#since i only take what s1 gave me as canon

[undertheknightwing]

appreciation post for these absolute funky lads

i hope a few of their millions of siblings make a grand appearance in season 4

#since i only take what s1 gave me as canon #in my brain all of gar's animals are their own beings #and they can see what gar's doing when he's not in animal form #judging him and his actions aka yelling at video games #like they're all tired of hearing gar scream at mario kart but they got nothing else to do #they all live inside of gar like he's a rental house #he's stuck with them and they're stuck with him #titans #gar logan

[rooolt]

In-Depth Rant About Possible Scamster Relationship Timelines Because They Plague Me

okay so! Scamster relationship timeline has been something I’ve tried to puzzle out since episode 23 dropped because the everything about it was so absurdly captivating and Anthony just dropped it and gave us nothing. So originally (and I think I’ve talked abt this before) I had perceived the timeline thusly:

we know for a fact they are together in the flashback in Alright which based on Anthony’s description of the teens most likely takes place a couple of years after s1 bc the kiddads are all still teens. I think 3 years is a reasonable estimate bc if you see the oldest kiddad in s1 as being max 14, that would leave them at 17. I’d say minimum two years and maximum five. Now, there is no way of knowing how long the two of them have been together by the time this flashback is occurring. I think it may be reasonable to assume that it’s relatively new as we know Morgan was still with Jodie in the finale and presumably had to experience some amount of time being together with him to want to leave him. Additionally, the way they talk to each other gives very much “honeymoon phase” energy, not that that’s concrete evidence, but still. Now with the information we were operating under for a large portion of s2, (probably up until episode 45ish if I remember correctly) scam and Jodie were Hermie’s parents, and scam left Jodie pretty immediately after Hermie was born. Working under that assumption, and the long held assumption that Hermie was 15, this would place them as having been in a relationship for about five to seven years (s2 takes place 25 years after season one, meaning Hermie (if he was actually 15) would’ve been born 10 years after season one and if they had been dating starting anywhere from three to five years after season one, there’s the math) WHICH IS A BIG NUMBER. And for a while that was crazy to me, that plagued me right I thought about that all the time.

AND THEN

AND THEN Anthony Burch dropped a piece of information that SHATTERED MY WORLDVIEW. Hermie the unworthy is not a person (or demon scam creature) he’s just a scam and he’s AT MOST like three years old. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE SCAMSTER TIMELINE!!! Here’s the thing. There is nothing Anthony Burch can say that will fully retcon Hermie in my mind as not Jodie’s son. It comes up so much, Jodie sees him that way, literally claims he was “scammed out of a son”, Hermie and Taylor are referred to as related multiple times, there’s nothing you can do to retcon that. Therefore, despite being a creation of scam, Hermie is still technically Jodie’s son. What do I mean by that? Personally, I like to think that whilst creating Hermie, scam knew that it takes two parents to make a child and thus pulled “dna” (I assume it’s like magic bc neither of them are human) from both himself and Jodie, either because that was the last long running relationship he was in, or because it was the funniest option. This, I think, leaves us with two possible options for the scamster timeline.

Original scamster timeline is correct/they broke up sometime earlier, but then three years pre-canon scam likely decided it would be fun to make a kid but didn’t want to deal with baby stuff so he pulled stuff from himself and Jodie to make like a 12 year old and then when he got bored of it not only did he implant fake memories into both hermie and his adoptive parents, but also within Jodie, making him believe that they had a son together 12 years ago but scam ran away with him, breaking up with Jodie in the process

scam and Jodie had actually been together for almost 20 years straight and Jodie was aware of, and maybe even excited about, the kid scam was making, but then scam just immediately whisked him away, implanting him within a mortal family. The reason I say they stayed together instead of breaking up and getting back together is the way jodie talks abt it, it seems as though he was blindsided by scam leaving him. This is obviously the less likely (ha!) option, but I think definitely still a possibility

n e ways, I’ve most definitely considered this in far more depth than either Anthony Burch or Jimmy Wong have, but there is something deeply wrong with me and they plague me.et me know if you have further thoughts or evidence suggesting a more canonical scamster timeline.

#Yes this entire post was made with no reference to transcripts or episodes this is just all off the dome #I’m so obsessed with them and the timeline I can’t explain it #Why was their relationship so long running seemingly #What was it like #I have so many questions #dndads #dungeons and daddies #scamster #scam likely #jodie foster dndads

[kesleyjo]

I'm having some finale wine and I think I've got it. My final resolute head canon of Riverdale.

Keep in mind I have not watched the end of season 5 through the end and have absolutely no intention to, but I've seen and heard enough about *gestures vaguely* all of that to still stand by this.

Disclaimer: I do not believe this is what the writers intended whatsoever. This is all my imagination. I do however believe in this canon whole heartedly and its as true to me as whatever RAS's vision is to him. You choose who to trust.

Okay so first and foremost the entire series is written by Jughead. It's all his writings that are probably all sitting in a google docs draft folder.

I justify this due to the following:

He is the narrator

The entire series is obsessed with Betty Cooper for good or ill (I'll get to it)

Its all kind of sort of been alluded to that its all Jughead's writings anyway. At least in S1, again. I'll get to the why of that in a second.

He started writing season 1 in his junior year (so a year after the events of the S1). He read In Cold Blood (on his own, not for class, very important to him that you all know this) and was like "Hey my town had a murder and I have some trauma around it, so I should totes do this." And thus S1 is born.

This is why that season is (relatively) more grounded and far more realistic than the rest of the series because its based on a real true thing that happened and the real feelings and emotions of people involved. It has the least amount of exaggeration (but enough, because Jughead) and has the most coherent plot, which would make sense since Jughead isn't making anything up, he is recalling events.

This is also the only season that directly ties Jughead's narration and the plot to the book Jughead is writing on page, and thus tying them both together. Because again, its a thing that really happened.

So the characterizations, motivations, and actions of everyone in season 1 is the model of how and how these characters actually are and are a base for further exaggeration.

Seasons 2-4 are also based on true events but are exaggerations/interpretations of things that really happened, but are altered to make them more interesting to Jughead's readers (heh).

I don't want this post to be a novel so here is a brief listing of that I am thinking here for some of the main plots (but if you have a plot you want me to fit into this canon let me know):

The Black Hood: When Jughead showed Betty his first manuscript (S1) the positive constructive criticism she gave was that, "True crime is really popular right now, so this fits in with the zeitgeist." And Jughead ran with it. Fred also had his first heart attack at this time...we all know where I'm going with that so I'll just leave that there. RIP.

Making Hal the Black Hood: Hal leaves the family after the Polly debacle and finding some racy pics on Betty's computer (she sent them to Jug, she wasn't a camgirl) and decides to start his life over with a woman who is far more moral (and probably like 2 years older than Polly)

The Serpents/Class War with Hiram: Not a gang, just those under the boot of the rich that Hiram tries to eradicate through good ol fashioned gentrification. Archie and Veronica also start spending more time doing rich people shit and that drives a divide between the two main couples of the core four. But less about political plots and more about teenagers growing apart because of different interests

Season 3: Putting this all together because Jughead was having a hard time finding a plot here. So he focused on Alice's new weird young boyfriend who actually ended up taking off with Polly (leaving her twins), his newfound obsession with DnD (Betty was exhaustedly supportive of this) and Kevin's endless talk about the new megachurch he just joined. He and Betty also started watching a lot of horror films and Hitchcock at the time which leads us to...

Season 4: He and Betty go off to different schools but its because of college, not because Jug is the chosen one (again see why he is writing all of this himself). He meets a lot of pretentious people that challenge his relationship with Betty and he turns it into a mystery.

So now we have made it to 4.17. Ugh.

Okay so Jughead has written all of this, and reading everything back feels that Archie and Betty (who go to the same college now and are friends again after growing apart after he dated Veronica) have grown too close and Jug self destructs.

He self sabotages so hard and makes a story up in his head that Betty would be much happier with Archie who is doing perfectly mediocre at college while Jughead flunked out.

So he and Betty break up after a lot of frustrated fighting.

And he begins to write Betty differently. Wildly differently.

(You can't tell me this doesn't make more sense than whatever the hell happened in the show.)

Jughead dejected from his failure at school and his breakup Writes on and off for the next few years. His next main attempt is S5. His attempt at more realistic writing.

(Its also after Betty enters his life again, because at her core Betty is his muse)

He works through his fictional frustrations of Betty and Archie as a possible couple (They never dated. Archie is actually a aromantic pansexual who does not do commitment) and realized that he made it all up and they have nothing in common.

Jughead and Betty get back together at the end of "Season 5" but Betty tells him that writing about their real life is what tore them apart, so he needs to not use their relationship in his writing anymore.

So Jughead decided to get weird and wildly experimental with his writing. And because Jughead is not a particularly good writer S6 and S7 are born.

Betty, absolutely running out of positive things to say about his last few writing attempts tells him that maybe these exaggerated versions of their lives that bear no resemblance to the real world have run their course, and he should try something new.

So Jughead wraps up this now unrecognizable series of writings and moves onto something new.

With Betty diligently serving as his editor. She got distracted with her new job and left him unattended for those last few seasons and look what happened.

Also I realize that Archie/Veronica/Cheryl/Toni are absent in this so briefly

Archie: He always was in awe of Archie and slightly jealous of what he perceived he had over Jughead...this is why he is the quasi-hero and also why he tortures Arch and treats him like an idiot.

Veronica: I cannot stress this enough. He and Veronica have no relationship. She is his friend's girlfriend and his girlfriend's best friend. The only thing he really knows about her is she is rich and hot. So he makes that her core personality and slaps on whatever traits fit her best for whatever plot he is writing at the time.

(This is also why almost all the women Veronica, Tabitha, Jessica, and Toni all are at some time his love interest. Self instert fan fic Jug. We see you.)

Cheryl/Toni: He and Toni are friends and Cheryl is her girlfriend who endlessly terrifies him. That is the core of her characterization.

I already regret the fact that I am sharing this long-winded mess with the world...but I can't take it back now.

Enjoy. And if you don't that is fine. It's my head canon not yours. Go make your own.

Have fun on finale night folks.

#rd spoilers #not really but for safety #head canon #this is a mess #but I stand by it #I didn't proof this and I'm a glass of wine in so be gentle

[fandom-hoarder]

Grabbing these tags by @deanwinchesterpregnant from this post to expand.

Because yes, this is a very important part! Sam says it, too!

And while there ARE Sam haters that will say "Sam doesn't know how much Dean sacrificed!" and mean it as a JUDGEMENT and omg wooby!Dean; there are also people like me, who started writing s1 Sam POVs to understand him better, and suddenly connected him to my little brother like, 'OH. Sam doesn't KNOW. How COULD he know??😭' and it's not a judgment of his character or his love for Dean! And he's not stupid! They're both just kids who have yet to work through their own shit enough to realize they don't know EVERYTHING about each other, despite their shared history. It's part of why Sam says in In My Time of Dying that they were "just starting to be brothers again."

Obviously it's a necessary part of s1 to give us, the viewer, expositional glimpses into Sam and Dean's inner workings. But the way they each react to certain new revelations about each other are still canon even if there are Doylist reasons.

It's canon that Sam didn't know Dean carried him out of the fire. It's canon that Dean has felt responsible for Sam almost being eaten by a shtriga since he was 9/10 years old, and it's canon that Sam never even knew that happened. It's canon that the memory of Mary was so coveted by Dean and John that Sam has virtually no connection to her; no stories and no echoes of her in the way they live other than the infamous Winchester Surprise.

It's canon that Sam doesn't really have any happy holiday memories, and Dean does. It's canon that their perspective on the same shared holidays is completely different. It's canon that Dean stole Christmas decorations and presents for Sam and apparently none for himself. And it's canon that Sam realized Dean did that for him and gave him his only present. And it's canon that remembering that made grown-up Sam want to give Dean Christmas even though it meant admitting something hurtful to himself. (John not showing up for Christmas/Dean's last Christmas)

If you put yourself in Sam's shoes--- a kid left alone for most of his formative years; unable to put down roots and make friends; whose best friend, the only one who could even try to understand him, is his good little soldier brother--- it's easier to understand why Sam felt lonely and became a much more introspective person. Because he was literally stuck with just his thoughts and anxieties and the TV for days at a time. When you think about how sick he must've been about it, every time Dean and John would leave. Waiting for that next phone call. Biting his fingernails when the call was late. Wanting to be invited to prove yourself, but also because if you're THERE at least you KNOW what happens.

