CS.

[neverforever09]

Omg I don’t have TikTok and you’re the FIRST person I’ve come across that doesn’t hate Freddie in Finding her edge like omg that CANDLELIGHT SCENE??? WHEN SHE KISSES HIS BRUISES WTF how are people not seeing this, yes Brayden and her were cute, yes the record shop and all of that was fun but this. THIS ONE SCENE is making me feral

(Also idk if you’ve already seen it but if you want like…slightly better television (I love the show, but it’s objectively a trashy YA sports romance let’s call it what it is) I highly recommend the Interview with the Vampire series it’s so good it’s dramatic but it’s beautifully shot and acted and ugh I love it so much.)

Yeah, the candle light scene pretty much laid out how this story was going to go for this season and really for them as characters. Every scene with Brayden and Adey, you got their fake relationship or their fragile sports partnership or the rink troubles or whatever. In that scene, it was just Adey and Freddie as people. Adey didn’t come to him because her family needed her to or because Freddie had even asked her there, she went because she wanted to.

The center of every love triangle is really about what the person in the middle wants and that scene made it clear that after all this time (and probably always), Freddie was always going to be what she wanted.

Also, that scene was just amazing cinematically - the music, the close up shots, it was so quiet and peaceful yet full of so much tension because they hadn’t yet crossed the line they’ve been wanting to cross the whole season.

Thanks for the recommendation btw - I’ll check it out :)

[thewhitequeendaily]

No Anthony! No!

[neverforever09]

“Freddie is the safe choice." Sometimes, I really question if there was a second version of Finding Her Edge that was released that people are watching because I don't know how one could come to this conclusion watching the show. To really understand the difference, let's start with Brayden's relationship with Adriana. Let's forget about the chemistry bit so we can think about this logically. The biggest decisions that Brayden makes in the show are often framed around his partnership with Adey and what it means about winning medals and fixing his reputation. What has Brayden risked to be with Adey? Nothing really - he gets a girl who comes from a famous family in the sport and one that is a good athlete. On the other hand, Freddie risks the stability of his partnership with Riley and the possibility of getting hurt (to his knowledge, Adey is with Brayden, but he had feelings before that point too before anyone comes out with the "he only liked her because Brayden did BS"). He's not getting anything out of this but Adriana. The bottom line is that when things get messy, Brayden runs. On the other hand, Freddie doesn't run when things are messy or hard because he loves and wants Adriana that much. I would argue that Brayden is the safe choice for Adey. With him, she has a secure skating partnership that can help her family's future financially and give her the medals she wants. Plus, during Worlds in the dressing room, where Adey tells him "I'm sorry Brayden. If there is any chance with Freddie, I cannot let it go." Can we just process that? Before this conversation, Brayden laid out an appealing offer and his feelings clearly ("I will try every day for you" and "What if it was real?"). Before this conversation, Freddie walked away from her after their kiss and Adey even told Brayden that Freddie was mad at her right now. She turned down Brayden even when she didn't know for sure if her and Freddie would work out, but even the slightest chance of being with Freddie was worth it to her. The most beautiful line from this season was right near the end where Freddie and Adey were having a conversation after Worlds about their future. Freddie asked "How do we do this? [be together while we skate with other people]" and Adey replied "We'll figure it out as we go". I hope that's what Season 2 focuses on - them figuring it out as they go. The actress for Adey also mentioned that during this season, her character has been torn up about what her heart wants and what her brain wants. I feel like that alludes to Freddie and Brayden, respectively [here, I'm just extrapolating from what I saw in the show]. Freddie isn't just a nice guy that she's known from a young age. He's someone who she let go of in her grief, someone who has put up walls over this season, someone who understands her despite the years that have passed, someone that Adey walked away from skating for two years because of, and someone who loves her quietly and selflessly even at his own cost.

[neverforever09]

One thing I have seen being said is that Freddie kissed her sister Elise and how that is somehow problematic. Firstly, he apologized and acknowledged that it was something he regretted and won't be happening again. Secondly, what did he owe Adriana in that moment? Why was it such a crime for him to kiss another girl if he was unattached? Thirdly, what has he done that Brayden hasn't - if I recall correctly, Brayden did more than kiss Elise. In both situations, neither of the boys owed Adriana anything of the sort involving staying away from Elise.

If I'm to actually compare both boys' relationships to Elise, Brayden's was the one where he actually was intimate with her, sought her out when he wasn't struggling or going through anything that might cloud his judgement, followed it up by bringing her flowers, and even got into a fight with Elise's boyfriend over her. In Freddie's case, as we saw and as Elise reassured Adey, Elise did all the leaning in. That's different than buying flowers and commuting to Elise's hospital room with a skip in his step as Brayden did.

