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[ruethequai]

Well that was the end of Brilliant Minds. In part a perfect ending. In part too much was left open.

So much has and will be said about the reunion of Josh and Oliver. I'm happy. They're happy. Others cover them better.

Chaco

This post is about Charlie and Nico and to the lovely few of us who shipped them even if logically it was a long shot. But given how queer everyone else was, was the shot truly that long?

Ever since the "hookup" bucket list wish, it has been delight to be here with y'all.

They still had some fun moments in this episode. When Wolf's sister (look! also queer) shows up, Dana pushes Charlie away from his computer and he rolls back until Charlie reaches out his hand to stop him.

They also shared a delighted look when Silva offers to show Margo to Wolf's office. That scene was the most fun of the episode to me and will make me really miss watching this group of interns/nurse.

But in "it's my canon" moment, during the baseball scene, Silva catches Oliver's line drive and throws it to Charlie. Charlie is impressed at his arm and Silva tells him he's good at baseball. It's not a perfect pitchers/catchers metaphor but to me, it's enough. And "I'm good at baseball" was letting Charlie know he's good at sex.

I'd like to think they'd explore them in a hypothetical season 3. But of course, the one reporter who has done a post mortem interview so far did not ask about Charlie and Nico even though a ship being completely fanon has never stopped her from pestering the show runners and actors about it for other shows.

Other thoughts:

Yet another relationship bites the dust. Thorne is good looking but he was wrong.

I enjoy Jake Epstein and, of the two cliffhangers, this one was by far the most intriguing.

Carol, Wolf and Nichols on vacation together does seem about right.

It was nice to see Van again. I wonder if he would have returned. Maybe he and Erica would have reunited?

Beau, they can't make me hate you. At least I know the actor has a real life hottie husband at home (the actor/director who plays Colmon Domingo's husband in the Four Seasons). Perhaps he can get you a guest appearance on his show.

[ruethequai]

Oh Brilliant Minds, what was this?

At this point you must have known you were likely getting cancelled, right? When they pulled you from the schedule, you had just filmed Ep. 17.

And I know the episodes for 18-20 had already been written but couldn't you make some adjustments? The choices in this episode felt way too much like you were hoping against hope for a Season 3 and given what you knew, that is unacceptable.

This was the penultimate episode and right away I noticed Al Calderon wasn't in the credits so no Silva. What a waste. No truthtelling. No quips. No movement on my Chaco agenda. Silva would have read that romantasy book to you, Charlie.

And then you break up Dana with her girlfriend. They probably weren't right for one another but again, second-to-last episode. I really don't think it was absolutely necessary to do that with 1 ep to go. Dana was kind of a jerk, too. She didn't take initiative to make this realization, she was being a bad partner and leaving her girlfriend in the lurch until the girlfriend finally forced the conversation. All of this just so Dana could get flirty with Oliver's long lost sister?

I love Beau. Truly I do. But I thought we were done with him after last week? Why is he still here and proposing to Josh? But I can't even be mad at him because at least he's taking initiative to go after who he wants.

And that brings me to Josh and Oliver. Josh doesn't know what he wants? And after Oliver's big declaration, he doesn't know what he wants?

How are they going to wrap this up in one episode? They had better not end this show with none of the queer couples together.

[ruethequai]

Last night one of the cases on Brilliant Minds involved a woman who was married to another woman.

Oliver threw a literal sausage party.

It's also very clear they're heading for a WolfNichols reunion now that Silva has told Josh what he said when he was sick and Josh taking a break with Beau.

Beau, you deserved better my beauty. You just ran into a stronger 'ex'.

Can this show just go all out and make sure Nico and Charlie hook up in the last two episodes?

Please and thank you.

[ruethequai]

I loved seeing Josh defend Wolf at the board meeting. His speech was very good and I'm surprised he didn't bring up the legal ramifications of firing someone on medical leave.

But I do have an unpopular opinion. Josh was letting his emotions rule his decision making. It's not like the board doesn't likely have justified reasons to part ways with Wolf.

And moving to terminate Charlie's residency was reactionary. Yes, he's arrogant but it would take more to bounce him.

I did love the hug at the end.

And I'm not sure what to make of the drunk Charlie and Silva scene. I didn't want them to hook up while Charlie was drunk but I wouldn't have minded a heated moment. Instead it was very bro-y.

[altemusfilms]

CALL ME A FISH CAUSE IM FALLING FOR THE BAIT WHY THROW THIS LINE IN THERE AND NOT GO ANYWHERE WITH IT CHARCO INCOMING

[ruethequai]

I'm a big WolfNichols fan but I cannot lie, I found that kiss with Beau to be super hot.

[ruethequai]

I love how queer this show is. Just when I thought they might be setting something up between Erica and Charlie with that tense exchange, they drop this.

