#turns out he edited a couple of glee episodes too

[oatmilkovich]

omg please tell me you're joking 😂

...i would then be lying 😭

[chalkrevelations]

OK, so, episode reax of WoH Ep 4 is briefly delayed – may be out Sunday, but more likely post M-W workweek. It is coming. Meanwhile, have some more Street Dance of China? S3, Ep 2.

First of all, I have to say that if I had any way of figuring out what some of this music is, I’d have a new Spotify playlist 300 songs long.

ANYWAY, we get a recap of … Wang Yibo being incredulous about coming in last place in a dance competition. Wang Yibo vowing to get back the three colorful towels he lost by coming in last place in a dance competition and therefore can’t use to send three more of his team’s dancers on to the next round. Hip-hop freestyle battles for TOWELS. Wang Yibo getting his colorful towels back. Ridiculous unnecessary drama over whether Lay Zhang is going to win his battle and get EVEN MORE colorful towels, given his competition is Wallace Chung (oh dear. that was kind of blunt.). And that’s what you missed on Glee Street Dance of China 3 Ep 1.

 Snapshots of what’s coming up this week: Everyone has shot their wad on towels and is sweating the fact that they have 59 more dancers they want to send through to the next round and a single towel left. (I TOLD YOU SO. ALL OF YOU.) The only way to get more towels is to battle for them. A hip-hop battle has NEVER BEEN SO IMPORTANT.

Cutting here, I guess, for ridiculously detailed nattering. Hashtag long post (remorseful):

Team Lay Zhang: First of all, Lay Zhang, I just have to note that you’re getting an edit that doesn’t make you look like the brightest bulb in the box. I don’t know if this is just the edit, or if it’s … well. You. I guess we’ll see as the season goes on. Also, in the interim, I have found out that you also are Zhang Yixing, which a lot of your fandom seems to actually call you, so should I call you Yixing instead of Lay? You seem to be going by Lay for this show, so it seems polite to stick to that? Anyway. Gongsun Wu Ming & Hei Zai start us off this episode, and they get off to a little bit of a slow start, but once they pick up, they’ve got a lot of nice air in their moves, that effortless(-looking) almost anti-gravity effect that good breakers can get. Then we almost immediately get a series of ok, that’s fine, oh, wait, no, THAT is actually pretty mediocre poppers, none of whom gets a towel, thank god, because the supply has to be running low. And then Teng Zai appears, claiming to be the best popper, and … OK. OK, alright. Fine. He might be right. His technique and control are fantastic, but you want to know what really sells me, in the middle of this generally fantastic performance? It’s that series of chest pops followed by the little heart held out right on the fk’n music. It’s little details like that, that make or break a performance, and he pulled it off beautifully. I went back to re-watch, it was so slick, yet so charming. OK, maybe I went back to watch more than once. You can’t prove anything. (Also, he gets called their little “Ares” - in quotes, in the subs – by other contestants, more than once, but I can’t pick out the actual sound of that name, which makes me think the subbers have inserted “Ares” as something that will give the flavor of what he’s actually being called. My 1st level Duolingo Mandarin is absolutely not enough to figure out what people are actually calling him, so is there anyone who’s able to give me some insight, here?) Aaaand, Towel Battle 1 (see Footnote 1). Post-battle, we’ve reached the point when all the captains are sweating their lack of towels, so e’rybody is just going to have to battle for towels from here on out. Yuan Ye faces Momo, and a little bit, this is where I expect the knife fight to start (Momo’s bringing the knife). I’m honestly not that impressed with either of them and probably would have saved my towel for someone else, but Lay Zhang decides to send them both through, so what’s the point of a battle to begin with? BUT THEN (dun-dun-dun) some dude calling himself Bon shows up to really cut a bitch, waves away both Yuan Ye and Momo to the sidelines, describes himself as “a boom” and proceeds to give a performance that imo is kind of mushy and all over the place. Lay Zhang looks a little taken aback as Bon sort of grinds up on him but can’t even really commit to that, just before Lin Zi Jie shows up. Lay Zhang makes Zi Jie change his coat - thank god, because you can’t see half of what he’s doing and he actually seems like the most towel-worthy performance out of this whole cluster of flail – and asks for a freestyle battle, which turns out to not be that great on Bon’s or Zi Jie’s parts, actually. I feel like the dance vocabulary here is kind of limited, and we’re left with a bunch of hip-shaking, grinding, and supposedly seductive looks, which is NOT going to cut it in the battles we’ve seen already. Towels to Momo and Zi Jie, rather than putting them in reserve and waiting to see who else shows up, which I think is probably a mistake, but OK, I’m not a pop idol with the clout to star on this show, so. (I know what I like to watch, tho’, and none of that was it.) A promise to Yuan Ye that she gets a Battle Towel. Time for Towel Battle 3 (See Footnote 3).

Team Wallace Chung: So, first off, there’s George, who dances before he’ll introduce himself, and I guess I have to respect a guy who’s going to let his performance be his introduction. And then we get a series of OK that’s fine but not really great poppers, and Wallace, unlike Lay, is handing out towels like candy. OK, my man. If that’s really what you want to do, I guess, but it doesn’t seem like the greatest idea to me. You’re also really fucking with the morale of the dancers who haven’t performed yet, who are gradually realizing that you’re going to run out of towels before you even get to them. Hilariously (for me, if not the contestants), I paused at this point to go refresh my bourbon and managed to freeze on a random contestant, identified as Wei Ming - who I don’t know if we’ll ever get to see actually perform, but he deserves the bolded name for this, alone – looking baffled and concerned, with the English subtitle on his comment reading “Sir, what are you thinking?” I suspect he is not using “Sir” in the sense that I use it when my cat (or Zhang Zhehan) has done something appallingly adorable, but rather when the cat has knocked yet another gd pen off my desk while I’m trying to take notes, just to be a bastard for attention. (OTOH, I guess if you weren’t one of the dancers bold enough to swarm up there in the first couple of hours, you take what you get. Fortuna fortes adiuvat.) We finally get to Lin Meng, whose reputation precedes him, but seriously, if Wallace is just handing out towels to every popper, what does it even mean? Wallace – Wallace – proceeds to basically call Lin Meng an old man before making him bargain for a towel, which is a shame, because Lin Meng deserves to get not only this towel but the four towels you just gave away to some guys who should still be holding Lin Meng’s jacket, Wallace. I mean, seriously, this guy’s technique is fantastic. Even if he does fumble his jacket lapel that one time. Aaaand, Towel Battle 1 (see Footnote 1). Post battle, we get A.K. Dong, who’s got some excellent musicality and a face that apparently resembles a variety show star (Hank Chen?). I mean, I guess it gets him noticed, but it sucks that it seems to overshadow his dancing, because he’s really good. Then we notice our towels are running low, and everybody is just going to have to battle it out. Wallace promises the Battle Towel to some dude who we don’t see perform and don’t get a name for, and with my prognisticatory skills, I’m going to say we won’t need to know his name, because this is the last we’ll see of him. Time for Towel Battle 3 (See Footnote 3).

Team Wang Yibo: First up, we get Bing, whose reputation precedes him, prompting other teams to look around and wonder what all the commotion is about. Bing has a motorbike moment with Yibo, before giving a performance that starts off the tiniest bit mushy before he puts some fantastic technique on display. Yibo pulls out his Perpetual Student schtick and asks for some freestyle with some motorbike elements, which at first makes me suspect you might be fucking with this guy just a little bit, Yibo, but Bing is both game and versatile, and he eventually gets his towel, along with a wish from Yibo to ride together sometime, and oh. (As we say, in A Very Significant Tone, on AO3.) All of that was flirting. OK. On the heels of Yibo giving me yet another clue as to his taste in men, we roll into a seriously uncomfortable segment that stomps all over my embarrassment squick because they’ve cut together several women to look desperate and starstruck and comical and dumb, while Yibo looks increasingly uncomfortable, and I am super not down with this, show. I’ll admit that from what we can see, none of them are great dancers, but I suspect there were a lot of not-great male dancers, too, and I just. Ick. This was unnecessary, you haven’t done it to any of the other captains, and it frankly doesn’t make Yibo look that great, when you set his reactions here against the fact that not only have we not seen approval from him for any female contestants so far, but this segment is the only interaction we’ve seen from him with any female contestants so far. Hard on the heels of this segment, we get Chick, who is very good when he wants to be but also super-extra and annoying, and who fucks around more than he really dances, but the audience seems charmed with him, and Yibo doesn’t give him any of the smackdown he deserves, which doesn’t improve my impression of the previous segment, given the varied ways Yibo iced out some of the women. Meanwhile, Jackson Wang strolls over, and Yibo acts super weird about it, for a guy who was the first one to wander into someone else’s territory, which was – oh, yeah, I remember, Jackson’s – to watch his dancers, and Jackson says that he would give Chick a towel before heading back to his own street, and then Yibo does, even though he fucks with him a little bit first, and then there’s a bit of footage cut in of Yibo making dumbass excuses for this guy, so. I’m not entirely feeling you right now, Yibo. Also, all of this is certainly doing nothing to disabuse me of the notion that you’re about 1000000x more comfortable in homosocial situations, for whatever reason. Anyway, we then get a montage of Yibo handing out some towels to various dancers (including a woman, finally, although she’s intercut with some other people and doesn’t actually get a full segment of her own), and then we get Tao and Cici, who are both good, but Yibo now discovers that he only has three towels and there are two people standing in front of him, so he gives a towel to Tao and promises one to Cici after the next towel battle, which, yeah, Tao is probably better, but this is a hell of time to decide to be circumspect with your towels, Yibo, when you can leave a woman sitting on the sidelines but send her husband through to the next round. :hands: Anyway, it’s time for Towel Battle 2 (See Footnote 2), and I do have to give Yibo props, again, for his teambuilding, because he takes a minute to say, hey, there aren’t a lot of towels left, and there are quite a few of you, so what we’re going to do is all go over there together, and get another towel, as a team. Post-battle, Yibo is still concerned about his lack of towels, and everyone left is going to have to battle it out, although, frankly, the way Yibo’s been going on about how much he likes battles, I sort of think he might secretly be a tiny bit excited about this. He ends up putting person after person into reserve, waiting to see everyone, probably, and then Meng Di shows up, and she’s already got the rest of the group behind her. They know her, they know she has cochlear implants, they respond immediately when she shushes them so she can hear Yibo and the music, they call for the DJ to turn up the music for her, they clap together to emphasize the beat. She’s smart enough to keep six feet between her and Yibo while she dances, so that she doesn’t spook him like the fragile and shy homosocial forest creature he apparently is. She immediately gets her cha cha on when her battle partner holds out his hand to lead her out for her turn. Good technique, even though there are a few bobbles. None of these four performances in the final battle are the best we’ve seen so far, but they’re solid. Yibo is clearly torn about what to do with his one towel, although the audience starts getting kind of insistent that he needs a waacker, and a female waacker at that, and he ends up making Bullet and Meng Di battle again. She’s performing for the audience at this point – I mean, she’s not even pretending about it, she spends most of this round facing them, with her back to Yibo - and she’s also versatile, genre-wise, so I think we can all see where this is going. I think he really wanted to give that towel to Bullet, who definitely is very good, but he knew that he’s painted himself into a corner where he ought to give it to Meng Di, so that he’s got some genre-versatility on the team, if nothing else. Towel to Meng Di, and a promise to Bullet to win another Battle Towel for him. Time for Towel Battle 3 (See Footnote 3).

Team Jackson Wang: First up is Bai, who apparently is a favorite from season one, but I haven’t seen season one – or season two - so I don’t have any history on any of these people. Bai is doing a bit, here, but he’s also generally got some good technique, so OK. Why are they blurring out his left wrist, though? Yang Yu Ting is really good, some more good technique, good musicality. And then we’re already on to Towel Battle 2 (See Footnote 2). Post-battle, we get Shen Kai Xiang, who apparently looks A LOT like Jack Ma, which seems to be little bit like if some Bill Gates-lookin’ mf’r showed up to audition for SYTYCD. Lyrical; good technique; much like Bai, appears to be doing a bit. And, then, as with all the captains, the dearth of towels sets in, and Jackson is going to put everyone in the gladiator ring and make them battle it out. Maybe we can win another Battle Towel. Time for Towel Battle 3 (See Footnote 3).

***

Footnote 1, AKA Towel Battle 1, Team Lay Zhang vs. Team Wallace Chung, 3v3: Team Lay Zhang is San Jin, who they throw up some B-roll on, since the show has spent no time on him so far although he seems to be in cahoots with Xiao Bao (see Ep 1 recap); Gongsun Wu Ming, who’s spoiling for a battle after no one would take him up on it during his initial performance; and Teng Zai, because I mean, come on. Team Wallace Chung is Lin Meng, which should be interesting, since he and Teng Zai are apparently from the same crew, George, and Qin Yu, who we not only haven’t seen before this, that I can remember, but don’t even get B-roll on while Wallace is talking strategy, unlike the other two. Qin Yu, this does not bode well for your future on the show, if they’re not even bothering to give you B-roll, let alone an edit. Both captains are very weird about introducing their dancers, like these guys are some big surprise and aren’t going to dance in front of everybody in a minute and half, anyway. Possibly this is some kind of attempt at a dominance display? I don’t know. It’s won by the host, anyway, who eventually enforces his will and gets some introductions out of the captains. Anyway, Gongsun is up first for Team Lay Zhang, and this dude is just fun to watch, with great musicality and flow, and Wallace’s face while watching him is a picture, let me tell you. He’s up on Qin Yu almost immediately, possibly sensing the weakest link of Team Wallace? Team Wallace counters with George, who’s not having any of that, and gets the first point for his team. Second round, Teng Zai is once again impeccable, so even though someone has lit a fire under George, who spends half his time upside down, he nevertheless loses the point to Teng Zai. Round three, Teng Zai and Lin Meng face off, and they’ve both got great technique, although I feel like Lin Meng has a slight edge there, but I also think Teng Zai did a better job of showcasing strength and control, so I’m not surprised when the judges go for another round, in which Teng Zai is still super-fun to watch and definitely on his game, but Lin Meng steps up with some incredible precision, so I’m a little surprised when the judges give it (unanimously) to Teng Zai and Team Lay Zhang. One more round, and Teng Zai … is maybe wearing down a little bit, coasting on this one, and oh, hey, we’re finally going to get to see Qin Yu, who has some nice fluidity but maybe doesn’t really match up to Teng Zai in the charisma department, which may be why we haven’t seen him before this, and also why he loses the round. Round, battle, and two towels to Team Lay Zhang, and we still haven’t seen more than 15 seconds of B-roll of San Jin. But wait! There’s still a moment to be had, in which Teng Zai suggests donating one of their towels to Team Wallace, namechecks love and peace as a vital part of street dance, and quite possibly cements his place in my – and everyone else’s - heart. Both sides go home with a towel.

Footnote 2, AKA Towel Battle 2, Team Wang Yibo vs. Team Jackson Wang, 3v3 captain-led battle: Oh, they get to choose a song for each other. This should be interesting. I feel like there’s some shit-talking going on here, although I’m not really equipped to catch it and am at the mercy of the subtitles. Does Jackson really ask Yibo, “You WERE a dancer when you were young?” because lol. And Yibo is all, “Eh, kind of?” I do love how neither of them can hold still for songs two and three. So, Team Yibo is also Bing and Tao, while Team Jackson is also Bai and Ting. The thing that strikes me immediately during the minute or so that they get to plan and quickly choreograph is that Team Yibo has everyone there – there’s no point during this planning stage that the entire crew isn’t involved. They’re all part of this. Meanwhile, Team Jackson is just the three of them, separate from everybody, working out their choreography. The whole-team approach IMMEDIATELY pays off, when Team Yibo slams out of the gate with an energy and power and fullness to their performance that Yibo will later comment is fueled by the atmosphere that the dancers at the back create, and he’s right, it’s just like a wave of pressure pushing them forward, not even getting into the fact that the three people actually in the battle are fucking good. Team Jackson is also good, but they don’t feel like a team, the crew in the back doesn’t seem to have it together, and the loss of that – it has an impact. No surprise that Round 1 goes to Team Yibo and their Attitude, which is like an entire fourth dancer on its own. Round two coming up, and the entire Team Yibo is still involved in the planning stages, Yibo’s flannel has come off and we’re down to T-shirt sleeves, and Tao is surprising me not only with his moves – I honestly didn’t expect him to come as hard as he does, given he and Cici were more lyrical in their initial performance – but in his killer instinct, because he’s the one who suggests getting up in Jackson’s face, lit. and fig., by yoinking one of his signature moves. Meanwhile, Yibo is playing gay chicken, and it is just as great an idea as it sounds like (and this is that performance that a clip of it was making the rounds a few months ago); meanwhile Jackson is going high (?) concept, and that is just as bad an idea as it sounds like, although he does attempt some charming self-deprecation when it’s all over (also, omg, one of the contestant reactions later is that he’s “short of brain trust.” I’m not actually sure what the most eloquent way to translate that comment would have been, but it certainly gets an idea across.) Chick actually earns his pay in one of the best moments of the battle that – as much as I hate to encourage it – actually does profit off his general air of douchery, Team Jackson continues to lack the kind of cohesive team feel that Team Yibo is bringing – and second round, battle, and towel to Team Yibo. THIS is the advantage of team-building from the very first minute. Also, fuck, Yibo and the dancers he’s collected are good. Technically, yes, but also, the auditions are getting kind of interminable, but after this battle, I’m excited again, and that kind of audience reaction is a good measure of whether your dancing is successful. (Towel goes to Cici, btw, which, yeah, Tao did fucking earn that for her, so I’m glad you came through on your promise to her, Yibo.)