But then, too, if you can put yourself in Dean's place: it's not necessarily something a kid or young adult can fully appreciate--- especially a somewhat emotionally immature young adult--- that their little sibling is a completely autonomous person with their own inner life. They don't just pause when you leave their sight. Dean throws himself into the hunt, and isn't thinking about how much Sam is worrying about them. He's thinking, "Sam is safe, so I can focus on backing Dad up."

It sounds selfish, but it's simply a fact of the maturing brain that it takes some time to comprehend someone else's existence outside of you as a real thing and not just a vague concept.

So, to touch on another aspect that gets discoursed:

There ARE a lot of things about Dean's parentification that Sam doesn't know at first, but he has always known about it to SOME degree. He had his own perspective on it, and for sure I wouldn't say that Sam thought of Dean as his parent. Dean has definitely always been his older and somewhat overbearing big brother. But who do you think Sam took his problems to? Who threatens to rip his bully's lungs out in After School Special? Who remembers what fucking play Sam did in drama?

And a short related aside--- thinking about how Sam was surprised about the things of his John had in storage. His surprise that John kept an eye on him at Stanford. And relating these things that changed Sam's understanding of his father, to the way his understanding of Dean shifted with each revelation of what Dean had done for him. And despite everything Sam ALREADY knew, his adult brain and life experiences gave him new perspective on things.

This maybe is a little rambley, but oh well. What was I saying...

Oh yeah. So sometimes people get upset about Dean being given like. More praise than he deserves or something, by having those "you practically raised me" lines and things. As if it's a retcon. But it's really not.

It's Sam growing up, and his brain constantly taking in new information and reshaping his understanding. It's Sam seeing how much Dean blames himself for things that weren't his fault, and wanting Dean to see the good he's done. It's Sam being able to see Dean's heart underneath his codependent or selfish decisions, and reaching out. It's Sam trying to remind Dean he can lean on Sam, too.

I've gone off on a tangent and made myself tear up lol. I don't remember where I wanted to end up anymore. Somewhere in the ether there's another rant about how Dean has a harder time allowing himself the introspection on his perception of Sam, and how this leads to Sam having to do a lot of the leading on the emotional maturity of their relationship, and how hard this is when the person you're leading still sees you as their kid, in whatever capacity.

But ultimately, of COURSE Sam does as much for Dean. Of course Sam has agency in this and isn't Dean's baby that had a pampered childhood vs Dean's horrible one. Sam and Dean acknowledging the actual circumstances of their childhood dynamic doesn't have to be a Samgirls vs Deangirls fucking situation lol.

#me.txt #my replies #sam n dean commentary #Dean's parentification #parentified!dean #fandom discourse #peer review #related posts #sam winchester commentary #dean winchester commentary

[agaypanic]

another Benny x human reader idea i have is that they are in the mist of a supernatural showdown/battle and it goes so horribly wrong that the reader nearly dies but luckily because of Benny being so protective of her he gets brave and uses his magic to save her life and from the fear of losing her

Prom Night (Benny Weir X Reader)

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Summary: When Jesse turns up at the prom, you and your friends have to stop him from trying to get Sarah in his clutches. In an attempt to get her to join him and his wannabe cult, he tries forcing her to turn into a full vampire by biting Ethan. But Ethan’s not the only one who gets a run in with death.

A/N: i don’t remember the exact plot of the S1 finale episode and i dont feel like looking it up or watching for reference. also fuck canon, the gang + reader are in junior/senior year bc when i went to school, prom (ik it’s not specifically prom in the episode but im making it prom) was only for upperclassmen and i still think it’s wild that the boys are 14-15 + freshmen/sophomores while the girls are 17-18 + juniors/seniors

***

You had been dreaming of this day since you were a little girl, as cliche as that sounded. The fancy dress, the cutest date, the perfect night. You had the dress; you looked with Sarah and Erica for weeks and even found shoes that matched perfectly. You had the date, your boyfriend Benny gave you the cheesiest and best promposal using magic and the help of your friends. Now, you were waiting to have the best night of your teenage years.

It started with Benny picking you up. Despite dating you for a few years, he was still stumbling over his words at the sight of you when you opened the door. 

“Wow, you’re-” Benny cut off his high-pitched voice by clearing his throat, scratching the back of his neck in slight embarrassment. “God, you look beautiful, Y/n.”

“You don’t look too bad yourself, Bens.” You grinned, letting him into the house. You gave him a kiss, and your mom startled you by snapping a picture with her camera.

“Okay, lovebirds, pose for me.” The two of you complied, arms wrapped around each other and smiles wide as your mom blinded you with the camera’s flash. After a few hundred pictures, she finally let you leave the house. 

You were surprised to step out onto your front porch and find a limo parked in front of your house. Benny held out his arm for you to take, and he opened the car door for you to slide in first.

“Benny, how did you afford this?” You asked, looking at the beautiful interior as the limo drove off. 

“Me and the guys chipped in. And I may have used my devilish charm to get a discount.” You and Benny both knew what he meant by ‘charm,’ especially by him wiggling his eyebrows. “We’re gonna go to Ethan’s to get him and Sarah, and then we’ll pick up Erica and Rory at their houses.”

“Oh my gosh, I can’t wait to see Sarah and Erica’s dresses. They’re so perfect.”

“Yeah, I bet they are.” Benny kissed the side of your head. “I wanted to pick you up first, though, so we could have some alone time. Everything’s been so crazy lately.”

You smiled, grabbing Benny’s arm to put over your shoulders so you could tuck yourself into his side. The two of you talked about little things that you weren’t able to tell each other due to monster fights or big homework assignments taking priority. As the limo became filled with your friends, the conversation split into multiple topics until you finally reached the school.

“You look good in blue.” You told your boyfriend, eyeing his outfit in the disco lights. “I was a bit scared that you would look kinda ridiculous in this suit, but you honestly look pretty hot.”

“I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t look at least a little ridiculous.” Benny laughed, leaning down to kiss your lips. “But thank you, baby. Wanna dance?”

“I’d love to.” You slipped your hand into his outreached one, and he dragged you to the center of the gym as a slow song came on.

The night you dreamed of was going perfectly. You danced with your boyfriend practically all night, although you danced with all your friends to the more upbeat songs. Benny couldn’t stop telling you how pretty you were, keeping at least one hand on you the whole evening.

“I’m getting kind of hungry!” You had to almost shout in Benny’s ear for him to hear you, being drowned out by the crowd of students and blaring music. “Should we get out of here?”

“Whatever you want, babe!” Benny responded, guiding you through the dancing crowd to the gym wall. 

“You go get the limo, I’ll round everyone up and meet you outside.” Benny nodded and gave you a parting kiss before exiting the gym, leaving you to find your friends. The task was pretty easy: you found Ethan and Sarah dancing in the corner of the dance floor, Rory trying to flirt with girls and absolutely tearing up the snack table, and Erica giving glares to anyone who got too close to her or asked her to dance with them.

You all left the gym together and headed for the front entrance, where Benny was probably waiting with the limousine. The hallways were dark, which was a bit strange, but none of you questioned it.

“Any ideas on where to go?” You asked, the front entrance in sight. “I just know I’m starving.”

“Oh! There’s this new place that opened up on the other side of town! Totally fancy.” Rory said.

“Are we sure we can afford fancy food?” Ethan asked. “We could get some fast food.” You laughed.

“Oh yeah. Let’s take the limo through a drive-through, I’d love to see that.”

“Leaving so soon?” A voice echoed down a hallway to your left. Everyone turned and tried looking down the dark hall to see a mysterious figure. The person walked towards you slowly, stopping when they were visible to you.

Jesse Black.

“Thought you’d save me a dance, Sarah.” He approached the girl, giving her a faux pout. You and Ethan moved to stand in front of her, staring Jesse down.

“Guys, are you ready?” Benny came through the front entrance in a hurry. “The limo’s waiting. Why are you- Oh.” He halted next to you when he saw Jesse, who smirked at him. Immediately, Benny put a hand on your elbow to gently tug you behind him, so he stood shoulder to shoulder with Ethan, shielding you and Sarah from Jesse’s view.

“Relax, Weird,” Jesse said, tilting his head. “I’m not here for your little girlfriend.” In a flash, Jesse pushed everyone away from Sarah with his telekinesis. You groaned in pain as you hit the floor, Benny landing next to you. “Heard you’re still a fledgling, Sarah. Honestly, I expected better.”

“Get away from her!” Ethan shouted, slowly standing up. Jesse ignored him, still looking at Sarah, slowly moving closer. With every step he took forward, she took a step back.

“I’ve been doing some thinking, baby. I want you back.”

“In your dreams, Jesse.”

“That’s cute, really.”

“I said get away from her!” Ethan launched himself at Jesse. But thanks to his vampire agility, Jesse grabbed the boy by the lapels of his suit jacket and threw him at the wall.

“Don’t hurt him!” Sarah shouted, ready to run to Ethan’s aide, but Jesse reached him first. Everyone froze as Jesse taunted Sarah, tearing Ethan’s sleeve near the cuff and putting his wrist close to his fangs.

“Look at yourself, Sarah. It’s like you have feelings for the little pipsqueak.” Jesse laughed as if the idea itself was a big joke. But Sarah didn’t respond. Jesse took her silence as confirmation. “Holy shit, you do.”

Erica and Rory ran at Jesse from opposite sides, hoping to catch him off guard. But Jesse unfortunately saw it coming, stepping back and pushing Rory into Erica, making them fall and slide away on the floor.

“You wanna be with him so bad?” Jesse asked Sarah, paying the rest of you barely any mind. “Let me help you with that.”

Ethan screamed in pain as Jesse sunk his fangs into his wrist. Ethan crumbled in the vampire’s hold until he was dropped onto the floor, writhing around as the venom started to spread. Sarah ran to the boy, trying to figure out how to help him. Jesse simply walked away.

“Hope you like him enough to spend all of eternity with him,” Jesse called out behind his shoulder. “If not, you’ll know where to find me.”

While Sarah whimpered frantic apologies to Ethan, Benny left your side to follow Jesse. Worried for your boyfriend’s safety and what he was about to do, you were hot on his tail.

“Get back here!” Benny shouted. You wondered how nobody had wandered out of the gym to see what all the commotion was. “I said get back here!” Benny shot a spark at the evil vampire, which was quickly dodged. In the blink of an eye, your boyfriend was held up against the wall in a chokehold, slowly struggling to breathe.

“Wanna be like your friend over there, Weir?” Jesse asked with an evil, toothy grin. He moved his hand to uncover the side of Benny’s neck, using his other hand to tilt his head to the side. 

It was a bit of a struggle with the heels and dress and all, but you launched yourself at Jesse, yanking his head away from your boyfriend’s neck before he could sink his teeth into him. Jesse let go of Benny to try and pull your limbs off of him, but you had an iron grip. 

Jesse backed himself into the row of lockers behind you, slamming your body into them. You yelped at the pain but did your best to hold onto him. Jesse didn’t appreciate your stubbornness, throwing his head back to headbutt you, which subsequently bashed your head against the metal behind you. It caught you off guard, the dizziness loosening your hold just enough for Jesse to push you off of him.

He turned around and picked you up, your wooziness worsening from getting up so fast, and threw you down the hall. You passed out from exhaustion and pain seconds after hitting the floor.

Jesse let out a low whistle and looked at Benny, who was sitting against the wall wheezing.

“She’s a little firecracker, isn’t she?” Jesse grinned, turning back to the exit. “Good luck with that.” Then he was gone.

Benny, too weak and lightheaded to stand, crawled over to you. He felt bad for passing Ethan to get to you, but Sarah and Rory seemed to be doing their best to help him. Benny soon reached your unconscious body, with Erica placing your head in her lap to keep it elevated.

“It’s bad, Benny.” She muttered to him, lifting a hand from under your head to show her fingers, which were lightly coated in blood. “She must’ve cut her head on the locker slats.”

“Shit.” Benny hissed, his own injuries forgotten as he focused on you. He didn’t have to be a doctor to know that head wounds were bad, probably even more since you were unconscious. “I don’t know what to do.” He said helplessly.

“Don’t you know a spell that can heal wounds or something?”

“Yeah, but not off the top of my head!”

“Well, remember!” Erica commanded. “I know you can remember, Benny. Do it.” Erica wished to be less harsh, but she knew she’d rather bully Benny into remembering a spell to heal you and apologize later than lose you.

Benny wracked his brain, trying to summon the spell to the front of his mind. But there seemed to be nothing but guilt. He should’ve known something bad would happen tonight, he should’ve prepared for it. He should’ve protected you from Jesse, but instead, you protected him. And now look at you, slowly losing a pulse.

