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whichcouldmeannothing · 11 months ago

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big big marvey fic rec list

marvey is currently my most bookmarked ship, so trust me when i say i've been around the bend for marvey content. i have dug through a lot of it the past few months, so trust that these fics have been highly rated!

fics are loosely grouped, with the summary and my thoughts under the cut :3 no spoilers ofc bc i love you

MY PERSONAL FAVOURITES

A Specter-Ross Affair by @frivoloussuits (15k+, au)

“You ordered an ‘extra-hot, extra-wet cappuccino, single-origin, properly layered, to-go and ready five minutes ago to make up for your service speed or lack thereof.’” In which Mike is a barista, Rachel is a lawyer, and Harvey is paid excessive amounts of money to plan their joyous Christmas wedding.

"Love is just a particularly socially accepted form of fraud. It's a series of increasingly complex and fragile deceptions between two or more people, and, more alarmingly, between each participant and their own deluded subconscious."

i literally cannot recommend this fic enough. this might be my favourite read of the entire year, dead serious. this sounds fluffy but trust me, the pining and the angst go well like salt on a chocolate chip cookie: extremely decadent. everything about this fic goes insane and this should be your gateway drug into marvey, im so serious about this. READ IT. (weddingplanner!harvey)

of all the gin joints by @frivoloussuits (10k+, au)

Hanging around a neighborhood bar one night, Harvey befriends a guy named Mike after realizing they can both quote The Princess Bride on demand. In the law offices of Rand, Kaldor, Zane and Pearson, senior partner Harvey Specter takes on an unusual case, representing his managing partner's daughter as she divorces a Michael James Ross. Harvey sees no connection until it's far too late.

"They’re playing a virtuosic duet with inhuman ease, as if the intoxication has broken their boundaries and blurred them into a single entity."

this. obsessed with fics that really use the law in their plots, and this is a prime example. a lot of chemistry in this one that is described in a way that makes you jealous of the bond they share and there are still lines in this fic that i think about almost everyday but honestly, such a top-tier read. PLEASE PLEASE IF YOU LIKE SUFFERING ANF REALLY REALLY GOOD CHEMISTRY PLEASE

5U175 by Closer (26k, canon-adjacent)

Harvey sometimes moonlights as a Star Trek BNF. Mike might have an attitude problem on the internet. TiberiusGhost is strangely compelling, for a recluse who never goes to meetups, and Harvey's finding this kid Photohead vaguely familiar…

i know that the terminology in this one is hella old-school but trust me. as someone who doesnt read a lot of fandom fics, this fic has changed it all for me (also bc the author replied to my comment hehehe) stick with this fic because the way fandom weaves with the character development is absolutely delicious, i remember saying this in my og comment but this fic was written with love for fandom and you should definitely read it too!!! you'd absolutely love it! (also ben stans rise up ^^)

fics to sink your teeth into (20k+)

needs must by @melthemagpie (98k+, au)

When Grammy needs an upgrade in care, Mike knows that the usual one-off gig as a paid submissive won't be enough. He takes a job he's been refusing for a while - a long-term, full-time contract. He expects his client to be a sadistic asshole. He expects not to like it. He's wrong on both counts.

this is a fandom classic, every fic rec has this on the list (cw for dom/sub and prostitution, so if you're uncomfy please dont read) but i swear there are so many romantic moments in this one that make me swoon and the smut is very good, i usually tap out in long fics really quickly but this hooked me the whole way through twice. thats my ringing endorsement, READ THIS

Lobster and Other Catastrophes by @andthetardis (21k, canon-compliant)

After months of silence, Mike starts texting Harvey again out of the blue. Funny thing to do on his honeymoon, really.

BRO PLEASE. this was so good. angsty and pining-y enough even though it's mostly a text fic. text fics to me are more like comedic, but this one had substance and heart (and funny and enjoyable btw). pulls you in and really makes you want to stick it out and get to the beautiful ending <333 (harvey being soft is probably a category on its own :3)

The Game by @frivoloussuits (27k, hunger games au)

Harvey Specter and Donna Paulsen are efficient and elegant killers. They have trained since childhood, mentored personally by Jessica Pearson and marked for years as District 1's Tributes for the Hunger Games. Mike Ross is an orphan from District 12, a drug dealer, and an underage gambler. After years of scrutinizing the Hunger Games on TV to make savvy bets, he finds himself on the wrong side of the camera, now playing the odds just to survive. Harvey and Mike cannot, should not trust each other. Still, they strike a backroom deal.

"Because he’s clever and quick-thinking and he’s learned her main lesson well– don’t love anyone you wouldn’t be willing to see dead. Ideally, don’t love anyone at all."

I READ THIS WHEN I WAS REVISITING HUNGER GAMES AND OHHHHH THIS HAS THE ANGST. absolutely riveting. ths is the third fic im reccing from them bc i love frivoloussuits. i would die for them HHFSHFHKSDGDHFG i love the angst and the life-threatening situations that the hunger games provide and harvey as a career is correct. its just correct. everything here grips my soul

Disaster Stories by agatestones (22k, canon-compliant)

"Hold on," Mike asked, "you made Donna come into work in the middle of a blizzard?" "I don't make Donna do anything. Haven't you learned by now?" Harvey gave Mike a mean little smile, but under that was relief for anyone to see. "You, I can make come into the office in a blizzard."

reads like a novella to me, and it's really good!!! very episodic and you really feel like these are things that have happened in universe. its very slice of lifey and i reread it a lot as a comfort read, its like a big hug to me

Pizza and a Movie by Closer (30k+, au)

In an alternate universe, Harvey's still a lawyer but Mike's not a pot runner -- he's a deliveryman for Rollo's Pizza and Ribs, which happens to be Harvey's favorite pizza place. Once Harvey finds out his pizza guy is a genius, Mike's life takes a few turns he would not have expected...

i swear this is the most rom-commy fic marvey has to offer. i like aus that slap me in the face more with the alternate universe, but this is such a rom-com plot. fandom classic as well and it really reads like a hugh grant 90s movie and if thats not enough to pull you in idk what will tbh

Imprimatur by Closer (22k, au)

Mike was raised to believe Imprint was a life-changing event for those few lucky enough to experience it. Harvey was raised to believe it was a form of mental illness. When it actually happened, neither of them noticed.

this goes absolutely crazy. one of those fics where you read it and you almost want to throw your phone at the wall because the characters could make it so easy if they werent so stupid (but in a good way of course) but the way it was written, you feel the depth of the soulmate bond and why its so important (which a lot of soulmate aus forget to do loll) but goes down like an expensive and delicious dinner :)

afternoon reads (10k+)

Sony SRF-39FP by @frivoloussuits (11k+, canon-adjacent)

Anita Gibbs won’t settle for Mike, not when there are name partners within her reach. She offers only one deal– two years, no other charges against anyone else in the firm, as long as Harvey Specter turns himself in. And even as Donna and Jessica and Louis and Mike beg him not to, he jumps on the grenade. “Time to get busy living or get busy dying,” he remarks, and Mike gives a small chuckle. Then Harvey smirks, straightens his suit jacket, and strides into FCI Danbury.

“I can’t believe they’re trying to lock you in a box and forget about you,” Mike sighs as he leaves.

“Well, as long as you don’t forget me, I figure I’ll survive.”

“Maybe you haven’t noticed, but forgetting’s never been my strong suit.

cw for depersonalization and desc of solitary confinement, very very heavy but the way mike is there throughout everything makes my heart twinge. i really dont know how to describe this fic at all but its really good. it makes me cry a lot. also made me start listening to jazz which- uh

Here at the end of all things by @tattooedsiren (10k, au)

When he arrives at the Pearson Hardman building the lights are dimmed and the floor is deserted. His feet carry him to Harvey's office even though he expects it to be empty. Because Harvey probably fled the city via helicopter or teleporter or sheer force of will. But when he approaches the office he can see that Harvey is there. He has moved the couch so that it now faces the floor to ceiling windows and Mike silently sits beside Harvey, joins him in looking down at the chaos engulfing the city below. [Apocalypse AU]

I LOVE APOCALYPSE FICS UP UP UP badass!harvey makes me bark, but im a really big fan of people who find happiness in the worst circumstances and this fic does it so so so well. reminds me a lot of tlou episode like 2? the one with the strawberries. please this is what i revisit when i miss marvey and i dont have a lot of time because the world and the characters are jsut so delicious!!!

quick reads (1k+)

This Love is Silent by kim47 (8k, canon-compliant)

She should have known. She had known, that something was off, at least. She knew he was hiding something. She just never imagined it could be this. Despite Harvey's warnings, Mike tells Rachel the truth about everything. She's shocked, naturally, and more than a little angry, but she agrees to keep his secret, and even to date him. So when they break up, Harvey goes into damage-control mode.

RACHEL!! HELLO RACHEL!! im always up for smart and discerning rachel (this shows up in of all the gin joints too btw!!!) this runs realistic to me because it shows that rachelxmike arent some hopelessly wrong for each other couple, they have good and bad times. this feels more real to me than other fics bc its not like the world conspires for marvey to be apart, its just life. i know this makes it sound so sad, and it is, but trust me: this is really really really good i love this so much

an archive of harvey specter's expressions by @frivoloussuits (2k, canon-compliant)

Five old expressions that Mike rediscovers in new contexts once he and Harvey are (finally) together, and one that he sees for the first time. Alternatively titled “An Ode to Gabriel Macht’s Face.”

this was written for me. this is literally me. writing fic because gabriel macht is too pretty, like this fic is literally for me. a lot of peering at him to get this fic as masterfully written as it is, and i thank you author everyday for it. to me, this reads like it's been written with love and care and true adoration (Truly, like Mike)

Coffee-Cart Client Privilege by @frivoloussuits (7k, au)

Mike runs a coffee cart. The coffee cart.

"Why not? They're too big and dense to be a snack." So are you, Mike thinks, and yet.

IM SORRY I KEEP RECCING FRIVOLOUS SUITS THEYRE MY FAVOURITE WRITER IN THIS FANDOM HFBKABFDKHFBHKDSA this has the hand-wavy logic the show has itself but mike's internal monologue in this one is one of the best ive ever read and the way mike's integrated in the offices is just so well-done ahhhh

Objection by yeah its frivoloussuits again i feel bad tagging them like 7 times (2k, canon-adjacent)

When Mike announces he’s leaving, Harvey plans to hide the jagged pieces of his broken heart deep inside, where no one will ever find them. His heart would like to object.

BIGG fan of physical hurt/comfort!!!! also big fan of people absolutely freaking out in the hospital in fics, it makes me bounce of the wall!! very short but the angst and love really hits you quick and leaves you on the floor gasping for air. very good (also cant prove this but im very sure this is a scrubs reference.t hanks)

Excerpts From The Gospel of Harvey Specter, edited by Michael "Forever Awesome" Ross, 2011, 1st Ed, by @rcmclachlan (7k, canon compliant)

Mike can totally read people. Well, most people. Some people. Or maybe just Harvey, who's pretty much an open book.

this one's really funny! it doesent follow direct prose and instead plays a lot with the setting its in (where mike's a documenter of harvey) and its just so funny and adorable. has a lot of heart too, it isn't just crack or anything but you really feel everything mike does as he writes all this, read this!!1

One More Sleepless Night by @sal_si_puedes (9k, au)

Soul Bonds are one-sided – there’s usually mutual affection, but only one party feels the crippling need to be together as often as possible. If separated at length from their love, that party becomes crushed by longing, panic, and sheer hopelessness, and so it is illegal to forcibly keep Soulmates apart. Some days, Harvey Specter hates the Bond that skews his judgement and weakens his resolve, and he fears what would happen if anyone in his world ever discovers he is so compromised. He certainly never planned to disclose the Bond for the first time in the middle of Anita Gibbs’ office, in a last-ditch attempt to invalidate the deal sending Mike to prison.

