#the first 4 seasons are fire dude

[edupiii]

SHES BEING BANISHED TO THE SHADOW REALM OH MY GOD

[luunamoona]

how can people still be like "trobed doesn't make sense they're both straight" when like there is so much of evidence on the contrary. for one, troy and abed do not act like just friends. annie confirms they hold hands in season one, troy leaves a date with a woman he likes because she didn't like abed in season 2, they literally move in together and sleep in the same room in season 3, when they switch in season 4, the first thing they both do is look at each other's dicks and in season 5, abed's mind is set on fire by the prospect of troy leaving. abed only cries twice in the show, once in season 3 at the end of the first chang dynasty and once in season 6 at the end of emotional consequences of broadcast television. both of these were about troy leaving. in season 3, it was when troy left for the air conditioning repair school. in season 6 it was him reminiscing about troy and his departure in geothermal escapism. they always had a very deep emotional bond.

next, there's the argument that troy and abed are straight. and like what do you mean? troy has clearly shown his attraction to clive owens throughout the show, saying in virtual systems analysis (or abed playing as troy and using things that troy has said to him (still counts)) that he may as well be attracted to him and saying that he has a tumblr blog dedicated to him in the repilot. and then there's abed. i mean first we got the mixology certification, where he kept talking to a dude he knew was flirting with him for like a really long time, thought did ultimately decline when he requested they have sex. then there's the bisexual hoodie. like c'mon. literally wore a hoodie that had the bisexual flag on it for most of season 3.

troy and abed were for sure gay.

[makncheese12]

Top Shelf

Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7

Jenna Ortega x fem!reader

Masterlist

Summary: being the kid of a well-known book store owner was easy, so was running into famous people. But being book smart doesn’t make everyone people smart.

Warnings: my writing, language(bad words😯), my attempt at being funny, mention of gun shots and head shots, mentions of my favorite book(literally love Ruta Sepetys sm omg.

A/N: part 2? I am going to make you all suffer through the most oblivious slow burn. R if going to be so dumb/oblivious it’ll hurt you all🫶🏻

Word count - 3.6k

Credits: @novmoth (my friend from school who feeds into my delusions and gives me more ideas for this story🫶🏻)

(bare with me English is not my first language🥲 I’m getting help from my friend to edit it)

You were born to it.

The books. The films. The music and video games.

It was your life, literally. With your parents being owners of the infamous establishment called ‘top shelf’, you had no choice but to.

And you wouldn’t ever change.

Books upon books, movie after movie, games old and new and music that could last you weeks. Who would want to change such a life?

Your father was the first to start it.

He was poor man in Washington but had just enough money to buy it from the man who owned the small movie shop before he retired. He slowly started added book shelves and video games to the mix. Getting few customers but enough to survive day to day during the time of his early years

Your mother was a wealthy run away. Wanting something different and new in her life when she met your father. The man was playing on his game boy behind the counter before he saw her.

The poor boy and his run away wife, a classic really.

The rest after that is history.

As soon as they found out your mother was pregnant with you, they used the rest of her money they saved and went to New York where they bought the huge abandoned apartment complex.

They broke all the insides down and built what you now know as your second home. Hundreds of video games, films and music in one section and thousands of books in another.

Thus, Top Shelf was born only two weeks after you.

You met many friends there in the comfort section where students and business people worked as you all goofed off.

Your had also met your small friend group during your younger years, the four of you all never letting your father have the peace he wanted and dragging him all over New York.

With the thousands of books and hundreds of video games and films your parents sold, you had money. Lots of it.

But your mother made sure you never let that get the best of you, never. It went against everything she went for when she ran away.

She would make sure you would work for and earn everything you got, always.

She never let you have too much online activity, in case her family found you and made sure you were both street smart and book smart.

Your neighbors made sure you were street smart more than anything but you still gave her credit for trying.

Though, the book store was beautiful in every season. Winter was a favorite and when it was busiest. It was too your favorite.

Your father lighting the public fire place, your mother setting soft seasonal music, hell even the cheesy Christmas cartoons on the TV’s set the mood for the perfect bookstore vibe.

The lights dim just enough to where it almost felt like dark academy yet the plants that grew down the upstairs railing made the entire place feel more alive.

————

“Bullshit!” You yell out as you throw your head back onto the head rest of your chair, groaning loudly as the photo sound of your death snapped in your ears.

“Man, he’s fucking using cheats!” Dru calls out through the mic before his name pops up above to yours in dark red on the screen as you respawn.

“Of course he is, he’s a pussy.” Mj says, as her name, too, pops up on the screen.

“Oh come on, guys!” Lyle says through his staticky mic. “You all just suck.” He laughs

“Now I know your cheating, dude. Your mic is acting up again, just like last time!” Dru says, the sound of his voice booming louder than needed and you roll my eyes.

“DD, just because you like to replay games without using cheats doesn’t mean the rest of us do.” Lyle says in a matter-of-fact tone.

“It’s multiplayer, stupid! It’s meant to be fair for everyone!” Dru says making you snort. “Says the guy who chases around little kids and steals their horses making them cry.” Mj says making Dru blow into his mic making loud, unnecessary noises.

“Quit that!” You say taking one head phone off your ear. “Tsk tsk tsk,” Lyle starts. “Such a sore loser.”

“I’ll show you sore loser, get on Elden ring and we’ll test your irritation.” Dru says, mic now muffled by his own spit.

“Your tank build is not enough to stop me, comet azur will always save the day.” He says in a sing-song voice.

“And you call me a try hard, yet you’re the one always using a broken spell.” Dru complains. “Theres nothing I have to try hard at when I can just hold a simple button.” The sound of Dru’s groans become louder as his spit clears out from his Mic. “Same thing!”

You laugh once again before picking up your phone and looking at the time.

“Shit!” Your eyes go wide at the sight, 8:48 AM.

You quickly throw the head set off and push yourself out of the chair, opening your closet grabbing a quick pair of jeans and a hoodie before rushing to put it all on.

Your cat skids across the floor, startled by your sudden movements before a crashing in the your pile of books and out the door.

“Shit, shit, shit,” you mumble as you jump up and down to put on your shoes, failing at not falling and race toward the door. “Sorry!” You call to your cat who yells at you next to his food bowl.

You grab your keys and rush out the door before slamming it shut and locking it.

“Ay, y/n!” Your neighbor, Rosa, shouts from beside her door. “Quiet will you! I just put Nona to sleep!” She yells raising her news paper tapping your head with it.

“Sorry! sorry, Señora Rosa.” You whisper yell as you try to push her weaponized hand away. “I’m just a little late.”

“And I just got a moment of peace! Quiet!” She says giving you one last wack making you try and shrink away from her as you rush toward the stairs.

“You got your pepper spray, right?” She calls and you raise your key chain to show her the attached small can. “¡Buena niña!”

You rush down the stairs and push passed the glass door, almost slipping on the ice before running down the street.

Your phone buzzes in your pocket making you quickly take it out.

“Hello?” You ask without knowing who it was.

“Arthur Morgan would be very disappointed at your sudden disappearance from an important mission.” Lyle says before sighing.

“It’s multiplayer, there are no main missions.” You say, trying to avoid the ice on the ground before stopping at the red hand across the street. “Plus, we were in the middle of four way 1v1. He’d be more upset that we were going against each other.”

“Loyalty is everything in such a game,” he says, sarcasm in his voice and you imagine him shaking his head. “Of course he would be upset at my bullet in DD’s head.”

“Why’d you call me exactly?” You ask watching the hand turn into a green man walking before taking off again.

“Well, you just yelled ‘shit!’ Before disappearing on us, had to make sure someone didn’t break in and kill you.” He replies casually as if he knew that weren’t the case. “But after hearing you continue on your ‘shit’ rant and the door slam I figured it was okay, just had to call and make sure, y’know?”

“Ever heard of a text, loser?” You ask, barley missing a man walking and looking down at his phone. “Gross,” he says before making a gagging noise. “why waste such time typing when I can simply just hit one button?”

“You’re so lazy.” You laugh out loud as you run across another street. “Work smarter not harder, Y/N. You should know this with that big brain of yours.”

“What if I want to work both smarter and harder?” You ask, running up to the glass window to see the books lined up. “Well, then your just weird.” You roll your eyes.

“Just kidding. I guess you can do both, I just personally prefer the alternative.” He says as the sound of guns shooting fills the phone. “Yeah, also sorry about leaving.” You say pushing into the store being greeting with the familiar smell of books and the warm smile of my mother.

“I forgot I had to get ready for work.”

“You’re at top shelf?” He ask and you reply with a ‘mhm’. “I might stop by later to say hello actually, I need a new game anyway.” He laughs as the sound of Dru yelling in the back ground becomes more prominent.

“Sounds good, see you loser” You say as you take your sweat shirt off, leaving you in your tank top you hand before leaving. “Later,” you hear him say before hanging up.

“Good morning,” you hear your mother say as you pull the staff sweat shirt over your head and pull up your sleeves. “Mornin’,” you reply before kissing her cheek.

“Wheres dad?” You ask looking around before your eyes setting on the woman stack a pile of books into one pile.

“He’s going to be out of town for a few days,” she says carrying the pile to the check back station. “A vacation, I insisted as I continue your training.” She says making you smile.

“We both know he needs it, he’s getting older.” She says and your smile fades as you nod. “So are you.” You mumble and she, too, nods.

“You know him getting old is different from me getting old.” She states, sighing quietly.

“What’s todays task?” You ask, quickly changing the subject at the sight of her sad frown. She looks at you for a moment before smiling once again.

She moves to storage closet and unlocks it, allowing you to see the boxes upon boxes along with stacks of different other things.

“To be a good store owner, you have to know your customers.” She says returning with a large box that you quickly take from her.

“Just put it on that table — and to know your customers, you must socialize and help them throughout the store.” She finishes as you take the box to the table noticing the label romance written across it.

“That also means having to work while helping the customers, so you’ll be on stock duty as well.” She says with a smile.

Yes.

You mentally say to yourself. Stock duty required work of you finding the places of different books, movies and games which also meant finding new things you didn’t know about before.

“One more thing,” you mother says as she walks behind the counter to finish opening up the store. “No head phones.” Your eyes go wide.

“But ma!” You call out to the lady who switches the sign from closed to open. “What else am I supposed to do when I stock!” You call, holding onto the white cords and swinging them around.

“Help the customers and socialize.” She laughs out making you frown. “I should call CPS.” You mumble carrying the box to the sorted area before hearing the woman’s laugh.

“Sure, call ahead but don’t be disappointed when they decline a twenty year old.”

You roll your eyes before continuing down the aisle.

“And after you sort those, get the others out of the storage closet!” You huff quietly as you glance back with a small playful glare on your face.

“If I wanted to work out, I would have gone to the gym.” You say and she rolls her eyes. “You’ll be just as sore in the morning, trust me.”

————

Hours hand passed, since you last seen the romance box having moved on to the horror section of the films.

You search through their placement areas, looking at all the old cinematic master pieces, the many Dracula films placed neatly next to each other, in order of both year and name.

Horror was one of the favorites when coming here, your father being a collected through his years he had many people couldn’t get their hands on.

Sure you could watch it online now but where’s the fun in that when you have a real copy with the static noises and written voices on screen. Some people still had some class left in them.

You hear a book hit the floor making the library echo as heads turned toward the cause of the sudden interruption of their silence.

“Shit—” You hear someone say quietly, making you roll your eyes as you place the rest of the CD’s in their rightful places before making your way toward the aisle the noise came from.

You subtly make your way toward the aisle while acting like your checking the books before taking a peek around the corner.

You see a rather short girl — shorter than the third shelf — craning her neck to look up at all the books in front of her.

Just to your luck, your mother placed a box for that genre next to the end of the shelf and you picked it up.

You make your way down the aisle and set the box toward the middle before looking up the girl who was already staring, and boy was she something.

Freckles littered across her tan skin, strands of her short hair fell from her half up half down style, her eyes — damn her eyes — they were the prettiest brown you’ve ever seen.

You smile lightly before picking up the first book and reading both the authors name and the title while trying to slow down your racing heart.

Who was this girl? Matter of fact, what was she? She wasn’t a regular, that’s for sure but you always get random people coming in so it didn’t exactly matter.

After putting away a few books, you glance up to see the girl a few feet away and on her tippy toes, reaching for a book on the fifth or sixth shelf.

You snorted quietly catching the girls attention making you quickly look away to keep yourself from laughing.

“You think this is funny?” She asks and you begin shaking in quiet laughter.

After a few moments, you compose yourself and stand shaking your head.

“No, not at all. Would you like some help?” You ask taking step toward her. She narrows her eyes. “Are you making fun of me right now?” She asks, both amusement and annoyance in her voice.

