#teds being an asshole but there WILL be development

[asteria-argo]

💐🪸🌹🌾🌸🪻🌻🍄

there's a confrontation brewing in the near future of tatbp and I am very excited for it. Here's some of the lead up!

Ted wants to say he’s surprised, but he can see how Shiloh ended up in such a state. Behaviour like that, it was behaviour that had to be ironed out early, and while Ted didn’t doubt that Jamie was well liked here at Clarence Hill, he did doubt his ability to be the kind of role model needed for kids like that. He wasn’t what Ted would call even tempered, prone to fits as though he was a child himself.

[eugeniedanglars]

rewatching early season 1 colin and jamie is so wild like wow those two stupid unlikable assholes are gonna be responsible for some of the saddest most tender heartwrenching emotionally resonant moments of the entire show and they're currently calling nate a bitch

[itsclydebitches]

I know there's a lot to unpack in James' new interview but I am feral, FERAL I SAY, over this fucking line right here:

"His need was to be loved, and his tragic flaw was the belief that he was unlovable."

Back before Season 3 hit and Tedependent became ~trendy~ (not actually lol) I was heacanoning and writing Trent as a pretty anxious individual, someone with a ton of internalized self-loathing whose "whole vibe" was more of a mask than legitimate self-confidence. At the time I worried about him coming across as too OOC because really, what did we have to support this? Ted Lasso's prevailing theme of men discovering love and support when they previously had none? The lovely parallel of Trent struggling with many of Ted's own flaws, but presenting in opposite ways (cutting cynicism vs. endless optimism)? The then—far less developed—comments from James that Trent might have a rough relationship with his father? It felt unsubstantiated, unpersuasive, built more on my own interest in those kinds of characters and the occasional awkward moment from Trent than actual canon. Even into Season 3 I questioned whether my reading of him as struggling, significantly, with the care Ted offers wasn't just a result of my own, imagined inner life for him.

But NOW.

I'm sorry, hold up, can I just re-confirm that TRENT'S TRAGIC FLAW IS HIS BELIEF THAT HE'S UNLOVABLE? Unlovable??? Thank you, James Lance, for validating every reading I've had of this character since he first appeared on screen. Do people realize the depth this adds to every interaction Trent has? Particularly with Ted? Unlovable Trent Crimm starts off this relationship with a sincere compliment on his style ("I like your glasses"), something that Season 3 will present as a core part of his personality, something he's largely hidden away. Unlovable Trent Crimm grappling with the fact that yes, Ted enjoyed spending time with him. Him. WHILE he was playing the part of the asshole journalist. Unlovable Trent not being rejected when he admits, in moments of vulnerability, that he "Loves [their] chats." Unlovable Trent having his father's (likely snide) "Independent" comment reframed as a fun pun + advice to follow his "bliss": you have support, Trent, no matter what you choose to do. I don't care if you're successful covering a masculine-coded sport, I care if you're happy. Unlovable Trent committing the ultimate betrayal and being forgiven for it, immediately. Unlovable Trent being forcibly integrated into the Richmond family; actively accepted rather than passively tolerated: yes you should work here, yes you're a Diamond Dog, sit your butt down, Trenthouse Magazine, you will never be excluded again.

I'm sorry for the rambling post but I'm just so!! Insane about this!!! So much of Trent's hesitance could have been written off as a result of his career. That is, it might have been merely a learned reaction after decades of deliberately pissing people off. Of course they dislike him, but take him out of that environment and everything's fixed. Yet James has confirmed that he played Trent as intrinsically believing this. The career was a result of that unfounded fear—Might as well keep people at a distance before they hurt me first—as well as, simultaneously, a desire to somehow achieve the love that should have been unconditional from the start—Maybe my father will like me if I can be that "alpha male man's man" in print. Because this isn't just a flaw, it's a tragic flaw, a literary term that denotes a deficiency that leads to the character's downfall. This belief is so entrenched that it has led to Trent actively self-sabotaging his chances of being loved in the first place; a horrible self-fulfilling prophecy. He NEEDED someone like Ted—a fucking love sledgehammer that forces people to accept his care in the least subtle ways possible, even when they're acting as their own worst enemy—and by god, he got him!

Aside from Nate, Trent has always felt like the most isolated character to me at the start of the series (and even Nate has a good relationship with his mother and sister). What we've learned in Season 3 and James' interviews has only reinforced that reading for me: he was closeted in his marriage, unintentionally hurting his daughter, he's suffering under his father's expectations, he hates the press persona he's created to survive, he's bored at his job, footballers and other potential interviewees despise him—and not without reason (Roy). He has no friends that we see pre-Richmond and he's reached a point where the simple act of someone saying that they liked spending the day with him—again, while he's actively TRYING to piss them off and keep his distance—has him in such a state of shock he runs for the door, pens an uncharacteristically hopeful write-up, and is well on his way to upending his entire life for that man.

Because of course he is!!! From Trent's perspective Ted is a fucking impossibility shaped into human form. This is a man in his 40s whose greatest lifelong fear—now all but a certainty at his age—has been dismantled in a matter of hours. I'd write a book-length love letter to him too! And RIP to finale!Trent, but I would have run fucking Rom-Com style after the man who not only changed my life, but my entire sense of self-worth. (Ah fuck, but there's that tragic flaw again, keeping Trent hesitant. I now stand by my reading of the "I'll leave you be" scene as an unrequited goodbye.)

But finale aside, the man who'd convinced himself he was unlovable fell for the man who was love incarnate.

If that's not the most romantic shit you've ever heard idk what is!!!

[gilgil-machine]

Some people just really like to cherry pick stuff.

But Archer Gil is a rapist and misogynist and murderer and sadist and yada yada. Yes, we know. Thank you for reminding us about that.