HSDGFHSDKGHRLKGHK THIS FIC. i love fics that use more than just prose to tell their stories (see above fic) and this does my favourite thing that soulmate aus do, which is where they integrate in-universe explanations for the phenomenon. the amount of work and dedication put into this fic makes it absolutely sing and was absolutely lovely!!

also pspspsps

golden like the daffodils by @mini-mart (2k, canon-compliant)

Poetry holds meaning, for anyone who reads it. It obscures and dances around the literal and metaphorical, because it’s imbued with so much of something that it overflows out of any definition. It can make someone mad, or lovesick, or aroused, and the reactions would be absolutely warranted. Mike is poetry, to Harvey. - Harvey Specter could be a good politician, as he believes in pragmatism over poetry. He won't let his progress fall apart, won't let someone knock it down. And then someone unceremoniously cracks open a suitcase at his feet. Or: Harvey, pretty boys and poetry.

yeah yeah i wrote this yeah yeah self promo smth smth

there's a lot more that isn't here but i'll probably write a new one when i go for a deep dive through the ship tags again :3

^^ ao3 etiqutte applies! if you like the fic, kudos and comment and bookmark!! show your love! happy reading marveys! my gift to u :3

#marvey #suits tv #suits #mike ross #harvey specter #marvey fic recs #marvey fic #ao3 #fic rec list #fic recs #tbr #fanfiction #103 #GUYS PLEASE READ THIS #mikexharvey #read this

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brbsoulnomming · 1 year ago

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Tell Me Sweet Little Lies Part 23

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They're on the front page for about a week.

They run the stories of Hopper and Henry Creel simultaneously - honestly, Eddie kind of thinks the fact that Hopper was presumed dead and is now back makes it easier for people to believe a previously assumed dead guy is the top suspect for the murders.

Eddie gets barely a mention clearing him of all charges. There's a couple of articles about him and Steve fighting off Henry Creel, but the focus is more on Steve than anything else.

Steve bitches about it, about how they did the same thing after Starcourt, but Eddie's kind of glad his name isn't plastered all over the place anymore.

He and Steve are down in the kitchen scrounging up celebratory snacks and beers - Steve has a clean bill of health, and Eddie's stitches are coming out in a few days - when the phone rings.

"Harrington residence, this is Steve speaking," he greets.

Eddie barely has time to decide he's absolutely going to tease him about that later when the response comes - loud enough for him to hear it.

"Steven, my boy!" the voice booms, spirited and affable.

Steve closes his eyes, the muscles in his jaw tightening. "Hi, Dad."

"We just heard the news!" Steve's father says. "Why didn't you call to tell us? Did the earthquake damage anything?"

Part of Eddie thinks he should leave. Or at least back away, so he can't hear everything that's being said - but the other part of him thinks that Steve'd push him away if he didn't want him here, and with how tense Steve's gone next to him, Eddie can't bring himself to pull away.

"The house is fine," Steve says. "Loch Nora didn't get hit at all."

"Good, good," Mr. Harrington says. "Your mother hears you and Rachel have been volunteering with the relief efforts?"

Eddie didn't think it was possible, but Steve goes even stiffer.

"Robin," he corrects, his tone smooth and entirely void of inflection. "Yes, we've been coordinating donations."

"That's what I want to hear!" There's a sound like a loud clap. "I'm glad to see you're taking this seriously. You had a lot of ground to make up for, but it seems giving you a dose of reality has paid off. We'll be able to have some real talks about your future soon. What? Oh, your mother wants to talk to you."

There's a shuffling noise, then a quieter and much less friendly voice greets, "Steven."

"Hey Mom," Steve's posture relaxes a little. "I told Dad we made it out okay."

There's some kind of response, but Steve's mom is too quiet for Eddie to make it out.

"No, of course I didn't file charges. I knew you'd want to handle it if anything else happened." A pause. "Yes, that Carver. Mom, it's not - yeah. Yeah, okay. No, it's just him. I think he's just mad that people listened to me and not him. Yeah, I - all right. Bye."

He hangs up the phone, leaning in with one arm braced against the wall, a long line of tension.

"Steve?" Eddie says quietly.

Steve turns to face him, giving a little crooked smile. "You can ask if you want. I don't mind you and Robin knowing. It's… easier sometimes, if she expects it, and it's probably the same with you."

Eddie aches a little. "What was your dad talking about? What ground to make up for?"

Steve makes a face. "I did a lot of damage to the Harrington image the last bit of high school, you know. Stopped caring about my reputation, didn't get accepted into any of the colleges they wanted me to go to, kept getting into fights."

"But that wasn't - did they even ask you what actually happened?" Eddie asks.

"They don't care what actually happened," Steve replies. "Just what it looked like. Like I said, it's all about appearances with them. My dad's the main reason I worked at Scoops instead of being a lifeguard again last summer - he says it's because I needed a real life experience, learn what it means to work at the bottom, but he was just pissy and trying to humiliate me. He talks a big game about working hard, but all he really cares about is how I make them look. Now that I've gotten good press twice, he's happy again."

Eddie's mouth opens, then closes, then opens again. "He didn't even ask if you were okay."

Steve shrugs. "I looked fine in the papers."

Right.

Appearances.

"Will you be mad at me if I punch your dad if I ever see him?" Eddie asks.

Steve laughs, a surprised little sound like he's startled by it. "No," he says. "But only if I get to punch yours for leaving you."

Oh.

If Eddie was thinking about it, he'd have moved slowly, making sure to telegraph what he was doing so he didn't startle Steve, but he reacts on instinct and pulls Steve into a hug.

Steve doesn't even flinch at the sudden motion. He just melts into it, letting Eddie wrap him up and hold him tightly. His arms come up to cross over Eddie's shoulder blades, the placement automatically mindful of his injuries in the way only someone who's bandaged them multiple times could be.

"Sometimes I wish they just wouldn't call at all," Steve admits, face buried in Eddie's neck. It comes out in a rush, like he hadn't really thought about it before he said it, but he's getting it out anyway. "That they'd just cut me out of their life, instead of stringing me along."

"Fuck them," Eddie says. "I've got you."

He can hear Steve swallow, and Steve hugs him tighter.

They stay like that for a long while, until Eddie finally pulls back.

"Hey," he says softly. "I'll get the food and stuff. Go upstairs and see Robin."

Steve looks uncertain. "You sure?"

Eddie hugs him one more time. "You've got two soulmates," he murmurs. "Let us take care of you a little, okay?"

Steve squeezes him tight, then lets go with a nod before heading upstairs.

Eddie dithers in the kitchen for a bit, taking an extra long time. Whatever his complicated feelings are, it doesn't bother him at all to give Steve and Robin some space like this.

They're talking when he comes back, which isn't a surprise, and he hears his own name as he gets closer to the bedroom. Eddie pauses, even though he shouldn't, listening through the cracked door. He'll feel worse about it later, probably, but right now the masochistic side of him can't resist the urge to know what they're saying about him.

"I want him so much, Robs," he hears Steve saying, low and soft like he's trying to be quiet.

"I know," Robin replies, her tone somehow managing to be both gentle and snarky at the same time. "It's kind of pathetic."

Steve lets out a muffled groan. "Not helping. I don't exactly have the greatest track record at being able to get over people! I thought, with my soulmate-"

He cuts off, and Eddie can't help the bubbling anger that springs up. Steve thought? Has he stopped for one second to think about how Eddie might feel, only ever having a platonic soulmate? Wanting him just as bad and not being able to have him, not being able to have anyone?

"-someone else?" Robin is saying, like she's reading his thoughts, and Eddie has to hold his breath as he makes sure he hadn't accidentally said that outloud.

"I don't want anyone else," Steve says miserably. "Just him. I think - I think it's always going to be him. Fuck, why does this have to be so complicated?"

There's a heavy, thick silence, and Eddie's anger simmers and crackles under his skin, the way it always does when there's a hefty mixing of guilt in it.

"Do you think-" Robin starts, then stops. "Do you wish-" She stops again, voice thick with emotion. "Would it be easier if we-"

"No," Steve says, cutting her off at the same time that Eddie realizes what she's probably trying to bring herself to ask.

There's the muffled sound of shuffling, quiet hitching breaths - probably the motions of Steve trying to reassure one of his soulmates that he wants her, and he imagines him gathering her close, pressing soft kisses anywhere he can reach, cutting off anything she tries to say with a deeper, fiercer kiss.

Eddie bites the inside of his cheek so hard he tastes copper to keep himself from making some kind of sound to give himself away. He hates that he doesn't know what he's feeling - hates that he thinks he's jealous of Robin just as much as he doesn't feel jealous of her, not really. He's jealous of the images he conjures when he thinks about them together, but he's never actually jealous when he's with them, when he watches them.

That reminder makes him shift, peeking through the cracked door so he can see them. They're sitting facing each other, legs all tangled together. One of Steve's hands is covering Robin's heart, and the other is curled around one of Robin's hands, pinning it to his chest over his own heart, and their foreheads are pressed together.

Something in Eddie settles in a way he can't explain, all thoughts of jealousy gone.

"There's no me without you," Steve is saying. "You're a part of me, Robs, I can't do this without either of you."

She says something too muffled for Eddie to make out.

"I'm happy. I really am, I promise. I love you, I love us, exactly the way we are. And with Eddie-"

Eddie leans forward, too desperate to know what he's going to say to worry about being caught.

"I don't need anything else other than just him. However I can have him. If it's never romantic, if this is us forever - it doesn't matter, not really. I just need you and him, and the kids, and I'm good."

There's silence, the two of them just completely wrapped up in each other, and fuck, Eddie - he thinks you know what, if this is it, if what he has is Steve and Robin and the kids forever, then he's good, too.

"I love you, Robin Buckley," Steve says. "In a way I never realized was possible, until you and that dumb kid showed up in my life and taught me that you don't have to do anything to earn someone's love. That sometimes, it's just unconditional."

Steve was sixteen when he fought his first demogorgon, Eddie remembers that. Which means he couldn't have been any younger than that when he started really spending any time with Dustin or Robin, which means - the same thing that Eddie went through when he first moved in with Uncle Wayne, the thing that was so impossible for him to believe at twelve, Steve wasn't shown until he was probably seventeen.

Fuck, his heart aches.

"Does Henderson know he was your first true love?" Robin asks, her voice a little wet, but obviously trying to make things a little lighter.

Steve laughs, the sound just a bit thick. "No, and he'd be insufferable if I told him."

There's the faint sting of a new lie being written on the back of his calf, and the second he registers it, he hears Robin's startled laughter. Eddie pulls back from the door, sucking in a deep breath and letting it out, trying to get himself back under control.

"Oh my God, Steve, you did tell him! When?"

He can hear Steve sputtering and deflecting, the sound of Robin smacking him and Steve scrambling - probably trying to avoid them - and if there was ever going to be a good time to announce his return after shamelessly listening in for too long, now is probably it.

Eddie pushes open the door, six pack under one arm and bags of popcorn and chips under the other as he shoots a hopefully only slightly manic grin at them. "What's Steve lying about now?"

"Nothing!" Steve says too quickly.

Sloppy, for him, considering Eddie knows how good Steve usually is at using sarcasm or half truths to avoid telling lies, so Eddie tosses the bag of popcorn at him.

He catches it easily, of course, but it means he's now vulnerable to Robin's attacks, and he has to swerve to avoid another slap to his shoulder.

"Steve's trying to pretend like we both didn't get that lie, too," Robin says.

Steve groans. "Fine, Jesus. It was back when we were waiting at the camper, and Dustin was upset. I told him that he was the first person who was ever just - there, in my life because he wanted to be, even after he didn't need me to fight demodogs. No one could ever replace him."

"You're such a sap, Steve," Eddie teases him as he comes to sit next to him and Robin.

"Shut up," Steve grumbles. "That's it, I'm picking the movie."

—

The next day, Lucas and Max swing by. Steve hauls a basketball stand out of the garage and sets it up in the driveway, and Eddie sits at the kitchen table, eating a bologna sandwich while he watches them play.

It's safer inside, where there's no one to see if he gets affected by Steve's tank top and shorts.

Or at least, he thought it was safer inside.

"Do you love Steve?" Max asks, plopping down beside him.

Eddie chokes on his Coke, and she stares at him unsympathetically until he manages to breathe again.

"He's my soulmate, so." Eddie shrugs.

Max gives him an unimpressed look, and yeah, okay, he figures they both know soulmates aren't a guarantee of anything. Eddie's parents were soulmates, after all, loved each other more than anything else in this world, and that still hadn't been enough.

"I wanted him to be my soulmate before I knew it was him," he admits, because that's a more true answer without actually having to say yes or no. "Nothing's happened since to change that."

She gets this look on her face like she's trying to decide if that's an acceptable response. After a moment, she rests her chin on her knees, staring out the window, and Eddie figures he's in the clear.

