#watched the show from the beginning after s7 and it hurts a lot

[xrk-art]

Woke up and chose sadness (I miss s1 them)

[bronx-bomber87]

Hello lovely fandom and happy Wednesday. We are cruising along with 6x09. Can't believe we're already on the second to last ep. Not a ton of Chenford or Tim in this one but what we do get is GOOOD. It's an all around good episode though. Let us begin.

6x09 The Squeeze

Recap of 6x06-6x08 got me all in my feels before this one even starts. Poor Tim killing me right off that bat. Always be floored by Eric and his ability to convey so much with a look. How it just makes me wanna hug his hurt away. No wonder Lucy always pulls him in for hugs. How could she not? I’m sure he hasn’t even begun to process how he feels. It’s a lot what just happened to him. It all unfolded in the blink of an eye.

Someone who he used to work closely with killing himself in front of him. Doing so because he’s a dirty cop. Not only that but taking all his secrets with him. Only thing Tim got out of it was Dr. London being dirty too. Grey shows up to the scene and startles Tim out of his thoughts. He debriefs Wade letting him know Mad Dog confessed to being dirty. That he believes Blair to be apart of it as well. Now we all know he didn’t mention her by name.

BUT it was pretty damn implied. With the awkward interactions in the hospital and the rooftop scene. Wade asks if he used her name specifically? Tim tells him no….But it was clear she was who M.D. was speaking of. Grey reminding him to be careful of accusing without any evidence. As amazing as his cop gut is that’s not evidence unfortunately. Loving the hat on Wade btw. Very fitting.

It’s not too long before the accusatory Detective Pearson shows up. Not loving him from the jump. Couldn't stand him for couple reasons. One because douche bag just comes off him in waves. Two the way he comes at Tim makes me wanna knock him on his ass. This guy coming in way too hot for my liking. Far too eager to pin this on Tim.

Makes my protective Sicilian side emerge and she’s not happy. I do love Grey being quick to Tim’s defense. No one better to have his back in this moment. Lucy would be great of course. But Wade is the superior in this moment so his 'back off ' holds more water. Gotta love this man. Always protects his people.

Wade can tell Pearson wants to have a slam dunk case against Tim. It’ll further his career to get such a high-ranking officer tangled in a dirty mess. It's why Grey tells him as such. Ugh. What a schmuck. Kudos to the actor though. I instantly dislike him so well done sir LOL The way Tim watches the body get wheeled away breaks my heart. Damnit Eric you’re too good at your job. Expressing so much in that look I just want to hug him. But that’s Lucy’s job later…

We join Celina officially moving in. This will be an interesting dynamic for s7. Especially after they get back together. I’ll be intrigued how that is all handled... But I’m getting way too ahead of myself. It's hard not to when we don’t know anything. It’s easy to daydream and speculate about the unknown. Anyways John is there and sadly not as a friend but to check in on Celina. She says he’s just making sure she’s not late for her shift.

Nolan commenting would reflect poorly on him and his performance review is coming up. Not selfish at all John….His review should be ‘Needs work.’ But we all know how I feel about him as a teacher. He asks Lucy how she is? I don’t think he expects the epic rant he receives. I mean she has healed some but not nearly enough. Her words sounding like she’s trying to convince herself. Makes me sad. Doing her best to flip all this upheaval into a good thing.

Our girl feels really lost in her life right now. All the turmoil that I don’t know she’s really dealt with. I think part of her having Celina move in is she doesn’t have to deal with it as much. To not have to be alone and sit in her feelings. Because I am the the same way. If left alone too long with my thoughts they eat at me. This scene just being more proof she hasn’t dealt with much of it at all IMO. I know the prevailing theory of the season for Lucy was she was alone. Isolated. I mentioned this in my mini too.

I think a lot of the isolating is self inflicted. Her and Tim are very alike in how they handle emotional distress. At an arms length and solo. Other than Jackson, Tim is the only one she’s really allowed close to her. Tamara yes but that's always been more maternal and not like what she has with Tim. And even him she doesn’t tell everything to and vice versa. It’s very in character for her to do this. I know people thinks because she’s bubbly, optimistic and outgoing this isn’t the case. But it is. Just like how people who are depressed don’t come off that way. When there a signs of it despite their ‘happy or sunny’ demeanor.

She was isolating herself before the breakup even occurred. Rewatching this season she was doing so from the very jump of s6. Their fight in 6x01 being proof of that isolation. She felt herself overloading and shoved him away with her accusation. That was just the start. 6x04 and her rash decisions with Jeff Budny is a huge one as well. She didn’t include the one person she should’ve in that ep. It's how we ended up in that hospital room with her. I’ve said this many times before. But her and Tim are quite alike in how they handle their emotions.

Tim’s is showcased more especially this season. It's easier to detect. If you're really looking you can see her's. Lucy’s were screaming through out this entire season as well. She is a control freak just like Tim in the way she shuts people out. Even her person couldn’t get in and vice versa. They have the same fatal flaw. It’s why their lack of communication became their downfall. Our girl has as much growing to do as Tim does. I’m hoping all this is a setup for s7 for her. To me her explosion here is an example of her not dealing fully with what happened still. Shall see how s7 is handled for her. I'm hopeful.

Their convo is interrupted by Angela calling Lucy. First off I love her looking out for Lucy. Just like she does with Tim. There was a great parallel set for this and 2x12. Angela providing comfort to them both when the other is in distress. Our on-screen cheerleader for them both and I love it sfm. Even knowing what a weird place they’re in, she knew Lucy would wanna know from her than anyone else. We love you Angela Lopez. You’re a real one.

She also knows Lucy well to tell her right off the bat he’s ok. You know her heart stopped when she began that sentence. We watch Lucy instantly go into wifey mode. Both in her body language and tone of voice as Angela explains. How she turns her back to the others when it’s about her person. Needing a moment to herself as she absorbs this information.

Melissa crushing it in this scene with everything she does. From closing her eyes taking in the severity of this situation. To the concerned wifey tone she switched to quickly. We all know she has a million and one thoughts rushing through her brain right now. Mainly was he ok? Does he need her? The worry for him settling into her soul and growing rapidly by time the call ends. Once Angela hangs up she finally turns around and updates them. Concern flooding her tone.

The wifey vibes continue when John gets a call shortly after. Tim has called him to be his union rep. (Only reason he would ever call Nolan in a personal matter...) We watch as anxiety all but pours out of Lucy. Worried wifey mode has activated and it’s not going away. Despite everything they’ve been through. Everything he’s done. Her number one instinct is worry and concern for him. It's deeply rooted. It's who she is.

She loves him so much still. That is written all over this scene and her reaction. That instinct to be there for him coursing through her like a powerful current. I love her stopping Nolan before he goes. The worry seeping out of her tone. Asking how he sounded? Nolan just replying ‘Tight.’ Which is apropos for Tim in situations such as this tbh. The reason she asked this was that she could gather everything she needed to know about his state of mind from that information alone.

When she hears Nolan’s reply her worry increases tenfold. Melissa is killing me in the best way in this scene. Props to her and Eric once again for this season. I can't praise them enough honestly. It hurt so much but hot damn if they weren’t giving their A game and more every single episode. Holy hell. Not that they don’t always. Just with such limited episodes they did really good with the material. Writing was superb for them. They rose to the occasion and then some.

Tim is so anxious waiting for Nolan it’s making me anxious. He is wound so damn tight right now. Not that I blame him but we can feel the anxiety just seeping out of him. The tapping of his feet, hands, and whole body is tense before Nolan arrives. He pops right up the minute John enters the room. He doesn’t look at all prepared for what Tim is about to thrown down at him.

Nolan tries to ask him questions but Tim doesn’t have time for it. Immediately let's him know what’s going on. That they’re going to want to hang this on someone. Now that Mad Dog is dead their scape goat is gone. All that is left is Tim. He’s STRESSED they’re going to hang this around his neck. That he needs Nolan to take over the investigation. I said this in my mini and I'll say it now.

My first thought was I don’t trust Nolan with this….That I wouldn’t have chosen him to spearhead this whole thing. But Tim doesn’t have a ton of options atm. So he’s gotta go with what he’s got. And that happens to be John Nolan right now. He asks Tim who to investigate? Tim tells him to look into Blair London the rookie police department shrink.

That he’s been seeing her and so has Aaron. That he thinks she had leverage on M.D. and that’s why he jumped. I wanna pause here and say how proud I am of Tim in this moment. Look at him reaching out for help this time. Not trying to quarterback this alone. Handling this completely differently than how he handled Ray. Not isolating himself and trying to figure this out solo. He’s going through the proper channels this time. Not wanting to do a OP and segregate himself from everyone.

To say it sucks Dr. London is dirty is an understatement. Because my greatest fear would be what she does in this episode. BUT I am forever grateful to her in the same vein. Because despite her being dirty she truly helped Tim in short time he had her. Look at the growth in this moment right now. I’ve said this many times already but I truly hope we continue his therapy journey. The results are astounding and I need more of this growth. It’s just like Chenford ship crack to me. Tim growth is my other drug of choice haha Give it to me writers LOL

We see Pearson is under Dr. London thumb. (Monica’s really) It leads up to this next scene that makes my blood boil. I hated watching this scene the first time and I didn’t love it any better second time around. It makes me sick to my stomach to watch unfold. How Pearson comes after Tim like a dog with a bone. The way he uses Dr. London to solidly his reasoning makes me all kinds of angry. I'm seeing red.

I HATE them using his sessions and twisting them for their own gain. It was like I said earlier this was my biggest fear of her being dirty. This right here. Gotta commend Danielle Campbell though. She does a really good job in this scene. Even though this was her idea you can see the conflict raging in her. Because she is the one who convinced Tim to go to therapy. For pure reasons actually. To help him out. Which she did. We know that’s why she’s under Monica thumb.

She used her need to help people against her. That she is only doing this because she is being coerced. Doesn’t excuse a damn thing, but explains her hesitation and almost tortured look in this scene. Especially when Pearson comes at Grey. Accusing him of favoritism. Saying he cares more about that than this city. You can see the restraint on Wade's face not to knock this punk out. How very dare you come at him and Tim like this. Makes me wanna rage so much.

This scene right here is why love Angela Lopez so much. That fiery passion she has for those she loves. How she is unwaveringly loyal to those she holds dear. Tim being that person in this moment. Not gonna lie that’s why I love this moment so much. Calling her husband. Love her of her life to chew him out to defend her brother. Her first instinct just like Lucy is to protect him.

To make sure if he’s charging Tim that she better know first. Hot damn Angela. Tell us how you really feel. haha This man is so lucky to have this fire ball in his corner phew lord. Telling Wes she stands by Tim a thousand percent. That he’s family. Ugh my heart. Gonna make me cry. I love their friendship so much. Give me more of them in s7. Their dynamic is fantastic and I need far more of it in my life.

We arrive at the best part of the episode. After nearly fifteen minutes filled with tension…We need this hug as much as these two do. My god. I adore her being so attuned to him. Lucy sees him and knows she needs to go to him. She can see how tense he looks. The clench in his jaw very evident. Her look damn near mirroring the worried look she had in 5x19. That same longing look to reach out to him surging through her. Worried Lucy is a fav of mine and we got to have that a lot in this episode.

This time she doesn't stop herself and we all love her for it. She worries about him, regardless of the state of their relationship. It’s what drives her to go after him before his elevator closes. That magnetic pull she can’t explain nor describe. All Lucy knows is she needs to be near him and comfort him. That even from afar she can tell he needs her. As I said earlier Lucy is so attuned to Tim and what he needs. It’s a beautiful thing to witness.

To say Tim is shocked when she keeps the elevator from closing is an understatement. Not only that but stopping it so they aren’t interrupted. Wanting to ensure they have a moment alone. Even when she says to be clear she’s still mad. That this doesn’t change anything. He’s still clueless as to what is going on here. You can see it all over his face above. He has zero idea why she is in here right now.

Because in his mind there is no way she’s thinking about him. Let alone wanting to be there for him in this moment. Which breaks my heart. The last thing he ever expected was for her to care for him. Or about him in any way shape or form. Also the 4x09 vibes coming off this hug had me losing my friggin mind. This hug is everything. It showcases their bond, the intimacy that still exists between them, the vulnerability has me reeling and how they are each other’s safe place still. *happy sigh*

The way she pulls him in reminiscent of the 4x09 hug. Tim standing there not expecting this moment of comfort and getting it. It’s the way she draws him into to hide in her arms. Just like she did in ‘Breakdown.’ I’m fine….Only difference in this hug from that one is the way he just melts into her arms. The face smoosh into her shoulder. Once again mirroring that infamous hug. We watch all that anxiety and stress just drain out of him. The tension he was carrying into the elevator leaving his body once he's in his happy place. Closing his eyes and surrendering to the comfort she brings him.

He immediately wraps his entire body around her. Melding into her. Easily falling into this hug and her arms. Like two puzzle pieces that are meant to be together. Fitting back together so effortlessly after time apart. Encasing her back in his hands and snuggling in for good measure. Clinging to her like she is his emotional life raft. Because. Well she is. Holding her as close as he physically can. Cherishing this moment. Because I’m sure he never thought he would experience this again. Holding her in his arms like this. Feel her comfort and love.

These two make me insane in the best way. Also let me once again point out Tim's growth. He didn’t even try to fight her like he’s done in the past. He sees this for the gift that it is and absorbs this moment. Savoring it really. The peace you can see on his face floors me. Eric at it again. You can tell this is first time in long time he’s felt whole. This hug is beautiful on some many levels. You can feel the raw emotion coming out of them both.

The concern that’s been building up in Lucy since this morning coming out in waves. She is tucked in TIGHT to him. Clinging to him as much as he is clinging to her. I'm not ok. You can hear the immense worry in her voice as she asks him if he’s ok? Despite everything she felt the draw to be there for him. The way she looks like she can finally breathe as she asks him that question is EVERYTHING.

We get some good hands hands hands in this hug. I can’t stop staring at her thumbs in that gif either. The soothing way she is running her thumbs up and down on his back and arm. Methodical in her soothing of him. Gah I cannot you guys. Her remarkable empathy shines through in this moment. This was a balm my soul needed so much. That all of us needed. We all know how much our boy longed for this.

Can't get over her face pressed so tightly into his neck. Doing this, as she asks him what she’s been dying to since she received that phone call. Like she couldn’t breathe until she knew the answer to this question. Look at the concern on her face when she does. I’m reeling and sobbing. Lucy looks on the verge of tears herself. Their hearts are just starting to mend in this glorious hug. You can feel it. Ours too.

No one does hugs like our ship does. They’re always top tier goodness. Holy hell. They’re just breathing each other in. Calming one another down. The anxiety that was raging in both of them cooling down to a simmer in this embrace. He has melted into her like butter at this point. Reveling in the comfort and empathy she's providing him. The way he says ‘I am now.’ Reminiscent of 5x21 and their phone call in the alley. How he wasn’t ok till he heard her voice.

Song remains the same in this moment. He wasn’t ok until now. Until she had her arms wrapped around him for this hug. Didn’t know he was holding his breath till she released it for him. It’s how he sways with her and sinks even further into her arms. Smooshing his face even farther into her shoulder. It’s so sincere his reply back that I am just a puddle of emotion. He’s so vulnerable in this moment with her.

Letting her know he wasn't ok until she was there. Imma scream at how much I love this growth in him. If there was any more doubt in Lucy’s mind of his feelings for her, this hug and his reaction to it should clear that right up. That is a man who is still so in love with her. Letting her know he wasn’t alright until she came and found him. I’m not crying you are…. Find you a person who knows what you need when you need it. Even when you’re not in the best place. That’s Lucy Chen for this man. Reigniting him falling in love with her all over again in this moment.

Lucy picking up on this growth reflects in her reaction back. Gah it’s the way she tightens her arms around him after she hears this. Closes her eyes and tries to bring him even closer. Trying to wrap him up in her arms even tighter. Absorb any stress he is carrying right now. The sheer relief written all her face. The way she shuts her eyes knowing he’s ok because she is there. *sobs*

Just melting into this man as she holds him as close as she can. Clinging to him as much as he is to her. I’m not ok in the best way. I remember thinking this hug would feed my soul into the hiatus. Just gonna scream into a pillow how much I love this moment. Their chemistry is insane and with a hug? Even more so my god. We are blessed to have a ship where our hugs are this amazing.