And it's totally okay to like caster Gil and hate archer Gil and I totally understand that but pretending like they are different entities and saying this one is holy and this one is pure devil is just a total bs. We're saying these things not to shit on caster Gil lovers or to shit on caster Gil himself, we just want to show you that they are one and the same person with their pluses and minuses. Because most of people that love caster Gilgamesh fully shitting on archer Gilgamesh while completely ignoring his positive traits and his development as a character and only focusing on these few lines that he said when Nasu didn't care about Gilgamesh as a character and just made him being this terrible creep and asshole that anyone can hate. So, yeah.... thank you for coming to my small TED talk.

[vastill]

If you are taking requests, can I request Rebecca X reader where maybe reader is pinning for Rebecca but keeps it professional. Rupert tries to lure reader away to work for West Ham , since Richmond has been making good results ,reader works as an assistant coach . Rupert even tries to belittle Rebecca in front of reader and reader is protective of her ( similar to Ted ), not thinking that Rebecca remotely likes her since she's younger and Rebecca is...well Rebecca a lioness. Hope it's alright you can change / spice it however you want 🙂 if not no worries.

What did you just say?

Rebecca Welton/fem!reader

warnings: some kind of slow burn, cursing, Rupert being an asshole:) i don't really know how to tag this so let me know if there are more!

words: 1600+

My requests are open!!

English is not my first language!

A/N: thank you so much for the request! i loved it!💚hope you will enjoy reading it! let me know what you think!!💚

AFC Richmond hosted another charity event. Rebecca and Keeley put in a lot of hard work to make the event happen, from planning and coordinating to decorating and catering. Their efforts paid off, everything was perfectly made. You were beyond impressed with how everything looked.

As you stepped in the first thing you noticed was Rebecca. She had a big smile on her face, greeting everyone who walked in. The dress she was wearing looked stunning on her, accentuating every curve in her body and showing the best legs you have ever seen. She looked perfect.

“You coming? Or just staring at Boss?” Ted said right behind you, giving you a scare. “Oh shit, sorry didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Don’t worry Ted and I wasn’t staring.” You said as a blush crept up your cheeks.

Ted laughed and patted you on the back. “I'm just teasing. But seriously, grab a drink, and let's go mingle.” You nodded, grateful for the distraction, and followed Ted to the bar. As you sipped your drink, you couldn't help but notice Rebecca across the room, chatting with some other guests.

“You are doing it again. Just go to and talk to her. She doesn’t bite.” Ted said to you catching you again.

You took a big breath, maybe it’s time to clarify your relationship with her. From your early times in Richmond, you and Rebecca were friendly flirting and teasing each other. However, you were never quite sure if there was anything more to it than that for her. She was older than you and had a reputation to uphold and you were only a coach assistant who just started a career. You never had a chance with her. But despite that, you started to develop genuine feelings for her.

You decided to take Ted's advice and make your way over to Rebecca. As you got closer, you could feel your heart rate increasing, and your palms becoming sweaty. When you approached her, she turned to face you and gave you a warm smile that made your heart skip a beat.

“Hi, amazing event. I’m impressed, really.” You said awkwardly.

“Thank you, sweetheart. I hope you are having a good time.”

“Now that I’m with you, yes. You look amazing tonight.” You said, feeling your cheeks burn.

Rebecca smiled, “Thanks, you are not looking too bad yourself.” And with that, the two of you fell into an easy conversation about the team and overall life.

“I wanted to ask you-” You started, finally having the courage but suddenly you were interrupted.

“Rebecca! How lovely to see you here!” You heard someone say from behind you.

Rupert. Rebecca’s ex-husband. Fuck.

You felt Rebecca stiffening beside you, “He wasn’t invited, what is he doing here.” You heard her mumble under her nose, “Rupert, hello. I didn’t know you will attend.” She faked a smile.

“I would never turn down a party, you know me,” he said as he leaned to greet her. “I don’t think we got to meet, you must be a new coach assistant, I heard a lot about you. Rupert Mannion, owner of West Ham.” He introduced himself giving you a hand to shake.

“Hi, nice to meet you,” you said, stealing a glance at Rebecca to make sure she is okay.

“How is Richmond for you? They treat you well?”

“Yes, Richmond is exceptional. I really love it, I’m thankful to have a job there,” you said, sending Rebecca a smile.

“Looking at your records, I thought you will pick a better team. Maybe you have some savior syndrome?” He laughed at his own joke, “Picking a club as good as Richmond won't lead you anywhere.”

“I don’t agree, Richmond has some of the best players who make an amazing team, and we-” You couldn’t finish your sentence as Rupert interrupted you again.

Rupert rolled his eyes, “Yes, I noticed the progress but soon you will realize you are wasting your time there and move on like everybody else. It’s just Rebec-, sorry Richmond curse.”

“Rupert,” Rebecca said lowly.

“I’m sorry? What did you just say?” You were stunned. You couldn’t believe what you just heard. You felt a surge of anger bubbling inside you, Rebecca is an amazing human being, and you had no intention of letting some prick bring her down.

You looked at Rebecca, her jaw was clenched, but she remained silent, her expression unreadable. You took a deep breath and tried to compose yourself before responding, not wanting to make a scene at a charity event.

You looked him squarely in the eye. “I’m sorry Mr. Mannion, but you are wrong. I’m proud to be a part of AFC Richmond and I believe that I’m exactly where I should be. And Rebecca is the best person I have ever met. She does everything she can to make her team better. She cares about us ad treats us like people, not some marionettes she can throw away. Like some of us do, from what I heard.”

Rupert's expression changed from smug to hostile, and you could tell that you had hit a nerve. “Well, it’s your opinion. Believe me, I've been in this business a long time, and I know what it takes to succeed. And it's not by settling for mediocrity.”

