#also where was wesley at that point lol

[after-nine-at-the-oasis]

AAH little wopez moments 🥰🥰🥰

But also y'all the group scenes at Nolan's house XDD I'm a sucker for found family so whenever these guys are all together I just <333 Those scenes just killed me 😭❤️

Bonus it was hilarious lol

[startrekprodigyfan]

Okay yeah… I binged the whole season in one day.

It was actually surprisingly easy to do so. And while that means my planned slower recaps and speculation are basically out the window, I also now just don’t have to worry about spoilers for weeks on end.

I’m still going to keep spoilers under a cut though. Even if you block key hashtags, stuff can get through, and just making the spoilers further down a text post you have to scroll past to continue browsing tumblr doesn’t help either. Hide that content behind a cut, please!

Non-spoiler thoughts:

It was so good. It was honestly more Trek than I could’ve possibly expected. And to all those early naysayers who were confused by the Protostar and where it was supposed to be in the timeline after the first episode of season 1, all of that gets answered and put into context by the end of season 2. Thank GOD! Every single plot point people brought up and thought was a “plot hole” gets filled and explained.

It’s not as emotional as the first season, but the situations and events definitely still have a lot of weight and the stakes are so high for so long too! There’s a surprising number of dark events that happen throughout the series. Way darker than even I’m used to watching the animated shows that I do. Kudos for not skimping on the peril and stakes of the mission for the sake of kids being traumatized lol

And while there is the potential for more, if we never get a season 3 this would still be an extremely satisfying ending all the same. I am very happy there aren’t any loose ends here.

Prodigy is without a doubt the most reliably consistent Star Trek show that’s ever existed. Not a single episode feels like filler. Not a single episode wastes time or characters. Even the goofy episodes have character development and callbacks later, and I genuinely don’t think there’s a single episode that I would skip or not watch again. That’s an amazing feat in and of itself, but as a Trek fan that’s just unheard of! Kudos all around!

Now for my longer spoiler thoughts under the cut:

Okay…

How the HELL did you guys make Wesley Crusher’s time traveling arc sooo good? As a TNG fan I was always annoyed with the “traveler” storylines and with Wesley’s character in general. Even as a kid I never really liked him. But this storyline makes him interesting and gives a lot of weight to his powers. He’s almost like The Doctor from Doctor Who, someone who has so much going on in his head that he’s sort of lost it.

That honestly was the biggest surprise to me. I was convinced that Hologram Janeway (and the construct) were somehow manipulating time and events because of the wormhole. Janeway would be trying to help them, while the construct was trying to stop them. That was my working theory for the start of the series. Imagine my surprise when it turns out it’s Wesley Crusher! wtf!?

I do like that he gets to reunite with his mom finally. And that he learns he has a brother.

Incidentally that’s something else I was not expecting. How MUCH of this series was going to be timeline connected to the events of Picard and Lower Decks respectively. Like, wow… they connected the Mars Shipyard explosion and the Romulan evacuation plot points that made sense for the story. Like holy crap, then FINALLY getting into Starfleet only for the shipyards to explode and Starfleet is severely crippled. I did not expect that to happen, and it’s sadly realistic too.

I still hate the Romulan evacuation storyline from Picard, but as a matter of keeping things consistent it makes sense for it here. And while I don’t like it being a canon event, it’s overall good for the consistency of “prime” trek.

I do like that Dal became a second in command. I’ve always felt like Dal was never really destined to be the captain and that he’s always been better at helping others be their best selves. So it makes sense for his character arc that he learns he doesn’t need to be in charge to make a difference and that there’s no shame in being second.

Overall I am still reeling from how much Trek happened in this season. There’s never a dull moment. Unfortunately I am not optimistic about a 3rd season. Netflix picking up a mostly completed series to broadcast on their streaming service is far FAR cheaper than paying for an entire season to be created outright. And sadly, as much as I want more Prodigy, I have a feeling it’s just not on people’s radars enough for it to do gangbuster numbers enough to convince Netflix to pick them up for a 3rd season. I hope I am proven wrong, but I will not get my desire for more season unrealistically hyped up.

I do want to rewatch the entire show now, because there were clues left in the first season that only get answered at the end of season 2. And I love closed loop time travel storylines like that! I can’t wait to go back and connect the dots knowing what I know now.

An excellent series. Probably one of Trek’s best in decades. A true love for the material and the characters and the legacy of Trek lore all rolled into an amazingly animated package.

[bronx-bomber87]

Happy Saturday :) Counted the days today see how far off we are. 73 days till s6. Still awhile away but glad to have something to look forward to. Not a ton of moments in this one but what we do get is good. Always is with them having crumbs or massive moments tis a delight. Do get to see Tim in sexy leader mode. Always gets my engine revving ha

4x15 Hit List

We start off with the clown saying 'Hi' to Lucy. She asks if he got her emails? He babbles on about not reading them yet. Cause they pertain to coddling felons. (asshat...)He then jumps the gun and calls her his GF. Lucy is not about it. I love her calling him out on it. The clown tries to defend his answer but Lucy cuts it off. Not allowing the convo to go any further. It’s almost like he’s not worth it Lucy…. Or just a relationship of convenience....Instead of digging deeper into that she presses on about the judicial system.

How he could make a difference with the position he’s in. Chris asks why she didn’t go to law school then? Her answer is classic. Because her parents wanted her to LOL The clown starts telling her she should go to law school. Leave being a cop and the violence behind. It’s funny or more annoying really. Both Chris and Ashley wanting them to leave being a cop behind. Something that so dear and important to them. An intricate piece of who they are. Oh the reasons these people are wrong for them is plentiful.

They truly pick the polar opposites for themselves this season. Before the clown leaves he asks her if she really wasn’t ok with him calling her his GF? Lucy deflects once again. Saying it’s fine if she can call him her ‘Work in progress. ’ Easy love, your commitment issues are showing…Amazing how in s5 with Tim she doesn’t hesitate…. *sigh* The clown is an annoying speed bump on our journey to that moment.

We first catch our couple rolling in their shop. Lucy looking out the window. Pensive look written on her face. Tim notes this silence and says she’s been quiet. So funny this man who would get so irritated by her talking and personal stuff notes this. We know that wall is demolished so when he doesn’t have that he misses it. i.e. this moment.

We all know he secretly loves their shop talks at this point. She came barreling into his life like a chatty sunshine filled wrecking ball. Knocking his high wall down to rubble. With it gone he’s used to it now and craves it honestly. Especially when it’s absent. He’s the one to break the silence in this moment not Lucy. It’s the little things I love so much. Look at our Tim.

Once the silence has been broken Lucy asks her question. Asking Tim if he thinks she’d be a good lawyer? Doesn’t waste a second before telling her No LMAO Her face in the second gif haha She’s so offended. Tim sees this and follows up with saying it's a compliment. Lucy tries to defend it by saying Wesley’s a lawyer. ‘We’ like Wesley. Heh who is this 'We' eh Lucy? Talking like an old married couple. What else is new? Haha I love it Tim fires right back with the same ‘We’ below. This is making me giddy. I see you guys and I’m happy about it.

Tim makes the point they only accept Wesley cause they fear Lopez. I mean where’s the lie? LOL If there is one other woman (other than Lucy) who can put the fear of God into Tim it’s Angela Lopez haha Also his disdain for lawyers explains his extra dislike of Chris the clown. Already doesn’t like the guy. Him being a lawyer isn’t scoring him any extra points with Tim.

Nevertheless she is amused by her husband antics about this. Written all over her face. Damn they cute. Lucy continues on about making change. That a progressive DA can change a lot more than they can. Tim stops her. Says they’re not there to make change. Their job is to catch criminals. If she wants to become a crusader for change tells her to become a billionaire. Then she can eradicate poverty.

Before their convo can go any further they see a car pull up speeding. It cuts them off and opens fire on the vehicle next to it. They pull up to the car and the poor driver is already dead. There was nothing they could've done for her. She’s so young it’s sad to see. Lopez pulls up to their scene after its in progress. Asks what happened? All they have right now is a drive by for info. She tells them that the key into why she was shot at will be in ID'ing her.

Tim takes over for Grey so he can go testify in his case. It’s his first stint as Watch Commander. Already off the a rocky and hectic start. Nolan also had a victim this morning. Man blatantly poisoned in the lobby. He died waiting for help. They connect the two through the fact they were both witnesses to a massive case. Tim lets them know it’s the same case Grey is about to testify for… I do love seeing him in that chair. Everyone coming to him because he's acting commander. He wears it well.

