#5x12 my beloved

[greghatecrimes]

neurodivergent gay that can't sit in chairs properly

[captain-hen]

5B just doesn't have a single miss

[chasingfictions]

Ok i haven’t watched btvs in years but i miss spuffy do you have an episode list for all spuffy interactions

dilfjdjfdslkjfdskljfljkdsflkjls .kjfjkdsjklflkjdsflj insane question hi anon . i mean they interact for most of the show but im prepared to go insane here hi .

also if u want simply a compilation of every single spuffy moment ever , youtube user claireice has you covered . would also recommend @smellingwormholes my beloved's spuffy videos . gold standard of content

anyway here are all their episodes n a top moment of mine from each hi . you enabled me for this. we're in a fight. pls know what u've done to me.

2x03 "school hard" 'do we really need weapons for this' INTRICATE RITUALS

2x06 "halloween" -- it's spike being really normal about her 'baby likes to play' . like okay slut <3

2x07 "lie to me" -- my personal calculations show that based on the 1998 flashback in fool for love this is actually when he starts to fall in love with her . my brainworms are very powerful

2x10 "what's my line part 2" -- MUTUAL

2x13 "surprise" - the act of them standing with their respective lovers which will later be turned on its head in the finale . UMM. the REVERSALS.

2x14 "innocence" /made me sick to my stomach seeing you be the slayers lapdog/ lmao that did not age well

2x17 "passion" um. technically in the same room.

2x22 "becoming part 2" TEEHEEEEEE

3x08 "lovers walk" OR SPIKE FOR SOME REASON . pin HIM by the throat onto the kitchen counter

4x03 "harsh light of day" SORT OF A DOUBLE DATE. spuffy is a romcom this episode proves it. theyre serving when harry met sally

4x07 "the initiative" I KNOW A LOT OF GUYS WHO'D LIKE TO GET THEIR HANDS ON HER. @yoursummerfrost voice dru ducks what if the slayer got a giant taser. wouldnt that be fucked up

4x08 "pangs" YOU MADE A BEAR. theyre best friends

4x09 "something blue" . THE BLOOD OF THE INNOCENT .

4x11 "doomed" spike sitting on the armchair behind buffy this counts . spike standing too close to her in the high school . he said proximity he said 14 year old with a crush who doesnt know how to make a move so they r just . Staring n Hovering.

4x12 "a new man" DONT KNOW WHY SHE DIDNT COME . SAY GOODBYE. SHED A FEW TEARS.

4x13 "the i in team" he stands up and stares when she enters the room. victorianism jumping out

4x14 "goodbye iowa" no really buffy . why Is he here.

4x16 "who are you?" spike said hahahaha UNLESS . spike said i hate you that said if u wanted to fuck i am There in One Second No Jokes Please . Please..

4x17 "superstar" . hair touch. ummmm.

4x18 "where the wild things are" . he gets so close 2 saving her life . also spuffy fanfic trope where spuffy are the ones who get the sex ghosts makes this a spuffy episode by proxy .

4x19 "new moon rising" spike said all season HEY NOBODY SEND ME BACK TO THE INITIATIVE CAVES I SWEAR 2 GOD. adam said hey can u go back in with buffy. spike said TEHEEEE . spike said ok i will stand so close to her i will make sure of it. see 14 year old with a crush energy from above.

4x10: "the yoko factor" he spends the whole episode talking about her. inch resting.

4x21 "primeval" tiny interaction but it counts . they Look At Each Other Regard Each Other In The Little Initiative Control Room.

4x22 "restless" xander's dream counts .

5x02 "real me" I WAS TELLING YOU THE TRUTH I KNOW

5x03: "the replacement" . what does he think he's doing with that mannequin before the love reveal. WHAT.

5x04 "out of my mind" IF THAT'S WHAT I WANTED THEN I'D BE DATING SPIKE

5x05 "no place like home" . William.

5x06 "family" . james marsters face in training room teehee.

5x07 "fool for love" spicy Buffalo Wings I'm Feeling Peckish. <3333 ;)))) ;0000

5x08 "shadow" IVE KNOWN SINCE LAST NIGHT

5x09 "listening to fear" @summers-pratt voice . close up of hands confirms movie will turn gay.

5x10 "into the woods" they walk together i cant stress it enough. team power.

5x11 "triangle" HELLO BUFFY

5x12 "checkpoint" BE FUNNY IF THEY DID

5x13 "blood ties" buffy said ummmmm would you mind if i just..... confided in you and treated you as a coparent and confidant would you just

5x14 "crush" what else does buffy say about me you sleep during the day is this a date all that's left is you and a dead shell . moment where they look @ drusilla together in the cave. i think Thoughts About It

5x15 "i was made to love you" . hot tight little body pink lighting tongue out

5x17 "forever" . this counts. SHE WAS DECENT. spike loves his mother in law

5x18 "intervention". ON THE MOUTH

5x19 "tough love" me a few months ago voice . so wyd. scenario.

5x20 "spiral" SWORD CATCH. romance high romance.

5x21 "the weight of the world" little shake shake .

5x22 "the gift" oh. ohhhhh, i tried to pick a moment and then i had to lie down

6x01 "bargaining, part i" SHE'LL NEVER BE EXACTLY

6x02 "bargaining, part ii" this also counts.

6x03 "after life" MARRIAGE. they get married here. spuffy marriage plot.

6x04 "flooded" WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT FINANCES

6x05 "life serial" . date :)

6x06 "all the way" buffy shows up to ask him on a date :)

6x07 "once more with feeling" UMMMMMM

6x08 "tabula rasa" aYOU WERE THE ONE I LOOOVED . stay away from randy

6x09 "smashed" oh idk i dont think they interact in this one :)

6x10 "wrecked" stay im stuck here sun's out

6x11 "gone" . buffy's a great mum :)

6x12 "doublemeat palace" . i can get money

6x13 "dead things" IF YOU WANT I COULD--

6x14 "older and far away" when she escorts him out of the room :)) he's her date :)

6x15 "as you were" tell me you LOVE ME TELL ME YOU WANT ME. you know what i am youve always known

6x16 "hells bells". this dress is radioactive.

6x17 "normal again" PUT SOME ICE ON THE BACK OF HER NECK. SHE LIKES THAT

6x18 "entropy" . didnt take long did it.

6x19 "seeing red" . in all seriousness we've said everything that needs to be said here elsewhere and i think this episode should never have been made as it was. that said looking at its place in the season n its function in the larger soul arc , i think the conversation leading up to That Scene and also the 'things change if you make em' bit have a lot of Content that is worth chewing over

6x20 "villains" clem crypt moment

6x22 "grave" MAKE ME WHAT I WAS SO BUFFY CAN GET WHAT SHE DESERVES

7x01 "lessons" . face touch.

7x02 "beneath you" WHY DOES A MAN DO WHAT HE MUSNT FOR HER TO BE HERS

7x03 "same time same place". .... you went away youve been gone since....

7x04 "help" STAY HERE AND HELP ME BE QUIET. I THINK IT'S WORSE WHEN IM HERE.

7x05 "selfless" basement scene i will weep

7x06 "him" BAZOOKA WRESTLING

7x07 "conversations with dead people" 'he did love me. i didnt wanna be loved.' UM

7x08 "sleeper" 'i know' UM.

7x09 "never leave me" . I BELIEVE IN YOU SPIKE

7x10 "bring on the night" ummm i just think it's not a COINCIDENCE that when buffy is at her lowest and most ragged and desperate it's when her shadowself confidante boytoy is kidnapped n underground .

7x11 "showtime" . the eye contact . dont talk to me.

7x12 "potential" MOM AND DAD SAID IT'S TIME FOR SLAYER SCHOOL

7x13 "the killer in me" I KNEW IT. GOVERNMENT CONSPIRACY.

7x14 "first date" hallway.

