#7x08 spec

[daniwib]

Oh no Bobby's gonna be too busy getting kidnapped by rage nurse out for revenge to be there to tell Eddie that no, good Catholic men do not cheat on their husband girlfriend with their dead wife's doppelganger and that he should have just gone to see the hot priest instead when he had doubts about Marisol.

[whollyjoly]

alright we doing crazy predictions for 911 tonight??

here we fucking go:

tim nash isnt going to be bobby's brother, he's going to be bobby's dad in a flashback

hear me out-

john brotherton, who's listed as playing "tim nash" on the imdb page for step nine, is 15 years younger than peter krause. now, it could be that bobby just has a much younger brother. BUT, i think with that age (44) being peak Dad Age, it makes a whole lot more sense to me that its flashback!dad than brothers

the synopsis for 7x08 says that "bobby delves deep into memories of his childhood, unearthing moments from his fractured past" and like...if we're going to see memories of his childhood, again a 44 year-old playing "tim nash" makes a lot more sense for a dad!!

we've heard a bit about bobby being a third generation firefighter, and its something that he's very proud of. i think it would be really interesting not only to see his dad as a firefighter, but see that hero worship from bobby towards his dad, and his early love for the work and for saving people...especially in the context of dealing with the trauma of the apartment fire.

if bobby has always wanted to be a firefighter, watched his dad saving lives and heard stories of his grandfather doing the same, what would his young self think of the man who caused so much grief and pain, of the man that amir thinks he is, of the man who cost 148 lives?

maybe, just maybe, "step nine" isn't just making amends with amir, but making amends with his past self, the one who just wanted to help people, who he feels like he betrayed??

because i would LOVE to see that kind of angst - the reconciliation between the man bobby dreamed he would be and the man he is now.

and like....thats not even approaching the question of bobby's "fractured past" that the synopsis talks about, which i have...so many questions about

we know basically nothing about his family - what if bobby's dad also struggled with addiction? or had something happen at work that also cost lives, and young bobby was never able to forgive him for that? maybe bobby sees the anger amir holds towards him, and realizes that he still holds something like that towards his own father?

bobby has talked about a brother before, but i think the only time that he's mentioned it was in a story about playing "lawn darts when they were kids". maybe something happened to his brother, and he's held his father responsible for all these years? in the same way amir holds bobby responsible?

i have!! no idea!!!

i dont exactly know what they're going to throw at us (shakes fist at tim affectionately), but i think that with where this season has been going - focusing on the cornerstones of our main characters, of the things that run the deepest and are haunting the narrative (eddie's catholic guilt, buck's bisexuality, chim's journey and love for his family, doug, kevin, shannon) - it would make sense for us to take a look into bobby's childhood, something we basically no nothing about.

and with that, i truly think that "tim nash" as bobby's dad makes a lot more sense than it being his brother, and that's who we're going to see in flashbacks tonight.

but, whatever happens, i cannot WAIT to see where the angst train takes us! ✨

(bonus, since im thinking about that sweet bobby angst: do you ever think about whether bobby feels a deep sense of failure and guilt that, because of him, there will never be a 4th generation firefighter in his family? do you think the first time bobby told his dad he wanted to be a firefighter when he was a kid, his dad looked both so proud but also so worried? and when asked about it his dad just said "you'll understand when your kid says the same to you"? and that bobby realizes he will never understand because he took that chance away from them?

...cause yeah, i think about that sometimes)

[les-pompiers118]

So when the Shannon lookalike-fantasy bubble pops and the inevitable guilt catches up with Eddie, he'll go right to Buck. He'll go expecting disapproval, of course, but Buck has always had his back, not to mention a long dating history of his own. Eddie will go over to the loft expecting that Buck will hear him out as he explains himself, and then affirm what Eddie already knows he needs to do to fix the mess he made with Marisol.

But Eddie won't be prepared for the utter disappointment on Buck's face. He'll wait and wait for Buck to stutter some reassurance, or ask what the hell he was thinking. Buck won't. He'll only stare at Eddie, looking like a piece of his world just crumbled.

Only then will it hit Eddie just how much he's fucked up. He lied to his best friend—more than once, with intent and calculation—to go on that date. Never in the course of six years has he done that with Buck. He's never really been tempted to do it, he'll realize.