“Benny,” Erica whispered, adjusting your limp body in her hold. “You can’t feel guilty for letting Y/n get hurt. You have to help her now. That’s what you owe her, not guilt.”

If Benny wasn’t so worried about you, he would’ve joked about Erica going soft. Carefully, he took you from Erica’s grasp, putting your head in his hands. Benny hated to take a guess in such a situation, but he placed his hands on your head wound, which was wet and sticky, and started muttering an incantation that he hoped was a healing spell.

Benny closed his eyes to keep focus, repeating his words in desperation. Erica watched the faint glow coming from his hands seep into the cut. Slowly but surely, Benny felt the wound seal itself shut, the only evidence that you had it in the first place being the blood that slightly matted your hair.

“Oh, thank God.” Benny let out a breath of relief as you took a deep and sudden breath. He lifted your body to hold you close to his chest while you slowly gained consciousness. His cheek rested against the top of your head, trying to comfort both you and himself.

“What happened?” You asked weakly, trying to sit up.

“Don’t worry about it,” Benny answered quickly, gently stopping you from leaving your place against him. “It’s okay now; you’re okay now.” Erica gave you a weak smile and stood, walking away to give you some space. “I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?” You asked, looking at Benny curiously.

“You’ve been looking forward to this night for, like, forever. And then it got ruined by all this.”

“You’re acting like it’s your fault, Bens.” You raised a hand to cup Benny’s cheek, and he immediately leaned into your touch.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Despite the recent events, you smiled up at him. “I wanted to have the perfect and most fun-filled night with the cutest guy I could ever love. And I got just that.”

“Your head was slammed into a locker, and you probably almost died.” You simply shrugged.

“Everyone has their own definition of fun.” The two of you laughed quietly, and you sat up enough to kiss Benny’s lips. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” He responded, kissing you again before hugging you tight against him.

#agaypanic #benny weir x reader #benny weir #my babysitter's a vampire x reader #my babysitter's a vampire

[gingergofastboatsmojito]

My Sydcarmy dream happy ending? Or Storer's?

This is the 1st time I actually envisioned a whole scene with music and all in my head. I always had the feeling that the end of the show is gonna be like the final scene of Braciole: All together, the found family, maybe at the restaurant, maybe not, and just having dinner and having a good time.

After that "vision" I had, I found out that Storer mentioned in a panel that food had always saved them as a family, he was talking about his own family. So I figured: OK so since the show he created, the whole Bear universe, revolves around food, that's gonna be the ending. I felt he kinda confirmed my "vision", my take, the one I had as soon as I finished watching S1. I could already see that ending and believe in it wholeheartedly. And it looked like that, but blurry, because it was just season 1, and even though I knew there was a S2 that I hadn't watched yet (watched it the next day, actually), the overthinker in me was already daydreaming about THE SHOW'S FINALE.

OK, cut to me obsessing about this show after watching S2, that IMO was even better than S1, which is VERY RARE nowadays on TV, and then me re-watching both seasons and dissecting them till the cows go home and then re-watching S2 only over and over to analyze every single layer of Sydcarmy as humanly possible, and literally cutting my working hours to have more time to do that LMAO! etc. So, I ended up noticing the whole script structure Storer (and Calo) came up with, it's Austenian. And at that point, I was already a Sydcarmy soldier, of course, but when I picked up on the Austenticity of it all I FUCKING FLIPPED OUT because that gave me hope. It meant that the Sydcarmy endgame I had in mind could very well happen seeing as it was IC and Austenian, and it fit the slow burn process I had already picked up on right after watching Braciole, as I mentioned HERE. It all made total sense. How will it happen exactly, IDK, I wish I did but Storer is diabolical and way better than me at plot twists, so I won't even try to guess, but I will put my trust in the Austenian arc he swears by.

Me growing up reading Austen (real footage):

For those who haven't read Jane Austen, her trademark is: taking something painful and making it beautiful, finding beauty in pain, and always building towards a happy ending and redemption arc for her main characters, unless she kills them first and if she does, we can be sure that death will serve the happy ending purpose anyway (AKA: Michael, Syd's mother and probably Cicero, I wanna believe Donna will live, but I'm on the fence about her, I do believe she will be redeemed after Nat's baby is born, either way), she will take that death and make it worthwhile and beautiful. She doesn't stand for unhappy endings, but she does include bittersweetness in the endgame of some of her characters, usually not the A ones, but the B ones. The Alphas usually get a relatively "clean happy ending". Relatively being the operative word and what we can ALWAYS expect no matter what, is a "teaching", a lesson learned by the main characters. They walk out of that story as new men/women after having learned that/those lesson/s. She does this. She slow burns romances left and right, kills characters off, takes losses and turns them into gains, and builds towards a happy ending. That's an Austenian structure right there. It's usually used in Romance movies, rarely seen on this kinda TV shows, but here we are. The Storer-Calo duo are giving us Austenian characters in a nutshell.

So, back to my point, I always had this take and wishful thinking even, but up until now, I was never able to actually envision a final scene that could be actually canonical. I mean, I could even fucking write the whole script of that whole final ep, line by line, for every character if they allowed me to. I have the music in mind, the outfits, the whole set, and the final take that faiths to black and reads THE END. And no, this is not just a wishful thinking list or prediction post, it's an actual argumentative outline about why I think The Bear’s series finale will look like the Happy version of Fishes:

And just because Carmy said this, I will take a wild guess, this is gonna be part of the menu:

He associated them with his, and I quote: "fucked up family life" end of quote. So he wanted to reversion them:

And Marcus, based on Sydcarmy's pointers, came up with The Michael Cannoli:

I am also assuming, Sydcarmy will be endgame because of the aforementioned reasons, but I'm not sure Storer will actually show it on camera, maybe just insinuate it, because we all know he is diabolical and also because that's how the original movie script turned into TV script ended before Storer knew The Bear was going to be picked up for a 2° season, he always had this ending in mind for The Bear, behold:

So what I'm saying is: We Sydcarmy truthers have an actual shot here. I also dive into this theory HERE but from a totally different angle.

This happy Sydcarmy endgame we want is at arms' reach.

Now I see it more clearly.

Who's with me?

@ciaonicole85 thanks for the inspo to write this post, it all came to mind when I saw yours.

#gingerpovs #sydcarmy for life #sydcarmy #sydney x carmy #the bear #carmy x sydney #syd x carmen #carmy berzatto #sydney adamu #carmen x sydney #AUSTENIAN

[starbylers]

Nothing is more headache-inducing than when people say ‘Give me a single piece of evidence that Mike likes Will romantically’ because you just know what they’re looking for is simple, easily summed up and understood statements like overt flirting and obvious verbal hints etc. But this is a friends—best friends—to lovers story. Set in a completely different time period. It’s obviously going to be more nuanced than that?

The other couples on this show did not start from the same basis as Byler. Byler have been best friends since they were tiny. They’re also both boys. It’s also the 80s. Lumax, Jancy and Jopper were pretty much obviously romantically entangled from the minute their stories intertwined. (They are friends to lovers, yes, but the platonic side of their relationships was not hugely explored before their romantic interest became obvious, although they were still all friends before dating/kissing which is why they work). They are also all heterosexual couples.

Is it not obvious that Byler is probably going to look a little different in terms of its build up? Is it not obvious that it’s not as simple as ‘Mike likes Will and is 100% aware of it and cool with it and therefore treats him exactly as he would a girl he fancies’? Can people not consider context such as hmm if Byler was going to happen as they say, that means Mike would like boys, in the 80s, which would probably be a pretty difficult thing to navigate and come to terms with so maybe his feelings for Will aren’t going to be as in your face and overtly romantic as I might expect from the other pairings. And is it also not obvious that given M*leven is a canon couple, Byler happening would have to be intended as a plot twist, a twist which would be redundant if they gave obvious hints that Mike is in love?

But even keeping that in mind, Jancy, Lumax and Jopper have behaved in very similar ways to how Mike and Will have consistently done aka intimate heart to hearts, confiding in each other about their problems and fears, really emotional scenes that build the bond between them. And even aside from those glaring similarities that go right over peoples heads:

Mike confides in Will in a way he just doesn’t with El, there’s a deep sense of trust there

Mike pays extremely close attention and takes care of Will hinted in s1 and shoved in our faces in s2, a desire to protect that rises way above the rest of their friends

He treats Will with miles more maturity and compassion than he does El in s4, and is in fact made to look and feel really happy by Will’s literal (disguised) feelings in the van

And those are just a few examples of how strong and close their bond is on Mike’s end. People just brush this stuff off as platonic because well, yeah…they are friends. But it’s friends to lovers!! And a slowburn plot twist at that! Their relationship for the entire show builds the foundation for a realisation that the perfect person has been right in front of him the whole time! We might not see Mike giving Will apologetic M&Ms or calling him pretty, but what we do see over and over is how the two of them work really well together, as a team. A million times better than Mike does with his own girlfriend.

The only real difference with Byler and the other couples is that the obvious romantic vibes for those couples began way early on. Because they could. Because there was nothing really preventing them from realising and acting on their feelings other than ‘we’re attracted to each other but oh I’m dating someone else or oh we’re scared to take that next step’. When it comes to Byler, Mike and Will and Mike specifically have much bigger barriers to contend with. Mike may not understand what he feels for Will is actually love. Mike may not even realise he likes boys, he’s had a gf this whole time after all. Mike may be really scared to even subtly act on his feelings if he is aware. And these people expect Mike to be smiling all lovesick at Will, staring into his eyes, saying romantically coded things? (The biggest joke of all is of course that these things actually have happened but when they do? It’s oh they’re just good friends stop being delusional!!)

Byler is just a very complex and nuanced relationship, you can’t take the same approach to analysing it as you would M*leven like oh proof Mike likes El? That one scene where he called her pretty. He said he was scared she’d leave him. He said he loved her. It’s very easy to cherry pick and point to these moments, but to understand Byler you have to look at the bigger picture and not everyone’s willing to take the time to do that I guess 🤷🏽‍♀️

#byler #anti mileven #a long one

[hugmekenobi]

S2: The Bad Batch (5)

Chapter Five: Entombed

Gif by @tommy-millers

Hunter x femaleJedi!reader

Series Summary: Some time has passed since everything that happened at Kamino and you and the Batch are trying to figure out your place in the rapidly changing Imperial galaxy. And you're having to do all this whilst figuring out where your relationship with Hunter fits into it.

Chapter Summary: A proposed mission by Phee interrupts a planned break for you and Hunter and this mission is anything but relaxing.

Masterlist for S1

<Previous Chapter

Genre: Friends (idiots) to Lovers (we're in the lovers stage now)

Chapter Warnings: I make up a timeline, fluff and the slight awkwardness that comes with these fools figuring out relationship stuff, canon-typical violence, couple brief instances of mild innuendo, kissing, Phee gets a bit of a hard time (will not be a consistent theme), mild injury mention/description

Word Count: 7.7K

Author's notes: Another one done! Appreciate the patience, I had a few days of just feeling really tired which threw off the schedule a bit lol but hope y'all enjoy! Excited to start work on Ch6!

“Can I ask you something?”

You stopped absentmindedly browsing the various stalls and narrowed your eyes at the man whose hand was currently intertwined with yours. “Why do you sound nervous?”

“Probably because I’m going to make a mess of this.” He mumbled self-consciously.

You continued to look at him sceptically as you began to walk back to Cid’s parlour. The two of you had wanted a bit of time to yourselves whilst you were free from any missions and had decided to grab some time away. You all suspected the shortage of work came from a petty Cid who didn’t take too kindly to Hunter ensuring that she stopped any further cutbacks on the shares she granted you all.

In a weird way, it had a small silver lining. Wrecker and Omega now had some free time and were running an errand of the scavenging variety for Tech and there had been some time to do something just the two of you. Of course, credits were short, so it took the form of just a casual wander around, but you didn’t mind it at all.

“You know that new hotel that just opened up?” Hunter continued.

“The one that looks too nice for a place like this and is cash only and most definitely a front for money laundering?”

“Yeah.”

“What about it?”

“Well… we’re not on a mission… and uh I figured we could use the time off to get some proper time away with um just the two of us. What do you think?”

Of all the things for him to suggest, you wouldn’t have guess that. You turned and gave him a broad smile. “I’d love to!”

“Yeah?” Hunter asked, his face brightening.

