#Sam's Mom and Roy's Mom are good friends actually

[sarcasticratsims]

Thanks to @sugarcream-sims for these questions :)

Sam's parents are supportive of him. His family moved to Tomarang specifically for his father’s work, so Sam didn’t see him much. Sam doesn’t blame his dad for this though, since it allowed for their family to live comfortably. If asked, he would describe his relationship with his parents as "alright".

Sam and Roy both slacked off during school, especially if they ended up in the same class. The difference between the two is that if Sam had bad grades at the end of the semester he’d pull through and focus for the last few weeks…whereas Roy would just accept his grades as they were.

at that point Sam would usually separate himself so he could actually do his work

The closest thing they’ve had to fighting over a girl would be in their late teens when they both “dated” the same “girl” online for about a month. (They both got catfished by the same guy.)

They had a pretty big fight in what would have been their junior year of high school where they didn’t talk for a few months, but eventually Roy decided that being friends with Sam again was worth more than keeping a grudge. Sam felt the same way.

[italwayshadtobeyou]

One of the things that I kind of miss, as the show's lore develops into the era of bunkers and international secret societies, is the fragmented nature of knowledge in the hunting... well, I was going to say community, but I think I'll go with field. People pass knowledge along family lines, by blood or choice; they don't trust strangers to fact-check it. None of the Winchesters knows that vampires are real before season 1, and they don't think to ask Bobby about the werewolf "cure" until it fails on Madison. Bobby doesn't trust Steve Wandell's friends to care that Sam was possessed when Meg used him to kill Steve. Ellen doesn't trust most of her customer base to not be hunting psychics. Isaac assumes, on minimal grounds, that Bobby, Sam, and Dean are at fault for a devil's gate opening. Walt and Roy try to kill Sam for freeing Lucifer, but they don't try-- in fact, outright refuse-- to learn how it happened. Hunters aren't a single group; they're more like dozens of small paramilitaries that don't really know one another's agendas.

And when hunters do trust outside colleagues, it's likelier than not to go sideways. Gordon Walker tries to kill Sam (although, in fairness to Gordon, Sam himself later wonders if a permanent death might be for the best). Travis (does he get a last name? I can't remember) not only tries to kill a rugaru who hasn't yet killed any humans; his own aggression catalyzes Jack Montgomery's transformation and nearly gets both brothers killed. Sam asks Martin to do recon on Benny, and Martin winds up taking an innocent hostage so that he can trap Benny himself. Helpful, or at least well-meaning, hunters like Bobby, Jo, and Garth are, until some point in the Carver era, exceptions rather than the rule.

(Of course, if you pay attention to the single worst arc episode of the series, which is "The Heroes' Journey," Garth turns out to be the biggest psycho of them all, cheerfully "Garthing" a whole club of people, without attempting to separate the innocent from the guilty. But since that's easily the worst episode Andrew Dabb ever wrote, and it drops another continuity error approximately every three seconds, I'm electing to ignore it.)

I'm not sure exactly when the change starts. It's creeping, rather than sudden. Maybe it starts as far back as season 4's "In the Beginning," when Samuel tests Dean's bona fides by asking him about vampires-- which "Dead Man's Blood" made clear you can hunt a long time without encountering. Maybe inheriting Bobby's contacts list has something to do with it. Maybe, once you call a friendly tech friend like Charlie a hunter, you forget what cold-blooded sons of bitches this show's regular hunters have usually been. You can see the difference in season 9's "Devil May Care," where Tracy makes snide comments about Sam's past but puts it aside to work their case, and season 11's "The Chitters," where Sam and Dean have a low-drama teamup with César and Jesse. Then you have season 12's "Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox," where dozens of hunters gather for a wake in a late hunter's mom's house, and one guy actually fanboys over Sam's possession by Lucifer. Some of these experiences are tense, but they aren't downright threatening, nor are the other hunters all useless against higher-tier opponents.

So, what changed? I'd say that maybe the apocalypse and Leviathan killed off the dangerously ignorant and/or belligerent hunters, but Walt and Roy show back up in season 12, so that seems doubtful. I might also say that the Winchesters have simply earned the trust and respect of their fellow hunters, but, LOL, no. Remember Dean's friend Rudy, and Mary's stooge that Ramiel kills?

I'm left with no good Watsonian explanation. I can give Doylist explanations, sure: Maybe the writers wanted Mary to have associates outside of Sam and Dean; maybe some executive thought that a show about two rejects wouldn't attract the advertisers they wanted; maybe later-seasons showrunners wanted an excuse for more characters to share a room. Unfortunately, Doylist explanations don't interest me much. They might, if I could be a fly on the wall of the writers' room, but I'm watching the final product, and that's where I want to find the sense.

(As a final note, I'm still slightly doped up from a minor surgery earlier today, so please forgive any egregious typos or jumps in topics.)

[vole-mon-amour]

You know, I was surprised by the amount of people asking for s4. I understand, it's your favourite show. Mine, too. I'll be devastated if we never see Phil as Jamie again (he's my fav character, can't do anything about it). I'll miss him very very much.

However,

1. I was amazed by the amount of things they got wrong but general audience saying that the finale was perfect and asking for more. We must be watching a very different show.

2. After that AMA with Brendan, I simply don't trust the writers to continue this. In my mind it's a bit of a relief that we're probably not getting more because of the possibility of them ruining it even further.

Sure, one of my fav episodes (Sunflowers, 3x06) was written by Jason S. and Joe Kelly. Brendan was probably involved in some way, but not enough to give him credit for writing and directing it.

International break, 3x10, was written by Jane Becker. There are moments that I dislike, but the entire Uncle day? Roy & Jamie being besties? Roy finding the right words after he sees Jamie giving a nod to Sam that couldn't represent his team? Chef's kiss. I still think the way they handled Roy x Keeley was awful, but still. It was, more or less, a nice episode in my opinion.

Mom city, 3x11, was written by both Jason and Brendan & I absolutely LOVE it for most part (especially if we ignore the entire 'forgive him' thing with Jamie's dad). Jamie-centric episode that I'll always cherish & it's a shame we didn't have more of those. Give Phil all the awards. Love love LOOOVEEE IIITTT. Even better, give Jamie his own spin-off and invite Phil back as Jamie. (But then again, the fear of them bringing James back into Jamie's life and showing it as a good thing... The fear is Real.)

However, how could all Jason, Joe, and Brendan together write and release 3x12 as is is beyond me. How could they give us all those parallels, all that build up, only for it to ruin it in the finale? Jamie and his dad, Beard and Jane, the weird triangle thing that before this was mostly presented as ot3 but suddenly turned in the dumbest possible '2 people are chasing another same one' and Roy & Jamie both being OOC as HELL. Even ot3 aside, what was that bar talk? Jamie would never. Then at Keeley's house and Roy that's 'been working his ass off for the past year' but actually regressed to the point of BEFORE we see him in s1. He was presented as mentally mature in s1. I understand that he's jealous and insecure, but getting back to throwing punches at your best friend trying to convince himself/believing that after one night stand (that was VERY poorly addressed in 3x10 and 3x11 in my opinion) you're getting back together with your ex when she's been turning you down again and again? After that misogynistic comment about "But she's a woman, so you never know." WHO wrote that and why? Who allowed this to appear in the actual episode? And don't give me the "He's only human" treatment, he was always human but he never treated Keeley that shitty. He was better than that from the beginning. Or is it just me who wanted him to be better? Plus, Roy attacking Jamie after KNOWING what Jamie went through and how awful it is for him.

Before TL there was a show that I loved very much, but it disappointed me to the point that I started hating it, dropped it before the last season aired, and blacklisted it everywhere. I won't name it, but the writers were absolutely awful and treated the fans and the main gay ship like clowns. Typical Cis White Guys behavior towards their own characters and writing them as OOC as possible. I was very afraid this might happen to TL but was hoping that it won't. After 3x12? You guys. All my trust into their writing and believing in knowing what they're doing completely disappeared.