"Steve has two soulmates," she says after a while. "You don't. Doesn't that make you feel - I don't know, like you aren't enough?"

"Jesus Christ, Red, you're not pulling any punches today, are you?" Eddie swears.

He doesn't actually want to have this conversation. It's not something he's completely sorted out on his own, yet, even though he's done a lot of thinking on it, and he's tempted to tell her to mind her own business.

But she won't look at him, and he knows why she's asking. She's not talking about him and Steve and Robin, not really.

He thinks about telling her something standard about soulmates, or maybe even the advice that his uncle gave him, but it doesn't feel right.

"It's not what I always imagined," Eddie admits slowly.

Max doesn't say anything, but he watches the way she starts to unwind a little, how she doesn't hold herself so stiff, tilts a little to actually listen to what he's saying.

"You know Steve and I talked to each other when we were younger. We thought the same way about a lot of stuff, and I had this idea in my head that he was some little outcast like me, in another small town somewhere out there, that we'd move to a big city and find each other. But then we stopped talking."

"How come?" Max asks, looking caught up despite herself.

Eddie grins at her, wide and self depreciating. "I found out he was probably some rich, popular jerk, and decided I hated him."

And there's that unimpressed look again.

"Yeah, yeah," Eddie grumbles. "Let's just say there might be some truth to not talking with your soulmate before you actually meet them. Point is, for almost five years, I hated my soulmate. Thought the best I could hope for was that we'd meet when we were thirty and ancient, and maybe then he would have changed. Then a little while ago, I met Steve."

Max's brows furrow. "You met Steve way before that."

"Nah," he says. "I knew of Steve. I had a lot of assumptions about him, knew what I thought he was, but I didn't know the real Steve. That Steve I met when he helped explain all of this to me and didn't make me feel stupid for not picking up some of it right away, even after I held a broken bottle to his throat."

She snorts, but looks like she's considering that. "I met him when he was putting himself between me, Lucas, and Dustin and a hoard of demodogs, a couple of hours after calling them dickheads and me some random girl."

Eddie salutes her with his can of Coke, half in understanding and half to cover the way his heart wants to melt again. "That Steve was nothing like I imagined my soulmate to be, when I was daydreaming about him or hating him. But I knew I didn't want anyone else, and Steve having another soulmate doesn't change that. I don't think it makes what he feels for me any less than what I feel for him, and I don't think it means I'm less important to him than he is to me."

Max frowns. "Really, or are you just saying that?"

"Really," Eddie says, though he hadn't actually been sure it was true until he heard himself say it. "I'm not saying it's not hard sometimes. And sometimes I get in my head about it. But I wouldn't change it. Steve wouldn't be the same without Robin, you know? He wouldn't be the Steve that made me want him to be my soulmate so bad."

There's a long moment of silence. Then, "Would you be saying that if both of his soulmates were romantic?"

Eddie's glad he stopped drinking, because he knows he would have choked again. For a split second, she wonders if she's picked up on - but no, that still isn't what this about. "Are both of yours romantic?"

Her jaw juts forward, arms hugging tighter around her knees. "What if they were?"

Fuck, he doesn't know what to say to that. "It's okay to like both guys and girls," he says, because he feels like that's the most important bit. "I do. I mean, mostly guys, but sometimes girls."

Her grip loosens a little, but she still doesn't say anything.

"It sounds like maybe I'm not the one you should be talking to about that," he says carefully.

She scowls. "I talked to Steve already."

Right, of course she did.

"What did Steve say?"

"Steve said he thinks the line between platonic and romantic soulmates isn't as straightforward as people like to pretend it is. That sometimes what you might think should be romantic is actually platonic, and sometimes what you think should be platonic is romantic, and sometimes there's going to be things that blur the lines and you don't really know which one it is. He said it was okay to have two platonic or two romantic or one of each or, like, any combination." She makes a face here, like she's not entirely sure what he meant by any combination - or like she was sure, and didn't need that much detail. "That as long as everyone was communicating, it was okay to do whatever worked for us."

Eddie swallows. "Steve sounds pretty smart."

Max rolls her eyes. "He has his moments."

"So… are you communicating with Lucas and El?" he asks.

She picks at a rip in her jeans. "I talked to Lucas."

He waits, but it seems like that's all he's going to get. He starts to ask what Lucas said, but… he gets the feeling that it's not necessarily about what he said or not.

"But it's Lucas," Eddie says. "And you wanted to hear how someone else in a familiar situation felt."

Eddie gets that familiar, itchy feeling that he does when he wants to run, and he only barely resists the urge to bounce his leg up and down. It's not that he wants to run from Max, or even from this conversation, it's just - it's starting to make him think about things, and he really, really doesn't want an audience for this. He wants to lock himself in a room and pace, listen to some music, maybe scribble out his thoughts, something to get his hands moving and his brain in some kind of order -

"Even if Steve wanted both of us romantically," he says, knowing it's close enough that it's not a lie. "I would still rather be his soulmate than anyone else."

Max looks at him with narrowed eyes for a long moment. "I'm gonna ask Steve if you lied about that."

Eddie fixes her with an unimpressed look right back. "You think I'd do that to him?"

"You better not." There's an edge of menace in her tone, but she lets it go, so Eddie figures she doesn't really think he'd lie about something like that knowing it would be etched on Steve's skin forever.

Silence stretches between them, and Eddie follows her gaze out the window, watching Steve and Lucas playing basketball.

"I've put him through so much already," Max says, so quietly that he can barely hear it.

Fuck, Eddie is so fucking soft for these kids.

"You have not," Eddie says immediately. "You haven't done a goddamn thing, Red. Both of you have already been through so much, and it's not because of something either of you did. It's fucking Hawkins."

She doesn't look convinced, so Eddie pushes his shoulder against hers.

"Lucas is smart. He's more emotionally intelligent than I am-" Max snorts at him, and he's reasonably sure he hears her mutter something along the lines of like that's hard, but he ignores her. "He knows what he can take and what he can't. All you have to do is believe him when he tells you it."

She's quiet for a moment, looking contemplative. Then she asks, "Does that work for you?"

Right, yeah, okay, he deserved that one. He thinks about deflecting, but -

"I'm trying," he admits quietly. "What do you think, huh, you gonna let me beat you there or are we gonna do this together?"

Max glances out the window again, then turns to look back at him, her chin jutting out. "Steve loves too much, and he gets it thrown back at him too often. I don't think he really believes that we love him as much as he loves us, even though we do."

She says it like a threat, like she's saying if you tell him I said that I will kill you or maybe if you hurt him I will kill you. Either way, he'd be dead.

"I'll talk to Lucas and El, and you make sure you don't disappoint him."

Goddamn if that doesn't stab right to the heart of him, lodging itself beneath his ribcage and sticking right into the parts that'd already made him want to run from this conversation.

"Okay," he manages to get out, because he's not sure he'll survive any other answer.

Max nods. "Good talk," she tells him, and then she pushes herself up and she's gone.

Eddie stays there, mulling all of that over. He doesn't think she'd actually tell Steve anything they just talked about, nor does he think she really has any idea that Steve had asked him to make their bond romantic and he'd turned him down. Honestly, Eddie could probably get away with patting himself on the back for actually managing to give some decent advice and be the person she'd needed him to be for just a little while, then go on being a very devoted platonic soulmate for Steve.

Except even if Max doesn't really know, Eddie does. And now Eddie's thinking about things he doesn't want to, and wondering how much of a hypocrite some of the advice that he gave her makes him, and -

"Hey," Lucas says, and Eddie yelps.

Lucas raises his eyebrows at him.

"Jesus Christ, don't do that," Eddie bitches.

There's a little smirk, but fortunately, Lucas doesn't actually comment on it. "You talk to Max?" he asks instead.

"Yeah," Eddie replies, narrowing his eyes at him.

Lucas lights up, though, his whole face practically beaming with his smile. "Good. I figured it'd help her to hear that your soulmate cares about you no matter what from someone who wasn't me."

Eddie raises one eyebrow. "How do you know that's what I said?"

Lucas rolls his eyes. "Because you're Steve's soulmate. If that wasn't the way you felt, Robin would know, and she'd have already murdered you."

Eddie considers that. "Okay, fair."

Lucas makes his way over to the fridge, yanking it open and standing in front of it as he peers in. "So what did you tell her?"

Eddie sits back, waiting until Lucas turns to look back at him so he can shoot him a wide, smug grin. "If she wants you to know, she'll tell you."

He gets a glare in return, but Lucas doesn't protest that, just leans back in to grab a pair of Gatorades from the fridge. He twists the top off of one, taking a long swallow before he shuts the door and starts back out of the kitchen, giving him a little nod as he passes.

"Hey, Lucas?" Eddie calls before he can leave.

Lucas pauses, looking quizzically at him.

"I'm guessing you talk to Steve like Max does, about all this." Eddie makes an exaggerated gesture between them and out the kitchen window, meant to loop all of them in together. "But, uh. You know. If you ever want a different perspective, from someone in kind of your position."

He motions to himself, then splays his hands out all ta-da.

Lucas hesitates, lingering in the middle of the kitchen before he seems to make a decision.

"I was kind of upset about it when I first found out Max's other soulmate was El," he admits. "It was right after Billy died, and their soulmate bond was new, and Max kept letting El in while she was shutting me out. And I was angry, and jealous, and then when El had to leave and Max kept pushing me away, I just kept thinking that if El was here Max wouldn't be by herself so much, that the wrong soulmate got to stay in Hawkins."

Lucas pauses, twisting the Gatorades in his hand, but Eddie gets the feeling it's a gathering his thoughts pause more than a waiting for Eddie to say something pause.

"Eventually I realized that El could help Max in a way that I couldn't, and that maybe that was the point. I started calling El a little, too, when the phone wasn't busy, and just - El was grieving, too. I didn't want to feel jealous over something that helped them both anymore. It's been good with El back, really good. I don't know if I like El like that, but if Max does-" he shrugs. "I guess I kind of already got over the jealousy bit. It doesn't really matter to me if they kiss while they're having sleepovers or not, as long as they don't exclude me."

Now it seems like a waiting for Eddie to say something pause, so he gives a soft little hum. "What do you do if you end up feeling excluded?"

Lucas blinks, like he wasn't expecting that question. "Uh. Well, before, I talked to my parents and sometimes to Steve or Robin or Dustin. It's hard talking to Mike or Will about it because they're not all that objective about El stuff. I don't… really know if I want to tell my parents about Max and El like that yet, so I guess… talk to Steve or Robin or Dustin." He pauses, then, more tentatively, "Or you?"

Fuck, these kids keep getting to him. "Or me," he agrees easily. "But you should probably also add talk to Max and El to that list."

Lucas makes a face, but doesn't disagree. "I don't think a lot of the others know about Max," he says instead. "Just me and Steve and Robin, and now you."

There's an edge to his voice, like he's pretty sure Eddie must be safe if Max told him, but he's ready to fight him about it anyway.

"Max knows about me, now, so we're even," Eddie replies, pleased that the effort he puts into making sure his voice sounds steady pays off.

"Yeah?" Lucas asks. "Who else knows?"

"Steve and Robin. And now Max and you," Eddie replies.

Lucas lights up a little. "Cool."

"Cool," Eddie echoes, even though he feels a little shaky from the fact that he's now said it twice today, which is double the amount of times he's ever said it before at all.

There's a comfortable silence for a moment.

"It's complicated, being in our position," Eddie says after a bit. "I think it's always going to be complicated. But if we let it - I think it could be really great, too. Most people only end up in pairs, but us? We get a whole damn party of interconnected soulmates."

"A party of soulmates," Lucas says thoughtfully, then grins. "Yeah, I like that."

"You're a good kid, Lucas," Eddie tells him, not sure if he really needs to hear it, but he still remembers the way it made him feel when Uncle Wayne said it.

Lucas ducks his head, looking a little pleased, even though he follows it up with a sidelong look. "Even though I'm kind of a jock?"

Eddie shrugs. "My soulmate is a whole jock. I guess that means I've got a little jock in me, too."

Lucas's expression shifts, turning mischievous, and suddenly he looks like the fifteen year old boy he is, and not a world-weary adult. It's nice, it's wonderful, Eddie loves to see it, except it makes him realize what he just said far, far too late to do anything about it.

In his defense, they were having a serious discussion, and -

Yeah, he's got nothing.

