#that scene at the end of 8x03 killed me

[mags-yaps]

yknow i think buck’s soon going to realize he has way too many father figures and realize his daddy issues have gotten way out of hand in the face of his regular ole neglectful sperm donor, his captain dad, his boyfriend who he calls daddy late at night, and his asshole boss who’s kidnapped him under his wing

[lover-of-mine]

I love hearing/reading your thoughts on all things 911 and Buddie … soooooooo …

What are your thoughts on the episode titles so far?

I think 8x03 No Place Like Home could see Bobby back at the 118. That or they really do the someone bumps their head and we get an AU type universe. Like the coma dream, minus the coma haha.

Hello baby 🩷

Okay, so, buzzkill, obviously the bees they've been hitting and Gerrard killing the vibe. Since we know the perfume launch is the pool emergency, I'm thinking about the sol de janeiro drama with the body butter that attracted spiders (unclear if it actually attracted spiders but it does make it for a nice plot for a drama) I'm assuming the perfume will attract bees and create problems, and as someone who unfortunately keeps attracting bugs, my perfumes are all fruit based, it's an actual problem lol, I hope I'm not right about that one because I hate calls with bugs lol, and the bees of it all is just a misdirect, like the blimp in s6, and we're going to get another major plotline probably more personal, like the Athena one following the blimp (fingers crossed for queer Eddie, but I like the madney wedding reception theories people have going around, let the Han throw a party, and I have henren theories), and no place like home, it feels too obvious but all cliffhanger points involve someone coming home, Henren getting Mara back, Chris wanting to come back, and Bobby getting the 118 back, so I'm betting we're getting at least 2 out of the 3, I don't see Gerrard lasting past the opening arc, so Bobby coming back, Mara going home, and maybe Chris giving some indication he wants to come home (I've been living in a buddie land where Eddie is questioning his relationship with Buck throughout the opening arc, since Eddie's queer arc makes more sense being about Buck, where they're having a moment, and Chris calls and says he wants to come back and Eddie kind of freezes, but Buck is moving around getting his keys and rushing to get out and he reaches the door before he notices Eddie is still in the same spot staring at his phone and Buck just goes "are you coming with me to go get him or are you just to stay there?" kinda teasing and Eddie is just staring at him like he's seeing him clearly for the first time before following him and the episode ends and we get something like 704 for Eddie's queer realization just because the show likes to mirror the 2 of them during 804, also because Buck is the only one who doesn't have a clear hook set up from s7 outside the Eddie and Chris of it all, so putting him in the resolution makes sense).

I keep going back to the 119 as a call to a set not an alternative reality, but I can see it being the thing with episode 2, because I'm more intrigued about the way we got the titles for episodes 1 and 3, but not for episode 2 and I don't know if you saw the way I was talking about the way s7 is structurally s2, there's even direct parallels visually from the scene with Gerrard to the scene where Bobby comes back in s2, so I keep going back to an arc that's going to work like the tsunami but follow s5 blackout rules, since s7 also has a lot of triggers that are similar to s4. Both sink or swim and desperate times have a certain intensity that I can see them trying to recreate and an alternative reality/coma dream/hallucination could be a way to add some that in. BUT there's the kid going missing aspect, and the council woman plot makes me 👀 at Denny. Because he's the only one of the kids who didn't have a major "I'm in serious danger" plot yet, May tried to kill herself and she also has the mayday plot, Chris was in the tsunami, Harry was kidnapped and closed into a wall, and I'm ignoring Jee because they wouldn't do that to a toddler. While he had the Eva plot, we know Eva wouldn't actually hurt him and he was unharmed during the lab explosion and with his father, and considering the amount of trauma they keep dumping on Chris and everything about Harry, they're not above hurting the kids and this is a situation that could bring Denny into the middle of the mess and the Mara storyline has a lot of opening to put henren in a similar position Buck was during the tsunami and Athena was during the blackout.

So, so far I'm thinking: Eddie questioning his relationship with Buck leading to a feeling realization because I don't think they'll make Eddie gay, I think they're just gonna have him acknowledge he's in love with Buck, Bobby and Athena dealing with the house burning down and getting Bobby back to the 118, Henren trying to get Mara back and maybe something happening to Denny to further that, and parallel to that, the Mara plot triggering a Madney second kid plot. I'm also thinking maybe they can use madneys backyard in the same way they used to use the Grant Nash one and have madney throwing a party. Is it a wedding reception? Is it celebrate Bobby coming back? The adoption going through? Who knows. And getting a parallel to May's graduation party where Madney leaves because Maddie figures out she might be pregnant with Buck and Eddie leaving to go get Chris in a similar vision like the one described up there.

[causewhywouldnti]

My thoughts as I’m watching 24 seasons of law & order svu:

Season 8

Starting the season off strong with Dana Star. Poor Elliot at the end of the episode, when Olivia is just gone. And I love how much he is insisting that he will only get a temporary new partner.

Becks french in 8x03 is actually really good. Most times when French is spoken in an American TV show, the accent is really strong, not the case here. After looking up the actress, it makes sense that her French would be good.

On 8x05, I miss Benson and Benson/Stabler. That dynamic is a huge part of my interest in this series. So it will be interesting to see how it’ll go from season 13-22…

8x06 Benson is back, finally!

8x07, well, that mother is a lot of things, but mother is not a word i‘d use. Her no reaction to one of her kids almost being run over and picking the boyfriend over her daughter is just wow. I do like Stablers more informal clothes. Benson, seeing Beck and Stabler together and deciding to not come back yet, is just sad. And that kiss came way out of left field. Not a fan.

8x08 Dang. Stabler is ruthless. Starts something with Beck, and then introduces Kathy to her as his wife. Like, I have no idea if Beck even knows he’s getting a divorce or not. I would have liked him to answer why he has to keep doing this job though. And the relationship ended as fast as it began…

8x09, yeah, that coffee shop scene with Benson and Stabler was not awkward at alllll… showing their reflection whilst the couple was talking about love vs controlling someone was … a choice? The two of them passive aggressively pointing out each other's flaws during the whole episode, but when Casey attacks them, they immediately have each other's back, seems to describe their friendship quite well. And then of course there is the kidney scene.

8x10 was just sad, really well done, but still sad.

8x11, well, I’m glad that Kathy didn’t go the “sexual assault” route that one divorce lawyer suggested. Interesting how they show Fin and Stabler supporting the husband and Benson supporting the wife. Not sure how I feel about the talk between Kathy and Olivia, but I do like that Stabler signed the divorce papers on his own. Loved the talk between Benson and Stabler on the steps. Him actually voicing what he is afraid of especially. The whole episode showed that 8x10 was shot earlier, because they had tension in 8x09, none whatsoever in 8x10, and then it’s there again in 8x11.

8x13 made me realize just how often Stabler gets injured. Also, Cragen giving the EMT’s the order to restrain Benson if she doesn’t go to the hospital. Why do we get so many Benson at Stabler’s bedside, yet none of him at hers? And is she wearing his hoodie after her hospital stay? Stabler encouraging Benson to do something illegal is just great. As well as Benson being annoyed that the hacking has to be done in the men’s bathroom.

Am a bit annoyed that Warner decided the perp died cause of a lacerated spleen in 8x14 and therefore bled out. That would have meant the dude bled out in a matter of a minute or less (which I do not believe is possible, but I could be wrong). Add to that, she would have found a significant amount of blood in his abdominal cavity, blood that would not be there (at least not in the quantities) if, as said, he died of an arrhythmia and the spleen ruptured postmortem. The like 10 chest compressions Stabler did would not account for a blood loss of 30% that would be required to kill someone. Also, let’s not talk about the fact that Stabler got like 5 chest compressions in, before Benson declared him dead. I’m not even sure if cops can call a death, or if they are required to keep doing CPR until an EMT arrives at the scene. But definitely try longer, especially if the victim was up and running/fighting not 2 minutes before (maybe I’m more than just a bit annoyed…). I did like Benson standing up for Stabler in the IAB investigation though. And though I am aware that what Tucker does is right and called for, it does not make me like him, not even a little bit.

Well, I have been wondering when this episode would come up. 8x16, already starting great with Stabler going along with Benson, getting arrested and all. Seriously, Stabler was great this whole episode, had her back the whole time. And poor Cragen having to deal with them. I would have liked to see more of the evaluation, cause it tends to give you an in-depth look into the characters, but I’ll gladly take what we got.

8x17, I’m surprised they went with the episode that way. I mean, I figured out that the reverend was covering for someone pretty early on. But what surprised me, was that they showed an evangelist, changing his mind about Gay people and also forgiving his wife that fast. Really appreciate it though.

8x19 Olivia absolutely losing it in interrogation was something. Not sure why it took Cragen and Stabler so long to intervene. Stabler has been very supportive the last few episodes.

The kid in 8x20 is the best. Aaaand that took a dark turn real fast! Kathleen is probably my favorite Stabler kid. Might be because she got the most airtime at this point… we have Benson beating and kicking a perp last episode and now Stabler nearly killing one in this…

The Stabler divorce saga makes no sense to me. Did Kathy file the divorce papers that she desperately wanted Elliot to sign? He gave them to her. An episode later, he wants to try again. In a later episode, they talk about him moving back in. We hear nothing of it, until he has a one-night stand with her and Kathleen calls him out on it. Then we see him playing poker with all the kids in his apartment. Next episode, Kathy tells him she is pregnant and that he wanted to try, and she believed him, but he didn’t? I get that they only showed some aspects, but a little more context would have been nice. No wonder fans read whatever they want into it…

Well, the finale was depressing, it was fair (no matter how much I dislike it), they were held accountable. It is a little funny that Munch is the only one who did not face any repercussions out of all of them. All in all, a solid season. Personally, I think I prefer the first half of season 6, but this is a close second.

Familiar faces: Stephen McKinley Henderson (The Newsroom), Connie Nielsen (Gladiator), Charles Shaughnessy (The Nanny), Lily Rabe (Shrinking), Debra Jo Rupp (That ‚70s Show), Elle Fanning (House), Margo Martindale (Hannah Montana: The Movie), Bob Saget (Full House), Catherine Bell (Good Witch), Bernadette Peters (Grey‘s), Michael Michele (House), Kelli Giddish AKA Rollins (SVU), Kal Penn (House), Pablo Schreiber AKA Lewis (SVU), Ashley Williams (HIMYM), Kali Rocha (Sydney from Grey‘s), Michael Weston (Lucas from House), Tim Daly (with the worst haircut), Sarah Drew (Grey‘s), Leven Rambin (The Hunger Games), Chance Kelly (Fringe), Dylan Walsh (Whiskey Cavalier), Kelly Deadmon (Manifest), Clark Middleton (Fringe), Michael Welch (Twilight) and Jack McGee (NCIS).

Favorite episodes: 8x01, 8x09, 8x11, 8x13 and 8x16

Favorite lines:

“Elliot told me to tell you, you’re nuts.” “That’s just the concussion talking.” - Benson and Star 8x01

(On where Benson is) “Word in the conspiracy mill is she’s having my love child.” - Munch 8x06

“The van tried to take a shortcut to Brooklyn. The river got in the way.” - Munch 8x08

“I’d give you a kidney.” “Not if I gave you mine first.” - Stabler and Benson 8x09

“It’s just nice to see someone else with an anger issue.” - Stabler 8x11

“When love warps into hate, there’s nothing you won’t do.” - Stabler 8x11

(On who called the press) “It could have been anyone. This place had more leaks than a 100-year-old water main.” - Munch 8x13

[whateverthedragonswant]

Re the Jon\Dany scene: notice the dialogue. Dany talk about how Dany could never love or return Jorah’s feelings, the kind of feelings she has for Jon. She asks “Is that alright?” And notice Jon doesn't say “yes” or “I love you”. That would have been the perfect moment if they were setting up tortured tragic love story but D&D don’t do that. For me that scene implied that Dany is now in Jorahs shoes. Wanting someone who doesn’t want her in return. Who can never love her the way she wants him to

Hey Nonnie!

Definitely! I completely agree with you. Nice catch! He never said that it was okay or returned the sentiment.

I think she was definitely his Jorah. Which is interesting because so many people thought Jon was her Jorah lol. What kills me even more is they literally had that whole boat scene in 7x05 where Jon doesn't look back but Jorah does, they had Jon convincing her to sail together in 7x07 rather than think of her personal safety like Jorah does, Jorah talking Dany down and suggesting to her a way to make peace with Sansa in 8x02 while Jon was nowhere to be seen, and then Jorah saving her from the undead in 8x03 while Jon runs to save Bran after she saves him. Once again, he doesn't look back once she tells him to go.

The show was telling us the whole time that this wasn't a romance. That the feelings were only one-sided. The Jonerys stans always tend to point to the show's promotion of Jon and Dany before season 8 started but they literally put their trust into a show that was all about subverting expectations on the regular. The show that had Kit going around and saying Jon had died at the end of season 5 and that was it for him. I mean...

And the kicker for me personally is Dany's reaction to the truth about Jon. Not in 8x02 but in 8x03. And this is before that infamous 8x04 bedroom scene and then of course everything that came after.

For me, it's in that moment where she refuses to be deterred from going to save everyone. When she goes to get on Drogon to start lighting up the wights and he stopped her by grabbing her arm, saying "The Night King is coming." Then she looks down at his hand and yanks her arm out of his grip, angrily saying "The dead are already here." Then she walks away. And here's the thing, why so angry, Dany? It's not just about the NK or that some of her Dothraki got wiped out (the Northerners, wildlings, and Vale soldiers are still out there with the Unsullied) - it has to do with what Jon just told her and that changes things for her. Which we then see play out after the battle is over. She still has feelings for him but her destiny comes first.

