#rebecca bowen

[lovelikewarcreations]

If you click on the source link you will be able to find 161 GIFS of actress ADELAIDE KANE as Rebecca Bowen in SEAL Team - All Appearances.

These gifs were made by made, I don’t have any set rules on them just don’t claim them as your own. If you found these useful please like or reblog. You can tag @lovelikewarcreations​ if you make anything with these, I’d love to see them! Trigger Warning: Eating, semi-nudity, kissing, shirtless scene, drinking wine. Use source link to find all gifs, and also please view on a computer because the phone app doesn’t show the gifs in the correct manner.

#Adelaide Kane #adelaide kane gif hunt #adelaide kane gif pack #gif hunt #gif pack #gh #gp #rph #rp help #roleplay help #SEAL Team #rebecca bowen #rebecca bowen gif hunt #rebecca bowen gif pack

[laiqualaurelote]

for the wip ask meme: cover story!

Thank you for this ask (from this WIP game)! a couple of folks have asked about this one. It's the Ted/Trent spy-AU-in-a-Notting-Hill-bookshop-AU, which stalled because the premise got too unwieldy and the literary references got out of hand. (It did have a playlist I was quite fond of, with a number of Kinks songs including, presciently, A Well Respected Man). Because I am unlikely to ever finish it, I thought I'd just fic amnesty the whole thing here, so:

Cover Story

Trent is about to wind up stocktaking when the door to the bookshop bangs open. “We’re closed,” he calls irritably, and then he turns and sees who it is.

“I got something of a reading emergency,” says Ted Lasso.

Trent takes him in: breathing hard, collar askew, perspiration plastering a lick of hair against his forehead. In his hand is a gun. Trent recognises it as a Heckler & Koch P30L.

Trent ought to be going for his own weapon right about now. Instead he says: “So it is you.”

“Yep,” says Ted.

“I knew it,” hisses Trent. “I fucking knew it.”

“Boy, you sure do like to be right about stuff.” Ted pauses, then staggers. Trent sees that he is favouring his left side, and that the shirt beneath the puffer jacket is darkening with blood.

“Ted,” he begins, “wh – ”

“Like I said,” Ted grits out, “emergency.” And then he collapses in the middle of Trent’s bookshop.

Five weeks earlier

“You wouldn’t happen to have the latest John le Carré, would you?”

Trent has to climb a little ways down the ladder to see the man speaking to him. It’s one of the American tourists who wandered in after lunch. There are always Americans underfoot these days, trawling the aisles of the bookshop as if in hope of a meet-cute out of Notting Hill. Trent, as a rule, finds Americans tedious and does his level best to avoid them in all his lines of work; he achieves this in the bookshop by hiding in the stacks and leaving them to the tender mercies of his assistant. Unfortunately, this appears to be a particularly persistent specimen. Trent descends a few more rungs and braces himself.

“Is that the one with Brexit?”

“The one with the bookshop.” The American has a very distracting moustache. He looks almost exactly like a slide Trent once saw in Disguises 101: How Not To Overdo It. He is also wearing multiple layers beneath his puffer jacket, like some sort of Midwestern matryoshka, even though the shop’s heating is working perfectly well. Trent is automatically suspicious of customers with many layers, lest they are shoplifters. But a shoplifter would not go to such lengths to gain his attention.

“If you mean the posthumously published one, it’s not yet in stock. Shipping delays, I’m afraid.”

“Ain’t that a pity,” says the American. “I was sold on the premise. A bookshop that’s secretly a base for spy shenanigans? Tell me you don’t want to see how that turns out.”

Trent removes his glasses, keeping his expression bland. “You could put in an order, but if you’re not in town for long then I daresay there isn’t much point.”

“Oh, we’ll be here for a while. Long vacation. Thought we’d take it easy, like the Eagles would say. Though this ain’t Winslow, Arizona.”

“You can place an order with Miss Bowen at the counter,” says Trent, after he has cast about for a response to that string of gibberish and come up empty.

“You bet I will. If I could just – ” The American reaches out, and Trent almost breaks his wrist on instinct, but he simply brushes past Trent’s sleeve and pulls a secondhand copy of Call For The Dead off the shelf. “Maybe we ain’t see the last of le Carré, but at least it’s a first.”

“Ah, ha,” says Trent, to mask his surprise that they even have a copy of Call For The Dead in stock. It’s probably languished in here for years, unsold. “Good eye.”

“Well, I thank you for the consultation, Mr…”

“Crimm. Trent Crimm, The Independent.”

“Well, Trent, I appreciate you. Keep fighting the good fight.”

Trent blinks. “Against…?”

“Amazon,” says the American brightly. “Which, as an American, I apologise for.”

“Er, quite,” says Trent. “Sorry about Brexit, and all that.”

The American’s name on the order form is Ted Lasso, which makes him sound like a fictional character. He collects his bearded friend from the philosophy section and they depart, engaged in a discussion so animated that Lasso walks into the shop door, rebounds with no perceptible damage and continues his argument without missing a beat. Trent and Miss Bowen watch them go, mildly perplexed.

“Is he a subscriber? I don’t recognise either of them.”

“Just an ordinary customer, from the looks of it. He wanted to talk about books.”

“I suppose it must happen from time to time, in a bookshop,” says Miss Bowen dryly.

Trent crosses to her side of the counter, which is built in such a way that a customer, standing in line, would not be able to see what her hands might be doing. He leans down casually to check the automatic shotgun mounted under the countertop. 

“He was talking about the new le Carré. It’s about spies in a bookshop, apparently.”

“Oh,” says Miss Bowen, eyebrow raised. “Is it now?”

“Yes,” says Trent. “We ought to get hold of it quite quickly, I think. In case there’s been a breach.”

“Come now.” She turns to him sharply. “Le Carré couldn’t have written a novel about us. I mean, he’d never been in the shop. We’d know, wouldn’t we?”

“I daresay we would, Miss Bowen. But put in the order anyway.”

“Certainly, Mr Crimm. And did you want new grenades on top of that?”

“I did, yes, thank you for reminding me.”

“Of course.” A pause. “We are quite sure that man wasn’t a subscriber, are we?”

Trent scoffs. “What, that guy? Come on.”

*

Trent’s childhood dream was to own a bookshop. He thought of bookshops as places where you could read all day and avoid people, which seemed like paradise. However, his family being who they were, his skills being what they were, the job market for English degree-holders being what it was – he spent a year at odd ends, haphazardly weighing the pursuit of postgraduate studies against attempting to break into the publishing industry, until finally he gave up and took the path he knew had always been there, lying in wait for him. He became a spy.

It was another fifteen years before he revisited the idea of the bookshop, in the wake of his abrupt and unceremonious retirement from the Circus. Cleis was one and a half years old by then, and he knew he must find something, for her sake – he had promised –  even though he could not stomach the thought of going out in the cold again. He was mulling over his various options – heaven forfend he wind up in something horrible, like insurance – when his mother dropped by for tea and said peremptorily: “Mae is retiring, don’t you know?”

Mae – the only name anyone ever knew her by – was a veritable battleaxe who ran the Crown and Anchor, a pub that doubled up as the London station for agents of every stripe working in or passing through the city. The stations, by the unspoken rules that governed their universe, were neutral ground; they served every agency and freelancer without question and in turn brooked no conflict within their confines. To move against a station was to move against the combined powers of the rest of the agencies. Nobody had tried it in Trent’s lifetime.

“Oh?” said Trent. He was only partially listening to his mother; most of his attention was focused on trying to get Cleis to keep her yoghurt in her mouth. “Who’s taking over, then?”

His mother fixed him with the glare she had honed on some of the finest intelligencers this side of the Atlantic, as well as his teenage self. “I rather thought you might throw your hat in the ring, dear.”

Cleis mawed at her in surprise and dribbled watery yoghurt down her bib. Trent sighed. “I’ll talk to Mae.”

Mae thought it was a ridiculous notion to run a station as a bookshop. “You wouldn’t catch half that lot dead in a bookshop,” was her take on it. “Who has time for reading these days? And you’ll have to get in books! Actual books!”

“That’s rather the idea, yes,” said Trent. “It can’t be harder than maintaining a liquor licence.”

