#ask waffs

[wafflesetc]

I wish Tracy would say something. I feel like she could make us feel better.

if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all.

Obviously I haven't actually asked T why she hasn't done any press other than a select interview with that girl, but I think her silence since season 9 has been loud and telling.

The actors love and adore the characters they portray, albeit in a different fashion than the fans do, and T finishing her contract and giving them an entire 13 episodes is extremely gracious. Even J giving them 3 episodes was gracious - the actors just work with what they are given by the writers. ALL of this could have been different, but T/J are working with what they are given.

I think the fact we've barely heard from either one of them since they have either left or the news of them departing has been released, is very telling. And it tells me enough to know that they probably wish things were different for Hailey and Jay.

#ask waffs

[wafflesetc]

Top 3 trasse moments this year?

Thank you Luce

Birthday post from the man himself

This article that gave us this photo

#ask waffs #there's probably been more #but these do it for me this year

[wafflesetc]

Jesse told us to trust the process, maybe this was what he meant 🥲

In retrospect, maybe he was/is right - maybe there is a greater plot in all of this. One where the actors and writers were somewhat on the same page and knew what would be happening between the next two seasons, so just maybe we could trust the process. However, I don't want to give the writers THAT much benefit of the doubt right now, because what they did with Jay's departure makes no sense on both his character and how he handled the relationship. So, I am timidly hopeful, and still reserving my judgement until we get more facts. (More facts being how many episodes season 11 will be - and/or if we hear how many episodes Tracy will be active in within season 11).

I have no doubt that Hailey and Jay can make it - most of the fans (if an Upstead shipper) will probably agree Hailey and Jay can make it. I'd be inclined to say that I think J/T would even say Hailey and Jay can make it. It's the writers who have to decide if that happens, and sadly, that's the scariest thought here.

#ask waffs

[wafflesetc]

Does Hailey know that it’s okay for her to be mad at Jay but also still love him and want to make thing right and work things out bc I’ve never seen two people more deserving of eachother than those two. *sigh* if only the writers actually knew that they were doing

You're preaching to the choir, anon. You can love someone and be mad at them. You can divorce someone and find your way back to them, too.

There's a chance to fix it, but I think Gwen has shown her true colors. I don't think she cares. I think it's lazy and cheap, and she's very bad at doing her job. She seems rather inadequate for her position and I think season 9 to where we are in season 11 speaks for itself.

#ask waffs

[wafflesetc]

Truly at a loss for words and I'm not usually one to engage in conspiracies, but this all just feels spiteful. There was no need to go down this road, to destroy ten years of Jay Halstead and five years of Upstead and all the hard work of Tracy and Jesse respectively.

And her justifications in the interviews are nothing but ridiculous and outright lies..

I am right there with you. There was no need for this, yet this is the route they have chosen. I think Gwen's choices as a showrunner are lazy and very mediocre storytelling. It goes to show how inadequate she actually is at all of this.

#ask waffs

[wafflesetc]

I saw your ask about your top three Trasse moments this year, but what about your top Trasse moments ever? 💕

When he liked that specific comment:

#ask waffs #i am probably missing a few #but these are some of my favorites #honestly jaina's entire video is iconic too

[wafflesetc]

As much as I want to be happy for them i just can’t based on how shitty the writing has been for upstead. While there is no reason to put the two against eachother their side of the fandom has been coming for Jay and Hailey constantly and for no reason at all. Both ships could coexist but the writers chose to do it this way they could have left Jay and Hailey together off screen but no they chose to divorce them. They chose to do this to Tracy on her final season and even Jesse with his final season. They did not honor their characters what’s ever and Gwen was lucky as hell Tracy is an absolute sweetheart to give her the full season after what they did to Jesse

I agree. I also have to remind myself to take a step back and realize that this is all a job to them. While they are attached to the characters, they are for much different reasons than the fans are. In some ways they are probably able to cut it off much easier than it is for the fans - but regardless of all of that... The actors and characters deserve so much better. It's wild seeing this all happen in real time from week to week.

#ask waffs

[wafflesetc]

Whats the most realistic fanfiction about Jay and Hailey when it comes to your opinion?