Worse, he's going to break Christopher's heart again. Marisol won't forgive him. She'll disappear and leave another hole in his kid's life, the same way Shannon and Ana did. It will be Eddie's fault again, and this time Chris is old enough to see the pattern. Even if he never finds out exactly what Eddie did, Chris is going to despise him.

And that's when Eddie will start to panic.

[deadnatura11]

Stay with me now:

- the next few episodes are Bobby & Eddie-centric

- we know Amir is connected to Bobby through the apartment fire in Minnesota through him being IN the building at the time of the fire

- we can *speculate* Amir lost his wife from the 7x08 post-episode trailer

- Amir has not forgiven Bobby for the fire he caused, for scarring him, for costing him his wife (he is still STUCK and has not PROCESSED his GRIEF)

- Eddie is cheating on Marisol with a woman, Kim, who looks like his dead wife Shannon

- Eddie, famously, has not processed his grief over losing Shannon and is STUCK as well and cannot self-actualize (ie be the person he's truly meant to be) he's in arrested development

- Bobby, too, is STUCK (despite moving away from killing himself, despite the true blame being on the faulty wiring of the space heater, and despite opening himself up to friends and finding love and family again) because the Minnesota fire plot line has yet to be fully resolved

I think the spec that there's a fire in the finale, a major fire, is not far off. Everyone wants Buck's loft to burn down. Well, what if -

Amir comes close to killing Bobby with the knife (if that's even him in the promo) but never gets the chance. He escapes despite a very moving convincing monologue from Bobby about moving on about how he lost his family in the fire, too, and even OFFERING Bobby the chance to kill him to make up for his sins. Amir is not swayed from his decision to get revenge/"retribution" for Bobby's past sins.

So.

Sooo.

Soooooooooo.

Amir decides to recreate the Minnesota apartment fire. Where? In Buck's building, in Buck's loft. With Buck still inside. So, in Amir's mind, Bobby can feel the pain of knowing he's responsible for more people's deaths anew because "death is too good".

And of course the 118 respond to the call. Of COURSE.

And as they're evacuating people inside they realize Buck's not there and, who rushes inside? Eddie and Bobby.

And they're stopped by Amir who holds them all at gunpoint because he refuses to let them save him and save Buck.

Cue another monologue from Bobby, this time more meaningful because he has put in the work to actually believe the words he says, maybe by speaking to his brother, ESPECIALLY from talking with his wife. And his talk about letting go of the past and moving on, trying to be a better person for yourself and those who you leave behind is what matters, things like that not only affects Amir but Eddie, too.

This time it works and Amir let's Eddie carry Buck out of his loft.

That leaves Bobby and Amir. Amir tells him to leave but Bobby says he won't do that. His job is to rescue people.

And Bobby helps Amir out of the burning building. He's arrested, sure, but he can begin the healing process.

As can another person, Eddie. Who is by Buck's side the entire way to the hospital and, after Buck is treated, offers him the couch at his place for the time being. If he hasn't broken up with Marisol and/or Shannon, he does so because he recognizes he is in no place to date because he doesn't know a) who he is or b) what he wants.

And Bobby? I think this helps him finally close the book on his trauma from Minnesota.

[dadvans]

7x08 spec

i can imagine eddie losing buck’s trust and buck being hurt, but i don’t think it would be a lasting anger. how i imagine it happening is buck finds out because buck asks marisol how their date went the other night and marisol asks buck how their boys night went the other night and then they both realize that eddie lied to them. and i can see buck being more pissed that eddie set him up to be the one to watch marisol’s heart break, and being upset that eddie would lie, and would be disappointed in eddie’s character.

if eddie doubled down on My Ghost Wife Is Real And She Loves Me, i can see buck cooling off on their personal friendship and being a little bitchy at work, but leaving the door open if eddie gets his shit together. obviously i don’t think eddie will see it this way because he’s subconsciously self-sabotaging out of a shame he can’t let go of (that’s his emotional support shame!), and thinks he deserves to lose everyone important to him, so where buck sees an open door, eddie will see a burned bridge. i can see this lasting the first half of next season and then the second half being about them being friends again and 🤞🤞🤞

[dangerpronebuddie]

Okay, I hate this

I hate this I hate this I hate this

We just had an episode that implied Eddie didn't know he could say no to the possibility of sex with Marisol. It was also implied that option didn't occur to Buck either.

