#i swear i will live just to see s3

[star-rie]

merthur reunion in s4 of my fix it au:

merthur had just completed an epic battle, they're standing in the throne room, just like the end of s3 when arthur banished merlin 3 years ago

merlin: honestly i didn't think i will be standing here again arthur: me too (stepping down from his throne) why did you come back? merlin: (shrugs) i tried running away, but i can't...

'i can't leave you' hangs in the air

arthur: (sharp breath) you never left, even after all this years merlin: no

(silence)

arthur: why? merlin: i swear loyalty to camelot arthur: not that....(shakes his head)

(more silence)

Arthur: tell me emrys, why do you, the most powerful being ever walked on earth, continue to serve me, a lowly king with too many mistakes, too arrogant for his own good, isn't wise enough for his kingdom when i did nothing but to continue to treat you like dirt, banished your kind and family, sentenced you to exile for the last few years? merlin: (sharp breath) i live to serve you arthur: so the prophecy then? merlin: NO! (shocked at his own voice)

(merlin took a shaky breath)

merlin: no, it's not...it's not because of the prophecy...i don't serve you because of some destiny that's just ridiculous

(merlin looks to the ground)

merlin: you know arthur? i never expected to cross path with you when i entered citadel all those years ago….i thought that maybe i can make a change for myself, made new friends, maybe even become the new physician but

(merlin shakes his head)

Merlin: i never knew when i was involved in something greater than i can ever imagine, when i became magic, when i devoted myself to albion's future but…

(merlin looks at arthur)

Merlin: i think it’s you, you’re the one who changes me, and i’m not just talking about some destiny or some prophecy spewed by the great dragon. I…I serve you because you’re you. You’re not anyone else. You meant something to me. You have a kind heart, bigger than anyone else i’ve ever known, you shine like the sun when you’re fighting on the battlefield. I just- i don’t know arthur, i tried leaving, i really tried but i just cant-

Arthur is already hugging him, and merlin lets his tears drop to arthur’s shoulders, hugging him back. Arthur is crying too, nuzzling to the side of his head

Arthur: i missed you- Merlin: i miss you too Arthur: i’m sorry Merlin: it’s not your fault- Arthur: it is my fault Merlin: blame your father Arthur: i shouldn’t listen to him

They both look at each-other, seeing how much they’ve changed for the last few years.

Arthur: thank you for staying by my side merlin. i will try to make you the happiest man alive. Merlin: but i’m already happy when im with you, i’ll burn villages for you, i’ll do anything for-

Arthur kisses him, merlin kisses him back. Deep down inside, arthur realizes, he’s stupidly in love with the man standing in front of him, he doesn’t want to lose him again

Merlin: i love you, i love you, i love you... Arthur: I know...

Episode ends

#bbc merlin #merlin #merlin bbc #arthur pendragon #merthur #arthur bbc #merlin emrys #merlin x arthur #arthur x merlin #merlin prompt #merthur bbc #merthur fic snippet #merlin fic snippet #merlin snippet #merthur snippet

[discokicks]

BOLT FROM THE BLUE - ROY KENT.

PART ONE of ACES AT THE WATER'S EDGE.

(series masterlist!) (series playlist!) (AO3!)

pairing: roy kent x fem!reader (no use of y/n!)

summary: with the departure of afc richmond’s wonderkid, the club is desperately on the hunt for a new coach. luckily for them, you’ve just been wrongfully terminated from your position over at west ham. however, with your outlook on the football world tainted and massive hesitation due to your past with a particular member of their coaching staff, you’re less than convinced about the job. but, that same member may just be the one to convince you.

word count & rating: 8.7k, R (too many roy kent 'fucks' to be pg-13)

chapter warnings: whole lotta swearing (it’s a roy kent fic, do i even have to say it?), talk of workplace misconduct, allusions to (no descriptions of) sexual harassment, roy and the reader are long-lost bickering, angsty enemies with a past, reader is a former team usa player and present coach, author is american (sorry </3)

author’s note! hello hello. so happy to have you here. welcome to my first tumblr fic. certainly not my first fic ever, but first fic on here! hooray! for the sake of this fic, we’re going to pretend like the coaching career of the reader is actually possible in the current misogynistic world football climate. it’ll be fun to fantasize. also, this takes place in s3, and reader is earlyish/midish thirties. also also, i know next to nothing about football/soccer and haven’t played since i was 10, but i’m doing my research! hope you enjoy and love u all tons. -mags

PRESENT DAY. (AUGUST 2023)

Your ex-boss's ex-wife is currently standing outside of your apartment and somehow, that’s not the most surprising thing to happen this week.

While yes, of course, seeing Rebecca Walton on your front steps at nine-thirty on a Thursday morning is shocking, the numbness that’s been coursing through your body since Monday takes some of the edge off.

She’s right before you, clutching her purse tightly, dressed in a fitted trench coat and aggressively expensive heels. Everything about her contrasts the four-sizes-too-big sweatshirt you’re sporting with the age-old pajama shorts with embroidered soccer balls that you’ve been rotting away in for the last three days. When your eyes finally meet once more and you see she’s been sizing you up just as you’ve been doing to her, she plasters on a wide, practiced smile.

“Hello,” Rebecca says. Her smile doesn’t falter.

You blink at her. “Hi.”

She motions to your door and you feel your hand tighten on the knob. “May I come in?”

Your lips part in a way that you’re sure makes you look like a moron. “Like, into my house?” you ask, head whipping to look at the current warzone state of your living room.

Rebecca’s smile gets slightly more genuine. “If that’s alright?”

The shock of her standing before you seems to have worn off, because you find yourself shutting the door slightly. “I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”

“It’s nothing—”

“Look, if you’re here to get me to talk to that Independent journalist who’s called me like, three times asking for a perspective on Rupert for his book or whatever, I’m really not interested.” Your frustration is clearly peaking through your typically reserved manner, and frankly, you’re not in any mood to mask it.

She doesn’t seem to mind. “Who? Trent?” You nod at Rebecca’s furrowed brows. “Oh God, no. We barely want him writing that thing anyway.”

Well, okay. “Then why—”

Rebecca motions to the door again. “May I?”

You suppose if she’s being so insistent about entering your home, it’s her funeral. You step back to allow her in, and the second she sees your living room, she seems to regret it. When she turns to face you, you can’t help the way your brows shoot up, everything about your demeanor saying I told you so. “The kitchen’s cleaner,” you tell her, nodding in its direction.

“Wonderful,” she says as she follows you through the hall. Her next question is hesitant. “So, is all this—”

“The result of getting fired on Monday?” you finish for her, turning to meet her gaze as you stand at your counter. Her eyes read pity and part of you already wants to kick her out. The other part of you wants to hug her. “Yeah. Things, uh…”

As you trail off, you realize something. That thing in her eyes isn’t pity. It’s empathy. Rebecca, more than anyone, knows Rupert. She knows how much of an asshole he is. She knows how special he can make you feel, only to have the rug ripped out from under you moments later. She knows what it feels like to be wronged by him. She knows.

Through your silence, you think she recognizes the sudden shift in tension as your expression morphs into something less hard, and you allow yourself a moment of vulnerability. “Things haven’t been great over here.”

Any sort of practice in Rebecca’s smile completely fades and is replaced with something more compassionate. “I can only imagine.”

You nod, crossing your arms over your chest. While the initial discomfort has passed, the awkwardness still lingers and you realize that you have literally no idea why she’s in your apartment. “Can I… offer you coffee? Or, uh, tea?” you ask.

“Oh, no,” she replies. “Thank you though.”

“You sure?” you try again. “I taught myself how to make an insane shaken espresso during my ACL recovery. Mastered it over the years.”

“Mastered it?”

You shrug. “It was either that or alcoholism. Chose the path less traveled by most washed-up athletes.”

Rebecca’s lips twitch upward. “Oh, what the hell. Why not?”

“Great,” you say, turning to your cabinet to grab your bag of coffee beans. Now for the moment of truth. “And while I get that together…” You stand on your tiptoes to reach the bag. “You’ve gotta tell me what you’re doing here.”

For a moment, you think she’s going to feed you some joke or some bullshit answer. You glance over your shoulder to watch her mouth even open to do so. But she suddenly decides against it.

And you drop the bag of coffee beans and have to stabilize yourself against the counter as she says, “I’m here to offer you a job.”

A job? She wants to give you a job at Richmond? She can’t be serious. Out of all the things that floated through your mind when you opened the door, this was the last thing you thought possible. A job. She’s here to offer you a job.

It has to be a pity offer. That’s where the pity of it all went. But no one knows about what actually happened, you remind yourself. She just knows you were suddenly let go. Well, then it’s just a revenge offer. Some petty thing to get back at Rupert. As much as you want to think that you’d be on board with that, you had no interest in being some sort of piece in the game.

You’re staring blankly at Rebecca as your mind goes to war, certain that you look like even more of an idiot than you did when you let her in. There’s a small pool of coffee beans sitting on your counter. But you can’t find it in you to care. A job. She’s here to offer you a job.

Rebecca suddenly clears her throat. “Is everything alri—”

“Why the fuck do you want to give me a job?” Is what comes out of your mouth, head too far gone to consider a filter. A smirk appears on her face at your words. “Sorry, I just… I don’t get it.”

She looks at you for a moment, taking a solemn pause to evaluate exactly what it is she wants to say. Her eyes flash to your embroidered soccer shorts peeking out from beneath your sweatshirt, then to the plethora of sport-themed mugs hanging beneath the cabinets in your kitchen, then to the framed photo you keep on the wall of your team’s 2015 World Cup win.

“Because,” she finally lands on, “when I see that the new, passionate, wildly qualified West Ham coach is suddenly fired less than two months after she begins, seemingly out of nowhere…” It’s her turn to trail off, and she shrugs. “Something tells me it wasn’t just leadership differences.”

You look away from her as she drops the famous press-release line. Discomfort floods your body as you remember Rupert’s smarmy smile when he asked for your badge. “No,” you say softly. “It wasn’t.”

Rebecca nods, as if her suspicions were confirmed. “Now, I don’t know what happened,” she tells you, “and I don’t expect to know. But as I said, you’re wildly qualified. You were a remarkable talent on the field and more so as a coach. Four Uni championships in a six-year career isn’t just impressive, it’s unheard of.”

You pause your coffee bean cleanup at that. Your brows shoot up and a wry smile crosses your lips. “You know my college coaching stats?”

Rebecca stares at you for a moment. Then, “Not until this week,” she admits quickly, forcing you to bite back a laugh. “But my coaching staff knew. Sang your praises.”

A pit forms in your stomach as you realize exactly who’s a part of that staff. Bull-fucking-shit he sang your praises. You think you’d despise him more if he had.

Attempting to brush off your sudden uneasiness, you try your hand at a joke while measuring out the beans. “Well, two-thirds of them are American, so I guess that makes sense.”

Rebecca chuckled. “Well, Roy Kent doesn’t say much of anything, but you did get a—’” She cuts herself off to make an affirmative-sounding grunt. You’re so thrown off by this that you almost forget to smile at her impression of him. “Which, you know, is about as close to singing as he gets.”

That it is. Because you do know. And that’s Roy code for ‘trying to be normal about this, but dear God, never speak about her to me again.’ You hope the mere mention of your name made him run out of the room. That the idea of you potentially joining the team keeps him up at night.

(The last three days haven’t been good for your dramatics either.)

A sigh escapes your lips and you avert your eyes. There’s an air of embarrassment as you shift uncomfortably. “This is going to be loud, sorry,” you apologize, turning the grinder on. You make a general estimation that this is what your brain would currently sound like if someone decided to listen in. After a moment, the machine turns off, but you don’t turn back to Rebecca. “Would this be a coaching offer?”

“I wouldn’t want you to be anything else,” Rebecca responds. Her tone shifts slightly as she looks at you. “Unless there’s—”

“No,” you say, shaking your head. “There’s nothing else I’d want.” You shift again. “I just…”

Rebecca watches as you trail off. You still haven’t looked at her, focused solely on your espresso task at hand. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting when she arrived at your home, but it certainly wasn’t this. Every time she’d seen you, whether it was on the field, blowing past defenders with impossible efficiency, or coaching your college girls in a way that commanded respect despite the seemingly ever-present smile on your face, there’d always been this confidence about you.

An admirable sense of ego. A love and passion for the game that made every young girl want to wear the number 14. A spirit that made everyone look upon you fondly. A pleasure to be around, and an honor to work with.

Rebecca was now staring at what she presumed to be the shell of the woman she’d heard about. A woman distracting herself from the discomfort of this conversation with coffee-making, afraid of her own shadow. And as you spoke, she knew her assumptions were correct.

“Listen,” you manage to get out. You’ve already tamped the grounds and had returned to the big, fancy espresso machine bought for you long ago by a former friend. “I appreciate you coming over here, but…”

“But?” Rebecca questions.

The words feel dry in your mouth and you have to push them out. “I think I’m done with it.”

It’s Rebecca’s turn to blink at you dumbly. “Done with what?” she asks. “With coaching?”

Shame floods your body. “With soccer,” you reply weakly. That look remained on Rebecca’s face. “Football. Whatever. Whatever you want to call it, I’m done with it.” You turn to stable yourself on the countertop once more as the coffee begins to brew. “It’s just— I’ve spent the majority of my life doing this one thing. I’ve done the Olympic gold thing, I’ve won a World Cup, I’ve won college championships, I’ve been…” Your eyes shut, shoulders sagging. “I’ve just been. And I thought I could go a step further. Break a ceiling or whatever. I thought I was ready for it. And then everything I’ve worked for is fucking destroyed by some douchebag, diva athlete who doesn’t know how to keep his dick in his—”

You raise your hand to your mouth as if that’ll keep it all in, and you realize you’re shaking. You don’t have to turn around to know how Rebecca’s looking at you. “So, yeah,” you finish lamely. “I’m done. It was ruined for me. And I don’t want to go back.”

Rebecca says nothing for a long while. Taking everything you said in, drawing her conclusions, whatever. You grip the granite countertop and it feels cool beneath your fingers. Your eyes open when you finally hear her respond.

“You’re letting him win,” she tells you, voice soft. Slightly broken. Like she knows the feeling.

When you do turn back to her, Rebecca’s sitting at your breakfast bar with her hands folded together, anger poorly concealed. But it’s not anger at you, it’s just anger.

But then you start to feel angry. “I’m not letting him win,” you insist.

“You are,” she replies. Before you can let your temper get the best of you, she continues. “They’re calling you emotional, you know? They’re saying that the ’leadership problems’ were you just being abrasive. Joking that they should have never let a woman into the league because of the drama. Apparently, women can’t handle AFC-level coaching.”

You swallow. “I know,” you say. “I’ve seen it.”

“Who do you think’s pushing that narrative?” she asks.

It’s a rhetorical question, but you still feel like giving an answer. “Basement-dwelling losers who barely made their intramural leagues?”

It’s then that Rebecca smiles for real. It’s like she’s seen a flash of the woman she’s heard about and she couldn’t be more pleased. She makes a noise of agreement, then continues. “This is what he wants. He wants you to feel like this. He wants you to quit.” Her gaze bores into yours with an intensity that doesn’t allow you to look away. “If you give it all up, he wins. He beats you and he’s got another name under his belt. He doesn’t deserve your name.” Rebecca’s index finger jabs in your direction. “Don’t allow him to fucking win.”

The passion in her words is what gets you. Your throat clenches as you feel your eyes start to burn, knowing that everything she said had some amount of truth in it. There’s a frustration that rises in your chest that you don’t know how to handle.

You were letting him win. He took away your career and then threatened your reputation. He made you take the blame for everything. He allowed this to be ruined for you and played an active part in ensuring it. And here you were, cowering in fear at the notion of this small man.

She’s right, and the espresso has finished brewing.

You know she’s right. Rebecca knows she’s right. So, as you stand in your kitchen, fighting an inward battle that’s got you on the verge of tears, your scared, stupid, frustrated little brain can only think of one more thing to say as you pour the coffee over ice.

“Even if you were right—” you begin, not ready to admit that just yet, “—even if you were, and even if I did want to join Richmond, I refuse to work with Roy Kent.”

This takes Rebecca completely by surprise. She shifts back in her chair, eyes wide despite the drawing of her brows. “R-Roy?” she sputters. “Our Roy Kent?”

The word our tells you that he’s been embraced by the club and isn’t going anywhere. Not that you had expected him to. He’d clearly nested well into the team and had taken his coaching position in stride. Just like you said he would years ago.

“Yeah,” you say shortly. “That one.”