Footnote 3, AKA Towel Battle 3, all four captains. Cypher. Four rounds. Everyone else’s face when the cypher is announced:  D:   Yibo’s face when the cypher is announced:  >:D  They each get to choose a style of music. Wallace chooses locking. Yibo and Jackson both choose hip-hop. Lay Zhang chooses krump. Yibo’s already moving before the music even starts, to whatever music lives inside his head. The music actually starts, and Yibo is in the center before anyone else gets the chance (probably before anyone else can get up their nerve …) My sound drops out right here, which, wtf, but I can still tell Yibo’s throwing down the gauntlet. He’s beatable, but not by anybody who’s going to coast. Also, goddam, he has legs for days. Lay Zhang is in next, with some good speed and power and crispness to his moves, although I’m having trouble taking that cap with the fake dreads seriously. It’s … actually super interfering with me getting on board with your vibe, my dude. Jackson’s up next, and he has somehow managed to bring my sound back, and he also lands, frankly, the best forward Salto we’ve seen from anyone so far this season, which I have to admit even though he is my inexplicable mortal enemy. Yibo and Wallace, ffs, ice him out in the follow-up, although he then does the same thing to Lay, so who tf knows what’s going on with the actual interpersonals between these guys and what’s for show, at this point. Wallace finally gets his turn and is super-game but horribly out-classed. Yibo gives him props anyway, which, good on you for respecting your elders and their efforts, I guess, baby, but let’s all admit that was an “E” for effort. Judges are frantically scribbling their points down as round 2/4 begins, and Yibo is the first one in the middle, again, and wtf gdi my sound really picks this point to drop out again? I feel like Youku may be fucking with me, at this point. ANYWAY, Yibo is finally, actually all in, and he’s got a fantastic Harlem shake, it’s like his joints are barely connected. I honestly could watch this boy dance all day, that’s how smooth he looks. Here’s the thing about Yibo, and it’s something the other captains haven’t yet achieved, or have only accomplished in slivers of time – he makes me want to dance, too. I watch him, and I want to be doing what he’s doing. You could say that he literally, not just figuratively or emotionally, moves me. And his ability to stoke that is something I really appreciate. Jackson Wang is up next and is pretty good, but I’m honestly more impressed with Lay Zhang, who manages to look almost like he’s being special-effected, that’s how staccato he gets at his best in this round. Wallace dances. The other captains are polite about it. More scribbling from the judges. Jackson’s the first one out there in round three, and he’s honestly looking the least tired of all of them. Stamina is maybe an issue, here. Even with Jackson, some of the finer control is gone. Y’all are maybe a little soft? How long has it been since any of you idols had to endure the workout of an entire concert? There’s a whole ‘nother round to go after this, so you better get your oxygen masks. Lay Zhang is still fairly crisp and pulls off a literal hat trick, although he’s doing a lot more upper body work that lets him stand in place than he is actually moving around. Jackson, with his baby boy enthusiasm and energy, is magnanimous enough to fill up some of Wallace’s time by “pulling” him into the center and then getting out there and dancing with him. I am old enough that I understand what Wallace is going through, but there’s just a noticeable difference in ability, here. Yibo is clearly waiting until last this time, to those of us paying scrupulous attention, although it’s nothing too obvious, and it does buy him enough time that he’s basically recovered by the time he gets back into the middle of the circle, although he’s a little less expansive than he’s been in the previous two rounds. So, strategic, then, too. Judges scribble as we move into the last round. No time for weakness, all of you. DID YOU HEAR ME, because most of you are looking, to be frank, just a little bit WEAK as you circle around and hang out on the edges and try to get your breath and energy back. I’m just sayin’. Lay takes the hit first, and he’s really trying, although he’s not as strong as he was back in the second round. I’m a little bit afraid he might fall over by the end of it. Yibo is sweating but pulls some random dude’s hat right off his head before … at least going all in, even if he doesn’t quite know what he’s doing, krump-wise. He ends by falling on the ground, in a credible WWX-passing-the-fuck-out imitation, which is probably a relief, by that point. Jackson probably has the most energy left, although he’s reduced to pulling off his shirt and posing by the end of his time. Wallace does some dancing. Look. I’m just going to leave it at that. Jackson is still being polite enough to encourage his elder. It’s maybe a little bit endearing. Final result is that Lay Zhang wins, which. OK. I would have placed him second, after Yibo, but I also seem to remember that he won the initial captains’ performance, back in Ep 1, so I guess I can’t be too surprised at this, based on trends. Show director was apparently so impressed, he’s gonna give up four extra towels, one to each captain, which means Lay gets two towels. So I guess towels go to Yuan Ye on Team Lay Zhang and Bullet on team Wang Yibo, if they keep their promises, although don’t know who Wallace and Jackson are planning on giving their extra towels to.

Next ep: Mystery Guest.

[soradragon]

Sugary Comfort

Art’s not mine I found it and credit goes to the wonderful owners of this master piece of a drawing!

First Mikey x reader! I am proud and content with this one!

Thank you my sweet new beta reader for helping me edit this fic I love u and your amazing! <3

Warnings: sensory overstimulation in the beginning, lots of fluff, one pun

Mikey x f! reader

Check out my main masterlist if you liked what you read and wanna read more!

If you want to be tagged in the upcoming fics don’t be afraid to ask me! ^^

Anyway, enjoy^^

~~~~

You gazed at the reflection of a girl. She looked utterly exhausted; bags under her eyes like she hasn't slept in ages. 

Her lips were tilted up in a sneer; it was evident that she was repressing the urge to scream. But instead of giving in to the voice begging her to do just that, she drove her foot through the water's surface. Not only disfiguring the reflection of the girl, but also dirtying the dress you nitpickingly chose to wear this day. At the time you felt beautiful wearing it. Proud that you chose the right clothes to fit with the dress, completing the look you wanted.

Now, you just didn't care.

You didn't feel pretty nor proud.

You choked out a sob, rubbing the back of your hand against your face harshly.

You wanted all the white noise to stop, wanted the crying to stop, wanted the searing headache to stop. Why couldn't time freeze? Then, maybe the chaos in your head would finally end.

You had tried everything you knew that normally should have worked. Out of all of the times for those methods not to work, why did it precisely choose now when it actually matters?

You followed all the steps. You even rehearsed the steps as you did them.

Step one: When you feel an episode coming, go to a quiet place with dull, even colours. 

You had almost dropped your project when you felt everything becoming overwhelming, muttering an explanation to your teacher before almost booking out of the school building, to the most calming place you could recall; the park.

Step two: Once you have found a quiet place, go sit down and use your headphones to block out all of the sounds.

The headphones did not work.

Your never-ending trains of thoughts took the place of the noise and multiplied it by two. 

Images that flashed before your eyes every time you closed them were too bright. You were unable to figure out the meanings behind the words your mind screamed at you. 

All of it only worsened the already painful headache.

After only a moment you tore the headphones from your head.

Step three: Try even your breathing, and count to ten to ground yourself.

This was the only step that worked. You managed to calm yourself and stop your ragged breathing but it took effort. It took two attempts of counting to ten before it succeeded.

This whole fiasco petered you out mentally and physically. You just wanted this unnecessary sensory to decrease and quiet down to at least a tolerable level. But alas, the world did not want to cooperate this time.

You sighed, casting your gaze to the heavens. 

The sky was beautiful this evening - painted in orange and pink - and you would have taken the time to admire it, had it been in a different situation.

After hearing a familiar yet obnoxious 'ping' coming from within your bag, you cursed under your breath. You snatched your bag from behind you crudely, zipping it open with a huff. As you turned it on, you flinched at the bright light of your screen.

One unread message from 'Mom.'

She was worried sick no doubt. You felt guilty for worrying her, and wanted to reassure her that yes, you were safe, but felt like trash and were in the middle of an episode that wouldn't stop. No matter how hard you tried, all the obnoxious and illogical sensory your brain's been picking up did not stop. Though, on the other hand, you just wanted to ignore the message and skip the whole situation of explaining everything altogether and just turn off the screen and put notifications on mute. You sent a quick 'k' to whatever she had messaged you and moved on to the mute button.

Your finger hovered above it when a notification popped up, causing you to hesitate.

One new message from 'The great Mikester dude!'

Without thinking, you pressed on the notification, staring with big eyes at the message he had sent you: Guess who and where dudette. :P

"Mikey." You gasped out, manoeuvring your head in all kinds of directions, eyes skimming all over the park, trying to find the one in question. You felt the tingling and buzzing feeling of hope and glee pool in your body, replacing the sadness and anger.

All problems were forgotten or pushed to the back of your mind.

The white noise died down suddenly when you heard a low thud and the slight rustling of leaves. 

There was no other explanation; they were here...You were sure of it. 

Only they could stop the chaos when everything else failed, though you didn't know how, nor the logic in it. 

You guessed it had something to do with their ninja nature or something. (Even though Donnie told you multiple times that it might have been because of the aura they carried with, them, being half turtle and all that jazz had its side effects on some humans, like how a pet could soothe its owner simply by being near them. You still blamed it on them being ninjas.)

With your mind settled down, you could think clearly again. 

You briefly acknowledged the fact that you most certainly were a dishevelled mess. Puffy eyes from crying, clothes covered in mud, and hair all over the place, considering that you've pulled and tangled your hair in frustration. Despite all of this, you didn't care.

You were too busy thinking of a plan to lure them - you guessed it was all of them, though it could be only Mikey - out of their hiding place.

You accidentally placed your hand on your phone, making it vibrate, and your hand shot back as if it had burned you. A few seconds after, a song piped up.  A lot of curses could be heard from the tree where the music came from, the leaves rustled like no tomorrow. Mikey fell out of said tree not long after, hitting the ground with an 'oof' followed by a groan. You stared at Mikey for a couple of seconds before doubling over in laughter as the realisation hit you:

You had accidentally called Mikey!

Well, it sure helped you find him!

You counted that as a win on your part. And it seemed that Mikey was on his own, for normally one of the brothers, cough Raph cough would have jumped out from their hiding place and scolded Mikey.

He rolled into a sitting position, giggling with you.

"Yo, dudette! Fancy seeing you here. Don't mind me dropping in," he said, peering at you with an expecting smile, seeming to wait for a reaction. 

It took you a hot second or two for you to catch on, eventually groaning at the pun and face-palming yourself for your delayed comprehension. He did jazz hands and everything.

The great ninja Michelangelo just punned...

You wanted to kick yourself, you completely forgot that April had warned you about Mikey using puns. She had messaged you not too long ago about how it was a "Big" (with capital B) mistake of Casey to teach Mikey "The Art of puns." For Mikey had become obsessed with them. - Throughout the whole exchange, Casey had managed to steal April’s phone a few times and messaged you some words. Three guesses which one was Casey’s input on the matter. - 

You had no clue what they meant with "mistake" throughout that whole exchange. 

You appreciated a good pun.

This was not a good pun. 

You could just imagine the brothers’ reactions to Mikey's newfound fixation: Raph screaming desperately for Mikey to shut up. Donnie being hella annoyed with something pressed against his (ears?) to drown Mikey out. Leo would definitely try to ignore him, probably without success, because you knew...oh, you knew Mikey would take every chance he got to make a pun.

Your heart went out for them. Needing to go through such torture was horrid, yet it was a funny sight to be completely honest. Not that you would ever tell them, heavens no.

You were not going to poke three bears with a stick - in this case, mutant turtles. You were not ready to die three separate times.

"Dude, that was so bad,” you said, making a face as if you had just been forced to smell Raph's feet. You still regret going through with that bet.

"Dude!"

Mikey frowned, throwing his hands in the air. You knew he wasn't really offended, just a bit pouty.

"It's the truth, dude," you retorted absentmindedly, casting your gaze from left to the right before it rested on your bag. Smiling slightly, you snatched it, hauling it over your back before turning back to Mikey who sat contently against the tree. 

"But," you emphasised the word by pointing your index finger in the air, "you can get better,” your grin widened as you spoke.

 “And I, Y/N, know how it's really done."

Mikey's pout vanished and a wide, child-like grin overtook his face. You had his full attention, as he observed you expectantly from his cross-legged position. 

The long uncut grass rippled towards and caressed Mikey, the blades of green curling slightly forward and creating an image of what looked like nature sheltering Mikey from the harsh reality outside of this garden of paradise. 

The green-filled branches of the tree hovered above him, leaves gliding down every now and again, covering Mikey in small dapples of shadow.

Dusk's hew engulfed the image before you in a soft purple radiance. Mikey's skin practically glowed, making him look like a forest fairy.

It was a captivating sight. 

You could mistake it for a painted fairy tale that had come to life. Whoever the painter was had made sure that each tiny detail captured the magic and beauty of the image before you.

A magic-filled world coexisting in the harsh one you stood in... what you wouldn't give to cast all worries aside and join that world.

You were so lost in the moment that you almost forgot to continue.

Shaking yourself free from the enchanting sight, you carried on, albeit flustered, "a-and I could, um, teach you a thing or two. If...If you want me to, that is."

Mikey almost jumped right in your face before the words had completely left your mouth. There were practically stars in his eyes! He actually looked really adorable.

"Really!? You would!? Y/N, you are the best!!"

Mikey engulfed you into a hug, his body nearly covering your entire body from the world.

You gave a chuckle as he kept his arms circled around you, letting you sit in his lap. You didn't mind at all, feeling cosy in his arms.

"Of course I would Mikester. It would be my pleasure!"

You raised your hands to Mikey's cheeks, giving them a couple of pats before you continued.

"That way, you have a reason to end patrol earlier so we can spend more time together," and it would give the others a break from the barrage of bad puns, but you didn't voice that out loud. 

Mikey seemed to agree. He didn't waste any time to establish when and where this 'class-session', as he called it, would be taking place. He wanted it to become, without a shadow of a doubt, a weekly thing, like movie night at the turtles’ place with everyone.

Mentioning movie night brought up some nasty memories of last time -the movie night itself wasn’t bad, just one of your episodes got out of hand -  and Mikey changed the subject promptly after seeing you wince slightly. 

He told you about all kinds of new skateboard tricks he mastered and invented.

After a little while - when everything had been said about skateboarding - Mikey started to eagerly talk about random topics, bringing up stuff like how his training went this morning or what he encountered on patrol. Just little things to draw more time spending in this position. You kept in mind that this peaceful moment couldn't last forever, for both of you would have to separate sooner rather than later. 

You needed to go home to your no doubt worried sick parents, before they would start search parties. And Mikey...had to wait till the next time you two could hang out. (Which wasn't as often as both of you desired)

You listened to his voice silently, only humming a reply whenever Mikey asked for your opinion, snuggling deeper into his embrace as you lost track of time. Drowsiness tugged at your consciousness, beckoning you to close your eyes and let sleep take over. The way Mikey held you close to him made you feel loved and safe, with you resting your head against his chest to hear his heartbeat. He rubbed soothing circles on your left shoulder with one hand, making it impossible to resist the urge to let sleep take you away to dreamland. 

You vaguely heard Mikey's voice murmur in your ear, "Sweet dreams, sugar muffin..." You felt soft lips brush against your forehead before sleep took you over.

*(*)(*)*

Michelangelo stayed seated for a little while longer, looking at your sleeping form with loving eyes. If the world would have let him, he would have stayed like this forever. Alas, the moment was broken when your mobile pinged inside your bag, vibrating like crazy.

Mikey panicked. Jumping to his feet (surprisingly without stirring you) without thinking. He opened your bag in such haste he had almost dropped you trying to grab the vibrating phone before it would wake you.

He sighed in relief when the phone stopped its obnoxious buzzing after he managed to keep you from falling. He shifted you gently onto one arm to hold you delicately, yet tightly to his chest, as if he was protecting you from the world around you.

Once he made sure you were nestled comfortably in his hold,  he glanced towards the device lying in his palm. Mikey held it at an arm's length.

One question drifted inside his mind: Who in their right mind would call you this late in the evening?

It was a question where he could get an answer, but Mikey didn't want to pry into your private life without your permission.

But the curiosity gnawed at him like he would do with pizza.

He shook his head and chastised himself for goggling the device longingly. "No, bad Mikey...Be the better man, you can do this," he muttered, moving to put the phone in your bag until your phone buzzed again, displaying the number of notifications on the lit-up screen.

It made him halt in his tracks. 

Mikey knew you were having a bad day today. After all, he saw you crying by the pond in the centre of the park. It was a mere coincidence, patrolling around the park at the time. He had seen you crying and decided right then and there that he would cheer you up. But he had no idea you had that kind of bad day. 

There were seven unread messages and three missed calls from your mother. All of them showed how worried she was about you, asking where you were and if you had one of your sensory overstimulation episodes.

Without really thinking about it, he typed a reply to your mother: Batteries died, was with a friend. Coming home through the fire escape forgot keys.

It wasn’t a  grammatically correct message, he knew. It was the best he could do with one hand and one thick tumb.

Mikey glanced towards you with gentle eyes and a soft smile after sending the message and put your phone back in your bag.

He moved you gently, holding you with both arms again and cradling you against his chest.

You, in turn, stirred and snuggled deeper into Mikey's chest, making his heart soar.

"Time to get you home, sugar muffins..." he whispered softly, brushing a couple of stray hairs out of your face.

Mikey moved swiftly yet precisely, ensuring you did not wake or feel uncomfortable during roof-top-hopping. You needed all the rest you could get; the bags under your eyes made him even more certain of the fact.

Your home came into Mikey's field of vision far too soon. Opening the window and laying you softly onto your bed felt too fast for his taste.

Mikey took extra care to tuck you in. He even attached a little note to your bag for you to find when you would wake up. 

He really wanted to stay longer, but the sound of your parents coming up the stairs told him it was time to go. He opened the door of your room slightly so your parents would know you were home. Michelangelo climbed through the window before your parents could see him.

He watched your parents turn on the light from a rooftop across your window. Your dad gave you an extra blanket before the two of them turned off the light and left your room.

Mikey stayed there on the rooftop for a little while longer before leaving, looking over his shoulder one last time and then he sprinted over the rooftops towards home.

*(*)(*)*

You found the note the next day. You smiled brightly at the words hastily scribbled on the pape. You texted Mikey a reply before you went to look out your window. Your eyes draw towards the morning sky, which was painted in a soft orange hue.  

You repeated the words inside your head, making you excited for the next time you would see your turtle in orange...

Yoo, dudette! Can't wait for the pun-session upcoming Friday! 

I'll pick you up at ten alright? It's a date! ;) <3

~~~~

Thank you for reading, and keep soaring high!^^

Forever taglist

@theincaprincess​ 

[freddieslater]

ALL OF THE WIP TITLES YOU POSTED LOOK. SO. GOOD. i'm going to limit myself to three - can i ask for three at once? is that chill? okay well i'm gonna ask anyway and you can choose one/two/all three! so here we go: "High School Musical: The Reunion: Glee Edition", "Prison World Trio", and "Shorpanga Wedding." <3 <3 <3

YOU'RE ALWAYS COMING IN HERE AND MAKING ME LOVE YOU. Of course you can ask for three, I'd have done the whole list just for you ♥️ zhhxhshz okay let's do this!! I'm gonna put a read more because it is Long

"High School Musical: The Reunion: Glee Edition"

It's occuring to me now just how misleading this title is even though it makes perfect sense to me 😭. So, this fic is actually a crossover between The Flash, Supergirl, and Glee! Basically, there's a reunion happening at McKinley and invites go out to both Barry and Kara as, in this universe, they were Sebastian and Marley (with a couple of tweaks). None of their friends are aware of their secret former lives as members of semi-successful high school glee clubs (Iris and Alex are the only ones because, well, they grew up with them)!

And to make it better: Barry and Kara didn't recognize each other either! So, you can imagine their great surprise when they both find out their high schools are hosting reunions on the same day. In the same town. In the same building. Drama ensues! They have some reunions with other ex glee club members, including one Music Meister (excluding one he-who-will-not-be-named for multiple reasons but one being that he was also in Supergirl and I'm not going out of my way to find a loophole in the plot that makes sense for him). Their friends find out! Songs are probably sung!

