#murderlings

[30 Days of Coliver]

Thornbirds Arc

I feel like that whole story line speaks for itself. There’s that underlying sense of desperation coming from Connor, and the responding pull that Oliver tries and fails to ignore. There’s that avoidance of painful discussions (Drug Problem!) in favor of easier ways of spending time together. They may not have been fucking but they were still practicing that characteristic elusiveness that would eventually doom them, I love it. 

“Look, Oliver, I really like you too-” // “I more than like you, damn it!”

Shout-out to Ricamora’s delivery of Oliver’s heartfelt admission of his feelings for Connor.

Gosh it’s amazing how dynamic the earliest #coliver Dramatic Scenes were. This had been a significant glimpse into Hampton’s psyche regarding Walsh and it was so honest (that “Damn it!” at the end is so good) and vulnerable. 

Oliver revealed his own anger and frustration with himself all in one powerfully-acted scene, showing us someone who exists in the same universe as Connor and the rest of The Keating Household, with these layers and edges we were previously unaware of. 

It's an example of one of my favorite aspects to this ship: boundless opportunity. These two weren’t just a subplot to lighten the mood or provide a bit of ease in an otherwise harsh story line. This narrative had potential. The Coliver Arc was a goldmine for the kind of conflict-resolution drama the show thrives on and more than a season later, still is. 

[30 Days of Coliver] 

“The only reason I got through any of it was… Oliver.”

I mean I love every scene that could get me to hyper-focus on a specific statement like [this one] did, way back when I was just starting to ship #coliver. 

It also features the Keating Five dynamic (carpool to pick up Wes from the psych ward! Just buddies being buddies, talking about their odd relationship with their boss, bearing their souls to each other, being about as honest as they could be in their situation) which is one of my favorite things about the show. 

This scene was... really good all around, with all its subliminal messages and reveals of the characters. They’re at that point where they admit they need one another. They have to watch out for themselves and not just count on AK (who was recently shot but whatever amirite?) if they want to be able to carry on. It was a painful conversation for the lot, obviously, since none of them want to trust each other but they have no choice. They have to set aside their ~pride and their ~fear of opening up, otherwise they’ll self-destruct. 

There’s a parallel in their somewhere with how Oliver was someone that Connor put all of his trust in, even without his awareness, making him have no choice in the matter either, and when Connor could no longer have the illusion of that trust, he had no other way of avoiding his inner turmoil, thereby no way to prevent his own self-destruction lmao.  

[30 Days of Coliver]

The rest of the K5, basically. 

I’m not sure if this has ever been touched on but Connor’s relationship with Oliver evolved side-by-side with The Keating Five’s connection to each other. 

Connor had invited the other members of the OG Murder Squad to a bar after Oliver remarked on having never met his ‘friends’. While I don’t believe any of them are truly friends with each other, I think that scene when they first meet the I.T. Guy provided us a glimpse of who these people are by how they acted outside The Keating House as co-workers and classmates  not involved in any Murder at all. It remains tumultuous, but there’s now an honest point of connection that came with this outsider to their group.

Oliver provided reason for camaraderie to Laurel, Wes, and Michaela, the way I see it, by virtue of his character. 

Asher as well became a part of that but I think his perspective was always skewed by how he considers himself to be the “Straight Bro who’s totally down with all [the] gay stuff”, which, for what it’s worth, still showed that along with the OG Murder Squad, he does like Hampton.

With that the #coliver relationship turned into something that connected The Keating Five, in a way, by becoming a genuine part of their shared lives (at least for a while) beyond their crimes, brushes with death, and elusive hold on their collective freedom. 

they’re all looking for you connor omg you sad bub you finally got to not be a part of a murder night and you even have AN ALIBI FOR NOT BEING ANYWHERE NEAR the keating house as it’s burning down with a pregnant laurel INSIDE along with an unidentified male body... just wow. that’s going to suck so badly for him when he finds out i can’t actually wait... why doesn’t he have his phone??? ;alkj;slkdffd MAYBE THOMAS LETS HIM KNOW hey did you hear about this shitstorm going on with this middleton law professor HAhAHAHAHA connor’s gonna look around and see that familiar green tinge and realize oooohh SHIT it’s NIGHT X y’all

so maybe he’s forced to ask thomas to call oliver for him l m  ao fuck i can’t breathe this is hilarious to me it’s terrible and oliver’s like WTF why would thomas be calling him at this TIME there’s a burned down house, laurel’s in critical state, his New Boss is in JAIL, they’re all ganging up on bonnie, he’s just committed a crime, he’s now probably complicit in the the arson and death of whoever is dead, AND he thinks it’s connor #UnderTheSheet so fuck off thomas this is serious

also what if thomas himself freaks out because ollie had told him he worked for middleton law’s legal clinic~ SO OBVIOUSLY he wants to know if ollie’s alright as well (assuming he’d care) because YA never know. it’s been a weird past couple of years and i like to think thomas has been paying attention to the local news and has heard about That Law Professor whose husband got dead and then later on was SHOT. what if oliver had mentioned it like “oh yeah i work for The Annalise no biggie” LK:JSDJFSKDF I CAN’T HANDLE THIS

I CAN’T WAIT FOR MICHAELA TO RAIN HELL ON CONNOR when he finally shows up Alive and Okay actually he’s not the one who’s dead at all and wtf walsh you scared them half to death why the frick frack did you leave your phone behind??? i hope we get a hug followed by a smack and asher’s probably gonna be so relieved he’ll actually kiss him or something

WHAT IF THOMAS ACTUALLY DRIVES HIM TO THE HOSPITAL and it was the only way connor knew to get there as quickly as possible so they show up and fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck it’s not going to take a genius to find out what they were doing omg how much of goddamn Soap Opera is it gonna be to have this threesome all in the same space while everything’s in chaos and y’all i wish i could be bonnie in that moment just watching everything unfold like These Kids these foolish babies are so ridiculous. 

WHAT IF OLIVER PUNCHES ONE OF THEM HAHAHAHAHA

meanwhile bonnie and the keat-kats have to watch out what they say around ollie or ollie just sorts of watch everything unfold and see how they’re reacting like that insistence of not going to the police (never do that y’all, murder nights 1 and 2, remember?), staying put and only talking to each other, cryptic remarks from bonnie about what she knows is going on and what she doesn’t, and there’s that weird “we’ll take care of it and we’ll take care of each other just shut up and stay put everything’s going according to Plan”

maybe they all realize someone’s out to get Annalise and because they’re actually diehards for her they rally the troops and set up shop to find out what’s going on because binch SOMEONE IS DEAD and laurel was ALMOST DEAD and the Keating House of Murder and Suffering WAS BURNED DOWN. anyone against The Professor is probably also out to get them and i just really really really want to see these baby lawyers rise up for AK ya know?

hampton’s gonna be sooooooooooooo bowled over and i love that The Quiet Ones are not with the team because it would be Extra Difficult to do all this without them or frank or possibly even nate so they bring in OLIVER into the loop somehow because they need all hands on deck a;lkas;jdfd YOU GET TO BE BAD NOW OLLIE. in fact you might have to actually become The Worst you’ve ever been and Vengeful Connor is gonna be right there with ya

Murder Squad

Murder Crew

Murder Club

Murder Family

Murder Babies

Murder Children

Murder Quartet/Quintet

Murder Ducklings

Team Murder

The Kill Team

Death Children

#SquadGoals

#StudyGroup

#MeanGirls

Ungrateful Little Shits

Annalise Deserves Better