“Oh, I believe you! Looking at you, I can definitely see how long you have been in the business, but I'm not sure if you learned anything in these years. Or maybe I should say decades?” Rebecca coughed as she tried to hide a chuckle she left out at your comment, you only smiled and continued, “I guess we will see who is mediocre when Richmond and West Ham will go against each other.” Rupert’s face darkened, clearly not used to being spoken to like that.

He was about to respond when Rebecca stepped in. “Rupert, but I think it's time for you to go.”

Rupert looked like he was about to protest, but Rebecca's tone brooked no argument. “Well, it was nice meeting you.” He muttered, shooting a parting glare at you as he did.

“My pleasure, we will see each other at the match,” you smiled at him sweetly.

As soon as he was out of earshot, you sighed in relief. You hadn't realized how tense you had been until the moment had passed. You turned to Rebecca, “Sorry about that, I hope I didn’t ruin everything with that.”

Rebecca sighed. “It's not your fault, darling. Rupert is just a prick. He always has been. He has a way of getting under people's skin. Especially mine.”

You nodded. “I know, but I didn't want to make things worse.”

“You didn’t make anything worse. Thank you for standing up for me, I really appreciate it. No one ever did it for me.” Rebecca said, giving you a small smile.

“I’m glad I did that, I would hate to stand there and listen to him belittling you. I would hate to let you down like that. He had done enough harm to you, now he can fuck off.”

“And I will drink to that!” Rebecca laughed. You were happy to see her more relaxed after the incident. “And for the record, you could never let me down, sweetheart. But let’s not talk about it now, we have the rest of the night to enjoy.”

The rest of the evening passed in a blur. You spent some time with Rebecca before she was dragged away by some guests. Then you mingled with the other guests and even danced a little when the mood struck. But no matter what you did, your thoughts kept drifting back to Rebecca, and your unfinished conversation.

As the party was winding down, you decided to look for Rebecca and try to talk to her. You found her in a quiet corner of the room, sipping a glass of champagne.

“Hey,” you said softly. “Mind if I join you?”

Rebecca looked up at you and gave you a small smile. “Sure, go ahead.”

You took a seat next to her and poured yourself a glass of champagne. “Listen, I wanted to apologize again, I'm sorry about what happened earlier. I hope you know that all of his words were bullshit.”

Rebecca sighed. “It's not your fault, darling. Thank you for your concern, it’s really sweet of you.” She smiled at you, leaning her head against your shoulder.

“Thank you for tonight, it was amazing, you really outdid yourself,” you said, breaking the comfortable silence between you.

“I'm really glad we got to spend some time together,” Rebecca replied, her voice soft.

“I know it's been a crazy night but I have been meaning to talk to you about something.” She looked at you with a curious expression. “Rebecca, I know we've been dancing around this for a while, but I must say it because I don't know how long I can hold it in,” you took a deep breath in, “I have feelings for you, and I have for a long time. And I just wanted to know how you feel about me.” You closed your eyes, too scared to see her reaction.

“Darling, look at me,” Rebecca's eyes were wide in surprise, and you could see the emotions flickering across her face. “I…I had no idea,” she said softly. “I wasn't sure if it was just harmless fun or something more. But yes, I feel the same.”

You felt a surge of relief and happiness wash over you at her words. “Really?” you said, unable to keep the smile from your face.

“Really,” Rebecca confirmed, “I like you, a lot.”

“I really want to kiss you right now.”

“Then what are you waiting for?”

You felt a grin spread across your face as you leaned in to kiss her. It was a soft, gentle kiss, filled with all the emotions you had been holding back for so long. It was unlike anything you had ever experienced before. The way Rebecca's lips felt against yours, it was electrifying, like a weight had been lifted off your shoulders.

“You are amazing,” you said as you parted from the kiss.

“If that's your reaction only after the kiss I’m not sure you will survive more,” Rebecca laughed and your cheeks turned red.

You swatted her arm gently, “I take back everything I said, you are an awful, horrible woman.”

Rebecca pouted and leaned closer to you, “And you are an awful liar. You would never even think that.”

“Yeah, I wouldn't,” you said stealing one more kiss from her, smiling against her lips.

This event couldn't have ended better.

[vole-mon-amour]

3x10, a mix of everything, part 1

didn't expect it to happen that fast but HELL YEAH. there's nothing for Nathan to do next to Rupert. Rupert keeps switching his lovers like socks while his wife is still at home with their daughter. come on!! villain arc for Bex and Rebecca when? when is Rupert gonna get killed die and leave Bex all the money??? and then Bex and Rebecca become best friends and raise a daughter together?

Trent being the heart of the team? do you remember how it all started and how wary everyone was of him? do you? it warms my heart, but it warms it twice bc of the clear bond we see between Colin and Trent. like, older queer with younger queer, helping each other out and bonding. their friendship does things to me tbh. it's so very important and intimate and—

in other words, representation matters.

yaaay! also, Trent <3333 again, this warms my heart.

sometimes I really have no idea what this season is doing. i miss them being a dramedy, not a full on sitcom. i'm enjoying this season, but sometimes it's borderline too much. it's out of nowhere and it's not necessary at all.

besties unlocked <3 Trent is such a sunshine, I love him. the way he and Ted share a raised eyebrows look. there is something so wonderful happening between Ted and Trent from the moment they met. it's like they're connected and are being drawn to each other.

girl talk, especially when it involves middle aged men <3 Rebecca as their leader is really something. i love it.

I think Rebecca is being mean to the actual devil. also, why do iphone users love their matte screen cover? why not the regular one?