And here is your snippet:

He can't go. Barry decides it without even opening the email. Or the three Facebook messages, or the two voicemails, or the five texts. They're all from the same person, more or less. One of the messages is from Trent, and he feels a bit worse about ignoring that one than the rest, but he can't because the second he opens a single one of them, it's over.

The date for the reunion is in a week and he's managed perfectly to ignore it so far! If he just waits until the date passes, then he can reply to Trent and to Blaine with profuse apologizes, but he was busy, and he never got around to checking any of his emails or texts, but he really is so sorry to have missed it, maybe they can meet up just the three of them sometime soon? 

A deep sigh is pulled from between his ribs. He slumps back in his chair and closes his eyes, letting himself spin slowly.

"You should go," Iris insists. Barry opens his eyes and catches a glimpse of her across the room, leaning against his desk. Possibly accidentally touching evidence. Totally fine, not a problem at all. "Seriously, it's been ten years! I know that it's not Dalton and technically McKinley wasn't your school, but everyone you went to Dalton with will be there."

"That's the problem," Barry emphasizes, his hands dragging through his hair to grab the top of the chair. "I just... the thought of facing any of them now? After everything, after ten years?"

He just shakes his head, pressing his lips together. His stomach is rocking and he's aware that the spinning probably isn't helping, but he's also afraid that if he stops he might throw up. So he pushes himself with his foot and goes around again, only catching a blur of Iris' exasperated expression. 

"Things are different now!" she tries again. "You've seen Blaine and Trent! Look how much they've changed. Who's to say that it's not the same for everyone else? I mean, you're certainly not who you were when you went there -- you're not him anymore; Sebastian."

"Prison World Trio"

This is, unsurprisingly, a TVD fic. I decided, you know the only thing that could make Bonnie and Damon being trapped in the Prison World more interesting than it already is? If Enzo was there, too. So, essentially, he waits on the other side until Damon arrives because he's actually worried about him, but by the time Alaric has been sent through to the land of the living, the spell has been broken, leaving Damon and Enzo trapped along with Bonnie. Then bam! Prison World! Now, I don't have a clear idea of where I go from there, but I know that it involves domestic shenanigans, catching feelings + old feelings resurfacing with angst and arguments and Bonnie wanting to murder both of them! They will, of course, still meet Kai and that's a whole thing because it's Kai, but I still haven't decided an ending yet.

Stop! Snippet time!:

"Take him," Bonnie says to Damon. "Please. He's your murder buddy, not mine."

"Hold on, I still have a say in this," Enzo tries to protest. "And for the record, I am no one's murder buddy anymore. I wouldn't be here if I was, now would I?"

Damon groans, "Oh my god, let it go, we're stuck with each other now, alright? So, your little grudge isn't exactly going to do anyone any good, and if you haven't noticed, you're not exactly dead anymore, so would you shut up?"

"Oh, well I'm glad to know that my death is a mere grudge to you," Enzo quips back drily, throwing a hand up. "You sure you want me to come with you at all? By the sounds of it, you wouldn't even notice if I was gone, so how about you two go ahead and I'll just be on my merry way."

Unbelievable. Trust Enzo to kick up a tantrum at the most inconvenient of times. Damon looks to Bonnie to share in his exasperation, but she raises her eyebrows and presses her lips together in a clear display of not taking sides. Though her pointed silence and looking away feels a whole lot like tiptoeing onto a side. 

"Are you -- No!" Damon waves his hands. "How is splitting up going to help us? No, either you come with me, or you go with Bonnie. Your choice, but those are your only two options."

"I'm not exactly seeing how you're going to enforce that if I decide on neither," Enzo says with a shrug, and at this point, Damon's thinking he's just doing it to piss him off. Then again, that's usually his motivation. 

"I'll just..." Bonnie gives a vague motion behind ahead of her with an awkward smile and proceeds to try and edge away, "leave you two to it," 

"Wait," Enzo calls to her, staring at Damon, "I'm coming with you."

Damon stares back at him, arms spread. But Enzo just gives him one last look before walking away. Bonnie falters uncertainly and doesn't look too thrilled about this decision either but she just shrugs at Damon like she's sorry, then she goes after Enzo. Leaving Damon standing in the middle of the road on his own. 

Fantastic. Just the way he likes it.

"Shorpanga Wedding"

Title says it all, really, I think. We're at Cory and Topanga's wedding (this is Boy Meets World if that wasn't clear), and Shawn is obviously a mess because the two people he is in love with are getting married, but they don't know he's in love with them, and now his chance to say anything is about to be gone! I'm going to need to rewatch that episode before I can get back to this one because I can't remember a lot of what was said, but I know it's going to be extremely angsty with a happy ending!

Teeny tiny snippet:

Don’t go in. Shawn repeats the words over and over in his head, pacing the hall of the fanciest hotel he’s ever stepped foot in. But he came this far, didn’t he? He can’t let how he’s feeling get in the way of this. It’s Cory’s wedding. And… Topanga’s. His best friends. How can he not go in?

He stops pacing and looks down at the rings in the palm of his hand. If he goes in there, these rings will be on Cory’s and Topanga’s fingers for the rest of their lives. 

Groaning, he clenches his hand into a fist, feeling the rings dig into his palm. He starts pacing again until singing starts up around the corner. Oh god. What does singing mean at a wedding? That it’s over? 

But it can’t be, not without the rings, right? Or did they find replacements? Did they just assume that he would let them down, that he wouldn't show up, so they just went ahead without him?

There’s only one way to find out. 

Taking a deep breath, he turns the corner and walks through the hall. His heart leaps into his throat at the sight of the wedding taking place. Cory and Topanga at the altar together. Nausea sweeps over him, but he bites the inside of his cheek and ignores how disconnected his head feels from the rest of his body as he marches up the aisle towards them. He glances at the stage and notices Mrs Matthews on it, the source of the singing. Figures. 

Every step forward feels heavier than the last, and like he’s a roadrunner heading straight for the exact spot where the anvil is hanging, waiting to drop and crush him. Except seeing Cory and Topanga standing there, ready to get married, has already done that. 

This took me so long to answer but it has been so fun!! Thank you for asking for three at once, you're amazing and wonderful!

[tviseverything]

So I’m rewatching Glee during this quarantine...

AND THERE HAS BEEN ONE THING IVE ALWAYS HATED ABOUT THIS GODDAMNED SHOW AND IT’S THE LACK OF CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

Let me explain.... the storylines in the show had the potential to set up the character development for each character and they missed it! And the people that had the ABSOLUTE MOST POTENTIAL FOR AWESOME CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT WERE QUINN, RACHEL, SANTANA, AND BRITTANY AND HERE’S WHY... Quinn edition because this is way too long for the other characters... I promise i’ll follow this up with the other ones. (BTW, this took me so long to do because life kept getting in the way but I finally finished it! Please give it a read and let me know if you agree or disagree. I am always open to discussion!! And swipe down all the way to be blessed with a couple of Quinn Fabray gifs!!)

Quinn is the first because let’s think about it for a sec. In the beginning of the series, Quinn was that typical queen bee, mean girl type who was on the cheerleading squad and ruthlessly bullied anyone who got in her way including Rachel. But then life throws her a curveball and she ends up getting pregnant. 

This storyline set Quinn up to learn some very valuable lessons and some harsh truths. For example, Quinn gets kicked off the cheerleading squad after the news comes out that she’s pregnant and she’s kicked out of her home and disowned.

The first season was doing great handling her character development, for example, in 1x15, when the time came for yearbook pictures, Quinn was desperately trying to get back on the squad for the picture but in the end she thanks Sue for making her realize that she’d rather be part of a team that is proud to have her (Glee Club) instead of a team where she only appears to belong (Cheerios). (let me add that this scene also could have set up a slowburn for Faberry because in that same episode, Rachel was describing how school pictures are everything to her and that if she ever became famous, she would want her face in the year book picture and be prepared. Keep this in mind because later on Quinn blackmails Sue into giving up one of the Cheerio’s six pages and giving it to the Glee club free of charge. Quinn didn’t have to do this. Her entire goal was to get back on the Cheerios and not fight for the glee club photo. In fact, in the episode, she didn’t even want to be in it. So why did she do it? For Rachel, perhaps? any way this is about Quinn not faberry so lets get back to it)

Another example from before is she becomes friends with Mercedes. In episode 1x16, Mercedes is forced to starve herself for the Cheerios and in doing so, her blood pressure dropped which caused her to faint. Quinn recognized what Mercedes was doing and sympathized with her. She then helped Mercedes realize that she doesn’t need to be skinny to be beautiful and she is perfect the way she is and she sings a song about it as well while Quinn stands next to her, furthering her message. This episode created a beautiful friendship between Quinn and Mercedes that in later episodes, Mercedes offers her home to Quinn after connecting with her about being bullied and dealing with it. Let’s also add in the fact that this was before the Lucy Caboosy storyline, which in my opinion ruined her character even more but I’m not gonna get into that until later. In that season, Mercedes and Quinn were set up to be a great duo for season 2 but... Where the hell did all of that go???? Did they just completely forget that Quinn lived with Mercedes for a short while and that they bonded over similar experiences??? What the hell??? I would also like to add onto here that a friendship between Quinn and Kurt was a HUGE miss! They would have been an amazing duo!! Along with Mercedes of course. I will talk about this type of stuff in separate post!

ANOTHER example was when in episode 1x13, the truth about the baby’s father comes out which was Rachel’s fault. After drama ensues, Rachel goes to apologize and readies herself for a punch from Quinn, but in a surprising turn of events...Quinn forgives her. The old Quinn probably would thrown multiple slushies in Rachel’s face, call her names and maybe ruin her life. But this Quinn quickly forgave her and told Rachel that she did something that she wasn’t brave enough to do, tell the truth! She forgave Rachel even though she clearly knew that Rachel only told Finn to break them up so she could have him all to herself. This was a very pivotal moment in the series that would show how Quinn emotionally matured after what happened to her. (this scene also would have set up faberry perfectly as well but oh well) 

Anyway, the whole point of this post is about the lack of character development in the series and while everything I just said argues against it...the character development from season one didn’t last very long especially when we start right off the bat in season 2, Quinn rejoins the Cheerios and tries to restore herself to her former glory. I understand why she would want that again but this alone completely destroyed her character development because after learning all the things she had learned while pregnant, she shouldn’t have wanted to go back to that old life again but she did. Add that onto the fact that in order to restore herself to her former glory, she also snitches on Santana about her “summer surgery” Pregnant Quinn wouldn’t have even thought to rat out her own friends but new and improved Quinn did and I HATED IT because of that knowledge. This could have been handled better by probably having Quinn join the cheerios again but have her use her power for good such as, protecting all of glee club from future slushies, made it so the jocks wouldn’t have so much power with bullying, or even set an example for cheerios for how they should act in the school. But instead they pull this shit. 

I’m not finished!! Season 2 and beyond was a DISASTER for Quinn. The writers literally erased all of that character development just so they could create more drama. An example of this is the cheating storyline. Quinn had started dating Sam in the beginning of Season 2 and everything is going well for them until *sigh* Finn came along and convinced her to cheat on Sam with him. THIS IS LITERALLY ONE OF THE WORST STORYLINES ON GLEE. Finn knows what it was like to be cheated on (I know he cheated on Quinn in the first episode with Rachel but we’re not talking about that right now) Finn knows the pain of finding out that you’ve been lied to and betrayed so the fact he even had the AUDACITY to lure Quinn into cheating AGAIN infuriates me deep inside. You would think that after what happened when she cheated the first time, she would learn her lesson...BUT SHE DIDN’T. WTF. THIS RUINED HER CHARACTER EVEN MORE!!!!!! PLUS I HATE ALL THE UNNECESSARY DRAMA THAT STORYLINE CREATED, INCLUDING THE FEUD BETWEEN RACHEL AND QUINN. 

I would also like to talk about the Lucy Caboosey storyline because it is a crucial fact to know about Quinn. The Lucy Caboosey storyline was introduced at the WORST POSSIBLE TIME. I am seriously convinced that Ryan Murphy only wrote that in to create “depth” to Quinn’s character. If they were going to do that storyline at all, then they should have introduced it in the first season or should have created a better plot to accomodate to the storyline. This storyline also didn’t add anything to the Prom Queen storyline. I honestly wish that the writer’s have taken Quinn’s character development from season 1 into account because if they had, then I believe that the Lucy Caboosey storyline and the Prom Queen storyline wouldn’t have existed and these storylines only exist as Ryan Murphys attempt to reverse all of the depth that Dianna Agron gave to the character and make her a basic, self-centered blonde cheerleader and when that didn’t work out... the Lucy Caboosey storyline was there to give Quinn “depth” 

I would also like to talk Quinn’s obsession with winning Prom Queen and taking Finn to the prom (Finn was an asshat in this episode by the way but let’s not focus on him). I really wished that the writers took Quinn’s character development into account because if they had, then Quinn wouldn’t have been reverted back into the 2 dimensional, blonde, cheerleader character like she was at the beginning of the series and she also wouldn’t have had a storyline involving Lucy Caboosey.  Her taking Finn to the prom was a complete bullshit storyline as well because we all know that relationship between Quinn and Finn was only there to drag the love triangle between them and rachel into the next season even though it was very clear that Quinn and Finn weren’t gonna get back together in the first season. 

Also at the end of that season, where nationals took place, there was a scene between Quinn and Brittany and Santana where Quinn breaks down, this should have been one of those pivotal character development moments where she makes a realization about herself and tries to live her truth, but no! She cuts her hair and all is well. 

Before we move on to season 3, I want to talk about the Celibacy Club and religion in regards to Quinn Fabray. As we all know, Quinn was the captain of the Cheerios and president of the Celibacy Club (even though that didn’t last long...whoops) so the theme of celibacy and religion go hand in hand for Quinn. I would have really like to see a storyline of Quinn losing faith in her religion, whether that may be because God decided to make Quinn pregnant and in result get disowned by her family or (in my perfect world) Quinn starts to realize that she might like girls and because of how her family is, she struggles with it. That would have been an interesting storyline to see and it would have tackled the topic of religion as well! I would have liked to see this as an ongoing theme for Quinn throughout the show but of course Ryan Murphy had to be a shitty writer. 

This post became wayyyy to long for my attention span so I am going to break this down into parts. Also I am so sorry that this post is all over the place but I had to write it all down before I lost the train of thought so some explanations might not be as in depth as others and it might not be in order so again I apologize. So I will talk about Quinn in season 3 and the rest of the seasons when she shows up from time to time. 

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 256: Fucking Superb You Funky Little Hero Eggs

Previously on BnHA: Aizawa and Mic’s frankensteined best friend Shirakumo, better known to us as Kurogiri, had his memories briefly restored through the Power of Friendship, and was all “YO Y’ALLS BETTER GO CHECK OUT THOSE HOSPITALS” before his head started steaming like a tea kettle and he randomly fell asleep. Aizawa and Mic were all “!!” and Aizawa was all “(ಡ ﹏ ಡ)” and Mic was all “Aizawa are you crying” and Aizawa was like “NO!!!” and then they left the prison and Nao called HPSC Lady who called Hawks and was all “eck-chay ethay ospitals-hay” because Hawks, as you recall, is still a secret agent and all that. Anyway so Hawks was all “EUREKA!!” in his head which doesn’t really add up but hey, and then the chapter ended with Dr. Ujiko dancing in sadistic glee as he watched Tomura get all mad scienced. It was pretty freaky. I could use some wholesomeness right about now so let’s see if this chapter will deliver.

Today on BnHA: Class 1-A shows off the fresh skills they learned during their assorted internships, such as “determination”, “enhanced search techniques”, and “becoming a literal blob of acid.” The Wonder Trio is a particular highlight, and All Might is all “my little baby off to destroy people :’)” as he watches Deku shred a robot to pieces using Blackwhip. We then cut to Aizawa and Mic, who may or may not be planning some rogue vigilante style investigations of the whole Noumu thing, or maybe they’re just brooding, but either way they’re interrupted by Mirio and Tamaki who come running in to get them to stop Eri’s quirk from going haywire, which, yikes. The chapter then ends with All Might handing Deku a notebook full of DETAILED, CATALOGED INFO ABOUT THE PAST SUCCESSORS AND THE FUCKING SIXQUIRKS. We just have to wait two more weeks to find out what that’s all about. 2020’s got some fucking zip to it so far huh.

so it’s about a quarter past 7 right now and it’ll be a miracle if I can have this recap up by 10pm tonight. surprisingly the wait for this chapter didn’t really bother me, but this Sunday/Monday release schedule is really doing a number on my punctuality. but anyways we’ll figure it out eventually. if memory serves, there’s about a 90% chance that this week’s jump will also be a double issue, so that gives me another extra week to get my shit together lol

(ETA: so that wasn’t too far off actually! I think a three-hour turnaround time isn’t bad for 3000 words lol. and actually it was more like two hours of reading/blogging and one hour of editing/photo cropping. anyway so in all likelihood either Sunday or Monday night releases will become the norm, depending entirely on how busy that particular Sunday is. not quite the same as getting the chapter on Friday and having the whole weekend to ruminate over it but we will adjust!)

anyway, so I’m somehow remarkably unspoiled for this chapter despite it having been out for nearly a week and a half at this point. so that’s something! let’s see what we’ve got here

yaaaay my babies

All Might was offering free cotton candy, yes? I didn’t expect we’d cut right back to this lol, but you sure won’t see me complaining. I want to see what everyone else learned during their internships, and also what with the break and the last couple chapters being Tartarus-focused, it’s been about a month since I last saw my little hero eggs, and of course I missed them I’m only human

omg

did the original dialogue really reference Skynet. Horikoshi truly gives no fucks about copyright. like one or two episodes ago the anime made some copyrighted reference which you could clearly hear in the Japanese but which the English subs hilariously glossed right over. I’m trying to remember what it was now. damn. anyways we millennials can never resist a good pop culture reference, facts

OH MY GOD AOYAMA

THEY’RE EATING THE COTTON CANDY

TOKOYAMI EATING COTTON CANDY IS THE GREATEST THING TO HAPPEN IN 2020 THUS FAR. LET ME TELL YOU, WE REALLY NEEDED THIS

SHOUTO EATING COTTON CANDY IS THE SECOND BEST THING TO HAPPEN IN 2020. IT WAS VERY CLOSE

I STALLED FOR TIME SO MUCH AND I STILL DON’T KNOW WTF TO SAY ABOUT AOYAMA’S NEW ATTACK OH MY GOD. JUST. I DON’T KNOW YOU GUYS. THIS BOY IS REALLY OUT HERE SLICING ROBOTS IN HALF WITH HIS BRAND NEW LASER PENIS. THE AMOUNT OF FUCKS THAT HORIKOSHI GIVES IS IN THE NEGATIVES I DON’T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO SAY

OH ARE YOU STILL GOING

is... what’s... ldkfj okay nothing to see here guys just the naked invisible chick getting all friendly with Aoyama’s beam boner. just manhandling his sparkle shaft. there are children reading this manga. I mean, they’re already mentally scarred from all the dead dogs and child quirk wine and whatnot, but still at what point do we put our goddamn foot down

anyway so somehow she’s redirecting his laser beam?? I guess with her light refracting quirk skills?? great job Hagakure with your help Aoyama can finally shoot lasers at stuff that’s behind him. you’ve mastered the power of making it so that he doesn’t have to turn around great job truly an internship well spent

“now I can yank light and warp it!” you go girl now you can whip that thing around like it’s a fucking fire hose I guess

YOOOOO MINA!!