“Well, it’s not like I was going to hand the tender over to anyone else,” admits Mae. “What will you call it, love?”

Trent considered. “The Independent. Because that’s what it is.”

Even Mae had to admit, a few years in, that it was working out quite well. He’d even managed to sell some books.

*

“How’s the le Carré?” Miss Bowen asks, amid her reshelving. “Are we in trouble?”

“I don’t think so.” Trent is perusing Silverview at the counter, book in one hand, the other on the rifle. “The bookshop’s in East Anglia, and the protagonist hasn’t the first idea how to run it.”

“Oh, well then,” says Miss Bowen. “It will put nobody in mind of us at all. Is it any good? I’m always wary of these late discovery manuscripts. I don’t think I ever got over the disappointment of Go Set A Watchman.”

“It’s unevenly weighted. Makes you miss him at his best.” Trent turns a page. “Still, I’m glad he didn’t go gentle into that good night.”

He tenses as the shop bell rings, then sees that it is Keeley Jones, resplendent in a fluffy yellow coat. “What can we do for you, Miss Jones?”

“Trading in,” sings Keeley. “On Jamie’s behalf.”

Trent takes off his glasses and gives her a forbidding look. “What, has he gone and lost the lot again?”

Keeley winces. “Only some of it.”

Trent sighs. “Let’s get it processed in the back.”

Jamie Tartt is one of the stars of the agency known as the Dogtrack. He’s also aggravatingly cocky and spectacularly laissez-faire with his equipment; Keeley’s always in here, making apologies for him having thrown his Glock into a volcano, or something. Trent has no patience for the likes of Jamie Tartt. One already has so many people trying to kill one in this line of work, but there he is, giving even more people reasons to want him dead.

The back room is behind a reinforced steel door that can only be opened using either Trent’s or Miss Bowen’s fingerprints and a passcode that changes every day. The passcode is in fact a rolling alphanumerical series that progresses through the entirety of Hamlet, and if anyone ever cracks it, Trent will be very impressed by their grasp of Shakespeare. In the back room, Trent lays out the remnants of Jamie Tartt’s mission kit and purses his lips.

“To lose one dart gun, Miss Jones, may be regarded as a misfortune. To lose both looks like carelessness.”

“Oh, you needn’t have a go at me, I’m proper mad at him myself. You know what he did last week? Tried to murder Roy Kent. Roy Kent!”

“What, for work?”

“Not even that! Some kind of fucking…pissing contest.” Keeley makes a noise of exasperation. “Some days it’s like we gave a bunch of five-year-olds guns and let them loose on a jungle gym. You know what I mean?”

“I’ll just put it on his tab,” says Trent. “Which is astronomical, by the way.”

“I’ll chivvy the folks at the Dogtrack to send you a cover. Only they’re rushed off their feet this week – you must have heard.”

Trent has heard, but it always serves one in intelligence gathering to pretend to know less than one really does. “What’s happening over there?”

“The Mannions are going to war,” says Keeley, her voice lush with the juice of gossip - another reason why Trent likes having her in the shop. “The whole Dogtrack’s splitting up. Christ, but it’s a mess down there.”

“Who’s Jamie backing?”

“Hasn’t decided. Rupert’s putting it about that the whole agency’s going with him, but word on the street is that Rebecca Welton’s brought in someone from abroad to take him out. They’re saying it’s an American.” She sucks in an excited breath. 

“Why would you bring in an American for that?” demands Trent. 

“Beats me. It’s going to keep us all on our toes for a bit, to be sure. I reckon it’s some Tom Cruise type, all Mission Impossible Jack Reacher like. But nobody knows for certain.” 

“Surely not,” says Trent. “You at least must have some idea, Miss Jones.”

Keeley flutters her eyelashes at him. “Who, me? I’m just a humble secretary.”

“Of course you are,” says Trent. “And I’m just a poor bookseller.”

Keeley slants a sly look at him. “You haven’t seen any Americans around, have you?”

“We get Americans in the store all the time. Just this morning we had a Mrs Glenda Johnson from South Carolina complaining that we don’t have a café in the store.”

“Yeah,” says Keeley, “fairly sure it’s not Mrs Glenda Johnson. Isn’t there a Costa two doors down?”

“Precisely,” says Trent. “Americans.”

They return to the front of the store, the afternoon light streaming across the polished wood floors and touching the book covers. “It really is awful pretty, when the light’s good,” says Keeley, running a hand across a row of Sally Rooneys. “You know what you ought to do? You should do #BookTok.”

“That,” says Trent, “is the single worst suggestion I’ve ever heard.”

Keeley laughs. “Give me a pot of money and some Madeline Miller and I’ll do it for you. I’ll make you so famous, you’ll be beating influencers off with a stick.”

“Just tell the Dogtrack to pay for your boyfriend’s damage.”

Keeley sticks her tongue out as she swings out of the shop. “If you see the American, you’ll tell me first. Won’t you?”

*

“Tell me a story,” says Cleis. They’re curled up in her bed, her tiny frame pillowed against his side. 

“You’ve had two already.”

“But I want another.” Cleis looks up at him, her eyes clear and green as the sea. “Tell me about Maman.”

Trent stares up at the glow-in-the-dark stars that speckle her bedroom ceiling. Tell me about a complicated woman, he hears Coralie say in his head. She sounds slightly amused. This is an anachronism, of course. Coralie never lived to see the Emily Wilson translation of The Odyssey. She would have loved it.

“Where do I start with your mother?”

“Was she very beautiful?”

“Yes. She knew exactly how beautiful she was and what to do with it.”

“Do I look like her?”

“The spitting image.” Even at four, Cleis looks so much like her mother that Trent will sometimes look over at her, in the middle of something mundane like making dinner or brushing her hair, and the resemblance will strike him like a punch to the gut.

Cleis is pleased by this. “What else?”

“Well. She loved old poems, and she was a lot stronger than she looked, and she wasn’t scared of a thing. Never listened to anyone either.”

“Not even you?”

“I like to think she listened to me a bit more than most other people,” allows Trent, “but even that wasn’t very much.”

Cleis kneads her quilt between her small hands. “Why didn’t she come back?”

Trent swallows. “She couldn’t. She had to save everyone.” Including me, he doesn’t add. Instead he says: “She loved you more than anything in the world.”

“How do you know?”

“She told me so. It was the last thing she said, before – ” Trent stops. Cleis is silent.

“Go to sleep now, chouette.”

It’s another hour before she drifts off to sleep proper. He sits in the dark, her hand tucked in his, until she does.

*

“So that’s your subscriber number, which you should quote in all correspondence with us and over the phone when placing orders. Orders placed within less than twenty-four hours of pick-up will be subject to last-minute fee increments. Is that understood, Mr Rojas?”

The lush-haired young man beams at Trent across the counter. “Si, entiendo.”

“Book club notices are posted on the board to the right,” Trent goes on. “Those are for freelancers, I don’t vet them personally and you attend book club at your own risk. This is for your first assignment.” He hands over a copy of Roberto Bolaño’s 2666. Dani Rojas makes to open it; Trent slams it shut. “Don’t open your books in the store.”

“Okay,” says Dani, wide-eyed. He hefts the book experimentally in his hand. “It is very heavy. Does it have a happy ending?”

Trent snorts. “It’s a Bolaño, what do you think?”

Dani nods cheerfully. “I thank you for this, señor. Literature is life.”

“I mean, it actually isn’t,” says Trent, “which is sort of the whole point – but never mind. All the best, Mr Rojas.”

Dani leaves, whistling. He passes Roy Kent on his way in. “He’s not the American, is he?” says Roy, not quite sotto voce to Trent.

“I rather think he’s Mexican,” says Trent. “Are you all still going on about that? I’d have thought you’d have worked it out by now.”

“Nah,” says Roy. “No idea who it is. Mrs Mannion – that is to say, Ms Welton – is keeping her cards close to her chest. Old Rupert’s foaming at the mouth. They say he’s got hold of some kind of leverage, but fucked if we know what.” He studies the noticeboard. “Anything good at book club?”

“What, are you freelancing now?”

“Reckon I might as well, since it’s all going to shit at the Dogtrack.” Roy frowns at A Moveable Feast, Wednesday 8pm; A Gentleman In Moscow, Thursday 7pm; and Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash, Thursday 9pm. He points at the last. “Where’s that one again?”