Rebecca’s expression remains the same. ”But he’s… I—” She cuts herself off with a question. “—but why?”

A mirthless grin crosses your lips, head shaking like you don’t have the energy to get into it all. “That’s an answer you should probably hear from him.”

Rebecca looks as though she’s trying to make sense of all of this. You want to wish her luck. Because you’ve been doing the same thing for eight years. “I understand he can be a bit… coarse. And intimidating. And hot-headed. But he really is—”

“I don’t care what he is,” you tell her with the most polite, tight-lipped smile you can muster up. “I know who he was. And I’m not interested in working with him.” The words leave your mouth with a bit more venom than anticipated and guilt floods your body. “But thank you for the offer.”

The Richmond owner continues to stare at you while you shake the coffee, still puzzled, but slowly coming to the realization that she’s not going to change your mind. At least not now. Maybe not ever.

She figures that trying to convince you to do anything would be pointless. Your stubbornness had made you a star on the field and had clearly transferred off of it. She supposed it made sense that you and Roy had apparently butted heads.

So, reading the room, Rebecca nods at you and stands from the stool behind your breakfast bar. “Alright,” she says, a somber, apologetic smile on her face. “Message received. Loud and clear.” You watched as she turned and began to fumble inside her purse, placing a white card on the bar when she’d found it. “But… please. Consider it. The offer’s good for the next couple of days. And I… I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t think that you’d be an asset to our team. I truly mean that.”

There’s a genuine lilt in her voice that makes you believe her. Whether or not this was a pity offer, or if she just want to scoop you up to get back at Rupert, she really did want you with the team. You’re rational enough to know that there’s some merit in that.

“Thank you,” you say again, offering a truer smile this time around. You hold up the espresso. “Now, do you have a milk preference? Because I’ve got them all.”

Rebecca Walton left your apartment with the best fucking shaken espresso she’s ever had in her life and a phone held up to her ear.

“Hi, babes,” greeted the voice on the other line, cheery as ever. “I can’t remember the last time you called me this early. Not that I’m complain—”

Rebecca abruptly cut off her friend’s rambling by saying your name. “How the fuck does she know Roy and why the fuck is he the reason she won’t work for Richmond?”

Uncharacteristically, Keeley Jones went silent. Rebecca heard the static from the other end. And then, very quiet, and wildly serious, Keeley said, “Oh, fuck.”

The words made Rebecca stop in her tracks in the middle of the street. “What?”

“You want her to be the new Richmond coach?” Keeley asked, sounding a whole lot like she just scrambled to sit up in bed.

“I just left her apartment. She rejected the offer and sent me on my way with the best coffee I’ve ever had in my life,” she replied. “I want to be bitter about it, but it’s too fucking good.”

“Yeah, got it, she’s a fucking barista on top of being an Ace.” Rebecca wanted to ask about how frantic her best friend is right now, but didn’t get the chance. “Did Roy know you were doing this? Asking her, I mean?”

“He did. I asked him about her,” Rebecca answered. “And he grunted at me. Generally, that’s Roy Kent for ‘go on with it.’”

“Oh, that stupid, fucking self-sabotaging prick,” Keeley muttered. “Of-fucking-course he did. Put yourself in this kind of situation instead of dealing with your emotions like a normal fucking human, good on you, Roy—”

“Keeley.” The rambling stopped once more. “What happened?”

The other line was momentarily silent. Then Keeley sighed, long and heavy. “Well, I don’t know it all,” she began. Her voice was soft. “But I know they knew each other a while back. Like ten years ago, when they were both still playing.” Keeley sighed once more. “But he said he, uh… apparently fucked her over somehow. Didn’t get into it or say what he did, but I think it was pretty bad. And then she got back at him for it and fucked him over. And it… really messed him up. Like, totally broke his heart.”

Rebecca stepped out of the way of someone passing by. “Broke his heart?” she asked, eyes closing at the implication of that. “Were they—”

“I don’t know. He didn’t say. He wasn’t exactly open about it. Which I thought was weird because he became pretty open about everything else,” Keeley said. “All I know is that whatever it was, it ended ugly. And that they haven’t spoken to each other since.”

Whatever Rebecca had been expecting, it surely wasn’t that. “Oh,” she said lightly.

Keeley hummed in uncomfortable agreement. “Maybe I’m reading too far into it,” she continued. “Maybe it wasn’t like that. But, he… never talked about anyone like that. Or, y’know, refused to talk about anyone like that. And you know Roy.” Rebecca said nothing, leaving Keeley to ask the million-dollar question. “Are you sure you want to follow through with this?”

“I want her. She’s the only feasible prospect I’ve liked who hasn’t been a fucking twat so far.” Rebecca’s voice was sure. Final. “And I won’t allow for another woman to be quietly taken down because of Rupert. Especially not if what I think happened actually did happen.”

“Well, then babe,” Keeley said, “I think you might need to have a chat with your coaches.”

Then, as Rebecca stood on the edge of the sidewalk, picturing the look on her coaches’ faces as she prepared to integrate Roy Kent, the gravity of the situation hit her like a freight train. “Oh, fuck.”

“ROY FUCKING KENT!”

The entire locker room froze at the voice of Rebecca Walton echoing down the hall, each click of her heels sounding as dangerous as the next. Immediately, all eyes are were on Roy. From Kitman Will to Coach Ted Lasso himself. Not a word was said and Rebecca’s stomping started to sound like a death march.

But when she rounded the corner into the Coaches’ Office with a fire in her eyes that screamed run; that’s when Roy started to sweat.

Immediately, a million things ran through his mind. He wondered if this was about his break-up with Keeley, then realized that she was the one who wanted a break from him, so Rebecca’s got no reason to be mad about that. Had he said something stupid to a reporter? Been photographed poorly? Did something come up in a tabloid from his past? Roy wished he could identify one singular thing he’d done back then in poor taste, but he had a fucking laundry list.

Beard quickly jumped up from his chair to shut the door to the locker room so that the team couldn’t hear whatever was about to unfold in this godforsaken office, and pulled the blinds too. He heard the beginnings of an objection from the boys as they began to race to the window, and sent them all a look before the shade fell.

Rebecca walked further into the office, eyes never leaving Roy’s. If she weren’t so fucking mad, she figured she’d bask in the fact that she was able to make the great, big, scary Roy Kent nervous, but she was currently seeing red. She decided she’d reflect on that later.

“I had a fascinating conversation this morning with a prospective coach,” she finally said, voice eerily calm. “Your name came up. A lot.”

Roy didn’t dare say a word. He wasn’t even sure if he could. Thankfully, Ted chimed in. “Well, Boss, we’ve got a lot of those. Would you mind narrowing down which one you talked to?”

But Roy doesn’t need it to be narrowed down. There’s only one name that’s been floated around that could possibly have garnered this reaction and level of anger. But his stomach sank further as a wild smile crossed Rebecca’s lips.

“Oh, just our Ace Olympic gold-medalist, World Cup-winning, four-time college coaching champion, West-Ham-hating top prospect,” she said, gaze pinning Roy to the wall. “Who apparently has not only been fucked over by Rupert but has also been fucked over by our own Roy Kent.”

All eyes flashed to Roy in surprise. Rebecca hadn’t been lying. Roy hadn’t objected to her name being considered as seriously as it was, and had given absolutely no indication to anyone in the room that there could potentially be conflict with this hire.

“Oh,” Ted said. “Well, that’s a bit of an issue.”

Roy looked at Rebecca evenly. “What did she say?”

“Nothing,” she replied, knowing that that was the very issue. “She just said she refused to work with you. Told me to ask you for the details.”

Roy nearly scoffed. God, that was really fucking like you, wasn’t it? Somehow making his life harder without scorching him alive, leaving him to be the one to burn himself down. Because you could if you wanted to. You could burn him to the ground if you chose.

(And you had. But he wasn’t sure what was stopping you from doing it again.)

He eyed Rebecca, knowing his boss and the way she thinks. There was a piece of him that was curious as to whether or not she’d drop the bomb in front of Beard and Lasso. “And what did Keeley tell you?”

That seemed to take his boss by surprise for a moment. But, as she caught on, it was made clear that she had the intention of saving his ass. For now. “Nothing that you didn’t tell her yourself,” Rebecca said. “Which was pretty much nothing.”

That was true too. There wasn’t much he hadn’t told Keeley, but he drew the line at you. Not only would Keeley look at him differently if she knew the truth, but you were just… too hard to talk about. Way too hard for him.

Which is why when Rebecca threw her hands up in question, desperation in her eyes as she asks, “So, what the fuck did you do to our prospective coach?”, Roy had to calm himself for a moment.

Between his rapidly increasing heartbeat and freshly clammy hands, Roy knew he had to figure out a way to not appear one hundred percent, completely freaked out about this. Besides his vague talks with Keeley, he can’t remember the last time he spoke about you. In fact, he’s not sure he’d ever spoken about you. And he certainly wasn’t in any headspace to do it now.

So, Roy being who he was, looked at the expectant expressions of his coaching staff (and Trent fucking Crimm, who he still couldn’t believe had managed to weasel his way into the club) and sighed. He knew he couldn’t be as intentionally vague with his explanation, especially now that the careers of those he knew and respected were in the mix, but he sure as hell was going to try.

“We—” Roy’s voice came out gruff and he cleared his throat with the roll of his eyes. “We knew each other a while back. I met her at the London Olympics. We were… fucking friends. For a while. And then we weren’t.” Roy shrugged, as if that would get rid of the discomfort he felt. He still hadn’t made eye contact with anyone. “I did some shit I’m not proud of. I hurt her and then she fucking hurt me. We haven’t talked since.”

Rebecca crossed her arms over her chest. “Exactly how long haven’t you spoken for?”

Exactly? Roy knows exactly how long. He could tell her the exact fucking day. But that was neither here nor there.

“I don’t know,” he chose to answer. He’d never faked indifference well. “Couple of years? Eight, nine?”

Beard pursed his lips in confusion. “And you didn’t think to… mention this conflict of interest?”

He’d taken the words right out of Rebecca’s mouth. “Or tell me there was an issue so I didn’t look like an idiot?”

“There’s no fucking conflict of interest!” Roy shouted. Rebecca’s brows rose dangerously at the tone and volume of his voice, forcing him to take a moment to collect himself. His voice was more even as he said, “I didn’t fucking say anything because I didn’t think it was important because we’re fucking adults and I didn’t want to be the fucking reason she didn’t—”

Roy’s words died in his throat, chest heaving as he forced himself to stop short. He finally looked up, glancing between his colleagues. He tilted his head back as he realized that each of them were trying to figure out whether or not to believe him.

He was telling the truth. He hadn’t said one lie. They just didn’t get it. And he wouldn’t allow them to get it. Not yet, at least.

“Well,” Rebecca said after a beat, “inadvertently or not, you are the reason she’s not joining the team.”

(Those words alone sting Roy in a way he wasn’t prepared for.)

Rebecca wasn’t done. “But I want her, Roy. More than anyone we’ve seen. She’s the best we’ve had a chance with so far. And if I have to go with another coach or one of those pricks we interviewed because of that?” She shook her head as if the idea repulsed her, then pointed squarely at Roy. “Fix this.”

His jaw went slack. “Fix— How the fuck am I supposed to fix it?”

Roy was shocked to find that Ted had his back. “I’m with Roy on this one, boss,” he said hesitantly. Rebecca blinked at him in surprise. “I want her too. I’m all for having this Ace up our sleeve. But this all seems like a lot to be fixed overnight.”

“Send her flowers, send her a singing telegram, get on your fucking hands and knees and beg— I don’t care how you do it! Just try!” Rebecca’s gaze had turned back to Roy, this time a bit more pleading. “Please. Fix it.”

And with that, Rebecca left the office, leaving two coaches and a journalist staring at Roy Kent.

This was the worst day of his life. It had to be. He’d never prepared himself to see you again because he was convinced that there was no probability it would happen. Selfishly, he’d figured that you coaching here wasn’t a true possibility, not because of any sort of lack of skill, but because some other team would scoop you up. But it was happening. This was a reality and Roy was sure he’d died and finally gone to hell.

And now he was expected to fix this? To interact with you? To potentially see and speak to you again? He was going to fucking throw up.

With this settling in, Roy released a deep, shuddering breath, heartbeat ringing in his ears. “Fuuuuuck,” he muttered, grabbing his keys from his desk and storming out of the room.

And then there were three. Ted broke the silence with a question directed at Trent. “Y'all have singing telegrams over here?”

Trent nodded. “Oh, yes. And I’m sure they’re just as awful as American ones.”

As Ted hummed in agreement, Beard narrowed his eyes at how his best friend’s attention was back on the open laptop in front of him. “You looking up where to get one?” he asked.

“Oh, yeah,” Ted replied, eyes glued to the screen.

Beard got up from his chair. “Move over.”

Roy Kent is standing on your doorstep, and somehow that’s not the most surprising thing to happen to you all week.

However, you are surprised. So much so that the second you see him, a mix of red-hot anger and panic run through your veins, making you instantly slam the door in his face. Tragically, he’s quick enough to slip his foot between the door and the frame, not allowing you to keep him out. You see him grimace through the slit.

“Fucking hell,” he mutters. “That’s a fucking heavy door.”

“Yeah?” you ask, continuing to push on the door like a five-year-old. “Surprised your reflexes were fast enough to pull that one off, Grandpa.” You glance down and do the math. “With your bad leg, too. Impressive.”

You see him wince at the pressure. “If you keep pushing on that door, we’re going to have an actual fucking problem.”

“Ooh, I’m so scared,” you reply. “Do I get a headstart when you have to pop the knee back in?”

Roy grunts. “I think it’s fair game with that ACL.”

You push harder on the door.

Roy’s had enough. His weird, Superman strength peaks through as he holds out an arm to push back, making you stumble slightly. “Can you fucking… stop?” His voice strains on that last word, finally opening the door enough to free his foot and keep it open. You know him well enough to know that trying to push back is useless. However, as you hide yourself behind it, your hand remains on the door, just in case.

“How the fuck do you know where I live?”

“I frequent the West Ham directory,” he answers dryly. You move to push on the door once more, but he speaks before you can. “I fucking texted Rebecca. She somehow knew.”

While you were also weirded out about how Rebecca knew your address, her presence was much less off putting than the man’s before you. If he’d texted Rebecca about you, that meant you’d been talked about. Which meant that Rebecca had confronted Roy about your conflict. Which meant that he was here to…

The implication of it unnerves you. But still, you ask, “Why are you here?”

“I just want to talk,” he replies.

You scoff. “Well, we talked. I’m good for another ten years.”

It’s then that he says your name. Your actual name. Not your last name, or your number, or the stupid nickname he used to call you. And it’s said so softly. So much more gentle than you ever remember his voice being. It straight-up ambushes you, and the remainder of the grip you have on the door fades.

“Please,” he says in that same way. “Give me five minutes.” You rest your forehead on the door, wanting nothing more than to shut it in his face again and walk away. “Five minutes, and then you can tell me to fuck off.”

You’re not sure what makes you do it. You’re not sure why your resolve suddenly crumbles and you start to consider his words. Maybe it’s because you’re still surprised to see him. Maybe it’s because you’re exhausted from this last week. Or maybe it’s because you’ve spent the last four hours mulling over Rebecca’s offer and have realized you may actually want this.

Whatever it is, you groan dramatically, say something that sounds a whole lot like fine, fucking fine to Roy, and open your door all the way to really look at him for the first time in eight years.

The sight of you seems to catch him as off guard as he does for you. He looks older, years more mature than the last time you saw him. But it’s not just in the face. His entire presence seems matured. Healed. It’s jarring.

He’s well-groomed, a vast contrast to the guy you met back in 2012, but similar to the man you left in 2015. It’s just more so. Everything about him is… more. More well-polished. More striking. The TV spots you’ve seen don’t do him justice.

(You mentally kick yourself for even thinking that and immediately feel like you need to wash your hands.)

The dark Richmond Coaching shirt he wears nearly blends in with his eyes, but you swear they’ve gotten lighter. However, the intensity of his stare hasn’t changed. And that’s the first thing you notice as you realize he’s been doing the same sort of evaluation to you.

However, that stare stays on the stupid embroidered soccer ball shorts you now really wish you’d changed out of after Rebecca had left. There’s a ghost of a smile on his face as he says, “I can’t believe you still have those fucking shorts.”

A sudden, overwhelming feeling of… something washes over you and you can feel tears prick at your eyes. Because you don’t know what to say to that, and because you’re not sure you can respond to that in any sort of way, you cross your arms over your chest. It takes everything in you to keep your gaze on him. “Five minutes,” you tell him.