Even in the big boatsex scene, they literally start out with showing us Rhaegar and Lyanna, as a contrast. Not to mention all the obvious clues that this wasn't a romantic love scene or the setup of a big romance, like the darkness, faces in shadow, the voiceover, Tyrion's reaction, the positioning of both Dany and Jon through the scene, their closeups, etc.

They literally do this in succession:

(they then show us Jon hesitating outside of Dany's door, showing us that he's been there for a little bit before we see him)

(and he's looking right at the Targaryen seal)

"He loved her." (this voiceover ends before Dany opens the door)

Then he goes to knock on the door (still hesitating).

Then Dany opens the door, looking slightly surprised (which is hilarious considering we now know that she summoned him there)

"And she loved him." (this voiceover ends before they show us Jon's closeup)

And this is supposed to be a man deeply in love (whose face is still half in shadow & he's wearing the Ned/Robb vest of armor):

They then show us Tyrion looking on, his face half in shadow as well. Then they jump right to this image with "And Jon":

Once again we see the two Starks, Lyanna and Ned (& Ned is definitely important to Jon's story for so many obvious reasons) and we find out Jon's real name.

"You have to protect him" Lyanna tells Ned and we see Ned's expression.

Then it goes to straight to the boatsex, with the opening scene of Dany half on top of Jon, clearly the aggressor at this point in the encounter. Eventually, Jon rolls them over and takes charge. He pulls away from her and stares down at her. We see her face (love comes in at the eyes) and it's obvious she is enjoying herself & has feelings. Then they throw in this voiceover "He's never been a bastard." Quite the odd choice to throw in at this moment. They could have had the whole "He loved her" and "And she loved him" but nope. Most likely because of this fact being a major contention point between them later on, I'm thinking.

Then we see Jon (face still in half shadow) panting, taking deep breaths (with voiceover "He's the heir to the Iron Throne"), and then going back in to kiss her. The "Truth" music swells as we see them really getting into it and then we get Tyrion, looking forlorn and eventually walking away (with voiceover "He needs to know").

Then we see the boat with the Targaryen flag sailing off into the night, and we hear the voiceover "We need to tell him":

Talk about odd choices for these voiceovers to land. Or at least to the stans or GA it was. To us, it was all done for a reason. This was not a huge requited romance.

Even those lines of "He needs to know. We need to tell him" sit funny because to me, it's not just about his claim he needs to know about, that she's his aunt, but also because he needs to know so he doesn't get himself stuck in a situation he can't later get out of. And if that's the case, it can only mean one thing: Jon is only doing this for one reason and one reason only. And we know what that reason was. *cough* Saving the North. *cough cough*

And the fact that they then choose for Sam to be the one to tell Jon, not Bran, in 8x01 right after Sam just found out about his father and brother and talking about how Dany shouldn't be the queen...this absolutely was not a romance.

You're 100% right, Nonnie. Dany is in Jorah's shoes so that 8x04 dialogue you were talking about hints very strongly at that role reversal. And it's even more ironic that Jon was the one to bring Jorah up and then Dany herself makes that point. And if you watch that scene, when he kisses her, he starts to walk her backwards past the fireplace/open flames, and he only goes to undress her once she starts to undress him. And they even gave us the exact same movements between Brienne and Jaime in their scene for contrast. Plus, Jorah saved Dany in the end of season 5, he saves her again in 8x03. Dany saved Jon in 7x06 and then again in 8x03.

Jorah indeed. ;-)

Thank you for the ask, Nonnie! I've missed talking about GoT. Doing this rewatch has really got me in the GoT feels again, so thank you. =) I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day!!! <3

[justmypartner]

Make it Work: Chapter 1

Summary: When offered a permanent position with the FBI, Hailey agrees to take it under one condition: Jay comes too. As their personal lives and work lives begin to change, the two partners find it increasingly difficult to navigate their complex relationship and manage their feelings for one another. *Picks up at the 8x03 bar scene.

Writer’s Note: I’m so excited to share my first multi-chapter fic. I really enjoyed Hailey’s FBI episode and how seamlessly she was able to adapt to that world, so I thought it would be fun to explore how Jay might fit into that world and how different the adjustment may be for him. When writing the first chapter I was really inspired by the song (what i wish just one person would say to me) by Lany, because I felt like it fit Jay’s perspective perfectly. As much as our guy loves Hailey, he was always going to put her wishes above his own. That’s what the song is all about, so you can see a few lines inspired by the song sprinkled throughout the chapter (the title is also taken from the song). Please enjoy Chapter 1 of Make it Work!

Read on AO3 or below

“Alright. Let’s do this, rip the bandaid off. What did the FBI offer you?” Jay said straightly, trying to hide the worry that coursed throughout his entire body.

Earlier that day he had discovered the FBI had Hailey on their radar, and he hadn’t stopped thinking about it since. After what went down with his last partner, simply hearing someone say “FBI” left a bad taste in his mouth. He wouldn’t openly admit it, but he was worried about Hailey taking the offer. Ever since she had returned from New York, she had been fairly quiet about how it went. Her feelings seemed indifferent, but part of him had to wonder why she would hide the fact that they were sending her job offers. He hated the idea of being left alone again, but ultimately he just wanted what was best for her, even if that meant moving thousands of miles away.

Jay had been seeing Hailey differently for a while. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly when his feelings shifted, but he knew things were different. If anyone asked, she was his partner and his best friend, but he knew deep down that she was more than that. There were even a handful of moments when he almost told her how he felt but Jay, never a man of openly expressing his feelings, failed to get a single word out every time. He had fought those feelings for so long, keeping them hidden deep in the depths of his closed-off heart, but her time away in New York proved this impossible. He had picked her up from the airport when she got back in Chicago, and the second he saw her he couldn’t deny the way she set his heart aflame. So, hearing that the FBI was trying to steal her away permanently was messing with his head. He had sat on his concern all day, but his patience was running thin.

“Mm okay. Joint level task-force, with the HIG, all interrogations, all high-level targets,” she told him, a slight smirk on her face as she awaited his reaction.

“Sure.. Sure, sure, sure, yeah, that sounds awesome,” he said sarcastically as she chuckled. “Is it good pay?” He asked her, a sense of defeat in his voice.

“Great pay. Honestly made me a little embarrassed about what we get paid,” she said with a smile. This was not what he was hoping for, but he pressed forward.

“Well, you’d probably be really good at it,” he responded, feigning support as the words killed him inside. He knew she would be good at it, there was no doubt in his mind. The job sounded perfect for her, but he just hated where it was and what it could mean for them.

“Yeah,” she muttered, pausing briefly and looking out the window as if her next words were lingering somewhere outside and she was trying to find them. “Yeah, I hope so because I told them I would take it,” she finally said, her eyes slowly traveling back to his. The smile on her face was replaced by a look of sincerity. He felt his heart drop into his stomach as he clenched his jaw, trying to conceal the myriad of emotions consuming him.

“Well, I.. I’m happy for you,” he said unconvincingly before bringing his glass back to his mouth, taking a large swig of his drink. He couldn’t look her in the eye because he knew she’d be able to read right through him. So, he focused on the bottom of his glass, fingers fidgeting with the rim waiting for her to say something.

“Yeah, well I should be saying the same to you,” she told him. With this, he raised his eyes back up to meet hers and returned her words with a raised brow, sending a questioning look her way.

“I told them I wasn’t going anywhere without my partner, so they took a look at your file and they were very impressed by your background. They said if you’re good enough for me to bargain with, you must be worth having on their team,” she paused briefly and he watched her swallow hard before her next words. “Jay the offer is extended to the both of us.. that is if it is something you’re interested in,” she said, tilting her head to the side as she tried to read his reaction.

A moment of what felt like his world falling apart was now being strung back together with a sliver of hope for the two of them. Being a fed was never in any of Jay’s plans. In fact, he always found himself carrying an unwarranted detestation for them that made those government positions sound completely unappealing. He never imagined he’d be willing to give up Chicago, let alone his position in Intelligence, especially for a job with the feds, but if it meant being with Hailey he was going to consider it. Romantically or not he knew he needed her in his life and as he told her not too long ago, he would follow her anywhere.

“I- wha- I-“ he stuttered out, not being able to form a coherent word.

“Look, I know it is a lot to ask of you. I know it may not seem fair of me to offer you up like that without asking first, but the way I figured it, we’re good at our jobs and we’re good together. I mean new job, new city, it all sounded so crazy to me at first. I’ve never pictured myself anywhere outside of CPD, but then I took a step back and realized what it could mean big picture. My time in New York, the cases I was working, they showed me just how big and bad this world can be. I mean I was chasing after dudes that make guys like Darius Walker look like frickin saints. The whole time I just kept thinking, I could really see myself doing this every day. I felt fulfilled in a way I hadn’t in years, but every night I’d go home, especially after the bad ones, and I felt like something was missing. Then one night after a really bad one I was sitting in my hotel room, wallowing in the heaviness of that day and my phone rang. It was you calling to check up because you had a bad case too and you needed whatever this thing is between us that always seems to work. That’s when I realized what it was that was missing. It was you,” she shrugged, the corners of her mouth curling up in a shameful smile.

“Hailey..” Jay said as his eyes glossed over with tears. He sat there silently, looking into the endless depth of her eyes and hoping the right words would come to him. His thoughts were jumbled and he was having trouble grounding himself in reality. The whiplash of thinking he was losing the most important person in his life to hearing her tell him her life wasn’t complete without him left him in a state of disorient. He was relieved when she continued on before he had the chance to stumble over words once more.  

“Look Jay, I don’t expect you to have an answer now. I just needed to tell you where I’m coming from so you’d have a full perspective to guide your decision. I know leaving Chicago, leaving our family at the 21st wouldn’t be easy, but I feel like this opportunity is something worth pursuing. I also think it’s something that would be made easier if we did it together,” she admitted, finishing her piece.

Her words echoed in his head as he seriously thought through the opportunity. Jay was wired to be a cop, to right wrongs, help victims find justice, and chase the highs of dangerous cases. He found his life’s purpose doing just that, starting in the Rangers and leading to his spot in Intelligence. He appreciated the fulfillment his work in Intelligence brought him, but what if he could do that on a much larger scale - with her by his side no less. All of a sudden he was picturing a life in New York and working at the FBI. He felt like it could make sense and it caught him by surprise, but it seemed clear.

“Do you remember when the unit was under siege and we thought it was the end of Intelligence? We had just gotten back from that major bust and we were talking about what would happen if we got shut down.. where we would go. Do you remember what I said to you?” He asked her, his newfound clarity allowed him to string a coherent thought together. She nodded in response.

“You told me you’re going where I go and that it’s hard to find a good partner,” she said softly, her eyes staying locked with his.

“I meant it then, and I mean it now. I’ve spent my whole life fighting to help people, and I like to think we’ve done some really great things in Intelligence. You were right when you said we’re good together, and if this job means we can make an even bigger difference than the one we do now, I’m all in,” he said, causing a big smile to form across her face.  

“Yeah?”

“Hell yeah. I mean I’d like to know more about the position and everything, but if you say it’s worth it, then I trust you.. we’ll make it work. Plus, our thing just isn’t the same over the phone. You’d be lost without me,” he told her with a cheeky smile, eliciting an eye roll from her.

“Yeah, you mean you’d be lost without me,” she responded, standing from her chair to grab her coat. Jay laughed and took the check before rising to put his coat on as well. As they made their way to the door, Jay turned to face Hailey as a concerned look overcame his face.

“Wait- have you planned on how we’re going to tell Voight about this?” He asked. She returned his question with an expression matching his.

“Uh ah, I didn’t get that far. I didn’t think you would actually agree to be honest.”

“Come on, we’ve built a pretty strong partnership here, at least part of you had to think there was a chance I’d say yes,” he told her.

“Yeah, no I wasn’t thinking about that. I was thinking the fact that it’s a job with the feds and the idea of having to wear a suit everyday would have left no room for consideration,” she said with a chuckle. She pushed her body against the door, grimacing at the sudden sensation of the cold Chicago wind against her face, leaving a suspended Jay stood in the doorway.

“Suit.. everyday.. I-“ he said upon realizing that part of the job he hadn’t considered.

“Woah, woah, woah, you already said yes, no turning back now,” she teased. He groaned and dragged his feet out the door to join her in the cold. They walked shoulder to shoulder down the street in a comfortable silence.

“That doesn’t sound so bad you know,” she said, breaking through the silence as they reached their cars. She turned to face him, her eyes carrying a glimmer he hadn’t noticed before.

“Oh yeah, what’s that?”

“Getting to see you in a suit every day,” she said confidently before realizing the coy nature of the statement and bashfully looking away. Jay could feel the heat rush to his face despite the chilling wind blowing against him. He smiled down at his feet, hoping if she could notice the redness of his cheeks, she accounted it to the cold. There was a long pause before he brought his eyes back up to hers once again.

“See you tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” she said, placing a hand on his chest lightly before passing him to get into her car.

Jay wasn’t sure where their future was going or what direction it would take them, but he knew as long as she was in his life, he was set. His eyes followed her as she got in her car and started the engine. She gave him a small wave before pulling out into the street. Yet again there he was suppressing his feelings for his partner, but this time it felt worth it. A lot in their lives was about to change, he didn’t need to add the heaviness of his feelings to the mix. He was anxious about what was to come, but he ultimately felt content with his decision.

[anna-justice]

Partners - Upstead

Summary: My take on 8x03 (be ready for some deep analysis and feelings!!)

Warnings: fluff, angst, jay halstead having 27 anxiety attacks

Requested: Yes! #25, “I’m not leaving.”

…

“You catch that?” Jay asked his partner as they exited the interrogation room. 

Hailey gave a quick nod, “Yeah, he knows something. He’s good at pretending he’s not scared though.”

They rounded the corner, picking up their pace to head back to the bullpen, “Hey, Upton.” Both of them turned to face the resident desk sergeant. Hailey immediately noticed the package in her hand, she grimaced internally. “Not just calling me anymore. Now the feds are sending me packages for you.”