“East Java. I hear Indonesia’s nice this time of year.”

“Right, let’s give it a go then.”

Trent scribbles down a number on a Post-It and hands it to Roy. “Call it and burn it. You know the drill.”

“Cheers.” Roy regards Trent, brows thickly furrowed. “You’ve seen the American, haven’t you?”

“No comment.” 

Roy grunts. “Bet you have. You’re just being a prick about it, as usual.”

“Whoever it is, they’re probably out in the community already,” says Trent. “Bravely or stupidly.”

“Stupidly,” decides Roy, stalking off.

*

The problem with The Independent is that, despite Trent’s best efforts and the imminently prophesied demise of brick-and-mortar bookselling, it still continues to be a fairly popular bookshop. Trent has no idea why this is. He puts zero effort into the window displays. He shelves the books in no discernible order, so it is virtually impossible for a customer to locate anything. Sometimes he even leaves terrible TripAdvisor reviews for himself, to discourage casual browsers and tourists. And yet the shop continues to see customers – not subscribers, actual book-loving civilians. People keep popping in to have opinions on how Trent should run his bookshop, to complain that he doesn’t sell stationery or upbraid him for not carrying the latest Stephenie Meyer or insinuate that he should hold poetry readings (of their poems) in the store. It’s a marvel that Trent has gone all these years without shooting anyone in the face.

Still, the shop has regulars somehow. There are the subscribers, and then there are normal people who just show up and spend ages browsing, even though Trent has made sure there is nowhere comfortable for them to sit. There is the elderly gent who pops in nearly every morning to thumb through books and point out printing errors to anyone unfortunate enough to be in proximity. There is the teenage girl who spends afternoons seated cross-legged in an aisle, reading The Sandman in instalments. And then there’s Ted Lasso.

“Why’d you call it The Independent?” Ted wants to know. He’s come back to pick up his copy of Silverview, and despite having achieved this with little incident, has nevertheless once more sought out Trent where he is dusting the shelves.

“Because it is an independent bookstore,” says Trent, who is in fact sweeping for bugs. He finds one planted atop a birding guide and surreptitiously crushes and pockets it. “Can I help you with anything else, Mr Lasso?”

“I was wondering where I might find your Graham Greene.”

“I believe we have The Quiet American somewhere in the shop, if you can bear to wait while I excavate it. Though,” adds Trent, “you are a distinctly unquiet American.”

“You can say that again,” says Ted cheerfully. “You wouldn’t happen to have a copy of The Third Man, would you?”

Most people haven’t even seen The Third Man, let alone are aware that it was based on a Graham Greene novella. “You know your spy fiction, Mr Lasso.”

“Call me Ted, won’t you?”

Trent drags the ladder around the corner and retrieves The Third Man from a high shelf near where the ceiling dips. He looks down, head tilted, at the man beaming up at him from the foot of the ladder. You’ve seen the American, haven’t you? Ted Lasso does not look like the kind of American called in to bring down the head of an agency. He looks like a caricature of an American. He has worn the same pair of khakis every time he has set foot in this shop and it is likely he does so without irony. Yet Trent has the feeling that something is off, the way that shots in The Third Man are framed at a slight angle so that the city looks like a painting knocked askew. 

Ted clears his throat. “Kinda staring there, Trent. Makes a fella wonder if he ain’t got toothpaste in his moustache.”

Trent hands over the book. “Why are you here, Ted? Really?”

“First thing I always do when I land in a new place is find a local bookstore,” says Ted brightly. “Tells you a lot about the town, your local bookstore.”

Trent takes off his glasses. “And what, pray, have you learnt from this one?”

“That nothing is where you think it’ll be,” says Ted. “But it sure helps if you ask for directions.” 

“Perhaps you should ask him if he wants to get coffee,” says Miss Bowen after Ted has left. “Isn’t that why you hired me? So you could have more of a social life?”

Trent pinches the bridge of his nose. “I hired you so that in the event of a terrorist attack on the shop, we wouldn’t be short-handed.”

“I’m glad you did. It was this or go back to teaching kindergarten.” She raises her voice sharply as a man in a denim jacket emerges from behind a shelf and shuffles towards the door. “Stop right there!”

“Uh,” says the man intelligently. “What’s this about?”

“We have CCTV in the shop, you know,” says Miss Bowen. “So we’d appreciate it if you didn’t leave the shop with Jonathan Franzen stuffed down your trousers.”

The man leers. “Like to come over and check on it yourself, love?”

Miss Bowen meditatively flicks open the boxcutter she was using to trim plastic wrap. “You know, I just might.”

The man hastily removes the Franzen. “All right, no need to get all shirty about it. I’ll just put it back then.”

“The fuck you will, we’re not touching that again,” says Miss Bowen. “You’re going to leave twenty quid on the counter – with your other hand, mind – and then you’re going to back out the door and never come back.”

“Can’t do that in kindergarten, can you,” remarks Trent after their errant customer has complied and made himself scarce.

“There’s something to be said about the job satisfaction in this place,” agrees Miss Bowen.

*

Trent arrives at his parents’ just in time to see his daughter stabbing his father in the front garden.

“Ah! Ah! Alas!” cries his father, sinking dramatically into the grass as Cleis bashes him joyously with a foam sword. “You’ve got me, dread pirate!”

“Did you kill grandpa, chouette?” says Trent as she greets him by thwacking him on the shins with her sword. 

“Three times,” says Cleis modestly as she is scooped up.

“She’s a bloodthirsty one.” His father is rising ponderously to his feet, brushing grass stains off his knees. He dotes on Cleis in a fashion that was distinctly lacking in Trent’s own childhood. Trent still cannot get over the incongruity of it – the legendary Chester Crimm, scourge of the Stasi Circle, playing pirates on the lawn with a four-year-old. He does have the eyepatch for it, Trent reflects.

His father turns his good eye towards Trent. “Sell a lot of books today, son?”

“Hilarious,” says Trent shortly. “Where’s mum?”

“Getting her hair done.” They head back into the house. “What’s this I’m hearing about an American at the Dogtrack?”

“Christ, I’m sick of hearing about the American. How’d that even get to you?”

“I was at poker night with the old guard. It’s all everyone’s talking about, the Mannion split.” His father pulls a beer from the fridge and hands it to Trent as Cleis makes for the living room television. “Never liked Mannion. Did you know he tried to get off with your mother, back in the day?”

“Ugh,” says Trent faintly.

“That was before he got mixed up with the Welton girl, of course,” says his father with the alacrity of the generation who can get away with calling Rebecca “the Welton girl”. “The agencies are such a shitshow these days. You know, back in my day – ”

“By all means,” says Trent mordantly, “reminisce about the Cold War, dad. What a splendid time that was.”

“You know what I mean,” his father grumbles. “People just got divorced and got on with things. Didn’t go about involving Americans. You’ve not seen the American, have you? Why are you laughing?”

“I’m just thinking of the rhyme,” says Trent. “From The Scarlet Pimpernel.” At his father’s blank look, he recites: “They seek him here, they seek him there, those people seek him everywhere! Is he in heaven or in hell? That damned elusive Pimpernel.”

“Damned!” exclaims Cleis from the doorway. “Damned, damned, damned!”

Trent stares at her, aghast. “Now look what you’ve done,” says his father.

*

Ted isn’t in the shop today, though his bearded friend has put in an appearance. He has only ever been referred to as Beard, and Trent is coming round to the idea that it might actually be the man’s Christian name, because who even knows with Americans? He’s browsing in the back, which is fine, and has been engaged for the past fifteen minutes in a conversation with Jane Payne, which is not so fine.

“Should we say something?” Miss Bowen wonders.

“We are The Independent,” says Trent. “We have a policy of non-interference.”

“I mean, she’s literally toxic. Did you see the photos from her Dubai job?”

“No. Jesus. Why are there even photos?”

Miss Bowen shrugs. “No idea. Everyone’s been sending them around in the group chats. Did not know you could get blood that colour.”

“Miss Payne can do what she likes, provided she does it outside the shop.” Trent pauses. “Though you could ask him if he wants to get coffee.”

