#i guess u can interpret this as after they reconciled and got to know each other better

[herecomesmk]

lmk!nezha: cradles child "It's okay, You're safe. You're fine."

         Strange how once, the mere presence of Nezha sent terror coursing through him... and now it was nothing but comforting, almost as if MK knew who he once was, and had reconnected with a friend from a different life, even if that could never be / never was the case. Perhaps it was a byproduct of his mentor's connection... or purely his innate ability to befriend others. Who could say.

         Well, maybe it still felt a bit ( very much so ) imposing at times, this was Nezha after all... he was, can be, and is still very much scary. The language had changed drastically since they first met, now there isn't a worry, there is no danger, there is no fear. Only peace. Peace he definitely needed and didn't know he craved at crucial times.

[allmydokkuns]

Long post but uhh I don't know if you can insert a cut on mobile so sorry in advance, skip if you're not abut reading about Lan Xichen and ABO-verse characterization I guess? Vague spoilers for MDZS if you haven't read or watched it yet too, lmk if I miss a smth u think I should tag for

Okay y'all don't come at me with a pitchfork or anything but like... I've read my way through so. Much. A/B/O fic in MDZS/The Untamed ship tags and I kinda can see y'all Alpha Twin Jades if I squint, and I have opinions on the stereotypes/tropes but I can't focus enough to pin down why it bothers me so I'll just drop this take for y'all:

Instead of alpha Lan Xichen, how bout omega Lan Xichen who's supersensitive to pack/intersect dynamics growing up in the hyper repressive Cloud Recesses that further encourages him as sect heir and then leader to not make ripples and just compromise or mediate like the world's gonna end bc he just doesn't feel safe on a biological level if tensions are high and shits bout to go down?

Like hear me out, he leaves his home on fire never knowing if he'll return or ever see his family again and he feels uprooted in all the worst ways, head and heart screaming in equal measure that is your pack, you were sworn to nurture them how could you let it get this far with Obey shufu, that might be his dying wish and If anything happens to Wangji, Gusu Lan will need another heir and suddenly, he runs into Meng Yao, who smells like a safe haven, someone he can trust, someone who is not a threat.

Like you can even interpret his status as the number one ranked gongsi as him refining a natural talent through overcompensating because internalized biases? I like to imagine Wangji being petty when people say shit like that about his big brother around him from a very young age, because in comparison to Wangji's more distant personality, xiongzhang's warmth and natural empathic drive to take care of Gusu Lan is obviously much better suited to the role of leader (less stuff said about the fiasco that was Qingheng-jun's marriage, the better, and this is an interesting dynamic to have no matter what Wangji ends up presenting as).

It would fit in well with why Xichen seems to still believe in Meng Yao for far longer than anyone else does, why he always seems to walk a tightrope between trying past the point of no return and failing to reconcile, and why he tends to emphasize the group to the detriment of the components of said group. Him equating the well-being of his pack(s) with safety is just a hornet's nest of unresolved issues just waiting to become angst fodder. I'm aware this is more of a cultural thing, but honestly the aggressive independence of an alpha don't jibe for me for him (though it might be interesting to see someone interpret how his emotional repression interacts with alpha Xichen instincts, and how that all comes to a head instead?) because Xichen's seclusion after Guanyin Temple like this has more angst potential if his secondary pack disintegrates so spectacularly (and he blames himself) while at the same time Wangji has finally found Wei Wuxian again and while on some level Lan Xichen is happy for his Didi, on some instinctual level Lan Huan is going DANGER DANGER DANGER bc this is the guy that Wangji would have broken himself for, no one is allowed to do that to my brother and especially not you, guy who's been playing with his heart with a little dash of why are you leaving? All these years I know you loved him but why do you get to be happy at the cost of my own happiness? I have no brothers left, not you, not Huaisang, not the ones I've killed. Where is my safety now?