I'm not going to say "most realistic" because honestly, that will be subjective of each reader and how they think a particular author personifies Jay/Hailey in the fic. I will give you a small list of some of my favorites I will go back and read - (mix of AU/canon divergen, etc):

Your Heartbeat on the High Line, leave me a little tase on your lips, we'll hide away in the dark , sugar sugar, make my heart race by @fromiftowhen

One More Song, Haunted by @anniesardors

I go with you by @justmypartner + Carefully and Intentionally

I think there's been a glitch by highest_water

Still Waiting, Dear Hailey, Call it Serendipity by @go-to-two

Head Above Water, I Choose You (Every Time), Hit Me With The Truth (Or Kiss Me With a Lie) by yourgreatestfan

give me a day (or two), You and Me, Always, Inevitable (The One Where Everyone Finds Out) by sumsflowers

It Wrecks Me that You Stay, Can We Pretend, Trained Observers, Summer Sun for You Forever, by onecpd

#ask waffs #upstead #upstead fanfic

[wafflesetc]

So that means that you still hope we could get an ending, similar to Will? Like Jay waiting for Hailey when she leaves? At another district far away from chicago?

Logically, it's fiction, so anything could happen at any time. My general hope is that whenever Hailey needs to be written out of the show, that they bring Jay back. @fromiftowhen has compared it to like a Doug and Carol ending off of ER, and that's something that I hope they do. The potential is there - it's just a matter of if they chose it or not.

And after all that has happened the last year, I don't mind when or where the end up. They could end up living in a surf town off a beach in Costa Rica where Jay repairs surfboards for a living. It could be in Chicago and he ends up coming back with the CPD and teaching at the academy. Those are the inconsequential details - what matters most to me is that they end up together.

#ask waffs

[wafflesetc]

I saw on Twitter you ran the Chicago marathon. Congrats waffles.

Oh — yes, I went & did it! It was a wild weekend, but I crossed the finish line.

#ask waffs

[wafflesetc]

One of the reasons why i strongly believe that Jay will come back is because of how open ended his exit was. Him taking that new position in Bolivia was never permanent, the writers made sure to emphasize that with the dialogue and the time frame they set. If you compare Jay’s to every other PD exit, his exit left us with so many questions. If they genuinely had no plans to bring him back they would have made his exit a lot cleaner and made a firm end to Upstead a lot sooner. It could very much be my wishful thinking, but I feel like they made Jay’s exit storyline quick and open ended on purpose. As if it was a setup for him coming back in the near future.

I constantly waiver on whether they thought long term with Jay's exit or if they didn't. They certainly did leave things open ended. And I truly believe that that "8 months" and "we can get through this" were intentional. So in some ways, I think that you are right - that they left it slightly open ended because they knew T would be leaving the following year, so it would allow for the slow set up of him leaving, her exit arc, and allowing it all to be completely wrapped up with a bow.

The issue with this though, that means the writers would be playing the long game and know exactly what they are doing and I just don't know if I trust the writers enough to do that. Especially with the arc that they gave Hailey last season. Needless, I am still hopeful for a return whether it's for a whole episode, five minutes, or just two seconds.... I'll even take them just getting their happy ending without him returning.... Because you're right, a lot of the other exits were much more definite, or at least felt definite, like there wasn't a possibility of return, and Jay's exit was definitely way more open ended than most.

#ask waffs

[wafflesetc]

I'm still not getting over the fact that they pretend him to be called Jason after Jay told the baptist that he takes Hailey as his wife and called himself Jay there. Same goes to Jesse who mentioned that the name is just Jay. Do the writers think we are really that dumb?

We've seen awards that Jay has won and they all said "Jay Halstead." I get the argument where there could be a discrepancy between the set decor and then the characters, BUT there were how many years and scenes and props, and they all say Jay.

If his name were really Jason, it would have been mentioned ANYWHERE in the TEN seasons before.

I refuse to believe that his name was Jason, and goes by Jay. (Which, to be fair, Jay is a fine nickname for Jason and a few other J names, but it would have been mentioned before).

The only way I will formally accept that it's Jason "Jay" Halstead is if Matt Olmstead or Derek Haas confirms it. Idgaf what Gwen says about it.

#ask waffs

[wafflesetc]

Do you think Gwen and co are starting to see the backlash they have been getting bc she was so set on saying how their relationship was a trauma response and all this nonsense to now where she has started to walk it back a bit by saying they have always had this amazing relationship and can see how they will probably end up together in a few years time. To me that’s her not directly coming out and saying that she’s was wrong but she knows what she said initially was incorrect.

I think that they (the they being crew, producers & writers) are all aware of the backlash they are getting. I think some of the crew is more receptive and feeling it in their own way (like Luce), and at this point I just think Gwen is tonedeaf.