I am gutted bc of how much this show means to me and how it helped me through the darkest time in my life, but also... Are we sure we want more? Are we sure we trust them to continue this with these characters? I can kinda imagine the female football team, but to continue with all of our favs?

Mmm, I'm not sure about that, guys. Are you?

[leupagus]

Live Gus Reacts! After a nap

So this one isn't going to be long because my carpal tunnel is acting up, but I loved this episode. Yes, there were some after-school-special elements, but I think Chuck Hayward knocked it out of the park, especially considering this was his only screenplay for this show (of course, he's won Emmys for Wandavision and is about to run his own show so dude knows what he's about). It felt much more interwoven than last week's, and certainly flowed a lot better.

I'm hilarified that Edyta Budnik's Polish background was used for Jade's character, similar to how most of the Richmond players' actual backgrounds are used on the show (and why I had her reading a book in Polish in the WifeGuy fic I'm writing). I will say that Rupert, specifically, clocking that was an interesting moment because there is a very real (and ugly) history of prejudice against Polish immigrants in England; Rupert was not being charming there, by any means. The whole interaction with Rupert and Nate in this episode was really fascinating, because Rupert's clearly alarmed at the fact that Nate is getting outside support — he was so effective at cutting Nate completely off from everyone at Richmond, but here Nate is, building his own network here (Roger's invitation suggests to me that this isn't the first time Nate's been out with the West Ham staff/team after a game). And for Rupert, that's unacceptable — Nate's become as much a "possession" to him as Rebecca once was, so he's going to try his best to keep Nate isolated. Unfortunately for him, Nate is still The Great and is learning to balance his newfound pride with his enduring kindness. So however that shakes out will be fun to watch, I think. (All the fingers crossed that it ends with Rupert getting struck by lightning, because really how could you improve on mardia's masterpiece.)

One thing I hate about this storyline, though, is that Nick Mohammed is still having to field abuse from racist fans who think he hasn't "atoned" enough to be allowed happiness or character growth; I love seeing more of Nate, but not at the expense of Mohammed having to deal with this bullshit.

Re: the Colin storyline, I can't really say whether or not it was handled well or poorly, because my personal reaction to it has overwritten that kind of objective analysis. I've read a few reactions, which run the gamut, and I can see how those scenes may have left people disappointed/elated/angry/satisfied. For me, knowing that this episode was written by a Black man my age, from my mom's alma mater (and uhhhh glad to see they changed the mascot from when she went there) and that he and Dylan Marron were the two writers "in charge" of Colin's storyline does make me more inclined to see the choices — Ted's ridiculous Denver Broncos analogy, Isaac's lashing out and somewhat remedial "how does gay work" questions — as deliberate explorations of how straight men can and do react to finding out their friend is gay: not perfectly or even well, but borne out of love and respect and desire to protect. I was very grateful that the entire team immediately accepted Colin, because the last thing I wanted in that moment was "realism." Ditto with Colin's playing improving in the second half of the game, now that his two lives are (at least partially) connected; that's likely not what would happen IRL but I didn't care, even a little bit.

I'll admit I VERY much dig Rebecca as Tough Mom character this season; she's been doling out some extremely good advice to people, and it's delightful to me. Yes, she's a main character who's not getting enough to do, but like Ted I think the show still works when she's not in the spotlight, and when she gets to be the one offering support rather than needing it. And I adore her and Roy's weird-ass relationship, it's just incredible to get these glimpses into how they see each other.

Other than that: Sam giving Jamie the middle finger AND a beautiful smile was amazing, Jamie being pleased to be clocked as queer was interesting, the Higgins And Rebecca Buddies Fun Time is still great, and I want every one of Trent Crimm's t-shirts. And a clementine.

[rosiesramblings]

Ted Lasso Tickle HC's

Ok, fine. I wasn't in the mood to write a whole fic so here are some headcannons I spent an embarrassing amount of time on lol. Let me know what you think/if you have any headcannons I didn't include

Spoilers for the show Ted Lasso. Not too many I don't think but enough for me to put a warning. Sorry for the formatting I couldn't figure out how to do bullet points on only part of the post.

Jamie Tartt

Such a fucking lee it's not even funny

My touch-starved baby

Always after attention, no matter what kind

Dr. Sharon helps him unpack this and channel his need for attention into more positive behaviors like making people laugh, doing small kind things for others, etc

The team accepts Jamie back as a teammate after the Dubai Air protest. But they start actually liking him as a friend once they figure out how ticklish he is. 

In the later seasons, winds Roy up on purpose cause he knows it will end with him howling on the floor with Roy spidering over his ribs mercilessly

Whenever Jamie’s being a prick without getting the signal first, someone on the team will trap him in a bear hug and claw at his tummy

It’s really hard to be mad at Jamie when he’s being held up by a teammate, cackling after his legs gave out after a few pokes

The only one brave enough to poke the bear that is Roy Kent (other than Keeley)

It never ends well for him

Or does it?

Worst spots are ribs and hips

Light bicep tickles als get him really bad, but really only Keeley knows this

Roy Kent

Holy shit

Do NOT piss this man off, he will wreck you

Early in their relationship he would try and tickle Keeley. That stopped pretty quick when he realized Keeley dished it out ten times worse

The only people who know how ticklish he is are Keeley, Jamie, Phoebe, Phoebe’s mom (does she have a name in cannon? Idk) and, oddly, Coach Beard

And he has threatened all of them in order to make sure it stays that way

Roy has no idea how Beard knows and that scares the shit out of him

Beard says that Roy just looks ticklish. Really he was in the office late one night when Keeley came to pick Roy up and saw him jump a foot in the air when she dug a finger into his armpit

Knows that Jamie sometimes riles him up. He lets him because somewhere he knows that Jamie needs this. Also it is quite satisfying. Even better than taking a swing at him to be honest.

Worst spots are under his arms, his neck, and light tickles behind his knees on good days

Keeley Jones

Queen of the lers

Her nails should be classified as weapons

Roy and Jamie both know this

They also know the other one probably knows this. They never talk about it.

She’s the one who let Jamie’s ticklishness slip to Roy

Will let Roy or Jamie get a few pokes in but quickly turns the tables

Rebecca is the only one who knows about the spot being her ears

Colin Hughes

Will absolutely shout, “For Wales!” before pouncing on someone, regardless of whether or not the preceding conversation had anything to do with Wales

His shoulder blades are a death spot

Anything lighter than a firm pat on the back will make his shoulders shoot up to his ears

One of the only people who is allowed to tickle Isaac with few to no repercussions

Generally prefers being the ler, he got enough experience being a lee when he was growing up

Dani Rojas

Sunshine golden retriever man

Loves making people laugh

Will coo at his teammates in Spanish while he tickles them

That’s actually how they find out that Jamie’s been trying to learn Spanish for Dani to make him less homesick. Dani teases him lightly while spidering over his sides, and Jamie BLUSHES hard cause he can actually understand ¾ of what Dani’s saying. Dani tickles him more often after that as a thank you

Sam Obisanya

Ticklish just about everywhere

Doesn’t mind being tickled

Very persuasive - will easily convince people that a certain player needs to be tickled

That makes him dangerous

Excellent reader of people - was the first person to realize that Jamie likes being tickled

Isaac McAdo

Quite a tickle monster in the early seasons

After he becomes captain, is more reserved and conscious that the other guys look up to him

If he ever gets too in his head, Colin is more than happy to bring him back to earth

Also sometimes resorts to tickles to keep the other guys in line

Will sneak in neck and ear tickles to each guy’s haircut every season

Jan Maas

The absolute best at teasing but only because he’s so naturally blunt and honest

“This spot is much worse than your sides.”

“You are very ticklish. Does it ever become a problem?”

“Are we supposed to pretend that we don’t know you are enjoying this?”

“You squirm as if you want to get away, but you do not push away my hands.”

“You are a professional footballer, it would be very easy for you to get away.”