“No thank you,” says Miss Bowen. “I have no wish to be stabbed in the pancreas by Jane Payne.”

They are distracted by the shop bell. Trent is surprised and slightly disconcerted to see none other than Rebecca Welton bearing down upon the counter in all her glory. The agency heads rarely visit the shop in person; Trent typically corresponds with Mr Higgins for the Dogtrack’s interests.

“Ms Welton. What can we do for you?”

“I’d like to see your Canterbury Tales special edition,” says Rebecca without preamble. 

Trent blinks. “Certainly. This way.”

In the back room, he opens the case where the Chaucer collection is stored. Rebecca begins looking it over critically. She hefts a rocket launcher experimentally, testing its weight. “Which one is this?”

“The Wife of Bath. Gives you five shots.”

“Hm,” says Rebecca approvingly. “I rather like the sound of that.” She inspects the double-barrelled shotgun dubbed the Man of Law and the poison darts of the Pardoner. “I’ll take the lot for the rest of the month.”

“That’s a lot of firepower,” says Trent bluntly. “You’re not trying to kill your husband, are you?”

“I don’t know why you’d say that, Mr Crimm. Though I suspect he might be trying to kill me.”

“Is it all for you? Or is any of it for the American?”

“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” says Rebecca, expression immaculate. “Do invoice Mr Higgins.”

*

“Darling,” says Trent in long-suffering tones, “please get out of the tree.”

Cleis responds by clambering to a higher branch. She’ll be a while. Trent sighs and puts his hands on his hips, gazing out across the green. It’s a pleasant Sunday morning in the park, though it doesn’t stop him from tracking every jogger and picnicking couple in the vicinity, combing the milieu for hands in pockets and inside coats, calculating distances and trajectories. 

His gaze moves across and catches on a lone jogger making his way up the path in their direction. That’s Ted Lasso, he’s sure of it: head down, shoulders hunched against the bite of wind off the water, but there’s no mistaking that moustache. As Trent watches, he raises his head and their eyes meet. He does a very convincing double-take. He’s either genuinely surprised to see Trent here, or his acting skills are commendable. That Trent can’t tell says a lot. Then his face splits into a broad grin.

“Hey there, Trent Crimm, The Independent!”

“Hello, Ted Lasso from America.” Trent eyes Ted as he jogs over, beaming affably. He waves his hand awkwardly. “You…live around here?”

“Oh yeah, Beard and I have digs around here. Like to come out for a run on the weekends.”

“Your vacation is stretching on rather,” Trent informs him.

“Oh, we picked up some work,” says Ted evasively. “Thought we’d stick around, make hay while the sun shines. Though you ain’t got a whole lot of hay around these parts. Not like what I’m used to, at any rate.”

“What sort of work do you do, Ted?”

“Human resources,” says Ted blandly.

Trent removes his glasses and fixes Ted with a searching look. Ted meets his gaze, perfectly amiable. Trent narrows his eyes. Ted doesn’t blink. The whole effect is ruined when Cleis leaps out of the tree unannounced and tumbles onto him.

“Oh for f – ” Trent bites off invective as he staggers. “For the last time, my love, climb down.”

“But this is faster,” says Cleis innocently. She appears to notice Ted, and peers at him curiously as Trent sets her down.

“Well hey there, sweetheart,” says Ted. “What’s your name?”

“Cleis.”

“Fais attention,” says Trent, more sharply than is his wont. Cleis stiffens and tucks herself behind his knee. She always takes her cues from him, and he realises too late his body language has been telescoping an ease with Ted that he should not have brooked. She has never introduced herself to a stranger before.

Ted must pick up on some of that, because he stops short of coming over, instead maintaining the distance between them and crouching down till he is at Cleis’s eye level. “That’s a real pretty name,” he tells her. “It’s from a poem, ain’t it?”

“Sappho.” Trent’s throat feels tight.

“Yeah, that’s the one,” says Ted. “Like a small golden flower. Did you name her?”

“No,” says Trent. “That was her mother. She's – she liked the classics.”

On Trent’s first mission to Morocco, he was paired with a young agent with a French accent and a Classics degree. The former was nearly imperceptible except when she was under pressure; the latter was of no use whatsoever on the mission, any more than Trent’s own English degree was.

“You’re gay, aren’t you?” she said after they had spent four minutes making out pointedly in an alcove to distract the security guards of the Casablanca mansion they were breaking into.

“I’m afraid so,” said Trent, picking a lock.

“That’s a relief. I was worried I was losing my touch.” The lock clicked open, and she whistled appreciatively. “Sing to me, Muse, of the man of twists and turns.” 

“The Odyssey? Really?” Trent was secretly delighted that he was no longer the only one pretentious enough to quote classics during a field op. Or Casablanca in Casablanca, even.

She winked at him. “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

Her name was Coralie Chénier, though they called her “the Owl”. Trent used to envy her this; everyone, despite his best efforts, referred to him as “Chester’s boy”. Then came the Cuba incident, which was such a bloodbath that it earned Trent the moniker “the Jackal”. After that he decided monikers were overrated. At least they matched: the Owl and the Jackal.

Coralie was an orphan – the service preferred either orphans, or those to the manor born, like Trent – and so for the ten years they spent in the field, he was the closest thing she had to next of kin. It was him she told first about Cleis.

“The father?”

She waved a hand dismissively – not in the picture, then. She did not say who it was. Trent knew it to be a crowded field.

“Are you keeping it?”

“I shouldn’t, should I? It’ll take me out of the field for a good stretch.” But he already knew, from the way she rested her hand over her still-flat stomach, that she would.

“I could marry you, if you liked,” he offered.

She laughed. “That’s the sweetest thing any man has ever said to me, darling. But I think I’ll be just fine.”

The last thing she said to him, before she pulled out her comm and charged back into a building rigged with explosives, was: “Promise me you’ll look after her.”

“There must be another way – ”

“I’ve got to do this, Trent,” she said, too gently. “Make sure she knows how much I loved her. All Croesus’ kingdom.”

“I promise – ” but by then she was already gone. 

“I’m sorry,” says Ted, bringing Trent back to the present. His hand tightens on the shoulder of Coralie’s daughter. 

“Thank you,” he says, for lack of anything better.

“Heck of a poem,” Ted adds. 

“Oh yes,” says Trent. I wouldn’t take all Croesus’ kingdom with love thrown in, for her.

#wip ask game #ted lasso #trent crimm #ted x trent #ted lasso/trent crimm #tedependent #rebecca welton #coach beard #keeley jones #roy kent #dani rojas #miss bowen #long post

[bruce-wyatt-burner]

👀👀

#rebecca louise #maxine bowen #photography #cute #pretty #lovely #gorgeous #beauty #beauties

[polikszena]

Ficlet advent calendar - Christmas in Richmond-upon-Thames

In this post you can find my favourite Ted Lasso-related chapters of the previous advent calendar challenges. You can access them by clicking on the fic’s title.

Substitute Santa

Fandom: Ted Lasso Characters: Ms Bowen, Phoebe Word Count: 596 Rating: Teen and up audiences Warnings: Stronger language Summary: Ms Bowen organizes a Santa Claus event for her class, but Janey McCabe's dad, who was supposed to play Santa falls ill and she has to find someone else. However, the only person available has only one thing in common with Santa Claus: they are both men.

Father and son

Fandom: Ted Lasso Characters: Trent Crimm, Michael Crimm, Sheila Crimm Word Count: 1288 Rating: Teen and up audiences Summary:  It’s Trent Crimm’s first Christmas after his divorce and the first time he faces his parents as a divorced man. He’s afraid what his father will say as they go to the garage for firewood, and he cannot believe his ears when Michael Crimm finally expresses his opinion. Sets several years before the events in Ted Lasso.

Greyhounds on ice

Fandom: Ted Lasso Characters: Dani Rojas, Jamie Tartt, Isaac McAdoo Relationships: Jamie Tartt & Dani Rojas Word Count: 581 Rating: Teen and up audiences Summary:  The players of A.F.C. Richmond go to the local ice skating rink, but Dani Rojas has never skated before. He is rather nervous, but Jamie Tartt does his best to help him.