Setting the boys' and Elise's parts in all this aside, let's consider how different Adey's reactions were to this. When she saw Elise and Brayden the first time in Elise's room, she did not care. When she saw Brayden go into Elise's room after they told Adey's dad they are skating together, she was a little irritated. This dude, not even a minute in, is breaking one of the conditions her dad set in allowing them to skate together? This guy is already jeopardizing her plan in solving her family's financial concerns?

Now, with Freddie, girly was proper pissed. She was so pissed that she was confused why she seemed more pissed than Riley (huh, idk girl. maybe it's cause you're the one who's been in love with him for years?). It was the first time she was cold with Freddie this whole season. Then, she went to Elise and laid into her - "You kissed Freddie. Of all people, Freddie." she said to Elise. Even Maria was ready to join Adey in slapping Elise because everyone and their moms in that Russo house knows what Freddie is, and always will be, to Adey. Mind you, this was when Adey was with Brayden to everyone's knowledge. 

Yeah, every character in that show know damn well she ain't never getting over Freddie O'Connell.

[neverforever09]

Adriana wasn't handling all this love triangle stuff all too well, but I'm tired of people pretending like Brayden got very wronged. To be blunt, I don't even think Adey considers this a love triangle. To her, there are her and Freddie's very real and deep feelings for each other. And then, there's this blonde guy who gave her the ick at first, but she came to appreciate as a skating partner who she's pretending to be loved up with so that she can help her family with their very concerning financial problems. Kinda like a line connecting her an Freddie and then, her and Brayden's mutually beneficial agreement which is not even on the same wavelength or plane.

Let's recap what Adey actually said in the show rather than hyper focusing on two lines Brayden said in episode 8 or his abs:

"There's a vibe" about Brayden (when speaking to Riley) vs. "I will never be over Freddie" about Freddie (to Maria)

"I couldn't care less about that right now" when explaining her arrangement  with Brayden to Freddie. (Girly knows what she wants - WHAT IS NOT CLICKING WITH THE GOONING TIKTOK MASSES?)

"You make me better too, but we can't keep up this act!" to Brayden when he is literally confessing to her (she got her priorities straight. two kisses with Freddie and now, touching Brayden is giving her the ick).

"But you already have a partner" to Freddie when they were talking about her skating with Brayden. Y'all, DO YOU LOT HAVE NO COMPREHENSION OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE??! If Freddie is an option, she's already made her choice. If she had any stress after kissing Freddie, I promise you that it was "shucks, my business arrangement ain't gonna vibe with this but oh well". Being with Freddie was, a thought echoed by the author as well, the most selfish she's ever been - choosing something she had wanted all her life rather than what her family needed. Which makes me think how ironic it would be if the writers chuck their backbone and have her end up with Brayden to appease fans rather than giving the character what they want in their heart. A girl does not owe a guy her love for his development, I have no clue where that notion even spawned from.

The reason I'm so hyped over this is because I genuinely cannot comprehend how some people are so pressed about an ending that makes this much sense.

[neverforever09]

I finished watching Finding Her Edge, and my gripe is not with the show but with not being able to enjoy Fredriana edits on social media without people screaming Team Brayden in the replies.

Watching the show the first time around, I didn't have a clear team that I was on. I was just there for the tea, and I didn't have a bias towards either guy. Brayden gave me the ick several times but Freddie also sometimes bothered me. Over the series, Brayden became more tolerable and Freddie's demeanour made sense. Yes, I got it that Freddie was Adey's first love and Brayden was to be the typical fictional bad boy with a redemption arc where the girl 'makes him better'. Neither of those tropes spoke to me and we see them so often in media that it gets boring after a while.

But, then the series went along and Adey spent so much time with Brayden. She had fun with him and fought to skate with him. All we really saw of her and Freddie for most of the series were all these yearning glances (kudos to the casting directors for getting an actor with big eyes to do all those crumbs justice). If we think about the series up till episode 7, it was:

1) Brayden falling for Adey. Adey wasn't entirely ignorant of that I think ("there's a vibe" she said to Riley before qualifiers).

2) Adey learning that she and Brayden work really well as skating partners. She definitely acknowledges their joint 'hotness'.

3) Freddie being uncomfortable with Adey and Brayden skating and "dating", similar to how Adey was uncomfortable with Freddie and Riley skating together.

4) Adey loves Freddie. That has never changed from episode 1 to 8. I don't know why people thought that a couple months with a bad boy, a moment in a club, and a couple kisses were going to change that.