“Yeah!” You confirmed happily and you gave him a quick kiss on the lips. “But what’s the real occasion? Usually booking time on the Marauder works just fine and you don’t get all nervous asking for it. Spill.”

Hunter looked away from you for a moment and rubbed the side of his neck awkwardly. “I don’t know, it’s stupid really.”

“Hunter, I promise I will not think it is stupid. Tell me.” You prompted gently.

Hunter cleared his throat. “I had thought it could be a kinda belated six-month anniversary type… thing….” He trailed off as he awaited your reaction, but you gave nothing away. He hesitated for a moment, taking your silence as a sign he’d gotten something wrong. “That’s a thing people do, right? People who aren’t in our particular situation I mean.”

Your knowledge on the subject was just as limited as his but you loved that he was saying it. The thought had crossed your mind, but you hadn’t expected anything, the cards just hadn’t been dealt in your favour. Until now. Evidently you were silent in your appreciation for too long because Hunter started backtracking.

 “I’m sorry I missed the actual day and um things have been a bit hectic, we can just forget the whole thing and move on. We don’t have-” Your finger on his lips interrupted his ramble.

You didn’t think it was possible to love him more yet somehow seeing him pushing himself out of his normal comfort zone for something like this made it possible. “What you have just offered is incredibly sweet and thoughtful. I had just never considered it as possibility given our rather hectic schedule and I didn’t want to put any unnecessary pressure on things. Also, with regards to the date, that’s flexible given the uh other events that day brought.” You said uneasily before you wrapped an arm around his waist and snuggled into him as the two of you continued your stroll. “I love you. It sounds perfect.”

“Good.” Hunter replied softly. He’d pushed his comfort zone further than he ever had before by bringing this whole idea up but your enthusiasm and not feeling entitled to something like this in the first place made him feel much better about the whole thing.

The two of you turned the corner to where Cid’s parlour was and started to slow down. You weren’t quite ready to go back yet. You broke the quiet first. “How exactly are we going to pay for this?”

“Eh I kinda figured with our skillsets… we… um… wouldn’t really need to.”

You pulled back so you were walking more side by side rather than you pressed into an uncoordinated angle at his side and your smile widened. “Law breaking and room service? You sure know how to treat a woman.”

“Does it count as law breaking if the establishment is most likely breaking the law anyway?” Hunter disputed in a good-humoured manner.

“Call it a grey area.” You said with a dismissive wave of your hand.

Hunter hummed and gently pushed you back against the wall. “You’re definitely comfortable with this?” He needed to make sure. In an ideal galaxy, he’d actually have the funds to take you to a place like that and to one that wasn’t involved in money laundering. Of course, in an ideal galaxy, going on a break would involve leaving a home that wasn’t quite as portable as his current one.

“Definitely.” You confirmed, kissing him once more. After a few seconds, you pulled away with an important realisation. “There will be a proper bed!”

“I hear that’s part of the appeal.” Hunter said drily as he left a light trail of kisses along your neck.

“You know what that means though?”

Hunter brought his eyes up to meet yours.

“We could actually sleep for 8 hours! Come on, when was the last time you could say that?” You said playfully.

Hunter huffed out a laugh. “Silly me for thinking something else.”

You pretended to look offended by the suggestion. “Get that mind out the gutter, Sergeant.” You nudged past him and made your way towards the steps that led down to Cid’s. But yes, we gotta earn those 8 hours after all.

Hunter caught up to you and grabbed you and playfully imparted a series of quick kisses on your neck whilst he tickled your sides.

You couldn’t help laughs that left you and you batted his hands away. The good-natured fun swiftly evaporated as you both saw Phee sitting in the parlour entertaining Bolo and Ketch.

You both shared a look of mild irritation. You hadn’t really warmed to the pirate yet, the only thing she had going for her right now was she seemed good with Omega, and you sensed good vibes between her and Tech. The two of you walked over to the bar counter where Echo and Tech were sitting. You tuned into the story she was telling Cid’s two regulars.

“I had no choice but to fend off the Octomorph. Bare-handed.”

You rolled your eyes at the familiar tale and wondered which parts would receive embellishment this time whilst Bolo and Ketch released gasps of admiration.

“This story changes every time she tells it.” Tech said.

“You’ve been listening every time she tells it?” You responded elbowing him in a teasing fashion.

Tech just furrowed his brow at you and went back to his datapad.

Hunter just sighed. “Those two’ll believe anything.”

You glanced at him. It was like being back in this place sucked all the energy out of him and any pleasant mood he was once in was just replaced by tiredness and your heart went out to him. A night away would do him some good. The sound of the door opening, and Wrecker’s laugh caused you all to look towards them.

“Mission accomplished! One compressor, as requested.” He said cheerfully as he tossed it to Tech.

Tech caught and examined it. “Ah. Nicely done, Wrecker.”

“That’s not all we got.” Omega said triumphantly as she dumped the various other things she found with Wrecker onto the table.

Tech wasn’t too impressed. “This assortment, however, could have been left at the junkyard.”

“Easy, quick draw.” Phee interrupted as she examined the pile. “Let the expert take a look.”

“It is a manifold regulator. And a broken one at that.” Tech pointed out as she picked the item up.

You, Hunter, and Echo all shared a look, but small smiles graced your faces. You were still trying to warm up to her but the rapport she and Tech had developed wasn’t lost on you and it made you happy to see.  

“Thanks, Clone Obvious.” Phee clapped back. It was then something in the stack caught her eye. “Hang on.” She picked up the flat, circular object and slid back part of it. “These look like coordinate markings.”

Omega gasped excitedly, “Coordinate markings?”

Phee turned back to face her droid. “Mel, take a look at this.”

Mel waddled over and shone a light through it which turned a pale purple.

“I was right. This is a compass.” Phee revealed. “One from long before our time.”

Mel let out a series of beeps.

“These coordinates are in the Kaldar Trinary system.” Phee explained.

Tech entered the name into his datapad. “I have no record of that system.”

“Because the best treasures aren’t usually found on maps.”

“There’s treasure there?!” Omega asked eagerly.

“Without a doubt.” Phee replied. “This compass is a rare find. You’ve got a good eye.” She complimented the young girl.

Hunter’s attention had become more focused on what Phee was saying and he was studying Omega’s reaction to it. He had a sinking feeling that a dangerous and unpredictable mission was heading his way and sure enough, Omega turned around with the enthusiastic request.

“Let’s go check it out. You heard Phee.”

“She says a lot of things.” He replied reservedly as he crossed his arms.

“I can go alone and take the spoils for myself. Or we go together and split it 50-50.” Phee offered as she put her arm around Omega and handed her the compass.

“Please, Hunter. What if there really is treasure there?” Omega asked keenly,

“Yeah. We’re not on a mission.” Wrecker added.

“It could be fun.” Omega said by means to convince him.

“The last time we went after treasure, it didn’t go as planned.” Echo countered.

“Yeah, I’m with Echo on that.” You agreed.

“You weren’t working with a professional then.” Phee said confidently.

“Right. ‘Professional.’” You grumbled with a scoff.

Phee ignored you and kept her attention on Hunter. “What do you say?”

Hunter looked to Echo who nodded in reluctant agreement before he looked to you and started to point between you and him. “We had…” He trailed off as he saw the hopeful and intrigued faces in front of him. His eyes darted back towards yours.

You gave a ‘well, what can we do’ shrug. You weren’t thrilled with this idea, the thought of poking around in a place where it sounded like it would be better left alone made you uncomfortable. Not to mention the other plans you had once had but the squad came first. Guess we gotta raincheck.

Hunter heaved an exhausted sigh and dipped his head in unenthusiastic agreement.

The others began to make their way out, but you hung back as you noticed the way Hunter’s shoulders sagged as he watched them go. You placed a concerned hand on his shoulder.

Hunter appreciated the gesture and brought his hand up to rest it on yours. “What do you reckon the chances are that we find the treasure and get to leave without any trouble?”

You chuckled. “Just remember to breathe and it’s probably for the best that we go. I dread to think what would happen if we left them with Phee and Echo was on his own to supervise them.” With that, you both walked out the parlour to catch up with the rest of the group.

--

You and Hunter were stood in the hallway and watched as he played with his vibroblade, the sight always sent a warmth thrumming through your veins, but you knew he wasn’t doing it for your sake. Omega hadn’t left Phee’s side since you’d all boarded and she was mirroring all Phee did and you gathered Hunter was feeling a bit left out. Something you found rather endearing, but you were sure he would deny any such suggestion.

“How many uncharted planets have you been to?” Omega asked Phee as she copied Phee’s relaxed pose. Her hands were behind her head whilst her feet rested on top of Mel.

“Too many to count.” Phee replied before she sat up straight. “That’s why I need Mel to keep track of all the legends I’ve chased down over the years. That’s the life of a treasure hunter.”

Hunter stopped twirling the blade. “Don’t you mean ‘pirate’?”

Phee turned the seat to face him. “I prefer ‘Liberator of Ancient Wonders’.”

“Yeah, I’m sure the way you ‘liberate’ them is perfectly legit and the cash benefits are an added bonus and not the core reason. Only a pirate would have an attitude like that.” You said cynically with a frown.

Phee just shrugged before she faced Omega again. “Wanna hear about the time I found the Blade of Zakata Par?”

“Yes, I do!”

Hunter sighed as he sheathed his blade.

Aww, I was quite content to continue watching.

He gave you a half smile.

You came and stood beside him and gently pushed your hip into his. You okay?

Hunter indicated over to where Omega was staring wide eyed at Phee as she told her story. “Just don’t really want Omega getting caught up in all that. We still don’t really know her or how trustworthy she is.” He kept his voice low.

“Yeah, I don’t like her all that much either, but we haven’t exactly been amazing role models in terms of the ways to make a living department. Are you sure there isn’t more to it than simple distrust?” You whispered.

Hunter tilted his head at you. “Like what?”

“She looks up to you and now there’s someone else who is getting her attention.”

“She looks up to all of us.” Hunter deflected.

You gave him a pointed look. “Hunter, you know your relationship with her is different.”

Hunter let out a heavy breath. He wouldn’t quite admit to being jealous, but he figured he’d better check his attitude anyway. “What do you suggest I do? I can’t pretend I’m thrilled with what’s developing there.”

“Give Phee a chance. Maybe she’ll surprise us all.” You offered optimistically.

Hunter raised his eyebrows at you. “This is coming from you? Miss ‘only a pirate would have an attitude like that’.” He quoted back to you.

You jokingly punched his arm. “Fine, I’ll take my own advice too. We can both be open-minded together… like people in relationships do.” You added light-heartedly.

Hunter rolled his eyes before he planted a light kiss to your temple and the two of you made your way into the cockpit as the ship prepared to land.

--

You took in the dry, grey, and quite frankly dead, environment around you. It looked like whatever had once thrived here and been completely obliterated. The ground was dusty and cracked beneath your feet as you walked. You let Omega and Phee walk past you and you watched as Omega mimicked Phee in picking up a branch from a dead plant.

“I’m not picking up any signs of civilization whatsoever.” Tech said as he examined his datapad. “Which makes sense, considering this land appears to have been razed and left uninhabitable.”

“Who’d wanna hide treasure here?” Echo questioned.

A rapid beeping interrupted any potential answers.

“What was that?” Wrecker asked.

Echo studied the compass in his hand. “The compass just activated.” He held in in front of him and walked a few paces behind him. As the beeping started to fade, he turned around and walked a few steps forward and the beeping increased. “It’s telling us to go south.”

“Let’s go!” Omega said keenly as she grabbed the compass from Tech and ran off in front.

“Now she’s got the right attitude.” Phee commented. “Wait up, kid!” She called as she ran after her.

You released a distant sigh as the others wandered off too.

“What?” Hunter asked when he realised you had made no moves to follow them.

“I’m just thinking that right about now we would be sitting in a hotel room and scamming our way through a room service meal.”

Hunter exhaled heavily at the thought. That sounded very appealing right now. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m not mad at you.” You reassured him. “If this pans out, we’ll get a better deal out of this than Cid would’ve ever offered us. I’m just thinking about what could’ve been. It’s my way of coping as we do this treasure hunt. Come one, we gotta catch up.”

--

You had been walking for a while and along the way, you had put your coverings up whilst the others donned their helmets since you weren’t sure what exactly would be waiting for you on this treasure hunt.

Omega stared at the compass as the beeping had suddenly stopped. “It’s a dead end.” She faced the mountainside. “Maybe we go around the mountain?” She mused.