Toy shop

Fandom: Ted Lasso Characters: Trent Crimm, Roy Kent Word Count: 669 Rating: Teen and up audiences Summary: Trent Crimm is looking for a Christmas present for his daughter at the local toy shop where he stumbles upon Roy Kent who wants to buy something for his niece.

Dancing with the boss

Fandom: Ted Lasso, Eurovision Song Contest - The Story of Fire Saga, Kingsman Characters: Ted Lasso, Coach Beard, Alexander Lemtov, Roxy Morton, Rebecca Welton, Keeley Jones Relationships: Ted Lasso & Coach Beard, Rebecca Welton & Keeley Jones, Ted Lasso & Rebecca Welton, Roxy Morton & Alexander Lemtov Word Count: 1970 Rating: Teen and up audiences Summary:  Ted Lasso and Coach Beard go to Alexander Lemtov’s Christmas party. To their surprise, Rebecca and Keeley are there as well, so Ted gets a waltz with the boss.

Christmas Eve dinner

Fandom: Ted Lasso Characters: Trent Crimm, Ted Lasso, Michelle Taylor (OFC), Laura Taylor (OFC), Sophie Taylor-Crimm Relationships: Trent Crimm & Ted Lasso, Trent Crimm & Michelle Taylor, Trent Crimm & Laura Taylor Word Count: 2580 Rating: Teen and up audiences Summary:  When Trent Crimm invited Ted Lasso to his Christmas Eve dinner, he was pretty sure he wouldn’t come. But there he is, just about to find out what a disaster Trent Crimm could be. Also, in this chapter he meets Trent’s daughter and her two mothers.

#ted lasso #rebecca welton #roy kent #keeley jones #coach beard #trent crimm #jamie tartt #dani rojas #ms bowen #phoebe #eurovision song contest: the story of fire saga #kingsman #roxy morton #alexander lemtov #the three musketeers and ilya #(br)otp: biscuits with the boss #michelle taylor #laura taylor #sophie taylor crimm #my fics #ficlet advent calendar best of #brotp: love our chats

[wordsarelifebookblog]

A Little Too Close by Rebecca Yarros is out today!!

#booklr #bookish #bibliophile #bookstagram #Rebecca yarros #a little too close #Madigan mountain #Madigan mountain series #Serena Bowen #devney perry #ebook #bookshelf #new release book #contemporary romance #second chance romance #must read #book recs #books #reading #romance #read #words are life #novels #bookworm #contemporary #recommendations #book addict

[justdealingwithsomeissues]

We can’t leave these two, so we just do our like 10th “their powers flare up and equalize each other out to bring them back to normal” plot...

#Marvel #Mutant Misadventures of Cloak and Dagger #Tyrone Johnson ~ Cloak #Tandy Bowen ~ Dagger #Rebecca Nales

[indianfartysummers]

It’s kind of shocking that any people could be that awful and then they just look at you with a blank expression like I don’t know what you’re talking about. I never even knew you.

You guys like to fuck with people you don’t know a lot you like to fuck with people who are connected to arms dealers a whole lot

I personally I’m pretty warm with a couple of them. I don’t know always no names and faces or anything but I like a couple of energies well, not necessarily like all of that you know because I well I know how I can be. Sometimes I can be even a little bit jealous just with every day people so, I guess Josh must’ve thought I was so fucking retarded. Stupid yeah I get out of this and I will somehow I’ll get away from can’t believe how nasty grandma is really

Gramma

Why is it difficult?



I’ll get a second opinion.

#rebecca cooper #human trafficking #medical networking to save lives #Megan bowen uses any for a dollar #1950s #awe #red #jealousy #Josh Allen Jones #Tobin bell #moby #low class USA men #kidney health #English health #serial killers international

[elyyxium]

— Click the   ⋆˚ source link ˚⋆   for 168 gifs of Adelaide Kane as Rebecca Bowen in Seal Team. All gifs were made by me and intended for RP purposes only. Please do not repost in gif hunts or claim as your own. Please give proper credit if using in crackships. As always, please like and/or reblog if using.

CW: Kissing, Drinking

#adelaide kane gif pack #adelaide kane gif hunt #gif pack #rpc #rph #mine #mine:gifpack

[irregularcollapse]

Hi! Unless someone already asked and I missed it: were you serious about the rec list of movies/books for A storm that took everything? List away if you still want to!!👀

I was VERY serious thank you so much for asking this

This list is not only a list of influences for my upcoming Gothic AU, but kind of a primer on The Gothic as a genre. It is by no means exhaustive, but in my humble opinion is a good place to start from if you are new to The Gothic as a literary and artistic form (or if you think that you know some stuff, but would like to know more).

The Theory/Background

Romanticism and/or/vs the Gothic: an info page for students at UMass (love it when university courses make unprotected websites) which summarises the link between Romanticism and the Gothic. It's a neat little history, discussion of key influences, and some central concepts

The British Library - The Gothic: this is a collection of fantastic articles and videos, compiled as a learning resource by the British Library. The focus is obviously British Gothic, but it features videos from leading Gothic scholar John Bowen that explain core concepts very clearly

A Short History of the Sublime: I quite like this article from the MIT Press Reader that explores the sublime in art. It is concise and references some great art!

British Gothic Literature 101: this series of articles by online publication Arcadia is well-cited, and provides good overview and discussion of elements that are at the forefront of the Gothic

Books/Prose

Dracula - Bram Stoker (1897)

Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë (1847)

Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier (1938)

The Turn of the Screw - Henry James (1989)

The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson (1959)

We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Shirley Jackson (1962)

Fingersmith - Sarah Waters (2002)

The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters (2009)

The Yellow Wallpaper - Charlotte Perkins Gillman (1892)

The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde (1891)

The Woman in Black - Susan Hill (1983)

Poetry

Porphyria's Lover - Robert Browning

The Raven - Edgar Allen Poe

Annabel Lee - Edgar Allen Poe

The work of Emily Dickinson (especially Because I could not stop for Death, I felt a Funeral in my Brain, and It was not Death for I stood up)

The work of Percy Bysshe Shelley (especially Adonais)

Film

Crimson Peak dir. Guillermo del Toro (2015)

Bram Stoker's Dracula dir. Francis Ford Coppola (1992)

The Handmaiden dir. Park Chan-wook (2016)

The Innocents dir. Jack Clayton (1961)

Gaslight dir. Charles Cukor (1944)

Phantom Thread dir. Paul Thomas Anderson (2017)

The Others dir. Alejandro Amenábar (2001)

The Uninvited dir. Lewis Allen (1944)

The Haunting dir. Robert Wise (1963)

Rebecca dir. Alfred Hitchcock (1940)

That's some, at least! Enjoy diving in 🖤🖤🖤 and please let me know what you think of any of these that you read/watch!

#asks #my writing #a storm that took everything fic #books #the background info resources are ones i use with students lmao

[lunar-years]

Do you think they originally had a different plan for Ms Bowen? Tbh I thought it was a wild move to break up RK since almost everyone was rooting for them and their romance is just how shows like that go, but I do wonder if Ms Bowen was supposed to be something more for Roy. Then the chemistry with Jamie exploded all over the place and they switched tracks

hmm I mean maybe in very early drafts they had larger plans for Ms. Bowen, but I can't imagine it was still on the table when they were plotting s3, because if so they would have just written that instead of writing an entire season of roy and jamie best friendism and maybe more, lol.

I understand why people were/are upset about roykeeley breakup but I personally was expecting it when I went in to s3 based on where we left them in the s2 finale. And I gotta say that after rewatching s2 it feels more inevitable to me than ever that this was where it was always headed between them. Which is not to say that I think their problems are insurmountable or that there isn't a path open for them to get back together! I definitely do! But yeah, s2 is just episode after episode continually showcasing what isn't working between them. They're already foreshadowing the downfall practically from the moment they get together. (and i do think it's interesting that the Christmas episode, which is arguably roykeeley's best s2 episode in terms of them geling within their established relationship, was added later. If we hadn't gotten that, wow we wouldn't have much at all of them genuinely being on the same page, would we?) Biggest shock for me was that the breakup was offscreen and that the follow up to that arc was so shoddy and disappointing.