THIS GIRL LITERALLY COATED HERSELF IN ACID AND DID A FUCKING BARREL ROLL AHHHHHHHHH. NOW THAT’S MORE LIKE IT, NO OFFENSE TO CAPTAIN DISCO DONG AND COMMODORE “I CAN DO EVERYTHING A MIRROR CAN DO” BUT THERE ARE UPGRADES AND THERE ARE UPGRADES, AND LET’S FACE IT, THIS IS THE REAL DEAL HERE

AHAHAHA I LOVE ITTTTT

is it too late for Mina to actually change her name to Acidman. what is she calling herself now again?? Pinky?? come on Mina strike some fear into the hearts of your enemies

and now All Might and the others are applauding. I don’t see Shouto’s cotton candy anymore. boy fucking inhaled that shit

oh wow, they interned under Yoroi Musha? if memory serves me, and I’m honestly not going to bother to check right now, isn’t that the samurai dude who somehow beat Ryuukyuu in the billboard charts? not that I’m still salty about that, oh wait I absolutely am but anyways

OH MY

IS THAT SOME KIRIMINA CONTENT UP IN MY PANELS. hot damn that is some cute fucking shit. Mina better not get any undue hate for this. everyone please remain calm this cute interaction does not threaten your ship in any way (unless you want it to in which case have at!!) and we can all have fun if we just play nice you guys

lmao All Might

“WE’RE ALREADY ON PAGE FOUR AND THERE ARE TWENTY OF YOU, WE DON’T HAVE ALL FUCKING DAY CHILDREN”

so Satou and Ojiro learned how to punch harder and stuff. again, it’s fine, we can’t all be Acid Men. but meanwhile they interned with some lion guy named Shishido whom I INSTANTLY LOVE so that’s badass. only one character away from Shishida though, but that’s Horikoshi for you

OH MY GOD

BLAH BLAH YES ENHANCED SEARCH TECHNIQUES ZZZZZ BUT FUCKING LOOK THOUGH AT THE FLASHBACK OF HIM YEETING THEM, YESSSSSS. THE OLD WAYS HAVE NOT YET BEEN FORGOTTEN, GANG ORCA YOU ARE THE HERO WE DESERVE

meanwhile Sero, Kami, and Mineta learned how to literally kill people with their quirks flkdjsflk

(ETA: btw I really love that Mt. Lady’s internship emphasized teamwork. now there’s someone who’s come a really long way her own self. anyway I stan and she had better join the other two in the the top 10 real soon. come on BnHA society get with it.)

damn Mt. Lady what the fuck. “if you guys work together you can suffocate and electrocute villains to death with ease!” the government’s plan really is working huh; these children have become bloodthirsty, ruthless killers in a shockingly short period of time

anyways so Iida as we all recall learned how to be more footloose and fancy free, and meanwhile Kouda learned “smooth communication” from Wash, the literal washing machine man whom I also don’t still harbor a grudge against for inexplicably beating my dragon queen in the hero polls, and once again that is a lie because fuck you Wash! you’re adorable but fuck you!!

man this is taking forever why are there so many kids in this class. for anyone wondering why Horikoshi doesn’t focus on class 1-A as a whole more often and leaves them as supporting characters, this right here is why. I love these children to death but we would still be stuck in the basement arc. oh my god I just shuddered

Tokoyami mastered “improvement on all fronts” because I guess he kind of peaked at flying when it came to new moves huh. that’s fine for now

and Kiri mastered “making baddies lose the will to fight real quick” which sounds like some bullshit you’d write while desperately trying to pad your hero resume, except that it’s accompanied by this convincing panel of him chomping a steel bar in two or some shit which YIKES

can confirm, if some demonic rock man came trotting up to me and snapped off some railing from some stairs and fucking snapped it like a twig with his GIANT FOSSILIZED DINOSAUR TEETH, I’d lose my will to fight pretty quickly too

and Ochako and Tsuyu learned “determination” smdh. Horikoshi did you fucking fall asleep towards the end of this segment or what

WHO IS MAJESTIC OMG

excuse me did she just create a bunch of fucking dynamites. is that what those are. is my girl encroaching on my young son’s turf. because if she is, ENCROACH, MOMO, ENCROACH! FEEL FREE TO FUCKING IMPINGE, EVEN!! god, and I know I was bitching just a moment ago about these “lessons” becoming increasingly vague and intangible and motivational poster-y, but I read Momo and “predicting and acting efficiently”, and my thoughts immediately ran to Nighteye and Mirio’s fighting styles, and I was like “YESSSSSSSSS” because, I mean. YES, though

meanwhile Kacchan has learned...

this fucking -- I swear -- YOU LEARNED WHAT YOUR FUCKING HERO NAME IS GOING TO BE YOU TROLLING PIECE OF SHIT. oh my god. Katsuki I swear to god I will take your internet privileges. NO SRIRACHA FOR A WEEK UNLESS YOU TELL ME WHAT IT IS

oh for fuck’s sakes

don’t mind him he learned boom with five b’s and three oo’s what did you all do this week. and somehow Todoroki learned how to be even more fabulous

so All Might’s looking on in pride and giving Endeavor some mental props, and waiting for Deku to go do his thing too

sdfkj he’s thinking about the day he gave Deku THE HAIR and that “[it] feels like ancient history now.” DOESN’T IT THOUGH?

OH MY FEELS

“you don’t look back at me anymore... and you don’t need to.” oh Aizawa’s dry eye has spread to me now huh. must be those January allergies. and that’s some nice bloop there kid. great jorb

someone tell All Might he’s not allowed to look on at Deku with this much fatherly love without giving me at least a week’s notice in advance

sigh. now you’ve done it you two I’m going to become a big cat blob of feels right here and it’s all on you. you did this

oh my god a whole big panel of reactions from the other kids and I’m ( ˊᵕˋ )

lol Kacchan can’t agree with anything even if it’s a compliment. and lmao, who the fuck was that who was all “TODOROKI FINALLY YOU’RE A FAST FUCKING HIMBO HUH!” like they really went and put that “finally” in there, like they were so fucking tired of Todoroki Shouto and his LANGUID FUCKING PACE all the fucking time, GOD, FINALLY SOME SPEED BOY WE WERE DYING OUT HERE

Mineta being happy for Deku also warms my heart, ngl. we’ve gone almost an entire chapter with Mineta not doing anything even remotely perverted, can it be, has Horikoshi finally chilled the fuck out. or did I just jinx it we shall see

also love how Deku is just reduced to an inkblot here and it still is him beyond any shadow of a doubt. and poor Sero, you are also being impinged on huh

lmao Mineta’s just socking Deku in the solar plexus out of comradery and Deku’s fucking vomiting on reflex and not even paying the slightest attention wtf

I love this panel there I said it

so he’s going over and thanking Ochako for “that time” and says he’s using Blackwhip a lot better now. I assume he’s referring to when he first unlocked it and went hog wild and she was all “smh” and went and hugged him to put an end to that nonsense

oh, right!!!!

I forgot about those!! looool Horikoshi’s 2020 resolution is to make everyone Spider-Man now huh. hey everyone guess what I LOVE THIS

oh my god this wholesomeness

I fucking can’t?? yo I’m seriously living for this? I don’t get why some people think Deku inhibits Ochako’s character growth tbh. or that her story is becoming all about him. if it is, then it’s in the same way that Bakugou’s is. Deku keeps inspiring her to be better, ain’t nothing wrong with that. yes she has the crush, and she’s honest with herself and in tune with her emotions enough to be aware of it and to acknowledge it, but she refuses to be distracted by it. I actually really like that, because it shows that romantic feelings can actually exist and not be the central focus of a character’s story or their development. and I think the fear is that it somehow will become the focus, but so far I haven’t seen that happening, so it seems unwarranted to me

anyway

shit’s cute

oh no Mineta’s doing something weird I fucking did jinx it I’m sorry guys. it’s a fucking fistbump dude relax

so All Might seems to be dismissing them now, and he’s saying something about how he reordered (?? rescheduled, maybe??) class so that Aizawa can watch later. that’s nice. he’ll need something to cheer him up, and if Acidman can’t do the trick I don’t know what can

and now we’re cutting back to the dorms!! dorm shenanigans yessssss

oh no shit wait

these are not playful dorm shenanigans these are depressed Miczawa shenanigans to bring me down. nnnn

but Aizawa fucking knows something is up now, shit. that’s right son your babies are in danger

KLJKLGLKSH

okay (1) HOW HOT IS AIZAWA THOUGH HOW DOES HE ALWAYS DO THIS

and (2) is “have a karaoke contest” code for “fuck shit up” or what. son of a bitch, having these two so personally invested in the Noumu arc now is such an unexpected and wonderful gift

MIRIO NO

(ETA: but you all know Aizawa was about to say “I’d go and fuck shit up” though.)

I LOVE YOU BOTH BUT THEY WERE HAVING A SEXY ANGSTING MOMENT, MIRIO CAN YOU NOT READ THE ROOM!! DO YOU NOT SEE THEM BEING ALL ANGSTY AND DARKLY CONTEMPLATIVE!! YOU TWO OF ALL PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW WHEN LOVERS ARE BONDING OVER THEIR ANGST WHICH ONLY THE TWO OF THEM UNDERSTAND! FUCKING GODDAMN

NO!!!!!

[SLAMS HANDS ON TABLE] HORIKOSHI I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU LAY ONE FINGER ON HER PRECIOUS HEAD

NOOOO MY SWEET BABY GIRL

oh my fuck that sweater is the cutest fucking thing and this girl has had no shortage of cute outfits let me tell you. BUT ANYWAY SHE’S SCARED AND CRYING NOOOO. holy shit her horn is fucking huge now I don’t feel comfortable with this at all, and Nejire is Best Mom for not giving a single fuck and holding and comforting her regardless of the risk, I love her so much

OH THANK GOD

PALPABLE RELIEF. boys I’m sorry it was wrong of me to yell, you did the right thing interrupting their sexy brooding

BREAK ROOM AHHHHH THE SCOOBY SQUAD LIVES AGAINNNN

it means you constantly amaze him!! you have so much potential he doesn’t even know what the limit might possibly be! don’t act like you don’t love it. or stop being so suspicious and trying to look for the hidden meaning and just accept the praise for what it is. you did good. now ask him if he’s heard any news about Best Jeanist :/

!!

that’s right, he was researching and making faces a while back, are we finally gonna find out what all that was about??

DSLFKAJSLDKFH

HE MADE A NOTEBOOK FOR HIM AHHHHHHHH HE KNOWS WHAT HE LIKES THIS IS AMAZING

DOES HIM GIVING HIM THE INFO IN NOTEBOOK FORM MEAN IT’S UP TO DEKU WHETHER OR NOT HE WANTS TO SHARE THIS INFO WITH KACCHAN. HMMM. OBVIOUSLY HE WILL, BUT THAT’S A REAL POWER MOVE THOUGH, DAMN

“PAST SUCCESSORS / QUIRKS” EVERYONE, THIS BOOK CONTAINS THE SECRETS OF THE SIXQUIRKS. AND THE PREVIOUS OFA AVATARS. THAT’S FINE I’M JUST GONNA. ...I’LL BE FINE. FOR TWO WEEKS. FUCK

shit. well I know it was coming, that’s another reason why I didn’t feel particularly rushed to read this chapter lol. I kinda wish I’d had the foresight to save the Korean scanlation though, just to compare. ah well it’s probably still lying around somewhere

and lol and here’s the bonus page, and this one I did see floating around tumblr haha

I’m not sure how the three smartest kids in class are all present and yet not one of them had the foresight to consider that maybe, just maybe, this could be a bad idea. let’s let the kid with the combustible sweat handle the mochi I’m sure it’ll be -- [everyone immediately dies]. anyway so that’s some good friendly advice from Horikoshi there. happy new year friends!

[genderless-consul]

Top 5 Glee characters

Ooh, this is tricky, because it can fluctuate so wildly depending on who’s writing and what season it is, but if I���m judging based on a combination of their best material and how much the actors elevated their worst material, this is probably what I’ve got.

1): Santana - her early seasons arc was arguably the best thing to come out of Glee, period. And even when her character lost some coherency late in the game it was transparently because the writers were using the same “Naya’s our best actor, just use her for everything even if it doesn’t make sense” strategy that they once reserved for Jane Lynch. And the fact that she got married on screen, whatever else you can say about The Wedding as an episode, is one of the few genuine bright spots of what were an otherwise pretty mean-spirited final couple seasons. Oh, and the best voice on the show, easy. Valerie, Songbird, and Mine are all Hall-of-Fame solos, and any character that got to have a duet with her was having a great episode by default .

2): Kurt - another early Glee character arc that genuinely mattered in a way that far outstrips the rest of the show, and the fact that Chris Colfer was able to steal the show like he did at 19 will always blow my mind. He’s one of the best actors ever to only have one major credit, and even in Season 6 when the writers are treating him with complete contempt and he has every reason to be checked out, he’s still giving it 150%. He had so many different compelling relationships and elevated all of them- the magical romance (and later jaded cohabitation) with Blaine, becoming a family with Finn, the friendship with Rachel that developed over nearly all 121 episodes - and of course any scene with Kurt and Burt was a guaranteed tearjerker. And yes, having a countertenor in the main cast made the music so much more interesting and is one of my favorite things about the entire show - I still can’t believe the Glee versions of I Want to Hold Your Hand, For Good, and Not the Boy Next Door exist but I’m so glad they do.  

3): Quinn -multiple times the victim of some of the absolute worst writing in all of Glee, which is saying something, but when it was good, it was great. Basically carried all of Season 1 on her back in a really heavy storyline that shouldn’t work nearly as well as it does (I still don’t know they managed to make that Bohemian Rhapsody work, but they did). But Season 2 Quinn is probably my favorite stretch of any Glee character, because when she got the chance to be in control of a scene, Dianna Agron could knock “bittersweet Glee about teenagers who know this might be it” out of the park like nobody else. She was butchered in the Season 3 Shelby arc, she never got a proper ending in the later seasons, and the final shot of On My Way still shows up in my nightmares sometimes, but all of that only hurts so much because we saw what could have been. Oh, and I Feel Pretty/Unpretty is the best mashup.

4): Brittany - yes, the entire Unholy Trinity made it on here. Like Kurt and Santana, another case of the writers realizing “wait a minute, this person is ridiculously talented, let’s do something with that.” Probably the best manifestation of Glee’s deeply strange tonal tightrope, which would so often tip over into too saccharine or too acidic in other characters, and Heather Morris was the master at delivering the Ian Brennan one-liners that were actually funny (to be clear, Jane Lynch had plenty of those too, but she also got a few too many of the ones that were unfunny to outright offensive). And what makes it work for me was really that Brittany still got to have a character with legitimate development and sincere emotional reactions - some of my favorite line deliveries on the entire show (”aren’t you paying? ‘cause I ordered shrimp,” “clearly you don’t love you as much as I do or you would put the shirt on and you would dance with me,”  “can I hug?”) are Brittany lines without really being Brittany-isms at all. Oh, and as much as Heather’s dancing speaks for itself, I’ll also go to bat for I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) as a seriously underrated, all time great vocal performance.

5): Sebastian - Glee was always hurting for non-Sue Sylvester villains who could present more personal challenges to the kids, and while Season 1 Jesse was arguably the most successful version of that, Season 3 Seb will always be the best for me; Grant Gustin knew exactly what kind of show he was in and he absolutely radiates screen presence the whole time. His sheer level of petty dickishness is a great corrective to the slightly unreal nature of Dalton as a tolerance paradise in Season 2, and the rock-salt slushie is rivaled only by the Jesse St. James egg scene as the greatest “OH, YOU BASTARD!” moment in Glee history. He was kneecapped by an inexplicable face turn, and sadly had to be unceremoniously written out so Grant could go on to co-headline a generation defining adaptation of the DC Universe with Melissa Benoist (which, by the way - who saw THAT coming when Marley Rose was introduced in the fall of 2012?), but when he was here, Glee was an absolute joy to watch. The use of A Boy Like That as his de facto villain song is my favorite use of editing in the entire show, and of course it all built to Smooth Criminal, where Grant matching Naya’s energy produced the number that would probably win a ranked-choice straw poll for the best Glee song of all time. 

[jazziehart]

Character Dissection [Rachel Berry]: Episode by Episode - Season 1A

Welcome to my very first character dissection of one of the characters I dislike the most, Rachel Berry. If you are a Rachel fan I think many of you won’t like this dissection so I advise you to proceed with caution. Rachel has some good qualities about her but a lot of my focus is on the bad. I will be doing dissections of her from Seasons 1 to 3 since after that I really didn’t watch the show as prudently. 

Today we’re focusing on Season 1A Rachel going from Pilot to Sectionals. I have to say of the three seasons this version of Rachel actually bothered me the least and had rootable qualities. While she was somewhat unbearable at times she still had the underdog spirit and was someone you could root for whereas in the later seasons she became so much more entitled and was never put in her place.

Let’s start off with the Pilot episode. Rachel is introduced as an ambitious girl who is willing to do anything to get what she wants which comes with a price. While her motives for getting Sandy fired are because he didn’t give her a solo, she actually does the glee club and the school a major favor. He was preying on some of the young guys, something she had accused him of and would later go on to be proven in a throw away line from Puck. Rachel is shown to be a perfectionist, and when the club is at its worst she worries that it will hinder her reputation as a performer which is the only thing she has left at this point. Once Will finds Finn, it all changes for Rachel. Rachel has always had a crush on Finn and the fact that he’s a strong male lead appeals to her making her like him more than ever before. She’s more determined than ever to make the Glee Club great and even after Will leaves, she takes over the club wanting so badly to capture the magic she knows it has in it. Finn has left the glee club and she goes to convince him to come back even though Finn is resistant thinking his reputation is on the line to which Rachel simply tells him that he’s better than all of them. Finn soon realizes Rachel is right and returns to Glee Club which Rachel is the first one to be welcoming to. She, Finn, and the rest of the New Directions prepare ‘Don’t Stop Believin’’ which Will hears and is drawn back to the club for good.  