“Or it’s telling us to go inside it.” Phee thought instead as she stared at the pile of rocks. She lowered her lantern and walked over to the rocks and slid her vibrosword in the gap in between the first two. One of the rocks fell away and she felt a mild gust of wind blow through. “Big guy, help me move this.”

Initially, Wrecker forgot that this sorta thing would fall back on his shoulders. He turned his helmet towards you first.

You jutted your chin forward in Phee’s direction. Well, I can’t do it.

Wrecker cleared his throat and marched forward and began to push the boulders away. A loud rumbling meant he and Phee had to quickly retreat back as the topside boulders come crashing down to reveal a gap in the mountain.

“Look! It’s a secret entrance.” Omega said breathlessly before she followed Phee inside.

“Oh! It is a secret entrance.” Wrecker repeated in awe.

Hunter didn’t want to linger too long so he tailed after Phee and Omega with the rest of you falling in behind him.

--

Flashlights and lanterns illuminate the small entryway room.

“Whoa.” Omega breathed as she examined the wall in the circular chamber you all now found yourselves in.

You looked at the wall and you could feel a deep sense of history resided in this place and you all definitely didn’t belong here. It made you feel rather uneasy.

Hunter noticed the way your back had stiffened and he gently touched your wrist.

You glanced down at his hand and then at the concerned helmet that was staring at you. I’m okay.

“Hunter, these etchings are easily a thousand years old.” Tech said to his brother.

“Older. Much older.” Phee corrected as she looked at the wall. “If I’m right, which is always, we are standing in the entranceway to Skara Nal.” She revealed as she faced the group behind her, but she was met with blank stares.

“To what?” Echo asked.

“Every pirate out there’s heard the legend of Skara Nal. It traces back to the ancients.”

“You mean the Jedi?” Echo said.

“No, they weren’t here.” You said quietly as you traced the markings on the wall, only half paying attention to what Phee was saying. The Jedi weren’t around when this place was.

Phee studied you curiously as your voice had taken on a tone she’d never heard before and it wasn’t one she expected from you. “She’s right. It’s older than that.”

“So, what kinda treasure’s in there?” Wrecker asked.

“The Heart of the Mountain.” Phee said in a dramatic and hushed fashion. “And we’re going to liberate it.” She faced the wall with the levers and shone her light to get a better idea of what you all would be dealing with. It would seem that each lever was responsible for that portion of the wall and moving them would see the smaller stone cubes with the markings on them align and, with any luck, open a doorway.  

A bad feeling sank deep within your stomach upon being here. You really didn’t want to disturb anything, let alone the heart of the mountain.

“How do we get in?” Omega whispered.

“It’s a pattern.” Phee stated. “We need to align the symbols in the right order.” She braced her hands against the first bottom lever and moved it counterclockwise, but she couldn’t reach the one above her. “Some help would be nice.” She said pointedly.

Wrecker moved forward and pushed in the same direction Phee had done with the bottom one. The three symbols fell into place and a rumbling shook the inside of the chamber.

“That doesn’t sound good.” Hunter said nervously as the rumbling continued.

The ground you were all standing on suddenly spun and a door slammed across the way you came in and now your only way out was blocked.

You heard a cracking sound above you. “Wrecker, watch-” You didn’t need to finish your warning as you watched Phee push Wrecker out of the way of the falling boulder. Alright, you had to give her a point for that.

Hunter dashed around the rock to make sure his brother was okay and was relieved to see that he was.

“Booby traps. Now it’s getting interesting.” Phee said calmy as she stood up and massaged her shoulder.

“You’ve just trapped us in here.” Hunter snapped at her before he walked away to assess the new situation.

“Relax. There’s always a way out.” Phee replied breezily. “We just have to find it. It’s part of the puzzle.”

You caught Hunter’s shoulder as he walked past you. You looked at his covered face with concerned eyes. Breathe, remember? We’re all okay. Worst comes to worst, I’ll open the door and we can leave this whole treasure hunt behind.

Hunter took a deep breath and nodded before the two of you separated to continue to scan the room.

Phee caught the way the two of you were looking at each other. It looked like the two of you were having a conversation without any words. She wanted to put it down to couple intuition, but her instincts told her there was more to it, especially because something similar had happened with Wrecker earlier. For now, there were more pressing matters but her curiosity about this was certainly piqued.

Omega kept opening and closing the flap on the compass and it was then she noticed she could peer through the glass. She examined each of the symbols on the stones on the wall and found that some of them were shining with a pale blue light. She gasped, “Wait! We’re aligning the wrong symbols!” She ran up the boulder that had fallen and looked at more of the stones through the compass lens.

“What do you see?” Hunter asked her as he looked at the area that she was.

“Some of the symbols are glowing.”

“Here. Lay the compass on my lantern.” Phee directed as she placed her lantern on the rock.

Omega did so and sure enough, there was enough light being reflected now to illuminate all the symbols that they needed to line up.

Wrecker pushed the middle level clockwise to bring around the correct symbol for that row and then he and Tech pushed anticlockwise again on the lower level to put all three of the glowing symbols in a row.

The floor moved again, only this time, it reopened your original entrance and revealed another one for you to go through to continue your way into the mountain.

“Mel, note the coordinates and wait here.” Phee ordered her droid who beeped in confirmation. “Come on, kid. Time to go exploring.” She led the way and Omega fell in behind her.

Wrecker had shoved his helmet on top of his head and looked towards Hunter. “Looks like we’re doing this.” He said with a chuckle before he started walking.

“My interest is certainly piqued.” Tech mused as he kept his eyes on his datapad whilst he followed Wrecker.

Echo said nothing, he only glanced at Hunter and tilted his head in the direction of the others before he followed his brother.

Hunter looked at you and glanced back at the door behind the two of you.

Wanting to make a break for it?

Hunter grunted a short laugh. “Tempted to but no. Come one, we don’t wanna fall behind.”

You let out another wistful sigh.

“Now what?” Hunter queried as he walked past you.

Now, I’m thinking about the lacy red number that I was planning on wearing tonight.

Hunter stopped in his tracks and swallowed thickly under his helmet. “What?” He asked, his voice cracking.

The modulation of his helmet couldn’t hide the way his voice broke up. You smirked under your mask. “Yeah, I would’ve finally let Lyra give me it after weeks of telling her there was no point and I’d feel too awkward to ever wear it. Thought I finally had an occasion to fight that fear.” You sighed pensively again. “Guess not.”

“Are you trying to torture me?” He rasped.

“No, just simply keeping you informed of my coping and thought process.” You said cheekily as you stepped past him and patted the centre of his armoured chest.

He groaned and he wasn’t sure how but somehow, he was able to get his feet moving and follow you into the passageway.

--

“So, what exactly is the Heart of the Mountain?” Omega asked in a hushed whisper as she led the way with Phee.

“A rare crystalised stone. Some say it’s the key to an ancient power. Which makes it worth more than you could possibly imagine.”

“Sounds like it should be something that should remain untouched.” You muttered.

Phee faced you but walked backwards as she addressed you. “Don’t you have any curiosity? Instead of judging my line of work, why don’t you try and be open minded and try to experience the joy of the puzzle.”

“I don’t like messing with ancient relics. If it’s been here for hundreds of years, who are we to take it?” You argued. You guessed some sentiments expressed during history time at the temple had stuck with you.

“Open your mind.” Phee reiterated before she faced forwards again.

Hunter nudged your shoulder with his. “That you taking your own advice?” He teased.

“Shut up.” You grumbled. “I’ll get there eventually.”

You all walked down the dark tunnel- your only sources of light being your torches- but as you continued walking, you got a cold chill in your blood and you and Hunter both slowed to a stop at the same time. Echo and Wrecker followed your example.

“I have run a preliminary analysis of the minerals in those stone slabs. They predate the Republic. Phee may be onto something.” Tech said before he realised that his brothers had stopped walking and halted also.

Phee and Omega turned around when they noticed that the rest of you had stopped walking.

“Hey, tough guys. Want to pick up the pace?” Phee said.

It was the Omega noticed the way both your hand fell to your blaster with Hunter’s doing the same. “(Y/N), Hunter?” She asked warily.

It was then a deep growl echoed throughout the tunnel and you all pointed your flashlights to the hole in the ceiling. When nothing immediately appeared amiss, you focused in on the Force around you and it was then you sense the creature above you. “Wrecker, above you!”

Wrecker heard your warning a split second too late. The creature had pounced and pinned him to the ground, the only thing keeping the animal’s teeth from his throat was the grip he had on its horns. “It’s drooling on me!” Wrecker complained.

You all fired your blasters at the creature, but they had little effect.

Hunter made to move closer to the animal, but it lashed a paw out and smacked him, causing him to fall to his knees.

You took a second to make sure he was okay and when he got to his feet, you turned your attention back to the creature which had now gone back up to the gap in the wall and was attempting to bring Wrecker with it. You all paused your fire whilst Wrecker punched the side of the creature’s face.

Wrecker managed to rip a horn out which led to the animal dropping him.

Once he was safely out the way, you all continued to fire at the creature which caused it to retreat but the barrage of fire on the decrepit wall meant that a cascade of rocks came tumbling down.

--

You coughed and waved the dust away from your eyes and looked ahead of you. The hallway was now completely blocked with Echo, Tech, and Wrecker on one side and you, Hunter, Omega, and Phee on the other. A less than ideal situation.

“Echo, Tech, Wrecker, are you okay?” Omega asked urgently into her comm.

“We’re fine, but there’s too much debris. We can’t get through.” Echo replied.

“The readings in here are not as clear, but I can track your position.” Tech chimed in as he walked towards another cavity in the wall. “There are small side tunnels throughout. We will navigate a path and rendezvous with you at the other end.”

“Good. Then we’ll keep looking for the treasure.” Phee said into Omega’s comm. She felt you and Hunter pointedly staring at her. “What? That’s what we’re here for. They’ll be fine. Come on. Fortune awaits.”

She’s got a thing for Tech and she’s good with Omega. She’s got a thing for Tech and she’s good with Omega. You chanted inwardly since those were her only two saving graces right now. You looked at Hunter.

“Be open minded and breathe, right?” He said.

“Yup.” You said with a deep sigh before the two of you set off after her and Omega.

--

You all paused as you were greeted by the sight of the cylindrical tunnel but the sound of growling in the distance was too close for Hunter’s liking.

“We need to keep moving.” He said as he stepped into the tunnel first.

You watched him anxiously. Something was off, this felt far too simple. A thought you and Phee seemed to share.

“Hang on. This is too easy.” She said aloud.

Omega shone the compass on the ceiling and gasped. “Look, there are more markings.”

 Your heartrate skyrocketed. Oh no. Hunter, stop! You dashed after him.

Hunter’s step faltered slightly.

“Wait!” Phee yelled as she fell into step beside you.

Your stomach dropped as you saw the ground beneath Hunter’s feet completely crumble away and he was falling through the floor.

Hunter acted quickly and threw his grappling hook.

You lunged and grabbed onto it and started to pull. Phee wrapped her arms around your waist to help and Omega held onto Phee’s as she joined the effort.

It felt like forever before you saw him reappear. Once you were sure he was back on solid ground, you let the wire go and kneeled beside him. “You and heights has got to be my least favourite combination.” You said shakily as you held him close to you.

Hunter squeezed you tightly before he pulled away and tenderly pressed his helmet to your forehead. “I’m okay.” He said, though his breathing was still coming through in short pants. That was too close.

“I think we have to find a way to walk across the ceiling.” Omega suggested as she looked through the compass and examined the symbols above her.

“My thoughts exactly.” Phee concurred.

You clenched your jaw so hard that your teeth hurt. You helped Hunter to his feet.

“You’re just making this up as you go.” Hunter said through heavy breaths.

“It’s part of the fun. Loosen up, Bandana. You’re in good hands.”

Now, you were pretty sure your lip was bleeding. You have a free pass to ignore my advice. I used mine earlier.

“We have almost died three times already.” He argued.

“This reminds me of the time I tracked down the Belmost diadem-”

“I don’t care.” Hunter interrupted sharply.

“Ooh. Someone’s in a mood.”

“Phee…” You warned her with a glare.

Hunter sighed and spoke calmly. “I’m only interested in us getting outta here in one piece.”

“It fits.” Omega had been paying little attention to the quarrel and had instead been looking at finding their way across. It was then she had noticed a gap in the wall that fit the shape of the compass and sure enough, the compass had slotted in perfectly. The symbols turned white, and Omega turned the notch so that the tunnel rotated, and the markings were now on the floor. She chucked a rock on them and was pleased to see that it safely rolled across. “All clear.” She went to get the compass, but it was engrained in the wall. “The compass. I can’t get it.”