Tim comes to see Grey at the hospital. He just barely survived his attack. The scene in the garage is intense. It's a throw back to when Nolan killed his suspect back in S1. We can see the worry on Tim's face before he walks over to Wade. He does his best to put his worry away before coming up. The worry is still evident though. Especially through out their interaction. This man has been a rock and a mentor for Tim. To see Grey shaken up like this is hitting him hard.

I love Tim coming up calm and patting his leg. Trying to reassure him. He then does what he does best and takes control of the situation. Lets him know everything is squared away. That all he needs to focus on now is getting better. Wade asks who she was? He tells her a hitter for Matteo Rubio. The man he was set to testify against. They think that she was also the shooter for the drive by.

Tim goes into sexy sergeant mode. Reports back to his crew who are waiting for news. They discuss what happened and if the threat is over. Nolan doesn’t think so since the person who killed his victim was a man. Tim sends Lucy to the DA with Angela to get the witness list. See if they can prevent anymore deaths. He then directs everyone else in that take charge tone of his. Yum. Everyone turning to him for guidance and respecting everything he's saying. I love it sfm.

He wants round the clock security for Grey. Then advices Nolan on how to be there for Wade. Going from strong leader to teacher in the blink of an eye. Getting me all hot and bothered Sergeant Bradford. *fan-self* Tim says he’s going to try and ID the deceased shooter. That way he can find out who she was partnered with and catch this other threat.

The trip to the DA is fruitless. Del Monte won’t share the confidential witness list. Says unless they have credible evidence he isn’t sharing anything. That they handle witness protection for a reason. Angela is fiery af with Del Monte. Saying they’re doing a bang up job LOL I love her so much. This is why Tim fears her haha

Chris tries to catch them before they leave. Angela allows a minute for them to chat in private. He hands her the list. Lucy immediately tries to hand it back. He follows it up telling Lucy that she can’t say where she got it from. He’ll be fired if she does. Maybe then don’t do that and put her in this position clown…

Acting like he's doing her this big favor but also letting her know how it could damage him. Trying to be the big hero but it comes off as anything but that IMO. Like look at me and what I'm going to possibly sacrifice. You'll owe me if this works out. Putz. Lucy’s moral compass winning out though. Tim would be so proud. Telling him they can’t become criminals to catch one. That they’ll find another way. My girl. I love it. Angela interrupts says they ID’d Grey’s shooter.

We return to our ship on a stakeout. They found the place she has been staying at. Waiting to gain entrance to their shooters home. Tim coming up asking if there has been any movement? Lucy reports no. What I love here is the lack of space. This whole season it's not a concept they understand. I love it sfm. He closes the gap and she doesn’t even notice. It’s just their natural rhythm at this point. Magnetically drawn to one another. Could he be any closer to her?

Once they’re inside they notice her associate isn’t there. They don’t have a name attached to him yet. All they had was this house and it’s empty. Lucy asks Tim if he smells smoke? He says yes. Being the smart cookie she is saying it’s a little hot outside for a fire….The theme for lack of person space continue as they examine the fireplace. Looks like they just missed him. He bailed and burned their paper trail before he took off.

As they check the remains of the burnt paperwork. Tim joins her and leans close as they inspect what’s left. No need for it but I’m happy for it haha He physically can’t help it. Tim saying there isn’t much to work with. Lucy being the bad ass she is finds something. A name Kellen Myers. Just what they needed. A huge crack in the case courtesy of our girl.

We find out that name was of a paralegal who sold the list to their shooter. Angela breaks down this dude quickly. It's amazing to watch her in action. He easily collapses under the pressure. Says he didn’t know anyone would get killed. Tells her he gave the name of the witnesses and the DA. Idk how this dude thought they would just play nice with them all. Idiot. Probably why they picked him.

Tim and Lucy race to the DA office. Phone lines are down and they know their next target is them. Unfortunately they save his clown ass and Del Monte (would’ve saved us a lot of trouble had this guy succeeded haha) Guess them being together did get us pouty, pining Tim in S5 so it’s not a total loss her dating him lol

Lucy checks in on the clown after everything is settled. She then asks him why he really wanted to give her the list? To me Chris was one big manipulative red flag. (Also clueless as hell at the same time. Enigma of ugh.)He never did anything because it was the right thing to do. It was because he was trying to impress her. Pleading the 5th and all that for the list. Just like Tyler's deal in 4x11. He did it because it was to impress Lucy. To get in her good graces.