In episode 7, the moment that really had me understand the story and the relationships was all the scenes after the collision on the ice.

1) The scene with Brayden  - the guy is there in her bedroom, clearly wanting more with her and seeming disappointed when she just tells him 'good night'. Adey doesn't seem torn here at all - doing anything with Brayden doesn't seem to be on her mind at all.

2) The scene with Freddie. This is the first time she has gone to a guy's room with meaning in this show. The candle light. The conversations. The dance. There was so much to unpack and it feels like they tried to smush all the beauty of this relationship into one scene and it kinda worked, but at the same time - WE NEEDED MORE SCENES LIKE THIS. I'll see people ranting over how Freddie and her made no sense and I wonder if they watched this scene with their eyes closed because this was the most romantic scene on television for me. I will need a whole other post(s) to talk about that scene. Safe to say, after this scene, the story they were trying to tell made sense to me.

Every comment I see about her and Brayden is about how they have more chemistry. I'm in my 20's right now and, yeah, chemistry might have been the main factor to me in relationships when I was younger, but as you mature, you realize that there is so much more to a relationship than how much it burns. Actors have chemistry all the time. Tessa and Scott - arguably the most famous ice dance pair - had chemistry and well, they weren't together. Chemistry makes for partners in this sport, not necessarily a personal romantic relationship.

I'm really trying to think of a lack in Freddie and Adey's relationship and I'm coming up blank. They have history. They have respect for each other. They have passion and tenderness. They've always loved each other, even when they knew they had other options. They didn't settle for each other like they did for others. They chose each other.

Dear writers, please continue to tell the story you have been telling. Show us the obstacles that Adey and Freddie run into as skating partners and as a new couple. And maybe they realize that they don't work best as partners or maybe they do. But have them overcome these  obstacle and make it out the other side as two people that love each other, regardless of whether they are skating together or not.

[neverforever09]

Episode 7 Candle Scene

This scene. THIS SCENE.

*takes a deep breath*

I'm going to write a detailed rant about this scene from scratch because I have watched it atleast a million times by now.

Firstly, the moment when Adey walks to Freddie's door, you can literally see the heaviness in her steps - the way this is meaningful to her. Compare this to the scenes where we have Adey waltzing into Brayden's bedroom like she walks into Maria's room. Even from this, it's clear as day the difference in her feelings towards those two boys in that moment. The moment where he opens the door, the look on his face, the candlelight between them, yeah, this ain't nothing to Fred either. That difference is further highlighted when Adey remarks this has been the first time she was back in this room since before he moved back in.

Then, there's the conversation. The lovely thing about Freddie is that he apologizes - for the collision, for kissing Elise, for doing things that he feels would hurt Adey. Personally, I know the difference that being told verbally that someone is sorry makes. Not to fill this analysis with comparisons to Brayden, but he's not generally like that. Even when Adey tells him it's okay, Freddie needs her to know he's sorry becuase he genuinely is.

Then, they talk about why he was so distracted and his mother. The beautiful thing about their relationship is that there is this non-transactional piece to it. They don't support each other out of some need to make anything work for external reasons (the rink, a medal, reputation) - they do it because they genuinely care about, and respect and admire each other.

There were elements about reminiscing about the past - the snow globe, their first routine. I've seen people trying to downplay their relationship by remarking that they were always reminiscing on the past. Well, 1) at least they got one, and a meaningful one at that. So meaningful that they mention that shared past in several conversations to others. And 2) They're always reminsicing about the past like they miss it. Not necessarily who they were, but the fact that they were close. You have Riley saying on multiple occasions "this is not the Freddie I know" or Brayden saying "Adrianna is so confusing". Freddie and Adriana have never said anything along those lines about each other becuase they know the important parts about each other - that's not holding onto a past version of themselves that doesn't exist anymore, but reminding each other of the best parts of themselves. So, I think that their dwelling on the past is a beautiful thing, a reminder that they've felt this way for a long time and it's not going anywhere.

Then, of course, there was the dance. This is one of those scenes that show you that not everything needs words. Yes, Adriana and Brayden have shared 90% of their scenes together this season, but Freddie and Adriana can convey what they feel about each other in mere glances.

"I remember exactly what it feels like to skate with you." The boldness in this line and that's the thing with how Adriana is with Freddie. She has always been straightforward with him when she saw the space to be so. After the vulnerable conversation, she didn't put an end to the moment, hold his hand, say she's sorry and call it a day. This line is what's been running round her mind all season, having to watch him skate with someone else, everytime she's run into a setback with Brayden, even when she hadn't worn her skates for years. "Me too" - they've both been missing something of each other and nobody sit there and tell me there is anything remotely platonic about those feelings. Everybody all season brought up Freddie to Adey or Adey to Freddie in one way or another. "I always thought...." or " Doesn't it bother you?" Yeah these two also always thought and yes, watching the other skate with someone else did bother them.