Alternatively, him failing to reconcile his sworn brothers + Wei Wuxian coming back into their lives just to rip a Jin Guangyao-sized hole in his life takes on a different flavor if Xichen is an alpha or a beta like imagine him getting real protectively aggressive over the one brother left that he can still claim as his without reservation. Like he's inclined to think more kindly about Wei Wuxian after everything but boy oh boy what a great time for all that repressed anger, despair and guilt that you didn't have time for when you were bandaging your baby brother's back and being a caregiver for a recovering young'un and being Sect Leader at the same time to suddenly come out, huh. I think Xichen got robbed not being able to actually get fucking pissed at him on Wangji's behalf. We could use some cathartically mad Xichen in the fandom. Like I know y'all like to joke that Jiang Cheng is angry grape but 1) let them both have some kind of venting mechanism because that's better than simply containing it, arguably and 2) I'd argue that when Jiang Cheng actually does get mad and not just irritated it's not without some reason. I've seen sad Xichen, happy Xichen, smooth af Xichen, drunk Xichen, "I know something that you don't" Xichen, etc., but angry Xichen? Also, guilty Xichen is a rare flavor hereabouts

Like you could also interpret Xichen as a beta who's always kind of skirting the edge of the dynamic between the other 2/3rds of 3zun who are each one of the other two secondary genders (one of each in the Triad) which might also explain how he seems to be so unruffled all the time; rather than sublimating his instincts or leaning so hard into them he doesn't know how not to be politely protective, he kind of exists in a space where scent/genders doesn't subconsciously play in as much to his behavior (or even make that a Gusu Lan Sect specialty idk) and just. Steers people into that which tends to be kinda mediating in a nudging way I don't know I'm getting fuzzy on the details but world building fam.

Anyway I think the idea of Xichen having to navigate a world in which he has to deal with people who pepper him with microaggressions about his secondary gender if he presents as omega or a world where his status as a beta blinds him just enough to the degree and real nature of the tension in the brotherhood is kind of fascinating, thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

[discordisagoodnoodle]

If you could rewrite ONE episode of MLP, which one would you choose and how would you change it?

Ohh my god ONLY one? But there’s so many I want to scrap completely! Or change lots of little things that bother me to soothe my soul. Fair warning...this is gonna be long. Like, extremely fucking long. I got insanely into this.

BUT, for the sake of the ask, I suppose I’ll go with the fairly obvious answer and choose What About Discord. There’s...a lot of ways I could change this episode and it would all be miles better than whatever that was.

If I were to change this episode within, say, the confines of the plot summary, I would probably do something like:

-actually show Discord and the Mane Five bonding! I would do this because, one, that’s just what Discord’s arc should have done as a natural fucking progression of his growth, and two, not getting the jokes was like, insanely boring and I hated it. 

I get that they did it so we could feel the alienation Twilight felt, but this is a kids show meant to...you know, ENTERTAIN. It’s not entertaining AT ALL to be put in the same position as Twilight in this episode. Also, why would you make Discord’s jokes not funny to the viewer? Discord, a character who’s supposed to be very funny and entertaining to watch, was purposefully made to NOT be funny to the viewer (and Twilight) and like...it’s so bad! So I’m scrapping THAT completely.

-Not suddenly have this weird fucking “””reveal””” where surprise! Discord was in the wrong the whole time! I am of the opinion that Twilight should have been called the fuck out for zeroing in on Discord when she was jealous when EVERYBODY left her out, and for accusing HIM of something outright evil like mind control, and then literally pressuring her friends to drink some weird ass potion because she legitimately believes the ONLY way ANYBODY besides Fluttershy could EVER like Discord is if he literally mind controls them??? That’s so shitty! Even IF Discord purposefully left her out (which I don’t think he actually did, but that episode was written vaguely enough as to where some people do) I...kind of feel like Twilight one upped Discord on the shitty actions here? Like, Twilight chose to do the booksortcation. Twilight was very adamant that she wanted to do the booksortcation rather than anything else. In fact...there’s a very good chance that even if everybody DID ask her, she would have just said no anyways. She was literally that excited about her booksortcation.

SO, I would scrap that whole end scene, keep the little speech Twilight made with how she was jealous, BUT I would add an apology to Discord for accusing him of something far worse than he actually did. ALSO I’m not having Discord do this on purpose. Like, I already don’t think he did but like, I’m gonna make it more explicit so nobody ends up with the interpretation that he did, because my god, that would be the worst possible backslide in characterization if it is.

I might also have Discord apologize too, actually. Instead of that “taste of his own medicine” scene which just kind of felt...vindictive, and nonsensical considering the inside joke they had, and considering Discord didn’t even...do it on purpose he literally just thought it was funny and rubbed it in a little...and the mane five also kind of did that unintentionally so like??? Why is HE getting targeted. I would just have them like, at most, glare mildly and nudge him a bit so he’s like “WELL, I’m also sorry I teased you so extensively. I suppose rubbing the salt in the emotional wounds afflicted by your jealousy wasn’t very...nice.”  I feel it’s important to have a Discord episode where even if he’s maybe a little bit in the wrong, somebody else is MORE in the wrong because he’s already had so many episodes before where HE was the one completely in the wrong. It balances things out a bit, and it’s genuinely a more emotionally fulfilling thing to do for his character arc than just have him be a perpetual fuck up. 