Maybe it'll be fine? Lucas is probably the most mature out of all of the boys, maybe -

"I don't know, man," Lucas says, slowly, like he's actually considering that. "We've all heard the rumors about Steve. I don't think it's something little you're gonna be dealing with."

Eddie gapes at him.

"I said you were mature," he bemoans, flinging his upper body over the top of the kitchen table just to make Lucas laugh harder. "I told Max you were emotionally intelligent! Begone from my sight!"

Lucas takes his Gatorades and leaves, still laughing at him.

—

"Max cornered me in the kitchen to threaten me today," Eddie says.

Steve snorts. "Of course she did. What about?"

Eddie shrugs, waiting for Steve to look at him so he can waggle his eyebrows at him. "She also threatened to kill me if I told you."

Steve shoves him, and Eddie falls back dramatically, sprawling out on the couch. He props himself up on his elbows to look at Steve, but he doesn't seem inclined to actually push him to reveal what he and Max talked about. Instead, Steve goes about shutting down for the night, checking to make sure all the windows and the sliding glass door are locked.

"Soulmate stuff," Eddie says. Or more like blurts out, before he can change his mind, to force himself to have to keep going. "She told me what you said about the line between platonic and romantic soulmates. Made me think about some things."

"Yeah?" Steve asks, stopping by the couch to look at him.

"Do you still want me, Steve?" Eddie asks, his heart in his throat.

He isn't prepared for Steve to shut down, for the way his face goes cold and hard and blank.

"Not cool, Eddie," Steve says, turning away and going back to the windows in the living room.

Eddie pushes himself up off the couch, then immediately doubts himself and sits back down. "Steve, what?"

Steve won't look at him, and he can hear the window locks rattling with the force that Steve's using to check them. "You're being a dick, man, come on. You can't ask me stuff like that."

"I-" he starts, then stops, his mind scrambling a little. Is he too late? Did Steve move on already, even though he told Robin that he wasn't going to? Is Eddie so easy to get over that even his fucking soulmate couldn't keep him? "What happened to it's always going to be him, huh?"

"Jesus Christ," Steve says, incredulous, and Eddie kind of wants to cry a little because he knows that Steve has started saying that more because of all the time they've spent together. "You were listening to me and Robin? What the fuck, man, you still think it's fair to throw that at me?"

"Fuck you, Steve, I know it wasn't a lie when you said that. Am I so fucking easy to just stop wanting, or are you that fucking fickle?"

"Eddie, goddamn, is this - were you testing me? Is this you lashing out at me again? Because I can't, okay, not about this, I can't-" he cuts off, one hand scrubbing over his face. "I told you, I can't."

Oh.

Oh fuck.

"Steve, no, I wasn't teasing, I - it was a real question."

Steve stills, pausing right by a window. The light of the moon catches on him, highlighting parts of him in pale silver while the rest of him is warmed from the soft yellow of the living room lamp. "Seriously?"

"Come on, Steve. I just picked a fight with you instead of asking what you meant, and you're surprised I'm not sure you still want me anymore?"

Eddie can hear Steve breathing out, then in, then back out again, watches as he lets some of the tension bleed out of his body. "I think I picked some of that fight right back. I'm sorry, I just - all right, let's go back, and I'll listen without making assumptions, okay?"

Yeah, okay, Eddie can do that.

"Max told me what you said," Eddie starts again. "And it made me think about how smart you are." He wishes Steve were closer, so he could see his face better, at the same time as he wishes he couldn't see it at all. "How brave you are. How when you know what you want, you go for it, how you fight to keep it, how you own up when you make a mistake, how you work so hard to make all this work."

This is Eddie trying to be brave, he thinks. Trying to go for what he wants, to accept that they're going to have to work at this, that he's probably going to get hurt, that he has to trust that Steve will be willing to work past whatever it is that springs up.

It takes him a little too long, though, because after a few moments, Steve gently prompts, "Eddie?"

"Do you still want me?" he asks again. He didn't mean to, but it comes out anyway, all small and tentative.

"Eds," Steve breathes out. "I'm always going to want you."

He loves too much, and he gets it thrown back at him too often, Max had said, and Eddie swallows down the urge to ask him if he means it, if he'll still mean it the next time Eddie picks a fight, or every time he's an ass.

"I'm always going to want you, too," Eddie says.

Steve's hands twitch, and he looks like he's waiting for something - for a lie to show up on his skin, Eddie realizes, and Eddie knows he's going to have to do better than that.

"I want you," he says again. "Steve, I want you. I'll take you any way I can get you, but I just - this is stupid, I'm stupid. I'm making us both miserable because I was scared."

He's not surprised that's what gets Steve moving, and he comes over to sit by him on the couch.

"You're not stupid," Steve replies. "Not for being scared."

Eddie shakes his head. "No, but I am for giving into it. So I might get hurt, so what? I'm already hurting, wanting you so bad and not getting to have you, knowing you'd probably let me kiss you and not letting myself go for it."

Steve's looking at him, eyes all sharp and intense, like he's really listening to Eddie's every word, and hell if it doesn't make him feel just a little bit drunk on it.

"Talking with Max made me realize that I trust you. I trust you, with my life, with - fucking everything. I trust you to work through this with me, to figure out what works for us."

Steve runs a hand over his jaw, going up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Yeah?" he asks after a moment. "You really - you want to do this?"

"So fucking much," Eddie says.

Steve's whole face lights up in a smile, and he leans in, one hand resting on Eddie's knee. "That mean I can kiss you now?"

Eddie barely manages to get out a please before Steve's other hand is sliding over his jaw, slipping back to push his fingers into his hair and cup the side of his face. Steve holds him there as he kisses him, and it's-

It's not Eddie's first kiss. But it's his first kiss that's ever really meant anything, and the soft brush of Steve's lips against his makes his heart stutter in his chest.

Steve gives a little hum, low in his throat, and then he's tilting his head to get a better angle, and holy shit.

Eddie pushes forward eagerly, deepening the kiss until they're both panting for breath, and even then they don't pull away. Their foreheads press together, lips parted and just barely touching as they share the same air. His eyes have closed at some point, but now he opens them to find Steve looking back at him, and Eddie smiles.

"How long do you think until Robin notices we haven't come up?" he asks.

"I'm okay with figuring that out," Steve replies, closing the tiny bit of distance between them to kiss him again.

I've got a pretty good handle on the outline for the rest of this now, so I'd say we've got about four more parts left!

-----

Part 24

Tag list (always happy to add more): @vampireinthesun @koibug @estrellami-1 @mentalcyborg @allbimyself26 @questionablequeeries @the-s-is-silent @whimsicalwitchm @a-gae-af-racoon @tinyplanet95 @n0-1-important @velocitytimes2 @swimmingbirdrunningrock @newtstabber @jcmadgirl @roblingoblin285 @lexyvey @paperbackribs @goodolefashionedloverboi @evix-syne666 @raisedbylibrarians @stxrcrossed186 @nightmareglitter @greekgeek24 @starman-jpg @crazyhatlady86 @imfinereallyy @manda-panda-monium @deleataecount @prideandsensibility @chaoticvictorianspirit @maydillydally @disrespectedgoatman @scarlet-malfoy @i-less-than-three-you @hbyrde36 @hallucinatedjosten @dragonsandgayships @arepaconchocolate @g4ys0n @novelnovella @bisexualdisastersworld @ghostofyourvampiregf @scarletyeager @pettrichore @nerd-and-nervous @hiimlevi @queenie-ofthe-void @cinnamon-mushroomabomination

#steddie #eddie munson #steve harrington #steddie fic #robin buckley #max mayfield #lucas sinclair #background lumax #hints of elmax and elumax #platonic soulmates stobin #steddie soulmate au

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ewingstan · 1 year ago

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Halloween and cringetober may be behind us, yet I remain, coughing this up onto your back porch. Alec Lisa and Aisha were the only ones who enjoyed the costume party. Individuals and costume explanations below the cut:

Aisha and Brian: Power and Aki Hayakawa Chainsaw Man

This one goes out to the nine-year old I work with who wore a Denji costume for the school Halloween parade. Shoutout to you guy I don't know how you're allowed to watch that its the blood and sexual fantasies show.

I feel like miss suiciding-baiting-people-on-4chan would like Power. Aki works for Brian as they carry the "supposedly normal responsible one of their batshit group who very clearly has something wrong with him" niche of their series.

I feel like CSM is something that Brian and Alec would put on in the background when they were hanging out together. It's not really either of their thing, but it good pizza night fodder. Brian freaks out when Aisha mentions watching it.

Brian agreed to be Aki after he learned he could just wear a suit instead of making a real costume. Brian obviously likes objectively ridiculous costumes but it has to be something strained through 5 layers of machismo and a 17-year-old's idea of professionalism. He'll dress like something that gets painted onto a van but if there's too much whimsy or fun he'll start to freak. So halloween costumes would be weird for him. Aki just wearing a suit and a sword seemed like a good solution for this right up until the point where he had to explain what it was. Its from, hm, y'know, uhhhh this anime that my sister likes I'm just here to match with her.

Whenever he pulls the "I'm just in costume for my sister" thing Aisha makes everyone forget she exists. No escaping the weeb allegations for you Brian.

Taylor and Lisa: Madoka Kaname and Homura Akemi, Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Don't know if I need to explain this one, Worm/Madoka comparisons are almost cliche at this point

The costumes were Lisa's idea. Obviously.

The costumes were also Lisa's purchases, and enough was spent on them to make a veteran cosplayer weep. Her refusal to die her hair black would also make them weep but for different reasons.

After taking a look at herself Taylor enveloped herself in a particularly dense bug swarm for the whole night.

She eventually retreated to some side-room she found Brian hiding in and chatted with him for the rest of the party. On the condition that he make a darkness cloud for her.

She started choking on a prawn half an hour in after remembering he could see through his darkness clouds.

Rachel and Alec: Jade Harley and Dirk Strider, Homestuck

They are not going as a matching pair. Rachel does not know that she and Alec are wearing costumes from the same comic. She does not know what Homestuck is. This is one of the many ways she's better than us.

Rachel thinks she should've just been able to wear her usual dog mask for this party. Its a costume. What do you mean it doesn't count.

And why is her usual mask not enough, but the dog ears Cassie was really excited to loan her are fine? Aren't ears less costume than a full mask?

Admittedly apart from the pseudo-mind-control Alec and Dirk don't have a lot in common. Alec probably thinks he's more like Dirk than he actually is.

Dirk is if the concept of being in your own head was a guy, nay several guys, while Alec literally has to outsource getting in touch with his emotions to other bodies. Honestly the closest worm character to Dirk would probably be Krouse, considering the whole "chessmaster-manipulator who puts everything on himself and overmanages all his relationships while self-identifying as the person who can handle being the bad guy" thing, which Alec doesn't have going on at all. However:

It let me put Alec in a silly little fancylad outfit.

(Also they're both SB&HJ fans, so honestly I think its the perfect choice).

#parahumans #brian laborn #aisha laborn #taylor hebert #lisa wilbourn #rachel lindt #alec vasil #worm #wildbow #undersiders #leo says #leo draws #cringetober #halloween

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thegreatandpowerfulversy · 10 months ago

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It's Worm liveblogging time! About time I finally got around to actually reading it and not just letting the wormposts flow over me and deposit information via osmosis.

I started this morning and have read through the end of Arc 2 so far, so this isn't quite liveblogging from the beginning, but I can summarize the thoughts I would have posted had I decided to do this earlier.

Taylor apparently already has her powers from the start? I honestly thought the story began before her trigger event. Seems like it's only a few months after though, she's new to it all. I guess we see the background in an interlude later.

Also, wow, I thought my experience of high school as a nerdy trans girl was bad, but goddamn. I'm a little surprised Taylor hasn't murdered any of her bullies yet. Maybe later.

Spiders on his dick! What a unique, one-time event that surely will never even remotely happen again.

It took me an embarrassingly long time to remember who Regent was. You guys don't talk about him much.

Is Armsmaster trans or something? Probably not according to Wildbow, but since when is he a reliable source anyway. Trans according to post osmosis is good enough.

Dad :(

Taylor really does have a lot more self-control in the beginning than I expected.

At least she has some basic opsec knowledge and goes to the public library to make contact. Not that it helps against a Thinker, but it's the right idea.

The Undersiders have a boss? Why do I get the feeling that the boss won't be lasting very long...