7x15 "get it done" . i want the spike that's dangerou.s the spike that tried to kill me when we met.

7x16 "storyteller". when they come into the room together :) "someone has to agree with me. Spike????"

7x17 "lies my parents told me" that's her SPOUSE.

7x18 "dirty girls" . jealous buffy said this is My Vampire.

7x19 "empty places" they said ummmm if u separate me from my lover i will riot.

7x20 "touched" . IVE SEEN YOUR KINDNESS AND YOUR STRENGHT IVE SEEN THE BEST AND THE WORST OF YOU.

7x21 "end of days" . I JUST TOLD YOU IT DID.

7x22 "chosen" hey fellas what if you spent what you assumed to be your last three nights on earth with your soulmate . wht if 'i love you'. what if total shadow self reconcilation. what if fire hands. ummm. FELLAS.

anon i hope youre happy now that youve killed me <3

[princeescaluswords]

What do you think are Gerard’s favorite lines of Shakespeare and why?

Selecting one line took me a long time, to be quite honest, but I finally settled on these from MacBeth, Act V, Scene V:

I have almost forgot the taste of fears; The time has been my sense would have cool'd To hear a night-shriek; and my fell of hair Would at a dismal treatise rouse and stir As life were in't; I have supp'd full with horrors; Direness, familiar to my slaughterous thoughts Cannot once start me.

In the play, MacBeth is waiting for his enemies to attack when he hears screaming from inside the castle. He explains to the audience that he's become so accustomed to doing terrible things that he is no longer easily frightened. The irony, of course, is that the outcry is due to his beloved wife, Lady MacBeth, having killed herself out of guilt for the murder they performed together. The irony of these lines would work for Gerard Argent just as well.

It might seem strange, but Gerard and MacBeth have an especially important thing in common: they often claim that their murderous actions are impelled by outside forces.  In MacBeth’s case, the Scottish lord betrays his king and his dearest friend, even though he knows these actions are wrong, because he can point to the ironic prophecies of the Three Witches.

Gerard doesn’t have anyone supernatural oracles to blame his actions on.  Instead, he insists that the Argents are at war with the supernatural. Whereas the Code argues that the Argents should only hunt in response to violence ("We hunt those who hunt us"), as embodied by Chris's interpretation, Gerard steadfastly rejects that position. He announces in Omega (2x01) that he's going after every one of them because they killed Kate, despite knowing that isn't his real motivation or that Kate struck first. After sharing the parable of the Scorpion and the Frog, he declares he "know[s] a werewolf's nature" in Visionary (3x08). He declaims on La Bête's murderous tendencies in Damnatio Memoriae (5x12) as if it were an exemplar of a werewolf rather than just another serial killer.

Derek, in a way, is wrong. Gerard isn't declaring war at the beginning of Season 2, because he acts as if he's always been at war. You can see him calculating the use of cutting down the Nemeton (though we don't know for sure he did it); he orders Kate to destroy the Hales, innocent children included. He speaks in strategies and military terms. He quotes Sun Tzu as often as he does Shakespeare. His argument is clear that war not only justifies his family doing terrible things but demands it. "When it comes to survival," he announces in Master Plan (2x12), "I'd kill my own son." He argues that Allison, too, must ready herself to do terrible things because "She'll feel the ground shifting beneath her feet time and again in her life. It is our job to teach her how to keep standing" in Party Guessed (2x09). His first mission for his 18-year-old son is selling weapons to a criminal organization without telling him in Silverfinger (3x17).

One of the keys to note is that, also like MacBeth, Gerard doesn't regret this, not in the way that say Chris and Victoria do like when they wanted Allison to have a choice. In fact, he takes pride in the strength of his will, as the Scottish king has forgotten fear. He gloats when he thinks he has Scott on the ropes about his ability to get things done in Battlefield (2x11), "and if you haven't noticed, I have a very impressive means to motivate people." Even when defeated, he remains confident, as he boasts to Allison and Scott, "I don't go easily, though, do I?" He's proud of his actions as he shares with Liam in The Sword and The Spirit (5x14) "they would call me a necessary evil, but you can call me Gerard." He wants to transform his wicked violence into a legacy through the lens of war and necessity; his entire story in 6B is Gerard trying to reframe his terrible deeds as a legacy. Even when he's making a deal with a demon, the Anuk-Ite in Genotype (6x18), he's triumphant: "The legend is, is that you need silver to kill a werewolf. The truth? You need an Argent."

While both MacBeth and Gerard try to position themselves as not as other men, their ends are the same. They are not kings or generals; they're monsters. "Turn, hellhound, turn!" MacDuff cries to MacBeth at the beginning of the decisive battle, and Chris Argent condemns his own father; "If you're looking for rationality, I think he left that behind a long time ago." These men have talked themselves into evil, and they pay the price for it. They both pay the price for it as well. MacBeth, motivated by prophecy to do wicked deeds, doesn't think that prophecy can be against him, but it is, for Birnam Wood does come to Dunsinane. While Gerard, who always saw the interaction of supernatural and human as a war regardless of the individual participants, is destroyed by someone he refused to see as his own daughter.

The final irony would be that Gerard would quote MacBeth as part of his arrogance and vainglory, because he stands apart from other humans as one who hunts monsters, but like MacBeth, he would fail to see that his own arrogance caused his destruction.

[esperata]

For fandom end of year asks, 12, 15, 22, 29. Happy New Year to you as well!

favorite character to write about this year Its always Oswald, my beloved. I did introduce a new varient into my repetoire this year with the Batwheels Penguin coming in to roost as well as a version from Batwoman. Also, I expanded to write about the vehicle Ducky with Riddler's helicopter, Quizz.

something you learned this year One thing I have been learning about this year is magical girl anime or manga. My friend, ramenflavoredchaos, started an AU for magical girl riddlebird and I have been absolutely hooked on the concept. The same people coming together lifetime after lifetime to fall in love is absolutely my jam.

events you participated in this year Riddlebirdweek! I actually run this so 'participated' might be inaccurate but I did post a set of seven photoshoots I did with figures which was something new for me to try. I was having some motivational issues with writing at the time so only managed incomplete wips for the event but hopefully in the new year they'll get continuations.

shortest fic you read this year I think this would be 'Respect' by TheDreammweaver at 161 words. A post 5x12 nygmobblepot fic with Oswald being silly and dramatic. I don't read a lot of Gotham riddlebird but I make exceptions for post 5x11 and, of course, this is one of my very favourite authors.

[hopefulobjectmiracle]

pretty little liars and harry potter? :)

PLL:

favorite male character:

tbh I don't love most of the male characters on PLL so I'm just going to say wayne fields bc he was a king (RIP)

favorite female character:

spencer hastings my absolute beloved <3

least favorite character:

ezra fitz 🥴

prettiest character:

all of them are gorgeous but emily's beauty is on another level.

ashley is kind of a milf too

funniest character:

it's a tie between spencer and hanna, though both of them were at their funniest when they played off of each other.

favorite season:

probably s3, specifically 3b for spencer's arc.

favorite episode:

there are a lot of great ones but 2x13, 3x12, 4x24, and 5x12 are as close to perfection as this show got.

favorite romantic ship:

SARA HARVEY X HER SHOWER 🤪

in all seriousness I dislike almost of the canon ships on PLL, so I'm going to say emison just bc I stanned them so hard as a teenager and I still have a soft spot for them all these years later 😅

favorite family ship:

hanna and ashley. their relationship means the absolute world to me.

also, melissa was shady as fuck but I always found her dynamic with spencer fascinating. we deserved so much more of them!!

favorite friendship:

honestly I can't choose between spanna, spemily, and hannily. those three girls have fantastic duo dynamics between them and each one of them has a special place in my heart, so I'm just going to say that my fav friendship is the three of them as a group.