So once again with this moment he did it for the sake of impressing her. Not because it was the right thing to do. Nothing like Tim. I’ve said this before they both went for people who were the polar opposite of who they really wanted in s4. I dislike Chris so much and he lasts the longest bleh. I don't like either Ashley or Chris but I dislike Chris more. Love the actor to bits he's a sweetheart. Chris though? blah. Pretty low content ep for them but next one will more than make up for it.

~~~

Side notes-non Chenford

The SL with Grey and Nolan is really good. I may give Nolan a hard time cause well he is a putz most times ha but I do enjoy how he and Grey have grown professionally and personally.

Aaron’s plain clothes day is ROUGH to say the least with running into Patrick’s dad…

Thank you so very much to those who continue to be on this review journey with me. By liking, commenting and reblogging these ❤️ you’re the all the best. See you in 4x16 :)

[ichayalovesyou]

Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow

SPOILERS AHEAD

Oh man you guys! I really enjoyed this episode! I loved it way more than The Broken Circle but I did not love it as much as I loved Ad Astra Per Aspera but that episode was so a cut above the average (as in in the running for best episodes of Trek ever written caliber stuff). That it hardly seems fair to say so because this episode was an absolute JOY to watch! Lol! I love a good time travel romp!

I remembered enjoying Paul Wesley’s Kirk in A Quality of Mercy but I wasn’t sure whether I was just riding the high of the previous season or whether he could pull it off twice. But he did and I really really like his interpretation of Jim. I honestly like it a lot better than Chris Pine’s if I’m super honest with y’all.

I mean he UNDERSTOOD the assignment! He was definitely at his Kirkiest when they initially arrived in the 21st century that body language and cadence was on point despite him not looking too much like Shatner. I mean hats off to the writers too for that one. The passion for chess without being overly cocky. The all of it!

There was something about the hot dogs scene and letting La’an have the bed in the hotel that felt very Tarsus IV even tho that might not have happened in this timeline. It’s still very James Kirk of him. Not to mention the whole bit where his type is overachiever, kinda uptight but also dark and mysterious and dare I say a little out of his league folks. Whom he charms without being pushy into warming up to him and letting their guard down. Also THANK YOU to the writers and to Wesley for recognizing Kirk Drift and acknowledging our boy is a hopeless romantic and NOT a babe hound.

I called the La’an/Kirk thing way before it happened because of it. And from what was implied in the Ready Room interview with Paul Wesley it sounds as though we might get more La’an & Jim content in the future which I certainly wouldn’t object to! Although we are skirting the edge of when Jim & Carol Marcus supposedly met so that might get a lil complicated but the seasons (because they’re sorter) might not be 1:1 with years so they’ve got some wiggle room to work with.

I love seeing the cinematic parallels between Kirk & Jim’s love interest stuff in SNW that clearly draws them to each other later on. Chapel is a lot like Kirk and Spock is falling for her pretty hard. La’an is a lot like Spock by the time we meet him in TOS (not too similar to SNW baby Spock though) and they fell for each other pretty badly too! For example, both La’an & Spock are terrified of Kirk’s insane driving skills (or lack thereof lmao)! But enough about Jim & the whole K/S kitten caboodle! This episode is about LA’AN :D

Holy shit did La’an need what’s been happening with her in these past couple episodes. She got to face her generational trauma headlong, she got to see a mirror in Kirk and further realize the value of enjoying the fleeting and precious joys of life. By both convincing this alternate timeline version of Kirk that her version of the world is worth saving (also not the “Sam’s alive?” 😭 because his older brother dies unexpectedly and tragically in both timelines DONT TOUCH MEEEE, also not the potential Kirk bros content going forward also 😭). To eating the damn hot dog, and presumably letting Kirk talk her into taking the bed and just ugggggh.

And then HE DIES! They fridged Captain James T. Kirk of all people for HER character development lmao how’s THAT for a twist. Historically it’s been the other way around how’s that feel for once Jimbo? Damn!

Sera was an interesting villain, she was a good twist honestly felt like something was up with her the minute she had pics of that romukan ship. Also, I love all the self referential like, “yes we acknowledge this changed a little bit” stuff that’s happened. Like the Temporal Wars are why the Eugenics war is supposed to start around *now* and not the 90s like previously stated and Sera has been trapped trying to fulfill her mission for 30 years. Or how clearly Jim thinks everybody calls his brother George and only he gets to call him Sam when clearly that’s not the case lol. It’s nice little touches like that that really make me feel validated for having faith in the writers when nitpickers complain.

Also PELIA! She’s an art thief?! Incredible! Hilarious! Brilliant! No notes! Although it JUST occurred to me that because La’an went to Pelia before the whole “preventing the timeline from changing entirely” bit does THAT mean that La’an can at least talk to Pelia about what happened?! Because it’s implied La’an is who inspired her to become an engineer and that’s still part of our prime timeline! Maybe it’s like a Guinan and Picard situation! I think La’an should get to sob into the arms of our funky little klepto engineer grandma as a treat instead of breaking down alone in her room, please and thank you!

Anyway, baller episode! 9/10

[thegeminisage]

ok we watched the tng pilot. let's get into it

data is my best friend on this show and i love him

i liked riker but jonathan frakes looks like a baby without facial hair. he's gotta grow that in. also, at one point he asked someone a question and i got really excited. he should ask more people more questions i think thats what jonathan frakes was born to do. that and sit in chairs with style

also liked geordi even though we only saw him for 3 seconds and worf even though same.

the sections with q draaaaaaagged. ik people like q and whatever he has going on with picard but i'm just not there yet. this "humans are NOT savages anymore" plotline has been played out in tos many times to better effect

actually shocked picard was such a dick. idk why i was expecting him to be more kind maybe i was projecting professor x onto him?? but he kinda sucked lol like what was EVEN going on w his little pissing contest with riker

love and light, there should not be children on a starship. space is fucking dangerous. they're literally boldly going where no one has gone before. these kids could get hurt

the ship??? splits?????????? IS THAT LEGAL????

ok, furthermore, sorry, speaking of kids, not to be a misogynist but out of the 3 ladies (troi, crusher, and yar) i dislike 2 of them. love and light to deanna troi but i really hope she gets something to do besides emote and go OH THE PAIN...her look was slay. i understand completely how she turned women gay. give her something to do. give her a chance. i know she could be good.

i didn't mind dr crusher until she let her kid on the bridge even though you're not supposed to do that and they told him to touch nothing and he proceeded to touch everything and then she got mad when picard got mad. picard spent 70% of this episode being a dick and the one time he was justified she was like :/ wow you're such a dick. lmao. girl come on he literally said don't touch anything he was already being nicer than he had to be. the child was in the wrong children shouldn't even be on this ship

also they talk about wesley like he's their affair baby. idw if its true but nobody tell me. let me believe it. wesley crusher destined to suffer through male pattern baldness

also, i can see now why you're not supposed to date your ship mates. dating them is fine but being exes with them is excruciating and we had TWO PAIRS this pilot

anyway. tasha yar was rad i DID love her.

it's weird though how many of them use first names...in tos sometimes they didn't even use last names, only titles. spock called bones "doctor" almost exclusively. so riker calling geordi geordi after like 5 minutes of knowing him was a little weird

i cried when bones showed up. sue me. his prosthetics were terrible and i already miss him so much.

SPACE JELLYFISH. that part was good

overall both the adventure and the interpersonal stuff was a little ????? which is like. you can flop on one or the other. i DO have faith it will get better but i feel kind of lukewarm on it so far

there's a lot of direct counterpoints to tos, but it's shuffled JUUUST enough so it feels like it isn't copying tos's homework word for word but rewording it to trick the teacher. for example, data is like spock in that he doesn't understand emotions or whatever, but it's actually the inverse because spock understands and pretends not to, while data truly doesn't understand but wants to. then you have deanna troi who's sort of filling in for the other thing spock used to do, which is give us general impressions about unknown alien life, but she SPECIFICALLY does it through emotions so she doesn't resemble spock too much. the captain and first officer have a lot of scenes together but they're tense so it doesn't look too tempting to the slash fans. the doctor is still a bit grumpy but she's a woman this time. they don't use tricorders but geordi's special prosthetic helps them see all that shit anyway. it's tos but shuffled. lmao that it took 2 people to replace spock <3

anyway my favorite part, aside from the part bones was in, was when riker and data talked in the holodeck. and riker was like actually yeah the fact that you're a machine DOES make me uncomfortable. and data is like well i am superior but i'd like to be human actually! and you could see the little gears in riker's head turning and later he called data friend. i liked that and i love data. i love data he's very important even though the pilot wasn't good i think i would keep watching no matter what for data. and i knew it would be like that.

[alitgblog]

replaying thth2 bc I realized I've never done the reunion where I'm not just fooling around with Santiago the whole time

and like somehow even on my third playthrough of the main story there's stuff I still haven't seen before that's so exciting