There is no way that Lisa doesn't know exactly why Taylor is here. I guess she's having fun playing with her? Or maybe she also sees the next layer too and knows Taylor is possible to turn to be a villain for real.

...You know, as someone who gets a majority of her worm knowledge from an avid Taylor/Rachel shipper, reading the actual start of Worm is bizarre. Rachel does not make a good first impression here. I understand the smugbugs much better at the moment.

Friends :)

I do not like Victoria Dallon. Sure, punch Nazis, but that's a bit beyond punching.

I really do not like Victoria Dallon. Not just police brutality, but also blatantly using cult manipulation tactics on her sister, and trying to amplify that with her aura? Come on, Amy, we've got to get you out of there.

That's it so far! I imagine the arcs get significantly longer as the story goes on; they'd kind of have to to reach the "6.5 times as long as my own longest fic" mark that I've heard about. As a writer, that's a phenomenon I know all too well.

Anyway, I'm having a good time so far, and I can't wait to keep reading! I've been warned of some spots later that I will have to skip over, but I can deal with a few dick-spiders for now.

#worm #wormblr #worm liveblogging

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controversial-blorbo-bracket · 7 months ago

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Controversial Character Tournament Round 2: Blaine Anderson from Glee vs Barok Van Zieks from The Great Ace Attorney

(remember that these characters are fictional and your fellow tumblr users are real. i will block you if you harass others in the notes, please consider sending your unhinged harassment to my inbox instead)

Propaganda under the cut, may contain spoilers:

Blaine Anderson:

LOVE: - "you know that post that's like "fandom will call a character evil and immature and then the character is just 15 yo" because that's what happens with blaine. he's just a sweet but socially inept kid with a lot of insecurities who's trying his best. compared to most glee characters he hasn't done anything wrong in his life. and yes he cheated on his boyfriend that one time, but he was super depressed afterwards (also this is glee literally every character has cheated and none have suffered as most as blaine because of it). in conclusion he's just a silly goose. my little princess <3"

HATE: (tumblr will not let me format this one bc its too long)

"A lot of people say he's the male Rachel Berry, and while I think that is absolutely a true statement, I actually don't mind his personality all that much. Literally everyone in Glee has a personality that ranges from inconsistent to downright horrendeus, so instead of talking about what he's like, here's some things he canonically does (buckle up, this'll be long): In season 2, when we first meet him, he's the leader of his school's showchoir. (redflag no.1/j) This gives him the freedom and authoritity to do a lot of stuff- not all bad, but he does serenade a closeted guy he doesn't know all that well, who works in costumer service AT HIS WORKPLACE, with a song about sex toys. (The guy in question ends up getting fired of course). He also gives some pretty hypocritical advice to his love interest, Kurt, about how he should try to blend in (hypocritical, cuz Blaine does the opposite and he's thriving under the attention), and he asks some insesitive questions, but those are all pretty excusable, or at least standard for Glee. In s3, him and Kurt are boyfriends, and he transitions school for him, which we could absolutely count as a decent thing, however it all kinda sours when he gets the part of Tony in the school's production of West side story. Why is this important? Kurt is a senior, and the performing arts university he's applying for is really competitive, so he needs all the extra curriculars and theatre experiance he can get. He asks Blaine to not aidition for Tony- which he agrees to- than promptly goes against that by singing one of Tony's songs at audition. He then gets offfered the role, doesn't turn it down, tells Kurt he should be happy for him, and honestly, BY GLEE STANDARDS, this is also pretty chill. Meanwhile: enter Sebastian Smythe, another contraversial character, who's now the new captain of Blaine's former showchoir, and who decides that either 1. Blaine is hot 2. Gonna use Blaine as an informat (His reasons are unclear tbh) Either way, he starts flirting with Blaine, who does end up rejecting his advances and telling him he's taken (though much later than it's probably ethical, idk tho, I'm aro). He (Blaine) really enjoys the attention though, so they end up keeping in touch. (Important for later.) Back to our main plot though; Blaime doesn't have sexual chemistry with his co-star, so the director tells him to lose his virginity (yes, you heared that right, it is fucked up). So he tries to sleep with Kurt, who of course, doesn't know that his boyfriend's sudden interest in him is due to directoral instructions. And then probably the most contraversial Blaine scene happens- see, Blaine, Kurt, and Sebastian (who Kurt hates with passion) end up going to this gaybar. Blaime gets drunk (though he only drinks one beer on screen, so we don't exactly know how drunk), and tries to sleep with Kurt in the parking lot. Kurt is visibly upset, and tells him no multiple times. Blaime doesn't oblige, and Kurt ends up shouting at him, which Blaine...doesn't take well, and blames Kurt, then leaves by foot. (They end up having sex by the end of this episode btw. No, Kurt still doesn't know about the directoral instructions. Whether he does it out of love or fear that Blaine will leave him is unclear) So we already know these two are not very good at boundries and communication, but the writers say they're "soulmates" so apperantly it's okay? Anyway, this all culminates in cheating incident no.1, where Kurt meets a guy whom he shares similar interests with, and who gives him some very cheesy compliements. They exchange numbers, and text a lot. Blaine doesn't like this. He checks their texts in secret, and then sings a song in front of the entire Glee club about how he's being cheated on, to humiliate Kurt.

Kurt insists it's not cheating, giving the example that Blaine's doing the same/used ro do the same with Sebastian. Blaine says "that's different" and they leave it at that. Kurt apologises via song. S4- Kurt moves to New York. Has to work a lot, since rebt is high, and also gets an internship at vague, so he's quite busy. Blaine feels ignored, so he cheats on him with some guy we only see the facebook profile of. They break up. S5- Blaine has a crush in this other guy, Sam. (He's been trying to get Kurt back, so him moving on is a big deal). Except gay marrige gets legalized, and Blaine decides to propose to Kurt. So he gets back together with him, then bot a week later he arranges a huge public proposal where it'd honestly just be plain emberassing to say no, but dontcha worry, because Kurt accepts. They move to New York together. Blaine becomes insecure, because Kurt gets ripped thanks to his fencing lessons, meanwhile he lrts go of himself a bit, enjoying all the fine food New York has to offer. His reaction to this is to try manipulating/tricking Kurt into eating copious amounts of food too. (To be fair, Kurt's reaction to the situation isn't perfect either, but this is not about him, their actions can co-exist without one of them necessarily having to be "the right one") S6- Kurt breaks up with Blaine. Blaine ends up going back to Ohio, and dating the guy who bullied, non-consensually kissed, than threatened to kill Kurt. (The guy did have a redemption arc, but I still dunno how to feel) You might be wondering- "wow, this was so lpng and extensive", and you'd be right but also this was mostly romantic relationship centric. There's also a lot of stuff Blaine says to his friends that make me question my sanity, but this is Glee, so that's every character in basically every episode. What makes me hate Blaine isn't even JUST all this- it's the fact that in universe, he almost never gets called-out, people take his side, it's as if the writers are condoning his actions, and I Don't Like That. I'm all for liking morally grey, or even morally dispicable characters, as long as their actions don't get excused. Hell, I started out just mildly disliking Blaine, but a lot of people paint him as innocent and pure, and that didn't feel right. Then I was ready to like him BECUASE of his questionable morality- but turns out, the guy doean't have much else going on besides this. His personality is almost the same as Rachel, except Rachel's more...full? If that makes sense? Blaine is just...bland. And inconsistent, and boring, and I just Do Not Like Him At All."

Baron Van Zieks:

LOVE: - "man's 6'4", british, looks like a vampire, took a mental health break for 5 years thanks to the dead bodies that cropped up after he lost in court, and is uhhhhhh kinda racist which is a key part of his character. the explanation for it is divisive but he does grow as a character eventually?? i think he's fun. there's a bonus case exclusive to the 3DS version of the games where he mentions he was almost poisoned in one of the first cases he ever handled. he objects with his leg. he brings wine into court but rarely drinks it. he has bats in his office. we have no idea where the scar on his face came from. his voice actor did a subway commercial. i think he wants to believe he is the sane one in the courtroom but that title belongs to the 16 year old judicial assistant for the defense." - "I love to hate him tbh!!! He's a complex interesting character tied up in things outside of his control and being used by the antagonist to hurt people, isolated due to his grief and rumors from the public. He also sucks SO fucking bad and I want to punch him. Lovingly. But I love him I promise."

#poll #round 2 #barok van zieks #blaine anderson #ace attorney #the great ace attorney #glee #2 submissions

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bicheetopuff · 7 days ago

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Hi....! Can I ask, who are your top 7 favorite romantic relationship's couples in books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series (can be canon or non-canon) and your top 10 favorite characters ever from any media? Why do you love them all? Thanks if you want to answer....

Oh wow this is gonna be quite a list…

7) Lightning McQueen and Chick Hicks - specifically the versions of them from the Cars video game that was released following the movie in 2006.

I- idk there was just something about them-

Like, in the movie they barely talked but in the game they kept bickering like an old married couple and teasing each other. There’s one scene where Chick goes “hey Lightning, check this out” and turns his bumper towards him, and Lightning was like “okay? What about it?” And Chick said something like “get used to the view😏” and it just- IT TRIGGERED SOMETHING, OKAY??

6) Langa and Reki - Sk8 the Infinity

Honestly I just really like their dynamic and I just love them as characters. Sk8 was a comfort anime for me for a while so I just really grew to love them. That’s it, no deep explanation, I just love how wholesome they are. I’m gonna go rewatch Sk8 now…

5) Chloe and Max - Life is Strange

This was the first ship I got somewhat invested into. At the time the game came out, I was just a middle schooler struggling with my sexuality and I’d tune in to each of Jacksepticeye’s playthroughs of each of the episodes. After the two of them kissed, I started to read the comments of that video and saw someone say that they were excited to find out whether Max was bisexual or if she just kissed Chloe for fun, blah blah, I don’t remember exactly what it said. Point is, that was the first time bisexuality was presented to me and it was just kind of the beginning of me finding out who I was. Once I realized I was bi, it just evolved into the pipeline of exploring my queerness and finding out the things I like and don’t like. Later I grew to like Chloe and Rachel more, but Chloe and Max did a lot for me and they just have a special place in my heart.

4) Trevor and Michael - GTAV

I have a weird obsession with this game, and playing it over and over again, the more you see how weirdly complicated their relationship is? And it’s so hinted at that Trevor was probably genuinely in love with him at some point from the way he talks about him as if they went through a bad divorce. I mean, the way Trevor reacted was lowkey justifiable, I’d probably be heart broken and feel betrayed too if my partner in crime faked his death. But I see them as toxic but codependent old man yaoi. Anyways…

3) Ruby and Sapphire - Steven Universe

They altered my brain chemistry. I don’t have much other explanation, but they genuinely changed my perception of love. I just remember watching the episode where they explained how they became one through garnet and lived together as her because they loved each other so much and I was bawling my eyes out so bad. I WANT A LOVE LIKE THAT UGHHH I ADORE THEM

2) Tie between Apple Jack and Rainbow Dash, and Nana and Hachi - Nana and My Little Pony

This is kind of a mismatched tie- one is from possibly the most relatable and gut remching piece of media I’ve ever seen, and the other is from a children’s cartoon about magical friendship horses… while that might be the case, they’re equally as important to me.

Nana and Hachi will forever break my heart with how much I related to each of them, especially Hachi. Feeling like your only sense of worth comes from the attention of men, and just letting yourself be treated how you think you’re supposed to be treated because you so badly want to be loved, that you stop caring about how you’re treated in the process. She’s the embodiment of ‘you accept the love you think you deserve’ and she breaks my heart. She deserved to live a life with Nobuo… she deserved to live a life with Nana. Nana wanted to give her the world and Hachi made herself refuse it because she thought she didn’t deserve it UGH DONT TOUCH ME THEY HURT MY SOUL!!

And with AppleDash… idk they just occasionally plague my brain. They remind me a lot of bkdk and I think that’s why I like them so much. Rainbow Dash was my favorite character ever for a really long time and I thought her and Apple Jacks constant rivalry was so cute. I love me some masc4masc lesbians. I think they also partly shaped my sexuality, cuz they helped me realize that it’s okay for me, a genderfluid masc, to like other mascs. I honestly thought I was straight again for a while because I found myself rarely being attracted to fems at a point in time, but getting back into the mlp fandom helped me somehow.

1) Katsuki and Izuku - My Hero Academia

We already know how I feel about them, and I actually got another ask asking how i feel about them in detail so I’ll link that here when I post my response.