ANOTHER IDEA I have in mind is that I would have Twilight’s jealousy stem more from the fact that they’re having fun with Discord, specifically. And then I would have her blow the fuck up at Discord because she like, still doesn’t trust him, and the emotional distress she’s feeling to an ever increased extent thought the episode from being left out, and from Discord teasing her a bit makes her just. flip her shit and go on a whole rant about how she doesn’t understand how the other ponies can actually trust Discord and laugh with him after all he’s done to them. And then I think I would have say, Fluttershy defend Discord by saying how he’s actually changed, and he really is sorry for what he did before, and how Twilight can still be upset at him but her actions are going overboard. Then I would probably..? have Twilight storm off, and Discord poof in and then they have like...An Emotional Chat and like, actually reconcile and become like legit friends this time.

I’d want to do something like this because even after the Tirek thing, Twilight is shown to have this like, grudge against Discord and it’s simply NEVER addressed which...is bad. It’s just plain bad writing, and it just kind of makes this like, missing chunk in Discord’s arc where we’re supposed to see him and Twilight (and the rest of the mane six) actually like, get past this and genuinely learn to appreciate each other. This episode could have been the perfect episode to address it but they just made it like...a generalized jealousy which kind of sucks.

I think something else I would do is probably...not have everybody EXCEPT Twilight suddenly be all goody goody with Discord out of nowhere. I would probably have like...Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and maybe Applejack (?) be friendly and joke around with him, but like...I don’t think it makes sense that suddenly everybody was all goody goody with Discord out of nowhere. Especially not like Rainbow Dash???? That was really weird...

Having say, Rainbow Dash also be apprehensive of Discord still could also have like, a reaction foil to Twilight I guess it would be? Because Rainbow isn’t like...fond of Discord, but she’s like “Well I don’t really get why they’d WANT to hang out with him after...all THAT, but it’s whatever I guess.” (I feel like she’d be more chill about it and just be like, personal choice yo) and it would be a good contrast for how Twilight is handling her feelings in comparison while still having somebody who agrees with her (Dipscorb Bad) and gives her a feeling of justification for having this gut reaction to Discord and others hanging out at the same time.

....On another note, I would scrap the whole inside joke thing completely. Again, that was just a stupid decision entertainment wise, but also narratively, it would work more if we saw what happened during the booksortcation, and, instead of them just saying a bunch of inside jokes with Twilight around now, I would have them like...just still be hanging out within sight of Twilight. And they can still make inside jokes with each other, but it feels more natural because it’s actually part of a larger conversation they’re already having instead of being like...a conversation that is ONLY inside jokes, and the inside jokes aren’t the FOCUS. (like...it was so unnatural in the episode, and the mane five just came off as huge assholes for making a conversation be solely inside jokes and then just going “well...u werent there lol”)

I...believe that’s all my ideas for a What About Discord rewrite? I certainly can’t think of anything else and this is already like, an insanely long post so I might just end it here.

[diamondprima]

Feelings about YTTD characters up until ch2 [long rant]

Spoilers will be marked like this: spoilers.

So like OBVIOUSLY spoiler warning. I haven’t gotten into chapter 3 yet because I finished ch2 at like 2am and I had online school the next day and all my emotional stamina was something more like emotional stamiNO

Let’s start by talking about characters!!!

Keiji Shinogi 

So...can you guess who’s my favorite...? If you guessed Keiji you are absolutely correct. I said this on insta but he could snap me like a twig if he wanted, and I’m NOT joking. 

At the start I was very worried that he’d be a bad guy, but I very quickly fell in love with him (and yeah, it did help that he’s pretty hot shut up).

He’s just...so fuxking sweet? He just cares so much about you, has been very helpful and honestly he ended up being the most trustworthy. This game has been NERVE wrecking and his encouragement throughout the chapters and the choices really helped me...he’s just amazing, I have NO words to express how much I love him <333

If he dies I will die with him, probably from crying.

Not to mention that his backstory and trauma...it broke my heart seeing him so down and I really wanted to comfort him at that moment. But what REALLY broke my heart was how careful and worried he was about you during your hallucinations, even though he was also having quite a hard time with his own demons...

Sou Hiyori (Shin Tsumuki)

...or should I say Shin Tsumiki? Oh God, the beanie man...

