#and i see some people upset that boston didn't get apologies from all of his friends and i do see that as a little sad but like way more sa

[absolutelyarealperson]

I think Boston got a happy ending. He's getting a fresh start, and everything in the finale just felt like it was setting him up to leave for America with no regrets or loose ends.

He apologized for the things he did wrong, and pointedly did not apologize for the things he didn't do wrong. He's a messy boy and I love him for that, but he absolutely did some things worth apologizing for, so I'm not mad at the fact that the show let him apologize. He did everything he could to repair his relationships with his friends, and for the most part, he did repair them. Cheum is happy to welcome him back into the group. Ray is still protective of Mew, and is always going to side with Mew over Boston when forced to choose, but he doesn't seem to harbor any hard feelings of his own. His friendship with Mew is irreparably broken, and that's kind of ok with me. It's true to life; some relationships you can repair, and some you can't. But Boston did what he could. He doesn't have to hold onto guilt or wonder what would have happened if he reached out.

The friend group dynamic was never going to go back to what it was before, because Boston was leaving the whole continent. There was always going to be a shift. We were always going to end up with all of the others getting close and having experiences together without Boston there. But he fixed things enough that they're staying in touch.

And he and Nick broke up a bit earlier than they would have. But they would have broken up anyway. That relationship always had an expiration date. Boston set it up that way on purpose (I feel like knowing it had an ending was the only way he could give himself permission to even try for the first time, but that's probably a whole other post I could make). And he got to learn about himself. He likes romance; he can fall in love. It's just that romance and sex are two completely separate things for him. And he's moving to NYC! You know he's going to find some like minded people and figure himself out further, and find fulfilling relationships that work for him, now that he knows more about his wants and needs.

And it's so much better that Nick didn't follow him to New York. I cannot see that ending well. Because once Boston and Nick both learned enough about themselves to have an open and honest conversation about what they wanted in a relationship, it was clear that they loved each other AND they wanted fundamentally different things. Somehow a clean break for a reason other than the move to America feels better. They're not holding on or trying to stretch out the end so it hurts more or longer. They loved each other. It meant something. And it ended. The end doesn't make the rest matter less.

And Boston, a Boston who learned and grew from the events in this series, is planning to be totally out in America, away from his dad. No more hiding. No more worry about black mail. He's the person taking the photos and choosing to make them public as art.

Everything about the finale just felt like it was setting Boston up for a fresh start in the best and cleanest way possible. Repairing the ties that could be part of his support system, even across continents. Cutting ties that were only going to hold him back or hurt him worse. Letting him get things off his chest, so he could leave without regrets or what-ifs. I think this episode was so good to Boston.

[carefulfears]

Yes! It’s especially insane with Phoebe bc like the show goes out of it’s way to explicitly show how fucked up she was idk how people forget it

yep yep yep!! it's quite literally the entire point of the episode. but i still see people all the time like...calling mulder stupid for "trusting" her and making jokes about the way he behaves around her and it's just like...please don't piss me off. same exact thing with diana.

fire is one of my favorite episodes though i think it's such an interesting look at mulder's character and example of the ways that he views and interacts with people close to him

because he understands and acknowledges from the very beginning that phoebe's just there to fuck with him, that she made the trip from boston to DC to bring him in on the investigation for no reason other than knowing that it will scare him

he knows what she’s doing, and he still agrees to help her

his only concession being that scully not be involved

noting that he's not going to "put her through" phoebe's games

this is something that we've seen him do before, with his former partner jerry earlier in season one, who broke into his office and stole his work.

it's clear throughout ghost in the machine that mulder isn't comfortable working with him, but helps him anyway because jerry asked him to

and builds him up when jerry is feeling insecure

he infamously does it again with diana, always affording her the benefit of the doubt and defending her

and with his parents, consistently coming whenever they call, despite all of their lies and neglect

(side note from pulling ghost in the machine caps but his ties in this ep are soooo classic baby spooky i miss s1 soooo much)

anyway, this is the dynamic that fire circles around, and the only time in the episode that mulder pushes back against phoebe is when he cracks this joke about having a "refined technique" with women who cheat

which he apologizes for instantly, recognizing that it upset her

fire is also one of the best portrayals of the true sign of a toxic/abusive relationship: not realizing anything is wrong with it until you tell your best friend

i see criticism of this episode sometimes that interprets it as glorifying phoebe, portraying her as sexy and her behavior as righteous, but i disagree.