I love this faraway shot of their hug. They are in-sync as they part. How do they do that? We can see how deeply entangled they are. Nary an inch between them. You can see how they were just clinging onto each other for dear life. Look at Tim’s arms/hands. How gentle and intimate his are placed.

Having her as close as he can. It’s the hand gently wrapped around her lower back that has me losing it. It’s just so intimate I can’t get over it. Lucy is retuning the favor in kind. She too is just as intertwined as he is in this moment. Arms clinging to him and her face buried in his neck. Their chemistry on massive display here.

You’d think the hug alone would be enough to make me squee to death. Lucy follows it up with fixing his collar. I’m dead. The most wifey move of all moves. Reminded me of the lint picking from 5x12. Such an intimate coupley thing to do. I’m losing my damn mind over it. Wife energy coming off her in waves. Just seemed so automatic and natural when they part.

Also she touches her arm before reopening the door. She can’t keep her hands off him and I’m here for it. Tim looks like he’s going to cry in that elevator. I also love Tim putting his hands in his pockets right after. Because if he doesn’t he’ll never let her go. They’ll never get off this elevator. He could've stayed in that hug all day.

Basked in the comfort she had to give him. So he puts his hands immediately in his pockets after they part. Ugh my heart. They miss each other so much and this hug is screaming that. Also screaming how they didn’t miss a beat. How natural and wonderful it was. *happy sigh* This hug giving me true hope for the first time.

They re-open elevator to find Angela and Harper waiting for them. They look like they’ve been caught. Like they didn’t just have this deeply emotional embrace. The looks they share before Lucy leaves are LOADED. The expression on Angela’s face... She knows they interrupted something. I adore her saying she can get him extradited if he needs it. Love this woman so much. We know just like Lucy she is willing to do anything for this man.

Makes my heart so happy. All these women in his life want is to support and protect him. You can tell Angela wants to be tagged in so badly. Tim telling her won’t be necessary. He didn’t do anything wrong. That she had his back last time. He has different forces at play this time. Adore her saying 'Different isn’t me.’ Not it’s not ha Sadly last of Tim for this ep. *pouts*

Another telling scene for Lucy. Really really need s7 to clear these things up for her. Because despite being wonderfully empathetic human to Tim. She is still lost in life and not sure who she is. I NEED UC and some other things clarified for her next season. I really do. Just because she’s amazing at UC (and she is) doesn’t mean it’s her path. I do love this scene because it’s just Lucy being Lucy.

Having EIGHT covers ready to go. Our little nerd in action here. I adore it so much. It’s the most Lucy Chen thing she could do. Telling them it takes twelve off duty hours to grow. I love her so much. It’s not a mystery why Tim is so damn gone for her. Their faces as she explains cracks me up. Tim wouldn’t be shocked in the least. Hell I’m sure he was there while she was growing some of them.

The detective line is just another stab at our hearts though. Hoping for clarification and goodness for her career in s7. Manifesting it. As much as I need their reconciliation.(and I need it bad) I need her path resolved just as much tbh. For her to find her purpose and grow. Because once her and Tim do this. That reconciliation is gonna be even sweeter because of it.

I will say I was impressed with Nolan. Enjoy this it won’t last ha He handled investigating Blair really well. Rattling the cages of the potential dirty cops she was seeing just by showing up to her office. I forgot seasons 1-2 Nolan was a good cop. He just got really annoying after s3. LOL Also roping Smitty in was hilarious. He was already there for the food so might as well use him.

It’s the first time in what feels like a long time I enjoyed John. He enlists Nell too to help him with data from dispatch. Maybe it’s Bailey that makes him extra irritating to me. Lmao Sorry Jenna....lol Anyways quite the miracle Nolan pulled off in this ep getting me to like him. Not only that but commend him on the job he’s doing. Helping out Tim in a major way and I can’t deny that.

Nolan’s plan works out like gang busters. He went to her office to rattle a dirty cop into revealing himself. Pearson does it perfectly. Losing his mind about finding out they were in Mad Dog's apt. Like I said earlier I commend John on his work in this. Had Tim’s back and then some with his investigation. If they wrote him like this more wouldn’t dog on him so much lol

The other part that is so great is Grey. He is a papa bear ready to devour anyone messing with his work kids. This part was so cathartic to watch after earlier. Watching him dismantle Pearson like the schmuck he is. Was sick of him stomping around the station. Acting like he can just be top dog when he's really on a leash.

Rubbed me the wrong way being disrespectful to Tim and threatening Wade. Watching him attack Nolan/Celina is Grey's final straw. Puts that turd in his place. We watch him visibly shrink as Grey tears him a new asshole LOL All but telling him to stay in his own lane. Get em’ Wade! Nolan putting together the connection of Pearson and Blair due to this. Was fun to watch them piece this together.

Scenes like this give me agita like no other. My heart was beating in my chest for her. Lucy did a really good job despite the toy. Unfortunately it’s one of those loud musical ones. That not only gives away her position. But possibly her cover in the process. He find it’s on the floor. Looking menacing af. This man gives me the creeps on so many levels. I hated this mission for her on so many levels.

Unfortunately they’ll need her going back into the house. Now that Monica is in play it’s crucial she is there. Especially with Batista investigating who tried to kill her. Lucy is worried they’re going to blow her cover faster with her involved…But it’s a risk they have to take. If Tim knew about this he would be feral. Oh Feral Tim how I miss you. I need more 2x11 feral Tim in my life. That's a wishlist for s7 I suppose.

The ep ends with Nolan making a deal I’m not sure he can make lol But he was good in this episode so I’ll give him a pass. You can see how panicked she is. I am impressed John got her on this bench I will say. Getting her to almost spill her guts to him. Saying she didn’t think anyone would get hurt. That's what they all say....

I will say I missed Tim a lot in this ep after he was gone. That's my man. But it was a good episode. Reminded me of what a good ensemble cast we have as a whole. That's all she wrote for this one.

