#isca rambles

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if you hadn't guessed by my reblogs and the tags attached to them, i am very fucking happy with last night's ep.

extremely.

that is all.

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Also I kind of need Tim to gently tease Lucy about falling asleep when they try for talk 2.0 in S8. Plying her with coffee and telling not to get too comfortable again! Or, and credit to Zee for this idea and making my brain instantly snap to Agents of Shield, I need Lucy to approach Tim and ask to talk and she starts before he can and she basically paraphrases his little speech - that she wants to be with him and she's noticed all the work he's put in but she needs reassurance he won't hurt her again and maybe they should think about moving in together if he still wants them to be together - and Tim just stands there like 'okay...so funny story...

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Once again I'm so happy with that episode 😂 and I do get the complaints people have about it and about the writing, but honestly Lucy and most of the characters feel a lot more in character than they did in S6 - but a lot has changed for her and the others as well, so it's natural that they'd react differently to things now as they grow and their experiences shape them. I'm not enjoying the 'Lucy's just using Tim for sex and that's it' comments but to each their own ig. She loves him and she wants to be with him, but talking about (and doing, for those two occasions) the physical stuff is a lot less scary. The sex didn't break her heart, and while she has forgiven him, it doesn't make thinking about going back into a relationship with him any less terrifying. And I don't feel like she's been hot/cold with him. She made it very clear that April Fool's was a 'doesn't count' day, but she was obviously craving some intimacy with him because the exam was still a long way off and they'd been making a lot of big strides. And it was a risky endeavour, so she probably woke up the next day and realised she can't keep doing that. But she's also been clear since the start that she's focusing on her career before anything else rn. She needs that steady foundation under her feet before she tries taking another step towards anything else. Work wasn't why they broke up but it did lead to a lot of issues for them while they were together, and maybe it's contrived but it is an issue for them getting back together. I'm proud of her for focusing on that part of her life ahead of anything else. But she's never backtracked and led Tim on with the promise of being together, telling her she loves him and wants to be with him again, only to go 'nah actually my career first'. She made it clear it was career first, even when they were hooking up. And Tim's an adult man - he made decisions and now she's making decisions.

I do hope we get a good talk for them both before they get back together, though I'm not holding my breath and I'm especially not expecting anything long or detailed because the show just doesn't do that and never has. But honestly aside from a few scenarios I'm pretty sure I'll be happy with whatever we get for them. Diving into Lucy's mindset would be brilliant but it's just not something I've ever let myself hope for. And it's completely fine to be disappointed with what we're getting too! I don't want to negate anyone's reactions or feelings about the season or the series as a whole. I could ramble on forever about this but I need to stop at some point. Everyone is completely entitled to feel how they feel about the show and the stories and the characters, I just don't like being told I don't understand the characters or I'm shilling for Alexi because I'm enjoying what we're getting. We're all going to interpret things differently and that's fine, just don't put down someone else's interpretation to bolster your own.

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I loved that ep so much sorry not sorry 😂 I know everyone wanted a far more serious and indepth conversation, and I did too, but I already had a feeling we weren't going to see much of the adult conversation (if at all) so I'm good to take what we're given. We might get something more once she gets her results or while they're studying, maybe him reassuring her since being ready and actually taking that leap are two very different things, but we might not.

And I'm okay with that. This has always been what fic is for me - the absolute best gap filler known to mankind! It totally tracks that they'd have that conversation (AND DISCUSS BABY NAMES HELLO RELEASE THE CUT PLEASE) while drugged with truth serum because it's them! They only vaguely started confronting their own feelings for each other while they were undercover as their doppelgangers! Of course they'd need truth serum to get the ball over that last hurdle 😂 I do need to rewatch it because the second we saw Lucy's hair down WHILE IN UNIFORM in the docu preview thing, my brain just sort of stopped working? And then they were constantly just looking at each other during the interviews and then they were drugged up and Lucy was being fucking adorable and they were being so silly and then BAM talk, Lucy realising she's forgiven him and being so surprised by this relevation and Tim just sat there like '?????!!!!!!' and BABY NAMES and...yeah, processing literally anything else was a challenge, especially at 3am. Plus while we did have to sit through Rodge, we had no Bailey! And we not only got Hopez but also WOPEZ? And I think we'll be getting more Wopez in the next few episodes too THANK YOU! I'm honestly so easy to please, so I'm very happy rn 🤭

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Really need to sit down and rewatch these two eps and just ramble all my rambles on here at some point. But mostly it's just a lot of 'MY TINY SON' 'MY OTHER NOT-SO-TINY-BUT-STILL-TINY SON' and 'THEY WILL BE TOGETHER DON'T YOU DO THIS TO ME YOU AWKWARD IDIOTS IN LOVE PRETENDING EVERYTHING IS FINE BECAUSE YOU'RE ACTUALLY TOO TERRIFIED OF LOSING THIS FRIENDSHIP AND WORK RELATIONSHIP AGAIN TO TAKE THAT NEXT STEP INTO THE ANGSTY BUT REWARDING HEALING AND FORWARD MOVEMENT ERA BOTH OF YOU GET MORE THERAPY PLEASE'

soooo...nothing too insightful

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Lucy Chen is the love of Tim Bradford's life and Angela Lopez agrees!

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[doing a Lucy Chen and talking things out so I can process them, which is essentially me just rambling on twitter and/or bsky and then copying that ramble here so I can find it/add to it later] I don't think we're getting anything 'big' as a precusor to April Fool's, but I could be very wrong. I think for Lucy it's just a matter of needing time, rather than one big act or event pushing her. But almost being blown up at least twice probably helps. And the more I think about it, the more I think that the talk in the shop in 7x11 *is* the catalyst for the prank. She talks about boundaries and that she hasn't forgiven him yet, but that talk cleared up so much for both of them. They're on the same page, they want the same thing. He's willing to wait for her to be ready. She doesn't need anything more right now, just time. He's respecting her needs. Between that & time literally passing, Lucy is feeling more ready to want something with Tim again. She's still not 100% which is why she sets up the prank - a chance to be with Tim without obstacles or consequences or getting hurt. A test run to see if she's ready, and how she'll feel being with him again. There doesn't necessarily need to be something to bridge the talk to the prank because the talk is the bridge. For me, anyway. I would love a scene to show us Lucy working through her thoughts after 7x11. That she knows for sure she's it for him, that he knows he's it for her. That she's voiced aloud, to him no less, that them being together is a when and not an if. But alas, that's unlikely. And honestly if there is something that happens that encourages her to be bold enough to turn up at his door just past midnight, that's great! We know she's going to get nearly blown up at least twice this ep, and Tim will be on scene for at least one of them after the fact, so if we could get some frantic/panicked Tim checking her for injuries (subtly or otherwise) that'd be fantastic! But I guess if we don't get something, it'll still makes sense to me? If that makes sense? Even with 60 roommates (please let this girl move in with Tim soon so she can a) have her boys back b) have some goddamned peace and space!), we don't usually get to see Lucy talking through things unless it's with Tim. Since 11 & 12 had some big moments, it's true to type if 13 doesn't focus on them much, even with the swap. 14 or 15 will probably (hopefully) be the next 'big' one for them.