Trent is so in love with Ted, my goodness. that cute smile. Ted is so freaking oblivious, I need the show to do something about it. i need Ted to learn Trent is in love with him.

this is such a nice shot. something something, the idea of press taking pics of Nate's gf leaving. which at first I thought was kind of nice, but then she leaves with a suitcase and it looks like a breakup of some sort, so not that nice. hm. still, the shot is pretty.

this is such a nice look & I like her hair a lot, but my GOD, how do people wear those minies? it's beyond good and evil for me. shorts i can kinda understand, but skirts? that's... yeah, no.

there you go Jack's "me and Keeley are dating" without asking Keeley first if she wants to announce it and then Jack totally ghosting Keeley. *frustrated high pitched growl* I hate that plotline. if it's their way to push Keeley back towards Roy bc she will no longer be that busy so Roy can't come up with that excuse again, that's a very shitty thing to do. so far I don't see the bigger picture of this. they've been messing up Keeley's storyline this season just like that.

"the board" oh, fuck you, Jack. (in Grace Le Domas' voice) fucking rich people.

Dani crushing Van Damme's chips is such a dick move, ESPECIALLY since you're trashing the airplane!! you're not the one who's gonna have to clean it up, you asshole.

can somebody connect this parallel for me pls? it's just within my reach but it slips away.

sooo, Beard isn't getting out of a toxic relationship? gotta say, this plotline concerns me. idk where they're going with it and WHY in the first place. Beard deserves better & Jane needs some serious therapy.

#fired immediately

I'm here for Rebecca standing up for herself against Rupert. I hate that asshole so much.

I don't remember, have we seen Roy's sister before? it's so rare.

go fuck yourself. yes, i'm quick to jump to conclusions and violence.

Leslie is NOT having a good tea time this season. let him enjoy his tea 2k23! however, the fact that he knows every friend Rebecca has. some friendship between him and Rebecca developed along the way since s1.

[trentcrimminallybeautiful]

listen maybe this is just because i've always been a slut for pov outsider fics anyway but i desperately want some on our dork trent crimm. like. the character development??? his softness and dorkification???? i need someone to be like just. what do people think about this. like whether it's a random richmond player, a random reporter trent worked with, someone from trent's personal life, another rando in the sports field who's used to trent crimm, the independent, ruthless reporter, or whoever, just. random people watching trent crimm go from "ah yeah that asshole reporter who specifically has a reputation for being a ruthless cutting bitch" to "openly excitable dork who clearly cares so goddamn much and is visibly softer and has he just secretly always been like this??"

it would probably have to be someone who's close enough to him or richmond now to like, be able to see the change, but i just. am obsessed with this. and that's not even getting into considering the angles of his possible ex-wife/divorce + if non-audience-members can tell he's madly in love with ted or not, because i'm not sure if it's funnier if they're like "trent crimm is a huge dork now and we have no idea why????? i guess this is just the lasso effect fucking bending reality again??" or if they're like "hey fucking WILD that that one journalist specifically known for being a huge asshole apparently fell so ass over teakettle in love with that weird cowboy miracle worker of a gaffer that he divorced his wife, exploded his job, and had a radical personality shift via apparently deciding to be emotionally vulnerable. and all of this after writing a pretty fucked exposé on him?? why does no one talk about this more"

and while all the possibilities mentioned are great in their own ways, it could even be one of the other main characters whos just not generally involved in his storyline like. what does sam think of all this. what is jamie thinking when trent becomes their emotional support journalist dork. what does keeley think.

[slightly-gay-pogohammer]

I want to hear the top ten worst things you heard in religion class please

LMAO HERE WE GOOOO TW FOR ISLAMOPHOBIA BULLYISM AND SEXUAL ASSAULT!!! in no particular order and from three different teachers:

( told to a class of 8 years olds ) "the priest is right if your parents are reading satanic books (the davinci code) tell them to throw it away"

( to me age 12, while developing depression due to being heavily and loudly bullied by 90% of my class ) "you should at least TRY to have more friends :/"

same teacher constantly singled out whoever wasn't in the Hyper Religious Club and didn't even look at them when they lifted their hands in class btw

( to my mom the year after ) "i seriously don't get what's gio's problem"

a classmate in high school after the teacher teacher told us a girl from medjugorje was selling tickets to see her talk to Mary, specifically at 5pm after a TED talk: "prof why is she sure that mary will arrive exactly at that time" "she just does shut up"

( same teacher at a class of 15 years olds ) "gay people aren't real"

( the same teacher 3 years ago after the lesbian prof told him off for that ) "omg i didn't mean that they aren't real i'm just saying that as a christian i would never accept them it's different"

same teacher to a 16 years old basically called her a whore? the exact phrase was "you're a woman of the shady streets", which we turned into a meme. he was married with a child her age btw tho

that time THE SAME TEACHER made us watch a movie of a good christian mother who got married with an islamic man and the second he was asked to get back to his hometown for a short amount of time turned into an abusive mysoginistic asshole and the whole movie was about her trying to run away from the Evil Islam People

and i was kidding the absolutely worse thing that my high school teacher said to a class of ONLY WOMEN while discussing abortion laws, after i specifically asked what a woman should do if she got pregnant after being SA:

"you should give your child to adoption (which was the answer i expected tbh) and then actively look for them once they turn 18 and explain why you didn't want them"

[vivithefolle]

Aside from letting Luna of all people take a dig on Ron for some non-existent reason, i think Hermione's self insertion and Mary Sue writing also damaged Luna's. It's the emotional awareness Hermione randomly gained after book 3 having no selfawareness due to her pride and rigidness being a jerk to people. Hermione is randomly the one who tells Ginny - who has NOTHING in common with her and busying with Quidditch or teaming up in crime with the twins - to be herself, but not Luna (1)

who was always Ginnys friend and whose thing was always "be yourself dont care". Hermione is the one who knows Ginny is Harry type and can read Harry like a book, despite not clicking with him at all when it comes to things he and Ginny cared about, in the same book, but not Luna, who Harry liked and related to since book 5. (2)

Hermione is the one who tells Harry Ron was jealous of him – gee thanks Hermione, wouldn’t be be less insecure if his supposed love interest cared about things he cared about instead of whatever the hell you were doing in book 3 and 4. Luna is supposed to be the openminded, emotionally free and caring, people reading, deep quoting, knowledge applying Ravenclaw, but only in theory. , but thanks to being there late AND Hermione, she was reduced to an outcast for the sake of ir. (4)

She has no character development either, nothing but a weirdo conspiracy theorist that didn’t even get to have a “rival” arc with Hermione, to develop either of them from being total antagonistic opposites, and a prop in book 7 for when Harry needs her. Hermione remains a closeminded asshole with NO true friends but two, but now somehow always right, and Luna…nothing that shows a good Ravenclaw, despite what movie fans tells themselves.