I honestly don’t don’t know how exactly to feel about him. Since I am into Danganronpa, I did come across Yttd memes and I had already seen all of the Kokichi comparisons and such. That’s why I expected lots of lies, tomfoolery and overall rat-ness. And well...yeah that’s what I got pretty much! Even though he annoyed me greatly the moment the bs happened, I can’t help but be interested and fond of him...after all his love and care for Kanna was quite apparent, and I felt like he really went through changes and slowly opened up...

I was really stumped on what to do when the final voting time came on the second main game. I didn’t want to kill Shin because as I said, I am fond of him. Not to mention I was so impressed by his abilities and what he had to offer and I really wanted to see more of him...! However, after abusing the multiple save files and seeing the outcomes of all the voting options I decided I’d kill him off. The logic route was just too cruel for both him and Sara. Him having to live with the survivors guild and his hatred of Sara not only hurt me but also scared me in terms of what he’d do to sabotage her. Those fears were made worse after I saw what crap he pulled with that Joe hologram...absolutely no. On the other hand, the feeling route had a much more emotionally satisfying ending. it seemed as if both Sara and Shin got their salvation. I actually cried at the AI scene, and I felt as if not only Sara, but I had also I had been freed of this crushing weight...all because of Shin. I will however replay it sometime and will let him live, just to see how Sou and him would interact...

Kanna Kizuchi

Oh Kanna...

Honestly I do sympathize with Kanna. I too am a notorious crybaby and would also be nominated because I’d be weak. From the moment I saw her I just KNEW I wanted to protect her and keep her safe from people like Shin...

The entire sister backstory cut deep, and I was really happy to take the role of her older sister, it just felt like the right thing to do ya know? Anyway overall I do want to protect her and love her!!!

Her death at the logic route was HEARTBREAKING. It was so painful and it just added to the overall...hurt of the damn thing, which is why I ultimately kept her alive. I am quite excited to see what she has to offer, since it seemed like she had MAJOR character development after that ending and I pray it was worth sacrificing Shin...

Joe Tazuna

What!!! A!!! Baby!!! Love...!!! Love is stored in the Joe!!! He has one of my favorite character designs, it’s just really cute! He truly gives me “childhood friend” vibes! I love how supportive he was of Sara. He was always by her side and truly seemed to love her! Personally I think they were just close friends, and didn’t have any romantic feelings for each other, but that’s up for interpretation! Overall amazing character, very good boy!

His death...just absolutely destroyed me...and then the hallucinations just made everything worse. I felt the despair in Sara during those. Absolutely heart wrenching.

Kai Satou

He’s beautiful and I am quite in love with him. His quiet and calm demeanor reminds me of Korekiyo in Danganronpa, one of my favorite characters of all time! Most of what I want to say about him are spoilers though so...this first part will be quite short.

FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKF U C K. All he wanted was to protect Sara...he did his best but ultimately was found out. Even in the end, he tried his best to be useful and encouraged Sara, resisting Miley’s bs! Just...a best boy.

Gin Ibushi

Much like Kanna, I really just want to protect him! At first I was a bit creeped out, but I warmed up to him!!! He’s really cute and I loved sword fighting him!!!

Nao Egokoro 

She’s was bit annoying at the start, but I ended up liking her after all! Her bond with Mishima was very cute and I liked how she grew throughout the story.

I liked how Mishima’s death affected her and ultimately contributed to her growth. I admit she did scare me with the whole fake Mishima AI thing, but ultimately I was glad she was sane...her death was sad, especially the painting she didn’t get to finish...but the little cut-scene at the end was really sweet.

Kazumi Mishima

KOMAEDA- okay no but!!! I love him a lot actually! He was really fun to be around and his affection towards Nao really showed! I’ve also had really strong bonds with teachers overtime so it really hit home!

I hate that he had to die first smh...such a feral man...

Reko Yabusame

My goth wife..................................what a lass. I love her a lot. She funky, spunky AND dramatic!!! I just love her a lot!!!

I honestly was quite sad she didn’t get to reconcile with Alice. I could feel that he really cared about her...

Gonbee Yamada (Alice Yabusame)

I don’t have strong feelings for him. His design just sends me into a goddamn frenzy...He got all the primary colors in his hair. Honestly, bold.

I felt really bad for him since he died trying to avenge his “dead” sister and they never ended up being in good terms even though both of them wanted to.

Q-taro Burgerberg 

Again, no strong feelings! He’s a bro and I always feel like I have to fist bump my screen every time that one sprite shows...you know the one!