Roy seems to snap out of whatever headspace he was in, any trace of humor disappearing. Instead, he straightens up, rolls his shoulders back, and clears his throat. He’s standing as if he’s about to make a grand speech, and it leads you to believe he’s rehearsed this. You may have laughed at him if you weren’t anticipating whatever the hell was about to come.

So, as Roy opens his mouth, you brace yourself for impact and wait.

And wait.

And wait.

But nothing seems to come out. He’s stuck there, like he’s frozen in time, as if he’s some sort of animatronic that’s glitching out. You glance around to double-check that the trees on your street are still blowing in the wind.

Your head tilts, and you awkwardly press your lips together. “I think you’ve got four minutes now.”

Roy glares at you. “Can you just fucking—” He cuts himself off, pointing to his G-Wagon that’s parked outside of your apartment. “I spent two fucking hours in that car figuring out how I was going to fucking do this and then another hour outside of your fucking flat trying to work up the nerve to knock on your fucking door, so can you just shut the fuck up?”

Your hands go up in surrender. “Okay, okay,” you say lightly. Then, you mutter, “You just like, gave yourself a time limit and—”

When he grits out your name, you raise your hands higher and shut your mouth.

A good thirty seconds go by before he finally says, “You played for how many years?”

You blink at him. That’s his big opening line? He knows how long you played— “Seven?”

“Yeah, I fucking know you played professionally for seven. How long overall?”

You have to think about it for a moment. “Since I was three,” you answer. “So, twenty-five years.”

“And how long did you coach?”

He knows this too, but you assume he’s doing it to prove a point. “Six,” you grumble, crossing your arms over your chest.

“Six,” he repeats. “That’s over thirty years you’ve devoted your life to football. Three fucking decades. That’s your entire fucking life.”

That same frustration you felt when Rebecca was talking to you this morning rears its ugly head. “What’s your point?”

Roy doesn’t think he could roll his eyes any harder. “My point is,” he says, “you’ve been in this game for three decades. Why?”

“W-why?” you stammer, staring at him like he’s insane. Nobody’s ever asked you that before. “What do you mean why?”

Roy returns the look. “There’s gotta be a reason you’ve been doing this shit for thirty years. Why?”

“I don’t know,” you answer, shaking your head. “Because I’m good at it? Because it’s literally all that I’m good at? Because it’s all that I’ve ever known? I don’t—”

“No,” he says firmly, and for a moment, as he steps forward, you think he’s going to grab you by the shoulders in the way he used to. To get you out of your head and focus on him. Thankfully, he doesn’t. “Fucking nobody does anything for that long just because they’re good at it. That can’t be the only reason.”

As he stares at you expectantly, you start to understand his train of thought. What he’s trying to get you to admit. What all of this has been about since you first kicked a ball at three years old. What allowed you to sport the number 14 for twenty-five years. Because it’s only ever been about one thing, and he, more than anyone, gets it.

So, as your shoulders slouch and your head bows slightly in an annoyed sort of surrender, he knows he’s got you. Roy fucking Kent, anger-management case study and hothead of the millennium, has got you. And he’s showcasing the type of speech and traits and breakthrough abilities that told you eight years ago that he’d be a fantastic coach. Not that he believed you. Or took it very well, for that matter.

Then, you hear his voice again. And this time, it’s a bit softer. As if there’s a fraction of a smile on his face. “So, why the fuck have you been playing this game for thirty years, you stupid fucking Yank?”

The nostalgia of the name hits you like a bus, and you’re thankful you’re leaning on the doorframe because you truly may have stumbled over. However, there’s no time to dwell on that. You’ve got an answer ready and it takes everything in you not to smile.

A heavy, labored, dramatic sigh escapes you, and you open your eyes to look at him. “Because I love it.”

“Because you fucking love it,” he echoes, and that fraction of a smile you heard in his voice happens to be hidden amongst his perpetual scowl. He takes a step closer to you, pointing at you and tapping on your shoulder. “Don’t you dare let that prick take that away from you.”

You bite the inside of your cheek and look away from him. He’s right. Just like Rebecca, he’s right. You hate that he’s right, but he’s right. It’s been years since you’ve seen him be right, but it hasn’t gotten any less annoying.

You think back to what Rebecca said this morning. Don’t let him win. You didn’t want to. There was actually nothing less that you wanted than to allow him to have that sort of power over you.

But still, the fear lingers. It sits in your stomach and churns it. He said he’d ruin you. Turn the world against you. It’d be your word against the club’s and more importantly, your word against football darling and West Ham star, Tom MacDonald’s.

(“Sure, you can go public with it,” Rupert had told you, basking in the anger written in your expression. “But to be completely honest, love, I’m not sure anyone’s going to believe you.” He shrugged. “Only female coach in the league suddenly crying sexual harassment after she’s been fired? Seems a bit convenient to me, don’t you think?”)

You don’t mean for your voice to be as small as it is when you say, “But what if I’m actually done?”

Vulnerability’s never been something you’ve embraced, especially with your career path, and you hate the way you sound. Weak. Timid. Afraid. As you meet his gaze once again, you realize that you hate the way that Roy’s looking at you even more.

“You’re the furthest thing from done. Done hasn’t ever been a word in your fucking vocabulary,” he tells you. There’s no room for argument. “You wanna know why?” You shrug at him in response, cueing him to continue. “Because unfortunately, I fucking know you. And I know the only time you’d ever be done with this sport is when you’re fucking dead.”

This time, you do allow yourself to smile. It’s small and humorous— a tight-lipped agreement, but it’s enough for Roy to know he’s gotten through. You want to laugh, partly because you know he’s right, partly because you can’t fucking believe that you’re smiling at him, but you’re strong enough to keep that in.

“So, yeah. Don’t let that prick kill you. Don’t let any prick keep you out of this game. Especially coaching.” Roy shakes his head, pausing for a beat, as if he’s making an effort to say, “You’re too… fucking good.”

You narrow your eyes at him. “Took a lot to get that one out, huh?”

Roy’s quick with a response. “You’re lucky you got it at all.”

You scowl, but there’s not much in it. You’re used to that type of compliment from him. If you can even call it that. Still, the familiarity of it makes you the most uncomfortable you’ve been all day.

However, you’re distracted by one thing. Don’t let any prick keep you out of the game. He’s said it so casually, like he’d actually meant it. As if he had no sense of irony about it. It boils your blood and stirs something ugly in you.

That feeling prompts you to meet his gaze. “What if one of those pricks is right in front of me?”

For the first time all night, his stoic expression falters, as if that was the last thing he’d ever expected you to say. It was only a fraction of a second. A blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment.

But you hadn’t missed it. You’d seen the Tin Man facade crumble, even for just a second. You’d seen the hurt in his eyes, the regret. You’d celebrate it if it didn’t make you feel so unexpectedly awful.

He abruptly clears his throat with a solemn nod. “Well,” he says gruffly. ”Then don’t let me take that away either."

You look away from him, because you know that’s all you can do right now. Your mind’s racing a million miles an hour, thinking about him, about Rupert and West Ham and Tom MacDonald, and about the Richmond job. There’s a piece of you that wants to believe that everything that had happened this week was leading to this. To seeing him again, to being offered to work with him, to gain an opportunity for redemption in more ways than one.

But the more logical piece of you knows that’s all bullshit. And it’s that thought that puts you back in a more comfortable headspace.

“You know I can’t forgive you for what you did,” you tell him, meeting his eyes once more. The weight of your words is heavy on your shoulders and you lean against your doorframe again. “I won’t forgive you.”

Roy nods stiffly. “I know,” he says. “And I can’t forgive you.”

You return his nod in understanding. “I know.”

His gaze leaves yours for a moment, like he’s trying to figure out how to phrase what he wants to say next. How to work up the courage to do so.

“But if—” Roy’s voice comes out strained and he clears his throat. “If this is something you want, this coaching thing at Richmond, then I…” He looks at you and all you can see is sincerity. You hate it. “It’ll be professional. Civil. I won’t let there be any issues or… fucking whatever.”

He appears to be just as bad at this as he was when you last saw him. You bite the inside of your cheek to hold in your laughter. By the way his face becomes instantaneously annoyed, you can tell he’s noticed.

You’re already talking before he can retract his statement. “How’s the team?”

If he’s offended by you not thanking him for doing the bare fucking minimum, he doesn’t show it, and takes your change in topic in stride. “Good,” he replies. “Pretty fucking good. We’re still trying to figure some shit out when it comes to—”

“No,” you interrupt him. “I’ve seen you guys play. I know you’re good. I mean—” Your throat suddenly gets tight, a pit of anxiety forming in your stomach completely out of nowhere. A shaky breath leaves your lips. “The team. The guys. Are they…?”

Roy catches on. “They’re good lads,” he says, his voice telling you that it’s not a statement, but a fact. “Some of the best I’ve ever played with. Easy to coach too.”

Your brow quirks up. “Easy?”

“If two fucking clowns from Oklahoma and fucking… me are saying they’re easy,” he says, looking at you with intent as he trails off.

That same pit of anxiety bubbles up once more. “And, uh… Jamie Tartt? Is he—?” Roy’s brow furrows. “I’ve just heard some less-than-great things. Him being the star and all. Football darling or whatever. Are they true?”

Your over-explanation of the Richmond striker makes Roy narrow his eyes in suspicion. He opens his mouth to question it, but then realizes it’s you. There had to be some personal reason for you to bring it up. Whatever issue it was, he knew he was no longer personal enough with you to ask.

“He was a prick,” Roy finally settles on. “Now he’s less of a prick.”

The fond look in Roy’s eyes tells you that he’s warmed up to Jamie more than he’s letting on, and it puts you at ease. You nod in acknowledgment. Silence fills the air between you two, neither of you knowing what else to say.

You think about the team you’ve watched quietly on TV, studying up for your rivalry games with them when you were preparing to coach at West Ham. You think about your prospective coaching staff and the vitriol you heard in Nathan Shelley’s voice when you asked him about Ted Lasso. You think about the job and what evidently comes with it.

But most importantly, you think about the potential of this new position and the potential of this new beginning.

And while you’ve got questions, you realize they’re all for yourself. Not for Roy.

You’re out of questions and he’s out of time. Way out of time.

You remember this as you rock back on your heels. “I think you’ve gone over your five minutes.”

Roy looks at you expectantly. “Are you going to tell me to fuck off?”

“You? Absolutely,” you tell him, earning yet another eye roll. “But Richmond?” You pause, trying to ignore just how quietly hopeful he now looks. You sigh, shoulders slumping. “Tell Rebecca I’ll consider it.”

Roy releases a relieved, thankful breath, nodding at you. “Good,” he says.

You nod back at him. “Wouldn’t want you to spend another three hours in your car trying to figure out how you’re gonna break the bad news to her.”

That eye roll returns, but there’s a bit of levity in it. He looks at you for a moment longer, biting the inside of his cheek like he's contemplating saying something else. Your brows furrow in interest, and as soon as they do, he seems to decide against it.

Roy turns to go down your steps with a shake of his head. “Get out of those fucking shorts and stop your wallowing, Fourteen,” he throws behind him as he walks away. “And clean your fucking flat!”

Glancing behind you, your jaw drops in outrage as you realize there’s no way in hell he saw your warzone living room from where he was standing. “You can’t even see into my apartment!”

He doesn’t turn around when he says, “I don’t need to see! I just fucking know you.”

You manage to suppress the urge to actually yell at him to fuck off at that, and instead choose to live with the wildly strange and undefinable feeling that overtakes your body, one that doesn’t dissolve until you watch him speed off down your street.

This fucking week, man.

You shut your door and turn to face your living room, a newfound disgust for the vile state that it’s in. Your lips curls up and you sigh, walking into your kitchen to grab a trash bag, making a plan of action for the night as you shake it out.

You replay your first conversation with Roy in eight years as you tidy up your apartment. You make a mental pros and cons list of the Richmond job as you take the longest, most necessary shower of your life. You chuckle to yourself at the idea of Rupert and Tom’s faces if they were to see that you’d been picked up by Richmond.

You sleep well for the first night in three days, on clean sheets, in clean pajamas, embroidered soccer ball shorts joining your dirty laundry.

You’re bounding into your kitchen at nine the next morning to grab Rebecca’s card that you left on your counter, brewing an espresso as you call her.

#roy kent #ted lasso #roy kent x reader #roy kent fanfiction #roy kent fic #roy kent x you #ted lasso fanfiction #aatwe #the one who can't walk up stairs #aces

[nixie-writes-aot]

Reactions to S/O with Abusive Family

Warnings: mentions of abuse and trauma, abuse of power/status, mention of murder, threat of bodily harm, hurt/comfort, fluff

Characters: Levi Ackerman, Erwin Smith, Hange Zoe

Author's Note: The third and last part. Honestly these headcanons were so fun so I might do more hurt/comfort in the future!

Levi Ackerman

Levi, like Mikasa, is also not terribly surprised. I don't think any of the veterans would be honestly

They all are too used to what the world is like and how cruel it can be even to those who don't deserve anything like that. Especially Levi

Now there are two different reactions Levi might have depending on which Levi 

If its Levi from the Underground, sorry but your family is dead

Thug Levi has killed for much much less. Hell, he killed a group of thugs just for getting in Isabel's way and upsetting her. So the chances of actual abusers surviving after you told him what they've done? Not bloody likely

Levi will, of course, hold you close and bury his face in the crook of your neck all to comfort you

He's very emotionally repressed so you shouldn't expect much else 

Now Captain Levi?

Much different story. For example, unless they were an active threat, particularly in s3, he wouldn't kill them. But oh boy 

Levi is someone who can easily, and will without hesitation, calmly rip into someone just for wasting his time. After all, Levi is one hell of a composed and stoic motherfucker

Now, the worst he might do for non-threatening is harsh words and maybe his own threat, albeit empty

But an active threat? Much different story. Levi learned from Kenny and the Underground that active threats must be taken out

Now regardless of him killing your family or just making them hate him, he is dragging you into his office. The one time he doesn't sweat the potential filth on your clothes, simply pulling you into bed with him and burying his face in your chest

"I wanted to kill them."

His statement is meant to be reassuring, that it would always be you and never them in his eyes

But also Levi is one very emotionally repressed bitch 

Erwin Smith 

Honestly Erwin probably already knew you had a rough home life, not many parents would just sit by and let their children become Scouts under Keith Shadis

The Scouting Legion is still viewed poorly when he takes over, don't get me wrong, but we're talking about a man who had a mental breakdown in the middle of the street and in front of not only all his men but the public too

Erwin would never

Now Erwin knowing and being told is two different things. Erwin could probably only think about his own childhood when you told him so he pulls you close, into his lap and starts playing with your hair and massaging your scalp. As he does, Erwin tells you about his dream and the will of his own father way back when

Erwin has accepted what happened by the time he's Commander Erwin but he still doesn't feel great about it, obviously, so its a moment of weakness for both of you

And thats exactly what Erwin wanted you to see. That you opening up and being vulnerable didn't have to be so one sided even if he was your commander

Now Erwin has a lot of power to throw around, especially if your family weren't anyone like the merchants or nobles or the Wall Church

So Erwin uses that power, lets you see how beneficial he can really be with that always so polite smile on his face even if he's currently ruining the lives of those who ruined your own life

"There are some that simply do not know how to behave, those should either keep quiet or have every dirty little secret spread among their peers."

Like I love Erwin but dude lowkey manipulates a lot of things into happening. Especially when it was concerning Levi in the No Regrets OVA

Hange Zoe

Hange is probably the only shocked veteran when you open up

They are appalled 

"But why!? Titans should be the concern, not each other!" 

And you even almost hear them swear but when you only shrug, they pull you close and sigh. They are well and truly refusing to let you go for even a minute. Hange is very clingy during the night you tell them and even the following day

Only Levi, Miche, or Erwin would be able to pry them away. Maybe Moblit 

They just want you to feel reassured and comforted by their presence

Hange probably takes you out to train with the ODM gear just to give you a proper outlet. They know they like training when upset

Dear god if they see your family? It is one of the very very few moments you see them angry. Even Levi seems nicer in comparison. Hange storms right up to your parent, decks them and stands over them 

"If you touch them again, I will personally make sure you don't have a hand to do that with again."