And now there's a speculation that Buck and Eddie are not just letting loose and having fun... but are drugged and out of their minds.

Eddie getting his shirt ripped off because he's finally breaking out of the box he's been confining himself to? Beautiful and poetic and I love it.

Eddie getting his shirt ripped off because he's been drugged? No fucking thank you!!!!

But it's possible and that pisses me off.

(Whump is always fun. But in canon, with two characters who don't know they can say no and one who's been assaulted before, it's not good!!! This show is fantastic about handling serious issues and heavy conversations. Consent? Not so much).

Unfortunately, since there's possibilities surrounding consent right now, I have a theory or two.

If they're really copy pasting BT onto Eddie and Marisol, then they could possibly do the 5x11 thing and Eddie is going to kiss someone. Drunk. (Or drugged, depending on that spec). Consent? Don't know her.

But if they do, it could shatter the box he's been in, and himself. I hate the idea that Eddie always has to completely break to be able to heal, but he doesn't know any other way to be. Ryan hinted at the possibility of Eddie breaking again. So what makes it happen, what does he learn from it, and how does Marisol factor in?

If they do the BT parallel and he kisses someone, consensual or not, he's going to feel incredibly guilty about it. He's failed as a boyfriend (and knowing him, he'll twist it around as failing as a father too) and the box will break again.

The next few episode titles even lean into the guilt of it all. Ghost of a Second Chance, Step Nine, even Unfinished Business is ominous enough to suggest the storyline is involved there too.

With the writers for 7x08 being Juan Carlos Coto and Bradley Marques, and Coto being who wrote the breakdown, I wouldn't be surprised in the very least if something happened that episode. It doesn't need to be a breakdown again, but it can be this cathartic experience where Eddie finally lets go of the guilt he's been carrying for decades.

The title for 7x08 has been on my mind since we found out about it. Step Nine in AA is about making amends, no matter what. It's going to be a Bobby centric episode, no doubt, but Juan Carlos Coto usually writes episodes that are big for both Bobby and buddie (2x06, 3x09, 4x05, 5x13, 5x16, 6x10 to name just a few). Add in the fact Bradley Marques is writing it with him, the guy who's only done episode 100 so far, is... Interesting!

Bobby is likely making amends with Amir. Eddie has to make amends with himself. If we get a realization or a coming out that episode? I will pass out.

They're setting it up to be a brilliant queer storyline for Eddie. I would HATE for it to be tainted by drugs and a lack of consent and another cheating storyline.

And if they don't go the drug route (yay!), then an almost between Buck and Eddie would most likely be enough to make Eddie feel guilty about it and then have to face it and realize he has nothing to feel guilty about at all. Nothing happened. He just realized he wants it to happen, and for a moment it felt like Buck did too. It would push him to either hide with Marisol or drop her and be free. And since he's grown and recognized that he moved too fast asking her to move in, it's possible he breaks up with her instead of becoming more serious.

[eddiegettingshot]

not to dead wife doppleganger spec but I'm currently thinking that 7x08 has Eddie seeing Kim more, having more flashbacks of his relationship with Shannon, hiding it from Buck and Marisol, and then Buck finds out at the end of 7x08 and kinda shatters the illusion.

7x09 is the fallout, Eddie dealing with the mess, knowing he has to come clean to Marisol, and then by the end of the episode he does/she finds out some other way and hopefully break-up in the same episode. but I could easily see them saving the break-up itself for 7x10 while the Diaz family is in town (also not certain that's the episode they're in town, it might be 7x09 for all we know).

ohhh yes ok agreed. i can see this. fingers crossed 😩

[historyofshipping]

Raven’s the only person to have seen both Clarke and Bell react to the other’s death.

Raven “Clarke doesn’t break” Reyes is the only one to witness both of the times that Bellamy and Clarke learn of each other’s deaths (at least the first time). 

I’m sure absolutely nothing will come of this coincidence. 

[poppykru]

Cadogan said it takes 7 point to chart a course through space. But 9 symbols open the anomaly. So what if the last 2 symbols that open the bridge to Earth are these 2

The key and the protector of the key

[okmcintyre]

Random Spec in honour of our BACKDOOR PILOT tonight! 💚😃

Over time in the bunker, as Bill works on cracking the anomaly stone, Callie and Reese start to lose faith in their father.