He strikes me as someone who just isn’t ticklish, which Jamie whines is unfair

Coach Beard

Knows where everyone is ticklish and is super scary about it

Rarely actually tickles people. Its bad enough that they know that he could. The one exception is Ted, who he tickles all the time when they’re alone/don’t have an audience, with a completely straight face

[lunar-years]

We never got to see the aftermath of The Man City Hug™️, but there’s a direct parallel between that locker room scene and Sam’s dad in the locker room in Season 3. So, either the team showed up for Jamie somehow after the whole confrontation with Jamie’s dad, OR the team didn’t show up at all and it was Jamie’s idea to get the team to clean up Sam’s restaurant. Or maybe it was someone else’s idea, but Jamie is the one to say, “What does this situation need?” so I’m inferring that he’s the one who came up with it. And I’m also a sucker for Sam and Jamie’s friendship, so there’s that.

In the mess of Season 2, it’s not likely that anyone actually did anything to comfort Jamie (apart from Roy ofc), but I’ll always have a soft spot for the found family trope. Idk if you’ve answered this before but would love to know what you think happened

ugh my head is still stuck at how much it sucks that we never got any man city follow up 🙃 (well, clearly the writers see Mom City as the follow-up. But to me Mom City opens up more threads than it concludes so 😪 too little too late. sigh.).

But I LOVE the idea that Jamie was the one to reach out to the boys after finding out about Sam's restaurant to be like, 'hey lads what are we doing about this?' :) i truly think that was a full team effort idea but i love thinking about Jamie instigating that conversation!! To me Sam and Jamie best friendism is soooo real and incredibly beloved. <3

I think in terms of Man City it's not that the team didn't want to step in a help Jamie, but that they were truly caught off guard and shocked and genuinely didn't know how to respond, because none of the rest of them have been in that kind of situation before. I definitely think Jamie would've dreaded going in for their next training, and then there would be sinking feeling when he walks into the dressing room and it goes uncomfortably silent as they all look up at him, where he's thinking that all his dread was justified. But really it's just a brief awkward moment before Isaac and Colin crack a goofy joke they definitely rehearsed beforehand (and it's kind of a weak one all in all but everyone is sure to laugh extra hard and play off of it until the laughing grows into something easier and more genuine and the tension laps off Jamie's shoulders in waves and he's at ease again with :) ) (Roy catches Isaac's eye as they all head out to the pitch and nods approvingly)

Like, I guess basically I'm not sure there would be a direct conversation about what happened with anyone apart from Roy and Keeley, because I don't think the other boys are particularly equipped to broach that topic in a way that would actually be good and helpful for Jamie moving forward. And anyway I expect Jamie prefers they don't linger on it and don't treat him like he's glass, which all the boys pick up on, so really the best way to be there for him is just to continue being his friends and not treating him any differently. But they also don't ignore it by any means, or shy away from it if Jamie ever does bring it up. They're just letting him take the lead with it to do what's best for him. I also do think he and Sam eventually have a deeper conversation about it, and Dani definitely invites Jamie to visit his entire family in Mexico that summer, to which Jamie is like "you know that just because I have shit dad doesn't mean you have to give me a pity invite me to join your family over break, right?" and Dani is just like, "I would ALL of my amigos to meet my family, Jamie Tartt. I invited Gladys my next door neighbour too, you're not special" (but Jamie is definitely special) ❤️💙

[taylorkellyreporting]

i hope no one minds if i liveblog this bitch: ted lasso from 2x02 to 2x05

jamie’s such an asshole 😭

“…oh.” skfjgjvjfjs

the sad music playing in this jamie scene is taking me out

i hate jane, beard deserves so much better

maybe frank sinatra was the problem

nate and his asshole attitude is getting really old

“why’s it smell like my nana’s house in here?” i don’t know why but the line delivery is sending me

“you ain’t even speaking spanish” CACKLING

“evidently she doesn’t eat sugar” “what a fucking asshole” 😭😭

the littles being absolutely thrilled when roy swears is so funny

we all have our kinks i guess skfjgkvkns

“when it sucks and i hate it, i’m gonna hire a bunch of children to follow you around and scream ‘told you so, told you so.’ for centuries” “i look forward to the attention” i love keeley 😭

“old people are so wise. they’re like tall yodas” WHATKGKFJFJS

dani finding it funny that ted and jamie look like they’re sitting in the guys hand while everyone else is upset is so on brand 😭

jamie better get on his hands and knees and beg sam to forgive him, that’s all i know.

sam is so precious, i freaking love him

higgins keeps showing up in the most random places 😭 someone get that man an office

nate talking about how jamie being back would ruin morale by belittling everyone then having him immediately doing it to will was such a smart move

ted got through to dr fieldstone 🥹 i knew she’d grow to love him eventually

oh shit, this is gonna be a disaster

- 2x03

sassy!! i’m so glad she’s back

“you finished on my-“ YELLING

“did he talk like that-“ “the whole time. and so eager to please. it was fabulous.” 😭

genuinely forgot about their hookup til now

“uncle roy, can we have ice cream for dinner?” “no, that’s dumb” “you’re right, thank you for helping me set boundaries” pls

“wow, she really loves you” “i know, it’s fucking annoying” 😭

i really hope we see more of rebecca and nora’s relationship, i’m loving it so far

nora being a sam girlie is so real of her

what the fuck did i just witness?!76(;;$(85&

“charles edgar cheeserton the 3rd” wake up babe new chuck e. cheese name just dropped

“sincerely, boss ass bitch” this whole scene has me in tears

“jamie tartt is a muppet and i hope he dies of the incurable disease of being a little bitch” that’s actually a really good insult 😭

so proud of sam!!

that entire scene with the tape was so powerful

IT’S ABOUT SUPPORTING YOUR TEAMMATES EVEN IF IT MAKES OTHERS UNCOMFORTABLE!!!!!

THEY’RE A FAMILY 🥹

- 2x04

colin and moe aww

i’m not gonna lie, this look is really doing it for me

did jamie just bless HIMSELF??? 😭😭

keeley sticking her tongue straight into the chocolate fountain was sooo me coded

God, it’s me again-

a mini dartboard 🥹 henry is so precious

ted is all alone :(

“i think you might be dying” FUCKFKGJFJDJS

“i brought friend chicken!” “is that a christmas tradition in holland?” “no :D” 😭

“i just walked into your neighbors house! oh my God” idk why but this ep is making me lose it

“let’s get drunk!” pls he sounds so happy

rebecca’s look of disbelief at ted being called a wanker dkfjgjgjs

that nerf scene I’M CRYING

“mom! there are two white people at the door and they’re smiling!” BYE

the guy wanting a selfie with keeley instead of roy skfjfjsdjgkd REAL 😭

PLEASE

losing it at dani and mrs higgins drinking together, they looked so happy skdjgjvkd

ted and rebecca spending christmas together and delivering presents to kids 🥹

“you want me to drive?” “the…steering wheel is on the other side” “right, i’m the one with the accent here” 😭

NOT THE LOVE ACTUALLY REENACTMENT

THIS IS SO SWEET

i love rebecca’s voice so much

this was such definitely my fave ep so far and i desperately need a holiday episode every season

- 2x05

ted laughing when nate said he’d talk to isaac was fucked up but so funny

“so can i like give this back to you and you give me cash? is that a thing or…?” “no.” lmfao

“i don’t drink coffe, my mother says i was born caffeinated” she’s not wrong 😭

nate is taking hit after hit this episode and i can’t even feel bad for him after how he’s treated will

God, i love the way higgins talks about julie 🥹

alright, who wrote ‘yum’ on roys picture? cause i know it wasn’t him lmao

i don’t care if it was just brett almost breaking character, i’m gonna believe that there was a slight smile on roys face cause he was happy to see ted

“you’d look well fit with pigtails” “i do 😁” petition for rebecca to wear pigtails at least once before the show ends…for science.

roy asking ted if he did alright with coaching isaac is something that can be so personal

isaac stopping in the middle of the game to tie that girls shoe just made me love him more

roys reluctant friendship with ted is everything

when harry met sally 😭

every time i believe i can’t love roy more than i already do he goes and proves me wrong

roy seeing the impact he had on isaac 🥹

HIGGINS AND JULIA ARE SO CUTE

keeley looks so proud of roy aw

don’t know if i’ve said this before but isaac has such a beautiful smile

“shut up. just shut up. you had me at ‘coach’” and if i said this is the funniest show on television?