worst ship:

naturally, ezria...marlene king deserves jail for tricking an entire generation into believing that ezria's relationship was romantic rather than disgusting and predatory lmao.

harry potter:

favorite male character:

it's honestly harry. despite what everyone says, i think he was a fantastic and well-written protagonist.

favorite female character:

hermione or mcgonagall. i also really like fleur!!

least favorite character:

draco malfoy tbh, i never got the hype 🤷🏻‍♀️

prettiest character:

probably hermione :)

funniest character:

fred and george ofc 😌 but ron had some hilarious lines too!!

favorite season book:

the prisoner of azkaban for sure!!

favorite episode:

N/A

favorite romantic ship:

again I don't vibe with any of the canon ships but I absolutely adore wolfstar (remus x sirius) in fanon :)

favorite family ship:

I love how the weasleys became a second family to harry <3

favorite friendship:

gonna be basic and go with the golden trio.

worst ship:

I dislike remus x tonks for so many reasons....(none of which have to do with my love for wolfstar btw)

also, voldemort x bellatrix is Cursed (literally), so thank god it's not canon, it's only from that one weirdly popular fanfic that somehow got a play made out of it 👀

[fightingdragonswithwho]

SPENCER REID IN THE UNCANNY VALLEY (5X12)

[akindergentlerclipboard]

wow!!!!

5b really said watch me be amazing

And booy am i watching!

[terrainofheartfelt]

which dair moment was the most endearing to you?

ohhh this is a difficult question, because the magic of them is all the little moments, yeah? and how they all come together?

maybe it's bc I was at the museum this weekend - well, actually, I made this note in one of my fic docs weeks ago - that the Dair relationship, if I may broker a pretentious art comparison, it's like pointillism, like a Seurat, small dots of color, all these tiny, seemingly unimportant-on-their-own moments building and accumulating until they make a larger picture that's pretty wonderful, actually.

but if I had to pick one, I think it's the end of 4x16 "While You Weren't Sleeping For Me" - obvious sweetness of Blair conking out on Dan's shoulder aside, it's just...the layers of it are so! I've yelled about it in some tags essays, but to summarize: Blair spends the whole of the episode pushing herself to the mental and physical brink, and when the bottom drops out where does she go? where does she finally let herself rest? DAN (alexa, play "Orpheus” by Sara Bareilles). Also, Blair is always preoccupied with image in a sort of way women are conditioned to always be occupied with how they are looking, but you can see in her physicality of the scene when they're on the couch together that she is less conscious of herself, she tucks up her feet, she slumps into the couch, she falls asleep on Dan's shoulder! she's melting into him and she doesn't even know it! And there's Dan, who in this moment of vulnerability for Blair, doesn't try to fix the problem, he just gives her a place to be. And feeds her. Because he's the mom friend who always tries to feed his friends when they're stressed. anyways yeah that moment makes me very Soft.

anyways. tags.

Oh and an Honorable Mention to this moment in 5x12. drunk!Blair my beloved...

[dramaticviolincrescendo]

Rewatching Shameless and i just watched 6x1 jail scene. Can I request a meta if its not too much trouble? I feel like reading a really good meta about that scene and you're one of the best we've got so.....

It’s never any trouble at all! That’s so sweet to say—thank you so much! <3 Kind of coming to terms with the idea that anyone cares about my opinion over here. You guys are too much!

This scene is actually extremely important to me because it and the response to it were what made me start writing Shameless fanfiction, specifically when I saw that my views regarding Ian’s behavior and how Mickey received it were so vastly different from what I initially read. (Insert shameless plug for “That Milkovich Reputation” here.) Now, I know you’ve told me not to do this before, but based on the controversial position in which this scene resides, I feel the need to present a couple of disclaimers for our audience at large.

I first fell in love with Shameless last March, a couple weeks before quarantine began. I didn’t know what it was prior to that and therefore was not present when Noel left the show, so I didn’t experience the disappointment of a beloved character leaving in a potentially permanent way and didn’t engage in the fandom or see how deeply upset people were by that until after I finished the series. I also don’t subscribe to the theory that there was something going on behind the scenes or any animosity between Noel and the creators, as I have not seen any relevant evidence from reliable sources to support that what happened was anything other than decisions made in pursuit of career goals on both sides. As such, my analysis of this scene has only ever taken the content and context of the story and characters into account. I have no interest in speculating on the motives of people I do not know in writing it or portraying it this way, and even if I did, this scene made perfect sense to me as it was written and performed.

I understand and appreciate that this is not a popular position to take and urge everyone to pass this post by if my position on that matter is offensive or upsetting to you. I do not mean to tell anyone what to think or believe, only to explain how I view this scene and the context in which I do so.

That said, let’s begin.

When Last Seen: Mickey

As in all things, context is important. Prior to the prison scene, the last time we saw Mickey was when Ian broke up with him and Sammi interrupted their heartfelt moment, which basically sums up her character in a nutshell. That was a rough couple of days for Mickey. He saw how devastated Ian was to hear his family talk about him as though he were just like Monica; was distressed in his own right to return for him and discover that he’d left the base with Monica; buried his frustration and sadness by sleeping around with other people, which seemed to exacerbate those emotions because those people weren’t Ian, nor had he and Ian broken up when he did it; and came running when Ian called him, only for Ian to end their relationship.

Mickey is a very sharp man—we know this. He can read people like books and manipulate or intimidate them accordingly. He knew Ian had feelings for him in s1 when he showed up on his doorstep seeking comfort rather than going to any number of other people he trusted. He was well aware that Ian loved him in s3, and that made what he felt he had no choice in doing that much more painful. He heard what Ian said and knew what he was doing in 5x12. Of that, I have never had any doubt. It wasn’t like Ian tried to hide that he didn’t want to break up but thought that that was what would be best. In fact, the way he initially framed it always made me think that one of his highest priorities was not dragging Mickey down with him, especially in the aftermath of being called “destructive” and similar to someone who “put them through hell.” That’s why Mickey’s response wasn’t to call him an asshole or get angry or beg. It was to reassure Ian that he was there for the long haul, that he loved him and wanted to take care of him no matter what that meant—and that they could make that work. All the sentiments Ian had tried to communicate before he got married, Mickey was reciprocating in his own way. Had they not needed to temporarily write Mickey out of the story and Sammi hadn’t shown up right that second, I believe that he wouldn’t have given up so easily. We do have confirmation of that being the case in the prison scene, but we’ll get to that shortly.

When Last Seen: Ian

Ian isn’t a selfish character. We know this, too. However, Ian needed to be selfish by the end of s5. What he had to come to terms with wasn’t something that anyone could fully help him with, much as Mickey desperately wanted to. To Ian, the enemy was within. It was inside him, in his brain, telling him what to do even if that destroyed himself and everything he loved. It’s terrifying. I’m not bipolar, nor do I suffer from any other diagnosed mental illnesses, but I admire and respect everyone who wakes up every morning and tackles these things. They’re heroes every single day. But by the end of s5, Ian doesn’t feel much like a hero. Instead, he feels like the villain, and he’s lost touch with who he even is anymore.

That’s not a healthy mindset to have in a relationship. Relationships require a level of give and take, and that used to be something that Ian and Mickey already struggled with. Ian gave more in s1-3 because he was able to, while Mickey had a limit on what he could openly give because of the environment in which he lived and the manner in which he was raised. In s4-5, those roles were reversed: Mickey was able to give so much more, but Ian was gradually falling apart. Neither of them are at fault for any of those situations. It is what it is, and they have a stronger relationship for it. Ian is a giver, though. He’s always been a giver. To be in a position where he doesn’t feel like he can give anything to Mickey because he doesn’t even know who he is was truly heartbreaking for him, and objectively, he needed to take a step back so that he could focus on himself. He knew it. Based on Mickey’s understanding of Ian’s reasons after watching him deny that he had a problem for so long, I think Mickey knew it too. This hurt both of them—Ian to say it and Mickey to hear it—but they’re not fools and they’re not naïve. In some ways, they know each other better than anyone.