i don't think that you can base the episode's stance on phoebe on mulder's behavior, he's responding to her through a very warped and controlled lens. just because he views her in a positive light, doesn't mean that we should as the audience.

whereas, scully is immediately wary of phoebe and critical of her, even before knowing the context for her actions.

this shot is my favorite lmao. she is contemplating murder. she is wondering if she could get away with it.

her lil passive aggressive "bye bitch" finger wave

her "mmmmyeah sure sherlock"

her watchful eye as she hangs in the doorway while mulder and phoebe meet with the arson specialist

she literally sits at his desk in his chair and waits for him just to make this sherlock holmes joke 😭😭😭 they are BEST friends

now, this is when she finds out the true history with phoebe, and the reason behind her visit. and it's when mulder tells her that she's off the case.

and from that point, scully starts investigating the murders herself, consulting her own sources to put together her own theories

while these two do absolutely fuck all

she shows up uninvited at the event in boston, having SOLVED THE CASE HER-FUCKING-SELF

and she's the only one who gives a fuck when mulder gets hurt

while phoebe shakes hands and schmoozes at the party

sweetie pie making sure her partner gets some water and some rest

now, dana 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

after making sure mulder is okay (and getting a peek at him shirtless) she shows him the evidence that she found, telling him that she just "didn't know a whole lot about arson" so took the opportunity to do some research "for my own edification, of course" GIRLLLLL

and they identify the groundskeeper as the murderer based on the information that she gathered

the face of a woman who single-handedly solved a string of serial murders to get her best friend's bitch of an ex away from him. she is truly an inspiration to us all.

and she has 1 more sherlock holmes joke in her.

so, anyway, mulder is visibly uncomfortable around phoebe from the start, and this is something that scully picks up on immediately, even before being told any information about phoebe or her motives

and this is an ongoing theme from the very beginning, as mulder is generally unaggressive and compassionate to a fault, leaving scully feeling a responsibility to be conscious and wary of their surroundings.

scully isn't being jealous towards phoebe, just like she isn't "taking things personally" with diana. she understands this about mulder and how exploitable it is, and she's fiercely protective of both him and the kindhearted qualities that leave him vulnerable to these situations

anyway TLDR let me see any of you call either of them stupid again

[gmtmg41]

Alright. I need to get this all out of my head. My anxiety and adhd are running my brain today. And it's been ages since I let it get this bad. Ages and ages.

So, I've been talking with the one person who I think I knows me better than pretty much anyone. Which has made me so happy- I've missed him so much. And I didn't realize how bad it was until I stopped to think about how kind of low-key sad I've been until we started talking. And today we talked about heavy topics.

Some of that was the fact that I sent his 2ife an apology text about a month ago now and she still hasn't answered. And I just wa tes to know if there was even a chance of her ever forgiving me. And I know my husband says that the blame is to be shared and I won't deny it. But I never reached out even though they did. They both tried to reach me. And I just never reached back to them. And I regret that so much. They both mean so much to me but I never let them know what was going on because I was angry and upset. And ashamed. I was so fucking ashamed.

When we first moved to Mass I was so incredibly lonely. And depressed. And maybe a few other words that I've never really said out loud. I shouldn't have been left alone my depression was that bad. And the only thing that got me through the first few months was that I knew travis and tavia would be coming up to see me. It wasn't just for me but I did not care one bit. I was going to see my best friend in the entire world. And it kept me getting up everyday. It made me keep going.

And then I was up here and we were broke. Like eating ramen every meal kind of broke. It was terrible. I hated it. Matt was always at work. And the apartment was terrible. And the dogs were miserable and I was too. And I hated it.

But it was going to be fine. Travis and Tavia were I thought coming out to Worcester to see me. And then they weren't. And they wanted me to come to Boston. And I couldn't. We didn't have the money to make it out there. Not even for just me. And I remember how fucked up it all felt to me. .y best friend was like a hour away for the first time in months and I couldn't even get to see him. And I screamed and broke down. But I never told him that. I didn't let him hear me trying not to cry on the phone. I was a big girl and I didn't need him to come rescuing me. Even though I did. I would do anything to go back and to tell him and tqvia both that I was depressed and I needed them. I needed that piece of home- I needed the people who knew me and would have been able to see the signs of me doing stupid shit that was hurting me.