Phee laid a reassuring hand on the young girl’s shoulder. “It’s served its purpose. Skara Nal’s reclaimed it.”

“Skara Nal has reclaimed it.” Omega repeated with wonder before she started to walk.

“So, we have to navigate this death trap without it?” Hunter asked Phee.

“Good thing you have me.” Phee replied positively before she walked away.

You and Hunter shared a glance as you both drew your blasters and followed.

--

 “What took you so long?” Hunter asked as he saw his brothers emerge from the side tunnel.

“Phee thinks we’re getting close to the treasure.” Omega said eagerly before she faced the door the three of you had reached.

The three of them walked over to you.

“What type of puzzle is this?” Tech queried as he shone his torch on the door.

“Don’t overthink it, brown eyes.” She let go of her lantern and traced her hands down the centre of the door and paused when she reached the bottom and pulled out a switch. “Sometimes a door’s…” She trailed off and watched as the door slowly creaked open. “Just a door.” She winked at Omega as she saw the excited look on her face.

Phee shone her light into the vault, and she spotted the target. “There. The Heart of the Mountain.” She jumped onto the side ledge and started to make her way towards it, with you, Omega and Hunter following her whilst the others waited by the exit.

You all paused on the first ledge and watched her go towards to item.

You still had a very bad feeling about all this, and it ran much deeper than any uneasiness you felt towards Phee. You genuinely didn’t think this was going to end well. “Phee.” You called out nervously. “I’m really not sure about this. I promise this isn’t just me giving you a hard time, I don’t think we should mess around with that.”

Phee paid your words no attention and removed it. Just as she did so, a disturbing and violent rumble boomed throughout the room.

Wrecker and Echo turned back towards the door, but it had started to cave in and so they, along with Tech, were forced jump away and cling on to the edge of the ledge.

The room suddenly sounded like it was powering up and it was soon brightly lit up. A large blast reverberated through it and Hunter placed a hand on Omega’s chest to keep her from losing her footing.

Everything started to move, causing all of you to make your way down towards the bottom of it.

“I suspect this is not, in fact, a treasure vault.” Tech theorised.

“What was your first clue?” You shouted over the sound of creaking metal.

“What is it?” Omega asked.

“Good question.” Echo responded.

Another huge blast sounded from whatever it was you were inside, and you all shielded your eyes from the brightness of it.

“It just emitted a massive surge of energy.” Tech said. “Whatever we are standing inside is highly destructive!”

“So what do we do to shut it down?” Wrecker asked urgently.

“If removing the Heart of the Mountain activated it, perhaps we must return it to its proper place to deactivate it.” Tech replied.

Phee possessively clutched the artifact to her body. “Do you know how much this is worth? It’s what we came for! Can’t you find a separate kill switch or something?”

“Our ship’s out there. If that thing destroys it, we’ll be trapped on this planet!” Hunter reasoned.

Phee let out an aggravated huff. “Alright. But you owe me.”

“In what possible world-” Any argument from you was promptly cut off as a familiar growl wailed out and all your eyes turned to the door, and you saw the creature from earlier was making a rather inconvenient reappearance.

In all the chaos of blaster fire versus violent animal, Phee lost her balance and the Heart of the Mountain slipped from her grasp and fell through a gap in the interior of whatever thing you all were in. “You deal with that! I’ll get the stone.” She yelled as she started to climb down after it.

Hunter glanced down after her and then looked over at you as you ducked under a vicious swipe of the animal’s paw and opened fire.

You felt him looking at you. Go, we can handle this. Just make sure she doesn’t get herself killed.

--

“Can’t you do your Jedi trick with this thing?” Wrecker shouted as he kept up his fire at the creature.

Your practice had consisted of the rats that graced the streets of Ord Mantell and whatever animals Cid had you all smuggling, this was a significantly different and more challenging situation. “If you can get it to keep still for two seconds then I’m all yours.” You retorted before you jumped out of the way of its snout. Unfortunately, Echo had been behind you and took the brunt of it as he was tossed to the side. Sorry, Echo!

Wrecker had managed to get to the back of the creature, and he tried to grab its leg, but it kicked him hard in the chest and he was thrown into one of the windows, the glass cracking on impact.

You and Omega focused your fire as you shielded Tech as he attempted to figure out a way to shut down the machine, but it was doing very little to dissuade the animal from its advances.

Wrecker recovered quickly and grabbed the creature’s tail and started to drag it back. “Shoot the window!”

You and Omega fired off a series of shots and the glass shattered which gave him the chance to chuck the creature out of it.

Any relief from having dealt with the animal was short lived since a loud groan wailed throughout the mech.

“Tech, do something!” Wrecker urged as he struggled to keep his balance.

Tech stared at what he assumed was the control panel. “I’m trying, but nothing is working!” He said, his frustration evident.

“Tech, the stone!” Hunter yelled, throwing his brother the object as he and Phee remerged.

Tech caught it but a particularly strong vibration meant he dropped it. He and Omega hastily picked it back up but the initial way they tried to insert it was wrong.

The rest of you watched anxiously as you felt the machine powering the weapon back up.

Tech and Omega managed to get it in, and they turned it and were greeted with the welcomed sound of the machine powering down.

However, you couldn’t catch a break. No sooner had the stone been re-inserted, did it start to crackle and ignite, and you all watched as it melted away. A series of explosions rang out around you and the lights went out and you could feel the machine start to sink to the ground.

“Hang on to something!” Hunter directed. It was then he noticed Omega start to slip away and he reached out and grabbed her forearm and pushed her in front of him whilst you all started to try and get as high as you could.

The machine began to tilt, and you all clattered against the divot you had huddled into.

Hunter found himself torn between protecting you and protecting Omega.

You felt the conflict within him. Omega first, every time.

Hunter swiftly shielded Omega’s body with his own as the machine came tumbling down.

--

You massaged your bruised ribs and groaned as you felt a headache coming on. You were beginning to realise that lack of heavy armour came with a price.

“What are you thinking about now?” Hunter asked as he made sure Omega was okay before he held his hand out to you.

You pulled down your mask. “That telling Lyra forearm and shoulder armour was enough has come back to bite me and I missed out on 8 hours sleep in a comfy bed because of this unsuccessful quest.” You replied unhappily as you let him help you up. And I’m thinking about the more preferred way for me to feel tired out and sore. You chuckled quietly as you heard the way his breathing stuttered.

You all emerged from the broken window and paused at the edge of it.

“This puts us at 0 for 2 in treasure hunting, even with a professional.” Tech said.

“We did find the Heart of the Mountain.” Omega pointed out. “The legend was real.”

“Now that’s the right attitude.” Phee said merrily.

--

On the way back, you had taken down your hood and the others had removed their helmets and the sight of the Marauder was a beautiful one.

“At least no one can ever activate that thing again.” Hunter said.

“So, what you’re saying is, it’s a good thing we came after all?” Phee challenged light-heartedly.

You couldn’t help the chuckle that left your mouth. “Sure thing, Phee.”

Phee gasped. “Did you all hear that! She agreed with me! See what happens when you stop being judgemental?”

“I banged my head; I’m not thinking clearly.” You argued but a slight grin graced your face.

“Nuh uh, we’re making ground.” Phee replied gleefully.

You just sighed and let her have this one. It was easier that way and it, rather irritatingly, felt better than constantly looking for faults in her ways and occupation. You wouldn’t go around calling her a close friend by any means, but you could give her a chance.  

You all continued to walk towards the ship.

“Sorry about Mel.” Omega said gloomily into the quiet.

“This happens all the time.” Phee said casually. “That’s why I keep Mel’s memory stored on my ship’s data bank. I’ll have her rebuilt before we head to Vadnay.”

“What’s on Vadnay?” Omega asked.

Phee turned to face all of you as she walked. “I have a lead on a certain chalice. Very ancient.”

“Really?” Hunter said, his tone filled with scepticism. He stopped walking and let the others pass him.

“Legend has it the chalice once belonged to the Kingdom of Elweys, lost over a millennia ago.” She regaled to the group as they walked towards the ship.

You couldn’t help the light laugh that left you upon seeing the utterly defeated look on Hunter’s face. You rubbed sympathetic circles on his back. “Chin up, Sarge. Keep an open mind.”

“You’re awfully cheery.”

You shrugged. “Turns out the whole Jedi teaching of learning to let go actually has some merit. An open mind makes dealing with her a whole lot easier.”

“I’ll take your word for it. I’ll get there though, I’m sure. Looks like she’ll be around more often anyway.”

“Come on, we got a chalice to find.” You said and you took a half step forward, but Hunter’s voice caused you to look back.

 “It was red?”

Your lip curled into a mischievous grin. “Yup.” You stepped back towards him and leaned up. “And quite flimsy. Would probably have torn quite easily.” You added alluringly, kissing the underside of his jaw before you walked away, feeling rather pleased with yourself. An opportunity to get him flustered was always attractive, regardless of the rather irritating overall circumstances.

Hunter released a frustrated growl and walked after you, muttering under his breath. No way would the sight of some ancient chalice be better than whatever you had been planning before all this had happened. Just before you hopped onto the steps, he grabbed your arm and pulled you back and pushed you against the wall of the Marauder, out of sight of the others. He dropped his helmet, cradled the side of your jaw, and looked deep into your eyes.

Your breathing became deeper, and your eyes darted between his and his lips.

Hunter moved first and kissed you. Tenderly, softly but deeply too. There was no mistaking the passion behind it.

You reciprocated eagerly, forgetting that there would be a group of people waiting on you both coming through the door. The kiss lasted for a few perfect minutes before the two of you parted for air and before things got too hot and heavy.

“Have I mentioned how much I wished we were in that hotel room right now?” Hunter murmured through heavy breaths.

“The feeling is very mutual.” You replied back, just as oxygen depraved.

“I wanted this break for us.” He kept his voice low as he nipped at your earlobe and caressed your sides.

“I did too but it wasn’t to be.” You managed to say through a hitched breath. “We knew the squad would always come first when we started this.”

“Oi, lovebirds! Come on, we got a legend to uncover!” Phee called from the doorway.

“One day.” Hunter promised.

“I know.” You pressed your forehead into his. It’s just right now, the opportunity is gone and that’s okay. We can just stick to the day job and grab time together when we can. We’ve managed all this time; we’ll be just fine. You rubbed your thumb gently along his tattooed cheekbone before you picked up his helmet and you both boarded the ship.

Next Chapter>

Tagging: @noeasyisnoisy, @tpwkcalli, @fuckoffthanos, @arctrooper69, @graciexmarvel, @flyingkangaroo, @nightmonkeysstuff, @brujaporfavor, @sunkissedclones, @ladytano420, @keep-calm-and-drink-caf, @yyourmotherr, @xxeiraxx

#the bad batch #the bad batch season 2 #the bad batch s2 #hunter x reader #hunter x fem!reader #hunter x femalejedi!reader #hunter x female!reader #sergeant hunter x reader #sergeant hunter #hunter tbb #hunter the bad batch #the bad batch hunter x you #hunter x y/n #tbb hunter x reader #the bad batch fanfiction #star wars #friends to lovers #fluff

[liesmyth]

icon what’s the fanon jamie grievance…. I love your take on him so much, i’m so curious lol

Ok, disclaimer that I'm not vagueing @ anyone specific with this, just a general trend I've noticed.

The TLDR is that Jamie gets the over-the-top woobie treatment, an old fandom tradition wherein you have a special guy and he HAS to be the saddest guy ever. This is fine! It's yummy! BUT it's a very liberal interpretation of what we're actually shown in canon, and I hate that it's treated like the assumed default.

This goes for a lot of things—for example: nobody around Jamie thinks that he’s thick or slow and Jamie sure as hell doesn’t think so!—but the biggest offender TO ME is that Jamie’s dad wasn’t around during Jamie’s childhood. Period. We’ve known this since S1! His dad left when he was very young and only showed up once Jamie “got good” enough that he was a serious prospect for a professional career and gave James clout and bragging rights and access to his favourite club. (So, not as soon as he got scouted, because so many boys get cut. We're talking England U16 at the earliest.)

Broadly… there’s kind of a tendency in fandom to give Jamie, like, some kind of Dickensian orphan backstory. Like James should define him, when he's just one (1) piece of a much broader mosaic.