“Why would I do that? It’s poor customer service.” You say with a smile before watching her own smile grow.

“It’s poor customer service to laugh at a customer.” She mumbles before stepping back. “Please.” You walk up and grab the book.

“Look how easy that was.” She says, taking the book you held out for her. “Being six-foot-two does have its perks.” She says looking over the back of the book.

You roll your eyes but your smile only grows. Looking down at the book you nod and raise your eye brows, “that’s a good one, read it a few years back.” You say, making your way back to box of books.

“I’d hope so, for all the work I had to do to try and get it.” She mumbles making you smile and shake your head. “Anything else good?” She asks, looking down to you.

“You’re asking me if there’s anything else good in here when there’s just by the look of it thousands of books here?” You ask, smirking at her when she rubs the back of her neck.

“Yes, there is, I’ve read more than I can count. My recommendation board is up by the front desk if you want to check it out.” You say before placing crave by Tracy Wolff into the slot.

“You must have come here a lot before working then? If you’ve read so many books from here.” She asks, following hot on your trail with the book tucked between her arm. “Oh, for sure,” you say nodding. “The owners and I are real close, we were together a whole nine months before I was born.”

Her eyes widen slightly at the information. “You’re parents own this place?” She asks, gesturing to the entire book store and you nod, smiling.

It felt like you were a teenage boy, flaunting his muscles to a girl he finds attractive.

“Wow,” she says looking around once again. Book still tucked tightly into her arm as she did so. “Just wow. Your parents have taste.”

“More like their people pleasers.” You say shaking your head. The real other reason why horror is so popular in the movie section is because of their request.

Every week they check their request list and buy everything people ask for. New books, new movies, new music and games, there’s always something new. You’re surprised there’s still room, then again the place would be as big you supposed.

“They like having their customers choice their number one priority. It’s good business.” You say looking up to the girl who had a look of wonder in her eyes as she stared down at you but there was also something else. Something you couldn’t quite place.

She stares at you for another moment before speaking again, “do you.. know who I am?” She asks and your furrow your eye brows in question.

“Should I?” You ask tilting your head. She stares for another moment again, eyes scanning your face and it’s features as if searching for something.

Her smile then grows, as she shakes her head. “You shouldn’t, or rather shouldn’t have to. It’s just a surprise.” She says, tucking her hair behind her ear.

You knit your eye brows together in confusion.

She walks out of the aisle and you catch the light smile on her face as she does.

What the hell? You wonder to yourself as you place the last few books away.

You were pretty sure that was the last section, unless your mother put out some more stuff you didn’t notice. You’d just check out the to-do list.

Your mother and father always had one for both you and their own sake. Adding things so no one would forget.

As you made your way to check out, you see the girl walking in the general distraction as well.

“All set?” You ask, placing the box inside the others, moving past the small door attached to the low counter.

“Yep,” she says once again staring at you.

You take the book you got for her earlier along with another you recognize almost immediately. “Between shades of gray?” You ask, looking at her as if she were serious.

“Your description seemed trust worthy enough to make me interested.” You glance over to see your board clearly flipped through before nodding.

You scan both books. “Careful, it’s sad, dark and traumatic. It’s one of my favorites though.” You say looking up at her, she pauses for a moment, staring at you once again and just smiles and shakes her head.

“I think I can deal with a few of those.”

“Bartering or buying?” You ask. “Bartering,” she replies and you nod. “Good, I need to get a review on what you think.” You say with a smirk and you see a glint of something in her eyes.

“Name?” You ask and she looks at you a little confused. “We have to know whose using our books, how else do you think we send emails threatening to charge or get them back?” You snort.

“Oh, your totally right.” she says quietly before taking out her credit card.

“Jenna Ortega..” she says and you nod, typing in the name before reaching for the credit. Her grip on the card tightens at your lack of response.

You pull the card gently but her grip is to hard for you to take.

“Can I… get the card?” You ask, looking around slightly uncomfortably with the stone like stare she was giving you.

“Are you sure you don’t know who I am?” She asks letting go allowing you to swipe the card.

“Again, should I?”

You both stare at each other, both confused and entrapped by the other.

You find is strange how she thinks you know who she is or why you don’t know her.

Maybe she was some big deal somewhere off and you still have yet to hear about her.

Her name did ring a bell but you weren’t sure. Was she a person you knew from your child hood? An old friend trying to reconnect? Maybe some relative on your moms sent by the older ones to investigate if it was really you.

“Miss Ortega?” You’re both broken out of your thoughts as two large men stand behind her. “Time to go.” he says gesturing to a few people who were standing and staring in your general direction.

One grabs the bag off the counter before quickly walking towards the door.

“Looks like I gotta go,” she says, smile now suddenly shy with others watching. “Don’t worry, I’ll return your book Y/N.” She says before walking toward the door, one of the men right behind her.

“Yeah, you bet-“ you pause after the the realization hits you. “Wait, how’d you-?” You begin to ask before watching her gesture to her chest.

You knit your eyebrows together, you look down to see the name tag right under the library symbol.

She was strange.. cute.. but strange

Read next sort here!

A/N : Some parts once again rushed🧍🏽‍♀️This is just an introduction I suppose, the details will get better I tried my hardest🥲

[kimingyuslover]

WONWOO FIC RECS

scandal by @fantasyescapes17 (regency!au, fluff, angst, kinda enemies to lovers!au) pt. 2, pt. 3, pt. 4

The Viscount's sister with an enormous dowry, beauty and unmistakable talent- you began the London season as the most desired woman in any room. But Jeon Wonwoo (a man who would rather hide in the library than dance at a ball) was beyond your comprehension. Curiosity might have killed the cat, but it embroiled you into a scandal with a man you could never love.

the peephole by @rubyreduji (smut)

➥ wonwoo can’t stop thinking about how he wants to ruin his roommate, the peephole in his wall isn’t helping tamper those desires either

neurosurgery department by @taeyegu (fluff, angst, some humor, friends to lovers!au)

“if there is a nice person, please introduce him to me. sometimes like water, sometimes like fire. someone who can love me sincerely. i hope he is someone who is mature and faithful…” (introduce me a good person, joy)

getting closer (angst, smut, crime!au, Joker!Jeon Wonwoo x Chief Inspector!fem!reader) by @multi-kpop-fanfic

Summary: Four months. It has taken inspector Y/N L/N four months to get her hands on Jeon Wonwoo, the maniac, Joker-like criminal, who has thrown the city into total fear. The same criminal who has an obsession with the inspector, because she's the only one who can grant him his greatest wish. They need each other to fulfill their goals and there's only one way - by getting closer to each other, one last time.  

bloodily safe by @starlightxsvt (psychological thriller? camgirl au, college au, smut)

synopsis ➳ you have a little secret. one you are desperately hiding. yet the boy you have a crush on has figured it out. now a game of cat and mouse has begun. how do you make it out alive?

game on by @starlightxsvt (pt. 2 of bloodily safe, smut)

synopsis ► ❝ there has not been a single uninteresting moment since you have started living with wonwoo. as halloween rolls around, things only get more riveting. ❞

twisted fate by @smileysuh (smut, some fluff, vampire!wonwoo, vampire hunter!reader, soulmate!au, enemies to lovers!au)

💙 preview. “He deserved it,” Wonwoo assures you, reaching out to grab you by the back of the neck, pulling you closer. He’s covered in blood, and he looks like a sexy, wild monster. But he’s your monster, and you can’t help but react, leaning in- “Jesus Christ,” you hear Jeonghan breathe, turning to give you and Wonwoo privacy while he presses his lips against yours hungrily. At first, you can try to ignore the wet liquid on your fingertips as you grab at his strong shoulders, but you can’t ignore the taste on his tongue. Your body goes rigid and Wonwoo pulls back with a sigh, resting his forehead against yours. It’s an oddly peaceful moment amongst the chaos.

anteric by @smileysuh (smut, friends to lovers!au, frat!au, fake dating!au, ft. mingyu)

💙 preview. when you bump into the guy that ghosted you, your model best friend and roommate, Mingyu, steps up to be your fake boyfriend for the night... and when the asshole is hired at your workplace, your other roommate, twitch gamer Wonwoo, is roped into the charade too - “polyamory exists dude, get over it.”

work husband by @rubyreduji (fluff, ft. mingyu, office!au)

summary: your two coworkers get a bit too involved in becoming your “work husband”

to my youth by @viastro (slice of life!au, smau, fluff, humor, angst)

ミ☆ synopsis: in a world where everyone finds out who loves them within a 10 meter radius through the app love alarm, confessing your feelings without the use of the app is no longer considered normal. however, you refuse to download it in hopes that you’ll be able to fall in love without being dependent on love alarm.

[miss-eli-starfleet]

My critique of CW’S The Flash

The Flash is one of my absolute favourite shows, and I think it deserves one of these. Yes my favourite shows deserve critiques because there are changes I would’ve liked to see instead. This is all just my opinion on the show, not exactly hating it. Plus.. I saw someone else doing something similar to here goes.

Imma be clear at the start. I don’t hate WestAllen, just really really disappointed with how they were written in the latter seasons sometimes.

Props to every actor in the Flash who put all their effort into the show whether the script was cringe or not.

Season 1-2 was FIRE. No complaints. Loved the WestAllen.

Season 3 was good,

but I think they could’ve done Savitar better. Still liked him as the big bad being depressed/emo!Barry. I’ll say that I got really attached to Harry in S2 which made me wonder why they have HR there at all? The dude grew on me, and he added humour to the team, but honestly between him and Harry, it could’ve easily been Harry. Though it means he would die at the end.. so I’m glad Season 3 had HR Wells instead sorry not sorry.

The relationship between Julian Albert and Barry was so fun to watch. Which reminds me, LOVED Eobard’s appearance as Matt Letscher in 3x01. I have no idea why they continue to use Wells’ face like bruh. Your pretending as Wells is over so like why. GIMME MORE MATT!EOBARD.

I loved Frost???

Season 4 was also great.

I’d say more quality than season 3 because it was their first time against a big bad that WASN’T a speedster yet posed a more than adequate challenge to the team. The plot was nice and unique (I really loved Hazard!). I’ll say that DEVOE was kinda showing some red flags before becoming the Thinker in his relationship with Marlize, like he seemed kinda overly possessive of her. Glad that she switched to helping Team Flash after seeing what her husband had become. Loved her “Thinker’s first victim” line.

I felt like they started focusing on Cecile too much? Her role was vital to the plot at the end with helping Barry hop into Devoe’s mind to retrieve Ralph. And speaking of Ralph, I was neutral towards the character at first, but he grew on me. Also why fire him for sometning he did like 10yrs ago. That made no sense. I’d rather Ralph than more Cecile or Allegra.

LOVED ALL THE BANTER BETWEEN HARRY AND CISCO. And FROST FROST FROST!!! I liked her S4 outfit. I also think Barry’s supersuit was the best in this season.

One of my favourite episodes was “Flashtime”. Awesome awesome filler episode.

Season 5 was also great.

Barry’s supersuit was trash tho imo. He just looks like a weird deformed strawberry.

Above average but not quite as good as S4. LOVED NORA WORKING WITH THAWNE then Barry finding out and tossing her into the pipeline cell lol. Just the betrayal, and then dumping her in the middle of a random street in the future. Loved all the father-daughter moments she had with Barry. Cool to see the writers creativity in “meta-tech”.

However Iris.. bro in 5x19 she has some issues bringing up the fact Barry NEEDED to go into the Speedforce TWICE. And then her telling Barry to his face that she didn’t care that Nora was working with Thawne. Like bro, he murdered your husband’s mother and caused sm problems. And you don’t care about that?? Good to see that Barry called her out in the end.

Imma complain about freaking Sherloque again. Why not Harry? Even after what happened to him in S4, I think he could’ve figured out that Nora is secretly working with Thawne. Like dude’s still smart af.

Nora getting erased from existence at the very end.. sad :( I miss S5 Nora

Season 6.

I feel like this is when everything started going downhill. I didn’t care for Mirror Monarch. The mirror!Iris storyline was interesting to see. Idk what happened the rest of the season. That’s how much I didn’t care for this season lol. I think the other half was about Ramsey and how he wanted to make everyone zombies. Man I HATED Sue Dearborn or however you spell her name. She just took up too much screentime. This is when it started feeling like “Iris & Friends” instead of “The Flash”.

Liked to see how Barry dealt with slowly losing his speed bc he was killing the speedforce lol. Liked how the Caitlin/Frost duo became separate people. It was cool. At least we got that lol.

I think this is when Allegra comes in. I honestly can’t stand her. Like the whole her and her sister trope? Why.