Jimmy said that when you’re on a plane, they tell you to put on your mask before you help anyone else with theirs. Ian needed to put on his mask. His heart can’t keep beating if his lungs don’t work.

Starting Season 6: Mickey

Unsurprisingly, Mickey has settled into prison life just fine. We’ll focus on his interactions with Ian in a bit as that’s the meat of the scene, but there are major implications inherent in his discussion with Svetlana beforehand.

1.      Mickey has accepted that this will be his reality for the foreseeable future. What else is he supposed to do? Besides, he’s known for a long time that the likelihood of ending up in prison was pretty high for him, as he alluded to in s2. He was a street thug. He stole from local stores, sold drugs, ran guns, operated a rub ‘n’ tug, created scam companies, and was a generally violent presence in the neighborhood for years. He was in juvie twice during the show, perhaps more beforehand. The unfortunate fact of the matter is that it would have been more surprising if Mickey didn’t get locked up at some point than that he did.

2.      Ian has visited Mickey before. We won’t get too deeply into this yet, but he thanks Ian for “coming back.” The other times, he wasn’t even paid to do it. So, as far as Mickey can tell, nothing has changed. Ian is focusing on himself right now, but his love for Mickey hasn’t dulled at all. That’s an encouraging thought, and it certainly puts a smile on Mickey’s face.

3.      Ever the opportunist and entrepreneur, Mickey really is doing just fine in prison. He runs a business, if you will, that appears to be quite lucrative already. This isn’t surprising either. Sadly, it’s a bad move. He’s already going to be in prison for somewhere around a decade, give or take a couple of years depending on his behavior. But his behavior isn’t good. He’s hurting people for money, and if he gets caught and brought up on more charges, not only will he serve the full fifteen years, but he could get more time added onto that.

4.      Ian is aware of this arrangement. He has to be if he’s been going there with Svetlana, and they weren’t exactly hiding what they were talking about. Ian has been very consistent throughout the series: he’s not as concerned with the moral implications of Mickey’s behavior, just how it could potentially impact their ability to be together. He still cares about Mickey at the start of s6, and Mickey can see it on his face when he won’t say it out loud. (More on that shortly.) Once he’s in a better spot mentally, maybe they would have gotten back together had Mickey been on the outside. I’m of the opinion that they would have based on the context of the situation. It isn’t an option, however. This is Mickey’s reality, and he’s not doing everything he can to get out earlier. If anything, he’s tempting fate on not being released at all. (This, in hindsight, sounds rather similar to the issues they’re dealing with right now in s11.)

So, this is where Mickey stands at the start of the season: a prison hitman who is quite pleased that the man he loves has come to see him again, even if the latter is visibly not in a very healthy mental state.

Starting Season 6: Ian

Ian isn’t in most of 6x01. What we do see of him is typically sad or colored by his frustration, outside Carl’s welcome home party at the end of the episode. Even then, there’s an aura of discomfort that accompanies the family’s knowledge that things have changed. Carl came out of juvie a different person—they’re all different people after s5, and they’re not sure how to handle walking on eggshells around each other.

From the very start of the episode, we see that Ian is still struggling even though he’s had enough time to at least partially adjust to his medication, especially if he’s been on and off of it. It’s so sweet how Fiona gently wakes him up—it’s also a bit different. What happened to banging on the bunk bed and yelling for them to come down for breakfast? After behaving pretty normally with Debbie at the bathroom door, she’s almost handling him with kid gloves, and the punches keep coming when she reminds him that he (1) has to get up for work at a place he despises and (2) needs to remember to take his meds.

The kitchen scene is extremely telling of where Ian is at this point, and it partially shows why he’s somewhat standoffish by the time we reach the prison scene. Most of the family is gone or different. Fiona is repeatedly on him about meds and getting to work on time—Ian, Mister Responsible himself who was out of the house before anybody woke up to get to work on time as a kid. Lip is at college. Debbie is absorbed in her unconfirmed but likely pregnancy. Carl is in juvie, and Liam is playing with the switchblade he found under Carl’s pillow before they take him to pre-K. His entire support system is either gone or treating him like he’s broken. All he has is Fiona “going Fiona” on everyone. It’s clear that this is impacting him because he actually derails the conversation to say that they should go visit Carl the following weekend, which was the position Debbie used to be in when Fiona was in jail. Just like Lip shut her down, Debbie shuts Ian down, and he doesn’t say another word as he drinks his coffee—which he can’t finish because Fiona is once again on him about work, so he trudges out the door to another day of being a busboy with no dreams instead of a soldier who has a future.

Work isn’t much better. Svetlana wants him to go see Mickey when he’s determined to stay away. (We don’t have confirmation, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to assume that he wants to distance himself if Mickey is doing something that will potentially get him into even more trouble, especially given some of his reactions at the prison.) Sean is sending Fiona to nag him about not moving fast enough when the diner isn’t even busy. When Otis is chased down by the cops and slammed against the front window, Sean rather condescendingly tells him to, “take your rag and wipe the blood and snot off the window.” Ian—West Point-aspiring, ambitious, courageous, caring, intelligent, hardworking Ian has been reduced to wiping up someone’s snot by a boss who’s living in his house with a sister that’s treating him like he’s shattered glass and a family that is growing further and further apart these days.

That is the day Ian has had before he even arrives at the prison. Odds are that that is how most of his days have gone for quite some time, minus the blood and snot. …Maybe.

The Prison Scene

Now we come to it: what you actually asked about! It’s taken this long to get here because we can’t possibly interpret this scene effectively without incorporating all of what came before it. Mickey’s position is regrettable, but he knows that Ian still loves him and is at least handling his situation with all the grace and competence that we can expect from him. Ian is a bit of a mess who’s had a bad day and is now faced with the man he loves, who he is telling himself he can’t be with, sitting behind glass—where he’ll be for a good long while.

I’m going to divide this analysis into two sections. For a scene that many prefer to forget, to me, it’s a masterpiece of storytelling.

Physicality

The body language in this scene is remarkable—phenomenally blocked, phenomenally directed, and phenomenally portrayed.

When Mickey first appears, he’s visibly chomping at the bit to get to the visitation area. He’s peering out there while he’s still behind a locked door, and he only diverts his gaze to the guard because he’s waiting for him to unlock it. He’s cool about the whole thing—he’s very cool—but he’s obviously also here for one reason and one reason only. That reason is where his eyes go the moment he sits down at his stall and spots Ian’s coat where the latter is pacing behind Svetlana. Throughout their entire conversation, we see his eyes darting to Ian as he attempts to get the business out of the way so that he can indulge purely in the pleasure. It doesn’t matter to him that Ian is visibly tired and reluctant to be there or that he plays with Yevgeny instead of actively joining their conversation. It’s Ian, and all Mickey has to look at in here is a bunch of fellow thugs he hasn’t loved since he was too young to know what that meant. Damn right, he’s going to shamelessly watch him.

In Ian’s pacing, where we can’t see his face, I find it interesting that he keeps himself angled away from the glass. We see more of his back even though he’s moving side to side rather than away. He doesn’t want to see this. He doesn’t want to be there. In s7, he told Mickey how hard it was to see him behind glass—that wasn’t an excuse. He wasn’t falsely trying to make it sound like he was suffering at their separation just as much as Mickey was. We can see that that’s the case right here in 6x01. Ian has never had a problem sitting still through difficult moments, not even when a potential court martial that would further ruin his life was on the table. But this? He can’t sit down. He can’t face that.