[iriswestallenn]

The final season of Ted Lasso wasn't good

Long Post Warning

In my opinion of course, it was just wasn't very good and the finale was bad.

They didn't know what to do with Keeley. Her friend, Shandy, didn't add anything. Her relationship with Jack was stupid. Jack fucking with Keeley's business didn't matter because it was resolved in one episode thanks to Rebecca. Then they decided to make the love triangle a thing again. We'll come back to that later.

Nate lmao you can forgive people. They don't need to bend the knee or buy you flowers for you to forgive them or to prove they are worthy of forgiveness. All they need to do is show they've changed, grown, and learned from their mistakes. The problem with Nate is not that they ALL forgave his slimy ass. The problem is we never see the change. He cries to his dad, he gets a gf, he realizes Rupert is an asshole. We spend no time with Nate being worthy of forgiveness to THE RICHMOND TEAM. He gets the girl and he's cured of his asshole-ness. The girl in question btw? Bland. No personality, we don't know why they like each other. The end.

Sam and Zava. Nonsense. Colin's storyline was cool. I like that he didn't want to be an out player because he didn't want to be the spokesperson for that or for that to be his main identity. A good amount of time was spent on that story and I liked it (see I can like things) but the same can't be said for Sam and Zava. They gave Sam a racism storyline which resulted in his restaurant getting vandalized and the end. No, wait, I'm sorry! Sam is gonna keep shattered glass in the restaurant as a reminder of the criminal act because... believe??? Never mind that could injure the guests, we're an inspirational show people we gotta keep inspiring! All Zava did was get Jamie to want to be better. That's it. So much of Zava should have been cut, oh my god.

Ted. Who? Barely in the final season. Apparently has had panic attacks since his father passed away and his mom knew and just ignored them? Episode 3 (I think) Ted reached for alcohol and we just skated past that. I have no idea how Ted is doing lmao if he's "obviously" doing well, I couldn't tell you how he got there. We got so many fucking shots of his therapist during the finale. More than we did the entirety of season 3. Oh well I guess hope he's happier back home

Maybe I'm being dramatic but Beard and his gfs relationship came off super toxic but they're married now so who cares I guess

Rebecca spent the whole show obsessed with Rupert and when we finally got away from that, surprise! She wants kids. Okay... sure. It's not easy to get over a man you loved who treated you like shit and who you felt robbed you of so many years. I'm not saying she should have gotten over it quicker. I just feel disappointed this was her whole story. There could have been so much more for Rebecca but instead all we got was her getting back at her ex and finding a new man on a boat and kids and blah blah blah

Roy and Jamie. My favorite part of the season. Jamie's arc was excellent and the actor did a fantastic job. Brett Goldstein is also great and has been at this acting/writing thing since 2005! I am so happy he finally got this huge show. Roy is such a cool fucking character. Too bad they went to shit in ONE EPISODE. Okay, I'm being a bit dramatic, I'm glad Roy went to therapy in the end there but that bar scene irritated me. - Actually we fucked last month. - Well that video was sent to me! What the fuck??? Gross gross gross. They put Keeley back in the love triangle and then gave no real resolution? She chose herself? Okay. Can we get a scene of her realizing both these dudes need to work on themselves and she doesn't want either of them ever again or? No? We're just gonna shut the door? Oh okay.

Overall, I'm just disappointed. I know no one will read this but Ted Lasso was a comfort show for me at one point. It premiered in 2020 when we all needed something wholesome and funny. Shame it couldn't stick the landing for me.

[sinplasm]

Freddie is a Shared oc that me and @crossover-enthusiast have! His birthday is around late 2000 (November 23), (I hc liv around the same age) and him and liv are in a qpr :> they’ve been friends since they were five :>

He moved to spooky town when he was three after there was some uh… conflict with his mom (Elle)’s extended family and moved to spooky town specifically because some of his dad (theo)’s Family was close. Elle and Carmen are good friends (she’s also friends with jaune and Lila :>) and Roy and Freddie used to hang out a lot when they were younger! He’s actually friends with all of the hatz :>

He is actually an actor! He plays the younger version of the character streber plays (long story) in a show (aint fucking with the past) also, Chris (they’re basically identical except for Chris has brown eyes and Freddie has blue eyes and is missing an arm) and sometimes they prank people together.

Freddie also does track! (Specifically 400 and 800) and he is very fast :> (so does Chris, he does the 1600 and shot put :>) he is a very speedy boi :>

He is very mischievous and has a habit of causing chaos :> He ALSO has a habit of sticking his arm (prosthetic one) into vending machines and claw machines to try to get free snacks (his favorite chips are chili cheese Fritos :>) and he has gotten his arm stuck in said vending machines many times and knows almost all of the mall employees personally because of this (no he does not learn his lesson)

Also some of his other friends (ocs) (sorta) are Caleb (costume bob kid, he is Sam’s (another oc, even longer story) (he’s 21 and has a boyfriend (Lucas) (he was bi In denial for the longest time) and used to be kinda (very) much of a dick) younger brother, and him (Freddie), Caleb, Chris, and liv are a friend group :>

Also when they were older liv and Freddie got married for tax benefits but they had an extravagant wedding for the fun of it

I could go more into detail but this is getting really long so I’ll stop here and you can send asks if you want

O yeah speaking of which he has an ask blog @ask-the-fred-boy

HE SEEMS SO COOL! Do you and/or @crossover-enthusiast mind if I could draw him some fanart?

[manogirl]

Why I Hated the Ted Lasso Finale

THERE WILL BE SPOILERS

The word I'm going to use a lot in this post is 'unearned'. After a solid couple of seasons, the writer's room lost their way through the second half of this last season, and the ending was an absolute travesty. I'm going to explain why each character arc failed, and then give a couple general thoughts.

Nathan. Actually, this is the only arc that I thought earned out its contract. Nathan and Jade's relationship wasn't...good, but I think that's the fault of the chemistry between the actors being off, and not because of the writing. The only character arc I actually was left comfortable with.

Trent. Just kidding! Trent's character arc was perfection and I loved every minute.

Colin. Okay, I think adding Colin being gay as a storyline was a good idea, but they just went one step too fucking far. And I'm saying this as someone who regularly watches BL shows where homophobia doesn't exist and/or all kinds of unrealistic things happen with gay men. THAT SAID, you can't just suddenly have Colin on the pitch kissing his man, after the discussion with Trent. I'm sorry! It was unearned. His boyfie coming to the game? Earned.

Dani. Are you. fucking. kidding me. with that last bit? There was no moment in the show that would lead you to believe Dani Rojas should be in a throuple. Just blatant laugh pandering.

Beard. Did the writers forget that Jane was HORRIBLE to Beard for 2 seasons? And then she just wasn't in season 3 very much. I am fine with Beard staying in England, but I don't like it.

Rebecca. Holy shit. No. Just no. FWIW, I am not a TedRebecca shipper, but also no to the Dutch man. UNEARNED. The moments with Rupert, with her mother, with Keeley, with Leslie...that all felt true to the character. It felt true to the arc of the show. But the Dutch man and his daughter? No. Sorry, no. The show just did a beautiful thing where Rebecca realized you don't have to be a mother to be nurturing and to create a family, and just fucking BURNED that lesson to the ground with the Dutch man and his kid. Way to ruin a super tight feminist arc.

Ted. I am super irritated by his mother's appearance in the show, and by her being the one to tell him to go home to his kid. It wasn't right. UNEARNED. I don't think Ted going home was the wrong thing, but could you at least resolve the motherfucking story of his marriage and Dr. Jacob? PLEASE. For the love of god. Resolve something. (More on this later.)

Sam. No. Fuck the writers for this.