As for Ms. Bowen... I think in the s2 scene, Roy is drawn to her not only because they have a nice back-and-forth banter going, but also (and crucially) because of the momentary allure of her lifestyle, which is so very different from his own. On the one hand Roy is stressing about Keeley's photoshoot, where the VF people have already told him he's basically going to be a prop to make her look good. So he's feeling insecure and like Keeley is on her way up while he's on his way out, petering into irrelevancy in the public eye. On the other hand is Ms Bowen. And in that moment, he almost feels like he's on more equal footing with Ms. Bowen, who's just a regular woman with a regular profession outside of the spotlight doing well for herself, than he is with Keeley. So Ms. Bowen provides him a temporary relief from the problems of his own life in a way that appeals to him (for three hours, apparently).

But like, the reality is that all we see them talking about is Ms Bowen being good at her job, what her jobs entails, Phoebe, the other children, etc. He doesn't learn her first name! It's pretty harmless flirting, not a very deep connection or a particularly meaningful conversation, and I don't think we were ever meant to see it as such (just my opinion, there's a bunch of shippers out there I know!). She's an easy escape, and then Roy's phone buzzes with the reminder to go to the photoshoot, and Roy steps back into his own life, which he was always going to return to.

I'm honestly less clear what the point of her reappearance in s3 was for because I'm not sure it really works as Roy's big epiphany moment for me... her telling him he was stuck is literally nothing Rebecca didn't already tell him! and "I hope that mess didn't cause too much damage" is such an odd Realization™️ line to prompt Roy to action because 1) he already knew it caused damage. He was there and saw Keeley's face when he told her he'd talked to Ms Bowen for 3 hours and 2) I dislike how that frames it as Roy flirting with Ms Bowen being THE driving force in the r/k breakup, when the reality is it was the very tip of the iceberg in a relationship that was falling apart no matter what. I think you could argue it was the point of no return, so maybe that's what they were going for? But they don't make that very clear because they don't write a very specific apology for Roy, do they! ugh. idk. If anyone has better insight they want to offer me please do!

#roy kent #ms bowen #ted lasso #roykeeley #asks

[mrgaretcarter]

Everything I enjoyed about Ted Lasso 3x10

It was so exciting to watch them announce the players that got into their national teams

Laughed at Ted not knowing Bumbercatch is swiss

Appreciated the whole team being there for Sam when he was snubbed

I genuinely laughed out loud at all the jokes to do with Dani's personality change

When it cut from the title sequence to ted sitting down with rebecca for biscuits with the boss i really thought it was for real gonna be an OG one but then they panned to trent and i was disappointed but i couldnt even be mad because it was so funny

Ted is a LIAR we have seen him gossip so many times he is such nosy biddy 🤣

Trent loving getting a good grade in girl talk was so funny and cute!

"So chaps, what do we think?" was such a fun line to me for some reason

All 3 of them going "Nah" and making the same face, so fun!

Ted was saying such nonsense for the rest of that scene and they made sure to show us Rebcca's reactions to every single one and she looked so fond every single time

Of course Rupert is saved on Rebecca’s phone as "The Devil" she is so insane

I loved Keeley's green skirt suit

I laughed at Beard's 17 throwing axes that he brought to the UK with him 🤣

"Sneaking in here today reminded me of the first match I ever saw at Nelson Road." "Ah, when they used to play by candlelight." 🤣🤣

I was SO happy to see Phoebe, then happier still to see her mum! And Jamie is totally right, she is fit

That whole scene was an absolute delight, filled my heart with joy, the England kit! the E for U swap! the tie dye shirt with Roy colors! One thing I can say about this season is that things do tend to go great when Jamie is involved

I laughed at the doomed handshake at Sam's restaurant, he was so resigned to his fate 😅

Nate breaking into his parents house in the middle of the night because he felt lonely and lost reminded me of 13 Going on 30

I was happy to see Rebeccas Amsterdam pants again! Especially with that purple blouse 💜

I love that Higgins knows Keeley, Ted and Sassy are Rebecca's top options in that order and that this is unquestionable

Higgins' comparing Akufu to the Chocolate Factory kids was both very accurate and very funny 😆 "I hate to break it to you Rebecca, but those children are dead."

I really liked Rebecca being insecure about the meeting because she knows she's only been invited as a token. It felt true to life and also reminded me of a favorite moment from a beloved show of my past, The Good Wife, where a character expresses a similar concern and gets much the same advice as Higgins gave

I really thought Rebecca was taller than Higgins' office door and was momentarily scared she was going to bump her head on the way out 😆

I liked Keeley and Mae's conversation, though I, much like Keeley, did not understand the lightning saying 😅 did appreciated the little "Maybe" joke though, it felt like something Ted would do and I always love to perceive them mirroring each other

Everyone noticing Roy's cheerful t-shirt was very funny

I loved that we saw Rebecca studying for the meeting

THE!! TOY!!! SOLDIER!!!!!! She's been carrying it around!!! She is fond of it!!!!! She treats it with such care, and it still brings her strength, gosh!! To think of the moment she picked it up off the ground and stored it away, of whenever it was she decided to keep it with her as an amulet!!! I'm breathless!!!!!!!

Kenneth saying "twins" to Roy lmaooo

The fact that Rebecca has panic attacks is something that can be SO PERSONAL that meant so so SO much to me, I could cry just thinking about it, I've always been sure she did and to have it confirmed was a thrill, and so emotional and satisfying to me to see her self soothe and how it paralleled Ted, truly beautiful gorgeous amazing

Ms Bowen is blonde now! Idk why but that was exciting, I like her! I think Roy should introduce her to Beard, I feel like she could beat up Jane. It was also hilarious to me that they named her Leann for real 🤣 they have no shame!

Barbara's Juicy couture tracksuit and "I like clothes that tell the truth" LMAOOO COMEDY GOLD

Barbara and Keeley's snow globe exchange was delightful. Barbara slowly grew on me throughout the season and was a true highlight in this particular episode, I was very glad that she chose Keeley.

I love that Rebecca went to that meeting in a bbp top and one of her less murderous earrings

I appreciated seeing Rebecca in a professional setting, taking a stand, and going to bat for the club and for football in general, it's something I have always longed to see from her and I'm glad I got it even if it was late in the game

Really liked that Nate plays the violin

I liked the window into Rupert and Rebecca's past and the glimpse into why they were in love once

I liked the contents of Roy's letter to Keeley and thought it was funny that she couldn’t read his handwriting

It was exciting to see Rebecca at Keeley's house! She demanded a hug! She's going to fund Keeley's firm! Their friendship has stayed beautifully consistent throughout the season and I appreciate that.

Keeley writing down the number and saying "This is how they do it in the movies" was another Ted-like moment (down to Rebecca being endeared by it!)

I enjoyed the joke of Roy walking in when he did and I loved loved loved that he and Rebecca saluted each other again! I'd been waiting for that!!

I think Nate's apology to Will - how he did it, the score, the note with the sprig of lavender, how it was filmed - felt like such a season 1 moment that it filled me up with this sense of right-ness and I truly appreciated it. Possibly one of the best moments of the season 🥹

Rebecca looked so at peace hanging that painting and also SO beautiful in that dress

Ted sat down without being invited, and Rebecca scooched a little closer once he did 🥹🥹

She specifically wanted to tell him about this big emotional milestone and Ted looked? I have no idea how to describe it, but it was new, it was a face he's never made before, and it was so?? I don't even know, I don't know what to do with it, or with "I wanna win for us too."

Rebecca is truly insane for spitting on his face on purpose like that lmao

Aaaand that's it! I liked a lot of the bits and pieces of this episode as you can see, and I had a mostly good time while watching it. There were a couple big things that bothered me though, but I'll save those for a different post later in the week once I've gotten a chance to collect my thoughts!

#ted lasso #ted lasso spoilers #If you noticed me avoiding mentioning certain things... there's a reason for that #tl ramblings

[chainofclovers]

Ted Lasso 3x2 Thoughts

An episode for the ages! My favorite scene of s3 is still Ted’s press conference in 3x1 (plus there’s just something about an episode written by Leann Bowen that gets my right in the brain and right in the heart) but 3x2 was incredible and made me feel so excited about this show and the stories they’re telling and so excited that it feels like each character is going on a realistically new journey here in the final third of this arc. It’s kinda thrilling.