Now for my favorite characters! This’ll be less weird:

10) Mabel Pines - Gravity Falls - she literally just reminds me of me when I was a kid and embodies the “I don’t wanna grow up yet” sentiment. I was trick or treating until I was like 14, and it was the last time anyone ever agreed to go with me so I just related to her a lot as a teenager. All she wanted was just a little more time to be herself without judgment. She’s so silly /affectionate

9) Amethyst - Steven Universe - another silly character I just kind of relate to. She just wanted to feel like she belonged and she was never able to until Steven came along. But despite not feeling welcome for so long, she still kept her fun, boisterous personality and laughed all of the time.

8) Armin - Attack on Titan - I honestly don’t know why but I adored him since his introduction. Like a puppy that I just met but would die for if someone threatened him. I always thought it was kind of unhinged that he was able to be so hopeful and kind all of the time despite the trauma, and his dynamic with Eren was just funny to me. “Eren look! The ocean! See?! The ocean! Let’s go see it together! :D” only for Eren to be like “yeah but everyone across it wants us dead” and just kind of ruined the beauty of the ocean for himself. I appreciate that he took him “sight seeing” in the end and didn’t ruin it with his emoness. Idk I’ve just always liked smart characters who so obviously mask their true emotions out of fear of burdening other people. He’s basically Deku but with a fuckass blond bob.

7) Hachi - Nana - I think this is just turning into a trend of my favorite characters just being really relatable to me. All she ever wanted was to be loved and to make whoever gave her love, happiness in return. It didn’t matter how fucked up the person who loved her was, she’d still fall in love with them because they convinced her that they loved her. After so many emotionally abusive experiences, her idea of love just became set in stone, so she just kept ending up with the same guy over and over again, and the one time she almost accepted the love she truly deserved, it went down in flames cuz of another emotionally abusive man. And I think the most tragic part about that is that it happened after she got a taste of what genuine love was really like and she was never able to savor it. I like her, cuz her character just feels so human and I feel like a lot of women and queer people can relate to her experiences.

I feel bad for putting her so low, but honestly the next six characters are practically tied.

6) AntMan - MCU - HE HAS QUESTIONABLE MORALS BUT HES A GOOD DAD, OKAY?!

5) Loki - MCU - I love morally grey characters. I totally understand him tbh. All he wanted was to be on equal footing with his brother, because everyone praised Thor their whole lives and automatically just assumed he’d be the next ruler of Asgard, and completely undermined Loki. The only person in the universe who remotely gave a fuck about him, was his mother, and he got her killed by mistake. The last person he was sure actually cared about him.

He was fucked in the head from thousands of years of neglectful parenting and everyone just underestimating him, and Thanos took advantage of that vulnerability. He said “yeah if you do my dirty work for me, I’ll let you have just a smidgen of authority,” and Loki took the opportunity because it was the first chance he was given to be something more than just Thor’s brother and Odin’s adopted son. Odin only took him in to say he was kind enough to do so, he couldn’t care less about him, and that’s why his ass got dropped off at a nursing home.

But also after the Loki series, it just made me fall in love with his character even more. It proves that he never wanted to destroy any planet or universe, he never wanted unlimited power, he just wanted to be viewed as someone important. He just wanted to find his glorious purpose. He’s an egotistical God who was neglected by his parents, which caused him to stray off the path a bit, and everyone believed that’s all he’ll ever be… hm who does that remind you of?

4) Deadpool - does he count as MCU now? Whatever. Marvel - I honestly don’t know why I latched onto Deadpool so hard as a teenager. He’s really a tragic character who hides behind vulgarity. I loved coming to understand him, and his humor makes him more lovable. How I feel about him is similar to how I feel about Armin. He’s like a puppy I want to protect from anything bad happening to him again. He doesn’t deserve what happened to him, and he literally only agreed to go through the forced mutation process, because he didn’t want Vanessa to go through losing someone to cancer by herself. He knew she had no one else, so that was him doing whatever it took to still be there for her, but what the process did to his body just made him feel unlovable, so he ended up making her go through that loss anyway.

He’s definitely an asshole, but what do you expect? He was an assassin for most of his life. He’s an asshole with feelings and I adore him.

3) Rainbow Dash - My little Pony - she worked hard to be the best at what she does. She was told she couldn’t do something and proved them wrong, which created a red string situation between her and the mane six, making all of them get their cutie marks at the same time. She’s loud, confident, funny, hella competitive, and gay… I think I definitely have a type when it comes to favorite characters. And I think she’s the one who set my standard.

2) Izuku Midoriya - like I said before, we already know this. But I have another ask in my inbox asking for why I like him and Katsuki in detail and I don’t feel like typing that all out twice in one day so I’ll just link that post here when I post it. Just know that I love him, and he plagued my brain.

1) Katsuki Bakugou - same as Deku’s. I’ll link the other post at the bottom of this one once I answer it.

That’s all for now though!!

Edit: here’s the bkdk response!! x

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allwormdiet · 2 months ago

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Shell 4.2

Yaaaaaaay more market time

This is a really fun scene actually. Lisa is being honest but not hurtful, which has to be a certain kind of cathartic for Taylor, even if she's still terrified of Lisa being a killer or, maybe worse, knowing she's planning to be a traitor.

I really really really wanna see Brian pop off and go crazy. I know him being boring is an effort on his part which means that at some point he's gonna slip up, and I am going to watch him like a fucking hawk until I see it happen

I've also had very similar conversations as Taylor and Lisa are having about clothes (I'm Taylor in this situation)

Lisa just like "man I wish I cared about my dad" lmao

Little fucked up display of power on Lisa's part. Taylor clearly feels like this is a violation of her privacy as the conversation goes on

Also I like how she's still providing input on the clothing in between all of this

Never fun to know for certain people are talking behind your back, and I'm sure Taylor's already sick to death of that shit, so it can't be great to know it's happening in her cape life too. Small comfort that it's because she seems interesting, if any.

I'm immensely curious why Taylor doesn't want the Undersiders involved in the bullies. Does she think they'd "realize" how much she sucks? Does she think that they'd leave a swath of blood and screams across Winslow High in their quest to avenge a comrade? Or is it that setting someone like Tattletale loose against her tormentors would be as bad or worse than the things she could do with her bugs?

I admire the strength that she holds this line on, even if I continue to fail at understanding it

This is funny, and kinda sweet. I wonder if it'll end up biting them in the ass, though. I feel like a lot of things are primed for ass-biting in this story so far

Fascinated that someone managed to get away with naming their business Fugly Bobs, what a coup

Honestly I get where Taylor's coming from, a bank robbery is such a wild introduction to crime, taking things easy would be nice

Is this Alec trying to bond? I think it might be, considering that Rachel's nickname for him is "runt"

Friends <3

Ahhhh yes, and now we get into this particular minefield, don't we

That'll be fun

Current Thoughts

Most chapters where it's hanging out with the Undersiders is going to include a part where I gush about how much I love the Undersiders. I would kill for these kids if they wouldn't all point and laugh at how terrible I am at killing, and they have a shitload more money than I do, so really I don't have anything to offer except my ongoing adoration and sympathies

I'd still pay good money to see Lisa destroy Emma and the crew though, there'd be a splash zone I'm sure of it

Anyway: powers next, can't wait

#parahumans #worm liveblogging #liveblog #worm shell #wormblr

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blush-and-books · 5 months ago

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@lesbiandarvey and i need to know ur season rankings of suits

she is wrong. u will probably be wrong too but we’d love to know what it is!!!

Ooooh god okay well yes i am sure i am wrong because tbh so much of it blends together that I did have to look up season summaries on wikipedia just to distinguish seasons 2 and 3 oops!! but here goes...

Season 5. Literally the best of the whole show, so fucking stellar, whoops!!!! this season is everything to me. it was so good that as i watched it, i was so hyperaware that i was watching a spectacular season of television. history was made.

Season 6. IMO a very solid follow up to season 5, still high drama, Harvey is a trainwreck, Rachel is doing her best, Mike is in prison and all that shit is going down. Idk. I thought it vibed.

Season 2. Controversial jump, but idk something about it goes pretty hard, 2x07 fantastic and rough episode, Daniel Hardman as the main antagonist adds a lot

Season 7. honestly gets this rank just for "are you okay" "will you come back" and isn't top 3 bc of the paula arc oops! also missing jessica hours!!

Season 3. While I personally was NOT fan of the Pearson Darby arc, the Hessington Oil case was by far (to me) one of the most appealing and interesting season-long cases that they dealt with. lots of twists and turns that kept me interested!!!!

Season 1. Classic. What can I say?

Season 8. I'm actually not a hater of this season and I enjoyed it quite a bit, but compared to the other seasons it's a bit lower, but want to emphasize I AM A SEASON 8 DEFENDER!!!!

Season 4. Oh god I hate this season so much. It only ranks above Season 9 because of episodes 4x10-4x16.

Season 9. You saw this coming. We all did

care to share either of your rankings? @rvspecter @lesbiandarvey

#suits tv #chloes answers #suits asks

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emlovesstates · 2 months ago

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New York's children effects of losing their mother deep dive

Trigger warning, death, and grief

Let's start with NYC: for the most part, he stay with his dad except for The when he asked to go to tutoring to study stuff very sad about it because like that's his mom but for the most part, he's just worried about his family

Long Island he goes on a mean, streak for a while, and he would stay in his room and so when he was in this room after their mom died, she kind of built up a wall that makes him heart makes it hard for him to be in relationships and fall in love with people for fear of losing them and them dying on him

Albany will not leave New York side just her brother NYC she wants to be with her dad all the time during this hard time this is also when Albany becomes her mother died. She had to become the lady of the household, which means that when it means she would have to start taking care of everything.

Buffalo is a quiet kid for the most part. He doesn't do that much but when he loses his mother. He's sad so and he doesn't really understand death like he understands that people down all the time but this is like the first time he's ever seen someone die that he cares about because most of the people that he cares about are immortal and the one person who is mortal died on him, so this caused him to not really talk to humans that often and he never gets close with humans despite him being on his high school sports teams he tries not to get too close to the humans

as you know, I talk about this a lot Rochester went mute because they no one would listen to how they were feeling and The and he honestly didn't have anything to say he was just sad and missed his mom so he stopped talking, but then when Colorado came and started to get Syracuse

Syracuse Syracuse is complicated because she did stop talking and went mute when her mother passed away, but she also was still having nightmares from that night that her father had to rescue her from the kidnapping and literally killed the man in front of her so when this was happening, and she went mute, she still had nightmares, but she would just silently she would cry for a bit New York would hear her and go check on her and then he would just sleep with her in her bed because at the time New York didn't want her to be in his room

Last but not least

New Mexico, when he was a child and before he became a state because New York and Rachel were his adopted parents, he lost his mother or who he sees as his mother he considers both New York and Rachel his mom and dad they don't have to be biological. Those are his parents. They are the ones who raised him. That's his mom and dad, Rachel died. He was very sad and all he wanted to do was be with his father like his older siblings all the time. Around this time, New Mexico started developing an imaginary friend named Bob. Bob was a cowboy.

#ben brainard #welcome to the statehouse #welcome to the table #wttt #incorrect quotes #wttsh #wttt new york #Wttt head canon deep dive

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genericpuff · 3 months ago

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Hi! I came here from your "lore olympus biggest whiff" blog about the finale... I've never read LO but I was always interested in it. However, after reading a few paragraphs of that blog (I didn't read all of it because I didn't want to get too many spoilers), it doesn't seem worth it. Would you recommend it up to a certain chapter? If yes, until which chapter should I read?

Honestly, if you want to read LO, I absolutely highly recommend reading the whole thing, or at least trying to. Not just to give context to the things we're all talking about in these communities, but also because it's about to go behind the Daily Pass wall on August 29th and it'll become even more inconvenient to do so.

I'm personally still a huge sucker for the first season myself because it just has that magic that LO used to have that a lot of us fell in love with in the first place; it still has its flaws, it's definitely the worst of the "Persephone looks like a toddler" era, but the characters feel a lot more real and a lot of the best, most iconic panels from the series come from S1. The first half of S2 also isn't awful, though the art does start to get a bit rough around the edges. It wasn't until the last half of S2 that I personally started to go , "Wait, I don't think Rachel knows what she's doing." That said, I didn't become a full-blown critic of the series until the S2 finale, which is where I firmly believe the comic should have ended (that is, if Rachel had structured the story better to allow for the S2 finale to be the overall series finale).