Jamie. That stupid shot of him reuniting with his dad was unearned. Sorry. He should have been celebrating with his weird mom. (By the way, what the fuck was that.) Also, while I loved his friendship with Roy, I just don't even know how to express my contempt for the writers re-kindling Jamie + Keeley. And that comment at the bar that Jamie made to get Roy riled up was fucking...are you kidding? You just had Jamie go through an enormous arc of growth, where he apologizes to her for it, and then he USES IT like that? No. Hated it.

Keeley. Okay, she's a success and Babs (Barbara) is her friend. But the Jack storyline was fucking SHOEHORNED IN and I think I know why except then. Then. They just.

Roy. Oh god.

Here's the thing: this show left almost every single character arc unresolved. And that's not bravery for a show like this; it's not artistry. It's actually quite the opposite. This show is the television equivalent of genre fiction. You can't set up a television show as a piece of genre fiction and then end it like literary fiction. You betray your audience when you do that. Genre fiction ends. There are endings. There is resolution. Suddenly deciding that you've backed yourself into a corner with a love triangle (or two) and you don't know how to fix it doesn't absolve you from having to figure out the end. You have to resolve the stories.

The show also became too self-aware. All the little nods to the Rebecca-Ted shippers outside the show were cloying. Also, all the stupid fake-outs with Rebecca's being pregnant were just ridiculous. Absolutely fucked with the tone of the show.

Anyway. This shit absolutely killed the show for me, and I'll never rewatch, and I probably won't even recommend it to people. They just biffed this so hard.

[may-be-magic]

Okay I'm gonna elaborate on this. In an ensemble show, it is absolutely vital to give your characters room to breathe and develop. So in Ted Lasso, with about 15 characters that we care about, we needed filler episodes. Sam shouldn't have had to cram his relationship developing with Simi into hints with no real fulfillment. One episode focusing on him and his restaurant wasn't enough. If the season wants to have a whole bit on Colin and Michael, we should see Michael for more than 5 minutes. Should see them at home for more than a kiss goodbye. I think they're sweet but we literally got no development for their relationship. The audience has no reason to believe it matters other than "ope character gay". Fandom makes up for a lot Michael's lack of development but it shouldn't have to.

We needed to see Ted struggling with remaining more. We needed to see more of Henry actually saying he missed his dad and building their relationship. Fuck I mean. Ted spends most of the episode when Henry visiting obsessed with Michelle. And you want me to believe he'll give up his entire new family for this kid? Come on. A whole episode focusing on Ted being disconnected and unhappy and not being a the best coach as a result wouldve been great.

Nate is redeemed during the season but it's so quick a lot of people misunderstand it or don't trust it. And with good reason. It comes off less "He's getting more uncomfortable being mean as the season progresses" and more "He improved himself for a girl" which is a fucking disservice to Nate and Nick's excellent performance. An episode just focusing on Nate and how he doesn't like West Ham. Showing him missing Richmond and the people there. It would've been so good.

Don't even get me started on the Roy Keeley Jamie of it all. Keeley's plot was separate cause of Juno's schedule. I get that. But their ending is so sudden it does a disservice to all of them. Jamie and Keeley barely share any screen time but he's will to fight his best friend for her? If we could've had an episode just of them. God what a dream scenario. Mom City is so close but it doesn't matter if they're going to flip all the characters a week later for the finale.

All of these could've been fixed with bottle episodes or character focused episodes. Jamie and Sam each kind of get one. Amsterdam was a fun concept which perfectly balanced all the characters individual stories and gave them chances to shine. But it wasn't enough.

A beach episode to give the lads a break during their win streak. A Halloween episode which focuses on how everyone's pretending to be something they aren't would fit so well for Colin. Another Christmas episode where we see Ted decide he misses his family too much. A MUSICAL EPISODE WHICH UTILIZED THEIR TALENTED CAST. It could've been from Beard's POV, maybe he accidentally drank the wrong tea again and came to work high and somehow everyone is singing. I know Beard after dark got bad reception but a lot of people love it. Its a great example of a bottle episode.

There are some many issues that plague show productions now adays. But I think short seasons do the most disservice to the viewers. It forces the writers to cram in too much. It gives the audience much less room to breathe. All for the profits of the production company. Apple could've milked the last season of weekly releases for half a year of they'd made a longer season too.

Ted Lasso, as a show, was harmed by the short seasons that are commonplace in productions today and would've benefitted from 20 episode seasons with room for filler episodes. In this essay I will-

[nazmazh]

Okay, so, I had some random, interconnected Dead by Daylight ideas - And full disclosure, I haven't combed the depths of their lore to see if it's specifically been done already in some form.

Alright - So:

In the archive lore snippets, there's been mention of a group of friends + family of the survivors having come together to search for their missing loved ones. They've managed to figure out that the disappearances are connected and have some idea about The Entity/another dimension - Some sort of cosmic fuckery going on.

In at least some instances (universes within the mutilverse), they apparently managed to cross into The Entity's Realm.

Idea the first, and probably the most obvious one, is that they could be fun ideas for playable survivors themselves. Or, if nothing else, character reskins for their associated survivors - Eg: Replace Jake with his father (Sam, apparently. Also, apparently Jake's grandfather/Sam's dad also disappeared into the fog, so he could be an option too), Dwight with his mom(?) (Elaine has the surname Fairfield but it's never actually specified how she's related to Dwight, it would seem).

I can see Bhvr being hesitant to do original lore-based reskins, though, because even if they are available for iri shards and not just auric cells, I don't know how willing people would be to buy and use the skins, and they'll require a relatively higher amount of effort to make compared to usual outfits.

I mean, heck, I can see them being hesitant about even introducing new playable survivors connected to previous characters/lore - Sable seems to have worked out well, but she wasn't really directly mentioned in Mikaela's lore (weirdly sidestepped if you consider a Watsonion explanation, rather than the actual Doylist reason - ie: They hadn't come up with/written her yet). But I would love for characters like Benedict Baker, Saku Nakano the Redcrane, Alex Damaro, Cliff Barra, Candice Maddock, Mahan Singh, Surin Rivera, and Jayden/Jordan Rois (with a Haley reskin for Haddie for funsies) to get made into actual survivors.

Otto Stamper would be an interesting idea - Sure, you could make the dickbag into a killer, but what if he was a survivor? A truly heinous person - an outright evil bastard compared to Yun-Jin's selfish, cutthroat personality, but he refuses to give his will over to The Entity. Something like that. He helps the others because it betters his chances at survival, not because he actually cares about their fates - You don't throw away good tools unnecessarily, after all. The other survs might not know about his history/nature (he puts on a charming enough face, after all) - Hell, he might even be claiming he's a good variant - That cult leader/mad scientist? "He's a monster, but that was only one set of universes!". Either way, they're stuck with him in trials, and it's not like he'll truly die if sacrificed anyway. Might as well put him to work on generators.

- Given the lore entries, I'm genuinely hoping Candice or Jordan/Jaden comes in a full chapter with the Mist Vampire mentioned in their stories. Given that Castlevania's bringing old Drac himself though, I'm guessing it'll be a while before they do that killer, if ever.

*****

Idea the second - Part one is fairly straightforward - Use this group of friends and family and their ongoing story to tease a new survivor:

- One of the members of the group is looking for someone whose name we don't recognize

- Eventually, we do meet their missing relative in a new original chapter

Part two of this notion is mostly a storytelling hook playing with this:

- What if one of the members of this group, again, was looking for someone we didn't recognize -

And they turned out to just be wrong about what happened.

- Their missing loved one was not taken by The Entity, they aren't somewhere in The Fog. They either died/disappeared due to some other tragedy, or maybe they didn't want this person to find them, and/or it was a huge misunderstanding of some sort and they're happy elsewhere and just out of contact with this person (Does this loved one genuinely not know what happened or are they very in denial about the situation, whatever it might be?)

- So now, this person has joined up with the group, including venturing into The Fog, and they're not going to find their answers here. And they're going through all this Fog-related misery unnecessarily.

- Actually - Good time for a plot twist! They're actually the new playable survivor themselves!

