#uu30

[30 Days of Coliver]

“You just loved me…” // “And you loved me back?”

the fact that this exchange occurred at a crucial turning point of their relationship is the least of it. 

it’s just so... raw and brutally honest. 

they don’t realize how it’s more real than any of their other proclamations of what they feel for each other

and i love love love it because it says so much about who these two characters are as they have been in their ENTIRE relationship. 

walsh knew that the reaffirmation from hampton wasn’t for him even though it was directed to his person

so he asked for some kind confirmation that would be just for him because he needed that for himself

[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]

Oliver’s List of Crimes Connor Could Go to Jail For

This was the moment I thought it would be brilliant if the show ever decided to turn Oliver into a main character, which they have and it’s been an absolute delight ever since? (Well I find it delightful anyways.) 

The scene cuts off right after Connor’s admission of love (prefaced by his confession to crime, bless you Walsh) and this moment right here made that abrupt end to that Super Important discussion okay somehow. How else could the writers have had Oliver react if they wanted to portray these two actually having a shot of lasting? That’s the key to any turbulent love story, isn’t it? Throw off the characters enough to prolong the narrative, but not so much that it would make them OOC. 

For this ship, they nailed the characterization right on its head and showed us that this act by Hampton made for a positive sign in case he ever found out the truth. The episode further added to that by providing his character a motive to fall in deeper with Connor’s ~Mob Family~ and therefore getting him closer to his boyfriend’s secrets. There’s excitement and thrill in store for Oliver that his boyfriend can’t just ‘distract’ him from indefinitely. 

[30 Days of Coliver]

“I like you, actually.” // “Actually?”

Wasn’t this the first #coliver scene that featured angst? In it we get tremendous insight about these two with the way they approached this stumbling block in their relationship.

The above was such a weak statement for Connor to make and it was one of the earliest testaments to his discomfort and lack of experience when it comes to dealing with his emotions. We could see it in his face that he knew how awkward it had been too, which I appreciate. Eventually he was able to admit that what he did warranted way more than an ‘I like you’ and that the ‘actually’ made his admission into something that was all for his benefit, not Oliver’s. 

Like, Walsh, there’s that emotional damage from the start and hello, there’s also an early glimpse into Hampton’s psyche that showed us he can handle Connor and his world. He kicked him out! That was immensely satisfying to watch and if that had been the last we’d seen of Oliver (which, thank fuck it wasn’t) he’d have left us, along with Walsh, a lasting impression and we’d always wonder what could have been. 

Honorable Mention: “What was her name?” // “...Olive.” 

[30 Days of Coliver]

“This is not what a healthy relationship looks like.”

I LOVE PAIN.

fuck it up, hampton

you get to sink the ship walsh had long since doomed to crash

you get to question and doubt and reconsider

you get to freaking walk away 

BUT NOT BEFORE shattering the illusion that is, and has always been, your relationship

not just to CONNOR

but to all those who labeled you as this Pure and Perfect Cinnamon Roll who’s been so “good for connor!”, such an innocent who needs protecting! and would you look at that, connor’s SUCH a protective boyfriend who love love loves Sweet Oliver so much 

meanwhile that love came at the expense of honesty in their relationship and that protection turned toxic and controlling

meanwhile that protection is conditional to hampton’s goodness and ~worthiness~ of connor’s devotion

so go ahead, oliver, tell your man it is definitely sad that he considers what you have the ‘best relationship’ he’s ever had

it really shouldn’t be

when right from the start connor himself had made sure it was never real on your end

FUCK IT UP

[pterodactyl screech]

[30 Days of Coliver]

the moment they broke up;

Right, lmao, as if I don’t talk about it enough. Let me gush some more about The Breakup and how, while it wrought so much heartbreak for the characters, on my part it simply made everything fall into place and pushed me into the deep end of shipping hell. Listen, y’all, this entire blog has been about my trying to understand how the hell this could have happened and I can’t just get to a simple answer

Lucky for all of us, I spent a lot of time trying to understand how the hell I got on board the ship immediately after it happened and my enthusiasm for rambling about #coliver has been chronicled pretty much since then.

My very [first] meta-tags-essay for the ship following The Breakup, featuring my usual sleep-deprived thought process.

A messier and lengthier [rambling] session about The Breakup that got me thinking I might have to actually start a sideblog just for the ship. 

This sideblog’s first [commentary] prompted by something that wasn’t related to The Breakup (still very much inspired by it though, obviously). 

The [prologue] to my #coliver narrative, based on my re-watch and further illumination on how and why The Breakup ruined me.

Everything else you’ll find on here that even alludes to the ship and its two characters would be the actual content. It’s been a few months but I’m just as melodramatic about this Love Story now as I was back then. Good to know.

[30 Days of Coliver]

“None of us are fit to date civilians.” 

I LOVE SUFFERING

finally

fucking finally he was seeing it

i was weirdly proud (?!) of connor when he said this line

(which is definitely about oliver none of y’all can convince me otherwise)

even though it hadn’t fully locked in yet for the guy

it was no longer something walsh could ignore

like AT ALL

about himself, specifically, after all the time apart from hampton

that was an incredibly self-aware moment for connor, similar to when he admitted out loud that all the lying he’d done had caused a rift between him and the people around him

his subsequent acts of lashing out at himself (as some sort of punishment or atonement), a bit of tearing apart the illusions his relationship with oliver provided, and Giving Up on trying to repair the foundation that made #coliver toxic in the first place, signified that finally

finally connor can now act like a sensible (still scared) adult in a relationship that would be mutually self-serving instead of just being only beneficial for him

and soon enough OLIVER will no longer be a mere civilian himself 

now you both can reset whatever it is you have together

you couldn’t have sustained the entire relationship by losing yourself in the lie like that, walsh

that was the reason why you aren’t fit to date ~civilians 

be honest. be painfully, painfully honest, then you'll be alright

[30 Days of Coliver]

I’m guessing this requires a Coliver-centric episode? In that case, "There Are Worse Things Than Murder", which is one of the best episodes in the series imho featuring: 

The K5 circling the wagon around Connor post #coliver breakup

A powerful case led by Walsh himself (in all his post-breakup glory)

His fascinating interaction with the client, Irene, and his defense of the woman that looked very similar to his Murder Professor’s previous outbursts in court

Annalise’s incredibly lenient reaction to Connor admitting murder as a way of connecting to a client who murdered “for a good reason”, which was [absolutely fascinating] to me

A Happy Ending (of sorts) for the weekly case, which is always nice 

A Bittersweet Ending for #coliver, with that tender Last Kiss, and tearful final conversation, which I AM ALL FOR

“I just want to make you happy, like you make me happy.” WTF???

“If you really want to make me happy, then you’ll let me go, okay? Just let me go.” RIP IN PIECES @ ME

Hampton as an Official Member of the Keating Team, not just with his introduction to AK’s students, but with his introduction to Murder Night as one of the first survivors

OLIVER BEING HANDED THAT PHONE. HIM POCKETING THAT PHONE. ANNALISE GETTING ARRESTED RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM. 

Things were finally coming together for Hampton and it was glorious