Now moving onto Showmance. This episode the Glee Club comes together as one but is at a hinderance when Will won’t listen to the fact that Disco is out and would make the New Directions even more of outcasts. Rachel also finds herself wanting to be more like Quinn to try to get Finn’s attention which leads her to try making herself throw up which doesn’t work out. Emma catches her and advises her to try to bond more with him and find common interests which Rachel takes seriously. This leads Rachel to joining the celibacy club to get close to Finn, much to Quinn’s dismay. Rachel soon makes a speech about how celibacy isn’t practical which futher infuriates Quinn but intrigues the boys who have been trying to get the girls to give in. This leads Rachel to a new idea of how to get the school on their side at the pep assembly, to sell sex. She and the New Directions go behind Will’s back and prepare ‘Push It’ which excites most of the students besides Quinn who is now even more infurtated espeically with seeing Rachel all over her boyfriend during the number. Their actions aren’t without reprocussions as they get a new songlist making Will upset with Rachel for possibly hurting the Glee Club thinking they won’t get any new members. However, this theory is proven wrong when the Unholy Trinity join, mostly due to Quinn wanting to keep Rachel away from Finn. Meanwhile, Rachel and Finn are having a lunch together which leads to Finn falling more for Rachel, even kissing her. He soon gets turned on and has to run away, leading Rachel to believe she did something wrong. Rachel is infurated as well with the Glee Club’s newest editions as well as the fact that her solo in ‘Don’t Stop Believin’’ was now given to Quinn, which leads her to wanting to leave the club for good.

Moving onto probably my least favorite episode, Acafellas. There actually isn’t too much that I can say about this episode. Funny enough this is probably one of my favorite episodes of Rachel. She doesn’t let her selfish ways affect her and she stands up for the club against Dakota Stanley whom they hired to help with the choreography. She’s the glue that gets the club back together even though Will is off pursuing his boyband dreams but welcomes him back with open arms when he returns, despite feeling like he ruined things for her. This is the Rachel that I actually enjoy when she isn’t all about herself and realizes things are so much bigger than just her. It’s episodes like these that remind me why Rachel was such an essential character in the beginning of Glee.

Up next is Preggers which is probably one of the best episodes in Season 1. Rachel sadly goes back to her old selfish ways and throws a hissy fit when Tina gets the lead solo in ‘Tonight’ from West Side Story. She insists that song was made for her (though to be honest I preferred Jenna’s version in Season 1 to Lea and Darren’s in Season 3 but I digress). Sue and Sandy decide to host the school’s musical to try to lure Rachel away and it works. Rachel quits the Glee Club once she gets the lead in Caberet, a very Rachel thing to do.  Will talks to Rachel and tries to get her back. Which temporarily works that is until he continues to keep ‘Tonight’ as a solo for Tina. This enrages Rachel and she quits the club for good.

Following Preggers was The Rhodes Not Taken. Rachel is working hard in Caberet though, it’s not everything she thought it would be. Finn, however tries to take it upon himself to get Rachel back into the club by flirting with her and leading her on. Rachel is lead to believe by Finn that his relationship with Quinn is questionable and that there’s a chance for them. Rachel then agrees to come back to the club but soon finds out about Quinn’s pregnancy. She slaps Finn calling him a liar and that she wouldn’t come back to the club again. Her mind changes when she watches the New Directions onstage, wishing she could be with them. When April leaves the club, Rachel comes backstage and offers to return stating that being a star meant nothing without her friends. Most of the New Directions are accepting to her rejoining, all but Quinn who still doesn’t trust her relationship with Finn. Rachel does rejoin helping the New Directions with their closing number of ‘Somebody to Love’, cementing the group together for good.

Now moving onto Vitamin D, probably one of the more kooky episodes of early Glee. This episode was the boys vs. girls mashup episode. Rachel is seen being annoyed by the girl’s lack of drive thinking they could easily crush the boys. Rachel looks for Quinn, wanting the group to be whole but most of the other girls don’t seem to care. Rachel confronts Quinn about not being a part of the club. Which Quinn simply states she’s not superwoman and can’t do everything. Rachel tells her no one will judge her about the pregnancy and tries to convince her to come back to the club. Quinn considers what Rachel has to say and does eventually come around. In the meantime, the boys perform and are incredible. Rachel scolds the girls including Quinn who has now rejoined telling them that they should’ve worked harder. Kurt, however reveals the real reason the guys did so well, they took Vitamin D. Rachel confronts Finn about this calling him a cheater. Rachel and the girls soon decide to level the playing field and also take Vitamin D to enhance their performance, all but Quinn who takes folic acid since she’s pregnant. The girls also put on an energetic and fantastic performance. Will seems torn about who should win, that is until it’s discovered about the club taking Vitamin D which leads to Figgins enlisting the help of Sue to be Will’s co-director, making everything more complicated.

Now onto Throwdown, another incredible episode. In this episode the club is divided by Sue who wants them against each other. Will ends up with Rachel, Finn, Quinn, Puck, and Brittany whereas Sue focuses on the minorities in the Glee Club. Rachel is shown not to be thrilled over the divide. The club seems to truly miss each other. Once again Rachel gets the lead in a duet with Finn which angers Quinn, especially since the 5 of them are supposed to be a group. Brittany and Puck soon join Sue’s group which ignites the feud between Will and Sue. The feud comes to a head when Rachel, Finn, and Quinn are performing which leads the New Directions to storm off. Rachel of course takes this opportunity to be her annoying self and show everyone how a proper storm off happens. Will soon talks to the club pointing out different things about them when it’s revealed that Sue now knows about Quinn’s pregnancy. Rachel and Finn take the leads in a song letting Quinn know the club is there for her.

I just want to talk about a scene in the episode that is once again misconstruded. Rachel tries to keep the story of Quinn’s pregnancy quiet and many view this as Rachel trying to protect Quinn. The truth is Rachel was trying to protect Finn from backlash, not Quinn. Quinn had every right to be mad at her and supsect her of trying to get Finn to herself because as the season goes on there are so many occasions where Rachel tries to take Finn from Quinn. I think the Finn/Quinn/Rachel love triangle is something I definitely should discuss and why I’m on Quinn’s side of it and why I believe both Finn and Rachel did her wrong.

Now onto Mash Up. This episode features Puck and Rachel as a couple which kind of came out of nowhere but would prove to actually be a pretty good ship (I know this is unpopular of me to say but I definitely want to discuss why I thought they were actually a really good ship so maybe my next topic haha). They start off with Rachel praticing with Puck which soon leads to a makeout session, Puck wants to go further but Rachel convinces him that she can’t give herself to someone who doesn’t have the guts to perform a solo. This leads Puck to perform his first solo which seems to really impress Rachel. The two continue to be together which takes a toll on Puck’s popularity leading him to get slushied. Rachel cleans him off and realizes that he most likely will leave Glee Club (due to Coach Tanaka’s ultimatum Glee Club or Football) and unselfishly gives him her blessing. That Thursday was the big day to see if any of the football players would return. The Glee Club waits together nervously but are soon joined by Mike and Matt, also were surprisingly joined by Puck. Rachel approaches him stunned by his decision and asks him if he’s sure that he might get slushied everyday to which Puck replies Bring It. Shockingly Finn is the only guy who didn’t choose glee which was mostly due to his reputation being on the line and Quinn convinced him not to. Rachel soon finds Puck watching practice from the bleachers which is when she approaches him asking if he misses it to which Puck says he doesn’t. Rachel soon breaks up with him saying that their relationship wouldn’t work out. Puck says quickly that he was going to break up with her anyway to which Rachel replies that he wasn’t. He soon realizes she’s in love with Finn and tells her that Finn will never break up with Quinn because of the pregnancy. While he’s talking Rachel realizes he’s in love with Quinn. Rachel asks Puck if he likes her saying she’s seen the way he looks at her and asks if it’s why he joined Glee to which Puck replies that it doesn’t matter because they’re never breaking up. Rachel admits at first she only date him to try to make Finn jealous and says she hope they could still be friends which Puck doesn’t agree to. Finn rejoins Glee Club after a talk with Coach Tanaka and the club is once again hole feeling stronger than before but with some hurt feelings along the way.

Moving onto Wheels where Rachel’s biggest storyline is her fighting with Kurt over the lead in Defying Gravity. Will originally gives the song to Rachel which she’s thrilled about saying it’s her ringtone. However, after backlash from Burt complaining to Will and Principal Figgins, a diva off is set with them both performing the song. Rachel worries with the New Directions deciding the vote that she won’t get the solo, claiming that it would be a popularity contest to which Kurt makes the New Directions swear to vote for who performed the best. The other biggest storyline is the New Directions being in wheelchairs, hence the title of the episode. Rachel is one of the few New Directions who stands up for Artie somewhat about the bus but stands behind the others when they don’t want to have a bake sale claiming her family is committed to takeout. Later in the episode Finn is helping Rachel with her wheelchair when Quinn storms in about the final notice about the sonogram to which Finn thinks he’s screwed. But Rachel gets an idea to help get him hired using the wheelchair. She takes Finn to a resteraunt demanding them to hire him and says if they don’t it could be seen as discrimination. Once again, Rachel is seen to be selfless, especially since him getting the job only helps his and Quinn’s relationship but Rachel cares too much for Finn to see him suffer. Kurt and Rachel have their diva off which Rachel wins, making her happy and all is well one again.

Now onto Ballad which was probably one of the weirdesr episodes for Rachel. This is the episode focused on her crush on Will after they perform ‘Endless Love’. One story I actually read explained this incredibly well saying Rachel gets so wrapped up in the songs that she starts to think the passion in the music translates to her falling for someone which actually seems like the perfect explaination for why she fell for Will so fast in the episode. Towards the end of the episode she apologizes to him for her irrational behavior and helps the club out when they decide a ballad to Finn and Quinn who needed it, especially after Quinn got kicked out.

Moving on to Hairography which revolves around Will getting intimitaded after seeing the Jane Addams Girls perform. Rachel quickly tells him that what they’re doing is Hairography, using their hair and dancing to mask their lack of talent and for him not to be intimidated. Sadly, this doesn’t translate to Will who decides to go forward with a hairography lesson. Rachel is the only member who isn’t thrilled with the idea or number thinking it wasn’t truly showcasing their talents properly. Meanwhile, Quinn plots to distract Finn with Rachel so she can test out Puck, so she enlists Kurt in giving Rachel a makeover. Rachel seems to embrace the makeover, especially since it catches Finn’s attention and the two agree to meet at Rachel’s that Friday. On that Friday Rachel makes herself up like Sandy at the end of Grease and tries to get Finn’s attention throughout the song which he soon stops saying he preffered the old her better and didn’t like this makeover. He soon reveals that Kurt gave her bad advice by saying his type was girls who were more natural. Rachel confronts Kurt the next day clearly hurt but Rachel soon realizes that Kurt also has a crush on Finn. When Finn and Quinn make up the two comissorate together understanding how hurt each other is. The hairography number is a bust as Rachel had predicted but once they perform with the deaf choir they realize that simplicity is what they needed after all. Will then gives them the sheet music to ‘True Colors’ saying they should use their voices which Rachel nods approvingly, glad Will has realized what she already knew.

Next up is probably one of the most fun episodes, Mattress. The annual school yearbook photos are coming up and Figgins has cut the Glee Club photo which Rachel is outraged about. Even though she’s a part of many clubs, Glee Club is the most special to her. Figgins soon agrees to a small corner page and Will accepts it. Will tells the club to elect two captains to pose for the yearbook. Everyone votes for Rachel, including Rachel. Will is disappointed and appoints Rachel to find a co-captain which Rachel takes seriously. She tries everyone but soon gets Finn to agree to do the yearbook with her. However when the time comes Finn fails to show up for the yearbook photo and Rachel is alone. While talking to the photographer she ends up booking the Glee Club a commerical to sell mattresses and they perform ‘Jump’ in a commercial which is somewhat of a success but once Sue sees it, she tries to get them disqualified from the competition due to the fact that their amature status could now be considered revoked. However, Will says that he accepted the mattress, not the club and allows them to take the group photo which was given to them by Sue after Quinn demanded it, confronting Sue about the cheerios perks that could have her disqualified from competition. The club once again comes together and is ready to take on Sectionals, fearful of being without Will.

Finally for the midseason finale we have Sectionals. In the beginning of the episode Rachel notices a difference between Puck and Quinn, thinking there’s a possiblity he’s the father of her baby. She soon confronts Quinn making up a fake story about a Jewish disorder and watches as Quinn tries to get Puck to take her to the doctor for it which confirms Rachel’s suspicion. After Miss Pillsbury is appointed their new director, Mercedes sings a solo the leaves the club speechless and Rachel agrees that she should have the solo after protesting it at first. Rachel talks to Finn after practice and soon tells him the truth about what she thinks is true. This leads to Finn beating up Puck and Quinn finally revealing the truth that Puck was the father. Finn then quits the club which shocks Rachel, realizing her plan went ary. Rachel goes to talk to Quinn to apologize, admitting that she did it only to get Finn to be with her which once again shows her selfish side and proves she wasn’t looking to help Quinn in the least. When the New Directions arrive at Sectionals they’re actually pumped but their mood soon flattens once they realize their setlist has been stolen. Rachel calls a meeting in the green room as the New Directions try to come up with a new set list. Rachel unselfishly tries to let Mercedes have the solo still but Mercedes says she has nothing as good as And I Am Telling You and admits Rachel is one of the only ones who could belt a solo on the fly. Rachel takes it graciously and knows the perfect song to perform, ‘Don’t Rain on My Parade’ which goes on to be her signature song. Finn soon returns much to the shock of everyone and Rachel is incredibly happy to see him. He brings the sheet music for their final song as a group. The New Directions then perform their 3 songs and hope for the best, which turns out to be the case. After winning sectionals, Sue is fired due to her leaking the setlist and Will is reinstated as director. The New Directions sing a song to welcome him back as they prepare for their next challenge, Regionals.

Now let’s talk overall as far as Rachel, she has her moments of being unselfish and helping others but most of the things she does is to try to benefit herself in someway. She’s had a few instances of being unselfish but the majority of the time she looks out for herself first before anyone else. As far as her relationship with Finn this is season is definitely my favorite of their relationship. It’s much less manipulative on Rachel’s side at least and is the purest form of them liking each other. Finn is one of the few people Rachel truly looks out for, probably because he was one of the very few people who’s always treated her kindly and due to the fact that she has a crush on him. Now as far as Quinn and Rachel, I think everyone knows I don’t ship them anymore but Rachel did help Quinn in some cases but there was always a catch that benefitted Rachel which is something shippers don’t seem to get. I hope you enjoyed this long dissection of Season 1. The second half of Season 1 will be posted soon. 

[spaceorphan18]

Finding Kurt Hummel: Dreams Come True

Masterpost

6x13: Dreams Come True

Wow.  Here we are.  The end of the story.  There’s something bittersweet about reaching this point.  I’ve been doing this meta series for over four years now, and it’s kind of fitting that I’ll end it around the original airing of the series finale.  I can’t believe it’s been so long.  I can’t believe I’ve made it through 121 episodes of the show.  (Okay, technically 116 - Kurt wasn’t in five of them.)   

And, I’ll be honest - I have some mixed feelings about the actual finale.  There was a lot more in the script, and a lot that I’m sad that was cut.  Not to mention, by season 6, production values were a little on the low side - and there are some glaring errors, and awkward editing, throughout the episode.  

But looking past that - it’s been a fantastic journey, and amazing to look so in-depth at a story that’s made its way firmly into my heart.  I will miss writing about Kurt Hummel (though it’s not like I’ll never write anything about him again!) but it is time to close the book on his story.  

And thank you to all of you who came with me on this journey.   Even as I let go of the story myself - I’ll always cherish it, and all the discussions and conversations and friends I’ve had and made along the way.  This has been something special - and I’m glad you’re here with me - here at the end of all things.  

So here we go... 

Final Competition

We open with our three remaining main characters.  Ah, I see what you did there, show!  And it’s time for Nationals 2015!  I’m not going to go too deeply on the time line here - because of a bunch of weird edits and costume changes, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.  

But I will deduce this -- in the 2015 time line - Kurt (and Blaine) have already been back in New York for a while, and have come home to help the group go to Nationals.  Or at least that’s how I’m explaining it in my head.  

And we get New Directions winning Nationals again.  Whoo!  I’m actually glad they didn’t make us sit through another set of songs and use this episode as a way to send of the original characters.  I do appreciate that Glee.  

I will say - one thing that I am frustrated by is this idea that McKinley gets turned into a fine arts school - and they do away with sports entirely.  **sigh** This show just never understood balance, did it.  Or the fact that you can enjoy music, have it be a good part of your life, and still do other things in your life. That is my one major gripe with the end of this show - is that it kind of takes the message too far the other way.  One reason I really liked the 2009 episode - is that it brought back the reason as to why they were there in the first place - so kids can be together in an activity that they liked despite their differences.  This episode -- to a fault -- zeroes in on the ‘arts education’ platform a little too hard - and, dare I say, to the detriment of some of the characters.  

But ah well - I shouldn’t be complaining too much about the ending here.  I mean - at least the characters do get happy endings, and this finale isn’t a travesty the same way How I Met Your Mother was.  

Last First Day

So, apparently this is the first day of Glee Club as Will says in his dialogue.  So...  Kurt and Blaine have come back for this, too, and then head off to New York - for good (the subtext says).  

The thing that gets me about this scene is that it was the last day of filming for the actors, and the last thing shot on the show.  Everyone getting teary eyed was real - because it was the last time they were all ever going to act together - and there’s something really poignant.  There’s a message some where in here from Will about moving on and moving forward, but interestingly, this is more about saying goodbye and being okay with that.  

I think adding to that is that this scene is a throwback to the end of season 1 - when the glee club listened to Will on his ukulele singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow.  There’s nothing that special about this scene or even this song.  But it’s such a touching moment because it’s another final one.  

And I’m glad we get a nice shot of Kurt and Blaine together, being close together, being reminded about all their times in high school - the good, the bad, and the crazy.  And it’s weird - cause they’re happy in their life, and they’ll be even happier moving forward.  But sometimes you do just need to take a step back and reflect, and be grateful that you got the chance to be a part of something special. 

Blam and Hummelberry

Alright two things I need to point out before we continue on.  