Can I also say, just rolling off how people were counting how many TS songs BellyConr*d were getting from TSITP, that the lyrical choice in this show is such a masterpiece. Insurance by Deep was such a beautiful piece to this scene, like I will always see this scene when I hear this song. Other glaring lyrical choices were "Real love isn't real love if it's not us" playing during their first kiss (if the writers walk this whole thing back I'm just....like what even?????)

Okay, back to the dance, the song starts once she puts her hand in his. Can we please talk about the way Freddie was looking at her in this scene? I literally called my mom over and told her that I want a dude to look at me that way, or nothing. Like, where can I find that? No wonder girly isn't getting over this man - the set of his jaw, the softness of the way he was looking at her. It is different from when Brayden is dancing with her, and the difference is that her and Brayden are what we want performers to be doing. Her and Freddie are the kind of stuff that makes me feel like I'm intruding, the kind of stuff where you need a door between the two of you and the rest of the world. It's not for anyone else, just for them. It is why I do wonder if they'll make it as a good skating partnership. They defintiely got the love down, but love isn't what is the foundation of most skating partnerships. Most of these people in real life aren't dating each other and there is reason for that I'm sure.

Even though their hands were in safe places, it was like the two of them were mesmerized with each other. Like they couldn't believe they were in that moment.

The moment where his eyes draw over to her injured hand and Adey's eyes following him as he takes the hand so gently to his lips. If anyone opened a dictionary and pulled up the word intimacy, it would be this scene. How does this scene even exist? The gentleness with which he kisses her hand, and closing his eyes as he does so, and then the eye contact when he looks at her again with her hand still at his lips. WHAT? HOW ARE YOU PEOPLE NOT SEEING THIS? HAVE WE REGRESSED TO AN AGE WHERE PASSION IS MEASURED BY GRINDING AND GROPING OR WHAT? WHATS NOT CLICKING ABOUT THIS SCENE TO Y’ALL?

The only dialogue in this whole dance is when Adey asks to see his back. Let's just pause there and process. He kisses her hand. Her first thought is kissing him where it hurts too. BRO. WHAT EVEN? WHOEVER WROTE THIS, I HOPE YOU DOING WELL TODAY IN LIFE. The intimacy of kissing each other when it hurts. The way they acted it out gave the scene a quiet tension which I don't think would be possible if there weren't years of history and longing between them. WHOEVER SHOT THIS SCENE - BRO YOU DID GOOD TOO. The close up of Adey kissing Freddie's back. Please, y'all, turn up the sound. You can literally hear Freddie's breath catch and stutter with every kiss. And the shot of him closing his eyes while her lips are on him.WHAT IN THE WORLD? WHAT MSG IS IN THIS? PLEASE INJECT THIS INTO EVERY SCENE WITH THESE TWO IN SEASON 2 IF THERE IS ONE (not that they don't bring something wonderful to every scene they share together becuase they so do).

Then, Freddie turning around and them both leaning in? It was crazy how Adey's dad interrupting them by calling for lights out didn't make the scene feel cut off or incomplete becuase it did what it was supposed to do for the characters. They hadn't even kissed yet and Adey was already halfway to saying screw the act and the sponsorship and everything else that isn't Freddie right now.

I could rant about this scene forever. It truly was a masterpiece in every way - acting, directing, writing. Every way.

[neverforever09]

The tension and shyness in this scene is so perfectly acted (lots of acting problems in this series but this moment wasn't one of them).

little "wow"s and "is it too much?' and "no, it's perfect?" and the smiles and not being able to look away from each other and is there even other people in the room?

yeah, they were never getting over each other....

[neverforever09]

The intimacy of finding someone beautiful and caring about someone finding you beautiful.

[neverforever09]

To a lot of the characters on this show, skating came first.

Which is what made that fact that Freddie taught Brayden the choreo so impactful, that he did it despite the fact that Brayden and Adriana were his competition. 1) Freddie was always at least a little uncomfortable with Brayden and Adriana skating together as she was with Freddie and Riley skating together. 2) The two were doing the choreo that Freddie and Adrianna had practiced which he also felt uncomfortable with.

But despite eveything that hurt Freddie about this situation, he put Adriana's interests, her comfort, before his. That's something that was a clear flaw with Brayden, who seemed to up and leave everytime things got hard.