You probably have to pull Hange off your parent actually

And afterwards, Hange is clingy all over again. They're wrapping their arms around you, shoving their face into your back and sighing loudly 

Hange probably spends the next week making sure you know how much they love you and how much they would do just for you

Normally, you're an average soldier but Hange keeps dragging you away from your squad to their own squad, doing science stuff with them and Moblit

#nix writes #nix dreams #attack on titan #aot #snk #shingeki no kyojin #shingeki no kyojin x you #shingeki no kyojin x reader #attack on titan x you #attack on titan x reader #aot x you #aot x reader #snk x you #snk x reader #hange zoe #hange zoe x you #hange zoe x reader #levi ackerman #levi ackerman x you #levi ackerman x reader #erwin smith #erwin smith x reader #erwin smith x you #genderneutral reader #reader insert

[techs-goggles9902]

From the WIP ask game: I would like to know about the modern au tbb please? :)

TBB Modern AU Pt.1

Requests are open for all listed fandoms! See Masterlist for details. It’ll take me a minute to write bc I’m still emotionally traumatized by TBB s3

Summary: the bad batch but in a modern setting (duh).

Warning: talks about death and a bad car accident. I think there’s swearing (I forgot lmao) nothing bad happens but traumatic pasts are talked about.

Word Count: 1530 (I think)

A/N: Im so tired 😭 it’s 1:14 am at the moment. Anyway, I didn’t plan on making a series but I’ve kept you waiting far too long, bestie. THE ENDING IS INTENTIONAL. IM WORKING ON IT I SWEAR

NOTE: if confused about the occupations of the batch members, see this link.

“Echo, help me!” Omega says, bounding down the narrow hallway of the small apartment they were currently living in. She holds out a hair tie with a few stray strands of her blonde hair curling around the fabric.

Echo sighs, taking her hand in his good hand and leading her over to their raggedy couch littered with rips and mismatched pieces of cloth stitched to the creaky leather.

“Why didn’t you have Hunter do your hair? I don’t even have hair,” he sighs, gathering his sister’s wavy locks with his hands, careful so her hair wouldn’t get caught in his prosthetic.

“He’s sleeping. Still. He and Crosshair were trying to beat… what’s the game called? Gobbler’s Gate? I don’t know, but anyway, he and Cross pulled an all-nighter.” She never could remember that damn game her brothers were obsessed with beating.

“Baldur’s Gate,” Echo reminds her, sighing deeply. Hunter had to start making his deliveries soon, people needed their Doordash.

“Yeah, that!” Omega winces as Echo pulls her hair while tying off her ponytail.

“Sorry, kid.” He gives her shoulder a gentle squeeze with his left hand, his only real hand. “Come help me pick my hat.”

Omega gasps and whips around to face her big brother. “Really? I get to pick your hat today?”

“Yeah, why not? C’mon.” Echo takes her by the hand, always his left hand so he can feel her warm fingers clasping his own. They tiptoe through the hall, Echo’s footsteps muffled by the thick, fluffy slippers he wore, and towards the room he was given when he moved in with them. He’s a brother they didn’t know they had.

Jango got around, Rex had said when he introduced Echo to the batch. That’s what they called themselves, the “batch”. I raised him right, don’t worry, boys. Echo’s a good lad. He had gotten into a car accident not long after he and his twin, Fives, turned 21. Both sustained catastrophic injuries, Echo losing both legs around the knees, his right arm, and gaining severe burns on most of his remaining body. Fives on the other hand… he didn’t make it to the hospital.

Echo was slowly but surely growing back the hair he lost, yet he still finds comfort in wearing his beanies, whether it’s his tie-dyed one or the white one with yellow eyes on the fold, just like the creepy clown Omega had nightmares about.

“Which one for today?” Echo asks, gesturing to the assortment of beanies he keeps laid out on his dresser. He lowers himself onto his mattress with a low grunt. They couldn’t afford bed frames. Omega looks back at his pale blue hoodie, which Echo also has a colorful assortment of, and she selects the royal blue beanie, placing it on his growing follicles.

“That one’s perfect.” She steps back, admiring her work.

“Alright kid, what’s today’s objective? Park? Library? Bothering Wrecker at the mall?”

Omega looks down and furrows her brow as she thinks of what she and Echo should do. She looks up at him with thoughtful eyes. “Can we… visit Fives?”

Echo blinks in surprise and a smile tugs at his chapped lips. “I’d like that. I’d like that alot.”

They’re interrupted by Crosshair’s cursing from the room he shares with Tech. “Shit shit shit. Echo, what the hell? It’s almost 9!” He spits out over his shoulder as he rushes down the hall.

“I’m not in charge of your schedule, Cross! It’s not my fault you played Baldur’s Gate all night,” Echo stands and meets his fuming brother in the living room/kitchen. Crosshair’s trying to tie his shoes with shaky fingers. He’s never been late before, not once. His job was one of two stable jobs the batch had.

“Hey… calm down. They can’t fire you, you’re the reason the diner’s getting busy again.” Echo’s knees creak as he kneels down and puts a hand on his brother’s shoulder.

Crosshair sits back on his heels, tilting his head back with a sigh. “Y-yeah… nothing to worry about.” He looks back at Echo. “You good with spaghetti tonight?”

Echo hums in agreement as Crosshair gets back on his feet. “I’ll be back at 6.” Crosshair unhooks his keys from the rusty rack and leaves.

Omega comes out of Echo’s room wearing his black beanie. Echo groans, “Meg, that clashes with your outfit, I can’t be seen with you now.”

She giggles, pulling her soft teal cardigan around her body. Her white leggings were just begging to be stained. “Echo, I do believe you’ve said ‘black goes with everything’.”

He rolls his eyes, shaking his head fondly.

***

They ate, forced Hunter to awaken from his peaceful sleep, and walked Wrecker to his job at the nearby mall as a security guard. He only took up the job since they lived in a bad neighborhood and he got to tackle people for a living.

“Isn’t it funny that Wrecker’s kinda a cop and Tech sells illegal stuff on the black market?” Omega asked Echo after Wrecker jogged off to make it on time for his shift. The pair strolled towards the bus stop they used to get from Ord Mantell to Coruscant.

“Well…” Echo considered. “It’s a little funny.” Omega grins and clasps his hand tighter. They step into the little covered bench at the bus stop.

“So… how come you moved out of Rex’s house? I mean, he has a nice place and all.” Omega wasn’t with the family when Echo moved in. She’s never asked him about his life before the batch, not unless it was about Fives.

“I… Rex takes in a lot of our brothers. He wants the Fett family to… stay together, I guess. We were all marines or some type of soldier at one point, so we’re all similar. I didn’t… fit in with our other brothers, even if we’re all family. Rex introduced me to the batch and they said I was welcome to move in.” Echo gives her hand a squeeze. “They needed the rent money, too.”

Omega grins, squeezing his hand back.

***

The bus dropped them off a block away from the Coruscant City Cemetery, which was in a pretty decent neighborhood. Omega tugs the wired earbuds out of her ears, handing Echo back his phone. On bus rides, he always let her listen to her music, mostly to make sure she didn’t hear the things drunks always say to Echo.

“Who were you listening to this time, Meg?”

“Lana. I like her song Salvatore,” she says, slipping her hand right back into her brother’s larger one. Lana as in Lana Del Rey, one of Omega’s favorite singers.

They take their time strolling down the Coruscant streets, Echo pointing out his favorite spots occasionally. The wrought iron fence bordering the cemetery comes into view; large, shiny headstones poke out of the ground behind the iron gates.

Echo memorized the spot where he buried his twin, Section 5, row 5, 5 stones from the fifth tree. Of course Fives’ name wasn’t actually Fives, he just loved the number.

“Jango loved Fords… so he named Fives after ‘em.” The small headstone is just up ahead. Omega slowly walks up to it, kneeling a few inches away from the edge of the stone.

“Ford Fett… Echo, what’s your real name?” She asks, gently brushing her palm over the granite marker, stray pine needles blow away as she does so.

Echo pauses, keeping his distance from his sister and his brother’s grave. He slides his hands into his hoodie, shifting his weight. “Elliot.”

Omega hums in acknowledgement, bobbing her head. She says something under her breath to the headstone, Echo doesn’t bother asking her what she said. He keeps his gaze down to the dirt beneath Omega’s knees, a soft smile tugging at his lips.

We have a sister, Fives… oh, you would’ve loved her…

***

Aggressive meowing comes from the apartment as Echo and Omega walk up to the door. The pair exchanges glances. “Is that a cat?” Omega asks.

“I… I don’t even wanna know.” Echo sighs and opens the door to find an angry Tech and a gross looking cat staring up at him. The cat’s dusty brown coat is surprisingly shiny in the light.

“You cannot chew my socks. How many times have I told you this?” Tech spits out, jabbing a slender finger in the cat's direction.

“Are you having a full conversation with the cat? Also, why do we have a cat?” Echo asks. Omega smiles and kneels down beside the feline, new grass stains on the knees of her leggings catch Tech’s eye. He sighs.

“Wrecker brought him home when he returned from his shift. He’s out acquiring the needed supplies for keeping a cat. He named him Gonky. Who names a cat Gonky?”

“Wrecker, apparently.” Echo looks between his brother, the cat, and Omega, sighing and walking off to his room. He wasn’t sharing a room because his nightmares kept his former roommate - Hunter - awake. He can hear Gonky meowing at Tech, an occasional hiss when Tech refuses to give him a sock, along with Omega’s laughing.

***

“What the… why the hell do we have a cat?”

Taglist: @will-is-silly @fionajames @sevdidntdie @hellhound5925 @dangraccoon @skellymom @ithillia (so you know I posted)

Please lmk if you’d like to be taken off or added.

#Sha speaks #star wars #clone troopers #tcw #the bad batch #tbb #the clone wars #captain rex #tbb echo #arc trooper echo #tbb omega #omega #omega bad batch #omega tbb #fives #arc trooper fives #clone trooper fives #tbb modern au #tbb au #modern au #the bad batch modern au #tbb tech #the bad batch tech #tech tbb #tbb gonky #gonky #Gonky tbb #Gonky the bad batch #the bad batch Gonky

[stars-n-spice]

TBB S3 TRAILER

Holy FUCK I was not prepared for this.

As soon as I saw the trailer posted on Instagram, I grabbed my laptop and casted the trailer on the TV and stood in front of the TV like an old asian man; hands behind the back, spine bent, feet planted shoulder width apart.

Cannot believe it's finally here and I've got a lot of thoughts that I'm going to put under the cut because holy shit, this trailer hit me like a brick.

Idk if they will be comprehensive honestly but I'm writing them down as I rewatch the trailer.

In summary though? This season is going to absolutely wreck me and I will never recover from it emotionally and probably financially too if we get a new wave of merch and shit with it too.

Anyways, thoughts and reactions under the cut-

What the fuck are they doing with that transport? They stealing something? Retrieving something? Is it a tank? Hello, where is Echo??? IS THAT FUCKING CROSSHAIR?! IN S1 ARMOR???

PHEE GENOA!! so fucking great to see her again, I'm going to be absolutely devastated if they show us her reaction to Tech's supposed death.

CAPTAIN REX MY LOVE YOU'VE COME HOME!! "I thought the end of the war would mean the end to losing more of our brothers" <- that better be about Tech and not about Cody, so help me god-

OMEGA'S NEW HAIRCUT :( she looks so much older now :((

STOP CROSSHAIR LOOKS SO FUCKING SAD. I feel terrible actually... this is like,, this is a shell of a man,, like,, this is a man who's got like,, nothing. He looks awful and I swear if he doesn't get some peace of mind I'm going to lose my mind.

"Omega's been waiting for us a long time." NO NO NO DON'T FUCKING DO THIS TO ME. I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD IF YOU DO A TIMESKIP, ANY MEASURE OF TIME THAT OMEGA HAD TO BE WITHOUT HER BROTHERS AND WONDERING WHEN THEY WERE GOING TO COME AND GET HER IT'S GOING TO BREAK ME. I fucking hate timeskips so much, I swear if she's been by herself for more than a year, or even just a year, I'm going to be PISSED. If she doesn't get the chance to be a kid like she deserves I'm going to fucking lose it.

PALPATINE?! "There is nothing of greater importance to secure the purpose of this Empire" <- y'all talking about cloning? About cloning Palpatine because you have to explain why "somehow Palpatine returned"???

HEY WHO THE FUCK IS THIS?!

Holy shit the animation is really good. Like that whole fighting montage?? The fucking scene on the bridge looks like,, fucking live action to me. Idk how to describe it but the animation is fuckng beautiful and I wish Star Wars did more animation because this is gorgeous.

FENNEC SHAND MY LOVE!! MY WIFE RETURNS!!! PLEASE BE IN MORE THAN ONE EPISODE MY QUEEN I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!! and Cad Bane is there too ig-

"They are coming, for all of you." <- who is this. do not come for me but I cannot for the life of me figure out who this is. It's not Cody, I don't see the scar. Someone help me out here-

WOLFFE IS BACK BABY!!! FUCK I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE HIM IN TBB ART STYLE

HUNTER ON PABU! Thinking they probably went back after everything and I want to see how they've adjusted and settled in, please, I am begging.

My baby, my angel, myivida, the light of my life. Fuck it's so good to see and hear you again. If anything happens to you I swear to god-

LMAOO DID HUNTER JUST GET YOINKED BY A SPACE CROC?!?! WAIT THEY'RE ON THE BOAT WITH FENNEC!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAA

There are two clips that allude to the fact that they get Crosshair out of there before they get Omega and I'm going feral over it. If this means we get them reuniting with Crosshair sooner than later I'm fucking ecstatic. Like because,, that's Crosshair's rifle and they clearly cropped the screen for the sake of the trailer, right? Right??

Hey where is the zillo beast?

ASAJJ VENTRESS??!?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?! You're telling me,, I get a season,, with Wrecker, Wolffe, Fennec, AND Asajj? Oh be still my beating heart. Anyone hear something meowing?

Also I know in the trailer it seems like she's facing off with TBB but the backgrounds don't really seem to line up so I'm hoping they don't actually face off with each other.

Tech literally only being indirectly mentioned and showing his death scene again but recolored and shit makes me feel all kinds of things.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

3 EPISODE PREMIERE?!?!?!?!?!?! fuck me.

Echo wasn't in this trailer enough and where the FUCK was Cody?!?!?!?!

Fuck.

#tbb #the bad batch #star wars #clone force 99 #tbb trailer #tbb s3 #tbb hunter #tbb wrecker #tbb echo #tbb tech #tbb crosshair #tbb omega #best believe i'm feral over this #screaming crying throwing up #i am unwell #i love them a normal amount #i love this show a normal amount

[bylerxbrainrot]

a deeper look at mikes feelings towards eleven

i feel like mike was never in love w el but more so the IDEA of her. like "oh cool im so grown up i have a gf ". it was obvious that he cares about her very much (you can see that throughout the whole show).

its like he had this mindset that that he had to help her, and had to save her, and was under pressure to do so.

in s1 before he kissed her, he made himself believe that he had a crush on her based on what a crush is "supposed" to look like.

in s2, he still thought that and blamed his sadness and calling her for 353 days on that he missed the girl he had a crush on, when really, he just missed a friend, and ofc was extremely happy to see her when she came back, and also happy that he would have someone to take care of and be with again almost. (in reality he was just happy to have back a friend that he had made a very strong bond with)

in s3 when he said "because i love her and i cant lose her again." i think thats obviously true (meaning he loves her platonically ofc) but he doesn't want to lose her, partially to be under that pressure again. that being said, hes not IN love with her, he just loves her very much, and as all friends would, he would never want to lose her and then it be his fault almost. (almost like how he felt with will)

and when he says that she is a "superhero" he means it, but clearly not in a way you would see your girlfriend.

mike is obviously a queer character whos dealing with internalized homophobia. like mike would be the kind of person to say "i cant be gay if i love my gf." well, yes he does love her just not like that. however, hes in love with will but has trouble admitting it or realizing it because he tricks himself into believing that he loves el in a more than platonic kind of way (even though he knows he doesn't) mike is not in love with eleven, hes in love with the idea of living a "perfect" life where he is straight and happy. i think that once and if mike and will finally start dating, he will realize that being happy does not revolve around being in a heterosexual relationship.

im not crazy i swear.

#byler #stranger things #mike wheeler #fuck mileven

[saltygilmores]

THOUGHTS WHILE WATCHING GILMORE GIRLS: S3/EP5/8 O Clock At The Oasis (Part 2)

Lorelai is going to learn a valuable lesson in this episode. Which is to never, ever let your guard down around Emily Gilmore. Here is a list of the following fatal errors that have occurred to lead up to Lorelai’s upcoming three ring shit-circus.