The one thing I did like was Barry’s artificial speedforce gave him speed thinking. Awesome episode to watch. EXCEPT NASH. WHY. His sacrifice is useless in the end because of the whole “Iris is Barry’s lightning rod” thing. Have nothing about a speedster’s lightning rods in the comics, just didn’t like how that was written into the show. It eventually got really annoying.

Season 7.

Where do I even begin. This is when Barry’s “children” became a thing, and then suddenly speedforce!Nora wanting to kill all of them? Like what??? Where did that come from? Dion’s storyline was interesting. The rest were just.. Meh. And the CGI was so cringe.

I loved Abra Kadabra??? Why they gotta kill him off in one episode.

Does Chillblaine start coming in this season? I dislike him in general.

Season 8.

THIS IS WHEN BARRY’S ACTUAL CHILDREN COME BACK.

Now with Nora getting erased in S5, I really would’ve preferred if they gave us Tornado Twins instead. Like you can even use the same actors, but I honestly don’t really like the new Nora. I did like seeing her interaction between her and her family.

Also. Bart. I. Have. Major. Problems. I LOVE Bart but he is supposed to be Barry’s GRANDSON. Give us Don Allen instead. I did like the episode where they messed up the timeline, went back to 2013 and then accidentally reset Jay into the timeline. Also loved the episode with the whole Barry and the gamma radiation making him age hella fast. Bro was basically a zombie at the end and still overloaded the machine with the speedforce.

The. Stupid. Power Rangers godspeed arc was shit and them being Bart’s Thawne-like arch nemesis. Like boy, don’t compare Thawne with your godspeed problems. Don’t even start. Also what is with the “Negative Forces” and “Positive Forces” Power Rangers thing and then Iris’ time sickness? At this point, The Flash just started to feel like a soap opera.

I liked Chester even though he was a “replacement” for Cisco. He was unique. But the whole Allegra/Chester budding relationship where did that come from?? It just seemed very cringe and didn’t do much for the plot besides drama I guess. Khione was meh. Like just give us Caitlin with Frost in some way. I don’t care about Khione and her arc. Pls give us more Barry and not so much Cecile and Allegra.

Season 9

The show should just be renamed “Power Rangers: Iris & Friends” at this point. They made an entire episode without Barry?? Like if I pick up a Flash comic book, I expect it to be about THE FLASH. Not his random friends. Like yes, his friends can make appearances but don’t give me a whole dang episode without Barry THE MAIN CHARACTER. Also how the hell did Cecile become that OP, where is the character development.

Idk where Chillblaine comes in but I just don’t like him, not to mention that I don’t like the relationship between him and Frost. Like what.

Eddie’s Cobalt Blue arc and Red Death arc could’ve been done WAY better. I didn’t see any plot relevance in any way. It was written so poorly. Red Death was just like evil speedster!Batman or something. Please don’t bring our beloved Eddie back if you gonna write him all just jealous of Barry and him somehow becoming the new avatar of the Negative Speedforce. And what does Batwoman have anything to do with this (I believe she appears in the finale villains arc)l

There is legit only one episode I like in S9. The one that comes “full circle”. The one where Barry gets stuck in 2000, gets to chill with his parents for one day, and then comes full circle with Matt!Eobard killing Nora. SEASON 1 QUALITY. They even use the same bg music which awwww. And the “If I can spend one more day with my parents, then what would I say to them?” Line? Chef’s kiss.

Did not like the finale. His final run speech was okay about sharing his gift. Definitely would’ve preferred if Barry became the lightning bolt that struck him in S1 like in the comics.

Idk which episodes: Loved all the Amunet & Frost storyline, and then Goldface time to time appearances. Especially “Officer Chemist” lol.

[yiangchen]

it's so tragic funny that while i was watching t100, jroth was so adamant that there was nothing romantic there with bellarke, that it literally made me doubt what was very clearly being written as romantic (and it actually was. like, we know this now. it has been confirmed).

looking back, bellarke could have kissed at so many different points in the show, without changing anything else but having them kiss, and it would have made perfect sense. it would have flowed. it would have aligned with their relationship development.

just think about it. 1x09. unity day. is this a bit early? yes. but do they have the chemistry? yes. and have they had sufficient build up for two characters to have their first kiss? yes. honestly more than a lot of ships that happen in the first season of their show. especially since day trip just happened! plus, the flirting during unity day was...not subtle.

listen...she wanted to kiss him here so bad. seriously though. clarke could have and that would have been a very natural progression of this scene. it would have especially fit the early drop ship days vibe.

(or you could add in a scene where clarke finds him later, now sufficiently buzzed, they flirt some more, then she kisses him, and bellamy's like, "woah, woah, princess, what are you doing?" but he's smiling and she just shrugs with a smile and goes in to kiss him again, saying "having fun", and bellamy says, "you're drunk" and clarke is exasperated saying, "well you told me to!" and bellamy laughs, very amused, and from the look in his eyes, you can tell that he is also very very VERY smitten.)

if you still think that's too soon, yeah, i tend to agree. i love the idea of s1 bellarke in fanfic, but for the show, i prefer a bit more of slowburn. so let's push it to season 2. no, that's not a true slowburn, but still, you had to wait a little for it, and a lot of shows do this successfully. so anyway. 2x05. post iconic reunion hug, shot in a very romantic way i might add.

bellamy is watching clarke sleep by the fire, she wakes, we have some platonic gazing with firelight flickering across their faces...

we all know how the scene goes. he reassures her. he confides in her. she reassures him back.

i'm sorry, but the way they are looking at each other here? dude, if they had been sitting any closer, they could have kissed. i tend to think it would be more in character for clarke to initiate a first kiss with bellamy in s1-4, but in this scene, i 100% could see bellamy going in to kiss her after this.

(and yes, i'm aware that octavia was pretending to be asleep this whole time, but honestly, her reaction to them would have added some much needed levity to the situation. octavia is a bellarke shipper, after all. also, some people might say that this would make clarke's "i love you" to finn less believable, but i disagree. you can have feelings for two people at the same time. i mean, she literally kisses lxa very quickly after finn's death sooo yeah...plus, it would have made the bellarke angst of s2b/3 even better.)

maybe you still want more of a slowburn though, and that is perfectly fair, which brings me to s3, which in my opinion would have been one of the best seasons for canon bellarke. alright. 3x05. hakeldama yup! it was prime time for a first kiss. i mean, all the build up of s1/2 obviously, but also...this had just happened:

but anyway...back to hakeldama. this is the peak of their angst. nothing tops it.

but then, after the heat of the moment, the softness comes in. as it always does with these two. they wind up sharing the softest, most romantic scene in this entire show (fight me).

that last gif, man...at this point, i think they would both go in for the kiss. mutually initiated. god, it would have fit the scene so well!

(some people might say that this would invalidate clarke's love for lxa, considering everything that happens two eps later, but again, i disagree. like i said before, you can have feelings for two people at the same time. people might also say that this would undermine bellamy's relationship with gina, but you know what? the whole fucking narrative undermined that relationship, so i really don't care. i loved gina, but if clarke can kiss lxa right after finn's death, then bellamy can kiss clarke right after gina's death. this show is messy, okay? and bellarke are messy as fuckkkk.)

still think it would be too early? okay. season 4 then. very recently, i realized how easy making bellarke canon in s4 would have been, holyyyy. starting off in 4x03. bellamy is sleeping on the couch and clarke watches him sleep with the softest smile on her face (i'm still crying about this btw). i can't find the right gif, but you all know the smile! then clarke is struggling so bellamy wakes up and is there to support her, making a declaration that has romantic undertones, it just does!

and then clarke lowkey makes a move on him lmao. for real though?? what was this???

i would only change one thing here. he takes a seat beside her first and then puts his hand on her shoulder. so that way they are eye level (aka kissing level).

when she lifts her head off their hands, their faces would be so close. maybe bellamy would tuck a lock of hair behind her ear, not realizing how intimate that kind of thing is until he does it. i could see them kissing here. clarke would initiate. although, i think it would be so much better if it was just an almost kiss. bellamy tells her she should get some sleep right before it happens.

and then in 4x06...

it's actually so funny how she says that and then she's like 'oh no. that sounded like it implied something. i did not mean to imply.'

and bellamy's over here like 'omg she's implying.'

which leads to him literally about to confess. i'm sorry, but there is no other way to interpret....

and of course clarke interrupts, but this is the moment, you guys! this could have been the moment.

right after this, before roan's interruption, there's a pause, and then clarke kisses him. it's a quick one. the kind of kiss where she has both of her hands on his face and he's so stunned by it that his eyebrows raise in surprise and before he can even process that it's happened, she's pulled back and they're looking at each other, a bit in awe, both surprised that she just did that.

then in 4x09, we actually get to see the reunion!! and it's the running kind. just like 2x05. only this time, after they run to each other and hug, bellamy pulls back and takes her face in his hands to examine her for injuries, and once he realizes she's okay, probably after she reassures him and puts a hand on his face, then he kisses her, but they both go in for it (and i cry).

in 4x13, i would change the location of the head and heart scene. somewhere more private...a bedroom (!). so, after this moment:

and bellamy turns away, upset, clarke pulls him back to face her and takes his face in her hands. his eyes are watery. so are hers. she kisses him. one thing leads to another and we get the sex scene we deserved!! then they're lying in bed, cuddling. bellamy's head is on her chest and clarke's playing with his hair. that's when she decides to ruin the moment lmao and continues the head and heart convo with "we've been through a lot together, you and i." i can just see it so well. they would shift so that they're laying on their sides, facing one another. maybe clarke's fingers play with the hair at the nape of his neck now. when she says he has a big heart, her palm rests on his bare chest. when she says he has to use his head too, her fingers of her other hand shift from his neck to his temple. when bellamy says, "i've got you for that," clarke kisses him. their foreheads stay touching for a few breathes, then she pulls back to look at him and says that raven's premonition came true. like...am i crazy or would this have worked so well?? literally the same dialogue but...they're together.

(plus, this could have led to clarke raising bellamy's kid--august--along with madi over those six years they are separated, i'm just saying!)

maybe you still think that season 5 was the ultimate time for bellarke to go canon, and you know what? i honestly might just agree. the set up was there with clarke calling bellamy every day for 2,199 days. the potential was there. madi was the biggest bellarke shipper i swear. she wanted them to be together even more than all of us combined i think. for a bellarke kiss though, you would almost have to drastically change the course of events...unless you go with 5x13 and blecho have broken up earlier in the season. after clarke wakes bellamy from cryo (still crying about this moment, yeah!), i could see them having a moment.

before jordan walks in, maybe clarke helps bellamy out of the pod, and once they're both standing, bellamy would finally make his move. instead of bellamy asking why they're the only ones there, clarke does. bellamy tells her, "we'll figure it out, clarke, but first, i have something i wanna say." maybe he does something soft, like take her hand or brush her hair behind her ear. clarke is staring at him, not quite believing what is happening right now, but deep down, she knows. he tells her, "those six years without you were the worst of my life and i don't wanna waste any more time." clarke is wearing a watery smile, still not quite sure she believes what she's hearing. she tells him, "i radioed you every day you were gone." bellamy's whole face lights up and he tells her, "i know." their foreheads touch. both of his hands are cradling her cheeks, her hands are cradling his wrists. she whispers his name. it's the kind of kiss where the time before the kiss is excruciatingly long, but once they kiss, it becomes much more urgent as they finally give in to all of the feelings. god. would have been ICONIC.

plus, they both looked absolutely gorgeous in this scene. hello???

would have been one hell of an aesthetically pleasing first kiss holyyyy. then jordan interrupts and makes some comment about how his mom and dad were right all along :)

if not season 5 though...moving onto season 6. 6x10 to be exact. i know i've said that other times were the ultimate time for canon bellarke, but this episode is too! or right after it in 6x11. there are two scenarios that i see playing out here. (in both, blecho have broken up previously.)

in the first scenario, it's 6x10. as soon as bellamy saves clarke and she wakes up, instead of going in to hug him, i swear when i was watching it that i really thought she was going in for the kiss. that was the one and only time where i legitimately thought they were about to kiss while watching. it had never made more sense than in that moment. even with all of jroth's attempted brainwashing, my mind was stronger in that moment. it saw it coming. or at least i thought i did lmao. i know they didn't actually kiss.

but listen.

they really should have.

clarke is literally looking at him like this:

come on, man.

i usually say that bellamy should be the one initiating post s4, but in this moment, it would have been clarke.

and if not then, the other scenario is that they hug as usual. clarke gets some rest as usual. but when she wakes up in 6x11 and bellamy is at her side, they are in a separate private tent. they have that same conversation that they do. they argue about clarke risking her life again. but then...

he tells her, "hey, i just got you back." he says it firm but soft. i see bellamy initiating the kiss here, especially since he's almost lost her twice now, but once clarke realizes that this is really happening, that after all this time he wants her just as much as she wants him, she would for sure be the one initiating everything else. she would be sitting in his lap making out with him so fast jfsldkjfaslk and you know what? good for her!! they either just kiss a lot here, laying down on the bed, all tangled up together, and then they're interrupted, or maybe, just for once, they're allowed to be happy, uninterrupted, and they sleep together. either way. natural progression.

that's really the point of this longwinded post. so many times it could have happened. all of them a nature progression of the story that was being told.

then comes season 7...

there are no words.