(7) Hermione is badly written bc she’s DAMAGING to all characters that comes close to her, and the more I reread I realize why the fandom was so divided and toxic around her. Harry, Ron, Ginny, Luna, Rowling ruined them all with the self insert.

Let's be fair and remember that Luna came in last.

She was in the prime spot to be "the new character that shows everyone what they've been missing all along" and as such would be in a prime spot to earn the fan's ire, but she wasn't.

I don't find it awful that Luna wasn't given much to do; she was the newcomer. She appeared in Order of the Phoenix; it's a testament to how cool she is as a character that she sticks to people's minds so much to the point that some chucklefucks will cry about Ginny "coming out of nowhere" only to ship Harry with Luna, who actually did come out of nowhere as far as the books before OOTP were concerned.

The biggest tragedy of all this is... even if she's coming in five books later, Luna still has more backstory and substance to her character than Hermione ever gets in SEVEN books.

Seven books we have of Hermione solving problems for Harry and being basically a crutch for exposition and plot devices, and we still have no idea who she is outside of "being useful to Harry" or "the girl waiting for Ron to grow up, isn't he such a bother taking so long".

Luna could, might have been more. It's sad that she's such a missed opportunity in the end - and it's sad that she's the only non-Gryffindor of the team.

But she's also the last introduced, and as such Hermione should take priority over her when it comes to character development and all that - Hermione is an important secondary character, like Ron is. A problem with other characters' relationships in HP though is that no progress can be made unless Harry is there to observe it. Harry Potter has no object permanence, thanks for coming to my TED talk.

[hawthorneandheartstrings]

Okay so I saw some stuff, and I just wanna clarify, so here comes another ramble. Under the cut bc this is probably gonna be an essay or something.

I ship people, and most often it's enemies to lovers. Think Reylo, Dramione, Darklina, etc. Why do I ship them? It depends on each pairing, and each dynamic and I won't get into all of that right here, right now.

I just wanted to talk about Dramione. I know that there may be people who like it bc they like Tom Felton or whatever, and that's fine. But there are also those of us who actually love the ship because we love Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger. And people definitely have different opinions, which they are allowed to have. My opinion? I was really surprised by this ship at first. Like I didn't realize it was a thing, bc well, he bullied her in school.

But then I got to thinking and reading some fics in which there was character growth, there were apologies, there was repentance, etc. As in, I really love those fics in which Draco is very much bit of an asshole, arrogant Draco but then he does some reflection, realizes he maybe shouldn't have treated Hermione that way, and wants to make amends. That's how I write my Draco in Tenebrae and other fics you'll see. I personally like a Draco who is redeemed, not just from his being a Death Eater, but redeemed in the eyes of Hermione. And that redemption requires working for it.

So basically, I'm saying I like Dramione because it's definitely a real enemies to lovers ship. Like there was animosity and then something happened and they discovered love (either one was in love first and then the other fell or both have feelings and deny them etc) I like those fics like Remain Nameless, DMATMOOBIL, Heavy Lies the Crown, in which Draco is still himself, but he's developing or already has these feelings for her, and because of that, he wants to show her that he's not the boy he once was.

There is depth there, not just smut. Don't get me wrong, smut is a thing, and if it's not my thing, it's not. But what I'm saying, is I like relationships in fics to have this depth of growth between the characters, and not an abrupt sudden change from "Filthy little Mudblood!" To "I adore you, my love". No, there needs to be build, and I personally believe between Draco and Hermione, there needs to be some action, some gesture, some things talked about before they can just be a thing.

I don't know if this made any sense, but it's a rough idea of how I feel about Dramione.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk haha, and if you want to keep up with my Dramione thoughts and fics, stick around and follow me here.

If by chance, you are interested in the Fantastic Beasts fandom or Eddie Redmayne, you can follow me here -> inastarlesssky

[thirteenemeraldcats]

Sending thanks for the tag to the terrifyingly talented @jamiesfootball <3 <3 <3

Last Song:

Currently watching: Re-watching Daredevil (show of hands for everyone who's been personally victimised by @sighonaraa)

Three ships/dynamics: Roy Kent & crushing feelings of accountability, Jamie Tartt & crushing feelings in general, Me & productivity (please). The serious answer for my favourite dynamic is the 'I hate you - I tolerate you - Stop being funny - Why do I want to spend time with you - Get out of my house asshole - Get out of my HEART ASSHOLE - You're the other half of my soul you stupid bastard' pipeline :)

Favourite colour: Green! Hence the 'emerald' part of my URL. My wardrobe is almost exclusively black though :/ (I've been repeatedly told my clothes don't match my vibe and I am unsure if they were insulting my wardrobe or my vibe. The people saying that were 14-year-olds so there's every chance it was both.)

Currently consuming: Hazelnut coffee & a banana. Delightful flavour combination- highly recommend

First ship: Adult me doesn't really get into shipping but baby me was allll over Robin/Starfire from Teen Titans

Relationship status: Single

Last Movie: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Enjoyed it! This franchise is consistently pretty good about adapting the source material. (Even if the books are always better). It did awaken a burning desire to re-read The Hunger Games trilogy, which I just straight up do not have time for.