1. There’s a cute little Blam scene where Blaine and Sam effectively get to say goodbye to each other.  And it’s super sweet.  But also - Blaine let’s us know that marriage is agreeing with he and Kurt.  I’m sad we never really get to see this play out post-Wedding episode, but I’m glad it’s at least mentioned if only in passing.  But the thing is - I do think marriage would agree with them - because it is a commitment that they both are secured in making, and they don’t have the fears and insecurities they did before.  But also, because they are more grown up than they were when they were in a high school.  And yes - while I always wish we had seen more, I’m glad they at least allude to the fact that they’re living a happy life in New York.  

2. Something you may notice about this episode (okay I didn’t until I was told later) there’s no Hummelberry in it.  Crazy, right?? I mean, as much as I complained about Hummelberry over the years - it does seem weird that one of the major friendships on the show doesn’t have a final nod to it.  (And in fact - there’s a lot more Kurtcedes throughout this episode than Hummelberry.)  

Well - the reason is that the two final Hummelberry scenes were cut. The first one was supposed to be before the Blam one - where they talk about Finn, countdown their top Glee songs, and Rachel calls Blaine Kurt’s husband and Kurt gets all giddy from that (man I wish I could have seen that).  The scene is far too long to be in the episode (I still say they should have made the full script - there’s a ton cut out and more than enough for a two hour episode), but I wish it had been in there.  

The other scene takes place right before Rachel sings This Time - and isn’t much other than Kurt saying that he and Blaine are taking off for New York - but Rachel needs another moment.  Again - I see why they cut it.  Still - weird that I don’t get a final moment to dissect.  

So -- I’ll say this... it’s my own headcanon that Kurt and Rachel will always be, in a way, bff - but they become more like Kurt and Mercedes - living their own lives and doing their own things.  Sure, this entire group of kids will always be in each other’s lives, but as you grow up - you move on and meet new people - a lot of whom you just click better with.  

I do think when Hummelberry was good - it was good, and I do see the purpose of it on the show.  And while I think I’ll always resent (a little) the stuff in the middle seasons - I’ll always recognize it as a major friendship on the show.  Take a bow Hummelberry - and good night... 

Mercedes Jones Has Left The Building

So - Mercedes announces she’s going on tour and there’s a lot going right for her, so this is where she’s saying goodbye.  And, I kind of love her speech here.  Because she admits that this might be the last time she sees them for a very, very long time.  And it kind of hits the nail on the head about moving on.  

Something I do like about this episode is this idea that things change.  They can’t always stay in glee club forever - you have to grow up, you have to move on, and your life is better for it.  But you can always remember and cherish the people and memories you make along the way.  Mercedes gets it.  The rest of the cast gets it.  And so we get Mercedes singing Some Day We’ll Be Together as she makes her exit stage left.  And it’s really powerful and sad.  Because it is an ending.  

No words are said as Mercedes leaves.  No words are needed.

But that’s okay.  Not to be overly cheesy and go ultra 90s, but like the song Closing Time - Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end. 

 Mr. and Mrs. Porcelain

The next stop on the Goodbye Tour is Sue.  

And they’ve actually come to thank her.  

And as crazy as it is - I’m actually really grateful that we have this little scene because it does tell us a couple of things.  First of all -- Kurt says if she hadn’t meddled (and I’m still not condoning the meddling) they’d still be apart and miserable.  This is a big thing - because for as much as Kurt tried to down play it for a while there - he was pretty miserable for a majority of season 6.  So was Blaine, for that matter.  But now they’re married and happy and heading back to New York - and this time probably will stay in New York for a long, long time.  

I also like it because throughout the entire series, there’s been a strange connection between Sue and Kurt.  No need to recap - feel free to read all the other meta - it’s actually there, lol.  But out of all the students - Sue didn’t connect with many of them - but she did with Kurt. 

This scene also gives us a moment to reflect on Kurt’s story as whole.  Sue recounts everything Kurt’s been through - coming out, bullying, growing up and finding his way, and yeah Sue’s speaking for all of us here -- because she’s reminding us the importance of Kurt’s story.  That it did mean something to a lot of people - and it gave a new generation of people a story to latch on to if they needed it.  

To me (and for me) Kurt’s story has been one of the most powerful - and that’s not to say people can’t latch on to other things.  I mean - if you really felt pull to Ryder - than you go Ryder fan!  But a lot of us were here - especially in the beginning, for Kurt’s story.  And Kurt - and his uniqueness represented so much of the audience through the years.  It’s kind of remarkable when you take a step back and think about it.  

Sue thanks him - for giving her the chance to be a part of that story - and for giving her the chance to see things in a new perspective.  It’s incredibly touching.  And Kurt himself is touched.  It’s kind of crazy when you think that it’s a moment where the creators are able to give a voice to the fans to tell a fictional character - I’m glad you existed.  

And I have to say myself - thank you Kurt Hummel.  It’s been a true pleasure documenting your life over the years... 

Time Capsule

And here we are - our final (real) Klaine scene of the series.  Do I wish there could have been something a little more? Something that held a tiny bit more weight? Sure...  

But this scene is sweet.  We get confirmation that the Box Scene happened, a run down of Kurt’s greatest hits from season 1-3, Blaine looking adoringly at his husband.  It’s a nice, quiet moment for the two of them to just remember and reflect and be happy that they’re past all of the high school shenanigans as they shut the door on their past.  

We get our final ‘I love you’, final kiss, final hug, final time hearing the Klaine theme.  And a final time for that ridiculous sweater.  

And I am currently laughing and crying right now... thank you boys, it’s been a wonderful journey... 

Back to New York

And... with that Kurt and Blaine are magically transported back to New York where they belong - still holding hands, fearlessly and forever.  

Daydream Believers

Five years later - and Kurt and Blaine are still happily married, still lovingly holding each other’s hands.  

We find out what they’ve been up to -- doing an all male showing of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?  I assume (since they are 26 at this point) that they’re still the younger couple of that play -- but it’s a hard piece about relationships, and I’m glad they decided to do perform something that would test their relationship - go boys! 

In case you are wondering what else they were up to -- according to the script -- Kurt’s won an Obie award and has his own line on QVC called Hummel Brag while Blaine is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter who has written St. Elmo’s Fire the Musical and Trapped in an Elevator: A Love Story.  

Now (semi-)celebrities, they’re invited to sing at the Harvey Milk school - where they’re considered inspirations.  And while I do wish this song had been sung with Blaine’s kindergarten class or two their own child, I do understand what they’re doing here.  They’re showing that a new generation of kids should feel safe being who they are and not hiding it from the world, as well as accepting the role of music (and creativity) in their lives.  It’s sweet and fun and I’ll go along with it, even if it’s not everything that I wanted. 

I do appreciate Kurt’s little throwbacks to the Single Ladies and Bad Romance performances from season 1. 

I also think Kurt and Blaine being with the kids is a nod to the fact that they are about to become dads and that they’ll probably make great dads.  

This song - though - means quiet a lot.  First of all, Daydream Believer is one of my favorite songs of all time - and I’m just thrilled at the fact that Kurt and Blaine get to sing it.  More so, this is the third to last song on the show, the final song sung by a couple, and the last Klaine duet that we get.  And there’s a lot wrapped up in that.  I mean, Kurt started out as a character not on the show - and to end with having one of the most iconic TV relationships of all time and the show full on acknowledging that by the end (I mean they are literally lying on a rainbow flag) is kind of huge.  

The lyrics are incredibly fitting, too - 

Cheer up, sleepy Jean, oh what can it mean To a daydream believer and a homecoming queen?

I mean, it’s a simple and sweet song - and I like that it shows what they are -- dreamers and believers and a special nod to Kurt being the Prom Queen.  It’s a beautiful sentiment to end on, and I’m glad this is the final Klaine duet.  

Yeah, I do wish they had sung it a little more to each other and less to the kids, but it’s fine.  They sound great together and the song holds weight to their story - being a perfect one to end on. 

This Time

I want to do a quick shout out to This Time - the song Darren Criss wrote for the finale.  It is so touching and moving, and is amazing in its way of putting into song what it’s like to be here at the end.  To cherish the feeling you had about being apart of the thing but knowing that it’s time to move on as well.  Y’all know I’m not the biggest fan of Rachel solos - but this time, it’s perfect.  

Alright - then we jump into our final little coda.  And, you know, I know that this ending is a bit much on the happily ever after quota.  But - I’m fine that they did this.  The show started in some well grounded satire - but at the end, managed to be a fairy tale for all of us who are awkward and weird and didn’t fit quite in.  I’m glad my favorite fictional characters are all right. 

This whole ending bit does seem a little rushed - but we learn that Rachel has agreed to be a surrogate for Kurt and Blaine’s child.  Fwiw - I don’t believe it’s her eggs, especially when she doesn’t seem to mention anything about co-parenting and Jesse saying he’d like to start a family of his own.  She also mentions that they’ve given up a lot of their lives for her, it’s time she gives back - and I know a lot of people said this didn’t make much sense, but you know what - I believe it.  So much of Kurt’s story was sacrificed at the Rachel-story alter, I’m totally cool with her carrying the kid for them. 

And I know that a lot of people didn’t need or want them to have children.  And that’s totally cool! I do think it makes sense for their story.  I mean, it’s about these gay kids getting the traditional love story and everything that comes with that - including marriage and children.  But also - Kurt’s story started out being about him and his relationship to his dad.  I’m glad it kind of ends full circle being a dad himself.  

While it would have been really nice if Kurt and Blaine’s last lines were to each other - and I love you at that - their last lines are in this scene and, not surprisingly, about Rachel.  Ah well...  Lol.  

However, there was a bit more to this scene that was cut out.  First of all, we learn that they’re having a daughter (yes - this is perfect to me...) 

It also has Mercedes wondering who the biological father is - basically it doesn’t matter. Blaine makes a joke about whether it comes out with a bowtie or an ascot then they’ll know.  Kurt explains the process, and here you go - the last scripted line for one Kurt Hummel: 

Kurt: We mixed the spermies together so we’ll never know.

Yup - there ya go.  We were robbed from Chris Colfer saying the word ‘spermies’.  Whatever writers, lol - I love it.  

Also - there’s a tiny moment as Rachel goes off, where Kurt bounces against Blaine.  Idk - it’s just kind of a small, cute moment for the two of them. 

There’s a line earlier in the episode where Blaine comments that Sam is right where he’s supposed to be - but it’s really the showing that the characters are right where they’re supposed to be.  Rachel wins her Tony, just like she was always going to do.  Kurt and Blaine get married and have a happy life together.  Mercedes gets and album, Artie and Tina end up together in the background.  Sue continues world domination.  And Will is, well, still Will.  

The point being, as we close on out - is that as these characters are living happy and good lives.  High school sucks, college can suck, even adulthood can suck, but for one moment in time, they were all joined together and survived it as a group.  And now, everyone is on their own path - and that’s fine.  Moving on is fine.  Change is fine.  

But since this is a story, and a story of characters we care about deeply.  This is their happily ever after.  

Kurt and Blaine might not get much -- I’ll always wish they had more - but I’m grateful for what I did get.  Because I love this perfectly imperfect story, and it’ll forever be deeply etched into my heart - even as change and move on to different things. 

Final Bow

The Klaine moment goes by too fast to still, in case you’re wondering.  

The context of this final performance is that it’s now Fall of 2020 - and the auditorium is being dedicated to Finn.  Everyone’s come back for one last final bow.  

I love I Lived as the final song.  It’s a song about life being hard and sucking and getting hurt but reflecting and saying -- well at least I lived my life to the fullest.  This, tied in with Sue’s final speech about glee club meaning something - about the arts and music and finding a place in the world meaning something, is the show’s final lesson.  And as we close out - the show wants to remind us that despite the bizarre choices made throughout the show, through the ups and the downs and the questionable editing.  

This show meant something to a lot of people - and for the characters, well, at least they lived.  

When the show was first conceived - Kurt Hummel wasn’t even a character in the script.  Eventually, he became one of the fullest - if not the most complete - character on the show.  We got to see him grow up, and come out, struggle with identity and bullying and heartbreak and Rachel Berry, and become a remarkable young man - happily married with a child of his own.

It’s an amazing, amazing story - and I can’t believe I’ve now reached the end of documenting it.  

This is the story about a boy who, with every broken bone, lived.  

Thank you, Glee.   

Thank you, Chris Colfer.

Kurt Hummel changed my life - and I’ll forever be grateful for that.  <3 

[migleefulmoments]

Dear sweet lord. Ajw has just casually suggested that Darren and Chris have struggled with depression over their “closeted relationship.” Now, they could both struggle with depression, they aren’t exempt from mental health just because they’re rich/famous. Anyone can be depressed. But you don’t just go around making those assumptions about people you don’t know. What in the hell?

Ajw didn’t write the post but she did reblogged it and she only reblog what she wants to convey as truth. 

The post is essentially masterpost of what convinced justcantgetenoughcc’s that Chris and Darren are married. Every single piece of evidence is more  juvenile and asinine than the last. She “saved the best for last” and just wait...

This post proves how little the cc fandom needs to believe anything they want to believe because everything CC is made up in their heads. If you are writing the story, you don’t need much to prove it is true. They live in a world of baseless nonsense. 

I will admit, I am shellshocked at how absurd this is. I’m used to their cruel and baseless attacks on Mia and their petty criticisms of everything Darren, but to be confronted with proof that the foundation of “CrissColfer are married” trope is nothing more than air shook me. 

So...let’s look at it...(my comments in parenthesis).

One of the WHAT IFs that has been haunting me…

justcantgetenoughcc

We know they got engaged over the 2012/2013 NYE holidays. 

(”we” don’t actually know)

(Wait...this goofy joke between Chris and Alla is what they are basing the engagement on? Chris telling his publicist that she would have to cover up “lots of stories, per usual” is it? This is clearly a joke because Chris NEVER does anything crazy...that’s why it is funny. Why would he Tweet that if it was true? He is smarter than to Tweet “don’t forget we have to hid the body tonight”. 

(The bird reference... I know I once know what it means= but I can’t remember. How is it a reference to Chris is engaged to Darren?). 

(This is the “ring” they have sold their souls swearing is on his finger and that it indicates he is engaged TO Darren. I don’t even know if there is a ring there and he clearly never wore a ring after this blurry photo SOOOOOOO...NOPE)

(I know someone told me about where Darren went during this same Glee hiatus and where Chris was returning from in this pic.  If someone can fill in the details of this trip and I will edit this post. Maybe Chris went to South Africa? Maybe? And Darren went where?)  

And yet they went ahead with the FAKE encage in January 2018.

—

I always believed Chris and Darren were married. There were a lot of serious hints in that direction from the guys themselves.Like the wedding in the woods and Alla’s hints to name a few. (Here we are seeing them once again hang their hats on their TLOS theories. The wedding in the woods is related to Darren and Chris exactly how? Alla’s hints to name a few? What few? You showed one Twitter exchange. This is a case of you wanted it to be true so you just believed it was true and then filled in “proof” to suit you and since you don’t listen to anyone who disagrees, you didn’t need to make your proof very  foolproof)

Offering this as an admission that we weren’t always told about their personal lives. So marriage could fall under this category of sometimes true rumors? 

(Um...yes? So Chris saying this in an interview is what you are using as your proof? ok?)

We even noticed and speculated that Chris wore his actual engagement ring in the Glee “The Proposal - 5.01” episode. I mean that’s the ring that Darren/Blaine slipped on Chris/Kurt’s ring finger and they switched it back to the Glee prop ring later. Many of us noticed the rings were slightly different after.

(Ok, this is nuts. Chris did not suddenly pull out his ring- after NOT wearing on for 2 full years- in order to wear it for some of a scenes in Glee. Many of you “Noticed”? Ugh)

***WHAT IF NOLA was just a FAKE wedding if you take into consideration… no rings, no wedding bouquet to throw, no real ceremony, no real family stepping out with the couple and other inconsistencies… It was funny that Darren’s recent casual pap-walk outfits were more dapper than his wedding suit in NOLA. There are several posts out there laying out all that in detail.

(So, here we are... Darren says he is straight for 9 years, he says he loves Mia in several interviews, says he is lucky to have her in several award speeches, he says he is engaged to her. He let us see small glimpses of their life together- at their home and their bar, a bar which he said he owned with her and he called it their “bar baby”. On the day they are clearly getting married- I can tell because their family and friends are all there, Mia is wearing a big white wedding dress and Darren is wearing at tuxedo, there is a photographer and several wedding attendants=wedding.  On the day there is an obvious wedding YOU believe it is a FAKE wedding based on some untruths you refuse to stop repeating- namely that the paparazzi photos were taken after the wedding simply because ENews- had NO insider info- speculated they were coming out of the wedding because they saw a bride and a groom. You also believe that those photos were somehow representative of the entire wedding rather than just what they are- the bride and groom headed to the car that took them from the cocktail party to the wedding. They took pictures while they were in that gorgeous care. So after Darren told us that he and Mia were engaged and he spoke about their wedding many times in the press and we saw photos of lots of people attending the reception and we know their best friends were there and Vera Wang was there but you believe the wedding was fake because they didn’t share photos of the actual ceremony. You believe however, that Chris and Darren are married because you have a grainy photo of Chris you claim shows a ring that he wore once, a satirical exchange between Alla and Chris about covering up his bad behavior, another joke about untrue rumors, a joke about a bird and a made up story about 2 rings during the Glee proposal scene? Cuz that is all perfectly logical and exactly what a grown up would surmise from this evidence. Simply for the sake of the truth I must say: The photos of Darren and Mia we have seen of them coming out of the hotel were taken  before the wedding. ENews were wrong. We know this because they now have rings and because the wedding was held at the Museum. It’s funny to me that CCers can’t accept this fact when you listed some of the reasons yourself :No rings, no bouquet, no family... not that you have to have any of those things to make it a real wedding.  A real wedding is simply a vow which can be a simple as “do you promise to take this person in sickness and in health blah blah blah” and an officiant has to sign a marriage certificate. That is all it takes to be a real wedding-everything else bells and whistles. I got married 24 years ago and didn't throw a bouquet because the tradition is outdated and tired. We will never see the vows or the family “stepping out” whatever that means- because that is private and for them and not us)(I don’t understand the comment about Darren’s causal pap walk is more dapper than his wedding suit...please don’t tell me they are claiming that his zebra pants and Dalton sweatshirt are “more dapper” than his beautiful designer tuxedo because that is beyond juvenile and petty. That is something a 10 yo would say. You might not like Darren’s wedding style, but the wedding was for Darren and Mia and not a fandom of haters)     

They were so young and so ill-prepared for the harsh bearding and constant separations they were subjected to. Not to mention the pressure both the beards put on them. They may’ve broken up a couple of times - with all the cruel and intense contrived situations and beards/bearding that played out right in front of our eyes and quite possibly other behind the scenes nightmarish scenarios thankfully hidden from us… 

(Now we get to the fantasy portion of the show...the fanfiction he/she is writing as they go along...this kind of speculation where strayers are victimized is never a healthy way to think about someone you know very little about. This is a classic rescue fantasy)

Chris and Darren don’t seem to be the type who will run out and get divorced at the first sign of any discord. They were too in love and they thought they were “IT” for each other and no strangers to being under PR pressure. Depression even. Both of their parents have/had solid marriages and no one needs to be told of Chris’s childhood circumstances. I don’t think either one would cave under pressure of any kind or over a few spats. 