Hailey took the package off her hands, keeping her face as neutral as possible. She could feel Jay’s gaze on the back of her head. “Thank you.”

“You’re gonna have to rein this in at some point, not that I don’t like being your mail lady.” Trudy said dryly.

“I know.” Hailey said, wanting out of this situation as fast as possible. “Thank you.”

“Uh-huh.” With that she left from the same way she came from.

Hailey looked down at the package, smiling softly. This wasn’t the first package she had gotten and of course she was flattered, but she wasn’t sure the bureau was the best place for her. “The feds?” Jay asked, pulling her out of trance. Hailey grimaced again, this is not how she wanted to tell him. 

A few minutes later, Hailey sat at her desk. All too aware of Jay leaning over her, his hands braced on her desk. (It didn’t matter that his own was less than three feet away, it never had.) He was attentively watching their boss, but she was too focused on him to even hear what he was saying. She distracted herself further by going back to typing on her keyboard, but Jay had other plans. “What did the feds want?”

Hailey took a deep breath, sitting back in her chair. She stared forward for a second. The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on her. She remembered why she got the permanent spot in intelligence in the first place. She remembered how stand-offish and lost Jay was at the beginning. She remembered all the times he asked Voight if he had heard from Lindsay, how his face fell when he finally realized she was never coming back. Even if Erin was a ghost now, she wasn’t always. “It’s a job offer.” She grinned at him. Even if it was a hard no, the feds still were fighting for her.

Jay didn’t miss a beat, “Well, that’s good. Where at?” 

Hailey held her breath for a second, “New York.” She said, reluctantly. She looked up at him, hoping to catch whatever feelings he was trying to hide. 

“Cool.” Jay said. They smiled at each other and then Jay high tailed it out of there. He felt like his chest was going to explode. There was this feeling in the pit of his stomach: fear, dread? He had no idea, but it rivaled the way he felt the whole time he was overseas. 

In the span of ten minutes, he felt like he had been transported back three years. As many times as he told himself that Hailey was not Erin, and that he and Hailey were not him and Erin, he couldn’t help but worry. If you look at the facts, it’s clear. Hailey told him she was leaving, she didn’t disappear in the middle of the night with no goodbye. She didn’t ignore his phone calls and clean out their once shared apartment all by herself. Erin did. 

Hailey pulled him out of the dark whole that it caused. She pushed him to go to therapy, she made him talk about his PTSD, she got him help. She was his partner, his best friend. As happy as he was for her, and as sure as he was that she would excel there, he wasn’t ready for that to be over. He wasn’t sure that he could handle it, no, he was sure he couldn’t. He would go with her in a heartbeat. Even though New York City was one of his least favorite places in the world and his entire life was in Chicago, he would drop everything and go with her. She was the biggest part of his life now, what would be left for him here if she was gone?

Hailey watched walk away from her desk, he was only across the room, but he was too far away. How could she ever handle 800 miles?

…

Hailey stood leaned against the wall in the conference room, Jay in front of her, hunched over a chair. She wouldn’t lie, part of her felt stupid about not taking the job. It was the opportunity of a lifetime, but nothing would beat the feeling of a foot chase in -6 degree weather in Chicago or an interrogation with Jay. And that moment only reiterated that.

“And as I have said, I’m not asking any questions. I’m just giving him the info.” Hailey stifled a laugh. “We learned that there was a woman inside that house, so clearly, we’re missing something.” 

The lawyer jumped in quickly. “He’s got nothing to say.”

Jay started again, “Look, Truman, you’re gonna get booked on your warrant at the end of the day, so we don’t have to release you in 48. We can keep pressing-”

“All right, this is enough.” The lawyer interrupted.

Hailey locked eyes with the suspect, staring him down in an almost empathetic way while Jay continued to lay out the facts. “You’ve got motive, no alibi, you were in the area. You see how easy I can make it that you and your girl, you go for a little joyride, you’re looking to settle some scores, you entered the house and slaughtered everyone inside?”

“I’d never step foot inside that house.” Truman said, his lawyer pushing him back into his seat. 

Hailey took a step forward, it was her turn. “You would never step foot in that house?” She looked at Jay before locking in on him. “Why’d you say it like that, you would never?” She leaned on the table, getting a little closer to him. Her gaze was intense, but her approach was a little softer than Jay’s just a few seconds before. 

Jay watched Hailey lean across the table, happy to let her take over the questioning. She was so good at her job, and anytime he got to watch her, he savored every moment. She made him a better cop. 

“This little girl,” Hailey said, pulling out photos from the crime scene and laying them out in front of him. “Watched her mother get killed in front of her. Her whole family was murdered in front of her.” She took a breath, he couldn’t bear to look at her. She knew she was close to cracking him. “This tiny kid has to deal with those moments of violence for the rest of her life.” Her tone became more aggressive as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Look at me. You said you would never step foot in that house, and I’m guessing that’s because of retribution, because of Benny?”

His lawyer tried to hold him back, but Truman continued. “It’s not because of Benny. I would never step foot in that house because of her.” He pointed to the picture of McKayla, Hailey looked down, confused along with Jay. “She’s the reason why. She’s protected. I go near her, I end up dead.”

Hailey looked back at Jay, somehow the whole situation was more confusing than when they started. But, even so, they had gotten the information they needed. Hailey left the room with a million questions, but she was satisfied. They were so good together. 

…

After a long few days, Jay and Hailey sat at a bar that wasn’t Molly’s at a bar table by the window. They both had their hands on their beers, resting on the table. If either of them reached out any further they would be touching. “All right, let’s do this.” Jay said, chuckling. “Just rip the bandaid off.” Hailey laughed. “What did the FBI offer you?” On the outside he was joking with his partner, on the inside he was praying that she didn’t care enough about it to tell him.

“Hmm, okay.” She said, looking down at the table. She smiled genuinely, “Joint level task force, with the HIG. All interrogations, all high-level targets.” 

Jay trained his eyes on the table, “Sure, sure, sure, sure. That sounds awesome.” Hailey laughed out loud and Jay shrugged, you couldn’t tell by his smile, but he was losing hope. “Is it good pay?”

“It’s great pay.” Hailey shook her head, “Honestly, it makes me a little embarrassed about what we get paid.”

Jay smiled at her, “Well, you’d probably be really good at it.” He couldn’t look at her, because he was being serious. He knew she would be good at it, but she would have to be good at it in New York.

“Yeah, maybe. I don’t know.” Hailey said, shrugging.

“You liked it out there, right?” Jay asked.

“Uh…” Hailey trailed off as the waitress set down their check. “I don’t know if I like it. I think it was just what I needed at the time.” She explained.

Jay nodded, “Okay, but you don’t need it now?” And even though those were the words that came out, it felt like he was asking her something else.

“No, why? You think I need it?” Hailey asked immediately and Jay laughed. “Are you trying to tell me I should take it?” And even though those were the words that came out, it felt like she was asking him something else.

Jay sucked in a breath. “No, uh…” He stared at the table, trying to find the words to say what he knew he wanted to say, they never came. “I’m saying it’s a good job for a good cop.” He was being serious, and honest and genuine. But he wasn’t saying what he needed to say. He smirked at her, just for a moment, but enough for Hailey to catch. He stood up with the check, but Hailey grabbed his attention as he turned back.

Hailey stared at his then empty seat, slightly frustrated. He just didn’t get it, and as much as it scared her, she needed to spell it out for him. Her shoulders met her ears and she talked quickly, “You could tell me you don’t want me to take it.” She shrugged, shaking her head, obviously trying to make the heavy statement a little lighter. “It was an option.”

 Jay opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He was at a loss for words. He shook his head, smiling. He wanted to tell her how much he needed her, he wanted to tell her how much he wanted her to stay. But, an opportunity like she had been given didn’t come around everyday, and he refused to be the thing that held her back from what she wanted to do. “I want you to do whatever you want to do.” He looked her directly in the eye and for the first time all night, said exactly what he was thinking. “I’m just practicing self preservation here.” 

Erin. Was all Hailey could think, it was all she could think about all day. She refused to walk away without at least some closure, for both of them. She sucked in a breath. “The agent on the phone said the only reason a good cop doesn’t take a job like this is ‘cause they’re scared.” She finally got the nerve to look at him, because she was, she was so scared. “Implying that I was afraid of change and that I wanted to stay here where it’s safe…” And didn’t she? She didn’t want things to change, she felt safe in Chicago, with Jay. 

“So, he’s a dick.” Jay deadpanned, causing her to laugh. He sighed when finally saw the pained expression leave her face. 

They both laughed for a moment, locking eyes. “I don’t think that’s why I don’t wanna take it.” Hailey let her gaze fall, his green orbs too much for her to handle. She took a breath, “I don’t want to take it because of you.” She confessed. 

Jay stared at her, his brain all together stopped working for a second. All he was aware of was her soft smile and how fast his heart was beating.

Hailey watched his face fall and she wasn’t sure if it was fear or shock, but she knew it was too late to back track. “I’m better, with you as my partner.” Partner, they both had such a love/hate relationship with that word. At this point it felt like a cop-out. “You know, you, 21, Voight. I know I’m better here.” She shrugged, looking down and back up at him. “So, I’m not gonna take it.”

Jay fought the urge to smile, his emotions were all over the place. “You sure?” He asked, and he wasn’t quite sure he was asking her. It could have meant so many things. Was she sure about not taking the job or was she sure about him?

“Yeah.” She said almost immediately. 

The waitress returned with the paid bill, reminding the two that the earth was still turning. And they weren’t the only ones in it. Jay quickly put his card away and Hailey stood up, pulling on her jacket. It felt like so much had changed between them, but really nothing had. 

Jay looked at Hailey, concerned, she looked sad almost and he was worried he had caused it. “He wasn’t really wrong though, was he?” She looked up at him with glassy eyes. “You gain something, you give something up.” He was right, but she didn’t care. She would give it all up if it meant gaining him. 

Jay had only seen Hailey cry two times before then: the night McGrady was killed and the night they fought Booth. Both of those times he wanted to kill the son of a bitch who hurt her so bad, but right now, he was almost sure it was him. “Maybe but, not always.” 

Hailey looked at him and was hit with a wave of something indescribable. She couldn’t pretend anymore, she couldn’t just be his partner. They were so much more than that now. In a span in three seconds it felt like the last three years of her life replayed for her, and she remembered everything. The way he fought to be her partner and actually going to therapy, the way he defended her against Booth, the way she felt when he was shot that night in the parking garage, the way it felt to see him after she was kidnapped, the way it never felt with Adam. The way he tackled her to the ground in that van, completely careless with his own life for her sake, how hard it was to imagine not working beside him. How hard it was not being his partner, how hard it was finding him that day in that room. The way she cried for him in the waiting room, the way she kicked herself everyday for not telling him how she felt. The way he fought for that woman, the same way she wished someone would have fought for her. How much she missed him while she was in New York. She remembered everything. 

She groaned, this was it. “It’s been a long time…” She looked away, she couldn’t take it, wiping a stray tear from under her eye. “Since I saw you as just my partner.” 

It hit Jay like a semi truck, he couldn’t believe what she was saying. He had no idea what to say, so he didn’t. He took a step forward, his heart clenching at the sight of the disheveled girl in front of him. He captured her lips with his, lifted her up off her toes so she could reach. Her arms found her way to his neck, one sliding slowly down his chest. They both thought they were dreaming, they had both wanted this for so long. 

After what seemed like forever, they both finally pulled away. Hailey blushed, Jay’s gaze hot on her face. She shook her head, “No way, I’m not leaving. Definitely not now.” 

Jay laughed, “Is that all I am to you? A piece of meat?” 

“Would you be offended if I said yes?” Hailey smirked.

“Not at all…” He sighed out, leaning down to kiss her again. This time, letting his hands get tangled in her blonde ponytail. 

So there they stood, making out in a bar where no one knew them or their history. They weren’t colleagues, they weren’t best friends, they weren’t partners. They were just Hailey and Jay: they were everything.

…

A/N: I loved writing this so much. I think I’ve watched the episode a million times and this just seemed more fun than posting an analysis! Let me know what you think! Thank you for reading! <3

[throne-of-games]

Thoughts on 8x03

We start off like Sam here, hyperventilating, shaking, wondering how we’re gonna survive this. Right there with you buddy!

All my babies on the front lines...good lord in heaven

Here comes my bitch Melisandre

God damn she really is gorgeous

Highkey thought Davos was about to strangle her for a hot minute

Welp there goes the Dothraki. Look at that. The majority of Dany’s army was absolutely zero help and in fact gave the AoTD more bodies. Who would’ve thought?

GHOST NOOOOO

I have to admit, the subtle extinguishing of the flames was terrifying, like I was kind of shitting bricks at this point

Okay here’s Jorah that’s great I don’t really care WHERE’S GHOST

Honestly who planned this? Jon, Dany, their advisors? Whoever it was really dropped the ball because this is the stupidest fucking plan I’ve ever seen. If the dragons are so god damn important why don’t you fucking use them to thin out the herd first before sending half your god damn army out to get slaughtered. Idiots.

First ten minutes of the actual fighting, can’t see shit

Holy fuck when I saw Brienne go under I FUCKING SCREAMED

And for most of the battle, the dragons can’t see shit. So they’re pretty much useless. Awesome!

This Sansa/Arya scene gives me LIFE. Sansa not wanting to abandon her people (she really is the people’s princess) Arya being concerned for Sansa’s safety, STICK THEM WITH THE POINTY END! I CANNOT

Oh Edd, can’t really say we didn’t see that coming. So long partner

It wouldn’t work between us, that’s my girl destroying Sanrion yaaaas

 Missandei sweetie, I love you but right now you’re hiding out in Sansa’s basement so let’s put some respect on her name, hmm? Besides your qween ain’t doing too hot right now so stick a pipe in it

That “home” speech Bran gave was to Theon and not Dany as the antis claimed, shocker. Her home is not the North, never has been and never will be.