6x13 left them off in a perfect place...

the set up was literally right there! they should have kissed in 7x01!! they should have lived happily ever after with madi in a seaside cabin situated in a field of gold!!

[deeplyobsessed]

ok so i’m gonna ramble in sections

section 1: cgi moustache

FUCKING HILARIOUS like it was so bad it was funny HELP also buck’s hair was season 8 hair too it’s so funny like WHY did they reuse this HAHA

section 2: confession part 1

as short of a scene as it was, this was really nicely shot imo. and the tears in eddie’s eyes when he spoke like RYAN GUZMAN UR SO GOOD. but also how does buck (best friend) rank about girlfriend like hmmmmmmm

section 3: FUCKING ABBY

I CLOCKED IT I KNEW IT i know we always joke about 911 having continuity issues but THIS was such a good way to call back season 1 like insane writing tim minear and i love u for it

section 4: the divorce call

i wish they did more with this call like there was potential to call back to eddie/shannon but they didn’t. other than that i think honestly this is one of the grossest calls they’ve ever been on like genuinely icked the hell out of me with the guts like ugh gross

section 5: josh’s speech

as much as people hate on tommy, i do think josh’s explanation of things does give some sort of context to the way tommy acted in the past. like yeah racism and sexism is bad don’t get me wrong, but tommy did make an effort to change. it’s just that with society and his own work place back then, tommy prob had a lot of internalised homophobia that he expressed negatively outward to others (chim and hen in particular). but josh made a very good point with his speech about pre glee and post glee world (great reference, 10/10) and i think this was one of my favourite parts of this episode

section 6: confession part 2

ok first of all there was literally NO NEED to add that “im straight” “im celibate” part. like that was intentionally written into the script for something bcos that entire section could have been done without the sexuality mention. tim minear i see you. other than that FATHER BRIAN YOU ARE SPEAKING FACTS. my fav line he said was “but we can’t take care of others if we don’t first take care of ourselves”. bcos this is true!! and also a line used in therapy a lot cough. anyway i think the conversation eddie had with the priest was like a wake up call to eddie to start getting his head out of his ass and start working towards something. love this scene 10/10

section 7: brothers and pipes

most of this call was focused on the brothers part more than the well scene call back, tho there was a throw away line from bobby to eddie about how (eddie) wouldn’t fit this time. i do wonder if this happened irl would fire departments legally be authorised to allow children to help with rescues tho. otherwise honestly this was a very cute scene that helped chim get some introspection. i do wish there was more of a well scene call back tho :(

section 8: buck tommy breakup

as a buddie fan, i am overjoyed. but as a buck fan, i am devastated. tommy is actually one of my favourite love interests for buck, and its not just because he’s a dude and sexual awakening all that. i genuinely do think buck and tommy could have had a lot of potential if the show had decided to go through with it, but at the same time ending it here was also a relatively good note. i think in this relationship it wasn’t actually buck who wasn’t ready, it was tommy. tommy is afraid of things not working out in the long run bcos he doesn’t believe in buck’s affection for him being long term. this whole breakup was bcos tommy wasn’t ready imo. i do see the point tommy was trying to make but i also think it was a bit of a dick move to do the whole breakup immediately after buck asked tommy to move in with him. like the timing could have been better tommy. tommy being the one who decided to end things did surprise me tho. but now i feel really sad for buck bcos buck did like tommy a lot, and also as a queer person your first queer relationship is always going to mean a lot to you

section 9: MADNEY MADNEY MADNEY

HOLY MOTHER OF- i didn’t see this coming i didn’t but i am so here for it. the amount of trust and communication between chim and maddie is literal relationship GOALS like they lay out the boundaries and have healthy discussions about having another kid and it’s just so UGHHHH I LOVE YOU also maddie already being pregnant FJSJCKSK MORE BABIES

section 10: eddie, the moustache, and the dance

this. was. everything. the significance of shaving off the moustache. the dancing at the end?? no pants too was a choice. like when eddie flops back onto the couch and you see his smile, it’s like you truly see him deciding to finally forgive himself. maybe not completely, because there’s always going to be some guilt he carries around, but he’s moving forward and i’m so, so happy for him. it’s just a fun goofy feel good scene and i love love love this.

special mention: buddie and the couch

i actually think this is the first time both of them are on the couch together. like sitting next to each other with no one else. RETURN OF THE COUCH THEORY WELCOME BACK. ok but the ending scene?? the way they don’t even need words to communicate like- buck not even bothering to question why eddie doesn’t have pants, and eddie not even questioning why buck is here with beer in the first place. the level of mutual understanding has my HEART IN PIECES

overall this is honestly my fav ep this season and one of my fav eps of all time. i can’t wait to see how the story moves on from here ahhhhhhh

[suckerfordylansstuff]

New Journey (S.H.) Chapter 8 Season 4

Pairing: Steve Harrington x henderson!reader

Summary: Back to Hawkins for spring break. Y/n believed it would just be a quiet time to cherish with her loved ones, but one day in and another mess had already began.

Warnings: cursing

Notes: I warned you that due to my vacation I was probably going to miss a day or two, but we're back. Sorry for keeping you waiting but here is the new chapter and a sweet moment between our couple. Please enjoy the chapter and stay safe 💕

Chapter 7 << Masterlist >> Chapter 9

Dustin was the one to wake you up in the morning. At first, you couldn’t concentrate, your tiredness easily pulling you back to sleep, but that only lasted for a moment. When the memories of yesterday came back, you couldn’t go back to sleep. You got up and went to check on Nancy. She was already up, sitting on the bed waiting. When you walked in, she looked you in the eye and you knew this was going to be a difficult conversation.

“He showed me things that haven’t happened yet. The most awful things. I saw… a dark cloud spreading over Hawkins. Downtown on fire. Dead soldiers. And this… this giant creature with… a gaping mouth. And this creature wasn’t alone. There were so many monsters. An army. And they were coming into Hawkins. Into our neighborhoods. Our homes. And then… He showed me my mom. And Holly. Mike. And they… They were all-” Nancy’s emotions left her unable to continue.

You were standing near Dustin, listening carefully to her words as she explained to you what had happened yesterday with Vecna. But reliving it wasn’t easy, you knew that all too well.

“Okay, but… he’s just trying to scare you, Nancy. Right? I mean… I mean, it’s not real.” Steve tried to comfort her, but it didn’t work.

“Not yet. But there- there was something else. He showed me gates. Four gates. Spreading across Hawkins. And these gates, they looked like the one outside of Eddie’s trailer, but they didn’t stop growing. And this wasn’t the Upside Down Hawkins. This was our Hawkins. Our home.”

“Four chimes. Vecna’s clock. It always chimes four times. Four exactly.” Max said and Nancy nodded at her words.

“I heard them too.”

“He’s been telling us his plan this whole time.” Max came to the realization, making you all fill with fear.

“Four kills. Four gates. End of the world.” Lucas thought out loud before you heard your brother speak from beside you.

“If that’s true… he’s only one kill away.”

“Oh, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ.” Eddie said, his tone scared, perfectly capturing how you were all feeling right now.

“Try ‘em again. Try ‘em again.” Steve signaled Max to punch in Joyce’s number again. You have no idea how many times you have tried to contact them. All you knew is that each time there was no answer, just like now.

“Anything?” you asked and bit your lip when you saw Max shake her head.

“No. Rang a few times, then went to busy signal.”

“Maybe you punched it in wrong. Try again.” Steve told her, but she immediately argued back.

“I didn’t punch it in wrong.”

“Well, I don’t know.” Steve looked desperate, but Max turned around, calling the number again just to show him she had done it right.

“Dude, I think she knows how to use a phone.” Dustin commented and Steve rolled his eyes.

“I’m just saying, she could’ve typed it in wrong.”

“Same shit.” Max hangs up the phone and you let out a sigh.

“How is that possible?” Lucas asks you all.

“I told you; Joyce has this telemarketer job. She’s always on the phone. Mike won’t stop whining about it.” you shake your head at Dustin’s words.

“No. Nuh-uh. No way. Not being able to reach them for three days is not mathematically possible. We’ve tried every single hour of the day. This isn’t Joyce, it’s something else.”

“She’s right. It can’t be just a coincidence. It can’t be.” Nancy agreed with you, getting up from her seat and walking to the window behind her “Whatever’s happening in Lenora is connected to all of this. I’m sure of it. But Vecna can’t hurt them. Not if he’s dead.” she turns back to you, a determined look in her eye “We have to go back in there. Back to the Upside Down.”

At the sound of her words, Eddie and Steve began arguing back, not liking the idea of going back there. You stood off the chaos, your brain trying to find another solution. Even though you feared there was no other way.

“Let’s think this through, okay?” Steve was now standing up, looking at Nancy who got irritated at his suggestion.

“What is there to think through?”

“We barely made it out of there in one piece.” Steve said.

“Yeah, because we weren’t prepared. But this time, we will be. We’ll get weapons and protection. We’ll go through the gate, we’ll find his lair, and we’ll kill him.” Nancy replied, but Steve wasn’t backing down.

“Or he’ll kill us. The only reason that you survived is because he wanted you to. He’s not scared of us.” he finished and Robin jumped up from her seat on the floor and into the conversation.

“And for good reason. We were wrong about Vecna. Henry. One. Sorry, what are we calling him now?” she received different answers from all of you “Right. We’ve learned something new about Vecna/Henry/One. He’s a number like Eleven, only a sick, evil, made, child-murdering version of her with really bad skin. But- but- but- My point is, he’s super powerful. He could turn us inside out with a snap of his fingers. It’s not a fair fight.”

“So then why fight fair? You’re right, he’s like Eleven. But that gives us an upper hand. We know Eleven’s strengths. And weaknesses.”

“Weaknesses?” Erica questioned Dustin’s words.

“When El remote-travels, she goes into this sort of trance-like state. I bet the same is true of Vecna.” he explained and Lucas chimed in.

“That could explain what he was doing in that attic.”

“Exactly. When he attacks his next victim, I’ll bet you he’s back in that attic, physical body defenseless.”

“Defenseless? Yeah? What about the army of bats?” Steve argued, pointing at the scar on his neck. Even though you hated how hurt he got, you couldn’t agree with him on this.

“We’ll fight them off.” you finally spoke up, eyes all on you “Distract them, somehow. Gain their attention so we can slip through to Vecna.”

“And, uh, how do we do that, exactly?” Eddie tried to get up from the couch he was sitting on but immediately sat back down when he heard your not-so-helpful explanation.

“I don’t know. But once they’re gone, we have our chance.”

“It’ll be like slaying sleeping Dracula in his coffin.” Dustin said after you.

“You think this is a good idea?” Steve asked you and you shrugged your shoulders.

“I think this is our only idea.”

“That all sounds good in theory, but there is no pattern to Vecna’s killings. I mean, at least on one that I can decipher. We don’t know when he’s going to attack next. We don’t even know who he’s going to attack.” Robin tells you, bringing up a good point.

“Yeah, we do.” you look up and stare at Max “I can still feel him. I’m still marked. Cursed. I ditch Kate Bush, I draw his focus back to me.”

“Max. You can’t. He’ll kill you.” Lucas tells her, eyes sad, not even bearing the thought of reality behind his words.

“I survived before. I can survive again. I just need to keep him busy long enough so that you guys can get into that attic. Then you can chop his head off. Stab him in the heart. Blow him up with some explosive Dustin cooks up. I honestly don’t care how you put this asshole in his grave. Just… whatever it is… whatever you do… try not to miss.” you felt the responsibility lay on your shoulders, and you made the silent promise to protect her and everyone in this room at all costs. No matter your outcome.

So, once again the planning began. First of all, you needed weapons. Loads of them. And Eddie knew just the place to get them.

“Check this out. The War Zone.” he sets down on the table the phone book and you lean over his shoulder to see what he is pointing at “I’ve been there once. It’s huge. They got everything you need for, uh… well, killing things, basically.”

“Do you think fake Rambo has enough guns there? Is that a grenade? I mean, how is any of this legal?” Robin asked you and you shrugged your shoulders.