As always thank you to everyone for reading, liking, commenting and reblogging these means more than you’ll ever know. Shall see you all in the finale with 6x10 :)

~~~

Side notes-non Chenford

We get more insight in how Dr. London is being leveraged. Of course it’s a Monica connection because she is the absolute worst….

It’s great to see Pearson get nailed to the wall at the end of the ep. Prick.

[neverforever09]

Season 7x03-7x20

I just finished watching all the Clana scenes from S7...

Firstly, the beginning was so happy - Lana, Kara, and Clark at the farm. Clark's smile as he hugged Lana when she showed up at the barn. Lana making Clark his 'favourite blueberry pancakes' and Clark superspeeding to the store to get Vermont's finest maple syrup when Lana said they were out. Clark saying the food that Lana prepared was amazing. Lana acting like such wife material <3. Clark rightfully pulling back from the famous chick on his lap and Lana strolling in, introducing herself as Clark's girlfriend (plus this random famous chick also clocking that Lana is 'the center of Clark's universe like 5 minutes into meeting them). Clark confidently telling Lana that he has finally got everything he ever wanted and that it was right on that farm with her. Clark and Lana going horseback riding after a morning of Clark being weirdly romantic. Clark and Lana making earthquakes after...yeah. Clark opening up to Lana about stuff he did from S3 when she was almost walking out the door. Lana's eyes lighting up at Clark's honesty and her saying that she is still committed to them. Clark saying that he doesn't want their relationship to be over. My personal favourite is when Clark finds Lana at the farm with her hand on the burning pot handle, grabbing her hand, and in the softest voice I have ever heard from him on this show, saying "Honey, your hand" (I won't even touch on the way he looked at her here and during the time when Braniac did whatever he was doing to her). They had their share of happy, beautiful, touching moments this season that further cement the innate connection they share.

I think the happiness we saw from them in S5 was them enjoying the last of their teenage years and exploring their relationship and all the things that they had denied themselves for years. It was this catharsis and giddyness at finally having what they wanted. In S7, their happiness is calmer. Lana didn't have to come back to Smallville where she was wanted for crimes. She had 10 million dollars from Lex, an aunt in Metropolis, a whole world that she could explore, and she decided to come back to a farm in a small town. When she came back, they didn't even discuss what they were. After all these years, they didn't have to.

Then, there were the sad moments, the moments that make you want to shrink away from what you're seeing on the screen. I understand that Lionel and Lex did a number on Lana (though, I stand by my oppinion that a lot of Lana's vulnerability to Lex's manipulations was due to Clark pushing her away). Lana went through the ringer last season due to the Luthors. And she thinks that Lionel has means to hurt Clark. So, I understand that she would want to hurt them, to hurt the Luthors' goals. And I think that there's just no 100% moral way for her to go about that - when you want to hurt people as morally challenged as the Luthors, you have to break a few moral boundaries of your own. I also understand why she didn't tell Clark about all this. The Clark we know would be ...disgusted...by these less-than-moral actions from someone who he has imagined as kind. Similar to Clark fearing what Lana would think of him if he told her about his powers, Lana feared how Clark would look at her if he knew the things she had done. However, we do see reassurance from Clark's end that Lana isn't at that point of no return, and Lana's willingness to be better. That's the thing. They actually talk candidly about their relationship issues now....6 seasons later lol.

Though the way Lana intentionally hid things from Clark and lied bothered me, I thought of this as an opportunity for growth in their relationship. An opportunity for Clark to acknowledge what Lana had been through and understand that it is stifling to hold anyone to those moral standards. This growth seemed to be possible given Clark saying that he wanted to work to make sure that they could trust each other again.

Bizarro was proabaly the most hurtful part of this season. Yes, it must have been hurtful to Clark that Lana couldn't tell that it wasn't him. It must have been hurtful to hear that Lana preferred Bizarro since he was 'affectionate and understanding'. From Lana's perspective, there's this guy who looks exactly like Clark and gives you all the affection you crave - sometimes, you can want something so much that you can become blinded. It's not like Lana intentionally slept with someone that wasn't him, rather, I think she was a victim in this scenerio. There have been so many times in this series where Clark was on Red K or on some type of drug (more times than L*is has seen) where he wasn't being impersonated. How was Lana to know that this wasn't the strange way that Clark was during one of those other times? If my partner was suddenly a better partner, my first conclusion certainly would not be that he was being impersonated. The bottom line is that there wasn't sufficient reason for Lana to know that it wasn't Clark and, at the end of the day, she chose Clark by putting the blue stuff in Bizarro's hand. I do understand Clark's frustration - first Lex, now Bizarro. In his mind, he's put Bizarro in this trend he sees in Lana's choices which makes it hard for him to hear Lana's side on this. He's wary of another Lex, as we can see by his aversion to the hallucination of Lex and Lana being intimate. I understand Lana's frustration too in waking up every day and disappointing Clark. I do appreciate that Clark understands that he is not an easy guy to be with (a relationship with a superhero is never realistically easy) and Lana understands that she has made her fair share of mistakes. The most important fact is that after all that, they both stayed becuase they still believed in what they have and that there was something between them worth fighting for.

Overall, there was so much pain this season with Lana trying to catch herself before she went too far (and we see how well she's matured in S8), Clark feeling like he was the one being kept in the dark (for a change lol), Bizarro etc. There was also so much growth - the conversations the two had about their ideas of each other, the things that hurt them, Clark actually opening up and sharing things with Lana. So much air was cleared and it felt like they could move forward stronger together if given the chance.

When Lana was put in a catatonic state by Braniac, Clark was terrified of losing her. My heart broke at the sound of him pleading for Lana, and the way he looked at her. The scene where he kneels down by her chair and cries, this is not the image of a man who is anywhere near done with his relationship. So, it was insulting- but definitely on par with the rest of the writing dedicated to keeping Lana and Clark apart- when Lana breaks up with Clark over a video message and lo behold, that was when she was being forced to do so by Lex. Seriously, have these two ever seperated due to lack of love or attraction for one another? (No.)

Do I think a lot has happened? Yes, Clark and Lana's relationship has been tested a lot on this show, way more than any other relationship. Through all of that, their understanding of one another and their ability to forgive one another has really shone through. You can't rant about all the mistakes Lana has made in S6/7 without wanting to scream at Clark for keeping his secret for 6+ years from the person who was most deserving of hearing it. I understand that, and from the choice that Clark and Lana make to rekindle their relationship in S8, they understand that too.

Most Cl*is shippers will say that it was a dragged on relationship that was repeatedly on/off without acknowledging the multitude of circumstances that Clark and Lana have faced together. Come talk to me about Clark and Lana's relationship in Smallville being toxic and that other relationship being perfect when Clark and that other woman have faced even a third of what Lana and Clark have been through.

And you know what? After all this shit, I hear that Clark still chose Lana when faced with the choice of Lana and L*is in Season 8. And in the barn, Clark walked through all that pain to kiss her and watched her leave with tears in his eyes, saying "I love you" whilst he was on his knees in pain from the proximity to the kyptonite that was now in her veins.

I haven't read the comics. But, the fact that after all that they had been through- the lies and danger and fear,- it was Clark's one tangible weakness being injected into Lana's veins that did it (it wasn't even Clark that walked away in the end lol)? That should erase any doubts about what Clark would have chosen if he was given a choice between Lana and that other woman. By the time S9 and 10 came around, there was no choice to be made, just leftovers that paled in comparison to the epic love he shared with Lana Lang.

[sickness-health-all-that-shit]

hello! i was watching ian and mickey scenes through *the* youtube channel, i'm not too deep into the lore of the fandom but! i read that noel wanted to be paid more for his role which is why they wrote him off on s6 etc. reading some comments through clips from the other seasons he is not in i saw that the ''reasons'' as of why ian seems not to care of him was because of his medication and pretending to keep himself steady but with s7 it went down after seeing him again + monica's death (and that's also why he's maniac again :0) thankfully right after they're back together which makes my serotonin skyrocket! i mostly read fics that are a sort of fix it or with mickey coming back right after monica dying etc. i didn't know about these infos before so i thought it was kind of fanon that ian goes maniac because of that and that he never said ''i love you'' to anyone but mickey. i wanted to ask you what is your take on ian's feelings when mickey wasn't around? gotta say that it makes me feel way better knowing that despite their effort to remove mickey from the series they managed to make it was all about him/leading back to them together! i hope i didn't disturb you with this ask but im having feelings!!! eheh

hi there! totally valid to have ✨feelings✨ about this, especially when you first start diving into their history and relationship!! my own deep-dive under the cut:

I do believe Noel left bc of contract renegotiations, yes. and after that fans were not happy with (and were very vocal about) the show trying to 'replace' Mickey with other boyfriends for Ian and having Ian badmouth Mickey etc. anyway, if we're keeping this to in-universe explanations as to how Ian felt about Mickey during those seasons, my interpretation is this: at the start of s6, Ian was in a very, very bad place. we see that at some point he started taking his meds (despite his previous refusal to do so like during the breakup in 5x12) but he's very clearly going through depression at that stage. let's keep in mind that at the time he was dealing with accepting his diagnosis, something he struggled a lot with both bc of the comparisons with Monica and bc of how much he valued his independence, so acknowledging the need for outside help and someone to care for him when he's not feeling well is particularly hard for him. he also just came out of a long period of being unmedicated--I've seen people suggest symptoms first started manifesting at the end of s3, and might've influenced his decision to go off to the army with everything that that brought as a consequence and all the choices he made as a result of that.. his life had changed dramatically in that period (he dropped out of school, left his home and his siblings, worked in nightclubs as a minor and of course he went through all that traumatic stuff with Mickey from 3x06 onward) so at the beginning of s6 he makes the decision to basically just put all of that behind him. Ian has a tendency to compartmentalize, which means he took all the bad things that had happened to him up until his diagnosis (and everything that reminded him of that, ie Mickey) and tried to forget about them, so that he could move on in some way. of course at this point Mickey was in prison and expected to remain there for the next 8 to 15 years, so that was another thing Ian made the decision to put out of his mind, bc it all hurt too much to deal with. so he made a new life for himself. which I'm very proud of him for! I love his journey to become an emt <3 dating-wise, choices were made. not necessarily by Ian though, by which I mean he kinda fell into those relationships, going through the motions because of how uncertain he was feeling at that time, and ending up dating people that should've maybe definitely had been fuck buddies at most. anyway, let's not dwell on that ajkds and let's get back to Mickey. the whole 'out of sight out of mind' thing obviously crashes and burns for Ian once Mickey shows up again, right there in front of him. that rush of deep-buried feelings must have been overwhelming. and yeah, I do agree that Ian's manic state through s8 was probably a result of the double hit of Monica's death and losing Mickey again--for all Ian knew, for good this time. and he absolutely never said I love you to anyone but Mickey, bc he's never loved anyone but him. they were it for each other from the start!! thank god the show finally got with the program at some point lol and gave us the happy ending they truly deserved ❤️

[stan-fixations]

The 100 Character Rankings

Character names found on: https://the100.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Characters

Only characters I found interesting and important to the story are listed

Warning: slight to extreme spoilers if you haven't watched the series!! Mentions of death/death related topics!! Long list ahead!!

A.L.I.E. : 2/10 def in the running for my least fav villain. She just annoyed me beyond belief and I see why everyone wanted Becca to stop trying to create her cause she's so annoying. However the whole city of light concept was somewhat interesting.

Abigail Griffin: 5/10 I loved Abby up to s3. In s4 she started getting annoying and after s4 I just hated her. Everything she did made me mad and I just didn't agree with a lot of her actions. When she died I laughed cause her death was long overdue.

Aden : 9/10 I love this kid with all my heart!! He was so freaking adorable and the fact that he was clearly lexa's fav student made him even better. And he clearly looked up to her cause he swore allegiance to Clarke and I was so ready to see him as heda. The only reason he's not 10/10 is cause he let ontari kill him in his sleep

Anders : 0/10 easily one of the lamest villains I've ever seen. Cult leaders have to be the lowest of the low for me so I really didn't vibe with him. He brought no flavor to the show and I would've preferred if they'd introduced Bill right away and made it so he had some crazy Sci fi tech way of staying young and alive for as long as he did (maybe like the mind drive tech or something).

Aurora Blake : 2/10 those 2 points are because she gave birth to Bellamy and octavia otherwise I'd give her a 0 cause she's literally not a good mom. How can you get pregnant twice knowing it's against the law and your second child would live a bad life and you would be executed if found out. When O was born she told Bell "You're sister, your responsibility" like girl YOUR CHILD, YOUR RESPONSIBILITY!!!!! We didn't get much of her but something tells me bell took better care of Octavia than their mother did.

Becca Franko : 4/10 she's intelligent I'll give her that but otherwise I don't see much else. She created A.L.I.E. which clearly wasn't her best moment. She created the eligius tech that sent criminals found to be disposable to outer space to mine for oil. When raven had her tumor she hallucinated someone she looked up to a lot and surprise surprise that person was Becca and Becca tried to get her to commit suicide. She's just a mind I don't see personality.

Bellamy Blake : 7/10 he's my eldest child in this show. While I love bell (especially in s1 & 2) s3 was rough for him and s4 was hard to watch cause he was just so broken. S5 I loved cause you could so clearly see the mental development and how much he matured since s1. S6 I feel is when he really started doing some wild ooc shit. And we don't talk about s7. Bellamy isn't a full 10 because he sometimes does the most toxic shit and then claims he did it cause he cares when he clearly knew his actions would hurt ppl. And he treated Octavia like shit after he came back from the ring but then turned around and kept fighting for Clarke even when she turned her back on them all while Octavia was just trying to save everyone but Clarke was trying to save herself and Madi.

Bill Cadogan : 0/10 he's an asshole. He treated his daughter and wife like they were insignificant and completely ignored his son. Becca warned him they weren't ready for judgment day and all that but he didn't listen and Anders's stupid sheep cult was born from this mans stupid idea that he was the most superior human being to ever exist and he knew what was best for humanity.

Anya : 10/10 even in the beginning when she was made to be a villain by being at war with the delinquents I loved her. One of the strongest characters in the show. Great female representation. I'm still mad cause there's no way a warrior like her could be taken out by a stray bullet I refuse to believe that bs.

Artigas : 10/10 super adorable kid. I thought he was gonna become Octavia's right hand man/protégé but unfortunately Finn happened. He had a lot of potential and it would've been sweet to see him grow up throughout the seasons.

Atom : 5/10 he's such a slut for the Blakes. He sucks Bellamy's dick and kisses Octavia's ass. He's like a dog following them everywhere and doing everything he's told. Honestly he's babyboy material even though he likes to act tough. I liked Atom though and I would've loved to see where his and Octavia's relationship went and how bell reacted. I think he had a lot of potential to be a main influence on the story.

Cage Wallace : 0/10 he's stuck up and arrogant in the worst way. I just didn't like this guy at all. Everytime he popped up on the screen I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

Callie Cadogan : 7/10 I loved Callie but there just wasn't enough of her to give her a 10. I was so looking foward to the prequel cause I wanted more Callie and I wanted to see how she formed grounder culture. Shitty mom, even shittier dad, somewhat shitty brother, amazing girl.

Callie Cartwig : 10/10 another one with lots of potential. I think she would've been chancellor after Kane and Abby decided to stop passing the title around. Personally the biggest thing to me in any type of relationship is loyalty and you could see how loyal she was to her best friend Abby so I have so much respect for her. I thought that Abby would get floated in the beginning which would cause her to go into a badass era and overthrow jaha and Kane and then take the rest of the arkadians to the ground and fight the war against the grounder and win but sadly she just disappeared completely from the story.

Carl Emerson : 3/10 I only liked Emerson because I love that he survived and was made into a way for Clarke to physically face her demons and her guilt from what happened at Mt.Weather. Other than that I didn't care much for him.

Charles Pike : 0/10 hated the guy I hated him so much. I get that he had a bad experience with the azgeda grounders but that's not an excuse to how he acted. His death was long overdue too and I'll never forgive him for what he did to Lincoln.

Charlotte : 2/10 FUCKING CHARLOTTE BRO!!!!! I'll give her a 2 cause she's a kid and she was traumatized but she did my boy Wells wrong. Charlotte is such a clown like really girl you thought you could murder someone to help you sleep better at night, let someone else take the blame and almost be executed, and then admit to your actions and you would be set free? Sorry sweetie that's not how life works. Honestly I'm grateful Charlotte existed cause she's the reason I joined team Murphy. Him being wrongfully accused made me feel for him and I agree the person who committed the crime should take responsibility. Sure Charlotte was a bit younger than them but they were all kids and it's not fair that they had no problem hanging Murphy but felt sorry for her.

Charmaine Diyoza : 9/10 I'm not giving her a 10 cause she could've easily killed McCreary and taken control of all the eligius prisoners which would've prevented the setting change from earth. Other than that I hated her in the beginning but loved her in s6. Strong female representation, well written, I don't see any problems here.

Clarke Griffin : 5/10 I have a strong love hate relationship with her. She's the character I flip flop the most with. She's 1/2 of the main character (with Octavia being the other half) and she's 1/2 of the definition of morally grey (with Octavia being the other half). Clarke is just Clarke I find it hard to completely love or completely hate her.

Costia : 10/10 any lover of lexa's is a fav of mine. I wish we would've gotten to see more costia (or see her at all for that matter) def would've loved to see her love story with Lexa so I could compare it to Clarke's love story with lexa.

Daniel Lee : 2/10 he was a prime and I thought the whole prime eligius mission concept thing was interesting.