The noises I made throughout this episode were ungodly. Like a wounded moose or something

I really liked that it was Arya who pulled the Hound out of his fire induced terror especially after his “I fought for you, didn’t I?” line last episode

Oh shit, wight Wun Wun

Oh little Lyanna Mormont. That was brutal. But at least she went out like a badass.

This scene with Arya in the library felt very The Walking Dead to me

The shot of Beric holding off the wights was pretty cool. He looked like Christ on the cross, it was all very martyr-y. 

Ah so Beric’s purpose was to save Arya, huh? Interesting

I’m kind of here for an Arya/Melisandre tag team tbh

WOW DRAGONFIRE DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO THE NIGHT KING, COLOR ME SHOCKED!

Not gonna lie, I was kinda feeling his smile right then lmao

Lmfao Dany saw that spear and high tailed it the hell out of there

Alright I know the Night King is like, dead and evil and dead but...is it just me or is his swagger kinda hot? *insert eyes emoji*

Nah nevermind. Wight Lyanna and wight Edd? Fuck you Night King

I didn’t see the Sansa/Tyrion scene as romantic, I saw it as being similar to her scene with Theon, two people with a complicated history taking solace in one another right before what they think is their deaths

FUCK YOU VISERION STOP DESTROYING WINTERFELL I’LL WRING YOUR LITTLE LIZARD NECK

Theon’s death was heartbreaking but perfect. Bran telling him he’s a good man, Theon knowing he’s about to die but still charging the Night King head on to protect Bran...Ugh poetic cinema. I couldn’t have asked for a better death for him.

Okay so I’m conflicted here because I actually do really like the idea of Arya being the one to kill the Night King but like it just doesn’t make sense. So what was all the whoopla about the PTWP prophecy then? What was the point of Jon being a Stark/Targaryen? What was up with the long ass look the Night King and Bran shared? What the hell was Bran doing all that time? Just warging around the Night King to see what he was up to like some weirdo outside your window with binoculars? What was the point to Bran’s entire arc? You’re telling me he went through all that crap to become the Three Eyed Raven so he could what? Become bait for the Night King? No way, I call bullshit.

But with that being said IT WAS A STARK THAT ENDED THE NIGHT KING AND I AM VERY HAPPY ABOUT THAT

Lmao Bran’s blank stare, like no good job Arya or anything? Talk about tough love

Damn I think this is the most emotion we’ve seen from Dany ever throughout the course of this series

So after years of listening to all that the dragons are their only chance bull, it turns out that in the end they actually did very little. Not really surprising for the people who were paying attention. They didn’t light the trenches, they didn’t protect Bran, they didn’t kill the Night King, they didn’t kill any White Walkers, they didn’t kill Viserion and half the time they were flying blind so they couldn’t see much going on on the ground. Vindication?

Overall this episode was pretty disappointing. I expected the Night King to go down but I didn’t expect it to be quite so easy. I guess we’ll have to see if this really is the end of them or if there will be some kind of bomb dropped later on regarding Bran’s role or possibly Jon’s. 

Lastly, WHERE THE FUCK IS GHOST?! WHERE IS HE?!

[twdmusicboxmystery]

8x01-8x03 Re-Watch Part 3

8x03:

Okay, so obviously the biggest thing in episode 3 is Morales talking to Rick. I whole-heartedly believe he is meant to be a foreshadow/proxy of Beth (once again, of Rick finding Beth inside the helicopter group) but he’s also kind of an anti-parallel because he’s antagonistic and not at all loyal to Rick, where I’m sure we can all agree that Beth will react the opposite way toward seeing Rick again.

I feel like they spend most of this scene kind of trying to prove or rub our noses in the fact that Morales = Beth. They do this mostly through dialogue. So, think of most of this as being said in some way between Beth and Rick, Rather than Morales and Rick.

Morales: “As soon as I saw you, I knew you’d made the same trip as me. From there to here. I guess we aren’t the same [people] we used to be.”

At one point, he also says, “You’re the Rick from Alexandria?” as though he’d heard of him but didn’t know it was Rick Grimes everyone was talking about. He also calls Rick “peaches.” As in peach schnapps?

When telling Rick about his past, he says, “I lost my family. I lost my mind.” I always saw that as a tie to Carol. This is really subtle, but Carol says almost that exact same thing in S2. She gets mad that everyone is walking on eggshells around her (this is at Hershel’s farm) and she says, “I lost my daughter. I didn’t lose my mind.”

And I’m not saying that Morales is necessarily a Carol proxy here, but rather that they’re putting this in to tie Beth to Sophia and the missing girl symbolism.

Morales also says, “That’s what I know.”

Rick tells him that many of the people he knew—Lori, Andrea, Glenn—are now gone. The names would probably be different for Beth, but you can see Rick telling her that since she left, they’ve lost Tyreese, Sasha, Glenn, Carl, etc.

And there are interesting symbols around them, like fishing nets and other ocean-like equipment. As well as lots of fire extinguishers.

Of course Daryl kills Morales, and that’s that.

This is also where Eric dies. Aaron actually first takes him and sets him up against the trunk of a tree. Anyone who’s read Frangipanilove’s “trunk” posts knows how significant that is. 

To me, they’re just really heavily paralleling him with Beth here. And we all talked when this aired about how similar his death is to what we believe happened with Beth. Aaron returned and his body was gone. He’d wandered away. Aaron sees him as a walker.

With Beth, we don’t think she actually died and turned into a walker, but Daryl believes she did, and would have empathized heavily with Aaron at that point. Not only that, but Aaron starts trying to follow Eric and Scott stops him, even saying, “No, we gotta go. We gotta go right now.” Which was Daryl’s line to Beth at the prison.

After that, we even see Daryl in the background watching Aaron as he grieves. So this was very obviously meant to be a parallel of what happened with Beth.

Of course Aaron requests to be Gracie’s guardian, and Rick gives the baby to him. Since both Gracie and Aaron are Beth proxies, I think this is really just to relate them symbolically. Of course Aaron becomes Gracie’s dad in the show, so there’s that. But I also think this is just putting the two Beth proxies together. I genuinely hope Aaron and Beth meet and become friends. So this might foreshadow something like that as well. It’s just that most people I wanted her to meet and be friends with have now died. :/

In this episode, we also have Tara, Morgan and Jesus leading captive Saviors along the road. This is where Jarod whistles Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.

At one point, Jared sees Morgan wearing Ben’s armor and remarks that it “didn’t do shit for him,” which is similar to what Daryl said to Beth about faith. I’m not sure how, exactly to interpret this. It really might not be a Beth-returning thing in this case. In both cases, someone who has passed (Hershel/Ben) is mentioned.

But then something else interesting happens: a walker with no eye attacks Morgan. This DOES suggest Sirius symbolism of some kind, and I’ve already talked about the Morgan death fake out foreshadows. So maybe this is a Beth parallel, or maybe it just points to Morgan’s arc in Fear. I’m really not sure right now.

So, if you go back and read my Sugar Plum Fairy post HERE, you’ll see that I was hoping that it meant Beth was about to appear (because we’ve always thought that; every single season). I lay out the sequence of the Nutcracker ballet, in which the Dance of the Sugar Plumb Fairy comes right before the Coda, and hoped that meant Beth would appear sometime soon after episode 3. Obviously, that didn’t happen.

But I still think I was right about the sequence. Just not about when it would happen. So I’m kind of seeing a thing where it’s Sugar Plum Fairy song, followed by the walker attack (which probably represents one or both of the wars—AOW and Whisper) and then we see the one-eyed walker which represents Sirius/Beth’s return).

So if I had to guess—and it IS just a guess—I’d say it points to Beth’s return after both the wars and also that Morgan’s death fake out is mixed up in it. And again, that’s exactly where we are in the narrative in S10. Just saying.

There’s a kind of random scene where Gregory, after leaving Gabriel back at the Sanctuary, shows up at the gates of Hilltop and wants to be let in. This is kind of random because it’s such a small potatoes scene, and doesn’t, on the surface, seem to have many TD vibes. Gregory wants to be let in. At first, Maggie says no, and most of the Hilltoppers agree with her. But then she relents and lets him in. End of scene.

The reason it caught my attention is that there are a LOT of small Beth symbols here. They tell a random story about how Gregory once ate a little girl’s sorghum pancakes. We’ve always equated pancakes to Beth because Bisquik is mentioned at Grady and it’s self-rising, which makes it a resurrection symbol. And then there’s the sorghum, which has been a prevalent symbol, especially in S6 around Denise, and a grain that alcohol can be made out of. Plus, Kal (Hilltop guy) flips Gregory off. 

So I’m not entirely sure what this points to—again, probably something we don’t understand yet—but after watching the scene, I really couldn’t ignore it.

Maggie also says of Gregory, “he’s not worth killing. Not yet, anyway.” Which is a foreshadow that she will eventually kill him. Just saying.

At the end of this episode, Zeke and Carol reach Gavin’s outpost. This is where most of the Kingdomers were killed. It sort of ends on this note, with this being a cliff hanger ending to the episode, so I’ll talk about this more in the 8x04 rewatch, but it’s interesting that they were shot and killed with the guns Rick and Daryl were looking for earlier in the episode.

I’m not sure exactly how to read into that. Again, I’m assuming that the missing weapons Rick and Daryl went in looking for represent Beth, and I might be wrong about that. But if they do, it kind of suggests Rick and Daryl searching for her and she’s in some other place entirely. 

I’ve said this probably foreshadows something we don’t understand yet, but it could also parallel the missing 17 days, and them looking for her body when she’d been transported to a completely different place. 

Come to think of it, that’s exactly what happened with Rick as well. Michonne and Daryl searched for his body, but they were never going to find it, because he wasn’t in the area anymore. The helicopter took him away.

Okay, that’s it for today. Thoughts?

[msbeccieboo]

Arrow 8x03 Brain Dump

ASDADGHSADFSAF!! Back on form this week, with more returning guests, massive sibling feels and concentration on characters that we love, AND THE COLLISION OF FUTURE AND PRESENT TIMELINES IN THAT EPIC ENDINGGGG!!!!!!!!! YAAAASSSS!!! I’m still spiralling now!!!

Oliver and Thea

Welcome back Thea Queen!! Oliver had missed his Speedy 😍

So following on from last week, Oliver travelled to Nanda Parbat (which looked suspiciously like Lian Yu...the S8 Budget was clearly too used up on guest stars to recreate the outdoor Nanda Parbat scenery we saw in S3 😂), where he hoped to find some answers about The Monitor. I’m not actually sure if he intended on visiting Thea, or if her appearance was just a happy coincidence! But either way he was able to tell her about Mia and show her the picture of his new little family GAJKFSDGHFHDSGFS!!!

Source: oliverxfelicity

More below the cut...

In a shock move for Oliver Queen, he is open and honest with Thea straight away about his prophesied and imminent death. Thea wasn’t buying it, and Oliver even made a little sarcastic comment to “take as much time as you like to be upset” 😂😂 I’ve seen a few people say that they wanted to see more emotion from Thea here, and in later scenes. My take is that Thea/Willa’s nonchalant air is just classic Thea Queen Swagger™, but did feel like Willa maybe wasn’t really all that present in all of the scenes (mainly the LoA stuff though really). I however loved her total chill at the prospect of Oliver dying...not dissimilar to us...we know what's what! Our boy will be okay in the end!

Oliver seeks out Talia Al Ghul to use the Leagues archives (?) to find out more about The Monitor, because she owes him one. I love the idea of Oliver collecting his debts for once...this could fill the rest of the season to be honest; he’s racked up rather a few favours over the years. Talia’s help comes in the form of an Indiana Jones-esque scavenger hunt to uncover an ancient League book, and some special Demon’s head sword (?), with interruptions by the pesky Thanatos Guild from last season, who Thea is at war with. Honestly, plot-wise, I struggled a bit this week; even on rewatch I found it hard to concentrate😂 . I just zoned in on the character moments to get me through. But luckily, there were lots of those! 

One such beautiful character moment with the Queen siblings was on the side of a mountain, and reminded me a little bit of the Will/Mia scene up the Glades wall back in 7x16, I think? Oliver getting all emotional about missing his family and doubting his decisions every single day just punched me right in the feels 😭😭

Source: feilcityqueen

Then his explanation for trying to find answers before the Crisis: “My sacrifice, my death will protect the people I love. I need my family to be safe.” MURDERER!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭

Thea reassures him with some sage Queen family words, that their parents also made some questionable choices regarding them (that’s putting it lightly), but it ultimately made them heroes because of them. I think this scene was one of my favourites this episode, if not the season so far. Love me some Queen siblings 💗

The upshot of this random adventure with Talia was that Oliver read that the upcoming Crisis will actually be caused by The Monitor (dun dun DUUUNNN!!), complete with a lovely drawing of him 😂😂 But what Oliver doesn’t know, cos The Monitor doesn’t tell him anything is that there is also an Anti-Monitor, who will be the big bad of Crisis...so this may be a bit of a red herring for now!

Oliver ends his time in Nanda Parbat by saying one final (in his mind) goodbye to Thea, which actually made me sob like a baby out of nowhere, and has done every time I’ve rewatched the clip haha! Thea didn’t see it as a goodbye (cos Oliver dying? Pass!), but Oliver just cracks and won’t let go of her, and now I’m tearing up again 😭😭😭

Source: smoakmonster

I think by the way the goodbye scene played out that that will be the last we see of Thea, and ugh it’s such a shame because she has always brought out something special in Oliver, but we know she’ll be with him the whole time...😭😭😭

Stray thoughts:

They had Thea acknowledge Moira as her namesake (still think it’s a stretch, Moira-Mia? No.) but also had a callback to Thea’s Corto Maltese alias, which made me lol, and frankly, I find a better reference 😂

“All beings burn but a Phoenix rises from the ashes”. The Phoenix references this week were as subtle as a sledgehammer...Oliver is the Phoenix, and he will rise from the ashes following his death!