1. Lorelai accepted Emily’s invitation to the DAR furniture auction with only mild resistance

2.Lorelai confesses her crush on Paddle #17, Peyton Sanders (as played by Jon Hamm) to Emily, aware that he is a member of the Upper Crust and this, without a shadow of a doubt, is going to come back to bite her in the ass

3.Lorelai allows Emily to facilitate a date with Hamm by retrieving his phone number for her.

4.Lorelai appears to have silenced the little voice in her head that reminds her that Emily never does a favor like this without strings attached.

5.Lorelai turns down David Bowie tickets unaware he will cease touring in less than 2 years.

Let’s get on with it.

Hamm unexpectedly phones Lorelai to ask her out on not one, but two dates at once. First to dinner, then to a David Bowie concert. Hamm is loaded and owns a jet and has a pilot's license and enjoys trips to Hawaii and has access to premium concert tickets. What he was doing at some lame furniture auction in Connecticut in the first place is anyone's guess. In a whirlwind 3 minutes, Hamm asks Lorelai on two dates, she gets ready for one of the said dates, leaves on said date, comes home and declares it's over because he was boring. Why couldn't Crusty have made such a quick exit in the series? I swear.

Here is what Rory is reading (thank you @frazzledsoul):

Hamm is never seen again. But hey, we're just paving the way for Alex, the only non-Luke boyfriend of Lorelai's that I ever thought was Good. (he's still so far away though).

Totally read "He was horny" at first.

...Says the woman who had long term relationships with Crusty, Max Medina and JasonDiggerStiles. Lorelai is a magnet for dullards. Could hearing Hamm talk about wine and tires really be any worse than listening to JasonDiggerStiles discuss insurance? Lorelai goes onto complain that she nearly fell asleep listening to Hamm dominate the conversation with his varied interests in things like cars and wine and aviation. Hey, at least he has interests. You've certainly done a lot worse. LORELAI GILMORE complains that HE TALKED TOO MUCH. Caps Lock and Italics added for extra emphasis. Lorelai GIlmore, in turn could think of nothing to discuss but a story about getting drunk on cheap booze in the back of some guy's car when she was 14. Really Lorelai, you can't just grit your teeth for one more week and take his David Bowie tickets?

Rory has the best pajamas again.

Okay then, enjoy your dirty dreams about teenage boys I guess (she then expands on it so it becomes a threesome with said teenage boy and David Bowie). Rory might be the only teenage girl on Earth who gets woken up by her mother to hear her sex fantasies.

You sure you want to let this opportunity pass you by, Lorelai? "A heart attack in late June 2004 forced the cancellation of some dates near the end of Bowie's tour. Bowie retired from performing live in 2006, making the 2004 tour his last." You’ve got less than 2 years to see DB. Suck it up sister and take those damn tickets. JasonDiggerStiles is certainly not going to take you in '04. The next day, Lorelai stops by Emily's house and gets the third degree about the date. Hamm is a major mama's boy. Mama Hamm is a fellow Society biddy and spilled the details of their date to Emily. Quite predictably, as Lorelai tries to impart on Emily that there is not going to be a second date, Emily ramps up the guilt and manipulation and calls Lorelai selfish. I can see why Lorelai would sacrifice Hamm and his plane and Bowie tickets just to avoid this. And in about a minute, it will get worse.

Run, Lorelai. Run

I suddenly had this crushing sense of DeJaVu while watching this scene. and then I remembered this season 1 episode:

Season 1, Episode 16, Star Crossed Lovers and Other Strangers. Emily Shanghais Lorelai into FND with a different society dullard (named Chase) who is so boring she attempts to escape out a window (Richard catches her mid-escape, takes pity on her and covers for her). So with some minor details tweaked, history is repeating itself. Emily gives Lorelai her blessing to date some Society Dullard that Lorelai has no interest in, Emily resents Lorelai for not liking the guy and tries to forcibly couple them anyway, Lorelai resists the urge to murder her mother with a rusty chainsaw, Lorelai continues to date different dullards and Crusties anyway (not you Alex, you’re cool).

Lorelai thought she was home free after leaving Emily’s, but no. Enter Richard. He's a real wildcard. Sometime he’s the only voice of sensibility and sometimes he’s just another clown in the three ring shit-circus.

After sending Rory to Dwight's house to water his lawn so she won't be late for work, her phone rings a second time, and this time it’s Dad. If this was taking place a few years later and cellphones had caller ID, imagine how much different things could be! *dreamy fantasy music*

Salty Gilmores is proud to present: Stick Figures Gilmore Girls 2024.

Not only is Hamm’s Mommy Emily’s DAR friend, his father is also Richard’s golf buddy (funny, when Lorelai was asking them for his number earlier they didn’t act like they were that close to his family) and both Senior Hamms took great offense to Lorelai’s first degree murder of Peyton’s fragile male ego, so now the shit is trickling downstream to the elder Gilmores before landing on Lorelai.

Holy cow. What a drama queen. Look at him sitting there all smug twirling his random magnifying glass. All because Lorelai won't agree to a second date with some random Society Shmo that nobody has spoken of before and never will again. Richard tells Lorelai she "just doesn't understand her mother's world". I think it's safe to say she does. What is this strange feeling I'm experiencing? Is it sympathy for Lorelai? Ah, it feels weird, but it'll pass.

#gilmore girls #lorelai gilmore #denise rewatches gilmore girls #emily gilmore #richard gilmore #rory gilmore #gilmore girls season 3 #8OCATO #I would love to do another stick figure comic #Jon Hamm #Hamm #ham

[studyinglavender]

sorry! but i am never going to be okay with the covert unless it is reformed significantly. maybe it doesn’t fit the ‘technical definition’ of a cult but it is nonetheless a harmful creed. the person being baptized in 3x01 was a child no older than 16. if you are being asked to follow the way or leave, sure- you’re given agency. but if it’s the only community you know? you’re staying. for din, especially pre-grogu, it wasn’t a choice. if he took off his helmet and became an apostate, he would lose the only family he has ever known. do you not see how fucked up that is?

it’s unfair to compare it to a religion which requires full covering at all times, because even those religions allow you to be unclothed in private, among your family members, and in emergency scenarios such as a life-threatening head injury. there is no inaccessible repentance process if you do not abide by those rules. whereas the creed requires the helmet to remain on at all times (in s1, din said it could not be removed in front of a living creature, but that exception wasn’t specified in the armorer’s questioning in bobf or in the baptism from 3x01). bathing in the living waters isn’t like going to confessional or praying. it is something that was considered impossible by the members of the covert. redemption for apostates was not a reality until din proved them wrong.

the covert also reminds me too much of mormonism to ever feel comfortable defending it. i felt sick watching the first episodes of s3 when din kept talking about how he was an apostate who needed to be redeemed. a fucking apostate. for taking off his helmet to save the life of his child. for letting his child see his face. for that, they were prepared to exile him from the covert, knowing full well it is the only community he has ever known. you know what’s so scary about leaving the mormon church? if you’ve grown up in it, most of the time your social network is comprised only of other church members. you’re encouraged to avoid making friends with people who may lead you astray—because they drink coffee or alcohol, smoke, swear (i’m not kidding). you remain in this small bubble, and after you are baptized at age 8 (which is the age they decide you have agency and are capable of sinning), you second-guess every choice you make. i cried because i could never remember to say my prayers or read my scriptures and i knew i needed to repent for my sins. and when i started questioning my beliefs, i was so terrified of facing the truth because i thought my mom would no longer want me in her life. i distanced myself from many friends to avoid their judgement. i knew if i left, there was no going back. i would be inserting a wedge between me and the other people of my faith with whom i had grown.

for much of his life, din has known only the covert. he was brought up as a foundling and he knew only of the creed. he was taught that the mandalorian armor belonged only to those who followed the creed and rejected the idea that there could be a mandalorian who may not hold the same beliefs. we know he was a very lonely person before grogu. the covert was the only family he ever had. how is it a choice, then? “you may leave at any time you wish,” but if he takes off his helmet, he is an apostate and he must find a new home, a new family, a new belief system. he would have no one. what kind of a choice is that? in what world would he ever want to take off his helmet?

so yeah, the covert is not just a religious sect hiding from persecution. they are, at best, a high-demand religion, where allowing your child to see your face is an unfathomable act that necessitates redemption. if din djarin remains part of the covert as it stands, that’s extremely disappointing.

#din djarin #the mandalorian #the mandolorian spoilers #the armorer #children of the watch #death watch #the covert #the mandalorian s3 #star wars #I’ve seen far too many bad takes today I’m so done #i feel like a lot of people who are okay with the covert do not understand what it’s like to be part of a high demand religion #like it’s your entire community. you grow up with these people and you don’t want to let them down #it’s not just the fucking helmet #maybe I’m too religiously traumatized for this show #I’ve already unpacked more in the last week than I have in the last three years #star wars fans don’t be fucking dense challenge level impossible #I guess might as well tag the exmo shit #exmormon #exmo #ex mormon

[shrinkthisviolet]

Savitar absolutely should have been a half-domesticated feral cat of a man

YES and it’s why I loved him in 3x23 simply because that’s the only time the writers actually seemed to realize “omg he’s Barry Allen” and capitalize on the opportunities there. And it’s the only time we come close to seeing him as a half-domesticated feral cat of a man.

We see him with Team Flash, we see how he might’ve fit in there, with this group who wouldn’t shun him (unlike the OOC Team Flash of his past)…but it was too short-lived. I wanted to see him there longer, maybe even be part of the Team for a while, see more of how he bounced off the various Team Flash members! We see his love for Iris, his conflicted feelings about Barry, but…*sigh* I wanted more

He and Barry defeat a meta, but someone gets hurt in the process, and Barry has to hold Savitar back because no, Savitar, we don’t kill people, stop—

(Bonus points if it’s Barry who’s hurt. Savitar scolds him the whole way back for being so reckless, what is wrong with you, look behind you next time you moron, what use is speed when you’re this much of an idiot—

Barry just smiles, because he knows what Savitar really means)

Wally being wary around Savitar, knowing what he did to the Wally of his time, and Savitar being wary around Wally because he’s constantly torn between I’m proud of you and I killed your sister in another timeline. Maybe they talk about it, maybe they don’t. In any case, Savitar proves to be quite the vault of knowledge, and Wally’s not stupid enough to turn that down.

(He also pulls a lot of pranks on Savitar, calling it revenge for almost killing my sister, but really, everyone knows Wally just likes riling Savitar up. And it is very funny to see Savitar marching through the Cortex shouting Wallace at 7am with the brightest blond hair you’ve ever seen 😂)

Iris being wary around Savitar because, duh, he almost killed her, and Savitar being wary around her for the same reason (he’s afraid of hurting her for real), and both of them half in love with each other…but they make it work. Iris is stubborn, determined, and fiercely compassionate, and this is still Barry—against all odds, they make it work (and they tease Barry together). She’s the one person Savitar can’t bring himself to ever be irritated with (unless she’s risking her life again—then he sighs and says you’re going to be the death of me, I swear, and she says, you and Barry both, but you’ll have to suck it up)

And I know Jesse isn’t allowed to be traumatized over having the same powers as her former captor (*glares at the writers*), but hey, if she was allowed to be, maybe Savitar tries to tough-love her into accepting them and finally just gives up and turns it into a game for her instead. Get faster than me, and we’ll see, Quick. Catch your enemy before asking them for favors.

I get that it wouldn’t have fit the dark tone of s3, but honestly, I think s3 could’ve benefited a ton by a) unmasking Savitar earlier and playing with that concept more and b) being lighter in tone, allowing some humor, even between Savitar and the various members of the Team

#savitar #the flash #i’m not even saying he needed to be part of the Team THIS much #i just think we should’ve gotten more of him with the Team in general #so many underexplored dynamics…*sigh* #i just have Many Thoughts about him

[babbeldumpsterfire]

and now live blogging ep 6 which seems to have people in knots so we’ll see what’s all about (spoilers under the cut ofc like BIG SPOILERS K??? SEASON FINALE BIG SPOILERS) 

- Not Crowley with the dogs out eew why lol

- LEAVE! MR FELL! ALONE! (if you get this reference you’re officially Old)

- UUH Crowley was a throne or a dominion or above, Crowley big important guy confirmed! Know nothing about angelic hierarchies but can’t wait to learn it from all the speculation on tumblr!

- Gabriel saying no to Armageddon 2? Uh.

- Gabriel has a desk!!

- Nope, he doesn’t

-  Thought this season we’d be throwing punches, and instead we’re throwing books left and right apparently - Aziraphale channeling his inner Sailor Moon and launghing his halo around

- Ineffable Bureucracy montage??? Never shipped it, never will I think, but weirdly I’m here for it - Wait was the romance part of this series about Gabriel and Beez falling in love lmaooo - They’re having an agreement like Az and Crowley are you kidding me this is like the cold opening in s1! - “Love like yours will surely come my way” We thought this was gonna be Aziracrow anthem and instead it was Goob’s and Beez’s song all along lol - Hand touching aaaall right starting to get on board now, wtf - Omg they’re in love I take it all back I ship them so much!!! And we’re still owed 2 kisses, mr Gaiman, I remember you saying that once. - THIS IS BETTER THAN ANY FANFICTION MY GOD I LOVE THIS SHOW

- aH! To all the people saying that a love story between an angel and a demon couldn’t be done by being overtly romantic/explicit about it, and look at how beautifully Ineffable Bureaucracy is stomping all over that bullcrap with their lovey dovey stuff! 

- Ok, first I thought Beez and Goob where gonna kiss, then Shax and FurFur, now everyone is gone (the last 2 probably DTF very badly lmao) - Omg the fanfiction that will come out of this guys, the fanfiction, especially Ineffable Bureucracy off to Alpha Centauri! - No seriously why is everyone getting the hots for each other all of a sudden wtf - Metatron deus ex machina wooh! (also how did no one recognize him, he was a giant floating head ok but the face is the same, even I with my prosopagnosia recognized him... after he entered the bookshop and started talking like he owned the place and I connected the dots) - Oh no it’s the last 20 minutes shit’s gonna go down, isn’t it?

- “We’ll be needing Us time” Us time. US TIME. Did he really call it Us time in front of the child Muriel omg.

- Nina calling Maggie angel ahhhhaaahhhh! I want a ton of fanfiction of them ok??? - Omg they’re giving Crowley the pep talk on his love life lmaooo everyone hoped for this and it’s happening I can’t with this show - “We’ve been talking for millions of years” All right so Azi’s been pining for million of years since their first encounter in the nebula creation station, got it, and we all cried for ‘6000 years of pining Crowley’ oh god this is hilarious - No don’t tell me it’s aziraphale who got the promotion and is gonna betray Crowley nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

- CROWLEY AN ANGEL AGAIN?? I think Neil has lied and he has read way too many fanfiction, sir this is getting out of hand - “Tell me you said no” Ooooh drama I’m here for the drama gimme all the drama

- “We can be an Us, what do you say” “Come with me, I can make it better” AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH - UH-UUH the KISS! “I forgive you” AZIRAPHALE YOU REPRESSED BLOODY LITTLE SHIT I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN AND FUCKING KILL YOU YOU PUSTULENT PIECE OF CR- - The second coming, oh my, in this political climate? I hope we will get s3

- Ma insomma Aziraphale hai un bel pezzo di manzo in skinny jeans e ciuffo da cacatua che ti guarda e preferisci il nonno dell’ispettore Gadget? - it ends like this??? I had crafted a reaction pic just like this, sensing where this was possibly going

#(also let’s praise the fact that there’s now construction workers literally banging outside of my room’s walls so loud I can’t hear a thing #good omens 2 #good omens spoilers #gos2 #gos 2 spoilers #good omens #gos2spoilers #gos2 spoilers #s2 #s2e06 #neil better gonna have that s3 already secretly bagged up because I swear to somebody this isn't the way you leave your fans #hanging on by a thread #lol #liveblogging gos2 #jk #this is all in good humor people

[charmixpower]

What kind of arc or character development would you have wanted to give the characters in the series? Ex. in the case of Timmy, what would his character have been like if they had been more interested in developing it?