“Well, lucky for us it is, so… this- this place is just far enough outside of Hawkins. As long as we steer clear of the main roads, we oughta be able to avoid cops and, uh, angry hicks.” Eddie said.

“If we’re trying to avoid angry hicks, maybe we shouldn’t go to some store called the War Zone.” Erica raised a good point, making Dustin point at her.

“Normally, I’d agree, but we need the weapons. So… I think it’s worth the risk.”

“Me too.” Lucas agreed with Nancy.

“Yeah, but is it worth the time? It’ll take all day to bike there and back.” Dustin asked the group and Eddie answered back.

“Who said anything about bikes?” you looked at Eddie with confusion in your eyes.

“What, you got some car we don’t know about?” Steve asked with irony in his tone.

“It’s not exactly a car, Steve. It’s not exactly mine but, uh… it’ll do.” he said with a smirk on his lips before turning to Max “Hey, Red, uh, you got a ski mask or a bandanna, something like that?”

Max indeed had something he could use. She digs out of her room her old Halloween mask of Michael Myers and Eddie puts it on to hide his face from anyone who might accidentally spot you. You get out of the trailer and start following after Eddie. You end up at a van across the park, the couple living there were sitting right outside listening to the radio, so you carefully made your way to the other side without being seen.

Eddie opens the window and throws himself in. You shake your head as you walk to the window.

“I can’t believe we’re stealing a van.”

“Believe it.” Steve told you and helped you get inside before heading in himself. You land on top of the built-in couch, thankful that it wasn’t the hard floor.

“Y/n, help!” you hear Dustin whisper-yell at you, so you turn around and grab his hand pulling him inside with as much power as you had. After you made sure the rest were getting in without any trouble, you followed Eddie and Steve to the front, watching in shock as Eddie hot-wires the van.

“Where’d you learn how to do this?” Steve asks him.

“Well, when the other dads were teaching their kids how to fish or play ball, my old man was teaching me how to hot-wire. Now, I swore to myself I wouldn’t wind up like he did, but now I’m wanted for murder, and soon, grand theft auto. So, uh, you know, I’m really living up to that Munson name.” it was obvious he wasn’t very fond of his father, if not by his words then definitely by his tone, still you couldn’t help but be impressed by his quick technique.

“Impressive.” you tell him and feel a set of hands land on your shoulders. You turn your head and see Robin behind you.

“Uh, Eddie? I’m not sure I love the idea of you driving.”

“Oh, I’m just starting this sucker. Harrington’s got her. Don’t ya, big boy?” Eddie looks up at Steve with big smirk on his face, making Steve confused. Eddie however doesn’t pay attention to your faces, and finally starts the van, music interrupting the quiet immediately making you targets “Saddle up, Henderson.” Eddie tells you with the same smirk before you start hearing yelling from outside.

The couple had finally realized there were intruders in their van and began knocking on the windows to stop you. You do as Eddie told you and hurry to buckle yourself in the passenger’s seat while Steve motions for Eddie to get out of the driver's one so he can start the car.

“It’s just a car.” he tells himself, building up the courage to drive this thing before addressing the rest of the group “Everybody, hang on to something!”

“Steve!” you call out for him when you make the mistake of looking at the woman who was cursing you for stealing her van. The angry look on her face makes you anxious and full of guilt.

“Drive, Steve! Drive!” Dustin yelled and the car finally started going. It was a harsh start so you held on to everything that your hands could reach “Shit, they look pissed.” Dustin pointed out when he saw the owners from the back window.

“It’s not everyday you lose your house and car in one fell swoop.” Robin said.

“Hold on! Hold on!” Steve warns you and harshly turns the car, hitting some garbage cans in the process. He groans as he makes one final turn, exiting the trailer park and getting on the road, tires endlessly screeching.

You were an hour into the trip, silence overtaking the vehicle. You were looking around the road, staring at the trees passing by, when your eyes shifted over to Steve. He looked more relaxed behind the wheel now than he did when the journey first began.

“You doing okay?” you ask him and for a second he turns his head to look at you, before returning back forward to focus on the road.

“Not half bad… considering this is a house.” he jokes and you giggle. The sound of your laughter ignites a very precious thought he’s had for quite a while, only now feeling the courage he needed to share it. With everything that’s happening it’s better to tell you now than be too late “Yeah, it’s… it’s silly, but I- I’ve actually… I always had this dream that I’d have this really… really big family. I’m talking, like, a full brood of Harringtons. Like, five, six, kids.”

“Six kids?” you stare at him, mouth open in shock.

“Yeah. Six little nuggets. Three girls, three boys. And- and then every summer, I figured all of us Harringtons, we would pack into something like this and… just see the country. You know, the Rockies, Grand Canyon, maybe Yellowstone. End up in some beachside town in California. Spend a week parked in the sand. Learn how to surf or something.” a small fond smile appeared on your face as you listened to him, but you still weren’t able to let down the number.

“Well, that all sounds great, but I can’t carry six kids.”

“Who says I’m talking about you?” Steve asks humorously and you scoff at his teasing.

“Oh really? Okay, so then you better go find that someone, because I’m not doing it.”

“Come on, we did a great job with these ones.” he points to the back, obviously talking about the kids.

“This is different. They’re grown, not babies. I went through it with Dustin, trust me it is no easy job.”

“I don’t know. I feel like if you’re with the right person, it’s easy.” you couldn’t help but blush at his words. However, you also couldn’t control the laughter that came over you when you started analyzing your current situation “What?” he asks you confused over your reaction.

“I just can’t believe you’re telling me about starting a family together, but the idea of moving in together scares you.” you didn’t want to make him feel bad with your laughter. If you were being honest, you had gotten over that a long time ago. If he wasn’t ready for such a big step, you wouldn’t force it upon him. You loved him, and your relationship, and that was enough for you.

Steve, on the other hand, was biting his lip knowing he had to speak to you about the misunderstanding and explain to you what was actually going through his head at that moment “Y/n, about that, I-” your smile died down when you realized his voice was smaller than you had expected “When you asked me that, I didn’t hesitate because of you… I hesitated because of myself.”

“What do you mean?” your eyebrows scrunch.

“I need you to believe me that I do want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to move in with you, it’s just… I’m afraid I’m not enough for the world outside of Hawkins. Here… it’s secure. Here I have a job, a house, my friends. Out there I’m no one. I have no skills to show for myself, I’m- I’m useless.” your heart breaks at his words. You hadn’t realized this is what concerned him. If you knew you wouldn’t have reacted the way you did. God, you feel like an idiot. Especially when you easily see through him and understand where this was coming from.

“These aren’t your words, honey.” it wasn’t hard to decipher his words. You’ve had the ‘dad talk’ plenty of times, and it always starts with another one of his dad’s comments about Steve’s education and/or his job. There is one specific word he uses when he speaks with his son: useless. You hate that word so much; it sickens you to your core. Because Steve is anything but that.

“Is he wrong?” his voice breaks and your hand grabs his free one, desperately wanting to console him.

“Yes.” your voice is stern, and your eyes never move from the side of his face. He couldn’t bear to face you, because if he did even for a second the tears would spill out before he could stop them “Because he doesn’t know you. Not the way I do. We do.” you point to yourself, and the others at the back “You are smart, and strong, and capable of achieving anything you wish to. And I know that because I know how determined you are. Steve, you have risked your life so many times for us just because you wanted to. That night at the Byers’ house, you came back to help us even after we told you to leave, even after you were scared. You stayed. You faced your fear back then and you can do it again. And this time I will never leave your side. I love you, Steve. More than you know, and I want to help you chase your dream. Whatever it may be.”

His eyes finally met yours and he could see just how much you truly meant everything you just said. He doesn’t know what he wants to do, but right now he’s felt more sure than ever that if he’s with you, he can make it. He slips his fingers in between yours and brings your palm to his lips, a soft kiss landing on your skin.

“I love you too. Thank you.” you smile at him and stay with your hands connected for as long as you could.

When you arrived at War Zone you decided to split the group, so only you, Steve, Robin, Nancy, and Erica went inside. Your eyes scanned the huge store while trying to guess how many people were here.

“So much for avoiding angry hicks.” Robin commented.

“Let’s be… fast. Yep?” Nancy said, and you all agreed.

You went your separate ways, each of you having different tasks to complete. You were in charge of finding some clothes for all of you as you desperately needed to get out of your dirty, ripped ones. You scan the clothing aisle to find anything that could be useful and fighting an interdimensional demon appropriate. You found a brown jacket and showed it to Steve, who nodded his head in approval. It was an army jacket that you decided to pair up with a camo T-shirt and new pants. You also found a deep green jacket for yourself and a new black shirt, so you could remove your old one.

You both went to one of the dressing rooms and quickly changed to avoid all the weird stares you had been getting from the moment you got there. After you were done you gathered some more clothes for the rest and headed over to Robin who had a cart.

“How many of these do you think we need?” she asks you, holding up a bottle of gasoline, as you place the big pile of clothes in the cart.

“Five or six.” Steve responds and starts putting in more.

After you had sorted the clothes as much as you could in the cart, you looked up and realized that Robin’s attention was focused elsewhere than the matter at hand. You follow her gaze with curious eyes, eventually letting a smile grow on your face when you see who she is staring at. You lightly hit Steve’s shoulder, pointing towards Vicki and he immediately understood what was going on.

“What are you gonna do, Robin? Just stand here and gawk at her?” Steve teased her, but Robin was too distracted to come up with a good comeback.

“Shut up.”

“Go talk to her.” you gave her a little push. You bit your lip when you saw her take a step to go to Vicki, but everything got ruined in mere seconds. Your smile slowly faded when you saw a guy go over to Vicki, talk to her, and kiss her. It broke your heart, so you could only imagine how Robin was feeling.

Robin could not tear her gaze from the kiss in front of her, her entire stomach doing a flip when Vicki’s eyes fell on her.

“Oh, Robin-” you tried to put a comforting hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged it off and ran quickly away from you. Steve called after her, but it was already too late. You looked at Steve and told him to continue getting everything you needed. In the meantime, you were gonna be looking for Robin.

“That girl knows how to play hide and seek.” you murmured under your breath, your eyes scanning the store for any sign of your friend. You were looking for the past ten minutes and the only thing you found was insane prices for insane products.

Suddenly something hit you from behind startling you. You turned around, ready to confront the person who did it, when you realized it was just Erica who had hit you with her own cart.

“We need to go.” her tone was serious, making you immediately anxious.

“Why, what happened?”

“They happened.” she pointed behind you. You scrunched up your eyebrows at her behavior before turning around and seeing what made her act like this.

“Shit.” the whole basketball team, the one chasing Eddie and the kids were here doing the same thing you were. Gathering resources for their big hit.

After that, you all acted very quickly. You had to pay for what you had, find everyone who was missing, and leave the store without getting caught. As Steve was at the register with Max and Erica, you and Nancy were able to find Robin who was hiding in one of the dressing rooms. She didn’t waste any time when you told her what was happening and helped you carry the shopping bags to the car. Steve opened the door and one by one you all headed inside.

“What happened?” Lucas asked you all.

“We gotta go.” Steve said and, in a hurry, settled the bags he was holding down before climbing onto the driver’s seat. You quickly followed behind him.

“Your old friends are here.” Erica informed Lucas who cursed at the realization.

“Let’s go!” Dustin repeated at you, making Steve raise his voice as well.

“I’m going! I’m going! Just sit down!” he started the car and took off for Hawkins to continue your plan.

Your eyes roamed across the hill, landing on all the separate groups of your party. Lucas was with Erica preparing the spears, Max was watching Nancy fix up her gun, and your brother was making shields with Eddie. Well… they were actually goofing around but it looked like they did a good job on them. And it was nice seeing your brother aloof for even just a moment.

You were in charge of gearing up your clothes, making them as protected as you could for your and Dustin’s groups. After you had found a quiet place to relax, you began preparing your plan. Nancy divided you into three teams: The first team was Lucas, Erica, and Max who had the role of the bait to lure Vecna, the second team was Dustin, Robin, and Eddie who were going to distract the Demobats, and you were part of the third team with Steve, and Nancy who were going to kill Vecna.

You all agreed with the plan at first but right now something wasn’t sitting right with you. Watching Dustin out there laugh and have fun pulled on your heart. You’ve been over this road four times now and you’re worried something bad is going to happen. You didn’t want anyone to get hurt. However, as his big sister, Dustin was your priority.

You always made sure to be with him in moments like this, learning from your mistakes from 1983 when you left the party to go with Jonathan and Nancy to fight the Demogorgon. That same night you all lost Eleven. Dustin’s sad face for the next months was so clear in your mind, even now. After that moment you made a promise to yourself to always help him and protect him in big and small things.