I don't get Gwen and her decision making. I haven't really gotten anything since she has become show runner. Some of the interviews she has given in season eleven completely contradict what she was saying back in season ten. I have given up trying to make sense of anything she says. It's not worth the mental energy anymore.

#ask waffs

[wafflesetc]

Gwen’s never-ending bullshit is why I’m so confused why there are fans who are happy about Tracy staying the entire season. That news was so disappointing because I know this woman and her band of idiot writers by now. It will be nothing but trauma and misery for the sake of drama until the end (I can see her very last episode or two being a happy sendoff but that’s it). I just don’t get it at all, are fans really able to stomach this bs better than I am? I was hoping with everything I had for 3 episodes and then out of this black hole of misery that has been the last year, how was every other Hailey fan not wanting the same?

I can't speak for others, I can only speak for myself. I was very on the fence about whether I wanted her there for just a few episodes or if I'd rather her stay for the whole season. I don't really have good answers but here are a few of my thoughts:

I think that they continually throw heavier material at Tracy and Hailey because as an actress has the breadth to deliver those performances and they resonate with fans. Each actor on the show has strengths and weaknesses and delivers each character's drama/trauma differently. But I think Tracy has a special knack for how she personifies it and how it resonates with the fans. I don't mean it to be an excuse because we all know Hailey deserves a BREAK, but to the writers and network the show is ultimately a business. Their attachment to the characters and writing are a very different view than how fans view the show and characters.

I don't really know about the number of episodes. I'm a little shocked that she's *seemingly* staying for the entirety of season eleven, but maybe she did that because it's a shorter season or maybe she was planning to stay all of eleven from the beginning. Since we got the word of Jesse's departure last season, it was only a matter of time before I knew we'd hear about Tracy leaving. I don't think their departures are necessarily concurrent or dependent on one another, but I do think they were both ready for a clean slate for a variety of reasons.

I said this in another ask but I would genuinely love to have a conversation with Gwen & Co. about the creative decision making process over season ten and season eleven. For not only Jay and Hailey's departures, but how she chose to tell everyone's stories (like why was that hospital scene cut with Burgess and Ruzek?) Because every time she opens her mouth and gives an interview I am left very perplexed and wish that I hadn't read it. I know that part of the reason they give these interviews is to draw attention to the show and upcoming interviews, but she appears to be very tactless and careless with the phrases she gives as a response. The words don't correlate to the medium projected on our screens. Albeit, that is merely my opinion and there are likely fans out there who see what has happened since she's been showrunner as good material, but that's not how I see it. So I'd love to know a bit more about the creative process because I just find it all very confusing.

All I can really say is buckle up because the next few months will be a bumpy ride.

#ask waffs #and also I think they do this with upstead fans #because they know the appeal that the relationship has with fans #so they will milk it to bring in viewers #at the end of the day the show and the characters are all a money making business for the networks #they don't have to care about the characters the way the fans do #so long as the show brings in views it creates a profit #and that's all they want to see a profit

[wafflesetc]

I'm not piting one ship versus another. Gwen did. When Jay and Hailey were married it had been more tension between Kim and Adam. Sure one ship can exist next to another. But I doubt Gwen had the same opinion.

I see where you are coming from, truly. The only way to know for sure is to ask Gwen herself, but she keeps herself under tight wraps. I doubt we will ever fully know what her intentions are behind any of her creative decisions. And even the interviews she does give are selective. She also just gives horrible interviews.

#ask waffs

[wafflesetc]

The way Gwen worded her statement about Hailey coming out to a healthier and better side for her makes it sound like Hailey will thing her relationship with Jay was unhealthy and one of the worst things that happened to her when ultimately it was one of the best things. I just don’t understand why they are dragging out jays character like this when Jesse isn’t there to defend it. Like they should have either written him off by going to the academy or if they really wanted to go down this divorce and move on route then they should have done it either end of last season or when Jay left in 10x3 bc the dragging it out is not only making me pissed but honestly I would be annoyed as a regular viewer who has to watch this get dragged on for yet another season.

All I can say is Hailey is the reason Jay sought treatment for his issues with things after his tour. Jay was the reason Hailey learned to allow people in and better herself.

There's so much more these two characters have done for one another. Hailey and Jay unequivocally love each other and have taught the other to be both a better cop and person. I will die on this hill.

#ask waffs #I can't speak to what it is like to be a regular fan #but as a extra fan i am still annoyed