The Guild calling Oliver and Speedy ‘outsiders’ 🙄🙄 Oliver was Ras al Ghul and Thea is heir to the demon; get your facts right, biatch!!

Thea was a total badass this week, taking down Talia was sooo cool, and shows how far she has come as a fighter/hero.

Nice drop-in that Felicity gave the hozen to William!

Thea and Talia joining forces to raise a female ���League of Heroes’; better than any faux-feminist Canary bullshit!!

The guest stars are fantastic, but their novelty and distraction is wearing off...I MISS FELICITY SMOAK 😫😫 Next week should hopefully tide us over, though!!

Dyla

Dyla had their own little adventure this week, that  echoed their suicide squad mission in Season 2. Bronze Tiger killed a bad guy whilst working for Lyla, and in revenge, that bad guy’s son kidnaps Sandra and little Connor Hawke, then also tries to kill Lyla, but obviously she’s a total badass so that doesn’t happen! Anyway, all’s well that ends well and Dig rescues Connor and his Mum, and that’s about all I can remember plot-wise 😂😂

What we got character-wise, though was really cool! We got the first hint of JJ’s story of being 'neglected' by Dyla...with Dig and Lyla being increasingly away on missions and unable to call him, and in turn finding Connor and obviously starting to fall in love with him because he is the softest little bean 😍 When ickle Connor said “thank you Mr Diggles” I was a goner 😂😂

We saw Dig having a crisis of faith (pun intended) after seeing Earth 2 disintegrate before him, but ultimately he realises (after some Lyla wisdom) that they just have to hold on to each other and do their best. Lyla made a few comments and pulled some ‘I’m keeping secrets’ faces, asking Dig to remember the good times no matter what happens, and I need to know what Lyla knows dammit!! I still believe that she is on the good side, and her appearing to double-cross Dig and Oliver with The Monitor last week is a little bit of a red herring. I need to believe, ok!!!

Flash-forwards

Plot-wise, I actually think the flash-forwards were the strongest storyline this week. Following on from last week we had the team rushing back to the bunker to check on William, after JJ threatened him. This scene brought us another “frack” from Mia 😍, and a mention of Felicity as “Mom” from William 😭, as he managed to electrocute the bad guys all by himself! Will being a techy little badass is a forever mood and is yet another reminder of our Felicity. She is never really gone.

With the Deathstrokes now targeting William and other members of the Star City Unification Movement (SCUM, really?? LOL), William offers himself up as bait. As Oliver’s daughter, you can imagine how that went down with Mia. Badly. Big nope from Mia, who decides on a more direct approach of going to their HQ and kicking all of the ass 😂. Zoe is very much against this, but Mia is all “I know best, we’ll just storm in and take them all out myself” (S1 Oliver anyone?). Said storming in leads to this absolute beauty of a moment:

I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!!!

Prior to kicking all of the asses, Mia and William have a heart-to-heart, with Will still angry at Mia for not trusting him to go into dangerous situations. Will thinks it’s because he’s not a fighter, but Mia comes back with “it’s because you’re my brother” 😭 😭 😭

Source: olicitygifs

In another Felicity-worthy pep-talk, William tells Mia that operating out of fear is not the way to go, and that they need to trust each other to survive. I’m really gonna need a Mia/Will hug soon, please and thank you. Honestly, Will is the perfect balance/offset to Mia with his easy humour and quick wit, but he ALWAYS brings the feels as well. He reminds me so much of Emily’s portrayal of Felicity, and not just in the way that his character has been written, but just by what he brings to the role. Ben is a wonderful actor; I adore him and he and William must be protected at all costs!

In the final confrontation, Mia, Zoe and JJ storm JJ and the Deathstrokes, but JJ gets Mia by the throat in an awesome 3x23 Felicity/Slade parallel. Mia couldn’t save herself like Felicity did in this instance, but we must remember that this is just the beginning of Mia’s journey. She has time. Unlike Zoe, who saves Mia, but is then fatally stabbed by JJ 😬 Poor Zoe dies in Mia’s arms. Kat’s acting here was perfection. I may have shed a tear. They had kept Zoe pretty much in the background in the FFs, so I wasn’t particularly attached; if one of FTA needed to die, then I’m good with her. Sorry Zo. But in all honesty, this fridging trope really needs to end. Another female character didn’t need to die in order to elevate JJ’s evil-factor, or to spur on Mia’s hero journey, or Connor’s struggle with his conscience. Enough now. Hopefully, being a bird, Zoe will be back from the dead soon enough anyway 😂

Source: 1-crazy-dreamer 💗

Connor sees Zoe die and goes after JJ. Hard. Tries to kill him. Between 2 generations of Queens and Diggles, the sibling parallels were so strong this week, and I’m loving it! I wrote a little meta here about it. But does Connor have the guts to actually kill JJ? JJ taunts that he doesn’t, Connor disagrees, but then the bright light comes for all of FTA and so we come to…

THAT ENDING

OH MY GOD ALL OF FTA IN THE BUNKER IN 2019!!!!!!!!!!!!

So most people following any kind of interviews or spoilers had a pretty firm idea that Mia would come back in time at the end of the episode. We were expecting it. What the show did was really quite clever...they allowed these pretty big spoilery-type interviews and tweets to be released, heavily implying that Mia would rock up in the last 30 seconds. They let us think we were all clever and had figured it out then BOOM! EVERYONE CAME BACK (minus Zoe 😬)! 

I am so pleased with this!! All the paparazzi pics etc that we’d seen of Mia in the crossover etc had made me so happy, but equal parts sad that William couldn’t go back and see Oliver too, but now he can!!!

Uggghhhh it was so fucking goooood!! Oliver’s initial confusion of being beamed back to the bunker, stunned Dig, Dinah and Rene (I can live with their 5-second appearances this season 😂😂), then the camera and Oliver pan around to Mia, William and Connor just stood there!! Mia still had tears running down her face from seeing Zoe die, and she has her Arrow suit on and is covered in blood and she sees her Daddy for the first time in her memory!!!!!!! Just one word is delivered in those last few seconds and it was still one of the best moments of the season so far!!

Mia’s “Dad”, followed by Oliver’s confusion, realisation, then shock was just gaaahhhh!! But my absolute favourite reaction (I decided after multiple rewatches, for science, haha) was William’s 😍😭😍 His eyes full of tears, and utter gobsmacked-ness was fucking sublime!!  

Source for all 3 reaction gifs: tylerposey

Next week is going to be so epic!! We have Mia, who has never met Oliver and who has built him up so much in her head and heart from Felicity and William’s stories, and also the tainted Star City archives, getting to finally come face-to-face with him. Then conversely, there is William, who got a few years to know his father, but then left him and eventually believed to have been abandoned by him and Felicity, and has had to live for 20 years until very recently still believing that, and now he gets to see him again, only a few months after little William left! Then there’s Connor, who Dig barely even knows in 2019 and he’s gonna call him Dad and then have to tell him that he nearly just killed JJ, who just killed Zoe, and Rene is right there and I AM HERE FOR ALL OF ITTTTTT!!!! 

There’s so much content coming in next weeks episode it’s going to be so beautiful!!  I wrote a post of things I really hope to see here, and I’m pretty confident we’ll get most of them and so much more!

Then there’s the implications of what FTA being in the present means for the future!! I had a bit of a spec meltdown here about how this could end up saving Oliver, and I think that’s pretty much just wishful thinking, but either way, them coming back to the present to help with the Crisis and to try and stop future Star City turning so bleak is going to make my head hurt and my heart sing in equal measure, I’m sure! After all, what is the point in having the multiverse, time travel, super powers etc in Arrow if we can’t reap some benefits from it somehow? The ending to this episode, and hopefully next week will be our reward for the fuckery we’ve had to endure with the more sci-fi-esque elements since Larry rocked up and the Arrowverse was extended. And I. cannot. wait.

Thank you to the beautiful, talented, and super speedy gifmakers for blessing us with all the amazing gifsets from this episode!! Mwah! 😘😘 (Uncredited gifs are mine)

💗💗💗

[sachi-nerd]

A missed opportunity

Lyanna Mormont and Arya Stark interacting and the potential it could have had.

They [the writers] missed a great opportunity. Lyanna was there in Winterfell since the Battle of the Bastards. She may have gone back and forth, between Bear Island and Winterfell, but it’s safe to assume that she spent 90% of her time in the Stark’s home. Arya came home in Season 7, Episode 4. From that episode to 8x03, there was more than enough time for these two characters to interact on-screen. The scene could have been set somewhere in the courtyards of Winterfell, the writers could have easily had Lyanna commanding her Mormont men, and it getting Arya's attention.

Now, why would it have been great for them to talk?

Arya would have learnt that being a lady doesn't mean "knitting by the fire while men fight for me." Tbh, she could have learnt this from Brienne too but nope...

Lyanna could ask Arya (maybe after witnessing Brienne and Arya sparring) if she could teach her how to fight. This could have led to some Syrio Florel-like sparring dancing lessons from Arya. Nice callback to season 1. 

What potential consequences would these moments have on future events?

Arya would have definitely said yes to Gendry's proposal, realising she could have been the Lady of Storm's End, without giving up her warrior-ninja ways. Or at least said, no then went and dealt with Cersei/Mountain and then come back for a second proposal, where she gets down on one knee. She would also have asked Gendry for an extended honeymoon to explore what's west of Westeros with him and asked Ser Davos to look after Storm’s End until they returned. Beside, Gendry needs all the help he can get to run Storm’s End...

Lyanna, in my opinion, could have survived the fight against the WW with that extra training or at least killed a couple more wights in hand-to-hand combat before her heroic death, instead of just shouting orders.

In an epilogue (Lyanna survives, remember?), their kids would spend months at each other's castles/holdfasts, training together and pulling pranks. I know, it’s game of thrones. The ending can’t be this happy. Don’t @ me. I need happiness in my life.

AND if Lyanna didn’t survive, Lady Mormont would have written that Bear Island and everything is to be given to Arya if she were to die in battle.

[ladyandtheghost]

“They’re coming to get you, Barbara!” a.k.a Zombies in the Crypts

I’ve said that I loved the episode and I stand by it, however, to me 8x03 also had one big fat flaw and that was everything that went down in the crypts:

1. It’s a place full of dead people, what did you expect?: 

The fact that no one in WF anticipated that the dead in there might rise if the NK give the sign is plain stupidity. I’d also strongly advise to avoid cemetaries during a zombie apocalypse, so...

2. Sansa being the only one who was armed apparently? 

Even IF no one expected the dead to get up for breakfast, what if the dead outside DID find a way in. Arming at least the adults so that they can at least defend the children would have been the more intelligent approach...

3. Don’t give her the knife if you won’t let us see her use it: 

Making a big fucking deal out of Arya giving Sansa the knife and telling her to “stick em with the pointy end”, then *showing* Sansa with knife in hand, resolute and clearly ready to use it...only to then CUT OUT the scene where she actually uses it - was a goddamn stupid decision to say the least. 

Do it properly or leave it! Don’t create such a build up to something and then pretend it didn’t matter. If they thought people are smart enough to realize that she did kill wights “off screen” they clearly do not know their audience at all. The bias AGAINST Sansa was, is and will always be strong. 

4. The entire “zombies in the crypts” idea:  

IF all the dead were rising in the crypts, then this would include some of the Stark family members that we knew and loved e.g. Rickon, Lyanna or Catelyn (Lady Stoneheart anyone?) in which case I could have understood that Sansa would rather run and hide from them than try to “kill” them.

Arguing that the bones are too long dead doesn’t fly either, seen as the first zombie we saw was a Stark family member who had been dead for quite some time given their bad shape..literally only bones and they still managed to smash the coffin and get out...Fact is that “zombies” we actually care about would also have been there and this is completely disregarded...

The crypts - always shown as a place of sanctity, the place of the family - was turned into a place of cheap thrill zombie shocker moments. The poignancy of Sansa possibly facing her dead family members down there is not even brought up or talked about. 

The focus is only on creating suspense, against all logic or lore. 

5. Don’t warm it up if you ain’t committed to it: 

While I did enjoy Sansa and Tyrion talking (and I think this convo will have consequences) and having a moment, but Tyrion trying to “warm up” the marriage that he himself claimed was only a “sham” felt a bit out of place. I could see it as banter between two old friends, but I’m sure other people will get their hopes up about it and might end up severely disappointed (like the Theon and Sansa crowd). 

I wonder if there is a pattern of them bringing Sansa close to certain people again every single episode (Theon, Tyrion, The Hound next?) in order to get them all on her “side” (like the “Queen’s Guard” I wrote in another meta), in which case it would make a lot of sense...

My theory is that those “moments” might also be Goodbye scenes - we saw it with Theon and we will probably see it with Tyrion who is definitely heading for self-made disaster...

[thenerdintheattic]

Doctor Who Rewatch Season 8

(spoiler alert, this is pretty much how I feel about this season)

8x01 Deep Breath - 3/5 : it's a good after regeneration episode. twelve doesn't quite feel like the doctor yet (i don't remember if he did push the droid guy or not) but i like his darker, more serious tone. the scene where he leaves clara behind and all that moment where she has to hold her breath is very well done. but this is super loooong and the bit with the dinosaur was completely unnecessary.