The whole swapping cards bs...oh sis that one SCARED me.

Sara Chidouin

The main girl herself! I like her! She’s cute, she’s determined...I don’t really have much to say about Sara because I play her like she’s me basically...however! I will say that her bond with Joe is ADORABLE! And of course...her relationship with Keiji...very cute too, but as I said, I do view her as a replica of me, so take that as you will! 

And that’s all I have to say about that. If this was to have a general conclusion its be that yttd has great characters, and it was hard for me to pick someone to die...! 

-Diamond

[televinita]

Zoo 3.12

Preview: Sam can go DIAF with Abigail, Interrupting Dariela is the worst and the writers need to stop using her to squee-block me, Mitch/Jamie is my everything and I need Jackson to come back into the fold with them, and how the hell did I come up with so many words for an episode that was mostly plot advancement and only had like five standout scenes.

Mitch/Jamie 1. Looks like at least part of my headcanon last week about Mitch letting Jamie out can't be jossed! I'm so glad we got this scene in a sneak peek, because I replayed Jackson's indignation and Mitch's cheerfully dismissive response to it about 80 times. 2. Would it be irresponsible of me to assume that they spent last night together? Because part of me is still wondering if they've even touched in the wake of everything, but I would really like to believe they drowned their sorrows in each other. I don’t know how to reconcile the easy banter of the next number or the fact that they don’t touch in this episode. 3. I love the glee Mitch takes in pestering Jamie about her apparent fear of babies, all geared up to tease her mercilessly -- this must be the most fun he's had in days -- and how fast the truth wipes the smug smirk off his face. It's beautiful and terrible and I hope it socked him right in the gut to see the extent of the damage his words did. If he didn't introduce the thought into her head, he sure cemented whatever doubts she already had. 3.5. And kudos to Kristen Connolly for being able to sell those lines with a straight face, because on paper it looks hella dramatic to be like "I'm so awful that I will physically curse a baby if I touch it" 4. I am little embarrassed that my headcanon gets shot down when Mitch not only doesn't take back the darkness line, he doubles down to include himself in it -- but I also really, really like him admitting he would have killed Abigail himself?  "I've been thinking" is a fic prompt and I would love a little character study of Mitch coming to this realization, but either way, I’m intrigued by Dark!Mitch. I want the antidote in hand, I need to be able to believe they will eventually run away and find the light at the end of tunnel, but right now I could be very into a Dark & Twisty OTP of Pain and Feelings. 5. "She kept me away from everything and everyone I ever cared about. Everyone I love." Said with bold and unflinching eye contact and I am 6% frustrated that this is about the third time he's confessed his feelings and Jamie is still batting a hundred on insufficient reactions to them, but 94% overjoyed that the L word is out there to more than just some thugs in a bar. Sometimes there are more exciting ways to hear it than the standard 3-word way. (not that I would turn that down) 6. Now I just need to know who is responsible for Interrupting Dariela arriving on TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS instead of extending either "darkness" convo scene literally ten or twelve more seconds for some kind of proper resolution before a scene change. Tell me he wasn’t about to reach for her hand in the first one. (Also. It takes a magnifying glass and freeze framing, but I'm pretty sure in the split second before they get interrupted the second time, it looks like their hands were or about to be in contact and are drawing apart as the shot goes wide?) A Series Of Live Viewing Reactions To Clem's Baby Daddy 1. Awwww @ Sam hoping (in vain) that Mitch will accept him as a real member of the family. 2. WHAT THE SHIT, SAM. I TRIED TO BE NICE TO YOU. 3. All right, abort that whole plan from last week about letting him be HOH, Sam can fuck off and die and I hope Mitch takes such full ownership of the baby* that he takes to introducing him to people as "my kid, once removed." I'm not Jackson and I don't care who was raised by a madwoman. If Abe's voice + everyone's love for Clementine didn't convince you you're on the wrong team, you are beyond help and I’ll put you down.