Jamie is so many things. He’s remarkably well-adjusted, emotionally open, he IS a prick, he has a very healthy self-esteem and a very solid perception of his own self-worth. He is a hard worker who enjoys a good night out, he's a competitive elite athlete who doesn't wallow in self-pity (cough. Roy)—and he also has a shit dad, but it isn't THE thing that defines him. He's much more complicated than that! There were many more influences in his life than just his dad’s sporadic presence!

Again we’ve known since S1 that his mother was the one who got him into football! I guarantee that he's had some good coaches before Ted, as well as a normal amount of mediocre ones. He’s had friends before Richmond and girlfriends before Keeley, even if it wasn't serious. He's had teammates he liked and a team he was happy to be on. He just… had a more varied life than just overwhelming misery.

Personally, I find all of this way more compelling than if he’d “just” had a sadfest sort of background. Some people don’t, and that’s great! Some people like different things for their faves. Some people project a lot on their blorbos. All of this is fine and it can be super fun, but it bugs the hell out of me when it’s treated like a general assumption— again, it’s totally cool if you want it to be like this! We all let headcanons colour an interpretation, I sure as hell do that. Buuut there's a difference between "this interpretation is a bit far fetched but I don't care because it's fun TO ME" and "no actually THIS is how it is even if canon disagrees".

Follow-up ask answered here

#keeleyjamie #/yeeting this into the universe hoping it goes well LMAO #ask #ted lasso meta #jamie tartt #ted lasso

[pinkandpurple360]

if I can 'devil's advocate' (heh) for ParanoidDJ for a sec, I just wanna put the song in context

so it originally dropped shortly after s1e6 came out, & you can probably still see some of that by the comments where fans joke that he 'saw the future' or 'was ahead of the curve' because a good number of fans didn't think Stolas had any romantic feelings for Blitzo at all before ep7 & that it was just lust (in hindsight that was another soft retcon that Stolas was suddenly in love w/Blitzo - that 'development' really ought to have been onscreen and then the audience might have bought into his sudden change of heart).

he mentions in the description that Stolas 'realizes his own actions have caused the problem' and I think that's what PDJ was trying to do - his songs tend to try and flesh out characters or fill in bits the canon hadn't yet. I can definitely see why people say it seems like Stolas apologia but it did come out back when the show was in s1 and it hadn't started playing the Stolas Did Nothing Wrong card as hard as it did in s2 (plus Loo Loo Land Stolas at least seemed aware that the divorce was affecting Via, even if he totally failed to articulate what was going on with him when she was upset), so it feels more like an attempt at a potential direction Stolas could have gone with the setup ep1-6 had provided.

I can't say for sure of course, but I think PDJ was aware that Stolas is the problem (or at least part of the problem, idk if he's ever spoken about stol/tz publically) and was just following what arc the show seemed to be setting up with him (and then it promptly didn't in s2, since nothing is ever Stolas' fault now apparently)

it's why it's so annoying to see the lyrics changed - PDJ's Stolas actually gave a darn about Via and seemed to realize at least part of what he'd done wrong, while keeping him mostly in character by preserving his classist attitudes that he needs to work through (the repeat of the impish plaything line)

official video Stolas is whitewashed and whiny. personally I think it's a small miracle Viv even kept the line 'I will try to make amends/for making you means to an end' since it directly refers to what actually happened - Stolas used Blitzo for sex.

but I assume Viv left that line in because she wants it to mean 'Blitzo seduced Stolas so Stolas used him right back' instead of what actually happened: 'Stolas used the threat of losing his job and the pressure of being shot at to coerce Blitzo into monthly sex'

this is all how I remember it from back when the song came out, though - I could be totally wrong, but as far as I know Paranoid has never said he likes stol/tz or thinks it's 'mututally toxic' or anything like what stans usually say

Oof I guess I was too hard on him. I do appreciate you typing this out and adding some context. But then again before episode seven…stolas was an absolute monster towards Blitzø and the rest of imp. He was only kind to Octavia, the same species as him. But to everyone else he was and honestly still is, just purely awful.

I definitely feel like him and all of us, if we are honest, saw a lot more kindness and good traits in stolas than are actually there. I still hold that stolas at the end of ep 6 and the stolas at the start of episode 7 are not the same character at all. Plus, having us see Blitz be enslaved by him, and then tongue kiss him after, all that said to me was that he’s allowing himself to be sexually objectified because he thinks it’s all he deserves. I was actually really shocked that he kissed him, it was such a bizarre contradiction to the intimidation, abuse, and a mutual hatred, we had just seen. Then he asked for a reward…? So strange.

And season 2 stolas is yet again another character. When he wears his hat he’s his usual gross self then the hat comes off and he’s a wimp. If what I’ve heard is true he gets even more soft and pathetic and sopping wet cat-like. I just have no idea what he adds to the story other than taking us on a self pitying emotional detour we didn’t ask for. With none of the introspection paranoid DJ thought he would show. I’m sorry but Stella was kindve right, it is annoying.

Taking out the Octavia lyrics is unbelievable!!! It makes him look so so bad but this is supposed to be his woobie arc, so what gives?

Also I wont stop reiterating that stolas led Blitzø to his bedroom by force and locked him in there. Blitzø thought he was going to kill him, he was scared, creeped out, and actually did try to negotiate out of it but was told not to bother with excuses. I honestly don’t care that he tried to survive by faking seduction. Don’t forget he said “ew” at the idea, and then “alright fine” which is just so gross…

This is all speculation because I’ve heard nothing about what happens in Full Moon—but-I don’t really believe he’ll try and make “amends” the next episode is going to be stolas emotionally manipulating him into “choosing” the book (him, having free sex and a fan to praise and coddle him) or the crystal (a life on his own) it’s going to be really hard to watch. And Viv despite what she’s written of him being creeped out terrified and grossed out by stolas will try sell us that the sex with stolas was great. Even though everything he says and does points to the opposite.

I mean it is pretty clearly a pro stolitz song and that’s what it was used for

#helluva boss critical #stolitz critical

[cloud-somersault]

Soul anon yet again and sorry to bother you but -

YES MACAQUE SHOULD HAVE SOME RESPECT ON HIS NAME! HE'S NOT WEAKER OR LESSER!!

In s1, in that fight, he was very much holding his own! A friend pointed it out to me, but Macaque was VERY much in control of that fight. Not only was he pressuring Wukong with his smoke monster, but he was the one who transformed first, he controlled what powers he used and knew how Wukong would respond to them in kind, he was the one who lead Wukong around the battle field, he worked out from using his trick of turning into MK just how much Wukong cared too. (And how much Wukong didn't care about him, and knowing Macaque, probably also interpreted that as never caring about him in the past either.)

He also took out a couple of advantages, MK entering the fight, and removing the staff of the battle too. If Wukong had used clones to try and take the staff, Macaque could have done the same to prevent it and to harm MK, if Wukong tried to take the staff himself, Macaque would have had an opening to take if Wukong had done so. By placing MK under the staff, Macaque perfectly laid out the fight even from the beginning to his advantage and forcing Wukong to fight him on more even ground.

In S2, Macaque also had 100% control of that fight. He did what he did out of good motivation, and technically succeeded since the result was MK telling his friends what was going on. Of course, Macaque missed that Wukong was gone and MK was the one who felt abandoned and that's why MK identified with the warrior in the play. (Also! The play was not trauma dumping and toxic! The entire LMK fanbase is cordially invited to fucking fight me about that!) (Also acknowledging that it was fucked up what Macaque did, but I don't feel like that was entirely malicious either. Mk def needed a shove to open up to his friends about what was going on. Macaque also chose a way that didn't hurt or injure MK's friends, and everyone ignores that for some reason! He also gave MK a way to get shit off his chest, to let MK vent some frustration as well while shifting back into himself to prove that Wukong wouldn't say that sort of thing to MK. Surprise, it wasn't Wukong being a jerk! It was Macaque all along. And when MK didn't understand the point of what Macaque was trying to say/teach, Macaque told him in clear terms. And again in S4, when MK didn't understand the point, Macaque was also forth coming. It proves that Macaque is a good teacher, that he tries one route to get MK to learn something, and if MK doesn't or can't, takes the time to really explain it to him in a way that Mk WILL understand.)

In S3, Mk knew that Macaque was still the only one who could hold off Wukong long enough to MK to get to the staff and restore Wukong with it. And can we acknowledge (assuming Wukong did kill Macaque) that Macaque was STILL willing to fucking SQUARE UP and do it, because if they failed, well, he didn't have anything to lose? Like, straight up Macaque was asked to fight against his murderer, would be well within his right to refuse due to that experience and pain and trauma, and did it anyway because he knew he was their only shot at remote victory? The term coward shouldn't ever be applied to LMK Macaque. That shit takes guts.

So far, in every instance, Macaque measures up and has never failed to rise up to the occasion. Taking on Wukong twice, doing what he can to help, and teaching MK when Wukong isn't around to do so.

And in JTTW, canonically he was evenly matching Wukong in power and ability. If the fanbase is going to also headcanon and use stuff from JTTW, then why the cherry picking that Macaque is EVIL and not as STRONG?! It's so frustrating. Wuking and Macaque aren't the same, but it doesn't mean that they aren't equal in power.

Also Macaque's ability to plan and his tactician nature would make me argue that he would be the worse person to have as an opponent. Seriously that scene in S3 with the vans? *chef's kiss* that was set up beautifully. Macaque could absolutely be an eldritch horror and I think he should be allowed to be. Let him go ham. Be the theatre kid he was meant to be. As a treat.

you're absolutely not bothering me, this is such a joy to read!! i def argue that macaque has shown that he's a better teacher to MK than Wukong (i'm not being mean to wukong, because he himself acknowledges he's not good at it) but macaque just thinks in that way, and creates lessons for MK to learn like a mentor should.

i joke that shadow play was about macaque talking about his divorce (bc it's funny) but he told that story and crafted this entire experience JUST to teach MK a lesson and he DID allow MK to vent and it did lead to positive outcomes with Macaque warning him about what was coming. like ultimately, it was a good thing and MK did get a little roughed up, but his friends were never in mortal danger?? like Macaque had them in that lantern for multiple days, but he didn't do anything to them. he didn't bargain for them. he literally only did that to teach MK something.

but it's the way he goes about it and how it's framed, because when he dissect it down, it's clearly not as bad as fandom wants it to be or makes it out to be.

and if we are working on the "canon" that wukong did a murder, what macaque did on the s3 special is nothing short of heroic, something the show itself acknowledges by changing his motif in the music from a minor chord to a major one to signify a more uplifting tone. it's more positive and victorious compared to the key his motif is usually played in.

and the fight with wukong in s1 was so good! i love that display of his powers, how wukong takes him seriously, how he was having trouble stopping him and the ONLY reason they won was because of that staff. he's a serious threat!

i just think he's a fun character to mess around with and yes, he's based on an archetype, they all are, but when you flesh out that archetype and give it more depth? you get a really amazing character with complexity and dimensions that make him feel real and that's beautiful.

and macaque should absolutely be allowed to go ham. i think he should do some fucked up shit on the side. he's just too clever and smart not too!! i wanna see a celestial primate lose their shit not because of strength or stubbornness but like. just from being smart and analytical. i love that parallel of how differently wukong and macaque would tackle things.

and that's why they should both train MK. he gets a little of both!!

#ask #anon #oh lmk macaque my beloved #i sure do want you to go forth and commit crimes #LMFAO sorry i do love him and thank you for sending this ask! #always happy to hear/know more people feel the same

[afurioushawk]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💗

Only counting completed works, and not in any particular order:

El Serpiente y El Halcón: My S4 fic I wrote before the season aired and by far the longest fic I’ve ever written. It was a very ambitious fic that had to juggle a lot of storylines and character beats, while also dealing with making Miguel and Hawk a couple. I learned a lot about the structures of writing while working on this one, and it’s probably still the fic I’m most proud of. Plus, I predicted that Hawk would get his mohawk shaved by Robby lol.

The Wheel of Imbalance: This one started because I’d seen so many people use the balance wheel as short-hand for saying characters should be a couple, and I was like, “Okay, but what if the characters hate each other and managed to nail it?” I wanted to examine just how similar Sam and Hawk are in a non-romantic setting. I’m still heartbroken that canon decided to pretend that everything between Sam and Hawk in S3 never happened but at least I got to give it the hyperfocus this rivalry - the best rivalry the show ever had - deserved in this story.

Let’s Try Coronas Instead: Another Miguel/Hawk fic, this one was in many ways actually more difficult than “El Serpiente y El Halcón” because, for a majority of the fic, it’s only about two characters. That turned out to be a lot more difficult to center a story around than I imagined. But it did mean I got to do a long character study of both of them, but especially Miguel. It was just the breather fic I needed to write at the time. We’ll always have Migueli in Mexico.