8x02 Into the Dalek - 2/5 : so yeah i don't give a horse sh*t about clara's life and danny's characterisation is as subtle as an elephant in a glass shop. as for the the real plot : interesting concept but sooo long, side characters are boring. twelve is still rough around the edges but he's definitely the doctor

8x03 Robots of Sherwood - 2/5 : some highlights : the doctor/robin hood comparison was quite well done and how the viewer can identify with clara, clara is not completely annoying in this episode. but this episode is soooo long, i got really bored

8x04 Listen - 1.5/5 : i could actually like danny pink : he'd kinda relatable and interesting but his characterisation has been made by a butcher and it feels so forced and unnatural. as for this episode ... clara's life feels more important than the actual plot (which could be cool if it wasn't for that fuckery that it was obviously clara all along, because of course she was there on gallifrey and of course, she played a huge part in what the doctor actually becomes)

8x05 Time Heist - 4/5 : i didn't remember that i liked this episode so much so this was a really good surprise. the side characters are actually written decently and interesting, the plot is good and twelve is baby, thank you.

8x06 The Caretaker - 0/5 : so yeah, here we are. i hate everything from this episode. this is not doctor who

8x07 Kill the Moon - 2.5/5 : the moon! going back to the moon, first woman on the moon, this is sooo close to us and so exciting, i really hope we will go back there while i'm alive, just out of curiosity and not because there's something going on. but apart from my nerdy hype, this was kinda disappointing, apart from the obvious fuckery of the moon being an egg. the side characters are invisible (what were the two guys names?), the woman was a bit more interesting, courtney is unbearable. yeah and clara, if the moon's gone there's a little bit more than the tides and the internet connexion that would change, just saying (also, how can Courtney, an english girl, be the president of the US?)

8x08 Mummy on the Orient-Express - 4/5 : another good episode : the mummy and the countdown were pretty cool, perkins, the train in space. twelve sends me huge one vibes which i like. the only thing are the other scientists are completely useless, they don't even have a line of dialogue, they just stay in the background and just do nothing, so yeah that could have been easily corrected. also we'll never know who/what gus was

8x09 Flatline - 3.5/5 : it's a fun episode, it's in Bristol. clara's still annoying me though

8x10 In the Forest of the Night - 1/5 : that's everything that I hate about this season : coal hill school, clara being such a jerk, the plot that makes no sense (fire proof trees????). Just one point for twelve being baby again and calling out clara's bs

8x11 Dark Water - 3/5 : the scene in the volcano is superb, that's great acting from jenna coleman and peter capaldi. missy and the end twist are brilliant. but i'm so not on board with the afterlife thing and the bits with danny were totally flat because his character has been butchered all season

8x12 Death in Heaven - 2.5/5 : still not on board with all the cybermen = dead people thing. that's really too disturbing for me. but i liked missy and i liked twelve realising is neither a good man nor a bad man, he's just an idiot. not so happy with him killing missy though, not even for clara. 

Overall opinion : I really don't like this season. Apart from a couple of episodes, it didn't feel that i was watching doctor who and that's really a shame. one of my problem is danny. i know one of the themes of the season was to ask the question whether twelve (and the doctor in general) is a good man, the mirror with danny and how an external character can bring clara and the viewer to see the doctor for who he really is, the soldier/officer parallel (especially after the war doctor) were interesting ideas, and the way it culminates with the master giving the doctor an army because she wants him to be more like her was kinda cool. but as i said before, danny pink has been butchered, there's no subtlety you can see the strings pulling him together and that's bad. all of the good stuff he could have brought was drown into this relationship with clara and that's my biggest problem here. this is peter capaldi's first season, and yet it revolves more about clara and her normal life, and that i just can't accept. that's not why i watch doctor who, i don't care about her school and her attempts to date and her lies. she's more the doctor than the actual doctor and that's really not fair on peter capaldi who most of the time just appears as a grumpy, rude old man. also i really don't like this tendency that the doctor kinda comes when the companion calls because they want another adventure in the tardis. where is the doctor who accidentally kidnapped his companion? where is the doctor that brought rose back a year after she left with him? where is the doctor who took years to get Tegan to Heathrow? i miss companions that began as ordinary people and who got their whole life turned upside down, i miss companions who became extraordinary with the doctor, and i guess that's why i really don't like clara.

[vieverdeen]

Thoughts on 8x03. I need to vent.

WARNING: this contains dark! Dany, crumbs of Jonsa i guess, anti sanarion, anti jonerys, anti daenerys, anti tyrion, anti d&d, basically anti everything, and lots and lots and lots of complaining. LOTS. And bitching. I hated 8x03. If you liked it, I suggest you keep scrolling. Please keep scrolling. I don't want any heat, dont want to offend anybody, I just so BADLY need to vent.

Also, i post in the Jonsa tag, because that's my main fandom and where i feel safe.

ALSO SPOILERS!

This episode was an epitome of disappointment. I can't even. All this bragging how it was going to beat BotB and Hardhome, even freakin HELMS DEEP (the audacity) and ZERO payoff. I'll try to be as brief as possible(I probably won't be).

1. Whover was the mastermid behind this battleplan should hang. What the actual fuck. What the f*ck was the deal with stationing all The Unsullied and Dothraki OUTSIDE?! I mean i get it - there's limited space at Winterfell, and those are huge armies. But later, when it all goes to hell with the Dothraki and so on, and Dadvos screams "man the walls!" there are so few people actually inside, that could man the walls! I mean, the defenders should form a freaking wall themselves, to push down as many wights as possible! And they weren't even in position, on the battlements!

2. The charge was fucking idiotic. I really don't get it - was it a rash decision of the Dothraki, inspired by Mel lighting their arakhs, that they were like "yeah, why not, let's roll", without any order? Or was it an ACTUAL plan for them to charge the AotD, without anybody knowing Mel would show up and do what she did, with regular weapons, not even Valyrian steel or dragon glass?! I mean, did they WANT to give the NK more meat for his army? THE STUPIDITY

3. What was the deal with Arya during the battle? All of the sudden she's inside the castle, terrified, walks into the library and hides from one(!) wight - seeing as in the beginning she wasn't aware there were more. The whole library scene was exhausting to watch, and not because of the suspence, but again, because of the stupidity of it. It felt out of nowhere and pointless. And damn, I remember all of the speculation when the trailer came out- why is Arya so terrified, what is she running from? Is it Rickon or whatnot? Nope. No surprises here. Just regular whights, just like the ones she was going all assasin-mode on a minute ago.

3. Jon, Daenerice and their lizards. I mean, could they have been any more useless?! Dani burns some wights in the beginning and thats it. The most frustrating part was, that they haven't even once used the goddamn dragons to fry Viserion. Not once! There was some hands-on dragon combat but that was it. At various moments I wanted the NK to win, seriously. When they flew above the clouds and Viserion disappeared, i half expected the nephew and his aunt to sing "A whole new world" together and fly away. Wouldn't have made a difference.

4. I will give them one thing, the part with Dany falling off of Drogon and him abandoning her was satisfying. Shame that Jorah ex Machina was soo predicrable (glad it wasn't Jon though). Also, I will say, that Jorahs death was the one scene I actually liked, it brought me back to season 1 and I felt for Daenerys for a moment.

5. The crypts. I mean, the way Tyrion has been made by the show to be the Most Moral Man in the Universe, with his magical, genius mind has become unbearable. I wanted to smack him, seriously. Of course YOU should be out there Tyrion, YOU might notice something others won't. Sansa put him in his place, but I would prefer it if she remaind cold towards him, like in the first episode, just beacuse the amount of sanarion being pushed down our throats was making me gag. Saying they would never have worked because of Dani? Sansa love, you dont have to be polite. It would never have worked because Sansa did not love him, wasn't attracted to him, was forced to marry him as a child, because he's a father-killing, whore-mongering alcoholic. I was SO scared they would actually kiss in that scene when they were hiding. I was about to puke. Seriously, Sophie has an amazing chemistry with nearly everyone and clearly it was visible in this scene, but for the love of God I could not bear it.

6. Missandei and her "if it werent for the Dragon Queen we'd all be dead". I need someone to step up ASAP and make it clear that if it werent for Dani and her dumbass advisors the NK WOULDNT HAVE A F*CKING DRAGON!!! And the Wall still would be standing! Why don't these things matter? Like at all?? Why?! D&D just dont give a fuck.

7. Bran. The Three-Eyed Raven. All those seasons, the impossible journey, the sacrifice of Hodor, Jojen, Meera, Summer, all the 8-year build up for the AotD to end like... this. No resolution, no answers, no explanation. And Bran does nothing. It was so underwhelming. Every single fanfic I've read was better than this. He just warged into some ravens and went for a flight. Coolcoolcool.

8. The final scene, with the music and everything was, much like the rest of the episode, exhausting. The pacing was all over the place, either too slow or too fast. It sure was nice of the NK to give Theon and Bran some extra time so they could look at each other meaningfully, with Bran taking his sweet time to assure Theon that his character arc has been completed and he's most welcome to die for him now. The NK was actually a big softie on the inside, truly. Applies also for the never-ending look he exchanged with Bran before actually trying to kill him.

Till the last moment I was hoping that Bran would pull something out. That he couldn't have been THIS useless. Anything, I would have even taken time travel, anything. But GoT has stopped shocking and surprising a looong time ago, and we got Arya instead. I guess she's so awesome now, kinda like a supernatural being, that the only sign of her coming is a light breeze moving one's hair. I don't quite get when did she actually learn to fly/jump so high, maybe at some point in Braavos, between washing dead bodies and fighting with sticks? (okay, here's a rabbit hole to avoid - Aryas plot since sason 6, when suddenly she becomes a worrior able to best Brienne in combat). I would really like Arya killing the NK, if it was done and executed better, with a decent build-up and all of that. Not like this. It was so fucking easy it hurt.

9. Jon was useless. Useless I tell you. Dani being useless was sorta satisfying, as I'm anti dany, but Jon has been obsessed with the AotD and the NK for too many seasons now. I guess I should be thankful that at no point the line "i thought i lost you" has been uttered.

10. When the episode ended, me and my sister were like, "damn, dani has actually lost all her armies. game over for her." I mean she lost all of the Dothraki, almost all of the Unsullied? But God, did we underestimate Dumb&Dumber's dumbness! OF COURSE in the promo Dani still has an army and is ready to go to war with Cersei. OF COURSE. Fuck logic, fuck the facts, fuck the plot. Things havent been making any sense for a while now, so why bother at the end?

11. One more thing about Ghost - i love this boy with all my heart, and that's why it pisses me off so much that after SEASONS of neglecting him and favouring the lizards, the writers bring him back for some meaningless cameos, without Jon interacting with him ONCE. The discrespect! Seriously, at this point Ghost should just switch owners. Jon better stay with his pet reptalian.

Sidenote: I won't even go into no Jonsa goodbye scene. No goodbye-scene for Jon with any of the Starks. Coolcoolcool.

There is more, I'm sure, but I cant remember and I'm too tired. I dont even know what I expected. Maybe because the 2 first episodes were decent I was hoping for something remotely good. But D&D reminded me that no one can dissapoint like they can.

[nightqueendany]

Leaks, Fleaks, and the Fucking Ending of Game of Thrones

I will be discussing Friki leaks in this post and other potential “leaks” as seen on Free Folk Reddit so if you don’t want spoilers, don’t read! I will also be discussing THAT ONE theory/leak I freaked out about several weeks ago and refused to talk about except to a few people who private messaged me about it.

I will be theorizing heavily in this post in an attempt to put all the “leaks” together so take this all with a grain of salt. I am not a primary source or even a secondary source for this information, so what I say here could very well be 100% wrong.

“Leakers” I am pulling from in this post:

Frikidoctor

BoatSexBaby

ThrowItAway / DeathWisher

TyrionKillsEveryone

Please keep in mind, I am not a member of the Reddit community (well, have an account, almost never use it), so I am unfamiliar with certain users on the site, what has been discussed at length between all users, what’s been refuted if it’s not on the front page of Free Folk, and what comments any of these users have made if they’re more than a few weeks old. Please also note I am not a native Spanish speaker so I have to read Friki’s stuff from translations so if the translations are incorrect, I will be. If anyone has any additional input, please feel free to reblog to correct any misinformation I may include in this.

First off, Friki.

As we’ve seen from Friki’s Season 7 leaks and his incredibly detailed leaks about 8x01, Friki is legit. There really is no arguing with this so I believe it is pointless to do so. However, we must keep in mind Friki is not someone who is on set, his sources are not on set all the time (I believe), and for this season, he has not seen an final scripts. So we likewise must take what Friki says with a grain of salt. Friki was also off by two weeks when it came to when the New York premiere would be, so it’s possible he could be wrong about things or his source doesn’t give him full information or gives him incorrect information.

BoatSexBaby

Again, sorry, I am not familiar with the reputations of people on Reddit FreeFolk so I don’t know if this person is seen as a legitimate leaker or fleaker. However, regardless of whether they have correct information, BSB seems to be a total savant when it comes to putting filming information together! It’s kind of astounding. I had attempted to do this once, but it was completely overwhelming but BSB has done it. It seems BSB’s info so far as what happens in the season is more based on assumptions based on filming info than actual leaks. But the information is still incredibly helpful.

ThrowItAway/DeathWisher

I don’t believe this is the same person but DeathWisher recently linked back to ThrowItAway’s old POST from a few months ago so I’m crediting both of them here. ThrowItAway claims to be related to someone who worked on the Belfast set and had second hand information of what would happen during the Battle for Winterfell in 8x03. Info that was correct: 1) Arya would jump down from somewhere (a tree?) to kill the NK 2) Theon would charge NK and die 3) Lyanna Mormont would become a wight. That has all been proven true and these leaks were from 4 months ago. So the information TIA’s brother gave them about future episodes may be true as well. Though, TIA admits that their brother did not work on sets aside from the Belfast one and so heard the leaks about the other episodes from other crew members - meaning the brother is a secondary source for this info, not a primary one. Also, TIA seems pretty adamant that it’s highly possible multiple endings were filmed.