Leaving him now in that group without you, just… felt wrong.

“We finished up with the bombs. How is everything going on here?” your head snapped to your right at the sound of your boyfriend’s voice. Despite your worry, his presence always pulled a small smile on your face.

“Great. I just finished up with Dustin’s uniform. And my own…” your final words were paired with a sigh, expecting the confusion that quickly covered his face.

“You’re sure this isn’t Robin’s? You’re supposed to be on our team, remember?” his hands inspected the clothes filled with gear that was meant to protect group 2 from the bats.

“About that… I think it’ll be better if I stay with Dustin.” you finally said.

“What?”

You stood up from your seat, your lips letting out a sigh as you took his hand into yours for both of your comfort “Steve… This is our fourth time doing this. Our luck is running out and I have to make sure that he’ll be okay. I hate leaving him alone and I know you can take care of yourself, and it kills me to leave you behind but… I have to be here. I need to protect him in any way that I can.” you were playing with his fingers by the time you finished talking, your eyes watching your hands move, only focusing back on his face when his left hand touched your cheek.

“Okay, I get that… It’s gonna be weird not having you with me during the fight for the first time, but I can deal with Robin, it’d be fine.” you smiled and leaned in to leave a peck on his cheek “Just be careful. I want a girlfriend to come back to at the end of this.”

He chuckled at the end, obviously making a joke, but you couldn’t help but feel bittersweet at his words. Because you wanted to come back to him and fight for all of your safety. However, you also knew that if a sacrifice was needed, you were willing to take it. For them.

“I will.”

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[agentmilayawithshield]

Rating all Daisy ships I stanned at some point:

Skyward - 4/10

The year before I knew the truth was some of the best times I had as a fangirl. Shipped them while I was watching the show on TV. I was obsessed with them. But I missed the final few episodes. Oops. What could go wrong. So one time I googled the show to see if they got together, and that's how I found out Ward was Hydra. Looking back at it, it was an incredible reveal. Still, it broke my 14 year old heart. The pain of finding out the truth almost made me never wanna watch it again. (for 5 min) I'll admit I was hooked on the Framework storyline too.

StaticQuake 11/10

But wanna know why I started watching it again? Luke Mitchell. I was uninterested that "Skye" had another dude, but when I checked the character out, he was played by WILL from H20? It was the greatest thing I ever found out. I'll never forget you Lincoln. I almost passed out when he died. He loved her so much. In later seasons when everyone was paired off but Daisy had no one, I kept thinking of him. He was one of the only characters who selflessly always put her first. He deserved better. And I gotta go higher than 10 cause he literally died for her.

Quakerider - 9/10

I was stuck on this ship for 4 years, and I was working off of maybe 8 episodes of content. I was obsessed, with all capital letters. I should have tattooed it on my forehead. And they left me hanging. They had so much chemistry, it was insane. This man was looking at her like she was his lifeline. But they pulled Gabriel Luna away from the show for the unreleased spinoff and, we never saw Robbie again. RIP to the most iconic romance I never got to experience.

Dousy - 100/10

Whoever decided to pull this man from the past to get him together with our girl, deserves an Emmy. There is nothing like a proper-looking, nerdy man who's down for every criminal offense you want to pull. But also they had a great flirt-to-roast ratio.

"Every time."

"Some of my favorite people are people like you."

"There are unfashionable squares in every decade, so you fit right in."

"You should probably put a Q on your utility belt so people know it's you."

"We are going home, Agent Johnson."

"I can take a loop."

Just that pure devotion was fire. Also when you realize they are actually what the other always wanted in a partner? Daisy goes from Miles, Ward to Lincoln looking for stability and solid partnership, and manages to find it super unconventionally. I'll never stop yapping about them. No second of their screen time was wasted, which is why I think this worked so well.

[8flix]

Before you go. Any comments on byler? 🎤

Ah, yes. The byler predicament. Allow me to muddy the waters even more.

But first, a disclaimer: to be clear, I have no conclusive/confirmed information about season 5. What I know are inferences made from previous leaks, combined with what we now know as fact.

A little more on that before I get to Byler:

The leak came from outside of Netflix; a third-party private company that offers closed captioning services (as confirmed by Forbes, then eventually Netflix). The leaked videos of Heartstopper Se3 and Arcane Se2 are low resolution (640x266 / 640x480) encodes of unlocked edits (ie: edits that are subject to change at the network's discretion), and devoid of VFX. If you're a fan of either show, don't waste your time because it will only spoil the finished product.

That being said, I doubt that there is any video of ST5 episodes 1 through 3, as purported by the so-called "hacker" (I use that in "quotes" because any schlub with an email address could have accessed the server without restriction -- the login app had no restrictions to the inhouse videos).

So, aside from the fact that Netflix will aggressively pursue civil and criminal charges against the source (if they ever find the person) -- a threat that any legit hacker would certainly ignore (unauthorized access to a computer network is already a federal crime, regardless of whether or not something was "taken" and/or released publicly) -- I think there won't be any video of ST5 leaked because it doesn't exist.

A legit hacker would have released it already, defying both Netflix and the FBI, and in such away that would make tracking them down impossible. What is there to lose? Nothing for a legit "hacker." And let's be honest: this wasn't a "hack" of top-secret government documents. And the "hack" will not cause long-term financial damage to a publicly traded company like Netflix. In an election year, the Feds have more important cyber criminals to go after than a scriptkiddy looking for notoriety in the Fortnight Discord app.

Realistically, it's doubtful more than a cease-and-desist letter from Netflix to that Twitter influencer dude, and perhaps firing the IT guy who forgot to flick the privacy toggle on the login app at the closed-captioning company, will come to fruition. And like I said, a legit hacker has zero fucks to give, so threats of a civil lawsuit or prison time would mean nothing to them because their OPSEC would be 100%.

Also, it's my belief that no videos of ST5 will come out because of how TV series are made. Principal photography of ST5 is around 12 months (December 2023 - December 2024). That's a 5-day work week, 16-hours per day. Not including holidays, reshoots, and unforeseen delays, about 48 - 50 weeks in total -- so, about 250 - 300 days of shooting (a movie is often 30 - 120 shooting days). Post production -- which includes editing, music, VFX rendering, ADR, etc. -- will take at least 6 months. For a $200 million series like ST5, 4 - 6 weeks of per-episode-editing is not unheard of. Stranger Things is arguably a Netflix legacy. It's not only going to be protected, but perfected.

Season 5 is being released in two-parts. Part 2 will likely still be in post-production when Part 1 is released. To give you an idea of how close producers come to hard deadlines for series: I watched (legit) screeners of Locke & Key Se2 -- the final two episodes -- before they were complete -- 2 weeks before the world premiere. It's that close.

ST5 shoots chronologically, with some exceptions. Meaning, they film in order of episode. (Movies, on the other hand, film according to scene and schedule -- scenes that take place in the same location, but spread throughout the movie and take place on different days, are shot consecutively). The leak happened in late June (apparently), which would mean that episodes 1 through 3 would have been shot and edited by May. That's not realistic. Like, at all. If I were a betting man, I'd say that episode 1 is still being edited as I write this. There is still 4 months of principal photography remaining.

My expectation is to see trailer #1 during the Super Bowl in February. And October 31, 2025 as a release date for Part 1.

My expectation is a December release for Part 2.

Hardcore hype and teasing for 10 months.

This is my guess; based on personal experience with shows and movies that are not Netflix properties.

Okay, so, Byler...

If you believe the 2022 "definitely not leaked Se4 scripts" are definitely real... then Will is "fully resigned to knowing that he’s just ripped off the Band-Aid." #Byler, as we know it, will never come to be and #Mileven is endgame.

Or, if you believe the "definitely not leaked Se4 scripts" are definitely cap, then Byler is, in fact, the real endgame.

Given the circumstances, I am obviously the former. And, as much as I hate to say it, Will and Mike will never be a couple. 99% confident about that one.

Whichever side you take, in the words of Dr. Emmet Brown, "You're not thinking fourth dimensionally." (hint)

Will Will find love? No. There are bigger plans for Will. Conversely, there are plans for El that go way beyond teenage love. Again, if you believe the fake scripts to be real, then it will become apparent in ST5 that Will and El share a unique connection. My inference is that they are related. If not in the current timeline, then in the alternate timeline and reality (that will be revealed in Se5). "Young versions" of "Will, El, Mike, and the others," have already been cast to appear in Se5. But, IMAO, they're not the "young versions," but the alternate timeline/reality versions. Back to the Future, and Terminator are huge influences. As is the JJ Abrams movie "Super 8" (watch the movie, there are so many similarities with it, and Stranger Things).

I'll also add that there were scenes filmed in 2020/2021 that were meant to be included in season 5. I think -- if memory serves -- it's in or at a church and touches on the theme of "occult murders". So, I wouldn't be surprised if Eddie Munson makes an appearance.

In my professional opinion as a writer (excluding what I may or may not know about ST5): regardless of what scripts you've read -- official, unofficial, fake, real -- the series endgame has already been revealed on screen. I'll explain:

In general terms, for any television series with a definitive finale, and a pre-determined ending, writers follow a blueprint: specific plot points that must revealed along the way so that the story makes sense to viewers -- even to those with conflicting opinions.

If the writing is done correctly, then (for example) when something is revealed in episode 25, viewers will experience a lightbulb moment: "Oh yeah, I remember the references during episodes 2, 5, and 15."

So, using the Byler vs Mileven plotlines, it's plausible that either outcome is still possible. That's the brilliance of Stranger Things' writers' room (I say that sincerely).

Clues have been dropping since episode 101. Spoken dialogue, secondary dialogue, music selection (read the lyrics), character names, specific dates, shooting locations, pop culture references, carefully choreographed shots and scenes, numbers, dates, background props... Everything contains a piece of a puzzle that reinforces what is already known, and reveal what will soon become obvious.

Seriously, I don't know the ending of ST. And honestly, in my experience, it's more likely than not that only the Duffers and a small handful of Netflix/21 Laps execs know the real ending. For a series as big as Stranger Things (with an estimated season 5 budget surpassing $200 million), don't be surprised if more than one ending is filmed. Certainly, more than one has been written. It's not uncommon to leak misleading (but highly plausible) information on purpose. Netflix marketing peeps are top in their field, and outside-the-box thinkers.

What I do know is that the endgame -- be it canonical or other -- will completely blow you away and go down in history as Netflix's most watched finale.

Or, it will be the biggest let down since The Sopranos ending -- the first one AND the do-over.

[saltygilmores]

Thoughts While Watching Gilmore Girls, Season 3, Episode 11- "I Solemnly Swear..." (That I Have No Memory Of Anything That Happens In This One Based On The Title)

The opening credits of this episode confirm we will finally be introduced to Alex (yay)! Alex stan here! Although quite honestly, I'm interested to see whether or not he lives up to the hype I've built up for him in my memory. .Stumbling almost totally blind into a mid-season episode is thrilling in a really pathetic way. I am being informed this is one of the lowest rated episodes of the entire series, but some low stakes mid season filler can still be good for the soul. Emily's former maid, Gerta from Germany, is suing Emily for wrongful termination after she was fired for being a Noisy Walker. Ah, rich people.

Lorelai sits amongst the delicious looking fake food whilst observing Sookie and Jackson having a loud culinary-based argument.

Lorelai puts Michel in charge while she and Sookie attend the seminar where Lorelai will meet her new totally fine and criminally under-rated B-Tier-Not-Luke Boyfriend, Alex, who shines bright but quickly burns out like a falling star, never to be seen or mentioned again. Presumably he is the second victim to be sucked in by the Male Gilmore Girls Character California Wormhole (Max was first, but eventually escapes). We learn Michel attended a fancy French hospitality college, while Lorelai has to attend a seminar at a Radisson called "How To Run an Inn". But then a witch put a curse on him so he ended up working for nickels at a tiny bed and breakfast in Nowherefuck USA. Tale as old as time. I made that last part up, but The Hollow is still where dreams go to die. Something had to go wrong in his life for him to fall so far. Michel: I predict it will be a total waste of time and money and I will be here to laugh at you when you return. So will I, Michel. So will I. Some more newspaper/Francie crap. Skip skip skip, skip to my loo... Maybe I'm missing something important, but it's a risk I'm always willing to take. The scene goes on forever (4 minutes). Lorelai recives an answering machine message from Emily's lawyer, who is voiced by...Seth MacFarlane. Peter, Brian, and Stewie Griffin and the guy who was bullying Lorelai at her college graduation. It's hard to unhear this dude as anyone but Brian Griffin. Anyway, Stewie is calling to request Lorelai give a deposition at German Gerta's trial to which Lorelai steadfastly refuses, but then a few seconds later changes her mind. Yawn. Lorelai and Sookie go to the boring seminar, then leave the boring seminar. They eat some free cookies in the hallway. ALEX, ALEX, ALEX...