bc like in theory (i.e., if this was a litg season cough cough) after doing a messy Ryder route and a loyal Antoine route, I should know how a messy Wesley route would go bc he's an OG like Antoine but my MC is messing around which I've seen before when I did the Ryder route, but no somehow she's being even more messy.

So either Naomi or Antoine have a conversation with Nora about MC being bad news, and the other times I've played they tended to be jealous or worried MC was gonna win the money but this time, because MC flirted with Antoine in the beginning, he just sounded hurt that she left him behind, and I was like oh my god am I the problem??? (yes)

AND it gets mentioned again when MC catches Antoine and Amari making out that he's kinda being a salty ex and one last time when they both get dumped he says they could've been great together (which may have happened in the other route I played where mc got dumped but I don't remember tbh)

And then there's another part where one character will confront you about not being genuine with your partner, and because my MC is with Wesley, Naomi is the one that pulls MC aside to say this. But when playing the loyal Antoine route, Amari does this and has no evidence so she's just jealous. However, Naomi has so much evidence against MC, I'm like... yeah you're right girl

Meanwhile I also happened to have closed a Ryder route which I didn't know was possible so they're just friends so that's cool but also like there's no chance to save him even though he has a point that he was loyal to Nora the whole time he was there until they broke up, so it doesn't make sense he gets dumped lol

Anyway MC ends up with Kai even though she had a higher romance with Wesley and it breaks it my heart but he's happy with Naomi now so I guess it's fine 😭😭

[seakaysunhaven]

Micro-Managing and Chocolate Chip Cookies (7/15/24)

It’s been about a week since my first post so I figured I’d come back and do a little update!

Progress on marrying everyone has been going steadily. As of right now, everyone in Sun Haven who I haven’t married yet (except for Vivi because I’m only on Winter of year 1) is at 15 hearts and is at the very end of their dialogue cycles. Again, my biggest problem has just been getting enough community tokens to actually buy the engagement rings. It’s not that hard, just a little tedious unfortunately.

Anne’s wedding ring has been a huge boon for me this whole save file, paired up with Claude’s house key. I get over 1000g a night with those two items alone, which has been great since I’ve been really neglecting fishing which is my usual go to money maker. I’ve also tried to level up as many of the passive income skills as I can just to keep myself afloat. Kai’s 50k gift is also incredibly helpful, as it let me finally get to a 3 tier house. Not really necessary, but I would like to see all of the character’s bedrooms if I can.

In my last session, I stopped after marrying Catherine. I’ve been trying to take screenshots for every marriage just to keep the memory of the journey :) here are the rest of the screenshots from my previous ceremonies:

(You can see at what point I decided to change my character to a demon lol. I needed to create an angel for the achievement but wasn’t super keen on sticking to that.)

Item gathering for gifts has also been a challenge, to the point where I just stopped trying to stock up on certain gifts and just started handing out cookies to everyone, even if they don’t really like them. I’m not sure why but finding loved gifts for Kitty in particular has been a little frustrating, but she’s at 15 hearts at least so.. don’t need to worry about her for a little while. My personal go-to’s for characters:

Seaweed for Kai

Hearty pie for Shang

Fire crystals/sunite ore for Lucia

Anvils for Lynn

Carrot juice for Catherine

Sesame rice balls for Jin

Orange cream cake for Miyeon

Cookies for Liam

Crab sushi (mostly) for Kitty

Kale juice/yucky green juice/Caribbean green soup for Wornhardt

Small money bags for Anne

Tomato soup for Claude

Nathaniel ended up getting pretty high hearts just by chatting with him and occasionally filling out his requests on the community board, but I’d assume copper swords are pretty easy to make and stock up on for him.

Next on my agenda is to work on heading to Nel’vari while finishing up the marriages in Sun Haven. It’ll be a lot easier to get hearts with Vivi after getting access to acorns anyways, and also I just need to start working on boosting hearts with everyone there. I think I’ve decided I might save Vaan’s for last instead of Wesley, just because I think I’d like to leave this save married to Vaan and now I’m super committed to getting all the wedding rings and keepsakes.

As for keepsakes and records, I’ve got every character record from sun haven and the only keepsake I’m missing is Kai’s.

I think that’s all I’ve got for now, sorry if some of this is gibberish, I’m very sleepy while typing this lol

[ceterisparibus116]

Nuance is absolutely important but I think it becomes unnecessary when it's veering into moving goalposts and skewing the argument in favor of painting one side in a better light (in this case, Karen). Like I said, the "honesty measuring contest" is weird and I'm not sure entirely accurate because Matt's secret has, as far as we know, never put Karen in direct danger? All of the dangerous circumstances she found herself in was of her own doing (taunting Fisk, going out to investigate at night) and none because of Matt's secrets. Whereas her not revealing that she was the one who killed Wesley gave Nadeem a reason to justfify his FBI manhunt for Matt even more.

I just don't see the proper logic behind "oh yeah Karen was hypocritical throughout the course of her relationship with Matt and set hypocritical standards that lead to her breaking it off, but in no way is she responsible for the relationship not working out"...? Isn't the very existence of that hypocrisy, of that weird goal post that, "yeah I can set standards that are palplably hypocritical and if you don't meet that, gooodbye" make her a contributor to its implosion? Relationships entail adjustments from both sides, but it feels like your argument is positioning Karen like a controlled variable and that it should be Matt making all the adjustments. If she knows and is aware that her standards are hypocritical, how does that not make her a reason for it not working out? Notwithstanding Matt's reaction to it or his personal feelings about dishonesty, if Karen didn't have that hypocritical, "non-negotiable" standard then she would be more lenient with things and possibly make adjustment to said standards? And my original point was that Karen put Matt on a pedestal the same way you and many others point out that Matt put Karen to, yet this is never addressed.

I just find it weird to see all the mental gymnastics to frame Matt as the sole reason for the relationship not working out lol? It feels like you're laying out all the facts that yeah, "Karen is this, Karen is that" acknowledging her hypocritical standards yet give a contradictory conclusion that "therefore Matt is all to blame for the relationship implosion" and this is where I'm detecting some cognitive dissonance.

I really appreciate you being so logical and rational about this. It seems like you genuinely want to understand where I’m coming from, and that’s really impressive online!

But let me be clear: in response to your asks, I am talking about which character contributed to the relationship not working out. I am NOT talking about which character contributed to the relationship being unhealthy.

And this isn’t me moving the goalposts. I have, from the very beginning, been talking about one (1) thing: the reason why their relationship didn’t work out.

(And btw, this isn't me trying to skew the argument in favor of one character over another, either. Gosh. I respect how you're handling this discussion overall, but this particular claim is attacking my intentions, not my logic or my argument. For whatever it’s worth, if we’re going into intentions, I actually prefer Matt as a character over Karen. Like, significantly! I’d love to skew the argument in Matt’s favor. I have literally zero desire to skew the argument in favor of Karen. The mere fact that I present an argument that favors one character does not mean that I “skewed” the argument in favor of that character.)

But anyway, for the record, again: I agree that Karen is hypocritical, and that’s bad. I also agree that Karen absolutely contributed to the relationship being unhealthy. She did this in many ways, actually, including but not limited to her dishonesty.

But a relationship can continue to exist despite being unhealthy. And in the case of Karedevil: if Matt had been honest with Karen, but she had refused to be honest with him, all signs point to the idea that they would have stayed in a relationship. Would it be unhealthy? Yes. Would she be hypocritical? Yes. Would they have broken up? NO. The only reason they broke up was because she couldn’t handle his dishonesty.

From watching the show, I see no evidence that their relationship (unhealthy as it was) ended because of her hypocrisy. All the evidence I see points to one reason for their relationship ending: Matt’s dishonesty, and her frustration with his dishonesty.

Please, show me where in the show you are getting the idea that Karen's hypocrisy contributed to them breaking up. Show me a scene or a line of dialogue. Show me evidence.

As for the pedestal stuff…eh, I just don’t see how she put him on a pedestal. I see no evidence that she couldn’t handle the thought of Matt having a violent streak, and I really don’t know where in the show you’re basing the opinion that she thought of him as a perfect goody-two-shoes. She obviously is surprised to learn that the apparently mild-mannered lawyer is a secret vigilante, but I don’t see her ever once being disappointed or upset by his violence. The only thing she’s disappointed and upset about is, again the dishonesty.

Like, please show me where in the show you think Karen puts Matt on a pedestal? Don’t just say “Karen put Matt on a pedestal.” That’s a conclusion. Give us evidence! Give us reasoning! Why do you believe Karen put Matt on a pedestal? I have told you why I think she didn’t – now it is up to you to tell us why you think she did. Repeating a conclusion “Karen put Matt on a pedestal” is not enough to change anyone’s mind.

(And make sure that your evidence isn’t about whether Matt thinks Karen put him on a pedestal. I totally think Matt thinks Karen put him on a pedestal. But what Matt thinks is on him. You must have forgotten this, but I actually already addressed this – you said “this is never addressed,” yet I specifically dug into the issue of pedestals in my first reply to you.)