Dante Wallace : 4/10 I thought he was kind of a sweet old man but his son pissed me off. Also he didn't have much power in the story and was a bit forgettable.

David Miller : 10/10 I love the millers. From the beginning when nate was trapped in Mt.Weather he was read to fight to get to his son. When they were having the raffle to see who could stay in the bunker he wrote down nates name to give him a better chance . He cared about his son form the beginning to the end and I see a lot of him in nate. For me he wasn't a character with a big part in the story but he's def Memorable and lovable.

Delilah Workman : 10/10 she was pretty, she was nice, she was in love with my grandson what's not to love here? I loved Delilah and I loved her first love thing she had going on with Jordan. I would've loved for her to join the group and help bell rescue Clarke and all that shit but sadly she was devoted and believed strongly in something that just wasn't true.

Dev : 10/10 guys he literally showed up in a MONTAGE. He had a MONTAGE!! that's it. That's all we saw of Dev after seeing his skeleton. To me that's the funniest thing cause like how did I grow to love a character through a long montage?? Loved him loved him loved him. That's all I have to say. I'm kinda glad that he was only a short time thing cause it was done in the most perfect way and it moved the story along really well.

Diana Sydney :0/10 her and jaha deserve each other cause they're the freaking worst. I wouldn't be surprised they had a past fling cause she's like the female version of s2&3 jaha mixed with s1&2 Kane. She's just shitty there's no excuse or reasoning.

Echo : 9/10 I won't give her a 10 cause of how she betrayed us at Mt.Weather in s2 (clearly the grounders had a thing for betrayal in that season) and also because her name is ash not Echo. Echo was her best friend that she killed and than stole the name from. Other than that I love her. Another strong female representation. Def one of those characters that makes you wanna learn archery. I just love her. She's very logical and not with the bs and I so respect that.

Emori : 10/10 I have a million hearts and she stole them all. Def in my top 5 female characters list. I loved her since s2 when I first met her and when she first met Murphy. I was like "awww Murphy got a little grounder gf" (on a sidenote the fact that Murphy called Octavia bellamy's "grounder pounding sister" then went and got with emori is so fucking funny to me like who's the grounder pounder now Murphy?!?) She's so fucking hot and honestly such a baddie but I love that it's clear she has a soft side and isn't afraid to show emotions to those she cares about. Also that she is vocal about what she feels and thinks cause everyone else in this show loves to keep secrets and expects others to read their mind, but emori will tell you what's on her mind whether you asked or not and she doesn't care if you like it or not. She's a queen.

Eric Jackson : 9/10 I just wish he was a bit more assertive at times. nate was def the dom in their relationship. I loved him and nate together. I loved that he was always friends with everyone even through the infighting he never got involved and he saw things from all sides. I think that's why I love him so much. He reminds me of myself in the past. Lots of friends who get involved in a lot of drama but I'm somehow never in it myself.

Faye Lee : 2/10 another prime. Not much to say here I just found the concept interesting.

Finn Collins : 8/10 my overhated king. I loved Finn. He lost 2 points cause he cheated on raven with Clarke and I love raven so that's a big oopsie no no in my book, and also because of the whole trigger happy crazed teen boy looking for his lost love thing that happened in s2, you know when he killed Artigas, yeah that kinda made me not like him as much. But other than that let's be real Finn never did much wrong. I really think he's overhated.

Fio : 10/10 not a major character but I saw him as Indra's right hand man. His loyalty is commendable and his pride and love for his clan was beautiful. I liked him.

Fox : 8/10 I liked this girl. Def a background character but a good one.

Gabriel Santiago : 9/10 daddy? Sorry. Daddy? I love Gabriel given that his og body died long before his mind did and the body he had belonged to someone else but still he's so fucking fine. I just wish he was also more assertive at times. But he's intelligent. I loved the trio between him, Echo, and hope. His little thing with Octavia was cute too.

Gaia : 6/10 sometimes forgettable but I love that she was so strong in her faith even when everything went to hell she kept going and it payed off on quite a few occasions. Gaia and clarke were a couple I wouldn't have been against cause the moments they shared were always so pure and you could tell though they weren't super close they always kept it real with each other and cared for each other.

Gina Martin : 10/10 GIINNNAAAAAAAA COME BACCCKKKKKK!!!! SO MUCH WASTED POTENTIAL HERE!!! THEY COULD'VE DONE SO MUCH I'M FUCKING PISSED TO THIS DAY CAUSE WTF YOU CAN'T JUST WRITE AN AMAZING CHARACTER IN SUCH A WAY THAT THEY BECOME AN INSTANT FAN FAVORITE AND THEN KILL THEM OFF!!? THE WRITERS OF THIS SHOW ARE ALL A BUNCH OF OCTOPUS PUSSY KISSING WHORES!!!!!!!!

Grace Cadogan : 2/10 forgettable and she married a douchebag guy. Her daughter is wonderful though.

Gustus : 2/10 I respect his loyalty to Lexa and I see that he was just trying to protect her but because of him my babygirl raven was put through even more pain, even though she's already been through a lot.

Hannah Green : 1/10 she was so close to beating Aurora for the worst mother award. I thought if monty is so amazing his parents must be even better. The writers gave us the wrong parent. Instead of killing his dad they should've killed his mom and let monty reunite with his dad. Hannah was a big miss for me.

Harper McIntyre : 10/10 this is my daughter in law. I fucking love her so much. Easily the sweetest girl in this whole show. I love her with monty and I love her with herself. Her and monty are a lot like finn with the whole love over war thing but the difference is they did it the correct way and never not once willingly committed a violent act or let their selfish wants get the best of them. Harper is honestly such a role model. Like if I had a kid and they wanted to sleepover at their friends house and their friends mom was Harper I'd def let them go cause I trust Harper with my kids life and mine.

Hatch : 9/10 I can't remember what crime he committed. I think it was robbery then turned into murder but I'm not sure. Either way he was an eligius criminal so it was definitely something bad. But he was so sweet in his love with that one girl. That convo he had with Murphy was EVERYTHING. He knew he wasn't coming out of that reactor alive but he still went in to save the person he loved and that to me is precious.

Helios : 10/10 guys if you don't remember or haven't watched the show I'd like to let you know that Helios is a horse. He's a horse. He's octavias horse. My headcanon is that he was originally lincolns horse or a horse that Lincoln got for her and that's why Octavia's always riding him. He's strong and reliable but also gentle what more could you want from a horse? Idc what anyone says this horse def deserves an award cause he was amazing.

Hope Diyoza : 8/10 she's just like her mom but with a worse temper and less patience. I like hope but the fact that she likes to rush into things annoyed me sometimes. I also wish her and Jordan had more of a personal and platonic relationship. Sure they got close when they went back to the bunker to hide madi from sheidheda or whatever and I get that they were the new generation and the only ones that had actual parents that belonged to the group of main characters but the thing is they just didn't spend enough time together to be in a romantic relationship. Other than them being automatically put into the main circle they had no other connection so I think their relationship was rushed. Other than that I like hope and I feel she was a good addition to the show.

Ilian : 6/10 this boy is hopeless. He should've stayed on the farm cause my goodness he just doesn't have a clue. Man really burned down ravens hard work and humanities last hope cause he hated technology like sweetie if you don't like something STAY AWAY FROM IT!! ITS LITERALLY THAT SIMPLE! But the thing is I love Chai Hansen (the actor) so I couldn't bring myself to not like illian less than a 6 cause Chai is an amazing actor.

Indra : 10/10 Indra reminds me of an African warrior girl. As an African girl this was a big yes for me. Especially seeing her natural hair the way it is instead of a wig or weave or something to me that was so amazing. This was a win for strong black female characters in TV. I love that she was clearly strong and a leader among her people (that spot was well deserved and hard earned I'm sure) but also that she wasn't written in a way where that was all she was (like most black female characters are written to be strong 24/7) you could see her soft side. You could see her emotion and how much she cared especially when it came to Gaia and octavia. She had moments where she was weak and beaten down and didn't hide it. She let it show. She held others up and I turn they did the same for her. The way I see it indra was the best mother in the show, not only to Gaia but to the other kids as well. She was also an amazing teacher to octavia and a great friend to Kane, Abby, and Jackson. She was even good to jaha (thought imo he didn't deserve it) For this I applaude the writers cause indra is definitely a success for them.

Jacapo Sinclair : 10/10 no surprise there. Sinclair is like indra and Harper. You can't dislike this guy. Like it's literally impossible. When it comes to the best father figure/mentor it's real close between him and Kane. I love Sinclair with all my heart. His relationship with raven was the sweetest thing. It hurt when he died cause he was all raven had in terms of family. Her parents were gone and she lost Finn. Sinclair was the last one and she had to watch him die just like she watched Finn die. Everytime raven cries I cry even harder. He was so sweet and he believed in her the most out of everyone. He never pitied her cause he knew she didn't need it. He knew all she needed was to believe in herself. Guys when raven hallucinated him in s4 I fucking cried so hard cause I missed him so much and I'm pissed cause he should've made it to the very end. He deserved to be happy. He deserved to die a good death on a comfy bed in a room full of flowers facing an open window with the sunset outside and raven sitting next to the bed holding hands and sharing sarcastic comments and wisdom until he finally slips into death as the sun sets and he gets a beautiful candle lit burial on top of a peaceful hill overlooking a large lake where everyone is wearing white and they all sprinkle rose petals over his grave and say their final goodbyes.

Jade : 4/10 I respect the drive she has to be good at her job and how loyal she was. Be it she was loyal to a lie. She reminds me of nate and his dad in the sense that they're all soldiers. They prefer the role of following orders and having a clear leader more than being a leader. I really don't have much to say on her.

Jake Griffin : 5/10 there wasn't a lot to go off here. Just a few memories and short appearances. I love that he was righteous and believed in humanity. He died trying to do the right thing and I love that.

Jasper Jordan: 9/10 this is my 5th child in this show. The only reason I'm not giving him a 10 is because he chose death. He left monty. He stopped fighting and I hate that. He had so much fight left in him I could see it. There was still so much greatness for him to accomplish. I'm disappointed that he chose a beautiful hysterically sad suicide but I'm glad he died on his terms. Jasper was put through so much and I see a lot of hate for him. Ppl say he was annoying after Maya died but I find that Jasper had the most realistic reaction to death. He went through depression. He lost it, he started drinking, he broke down. He loved her and clarke killed her, he had to see clarke all the time and he had to be there while everyone was praising clarke for being a hero. She hurt him and her apology was sorry but it had had be done. Even though they could've saved Maya who did nothing but help them clarke killed her and then had the audacity to tell Jasper to move on. They all told him to move on. Nobody but monty bothered to try to help him. They just decided he was helpless and left him to fend for himself when he fought to protect them in Mt.Weather. It was clear that Jasper wasn't very mentally strong when Fox got taken in Mt.Weather after he promised he would protect her. He lost confidence in himself then and when Maya died after he said he'd protect her he lost hope in life. Jasper needed help he needed someone to be there. Monty was there but there's only so much one person can do. He needed his friends. He needed the Clarke that stayed up at night changing his bandages when he got speared. He needed the Octavia that cared about him and looked at him with heart eyes. He needed the Bellamy who wouldn't let anyone kill him even though he was keeping them up at night with his screams of agony. He needed his friends and they weren't there so yeah he lost it and he became suicidal. At least his suicide made him happy in the end. My baby deserved so much better.

John Mbege : 5/10 I just like the fact that he was one of Bellamy's bitches.

John Murphy : 10/10 he's my 3rd child in this show. All I'm gonna say is he's my fav male character in this show and maybe of all time. I'm not gonna get into all the reasons why cause then this will turn into a Murphy love post. I love him I want him he's mine he will always be mine. John Murphy best boy.

Jordan Green : 10/10 my grandson my sweet babycakes. He's so innocent. But kind of a slut I mean this guy had his first crush on the first person he met who had no connection to his parents and shared his first kiss with that person and lost his virginity to her that same night. If that's not slut behavior idk what is. But other than his slut tendencies he's innocent. He's just like his parents too (casting did an amazing job cause I would totally believe it if Chris and Chelsey had a baby and it looked like Shannon). He's sweet and intelligent but strong in his beliefs and doesn't waiver. They didn't deserve him. Monty and Harper asked one thing of clarke and Bellamy and that was to watch over Jordan and protect him. Jordan fuckin went missing for more than one episode and it's like he wasn't even on their priorities list. They were like " la di da oh it's Jordan he might just be out making friends la di da" They didn't bother looking for him kind of like when monty was taken to Mt.Weather and Jasper was the first to try to look for him and they were like "la di da no Jasper we'll look for monty later la di da" AND THEY NEVER FUCKIN LOOKED FOR HIM!!! We finally saw him when clarke woke up in quarantine. Both monty and his son were missing for multiple episodes and nobody but Jasper bothered to search. My boys were too good for this group. Also raven and Jordan's relationship was adorable. Seeing raven as an aunt was cute. You could tell in the way she looks at him and talks to him that Jordan reminds her of monty so it makes sense that she cares about him cause raven and monty were a dream team in intelligence and raven and Jordan were following that path. Also his name is Jordan Jasper Green named after his dad's best friend Jasper Jordan hskdlakfhzlLxjj I can't I just can't.

Josephine Lightbourne : 10/10 in the running for best villain ever. I loved Josephine she was literally so perfect. I looked forward to her scenes cause it was one of the few good things about that mess of a season.

Judge : 0/10 wtf. I still don't get the Judge. Like Yeah we got a Lexa reappearance but still wtf. There was no base for this idea and it doesn't make sense cause why did they accept the judge and accept transcendence but fight their asses off to get rid of A.L.I.E and the city of light like bro they're basically the same thing. The s7 writers were completely cursed cause how else can you come up with such bs. Like the idea itself could work but the problem is it doesn't fit with the direction of the story and the original plot of the show. Like honestly s5 is when the story started to stray but at least it kept the same themes. S6 was acceptable because it happened due to previous events from s5 but s7 just came out of nowhere. I swear they pulled the entire script our of their asses cause it was so bad.

Kara Cooper : 1/10 she was loyal to octavia but it only took nearly getting all the arkadians killed and losing her own life to make her see reason and stop being an annoying crybaby bitch.

Kaylee Lee : 2/10 She was a prime

Knight : 9/10 I actually liked knight. He made the mistake of challenging Indra yes but I see where he was coming from. He saw an opportunity to rise in ranks and become a big leader so he took it. He failed obviously but it was a commendable attempt. Also he's sexy.

Kyle Wick : 5/10 I loved Wick with raven and thought they were super cute. I'm def someone who believes in separating the artist from the art. That being said the actor himself I don't like and that's why I'm rating a 5. He's done stuff that I just can't ever agree with and it's to the point where it had an affect on how I view the art but the character he portrayed I liked. I thought Wick was a refreshing addition to the show. His humors and sarcasm was a mood lightner and in this show any mood lightner is a good one and is fully accepted.

Levitt : 7/10 a little boring for me. He was cute with Octavia but he's no Lincoln. I love that he was able to bring Octavia some type of happiness after everything she endured. He's cute in a nerdy boy next door has no friends except his grandma loves to talk about electrons type of way.

Lexa : 10/10 I'm sure we all saw this coming. I love Lexa. I'll never forget the great s2 betrayal but let's be real that's all she's done. Well that and take the risk of others dying from a missile. But she did kick that guy off the top of her polis tower which was pretty badass. And she was a cute little raccoon leader so yea I love her. Little lesbian heda.

Lincoln : 10/10 when I tell yall I dream of this man. I DRREEEAAAAMMMMMM. He's looks so delicious. But no he's so hot but no he so sweet. Oh goodness gracious I'm done so done. There was never a better lover. LINCTAVIA 4 LIFE!!! The way I cried when this man died. I'm serious when I tell you I stopped fucking watching for a month cause I just couldn't deal with his death. I would open netflix and zoom right past this show to find something else cause I missed Lincoln and I still miss him. He deserved a beautiful death just like Sinclair.

Lorelei Tsing : 0/10 she's a bitch. Argue with the wall.

Luca : 10/10 this boy is so disney channel middle school crush. He's adorable. His little love story crush thing he has going on with Madi is adorable. His little friends are adorable. Everything is adorable.

Luna : 7/10 ngl I loved Luna when she refused the flame. I was like "yes girl make things hard for Clarke she's so spoiled and always gets her way. Make her work for it!!!" But then Luna kinda got annoying. I get why she fought in the conclave cause she didn't think humanity deserved to survive but it doesn't make sense cause she's so against violence yet she had no problem killing. And the reward was the bunker so clearly she knew the death wave would kill her and she didn't want to die just like everybody else so why did she have no problem fighting to kill everyone when she swore she'd never fight or kill again? There's so many holes here for me.

Macallan : 10/10 it's SHAWN MENDES. What do you want me to say?! No but Macallan was a cute little thief. I thought he and raven were gonna be in a relationship cause when they met she told him to sing as payment meant she knew who he was and he knew he could sing. Like maybe they'd met before on the ark. Anyway I love Macallan.

Madi Griffin : 9/10 I love Madi really I do but somewhere between s6 & 7 she just got a tiny bit annoying and whiny. But then again so did clarke in s5 so i see why Madi behaved the way she did. Madi and luca were literally living their own disney channel romance while everyone else was fighting tooth and nail for their lives. But yeah lola was absolutely amazing in this role.

Major Byrne : 1/10 I could do without her. She had potential but I don't think the writers played on it well enough. It felt like they intended to make her a major character but the story took a different track so they just dropped her.

Marcus Kane : 8/10 s1 & 2 were terrible. I hated Kane he was was bitch and I was wanting them to kill him off. S3 and onward I loved him. He was amazing. One of the best character developments in the show. I'm sad they dragged out his death. I think he deserved a better death but they didn't give him that so the least they could've done was let him die in peace and leave it alone instead of trying to keep him alive.

Maya Vie : 10/10 i didn't trust her in the beginning. She was too nice. But then I loved her. I wish she didn't get killed off cause I loved her with Jasper. She brought out this aggressive fierce side to him which was very different to the nerdy somewhat loner boy we'd seen the season before. I miss her. She was nice.