The first time he turns directly towards Mickey’s location is so that Svetlana can hand Yevgeny off to him, and Mickey is visibly loving the view. His expression gets a bit softer, and he ducks his head a little so that he can catch a glimpse of Ian’s face. He follows Ian with his eyes even though Svetlana tries to get his attention. What a blast from the past, right? Ian there with his son, taking care of him while he and Svetlana figure out their business? And just like before, he offers Svetlana all of the attention and input that he deems her worth—next to nothing. Ian’s over there. Ian’s keeping the kid entertained, playing with him and rocking a bit in their seat and leaning over his little shoulder to make sure he’s doing okay—but forget that, Mickey’s eyes are examining him from red hair to beat-up shoes. He only glances back to Svetlana because he has to in order to get the information for their next paycheck. Even then, he’s still back and forth, up and down.

And Ian? He can’t keep pacing. He can’t stay turned away, but he won’t look. He occupies himself more than Yevgeny because now he’s low enough that he won’t just see an orange jumpsuit—he’ll see Mickey, and he’s had a bad enough day with his family making him feel more alone than ever without adding that pain on top of it. (This is the third time Mickey’s been locked up for something directly or indirectly related to Ian. I’m sure it’s not unreasonable to suspect that he also feels somewhat guilty about that, especially when it happened right after he broke it off.)

When Mickey asks if Ian is going to sit back there the whole time and not interact with him, Svetlana turns around and presumably says something to get his attention. Their eyes meet, and Mickey gives him a look that clearly says, “What the fuck, man?” This isn’t the behavior of a man who is heartbroken at their relationship ending or questioning Ian’s love for him. This is the behavior of a man who wants the love of his life to get his shit together enough to come say hi to him—or at least look at him—because he can’t pretend that he doesn’t want to see Mickey as much as Mickey wants to see him. It’s impossible to hide that when Ian has let Mickey see so much of his heart over the years.

Ian’s response is so fascinating because he does meet Mickey’s eyes, and he holds that connection for a moment. Then, reading what Mickey is trying to tell him, he actually turns further away again so that Mickey gets his shoulder. This sets the stage for the rest of Ian’s development from now through s9. He’s doing what Ian does: he’s compartmentalizing. He’s taking the emotions he can’t deal with right now, wrapping them in tissue paper, and neatly stacking them in a box that he’ll put up in the attic where he can pretend they don’t exist. But they do. They really do.

If they didn’t, he wouldn’t have spent their entire conversation trying so hard to focus on literally anything but Mickey, because as we saw in the Hall of Shame flashbacks and as has been obvious since their first fight-turned-fuck, once they look, the battle is lost.

Dialogue

I’m going to be real with you guys: I adore this scene. I’ve watched it more times than I can count even though I haven’t rewatched much of the season in its entirety. There was so much said with so few words, and while I was sad at the end, I was also hopeful. This was an impossible position to be put in on both sides, and I truly believe that this was the best resolution they could get at the time. And yes, it hurt. It was painful. But why was it painful?

Because they’re so visibly, obviously, irrevocably in love.

Mickey’s tone when he tells Svetlana to leave because he wants to talk to Ian isn’t as harsh as it’s been for the rest of their visit. There’s such a disconnect between his words and tone: roughly telling her to scram while actually sounding a bit younger at the idea of speaking directly with Ian. Svetlana could tell. It’s so clear, and her smirk is super knowing. In that moment, we’re seeing the woman who stood in the doorway of what was supposed to be her bedroom and watched him make eyes at this unconscious boy she didn’t really even remember. Not in the tears and realizing she was in big, big trouble if he left her, but in the understanding that his heart isn’t in the body on the other side of the glass—it’s sitting behind her. There are a lot of things I don’t like about Svetlana as a person (as a character, she’s amazing), but since they reached their agreement in s4, she’s never had a derogatory thing to say about the love those two share, and I respect that. It’s actually a bit cute how she takes her time and is almost teasing in giving him what he wants. A bit.

As I have this scene running on repeat so that I don’t miss anything in writing this, I paused to type and ended up on such a meaningful glance at Ian’s face. Svetlana just took Yevgeny from him, and he hasn’t gotten up yet. He’s staring straight at Mickey, and he looks hesitant. Scared, almost. Then he looks up at Svetlana, nods a bit, and reluctantly moves into her spot.

Is it overkill to take this one exchange at a time? Probably. Am I going to do it anyway? Hell to the yes.

1.      “Thanks for coming back.”/”Yeah… Svetlana paid me.” – I know that people hate this line and think this is painful. I know that it objectively is painful. I still laugh every time. Not because Ian agreed to come if he was paid. (He’s got medication to afford and no insurance. I can’t begrudge him wanting to make a few extra bucks any way he can.) Not because of the words, but because of what accompanies them. Ian will not look at Mickey—he’s lost so many battles lately, and he can’t lose this one too. Not when he started this one himself. He’s hemming and hawing, not looking up from the countertop and then twisting around to see if Svetlana is still there or anyone else is listening. It’s so stupid, because literally no one cares, but it gives you this sensation that Ian sees himself as being under a microscope the whole time. That’s his life anymore, at home and at work and now here. And Mickey? He doesn’t look terribly broken up about Ian accepting payment in exchange for coming. He gets this expression that I interpreted as, “Seriously? You’re playing it like that?” Then it settles into disappointment that Ian won’t open up or look at him like he normally would—that the glass interferes with the magnetic pull between them. But don’t worry, children. Uncle Mickey has just the thing to fix that: himself.

2.      “You look good.”/*awkward silence* – I mean…what do you say to that? I actually felt so bad for Ian there because what must he have looked like these last visits if Mickey is telling him that he looks good now? What kind of mess was he then when he’s still sort of a mess today? And he can’t even return the sentiment because how can he? Mickey is in prison. He’s in a jumpsuit looking at being here so long that he’ll probably have a few grey hairs starting to grow in when he gets out. I don’t know how to respond when people tell me I look good on an average day, so I can only imagine how that must have felt in his position. And still, he won’t do more than glance in Mickey’s direction. Well, if that didn’t work…

3.      Mickey chuckles and says he got a new tattoo. Ian’s eyes immediately shoot upwards, and Mickey slouches a little so that he’s in their direct line of sight—to hold them there, because once they look, the battle is lost. And Ian does lose. For a while there, he can’t look away again. First, because Mickey is courting some pretty nasty illnesses with his improper use of needles. Seriously, Mickey, a beautiful gesture but holy crap. Second, Mickey has his name (or a very close approximation to it) tattooed forever right over his heart. Ian had asked if Mickey was going to marry him, and Mickey told him to fuck off, but everything he’s doing points in the opposite direction. He promised sickness and health; now he’s made a permanent mark on his body for everyone to see. Mickey, who wouldn’t be seen in public with him once upon a time, has plastered Ian’s name onto his body. Ian tries so hard not to let that impact him, but it’s over. He’s lost the battle already, and he falls further and further. He’s smiling when he tells Mickey it looks infected, he teases him about the misspelling (which I think says more about how much that tattoo must have hurt than any inability to spell on Mickey’s part—I’d have a typo too), and he laughs at Mickey’s irritation that he messed it up. And it’s this sweet little laugh, not cruel or hurtful or mean. The wonderful thing about humor is that it can be used to cope with difficult emotions. We’ve seen a lot of people on the show start laughing when they’re in a bad place. Ian has been trying so hard to accept his life as it is even during the shitty day he was having. He tried so hard not to let himself fall into the trap of letting his love for Mickey rule his actions in the scene so far. That’s a lot. That’s denying himself to the point where I’m sure it hurts. And so he laughs, because Mickey did this crazy, absurd thing for him and yeah, it came out wrong, but he did it. This was all Ian wanted once upon a time (minus the felony), and now he has it—but he can’t have it. So he laughs. He immediately moves to hide it, but he laughs. He smiles more and has to bend away to pretend that he’s not—and Mickey lights up like a goddamn Christmas tree. This is the moment that keeps me from seeing this scene or Ian’s actions as being cruel. They’re both hurting, and this is an awful position to be in. But Ian loves him so much, and Mickey was doing everything he could to make him show it. Not exactly how he saw that going, I’m sure, but he’ll take it.