For most of the season, Adriana didn't approach Freddie. The first night she went to his room (the candle scene) was when she learned about Freddie teaching Brayden the choreo.

[neverforever09]

"Where do you think I learned to keep my feelings out of it?" - Freddie (Episode 2) about Adriana when talking about skating partners.

If the yearning looks these two shared in every shared frame since episode 1 weren't glaring enough, this is Freddie straight out saying he had feelings for Adriana.

If there's one beautiful thing about this series, it was how that didn't change through anything.

[neverforever09]

"But you already have a partner." Adriana said to Freddie when they were discussing her skating with Brayden in episode 2.

The dialogue, as cringey as it is, really made the endgame clear from the beginning in a lot of ways.

[neverforever09]

This is the first show I've seen where the female lead ended up with what seemed like the second male lead (I love a good plot twist rather than the 10000th remake of girl falls for bad boy who gets better for her).

So, imma collect all the crumbs we got between episode 1 and episode 7 because girly spent 90% of this season trying to make her partnership with Brayden work (for the rink, for the medal) and 10% yearning eveytime she and Freddie shared a frame together.

In episode 2, we get Brayden saying "Eyes on me Brooklyn, come on." when Adriana looks away from him as they're waltzing when Freddie shows up at the rink.

[neverforever09]

"Freddie, nobody is you" this girly said and lived by that all season, as messy as it was becuase any mess was worth this guy to her.

The second she saw an opening, she was in there because it isn't difficult to choose someone as a person once you know what you want and you've always wanted them.

[neverforever09]

why am i like the only one here shipping freddie and adriana when girly was looking like this when setting up his room for him to come home back to Camp Russo in episode 1??????

like, if we're all about team [insert female lead] and what she wants....well, she always wanted him? and like, that's never changed?

am i missing something here?

[neverforever09]

I'm going to rant here about the fuckass Show Champion speech and encore and the rest of that fuckasss day - PR damage control livestream included- because you get cancelled for that shit on Reddit and X and even fuckass TT.

I’m always stanning the one that gets mistreated to hell and back. YesterdaY, the boys had their FIRST WIN (something that will never come again, it will never be their FIRST) and the boys didnt mention him in their winning speech (though they mentioned just about everyone else even hair and makeup peoples) or their encore (LEO EVEN SANG ARNO’S PARTS FUCK HIM). Then, they posed smiling with the sash and trophy like there was shit to celebrate here (fuck them, the boys i’m talking about becuase they aren’t company puppets but people with agency). Then, they went on a radio show and were all smiling and interacting with fans happily like there was shit to celebrate. I think that during that radio show is when the brunt of the fire started to pour in about how arno was excluded from everything. The boys went on live VERY SUDDENLY (if you know ALD1, you know they announce their lives in advance and never do it at that time of day) and GW (the one who was getting most of the flak for not mentioning arno because he had the mic at the end) mentioned arno (probably some bs they were fed by company staff). It all felt very ingenuine and I know what genuine looks like because I have seen how other bgs have handled situations where their member is missing and how they have acknowledged them properly (even its for as something so simple like variety content). To add salt to it, people started defending their favs instead of acknowledging they made a mistake (maybe they genuinely forgot and do care about him but im not going to be fucking naive becuase i got a job and understand that you don't care about all your coworkers) and making excuses for them like they aren’t grown men. Just still salty about it. It shattered the deception that these are boys who really care about each other rather than boys who for the most part just met each other and might not even get along.

If I ever need to watch something that’ll get me pissed off, I can watch their fuckass Show Champion Speech, Encore, or the Id*l Radio from this day (January 21, 2026). The way they were all smiling whilst not even acknowledging Hao - FUCK THEM. I bet “sweet, helpful” Junseo isn’t like that behind the cameras if he can’t even remember to mention Hao during a moment that should have been his as much as it was theirs. SW has never really pretended to like Hao (that "I always think your dancing is lacking compared to mine" comment will always irk me like BITCH WHO TF DOES HE THINK HE IS HUH). AX and Hao were probably but company mates and AX probably wishes a million times that Hao was Lin. Leo has never liked Hao period. GW same thing. XL, I'll reserved my judgement till I see more. But wow. Kpop really is jsut a pretty little fantasy and it was never mroe clear to me than January 21, 2026.

Yeah, Hao once said some shit about "peace and love", but since then, the world has been obstacle after obstacle for him. I'm sure he grew up like anyone would in those situations and realize that you can be all the peace and love and talent that you want, but other people can be so shit and so its all useless in the end.

[ameliathermopolis]

the white queen meme: [1/8] quotes

“Richard, please, I’ve done nothing wrong!”