*I don't think I can fully convey to you the amount I love Mike Baxter's relationship with Boyd on Last Man Standing, mostly because I'm not sure how many people know this show exists. 4. ...ABIGAIL R U SERIOUS. (Guys, I'm sorry if I previously claimed to be off the sympathy-for-the-devil train; those were lies but I am sure as hell off it now with her baby-snatching reveal and subsequent taunting. That's not even emotional torture porn, that is just cruelty for its own sake.) 5. Welp, I think you know what this means, Mitch and Jackson bonding over shooting straight from raising a baby to parenting a 20-year-old Y/Y?? 6. But seriously, I am so upset at not even considering this theory before today. He's the right age! He's a conveniently random orphan! This show is all, "People love twists!" I kept assuming the father of the Miracle Baby had to be someone super significant! The biggest kicker of all is that I've assumed from the get-go that Jackson's late wife was black (which I hope is not somehow racist to assume?), and Sam is right there looking plausibly biracial as heck, and somehow not once did those two threads of thought ever cross. Come On Guys, Be Bros When I made this tongue-in-cheek request last year re: Mitch and Jackson, I could not in my wildest dreams have imagined them to one day share a grandchild, so while I honestly don't care how Jackson's being-a-daddy issues will play out, I care VERY MUCH what it means that he and Mitch are now on the same family tree, starting with how he now has an ironclad excuse to bond with Clementine and never be out of her life again. (I guess he can bond with his actual kid too. if he must.)

But that short chat on the upper level, just listening to them talk about their respective families is like catnip to my ears. I don't know how I'm supposed to read Mitch's expression after Jackson walks off in his "you worry about your family, let me worry about mine" huff, so I've elected to interpret it as "You're my family too, dumbass." (hush and let me have my dream) (Also I would kind of like to know why Jackson is still as willing to talk rationally with Mitch as he is given that Mitch is on Team Jamie, or as Jackson prefers to call it, She Devil Incarnate. I mean, it boils down to Jackson being a sexist jerk, but I still want to have All The Thinky Thoughts about how Mitch functions as a go between.) Beta Ship 2.0 MY SHIP RADAR IS BACK ON AND FULLY FUNCTIONING. I don't want to scare it away by being too excited about it. Just know that my heart burst into bloom when they got their reunion hug*, crescendoed for the kiss, and by the time they were fawning over the baby together it was pretty well at a tea kettle pitch. *Abe and Dariela take over as the center of the frame immediately, but am I looking at it or listening to them at all? No. I'm trying to shove them out of the way and peering at the edge of the screen where my new faves are nearly out of the frame, persistently tracking Jackson's hands on Tessa as they examine her cut and cup the back of her head and asdlkasjdfasd time to go dig up the 3x01 Time Capsule O' Sweetness. Various and Sundry -I enjoyed the writers finally acknowledging how awfully prone to hacking / general failure this plane is. -This was going to be its own category, but it's late, so suffice to say that Mitch + Not Being A Mess Of Emotions About His Dead Father was very nicely dovetailed with concern for Clem and a cute debate about baby names, and I'm just happy they addressed it all, if still annoyed that the impact of Max's death on Jamie was not. -Jackson takes up Mitch's vacated seat next to Clementine when the plane starts falling and has his hand bracing the baby's head and yes hello I am dying. -Clem is so excited to offer her baby to Jamie for holding, even eager to reassure her "you won't hurt him," and yes hello I am dying again. -"I know I'm right. Want to be more specific?" = thank u for this small slice of "sass that totally happens in the Normal World AU of Domesticity" (also, the pushing up his glasses bit here? ridiculously cute)

-"I don't need you to tell me what needs to be done [about Abigail]." OK Jackson, but like...you kinda do.   

-I told you before I had 18 heart attacks watching this episode live, so I don't think it's unreasonable to mention dying again re: the part where Jamie has the baby foisted upon her before she can protest, and Baby immediately stops crying*... Wait, no, this is the opposite of dying. This moment is Life.

-*nice insufficient reaction to noticing her finally holding the baby, Mitch. Who is directing this episode, because they are Bad at it. -I literally could not be more neutral about Logan's face or potential longevity. I am a 0 on the PH scale of feelings. -Everything about Jackson's final face off with Abigail and her stupid endless villain gloating was the wooorst. -I am a little concerned that reaching the barrier is supposed to qualify as our traditional episode 12 "get off now if you want this series to have a happy ending" exit, both because it's not that satisfying and because there is way too much left unresolved. I can only hope this means that we'll get it near the end of the real finale, with only a tiny twist at the end to set up a hypothetical season 4 that can be easily pinched off and forgotten if need be. Up Next: I'm not sure if I can watch the finale live. I have to have all my work done 6 hours earlier than usual, and then I'm taking off to go dog-sit all day, and if I watch it live I am gonna be useless from the time it starts airing until I drop from emotional exhaustion around 3 AM. If I can get enough work done by 9 PM, I probably will, but I also kind of want to savor it in case this is the last new one I ever get.