Wheee!

He was just as hawt as I remember. Teehee! The first piece of Alex Lore we are blessed to recieve is that he is a business partner of some spazzy dude that Sookie used to party harty with back in the day, 14 hour booze and pot benders and what not, and the two fellas want to open a chain of coffee shops together. Well, at least they're not attending the Luke Danes School of Serving Folgers And Pretending it's Gourmet seminar. Alex, why are you so hot? Even his voice is hot! And funny too! Damn it Salty! You know what happens to him. Remember the cardinal rule you learned in Recapping 25 Year Old TV Shows School- Do not get attached to single-digit-episode guest stars! It's been less than a minute since he first appeared on screen, and I'm already enamored with their immediate and obvious chemistry. They tried to force that same type of chemistry/ dynamic with Jason through an entire season and it fell completely flat on its face. And I can tell you why (besides the fact that Jason and his storyline sucked eggs). In my humble opinion, JasonDiggerStiles was too similar to Lorelai. And it's never wise for Lorelai to date herself. It opens up a terrifying vortex, one which the world's premier Vortex Scientists have dubbed "Season 4".

An incredible businessman and probably good in the sack, too. Uh, just a hunch.

You two are going to break my heart. Until then I'll just try to enjoy the ride. More Francie crap. I am going to skip skip skip but I do want to observe what's on the lunch menu at the Chilton caf.

Mashed potatoes with gravy, asparagus, an apple and a can of Redbull for Paris. Rory is having her favorite beverage, a Hansen's soda (Raspberry flavor); along with a bag of Doritos. Plus, some kind of sandwich, but it's not her usual Prison Cafeteria Special of two slices of white bread. It looks to be some kind of wheat or rye bread with unidentifable innards. Possibly a BLT or roast beef with tomato? And a book for some nourishing carbohydrates.

A better view. We have deli meat.

I'm still skipping past the Francie crap, but I have several important questions first. Since when does Chilton have a parking garage? A dimly lit, empty one at that? Are there enough students and faculty for a parking garage to make sense? Is this parking garage ever seen again? Is this somewhere off campus?

Ahhh! There has been one Dimly Lit Confrontation per episode for the last 3 episodes. Dean vs. Jess on the dimly lit street. Dean vs.Jess in a dimly lit school hallway. Rory vs Ginger Spice in a dimly lit parking garage. But this one lacks the steamy sexual tension of the previous two. Pass. Back at the Inn, Michel admits to Lorelai he once...killed a dog? I think? Doggy annoyed Michel and doggy went bye bye? Wink wink? I don't want to think about this. Sookie's spazzy friend from the seminar shows up at the Inn sans Alex, which means he is irrelevant to me. Mr Irrelevant Joe doesn't know Sookie is married and admits he's had a decade long crush on her. Now she has to break his heart. Oh, sweet, sweet, pointless filler. Lorelai exclaims "That's some real Gatbsy pining." I mean, Luke came pretty close to Gatsby levels of pining. Where's his recognition?

Worth a shot. Sookie tells the Joe guy that she's married. He understands. We will probably never see him again. The end.

Embrace it, my Lesbian Whore friend. Rory and Lorelai rehearse sample questions for the upcoming court deposition. Yawn.

The kid has a lot on his metaphorical plate these days, you know? Cut him a break. You know what fucking bothers me? I have this clear memory of Jess making a brief appearance in this scene where Luke berates him (in person) for screwing up the food order! Time to go full conspiracy theory mode. What are They hiding from us? Where is Jess? How deep does the rabbit hole go? Since when is Jess responsible for placing supply orders for the restaurant in addition to waiting and bussing tables for meager tips, working at Walmart, and going to school (sometimes)? That's your job, Uncle Luke. And if he screwed up the order, you're still his manager, why weren't you supervising him? Is he getting a raise for these additional responsbiltiies or is he still getting paid in acorns? Stop the madness! I KNOW HE WAS IN THIS SCENE! More Francie crap. This time its between Francie and Paris in a bathroom with a tampon dispenser serving as a lovely backdrop. LET'S WRAP IT UP, PEOPLE. Rory and Paris vent their (sexual) frustrations through a fencing match. Paris is mad at Rory for reasons I don't understand or care about. Emily is mad at Lorelai for being both too honest and too unserious at the deposition. Jackson is mad at Sookie because he thinks she cheated on him with Irrelevant Joe and blows up at her. Yawn. Then more Francie crap. There is way too much estrogen in this episode.

But with less than a minute remaining, Alex calls and saves the day. He provides a much needed boost of testosterone to wrap up the episode. And I get to see his furnishings. Well, I was already informed of this, but if i didn't know, now I'd know...what I'm saying is there are fingerpainted pictures on the wall behind him. The dude has small kids. He's a confirmed DILF! Michel leaked Lorelai's phone number to Alex and we thank him for that. I'm still not going to overlook the whole erasing a dog thing.

You mean like how Luke buys Folgers and disguises it as his own blend?

Smooth as a fresh jar of Skippy.

...Says the woman who doesn't know when she's being duped with supermarket coffee (even when its being scooped from the can 2 inches from her face) and puts coffee grounds in the freezer.

Yayyyyy Alex and Lorelai! Yay! He is the only Luke Substitute I will accept for Lorelai. So I'm just going to go LA LA LA LA! for now while pretending this ship doesn't sink as quickly and spectacularly as the Titanic 2.0. Salty is quite pleased with this last-minute-of-the-episode, predictable turn of events. It will make up for the complete lack of Jess (and Luke) in this episode. Jess appeared in name only through The Great Lettuce Screwup of 2003, and in my hazy false memories. On the brighter side, it was also a Certified Dean-Free episode. This show is BORING without Rory's stupid boyfriends.

I do not get why we are suddenly looking at Lorelai through a window like someone is stalking her from outside the house. Dean, is that you? This episode was so threadbare plotwise that it was my first one-shot recap in a LONG time (it still took me over 3 hours to write, though! So your comments, feedback and reblogs always brighten my day and make all the effort worth it). As is the new tradition, here's the (wimpy) End of Episode Bingo Card.

[brucewaynehater101]

I'm rewatching the BTAS episodes "Heart Of Steel" part 1 and 2 for the first time in years and I already have hard evidence that H.A.R.D.A.C. is a psycho. It's not even 10 minutes in. (MINOR SPOILERS)

Look at this tiny fellow:

This little dude emotes more in the 2 minutes of screentime he has than Batman does the whole episode, and I think he might be sentient as well (it's kind of hard for nonsentient life forms, even purpose built artificial ones, to execute entire vault heists and take action on the fly if it goes south). Isn't he cute?

Unfortunately, he got caught. Can't have that! So what H.A.R.D.A.C. did was to

Detonate a hidden explosive inside him just after he fired off a rocket containing the thing he stole.

And a little bit later, when Batman is in pursuit of the rocket and it's picked up by a Duplicant in a car, and then this happens:

The funny thing is that H.A.R.D.A.C. hadn't taken over the building he was in yet, so the finances for this presumably had to go through human channels.

"Why the fuck is there a budget item for 20mm anti-aircraft shells and a custom AA gun?"

"Eh, must be for the Department Of Defense."

I love the way that little guy's legs are all loopy and then straighten up when he notices something. I don't know enough about this lore and you're making me want to try to binge watch it, lmao.

Online, they say the breakdown of seasons is like this.

Season 1: 60 episodes

Season 2: 16 episodes

Season 3: 10 episodes

Season 4: 5 episodes

Not sure if that's true, but that is a really weird way to break up the plot and stuff

Oh! This is the show with the sassy Alfred!

Anyways. At the least, I wanna try to watch the episodes with H.A.R.D.A.C. in it

[annieqattheperipheral]

God you'd think Mitch Marner personally traveled to every Leafs fan's house and kicked their dog and their grandmother before setting their car on fire...

If the delectable minchy marnie actually did all that those leafs twitter "fans" would honestly piss their pants in glee and honour that a real life Leaf-- and one of the best ones ever-- graced them with his leafie presence

And those acts of violence would probably convince them that he had the fortitude to win four entire series singlehandedly.

For my own mental health i keep far away from twitter and toronto hockey media discourse when i hear this kind of chatter is happening, and i hear it's especially cruel rn. Leafs players are right to keep personal media blackouts and i wish the reporters wouldn't bring this shit up to them for their reactions. There's no sense in entertaining any of it.

Especially when we know that it is all rooted in evil shit. That tweeter was correct when they said that mitch marner is the first nhl player ever to experience misogyny. Yes he's a fun loving goofy dude who keeps the dressing room light n buzzing, yes he came into the league a smaller stature, yes we all heard about his dad being an emotional abusive asshole. And in the minds of ye olde hockeymen all those "weaknesses" were crimes worse than professional women hockey players creating their own league.

Ugh.

Anyhow, I'll redirect you to this post, an article from pre game 4. It's in wonderful support of our cool special guy who deserves the world.

i hope mitchy is enjoying his off days with zeus and his wife-- which he mentioned a lot this season and i think bc he tried to portray to all the idiot leaf fans that he's not a shrimpy little kid anymore but a grown adult man. We already know it minchy, we love ya, don't need to prove nothin to us💙

[insufferableprotagonistpoll]

Propaganda why Bloom Peters is insufferable:

Her sins:

1. Main character of one of the worse live action adaptions I’ve ever seen

2. Not like other girls x1000- she likes ✨reading books✨ and ✨going to vintage stores✨ and gets in a fight with her mom about how she doesn’t go to parties and have friends like a ✨basic bitch✨

3. Gets so mad at her mom that she loses control of her powers and nearly kills her parents in a fire

4. A guy told her she was going the wrong way to get to class and she accused him of “mansplaining”

5. Shitty and boring fashion sense, little to no bright colors and not a single glittery top

6. Season one “Transformation” is just a dozen different camera angles of her awkwardly floating with cgi fire around her

7. I didn’t watch season two, but a friend who did told me she develops a savior complex and has an unnecessary amount of make out scenes at random times

Bloom (and entire show) is written like the director gave a middle aged conservative man $100 to write what he thought “woke” teens would like.

Look at this image and tell me this looks like winx https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYjRjMjg2MGEtMmQ1Yi00Yjc0LTlkZTItNjQzYjAwNjQ3MGU0XkEyXkFqcGdeQWRvb2xpbmhk._V1_.jpg

Propaganda why Zoey Redbird is insufferable:

Protagonist centered morality, slutshames other girls but has a lot of boys herself including one who raped someone else (I think at least)

She’s presented as being the perfect person to replace a bully character in a position of power because she’s such a good and pure person, and every book it’s nothing but her calling people the R slur, or sluts, or freaks, or various slurs against gay people, or talking out loud about how ugly her classmates are with her friends, or saying that certain people shouldn’t be allowed to breed if they’re too useless or gross, or saying gay men are basically women, or differentiating between which gay people are the good kind or the bad kind based on how annoying she thinks they are. And then after all of that is established in the first book, by the second she’s pushing two racist caricatures of black men in front of a truck and kills them and it is never brought up again. And every book ends with her getting a magical tattoo no one in history has ever gotten, confirming that she is canonically one of the best people to ever be alive even after murdering two people for annoying her

INCREDIBLY hypocritical, slut-shaming mary-sue of an idiot. She constantly calls one girl a hoe (for sucking a guy's dick without his consent (no, the thing Zoe disagrees with WASN'T the rape issue, it was the blowjob!!!)) Despite having a Harem of different guys herself. And no, she isn't even poly about it, all the dudes are constantly being aggro to each other and clearly want to be exclusive.

She also becomes a rape apologist for one of the harem guys AND the Big Bad, who is an immortal who once RAPED AN ENTIRE TRIBE OF NATIVE AMERICAN WOMEN. But he's soooooo hot! *eyeroll*

FUCKING Pick-Me girl of all time. If mysogyny was a competetive sport then Zoey would be on the olympic team.

[lover-of-mine]

This is "Let's Drown Buck, Giving Eddie a Shooting Moment and Triggering a Buck Breakdown: An Updated Season 7 Speculation Based on Exactly One Picture Posted by The Props Department and The Voices In My Head"

Okay, so, my Buck will drown in season 7 spec is in its 3rd installment, you can read installment one here, this one has the drowning work as a climax for buddie in a sense, a mid-season or season finale situation, you can read installment number two here, this one is a climax for Buck to break, and now I'm gonna type out a Buck drowning as a season premiere trigger. (You can go here to see all my Buck drowning thoughts)

So, this whole thing hinges on one thing: the fact that the show consistently mirrors Buck and Eddie's personal journeys, with Buck mostly being a few steps behind Eddie. I feel like we collectively got caught up in the way the lightning reminds us of the shooting, and we failed to notice the way the lightning is actually the well. The rain aspect, the night aspect, the team as audience aspect, the volunteering into the rescue that goes wrong over lightning, the way both of them are screaming, the moments of irrational action with the way Buck is trying to dig Eddie by hand and Eddie is trying to pull Buck up to him, the breathing thing with the way Eddie was about to drown and Buck's lungs weren't working, I think even the way Eddie saved himself and the whole concept of the coma dream can work here (here's a set for visuals).