- Of anything I mention here, this one might be something Bhvr's plausibly already got in the works

*****

Idea the third - Iterating again on this friends & family group - What if someone who joined was instead a relative of a killer?

- This would have to be a limited list of potential candidates:

- Contemporary - It just doesn't quite hit the same to have a descendant of the Quinn family investigating the disappearance of Caleb from Hellshire (and besides - Zarina already has that angle kind of covered :p)

- Has a relative who would care enough to look for them

- That relative isn't too much of a bastard themselves

- The best bet here might be someone connected to The Legion. Sure, they're not implied to have great home lives, any of them, if they ended up becoming part of the murder-teen squad, but maybe, after they disappear, one of their parents who was more neglectful than directly/purposefully abusive feels guilty and tries to find them - For Julie, Joey, or Susie, anyway. Or maybe Frank has a long-lost sibling or foster sibling who genuinely wants to find him, either not knowing or having rose-tinted glasses about what he was like.

- At any rate, wouldn't that be a hell of a reunion in the fog?

- You could also build up to it, like - The parent even sees Frank as a Killer and goes "Aha! I knew that bastard was no good! What have you done with my [Julie/Joey/Susie]?!

- Then, with the hope that maybe their kid got pulled in here as a victim of Frank's, they find them. As a Killer - There's maybe a pause as the pang of recognition hits [Julie/Joey/Susie], but they're fully in the fog (heh) of the Entity's grip and compelled to kill

- Does the parent keep trying to reach their kid? (I mean, assuming it's the same-universe-version as them. I feel like The Entity would twist the knife like that - They manage to get through to one, but it wasn't their version). Do they let themselves die again and again without trying to fight back? Do they fight with all their might, trying to reach their kid, deep down, somewhere in there? Do they just shutdown and refuse to acknowledge the situation or engage?

- You could combine this with Idea #2 - The relative comes looking for their missing loved one, finds out they're a killer, and they themselves are the playable survivor for the chapter.

- Something on a more-equal footing for the relationship than the neglectful parent of a very-young (if legally adult) killer might also feel less-uncomfortable. Even as I was writing stuff out it was like "They feel bad for having harmed their kid, yet they're willing to smack 'em with pallets or whatever? Hrmm..."

- If it was more like, siblings, partners, friends, cousins or such, the tragedy could still be there without it necessarily hitting too close to home or having more-uncomfortable power dynamics

Anyway, this kind of ties into something I've really wanted in the game for a while - Alternate universe versions of the Killers, where they were taken as survivors.

I don't think that would necessarily mean, like, a new set of perks for each human killer-as-survivor. Maybe like one base survivor with a whole spate of alternate skins. And like one set of perks themed around a twist of fate/for want of a nail-type stuff

[chainofclovers]

Ted Lasso 2x6 thoughts

I felt like the physical embodiment of a series of iconic reaction GIFs while watching this episode. I felt like Higgins gagging on air and right and wrong choices. As an invested, non-casual Ted Lasso viewer, I feel quite absorbed in the experience of every episode, but I’m not usually a LOUD non-casual Ted Lasso viewer. At one point last night, I shouted “This is the wackiest show ever made!” at @bristler, and that doesn’t even sound like something I would say. And by “wacky” I just meant “all the emotions are happening at once.”

This episode was absolutely great and I knew that every single Rebecca Welton feeling I have would intensify because of this episode and that is exactly what happened.

This is me bravely writing down my episode thoughts after only one viewing (just like last week) and a bad night of sleep! Copious spoilers and emotions ahead...

This show goes all in on hats! A lot of bad hats for giving bad relationship advice and making bad decisions! Feel like you’re gonna do something correctly? Just put on a bad hat, that’ll snap you right out of it. Just had a revelation that you are almost certainly in an abusive relationship? Your girlfriend is hiding in the parking lot with a terrible hat for you! (I love this show.)

Dark forest dark forest dark forest dark forest.

I truly, truly, truly do not mean this to sound judgmental of any other fan, but it’s taking everything in my power not to just type “dark forest” in the comments of every person who is outraged that LDN152 is not Ted.

Gonna get my initial thoughts on the Sam=LDN152 reveal out of the way. I honestly like this choice.

First, I like this choice because of who LDN152 isn’t. I think about how awful it would be if she’d matched with Rupert and realized she’d been manipulated by him and charmed by him all over again, and how, when she gets the same reveal the audience already has, she would end up retraumatized by having been charmed and taken in by Rupert all over again. I think about her matching with Nate (if he’d redownloaded the app) and the inadequacy of her assertiveness advice and how Nate is one of the only non-Rupert characters who’s used sexist language against her and how Nate’s insecurities would be like water trying to co-exist with the oil of Rebecca’s insecurities. Nate and Rebecca are fond of each other and seem to want to be in each other’s lives, but a romantic squishing together via dating app would set them both back lightyears. I think about her matching with Ted, a man currently on a parallel-to-Rebecca trek through a very painfully dark forest, a man swinging wildly between performative attempted wit and utter panic. A man she trusts with her professional and personal challenges. [Her challenging mother comes to town and Keeley and Ted are the people she wants with her at lunch.] Ted and Rebecca, with all their current limitations, and with all the ways the forest obscures the view, are trying to be there for each other in their real, non-romantic comedy versions of their lives, and the discomfort of matching on an app seems like the kind of thing that would make them rear back from each other instead of bringing them even closer together. It is not time. It is so profoundly not time that I would have been furious if the writers had continued the “maybe it’s Ted?” line of thought for another second longer than they did.

Second, I like this choice because of who Sam is. I know. He’s not an appropriate match for her. The power dynamics are all messed up and their ages are all wrong. But this does introduce a potentially interesting parallel between Rupert and his younger women and the scrutiny Rebecca would risk herself and Sam experiencing if she goes for it. Rebecca seems to have tried to put away her Rupert-related trauma, but the specter of Rupert is lurking, and I do see that being a good person making an ethically complicated decision with another good person is very different from being an abuser setting out to take advantage of multiple people...but there are parallels she might have to reckon with. Also, Sam is a kind person with a strong ethical center and a well-documented interest in Rebecca. He and Ted helped each other feel more at home in London during a time of deeply missing other homes, and Sam has internalized a lot of Ted’s ways of living in a way that might genuinely appeal to Rebecca even if she doesn’t fully realize why. The writers on this show don’t write messes for the sake of drama. They write messes because life is painful and complicated and also very funny. I’d be shocked if, however this Bantr thing plays out, it isn’t painful and complicated and also funny.

(I am already a little worried that whatever happens next is going to activate some very ironic fan reactions given this is a show whose thesis statement is about withholding judgment. This fear is based not on Ted Lasso-specific knowledge but on unfortunate patterns of fandom, but...you can fear the impact of racist, sexist, and ageist tropes on two beloved characters without embodying those tropes as a viewer. You can watch characters make decisions that could subject them to harmful scrutiny without performing that harm yourself.)

Ted Lasso is a fictional character who tweeted about the joy of eating out (you know...at the Crown and Anchor) the day before 2x6 launched and during 2x6 Rebecca invited him to eat out at the Crown and Anchor. (I love this show.) I am so, so, so fond of all the little lunch-y things in this episode. Ted can’t bring Henry his lunch because he’s “at work” aka living in London. Ted and Beard surprise each other with secret sandwiches on Fridays. Rebecca is overwhelmed by her mother’s visit (her mother’s performance of a harmful pattern) and wants Keeley and Ted there. The scene at the Crown and Anchor, as painful as all the divorce/separation feelings were, was also so homey and lovely in terms of these characters being friends, being at home in a place despite the very not-at-home feelings emanating from Deborah. The Bake-Off viewing! Ted being the designated driver (probably a good thing on this particular day)! Rebecca feeling discomfort but not shutting down! Also cute British pub feelings. Evidence that Rebecca has talked to her mom about Ted! About personal things about Ted!

Naaaaaaate. His bursts of confidence and insight. The pain and insecurity and anger almost literally bubbling under the surface.