4.      “Been thinking about you.” – Knowing that he lost that one, Ian looks away again. While the end of this scene will hurt for both of them, especially Mickey, think about the pain he must be feeling in that moment simply because he’s not. He’s not hurting. For the first time that day, he feels good. This can’t last. Mickey isn’t coming home with him when time is up. This wonderful emotion that filled him up enough for him to laugh and smile after such a bad day will be gone the second he hangs up that phone. Then he’s going to go home and have Fiona breathing down his neck with nobody else for support. And Mickey will be here—behind glass. He can’t handle that, and he pulls that box out again and starts tearing off the tissue paper. He has to get rid of this feeling. He has to be the one to put it away before it kicks him to the curb. He’s stubborn, and Mickey can see him shutting down but also knows that he’s knocked enough bricks out of Ian’s walls to say something softer, something emotional and closer to the heart. Something he is willing to say where the other inmates can hear, which I don’t think is lost on Ian since he immediately looks up again. He doesn’t look away either, not even when Mickey asks if Ian thinks about him. He glances to the side and opens his mouth a bit, but nothing comes out. Mickey knows the answer.

5.      “Gonna wait for me?”/”You’re here for fifteen years.” – There’s this thing Mickey does after he first says that. He chuckles, because he knows that that’s pretty unreasonable to ask and has already predicted Ian’s response. His comment about being out in eight is lighthearted, a serious matter spoken as a joke because…this isn’t juvie anymore. They’re not going to see each other in a few months. This is Mickey’s version of what Ian was just doing, only where Ian tried to withdraw and escape within himself, Mickey is making it more humorous. He’s always done that, make light of pretty serious things to avoid looking at just how messed up it is. But I didn’t get the feeling he was really asking for Ian to wait that long. Instead, I got the feeling that he was testing the waters, seeing if Ian would shut him down—which he didn’t. He offered the bullshit excuse that Mickey tried to kill a member of his family, and Mickey saw through that immediately. I think he knows that he can’t ask Ian to seriously wait and never be with anyone else for fifteen years, or even for eight. I think he knows what he’s saying is a touch absurd. He also knows that Ian’s excuse is extremely absurd, and he doesn’t buy it for a second. It gives him a little courage to do something…well, a bit absurd.

6.      “Will you? Wait? Fucking lie if you have to, man. Eight years is a long time.” – I think the important part of this isn’t that Ian says he’ll wait when he doesn’t mean it, which is the popular take. For one thing, I don’t think we can ascribe that level of calculated behavior to Ian in this instance. There are a few things about this part of the scene that mean a lot to me: (1) Ian doesn’t get up and go. He doesn’t even move in that direction. He sits there with the phone after the buzzer sounds and before Mickey tells him to lie. His mouth opens and closes like he’s not sure what to say. Because what can he say? If Mickey serves the maximum, Ian will be in his mid-thirties by the time they can be together. At that point, he was either nearing eighteen or just turned. I still can’t fathom what I’ll be doing in my mid-thirties, and I’m a whole lot older than that. Ian looks just a little terrified here, and that’s because he knows he loves Mickey but has no clue what he’s supposed to do with that in the impossible circumstances they’re operating under. (2) Ian can’t even see himself moving on yet. He’s still trying to figure himself out, not think about a relationship. He has a job he hates, and his family is a different brand of chaos these days. He feels alone, yes, but not in a way that has him openly desperate for a relationship. Based on what he says to Mandy about Caleb, I think it’s pretty safe to assume that he doesn’t think he’ll ever be in a serious relationship at this point or even in a position for more than casual sex anytime in the near future. How can he say that he’ll wait when he doesn’t know where he’ll be whenever Mickey does get out? Maybe he’ll feel better. Maybe he’ll be out of his mind, roaming all over the place like Monica. Maybe he won’t just be standing on that bridge. It’s a huge question, one that has a lot of ramifications no matter what his answer is, and Ian clearly has none. He’s blindsided by that, which Mickey sees. That’s when he gets serious about those eight years, about how absurd their situation really is. That’s perhaps the first and only time in this scene where we can see that, for as successful as he is at navigating prison, his freedom means something to him. His freedom means he wouldn’t have to coax a glance out of Ian—he could kiss his dumb ass and make him stop being stubborn about how much he loves Mickey. But he can’t. He won’t be able to for a long time. And I think that is what really breaks his heart in this scene, not…

7.      “Yeah. Yeah, Mick, I’ll wait.” – Did anyone else notice how Ian swallowed hard before he answered? How his voice gets hoarse when he first speaks? I paused again to type, and the video is sitting on his face staring at the counter before the second part of what he says. He looks like he might cry. He looks like his heart is breaking just as much as Mickey’s is, because he can do what he’s asking this time—reassure him with a lie. Not because he doesn’t intend to wait, but because he is buried so far under what life has piled on top of him that he can’t see the light these days, and he doesn’t see waiting or moving on. He just sees the daily struggle of being this shell of a person. Of being without Mickey even if they’re not technically together. (Admittedly, I think he knew they would be if Mickey weren’t in prison at that moment. Ian has no real self-control where he’s concerned. Lip told him as much, and he’s self-aware enough to realize it, hence his behavior in this whole scene.)

When Ian hangs up the phone, he doesn’t get up immediately. He looks at Mickey—really looks at him—and each of them watches the other’s heart shatter. I don’t see it the way a lot of people do, though. On Mickey’s side, I don’t see it as being because Ian lied. I think it’s so much bigger than that.

Ian looks at him when they can’t hear each other anymore, and if he didn’t seem ready to cry before, he looks it now. Why? Because there’s nothing he can do for Mickey besides that. Ian, ever the giver, can’t give him anything. At that point, he couldn’t even help himself. He can’t be what Mickey needs in that moment, just like he couldn’t be what Mickey needed while he was sick, and it kills him. It kills him to know that by the time Mickey does get out, he’ll be older than he can fathom being and has no idea if he’ll even be around that long. It kills him to feel like even if he is, he’ll still have nothing to offer because, in his own words, this is where he lands. And it kills him to have to walk away and leave what he loves most behind glass.

Mickey is watching this. He knows Ian, and as painful as it was to get exactly what he asked for, it’s even more painful for him to see what him being here does to Ian. Where Ian is a giver, Mickey is a fixer. He makes things better. When stuff is broken, he puts it back together. When there’s a problem, he resolves it. Ian was going to leave because he couldn’t be an unacknowledged number three in Mickey’s life anymore? He jumped to solve the problem by coming out. Ian was acting strangely and wouldn’t get out of bed for so long that Mickey realized something was wrong? He immediately went to hunt down Lip, who he knows is closer to Ian than anyone else in his family. Fiona tells him that Ian is sick and needs to be cared for? He jumps in to do it, even to the point where it did more harm than good. Sammi caused a problem that Mickey couldn’t solve? He fixed the problem of her being there at all. But here he sits, behind glass, watching Ian that whole time and knowing that he was trying to maintain some emotional distance—and, because it’s Mickey, knowing why. There’s nothing he can do about this. He can’t fix it. For the first time since s3, Mickey is absolutely helpless to fix a problem. He takes a breath as Ian walks away as though he’s about to say something, but what can he say? What can he do? Nothing. He can do nothing but hang up the phone and weather the storm.

In the end, the heartbreak in this scene isn’t about them hurting each other, from my perspective. It’s not about Ian being callous and cruel or purposely trying to hurt Mickey. They know each other too well for that. They’ve been through too much. To me, this is about two people who love each other more than anything not being able to be what the other needed when they needed them—and that’s a whole lot more painful.