Michael Vinson : 9/10 I've watched this show 5x over and Vinson still scares the crap out of me. He was in a way a physical manifestation of abbys addiction which was cool but this dude is so scary. Of all the eligius prisoners I can see why he got sent to space. This dude is a psychopathic cannibalistic murderer. THEY LITERALLY HAD TO KEEP HIM IN AN ELECTRIC SHOCK COLLAR TO CONTROL HIM!!!! I don't know why I ranked him so high but there's something about him. Idk if it's the concept or what but I like him as a character even though he scares me.

Miles Shaw : 10/10 MY BAABBYYYYY!!!! I miss you Mr super adorable been through so much struggled to survive deserved better. I wanna give him all the hugs in the universe. He's so precious. I miss him with raven. Like really the fact that they can't let her be happy is bs. Not 1 season went by without her facing something traumatic. I though Shaw was going to be her happily ever after but I guess not. I wish he made it to the final lineup cause he was a great character.

Monty Green : 10/10 my 6th and final child in this show. My sweet precious marshmallow cinnabun chocolate teddybear cotton candy skies pink butterflies strawberry shortcake gummie bear slushie cupcake loml rainbow child. He's EVERYTHING TO ME! He's so cute and smart and kind and sassy and funny. He was a great friend to everyone and I loved his relationship with everyone. He kept it real even when he knew the truth was never what they wanted to hear he said it anyways. He was literally their subconscious voice of reason and guilt. The literal moral compass. I miss him SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!! But at least he got a happy death (one of the few happy deaths in the entire 7 seasons). He died after living a long happy life with his wife and son and the knowledge that he saved the human race by finding another home for everyone. MONTY GREEN BEST BOY!!!

Nathan Miller : 10/10 yall know I love the millers. Nate is just like his dad. Yes I know they call him Miller in the show but I call him nate so get over it. He's a great guy. So precious. Like he has a special place in my heart. My secondary character king. This man is def one of the funniest characters. His relationship with Jackson is super cute. I kinda feel bad for him cause let's be real all he ever wanted was to live happily ever after with Bryan by a beach raising chickens or sheep or whatever it was. He never asked for the chaos. I'm glad the writers decided to give him a bigger role instead of just letting him fade away. I also really love his friendship with Octavia. Easily one of my top 15 in this show. I love nate.

Nia : 0/10 this lady was vicious. I feel bad for Roan cause his childhood must've sucked.

Nikki : 1/10 this was hatch's wife. I thought she was badass but I like her mostly cause I liked her husband.

Niylah : 10/10 I think niylah is the only background character that I'm glad remained a background character cause it's so perfect. They gave her a bigger role in the story when it was needed but when it wasn't she went to the background which was beautifully done. I love niylah she was one of the few obviously good ones like Harper, monty, Lincoln, and Sinclair. I'm glad she made it to the final lineup cause she's awesome.

Nygel : 1/10 she's a snitch ass bitch. I don't like her. The only reason she's a 1 is cause I thought she was gonna have a big role and cause drama. (I love watching drama play out) but other than that she's not special.

Nyko : 10/10 it makes sense that he was friends with Lincoln. He literally reminds ne of Lincoln so much. I liked him. He was peaceful and quite handsome. Def deserved happiness and love.

Octavia Blake : 10/10 my 4th child in this show. The better Blake sibling if you ask me (but don't tell Bellamy I said that). She's absolutely amazing. Best character development in this show. Best female character. Best hero. Best villain. Best everything. I loved her when she was bellamys butterfly chasing grounder pounding sister. I loved her when she was skairipa. I loved her when she was blodreina. I loved her when she was bellamys sister but not his responsibility. I loved her when she was aunty O. I loved her from beginning to the very end. This is my fav character if you didn't know. Octavia Blake carried this show 50% of the time. When I say I watch the100 for the plot I'm mostly talking about her. I love her.

Ontari : 4/10 I kinda liked her. I didn't like that she basically raped Murphy or that she had the audacity to wear lexas Armour or that she pretty much cheated in the conclave. But I thought she was an interesting character. It was interesting cause Roan was raised by queen Nia and he turned out completely different than ontari who was also basically raised by queen Nia. And Echo was kinda raised by her too and was one of her closest and best spies but she turned out different than ontari but all 3 of them were loyal af to azgeda so it's kind of a glimpse into the personality of Nia cause she influenced 3 different ppl and they all turned out differently. I liked Rhiannon in this role though. She did great.

Orlando : 9/10 annoying at first but super nice. Sucks he believed in that Sheppard sheep cult thing though.

Otan : 1/10 I thought he was mysterious and interesting. But he followed jaha so that's a no.

Paxton McCreary : 4/10 I hated this dude for everything he did to raven, Murphy and shaw. But I have to admit he made s5 interesting.

Picasso : 7/10 I don't like dogs but he was cute. Also he's one of the very very few animals that the humans interacted with that wasn't deadly.

Priya Desai : 4/10 one of the better more entertaining primes.

Raven Reyes : 10/10 my 2nd child in this show. LITERAL DEFINITION OF DESERVED BETTER. ABSOLUTE QUEEN. Yall I got so scared when she and Bellamy fucked cause I was like "no way is she sleeping with him to get back at clarke for sleeping with finn?!?!" But no she was just horny and angry. She was...horngry??? But yeah raven is my babygirl. I love her love her love her to death. She's wonderful. One of the best characters in the whole show. She deserved a happily ever after. I'm convinced that halfway through the writers just liked pissing off the audience by making her suffer so they purposely wrote raven into some really traumatic experiences. But she still survived cause she's a boss bitch. Incredible female representation. Incredible poc representation. Incredible disability representation. RAVEN REYES FOR PRESIDENT.

Reese Cadogan : 3/10 this kid's a dog. He follows his dads' every step and does everything he says. I understand that he just wanted his fathers approval and attention but my goodness he was trying WAAAYYYY too hard. The only reason I give him a 3 is cause I pity him.

Rex : 10/10 AHDHFKSLLKDHALAKDJA stop. Stop everything he was so adorable. Rex Madi and Luca I loved this trio. They were just so adorable.

Riley : 1/10 RILEY?!? Bro I was so confused when they first introduced him cause everyone had a big reaction and they were all shocked to see him but I didn't know how he was important to the story. I thought he was one of the delinquents who went missing and I forgot about him but no he was just someone they all knew from the ark apparently. I didn't like how he was volunteering to go out and be around grounders knowing he had grounder ptsd but whatever. He wasn't that special. Kind of annoying.

Roan : 10/10 big daddy Roan. I loved him. He's sassy which is so attractive. He's so strong and beautiful and has eyes that I could get lost in for the rest of time. I loved Roan he was such an amazing character and I'm so glad we got him. I think his death was appropriate for the character like yeah he died fighting cause he's stubborn and it's def in character for him.

Roma Bragg : 9/10 I liked Roma. She was a delinquent with a lot of potential. Kinda miss her ngl.

Rose : 10/10 that girl is so adorable. It sucks that they were gonna try to use her for that glory and grace of the primes shit. Sweet kid.

Russell Lightbourne : 6/10 lowkey boring as a villain cause he tried to act like he wasn't a villain and never did anything wrong. But I love JR (the actor) he did such a phenomenal job. Like going from playing one villain to an even bigger villain. He had 2 roles and did fantastic with both of them.

Ryker Desai : 6/10 I like ryker and I thought he was quite cute with raven but he was a prime and while yes he didn't fully agree with the actions he still did nothing to stop them so that's a no for me.

Sgt. Lovejoy & Little Lovejoy : 0/10 & 10/10 hated the dad loved the kid cause the kid was a kid who did nothing wrong and he as so adorable and when Bellamy realized that he killed that kids father he got so sad and it broke my heart a little.

Sheidheda : 9/10 I love sheidheda as a villain but seriously dude like you had nothing better to do than terrorize a little girl. He messed with madi so much. He was all in her head and shit and it was so sad to watch. But he def brought flavour to the later seasons. Like he was one of the most interesting parts. JR did amazing with the role. But also the other actor who played him (idk his name) he did a really freaking awesome job too. Def in the running for best male villain.

Shumway : 0/10 douchebag. He tried to screw bell over. I don't like him.

Simone Lightbourne : 4/10 this girl was powerful. I liked watching her. Unfortunately she annoyed me too much to rate her any higher. Great female representation though. Def a boss bitch.

Sterling : 10/10 AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH MY UNDERRATED KING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS BOY HAS MY WHOLE FUCKING HEART. HE'S SO ADORABLE AND HE'S SO BEAUTIFUL AND THERE'S SO MUCH POTENTIAL AND I CAN'T BELIEVE HE FELL OFF A CLIFF AND I MISS HIM AND HE WAS SO FUCKING HOT LIKE PLS RAIL ME DADDY! FUCK ME SENSELESS!! PLS!!KALDLFJALDJDA HE'S SO PRECIOUS MY BABYBOY GOT A HEART OF GOLD I'M HERE FOR IT. WE NEED MORE STERLING APPRECIATION IN THIS FANDOM CAUSE HE'S NOT LOVED ENOUGH. LIKE PLS I CAN'T BE THE ONLY ONE WHO SEES HOW AMAZING HE IS. HE'S SO PERFECT!!!!

Thelonious Jaha : 3/10 he's a good leader. Possibly the best leader in the entire show I won't lie. But he's annoying. I liked him in s1 then I hated him. This man done lost all his senses and quite frankly I feel his death was dragged out and long overdue.

Oh shit I genuinely didn't mean to do that but I ended with 100 names. How fitting. Well anyways that's my very long opinion. Hope you enjoyed. Feel free to let me know your thoughts on anything I've said. I love having discussions.

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Parallels Between Rosita’s Death and Bethyl via @wdway

@wdway:

Here I go again, another long ramble. This one came about from reading comments of so many people who were angry at how peacefully Rosita died. 

Apparently a lot of people felt it was unrealistic on a show about dead people walking around for someone to die in peace. One person did have a very interesting thought. Could Eugene had given Rosita something just like he gave Sasha in s7 to easy her into her final journey? 

I found that idea to be very intriguing so I went back today to rewatch Rosita's death. IMHO Rosita had the most peaceful and beautiful death of the entire TWD series. I decided to not go straight to Rosita's death but to her last supper. And found myself as I often do falling into a rabbit hole.

Rosita's last supper reminded me of Beth and Daryl's. Gabriel the Sirius symbol in the same position as Beth the Christ figure. Rosita and Daryl the two apocalyptic warriors sitting to their left.��

We know that Rosita told Gabriel what is happening, that she is dying and we see that a very watchful and perceptive Judith understanding what must be happening. 

Soon after we see Carol and Maggie helping Rosita to bed. It seemed that Rosita had suddenly become weaker and a bit unsteady on her feet. It occurred to me that if knowing in fact that we were going to very quickly face a very painful death that would turn us into a monster how would we choose to die? I think for most people it would be to simply fall asleep.

I'm theorizing that Rosita was given an overdose of sleeping pills. Unless at some point the writers tell us outright we will never know for sure but the writers did give us a clue in e23 when Princess over the radio gave a code name of Aurora. Aurora or polar lights is a display of brilliant green lights in the northern night sky. Aurora is also the name of a fairy tale princess better known as Sleeping Beauty. 

After Carol and Maggie puts Rosita to bed they leave passing Daryl in the doorway. Again I am reminded of Daryl watching another beautiful young woman from a doorway.

Daryl watches ask Gabriel enters and kneels next to Rosita bed taking her hand in his and begins to pray. I can only imagine that Daryl is witnessing the funeral he wished he could have given Beth. A person who wished to give the dead the respect and honor of a funeral.

Gabriel rises and moves to the other side of the bed while Rosita stretches out her left hand to touch her beloved child, Coco.

The name Gabriel has a very special meaning in the Bible. Gabriel was an Archangel of God and messenger of his good news.

He gives us a prophecy here. We'll see you again someday.

Sirius Messenger Gabriel scoops up the sleeping cocoa and carries her out of the room as Eugene enters. All the while Daryl is watching from the doorway.

Something I realized as I watched Gabriel carrying little Coco dressed in pink and green was that Rosita is not the Sleeping Beauty, she is not Aurora. Cocoa is. Rosita will never awaken from her sleep but Coco will. 

We had just heard the Messenger Galadriel give the good news, we'll see you again someday. Aurora awoke from her deep sleep to find her true love. There is another Aurora. Another Sleeping Beauty and her name is Beth Greene.

Sleep in eternal peace Rosita.

@galadrieljones:

I’m crying at the club. That was beautiful. So sad, but beautiful

Your observations here intrigued me, too. Look at the composition of each shot. Beth is visually paralleled with the pink roses.

I remember those roses. They stood out so prominently ahead of Norman.

I also love your assessment of the angel Gabriel carrying Coco, and how this communicates a connection to Beth.

Also I haven’t talked at all about Rosita’s death. I think it affected me more than any of the other deaths, other than perhaps Lori’s. As a mother, it physically hurt me to watch Gabriel carry Coco away from Rosita. I couldn’t imagine having the strength to let go the way she did in the end. It was very hard to watch, and I’m still sad to think of it.

Lori’s death is the only other death that made me feel physically sick. The others have made me sad, especially Beth’s, which sort of angers me actually. But just Lori’s and Rosita’s have made me feel sick, just because of how much I empathize with them in those final moments, and it makes me think about how terrifying it would be to have to say goodbye to your child forever. Very good show.

It’s very crazy to me how far Rosita came. She started off as such a minor character that barely affected the narrative at all. It wasn’t until season 7 that she really started to come together, and then slowly she became such a pillar in the family. RIP Rosita.

@twdmusicboxmystery​:

Love this too! So beautiful! I couldn’t figure out why specifically they showed Daryl watching. I mean, other than the obvious of Rosita dying. But I think you came up with a very good explanation here. Really love it!

@wdway:

Thank you guys. I appreciate your kind words. When I went back to watch this afternoon I honestly was just thinking in terms of did they give Rosita something to help her die? It just snow balled from there. 

The true reason that I went all the way back to the dinner scene was that I wanted to listen to the Stevie Nicks song. Then when I was watching Rosita and Gabriel I just thought this looks like Alone. When they took Rosita to the beautiful Fairy Tail like bedroom I just thought what a beautiful scene her laying on the bed like a princess. It was Daryl dressed in black that was actually breaking my heart standing in that white doorway. 

I kept thinking that he had to be comparing this to Beth. I started to try to pull Snow White into it but I was starting to get tired even though I tried to go to bed and now I'm back up because I couldn't go to sleep ironically after writing about sleeping for the last few hours. 

I believe it was sleeping pills but Rosita was given because that's what she did, she finally just fell asleep. Can't we still consider that a poison? A take on a poisoned Apple something beautiful but deadly. Dyeing in your sleep isn't that everyone's wish. I thought how in the last year we had the story of the beloved Betty White who died in her sleep. What a beautiful peaceful way to go. Betty White/Snow White.

@galadrieljones, the flowers that are in the vase on the table in front of Daryl are not roses they're tulips. We do see pink roses in the shots with Eugene.

@galadrieljones:

Ah you’re right. They’re tulips! Still the resemblance with the pink stood out to me a lot.

@wdway:

I was thinking how tulips are such a spring flower. There were so many spring flowers in this episode. Spring a resurrection symbol of renewal and rebirth. I was thinking how it's a cliché but the famous phrase about Springtime in Paris. It's winter time though and they're supposed to be filming. I wonder if we'll see cherry blossoms anyway? We did see that one tree as Darrell was carrying Judith through the streets to the clinic there was a white potted pink blossomed tree I wonder if that was supposed to be cherry blossoms?

Isn't it strange how sometimes you put things together and you kind of understand why you're doing it but then later on it truly hits you why you group certain things together. Well this is one of those moments for me.

I think I subconsciously realized that what Beth was doing was reaching out for Daryl. In Daryl's shot he is laying on a white floor(white=Beth) with the black (black =Daryl) diamond representing Beth, he's reaching out for her.

In Rest In Peace Rosita is showing us that an extended arm symbolize reaching out for the most beloved thing in their life.

[kittydemon9000]

SO MERLOPIAN KAI PART 2 ELECTRIC BOOGALOO

So, with Kalmaar, he ofc immediately goes to his parents about his feeling, slightly placing his revenge on hold. They are...dubious about it, but Maya raises the point of how there has never been a human/merlopian hybrid before, and from what Ray has told them about having two EM parents it’s possible for Kai to have some water abilities himself, which could be what gave Kalmaar his feeling. So, they agree to look into it.

Moving on..... Uh. Kai doesn’t have a fun time in S6, as briefly as he’s there. You see, Nahdakahn knows exactly what buttons to press and is able to get Kai into a panicked state where he, on the verge of a panic attack and mental breakdown, just says “I wish that I could just be normal! I wish I could just go home! I wish I could be with dad and mom and father and Kal and Bentho and Nya!!!”

The “normal” comment comes from how they weren’t able to completely hide Kai’s heritage since yeah, there were other people on the boat who saw him. That and he also tried a lot less to keep it hidden. And because some humans are assholes, he has to deal with that.

So ofc, Nahdakahn interprets it in the worst ways and as two wishes. Kai is now a full human yes….but was also sent to where the fish fam currently were……which just so happened to be at the bottom of the ocean.

So yeah, double trauma for both groups. Kai got to experience what drowning felt like, and his fam was essentially forced to watch him die since there was nothing they could do. They were too far under to take him to the surface and too far from the palace to take him there.

But dw, it gets even worse.

You see, the whole reason Nahdakahn is being this malicious about Kai’s wishes is because he learned that Kai was the reason the Preeminent was destroyed, thereby destroying Djinjago.

Nahdakahn is then able to do a “oh? Is this not what you wanted? I thought you wished to be normal.” Which ofc sounds really bad since it’s in front of his family. “But, I understand. You grow tired of the stares in the street, how they whisper behind you back about what you are. Not human, not merlopian, not normal. Just a freak masquerading as one of them.”

This ofc supremely pisses off the fam. Like, weapons drawn ready to commit murder.

But then Nahdakahn stop them with a “ah ah ah, I wouldn’t do that if I were you. After all, I am the only way your son has a chance at living. So go ahead. Make a wish.”

Trimaar ends up being the one to do it, and is smart enough to know this uh will twist it in anyway he can so says. “I wish for Kai to be sent safely to the surface without harm done upon him.”

Blah blah blah, your wish is yours to keep, Trimaar realizing “wait there’s a lot that could be interpreted” but too late BAM now Kai’s kinda stuck on the Misfortune’s Keep.

And he....generally has a pretty bad time. Think Jay but this time it’s personal.

However, Kai’s appearance had Trimaar get the Merlopian army and start heading to the surface. The remaining ninja have a brief moment of “are you kidding me two enemies at once” before learning that this is Kai’s lost family and they’re here to help.

So now the ninja have a whole ass fish army to help them, plus a very protective, very angry fish family.

But for the rest of canon, the only difference is that when they’re leaving Tiger Widow Island, Nya gets snatched along with Jay(who was taken because he hadn’t used his wish yet) and they aren’t stuck on the island, and then later that Kai gets sucked into the sword when the ninja launch their rescue mission.