But ultimately, please understand me: I am NOT saying Matt is solely to blame for their relationship being unhealthy. I am simply saying, and have been saying from the beginning, that Matt is solely to blame for their romantic relationship ending.

And you said that I'm being contradictory by acknowledging Karen's flaws yet refusing to say that those flaws contributed to their relationship imploding. Well, no. A person can have a ton of flaws, and yet it doesn't necessarily follow that all of those flaws would lead to a relationship imploding.

Karen's flaws, in my mind, include not only dishonesty, but also: pride, recklessness, selfishness, and a strange inability (or even refusal?) to learn from her mistakes. But I don't think any of those contributed directly to their relationship imploding because I don't see any evidence that it did in the show.

Similarly, Matt has many flaws besides dishonesty, such as: pride, self-loathing, and obviously some anger management issues. But I don't think any of those flaws contributed directly to their relationship imploding.

So there's nothing inherently contradictory in me acknowledging a character's flaw, and yet not believing that the flaw led to a specific outcome.

Finally, you said: “If she knows and is aware that her standards are hypocritical, how does that not make her a reason for it not working out? Notwithstanding Matt's reaction to it or his personal feelings about dishonesty, if Karen didn't have that hypocritical, ‘non-negotiable’ standard then she would be more lenient with things and possibly make adjustment to said standards?”

And ahhhhh. Maybe this is the issue. Maybe you're not actually asking a question: "If Karen were less hypocritical, then would they have stayed together?" but are making a statement: "If Karen were less hypocritical, they would have stayed together!"

Tell me if I'm getting this right.

To you, "If Karen were less hypocritical, they would have stayed together!" appears to be an objective fact, and you are bewildered by the fact that the fandom doesn't see it. And that's why you think I and others have cognitive dissonance, etc.

However, this statement is not an objective fact. It's a possible interpretation of what might happen if we changed an aspect of Karen.

But here's the thing: that's not the only possible interpretation. Actually, there are five possible outcomes, at least, to her being less hypocritical:

She becomes more tolerant of dishonesty (both hers and his) and therefore doesn’t break up with him over his dishonesty – so ta-da, they stay together;

She becomes less tolerant of dishonesty (both hers and his) and therefore shares her secrets, which results in Matt sharing his – and ta-da, they stay together;

She becomes less tolerant of dishonesty (both hers and his) and therefore shares her secrets, which unfortunately results in Matt still NOT sharing his – and they break up;

She becomes less tolerant of dishonesty (both hers and his) but also can’t bring herself to share her secrets, so she either ends the relationship or doesn’t enter it in the first place – so they’re not together, one way or the other; and finally

She becomes either more or less tolerant of dishonesty (both hers and his), but not to such a significant degree that it causes her to be okay with dating someone who is lying about such a significant part of Matt’s life as Matt is.

Ultimately, all five of these are possible interpretations, because you are veering into the world of speculation with this. Ultimately, we don’t know what would happen if Karen were less hypocritical. We don’t know how the causal chain would continue.

And it’s totally valid of you to have your interpretation, to think “If Karen were less hypocritical, she would be tolerant of Matt’s dishonesty, and they wouldn’t break up.”

But as you can see, two of those options, (c) and (e), would allow her to be less hypocritical, and yet they would still break up due to Matt’s dishonesty. Those are both possible interpretations.

Personally, I think “e” is the most likely explanation. I think that even if Karen becomes less hypocritical, Matt’s dishonesty is so pervasive and so intimately connected with who he is as a person that she would not tolerate it. After all, we’re not talking about little white lies here.

However, even though I think “e” is the most likely explanation, I’m not gonna go around accusing other people of moving the goalposts, skewing arguments, having cognitive dissonance, or engaging in mental gymnastics simply because they reach a different interpretation than the one that I think is most likely.

Like…this is fandom, my friend. Interpretation is subjective. And speculation about what would happen if we changed Karen as a variable is just that: speculation. I could write fics exploring all five different scenarios (which would be fun, actually) because all five scenarios are possible.

The only thing that is objective fact is that she broke up with him because of his dishonesty. Everything else is speculation.

And that’s not me heaping blame on Matt. That’s just me doing an analysis of the sequence of events in the show and their causal connection. You don’t have to agree with my analysis, but gosh, I really don’t see how I’m doing mental gymnastics or anything like that here. I’m literally just looking at what happened in the show.

But we might just have to agree to disagree on this.

[gothamstreetcat]

You can take Wesley and Lilah and spin them off as leads of their own show post... I dunno, mid-S4, let's say (maybe Wesley and Lilah leave L.A. after the Beast attacks W&H, you can decide exactly when they leave).

Are there any other buffyverse characters, major or minor or just one-episode characters that would be significant characters on this spin-off as well? What would the general premise be?

Okay, I've decided I'm going to answer this instead of finishing my little gifset (which has literally been talking over my mind all day). I don't know if this was the initial intention of "you can take Wesley and Lilah and spin them off as leads of their own show..." but I really think I read it wrong as took it as a compliment? <3 I really need to came down, lol I swear that is all I ever do. They're the leads of my blog FOR SURE.

(I'm going to put it under the cut because I know it's going to be long and embarrassing)

It's actually funny you should propose this because ever since I was little some bit of my brain decided they did run away together?? I wasn't even really over the beast but they did end up together in my little childhood brain and have been together ever since. Just doing whatever they want and being in love. But honestly, as I have gotten back on the Weslah train I have thought a lot more deeply about this.

I think leaving after the beasts attack is obviously ideal but I also think it is possible after everything has happened. Even though they are dead and serving W&H, who is to to say they can't just fuck-off and leave anyway leading their best undead lives???? I also think they would travel a lot and just be normal about things? Like have a normal life; breakfast in the morning, going to the movies, late night drives on Wesley's motorcycle. I even would want them to be married, nothing big or anything - just at a courthouse and I think Linsey would send Lilah an anonymous note congratulating her (I swear to god I am only sappy and dumb for them, okay?)

It sounds silly and so plain but I just want them to have it all and that would be enough for me. I also think Virginia would be part of it too because I have this little idea in my head that she and Wesley had been in touch and writing letters back and forth. I would want everyone in the buffyverse to be part of it in some way, just to see how far the pair of them have come. And at some point Faith shows up at their door and crashes with them for a few years.

I also have it in my mind that Cordelia bargained with the Powers and everyone got a do-over (because I am a sucker for the early seasons where everyone was alive and together and happy). And at one point the group is trying to figure out where Wesley is and what happened to him, and they go to his house and see him and Lilah cooking breakfast and they see how happy they are together so they just leave him be (but at some point, they all do come together again even if things still are not the same (because I literally have an entire inner workings of Wesley and his trauma and my trauma and even if everything is good it will just not be the same, you know?) But Wesley still helps out from time to time with cases and everyone does get together for major holidays or whatever.

I may or may not be making any sense right now and I know this is becoming very long.

I feel like I should be really embarrassed for what I'm about to say (as I also proceed to tell you with nothing but a NORMAL amount of joy in my heart), but there are also two other scenes I play in my mind constantly and I definitely put myself in them.

The first scene is a court hearing against Wesley/Lilah, W&H, and the Powers; where Wes and Lie have to fight for themselves to be free of their contracts and to be able to be together (on the count of that dumb and pesky good/evil thing). I am literally the star witness in this scenario literally just so I can talk about how in love they are and I would have a huge binder compiled of various blog posts and novel texts, show moments as proof. And I would show my gifs, and go on a huge tangent about Wesley and how he saved Lilah (love saved her) from the beast and how he tried to free her from her contract and it should have worked. And then I would tell Eve that she looks like the person who should be getting everyone's coffee and that she's just jealous because Wesley's given Lilah more orgasms in one night then she's had in her entire life. In my mind and in the scenario I think this is so fucking funny.

Also, when I was a kid I didn't really have friends so I got super fixated on my favorite characters from tv shows and they were my friends. Of course I was so fixated on Wesley and Lilah so they were my friends and we were close, so in this last scenario I imagine us being apart for my years (and somehow not because my ban be from watching the show) and somehow W&H tries to trap Lilah into coming back and I'm going to be used as some virginal sacrifice (which is so silly and weird but it is honestly one of the few things I am good for). But things get worked out and Lilah saves the day (as my hero) because she is a strong and independent woman who doesn't need a job that treats her badly - she is literally stronger and smarter then everyone at W&H. And at one point in this scenario she fights the people of W&H off with a sword because she is a badass baddie and I will forever be in love with that picture of her holding the axe (it's a real crime she didn't get to use it).