[orxhic]

MacDesi is not it for me.

This is a leaked photo of what happens in 5x12 and I am freaking angry. It’s a photo without content. So we still have hope, I think.

I just want to address the whole MacDesi situation. I have no hate towards any actor, actress, character, and/or MacDesi fans. I just feel the need to talk about the reason I strongly disagree with this ship.

Relationships

Trust

I hate how this ship lacks trust which is one of Mac’s biggest beloved value. Mac has always been dealing with trust among his piers. I get that it’s normal to have doubts but when you compare it to all his other relationships, even Nikki. He takes trust seriously. He trusted Nikki even after everything. He saw the bad and still trusted her as a romantic partner. That right there shows that even at the darkest moment, his feelings for Nikki were pure. So why didn’t Desi do the same? Yes she was scared but you still got to have some trust to your partner and stick by them. When it goes tough you trust them and stay with them. Not try to bomb them.

Communication

I have a lot of things to say about this couple. There is legit no communication with them. They don’t work out their problems. They just “start from scratch”. I had a best friend and we did the exact same thing. We ignored our fights and looked at the positive things. Look at us now, we don’t even talk to each other anymore. How is their relationship suppose to develop if they don’t work out their problems?

Another thing that bugs me is that Desi has never apologized to Mac for not trusting him. Instead she got angry that he left and save the world. Even if she did betrayed him (slightly forgivable), she should have said that she was wrong and told him that she was proud for standing up and doing was right or something like that. Is it really hard to admit that she was wrong?

So what is up with Mac? Shouldn’t he be angry that his girlfriend didn’t even hesitate to drop a bomb on them? Shouldn’t be angry that it wasn’t the love of his life that didn’t trust him? I would be pissed if my boyfriend would do that. It make me feel how little they know about me and how he barely cares for me. Seriously, it doesn’t matter how angry and hurt she was at her traitorous boyfriend, she should have at least hesitated or take it back.

Normality

When Riley, Mac, Desi and whats his name went on a double date, Mac and desi knew that they weren’t a normal couple. And that ok. Not every couple has to have the same routine or dynamic. But the thing is that couples should be able to spend time together just enjoying each other’s company (not including sexual activities). Mac and Desi have only been able to work together when their a job and it’s good that they are a great team. But have they ever really just you know? Talk or eat and enjoyed it? Cause if not then it is really just the rush and the convenience of their jobs. They are amazing people and they deserve to be with someone who makes them happy even when they grow old and retire.

Feelings

There are feeling there but why does it feel like one of those crush types of love? It’s like having those high school crushes that you only like cause he’s cute. It’s there but it’s not solid. They don’t have to be one of those epic lovey dove couples. They just have to show that they protect them not because they are teammates and are heroes but because them dying is like a bullet to the chest.

Plot holes

There are so many plot holes in their relationship. For example, the whole “you are my guide back home” is absolutely BS. Did I miss something? From what I remember the compass that she gave was never brought up. If it really was Desi then they should have gotten a shot where he strokes the compass while he was in Codex’s headquarters. They should’ve also not taken the scene where Mac says “You just need that one person” because that defeats the whole purpose. Another is that Desi told Mac that she knew him so well. Like girl, weren’t you the first to declared Mac as compromised? Another huge thing is that Mac completely forgot about the whole being be able to be together and tolerate each other when they are in an operation made me stupid for a minute. Are you not even going to address or take proper notes as to why the relationship didn’t work when you got fired? And the “I never stopped trusting you”?

The proposal

I hated how Mac wanted to propose to Desi because he wanted to work things out for them. Isn’t that the same thing as “let’s have a baby so that our marriage will work” ? Relationship don’t work like that. It’s like you are trapping her or better yet giving yourself and her a reason to want to work the relationship. That’s not love, that’s just loneliness. A real relationship is when you want to work it out because you love/like that person.

I hate how Mac was more worried about how to keep their relationship maintain happy rather than just being happy that they are finally in good place. It just shows that Mac is either traumatized or he really doesn’t want to be alone.

Desi not being happy about the proposal doesn’t mean that she doesn’t like Mac. It could mean that she is not ready but the thing is though, she didn’t tell Mac maybe in the future. Does that mean that she doesn’t think they can make it through the long run? (This is just a thought.)

The next episodes

Hopes

I hope that they both realize how terrible they are being as couple. It’s either learn to work it out or understand that there is something missing.

I hope they address Desi almost bombing Mac and Riley, Mac’s feelings for Riley, Desi being Mac’s compass home.

Note

Note that I am not solely writing this because I am a MacRiley fan. I am writing this because I really think that this relationship is not realistic and is not healthy to both characters. I really did like them because duh, the nerd and the badass one? It’s an opposite attract and a hate to love relationship. But what I value more than each character’s storyline is their compatibility together and dynamic. Relationships should be born and continued because of genuine feelings and not familiarity and a safety net. It just makes me feel like they were not the option that they really wanted but they were the option that was the most available.

No hate to other people’s opinions. If you disagree with me then it’s ok. Your ship, your choice.

[forevercryingoverdccharacters]

5x12 nygmob, my beloved 💚💜

[gilmores-glorious-blog]

okay aside from how fucking insane 5x12 was........ dan-centric episode my beloved <3

[ao3feed-jamiexclaire]

by anotherplaceintime (marvelleous)

God shield my beloved, my white dove, and the child within her. Preserve her from violence and from harm, wherever she may be, on this night and every night until I find her.

Jamie comes home to find that his wife is gone.

Words: 1554, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Outlander (TV)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M

Characters: Claire Beauchamp, Jamie Fraser

Relationships: Claire Beauchamp/Jamie Fraser

Additional Tags: Canon Divergence, This takes place during 5x12: Never My Love, Please read the author's notes before continuing, Angst, Healing

[yurireview]

Why the Rosagarden does not work?

It was in this volume where this ship was born and before starting to make my review about this ship ... is that (I have no problems with the difference in age) I (do not even have problems with Ozpin) saying that I am going to tell you my real problem with this ship.

Very little focus

Honestly, he has almost no interactions in fact, even if it's not clear if Oscar likes Ruby, just look at the total of his interactions in Vol 5 and 6 are (an approximate of 10 minutes)

-The first time was in the 5x1 where Oscar was presented to the group and that's all (30 seconds) of group interaction bone or even personal

Then in the 5x3 again the whole group spoke with Oscar and they approached him with questions (1 minute) in fact they talked more time with Ozpin ... Ruby being friendly (By the way Oscar's nervousness is not because he "likes" Ruby...but by the pressure of group, I mean the following chapters give me the reason)

Then the combat lessons in the 5x4 where they have 3 minutes of interaction but shared with Ozpin and the most important thing was that Ruby told him not to be discouraged since Jaune was just like him.

But the Staff more established Ruby as the link between Oscar and the group in the first half of Vol 5 (but nothing more)

Ruby experience

I think this is the most important interaction between both characters because something very important is established.

When Oscar talks about his insecurities ... Ruby is able to respond in a calm way and giving him the encouragement he needs, while showing us an Oscar parallel with a Ruby of the first volumes 

Ruby is basically something that Oscar aspires to be ... someone who can cope with fear and "face his destiny"

Is it established that Oscar is "in love" with Ruby?

the reality is that no

After this interaction and the return of Yang and Weiss (the Staff no longer refocused their dynamics ... because this was more to introduce Oscar to the group, but not as the "main dynamic" of Ruby

Oscar next appearance was in the 5x7 ... In fact that nervousness in front of an attractive woman like Yang was more "explicit" than some interaction with Ruby

Ruby speaks with Ozpin in the 5x10 and again the staff refuses to "link" them again

Then we show Oscar worried about Ruby when she is knocked out in the 5x12 because (she is the only one in the group that really motivates him to follow his destiny)

But when Ruby gets up the first thing she did was go to where Weiss is

when she had to make the decision between helping Ozpin-Oscar or her sister...she decided to help her sister

In the end, Oscar had a lonely end and they did not dedicate a single minute to... well, do not I know? "develop them" a bit more)

See the problem? just like with Weiss and Jaune ship ... they really could have given them their moment (afterwards to do the RWBY Team meeting) but obviously they did not want to link the characters ... not even like "Bait"

If they really want me to believe that Ruby and Oscar will have a "romance" then they should at least make Ruby interested in him (which they do not show) (they do not show her emotional attachment to him either) ... they give intense scenes that increase their bond) is literally the complete opposite of their dynamic with Weiss.