But you should read as much of it as you can anyways. Even if you can't get through a certain part of the story and decide to DNF, that's fine, but I personally don't want to be the one deciding for folks what they should be reading or how much. I also definitely don't want people forming their opinion of a work like LO entirely through my criticisms of it - the best way for you to form your own opinion, regardless of whether or not it aligns with my own, is to simply read it yourself. I know where I started to lose interest in the series, but you might not feel the same way when you read it yourself. It's definitely happened in the past that people have gone to read LO to "see what all the fuss is about" only to wind up loving it haha and that's great, honestly, I don't want anyone to wind up missing out on something they might like just because of my own opinions about it :' )

Honestly it seems daunting but you can easily read all of LO between today and the 29th, a lot of the earlier S1 episodes are relatively short and the actual pacing of the comic itself throughout the second and third season makes for a very quick reading experience, text bubbles usually aren't too wordy so depending on how fast of a reader you are, you can usually blitz through each episode within 2-3 minutes (that said, I'm also a bit of a faster reader so your reading time may vary). Plus the episode count on the app is also thrown off by several episodes that are purely dedicated to Q&A's, hiatus notices, etc. So it's about a 12-18 hour reading experience give or take, which sounds like a lot, but if you're able to read several chunks of episodes at a time in bursts, it can be done by the time it goes behind DP on the 29th :' )

So yeah ! I do hope you read it for yourself if you're really curious, and if you do, feel free to come back again and tell me about your experience! Did you get through all of it or did you DNF? Did it put any of my own criticisms into better context for you or did you wind up enjoying the series regardless?

Best of luck!! <3

#ask me anything #anon ama #ama #anon ask me anything #lore olympus critical #anti lore olympus #lo critical

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buckets-and-trees · 2 years ago

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https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/imyourbratzdoll/712204199793917952

Stop I love you for this

He’s the most beautiful most scrumptious man

I’m so happy for his gfs who get to have him

This is honestly so sweet

I need someone to do this to me, to bring me back to life. NOW 😭

OKAY YES, BUT LIKE I SAID BEFORE...

jdka;f;adlf

And nonnie, your ask here got me thinking about this again okay I think about his forehead kisses many times a week but that's beside the point

But I got to thinking about how this would play out with Bucky...

Characters/Pairings: Bucky Barnes x Reader - gif above is a female, but writing below is not female-coded, can be read gender neutral Content: bulleted head cannon, fluff, workplace angst A/N: we're just letting this spill out and seeing where it goes, no editing, and maybe I'm not the only one who needed this

there's an element of touch-starved in Bucky Barnes because of his time as the fist of HYDRA

but I think as he begins to come into his own again, one of the things he's probably constantly aware of is his body

because not only does he have fully autonomy again, he's also the super soldier - increased strength, sharper senses

he's not a weapon, but his movements matter, and especially because they're finally all his now again

once he's seeing you, in a relationship with you, he's very aware of how the acts of physical intimacy - hot and heavy and sexual, to the nuance, the normal moments

and he doesn't smother you 24/7 with constant touching, but once he knows he's all in with you (even if it's still early stages of the relationship and he's letting it move at a natural pace, not pushing because he just knows and he's content to let things unfold because he's happy) he doesn't hesitate or hold back at all with physical touch

one day after work, he's invited you to come to his place for dinner

he's cooking when you arrive, so when he lets you in, he greets you with a warm smile, pulls you in for a short but sound kiss, and then ushers you back into the kitchen with him

and as you fall into conversation, he can tell in your tone, it's finally been an awful day

he knows you've been burning the candle at both ends, and the past couple of weeks you've been putting in a lot of extra hours because there were special projects that really were important to you, and you're not one to half-ass anything, you're a stubborn over-achiever, and he loves that drive and spirit in you but he knew your relentless pace would call for recovery at some point

so first he listens while you explain what happened that day, continuing to fix dinner while you lean up against the counter

"and I love my job, and of course it isn't perfect, but for the most part I still love the work, even though Rachel is still a pain in the ass, and I wish Jerry would do a bit more, and usually that's fine, but today I just wanted to cry or punch people pretty much all day after 12:30, and I hate that I felt that"

Bucky steps in front of you, letting one arm wrap around you to pull you close while his other hand cradles your jaw, tilting your head slightly, and his nose softly nuzzles over your brow before he plans a kiss on your forehead

you soften into his hold and he wraps his other arm around you

you tuck your head into the crook of his neck and he slowly rubs your back

"you're allowed to not like your job sometimes - it's work"

you groan, "and it's worse because I'm complaining to a freaking avenger as if you don't risk your life every time you go to work"

"don't do that, what you do is important, too - and let's not over exaggerate: I'm more durable than your average avenger, so it's not that risky"

he can't fix this, and he knows you don't want him to, but he can listen, and he'll hold you and tell you with more touches and kisses throughout the night that you matter to him and he sees the hard work you put into you career, and he'll talk and not talk with you the rest of the evening

he'll worship you properly in his bed, and then he'll convince you to stay over, and in the morning he'll convince you to take the day off because you really do need the rest and he can spoil you and spend more time memorizing every inch of your body all day which is just a fringe benefit for him

but orgasms aside, the way your heart swells each time he takes a moment simply to plant his affection, his adoration for you with a soft kiss on your forehead...no one needs forehead kisses, they're not in the script, and so they mean something both to him when he gives them and to you when you feel those lips mark you with tenderness

he did it when you dropped off to sleep, he did it when the two of you woke up

you'll stay in his arms forever if this is what it will mean to be his to care about and share a life with

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x gn!reader #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes fluff

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greenpidge101 · 1 year ago

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hc that richies teeth r a mess and went totally hates it cause it makes him look bad and richie gets braces and hates them but he gets the brightest color they had available cause he loves bright colors

also his style of comedy is so so rachel sennott ( look her up if u dont know who she is please shes hilarious ) which is why i feel like he gets into acting in like absurd comedies and it kinda sticks and eventually falls into actually acting

bill loves drawing the other losers when they r not paying attention and little sketches and doodles cover his school work ( the others think its so endearing )

on days when his stutter is really bad bill goes nonverbal but the losers include him easily cause he is honestly kinda an open book with his intentions and emotions so they always know what he wants

eddie hates walking long distances and is always asking for piggyback rides ( adding to the eddie should hate nyc but when anyone brings it up he gaslights them cause he has always wanted to live there agenda )

however eddie loves running and is always racing people because he knows he will win even though hes short ( richie hates it cause his legs are too long and he is really awkward and oddly slow when he tries to run. if he actually gets fast he almost always trips cause he is so clumsy and then eddie is way in front of him )

bev gives richie and bill amateur piercings full parent trap style and at least one of them gets infected. when they r older she convinces ben to let her pierce his ears. eddie hates it and is always like “i am not helping when it gets infected” but does anyway

she also makes friendship bracelets and the losers freak when they find out and they all are always wearing at least two

in some an au stan becomes an ornithologist but like just in an au where the losers dont split up during the time jump they buy him a bird like as soon as they move out of derry and it is stans favorite thing ever

stan is really good at hiding his emotions but he always stims when he is overwhelmed or upset and it is a clear giveaway. he has been doing it since he was really little and now cant stop

mike loves animals and shows off all the farm animals to the other losers and also def has a dog that eddie loves but pretends not to even though the dog also loves him

mike is also the loser who everyone goes to for advice for literally anything and has the ability to make anyone feel better like instantly the others have no idea how he does it

ben loves the act of designing buildings but was never that good at math so college was a little rough. also his interest in archeology started after he read percy jackson in middle school cuz annabeth loved archeology

he also slips into a country accent whenever he gets really comfortable and the losers think its amazing ( richies country accent is just him trying and failing to copy ben )

richie and ben light up the room when they are truly happy. richie because his happiness is loud and unavoidable and ben because his radiates off him in waves and spreads to those around him

sorry thats a lot im done i just kept going

PLEASE KEEP GOING, THESE ARE SO GOOD OMG!!!!!!

♾️/10

#Ben is a slight southern accent is everything #ahh these make me so happy #Bev giving bill and Richie piercings is everything #Stan being an ornithologist is something I hc too #the losers club #it stephen king #richie tozier #stanley uris #eddie kaspbrak #ben hanscom #beverly marsh #bill denbrough #mike hanlon #thanks for the ask!!!

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lastweeksshirttonight · 9 months ago

Text

I've listened to this almost four times at this point, so I better write some thoughts on it. (Did you need them? Probably not but humor me.)

This whole podcast talks deeply about the emotional toll of COVID and the pandemic, so be advised.

Interview starts at 16:10.

To start, I think a thread that runs through this entire episode is Marc being more cynical or bitter than John about a point, and John pausing to realign himself with what his actual level of cynicism is. You can tell that Marc and John like each other a lot, but there is also a tension to some of their discussions that I find really interesting. Like a mental chess match where Marc has a clear POV and John is trying to subtly spin the response to be closer to his own ideals.

The interview opens with the two of them talking about microphone levels and people not being closer to the mic and how irritating it is when people don't know how to use microphones. I am weak to John talking

I haven't watched Rachel Maddow in a while, is she really doing radio shows about Spiro Agnew? What? Why?

John speaking about context and contextualizing our current dark reality. The way he viewed the pandemic and the extent of society's flaws, and how nothing was fixed was really interesting. For as much as he's said that he's allergic to sincerity, that's just plainly untrue. He really does want to believe in the best of everything around him - he later talks about how he loves his children so much it's painful, and I had the same thought. Marc's darkness is something else though, I would laugh helplessly too at being reminded that 30% of the country wants to kill me specifically (help)

"It will eat your messages and shit them back into your face." I truly enjoy when John goes this blue, it always surprises and delights me.

John wants everything to have a system. He really likes the John Wick coin-based hotel system. I don't quite know how the two of them got from the comfort conspiracy theories can provide in dark times to John Wick but hey.

Marc being mad about having no awards and John being like "you really didn't need to say your bitterness out loud bro" killed me.

John has no idea why LWT was moved into another category. He doesn't even know who he's competing against. The Emmys basically afford him the right to be left alone with his show. I think he values that more than anything in regards to LWT - this topic comes up multiple times in this podcast and John stresses that having no sponsors to be beholden to, no commercials, and seemingly little to no oversight makes them able to do things that just can't be done on commercial television. There are more details to mine about this later, but it seems like, for all the absolute chaos of HBO and Warner and Discovery (something John likens to continually having new fathers around and wondering if he even has to bother learning their names), he's still relatively free to plug away at LWT the way he and his team envision it. Which is a relief to hear, honestly, the delayed announcement of LWT being renewed really made me concerned that Discovery in particular was done dealing with him.

I like how John, when given questions, will often ask clarifying follow-ups in this. He's not one for vagueness as it seems - the one that particularly stuck out to me was Marc relaying how he struggles with pulling his thoughts together on current events, using the Gaza crisis as an example for him before asking how John settles on topics. John's response is to ask if Marc means in general, or om Gaza specifically. The conversation moves into the general and how LWT is made now that it's ten years in (John calls the research department a machine and I can tell Marc is hoping that John literally invented a research machine from his tone of voice), but those are two very different conversations that could be pulled from that one question.

I also love John and Marc taking the piss out of John's show. Truly, if John leaves his desk, you obviously just sat through 30 minutes of the worst human misery possible.

Marc: "Because of your innate Britishness and your sense of humor, that... you do irritate -"

John, sounding like something just activated in his brain and as darkly as I've ever heard him: "I love to."

Marc: " - the right - ???"

My new favorite running theme in John's interviews is his apparently very tense relationship with his lawyers. The nitty gritty of the legal needs of the show, and how John views his lawyers and the frustrations that come with trying to do hard-hitting topics while having lawyers drop out from conflicts of interest, always fascinates me.

John also delves into the security he requires because of the breadth of people he's pissed off. He doesn't seem to care at all and enjoys pissing these people off, despite his wife's concerns. (I'm so sorry Kate you married a deeply weird man) John derives such pleasure from irritating people that it outweighs, say, never being able to go to Thailand without being arrested.

I cannot believe the Sacklers tried to come to the LWT office. Jesus Christ the entitled gall of these people.