(Here we get into absolute fanfiction. Nothing is rooted in any sort of reality...this is their fantasy playing out in their heads in minute and inappropriate detail. It is NEVER Ok to fantasize about someone else’s mental health or to put a diagnose on a stranger. Depression isn’t something you use to justify your concern. We know nothing about their parent’s marriages. Nobody ever knows what happens behind closed doors).

Translated, that would mean their marriage is still very much intact, despite the storms they had to continuously weather. (ugh)

It wasn’t just me spinning a tale with my vivid imagination. A lot of the fandom believed CC to be married. 

(You are right about this-it is the entire fandom spinning a tale with a vivid imagination...that doesn’t make it any better). 

There are so many CC hints out there that are so adorable.  (I can’t wait)

Just like Darren’s touch or the sweep of his hand over Chris’s back EVERY SINGLE DAY… as he was leaving the stage after their Klaine routine at Glee Live. It wasn’t done for anyone else’s benefit - BUT JUST FOR CHRIS… as the stage lights were turned down or off completely. The cameras caught it in the subdued lighting. And we, the CC fandom ran with it. 

(I never watched Glee Live and wasn’t aware of the CC fandom’s bananas back then- so I have no idea what this is even about...anyone? anyone.. Bueller?). 

Glee Live was in 2011 but Hedwig on Broadway was from APR - JULY of 2015.

One of the biggest CC hints for me was the Chris Col-FUR that Darren introduced into his Broadway show, specifically on Chris’s birthday - May 27, 2015 and kept it going all the way to the closing show on July 19, 2015.

(riiiggghhhttt because a funny, clever joke -on stage- about a former costar is PROOF they are married.) 

Why “Chris Col-FUR on Hedwig in 2015”,unless THEY WERE ABSOLUTELY AND UTTERLY IN LOVE and SERIOUS ABOUT EACH OTHER?!!!

In 2015!!!

(The leap in logic here is astronomical and scary. Why did he tell the joke? Because it is clever and funny. They were friends. The joke doesn’t need for them to be anything more than friends for it to work. “I know a guy”. It wasn’t “I’m fucking a guy”)

Look at this set of tweets from Belasco, from the same day - Chris’s birthday.

(aaannnd here we see how gullible the fandom can be when it suits their needs. Anyone can tell a story and as long as it proves CC is real, nobody questions it. it doesn’t matter if it is stupid-like the one where Max Adler saw a girl wearing Darren’s merch sunnies and asked “are you a fan of Darren’s” and without being asked, he proceeded to just unload about how awful Mia is, how everyone hates her, how Darren is such a pushover he doesn’t know how to get rid of her. The story is basically Max sees sunnies, asks if she is a Darren fan, and then speaks for 10 minutes straight about the evil Mia, they wrap it up with small talk about the area and everyone leaves. There is DisneyPrincessModelWorld who has been trolling them with “insider stories” and “the ghost” for years, and now we have this nonsense...)

Darren looked up on many days and you don’t need me to offer any clarification here.

I have trimmed the pictures to get past the new rules.

(Yes, Darren TOTALLY looked to the rafters where Chris was often hanging from his bat wings. He would spend the show sending heart eyes down to his lover- and Darren, who is so terrified to breach THE Contract that he married a woman he detests, couldn’t help himself...he had to sing to his man and look up, giving away Chris’s hiding place show-after-show. Risking being caught was worth it to sing to his man and to gauze longingly in to the darkness where he just KNEW Chris was hanging) 

(oh look, the BEST is last....)

Keeping the best for last…

(Oh, another lie posted to social media that the CC fandom ate up because CC Confirmed. Damn, I was expecting something concrete...some real proof...this was the “best” after all. Instead we have a completely absurd fabricated quote written either BY a CCer or for a CCer) 

And YET…

We are being asked to believe that Darren ran off and married his beard… - who was supposedly in a relationship with another man (there are rumors about beard being married to Hudson) the best part of 2014 - 2018. Give or take… as I don’t follow them or track them. 

(Yes, you are being asked to believe that because that is what happened- there are photos and a hundred or so guests who witnessed the entire 4 days of events leading up to the wedding. There are candid photos of the reception inside the museum posted on their friends’ social media). (This might be my favorite statement “There are RUMORS about beard being married to Hudson”, who could have started those rumors? and of course, rumors make it true so this is a slam dunk)  

Now, if it was all in our imagination, that would be one thing. 

(It absolute is ALL in your imagination. Everything here- including “the best you saved for last” is just your imagination, but I’ll play along...whatchagot?)

Pic courtesy - Just Jared

My apologies for posting her picture. Forgive me for not masking her face as I need to make the point below.

(You are NOT forgiven, it is Darren’s wedding day after all and you claim to be his biggest fans so posting his bride shouldn’t be a problem) 

Why do they all (including Ashley Weston) look like ‘deer caught in the headlights’ immediately after?  

(Oh, THIS is your Proof? Proof that Darren and Mia didn’t get married? a picture of a bride and a groom and some of their groomsmen. You aren’t doing very good here. Your “proof” is a photo of everyone looking shellshocked coming  out of a building on their way to their wedding ceremony?  Well, let’s think really hard...thinking... thinking.. why would they look shellshocked? Maybe because they were ambushed by paparazzi they weren’t expecting and didn’t want)

As if they have no clue what to do next.  I have never seen a newly-wed couple with that same expression.

(Yes, I would imagine that is exactly what they are thinking...worrying that the paparazzi just spoiled their opportunity to get married without the world knowing. Worrying that they might get ambushed by multiple paparazzi at their reception creating a nightmare. Worrying that the paparazzi might get inside the museum and catch the wedding itself. I actually believe you- I am sure that you have never seen newlyweds ambushed by paparazzi. I think this is the first thing you have said that is actually accurate and credible)  

Now we have ajw’s tags: 

#i always though CC was married as welli don't want to make any firm statements yetbut i lean it was staged and not real hence why the did it in NOLAI am sure however there will be more pics of the sham ceremony and suchthey fucked up the encage royallythey need to at least make this seem a little more real

(I am shocked that she actually believed they were married. I thought she just said that to convince her minions. I mean on Saturday night I figured out she meant it. Watching all of them go right back to the very techniques and beliefs the led them to such a meltdown on Saturday is interesting. They have no adaptation skills and no self preservation instincts. I love that she keeps stringing people along like a good narcissist. “I will be announcing my pick for _____(insert some swamp dwelling bottom feeder) for _____ Cabinet position). I love the rationale the it was in NOLA was because it was staged....because Hollywood isn’t perfect for staging a fake something. I can’t believe she said “fucked”. I didn’t know she had it in her. So she’s back to doing everything she did before she decided she needed pull back some. She’s back to harassing Mia, victimizing Darren, claiming she is his biggest supporter because she will rescue him from the horror that is Ryan Murphy. blah blah blah).  

[unbearablylight]

AHS:Cult, or Why Ryan Murphy Continues to Disappoint

Excuse the rant, but a guy’s gotta vent. First off, let me just say I love the actual plot. The concept of a character dealing with mental illness that suddenly starts to manifest itself into reality is interesting, and I think so far it’s on track to do a good job of showing how quickly people with mental illnesses are to get written off as crazy. It’s scary, it’s real, it doesn’t feel like a gimmick.

But then there’s the whole concept of connecting it to “Trump’s America.” If you’re going to create a series about honestly living in fear in today’s political climate, this is not how to do it. I’ll give credit where credit is due in that the main couple is a lesbian couple, but that’s about as far as it goes. They’re white, own their own seemingly successful business, and one of them voted for Jill Stein (Sarah Paulson, the main character, who we’re supposed to sympathize with the most... I know, ugh). The other members of the main cast include Sarah Paulson’s therapist Cheyenne Jackson, who appears once, Evan Peters, an avid Trump supporter and all-around dickhead, and his sister Billie Lourd, who is, well, I’m not even sure what’s going on with her. (To be fair, she does interest me the most as her character development is still a mystery. But as of right now, she seems to be playing another villain along with Evan.)

That’s it. These five white people (or white-passing, in the case of Cheyenne Jackson, who I had to google to learn his father was Native American, but this heritage will most likely be ignored within the show) are the main cast of a series based around living with the fear created by Trump’s election.

So, where are the people of color? Well, Aimee Carrero and Rafael de la Fuente guest-starred... in a comic book scene come-to-life, and were promptly killed off by the fictional rebirth of Twisty the Clown. A group of Latino men appeared briefly, solely to showcase the asshattery of Evan Peters’ character, who was the focus of the scene (although, they did get to kick the shit out of him).

And finally, there was the brightest shining glimmer of hope in Tim Kang and Nanrisa Lee. They appear as a married couple in the opening scene, friends (and later realized as neighbors) of Sarah Paulson and Alison Pill. They had an interesting dynamic going as well; it wasn’t a marriage without its troubles, as Tim confronts Nanrisa about being “too busy to vote.” This hope for a focus on an Asian-American couple was unfortunately short-lived. Literally. They were dead by the end of the episode, the first victims (as POC usually are) of the clown cult terrorizing Sarah Paulson (although, unsurprisingly, not harming her).

In Ryan Murphy’s version of Trump’s America, people of color aren’t the heroes, they’re the background victims, which is unimaginative at best and harmful at its worst. We aren’t getting to see them fight to stay alive (Rafael de la Fuente fires a gun to no avail and Aimee Carrero runs and hides for a short while, but Tim Kang and Nanrisa Lee never stood a chance as they were tied up). We don’t get to see them work through their fears, the real, everyday fears people are actually facing in our world — deportation, corrupt police forces, Nazis in broad daylight, to name a few and barely skim the surface. Even that scene of the Latino men beating the shit out of Evan Peters has a catch — they’re being secretly filmed, which will no doubt be used later to further victimize them (as if having a condom of urine hurled at you and being told you don’t belong in this country anymore isn’t enough).

Instead, we’re spending a season watching Sarah Paulson get chased down by clowns. Which, as I said, would make for a great season. Sarah is a phenomenal actress, the clowns are great at being creepy, and mental illness is an important issue to discuss. But it’s not enough to be the season considering itself the horrors of Trump’s presidency. We’ve already seen a lot of those horrors: the travel ban, the attempted repeal of Obamacare and DACA, the transgender military ban (Chaz Bono, the transgender son of Sonny and Cher, also guest-starred as a grocery store cashier who dons a MAGA hat and praises Trump), the pardon of Joe Arpaio, the constant promise of the wall. Notice the victims of those. Notice the people who are fighting for their rights and their lives. Most of them are people of color. Many of them are poor. They are not seeing themselves reflected in this narrative. They are not being portrayed as the heroes, or the sympathetic characters. Even in a somewhat-fictionalized America, there seems to be no place for them.

Ryan Murphy has always stumbled when it comes to making large political commentary. His shows are at their best in the quiet moments, usually a simple, powerful line or moment. (The best line of the episode comes from Evan Peters, who mutters, “There is nothing more dangerous in this world than a humiliated man.”) It’s when he tries to go big that he tends to fall short (see also: the spiraling downfall of Glee, the faux-feminism of AHS:Coven). And with this season, he seems to be shooting for a massive statement. Only time will tell how far short he’ll land.

To be fair, this is only the first episode. The show has time to turn itself around, to right the wrongs it has already created. But judging from the main cast — and the most talked-about guest stars: Colton Haynes, Lena Dunham, and Emma Roberts — it won’t be doing that. Not only do people of color constantly find themselves the victims, in Murphy’s version of America, they must suffer in silence.

Edit: An earlier version of this post miscredited Jorge-Luis Pallo as the cashier in the grocery store. Thanks to the anon for correctly identifying him as Chaz Bono.

[televinita]

kateschechterxthorwasmyfirstotp replied to post: If you did not watch the last episode, they kind of righted that wrong...

Eh...I read what they tried, but I deemed it Not Good Enough. That was a pretty fundamental betrayal of my deepest shipping principles and too many years apart for me to ever feel okay about them again.

#I have been trying to coherently explain it for like 20 minute and I keep getting bogged down in anger and sadness at the memories so tl;dr: no

EDIT: actually you know what, I am gonna explain it, via copy-pasting the long ass 4-part blog post I made about it the night it aired (I didn’t watch because I was behind on the season, but I hung out in the Tumblr tag and read live reactions), which incidentally was the night after we put my dog to sleep so those two Sadness Memories are wrapped around each other. I always meant to post at least part of it to Tumblr and I regret not doing that.

February 2013

Wednesday: Unedited Ranty Version LOL NOPE BYE. Literally just...not accepting this. Never watching the episode, done with future episodes, the show can just stop here. Unlike with Glee, I am above this. I don't feel it hard enough to be canon, and god, I am so much better for it. Sucks for all the fans who can't just handwave it and decide not to believe. I'm not even going to bother repeating all my Kurt/Blaine rage from last fall, because Sara and Grissom met late enough in life that they aren't in quite the same category of fairytale romance, even if they are soulmates, but -- my anger about relationships losing their magic if you break up in the middle and see other people after finally getting together? So very applicable. (Honestly, show, what happened to them having a marriage that worked for them and no one else needed to understand? Why couldn't you just leave that alone? Why did you have to pick? There was no reason to pick. No picking! /nasally Seinfeld voice.) I'm kind of sorry they already lost their spot in the Top Five All-Time OTPs Kingdom to Kurt and Blaine, because I would have really enjoyed kicking them the fuck out tonight. If I believed this were happening. Which I realized, 5 seconds after writing the above, that I am not. Goodbye, and good luck. Thursday morning (a.k.a. just kidding I’m still mad as hell and back to yell) I like how they keep talking about "implications into next year" and how the story will continue. No, it won't. You've separated them before, a fact I had forgotten about because I refused to watch 9x05 and it was clearly just a pause button on the way to spinny-camera grand reunion kissing as opposed to a real breakup, but there's no way to fix this now. There is no more to the story; you don't get to tell a story after this. Glee already proved to me that there is no way to make a worthwhile arc out of a vile bomb drop. Although I am kind of sorry that this relationship could actually have withstood cheating and it would have been easier to swallow than divorce. Maybe because it still feels like cheating. You're meant to be with someone, you can't have extracurricular people! I have some unfinished business with those first 7 episodes of season 13, and I'm not sure what to do with that -- they were great and I hate to leave them unwritten about, but if I go back there is a slim chance it will get devious like Grey's Anatomy and suck me back in underhandedly, and I'd rather spite myself than give it that opening. So I'm not totally sure if this is the end. But it sure has that really certain Bones Episode #100 level sense of THIS IS UNFORGIVABLE. GAME OVER. Thursday night Reading other people's opinions is always a dumb way to go, because instead of saying my piece and being done, now I'm riled up and feel like I need to FORCE people to understand something they just don't seem to be getting, whether they're being practical and pragmatic or writhing about it in "but they were my first real ship!" angst. (as if they are only a ship, instead of so much more) The thing is, this isn't just a dumb writing choice you can complain about. This isn't even about whether it's in character or not. It is literally. Not. An option. Some couples just aren't allowed to break up. A UST couple that takes more than 5 years to get together is one of them. And once they get married, that's absolutely it. A victory for permanent commitment and contentment. There's no divorce in good storytelling, there are no separations. That lazy nonsense is reserved for books, movies, and silly soap opera types like Grey's Anatomy. Couples like Grissom and Sara, they are foundations. Institutions. When you want to change the look of your house or test out something new, you work with the existing structure. You don't knock it down and build it back up from the floorboards. To be fair, I was always upset by the "long distance marriage" - there was no reason for it; there was never a reason Grissom couldn't be off screen right here in Vegas, teaching at a local university or simply pursuing his own research supplemented with travel when necessary. The longer it went on, the less happy I felt. But since they told us it worked, I put up with it for the joy of having Jorja Fox back on my screen. I see now that was a mistake, and the only way to keep them safe was to push them away. The point is: TPTB broke television law. I can't judge this like other shows as a good or bad direction for the characters, or wonder how it will affect Sara in the upcoming episodes, because they are untouchable. It's honestly laughable that anyone thought it was okay to even try this. Can you imagine if the second X-Files movie followed through on its misdirection and went "lol yeah Mulder and Scully haven't seen each other in 5 years"? I

[2017 edit: FYI I have not stopped being angry about the bitter irony of this comment since the revival spoilers hit.]

If you need more universal examples, that's like tuning in to find out the Brady Bunch has split back up into two separate households, or Disney is going to experiment with a new movie where Minnie elopes with Goofy.

You don't get to pretend you're setting up for a season or two-season arc. This isn't an arc. This is a slash and burn project. Let's pretend, for a minute, that this is planned as an emotionally complex journey that will force them to examine what they mean to each other and get them back together, Costa Rica style, in next year's season finale. Do you think that would be worth it? Do you think the struggle to get there will make the ultimate conclusion heartwarming, fill you with elation as you see them beat all the odds? It will not. It will be long tainted by then, a sour coda to an unfixable mess, because what you had wasn't important enough to preserve. You can't ever get back to what you were, and it's already too late. That is the best case scenario. There are no character motivations to explore. There is nothing to dig into. A death warrant was signed and went up as effectively as a brick wall in stopping the development of this relationship in its tracks. Televinita out. #breakingupwithCSI #I reject your canon and substitute my own Thursday: Post-Essay Messiness Oops. Reading my old reviews because I can't remember GSR's chronology off the top of my head, and...there is no way I'm letting anyone use this as justification for being in character, but this conversation does seem sort of relevant all over again. "Sooner or later a relationship in stasis withers. You get angry. You need more than the safety of knowing that you're not alone." "Then he should've just walked away." "Well, maybe he couldn't. Maybe he needed her to leave him." Apparently I also got kind of angry in the early part of season 9 when Sara left again, and may have threatened to break up with this show at that time? *chagrined look* But 2008 Me seems to have still accepted this as a possible, if highly undesirable, turn for the couple. What changed? And am I crazy, or is it possible to decide neither of the times Sara left were actual breakups as opposed to pause buttons? Oh, that's right. What changed is they got married. I repeat, when it comes to long-running couples on TV, wedding bands are as much a promise to the audience as they are to the people involved. You put a ring on it after proper courtship, that's a universally accepted sign for "you win: permanent freedom from being jerked around for Drama/Conflict/ratings."