Silva: My only regret would be not hooking up with Porter. Charlie: There's still time.

Me: That's right. This is exactly the way this should go.

[myspumoni]

Here are some of the times Buck referred to his exes after their breakups.

Abby

"You are my ghost story, Abby. You are the amazing spirit that blew into my life, turned it upside down, and then vanished into the night. Being with you made me a better man, and for that I will always love you. Now it's time for me to figure out who I am without you." (2x07)

3x16: "Yes, fine, sometimes I still think about Abby. But that isn't what this is about." "Okay, so you don't think this business with Red is hitting a little close to home? A lonely hero firefighter who's pining for his lost love? I mean, that's ridiculous." "You think I'm lonely?" "I think that you tried dating a few times after Abby left." "Which did not work out." "So you just stop trying?"

Ali

3x01: "I know I wasn't always the easiest person to be around." "Oh, my God. Oh, really? No, you weren't that bad." "You should-- ask my-- Ex-girlfriend, sorry." "Hey, she just wasn't the right fit.You'll find someone new."

Taylor

6x01: "My last two couches came with girlfriends." "I think you mean your last two girlfriends came with couches. Taylor moved out, what, four months ago, Buck? You could have replaced the couch by now." "Uh, well, maybe I don't want to pick the wrong couch again."

Natalia

7x01: "Why don't you invite Natalia go-karting? I'm sure she'd love it." "We, uh, we broke up. I don't know why I thought it was such a great idea, dating a death doula." "To be fair, you had just died." "Yeah, well, that's all she ever wanted to talk about. Death, death, death. Got kind of boring, to be honest with you."

Tommy Kinard

8x07: "You found a coping skill to deal with cravings. We do the same thing in recovery." "Well, I-I don't feel anywhere near recovered. What I feel is a tractor beam pulling me towards my phone to see if he's texted me." "I know that feeling. Stay strong, man." "Oh, my God. H-He's bubbling me. Tommy is bubbling me right now, finally." 8x08: "I almost called Tommy,so I baked every speck of flour I had in the house,and I'm still jonesing for it." 9x07: "Yeah. [I am single] by choice." "Tommy's choice." "Thing is, I haven't felt something real with anyone since Tommy."

[zolyarozanova]

Heated Rivalry || 1.05 "I'll Believe in Anything" Ending

[zcmbic]

“I LOVE YOU SO FUCKING MUCH”

“I LOVE YOU TOO”

ARE YOU KIDDING ME??

[michaelormewood]

for the person on the anon meme who saw the vision with ormewood and bon bon

[locusimperium]

[swan-archive]

locusimperium:

A few years ago, when I was living in the housing co-op and looking for a quick cookie recipe, I came across a blog post for something called “Norwegian Christmas butter squares.” I’d never found anything like it before: it created rich, buttery and chewy cookies, like a vastly superior version of the holiday sugar cookies I’d eaten growing up. About a year ago I went looking for the recipe again, and failed to find it. The blog had been taken down, and it sent me into momentary panic. 

Luckily, I remembered enough to find it on the Wayback Machine, and quickly copied it into a file that I’ve saved ever since. I probably make these cookies about once a month, and they last about five days around my voracious husband - they’re fantastic with a cup of bitter coffee or tea. I’m skeptical that there is something distinctively Norwegian about these cookies, but they do seem like the perfect thing to eat on a cold day. 

Norwegian Christmas Butter Squares

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 egg 1 cup sugar 2 cups flour 1 tsp vanilla ½ tsp salt Turbinado/ Raw Sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Chill a 9x13″ baking pan in the freezer. Do not grease the pan.

Using a mixer, blend the butter, egg, sugar, and salt together until it is creamy.  Add the flour and vanilla and mix using your hands until the mixture holds together in large clumps. If it seems overly soft, add a little extra flour. 

Using your hands, press the dough out onto the chilled and ungreased baking sheet until it is even and ¼ inch thick.  Dust the top of the cookies evenly with raw sugar.

Bake at 400 degrees until the edges turn a golden brown, about 12-15 minutes. Remove from the oven. Let cool for about five minutes before cutting the cooked dough into squares. Remove the squares from the warm pan using a spatula.

[brawltogethernow]

So I tried this recipe.

And it is GREAT.

It basically makes the platonic ideal of commercial sugar cookies, only in bar form. When I give them to people (which I do a lot, because this is one of those simple recipes where the results seem very impressive), I just tell them they’re sugar cookie bars.

[davetheshady]

Life hack: add white chocolate chips and sea salt

[mxxnlit-witch]

I made these today for the equinox with sea salt caramel chips and they are simply amazing. Let’s see how long they last with six people in the house!