As I mentioned before ... the dynamic between Ruby and Oscar does not exceed 5 minutes in this volume and Ruby really treats him like any of his other friends ... but the difference is that she motivates him when he needs it because Oscar is a "little boy" who is being brave when trying to face his destiny

Then we have this beautiful scene where Weiss gives a beautiful look to Ruby until Yang interrupts her for his "drama" with Blake ... I must say that the Vol 5 did the meeting very well and in passing events to bring the team together

Vol 6

as I mentioned before if Vol 5 there were no moments of "shipping" and that in the end the moments of "linkage" at the end were between Weis-Ruby ... in Vol 6 it is much worse

The first thing that must be noted is that the opening does not even join them for a moment

What stands out most is his dynamic with Ozpin and the future conflict with Jaune

which makes a direct contrast with Ruby and Weiss that after the events of Vol 5 the bond of both girls increase and it is too evident

In chapter one they have no interaction

In chapter 2 Oscar resists Ozpin control and helps Team RWBY to know the truth

It's great when everyone disappears because of Jin ... the first person in Ruby mind was Weiss

The next moment of Ruby and Oscar was when Ruby gives her encouragement... because literally everyone was downloading with it because of Ozpin ... I mean it was an empathetic scene on Ruby part. Did they develop something? obviously not and right now I'll tell you why

Chapter 5 was the perfect scenario for Ruby and Oscar to at least develop something, it was the perfect scenario. What happened? 

Ruby did not feel the need to be close to Oscar even after his "crisis" and obviously the staff did not match them in that chapter

Thinking well ... Ruby gave priority to Weiss who was affected by that place and really Ruby wanted to be by her side at that moment ... giving very good moments between both

I like the fact that while the Bumbleby there is a lot of “drama” the Whiterose is developing without needing that focusing as both complement each other

Chapter 6 ... instead of making Oscar at least involved in the chapter to "link" with Oscar ... they really left him out and focused on the dynamics of Team RWBY

But again the Whiterose stood out in Ruby dynamics...I like how Narrative makes Weiss the first person to appear after they tell Ruby to think about the people who love her

it was a great chapter for the Bumbleby-Whiterose and in general the Team RWBY (each with its moment to shine)

Oscar had more contact with our beloved Maria Calavera

When Jaune confronts Oscar about Ozpin's secrets ...everyone was against what he did

Ruby defends Oscar and of course showing his leadership

Something that should be noted is that the staff could easily have made after this incident both have a "sweet moment" ... but obviously Ruby was not to give "comfort" or anything like that.

One of the funny things about the final part of Vol 6 is that they show us that our protagonists see Oscar as the "little boy" of the group

I liked the scene of the faces of Weiss and Ruby as worried sisters ... but Nora put the face of "Ara Ara" (even Ren jealous) was a funny scene

I think what stood out was the sincere apology from Jaune to Oscar

I love that everyone sees Oscar in the same way as "the little boy in the group" and they are proud of him. Are there really people who think Ruby is attracted to him? I mean, just because she said in a friendly tone that he looked good? and then the narrative and Ruby decided to ignore it.

The next scene he says "everything will be fine" and she says "yes" really there is no "development" her interactions are basically Ruby acting as a leader to support him ... but she never looks for it, the narrative does not seek to join them in any moment and the emotional scenes of Ruby never happen with Oscar

Besides that they have spoken so little that really saying that "Oscar is in love with Ruby" is a bit silly ... since the only thing that Oscar expressed all the time is thanks and admiration for the leadership and support of Ruby in times of crisis existensial

Once again the Staff is very aware of the ship and the dynamics that it is developing ... now ask: Why do not they put so much effort into the dynamics of Oscar and Ruby?

The scene where Ruby almost claims that she just wanted Weiss to be by his side in the battle was great

Although the most significant scene was in which Ruby almost died and Weiss rescues her.

The expressions of the “ice queen” are great, her fear that something happens to Ruby is tender and even more so if we consider that she still does not let go of his hand … Ruby makes a joke to relieve attention to the once showing his absolute confidence in Weiss with “I knew you would”

These are the scenes that Oscar and Ruby should have if they really want to build something between them (regardless of age)

His team dynamics stood out a lot in chapter 11 ... where ironically it was the chapter of the "ship" ... the protective manner of both and their "nearness" at the moment of danger is simply undeniable

As I mentioned before (nothing at all) ... the scene was between Oscar and Maria

The last scene where Ruby points out Oscar achievement and of course he points out (Oscar is a little boy of 14 years) because that's really how the whole group perceives him.

The final scenes of Ruby had nothing to do with Oscar and well they just have not built anything to develop them in the future.

Conclusion

Look...this is not about "you must match them or not" because we all have the right to like any ship ... but if we talk objectively (The Rosagarden has no development to even dream that it will be Canon ... but that said not I have no problem with the ship)

[princeescaluswords]

How to Troll on Tumblr

A Guide in Three Easy Steps:

1. Find a beloved personality, character, show, genre, or other cultural artifact.

2. Write a post attacking the subject, filled with easily disprovable assertions while making it as nasty and offensive as possible.  

3. Post it with tags designed to draw the attention of that subject’s fans.

Congratulations!  You’re now a troll.

To give you an example, yesterday, there was a post in the Scott McCall tag that fulfilled the requirements perfectly.  It argued, in defiance of all logic and the ability to comprehend television episodes, that no one really wanted to be in Scott’s pack in Teen Wolf.  In order to do this, it had to ignore/edit out a few scenes.  Here’s a few off the top of my head:

Stiles: “You still have me.”  (Master Plan, 2x12)

Isaac: “Anger’s just a tool.  He’s using it to excuse shifting allegiances, from you to Scott.” (Alpha Pact, 3x11)

Aidan and Ethan: “Scott doesn’t care about power, he cares about people. If you want to be a wolf in his pack ...”  “You need a pack; we need an alpha.” (Illuminated, 3x16)

Liam: “ Liam, you've been a werewolf all of five minutes. You don't have to do this.” “I know I don't, but I want to.“ (Smoke & Mirrors, 4x12)

Mason: “I”m in the Inner Circle?” (Dreamcatchers, 5x03)

Stiles, again: “I know what my punishment is.  I’m going to lose my best friend.  I’m going to lose Scott.” (Strange Frequencies, 5x07)

Stiles, a third time: “You’re not going to make do it.” “You’re in the pack right?”  Stiles does it. (Damnatio Memoriae, 5x12)

Kira: “If anyone is going to save Mason, it’s you.  It’s us.” (The Beast of Beacon Hills, 5x19)

Malia:  “And Theo’s not in it. But I am.” (Riders of the Storm, 6x10)

Derek: “You came back for Beacon Hills?”  “No.  Came back for you.” (The Wolves of War, 6x20)

I thought of these over a cup of coffee.  Trolls live to make assertions designed to anger people, but they’re not interested in backing them up with things like evidence.   They don’t care if their statements are wrong or even incendiary.  It’s the reaction that pleases them. 

(Oh, a word on interpretations.   People can see scenes in a different light, but there is a word for interpretations of an entire show that can only exist by pretending certain scenes don’t exist.   They’re called bullshit.)