[petersasteria]

Levi Jones AU

A/N: This is inspired by a scene from my favorite tv show. As some of you may or may not know, my favorite tv show is Glee. It always was, and always will be my favorite. This is inspired by an episode of the first season of Glee. It's one of my favorite scenes and it's AU, because there's no The Tide in this one. However, I will do my best to include the boys (if it fits).

Heads up:

-Nate's your brother in this one.

-You're the head cheerleader.

-Levi's the quarterback.-Both of you are in Glee Club.

-Nate's in the yearbook club.

-You're two weeks pregnant and Levi knows but your parents don't

Requested? No.

Pairing: Levi x Reader

* * * *

Your P.O.V

Glee Club was my last period before going home. I was fixing the things in my locker when I remembered that my parents asked me to invite my boyfriend, Levi, for dinner. I quickly closed my locker and looked for Levi only to find him sitting with his friends on the bleachers of the football field. As I was walking towards them, they were laughing about something that Drew said.

Levi's P.O.V

Austin, Drew and I were just lounging around by the bleachers when Drew brought up some random topics. We were laughing and then it grew quiet.

"Remember when Squidward ate a bunch of Krabby Patties and exploded?" Drew asked breaking the silence.

"Damn, you're so childish." Austin muttered under his breath.

"What about it?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing. It's really funny." Drew laughed like a dying seal while clapping his hands.

Austin and I looked at each other and joined in the laughter. Not because Drew was funny, but because he was laughing like a dying seal. You know that laugh when no sound comes out? Yeah, that's basically Drew right now.

As we were laughing, I saw an outline of a figure walking towards us. Once the figure was near us, I noticed that it was Y/N.

Your P.O.V

"Hey guys!" I greeted as I stood in front of them.

"Hey babe!" Levi smiled that million dollar smile.

"What's up?" Drew nodded at me.

"Hey" Austin said in a deep voice.

"Can I talk to Levi for a second?" I asked politely.

"Oh, we were just about to leave anyway." Drew shrugged.

"We were?" Austin asked confused. Drew gave him a look and nudged him and muttered, "just go along with it, bro."

"Oh. OH!! Yeah, Drew and I were just about to leave. So, have fun. But not too much fun if you know what I mean." Austin winked. And with that, Drew and Austin got up to leave.

"So babe, my parents invited you to have dinner with us at our house later tonight." I said.

"Sure! I'll be there around 6:00. Is that okay?" Levi asked.

"Yeah that's okay. See you later!" I answered.

-time skip to dinner at your house bc I'm lazy and I can't think anymore is brought to you by Nate fucking Parker retweeting so many things as I'm writing this that I had to turn off my notifications for him-

3rd Person P.O.V

All of them are gathered around the dining table and it's dead silent. Mr. Parker decides to break the silence and ask everyone how their day went.

"It was great, sweetheart! I did the groceries and met up with my friends at yoga." Mrs. Parker smiles.

"That's great! What about you, son?" Mr. Parker asks Nate as he ate asparagus.

"Um, I did lots of things today dad. I aced my chemistry test, I met up with the yearbook club and edited some sections of the yearbook, we had glee club practice, and we had a pop quiz in math." Nate says proudly as he ate mashed potatoes.

"Good job on acing that test, buddy! Continue to make us proud." Mr. Parker grins. "What about you, Y/N?"

"I had cheer leading practice today, glee club practice, and that's it." Y/N shrugs as she continues to eat her food.

"Fair enough. So, Levi what do you do?" Mr. Parker asks him.

Levi gulps in nervousness and answered, "I'm also in glee club and I'm the quarterback in football."

"Oh, that's interesting." Mr. Parker says.

"If you need me, I'll be in my room. I have to edit more stuff for the yearbook and I need to study for my history test tomorrow. Thanks for dinner, mom! It was lovely. You're a cool dude, Levi. See you around." Nate stands up from his seat and leaves.

"You said that you're in glee club. Can we hear you sing?" Mrs. Parker asks Levi.

"He's a really great singer." Y/N smiles.

"We'll be the judge of that. Go ahead, Levi." Mr. Parker says unamused.

"Okay. This one's called 'I'll Stand By You'." Levi says nervously.

(a/n: this is the song just pretend he sang it)

After singing, Y/N's crying and her parents were impressed yet confused.

"Why're you crying, sweetie?" Mrs. Parker asks concerned.

Y/N looks into her mother's eyes and looks at Levi and cries more. Mrs. Parker immediately understood, but chose not to believe/deny it.

"What's going on?" Mr. Parker asks confused.

"I'm pregnant." Y/N whispers inaudibly.

Mrs. Parker's thoughts that she feared the most are now confirmed. "There must be some mistake. This can't be. I refuse to believe this. Honey, we raised you right!" Mrs. Parker cries.

"You did." Levi says putting on a brave face.

"When you were a little girl, we always went out to go get ice cream at this specific ice cream parlor. We would always sit on a bench on the side of the road and count black and white cars. One day, we saw a young couple not older than 20. They were walking with a stroller. I looked at you and I said, 'Y/N, promise me you'll do better than that and you won't end up like them; young and struggling.' And I prayed that it wouldn't happen to you." Mr. Parker says while trying to be calm.

"I'm sorry, dad." Y/N sniffs.

Mr. Parker looks at Levi and sternly says, "You need to leave."

Levi nods and gets up but Y/N immediately stops him causing him to sit back down. "Can we please talk about this? Levi's a good guy! He loves me." Y/N cries.

"You too. Get out of my house." Mr. Parker says sternly.

"But dad-"

"Mr. Parker you can't do this. Mrs. Parker please do something." Levi pleads as he looks at Mrs. Parker.

"Oh, Levi don't bother. She wanted to do something she would've when she found out I was pregnant." Y/N looks at Levi.

Mr. Parker looks at his wife and asks, "You knew? You knew and you never told me?!"

"I-I didn't. She didn't tell me." Mrs. Parker stutters.

"But you knew and I needed you. I needed my mom and you were so scared of what he would do if he found out that you just pushed it aside just like every bad feeling in this house. If you don't talk about it, it doesn't exist." Y/N says through her tears.

Mr. Parker couldn't take it anymore. He's so angry.

"Don't you dare turn this on us! Why can't you be more like your brother?! YOU are the disappointment here." Mr. Parker stands up and shouts angrily.

"Why? Is it because I'm not a little girl anymore? Is it because I made a mistake?" Y/N asks.

"I don't even know who you are anymore. Who are you? I don't have a daughter like you." Mr. Parker says bitterly.

"I'm your daughter who loves you, and I know this must be really hard, but I just need my dad to hold me and tell me that everything's going to be okay." Y/N sniffs.

Mr. Parker walks towards her causing Y/N to stand up too; thinking her father would hold her and tell her that everything will work out in the end. Levi stands up too for protective reasons; thinking Y/N's own father is going to hit her. Neither happened.

"Please?" Y/N pleads as her father looks at her for a long time and leaves the dining area.

They hear footsteps coming down the stairs only to see Nate coming down and joining them in the dining area.

"What happened? Why're you crying, Y/N? What's going on?" Nate asks confused.

Mr. Parker heard this and shouts, "From now on you're our only child, Nate!"

"What's dad talking about? Mom, what's going on?" Nate asks Mrs. Parker.

Mrs. Parker remained in her seat bawling her eyes out.

"Carrie!" Mr. Parker shouts for his wife as she leaves the dining room, dragging Nate with her.

Levi hugged Y/N as she cried in his chest for a long time.

"What're we going to do now?" Y/N asks Levi.

* * * *

Lmao reblog if you liked it

[spaceorphan18]

Finding Kurt Hummel: Homecoming

Masterpost

6x02: Homecoming

I really need to knock the rest of these out -- hopefully soon I will! But man, there’s a lot more in season 6 than you might realize.  A lot of these episodes are pretty packed.  

At the beginning of the episode, we get a lot more Blaine-meta-ish things, and the one thing I’d like to pull from it is that Blaine’s getting therapy.  Yup, that’s right, both these boys are getting their heads checked by a professional - and that’s a good thing! Look, I don’t think Kurt and Blaine are going to live a 100% perfect and happy life-  no couple can accomplish that, but the fact that they’re both trying to better themselves is a huge thing, and recognizing that is a step forward in becoming adults (I mean, not even adults make the best choices to better their mental health).  So yeah, they might not patch up things perfectly, but I think there’s a lot of subtext (cause Glee’s always been subtext) that shows they’re both in better places by the time season 6 starts. 

The New Monday Night Dinner

So, because Will is a character again (ug) we start having Monday night dinners at his place (ug, ug).  Okay, it’s not really that - but he’s supposedly having all the show choir directors over for a friendly chat? How convenient that they’re all former students.  And why is Sam there? You know what - I’m not gonna think too hard about this. 

The main thing is that Rachel and Kurt are already having issues being co-directors because it’s Rachel and Kurt. 

And then Blaine arrives and Kurt feels super awkward about it.  I mean how do you act when you’ve dumped the person you love the most in the world and now have to be in a semi-casual social situation with them with your former teacher, former roommate whom your ex once made out with and who will some day carry your child, and former dude whom you both had a crush on.  This show is weird guys.  

Anyway, Kurt’s actually happy to see Blaine - even if Blaine is totally ignoring Kurt’s there.  And then Will turns the conversation to ‘everyone be nice to each other’, which lasts about five seconds when they try to give Blaine some advice about a girl being in the Warblers and Blaine is unsure about it.  It’s awkward.  But hanging out with your ex whom you aren’t actually speaking to at this moment is always gonna be awkward.  

Getting the Gang Back Together

Um, what even is this outfit trying to say, Kurt?  Are you the colorful walking dead? 

Anyway - Rachel and Kurt start their tenure as semi-teachers by organizing sheet music.  And let’s just say it -- they both have the most absurd way of doing it.  Just -- no, genre than artist, that’s it you weirdos.  But of course, Kurt would do it by emotion.  

You know what - say what you will about Kurt and Blaine’s communication -- Rachel and Kurt have by far less communication going on.  They’ve worked for two hours at ‘organization’ before they realized they were doing two different things.  Oh Hummelberry.  

Anyway, we get another argument from them - cause that’s what they do best.  And Kurt basically says what should have been said hours ago - that this is pointless without members.  However, if he’s doing his work study here (don’t ask me to define what exactly his work study is - I don’t get it either), shouldn’t he be proactive, too, in getting kids to sign up?  And what’s with the defeatist attitude Kurt? Kid’s still got issues relating to his break-up.  

(It’s also times like these that I do wish we had gotten a final career related story for Kurt, but alas, all the things we never had). 

Anyway, Kurt storms out as he usually does when having a fight and made his point.  

So - after a scene of Rachel following a disembodied voice to the men’s locker room -- we get Kurt meeting her in the auditorium and, sigh, apologizing for hurting her feelings.  Again.  Cause he’s never done that before.  

I think I’m tired of Hummelberry, guys.  

Anyway - weirdly, he apologizes for the things he said in the previous scene about her life.  Which, um, is weird - cause he didn’t actually take any personal shots at her -- which means they edited out some extra dialogue.  Man, I wish they had left that in - but can’t be too mean to Rachel.  

Anyway - Rachel says, yeah, they have to be proactive in getting people to join us - so she’s pulled in some favors.  Idk why Kurt is so -- who did you bring in Rachel?!?  He could have easily figured it out.  

Well everyone is all the former cast members who are still living and aren’t really part of the main cast anymore.  It’s Homecoming - so it seems fitting.  Though, I have to say.  Everyone looks like they’ve aged about ten years -- which isn’t a bad thing, it just means this little coda of a season would have felt better placed much further in the future.  

Anyway - Kurt’s surprised and happy to see all his old friends.  I have to say though - I miss that Blaine isn’t there.  I know he can’t because plot and the fact they’re trying to reset back to season 2 but still. 

Anyway - who cares if any of this makes sense, we have the gang back together again. 

Go they gather everyone in the choir room and explain that they need help getting the kids to join.  And Kurt’s super frigidity.  Huh.  I think there’s some room to explore Kurt as someone who is an anxious kid with minor OCD tendencies.  Cause that feels very apparent here.  

It’s funny that they rattle on about how much they need their friends to band together and save glee club because the school needs it -- when really, both Rachel and Kurt need it.  I mean, that is kind of the point of this season, but...  it’s just interesting to think about.  I mean, it’ll come full circle when Kurt talks about choosing another path to take at the end of the season.  They both hit rock bottom and now they’re looking for something to fill the space that will help them get back on the right track.  And their cause is saving the glee club.  

Hm.  It’s just interesting that this season of Glee is kind of one last stop in Lima before going out in to the world to really be the person you’re supposed to be.  I’m sorry the story wasn’t developed a tad more (except in the case of Rachel) but that’s what it is.  It’s almost fitting, then that I’m wrapping these up with the same kind of mentality.  It’s nice to have that one last thought and move on.  Anyway -- I’m getting meta on myself, lol... 

So - their brilliant plan is to sing in the school - cause that’s always worked in the past, lol.  And they do an 80s classic - because it’s Glee and the last season and Ryan Murphy has to get in all those hits that he didn’t use yet. 

But I think what stands out to me about this performance is that it’s less about the lyrics (which I don’t think make much sense anyway) and more about the visual style.  They’re recreating the music video, yes, but also adding the same elements of style used in the video -- the whole running from the police (Sue) thing, and it’s really pretty cool.  

You can’t get a really good luck at Kurt’s 80s outfit - but here it is, and this goober is just having a lot of fun dancing on the tables and singing in his high register.  It’s nice that they’ve now fully incorporated Chris’s voice into the group numbers -- especially when he’s not going to be singing much on his own.  

Gay Legacy

So, I guess later that day, Kurt goes to try to recruit the gay football player.  Cause, damn, if Ryan Murphy still is clinging on to his closested football player issues.  I really don’t know why Kurt’s wasting his time -- Spencer obviously doesn’t want to be a part of the team, nor have we seen any indication that he actually has some kind of performing arts talents.  But I suppose this scene is supposed to be a commentary on the current state of the LGBT community.  

Actually, that’s exactly what it’s about and it’s kinda fascinating.  The thing about this conversation is to show just how far things have come from 2009.  Society has become more accepting of the LGBT community (obviously, it’s got a long ways to go - but from when Glee started, a lot of progress has been made).  And we’re now here talking about different types of LGBT people.  Kurt can’t and isn’t the catch all for gay anymore - that definition has widen (even if it’s always been that wide and diverse, we can now, as a society, have that conversation).  And now even gay kids can have various inspiration to pull on - it doesn’t have to be musicals, it can be Modern Family.  And that even though Kurt and Spencer share a preference for men, doesn’t make them any more similar than any other two guys. 

So, yeah, it’s interesting that this scene (and the following one that Kurt’s not in) has less to do with the story and recruitment, as it is Glee’s usual way of knocking down the fourth wall and saying - yeah, okay so we’re not relevant like we used to be, but we did have an impact.  

Meanwhile, in actual story time - we get to remember that Kurt was once on the football team -- and learn that Spencer is an asshole, and I’m still not sure why Kurt’s trying so hard to recruit him. 

Recruitment

Kurt next pops up when Brittany is giving him advice on how to win Blaine back -- which involves burning all his clothes (yes, nude Kurt) but getting normal clothes (um, he’s been dressing ‘normally’ for a while now), and then being honest with him (yes do that!) about being a Barbara Bush impersonator (wtf Brittany?).  Kurt’s equally confused as the rest of us and moves on with his life as he should.  

However - I have to wonder - did they know at this point that Brittany was gonna try to get them back together? I have no idea.  None of Brittany’s actions make sense most of the time, so I shouldn’t think too much about it. 

Meanwhile - the main issue is that they’ve all failed to recruit members - mostly because none of them really know what they hell they’re doing.  But then Roderick’s magical voice floats through the vents (sure) and they’re all mystified and run to go find him.  

They find Roderick in the library - and why do they all look terrifying in this scene?  Come join the cult - Roderick, lol.  Anyway - they get a new member.  

And I’ll take a second and talk about the season 6 newbies - who are actually pretty interesting.  They aren’t cut from the same cloth of the originals as the season 4 newbies, their story lines all converge with existing characters, and we’re not forced to sit through any awkward love triangles.  They served a function and it worked, too bad this didn’t happen way back in season 4 - the show might have lasted longer. 

And then we get a long speech about what it is to be in glee.  Cause apparently we needed that reminder.  Kurt doesn’t say anything but nod in the background as other people give speeches.  Ah yes, we’re back in season 1 again aren’t we. 

Roderick auditions for Glee -- cause tradition - and Kurt... doesn’t really do anything.  But he’s there looking pretty so... 

First Meeting

So, ha, okay.  Roderick is their only recruit and he shows up and Kurt has this nice speech about how you can’t go back again, but maybe you can make something new and better out of the ashes of the old thing.  And I think that’s kind of cool -- because it’s not just about glee or his career, but about his relationship with Blaine.  Like I said earlier, even though they’re all home again, the point is to go in a, god help me, new direction -- one that’s better than before, and as we’re coming to the ending of the show, I kind of like that there’s a sentiment that says - yeah you can and are allowed to start over and do things again.  Second chances are a thing. 

However, they’re stopped quickly because Blaine comes in, screaming about how Jane was poached by Rachel and will now be in New Directions instead of the Warblers.  Blaine, who is clearly still angry (and very confused about his emotions) at Kurt blames Kurt for making it all happen -- which is ridiculous, but c’mon Kurt, Blaine’s allowed to have some residual issues.  Kurt even tries to say that it’s fine because the Warblers have a lot of people and New Directions don’t - but Blaine’s pushing back.  Which is actually a good thing, tbh, even if he is a little off the handle here.  Blaine’s no longer going to be a doormat - and that works much better for the balance of he and Kurt in the long run.  

Kurt and Blaine are on their way to being on equal footing again, but here there’s still a lot of pain that hasn’t been healed yet.  Subtext!! 

Homecoming

Alright, so official glee club has started! And they get two more members as the weird cheerleader twins join.  And it’s all happiness and joy as this new/final chapter has officially begun. 

And then we get the final number - Home - where Kurt gets to sing in his lovely lower register.  :D  And the Homecoming celebration officially starts.  It’s a little weird to see the kids doing something so high school normal, lol, but hey it’s a fun time to celebrate.  

So, um, Kurt, Sam, and Artie go spy on Spencer because -- tradition? I mean, that’s one of the themes of episode.  Let’s go with tradition. 

Anyway, being back is actually kinda bittersweet for Kurt because being back home means that there are still a lot of unresolved issues from the past to deal with. 

Blaine and Karofsky are there - and Blaine is intentionally not looking at Kurt, as Kurt looks like he’s been stabbed in the heart watching from afar.  The song plays on - Home is when I’m with you.  Well, Rachel and Mercedes and McKinley is home, but there’s a bit ‘home’ that’s missing in Kurt’s heart.  We’re gonna get there - but we do have a little ways to go. ;)