This is on top of their already present character arcs

1) Bloom learning to be a leader

2) Expansion on the Charmix plot point where Bloom says shes lost faith in everyone and regained it back

3) Stella dealing with her flippant behavior during serious situations (I swear this is an outgrowth of her thinking people only like her for her looks)

4) Stella learning to like other parts of her self (Stella clearly holds her looks up in highest regard bc she thinks that's the only part of her people like and she wants people to like her, so low self esteem is just a natural consequence)

5) Literally anything for Flora

6) It would have been cool if Flora started out with her late seasons character of being a pushover into her s2 character of being more strong willed

7) Tecna acknowledges the fact that she holds winning above living in a lot of situations (aside from that no notes, Tecna character arcs slay)

8) Musa overcoming her insecurity and dealing with some of her attachment issues (Musa's hostile reaction to Stella, and her immediate obsession with Riven are such "please pick me" behavior. I love her)

9) Attaching Musa's insecurity arc to her being more comfortable in her femininity (Musa constantly mocks Stella for her stereotypical traits and that's on "I'm not like other girls")

10) Aisha clearly hates royal decorum, and politics, and all that stuff, so it always felt weird to me in s3 she flips around to being okay with most of it except for arranged marriages. That should have been dealt with. Either by having Aisha stand up to her parents and reject it all, or by having her parents make concessions and her love of her people outweighing her hatred of royal stuff (Aside from that she slayed on the character development front, no notes)

11) Sky needed a s1 Riven arc. Like, it could have been in s2!!! He was being such a fucking control freak at Bloom, he should of been beatened with the "consequences stick" until he had a "I have a heart" moment, thank you

12) Brandon probably has something going on with putting everyone but himself first and being unable to express his emotions from the child soldier thing and I would love to see that addressed

13) Timmy has a character arc in the background it's just never acknowledged??? Every season they just act that that's how he always was, would love to see Timmy becoming more confident as a part of the narrative and not something they just did bc the plot said so

14) PUT RIVEN'S CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT BACK AND STOP FUCKING TOUCHING IT SHOW!! IF HE WAS JUST ALLOWED TO CONTINUE DEVELOPING THE WAY HE WAS GOING IN S1 AND S2 ID HAVE NO NOTES AND YET

15) Literally anything for Helia

16) the Shab stone route is cool, low self esteem perfectionist is so conserned about fucking group projects up

17) Nabu learning what the world is like after being sheltered for so long would be amazing (s4 lies to you, Nabu gets all his romance knowledge from books and Disney movies, he couldn't give relationship advice if the answer punched him in the face)

18) Diaspro has Riven's problem but worse, at least they never regressed his character back to villain. Like wft!!! Diaspro's character should have been allowed to grow after s2

19) Roxy has an actual arc from hating magic to being cool with it instead of just flipping from one to another when her life is in danger. Like I get it, but that wouldn't make her like magic, that would just make her tolerate it bc it saved her life

20) Galatea realizes that Melody has a huge poverty problem and vows to fix it

21) Chimera realizes her mom sucks and helps Stella (this one is Rus wish fulfillment baybe)

22) The Trix actually reacts to the fact that they've gotten their ass kicked every time they fight the Winx and always get betrayed. Like let them have a mental break down and lash out from rage but mostly Icy

23) Seeing how the Trix ended up following the ancestral Witches. NOT LIKE THAT. I vote cult for Stormy and Darcy, and Icy is just kinda like this. Some people just

24) Mirta and Lucy having some sort of conversation, idc if they make up or stop talking I just want SOMETHING

25) I wanna see an older Anne meet Aisha so bad

#winx club #rus chatters #asks

[fandomfrolics]

For the unwritten fics: 7 (for ted, obvs), 10, 15!

7. What are your plans for -character-?

Sorry, this is such a funny question out of context. I have many plans for that sad dad and some of them may even make it into published fics one day but off the top of my head, the gist of my plans are:

Ted gets laid (angsty)

Ted gets laid (happy)

Ted gets laid (emotional)

Ted gets laid (filthy)

Ted comes back to London and his old job

Ted goes on a road trip

and just to cover all my bases, Ted is sad.

15. Do you have any unwritten scene that you think about a lot?

Answered this here! But there's another unwritten thing I guess I think about once in awhile, which I had a vague idea for after the s3 ep where Ted calms himself down from his panic attack but I don't think I'll ever actually write so I'm just gonna summarise the whole thing in a long run-on sentence:

Basically Roy sees/overhears Ted chanting "he's okay" quietly to himself and surmises it's about Henry and he takes Ted outside to look at the moon because when he first went off to Sunderland he called his grandad crying about being so far away and his grandad told him to go outside and look at the moon because no matter how far apart they were they'd always be looking at the same moon and the whole thing is essentially just a conversation they have lying on the pitch while looking up at the sky.

10. If unpublished, can you show a sneak peek of what you've written?

This isn't actually from one of the 'plans' OR the idea mentioned above but it's another one I don't think I'm ever actually going to finish so thought I might as well share some of it. It's a Thanksgiving fic with Henry, Michelle, and Ted's mom all visiting London (established but background T/R iirc). I wrote most of it more than a year ago but surprisingly the Ted's mom characterisation still fits pretty well I think (except her name but that would be pretty cray cray if I guessed it right). Anyway! Here's a little Ted & Michelle part of it (behind a read more since this is already so long).

“Thought you could use this.”

Michelle glances up to see Ted holding a bottle out towards her. The corner of her mouth quirks up. She takes it gratefully, sipping lightly as he settles down next to her on the steps.

“So,” he says after a brief, loaded silence, “you gonna tell me what that was all about back there, or am I gonna have to try this beer tactic with my momma instead?”

Michelle doesn’t crack. “Don’t ask your mom.”

“Okay…” He peers at her. “You realize you’re making me more worried, right? Not less? You can see how you might be doin’ that? With this whole thing?” He gestures between them.

She sighs, holding the bottle to her forehead. “Ted, I’m sorry, but sometimes your mother can be a real—”

“Pain in the ass?” Ted guesses.

“I was gonna say ‘piece of work’ but hey, if you wanna go there…”

“Okay." She lets him tug the bottle away from her face, watching him put it carefully down on the step between them. "Michelle, what on earth is goin' on?”

She sighs again, then finally shifts to face him. “Ted, you know sending Henry to live here…you know that’s as much for him as it is for you, right?”

He swallows audibly. “Are you second-guessing this whole thing, ‘cos I know I’ve always been a bit of a soft touch with him but it’s only been like three months, you gotta give me more of a chance, I promise I’ll—”

“No, Ted, it’s not—” She shakes her head vehemently. “You’re doing fine.” She smiles. “More than fine. Henry seems to have really settled in well here.”

“Oookay…” He tilts his head. “Is that what’s botherin’ you? That he’s doing too well? ‘Cos I swear, he misses you like crazy. And I lied, I’m still a soft touch. I totally bribed him into eating those green beans earlier. But I swear to god, the kid is—”

“No, no, Ted, it’s not—” She cuts him off with a laugh and his mouth falls shut. She stares at him quietly for a long moment before she flicks her gaze away, back out to the long garden. In the dark it looks like it goes on forever. 

“God, I’m going to have to tell you, aren’t I.”

“I think so?”

It feels like it’s always like this between them, the punctuation remarks reversed, and it used to be so exhausting, to be the one always carrying around the full stop, but she appreciates it about him more, now, that he doesn’t push. Now that she has some distance, she can fully appreciate the rarity of it, of the way he can prompt and give space all on the same turn.

#I feel like I'm actually not doing this right but oh well #I think I am no longer in my '10s of concurrent WIPs I'm actively working on' era #instead my google docs is riddled with half-written unpublished fics and idk who that person was who wrote them #ANYWAY #thanks for asking!! #ask game #asks #kittensittin

[borninacloud]

The Way We Were (2/3) - Steve Harrington X fem!Reader

summary: Following on from Part 1 we discover the reason behind Steve and Y/N's strained relationship and might even see some reconciliation.

word count: 6.7k (I lost control)

warnings: s4 spoilers, swearing/cursing, sexually suggestive remarks (only minor), and I think that's it?!

a/n: I'd suggest reading Part 1 for context! This starts in a flashback somewhere before the start of s3 and then switches to "present day" s4. Honestly I apologize for it being sooo long, things went from 0-100 between the first part and this. There's still one final part planned for this series which will be full of drama and possibly smut 👀 Feedback appreciated as always!

The Way We Were [1] [2] [3]

Masterlist & Requests!

-

Starcourt Mall, 1985

As Y/N stood waiting outside Scoops Ahoy she couldn’t help her eyes scanning the store, an antagonised looking Steve Harrington catching her attention. 

In front of him stood a familiar head of black hair and Y/N chuckled, recognising the unstoppable force that was Erica Sinclair. It wasn't uncommon for the young girl to give him a hard time on the job, demanding too many free samples and taking a torturous amount of time to pick a flavour.

Y/N wandered over to the pre-teen, bound to do her good deed for the day. Of course, it wouldn't hurt if the good deed meant that she got to say a quick hello to Steve, either.

"Erica, give the guy a break won't you? It's bad enough that he's got to wear this getup in front of actual live people, he doesn't need you making his life any more difficult.” She appeared behind Erica, attempting unsuccessfully to hold back a mirthful smile as she caught Steve’s eye.

The girl in question turned to Y/N with a raised eyebrow, an otherwise deadpan expression on her features as an arm came to rest sassily on her hip.

"I don't know, Y/N. That doesn't really help me out in any way now, does it? I think you need to sweeten the deal."

"Fine, I'll pay if you're out of here in thirty seconds." Y/N levelled with her, pulling some cash from her purse and setting it down on the counter for Steve. 

Y/N knew Erica through her old babysitting gig and to say that she wasn't the easiest of kids to look after was an understatement. Whilst she was rarely called to look after her any more, or any of the other kids for that matter, Erica and Y/N had managed to reach a mutual understanding and level of respect for each other over the years, though it hadn’t been an easy road getting there.

The secret, Y/N found, was to give Erica a bit more freedom and to ask less questions, and in return Erica would give Y/N a bit more respect and less cheek. Only slightly less, though.

The girls eyed each other for a moment before Erica beamed, turning back to Steve to order the largest cone Y/N's money would allow.

When Erica finally left the shop Steve turned to Y/N with a look of sheer relief, a genuine, heart-stopping smile on his face. It was hard to remember that he was just a friend when he could be so damn charming.

"Y/N, you're a lifesaver." 

"It's nothing, I know she can be a handful so thought I'd come to rescue the damsel in distress." She winked at him, leaning on the counter and making herself at home.

"How can I ever repay you?" He grinned back at her, hand coming to rest over his heart dramatically.

"Oh, I'm sure I could think of a few ways." 

Y/N knew she was being flirty, maybe a bit more forward than usual, but it wasn't out of character for her and Steve to throw around the odd suggestive comment to each other.

Not that either of them knew, but they had both been dancing around unspoken feelings for a while now. Neither was willing to be the first to admit it so they stuck to toeing the line of casual flirting, still testing the waters.

Sure enough Steve floundered for a second, caught off guard by Y/N's forwardness, before quickly recovering and fixing her with a characteristic grin.

"Yeah? I'd love to hear more about that, how about tonight? It's been a while since we hung out, you know."

"A while? Steve, we caught a movie last week." She laughed in earnest, shaking her head.

"Still, I've missed you - I mean, we've missed you, right Robin?"

"Smooth, dingus." The girl in question rolled her eyes as she scooped up a customer's order and handed it to them carelessly, "Nice of you both to stop flirting long enough to remember that I exist. Thanks for saving our asses with the brat, Y/N."

A light blush crept up Steve's cheeks at Robin's comment and Y/N felt her heart stutter, suddenly keen to avoid eye contact with him.

"Anyway," Steve continued hastily, shooting Robin a look of warning that seemed to amuse her more than anything, "You wanna come over tonight? We can watch Saturday Night Live, maybe order some-"

"Y/N! You coming or what?"

The sound of her voice being called from outside the shop caught her attention, Steve following her gaze to see none other than Billy Hargrove outside of Scoops Ahoy, standing as though he was waiting for the girl in question.

"What's he doing here?"

Y/N had the grace to look a bit sheepish. She knew the history between Billy and Steve having arrived at the Byers house last fall to the aftermath of their fight; a semi-conscious Steve bundled into the back of a car whilst Max alarmingly fixed blocks to the gas pedals - Y/N had put a stop to that immediately, of course - and Billy passed out on the living room floor.

It hadn't been a pretty sight and Steve had definitely come out of it worse off, but then there had been the more pressing issue of Will and the Mind Flayer to deal with.

Besides, that was a while ago now and things had changed, people had started to move on. She and Billy had both started as lifeguards at the pool together and although she wouldn’t exactly call him a friend, and probably never would after everything that had happened, he had gone out of his way to be, dare she say it, nice to her at work, though she couldn’t say why.

They’d just finished a busy Saturday afternoon shift and Y/N was starving, so when Billy offered to give her a lift to the Mall to grab something to eat she’d said yes, truly only thinking of the food and not about how it might look to anyone else, least of all Steve.

"Are you on a fucking date with him?"

Steve's tone and language caught her off guard, a complete shift from how upbeat he had been moments before.

"Steve!" Y/N reprimanded as a couple of Scoops Ahoy customers had turned their heads at his words, looking affronted. 

Robin had also frozen at the outburst, mouth agape as she looked between the pair uneasily. Usually she'd be the first to jump in with a silly quip to dispel any awkwardness, but even she didn't seem to have any words to offer.

"Seriously, he beat the shit out of me and you're, what, dating him now?" Steve demanded, eyes fixed fiercely on Y/N. He couldn't bear to look past her to the guy in question again, just knowing that he would have a shit eating grin on his face.

"I'm not dating him, we work together, Steve." Y/N responded firmly. It was the truth, she had absolutely no interest in dating Billy Hargrove, "He just asked if I wanted to grab some food after our shift, it's nothi-" 

"You can't go out with him, no way."

Y/N bristled instantly. If there was one thing she despised, it was being told what to do. 

"What do you mean, I ‘can't'?" Her eyes flashed dangerously, challenging him to continue. He was evidently on a warpath as he immediately responded to her hotly.

"I mean you can't go out with that asshole, Y/N. He's literally the worst."

"You can't tell me who I can and can't date or hang out with, Steve."

"Yeah? Well how about this, you hang out with him, then you can forget about tonight!" 

Y/N had never seen him this angry, let alone with her, and her heart hammered in her chest as she struggled to retain her composure under his furious gaze.

"Uh, Steve, I really think you should calm d-" Robin attempted to cut through the argument, mouth snapping shut and hands raising in surrender as Y/N bit back at Steve, completely ignoring her attempts to mediate.

"Fine! If that's how you're going to be, you can shove SNL up your ass, Harrington!" She turned on her heel, storming from Scoops Ahoy as unshed tears burned the back of her eyes.

Y/N didn't stop to greet Billy as she left the shop not wanting anyone, least of all him, to see the effect that the fight had on her. 

She was already regretting the decision to grab something to eat with him, although surely there wasn’t actually anything wrong with that, was there? 

Billy had simply offered to give her a lift and Y/N agreed, purely focused on the prospect of a greasy meal at Burger King after a long day working in the heat. Apparently that decision had been a big mistake.

Steve watched as Y/N practically ran from Scoops Ahoy, eyes betraying him as they landed on Hargrove who had been watching their exchange with a greedy interest. His grin widened at Steve, a taunting laugh leaving his lips as he followed after Y/N.

"Shit!" Steve cursed loudly, gaining even more disapproving looks from customers as he ripped off the stupid uniform hat, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. A few had already got up and left during the embarrassingly public fight.

"You need to apologise to her, dude." Robin said quietly but matter-of-factly from beside him.

He whipped around to look at her incredulously, "Me?! She's the one on a date with that asshole!"

"See, if you'd actually used your ears and listened, she specifically said they weren't on a date."

"Yeah right." Steve scoffed loudly, turning to serve a customer who was looking very awkward at being caught in the middle of a clearly intense conversation, “It’s Hargrove for christ’s sake. Of course it’s a date.”

He quickly filled their order and had to fight not to snatch the cash from their hand as they paid. He felt like throwing their change back at them too, not that any of this was their fault, he was just so frustrated and wanted everyone to disappear. Or maybe the ground would open up and swallow him, that could work too. 

"Listen, Steve. Y/N is your friend right? You trust her. Why would she lie to you?" Robin reasoned, and he had a fleeting thought that this might've been the most sensible that she'd ever been, "Besides, she's right, you know. You can't tell her who she can and can't date unless you pull your finger out your ass and ask her out yourself."

"I-it's not like that. I'm just trying to look out for her." He lied, knowing full well that Robin had hit the nail right on the head. 

If he was truthful, he was angry because he couldn't stand the thought of Y/N dating anyone else, let alone Billy fucking Hargrove. 

The worst thing about it all was that he knew he didn't have any right to be upset over it, and instead of just confessing his feelings and asking her out like a normal person he had to go and blow up at her, probably ruining any chance he might've had.