TyrionKillsEveryone

Now, anyone who knows of TKE from FreeFolk and Friki is probably wondering why the fuck I’m bringing him up right now because apparently everything he said would happen in the first couple episodes has turned out to be complete bullshit (though for some reason, I can’t find those posts/comments, so have to rely on people talking about “leaks” TKE claimed for Eps 1&2). However, out of all the theories I’ve read on the ending to GOT and now with this info from ThrowItAway, I more inclined than ever to believe such an ending so that’s why I’ve included them in this post.

So, what do the “leakers” have to offer us?

Friki:

Friki claims that THE big moment in this final season will be Tyrion’s trial in the Dragonpit and Tyrion’s death. He refutes a previous theory of his that Tyrion and Sansa would betray the Starks and says Sansa will not betray them, Tyrion will (unclear if Dany is included in this - as either Team Stark or on Tyrion’s side...but as Dany is on the side of the Starks now, it appears Tyrion would betray her too...?). Friki says an important scene will take place with five key characters: Jon, Sansa, Arya, Daenerys, and Tyrion. Friki was told this big scene took five days to film (hinting at it being all conflict). The most shocking moment of the season/series should be Tyrion’s death. Friki admits he doesn’t know how Tyrion will die, or why he will betray Team Jon/Dany but just knows that he will. He notes Emilia Clarke never filmed anything in Seville, she was never there. He says Kit Harington was in Seville but did not film a single scene there.

I know people might take this as “fake news” and believe Kit actually did film in Seville but lots of GOT actors were in Seville who I can’t really believe were filming there - most notably, Tom Wlaschiha who played Jaqen H'ghar, Faye Marsay who played the Waif, and Vladimír Furdík who played the Night King.

So, unless Arya never killed the Waif or the Night King in a permanent way, it’s clear HBO just flew in lots of GOT actors to throw people off...OR may have flown them in, along with their body doubles, for the GOT Documentary which will air right after the series finale. More on this in a moment.

BoatSexBaby:

Alright, first off, I’ll start with what BSB may have gotten wrong...unless the NK isn’t completely dead and he somehow has to be defeated again. BSB claimed HERE that 1) Dance of Dragons between NK/Viserion and Dany/Drogon would happen in Episode 6 in King’s Landing and Jon/Rhaegal may be involved - untrue, kind of, this happened in Ep3 2) Golden Company attack Winterfell - TOTALLY FALSE. And preview for next weeks seems to see everyone headed down south to attack Cersei instead (though BSB did say survivors retreat south so maybe this is the true part of people going south) 3) NK has real motivations that tie all WW scenes together from 1x01 - maybe. We certainly didn’t see this prior but it could be revealed in future. The way the NK was defeated just felt way too clean to me. If he’s really gone and was a red herring, that’s one elaborate 8000 year old red herring. FFS.

What BSB does actually have to offer, is her dedication to documenting filming news. According to BSB, we know: 1) the green dragon mount was moved prior to filming King’s Landing battle scenes hinting at it being used in those scenes - however, the only actor available for filming such scenes was allegedly Vladimír Furdík, as Kit and Emilia were not in Belfast at the time. 2) Body doubles in Seville who may have been filming or may have been part of the GOT documentary were doubles for: Sansa, Tyrion, Jon, Brienne, Grey Worm, and Robin Arryn. BSB is also of the belief that Kit actually did film in Seville but filmed night scenes? And that there were CGI/VFX sequences for the Dragonpit scene or Tyrion’s trial. Friki said the Dragonpit scene included no CGI so it’s unclear which is correct.

ThrowItAway/DeathWisher

As stated, ThrowItAway gave leaks for 8x03 several months ago that ended up panning out so, it could be possible their other statements about future episodes could be true too. TIA posted some things and also messaged DW some spoilers for the ending. Some key points, but certainly not ALL: 1) Varys betrays Dany because he believes Jon would make a better ruler (something TKE also speculated) and Dany has him executed 2) Dany attacks King’s Landing 3) Tyrion convinces Jon that Dany is a danger to him and the Starks and Jon kills Dany 4) Prior to her death, Sansa and Tyrion appear to plot against Dany/try to separate her and Jon 5) Sansa has made some sort of promise to Tyrion that she and him will rule together but she betrays him in the end 6) Jon has two possible endings: Death or reforming the Night’s Watch (unclear how he would die).

This is a lot to unpack here and it should be noted that TIA has stated these “leaks” are to be taken with a grain of salt because a) their brother did not work on these episodes and heard this from other crew members who did work on them and b) they seem highly convinced that multiple endings were filmed and Emilia Clarke has talked about filming fake scenes.

TyrionKillsEveryone

I haven’t been able to see TKEs old posts on the early episodes and have only read their “leaks” from other commenters who have gleefully bragged about how incorrect TKE was. I think one of the major TKE fleaks was that Dany would find out she was pregnant in 8x01 and that Varys would try to kill her with poison (because he believes she’s becoming like Aerys and Jon would be a better King) but Arya would save her. This clearly did not happen in 8x01 so it’s easy to write off TKE for just this alone.

However, TKEs points about the later episodes just STRUCK me and affected me deeply which is why I’m going to include them. TKE says that yes, Tyrion will have a trial, as Friki said, and Tyrion will be on trial for betraying Jon and Daenerys and killing Jon - how does Tyrion kill Jon? He stabs him in the back in the black cells of the Red Keep after taking him down to see Dany - who is Cersei’s captive - where she is bleeding to death either from being stabbed by Bronn or complications with childbirth. I think both were mentioned, Unclear which TKE was leaning more toward.

At Tyrion’s trial, TKE says Tyrion will have an epic speech like he did in his trial for killing Joffrey, and will name everyone present as guilty as him. That their petty wars and fights all caused harm to the smallfolk, damaged the country, something like this. And at the end of Tyrion’s speech, Bronn will ignite the wildfire under the Dragonpit like he did on the Blackwater, and blow everyone up - killing every single major character - Arya, Sansa, Davos, Tyrion...anyone else who is present in the Dragonpit. They’ll all die.

TKE claims the last shots of the series are the smallfolk rebuilding Westeros, living their lives in peace, because they have no lords preying on them, telling them to fight their wars, etc. And that is the “Dream of Spring.”

What does it all mean?

It’s pretty difficult to tell at this point because the Night King is defeated (or so we think) and the living are somewhat intact - at least many of our major characters - Jaime, Brienne, Grey Worm, Jon, Sansa, Dany, Arya, Tyrion, Varys, Pod, Tormund, Sam, Gilly, the Hound...they all got out of the Battle with barely scratches on them. It’s incredibly disconcerting. As if luring us into this false sense of security.

But this false sense of security is exactly the kind of thing GOT would do before really bringing down the sledgehammer to our hearts. So, what does it all mean?

1) Three of the leakers save TIA have specifically talked about Tyrion’s trial. To me, this seems highly likely to happen.

2) BSB has some amazing evidence for why there will be CGI/VFX during Tyrion’s trial but I think her assumption about what this could mean is wrong - it won’t be a dragon fight (though there will be dragons in King’s Landing at some point). The VFX for Tyrion’s trial could be for the wildfire explosion that TKE talks about.

3) If TIA is correct about Sansa leading Tyrion on only to betray him in the end and take power for herself, then it makes Sansa a villain too. And this was the last piece of info I was really waiting for because...

It is KEY to believing TKE’s ending.

Because with everyone plotting against everyone and fighting for power, it means they learned nothing from having to band together to defeat the Night King and are all still fighting their petty wars and as Tyrion will (maybe) say in his trial, they’re all guilty.

TKE said something about Sansa inviting all the Lords/Ladies of the realm come to Tyrion’s trial so they can simultaneously swear her their allegiance. This would support why Robin Arryn is at Tyrion’s trial. Because without this, it seems odd that he would be there at all. We haven’t seen him since Season 6, though his armies have been present in S7 and S8.

While I am not sure which to believe out of TIA and TKE’s endings for Jon and Dany - Jon-kills-Dany or Jon-and-Dany-die-together - I am pretty convinced of this theory that Tyrion, does in fact, kill everyone with wildfire in the Dragonpit. You guys might think I’m crazy, might hate me for pointing this out, but I just feel this ending in my bones and have for several weeks. I was kind of hoping for a Jon-Dany-house-with-a-red-door ending - they get resurrected or don’t die and live in hiding or amongst the small-folk and get a somewhat happy ending. But I am not holding my breath.

And for those who want a little bit more further proof of a TKE-like ending, for those saying things like “What’s the point?” “Who would rule?” “So it’s just anarchy?” “Is this some weird eat the rich bullshit?” - I have one more piece of evidence for you.

D&D said the ending to GOT was hidden in their Spotify playlist. And one of the songs on the playlist was Black Sabbath’s War Pigs. The lyrics of which are:

Gen'rals gathered in their masses, Just like witches at black masses Evil minds that plot destruction, Sorcerer of death's construction In the fields the bodies burning, As the war machine keeps turning Death and hatred to mankind, Poisoning their brainwashed minds Oh Lord yeah

Politicians hide themselves away They only started the war Why should they go out to fight? They leave that role for the poor, yeah

Time will tell on their power minds, Making war just for fun Treating people just like pawns in chess, Wait 'till their judgement day comes, yeah

Now in darkness world stops turning, Ashes where the bodies burning No more War Pigs have the power, Hand of God has struck the hour Day of judgement, God is calling On their knees the war pigs crawling, Begging mercies for their sins Satan, laughing, spreads his wings Oh Lord yeah

This is why, weeks ago, I posted this Jorah quote:

In the books, it’s a bit better: “The common people pray for rain, healthy children, and a summer that never ends," Ser Jorah told her. "It is no matter to them if the high lords play their game of thrones, so long as they are left in peace....They never are."

And it’s why around the same time, I also posted this:

“Animals are true to their nature. And we had betrayed ours.” All the living, despite fighting together against the dead, have still betrayed their nature, fighting against each other, fighting for power. When they should be working together and feel lucky they’re all alive.

In the books, Brienne V in AFFC, there is a great speech commonly called by the fandom, “The Broken Man Speech” - which, coincidentally, the episode above is called. Not for no reason, I believe.

Some significant quotes from the book version of the Broken Man speech:

“Broken men are more deserving of our pity, though they may be just as dangerous. Almost all are common-born, simple folk who had never been more than a mile from the house where they were born until the day some lord came round to take them off to war. Poorly shod and poorly clad, they march away beneath his banners, ofttimes with no better arms than a sickle or a sharpened hoe.”

“They see the lord who led them there cut down, and some other lord shouts that they are his now."

“...before long they are stealing from the living too, from the smallfolk whose lands they’re fighting in, men very like the men they used to be.”

“They don’t know where they are or how to get back home and the lord they’re fighting for does not know their names, yet here he comes, shouting for them to form up, to make a line with their spears and scythes and sharpened hoes, to stand their ground. And the knights come down on them, faceless men clad all in steel, and the iron thunder of their charge seems to fill the world …  “And the man breaks. “He turns and runs, or crawls off afterward over the corpses of the slain, or steals away in the black of night, and he finds someplace to hide. All thought of home is gone by then, and kings and lords and gods mean less to him than a haunch of spoiled meat that will let him live another day, or a skin of bad wine that might drown his fear for a few hours. The broken man lives from day to day, from meal to meal, more beast than man. Lady Brienne is not wrong. In times like these, the traveler must beware of broken men, and fear them … but he should pity them as well.”

And for those saying this can’t possibly be GRRM’s message....well, it just might be:

Now, how well have D&D executed such an ending if this is, indeed, the ending?

I would say, pretty shittily. It’s not an A or an A+. Because unlike Breaking Bad, we’re still rooting for these characters with only 3 episodes to go. In Breaking Bad, you get that Walter is a villain, he’s “The one who knocks.” He’s the bad guy and he deserves what’s coming to him. Jesse was a prisoner in the end so we’re glad he gets out and gets free.

But with GOT, if everyone ends up being a villain and dying for their sins, it’s shitty. I have faith GRRM would do much better with such an ending. Give us other characters, the smallfolk, to care about to ease the pain of losing our other faves, the mains. But with only 240 minutes to go, there’s no way D&D could make us hate the current characters in a way that makes us also not hate the writers too and the entire series. It’s like...well fuck, why did I ever care in the first place?

Especially as a Dany fan because her whole story has been about what GRRM talks about in the video above. Yes, she has to have this war to take power against Cersei, but she’s the ONLY character who wants to change, make real change that will make a difference to the common man. She wants to “break the wheel that has rolled over rich and poor to the benefit of no one but the Cersei Lannister’s of the world.” She wants to do that!

So if this is the GOT ending, I’m pissed. Because it’s as if Dany’s purpose is just...forgotten. Or not worthy because she wants to take power and get revenge for her family at the same time. Perhaps it’s because of this, I still am holding out one last sliver of hope that Dany and Jon survive, because out of everyone, their motives most closely align to this ideal.

But again, not holding my breath.

And if you guys don’t hate me after reading this, let me know what you think!

[the-marvel-wars]

I need to talk about GoT 8x02

My thoughts on Game of Thrones 8x02 (grab a glass of wine because it’s a fucking ride and a half)

This will be moved over to my new blog for nerd reviews, Sounds Like Nerds.

WARNING: THIS WILL BE VERY SPOILER-Y AND FULL OF SWEARING!

PLEASE, IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THIS EPISODE, DO NOT READ THE SPOILERS!

IT’S SO HARD TO STAY AWAY WHEN YOU’RE CURIOUS AS HELL, BUT PLEASE DON’T LOOK AT THESE SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE EPISODE!

SPOILERS WILL BE BELOW THE CUT, SO IF YOU DON’T TURN AWAY NOW, I CAN’T BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SPOILERS YOU WILL SEE.

THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE.

ALRIGHT!