I cannot say enough good things about Higgins. He’s grown so much, and his decision to be honest with Beard regarding his concerns about Jane was absolutely impeccably done. Many, many trusted people in Higgins’ life told him not to do it. They are all good people, and they were all wrong. Sometimes one human being’s honesty makes the difference for someone who is struggling, and that’s exactly what happened here. Beard truly heard Higgins. And of course he didn’t immediately break things off with Jane. But he heard Higgins, and when Jane showed up Beard’s face looked different than it ever has, and Higgins words are with him as he walks off into the night with Jane and that might save him. And Rebecca witnessed it.

And I’m so glad she witnessed Higgins’ choice in the midst of this very difficult experience of a) trying to find Ted because she knows he’s in pain and being unable to and b) watching her mother repeat a pattern that Rebecca herself was able to break. It taught me so much about Rebecca. The way she was punished (and described the experience using the language of punishment) for having an honest reaction to her mother’s decision to leave her father the first time. The way she was taught that love is conditional, that love and reconciliation are things you can purchase with gifts. The way her mother uses the language of self-help without internalizing what it would take to heal, and probably has little use for actual therapy. The way her mother drinks alcohol as a way to feel free.

I don’t even know how to think, much less write, about everything with Roy’s coaching and his image and how Ted feels about it and all the fatherhood things Jamie brings up and all the fatherhood things Ted is missing w/r/t Nate and everyone except for Rebecca taking at face value (or willfully deciding to take at face value) the idea that Ted’s panic attack is actually just him needing to go barf up a fish pie. Ted hugging his backpack in Sharon’s office. Rebecca trying to find him, and Sharon being the one who does. The words “I wanna make an appointment” being the words that conclude the episode at the exact midpoint of the planned-for show. Halfway through the middle season. The moment Ted realizes he’s never going to be okay if he doesn’t give therapy a try.

I also can’t say enough good things about the moment with the team and Sharon, the way she agrees to one drink, the way it’s clear that she adores them all. Sharon is exacting and professional without being cold and calculating, and everything she does in this episode is such a gorgeous model of assertiveness, patience, and moderation...three things Ted struggles with the most.

What a dark forest. What an excellent group of humans.

[bluboothalassophile]

Rule of Three

Raven had been left in a bad spot all because of dick. No wait, that was and wasn’t right. Yes, it was because of Dick and dick; fucking dick! She wanted to scream, she wanted to go beat her head against an old iron lamp post or something.

This was New York City! It was hard enough getting a place, getting the lease, the rent and so forth, but now, now she was fucked because of Dick! Oh she was so mad, and if she wasn’t so desperate she’d be actively chewing out Wally and Kori for ditching her and putting her in this pickle to begin with.

It had all been simple really, they’d all been friends at NYU and had decided to go in on an apartment after graduation so they could save some expenses. And it was a splendid idea because, they all just got on fabulously, and they were good friends, so it would be a fine arrangement. Also, they’d all lived together senior year, so this would work in their favor, they knew how to live together. That is until Dick Fucking Grayson came sashaying back into town.

Dick had been Wally’s best friend, and Kori’s true love, and they’d both run to him faster than Raven could say ‘Timbuktu’, leaving her flat on her ass, with a three bedroom apartment she couldn’t afford on her own and only her name on the lease. It made her so mad. The only reason she’d gotten the apartment was because of the three of them she had the best credit score, so… Yeah, she was fucked.

And in an attempt to unfuck herself, she had been interviewing subletters all day, because she was desperate.

Her standards were actually very low at this point, they just couldn’t be serial killers, and they couldn’t work for organized crime. Or be on parole. As Raven had said, her standards were exceptionally, painfully low.

And thus far, all her interviewees were strikes. One was for sure a hitman, the other was probably an addict, the other two were a very incesty vibes set of twins; she didn’t want to know; and then there’d been a for sure runaway who was so not eighteen it was almost funny seeing this kid try to pass for an adult. Raven was loosing hope, she was really loosing hope. After a week of bad interviews she was thinking she’d have to move back to Saugerties with her moms and brother, and that was just going to be the biggest ‘I told you so’ from her aunt. Raven would sell her soul to make the New York dream work, she also might take the hitman as her roommate so she could sic him on Dick fucking Grayson; the dick.

This was her final set of interviews so she might be able to save her ass from moving back to Saugerties and working at the ice cream shop.

“Please don’t be a serial killer, please don’t be a serial killer,” she muttered as she opened her door for the final interviews.

“Oi, Roy! Hurry the fuck up!” a huge man bellowed as he did his tie up.

“I’m here!”

“This is all your fault, so get over here,” the other man ordered.

Raven blinked stupidly as the two hottest men she’d ever seen were standing before her. The first was a massive man, black, curly hair, blue eyes with green rings around then and a smattering of freckles over his nose and cheeks, there was a stubborn white streak in his hair (he looked like Richard Madden who Raven had been crushing on since the Bodyguard). The other guy was a lot leaner, but no less hot; he had long brilliant red hair, sharp features and brilliant green eyes (he looked like Sam Heughan; where the hell did these men get their genetics from!?)

“I can only apologize so many times… and whoa, hey there cutie,” the redhead said with a bright smile. The black haired man shoved the other man’s face back as he looked at Raven.

“Ignore him, he’s an idiot,” he said firmly. “I’m Jason Todd, that’s Roy Harper,” he said with a slight smile, but he kept his face serious.

“Raven Roth,” she said as she shook his hand firmly. “Come in,” she stepped aside and gestured for them to come in. They did, Roy gave her a charming smile, Jason grabbed Roy by the collar and pulled him into the apartment.

“Have a seat, gentlemen,” she said, gesturing to her beat up couch. She took a seat on the barstool as she looked at them. “So… I have just a few basic questions,” she started. “Um… what do you do for a living?”

“I just signed with the Rangers,” Jason stated.

“The Rangers?”

“Jaybird is a hocky defenseman,” Roy smiled.

“Roy here is a pitcher for the New York Yankees. And we’re here because he fucked up and now we’re both on a time crunch, your listing is close enough to where we need to be and far enough away we can be anonymous,” Jason explained.

“It’s not my fault he came back to town!” Roy muttered.

Jason growled lowly as he glared at Roy. “Anyways, we need a place, we don’t smoke, or party, he’s in AA, but I drink, and we keep to ourselves.”

“Oh,” Raven blinked.

“What about you?” Roy asked with a smile.

“I’m working at the library,” Raven explained. “And I’m writing a book, so, there’s that, and I do work for my grandfather, managing his business.”

“Awesome,” Jason nodded.

“So… the rules are simple, I mean I like it quiet and clean, but I don’t want to baby you…”

“Perfect, we don’t need a sitter or a mother,” Jason promised.

“Okay,” Raven nodded.

She asked a few more questions, and they were both happy to answer. She learned Roy was three years sober, Jason was his best friend, they hadn’t ever played a sport in the same city and decided to splurge and room together. They’d been roommates in college. They had had an apartment, but then something had happened, and Jason had decided they needed to be subletters to keep a low profile. Raven was fine with that. When they had discussed the lay out and the apartment, because they were the most normal people she had met with, she had decided to take them up on their offer, because they were willing to cover the apartment so long as she didn’t leak, they lived there. She was fine with that, and when it was all over, she had two roommates.

Jason said he’d make arrangements for their stuff, Roy flirted a bit more with her, which had her blushing a lot before they were gone. Raven shut the door of her apartment feeling a flutter about this, and genuinely excited that she didn’t have to move back to Saugerties.

“Hello?” she answered her phone.

“Raven! I am so sorry I have not been able to call you,” Kori’s voice filled her ear excitedly. “I have spoken to Dick and he would be most pleased if you came to live with us, his brother refuses to move in apparently, so there is a spare room!”

Raven grimaced at the idea of being a fourth wheel and living with a celebrity; Dick Grayson was an Acclaimed Actor in Hollywood afterall and a big heart throb for all the girls. “No, that’s okay, I’ve found someone to sublet,” Raven said.

“Really!?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, I am so pleased for you, this will be glorious, Raven!” Kori giggled.