For some terrible reason I feel like something happens to their mother? I do LOVE her already though!

They meet August in the bunker and he and Callie bond bc they are both rebels living amongst a bunker of devout followers.

Becca comes to the ground and learns about Cadogan's plans with the stones.

Becca shows Cadogan that Earth is survivable with nightblood to try and stop them from using the stone. He burns her alive to keep it secret, because he needs people to think their only solution is deliverance.

Secretly, as Bill prepares to leave with his most devout followers: Callie, Reese and August recover the flame (which the Second Dawn realize later on that they need information from, with Becca dead) and the trio steals it.

Knowing that Bill has something terrible planned, the three main characters bring a bunch of kids (who maybe would be sacrificed going through the stones? Or who just want to stay?) out into the woods.

Since they've all given themselves nightblood alteration, the Second Dawn can't follow them outside.

Those kids become our beloved grounders.

(I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THIS!)

Oh! And since our heroes are in this one too: I think Clarke is going to be HELLA sassy as Bill gives his explanation of things... with her people protecting her and backing her up in case the Commandos try something. It'll be touching. And she decides in the end, to leave and try to find Bellamy on her own. Bc she'll see that video and insist on going after him to find his body that she suspects is very much still alive.

[literali1110]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Arrow (TV 2012) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak, Felicity Smoak & Maya Queen Characters: Oliver Queen, Felicity Smoak, William Clayton (Arrow), Maya Queen, BlackStar Additional Tags: Arrow (TV 2012) Season 7 Speculation, Future Fic, post episode: 7x08 Summary:

Post 7x08 flash-forwards: After receiving a visit from William, Dinah and Zoe, Blackstar makes a call to her mother.

[shipsxahoy]

oh ho ho what if Ella and Henry have the curse of the poisoned heart as well? And the curse is somehow nullifying that for now? idfk 

[j-philly-b]

If Remy shows up on 7x08, what are the chances he’s a different kind of “rat” and somehow betrays the heroes?

[jules85]

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions.

A few days ago, I asked the question what was Barry as Oliver doing training at ARGUS with Diggle in the crossover.

I then read an awesome spec from @thesunnystar about The Ninth Circle, their connection to the Dante painting Curtis is trying to decipher, and the real possibility that they are our real big bad of the season.

I can't link the post as I'm on my mobile. It goes into great detail, but here's the basics;

The Ninth Circle are an international criminal organisation and bank. The board of directors are corrupt execs from various corporations. The lower members are forced to join by the organisation or a group called The Underground Men.

Their leader is Dante.

Current members include Brick, Eddie Fyers.

Former members include Cyrus Broderick, Robert Queen, Moira Queen, Emiko Queen.

Allies include Malcolm Merlyn, Queen Industries, Yakuza.

So, for the last few days I've been theorising about Arrow.

What else is new?

Then we got the episode description for 7x08 and things started to come together.

The final piece came to me when @almondblossomme posted her spec about Oliver having his own Suicide Squad after faking his death.

This idea stirred a memory.

At the start of the season there was talk about Arrow really going heavy into the comics. I think it was Stephen that mentioned the Green Arrow Rebirth comic; The Hard Travelling Hero.

Now, in my extensive research (google) I saw that there are two versions of this; one with Green Lantern, and the new Rebirth comic with just Green Arrow.

When I read the book description things started clicking into place.

- 'They killed Oliver Queen. They made the Green Arrow an outlaw. The Ninth Circle will gather it's forces to destroy the hero's very soul. Buildings will topple. Innocents will starve. Disease will spread and Seattle will die.'

'Unwilling to let another city suffer the same fate as Seattle, Green Arrow kicks off a quest to hunt down the Ninth Circle across America.'

'He has to make amends with those he's alienated to take down his deadliest foes.'

Are you with me yet?

Here is my theory. (Yes, I know. I have a lot of theories lol)

7x07 entitled 'Slabside Redemption' sees Oliver make a choice that will affect his entire life, as well as the lives of everyone he cares about.

What is the choice he makes?

To stay in Slabside and see out his sentence.

The appeal to get his conviction overturned is unsuccessful. Felicity pleads with him to escape. But he's firm in his decision not to lead the life of a fugitive. For his family's sake, more than his own.