I also wanted to add, though, I'm sure you have read it already: the tough get going (out of town) by thinlizzy2 is literally a perfect Wesley/Lilah run away fanfic. I read it a lot and I say it so many time but I get so emotional about the bit with the horses and towards the end where Wesley tells Lilah he loves her ("as his heart fills with pride in her for so many reasons") It is literally one of my TOP Wesley/Lilah fanfics, maybe third. Almost cannon ending because my top fic is til break of day and in continuity of things, that's my cannon ending for them (in terms of fanfic, I wasn't not going to link one and not the other).

[spikedru]

I'm curious to hear your reasons on disliking Angel. (nothing wrong with that, just wanna understand better)

to be honest a lot of my distaste for angel stems from the fact i think david boreanaz is a shit actor with the charisma and screen presence of a block of wood, and no amount of engaging writing or interesting backstory can change that.

i also like angel just fine in s1&2! his character is supposed to be the mysterious gothic romantic hero. which works for the tone of those seasons! but those stories are tragedies so it makes sense and is a good ending that he dies. but then they cheapen it by oops! angels back to life lol! everything about him in s3 onward in btvs annoys me to the point where it sours the character for me bc he doesnt do shit! and is boring.

ive yet to rewatch ats but i do remember liking angel as a character much more on that show than i ever did on btvs. and thats mostly bc i enjoyed the relationships he built with the characters on that show (w cordelia wesley gunn fred lorne etc) and thought they were a much better fit and more interesting than any of the relationships he had on btvs, because they all challenge him in ways that actually bring out the interesting aspects of his character rather than the insufferable ones

[dreaming-marchling]

Couple of Marked questions! 1. What is the strawberry thing with glaze that Brian likes that Mia makes?

2. How does The Princess Bride differ in a universe with soulmarks? Are Buttercup and Westley Marks? why does Buttercup think he's dead? Or is this a fantasy universe where Marks don't exist? (is this a weirdly popular fiction genre that some people obsess over and others just don't get - kind of like how soulmark AUs are to our universe?)

3. So I am assuming that gay marriage is not just legal - but like an absolute no-brainer. Kind of like asking someone 200 years ago if a man could marry a woman. They'd be like of course, who would even question it. Which makes those who are weird about homosexual marks even more fringe. Like what percent of Marks are heterosexual vs homosexual? Also I am assuming like IVF or surrogacy are widely used and accepted for homosexual couples to have children. Also I assume WAY higher rates of people identifying as bi or pan - if everyone is taught that their Mark could be any gender from the start. Heterosexual mark counts: Leon/Sarah Vince/Jade Teresa/Anthony Eileen/Patrick Kelly/Earl Couple Vince is buying the house from Family friend who at 20 got temporary custody of 12 year old Mark Jesse/CEO lady (if he's ID'd the right person) Arsonist boy and his mark who got custody from juvie

Homosexual Mark counts: Brian/Dom Miss Mattie/Miss Laurel Maybe the two women at the other table when dom and Brian were on their first date ...I'm sure I have missed some on page couple mentions, especially Toretto extended family. But this comes out to maybe a 1 to 3 ratio for homosexual mark pairings vs heterosexual mark pairings - so 25% of couples are same sex and 75% are opposite. (Yes I over analyze things)

4. How popular is Mark as a given name? or is it like taboo?

I live for you, I truly do.

This is the baked strawberry thing. It's originally apples but you can sub around ingredients for a strawberry version. I've done both apple and strawberry and it's *delicious*

I had a lot of fun with this in the bookstore chapter! I think they definitely have different versions of a soulmate trope or even a no soulmate world trope just like we do in reverse. Brian reads the back of a book talking a world where your Mark is your soulmate's name and thinks about how he wouldn't like that, so I think that's definitely a thing that people write about. Dom also jokes at one point that Hollywood's two favorite stories are clumsy girl finds out she's soulmates with her boss or the "classic" two warriors thing. I'm sure there's a whole dystopian genre about no soulmate worlds, lol. For Princess Bride I bet there's some magical element where you have to say I love you to accept the bond before your Marks come in but Wesley always says As You Wish instead so it isn't until they've lost each other that they truly say it and "complete" the bond. Or something like that :)

I really wanted to write the series in a society where you get who you get and it could absolutely be someone the same gender as you and everyone grows up knowing that. I do acknowledge preferences, like Letty tends to swing to guys and Rome tends to swing to girls and Brian barely swings to anyone but has only had experiences with men, but I think overall bi/pan sexuality is a default. I'm sure there are cultures who don't like homosexuality BUT I'm also sure there are cultures where they don't like heterosexuality. I would say that if someone is being nasty homophobic it's not really because they hate "gay" people (keeping in mind that you're *supposed* to be open to who you get so there should theoretically not be a gay/straight divide the way it is in our world) but because they're saying shit to hurt you. Like Earl with demeaning Brian & Kelly re: sucking dick. It's not so much that he cared Brian was sucking dick in the gay sense but that he was doing something "less manly" by being on the giving end. Just because there's a bisexuality default doesn't mean that humanity doesn't come up with other shitty lines to divide on. Re: Reproduction - you've stumbled onto another of the topics I purposefully do not set in stone within the universe (like the time period, for instance). If people want to think it's surrogacy/IVF/adoption then great, that's how it goes. If people want to think it's a universe that has male pregnancy and female/female reproduction then great, that's how it goes. I'm fine either way and Brian is 19 plus he's nowhere healed enough to even start discussing becoming a parent. Like, for me, that's not even a question they consider until Brian's like 30. I highly doubt I'll be writing him 11 years from now, lol, so I'm thinking I won't ever have to talk about it in story. To add to your list: Mr & Mrs Pearce, Carmen & her male Mark (Dom's cousins), Vince's parents /// Dante & Kaye (Dom's cousins), Becker and his Mark, Leon's mothers, the two guys who owned Myst. That's all I'm currently coming up with BUT!!! Thank you for giving me the place to finally mention: Brian isn't wrong that Dom is Aunts Georg. Dom's family is normal to Dom so he's not explaining them in his POV and Brian has a total inability to handle family conversations/keeping track of their names and connections so I haven't gotten to say that Tony had a lot of sisters and those sisters mostly have female Marks. So Dom's got like aunts squared, lol.

We name kids stuff like Christian here so I think Mark is fair game as a name.

These were a lot of fun to think about, thank you for asking!!

(also, if anyone reads this and hasn't yet voted in the next Marked in Faith poll, it's my pinned post for another few days!)

[faith-thee-slayer]

Buffy/Faith for the ship ask game? (But if you've already been asked that, then Fred/Gunn.)

buffy/faith: 1000% yes like it's a known fact at this point

idk where to even begin with what made me ship them, they just have so much to work with. the perfect enemies to lovers setup. the mirror selves meeting each other. the heartbreak and betrayal. the "things could've been different between us but they were also always doomed to turn out how they did." the "you are the only person in the world who understands me but i can't stand you." the attempted murder. the actual murder. the angst. the chemistry. i remember on my first ever watch of s3, i actually thought they were gonna kiss at some point because the tension was so palpable

favorite things about the ship: see the above, lol. i'm obsessed with how they don't realize how much the other cares about them. that's where so much of the tragedy takes place

i’m not sure if i have any unpopular opinions about them... i think for fuffy to successfully work, they’d have to get together sometime post-comics, like in their 30s. also i don’t believe that it was buffy’s fault for how faith turned out, i think that was sadly a series of events bound to happen

fred/gunn: YES

i can’t remember the specific episodes, but right around the middle of ats s3 when they become closer and start dating, i was sold. they are so precious. that one breakfast date they have where they look into each other’s eyes and place their hands on the bill is tooth-rottingly sweet

i love how gunn is usually a tough guy, and then soft only for fred. and how everyone calls gunn “gunn” but fred calls him by his first name. it’s simple, but tender

i don’t think this is an unpopular opinion but they could’ve easily got back together at some point, even after gunn killed that professor. (as if her relationship with wesley somehow made more sense...)

[bronx-bomber87]

Happy Saturday Fandom :) Zero Chenford in this one but good separate SL’s for them both. Really good growth for Tim though which at this point you all know I love. Let’s dive on in.

3x12 Brave heart.

Tim is paired with Nyla today since Nolan is otherwise occupied. They visit the hospital since Harper wants to check in on John and his son. Tim is annoyed cause they’re gonna get roped into something just being there. He takes a phone call while Harper checks in. It's the venue he booked for Angela's bachelorette party. They're calling him to say they're canceling and keeping his deposit. Tim was already grumpy being here and this is not helping.

Harper rejoins him and he asks her opinion on venues and she's got nothing for him haha They're about to leave then Lo and behold they spot guys with concealed carry’s. Tim mutters how it’s been less than 5 minutes since they arrived. Grumpy Tim has arrived and isn't leaving anytime soon. I do love how he walks up to them. Hand on his duty belt as they approach. Me likey. This man makes me a puddle just walking. My god. How does he do this? The man tries to charm them both. Saying how they must be recruiting from modeling schools now.