I think I tried explaining that I couldn't go out there. It's hard to remember all of it. The depression makes remembering it all a bit of a blur. But I didn't get to see them. And I remember breaking down. And this wasn't like. Oh let's have a good cry and be better. No this was a screaming and doing stupid shit kind of break down

This was me hurting myself like I hadn't done since high school kind of break down. I don't think I've ever told anyone that, definitely haven't written it down.

And then I let them disappear. Fuck. I stopped thinking about them because whenever I did I cried for ages and I just couldn't do that all the time. I drank myself into oblivion and threw myself into my new job at BN. Because if I was working or drunk I couldn't be sad. And I made new friends. One who reminded me so much of travis that on more than one occasion I caught myself almost calling him travis.

By the time that I finally realized what I'd done- and how I had lost 2 of the most important people in my life- it was too late. It wasn't. I didn't know that then though. I didn't k ow that if I had only answered one of the dozen texts or messages I could have fixed it. So I sat and was ashamed, and sad, amd a dozen other emotions that I never really processed. And I was angry but I couldn't tell you how to make it stop.

And so I wasted years. I wasted them and ignored messages about how travis missed me. And I never just once reached and said I missed him too. Even though I did. And everytime he posted something about a big life event or not big I broke a little more. And I just kept letting myself break over and over and over and over and over and over and over. For years.

But in April I decided to finally answer him. I'd say I don't know why I finally answered bit 100 percent it was the fact that I had gone to therapy at that point. And my therapist did not put up with the self pity or the ignoring important people in my life. And she made me talk about how i felt like I fucked up eht was probably one of my favorite and most important relationships I'd made. I mean this was the guy that I called at like 3 am to tell that I'd gotten engaged. This wad the guy that when something was great I wanted to tell. And that I wanted to complain yo about boys with when they challenged my nerd card. That when the newest nerd movie from star wars(which he knew the order of my favorites and I knew his), Marvel, DC whatever we had to talk about it. We had to examine every angle. He was the guy that I watched Packers football with- the only person I k ew that didn't say I had bad juju. He was there with me when we had that Cardinals game that I'll never forget.. And I threw it all awY because I was fucking terrible. And I'll regret that for the rest of my life.

I'm not sure what else I want to say in this. I just knew that I needed to get it all out of my head. Because if I didn't I was going to let it all fester which was what I was doing. Like. I had already broken down two times today. Partially because I re-read some of the essays that I ignored where he pours his heart to me saying that he missed me. And I know that I missed him then because I still.miss him. It'll never be what it was I've madd sure of that because well I was terrible and shitty and you can't go back in time.

I don't know. Maybe this will help me in the long run. Maybe I'll be able to be better. Maybe it'll help me fix this. Maybe. I don't know.

[dukereviewsxtra]

Duke Reviews Xtra: Geppetto

Hello, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Duke Reviews Xtra Where We Are Continuing Our Duke Reviews Look At Disney...

Where If You've Been On The Duke Reviews Tumblr, You'll Know That I Just Reviewed Pinocchio And Since I Can't Review Everything Disney On The Duke Reviews Or Duke Reviews TV Tumblr (Though On Duke Reviews I'm Sure Going To Try)...

I May As Well Review The Stuff I Can't Review On Either One Of Those Tumblr's Here So On Today's Show We're Reviewing Geppetto...

When This Tv Film Came Out I Was Excited For It Because Unlike Other People Who Thought "Who Gives A Crap About Geppetto?" And Didn't Watch It I Actually Wondered If There Was More To The Character Than Just Kindly Wood-Carver Who Makes Toys And Wants A Kid...

Did I Get It? Let's Find Out As We Watch Geppetto...

Our Story Starts In The Village Of Villagio...

Which Despite How It Sounds Is Not A Sex Act...

Where The Children In Town Are Very Excited As The Toy Maker, Geppetto (Played By Drew Carey)...

And Let's Talk About This Really Quick So I Can Continue Talking About The Movie, I Don't Mind Drew Carey As Geppetto...