He was sick of everything in his life turning to shit. Surely he was due a break at some point?

"Sure it isn't." Robin rolled her eyes, "While I might be younger than you, Steve, I wasn't born yesterday. It's so unbelievably obvious you two have the hots for each other. You're both just too chicken shit to admit it."

Steve hung his head, thanking god that the crowd in the shop had finally started to thin out, the last thing he wanted was any more of the population of Hawkins watching him have a meltdown.

"No way, she's too good for a loser like me."

"Oh please, spare me the dramatics." Robin threw her head back in exasperation, she'd be damned if she was going to give Steve another pep talk. He looked aggrieved, but she didn't give him time to reply as she pushed on.

"You two have been pissing me off with all your flirting and shit for weeks! Do you know how much I regret going to watch that god-awful Creature film with you both after work that time? Never again. She was pretending to be all scared so that you’d hold her hand, and you didn’t take your eyes off her for a damn second to even watch the movie - it was super annoying!" Steve's eyes widened at this, his mouth opening to protest, but Robin jumped in holding a finger up to silence him, "Oh yeah, I've got news for you buddy, you ain't that subtle!"

A long silence stretched out between them as a lone customer walked up to the cash register to order, Steve ringing them up and Robin scooping up the bubblegum pink ice cream to hand over.

When the customer was finally out of earshot, she turned to him with a gentler tone, but still firm nonetheless.

"If you're going to let one stupid fight ruin things with her then fine, but I don't want to hear any more about it. No moaning, no sulking, no nothing, you got it?"

He sighed, running a hand across his face before he nodded at her.

"Fine. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but do you think you could help me? I don't wanna screw it up any more than I already have." 

"Sure thing, dingus. You need all the help you can get."

-

Resigned to the fact that, annoyingly, Robin was right, Steve resolved to apologise to Y/N. 

He didn't think that he could quite manage actually asking her out at this point, but at least it'd be a start if she was willing to accept his apology. They could go back to normal, if nothing else.

That was how he found himself rehearsing his apology in the car the following evening, going over the words he'd come up with, assisted by Robin of course, under his breath as he drove over to Y/N’s place.

As he pulled up to her house he was still muttering to himself, but stopped suddenly at the sight of a familiar car on her driveway. Fucking typical.

Steve almost swung his car around and left right then and there, but Billy Hargrove had already left Y/N's house and was in the process of walking to his own car, so he decided to just avoid him and continue on with his plan as he brought his car to a screeching halt, throwing on the handbrake with unnecessary force.

Steve wasn't intending to speak to Billy, wasn't even going to look at him as he tried to remain focused on Y/N's front door, but as the men passed each other Hargrove spat out a tense greeting.

"What the hell are you doing here, Harrington?"

Steve ignored him, rolling his eyes as he continued up the drive in silence. Nothing good would come from engaging with Hargrove, he'd learnt that lesson several times.

"Just to warn you, I doubt she'll be up to much. We just finished a pretty heavy workout, if you know what I mean." 

Steve's jaw clenched in an effort to stop himself snapping back, he was pretty certain that Billy was just trying to get a rise out of him, but he couldn't deny that it was starting to work. Anyone else, he thought, anyone else he could deal with. But this guy was something else.

"I'm sure you do, right? She's alright for an Indiana girl. Nothing special, but at least she's easy."

He swung around instantly at the comment, striding the few steps to meet Billy and they stood face to face, staring each other down. 

Steve was almost physically biting his tongue to keep from lashing out, fists clenched tightly at his sides in the hope that by some miracle his glare would be enough to shut Billy up. It wasn’t, of course.

"Huh, maybe you don't know after all. I could describe it to you if you like, Harrington, her tight little -"

It felt like something in him snapped, a hot rage flashed over him at Billy’s words and Steve lunged forward, grabbing him by the collar of his stupid, half-unbuttoned shirt, and shoving him back into the side of his car. 

Billy’s head struck the car door, hard, but he just laughed and Steve had to wonder if he actually enjoyed having the shit beat out of him. He was crazy.

"Steve!" Y/N's frightened voice came from somewhere behind him, "What are you doing?!"

He turned to see her running down the drive towards them, appalled gaze fixed on him. Great, things were just going from bad to worse.

"What's wrong with you two, I thought you were over all this!" She berated them, relieved that she’d been passing her kitchen window and had noticed the altercation quick enough to catch it before it progressed any further.

"Y/N, you didn't hear what he was saying about you." Steve looked to her imploringly, not wanting to hurt her feelings by telling her Hargrove's disgusting words, but needing her to know the truth. She frowned, opening her mouth to question him, but Billy jumped in before she could make a sound.

"Bullshit. Stop lying, Harrington, you just can't stand the fact that we're friends now."

"God, just shut up, will you!" Steve turned back to him, hands flying into the air wanting desperately to smack the smirk right off his face. He restrained himself, bringing his hands to his own head and grabbing at his hair in frustration instead.

"Steve!" Y/N called his name again reproachfully, her hand reaching out to touch his arm gently, "What's gotten into you? I've never seen you like this."

Both boys remained silent, Steve finally breaking the glaring contest to turn and walk a few paces away from Billy in an attempt to cool off. Of all the scenarios that had gone through his mind when preparing for this moment, this certainly hadn’t been one of them.

Y/N, reassured by the distance between the two that there wouldn't be any physical fighting, took the moment to glance back at her house and caught her mother's worried face at the window.

She addressed both boys firmly, "I think you'd better leave, both of you."

There was a beat of silence before Billy nodded, much to Steve's amazement, and bid Y/N goodnight as he started to climb into his Camaro.

As he turned away from Y/N he shot a grin and wink at Steve, clearly incredibly pleased with himself. Once in the car Billy brought the loud engine to life quickly, revving it a few times for god knows what reason before he pulled away, tyres screeching. 

Steve hung back as the roaring of the engine faded into the otherwise calm evening.

"I don't get it, Y/N. Can't you see he's bad news?" 

"Steve, I don't know what the big deal is.” Y/N sighed, pleading softly with him. She hated arguing, especially with Steve, but wasn’t prepared to back down when she hadn’t done anything wrong, “I know you have history and all, but I told you there’s nothing going on with Billy and I. Mom’s been having trouble with her car and I mentioned it at work, so he offered to come over and take a look at it for m-"

"Oh great, so now he's friends with your mom, too?" He responded sarcastically, eyes rolling. He hadn’t intended it to come out so bitter, but the prospect of Billy in her home charming her mother felt too personal, like something a boyfriend would do.

"That's not what I said, Steve. I wish you’d stop being so irrational about this!"

"And I wish you'd tell me the truth! You're fucking him, aren't you?"

He regretted it as soon as the words left his mouth, his stomach sinking at the look of utter betrayal on Y/N's face. 

He didn't even believe what he was saying, really. He knew that Billy was just trying to wind him up, that Y/N wouldn't lie to him, yet there was a tiny voice in the back of his head that couldn't seem to stop whispering doubts into his mind.

He was a loser, after all, as much as he tried to put on a front. He'd flunked school, had a god awful job, and hardly had any friends besides a bunch of middle schoolers. 

And then there was Y/N who had everything going for her. She was all things good; kind, funny, intelligent, pretty. God, she was so pretty it hurt, especially when she’d grace him with one of her dazzling smiles or laugh at one of his cheesy jokes.

She wasn't smiling now, though. Not even close, and it was all his fault. He hated himself for it.

"I can't believe you'd say that." Y/N choked out, face scrunched up in hurt and anger. The beginnings of tears twinkled in her eyes as she blinked rapidly to hold them back. She wouldn’t let him see her cry.

"I'm sorry. I-I don’t know why I said that. I'm so sorry Y/N, I didn't-"

He reached out to touch her hand, heart dropping even further as she snatched it back harshly, shaking her head at him. 

"Get out of here, Steve. Go!"

He didn't know how he'd ever explain this to Robin. She'd told him it was a fool-proof plan, but apparently that wasn't the case. He was a fool, and he had managed to ruin it.

-

The Creel House, 1986

Y/N watched Steve and Nancy out of the corner of her eye, noting with a small pang of jealousy how easily they seemed to fall back into each other's company as she stood picking cobwebs out of his hair. 

Y/N knew she shouldn't feel jealous, that she had absolutely no right to be. It wasn't like she and Steve were dating, or that they ever had for that matter. In truth, Y/N didn't even know whether they could still call themselves friends at this point.

She especially knew that she couldn't be precious over Steve being friendly with another girl, not when their problems had started the way they had. No, that would make her the definition of a hypocrite.

Steve and Nancy parted ways, Robin dragging Nancy down the hall to a different wing of the house as Steve rejoined Y/N in the room she was currently investigating. 

She wasn't quite sure how they'd ended up together, but after Robin immediately paired off with Nancy, Steve had practically pounced on Y/N, steering her quickly up the stairs grumbling something about getting stuck babysitting again.

Y/N swung her flashlight around the room, squinting in the darkness at the eerie remnants of furniture and belongings left behind by the Creel’s. From the looks of it they were in the daughter's bedroom, with an unusual amount of dolls that looked like they were straight out of a horror movie scattered around.

“So… You and Nancy.”

It blurted from her lips like word vomit, almost an out of body experience as Y/N heard the words tumble from her without consent.

"What about me and Nancy?” Steve appeared genuinely confused at the question, a bemused frown on his face as he followed her aimlessly around the room. He honestly had no clue what they were supposed to be looking for, but hoped that she did.

"You two seem… Like old times. Are you guys back together?" She hid her face from Steve quickly, pretending to be engrossed in examining a particularly creepy looking doll as she outwardly cringed, silently cursing the betrayal of her own mouth that seemed hell bent on broadcasting her thoughts to the one person she was trying to hide them from the most.

“No, we aren't back together." He gave a short, humourless laugh and Y/N wondered briefly if he was irritated or amused at her for asking. She could understand if he was annoyed, after all she had given him a hard time about questioning her relationship with Billy.

Y/N set the doll down, turning around quickly to cross the room to get some space between her and Steve, embarrassed that she'd even had the nerve to ask him that question. She hoped that the distance would stop her stupid mouth from blurting out anything else she'd regret.

The thing was Y/N loved Nancy, she was kind and brave and an all-round badass, they were friends and Y/N admired her. If there was anyone that was worthy of Steve, it'd be Nancy. And Y/N would never resent them finding happiness in each other, even if she couldn't deny that the thought sat uncomfortably on her chest.

"Me and Nance are just friends, Y/N." She wasn't sure why Steve had felt the need to elaborate for her, or why he had followed her across the room again when they were both supposed to be searching it, but she couldn’t deny that she felt a bit brighter at his words,"Why do you care if we're dating, anyway?"

"I don't, I was just making conversation." She lied, shrugging her shoulders in what she hoped was a nonchalant way. She refused to meet his eye as she continued wandering around, pausing to open drawers and pick objects up wherever possible in an attempt to avoid any further interaction with him.

The whole trip to the Creel house wasn’t going well, they were supposed to be gathering information to help them fight against Vecna and all Y/N could think about was Steve.

"What’s going on with us, Y/N?" His words cut through her thoughts and she jumped, fumbling with a book that she'd been flicking through.

Steve wasn’t usually that upfront, at least not when it came to her, and she floundered, scrambling to find her words. Addressing their relationship, if you would even call it that, certainly wasn't on her list of priorities at that moment in time. 

“W-what do you mean?”

“Come on, you know what I mean. Last night I thought maybe we were getting back to normal, and now you can barely even look at me."

"Now isn't the time, Steve. We're supposed to be-"

"When is the time?" He interrupted, snatching a trinket box that she'd been trying to distract herself with from her hands and placing it back down on the table firmly, "After we've all been ripped apart by Vecna? Y/N, what happened to us?”

Recovering from the shock of Steve's forwardness Y/N narrowed her eyes, irritated that he'd not only picked the most inappropriate moment to bring everything up, but mainly because he was acting as though he hadn't been the cause of the problem in the first place.

“You know exactly what happened.” She fixed him with a steely, unwavering look. Steve stared back at her for a moment before turning away and rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, you started dating that douchebag.” He muttered sarcastically. It was quiet, but from his tone he had intended for Y/N to hear him and it achieved the desired effect as she immediately bristled.

“See, this is the problem!” A hand shot up to pinch the bridge of her nose, she already had a god awful headache and this was just adding to it. Y/N stepped towards the door to leave despite having not searched the room properly at all, fed up at the prospect of another argument, “Since when is it any of your concern who I date, Harrington?”

Steve reacted quickly, grabbing her wrist before she could leave and spinning her to face him. He’d be damned if he'd let her slip through his fingers again, especially when they were in the midst of another life or death situation.

“Uh, since he was an absolute asshat, Y/N. And before you say anything, I know I shouldn’t speak ill of the dead, but you can’t deny that he was. I was just trying to look out for you."

“Well firstly, Steve, I never even dated Billy.” She responded matter-of-factly as he scoffed, disbelieving, “We just worked together like I tried to tell you a million times, but you wouldn't listen to me would you, you absolute bonehead!" She raised her voice at his scoff and lifted a hand to poke a finger in his chest angrily, fed up with how completely pigheaded he was being.

Steve ran a hand over his face, they were going around in circles and although he hated to admit it, he knew it was his fault. All because he couldn’t let go of the Billy thing which seemed so stupid now.

He glanced over at Y/N and despite her angry outburst she looked sad, eyes wide as though begging him to believe her.

“I don’t understand why you won’t believe me.” She said desperately, “After everything we've been through, I don't know what I did to make you not trust me?”

Steve hung his head, knowing she was right. He and Y/N had been through so much together from the Demodogs to the Russians, and everything in between. To think that he had let what now felt like something so small and insignificant come between them was laughable, if it hadn't caused them both so much hurt.

From the looks of it they were headed rapidly into a load more shit too, and Steve suddenly felt emboldened by the realisation. He couldn’t risk going into whatever was around the corner with Vecna without finally apologising to Y/N, without making things right.

He sighed heavily, “I'm sorry, Y/N. Believe it or not I've been trying to apologise to you ever since that day at Scoops, but I just keep screwing it up."

Steve knew he wasn't great at talking about feelings and emotions and all that crap. If he had to guess he'd probably say it had something to do with absent parents, but that was an issue for another time.

If there was one thing that the whole experience with the Upside Down had taught him, aside from how to kill a Demogorgon of course, it was that life was too uncertain. 

So even if he had to fumble his way through the conversation sounding like a complete moron, he knew that he had to suck up his pride and not only apologise to Y/N, but to also tell her how he felt about her before it was too late.

"I-I guess when I saw you with him after everything that happened, I felt like you’d picked him over us… Over me.” Sure enough Steve found himself stumbling over his words, embarrassed at how ridiculous it sounded now that he was admitting everything out loud.

“Steve, that's not true. I wasn’t even friends with him, but you still made it seem like I had to make a choice between you.”

“I know, and I’ve regretted it ever since. I just-" He paused to take a steadying breath, preparing to be the most honest and vulnerable that he had been with a girl in a long time, "I couldn't stand to see you with him. The thought of you together drove me crazy, I was so jealous.”

“Why on earth were you jealous?” Y/N's brows knit together in confusion, all traces of anger or irritation were now gone from her voice, replaced with curiosity and perhaps a bit of hope. 

“Because I wanted to date you.” Steve answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "And I couldn't get the stupid idea that you were with him out of my head. I should've listened to you, hell I should've just asked you out then and there! Maybe we could've avoided all of this."

“You wanted to date me?” A shy smile graced Y/N's lips and Steve felt his heart begin to race. If he didn't know any better he would've said that she looked happy, maybe even excited at the thought.

“Yeah, I mean, I thought I was obvious about it?” Steve huffed a laugh. Robin always said he was furthest thing from subtle when it came to Y/N, and thinking back to all the awful one liners that he'd used, and the ridiculous excuses he made to get to see her or be close to her, he couldn't disagree with his co-worker turned best friend.

Hell, one time he'd driven all the way out to a record store several towns over to pick up the new Dire Straits album for her after it had sold out in Hawkins. 

When he'd turned up on Y/N's doorstep later that evening with the record in his hands, the smile on her face had been heart-stopping. She’d showered him with thanks, throwing her arms around his neck and giving him the tightest hug he'd ever known, before dragging him up to her room and putting the album straight on.

Steve insisted that it was no big deal, that he was already going there to run an errand for his parents anyway, but that wasn't true at all. Y/N's reaction was well worth all the traffic and wasted hours sitting in his car though, and his heart swelled as he sat on her bed watching as she danced around the room while listening to it for the first time.