Then, Diaz somehow gets into Slabside. We know they have a fight and a riot occurs.

Oliver dies.

Or at least, Diaz and the public think he's dead. But he's not.

7x08 entitled 'Unmasked' is essentially the mid season finale, so things are going to come to a head. Secrets and clues will be revealed or dropped.

The description reveals that Felicity will stand by her recent decisions regarding her family.

Now, the doommongers have her asking for a divorce.

Just...no.

That woman is not going to spend the season fighting for her husband, trying to protect her family, just to hand him divorce papers. If I'm wrong, I'll eat my own hat.

So, what is the recent decision she made regarding her family?

I think it's a decision she made regarding Oliver.

A decision she made without his approval.

Lyla, Diggle, and Curtis have deciphered the painting by this point, and the ties to a corrupt organisation and Diaz. Unable to trust the hierarchy at ARGUS, Lyla needs someone she can trust to help her take down The Ninth Circle.

Oliver Queen.

The Green Arrow.

Lyla, Diggle, and Felicity concoct a plan to start a riot at Slabside to cause a distraction to fake Oliver's death and get him out. (Think s3 with Roy)

When he gets out, Oliver is not happy about it, as it means that he is essentially a fugitive, and that William has to stay at Boarding school.

Felicity stands firm in her decision. She had to be ruthless. (She has precedent for going to extreme measures for her man; drugging him in Nanda Parbat, saving him in the Atom suit, going after him in the police precinct last season)

I'm also thinking that this will all tie up in perfect parallels with the flashforwards.

As it's revealed that Oliver is alive in present day, the flashforwards will reveal that Felicity is alive in the future.

Felicity stands by her recent decisions regarding her family in both the present and the future. In the flashforwards, she faked her death to protect her family.

This all then leads to the second part of the season, where Oliver, Felicity, hopefully John and maybe present day Roy go on their quest across America to bring down The Ninth Circle. By this time, Diggle will have realised what the last six years meant to him, and Roy has been sent by Thea to help her brother. Maybe even Emiko will be along for the ride. But Emiko has ties to The Ninth Circle. She's a former member who wants to take them down. That's what her list is; Ninth Circle members. Oh, Emiko is the new GA btw lol.

The newbies and BS will stay in Star City. They have established solid links to the city; Dinah as Police Captain, LL as DA, Rene with his daughter and the Glades. Curtis...possibly dead. But probably not. This is my wishful thinking. But it makes sense.

I think Oliver will call on them to watch over the city and later bring them into the fold when required.

6x23 already saw him 'make amends with those he's alienated' with that apology tour he did.

So now he has to focus on his marriage and his brother. And possibly getting to know his half sister.

Felicity making this decision for Oliver means that the writers can do their typical 'have Felicity walk in Oliver's shoes so we don't have to admit that once again Marc Guggenheim is a hack' trick. So don't expect any apologies from Oliver.

Or maybe Beth will surprise me. We'll see.

The idea of Oliver and Felicity leaving doubles down on Future William's reveal that they just left him. We're supposed to think that the last time he saw them was 7x01 and before. But that's not true.

I think this Ninth Circle group will go full circle and tie back to the shows origins. I think it will be revealed that they had ties to The Queen family, Malcolm, the Yakuza and the Undertaking.

One big giant conspiracy.

Disclaimer: This is purely my speculation. I'm probably wrong. I usually am. But it's fun.

[killianmesmalls]

OUAFGG here. Yes! Wish Hook or Alice or Henry! They’re all such good candidates. But that’s not what I’m here for. I wanna know what your favorite headcanon is about Hooked Queen and Knight Rook. And is there anything you’re like, “Aw, cuss no,” about them. Cuz there’s absolutely no one who ever talks about Hooked Queen around here (or would be keen on shipping it, really), and I’m dying to know what you think, you being a spec-y kinda gal and all. ;-)

Oh dear, you got me started… This is about to get *real* long and turn into some serious word vomit. I apologize ahead of time.