Let me be very clear that this episode brought about a slight meltdown for me. The little moments these characters had with one another broke me in half, and next week, I’ll be dead entirely. Resurrect me only to watch these episodes because life will mean nothing after “Avengers: Endgame” and GoT 8x03. I’m tired, dazed, very confused, and on the verge of a complete breakdown. While I still have some energy, here we fucking go.

That opening STILL gives me goosebumps after all these years, not gonna lie.

I lost my whole uterus when Daenerys stared down Jaime and was like, “yo, I always thought of how I would kill you. Here you are” (rough translation). I was like, “BiTcH nOoOoOoO”

ALSO, DAENERYS, HOW DARE YOU QUESTION TYRION! I FELT LIKE I WAS HALLUCINATING! Someone get me some water!

Sansa, a fucking goddess, the QUEEN IN THE NORTH, A RED WOLF. I DON’T GIVE A HOLY SHIT. I LOVE HER. I WANT HER IN MY LIFE FOREVER. TOUCH HER, AND I WILL BURN THE WHOLE WORLD TO THE GROUND!

“The things we do for love” -Jaime, 1x01

“The things we do for love” -Bran, 8x02

Me, during that scene:

Brienne standing up for Jaime the way she did is not helping my desperate need for them to get together. I’m trying to put OUT this fire, not add fuel to it, ffs.

When Sansa began speaking to Brienne after that, I was terrified that Sansa would be like “you vouch for him? You would fight beside him? Then you will suffer the same fate as him.” I was like, are they gonna get fed to the dragons? TaKe Me InStEaD!

Sansa giving Jaime a pass because of her respect for Brienne cleared my skin up, and I will breathe easier until I see Endgame on Thursday night. help.

LISTEN! Here’s my issue! Daenerys’ look at Sansa infuriated me when Sansa gave Jaime a pardon of sorts. Then, she’s like, “UH, JON! WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THIS?!?!?!?!” like she’s just magically gonna get what she wants because they’re having………….the sex. Jon’s not gonna turn on his sister/cousin. I’m sorry, but don’t.

Bran just keeps staring at people. Just get that kid a blindfold, he’ll be less of a creep.

Me at Bran the ENTIRE episode:

Let me say this, I knew from the moment Arya did that little eyebrow lift at Gendry in the beginning of the episode, that they were gonna sex by the end of it. I’ve shipped it since they first met, and I will ship it until I die.

“It’s gonna be safer down in the crypt” -Gendry, totally oblivious to the little assassin Arya’s become.

“I know death. He’s got many faces. I look forward to seeing this one.” -Arya, giving me goosebumps while throwing dragonglass at a post. What a little fucking queen. Oh, God, take me away.

I lowkey want Arya to stare right into the face of the Night King, right into the face of death, and I just want her to say “not today” as a callback to season 1 and her training with Syrio Forel. Ugh. SHIT.

“Bran looks like a coconut” -my friend, 2k19

“At least Cersei won’t get to murder me” -Tyrion, giving me goosebumps because Bronn’s got that fucking crossbow of poetic justice, and I WILL NOT HAVE IT! TOUCH TYRION, AND I WILL RIOT!

Podrick has also gotten so much better with the sword, and I AM JUST SO PROUD!

“I’m not the fighter I used to be, but I’d be honored to serve under your command if you’ll have me” -Jaime, giving Brienne the credit she has always deserved, but that’s not even the best part. What happens later is what truly had me weeping.

I just want Jorah and Daenerys to kiss one time in a ship-fulfilling way. I just want him to be happy. I NEED him to be happy. Jorah fighting on behalf of Tyrion made me love him all the more, and if he dies, I WILL RIOT AGAIN!

The Sansa/Daenerys interaction had me quaking. I was literally sitting on the couch, head in my hands, shaking. I was both angry and relieved. While I’m upset they’re being pitted against one another, I’m relieved that they’re staying true to their characters. Sansa is true to her home and her people, Daenerys just wants to take what is rightfully hers (I mean, as we all know, it’s not TECHNICALLY hers *cough* Jon Snow). They’re both such headstrong women, and I hope they come together at some point. The women of this show would bring the entire population of Westeros to their knees.

Theon and Sansa reuniting had me in tears yet again. This episode was so fucking emotional for me, but I know that next week will break me even more.

“I want to fight for Winterfell, Lady Sansa, if you’ll have me” -Theon Greyjoy, reformed.

Those two have been through so much together (too much, really), and so much on their own. The fact that they are together again makes me so emotional. JUST KILL ME!

That little girl that Davos served made me cry AGAIN! He was reminded of Shireen. He wants to protect the little girl he couldn’t save.

Tormund TACKLING Jon like a quarterback was hilarious as shit in such a touching scene.

“The big woman still here?” -Tormund Giantsbane, the man who just wants some fuq

Seeing my favorite characters gathered around the command table made me shake with pure fucking fangirl excitement. It’s what I’ve wanted from the beginning.

“I took this castle from you. Let me defend you, now” -THEON GREYJOY oh my god, just bury me at this point with my collection of Marvel comics, my Star Wars pajamas, and my replica dragon eggs. Just put me to rest because I can’t. I cannot. I have been unable to can. No.

“We’re all going to die” -Tormund, putting it all out there like it’s no big deal. It’s a VERY BIG DEAL

Missandei and Greyworm having their little moment just drove home my fear that one of them is going to die before the end of the season, perhaps by the end of the next episode. WHEN YOU MAKE PROMISES IN THIS SHOW, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO KEEP THEM! YOU FUCKING FICTIONAL CHARACTERS SHOULD KNOW THIS!

Ghost just chilling in the background of that scene with Sam, Jon, and Edd is a whole 2019 mood. He gets no attention, barely any screen time, and others may not even notice him. But not us. Not us.

I’M BEING SO SUPER SERIOUS RIGHT NOW, IF SAMWELL TARLEY DIES, I WILL FUCK EVERYONE UP IN THE WORST POSSIBLE WAY! I SWEAR TO THE WHOLE UNIVERSE! SAM IS THE LAST GOOD, PURE, INNOCENT CHARACTER IN THIS GOD FORSAKEN WORLD, AND IF HE GOES DOWN, I’M GOING DOWN, TOO! I WILL HAVE A COMPLETE AND UTTER MELTDOWN, AND MY THERAPIST WILL BE GETTING A CALL AT 10:30 AT NIGHT! IF HE DIES, YOU’LL CATCH MY WHOLE ASS PICKETING IN A WALMART PARKING LOT, WEEPING.

*ahem*

sorry.

The scene with everyone around the fire was such an incredibly beautiful scene.

Also, Tyrion pouring Podrick a full cup when Brienne clearly said “HALF” is a wholeass mood.

I’m scared that the characters by the fire are the ones who are going to bite it in the next episode, and I’m not ready. I’m just gonna blackout.

TORMUND TELLING THE STORY OF HOW HE GOT THE NAME “GIANTSBANE” MADE ME CACKLE. A BEAM OF PURE LIGHT IN THIS SAD, TERRIBLE UNIVERSE! I’m still laughing.

Arya and Sandor drinking together. Leave me alone, I’m weak. I can’t talk about this right now. I’m too emotional about it still. One of these little shits is gonna die in the next episode, and I just cannot.

“I fought for you, didn’t I?” -Sandor Clegane, coming in at the last moment to rip the soul from my body. Thanks.

HeLp!

“I’m not spending my final hours with you two miserable old shits” -Arya, about to go get her freak on with Gendry ;)

When Arya started talking about Gendry’s experience with women, my friend and I both looked at each other, knowing exactly what the shit was gonna happen. It was gonna be weird, but it was gonna happen no matter what.

When Gendry finally admitted that he had been with three women, I was like, “Arya’s gonna say some smooth shit, like “want to add a fourth?”” but I was gonna be happy no matter what because these two are cute as shit together.

Me, when they were doing...the...sex:

Also me:

“Women can’t be knights” -Brienne, laying down some realness

AND THEN JAIME KNIGHTED HER, AND I CRIED LIKE A LITTLE BITCH! I TURNED INTO A PUDDLE ON THE FUCKING GROUND BECAUSE I HAVE WAITED FOR THIS MOMENT FOR SO LONG! BRIENNE DESERVED THAT TITLE MORE THAN ANYONE I’VE EVER KNOWN, AND THIS WAS SO INSPIRING TO WATCH!

I cried, babies cried, my dogs probably fucking cried.

“ARISE BRIENNE OF TARTH, A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS”

oh my HOLY ASS!

I’m crying for my giant baby right now.

LYANNA MORMONT BEING A BABY QUEEN!

“I pledged to fight for the North, and I will fight!” -Lyanna Mormont, a little beast.

I PLEDGED TO FIGHT FOR THESE CHARACTERS, AND I WILL FIGHT FOR HER!

Sam gifting Jorah his family’s sword just drove home my suspicion that they won’t see each other again because ONE OF THEM IS GONNA DIE! SO HELP ME GOD, I WILL BURN IT DOWN! I’M GONNA FUCKSTART MY TV NEXT WEEK, AND I’M GONNA THROW UP!

Jenny’s Song.

Jenny’s Song.

Jenny’s Song.

shit.

Jon telling Daenerys about his lineage had my heart POUNDING in my chest. I DO NOT want this to be a rivalry. I don’t want it. I do not...want it. Not at all. I want it a negative amount. None want. Will not support.

I’m not ready for next week.

I’m not ready for any of this.

I will never be ready!

MY LITTLE, GROWN UP BABIES ARE GOING TO DIE! I’VE WATCHED THIS SHOW FOR LONG ENOUGH TO KNOW THAT NOT EVERYONE IS MAKING IT OUT OF THIS SHIT ALIVE! I’M GONNA GO DOWN WITH WHOEVER DIES NEXT WEEK. I WILL BE BURIED WITH THEM, SO HELP ME ASS! I’M GONNA PUKE!

Honestly, this episode made me so fucking emotional. I think it sunk in that these characters I’ve been following for so many years through the books and show, are likely to meet their end so soon. I’m just having a hard time grasping this concept, and it started to sink in tonight. I’ve read these books since I was a young teen, and I started watching the show when it was coming out (against my father’s wishes). I’ve followed these stories for such a long time, and a lot is going to happen this week for me, between Endgame and this upcoming episode. I’m experiencing too many emotions, and my body may just decide to shut down altogether. Who knows?

[shipsnthenight]

I am not (so) mad at the story, I’m mad at the execution

Here’s some random points because there’s SO MUCH to say there that it would be impossible to put everything in a logical order: 

THE SNOW: That was fucking snow. And it was snow because there was no way they could sell the stuff in Dany’s vision as “ash”. BUT IF THERE’S NO NIGHT KING, THERE IS NO SNOW. SO THERE CAN’T BE SNOW IN KING’S LANDING. It’s just a plot device they used to cover their asses. Also, the snow is COMPELTELY GONE 2 weeks later, so it wasn’t even that Winter Has Come because if winter had fucking come it would have been there to stay. 

2 WEEKS: there’s a 2 week time-jump where they gather all the nobles for the council (in the most anticlimactic scene of all time may I add). Are you telling me you guys REBUILT the whole Red Keep in 2 WEEKS!? Are you telling me that THE WHOLE CITY was rebuilt IN 2 WEEKS and everyone is just going about their business as we see in the scene when Jon leaves!? Also Jon looked like he had been held prisoner for a lot longer but that’s minor.  I’m not even going to comment on Bran. 

DROGON: What exactly is the extent of how much a dragon can think and form logical connections!? Are you telling me that Drogon (not Tyrion, not Jon, not Varys, DROGON) was the one that understood that “the problem” was the throne!? Instead of y’know... burning his mom’s killer to ashes? Why the fuck would he just lash out at the throne specifically!? The only logical explanation is that his brain is more developed that we think... like... no, that scene had absolutely 0 sense. 

SAM: So apparently he is NOT the writer of the book. There were theories that said Sam had plot armor because he was a mirror of Martin and he was the one that was going to write the book in the end... he didn’t even do THAT... so... why the fuck did he survive 8x03? 

JON (here’s the main fuck up imo)

I am a little confused as to what exactly is Jon’s purpose.  I get that there’s no mention of Azor Ahai in the show... BUT... if you take a character, you kill him, you REVIVE HIM with Lord of Light powers, you tell viewers he’s a secret Targaryen... and then he does NOTHING for the entirety of the last season where he was supposed to go through a journey... ...what am I supposed to think!? 

One could argue that “HIS PURPOSE WAS TO KILL DANY” Okay, but did you stop and think on why Dany needed to be killed in the first place!?

Short answer: SOLELY BECAUSE OF JON’S EXISTENCE AND ACTIONS. 

THINK ABOUT IT: 

Dany was in Mereen, ruling with an iron fist but following a path.

Dany comes to Westeros.

Dany meets Jon, falls in love with Jon, 

Loses Viserion to save Jon (also if the NK didn’t have Viserion he’d never have made it past the wall)

LOSES JORAH TO FIGHT JON’S WAR

THEY TELL HER SHE WON’T BE QUEEN BECAUSE OF JON 

All the things that make her go full Hitler are because of Jon Snow’s existence. 

If Jon had stayed dead she would have come to Westeros, conquered it in 2 days with 3 DRAGONS (considering what just one did to KL), and that would have been the end of it. No batshit crazyness. 

SO... NOW I ASK YOU... WHY. DID JON. RESUSCITATE!?  If not to make a mess and NEVER SOLVE ANYTHING. WHY. THERE’S NO EXPLANATION FOR THIS. 

The only thing he did after coming back that could be of importance is the Battle of the Bastards, but as we’ve seen, Sansa used LittleFinger to solve that quicker than Jon’s men could ever have. 

Jon. Is. Completely. Useless. His character’s only puropose has been to make messes that others had to clean up everywhere he went.

These are just some of the 23956345079 thoughts I’ve had, there’s definitely more but... honestly... I just don’t care enough at this point.