastor. Lee is apparently head of the search committee to find a new pastor...which...sure...okay. Also apparently the newspaper died?? Uh.

I’m kind of hoping Rosemary’s new passion will be the newspaper since she’s supposedly going to dig her nose into things next episode and she used to write a column for the old paper (so she has some experience). Thoughts on that?

Anyway, Joseph agrees to pastor the church instantly the second Lee asks...so it feels weird that his original goal/plans/whatever just...don’t matter anymore? Okay.

They buy a bell.................WHICH BRINGS ME TO MY BIGGEST PETTY COMPLAINT OF THE EPISODE. BRO THAT BELL STRAIGHT UP LOOKS 3D PRINTED FJLKDSAHFLDSAHFLDSAHFKLDSA

Anyway I’m teasing. The Liberty Bell weighs a little over one ton, and two horses could easily pull that.

No complaints. My husband complained last week that there wasn’t a bell and now there is. It’s like he knew. 

Joseph talks about what a “calling” feels like (I think this will come back again with Rosemary which has me VERY HAPPY): a tug on his heart.

Joseph also tells Lee that the men in his yard earlier were surveyors and that he won’t move, at least not far, because he has a congregation to lead, now. Makes me wonder if he’ll actually sell!

Anyway, Jesse and Mike are cute pals and decide to have a snack in the cafe while the gals are socializing with Rosemary (who has just returned from the library).

Rosemary’s books are on land acquisitions, surveying, and territorial law. 

Minnie and Rosemary decide to talk about this while Clara leaves. Why? I’m not sure. Maybe just ‘cause it was boring lol.

She gets back as Mike and Jesse are talking about, uh, her, actually, and Mike asks if all is quiet on the homefront.

Yes, it is. Unlike the trenches of WWI.

But seriously I thought it could be a joke reference to “All Quiet on the Western Front”...a WWI novel. Since...you know...WWI is going on and hasn’t been acknowledged at all even though it’s almost over now.

Joke’s on me, though...that’s too advanced for Hallmark.

Anyway it’s only quiet for like two seconds, because Clara busts in, thinks they’re eating the food she’s been busting her ass over for the party, and yells at Jesse. It makes everything awkward. Jesse simpers about like a sad little clown instead of trying to be understanding. Yawn. Awful. Bye.

I don’t know what would fix that scene, but I think part of the problem is...I’m just not invested in Clara and Jesse anymore. It’s perfectly reasonable to expect them to need more time to get over the problems in their relationship but I don’t care about them enough to care about the journey...if that makes sense. I’d rather watch Bill dust for prints on the car some more.

They do have a chat, and work things out, so that’s good I guess.

--

Carson and Faith: Carson has officially stolen the dock from Abigail and Frank, and so my hatred for them doubled instantly.

Me, a territorial loon: THAT SPOT IS NOT YOURS!!!!! FIND YOUR OWN!!!

Anyway Carson makes things awkward and then busts out that he accepted the fellowship without talking to Faith.

She’s kind of hurt by this?? UNDERSTANDABLY?? But then he asks if it would have made a difference. I mean, common courtesy would be at least sitting down like this and telling her, “I’ve decided to accept it.” But no. He just. Accepted it without telling her he was going to. Bro...

They aren’t on the same page for even two seconds. He tells her he was committed to the relationship and put all his plans aside so that she could be happy.

Honestly, as much hate as Nathan’s getting right now, if people gave a damn about Faith I think Carson would be getting his fair share of hate, too. What a jerk???

He goes on to say it wasn’t a waste of his time (when she asks), but never bothers to tell her more or to prove he didn’t feel that way (BECAUSE HE SURE ACTS LIKE IT WAS A WASTE OF HIS TIME). He just says he hopes she changes her mind and comes with him to Baltimore.

At the party Carson and Faith go outside to talk where Carson admits that he should have told her he was accepting the fellowship before he wrote. She tells him that the year she was gone was almost too much time apart for her, and Carson promises to write her and tells her she can visit him, too, but she brings the conversation back to reality. They’ll both be super busy. 

He suggests they get married, and then immediately says he’s not asking (it’s not how he’d propose), but that they could look forward to getting married. (Good thing they laughed ‘cause I sure wasn’t. It was super awkward...) He suggests seeing how they feel in about a year. (Oh...perfect timing for...next season...hm.)

Faith tells him she loves him and wants what’s best for both of them, even if that thing isn’t them being together. They agree to just enjoy the night and worry about the rest later.

Anyway, I feel like these two just have NO chemistry (they’re worse than Bill and Molly in my books). I really appreciate the attempt to give them meaningful material, and I like that Carson has a passion again, but boy oh boy are these two hard to watch. The plotline is really good, but the characters just...aren’t great. I figured if anything they’d give a plot like this to AJ and Bill to tie that up (some kind of conflicting reason she can’t stay in Hope Valley to be written off the show for good) so I was surprised to see it going to Carson and Faith instead, but like...in a good way because it’s actually compelling for their situation! I've been in a similar situation and it feels REALLY BAD to like someone a lot but not be ready or willing to commit to an extreme for whatever reason. Faith doesn’t want to go to Baltimore because she loves Hope Valley and she undoubtedly doesn’t want to see it go without a doctor at all. Carson likes Hope Valley but his passion is in surgery and he can make a huge difference in a big hospital. He could still make a difference in Hope Valley, too (undoubted he’s the only surgeon for many miles around these smaller towns) but he also likes hospitals and their equipment and maybe misses what he had a long time ago.

So it’s a great plot. It’s compelling. It’s even a bit tragic when you think about it!

But my God do these characters just...not come off as convincing. :(

--

Mike and Fiona: The scene with Ned was SUPER cute. Genuinely funny. Mike asking Fiona out. Everyone teasing Mike about how much he likes her. It’s very cute and wholesome. So far I enjoy it a lot. There’s not a lot to talk about here but I like that it’s...simple.

I MEAN...she’s so cute.

--

END THOUGHTS:

I want the next three episodes right now immediately, but I’m also going to be pretty sad when this season ends...I think.

The biggest speculation from this episode, by the way, is that they’re opening things up to write Abigail back onto the show. How do we feel about that? 

Any other thoughts? Favorite scenes? Share!