I've been kind of quiet in my defense of Paige McCullers and my ship, Paily lately. A lot of it has had to do with being fed up with the direction PLL has gone this season, but its mostly just been me trying to step back and move on from the mess Marlene King has created on Pretty Little Liars. Its especially bad when even the Emison shippers are angry at Marlene and let's face it, Marlene King caters to the Emison shippers a lot. How else would any1 explain the hasty Paige exit. I decided today to write this entry about Paily and true love. Because this particular subject has been on my mind for a while, so I thought today's as good a day as any. My name's Shaun and its Paily that brought me to Pretty little liars. It wasn't Emison, it wasn't the A mystery or anything else. It was the powerful love story that I saw being told involving Paige McCullers and Emily Fields. I consider their story true love, I think they're soulmates and one way or another, they will always find a way back to one another. Nothing will keep them apart. And even now, at the end of 610, Paily is still positioned as true love, as soulmates, despite what the writers have done to them. I don't even know if Marlene King is aware of how its presented, but let's look back on Paily's history to prove my point, should there be any Emison shippers or Paige detractors reading. Early on in their history, Emily and Paige were competitors on the swim team and rivals. Each were trying to better than the other. The head dunk happened and that forever changed the course of their relationship. I won't say anything else about the head dunk because everyone knows the reasoning behind it. It happened, it was horrible, but forgiveable. Later on, Emily and Paige started dating, season 3, and they were happy. They were so happy and in love, it was beautiful to watch. They'd started making plans for Stanford and swimming scholarships, the future....it was looking wonderful for them, road trips with donuts and diners. Then, Emily's shoulder injury happened and she didn't know how to deal with it. Compound that with Alison returning, alive, and Emily's head was spinning with confusion. Paige's decision to reveal Alison's whereabouts to the police were indeed the catalyst for the ending of Paily's happiness. And in season 5, that could've been the ultimate end for Paily. Emily was spending so much time with Alison, Paige was around less and less, that should have been it. But, as I said, true love endures. Emily kept reaching out, kept wanting to be around Paige. And Paige, alone was finding out a lot about herself. She was becoming such a strong and independent person and figuring herself out without Emily. It was good for both of them. People who claim that Paige was stalking Emily need to clean their eyes out. For the majority of their time apart, Emily was the one seeking out Paige. Eventually, Paily got back together, then Paige had to go away to California and that could've been the end, but no....true love endures. Fast forward to the end of 610, the girls are leaving Rosewood, off to college. Where has Emily gone to? She's gone to Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. California people. Malibu is only three hundred and some odd miles from Stanford, from Paige. By doing this, the writers have positioned Paily as the true love ship in Emily's life. More than Emily, more than Sara, more than anybody. True love endures and finds a way. I can't say if Marlene has any idea she's positioned Paily as true love, as Emily's ultimate relationship. Even though she will probably force Emily to pair up with Alison by show's end, she should do what's right for Emily, what's right for the bigger story she's made and give Emily happiness. Genuine happiness. And that's with Paige, people. Not Alison and not Sara.