But yeah, it gets all Un-Happened by Jay’s wish(which at seeing Kai physically hurt and being emotionally torn apart at his baby sister dying, wished that none of this ever happened and that Nahdakahn was never found), only like canon Nya and Jay still remember what happens.

Nya is now firmly on team Kai Is Alive and tells her parents everything about what happened and the wish Jay made, and more importantly where Kai is.

Unfortunately, they need to take some time and prepare. Trimaar and Maya have been doing their best over the years to open the populace possibly making bonds with the humans, but now it’s finally happening. They can’t just go up there out of no where, since from what Nya has told them 1) most humans don’t even know they exist and 2) in the past few years they have been subject of many attacks, mostly from non-humans, so they need to make sure the humans understand they don’t mean any harm.

So DotD happens, then the beginnings of S7 :)

Right out, Kai never liked the museum curator. Up to that point he’d only ever caught fleeting glimpse of him but something about him Kai just despised. As a result, he also visited the museum as scarcely as possible, and thus didn’t notice a very interesting painting containing a two very strange figures.

When he learns his name was Dr.Saunders.....things don’t go well.

It happened when Kai brought the helmet with his dad’s symbol on it. As much as he disliked the curator, he was the most likely to be able to recognize what kind of helmet it was.

Then in his anger he gets himself captured.

He’s taken to a special cell lined with vengestone and has guards around the clock, and Krux takes extra care to make sure Kai doesn’t know where Ray is.

ofc it’s around this time that the Merlopians arrive and express their wishes for a possible alliance between their two races. Unfortunately they showed up at literally the worst time, and double unfortunately the people in charge of diplomacy decide to bring some of the ninja in as an extra precaution because of the villains have been running around.

So the people who join the meeting are Lloyd and Jay from the ninja(they would’ve brought Kai but he hasn’t returned from his missions yet and isn’t answering their calls) as well as some police officers and from the Merlopians is the whole royal family plus a few guards.

Both Jay and Nya have a silent moment of staring at each other since “I know and I’m not sure you know but I think you know but I don’t want to say anything since you might not”

And just as they’re about to start, The Time Twins attack. Because why the hell not.

They’re actually able to hold them off for a while, but unfortunately there are too many Vermillion. Then Kalmaar whips out his Water Powers which causes him to get kidnapped since they need both Fire and Water masters for the blade.

While they’re recovering, Lloyd then gets a panicked call from Zane saying that he checked the museum footage and Kai has been captured. The gets overheard by the royal family, and then Lloyd asks why they looked so upset at which they learn(sans Jay since wish) that Kai is royalty. The eldest son actually, and thus first in line for the throne, as well as being presumed dead for the past five years.

So basically Krux has kidnapped the King and Queen’s husband, the crown prince, and the second in line prince(if anyone knows a more fancy term for this please let me know)

Maya, Trimaar, Nya and Benthomaar are not happy. Not with the Ninjagian people, no they’re fine, but they’re bout ready to murder Krux, and they don’t even know about Ray yet.

So they offer any help they can.

Zap back to how Kai and Kalmaar are doing.

Kalmaar is….kind feral tbh. Like, he’s biting, clawing, trying to strangle them with his tentacles, and before they got vengestone cuffs on him was trying very hard to drown anyone.

Ofc, this does little to the Vermillion and soon Kalmaar finds himself in the cell right next to Kai’s. He’s overjoyed to see his brother again, albeit upset that this is why.

They both reluctantly come to the conclusion that there isn’t much they can do at the moment, and there are many Vermillion guards right outside their cells, so they decide to start catching up.

And for pretty much the rest of the season canon is pretty much the same, just shuffle around the characters a bit and add a protective Fish Fam. 

Though their little trip back in time is quite sight for the Past EMs, especially because of how Kalmaar is using his powers, which leaves Kai mostly stuck in his Fish Form. This time they don’t even bother trying to explain, just give instructions on how to defeat the Vermillion and jumping into the battle. 

And I mean just imagine that from the EMs perspective. An enemy you thought you defeated just returned with a giant metal creature and an army of snake things that don’t look like any kind of Serpentine they’d ever seen. Then a shark person and squid person??? show up and not only do they know how to fight the snake things but they also seem to be Elemental Masters???? Despite the fact Ray is very much alive and they didn’t even know there was a Water EM. Then the two not only summon dragons but they also fuse their dragons into an even bigger one with two heads.

And then all of them disappear into the sky without a trace.

W i l d

But yeah, after that it calms down quite a bit. Kai spends the time skip before S8 reconnecting with his family and his dad, and through some tech courtesy of Borg they're able to bring Ray with them :D

And Kai actually goes to meet the Jade Royal Family since y’know. He’s the crown prince. He’s kinda important and legitimately forgot about it. Luckily Kalmaar is able to help coach Kai through it, but is also a bit smug about how he finally has something to teach to his older brother. Kai was actually the one who suggested asking the ninja for help protecting the mask.....but we know how that inevitably ends.

Bentho, Kal and Nya were actually on the ship for this particular adventure, and then Nya and Bentho were dragged along when they got sent to the First Realm. Bentho, despite being the youngest sibling and to the surprise of literally everyone, was actually really good with kids and spent the most time with Little Wu, right behind Cole.

But yeah S9......Nya and Bentho have a really bad time in the First Realm beause of the heat, but at least they don’t get captured. Kai on the other hand....

Yeah at some point he gets accidentally splashed with water and well.....it definitely doesn’t help with the Oni accusations. The Dragon Hunters decide to burn him along with the Wind Dragon, which moves up their Build Our Own Dragon time table.

After they escape Faith is actually pretty chill about the whole fish thing, but she does ask a lot of questions. 

And then S10..... kinda the same. They end up dropping off as many people as they can with the Merlopians since the smoke can’t reach them.

I might make a Part 3 for the rest of the seasons, but yeah. this is where we’re at.

[rufeepeach]

1/2 I'm a rumbelle shipper indeed! I actually made it through 3 seasons and I know it would hurt but the question is how much? (I mean I don't like to get hurt at all, but I used to be a game of thrones fan and a Jaime/Brienne shipper, so if no one ends up crying in the middle of a winter night in a nightgown while the other one leaves to die the stupidest death ever with his fucking twin sister - I probably could bear it (sorry it's been 3 years and I'm still fuming)).

2/2 Like, on the scale from 1 to 10 where 1 is a fluffy happy ending and 10 is something that makes you want to scream, throw things, wipe out your memory and regret coming across this show - how bad it is?

So as I've said to my mind you've already gotten everything you're going to get out of OUAT lol.

HOWEVER it sounds like you're gonna keep going despite it all which... it would be hypocritical of me to criticise that decision. So. You're probably aware season 7 is totally different to the others - it's set I think like 20(?) years later but also time fuckery generally means some characters are older and some stay the same age (i.e. we keep the actors who wanted to stay on and lose everyone else).

All this to say, there’s two endings: S6, which ends the series storyline started in the pilot, and S7, which tries to end all of it, only more and bigger and with more CGI WHEEE!!

The S6 finale, I will admit, is pretty fucking good. 6B had no right to pull it out of the hat the way it did after the absolute crap they’d been pulling for years by that point, but y’know what? It works. And if you decide that the whole of 6A was the villain of 6B fucking with everyone’s head with magic to get her way a-la Community’s ‘gas leak’ season you can even overlook some of the OOC melodrama. So, S6 ends pretty perfectly. You should stop there. That’s where I meant to stop. It is an unapologetically happy ending - they make a big deal, actually, out of it being a ‘happy beginning’. Nice subversion of the fairytale thing, you thought, nice way to say ‘the first day of the rest of their lives’ we all said.

And in my opinion, you need to stop there and accept S7 as the creators’ bad fanfic.

S7 then has one (1) Rumbelle episode where it crumples that nice hopeful ‘happy beginning’ into a ball and throws it into the saddest possible well it could find because what we really needed was to see the whole happy ending play out and somehow still end tragically for Rumple.

Some people love S7 - I’ll be clear that I only saw that one episode and the finale (which uh, also sucked imho?) - so I’ll let others clarify if it’s actually worth watching. No disrespect to anyone who did watch it! Weaver gets a lot of love and Hook seems better in that season but I really had had enough by then.

As you can tell, I have a lot of very bitter opinions about this show. Y’know since these responses get longer every time.

[zeppelin-and-unicorns]

so i’ve been reading a lot of post season 8 JH fics and my heart literally hurts from all the angst. do you have any recommendations for more happy and fluffy multi chapter fics??

PS. I keep rereading TSG for the family cuteness

There's nothing I love more than family cuteness, man. I'm glad you like TSG so much!!

And I get you 😭😭😭 There are some J/H fics where the angst is downright cruel to us.

Whenever the angst gets too much for me, I take a small break and read a fluffy one-shot or a chapter of s8 redo (my comfort fic), and it always makes me feel better!

Anyway, here's a list with all the fluffy multichapter stories that make me swoon:

Catch The Bouquet by heatherlea75 (post s8):

It's a post s8 fic, but I promise you it's fluffy as hell. Trust me.

Fate has been unkind to Jackie Burkhart for too long. She has a plan to change that, and to obtain what is rightfully hers a glorious wedding. Though she doesn’t know it, she needs a little help, and a surprising person is perfectly willing to offer it.

This story is complete, and it has an adorable sequel, called Pop The Question.

6k words, 2 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna

Escaping The Friendzone by KayRight (AU canon divergence):

Jackie doesn’t take Kelso back at their prom. Instead, she starts an odd friendship with Hyde. They both want more but the only problem is he thinks she’s on the rebound and she thinks he’s not interested.

This story is complete.

73k words, 23 chapters.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Also Available on AO3

Everything Works If You Let It by Ultrawoman (AU canon divergence):

Jackie and Hyde pretty much hated each other from the get go, and yet he still agreed to take her to Prom. Kelso was unable to win Jackie back that night, and everything changed between the rich cheerleader and the Zen Master. S1 rewritten from ‘Prom Night’.

This story is complete and it’s SO CUTE.

60k words, 23 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Focus by Jenny7 (AU):

After a metaphysical awakening, Hyde develops the ability to telepathically connect with a single stranger. What he doesn’t expect is that the girl that he shares the connection with, a rich cheerleader with a complicated past, will forever alter his views on life and love.

SO GOOD. It’s complete and it has a sequel (that’s not complete but still worth the read), called Darlin, Walk Awhile With Me.

2k words, 19 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde.

It Must Be Love by That-Maria-Girl (missing scenes):

What happened after the Valentine’s dance.

4k words, 2 chapters.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Mistaken Messages by MistyMountainHop (soulmate AU):

Slightly angsty at first because Jackie and Hyde are dumbasses, but at the same time it's so fluffy, ugh. This is probably my favorite soulmate story ever.

Jackie longs for her soulmate to accept her, and Hyde hopes his will leave him alone because he’s in love with someone else. A stack of mystical index cards lets them communicate with their as-yet unidentified soulmates. But the more their soulmates write, the less control Jackie and Hyde seem to have over their fate.

This story is complete.

23k words, 5 chapters.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna

Also Available on AO3

New York, New York by Shabbuuu (AU canon divergence):

This one is also on my top favorite stories of all time, do yourself a favor and read this, it’s amazing.

What if Hyde did go to New York City with Chrissy? It’s 1981 and Jackie has just moved to NYC for a job. What happens when she runs into a familiar face at a bar?

This story is complete.

40k words, 38 chapters.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Of All Things Creepy and Unnatural by CaedanceLaura (AU canon divergence):

Also on my top favorites, lol. I can’t help myself, I really love AU’s.

What if Donna and Eric hadn’t found out about Hyde and Jackie? Hyde and Jackie manage to keep their relationship a secret for much longer. How will this change the development of their relationship without having their friends lack of support and ridicule in the beginning?

Not complete, but it ends in a nice place. No cliffhangers here.

56k words, 16 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna

One Difference: Hyde Goes to Kelso’s Ice Shack by MistyMountainHop (AU canon divergence):

Kelso plans to get Jackie back by taking her to his uncle’s “fabulous” cabin in the woods. He has everything in place—the right lie, the right couple to emulate—but an unexpected variable threatens to dismantle his scheme: Steven Hyde.

This story is complete.

21k words, 5 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna

Season 8 redo by tanith75 (s7 fix-it):

This is the most famous story of the fandom for a reason.

The story starts after the s7ep21 episode, so there’s no Chicago problems or people going to Africa over here :) It’s amazingly written, it’s funny as hell, and it honestly feels like I’m watching an episode of the show when I’m reading it. It’s amazing, it’s what should’ve happened in the show.

This story is not complete, but please, don’t let this stop you from reading it.

293k words, 42 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna, Red/Kitty, Fez/Laurie, Kelso/Brooke

Stuck With You by nannygirl (post s8, Christmas fic):

Christmas 1980 with the Formans, just like any other Christmas right? Not exactly. Find out what makes this Christmas so memorable. It’s a story about the whole family!

This story is complete (and it’s one of my favs).

50k words, 21 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna, Kelso/Brooke, Red/Kitty, Fez/?

That 70s show by Zenmaster21 (AU):

What if Jackie had dated Hyde from the beginning instead of Kelso? This is simply a re-write of the episodes had Jackie and Hyde always been together.

One of my favorites stories from the entire fandom.

Not complete, but please read it, it’s worth it.

Trigger warning for child abuse.

152k words, 37 chapters.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna

The Love I Need by myboygeorge (missing scenes):

Everyone knows when Jackie and Hyde first hooked up. But when did they become lovers? Set as an extension of Season 5’s ‘Over the Hills and Far Away’.

3k words, 3 chapters.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

The One Where Jackie Moves In by Floweerchild96 (AU):

Jackie has been living in New-York with her family but after her father goes to jail and her mother abandons her, she is forced to return to a town she thought she was done with for good. How will Jackie’s reemergence in the basement effect the gangs lives?

A really good story, but unfortunately, it’s not complete. Still worth the read.

103k words, 20 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna.

You Can’t Hurry Love by holeygeorge (post s8, Christmas fic):

It’s 1983, the gang is getting ready for Christmas and the New Years.

Not complete, but extremely fluffy.

40k words, 16 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

I know you asked only for multi chapter fics, but if you're feeling like reading some fluffy one-shots, I highly recommend for you to check out springsteenicous profile on AO3. Their one-shots are so cute that I literally blush when I'm reading them.

[vices-aand-virtues]

As we make our way into the final episodes of Younger, I have some Thoughts™️

1. I have seen a lot of talk about how Liza would be better off alone than with Charles because then she is right back where she started when the series begins. Though likely is part of her thought process, this is incorrect for a couple of reasons. First, Liza is in a completely different place in her life than she was when we first met her. She has a fabulous career in publishing and, even when they’re not together, the support of Charles. She doesn’t have a baby at home to take care of; Charles’s daughters are old enough to be relatively self-sufficient in terms of not needing someone to watch over them all the time. Then we have to look at all of this together and realize this, the second point: Liza didn’t think she could + wasn’t allowed to have both a career and a family most of her life. Now she has seen that she not only can do it, she’s great at it. She is extremely successful and loves her work, but still has time for her daughter and form/maintain a solid relationship with Nicole and Bianca. She still makes time for the things that are important to her outside of work. She gave up part of herself to stay at home and be just a wife and just a mom for almost two decades. Then she gave up some of herself to maintain her lie. Now she’s thriving at work and fully and openly herself for the first time in YEARS. For to have a brilliant career with more to come AND a wonderful partner/husband/whatever is a WONDERFUL resolution for her based on where she started.

2. To have this much Liza/Charles tension and back and forth and more “will they won’t they” AGAIN, after waiting 5 seasons for them to get together, just over one full season of them actually together, only for them not to end up together is absurd and makes no sense. Liza has had this entire season to accept that she and Charles are donezo and move on, but she hasn’t, and not for lack of trying. It’s more clear every episode how drawn to one another they are despite themselves. To put them through all that for a contrived “girl power” ending would be a huge disservice to the characters and the show.

3. Speaking of, I’m exhausted by “girl power” endings of late because they’re inorganic and forced. It’s supposed to come across as empowering for a woman to choose her career over love or a relationship, but it’s actually just a sexist take from the opposite end of the spectrum. Women can have both!! We are 20 years into the 21st century!! A woman can PRIORITIZE her career over romantic entanglements, but women don’t — and shouldn’t!! — have to choose at this point. We already know that Liza isn’t defined by her relationship to a man. We know she is a strong woman who isn’t afraid to ask for + take + go after what she deserves. I don’t need to see her choose her career because she is already thriving! She does not have to be alone for X number of years so she can get her career on track. It’s there. She’s on the journey. What would benefit her most would be something she hasn’t had before — a steady and fully supportive long-term partner. Imagine what it would be like for her to finally be married or lifelong committed to someone she is wildly in love with, who is wildly in love with her, who also fully supports her career, is her biggest cheerleader, who believes in her and sees her talents more clearly than anyone else. Hello!!

4. Liza is clearly still very in love with Charles and vice versa. In the past, when her relationships have ended, the desire to get back together was pretty one-sided. It wasn’t, like, super easy for her to get over, but she made peace with it and moved on. That has yet to happen. She just can’t let Charles go completely. She is trying to be supportive of his relationship and assures him she just wants him to be happy, but we have heard her say more than once that she is still in love with him, and her actions are pretty indicative of that as well.

5. Until S7, Charles has always chosen Liza. Even given the current circumstances, he still keeps choosing her in a different way. He knows she is on his side. He knows she is great at her job. He knows she supports him. No matter their relationship status, he knows those things to be true. That’s why he always takes her up on any offers she makes to him in S7 — because he knows who she is. He chooses her to be his work partner or support system or his sounding board. And she allows herself to be chosen; she ASKS to be chosen. He doesn’t have to accept and she doesn’t have to offer, but they do it anyway. It’s a conscious daily choice they continue to make.