It's not working in the least. He then adds on between Tim and Nyla he can’t tell which one is prettier. Harper cuts him off and says clearly her HA! Tim looks so offended. His reaction is the best part. He low key knows how handsome he is. Except when women announce it then he’s shy af. He looks like he took it so personally. LOL

No Lucy around to help him lick his wounds. It's ok Tim I think you're the prettier one hehe They quickly find out it’s La Fiera’s body guards. Their cop spidey senses immediately going into overdrive. Tim groans because now they’re gonna be here all day. Harper asks him what he thinks she’s doing here? Tim says 'Nothing good'… We know that’s right.

Lucy and Jackson are also at the hospital. Their rolling stop turned into more. She took off and destroyed city property. She injured herself in the process and cut her arm. They’re now stuck there until she is patched up. Jackson says he’s gonna grab breakfast since he didn’t this morning. Lucy questions him skipping a meal. He replies he didn’t have a choice Tamara is eating them out of house and home.

Lucy apologies for thrusting her upon their living situation. Jackson is trying to be sweet about it says it’s ok… but wondering when she’s going to be leaving? Lucy says it’s so hard to get ahold of the housing program. They have crazy long wait times to check on her application. Jackson mentions using right now to check since they’re stuck anyways. Lucy lights up says that’s a good point. She gets very excited only 3 callers in line. She is so adorable I can not.

Jackson makes his way back to Lucy. She mocks him for his terrible breakfast choice. I mean it's not a great one ha Everything seems like it’s lining up for them. Their suspect is all patched up so they are ready to go. Their suspects runs just as Lucy’s phone call is answered. Poor Lucy that's some bad luck. Lucy hangs up losing her place in line. They chase her all the way to the parking lot where she passes out….They find out she’s a drug mule and that’s why she collapsed. They’re gonna be at at hospital even longer now especially waiting for a Narcotics detective to show up.

Angela is made aware of La Fiera’s presence at the hospital. Walks away from her OB appointment leaving Wesley hanging. She finds out she’s here "Just for her son." Angela doesn’t believe that for a minute. Wesley comes and finds them all angry she missed her appointment. Tries to ask Tim if this was work related? He makes sure to stay out of their spat LOL Tim is beyond adorable as the scene continues. He lost Angela’s venue of choice earlier. So he tries to make it up with a sports bar LMAO

Oh Timothy, Look at that gorgeous smile of his when he tells her his plan. Tim is so damn proud of himself and is shot down quickly after. Angela's face has me cracking up so very much. Tim gets nervous and says he was joking… He would never....The way he backtracks has me rolling. Watching Tim quake in front of strong women always gets me. What makes him such a sucker for Lucy. Also she is not around to negate his terrible idea's atm and it shows haha

Harper rolls up with security footage of La Fiera clearly not at the hospital "Just for her son." They spot Mack Daniels as one of the guards…Tim’s face is everything when he sees this. Clearly hasn’t changed his ways at all working for a Narco boss. SMH.

They roll up and Mack looks high as a kite. He lies about knowing who his client is. All he tells them is it’s not La Fiera. Tim tries to get him to cooperate. Saying he doesn’t need anymore trouble i’m sure. Mack cracks and says he’s work for Tomas Madrigal. All three of them groan. He’s the kingpin of drugs in Southern California. Multiple investigations going on for him. No way Mack doesn't know that.

He then starts the pity party about why he had to take this job. How it’s all Tim’s fault. He comes at Tim SO hard. Tells them he can’t be picky about the money he makes. Up to his eyes in debt. Tim tells him working for the enemy isn’t the answer. Mack goes on that his client is dying cancer. He’s only there to make sure no one interrupts his final moments. Mmmhmm sure…

Angela calls him out about La Fiera coming by. Mack tells her she only came by to pay her respects. Ok sure Mack… and I don’t find Tim attractive. We’re both telling lies today aren’t we? Clearly she is here to make a play for his business before he dies. They get interrupted by Tomas’s son telling Mack to get back to work. He sends more daggers Tim's way before disengaging with them.

I adore Nyla checking in on Tim. Asking if he's alright? His body language is stiff as a board. Poor love having to reface that decision he made back in 3x06. It was the right call but doesn’t make facing Mack’s wrath any easier. Also seeing how much Mack has fallen from grace since he last saw him. Taking jobs like this. Too bad Lucy isn’t there to help him. Since she’s not he shakes it off and pretends he is fine. When we all know he very much is not. But once again his girl is not there so he will clam right up.

I do love this trio working together. Only thing missing is Lucy. I hope in s6 we see Lucy make detective. Then these three BAMF women and Tim with metro can all work together on a case like this. Be amazing it would. Sigh. A girl can dream can’t she? Anyways Nyla says she certified for wire tapping and they have their next move.

We return to Lucy and Jackson waiting out their suspect. She now has to pass the drugs before they are able to leave. Plus they need someone from narcotics to show which they haven’t. Lucy tries her hand again at the phone call. She’s told she's 46th in line….Jackson says he’ll check on narcotics to see if they’re coming anytime soon.

After he’s told no update he pulls out his phone. Looking back at Lucy like he’s doing something wrong. I mean he is....lol. Lucy notices right away he’s looking at something. She comes over and asks what he’s doing? He lies and says Tiktok Lucy is incensed when she see that is NOT what it is. It’s clearly him watching Tamara. She just doesn't know why. This isn't Jackson's best moment I'll say that.

Lucy is instantly in protective mama mode over Tamara. She's so mad at him. As she should be honestly. I would be pissed too Lucy. WTF Jackson. He tries to cover it up by saying he’s testing their system. Then she pulls a line from Tim’s playbook. Calling Jackson a lying liar who lies baha Also she can break Tim Bradford when he's lying you are not going to fair much better my man ha I’m so offended for Tamara tbh and for Lucy. How Jackson assumes she took his Baby Yoda figurine. Just because of her background.

Jackson decides to step it in more with his next set of words. (Stop you fool....) That she shouldn’t trust Tamara cause she lived on the streets. How he wants her to trust Tamara. But she probably had to do a lot to survive on the street. Lucy is so upset he didn’t tell her how he really felt. Also the way he's coming after Tamara. He continues his witch hunt saying baby yoda is missing. Lucy snaps and says he isn’t. That she broke him. Didn’t think he would notice like he did. She was gonna replace it soon. Then does a Mic drop of a line leaving Jackson stunned. Rightfully so IMO. Not your best moment good sir....

The SL with La Fiera’s son is tragic af. It's all her fault (not that she is going to see it that way.... ) She brought him into the line of fire. Using him as cover to make her dealings. He gets caught in the middle and killed because of it. Tomas's son comes after her and Diego is the collateral damage. Wrong time wrong place for that kid. Its pretty damn sad.

Angela was there talking to her when her son is shot to death. So she blames Angela for the death of her son. He was away from her when the shooting began. (Couldn’t have been the deal she made of course…) This sets up the finale and 4x01 and why LA Fiera comes at Angela like she does. Even though Angela saves her life Diego was in the crosshairs and dies.

Angel gets pinned down and calls for backup. Luckily Nyla and Tim are still in the building. This little moment between them is too cute above. I love their rivalry with one another. Tim saying he’ll take two leaving the third for Harper. She has to over compensate and say she’s got the big guy. Tim’s reply ‘Not that big’ LOL It is sexy af to watch him in action not gonna lie. Dispatches his two pretty quickly.

We return to Jackson and Lucy waiting for their suspect to get out of surgery. Lucy is still on the phone waiting for a call. They finally answer her and she finds out Tamara is in. That she’ll get an email by weeks end. Her little dance of excitement is so damn cute. I swear that is just Melissa coming out and I friggin love it. Jackson takes this opportunity to apologize for being a suspicious jerk. Good man.

Super proud of him for doing this. I love that he wanted to make it right. But grateful Lucy had the foresight to stop him. It would break her heart and Tamara wouldn’t feel ok staying there. Be the worst idea ever to tell her he felt that way. Love Lucy looking out for her in that way. ❤️ His heart is in the right place but it would crush Tamara.

This final scene with Mack gets me right in the feels. Tim waits for him to leave the hospital. Wants to try and get through to him one more time. Mack giving him every excuse in the book why he can’t go to rehab. Tim battles back with more logic. The same kind of logic Lucy would throw at him in a situation like this. Like 3x07 where she destroyed his every point. Asking how many times have they seen junkies act like this? Say the same things? How many actually got out of the hole without going to rehab?

This is such a good scene for Tim. We once again get to see his good heart come out. Watching what’s become of Mack is eating away at him. Tim had to try one more time to help him. To save him from himself. He does a damn good job with his speech. Gah it’s so good. Eric crushes it per usual. Pre-tears in his eyes as he passionately pleas with his friend. Killing me softly.

Look how far Tim has come. I can not. This scene is proof of that growth. Also the good heart he had before it was beat up by Isabel and all that trauma he endured. He's confronting Mack even though he knows he's going to bite his head off. Because it's the right thing to do. Even tells him to use his hate for him. Especially if that's going to be his drive to get better. To get clean and go to rehab finally. That he refuses to give up on him.*heart clutch* You can see Tim slowly getting through to Mack with his unwavering support.

it really hits home when Tim tells him to be a better example for his kids. The way Eric delivers that line. Gets me good. To take his lumps and cowboy up. The beautiful mixture he has now of logic and empathy. It gets through to Mack and he pulls him in for a sweet hug. This hug is the best part. This gets me right in the feels. Lucy would be floored by him in this moment. For Tim to even think to reach out like this. To be there for Mack in this way. My damn heart.