I already accidentally chatted about this episode with a bunch of people and honestly I’ll probably continue to lack the willpower to make this a truly “pure” reflection of my thoughts at the end of an episode. At the same time, this is my best effort to preserve and record my own feelings.

Rebecca’s backstory with Rupert is perfect. Timelines on this show continue to be a bit squishy and I’m okay with that. I love knowing that she was a bartender (I can see it! I can see her having this scattered relationship with her family and finding something she’s good at—albeit with a massive safety net—and I want to know allllll her opinions on cocktails and tending bar). I love the pain of her having been the other woman while Rupert was married to someone else—the knowledge that would have given her of what he was capable of (and the manipulation was so well-crafted that she was still surprised that he cheated on her, which I believe), but also the pain of having been so manipulated into believing Rupert genuinely saw something special in her, and how much that kind of attention followed by his present-day open revulsion (all performances) would fuck a person up. I particularly loved that she finally told Keeley about the origin of that relationship while watching Rupert manipulate Zava; Rebecca understands that Rupert’s power isn’t just something he wields to get sex from women, but a skill that impacts how he conducts himself professionally. If viewers watched that scene and the connection she’s drawing between all these different types of experiences and still don’t understand that Rupert is abusive, that’s on them.

I’ve been filtering through my thoughts on Rebecca knowing Rupert was married, and how that intersects with her experience finding her father cheating. In a lot of ways, I think Deborah is the key to all of this. Even if Rebecca didn’t confront her mother, she tried to, and her mother shut it down to the point of giving her still very young daughter the silent treatment for months while she was away at university. Even though it wasn’t Deborah’s fault that she was getting cheated on any more than it was Rebecca’s fault that Rupert manipulated her or that Rupert cheated on her too, I think Deborah’s refusal to go there with her daughter had an incredibly toxic impact on Rebecca’s sense of self-worth. I think she probably felt very unspecial, very alone—even with friends and a job and who knows what other relationships—and even if she didn’t, even if she felt fine, suddenly she couldn’t imagine life without Rupert making her feel special. It’s tragic and messy and I think it’s a really good character choice for Rebecca to have had the level of knowledge she had. It also mirrors the knowledge someone like Nathan has, deep down, about the good and bad in people, while he very understandably makes this choice to align himself with West Ham and with Rupert even as Rupert is throwing away his car and making choices for him and twisting him into thinking that’s respect.

This was such an incredible Roy episode. I find it interesting and really wonderful that Rebecca’s been aware of the breakup for days or weeks (and Higgins, too, unless Keeley didn’t tell him why she needed to sob into his clean shirt) and didn’t tell any of Roy’s colleagues even though these are all people in her world, too. Everyone else at the club tries their best—and Roy does end up needing some help and direction for articulating his feelings more—but they’re all really outward in their displays of sympathy. I really like that Rebecca, who went through probably the most nightmarish breakup on this show so far, is the one who’s most circumspect about it all.

There’s just so much. So much. Roy having held this grudge against Trent since he was seventeen, feelings deeply hurt by adjectives in a newspaper, then going on to embody at least some of those adjectives (but effectively! And with talent! But not always with intention!) for the rest of his career. It makes it so moving to think about Roy telling the team not to share anything with Trent. I like that Roy appears to have taken at face value Ted being over the article Trent posted about him; it feels like this may be yet another thing Roy has attempted and failed to process on his own, another difference between Roy and other people, where Roy carries around this old newspaper clip for decades but Ted has “healed” in a matter of months. (Not that all this was directly in the text of the show, but I think it’s really telling that the Trent thing is the source of the first true conflict between Ted and Roy where Ted ends up needing to very assertively provide Roy with some direction.) It’s all so intricate, all the different shower conversations, and Roy’s revelation about why maybe he shouldn’t have left Chelsea so hastily being something he needed to hear himself say (because of Keeley) and also something Ted needed to hear Roy say at this time of being very aware of what he’s left behind in Kansas and even more crucially aware that he’s got a decision to make about Richmond. Roy doesn’t know that Ted is questioning his value so profoundly, and it made everything that happened in that final scene so !!!!!!!! And Ted kind of plays it up, batting his eyelashes and talking about how lucky it is he and Roy met, and of course it’s both of their wild leaving-things-early decisions that got them to this place, and maybe Ted can start to see how good that is even if he’s still got a lot to sift through. And then he’s alone in the office and his face becomes this entirely different thing. <3 

(And I do like that Trent is there to witness a lot of that. I really enjoyed his role in this episode and I think I’ll enjoy the layer of storytelling and awareness he lends to the various football and feelings arcs this season. I think Trent is a fun character who brings out something interesting in basically everyone he interacts with. I’ve never been that compelled by him in a fannish way, though. He can be fun to think about, but I don’t really ship him with anyone and I don’t find the fanon around him very interesting. Is this the most shocking and divisive thing I’ve ever said in one of these! Maybe! It makes me very happy that so many people are Trent girlies [all gender]! I am just not one of them! But season 3 is making me care!)

Keeley is the Ted of PR! Ted is the Keeley of football! Ted almost faints when he finds out Roy and Keeley broke up! He’s there for both of them! He’s a good friend! And Keeley is having such a little Ted journey in the wild yet staid world of KJPR. I really like that it’s clear now that she didn’t hire that team; a larger firm has clearly made these placements. It makes me have lots of questions about the nature of the firm’s investments in her. Everything with Shandy was brilliant. I was chatting with a friend (hi @theodore-lasso) who pointed out that Keeley has possibly taken Rebecca’s “hire your best friend” advice a bit too literally. Yes, Shandy has industry knowledge, but Keeley might not be ready to simultaneously navigate insisting that Barbara treat everyone with respect while also setting boundaries with Shandy in that we cannot simply be expensing mimosas at work. I think it’s fascinating that Keeley has never once described her career shift as “getting out” and has never articulated—or even seemed to experience—any shame over topless modeling or any of her previous jobs, nor have Rebecca, Roy, Keeley, Nathan, Higgins, or anyone else in her life who she’s talked work with made any assumptions about that. (Ted covering up the photo in 1x1 feels adjacent to that kind of judgment, but to me it’s always felt like a judgment of Jamie Tartt’s judgment rather than a reflection on Keeley’s own judgment.) So it’s so fascinating to me that Shandy, a person doing the same work, is the first person to express that perspective. And Keeley just immediately gets her out. Immediately hires her. Seeing both the real goodness in that—it’s very Ted “I don’t wanna bench Roy because he’s going through a lot of emotions and he needs this” Lasso of her—and the ways she’s making things more complicated for herself is so fascinating. I’m here for it.

And Beard! Beard! Reduced largely to pitch-perfect, hilarious shrieks for this episode, he somehow still manages to be wonderful. And if I had fewer feelings about the look on Ted’s face when Beard matter-of-factly tells Ted he can’t pass along his hello to Jane because she still finds their relationship threatening…fewer feelings about that would mean I could say more. It hurts. So much. And yet I was so relieved to see that dynamic in Ted and Beard’s relationship because I think it makes it clear that either Ted really is going to need to become a “threat” to Jane (he’s already taken Rebecca’s feedback in terms of fighting back for her and for the team [“our team”...not over it], and he’s already made it clear that Roy needed to get over himself and deal with the Trent thing, so maybe he’s in his growing-vertebrae era. And even if we don’t ever see Ted interact with Jane, it could be just as satisfying for him to be honest with Beard about everything he’s observing. 

Side note: I loved the “hope you aren’t late” joke Ted is ready with as soon as he finds out Beard is going to a play about menstrual cycles. I love that the quickness between them almost never falters even when things are hard.

Side note: Ted’s Breakup Mix!

Side note: Higgins’ convoluted connections! The comedic rhythm he and Rebecca (and Keeley, when she’s around, and Ted, when he’s around) have this season is so good.

Side note: As someone who watched my first Hallmark movie specifically so I could write fic for the holiday exchange, Ted’s entire speech about Hallmark movies was so incredible and had me losing my entire mind. I think I literally had my hands clapped over my mouth. My wife was supportively laughing at me.