6. Charles would never in a million years marry Quinn because she wouldn’t be a good stepmother to his daughters. We may have seen ~some~ dimension from Quinn, but ultimately she’s a ruthless, manipulative, conniving snake. She’s fake and primarily has a “what’s in it for me” attitude. There’s no way Charles would want that to be the example his daughters live with, and honestly I don’t think Pauline would even allow it. If he thought Liza’s baggage created complications for his custody, I cannot even imagine the turmoil Quinn would cause. Quinn is a loose cannon. Pauline is a little bit of a bitch when it comes to Liza, but she’s smart enough to know/see who Quinn really is, and with Liza, it’s at least “the devil you know.”

7. It would be completely nonsensical for Charles and Quinn to get married/end up together because a) we barely know her and b) he was just proposing to Liza. From both a logical and writing standpoint, it doesn’t make sense. It would be some piss poor storytelling for that to happen. On the flip side, it would make sense for Josh to end up with Clare, a late-entry side character, because we have known her longer and know they have a history. The same can’t be said about Charles and Quinn. If Quinn hadn’t become so involved with Empirical, if she had just been another author, her relationship with Charles would be about as meaningful as his relationship with Rhada. But since we see her through Liza’s eyes and we see her be an annoying presence at Empirical post-Charliza split, it seems like a bigger deal than it actually is.

8. Putting her back with Josh at this point would be a worse ending than Game of Thrones. It would be a twist that came out of nowhere that writers would justify by saying the signs were there all along. Liza more than once has made clear that she has chosen Charles over Josh. She has showed us that’s the case. For her to suddenly have an epiphany with two episodes left, especially considering how little shared screen time they have, would be total fanservice and a complete regression from all the growth they BOTH have had. It’s also, like, not fair to Josh to keep waiting on her and hoping she will come back? He deserves some reciprocity and stability too?

9. We have seen only the benefits when it comes to Charles being impulsive in matters of the heart...until now. I totally understand his heartache at her counter proposal and I, personally, think she’s being stupid. But regardless, I think for him to just walk away from their relationship at that point was a pretty knee-jerk reaction that he didn’t think through. And I think his pride is a little hurt over his perception of her not WANTING to marry him, so instead of trying to work it out or compromise, he’s digging his heels in. He jumped into a relationship with Quinn, which was clearly impulsive. Rational, level-headed Charles would not have done that. In fact, he laughs off the suggestion of it in S5 and says the iconic, “divorced moms from Jersey are more my style.” I believe cooler heads will prevail.

10. I REFUSE TO BE VICTIM TO ANOTHER SHIP WHOSE TENSION AND FEELINGS WERE TEASED AND BUILT UP OVER 5 SEASONS ONLY FOR THEM TO BREAK UP OVER SOMETHING STUPID AFTER ONE AND A HALf SEASON AS A COUPLE AND THEN GET BACK TOGETHER IN THE LAST 5 MINUTES!!!! I WILL NOT!!

Anyway Team Charles 4 Lyfe. Here’s hoping these idiots in love stop being idiots and start being just IN LOVE.

[ciceroisthefamilycat]

In 2015, Glee was ending after having defined my high school and beginning of college experience of fandom. There were other smaller fandoms along the way, occurring in tandem with it, but I knew the end was coming on that.

A couple months before the finale aired, I decided to go ahead and marathon Arrow, since my family had finally gotten Netflix and I had been watching Flash from the start for Grant. Laurel absorbed me, and I got sucked into a new fandom to fill some of the emptiness that Glee was leaving me with. And then they piloted Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow that same spring to premiere the following season (I was in New York City the night of the premiere of LOT, and I got to see the promotion they did in a major media market). After Arrow did the unthinkable and killed Laurel, I really almost gave up on the whole thing, but I was in too deep already, with my attachment to the other three shows and Katie’s return.

I didn’t like all their shows equally- I was tempted to give up on Legends after Rip’s sacrifice in the S3 finale, and again at the end of S6; I was angry about the casting of RR for Kate, and only watched the first season of BW weeks after episodes would air, but then Javicia came in (from GFM) and I loved Ryan and could enjoy the show more- especially Mary’s development and probably my favorite canon ship in a long while, Wildmoore. S7 of Legends was one its best- Astra and Spooner and Behrad and Gideon and the Zaris and Robots and reinvesting in the time-travel theme.

Despite knowing that the network is up for sale and shows were going to be cut, I wasn’t prepared for these two to both be axed, especially on the same day. And I have a lot of bitterness about it right now. But especially because it feels like a fandom experience of seven years just got chopped with Flash probably coming to an end next season as final vestiges to at least unfurl slowly. Even with Stargirl, S&L, and Naomi (the last of which, I have limited hope for its continuance), an era is coming to an end. And that hurts so suddenly.

[piracytheorist]

What are your thoughts on Dark Hook and Dark Swan in ouat in general?

To preface my thoughts, I want to first talk about how the writers of OUAT may have had good ideas for a show, but they lack the ability to execute them well. I think the main reason most of us loved the show was because seasons one and two were quite good - and those were the seasons that the writers had years in front of them to plan out - and then we were just into it. From season 3 onward, you can see the writing quality decline, from the occasional wtfs of s3 to the outright out-of-character, pointless, even backpedalling decisions pretty much all the characters took in s6 (I believe that the main reason s7 worked was because they had a lot of clean-slate characters, even Rogers had a different path to expand from). So there’s the theme of the writers having great ideas, but they can’t work on a very small time frame and develop a whole season in the span of a few months, so their ideas fall flat.

Onto Dark Hook and Dark Swan.

Again, Dark Swan is a great idea; Emma facing her strongest fears, just at the time that she’s fully ready to accept her future and move on from her past pain. But what they failed to realize is how complicated of a concept that is, and how to give it justice, it needs more than a half-season with a limited screentime because of the development of other characters, as all ensemble cast shows have to do. Add to that the fact that the writers wanted to pander to the audience with ANGST! for CS and the obligatory SQ-but-no-homo storyline... with a group of writers that can’t execute their ideas... on a limited screentime... you get this.

And this is a magnificent failure, not only by itself, but most importantly its consequences.

The Dark CS storyline has zero consequences. As proven by the horribly-written s6, Emma doesn’t learn to trust in her family. She doesn’t learn to stop working on her own, to recognize her work - I mean, when she comes back from the Underworld, she’s all “Boohoo I should never have gone there” like bish you saved Killian? You helped souls move on? Bish? - or learn from her own mistakes. Killian... he just falls deeper into self-loathing, and I’m not sure how that’s a positive development from him. He was already on the path of making himself better, of wanting to repent; he didn’t need to assist in nearly killing Emma’s entire family, close and extended, in order to have a development.

And of course, there’s the matter of the heavy things both of them did; Emma ripped out Violet’s heart to force her to break Henry’s heart in order to get his tears. She literally manipulated things and people’s - her own son’s! - emotions to get to the final point. Which may have been a noble cause, freeing Merlin from his prison, but immoral acts for a noble cause? That’s the work of an Anti-Hero character, not a Hero character. And that’s not something the writers realized let alone admitted in the narrative.

Same with saving Killian’s life, against his own dying wish. I actually recently remembered this exchange they had:

Killian: Do you have any idea how it feels to not be in control of yourself? [...] Emma: I know exactly how it feels! Everyone I’ve ever loved abandoned me!

And like, what’s the connection between point A and point B? Killian is talking to her about becoming a puppet to someone, not having free will of choice, and Emma is talking about how she had no control over when people would leave her. One is a terrifying matter, and the other is something everyone goes through. You can’t choose when the people you love will die, and you will meet people who will hurt you.

But because Emma has had that latter a little too much, she wanted control over it. And with the Dark One’s powers, she was even more inclined to use them to make sure it doesn’t happen. Ergo, her taking away Killian’s consent, when he was choosing to die. And then again by hiding Excalibur from him, lying to him about it, forcing him to talk to her by summoning him when he had chosen to go away because he was enraged over the previous three betrayals, and then by taking away his memories when she concluded that he was “too far gone”. Again, manipulation and control, in order to save Killian’s life - when he didn’t want to be saved, btw - all acts of an Anti-Hero character.

And then you have Killian. I’ve said before how I think most of the things he said and done as a Dark One were Killian’s actual deep fears - that he had become a lovesick puppy dog, that Emma was eventually going to push him away and revert to her “orphan” state, that he had no hope of making amends for his villainous past, so might as well give up trying, and making sure Rumpelstiltskin doesn’t hurt him again - so having him say both things like “That’s why you’ll always be an orphan” and “I might have given you your wife back. Soiled, but returned” on the same episode, you kinda wonder, how much of that does he mean? What the hell is going on?

The fact that right after waking up, he desires to die because he thinks he deserves to more than Emma does, the fact that after Emma rescues him he’s a mess with guilt... those kinda point to the fact that he had some control over what he was doing, or at least his feelings behind them - that, for example, he regrets allowing the Dark Ones to nearly kill Emma’s family and friends just so he could have his revenge on Rumpelstiltskin.

So, you’ve got some heavy issues. Manipulation, betrayal of trust, controlling and disregard of consent on the one side, and humiliation, degradation and homicidal attempt on the other side.

What are the consequences of all that? Nothing. The Dark CS storyline is forgotten, Killian’s guilt over it is mentioned once in the later episodes and then never again.

All those required at least a moment to sit and talk about. Killian feeling guilty over it for about one episode - and just for the things he did! God forbid we have Emma face the emotional consequences her actions had on other people - doesn’t even begin to reach enough. 

So overall, it was a very interesting concept, with a less than promising introduction and execution, and an outright disappointing and unrealistic conclusion. And I’m saying this as a CS fan - I’m not saying nothing of this should’ve happened. It was interesting to see how they happened, to see Emma’s and Killian’s deepest fears surface and take control of their actions, but it was disappointing to see that it lead to nothing. It was emotionally taxing, especially if you connected to the characters, and then it was nothing. It never happened, please look away and look! Cruella’s back and we got a villain with blue flaming hair please keep watching the show despite the fact that we disregard one of the oldest rules of storytelling by not providing Catharsis!

So yeah. Disappointing, 0/10, wouldn’t invest in anything A&E write again.

[jakeperalta]

Hi. So I was watching a Gilmore Girls marathon yesterday..they were on season 7. I am familiar with the show even if I haven't watched all of it. What's the deal with Marty lying about knowing Rory to his gf? I think she was also pretty good friends with her at that point..so what was she supposed to do in that situation when he acts like they never met? Did he do that because he still had a crush on Rory or something? And I think he also hates Logan cuz Rory rejected him and got with Logan..right? Is it ever even explained? I kinda get why Rory wouldn't say anything..cuz it might cause problems for Marty's relationship..like she would ask him why did he lie..but he was just never gonna tell her either..which is weird. Idk what I would do in the situation..but they agreed to go to dinner..then Logan tells her the truth..which didn't help..but his gf was more mad at Rory for not telling her? What happens after that? I will watch it eventually but I find the whole plotline weird. Season 7 just seemed a lot different..I guess cuz Lorelai and Chris were together..and the Luke and April drama..idk. I mean I think Lorelai and Chris sort of work..more as friends maybe than being in love and he doesnt fit in her life or town like Luke does..but parent weekend was kinda cute. I kinda missed it..did she just randomly elope with Chris cuz she wanted to with Luke before she slept with him? She is just impulsive..Rory said she would talk her out of it lol. Also why do people say Rory and Logans relationship is unhealthy? I mean I know their relationship started differently..but he told her he didnt want a gf first and then became a pretty good bf after..and maybe they are not thinking of season 7 anyway...but from what I saw..it is. Even when they disagree, they talk it out, she took care of him when he got hurt, the love rocket! But I get this is all in season 7...so I guess that's why people don't like him. Even still, it doesn't make sense to compare it to Jess cuz they were still more serious than her and Jess before that too. I think all the relationships including Lorelai have good and bad things too. Sorry this is long..but I just wanted to ask you about these and how you felt about season 7 in general compared to the rest of the show?

yeah season 7 is definitely a bit of a weird season and does have a slightly different feel because the sherman-palladinos don't write it. I do still like it (more than a lot of fans I think) but a lot of the choices the writers make are sort of confusing. the whole thing with marty feels like they're trying to dredge up the old rory/logan/marty triangle even though that was barely a thing to begin with. I can see why rory was in an awkward situation not really knowing whether to go along with pretending they didn't know each other. it also just sort of fizzles out like rory apologises to lucy and it turns out lucy and marty breakup anyway so it was a sort of pointless storyline.

I can kind of appreciate the reasoning behind lorelai and christopher because I think chris was always sort of lorelai's one that got away and it was only in giving their relationship a real shot that she realises they weren't meant to be. I do enjoy watching their dynamic but the thing that bugs me with them in s7 really is just the fact they elope without telling rory, it seems out of character considering lorelai wouldn't marry luke until her rift with rory was over because rory is too important to leave out of something like that.

I agree about rory and logan and I think that's one of the strengths of season 7, because the original plan was probably just to have logan go off to london and choose his family over rory and that be the end of them, but actually developing their relationship is a lot more interesting. obviously they're still not perfect but I think rory and logan in season 7 (up until the last couple of episodes 😬) are one of the healthiest relationships and best examples of good communication on the show!

[gingit-cake]

Therapeutic Gallavich

I’ve been wanting to write a tribute post to the Gallavich universe as a free source of therapy during the pandemic. I’m somewhat tongue in cheek here, but in a country (USA) where we have too little mental health support and too much stigma about mental health, diving into the Gallavich fandom and binging Shameless over the past 6m has been a really comforting coping mechanism for me. There is so much grief and loss in the world, so many ways our government and - for many people - our peers have failed us, that the fictional world of Ian and Mickey has been a wonderful source of comfort, in a lot of ways. It’s a retreat from the IRL shitshow. It’s got endless permutations of happy endings, to give us that serotonin boost and vicarious thrill. And given Mickey and Ian’s respective struggles - homophobic and sexual abuse, mental illness, neglect, parental death, incarceration, etc. - there are also countless fanfics that include therapy, recovery, and informal paths towards healing from past trauma. I’ve never related to a show so personally as I have Shameless, and binging it during the pandemic - when social isolation leaves way too much time for rumination, compounded by being at midlife and the reflection that triggers - it basically ripped open my heart and dredged up long buried stuff I’m finally willing to address. My husband and I watched the S7 finale on New Year’s Day, and let’s just say 2021 has been an emotional retcon of my life since. (I’m learning all the creative, literary terms.)  (And don’t worry, strangers on the internet, I am fortunate to have a therapist and the insurance to pay for it. I wish we all had this.)

There’s been a few fanfics I explicitly want to give a shoutout too as ones featuring therapy or recovery or conversations that have stayed with me in a meaningful way.  Excerpts, tributes, and links below the jump. Possible spoilers for Enemy Lines, Someone to Hold Me Up, Buy and By, and Etherized Against the Sky.

Enemy Lines, by J_Q and stars_fall_on - Ian has a therapist Dr. Lancaster, who introduces him to the concept of rumination:

“He felt a tightening in his chest. Did he even want to let go of Mickey? If not, what the hell was he still holding onto? A memory. A feeling. A belief that he’d made a real connection. But nothing substantial. Nothing real. // 'Ian, is there something hindering you from wanting to move on?" she asked then sat back, looking closely at him. “Are you familiar with the term rumination? // ... // Rumination, as opposed to worry, very often focuses on loss and an overpowering need to understand why something happened.' She continued to watch him closely as she spoke. 'While emotional processing starts out this way, healthy processing leads to acceptance and a release of negative emotions, but rumination keeps you stuck in a pattern.’”

THIS is my brain in a nutshell. As I wrote in a comment on one of the chapters to this amazing slow burn, enemies-to-lovers fic, I’ve got relationships from 20y+ ago that I still brood over. I’m working on letting go and the Gallavich universe has been a creative inspiration for doing some of that work. 

Someone to Hold Me Up, by @westernredcedar - Mickey has a conversation with an OC about forgiveness, after reconnecting with Ian in this hurt/comfort fic:

“'You ever have to forgive your guy for something?' Mickey asks. // Mel laughs. 'Of course. Daily, actually. The man’s a damn slob.' // Mickey snorts, but then he runs his hand over his mouth and tries to actually get to the point. ‘What about something big?' // Mel looks like he’s considering the question thoughtfully, and Mickey realizes that somewhere in the midst of all this madness, he’s really gotten to like this guy. 'I have lots of thoughts about forgiveness, actually,” Mel says with an eyebrow raised. “So you may not want to get me started on that theme. But it’s more about my parents and my sister than about Jeffrey, if that matters. I guess for me it all boils down to this: would it cost me more to forgive or cost me more to stay angry? And my answer to that question is not the same for everyone.’”

This conversation about forgiveness has really stayed with me. One of the reasons I’ve realted so much to the character of Ian Gallagher is I had a hothead brunet of a boyfriend in high school during that same age range (15-17) who is probably the same height as Noel Fisher and caused no shortage of DRAMA in my life, and it didn’t end well. (We were definitely NOT soulmates.) I am serious when I say Shameless and Gallavich specifically helped me let a lot of this 30y old angst go. This exchange b/w Mickey and Mel gets at it - it was costing ME a lot to hang on to this past. 

By and By, by @nowherenj - This one I’m not going to excerpt, because it was the whole story that moved me. Nowherennj draws on their experience in recovery, and this slow burn is both beautifully written and a primer on being in recovery. This was really helpful for me, as I have close friends and family who are in recovery, some with a dual diagnosis (drug use + mental health diagnosis), and this story’s generous attention to detail helped illustrate their experiences for me in a way that we don’t talk about on a regular basis. One of the reasons I identify so strongly with Shameless is because I come from a big sprawling Irish-American family with a lot of addiction and mental illness in it. This fic about Ian and Mickey in recovery makes explicit much of what I think my family hovers around because it can be so hard to talk about openly. I wept reading this one when the author brought in The Avett Brothers’ No Hard Feelings - how I want to live my life.   