Currently working on: I am plugging away at two Ted Lasso fics. First is a multi-chapter 5+1 style in which I contribute to the Sam & Jamie best-friends-agenda (which I cannot write in chronological order to save my life). The other is another long-ish one-shot Jamie & Roy crushing-feelings-vs-crushing-feelings-of-accountability from Jamie's POV, which is making me feel slightly guilty for doing this to him. Oops. I've got about 10 other things that I'm developing from ideas to outline but no idea if any/some/all will be written. As someone who as recently as the new year was like 'wow fic writers are amazing, I don't think I'd be able to do that' this is a very confusing but delightful experience.

I think basically everyone I know has already been tagged so consider this a free for all! I am waving foam fingers and colourful flags at everyonnneeee 💚

[themasterusersblog]

Stressful Comic Reading: The Human Target

My pilot chapter of Stressful Comic Reading, All-Star Batman & Robin, was pretty much just angry splutter about the infamous "Batman: Year One" sequel. To this one, I'd like to make a more structured text. At the core, I'm still complaining endless about shiny spandex people comic book, but now with more coherence.

Synopsis: Christopher Chance, The Human Target, disguises himself as Lex Luthor to see who is trying to murder him. Due to that, Chance ends up taking a poison that was meant for Luthor, and now has 12 days to live. He spends his last days looking for the killer, who is someone among the Justice League International.

If you never read a JLI book, maybe you will like The Human Target. If you are a JLI fan like me, it probably won't be the most enjoyable experience

Tora is written as a femme fatale, "good girl actually bad girl" style. Not only that, she openly despises being a nice sweet girl. She clearly hates it and her actions throughout the book are motivated because she doesn't want to be nice anymore. She gets angry to be referred to as kind and sweet.

Now, a storyline that deals with how Tora feels with the common view of her being shallow "sweet" would be nice. But this whole story seems to hate the idea that Tora might be a sweet girl. Tora doesn't has to be a femme fatale bad girl in order to be interesting and Tom King obviously hates this version of Tora, as he is always trying to show his Tora is better, his Tora is way better than boring, nice Tora.

Because oooh, my stories deal with MURDER and SEX so they are Deep™ and much better than your kind-hearted heroism.

The same way he is trying to say his Tora is better, he is trying to say his Tora relationship is better. Yes, now we talk about Guy Gardner.

This whole characterization of Guy is based of him at his absolute worst moments. Calling Tora a bitch, stalking her, beating up Chance for dating her. People can argue that Guy was indeed an asshole during his first JLI moments, but The Human Target canonically takes place after Tora came back from the dead. It makes no sense for him to be acting the way he is acting, unless years of character development have been magically erased.

Actually, it makes. In an effort to make Chance/Tora look better and to make the author's self insert Chance look cool, Guy is written as a abusive, jealous ex who has an unhealthy obsession with Tora and a hatred towards Chance for "stealing his girl"

Then the book falls into the typical of "Man beating up girlfriend's ex to prove how he is such a Better Man For Her". Sigh.

There's a scene where Tora and Chance kill Guy and go fuck while the corpse is melting downstairs, for fuck's sake.

It would later be confirmed Guy faked his death here with Tora's help, but it still clearly a scene to show how Chance is awesome and this cool action hero and the man Tora needs that I feel like someone kicked me in the balls again. This trope never sounds good.

"What about the rest of the JLI?" you may ask. Well, they are certainly here.

They just show-up in the story, do what is needed for the plot to move and then disappear, not being given actual characterization or development. For a book supposedly about the JLI, I was waiting for them to be more than plot devices. AND STILL.

Bea??? Had an affair with J'onn???? Cause he liked being burnt??? But felt guilty for it??? Why???

Other than that, Bea doesn't do much other than be Tora's friend (still queercoded) and a suspect for Chance's poisoning. Almost all of J'onn moments is just "J'onn you did something bad you slept with Bea" and basically no depth other than that.

Ted has a nice moment of team-up with Ice and talks to Chance to give him information for the plot to move forward. Booster shows up and eats some bagels and that's it. There's also this take on Booster and Beetle relationship which is... questionable. At best.

Rocket Red is the only one who seems to care about Guy (because despite referring to the team as family, no one, not even Tora seems to at least like Guy throughout the whole book). He asks Chance where Guy is, because he wants to at least bury his brother. I gotta say, it was a good scene.

G'nort is also there to... uh... be a plot device for... take them to Oa and... that's it.

That's it. During 12 issues, we got beautiful art and some wonderful mischaracterization of these guys, well done!

To quote the words of @shoesofthefishermanswife

[kadi219]

The #TedBecca fandom went nuclear after that ending, and I get it. I’m not going to comment on how people should feel or not, because I’ve been there.

Sweet Lords of Kobol, have I ever been there.

I have seen some shitty finales. It’s why I hate them now. I loathe final seasons, and I’ve gotten to a point where I just don’t watch a lot of television while it’s airing. I have honestly gotten to a point where if my faves made it out alive, it’s a win. Fix-it fic is a very happy place.

#TedLasso and #StarTrekPicard were the exceptions to that rule, and probably the only thing besides football that I’ve watched live in a long time.

I have shipped some ships that went straight to shit. I have shipped some ships that ended tragically (Voyager, House and Major Crimes left their mark on me, okay? And it’s deep, scarred, and I’ll never trust an EP again).

That said, with #TedLasso, I did not feel the same old trauma that I’m used to. I liked that ending. I laughed, I cried, and I thought it was great.

