I think Shades figured out Tilda’s parentage the night he met her. That’s probably why he never asked Mariah why she never told him. After they were introduced and Shades went downstairs with Che, he was staring hard at Tilda. It wasn’t jealousy. I think he was trying to figure out why Mariah never told him. And then he probably realized that Tilda looked a lot like Uncle Pete.
He’s very observant and good and putting two and two together.
I don’t think he did.
(I really hope he didn’t.) All that stuff happened before he knew anything about anything and it doesn’t seem to be common knowledge in the community/streets. If he did, I’d imagine he’d have been way more cautious with and sensitive to Mariah. I feel like he would have then understood her mistrust of and failure to fully love him, why she was drinking so much. I think he would have stopped romanticizing the night she killed Cornell in, unbeknownst to him, a straight up PSTD episode.
And frankly, if he knew and still went on to choke her out and call her a crazy bitch, then throw the whole Shades away.
100% agreed, no way did Shades knew about anything related to Mariah’s rape. He came in at the tail-end of her murder of Cornell, and likely assumed that “I didn’t want it!” was in reference to his criminal behavior on her behalf. That was, after all, why he was planning to kill Cornell.
It’s very obvious that Ma Mabel kept that secret close in the family. Cornell must’ve known (and I will never get the whole “he’s so sympathetic!” fan reaction when his final words were slut-shaming a rape victim), Pete and Mabel knew, but otherwise? The Johnsons most likely thought that Tilda was regular born out of wedlock, Shades would’ve been about 8 or 9 when this happened and utterly clueless, and Tilda didn’t look that much like Pete; in the lie that she believed, she assumed that she took after her mother rather than her lighter-skinned “dad.”
I’m pretty sure Ridenhour was the only outsider that Mariah confided in because as her first boyfriend and amicable ex she trusted him at the time. Nobody else knew. Shades’ concerns about Tilda came more from an unknown player coming into the business as well as how Mariah’s behavior changed once Tilda came around. Could Tilda, as a new age doctor, really be trusted with their secrets? (no) Would trying to reconnect with her distract Mariah from running the business properly? (yes) Was trying to reconnect with Tilda making Mariah distance herself from him to be more “presentable” to her daughter? (yes) All of that is more than enough to explain Shades’ behavior towards Tilda.
Tag: tilda johnson
I love Mariah as a villain and I agree with everything you said! Also my girl never learned how to cope with her trauma, and when she killed Cornell Shades told her she got the nerve and stepped up when really she was highkey triggered, and when she told Tilda that she did her a favour because she’ll never trust anyone and let them close, like wow, way to project your own trust issues. it’s not that I condone any of her actions but I feel so protective of her
True! She’s really a bad person but you can see where she comes from, and she’s so convinced that the evil she’s doing is to ultimately protect Harlem, that you can’t convince her to stop.
What is also interesting and touching is that, despite not loving Tilda (and tbh who can blame her for that, it’s really sad for Tilda but we can understand Mariah), she still genuinely cares about her. Up until their breaking point, she always told Tilda she loved her, because she knew a child always needs to feel loved. She was a distant mother but she always tried to make her daughter feel loved. She didn’t tell her the truth about her origins and about her feelings because she knew it would break Tilda’s heart and she wanted to protect her. Of course, when Mariah finally broke and embraced her evilest self, she eventually broke Tilda’s heart. But as you said, it was her fucked up way of “helping” her daughter : breaking her heart so badly that no one could ever hurt her that bad again.
That time Bushmaster flirted with Tilda. 😍
I’m so glad I’m not the only one who was made a bit giddy by this! Cuz either no one saw my tweet about it, but what is the ship name? Do I even really want this ship? There’s a good build up for it already.
Low-key he deserves better than Tilda, but I’m here for the ship just a bit of bits. Bc maybe they do deserve each other.
If they did get together, she would have to be worthy of him first. It’s not like he has low standards. He was in a poly triad with two beautiful women at the beginning of the series.
As for a ship name, maybe nightmaster?
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