Not a side note but every feeling in the world: Many more people have observed this already, but the contrast between Rupert showing up to a bar every day and claiming he’s there without expectation just because it’s worth it to be near Rebecca vs. Ted showing up with the biscuits every day very much with a stated purpose—they can’t be good partners without getting to know each other well—makes my little Ted/Rebecca heart soar. It explains so much about why she was so resistant to the biscuit tradition at first, as well as the great significance of why she’s come to rely on it. 

There are a million other things. This episode was really rich and layered. I loved s1 for its perfection—its confidence bolting out of the gate and establishing a world I wanted to live in. I loved s2 for its pain and mess and soul. But so far s3 is really, really earning its place as an answer to both of those contrasting experiences, and I’m so excited for more. 

#ted lasso #meta by me #ted lasso meta #ted lasso s3 spoilers #ted lasso 3x2 #hot dork club

[strawberrysteam]

TTTE/OMORI Character Headcanons because I need a distraction from my crippling mental health-

Thomas: He/They, Non-Binary, Bi

Edward: He/She, Bigender, Gay

Henry: He/Him, Transmasc, Gay

Gordon: He/Him, Cis Male, Bi

James: They/Them, Non-Binary, Abro

Percy: She/They, Transfem, Gray/Het

Toby: He/Him, Cis Male, Bi

Emily: She/Her, Cis Female, Lesbian

Rosie: She/Her, Transfem, Lesbian

Sonny: He/They, Non-Binary, Pan

Charlie: She/Her, Transfem, Pan

Diesel (CGI): He/It, Transmasc, Aroace spec

Ryan: They/Them, Non-Binary, Omni

Daisy: She/Her, Transfem, Bi

Hiro: He/Him, Cis Male, Gay

Molly: She/They, Transfem, Lesbian

Nia: He/They/She, Non-Binary, Aroace

Rebecca: She/Her, Non-Binary, Gray/Lesbian

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunny: They/She, Transfem Non-Binary, Bi

Kel: He/Xe, Transmasc, Gay

Aubrey: She/They, Transfem, Bi (Female Lean)

Basil: They/Xe, Transfem Non-Binary, Lesbian

Mari: She/Her, Transfem, Bi

Hero: He/Him, Demiboy, Bi

Vance: He/Xe, Transmasc, Bi

Kim: She/They/Xe, Non-Binary, Lesbian

The Maverick: He/Xe, Transmasc Non-Binary, Gay

Angel: They/Xe, Non-Binary, Aroace

Charlie: She/They, Demigirl, Aroace spec

Mincy: She/It, Transfem Demigirl, Ace Lesbian

Pretty Boy: He/They, Demiboy, Gay

Cris: She/They, Transfem, Ace Lesbian

Daphne: She/Her, Transfem, Bi

Bowen: He/Him, Transmasc, Gay

#ttte #thomas the tank engine #omori #lgbt headcanons #lgbtqia #omori headcanons #ttte headcanon

[kvetchinglyneurotic]

re: your reblog from july abt roy and jamie after wembley.

The roy and jamie relationship post wembley always confused me because they took an event that CLEARLY should've had an impact upon their relationship (and was set up to do so) and then did... nothing with it? it could've been a really good set up for a roy introspective re: his anger or a view on Jamie's vulnerability with the team as he's trying to find his place after coming back to Richmond. I love TL so much but they constantly failed to live up to the potential of their storylines 😭

(p.s bless u for noticing the beard/jane rupert/rebecca parallels. it drives me bonkers.)(p.p.s sorry for yelling in ur inbox you just have very good opinions and I like your writing a lot)

Thank you, and don't apologize, I love when people come yell in my inbox! And yeah, that writing decision is. so weird. I'd honestly kind of forgotten about how weird it is until I got to the end of season 2/start of season 3 on my recent rewatch — because they do, as you say, set up a change in their relationship so well, especially with Roy's conversation with Ms. Bowen about Phoebe's dad at the start of the episode and how he's afraid of infecting her with the worst parts of himself. Roy knows that he's an angry person, and he knows that it can be harmful to the people around him, but I also think that he's never really had to confront that when it comes to football, because in that context it's always been something that's framed as a strength (and a certain amount of yelling is normalized in sports in general). And then he's confronted with the fact that Jamie also has a piece of shit dad, and he chooses to be gentle instead of aggressive, because he understands that in that moment, what Jamie needs is someone to look after him the way Phoebe needs someone to look after her, even if it's in a slightly awkward, gruff way, and it has to be him; it can't be anyone else... and then it makes no difference in how he interacts with Jamie until at least 3x04, but really more like 3x06.

And then there's Beard and Jane, my beloathed. I do actually like their relationship (in a writing sense, not in an I want them to stay together sense) in exactly two episodes: 2x05 (in think) where they get back together and Higgins wants talk to Beard about how it's an unhealthy relationship, and in 2x09. In both these episodes, you can understand why they're together, but it's framed as almost a form of self-harm on Beard's part, where he knows it's an unhealthy relationship and that being with Jane makes him feel worse, but at the same time he can't bear to be apart from her. Anyway they could have leaned into the parallel of him and Rebecca as two people at opposite ends of an abusive relationship (him at the start; her at the end), especially with Sassy's "he locked you in a tower but you climbed all the steps yourself" speech. But alas, they did not.

#fun fact about me is that i do actually say “alas” in real life #started doing it ironically but alas now it's just part of my vocabulary #ted lasso meta #roy kent #jamie tartt #coach beard #asks #tw abuse #kvetch oc

[dollsome-does-tumblr]

ted lasso 3.10 thoughts!

bwahahahahaha! sparkling water justice!!!!!! i honestly didn’t see that one coming.

however: rebecca i see u wearing your own version of the boat guy pink dress and hanging w/ ted!!!!

little green army man lives in rebecca’s purse with the matchbook. okay!

ted is my favorite art critic. finally, someone on my level.

i’m soooooooooo happy roy and keeley are back together but i’m also really pressed that we didn’t get to see them kiss. i’m an emotional basketcase and could have used the emotional healing of a schmoopy reunion kiss scene right about now. can you believe that we almost saw rupert and rebecca kiss in this episode, but not roy and keeley?????

tv has been disillusioning me so much lately that i honestly thought rupert and rebecca were going to make out in front of my eyes. all logic left me and i was just like, ‘this might as well happen. :|'

(also, comparing roy to rupert??? i get why they were doing it for the joke, but let’s not. no!!!!!!)

roy writing a romantic love letter and keeley not being able to read it due to his crazy-ass handwriting = classic yet modern romance that dared to ask the question, ‘what if an austen hero had terrible penmanship?’

i knew barbara/keeley was going to be legit as hell from the very beginning! i want an au romcom movie about their exact situation in a universe where roy doesn’t exist. (or is with his true love jamie.)

i still maintain that beard should fall in love w/ barbara. beardbara.

the lightning ... keeley and the lightning ... hmm ......

i respect ms. bowen for shooting her shot like the iconic fuckwitch she is. spinoff?!?!

i wrote a tiny fic once where jamie and roy’s sister were vibing, so it felt very fun to kind of see some of that onscreen. although i spent that whole scene like “they are NOT beating the roy/jamie canon endgame allegations.”

nate’s sort of long night of the soul was very good. i love that he quit! i love that he and his dad had a talk at last! i love their happy family card game! and the locker room being perfect when will got there, awww!

i would listen to leslie’s takes on willy wonka for 9 million hours. NINE MILLION HOURS.

#dollsome's deep thoughts #ted lasso #ted lasso spoilers #ted x rebecca

[roamwithahungryheart]

So here's how I think it's gonna go:

Roy & Keeley have gone on their respective healing journeys. Keeley is seeing someone new. When they get back to Richmond, Roy will act on that spark between him & Miss Bowen. Then, they'll realize what they're worthy of - that they're worthy of each other - and get back together.

Ted & Rebecca have been seeing other people. They've gone on their respective healing journeys. They're both realizing their worth. This is the nudge they needed to finally see each other. It's finally clicked.

#it's all coming together (I hope) #Ted Lasso #Ted Lasso s3 #Ted x Rebecca #tedbecca #Roy Kent #Keeley Jones #Roy x Keeley #Reeley #I will go down with these ships so help me God #it's about the parallels!!!