Marc offends John with his assessment of England having many destroyed buildings, which leads into him saying, in a way reminiscent of the long-lost American from the Bugle, that he "enjoys the castles". God I miss the American. "How old's this wall? Holy fuck!"

Marc: "What are we gonna do about the futility..."

John: -cracks the fuck up-

Marc, finding his point: "...of..."

John: "Let it hang. Feel free to let that hang in the air. Let's just all enjoy the fact that we're all filling it in and coming up with different, equally valid, depressing ends to that sentence."

John is so severely offended and killed by Marc's suggestion that he did a Q&A tour. The absolute lowest form of entertainment in both of their minds. John mentions that he emphatically told people they could leave before the Q&A they hosted at the John and Seth stand up show I was at because he feels so strongly about this. I wrongly assumed this was because John hates himself and can't imagine people sticking around for him, but in my defense, that's usually the reason he tells people not to do something/shits on his bangs/etc.

(We still have like 30 min of this podcast, why am I like this)

The question of "what's gonna happen" is a pretty dark one, as John notes. He fears the worst but hopes people will work hard to stop the path we're on. Marc wanting to illustrate where we are is pretty ridiculous, as John points out - just look around.

I think Marc talking about what "all right" means to people gets to something that deeply concerns me about what the future of this country will be for me. I don't want to be that cynical but there is a deep well of selfishness in the US (rightfully identified) that does keep the country from uniting and fighting for survival in times like this. We're definitely at that turning point and I really want to hope we don't drive off the cliff.

I am not really emotionally prepared for jokes about John being in prison, I was genuinely a bit concerned about that The Last Time. That's my own problem though.

I didn't expect to get more information about John leaving The Daily Show on this podcast, but that's one of the most interesting things discussed. Marc asks if John left TDS because he felt the freedom he has with HBO wasn't there, and John says that wasn't the case - his contract expired at the end of 2013, after his summer hosting gig. Ideally, and Jon and John had discussed this (!!), the goal was to have John do TDS in the summers so John could, you know, rest. Sleep. Not be beholden to the horrors all the time. But Comedy Central, in John's blunt words, "didn't really care", so he went to HBO. The way that John mentions that "they would have probably kept [Jon] longer" if they'd actually tried to keep John around sounds just a tinge bitter and honestly, yeah. I'm annoyed hearing that we could have had this magical 2-host version of TDS and CC just... sucks. God I hate them. They gave me most of my worldview as a teenager because of TDS, but fucking A man.

Also interesting to hear, however vaguely, that John had some other offers. Wonder what those were. My best guess, based on what else was going on at that time, is TBS (who later made Full Frontal with Samantha Bee and were building around Conan) might have made a play.

I'm not a parent, but I do appreciate the discussion of parenthood, particularly how anxiety-inducing it can be. Hearing John talk about his worries regarding his prematurely-born son definitely resonated, and I'm glad his son is doing well now. ❤️

The brick joke in the middle of the parenting discussion is the hardest I've ever laughed at Marc Maron. Truly. Masterful brick joke.

I don't have an elegant tag for this - there's much more than what I touched on here in the podcast, and I appreciate how deep the conversation gets. It was really nice to listen to this multiple times during my hell day, and to hear John talk deeper about things that he's rarely asked about.

Also I'm sorry I wrote like fucking too many k words on this, I clearly had thoughts

#john oliver #marc maron #wtf with marc maron #last week tonight with john oliver #last week tonight #the daily show with jon stewart #the daily show #lee's tl;dr

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bronx-bomber87 · 1 year ago

Text

Happy Holiday weekend everyone. We only have 3 left in this season. Hard to believe. Not a ton of Chenford content in this one but just enough ha It has some important stuff in it though. But definitely shorter than the last one let’s get started :)

2x18 Under The Gun

We start our episode off with some very welcomed shirtless Tim. I’m here all damn day for this. *puddle* He then changes into a black shirt. Trying to kill me even further whew lord. God he's so tall too. Look at him tall drink of yummy water. Making me feral per usual ha I want to add I would LOVE a scene like this for Chenford in S6. Tim getting ready for the day, Lucy hanging out with Kojo on the bed while he does. Her gawking at him a bit as he gets ready. A girl can dream eh?

But lets get back on track before I go further down that rabbit hole. heh. Tim tells Rachel she should start leaving stuff at his place. Look at him ready to make that move. She makes a face and he cracks a joke that it’s illegal to lie to a cop. Rachel breaks and tells him she got her dream job. Tim is all smiles and cuteness until she says it’s in New York…

Tim looks so sad but tells her she’s gotta take it. Dream jobs only come around once. He asks when does she start? It’s in one month. Quick turnaround and his head is spinning. She mentions New York has cops. Heh they do but you are not the one he will shift for honey sorry to say. Sorta. Not really. Tim just replies ‘Yeah…’ not the confident reply Rachel was looking for…

We catch our fav duo meeting up with Rachel for a case. Lucy immediately brings up New York. Seeing if Tim is ready to talk about it. Also Tim the king of plans she expects him to have one for this. He is straight forward with Lucy when she asks what they’re gonna do? For Tim it’s already over in his mind. There is no end date to this job of hers. She is leaving LA and isn't coming back. To Tim that is game over. (I mean unless it's the one which we all know she is not)

Tells her long distance never works and he seems dead set on that. Defeated but definitely definitive about the whole situation. Lucy’s face kills me when he says this. She’s so sad for him. Probably sadder for Tim than she is for Rachel. When she set them up it was to help Tim. Show him he could be happy post-Isabel. Shake him out of his routine. Now he’s going to lose all that and she’s devastated. Looks like she wants to give him a hug honestly. She hates it when he is all defeatist and you can tell she just wants to fix it. Sadly this is one thing she can not intervene in and fix.

They meet up with Rachel and it already seems awkward. She thanks them for coming. They are there in case her visit with the mom goes sideways. She’s there for a truancy call. The kid in question has missed a lot of school due to mystery illness. Rachel thinks it might be a scam especially since the mom started a go-fund me page for his medical bills.

Rachel seems suspect as hell with this lady. He goes to the hospital gets better then comes back home and is sick again. She thinks she is poisoning her own kid for attention. Lucy seems sick to her stomach about the whole thing. They both do. Can see it on their faces. Tim asks her what she wants to do?

We cut to them outside. Tim looking fine as hell leaning against their shop. How can someone be that attractive just filling out paper work? Anyways...Rachel asks Lucy if Tim would ever leave LA ? Lucy is honest with her and lets her know she’s not sure. Lucy knows how much he loves LA. He is proud af to be be born and bred. Which really means no if we're being honest. The man bleeds LAPD. Lucy can tell how sad Rachel looks with her answer. So she follows it up with how crazy Tim is about her. (Not crazy enough to follow her though….)

Lucy tries to make it better and says the man is a mystery. To Rachel yes. Not to her though....She has the book of Tim right in her pocket. Their convo gets interrupted by Paul’s mom coming out. Asking what they’re doing? Rachel says they’re taking him back to the hospital. It’s a sad scene to watch. Rachel basically removes her own child from her care. Saying she is a danger to him pending a full investigation. Tim and Lucy have to hold her back while they take him.

Tim comes to see Grey in his office. Asking him how hard it would be to make a lateral move? Wade lets him know it would be seamless. Tim ask what about the NYPD? Grey sighs and tells him that’s a whole other beast. That he would have to start from square one. Go through the FTO program before he could go back out on the streets. That he would be the John Nolan of the NYPD LOL Tim looks mortified about this. Like that is an instant no for him. There was no way he can do that.

Grey continues on saying it would be a big sacrifice. But if Rachel is the one it would be worth it. That’s the thing though she’s not. What proves Lucy being his person over and over is moments like this. In S5 Tim doesn’t blink before taking a desk job for her. If that’s the path that keeps him with her that’s the one he’s going to take. Grey even says it's not a great job and he replies ' Doesn't matter.' If Rachel was the one it wouldn't matter he would have to do all this for her.

His hesitancy is written all over this scene. The more Grey tells him the more we see him withdraw. With Lucy his decisions were always decisive and quick. In his mind when it came to her there was no choice. She was his choice. Every time. I’ve said this all this season Rachel had her place in his life for a reason. I am grateful for her I truly am. Her reason was meant to show him he could date again. Not only that but have a functioning healthy relationship as well. That saying people are in your life for a reason or a season is accurate.

Rachel was both. She served her purpose in the best way for him. Helped him heal post divorce. It was never meant to last. She was a stepping stone to Lucy. Which sounds cruel but also true. Wade gives him some dating advice. Tells him to be sure. Because moving in together is hard enough. Let alone a new city, jobs and no social network to lean on. Tim doesn’t linger after that just says 'Thanks' curtly and goes. Grey takes one last shot says ‘Anytime Boot!’ Haha He is getting a major kick out of giving Tim a hard time.

Tim runs into Rachel shortly after. She’s in an absolute panic. Tim tries to get her to calm down and tell him what’s going on. She discovered her co-workers have kids in the same neighborhood with similar issues. That they switched to well water 4 months ago due to construction. Paul got sick 3 months ago. Rachel is in a panic because there was a lawsuit with a company about dumping heavy metals in the water 5 years ago and they said it was cleaned up. Clearly not… Since the well water is making these kids sick.

Now Rachel may have taken a child away from his mother for no reason. I do love seeing how soft Tim is in this moment. It’s not Lucy Level soft but soft none the less. At this point in the series it’s so nice to see this side of him. Like I’ve said before their relationship was insight to Tim in a relationship and how he operates. It was a nice window into it since all we had before her was Isabel. Also a future look into how he would be with Lucy.

What does Tim do right after this? Go right to his girl. Little telling things that showed the entire time Lucy was his better half. She is the first person he runs to and vice versa. He asks if she’s heard from Rachel at all? Lucy says no…why? Tim lets her know the situation with Iris and her son. That Rachel blames herself. That she’s ignoring his calls and texts right now. He is very worried and needs Lucy's help.

I love that when he’s in a panic about Rachel his first thought is to go right to his safe space. Needs her calming sunshine ways to ease him. Hoping her POV is going to calm his anxiety. Tim wanting her to reassure him she won't do anything stupid. The concern and empathy in her eyes she has for him. My heart. That innate need to want to comfort and make it better for him. Lucy’s face says it all tbh when Tim asks if she is going to do anything stupid? I think she knows Rachel could very well do something stupid about this…

We find out shortly after Rachel did something she shouldn't have. She stalked owner of the company and pretended the water she threw on him was contaminated. Tim is able to get her cited out fairly quickly. Then we get another glimpse into the amazing heart of this man. How deeply he cares for those around him. What he is willing to do for them. He pulled some personal favors for her. Got them to reverse Rachel’s order to pull Paul from his home.

He’s so sweet and earnest about it. Rachel is in shock he even did this for her. Especially since she’s leaving. It’s like she doesn’t know this man at all. Of course he was going to help even if she was leaving. It’s who he is. A deeply loyal and loving person. Who will do anything for those who’ve earned his love and trust. Why he replies 'Duh.' Shocked she would expect any less of him. His love and loyalty doesn't just evaporate because she is leaving. Adore this man so much.

We get one last glimpse of our couple decompressing with Jackson and Angela. It's kind of nice to see actually. Jackson tells them he has a funny story for them. That the tech guy who flagged Angela as the most likely to get sued was wrong. He rode around with them all day trying to study her and had the wrong person. He picked the wrong Lopez. Jackson is legit tickled pink this has happened. Sadly he seems to be the one one haha Lucy has been around Tim too long cause she doesn’t even crack a smile about this LOL More like a pity smirk for her friend. Tim and Angela just judge poor Jackson baha Funny way to end the ep. Very low content Chenford so but important none the less with Rachel’s impending departure and all that.

~~~~

Side notes- Non Chenford

Prison SL with Harper and Nolan was good. always enjoy watching Oscar haha that’s pretty much it LOL

Only 2 episodes left in the season after this one and it’s an adrenaline fest. Thank you all who continually like/comment (how I love comments), reblog you’re all amazing thank you so much. Shall see you in 2x19 :)

#Caitlin Rewatches The Rookie #chenford #chenford hiatus #summer rewatch #s2 #2x18 Under The Gun #the rookie 2x18 #waiting on s6 #tim x lucy #lucy x tim #otp: doing my job #otp: you know me so well. too well #otp: some things matter more #tim bradford #lucy chen #the rookie #eric winter #melissa o’neil #tim bradford x lucy chen

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