When he finally left her that evening he wasn't able to control the dopey, lovesick smile that stuck to his face for the entire drive home.

Surely that had been an obvious indication that he saw her as more than a friend?

"I didn't know." Y/N replied truthfully, "I thought maybe… But you used to flirt with all the girls that came into Scoops. If I'd known…" She trailed off, averting her gaze to the floor nervously. 

Despite Steve’s confession, a part of Y/N still thought it was too good to be true. She'd always assumed that flirting was just the default for Steve when it came to girls, she had never dared let herself think that he thought of her any differently, despite wanting it desperately.

"If you'd known, then what?" Steve pressed, reaching out to take her hand and squeezing it gently in encouragement. The action seemed to ground Y/N and she looked back up to him, feeling her confidence grow at the look of hope he held in his soft brown eyes.

"I was never interested in dating Billy, or anyone else for that matter. I thought it was obvious that I liked you too." She responded bashfully, a rush of excitement coursing through her at the admission. 

She felt giddy at the realisation that all of the small moments she'd clung on to, the seemingly accidental touches here and overly flirty remarks there, they weren't just foolish hope on her part. 

Steve actually did like her, he did see her as more than a friend and although it had taken them both too long to admit it to one another, Y/N still couldn't control the exhilaration she felt now that they had finally had.

"I mean, come on, Steve. Alien isn't scary." She grinned, falling effortlessly back into their familiar banter, "To tell you the truth, I love horror movies. I just used to let you pick them so I'd have an excuse to cuddle up to you on the couch."

Steve stood, dumbfounded for a moment, before breaking out into an equally broad smile.

"Yeah, well I hate them." He admitted with a chuckle and shake of his head, "I was always scared shitless trying to hold it together for you. Do you know how many sleepless nights I had over A Nightmare on Elm Street?"

They both laughed, Y/N’s head filled with the image of Steve wide awake at 3AM, sitting in bed holding a baseball bat to fend off Freddie Kruger. She wouldn't put it past him, she was sure he still had those makeshift ones in his closet to this day.

Steve recaptured her attention as he lifted a hand to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear, and Y/N suddenly found her laugh dying on her lips. 

A nervous electricity ran through her at the contact, her body fighting to stop a shiver running up her spine as her eyes met Steve's steadily. His hand hovered next to her, hesitating for just a second before he lowered it to rest against her neck, a thumb brushing across her jaw softly.

“I guess Robin would say we've both been real dinguses, huh?” She whispered, voice suddenly small at the intimate touch.

“It kills me to say it, but I think I might agree with her for once.” Steve took a slow step towards her, brown eyes boring into hers. Y/N felt paralyzed, unable to move under the weight of his gaze as her heart hammered wildly in her chest in anticipation of what would come next.

“Y/N, I knew you were the one the moment you decapitated that Demodog at the junkyard - totally hot by the way." She laughed at his words, there was the same old Steve that she knew so well. 

"Thing is, I’ve been a total coward. I should've told you how I felt from the start, but I need you to know now, even if you don’t feel the same. I totally understand if you don't, by the way, I know I’ve been a real jerk and-”

"Steve.” Y/N cut off his rambling, taking another step closer to him boldly. She opened her mouth to continue, but her voice caught in her throat as she saw his gaze flicker to her lips and back. 

She swallowed, tongue darting out to lick her lips instinctively. 

Steve's hand slid to the back of her head, tilting it back gently as his fingers buried themselves in her hair. He studied her face momentarily, taking in her features that he’d missed so much, before dipping his head to meet hers as her eyes fluttered closed.

“Jesus, what the hell is taking you guys so long?!” Dustin’s irritated voice cut through the room, shattering the moment and causing the pair to jump apart as if burned. 

Steve threw his head back, cursing loudly as he turned to Dustin with a glare. 

“What?" Dustin, completely oblivious at the moment he'd interrupted, frowned at them both. Steve looked absolutely furious, shaking his head slowly at the teen, and Y/N as though she'd been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing, Henderson.” Steve smiled sarcastically, it was taking everything in him not to wring the teens neck. That was the second time in the span of 24 hours that he'd ruined a moment between him and Y/N.

“Good. Can you both hurry up then? We’ve found something downstairs.” Dustin responded impatiently, tutting at them as he left the room.

“Sure, not like you were interrupting anything." Steve replied under his breath bitterly, watching his retreating back with venom. He turned to Y/N, disgruntled, "Is that kid ever going to give us a moment's peace?”

“I wouldn't count on it, Romeo. Come on, we’d better go.” She smirked, throwing a wink over her shoulder at him as she disappeared from the room. 

Steve followed reluctantly, a smile working its way onto his face as he observed Y/N descending the stairs with a noticeable bounce in her step that definitely hadn't been there when they'd entered the house. 

“By the way, did you call me a bonehead?” He called out to her, relishing the sound of her tinkling laugh as it floated up to him.

“You are a bonehead, Harrington."

-

tags: @rexorangecouny @xceafh

#steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington x fem!reader #stranger things x reader #stranger things spoilers

[therideisfarfromover]

Right, I'm dropping some HSMTMTS opinions, because honestly, looking through the tag, I feel like i'm watching a different show to some of you???

For context, I have loved Rina since 1x05, but I also properly hopped on the Portwell bandwagon in s2, and genuinely enjoy both ships as written. In fact, other than Ricky/Lily, there are v few canon relationships on this show that I haven't enjoyed at some point.

Anyway, a few thoughts on the love triangle that I may get shot for, but oh well.

1) Gina is not emotionally cheating on EJ. Like yeah, her and Ricky have got their friendship back, and the nature of their friendship can come across as flirty, but Gina rn is fully invested in her relationship with EJ. Her and Ricky being close (especially given he was her first friend in Salt Lake) isn't a crime. Even in WDYKAL, she is fully in character to piss off EJ. She is not suddenly over EJ and back into Ricky.

2) Ricky is not trying to get in the way of Portwell. Yeah, he was being a bit of a dick with that comment about EJ stealing Gina because we all know that's not true. But other than that, he has respected their relationship. He had no intentions of telling Gina that these feelings have resurfaced for him, evident from the fact he swears Carlos to secrecy and is devastated when Channing catches it on camera. And he also makes a point of asking "did it show?", demonstrating that he is trying to keep his feelings under wraps. He allowed Gina to talk about EJ without getting defensive, he even answered EJ's question of why Gina was mad at him without a sarcastic comment. Saying Ricky is purposely getting in the way of PW is character assassination for no good reason. The boy has feelings, yeah, but he hasn't acted on them and the narrative has shown nothing to suggest he would while Gina is with EJ.

3) EJ is being a bit of a tool this season, but honestly, I don't think this is the wasted character development y'all think it is. I don't know about all of your own lives, but something I've found in mine is that growth is very rarely linear. Yes, EJ learnt and grew a lot in s2, and there are times it feels he has forgotten that in s3. But also, he is an incredible stressed 18 year old: flaring up in the form of your former self isn't bad writing, that's just what happens when you're a kid going through shit. I am not worried about what they're doing with EJ at all, and I think by the end of the season, he will have developed in a way that is in line with what the writers did for him last season.

4) I completely agree that they should have slowed their horses when it came to reintroducing the triangle dynamic. Especially because it does feel like PW only got a few eps without drama. But also, this is a teen drama, that's kind of how it works? Also, based on the current writing (and I know I'm in the minority here), I genuinely still think PW will be together at the end of this season. Or at the v least, they won't break up until right at the end, and it won't have anything to do with Ricky.

5) I genuinely don't think the Rina storyline is fan service. Maybe WDYKAL was a *little* bit but I loved every second so I'm not complaining. Tim has said right from the start that Rina was born out of them seeing Josh and Sofia's chemistry in 1x05, and the team feeling that they needed to write towards that. And so they did. Similarly, I feel that the PW stuff in season 2 was so great because it felt that the writers saw something v natural between these characters, and just wrote towards it in a way that felt organic with the story. Given how much of a mess 2b was, I still think Portwell is one of the best written parts of it. However , in s2, there was only closure for Rina on Gina's side, so to say it was a 'done storyline' when we've actually never seen Ricky's POV, isn't fair either? Like idk, there are plenty of things I would have done differently when it comes to the love triangle, but also I don't think that any of their dynamic this season has felt out of pocket, like it all seems to follow the tone and prev writing?

Anyway, long controversial venting over. Please don't come for me xoxo

#hsmtmts #hsmtmts spoilers #rina #portwell #tagging both because i don't think i slam either? i love both ships anywa #ej caswell #ricky bowen #gina porter #long post #character study #i have faith in timberley it is what it is

[grape-rpsources]

Clone High S3

‘ Believe me, this schtick’s gonna get old fast. ‘

‘ Look at that moron, clutching his timeless satchel. ‘

‘ Wow, you’re the first woman to ever fail upwards, congratulations. ‘

‘ Books are sort of famously a bad thing to burn. ‘

‘ I’m staring directly at the sun and it doesn’t hurt, it’s just beautiful. ‘

‘ I will say this: I ate magnets and I’m feeling fine. ‘

‘ How do you feel about the smell and taste of chlorine? ‘

‘ Every girl wants a Gila monster these days. ‘

‘ My god, you look like shit! But, Hell, I thought you were dead so congratulations. ‘

‘ Let’s just say you aren’t a total flaming garbage dump and leave it at that. ‘

‘ I mean, I want to say no but, like, I physically can’t. ‘

‘ Maybe a person can get over a betrayal. ‘

‘ This is a classic “talk to the hand” situation. ‘

‘ I would be honored to be your friend that you’re too embarrassed to admit you’re friends with to your other friends. ‘

‘ Woah, these ladies know what they like and it sure isn’t me. ‘

‘ To be a fly on the wall of your brain, you slut! ‘

‘ Everyone knows when you do a good deed it erases a bad one. ‘

‘ Every relationship has its ups and downs. Also it’s side-to-sides. ‘

‘ It’s like that saying, “cheater, cheater, pumpkin fucker”. ‘

‘ Nice try, you crafty little bitch. ‘

‘ You threw this party and now we’re all gonna die in here. ‘

‘ I’m a feminist, I can’t die in a kitchen! ‘

‘ You don’t need to act a certain way to try and live up to everybody’s expectations. You just need to be [NAME]. ‘

‘ Sorry, some people say my laugh is a little manic and pixie-like. ‘

‘ I see you like water, huh? ‘

‘ I mean, it’s not great. ‘

‘ I just wanna get back to my cool, indie girl roots where I don’t even care if I have friends. ‘

‘ Take me somewhere less embarrassing. ‘

‘ Yeah right, like that could happen twice. ‘

‘ I do like hearing you say that we’re together. ‘

‘ You’re not the easiest person to disappoint, [NAME]. ‘

‘ In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re trapped in here. ‘

‘ Honestly? I didn’t think it could get worse. ‘

‘ Your hair is so freshly tousled. ‘

‘ It’s all about the angles, see, and something tells me you got more than a protractor. ‘

‘ We’re not snooping, we’re friend-making. ‘

‘ I didn’t want to come, I thought you wanted to come. ‘

‘ [NAME], you tricky slut. ‘

‘ Cemetery sex is very normal. ‘

‘ Grave-robbing is a young man’s game. ‘

‘ You smell like a Dave and Buster’s. ‘

‘ And this is legal? ‘

‘ Seriously though, leave a like ‘cause I’ll know if you didn’t. ‘

‘ So you wanna change the way I look and the way I talk? ‘

‘ Well, someone needs to put two dollars in the swear jar for that, and it’s not gonna be me. ‘

‘ I think I’m getting raided by the feds, can I come over and put some stuff in your toilets, please. ‘

‘ Time to rent a speedboat. ‘

‘ What was that? I heard a rustle. ‘

‘ Oh relax, I call everyone my love. ‘

‘ I'm fine with it. Probably more fine with it than you. ‘

' I’m not like you, I can’t just sit back and take whatever life gives me. ‘

‘ I have abs, but I’m not wise at all. ‘

‘ Okay, I get it, you’re a monster. ‘

‘ Oh my god, that’s so vague yet specific and terrifying. ‘

‘ Now I’m surrounded by so many hot people I barely feel objectified at all. ‘

‘ Once this is resolved we’ll have a grand total of zero problems. ‘

#Media: Clone High #ask meme #starters

[stars-n-spice]

Thoughts on s3 ep14!

Woke up at like 12:10 something,, didn't get my usual "waste 2-3 hours to mentally prepare myself" so I jumped right into it once I made my coffee (bad idea)

Once again recorded my reaction so actual screaming will be under the cut!

SERIOUSLY HOW THE FUCK DO WE HAVE ONE FUCKING EPISODE LEFT?! HELLO?!?!

Anyways-

Incoherent screaming and spoilers under the cut!

Why the fuck are they going into this with like no backup and like,, they're just fucking jumping into it. Like I understand because Omega but like CMON guys. This happened before!!

Click here to hear my actual live reaction to the episode

Fuck, this armor is kinda growing on me

seriously what the fuck are they going to do with rampart?? he's literally dead weight

He makes for really good comedic relief though and he had me fucking dying this entire episode

WHO THE FUCK REPORTED THEM?!? DID I MISS SOMETHING?? LIKE I GET THAT THEY KNOCKED PEOPLE OUT AND SHIT BUT YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT PEOPLE RECOGNIZED THEM AND DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING UNTIL LATER OR WHAT?!!

Also the fact that they KNOW they're coming. fucking HELL the odds are stacked up against them

THE KIDS :(( Omega having to tell them what "cover me" means and them doing their absolute best to do so

ECHO MY BELOVED <33

Echo in the stormtrooper armor I'm

He has a hand now - "Thanks for the hand" - my comedic genius

IS THAT THE FUCKING ZILLO BEAST!??!?! FUCKING FINALLY!!! NOW WHEN THE FUCK IS IT GOING TO EAT HEMLOCK?!?!?

I miss Batcher :( Where is she? Is she safe? Is she alive?

Crosshair shoving Rampart around <3

"I've changed" - "Sure you have" WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT RAMPART SHUT YOUR WHORE MOUTH

Rampart acting like he knows Crosshair, fucking no you don't, just because you disrupted his meals like twice a day to call him to the principal's office doesn't mean SHIT

I love Echo so much, he's so cool

ECHO AND EMERIE TEAM UP

THE WAY THAT I SCREAMED BECAUSE AAAAAAAAA

OMEGA TALKED ABOUT THEM :( AND EMERIE LISTENED :( AND EMERIE REMEMBERED ENOUGH TO KNOW THAT WAS ECHO :( RAGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I need to kick Rampart so badly, please, please let me kick him

"we can't use blasters i'll give away our position!" - AND MAKING ALL THAT NOISE WONT?!?!

WRECKER OH MY GOD GOT FUCKING SLASHED HE BETTER BE OKAY WHAT THE FUCK

HELLO?? Rampart getting his fucking ass found. What are they going to do with him now? What can he tell them that they don't already know??? I guess Echo but like-

To anyone who is starting to like Rampart STOP. Because watch him be the Saw Gerrera of this season

Cannot wait to see the kids break out and release the zillo beast <3

Emerie :( "I was doing my job" EMERIE MY LOVE THERE'S MORE THAN THAT

I'm so scared for her now SHE'S REALIZING THERE'S MORE TO LIFE AND I SWEAR TO GOD IF SHE FUCKING DIES-

WHERE THE FUCK IS C-2X OR WHATEVER THE FUCK???? I'M LOSING HOPE FOR A TECH REVEAL. FUCKING HELL I MISS HIM SO MUCH. THIS WHOLE FUCKING SEASON WITHOUT HIM??? RAUUGHHHHHHHH.

This episode was just fucking,,, stakes stakes stakes

Did not get a rest

holy shit

Emerie and Echo are fucking MOTHERS love them

ECHO HAS FUCKING EARS?!?!?!?!?!?!? OK NOW GIVE HIM HIS HAIR AND COLOR BACK!!!!!!

Craziest fucking thing to come out of this season - Echo having ears

LOOK

a lot happened

i'm so scared for next week

this whole episode was fucking action, action, action

WHY DID IT FEEL SO SHORT

SO MUCH HAPPENED BUT AT THE SAME TIME NOTHING HAPPENED????

Ugh

More thoughts are in the audio because I go on like a 13 minute rant but

FUCK <- my final thoughts

#tbb #tbb s3 #tbb spoilers #tbb s3 spoilers #the bad batch #tbb hunter #tbb crosshair #tbb wrecker #tbb echo #tbb omega #emerie karr #admiral rampart #max's musings