[dduane]

Noting for later (as we need more butter for this, and probably won’t do a grocery shopping till the weekend).

[amyamychan]

The OP version of this has become my go-to cookie for basically all things and I have a whole cohort of friends and colleagues who would murder each other to get them. Haven’t tried any add ons yet, since the base recipe is SO GOOD.

[g1sunstreaker]

I’ve reblogged this before and I’m reblogging it again because I’m about to make it again tomorrow and I wanted to add my own tale of just how amazingly delicious it. it was SO incredibly simple to bake and with an extra dusting of brown sugar on top and served warm and soft they gift you with the taste of the nectar of the gods when paired with a small glass of milk. this image is from when I first made them a couple years ago:

GO. MAKE THESE !!!!

[mikkeneko]

Needed to make a dessert in a hurry to bring to Thanksgiving, and this recipe worked excellently. I did not have the right kind of sugar for the topping, so instead I used a packet of lemonade powder, which gave it a nice citrusy zing.

[five-rivers]

Making these for myself as a reward for doing the no fun thing I’ve been putting off. Added half a lemon of lemon juice and a bit more flour. Let’s see how it turns out. >:3

[five-rivers]

Verdict: tasty.

[dduane]

These are really, really good, btw. (sorry, no pics…) :/

[1thesewordsaremyown1]

So @unfuckablebogtroll made this observation about Buck in the tags of another post that made me stop and go "wow. Huh, well said."

"He can be queer but it can't be the centre of his story. But since he's not allowed to grow up and have a long term relationship or seek career advancement they don't have much else to do with him."

Omg, YES. Because when Oliver was saying how he didn't want Buck to be bogged down by relationships and his whole wanting Buck to be "free", I remember thinking "yeah, but your relationship with Tommy was the only time you ever really had any storylines". But @unfuckablebogtroll really hammered it home - they're not allowing him to grow up and be respected by his fellow co-workers. They're not allowing him to get any further in his career. They decided he and Tommy were too much of a good thing and blew that out of the water. So what's left for Buck? Dating around? Wow, fun, especially since they won't let him get any further than that because "Buck must be single" (and after the way they treated Tommy, we can't trust they won't do the same with any other potential love interest). The only storyline he has going on right now is about his grief and being isolated by his team (and let's see if THAT pans out in a satisfying way) but that storyline isn't advancing Buck's story as a person - once it's over, where does he go from here? He'll still be in the same place he was a year ago. Buck is STUCK. And the thing is, being in the same job position or being single is fine, if that's what you want - except we KNOW Buck wants to have a happy, long term relationship (he's been saying so since season 2). He's mentioned he'd like to be Captain one day. He wants MORE, but the writers aren't making any effort for him to get there.

They barely focused on his sexuality outside of his relationship with Tommy. It looks like Buck may act as a mentor for Harry, but we've seen him do that before with Ravi - is it going to go anywhere this time? Doubtful, because God forbid they split up the 118. And relationship wise - well, they made Buck so incredibly fucking passive, going from the guy who talked about love being something worth fighting for to refusing to pick up a phone (even though he said he wanted to on multiple occasions), for someone who was the most transformative relationship of his life. I mean, it's nice that Tommy meant so much to Buck that this is the first time we've really seen him mourn a relationship for so long, but if it meant so much, then why the hell didn't he fight for it, (ESPECIALLY when he knew Tommy wanted to try again)? And if he does start dating again... well, it's going to be same old, same old isn't it? Like I said, the viewers aren't going to expect it to get very far, because if he won't fight for Tommy, the man that made him talk about marriage and moving in and having a future with, what hope does this new person have? Buck will remain on his perpetual hamster wheel. And that's what's frustrating, because if he had stayed with Tommy, there would have been so much opportunity for growth than what he's been given. (And it's even MORE frustrating that Oliver doesn't seem to realise that.)

[sherlocking-out-loud]

you make very interesting points! I do have a slightly different interpretation of Oliver's words (from different interviews, but unfortunately I'm on my phone right now so I only have one link):

this makes me think he doesn't mind a long-term relationship for Buck, he's just tired of all the drama. he wants Buck to have a happy relationship for a change, for him to have fun. which, fair.

but we all know Tim: he doesn't know how to write stories without drama, so, if Oliver doesn't want drama, he won't get the relationship either. and yeah, that ends up with Buck back in the eternal hamster wheel.

[1thesewordsaremyown1]

Yeah, but that's the thing with Oliver - he always seems to be saying different things with each interview. The interview I was thinking about when I mentioned his wanting Buck to be free was this one:

So while I completely agree with your analysis with the interview you posted - it DOES seem he'd be on board with a long term relationship - with this one it sounds like he wants Buck living single. But the man has changed his tune so many times (especially depending on who's interviewing him) who knows how he really feels. He's the master of saying a little without actually saying anything at all lol.