Well, let’s see, since we’re here, I’m going to go ahead and answer about BOTH versions of Hooked Queen. For the Storybrooke version, I really wish they had explored their relationship more, but I see them having this sort of semi-antagonistic sibling-like relationship that, beneath the surface of petty insults and side-eyes, is very caring. They get each other, though they repeatedly met each other at bad times. I think Regina sees a lot of herself in Killian and, since the person she (at least used to) hate most was herself, she took some of that out on him because he’s like looking into a genderbent mirror sometimes. One with a Snapchat filter that adds heavier eyeliner. However, since the whole Dark One thing, the Underworld, and all of season six, I think they’ve really come to see each other as allies, though she’ll still call him names and he’ll still send some snark back her way. If she thinks he’s being an idiot because he clearly doesn’t understand women as much as he thinks he does (and he’s likely irritated Emma somehow), she’ll set him on the right path. If she’s getting especially type-A, he’ll try to figure out a way to get her to relax. She sees how much he’s changed, he sees the same in her, and they both see how much they care for Henry and the rest of the Charming clan. They’ll be the ones at the table at Granny’s bickering about the dumbest things, but they’d go to the Underworld and back to help each other out (again). Plus I think she consulted him and Emma when they discussed getting that motorcycle for Henry, and he always makes sure Regina is comfortable with the sword-fighting lessons he’s got planned for the day. 

As for Wish Hook and Regina, they clearly met when they’d both been more settled into who they are, so it’s an easier friendship. This one has them on more equal footing, and less antagonistic. They hate themselves less, though mainly they just see that *they* don’t matter to themselves as much as their children matter. She sees the maturity in him—hell, even with the weird timeline, he’s got a couple of decades, at least, on the other one—and he sees an ally in her that he’s been sorely lacking since he gave Smee the Jolly Roger. They’re someone else to confide in, to understand everything they’ve been through. While I hope this turns into a slow-burn relationship for them, one where she helps him learn to trust people again and he helps build up her sense of self-worth (which she seems to be lacking even if she does, hopefully, like herself more these days), I’d settle for just a really deep friendship. They have, at this point, seen each other at their very worst and at their best. They’ve seen each other be vindictive, self-serving, and manipulative, and now they have seen each other be deeply caring, self-sacrificing, and honest. I head canon that, before the curse happened, they had long conversations about everything they had been through, either together or on their own. But, they can also sit in a comfortable silence for hours, maybe both just drinking a cup of coffee or something, because they already know what the other wants to say. They’ve likely wanted to say it themselves. I need more of it. So much more!

As far as Knight Rook goes, I’ve rambled a couple of times here and here about them. But, of course, I could go on forever. I believe he often has this self-doubt in the back of his mind about whether he’s doing the right thing. After all, his father was no man to try to imitate, and he has no experience with how to raise little girls which, sometimes in his 300-year-old mind, he wonders if it’s that much different from raising little boys. Then, he remembers his mother and then Liam, how they reacted to certain things and the words they said, and he hopes that plus the love he feels for Alice will be enough to guide him even when he has no clue what he’s doing. He decides not to worry about whether he’s doing right by her by any sort of societal standards, whether it be because she’s a girl or for any other reason, and just decides to be the father to her he wish he had. He teaches her absolutely everything he knows, including early lessons on how to defend herself. After all, when he helps get her out of that tower, she’s going to need to know how to handle anything life throws at her in all the realms they’re going to visit. There’s a lot in the short time we see them in 7x08 that I think is very telling. For one, the unbridled happiness from both of them at being reunited says just how close they are. For another, the fact that she was able to slay the Jabberwocky while having been imprisoned in a tower for most of her life (potentially?) says that she is a tough cookie who learned how to fight. 

TL;DR—Storybrooke Hooked Queen are adorable, bickering siblings, Wish Hooked Queen are besties and potential slow-burn romantic, and Knight Rook gives me every sort of family feel imaginable. 

[mrs-emma-swan-jones]

Heads up, there's a really obvious troll making the rounds, saying CS must never have been true love, because of what the 7x07/7x08 press release says, and the corosponding spec and assumptions. Don't get sucked in! Lol.

I read the press release because someone I follow reblogged it and literally did not get the vibe at all??  It didn’t even say anything about CS, so IDK what the troll is smoking, but that’s a pretty sad trolling attempt if I ever did see one.  I don’t even watch OUAT anymore, so I’m sure they’ll probably keep out of my inbox, but PSA for anyone else who may receive any troll-ish messages.