Three Seconds: The most depressing fic I’ve ever written lol. But this “What if things went really south during the forced haircut” scenario also gave me a chance to write things from multiple POVs: Robby’s, Miguel’s, Sam’s, and Johnny’s. If I did my job right, you feel for every character in this, and you understand why there was no way this fic could have a happy ending. It’s emotionally taxing, but it’s supposed to be.

Uncaged: The fic I wrote for Halloween last year, it was fun writing Hawk going in the opposite direction after his mohawk was shaved, where instead of reverting to his S1 meek self, he instead goes the other way and takes his S3 bastard self up to eleven and goes full hammy slasher villain. I did still try to have a theme about toxic masculinity in there but it was also just a delight to play with horror movie tropes, especially since this one was inspired by Jennifer’s Body.

#cobra kai #miguel diaz #cobra kai hawk #samantha larusso #johnny lawrence #robby keene #migueli

[lola-andheruniverse]

Sunday FanFiction recommendation. An oldie but a goodie. Black Moon Blues by Haitus 80 on FanFiction .net. A time travel fix it and Deep Down in the Hollow Ground by Ravenesque 2 also on FanFiction.net finished and the unfinished version on nine lives. It’s a different twist on Carol’s banishment. Wonderful works by wonderful authors. I bet they would love a review.Caryl on

Hi, @southerncountrygirl! It took me a few days but here I am with your recs! Thanks for sending them my way. I hope you don't mind but both fics gave me that feeling 'oh my imagine if THAT really happened' so I decided to put them on our 'fix it wednesday' tag. 😁 Okay, let's go!

Black Moon Blues, written by Haitus 80 is posted on FF.net.

Summary: What if there was a way to prevent the events that brought the group to the prison? What if there was a way to save every single person they have lost along the way? What if second chances at the end of the world actually existed? Will they be strong enough to save the others? This story has given me many sleepless nights but I think it has been worth it. Rating: M / Mature Word count: 251.626 (66 chapters) Aug 25, 2013 - COMPLETE

Time travel! It doesn't get better than time travel for me unless we get a baby at some point, love me a caryl baby because there's no other way to guarantee a cleaner slate than this. One of TWD biggest problems is disposing characters for shock value so time travel fics are great because they can course correct these errors. Our author here makes them pop around effortlessly and it's great to see them all alive again, wonder how they'll survive their canon deaths and celebrate when a different thing happens that ensure their survival. This fic also does a great job in putting S3/S4 Carol on pre-S1 Carol's shoes. This entire work is a celebration of her strength and growth. Do read it, dear fellow caryler, this fic is a intriguing, surprising and very satisfying ride. Oh, and the caryl moments? Adorable!

Deep Down in The Hollow Ground, by Ravenesque2, it's also posted on FF.net. (the version on 9Lives is only updated up to chapter 10).

Summary: No one is quite sure how much time has passed since the fall of the prison. All they know is the reality of always moving on, always surviving, whatever cost it might bring. At least they mostly found each other, but for those they've lost along the way, there is a chasm that can barely be filled. Caryl story.

Rating: M / Mature Word count: 67.142 (22 chapters) Published: Dec 18, 2013 - COMPLETE Carol's banishment on S4 is one of our favorite moments to explore on fandom, right? This fic works on it by taking a very interesting route. It has suspense and drama fueled by a lot of miscommunications, and incredible twists that change everything constructed by canon. This is definitely a caryl story (so much romance, so much tenderness, so much beauty), but our author dedicated time to develop all TF characters, giving them substancial emotional arcs, so it really feels like an alternate version of TWD from the fall of the prison. It's a great read, please give it a try! Thank you again, southerncountrygirl, for your recs. I really appreciated them! As you said, bet these authors would love to get a review notification. So, if you decide to read any of these fics, dear fellow caryler, don't forget to give them a little bit of appreciation. Feedback is LOVE. And we really need more love in this fandom. Caryling on, caryling on!

#caryl #caryl positivity #caryl fic recs #caryl fandom #caryl fanfiction #fix it wednesday #my fic recs #our fic recs

[fyeahvarchie]

Hi!! As someone who's not a BA nor a VA (I'm one of the four people who have been shipping JV since day 1 so this is basically my fav season because I thought JV was the only ship that was never going to get any real content, lmao) I wanted to say that I really appreciate your blog and I'm loving the spoilers, especially for what they're doing to the BA fandom. You could think that as a non-shipper of any of the main couples I should be neutral, but the rise of the BA fandom is considered by many of us casual viewers/non-shippers the ruin of this show, at least in terms of overall enjoyability. Their behavior is what brought me out of the Riverdale fandom by the end of s5 (not entirely, of course the low quality of the overall content had a lot to do with it) 'cause for real, the general immaturity, the insults that I've seen towards VA shippers and the fantasy views on hints of how BA were clearly meant to be since s1 were too much. They are the reason I hated BA as a couple since the very beginning, I could have been neutral about the ship (especially because BA becoming canon made me raise my hopes for JV at the time) but they made the air so heavy at some point with their fanatic behavior that made me start to root for VA out of spite.

HOWEVER I got curious when I learned about the 50s and gave this season a shot and I have to admit, VA caught my interest more than it ever did before and I stumbled upon your blog, which was a pleasant surprise especially with the spoilers, so thank you very much for everything! Also you should get a medal or something like that for dealing for so much time with the BAs, I personally would've turned crazy a long time ago if I were in your place. Hope you'll have the best day!!

Hello!

First of all, thank you for the kind words.

I was told I'd get the Nobel Prize at the end of the year for my hard work in the middle of such a messy fandom~

It's nice to finally encounter a JV who isn't set on diminishing VA in order to prop up their ship. I've witnessed too much this season. Although @andsmile is proof that you can enjoy both.

And I agree with everything you said. Fandoms in general can be frustrating but ever since s4, it became unbearable. Just downright nasty. But thankfully we've finally reached the end.

I'm glad you were able to enjoy VA this season and congratulations on finally getting content for your ship. I'll take a guess and say you've probably got more coming, so enjoy.

And have a good day.

#ask: rvd

[the-spooky-archives]

Intros, among other things.

Cocoa Beane

Hello hello! Cocoa Beane (Any Pronouns), Head Archivist, at your service! Currently in the process of attempting to reorganize the archives while also keeping up with all the new statements that keep pouring in from Research. Scared of spiders. Just a tad.

catch me over at @the-better-archivist for daily liveblogs about the reorganization efforts, among other things. My posts here are denoted by #archivist speaks.

Vinny Seraph

Hi everyone, names Vinny Seraph, She/her. I’m yet another archival assistant here, and I also help Cocoa out with her organization efforts if I can. I like coffee, music, and more coffee. I’m not addicted, I swear. I just like the taste.

My personal blog is @magnus-coffee-shop and the tag I use for my posts here is #Vinny Coffee Talk.

Kairos

Hello. My name is Kairos, and I’m an archival assistant here at the Institute. I handle most of the tech side, because it’s abundantly obvious how much Cocoa needs it. If you need to reach me, I’ll probably ignore you. And don’t touch my plants.

But if you must ask me something, you can find me at @clock-weaver for…my own efforts in archival work. All posts written by me here will be signed off with the tag #clock’s ticking

Minty Mori

Hello Hello! My name is Minty Mori (He/him) and archival assistant. I do a lot of filing, paperwork, I handle a lot of miscellaneous tasks but really just standard paper things. I have narcolepsy and I wholly apreciate the patience of the archival staff. I'm not entirely sure what to write honestly, Hopefully this will be alright with the Cocoa.

You'll find me occasionally posting at @minty-mori-archival-assistant (gosh it's so long.) And my tag is: #Sleep talking Minty.

Michael (Angelo?)

Hi there! I'm Michael, short for a myriad of things! I go by Mikey usually. I'm an archival assistant, brought on by Elias. I used to know Gertie, my guardian used to bring me out to see her! I'm not telling what I do here, as I find it fun to keep it secret. I like to refer to myself as "Michael 2" as my guardian is also named Michael (part of why he adopted me in the first place). My blog is @a-second-smaller-door, and I post with the tag #Michael..... 2!

What is The Spooky Archives?

The Spooky Archives, aka TSA, is a TMA AU created by all the mods on this blog and a few others who haven't been introduced yet. In this AU, our own OCs/sonas take the place of the s1 archival crew (though of course they all still exist, they just aren't working in the Archives).

About the Mods

Cocoa

Names Mod Cocoa (Any pronouns). A few of my friends (who are also mods on this blog) told me I should listen to Magnus. I gave in after a few weeks and proceeded to listen to the entire podcast in two weeks, so that gives you an idea of my level of insanity.

My main blog is @ihavenohotcocoa, and I kinda just post whatever I want so like. Maybe some magnus, maybe not.

Vinny

Hi! Mod Vinny here! (She/her pronouns) I’m a bit of a newbie to the series, and pretty much still am. I started listening to TMA and then my progress grinded to a halt around 107(?) because I was too anxious for everyone. And then I just got Mod!Cocoa to tell me everything because I was tired. And honestly? I would have not survived. So please forgive me if I do things contradictory to canon because everything I got is from word of mouth.

My blog is @vinegar-on-main, but don’t expect me to post only TMA stuff. I post whatever I feel like.

Llama

HI HI HELLO my name’s Llama (she/her)!! I was one of said friends who bugged Cocoa to listen to tma and I don’t think any of us have been the same ever since, I know I haven’t :D

My main blog is @constellama, I post art and sometimes random thoughts on different fandoms I’m a part of :D Feel free to follow !!

Minty

Y O U. Hello! I'm Minty (He/him or any), and I was also bugged to listen to it!! It really spread like a plague/pos ofc. I post about a couple things?? DC and Spiderverse have me in a chokehold at the time of writing so you may see a lot of that.

My main blog is at: @hyperspix and yeah! Chilling and vibing. Always free to yell about something to me because I love hearing them! Have a lovely day <3.

Mikey

HI! My name is Mikey (He/They/It). I listened to tma back before s4 even ended. I like transformers a lot. like so much. so so so much. please someone talk to me about transformers. my main blog is @snowybookwyrm !

[guiltycorp]

The whole "wait and see" thing is a mindset I'm torn on. I get wanting to reveal something in the story but on the other hand, it's hard to begrudge anyone not wanting to get their hopes up. We've seen this before: a writer for a show going "Oh you wanna know if so-and-so is queer? Teehee keep watching and maybe you'll find out." Only to... not. And the team's excitement around Cait and Vi might've made it feel less out-of-line to ask, so it kinda stung when Amanda gave such a non-answer.

Right, yeah! The thing is, for me personally it really does feel alright for s1 to have purely platonic Jayce&Viktor because of Vi/Caitlyn and Jayce/Mel. Like, the plot clearly just needed to include romance between Jayce and Mel both for contrast purposes to hexcore fuckery and to give Jayce more incentive to be able to convince Mel to take his side in the last episode. And Vi/Caitlyn is pretty much the core of the show only second to 'the two sisters' part of it!

However, I'm worried about s2 because well.. If they don't want to stray too far from League's lore, then Vi is going to become a cop, right? She's already prepared for it, since her s1 arc is all about blaming Silco and not Piltover itself, so her justification will probably be just the canonical 'improving Zaun by hunting its criminals down'. And Caitlyn is the sheriff... I realize that it's not going to be a problem for a large part of the fandom, and I myself am likely to get a little bit too emotional from the sheer chemistry the two of them have, but like. It still sucks when you think about it? A super rich Piltovan girl seduces an ex-convict (convicted unfairly) to become a cop alongside her in order to police her poor city which suffered exactly because of those rich people... Eugh... It could work if it was portrayed for what it is, a tragedy and an unfortunate outcome for Vi (like maybe her having doubts and 'what have i done' only for her sexy girlfriend to wave those worries away and distract her with her soulful eyes and she stops thinking about it but on some level knows that she fucked up, toxic wlw yeahh), but I seriously doubt the writers would do that. Anyway, so if that main queer couple will suck, then without some other cool and engaging gay pairing the whole show will feel... more lacking than s1. And then jayvik queerbaiting absolutely will feel just as personal as with the other shows, because suddenly there will be no relatable and representative characters for the audience to latch on to even though we were absolutely promised that.

#arcane #jayvik #anon #ask #i wont tag it with the other pairing since im pretty much criticizing it #oh but if suddenly lux appears and kisses jinx im fine with whatever #text