Sure, He's Not Old, Sure, He's Not Elderly, Sure, He Doesn't Pull Off An Italian Accent And Yes, He Is Miscast But He Does Have A Good Singing Voice And Carey Is Trying His Hardest With The Role So I Got To Give Him Credit...

Anyway, As I Was Saying The Children Of The Town Are Very Excited As The Toy Maker Geppetto Has Finished Making His New Toys That He Made After Gathering Wood Over The Summer...

Which Leads To The First Song Of The Movie, Toys...

(Start At 0:42)

And For A Beginning Song It's Good But It Doesn't Really Pull You Into The Story Like A Musical Should But Drew Carey's Verses In It Are Pretty Good So I Guess I Can't Complain...

After The Last Of The Children Go Home, Geppetto Works On A Puppet Named Pinocchio Before Going Into Our Next Song Called An Empty Heart As He Gets Ready For Bed..,

Sorry, There Was No Clip For It...

And Despite People Complaining That Because Drew Carey's Performance Has No Emotion The Song Has No Emotion, I Find That To Be Bullshit, Carey Does Well With The Song And I Honestly Like It...

But All Is Not Quiet In Geppetto's Workshop As The Blue Fairy (Played By Princess Atta) Drops By To Grant Geppetto's Wish Of Making Pinocchio A Real Boy...

However, Having Alot Of Questions, (And Why Wouldn't He) Pinocchio Keeps Geppetto Up All Night...

But A New Day Lead To Our Next Song Called And Son, As Geppetto Looks To The Future With Pinocchio Only For Problems To Happen Along The Way...

(Start At 0:31)

And While The Song Is Cute And There's Nothing Inherently Bad About It, It's Just Not My Favorite Song In The Entire Musical...

So, By The 4th Day, Geppetto Has Lost All Patience And Sees Sending Pinocchio To School As His Last Hope, But Even That Goes Wrong When A Misunderstanding Of Something Geppetto Said Leads Pinocchio To Get Into A Fight With A Young Kelvin Timeline Chekov...

And Yes, I Know I Shouldn't Make Fun Of Anton Yelchin Because Of How He Died But It Was Too Easy To Make A Star Trek Reference...

And Speaking Of Star Trek, After Geppetto And Pinocchio Leave The School, They Run Into Stromboli (Played By Data) Who Takes An Interest In Pinocchio And Wants Him In His Show Despite Geppetto Saying No...

Returning Home, Geppetto Is Mad At Pinocchio For Getting Into The Fight At School Starting A Fight Which Fractures Father And Son And Leads Geppetto To Go Find The Blue Fairy As He Believes Pinocchio's Defective...

Eventually Finding The Blue Fairy She Basically Tells Him "Hey, You Wanted A Kid, It's Your Problem Pal" As She Sings The Next Song Just Because It's Magic"...

(Start At 1:32)

And While I Like The Choreography In The Song, It's Again Not One Of My Favorites...

Returning Home, Geppetto Finds That Pinocchio Has Runaway From Home As Left A Note Saying That He's Joining Stromboli's Puppet Show...

Thinking That Maybe It's For The Best, Geppetto Goes Down To Stromboli's Show Where We Get Pinocchio Singing I've Got No Strings...

But After The Show We Discover That Stromboli's Not A Great Father Figure As He Keeps Pinocchio Locked In A Box....

Hiding Pinocchio As Geppetto Goes Backstage To Give Him Some Of Pinocchio's Things, Stromboli Tells Geppetto That It Was Just A One Night Show Before Pinocchio Left For The Big City To Seek Fame And Fortune...

Upset That Stromboli Did This, Stromboli Points Geppetto In The Direction Pinocchio "Went" Before He Goes Backstage Again To Get Pinocchio Only To Discover That He's Escaped His Cage And Has Boarded A Carriage For Pleasure Island...

Angry Over Losing His Meal Ticket, Stromboli Packs Up To Go After Him Which Leads Into Our Next Song, Bravo, Stromboli...

(Start At 0:43)

And This Is Honestly One Of My Favorite Songs In This Musical...

It's Like Brent Spiner Took All The Pent Up Wackiness He Had Inside After Playing A Robot on Star Trek The Next Generation And The Movies And Let All Out In This One Song And It Works...