We know Eddie didn't deal with any of his trauma until after the shooting, dude was very just move forward until he couldn't anymore. And one thing is true, you can draw quite a few parallels between the way Buck was acting in season 6 with the way Eddie acts in seasons 3 and 4. Up to the way you can draw direct parallels between Buck and Natalia to Eddie and Ana (here's a set for visuals), or the way he sounds like Eddie did with the just make the best of it, the way Buck is talking in the cemetery really reminds me of what Eddie tells him in kids today when he drops Chris off before the tsunami. And, well, let's face it, Buck hasn't dealt with any strong emotion ever and this man needs to break to move on with his life.

But, sure, how does any of this adds up to Buck drowning? Most of Buck's major traumas/near-death experiences involve water or breathing, the emergency tracheotomy on the first date with Abby, the blood clots in his lung, the tsunami, the well, the warehouse fire, the lightning leading to damage in his lungs (here's a set for visuals) also, Bobby nearly drowned in the plane crash, he got caught with Chris in a tsunami and then Chris falls back into the water, Eddie nearly drowned at the well, Maddie walked into the ocean, I think even the bathtub incident with Jee, creates this pattern of water hurting Buck or people Buck loves. So water is a common trauma factor here.

Why is this important? When you look at the shooting, there are a lot of things that make it as intense as it is: it happens by chance, it's a case of wrong place/wrong time, they're not supposed to be there but they are because Eddie got called there specifically, Buck has to save Eddie alone because they are there with another house and Buck doesn't trust anyone else, and it brings up a previous trauma for Eddie. I also wanna add the fact that, like it or not, Eddie is that attached to what's happening to Charlie because it makes him think of Christopher, at least on some level. So having Buck drown covers the previous trauma thing and it's very easy to make it happen by chance. So let's work out the rest of it, shall we?

Season 6 ends with Bobby and Athena finally going on their honeymoon cruise. I know I'm not the only one sitting here chanting *cruise disaster* because of that, because let's face it when does anything ever go right for anyone on that show. But the props department posted this picture of life vests. Also, one of the writers posted a picture of a script where you can read the word boats. The speculation of something is gonna happen in that cruise writes itself. Add in the fact that people don't know bathena are on the cruise to begin with and you have a GREAT season premiere disaster in your hands. (I don't really wanna bring up Grey's Anatomy here even though a lot of this has me thinking about 3 Grey's episodes, but if you've seen the show, think the ferry boat crash/Meredith drowning arc in season 3)

That means we have a whole ass ocean to drown Buck in while responding to that. Because what's another thing that keeps trying to kill Buck? That's right, city equipment.

Okay, so back to the shooting elements, wrong place/wrong time, they're not really supposed to be there, another crew, previous trauma, no one else they trust around. Not really supposed to be there/got called there directly can be cloudy, but it could just be a "we're going because it's Bobby and Athena's ship". So that's down. Another house, well, a call in that scale would have multiple houses, them getting separated is expected, so that's down too. Previous trauma, Buck getting trapped under something, Buck almost drowning, water, beaches as a whole, all cover that. Wrong place/wrong time, I keep going back to equipment malfunctioning in some way. Maybe they're lowering Buck somewhere and it gets loose, a harness breaking, the oxygen tank stops working, that's something that can happen by chance and create a situation that triggers a past trauma for Buck.

Okay, so we have a lot of elements at play here let's get to the actual vision.

At first, when I saw the life vests, I actually thought about this all happening while they try to save Bobby. They find Bobby, they get Bobby out, Eddie is working on him because he's the one with medical training, it takes him a moment to notice Buck hasn't resurfaced, then he dives back to go get Buck, mostly because that could have some fun implications on the dynamic between the 3, especially if we go to a situation where Buck could've gotten himself out but doesn't, a situation where Buck stops trying, also because I think Buck believes dying for someone he loves is the way to go, so dying for Bobby would be fine with him, but it wouldn't be fine with Bobby or Eddie, and Eddie not dealing with saving Buck's life again could absolutely redirect those feeling towards Bobby because he can't get mad at Buck for dying, so that could create some fun tension.

BUT, if we see Charlie as a surrogate for Chris, to have the situation be triggered by a stranger that reminds Buck of someone he loves, Maddie, Bobby, not Chris because then Eddie would also be irrational in the situation, Eddie is the one that gets reckless when children are involved, could be fun.

So vision: Buck and Eddie are paired doing water rescues or something, they spot someone, that someone brings a more extreme reaction from Buck, I will say he thinks the stranger is Bobby for convenience over the fact that this whole thing is happening on a cruise Bobby is supposed to be in, but it doesn't have to. They go through with the rescue, because again, the thing they went to do is done when Eddie gets shot, something goes wrong, Buck gets pinned down (I don't love the idea of Buck just stopping swimming, I like the idea of something he could get out of if he tried hard enough but he doesn't have it in him to keep struggling, so pinned down it is, also because that brings up the truck bombing), Eddie doesn't notice Buck didn't resurface for a bit (that can also be fun considering the way Eddie is always the last to know, he was the last to see Shannon in the crash, he only found out Buck and Chris were in the tsunami once they were safe, he was the last one to look up at Buck after the lightning, so fun implications all around) just long enough for us to cut back and forth to Buck struggling and Eddie, then cutting to Buck stopping, then Eddie noticing Buck is not there and diving back in. Then we have the fun little aspects of Eddie saving Buck, dragging him out, Buck being unresponsive, desperate cpr, "you're not doing this to me again", Buck finally reacting, sitting up and coughing up water, if we're lucky him dropping back into Eddie and a nice little "I got you, I got you" if we're even luckier maybe some forehead touching or Eddie burying his face on Buck's hair (let Ryan's emotional power out for a spin yk?).

Implication of this for Buck, Eddie, and buddie could be fun. Because you can have Buck spiraling over the fact that almost died again and he was actually okay with it for a while there, kickstarting a breakdown era, because he thought dying was supposed to give him some peace because of Levi and the whole happiness convention thing, and some fun parallels with 5b Eddie. We can have Eddie spiraling over the situation because he had to save Buck again, and Buck is not dealing with it so he's not dealing with it because they don't talk about what it's like being the one doing the saving. And Eddie is already pulling back from Buck, to have this create a real gap between them is easy as hell. And since I'm a "the shooting was Eddie's oh! moment truther" and I'm a believer that Eddie is fully aware of his feelings and just thinks Buck will never feel the same, to throw that energy on Buck would interesting. Just have Buck dealing with having his oh! moment in a very inconvenient moment and with the fact that Eddie is pulling away from him while he spirals.

Do I actually believe any of this is gonna happen? No, no I don't. But I will share the thought on the off chance it does so can get the bragging rights lol.

I will tag @slowlyfoggydestiny because we were talking about this the other day and her inputs helped a lot while I was trying to work out how to make the drowning a trigger, and also because she's been here with me through the whole "let's drown Buck" conversation 🫶.

If you read this I love you 🫶🫶

[bridgerteon]

Why I love Colin Bridgerton? (Ft. Katara from ATLA)

Although I am a Kanthony shipper, I also love Polin. Pretty much I love all Bridgerton couples. Personally though, I have a soft spot for Polin. I love Penelope Featherington from the start, but I gradually fall in love with Colin Bridgerton and wishing I have a real-life Colin to date with.

To be honest, in the beginning, Colin is not my favourite Bridgerton. However, I have observed him that he is funny, caring, sensitive, emotional, and is respectful and listens to women (unless it's Marina since he's a lovesick idiota that can't recognise the deception, but I can understand when someone is infatuated and unaware. It happened to me as well until I recognised the red flags later on. Dude, I get you). So he has my respect from the get go.

Ever since season 3 though, I started to LOVE Colin more. Because of five reasons:

1. He's a sensitive boi with almost no toxic masculinity, listens to women, and supportive to the woman he loves, Penelope. He's that rare of a boi.

2. He reminds me of myself. A shy, introverted, unimportant and feeling person who wants to see the best of others, but open themselves to people they are really close to. I see myself through him, an unworthy person deserved to be loved. Same goes when I'm comparing to Luke Newton (my current crush 🤭). I feel like Luke plays himself in Bridgerton, heh.

3. He's not Anthony Bridgerton. Rather than moping and having excuses to not get the girl (I love you Anthony, my first Bridgerton crush. But you are a handful and an egotistical idiot), Colin does the opposite. Once he realises he's falling harder for Pen, he immediately decides to pursue and marry her. That takes guts and being desperate. He has my full respect.

4. He never forces anyone. He wants to help Pen and his family, but he'll back off if they don't need his help. I like that he listens. Though he does tend to be a hero to fix the mess and willing to improve himself for Pen to be proud of and that he is enough. He has flaws, but he's relatable.

5. The most important and nostalgic one: He reminds me of Katara from Avatar: the Last Airbender, theme wise.* Especially in regards to the scene that made me understand and love Polin: the Betrayal Scene or the Lady Whistledown Reveal Scene.

*(Technically Katara reminds me of Viscountess Kathani Bridgerton, personality wise. I heard lots of comparisons between Zutara and Kanthony, both ships I love, but that's another story to tell).

Let's compare between Colin Bridgerton and Master Katara and why they are both similar, theme wise.

Exhibit 1: the betrayal

In this one, I love the betrayal scene in Bridgerton way more than in ATLA.

Colin is heartbroken again because he realises Penelope is Lady Whistledown and therefore assumes Pen is deceptive, like what happened to his failed engagement with Marina, via LW. All the lies and deceits gave him love PTSD, and the uncertainty if Penelope loves him genuinely or is just pretending. The fact that Luke Newton cried in that scene displays it as heartbroken instead of anger. I LOVE THAT!!! Kudos to Master Luke Newton for being exhausted and emotional during that scene!

The Polin betrayal scene is soooo much better than the ATLA betrayal scene when Katara has to fight against Zuko for choosing the Fire Nation over Saving the World and Choosing Good. I prefer both anger and heartbroken over just anger. But then again Katara and Zuko are not that close, because they are ✨enemies✨ even though they had a heart-to-heart convo. But imagine if Katara cried in front of Zuko during the fight, like the Polin betrayal scene... It would be a divergence indeed. I hope Netflix can make that scene as heartbreaking for the live-action ATLA.

Exhibit 2: Paaaiiiinnnn (Pain)

Both Colin and Katara are hurting because Penelope and Zuko, respectively, hurt them for deceiving them. I get them. Colin and Katara wanna hurt Pen and Zuko so the latter can understand the feeling the former has been through.

But in this one, this is the reason why I'm not bothered nor upset by the "planned entrapment" comment. (Though to be honest, Colin started it! Pen did not do anything to "entrap" him other than just sitting there being sad, being very demure, very mindful, and doing absolutely nothing to impress except being herself. And then Colin have a love whiplash that caused him to fall in love with her. Heh). Blame Katara; she said it way worse than Colin. Her threatening words to Zuko from that scene above are:

"You might have everyone else here buying your... transformation, but you and I both know you struggled with doing the right thing in the past. So let me tell you something right now... you make one step backward, one slip up, give me one reason to think you might hurt Aang, and you won't have to worry about your destiny anymore, because I will make sure your destiny ends... right then and there... permanently."

Like please? Katara's threats are so frightening, Colin's comment is just a minor slap to me. But there is one major difference why he's saying it to hurt Pen: because he still loves her. If he doesn't love her, it would be less painful, but unfortunately he does love her, so he deserves to be hurt. But he ain't gonna break the engagement since he still wants to marry her: she's the missing link to his life's purpose and they have the ✨connection✨. Colin just wants to hear from Pen and be reassured that this is not an act. Meanwhile, Katara does not "love" Zuko so she gets a pass on angry love confessions and being "entrapped" (though I wish she does... But I digress).

Overall, I love Colin Bridgerton (and Penelope Featherington too!). I completely understand his perspective. And how all his qualities, including having similar emotions to Katara, made me root for his love story with Pen. Same goes with Pen as well, from being a wallflower to being a popular woman with goals and achievements is a beautiful transition. Polin will always have a soft spot for me.

P.S. If Zutara is canon, their child would be like Colin Bridgerton. 🤭