1. Jamie and Roy — We’ve been told since almost episode 1, Season 1, that there is no such thing as perfection and people are a work in progress. They got drunk, and like idiots, their drunken mouths and egos overloaded their good sense. The point was not their regression though. Roy acknowledges at the end of that scene that they are both “fucking idiots”, and Jamie acknowledges that. Then they go eat. I think they’re okay, as far as the friendship we saw grow. And we see Roy working on himself, both as a Diamond Dog, and in therapy. These are not perfect guys, and we were never going to see a perfect resolution to their issues, but I love how far they’ve grown…. Roy in therapy with Dr. Sharon? LOVE IT! BUT – As I said, the point of that scene is not their regression. Keeley chooses NEITHER of them. She chooses herself. I think she and Roy could end up in a place where they could get back together, but he’s got some work to do on his own, and then there’s the point of Keeley’s storyline this season (IMO), she has some work to do with being happy about who she is, in her personal life and her professional. She needs to feel secure in that, and she’s almost there. To me, the series ended with the potential of their reconciliation. There’s hope! Which has been one of the main themes of the show.

2. Beard and Jane — that chick is hella weird, and I don’t get it, but Beard does. I think the wedding part of the montage might have been a dream, because I agree – in no universe is Ted missing that. Either way, I just didn’t care about them. It doesn’t bother me.

3. Rebecca and Boat Guy — I don’t think he’s the lightning. But I think she deserves the opportunity to be with someone else post Rupert, before anything serious develops anywhere else. She hasn’t had many post-Rupert relationships. She deserves to have those, given how long she was with that asshat.

4. Ted and Michelle – Ok, this is probably going to be the controversial, unpopular opinion. Ted was always going to go back to Kansas. The entire show has been leading toward that. The question is whether he ends up staying in Kansas, or not. Ted feels, very strongly, like he needs to be with Henry. This is what he feels will make him happy, and will make Henry happy. Rebecca gave him solutions to that, and they’re great ones. He's not there yet. Here’s why: Now that Ted knows Michelle was with Dr. Asshole, but we’re given the idea she isn’t anymore (I’m going with that), Ted deserves to know how much of their marriage breaking up was truly about THEM growing apart, and how much of it was Dr. Asshole being an unethical shit. And, IMO, Michelle deserves to know that too. How much of her thinking Ted was must “too much” and pushing him away was Dr. Asshole influencing her? How much of that was this absolute Frakweasel being so unethical that, I can’t even find the words. Michelle was vulnerable, and the question is, did he use that vulnerability and her trust in him to break them up? It’s a question that needs to be answered for Ted and Michelle, before either of them can move on, and it needs to be answered for Henry too. What I think, honestly, that they would find is that they really did grow apart. I think that it would make them better co-parents. They are still family, there is no reason they cannot be amicable in their split & their joint custody of Henry. I also feel, very strongly, that neither of them is going to be comfortable with the other moving on, or with themselves moving on, until they know the answers to those very big questions. I also think, ultimately, in my damaged, scarred, very traumatized shipper heart, that this will lead Ted back to Rebecca, and to a place where the two of them, Ted and Michelle, could have that conversation about her and Henry making the move to England.

So really, for TedBecca to happen, Ted had to go home.

I also think, for Ted to truly be happy, he had to go back. Not that being in Kansas is what will make him truly happy – but what will make him feel strong in himself, as a person, and a father, and a friend. There are so many unresolved issues for him in Kansas, that, I agree – in that final scene he doesn’t look totally happy with his choice. He didn’t WANT to leave the people he loves in England behind. He’s going to miss them. He felt like he needed to. But to me he looked content in where his choice could take him. There was hope there.

There was hope there for all our characters to get the futures they deserve. That’s the kind of finale I can live with. That’s why I loved it.

[davekat-sucks]

Tangent number #3: aradia leaving sollux behind at the end of the candy epilogues was a terrible idea; consider this a part 2 to that arasol tangent I made about a month ago.

Basically, aradia left sollux on earth C when going with Alternate Calliope and Davebot to pursue Dirk. This completely threw out the perfect opportunity for them to interact more and develop their chemistry, but no. Apparently, Aradia suddenly doesn’t care about her closet friend! Later, when she talks with davebot about him, she doesn’t show any concern for him, thinking “oH hE’s PrObAbLy Ok” and “he found my wiles charming and irresistible” you left him stranded on a tall structure! is that okay to you? I just don’t understand why Aradia would suddenly not care about her (maybe) boyfriend. And since homestuck^2 probably won’t be finished in another 413 million years, we may never know what will happen between them!

In conclusion, Aradia leaving sollux behind was not cash money of her to do, and turned her into an ignorant and uncaring woman.

Thank you all for coming to my 2nd arasol ted talk

Yeah, Aradia in Homestuck^2 was awful. I can try to get that after the events of original Homestuck, she wants nothing to do with the cast and enjoy her life as a revived god tier to watch the sidelines (only briefly taking on Lord English for Tavros' sake because she cares about him too). But to leave the only guy that cares about you, who had MOURNED for you, had felt GUILTY for killing you even if he was brainwashed, who stood by your side to the point he also ignores his other friend KARKAT during events on the meteor both pre and post retcon, it is a kick in the balls for him. If this is WhatPumpkin's subtle way to say she is now 'ghosting' Sollux, like she may had in Act 5 when being Equius' smoochbot, then it is just done in poor taste after all the shit she had set up to make sure her friends could continue the timeline. If it's suppose to parallel her and Davebot/Dave being awful people to leave their loved ones behind as they are both Time Players, then WhatPumpkin just admitted that Dave Strider, who should have been Karkat after Obama told him it was okay to be gay, is just an awful person as Aradia. Why should Karkat care about that asshole that left him? All in all, Homestuck Epilogues and Homestuck^2 are shit. Andrew Hussie and WhatPumpkin suck for ruining these characters. Aradia and Sollux should not be subjected to this bullshit. Nobody in general should have to deal with this bullshit.