Meanwhile, Geppetto Runs Into The Blue Fairy Who After The First Reprise Of Just Because It's Magic Decides "This Idiot Wants Magic, Fine, I'll Give Him Magic To Show Him What I'm Trying To Tell Him"

So, Using Her Magic, The Blue Fairy Introduces Geppetto To The Great Lazardo (Played By Wayne Brady) Who Is A Bad Magician But Is Only A Magician Because It's What His Father Wanted Him To ...

Sound Familiar?

But Seeing That Lazardo Is Great At Making Toys, Geppetto Suggests That He Become A Toy Maker Which Leads To A Reprise Of Toys Before Geppetto Continues His Journey Deciding That "Ok, Pinocchio Doesn't Have To Become A Toy Maker"...

Finding His Way To The Town Of Idyllia, Where We Get A When You Wish Upon A Star Reference...

Yeah, We Kind Of Heard It Earlier Too When Pinocchio Was Brought To Life But I Don't Really Count That

Before Geppetto Meets Professor Buonragazzo (Played By Paul From Boston Legal R.I.P. René Auberjonois) And His Son Who Have Made A Machine That Makes Perfect Children That Obey And Do Everything They're Parents Tell Them To Do...

Again, Sound Familiar?

Which Leads Into Our Next Song, Satisfaction Guaranteed...

And...It's Okay..

While I Do Like The Song And I Like The Choreography In It, It Just Raises Too Many Questions As Val Kilmer Batman Would Put It...

Freaked Out By What He Sees, Geppetto Realizes That He Doesn't Want A Child THAT Perfect...

Running Into The Blue Fairy Again...

Ok, She's Quickly Turning Into The Cheshire Cat Of This Movie...

We Get Another Reprise Of Just Because It's Magic Where She Tells Geppetto That Pinocchio Is Headed For Pleasure Island And That Not Only Did Stromboli Screw Him But He's After Pinocchio Too...

Transitioning Into Pleasure Island We Get The Best Song In This Musical Sung By Usher...

(Start At 0:08)

In A Scene That Some People Say Is Lazy But I Say Is Just Saving Time And Money As It Is A Television Movie, Through Pictures We See Geppetto Go After The Donkey Pinocchio On A Boat Only To Be Attacked By Monstro...

Seeing His Father In Danger, The Donkey Pinocchio Jumps Overboard Only For Him And Geppetto To Get Eaten By The Whale...

Finding Pinocchio Who Has Been Turned Into Himself Again, Citing That The Donkey Magic Must Have Washed Off...

Despite Me, Seeing It As Pinocchio's Sacrifice To Save His Father Allowed Him To Become Himself Again...

Apologizing With A Reprise Of And Son, Father And Son Make Up Which Leads Them To Find A Way Out By Deciding To Tickle Monstro's Uvula With Pinocchio's Nose Which He Lies To Make Grow So Monstro Can Throw Them Up...

And All I Can Say About This Is That Tony Goldmark Has A Dirty Mind...And If You've Seen His Review On This With Emily Clark You'll Know Why...

Returning To Their Home In Villagio, Geppetto And Pinocchio Are Confronted By Stromboli, Who Has Come To Take Pinocchio From Geppetto As He Has A Contact With Him That's Iron Clad...

Which Leads Us Into The Final Song, Since I Gave My Heart Away And It's Very Touching...

(Start At 0:23, End At 6:47)

So, That's Geppetto And...It's A Mixed Bag...

While The Beginning Of The Movie Isn't That Great It Makes Up For It In Both The Middle And The End, And Yes, While Drew Carey Is A Bit Miscast In This, He Still Isn't That Bad Of A Singer But The People That Steal This Movie Is Brent Spiner And Usher As They Both Have 2 Of The Best Songs In This...

However, If There's Anyone That's Really Bad In This Then It's Julia Louis Dreyfuss, With The Way She's Talking I Can Barely Understand What She's Saying At Times Also I Got To Give Credit To Stephen Schwartz Who Wrote The Songs As Some Of Them Are Pretty Good...

All I Can Really Say Is Don't Believe The Haters And See This Movie, Just Skip The Very Beginning...

Till Next Time, This Is Duke, Signing Off...