(But yeah, if Oliver wants drama free romance, he's never going to get any storylines. But to be fair, 911 is a soap opera - relationship or no, he's going to have drama, its the only storylines they know how to do.)

[ruethequai]

I think the answers in Oliver's interviews tend to shift based on where Buck's story is or where he thinks Buck's story is going. At the end of last season, a lot of the interviews made it sound, to me, like he expected Buck to be in a relationship. It's why I believe he believed Tommy would back.

The shift to talking about things he wants from a single Buck pre-Season 9 was one of the first warning signs that made me realize a Tommy reunion wasn't on the horizon for the foreseeable future.

[thats-the-biz-babe]

BRILLIANT MINDS 2x07 'The One That Got Away'

[madlori]

My ankle journey

I am sharing this with all you good people on the dash because I am so fucking mad it took so long for me to learn it and if I can spare one (1) person the agony it will be worth it.

So for like...oh, 8 or 9 months, I've been struggling with pain/inflammation/tendinitis in my left Achilles tendon. I don't know what caused it. It just started up (welcome to middle age, this shit happens). It wasn't severe enough to be debilitating, but it was annoying and limiting. It was also intermittent, in that some days it would be very painful and other days hardly at all. The kind of shoe I was wearing affected it a lot.

Now, I have bone spurs on both heels (it's just a thing that happens as you get older sometimes). I'm also aware that heel pain is usually the result of tight calf muscles that pull and irritate the tendon. I tried stretching that calf muscle. You know the stretch, this bitch right here:

I did it all the time. I also iced the ankle after walking for awhile, hoping to avoid inflammation. Results were...unsatisfying.

I went to:

A chiropractor

A podiatrist

A physical therapist

A bodywork coach

They all gave me some variation on the "strengthen your calf muscle, stretch your calf muscle" advice. I continued doing this without results.

I was getting frustrated, and a little afraid that this was just my life now. Finally, I thought...maybe some targeted massage might help. I asked for rec on a local FB site and was pointed to a woman who specializes in therapeutic massage including cupping, etc.

I went to her a week ago.

She spent over half our first session working on my left lower leg. Within about 10 minutes of making my eyes water, she uttered the sentence I did not know I had been waiting to hear:

"Oh, it's your soleus."

Excuse me, what?

"It's your soleus that's the culprit. It's all tied up and stiff." She started digging into it and I felt literal sparks run up my leg as she released adhesions and got the muscle moving a little. When she finally put the leg down, it felt like it was on fire with all the blood rushing into it.

She said, "You'll need to stretch your soleus. It'll clear up, but it'll take a bit of time - tendons take ages to heal."

But I HAVE been stretching.

"No, you haven't. The usual straight-leg calf stretch only stretches the gastrocnemius, that's the big belly muscle in your calf. That's not your problem. That stretch doesn't stretch the soleus. Don't worry, I'll show you how to stretch it."

My mind is spinning.

So here are the muscles in question:

The gastroc (as the pros call it) just attaches down the back but the soleus runs underneath it from the knee around the side to the heel. The lower part above the ankle is where it typically gets tight and forms adhesions.

To stretch it, you do the same calf thing where you put your foot back and press your heel to the ground, but you have to do it with your KNEE BENT:

The bent knee keeps the gastroc from engaging. It's one of those selfish muscles (like traps) - if you give it an inch, it'll just take over and prevent other muscles from working or stretching. There are other ways to stretch the soleus but this is the easiest and you can literally do it anywhere. I've been doing it while standing and waiting for things (the elevator to come, the toast to toast). You just put the heel back and bend the knee. It's kind of like curtseying.

The minute I did this stretch, I could FEEL where it was pulling on my tendon. I knew that THIS had been the problem.

The massage therapist also told me to stop icing my heel. She said icing is for an acute injury, but a more chronic aggravation needs heat, to increase blood flow for healing. She recommended elevation with heat every day (I've been doing it in bed during "phone before bed" time).

I have been doing the soleus stretch at least half a dozen times a day for almost a week, and the ankle is at least 70% better. It is still a little tight and tender, but the improvement is significant. I think a few more weeks will have it feeling normal.

I am...blown away by this. This massage therapist was able to pinpoint an issue in only a few minutes that eluded all the other professionals I saw. I can't wait to go back to her and have her solve all my other problems, tbh.

[madlori]

Rebloobing this just because whenever it goes around it seems to help a lot of people.

Incidentally I did this stretch for a few months, my ankle pain went away entirely. I really don't do the stretch regularly anymore - on occasion, when I think of it - and the Achilles pain has never returned.

[hannah-asher]

[hannah-asher]