[wrathfulmercy]

Similarities I found in towl about the way I write Rick part 1

Obviously these are all just my opinions and interpretations but I wanted to share them since I write Rick since 2019 now and had all these things in my head before the series even released. Beware! Spoilers for episode 1 underneath the cut! And tw: heavy topics and long text

- Rick mentions his father was a farmer (what I didn’t expect cause I always imagined him being a sheriff or something too) and that he got disappointed by him as he bluntly lied into Rick’s face. He did it to protect the family in his point of view, but Rick was shocked and hurt by the dishonesty. I always imagined Rick’s father as someone who drastically damaged his general trust and “helped” develop Rick’s trust issues and lack of self esteem cause when he couldn’t trust his father, he wonders if he himself is someone to trust or who will sooner or later be like his father and lets people down. (To be fair I imagined his father as a strict asshole xD but that’s just overdramatizing it for writing purposes and cause it fits to my rick)

- At the beginning of the episode Rick tries to kill himself or at least has suicidal thoughts he doesn’t go through with. I always imagined Rick as someone who struggles or struggled with some kind of self harm (simply because I feel so similar to him that it would fit) and that for him it was more or less a blessing as the world fell to change his auto aggression into external aggression he could let out on the walkers or someone else. Many of you know I studied psychology and know a lot about it from myself as well and in the past self harm was often mistaken with suicide attempts in treatment. It’s not the same! People who self harm often don’t want to die, they self harm because they want to keep themselves under control so they don’t kill themselves. Self harm and suicidal tendencies are not the same! Some people self harm to feel alive again, to feel themselves again (that’s why mindfulness in therapy is such a big topic), to control their overwhelming feelings or to feel the pain in a physical way instead of the emotional way (cause you can somehow control physical pain by treating it - a wound for example that’s why many people who self harm take extra good self care of it - but you can’t control emotional pain. I describe Rick often as a control freak and even if I think that in this scene his suicidal tendencies were indeed real, it showed definitely a part of him I always expected while others often told me like “what Rick? Never would he think about suicide or self harm”. Oh yes he does. He likes the pain and thrives from it cause it makes him feel alive. Thats why he goes absolutely savage without a second thought cause he can let it out there and fight like a monster and it doesn’t even bother him cause he only feels alive then. You can even see how his look changes and he comes back to life after he cut himself and realizes what he was doing. Great acting as well! Cause often you end a dissociative moment where you could easily unalive yourself by inflicting pain so you come back to reality then and often you can’t even remember how you got there. Thats why people who blame others for suicide cause “it’s selfish” are absolutely in the wrong too cause no one in the right mind would do it if they would be able to think that far in that moment. You’re not cause you’re in an absolute exceptional circumstance where your brain chemicals are not working anymore. Pain or the caused adrenaline after it can help bringing it back. Sorry for the Ted talk.

- he writes (love) letters to Michonne and I always imagined him as a reader and writer who likes poetry and wouldn’t only write beautiful letters but also nice poems for the ones he loves. He’s a romantic and I’m glad they showed that. (And yes again I feel so connected to him that since I write, I thought he has to write too haha)

- He admits to Michonne in the dream sequence that he’s late and I always imagined him as an over sleeper due to his insomnia and someone who sometimes is a bit tardy. Even if he tries desperately to be a morning person to get things done, he needs a lot of strong coffee and some time to pass before he functions and talks properly (and yes he loves staying in bed all day). He’s still super reliable and will always be there when you need him, but it might happen he is a bit late 🤣 and the insomnia and nightmares from his ptsd? Also well represented.

- In my head he always was a sweet tooth and a junk food lover and surprise: we got the pizza quote and how much he loves that xD

Bonus:

Also do I have to mention how I imagined the crm working with the ranks and everything years ago with my partners already? Also the A and B thing? My first verse for my OC Alex was the crm and I created her when I first wrote Rick in that world, imagining a character like her fitting there perfectly and teaming up with him. How funny that Thorne exactly fits that badass female character and how she is played by the love interest actress of the face I used for Alex. 🤣 damn I was so close with getting her actress right as well.

[vole-mon-amour]

3x05

Savage girlfriends. <3 Also, there is sooo much happening in this pic. The boys on the left are in their own universe with those looks.

Beard is such a relatable mood.

The way Trent looks from Becca to Ted, and then chills. I love this dude.

Imagine being engaged after dating for 6 months. I thought only kids do that, but apparently, no?

She's such an asshole. Bringing her in was such a mistake, I was feeling this way since the beginning. Ew.

While I'm on that topic, further down the episode, Shandy can go fuck herself. What an ungrateful brat.

Jamie... baby... :') (whispers) You have Roy and Keeley. They're better and they're yours. Calm down.

Jamie and his need to hold onto his clothes :')

Jamie is such a big mood.

There is so much to unpack here.

Ted is very unique.

The fact that Beard joined him immediately = they're such best friends, always.

THE FACT THAT ROY JOINED WITHOUT COMPLAINING. In s2, he would never. He even refused to join them a couple of episodes ago!

Trent is everything. His mug (please be gay or bi, please, PLEASE, i need an official confirmation), his bracelet.

Lastly, I've no idea when I started kind of shipping Ted and Trent or wanting them to spend to much more time together and interact, but I do. When I look at them interacting, it's like something sparkles for me. Not to say there's any kind of romance or that they're baiting us (they aren't), it's more like me seeing them and sparkling. Which also makes me think... Trent said way earlier that he always loved his conversation which Ted, so what if there's some kind of one-sided pining? Or like Trent has a crush on him or something. Anyway, don't mind me. I just sparkle.

BEST FRIENDS. They could've lived together and sleep in the same bed at this point. Just bros being bros.

The fact that even Roy joins them now. I can't get over the development this show has given us already. It used to be so different.

The biscuits are always there. <3

Look at this gorgeous sunshine. She and Rebecca together when? Honestly though, that's such a unique look. She's so pretty.

Even if Rebecca can get pregnant, there are SO many things that can go wrong. Predicting that having kids doesn't mean being pregnant in her case.