“It’ll be something,” she muttered. “I have to go, my grandfather is calling.”

“I will speak with you soon!” Kori giggled and hung up. Raven just sighed as she leaned on the door. She was feeling all sorts of butterflies and latent attraction thinking about Jason Todd and Roy Harper; they were insanely hot! But they also didn’t seem like bad people, and she was desperately in need of roommates.

She hoped this work, because she needed this to work! Part 2 from @shewhowillnotbenamed1! =) MWAHAHAHAHAHA!

[kimwxler]

ted lasso 2.11

I don’t usually do this, but I have a lot of thoughts on tonight’s episode, so I’m gonna write (most of) them out. 

I think this episode did a really great job showing some of the problems inherent in Sam and Rebecca’s relationship without a clear and decisive breaking off. We get to see Sam’s POV when he gets her text. He’s still hoping Rebecca will change her mind (the last text from him saying he misses her) and his face drops when all she says is “Have a great night”. That alone is not great for Sam but also something that can happen after any sort of break-up. 

But then we get Rebecca admitting that she’s fully lost objectivity with Sam, and somehow she thinks it’s a good idea to go to his house and say she wants him to stay even though she can’t promise they’ll get back together. I hate that scene, but I think it’s a promising sign that the issues that pop up when you date your employee/boss will be addressed in the next episode. It was a selfish and irresponsible thing for Rebecca to ask, and I don’t think she was trying to manipulate him--she was genuinely trying to follow her heart/gut and seemed to realize after speaking that this was a bad idea. But it was manipulative. I hope the show makes it clear that an issue along these lines is almost inevitable with this kind of dynamic, even if she hadn’t made that exact move. 

However, I really, really don’t want Sam to actually go, because I would miss him so much on the show. I’m hoping there is somehow a really good reason for him to stay while still putting a permanent end to the Sam/Rebecca relationship. I don’t know what to make of the billionaire but he’s a very fun character. 

Obviously, I’m not happy about Nate’s actions. I think they were awful, but at the same time it’s a really fascinating story to me. This show gets uncomfortable, taking us through his ugly emotions and actions but still forcing you to try to understand his POV. Along with Ted, he’s my favorite character to analyze this season.

Nate and Keeley had such a cute dynamic, and the moment where he tries to kiss her shocked me, but didn’t at the same time. It makes sense that he is so insecure and awkward around women that he would crush on her, as one of the only women that he can interact semi-comfortably with who is always nice to him. He even mentioned how wonderful it would be to be loved by Keeley last season! I felt awful for both of them in that scene, but especially Keeley, because she was really opening up to him and I think happy to have a nice friend. Sometimes it feels like she does a lot of emotional support for people the way Ted does, and it kind of felt like from her POV, she could support Nate in dress shopping but was just having fun commiserating as an equal with a friend. 

I also loved seeing Keeley talk about her mom and get an episode semi-focused on her as an individual as well as Roy/Keeley. I am... very worried for Roy/Keeley, and I honestly think them taking a break or still being in a rough patch is more likely than a proposal (as much as I hate to be typing that). But regardless, I know they’ll be okay in the end. The scene where they opened up to each other during the little break in the photoshoot was phenomenal. 

I’m running out of steam so I’ll be briefer from now on. But I really adored the Ted and Sharon plotline and friendship. I love that he gave her an army man and left without saying goodbye as payback, and that he can be kinda rude but in a way that feels more real and uncensored. I really, really love Sharon and just like with Sam, I can’t lose her so this show better work some magic. 

The ending broke my heart but it makes me laugh that reactions towards Trent Crimm the Independent range from fury to love/relief to concern that even telling Ted that much was wrong. I have no emotional attachment to that man so I’m just scared for Ted and nervous about the fallout. I can picture some of the eventual aftermath (Nate either quitting and going to Rupert or getting fired by a furious Rebecca) but not what Ted will do, exactly. 

Speaking of, clearly Rupert is involved/will get involved/etc. I think there’s a great opportunity to set up conflict for Season 3 while giving Nate, Rebecca, and Ted a lot of great material for the finale and having their storylines all intertwined.

Finally, the Ted and Rebecca scene... yeah, it was in-character to me that Ted wouldn’t get upset about Sam and would just lead Rebecca to make her own decision. Part of me wonders if a romantic confession in Ted’s office in Season 3 is too obvious. But they’re giving us the romance in general, I can tell you that much. I also think "see you next year” is semi-foreshadowing that he might try to quit again next episode, or his coming back will in some way be in question. 

[tricksterrune]

Alternate answer for rogues teacher AU

@belphegor1982 asked about Rogues + Teachers AU. I started to answer, changed my mind and now I can’t find the message anymore.

No superpowers AU. Here, James is the divorced dad of Billy, age 8. He and Mindy met young, had a whirlwind romance, had tons of fun together, but settling down and stability was non-negotiable for her and he wasn't at that point in his life yet. So they split, not knowing that Mindy was pregnant. He tries to be a good dad to Billy, but he's often fun dad. It's not against Mindy, malicious or really clueless, but he himself didn't have a lot of rules when he grew up and didn't understand that that was what Billy needed. Like "why not have ice cream for breakfast? Bedtime is just a construct, he's having fun, he can nap in the afternoon; a grade is just a number, you can be successful without a highschool degree". That backfires once he realizes that Billy thinks of him more as a friend instead of a parent. Now no one takes him seriously.

Billy messes up at school. Not sure how, like a prank gone wrong, with him not realizing the full scope until it's too late and he wants to stop but what's done is done. The school immediately calls his parents, but Mindy is on a  business trip, so James comes. Billy begs him to cover for him and not tell his mom, James realizes that this is largely his fault and also doesn't want Mindy to find out, fearing she'll see him as a bad influence and renegotiate custody arrangements (I need to be clear: she is not the villain. She is a good mom and wants James to have a good parental relationship. He just panics when adult responsibilities hit him in the face full force). So he schmoozes and lies and schemes and gets the whole thing covered up.....except for one thing.

Not sure exactly what that thing is. But it caused the gym teacher to quit and now there’s no one to organize the acrobatics show. Enter James. So....schedules. Deadlines. Herding kids. He’s getting a crash course in responsibility. During this, he meets a few people. (I just saw this in a preview gorogues posted, but it fits, so I’m stealing it) Lisa, the social worker who wants to be the adult she needed when she was a kid. She is kind to kids, but ruthless to adults and James loves her for it. Piper comes in two afternoons a week to give music lessons to kids. Mark works at a second-hand bookshop and occasionally dumps books for the school’s library. Mark is that kind of worker who spends the time reading and is slightly hostile to customers and would prefer not to sell things (not based on Aziraphale but the shop owner from Neverending Story). Maybe Roy whose kids love him because he wears all kinds of color combinations and never tells a kid they can’t color the sky green or the dog purple. Little by little James makes his way into their lives and of course gets them to help him with the show. He meets Len who, after spending time in prison for theft, is now part of one of the biker clubs who protect kids, when he stops by for a lunch with Lisa and all of the kids run to the windows and press their faces against the glass because they want to see if it’s Miss Lisa’s boyfriend. No one has seen the boyfriend yet. One day James phones the local fire station to ask about safety requirements for the pyrotechnics and Mick races down and explains in great detail why most of his ideas are bad if not illegal. Mick then recognizes him because he briefly toured with the same circus as a fire breather. So James has his hooks into the next person. Little by little he builds up an actual adult support system without meaning to.

I think Digger would be a parent in this AU. Maybe he’s connected via Lisa and social services. Not sure where Sam would be. Maybe as his boyfriend?

In the end, there’s the big show, it’s a success. James has grown as an adult, friend and most importantly father. In fact, a few days or dramatically the night before) he actually came clean to Mindy, not because she was close to finding out, but because it was the right thing to do and she is still one of the most important people in his life.

Sooo....not many actual teachers in this, but I didn’t want to write about “Person A is the Maths teacher, Person B is the English teacher”, mainly because I don’t think most of them wouldn’t be suitable teachers which is okay.