Mattyboy

Well, that's creepy and powerful and yay for Ash getting out of there. The story has been hinting at something like this since the beginning, but that's quite an unveiling. 🔥🔥🔥

Well done, Luke! 👏👏👏 What a fun, weird, tense, happy prom night (well, the first half of it, anyhow). I get that this story is in Jackson's POV, and he won't be there to hear it, but I'd really like to be a fly-on-the-wall for Welker's talk with Cindy about teachers assaulting students at the prom.

Gabriel's day seems to portend all kinds of angst and fun. And this development with Zooey ! Will we hear more over cake? Is it anyone Matty now knows?

Works for me, Georgia. Sure, it's a big school with a big team, but new-coach-needs-some-bodies happens all the time. And Jackson seems like he's pretty good at this swimming stuff, if in a raw-but-can-grow-way. And for the story it works great, that it's not impossible, but it's something good and nice, rather more so than that Cindy can get away with sneering at it.

I wanted to post a longer, more analytic comment, because that's my thing. This is beautiful. Thank you for sharing the story. 🔥🔥🔥

I really liked this from Aiden, seemed very human and natural. Earlier, he was being a dick because he thought he could get away with it, but now Jackson and Charlie and Shay and Tara have formed a friend group, and he's not in it and has no power in particular. (and Jackson and maybe Charlie are getting attention from a high-prestige coach, so maybe behaving well looks like the way to go) So he's behaving better, really just in an "ordinary teammate" way, but he's smartened up about how far fuckery can get him. Frankly, I was wondering (hoping) what would happen if Tony saw Cindy hassling one of his swimmers on a nutrition break. That must have been annoying for Cindy to see Jackson succeeding (at least in part because of hard work) in a venue where a bunch of people clearly valued him. But she would not have been ready for Tony swinging into action (mm, I guess it's not Tony's pool, but still... he would not have been Ok with that)

Wow, this really is the Best Year! The scene of Jackson taking care of business at the pool was great. And the offer arrived and the prom is happening! And Cindy has been managed! (so far) Loved the reference way back to episode 1 and the gym-sliding incident. It's a sign of the year coming full circle, but a beautiful touch of writing. Go go L & J!

With apologies to Dave Loggins... 😈 "Ramblin' boys, we better settle that Doha ain't your kind of cat There ain't no plums, and they ain't nobody like Matt the number one man for the king of Sunny Hill"

I feel this story, as much as it's about cute teen and heartache, is sort of in a mythic register as well. Tyler and Ariel will always be pushing that rock up their side of the hill, never reaching to top at the same time. (Ariel's side looks a lot more churned up, for some reason)

Think mundi

Jackson has cocky eyebrows. It's just who he is, there's no point pretending otherwise.

Jackson has changed so much. So pensive and bittersweet now. That guy who didn't even open recruitment packages a few months ago is now burdened by "will Luke come to Georgia?," "can Luke come to Georgia?" A beautiful night with his beautiful friends. But so much (over)thinking, and when he finally got into it in the club and started to cut loose, the music stopped. "I knew, without a doubt, that I would miss these people."

That first scene was great. It's cool that we already know Jonathan so well that he can have that high-impact presence in the scene without any need to jam it up with background information. And all kinds of other fun new subplots getting fired up! Green shoots for spring!

That's a beginning of a turn for the better for River. War sounds bad in the long run.

This ship has sailed. There's gonna be a mess. It's gonna be fun, but there's no way it ain't gonna be a mess.

Shake it! Shake it! SHAKE HIM! 😈👿

Berky isn't gonna like this. 🐻

Sol Mundy! Maybe Zhiv is up to saving the world, after all !

Pretty sure this ship has sailed, travelled, and is pulling in to port as we speak.

Whatever small awareness the crowd might have had of the of the pink ballon-girl vanished, as Slicky Two-tits stalked onto the dance floor.

I somehow didn't pick this up in chapter 1, but River seems to be a title character. We seem to be on a nice slow burn here, but I guess soon we'll come to a spork in the road?

SO much cockblocking. But whatever Zoey's up to might be needed here... does the double-negative rule apply in these cases? The scooby gang better get this figured out.

“Let’s not make this into a teenage drama movie." Oh Zoey, you are a wonderful friend, and usually wise and kind, but the muses of love and comedy have deserted you tonight, my heart. Although perhaps they're just being suffocated inside an inexplicable pink balloon, and about to emerge in burst of latex-slick nightclub coolness. “There’s no way I can think about this clearly while I’m so deep in it.” 👿😈

Sopas. Or ice cream. I feel Rufus might be an ice cream guy.

They could make soup following some fun recipes they found on online