Letting that empathy and good heart of his to see the light of day again. It was always there but it got buried in his trauma. I saw a quote the other day made me think of Tim. Also of the impact Lucy has had on him. ‘I think the most beautiful thing in the world, is watching the light come on in someone’s eyes after they’ve been in the dark so long.’

If that isn’t Lucy and Tim and the impact she’s had on him idk what is. She’s re-awakened this part of him he thought was long gone. The light in his eyes is back. I mean for Tim to even think to reach out like this. His growth always blows me away. He couldn’t stand the thought of his friend drowning. Especially after his hand in it. Needed to be apart of helping him heal. So he took a chance and it worked.

Even when they’re apart Lucy’s impact on him shines through. This scene is absolute beautiful proof of that. This man is wonderful and refuses to let his friend suffer. To go through this alone. So he makes sure he knows he has his back. The scene ends on a sweet note though. Tim asking if he knows any venues for bachelorette parties? Mack giving him same answer he already tried LOL So Cute. I can not.

Lucy and Jackson make it home. This is the cutest part of the episode for them. Tamara has made dinner for them both. it’s a very sweet thing for her to do. Tamara tells Jackson she has something for him. Saying she knows Lucy broke his Yoda thing LOL Then panics and makes sure he knows. Lucy confirms before she continues. This scene is too funny. Tamara got him a cute plushy to replace it. He is floored by her kindness. The fact that she felt the need to replace it at all. Even when she didn't break it.

She says it’s to thank him for letting her stay. It’s the first time she’s felt safe in forever. You watch the guilt wash over Jackson. How much he regrets ever thinking badly of her. He wants to tell her but Lucy stops him. I love the way Lucy gently puts her hand on his arm. Like 'No she doesn’t need to know this.' He course corrects and says she can stay as long she needs to. The smile on Tamara’s face says everything. It’s so sweet.

Jackson geeks out and ask if she’s seen The Mandalorian? She says it’s based on a movie right? Jackson tries to keep his geek in check and says he has a lot to teach her haha it’s very cute way to end the episode for this trio.

This ep although apart was super good for them SL wise anyways. What I love about them. They stand up so well as characters separately. I always prefer them together but I’m not miserable with their SL's apart every once in awhile.

Side notes-non chenford in this case this whole ep was this ha

I do continuously love how soft Nyla has become for Nolan. She drags Tim to hospital to check on him cause Henry collapsed.

It’s cool that Bones is Henry’s mom LOL

Thank you as always to those who support these review’s through likes, comments and reblogs. I love them so much I shall see you all in 3x13 crazy 2 eps away from being done with s3.

[rebelcaptain4life]

The Rookie 4x01

Sooo many thoughts and even more tears. So imma just go through everything here I guess

Grey dealing with what happened 😭 grieving Jackson, but also needing to get Angela back. Grappling with sending in the rest of his team and potentially getting them killed, too, or waiting until they're sure the area is clear but waisting precious time

Jackson 😭😭😭😭💔💔💔💔💔

Can't believe they all just had to watch their friend get killed like that 😔

"I lost a kid who's like a son to me" GREY 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭💔💔💔💔💔💔💔

"to show that we're not in America but in a third world country, we're gonna apply a beige filter to make everything look dusty" 🤡

I know Alyssa's just acting but I wonder what effect, if any, pretending to be in these stressful situations has on her real baby lol

Lucy is so smart, I won't stop saying it. She figured out why Lopez would be taken and still alive

GOOD JOB JACKSON OUR SMART COURAGEOUS BOY 😭😭😭

"Sir, we'll come up with a plan, it's not all on you" 😭😭😔😭😔 Grey has so much weight on his shoulders, he's the leader, he has to figure out what to do on top of his grief and worry. Nice moment of Tim telling him he's not alone

Bro seriously why did Nolan just ditch Lucy. I know it was for the Chenford but like they're supposed to be so close??? Also "you shouldn't be alone right now" again love the Chenford but what about Tamara??? Poor girl is also gonna be alone in that empty house

Ah so this is how Elijah came into the fold

*ehhem* AND THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED come on I'm sure you can both fit

That hug uhhh 👀👀👀 coming from S5, if the writers weren't setting up Chenford before (ie in the end of s3) they definitely were now

My personal speculation for what would've happened if Tim didn't get the phone call is a lot more angst and hurt/comfort. Like they whole point of her being there is to not be alone, but she's alone on that couch. I just picture Lucy going to Tim and breaking down sobbing. Tim holds her as long as she needs, until she falls asleep 🥲

LAPD doesn't have an air force but could Wesley borrow a private jet or something...?

I know it's not a great moment to acknowledge Nolan finished his training but I think it added some levity to a really dark episode, and also gave the team some much needed positivity

Noooo Lucy freaking out that maybe Gray was shot too cuz he wasn't answering 😭😭😭😭 NOT GREY GIVING HER THE SIDE EYE FOR IT poor girl just lost her bff to this guy 😭😭😭

Jackson's room😭😭😭😭😭

Didn't think Wesley had all this in him ngl 👏

Angela taking down a bad guy while in labour, so badass

"How do you feel about running" "IM IN LABOUR" can't Tim just carry her or something???

Angela looking around at her found family 🥹🥹🥹🥹 and the missing place where Jackson should've been 😭😭😭

Angela talking to Jackson 😭😭😭😭

Again coming from S5, I know the baby's name is Jackson but hearing it said in this episode, when it was the first time, is so special 😭😭😭

Btw when did Angela and Wesley officially get married?

[thegeminisage]

tng update time. last night we watched "datalore" together and this morning i caught "angel one" on my own

datalore: not terrible!! i felt really bad for data the entire time of course. kind of delighted to find out he is amnesiac-adjacent in this episode, at least as far as not knowing where he comes from or why. i've gotten used to thinking of him as friend-shaped but lore reminded me of just how creepy he actually does look because he was making the creepy faces

the planet and lab were cool though it was hilarious that one of the pieces was just an ass with the crotch faced away from us to protect data's modesty lol

i liked the bit about data having an off switch.it is ironically such a human vulnerability. we have those too! it's called head trauma.

ik what i said about picard not being a dick anymore but i noticed he IS still a dick sometimes and it's mostly to either wesley (valid) or data (may he DIE). i was glad data told him not to call lore "it" and that he APOLOGIZED. he should apologize to data more often

lore is literally just a data who is better at masking btw. like thats all it is. he thinks using contractions makes him allistic and he's like ha ha look at me i'm better than you meanwhile he has to use a little laser to remove his own facial tick and his special interest is murdering humans and good for him

one thing i HATED about this ep was once again wesley made a valid point and everyone told him to fuck off. meanwhile whenever hes fucking around they let him do whatever he wants. this is making me CRRRAZY. all this stuff about you would have listened to me if i was an adult!! i'll kill the little brat myself

however the episode was immediately rescued by the appearance of this meme:

which sent me immediately into screaming hysterics because i was NOT expecting to see it in its original format here. i quite literally had to pause the episode and explain this meme to catherine with tears running down my face

angel one: not as bad as the skip/watch lists led me to believe (i didnt have to play it on 2x speed for example) but still pretty fucking terrible. oh what if WOMEN were in charge wouldnt that be WEIRD AND SCARY? meanwhile the women are wearing what pretends to be "no makeup" in 1987 and theyre super fucking hot

i thought that blonde chick was rthe one from tos's backdoor pilot and even looked it up but no she just moves her face the same way

riker's slut outfit really was something. he was such a good sport about it that i thought it was kind of mean of deanna and tasha to laugh at him but considering how women are treated on this show they deserve to actually. tasha especially.

absolutely bonkers that he tried to turn the head woman down and she slept with him anyway. close encounters of the space babes riker version??? quite literally the man said i'm not an object to be seduced and then he got seduced. wild

anyway, the morals of this were all over the place. they cant remove these people bc theyre not bound by the prime directive but they literally are interfering with this planet's system of laws etc...also the fact that like everyone is arguing for gender equality when the genders are reversed is all well and good when they live in a utopian society where genders are equal but we live and star trek was made in the real world where the genders are NOT equal so it just comes out sounding like but what about the meeeeen?? i mean. what about them?? sorry.

i. HATED. the b-plot of this episode. everyone's like oh no i wonder how this virus spreads! and then they allow worf to stay on the bridge while he does those dad sneezes. maybe this episode should have been before the other to explain data's sudden hyperfixation on learning to sneeze lol. like ik all infectious disease media hits different post pandemic but jesus christ we had more sense than that even BEFORE the pandemic

tonight we do 11001001, and then i'm doing the next FOUR on my own...rough.

[christowitch]

Raised also in the Methodist denomination, I have always been drawn to craft or what I call the old ways. I was curious if you try to work with John Wesley's Manifesto at all? I know I am a Religious Witch (Christian Witch). I know it is outdated, but at the same time it isn't.

His manifesto tends to be more of my political stand point lol. I live in the Deep South where people are far right. I’m not sure what could get you hurt here faster… religion or having political values per John Wesley’s manifesto. Which is wild to think about considering most of the far rights here consider themselves pious Christian’s.