Etherized against the Sky, by Snarfle - This one is less about my own therapeutic journey and more about what I hope I can be for young adults that I work with now. It has a character in it named Mr. Strickland, who is a very important father figure for Mickey. I was a professor for a decade, and still mentor young adults in my current job. I think one of the unsung roles that I experienced in academia is too be a mentor for young people. Some instructors are just about curriculum and grading, but when you cross paths with young adults at the beginning of this stage of life, figuring their sh*t out, the ability to be a kind and safe source of input and an active, non-judgemental listener is honestly the most fulfilling aspect of working with students and young professionals, in my view. Maybe it’s because the years 15-25 were such chaos for me, but I love working with people this age (and probably why I hang around on Tumblr despite my near eligibility for AARP lol). You’ve got your whole life in front of you! So many possibilities! Full of hot boyfriends and tomato plants and rescue dogs and heated pools. :) 

There are surely more, I’ve realized that “hurt/comfort” is a great tag for these kinds of stories. But this post is already too long. Thanks to all of you in the fandom who have created art and narrative that have kept me coming back for more, and not feeling so alone in the pandemic. We are a mighty little community!

[buffywatching]

fucking hell where do i begin (here’s that huge s7 finale post)

i don’t watch tv shows.. not really. i cant really remember the last time i’ve loved a piece of media so fully, but it’s been a while. um….. it’s a lot of emotions. i’m also in the middle of a bad cold so i don’t think that helps. i’m trying to think of a way to make this as condensed as possible but to hell with it i don’t think it can be

there’s just some things like this that stick around for a really long time in your life, and i guess i’m just really glad to have watched it, and at an age where things mean a lot and kinda help you get through your life, even if it’s for 6 months

i’ve accepted that this is gonna be quite dramatic and long as hell. but i guess from the perspective of someone who’s just finished it for the first time, it’s alright for it to be so.

the actual ending? good, really very good. the last 3 episodes in fact, altogether, really very good. they just really sat down and last minute gave us so much. even just with relationships, what takes seasons to happen took mere minutes, and it was really great i think. i just.. could say so much about each individual character it would never end. and i don’t know who reads these things anyway. time to get brutally honest,,

buffy….sweet buffy. as far as main characters in shows go, you fucking kick ass. like everyone, you have your unsavoury moments, but you somehow managed to stay favourable throughout a whole 7 seasons?? died and came back??? didn’t stop fighting through sheer will alone???? i will say your most interesting parts are shown when you’re in a really dark place, but i just really like angst

our beloved willow was almost nominated for ‘character that i started out loving and didn’t like at the end’, mostly because of her arcs toward the end of the series. especially during s6, you were definitely pissing me off.. though you redeemed yourself pretty well i still think i liked you a lot more in the beginning. still, your power at the end is so amazing!!!! slayers everywhere!!!! things can be a little normal? also, i’m very happy about you being gay

xander! i fucking hated you for a long time. a LONG time.. and then magically you grew to be one of the best characters in this whole thing. when i say i want to pay for everyone’s therapy, xander goes first!! this dude has gone through . so so much . in life before scoobies and after it’s just thing after thing after thing!!!!! and still he goes on without any special powers!!!!! tries to have a somewhat normal life!!! he specifically gets the award for one of the best character growths in the long term . sorry i hated you king but you were pretty insufferable at first

giles . beloved . person who i share a name with here and who i DIDN’T think would stick it out till the very end, unfortunately you also turned from being someone i absolutely loved at first to just kinda Being There at the end. though you peaked in the first seasons there will always be a space for you in my heart <3 except when you tried to kill spike what was up with that. rip ripper spinoff you would’ve been so good

everyone else…… hmm. angel, you are so silly to watch back when you still acted like you were 18 comparing you to your spinoff where god knows what is happening at all times. thank you for being buffy’s little soulmate person and having chemistry together after your breakup <3 and THANK YOU for giving us angelus the first time around it’s one of my favourite things ever

DAWN…. dawn!!! i really didn’t like you when you first appeared!!! and then you became so normal it’s weird not seeing you there at first. i kinda think she’d make a good watcher. she’s also such a baby gay, i wish we got that AND i wish we got more silly spike banter with her

spike……… oh pathetic little spike :) your back must hurt for carrying the show so much. when i met james marsters i literally told him the show would be nothing without him, and that wasn’t for no reason!!! when you first appeared you instantly turned the whole vibe around and put spice into the plot, and you continued doing so for like, 6 years. i could write like 10 pages on this guy alone but i’ll spare all of you………… thank you for being a fucking WEIRDO, someone with mommy issues, a menace, a murderer, destroyer of the mf hellmouth, a poser, and someone with really cool character development (you beat xander!)

FAITH!!!!!!!!! you left and then you came back!!!!!!! your vibes are just . for the small parts you were here you also carried the show tbh i really didn’t think you’d pull through!!!!! you and buffy shouldve kissed for real

anya!!! you died!!!!! i actually think you should’ve died a WHILE ago when buffy first wanted to kill you tbh. you were really great for a while but you didn’t really add anything to the show after your breakup with xander sorry queen

cordelia….. <3 oh queen. they’ve been slaughtering you on angel but while you were here you were SO good.. you and xander should’ve stayed together tbh

OZ!!!!!!!! i love you oz. trans king. I SO WISH WE GOT YOU BACK FOR THE FINALE :( but hey live your best life!!!!!!! you mostly did nothing wrong!!!!!!! however keeping your lead singer the same was a total crime he SUCKED ass on vocals

somehow this turned into me writing little love letters to everyone !

drusilla, thank you for existing and blessing the show with ur presence. i wish we got more closure on what happened to her.

tara my love. shoutout to amber benson for being the coolest person ever, and for tara for being the only good soul in the whole show!!!!! gone too soon!!!!!!!!gay rights!!!!

kennedy. i don’t like you willow’s too good for you and you’re edgy in a bad way

ANDREW people don’t like you but i liked you <3 honestly we needed ur gay yassification LOL thanks king

ummmmmm robin wood . you are just eh. kind of never cared <3 that shit with faith was uncalled for

harmony thanks for being a dumb vampire :) we needed you so badly tbh i hope ur having a good life

kendra i never liked you Ever . annoying ass

wesley? you sucked on here . god i’m so glad they moved you to angel

OKAY THATS IT FOR THE YEARBOOK…… did i miss anyone……. god joss whedon made so many dumb little ocs and made me have feelings about each and every one of them.

i won’t lie IM GONNA MISS IT….. i’m gonna miss new content . and there’s SO much i know but i mean show wise…..aghhhhhhhh but i’m really excited to move on to new things and start my own projects for this fandom and just so many things i want to do :-) this is such a long post lol but idc i still have so many feelings but what more can i say!!!

here’s my final verdict on ships btw

keep in mind this is BTVS ONLY!!!! some of these could be very different keeping ats in mind but this isn’t the post for that so yeah. keeping it with characters leaving and such. not pictured: kennedy x willow which i don’t like, and robin x faith which i don’t like. lol. which can i say thank GOD we didn’t get that buffy/spike/angel love triangle at the end…. i was about to strangle some writers

i’m trying to think about if there’s anything else i’m missing and there probably is but i think that’s just about it for me. again thank you to everyone that stuck around this long and actually read this and stuff :) god i cant believe i’m done. what a show

[twdmusicboxmystery]

TWD 11x03: Hunted - Details

Okay, let's talk details. At the beginning, nearly everyone gets hurt and then gets separated.

 ***As always, spoilers abound below for episode 11x03: Hunted. Don’t read until you’ve watched!***

I noticed that in the opening credits, we now see the two rows of hanging bodies to represent the Reapers.

Maggie:

Elijah tries to help Maggie but is yanked backward and disappears. We don’t see him the rest of the episode. I really hope he’s okay. ☹

When Maggie is walking around alone, we see a car with an open door that's emphasized. It reminds me very much of this shot from 5x09.

@wdway​ also noticed some chevron symbols in the parking lot. (Chevron Theory)

She passes the dumpster before she actually gets into the mall building. That might be called back to Glenn. She also uses glass alcohol bottles as a warning system. I'm sure I don't have to explain the parallels there.

There's definitely a rat thing going on here, which is important because of 10x21, but I can tell you that we see (hear) it in episode 11x04 as well. I just noticed the subtitles tell us that there are rats squeaking quite a lot. After finding Negan and Alden, Negan pushes for Alden to be left behind. He doesn’t like being on the road. He says the plan is bad and unsafe.

Then they hear screaming and run toward Agatha. Duncan is hurt and clearly not going to make it. He says, "We were good. We were lucky." Both Beth lines. Maggie puts him down after promising to get Agatha home.

Now, that’s interesting to me. I said yesterday that we’re seeing a replay of Beth through many of these story lines, and I focused on Alden as a proxy. But I think Agatha is one, too. Just the fact that they talk about getting her “home,” makes her a proxy. Meanwhile, she doesn’t make it “home.” She’s bitten by a walker and left behind…in a mob of walkers. This is also where Negan drags Maggie away while she screams, “no!” Maybe indicative of her emotional response (not to mention her screaming in the parking lot of Grady) over losing Beth?

Jumping back a bit, before Agatha’s death, Maggie’s group travels through the woods. Negan and Maggie have an interesting exchange. Negan says of himself, "people change." Maggie says that no they don't.

So once again, it's called back to Beth dialogue, but Maggie is specifically harboring a belief that was the opposite of Beth's. That people don't and can't change. It's obvious that Maggie is on a very destructive path right now. She doesn’t really have faith in people, or faith that everything will work out okay. We can't be sure where this is going, but it's interesting. As I've said before, I'm sure this attitude of hers will probably end up causing drama down the road.

They happen upon a burnt walker that's tied to a tree with the sign that says Judas over his head. This super interesting. I know I have a lot of asks about this in my inbox. My first reaction is that we can tie it to the burnt walkers from 6x06, which was bursting with Beth symbolism. Since it’s obviously the CRM who was responsible for those burnt walkers, you have to wonder if there's a CRM tie here. 

We might also be able to tie this to the Governor’s episodes in 4a, where he found several decapitated corpses wearing military attire that also had signs near them like ‘murderer’ and ‘rapist.’ If nothing else, this shows that someone in the area is actually burning people for betrayal and labeling them as Judas. Doesn't exactly bode well for our group. But we don't know whether this was the Reapers or somebody else.

***Update: I wrote most of this post before seeing episode 11x04. I still think we can tie this burnt walker thematically to 6x06 and the CRM, but in terms of what is literally happening in this season, let’s just say this burnt walker will make a lot more sense after watching 11x04. I don’t want to give spoilers beyond that.***

Just before Maggie's group reaches the chapel they end up leaving Alden at, they pass green car. I don't think it's a Gremlin, like the one we saw in 7x05, but it's the same shade of green. 

And of course, we see the cross outside the church. Beth was wearing a cross bracelet in the hallway of Grady when she was shot. There are plenty of holes in the roof of the church (Hole in the Roof Theory.) At one point, Alden even says, "I'm dead weight." That was the name of 4x07, the Governor episode where they found the decapitated corpses.

At the chapel, we caught an interesting snippet of dialogue from Negan. He tells Maggie “the sun is going down” and that she’ll have to make a decision. We’ve always thought Beth would return with a dawn theme, which might mean literally that we’ll see her with a sunrise or something. So, it made me wonder if the “night” will be them fighting the conflict with the Reapers and then will return with the new “dawn.” Something like that. It might be literal or just thematic. We’ll just have to wait and see, though.

Maggie finally agrees to leave him behind, but she struggles with it mightily. They even have this really on the nose line where she says, "you better be here when I come back." And he answers, "you better come back." Think about how that would relate to Beth's arc.

Carol:

We see Carol and Kelly returning to Alexandria together. They have this whole thing where Magna thinks Carol is giving Kelly falls hope and wants her stop.

They also seem to be setting up something with Carol and Aaron. I'm not sure what it is. They're kind of at odds in this episode because he wants her to help with the walls and she wants to go track the horses. I thought it was interesting that Angela Kang, during the Inside Look bit, went out of her way to say that Carol and Aaron are not enemies. They're still good friends but they have different ideas about how to deal with the current crisis. I feel like they're setting up an arc with the two of them together.

When Carol was out looking for the horses, she finds Rosita. Rosita is scavenging MUSHROOMS. This part was super interesting because Carol tells her not to pick a certain type of mushroom unless she accidentally wants to make baby cocoa high for about a week. This is meant to be a joke, but it fits into the hallucination theory. I've noticed several mushroom mentions throughout the seasons. It’s an ongoing theme that I think ties into things not being as they seem, or a character to misunderstands or is deceived by something.

As I told my fellow theorists, I sat and thought about this for a minute. It's a little bit odd to me that they included Rosita’s response. When Carol says the mushrooms will make them high, Rosita answers, "yeah, but only for about a week, right?" It's meant to be a funny of course, and it is, but why put in a timeframe for the hallucination?

The only thing I can think of is that maybe it's a hint that the hallucinations or misconceptions people have been laboring under are about to fall away. That includes Daryl and Leah, but we can also extend it to Beth. If she lived, as we think she did, and TF think she died, then their belief in her death fits into the hallucination theory. Just thought that was interesting.

Rosita joins Carol in searching for the horses. At one point, she tells Carol about some dreams she's been having. (Kind of interesting to mention hallucinatory mushrooms and then talk about significant dreams, no?) Apparently, she's been dreaming about Abraham. She says he's trying to tell her something, something she supposed to do, something about Alexandria. But she can't actually hear what he's saying. (Hear no evil.) And just when she gets close enough to hear him in the dream, he gets shot in the head.

This is interesting on so many levels. First of all, dreams. We had the episode 6x12 of FTWD, titles, In Dreams. Abraham is a man Rosita once loved, and has lost. Most obviously, Abraham didn't die of a gunshot to the head. He died when Negan killed him. So, it feels like an excuse to mention someone being shot in the head. And of course Abraham was often a proxy to Beth. I’m definitely side eyeing this.

The other thing about this is that I've been noticing for a while that they have some big arc for Rosita coming up. They’ve done several sequences where she’s searching for weapons but is unable to find them for a time. She usually eventually finds them and uses them to somehow save the day or turn the tide of the conflict. 

We saw this in S7, and the weapon she found was Dwight, who defected and helped them win the war. We saw it during the warehouse sequence in S8 where she and Michonne were trying to stop the singing truck from going to the Sanctuary, and Rosita ended up with the rocket launcher. It’s a pattern that’s been happening for a while. I don't know how this dream of Abraham ties into that, but I’m wondering if this arc they’ve foreshadowed for several seasons is about to start playing out.

I don’t have a whole lot more to say about Carol tracking the horses, as I went over the most important stuff yesterday. I'm assuming that in this episode, that Kelly is equating the dead horses with Connie, and that's what upsets her so much.

After we see the horse run away from them, Kelly says, “fourth time’s the charm,” which means that was the third time they’d attempted it. (Rule of Threes).

When they get back to Alexandria, Carol cuts one of the horse’s throats to slaughter it for food. Aaron comes to help her, and he looks at her very compassionately.

This is also where we get the shot from inside the church with the broken window. We see Kelly come out and hug Magna, but then still go with Carol. Just really interesting symbolism there about her not giving up hope of finding her sister. I can't help but wonder if Kelly will go with Carol to look for Connie and end up finding Beth. That would be super interesting.

It also reminded me of something that happened during S9. There was an episode where Kelly got lost in the woods and Daryl and Connie went to find her. They had this really weird before-the-opening-credits sequence where we saw what was clearly a Whisperer, rather than a normal walker, coming up behind Kelly and reaching out for her, as though she was about to get kidnapped or taken prisoner. But that didn’t actually happen.

When Daryl and Connie find her, she's on her own in the woods and just dehydrated. There's definitely hallucination quality to that sequence, but I’ve always suspected it was a foreshadow of something in the future. Anyway, this is just conjecture and I'm just rambling, but these are some of the thoughts I had while watching the episode.

The kids:

There couple of charming scenes of all the kids playing together. We see them play a card game—Slap Jack, I think—at the kitchen table. Many people have noticed that this kitchen table looks a lot like the one in Alone that we saw in the funeral home. And no, it’s not the same. It doesn’t have a diamond on it, but the material and pattern look similar. Which is kind of interesting.

Actually, to me, the design looks a little reminiscent of the All-Seeing Eye, which is often seen on paper currency. So, it could be part of that theme.

Most of these are just cute scenes and Angela Kang says that part of the reason for them is that they wanted to have Judith and Herschel interact a little bit. People have also pointed out to me that when Herschel asks if any of them have ever been on the road like he was with Maggie, Judith says no, “Not like that.” Actually, she has been, but she was just too little to remember it. But this may have been a subtle reminder of 5x12.

Herschel is clearly worried about his mom and the adults who keep leaving. Judith does her best to console him. Not sure what to make of these conversations in terms of what they foreshadow. Maybe nothing. But I did enjoy watching the scenes.

Father Gabriel:

The man Gabriel kills is named Nichols. (Got that from the subtitles.) We hear him reciting the Lord's prayer as Gabe approaches. I also noticed that his shoes are not on. They are on the ground on the other side of the tree from where he’s sitting. Which might be part of the Lost Shoe/Foot symbolism.

He has an arrow in his stomach (it looks like Daryl’s) and he’s bleeding from the neck. The neck wounds are interesting because Father Gabriel got one too. It's almost as if these two mirror one another.

I mentioned this yesterday, but Gabriel says, "God is not here anymore." Just wanted to mention it again because it will be important to remember for next week when we get into 11x04.

Okay, I think that's all I have in terms of details. Anything I missed?